They wore their scars and mutilations as badges of honor. It marked a mastery of magic that transcended their deaths. At first, Belle was horrified that anyone would choose to do something like that to their own body.

"Our own bodies is precisely the point," Hyan Luize explained. "To be able to carve our own shapes on ourselves is proof..."

"Proof?"

"Proof that even in death we are free. We are not the slaves of gods or demons." Hyan touched a fleshless hand to the gold rings piercing the side of her face. "This is our defiance of an eternity that would keep us unchanged in death."

But their defiance had a limit, hence the question they put to the Dark One.

It was not only the dead who craved an ending — the demons, too, were trapped along with the shades they were meant to torture.

"We made a deal, oh yes, long long and longer ago," Derghu told her. Demons came in many varieties, and most had origins elsewhere than Tartarus. "It's a heavy price we paid. No changing it now, we thought, but humans, little humans, they always change. And the Dark One, your Dark One, he is human, whatever else he may be..."

"Yes," said Belle, remembering how many in the Enchanted Forest denied Rumplestiltskin his humanity, yet here was a demon who saw that in him. She wondered if they had gone through a similar transformation to become what they were now, and whether it was easier to bear if you were not the only one. "He is."

"And so are you, Daughter of Light."

Belle nodded. She wasn't sure she liked the title they had bestowed on her, but the demons seemed to have an aversion to using anyone's name in casual conversation. Derghu's gift of his own name had been more than a mere introduction — it was a gamble and a prayer in recognition of whatever destiny she had brought into Tartarus.

It was in hope of that destiny that the demons and the mages of Mulctowne invited Belle and Maleficent in as their guests, while sending out a search to recover the other living souls Belle had been forced to send into Tartarus.

"The geography of this realm is not like that of the sunlit lands," Hyan explained. "Not its geometry nor its topology. But our people know the bone roads..."

"Is that like the paths through the Infinite Forest?" wondered Belle. Those did not obey the ordinary laws of geometry, either.

"Something like that, but governed by different rules," said Hyan Luize. "Don't worry. They'll be found..."

Neither Belle nor Maleficent were happy with the idea of waiting, but neither had any better ideas. Time was distorted as much as space in Tartarus, so they didn't know how long they waited, if the passage of time could even be measured there. Belle occupied herself by questioning the locals and learning everything she could.

That did not include a way out. Tartarus was truly the prison it was reputed to be. A few demons were permitted to leave in order to hunt down those targeted by the gods for damnation. Furies were the most well-known of those hunters, but even they could not take souls out of hell — only the god of the Underworld had that power.

"Does he ever use it?" was Belle's question.

Rarely, seemed to be the answer. There were always stories and legends of heroes and their trials, and rumors of deals with Hades, but no one knew anyone who had actually done it.

Belle refused to lose hope.

"You know that is one of their tortures," Maleficent said. "Hope is just another way to hurt you. Have you never heard of Sisyphus?"

"Give it long enough, and he'll wear that hill down to a flat plain," retorted Belle. If the dead of Mulctowne could transcend their infernal chains, so could she.

The arrival of Baelfire, Emma, and Lily struck a heavier blow to her optimism. Somehow, Hyan's people had actually tracked them down and brought them safe and alive back to Mulctowne. Belle's relief made her weak at the knees. She met them outside the town hall with a tremulous smile. "Bae! You're all right? All of you?"

"Belle?" Bae looked horrified to find her there. "Are you...?"

"No, no, I'm alive," she reassured him. Her initial relief turned into a heavy guilt that sat like a stone in the pit of her stomach. She was vaguely aware of Maleficent's reunion with her daughters, but couldn't look away from her step-son. He was so worried for her that it broke her heart. She dreaded the moment when worry would turn into hate. How she wished she could keep her secrets, but even if Maleficent didn't tell them the truth, Belle was a terrible liar. "Bae... I'm so sorry."

Bae's frown turned puzzled. "What? Why would you...?"

"Because it's her doing that we are all here," said Maleficent.

Belle shut her eyes. I didn't want to! The words were trapped behind her teeth. Another silent, futile struggle against the command of the dagger. How long would it hold? And what if she found a way out, only to be summoned and commanded again?

"Belle? Is that true?" Bae's voice was little more than a whisper, holding a faith that had not yet broken.

Until Belle confirmed her betrayal with a nod.

"But... why? Why would you...?" Shock was giving way to hurt.

At least they're alive, she tried to console herself. Where there's life there's hope. Then the cold thought she had been avoiding, And what if he commands you to kill them? She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but all that came out was a strangled groan of despair. Suddenly overwhelmed, Belle turned and fled, vanishing herself in a cloud of smoke to a distant, desolate hillside away from Mulctowne.

"I don't understand." Baelfire thought he had known his stepmother. How could she have turned against them like that? She and Papa loved each other, he was sure of it. "It doesn't make sense."

"You said she was pregnant. Maybe she's trying to get rid of the competition," suggested Lily. At Baelfire's angry look, she shrugged. "Hey, she's a princess, isn't she? That's how they do things in royal families."

"Papa isn't royal!"

"In any case, it wouldn't do her much good if she's trapped down here with us," said Maleficent. "No, there must be some other explanation."

"If it is her. Maybe it's someone else in disguise?" offered Emma.

Maleficent shook her head. "I checked. She is who she appears to be."

"Then we... we should go after her, shouldn't we?" Baelfire knew he didn't have much chance of finding his stepmother if she didn't want to be found, considering she had magic and he didn't, but she was also a stranger to this land. "She could be in danger. What if she's under a curse? That could explain it, right?"

"I sensed no curse or dark magic on her," said Maleficent. "At least, not any more darkness than adheres to her from her ties to the Dark One."

"There must be a reason," insisted Baelfire.

"There usually is," agreed Emma. "Even if it's not a good one. And sending us all to hell may only be part of it. What else did she do, what else is she planning to do? I think we need to find out!"

But before they could set out to search for Belle, another of the demons returned to Mulctowne with two more living people in tow. One of them was the Fury who (according to Maleficent) had opened the portal at Belle's command, and the other was Belle's cousin.

"Marceline of Avonlea," the visibly pregnant woman introduced herself to them. "And this is Alec." Marceline claimed the Fury as her friend and bodyguard.

"I thought Furies lived in the Underworld and served the gods," Baelfire said, doing his best to keep his voice from trembling when the shadow of the demon loomed menacingly over him. It was an instinctive fear that persisted despite reason telling him that she was not an enemy. This was her home ground — it would hardly be fair to ask her to assume a human shape, just because he (and Emma and Lily, beneath their obvious facades) were discomfited. "At least, that's what the stories say."

"I'm retired," said Alec. That drew curious looks from the locals, who otherwise didn't blink an eye at one more demon in hell.

"Oh." Then he remembered his father mentioning something about it in that meeting, but it had slipped his mind, what with Baelfire being lost in a strange realm and everything that happened after that.

Marceline was oddly calm about being trapped in Tartarus. "It is possible to escape. I did it before..."

"That was different," Alec cut in sharply. "You were here under the sanction of the gods. The three trials are required to allow for success, no matter how slim the chances. This time you were all thrown in here, the same as any of the damned, with no way out."

Everyone else was staring at them.

"Wait, you were here before?" Emma spoke for all of them.

Marceline and Alec exchanged a glance. Alec shrugged. Marceline nodded and said, "I may as well tell you. Knowledge is power, and some detail of my tale may prove useful to you..."

She was a danger to them. She had managed to forget for a while, distracted by the strangeness and horrors of hell, but Bae's arrival had brought it all back to the front of her mind. The Apprentice hadn't called upon her again so far, but what if that changed? Belle was safe while the dagger was in another realm, and she assumed that he had no plan to join her in hell, but what if she was wrong? What if this was only a brief reprieve before she was forced to betray her friends and her family again? She had to break free before it was too late. She had failed earlier to find the light, but this time she was determined to succeed.

Belle cloaked herself under a concealment spell and sat down on a rock, hoping meditation could soothe the fears that cast a dark shadow in her mind. But despite her best efforts, her thoughts chased themselves around in a frantic circle.

"No. No, I can do this," she hissed under her breath.

"Whatever are you trying to do?"

Belle gasped and opened her eyes to find a strange man looking quizzically at her. Magic hissed a warning in her ears, and the stranger's form rippled, another shape bleeding through in the ether. A shock of recognition ran through her. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "Prometheus."

"Greetings, little monster." The Titan smiled, but to Belle it felt as if a forest fire had smiled at her.

"Maleficent said you were in Tartarus." Belle watched him warily. She forced herself to be calm, knowing better than to try to use the magic he had given her against him. "She's here, too, if you wanted to see her..."

Prometheus shook his head, still smiling. "I thought I'd find you first." He circled around her, watching her as carefully as she watched him. "My cousin, who by some twist of fate is your cousin's true love, came to me with an interesting tale." He came to a stop again in front of her and met her eyes.

Belle tensed. "If you're here to avenge them—"

Prometheus held up a hand. No. "Under other circumstances, I might. But..."

"What?" Belle asked uneasily.

Prometheus inclined his head, murmured, "You freed me from my chains. I wish I could return the favor, but alas, I lack that power."

"Chains?" Her voice sharpened. This was too close to things she was forbidden to say.

"Those who took their power from my hands may also be bound by my chains. Merlin did this to the first Dark One. And..." He trailed off, as if inviting her to finish the thought.

Belle stared back dumbly, the words locked behind her teeth.

He nodded, as if her silence was answer enough.

She wanted to ask him to help. If nothing else, he was powerful enough to stop her from whatever atrocity she was commanded to enact next. She could only put it in the vaguest of terms to get around the dagger's compulsion to secrecy. "Perhaps if we all work together, we may overcome whatever obstacles face us."

"Indeed. Does that mean you're done running away?" At Belle's shame-faced nod of assent, the Titan waved a hand and whisked them back to Mulctowne, straight into the town hall. Heads turned to stare at them even before the smoke cleared.

Belle had a hard time meeting their eyes.

"It's fine," said Marceline brightly, her cheer underlaid with an edge of malice. "I explained everything." She glanced at Prometheus. "At least, if his theory is accurate. I don't suppose you can confirm or deny it?"

Belle's lips pressed together. She shook her head, evading the pitying look on Baelfire's face.

"Well, we're here now, no matter how or why that happened," said Emma firmly. "Whether it's only been a few days or a few centuries, we all want a way out of Tartarus, agreed?"

The Old Wife muttered and grunted what could have been agreement.

"And we have to free Belle," Baelfire put in. "We need to find who is controlling her."

"Yes, otherwise we shouldn't even be discussing this in front of her," said Lily. "She could stab us in the back at the worst moment, or go blabbing all our plans to the enemy, whoever that is."

"The ones who rule on Olympus." Maleficent's tone held absolute certainty. "From the beginning, the gods made Tartarus their prison. Be sure that whoever commands her does so on their behalf."

"Useless speculation," said Alec. "We need a name." She looked at Prometheus. "Can you get us a name?"

Prometheus looked at Belle. "Whatever other name is etched on the metal that chained me, it is written over mine. Therefore whatever voice commands you, I can also hear, as a faint echo."

"He can't free you, but he can follow you," Maleficent interpreted. "What kind of a plan is that? Wait for her to be summoned? Who knows how long that will take? It may never happen at all."

"I can be patient," said the Titan. He glanced around the hall. "And others have waited almost as long as I..."

"That's because you're all either immortal or already dead," said Emma. "Some of us don't have that luxury." A glance at Marceline. "Will her baby even be able to be born here? Time seems all twisted up in this realm."

"No new life grows here," Prometheus conceded.

Marceline reached for the Fury's hand. "Alec, you're the only one who can freely fly in and out of Tartarus. You have to find the bastard who dared enslave a royal daughter of Avonlea and bring them to justice."

"How will I know them?" asked Alec, after a cool glance towards Belle.

Belle bit her lip, unable to say anything to reveal what she knew, but her eyes blurred in frustration. At the same time, she was deeply moved that they all took it on faith that she hadn't meant to damn them, that despite everything, they were still trying to help. She wanted to thank them, but she couldn't do that, either.

Prometheus flicked a hand, summoning a metal ring between his fingers. He threaded a black silk cord through the ring, then proffered it to the Fury. "Here. A link from my chains. Like calls to like."

"Dowsing with a pendulum?" Marceline guessed.

Alec nodded. "I know the technique." A ripple in the darkness that formed the Fury, as if she was taking a deep breath. "I wish..."

"I know," said Marceline. "But you have to go. We can't let them pick us off one by one."

"If anything happens to you..."

"She's right. We're all family here," said Baelfire. "I've been thinking about it, and we are. Everyone from Schlaraffenland, because that's how Schlaraffenland was made. Then Belle is my father's wife, Marceline is Belle's cousin, and you're with Marceline, so that makes you family, too. And everyone else is connected, too. And so living or dead, we all look after each other!"

Maleficent chuckled. "Out of the mouth of babes!"

Belle smiled wanly. She wished she could assure the Fury that she would do everything to protect Marceline, too, but it would be a lie, and she couldn't bear to lie to them in the face of their forgiveness and support.

Maleficent turned to Prometheus. "Family loyalty is all very well, but we need something a little more concrete. Something to open the gates of Tartarus. Any progress on that front?"

The Titan sighed. "Every day, or what passes for a 'day' in this realm, I sit down in meditation and pry away at the hold Hades has over the land. Unfortunately, it's three steps forward, two steps back. Every time I loosen his grip on one piece, it snaps back into place somewhere else."

"That's still progress," said Hyan Luize. "By such small steps are kingdoms conquered. How else was Schlaraffenland created?"

"We need a god of our own to hold down the freed pieces," suggested Marceline. "Fight fire with fire, so to speak."

Belle looked at Marceline in surprise. "And people call me a heretic?"

Marceline shrugged. "I've never been much for theology. I'm simply being practical here."

Maleficent eyed Prometheus. "Blood was already spilled on your tree..."

"You're asking me to take back my chains?" The Titan shook his head. "I won't be bound again. Whoever takes rulership of this domain will be as trapped as I ever was."

"Maybe one of the others, then," said Marceline. She found an empty stool and sat down, leaning back against the wall wearily. "In any court, there are always some who are discontent with the existing order. Even Olympus... Perhaps Alec can whisper a word in someone's ear, persuade them to throw in their lot with us."

Belle made a face. "Oh, of course, it's not heresy, it's merely politics!"

"She's not wrong," said Maleficent. "I will think on it." She glanced at Prometheus. "While you pry another piece of hell away from Hades." Then she turned to Belle. "And you look like you could do with some rest..."

"No, it's fine, I'm all right," Belle protested. "My cousin is the one who needs the rest!"

But Maleficent was insistent, and Belle realized that she was probably just trying to get the potential spy out of the way while they discussed their secret plans. Did they really have secret plans? Belle didn't dare ask. Then she yawned, and maybe she truly was tired, if all her thoughts were running around without getting anywhere. Maleficent took her to a guest house, where the proprietor, a motherly woman who introduced herself as Mrs. Potts, cheerfully arranged a room for her.

"They have guest houses and inns in Tartarus?" Belle boggled at the concept.

"Those shades who make their way to Mulctowne need somewhere to rest and mend their tattered souls," said Mrs. Potts. "They can barely hold onto their own names when they first arrive. It takes time before they can find their own houses."

"I see."

"Don't worry. Our current residents are mostly close to flying the nest. They're well past the screaming uncontrollably stage." Mrs. Potts smiled in much the same way as someone delivering a favorable weather report.

"Ah. I'm... I'm happy for them."

Mrs. Potts was right — Belle's room was quiet and comfortable. From the bed, she could see a patch of sky through the open window. She drifted off to sleep listening to the mournful susurrus of the wind.

She woke to the prick of a blade against her throat.

Belle knew without needing to look that it was her blade — the dagger inscribed with her name and tethered to her soul.

And when she opened her eyes, she recognized the man holding the dagger. Gaston!

Zelena had handled many magical artifacts in her time, had even become jaded to their wonder.

The Olympian Crystal was something more.

"This was the weapon used to kill Kronos." Hades showed her two dull, colorless crystals. "A bolt of lightning captured in the crystallized sap of a true love tree. It bestows the gift of obliteration. It belongs to me by right, as the lord of the dead, but Zeus cheated me of its power when he broke it and stopped my heart."

"And now you can fix it?"

"Thanks to you, my love." Hades ran his hand over the two segments. They glowed blue, then melded together with a smooth hilt in between, a double-toothed dagger that reminded Zelena of the candle that burned at both ends. "With this, we can build the kingdom that was denied to us. We can defend ourselves against those who would rob us of our happiness."

"Yes, you're right." Zelena admired the newly restored crystal, drinking in its light. Its power was infused with the magic of true love to rival anything Nevethe could wield. "All my life I've been the disposable sister, the one no one really wanted. Just like you and your brother."

"Precisely." Hades picked up the crystal. "And as a first test of its effectiveness, I'll rid myself of the miserable rat Zeus sent down here to topple me from my throne."

The silver platter made another appearance. Desperate eyes bulged in the severed head, rendered voiceless without lungs to give it air. Lips moved in a plea or a curse. Zelena found it all rather pathetic.

"You couldn't manage to stay dead?" she asked it rhetorically. She knew it was the nature of the Underworld that its inhabitants were preserved in a mockery of life no matter how tortured that existence.

"Everyone down here is dead, but that doesn't stop them from being a damned nuisance," said Hades. Then he stabbed the crystal into the old man's eye socket. A flare of lightning enveloped the severed head, and a moment later it was a pile of ashes. Hades smirked. He blew the dust off the smoking crystal with a showy flourish. "But not anymore."

After that, they hunted down the would-be usurper's followers (the ones who had escaped dissolution at the hands of the Dark Ones) and destroyed them, too. They made something of a game of it, but all too soon they ran out of targets.

"It's been fun," Hades told the last pile of smoking ashes, "but methinks it's time for us to move on. I haven't seen the sun in, oh, thousands of years."

"A terrible injustice." Zelena smirked, hooking an arm through his. "Lead on, darling."

Hades waved his other hand at the air in front of them. A swirling vortex opened, shining with flashes of color foreign to the Underworld.

They stepped through the portal together.

After the first moment of terror, Belle felt a wild elation. This was her chance to be free! Prometheus had said he could hear the voice that commanded her. But Gaston? How could it be Gaston? With the tip of the dagger biting into her skin, she didn't dare ask the question.

He grinned. "Hello, darling. Fate keeps bringing us together." He stroked a finger down the side of her face.

Belle twitched at the touch. Even though he was dead, she could still feel the repulsive heat of his breath against her skin. She forced herself to stay still. It would be disastrous if she provoked Gaston into some rash action before the others caught up.

But something in her expression must have betrayed her. Gaston's eyes narrowed. "You... what the hell are you smiling at? You're laughing at me!"

Belle wanted to shake her head, but only dared gasp, "I'm not, I swear it. It's just nerves..."

Gaston hissed, "It's more than that. What are you hiding? Tell me!"

With the force of the dagger behind the demand, Belle had no choice but to answer.

"So, this Titan thinks he can steal you from me?" sneered Gaston. "But he can't even leave this realm." He hauled Belle to her feet with one meaty hand and dragged her through the doorway, the dagger clutched in his other hand.

Her stomach lurched as reality rippled around her, and she just had time to see that they were no longer in Mrs. Potts' guest house when Gaston slammed the door shut behind them. Fear rose in her throat. "What... where is this?"

"This is my house."

"Your... house?" Belle stared at him blankly, trying to process the implications. We're in another realm. Prometheus can't find us here. Gaston could do whatever he wanted to her, and she couldn't fight him. Not when he could control her every move and compel secrets from her. She tried desperately not to think of the other secret she was hiding.

"The old man wasn't good for much, but he taught me one useful trick," said Gaston. He dragged her into a bedroom and shoved her onto the bed. "A little piece of hell that I call home. So I can thank him for that, and for this, of course." He brandished the dagger.

"He gave that to you?" And after all his posturing about not abusing his power! Anger cleared away some of the fog of terror. "He had no right!"

Gaston scoffed. "He was dead."

"So are you!"

"There's dead, and there's worse than dead." Gaston stared at Belle, his gaze drifting downwards. "But you're neither. And as for that demonspawn you're incubating—"

Belle felt the blood drain from her face. "No! Whatever you're thinking, you can't. I won't let you!"

"It's for the best, Belle. I'll give you something better. A real baby." Gaston smirked. "Once I'm alive again."

"What?" She didn't want to think it, but it was obvious. A life for a life. That was the price of magical resurrection.

"You should be grateful. That monster forced himself on you — I know you had to make the best of it, but you're free now."

"Free!" Belle choked back a hysterical laugh. "You were always the monster, Gaston!"

Gaston's face darkened. "He twisted your mind, made you forget. We grew up together, Belle! You always should have been mine. And you will be."

"I said 'no' back then, and that hasn't changed, Gaston. And I'm not letting you touch my baby." Belle wrapped her arms around herself. Stupid, you should have pretended to go along with him, play for time... But in the shock and horror of the moment, she had blurted out the truth.

"Baby? You can't be more than a few weeks along." Gaston traced the tip of the dagger along her abdomen. "But it should do for me. All I need is a spark of life. Don't worry. It won't hurt much. We both have magic now." He chuckled. "I told you, we belong together."

"No," whispered Belle, her eyes glued to the damning name inscribed on the blade.

"Poor Belle. You don't know your own mind." He sheathed the dagger at his belt. "So just to be clear, I'm keeping this knife and you won't even think of taking it from me."

Belle gasped, feeling the thoughts tear free from her mind. Her eyes blurred for a moment, and she fumbled bewilderedly at the threads of the conversation. She shook her head. "You can't..."

"I can." He smiled, reaching out to cup her chin as he looked into her eyes. "Belle..."

She recoiled. "Don't!"

He dropped his hand, and the smile. He straightened, his voice turning cold. "Still pining for that wretched little beast? Never mind. Soon enough you'll be begging for my touch..."

Belle bit back a retort and lowered her gaze. She couldn't afford to antagonize him now. She needed time to think.

"For now, make yourself at home." Gaston stepped away from the bed. He lingered a moment at the door, gazing at her. "I need to make a few preparations for the ritual. Then I'll be back."

The door closed behind him with a heavy thunk. From the other side, Belle heard the muffled command etch itself into her soul...

Stay in the room and don't try to escape.

Author's note: So, that's me caught up on chapters for posting. Updates will go back to being random and irregular now. :-P Sorry.