Of Saints And Sinners

by Valenka

Stolen from his realm with no known way of returning, Rumple must navigate this strange new world where his magic refuses to work properly. With only a kind-hearted princess chained to him for aid, how will Rumple escape this bizarre land and finally reunite with Baelfire? And will he keep his word to Princess Belle to rescue Avonlea from Gaston's clutches?

2. Chapter 2

Light streaming in through the small window and an unnecessarily loud bird chirping where what roused Rumple from his surprisingly pleasant sleep, and for a moment he'd forgotten about being trapped in this strange realm but, when he noticed Belle snuggled up to him like a loving wife, it all flooded back with a vengeance. In an instant he'd untangled himself from her and backed across the room to the desk because her waking up in his arms was not something he wanted her to see. Nobody ever wanted to touch him let alone sleep beside him, so waking up in the arms of a monster who owned her wouldn't have been a good start to the princess' day. All that and Rumple would rather have not thought about just how soft she was or how perfectly she'd slotted against him. The maps, yes the maps were the distraction his mind needed, so he sat himself down and gazed at them intently like nothing had ever happened.

For roughly an hour he studied the Trade Road and how everything was connected. If he'd been summoned to Rutherford Tower as well, then Jefferson and that hat of his could have literally ended up anywhere by now; especially since Jefferson wouldn't have been searched for by Gaston's men in the way Rumple would. The islands such as the Limestone, Black Claw Chain and the Lanhew Islets could likely be ruled out along with any other random rock with a few villages on it, but that didn't exactly narrow things down at all. The Enchanted Forest wasn't exactly small, yet Dreymyr was seemingly endless. Rumpelstiltskin boasted the power of immortality though so time was on his side, he'd wander all the way to Cordbal in the east if he had to. Gorasitz, Dorovoth's capital, seemed like a decent bet but Belle had mentioned Locheart since it was such a large city and filled with crafters of all kinds: anything was better than nothing.

Belle shuffled then sleepily reached out for Rumple only to be woken by his absence. She rubbed sleep from her lovely blue eyes and carefully pushed herself up while Rumple pretended not to notice her.

"Good morning." Belle greeted as she stretched almost obscenely.

"I'm sure it is, dearie."

With a roll of her eyes she slipped out of bed and started to put on her dress seemingly uncaring he was there only to pause when she found just how much muck had caked the bottom of it. The golden gown had been made for walking the halls of a castle rather than dusty city streets and country roads. At home the maids would have automatically laundered it and prepared a new dress for her, but the maids were so very far away and Belle would have to manage on her own. She was no damsel though and could rise to the challenge. Almost begrudgingly she filled the wash basin by the door with a little water and started scrubbing at the mud in a poor attempt to get it clean. Rumple's initial reaction was to simply conjure her a new one but of course nothing happened and the frustration had him grumble at the back of his throat. Normally he'd just fashion things from bolts of various fabrics he had in storage back at the Dark Castle, but that ability had essentially keeled over dead. He'd have rather provided her with a new dress befitting of her beauty but, since he couldn't, Rumple decided to change tact. He rose to his feet, wandered to the other side of their room - all of five steps – and focused on pulling the mud and water out of the fabric. Amazingly, delightfully, the dirt magically retracted from the dress and dropped into the wash basin with a slosh.

"Thank you!" Belle beamed, ecstatic to have something clean to wear even if her dress was totally inappropriate.

She got dressed quickly while Rumple stared out the window to give her some semblance of privacy. The streets had started to fill with people going about there day and, thankfully, that noisy bird had finally shut up. Rumple spent as little time as possible around people, but there he was tethered to a princess living in a tavern surrounded by people … and they had no idea what he was.

Eventually the time came for the pair to leave the small room and venture out into Ranga's streets, Rumple wanted a better lay of the land and to see if Jefferson was wandering around anywhere. His nonsensical magic capabilities remained at the forefront of his mind as they walked though, then again, it had been on his mind since he'd been summoned. People continued to hardly take notice of him, and that did periodically drag him out of his internal grumblings because he just wasn't used to not causing panic and fear everywhere he went. There was both something refreshing and unnerving about it. Even when he'd been mortal people had taken notice of him – taken notice of the cane was more like it. Rumple half expected to turn a corner to find an army of knights ready to kill him, however, instead of knights, a gray-skinned man Rumple took to be a demon waved politely at him as their paths crossed; he couldn't possibly remember the last time somebody had waved at him.

There was a surprising array of shops lining the busy streets and a healthy market selling everything from fresh bread to small ornaments. People giggled, chatted and invited people over to see what caught their eye, all while a delicate breeze blew through the air. Happy, the city sounded happy.

A large church stood near the market clad in white and statues of some woman Belle informed him was Drazva, the goddess of a religion followed almost exclusively by humans. According to the princess, Drazva, or the Divine Mother, was believed to have descended from the sun to bring life in the form of the first humans. However, as Belle had gone on, Rumple had just slowly started to realize this religion was little more than wide-spread human supremely wrapped up in ornate robes and veiled words. No, Rumple hadn't ever put much faith in religion of any kind, in his experience it had always caused more damage than anything else. With the church bypassed, they soon passed the fountain at the centre of a plaza where Belle took notice of the largest building they'd seen so far. Vast windows like they'd seen on the church but it hadn't been decorated in such a gaudy way – in fact, it hadn't been decorated all that much at all, just a stone building with people clad in leather, chain mail and plate armor coming and going occasionally.

"Rumpelstiltskin?" He turned on the spot to face her while she gazed at the building. "You need gold, yes?"

"Well, I could just take what I want, but it would be better not to be hindered by idiots trying to kill me for fame and fortune."

She took that to be a long-winded way of saying he did indeed require gold. Normally he hated everybody around him, but Belle was surprisingly easy to talk to and tease.

"Then we should join the Adventurers Guild. They'd pay gold for completing quests."

"Do I look like I go on quests, dearie?"

Sure he'd explored and killed a few beasts here and there but proper questing was more Prince Charming's wheelhouse than his.

Belle deflated. "Sorry, I just thought-"

Rumpelstiltskin cut her off for two reasons: first was that she had actually made a rather good point, while the second surprised him because it turned out he didn't like seeing her sad expression. It wasn't just his magic that had started acting odd, he had as well.

He shrugged in an attempt to appear disinterested. "I suppose it would work for now. What do we do? Are there forms of some kind?"

Belle shrugged, odd for a princess. "I don't know, I've never been allowed to have much to do with adventurers."

"Too many lowlifes for you, Princess Belle?"

"Overprotective father and a controlling duke's son intent on marrying me." She shot back which had the Dark One smirk.

"I must say, you're taking this situation we've found ourselves in impressively well."

"I have little choice but to take it well." Rumple supposed that was true. "And please call me Belle instead of dearie. I've already learned you use that word like an insult, so I'd rather you refrained from using it on me."

"And what do I get in return?"

"Gratitude."

He smirked: yes, Rumple liked this girl, she had fight inside her despite having found herself his slave. A strange little princess, but certainly not a boring one.

Together they entered the Adventurers Guild building and found the understated decor continued inside. Those large windows let in a good amount of light and, though peppered with colored glass, still looked fairly plain. A large main hall stretched out before them with doors leading off in all directions, flagstones were scuffed somewhat with age and gruff-looking people had gathered in small groups to talk about whatever adventurers talked about. Belle got a few glances due to her totally inappropriate gown but otherwise they were ignored. The weapons of these adventurers weren't shiny or new but rather worn and scuffed, these people had seen battle and would put up a damn good fight. Belle had called them adventurers but Rumple thought a more apt word would have been mercenary; a literal army ready for hire all easily accessed and neatly organized. To be perfectly frank, Rumple admired this logic and ingenuity.

To their right was a carved reception desk tucked under one of those impressive windows with three fairly pretty girls dressed identically in gray-green outfits with flowing white shirts. Two where human and blonde while the closest, and therefore the one Rumple approached, was a grasswalker with bold red hair. He still hadn't quite gotten over the idea of people with animal ears and tails, but the woman behind the desk had some of the longest rabbit ears he'd seen so far. They were a stark white which surprised him since the rest of her locks were red, yet that was all of very little import to Rumple in that moment: that and he preferred the pantherian ears, not that he'd admit that.

She flashed them a smile as they came to a stop before her, a practised one designed to put angry adventurers at ease.

"Hello," she greeted. "My name is Maylea, welcome to the Adventurers Guild. How can I assist you today?"

Before Rumple could even open his mouth Belle was speaking, apparently playing the slave others assumed her to be.

"My master wishes to join the Guild."

Maylea glanced at the Dark One as if to confirm that for herself, then beamed and pulled out a rather lengthy form and quill.

"Perfect, I just need your name and your magic level." When he stared at her blankly she changed tact. "Not been assessed? Not a problem." Out from under the desk, much as the form had, came a heavy book bound in redish leather which she struggled to manoeuvrer and flip open. The reason for the weight became clear when they saw the large garnet fixed in the centre of a page, kind of embedded within the paper like the two had been fused by some sort of metallic spiderweb. Rumple could feel the magic inside it from where he stood, powerful in a way he'd never seen before. "Just place your hand on the blank page and the crystal will tell us your magic level."

With a raised eyebrow Rumple stared at the book, he doubted it could do anything to harm him so he obeyed the request and placed his clawed hand atop the page. At first the crystal glowed faintly then surged to life almost blinding Belle and the grasswalker known as Maylea, Rumple felt heat radiate from it almost scorching his hand, then, with a remarkable spread, the crystal blew apart into a thousand tiny shards. One of the blonde girls behind the desk let out a yelp while the other ducked down for safety. Belle's eyes had gone wide but Rumpelstiltskin didn't seem affected in the slightest, he simply brushed a few crystal fragments from his punctured coat, sighed and looked to Maylea expectantly.

"What does that mean?"

Maylea gulped as her colleague finally reappeared from under the desk. "That- that hasn't ever happened before. Em, you're higher than level one hundred. No one is higher than one hundred. Who are you?!"

Rumple giggled and made a show of bowing. "I'm the Dark One, dearie."

That caused three things to happen: the first was that the three girls behind the counter all ground to a halt and fought the urge to flee, next was the few adventurers close enough to hear quietly reached for their weapons, and the third was Belle rolling her eyes rather dramatically. He'd been wanting to keep a low profile but his flamboyant introductions had become almost automatic over his three hundred years and it had sort of slipped out. Rumple had no time to formulate any plan though because suddenly all attention was on somebody behind him. He spun around on the spot to see a woman wearing blue and brown leather armor, and she did not have an issue meeting Rumple's eye.

"I'll take it from here, Maylea." She insisted. "Please come with me … sir."

There was a reluctance to follow her but Rumple's curiosity won out so he and Belle did as asked. They slipped through a large door to the right of the reception desk, up two flights of winding stairs and into a fairly large office. A desk occupied the middle of the room with two leather Chesterfields in front of that with a coffee table between them. Candles lit the dark corners daylight couldn't reach and several weapons adorned the walls. The armor-clad woman sat herself down at her desk then gazed at Rumple and Belle with a calculated expression which reminded Rumple of his own: he already liked this woman.

When he looked at her properly he saw her to be a rather beautiful woman compared to the sweaty adventurers downstairs. Her mousy hair was held in two intricate braids that exposed her ears proving her a human, her pale blue eyes didn't waver as she looked at him and, though not overly tall, she'd learned how to hold herself to command a room.

"I am Chief Commander Gordana Aalto, I oversee all the Guild buildings in the ten kingdoms." She leaned back in her chair as if daring them to make a smart comment. "May I have your name, so-called Dark One?"

"Rumpelstiltskin." He announced with a grand flare. "And there's no 'so-called' about it, dearie."

Gordana let out a little hum. "Unique name."

"Isn't it just." He waggled a claw towards the closed door. "Your girl out there, Maylea, said something about level one hundred and me being higher. Tell me about that. Where I'm from magic isn't measured like that."

Gordana lifted an eyebrow questioningly and scoffed. "That's how it's measured all over Dreymyr."

"I'm not from Dreymyr." He snapped back. "Your little legends about me say I appeared from nowhere and vanished totally out of the blue, did it never occur to you people I'm from a different realm, dearie?" Belle was tempted to tell Rumple he was being unnecessarily rude to the Chief Commander but she doubted he'd care even an iota. "Now, tell me about these levels."

Gordana sighed and eyed him for a few brief moments, her expression of assessment much like Rumple's own. She gazed at his skin with its oddly snake-like quality, a trait no other demon shared. She took mental note of his clothing and how unusual it was, how out of place, and then she met those eyes and knew he'd spoken the truth; the Dark One had come from another realm. At first she'd assumed him some idiot demon wanting to puff his reputation up by claiming to be a demon lord. Gordana hadn't ever really believed the stories of the Dark One, but the more she looked at him, he more she started to wonder if they hadn't been just stories after all. Part of her wanted to keep calm and discuss the situation logically like the guildmaster she was, but another part of her urged her to grab her bow and strike the demon lord down before he suddenly decided to stop playing nice and wipe out Ranga. If the man before her truly was the Dark One then he could kill them all, yet the more she looked at him, the more Gordana thought him just curious. Then there was the blue-eyed girl with him; young, late teens maybe, pretty and not a warrior by any stretch of the world, she looked more like he'd plucked her out of her father's mansion. Apparently Rumple didn't know what magic levels were but he certainly knew about the enslavement ritual. She hadn't appreciated being spoken to in such a way in her own guild headquarters, but all her instincts said this really was the First Demon Lord and, while not as quick to violence as the other three demon lords had been, answering his questions currently seemed like the best tactic to protect her people. However, all of that said, Gordana had a sharp tongue and wouldn't act a pushover; she'd not cower.

"All right, I'll explain like I'm speaking to a child." That had Rumple giggle. "When we're born, no matter what species we are, we have some level of magic affinity. It is higher in some and lower in others. Those with a higher level can use aberrant or compost magic, their spells are stronger and last longer. The crystal you just blew up measures that magical level by converting a portion of your mana to light, the brighter it is, the stronger you are." Gordana made a vague gesturing motion. "There are a few ways to increase your magic level like training at the Arcane University or with certain potions, but most of those aren't legal of course. Through history only a handful of people have ever reached one hundred."

Rumple smirked while Belle simply stood there taking everything in and wondering if this conversation would eventually turn into a fight.

"Let me guess, they're all demon lords?"

"Yes." She scrutinized him skeptically. "I'm not one to beat around the bush, Rumpelstiltskin, I'd very much like to classify you as a crackpot and toss you out on your ass, but I've been at my post a while now and I have a good sense of when people are lying. You aren't. You're the Dark One, and as much as that terrifies me, I can tell you aren't like the other demon lords because you can be reasoned with." She sighed, an all too common occurrence for Gordana that day. "Or perhaps I have lost my edge and you are just a crackpot."

"He killed an entire army of mages yesterday when they summoned him from another realm. I was there, I saw it." Belle confessed which drew the older woman's attention quickly back to her.

Stories of the evil Dark One had been spread far and wide through the Enchanted Forest since long before Rumple's birth, no one questioned the Dark One's existence but in Dreymyr, it seemed they lingered between thinking him a cautionary tale and a boogeyman. Gordana and her people would need more proof than him magically appearing to offer a deal, so, when a display of various daggers caught his eye, Rumple grabbed one, made sure the women were watching, and plunged in into his neck to the hilt. A touch dramatic perhaps, but it got his point across. Belle's eyes widened in horror as she launched toward him all while Gordana watched curiously from her desk. Yet, when Rumple pulled the blade out there wasn't so much as a speck of blood. Belle took the dagger and threw it aside so she could hurriedly check for a wound; later she'd question why she was so quick to go to his aid. Rumple though, he'd given Gordana the proof she'd wanted so hopefully they'd be able to move the conversation on.

"How about now, dearie? Crackpot or demon lord?"

The woman with braids swallowed because there was no denying it any longer. "I think you might be both." He chuckled, madness was a blanket he'd grown used to having wrapped around him, it was made of death and misery but it kept him warm. "The First Demon Lord wants to be one of my adventurers of all things?"

"Kills time," Rumple shrugged.

"Please, Chief Commander." Belle began. "He's the Dark One, yes, but he isn't the monster the Church would have us believe."

For almost a full minute Gordana sat silently lost in thought. At first she'd just wanted to keep him calm and from razing the city, hell all of Dorovoth, but his slave seemed to trust him and Rumple had shown he could indeed be reasoned with. Perhaps, if she played her cards right, she could end up with Rumple as friend rather than foe, a very powerful friend who'd be able to protect instead of destroy. Second chances was something Gordana had always firmly believed in, nobody was entirely good or evil and if they were willing to change their ways then she would give them the opportunity. Demon lords had all changed for the worse, but they'd already concluded Rumple wasn't like Halinox, Ivosanch or Ravavena.

Gordana nodded shakily. "Very well, I'll make a special allowance for you. Level 101 since we can't measure you beyond that. As long as you complete quests, treat my Guild with respect and don't harm my staff, you are welcome here."

Oh, Rumple just had to ask: "And if I do?"

"I prefer not to threaten, but since you asked me. You do and I'll be forced to remind you there were three other demon lords and we have defeated them all."

"Impersonations of the real thing, I assure you." With that Rumple turned all his attention to Belle who'd been unusually quiet the entire time. "Belle, what is your level?"

"I haven't been assessed since childhood, back then I was twenty. I know that isn't impressive, but I am a tamer."

"We can check you now, if you like." From a drawer in the left side of her desk, Gordana took another of the books with a garnet-like crystal embedded in its pages. She opened it, spun it around and gestured for Belle to place her hand. Rumple had caused an intense glow of blinding light, but Belle simply got a dull flicker. "Thirty, not bad for somebody who hasn't explored their magical capabilities, but it is still a low ranking. If you're a tamer then it shouldn't really matter." Blue eyes tilted back to Rumple. "Although, I doubt you'll need to make your slave fight."

"She isn't my slave." Rumple snapped a little too quickly.

"A pet then."

"Nor am I a pet."

Gordana Aalto was a busy woman in charge of the entire Adventurers Guild, she didn't have time to work out if the collar was thrust upon her or to satisfy some sexual desire.

"Whatever she is, if you intend to have her as your companion while working, Rumpelstiltskin, she needs to be a Guild member same as you. Normally we'd not let an iron-ranked take any high level quest, but since you're off the charts and I'm making exceptions today, she'll probably be fine. Normally we'd give you a test to see if you're suitable and capable, but considering you just buried a dagger in your throat and came away unscathed, I'll waive that." Rumple let out a sarcastic 'how kind' but the mousy-haired woman ignored it in favor or questioning Belle. "What is your full name?"

"Belle du Marchand." She answered honestly only for Gordana to ground to a halt.

She stared at Belle a moment in horror because she'd been speaking rather rudely to a damn princess the whole time. The gold dress suddenly made a lot more sense and Gordana did her best to regain her composure.

"You're Princess Belle of Avonlea? Seriously?"

Belle nodded with a polite smile while Rumple delighted in the guildmaster's awkwardness.

"Yes, that's me. I know I'm wearing a slave collar and that, with him being the First Demon Lord, you're probably not inclined to believe me when I say this, but it is true. A spell went very, very wrong and resulted in my enslavement. Rumpelstiltskin has been kind enough to promise his aid in removing it."

Gordana leaned forward over the book seemingly uncaring Rumple could hear every word. "Sure you weren't kidnapped?"

He'd gotten that sort of reaction a lot in his years as the Dark One. If he spent more than thirty seconds talking to any woman, especially a pretty one, it was assumed he had grand plans to steal her away to his castle where he'd keep her as a whore and broodmare. Belle had made her deal freely though, she'd gone with him willingly.

"I take offence to that, dearie." He teased.

"I don't care."

"You have realized I'm the First Demon Lord." Rumple had started to like that title.

Gordana fell back in her chair, any nervousness Belle's reveal had brought had subsided. "I've seen enough shit to speak my mind even when faced with a mythic demon lord."

"I didn't kidnap her." Why did he suddenly care if people thought badly of him?

"He's telling the truth, though I suggest you don't believe anything Gaston LeGume may tell you. I wasn't kidnapped."

"Good. Kindly wait in the lobby and I'll have your chains made. Don't make me regret this, Rumpelstilskin."

Rumple wasn't used to being asked to wait or spoken to in such a way, he wasn't a damn merchant waiting for the place to take his goods in. Although, Belle tugging on his clawed hand so sweetly soon had him moving back down to the lobby where she took a seat on an uncomfortable bench and he leaned against a stone pillar with his arms folded across his chest. Gordana Aalto had irritated him in the best of ways, he liked her fight and that she spoke her mind despite the natural wave of fear under her skin. Truthfully there was something which reminded him of Regina back before he and her mother had finished corrupting her soul. Gordana was what Regina should have been; an independent woman capable of fighting her own battles without being shoved towards darkness by those around her. Going back on his promise to Bae was his biggest regret, but that didn't stop what he'd done to Regina being a smaller one.

"Why so nervous, Belle?" He asked when he decided he no longer wished to think of the past.

"I'm sorry. I don't quite know how I should act. I am a princess, enslaved and now an adventurer. It is all rather confusing for me."

"You've been trained from birth how to act like a princess, I would assume. As for the collar, it was an accidental result of your wanna-be fiancé's greed, judging by what you've told me, and his stupid sorcerer friend – no, not sorcery, they're mages here. Just act like yourself, Belle, I don't want a slave and the adventurers mostly seem to be focused on who's sword is bigger and sweat."

Much to his shock that actually made Belle laugh a little and soon had her shoulders relaxing, women normally shied away from him or started screaming, they didn't laugh sweetly. Nobody ever laughed at his jokes. Princess Belle was unusual but surprisingly he liked her.

Outside in Ranga's streets they could hear people buying, selling and chatting and if Rumple closed his eyes, just for a moment, he was back selling thread while Bae napped beside him. He'd broken his first promise to Bae, but he'd made a new one to find his boy and fix everything; this promise wouldn't be broken.

"You said this was Dorovoth, yes, a neighboring kingdom to yours?" Belle nodded. "Tell me about it."

They were stuck together thanks to the collar and Belle had agreed to be his well of information so she might as well have made herself useful while they waited for the chains.

"Sure, I can do that." She cleared her throat. "Em, the King is Artem Van Winchell, he's fair and wise but very old – older than my papa. His son is called Gottfried and I wouldn't be surprised if he's crowned by the end of next year. I've met Prince Gottfried at a few balls, he's nice and has a decent sense of humor, he's wise like King Artem as well. I'm friends with his daughter, Demelza is only a year older than me so we've always been rather close."

"I was hoping for more in regards to the Kingdom than your friendships and whose dog hates whose cat."

Belle frowned at his teasing but didn't let it deter her. "Fine. Dorovoth is a peaceful place, it has acted as host for several negotiation talks and, as you've probably guessed, the Adventurer's Guild headquarters is here. Gorasitz is not far, that is the capital; I've only been there a few times to visit Demelza but the view of the Spikes is amazing, very majestic."

"Hmm, then you'd like the view of the mountains from my castle." He muttered mostly to himself but Belle heard it and perked up curiously with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Castle? You live in a castle? What am I saying – all demon lords have a castle, it's like the first thing they do."

Rumple shrugged. "Actually it was a later acquisition."

Belle could see he had no real desire to talk about his home but Belle could never turn down a story and wanted to squeeze as much as she could from him before her chance was gone.

"Please tell me about your castle, your realm. Can you really travel between them all so easily?"

Rumple flashed her a smirk. "What is in it for me? Maybe you just want to know the monster's weaknesses."

"I hardly know you, but I've already learned you're not a monster." Rumple didn't seem convinced. "Please tell me. I've read almost everything about the kingdoms and it's boring, I want to hear about the realms you've visited and what you've seen."

"I could just order you to stop asking."

"You promised you wouldn't."

"Maybe I lied."

Belle shook her head. "No, you didn't. Now, tell me about your castle, you said there are mountains?"

He sighed and hoped they hurried up with whatever these guild chains were.

"Yes. It's high up in the mountains so I'm mostly left alone. It snows a lot of the time as well which helps keep people out. It's a huge castle filled with my collection of things and the children I hunt for their pelts." Belle gasped, her eyes widened and she pushed away from him automatically. "That was a quip, dearie, not serious."

"Oh. Em, okay." She breathed out a sigh of relief and offered him a sweet smile as her heart rate calmed. "It hardly ever snows in Avonlea. There are stories from Ten Kingdom Castle that say it snows in the ogre's land."

Belle had intended to say more but, before she could, the grasswalker called Maylea approached them hesitantly and handed them each some sort of necklace.

"Your membership guild chains, Milord." Rumple lifted an eyebrow at the 'milord' but didn't comment. "You'll need these to prove you're members to the other Guild buildings."

Both had simple steel chains easily worn around the neck and not that large. Belle's had an iron tag that somebody had carefully carved 'Belle du Marchand' and 'Tamer' into while Rumple's had two tags lined in actual gold; one similarly engraved to Belle's with 'Rumpelstiltskin' and 'Battlemage' while the other one just said 'Demon Lord'.

"What is this, dearie?"

"Your em, your identification like I said. Your slave has reached an iron rank while you – you're in a whole new rank the Chief Commander is calling 'double gold'. Your chains serve as proof of your level and some inns and weapon shops will provide discounts to adventurers."

Rumple couldn't decide if these people were too organized or just organized enough. When he asked no follow up questions, Maylea took the hint and scurried off back to the reception desk with her two blonde colleagues like the big bad Dark One couldn't reach her there: at least Maylea's reaction to him was a normal one.

"Looks like word of who I am has travelled quickly, I hope Gordana stops it getting out the building."

"News of demon lords always travels quickly. Although, maybe forgo announcing yourself as the Dark One from now on."

Rumple let out a little hum and the two slipped their guild chains over their heads, Rumple tucked his into his shirt while Belle continued to examine her own.

"What do we do with these things now then?"

Belle pointed at a large notice board covered with numerous sheets of paper. "I'd imagine you just select a quest from the board. If they've invented a new rank just for you, then I'd assume you can take whatever quest you want."

The pair made their way to the board alongside a few other adventurers somewhat anticlimactically, he'd not expected quite so much bureaucracy in a place dedicated to fighting. The top of each posted quest had one of the rankings written in large capital letters but nothing seemed to be above a bronze. While Belle read them all properly from one side of the board to the other, Rumple just skimmed them after he found most were to do with bandits.

"What are teratects?"

Belle shivered. "Disturbingly large spiders. They like caves and forests." She peered at the quest for herself. "This is fairly low ranked, thought you'd wants something more … flamboyant than spiders."

Rumple side-eyed her but let the comment go: apparently he was in a good mood. "It's close and it's quick which means easy coin."

Without another word, he ripped it down from the notice board and was about to teleport them outside the city when Belle pointed out he needed to register he was taking the quest with Maylea. That was a task which took all of two minutes and then they were gone to beyond Ranga's gates with Maylea staring timidly at the space they'd left behind.

Outside the city was an expanse of flat land and a fairly straight road he knew was the Trade Road to the Dravenhyde trading post thanks to the maps Belle had gotten him. Getting a good lay of the land was the first thing Rumple did in any new realm and Dreymyr was no different; he might have been trapped, but he'd not let that prevent him learning everything he could about Belle's strange home.

Though it was quite some distance away, down a gradual slope and around various boulders, Rumple could see a vast treeline to the west that the maps had called Bear Forest. Large, dark and a little ominous like any good forest should have been.

"The quest is for ten teratects and Bear Forest is full of the things, apparently. There will be more than enough for your quota."

Rumple let out a little hum and again read the quest notice. "The quota, yes. What exactly is a teratect's prime eye?"

"Those horrible things have seven eyes instead of the usual eight." She explained while wrapping her dress skirt around herself again: it really was totally inappropriate for questing. "The biggest one in the middle is the prime eye. Armorsmiths use the eyes to treat some leather armors to make them more resilient to venoms and acids. You should probably grab their venom glands as well, they're worth a reasonable amount of money."

Rumple's head cocked to the side as he tucked the quest notice away in his damaged coat. "And just how does a pretty princess know so much about giant spiders?"

"I'm an unusual princess-"

"I'll believe that."

"-and I like to read. I saw fighters in the arenas go up against teratects a few time when Gaston insisted I accompany him. I found myself curious about them, so I decided to read up on the subject."

Satisfied by her answer, Rumple snared Belle around her slender waist and teleported them to the treeline of Bear Forest saving them several hours of walking and much grumbling about Belle's dress. As soon as they materialized the chestnut-haired beauty pushed away from him and doubled over as if preparing to throw up her breakfast. Rumple paid her little mind, just stared into the dark forest with curiosity.

"I thought I'd gotten used to your spacial magic."

Spacial magic? He'd never heard it called that before but he supposed it was somewhat accurate. Belle righted herself, took several steadying breaths then glanced between him and the forest then back. To Belle it was just a forest, admittedly one filled with giant spider monsters but a forest nevertheless. To Rumple though, it was a strange new place for him to explore: nothing had been new to him in so very, very long.

"Come along, dearie, we haven't got all day."

With that they entered Bear Forest in search of the teratects for their quest: Rumple with his usual flamboyance despite his punctured coat and shirt, and Belle with some hesitation and an annoyingly puffy dress.

Though daylight, very little managed to permeate its way down to the ground inside the thick forest. All the trees appeared knotted as if in pain, there were too many places for a monster to hide and stones stuck up out of the ground just about everywhere. Come nightfall the forest would be pitch black and only an immortal like himself would stand a chance of escape. The most disturbing part was that there weren't any ambient animal sounds, no crickets or squirrels rustling in the undergrowth, just eerie silence indicative of a predictor being close by. Of course Rumple wasn't afraid, even a coward didn't fear when they knew they couldn't die, but he suddenly understood why Belle had been hesitant to step into the dark woodland: Bear Forest hid monsters.

The Dark One ventured further into the ominous depths with Belle trailing after him. They moved slow and silent save for an occasional crunching of fallen leaves underfoot. For a few minutes Rumple managed to pretend he was back in the Enchanted Forest without a care in the world, but then he stepped on something sticky and, when he lifted his boot, he found a thick strand of web stuck to the bottom.

Belle peered around cautiously. "How do we find them?"

"We don't," he smirked. "We wait for them to find us, dearie."

"I know you're my master now but would you please call me Belle instead of dearie." Yes, she had asked him repeatedly. "And what do you mean 'we wait for them to find us'? Teratects are the reason there aren't any bears in Bear Forest."

"Yes, that sounds very sad, dear-" she glared at him. "-Belle. This is easier and quicker though. You don't mind being bait, do you? Good."

Before Belle could even think about a response she'd been shoved backward into the undergrowth laced with numerous teratect trap lines and stumbled over a rock to land on her backside. That the First Demon Lord wasn't a gentleman shouldn't have surprised anybody. Those striking blue eyes of hers flashed up to glare at Rumple but he was gone, faded into the shadows like the dark soul he was.

"Rumpelstiltskin?" She called out as fear started to well up inside her. The late Queen Colette had told her 'be brave and bravery will follow', but there and then Belle would have given just about anything for the Dark One to return to her. Rationally she knew he couldn't have gone far, the collar would have punished her, but Bear Forest was notorious for monsters and she had no way of protecting herself. "I'm the Princess of Avonlea, you can't just use me as bait!"

A giggle came from the shadowy distance followed by his singsonged voice. "Complaining just makes you louder bait!"

Belle's mouth clamped shut but it was too late for a quiet rustling sounded in the trees and everything inside Belle told her something was preparing to pounce. Dreading what she'd find, Belle peered upward and screamed loud and sharp; there, creeping ever closer, were maybe half a dozen brown teratects with disturbingly shiny eyes all lacking mercy. Belle du Marchand prided herself on being a logical person void of vapid, stereotypical expectations, but in that moment everything told Belle to pick a direction and flee in it. None of that mattered though, her legs had gone weak and she'd gotten tangled up in her skirts when Rumple had pushed her: Belle couldn't have run even if she'd tried. The beasts stalked closer, their long legs carefully carried them out the trees and through the undergrowth as they penned her in.

"Rumpelstiltskin, do something!"

All the stories made the Dark One out to be a remorseless, odious monster with the moral compass of a snake, but Belle knew that wasn't true despite having known him for such a short period of time. A scary appearance didn't a monster make and Belle knew he'd not let her be devoured from the inside by huge spiders. Just as she started to doubt her certainty, a fireball struck the closest teratect which promptly tumbled backward and curled in on itself dead, then a volley of flames were launched at the spiders and poor Belle had no choice but to cover her head with her hands and wait for it to be over. In the end all that remained was the smell of chard teratects, a horrifically acrid scent Belle hadn't been prepared for. She sat there in a pool of her own skirts all tangled up with web and twigs: nobody had ever treated a princess so shamelessly – okay, Gaston had. With a sigh she fished around for a stick that she used to free herself of the web, then she made her way in the direction of Rumpelstiltskin. She hated being used as bait, especially by an unabashed demon lord; she wasn't a damsel in distress, she was a curious princess who'd found herself roped to the mysterious Dark One.

He'd nestled himself some distance away in a particularly dark section of the forest by a fallen tree but Belle's steps didn't falter. There were more than just teratects lurking inside Bear Forest; hammer boars, tree cats and maybe even a damn waheela. Still, Belle hadn't ever turned away from danger and soon rejoined Rumple who'd found an adorable little ball of fluff perched on the fallen tree.

"Don't use me as bait again."

"What is this thing?" He asked totally ignoring her.

Belle sighed. "It's a wing ear. A cute and adorable little creature which isn't important right now."

The little fur ball scurried away then with its ears fluttering as it went and and Rumple's attention turned back to the dead giant spiders and promptly started ripping the prime eyes out the corpses. Belle simply stared at him, surrounded by dead things with a hand smothered in blood, but he hardly batted an eye. The foul odor of fiery death permeated everything and stung Belle's lovely blue eyes but she didn't shy away. It would have taken a whole party of adventures to kill so many teratects so quickly. Belle frowned: he'd used her as bait. Meanwhile, Rumple was just pleased he'd been able to conjure fireballs.

"I could have died, Rumpelstiltskin. Any of those things could have killed me."

He didn't even pause, just snickered. "But you didn't."

With a wave of his hand the armful of prime eyes vanished in a puff of purple smoke and Belle's eyes widened: it wasn't every day one got to witness dark magic so freely cast.

"Where did they go?"

"Back to the inn. There were too many to carry."

She raised an eyebrow. "You can transport things? You can just do that?"

"Princess, you seem more surprised by that than me teleporting us. Now, come here." Rumple gestured for her to join him quickly. "The sooner we hand the eyes in, the sooner I can get my gold."

Belle looked him up and down, coat ripped where one of Gaston's men had struck him with an arrow, teratect blood smothering his hands, and shook her head.

"You're covered in blood."

The Dark One rolled his eyes. "And she says I'm the slave master. Fine." Fire, teleportation and his immortality seemed to be the only magic he had any real control over, but, as he had with her dress, Rumple managed to suck the blood from his hand and sleeve leaving it good as new. "Better?"

With a nod she joined him and the two returned to their room at the Teapot Inn. Thankfully, Belle had finally started to become accustom to the Dark One's preferred mode of transportation and no longer felt quite so motion sick. As expected the teratect prime eyes were sat neatly on the small desk leaking blood and gunk into the wood: in the back of her mind Belle could hear the quiet grumblings of Kalecaster Castle's maids at such a messy sight.

Rumple left the small room only to return a moment later with a hessian sack, probably liberated from the kitchen, and shoved the eyes inside while Belle ran her fingers through her hair to get it back in some semblance of order.

"We're going to complete our quest. Come on."

The beautiful princess had expected for him to poof back to the Guild dramatically, but instead they walked. People watched him, of course they watched him, they'd been watching the strange demon and well-dressed slave since they'd arrived in Ranga, not that anyone could blame them. His clothes were strange and his skin was more green than the traditional gray of other demons. Rumple didn't seem to care not even when a kid noticed the double gold chain around his neck and charged off to tell her mother.

Not a word was passed between them from inn to Guild, nor when he slammed the sack of prime eyes on the reception desk and Maylea simply stared at the bag while they dripped and questioned how he'd gotten to and from Bear Forest so fast. Rumple wasn't the sort of demon lord to share. It wasn't until they'd returned to the streets, quieter and less crowded now the market stalls had started to pack away, that they spoke again. Rumple may have turned a blind eye to Belle's dress and just how ill-suited it was to – well, anything that wasn't sitting sensibly in a nice, warm palace. Finding her new clothes was on his list of things to do, it just wasn't particularly high. Speaking of the princess, he stopped dead when he realized she wasn't at his side. When he glanced around he spotted her with her face practically glued to the window of a book shop. Odd princess indeed.

"You like to read?"

Later, much later, he'd ask himself why he suddenly cared about her preferences. He'd also ask himself why he liked that she didn't jump or fear him.

"Oh, yes!" She beamed. "I have a great many books at ho-"

Belle cut herself off sorrowfully and Rumple told himself it didn't matter she missed her home.

"You want that one." It wasn't a question.

The books might have proven useful and giving the teenager a book would keep her quiet, so Rumple wandered in knowing Belle would follow.

The shop was lined on all sides with bookshelves full of tomes bound in red, black and brown leather, that distinctive 'new book' scent filled the small space paired with a faint smell of tallow candles. Even the knotted wooden counter had books stacked high. Quaint: that was the best word Rumple could think of to describe the place.

"You're my master now," Belle pointed out. "There's no need for you to buy me books."

Rumple said nothing; sure she'd told him there was no need but Belle couldn't hide her want for them, and that was exactly what had Rumple stride directly to the old man behind the counter. He had a long white beard, wire glasses and some of the thickest eyebrows Rumple had ever seen. He gestured over his shoulder at the book Belle had been looking at while the bookseller looked Rumple up and down.

"How much for the book in the window? The one in the red leather."

The white-haired man pushed his glasses back up his nose. "You mean The Cardinal Dragons and Other Myths by Hubert Hortensia? It's ten coppers."

Rumple couldn't help thinking that was a little high for a simple book, but he had plenty after how many teratects he'd killed, so Rumple paid with one of the silver coins he'd been given for the eyes while Belle stood quietly amazed he'd actually gotten her the book. The stack of change was somewhat excessive and had probably almost cleaned the man out of smaller denomination coins: good to have change though. Rumple had always struggled to make silver, it wasn't as easy as gold.

"I'm Rodrick Zule by the way. Welcome to my shop." He said as he fetched the aforementioned tome. "I'll just wrap this up for you."

"No need. Belle, grab your book."

That wasn't something Belle needed to be told twice. Quickly it was snatched up into her arms and cradled lovingly like a newborn babe. The two left after Belle had made sure to thank Mister Zule. As soon as they were outside the scent of cooking meat reached Rumple and for the first time in a great long while Rumple's mouth watered, and it actually surprised him a little: since the Dark One didn't need to eat, he usually didn't bother.

"Thank you for this, Rumpelstiltskin." She told him genuinely while still cuddling their purchase.

"Gratitude isn't needed, it'll keep you occupied while I'm working. Princesses shouldn't go getting bored."

The chestnut-haired beauty rolled her stunning blue eyes because she knew what he was doing; didn't let it stop her thanking him though.

"Still, there were cheaper books."

"Consider it your share of the earnings for today. You made excellent bait."

"Hmm, I'm not sure that's a complement."

Rumple shrugged while Belle peered inside her book curiously. "We'll never know. Now, supper is our next task, I think."

Belle had no reason to object – not that Rumple would have cared if she had – so they went back to the Teapot Inn to eat. Six coppers each was, according to Belle, a very fair price for their evening meal and he was inclined to take her word for it. Once supper was gone, they headed upstairs to their room where Rumple returned to map research while Belle read: at least Belle tried to read. Normally she had no trouble at all burying herself in a book for hours on end, but she found herself steadily paying more and more attention to the odd master she'd found herself with. The Dark One had been part of myth and history for over a thousand years, but Rumple was different to all the legends. He looked dangerous, acted as though he couldn't care less about anybody or anything, and liked to pretend he wasn't still panicking about his magic not functioning properly. All that said, that he wasn't a monster was a decision Belle was sure of. Even as a child she'd not been convinced of the First Demon Lord's evil, not when compared to the atrocities committed by Halinox, Ivosanch and Ravavena. This demon lord was kind, had treated her very well despite the whole bait situation, he'd bought her a book and fed her, had respected her intellect and made no attempt to use her in the sordid way most used their slaves. Most masters would have simply kept walking while Belle peered inside Mister Zule's shop, kept walking until the collar had punished her for the distance between them. No, Rumpelstiltskin was a surprisingly decent man Belle oddly didn't mind being enslaved to. She'd known him all of two days, but that was two days longer than anybody else in Dreymyr and, after all, he'd promised to help her.

"Do shut up."

She frowned at his back. "I didn't say anything."

"You're thinking too loudly." He shot back.

Belle just smirked because the Church's dark legends really didn't know what they were talking about. She returned her attention to her book and the passage on Avarathda and his many wise feats. She'd met the First Demon Lord, maybe one day she'd meet a dragon as well.