In hardly a blink, Phria found herself stood outside the Squiffy Mage. The afternoon was peaceful, pleasant and the occasional spots of sun were warm against her porcelain skin after so long inside the Valkyrie building – a treat to be honest. A few people jolted at the sight of a demon and Valkyrie appearing so abruptly, but the armor kept them calm for the most part and had them returning to their days without asking too many questions; all of which Rumple would have ignored anyway. Phria wore leather scaled gauntlets of black and blue as part of her uniform, but it wasn't until Rumple saw people eye the crest emblazoned on the dorsal surface of them that he realized it was what revealed her as the Captain of the Valkyries rather than just another member. Phria peered off into the distance up at the Arcane University with a sense of awe; Rumple's spacial magic truly was astounding. Suddenly she realized he'd already started to walk away and hurried to catch up to him before the crowd could swallow him up.
With only a little chatter passing between them, they made their way to the market trader who'd only had cheaper pieces unsuited for Rumple's plans. The grasswalker had done his best to be helpful and accommodating, but the onyx he had just wouldn't have been able to stand up the level of magic Rumple intended to fill it with. Then they'd gone to the first of the jewelers only to find nothing of any use there either, the onyx had all been too small and, quite frankly, massively overpriced for what it was. When Rumple had simply turned around and left, Phria had made apologies to the bald man behind the counter and said 'sorry, he's not good with people' though Rumple thought that something of an understatement. Back in the Enchanted Forest he had deals with everybody from lowly miners to talented dwarves to ensure he got the best quality ingredients and parts for his potions and magical items – hell, he had seven separate people just for Atlantis Stone.
Once outside, Phria had calmly guided them to the other jeweler she knew of on Trident Street. It had been something of a trek compared to the others they'd visited that day and they'd needed to cut through the east half of Borobello Market to get there. Up Gypsum Street, left onto Kingspire Lane, left again at Hornbuckle Avenue so they could cut through the alley behind the parchment shop, then all the way to the end of a road known only as the Corkscrew due to the way it wound back on itself as it trailed up a small hill. Along Wandering Star Walk and over the bridge at the canal – something built by dwarves centuries ago to carry water all the way from the Endless River for irrigation purposes – then right onto Herbalist Row before finally, finally, they emerged on Trident Street. What they'd been looking for turned out to be the very last building before the street angled off to the lane furthest to the west. The building itself wasn't too dissimilar from the others around the city and, upon first glance, didn't look like the place to be for high quality gemstones. Instead, it was a rather unassuming building nestled beside a milliners with only bronze lettering drilled into a beam above the door to prove who they were.
In a display of gentlemanly kindness unusual to the Dark One, he held the door for Phria to step inside the building ahead of him. The moment each stepped over the threshold they were set upon by a rather portly pantherian man with no tail, thinning hair and the sort of smile only possessed by those in the service industry. Apparently the Captain of the Valkyries in one's store wasn't a common occurrence and he'd wanted to see if he needed to be concerned or not. The moment he realized that Phria hadn't shown up to destroy his day, the portly man's smile had turned into a real one and soon a selection of onyx had been set before them on the counter: each piece fresh out the hands of a lapidarist.
The selection consisted of maybe twenty pieces all of varying size and shape that Rumple wordlessly set about inspecting while the man, who must have surely been Marlow himself, and Phria stood awaiting his verdict.
"One of these has to work." Said Phria when he'd been silent a little too long. "Maybe this one?"
Rumple's eyes turned to the pointed at stone: it was mostly circular but much too big for what he needed; that around Valdis' neck would have toppled her over every three seconds.
He shook his head. "No, darling, this one."
From the cushion they'd been displayed on, Rumple took a more ovular stone about a quarter the size of his palm and held it up to the light. Phria didn't really know what criteria the Dark One judged the onyx by, but even she had to admit there was something about it just … different to the other options.
"This one will stand up to carving well."
The portly man perked up. "That is one of our finest pieces, sir. It costs-"
Rumple cut him off by placing a single gold coin beside the cushion on the counter and watched Marlow's eyes widen with delight.
"That'll be more than enough, I'm sure." Marlow's hand made to grab the coin but Rumple quickly summoned it back to his hand causing the man to look up confused and mildly annoyed. "But, in exchange for this shiny coin, I want this onyx and for you to find me the finest quality sapphire in this entire kingdom. I'll pay for the sapphire, of course. Deal?"
Marlow nodded without hesitation. "Deal, sir. I'll begin searching as soon as you leave. I'll get you the biggest sapphire there is."
"I didn't ask for the biggest, I asked for the finest quality."
"Of course." Marlow nodded. "I'll find it, you have my word."
"Excellent."
The coin was tossed to the portly man, the onyx stone snatched up, then they departed back out onto Trident Street where they found it had grown fairly crowded. Phria watched as he tucked the onyx into the inner pocket of his thick leather coat.
"Do you think that and your gold thread will be enough to make the talisman?"
"It's certainly a start."
He'd intended to say more but, when Phria started sniffing the air, puzzlement took over and he found all his thoughts turned to the pantherian as her ears twitched; again Rumple wanted to pet them because he was curious about them. Maylea was the only grasswalker he'd really spent any time around, but her ears didn't hold his attention the way Phria's did.
"That smells amazing. It sounds pretty good too."
Sounds? Apparently those ears were more than just for show.
"You have me at a disadvantage."
"Oh, sorry. Great hearing and smell, it's a pantherian thing." Phria gestured loosely off to the right toward the market they were now upwind of. "One of the stalls in the market is cooking night deer. Let's go get some."
"I have a talisman to ma-"
Phria grabbed the Dark One by his shirt cuff and quickly set about tugging him through the throngs of people and back toward the busy market until she found the vendor selling the night deer skewers. Of course he could have yanked his arm free at literally any time since she'd seemingly forgotten he was the Dark One and her the Captain of the Valkyries but, since he'd grown surprisingly accustom to being dragged by Belle and Amicia in every market they'd visited to see whatever trinket had caught their eye, Rumple simply went along with it. Sure enough the stall had enough night deer and grilled chicken to feed the whole city so they got a skewer each and ended up perched on a short stone retaining wall by a set of stairs that led up to Brass Book Lane – which had a lovely little café Amicia had rather taken to – as they ate.
These social moments had been occurring more and more frequently since Belle had entered his life. At first he'd thought them little more than a hindrance, but eventually had come to realize those social moments made him feel alive again. He'd been an automaton for centuries, just a machine carrying out tasks to fulfil a goal; the girls had brought him back to life though. There had been whole decades where he'd not consumed anything but tea. Belle wouldn't stand for such 'unhealthy habits' as she'd called it though and had insisted he eat meals like everybody else. That way of thinking must have rubbed off on Phria somewhere along the line. Speaking of the white-haired woman, Rumple hadn't been able to ignore just how close she'd chosen to sit; hardly an inch of space lay between them and surely that would caused raised eyebrows with the public even without them knowing he was actually a demon lord. Phria hadn't seemed to care though so it became just another thing Rumple went along with. Her exceptionally long hair held up in a ponytail hung down her back and danced ever so softly in the gentle cool breeze. Intuitively, Rumple had always been aware of Phria's young age, but he'd not unconsciously realized just how young. Definitely older than his beloved Belle, but surely no more than a handful of years. So young and yet she'd still been appointed as the leader of such a respected organization, no wonder Phria felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Yes, in that moment Rumple decided that his wandering companion deserved her snack and quiet moments of peace away from her responsibilities.
"Phria, a question: why do some pantherians not have tails? Like Marlow."
"Oh, they're half-pantherians. For some reason they're always born without a tail."
He supposed that made sense, Belle's half-elf blood had left her ears much smaller than those of a full-blooded elf after all. From what Belle had told him, he knew that demi-humans, dwarves and elves could all only breed with their own species or humans, so it made sense for some difference between a pantherian and half-pantherian. With it not being all that much of an important issue, Rumple had just assumed they'd lost the tail somehow and moved on to a new topic.
Phria let out a little hum as she ate some more of her night deer. Sometimes, when he'd made a good amount of money selling his wares, Rumple had treated Bae to something sweet. The look of contentment on Phria's face was almost identical to the one his beautiful boy had worn. He felt like a worse father than he'd already turned himself into for knowing that he wanted to remain in Dreymyr with his girls, felt as though he'd played them off against one another to decipher their value to him. He'd devoted rather a lot of time during their trip to Bichelberger thinking of what to do, if there was a best of both worlds, and the only option he could come up with was to just ask Belle and Amicia to go with him. He'd written off the idea of taking only Amicia with him and he doubted Belle would so easily abandon her duty to Avonlea, but he'd have some damn courage for once and just ask them to return to the Enchanted Forest with him.
"Papa!"
Rumple's head snapped up to the steps at his side just in time to see his adopted daughter charge down them and into his arms causing him to drop the skewer stick. A few steps behind her was Belle holding a couple of books and wearing a sweet smile that left her blue eyes sparkling. Azzy sat beside her with an expression that revealed he'd had enough people for one day and wished to be scaled back up to his regular size.
"Hello, little one." He greeted and pulled Amicia up to sit next to him on the wall. "Have you had fun with your mama?"
The blonde nodded as Belle adjusted her grasp on the books. Beside him, Phria deflated and began to busied herself by fidgeting with her own skewer stick as she shuffled along the wall a bit; only Belle took notice.
"We've spent all our time at Mister Sixpence's bookshop across the street."
Rumple breathed out a laugh as he smiled one of his rare smiles up at the woman he loved. "Why am I not surprised?"
"I'm hungry." Announced Amicia as she pointed down to the stick Rumple had dropped. "Can I have one of those too, Papa?"
"I'll get her one," Phria said way too quickly and before Belle or Rumple could even think of pointing out she didn't have to, Phria had vanished back into the market crowd – impressive considering the cobalt armor.
Belle felt a pang of pity that she hid behind the sweet smile her years as a princess had taught her.
Soon enough Amicia had her night deer skewer and Rumple had returned himself and the three women back to the Arcane University with naught but a wave of his clawed hand. Upon their return, Rumple had barged into Demeer's office uncaring as to whether he were busy or not to essentially demand his own lab because there had to 'be one sitting around the place somewhere'. Meanwhile, Phria had returned to her own office while Belle took Amicia up to her room with Azzy so they could indulge in some reading.
At first Demeer had wondered why Rumple needed an entire workspace to himself, or indeed a workspace at all since he was neither professor nor scholar, although keeping the First Demon Lord out the way of day-to-day school business was probably an excellent idea and, after Rumple had explained his intention to create a talisman for the lamia, Demeer had relented and provided Rumple with a reasonably sized room filled with forgotten desks and old books nobody looked at, on the far side of the Arcane University away from students.
Outside the large windows were a few trees, then a steep drop off down toward the Steeple, but Rumple cared little about the view when he finally had a quiet place to work. A quiet place he'd promptly locked himself away inside to tinker with and pummel the talisman into shape over the next several days. It had been like old times when he focused his entire being on a single task, when everything else in existence just faded away into nothingness for a while. Or, at least it would have been like that had Belle allowed it. The aforementioned refusal to let him keep a diet of only tea was a resolute one and she personally went each evening to force him out of his lab for meals and to see their daughter.
It had taken some work, some extremely long hours, but Rumple had eventually been able to craft a talisman for a still unconscious Valdis – not that anybody had expected her to wake, that much dark magic being sucked out of her would have been enough to kill just about anybody else, so a small coma wasn't actually that much to worry about. As expected, the talisman had done absolutely nothing. The gold had been crafted into a thicker necklaced than he would have liked, but the onyx had been perfect; the problem was that he was working off of half-thoughts and mumblings from an aeon ago.
As soon as he, Belle and Phria had seen the necklace fail, Rumple had sighed then promptly locked himself away to try again. That failure was why he'd found himself in such a mood that night when he and Belle put little Amicia to bed. He had to get that talisman working – had to! Once it did and Valdis had a more humanoid appearance, then the calls for her death would rapidly decline; after all, it was the crime of looking different that got the mobs riled up in the first place.
"Papa, don't be mad." Rumple blinked out of his grumbled thoughts and back to the candlelit bedroom around him. Belle on one side of the bed with an open book and him on the other with Amicia between them. "You'll get it right."
"You should listen to your daughter, Rumple, she's right."
He'd not been aware his mental absence had been quite so distracting as to pull both of his girls away from their storybook. Rumple sighed because he knew sulking over his failure wouldn't change anything and, later, when he pondered that thought, Rumple would realize just how much he'd changed on the inside.
"Aye, yes, you're right."
From his pocket he took something small that he dropped into Amicia's little hand which had her sit up straight with a gleeful smile. Belle closed the book and set it aside fully aware the tale had been forgotten.
When Amicia unfurled her hand she found a golden necklace with a delicate, almost swirling pattern cut into a pendant reminiscent of a nabla which hung from a thin gold chain, and paired well with the bronze earrings she'd bought with Belle. Seeing Amicia's delight fed Rumple's dark soul.
"It isn't fair if only Valdis gets a necklace, now is it?" He told her as he fastened it around her neck.
"Thank you, Papa!"
As soon as it was on, the blonde launched up to hug him which had Belle smile warmly at the pair. Rumple petted her hair a few moments before she pulled away as something was slipped onto her head. Whatever it was felt as though it should have been significantly heavier than it actually was. Amicia reached up to grab the item but Rumple quickly summoned a mirror instead. Atop the girl's head were two golden horns decorated with leaf-shaped flourishes and connected by a golden band around the back of her head sort of like a half circlet.
"On the journey here you said that the daughter of a demon lord should probably have horns."
A silly gift, they all knew that, but he'd enjoyed rediscovering his ability to make gold and crafting the items had been both enjoyable and not that time consuming. Regardless, Rumple had made Amicia happy and that was all he could ask for.
She hugged him again. Gone was that scared little girl who'd only had rags and nightmares, in her place was Amicia, beloved daughter of the Dark One who would be spoilt at every available opportunity. Her blonde hair glowed golden, blue eyes twinkled softly and her skin had regained some color after spending so long with it a sickly pale color.
"All right," began Belle. "You can look at it properly in the morning when it's daylight. I'll read you the rest of your story."
With that, the headdress was removed and set aside for the following day, Belle returned to reading the story while Rumple closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the headboard. Belle's gentle tone soothed him as he committed her voice to memory.
Amicia had slipped into slumber not long before the story's end, so her parents had quietly left the room with Azzy to watch over her and retired for the night. In the warmth of their bed, Rumple held her close, her back to his chest as he explored her delicate body. Making love to her was a gift she'd bestowed only upon him and he'd forever be grateful she'd seen beyond the beast.
He slowly coaxed Belle onto her stomach with her legs spread and her form on display to him. One hand snared in her soft chestnut locks while the other gripped her hip as he thrust into her inviting body. The breathy pants and sweet moans she made for him almost more delectable than the feeling of her quivering walls around his length. His Belle, his sweet and loving Belle. Rumple wouldn't ever believe that he deserved her, but he'd felt the spark at their first kiss, knew she was his true love and would adore her for the rest of time.
~X~
In the early hours of the morning, long before the sun had even debated starting to rise, Rumple and Belle were rudely awoken from their dreamlands by Leotomas who urged them down to the training room because the lamia had finally regained consciousness. When the three made it to the underground room they found Cynthia and a few of the other Valkyries had their weapons drawn ready to attack while Phria had crouched before the child in an attempt to comfort her. Valdis had backed herself into a corner far from an angry Cynthia and the weapons, her black tail had been coiled up around her like a wall making her look taller than she actually was and probably more threatening. Tensions were high in the room and Belle shuddered to think what would have happened had Leotomas taken any longer rousing them.
"We need to just kill this thing." Cynthia argued, her claymore sharp and begging to take the girl's head.
"That won't be happening, dearie. Good bye."
A wave of his hand cast Cynthia and her cronies far from the training room where she posed no threat to Valdis. Before he'd arrived in Dreymyr and changed on the inside, he'd have simply killed her or turned them all into slugs, but now he settled for simply sending them to the other side of the Arcane University. Excella and her half-sister, who'd both been guarding the door, opened their mouths to question where the Vice-Captain and others had gone, but Rumple waved them off.
"They're alive, don't worry." Then he was at Phria's side before Valids while Belle stopped a few steps behind them with a comforting smile. Valdis' full attention snapped to Rumple, jet-black eyes met his unique brown ones in an instant. "Hello, sweet girl, there's nothing to be scared of. You remember me, right?"
Only a little did her scaled tail unfurl, but it lowered her down a bit to show she'd relaxed at the sound of his voice. After a few brief seconds Valdis stretched an unsure hand out toward him.
"Papa?"
Rumple nodded. "Yes, Valdis, I'm your papa."
Bae had always wanted a little sister to take care of and love, and Rumple hoped he'd approve of gaining two when he found Bae. He'd not intended to adopt Amicia but he loved her and, with how much dark magic had been inside Valdis, he could understand why she had quickly assumed he was her father. He and Belle had taken in Amicia so he didn't see too much of an issue with taking in Valdis as well,
"… Valdis?" She questioned.
Rumple nodded and let out a little affirming hum. "That's your name, sweet girl." He pointed to each woman in turn. "You're Valdis, this is Phria and that's Belle."
She slithered closer to Rumple but eyed Belle and Phria suspiciously; it was safe to say she was automatically wary of anybody dressed in cobalt armor and rightly so. Phria wasn't discouraged by the lack of trust though and donned her best smile, one that caused her polished emeralds to twinkle brightly.
"Hello, Valdis. I'm the one who named you. Is- is that okay?"
Valdis didn't nod or respond but she also didn't do anything to suggest she refused the name or who'd given it to her; a good sign. Her first moments of life may have been traumatic and terrifying, but this time words were softly spoken and those with the pointy objects had been sent away. Valdis didn't feel safe exactly, but she trusted her papa to protect her after he'd made the pain go away.
Quietly Demeer slipped into the room passed Scarlette and Excella Ravenscroft, then over to Leotomas who was off to Belle's left. The two men spoke for several moments in hushed tones while Rumple petted Valdis' hair and Belle built up the courage to join him and Phria crouched on the flagstone floor.
Belle hadn't ever seen a lamia before, hadn't ever even heard mention of them in the numerous books she'd read over the years. Parts of Valdis were like any other child while others were more akin to a monster. She supposed Valdis was more like a mermaid than anything else, half one species and half another, Belle could understand that being a half-elf herself. Valdis' wings were tucked in neatly at her back and more reminiscent of a bat or dragon than anything else. Her tail long and coated with scales the color of a moonless night, skin pale but smooth, black hair almost excessively long and parted in the middle. Then there were her eyes, totally black to the point one couldn't tell where iris ended and pupil began; shimmering pools of obsidian they were. A beautiful girl, a beautiful and scared girl.
Demeer approached then and, though he didn't crouch down, he did hunch slightly as well as offer a reassuring smile to the timid girl.
"Are you hungry, Miss Valdis? After your long nap, some food probably sounds good, yes?" As if to prove his point, her stomach growled in a low rumble which had everybody smirk a little. When she finally nodded Demeer straightened up and turned to Leotomas. "Fetch something warm for the girl, please."
That was how the Grand Mage's adjutant ended up playing maid. He procured a bowl of creamy chicken stew with great haste and placed the bowl down on her cot bed before he backed away to a more acceptable distance. The girl ate slowly after Rumple's encouragement and, once she was finished, Belle and Phria saw about getting her a bath. Meanwhile, the three men discussed how exactly to approach caring for Valdis. With her awake, keeping her in the training room didn't seem like a viable option and none of them were all that keen on keeping her like a prisoner, so with only a little resistance from the werewolf among them, a room had been located hardly a stone's throw away from the ones Rumple and his family had occupied. It wasn't possible for her to regain her monolith size, and placing her as close to the man she thought was her father as possible seemed like a wise course of action. Rumple had even promised to ward the room on the off chance something did go haywire with her internal structure.
After maybe an hour and a half, when the sun had actually started to debate rising for the day, Valdis had been bathed and tucked into a nice new bed much as Amicia had been by Belle. Demeer and Phria loitered in the doorway with Rumple while Belle assured Valdis everything would be fine and it was time to go to sleep.
"Poor child," Demeer commented absent-mindedly with a sigh.
Silently they all agreed with him.
"I need to continue working on the talisman necklace." Rumple said. "Jefferson is making progress with getting us a way back to our realm, but I gave my word to Belle I would help her kingdom, brother and father first. We can't stay here much longer, I may need aid in speeding the talisman along."
"I understand." Demeer nodded. "However, Valdis is basically an unknown species to this realm. I honestly don't know how to take care of her. You are the only one who seems to have knowledge of these lamia."
"Don't worry, I wasn't suggesting I leave her here. Even if I can't get that talisman to work, I'll be taking my daughter with me."
A demon lord and a totally new species running around together freely didn't sound like a good idea upon first glance, but Demeer had come to see why Princess Belle had put so much faith in him and, at the end of the day, he couldn't really stop the Dark One from leaving with Valdis even if he'd wanted to.
"What else is left to try?" Phria asked when she rejoined them.
"I've exhausted all my ideas so far, darling. I believe I've exhausted those of Leotomas and Demeer as well."
Belle appeared in the doorway then, she pulled the door almost all the way closed leaving only enough to poke a head in if needed and rested a hand atop her lover's forearm.
"She's asking for you. Wants you to stay with her."
Rumple shook his head. "I have to work on the talisman."
"How about I stay with her until Rumple is finished?"
Rumple nor Demeer knew what was more surprising, that Phria had volunteered to watch over Valdis or that she'd abruptly taken to using the Dark One's nickname. Both were welcomed though and Rumple quickly consented to it since Valdis had seemed comfortable around Phria.
"Very well. Thank you, Phria."
Phria blushed as Rumple made his way inside the room to say goodnight; Belle just smiled knowingly at the taller woman whose ears drooped the second she saw Belle's face.
The Grand Mage clapped his hands together. "All right, I will leave you to it. Should you need me for something, please give your messages to Yan."
Nobody could deny that Demeer had done rather well in putting the White Inferno to work after he'd helped himself to that potion all those years ago.
The moment the goateed man had rounded a corner, Belle's blue eyes turned to Phria.
"Phria," she began slowly. "I know you l-"
"No! Don't be ridiculous. That's not it at all."
With that not at all suspicious outburst, Phria darted inside the bedroom leaving Belle out in the hall to sigh deeply. The only person in the entire Arcane University who hadn't noticed the feelings Phria had developed for Rumple was the man himself; even Amicia had questioned Belle about it one afternoon while they'd been at Mister Sixpence's bookshop on Bronze Book Lane. Frankly, the situation had started to take a turn toward the risible and Belle found it grating.
Belle didn't remain in her thoughts long though as she spotted a flash of blonde which turned out to be Amicia who'd been woken by all the movement and talking out in the hall. Belle walked to the end of the corridor to comfort the child and get her back into bed.
Meanwhile, Rumple had said goodnight to Valdis and ensured Phria would be all right watching over her, then he'd marched straight to the room he'd commandeered as his lab to get to work. Just as he'd told Demeer, they couldn't remain at the University indefinitely. Rumple and Jefferson had to return to the Enchanted Forest and, while Gaston may have seemed more concerned with getting the Dark One under his thumb, they couldn't ignore the danger Avonlea and the du Marchand family were in forever. Each day Belle's concern for her little brother grew and Rumple hated making her wait.