s much as they'd have rather remained in each other's arms until the sun turned cold, Gordana had sent them to the Osgar Hall Caverns for a specific reason and Rumple couldn't turn his back on a deal. They'd dressed before Rumple doused the fire while Belle woke Azzy, who'd been politely pretending to be asleep, then continued on their way through the stone labyrinth.
Things between Rumple and Belle were different after their love-making, she stood a little closer while he seemed happier. Rumple didn't know what to do with that knowledge though; he'd gotten so used to being alone that he was unsure how to just … be with Belle. He liked touching her, enjoyed being around her but he worried he'd do something wrong and scare her away, that she'd suddenly come to her senses. They'd have to part eventually but – Belle suddenly jolted him out of his internal worries and concerns when she squeezed his hand and rocked up onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"You're a loud thinker, or maybe you're plotting." She teased.
This was the man who'd taken her purity, the man she'd willingly given it to, and Belle had no desire to let him think of reasons to regret it.
"Plotting," he teased back. "I do a lot of plotting."
Belle chuckled then kissed him again as Azzy sniffed along the path ahead of them, he'd been on high alert since they'd started moving again. Rumple still seemed surprised by her gentle kisses, as though he'd imagined thrusting into her by the campfire. Those in her father's court could call her a fallen woman unfit for marriage despite being a princess, that she'd allowed a monster to defile her, but Belle couldn't have cared less; she'd chosen Rumpelstiltskin and nobody could take her choice from her.
A little hungry, Belle released Rumple's hand and reached into her satchel for an apple just as Azzy ground to a halt with ears raised. She slipped, a sudden gasp of alarm escaped her as she stumbled backward, arms flailed and Rumple only just managed to catch her before Belle collapsed entirely. Looking down the pair found blood, congealed crimson smeared all over the gray rock in splatters, puddles and drips. This was what had brought Azzy to such a cautious stop and the reason Belle had lost her footing. A slaughter, the narrow tunnel looked like a slaughter had taken place. Belle clung to Rumple's forearm as they approached whatever it was that had caught the waheela's eye. The stench hit them unapologetically then and Belle doubled over as she wretched. Death. Everything smelt of death; that sickly sweet scent, overly sugary for the first millisecond before the putrefaction and sulphur burst forth to choke whomever it found. A cloud of cadaverine and other toxic gasses had started to permeate through the narrow tunnel which caused Belle to slap a hand over her mouth in a pointless attempt to ease the stench. Pinned to a wall by one of the spears the crixx used, was a hunter who'd begun to decompose.
"Look away, Belle."
She couldn't though, not from the man who'd been strung up like a tapestry and suffered so much.
"That poor man." She whispered from behind her hand.
Rumple looked back the way they'd come remembering a few blocked shafts they'd seen heading toward the surface, then ahead to where Azzy had poked his head through a narrow opening.
"Probably dragged in from an entrance the Watchers blocked off already or doesn't know about." Rumple pointed at the body. "This is fresh, he hasn't been dead more than three days." Part of Belle, the curious bookworm part, wanted to ask just how he knew this hunter had only been dead a handful of days, but the part of her still doing its best not to vomit put her off the idea. "We're probably close to whatever is causing these deaths."
Belle clung tighter to Rumple, they'd shared such romantic bliss such a short amount of time ago, and now everything had turned to horror. No matter how long she lived Belle would never forget the smell of death from that poor hunter, so she refused to let Rumple simply carry on walking.
"Rumple, he has to go back to his family. Maybe he has children."
He nodded. Long ago Rumple had stopped bothering to argue with Belle when it came to her easing the suffering of others, she had a good heart and always looked at him with such determination. Regardless, children didn't deserve to live their lives wondering why their father just hadn't come home. From his vault in Ranga, Rumple summoned a quill and piece of parchment that he quickly wrote a note on, then tucked it into the hunter's shirt and snapped his fingers. The hunter vanished leaving behind the spear embedded in the tunnel wall.
"Where did you send him?"
"To the City Watch." Rumple replied. "Skane will know what to do with him."
With Belle's wish fulfilled, they gradually continued to the gap Azzy had squeezed through while they disturbingly grew accustom to the smell. Everything inside Rumple screamed at him to send Belle away, but he had to complete this quest and parting them simply wasn't a viable option. Belle, of course, was nervous, but having Rumple and Azzy there to protect her did wonders to ease her worries.
Through the crack was another large room maybe half the size and height of the Cathedral, somebody somewhere in history had cut crude steps into the wall leading down to what seemed to be a ceremonial space. Torches and candles had been lit in various places casting an oddly eerie glow and a large dish circled by candles had been placed before an altar cut into the rock. An odd carving on the altar showed what may have been a dragon or snake before a broken egg. To the altar's far left stood wooden tables lined with knives and torture devices as if somebody had placed them with care and attention. The far right was what had drew Azzy's scrutiny, Belle and Rumple though; the disgusting horror of it all. A pile of partially decomposed corpses had been stacked in the corner, this was where the horrific smell had originated rather than the hunter. While Belle clung to Azzy, Rumple approached the pile of bodies.
"If these torches are lit then people have been here recently, right?"
"Unless magic is being used to keep them lit. Either way, we should remain cautious, Belle."
He peeked closer at the dead to learn three things. One: There was a large crack towards the back of the pile through which a body would occasionally fall, never to be seen again. Two: Only the remains of children had been drained of their blood. Three: The adult's bodies had been tortured and beaten, but none of them had been dismembered in any way.
"Oh gods!"
Rumple's head snapped around to find Belle stood by the huge bowl ringed with candles. He quickly strode towards her to see for himself and discovered it to be a vat of coagulated blood. Suddenly the question of where the blood of all those children had gone had a morbid answer.
Into the blood bowl had been carved an intricate symbol like a coiled snake, it quickly had Rumple ask: "Do you recognize it?"
Belle paled when she turned to find a book bound in dragon leather rested on a stubby rock used as a podium. The book had the same symbol on its cover that the bowl had. Normally picking up a new book was a joyous occasion, but lifting that book into her hands left Belle feeling tainted.
"… Yes."
"Why do you sound so concerned?"
"Because – because I think I know what's happening here." She told him with scared eyes threatening to shed tears. "I think these people are the Sons of Rael."
Azzy snuggled into Belle's leg in a desperate attempt to comfort his friend.
"Who are they?"
"It's a cult." Belle explained, book still in hand. "There's a bedtime story everyone knows, it's terrifying really, an ancient legend used to scare kids into doing as they're told. You know about the five cardinal dragons, right?" Rumple nodded. "Well, in the story there is a sixth. He's a creature of pure darkness, pure evil. The darkness dragon, Isra. He mated with a basilisk named Msiddi and they had a son, Rael. He was a monstrous creature filled with dark magic. A huge amphisbaena, a beast with two heads. Together Isra and Rael destroyed and consumed, stole land and murdered simply because it was fun and the humanoid races couldn't stop them. However, in retaliation a divine hero and a party of adventurers found where Msiddi was guarding her second egg, they slayed her and smashed the egg. As revenge Isra and Rael began to gather humans, elves, demi-humans, anybody they could capture and sucked out their souls because they are so full of magic. Eventually the other dragons had no choice but to intervene, if they hadn't darkness would have taken over the whole realm."
Belle had been right, it sounded like a scary bedtime story designed to teach children to be good little boys and girls, to never stray from the path, to do as they were told, the usual stuff. However, Rumple suspected there was some truth to the tale, he just couldn't quite pick out which bits. That said, if this tale spoke of a dragon using dark magic, then clearly his magic wasn't so alien to Dreymyr after all.
"And what does this cult want exactly?"
"The Sons of Rael think that when he was killed, all the souls he'd consumed were in his blood as magical power, that the souls had been strengthened through being inside the amphisbaena. They supposedly think that his blood seeped into the ground when he was killed and eventually found new bodies. They are literally a cult of people who think they're the reincarnated mutilated souls of those who died in the legend. They're convinced that they're divinely stronger than everybody else and believe that Rael's soul was reincarnated into somebody as well. They want to find and resurrect him in his true form."
"Two questions and a statement. Are these people totally insane? How do you know so many detailed facts about this evil cult? And I think all that story proves is what level of madness and thirst for revenge murdering a man's wife and child will cause."
"Yes, they're insane." Belle shuffled closer to him and wished Gordana hadn't ever sent them to the Osgar Hall Caverns. "I know about the Sons of Rael because there is a hidden section in Avonlea's royal library full of books former court mages and kings kept, and one of those books is written almost like a religious text for the Sons of Rael. It looks disturbingly like this book in all honesty." Belle sighed. "As for your statement, I agree. Isra, Msiddi and Rael weren't good in any sense of the word, but the rampage didn't start until after the Hero and adventurers did what they did."
Rumple looked around the altar room at the torture tools, the scores of innocent dead and even at that godforsaken blood bowl. They'd gone looking for savage crixx but discovered a much darker evil, one that rivalled Rumple's own darkness.
"These cultists are just going to keep on killing until they run out of people. Rael's soul is just a story. I say we stop them, it completes the quest and my obligation." He left out the fact he'd enjoy killing child murderers.
The chestnut-haired beauty's brow furrowed deeply. "I don't understand why the bodies are being returned to the surface having been mutilated. Surely the cultists would wish to keep all of this a secret instead of flaunting it."
"You saw the spear in that hunter." Said Rumple. "The crixx have proven their skills in ambushing, so my guess would be they pick off anybody who escapes. There is also a large opening where the bodies are piled, would be easy for one to slip through into a deeper part of the Caverns. The crixx are likely finding them, mutilating them for some reason – possibly to indicate what will happen to those who invade their territory – then dumping them outside as warnings."
Belle nodded slightly. "I suppose that makes sense. What do we do, Rumple?"
Alerting Commander Skane and the rest of Dunnmere's City Watch seemed like the wisest course of action, but Belle already knew how thin the Watchers had been stretched, Skane wouldn't be able to spare enough people to send in to deal with cultists despite the urgency. Belle made a decision then and there; as soon as her papa was returned to the good and honest king he was, she'd discuss making improvements to Dunnmere's City Watch with him, she'd figure out a way to improve protection of the Limestone and what to do about the Caverns, and probably get Skane a pay rise as well.
"We wait."
That had Belle lift an eyebrow because, whatever he had planned, would not end well for the Sons of Rael.
~X~
It took a great many hours - so many that Azzy took himself off for another nap, all that waheela did was sleep – but cultists did eventually start to trickle into the altar room dressed in stereotypical black robes with hoods covering their faces. Belle clung to the book as she, Rumple and Azzy remained in hiding behind a large boulder in the corner of the room closest to the body pile. In the Enchanted Forest he wouldn't have needed to hug a rock, could have simply turned himself invisible, but this was Dreymyr not the Enchanted Forest.
Shortly after the group of maybe twenty had gathered at the altar, another cultist entered hauling a small girl dressed in rags by the hair, she cried, kicked and screamed bloody murder but it did nothing to free her. She was to be the Sons of Rael's latest victim then.
Belle made to rush forward but Rumple stopped her with a firm grip on her shoulder. He understood the urge to save the little girl, he wanted to as well, but they needed to be sure all the cultists had indeed arrived. Quietly, they watched as the girl was bound to a stone table opposite the altar which had been surrounded by candles and eager madmen hiding under their robes; the stench of iron and decay seemed to excite them more than anything else. The blonde girl continued to cry desperately as her arms and legs were secured to the stone table with thick black rope; poor girl was so young.
Around the table walked a pantherian: they could just see his tail poking out from his robe and the two points under his hood caused by ears. He retrieved a golden goblet into which each of the cultists dripped a few drops of their own blood after they'd pricked their finger with the pantherian's dagger. A final person entered the chamber then – this one was obviously the leader since he carried himself so regally and the others bowed their heads to him. As the pantherian passed him, he lowered his hood revealing him to be a light-haired elf with a stoic face. The goblet of blood the pantherian had was tipped into the blood bowl with all the blood of their victims, but when he went to retrieve the book it slipped out of his hand and clattered to the ground.
The cult leader's eyes grew dark. "Where is it!?"
That was their moment; Azzy was at full size, they had the book and Rumple had confirmed to himself that this was all of their twisted group. He stepped out from his hiding place with Azzy behind him growling.
"Looking for this, dearies?" Rumple pointed to the book in Belle's arms with one of his sadistic giggles.
"Who are you, demon?"
Deep down Rumple knew he'd always be a coward no matter how much power he had, but he'd not be intimidated by the likes of a child-murdering elf. Besides, he was one of those dark legends they favored.
"That's Demon Lord to you, you pathetic ball of scum."
The cult leader didn't believe him, not that he'd expected anybody to, just pointed a finger at Rumple.
"Kill him, the wolf and the half-breed!" He commanded. "Return the grimoire to us!"
All hell broke loose. Azzy launched at the cultists on the left while Belle slipped back behind the boulder for cover. Rumple though, he didn't move a step, just started killing with extreme accuracy with attacks designed to deal as much pain as was physically possible before death. The pantherian pulled a sword from under his robe, but Azzy ripped his tail off before he could swing it even once. Many of the robed monsters tried to flee when they realized they weren't any match for Rumple and the waheela, but they'd not escape, not when Rumple was angry.
For a moment Belle had cowered, she'd hidden and closed her eyes, but her mother had taught Belle to be brave. She hated the idea of killing, didn't want people to get hurt, but adventurers had to kill sometimes and she'd become and adventurer. Those cultists weren't innocents, they'd done horrific things and wouldn't stop unless somebody like Rumple stopped them. Blue eyes spotted one with a long beard rush at Rumple from the side and Belle just reacted, out from her satchel came one of black potions that she'd never allowed herself to use before. She threw it at the cultist where the glass shattered staining his face in the black, ink-like potion. Unlike her other potions there was no puff of smoke, instead it wormed its way into his eyes and mouth then, with hardly any fuss, the man collapsed dead. Her literary mind hadn't named that potion 'End's Kiss' for nothing. She'd killed a man, a horrific murderer, but a man nonetheless. Those potions always clinking in her satchel had been made specifically to keep Belle safe and that was what she'd done, right? She'd protected herself and a man she cared deeply for from somebody who wanted to kill them. Still, just because an act was justified didn't make it right. Rumple always kept her safe, this time she'd returned the favor.
While Belle internally dealt with what she'd done, Rumple went after the cult leader as Azzy tore into the others who remained. The elf threw up a barrier but Rumple wasn't deterred in the slightest. He took a breath, stretched a hand out and thought of stones, their weight, shape and color. Relearning magic had been aggravating but, in a way, he felt closer to magic than he ever had before. The stones formed as tiny pebbles before his hands while the elf watched on smugly assured of his barrier's strength.
"You can't hope to defeat the Sons."
Those pebbles lengthened into sharp shards then though and the smugness faltered. In an instant the stone spikes punctured through the barrier to skewer the elf in the shoulder and pectoral. It might have been a small hole in the barrier, but was enough for Rumple to magic through and, once the elf had nothing left to protect him, Rumple snagged him by the collar and launched him into the altar wall knocking him out. He'd always been able to use magic to strengthen his body, but he'd rather taken to having wind act as thrust to throw people across the room.
Originally he'd viewed exploring the Caverns as little more than fulfilling his half of the guildmaster's deal, but as he stared at the unconscious cult leader, Rumple realized he'd done something good, he'd actually helped people; maybe Belle was correct about there being goodness in him somewhere.
With the cultists all dead, injured or cowering from an angry waheela, Belle rushed to the crying girl tied to the stone table and used her dagger to free her. She looked to be roughly the same age as Belle's little brother, probably a bit younger, with long blonde hair and pale skin. Her eyes were a pale blue and, had her whole face not been puffy, red and stained with tears, she likely would have been a very beautiful child. Her ears gave her away as a full elf, dramatic points that burst out from her hair. Carefully, Belle helped the scared girl to sit up as Rumple joined them. He couldn't help but be reminded of Bae back when he was about eight.
"You're okay now, sweetheart." Belle promised. "You're safe." The girl only blinked through her sniffles. "Do you speak Common or just Elvish?"
"I- I know Common."
Rumple made a mental note to put more effort into learning Elvish, Belle was fluent thanks to her mother, but Rumple needed to learn it as well as Dwarven and probably Draconic if he wanted to fully understand the full capabilities of magic in Dreymyr.
The blonde shuffled closer to Belle when she spotted the demon beside her; Rumple supposed in his leather coat with his odd skin, he was just as scary to children in Dreymyr as he was in every other realm.
"You're okay," assured Belle. "Rumple won't hurt you, promise. We're adventurers. He's the party leader." Is that what he was? He wasn't entirely convinced that two people classified as a party, though perhaps she counted Azzy as a third. Blue eyes turned to him. "Show her your chain."
He fished it out from his shirt while Belle did the same so the girl could see they spoke the truth. The girl had curled in on herself but the moment she saw Rumple's chain, she reached for it.
"Gold?" She questioned ever so quietly and Rumple couldn't prevent a small smile. 'She's brave like Belle' said his mind. "… amazing."
Everybody knew being gold-ranked was exceptionally rare, but he'd not seen it cause so much wonder before and it was what sparked his next actions. He took off his chain and placed it in the child's hands with as gentle a smile as he was capable of.
"Double gold. The Chief Commander made a new rank just for me."
If that identification chain brought even a drop of comfort to the girl, Rumple would let her hold it as long as she wanted. There was something odd about the girl's reaction to almost being sacrificed; she'd fought like a tiger to get free, but now she had been, she'd not wailed like other kids her age, instead she'd started trying to mentally move on. Rumple recognized it as something he'd done as a child, compartmentalized so dangerously well to distract the mind and allow it to keep functioning. This girl didn't have a collar, but she'd likely not had a good day in all her life.
Belle pulled her close to sooth when Rumple turned his attention back to the cultists. Most were dead, but those who weren't were quickly snared by rope he'd kept in his vault and transported to the Watch House in Dunnmere.
Like a loving mother, Belle assisted the girl down to the cold floor and guided her over to where Azzy and Rumple had gathered. She shied away from the huge white wolf, which nobody could blame her for, and stared at Rumple's clawed hand when he offered it.
"You have to hold my hand if we are to leave here." He explained gently while Belle placed one hand on Azzy's head and the other atop Rumple's forearm.
After a moment of hesitation, the brave girl slipped her little pale hand into Rumple's larger golden one and they were swiftly carried to Dunnmere's Watch House. The girl gasped and stumbled as they landed but managed to keep from doubling over like most did; Rumple was proud of her for that.
Surrounded by the dead, half dead and unconscious cultists, was Selywn Skane wearing a scowl while several other Watchers did what their name implied. At some point the sun had set but the Watch building had been lit well by lanterns and frankly it was blissful to get some fresh air.
"I take it you're responsible for my Watch House turning into a damn morgue." Skane grumbled as he approached them.
Rumple shrugged, the girl's hand still in his. "You wanted to know who was behind this and these are your culprits. A cult of lunatics calling themselves the Sons of Rael."
Skane's eyes widened a moment, the only indication he'd gone from mild irritation to genuine concern, then he spun around to one of his men who'd been whispering with Bengtsson.
"Himman, have these people moved to the basement and toss the living in the cells."
"Yes, Commander Skane."
The blond man in blue armor turned his attention to Rumple and his companions. "My office might be a better place for this conversation." Rumple fully agreed with that assessment so they followed Skane to his office after grabbing a little metal bucket from a side table. The office was just as practical as they remembered, just as boring. Skane headed straight for Gloria up on her perch so he could tickle her feathers, then set the bucket on his desk and sat down while Belle shut the door behind them all. "I'm assuming that my men not being with you means what I think it does?"
"There was an ambush," Rumple explained as the little girl went to Belle's side for comfort. "The crixx attacked and Erling collapsed the section with some kind of explosive. I couldn't save either of them." Not that Rumple had tried all that hard, he'd been significantly more focused on Belle.
Skane sighed deeply. "Hopefully they'll be the last deaths caused by these people." Belle offered words of condolence in that lyrical voice of hers and Skane thanked her before his attention turned to the blonde girl. "Do you have a name, child?"
She looked to Belle for reassurance that was quickly given. "… A- Amicia."
"It's Gloria's feeding time, Amicia, would you like to feed her?"
Amicia slowly stood after Belle encouraged her, and padded barefoot to Skane's desk where he offered her the bucket then carefully moved Gloria from perch to desk and showed Amicia how to feed the oilharo.
With the elf girl occupied, Skane went to Belle and Rumple determined to discover all he could; especially since he'd just lost his cousin.
"Tell me everything, please."
So they did. They told Commander Skane about mapping sections of the tunnels, how the crixx had come out of nowhere to kill Ektor and Erling, about the chamber they'd found and their theory of why the bodies were showing up on the surface mutilated. Belle offered him the grimoire she'd taken while explaining what the Sons of Rael had been doing down in the Osgar Hall Caverns, about the blood bowl and what they'd wanted to do to Amicia. A terrible story Belle had no desire to relive, but each word was truth and Skane needed to know. Gordana had been right to send Rumple on the quest, he was the only one capable of routing out the evil.
"What will happen to Amicia?" Asked Belle once the tale was over and Skane had begun writing them a letter of quest completion. "She's so young?"
"Which village are you from, Amicia?" Skane questioned the girl petting Gloria only to receive a shrug and the words 'I'm not' in a quiet voice.
That gave the three adults pause, there wasn't a large concentration of elves on the Limestone but they certainly weren't unheard of. It dawned on Skane a few moments later, after he'd asked her how she'd gotten to the Limestone, that she'd been purchased by the Sons and shipped to the island. Her parents had almost certainly been elf slaves and probably passed around from slaver to slaver since she'd learned to walk. As if Skane didn't have enough to deal with he now had to tighten security at the docks to avoid illegal slave trading.
"Dunnmere is small," he began with his head turned to Belle and Rumple. "There's no orphanage here so I'll send her to the Royal Heart in Huntington."
Amicia launched away from Gloria so quickly the bird startled and fled back to her perch behind the desk. In an instant Rumple had the child's arms wrapped around his waist and her face buried into his hip. He didn't know what to do for a few seconds because children didn't seek comfort from the Dark One, but then his parental instincts took over and he stroked her hair lovingly.
"Want to stay with you." She mumbled into his side.
Skane sighed. "There isn't really another option. The orphanage in Huntington is heralded as excellent."
The blond man was right, Belle's mother had worked tirelessly to ensure the orphanage and school were the best they could possibly be. Yig, the man who ran the Royal Heart, was a staunch protector of children despite being a little off: Belle had always suspected him to be a werewolf. All that said, Huntington was so far away.
"What if we take her back to Ranga with us?" Belle reasoned. "Gordana will want more first-hand information surely, and Amicia can provide that. Ranga is a big city too, there will be a home for her."
"Works for me." Skane shrugged.
Belle crouched down beside Amicia who thankfully pulled her face from Rumple's hip.
"Does that sound better?" Amicia nodded. "Right, then that's what we'll do."
With the blonde girl's fate decided, Skane handed over the quest completion letter which Rumple shoved into his pocket while Belle took Amicia's soft hand into her own.
"Is he going to use the magic again?"
Belle nodded with a sweet smile and, just for a moment as she looped her arm with his, Rumple felt they looked like a little family – and wasn't that a painful thought. There he was playing pretend with a princess and an orphan while his son was out there somewhere.
"No offence to you and your party, but I hope I don't ever see you a-fucking-gain."
"I get that a lot, dearie." Rumple commented right before the smoke enveloped them and returned them to the Teapot Inn in Dorovoth.
Belle glanced around their little room with a confused expression as Rumple snapped his fingers to light the various candles and lanterns around the room filling it with a soft orange glow. Azzy, however, had no such lack of certainty at being back in the room, he simply settled down on the floor for a well earned nap. At some point Belle would have to wash the blood staining his white fur off, but he could snooze until then.
"Not the Guild?"
Rumple shook his head and gestured to the moon high in the sky through the little window.
"It's late, we'll deal with it tomorrow." Translation: 'the kid is exhausted and needs feeding, plus I'm done talking to people for today'. Belle understood so didn't bother questioning him. "Go order food and a bath for the girl, I'll refill your potions."
She took off her satchel then set it down on the desk just as Rumple shrunk a sleeping Azzy down to make him better fit the room's size. He'd expected Belle to take Amicia with her when she'd headed downstairs to Missus Potts, but the girl had remained so Rumple quickly found her watching over his shoulder as he worked.
Internally, he sighed. This girl truly had seen enough dark things to simply carry on without succumbing to trauma that would scar other children for life. He hated that she'd had to build this shell, that she buried her trauma rather than dealing with it; how could he complain though when he'd been doing the same thing all his life? A coping mechanism which shoved the problem aside never to actually be dealt with.
"How are you so strong?" She finally asked, her voice curious but quiet.
"Because I'm the Dark One."
He could have slapped his hand to his forehead! Amicia had literally just found people who provided some modicum of safety and he'd just blurted out he was the First Demon Lord. Amazingly though, instead of fleeing the room, crying or some other expected reaction, Amicia breathed out a laugh until she realized it hadn't been a joke.
"… He's real?"
Rumple nodded. "I am, little one." She went quiet again and looked down to his identification chain still in her possession. "You like adventurers?"
"They're strong. They help people and fight monsters."
"Well, who knows, maybe you can be one when you grow up." Rumple did his best to sound positive rather than slipping to his usual doom and gloom: he was many things, but he couldn't be cruel to children.
Rumple looked at her properly then. Amicia was filthy, hair greasy and dark smudges of dirt all over her body, her feet practically black and lacking shoes. The redness of her face had subsided a bit but the whites of her eyes were still angry. A bath was the best thing he could have sent Belle to get her, it would do wonders and help the girl to feel alive again. Down in the Caverns her hair had looked dirty blond, but Rumple suspected it would be golden once washed. Her ears were longer than Belle's with a much more pronounced point, other than that he couldn't really see much difference between elves and half-elves. As far as he could tell, all elves were beautiful, even that cult leader had been exceptionally handsome with his chiselled jaw and piercing eyes.
The eighteen-year-old beauty returned then with a smile and the promise Chip had made to get a bath ready as quickly as possible. Of course Belle would help Amicia to bathe and soon they'd left the room leaving Rumple alone with a snoring waheela.
Refilling Belle's potions and enjoying the quietude had been his intention but, as he sat at his desk staring out the square window, Rumple found his mind drift yet again to the strange realm he'd been summoned to. He honestly didn't have anything against Dreymyr, it was an interesting place full of new wonders and a stunning princess with sapphires for eyes. Three hundred years in the Enchanted Forest had started to grow boring, but it was his home, that was his isolation and punishment for his evil. He'd only leave for the mandatory twenty-eight years of the Dark Curse to seek his son out. Bae, everything was for Bae. Just to say how sorry he was would mean everything to Rumple. His boy would have enjoyed Dreymyr with it's fluffy-eared races and endless adventure, the realm wasn't like the Frontlands or anywhere else and Rumple was different in Dreymyr as well, he was better. Maybe, in some better version of his story, Bae could have seen Belle's homeland. A shake of the head forced those thoughts out of his mind, it wasn't something he could dwell on, all he'd do was upset himself then get angry and scare Amicia.
More potions were crafted, Belle's satchel refilled with a few extra healing potions this time, and the rest were sent off to his vault for safe keeping. Belle was another thing on his mind. Sex, they'd had sex and just not spoken of it since. Had she regretted it after all? Milah had regretted marring him.
A knock sounded on the door then and Missus Potts entered with a friendly smile allowing him to avoid descending into self-deprecation.
"Good evening, Milord, glad to have you back with us." He doubted that. "Your meals are ready but Milady Belle didn't say if you wanted to eat up here or downstairs. There aren't many in tonight, just Chip's friends and a few from the Guild."
"We'll eat downstairs," he concluded.
"Right you are, Milord."
With that she made to shut the door behind her but stepped aside when Belle and Amicia returned. The girls seemed brighter after their bath, more cheerful and Rumple had been correct about the young elf's hair being golden. Once back inside their little sanctuary, Amicia knelt by Azzy to pet him while he slept but Belle slipped over to Rumple and leaned down to speak quietly.
"Rumple, I've come across a small problem."
"And what would that be?"
"Amicia doesn't have any clean clothes and the rags she has are filthy."
Yes, Rumple could see that to be a problem, an easily solved one though. Since gaining his vault at the Guild, he'd been able to store all sorts of things just as he had in the Dark One's Vault. One of those random objects was a bolt of pale green fabric he'd bought on a whim at the Ramstadt market, it had been of such a fine quality that the spinner inside Rumple had urged him to have it, so purchase it he had. The soft green would play well with Amicia's pale skin while showing off the gold and butter colors in her hair; the color would bring out the blue in her eyes as well. With a flamboyant wave of his hand the fabric appeared on his desk which had Belle lift an eyebrow in silent question. He called Amicia over then set to work, his magic snared the fabric around her, tightened it and sewed it all together in a matter of seconds. Once finished, Amicia was left with a rather fetching dress that ended at her knees and had little cap sleeves. It wasn't his best work, nothing compared to the splendor he could craft back home, but Amicia beamed up at him with so much delight that he didn't care. Her happy grin had his dark heart flutter. She gave a little twirl causing the skirt to flare, then her arms were around him.
"Thank you, Milord."
Rumple had always adored children, their happy faces and innocent souls, but being the Dark One kept kids far away. However, there was Amicia hugging him and Rumple treasured it.
"You are very welcome, little one, and you don't have to call me milord." He had enough with the old woman who owned the inn doing that since she'd found out he was the First Demon Lord, he didn't need it from Amicia too. "Missus Potts says supper is ready."
"Are you hungry, Amicia?" Asked Belle with a smile as she hung their towels up to dry. The girl nodded so Belle offered her a hand and the trio headed downstairs.
Missus Potts hadn't lied, there were next to no people in the inn that evening, just a few people sat at the bar chatting with Chip and a handful of adventurers who'd probably had too much mead for one night.
Rumple wasted no time going to his preferred table right at the back of the room, the one partially hidden in shadows that the regulars had come to understand was his table and his only. As soon as they'd taken their seats Amicia glanced to the other patrons with caution, but it faded once Missus Potts brought out their meal; lovely fresh bread, warming bowls of stew and some little tarts for dessert as well as a big pot of tea. The tea Chip made was an affront to nature in Rumple's mind, but his mothers was some of the best he'd ever had.
"Well hello," Martha greeted the little girl. "You must be why Milady Belle asked for three meals. I'm Missus Potts."
Amicia glanced up at the nice old lady. "… Amicia."
"Nice to meet you, sweetheart." She gave a little wave to the child. "You enjoy your meal now."
Missus Potts returned to the kitchen then only to call her son a few seconds later who headed upstairs with a bowl. Azzy might have been left to sleep upstairs but he'd howl the inn down if he woke up to no dinner bowl.
For a few seconds while Rumple poured himself some tea, Amicia simply glanced between her bowl of stew and him with uncertainty. Her little hands itched to grab one of the bread rolls but she refrained.
"Can I really have this, Milord?"
Rumple nodded and offered her, what he hoped, was a kind smile. "Of course you can. That's why it's in front of you."
"But-"
Belle cut in with a loving glow in her polished sapphires and a tone of comfort. "We're going to take care of you for a while, Amicia. No more slavery, no more masters."
The blonde's brow furrowed adorably. "You have a collar."
Rumple and Belle shared a glance before he told the girl: "That wasn't intentional, someone else's poor attempts at magic."
"So I can really have the stew, Milord?"
"Yes, little one, eat up."
That was the final encouragement Amicia needed to grab a roll and begin to eat. She reminded him of the days when Bae got a good meal, how he'd lit up and Rumple had been sure that look alone was enough to sustain his soul. He'd make sure Amicia went somewhere safe, somewhere people like that cult leader couldn't ever touch her again.