Rumple had finally managed to find a spinning wheel up to his standards in Westselo when they'd been on a small quest for the Guild. Rumor had it that Westselo was filled with thieves and cut-throats, but Rumple had thought it like most small towns and, as his new spinning wheel proved, actually had some interesting merchandise. Westselo wasn't important, they'd done their quest and gotten paid, the spinning wheel was just an added bonus. Rumple had quickly set it up in the corner of their room by his desk and instantly felt more at home. He'd spun for hours upon hours without speaking nor taking breaks as he tried to re-teach himself how to make gold but no success came. Straw into gold was his magical art, something only he did; sure Cora knew how but she'd never been any good at it and hadn't bothered again after she'd landed the prince she'd wanted.

Belle had been and gone several times during and had probably asked him to eat on half a dozen occasions or more, but he'd just ignored her. Although, he did vaguely remember her saying something about Martha Potts and helping to make supper, but he'd really not been paying attention. The sun had set and moonlight lit the night by the time Belle returned to their room with a sleepy Azzy hot on her heels. She placed a large bowl down on the floor for him by the door and placed a smaller one on Rumple's desk, it steamed and smelt faintly of fruity red wine.

"I brought you some dinner." Rumple said nothing, just tossed more thread down in frustration and grumbled. Belle's curious mind had her retrieve and inspect it. "Rumple, this is beautiful. It's so fine and delicate. I don't think even spinners in Gran Tkach could make something so lovely." Her brow furrowed slightly as she peered closer. "But this isn't thread it's – this is lead! That's amazing, Rumple."

Rumple was significantly less amazed. "I was aiming for gold."

Lead thread slipped back into the basket at Rumple's feet while the importance of what he'd just done sank in for her.

"Alchemists have been trying to turn lead into gold for centuries with no real success. We thought it couldn't be done."

Finally he looked away from his wheel. "I'm not an alchemist, I'm the damn Dark One."

"Who keeps saying magic is different here," she sighed. "You did break the measuring gem at the Guild and you made lead, that's more than I could ever do – than a lot of people could do. I understand you're frustrated you can't just make gold like back in your realm, but you have to see this is amazing progress. You'll get there and, when you do and you've found your friend in the hat, we'll get this collar off me, stop Gaston and you'll get to go home." Belle stepped a little closer, so close her legs brushed against his thigh, rested a hand atop his shoulder and bent to kiss his cheek. "I have faith in you, Rumpelstiltskin."

Then Belle was gone after telling him to eat his dinner and Rumple just sat there while Azzy curled up for a nap having polished off his own bowl. Slowly Rumple's fingers rose up to brush his cheek where she'd kissed him. Belle had kissed him. Nobody ever kissed the monster. No one had ever shown actual interest in him - except for Zelena and Cora but that was more of an obsession and a thirst for power than anything else, so he'd rather not think about either woman if at all possible. Belle's kiss had been so gentle and delicate, her lips smooth and soft; if just a kiss to the cheek had felt that amazing, he could only imagine what a proper kiss would be like. A real kiss wouldn't ever happen though, she was a beautiful princess destined to be a queen, while he was a terrible beast nobody could love.

~X~

After a few weeks as well as one or two small, hardly mentionable quests, Rumple had still had no success with his spinning, which had only made him grow more grumpy by the day. At first Belle had tolerated it, brought him meals he'd not eaten and chit-chatted with Missus Potts when Rumple ceased speaking altogether, but she'd reached the end of her rope the second he'd told her to shut up so violently that the enslavement collar activated. He'd apologized quickly and rescinded the order but the collar had made Belle bite her tongue and she wasn't happy.

"So you can't make gold here!" She snapped causing Azzy to jolt awake from his nap. "It's not the most important thing in the world. You have a lot of gold already thanks to how quickly you blow through quests. You'll easily earn more gold, so what does it matter if you can't spin straw into gold?!"

"I'm not as powerful here!" He hissed out of nowhere but Belle just rolled her eyes.

"Power isn't everything, Rumple. You may be the True Demon Lord but you're not a monster despite what you seem to think. Your power isn't want defines you or anybody else. The longer you sit there trying to make gold, the further away your friend gets and the more damage Gaston and Tvon do to Avonlea."

"Yes, yes, good luck with your little war."

"Don't be so cynical."

Gordana Aalto chose that moment to push their inn room door open and Azzy took the sudden quiet to settle down for more sleep. Her hair was in its usual complicated braids and a hand rested atop the hilt of her dagger; just because she specialized with a bow didn't mean she wasn't familiar with other weapons.

"Not interrupting a domestic, I hope." Her voice was laced with mirth, her lips with a teasing smile.

Rumple sighed as he rose to his feet. "What do you want, dearie?"

"Straight to business today then. Well, this must be a real doozy of a domestic." Rumpelstiltskin might have been the First Demon Lord but Gordana honestly did enjoy teasing him, his whit was fun to bounce off unlike most boring adventurers or the nutjobs from the Church. "You said you'd go on two quests for me with no questions asked, and I've come to collect one."

A flamboyant giggle escaped Rumple as if he'd not just been arguing with his slave two minutes earlier.

"Well, this is unusual. Normally it's me collecting."

"My father always said I'd do things others couldn't, guess having the First Demon Lord owe me a favor is just one of those things."

"Oh, I do like you." He giggled again. "You should be proud of that, dearie, I can count on one hand the people I actually like and I've lived more lifetimes than most can even begin to comprehend."

Upset that Rumple and Gordana appeared to be subtly flirting with one another – and she'd unpack just how she had reached that stage later – Belle got them back on track.

"Where do you want us to go, Gordana?"

"Avonlea," she answered with a shrug as if it were no big deal. "But don't worry, it's the Limestone not the mainland. I've been receiving an alarming amount of reports of disappearances in the last couple of months, most aren't found and those who are have been … torn apart. The Limestone has no large towns or cities except Dunnmere, just small villages spattered around."

"Yes," Belle nodded. "They mostly grow things like silver weed and other medicinal herbs, they do some fishing and hunting too."

"Right. Point is that there aren't any forts, the Watchers have to spread themselves thin to cover the whole area and there's no Guild building. In hindsight, we probably should have a small one." Gordana sighed. "These people are being picked off and I don't know why, how or by what. I've already sent two silver-ranked parties -"

Rumple cut her off. "Let me guess, they haven't come back?"

"No, they didn't. All communication has ended and I think it's pretty evident that they're dead. Folk are still going missing and I'm fairly sure it has something to do with the Osgar Hall Caverns." After a quick prompt from Rumple to explain on just what the hell that place was, Gordana elaborated. "The cave system travels through the whole place and there are entrances everywhere, half of which even the locals don't know about. Watchers have sealed up as many as they can but we all know the stories of mermaids abandoning the caves because of the creatures down there."

Rumple raised an eyebrow. "You look worried, that's a lot of concern for some old farmers."

"They're not just 'old farmers'." Gordana protested. "Whatever the fuck is down there isn't picky, kills indiscriminately. All manner of people, doesn't care about species or race … and now it's started taking children as well."

At the mention of children being harmed Rumple dropped his bravado and became disturbingly serious; that was the good man Belle knew her demon lord really was. 'Wait, my demon lord? When did I start wanting him to be mine?' Back when Faris had tried stealing from them, Rumple had been kinder than most who caught a half-elf pickpocketing; he'd healed Una Quartermaine for only a few garments. Underneath his prickly exterior, Rumple was a good person who took pity on children and, even though he was technically her master, Belle was pleased to have him as her companion.

"We'll leave at first light."

He was bound by the terms of their deal to take the quest, but his agreement still caused Gordana's shoulders to relax. Frankly, Gordana had half expected him to refuse his half of the deal until she'd found something about that Jefferson man he kept talking about, but he'd honored his deal and Gordana's tensions could fade a little. With two silver-ranked parties having gone missing, something very serous was clearly going on and only he may have stood a chance of getting to the bottom of it.

"Thank you, Rumpelstiltskin." She told him honestly. "I know going to Avonlea isn't a good idea for you so I took the liberty of chartering a ship. I'm glad you said you'd leave at first light because the ship leaves Quailwyn tomorrow afternoon. Her captain has been instructed to go directly to Dunnmere – not that there's anywhere for him to stop off on the way."

"How are the bodies being found?"

While a totally valid question and she understood it was in everybody's best interest if they went in with as much knowledge as possible, Belle would have rather not heard about the savage dissemination of corpses, especially those of kids. As a princess, she'd led a rather sheltered life lacking adventure and discovery, but it had also lacked the world's true horrors. Azzy, bless his heart, sensed Belle's sudden change in mood and rubbed his face against her hand, so she sat down on the bed to pet him while listening to the conversation. 'Be brave, Belle.'

"The information is spotty at best. First reports were that people were going missing, just not coming back from hunting or the fields. Then villagers started to report children going out to play and not being seen again. Dunnmere's City Watch is already spread too thin but searches found bodies mounted in trees and on rocks by streams like some kind of grizzly message. That was when the Guild was contacted. The bodies are said to be missing limbs, drained of blood, some with deep cuts or claw marks. Nobody can explain it."

"Could it be crixx?" Asked Belle quietly.

"That was my first guess, but the crixx haven't ever been this organized before nor have they shown signs of actively hunting humanoid races."

Rumple's brow furrowed deeply. "What in the Enchanted Forest is a crixx?"

"Muddy little creatures that look a bit like goblins and like to stab first and ask questions never."

He seemed happy with Belle's blunt description and let Gordana continue; poor woman looked ready for a drink.

"I have no clue what is happening on the Limestone, but I want it to stop. If it is crixx, burn them alive if you want. If it isn't them, then I beg you to find out who is doing this and put an end to it. I don't want one more child dying on that island or any more of my adventurers going missing."

"Relax, dearie, this is part of our deal and I always honor my deals."

"Good. The City Watch commander is expecting you, his name is Skane and he'll have more information. I know you're fulfilling our deal by doing this, but thank you because you're basically my last hope. You're a demon lord, you can certainly get to the bottom of this."

Rumple smirked. "Stroke my ego why don't you."

"I'm stroking nothing of yours. Besides, men aren't really my area. I'll leave you to your evening." She turned to pull the bedroom door open but stopped with her hand on the handle. "There's a little known path through Bear Forest we of the Guild use to reach Quailwyn quickly." She fished a rolled up map out and handed it to him. "Here."

"Ah, a map, I do love a good map." He tossed it over to his desk where it landed atop a book of herbs.

"Don't worry, Gordana," said Belle comfortingly while Azzy practically purred at her tickles. "Rumple will stop this."

"I hope so. Goodnight, Princess, Dark One."

The guildmaster left and silence dominated the room for several moments. He'd expected Gordana to cash in one of her quests sooner rather than later, but at least she'd tried other options before throwing the omnipotent Dark One at the problem.

Belle's eyes on him were heavy but not filled with any malice or anger, for a few seconds he pretended not to notice, to be lost in thought, but eventually he just had to acknowledge the beauty. So lovely, such porcelain skin and sapphire eyes, such a sweet smile and accent he's not soon forget.

"I think I've figured you out, Rumple."

"Oh?"

"If a child is in need, you drop everything and go running like the good man you are, but you're the First Demon Lord so you play it off as making deals."

"Continue working on your deductive reasoning, Princess." He told her dismissively, but Belle knew she was right. "Go to bed."

"Will you sleep?"

"I need to study the map so I can teleport us accurately."

"The ship won't be ready to depart if you do that and we have Svad for this kind of thing. We'll just travel by horse like everybody else."

"I'm not everybody else." He grumbled which just had Belle roll her lovely eyes.

"Yes, as you like to keep reminding me."

Rumple reached for the rolled up map Gordana had given him. "Didn't I tell you to go to bed?"

"Yes, and I am, though not because you told me to."

He smiled devilishly at her over the map. "I could order you."

It would have been so easy for him to issue that as an order, she'd have been compelled to settle down in bed and stay there, but he had already accidentally commanded her to shut up once that week and had no desire to further remind the lovely Belle he owned her. Forcing people to do what he wanted via deals was one thing, but to keep an eighteen-year-old princess with a heart of gold as his slave simply because there was a collar around her neck was quite another.

"But you won't."

With that Belle started to change for bed and Rumple quickly darted to his desk to give her his back and some semblance of privacy. This happened each night they were at the inn, Rumple would hunch over his desk while Belle performed her nightly routine and settled under the covers with a book. He'd pretend he didn't hear the sound of her removing the burgundy outfit he'd bought for her, or the sound of bare feet on the floorboards. Most of all though, he'd pretend he had no desire to run his clawed hands over all her porcelain flesh, through chestnut locks and kiss parts no man ever had. At first Rumple had only felt a mild attraction to her beauty, but it had quickly evolved to become all-consuming. He wanted Belle, wanted all of her and not just in a carnal way, Rumple wanted to love her but of course that wouldn't ever be allowed.

Once she'd finally slipped into bed, Belle cracked open a book and Azzy hopped up to settle at her feet as if he were little more than a lapdog. Only after he was sure she'd lost herself in her reading did Rumple risk looking over his shoulder at her propped up with pillows unbefitting of a royal. The sooner he got that collar off her the better. However, it oddly suited her – and wasn't that a landmine thought? The silver paired well with her pale skin, the green gems showed off the chestnut and hazel tones in her curls. Rumple hadn't ever agreed with slavery yet there he was thinking about how nice his mark of ownership looked on her. Rumple turned his brown eyes away shamefully; once a monster, always a monster.

What followed was fifteen minutes of silent chastisement, it would have been closer to an hour but Belle's beautiful voice broke him out of his self-hatred.

"Please sleep." She turned her book over and rested it in her lap to mark her place. "You know what I think about you not sleeping, and if there are children involved in our quest, you should be well rested."

Much to Belle's surprise, Rumple didn't argue. He'd been yelling at himself but by the gods did he want her. Just to lay beside her would be a gift well beyond the value of gold or jewels and, being a selfish beast, he'd snap up his chance to do so. Slowly he rolled the map back up then went to the bed where he stripped off his thick coat, vest and boots, before he lay atop the covers close enough to not fall off the bed, but far enough away that he couldn't touch her.

Pleased she'd finally gotten through to him, Belle set her book aside, blew out her candle and snuggled up to Azzy for the night.

~X~

Little was said on their trip to Quailwyn, Belle was so very tired thanks to how early Rumple had woken her so they could depart the Teapot Inn. She'd actually spent most of the trip dozing against Rumple's back while Svad carried them through the shortcut Gordana had told them about and Azzy jogged alongside them.

Wind danced through the trees and just enough light made it through Bear Forest's thick canopy for them to see by. Rumple had spotted two teratects earlier in their journey, but a quick fireball had put an ended to them, and a wave of his hand had sent the carcases off to his vault to be cleaned for parts later. Mostly he remained focused on his task, on fulfilling part of his and Gordana's deal. In a way he'd been enjoying the investigation of their quests, it had been refreshing after so very long of everything being easy back in the Enchanted Forest. Despite that, there were children involved now and snapping his fingers wouldn't make things better. He tried not to focus on the lack of power he still suffered, and amazingly the darkness inside him remained quiet. He might not have had his full power, but he was still more than capable of discovering who or what was harming those children and ripping it to shreds. This was why he'd taken the Dark One's power in the first place, so he could save kids and end the war. In a strange way, he felt as though he'd finally returned to how things were in the beginning, as if he'd gone back to his roots – or maybe it was all some lie he'd told himself to make him think Bae would have been proud of him again.

When they finally reached Quailwyn, they found the city noisy due to a mix of seagulls squawking and dockworkers shouting things all around the harbor. The scent of salt dominated the air and the sun had just reached it's zenith.

As soon as Belle had been jostled from her dozing and they'd dismounted Svad, Rumple hitched the horse up to a post at the dock beside a lovely shire horse who had her head stuck in a feed bag munching happily. Having shrunk Azzy down to the size of a regular dog as soon as Quailwyn had come into sight, nobody questioned the waheela as he trailed Belle and the Dark One through the crowded dock in search of their ship. Salty air stung their noses and pandemonium swirled all around. Out of nowhere a man carrying a barrel bumped into Belle, but Rumple caught her around the waist and pulled her close before she could stumble.

The teenager smiled at him with thanks. "Where do you think the harbormaster is? This place is chaos."

Rumple wasn't a tall man, but it hadn't taken much effort to spot a balding man being followed around by a young boy who carried a ledger and several other items in his arms.

"That one." He pointed at him so Belle could follow his finger. "Wave of authority rolling off him, followed by a lackey and everyone is automatically getting out of his way. That's our harbormaster."

Together the trio made a beeline to the harbormaster, but Belle was quick to speak before Rumple could just demand answers as was his usual way.

"Hello, sir." She greeted with a bright smile. "Could you please tell us where the Copper Cat is docked?"

The harbormaster raised a scruffy eyebrow. "That's the one Chief Commander Aalto commandeered. You two adventurers?"

Rumple would really have rather just got on with his day but didn't complain and just let Belle talk, folk were normally more helpful when she engaged them in conversation anyway.

"We are, yes. We need to depart as soon as possible."

The bald harbormaster let out a little hum and folded his arms across his chest. "Word is that there are killings going on over at the Limestone. Any truth to that?"

Rumple sighed deeply, they didn't have time for some old man to try pumping them for information. "Unfortunately yes, and the sooner we get to the ship, the sooner we can go stop kids and defensible old women being ripped apart like an evening meal." Belle nearly slammed her head into her palm as those around them suddenly took notice and stared. "Or would you rather delay us further?"

"Now hold on a minute there, you worthless demon." Hissed the harbormaster which only served to draw yet more attention to them. "I'm the harbormaster here and you will show me some respect or I'll have you, your pretty pet whore and your mutt tossed in a cell! Damn demons, for two seconds there I actually thought you things weren't savages."

Whore? Had the insignificant little flea just called Belle a whore? Rage thundered through Rumple in a way it hadn't since before he'd arrived in Dreymyr and, before he'd even realized it, Rumple had snapped his fingers turning the harbormaster into a haddock. For a split second Rumple stood there confused because, while a perfectly completable thing in most realms, such a transformation Rumple had thought impossible in Dreymyr. How he'd done that would be a mystery for later though because around them people gasped in shock and backed away lest they be turned into flopping fish themselves, while the smarter dockworkers amongst them pretended they'd seen nothing and got back to work.

Since they were on a schedule, Rumple ignored the floundering harbormaster and crouched down beside the boy with the ledger.

"May I see your logs, please?" The kid handed over the book without question, clearly scared but brave enough to stand his ground, and Rumple flipped through to the information he needed. Once he had the vessel's location, he returned the log and stood up. "Thank you, young man." He turned to Belle. "This way."

"No." That objection had him lift an eyebrow at her. "Rumple, you have to change him back, he's suffocating." Seeing an amusing loophole, he picked up the harbormaster by the caudal fin and walked to the water's edge. "That's not what I meant, Rumpelstiltskin." Oh, full name, she really wasn't in the mood for jokes. "What if he has a family?"

"They'd be better off without him."

"No they wouldn't." Belle protested and Rumple decided turning him back would be easier than arguing with her – at least he hoped it would be easier.

It took quite some concentration, but the harbormaster was soon a man again sat on the dock floor looking terrified and ready to throw up.

"You're a monster! A demon lord!"

Then the harbormaster charged away leaving the boy to hurry after him. Rumple didn't care what the bald man thought, they had a ship to catch, so he snaked an arm around Belle's slender waist and guided her towards the Copper Cat. The further away from the incident location they got, the less people stared at them until it was as if it hadn't ever happened. People went about their day while Rumple and Belle managed to slip into obscurity again: obscurity was no small thing when one was the Dark One and missing Princess of Avonlea.

The Copper Cat was a vessel built to be swift and agile but still carry copious amounts of cargo. The sails were red, a stark contrast to all the other traditional white sails scattered around the harbor, and it seemed the crew had almost finished taking cargo aboard. Looking at a map was a middle-aged man with patches of white running through his otherwise black locks and beard, he wore shades of blue that complemented Belle's eyes and had the bulk of a hard-working sailor. Rumple quickly informed him who they were and handed over the letter Gordana had rolled up with the map she'd given them to prove their identities before the man could even think of pointing out how rude it was to just wander onto a man's ship without permission. One look at the wax seal on Gordana's letter, and this man knew some extremely powerful adventurers had arrived.

"Ah, you're here earlier than I thought." The bearded man smiled kindly. "I like that. I'm Captain Emmerich Nalene."

Rumple had no good experiences with ship captains, but at least this one wasn't a damn pirate.

"How long until you're ready to depart, Captain Nalene?"

Nalene thrust a thumb over his shoulder toward the Copper Cat's cargo hold. "I have a few more crates to take on, got a bit delayed unfortunately. It's stuff for the local villages, not just Dunnmere."

Belle decided she liked this man, he was rather personable – something Belle had become a little starved for since her forced companionship with the Dark One. "They need all the help they can get."

"Can you load my horse as well?" Asked Rumple curiously.

Nalene nodded. "Sure, I'll have room. We'll depart in an hour."

Rumple brought Svad closer then, for the next hour, Rumple and Belle simply watched the world go by while Azzy stared at the water as though something was underneath the waves pretending it wasn't there.

Quailwyn wasn't like Ranga, it was loud and busting in the way only a port city could be. It reminded Rumple that he did actually miss the Dark Castle, its peace and quiet, not to mention the spinning wheel he'd had for three hundred years. Bae, everything he did was to find his son, so it didn't matter that he missed his castle or his spinning wheel, the only thing of import was getting out of Dreymyr, and this quest was just another step towards that goal. How much Bae would love meeting Azzy and Belle didn't matter, the love he'd developed for Missus Potts' hammer boar stew and fresh tea didn't matter, and, sadly, what he felt for Belle didn't matter.

"I don't think Azzy has ever seen the ocean before." Said Belle unintentionally pulling Rumple out of his cluttered mind.

"He'll be seeing a lot more of it soon enough." Belle smiled and Rumple knew he'd treasure it long after he escaped her realm. "Do you think that idiot-brained lummox of yours and his pet mage could have had anything to do with what's happening on that island?"

"I honestly don't know what goes on inside Gaston's brain and, when it comes to Tvon, I find it scary to even contemplate what he's capable of. The Limestone is Avonlea territory, my papa's territory, and I don't like the idea that this has been going on without the royal family noticing. I think Gaston and Tvon kept everything contained within the castle and Rutherford Tower as best they could, didn't want others finding out, so I doubt this is them. Duke Leondis Gonzada is charged with safeguarding the Limestone, but he's also a member of one of the du Marchand branch families. I doubt he'd recognize me but I should probably avoid him."

Rumple chuckled. "You're sounding as if you plan to have a nice chat with this man. We have more important things to deal with than family reunions."

"I suppose you're right, I just wanted you to know it would be better for me to keep my head down while there. What will we do upon our arrival?"

"Speak with the City Watch commander that Gordana mentioned." He answered simply. "Then I want to see the most recent body, it could be a well of information."

"Then?"

Rumple looked her dead in the eyes unwaveringly. "Find whoever or whatever has been doing this and make it regret the day it came into existence."

Of that Belle had no doubt, he was angry and she'd seen what he could do when a child was threatened. Frankly, Rumple's calm range was significantly more terrifying then his loud rage.

~X~

Aboard the ship, the sailors mostly kept to themselves focused on their work while Rumple just stared out at the sea lost inside his head. For a time Belle had stood with him but soon grew bored when he hardly even blinked. She'd been on a ship exactly eight times in her life, mostly for official journeys and the launching of a few naval vessels, so the Copper Cat wasn't a totally new experience but she chose to enjoy it regardless. The ship appeared to mostly be involved with cargo hauling since the hold was full, and the red sails seemed almost enchanted by how well they captured the wind. For a moment Belle worried she'd end up going too great a distance from Rumple, but the Copper Cat wasn't excessively large so, as long as she didn't take a trip into the ship's bowls, the collar was unlikely to trigger. Yes, Belle was free to go anywhere she pleased – not that Belle had ever actually felt like his slave. Sure, at first she'd been frightened and attempted to act like a good slave, but her heart hadn't ever really been in it, and Rumple was too good a man to actually want her enthralled to him.

Belle winced: Rumple was kind, compassionate and noble even though he pretended not to be. Not a monster despite the fact he appeared convinced he was. Then there were those eyes of his. Most probably thought them full of danger and evil but not Belle, she'd found herself captivated by them. To her he was very handsome, especially when he stopped frowning.

Captain Nalene appeared at her side then and leaned casually against the gunwale on his exposed elbows while she looked out at the horizon. Emmerich Nalene was a tall, broad man covered in faint scars here and there from years of being on the ocean, his beard neat and hair thick despite his middle-age and his deep voice was the sort of baritone that left women weak at the knees.

"Are you all right, my dear?"

"Oh yes, totally fine. I'm sorry, I was somewhat lost in thought."

Nalene smiled, the sort of smile that made his eyes twinkle. "Your master doesn't talk much, does he? Then again, I'm not sure I've seen him blink either."

"He's not that bad," Belle chuckled.

"He's the Dark One."

Blue eyes snapped up to Nalene's brown ones as fear flooded through her; it was such a sudden alarm that Azzy hurried across the deck to her to provide protection and comfort.

"… How do you know that?"

Nalene smiled again, this time as comfortingly as he could. "Well, I was told about the little display at the docks and a certain harbormaster's accusation. Although, I did have another inside source."

"Gordana told you." Belle realized with a sigh.

"She didn't want to but that girl hasn't ever been very good at keeping things from me. I was friends with her father, we were in the same party back when we were adventuring. Crispin Aalto was practically my brother." Nalene's expression grew sorrowful. "The world lost a great man the day Crispin died. Point is: I've known Gordana all her life, I was there when she became a member of Willow Blue and I sure as hell know when she omits or lies. I thought she'd gone mad at first – I mean the Dark One is just a myth, but she insisted and, if she was going to continue to let that man parade around as an adventurer, then -"

"You wanted to make sure she wasn't making a huge mistake."

"Not the average slave girl, are you?" He eyed her as cogs turned in his head. "Gordana did manage to keep hold of a few secrets by just never bringing up the subject, but now I'm starting to wonder if they were about you rather than the demon lord."

"Are you intending to force it out of me, Captain?"

Nalene breathed out a laugh. "No, you can keep your secrets for now, my dear."

That was a relief but Belle still had her worries. "You don't seem very concerned that the First Demon Lord is aboard your ship."

Nalene shrugged. "I was an adventure for decades before this ship, and not a helpless one. He might be a demon lord but Gordana vouched for him and I'm a pretty powerful water mage. Oh, and there's Bertha of course. She could certainly put him through his paces."

"Bertha?" A wife maybe, Belle supposed. "Who's Bertha?"

"She's my friend." He told her knowingly. "A bakunawa."

"They're not real, just a bedtime story."

Queen Colette had regaled Belle with stories of sea serpents and how they'd pull down unsuspecting ships in the night. Her father hadn't been pleased, thought she'd fill their children with nothing but nightmares.

"There are those who say the Dark One is a bedtime story, and yet you're his slave."

"I'm not his slave exactly."

Nalene slipped a little closer, his elbows still on the gunwals while the crew continued with their duties. He seemed a bit surprised by Belle's statement but there wasn't any disgust or malice in his expression or what he said next.

"So you choose to be with him?"

"Well, no." To be perfectly honest, Belle hadn't had much choice in anything for several years, not since Gaston had started getting really dominant and decided to strong-arm her into his evil plots. Rumple though, he'd given her a say in almost everything, had helped her make the best of a bad situation. "I'm not his slave though. I'm his … companion."

The dark-haired man laughed. "Is that what you're calling it?"

Captain Nalene turned around to face the distant horizon. There wasn't any attempt to push the subject further which Belle was thankful for, things would have gotten rather complicated had he continued asking questions. He might have been a curious man, but also a good enough one to know when a lady had just about reached her limit.

The older man glanced down at the water for a moment then took a deep breath and whistled; deep but ended with a sharp upturn. Nothing beyond Belle raising an eyebrow happened, she'd been just about to ask what the whistle meant when a gigantic blue head poked up out of the ocean and Belle startled backwards as Azzy growled. The sea serpent was a truly stunning shade of blue with three silver horns akin to a crown and large, pointed fangs. This scaled creature surely could have pulled the Copper Cat down in a instant and, for a second, Belle genuinely feared for her life. Captain Nalene said something but Belle was deaf to it as she just stared at the bakunawa open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Nalene's proffered hand filled her vision then which caused Belle to blink rapidly as the world came back to her. None of the crew had reacted at all to the sea serpent's emergence, not so much as a glance.

"Meet Bertha. Would you like to pet her?"

"Pet her?" Belle paled, she wanted adventure but surely petting a bakunawa wasn't an actual option, rather something from a children's story. "Really?"

Nalene nodded and his comforting smile gave Belle enough courage to step forward and take his large hand. How many people got the chance to pet a mythical creature like a bakunawa? The very moment she took his hand, ocean water dripped over the gunwale, formed a puddle under their feet then lifted the two up and carried them off the ship towards Bertha. Water both solid and liquid all at the same time but, then again, Captain Nalene had said he was a rather powerful water mage. Amazement and a little nervousness coursed through Belle's blood as they floated ever closer; she'd seen teratects, a linaelor and several other monsters since Rumple had entered her life but a bakunawa had been total myth until two minutes earlier.

Soon the water had carried them to Bertha's scaled back and set them down almost lovingly. They were hardly fifteen feet from the Copper Cat but that didn't prevent Belle feeling as though she were a world away. Bertha kept her movements slow and calm so as not to knock the people into the sea, but she did coil her large head around to face them and display those three silvery horns of hers. Beautiful, Bertha was a beauty. Each azure scale easily three times the size of Belle's hand and eyes like giant gold coins.

"Go ahead," Nalene encouraged. "Bertha is a sweetheart who lovers her cuddles."

Exceedingly cautiously, Belle stretched an arm out towards a section of damp scales while Bertha simply watched on apparently just as curious about Belle as she was about Bertha. When her hand finally made contact, Belle found the hard scales akin to a weathered pebble, smooth and cold but not slimy. Bertha might have been gigantic, might have been able to pull a whole ship down in a bad mood, but there wasn't any evil in this mythical creature.

"Just because something looked monstrous doesn't mean it is." Belle said mostly to herself. "You're like Rumple."

Blue eyes glanced back to the ship then where she and Nalene had been stood only a few moments earlier, to find Rumple beside Azzy both staring – at her or Bertha, Belle wasn't quite certain. He'd kill Captain Nalene and Bertha in a heartbeat if he needed to, of that Belle had no doubt. Instead of seeing threat and violence in his eyes, Belle thought he just looked like a man watching over someone he cared about: Belle smiled, did Rumple really care about her?

With a shake of her head to get thoughts of Rumple and how she felt about him out, Belle turned her attention back to Bertha and stroking those amazing scales. Nalene smiled at her like a father would at a child who'd met a cute dog for the first time, then sat down on Bertha's back like he had a million times before – his friend indeed.

When the ship drifted a little to starboard Rumple worried they'd just tip over their separation distance so teleported himself to Bertha's back as a precaution leaving poor Azzy with his paws hooked over the gunwale watching them. Mermaids and sailors both had tales of sea monsters but Rumple hadn't ever actually encountered one before unless one counted Ursula; Dreymyr just kept providing firsts, even to a man over three hundred.

"Made a new friend, have you?" He teased while Nalene leaned back on his hands enjoying the gentle motion of Bertha swimming. "The great Belle making friends with monsters and wild animals everywhere she goes."

"Got a good heart has that one."

"Indeed she does." Rumple hardly spared a glance over his shoulder to Captain Nalene. "I think the pup is getting jealous though."

"He's a good boy, he knows I'm just saying hello to Bertha." Suddenly she grabbed Rumple by the hand an pressed it to one of Bertha's shining scales. "Isn't she beautiful?"

He only just managed to prevent 'she is nothing compared to you' from tumbling out his mouth. Yes, Bertha was a truly outstanding creature with gorgeous scales that he doubted many ever got to see, but Belle was … Belle. Once he'd gotten whatever spell King Maurice had been placed under off of him, Rumple would slap him for ever letting someone as hedonistic as Gaston LeGume near Belle in the first place.

Eventually Bertha started to show signs of having had enough lugging people around on her back for one day, so Nalene told her she was a good girl and let her sink back under the waves, then used his magic to return them to the Copper Cat. Instantly, Azzy started to nuzzle into Belle's hip and stomach in search of tickles; that giant wolf truly was more of a pampered pooch.

"Satisfy my curiosity, dearie." Rumple started as he spun around on the spot flamboyantly. "How did you come to have a creature such as her as your ship's escort?"

"Way back when I was an adventurer -" Nalene tugged out his chain showing him to be a silver-ranked. " - I helped to break up a group selling dangerous and magical creatures on the underground markets. I found poor Bertha barely out of her shell and crammed into a tank hardly the length of my forearm. She was in so much pain." He sighed, understandably since he clearly hated the memory. "They'd pulled off a load of her scales as well. When I finally got the wards off the tank to free her, I decided to release her somewhere she wouldn't be bothered and made sure to visit. I say Bertha is my friend, but I think she believes me to be her father." He tucked his chain away. "When I retired from the Guild, I thought sailing would be a good fit for me so I could be with her more. Bertha and Gordana are the closest things to family I've got."

"How sweet." Rumple hummed, but amazed himself when the usual mocking tone just didn't permeate the words.

One of the crew jogged over then abruptly bringing their insightful conversation to an end. An apparent issue with the cargo stacking had Nalene politely excuse himself and vanish below deck grumbling something which sounded suspiciously like 'if you want something doing…' The work of a captain was never done it seemed.

"You shouldn't go wandering off ships with strangers, Belle."

Belle simply smiled at him. "I knew you'd not let any harm come to me."

"You presume too much, Princess."

"No, I presume just the right amount."

"Let's just get to the island."

Damn her and her ability to let everything he said roll off her back like some kind of blue-eyed swan.