TWICE CURSED
Previously on Twice Cursed Fine, Papa, but as soon as Black is gone, you better leave, or I will kill you." "You mean you'll try," Pan corrected, a grin spreading wider across his face as Regina removed the handcuffs. "So, what's your plan?" "Ruby and Mary Margaret are here! They decided to join us in the fight against Black!" He was asleep in a matter of seconds, and then he spoke in his sleep. "I come back to the Netherworld, to help with my quest. I do not return yet, but I will as soon as my job is done." Then, he lay completely still, looking almost like he was in a sleeping curse, as his spirit entered the world between worlds. "They were attacked by Black." "Henry, go tell my men to meet us at Regina's house," Robin ordered, following the other adults toward the Mayor's abode. Henry sighed, thinking it unfair that he'd done more as a hero before he had his memories back than now, before going to get the Merry Men. "Flattery doesn't work on me. Never the less, I suppose I could tell you my story. After all, Gold, I would like you to know who you're losing to." Pan grinned triumphantly, and Black started his story. "My name is Baelfire, and my father is Rumpelstiltskin." Henry stood, shocked by the boy's answer. His father was alive! So what if he was a kid, he was still alive, and Henry wanted nothing more to embrace him. "Um, sorry, but we don't know …" Little John started to say, but Henry cut him off. "Yeah, Rumpelstiltskin's this way. He's kind of under attack right now, but we're working on rescuing him. You want to come?" Bae nodded, and followed them. "Uh, Henry, there's a Rumpelstiltskin in the resistance?" Little John asked. "Yeah. Why do you think Mr. Gold never uses his first name?" Henry found his mind was swimming with different thoughts; about the resistance, whether or not they were too late to save them, and how they would defeat a sorcerer when both of their magicians were pinned to the wall. But, the most prominent thought was the joy he felt at his father being alive. … "My story starts centuries ago, long before any of you were born, and when magicians were much more powerful …" He was already a sorcerer, and more on the dark side than light, when he attempted to learn one of the darkest spells wizards would ever discover. He strived to steal magic from others, and absorb it into himself, so he could grow in power and become unstoppable. The fairies had recently discovered a spell to take power, and disperse it back into nature, so why couldn't there be one that let him keep the magic for himself? After several years of experimentation, he finally cracked it. The spell that would allow him to become unstoppable, and steal the magic of anyone who dared to stand in his way. He ravaged the land, searching for any magician he could find, stripping them of their magic. His power grew and grew, until he was too powerful to be stopped. Not even if all the wizards in all of the realms came together would they be able to stop him. The Dark One, they'd started to call him, after his evil ways. The name fit, and he used it to strike fear into people's hearts, which made him even more powerful. Even after he was confident that no one would ever be able to stop him, he continued to suck the magic away from every magical being he encountered, and slay every living thing that didn't pay him tribute. That was when the White Fairy came up with her plan. There was no way to defeat the Dark One, that much was obvious. He was much too powerful. However, if a way to control him could be discovered, than perhaps the world would stand a chance. There was only one way the fairy knew of to control a powerful magician against their will; by forcing their magic into an object. Then, whoever possessed the object would control the sorcerer. There was no way she could bind him to an object without him realizing; so she bound her own magic, to a dagger. Giving it to her apprentice, Blue, the White Fairy left her sisters and went out of hiding, letting the Dark One find her. At first, he'd been ecstatic. The amount of magic he would gain from her would make it easier to play with his victims. Life was about to get even more fun and interesting. However, once he'd fully absorbed her magic, he could feel the bondage to the dagger spreading to all of his magic. Before it could completely take over, he managed to kill the White Fairy, the one who'd been a pure and strong force for good. This act twisted him, turning his skin to scales and making him ugly. He was furious, but for once, he couldn't take it out on anyone, for the Blue Fairy stopped him; controlling him effectively with the dagger. It was a few centuries of peace before the Dark One was able to manipulate some poor soul into stealing the dagger from the fairies. He'd wanted to stop people from insulting him, or something along those lines. Unfortunately, after the bullies had been properly dealt with, the man decided he didn't want the Dark One around anymore. If the bullies ever got the dagger from him, he would be utterly destroyed. Instead of risking it, he killed the Dark One, not realizing the consequences. When a sorcerer dies, his magic is dispersed into the atmosphere, ready to be used for another purpose. However, the Dark One had been taking magic and forcing it to stay with him, and it wasn't ready to leave yet. Only a little magic dispersed in the transfer, so little that it's impossible to notice when it changes from one Dark One to another. The last thing the original Dark One saw as he died was the look of shock on the other man's face as he turned into the beast he'd been trying to kill. … When he awoke, he was in a strange land, but a land with people, people he could destroy. He moved to kill him, only to be surrounded by a suffocating mist. A mist that was, apparently, intelligent. It held him still as the people, the mist's subjects, for they thought of the mist as a king, built a prison around him. They said he was too dark to be allowed to walk freely in their world, even without magic. It didn't take them that long to finish construction on their prison, or as they called it, a vault, effectively trapping him forever inside their world. Apparently, magicians as powerful as he was didn't die, but rather entered a world between worlds, the Netherworld. Now, he'd be stuck there forever, in an eternal prison instead of ruling the world. But, he vowed that one day he would break free, and regain the power that he'd once had. … It was a very long time before he got his wish. He wasn't sure exactly how long, but he roughly measured the time by counting the other Dark Ones that joined him in his prison. They were always unthinking at first, and would only slowly come to their senses. It was once one Rumpelstiltskin, in fact, was rescued by his son, the lad switching places with his father that he realized it was easily possible to get out. It was only a few days after watching Rumpelstiltskin leave that he was able to follow suit, breaking out of his prison to regain his power. Some meddlesome boy tried to stop him from leaving the Netherworld and entering the real world, fighting him with weak magic, but he was able to overcome the boy. Or so he'd thought. It had only taken a few minutes for the boy to follow him, right as he was casting his curse. When the Dark One had entered the world, he learned that as long as Rumpelstiltskin had support, he could never regain all of his powers. So, he cast the curse to make sure everyone in the town supported him, instead of the weaker version of evil. Of course, the boy had messed that up, by believing in Rumpelstiltskin even when the rest of the town supported the name he'd given himself; Black. The boy had managed to thwart him at every turn, making sure his rival's support base grew. Now, it wouldn't matter, because Black was going to kill anyone who would rather follow the spinner than him, and make sure that the dagger recognized him as the only one with a claim to the magic. He would get all of his magic back, control the dagger for himself, and take over every realm, until no one would ever be able to defeat him again, not even with a magical dagger. … Black finished his story, and decided it was high time to start making well on his threat. "So, now you know why I must kill your beloved," he said, turning toward Belle. Regina wondered if another story would stop him. "Wait, that doesn't explain how Pan ended up as a defender of the Netherworld. I think we'd all like to hear that one." "Yeah, and maybe next we can hear a story about Little Red Riding Hood traveling to Neverland and baking cookies for the lost boys!" Ruby suggested sarcastically. "I mean, come on, we're in the middle of a battle, and we're stopping for story time?" "Actually, it's more like history time," Mary Margaret corrected. She didn't know how magic existed, but she couldn't ignore the fact that it did, and that the story their captor had just told was most likely the truth. "Fine then, Pan, care to tell your story? God forbid I kill anyone without them knowing the full truth first." Black spoke sarcastically, but from the look in his eyes, it was clear that he wanted to learn more about his arch nemesis. Well, brains doesn't really seem to be his strong suit, that's for sure, Pan thought. The guy's greatest weakness seemed to be his love of telling and hearing stories. Well, he wasn't going to complain as long as it bought them more time. "Well, I think the best place to start would be to tell you that I'm not actually Pan." … Henry walked up to David, wondering why the rescue group was simply standing outside the mayor's house. Emma and Killian looked like they were trying to break down the door, while everyone else just lulled around. "Henry, thank goodness!" David exclaimed, pulling the boy off to the side. The other adults wondered when Henry had become a leader, but they let the two talk in silence. Bae, however, followed them over. "Hey, kid, I'm sorry, but …" David started to say, trying to get a private conversation with his grandson. "It's cool, Gramps. This is Baelfire, and he knows about magic." David's mouth dropped open, and he stared at the teen, shocked. "Why wouldn't I?" he asked, looking back and forth between Henry and Charming. "No time for that now," Henry said, before turning his attention back to the situation at hand. "So, why aren't you in there fighting Black yet?" "That's the problem. He locked us out with magic. Emma has no idea she can use magic, and our other two sorcerers are probably too busy fighting Black, so there's no way we can get into the house." "Get a wand from Gold's shop?" Henry suggested, shrugging. Right now, that seemed like the only possible option. "Great idea, Henry. I knew you'd think of something. Alright, I'll go get the wand. You stay here and see if you can get Emma to remember." David dashed off before Henry could protest. "Why doesn't this Emma remember being a sorcerer?" Baelfire asked. It seemed to him like that bit of information would be hard to forget. "The curse," Henry said, which really didn't explain much to the other boy, but Bae let the subject drop. He could tell his new friend was trying to think. "Gosh, this should be easy! The spell feels weak, but without magic, we can't break it!" Bae looked at Henry, with slight disbelief, before speaking. "You can feel magic?" "Yeah, so? Feeling it won't help us." "Henry, don't you have to be a magician to feel magic?" Henry thought about that for a second, before realization dawned on his face. "You think I have magic, and could break into the house." "It's worth a shot." The two boys headed over to the door, which Emma and Killian had given up trying to break through. "You've got this," Baelfire encouraged. Henry breathed deeply, before focusing all his energy on the door. He only let himself think about how much he wanted to get inside; to save his mother and everyone else Black was attacking. Then, there was a loud click, and the door simply swung open. The adults looked over, shocked to see Henry and Bae standing in the doorway with no one on the inside to have opened the door. "Whoa, kid, how'd you do that?" Emma asked. Henry grinned widely, knowing she'd never believe his answer. "Magic." "Whatever, it doesn't matter how, let's go save everyone." Baelfire looked confused by the idea that Emma didn't realize magic existed at all, and Henry had to resist the urge to laugh at the entire situation. "Hey Henry, I've got the …" David froze, staring at the open door. "But, how …" "Magic. Now come on, we've got people to save." David shook his head, trying to shake the shock away. His grandson could use magic? Honestly, with Gold, Regina, and Emma, it really shouldn't have been a surprise that he had magic, whether from all his exposure to it or his bloodline. "Right. Let's go defeat Black." And with that rousing battle speech, the group entered the house, ready to take on anything they came across. Or at least, so they thought. … "I'm actually Pan's son." Rumple, Regina, and Belle were all staring at him in disbelief. Even Zelena and Black looked doubtful. "Well, seeing as I knew you were Peter Pan for an all of two seconds, this comes as a real shock," Ruby said sarcastically. "I don't have a brother," Rumple asserted forcefully, glaring the man down. "You just don't remember me," he said softly, all of Pan's bravado gone. "See, when we were children … "See, look," Rumple said, showing the bean to his older brother. "The spinners gave it to me. We can use it to start a new life. Maybe Papa will be better in a different land." Jack really wanted to believe his brother was right, he truly did, but he was much older. He knew that no matter what land they were in, Malcolm would be selfish. However, he didn't know how to convince Rumple. "Not all people can change that easily, Rumple, and I don't think Papa wants to be better." "But, then what should we do?" he asked, realizing that his brother might be right. "We can't just leave him behind!" "I'll tell you what, buddy. We'll give him a few more chances to be better, and if he isn't, then we'll leave. Sound fair?" "I guess," Rumple said, kicking his shoe in the dirt. Maybe Jack was right, and anyway, at least this gave Malcolm a chance to prove himself. "You'd leave me all alone, Jack?" Both boys turned around, startled to see Malcolm approaching. "I knew you didn't care about me; you only care about him." At 'him,' Malcolm pointed at Rumple. "I'm not going to let you get away with trying to abandon me, either of you." "Look, Papa, I …" Malcolm didn't give his eldest son a chance to finish, but lunged at him, holding him still. "I acquired a memory altering potion, boys. Rumple, you'll think I abandoned you, as you tried to abandon me." "But Papa," the young boy sobbed, trying to explain that he hadn't wanted to leave him. Malcolm just ignored the plea. "As for you, Jack, your curse will be remembering, forever. All you'll be able to do is think about the suffering you caused your brother, and how you tore apart this family." With that, Pan pricked Jack with a needle, and the teen fell to the ground, where he would sleep for a long, long time. … "Where did he even get the magic?" Regina interrupted. She didn't even believe him, but she wanted to see if he could explain away his plot holes. "I don't know, but I always assumed he stole it. He was rather good at that." Regina nodded, of course he would say he didn't know. However, she seemed to be the only skeptical one. "You really are my brother," Rumple whispered, and he wasn't sure what emotions he should be feeling for the teen. "How do you know?" Regina questioned. "Pan's a good liar, but he couldn't pull this off. He wouldn't even think to trick me this way," Gold explained. Well, if Rumple thought so, than who was she to argue. "I believe you were in the middle of a story," Black said, forcing Jack back on track. "Right, so, I was under a sleeping curse …" Jack knew he had no one to break the spell. His brother, the only one who had ever loved him, didn't even remember him. Instead, he wandered the dark halls, forced to worry about Rumple for an eternity. How long had it been? Was his brother even still alive? He had no idea. Finally, one day, he snapped. He had to get to his brother, and make sure the lad knew he was loved. There had to be a way out of his prison besides true love! It was then that he thought to break through the floor, which only put him in a much worse situation. Fire, all around him and trying to burn him. Surely he was going to die here. After what felt like an eternity, the heat was just too much. He would give anything for cold, for the ice he'd hated as a child because all it meant was he'd be damp and shivering. Now, it meant relief. He imagined that ice coming in, and covering the entire room, putting out the flames. The amazing thing was, it did. Jack stood, in the once fiery furnace, and enjoyed the chill in the air. That was when the mist, King of the Netherworld, sensed a disturbance. It came to Jack, calling him Jack Frost, based on his power, and listened to his story. Once he heard the teen's past, he agreed to let Jack out of the sleeping rooms, as long as Jack agreed to help children fight off their nightmares. Of course he agreed, and for a long time, he helped children. The name of Jack Frost became known in many areas; and everyone seemed to have a different idea on his personality. He didn't care what they thought of him, because all that mattered was his ability to help others, the way he'd failed to save Rumple. Eventually, a Dark One had escaped the vault, and made it to the Land Without Magic. Jack went to the mist, and begged it to let him stop the evil sorceror. It agreed, so long as Jack promised to return when his job was done. He'd followed the Dark One out, and only once the curse was being cast did he realize that the brother he'd thought was long dead was still alive, and was, in fact, the target of Black's curse. … "And I do believe I caught you up to the present," Jack concluded. "Indeed, you have. Now, I've prolonged your deaths for far too long." Black started walking toward Belle, a malicious grin spreading across his face. "Wait, don't you want to hear my backstory?" Regina suggested, trying to buy more time. "No!" Black yelled, finally deciding he'd had enough. "I will not be delayed any longer!" He walked until he was standing right in front of Belle. "Don't you even," Zelena snarled, as Ruby and Mary Margaret had started moving closer to Black. They both froze in place, realizing there was nothing they could do. "I hope he's worth it," Black told Belle. "He's worth this and more," she told him bravely. "No, Belle!" Rumple yelled as Black raised his hand, ready to smite Gold's true love. Author's Note: For those of you who are interested, I've started a new story, called Freeing Hearts. Don't worry, I'm still working on this one. Anyway, it's a non-magical AU where Cora is Queen and Snow is the leader of a resistance trying to stop her. My story focuses on Regina, Henry, Emma, Killian, Ruby, and Archie. It will also heavily include Rumple, Belle, and of course Cora. If this sounds interesting, you guys should check it out.
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