ℜ𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔊𝔬𝔩𝔡 (and the legend of the Dark one)

Chapter 2: Practice makes portals

17 years had passed since Rumplestiltskin had received news of Belle's death and he had been given their child to raise.
However thinking about that day still left a bitter taste in his mouth like a venomous snake had bitten the inside of his throat. Belle's passing became a tender subject, that his dark mind would replay almost everyday. Although his daughter had helped him through a lot of the grief and guilt.

He named her Rose, as she was resilient and could thrive even in the worst situation, just like the charming plant itself. The name also reminded him of the first time he and Belle had shared an emotional connection. when he had offered her the flower all those years ago,
she was quite surprised. Usually Rumple had presented himself as cold and detached, she accepted it and sweetly smiled before finding some water for the bloom. That afternoon, the two confided in each other,
things they wouldn't dare tell anyone else. Now the whole evening felt like a distant dream.

Rose was a peculiar creature, never in the history of the Enchanted forest records, had the Dark one ever had a child, mostly because nobody wanted to be with a monstrous creature like Rumplestiltskin. She was the first of her kind and as soon as her soul was brought into the world, strange markings ran along the opposite side of the Dagger, that Rumple's soul was tethered to. He hadn't noticed it
until he became aware of Rose's existence as he was ignorant about Belle's pregnancy.

After he had named the infant, her name engraved itself onto the other side of the dagger, to Rumple's horror. This meant his daughter's life was not going to be easy.
Life as a Dark one was traumatic for an adult, he couldn't imagine how difficult it would be for a child.

As expected Rose was a natural at magic, as she was born with it running through her veins and she performed her first spell before she could even walk. On her 13th birthday Rumple decided to teach her magic, mostly because of Rose's relentless begging and he wanted her to be able to defend herself.
He found her easier to teach than Regina, who would occasionally curse herself and spend weeks finding an antidote, or accidentally set fire to her ebony hair and Rumple would eventually put her out. Before spending 10 minutes laughing, of course.

Rose was very gifted at potions,
like her father. But perhaps her most remarkable gift was her ability to open doorways into other dimensions. The first time her wormhole magic presented itself, Rose was 16. It was late one night and she had been deep within a nightmare. As purple hues danced in her head, a gateway to Neverland materialized on the nearby wall.
The rift began swallowing books and chairs, causing a harsh buzzing sound echoing throughout the castle.

Rumple immediately woke up and rushed to Rose, to wake her up.
This caused the portal to close, leaving her room looking like a battlefield.
While this was a terrible near death experience, Rumple couldn't help but feel intoxicated by the idea that this magic was how he would reunite with his long-lost son, Bae. After that night Rumple increased his lessons with his daughter, which she enjoyed as she aspired to be just as powerful, if not more powerful than her father and would stay up late some nights,
just to study certain spells she hadn't fully mastered.

For a while Rose's life was a day to day rotation, until one day she received news that would change her life forever.
It was a Monday morning and a thin layer of frost had formed on Rose's windows, barricading the warm sunlight from touching the room. Rose's bed was neatly folded without a single crease, as she had spent the night in the attic, where she felt the most comfortable. It was like a private hideaway, not even her dad cared to explore, so she had it entirely to herself to use as she pleased.

"Rose?...Rose?" A voice pierced through Rose's head and she quickly teleported downstairs."There you are. I am going out, and I probably won't be back until this evening. so why don't you go and find something to entertain yourself, while I am gone, okay, dearie?" Rumple began to collect a couple of ancient, dusty spellbooks, that appeared to have their spines torn or ripped. "Wait, I can help you.
I could carry your books, or use my magic to destroy your enemies, or-" Rumple glared at Rose's eager expression. "I appreciate your enthusiasm Dearie, but this is something I must do alone."

Before Rose could argue with him, he disappeared, leaving behind a purple dust cloud, that slowly faded into thin air. Rose angrily tugged at her dark auburn hair, she was never allowed to watch her father make his famous evil deals. He always feared something would happen to her, or someone would hurt her to get to him.
Suddenly a pile of scrolls rolled off the wooden counter and gently hit the tip of Rose's boot.

"What's this?" She bent down to read the parchment. It talked about a witch named Zelena being publicly executed in the Emerald City today at 6:00 p.m. Rose vaguely recognized the name Zelena; she was an old student of her father's who had gone a bit insane, so he stopped teaching her and focused on teaching her sister, Regina.

However, after Regina was destroyed in the Battle of the Infinite Forest by Queen Snow White and her daughter, Princess Emma, Rumple tried to locate a new protégé and decided to give Zelena one last chance. She obviously accepted, of course, as she had a strange obsession with Rumplestiltskin and would do anything to please him. She was apparently far more talented at the art of magic than her sister, although she lacked something Rumple needed from her, someone in the world she adored more than herself or her teacher. An important final piece of the puzzle that would let him reunite with something he had lost a long time ago.

Now, it seemed he would never help her find it, because she was going to be executed today.
In an instant, Rose knew exactly how to help her father and rushed to the library to retrieve a book on Germonian history.

She ran her finger up and down the stained, torn pages until it landed on the chapter about Queen Snow White. It stated that, to escape the Queen's clutches, at her execution, Snow smothered herself in dark fairy dust, which allowed her to disguise herself as a beetle, so she could escape.
Rose remembered Rumple had an addiction to collecting items from the Black Fairy and rushed to a cabinet brimming with dark fairy dust to gather a small amount.
Luckily, next to the leaflet about the execution was a map to OZ and her father had written a small note at the top reminding him about Jefferson Hatter.

Jefferson Hatter was a portal jumper, who used an enchanted top hat to illegally cross different realms' borders. Jefferson and Rose's father had been business partners for a long time. He wouldn't think twice about aiding Rumple if there was something in it for him and with Rumplestiltskin, there usually was. Rose realized that, if they had gone together, there would be no way to get to Oz. "Great, now I'm screwed, unless..." A risky idea clouded her mind, telling her to use her dangerous and unstable gateway magic to open a door to Oz.

Rose waited a minute to think things through. Usually, her impulsive and reckless mindset got her into trouble, but if she successfully helped her father, he would realize she was capable of doing things on her own, and he would never leave her behind again. Rose's mind was already made up before she weighed the pros and cons.

She closed her eyes, imagining a giant violet tunnel erupting out of the wall, and used her arms to outline the image in her mind. To her delight, when she opened her eyes, the image had materialized in front of her.
"Yes! That's what I'm talking about!"
she looked around and blushed, remembering she was on her own. Rose shoved the jar of fairy dust into a leather pouch bag on her waist and shut her eyes tightly, as she felt the warm glow of the portal on her face. She quietly counted to ten and hurtled towards the portal.

As she disappeared into the indigo beam, the portal began to close up on itself until it had completely vanished.