Alice's plan to overthrow the Queen of Hearts is thwarted by a dashing pirate with a hook. Years later, after the curse is broken, they reunite once again.
---------------------------------
slowly editing! You'll see at the end of each chapter if th...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Rumpelstiltskin's mansion is far bigger than I expected from a man who lives alone. It's also far more homely than I expected for the dark wizard. It reminds me of my own home growing up—red paint on the walls, beautiful oak wood floors, and intricately designed carpets that are the size of my apartment back in Storybrooke.
He brings me to a room with a large wooden table and a single velvet chair when I hear soft footsteps approaching. I turn around, and my eyes widen at the sight of my best friend.
"Oh!" she says with a taken-aback expression when she sees us. "Rumpelstiltskin, you're back."
"Belle!" I exclaim with a grin without thinking. The space between her eyebrows creases, but the friendly smile remains.
"Sorry, do... we know each other?" she asks, and I shake my head. Shit.
"No! I just, um..." I flounder before gesturing to Rumpelstiltskin. "Rumpelstiltskin just talks about you." My words cause a pleased grin to spread over her face along with a slight blush.
"Does he?" she asks, eyeing him knowingly.
"No." He snaps immediately, looking thoroughly disturbed by the idea. "Go read a book or something." He does a shooing motion with his hands, and, with a fond roll of her eyes, she leaves us alone. Me and her really need to have a talk about her standards in men. But then again, I am sorta with the man who tried to kill her. Twice. So I suppose I have no room to judge.
"So back to my pressing issue of how I'm destroying everything. Snow White was meant to steal a ring from Prince James, but because of me, that didn't happen," I say with a sigh. "We need to get Snow to steal that ring so that the two will fall in love."
"You're in luck," he says, and I perk up slightly. "There's a ball tonight at King Midas' castle. Prince James will be there, and so will his ring."
"So I just need to make sure she's there to steal it," I surmise with a small smile. Me and Rumpelstiltskin may not see eye to eye on... anything. But he is, at the very least, dependable.
"Follow me." He leads me over to a crystal ball, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Always with the dramatics, this one. He waves his hand, and images begin to form in the ball. I lean down closer to get a better look and see Snow herself sitting across the table from a familiar face.
"That's Blackbeard. A pirate," I say blandly. I've never actually exchanged words with the man, but as a sailor, his wanted posters are hard to avoid. "She's attempting to leave the Enchanted Forest... but she can't escape without the money she was going to get from the ring!"
"Great!" Rumpelstiltskin exclaims with a creepy giggle. I'm really glad he lost that habit in Storybrooke. "I'll work on getting your portal to the future open again while you fix your mess." I snap my head toward his.
"What? I thought you were going to help me?" I ask incredulously.
"Getting these two to fall in love is your mess to deal with, dearie, right along with rescuing that... pirate." I roll my eyes with a loud groan. Dependable, yes. Kind? Helpful? No.
