The Dark Princess {OUAT AU}

Chapter 35

Suddenly the door knob that was completely stuck with immobility turns underneath his hand as he finally loses consciousness, falling into the forbidden hallway.

~~~

She couldn't move, and the cold was never ending. She didn't know how long she had been here, wherever here was. Her mind was encased in ice. There was a tingling pain, and every part of her was unnervingly numb. When would it end?

~~~

Mason came to with a groan, pushing himself off the ground with his shaky limbs. He blinks his eyes until they focus, and can only see a dim outline of a hallway. He props himself against the wall and looks around. Right behind him is a door halfway open and he realizes it's the black door. He can hear the hum of magic and wonders how he was able to pass through the barrier. But instead of dwelling on it for a long period of time he begins walking, and tries to get rid of the queasy feeling in his stomach. The hallway is full of locked doors, some of them buzz with a magical barrier spell.

"Why bother putting a spell on that door if there's a bunch on these ones?" He grumbles, gesturing vaguely towards the end of the hallway where he closed the other door. All the doors look different, but none of them catch his eye. He walks for minutes on end, until he finds a purple door covered in metal bars. He can't squeeze through the metal prison bars, and when his fingers just barely graze the door knob he yanks his arm back with a yelp.

"What is behind this door?!" He growls, stamping his foot. He tries to direct some magic at the bars to see if he can make them disappear but they bounce off and come right back at him.

"Woah!" He ducks, the magic whistling over his head. Turning back to the door he stares at it, his eyes narrowing as he admires the shiny purple covering the wood. It glitters from the magical barrier even in the dark and the metal bars form a semi circle a few feet from the door. As he stands in the silent corridor, the only thing he can hear is his breathing and his blood rushing through his veins. But then the whispers start, and Mason looks around him frantically. No one is there and his heart begins to pound faster. The whispers are unintelligent, and he can't make out anything that is being said in his ear.

"Now I'm hearing things. Great." He tries to appear like he's merely annoyed but he's panicking now. He grabs onto the bars, and grounds himself. With deep calming breaths he closes his eyes and thinks of how he could fix this, fix the way he's now hearing random whispers. Suddenly his hands slip from the bars and he hits the ground with a thud.

"Oh man." He groans, pulling himself off the floor for the second time in an hour.  He looks up and finds his nose an inch from the purple door.

"No way." Mason grins. The bars have vanished, not a trace left on the ground. He scrambles up and moves a step back from the enchanted door. It's magical current makes Mason buzz, and he can hear the crackle of electricity. He gently feels the magic with his own, and the amount of power he feels takes his breath away. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how to open the door, he decides to walk away, and come back another day. He would figure out the spell, and get behind the door.

~~~

He builds up his strength day by day and searches through the library to see if he can find anything about  magical barriers or force field spells. To his gleeful surprise he finds lot of information about his subject and ways to counteract them. He remembers everything as he then picks his way through Rumplestiltskin's ingredients to find just what he needs. Mason stuffs the last vial into his pocket and walks quickly towards the exit. 

"You've been... quiet, lately." He hears from behind him and jumps around to face Rumplestiltskin, his heart beating loudly in his chest. 

"Is that a bad thing?" Mason counters, hoping that the Dark One doesn't see the bulges of the stolen goods that are stuffed into his pockets.