The Lost Princess - A Once Upon A Time Fanfic

The Curse // Enchanted Forest

After a few weeks of getting to know the Charmings, Rapunzel had become a regular in the Northern Kingdom. Snow White treated her like royalty...like family. 

For any normal person, they would be overjoyed to finally have a family and forgot about their deal.

But Rapunzel wasn't normal.

She accepted the gifts and the love, but she had a job to do and she knew exactly who she had to go to to get it done. 

Rapunzel waited until the late hours of the night to sneak out of the incredible guest room her sister had prepared, of course at the tallest part of the castle. As quietly as she could, she opened the large door and ran down the dozens of staircases. 

Foolishly, Snow and James had shown her the way to dungeon in order to keep her away from the dungeon. She shook her head, hoping her sister wasn't as naive as she seemed. 

She knew she'd have to get past the guards. When she reached the opening to the dungeon, she manifested a hooded robe onto herself and hid her face as best as she could. She magicked the bars on the door down and walked through the tiny entryway to meet her fate. 

A guard immediately saw her and prepared to draw his weapon. With a flick of her hand, he was on the ground, out cold. She continued this - still hiding her face - until she reached the infamous cell. She could hear the crazed words from a mile away. 

"Time, time, time," it repeated. The creature seemed to be writing something down. 

Rapunzel slowly moved closer, struggling to recognize the being that taught her all she knew about her craft. 

"Rumplestiltskin?" She asked, her voice sounding sadder than she intended. Empathy took her over as she grasped the bars of the cell. Rumplestiltskin looked up. 

"Someone's here?" He asked, his voice high and shaking. As the Dark One looked up, he immediately recognized the girl. "What are you doing here?" He asked. 

"The Evil Queen sent me." She whispered. 

"Regina knows I'm here?" He asked, excitement rising in his voice. Rapunzel quickly shook her head. 

"I don't think so. You disappeared. No one knew where you went." She said. "Man, I can't believe Snow White got you," she said to herself. 

"Ah, but dearie, I'm exactly where I want to be," he said. "Regina will be visiting me soon enough." He turned and went back to his small piece of paper. 

"How do you..." Rapunzel started to ask, then stopped herself. "Right, the Seer. Okay, are you going to help me or not?" 

Rumple was still humming to himself on and off. The madness seemed to finally catch up to him. Rapunzel could only feel contentment coming from the imp. No anger, no happiness, no reassurance even that his curse was to be cast. Then he smirked and her heart dropped. 

"It's been decided," he said. "The curse is coming. The Queen has just found her final ingredient."

"So why did Regina want me to bring Snow to her if she knew the curse would work?"

Rumple giggled, his voice jumping a few octaves, leaving a shiver down Rapunzel's spine. 

"Silly, silly girl." He said, then jumped to the bars, grabbing them tightly. "Regina was never going to hold up her end of the deal," he sneered, then took a step back, "not like I do."

"What are you talking about?" Rapunzel asked, her patience running thin. She masked her fear with frustration as she always did. 

"The curse is coming, dearie, and you're not safe," he sang to her.