Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez as Rumpelstiltskin and Regina, Huntress as Belle
By the time Regina's carriage reached her castle, the sun had begun to sink below the horizon, however due to the various landscape of mountains and hills settling behind Regina's Castle, it caused the area to look much later in the evening than it really was.
Torches had already been lit as a welcoming beacon, lining the castle walls as far as the eye could see, casting an ambient orange glow in the darkness and causing even the most still of shadows to flicker eerily every so often.
Regina stepped gracefully out of her carriage, minding the small puddle of water to the right and headed directly to the carriage behind her to ensure that her 'guest' had arrived in one piece.
The Huntsman, who had exited Regina's carriage before she had, hurried over to the welcoming guards and took one of their torches as to light the way for his Queen, and bounded to her side so Regina could get a good look inside of the cage.
"Guards!" Regina called in a snappy tone, getting the immediate attention of all those around her, though the guards tending to the carriage and horses knew better than to stop their duties, as there were other guards that were available to assist their Queen.
"We have a guest." Her voice mellowed out once she had a handful of guards at her immediate side, all of which were garbed in their usual black armor that was trademarked throughout all The Enchanted Forest as 'The Queen's Men.' Two of these guards also witheld a torch, amplifying the given light so that Regina no longer had to squint to see Belle inside the cage.
"Put her down in the cells for now, I will deal with her once I've settled myself in."
The guards clambored to the cage as Regina raised her hand to unlock the seal of magic.
"Careful," Regina warned. "Rumpelstiltskin didn't create the curse for her. There's no telling what might happen..." A small smile split Regina's blood red lips, taking a minute to think on the chaos that would ensue if Belle somehow did manage to turn back into a beast. All the screaming and bloodshed of her men, fighting with their lives to protect their Queen...only for Regina to simply wave her wrist to subdue the creature with magic. There was a reason she was Queen; and oftentimes Regina liked to revel in the fact that she controlled absolutely everything in The Enchanted Forest.
It had all happened so quickly. She was standing with Red and the man then she was locked up in a cage, heading out of the village towards a place she had never been. One thing was for sure, the hair pin did stop Belle from loosing herself. She knew the distinct scent of every rose and although she held her breath and covered her nose when she passed by the cursed pink roses, once her favourite, nothing happened. There was a slight moment of discomfort but that was it. The hair pin, unlike the Queen’s facade was genuine. What her reasons were for giving it to Belle slipped the beauty’s mind. Perhaps she just needed to subdue Belle long enough to get what she wanted. That seemed about right for the Queen.
In her mind Belle was confused, several thoughts and emotions running through her head. Perhaps it was better for her to be locked up by the queen, it would be safer for others. On the other hand Belle was angry, the Queen had spewed lies, told her about how Gaston would’ve wanted this or that, just to convince Belle to go.
She didn’t fight the guards, she easily could have but she was lost in her thoughts and sea of emotions. They pushed and pulled her, roughly forcing her through the castle and eventually to her cell. Tossing her in the cell door was slammed shut and Belle was left alone in her thoughts. She still had the red cloak wrapped around her body. It saddened her to see it. Sitting against the wall Belle brought her knees up and lowered her head as she sighed.
Hours ticked by, and the only changes Belle would see from her cell were the occasional guard-post change. Until finally, Regina descended down the staircase, her black dress billowing behind her with each and every step, her heels clacking resounding off the empty, cold stone walls.
She pushed past the main guard stationed outside Belle's cell without even so much as looking at him, her dark eyes trained on her caged 'pet' with a white smile warm on her lips.
"Oh, don't tell me they didn't give you something appropriate to wear!" Regina said stopping in front of the cell bars, noticing the red cloak that she hugged to herself tightly to keep some sort of dignity in the situation. She raised her right hand a few inchest out in front of her, her fingers sticking between the bars ever so slightly, and moved her hand up and down. Her fingertips were tickled in a soft white, and then it was gone, and Belle would find a simple, dirty-white gown beneath the red cloak.
"There, now we can be friends." Regina said optimistically, keeping her smile all the while and dropping her hand back to her side.
Belle looked down at the dirt dress then up at the Queen. She held onto the cloak tightly as she ignored the voice of the other woman, bringing her gaze back down to the stone floor. She chose not to respond. She really had nothing to say, although she was curious as to why the Queen wanted her locked up but she would probably be told more lies. The beauty found it pointless to say anything.
Regina's smile faultered only slightly, disappointed that she wouldn't be given the opportunity to hear the whining and complaning she usually got when she abducted someone and threw them in her prison.
"I can guess that you're wondering why I brought you here; why I...took you away from your friends and home..." Regina started, figuring that the only way to get through to this girl was to be straight-forward. Not as fun, but she could still pull some strings with it and make her puppet dance.
"As chance would have it-" Regina let her smile fall completely, her voice dropping to that of seriousness as she pulled off her black gloves, one at a time, finger by finger. "-I need your help."
She scowled at the woman as she looked up at her. Of course she wanted to know why she was here, locked up like some sort of criminal or animal. “Why can’t you just leave me be? There’s not much help I can be to you.” She clenched her jaw and sighed. “Besides…I refuse to help you. You bring nothing but pain, anger and hatred to others. Things I do not stand for…unlike you.” She muttered the last part,
Regina let out a cruel laugh and shook her head no slightly.
"So, you really won't help me then?" She asked in a knowing tone. "Even if it involves the well-being of your Rumpelstiltskin?"
The name caught her attention and she looked up rather quickly. Her jaw was tightly clenched as she looked at the woman. She lied, she couldn’t harm Rumpelstiltskin, no one could. “You can’t bring any harm to Rumpelstiltskin.” Belle stated simply, knowing that he was the strongest…man in the enchanted forest.
Regina put her hands on the bars in front of her and brought her face closer to Belle, her wicked smile returning.
"Can't I?" She challenged, raising an eyebrow.
Belle lifted herself up rather quickly. The red cloak falling to the floor as she approached the bars and gripped them tightly just moments before Regina retracted herself from her position so close to the cell. Belle’s grip on the bars was tight, tight enough to make the thick metal groan as she glared at the woman. “Nobody can harm him and he certainly won’t let you even approach him. He’d kill you within a second.” Belle practically snarled at the woman.
Again, Regina shook her head but the smile returned on her lips, amused by the petite girl's reaction.
"I'm inflicting a curse upon all of the Enchanted Forest; it will effect everyone...send them all to a place where I can finally have my happy ending. Everything will be as I want it, exactly. That includes the monster you're so fond of. If I've learned anything from Rumpel, it's that all magic has it's price, and I paid it in full."
“He is not a monster. He has more honour and dignity than you do and you call yourself a queen.” Belle practically spat at Regina.
By the time Regina had finished speaking, her serious tone grew more and more vengeful, her face giving way to the fact that she had indeed undergone some amount of suffering but her eyes held that of hope. Clearing her throat, Regina flicked her wrist in Belle's general direction. A small amount of thick purple smoke formulated just behind Belle, growing taller and taller until suddenly, it was gone; and in it's wake was a full-length mirror, reflecting Belle and Regina's bodies back at them.
Belle followed the motion of Regina’s hand and watched the mirror appear. What was she trying to pull this time? The Queen’s voice brought Belle’s gaze back to her.
"Rumpel's known about my little curse, he gave it to me, helped me perfect it even, but the little imp is starting to put his business where it doesn't belong. He can't stop the curse; nothing can, and he knows that." Regina stopped to scoff. "He thinks that by reuiniting Snow and Charming; it will somehow ruin my happy ending. True, it does put a slight damper to my plan, but what he doesn't realize is just how much of his life I have in my hands with this curse, and it will all be for nothing once I seperate the two love-birds once again..."
Belle gritted her teeth as she listened to the queen unravel her plan. What did this curse entitle, what would it bring upon everyone? The evil people didn’t deserve happy endings, she chose her path, she shouldn’t be allowed to change it.
Again, Regina flicked her wrist and the glass of the mirror began to wobble and pulse, like a still lake that had been disturbed by a large object thrown into it. The image of Regina and Belle became more and more unclear, until a new image began to appear as the mirror's glass began to become still once more.
It was like looking through a window. The grand double doors of Rumpelstiltskin's dining room were straight ahead, at the angle as if Regina and Belle were right there in the room. The doors suddenly opened by magic and Rumpelstiltskin himself walked through them, shutting them with a wave of his hand behind him. He seemed completely unaware of the two pairs of eyes on him, and briskly walked to the large dining room table that stood completely empty aside from two place settings on the opposite side, being cleared away by another woman both Regina and Belle didn't recognize.
Belle watched, who was this woman? Why was she in Rumpel’s castle? She dropped her hands from the thick bars that had been slightly dented now. Why did her heart hurt? She wasn’t meant to be with him…Obviously she wasn’t he had met another, he had moved on just as she had. There was no reason for her to feel like this, but she did, it was a horrible feeling and she couldn’t shake it. Swallowing passed the lump in her throat she let out a shaky sigh. Regina's voice catching her attention once again, but she did not face her this time.
"I need him here, in my castle; trapped and-" Regina sighed, trying to make her words benifit her cause. "-safe while the curse hits. I have to ensure that he doesn't do anything stupid to try and stop me. You do want him safe, don't you?" Regina's eyes never left Belle, gauging her every breath, her every movement. It was clear that Belle still had feelings for her prior master; how far those feelings went, Regina didn't know. All she knew was that Belle's kind heart would be her undoing, all it would take would be just the slightest amount of empathy for Rumpelstiltskin, and Regina was determined to use that against her.
Belle sniffled slightly, wiping away the single tear that formed. It wasn’t fair for her to still feel like this. “He doesn’t need you to keep him safe. He’s more than capable of doing that himself.” Clenching her jaw she walked away from the front of the cell, and the window like magic mirror. Lifting the red cloak off the ground she sat down once again, her back against a corner as she draped the cloak over herself, keeping her head low, trying to ignore anything else that Regina would attempt to say or convince Belle to do.
A muscle in Regina's jaw tightened to the point where her teeth began to grind together. This girl was proving to be much more of a pain in the ass than she had initially intended. Without hesitation, Regina swung her arm outwards, the magic she held mirroring her movements and crashing Belle's head against the stone wall she had been leaning against. It wasn't hard enough to cause any real damage, just enough to get the point across that Regina was going to get her way no matter what she said.
"CALL FOR HIM!" With her free hand, Regina waved it in the direction of the mirror. Nothing physically changed about the it, the only thing noticable was a slight echo in the sounds coming from The Dark Castle as Rumpelstiltskin set himself down at the table, scribbling on a piece of parchment with an ink quill with his back now to the mirror.
Belle grunted as she hit the wall hard enough to hurt. Slowly the brunette pushed herself up as she glared at the woman. The back of her head throbbed, her mid back aching slightly. The girl simply sat back down in her corner. Taking the red cloak in her hands once again and wrapping it around herself. She wasn’t going to give in to the Queen’s way. No matter what she did.
Regina stepped out of the immediate view of the mirror, smiling slightly as an idea formed in her mind. It was risky, she hadn't used this particular curse in a while and it could very well destroy Belle, but she was determined to get Rumpelstiltskin here by any means necissary, and then after that, Belle would be useless to her.
Regina held out both hands, each mirroring the other and created a small circle with her fingers, the center of it being Belle and let the magic flow, straight into Belle like a silent killer.
It came out of nowhere, a sudden explosion of pain starting from the beauty’s core. She clutched at her stomach tightly, the pain grew more evident with every passing second. She didn’t scream, she held back. Belle didn’t want to give Regina the satisfaction of her pain. Tossing the red cloak aside she winced. It felt like her insides were twisting as the pain slowly began to ripple outwards.
She was now on hands and knees, muscle’s taught as the first wince escaped the pained girl. Belle lowered herself slightly, eyes beginning to water, holding back the screams was starting to become more difficult, her body slowly starting to tremble. She shook her head to herself. She wouldn’t give in, she couldn’t give in. She groaned, it sounded more like an irritated growl. Lifting her head she glared at Regina, eyes beginning to glow, a loud sudden scream escaped her. She struggled to keep herself up.
Looking down at her hand she watched the veins protrude under her skin. Slowly it travelled up her arm, neck and the side of her face. Another scream escaped her as tears began to over flow and stream down her face. She clenched her hands into fists, a loud irritating squeal echoing through the dungeon. Looking down she saw the blood pooled around her finger nails, sleek black claws in their place. Her expression grew worried for a moment, but another wave of pain took over with another scream following. She quickly glanced at Regina, eyes still glowing before she looked back down at the stone floor.
Belle’s body was soon forced to the ground, on it’s side, back towards the evil Queen.
Rumpelstiltskin's body immediately stiffened, and he sat there like a statue for a good few moments until he heard another whimper of pain. This time, he knew he had heard it. Practically flying from his chair and knocking it over in the process, Rumpelstiltskin made a direct beeline towards the mirror that he had kept covered until that very day. His heart immediately stopped, and then fell into his stomach as he saw Belle before him, on the other side of the mirror, clawing and groaning out in pain on a cold stone floor.
"Belle?" His voice was soft, quiet even, though he wasn't addressing her directly. It was more of a question of what he was seeing. It wasn't until he heard Regina's cold laugh that his blood began to boil hot, and though he couldn't see her, he knew she had to have been the one causing this. Afterall, this was her mirror.
Regina, meanwhile, kept out of the view of the mirror, noticing Belle attempting to undergo her transformation. She laughed cruelly once more and brought one hand out of the spell, using it now to force another spell upon Belle to keep her body the way it was.
"Just tell him what we want dear, and it will all go away..." Regina cooed.
"You FILTHY BITCH!" Rumpelstiltskin screamed at the mirror, unable to tear his eyes away from Belle but hearing Regina as clear as if she were in the room standing next to him. "Let...her...go..."
Belle groaned again as she panted, veins still protruded and whatever changes had taken place stayed as they were. It wasn’t much, claws and fangs had lengthened, the slightest changes in her size as the dirty white dress seemed tighter. The sides of her head throbbed, blood trickling down from the horns that were intended to sprout out. Slowly she forced herself to hands and knees, a low growl escaping her, her teeth set, face red from holding in all the screams and pain. It wasn’t going to happen. She wouldn’t speak, she wouldn’t do what she was told by the evil Queen even if the pain killed her. Belle didn’t betray or ever wish to cause harm to anyone close to her, and Rumplestiltskin was dangerously close.
She reached for the wall and tried to bring herself up but the pain only got worse as she screamed in agony, dropping to her side she curled herself up, hopeful that it would ease the pain, even in the slightest.
"Oh come now, he really can't be worth all this trouble can he?" Regina taunted, using her magic to slam Belle back down onto the cold stone floor once again, making Belle's unfathomable effort all for naught. She forced the magic keeping Belle's body intact even more-so on her, adding to the pain as her muscles and joints were being forced down to their small size when every bit of Belle's body wanted the exact opposite.
"Regina!" Rumpelstiltskin wasn't shouting, he was beyond that. Instead, the cool, collected anger he held in his voice was five times more frightening then when he did shout, even causing goosebumps to crawl up Regina's arm.
The beauty couldn’t move, she was pinned and there was nothing she could do about it. Tears streamed down her face as she sniffled between the pained grunts and winces. What a horrible woman Regina truly was. Belle tightly shut her eyes and tried to breath through the pain. “Oh Rumpel…what I do for you…” The words were barely whispers, and broken apart by gasps and groans of pain.
Belle remained confused. She was supposed to love Gaston, not Rumpelstiltskin. True love was a mutual thing, it wasn’t something that only one could feel. Rumpel had told her that she loved Gaston, not him, which meant that he didn’t love her.
Although the pain still flowed through her body, her thoughts seemed to silence everything that surrounded her.
Rumpelstilstkin extended out his hand, as if trying to touch the image of Belle through the mirror but his fingers were blocked by the glass. His arm began to shake, and his green complexion became steadily pale.
"No...n-n-n-no..no no no! Stop!" He pleaded, getting down onto his knees on the floor before his mirror and getting on a level closer to Belle's.
Regina, able to see Rumpelstiltskin from where she was, laughed and stepped into view. Rumpeltstiltskins dark eyes immediately went to The Evil Queen. His whole body seemed to be trembling now, fully aware of what sort of trap Regina had Belle in, and what it could do. He shook his head no, lower lip quivering with fright shining in his eyes.
"We need to talk Rumpel. And since your a stubborn as she is-" Regina pushed forth another wave of excrutiating pain through Belle's body.
Still unable to move all Belle could do was tightly shut her eyes and whimper. It felt as if there was a ton of stone on her back, slowly pushing down against her bones, waiting to just give way and shatter.
"-I simply had no other choice..." Regina finished, smirking at the sight of her mentor in complete shambles, on his knees before her.
"Stop! Please, just stop!" Rumpelstiltskin pleaded with her once more. He could only rely on his own memories to remember what pain Belle was going through, and he supposed that the pressure building up in his own chest could be relatable; definitely much worse than the time he felt anything remotely this painful; when he had forced Belle away from his castle. "I'll come, I swear, just please, no more..."
Regina split into a wider grin and let lose the spell that had been taking control over Belle's body, however the spell keeping her from transforming lingered.
"You've got ten minutes Imp, or she dies." Regina spat, but before she could even get her last word out, Rumpelstiltskin was gone in a puff of blood red smoke.
"GUARDS!" Regina snapped, ignoring the fact that the mirror went completely rigid and back to reflecting their bodies back to them. The main guard who had been taking up post rushed to Regina quickly, and another one quickly in tow. If at all possible, Regina's grin grew wider as she looked back into the cage at Belle, glad that finally...all that effort had paid off.
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