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“I had the strangest feeling in town today.” Belle glanced up from the tea she was pouring. “Like someone was watching me the whole time.”
“Well you are the wife of the Dark One.” Rumplestiltskin pulled his cup closer. “I’m afraid that will garner a bit of curiosity.”
“I know, but this felt… different somehow.”
“How so?” Rumplestiltskin frowned, taking a sip of his tea. “Ugh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s cold.”
“What?” Belle took a sip of her own drink, looking down at the steaming contents in confusion. “How is this possible?”
“It…” Rumplestiltskin trailed off, dizziness overtaking him.
Within seconds they were both unconscious.
~
Rumplestiltskin blinked, squinting against the light as he returned to consciousness. Pulling himself into a sitting position on the cold stone floor he looked around at the strange cavern he found himself in, eyes stopping when they came to rest on a familiar figure stirring nearby.
“Belle!” He rushed to her side, helping her to stand. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Belle reassured him, placing her hand against his cheek. “Where are we?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Allow me to explain.”
They turned, still holding on to each other, to face the newcomer.
“You!” Rumplestiltskin growled.
“You know him?” Belle looked between the two of them.
“Unfortunately. He’s my father.”
“Not exactly.” The figure held up a hand. “This is just an avatar you’d recognize. Still, you can call me Pan.”
Belle took a protective step forward. “Who are you then?”
“Someone more powerful than you can possibly comprehend.”
“No-one is more powerful than me, dearie.” Rumplestiltskin curled his hand, trying to draw on his magic and then trying not to panic when he felt nothing there.
“Are you sure about that?” Pan nodded pointedly. “I’m afraid you’ll just have to trust me. That’s the only way you’ll be getting out of here.”
“And how do we get out of here?” Belle asked.
“By successfully completing the three trials.” Pan snapped his fingers and a line of doors appeared in the stone wall. “The first is simple. You just have to choose a door to go through.”
“What’s the catch?” Rumplestiltskin snarled.
“Oh, nothing much. Just if you choose the wrong one you’ll be trapped here forever.”
“And if we don’t play your game?”
“Also trapped here forever.” Pan shrugged. “So you might as well give it a go.”
Rumplestiltskin was about to make another comment when he heard Belle gasp beside him.
“It’s the Infinite Cave,” she breathed.
“What?” Rumplestiltskin couldn’t remember ever coming across such a place.
“It’s from my book, Her Handsome Hero. A sorcerer traps Gideon in a cave with endless doors and he has to solve a riddle to find the correct exit.” She walked along the wall, examining the symbols on the doors before pointing excitedly. “Here! It’s this one!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! This one matches the correct answer in the book.”
“What say you, Rumple?” Pan stepped up beside him. “Are you willing to put your faith in her answer? Without solving it yourself? It is so very hard for you not to be in control, isn’t it?”
“I trust her.” With another snarl Rumplestitlskin marched forward, opening the door Belle had indicated, and stepped through into darkness.
~
Belle followed him through, stopping short when she realized she was alone.
“Rumple?” She turned on the spot, searching frantically. “No! I got it right. He should be here.”
“Oh you did and he is.” Pan grinned, appearing in front of her. “But the thing is, that wasn’t your trial. It was his. This is yours.”
He waved and candles along the walls flickered to life, illuminating the room.
Belle gasped. In front of her were a row of Rumplestiltskins. Each one covered head to toe in a solid mosaic of broken ceramic pieces.
“What… what is this?”
“This, my dear, is very simple. Inside one of these shells is the real Rumplestiltskin. You just need to find him and leave through that door.” Pan pointed off to the side. “Take True Love’s hand and save your husband. Oh, and you might want to be quick about it.”
He smirked as a ball of flame shot past his head, ricocheting off the walls. Belle ducked as it flew past her, then looked up just in time to see it slam straight into the chest of one of the Rumplestiltskin statues, shattering it to pieces.
“No!” she cried, covering her mouth in horror.
Pan sauntered over to the wreckage nonchalantly and looked down. “Hollow. You’re alright for now. But rest assured, your husband is in one of these and if a fireball should hit him, well, let’s just say you’ll make a very pretty widow.”
Belle gaped in shock, only to be jolted out of it as another fireball danced around the room, shattering another statue.
She tried not to panic. To think calmly. There had to be a way to find her Rumplestiltskin. She searched the faces desperately, certain she’d recognize his eyes, but it was no use. Every face was identical.
She took in the rest of their bodies. They all looked the same too; brown ceramic pieces for his hair, red for his waistcoat, gold for his face and hands.
Wait, his hands! What had Pan said? Take True Love’s hand. That had to be the key.
She hurried closer, just barely avoiding another fireball, and examined them. They were all covered in irregular ceramic chips of the same gold color. Except one. She leaned forward to get a better look and confirmed what she’d thought. One of the hands wasn’t covered in gold. It was gold. She’d know her husband’s skin anywhere. It sparkled in the light caused by another fireball and she grabbed it without a second thought.
The instant their hands clasped, the ceramic chips started falling away, revealing Rumplestiltskin inside. She pulled on his hand, no thoughts in her head beyond getting him out of danger, and ran towards the door.
~
Rumplestiltskin gasped as they tumbled through, finally able to breathe properly again.
“Well done, well done.” Pan clapped. “You’ve made it to the final trial and, really, it’s the simplest one yet. You just have to walk forwards.” He swung his arm out to reveal a long path leading to a final doorway. “Just walk through there and you’re free.”
“That simple, is it?” Rumplestiltskin already knew the answer.
“Well there are some rules.” Pan smirked. “Number one being that you, my boy, go first and your lovely wife follows behind. Secondly, and this is really important, you can’t look back. You look back and it’s game over.”
“What do you mean?” Rumplestiltskin narrowed his eyes.
“I mean that if you look back at Belle at any point then she’ll be trapped here forever.”
“It’s alright, Rumple.” Belle spoke softly but surely. “I’ll be behind you the whole time.”
Pan turned his attention to her. “Now you, my dear, have your own rule, which is you can’t communicate with him. No talking, no touching, not even a single squeak out of your lovely mouth. You do so and, guess what? He’ll be trapped here forever!”
“When I have my powers back I am going to crush you into dust,” Rumplestiltskin growled.
“Somehow I doubt that.” Pan laughed with a confidence that rankled. “Now, onwards!”
With a conviction he didn’t quite feel, Rumplestiltskin began the walk forwards. Pan appeared in front of him, turned so that he was walking backwards and facing Rumplestiltskin with that insufferable smirk on his face. He glanced over Rumplestiltskin’s shoulder.
“Oh, by the way Belle, there’s another door beside you. Go through that and it’ll take you anywhere you want to go. Anywhere in the whole world.” Pan turned back to Rumplestiltskin. “So, how quickly do you think she ran for that door?”
Rumplestiltskin strode forward, studiously ignoring the figure keeping pace in front of him.
“It was inevitable, really. Everyone always leaves you, it’s just a question of when.”
The door was getting ever closer. Just a few more steps.
“Don’t tell me you think she’s different?” Pan laughed. “Poor, deluded Rumple. You know it was never about them, right? It’s you. You’re just fundamentally unlovable.”
Rumplestiltskin gritted his teeth, refusing to show how well the barbs landed, and pushed forwards.
“I bet she couldn’t get out of here fast enough. And now you’re all alone. Again.”
One more step and he was through. Almost immediately Rumplestiltskin felt Belle crash into his back, clinging to him and murmuring reassurances of love in his ear. He wrapped his arms around hers in relief.
Pan stood in front of them, a strangely genuine smile on his face.
“Congratulations. You made it. I am sorry for putting you through all that, but the gods wanted to make sure you were worthy of our gift.”
“What…” Rumplestiltskin began but was cut off as they were transported back to the Dark Castle in a flash of light.
To Rumplestiltskin’s shock, they weren’t alone.
“Bae?”