Tale as Old as Time ~ Belle && Rumple [AU]

Or was it just the other day…? Well, when you're immortal time passes and after enough time it becomes hard to remember just how long it had been. Either way, in the past, a man who desperately wished to save his son from fighting a war took on a terrible dark curse, and ended the war, saving his son and many other children in the process. However, the skilled magician didn't realize at the time, but all magic comes with a price. His descent into evil came soon. Then, he lost his son despite his best efforts.

Later as the cursed man wandered the land looking for a way to join his son, and eventually he stumbled upon a witch who beckoned him forward. Curious, the man listened to her. "Rumplestiltskin…" That was his human name, not the one that everyone else knew and feared. He was the dark one, using his name was not usual. How she knew it… he was curious to find out. "You are dying, immortal one." That seemed ridiculous, this curse brought great magical powers, as well as immortality. Immortal meant never dying. An immortal could not be dying. "The beast within has blackened your heart." She handed him a flower in a glass case. "When this flower dies, so will the man. Only darkness will remain. If you reunite with your son, you will not recognize him and the darkness will destroy him." Tch. Annoying woman. However, deep inside, he could feel that she was right, his will was weakening and the darkness was taking over more and more like a gluttonous beast eating away at his humanity. "The only way to solve this is through the help of another. They will heal your mended heart. Only love can save you."

"Love," the beast scoffed. Love had never brought him anything but pain. In the end, he killed the old witch and brought the flower and hid it in his castle.

Then one day a man arrived in his castle, a bold stupid man. He ended up in the dungeon. However, he felt a new presence not long afterward. A woman. Grrr… what was it with these people coming to his castle? Was he not a great and feared being of the entire land? Perhaps he should massacre a few more people and then people would stop coming to his castle.

"Lead her here." It was a mental order to those in his castle who kept him company. "As you command," A French accent replied. Rumple grinned from ear to ear as he lingered in the shadows, watching the man who had come to him, locked away in his dungeon. He was curious. She was a curious thing after all. It couldn't be a coincidence, her showing up after this man did. She was probably his daughter, and brave considering she apparently came alone. He already liked her spunk. Ha. He'd probably end up killing her like he planned to do with her father.

Hmmmm… so she was following a random voice in the darkness of a seemingly empty castle belonging to a feared tyrant everyone should hate and fear. Yet, even though he sensed her fear, she showed none of it outwardly, hiding it from the preying eyes of any observer that wasn't as skilled as he was, for everyone had to be scared of this situation.



The girl was following the light all the way down to the dungeon. Well, if she wasn't running yet, he would make her quake in her bo-- hee-- whatever shoes she was wearing. Rumple tapped his fingers together as he waited for her to reach the man who had arrived earlier, the one he guessed would be her father, the reason she was here. It would be interesting to see how she reacted, though he didn't blame her if she ran away the instant she saw his face.



"Belle? Belle!" It was the old man speaking. Rumple smirked as he watched as Belle neared the cell he kept the man in. "You've got to get out of here. He's here. The beast. He'll hurt you." Oh wow, he was so offended. That man really hit his feelings deep. Not. That might hurt if he actually cared, but in fact he reveled in the fear he struck into the hearts of everyone even before they even met him. His reputation, well, their fear stroked his ego. It meant he was doing something right after all.



"Hmph." It was a quiet little sound as he stood in the door after she had entered to see the old man, hidden in the shadows. After all he didn't want to scare her off right away. Just his ugly face would do that.

She was a perceptive one, it seemed. Intelligent. He liked that in a woman… then again he killed so many women with the gift of intelligence this one wouldn't be much different. Rumple grinned as the light shone into the hall, onto his face, showing it for all to see. If she recoiled, he'd understand as he grinned from ear to ear, his golden skin shining in the light. Ah, she could see him now. Would she really want to stay? No. Definitely not. Silly girl. Wandering into his castle. She deserved death. No. She deserved worse than death. Yet, there was something peculiar about her. The girl was indeed beautiful but he'd seen many a beautiful woman. Tch. His mind just needed to shut up. He should speak to her request instead of thinking and just watching the fear on her father and the expected fear on her face.



"What would I get in return?" He giggled and threw his hands up in his iconic rumple-esque pose. "All magic comes with a price. And the only thing that will save your father… and your country is magic." Oh yes, he knew where the man had been from. That was precisely why he locked the sick old man up. He had nothing of interest to offer him and he had wasted his time with his ramblings of gold and fabrics. Stupid man, he had no need for such things. Perhaps she would offer up something more interesting to him. "You see, he wasted my time. And for such a thing, he is now my prisoner. Perhaps he should have thought better before coming here with nothing to offer me for such a task as he wished for."