[OPEN] strike for love and strike for fear. there's beauty and there's danger here.

[undealt]

Who: The Ice King Gold and YOU.
Where: Narnia.
When: The... whole... event.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Gold eats the fruit Turkish Delight. The end result is he basically wants to stay in Narnia forever. He lives here now. COME VISIT HIM. Or try to drag him home. REGINA HAS DIBS ON GETTING HIM HOME ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, as per prior plotting.
The Story:

The first time Gold realizes there's a frozen forest beyond this bloody new wardrobe, he's content to simply turn around and walk back out into his room again, refusing to engage in this nonsense. The second time, he lingers long enough to take in the area, frowning as it calls to mind Ingrid's makeshift ice palace in the middle of Storybrooke's woods, which brings back poor memories, and he abandons it again.

By the third time, he's had his fill of Wonderland's shenanigans- this most recent event, and he finds the frozen hell in his damned closet to be a peaceful alternative and despite knowing the dangers of eating food in strange places, the temptation is far too great, and he's just been far too good about resisting temptation, hasn't he? It's exhausting, when all he really wants is his power back, so he can actively challenge this hellish Wonderland he's trapped in.

When the sweet melts on his tongue, he feels the sudden realization that perhaps he doesn't need to challenge Wonderland- or even escape from it. He's already found his escape. Yes, it's so simple, isn't it?

~*~

Three days later, Gold's missing, but his door is unlocked and his closet is thrown wide open, casting a chill in his room, beckoning anyone to come and find him if they so dare. The path beyond the lightpost leads to a makeshift castle made entirely of ice. It's not Gold's personal aesthetic, but he's managed to make do, even if it does feel a little like he's performing some homage to Ingrid and Elsa, which simply won't do.

Hence why the ice palace seems to have a blackened, corrupted hue, like ice made out of brackish water, a testament to the Dark One he once was, the Dark One somewhere deep down he still wants to be.
The Dark One that he can be if he stays here.

Even the purest hearted hero in the world can give into temptation, especially one as old and set in his ways as Rumplestiltskin, but it's fine. It's not as if anyone is going to take this away from him. Not this time.

Comments

12/16

[a_chipped_cup]

It struck Belle as odd that there was such a large draft coming from one of the rooms in the hall. She'd felt it a few times, as she walked past the door, but had brushed it off as a lingering cold from her trek to the mansion. But as her first day passed, that unmistakable chill hadn't gone.

She wasn't one to snoop normally, but her curiosity was peaked. There was something in there that was making the hall feel like that Winter had come indoors as well.

Much to her surprise, the door wasn't locked. No one was inside, only a wardrobe that was wide open, the frost coming from within. Braving the cold, Belle stepped in, pushing past the various trees until she spied a lamp post ahead.

This is so familiar.

"Hello?" She called out, unsure who could have done this. More magic Wonderland had to offer? She was starting to get her fill and she only just arrived.

[undealt]

There was something missing in Gold's idyllic frozen world, away from Wonderland (away from Storybrooke), and it didn't take him long to realize what it was and that, unfortunately, he couldn't make her appear.

At least not at first.

It's enough to almost make him give up this winter wasteland and remove himself from this temptation, altogether, and with a sense of some resolve, he makes his way back to the lamppost.

And there she is, like a vision from a dream. At first he's convinced that she has to be- she wasn't in Wonderland when he left, and while logic dictates that perhaps she came while he was away, the sugary confection muddling his mind says otherwise. He summoned her here. She's the missing piece in this fantasy.

"Belle," he breathes, stepping into the light of the lamp.

[a_chipped_cup]

She could almost feel the magic of this place. This strange realm (that she knows she's read about before) hums with it, thriving on wonder and amazement, its beauty reliant on enchantment. Even as the cold pierces at her, she finds herself drawn further into the winter scene.

It's where she finds him. Standing as firm and solidly as the lamp post beside him. Almost like a fixture that belongs here, though she knows that he should be at home. She had only left him one day ago.

But here he was, looking at her, speaking to her. Deep inside, she knew that he had to have been brought to Wonderland. But this place made her doubt that. All of this could be an illusion brought on by the cold. Another glimmer of her loved ones that had begun appearing to her in the halls.

Images brought on by the cold, though the connection had yet to be made in her mind.

Belle smiled, moving towards him. Her hands reached out for his, chilled and nearly frozen. It didn't matter. He was here. Gently, she placed a kiss on his lips, their intimacy revived. "Rumpel."

[undealt]

They had been so careful before, even with Merida and everything. Each touch measured against the distance between them, tender, yet cautious, and Gold had never pressed for more, always satisfied with nearness to her, satisfied that some feelings yet burned within her, even with everything between them. The kiss is gentle, chaste, but he makes no move to deepen it, even here in a land he supposedly controls, where she was conjured by his whims, or so he believes. Even here, he respects her too much to cross a bridge too far.

Still, he embraces her, noting her cold hands (he hasn't seemed to notice the cold here, himself), and gently rubs his shoulder.

"I had hoped... I almost didn't let myself believe you'd find me here." He smiles down at her, so warm and full of life, you'd never think the thoughts in his head could be so dark, and yet that was always his curse. The man and the monster were too interwoven to ever separate.

"But you're freezing, Belle... Come. We should get inside." He pulls away from her, and rather than lead her back through the wardrobe, he tries to guide her in the opposite direction.

[a_chipped_cup]

There had been space enough for her. After learning about what Gold had spared her from facing, how he sent her away to save her life rather than keeping her in danger, Belle had abandoned her reservations and fears. She had been through too much uncertainty and wariness. Her heart couldn't be kept aloof any longer. She wanted to be with him, to share her life with him.

He'd proven that he could be better and that had been the catalyst in reviving their marriage. She had no way of knowing what he truly thought or what he was feeling in regards to power. A part of her might always wonder, but those fears were dismissed in the face of his kindness and true concern for her person. It seemed like he had finished manipulating her, actually caring for her feelings and well being.

She sinks into his embrace, reluctantly pulling back as he began to lead her further into the wardrobe. She wouldn't object to being with him, despite the cold. "I didn't know you were here." She admitted, grasping his hand tightly. "I thought I was alone in Wonderland, that we were away from each other again." She couldn't stand another separation. "You're not an image or an illusion?" Her fingers reached up to brush his cheek. "It's really you?"

[undealt]

"Of course it's me." He can't prove it, anymore than he could force the Shadow in Neverland to prove it without Regina's assistance, but as she stops to brush his cheek, he pulls her in close, clasping her hands in both of his.

"Wonderland's dreadful. I'm quite glad to be free of it. This realm... well, it will take some getting used to, but it's much safer."

It has to be, because it's his- the only threat here is him, and wouldn't he know it better than anyone that that's enough of a threat. He doesn't seem to care, however. "And far more predictable."

[a_chipped_cup]

She looks around, staring in surprise at the surrounding snow and cold. He thought this was better? Another realm in a wardrobe? Who knew how big it was or how deep in they could go. But the freezing air left her worried for his sanity. Why would he want to stay in this?

"Is there even a place to stay in here?" She's unsure about this. Or even their ability to stay. Wonderland had a mind of its own. It could drag them back in. "Are you sure this is wise? Wonderland might be a lot of things, but it's a familiar madness."

[undealt]

"Oh yes," he responds, brushing off her concern with congenial ease. "I have a castle, in fact."

They haven't even been walking long before she can see it looming, all tall spires made of dark ice that looks almost menacing, even in the sunlight. A black spot in an otherwise gleaming ocean of whiteness. "And I'll take a madness I can control over one that's familiar any day."

[a_chipped_cup]

It doesn't look very welcoming, which had been her initial thought of his castle back in the Enchanted Forest. But with the chill creeping up her spine, she's more than apprehensive at being surrounded by ice. Her limbs already beginning to tremble at the thought.

"Don't you think we should go back? I don't have anything here. Not even a coat." She desperate for a blanket, a sweater, anything. Just heat.

[undealt]

Gold looks down at her, half-surprised by the fact that he didn't even notice before. "I'm so sorry," he says, sincerely, as if the fact that this escaped his notice is just a minor thing and not a spectacular oversight, blinded as he is by the enchantments in this place. He waves a hand and with just a whiff of magic, a spectacular cloak wraps itself around Belle, all fur-lined and thick and so warm, it might as well have had been stitched with smoldering embers underneath the lining.

"Is that better?"

[a_chipped_cup]

It was only slightly better, as there seemed to be a chill inside her that wasn't chased away, even by the cloak. Despite this, she bundles up in it, pulling it closer to her. While the harsh reality of Rumpel's abilities surrounded her. When she left, he'd been a regular man, free of the darkness.

When did he get his power back?

"You can cast magic again?"

[undealt]

That's a question, one that makes him almost hesitate, the part of him not so easily corrupted tugging at his feeble conscience and reminding him of everything that's come to pass. All the ways he's lost her by being precisely like this.

He banishes it and places a hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the castle. "So long as I'm here, I can." He says it so flippantly, meant to dismiss the matter entirely, like if he doesn't seem to care about it at all, she won't realize he's doing it again- letting the dark win. Being a coward once more.

If only it was entirely the Turkish Delight that caused it.

[a_chipped_cup]

She stopped in her steps, pulling out of his grasp. Her heart stopping in her chest, as that familiar gnawing of anxiety and unhappiness returned to her. He had been different in Storybrooke, avoiding temptation and showing genuine regard for others. Acting truly unselfish.

But this? It was like stepping back into the past and her natural response was absolute fear. She couldn't return to that state of uncertainty or distrust. She had given her trust over to him completely before arriving here, but this sudden shift in her personality was disarming.

"Is that why you want to stay here?" She asked, gasping in astonishment. Please let this be part of my imagination. Don't let him be back to how he was. "Is it because you have power?"

[madehervows]

It shouldn't surprise anybody that the person the compulsion sends her after is Rumplestiltskin. They've always been drawn together, predator and predator circling each other until they see the perfect opening. This is how their friendship works, honestly.

Anger floods her veins as she thinks about everything he did to her, about everything he manipulated and caused and how it always, always comes down to them. Storybrooke will be in ashes, their friends and family dead around them and it will because of him. Well, not if she has anything to say about it. And she has plenty to say to him, after all, she's been avoiding him every since he returned.

The chill of his winter wonderland goes unnoticed as she steps through the closet door, grim determination on her face. There's a familiar current in the air, not the magic of Wonderland or this wintery addition, no, the darkness calls to her, shows her the way to Rumplestiltskin's Ice Palace. She regards the construction with disdain, contemplates letting him know she's there by melting the entire thing around him.

But no, as satisfying as it would be to destroy everything he's built here, that's not why she's here.

The doors slam open, a twisted mirror of Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding day. "Rumplestiltskin," Regina starts, marching forward into the freezing cold. "Rumplestiltskin," she continues, the hatred in her voice as clear as it's ever been, "Rumplestiltskin."

It won't work anymore, he's not the Dark One, but, well, they've always been sticklers for tradition.

[undealt]

It may not work the way it once did, but ice carries sound particularly well, and each inflection sends shivers through the icicles, threatening to send some crashing down onto the grand main hall. The dark stairs that lead up to the top floor remain empty for a moment before Gold strolls out of one of the side doors and stops just at the top of the staircase, eyeing her with a look that's equal parts wary and annoyed.

What do you want now, dearie?

The words- his own impish voice- whisper to him in his far too quiet head, but they aren't the words he speaks aloud, as if even in the throes of this temptation, he hasn't truly taken a hold of the old darkness and pulled it closer to him. He can't be the Dark One anymore. He's something new now. Something... well, not evolved. Hardly. Just something that adapted and survived.

"If you're here to bring me back, don't waste your breath." He takes a step down the staircase, and then another, one by one, as if he has all the time in the world. "And if you feel slighted somehow, I assure you that my abandoning Wonderland is hardly personal."

Because why else would she be so utterly offended? Regina, dearest, he didn't know you cared?

[madehervows]

"Oh, you got what you deserved then, you wretched little imp," Regina all but snarls as she advances, the anger truly overpowering. But then, just like the darkness, anger has always been a dear friend of hers. "And slighted doesn't even begin to cover how I feel." After all, the only more complicated than the timeline of this show is how these two apparently feel about each other.

"The Author isn't to blame for my life, you are. But you knew that, it was your plan all along." Regina comes to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, fire in her eyes and hatred in her veins. But he knows what that look is, he's the one who created it, after all. "And I'm going to enjoy finding out how long it'll take Wonderland to get sick of bringing you back."

[undealt]

The anger doesn't frighten him, though he knows deep in his heart that it should. She's not a snarling little dog in front of a mighty beast anymore. She's the beast and he's an impotent nothing... Except he isn't, so long as he's here. He's certain that this land won't forsake him if she insists on challenging him.

He continues down the stairs, walking right into the maelstrom of her anger, until he's standing a few steps above her, looking down on her. "And I thought we were well past all that these days." He's not surprised- it's really not that strange that something could trigger Regina's temper and make her despise him again, just as the converse is true. They define complicated.

"What exactly will all that accomplish? I think we've both learned that revenge never truly amounts to much. A few pounds of flesh won't buy you back those years." Maybe on another day he would have tried to apologize, but he's not feeling it right now. She came into his house and started throwing wild accusations- true as they may be- around. The rules of decency don't apply here.