Crocodile's Daughter - Back to Their True Selves

19 - A Curious Thing

The next day, Zelena sent him out again, leaving me alone.

-

I sat, watching the wheel as it spun when the Charming gang came in. "Rumplestiltskin. Rempalenski," Snow said. "Rumple bumple isn't here. Rumple bumple...gone, my dear," He said, and I scowled. "They really are back from the dead," She said.

 "Dead. Dead. So much better...dead," He said. Our previous forms had returned, scaly skin, and all. "He's lost his mind," David said. "On the contrary! Now I have two--two minds! Mining time. Digging deeper in the grime," He said, then went back to spinning. "What is she doing to them?" Belle asked.

"Nothing that can't be undone. Rumplestiltskin, we need your help. How do we stop Zelena?" Snow asked. "Round and round, the circle of time, racing towards the finish line," He said. "This is pointless," Regina said. "Let me try. Hey. Hey. Rumple. Hey. Hey. I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. How do we stop Zelena?" Belle asked, coming up to the cage.

"Light," He said. "W-what?" She asked. "Light. Magic. The Good Witch of the South--Glinda," He said. "Glinda. B-but south of...what, Oz?" She asked. "No! Banished! Here! The Good Witch of the South was banished north--north of the Dark Forest," He said.

 "How do we find her? Rumplestiltskin, in the Dark Forest, how do we find her?!" Snow asked. "Through the door, step inside. If pure of heart, then she won't hide," He sang. "Rempa, where do we find Glinda?" Snow asked me. I pointed to my throat. "She can't talk," Regina realized, and I nodded, so they left.

-

"Wolf's blood, dragon's scale. I've tasted this brew before," He said. "We're about to take an unplanned trip, my pets. The curse is coming," Zelena said. "You failed, you failed. You failed, you failed, you failed, you failed, you failed, you fa--" He chanted. "Don't be so dour. What I need to do can be done in any land. I will succeed in changing the past. My spell will work," She claimed. "But only if you remember it," He said.

"Which I will...with this...to keep my valuable recollections safe and sound," She said, drinking a potion. "Mmm. Here. Drink it, dump it out, sing it a song. Your brains are still mine. If you want to remember the loss of your son, so be it, but if you'd prefer to stumble about blind and stupid with the rest of them, be my guest," She said, giving him the potion and kissing his hand. "Memories are pain. Pain is strength. For vengeance," He said, pacing. He went to drink the potion, but Neal separated from him. "We don't need to remember. Emma does," Neal said as he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Neal scribbled a letter, called a dove, which came and landed on the sill. "Find Killian Jones on the Jolly Roger. Find Captain Hook. Go!" Neal told the dove, tying the potion to its leg and sending it off. Then Neal rejoined with him and he woke up.

a/n Okay, three things. One, sea chanties are a bop. Two, I started watching Demon Slayer on Netflix and it's actually pretty good. Three, I got these cake-in-a-cup things in the clearance rack at the store, and they so kindly put the clearance sticker OVER the instructions, which then had to be removed so my brothers and I could eat the damn things. I have yet to try them, but I will say something when I do.