Chapter 32: The Dark One to the Rescue?
Harry frowned as he felt the spelled wedding ring grow drastically hot—Emma!
She was in danger.
Ever since the last time she had been kidnapped, he had made preparations so that such an incident would not happen again. Or at the very least, it would buy him some time and kick some Dark One ass. The monitoring spells he had put on her protected her from mortal peril in addition to notifying him of when she was in danger. As far as failsafes went it was the best he could do, sort of doing anything with her consent, which Emma pretty much outright refused.
"Please, Harry. Monitoring me? That's ridiculous."
It wasn't ridiculous. At least with Regina on the loose. Though the house had been safely warded from the witch entering there and protected with the Fidelius charm. He wished he could ward the entire town, but doing that would be near impossible especially since there were places that the public had a right to go to like the library.
God, he hated that Goddamn apartment that he was staying with at Belle. He knew she would love it because of the library, but to Harry, the place was far less safe than he liked. He actually hated that Emma went there all the time, but again, he knew from past experiences he couldn't be true controlling.
Though, he instantly felt regret when he felt the warmth of the ring—whatever was going on with Emma wasn't good.
Maybe he should've given her more attention these past few days. While he had been there for Emma, he wasn't there as much as he would like. A large part of it had to do with Belle.
Thinking of the petite brunette, he instantly felt the guilt build up inside him again. He hated how he ended things with her, but Belle needed to know the truth. Still though, he wish there was a far less harsh way to tell her that things were never going to work out between them.
He still remembered the look on her face when he told her how he had been reborn as Harry Potter and how he met and found himself falling in love with Emma.
"That doesn't diminish what's between us." She said.
He sighed. She was right it didn't change what had occurred between the two of them, but his relationship with Emma added a new perspective to things. It had caused him to move on from what could've been with Belle. He and Belle had never even got started, and he sort of wanted to point that out to her. But at the same time, well, he saw Belle's face.
"I never said it did," He said. "Emma and I though, we had a chance to explore what was between us and I married her Belle. We have children together."
"Yet, you haven't told her the truth." Belle said.
"Things have been complicated." Harry said, "She's just now trying to rationalize the whole magic bit. I'm sure the whole I'm over three hundred years old and am an evil despot/dark wizard bit will just go over well with her."
Belle sighed, "That's just an excuse, Rumple, and you know it."
Maybe she was right. However, right now, he didn't really have time to dwell on it since his Emma monitor ring was blazing hot. He poofed away only to find himself in Belle's apartment and seeing Emma puking up what could only be something that had origins in dark magic in front of Belle.
For a moment there, he was a bit paralyzed. He didn't understand it. Why would Emma be in his apartment with Belle of all things puking out dark magic? It didn't make any sense. He looked at Belle who seemed just as confused as him. Finally, something in him snapped and he began to take charge. Or as much as taking charge as he could.
Really, he felt like he was in this big haze trying to make sense of everything.
"Did she drink or eat something?" He asked Belle.
Belle nodded, "Tea. Just calomel tea."
"Ford—" Emma managed to groan.
"It's okay, love." He said as he looked at Belle, "Cup?"
She nodded as she handed him the cup. He didn't even notice that it was the infamous chipped cup. The cup that he had once would've decked someone over, but now, now it was just a fond trinket that Belle thought was good enough to serve tea to a guest too.
As soon as he saw the leftover contents in the cup it was obvious what Emma had been fed—well, obvious to a Dark One—dreamshade. The only thing was he didn't expect the poison to be in this realm. It was native to Neverland. Sure, it had been exported several times and dark wizards like himself and Regina, but he didn't think any had been brought over to this world.
But apparently it had, Emma had somehow ingested it and was already experiencing the nasty side effects. It couldn't exactly kill her because of the protection spell he had put over her but the baby, it could very well end its life before it was born.
He was thinking this when she cried out, "You have to help, Harry, you have to. The baby. Make sure you save it. Do whatever it takes."
And then she collapsed.
He frowned as he rushed over to catch her prone body.
"How long?" He barked at Belle not even realizing that Emma had called him by his other name. That she somehow knew.
"Um," Belle said.
"How long was it that she drank the tea?"
"Maybe five minutes. Rumple, what's going on?"
But he was ignoring you instead his focus was on saving Emma and their child. Dreamshade was toxic, especially in Neverland in its raw state. In its powdered state it was commonly used in potions such as a sleeping death potion. It could be deadly to an unborn child.
No.
No.
No.
He couldn't lose another baby. Losing Bae. He had never been able to get over losing his baby boy. And when he thought he lost Jaime, those ten years a part of him felt so dead. There was no way, no way at all that he could handle another child, which was why he was focusing all of his power thinking of anything he could do to save the baby and Emma.
"Rumple."
Someone was talking to him, as he tried spell after spell.
He had the magic to save Emma, dark magic. Normally, it would be a risk if the person did not have magical origins. But Emma's light magic made it possible for him to heal her without any corruption. The risk was to the baby, dark magic was strong stuff and he didn't know how it would affect a growing fetus. Much like true love's kiss, except dark magic would obviously toxic. True love's kiss was pretty much the default antidote, but he wasn't sure if that would even work on an unborn child. Let alone true love's kiss from him.
Had an unborn fetus ever been exposed to dreamshade again?
He didn't focus on Belle instead he tried ever spell he could think of, but Emma's kept getting paler and he could feel the baby's heartbeat diminishing. He needed more time, and time was something he didn't have.
Do anything to save our baby.
The words Emma had told him reflected upon him. He had to do something—if he could only give himself more time. A status charm maybe? It would be like freezing the baby, so to speak. It would prevent the baby from absorbing anymore of the toxins until he could figure out some sort of cure.
It was the best option, he thought as he started waving his hands to do the necessary spell work. He'd heal Emma with dark magic. He knew she'd be able to survive that way and it was the easiest way to heal her.
He found himself focused for such a long time he didn't feel Belle grabbing his shoulder, just like he didn't realize how much magical energy he was using until he passed out onto the floor.
"Rumple, Rumple, wake up?"
He wasn't on the floor anymore. He was in a bed, a soft bed. He blinked and saw Belle peering at him. She looked worried.
He guessed he should sort of understand why. He couldn't remember a past time where he had used so much of his resources he had past out. He couldn't…then he did.
"Emma."
"She's resting," Belle said. "Her color looks a little bit better."
He nodded; the spells he had done were taking effect. That was good.
"What happened, Rumple?" She asked.
He shook his head, "I need to see her."
"No, you don't." Belle said, "The only reason you're not in the hospital right now is because I know this is magic induce. What did you do to heal her, Rumple?"
"I did what needed to be done," He said. "You had dreamshade in that tea."
"I did not." Belle said, "I would never—"
"I know you'd never poison her, sweetheart." He said, "But I also know dreamshade."
Belle frowned, "There was dreamshade in the tea? There is dreamshade in this realm?"
"Apparently," Rumple said. "The stuff was exploited across all the realms why wouldn't it be in the world without magic."
"Is she—" Belle started to ask.
"If her color is improving, probably." Rumple said. "It took a lot of magic though to start the healing process. I suspect it was her light magic fighting the dark."
"And the baby?" Belle asked.
He sighed heavily, "That's a little bit more complicated. I put the baby in status for now."
"Status?"
"I couldn't heal her." He said, "I don't know what my magic would do to an unborn child, and I'm not going to risk it. And I don't know if it's possible to cure it. But this way I'll have more time, there's still a chance that my daughter can live."
"So, what? The baby is going to stay in Emma until you find a way to heal it?"
He nodded. "Yes. It was the only way."
Belle shook her head, "Rumple, it could take years…"
"Emma wanted me to save our baby and that's what I'm going to do." He said.
Emma was unconscious longer than he wished. She was improving though, her breathing was better and she wasn't convulsing anymore. He just wanted her awake.
He shook his head. He had ended up having to send Hermione in his stead for a couple of meetings and Jaime was staying at Graham's. The wards his best friend had made an the fact the huntsman had a protected heart and was apt at protecting himself were the only reasons he had allowed his son to stay with the sheriff. Plus, he was sort of an unfit parent at the moment.
He sighed as he looked at her, "God, I feel like such a failure, love. I vowed after what happened to you earlier this year, I wasn't going to let something like this happen to you again. I put charms on you, all sorts of safety precautions and look where it got you."
On a bed unconscious. Much like her mother except Emma wasn't in a sleeping curse due to dark magic enchantments.
He frowned as he thought about how it would've been if he would've been a less paranoid person, putting no protection spells on her whatsoever. She would've been in a state just like Snow's and God knows the baby—
He frowned as he put his hand on top of Emma's slightly protruded stomach. He could no longer feel their daughter kicking. She was essentially frozen in time.
"I'll make it right, little one." He said. "Daddy will make it all better."
As he was saying this, he felt Emma stir.
"Harry—" She said.
He frowned, "It's Ford."
"No," She slurred. "You can stop pretending. I know."
"You—"
Emma interrupted him. "Did you save her? I can't feel her."
"You need to relax Emma."
"I need to know about our baby." She said her eyes now fully snapping open. She turned towards him. "Please, Harry, please tell me she's okay."
He sighed, "She's fine for now."
"For now?" Emma said, "Why can't I feel her?"
"You drank dreamshade," He said, "It's effects are harmful enough, but it's effects on a fetus are unknown."
"But, you have magic, you can fix this. You fixed me."
He sighed heavily.
"Harry." She said, "Please, please, tell me she's going to be okay. I can't lose her. I can't lose another baby."
He sighed heavily. "She's safe. Right now, the dream shade can't hurt her."
She gave him a weird look, "Then she's going to be fine, right?"
How could he explain it to her? How could he explain that he essentially that he had to freeze their baby so that he could possibly find her a cure, and that until such a time arouse Emma would essentially be perpetually pregnant. It sounded like something obscene like out of science fiction, like out of Batman, he thought as he recalled that terrible movie that Emma had made him watch so long ago.
Batman and Robin, with that idiotic Mr. Freeze. Who froze his wife. Well, he was playing the role of Freeze here and it sucked big time.
"What does that mean?" She asked.
As he explained the situation, he watched Emma's mouth drop. "So, there's no cure?"
"I'll find one." He said.
"You cured me though." She snapped.
"I used dark magic to heal you," He said, "I didn't—I didn't want to risk exposing our child to my magic. Healing you was difficult enough, it helped that you had latent light magic."
"Excuse me," Emma said looking at him crazy. "I have magic? This…this…is just too weird."
She then attempted to get up, but obviously the movement got to her since started vomiting again. Thankfully, this time the vomit wasn't tar black. Rather, it was the usual color of bile.
Alas, it got all over his shoes.
"I'm not apologizing for that." She hissed as he waved his hand cleaning his Italian loafers. "I'm mad at you."
Harry rolled his eyes waving his hand and cleaning up the vomit.
"I seriously, should've known." She said, "And God, what is wrong with me. I should be talking to you about what you did to me and more importantly what you did to my baby."
"Our baby." He corrected, "It takes two to tango, love."
Emma frowned, "I don't even want to go there right now. I want to know what you're going to do for my, our, daughter."
"I'm going to do what I can do." He said, "But it might take awhile. Hence, why I put the pregnancy in status."
She frowned as she put her hand on her stomach as it just dawned on her that she could surpass Ashley Boyd as the longest pregnancy ever. If the pregnancy ever did come in term.
"So, this is the only thing you could do." She said, "I can't even feel her kick anymore. It's like she's not even here."
He sighed heavily as her gripped her hand. "I will fix this Emma, I promise. I am going to fight for our daughter."
She shook her head as she put her hand on her stomach. "She could've died. She could still die."
"Emma." He said. "I'm not going to let that happen."
"But you don't know how to cure her," She said. "You said it was hard healing me. She's a baby. She's not even a baby, she hasn't even been born yet."
"I'll find a way." He said with a sigh. "I promise you, I do have some leads."
"Leads?" She asked.
He nodded, "Yes, but I'm going to need some help."
"Fine, consider me your volunteer."
There was much fighting about whether or not Emma was to join him at the basement of the town hall, one of the places he thought Maleficent was likely to show up. Personally, he was against her showing up since she was still pregnant—albeit, the pregnancy itself had been paused. He had told her as much.
"Aren't you the Dark One?" She said, "You could render like protection wards or something around my womb."
He glared at her, "It doesn't work that way. If it did we wouldn't be in the situation we're in right now."
She rolled her eyes, "We wouldn't be in this situation right now if you told me the truth from the get go."
He shook his head. "I don't think truth has anything to do with this, Emma. Besides, save being pissed off at me later. Right now, we need to figure out a way to get that potion."
The true love's kiss potion. If he could gain access to it, he might be able to use it to help his baby. He was now completely over the fact of trying to get Emma her memories back. As much as he wanted to do that, saving their babe's life came first and foremost.
"You're right," She said with a sigh. She was in the car with him now; they were looking for a possible reinforcement to wield her father's sword. Not that she knew David Nolan was her father; she just knew that a powerful potion was in the dungeon that could save their little girl's life. "You said someone with—well, your magic can't defeat her."
He nodded. "Dark magical creatures are often immune to dark magic. Besides, there's a sword that I will know will do the trick. We just need to find someone who can wield it."
"Me." Emma said, "I can do it. You said that I have light magic, right?"
He nodded. She didn't know it but the light magic within her was the only reason he was able to heal her. Otherwise, that much dark magic would've killed a normal person especially a fetus. He sighed heavily though, "You are carrying our baby. It's not exactly safe for a pregnant woman to fight a dragon."
She frowned knowing he had a point. "Well, it's not like you can do it either."
He frowned as he thought for a moment about the sword. Emma was prophesized to use it. He had tried to use the Blue Fairy's heart to modify Charming's sword so anyone who was pure of heart and a true hero could use it. Still the options of who could wield it were pretty limited.
Hermione was out due to her war efforts (aka heart pullage) and the fact she was in London at the moment. Graham was also out due to some of his past in the Enchanted Forest. Charming—well, Charming was a mess. He could try to get the man to help him, but he wasn't exactly sure it would work.
"Who can help us, Harry?" She asked seeing the look on his face. "I know you're calculating your options and based on the expression on your face you don't exactly like the options that you have."
"No, I don't." He said, "But you are not fighting that dragon."
"If it means saving our baby, Harumple then I am."
He shook his head as he planned to call Charming to see if he was a suitable candidate.
It seemed Regina had decided to take care of her husband, Charming was nowhere to be found.
"He can't just be gone," Emma said as Rumple failed at attempting a scrying for Charming.
"Well, I'm not finding him with magic, dearie."
"You know I hate when you call me that." She barked.
He looked at her, "Do I?"
"Another flash of memory," She said. "I also remember you started calling me love. I should've picked up on your duplicity earlier."
He rolled his eyes.
"I feel like a dope, Farry." She snapped.
"Farry?" He asked.
"It's a form of Ford and Harry. Like a ship name." She said, "I guess I could continue with Harumple since apparently your real name is Rumpelstiltskin. Seriously, I married a baby stealer."
"I never stole a baby, people just sold them to me." He said with a shrug.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I think the fact we can't find Daniel Mills or Prince Charming means what I have been trying to tell you. I'm going to have to slay the bloody dragon."
He gave her a look.
"It will be fine," She said sensing his nervousness. "You'll be my backup."
He shook his head, "The Dark One as backup to the Savior. That just sounds so wrong. And when said Savior is pregnant it sounds even worse."
"Rumple," Emma said in a much more serious voice. "We have to do something. I know that this isn't the optimal option, but I am the only one we know that can defeat the dragon. And it's the only way we can save the baby."
She had a point. Finding Charming, would take awhile. And clearly Regina had somehow gotten access to magic again, she might've even had a way to travel to another realm. Though, Rumple sort of doubted it. Unless she had access to Jefferson's hat or a mermaid.
He frowned, wondering if she had access to such things. She did have the dreamshade. It was possible.
He'd cross that mountain later; right now they had to try to get that potion.
"If we do this," He heard himself saying, "You have to listen to everything I say. And you're not to put yourself in unwarranted danger."
"It's a dragon, Harumple. Danger is bound to happen."
"Don't call me Harumple or Farry!" He snapped.
"I'll call you whatever you want." She snapped. "It's your fault for giving me multiple names."
He sighed heavily and shook his head. "I'm sorry, how many times can I tell you this?"
"I'll get back to you on that," Emma said, "But right now we have to slay a dragon."