glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

[behindcloseddoors]

See You Soon- Coldplay

WHO || Faye, Lila, Gold? [closed]
WHAT || Faye finally has a clue to Gold's location, and goes to confront him about his absence
WHERE || Glastonbury, England
WHEN || After this
HOW || Actionspam

[ Gold's been gone now for long enough to leave most people assuming that he isn't going to come back. Driven off by confirmation that he was, in fact, the Dark One from the Enchanted Forest by Gaston and Emma, the only indication that he's even alive came in a dream delivered to Belle, where he admitted that he was looking to understand more about this Dark One, perhaps seeking a way to refute the claims of the others. Plenty of people are worried, however, about what direction his search might take him. Others, however, are just plain pissed that he would abandon them without a word - and it's that anger that drove Faye to ally with GLADOS to discover that he was in Glastonbury, and with Lila's help enlist Zero to pinpoint his exact last known whereabouts, at a shitty motel. Together, the girls take a car and head out, hoping to find him once and for all.

There's only one car in the lot when they pull in, the VACANCY sign flashing forlornly above the office door. No lights are visible in any of the rooms, but a COKE machine provides some illumination, along with the lone pair of streetlamps that dully lighten the parking lot. ]

Comments

[behindcloseddoors]

[ the maps seem to be of various locations around england, most of which seem to be in the middle of nowhere. one is of this farm and has a circle scrawled on it in the woods with the word "WELL" written next to it.

the printouts seem to be basic internet research, all on a theme, talking about 'corruption' and 'taint'. ]

[bittersweeter]

What is it? [ 'cause lila isn't looking at the papers, looking around instead in case the fucking benders come out to say hi. (spot 16, listen 20 total) ]

[reallywicked]

Pretty sure he's looking for a well. And this place is officially the creepiest in existence. Crazy dark magic.

[Between her bad feeling and the research she's not excited.]

[bittersweeter]

A well. [ she rolls her eyes so hard, before reaching out to cast mage armor on faye (+4 to ac for 6 hours) and then on herself, the magic shimmering around them both for a moment as she murmurs in russian before it fades. ] Well, let's go fucking find it.

[reallywicked]

[Aww thanks for the AC boost girl. Time to... try to read a map, I guess. This is not Faye's strong suit, so... (navigate 14)]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ looking glass - amber asylum

out through the woods they go, following a narrow track that winds through them. the eeriness of the place only intensifies as they get deeper within among the skeletal looking trees. they actually have to make will saves (DC 20) or be shaken as they continue on. anything less than a 10 would stop them dead in their tracks.

a wisdom check of 17+ would be enough to catch that even though they can hear the faint rustling of leaves around them everywhere, they feel no wind whatsoever. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye has nerves of steel!! (will 21) But dear god this is creepy. She bombed her wis check, though, so she's just hella focused on trying to find this well right now. Ain't got no time for this creepy rustling nonsense.]

[bittersweeter]

[ after facing the gloom golem, lila seems to have become completely immune to being creeped out by literally anything. (will save nat 20, 36 total) can't out nightmare the nightmare queen.

she glances around as they walk, noting the lack of wind. (wis 22) that's weird, like odd nightmare physics weird. maybe it's a spell??? (spellcraft 38) ]

If we get killed for Gold, I swear to every single god I will personally murder you.

[ don't... try to logic that. ]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ it doesn't strike her as any spell she's ever heard of. but there's something about it that screams that it's magical in nature.

they finally come across a small clearing ahead, where there is, indeed, a creepy overgrown well that seems to have branches snaking into it off from all the trees around it... all of which have entirely blackened trunks, whose bark seems to be twisted into nightmarish visages of screaming faces, when glanced at.

a figure stands with his back to them... the familiar suited outline of gold, his cane in one hand, his other gripping the edge of the well as he looks it over. ]

[reallywicked]

[Faye doesn't say anything in response to Lila's threat. She doesn't want any of them to die, okay. But least of all Lila. She didn't have to come on this crazy trip with her.

As they find the clearing and she spots what looks like Gold, Faye is her usual impulsive self. Taking a few steps forward ahead of Lila, she just... calls out to him.]

Gold!

[Yes, this is the best plan]

[bittersweeter]

Faye! [ she reaches out to stop faye, but she's already gone and shouted gold's name so her hand drops to her side instead. okay, that's a plan. ]

[undealt]

[Gold looks up and turns to face the two girls, hand instinctively reaching into his jacket as if he means to go for his gun. for a moment, he just stands there, squinting, as if he's not sure if this is a trick.]

Faye? [he glances at lila and somehow the sight of her confirms this must be real because why would he hallucinate lila.] Ms. Zacharov. What are you two doing out here?

[there's a mildly dad-ish tone to his voice. which is hilarious considering he is and always will be a terrible dad.]

[bittersweeter]

[ holding up a finger, lila snippily corrects: ] Zacharov-Gray, thank you.

[reallywicked]

[Faye opens her mouth to speak, but Lila beats her to it and she can't help but smirking at her friend. Priorities.]

Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing. What the fucking hell are you doing out here?

[She mad]

[undealt]

[gold looks guilty for a split second, seeing faye's anger.] You have every right to be angry with me, but you have to understand... after what happened... I couldn't trust myself enough to return home. Not until I had solid evidence.

[he p much assumes the whole thing was castlewide news... after a point, one does have to wonder if everyone were waiting for him to snap one day.]

[reallywicked]

Evidence of what, exactly? Because no- I don't have to understand anything, actually. Not until you tell me yourself.

[And even then, will she really understand or just set him on fire? Who knows tbh]

[bittersweeter]

[ as a dry aside: ] Wow, that was super illuminating.

[undealt]

You don't know.

[he stares at them, still positioned in frpnt of the well as if he's shielding the girls from it or just unwilling to move forward.]

Emma told Belle that I was... something called the Dark One. And I imagine it never fazed her much until I met the man she was... [a disgusted pause] married to on the other side of the Veil. The moment he met me, he accused me of corrupting Belle's mind... Said that I'd kidnapped her before I came here. I couldn't prove I didn't do any of that and Belle... She now had Emma's word and his.

I couldn't go back to the castle... I couldn't stand before Wynn and claim my word meant more than Emma's, when I know I am not what one might call a good man. I could very well be this... Dark One.

Until I knew for certain... I had to leave. And it was better I not be followed, in case....

[bittersweeter]

And of course you couldn't just, I don't know, talk to Wynn about it like a rational adult. [ jfc why is she always the rational adult, she is only twenty, this is fucked up. talk to wynn, this is the fucking key to so much! talk to wynn. but this context finally snaps her conversation with cora into place. the timeline fits with when gold left and belle vanished from the library to hide in her room. ] Belle thought you enchanted her, a love curse as it were. Considering there are three victims, two former, of love curses in the castle, I'm fairly certain that theory was sufficiently quashed. [ jsyk. ] But don't worry! You still made yourself look ridiculously guilty and criminal. Not sure that's going to help you clear your name, but whatever. You do you.

[ fucking peasant. ]

[reallywicked]

[Lila makes some great points, which is great because Faye is too hot headed to think of them when all she wants to do is throw something at him for not telling her that he was leaving.]

We-- [Well, no. She's not dragging Lila into all of this.] I could have helped you. I would have- [She cuts herself off, shaking her head violently, as if she can shake off the hurt and the anger.]

What is it your looking for out here? If you wanted to keep from going dark, I think you've taken a really wrong turn.

[undealt]

And risk taking you down with me? Absolutely not, Faye. It would have pitted you against Emma. [and he knows faye well enough to know how much that bond means to her (wis.... nat 20 aw).]

And as far as guilt is concerned, I was guilty-perhaps not of that but of enough that could paint a rather vile portrait. I'm not above using magic to get what I want. I couldn't even trust myself enough not to kill Gaston myself if left to my own devices.

[he looks behind him.] This isn't about not going dark. This is about proving whether or not I, myself, am just as tainted as this well.

[bittersweeter]

[ lila snorts at the emma comment, bitter and derisive, stifling it behind her hand before gesturing like no, do go on. ]

[reallywicked]

[At the same time that Lila snorts, Faye's eyes close briefly at the mention of Emma. The conversation she had with the woman still bothered her, still ran through her mind over and over. And while he's right that the relationship is important to her, it's not as though she's doing much better, even without his influence.]

How are you going to prove that? I swear to god if you say you're climbing in... [She will just haul your limping ass out of here right now, frankly.]

[undealt]

[well, he wasn't, but then you both started berating him and maybe climbing into the well and living there is a preferable option than dealing with his shame. #cowardlogic.]

You feel it, don't you? That presence all around here.

[He tears his eyes away from the well.] There's nothing comparable to the Dark One on this side of the Veil, but in all my research, one common thread stuck out- anything that involves that much dark magic? Becomes tainted. So I sought out a place like this, assuming if I could see what that felt like, I'd know for certain I wasn't. That if there really was something horrible in my past I can't remember, then clearly I've bested it somehow, and I'm truly not the monster they've spoke of.

[and considering no one has to make a will save to be within ten feet of him, he's pretty well convinced he's fiiiiine.]

[reallywicked]

[Okay, fuck this. Faye moves forward, closing the distance between the two of them, despite having no desire to be near this creepy as well at all. The things she does for her not!father...]

Do you know what might actually prove you're not that... Dark One or whatever? By being a god damn knight and not running away when ...people needed you. [People being Faye. But she's not about to say that. All the shit that's gone down, all the stuff with Jordan and with Emma, she just wanted some guidance. And she gets plenty of help and advice from Lila, but Gold was the one who helped her get control of her magic, helped her learn to become as good as she is now. It's just... different.]