knightsoflegend | glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

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glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's... Milah was my mother's name.

[He says while pacing the room to find a place to sit. This is going to be a really long and fucked up conversation.]

[Gold straightens and goes to his desk, while the crocodile follows after him, not willing to be too far from him.]

Killian Jones has that name on a tattoo. I assumed it to be a coincidence, as he doesn't know where he got the name any more than I do.

[he doesn't quite chuckle- it's more of a humorless noise.] There's no such thing as coincidence, is there? [He's not going to like any of this and he almost wishes he didn't have the tiny fraction of bravery it took to ask the question that led them here. Cowardice would be safer.]

[Leaning forward, Neal rests his elbows on his knees and shakes his head.]

Not with us, no. [He has to just start talking or he'll lose his nerve.]

She left you for him. Left us. And in trying to get her back, you turned yourself into the monster they've been telling you about. The Dark One. You took in the darkest magic there was in some attempt to show you weren't a coward. But magic comes with a price. I don't know exactly what happened because I wasn't there, but you killed her. And Hook swore his revenge on you for it.

[Gold feels a slight twinge of revulsion at being told all this without having the memories of someone capable of doing such things. He knows he's awful, that he's exploited and manipulated and killed people without feeling much for it, and while he can't bring himself to feel guilt for something he can't recall doing, he certainly feels disgust.

And it makes him want to skip ahead a bit, because now that he knows he would do such dark things to a woman for leaving him, maybe Gaston was right about what he did to Belle. Maybe her feelings for him are something residual, carried over even without her memories. He shudders.]

What do you know of a woman named Belle?

[he could linger on how this explains so much about his relationship with Hook- that lingering prickliness that neither can shake. They don't remember the reasons for it, but they know there's something. And they don't feel compelled to fix it. Maybe they really can't.

he could also linger on what naming his familiar- a bond he summoned, that is unwavering and loyal so long as he's kind to her- after a wife he killed says about his subconscious feelings on this whole matter.

but all he can think of is Belle- everyone else is someone unreal and intangible, except for Neal, himself, and he doesn't know if there's any fixing that and he's only barely scratched the surface of it.

there could be hope for Belle. or he could need to get as far away from her as possible.]

[He shakes his head, sitting up a little straighter.]

I don't know much about her. I only met her once I came to Storybrooke. You two were together there, but anything else about her, I can't really say. I wasn't exactly around to see it.

[The bitter edge of his tone comes back as he briefly touches on his own abandonment issue without really saying as much.]

[they were together. they were together, but he can't confirm whether it was of her own volition or not. that's... just wonderful. Gold pinches the bridge of his nose and nods somberly.

he'll deal with that later.] So I became... this Dark One. [just moving right along then.] What happened to you?

I hated what it had turned you into. I was just a kid and now everyone we knew was terrified of you, of what you could do. I just wanted the two of us to have a life that made sense. [He looks up briefly, meeting his father's eyes. There's vulnerability there, grief that never quite left him.] I wanted my Papa back.

So I found a bean, a magical bean that would take us to a world that had no magic. You wouldn't be the Dark One there and no one would know us. You promised me that you'd come, that we could start over.

But you changed your mind. And you let me fall through the portal on my own. You chose the darkness over me.

[Milah looks up at Gold pointedly and it takes a moment for him to tear his eyes away from Neal to look at her. It's a bit disconcerting- the idea that they're probably sharing a private conversation by just staring at each other, but whatever she has to say, it only disheartens him further.

You ran away from Faye and the rest of them to find out more about your power. How is that any different?]

I imagine I can't begin to apologize for something I can't remember. It's easy to wonder how you could have done something so cruel when it seems like it happened to someone else. Mostly I'm sorry you may never get your Papa back. [because he isn't going to step into that role unless he's wanted- that's not fair to Neal. He'd do it if he asked him to- try to get to know this son he can't remember, but when one of them is a blank slate and the other still carries all the hurt and pain... How is that balanced? How can they reconcile all of that?

Never mind, he can't even be a decent father figure to young woman he tried to do right by for the past few years. It did go deeper than he thought. Some part of him is just hardwired to be a terrible father.]

[Growing up around magic like he did, Neal has seen some strange things in his time, but watching his father have a silent conversation with a crocodile is a new one.]

Yeah, well... I didn't expect that anyway. After the first couple hundred years, you start to realize things can't always go back to how they were.

[But even as he says it, it's hard not to feel a tug in his gut just from being this close to his father. There was still a part of him that wanted to repair what little family he had. Emma hated him. Henry was grown. He didn't know his place here.]

[#familiars]

So that just leaves one question... [he doesn't even know why Neal is here or if he's staying or what will happen if he does stay.]] Where does that leave us?

That mostly depends on one thing.

[This is the part that he's most nervous about]

Now that you know that you were the Dark One and what that did to you, what will you do? Does it change anything?

I knew I was the Dark One before this conversation- that was... why I left. I didn't know if there was any way to change it. Or if I was merely born with it. This power I have... This magic. It's in my very blood. It was easy to assume I was born a monster and something in between all of that, and Storybrooke, and my crossing the Veil had just eradicated the memory of it entirely.

[But now he knows it was a choice- that Lila was right. And he's seen the destruction the darkest of his magic can cause.] In trying to find those answers, I nearly succumbed to the darkness and very well might have killed a girl in doing so. And I hurt someone I care for very much. So as to your answer, I think the only thing I can do is be cautious about my magic and to stay within these walls where I can be pulled back if necessary.

In a way, I imagine it changes everything. [he stares down at his hands.] It was always my choice.

[He's quiet for a long time. Something in that answer seems to at least satisfy him enough to continue.]

What if I told you there was something that could control the magic...control you?

[And being near it for too long had infected him with terrible dark magic but sure lets talk about it, Neal. Sounds great.]

[ahahahahaha THAT WASN'T WHAT HE MEANT, so he looks up abruptly. As does Milah, apparently hearing something unspoken in his shock.]

How do you mean?

[Nope. Not giving details on it until he's sure.]

If the magic could be controlled, would you agree to it? If someone had the power to stop you if you went to far, would you let them?

The power... You mean aside from trusting that I'll listen?

[It is an awfully big ask, but the idea of not being able to have the choice of his own accord...] Just... Removing any option of ever choosing wrong.

[He thinks of Lila recovering from her injuries- what choosing wrong cost him, but he still hasn't given an answer. He still can't.]

I mean a way to make sure that you don't hurt anyone again.

[Oh look at Neal's patience wearing thin as Gold can't seem to answer the god damn question.]

Yes.

[he says it before the words are fully out of Neal's mouth, so abrupt he almost startles himself.]

[If he's completely honest with himself, that wasn't the answer he was expecting. At all. For a moment, he just stares wondering if he heard correctly, or if his father didn't quite understand the question.

But the answer was simple enough. And there wasn't really room for confusion.

Let out a slow exhale, Neal idly rubs his hands together as he tries to think of how to explain. Telling him about the dagger at all is dangerous. Once he knows about it, he could try to take it for himself, but he wants to believe that maybe this time they can do this right. Maybe this time, his father can make the right choices.]

There's an artifact- a dagger. It's bound to every Dark One. When you took that power, your name was inscribed on the blade. Whoever wields that dagger, controls the Dark One.

I found it when I came through the Veil.

[Gold nods slowly, still looking a little uncertain about his answer, but sticking to it.]

And who would... Who would you have to hold the dagger?

[No offense, Neal, but you came here, said you were his son, and he can't disprove a damn bit of that, but he's not a fool. If that dagger goes into anyone's hands, it needs to be someone who at least has even footing with. there's too much history between them Gold will never be able to see with his own eyes, so he can't even begin to learn about his son with a literal and metaphorical power imbalance between them.]

I'm thinking Wynn should have it. I haven't seen it in awhile, but it's here. I think they're studying it.

[Hasmed maybe mentioned something in one of their sessions? Idk /waves hands at it.]

I don't want to be anywhere near it, if that's what you're wondering. Keeping it for as long as I did already did enough damage.

[Gold isn't sure he wants Wynn to have it either, but he isn't going to argue that right now. Besides, he's more curious about the other half of that.]

What do you mean?

Near as we can figure, the combination of possessing the dagger and just... being your son made me susceptible to the dark magic.

[He swallows hard because this is still difficult for him to accept.]

I have it now. Magic.

[oh.

that would probably mean more to him if he really knew anything about this situation beyond what he's been told, but at least he figures it's NOT A GREAT THING.]

And given your history with it, that must be... difficult for you.

Yeah. [He says, a scoff of a laugh escaping him.]

The fact that I nearly burnt down half of Andres didn't help either.

glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

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