#strange fable moodboard

[jumpship90]

Check out this beautiful moodboard for Jaq and Phineas made by the exceptionally talented @strangefable

Every image is just perfect for them and fits the mood of their story so well! This was just the encouragement I needed to get back to work on the last chapter of Kept Secret But Not Forgotten

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: El Dorado

Summary: Rumpelstiltskin encounters a brave young woman whilst searching for a long-hidden artefact, and along the way, they begin to help each other.

Written for the @a-monthly-rumbelling moodboard prompt, available here.

Rated: G

El Dorado

When it had become clear that the Lost Amulet of El Dorado was going to prove instrumental in creating the Dark Curse that would bring him across the realms to reunite with Baelfire, Rumpelstiltskin had let out a long sigh. El Dorado was not his favourite of places to visit. The climate did not lend itself to his usual attire for a start, and he always became a rather hot and bothered Dark One after any visit there. The last couple of times, he had managed with the aid of some cooling charms in his coat, but the bright sunshine was not his favourite weather.

There was also the more pressing business of the Lost Amulet being, by its very nature, lost.

Considering how well-hidden and well-guarded the golden citadel was, it had been remarkably easy to get inside. Just a touch of magic here and there to distract the guards, and he was soon walking around the city without anyone questioning him. There were so many strange creatures that dwelled in and around the walls of the fortress that a scaled man who sometimes sparkled like the gold of the citadel when the light caught his shrouded face in the right way would not draw any more attention than anything else unusual.

Now that he was inside, of course, the next stage was to find the amulet. Best to work from the inside out.

As he walked along the dark corridors of the castle, heading towards the epicentre of the city, the floors gradually sloping down under the earth, Rumpelstiltskin became aware that he was not alone in the place. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and all of his senses prickled, screaming at him with the need for silence and discretion, warning of danger at every turn. He tried to push down the reaction. With all the magic he had at his disposal, he was more likely to be dangerous to his pursuer, not the other way around. And besides, his invisibility spell had never failed him yet.

All the same, he was still curious to find out the identity of his fellow traveller along these halls and he stopped. The footsteps he’d heard stopped as well, but they could not have been a simple echo. Rumpelstiltskin turned, peering through the gloom behind him. At first glances, there was nothing to see, but as his eyes became further accustomed to the darkness, he saw the way that the shadows didn’t fall on the dulled golden walls in the way that they should.

Rumpelstiltskin smiled. There was another invisible person in here with him; and if they were invisible, then it was likely that, like him, they shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and, like him, they were just as anxious not to be caught.

He remained motionless in the corridor for a little while longer, wondering what the other person would do. It was entirely possible that his companion didn’t know that he was there, or was thinking exactly the same thoughts as he was.

Rumpelstiltskin studied the way the shadows fell again. His own invisibility spell would prevent such things, so whoever was following him was either a novice magician whose powers had not yet developed enough to be adept at such things, or an amateur using some other kind of concealment device.

A moment later, he received his answer. The air shimmered and rippled for a moment, and a small hand came into view out of nowhere, holding a jar. It shook the jar, and the corridor was bathed in the eerie green light of glow-worms.

No, whoever was in the corridor with him had not yet judged his presence, or at least, they weren’t worried about it if they were making themselves known like this.

“You know,” he began, keeping a light, conversational tone as the owner of the hands and the jar gave a startled squawk and took several steps backwards, almost tripping and dropping the jar in the process, “if you’re sneaking around under an invisibility cloak, you probably shouldn’t draw attention to yourself with a disembodied hand holding some glow-worms.”

With the startle, the hood of the cloak had fallen back, revealing the face of a frightened young woman. She looked around the corridors for the source of his voice, and holding up her makeshift lantern in all directions, and before his very eyes, Rumpelstiltskin saw her change as her resolve steadied her, the fear falling from her face and her stance straightening as bravery followed her and steeled her again.

“Who’s there?” she asked imperiously. “Show yourself. If you’re invisible like me, then surely your intentions are parallel to mine.”

She certainly had a point. Rumpelstiltskin dropped his cloaking spell, and to her credit, the woman did not flinch when he suddenly appeared in front of her.

“So, it seems that we’re both in the catacombs of El Dorado for less than pure reasons. Come to steal the wealth of the fabled city of gold?”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Have you?”

“Dearie, I make gold. I seek something far more precious.”

“As do I.”

Surely she couldn’t also be looking for the Amulet? It had been lost to the annals of time so long ago that most mortals didn’t think that it even existed; El Dorado itself was a myth to most of them. There again, if she was canny enough to find her way into El Dorado in the first place, then she surely knew that its treasures were very much real.

“Well, you’re no magician, I can tell that from the cloak. And the rudimentary optics.” Rumpelstiltskin looked her up and down, a task made somewhat difficult by the fact that she was still enveloped in the cloak and only her head and hands could be seen, both of which were bathed in green light from the glow-worms. “What use could you possibly have for the Amulet?”

“I’ve read enough to know that one does not have to be a magician to harness the Amulet’s great power. I’m trying to help my homeland. The Amulet’s magic could surely stop the ogres that are attacking us.”

“Ogres, eh? Well, I can certainly understand wanting to be rid of them. Surely there are other ways? It’s a treacherous journey to undertake, after all, into the hidden city. Were there no other solutions closer to home?”

The young woman’s eyes narrowed. “We called for aid, but when no-one came, I decided to venture out and find help myself.”

Rumpelstiltskin had to admire her courage and determination, but that small, niggling little part of him, the darkness constantly sitting like a demon on his shoulder, was reminding him that there was only one Lost Amulet of El Dorado, and that there were two of them, and that if this woman got it, then he could not use it to attempt to get to Bae. The nasty little voice at the back of his mind kept snidely insinuating that it was every man for himself.

At the same time, the part of him that remembered the ogre wars from when he was just a man knew just how horrific the scenes that she must have witnessed were. He would not want anyone to suffer through such a thing.

But the Amulet…

The woman pulled the cloak over her head and continued to walk straight past him, the glow-worms still illuminating the steady downwards path in front of her. It was only once she was several paces away that Rumpelstiltskin remembered that he had made no reply to her comment about the ogres, and the explanation for her presence here in El Dorado.

He raced down the corridor after her, although he really wasn’t sure what he could say now, so he simply fell into step beside her. He wondered what she was thinking, wondered whether she was feeling any kind of trepidation at the knowledge that a dark magician was also on the search for the Amulet, and if it came down to it, she with her glow-worms was ill-equipped to put up any sort of fight for the artefact.

Presently, they reached a door at the end of the corridor. Rumpelstiltskin could feel the magic pulsing off it, and he knew that they had reached the right place. The power was almost palpable, and even though the young woman was not magical in herself, he could tell from her little gasp that she could feel it too.

The air shimmered again as she pulled her hood down and stowed the glow-worms back in the folds of her cloak, running her fingertips over the ornate lines carved into the gilded wooden door.

“Can we get inside?” she asked. It was strange how they had suddenly become a ‘we’ instead of two separate individuals going after the same goal. She had accepted his presence by her side easily; possibly because she was simply so focussed on getting the Amulet that any other outcome had not occurred to her. Rumpelstiltskin grinned and snapped his fingers, and a scraping, grating sound came from the other side of the door as the locks worked themselves open. Ordinarily he would have poofed himself inside, but teleportation was always easier when line of sight could be established.

“After you, Milady.”

“My name is Belle.”

Names had power; surely she knew that, and yet she had given him hers without hesitation. It was another testament to the phenomenal bravery that she had shown in coming to El Dorado in the first place, and Rumpelstiltskin found himself admiring her all the more.

He bowed low as the door began to open, and she gave a little curtsey in return. She was just about to step through into the room beyond when she stopped.

“What if there are traps?”

Rumpelstiltskin opened his mouth, intending to wave away her fear, but he stopped himself. She did have a point. It was a heavily guarded citadel after all, but they had not encountered any obstacles on their path so far. Everything had gone very smoothly - perhaps a little too smoothly.

He pulled the door open fully and looked inside, and even having lived so long and seen so much over the centuries, he couldn’t help but gawp in awe at the scene inside the room.

Like the rest of the secret city, the walls were made of gold, and it shone and sparkled in the light of the low-burning oil lamps. It was clear that this was a sacred room, used for ceremonies and rituals and treated with the utmost respect.

There in the centre, hanging above a giant altar, was the Amulet, a delicate vision of turquoise and gold, radiating out its unfathomable magic.

“It’s beautiful,” Belle said.

She stared in silence for a few moments more before ducking out of the doorway. It was clear that she no longer held any intention of taking the jewel with her, no matter what its powers might be able to do to help her. Seeing how revered it was, seeing how important it was to the people of El Dorado, was beginning to change Rumpelstiltskin’s mind as well. Resorting to outright thievery was rare for him; he could usually obtain everything he needed through his deals. When he had learned about the Lost Amulet, he had anticipated it being lost. Its name lent itself to something unimportant, but it was clear that the Amulet was quite the opposite.

He came out of the doorway and let the door close, turning to see that Belle was gone, her cloak pulled back up and shielding her from view, but her shadow moving along the wall showing her progress.

She had only gone a few yards when the sound of running footsteps began to echo down the corridor from the other end, and their only exit. Rumpelstiltskin cursed under his breath; he’d known that it was too simple. He ran after Belle.

“Belle!”

She turned, pulling her hood down to face him. She was putting a brave face on it, but he could tell that she was scared.

“Do you trust me?” It was a ridiculous question to ask, considering they’d only met a few minutes before, and they’d met in rather suspicious circumstances.

Belle looked at him, then back down the corridor, then back at him, and gave a single curt nod.

“Give me your hand.”

She didn’t hesitate, her hand appearing from the folds of her cloak and grabbing his. With a thought, Rumpelstiltskin teleported them out of the corridor and back out into the city. Belle shrugged off her cloak, turning it inside out so that it was no longer invisible.

“Thank you,” she said. “Out of interest, what did you want the Amulet for?”

Rumpelstiltskin swallowed hard. “Trying to find something that’s lost.”

Belle nodded her understanding. “Well, I hope you find it.”

“I’m sorry about the ogres,” Rumpelstiltskin said. He should have said it sooner, but better late than never. “I know how devastating they can be.”

He made the offer on impulse, and he didn’t know what made him do it other than desperately not wanting this brave young woman to go home and die a pointless death at the hands of bloodthirsty brutes that he knew he had the capability to stop.

“I could help you, you know.”

A small smile quirked at the corner of her mouth.

“All magic has a price, Rumpelstiltskin,” she said. So much for him remaining anonymous if she’d already guessed his identity.  “What would yours be for such an impressive feat of magic?”

It was a tougher question than it should have been; he hadn’t really thought it through properly.

“Perhaps in return for saving my lands from the ogres, I could help you find what it is that you’ve lost?” Belle suggested. “After all, since neither of us have the Amulet, we can perhaps help each other to do what we wanted it for in the first place.”

Rumpelstiltskin thought long and hard about the offer, and eventually nodded, holding out a hand.

“You have a deal, Lady Belle.”

Belle shook his hand with a smile, and Rumpelstiltskin knew that this would be the start of a very interesting partnership between them.