Koraz/The Enchanted Forest

Chapter 1: No Deal (Or, Don't Piss Off A Maniacal Pixie)

Paige Mistbloom stared at the Dark One, rather unimpressed. Her assistant was scarier, for stars' sake! Well, when he wanted to be, anyways. At that moment, he was just a clumsy ternager in a dorky bowtie, somewhat hiding behind her as he avoided the 'demon's' gaze.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing he'd choose another time to have his fun and spend now helping her with intimidating the Dark One.

"Well, dearie?" Rumplestiltskin giggled, lounging sideways on a large stone. "Get to it, I don't have all night. Not that I don't love the choice of venue," he gestured broadly to the murky swamp, surrounded by wickedly dark trees. "but why, exactly, did you summon me?"

Paige suppressed a scowl at the word 'dearie', her need of his help outweighing her annoyance at a stranger calling her such. "Hello, Dark One, I hope you are in good health. I am sorry if I have disturbed you with my summons, but I require information."

"What sort of information?" The so-called imp sat up, crosslegged, and leaned forward with a giggle. It reminded her in equal parts of a child trying to hide their excitement and her Assistant when he had a new trick he wanted to try; same thing, really, but the inherent mischief in his eyes reminded her enough of the boy next to her to be endearing.

Paige smiled "We were told that you know a great deal about rare magical artifacts, and were hoping to learn more about something called the Ironbranch Dreamcatcher. Whatever you could tell us, especially where it is and how to use it, would be helpful."

"The Ironbranch Dreamcatcher?" The maniacal giggle that followed made Paige smile brighter, especially when Eric failed to suppress a similar laugh, though still under his breath. "Yes, yes, dearie, I know all about that. But what would you give me, in return for information? Nothing is without a price, after all."

Paige disagreed with that, but shrugged casually. "Well, what do you want for it?" She didn't care what he asked, certain she could negotiate if the price was too high, and refuse if he remained stubborn. And, besudes, she had other methods if she got too desperate.

"Hmm...." The imp made a show of twirling his hands and tapping his chin, as if thinking deeply. Finally, he pointed to the boy half-cowering behind her. "How about your little servant? I could use some more staff."

Paige quirked an eyebrow. "Serv- you mean Eric?" She turned to look at said boy, now shaking and stepping back in the familiar role of the Coward. She turned back to the imp, awed at her friend's acting skills, but annoyed that he was leaving it to her to protest. "He's not my servant, he's my assistant. He helps with my sewing and such."

"Servant, assistant, whatever." The Dark One airily waved his hand, dismissively shrugging. "Either way, it's a small price for information the likes of this, dearie."

Paige hummed, considering. "Well, what exactly do you need him fo-"

A hand on her arm, not painful but surprising, cut her off. She turned to find neither the clumsy Assistant nor the shaking Coward, both replace by the rather furious Trickster.

"Miss Mistbloom, if you trade me to a demon lord..." He said it low and warning, the respectful address the only thing marking a little of the assistant still active.

"Well, it's not like you couldn't just escape." Paige argued. She needed him to agree to this, he wasn't hers to trade without consent, nor would she ever wish him to be. "You are good at that thing, after all."

"And if the deal is magically binding, miss?" He let a bit of panic show on his face, and Paige wilted. He normally acted with excitement at the chance to test his escape skills, but he'd been bound by too cruel of masters to find much fun in it anymore. Still, she continued to try half-heartedly.

"I-I'm sure I could undo the spell..." She tried, earning a brief red flash from the other's eyes and an unimpressed glare.

"Uh-uh, no breaking deals with me, dearie." The Dark One waved his finger in admonishment. He added in a mutter "Though I doubt you could undo even my simplest spells."

"Paige." İt was half-imploring, half-threat as Eric's blue eyes turned nearly black. The Trickster wouldn't accept being caged except in service of a trick, and the fact that Paige had tried to force the trick was unlikely to end well.

"Sorry, Dark One" Paige sighed. "İ would be willing to do it if Eric was," he normally would jump at such a chance, why did this guy scare him so much? "but he's not, so you'll have to pick a different price."

Eric smiled softly as he became the Assistant once more, though no longer hiding behind her.

"Sorry, dearie, but my prices are nonnegotiable." The demon giggled as he jumped up, standing on the rock with a dramatic flourish of his hands. "İt's the little servant, or no in-for-ma-tion." He punctuated each syllable of the final word with a head tilt and a wagging finger.

"Please, there has to be something else you want." Paige implored, clasping her hands together. She wouldn't beg, and would have punished him if he tried to force her to, but was still open to mild pleading. They really did need this info, after all.

Eric stayed quiet as the two began to go back and forth. He was unsure if his employer was trying to beg or not, mentally noting that he was much better at groveling than she. His sense of dignity worked differently than his friend, and he would have been perfectly willing to for the knowledge had he not been so angry at Miss Mistbloom for trying to trade him away like a servant after just denying his status as one. Technically, he was a servant and a slave, just not to her, and he got enough of that sort of treatment from his mistress without getting it from his friend - not that Paige knew any on that.

He inwardly sighed, already deciding to cut her a break. He would actually be perfectly willing -even excited - to go through with the plan if he wasn't scared of angering said mistress by getting bound to someone else, so he really couldn't be mad at Paige for knowing him well enough to guess his reaction. Still, this slight definitely called for a couple spring-loaded pies and switching the labels on her hair dyes. He was just weighing the possibility of being cursed into a marmoset form for the week vs how tame his pranks toward the witch had gotten, when shouting brought his attention back to the others.

"Now listen, dearie, my price is set!" The Dark One scowled. "İf you weren't willing to pay, you should never have summoned me! Perhaps you don't realize this, but my time is valuable. Perhaps you need a bit of help learning that?" He raised his hand in a flourish, colorful smoke surrounding it.

Eric flinched with a giggle as Paige's eyes widened. Oh, this guy was in trouble.

"Are-are you threatening me?!" Paige raised a hand to her chest in affront, her mage blood screaming against the concept of such a being daring to even think of bringing harm to her.

"Well, yes, dearie, that is what the ominous smoke means." The imp giggled, turning to Eric. "What do you think? A snail for a month, or maybe a flower for a year. Though a clock would be better to teach her time management."

Eric didn't get a chance to answer as a notebook was shoved into his hands, Paige locking eyes with the Dark One with a snap of her fingers and a mutter of "Truth."

Purple the same shade of Paige's eyes flashed in the green-scaled man. Demon or not, he had started human, and Paige's magic knew humans.

His mouth flapped a few times as the imp struggled, but he answered Paige's repeated demand of information regarding the İronbranch Dreamcatcher with a stream of facts that Eric hurried to write down. The boy winced, partially remembering the first time that particular had been used on him, partially at the revelation that they'd need blood for the spell - blood magic was very rare back home.

When she was satiafied with the amount of knowledge, Paige released the truth spell, though Eric suspected she was supressing the other's magic based on the lack of smoke and the way that golden-green-gray fingers were snapping almost nervously.

Paige reached into her bag with a scowl, rumagging around a bit before pulling out a book and throwing it at the Dark One's chest.

The Dark One caught it automatically, seeming almost in a daze, as Paige explained. "The fact I forced you to tell me is for threatening me, but the information was useful and deserves payment. That's a book of human spells from my home. They're simple, but none in your land will know them, and you could even claimed to have created them if you wish."

She turned, beginning to walk from the swamp. "Come on, Eric, we've got a lot to do."

Eric started to follow, but paused, addressing to Dark One. "Err... Be careful with lying for the next few days. Miss Mistbloom's pretty powerful, and her truth spell takes a while to completely wear off the first few times, so you might blab a few truths if you aren't paying attention."

"Eric, why must you give annoying people free advice?" Paige asked over her shoulder with a sigh.

"Can't help it, miss; I'm a sucker for a fellow shadow in trouble." Eric shrugged as he happily caught up to her. "Besides, since when do I ever ask for payment? You know me, something for nothing, one direction or the other."

His wide grin was evidence enough of his honesty, always happy to help or steal or more likely both, and Paige regarded him as living proof against the Dark One's price-based philosophy. Said Dark One appeared in front of them in a puff of smoke, his magic no longer restrained, and Paige had to stop quickly to avoid hitting into him.

Eric bumped into her and jumped back, his face twisting in apology even for an accidental touch. She quickly patted his head, quietly assuring her touch-craving friend he did nothing wrong, before staring at the man in front of her with a quirked eyebrow.

"Who are you?" He hissed, the playful lilt gone.

"Miss Paige Zephyr Mistbloom, of the 974th Weird Forest Flowerborn Bloom. İdentity number 01-974-773." Eric had answered for her, the Trickster reveling in given such uselessly true and exact information. Anyone from back home would have understood all of it, but it would sound like gibberish to an Enchanted Forest native.

The Dark One blinked. He growled, modifying his question. "What are you?"

Paige giggled, a daintier, softer sound that the imp's own, bringing to mind gentle bells. "Well, there's a question with many answers. For instance, my passion is being a pilot." A snap of her fingers and she was in a stereotypical pilot's outfit, complete with scarf and goggle-hat, albeit various shades of purple and somewhat sequined.

"Though, by birth, I'm a Flowerborn witch of the Weird Forest." Her wand, a deceptively simple purple stick, appeared in her hand with a flourish.

"By choice, I'm a fashion icon." Her ears pointed and grew, switching between forms before settling on long and softly tufted.

"By magic, I'm practically half-sprite." Thin, transparent wings appeared from her back, glittering a soft violet.

"But I think it can all be simplified rather simply." Paige smiled sweetly and leaned her head a bit closer to the Dark One. "I'm pretty, I'm not from around here, and I'm more powerful than you. So leave. Us. Alone."

He opened his mouth, his scowl deepening, when Paige snapped her fingers. "Freeze." İt looked easy despite its power, but the spell wasn't a Mage spell, and should have been near impossible for her to learn. Three weeks of intensive study had proven that everyone was lucky she was more interested in her wings than her wand, and had turned half the forest against Simon the Sorcerer for ever being smitten enough to teach the damn thing to her.

Though it had earned him a cheek kiss, so Simon fully considered it worth the fact she'd used his own spell on him at least once. The amount of havoc those two had caused since then had started a forest-wide vote on whether or not banishment was too extreme, quashed by the many thousands of flowerborn living there. Eric had refrained from voting, choosing instead to hide in the Shadowrealm and watch from afar until the whole thing blew over.

Present-day, Paige walked slowly around the petrified Dark One. Eric couldn't tell if he was avoiding her gaze or if she'd been annoyed enough for the spell to freeze his eyes as well.

"Truth." Paige snapped, still walking around him. Whether a Mage was a warlord or seamstress, they did not take well to threats or annoying people, and Paige was of the sort that didn't take well to disrespect or disregarding free will willy-nilly. "What's your name?"

Her eyes glowed as she forced power into the spell, and the poor guy gave ten different answers. Rumplestiltskin, Mr Gold, Weaver, İmp, Dark One, Papa, Beast, Rumple Von Stiltskin, Crocodile, and Spinner.

"Rumplestiltskin." As Paige spoke, Eric felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up. Since when could the pixie use name magic? Oh, that was bad. Oh, that was fantastic. İt was both, and none Eric's many mindsets would be able to deny that. "Leave us. Now."

Rumple gasped as his ability to move and magic returned full-force. Then, as if by command of his Dagger, he felt himself pulled away. İt was forceful, by not painful as he appeared in his own castle.

"Rumple?" Belle jumped up from where she was reading by the fire, rushing over to him. "Are you alright? Did your deal go well?"

He held up the book he'd nearly forgotten about, studying it. "I'm... Not entirely sure, love."

Confusion caused him not to notice the endearment slipping past his mental filters, but Belle smiled as she urged him to sit down and drink some tea, slowly coaxing the bizarre story from him.