95. Hel's Bells

SOMEWHERE IN THE ENCHANTED FOREST

A door opened up where it had not been previously. Out of it, they fell: Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Thor, Loki, Sif, the Warriors Three, Gwendolyn, Oswald, Velvet, Cornelius, Jack, Thorgil, and, at the very last, Baromett. Somehow, gravity had tilted them; one minute, they were falling directly downward, and the next, they were stumbling out of the door onto a horizontal floor.

"Where are we…?" Twilight wondered out loud. The door had spilled the eighteen into a very large chamber that appeared to be part of someone's home. The ceiling was vaulted, and the ornate crimson walls studded with heavy drapes that completely covered what were presumably tall windows – windows that might have given the befuddled travelers a clue as to what sort of realm they were even in, had the drapes not been literally nailed to the walls to keep the light out. Against every wall was a display cabinet with a glass door, revealing an array of objects within. There seemed to be no theme to the items; there were glassware, tools, toys, broken pieces of unidentifiable objects, and much, much more. The other doorways in and out of the room were all arched; the one that had appeared to complete the portal was more square in appearance. Two intricate rugs adorned the room's wooden floor. One lay beneath a long table. The other provided the resting space for a spinning wheel.

"The better question may be…who is the owner of this place?" Thor piped up. "And what connection does he have to Jötunheim?"

"More likely, she," Loki broke in. "The spinning wheel is in a prominent display. The owner either is or employs a seamstress, but given the position of the wheel, I would say 'is.'" He gave the room a visual once-over. "The owner is obviously also a person of great wealth…and an avid collector of magical items."

"How can you tell they're magic?" Twilight asked, following Loki's gaze to the cabinets.

"It is mostly a guess," Loki admitted. "But there is no object I can see that would NOT be enchanted. You don't see anything commonplace or decaying. And as there is nothing else to link them, if we assume the owner of this room is not a delusional hoarder, I believe it's fair to say that those things are connected by something we can't see. But more importantly…I simply have the feeling that we are currently surrounded by great power."

"So we're dealing with a rich mare who likes to spin a lot and collects magic," Rainbow Dash reiterated.

The voice answered them from outside of the room: "Very nearly on the mark, dearie!"

It made them all flinch; the speaker was nowhere to be seen, but his voice – it was definitely a male, though his lilting voice was pitched rather high and nasally – echoed throughout the whole room. "Yes, I've a certain…AFFINITY for magical objects. Yes, I've a fondness for spinning. And yes, I've built quite the luxurious estate, haven't I?" The owner of the voice then strode casually into the room, a spring in his step, through one of the arched doorways, and the volume of his voice subsided, now sounding completely natural coming from him. "But a woman, I am not. And three out of four doesn't win you any prizes!" He followed that up with a high-pitched giggle. "Which is altogether too bad, seeing as you've come here looking for something worth winning."

He was short, closer in height to Jack than to any of the Asgardians. His copper hair was mussed, slightly wavy. His skin was mottled, slightly bronzed, in an odd way that suggested an almost reptilian texture. He wore a nearly skintight suit of black and red hues, parted to reveal a fair amount of chest, that was textured with actual scales, suggesting it had been skinned from a dragon or a similar reptile. The look on his face was one of mirth, but the way he smiled and the angle of his brows suggested that his joy was derived from some sort of malice. Twilight already didn't like this. It was the expression of a person who was happy either because he was about to do something horrible to the trespassers who came his way, or of one who knew something his houseguests didn't and was perfectly happy never letting them know, no matter the stakes of the information.

"Well, now, this won't do!" the man remarked, the smile never fading from his face. "I so graciously let you appear out of nowhere into my home without even thinking about torturing or killing you, and here you all are wearing false faces!" He made a scoffing sound, a sharp outtake of breath. "RUDE."

He waved his hand, showing off his long, untrimmed fingernails, almost like claws. A wave of purple smoke surrounded the travelers, and the glamours Loki had given them were dispelled. While the Equestrians just lost their gowns and hairstyles, reverting to their robes from the Islands of the Blessed, the others all changed dramatically to their original appearances.

"How is that possible?" Thor barked, shocked. "'Twas the work of a god you just undid!"

"'Twas the shoddy work of a god who cut corners," the man replied. "If you wanted a glamour that couldn't be dispelled, you'd have to work at it better than that, Lie-Smith!"

"He knows too much about us," Loki growled.

"He's speaking to me like I'm not even here listening to him," the strange man replied. "And what is this? Two of you turned up drunk, too? Is this how you show up to every stranger you visit? And six of you claim to wield the elements that make up friendship. You won't be keeping friends for very long with this kind of behavior."

Another wave of his hand left Applejack and Jack feeling strangely clear-headed. Their haziness from the lake of cider was gone.

"How'd you do that?" Applejack asked.

"Magic, dearie!" the odd man replied. "It's all part and parcel of being the Dark One!" He waited for the group's reaction.

They didn't have one.

"You know," he urged. "The Dark One. The most powerful entity of Dark magic in this realm, and somewhere in the top hundred of the multiverse. Controlled by a dagger. You really haven't heard this one?"

"Your realm is overseen by different gods," Thor offered, befuddled.

"I don't care WHAT you are," Twilight snapped. "I just want to know WHO you are. You already seem to know who the rest of us are!"

"Quite right," the man replied. He gave a coy bow, and when he stated his name, he rolled the initial R on his tongue for an impressionable amount of time: "Rrrrrrumplestiltskin, at your service."

"Service?" Rarity was confused. "What service? If you'll pardon me, you did just spend rather a lot of time pointing out that we barged into your home uninvited. Which I can assure you we would not have done, had we any idea where we were going in the first place."

"And what would you have done?" Rumplestiltskin asked. "Knocked on the hat? Sent ahead a basket of cookies?"

Pinkie Pie, in the meantime, was attempting to evaluate Rumplestiltskin's smile. She knew it wasn't quite genuine, but she couldn't figure out how. There were all sorts of fake smiles: smiles to cover pain, smiles to cover ill intent, smiles to cover embarrassment, smiles because your face got temporarily frozen that way. While Pinkie's particular brand of smile analysis was focused on genuine smiles, she was usually good at picking out the reason for a fake smile. With Rumplestiltskin, she had no clue.

"But let's dispense with the formalities, shall we?" Rumplestiltskin continued. "You didn't just drop in here by accident. Six Equestrians, ten Asgardians, two bards, and a sheep walk into the Dark One's palace. Sounds more like a bad joke than anything. No, you came here looking for something."

"Aye," Thor confirmed. "We seek – "

"I think he knows what we seek," Twilight said coldly. Rumplestiltskin was simply rubbing her the wrong way, and she couldn't keep it out of her voice.

"Let me guess," Rumplestiltskin said in his lilting tone. "You want Mjolnir. Hammer of the gods. The source of Thor's thunder. Am I close?"

"You are exact," Gwendolyn confirmed.

"Ah!" Rumplestiltskin cried. "You mean…this hammer?"

He crossed the room to the table, picking up a walking stick that had been propped against it. Before anyone could point out that what he'd grasped was almost the exact opposite of a hammer, he pointed it at one of the walls. A door revealed itself, sliding out of the way and bringing into view a cabinet filled with more randomly assembled items. It was far easier to tell that these were magical; all of them looked the part. Giving the cabinet a look-over, one could find scrolls of parchment, books with embossed leather covers, locked boxes, and even a crystal ball. At the center of the display, however, was the item that Thor had sought for so long. Mjolnir rested casually on a shelf, holding down some papers.

"I will have it back," Thor stated.

Rumplestiltskin gestured toward the cabinet with both hands and a flourish. "Be my guest."

Thor strode to the cabinet, reaching out to grasp the hammer, but his hand smacked right into an invisible wall separating the cabinet from the rest of the room.

"Oh, that's right!" Rumplestiltskin cried. "I god-proofed it as soon as I put the hammer there. Must've slipped my mind!"

Angered, Thor gripped Rumplestiltskin by the front of his suit. "No more of these GAMES!" he roared, slamming Rumplestiltskin's back against the wall.

In response, another magical barrier hit Thor, and it hit him hard. The thunder god found himself unceremoniously blasted to the floor. Rumplestiltskin, released from his grip, just said casually, "Where were we?" as Thor quickly stood. "Ah, yes," Rumplestiltskin went on. "You can't have Mjolnir unless I say so."

"No mortal should be able to do these things," Thor reiterated. "Lift Mjolnir, stop a god from passing through a barrier of magic – "

"Well, as we have established, I am no mortal." Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Putting up a barrier against gods is a necessity in my line of work. However, for the sake of clarification, I was not actually able to lift Mjolnir."

"Then how did it get here?" Twilight asked, perplexed.

"Because I brought it here."

The voice was new, female, Australian-sounding. All turned to see the speaker framed in the doorway: a brunette woman, with curling hair and pale skin, clothed in a simple blue dress and a white apron suited for housework.

"Who are YOU?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I thought she was just the maid," Rumplestilskin answered. "Turns out she's got a pure heart, and she happens to be royalty. I don't think I need to tell you what THAT means. Though oddly enough, while she's not one of the Seven, she is a COUNTERPART to one of the Seven."

"Of course," Thor mused out loud. "A Princess of Heart, or one of the potentials, would not be able to use Mjolnir's power…yet she would be able to carry it from place to place."

"But why would someone of pure heart steal something so valuable?" Gwendolyn barked in an accusatory tone.

"To stop Odin's war," the woman answered. "When Rumplestiltskin and…when he first talked about the idea, I knew it was for some strange, dark purpose. But I have read all the tales of Odin and of Asgard. Taking away Odin's power is something I have found myself wishing I could do many times as I read of his deeds. Thor…" She looked directly at Thor, easily able to identify him from her readings. "I apologize that it had to be through you. But there was no other way."

"Why would you want to sabotage my father?" Thor asked angrily.

"Because he is an evil tyrant!" the woman insisted. "Let alone that his idea of rewarding those who have died in battle with an eternal war that never lets them rest. The Valkryies and shield maidens have it even worse, waiting on tables for the men of Valhalla. But to his own people, he is a monster. He drags them into wars against his own enemies, and when they fail, he punishes them unfairly. You must have known what he did to Brunhilde when she failed him."

"The sleeping curse," Sif replied.

"When did he put a curse on Brunhilde?" Applejack asked.

"That is another story for another time," Thor said curtly.

"And the worst of it all…" the woman continued. "The worst of it is his lies."

"What lies?" Thor pressed. "What have you heard that he tells that is false?"

"I…" She looked to Loki very briefly, then turned her eyes away. She knew it was folly to reveal what she knew. "I cannot tell you." She paused, forcing herself to move away from that topic. "But now he is spurring you to attack innocents in Jötunheim. When Rumplestiltskin and I were able to find the hammer in Notland, and he wanted it taken…I could only see one way to protect them."

"It is you who lie when you claim to be pure of heart!" Thor insisted. "I know not how you carried Mjolnir, but no one who is truly pure would say such things!"

Jack kept quiet, but he was inclined to disagree with Thor. It relieved him to hear the strange woman talk about Odin in that way. He still had not yet been truly convinced that Odin was a good person, let alone a good king, but his friendships with Thor and the other Asgardians – and, to some extent, Thorgil – depended on and were worth his silence. In Jack's mind, however, taking power from Odin was something that could have been done and would most likely have been done with good intent. Stealing Mjolnir might have been the wrong way to go about it, but if she had been desperate, and Rumplestiltskin's agenda pushed her in that direction…he wasn't sure he would have refused the same opportunity in the days before he knew Thor.

Then he realized he needed to speak: "I think she had pure intent." That got everyone's attention, and Jack went on: "Stealing might have been the wrong way to go about it, but she was desperate. She didn't have another way. And Rumplestiltskin gave her an opportunity. I don't know if I would have refused the same opportunity before I knew all of you. I do want to get Mjolnir back, but I realize…I've been helping you prepare for a war against a place where I have always been treated like a guest of honor. A place where Glamdis has always insisted I call her 'Mother.' I won't be part of it anymore."

"Jack, what are you saying?" Thorgil barked.

"When the army marches," Jack stated, "I won't go. Not into Jötunheim. I…I don't even believe they were responsible for what we saw anymore."

"Me either," Thorgil realized. "I wouldn't want to let the ones that attacked Asgard get away with it, but it keeps looking more and more like you just want to start a fight with the Jötunns because you hate them!"

"I hate to say it," Applejack concurred, "but the evidence keeps stackin' up against Glamdis an' Laufey even knowin' somethin's wrong. Y'all need to do more than just talk to Odin about the weird things we've seen goin' on. Y'all NEED to stop this war before it starts."

"What proof have you that the Jötunns were NOT responsible?" Thor growled. "Coincidences and hearsay! They may have lied to us earlier this very day!"

"You just keep assumin' they're lyin' 'cause you don't like 'em!" Applejack barked.

"I'm sorry," the brunette woman said shakily, feeling the argument had broken out because she'd spoken up. "I'm so sorry…I…I should go…" She turned and left hastily.

"WAIT!" Jack called after her. He wanted to tell her that he was the one who was sorry, that Thor was the one who should have been sorry, that she did in fact do something wrong but for the right reason.

"Oh, dear," Rumplestiltskin remarked. "This is awkward. Too bad there isn't someone around who can tell you what really happened, now, isn't it?"

"Wait," Twilight said firmly, fixing her eyes upon Rumplestiltskin's. "A wise woman told us we would meet someone outside the Nine Realms who would be able to tell us the truth. You seem to know everything about us. I bet you know EXACTLY what's going on. Everything about the raids, the war, the Dark Elf siblings, the spider-woman, why that helmet was brought into Jötunheim in the first place!"

"Perhaps I do," Rumplestiltskin informed her. "Unfortunately for you, I don't give away valuable things like information for free. Everything comes with its price. Including the hammer."

That drew Thor's attention away from the argument. "We may simply purchase Mjolnir from thee?"

"Hey!" Thorgil stomped her foot. "We weren't done talking about this!"

Thor didn't listen. He instead brought out his purse, beginning to count coins.

"Ah, ah!" Rumplestiltskin waggled a finger. "Look around. Do you really think money is useful to me? I have everything I want that can be bought and sold in your average market. And furthermore, did you really expect a hammer of the gods to be worth whatever you had in a purse?"

"He is right," Thor said somberly. "Mjolnir is priceless."

"Not entirely," Rumplestiltskin corrected. "See, while I do appreciate Mjolnir's magical qualities, in the end, there really isn't a point to having a weapon I can't pick up and use, is there? Now, IF you happened to have something with you that could be exchanged for it, I would be looking for another weapon. Something with a lot of magic, and something I can actually carry with one hand."

"Well, you're not taking mine," Loki said firmly.

"I don't want yours!" Rumplestiltskin insisted. "Your spear's power comes more from you anyway. I'm looking for something that amplifies the power of the user, but has a fair amount of magic on its own."

Jack shook his head frantically. "You can't have the staff of St. Columba," he said worriedly.

"I don't want the staff of St. Columba," Rumplestiltskin replied in a high, mocking tone. "Saints' magic and I don't get along anyway. Try again, dearie."

"There are ours," Rarity realized. "But they're all tied to us."

"Not quite true!" Rumplestiltskin offered. "If I wanted, I could sever your weapons from you and take them all into my own collection so that you could never summon them back. But if I've done my math correctly, four of you haven't yet…well…done that thing you do when your Soul Gem gets corrupted. Can't really explain that one in one sentence. It wouldn't be fair to take the bow, the guns, the katana, or the whip. Then again, what do I care about fair? I do, however, care about time progressing the way it's supposed to. What's the point of seeing the future if it's just going to get mucked up and changed?"

"See the future!" Twilight realized. "That's how you know everything about us!" Realization struck her. "That means…you're just playing with us. You KNOW what you want."

"I think I know too." Rainbow Dash let her sword materialize in her hands. "I've already transformed. I have my powers. I actually am a witch. This sword is super sweet…but I don't need it as much as Thor needs Mjolnir."

"Rainbow Dash, there must be another way," Thor insisted.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "We've gotta get Mjolnir back. And I really don't need this. I've got all sorts of other magic and stuff I can use to fight!" She walked forward, presenting the sword to Rumplestiltskin. "Take it," she said somberly.

"I don't want your silly sword!" Rumplestiltskin swatted the air, as though batting the entire weapon away. "That's not going to do me any good!"

"But a staff loaded with magic?" Twilight stepped out in front then, her staff taking shape in her hands. "That's what you've wanted this whole time. Maybe you even knew from the minute you picked up Mjolnir that you would just be using it to trade for this staff."

"Are you offering it?" Rumplestiltskin urged.

Twilight nodded. "I…I really didn't think I could get rid of it. Everypony kept telling me not to rely on it so much, but I didn't listen because I thought I could count on it. I've been using it as a little bit of a crutch. Thor needs Mjolnir way more than I need this staff." Her grip on it tightened. "I just don't trust you not to use it for something horrible."

"That's a pretty big assumption to make about someone you've only just met," Rumplestiltskin pointed out.

Twilight nodded. "I know. But I also know that while your friend…or your maid…or whoever that was might have taken Mjolnir because she wanted to stop Odin from killing innocent Jötunns, you wanted her to take it because you wanted to have it. You've been all cloak and dagger – "

"Pun intended?" Rumplestilstkin interrupted. "Being that I am the Dark One and all."

"…I'm also pretty sure being the 'Dark One' doesn't make you look any better," Twilight pointed out. "I don't have much experience with Dark magic, but so far, I haven't seen what good it can actually do."

Rumplestiltskin gave his high-pitched giggle once more. "You've no idea how hilarious THAT statement is coming from YOU, dearie! So are you giving up the staff or not?"

"I don't want to," Twilight reiterated. "But…I don't see any other way." She held the staff out horizontally on her open palms. "If you'll give us Mjolnir back…you can have this. Forever."

"I can't just stand by and let this happen!" Rarity marched forward.

"It's okay, Rarity," Twilight insisted.

"No, it most certainly is NOT!" Rarity barked. "This deal is off. We'll find some other way to pay for Mjolnir. Twilight needs that staff to – "

"I don't NEED it," Twilight insisted. "I have my wand, I have what Taliesin taught me…and I have what Celestia taught me since I was a filly."

"So you're just going to let him take it and use it for whatever he wants?" Rarity gasped. "What if he uses it to destroy the entire realm?"

"Trust me," Rumplestiltskin said. "That's the last thing I want."

"It's a chance we'll have to take," Twilight said somberly.

Rumplestiltskin reached out for the staff, but at the last moment, Twilight's fingers closed over it, and she pulled it away. "There's one last thing I have to make part of the deal first," she snapped.

"Fine, fine," Rumplestiltskin groaned. "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you." Twilight turned back to Thor. "Thor, when we get Mjolnir back, you have to promise to try and talk Odin out of marching onto Jötunheim. Otherwise, people like Fonn and Forath are going to get killed over things they didn't do. Something else is going on, and we can't make a move until we know exactly what it is!"

"I promise thee," Thor vowed. "The armies we have assembled shall not move until we are certain."

"And you're right," Gwendolyn added. "We looked to Jötunheim as guilty because of our prejudice."

"Are you forgetting that we SAW them laying waste to Ragnanival?" Cornelius cried.

"Actually, Twilight had another explanation for that," Loki admitted. "I shall tell you later."

Satisfied, Twilight opened her hands again, offering the staff. Rumplestiltskin's hands closed over it, and as they did, Twilight felt as though something had been severed, an intangible cord linking her to the staff. The Dark One removed the staff from her altogether before waving a hand; dark smoke washed over the secret cabinet, dispelling the barrier. "Touch anything but the hammer," he warned, "and I'm keeping it AND the staff."

Thor wrapped his hand around Mjolnir's grip, lifting it off its shelf with ease and relief.

"Now may we go back home?" Volstagg asked.

"No," Twilight answered. "We still don't have information, and I'm pretty sure we're not in the Nine Realms anymore. This is what Heide saw. Rumplestiltskin, you know what's going on. If you won't tell us, then name your price."

"About that," Rumplestiltskin replied. "You see, you were correct. Mjolnir made an excellent bargaining chip. But now that I have the staff, there's nothing else you have that could be useful to me, especially given what would happen if you got ahold of such…touchy information."

"Not even my sword?" Rainbow Dash cried in dismay.

"Nnnnope!" Rumplestiltskin replied playfully.

"At least you get to keep your sword," Fluttershy tried to reassure Rainbow Dash.

"But you said earlier…!" Twilight tried to argue.

"I never said specifically that I'd give you that information!" Rumplestiltskin reminded her. "You assumed that on your own!"

"Well, I know another way we can get it," Twilight growled. She closed her eyes, willing herself to enter Rumplestiltskin's memories the way she had checked over Kyubey's.

She was snapped back out as though his mind were guarded with a thick but springy rubber wall. She opened her eyes, stumbling slightly, as Rumplestiltskin laughed. "Where did you learn THAT trick, dearie?' he asked. "The only people with any magic whatsoever THAT would have worked on are the ones who would have wanted you to see what they were thinking in the first place!"

Embarrassed and angered, Twilight had to admit to herself that was the case with Kyubey. He'd wanted her to see that he hadn't told a single lie.

"And now," Rumplestiltskin announced, "you're just wasting my time. Don't let the portal close on you on the way out. Oh, and speaking of which, make sure exactly as many people go out as came in. That's how they work, after all. At least, I was told the same rule still applied to this one. It doesn't work the same way as the other portals in general. It's a little more…chaotic."

Before Twilight could yell at Rumplestiltskin about his obviously intentional word choice, he'd left the room with a jaunty stride. "And don't think about leaving by a different way you came, either!" he called back. "One footstep out of that room, and I'll know! Same if you touch anything that doesn't belong to you!"

"I don't understand," Twilight said forlornly. "It was just like Heide said. He knows everything. We're not in any of the Nine Realms – "

"Heide's exact words were 'a realm I do not recognize,'" Velvet reminded Twilight.

"She would have recognized any of the realms on Yggdrassil," Twilight emphasized. "Wouldn't she, Thorgil?"

"She would have!" Thorgil confirmed.

"She also did not say that the person we met would tell us the truth," Velvet recalled. "She said that person COULD tell us the truth."

"Rumplestiltskin could," Loki observed. "He chose not to."

"No…" Twilight moaned. "That can't be it. We can't have come all this way just to know that we COULD have found out what was going on, but he won't tell us!"

"We've no more time to waste here," Thor reminded her.

"I thought you promised – " Twilight began.

"Which is why time is short," Thor told her. "If I do not speak to Father of this immediately, he may begin the march without us present after all."

"I just…feel like we're missing something," Twilight said forlornly. "Like there's some piece to this we didn't think about."

"Shall I get started on our glamours?" Loki asked, shifting once more into the form of Ragnhild.

"Wait," Twilight said decisively. A thought had occurred to her. "There is something we didn't think about. That maid."

"What about her?" Loki pressed.

"Well, she got Mjolnir for Rumplestiltskin," Twilight recalled. "If she doesn't know as much as he does, she knows something about all this. She might be able to tell us. She might even be the person Heide was talking about."

"Hmm…she may be right," Loki agreed, looking to the others.

"To find out the truth," Velvet added, "this may be a chance we have to take."

"But how are we supposed to ask her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You heard him. One hoofstep out of this room…"

"There is bard magic that might help us," Jack stated.

"The one that turns you invisible?" Thorgil guessed.

"It doesn't do that," Jack insisted. "You blend in with the shadows. You become just…part of the background. No one can see you or know you're there. If it was just invisibility, it wouldn't protect us from…whatever else Rum…Runtle…Rumsel…that man had set up. But there's a chance that this spell might, just might, let us move about without him noticing. And if we can get to her long enough to just talk to her…"

"Then she will tell her master that you disobeyed his orders and went to find her," Loki finished.

"Maybe," Twilight theorized. "Or maybe…she does everything with good intentions, right?"

"I still do not believe it," Thor growled.

"Well, I get the feeling she does," Twilight argued. "I think she might just hear us out and what we have to say before she makes a decision. We just have to make our case and tell her that we're only doing all of this because we want to protect Asgard. Which is what she was trying to do. Protect Asgard from its own king, whether or not it needed it."

"I think you should go," Velvet urged Twilight. "Only those of you who know bard magic. The rest of us can wait here."

"Not even all of us," Twilight suggested. "It will be easier if there are fewer of us sneaking around. I'd say three at the most."

"Certainly, you shall be one," Thor offered. "This is, after all, thy plan."

Twilight nodded. "And Jack, I want you to come with me."

"Why me?" Jack asked, somewhat horrified.

"Because you and that woman feel the same way about Odin," Twilight pointed out. "I think you can relate to her. I think the two of you can find common ground, and that's what will get us to a place where we can talk about what's happening."

Jack nodded. "Anyone else? You'd have to be quiet. It takes a lot of stealth to pull this off."

No one else volunteered. "I believe you and Twilight are simply the best two people to do it," Rarity suggested.

"Right," Jack replied. "All right, Twilight…what we have to do is…" He tried to think of the best way to explain it. "Find the shadows first. Like this." He moved to where a cabinet joined with the wall, and a shadow was cast. "Then you just sort of…blend in."

Before the eyes of his companions, Jack vanished. They realized they could see him if they focused on the place where he'd disappeared, really looking at the spot for what it was. But if their attention wandered for a moment, he was gone from view. Jack slid alongside the wall, out of the shadow, and remained undetectable by those who did not have complete focus; Cornelius was surprised to see that Jack had moved five feet in the time it took him to entertain a stray thought.

"I don't get it," Rainbow Dash said, perplexed.

"I think I might." Twilight walked to stand alongside the wall, finding a patch of shadow. She wondered if it helped or hindered her cause that the windows were shut. All she had to make do with were feeble shadows caused by the interior lamps bouncing off cabinets, but then again, if the windows were open, they might have illuminated the entire room and left no darkness. Twilight cast her mind toward the shadows and the wall the way she cast it toward the life force when working other bard magic. It occurred to her that language might assist her. "Quiet as the darkness," she whispered to herself. "Hidden by the light. Just a part of the scenery."

She, too, vanished.

"You did it!" Pinkie Pie cried. "If I didn't know you were right there – " She pointed at the wall. "I'd think you left the room entirely! Waaaiiiit a minute…" She whirled around one hundred and eighty degrees. "Or did you go THERE?" She pointed at the opposite wall. "Or THERE?" A midpoint between the two.

"We'll be back in just a bit," Twilight whispered, fearing that speaking too loudly would break the spell.

"What should we do if Rumplestiltskin returns?" Thor asked.

"Say the two of us went back home," Twilight explained, "but the rest of you got caught up in all the cool stuff he has. He might want to talk about where he got some of it, or what kind of magic it has."

She located Jack against the wall. It was easier to see the hidden when you were hiding yourself. He motioned gently for her to follow, and the pair slunk alongside the wall, out of the room.

Twilight and Jack entered a dark hallway. They braced themselves, half expecting Rumplestiltskin to appear and chew them out, or perhaps throw them around with more magic. When several seconds passed and the Dark One did not make his presence known, the pair continued to slink down the hall.

Finding the maid was a process of trial and error. Jack and Twilight encountered many other rooms first, all empty. A library, a dining hall, a ballroom. When they crept into the study, they froze, their blood running cold. Rumplestiltskin was sitting at a desk, a black cape draped over a chair next to the one in which he was seated, writing furiously in a large leather-bound tome. His back was to Jack and Twilight's wall.

Twilight looked to the door from which they had come, then across the study. There was another door, one that likely led to another part of the castle. Giving Jack a nod, she commenced slipping across the wall, eyes fixed on the other door.

Jack wasn't sure it was worth it, but he knew splitting up from Twilight would be an even worse course of action. So he followed, staying quiet, staying in the shadows, keeping his mind focused on being insignificant to view.

He stumbled and knocked his foot against the wall with a soft thump. Rumplestiltskin paused his writing. Twilight bit her lip. Jack dared not move.

The Dark One rose from his seat, looking around the room. His eyes scanned it all. His gaze passed over Jack and Twilight, and they flinched, expecting the worst. But he kept looking around the room, paying Jack and Twilight no mind. All he saw, Twilight realized, were the shadows and the patterns on the wall. Jack's idea had worked.

"Cursed objects…" Rumplestiltskin muttered, striding toward a black wooden cabinet. Inside it, some more muffled thumps could be heard. "You!" Rumplestiltskin barked, rapping on the cabinet door. "Settle down in there!"

Twilight sincerely hoped he was talking to enchanted, inanimate items and not some sort of prisoner. She hastened toward the other door, and Jack followed. Soon, they had left the study and its owner behind.

...

The young maid found herself in the kitchen, armed for her war against stains with a sponge and a bucket of soapy water. Along the wall, three cauldrons were set up. The first, a light gray metal, had a plaque set before it that read "For Cooking." The second, a darker gray, was labeled "For Potions." The third, pitch-black, was labeled "For Circumstances Requiring an Army of the Undead." The maid wisely chose to leave the third one alone, focusing instead on the innocent cauldron used for food preparation. She tipped it onto its side to find that its interior was filthy. The sponge was plunged into the water, and the young woman crawled into the cauldron's mouth with it, tackling the first stain. As she scrubbed rather violently, a tune escaped her mouth, amplified and given an echo by the curves of the cauldron's metal. "There goes the baker, with his tray like always…" Running out of suds, she dunked the sponge once more. "The same old bread and rolls to sell. Every morning just the same since the morning that we came…" The stain was eradicated, so she turned to the next one. "To this poor provincial town – "

"Um, excuse me?"

The sudden sound of the other female voice startled the young woman; she dropped the sponge and nearly hit her head on the inside of the cauldron. She quickly crawled out and stood up to see who had spoken.

To her astonishment, two of the people she'd seen Rumplestiltskin speaking to earlier – a young woman with pink and purple hair, and an even younger brunette boy, both dressed in white robes – melted out of the shadows and into view. "Hi," Twilight greeted.

"How did you get in here?" the maid asked nervously. "What do you want?"

"It's okay," Twilight said softly, trying to sound reassuring. "We just wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to ME?" the apron-clad brunette repeated.

"Yes," Jack confirmed. "We need your help."

"Whatever you think I can help you with," the maid responded, "I can't."

"We want to know how you got to Mjolnir in order to take it," Twilight stated.

"Why do you want to know that?" the young woman replied.

"Well…actually, let me start a bit further back," Twilight decided. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. This is Jack. What's your name?"

"…Belle," the woman answered. "It's Belle."

"Well, Belle," Twilight continued, "it's a long story, but Jack and I were studying the arts of the bards on the Islands of the Blessed."

"That's a more difficult land to get to than most," Belle commented. "Sorry for interrupting. I've just…read about it."

"You've read about a lot of things, haven't you?" Twilight asked, genuinely curious.

"Books can take you on adventures when you're not brave enough to go," Belle answered. "Before I came here, I'd always wanted to be a hero. An adventurer. But I never got the chance before Rumplestiltskin came along."

"And he helped you find your adventure?" Twilight guessed.

"Well…sort of," Belle explained. "My father needed his help to stop an invasion in our kingdom. But he wouldn't do it for free."

"That figures," Twilight scoffed.

"I agreed to come here as Rumplestiltskin's housekeeper so my people would be safe," Belle concluded.

"Y'know, I used to do all my adventuring through books, too," Twilight told Belle. "Back before I met my friends, I was a little bit of a shut-in. The way I learned about the world was through reading and studying. And you're right. It really does let you have adventures when – "

"I don't think this is getting us anywhere," Jack interrupted.

"Right," Twilight agreed. "Belle, Jack and I got caught up with the Asgardian gods by accident. Fate led us right to them just as things were getting complicated with the other realms. There's a treaty between Asgard and Jötunheim. If anyone from one realm – "

"Sets foot in the other," Belle concluded, "it means war."

"Good," Twilight breathed. "I won't have to catch you up on as much as I thought. Anyway, everypony thinks the Jötunns broke that treaty, and I did too, but I'm starting to see evidence that they didn't. That's what this whole war is about, though. Odin, the Bugaboo, Partholon, and the Shoney are getting their armies ready to march on Jötunheim because of the treaty being broken, but we just came from there, and the king and queen of that realm have no idea what's going on in the other realms. They don't know we're on the brink of war. But we still got led here to find Mjolnir. Rumplestiltskin wouldn't tell us anything, but if you know the truth, Belle, maybe you can stop the war from going to Jötunheim and hurting innocent people."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Belle asked, her tone laden with suspicion.

Twilight and Jack looked to each other, each hoping the other had an answer. "I guess you don't," Twilight said at last. "The most I'm hoping is that you can listen to us and what we have to say before you decide if you want to talk."

"Though you already signed yourself up to work for a bully who calls himself 'The Dark One' in order to save people," Jack pointed out. "Did you think you could trust him then?"

Belle shook her head. "No."

"If you helped out someone you couldn't trust then in order to save others in the past," Jack urged, "you can do it now."

"Jack!" Twilight scolded. "Belle, I'm sorry. Jack can be a bit of a rude loudmouth sometimes – "

"But he's right," Belle admitted. "I'll listen to you. Tell me why I should tell you the truth."

"Why SHOULDN'T you?" Jack asked in exasperation.

"Because I don't know if I'm giving the information to someone who will use it for worse things than Rumplestiltskin's trades OR Odin's war," Belle answered.

"…That's fair," Jack relented.

"When Odin thought the Jötunns attacked," Twilight continued, "we got sent to Alfheim and Notland to gather his allies for a war. A war against Jötunheim. The one you were hoping you could at least slow down by taking Mjolnir. Well, it worked. Odin won't march until we get back. The thing is…the more we've gone on, the more evidence we've found that what we thought happened didn't really happen. On the night we 'saw' Jötunns attack Asgard, the one god who would have been best at detecting glamour was hidden out of the way. He was tied up with spider silk. There are these twin Dark Elves that keep showing up everywhere we go before we get there. We were told by one of the fin-folk that Mjolnir was taken by the Jötunns, but when we got to Jötunheim, what we found was the portal here. Which was brought to Laufey by somepony who was part spider. These Dark Elves and that spider woman…they're working together, I just know it! And they're trying to start a war between Asgard and Jötunheim."

"They knew as well as we do how easy it is to get Odin to go to war," Jack told Belle. "Thor…I never thought I would call him a friend, but he is. Despite everything he said, though, I think you're right. I'm trying to devote myself to serving life. Everything Odin does leads back to death and the end of worlds."

"Odin may be about to lead an invasion into Jötunheim," Twilight pointed out, "but he's not the one responsible for it. Somepony deliberately led him to believe that the treaty was broken, and I think it was the same somepony that got you and Rumplestiltskin to take Mjolnir. Somepony who knew that Rumplestiltskin would want to get his hands on its magic and that you would want to try and slow Odin down that way. Belle, I think if we knew who sent you after Mjolnir, we might know who we're really supposed to be waging a war against. Not the Jötunns."

Belle thought it over. "But there will still be a war."

"I don't think we can stop it," Twilight admitted. "But if there is somepony deliberately trying to get the realms to attack each other, we have to do something about it."

Belle blinked, perplexed. "Why do you keep saying 'somepony' instead of 'someone'?"

"I'm from a VERY far away land," Twilight said by way of explanation. "You…wouldn't happen to have read any stories about a place called Equestria, would you?"

Belle shook her head.

"Never mind," Twilight said sheepishly.

Belle thought over all that had been said. "I…don't want to betray Rumplestiltskin," she said slowly. "If he didn't want you to know…he wouldn't want me to tell you. But…what you said makes sense, too." She closed her eyes, mentally torn between loyalty and the new path to do right that had just revealed itself. "I'll tell you what I know," she decided, her eyes opening.

"Thank you," Twilight said with the utmost sincerity.

"What made you decide you could trust us?" Jack asked.

"I've just got…this feeling," Belle answered. "I believe you're telling me the truth. And the more I think about it, the more I can't see what could go wrong, given what you already know." She took a breath. "A few days ago, the portal opened in that room for the first time."

...

THE DARK CASTLE, THE ENCHANTED FOREST

A FEW DAYS AGO

Rumplestiltskin had been at the spinning wheel when it happened. Straw went in; gold came out. That day, perhaps he was a little more frantic at spinning than usual. Belle couldn't tell. That was usually the first clue that he'd been emotionally agitated, but by what, she couldn't say. He'd been all over the Enchanted Forest, from place to place to place, in that week alone. She couldn't even say where he'd been half the time. It could have been anything that had irked him. Perhaps a bad deal, or someone unwilling to do business with him. It wasn't as though it mattered. He was taking his frustrations out on the wheel that day, and as with the milder annoyances, by the time enough gold was spun, the incident would either be forgotten or pushed to the back of his mind.

Belle decided it was wisest to leave him to his own devices then. She focused on emptying the large room of dust, starting by sweeping the floor. It would have been easier if the curtains weren't closed and she could actually see the floor illuminated by external light. She made a mental note to open up those windows one day; she'd certainly need a ladder for the job. After all, even the Dark One couldn't be happy working in the perpetual dark, to her mind.

A bright flash of light alerted them both to the appearance of the square, door-like portal opening up in the corner of the room. Belle had heard talk of portals, but this one seemed different from what she'd heard about. Rumplestiltskin knew right away that it didn't follow the rules of other hat portals. Most other hat portals would route the traveler through the room of the Portal of Doors, which would in turn drop said traveler off at the door in the midst of the forest. Not in the Dark Castle.

A Dark Elf clad in jet-black armor with a dark cape slung about his shoulders entered the room through that portal, a wide smile upon his face. Soon after came one dressed in a robe of gold; his expression was more stern. "So," the first remarked, "this is the home of the Dark One and his princess."

Rumplestiltskin got up from the wheel, striding casually over to the pair of elves. Belle had stopped sweeping, but made no move to get closer to the intruders, choosing instead to watch from what she hoped was a safe distance.

"I don't see what business that is of yours," Rumplestiltskin practically growled at the elf.

"My business is that there is something I desperately need done that you can do," the elf stated. "And it just so happens to be something that I know you have a vested interest in."

Rumplestiltskin was obviously incredibly angry that someone was able to simply teleport into his home in the first place, let alone walk right into the middle of his day-to-day routine and ask a favor. However, his opportunism overrode his emotions. If the elf and his companion had something potentially useful to offer, it would be a waste to throw them back out. And if they were in the guise of delivering a useful tip in order to lead the Dark One into a trap, then they obviously underestimated the ability of the Dark One to deal with traps.

"Keep talking," Rumplestiltskin ordered, and the elf could detect his mood beginning to improve. "But nothing else before you tell me who you are."

"Of course," the elf replied. Belle was unnerved; the grin on his face was one more characteristic of Rumplestiltskin. It was almost as if the elf had stolen it right off the Dark One's face. "I am Malekith. My companion is Algrim. We are the last two Dark Elves remaining from Svartalfheim itself."

Belle immediately recognized the name of the Dark Elf homeland from her readings. She was sure, of course, that the name meant even more to Rumplestiltskin than it did to her.

"The Nine Realms are in a state of unrest," Malekith explained. "War shall soon come to them. A war that has the potential to destroy the armies and governments of more than one realm. One thing has led to another, and Asgard is soon to ally with the armies of the other realms and march upon Jötunheim with the intent to destroy it in the way our own realm was destroyed. Of course, your realm is not one of the Nine. If you choose to do nothing, you shall be safe. But I have a way you can decrease the destruction of this invasion if not stop it outright. And if you choose to take me up on my offer…it will put an item considerably more magical than anything else you have ever created into your possession."

"Well, you don't have to be so vague about it," Rumplestiltskin replied. His mood had lightened to its usual cheer, or façade of cheer. "What's in it for me?"

"The hammer Mjolnir," Malekith answered. "Not as payment, either. I want you to take Mjolnir away from Thor before the invasion of Jötunheim."

Rumplestiltskin was silent a moment. Then he forced a laugh. "So. You want me to lift an unliftable hammer. Nice try, dearie. I'm sure you would've had a good laugh trying to watch the Dark One pick up the hammer of Thor. What do you take me for, stupid?"

"It isn't you I want to pick up the hammer itself," Malekith corrected. "It's the girl."

Belle flinched when she was referred to. "Me?" she asked, unsure why she would have been brought up.

Rumplestiltskin was confused. "Her?"

"Her," Malekith said with a nod. "You do know of the Princesses of Heart, do you not?"

"Everyone who's anyone does," Rumplestiltskin replied.

Leaving Belle and Algrim to wonder if that made them anyone, since neither of them had.

"There are more than just seven, of course," Malekith went on. "The Seven are of course the keepers of an integral part of the cosmos. But there are countless other princesses, pure of heart and unsullied by darkness, who are tied to the light and have most of their abilities. They guard the rest of the cosmos. They wait in the wings should one of the Seven die or become impure. Your maid is one of them, Dark One. And not only that. She is a mirror of one of the Seven. The same person, reborn in two different realms as the story is retold on both. Though I find it difficult to believe you did not know that. Are you perhaps letting on less than you do know?"

"What I don't know is how she's going to be able to lift the hammer," Rumplestiltskin stated, neatly evading Malekith's implication.

"She won't be able to use it," Malekith said. "After all, she is sadly mortal. But the hammer can be lifted by anyone who is worthy. Purity of heart makes her quite worthy."

"So you're saying you want me to steal something from the gods," Belle reiterated, feeling quite unsure about it.

"From the tyrant god Odin himself," Malekith corrected. "Or his son, at least. Mjolnir is what gives the Asgardians most of their power. Without it, they could do considerably less damage to Jötunheim. Far fewer innocent Jötunns would die."

"How do we know you're telling the truth about this invasion?" Belle asked.

"Well, Dark One?" Malekith asked, looking Rumplestiltskin in the eye. "Are we?"

Slowly, Rumplestiltskin nodded. "At least…Odin plans to invade Jötunheim. I do not know whether he succeeds."

"Think of it," Malekith went on. "Mjolnir itself, in your possession. Do you yet have any of the magic of the gods in any of these rooms, Dark One?"

"Instead of answering that," Rumplestiltskin replied, "I have a question for you. You see, there's a good reason I know everything I do. But somehow I doubt you've come into contact with any dying seers, Malekith. How did you find out about all this?"

"Through observation," Malekith replied. "And perhaps a little help from some friends in high places. I assume you're familiar with these methods as well. After all, foresight cannot tell you everything."

Rumplestiltskin extended an index finger toward Malekith, leaning his whole body into the gesture: "Point!" He sprang back to an upright position.

"So do we have a deal?" Malekith asked. "Take Mjolnir, and it is yours to keep."

"Hmmmmm." Rumplestiltskin drew out the hum to perhaps an unnecessary extention; Malekith could tell he'd already made up his mind. "I suppoooooose I don't see a downside…Belle?"

Belle was still unsure of the whole situation, but the idea of acting as a peacekeeper between Odin and the Jötunns, even in this small way, was so very tempting. Besides, the theft of a hammer would not harm anyone directly, and it would be brought back to a place where it could not be used. "I'll do it," she said firmly.

"This portal acts upon the same rules as most others," Algrim said somberly. "Two came out, so it is open for two to go in. You'll find yourselves in Jötunheim. With the treaty in place, it was the best place to guard it where it would not be found. When you are done, reactivate the helmet this portal came from, and it will lead you back here."

"Obviously, it doesn't operate on the EXACT same rules," Rumplestiltskin pointed out. "Or else it wouldn't have opened up in my castle without asking my permission first."

"It was a gift from a friend who has certain ways around some of the rules," Malekith explained.

"Oh, dearie me," Rumplestiltskin giggled. He knew. "I take it the many lands are in for a big ol' storm of chaos?"

"Exactly," Malekith replied, satisfied.

"But…if only two people can go back out," Belle wondered out loud, hoping she'd correctly gleaned knowledge of how the portal worked, "then how are you two going to leave?"

"We don't need a hat portal to cross realms," Malekith answered. "Just to bring you through them. Oh, and there is one more thing."

"Ah, ah!" Rumplestiltskin warned. "Start adding conditions, and you're going to start owing me for them."

"Then perhaps I shall owe you," Malekith replied. It was clear that he didn't believe Rumplestiltskin could force him to do anything all that difficult in exchange for what he was about to ask. Rumplestiltskin, of course, sensed this, and internally laughed; Malekith was underestimating him yet again.

Malekith then removed the black cape from his shoulders, handing it to Rumplestiltskin. "If anyone should come here looking for Mjolnir after you have it in your possession," he demanded, "especially anyone from Asgard, let me know. Send me a message. I trust you know what to do with this."

"But of course!" Rumplestiltskin replied, folding up the cloak. Belle was perplexed, but figured Rumplestiltskin knew what he was talking about.

"If we are agreed," Malekith said, "then I shall leave the portal open for you." Darkness surrounded him and Algrim, and the two Dark Elves vanished.

"Hm." Rumplestiltskin regarded the place where they'd stood with suspicion. "If I didn't know better…then I'd rationalize that if I didn't know better, I'd say they'd just teleported across the border between the lands."

"You don't think they went anywhere else in the Enchanted Forest?" Belle asked.

"I've the distinct feeling we were the only things of interest to them here," Rumplestiltskin stated, putting the cloak aside. It irked him to know that other people besides the White Rabbit could simply come and go as they pleased. It was a secret he would have to investigate for himself later. "Well, Princess of Heart, shall we?" He motioned toward the open portal.

Belle decided to put away all her doubts. Malekith and Algrim had rubbed her the wrong way, but from the sound of it, they only had wanted to stop a war between Asgard and Jötunheim, and were asking the best people for the job. They had, after all, given them the chance to opt out. "We shall," Belle decided.

Rumplestiltskin strode through the portal, and Belle after, at which point it closed.

...

JOTUNHEIM

Belle and Rumplestiltskin found themselves in the dark chamber where Laufey had placed the helmet after Velma had presented it to him. "Where are we?" Belle wondered out loud.

"Well, Malekith said we'd be in Jötunheim," Rumplestiltskin reminded her. "It's certainly cold enough."

Belle could feel the chill. She rubbed her forearms with her hands for warmth.

"Well, we're not going to find Mjolnir just hanging around here," Rumplestiltskin pointed out. "And I highly doubt it's going to fly to us."

"Where are we going to find it, though?" Belle asked.

Rumplestiltskin just smiled at her.

"You know, don't you?" Belle realized.

"We'd best hurry," Rumplestiltskin advised. "It's a long walk to Notland. And to think we didn't even bring our bathing suits."

"What are you – "

Before Belle could ask what "Notland" was, Rumplestiltskin had already thrown open the door to the small chamber and proceeded to walk jauntily up the hallway, not even looking back to see if Belle was following. She hastened to catch up.

They were met halfway down the corridor by Laufey. His sudden appearance startled Belle; Rumplestiltskin seemed unfazed, at least outwardly. "Who are you," Laufey growled, "and what are you doing in my castle?"

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Apparently, we were more lost than I thought. Belle, did YOU know we were headed into the Jötunn king's cellar?"

"No…" Belle said awkwardly. At a certain point, she thought, she would eventually be used to how casually Rumplestiltskin handled interactions with such colorful strangers, especially when they faced him down with what seemed to be ill intent. However, that day was not today.

"I came here because I heard a noise," Laufey related. "A noise that came from a room with only one thing in it. You came here through the portal." He looked them up and down. "But you are not Asgardians…"

Belle's mind automatically turned to the Enchanted Forest.

"I do not know of this Enchanted Forest," Laufey grunted.

"Did you read that out of my MIND?" Belle asked, astonished.

Laufey nodded. "As well as that he is the Dark One. I do not know what the Dark One is…but that explains why I cannot read his mind." He glowered at Rumplestiltskin. "I doubt the reason is that it is empty."

"I've half a mind to take offense to that," Rumplestiltskin responded. "Figured I'd let you know, since you can't hear it for yourself."

In a flash, everything Belle knew she wasn't supposed to let on to strangers zipped through her mind: Notland, Mjolnir, Malekith. She quickly concentrated as hard as she could on the words of a poem she'd recently discovered and seen fit to memorize.

The sudden flash of thought was interpreted by Laufey in the way a sudden whisper might sound to ears. "What was that?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Nothing." The poem, the poem, the poem. She recited it in her mind until it got to its end, then began again.

"You hide something," Laufey accused. "I cannot allow you to pass." He deliberated over whether he should send the pair back where they came from or execute them on sight.

Rumplestiltskin presented him with a third option. "Not even if we could do you a good turn? One that might require the owing of a favor? Such favor being to let us pass through this castle twice. Once on the way out, and once on the way back in."

"There is nothing you could have that I would want," Laufey told him.

"Nnnnnothing?" Rumplestiltskin pressed. "I've more magic than anyone in your entire realm, dearie."

Belle's mental recitations were momentarily broken by horror that Rumplestiltskin had called Laufey "dearie." When Laufey turned his gaze to her, she focused on recalling the plot of the longest novel she'd ever read, one filled with princes, princesses, weddings, parties, philosophy, and several bloody wars. First, Anna had thrown the party at which most of the main characters were introduced, though none of them were married to the person they'd be married to at the end…

Laufey was immediately bored. Turning back to Rumplestiltskin, he decided to entertain the notion. "What is the extent of your magic?"

"Just about anything," Rumplestiltskin replied. "Well, anything shy of crossing the border between the lands without a portal. And you can count out anything that can only be broken by True Love's Kiss. Surely there must be something you want. Some valuable treasure you wish to add to your inventory? Some enchantment you need broken? Perhaps one you need cast?"

"There is an enchantment I wish broken," Laufey admitted. "None in Jötunheim can do the job."

"Keep talking," Rumplestiltskin implored.

"It is better if you see," Laufey decided, turning to walk back up the hallway.

With a mild shrug, Rumplestiltskin trailed after him. Belle was last, focusing on the story and letting herself forget absolutely everything else. The prince enlisted for the war, to the distress of his pregnant wife…

Laufey led the pair through the halls of the fortress, taking care not to let anyone else see them. He did not speak again until he was in the upper tiers of the bastion, walking amongst what appeared to be residential chambers. "My wife's daughter ran afoul of a bard," he explained. "He put a curse upon her, and since then, she has been unable to change shape. She was chased all the way back home by his evil cats. Break the curse, and I shall allow you safe passage."

Laufey knocked once, firmly. There was silence beyond. He opened the door to reveal what appeared to be a humanoid woman sitting on the side of a bed, staring forlornly at the wall. She wore fine raiment, as of a queen, but her skin was covered in bright orange hair, giving her a feline appearance. When the door was opened, she screamed: "GO AWAY! LEAVE ME BE! I DO NOT WISH TO BE SEEN!"

Belle cringed, sure the woman's scream would bring others to her aid. However, none came. In truth, everyone in the castle was used to her shrieking if so much as a maid opened the door to ask to change the bedding. Belle fixed her mind again on the book: the young countess was flirty and flighty with every man, whilst her brother had pledged love to only one woman. How strange it was that in the end, the countess would be the one to find true love while the count would prove false and leave his former lover devastated while he continued to a life of lonely lust.

Rumplestiltskin took one look at the orange woman and laughed. "Well, that's easy!" he crowed. "Time me."

He walked into the room. "So what have we here?" he wondered out loud. "Let me guess. The spell was supposed to restore lost hair, but you got greedy and took more than you should have. Am I getting close?"

The woman literally hissed at Rumplestiltskin.

"So I'm right," Rumplestiltskin deduced. "Well, then. Do you find…THIS a more suitable look?"

The hair had come from cats of the gods, but the spell itself was one that Rumplestiltskin found laughably simple. It was no more difficult than transfiguring a man into a snail. There was no need for a potion or even a wand. All he had to do was tap his index finger lightly on the summit of her skull, letting the dark magic flow over her. The orange fur peeled away from her skin. Golden-orange tresses flowed from her scalp.

When the transformation was complete, the young woman got up from the bed and rushed to a full-body mirror set up at the other end of the chamber. She gasped as she admired herself in it.

"I am beautiful," Frith Half-Troll gushed.

"Now then," Rumplestiltskin said, turning to Laufey. "About that safe passage we discussed."

"Once leaving," Laufey reiterated. "Once returning."

...

NOTLAND, 616TH MIDGARD

It had been a long trek: across the snowy plains of Jötunheim, through the gorgeous valley of Yggdrassil and its blissful wonders of nature, over the choppy seas in a boat that Rumplestiltskin had assembled by felling two trees and using magic to warp their wood into conjoined planks. From there, it had been a nautical voyage through the glistening pillars of light that marked the gate to Notland. The sentry had been bought off with three mirrors that Rumplestiltskin had produced from seemingly nowhere, and the Dark One and Belle sped right through the fog bank. They did not wait for other fin-folk to greet them, but instead kept to the shadows and the alleys of the city. Belle wasn't sure of exactly what the plan was, but Rumplestiltskin seemed confident, so she followed his lead.

When nighttime fell and the watery air clouded with glimmering mites, Rumplestiltskin and Belle became aware of a commotion in the town square. Rumplestiltskin guided his sidekick to a back alley from which they could watch the scene undisturbed. The fin-folk had crowded around the great monument to their war god en masse, and a gargantuan fire had been lit at its base. The wildly dancing throng chanted one phrase repeatedly: CTHULHU FHTAGN! CTHULHU FHTAGN!

"What's going on?" Belle asked in horror as she observed the fin-folk guard hoisting great shackles to the top of the monument.

"Shhhhh…" Rumplestiltskin pressed a finger to his lips.

Eventually, the prisoners were led out in chains; Belle recognized Loki and Thor among them. "Rumplestiltskin," she hissed, "they're going to kill them!"

"Just wait," Rumplestiltskin told her.

She trusted him and waited, wondering if it was all some sort of mistake, or if the Asgardians were simply waiting for the right moment to escape. She waited up until the point when the fin-folk guard began leading half the group to the fire.

"I can't let them do this!" Belle insisted. "We have to help them!" She was about to break into a run, to charge into the square. However, when she tried to pick up her feet, she found the soles firmly rooted to the ground so that she couldn't walk. She knew who was responsible. "Rumplestiltskin!" she cried, steaming. "Let me go!"

"Sorry, dearie," Rumplestiltskin told her. "Can't have the only person in my employ going up in flames. I'd have to find another war-torn kingdom, offer to trade another princess in exchange for their security, just a whole complicated mess."

"I won't just let them die!" Belle insisted, trying in vain to pry her feet from where they were magically adhered to the ground. "Is THIS how you plan to take Mjolnir? By waiting for Thor to die?"

"I told you to wait," Rumplestiltskin answered, practically growling.

When Belle turned her gaze back to the pandemonium in the square, it was in time to watch the Shoney rush into the crowd and yell STOP!

Belle let out a sigh of relief.

The dancers stopped dancing, and the guards stopped prodding their charges closer to the fire. All were frozen at the word of the fin-folk king.

I hereby withdraw my sentence that the offenders are to be sacrificed to the dreaming lord, the Shoney announced, and serve to them a new sentence. As you all know, to sacrifice children of Odin would bring a war with Asgard to us. This is a war I know you would all gladly fight…

Rumplestiltskin and Belle waited for the Shoney to finish his speech. Then came the part that caused Rumplestiltskin to grin madly: Instead, they shall be given the traditional punishment of being thrown to the eel. They will not be bound, and they will be free to use their own strength and their magic, but no weapons.

"That's our cue," Rumplestiltskin whispered, slinking out of the alley. Belle, finding her feet unglued from the ground, followed him.

They proceeded through the city to a great arena. "Now, this should be the place," Rumplestiltskin muttered. "But just to be sure…"

He and Belle were tucked away in a side street. After a moment, a great procession of fin-folk came thundering down the road, their prisoners sandwiched at their center.

"Perfect." Rumplestiltskin's grin grew. "Soon, Thor and his weapon will be…estranged. And that's where you come in."

"Do you think he'll live?" Belle asked.

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Well, that's hardly any of my concern. But if it eases your troubled mind, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Rumplestiltskin…if Malekith was wrong, and I can't actually pick it up…" Belle swallowed hard. The fear of failure was beginning to press inward on her. "I'm sorry."

Rumplestiltskin watched her silently for a moment, ingesting the revelation of her insecurity, before responding, "Well, we'll just deal with that if it happens. No reason to think it will." He shrugged playfully.

...

A pair of fin-men were keeping a strict guard on the weapons storeroom. They had been posted outside the only door, making sure no one and nothing got in until the match was decided.

That was why it startled them to hear the noise coming from within the room.

They flung open the door to see Belle and Rumplestiltskin there. Belle had a hand on Mjolnir's handle, gingerly tugging, then outright picking up the godly hammer (with an immense sense of relief) just as the door was opened and their presence revealed.

Who are YOU? one of the fin-men demanded.

Rumplestiltskin laughed. "Only someone who has more pools of endless water than he knows what to do with." He held out his hands; within them were many, many mirrors of varying sizes and shapes, bound by frames of different materials with various carvings. "Most of which are magical, and none of which I seem to need. If you catch my…" He put a hand up into the atmosphere, stirring the watery air. "Drift!"

The fin-men looked to one another. At last, one of them said, We do.

He reached out and collected the mirrors, taking them into his arms, marveling at how they all sparkled, astonished to see his face reflected so many times. But what shall we say if we are asked where the hammer of the Odinson is? he asked.

"Hmmmm…" Rumplestiltskin put on the appearance of thinking it over. It was quite obvious, however, that he knew the answer from the beginning. "Say the trolls did it. Took it right to Jötunheim. That ought to tell them everything they need to know."

"But – " Belle attempted to interrupt, still slightly unsure about the whole situation.

"But we're not technically LYING," Rumplestiltskin concluded. "And speaking of which, we'd best be getting back there before any Jötunns decide to stick their noses where they don't belong! Now." He turned back to the fin-men. "What do we say if we're asked where the hammer is?"

It was taken to Jötunheim, the fin-man answered, still enraptured by his myriad reflections. By the Jötunns.

"Good fishie!" Rumplestiltskin chirped before both he and Belle vanished into thin air, taking Mjolnir with them.

...

THE DARK CASTLE, THE ENCHANTED FOREST

PRESENT TIMELINE

"Malekith," Twilight repeated under her breath. She thought back to her battle with him in the bowels of the Avengers Mansion. He had recognized her then. He had known her. And now she knew where from. She looked Belle directly in the eye. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "That clears a lot up."

"This…Malekith," Belle thought out loud. "He's the one who set Jötunheim up – "

"And used them to cover the fact that he was doing all this!" Twilight confirmed.

"And I only helped him along," Belle realized forlornly.

"You did what I would have done," Jack told her. "I don't blame you."

"And neither do I," Twilight agreed. "I know you just tried to do what you thought was right. And in a way, you did. If Mjolnir hadn't been taken here, we wouldn't have figured out the truth." Twilight's brow furrowed. "And now I'm wondering if THAT was part of Rumplestiltskin's plan."

"We need to go tell them," Jack insisted.

Twilight nodded, but her attention was still turned to Belle. An idea had occurred to her. "You should come with us."

"What?" Belle was stunned at the suggestion.

"I know you're just trying to do the right thing," Twilight explained. "And right now, you're stuck serving out a sentence working for Rumplestiltskin. We can get you out right now. Help you escape! Then you could go wherever you wanted and have all the adventures you'd dreamed of…but if you decided to come along with us, you'd be a big help, too. You see things from an important viewpoint."

Belle shook her head. "I can't. If I left, that would break Rumplestiltskin's agreement with my father. And…there's something else."

"Like what?" Twilight asked.

"I know…it may not seem this way to you," Belle said, trying to find the right words to voice her feeling, "but…I do believe that deep down, Rumplestiltskin is a good man. The curse of the Dark One…it causes him to crave power and act selfish. But there's more to him than that. He knew you wouldn't have died in Notland. He knew what I felt about taking Mjolnir. He gave the Jötunn woman back her beauty in order to use the castle to go in and out of the portal, but he gave it back to her all the same, and I think he knew what that meant. And he wouldn't allow me to die trying to save you. He may not have the best record, but I think there's something…else in him. I don't feel like his prisoner, not really. I want to stay here, with him. This is…where I want to be."

"But – " Twilight stopped herself. She didn't believe there was much good in Rumplestiltskin from what she saw. And all of his actions so far had seemed to her to be for his own gain. But she didn't know him or Belle or their situation, so she realized she wasn't in the best place to judge. What she could tell was the way Belle talked about Rumplestiltskin. She recognized it, and with a slight degree of horror. Belle felt strongly for Rumplestiltskin, and perhaps it was the beginning of love. Whether or not Rumplestiltskin was as good as Belle thought was up for debate, but Twilight was convinced that Belle knew where she wanted to be. She just hoped that Belle was able to see what Rumplestiltskin truly was at his core.

"What do you mean, he's good?" Jack spat. "He's been playing us this whole time! He took Twilight's staff, and – "

"Jack," Twilight interrupted. "It's her choice. If she wants to stay…then we should let her stay." She turned back to Belle one last time. "I want to thank you again for helping us out."

"You're welcome," Belle replied. "I hope it helped you figure out what you needed to."

"Believe me," Twilight sighed, "it did. But now we have to get back to the others."

She and Jack melted seamlessly back into the wall, and Belle returned to her work on the cauldrons.

There would be nights afterward during which Twilight would be kept awake for a while, wondering if she had done the right thing by letting Belle stay. She couldn't very well have kidnapped her. At the same time, she didn't know if living with the Dark One was dangerous or safe. As she had no way to tell, she had decided to trust Belle's judgment.

It would be a long time before she saw them again to know if she had made the right call.

...

Rumplestiltskin didn't bother putting on the show of tapping on the cabinet with the animated items when Twilight and Jack slunk through the study the second time. He simply pretended not to notice anything at all. He had known they would try something; if he hadn't, then he would have made them leave while he watched. The magic they were using to slink around might have been effective if it had been used on anyone else but the Dark One, but as it were, he was aware of their every move.

He wanted them to know, though. Odin marching on Jötunheim would mean that Loki would either figure out his true heritage a full millennium before it was optimal for him to via blue skin at an inconvenient time, or he would be barred from the conflict altogether and left to wonder why, leading him to uncover things he shouldn't. Knowing what he knew about the future, Rumplestiltskin needed Loki to remain in the dark and out of the way for a while. An Asgardian invasion of Jötunheim was out of the question.

Of course, he couldn't have told them that outright. Yes, there was the risk of Malekith knowing what he'd done and being displeased, but much more importantly, Rumplestiltskin was not the straightforward type, and no one, not even those he'd only just met, expected him to be. Any actual information he gave the travelers would have come off as cryptic at best: a lie at the worst. Especially after the trade, and he had so wanted that staff. Belle, on the other hand, was trustworthy. She not only saw the good in people, but inspired people to see the good in her. Whatever came out of her mouth would be regarded as the undisputed truth, and frankly, Rumplestiltskin couldn't envision a day when it wouldn't be the undisputed truth. She was almost honest to a fault. It was almost endearing.

Besides, if the travelers had gotten information, it gave Rumplestiltskin all the more reason to inform Malekith of their coming and going, which in turn might lead Malekith to believe he owed him.

When Jack and Twilight had left the study altogether, Rumplestiltskin pulled a blank piece of parchment onto his desk. He quickly dipped a quill in ink – the ordinary sort; not the squid ink he kept on his person in case of an extreme magical emergency. He put his hand to the paper, quickly dashing off a note in neat, loopy script:

"M:

A wayward party of travelers entered my home not long ago, and they had the trickster and the thunderer with them. They've left with the hammer. They were simply too much for me to resist! I've a distinct feeling they know more than you want them to. If you have a failsafe for whatever it is you're planning, I would implement it now.

-R"

His work done, Rumplestiltskin located a large hat pin and skewered the parchment, pinning it to the black cloak draped next to him – the cape Malekith had given him. Then he got up, crossing the room to a cabinet, and opened up the door to reveal several glass vials containing brightly colored liquids. His fingers rested on one that glowed before plucking it from its home on the shelf.

Rumplestiltskin dashed the liquid over the cape, then rushed across the study and opened the window. The cape had been sprinkled with a locator spell. The potion would cause any item to return to its owner, and was generally used to follow the item and find out where a person was. In this case, Rumplestiltskin didn't care where Malekith was, but no matter which land he was in, provided it was a land with magic, the cape would find a way to him through the hidden pockets and corridors of the cosmos, message and all.

When the cape lifted itself up into the air and soared out the window, Rumplestiltskin took that as his cue to return to business as usual.

...

Twilight and Jack came back into view in the room with the spinning wheel, where Loki had glamoured up everyone else in preparation for the return to Jötunheim.

"Did she talk?" Thor, in the guise of Nora, asked. "Did you learn anything?"

"We did," Twilight said hastily, "but I'd feel more comfortable talking about it somewhere else. Let's go back."

"We cannot call for the Bifrost directly from Jötunheim," Thor reminded everyone. "Neither the Jötunns nor Father may know where we have been. We must leave Jötunheim by foot."

"If we do that," Sif suggested, "we may as well simply walk to Asgard through the valley of Yggdrassil. Time does not pass there, after all. It will be even quicker than calling the Bifrost."

"Then we'll tell you what we know when we're there," Twilight resolved.

Loki set about casting the glamour to create Jacqueline and Twinkle as Rarity explained, "You've returned just in time. We must hurry out before that…eccentric man comes back."

"Right," Twilight agreed; Thor had already made his exit into the portal, followed by Gwendolyn and Oswald. "If he figures out we didn't leave – "

"Not only that," Rarity said embarrassedly. "Er…while we were waiting for your return, Fluttershy's new pet had an urgent need to use the restroom. And as there isn't one about…well…"

Baromett bleated. For having relieved himself on the carpet of the castle of the Dark One, he looked quite proud of himself. The sheep was not sheepish.

"…I doubt he'll be happy about that," Rarity concluded.

The glamour was finished, and Rarity, Loki, Fluttershy, Baromett, Twilight, and Jack were the last to dash through the portal. Once all were through, the door closed as if it had never been there.

...

SVARTALFHEIM

The black cape fluttered through the dry air, lowering itself closer and closer to the ground until Malekith reached up and deftly plucked it from the sky. Bringing it in close to himself, he turned it over until he saw the parchment, removing the hatpin. He read over the parchment quickly. When he spoke, all seven of his allies heard: "We've been found out. There is a good chance that Odin will march on this realm instead of Jötunheim."

He said that somberly, and first, Algrim thought he was frustrated. But Malekith's grin slowly crept over his face, and he gave a slight laugh: "Pity. I was hoping to bring Jötunheim down along with Asgard, Alfheim, and Notland. It seems we shall just have to cut those three down here and deal with Jötunheim later."

"But how?" Velma asked indignantly. "There are only eight of us. We don't stand a chance!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Malekith reprimanded. "I must ask you, please, not to underestimate the power hidden within Ingway and Onyx alone. However, the current situation does leave us gravely outmatched. That is why, dear Velma, I have a special job for you. One only a child of Hel could accomplish."

Algrim hated the way he smiled at her, the way he occasionally touched her when making a point, the way he had hand-picked her to deliver the helmet portal Discord had given them to Jötunheim so they had somewhere to hide Mjolnir and a set of acquaintances actually willing and able to steal it. He was rather stunned, and pleasantly so, when Malekith strode toward him: "Algrim, a word in private."

Malekith and Algrim paced over the plain until they were out of earshot of Ingway, Velma, Yffi, Onyx, Nuada, and Nuala, leaving those six to talk amongst themselves about their leader's mysterious plan. "My lord," Algrim asked coldly, "why must you always task Velma with the most importance? Why can you and I not do the jobs you give her?"

"Because we would attract attention," Malekith answered. "After all, we are supposed to be dead. It is better they figured out we were not later rather than sooner. And yet, Algrim…"

He knew exactly what Algrim wanted, what would sell the prospect to him. He reached out and lay the fingers of his right hand on Algrim's left forearm, drumming them lightly. "I have a very special task in mind for you and myself, Algrim. Velma cannot even begin her mission until we have done ours. The only reason she is best suited for the task I have given her is because of the blood that runs in her veins: the blood of Hel. But I would trust none other than you to accompany me to the Islands of the Blessed."

"The Islands of the Blessed?" Algrim repeated in shock. He was considerably less angry at Velma. Being trusted with an important mission certainly helped. And so did that gentle drumming of fingers on his arm.

"Yes," Malekith confirmed, casually withdrawing his hand. "There is an item we need to claim. And now that it is known that we are no longer dead, there is no need for us to go about it quietly."

...

THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED

The Bard, he known as Dragon Tongue, had hastened to the Islands the moment he had parted with the travelers who had boarded Skakki's ship. The treasure he carried, the bell Fair Lamenting, had to be brought there as quickly as possible. He, Jack, and Thorgil had brought it to Notland in the last adventure the two youth had before becoming initiated as bards. It was brought in hopes of calling and quelling the draugr Shellia. The bell was a masterwork of art. Its tone made mortals cry and others become drawn to its sound. The monks had said the sound reminded all living beings of Heaven. The Bard knew the truth. It reminded them of something far more ethereal, something you could loosely define as "Heaven" if you wanted, something seen in the setting sun. The toll was pure wistfulness: joy for knowing of that bliss and anguish that you did not possess it. It was more than a musical instrument; it was power. And in the wrong hands, it could stir up trouble. There was only one place the Bard trusted the bell to be protected, and only one person he trusted to protect it.

Back when he had shown up on those shores and stormed up to the school, he had sifted his way through the throngs of white-robed students until he located the only black robe in the vicinity: "Taliesin."

"Dragon Tongue?" Taliesin was surprised. "Well, this was an unexpected visit."

"I did not simply drop in to say hello." The Bard unveiled Fair Lamenting from his pocket and showed it to Taliesin. Its metal was a red-bronze. Its clapper had once been an intricately sculpted salmon, but it had been lost: sold and turned to scrap iron by the Tanners. In place of the clapper, a small metal flute had been installed, a flute carved in the shape of a salmon by the same hand that had forged Fair Lamenting. It was as though the bell had never been broken and the magic never lost, for the artwork, the intricate engraving, was the source of the power.

Taliesin nodded. "Fair Lamenting. What brings it here?"

"There is unrest among the Nine Realms that lay upon Yggdrassil," the Bard explained. "I presume you know of what has befallen Jack and Thorgil."

"They studied here for a time, along with six other newcomers," Taliesin responded. "Then they were called."

"Don't you know what they were called away for?" the Bard asked, somewhat exasperated at Taliesin's nonchalance over the entire ordeal. "They've become entangled in some sort of war with roots in Asgard. And when the realm of the gods trembles, it's felt in every branch on the way down!"

"That is true," Taliesin agreed. "So you thought it was best to protect Fair Lamenting."

"That I did," the Bard confessed. "In times of turmoil, it will become a contested item among those who are looking for power. It only ended up in my hands because I needed it to get the attention of a draugr. Imagine if someone who wanted to weaponize draugr got his hands on it! Or worse!"

"Then you don't need to be afraid." Taliesin took the bell from the Bard's hands. "It will be safe here."

"It had better be! In the meantime, I was hoping I could stay here awhile."

"To protect the bell?" Taliesin inquired.

"In part," the Bard answered. "But I don't feel right leaving the place where I belong in times like this."

"You have quite an ego, to think the Islands need you so badly." Taliesin smiled teasingly.

"You can joke," the Bard snapped, "but I'll be staying here to keep an eye on things!"

"There is always an opening for more teachers here," Taliesin reminded him. "I have more than enough for you to do to keep you busy."

"Well…good!"

For the next few days, the Bard had settled in as another professor, alternating between helping trainees master the magic that controlled nature and teaching the art of spoken words to novices. He wasn't sure quite when the storm would pass, but he felt that he would simply know when it did, and he hadn't yet gotten the feeling that it had.

On the day of the incident, he, a handful of other professors, and Taliesin were taking tea in a room that acted as a staff lounge. "The day I've had," the Bard griped, stirring his tea. "The entire class was hard headed. Is it simply this generation? Jack and Thorgil were the same way."

"And so are you." Taliesin casually sipped from his cup, then put it back down on its saucer. "Things haven't changed as much as you think."

"Then – " The Bard froze.

"What is it?" another of the professors, a woman, asked him in concern.

"Something dark has entered the Islands," the Bard said worriedly before hastily getting up from his seat and taking his staff in hand. The others followed him at once; now that he'd pointed it out, they too felt the dark presence's entrance.

Most of them rushed out of the room, but before Taliesin followed, he looked behind him to a door set in the back wall of the lounge. With a whispered word and a thought, he made the door concealed, giving it the appearance of a flat wall with no portal in it. Then he ran after the others.

They bolted through the great hall and outside the doors. That was where all six of the staff saw the pair of Dark Elves striding toward them. Algrim carried a shining, sharp broadsword in his hand. Malekith was unarmed, at least with physical weaponry.

The six bards knew right away that the pair had come with ill intent. Taliesin immediately called up a rush of fire, forming a ring around the entire school, a wall of flames ten feet high between them and the elves. He waited for the elves' response to tell him exactly what sort of threat they were all dealing with.

Malekith uttered a spell, then strode confidently into the fire, beckoning for Algrim to follow him. Algrim cautiously stepped after him. They walked through the flames without even feeling the slightest heat.

That was what Taliesin had feared.

One of the professors, a younger woman with brown hair cropped close to her shoulders, called a blast of chilling wind, while another, a man so thin he looked as though he would break if asked to pick up anything heavier than a textbook, called for a heavy rain. Clouds built up in the sky as the wind whipped. In the time it took for the weather to change, Malekith had flicked his wrist at the young woman, knocking her over and out with a blast of pure darkness. At the same time, Algrim rushed the thin man, driving his blade right through the professor's heart.

The next two bards – an elderly woman and a muscular man – took up the task that the first two had set. The rain fell from the thickly gathered clouds, turning into hail as the wind hit it. The wall of flames was doused, but at the same time, Malekith and Algrim were pelted with heavy chunks of ice.

The Bard and Taliesin cried out the words of the lorica at the same time: words that everyone else heard, but could not remember as soon as they were spoken. The hailstones fell around, not on top of, the four bards still standing.

Malekith swiftly ducked and dodged the falling stones, making sure to keep his head out of the way. Stones the size of peach pits struck his back and shoulders, causing him only temporary pain. Algrim was unsuccessfully attempting to use his sword to cut the falling hail.

Once Malekith was in range of the two bards who'd completed the summoning of the weather, he pierced both their loricas with Dark magic of his own. Columns of black smoke enveloped him, and he smiled, knowing they were both trapped in black dimensions of torture. As the Bard ran at Malekith, the latter completed his spell yet again, and the Bard himself was surrounded by Darkness.

That left Taliesin. As the two Dark Elves approached him, the clouds ran out of moisture, and the hail ceased. Sunlight cracked through the deep gray cloud cover, and the skirl of a falcon was heard.

Malekith attempted to work the spell on Taliesin; it failed. "You have strong magic indeed," the Dark Elf stated, bemused.

Taliesin knew he was outmatched all the same. He knew it when Malekith ordered Algrim to "Come to me!" He knew it when the pair of elves joined hands, sharing their magic. He looked up to see the falcon that had cried earlier, making a circle in the sky.

Malekith's left hand and Algrim's right both flicked at Taliesin. The bard's body was enveloped completely in Darkness. Malekith waited, regarding the four columns he'd placed with suspicion, but none of the imprisoned seemed to be able to break out.

"Let us make this brief," Malekith commanded before briskly striding into the school, Algrim hot on his heels.

At the sight of two Dark Elves parading through the main hall, none of the students were so brave as their teachers. They all retreated into side halls and rooms with doors that could be barred. Such a pity, Malekith thought. Perhaps, if the entire school joined forces, they would be able to overpower two mere Dark Elves. However, they were all still in training; they were cowards. No one wanted to be the first to rush into the fray for fear he or she would be rushing alone. Perhaps they all knew that Malekith had come for only one item, something inanimate, and when he had it, he would leave. It wasn't worth dying over to them.

Most of them, anyway. Once the pair had nearly reached the far end of the hall, three students rushed them from behind. Malekith and Algrim were quick to show them how much of a mistake that was. Dark fire immolated two of them, and one, who had decided to forgo magic altogether and simply swing his staff at the offenders, was decapitated by Algrim's blade.

Malekith led Algrim through the hall, through the room beyond, and into the lounge. He nearly laughed when he saw the walls that at first looked to be nothing more than blank. "This is how they disguise their most precious treasure?" he crowed, passing a hand over the wall. The door Taliesin had disguised earlier was revealed, and Malekith walked casually through it.

The room beyond was small, containing only a few bookshelves, a small window, and a writing desk. Upon one of the bookshelves was a wrapped package. Malekith went for it, lifting it from its place of honor.

With a crash, a falcon broke through the glass of the solitary window, speeding toward Malekith, its beak aimed for the Dark Elf's eyes. Malekith retaliated with a shot of dark fire; the bird was swift, ducking under it and then over two more before soaring around Algrim's swooping blade. It circled upward until it could latch onto Malekith's wrist with its claws, digging in and shaking to try and get him to let go of the wrapped parcel.

"FILTHY CREATURE!" Malekith flicked his arm at the wall. The momentum removed the falcon, but the bird threw out its wings and stopped itself before it could slam against the wall. Algrim attempted another swing at the bird, but missed yet again due to the falcon's speed.

Malekith had what he wanted. There was no further use in remaining on the Islands, and he was beginning to get a suspicious feeling about that bird. He called upon the Darkness quickly; he and Algrim were enveloped, then swept away.

Outside, the Bard had broken free of the dark prison where Malekith had kept him. He was torn between entering the school to see where the elves had gone and tending to his fellow bards. In the end, as afraid as he was for the grander picture, of what the Dark Elves would have done once inside the school, he could not leave the other bards to suffer on the front lawn. He turned his attention to breaking the two columns of the other professors, knowing it would only work if they were simultaneously working on defeating the illusions from within. The pillars burst into wisps of darkness, revealing two obviously shaken professors.

"See to the others!" the Bard barked, gesticulating toward the first two who had attacked, the first two that the elves had felled. As he began work trying to break Taliesin's column, the other professors ran to the thin man and the brunette woman. Both had died on the spot; there was nothing to save.

When the pair of professors moved toward the Bard to inform him of this, they found him locked in a mental battle with Taliesin's dark prison. It was as though Taliesin wasn't even attempting to break out from within. The other two professors joined in, concentrating on the Darkness, willing it to break, muttering words under their breath, poetry about light cracking through the darkest nights. Only with all three working at it did the spell break, revealing Taliesin's bewildered countenance.

"Taliesin!" the elderly woman cried.

Taliesin responded by giving a high-pitched shriek, then turning to run toward the forest, flapping his arms up and down like wings.

"Is he mad?" the well-built man wondered out loud.

"What did the Dark Elf make him see in there?" the woman added.

The Bard figured it out. "That isn't him."

"What?" The other two were dumbfounded.

"Taliesin escaped," the Bard said by way of explanation, looking up to the sky for a moment, disappointed to find it empty. He turned his gaze downward. "We must tend to the school."

As all three professors stormed into the great hall, soon to find three of their charges dead and one of their most precious treasures missing, the falcon that had attacked Malekith soared upward into the air, charting a course away from the Islands. It had other places it needed to be.

...

SVARTALFHEIM

Malekith and Algrim reappeared in the midst of a circle of their onlooking allies. "Well?" Onyx asked expectantly.

Malekith smiled wickedly, unwrapping the item. "To you, my lady." He bowed toward Velma, holding the bell out to her. "I present to you Fair Lamenting."

...

THE PARADISE GARDEN

The traveling party bade a quick farewell to Glamdis before stating that they wished to venture out and attempt to find their own way back home. Though Laufey asked them what had been on the other side of the portal, they declined to answer, only saying that "It's a good thing you didn't go in." Fonn and Forath waved goodbye to them from the front gates of the wintry fortress, and the eighteen plus sheep found themselves crossing the ice bridge and the frozen lake once again, all the way back to the lush garden filled with life.

Only when they had reached that realm between realms did they feel comfortable letting their guard down. Loki let the glamour drop.

"Why, Fluttershy!" Rarity observed. "Your hair has been curling!"

"Oh…" Fluttershy tossed some of her locks with a hoof. "I haven't had the chance to relax it for a while. I'll fix it as soon as I can."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Rarity gushed. "It looks quite charming on you! I say you should wear curls more often!"

"Oh…oh, thank you." Fluttershy nearly blushed.

"I do not see how this discussion is relevant to our situation," Sif said coldly as she and the other Asgardians took the lead, finding the path that led to the gods' realm. "Twilight, what did you discover?"

"Belle told us everything," Twilight answered. "And as unbelievable as it sounds…we're dealing with Malekith."

"The Accursed?" Thor stopped dead in his tracks. "The Dark Elf king? But he – "

"He's dead?" Twilight finished for him. "Like I said, when Discord's involved, no one that might cause trouble is dead for long. And Rumplestiltskin hinted that Discord made that portal that led to his castle. Discord is involved somehow. So is that Velma we heard about, and the Dark Elf twins that keep showing up. Here's what I think is happening. Malekith has been pushing us all toward war so that the realms will turn on each other. When everything else is in as much ruin as Svartalfheim is, he'll come out on top. He tried to get the Light Elves on his side in Alfheim and Midgard, but he failed. Then he went through the helmet portal and talked Rumplestiltskin and Belle into stealing Mjolnir for him. He knew Rumplestiltskin would want to do it because of how magical it is, and he knew Belle was one of the only people who could pick it up. It just happened to work out in their favor that Loki messed up in Notland."

"Saying I messed up implies I didn't intend to rob the Shoney," Loki pointed out.

Twilight ignored him. "Velma hid the portal in Jötunheim because Malekith thought we wouldn't dare go there with the treaty in place. He had Belle convinced that without Mjolnir, there wouldn't be a war, but I think we all know Odin would have tried for one anyway. Our side would just have been down one of its most powerful weapons, which would spell disaster for us and the Jötunns."

"How did he get the Jötunns involved?" Gwendolyn asked.

"No, no!" Twilight shook her head. "The Jötunns never WERE involved! We just got set up with fake evidence so Odin would start a war with an innocent realm! Malekith knew we'd take the bait because there's already so much tension between Jötunheim and Asgard!"

"You're forgetting that we saw the Jötunns destroy a fair portion of Asgard and attempt to kill Father!" Thor argued.

"That's what we thought we saw," Twilight argued. "But Loki never saw it at all. Loki was tied up with spider silk, like what Velma would have been able to make. And if Loki had gotten a good look at those 'Jötunn' raiders, he might have been able to see that they were actually just Malekith and his sidekicks in glamour. Him, Velma, Nuada, Nuala…and Belle named another one. I think it was 'Algrim.'"

"Algrim…!" Thor was dumbstruck again.

"He, too, was supposed to have been dead," Sif explained. "His last act in life was to betray his friends and allies in Asgard. It seems that even when given a second chance, he did not repent."

"I think it all adds up," Twilight stated conclusively. "We shouldn't be going to Jötunheim. If Odin's army goes anywhere, it should be to Svartalfheim! That's where I think they're hiding!"

"If I may add something," Rarity broke in, "while telling tales of the Nine Realms to their highnesses, it occurred to me that no realm of Yggdrassil better fits the description of a 'dead world' than Svartalfheim."

"I believe they speak the truth," Velvet asserted. "Thor, do you see it?"

"…I do," Thor said at last. "I let my hatred get the better of me and blind me to the truth. Father must know!"

"On the bright side, Malekith cannot have that many allies," Loki pointed out. "It should be quite easy for us to overpower him."

"I would not say that," Thor warned. "If he and Algrim have returned from the dead…who is to say that other Dark Elves have not as well? Not to speak of Nuada, Nuala, and Velma. Malekith has made connections in unexpected places, and if he has chosen war, he will most certainly be prepared for war to come to him."

...

NIFLHEIM, THE UNDERWORLD

Hel's realm was not only of the dead, but of ice. In the dark caverns of Niflheim, frost gathered on the protruding stones, and stalactites and stalagmites of ice were not uncommon. Otherwise, the pathway was of shadowy stone. Occasionally, some poor shambling soul would be found bearing a candlestick, reflecting sparks off the ice, but otherwise, light was sparse. Parts of the realm's entry terrain were pitch black, at least to mortal eyes. To those who were of the blood of Hel, who belonged to that realm even more than the dead did, vision was perfectly clear.

Velma skittered over the stone, firmly clutching Fair Lamenting as she darted from shadow to shadow. Her task had been laid out quite clearly. It seemed easy enough. Ring the bell, state her name, call forth the dead. She wasn't entirely sure that Hel would approve, but she wasn't exactly sure what great-grandmama could do about it. Velma was a minor death deity. She had the right.

She arrived at a precipice that dropped off into a deep, dark ravine. Here was the place. Any further, and she would be encroaching on Hel's territory and probably have to answer questions to her face, which wouldn't be impossible, but was unfavorable.

The pressing silence presented Velma with a sense not of dread or hopelessness, but of awkwardness. How would she even begin to address those she wished to call? She leaned over the edge, looking down into the blackness. "Um…are the spirits of the deceased Dark Elves of Svartalfheim here?"

There was no answer. She wasn't sure what she had expected.

"I call upon the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim," she said quite sternly. "Come to me, and let your spirits follow me to the realms of the living!"

But of course, nothing happened then either. That was, after all, why she had been given the bell. The spirits of the dead would not listen to Velma's voice alone. The bell was required.

Velma hoisted Fair Lamenting high into the air, then swung her arm violently, causing it to ring. The tone was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard, and tears welled up into her eyes. She thought of Elysium, she thought of the setting sun, she thought of someone she had thought she could call friend. Her arm swung back the other way, causing the bell to toll a second time. It wasn't any less blissful. Again and again, she rang Fair Lamenting, letting its tone reverberate throughout the cavern.

"I CALL UPON THE DECEASED SPIRITS OF THE DARK ELVES OF SVARTALFHEIM!" she screamed. "HEAR ME, VELMA OF THE HOUSE OF GREEN, MOSTLY KNOWN AS JUST VELMA GREEN, GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF HEL! COME TO ME AND FOLLOW ME TO SVARTALFHEIM TO DEFEND YOUR DEAD WORLD FROM ODIN AND HIS WARMONGERS! COME TO ME, AND BE LED TO YOUR LORD MALEKITH! SPIRITS OF THE DARK ELVES, HEAR FAIR LAMENTING AND COME TO ME!"

After such a speech as that and a solid minute and a half of ringing Fair Lamenting, still, nothing happened. Velma dropped her arm, silencing the bell, though its tone still echoed as an afterthought. She'd done everything correctly, and the bell didn't seem to be a counterfeit. What more did they want from her? What else could she say to draw them near? The spiders never gave her that much trouble when she wanted to call them.

But she called the spiders in a different way, she realized. By doing something she hadn't done when calling the dead. And perhaps that was what would make the difference.

Velma raised her arm again, swinging it through the air, tolling the bell. As she did so, she lifted her voice as well, matching Fair Lamenting's pitch, singing out clearly across the cavern. As she swung her arm back and forth once more like a pendulum, keeping a steady beat of bell tolling, her voice fluctuated into a harmonious aria to complement the melodious ringing. Higher, higher it reached, its tone true and unbroken.

Enraptured by the siren song, a shadow flitted up out of the darkness, floating next to Velma, observing her. She knew just from sight that it was one of the spirits of the elves killed in Svartalfheim; it was a sense she had hardwired into her mind. The arrival of the shadow did not stop Velma's singing or the bell's ringing; she continued the music, the vocalization only occasionally broken when she needed to breathe. Ever higher, she sought the notes.

The shadows trickled toward her out of the chasm, then rushed as a flood toward the beauty of Fair Lamenting mixed with the beckoning call of Velma's song. They burst into the air, flitting around the ceiling and the walls before circling around Velma in a great mass, a cyclone of darkness and death. Even when they had stopped coming, when they had all gathered, she continued the song to make sure they would stay.

Round and round the singing spider-woman, they revolved in the hundreds, then the thousands: Malekith's army.

...

Chapter 95:

· Yet another chapter where I knew the title before starting out! (Though I actually did consider the variant "Hel's Belle" due to OUaT Belle being prominent here.)

· OST used here: "Calm Before the Storm" from Final Fantasy X for the Enchanted Forest bit, "Asterisk Warfare" from Bravely Second for the invasion of the Islands of the Blessed, and "Mermaids" from PotC4 for Velma's scene at the end.

· OUaT, particularly where Rumplestiltskin is concerned, has been a bit of a love-hate thing for me. But when it's good, it's really, REALLY good, and Rumple is a joy to write for. I had planned Rumple to go here since a few storylets back. I had noticed Mjolnir hanging around his castle in S2, and I thought it might be fun to try and explain that via crossover (making a nice way to end the Lay of Thrym plot). Now, of course, this means I have left no room to explain Mjolnir being in that closet in S3, but TBH S3 kinda sucks and I don't really care for working with it too much. When we get there (perhaps I should say "if," since I have a LOT of stuff planned for this fic and OUaT is further down the line), you'll see how I'm going to redo some of S3 for my personal Fix Fic and how I'm going to cut some of it out so I can make room to put more interesting crossover-based material in that time frame.

· We are currently in the Enchanted Forest period of OUaT, in the flashbacks seen in "Skin Deep" and "Lacey." Pre-Dark-Curse. Fun fact: there's going to be a time loophole here that I'm not going to bother with. See, in only thirty-some years, this will catch up with main canon. It will take 616th a thousand years to catch up with main canon. But once they both get there, I'm going to act as though time does NOT pass 3.5x times faster on 616th than it does in the EF/Storybrooke because I need present-times Loki to interact with present-times…well, certain characters from OUaT. No spoilers for you!

· It's kind of hilarious because the Dark One is supposed to be THE DARKEST AND MOST POWERFUL BEING IN THE ENCHANTED FOREST and yet he hasn't mastered Apparition at the Speed of Darkness, which is pretty basic amongst higher-level darkness users.

· I'm going to be playing the OUaT Disney characters as parallel versions of the Disney Animated Canon characters. So the animated Belle does exist out there, and she is one of the Seven Princesses of Heart that opens the Door to Darkness. But because of story cycles the way Thor explained, BatB also played out in the EF and we have this Belle here, who isn't the same person.

· Rumplestiltskin taking Twilight's staff is ultimately going to make things easier on me. I'm going to give her a little something-something to replace it in due time, but right now, she's too OP for some of the plots I have planned. I'm still trying to decide on if/when I want to get the others' Mahou Shoujo weapons away from them. Mostly, it's Twilight I need not to be too powerful right now. Also, I DO plan on making it relevant as to why Rumple wanted the staff and where he saw it coming in handy in the future…BUT I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU WAIT YEEEAAAAARS FOR THAT PAYOFF. I'm rather cruel that way.

· Explaining quickly why Twilight can't just memory scan everyone for the truth the way I did for her with Kyubey: because the majority of people who she would suspect of lying are able to shut her out of their minds.

· Originally, I was going to have Loki trade Loki's Glass to Rumple for information, but then looking things over, I realized it would be better to use that as the mirror to gain entrance to Notland and then to actually give Belle a more expanded role as the person who explained what actually happened.

· Yep, that's the Black Cauldron in the kitchen. An OUaT AU Prydain version of it, of course.

· Belle and Malekith have both been part of my Rumplestiltskin Ship Gallery at one point or another. One of them just may end up victorious as the endgame; not saying which. And still he's playing them both for pawns here. The joys of writing for Rumplestiltskin, am I right? ;-)

· A cookie to whomever guesses the novel Belle is trying to recap in her head. (Hint: what's the longest classic lit book that would have material to think about for hours?)

· I assume a locator spell can cross worlds, as S3 showed us Eric's cape plunging into the ocean, and he hadn't drowned. I assumed it was the cape going underwater so it could cross to the EF.

· Say goodbye to nameless made-to-die OCs #37 and #38! (I haven't actually done a death toll of my OCs. That might not be an accurate number.)

· You probably figured out the "twist" with Taliesin. I was going to hide it better, but couldn't figure out how. So I let it be more obvious.

· For Niflheim, I've gone with the Odin Sphere "Netherworld" and added ice, since ice seems to be associated it in all the lit I've come across.

· In IotB, the ringing of Fair Lamenting does summon the undead draugr, so I figured it would have a similar effect on other of the dead.

· Velma Green has a canonical power where she summons legions of spiders to her by singing in a siren-esque manner. And let me tell you, when I got the mental picture of her singing a wordless aria while ringing Fair Lamenting and the shadowy spirits of the Dark Elves surrounded her…I had to make it happen!

· The Dark Elves' spirits appear as shadows here because of AEMH, where Malekith basically summons them up on Earth for the Avengers to deal with. I'm using this as the explanation for why he can do that in the first place.

· Next chapter, my friends…the war begins. Strap on your armor.