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[img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Male%20Characters/Rumpel.gif?t=1406852255[/img][img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Signatures/ezgif-1480542510.gif[/img][img]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Signatures/ezgif-1215192676.gif[/img]
[h1][color=DarkGoldenrod]Rumpelstiltskin[/color], [color=Sienna]Kaeden Liddell[/color] and [color=red]Heather Jekyll[/color][/h1]
[h3]The Dark Castle[/h3]
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Ah! Gods it was good to be back- and even better was the fact that he was almost done with his end of the damn deal he had made with Rumpelstiltskin. The minute Kaeden dropped Doctor sexy off at the castle, he was a goner- running off into the wind and leaving nothing but his dust behind as a parting gift to those who had been lucky enough to be within the presence of the only Liddell left within this goddamn forsaken world. Pulling himself out of his thoughts as he caught sight of the castle gates looming over head of the both of them, Kaeden lifted both his hands up before he pressed his palms against the cold iron, using his upper body strength to push it open just enough for the both of them to slip through before he let it go, not bothering to look back to watch them close as he continued to lead the way up the path to where the castle stood strong, a standing testament to the wheeling and dealing bastard who seemed to contently reside within its darkness…

Seriously, had the guy never heard of opening the damn curtains? It was called airing the place out- but if he was happy to live with the smell that could only be described as death itself… who was he to go and burst that happy little bubble, “Welp, on behalf of Madden portals incorporated, we would like to thank you for choosing to travel with us, and welcome you to your new and happy little home beautiful; I’m sure you’ll find the Dark One’s company to be… yeah, no, I'm sorry; for the life of me I can’t finish that sentence- there is just no word that is good enough…” 

Shaking his head lightly from side to side as he made his way up the steps, Kaeden paused in front of the large wooden doors that led into the castle itself, his head turning back to look once more over Heather before he reached out for the handle, stepping to the side as he pulled the door open, over dramatically gesturing with his free hand for her to go in before him, “After you beautiful- your new life awaits you just inside the darkness that is beyond these very doors… after that, you’re on your own, cause I’m a free man honey..!”

This world was certainly...different. There were so many species of flora that Heather hadn't seen back in London. She had often stopped to take a sample or two and put them in a spare journal she carried with her, before continuing to follow this man. She had asked him what she should expect when encountering this...'Dark One' Rumpelstiltskin, and apparently he wasn't someone to be trifled with, and that she should watch her words carefully. She also asked him about the world they were in now, and general specifics.

She sighed as she looked at the dark and dreary castle. Her home was dark and dreary as well, but not like that. She looked to the man when he spoke to her, still calling her by that nickname instead of using her name like she had asked him. She commented dryly and somewhat sarcastically after his finished spiel "Thank you. That last statement was most certainly comforting," 

She followed him up the steps and she asked before he pulled the door open "Shouldn't you knock first?" He didn't seem to hear her as he just pulled the door open, anyways. After he told her to go inside, and added his little comments, she answered in sarcastic deadpan, "How chivalrous of you," She then answered him with a grateful tone this time, "But seriously, thank you," 

She looked at the darkness inside the castle, and before taking in a deep breath, she stepped inside, expecting the worst to happen. 

"I must say, I'm rather impressed, Joker." A voice from behind the duo sounded, rather unexpectedly considering the grand double doors of the castle had just closed behind them and their backs not far from it. Clearly no one was there before; they would have seen it.

Rumpelstiltskin materialized from seemingly nowhere as they turned to face him, his reptile-like eyes looking directly past Kaeden and locking onto Heather Jekyll's soft blues, taking a moment to himself to size her up. With his right hand raised, level with the lower portion of his collarbone, he rubbed his fingers together, his head tilting to the side slightly as he let his eyes look over the rest of her and then back up to meet her eyes once more.

"You must be Doctor Jekyll." he surmised, though the twisted grin afterwards alluded to the fact that he knew more than what he was letting on. "R-R-R-Rumpelstiltskin, at your service!" he then quickly chimed, using his tongue to roll the 'r' in his name as he stooped his thin body over in a deep bow, arms extended out from his sides. Then, only raising his head to look back up at her, keeping his lopsided smile, he spoke again though this time quieter. "But you already knew that." He took a moment to stand back up straight and adjust the lapel of his dragon-hide coat. "Now what do you want?"

Heather widened her eyes and she turned to face the double doors that just closed behind her and the man who was apparently nicknamed 'Joker'. She studied the reptilian man in front of her just as he studied her as well. She could hear Hyde make snide comments about the man in the back of her head as she studied him. After a few minutes the man finally spoke with a sickening grin on his face, and that look that clearly showed that he knew more than he let on. She nodded at his guess at her name and she watched as he introduced himself to her. After he made his comment about her already knowing that, she commented as she nodded towards 'Joker', "At least you actually introduced yourself, unlike a certain someone," 

When he asked his question, she crossed her arms, her cane still in hand, and she answered "Right to business, eh? Alright, I want the darkness within me...the monster that takes over from time to time, gone," She then asked "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Mmmm... 'course I did!" Rumpelstiltskin practically squeaked as he began to move from his position in front of the doors and began to circle around the both of them, however keeping his eyes on Heather and words directed towards her. "Ah, you summoned me. However, being from a diff-er-ent land... makes things ra-ther difficult." he sing-songed and made a few quick steps to bring himself back around to her front so she could see him properly once more. "[i]But[/i]!" he exclaimed, taking a moment to run his tongue over his lower lip before continuing. "The Dark One always de-liv-ers!" he finished, sounding somewhat pleased with himself for no apparent reason at all save for his own reputation. "Now-" he started quickly but cut himself off short, his head turning just a fraction until his reptile-like eyes landed back on Kaeden, as though he had just realized that he were there.

"Well what are you still doing here?" he asked quietly though keeping his pitch high, theatrical hands turning outwards in question. "You've paid your price-" Rumpelstiltskin's eyes dropped down then to the hat clutched in Kaeden's hand and a wicked smile spread across his thin lips once more as he brought his eyes back up to his. "Unless... there was something else?" His tone was light and jovial once more, spasmed patterns of different syllables uttered in different pitches; clearly having fun with his words.

“Well clotpole, now that you mention it…” Doing all that he could to keep his annoyance at the blatant use of his ‘name’, Kaeden dropped his gaze down to the hat that was held delicately within his grip, his eyebrow quirking slightly as he lightly brushed it off before lifting it up and placing it once more onto his head, his hands coming together in front of his body as his gaze raised up to meet with that of Rumpelstiltskin’s once again; the expression on his face, though quite light and playful, still holding the determination and the resolve behind his words as he spoke up, telling Dark One exactly what it was that he wanted.

“This hat is staying with me- he was my brother after all.” There was no way he was going to be giving up Jefferson’s hat- he just couldn’t do it. He already had his sister’s key, and now that he had his hands on something that belonged to another member of his late family… well there was no way he was going to let it go without a fight… “So name your price- otherwise have fun prying it from my lifeless hands…”

"Nheh..." Rumpelstiltskin made a small noise of annoyance. His large eyes rolled and his tongue ran over his lips once again, his body shifting a bit awkwardly before he finally shook his head, seeming to come up with an answer as quickly as he could to rid himself of Wonderland's joke of a man. "Alright-alright, it's yours. Take the filthy clump of fabr-r-ric." He waved his hands with enthusiasm, though they were waving him out of his home, showing him the door. "[i]But[/i]!" he called out, his hands stopping and held up a single pointed finger, showing that he had more to say. As soon as he knew he held Kaeden's attention, he twisted his wrist so that the finger pointed up was now pointing directly at him, a flicker of a smile coming across Rumpelstiltskin's lips as he took a moment to himself to look Kaeden over carefully. "You'll owe me a favor..."

“Okay, so first you wanted a favour for my sister’s key; now you want a favour for my brother’s hat- you know, if you aren’t careful; people are just going to start thinking that you’re lazy, rather than just an evil old coot.” Kaeden didn’t even bother to try and hide the exasperated groan that fell from his lips, the young man over exaggerating the fact that owing yet another favour to the tyrant standing before him was nothing more than an annoyance, though it was clear that he had already accepted the little catch as long as he was able to keep Jefferson’s hat in his possession, “But it’s alright! I’ll play the good guy! I’ll help the sickly green, and slightly ugly looking old woman across the street so that she doesn’t get hit by the horse and carriage!”

Lifting his hand up to take a firm hold of the rim of the hat that was now perching precariously upon the top of his head, Kaeden slid his foot back slightly, his free arm lifting to the side slightly as he leant his body over in a bow, the action mirroring one that Rumpelstiltskin himself might give when introducing himself, his head however remaining at an angle in which he was still able to see the both of them standing in front of him, “Tis a pleasure as always to do business with such a lovely bundle of joy wrapped in countless hugs and rainbows. Have fun beautiful; and watch out, I hear he likes to bite.”

Making a couple of biting motions with his teeth as though to push the point, Kaeden once again stood himself up straight, his body quickly turning on the spot so that his back was towards them before he moved himself forward, a light spring in his step with the knowledge that for now, he was a free man. When the time came and Rumpelstiltskin wanted him for this so-called favour, he knew that he would come and get him. There was nowhere he could run, where the Dark One wouldn’t be able to find him. Lifting up his hand as he grew closer to the door, Kaeden once again opened it up, his body quickly slipping through the gap and out into the fresh air of the Enchanted Forest.

Heather looked to 'Joker' after Rumpelstiltskin directed his attention onto him. In all honesty, she had no idea whether to laugh (even though Hyde was already laughing in the back of her mind), be impressed, or worry about 'Joker' as he made his comments quite boldly. It was the same boldness that almost got him killed when he met Hyde back in London! When 'Joker' turned to her and made his comments, she blinked and had a look of disgust cross her face for a moment. She mentioned calmly with a slight hint of irritation "I told you to stop calling me that," However he seemed to ignore her and she watched as he left the castle.

After he was gone, she turned her attention back to Rumpelstiltskin. She expected them to get back to business and that he would tell her what he would want in return for getting rid of Hyde. 

Rumpelstiltskin made a face at Kaeden's departure; somewhere between relief of finally being rid of the pest and annoyance at the boy's behavior. Tisking as the front doors of his castle were closed, leaving him and the doctor alone, Rumpelstiltskin turned his body, waving his hand in a flourish for Heather to follow him as he began to head away from the front entrance and into the recesses of the castle.

"I do hope you had plans of staying in The Enchanted Forest for a while, dearie. I'm afraid [i]that[/i] was your ticket out of here!" Rumpelstiltskin chimed, turning his head to the side to look at Heather as he jerked his thumb backwards over his shoulder towards Kaeden's general direction. He let out a shrill giggle then, as though the very idea of a person stranded in an entirely new and very different realm amused him.

They quickly reached another set of double doors though without opening them, Rumpelstiltskin quickly turned around on his heel, arms flourishing close to his chest as he did.

"[i]But[/i]!" Rumpelstiltskin held up his pointer finger. "We shall see to your lit-tle 'darkness' problem first before we lure the Joker back to The Dark Castle. The question is, dearie, what are you willing to give up to be free of your little ex-per-r-r-i-ment?" he asked, rolling the 'r' in the latter word.

Heather followed Rumpelstiltskin after he made the clear gesture to follow him, mentally preparing herself for the worst possible scenario that came to mind. She kept her cold and composed appearance at the mention that Kaeden was her ticket out of here and mentioning luring him back here once they were done with their business.

After he asked about what she would give up in order to get rid of Hyde, she crossed her arms and she asked in response, showing that she was ready to give up what she had left (considering that she had practically forfeit her life when she drank that concoction), "What's your price?"

Using both hands, Rumpelstiltskin waved them in front of him up to the joint of his elbows where it was unclear if the stiff, dragon-hide coat prevented mobility or if he was simply doing it on purpose.

"Well that's the funny thing about price, isn't it?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, a bit too quickly in a deeper tone than usual, making the different words almost sound as one, long one in his hastiness to get his question delivered. He stopped waving his hands in lieu of a softer flourish, one hand pressed close to his chest while the other extended up towards his shoulder, palm facing up and fingers twitching. "Usually, price is measured in how much something is worth. So tell me, Doctor Jekyll..." Coming out of his gesture, Rumpelstiltskin bent his body at the waist, penetrating all semblance of 'personal space' as his head neared hers so close, he could feel the softest of exhales fanning across his face. "what's it worth?"

Heather narrowed her gaze at the imp irritably when he seemed to taunt her with his question with a much more serious tone. She tensed, feeling Hyde ready to try and take control and make her attack, considering that the imp was close enough for her to feel his breath, and for Hyde to take in his scent. 

She answered "I'm willing to give up my world if necessary to be free from her," The good doctor could hear Hyde sneer, mocking her inside of her mind, "[i]Hmmm...And I thought I was bold. But then again, I wouldn't be here if you weren't.[/i]"

A quiet, practically inaudible snicker came from Rumpelstiltskin as he pulled his head back into his shoulders as they rolled back, the trade-mark grin he held for those who had just given him what it was he wanted exactly without their know-how plastered upon his odd features.

"Now we're talking!" he exclaimed quietly, though the excitement in his voice was so evidently there no matter how much he tried to suppress it... [i]if[/i] he were trying to suppress it.

With a quick spin and a wide push from his arms to the air on either side of him, the grand double doors opened and Rumpelstiltskin stepped inside the room, counting on Heather to follow behind.