Her boots crunched on dry leaves as Calliope trekked down the forested path that Robin had pointed her towards. After a few weeks with the Merry Men, enjoying their food and drinks and lively company, she'd finally found herself with a clear purpose. Robin knew where the Dark One had his castle. And now, after convincing him that was where she wanted to go, Calliope knew it too.

His castle sat amidst a forest upon a great hill. When she'd caught a glimpse of it from atop a cliff outside the valley, Calliope had marveled at the grandeur. She had only met one Dark One, and she'd been less concerned with comfort and more with bloodlust. Calliope knew fair faces could hide fell intentions though. And the same could be said of beautiful abodes.

She rested her palm on the hilt of her cutlass as she continued down the path. The castle couldn't have been much further. No doubt the Dark One would know she was coming; sorcerers of his kind of power always knew. They could sense it, like the way a predator could always seem to locate prey.

Calliope had no intention of being prey, though. Robin had told her about the Dark One, whose name he would not speak, and apparently, he had a special love for making deals. She didn't have much to trade except the magic beans in her pouch, but she hoped it would be enough to at least pick his brain.

The trees began to thin. The worn forest path she'd been following hit a road, not paved with cobbles but with packed sand that worked just as well. Calliope looked right. It ran for a while back through the trees before disappearing in a right turn. When she turned left, she saw what she had been looking for.

The Dark One's castle reared up into the sky not much further away. It had been masterfully crafted, with red accents and massive wrote iron doors. She could feel the magic radiating off of it. Dark magic, black as the void. A cold chill ran down her spine as she started off towards it.

After centuries of dealing with Pan and the Shadow, she knew dark magic intimately well. Too well. Calliope paused her step as she stood a few meters from the door. She questioned her resolve for a moment. What was she really willing to do to find a way to free Neverland from the darkness?

The doors opened before she made up her mind. They were silent, gliding smoothly on their hinges as if they didn't weigh many tons. Calliope took a deep breath. She went in.

Most of the castle had dark wood accents, mahogany perhaps, and the light that cascaded in from the massive windows made it feel almost homey. Her eyebrow shot up as she looked around. Calliope hadn't anticipated the Dark One to be living in such a place.

"Well, well, well. Hello dearie!"

Calliope spun around. Between her and the closing castle doors stood a man, if man he was. His skin had scaled over, turning a grey-green that reminded her almost of mold. Had she never seen a Dark One, Calliope may have been frightened by his appearance alone. But even his dark, eyes, like carven marble, didn't surprise her. All Dark Ones turned into such creatures eventually.

"Dark One," Calliope said, not tearing her own gaze from his. The hair on her body stood on end. "I'm-"

"I know who you are!" He grinned, pointing at her chest. Taking a few steps forward, he leaned in, winked, and then moved beyond, further into his castle. "You're 'the Muse'!"

The way he said her name, dramatic like in some sort of performance, made her pause. This Dark One was unhinged. But Robin Hood had assured her that besides his brutality, the one thing this Dark One was known for was honoring his deals.

"And your name?" she asked.

He turned back to her. Bowing with a flourish, he introduced himself. "Rumplestiltskin."

Calliope followed him inside. He pushed through a pair of wooden doors into the main hall of the castle where a massive table stretched nearly the length of the room. Why the Dark One needed a table so large, she couldn't fathom.

"Now, tell me, why are you here?" Rumplestiltskin asked. He turned back to her, then waved his hand. "No, wait! Don't tell me. You want revenge on someone." He smirked. "Revenge for your sisters, perhaps?"

She paused. Was it revenge? Calliope thought of it more as justice, ridding her island of Pan and his Shadow for her sisters. "How do you know about my sisters?"

"Well, dearie, I know many things." He moved over to a small table on the side of the room, beneath one of the windows. Placing his scaley palm onto a clear crystal ball, he turned it purple and then it clear again, revealing a look at Neverland. "You're looking for a way to take back that terrible little island of yours. Neverland."

Calliope paused. The vitriol in his voice when said Neverland surprised her. She glanced up at him, but he continued to look into the ball that showed only the forest, nothing else.

"I came to see what you can offer," she admitted.

Rumpelstiltskin flicked his hand and the image disappeared. With the crystal ball returning to its natural, clear state, he turned back to her. With a grin, he moved to the table. He fell into the richest seat at the head of the table.

"Oh, well, I can offer many things." He smirked. "The real question, dearie, is what do you have to offer me."

Calliope nodded. She walked back towards him, aware of how loud in the otherwise quiet hall her footsteps sounded. "I've heard rumors, Dark One, that you're trying to travel between realms."

He straightened up, looking at the magic bean she produced from her pouch. But then he just scoffed and shook his head. "What you offer can't do what I need to do," he said. "It may be able to carry me to the Land Without Magic, but then, I'd be without magic. And that just won't do."

The Land Without Magic. Calliope nodded. She'd been there, thousands of years ago, back before it had been a land without magic. There had been magic there long ago, until someone had destroyed it all.

"But!" Rumplestiltskin leaned over the able, grin spreading. "There is something you can offer me, you just don't know it."

Calliope felt the coldness in her blood she always associated with dark magic. She took a deep breath. "What is it?"

"There's someone I'd like... out of my life." He stood up from the table. Walking over to her, he flicked his wrist and in an instant was holding the cutlass that had hung at her side. "Pretty little thing. As it happens, I've seen one just like it. Long ago."

She frowned. Calliope did the same, and the cutlass appeared back in her hand. The sword felt natural in her grip, the slightly curved blade reminding her of better days but also a great deal of sadness. She kept it for several reasons, for protection, but not least of all because of sentiment.

"We have a history, Muse, even if you don't know it," Rumplestiltskin said. His unhinged smile had dropped, replaced by gritted teeth as he moved closer to her. "That pirate boyfriend of yours. What are they calling him now?"

"Hook."

He grinned, half cackling, half giggling as he turned away to look out the window. "Hook. How creative!"

Calliope sheathed her cutlass. "What do you want with him?"

"Oh," he said, "Not much. Just his head on a pike." Rumplestiltskin turned back to her, furious. He pointed at her. "That pirate took my wife, drove my son away. I want his heart in my hand so I can crush it, slowly."

Her blood ran cold. Calliope moved away from him walking around the head of the table to the other side. She remembered Killian mentioning that he wanted revenge on the Dark One for killing his lover. But he'd never said the woman, Milah, had been the Dark One's lover as well. She turned back to him.

"I won't kill him," she said.

Rumplestiltskin waved her off. "Did you not just hear what I said? I don't want you to kill him. I want to kill him."

"And you think I'll bring him here, to you?" Calliope asked.

He just grinned. "All magic comes with a price, dearie. If you want that island of yours back in your pretty little hands, then you have to make a deal."

She hesitated. Killian was a survivor. He'd been working on a way to kill the Dark One for over a century. Perhaps he could do it. Calliope turned back to Rumplestiltskin. Before she answered, though, she watched him. Like all Dark Ones, this one was treacherous. He would do anything for power. That was their way. To aid him would be to trade one Shadow for another.

"I can't."

Rumplestiltskin barred his teeth. "Can't? Or won't?" He pointed at her chest. "Too concerned about 'twue love'?" he mocked.

It was Calliope's turn to laugh. She shook her head. "It isn't true love, Dark One. What I may or may not have had with Hook is over. But I won't turn him over to you."

"Not even to save your home?"

Calliope paused. She looked out the window, down at the pine forest below. It had only been a bit over a month. Every day, she missed it. She missed what it had been when she'd danced in the moonlight with her sisters. But those days were gone. She glanced up at Rumplestiltskin and paused again.

"If you want Hook dead so bad, why don't you take a magic bean and go kill him in Neverland?" she asked.

He made a face. With a little wave of his hands, he dismissed the idea. "Me and Neverland, we don't mix."

Calliope wondered what he meant by that. She could see the pain on his face. Loss was one emotion Calliope never missed. But before he could say more, they were interrupted by the opening of a side door and the click of heels against the floor. Calliope turned and her eyes widened. A young woman, dark-haired and wearing a blue dress, wandered in with a tray of tea.

"Oh! I didn't, I didn't know you had company?" she said.

He just made a face, waving her off. "She's leaving soon."

Calliope nodded. "That I am."

Rumplestiltskin turned back to her, away from the maid. He leaned in closer. "You sure you don't want this deal, dearie? I'm your only chance of saving that island."

"If my only chance for my home is to lead a friend into a death trap for you, then I never had a chance in the first place." She shook her head and started back towards the castle doors.

"Friend? Didn't he try to kill you?"

Calliope stopped as his raised voice echoed through the halls. She closed her eyes. He had tried. He'd tried, and he'd failed. She turned around. "But he didn't."

"Not yet."

She glared at him. The woman had started setting out place settings at the table, movements slow and practiced, but grimacing. Rumplestiltskin returned to his seat, folding his hands together. With a last look around the room, she didn't spare him another word.

The doors shut behind her with a bang. Twittering birds startled from the nearby trees, flying off into the distance. Calliope took a deep breath. Once more, she found herself without purpose. She looked up at the birds.

Perhaps it was time to return to her old ways. No home, no purpose. Calliope stuck her hand back in her pouch of magic beans. She had eight left. The Dark One may not have been able to get to his realm of choice with a bean, but Calliope had no interest in the Land Without Magic.

She had a sword, a pouch of money that Robin had gifted her, and her magic. Calliope looked over the forest, gaze falling on the road. Perhaps it was time to travel again. Putting one foot in front of the other, she started down the path. All the world was hers for the taking, and when she tired of this realm, there were infinite more. Calliope smiled.