A Curse Upon Thee 2-35

Red.

“Finn…”

It roared tight and hard around his fist, a scream of Cursed Energy as he swung his hips and drove his armored right foot deep into loose mortar. “Spark…” Stone cracked beneath his pivot, the floor fissuring beneath his planted boot as Finn McHale swung out for all he was worth. 

“Strike!!!”

Fire tore off his knuckles on the follow-through, blood-red flame chewing along black iron only for the metal to take the punch in like nothing even happened.

“Finn, just…”

No scorching on the bars, no dent in the metal… Hell, Finn wasn’t even sure the impact  so much as shook it.

Unfortunately, he felt plenty shook.

A wet tearing echoed out from his shoulder, half-healed scabs announcing their displeasure once again. Already-yellowed gauze soaked through with hot blood in an instant as Finn suffered his own recoil. All of it struck him back, a white-hot grind of bone on bone that forced him to grit his teeth with a ragged hiss.

That didn’t stop him from pulling his other arm back with just a breath, Cursed Energy shoved down his shoulder again as he drove another fist straight into the dark metal.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Each one of his blows landed square and honest, flame blooming on impact as sick little pulses running through wrought lines just beat faster.

His sixth swing came slower than the five before it.

He felt it as soon as he swung out.

Finn still threw it full-force anyway. Sparks flicked back at him, showering down to die in the dust as the cage just drank in the fire and force like a sponge soaking up spilled water.

“Finn!” Hands clamped around his leather-clad bicep, a rough grip digging into the little bit of unburned skin just below his shoulder. Blue eyes blinked up at Emma Swan, the woman staring back at him with a look that was as close to begging as the woman ever offered. “Finn, just stop already. You’re going to break your own hands.”

“And if I get us out?” He shook the woman off, a single quick jerk of his shoulder enough to do the job. Sure, it hurt — both physically and to see the look on her face — but it was necessary if they were gonna have any chance of getting out of here. “It’s worth it.”

“Worth it? Your measure of value is woefully underdeveloped.” Cora hadn’t moved from the archway in the last few minutes since the old witch had trapped them here. “If I were you, I would ease my efforts and simply try something else.”

Yeah, duh. Like he didn’t have at least a half-dozen different ideas already, but Finn wasn’t stupid enough to try any of those — those that might work at least — while the heart-stealing witch was still ready and waiting just feet away. Sure, he might only have come up with most of those ideas by the third punch, but they still existed.

“Says you, old hag.” It was for the best if she assumed he was as stupid as she already did anyway.

“Yes, says me.” The witch scoffed, compass turning over and over in her fingers as the brass caught the little sun from the door. “You’ll only embarrass yourself even further. And there’s been quite enough of that already.”

“Yeah?” Finn grinned back, blood in his mouth again as he spat through the bars. Sure, the red missed her by a good ten feet but he figured the point got across well enough. “Give me a minute. I’m just warmin’ up!”

“...out of your mind, you are.” Her mouth curled up, lips twisted as her smile fell away just slightly. “But by all means… warm yourself up by bashing against my cage.”

Cage… Finn’s attention slid off her for a second, eyes on the bars in front of him. It didn’t take a genius to tell that these weren’t simple metal. Even when he was much weaker back in Storybrooke, he could — and did — pull apart wrought-iron, but these…

He knew he could pull at these for days, weeks even, and barely shift them out of place. …how? 

The answer to that was obvious, of course; magic.

It was always magic.

It would always be magic.

It was never not magic every single day since he had first landed in the Infinite Forest.

But still, how… Ten bleeding digits gripped at the bars. How is this so strong?

It only took a few more seconds of focus for the answer to make itself obvious, the itch inside his chest going off like a dying smoke alarm as he noticed residuals; warm, wet, and thrumming under the black. J-Jesus! 

Finn’s feet moved on their own, the redhead stumbling back and away from the bars as something — several little somethings — beat slightly off, the sensation under his fingers undeniable as his stomach did the math.

Finn blinked, mouth open. How many… where even…

The answer came just as quick. The camp…

All those bodies laid out neat, no damage done to them except for their missing…

“Hearts.”

Cora’s eyes widened just a little, attention firmly on Finn as that smile returned. “Oh, you noticed?”

“Finn?”

He shook his head even as Emma called out his name, narrowed eyes firmly on the old woman smiling back at him. “You put them in here. The hearts. That’s why I can’t, why I — you put them in the cage.”

“I simply put them to work.” Cora tilted her head, the compass needle stopping its turn. “Craft of this quality demands a certain degree of power, and a cage fit to hold a beast of a young man like you, well…” The witch bit her lip. “That demands a great many.”

“I’m gonna punch your fuckin’ head off.”

“Such a brute. Did you truly believe I would leave a cage meant for the Red Death to mere iron?” Cora rolled her eyes, the woman not even taking his threat seriously. “You should be flattered, truly. To cast a curse over a mere village, it would cost me one heart. Two at the most. For you alone, I needed nearly a dozen.”

“...I’m gonna rip your fuckin’ head off.”

“You!” Mary Margaret clung to the bars beside him, both hands whiter than her name around the iron — no schoolteacher softness in her grip. “Those were your own people, Cora!”

“And what good is a people if they can’t serve their queen?” Cora answered back, eyebrow raised. “Still the same child, Snow.”

“How?”

That same eyebrow rose higher. “How what?”

Mary Margaret bit down a sob, eyes wet as her shoulders shook against Finn’s own. “How could you even do something like this?”

"How? How? How?" A purple leather sleeve rested up against a stone pillar, Mal scoffing at Mary Margaret without even looking up from her nails. "How slow can you be? She already told you how. Hearts in, power out, queenie. There’s a reason why sacrificial magic is literally the oldest craft there is."

"Do not—" Mary Margaret's knuckles somehow went whiter, the short-haired queen staring at Mal and Cora both with murder in her eyes. "You do not get to speak to me like—"

"Like what? Someone paying attention?"

With a shout, Mulan’s blade rang off the bars, all voices hushed as the eyes in the room turned to the warrior who got only sparks for her effort. Finn shook his head, already aware of the frustration as he watched a second strike barely get her even that.

By the third…

Well, the blade didn’t even land.

A silent Mulan breathed through her nose and stepped back, boots planted before she sheathed her sword again.

Mal blinked over at her. “...you done?”

“You!” Aurora stumbled forward, still a distance from all four walls of iron as she stood behind Snow’s shoulder. “I would have words with you, fae!” Silk fisted in both hands, she only looked at Mal.

Only Mal, anger in her gaze only matched by Mary Margaret. “Why would you do this?”

“Many reasons, princess.” Mal tilted her head. “And few I care to share with you.”

“You slept by our fire. Y-you ate from our stores.” Aurora’s voice nearly hitched, tone tightening into something that was more wounded than anything else. “And one of our own cared for you when he thought you ill, even to carry you for days.”

"I believe I did thank him for the ride." Gold-green eyes left Aurora to blink over at Finn. “Did I not, Ser Red? I’d hate to be ruuuude.”

Blue eyes narrowed her way. “Gonna kill you both.”

“Growling.” Mal’s snort only made Finn’s eyes narrow further, the purple-haired fairy girl laughing her ass off against the wall as Hook sighed and Cora continued her fiddling with the compass. “Why the growling?”

“How?” Despite the mockery, Aurora wasn’t done. "How could you?"

“Well, dearie.” Cora’s smile spread like molasses, a completely unhurried thing as her eyes flashed with a cruelty Finn could track back to Regina’s face. "What else would you expect from one borne of the Mistress of All Evil?"

Aurora stumbled back several steps, mouth open and eyes wide like Cora had just punched her in the face with words alone. The princess’s heel caught loose stone, but Mulan was already at her back before the girl could fall. Aurora — normally polite and courteous as you’d expect from any fairy tale princess — didn’t even thank the warrior.

She didn’t even look back, seemingly unable to register anything else as she stared open-mouthed at the purple-haired trickster.

“Mistress of All Evil?” Finn blinked around, Emma doing the same. “Who…”

It only took a few seconds for Mary Margaret to give him the answer he hadn’t expected. “You might know her better as Maleficent.”

Finn’s head snapped over to Mal, a golden-green eye winking back at them.

“Oh, you bitch.” 

“Don’t be like that, cutie.” Mal rose to her feet, the girl brushing dust off leather that was as pristine as when he had first met her. She crossed toward the cage, steps still soundless, and came to a stop just outside his reach.

Smart.

Annoying, too.

“You know, if you’re a good boy…” She pouted at him, a finger on her bottom lip. “I’ll come back for you.”

“...for me.”

“Mm-hm.”

Finn’s jaw locked tight, bars gripped tight as he jerked a chin back at the four women standing silent behind him. “And what about them?”

Mal simply blinked, lips half-open and pursed. “What about them?”

Finn stared into those bright eyes, no malice in them as she looked back at him. Nothing like even Cora or Hook, cruelty and greed you could work with or figure out. This… This was different.

Right… she’s not human. That was hard to remember when she smiled and talked like any other girl half the time. Not human, huh. The redhead simply swallowed everything else he had to say, hands pulled back from the bars. “Yeah, okay.”

Her head tilted one more time, expression blank even with the smile. “You’re upset.”

“...I’m in a cage.”

“Only until I’m done.” She tipped her chin down, eyes on the red seeping through the wraps around his ribs. “You’re leaking, by the way. Seriously, it’s hard to be scared of you when you smell like dinner.”

Finn fought the urge to flinch, twin gasps in his ear from both royal residents behind him. “You eat people?”

“I could eat you.” The tip of her tongue flicked out of her mouth, Mal biting it as she winked at him. “Get it?”

“...Eight months of TV and this is what you brought back.”

"Enough."

A dress of embroidered purple swirled by the archway, Cora’s silks barely settling by the time Finn looked past Mal. "Children squabble, adults travel.” The old witch didn’t bother even looking over her shoulder as she spoke from the archway. “Now, say your goodbyes, Mal. We've a long way to go."

The compass rose in her hand, Cora still brandishing the brass like a trophy. "And I do so hate to keep my precious daughter waiting.”

“You won’t get what you want there.” Snow pushed forward against the bars once more, the kinder part of her — the one Finn could easily say was Mary Margaret — shoved down in place of the woman that was queen. “The people there…”

She shook her head. “They’re strong. And brave. And they’ll stand against you. My husband will stand against you.”

“Your husband.” Cora actually looked over her shoulder at that. “You mean, the shepherd turned prince. Well, far be it me to judge one who rises high in the world. But I’ve killed many charming men. One more wouldn’t hurt.” Her eyes scanned them all, unhurried and unbothered. “Do try to keep well. I’ve heard starvation is an ugly way to go.”

“Real brave of you, granny.” Finn leaned his forehead into the gap between two bars, red flame still snapping low off his right fist. “Whole speech from way over there. Why don’t you say it to my face?”

“No.” Cora’s reply came prim and proper, almost pleasant even as she took her first few steps out the archway. “I don’t think I shall.”

Mal fell in behind her, a little flutter of fingers aimed at Finn. “Bye, cutie.”

Hook came off the rock he’d been sitting on the entire time in silence, the man rolling his shoulders as he made to leave with the two women.

“Hook!” Emma hit the bars on Finn’s opposite side, eyes wide and voice loud. “Hook, wait!”

The man didn’t turn but he did slow, his eponymous weapon shining in the archway for a momen; silver flaring an odd red under the light of the sun.

“Wait… just, just listen to me.” Emma’s hands gripped tight to the iron, words almost forced out of her. “My son. I told you about him. Henry. He’s ten. He’s only ten years old and he’s back at home waiting for me. He’s spent his whole life waiting for me, Hook. I need to get back to him. Please.”

That did the job.

Of turning the man around, at least.

"Now she says please." Unfortunately, it also came with a laugh, Hook’s head cocked as he took a few steps back toward them. “Should’ve thought about that, love.” The pirate clicked his tongue as he wore a smile aimed firmly at Emma. “Before leaving me atop that beanstalk with an angry giant, bound to a bloody wall.”

“I-I couldn’t trust y—”

“No.” Hook took another step closer. “You didn’t want to trust me. Let’s not spend anymore time on lies here. It’s a bit too late for that now, isn’t it?”

“Like you would have done any different!” Emma’s chin came up, green eyes glaring at the man lecturing her. “You’re a pirate!”

“A pirate I am.” Hook crossed the last of the distance to stand barely a foot from the bars, anger in his eyes nearly enough to match Emma’s. “A pirate captain. I would never sacrifice my crew because what is a captain without his men?”

Emma blinked at him, mouth open as some of that anger fell away to shock. “...and I’m supposed to believe you thought I was part of your crew?”

“...you could have been, love.”

His good hand went into his coat, Finn blinking as the man came out with something small pinched between two fingers. Hook held it up into the light and Finn’s frown only deepened as he realized what the hell he was looking at. A bean?

“You know what this is?” Hook waved it around, the little thing gray, dry and puckered.

“The rest of your lunch?” Finn couldn’t help himself. 

“A magic bean, boy.” Hook clicked his tongue. “The giant kept it. Last of its kind. Once upon a time, this little thing was a door to any world you wanted. Just plant it and hope for the best.” He rolled the legume slow across his knuckles, several sets of eyes on it. “And now look at it. Dried up and dead, no good to anyone.”

The pirate leaned back, smiling even with no warmth in his words. “Rather like you, I’d say.”

Hook straightened up as he pocketed the bean, loud steps aimed at the doorway again. “I’ll be leaving now.”

“Killian.” Snow spoke again.

“Apologies, your majesty. I already have one grandmother I listen to.” The pirate touched two fingers to his forehead, a lazy salute all he had to offer as he swaggered away. “Duty call, ladies. Red Death. Try not to die too slow.”

Then the doorway had him as he left the hall of the ruined keep, leaving just five people trapped in a cage.

“So…” Emma’s jaw worked once. “What now?”

Finn looked down at his own hand, knuckles still bloody around half-split burns scars. His reserves were sludgy but far from low, juryoku moving through him thick as he raised one finger high.

A small jet of red spat up off the tip, fire thin but steady as it hissed against the dark.

"We keep trying, duh."

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

Custom Fit – 200 GP

Force an enemy to create a trap specifically for you.

Exactly As Stupid As You Think – 100 GP

Exploit an enemy’s low opinion of you to conceal your real plan.

Feel It In My Code – 100 GP
Wreck-It Ralph | Lore
You have good instincts, especially when it comes to learning new things. It almost seems like you are simply relearning things that you already knew, with insights and skills coming quickly to you. This also has the effect of weakening any amnesia effects on you, allowing you to recover lost or hidden memories faster than before.

Mental Fortitude – 200 GP
The Lord of the Rings | Benevolence
You have a hardy soul and a powerful will. Even the darkest of mind magics take far longer to take their grip on you, and you can often surprise people by your fierce heart, even if unaccustomed to battle.

Grimoire Points: 500