Scribbles on paper

"I think one president would be easier to take out than ten of the small world guys. We’ll be fine.” Ethan said with a small laugh, taking the other girl’s hand into his own and pulling her along, “Did you see people heading for the monorail?”

“I think you were wearing them when we were in the Hall of Presidents. Do you want to go check there maybe? Maybe they got lost there or somewhere on the way--Definitely don’t want you to be blind.”

"I’ll keep an eye out. Now that we’re not watching for Animatronics...” He said, kicking aside the corpse of one that had fallen apart, “Where’d you last have them?"

“You’re welcome. To be honest, out of all the drawings I did in the terminal, yours is the only one I wanted to color in and finish. This must be what it feels like to have a muse.” Zipping up his bag, he threw it over his shoulder and reached out for her hand.

Hearing someone else sharing his plight instantly lifted his mood a little, and he moved a little closer to her, “I don’t know either. Maybe something’s in the air that’s triggering it...but hey.” He smiled and picked up his bag and pull out the portrait he’d drawn of her in the monorail terminal, now fully colored, “Let’s say it’s a good thing. Because I got to see you again and give this to you--an Ethan Liu original. Take it.”

There was no hesitation on Rumple’s part to return Baelfire’s hug. He’d gone to the ends of the earth and back to save him. And while it was Baelfire’s own decision to let it go and sacrifice himself for the greater good, it was difficult for Rumple to not blame himself. After a long moment, he pulled away and patted his sons arms, “Bae, listen to me very carefully. The darkness in that mansion is out to end us all. Permanently. It’s darker than I have ever been or ever will be. Have you ever heard of a creature called Chernabog?”

“All things considered, yeah, I’m good.” He laughed a little, caught somewhere between shock and fear of the situation, “Don’t know what the heck’s going on though I’m...really confused. I just want to get out of this park. It was fun at first, but it’s stressful now--I keep blacking out and waking up in places I don’t remember going.”

Holding her hand tightly, Ethan threw his bag over his shoulder and began to lead Natalie away before the robots found their bearings again. Nowhere seemed very safe, but for the moment, the only place he could think to go was the Hall of Presidents -- even though there were other much larger animatronics in there, he hoped that not going to far in would keep them safe. Just inside the building, Ethan shut the door and let out a breath, “Shit--alright...are you okay? We should be safe in here.” He questioned, still gripping her hand.

Ethan wasn’t quite sure how he ended up in front of the Haunted Mansion when he last remembered being at Tom Sawyer Island, but next he knew, he was standing there and a pack of very small...children were approaching him. Wait...No, they weren’t children. He pieced together almost immediately what they actually were and ran, cursing quietly to himself as he tried to work out what to do and where to go. Moving quickly, he tried to find the most out of the way path possible to avoid being seen by the roaming packs of animatronic children. Liberty Square. Where could he go in Liberty Square? He barely had time to think about it as he heard the sound of someone screaming in passing. It was against his good conscious to just leave whoever it was, and so he followed the voice until he found a familiar figure crouched in a corner, being attacked by a couple of the animatronics, “Natalie!” He wasn’t quite sure what he could do to stop the attackers, but they were just small moving dolls, right? That’s what he told himself as he jogged over and used the element of surprise to knock them off with his bag., “Hey, give me your hand. Come on!” He urged, ready to move again before the animatronics gained their bearings again. ( @nataliewcst )

Rumpel turned on his heel, facing his son...or the shell in which is son resided. One would think seeing him with a different face would make this experience less painful. But his eyes. He could see Baelfire in this new boy’s eyes, and it brought back memories, pain, regret, but also...pride, “I don’t understand how you can be here. But I want you to know that whatever it takes, I’ll make sure you don’t go anywhere after all this. I’ve lost you to many times, Bae, I won’t again.”

When the voice met his ears, it felt as though someone had wrapped a hand around his throat and squeezed to cut off his airway. It was a long moment before Rumpel could make himself breathe again. If it’d been anyone else that had spoken to him--and he knew exactly who he was speaking to--he would have said that the price was usually worth it. But he couldn’t make himself say such a thing to Baelfire of all people. Holding himself together, he continued, “Well then, whatever price that bastard in there is paying for taking all of our powers, I hope it’s a painful one....so you found a new body, Bae.”

Rumpelstiltskin had only been observing from the inside up to this point. Studying. Learning. Before now, he hadn’t felt the need to take control of his vessel. But upon deciding he need a closer look at the Haunted Mansion, he came to forefront, pushing Ethan to the back without trouble and walking to the barricade. And there he stood, staring up at it, “Dark magic in there...” He mused softly to himself, flexing his own fingers. The loss of his own magic left him feeling a bit empty. But he had to commend the one responsible for this mess. “Keeping the magical characters away from their own magic...very cruel, but very smart move. Something I’d do.”

Glancing up again, he answered her questions, “You have a lot of questions.” He said with a small smile, “My dorm and everything is back Burbank near where the Animation Studio is, I’m just here on break.  I’ve drawn a couple of my own characters for projects and things, but nothing that’s actually going to be used in a film or anything.  That chance probably comes if I can get a spot in the apprenticeship program. but that’s a position everyone is going for. Only a few spaces every term...And being trapped here probably won’t...help my chances with that.” He said with a small laugh.

Smiling, Ethan gave a tug to help get the other on board before the boat pulled to far away from the dock “Welcome aboard. Just barely, though, glad you didn’t fall into the lake.” He laughed a little, dropping his bag of art supplies down and stretching, “Why? I got tired of drawing people in the monorail terminal and wanted to explore some.  Never been over, seemed cool..no lines. What about you?”

“Short answer: Busy.” He said with a small chuckle, “Longer answer: I go to school full time. The only days I don’t have classes are weekends and Wednesdays. Otherwise I’m either in class, doing homework, or putting in hours at Disney’s animation studio...I’m part of their internship program.”

“I think if black fog and evil laughter is coming out of the Haunted Mansion, and people are vanishing into thin air, it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility. It’d be kind of cool, if you think about it.” Ethan was perhaps more at ease about this whole thing than he should be. The boat reached the other dock, and seemed to be turning around with the intent to take off again. Standing up, Ethan grabbed Ross’s hand, “Come on. Let’s get off.”