The Dark Children is a Once Upon a Time fanfic by imgilmoregirl
, and is the sequel to The Dark Lady and Light Moments
Rumplestiltskin and Belle always knew that their children would live in danger for the rest of their days for being the Dark One's heirs, but after the Black Fairy's death, they thought that things would be easier. They just had no idea of how much they were wrong.
The fanfic can be found on Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own.
The Dark Children provides examples of:
- Altar Diplomacy: With their growing political presence, Rumpelstilstskin tries finding lord's daughters willing to be with Gideon, unaware that his son is already in a relationship with a boy. When he finds out about Roderick, he apologizes and ceases this.
- Eternal Love: Rumpelstiltskin's curse makes him immortal and he uses a spell that keeps Belle young, looking twenty-five despite being forty. They originally agreed to have more children as their older ones grow up and leave, only for Belle to begin to feel left behind, confessing that she was to grow old with him.
- Gay Aesop: Throughout most of the story, Gideon has hidden his relationship with Roderick. He officially introduces him to Belle at his house and to Rumpelstiltkin when discussing Belle’s capture, and in both times both parents express that they are just happy that their son found love.
- Karmic Death: Just as Sheriff of Nottingham was about to sexually penetrate Rose non-consensually, her father appears and impales him through the back with a sword. Odds are he did not consent to that either.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: The Sheriff of Nottingham (now the Executioner of Avonlea) makes every intention clear that he is going to have his way with Rose as soon as he is aloud. Instead of honoring Maurice's dying wish and letting her go free, he instead has her sent to the dungeons with the intent of raping Rose. It is not until the very last possible second that Rumpelstilstkin shows up and impales him with a sword and saves his daughter.
- Seduction-Proof Marriage: Agathe has been pining for Rumpelstiltskin ever since she became his maid and is confident that she could become his mistress, having heard that mistresses are fairly common among nobility. She tries drugging him with a lust potion provided to her by Cora, only for it to just make him want Belle more. She tries getting pregnant and convincing him that it was his, even having his wife walk in on them, only for Rumpelstiltskin to lock her in the dungeon and set out to convince Belle the truth.
- Seers: Carried over from the previous fic, Rose possesses seer-based abilities that take the form of nightmares that depict real tragedies, the events becoming more and more in-focus as the event draws closer.
