Chapter Text
“I’m the lost princess,” Rapunzel said softly, gripping the thin curtains to her bedroom like a lifeline.
How could it be possible? Those faint memories that flickered in her mind, the crown, the loving eyes of her parents, her real parents framed within that mosaic, and those suns that she just couldn’t stop from painting. Just as that old dam had collapsed about her, so did memory after memory come forth. Every single one so clear and yet so overwhelming that she will still trying to steady herself from the crashing wave of epiphany.
“Ugh, please speak up Rapunzel. You know how I hate the mumbling,” Mother snapped, standing on the stairs. Her lip curled a little in distaste.
“I am the lost princess. Aren’t I,” She repeated slowly, turning to look into the wide grey eyes of the woman who claimed to be her mother all these years. Anger simmered within her that it surprised even her how cold her next words came out, “Did I mumble mother? Or should I even call you that?”
Several emotions flashed across Gothel’s face before being quickly dampening them behind a rather forced laugh, “Oh Rapunzel, do you hear yourself? Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?”
She approached, holding her arms outstretched with a hug that could melt away the accusation. Rapunzel pushed away the embrace in disgust, completely done.
“It was you! It was all you.”
The woman who claimed to love her the most of all, had ripped her away from her family. Her realfamily. Forced her to live alone in this tower, always fearing the outside world. Every word of wisdom that fell from her lips was nothing but a lie. Rapunzel could feel her chest tightening as she looked into Mother’s eyes. Was there any remorse at all? Any shred of true compassion and empathy that saw how utterly ridiculous all of this was?
“Everything I did, was to protect you,” Mother answered, with a tone of concern that rang hollow in Rapunzel’s ears.
It was that word, protect that caused Rapunzel’s anger to reach a boiling point. With a forceful shove, she pushed Gothel away against the tower wall and briskly walked down the stairs. Every part of her felt sick.
“Rapunzel.”
“I’ve spent my entire life hiding from people who would use me for my powers,”
“Rapunzel!”
“When I should have been hiding…from you.”
Rapunzel turned, her words ringing throughout the tower walls. Not even the bitter sting of Eugene leaving with the crown last night, discarding her to those ruffians burned as much as this. She stood at the end of the staircase, a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions churned within began to slow and revolved back to Eugene. Her stomach felt like it was going to flip again. Was that a lie too? Had mother…
“Where will you go?” Gothel asked sharply, as if she had read her thoughts. “He won’t be there for you.”
Rapunzel’s heart dropped, “What did you do to him?”
“That criminal is to be hanged for his crimes,” Gothel said cruelly.
“No,” Rapunzel murmured, horrified. She reeled back as the words hit her like a physical blow, “No.”
The small gleam of a smile flickered behind Gothel’s eyes. Her card had worked. She could see that Rapunzel was upset, and she moved closer to make the most of the opportunity.
“Now, now. It’s all right, listen to me,” Gothel said in her most soothing voice. She held out her arms as she once had, reaching to pat her little flower’s head. “All is as it should be.”
“No!” Rapunzel cried as she grasped the outstretched arm. Gothel writhed in shock and tried to pull her wrist away, but Rapunzel tightened her grip. This was not how things should be. Nothing of this is how it should be. “You were wrong about the world, and you were wrong about me. And I will NEVER let you use my hair again.”
With all her strength she twisted Gothel’s arm, pushing her away. Gasping, the older woman stumbled back and crashed into the full-length mirror, sending it to the colored tile with a smash.
A usual satisfaction coursed through Rapunzel as she turned and walked defiantly away. She knew she couldn’t dwell on the feeling, for what was most important to do was to get out of this place. Her mind turned to the stone stairwell that they used to reenter her cage. Another thing that should have alerted Rapunzel to her mother’s manipulation.
When she was a little girl, Mother would use the stairwell all the time. Once her hair got longer and longer, mother mentioned that the stairwell had become too dangerous to use. Questioning if only there was another way to get up and down safely. With a childlike joy to help, Rapunzel had offered to use her hair. Its simple enough and she could do this one thing for Mother. That memory of Mother’s satisfied smile now left Rapunzel feeling utterly idiotic.
The stairwell was perfectly fine. They had always been fine. It was just another lie told that she’d obediently swallowed down.
As Rapunzel began looking for the loose tile, she didn’t notice Gothel’s glower. Oh, if looks could kill, Gothel would see the demented child cold on the floor in a moment.
Her only way to stay beautiful forever had just turned and walked away from her. Her. After everything, every little sacrifice she had made, her flower really thought she could just up and leave, and she would just let her go. Gothel looked down on her prized mirror now toppled to the floor, and then back at the insolent girl. Any semblance of the maternal love she had, shattered like the glass shards that laid broken onto the tile floor.
“You want me to be the bad guy,” she said coldly, causing gooseflesh to rise on Rapunzel’s skin. “Fine. Now I’m the bad guy.”
Gothel advanced on her with a predatory grace that caught Rapunzel off guard. And for the first time, Rapunzel felt a new fear, not of the outside world, but towards the woman who had claimed to be her mother all these years. Quick on her feet, Rapunzel turned and tried to run to the kitchen nook. Her frying pan was hanging on a nail in the wall. Just get the frying pan and defend yourself! Yet before she could even get close, Gothel grabbed a big chunk of her golden hair and yanked.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Gothel spat. ‘I’ve spent too many years protecting you, keeping you safe from people who would exploit you. And if you think you can just walk away from me young lady, you really are a dense, stupid girl.”
Her scalp screamed as Gothel pulled harder. Bit by bit she advanced, until she firmly held the thick locks at the base of her skull. Using this leverage, Gothel guided the struggling girl toward the tower’s side bedroom.
“Mother please,” Rapunzel gasped as tears pricked her eyes. “Stop.”
“Oh, dear you don’t get to use the mother card on me. You made me do this Rapunzel,” She twisted Rapunzel’s hair to make her flower face her. “Do you think I enjoy hurting you? Do you think I want to do this to my precious girl?”
With another forceful pull, they entered the side bedroom and Gothel loosened her grip just a tad so that she could open a chest that laid underneath the bed. “Yet, no, you just had to go and disobey me. Well, as I’ve said countless times before, actions have consequences dear.”
Opening up the chest, she pulled out a set of heavy, iron chains. The sight of them sent another chill down Rapunzel’s spine.
Why would she? Then Rapunzel gasped, her big green eyes widened in realization.
“You planned this?” Rapunzel accused, trying to hide the tremble in her voice. “You’ve always been ready for the day I might try to leave.”
Gothel smirked, a cruel glint in her eyes. Her words sickening sweet, “Oh, you may be naïve, dear, but I certainly am not. I’ve spent decades keeping you safe. So do you think I wouldn’t prepare for this little outburst.”
Rapunzel took a step back, but Gothel was faster. She seized her arm with a vice grip and dragged her to the bed. When Rapunzel resisted, a crack echoed as her mother struck her across the check. “Sit,” Gothel commanded, her voice dark. “Don’t make me tell you again.”
Still staggering from the blow, Rapunzel clutched she cheek in shock. Tears welled in her eyes, but they did not fall. How could this woman ever claim to love her? In this moment of silence, tension still thick in the air, Gothel raised a slender dark eyebrow. Do you really wish to defy me again? Yet, Rapunzel didn’t move. She couldn’t move. She just glared wide eyed at this older woman like she didn’t know her at all.
Exasperated, Gothel reached for Rapunzel’s wrist and turned her around. The cold iron bit into Rapunzel’s skin as Gothel took the connecting chain, “Now walk.”
Rapunzel led them back into the center of the tower. Nothing about this place felt safe anymore. The vivid murals painted over years of confinement could not hid the solid walls that now felt suffocating.
Securing the chain tightly against a wooden bean, Gothel step stepped back and smoothed Rapunzel’s thick hair as she regained her composure. “There,” she said sweetly. “Much better. Now, you’ll stay here like the good and grateful little girl I raised you to be and think about what you have done.”
“I am not your daughter,” Rapunzel said bitterly, as the tears she tried to keep back began to flow. Like a comforting hand, she felt the familiar sensation of Pascal climbing her back. The little chameleon nestled his little head against her neck in support. The little act making Rapunzel want to sob.
She then felt the tight grip of Gothel’s fingertips close about her jaw, lifting her chin to face the older woman.
“Rapunzel, you are mine whether you like it or not and I will keep you here, safe and sound till you come to your senses.”
Rapunzel jerked her head, feeling the nails dig into her skin, “You lied to me for eighteen years!”
Gothel guffawed, as though she were handling a tantrum. She pulled the girl’s chin closer till Rapunzel was nose to nose to her, “I have done everything to protect you dear. And the simple fact that you can’t see that, just shows how truly soft in the head you’ve always been.”
She released her chin with a less than maternal shove and rose.
“There is no one coming for you, flower. No one knows you are even here. So, if I were you, I would shut my insipid little mouth and understand that you will forever belong to me.”
Gothel walked back to the bedroom and turning fixed Rapunzel with a twisted sneer of contempt, “And to think we could have avoided this argument.”
Then the only door in the entire God forsaken tower slammed shut, and Rapunzel was left slumped against the wooden beam, bound. The adrenaline still raced within her body, as her racing heart tried to catch up with her mind. She turned and tried to shake off the irons that bound her. No use. She wanted to scream in frustration, but that wouldn’t do much outside of potentially further upset Mother. Pascal then emerged from his hiding place amongst her hair, his darting eyes fixed on her with a pained look that mirrored her own.
“It’s okay buddy. We’ll be okay.” Rapunzel whispered trying to sound confident. Yet, even to her ears it sounded hollow. She sighed and leaned her head against the wooden beam, hot tears feeling beginning to flow. A small part of her cried out. What did you expect would happen? You really are as stupid as she says.
In all that had transpired, her mind began to trudge through everything little detail of the past days. She had a family, and not only a family, but a family also that loved her. Really loved her. She had to remind herself of that. The lanterns that she dreamed about her entire life, really were for her. They never gave up hope for her. If Eugene never took her to see them, she would have never even begun to untangle this web of deceit. Rapunzel sighed again. Oh Eugene.
Thoughts of him started flickering in her mind like lanternlight. His deep brown eyes. His warm smile. The thought of him being gone…or worse. No, she didn’t want to dwell on that. Though it was only a day and a half, the first real day and a half of freedom she ever had, it could not have been fake. Exploring the kingdom’s celebrations, reading books, and sharing cupcakes, twirling in each other’s arms. The way he cupped her face so tenderly as the warm glow of lanterns danced around them. If she was delusional, she didn’t care. She would hold tightly to this little memory of joy, and she prayed that Gothel’s words of Eugene being gone forever were just another pit of lies.
The brief reprieve memories served her ended abruptly as Gothel emerged from the side room. Her velvet travelling cloak was adorned along with one of her leather satchels across her body. She turned to face Rapunzel, sharp eyes narrowing.
“This place is compromised,” she said matter-of-factly, walking over the broken glass. She stopped in the middle of the floor and began prying at one large stone tile till it gave away, “If that witless thief managed to find his way here than any fool can find you.”
What felt like an ice block formed in Rapunzel’s throat at the implication of those words. They were going to leave and soon.
To where? And if they left and Eugene was still out there, would he find her again? No, she wouldn’t let that happen. A second wave of defiance began to surge within Rapunzel as she lifted her chin, her voice steady despite her pounding heart. “It doesn’t matter,” She spoke. “It doesn’t matter where you take me. I’ll escape. And I’ll make sure the world knows what you’ve done.”
Gothel laughed, a cold, humorless sound. “Oh, dear, you really think you’re in a position to make threats?” She crouched down, her face level with Rapunzel’s once again. “Let me make something perfectly clear Rapunzel, because you obviously you can’t get it into your little head. You’re not leaving my side. Ever.”
“Do you really think that I’m going to go with you willingly?”
Gothel’s lips curled into a sinister smile, “Oh dear, I know you will.” She strode to the kitchen’s small pantry and started pulling out apples, cheese, and pieces of meat and placed it in the basket. Was it really only two days ago when Rapunzel packed up that basket to send Gothel on a fool’s errand? That seemed like years ago now.
“You wanted so badly to see the outside world,” she laughed mirthlessly over her shoulder. “Well, you are getting your wish my flower. Consider it a late birthday present. I really, truly hope you are grateful.”
Rapunzel sat and watched as Gothel shuffled around the tower preparing for their trip. She was not the delusional one here. For if Gothel truly though she would go with her without a fight almost made Rapunzel want to laugh aloud. She would fight not only for her family or for Eugene, but for herself. Resolve set and solidified within her chest as just then, the faint sound echoed from outside. The indistinguishable rhythmic pounding of a horse hooves approaching fast was heard causing both women to freeze. Their heads snaped towards the window.
“What now?” Gothel muttered under her breath. She looked out the far-right windows and cursed, “That damned thief!”
Rapunzel’s heart leapt and couldn’t stop the cry for joy. He’s alive! “Eugene!” she called, her voice breaking with relief.
Gothel whirled around, her face livid with rage. “You foolish girl!” she snarled, crossing the room in a flash.
Rapunzel didn’t hesitate this time. She surged forward as far as the chains would allow. Gothel then grasped the young girl, her nails biting into Rapunzel’s shoulders. “Get off me. Get off me! Eugene! Euge…” But before the words could come from her throat, Gothel wrestled Rapunzel back against the beam forcing a piece of cloth into her mouth. The cloth was tied tightly, muffling her screams.
“Enough of this,” Gothel hissed.
“Rapunzel!” a familiar yet frantic voice called from below, “Rapunzel let down your hair!”
The blood in her veins thrummed to a maddening beat as she screamed through the gag; its pained sound damped through the fabric. She thrashed against her restraints as she saw Gothel’s expression shift to one of cold calculation. The older woman stalked towards the main outlook taking a long thin dagger from her travelling bag. Rapunzel blanched. Opening the wooden window Gothel grabbed the end of Rapunzel’s golden waves and tossed it out the frame.
No. No! Pain shot through Rapunzel’s scalp as she felt Eugene climb up her hair. Gothel stood against the wall enshrouded in darkness, her fingers tightening around the dagger’s silver hilt. Rapunzel then heard the breathless grunts of Eugene as he reached the window. His head appeared over the windowsill; his face flushed from the climb but bright with relief.
“Oh Rapunzel. I thought I never see you again. I…”
His smile evaporated as his brown eyes finally registered the disturbing scene before him. Broken glass littered the floor and Rapunzel thrashed, chained, and gagged at the end of the room. His stomach dropped.
“Get out of here!” Rapunzel tried to yell but the gag just made it a wordless cry. Eugene barely had time to take another step towards her when the shadows behind him moved. To Rapunzel abject horror she watched as Gothel plunged the dagger in his side with sickening ease.
“EUGENE!” She screamed; her entire body convulsed as she fought against her restraints. His breath hitched as the pain laced through him. Hands flying to clutch his slide. Eugene staggered and then slumped to the floor.
“Now look what you’ve done Rapunzel,” Gothel said stepping over Eugene’s crumbled form, voice laced with bitter disappointment. “Oh, don’t worry dear, our secret will die with him.”
She had to get to him. Her desperate screams muffled by the gag, and she tried to get a right footing. Just get to him and sing. You have to get to him. Tears streamed down her face, and her eyes burned with a mixture of terror and fury at the sounds of his groans.
“And as for us, ha,” Gothel unfastened the chain and began dragging Rapunzel with all her strength towards the tower’s dark stairwell. “We are going where no one, will ever find you again.”
In all honesty, she didn’t hear what Gothel said. Her emerald eyes stayed fixed on the man she cared so deeply for. She defiantly pulled again the restraints screaming Eugene’s name over and over. Gothel continued to tug at the chain, Rapunzel struggling to pull forward. Yet she kept on.
“Rapunzel really. Enough already!” Gothel grunted lifting the young girl to her feet. Her anger had reached a fever pitch. “Stop fighting me!”
“No,” Rapunzel cried falling to the tiled floor. The cloth gag had loosed in the struggle and fell about her neck. “I will not stop. For the rest of my life, I will fight. I never stop trying to get away from you!”
“But if you let me save him. I will go with you.” Rapunzel gasped fixing her captor with a look of pure sincerity. Gothel knit her slender brows at the remark. She didn’t believe a word.
“No. No, Rapunzel.”
“I’ll never run. I’ll never try to escape. Just let me heal him and we will be together. Forever. Just like you want. Everything will be the way it was. Just as you want,” she said desperately. A moment passed between them as Gothel studied the girl’s wide green eyes.
“Just let me heal him.”