26 April 2024

It was only a few days later when Isaac, Phillip, and the two fairies entered the Lost Wood. Isaac immediately hated the place; it made the back of his neck itch, and all the trees felt like they pressed in on him, leaving him trapped.

Maybe half an hour in, Lena stopped to stare at something Isaac couldn’t see. “Ooh, that is clever. I suppose she really was royalty once.”

Isaac blinked. “Huh? What’s going on?”

“Oh, I’m talking about Gothel, youngling. The reason any of you get lost here is Gothel has taken some of the reality away from these woods. Not a great deal, but you mortals aren’t designed to perceive the ‘between’ places, and so you get lost instead, forget things. It’s really quite ingenuous.”

For a moment, Isaac chewed on that. “Why couldn’t Maleficent notice that? She’s not really mortal anymore, is she?”

Lena scowled at the mention of Venwald’s queen, but Frieda chuckled darkly. “Had it been anyone else she faced, the Fairy Killer would have noticed. How long did she wander these woods, searching for something she can never find, I wonder?”

That only left Isaac more confused, but neither Lena nor Frieda would say anything more on the subject. Not that they paid much attention to Isaac and Phillip in general.

Several hours of silence later, and the group stumbled on a clearing with a tall tower, looking far better kept than something this isolated should be.

“Well, here we are,” Frieda announced. “And what luck! It seems poor Gothel isn’t even here at present. You truly have fortune on your side, princeling.”

“Don’t forget what you owe us, boy,” Lena added. “We’ll even go distract our dear friend for a bit. WOuldn’t want you to die before your debts are paid. Ta-ta!”

Isaac’s eyes widened. “Wait!”

But they didn’t. One moment they were there, the next, they were gone.

Isaac and Phillip looked on in disbelief, then turned back to the tower. “Think she’s actually in there?”

“Has to be. They wouldn’t have risked losing the deal otherwise.”

The two boys approached, trying to find a door or something. But even after circling the thing twice, the only entrance they could find was a single window thirty or so feet up.

23 April 2024

This is a connector scene between Isaac’s deal and their arrival in the forest. This assumes I’ll be changing Rapunzel’s first chapter to focus on some other part of her daily life; painting while Gothel is around when she knows Gothel’s likely reaction seems dumb. I hope to use the new chapter to foreshadow something, or build up something for Rapunzel to lose, but I don’t have that pinned down right now.

Once Rapunzel was sure Mother was truly gone, she darted to her paint studio. It had no door; the wall at the end of the hallway opened up for her as she approached, and closed behind her after she entered. It wasn’t always this way; when Rapunzel had first started painting, Mother had helped her get set up in the main living area, and would often watch her paint. That only lasted until Rapunzel made the mistake of trying to paint Queen Maleficent of Venwald. That had been a particularly bad episode Mother had even shifted into various animal forms, and she had lashed out at Rapunzel when the girl had gotten close to try and calm her down.

That painting hung prominently on the back wall of the studio, alongside dozens of others. Quite a few depicted Mother’s various different faces, but the most common subject had to be Queen Hannah. Rapunzel’s current project was actually based on a portrait of Hannah from over a decade prior, holding a baby. Probably Prince Isaac, but it was hard to tell; it could have been Rapunzel herself, before Mother had whisked her away.

Rapunzel let a finger brush the painting’s face, before she shook her head and got to work. She wanted to see how much she could get done in the next three days.

16 January 2024

…when she was going outside. “Are you heading out?”

Mother nodded. “We’re running low on flour, and we could always use more bacon. I also wanted to look into getting you more medicine.”

Somehow, Rapunzel was able to force her grimace into something resembling a smile. “I’m fine, Mother.”

“You’re fine now, but what if something happens later?”

By then, I’ll be dead. Rapunzel kept her mouth shut, though. That would definitely upset Mother. For her part, Rapunzel herself had come to terms with the idea. For the most part. It was strange to think she only had [a few weeks] left, though.

Meanwhile, Mother hovered around the covered easel. “Is this your latest project?”

“Wait, don’t–!”

It was too late. With a flourish, Mother lifted the sheet from the canvas. At first, she didn’t respond, still as a statue. Then her face distorted, shifting from one face to another. Old, young, thin, pudgy. The rest of her soon followed suit, changing shapes and outfits faster than Rapunzel could process them. Always blue, though. Mother always wore blue.

This was a bad one. Mother wasn’t saying anything. When she talked, Rapunzel could at least piece together what was freaking her out and calm her down. But when she got like this… Rapunzel had no clue. And if she said the wrong thing, she might just make it worse.

Rapunzel took a deep breath and moved closer. “Mother?” When the fairy didn’t respond, Rapunzel braced herself and hugged her. It was always a strange sensation, hugging Mother while she shifted forms. “It’s alright, Mother. I’m here. We’re safe; you’re safe.”

Mother finally looked down at her. Rapunzel took the opportunity to gently guide her away from the painting toward the door.

“She… she was there, Therese. With her. It… it had to be a trap, even though she looks so kind…”

Therese again, huh? As near as Rapunzel could tell, that was the name of one of Mother’s “sisters”. However that worked for fairies. “It’s okay. They’re not here. She’s not here. You’re safe. See?”

They’d gotten far enough away the Tower was able to put up a wall between them and the painting. Mother was finally calming down; she settled into the shape of an old woman with a stooped back. “Yes… yes, you’re right. Thank you, Therese.” Mother patted her hand and tottered off.

Once she’d left, Rapunzel sank to the floor and heaved a sigh of relief. That went…fairly well, this time. No animal shapes, at least. Still, it would probably be a few days before the Tower trusted her enough to let her work on Hannah’s painting again.

Later

“And to you, Princess Aurora, I grant the gift of good health.”

As she spoke, Lena grasped for the threads of fate from the child’s future, selected the one she needed, and wove it around the child. She felt immensely proud of herself; if only all those naysayers could see her now! Who cared if it was a small country out west, leagues from the nearest faehold. Now, she walked among royalty.

11 January 2024

Wow, this was short.

Then the tower rocked her chair, and Rapunzel jumped up. It took her a second to process what was happening, but as soon as she had, she squeaked and threw the sheet back over the painting.

Not a moment later, Mother’s voice called through the door. “Rapunzel, [honey], are you in here?” The door opened, and a rather mousy-looking women in a white dress with a blue apron came in. Rapunzel was surprised; that was the look Mother wore when she planned to head outside.

24 November 2022

With a total of 2765 words, Thanksgiving was actually my most productive day this year for Nanowrimo. I was surprised, because my family had a fair amount going on that day, too. Not only that, but it took two hours or more to plan out the first half of the dragon fight with Gothel, during which time I got no words in, since it was all in the planning stage. Overall, I was quite pleased with myself after this.

I’ll probably add more specific notes to the sections below.

Rapunzel couldn’t believe her ears. “Wait… You’d still let me go?”

Isaac shrugged. “You’re as stubborn as I am. If you decide you’re going, you’ll go whether I let you or not. I just want to make sure you’re okay if you do.”

Rapunzel slumped back into the bed. She hadn’t expected that. She took a deep breath and winced, holding her side. Finally, she said, “It’d probably be a good idea to spend a few days, maybe even a week, for me to recover anyways. After that, if your - our - parents aren’t here yet, we can decide what to do then.”

Isaac heaved a sigh of relief. “Sounds like a plan.” He stood up. “I’ll let you rest, then. Do you want me to get you anything?”

Rapunzel’s stomach growled. “Breakfast would be nice. Or… whatever meal it would be right now, I guess.”

Isaac smiled wryly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

(After Phillip and Aurora have attracted the dragon, but before any dragon fights have started)

When Phillip returned a week later - and without Rapunzel, at that - Isaac was more than ready to tear into him. But the worry and urgency in Phillip’s expression made him pause.

Even before he’d fully dismounted, Phillip started trying to explain. “You’ve got… got to get everyone… out of here. Dragon… there’s a dragon coming.”

Isaac exchanged looks with Maleficent. “Dragon? Why? Where’s Rapunzel?”

Phillip put a hand on the wall to brace himself. He took a deep breath. “I think the dragon’s that fairy. Gothel?” At that name, Maleficent’s eyes narrowed, but she let Phillip continue. “She was hunting Aurora, so she used herself as bait and told me to come warn everyone.”

Isaac’s fists clenched. Logically, he knew they’d probably made the right call. But he still wanted to deck his friend for leaving his sister behind to face down a dragon alone. He looked over at Maleficent. “With your magic, would you e able to prepare any defenses? I want to keep the townsfolk safe while they’re evacuating, and, well…” He glanced over at the inn where his parents were located.

“I have a few things I can do about that.” Maleficent turned and got to work, though Isaac couldn’t be sure what she was planning.

Then he called General Conners over. “What do you suggest? I was thinking we should have half the men begin evacuating the citizens, and once they finish, have them set up within the village itself. I could join the other half outside the walls, to try and hold the dragon off as long as we could until the people are safe. We’d need ballistae for both sides.”

Conners saluted him and said, “My only concern, Your Majesty, is that it seems like you’re placing yourself too much at risk. We’ve already as good as lost the king and queen; what will happen to Lowenveil if you fall, too?”

Isaac grimaced. Then he shook his head. “I have to do this, General. For myself, if nothing else, and I think it’s important to show the people that I’m not afraid to stand with them when things get difficult.”

Conners looked like she had thoughts on the subject, but she kept them to herself. “Yes, sire!” She began shouting instructions, divvying up the soldiers into the two camps.

Isaac looked out toward the tower. If Rapunzel did come back, and she’d better, would she want to get involved in the fight, too? If Gothel was after her, Isaac wanted to make sure rapunzel was as far away from her as possible. Somewhere safe.

What if Rapunzel and Maleficent worked together? They were both witches, right? Isaac nodded to himself. That should work.

He watched with baited breath for any sign of his sister. He was so nervous, he almost didn’t react when a great wall of thorns sprouted up and surrounded the village, leaving only an opening at the gate.

Aurora didn’t recognize the village. Her father’s army had amassed outside of it, and somehow a great wall off thorns fifteen feet high had grown up all around it. Maleficent’s doing? Did she have a gift for growing plants?

She spotted Isaac and raced toward him. She could feel Gothel closing in on her, but Isaac gave a signal and a barrage of ballista bolts flew over Aurora’s head and impacted against the dragon.

Aurora pulled up next to Isaac. “I’m pretty sure that’s Gothel.” 

“I can see that.” He did seem to be looking at something specific within the dragon. A quirk of having Gothel’s eyesight, perhaps. “Maleficent’s taking care of our defenses; would you go help her?”

Aurora nodded, and walked through the gates in the hedge into the village. On her way, though, she got thinking. Would she get a better chance than this? Maleficent was busy, and no one else was around that would interfere.

She clutched her satchel, and headed for the inn. To her surprise, a second layer of thorns had wrapped themselves tightly around the building, even crawling up and covering the windows. She forced her way inside, only to find Maleficent…

It actually took me a long time to figure out what was going on with Aurora while she was trapped in time, or in the other dimension, or however you want to put it. At this point, all I knew for sure was that it ended with her speaking with the Tower. Then, I had an epiphany. If this happened because she messed with fate, isn’t it like she pulled herself out of alignment with fate? And since fate in this case means the things that happen to you, rather than what you will choose to do yourself (to distinguish between destiny), it means she can’t be affected by anything, but nor can she affect anything else.

…to get back?

She carefully walked past Maleficent and headed upstairs to the room they were keeping her parents. When she reached to open the door, however, her hand passed right through it, like nothing was there.

Aurora shuddered. Then she closed her eyes, braced herself, and stepped through the door.

There they were, asleep. Now, with time frozen, Aurora didn’t even have the rise and fall of their chests to confirm they were still alive. She steeled herself, and reached out to grab their threads of fate. Only… there was nothing to grab. Nothing at all.

Desperately, Aurora rushed over and tried to place her fingers on Hannah’s pulse, forgetting for a second that time had stopped. Only, it wasn’t even that Hannah had no pulse; when Aurora reached for her, her hand passed right through.

That’s when everything clicked for Aurora. She’d accidentally removed herself from fate; nothing could affect her, but she couldn’t affect anything else, either.

Dully, Aurora wandered around the village. She wasn’t sure how long she was at it; it was hard to tell time when nothing around you changed. It could have been fifteen minutes. It felt like days.

She mostly spent time in the room with her parents, though she often visited Isaac out on the battlefield, too. Aurora actually wished she had her paint supplies; she’d actually caught him at a good moment, and he looked quite kingly as he shouted something to his troops. She’d even found the perfect angle, where his outstretched arm framed dragon-Gothel as another round of bolts streaked toward her.

Eventually, though, she decided to go a little farther. She made her way back to the Tower, and was delighted to learn she didn’t get tired. Or hungry. Or randomly collapse because she’d pushed herself too hard. Soon, she started off running, and the feeling was so amazing she could almost forget how screwed she was.

Once she arrived, however, that all vanished. Because there was no more Tower. All that was left was half a wall, no taller than Aurora herself was, and a field of stone and rubble where Gothel, as a dragon, had burst out of it.

(First half of the fight with the dragon)

Isaac confirmed Aurora had made it inside, and then stared at the dragon. The dragon turned her head right and left, sniffing at the air; Isaac thought she seemed confused.

Then the dragon turned to Isaac and her nostrils flared. She roared and rushed toward him.

“Pikes!” Conners yelled, and the two squadrons of pikes, fifty strong each, charged forward from either side and halted her advance. Gothel swiped the claw of her left wing at them, but they managed to divert the attack.

From along the wall, the archers on either side of the gate fired a volley of arrows at the dragon. However, to Isaac’s chagrin, they all bounced off her scales. Isaac had seen those arrows punch through the finest steel armor; what the heck was her hide made out of?

The cavalry on either flank circled around, so they could charge in when an opportunity arose. Meanwhile, Isaac and his guards headed to the right, behind the second squad of pikemen.

Gothel tracked Isaac’s presence, flaring her nostrils now and then. Suddenly she lunged through the squad of pikemen to snap at him, and Isaac barely danced his horse far enough to the side to avoid her. He swung his sword at her face, but much like the archers before him, he was unable to pierce her hide.

“Have the archers retreat to the village!” he shouted, and Conners rushed to carry out his orders. Beside Isaac, the half of the second squadron of pikemen that had neither lost their weapon nor been critically injured split to either side of the dragon’s head and tried to spear her eyes; however, Gothel jerked her head up, beyond the reach of their pikes. The first squadron circled behind her to try to pin her down.

The four squadrons of spearmen repositioned, ready to rush in with their shields of need be. Behind them, two of the ballistae fired; one missed, but the one on the opposite side of the dragon from Isaac glanced a hit on her head, knocking her back a step.

Gothel roared and snapped her head the direction of the ballista, and Isaac saw threads of flame gathering in the back of her throat. His face turned white, and he screamed, “Fire! Get out of the way!”

The ballista crew got the message and barely managed to get away before a stream of flame turned the ballista to ashes. The squadron of spearmen between Gothel and the ballista, however, weren’t so lucky. They got their shields up in time, but many of the men at the front of their formation screamed as the shields in their hands superheated and burned the skin off their arms. A couple even fainted from the heat.

Isaac grimaced, and pulled back with the pikemen from the second squadron. That gave the first cavalry unit room to charge through, and drive their lances into Gothel’s flank. While none of them could pierce her, they were able to knock her off balance. This time, as well, Isaac finally noticed the streams of blue magic swirling under the dragons scales, and the way they focused wherever Gothel was getting attacked.

With a roar, Gothel swiped with her tail. While the cavalry had already cleared past her, the tail did smash into the other squadron of pikemen, and three or four of them flew into the air a ways.

Isaac scowled and ordered, “All pikemen, retreat! Spearmen and cavalry, cover them!”

Gothel cocked her head and turned back toward him. She roared, and Isaac caught a whiff of peppermint mixed with smoke and charcoal. She beat her wings, and the winds knocked him off his horse. He barely rolled out of the way before the claws on her right wing slammed down where he’d fallen.

Two more ballista bolts rocked into her, diverting her attention away from Isaac. She glared up at the one closest to her, and once again sucked in and prepared to spew flames.

“Here it comes again!” Isaac yelled. But before Gothel released it, the second cavalry unit charged in and drove her head up, and the flames blew harmlessly into the sky.

As they passed by, however, they got too close to Gothel’s tail, and with a single swipe she knocked a dozen horsemen off their horses.

A quick glance confirmed that most of the pikemen had finished retreating, other than those that couldn’t move. “Everybody, pull back!” Isaac called. “Behind the hedge!”

The cavalry rode off, and the spearmen locked shields and backed as quickly as they could toward the village gates. Isaac took one last look around, at all the dead and injured they had to leave behind, and cursed under his breath. Then he ran for the gate with everyone else.

This scene takes place just after Hannah and Frederick have sacrificed themselves. I was dissatisfied with the attention I’d given their grieving up to that point, and wanted to expand on it. The next two scenes are actually the bits I was most proud of today. I felt very happy with them.

Phillip knocked on Isaac’s door. When no one answered, Phillip cracked it and poked his head in.

The room was completely dark. No candles, and the shutters were closed, not that it mattered this time of night. Isaac himself sat on the bed, slouched over so his elbows rested on his knees, staring down at nothing.

“Yo! Still living?”

Isaac started. “Oh, it’s just you, Phillip.”

“Who else would I be?”

Isaac shrugged and returned to staring at the floor.

“What the heck are you doing all alone in the dark, anyway?”

Isaac clenched his eyes shut. “Ever since Aurora gave me that fairy’s sight, everything is… weird. I see things. Too many things. And none of it makes sense.” He flopped backward onto the bed. “Even without that, nothing makes sense.”

Phillip plopped onto the bed opposite him. “Wanna talk about it?”

For a while, Isaac couldn’t find the words. “It’s like… I thought it’d be different, you know? I’ve searched for her for years. My whole life, in a way. I thought it’d be so amazing when we found her, and everyone would be happy, and… Instead, Mom and Dad are all but dead. My eyes are going to drive me insane, and technically, I should’ve been blind. And Aurora… Rapunzel…” He snorted. “Well, whatever I was expecting from my sister, she is not it.”

He sat up and really looked at Phillip for the first time. “It’s like, the moment we found her, my whole life fell apart. Does that make sense?”

Phillip shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, I get that. Things kinda suck.” He leaned back. “Still, though, if things suck this bad for you, how much worse to they gotta be for her?”

Isaac’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, think about it. You lost two parents, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t she just lose three? Maybe four, if you count the Tower. Heck, she blinded Gothel herself, and that was for your sake. It’s not like she wanted us to find her, either. You still have your home, your friends, everything else in life. What does she have?”

That hurt. Isaac didn’t want to admit it. He knew Phillip had a point, but didn’t he have a right to grieve, too?

Phillip let the silence rest for several minutes, then lay down to go to sleep. “It doesn’t gotta be right away. But sometime soon, you oughtta talk to her. You’re all the family either of you has left right now.”

Isaac didn’t get much sleep that night.

Aurora was heading outside when Isaac caught her. “Hey, I think we should talk.”

Now? Aurora sighed. She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

They headed out to a little meadow not far from town. Aurora watched Isaac and tried to figure out what this was about. He kept fiddling with his hands, or pacing back and forth.

Finally got fed up. “Is this about what happened with Mom and Dad?”

Isaac blanched, then nodded. “I’m just… still trying to process everything.”

Aurora nodded. They waited a moment longer, then Isaac sat down and looked at his hands clasped in front of him. “A lot has happened since we met. You blinded the mother you grew up with. I see things that make no sense. Our parents are so deeply asleep, they might as well be dead. I guess…” He sighed and looked up at Aurora. “I wondered how you were holding up.”

Aurora rubbed her arms. “I… I don’t know.” She looked at Isaac. “I was supposed to be dead right now. I’ve lived most of my life coming to terms with that. And now… that’s gone.” She laughed bitterly. “I’ve screwed everything up, haven’t I? It’s like I told you. It would’ve been better just to leave me in my Tower.”

For a very long time, Isaac didn’t answer. It struck Aurora that he might actually agree. She’d screwed up his life just as badly as she had her own, after all.

Eventually, he sighed. “Rapunzel–”

Aurora flinched, and he paused. When he didn’t continue right away, she asked, “Actually… Would you call me Aurora from now on? I know what I said before, but…”

Isaac’s eyes widened, but his expression softened into a smile. “Yeah, I can do that.”

After a moment, Aurora spoke again. “Sorry. About getting so… angsty, I guess? I just… I feel lost.”

Isaac scooched around and hugged her shoulders. “Well, you’re stuck with me, now. Like it or not, you’re kind of the only family I have left.”

Aurora chuckled and poked him in the side. “You don’t suppose they offer exchanges on little brothers somewhere, do they?”

They both laughed at that, and just enjoyed each other’s company in the afternoon sunlight.

<-Rapunzel Previous

Rapunzel Next->

Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)

23 November 2022

Looking back over my notes, it seems this was right before I let myself relax about my old goal of 40k words, and made a new, more achievable goal to finish my draft before Nanowrimo ended. That helped things flow a lot better. This was also the day I realized I’d filled things in enough that I had to start making lists of what scenes or transitions I needed to write.

With the whole scenario around Aurora collapsing, I’m worried people will think I’m siding with Isaac, because he was “right” and Aurora did collapse. I don’t, necessarily. I think he kind of mishandled the situation; Aurora would have been much more amenable to the idea of staying put if he hadn’t approached it the way he had. This doesn’t excuse Aurora, either, of course. They’re both kind of dumb with this. But in a believable, “I can’t really blame them” kind of way. that said, I might make better use of the inherent time crunch of Aurora’s impending death to motivate her to at least see the castle once.

Then a wall slammed up into the dragon’s lower jaw from underneath, directing her attack away from Isaac and Phillip and providing them a shield. Aurora slid in from behind it and stopped beside Isaac. “I’m sorry, but nothing I’m trying seems to be working! She’s blocking my magic somehow!”

“Don’t worry, you’re helping plenty. Try to time your next attack just before the ballistae fire at her!” 

Aurora nodded, then moved away and tried to divert Gothel’s attention off of Isaac and Phillip. Isaac took the chance to look over his friend; he’d want a doctor to take a look just to be safe, but it seemed to be nothing more than a nasty concussion and a few broken ribs. At the very least, Phillip was still breathing.

Isaac heaved a sigh of relief and turned around just as a trio of ballista bolts dug into the dragon’s flank. The dragon screamed and swiped at Aurora in front of her, but Aurora diverted the attack with the Tower’s walls.

The blue humanoid core that was Gothel’s main self began backing away from Aurora, moving through the dragon’s body to somewhere closer to Isaac. Isaac quietly drew his sword and snuck closer, and when he got a chance, he drove his sword between the dragon’s scales directly into Gothel’s core self.

There was a momentary pause, and then the dragon began to writhe as blue smoke poured out from all its wounds. Isaac barely avoided the thing’s tail as it slammed the ground and buildings nearby.

Over the next ten to fifteen seconds, the form of the dragon shrank and faded away, leaving only a dark haired woman with Isaac’s sword in her back.

Isaac collapsed backwards and sat down next to Phillip, and just stared up at the sky. He couldn’t help the silly grin that spread over his face. They’d survived.

Once the dragon faded away and only Gothel remained, that’s when it really struck Aurora that this was real, it was really her.

Aurora walked over and pulled the sword out of Gothel’s back, then turned her body over so she could at least face the sky. Aurora’s heart churned. This was the woman she’d called “mother” for all those years. And she’d killed her.

Sure, Isaac was the one to actually do it. And at the time, Gothel was actively trying to kill Aurora, herself. But Aurora couldn’t help feeling guilty, and also that she’d just lost something very special to her.

She wasn’t sure if tears were mixed with the raindrops on her face. She wasn’t sure if Gothel deserved them if they were. Regardless, she wiped her face clean. “Whatever afterlife fairies might go to, if there even is one, I hope you’re at peace.” She closed Gothel’s eyes, then shifted so she held her knees tight against her chest.

Isaac watched her, and after a few moments passed, he asked, “What’s on your mind?”

Aurora shrugged. “I guess it feels like I’m a bad luck charm. Or worse. At least when it comes to parents. Frederick and Hannah are in a deep coma, and might never wake up. The Tower was ripped apart when Gothel came to chase after me. And as for Gothel herself, well…” She gestured to the corpse next to her. “It kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

(After escaping the Tower, as Gothel is turning into a dragon, in the version where they don’t see it happen)

The trip back was relatively uneventful. They spent most of the journey chatting about random thigs, especially the King Arthur novel series. Phillip recommended a few other novels as well, which Aurora intended to read once they got back home.

Aurora and Phillip could almost see the castle walls when a large shadow passed overhead. They looked up, and their eyes nearly bugged out when they saw the deep blue dragon soaring above them. “What the heck is it now?” Phillip said.

Then it landed a few hundred feet from them and began to swing its head left and right, sniffing at the air. When she looked more closely, Aurora realized that its eyes were milky white, and a horrible conclusion occurred to her. “Gothel?”

As soon as she spoke, the dragon’s head fixated on her. Only a moment later, Aurora and Phillip urged their horses to rush to the side, just before a blast of fire tore through the space they’d just been standing in.

“You run ahead and warn the city,” Aurora yelled. “Tell Isaac; he can summon the army and evacuate people or something!”

“What about you?” Phillip shouted back.

“I’ll keep her distracted,” Aurora replied. “It’s me she wants anyway!”

Phillip looked like he’d just bitten something extraordinarily bitter, but he nodded and wheeled his horse around. “If you die, Isaac and Maleficent are both gonna kill me. So don’t die!”

“Don’t plan on it!”

And with that, Phillip rode off.

The next hour or so felt like an eternity. Aurora pulled every trick she could think of to dodge, distract, and outrun the dragon-Gothel. Eventually, she decided her luck was running thin, and she made a break for the northern gates of the capital.

(After Aurora has left the Tower, on their way to the capital)

An hour later, though, and that tightness had turned to chest pain. Rapunzel started coughing here and there, though she did her best to hide it. Still, it wasn’t too long before Isaac pulled back alongside her. “Are you alright?”

Rapunzel faked a smile. “Yeah, I’ll be…” She coughed into her fist, then continued. “I’ll be fine.”

Isaac gave her a worried look. “Are you sure? We can stop and take a break, if you need us to.”

Rapunzel paused, then glanced down the road. “How far to the next town?”

Isaac looked over to Phillip, who replied, “It’s about a half hour. Maybe forty-five minutes.”

“I should be good until then.” Rapunzel started hacking again, then smiled weakly at Isaac. “But maybe once we get there, we should stop and rest for a while.”

“Alright.” There was clear doubt in Isaac’s eyes, but he didn’t press the issue, and pulled ahead again.

Now that he wasn’t watching for a moment, Rapunzel grimaced and clutched at her chest. “Thirty minutes, I only have to last thirty minutes.”

Her vision started to go white, but Rapunzel was so focused on staying conscious she didn’t notice. Then something hard crashed into her right side, and it took Rapunzel a moment to realize she’d fallen off her horse. The last thing she saw was Isaac jumping off his horse and running toward her, and then everything went black.

When she woke up, Rapunzel wasn’t sure where she was or what was happening. After a moment, however, she vaguely remembered falling off her horse; this must be an inn room somewhere. She sat up and looked around.

Isaac sat in a far corner of the room. He looked sullen, and bags had started to form under his eyes.

Rapunzel bit her lip. She was almost afraid to call out to him. “H-hey.”

Isaac’s eyes snapped to hers, and first shock, and then relief washed over his face. Then his expression hardened, and he glared at her; really glared, not the exasperated kind he’d given her during their banter while she was in the Tower. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Rapunzel wasn’t sure what to say. “I… I guess I didn’t want to worry you.”

There was a beat where he didn’t respond. Then he threw up his hands and said sarcastically, “Well, that worked wonderfully!” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I even asked you about it. You said you were fine.”

“I know. I know, it’s just… I wanted to prove I could do it, you know? Even without Gothel’s magic keeping me ‘healthy’.”

Isaac gestured to her and the bed. “Well, apparently, you can’t.”

Rapunzel flinched and shrank into herself. She wanted to argue, but what could she say? Here she was. He was right.

Isaac saw the expression on her face, and his own softened. “I’m sorry. That’s not… It’s not what I meant.”

“But it’s the truth.” Rapunzel couldn’t quite keep the pout out of her voice.

Isaac scowled. He took a deep breath. “So what do you want to do? If you do still want to keep pushing forward, we’ll need to come up with a plan to make sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard. But if you want to stay and wait here, that works, too.”

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22 November 2022

Battle scenes are both a lot of fun, and really difficult to write well, I think.

This one’s interesting, because while I was planning out the other half of this battle, the stuff that happened before Isaac headed into town, I came up with a whole bunch of other thoughts and ideas how this could go that might make it so much better. For example, what is Maleficent doing? Why is she prioritizing that over a freaking dragon, especially when that dragon is one of her personal enemies? So I plan on getting Maleficent involved. (In the first half I have a couple excuses ready, but they don’t hold up for the second half.) There’s a few other quirks, too. So while I am moderately proud of this scene, the final version will look nothing like this.

Isaac raced back through the main gate. How were they going to kill this thing? Could you even kill a fairy turned dragon?

As he ran, he watched in horror as dragon Gothel swooped overhead and crashed into the main office of the city watch, where one of the ballistae had been firing at her. The soldiers he’d stationed east of the gate began firing arrows at her but the vast majority bounced off her scales, and the few that didn’t only served to annoy her further.

Gothel roared, then summoned her fire breath into the city at the archers. Isaac didn’t have a good view; he hoped the soldiers had been able to find cover.

As Isaac kept running down the main street, a trio of ballista bolts flew and hit the dragon. In response, Gothel roared and beat her wings. Just when it looked like she would dive for the ballista on top of the merchants’ guild headquarters, though, Isaac called out, “Oi, you dumb lizard! Over here!”

Gothel’s head snapped to him; her nostrils flared as she tried to pinpoint his exact location.

Isaac turned off onto one of the side streets to the west, past a cobbler’s shop. A moment later, he was showered in shoes and splinters and Gothel burst through the roof and out the front wall to snap at him.

Her teeth missed him by inches when he fell, and Isaac rolled back to his feet and took off running. He curled around behind the tailor’s shop as the soldiers released another barrage of arrows, and another round of ballista bolts slammed against the scales on her back, cracking a few of them.

As Isaac watched, however, blue streams of Gothel’s magic flowed under the cracked scales and repaired them. Isaac cursed under his breath.

He didn’t have long to consider the implications, though, as Gothel unleashed her fire breath right at him. It torched the tailor’s shop, and Isaac had to back away from the building because of the heat.

He darted through an alleyway to try and regroup with the soldiers stationed in the plaza nearby. Gothel landed on the remains of the tailor’s shop, causing it to collapse, and after sniffing the air, she pointed her snout straight down the alleyway after Isaac. Her jaws opened, and Isaac could see the flicker in the back of her throat that signaled her flame breath.

[Aurora’s entrance]

Isaac felt so overwhelmed all he could do was laugh. When he could speak again, he said, “We can’t get through her scales. If you have some way to weaken her defenses or even divert her magic away from protecting herself, that would be amazing.”

“Can do.” Aurora nodded, and then began riding her bit of the Tower as it flowed around to Gothel’s other side, to try to lead her back toward the walls. “Oi! It’s me again! I’m over here!”

Gothel spun around, and her tail smashed through a couple of the nearby houses. For the first time during the battle, Isaac could understand what she was saying when she roared, “Rapunzel!”

Isaac ducked to avoid the debris, and made it to the plaza where the rest of the army had set up. He found Conners there, and told her, “Aurora is going to try to weaken the dragon’s defenses. On my signal, fire everything we’ve got at her.”

“Yes, sire!” As Conners motioned to spread the orders, another round of bolts slammed into the back of the dragon’s head, to no avail.

Isaac made eye contact with Aurora and nodded, raising hes fist. She nodded back, and her eyes began to flare purple as she reached out to Gothel.

Gothel roared at Aurora, and her magic condensed into a barrier between them. Recognizing the chance, Isaac swung his fist down, and a rain of arrows pierced Gothel’s hide, actually doing some damage.

Just then, on the other side of the dragon, Isaac saw Phillip rushing in to rejoin the fight. Isaac’s eyes widened and he shouted, “What are you doing?”

He didn’t know whether Phillip couldn’t hear him or just ignored him, but either way, he charged in and plunged his sword into the back of Gothel’s hind leg.

Gothel roared in pain, and slammed her tail into Phillip, smashing him into the building. She spun toward him as Isaac rushed to his side, and lunged toward them, teeth bared, before Isaac could even check his vitals.

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18 November 2022

Fridays have generally been pretty good for me when it comes to writing during Nanowrimo. Even though I didn’t get as much as I had the week before, there’s still a lot I got done.

As you will see, I initially planned on having Gothel burst out of the Tower while they’re still there. Then I remembered that the capital is a week journey or more away, especially given Aurora’s health issues, and it didn’t feel realistic for them to keep dodging a dragon for that long. So I changed it to where Aurora wounds Gothel (with the Tower’s help… or such was the plan, at least), and it’s only later, when they’ve nearly arrived, that Gothel snaps and busts out her dragon form.

Of course, now I’ve changed things where they’re not even going to the capital, necessarily, but another village a day or two away. I haven’t decided how I’m going to change things because of that; no matter what happens, Aurora still wounds Gothel, but I might change it back so she bursts out right as they leave. That’s all business for after Nanowrimo, though.

Also, on the clip with Maleficent… I’d initially planned on that happening before her first duel with Aurora. And then somehow, in the short span of writing it, I forgot that, and started acting like it was after that duel, but before their next confrontation. And while I portray the Tower as female here, when I considered options - in particular the idea that the Tower might sacrifice themselves in someway for Aurora, whether to get her out of the frozen time state or to save her parents - I decided it would be better to have it be a male parental figure, this time. Hannah already represented the sacrifice of mothers, and I wanted to show that’s not a gender exclusive.

Aurora burst through the doorway onto the stairs. “Reception room, please!”

The stairs began moving up like an escalator, and the Tower created various walls and doors behind her to block Gothel’s way. Aurora took a second to catch her breath, then she began to head up the moving staircase.

Behind her, Gothel’s screams and shouts grew more and more bestial. Just as Aurora reached the reception room, Gothel screamed, “Shut the windows!”

Aurora groaned when the window sealed itself shut. She took only a split second to consider her options before she darted back up the stairs for her painting studio.

Every step Gothel took now shook the entire Tower. Aurora prayed desperately that the secret entrance Isaac had used was still there; when she saw the doorway in the back, she heaved a sigh of relief. Once she made it through the door, the stairs had been converted to a steep slide, and without a second thought Aurora hurled herself down it.

Gothel’s voice roared down the passage after her. “Even the Tower… The Tower’s helping her… She’s stolen the Tower from me!”

There was a great crash, and the walls around Aurora started to collapse. She screamed, but a moment later the Tower dumped her outside at the bottom. When she looked back, though, she was shocked to see a dragon had burst out of the top of the Tower.

When animals had started running out of the Tower, Phillip was confused. Then he recognized little Fenrir and scooped the puppy up; maybe Aurora had decided to let them loose, since she wouldn’t be coming back to the Tower?

A moment later, the Tower began to shake, and piles of books and things started coming out. Phillip hurried to pack as many of them as would fit onto the horses; in particular, he made a point to grab all of the King Arthur series.

Then he watched in fear and amazement as a massive dragon with dark blue scales burst from the top of the Tower, sending stone flying everywhere, a moment before Aurora rolled out of the base of it.

She seemed as stunned by the dragon as Phillip was, and one stone came within inches of crashing into her. Phillip snapped out of it and grabbed her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here!”

Aurora nodded and the two mounted their horses. Unfortunately, the dragon noticed them and they narrowly avoided a spurt of flame as they fled into the forest.

(After Aurora’s duel with Maleficent, while she’s stuck in broken time.)

Aurora sank to her knees at the sight. This was her fault, wasn’t it? After she’d wounded Gothel. The dam finally broke, and tears flowed down her cheeks. She’d deserved getting trapped like this. Everyone would have been better off if she’d never been born.

“Don’t cry, little one.”

Aurora gasped and spun around. A tall woman in a slender silver dress stood there, hands clasped in front of her. She had dirty-blonde hair, pulled back in a bun. Aurora had never seen the woman before, but something about her seemed so familiar. “Who are you?”

The woman’s smile turned a little impish. “You don’t recognize me?”

Aurora shook her head. The woman chuckled. “I can’t exactly blame you.” She gestured to the rubble all around them. “This was me.”

“You… wait.” Aurora’s eyes widened. “The Tower?”

“That’s right.”

“I… You’re alive!? I mean, I always knew you were somewhat alive, but not like this. Alive alive.”

Tower chuckled. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose.”

“How…” Aurora slumped back. After a moment, she asked, “Do you have a name?”

Tower shrugged. “It’s been so long. Tower works well enough for me.”

Aurora ran her fingers through her hair, still trying to process everything. The Tower looked behind her. “I see you finally had your hair cut. Properly, I mean, not just hacked off the way your brother did when you first left.”

“Yeah… yeah.” A small blush colored Aurora’s cheeks. “I guess it must have been pretty tiring, hauling all that hair around everywhere?”

“I was a tower. I can’t say I had any muscles that would get tired.”

That got a chuckle out of Aurora, but then she frowned. “What were you before? I mean, I assume you weren’t always a tower, were you?”

Tower shook her head. “No. But whatever I was before is so old, so distant and long ago, that I do not remember much of anything.” She tousled Aurora’s hair. “Not that I care much about that. Taking care of you has been happiness enough.”

That sent a jolt of pride through Aurora, though it soon faded. Auror curled in on herself and leaned against the Tower. “I don’t know why. I’m pretty sure I’m a terrible person.”

Tower frowned and looked down at her. “What makes you say that?”

So Aurora told her the story of everything that had happened since she’d left the first time. Of collapsing on the road, and facing the fact she was born sick. Of meeting her birth parents, and the way they’d sacrificed themselves for her. The way she felt guilty, since she’d never even tried to reach them before, when they’d been searching for her for so long. Of the ideas she’d had with fate-spinning, and the warning after warning both Maleficent and Isaac had given her. The way Isaac and everyone else in the kingdom were in the middle of fighting a dragon. All because of her. And how all of that had ended with her, here, trapped in a moment of time. 

“Sometimes, it feels like the world would be better off without me,” she concluded.

(Sometime after Aurora and Maleficent’s duel)

The hedge of thorns wasn’t just to keep Aurora out. No, Maleficent worked best in isolation, and this was the most natural way to her to block out the outside world. Even with Gothel rampaging around as a dragon just outside, Maleficent could focus on what needed to be done.

And she needed to focus; like she’d told Aurora earlier, fate-spinning was delicate work. And she would not let Hannah and her family suffer simply because Maleficent carelessly chose to clip a thread sixteen years ago.

As for what would happen when Hannah woke up… Maleficent would deal with that when the time came. Hopefully that fool girl would find a way back on her own; even Maleficent wasn’t sure she’d be able to save her if she couldn’t.

(Back to the chase in the Tower)

As she ran, Aurora noticed the lengths of her old hair running all along the stairway, and she got an idea. She hurried on to the paint room.

Gothel struggled to keep her emotions under control. Her thought flashed from that witch, the one who stole away her sisters, to Rapunzel. Then she shook her head. No, they were not the same. …Weren’t they?

She called out again, “Rapunzel! Come out, come out, wherever you are. Everything can be alright again! It must. So it’s not the time for games, dear!”

Soon, she arrived at the door to Rapunzel’s paint studio and heaved a sigh of relief. Of course! She was just working on a new project. Everything would be the same, everything would be back to normal. Rapunzel would still be her Rapunzel, not that witchy one.

She opened the door and sniffed; yes, Rapunzel was here. When Gothel stepped into the room, though, something, it felt like a rope or a bundle of string, pulled across the doorway, and Gothel tripped.

Above her, Rapunzel’s voice was firm. “My name is Aurora. My mother gave it to me. And don't you forget it.”

Then something solid struck the side of Gothel’s head, and she fell unconscious.

Gothel awoke back in her bed several days later. The Tower had prepared food for her, but she had no appetite.

“My name is Aurora.”

Gothel flashed back to an image of a baby, and a king and queen. Aurora. Then that witch, from all those years ago, had appeared.

“No! No! Stop!” Gothel clutched her head and tried to shove the memories back down. She didn’t want to remember. She didn’t want to see Johanna, now wrinkly and gap-toothed, giggling like a madwoman. She didn’t want to see the drool dripping form the corner of Agatha’s mouth, or Laura cowering in the corner at the slightest sound.

“My mother gave it to me. And don’t you forget it.”

No. No, that can’t be right. She was Rapunzel’s mother, wasn’t she? Hadn’t she looked after her all these years?

Or had she? Memories started coming again, more recent ones. Times when Rapunzel and the Tower had calmed her down when she had an episode. The way Rapunzel never came to her when she needed help; she went to the Tower. Even when Rapunzel was a babe, when Gothel didn’t know what she needed, it was the Tower that fed her, changed her diapers, taken care of the child.

The Tower. Gothel scowled. It was supposed to do her bidding, and yet with a wave of her hand Rapunzel had summoned doors and walls to bar her way. Then she remembered the boy - Isaac. How had he gotten in? How had he landed safely after Gothel threw him out?

Gothel’s mil-white eyes widened. It was the Tower. The Tower had turned against her; it had chosen Rapunzel over her.

The images of Maleficent and Rapunzel blended together again, and this time Gothel didn’t fight to keep them separate. Everyone betrayed her. Even the Tower. She let out a roar, and began to transform.

(Shortly after leaving the Tower the first time)

“Are we almost there yet, by any chance?”

Isaac and Phillip shared a look, then stared at Rapunzel, incredulous. “You really never have set foot outside your Tower, have you?” said Isaac.

“What? I thought it was a perfectly reasonable question,” Rapunzel said, growing defensive. “You two have been going back and forth over the last two weeks, so it can’t be too far.”

“Oh, you mean the inn,” Phillip said. “Then sure, we’re close. It’s only about another hour or so.”

Rapunzel almost stopped in her tracks. Another hour? The inn? And that was considered close?

Isaac glanced at her and sighed. “Look, the castle is about a week away on foot. If we can get you a horse in the village, that’ll cut it down to four days or so.” Then he narrowed his eyes and looked at her. “Except… you’ve never ridden a horse, have you?”

Rapunzel looked away. “So what if I haven’t?”

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17 November 2022

Well, here it is. We’re finally caught up, or at least as caught up as I’m going to get. I want to keep that one week buffer to give myself time to type everything in after I’ve written it.

At some point, I realized that after Maleficent’s discussion with Isaac on the dangers of fate-spinning, and considering his own stubbornness, there’s no way he’d agree to help Aurora figure it out. He would, however, be likely to send Phillip instead, and Phillip’s in so far over his head that he’s pretty much willing to roll with whatever.

Phillip smiled. “Aurora it is, then.” He scrunched his eyebrows together. “You do have a plan, though, right? To make sure you don’t vanish everyone?”

[skipping how she convinces him for now]

“Alright, then.” Phillip leaned back. “What do you need me to do?”

Aurora stared up at him in shock.

“Oi, don’t give me that look. You’re my friend, and Isaac sent me to keep an eye on you. Least I could do is help you try, right?”

Tears welled up in Aurora’s eyes, and she laughed. “Come on, then. Let’s go.”

The trip there went a lot faster than the trip back had been. Part of that was because it was just the two of them but part of it also had to do with the fact they better understood Aurora’s limits. Soon they arrived at the forest where the Tower was hidden away, and then the tower itself.

“Would it be better if I waited out here?” Phillip asked. 

Aurora nodded. “I’ll try to be quick. The Tower will let you know if something goes wrong.” She moved to the base of the Tower, which opened up to let her in.

Gothel had shut herself in her room ever since that witch had blinded her. She’d barely been able to eat, though the Tower provided plenty of food for her, and sleep evaded her. Her daughter, her Rapunzel, was like them. Like that woman. The one who’d taken her sisters away.

Gothel could have used the boy’s sight to at least partially heal herself, but she did not. She wanted nothing of his. It must be his fault. He’d changed Rapunzel somehow. Gothel snarled, then forced herself to calm back down.

Rapunzel’s words dug at her heart, but Gothel couldn’t understand them. So she stayed in her room, cycling through all the negative thoughts, until she caught a whiff of something familiar.

Rapunzel had returned to the Tower.

Edited bits to get the following:

“Can I leave the kingdom in your hands for a few days?”

“That would be unwise.” Maleficent shook her head. “Even were I well-regarded in the kingdom, which I am not, this is a critical time in your young reign. You need to prove that you are not a puppet, whether to me or anyone else.”

Isaac grimaced, and clenched his fist as he looked out over the parapet. Was there anyone else he could send?

A moment of inspiration struck him, and he gestured to one of his guards. “Please fetch my my friend, Phillip Charmande.”

Phillip didn’t really understand what Isaac had been talking about. Something about cobwebs, and fate, and his sister. All Phillip knew was that Rapunzel had gotten herself in over her head somehow, and Isaac wanted him to watch out for her.

He’d barely traveled two or three hours when he ran into Rapunzel off the side of the road. She was breathing heavily, and Phillip figured the ache in her chest was back. Her horse had been tethered beside her.

“You know, your brother was worried enough before he thought of how weak you get,” Phillip said. “Wouldn’t it have been better to let him know what you were doing?”

Rapunzel started and looked up at him. “Phillip?”

Phillip grinned at her. “In the flesh!”

“But… How? Why? I didn’t think anyone would notice–”

“That you left?” Phillip looked at her askance. “You do know that you’re a princess right? Even if you don’t want to be. And where you were gone for so long… People notice you now.”

Rapunzel scowled and looked away. Phillip dismounted and walked up to her. “Why didn’t you ask someone to go with you? You collapsed a couple times on the trip back, didn’t you? What if that happened again?”

“I, just… I don’t know.”

“Uh huh. And what’s all this about people disappearing from existence and fate and cobwebs and things?”

Rapunzel sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“Yeah, I got that much.” When she didn’t say anything, Phillip said, “Look, Rapunzel–”

“It’s Aurora.”

Phillip blinked. “Huh?”

Rapunzel - Aurora - looked away and rubbed her arms. “You can call me Aurora. It seemed rude not to use the name my parents gave me after they… well.”

Phillip smiled. “Aurora it is, then.” He scrunched his eyebrows together. “You do have a plan, though, right? To make sure you don’t vanish everyone?”

“Not…exactly.” She looked down the road. “I know Moth - Gothel had some books about fate-spinning in her hidden library. So I was going to find them and see if I could figure anything out.”

“Alright, then.” Phillip leaned back. “What are we waiting for?”

Aurora stared up at him in shock.

“Oi, don’t give me that look…

Back to new stuff

Aurora crept through the Tower. She didn’t know where Gothel was, or if she was even still in the Tower, and she didn’t particularly want to find out. Even in the best-case scenario, Aurora didn’t think that encounter was going to be pleasant. It still felt weird, though, coming back like this. Kind of like coming home from a long vacation, only to discover you weren’t welcome anymore.

She made her way up the stairs to the meadow, and was surprised to find the animals still there. She was pleased to see they were well fed, and Fenrir was far more energetic now that Gothel wasn’t stealing his health to cover Aurora’s.

“Say, Tower,” Aurora said. “Would it be possible to let them out? When I leave, I mean. I don’t want them to stay here alone, and definitely not alone with her.”

The ground rippled in a way Aurora knew meant yes. She smiled and said, “Thank you.”

From there, she made her way through the Tower to the library. She went to a very specific bookshelf in the back left, pushed the switch, and [magical thing to open the door]. The bookshelf swung free, and she entered Gothel’s hidden library.

Aurora looked around at the piles of books and scattered documents everywhere. That was the downside to this place; nothing was organized the way it was in the main library.

Fortunately, Aurora had an idea of where to look. Soon, she was skimming through documents, looking for anything that might be useful. In particular, she looked for any references to fate-spinning or lifting curses.

Whenever she found something that looked promising, she grinned and stuffed it in her satchel. After an hour or so, it was already full to bursting, but Aurora wanted to look for a bit longer, just in case there was anything else she could use.

Then the Tower banged the door open and closed to warn her about something. Aurora jumped, then snuck into the main library and peered around the main bookshelves to the main entrance.

There, Gothel was sniffing the air, turning her head this way and that. Her eyes were milky white, and she kept one hand on a wall or bookshelf as she walked. “Somewhere, somewhere, here,” she said, her voice almost sing-song. “My Rapunzel is here somewhere. The nose knows, and I can smell her.”

Aurora’s breath caught in her throat. Had she ever seen Gothel this bad? She took a deep breath and began to stealth through towards the doors.

Then Gothel paused, and turned straight toward Aurora. If Aurora hadn’t known better, she would have sworn Gothel could see her. Gothel moved to block Aurora’s path to the door. With a snap of her fingers, the bookshelves joined together to keep Aurora from slipping through them and past Gothel.

A horrid grin spread on Gothel’s face, and she began walking down the aisle in Aurora’s direction. “My darling Rapunzel has finally come home! But she’s been a naughty, naughty girl. For she’s gone and become a witch, and even stolen my eyesight away!”

Aurora backed away, slowly at first and then more an more frantically. Soon, she’d backed herself up against the wall, while Gothel slowly advanced on her.

“So what will we do with this naughty girl? What should be done now she’s become a witch?”

Gothel reached a hand out as if to stroke Aurora’s cheek. Aurora barely held back a scream, and desperately reached behind her, hoping for a way out to appear. The Tower obliged, and Aurora turned the new doorknob and practically fell back into the hallway. She slammed the door in Gothel’s face, then raced down the stairs.

Stone clattered on stone when Gothel forced the Tower to open the way for her. “Dear Rapunzel, is my dear Rapunzel trying to run away? Where do you think you can go?” She whistled a tune, and a few steps ahead of Aurora, the floor slammed up into the ceiling, cutting her off. 

Aurora scowled and shouted, “Tower!” To her right, a door appeared, and she rushed through it into the lake room. She began sprinting along the shore; it was only moments, however, before she started to wheeze, and the pain in her chest returned.

Behind her, Gothel slowly pursued her, walking at the same even gait. “Dearest Rapunzel, such a sick little thing. All I wanted was to nurse her and make it better. And yet she blinded me.”

Aurora glanced back and yelped. Gothel’s face had transformed into a bestial snarl, and leathery wings sprouted from her back. The nails on her hands lengthened into claws. “Yet she blinded me! Why, Rapunzel? WHY!?”

She leaped into the air and dove at Aurora. Aurora rolled to the side, narrowly escaping her claws, and kept running. The Tower created a door in the wall closest to her and stretched the room to make it even easier to reach.

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14 November 2022

Whenever I get ready to do something official, I really need to study up and plan out better how to portray all the issues Gothel’s got going on. I tried to show a hint of her delusions and hyper-fixation on Rapunzel, but I don’t know if those are actually symptoms to anything real. And I’d rather not handwave everything off as “she’s a fairy, they don’t have to work the same way”. That just feels cheap.

Also, now that I’m writing the events that take place around that time, the scene with Aurora running from the dragon is very much outdated. None of it wound up happening that way. I’d still like to keep pieces of it, though.

…down the blue fairy.

Gothel glared at the two as she approached them in the room they’d booked at the inn. “You were messing with my spells; you tried to get to Rapunzel. Why?”

Both Lena and Frieda vehemently shook their heads as they cowered in the corner. Frieda said, “N-no, we weren’t there for Rapunzel! It wasn’t our fault, anyway! We opened a tiny pathway, sure, but as soon as we recognized it was your magic, Gothel, we put it back and left!”

Lena nodded. “And we only did that much because the prince forced us to!”

Gothel looked confused when Frieda said her name, but as soon as Lena mentioned the prince, her eyes narrowed. “What prince?”

Lena and Frieda exchanged glances. Did the two boys manage to slip past her somehow on the way in, then? “Prince Isaac. You know, from Loweveil? He was looking for his sister Aurora.”

For a long moment, Gothel just frowned at them, her brow furrowed. Then everything clicked into place, and her eyes went wide. “They’ve come to take her away from me!”

She turned and rushed out of the inn, and all the butterflies she’d used to track Lena and Frieda vanished. The two fairies looked at each other, and couldn’t do anything except laugh weakly as they lay there on the floor.

As soon as he got back to the tavern, Isaac sent letters to both his father in Lowenveil’s capital and his mother, who’d gone to Venwald to visit Queen Maleficent. Over the next two weeks, he visited Aur… Rapunzel every day. Some days he brought Phillip with him; other times he didn’t.

Frequently, they chatted about whatever came to mind. Sometimes he (tried) to help her take care of the animals; other times, he watched her paint in silence. He was awed by her talent with a brush; she might be one of the best painters in the world soon, if she wasn’t already.

One day, however, as they chatted in the lake room, a tiny pillar popped out of the ground with a blinking yellow light atop it. Rapunzel’s face went pale, and she turned to Isaac. “You need to hide! Now!”

“Why? What is it?”

“Mother’s back!” She grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her up the stairs.

“Shouldn’t we just talk to her, then?”

Rapunzel shook her head. “Even on a good day, she doesn’t react well to mentions of my old family. She was already unusually agitated when she left; who knows how she’d react if she actually saw you.”

She opened the door to the paint studio. “Stay in here. Mother doesn’t typically come in here unless I’m working on something.” She knocked on the wall and addressed the Tower. “Once the coast is clear, please help sneak him out of here.”

She turned to leave, but Isaac caught her wrist. “When can I come back? I’m not leaving you alone here forever, and you still need to meet Mom and Dad.”

Rapunzel bit her lower lip. “I’ll give you a signal. Now, hide!”

When Aurora had rushed in on horseback, Isaac had just a split second to feel relieved she was safe before he wondered how she could attract so much trouble so quickly.

How else could you describe being chased by a dragon, after all?

Or, at least it looked like a dragon at first. When Isaac looked closer, though, it was almost as if he could see into the dragon to its center, where a blind woman in a blue dress howled and cried.

“Is that… Gothel?” he wondered aloud.

“Well perceived.”

Isaac spun around to find Maleficent with a grim expression on her face. He turned back to the draconic Gothel. “How is she able to track my sister’s location so well? Isn’t she blind?”

“There are other senses beyond just sight. I’ve heard dragons have quite the keen sense of smell, for example.” Maleficent made a wry smile. “I suppose that is proof the princess does not think the way I do. I would have taken everything and crippled her.”

Isaac didn’t reply. Instead, he ordered his men to arm the ballistae, and got ready to let Aurora in through the front gate.

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Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)

11 November 2022

This, at least up through today (the 21st), is my most prolific day so far this month. Including some edits to earlier entries, I broke 2500 words this day. Probably not that much for the people who can actually hit 50k, but I felt pretty proud of myself.

Most of that was a lot of short spurts, and I was all over the place writing. I have scenes from many different sections of the book. I also did some background work (for example, naming all twelve of Gothel’s “sisters” and the gifts they gave Maleficent, so I could reference that). I might add more commentary throughout.

She headed up the stairs to her paint studio, with the canvases rolling along the banister behind her. She opened the door, and instantly felt more at ease; there was nothing quite like the gentle atmosphere in here to calm her down.

The far wall was covered in a gorgeous sunset over rolling hills; she’d painted most of that over three years ago, and had continued to touch it up or add tweaks since then. To her left, the wall was covered in a sun-dappled forest, while her right depicted an ocean front, both based on illustrations in the books Mother had brought her. Everything was lit brightly by the skylight in the ceiling; even on rainy days, the Tower could emit light of its own to compensate.

The space itself looked cluttered at first glance, with mounds of sketchbooks piled up against the ocean-side wall. But everything had its place, and her workspace was completely free of the clutter; only her tools and her current project were allowed there.

Rapunzel set her things down, and put away the blank canvases and other supplies. She sat at her work station and stretched, then looked at the white canvas before her.

“What should I do today?” She flipped through some of the art books she owned for ideas, but nothing really caught her attention. She could paint another landscape, perhaps the actual view from the window again, but she wanted to do something different today.

Once Rapunzel recognized that, she paused, then glanced over at the piles of sketchbooks. Many of them, she knew, had been filled with her failed attempts to draw people, and faces in particular. Even under the best circumstances, faces were hard, and it’s not like Rapunzel had very many opportunities to see them in person.

She waffled for a moment, then decided to go for it. Even if it didn’t turn out, she’d learn something, right? She flipped to an image of Queen Hannah of Lowenveil. Rapunzel had always been impressed with how kind her face looked; she nodded to herself and began to paint.

It was an hour or two later when the door opened behind her. “Rapunzel? Are you in here? I’ve–”

Mother’s words cut off, and Rapunzel turned to see her frozen in shock, just staring at Rapunzel’s painting. Rapunzel cursed under her breath; the image was recognizable enough, and who knows what that made Mother think.

Nothing for it but to bluff her way through, then. “Ah, hello, Mother! What do you think? I thought she had a kind face, so I decided to start with her.”

“Kind… kind face…” Mother’s eyes shifted off the painting to Rapunael, and started to regain their focus. “Ah, yes, dear, you’ve quite improved.” She looked back to the painting. “Did you know I met her once?”

Oh, yes. Rapunzel knew all about that. She faked a smile and said, “Oh? When was that?”

“Oh, years and years ago. It was the last time…” Mother’s eyes lost focus again, and her gaze moved to the walls. “Oh, Therese! These look loverly, as always.”

Well, shoot. Rapunzel had forgotten; Maleficent had been there when she was taken, too, and if Mother thought Rapunzel was one of her old sisters, things had gotten really bad. Rapunzel stood up and turned Mother away from the room and toward the door. “So you’ve told me. Come on, let’s go sit down for a bit.”

Rapunzel gently led Mother out of the room and shut the door behind her. She still didn’t know the details, but Rapunzel always wondered; what exactly had Maleficent done, way back when, that had scarred a fairy like Mother this much?

It bothered me that I hadn’t finished this scene. Also, I’ll eventually remove any references to Frieda and Phillip flirting; it was writing this it clicked why that was weird.

“...can you?”

Lena frowned and was about to retort, when Frieda exclaimed, “Ooh! Weird magicy bits!”

“What sorts of magic?” Lena moved up next to her. What she saw impressed her; it was surprisingly subtle magic, especially for how complicated it was.

“Did you find something?” The prince came over to see what they were looking at, but couldn’t see a thing. If he could, Lena would’ve been shocked.

Lena answered, “There’s a spell here that covers quite a large area. It diverts people around it, so no one can get close, then lightly touches their memory so they don’t realize anything’s wrong. It’s fresh, too; whoever made it must have just finished resetting it.”

The prince nodded thoughtfully. “That matches my theories well enough. Can you get us through?”

Frieda grabbed the threads of magic and pulled them apart. “Yep! Step right through here; once you’re inside the boundary, it recognizes you as safe.”

The boys stepped in, and Lena was about to follow when she noticed a blue spark from the magic in Frieda’s hands. “Wait. Does this magic feel familiar to you at all?”

Frieda frowned and pulled the threads closer. Then she shrieked and backed away. “Nuh-uh! No way! I’m not getting anywhere near that madwoman again!” Once Lena heard that, she started backing away, too.

The prince turned to the two fairies, a wary expression on his face. “Madwoman? Who are you talking about?”

“It’s that one - Gothel. The baby-snatcher,” Lena muttered. “She’s the reason we wound up imprisoned last time.”

“If I’d known she’d lost it that badly, I never would have asked to join her back in Lowenveil,” Frieda added.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. “You know who I am, right? Who did you think we were looking for?” When neither of the fairies could give him a response, he asked, “Are there more spells deeper in?”

“I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care,” Lena said. “No matter what you say, I’m not going any closer to that basket case. And you shouldn’t, either; who knows what she’ll think you’re up to, or how she’ll respond.”

“She might turn you into a frog,” Frieda offered.

“Or a chicken.”

“She might blind you!”

“Or steal your youth and turn you into an old man.”

“Or steal all your experiences and turn you back into a wee little babe.”

“Alright, I got the idea,” the prince interjected. “How long has she been crazy like that?”

Both fairies shrugged, but Frieda said, “It’s all wrapped up in that business with Maleficent. Some say she was there, you know, when Maleficent ripped her gifts right out of all twelve of her sisters, and only spared Gothel so she could tell everyone else what happened.”

“Gibbering idiots, now, the lot of them,” Lena said. “And uglier than a boar’s backside.”

The prince looked from one fairy to the eyebrow, with one eyebrow still raised. “So, kind of like what happens to people after all your fairy ‘blessings’ run out? Kind of sounds like turnabout’s fair play, to me.”

Lena opened her mouth to reply, then frowned. Was that what this was like? “Well, if you’re going anyway, good luck. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

The prince nodded and turned into the forest. The other boy smiled shyly and waved at Frieda, who waved back with a warm smile, before he followed the prince into the underbrush. Lena gave Frieda a look.

“What? He’s too young now, sure, but he’ll grow up someday.”

Lena rolled her eyes and pulled Frieda away. “Okay, now let’s get out of here before this blows up in our face somehow.”

Isaac gave Phillip a sidelong glance as they walked. “Please tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

“What?” Phillip protested. “She was fun!”

“And she’s, like, three hundred years old. You’re fourteen.”

Phillip shrugged. “So what?” Then he slumped. “Not like we’ll ever see them again, though.”

“Probably best for all our sakes if we don’t.” Isaac crept forward, when he noticed a middle-aged woman in a blue dress walk out into a large clearing. He immediately pulled Phillip down into the bush an shushed him. They watched as the woman walked to the base of a tower Isaac swore hadn’t been there a moment ago and yelled out, “Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!”

“Why rapunzel?” Phillip muttered. Isaac shushed him.

Both watched in surprise as a long train of bright red hair unfurled from the window thirty feet up, all the way down to the woman, who grabbed on and slowly rose until she could step into the window.

Every time it comes up, the friendship between Hannah and Maleficent startles me. I definitely did not plan this, and I agree it seems unusual. But something about it just clicks for me. Hopefully in the finished, polished story, I’ll be able to convey that to the readers, too.

Queen Maleficent would never admit it, but she had begun looking forward to Queen Hannah’s annual visits. She didn’t know why; the woman insisted on rearranging her decor, and the servants all ignored Maleficent’s wishes to follow Hannah’s instead during her stay. Honestly, Maleficent wasn’t sure at times which of the two of them was actually the queen here.

It seems Hannah herself felt quite accomplished this visit; she’d finally rid the castle of all the drapes, and only replaced the ones in the bedrooms. Even then, she chose pale cotton curtains to use, rather than the dark, heavy things that had been there before. Even Maleficent had to acknowledge the castle was a lot brighter now, both literally and figuratively.

So when Hannah prepared to return home, it was with the greatest sincerity Maleficent said, “Thank you for coming, Hannah. And for everything you have done here.”

Hannah’s eyes went wide, and she beamed. “You know, I do think that is the first time you have ever thanked me, Maleficent!”

Before Maleficent could reply, the doors burst open and an errand boy rushed in. “Urgent message for Queen Hannah!”

Hannah took it, and Maleficent moved to the couch to wait for her. Not far into the message, however, and Hannah gasped and brought a hand to her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes, and once she’d finished, she began to read the message again from the start.

Concerned, Maleficent stood. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

Hannah shook her head and struggled to find words. “He’s, they… They’ve found her! Isaac, he’s…” The tears spilled out onto her cheeks, and she turned to Maleficent. “Isaac found Aurora!”

Half an hour later, they were at the stables, where Maleficent had cordoned off six of her fastest horses, not including the very fastest. She told the stableboy, “For the next two weeks, these six are not to be ridden or taken out for any reason. Give them extra feed; they may seem lethargic, but they will need the energy.”

Her eyes began to glow with violet light, and she reached out and pulled the speed from those six into the fastest horse, which was being saddled with all Hannah’s things. Maleficent cautioned Hannah, “He will travel seven times faster than normal; while now you can make the trip in two days instead of two weeks, moving that speed comes with its own dangers. Stay low, and hold on tight; tie yourself to the horse if you have to.”

Hannah nodded, then cocked her head. “But you’re coming too, right?”

Maleficent froze. What right did she have to be there? “Even if, when all is said and done, I am the one ultimately responsible for all of this?”

Hannah gave her a warm smile. “All the more reason to come along and see it through to the end, right?”

“...So talk.”

For several long moments, no one said anything. The prince’s friend started to get antsy, and finally he broke the silence and asked, “So, uh, you’ve lived her, in the tower, your whole life?”

“Yes.”

“That, erm, never got boring at all?”

“I keep busy.” Rapunzel’s eyes never left the prince’s.

Another moment passed, and Phillip started backing away. “I’ll, um, I’ll go stand over here. And look at the lake.”

He walked away, and Rapunzel and the prince continued their staring match.

Finally, the prince asked, “You never wondered about your family at all? Who we were, or what we might be like?”

Rapunzel shrugged. “Sure, I was curious. The same way I idly wonder what it might be like to live on the other side of the world. Doesn’t mean I’m going to uproot everything I know and love to go find out.”

“We’ve been looking for you for fifteen years. I’ve heard stories about you, the way you were kidnapped, since the day I was born! Is that all you have to say?”

The inside of Rapunzel’s chest prickled. She folded her arms and looked away. “Well, I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment.”

“No! Damn it, that’s not–” Isaac groaned and ran his hand through his hair. He glanced back up at Rapunzel. “Could you help me to understand? What about this place makes you want to stay?”

“Oh, hey, cool! That table’s moving all by itself!”

Phillip’s voice pulled them both away from their discussion. They looked back at each other, and the tension lingered a moment longer before Rapunzel sighed and nodded to the table. “After tea, maybe?”

She gave them a tour of the parts of the Tower she was familiar with after that. Her art studio. The garden. The star-gazing observatory. She avoided the library, of course; too many ways that could go wrong. She finished in the meadow room, where she kept all the animals Mother brought in.

“Woah. It’s like some kind of weird petting zoo,” Phillip said.

Isaac pulled his coattails away from a young goat looking for something to munch on. “And the fairy keeps all these? What on earth for?”

Rapunzel smiled sadly, then knelt down and began petting Lotte. “I don’t think Mother - Gothel, I mean - planned for them to live this long.”

Isaac’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Rapunzel didn’t answer for a long time; she just shifted to Fenrir’s side. Tears poole at the base of her eyes as she stroked the weak dog’s head. “He’s pretty sick, isn’t he. Even you two can tell that much.” The two boys nodded. “Do you know why?”

When they shook their heads, Rapunzel looked up and met Isaac’s gaze. “It’s because of me. Mother brings them here and takes their health so I can be ‘normal’.”

Isaac’s eyes went wide, and he looked down at the dog. “Wait, so the curse…?”

Rapunzel nodded. “Fairy gifts last half your natural lifespan; no more, no less. And Maleficent’s curse is set to go off the exact moment I would turn into a horrendous-looking dullard. Which means even if, by some series of miracles, I avoided all of that, I’d still be lucky to live past 32.”

For a long time, neither Isaac nor Phillip said a word.

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Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)

4 November 2022

This was the day I put together a lot of the building blocks that would eventually become the foundation for my story. This is the day I decided the Tower was alive, similar to the Encanto in Disney’s Encanto, or the TARDIS in Doctor Who. It’s also the day I realized Rapunzel, at first, doesnt’t want to leave. Being a princess doesn’t sound that great, at least to her.

The most interesting discovery, though, was the relationship between Hannah and Maleficent. I hadn’t planned for that. Was actually trying to lean away from it, in the planning phase I do before each chunk of writing (it happened a lot this particular day). And still, Hannah refused to leave without figuring out who Maleficent was on the inside and befriending her, and that impacted the plot of the entire book.

One thing I had not figured out yet, though, was what exactly motivated Gothel and Maleficent. I did figure out their shared backstory later, but here, it’s still just a generic “Maleficent hates fairies”, and a vague idea that maybe Gothel wants Aurora as part of some collection (that’s not why, as it turns out, at least for this story).

You would think that after spending years and years locked up in a tower, Rapunzel might resent her (foster) mother, especially after learning the truth, or at least year for more adventure in her life. For the most part, though, you’d be wrong.

Well, it’s not like Rapunzel had zero resentment towards Mother. She’d figured out years ago that she was the “lost princess Aurora”, and Mother had been the one to spirit her away from her real parents. But she’d found out at the same time about Queen Maleficent's curse and everything else that occurred around that time, so she was willing to give Mother the benefit of the doubt. She’d honestly been too scared of Mother’s response to ask about it, though.

Besides, if she was still part of her real family, she’d be a princess, with all the duties, responsibilities, and expectations that came with that. To Rapunzel, that sounded like much more of a prison than the Tower ever was. Especially when she could open a door here and randomly stumble onto a gorgeous lake, in a room so large she got barely make out the far wall. No, the Tower had all the adventure she needed right there.

On this particular morning, Rapunzel woke up and stretched like usual. “Good morning, Tower!” The Tower waved the bedroom door to return her greeting, and shuffled her bedroom slippers over to her. Rapunzel slipped out of bed into them, and made her way downstairs.

Before she even arrived at the kitchen, she could smell the bacon cooking on the griddle, and a smile lit up her face. Sure enough, when she walked in, the Tower had heated the stove and was cooking up a healthy serving of bacon and eggs.

“Where does Mother get all this pork and chicken, I wonder?” Rapunzel mused aloud. The cabinets clattered in a way Rapunzel recognized as the Tower’s equivalent to a shrug. “Speaking of Mother, is she back yet?”

Before the Tower could reply, a voice from outside called out, “Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!”

“Ah. Coming!” Rapunzel called back. She snagged a piece of bacon and scarfed it while she headed to what she called “the reception room”. There, the Tower had brought over the opposite end of her long, bright red hair, which was kept coiled on a wheel. Rapunzel hooked the wheel into the winch system and released the brake; the wheel spun loose, and dropped the ends of her hair to the ground outside.

Once Mother was ready, she tugged the hair three times, and Rapunzel began to crank her hair back into the Tower, lifting Mother in with it. Today, she had the appearance of a middle-class woman in her early- to mid-forties, and wore a deep, navy blue dress with white sleeves. She seemed especially fond of the color blue; no matter who or what Mother transformed into, it always featured blue prominently.

As Mother stepped inside, Rapunzel asked, “How was your trip?”

Mother smiled at her and patted her head. That irked Rapunzel a bit; she wasn’t a child anymore. But Mother meant well, so Rapuzel didn’t bother to fight it. “It went well enough. I got you a few things.” Out of a bag no bigger than a house cat, she pulled out an array of paints, several large canvases, and a new set of brushes. “I got you a few more books, as well; three or four storybooks, and a couple of histories.”

Rapunzel broke out in a wide smile and hugged Mother. She’d been running low on paint supplies; this was perfect. She decided not to mention she’d secretly read both histories already when she’d broken into the hidden library Mother kept in one of the secret rooms. No need to cause trouble; the novels looked intriguing enough, anyway.

“Thank you, Mother.” She gathered the paints and brushes, leaving the Tower to take care of the canvases and books. “The Tower has breakfast ready in the kitchen; bacon and eggs.” then she skipped off to her painting studio to put her things away.

After Gothel discovers Isaac has been visiting Rapunzel

Gothel’s rage simmered down as the boy flew out the window. She pocketed the boy’s sight for later use and carefully arranged her features into a calming smile. As she turned and looked at Rapunzel, however, she froze.

Rapunzel, her sweet, little girl, the centerpiece of her collection, now floated two to three feet in the air. Her eyes burned with violet light and her nostrils flared, and the very shadows of the room were drawn toward her. Gothel couldn’t help but remember that fateful day, almost sixteen years ago, when that despicable witch has stalked in and cursed this very child. The witch then looked very similar to the way Rapunzel did now.

“Rapunzel?” Gothel asked timidly.

When Rapunzel spoke, her voice echoed, as if it emanated from every wall and doorway in the Tower at once. “How dare you! What right do you have to hurt him?”

“I just… just wanted to keep you safe,” Gothel explained, making a great effort to keep her voice as level and soothing as possible. “He could be dangerous.”

Rapunzel snorted and sneered at her. “Why, because I might find out about the fact he’s actually my brother? Or were you worried he’d come and take me away with him, and ruin your ‘collection’?”

Gothel’s eyes widened, and her mouth slipped open. Rapunzel touched to the floor and slowly began to advance on her, forcing Gothel to back up towards the door. “What, you thought I was a fool? That I wouldn’t find out on my own? Your friend gifted me with cleverness, remember? I know I was born Princess Aurora. I’ve known for years. If that was enough to make me leave, I WOULD HAVE LEFT YEARS AGO!”

Gothel’s back hit the wall of the hallway beyond the door. She tried to reach out to the Tower for help, but she got no response. Then Gothel remembered its purpose; it would do everything to “protect Rapunzel”, even if it was against its creator’s wishes.

“For the record, I’d already told him I wasn’t going home with him,” Rapunzel continued. Her tone softened, and her voice lost its echo. Her eyes still burned, but they turned away from Gothel for a moment. “But it was nice to have someone visit. Someone human, who can actually understand the things I need and the way I think.” She snorted and glared at Gothel. “Not that you’d understand that, would you, Mother? Fairies don’t work like that, do they?”

That was the first time Gothel had heard Rapunzel spit the word “Mother” with such venom. She flinched, bu she tried to argue back. “But with your curse–”

Rapunzel’s eyes flared brighter, and her voice boomed louder than it ever had yet. “And which curse would that be? Maleficent’s curse of death? Or do you mean the one your friends gave me along with their gifts, that will turn me into a wretched, ugly simpleton halfway through my life!? Compared to that, Maleficent’s curse might almost be a blessing!”

Gothel’s eyes went wide and her heart shot with pain. What was this feeling? She didn’t understand. And that witch’s curse was a blessing? Her face contorted and turned sour. What about all Gothel had done for Rapunzel? Where was the girl’s gratitude? “After everything I’ve done to keep you safe–”

“You’ve locked me in a cage like a pet songbird!” Rapunzel roared. “You’ve hidden me away like a secret treasure, to make sure no one can steal it from you! And I was willing to let you. Because it’s comfortable here. I don’t have to face real life. Well, guess what?” She reached her hand towards Gothel’s face. “I’m done hiding.”

She spoke a word in the old faerie language, clenched her fist, and pulled. Gothel screamed as her eyes burned and everything went black. She heard Rapunzel snap her fingers and order, “Stairs.”

To Gothel’s surprise, she heard the scrape of stone on stone as the Tower rearranged itself to comply with Rapunzel’s bidding.

Gothel grew furious at her creation, and her voice lost any trace of composure. “Stop! What are you doing? I built you to protect the girl?”

There was a moment of silence, then Rapunzel answered on the Tower’s behalf. “Didn’t you know? Sometimes the best way to protect something is to let it go free. It was even mentioned in one of those novels you gave me.”

And with that, Gothel was left with only Rapunzel’s fading footsteps and the sound of her own screams.

Roughly 2 Years Later (after Aurora was first taken, btw)

Hannah looked up at Castle Venwald. She’d heard stories as a little girl of the glorious, pristine white walls, even all the way out in Lowenveil, but now they’d all been dyed a deep black. She almost turned the horse around, but after all the effort it had taken to convince Frederick to let her come on this journey, she couldn’t just go back and admit she’d gotten cold feet. She rode up to the castle gate and addressed the guards. “I am Queen Hannah of Lowenveil. I’ve come to request an audience with Queen Maleficent.”

One of the guards saluted and entered the castle. She waited outside on her horse for ten to fifteen minutes, then the guard returned and led her inside. “You can leave your horse here; we’ll take it to the stables and one for it until you are ready to depart.”

Hannah dismounted and thanked him, then followed his directions to the waiting room. Inside the castle was slightly cheerier than the outside, with red carpets and beautiful tapestries, but the lighting was still dim, and Hannah felt incredibly out of place.

She was in the living room for around thirty minutes before Maleficent entered. Venwald’s queen wore an elegant, deep violet dress; while it wasn’t as formal as what she’d worn to Aurora’s baby blessing, somehow it made her all the more imposing. Her crown was stylized to look like two horns sweeping back over her raven hair. “Queen Hannah. This certainly is a surprise, especially considering the circumstances of our last encounter.”

Hannah moved to stand, but Maleficent raised a hand. “Please; stay seated. Especially considering your current condition.”

She pointedly stared at Hannah’s belly. How did she…? No, she was a witch, of course she could tell. Hannah accepted her offer and sat back down.

Maleficent took a seat near her. “So does your husband know yet?”

Hannah looked aside. “I only found out myself a week into the journey.” She smiled sadly. “It’s just as well. It was hard enough to convince Frederick to come as is.”

For a long time, Maleficent just studied Hannah. Hannah couldn’t tell what was going through to other queen’s head, but she straightened her back and returned her gaze. This was not a time to back down, no matter how terrifying or dangerous Maleficent was.

“Why did you come?” Maleficent asked. “Whatever my reasons, I’m well aware of the pain my actions have caused your family.”

“That is one of the reasons, actually,” Hannah replied. “I wanted to hear your reasons. If possible, I want to understand why you did what you did. It may not change things, but I think we have a right to know.”

Maleficent dipped her head. “And the other reasons?”

“I’m sure by now you’ve heard what happened to Aurora after you left?” When Maleficent dipped her head again, Hannah said, “We haven’t been able to find either Gothel or Aurora. Something is going on with the fairies, and other than the fairies themselves, you seem to know the most about them.”

For a moment, Maleficent didn’t reply. She simply took a cup of tea to her lips, and savored the scent for a moment, before she drank and set it down. “Fortunately the two are intertwined. How much do you know about the costs of fairy blessings?”

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Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)

2 November 2022

I realized the next day I never showed how or why Aurora was taken by Gothel. So I wrote that scene, and used it as a chance to get to know the rest of the family better by making King Frederick, her father, the POV character. Once I get it all down, that’s something I’ll have to mess with; how many POV’s will I have, and how to tighten that up. But not right now.

Phillip… kind of came out of nowhere. I figured Isaac would probably travel with a friend, and I named that friend Phillip as a reference to Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, but I didn’t really expect much from him. He’s still not a main character, but he’s a lot more important than I’d expected. No romance, though, at least not during the events of the story. They’re teenagers. I’m not going to mess with that.

When Maleficent had arrived, King Frederick could tell there would be trouble. He’d heard the rumors from Venwald; the way their king had suddenly become ill and passed away, right as Queen Maleficent had increased in vigor and beauty. Other rumors floated around, as well, enough that he would have preferred if the two nations left each other well enough alone.

He also noticed the way her face darkened when she saw the trio of fairies. And when Maleficent spoke to them later in the language of magic, Frederick was certain they knew each other, or at least knew of each other, and his suspicions spread to the fairies, too.

He and Hannah had heard the stories of the great powers fairies wielded and the boons they granted to those who aided them. So when these three had arrived and offered their blessings, Hannah had been ecstatic, and even he’d been pleasantly surprised. But even then, and more so now, Frederick had to wonder, why their child? What had they done to warrant such a courtesy?

So when Maleficent cast her curse and left the palace, Frederick immediately wheeled on the fairies. “What was that? Who was that woman?”

Gothel, the blue fairy, stood off to the side and just stared at little Aurora. She didn’t seem to hear him. Lena and Frieda, meanwhile, froze for a moment before Frieda answered, “That… that was a witch. A powerful one.”

“One of the darkest and most dangerous creatures of all,” Lena added.

Hannah caught her breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. “She spoke magic like you. Can you undo what she did? Break the curse?”

At the word “curse”, Lena and Frieda flinched, and Frederick’s eyes narrowed. They explained, “Alas, we’ve already offered the babe our blessings, and can do nothing more.” Lena turned and offered Gothel a smile that was much too large to be believed. “What about you, Gothel dearest?”

Frederick wasn’t certain he believed they could do nothing, but he, too, turned to the blue fairy. For her part, Gothel still seemed unaware of any of them; her focus was solely on Aurora. “She is such a beautiful baby, isn’t she? Too beautiful for this cruel world. Cruel people, cruel destinies. No, we must keep her safe.” She snapped out of her reverie, and looked defiantly at Frederick and Hannah. “I will keep her safe!”

And with that, she scooped the baby in her arms, snapped her fingers, and disappeared. Silence enveloped the ballroom.

Queen Hannah stared in shock at the empty crib and sank to her knees. The remaining two fairies looked in horror from her to Frederick, and their faces turned pale white once they saw his expression. He unsheathed the first couple inches of his sword, and with steel in his voice, he said, “No more lies. You had best start explaining. And quickly.”

Isaac circled the base of the withered apple tree, looking for any other signs of what might have caused it to die. “And it was just fine yesterday?” he confirmed with the farmer. “No signs of beetles or rot or whatever else?”

“Healthiest tree in the whole damn orchard,” the farmer replied with a nod.

“Come on, Isaac. No matter how many times you look, you won’t find anything new. Let’s go already.” Phillip, Isaac’s best friend and traveling companion, lounged against the farmer’s garden fence. He made no effort to hide the boredom in his expression. He wore his brown hair almost shoulder-length, arranged in a way that might have worked if he were more than fourteen years old; as it was, he still had too round a face to pull it off.

Isaac ignored his friend and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. “Has anything else unusual happened? Missing needles? Broken spinning wheels?”

The farmer thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it, yes. There was something. When I got up this morning, the spindle on my late wife’s old spinning wheel had broken off. With all the commotion about the tree, I’d completely forgotten.”

Isaac thanked him, collected Phillip, and the two were off. Phillip snarked, “what business does a prince have with apple trees and spinning wheels, anyway?”

“You’d be surprised. A fair amount of the kingdom’s food and income come from orchards. And the number of spinning wheels that have broken in recent years has been enough to have a significant effect on-”

“Enough, enough, geez! Man, have I ever told you how utterly boring a person you are?”

With a smile, Isaac gave him a playful shove. “Yet you keep hanging around me anyway.”

“‘Course! Someone’s gotta keep things interesting around you.” Phillip dropped the grin. “But seriously, this is all about that search for your sister, isn’t it?”

Isaac shrugged, but he didn’t fool either of them.

“Dude, it’s already been, what, fifteen years? Sixteen? We weren’t even born yet. What’s with this?”

Isaac shrugged again. “I guess it’s just… She’s family. And Mom and Dad haven’t given up yet; why should I?” He grinned and bumped his shoulder into Phillip’s. “Besides, if you don’t like it, you could always leave.”

“Like I said before, someone’s gotta keep your life interesting.” Phillip grew thoughtful. “Say, d’you think she’s hot?”

The only thing Isaac could do was stare incredulously at his friend. “That’s my sister you’re talking about!”

“I know, I’m just sayin’...”

Isaac shook his head, and the two headed on into town.

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1 November 2022

Somehow, it seems fitting to start posting my Nanowrimo work just after we get halfway through the month. It’s been good to reflect; I had the barest hints of ideas and worldbuilding when I wrote this, and now it’s expanded into so much more. I just have to remember that doesn’t mean it’s done growing; it still is. I was - am - proud of the first section, from Maleficent’s point of view. A lot has changed since I wrote that, though, so there are definitely tweaks to be made. The last section was mostly just to keep writing something, and has since been scrapped.

I do not expect to hit 50k this year; as of writing this (early evening of the 16th), I only have roughly 14,500 words. I’m still shooting for 40k, though, even if it’s a bit unreasonable.

Maleficent strode through the massive double doors into the ballroom, paying no mind to the guards scurrying this way and that. A quick survey of the room confirmed her suspicions; of the rulers of major nations in the region, all others were already represented, which meant she was the only who had not been invited. That, in itself, was fine; expected even, given recent events. But the sight of the trio of fairies… that infuriated her.

Maleficent managed to contain herself, and plucked the smallest strand of composure from a passing serving girl just to be safe. She went to greet the hosts, and smiled widely, even if that smile never reached her eyes. “Good evening, King Frederick. Queen Hannah.”

Frederick looked rather uncomfortable with her presence, and Maleficent took some small satisfaction in that fact. Hannah, however, positively beamed at her. “Queen Maleficent! I’m so happy to see you.” She took Maleficent’s hand in both of hers. “We heard about your late husband; I’m sorry for your loss. We figured it might be rude to intrude on your time of grief to ask you to come celebrate with us.”

“Yes, quite.” Maleficent withdrew her hand from the other queen’s grasp and pursed her lips; she hadn’t quite figured out what to make of Queen Hannah as of yet. She looked past the royal couple at the baby girl lying in a crib behind them. The three fairies, green, pink, and blue, had gathered around it. “I presume this is the child?”

“Yes. We’ve named her Aurora.” Queen Hannah smiled down at her daughter. “The fairies were just bestowing their gifts; Lena blessed her with beauty, and Frieda with cleverness.” She gestured to the pink and green fairies, who nodded their heads in turn. “Isn’t it marvelous?”

Marvelous? Did she really not know? Were witches so rare in this part of the realm? Maleficent turned to the two fairies just named, and in the ancient language of fae magic demanded of them, “And you did not warn them of the cost? Of what will happen to their beloved child halfway through her time in mortality? Are the fae now so underhanded?”

All three fairies gasped and turned pale, but not from what she’d said. No, they looked at her in horror when they realized she could speak their tongue, and the implications that carried.

Maleficent looked at the baby once more and reached out a hand, only to pull it back. Things were even worse than they appeared; the child was not destined to be long for the world. Such was part of Maleficent’s gift, and her curse; the things she could do let her see the span of a person’s life with just a glance.

She switched back to common tongue and announced, “Then I, too, shall bestow a gift on the child. Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will be poisoned, whether by the prick of a finger or th flesh of an apple, and she will die, and be spared the cruelty of this unjust world.” And thus, the very day the child’s gifts would become curses, instead of the child, the cost would be reflected back on the wretched creatures that would so abuse the human race.

The entire hall was stunned silent, until Frederick shouted to the guard, “Seize her!”

Before the guards could take more than a single step, however, Maleficent stole the light and heat from all the torches in the room and released it in a burst around her. With all the dignity she carried as a queen, she strode out of the castle unimpeded, heedless of the mother’s cries that echoed behind her.

Prince Isaac was eight when his family went to go bring his sister back home. He didn’t know the details; most times, he didn’t even remember he had an older sister. She’d been taken by a fairy named Gothel before he was born to keep her safe. Something about a witch’s curse?

It all sounded like a grand adventure. But then Gothel stopped sending letters. Mum and Dad grew worried, and decided to go see her. Isaac asked to come along.

However, when they arrived, all they found was a long-abandoned shack in the woods. No sign of fairies or sisters, or even that anyone had ever lived here at all. The only thing they found was a single letter, and Isaac hadn’t been allowed to read it.

Soon, they went home, and Dad ordered his men to scour the land for even the faintest hint of where Gothel could have gone.

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