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.

16 February 2024

It’s being surprisingly difficult to come up with the exact circumstances for the prologue, where Gothel kidnaps Aurora. A lot of moving pieces that need to align perfectly while still being true to themselves. I’m not really satisfied with this version, either, but it’s my most recent one.

Queen Hannah of Lowenveil had been apprehensive when her husband, Frederick, mentioned inviting two or three fairies to the presentation of their daughter. Aurora had been born very sickly, so if they could save her, Hannah couldn’t really protest. But she’d heard stories from the east, where the fae holds held sway, and they didn’t fill her with confidence.

Frederick had insisted the stories were exaggerated; he knew a fairy personally, and she was harmless. Timid, even. So Hannah had agreed.

Everything seemed to be going fine; one of the first things the green and pink fairies did was bless Aurora with good health and [grace], and immediately color had filled Aurora’s cheeks. The blue one, Gothel, didn’t offer a blessing; she seemed ready to bolt at the slightest disturbance. When Hannah asked Frederick about her he said she’d always been like that, ever since he was a boy.

Then a certain guest walked in. Hannah went to greet her, as she had every other guest. “Queen Maleficent! It’s good to see you. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to make it, considering the recent loss of your husband. Thank you for taking the time to come.”

Queen Maleficent pressed her lips into a line that almost could pass for a smile. She surveyed the room, then stopped when she saw the two fairies near Aurora. When she spoke, her voice dripped with venom. “Queen Hannah. If I make ask, who are they? And what are they doing here?”

Hannah blinked, and some of her earlier doubts about the fae began to resurface. “That’s Lena and Frieda, fairies from [___]. My husband invited them, along with Gothel, there in the corner.”

As soon as Hannah mentioned “Gothel”, Maleficent froze. “Gothel, you said? Which one is she?”

More confused than ever, Hannah pointed her out. “Over there, in the blue dress. Very timid; she hasn’t said more than two words to anyone all evening.”

“Indeed.” Maleficent’s face paled a shade, but she waved it off. “No matter. That is the child, there?”

With purposeful strides, Maleficent strode toward Aurora’s crib, Hannah doing her best to keep pace behind her.

14 February 2024

I am not entirely happy with this. The deal Isaac agrees to at the end, in particular, seems far too unbalanced and idiotic even for this version of Isaac, especially when I don’t think that’s going to cause significant problems later. If it does, I still need to make it more believable.

The two fairies looked over his note and studied him carefully. Lena asked, “And what will you give us in return?”

Huh? Isaac blinked and cocked his head.

“You are requesting a service of us, are you not?” said Frieda. “Quite a difficult one at that. So, how will you compensate us?”

That… actually seemed quite fair. He felt at his coin pouch; he doubted the amount in there would tempt them. What else did he have of value?

One idea struck him, and with some trepidation he unbuckled his sword and set it on the table, sheathe and all. Yet the two fairies merely looked at it disdainfully.

“That's it?” Lena asked.

“He could be offering his swordsmanship as well,” Frieda posited. “How else would we know how to use it?”

Isaac flinched and shook his head. The sword he could part with, but his skill… The thought made him shudder. But what else could he offer? He took back the paper and quill to write, “What would you want of me?”

They studied him for a time. “What about three moments of your time, picked at our discretion?”

“Or perhaps… your thirst for adventure?” Lena walked up and used Isaac’s chin to turn his head to the side. “Yours is surprisingly powerful, after all.”

Cold beads of sweat trailed down Isaac’s back. His thirst for adventure? Who would he even be without that? And three moments of time… It sounded like a good deal at first, but it seemed suspiciously like owing the fairies a debt. Isaac felt grateful for all of Maleficent’s dry lectures on magic. With a shake of his head, he wrote. “I’d rather not pick those. Is there something I could do as a prince?”

Lena huffed and turned away, but Frieda continued to stare at him, unblinking. Finally, she said, “Do you have power to let the fae freely and legally enter Lowenveil?”

He did not. Especially after what had happened with Aurora, his mother would never allow that. And even if and when Isaac became king, he knew better than to just open the doors to any fae who asked. But… if it was just these two…

“The fae in general, I cannot,” he wrote. “But especially if you help return the princess, I am sure I can convince the queen to make exception for the two of you, and let you walk openly. And so the two of you, and only the two of you among the fae, would have free access to Lowenveil.”

After reading his words, Frieda leaned back and nodded to herself. Lena sneered, however. “And what of her? The Fairy-killer? We know your family has dealings with that witch. What protection can you offer us?”

Isaac blinked. “I can try to convince her to spare you, to leave you be. She is my godmother; with the help you’re offering, I should be able to prevent her from harming you.”
“And if you cannot?”

For a long time, Isaac paused. He had an idea, but was it worth the risk? Finally he put his pen to paper. “Then you can have me. Whatever I have at that point is yours.”

Both fairies’ eyes lit up at that, and wide, almost cruel smiles formed on their faces. “Agreed.”

13 February 2024

And here is where we finally get to see Lena and Frieda step into their own as terrifying fey creatures. I really dragged my heels on this one…

Isaac shrugged. “I might surprise you. My older sister was kidnapped by a fairy right after she was born, and because of that, they made a point to teach me all sorts of things about magic and how it works.”

Both women froze, and Deifra’s tea cup slipped from her hands to shatter on the floor. Alne asked, “Your… sister, you said?”

That’s when it clicked. The shack that was sturdier than it looked. The colors of their dresses. Their names. “You’re those fairies, aren’t you? Lena and Frieda.” Isaac couldn’t keep himself from grinning.

It seemed that was a mistake, though, as Deifra–Frieda–reached out into the air and pulled, like she was tugging on a string. Something yanked itself out of Isaac; he couldn’t see it, but he could feel it as it left.

In the same moment, both women shifted. Instead of a frail wisp of a girl, Frieda was now a full-bodied, statuesque woman, even a bit taller than Phillip. Lena was still short, roughly around Isaac’s height, but instead of an old lady she now had youthful even elfin features, with dark hair pulled back in a long braid.

Isaac tried to protest, only to discover he couldn’t make any sound. He could breath just fine, but his voice was just…gone.

“I could not risk that you might have some way to summon the Fairy Killer here. So, what is it you want, boy?”

Isaac’s expression soured, and he tapped his throat. In response, Lena passed him a sheet of paper and a quill. Once he accepted it, he paused. It didn’t exactly seem like the best idea to tell them he’d only shown up out of curiosity. Then he got an idea, and began to write.

“Could you help us find Aurora? We think Gothel took her to the Lost Wood, but anyone who enters winds up losing all sense of direction for months. Maleficent has tried to help, but she can’t perceive Gothel or anything related to her, so that hasn’t worked.”

8 February 2024

Lena herself had transformed into a nervous-looking woman with a hint of buck teeth. She frowned at Frieda for a moment, then huffed and plopped into a chair, arms folded. “Fine. But if they’re here to arrest us after all, I’m turning them both into frogs.”

Isaac refrained from commenting. He hadn’t paid much attention during Maleficent’s lessons, but he did know enough to know that wasn’t possible. There were plenty of other unpleasant things she could do, though. “No worries. That’s not why we’re here at all.” Then he had the most brilliant idea. “Could you help us find our way though the Lost Wood? We’re pretty sure that’s where Gothel took my sister, but we have no way of getting past her magic ourselves.”

Lena narrowed her eyes. “Why don’t you get the fairy-killer to do it? Surely she can handle something like that.”

With a shrug, Isaac replied, “Apparently, Gothel is terrified enough of Maleficent to put up wards and things specifically to defend against her. Something about old grudges?”

Both Lena and Frieda nodded, as if that made perfect sense. Isaac himself didn’t quite get it, but that didn’t matter. Frieda asked, “So what do we get out of this?”

“Hm?”

“What kind of payment are you offering for helping you get your sister back?”

5 February 2024

…into the building.

The smell wasn’t any better inside than out; something foul bubbled in a cauldron in the kitchen. Every shelf was filled with the strangest ingredients Isaac had ever seen, from eyeballs to salamanders to things he couldn’t even identify. The living room was equally cluttered; knick-knacks of all shapes and sizes covered every available surface.

Alne led them upstairs to a dimly lit room, where a frail girl about the boys’ age sat quietly behind a table. She wore an almost ethereal pink dress, like the wisps of a cloud at sunset, and her eyes had been hidden behind a blindfold. Alne said, “Deifra, dearie, you have customers. A couple of fine young men.”

Deifra nodded and reached out toward a crystal ball on the shelf. Once Alne had passed it to her Deifra asked, “What… kind of fortune did you want told?” Her voice was quiet, and felt almost cultivated to reinforce the idea she might fade away at any moment.

Isaac smiled at her. “Actually, I’m mostly curious about how it all works. What lets you tell people’s fortunes? What kinds of things can you see? How do you interpret them?”

“Dangerous… questions,” Deifra replied. “The spirits… won’t like it.”

“Besides,” Alne cut in, “it’s all terribly confusing. Even I got lost trying to make sense of it. Best leave it to Deifra.”

Isaac shrugged. “I might surprise you. I know quite a bit about magic and fate and all that; my godmother made a point to teach me, since a fairy kidnapped my older sister not long after she was born.”

There was a crash as the crystal ball slipped from Deifra’s fingers. Alne looked no less shaken as she asked, “And who, who did you say your godmother was?”

Everything clicked together. Green and pink dresses, a shack out in the boonies… Even their names. Isaac couldn’t help but smile widely. “Right, I never introduced myself. Prince of Lowenveil at your service; my godmother is queen of Venwald. You might know her as Maleficent.”

With a speed that belied her aged appearance, Alne bolted for the door. Unfortunately for her, that’s where Phillip had been hovering since they came in, and he was able to block the entryway.

“You don’t need to be so scared of me, Alne. Or would you rather I call you Lena? I’m not here to arrest you or hand you over to my godmother.”

Lena froze and looked back at Deifra. Deifra–or Frieda–shifted, and where there had been a frail girl, there was now an ageless, statuesque woman. “There’s no sense in keeping up the charade. Let’s see what the boy wants, Lena.”

3 February 2024

This wasn’t a very good attempt. It did help me gather my ideas, though, so when I went back to it a couple days later, I was able to come up with something much more coherent. I still hadn’t started treating Lena and Frieda seriously yet, though.

…into the building.

Everything in the house was either green or pink. From the walls to the knickknacks covering every surface, from the cabinets to the floorboards. On top of that, the place was so cluttered Isaac and Phillip had to be careful where they put their feet.

Alne led them to a small room upstairs, where a frail wisp of a girl wearing a blindfold sat at a table, sipping from a porcelain cup. She wore a pink dress that was quite ragged at the hem. “Deifra, dearie, we have guests. A pair of fine young men.”

Deifra turned to face her and nodded. Alne invited the boys to sit down, before she took a seat herself behind a large crystal ball. “Now, tell old Alne what sort of fortune you’re looking for.”

“Actually,” Isaac replied, “I wanted to understand how it works. How do you determine people’s fortunes? What kinds of things do you see? How do you interpret that?”

Alne’s smile grew strained. “These secrets come with great dangers, and for those not well-versed in the mystic arts, I doubt it would even be comprehensible.”

“Good thing I am well-versed,” Isaac said. “Ever since a fairy kidnapped my sister, over fifteen years ago, my family’s made a point to study this sort of thing.”

Deifra’s cup fell out of her hands and shattered, and Alne froze in place. “I-is that so? But even still, I can’t just–”

It all clicked together. The pink, the green. Even their names. “You’re the fairies that were there, aren’t you? Lena and Frieda.” He gestured to Alne and Deifra respectively, a massive grin on his face.

This could be perfect. If these two could help him get through the Lost Wood… Not only would he be lauded a hero, but his sister could take over the kingdom. He’d be free to go on all the adventures he wanted.

1 February 2024

“Isn’t your godmother a witch? Isn’t this, like, child’s play compared to the things she can do?”

Isaac shrugged. “Maybe? But Maleficent’s even worse than Mom is when I get near magic. I think she blames herself for what happened with my sister.”

It took another hour or so to reach the shack in the center of the swamp. A rickety old sign teetered at the edge of the island, with the words, “Fortunes and Potions! No Refunds.” The shack looked dilapidated at first glance, but closer inspection revealed it was actually quite sturdy, and just designed to look bleak.

With a grin far too wide for the dreary atmosphere, Isaac said, “Well, let’s check it out!” He marched right up to the door and pounded on the door, with Phillip only a couple steps behind him.

A scratchy female voice called out, “Just a minute!” A short time later, the lock clicked and the door opened a crack, revealing a hunched, beady-eyed woman even shorter than Isaac. She wore a fraying green dress over her stooped frame. “Yes? What can Alne and Deifra do for you?”

Alne and Deifra… Something about the names tickled the back of Isaac’s mind, but he put it aside. “Hi! I heard you do fortunes?”

“Yes, yes! Come in, come in!” The old woman led them into the building…

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.

12 January 2024

Lena felt quite pleased with herself. She and Frieda had managed to score an invitation to one of the western countries, announcing the birth of the new crown princess. If things went well, they might even gain recognition as the fairies who opened the door to the west for the fae. And considering how tense the east has been after that fiasco with Maleficent… Well, even if things didn’t pan out, it should still be safer here than back there.

And things were going well, too. Standard gifts, health, beauty, what have you.

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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12 November 2022

Considering this was a Saturday… I didn’t get a whole lot written. Part of that had to do with getting distracted; I discovered the Cinema Therapy channel on YouTube on this day. But I think part was feeling a bit burned out, or maybe just uncertain what the rest of the story was going to look like.

…said a word. Finally, Isaac said softly, “So you’d rather just give it up? Sixteen years with someone you love is still better than six months, and even that is better than nothing.”

Rapunzel gave him a wan smile. “And then what? Become the royal heir? I have no training in how to rule a kingdom; you’ve had that since birth, right? You’d make a much better king than me.” She looked up, in the direction her paint studio was located. “And honestly, I don’t want to be a princess. I’m happy here. I’m free to paint, to garden, to take care of the animals. That is enough for me.”

Isaac grimaced and studied Rapunzel long enough for the silence to get awkward. Then he sighed. “What if we met in the middle. Mom and Dad come here, instead. No princess, no responsibilities in the kingdom. Just family trying to reconnect.”

Rapunzel bit her lower lip. Honestly, she didn’t want to. The more people got to know her, the worse it would be for them when she died. Or worse, when she lived, but lost herself; she’d seen firsthand what watching that happen to her sisters had done to Mother.

On the other hand… Rapunzel squeezed her arms around her chest. “Okay. I’ll meet with them. But I don’t know how Mother will react. She can be… strange, sometimes.”

Isaac beamed at her. “Thank you.”

They invited Phillip back over, and the boys stayed and chatted with her for another hour or two. Phillip was ecstatic to learn Rapunzel was also an avid fan of the Arthur novel series; the two delighted in trashing on Lancelot and his ridiculous ego, and got into a minor debate over which member of the Round Table was the most worthy of obtaining the Grail. Isaac interjected occasionally to snark at them both, but he had a good-natured smile the whole time. Rapunzel didn’t want to admit it, but she enjoyed herself, and she was quite shocked at how lonely she felt when they left.

“Well, I thought that all went better than last time,” Frieda said.

“Yeah, we got lucky. I don’t envy those boys, though,” Lena replied.

Frieda frowned. “Will the tall one be alright, do you think?”

Lena shrugged. “Why do you care?”

Before Frieda could reply, a small blue butterfly landed on Frieda and began to send magic pulses back the way they had come.

The two fairies looked at each other and turned pale. They left the road and started running. Lena through up magic shields to try and mask their presence, while Frieda struggled to pry the magic butterfly off of herself.

Sh**, it’s HER, Lena thought. Gothel was trying to track them down. Who knows what that madwoman was thinking?

They made it safely to town that evening and stayed the night. However, when they awoke, five more butterflies had gathered around them, and Lena and Frieda booked it out of town as fast as they could. For the next week, maybe week and a half, they actually managed to keep ahead of Gothel. Once, they even used large cloaks to disguise themselves and walked right past her.

But everyone messes up at some point, and Lena and Frieda soon found themselves facing down the blue fairy.

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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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9 November 2022

For some reason, whenever I get stuck and need a break, I wind up writing about Lena and Frieda. I’m not sure why. Mostly they’re the designated comedy relief, I guess? Though I do worry that my sense of humor is weird and no one else finds their hijinks funny.

I briefly toyed with the idea of Phillip x Frieda being a thing… then I remembered he’s only fourteen. So no. That’s not happening. Even without considering the fact she’s probably 300.

When Isaac and Phillip arrived in the apple merchant’s village, they were disappointed to learn they’d just missed her by a couple of days. Long enough that chasing after her didn’t really seem feasible.

“So, what now?” Phillip asked. “Wait around until she comes back through?”

“If we have to.” Isaac frowned. Even in the best-case scenario, that would be a couple months. “I’m really not looking forward to it, though.”

The two booked themselves a room at the inn. The innkeeper, a portly, jovial fellow, mentioned as they finished booking their room, “Oh, you’ve come at an excellent time. We have some special visitors staying with us tonight! Duchess Sorlanne and her daughter, Delilah, are passing through.”

Isaac raised his eyebrows, while Phillip scrunched his together . “Aren’t they from the southern part of the kingdom? Like, two weeks away from here?”

“Yes they are, indeed.” Isaac tapped his finger as he thought, then asked the innkeeper, “Did they happen to mention what business they had in the area?”

The innkeeper stroked his chin. “No, can’t say that they did.”

“May I inquire as to which room they are staying in?”

“Sorry, but the asked not to be disturbed.”

Isaac feigned a cheery smile. “Of course, good sir, and I thank you for honoring the privacy of your patrons. However…” He flashed his signet ring to the innkeeper. “As the crown prince, I would be quite remiss if I did not notify them of my presence, would I not?”

The innkeeper’s eyes widened, and he smiled broadly. “Of course, sire! I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. Would you like me to announce your presence?”

Isaac shook his head and raised his palm. “It’s appreciated, but I am traveling incognito to attend to some business. If you would direct me to their room, that would be more than enough.”

“Of course, sire! Up the stairs, second door on the right. The one just past it is yours.”

“Thank you, my good man.” Isaac clapped his shoulder, and brought a finger to his lips. “And remember, mum’s the word.”

“Yes, sire! No one shall hear a peep from my mouth!”

As Isaac and Phillip headed upstairs, Phillip looked at Isaac in amazement. “You should do stuff like that more often. I’d almost forgotten you were an actual, proper prince.”

Isaac scowled. “I hate pulling rank. Makes me feel slimy.”

Phillip shrugged. “You know everyone in town is going to know about you by the time the sun sets, right?”

“Don’t remind me.” Isaac sighed.

They arrived at the door in question, and Isaac pounded on it. The tow boys heard a flurry of activity from behind the door, until it finally opened to reveal an over-powdered young woman in an excessively showy pink dress. Her blonde hair had been carefully arranged in curls.

“Delilah Sorlanne, I presume?” Isaac asked, and gave a bow. The girl looked nothing like Delilah.

The not-Delilah gave him a flirtatious giggle. “I am. Who are you?”

“My name is Isaac, and this is my friend, Phillip. We heard you were in town, and came to pay our respects to you and your mother. May we come in?”

Not-Delilah glanced back at an older woman, perhaps late 40s or early 50s, in a refined green gown. The older woman waved a hand dismissively, and Not-Delilah gave the two an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but we are quite tired from our journey, so we won’t be seeing any visitors.”

She moved to close the door, but Isaac jammed his foot in the doorway and forced it back open. “I really must insist.” He flashed his signet ring, making Not-Delilah go pale, and pushed past her into the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” The false Duchess Sorlanne rose to her feet, the image of indignant fury, but as soon as she saw Isaac’s ring, her face turned bone white. She glanced to the doorway, where Phillip had just closed the door behind him, and now stood with one hand casually resting on the pommel of his sword.

“You see,” Isaac said, “I happen to be personally acquainted with the Sorlanne family. Quirk of the job, if you will. And you two look nothing like any of them. So who are you?”

When neither of the two women spoke, Isaac continued, “Perhaps I should hazard a guess? There’s this one story, you see, that my parents have told me time and time again, and it has always fascinated me. It was about these two fairies; one dressed in green, named Lena,” and he nodded to the false duchess, “and a pink one, named Frieda.” He gestured to Not-Delilah, and both women turned even paler. “They told me how after my sister was kidnapped by another fairy, these two were thrown in prison, but somehow they managed to escape, and vanished without a trace.”

Not-Delilah motioned to the window, and the green one started shifting so she could reach it. So Isaac very deliberately moved to sit on the window sill, arms folded. He grinned wickedly at the two. “Let’s make a deal, shall we?”

The two fairies shot looks of horror at one another.

Lena felt trapped. Sword at her back, even if it wasn’t drawn yet, and some kind of scary magic user ahead. She thought, after they’d escaped prison and the search for them had died down, that she and Frieda had put the whole “Aurora the baby was kidnapped” debacle behind them.

Apparently not.

How were they supposed to know the prince was wandering around this part of the country? And right next to some kind of crazy enchanted forest? What gives!

Not that Frieda seemed to care. After the initial shock of getting caught, she was as cheerful as ever, and happily chatted with the boys. Well, the bigger one, anyway; the prince didn’t seem to want to talk with them very much. Not that Lena cared. Really.

“Yep. Any shape we want,” Frieda told Phillip. Somehow, they’d gotten to talking about fairies’ shapeshifting abilities. “But I don’t like pretending to be men.”

“So, if you wanted to have a pig nose and crazy purple hair or something, you could just… do it?” Phillip asked. 

Frieda responded by changing her face to match his description, and the two started laughing so hard it startled the birds in the nearby trees.

The prince shushed them, then kept going. Lena glared at them, too. “Yes, we can. But true fairies would never stoop to such behavior.”

Frieda snorted. “After you spent a week as an ugly old woman with a single tooth, just to make that one noble family feel so bad they’d take you in?”

Lena’s face flushed. “That was an entirely separate matter.”

“It didn’t work,” Frieda whispered to Phillip. “The rich family just spat at her, and it was the local poor kids who gave her food. Apparently it tasted pretty bad.”

Phillip had to wipe tears from his eyes from how hard he laughed. Once he stopped, though, he asked, “Say, where you can change your age and your appearance and everything, it makes me curious. How old are you? Do you even get old?”

The prince shoved Phillip. “It’s rude to ask a lady’s age.

Lena sniffed and nodded approvingly, but Frieda just smiled and waved it off. “Nah. Lena and me, well, you can’t exactly call us ladies, can you?”

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3 November 2022

This day, I was just exhausted, I think. I had a hard time focusing, so I picked something random and fun. Lena and Frieda seemed a bit ridiculous, so I explored to see what shenanigans they’d get up to. The details on how their magic works have been changed since this, since here I was just throwing ideas around, but it gets the idea across.

Also, you might be able to tell from this, but I will be jumping around all over the place as I write. For whatever reason, it is very difficult for me to just write straight through in order and stay motivated. So I may bounce from the beginning to the middle and back. I tend to trend in a forward direction (ie I try to come back and continue the main story thread most days), but it’s not consistent.

Lena stood on Frieda’s shoulders, and carefully peered along the walls. No guards in sight; good. She hoisted herself up onto the parapet, then turned and helped Frieda up behind her.

“Did you know Gothel was going to pull something like that?” she hissed, and jumped down the other side of the wall.

Frieda jumped after her into her arms, and as quietly as possible she answered, “Of course not! Do you think I would have gotten us into this if I’d known what Gothel was up to?”

The two fairies snuck away from the castle towards the woods. Once they’d gotten in far enough to be obscured from sight, they both heaved a sigh of relief.

“Well, that was horrible,” Lena muttered to herself. She did her best to smooth out the wrinkles and rips on her green gown, but it didn’t help.

“It could always have been worse,” Frieda answered. She bent down and started building a fire. She looked very strange doing something so woodsy in her bright pink dress.

Lena gave her a flat look. “Instead of earning a favor from the royal family, King Frederick was so furious with us he locked us up. The last of our magic’s gone, after we used it to bless a kid who’s not going to live long enough to give it back. And that’s because we attracted the attention of a ridiculously powerful witch, who might well be the most infamous fairy-killer of all time. Our friend, the one we used to even get the job, made off with the princess and ruined any chance we had of fixing all that. And with our luck, she won’t let anybody know what she’s up to and vanish, and the Spring Court’s going to blame us for her disappearance.”

“True,” Frieda said, as the fire finally started to burn properly. “But King Frederick didn’t execute us right away. You know all those kings back east would have done that.”

Lena shuddered and shuffled closer to the fire. “So now what? No magic, no money, no connections. What can we even do now?”

Frieda flashed her a grin and a peace sign. “Isn’t it obvious? We find something sentimental and get our magic back. Scam the owner, rob them, charm them, whatever works. And once we get enough magic saved up, we can go home.”

“Home, huh.” Lena sighed as she gazed into the fire. “Do we even have a home to go back to?”

Frieda opened her mouth, then closed it again after a moment. “Well, if things are good enough here, maybe we skip that part.”

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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.

Rapunzel Next->

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