"Marcus! Help! Anastasia! Drusella! Help me!" Rapunzel screamed out.
Mother Gothel laughed. There was a mighty storm blowing through. Thunder timed itself in sync with her laugh. The harder she laughed the harder the downpour.
Until, as Gothel stopped laughing, the storm grew stronger. The thunder and lightning sounded closer and closer.
Rapunzel was worrying for her family's safety in the storm. What if they were hurt? What if the girls came looking for her? Gothel was more concerned towards the magic in the air that swelled as the storm approached. Both women agreed on one thing, though neither knew it: This storm was not safe.
Their fears were confirmed. There was a loud clap of thunder, sounding as if it came from above the Tower.
The candles went out.
After a moment's pause, they came back on.
Lounging on the couch, was a stranger. She (for she was obviously so) was dressed in the oddest clothing, including a purple loose shirt and some kind of blue trousers. There were heavy brown boots in her feet, old and worn yet free of dirt and grime. Her hair was a midnight black, let loose in wild curls around her head yet in a more tame style than Gothel's. Her golden brown eyes were sharp. The youth of her face was betrayed by the depth in her eyes.
"Question: how did I get this cup of tea?" The stranger asked. She showed off the fancy little purple and white chipped teacup, eyes painted on the side to make it look like a smiling face. You could see her poorly trimmed nails, cut down to the pink and painted glittering blue. "Answer: I'm better than you, just accept it."
She sipped her tea, to the bewilderment of Gothel and Rapunzel.
Gothel opened her mouth to protest. This stranger had broken all of the defensive spells of the Tower. It was supposed to keep out all other magic users, made from blood magic spells of the most power.
"Shh." The woman hushed, holding a finger to her lips.
The witch silenced. Though not of her own violation. Gothel looked down at her throat, confused at her silence. As she tried to speak, all that came out were a series of choked squeaks.
Rapunzel, who was already terrified, felt all the blood drain from her face.
"Don't try breaking the spell." The woman advised, nonchalant. "When I want quiet, I tend to get it." She clicked her tongue, while miming snapping her fingers. She eyed Gothel. "Mom skills." The stranger took in another sip of tea.
Gothel was only made angrier by this. This time it was joined with growls.
It made the stranger chuckle. "You sound just like my sister when I duct taped her mouth shut. Best two hours of my life." She laughed, fondness in her eyes. Shaking her head, she had more tea.
Gothel raised her arm. A spell formed in her palm.
The stranger stared at the spell, then looked at Gothel in disappointment.
Gothel threw the spell. The strange didn't as much as blink as it flew toward her face. The spell seemed to hit an invisible barrier. There wasn't as much as a spark when the spell hit it, the only sign was the loud crash like lightning.
The Witch was the most surprised by this. First her Tower was breached, now her attack spells didn't hit? Just what was this thing?
It must have bounced off the shield-barrier-thing for the next thing Rapunzel saw was Mother Gothel flying back to the kitchen. She collided painfully with her kitchen, rolling to the floor in a heap.
Rapunzel didn't think she could be anymore terrified.
"So." Rapunzel took a sharp breath. She shuffled around, seeing the stranger grinning with her tongue on her teeth. "What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" The stranger gestures to the rest of the room.
"Please don't kill me." Rapunzel whimpered. "Please. I have a family."
"Ugh! This is why I can't do nice things!" The stranger angrily put her tea cup down. She rose up to her feet. Rapunzel felt her legs wobble at the stranger's enraged face. "You all think I'm going to murder you! I'm not going too. Unless you're a bad person but...not yet!" Rapunzel gasped. "I realized that was the wrong thing to say. My bad, that's on me."
She picked the teacup up. "Twilight is always telling me that I forget how weird an terrifying I must be to other people."
Rapunzel was starting to wonder if Gothel was dead. The witch hadn't come back up from where the stranger had thrown you.
"Who're you?" The woman asked Rapunzel.
"Rapunzel." The scared nervous mother replied.
"Am I in the New Enchanted Forest?" The woman asked, suddenly excited.
Rapunzel paused. "Yes."
"That makes sense." The stranger mused. She began walking around the room. She fidgeted the cup in her hands, rotating it mindlessly. "Cause see, I knew this other Rapunzel-Well two of them but the second one isn't who I'm talking them- the other Rapunzel was a princess of this kingdom and she was trapped in another Tower to Get dream root. It was killing me that I didn't know what kingdom it was, so I asked. She owed me after this buddy of mine got her out of the Tower. It was the New Enchanted Forest. She's married now, was the latest rumor, with sons. Anyway. You were named after her. That's so nice."
Rapunzel didn't know what to say to that, except maybe "You know the Queen?"
"Vaguely." The stranger shrugged. "I know many Queens. You'll have to narrow it down a bit. Was she animated?"
"The...the one you just said...Queen Rapunzel." Rapunzel explained.
"Oh! No..." The stranger shook her head. "I know of her."
"But..."
"Don't think about it too hard." The stranger winced. She stopped near the window of the Tower. "It does your head in."
"Why are you here?" Gothel spoke, much smoother and less angry than someone just thrown into a kitchen should be. Maybe it was Magic's fault, yeah.
The stranger paused a moment. "Didn't I spell you into silence-oh right. That spell never lasts as long as I want it." She rapped her finger on her teacup, her dad scrunched up in thought. "I'm here because...I don't actually know." The stranger admitted. She looked down at her cup of tea. "The last thing I remember is...Um...huh...eh? Nah...was it...no, no that was my daughter's birthday..."
Gothel growled.
"Peter Pan!" The stranger suddenly shouted triumphantly. "Ha! We'd just dealt with Peter Pan!" She whistled, sitting on the window ledge. "Boy, is that a load off my shoulders."
"What are you?" Gothel asked. "No one should have entrance to my Tower!"'
The stranger snickered. "Sorry. That just...sounded really dirty." She snickered again. "As for that question." She waved her teacup hand. The cup vanished. "I have no reasonable answer. In fact, should I tell you my answer, your brain might just go..." She made a whooping explosion noise.
Rapunzel backed up in fear, nearly hitting the sofa. Gothel was annoyed at the sheer arrogance.
"Now. To more important things." The stranger turned to Rapunzel. Her black curls swung wildly over her face, the stranger tossed them back. "You said you had a family?"
Rapunzel nodded.
"And I'm guessing that witch...coupled with that other non-important at the time Rapunzel...I'm calling her Mother Gothel-" Said witch was surprised the stranger knew her identity. "-took you away from them?"
Rapunzel paused...then nodded. "But...she promised my family happiness. All I had to do was...give them up."
The stranger tensed at that. Rapunzel felt like a deer before an arrow shot it. The stranger turned her gaze to Gothel. The Witch wasn't letting this creature unsettle her.
"And?" The stranger asked, though clearly talking to Rapunzel.
"She locked me in this Tower." Rapunzel answered.
"She said she would pay any price." Gothel explained, easily. "She should have specified if she wanted more."
The stranger huffed. "Yeah...I'll give you that." She looked back to Rapunzel, a distant look on her face. "You got kids?"
Rapunzel nodded. "Two daughters, Anastasia and Drusella. My husband, Marcus, is sick. I was only looking for food for them."
The stranger nodded. "I got girls too. Cutest little things on any world...I don't have to wonder why you'd risk everything for them because I have too. My husband...I've misplaced him again...I don't know what I'd do if he was sick..."
Rapunzel no longer felt afraid of this woman. She felt protected now, safer than she had been in her entire life. She could already see her daughters smiling faces and her husband healthy again.
"Guardian." The stranger answered.
Gothel tensed, curiosity peaked. "Pardon?"
"You wanted something to call me. Call me Guardian." The stranger clarified. "I'm not letting you separate this family. You have no chance of that happening."
"You are the Guardian?" Gothel asked, doubtful but yet...if this was the one she had been looking for, it was too big a chance to miss out on. The Guardian had powerful magic, ready to be used for the Circle's purposes. Gothel had been searching for decades for the Guardian, hoping to bring her magic to the Circle.
"I am until I sign my daughters adoption papers, the newer one anyway." The stranger replied easily, as if she hadn't just admitted to being one of the most powerful witches in all time. "And my new son. We're a weird family."
This made Gothel happy, to the confusion of the stranger.
"What'll it take for you to let her go?" The Guardian asked Gothel.
"You take her place." Gothel replied immediately.
"Pass. Next option?"
"Take her place or she will be cut off from them forever." Gothel offered.
The stranger met Gothel's uncaring expression. "No she won't. You're going to let her go. My offering was just me pretending to be nice."
She mimed clicking her fingers. Rapunzel vanished in a puff of yellow magic. Gothel glared.
"I'm the Guardian." The stranger stated in the quiet of the room. Her voice carried like the thunder outside. "I protect those that don't know any better. Unfortunately for you, I get rid of the troublemakers permanently."
The Guardian stood up on her feet. There was fire in her gold eyes. No joke. The stranger's irises were glowing with fire as her powers unleashed. Gothel would later deny feeling afraid. She would deny the feeling of something digging at her brain, staying around like an earworm.
She couldn't ignore what the Guardian said next. Later, Gothel would wonder why she even tried fighting this command. That's what it had to be, a magic command. Gothel could no more have ignored the Guardian, than the Guardian could've ignored a soul in need.
"You will never do anything that will cause that family harm, or separation. If they are about to be, you'll use every scrap of magic you can muster to make sure it doesn't. That life you promised her family? You're still going to give it to them. They will have a good life in the New Enchanted Forest. Understand?" The Guardian ordered.
Gothel had no choice but to respond "Yes."
The Guardian didn't even looked pleased. She had the face of a Queen that expected her orders followed, whether or not her subjects liked them. "What were you going to do to her family?"
"There was a widow, and a daughter." Gothel heard herself say. She tried to fight off whatever spell she was under-out of instinct-but the words poured out. "Her husband would remarry. They would be happier there, they're one another's true love. The girl would escape in some years time, reuniting with her family to find them happier without her."
"You bitch." The Guardian responded.
"It was a test-"
"A freaking test?" The Guardian snapped. "Why do people with magic give people stupid tests? I hate those tests. You people don't know how much those tests eff with your mind." She blinked. "I just said 'eff', I spent too long in cartoons."
Gothel didn't appreciate the nonsense that seemed to fill every other sentence the Guardian spoke.
"What were you trying to prove in this test?" The Guardian asked. "What is so important that she give up everything?"
"I thought her to be the Guardian." Gothel admitted. "A powerful being of magic."
"Hold on what? I picked the title of some important magic person?" The Guardian gawked. "Great. Just...great." She huffed. "Whatever, fine. Give Rapunzel's family a good life. And...give that widow and her kid a good one too...geez why does every fairytale here get so complicated?"
There was another crack of thunder. The candles went out. They came back on to find the Guardian had vanished.
==HMFS7==
AN: At the rate my updates are going, it'll be years before I make it to Season 7. I couldn't avoid this ending for that long. Also, this prompt was 'retelling of a fairytale'.