So with Tangled finally finished, we're getting closer to the end of this story. Anyway, I hear they're making a Big Hero 6 show on Disney XD. Already, its chances of success are limited. Sorry, Tron Uprising has me all salty.
Chapter 68
To Truly Live
Kupopo let out a purr as Rapunzel inattentively stroked his head. She had made a big mistake. That was what she had been telling herself ever since she had returned to this tower with her mother. It was easy to say one thing to her mother and actually feel something else about the same issue. Her journey may have ended in betrayal but the adventure she had taken had been an unforgettable one. Kupopo following after her just to tell her how kind Sora and his friends really were was the one thing that tore her heart in two. They had not betrayed her. No, it was she who had betrayed them in the end.
"What do I do, Kupopo?" Rapunzel whispered. "I let them down. I don't want to stay here. Even if what my mother says is true, even if all there is out there is nothing but pain… I don't mind it. I don't mind the pain because the truth is that there are a lot of happy memories in between. I want to make more of those."
"That's the spirit, kupo. It's why I want to stay with you. I just know that Sora and the others will come back for you. That's what friends do for each other. They always come back. But until that time comes, I want to make you as happy as possible," Kupopo said. He flew out of her hand and picked up the crown from the bag with his tiny hands. With a lot of exertion which made the act in itself seem kind of cute to Rapunzel, Kupopo was able to place the diadem on Rapunzel's head. "There we go, kupo. Maybe you can be the princess in the tower and me your noble knight!"
"Princess?" Rapunzel repeated. The word resonated with her for some reason. She stood up and paced up and down the room before freezing at the mirror. In front of her, she saw a girl with long golden hair and emerald green eyes… "Princess?"
"Is something wrong, kupo?" Kupopo asked, cocking his head to the right as he watched Rapunzel clutch her head. He had to fly out of the way as the girl backed away and looked up at the painted sunburst above the mirror.
"Is… is that why I painted it?" Rapunzel asked herself. It had been the very first painting she had done at the age of five. At the time she had thought that she had wanted to paint the sun as she saw it from her window, but what if that had not been the actual reason? Had her heart been subconsciously trying to send her a message using something that she could recognize?
"I'm the lost princess," Rapunzel said, backing away even farther only to hit the dressing table causing some of its contents to fall on the floor in a deafening crash.
"Um, yes, kupo, that's what I said," Kupopo said.
"No, Kupopo! I'm-"
"Rapunzel, what's going on? Are you alright?" Her 'mother' walked into her room, curious as to the source of the noise.
"I'm the lost princess, aren't I?" Rapunzel gasped out.
"Sorry, what was that? Oh, you know how I hate the mumbling. You really need to stop with that, dear," Gothel said.
Rapunzel looked at Gothel properly for the first time since she had appeared to save her the night before, but this time it was in a completely new light. For the first time, she was staring into the eyes of a stranger.
"I said I am the lost princess, aren't I?" She waited for a response, but when none came, Rapunzel continued. "I'm sorry, did I mumble, mother? Or should I even call you that?"
"Rapunzel, do you even hear yourself? Why would you ask such a ridiculous question?" Gothel asked, trying to make light of the situation with a chuckle. She stopped when she looked back to see Rapunzel's cold stare.
"It was you! You stole me away from my parents. You kept me in this tower all these years," Rapunzel said. "You fed me lies about how evil the world was and how people can use each other only to betray them after they've served their purpose."
"And you think that was a lie? Everything I've done, I've done to protect… you." Gothel reached out for her but Rapunzel pushed her away.
"If it is the truth, then would that include you too?" Rapunzel asked.
"Fine. Let's suppose you leave. Where would you go? Where can you go where the shadows won't be able to reach you? Where they won't try to break your heart?"
"I've already decided. I'll bear the pain if it means being free. With freedom comes opening your eyes to a whole other world. You can't take the good without the bad and to shut my eyes to that would be inconsiderate knowing the pain others face every day," Rapunzel said. She walked over to the mirror and looked at her own reflection once more. Gothel apprehended her hand once more but with a tighter grip. Still, Rapunzel pulled with all her strength, uncoupling from Gothel and sending her into the mirror. The mirror toppled over and shattered, glass pieces scattering on the floor. Rapunzel looked back after her mother, breathing heavily. "You were wrong about this world. You were wrong about me, and I will never let you use my hair again."
"And I'll be there to make sure of it, kupo!" Kupopo exclaimed, flying in front of Rapunzel and stretching out his arms.
"And what exactly are you supposed to be?" An annoyed Gothel asked.
"Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"
Hearing his voice, Rapunzel looked to the window. "That's Eugene's voice! He didn't leave after all." She turned to Gothel with a grin on her face. That's she had intended anyway. But she found herself looking on in fear instead. A dark aura had surrounded her.
"I just thought of something. What if she's not here? I mean, if I were Gothel I would find somewhere else to hide Rapunzel since her friends could just come back here," Sora said. Calling the Gummi Ship back at the clearing, they were able to get back to the tower in faster time than they would have if they had followed the stream back down. Introducing Flynn to the Highwind was both a complete thrill and a nightmare packed into one. It was thrilling to see someone so excited about flying in the air but having to answer the barrage of questions of the function of each button served only to annoy Sora and Riku to the point where they started ignoring him.
"Isn't that assuming she knows about us though?" Kairi asked. "Flynn, she wouldn't have to worry about. She was trying to send him to the gallows anyway, but what about us?"
"If she was following Rapunzel and knew she was with Flynn, then she could have also seen us, right?" he answered back.
"Oh, Sora? I'm thinking this answers your question," Luna said, summoning Dream Seeker. The ground broke apart in front of them, a wooden hand and arm like intertwined tree branches emerging out of the ground. A short circumference of ground around the hand soon broke up, and the creature with nothing to restrict it came free at last. The tree monster stood up, towering impressively over them all in height. It could just as easily have matched all their heights combined.
"This thing… it looks like a Mandragora. No, it definitely is one!" Luna said.
"A what now?" Riku asked.
"Ooh, something not even the mighty Riku knows," Sora said with a chortle.
"Am I supposed to know everything? I'm not an encyclopedia. Go ahead, Luna," Riku said.
"Well I read a book on mythical monsters and plants when I was in my first year of high school. The Mandragora illustration I saw in the book was smaller but there's no mistake about it. This must be some kind of Heartless version of it," Luna told them.
"So it's just a really big tree? I'm okay with that. We just have to chop this thing down to size then," Sora said, pointing the Kingdom Key at the Heartless. "Rapunzel, wait just a little longer, okay? We're almost there."
The Mandragora reached with both arms and swiped at the closest person, who happened to be Sora. Sora twisted his body and flipped over the long arms, landing on the right. His eyes focused on the Mandragora's exposed side, he air dashed forward and slammed the back of his Keyblade into the Heartless' side, hurling it to the side. Luna ran in and cloaked her Keyblade in fire, performing a spinning attack quickly afterwards. The long length of her Keyblade connected with the Heartless a few times as her Keyblade travelled upwards in a spiral.
"It's weak against fire. I figured as much. Makes this a whole lot easier then," Luna said, after jumping away a safe distance. This wasn't entirely true, because the Mandragora was incredibly fast with flailing its arms around. The arms seemed to extend and retract in a way that reminded Sora of Desiree's Keyblade, but its opponents were also nimble and kept on their toes, moving about so that the Heartless became apprehensive about who to target next.
"Over here!" Riku yelled. He had slid around to the Mandragora's side and performed Icebreaker, unleashing an icy attack with a full clockwise spin of the Way to the Dawn before going counterclockwise with his blade on fire. Sora ran in quickly and performed an overhead jump attack, cutting through one of the boss' branches.
He parried an attack as the Mandragora tried to slam its arm down on Sora and jumped away. Looking up, he could see a by-product of Riku's Icebreaker attack being that it had inflicted a temporary burn effect on the Mandragora.
"Way to go, Riku! We keep this up and we're bound to win," Sora said. Then the Mandragora did something that none of them could have expected. It dug its branchy arms or roots into the ground. For a moment, nothing happened. Maybe the boss was trying to heal through the ground, was Sora's line of thinking.
"AGH!"
Sora spun around and stared in horror at the scene before him. One of the roots had come out of the ground from behind Flynn and had pierced through the lower part of his back, the tip leaving the upper portion of his body and sticking out.
"FLYNN!" Kairi yelled. Before she could run to him, more sharp branches appeared out the ground forcing them all to predict and evade the sneak attacks as best they could. The branch that had pierced Flynn's body soon retracted back into the ground, sending Flynn to the floor in a bloody mess. Likewise, all other branches slithered back into the holes they came from. The Mandragora pulled its arms out of the ground, the burn infliction now gone from its body.
"You'll pay for that," Sora muttered. He glanced at the injured Flynn before placing his left hand over the Kingdom Key's length. "Ars Arcanum!"
Channeling half of his mana pool into his Keyblade, he rushed in and delivered several strikes to the Heartless. Kairi ran in as well and told Sora to back away quickly. Doing as he was told, he watched as she jumped into the air and used Faith. Seven pillars of light that looked more like swords surrounded Kairi and the Mandragora. The boss tried to swing his arms at her but Luna intercepted the attack with a Fire Raid, allowing Kairi to glide over to the swords. One by one, she picked them up and glided back over to the boss to unleash the attack with a slash of her Keyblade. Horizontal lights like waves struck the tree one after the other, and after she was done, she, Sora, Riku and Luna all ran in from different direction to deliver the final blow to a weakened enemy.
The Mandragora vanished, no doubt leaving the heart to fly up and disappear in the sky, but no one was focusing on that. Luna reached Flynn first and lifted his head onto her arms.
"Flynn? Stay with me here. You okay?" she asked.
"It doesn't matter about me. Rapunzel. We can't let Gothel take away her future," Flynn managed to wheeze out but not without great pain it seemed.
"Don't be stupid, you matter too, you know? Kairi, can't you do something?" Luna asked.
"I don't know. I can try Curasa but these kind of wounds are usually… well, let me try anyway," Kairi said. She took Luna's place, her hands hovering over Flynn's body before muttering the incantation. As the green aura coupled with the sound of chimes surrounded Flynn and Kairi, Sora looked at Riku and Luna realizing there was not much else they could do. In fact, they were more likely to be a distraction than a beneficial asset here.
"Luna, can you stay with Kairi, just in case she needs you? Riku and I will go and get Rapunzel back."
Luna nodded and went to Kairi's side without a word. Sora followed Riku to the side of the tower and stared up at the window. The window was open, but if Rapunzel was up there, she had not made any attempt to ease their fears by announcing he presence.
"How do we even get up there if we can't use Rapunzel's hair?" Sora asked. Riku motioned for Sora to follow him. As they walked around the perimeter of the tower, they finally stopped near the back of the tower. Riku, whose eyes had been on the ground the whole time, bent down at pointed at the grass.
"Aha, this grass had been disturbed recently. See how some of the grass here looks trampled? The soil's pretty uneven too."
"Okay. So what you're saying is because this is the only part around the tower that looks like it's been disturbed, that makes it unusual? Makes sense, but I can't see why that would be important, unless…" Sora trailed off as he looked up from the grass to the bush that was right in front of them. Intrigue got the better of him and he made his way around Riku, being careful to avoid slipping down the steep incline that led to the stream below. He grabbed at the ivy roots on the wall and tore it down in one go to reveal a door blocked completely by stones. "Eureka!"
"Great work, Sora. I would never have guessed there'd be a hidden door here," Riku said.
Sora laughed. "Let's be truthful now. Are you expecting me to believe that you started talking about trampled grass for no reason? You wanted me to realize that for myself, didn't you?"
"And it worked, didn't it, my apprentice?" Riku joked. He placed his hands against one of the stones and pulled. "It's sliding out easily enough. Here, come help me."
Sora grabbed at what seemed to be the loosest stone on his side and started from there. Soon enough, the entire wall crumbled under no support leaving an exposed entryway. The two travelled down the small dark passageway where up ahead was a trap door waiting at the end. Riku slowly and quietly lifted the door open before climbing out, with Sora following behind. They seemed to be on the lowest level of the tower as denoted by the lack of window as well as stairs on the side leading up. Above them they could hear screams from two different sources. One they did not know but the other they knew quite well.
"That's Kupopo!" Sora whispered. He proceeded slowly with Riku up the stairs, the sound of loud sobs becoming more apparent as they went up.
Reaching a slightly ajar door, they stood on either side of it. Sora held up three fingers, dropping one each second. As soon as the third one was down, Riku pushed it open and they both ran in. To the side, they could see Rapunzel tied down to a chair by her own hair. She looked up at them and began screaming through her hair.
"Rapunzel!" Sora yelled and made a run for her. Despite this, she kept shaking her head, almost as if she didn't want to be saved. Sora soon found out why, as something hit him from the side and launched him into the wall.
"Sora!" Riku yelled. He summoned his Keyblade, looking at the woman who had stood by the side of the door. On the floor was Kupopo, rolling about and clutching at his stomach. "You're Gothel, aren't you? I suppose it was only a matter of time then. You've given into the darkness in your heart. Rapunzel, I'm guessing you found out?" He waited for Rapunzel's nod before continuing. "You should be happy to know then that Flynn didn't betray you. He wanted to be with you and give up his mask as Flynn Rider. The bad thing is that he's outside right now, but he's seriously injured, all because of this woman and her greed."
Rapunzel's eyes widened in horror and she shifted even more aggressively in her seat. Sora stood up and continued on his way over to Rapunzel.
"When will you learn? Stay away from her!" Gothel yelled. Her hands flew out and Sora was once again, launched onto the ground by a bolt of darkness.
"Gothel, let Rapunzel go! She's not your property," Riku said. He turned as Rapunzel's chair fell to the floor in a thud, unravelling the hair around her body. She stood up quickly and backed away to help Sora up.
"Rapunzel, you are making a big mistake here. Even if they don't, there are others who will use your hair for granted. The will of the minute minority is very different from that of the majority and you'll wish you were by your mother's side once you find that out," Gothel yelled.
"I am going back to my mother. She's not you," Rapunzel said.
"You really think people are that disloyal to one another? Do I even want to know how bad your life was?" Sora said. "Rapunzel, your hair… can it grow back if it's cut?"
"No. Gothel said that someone tried to do it when I was a baby and this happened." She tucked some of her hair behind her ear to reveal a patch of brown in her hair.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was Gothel either. Rapunzel, do you trust me?" Sora asked.
"Yes, but what are you…"
"I look forward to the new you," Sora said with a smile. He summoned his Keyblade, and before anyone could react, took a handful's width of Rapunzel's hair in hand and cut through it quickly.
"NO! What have you done?" Gothel screamed out as piles of hair sank to the ground leaving much shorter hair on the owner, stopping short of her shoulder. Gothel dived for the hair trying to hug it tightly, but the spell had worn off. Golden hair turned dark brown along it's entire length, seeming to travel through the air in order to turn the hair still on her head the same color.
Gothel kept screaming, and when she felt the wrinkles on her face and grabbed at her hair to see only white, she screamed even more. She backed away, and without realizing that the window was behind her, accidently lost her balance and fell out. Rapunzel stretched her hand out as if wanting to run and stop her but it was too late. Sora looked out of the window to see Gothel turn into dust just before she hit the ground.
"Not even her heart was spared. It lived far beyond what a natural life span should," Riku said next to him. Luna strode over to the black dust on the ground and looked up to them curiously. "I think she just took the long way down. Don't worry, Rapunzel's safe. We'll be with you in a moment."
"Did the thought of dying really frighten her that much?" Sora asked.
"People deal with things in different ways. She saw an opportunity and took it. But you can't run from your fate forever. Sooner or later, it will catch up with you no matter how much you try to fight it," Riku answered. Sora didn't answer. He couldn't, he wouldn't believe that. His fate hung on a vision of the future after all. He would be the destroyer of worlds and he would at some point "fall" and his heart be "shattered like glass". Riku probably hadn't realized it, but he had chosen his words poorly. Maybe they would have made sense to Sora if he wasn't experiencing the same thing, but he was determined to ensure those prophecies never came to pass. He would not die and he would never dare bring ruin to the worlds.
Sora turned his attention instead to Rapunzel who was cradling Kupopo in her arms. "He followed me all the way here because he… he wanted to give me hope. He ended up doing his best to protect me from her. You should have seen him, pouncing on moth- Gothel's face and holding on for dear life as she tried to shake him off. He was really brave."
"Kupopo…" Sora walked up to them and looked down. Kupopo looked up at him wearily and reached out.
"Kupo, I did the best I could. I'm sorry I left without saying anything."
"I'm glad you did. You kept Rapunzel safe. Thank you," Sora replied. He looked up at Rapunzel and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, about the hair and all, I-"
"Thank you. I understand why you did it. It's not hair that makes a person, but who they are inside. I really only thought I was special because of my hair until we went on our journey, but you taught me that there's more to me than what others tell me to be or think. It's about what you touch, smell, hear, taste, see. What I feel right now is unique to myself and that's what makes me special," Rapunzel said.
"I'm glad you've found your way," Sora replied.
"Er, I hate to ruin the moment but something's wrong. I don't think Kairi's magic is working," Riku said to them, still near the window. "Let's get going."
As they reached Flynn, Kairi and Luna, Sora and Riku slowed down but Rapunzel sped up. Kairi looked behind her at the sound of breathing and moved away so that Rapunzel could fall to Flynn's side.
Kairi looked away, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I tried, I really did but I couldn't…"
Sora walked over to her side and let her rest her head on his shoulder. "You did the best you could, Kairi. Never forget that," he told her through held back tears. Even though he wanted to be a pillar of support for her, he felt like he wanted to collapse himself.
When would it end, he asked himself. It was as Alfonso had said. There was a cycle of death around him constantly and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break it. He wondered what the result would be in the end for him. Would these continue to the point where in the end there would be no grief, no sadness, no anger, when the next person fell? Would there just be a black hole of indifference eventually? Surely, already acknowledging that someone else would eventually die with him failing to save them was a sign of things to come. He looked to his right to see Luna on her knees next to Rapunzel and curled up into a ball. It was probably all too much for her to take. He knew it was wrong to assume but after staying with the puppy and watching it pass away, surely she must have felt hopeless too. She would cry her heart out until there was no sadness left, only frustration.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye," Rapunzel said, crying over Flynn. Her tears dropped down from her cheeks and landed on his face, creating wet patches all around.
Something happened then that Sora doubted he would ever understand, but he didn't care. Rapunzel pulled back and the others watched in astonishment as Flynn's body glowed a bright gold. When the light faded, Flynn Rider opened his eyes and looked up directly into Rapunzel's.
"Did I ever tell you I've got a thing for brunettes?"
"Eugene!" Rapunzel gasped out before throwing her arms around him. Luna looked up having heard the voice, and then she covered her mouth, letting out a overjoyed scream.
"But how?" Kairi asked, taking her head of Sora's shoulder.
"Maybe there was still a bit of magic left in Rapunzel," Sora replied. He smiled and threw his hands behind his head. Kairi looked up at him and smiled.
"Sora, are you crying?"
Sora's eyes darted away from the inquisitive Kairi and he promptly turned away, wiping the streak of wetness from his face.
He turned back to face her with a smile. "Well, I'm just glad we could save one life. Who doesn't love happy endings?"
"Sora… we've been saving people every world we go to. We can't save everyone all the time, but we did it this time. It's a miracle!" Kairi exclaimed.
Then why doesn't it feel that way? Sora wanted to ask but he realized the thought was best kept in his head. He guessed in the end it was only too easy to exacerbate loss over success when he could become so easily attached to those who he had failed to save.
"Well, I guess we should go and tell your parents the good news. Your real parents," Luna said, having brightened up considerably from just a while ago.
"We have to walk all the way back? Oh, my poor feet," Rapunzel said, wrinkling her nose.
"You can do that if you want, but I think I like our way better," Riku said. Rapunzel glanced at him questioningly. This changed from confusion to wonder as she looked up upon hearing the sound of an engine above her.
