So hey there everyone! Yes I am finally continuing this story. Yay! Also, thank you to everyone that has read up until this point, and thank you to those that have been giving me reviews saying you hope that I continue the story and that you like it and are excited to see what's coming next. I assure you, I've always had the intention of finishing this story, I just lost the motivation to write for a while, but I am going to try and be back a LOT more this year. Thank you to those that have been patient enough to wait for this long overdue update. I love all you guys and I hope you enjoyed this! There is definitely more to come. :D
Gothel waved the viewing circle away and turned back in the direction of Rapunzel's tower. Cursing to herself she dropped the basket she was carrying and started to run. That little girl was going to rue the day she'd been born.
~X~
Maleficent looked at Diablo and cooed gently. "My child, take this back to that tower. Meet the hag and then continue your search for Aurora. I don't trust her to follow through with our plan. She never could keep a promise."
She waved her hand over the birds leg and summoned a small vial filled with a pale purple potion tied there. Wrapped up with the bottle was a note with a few instructions.
She kissed the birds beak and said, "Now then, fly!" Maleficent raised her staff upwards and the bird took off from his perch on her shoulder.
~X~
"Briar Rose!" Rapunzel called out. She called for the other girl several times before finally leaning against a tree and looking at Pascal. "Where could she have gone?"
Pascal shrugged his shoulders. He look at her, worry on his face. He'd never seen her this upset before. There was a moment of silence and he turned his head fast. In that brief quiet he'd heard something faint.
He lifted one leg and pointed, making hurried squeaking sounds.
"She's that way? How do you know?" Rapunzel asked, standing back up and moving fast.
Pascal continued to squeak explaining as best he could that he'd heard faint crying when everything else had lulled for a moment,
"Remind me that if I ever get lost, make sure you're with the search party to find me." she told him as a way of saying thank you.
Eventually she heard the crying herself and after rounding a tree, found the blonde she'd quickly become fond of. She sighed with relief.
"There you are!" Rapunzel said, walking up to the other girl. Crouching down next to her, she gently reached out her hand, debating on whether or not to touch her. She'd never had to console someone else before. She didn't even really know what the meant or what she should do. Slowly she reached across the space between them and placed a hand on Briar Rose's shoulder.
"I...I was worried when you ran off." Rapunzel told the other girl.
Briar Rose looked up at her, tears running down her cheeks, her face red from crying. "Rapunzel, how could they do that to me? How could they hide who I truly was from me, for sixteen years?"
Rapunzel bit her lip. "I don't know. I'm sure they just thought it was the best way to keep you safe."
"It doesn't justify what they did though! I mean, I'm a princess? I don't know the first thing about anything and they want me to be royalty?" she said, looking away.
Rapunzel sighed. "I haven't really known you long enough to say whether it'll affect who you are. What I do know is that you are a kind, gentle person that I'm glad I met."
Briar Rose turned back towards Rapunzel. "Thank you. I'm glad we met too."
Rapunzel wiped away the tears from Briar Rose's face and smiled at her. "Now what do you say we head back to the cottage and start to get ready for our trip to the city. It's going to be exciting isn't it?"
She nodded, grabbing her new friends hand and standing up. "Let's go."
They made their way back, holding hands the whole time, both girls wearing a smile on their faces.
~X~
Gothel approached the tower. She'd rushed to make it back here as fast as possible and once she was able to stop, her body began to feel her real age. She took a seat, struggling to catch her breath. Rapunzel was going to pay dearly for this little stunt.
A cawing sounded overhead and looking up, she saw a small black raven slowly flying towards her. As it neared she saw the bottle attached to its leg and knew it to be Diablo. That curse really had been a piece of art. But it was only fair for what that demon had done to her first, although Maleficent would probably never admit to it.
The bird flew close and landed, cawing at her. She reached towards the bird but it took a nip at her, clearly still upset over being made a bird.
"Oh get over it. Maybe after all this is over we can get your mother to apologize and I'll turn you back. What do you think about that?" Gothel tilted her head and smiled. She'd never actually do it, but it was worth trying to get him to cooperate.
Diablo squawked and finally held his leg out so she could remove the vial and the note.
Gothel looked at the letter and snorted. It read: "Just in case you've forgotten how this spell works, have him drink it and recite the words Folge mir*. You were always a little slow when it came to potion use."
Gothel looked at the bird and said, "She must have forgotten that I'm the one that made this spell." Vial in hand, she turned and started toward the doorway of the tower.
~X~
Flynn rolled over. He thought he'd heard a noise but wasn't sure. He opened his eyes to survey the room. He sat up startled as he heard a bird caw from the tower window. It was a raven. "Just a bird." he thought to himself. That was when he felt an arm wrap around his throat and a vile tasting liquid in his mouth. It tasted like soil, ash and stone all mixed with acid. He felt it burn all the way down his throat into his chest settling right around where his heart was. A deep voice whispered in his ear, the air tickling it as it swept past, the words flooding his brain and his entire body.
"Folge mir..."
His body went limp and his mind went blank. That voice. That was all that mattered now. Whatever words would follow, he would answer truthfully, any command given, he would execute until his dying breath.
As his body went slack, Gothel released her arm from his neck. "Turn towards me." she told him. He obeyed.
"What is your name?" Gothel questioned.
"I go by Flynn Rider, but my real name is Eugene Fitzherbert."
"Eugene? No wonder you use a different name. So then, Flynn, how did you find this place?" she asked, taking a seat in the plush chair by the fireplace.
"I was running from the city guard when I entered the woods. In my rush to lose them I got myself lost as I'm not really from this part of the country. I managed to come across this tower while trying to find a patch back to somewhere I know and thought it would be a good place to hide out."
"And was anyone here when you broke in?" she had to know if Rapunzel had left before or after he'd shown up.
"There was no one here. I was tired so I decided to take a nap."
"Hmm. Well then, I guess you don't know what she looks like. Let me show you." Gothel waved her hand, using a bit of magic to raise a circle of violet smoke. Inside was an image of Rapunzel. "I need you to go and find this girl. Once you've found her, bring her back here. I want her returned alive and quickly."
Flynn stood up off the bed. He nodded once at her. "Yes, my lady." Turning, he headed down the staircase and set off in search for the blonde, green-eyed beauty.
~X~
Diablo watched all of this from his perch on the windowsill. He remembered his mother's words. Once he'd delivered the potion he was to start out on his own search for Aurora. As she'd predicted, the hag sent the man out searching for her own charge instead of the Princess. Eventually he'd report back to Maleficent once he'd found more information, and he'd report of this as well.
He spied the man leaving the tower and running off into the woods. He gave a caw and flew off in the opposite direction.
He would find her. And once she was found and her revenge fulfilled they'd work on getting his body back to normal. He'd been a bird for far too long.
*Folge mir - means "Follow me"