Chapter 3

Mother Knows Best

In the kingdom that is currently making preparations for the missing princess and her noble cousin's birthday, a group of three teenage boys scale the roof of every building in order to reach the castle. Now that they have reached their destination, one of the boys with his long red hair tied in the back in a low ponytail and crimson red eyes gaze out into the far distance, left amazed at the view. "Wow, I could get used to a view like this."

"Brick, come on." one of his friends, the one with short blonde hair and charming sky blue eyes named Boomer calls to him once he and their third friend, who has short, spiked black hair and forest green eyes, have opened a latch into the coronation room, where the princess' crown and the noble's tiara are being guarded.

Brick gives them a small wave of his hand, signalling them to give him a moment. "You know, I want to have a castle with a great view like this."

"If we do this job for Dr. Brisbane, we can get our own castle." Butch, the one with black hair says with a sneaky grin. Coming up behind him, Butch grabs his shirt collar from behind and yanks him over to the open latch, Boomer strapping a rope around his waist and once he is in position, Brick slips down into the room, Boomer and Butch carefully lowering him.

Once he is close enough, Brick snatches both the crown and the tiara and place them in his satchel. The prizes secure in his bag, Brick signals his friends to raise him back up. Just as they help him out and they make a run for it, the guards then realize that the precious objects have been stolen right from under their noses.

Running across the bridge to get to the mainland and into the forest, the three laugh together at how successful they were.

In their tower, Blossom had just finished putting her art supplies away, a smile forming on her face at a new thought. "This is it! This is the big day we've been waiting for, Bell. Today, I'll finally ask her."

At these words, Bell then shares her cousin's excitement. "Oh I do hope that she'll let us go this year."

"Oh Blossom!" the girls gasp in excitement when they hear Sedusa's voice outside the tower. "Let down your hair!"

Taking a deep breath in order to calm her racing heart as Bell straightens up since her lovely hair isn't nearly as long as Blossom's, Blossom goes over to the single window that is Sedusa's most used way in. "Coming, Mother!" With her hair gathered up and latched onto a hook, Blossom tosses the rest out the window, Sedusa making a small loop with one foot in and the girl starts to pull her hair back in like a pulley system. Once she is able to step onto the windowsill, Sedusa undo the loop and enters the tower with Blossom removing her hair from the hook. "Hi. Welcome home, Mother." Blossom says as she helps Sedusa off the windowsill.

"Oh Blossom, I just don't get how you always managed to do that without fail. It must be absolutely exhausting, my dear." Sedusa exclaims as she gently strokes Blossom's face like a rose petal.

"It's nothing, really." Blossom blushes.

"Then why does it take so long?" Sedusa counters, leaving Blossom a left dumbfounded until Sedusa let's out a small laugh. "Oh dear I'm just teasing."

Then Sedusa walks over to a tall vanity mirror, Blossom right behind her with Bell staying right next to her. "So, Mother, as you know tomorrow is a very big day of the year for both Bell and I."

But before she could continue, Sedusa turns to pull her up beside her so the two of them are both in the mirror. "Blossom, look here in the mirror. Do you know what I see? I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady." These words made Blossom smile, thinking that her mother is talking about her. But her next words made her heart drop. "Oh, you're here too." Sedusa then laughs at her own joke again.

"My dear, I'm only teasing. You should stop taking everything so seriously."

She just hates it whenever her mother jokes around. Clearing her throat, Blossom continues, "Anyway, what I'm trying to say, Mother,"

Again she is interrupted. "Blossom, momma's feeling a little worn-down. Why don't you girls sing for me and then we can talk?"

Perking up at the idea, Blossom and Bell immediately went to work on setting up the session. With Sedusa seated in her plush chair, the hair brush in her hand and Blossom seated in her stool with Bell laying her head on her cousin's lap, the two girls get right through the song rather quickly.

Flower, gleam and glow

Let your power shine

Making the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Blossom and Bell's hair shining brightly in response to their singing, Sedusa has a hard time keeping up with their incredibly fast pace.

Heal what has been hurt

Change the Fate's design

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

Brushing their hair fast, her youth then just zaps into her. "Girls!" Sedusa is not pleased with their act.

Now that's done, Blossom leans closer to Sedusa and Bell stands and steps away, still not very fond of being close to Sedusa. "So anyway, as I was trying to say is that tomorrow is Bell and my birthday!"

This had left Sedusa shocked. "Oh no, can't be. Too soon for it to be your birthday, girls."

"Well, it's tomorrow and time does fly." With a sigh, Blossom sits back in her stool, Bell coming back to her side, the girls holding hands in order to keep their nerves down. "Mother, we're both turning eighteen and we've been wanting to ask you something for the past few years. What we really want is to see the floating lights!"

At first Sedusa did not quite catch that as she goes through the fruit basket. "What?"

To help clarify, Blossom and Bell show Sedusa the new painting of the two girls gazing up at the countless floating lights that shine brighter than the stars. "We were hoping that you could take us to see these floating lights."

Seeing the painting, a new thought pops in her mind since she knows what those lights really are. "Dears, those are just stars."

"That's the thing. We charted stars and they are always constant." Blossom points out a chart of the night sky full of constant stars. "But these lights only appear on our birthday every year. And both Bell and I can't help but feel that they are meant for us. We need to see them, Mother. Not just from our window, we need to see them in person."

"You want to go outside?" Sedusa asks as she goes over to the window she had used to get inside the tower. At the mere thought of them leaving the tower, Sedusa scoffs. "Why, girls…" Sedusa shuts the shutters, making it a bit dim in the tower and she runs over to the girls, bringing them both into her arms.

Look at you two,

as fragile as flowers

Still little saplings, just sprouts

You know why we stay up in this tower

Blossom nods, they both know why they stay in the tower with Bell, being quite shy, scurries out of Sedusa's embrace and hides behind Blossom. "We know, but…" Blossom is about to continue when Sedusa interupts her again.

"That's right." Sedusa takes a few strands of their long hair and rubs them into her cheek, her most precious possession.

To keep you safe and sound, dears

Sedusa goes over to the stained glass window and pulls the curtain shut, making the tower a little more darker.

Guess I always knew

this day was coming

Knew that soon

you'd want to leave the nest

Soon but not yet

Shh!

Trust me, pet

Mother knows best

Now on the stairs and leaning against a specific wooden pillar, Sedusa smacks her hips against it, causing the open latch overhead to close, making the tower completely dark and causing Bell to latch onto Blossom. Not a fan of complete darkness either, Blossom grabs a nearby candle in a candlestick and lights the candle to provide light.

Mother knows best

Listen to your mother

It's a scary world out there

To show her point, Sedusa does a jumpscare, causing both girls to scream before she vanishes into the darkness, standing behind them and tug on their hair with them tugging back.

Mother knows best

One way or another

Something will go wrong

I swear

Ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand

Cannibals and snakes, the plague

Also large bugs

Men with pointy teeth

And stop! No more, you'll just upset me

Mother's right here

Mother will protect you

Darlings, here's what I suggest

Even though she's doing all of this to change their minds about leaving the tower, Blossom can't help but run into her protective arms only to see that Sedusa had switched with her manikin before reappearing behind her again on the stairs, small candles lit all the way up to the second level.

Skip the drama

Stay with Mama

Mother knows best

With a few twirls back up the stairs and wrapping her cloak around her caused all of the candles to go out. As Blossom lights them again one by one, Sedusa stands behind her and snuffs the candles out again.

Mother knows best

Take it from your mumsy

On your own, you won't survive

Sloppy, underdressed

Immature, clumsy

Please, they'll eat you up alive

Gullible, naive

Positively grubby

Ditsy and a bit...Well, hmm, vague

Please, I believe, getting kind of chubby

I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you

Mother understands

Mother's here to help you

All I have is one request

Seeing her appear behind her, Blossom runs into her open arms, Bell not too far behind since she really needs the comfort from being in the dark. "Girls?"

"Yes?" Blossom speaks as the two look up at Sedusa.

Her kind expression then changed into a very firm look. "You are to never ask about leaving the tower again."

This demand caused their young hearts to sink, now knowing that they will never leave to see the lights. "Yes, Mother."

"Trust me, darlings, it's for the best. And remember that I love you two."

"We love you more." both Blossom and Bell reply.

"I love you most." Sedusa finish their usual chant and plants a single kiss to both their foreheads.

Don't forget it

You'll regret it

Mother knows best

Some time later, after gathering up her things, Blossom helps Sedusa out of the tower while Bell opens the shut curtains and latches that had been shut to allow light back in the tower. "Ta-ta! I'll be back in a bit, my flowers!" Sedusa calls as she leaves the tower and the glade.

"We'll be here." Blossom calls back. After unhooking her hair, Blossom sat at the window, just letting her hair flutter in the wind, her spirits and hopes shot down of ever leaving the tower. Aware of how sad her cousin now is, Bell sits right beside Blossom and holds her close as they stare out into the sky.