Haha, didn't forget it this time around! Another batch of chapters coming your way, people!
7 Months Prior
Rapunzel's Tower, Sherwood Forest
The grey-clad hooded figure seemed to flit in and out of focus as it climbed up the black braid of hair. Up in the window someone was leaning out and, considering this person was holding a sword, Miranda guessed it might be Charming. His eyes were glued to the figure approaching him. Suddenly, something pulled him back.
"I should never have called on you", a female voice said. "I know what she wants; if you leave now maybe she'll spare you."
"No", Prince Charming's voice responded. "That's not how this works; I'm getting you back to your family."
"Please, she'll kill you! You can't save me; there's nothing you can do."
"They do not know we're here yet", Rachel said, eying the figure moving up the tower. "None of them do; we might be able to distract her."
"How?" Miranda asked. Rachel met her gaze momentarily again before she jumped out of the bushes.
"Hey! Hey, you!"
The shape stopped moving and turned its hidden face down. It had almost reached the window.
"Get away from them", Rachel ordered, flicking her sword. The shape cocked its head slightly before it continued its climb. Miranda could only stare as Rachel sheathed her sword and rushed over to the tower, grabbing onto the ivy growing at its bottom to pull herself up. She had just grabbed onto the black braid when Prince Charming once again appeared in the window, bringing his sword down to strike the grey shape.
Except it had now vanished. Miranda blinked in surprise; one moment the hooded figure had been right beneath the window, the next it was gone. Rachel also seemed to notice that something was happening and looked up.
"David, look out!" she shouted just as the figure jumped down from the tower's roof and swung itself in through the window. There was a loud crash as Prince Charming was knocked aside by the strange being.
"Rachel, get down from there!" Miranda called, stepping out of the bushes.
"No, I can't leave him", Rachel responded.
"Did you not see what that thing just did?" Miranda yelled. "How do you expect to defeat her?"
Rachel hesitated; she was halfway up the braid and now looked down at her friend.
"I never expected to get out of this adventure alive", she solemnly answered. "My characters never do, so why would I?"
Miranda's eyes widened in surprise and Rachel took this opportunity to keep climbing.
"You're not a character, Rachel", Miranda called. "You're not someone you created for a story; you're you."
"In this world we're all stories, Miranda", Rachel responded. Voices once again spilled from the tower above them.
"Hey!" Prince Charming yelled. "Get away from her!"
"I am her", a dark, echoing female voice responded, not too unlike the one that had spoken earlier.
"Rapunzel", Charming said after a pause, "it's not a witch; it's you. You said she appeared after you had the night root. You thought it didn't work, but it did! The root allows you to overcome your fears by facing them!"
"I can't", the first female voice said, sounding utterly terrified. "Please, help me."
"She's your fear!" Charming called. "Only you can defeat her! You have to face her, Rapunzel; you must!"
There was a pause before a ripping sound was heard along with a roar from the same prince. The next moment he and the grey-cloaked being tumbled out through the window.
"Rachel, look out!" Miranda screamed, but her friend hardly had time to raise her head before the two others hit her, sending her falling.
"Rachel!" Charming yelled and tried to grab her as he caught onto the ivy, but his fingers missed her and she crashed onto the ground, the air going out of her lungs in one loud gasp before she fell back and closed her eyes.
"Rachel!" Miranda screamed, at the same time as Charming repeated her name. He looked conflicted, wanting to help his friend as well as rescue the princess up in the tower. When Miranda rushed forward, however, he decided to focus his attention upwards. The grey-cloaked being had begun to climb again, fast and agile.
"Listen to me!" Miranda heard him call as she reached Rachel. "Your fear was that you could never be a leader, like your parents, like your brother."
As she closed in on her friend Miranda noticed that the ground she was lying on was uneven, causing her to lie in a strange position. The stones beneath her were already covered in blood.
"Own it and you can do this", Charming continued above her head. She dared to look up and saw Rapunzel looking down on them.
"No, I can't!" she cried.
"Yes, you can!" Charming called. "Cut it away, let it go! If you do you can finally have what you want; you can leave this tower!"
"I don't want to leave!" Rapunzel said. The cloaked shape was climbing faster. Miranda quickly looked away from them and grabbed Rachel, turning her over. Her back had gone red and sticky and where she had landed was a sharp-edged stone that had cut into her back, leaving a deep wound.
"I understand; believe me, I do", Charming said above her head. "You're frightened of an unknown future and it makes you feel safe here. But if you don't face that future, Rapunzel, you will die here, alone! Is that what you want?"
"No!" Rapunzel responded. Miranda pulled out her wand and tried to remember a spell that could heal gashes like the one now present on Rachel's back, but all she could remember was the one meant to heal minor fractures. She could feel the panic closing in on her.
"You know what you have to do!" she heard Charming yell, probably aimed towards Rapunzel but it could just as well have been for her. "Do it!"
She did not dare to look up at him, or Rapunzel, or the creature climbing the wall. All she could see was the blood, and therefore the life, flowing out of Rachel. In the Harry Potter-books she remembered that Snape had used some sort of spell to heal wounds caused by the spell Sectumsempra. However, in this dire situation she could not remember the words of it.
"Vulnera Sanentur", she suddenly heard a voice chant not far behind her, causing her to look up. Someone was approaching them, wearing a thick, brown coat and pointing a wand at Rachel's injured back.
"Vulnera Sanentur", the person, a female, repeated. The sound of a sword clinking against the stone caused Miranda to look up. Rapunzel had cut off her braid with Charming's sword and the hooded figure was sent falling down with it. When it had almost reached the ground it dissolved into nothing. Charming, who had followed the falling braid with his gaze, finally looked down at them again, worry reappearing in his eyes as he saw Rachel's lifeless form.
"Vulnera Sanentur", the unknown person repeated. The deep wound was closing and the blood was slowly clearing away. The spell was working.
"I... did it", a surprised Rapunzel said from the top of the tower, causing them to look up. Just then Rachel drew a deep, shuddering breath and started coughing, grimacing at the pain in her back.
"Is she alright?" Charming called. Miranda smiled through the tears.
"She'll be fine", she called back. Her gaze then locked onto the person who had performed the healing spell.
"Who are you?"
The person raised her hands and pulled back the hood of her coat, revealing a the face of a woman wearing earthly glasses and having short, brown hair with a fringe. Miranda's eyes widened.
"Ella?"
"I thought I recognized your voice", the other woman said, before Miranda rose and embraced her.
"You have no idea how glad I am to see you", she whispered.
"I think I should say the same", Ella said and gave her a hint of a smile.
While Prince Charming climbed back up the tower to help Rapunzel get down, the two friends busied themselves by making a bier for Rachel.
"How did you even get here?" Miranda asked.
"I was on my way to Orlando to surprise you guys", Ella responded, "and then the pilot started shouting about the plane crashing. The next moment I was falling through a green vortex thing and found myself in this forest, with a fully functioning wand in my hand."
"How long have you been out here?" Miranda asked. Ella leaned back on her heels.
"Three months, maybe?" she eventually said. "I befriended some villagers living nearby and they told me where I was, basically, and helped me with food."
"I'm glad you came when you did", Miranda said. "I don't know what I would've done otherwise."
Ella gave her a brief smile before levitating Rachel onto the bier. At the same moment Charming came down from the tower together with Rapunzel. The princess, dark-skinned with black hair, looked up at her former imprisonment in wonder while Charming knelt next to Rachel.
"How did you two find me?" he asked, looking up at Miranda.
"Robin Hood alerted us of where you'd be", she responded, "and Rachel would not let you go alone, and I came with her."
"She could have died", he said, looking down at his friend.
"She didn't", Ella said, "and she probably learnt her lesson from this. Hopefully."
Charming huffed; he did not believe her.
"I'll go get the horses", he said and rose.
"I'll come with you", Ella offered. Charming eyed her for a while before he nodded, leading the way between the spruces.
"I'm sorry about your friend", Rapunzel said, looking at Miranda.
"She'll be fine", Miranda responded. "Why did you end up in that tower?"
"I didn't think I could be a ruler, like the one my brother would have been, if he had not died because of me", Rapunzel responded.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
The princess swallowed and nodded, determined not to flee her past anymore.
"I was swimming in the river", she said, "where I shouldn't have been, the one our parents had always told us to avoid. I got caught in the wrack and my brother dove in after me. He saved me, but... but couldn't save himself."
Tears were shining in her eyes and Miranda felt the need to hug her.
"I'm sorry."
"I ran away, because I didn't think I could be queen", Rapunzel continued after swallowing down her tears, "and if I didn't know, how could my parents believe in me?"
"It's who you are", Miranda answered. "You can't hide from it forever, or from them."
"Do you think they'll forgive me?" the princess asked. Miranda smiled and stepped up to her, grasping her hands.
"You're their child, their precious daughter", she said. "Of course they'll forgive you."
Rapunzel slowly managed to smile back.
"Now, do you want to return with all of this hair or should we cut off some of it?" Miranda asked.
"I doubt it'll be easy to ride with all of this", Rapunzel said, looking at what remained of her braid, which was still an impressive length of hair. Miranda pulled out her wand once again.
"Well, just tell me which length you want it to be in and I'll cut it for you."
"With magic?" Rapunzel asked, obviously wary of it after her ordeal.
"Not the usual type of magic", Miranda answered. "Ollivander's magic. It won't harm you, I promise."
Rapunzel slowly nodded and pointed halfway down her back. Miranda slowly cut the braid and untangled what was left, brushing out the black curls with the help of her wand.
"There", she said with a smile. "Now you can ride."
At that moment Prince Charming and Ella returned with the horses. Using their wands Miranda and Ella were able to attach the bier to the horses' saddles. With Rapunzel seated behind Charming and Ella sitting up behind Miranda they then started to make their way out of the forest, unknowing of what was lurking in the bushes close to the tower and now flew off to alert its mistress.