Tangled After Ever After

Return

"Mommy? Where are we going?"
"Quiet, Cassandra."
Cassandra clutched her ragged cloak tightly around her shoulders. The trees creaked as the wind blew through their skeletons. "But I'm scared...It's so dark.." She gripped her mother's leg, causing Belinda to freeze in her embrace.
"We talked about being needy, Cassandra," Belinda spoke through a forced smile, not even bothering to look into her daughter's eyes, peering into the moonlighted wood.
She pulled back, not wanting to make her mother more frustrated. "Yes, mother. That.." She took a deep breath. Twisting the lace of her apron. "That a person who is needy is...weak." Belinda didn't respond as she brushed aside a green dripping willow, peeking through to see a dimming glade of grass.
Cassandra ran ahead, relieved of not walking through the forest any longer. But just as her hand reached for the moonlight, her cloak was dragged back. Embodying itself to the trunk of the mourning tree. Cassandra's deep green eyes met with a similar shade. Belinda squinted in displeasure, pushing her inside the grove of the tree more as she stepped out into the moonlight,
"Uhh..Why do I even bother raising such a pitiful child." Cassandra looked down in shame, readdressing her cloak so it rested over her face; a tear dripped onto the willow root. Belinda calmly walked towards the edge of a stony cliff which led to the flowing river of Old Corona and beyond to a great sea.
Cassandra had never been further than the river. In her mother's eyes, she was just a pest and could only see the use of her when it was beneficial.
The young girl never seemed to mind; she expressed no sign of bother. She loved to hear stories her mother would tell. Even when, most times, Cassandra just happened to overhear them. She would spend most of her days cleaning to her mother's content. Waiting for the day, her mother would acknowledge all her efforts.
Belinda kneeled down, gripping onto a small bush. As she removed it, Cassandra was shocked to see a beautiful golden flower. It seemed wilted and sad, missing the golden sun of the later morning.
Lifting her cloak over her head revealed long black curls with small ties of gray. Belinda's fingers tugged at the sides of her face, feeling the sags that had begun to spread. She nodded to herself in disgust before gesturing to Cassandra.
Cassandra cautiously stepped into the moonlight. She'd seen the beautiful glow from her window but had never felt so enveloped.
She reached out her hand, trying to touch the soft golden specks as they seemed to land on her; she giggled with pleasure as they flew through her, sending Belinda to snap,
"Cassandra."
Hearing her mother's annoyed, yet angry, tone made her stop quickly and go to her mother. Belinda's hand touched her daughter's shoulder gently until it turned rough, her fingernails digging into her skin.
"You'll make your mother proud. Won't you?" She inched Cassandra closer to the flower. Belinda's grip dropped as the flower's petals lifted at Cassandra's presence.
The flower seemed to glow more strongly as Cassandra was pressured closer. Golden fingers suddenly snatched, climbing through her skin! She felt weak as a blue glow left her, replacing her warm honey skin with a pale white! The fingers twirled and spread through her like wildfire. Turning up, Cassandra watched in horror as her hair roots were gripped by the golden fingers. Absorbing her beautiful raven hair, leaving a trail of gray undertones of the color that had once been.
"Mommy?!!"
Belinda was hesitant to relieve her daughter from the flower's grasp. As the flower bloomed into a more vibrant color. The wilting had appeared only a moment ago and had disappeared, replaced with healthy roots!
Belinda watched as her daughter's eyes closed; her once evergreen eyes turned to ash. The golden fingers continued their grasp, with Cassandra's body dropping to the earth, breathing lightly.
The increased golden light swiftly burst into a golden drop of sunlight, taking flight from the flower and spreading into the sky like a constellation. The stream of gold grasped onto the tower of the Corona castle. Erupted in a giant wave of light spreading across the land like a beacon. Bringing about many eyes of the Kingdom to latch onto the sight.
Belinda watched the light fade into the moon, fear catching. If anyone else found out about the sundrop, then she would never be able to regain that power.
Quickly, she grabbed her daughter's limp form, dropping the bush back over the golden flower. But even that couldn't hide the increased glow of color.
The golden fingers fought, trying to keep their hold on her body. Belinda pulled hard, breaking the bond. She ran, not wanting to lose the power that her daughter had somehow presented.
As soon as they entered the woods. The flower's stretching fingers of gold faded, returning to its wilted state.