The Broken Link

Four

I take small breaths, not wanting to pierce my throat. I cannot talk in fear of being killed on the spot.

"Leave me alone!" the voice holding me screams in my face.

"Stop!" I gasp.

"You're not real!" the voice sobs. "Not real, not real!"

"I'm real!" I choke out. Luckily, my hands are left at my sides, so I push away the girl threatening me. She stumbles, and falls over crying.

I am torn. This girl has tried to kill me, but I can't help but feel sorry for her. Carefully, I crouch down to her side.

"Hey," I whisper. "It's me. Merida." I don't know her, but she yelled my name before, so we must've met.

The girl looks up at me through tear ridden green eyes. "No. No you're not."

"Yeah, I am." I say. I press two fingers to my wrist. "See? I 'ave a pulse."

The girl starts shaking her head over and over. Her hair whips around, and for the first time, I realize how long it is. It's very long and blonde, and is everywhere on the floor. Along with long brown hair, but her hair isn't brown.

"Merida is dead!" the girl screams at me, crawling away from me.

My heart races. "Dead? No, no I ain't dead!"

"Yes!" the girl wails. "I killed her!"

"What's yer name?" I ask, but I'm afraid I know the answer.

"Rapunzel." sobs the girl. The name of Flynn's wife.

I found her.

"Yah didn't kill me, Rapunzel." I tell her shakily. "I'm right here."

Merida is dead! I killed her!

"No no no no no..." Rapunzel hiccups. She grabs her knife and begins sawing at her hair. When it falls from her fingers, it turns brown. No sooner has it fallen off that it grows back again, longer and blonder than ever.

This girl has clearly gone mad. And she has magic, just like Elsa. I want to ask her more about how she thinks she killed me, but I don't have the time. Hiccup is waiting on me.

"Rapunzel," I say cautiously. "I'm gonna take yah home now, okay? Yah can see Flynn!"

"NO!" Rapunzel screams. "Eugene will hate me! I could kill him too!"

I don't know who Eugene is, but her outburst has left me out of ideas.

"Why are yah 'ere, in this tower?" I ask softly, hoping I can convince her not to be afraid of me.

"Safer." Rapunzel mumbles. "Safer to be locked away."

"Why? What did yah do?"

"Killed. Killed Merida."

"Are yah sure?" I ask softly. Rapunzel nods. "So who do you think I am?"

"Voices." Rapunzel moans. "You won't leave me alone. Why won't you leave me alone?!" She throws a book at me, but I manage to duck out of the way.

"Merida is alive!" I yell at her. She stops and sits still. She looks at me curiously.

"You're a new voice." Rapunzel mutters. "Merida hates me. Blames me. I blame me."

"No. Nobody blames yah. Merida doesn't. Neither does Flynn." I promise her.

"Unbalanced." Rapunzel groans. She then grabs my shoulders in desperation. "Unbalanced!"

"Yes. Magic is unbalanced." I nod. She lets go of me.

"Stop it." she instructs me.

"I need yer help." I say. Rapunzel shakes her head.