After Ever After

Golden Locks of Hair

The girl peeked out of the tower’s window for the third time. She anxiously brushed her golden hair and checked that everything was in place before his father comes. With a deep breath, she looked at the mirror and smiled at her reflection. Today was the day her father was finally bringing her out of the tower.

Since she was a little girl, her father had kept her in their tower. She knew it was for her own safety, but it still bored her just staying in the tower day after day. She wanted to explore the world outside. She wanted to have adventures, just like the ones in the books her father brings her. She wanted people to know her name, Rapunzel.

Her daydream however was cut short when she heard a loud thump near the window. “Father, you’re early! So, will you bring me outside for my birth—” Rapunzel quickly clammed her mouth shut when she realized it wasn’t her father who entered the tower.

It was a man around her age, clad in black clothes and holding a silver dagger in his right hand. Alarmed, Rapunzel grabbed the nearest possible weapon to protect herself from the stranger. She froze when she realized it was just a small frying pan. Better than nothing.

“Fear not, m’lady. I am not here to harm you. It seems I’ve come to the wrong place. Have you perhaps heard of Rumpelstiltskin?” the stranger asked calmly. Rapunzel however was nowhere near calm. Her hands gripped the frying pan tighter and raised it above her shoulder, ready to hit when needed.

“What do you want with my father?!” Her eyes fell to the dagger and she took a deep breath to keep herself from shaking. “Are you perhaps here to… kill him?”

“Well, of course I’m here to kill him! The whole kingdom wants that man dead,” The stranger laughed but stopped short when he processed her words. “Did you just say ‘father’? That monster has a daughter?!”

“Rumpelstiltskin is not a monster! He helps people; he grants their wishes and frees them from their problems!” Rapunzel shouted. Filled with rage, she threw the frying pan at the man. He merely ducked and the pan hit the bookcase behind him.

“Grants wishes? Oh yes. He grants them using his dark magic, which always comes with a heavy price. Maybe something like land, a favor, or in the queen’s case… a baby,” the man said, his eyes darkening at the thought.

Rapunzel was taken aback by this statement. She knew her father practiced magic but… dark magic? And taking a baby as payment? It sounded so far from her father who loved her dearly.

“My, my. Who do we have here?”

Rapunzel’s head turned to see her father, Rumpelstiltskin, leaning by the window. He snapped his fingers and vines emerged from the towers walls, twisting themselves around the stranger’s body so that he can move no more. “You murderer! What did you do to the queen’s child?!” the man shouted as he tried to escape the vines holding him back.

“Me? The murderer? If I recall, you were the one who came to kill me,” Rumpelstiltskin retorted, smirking at the man’s attempts to break free. He snapped his fingers once more and the vines crept up to the man’s neck, slowly strangling him as Rumpelstiltskin laughed at the sight.

“So it is true, father? You’re… evil?” a faint voice asked quietly. Rumpelstiltskin froze and turned around, only realizing that his daughter saw the whole scene. Slowly, the vines loosened their grip on the man’s neck, allowing him to breathe once more.

“Rapunzel, dear…” Rumpelstiltskin started but merely gulped when he saw Rapunzel’s eyes look at him with disappointment. “Wow… this is a really nice birthday gift. Eighteen years, Papa! All those years you never once thought to mention… this? I thought there were no secrets between us? I thought you would trust me!  After all, I am your daughter! ”

“YOU ARE NOT MY DAUGHTER!” Rumpelstiltskin bellowed. The sky began to darken outside the tower and he looked at Rapunzel with fierce eyes. Her eyes widened in return and she took a step back, away from Rumpestiltskin. “W-What?” she asked, her voice shaking.

Having calmed down a bit, Rumpelstiltskin sighed. No use keeping anything now, he thought cursing himself for having such a short temper.

“You want to know the whole story? As you wish. A fairy once came up to me and warned me of a future mishap that would come to my beloved family. She entrusted part of her magic to me to help protect my son, Henry, from any danger. She told me that as long as an innocent child loved me, I would have my magic.

However, I was blinded by the power I now had. I used that magic for selfish reasons. I used it to trick people into giving me what I wanted and to get rid of my enemies.But I guess I missed one of them. An enemy of mine poisoned Henry, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t save him.

I greatly mourned his death, and soon I felt myself gradually losing my power. I realized that I couldn’t lose the two most important parts of my life; Henry and my magic. So I devised a plan to help me save the latter.

I traveled to the neighboring kingdom after hearing about a certain girl who supposedly can spin straw into gold. I strongly suspected that this was a hoax, and when I saw her, I knew that I was right. I tricked her into accepting a deal… I spin the gold and save her life, and she gives me her first born child.

Of course, she accepted. Humans value their lives so greatly yet they take them for granted. A few… obstacles occurred while I was collecting the baby, but I still succeeded in the end. And that’s how I got you, Rapunzel. Your love for me gave me my magic back.” Rumpelstiltskin finished.

“You stole me from my family?” Rapunzel asked, her voice slightly breaking. Her eyes were filled with so much emotion, anger, sadness, shock, disappointment. Rumpelstiltskin could only gulp and nod. She let out a deep breath and looked straight at him. “Release the man.”

If it were some other circumstance, Rumpelstiltskin would have firmly said no. Now, however, he looked down guiltily and the vines retracted back into the walls. Rapunzel walked to the man and helped him stand up.

“Come on,” Rapunzel told the man. “You don’t have to kill him. If I leave with you, he’ll lose his magic.”

Rumplestiltskin’s eyes widened at Rapunzel’s words. “No, you can’t leave me! I’m your father, Rapunzel. You can’t just leave me here.”

Rapunzel smirked as she followed the man, to the window and lowered herself down to the rope that got the man in the tower. “Oh, really? If I recall, you were the one who said I wasn’t your daughter.”

Rumpelstiltskin watched helplessly as Rapunzel rappelled down the tower and made her way through the forest with the man she freed. He could’ve stopped her but Rumpelstiltskin just couldn’t bring himself to use magic on Rapunzel.

He might have used her for magic at first, but he soon grew to love the child as his own daughter. Turning around, his heart dropped as he noticed for the first time the golden thread that surrounded the tower. He put it there before to remind himself of the success of his plan on getting the queen’s child, Rapunzel. But now it only made his heart ache.

With a bitter smile, he laid himself down his bed and closed his eyes. Light blue gas filled the room and soon Rumpelstiltskin was cold as ice. He used his last magic to end his life because he couldn’t bear being alone in a room that only reminded him of Rapunzel’s golden locks of hair.

~*~

Magic and power comes with a price! – Rumpelstiltskin, Once Upon A Time

Little did they know,

 this was only the beginning…