Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 1 (A New Oumeno)

A DanganFairy Tale: Himipunzel (9)

     Himiko woke up with blurry vision and a sharp pain in her head. She rubbed her eyes and moaned as she massaged her head. She found herself on a cold, stone floor and looked up to find herself trapped behind long, black, steel bars. 

   "Heeey," she called out feebly. "Is someone there?" Tenkodil appeared on the other side of the bars along with two guards behind her.

  "T-Tenkodil!" Himipunzel exclaimed. Then, she remembered what had happened right before she blacked out. "Y-You...d-did you...Tenkodil, what happened?" Himipunzel asked, feeling very confused. 

   "She set us up," a voice came from behind Himipunzel. She whirled around to see Kichi sitting in the corner of the cell and glaring at Tenkodil. He had shackles wrapped around his wrists. Himipunzel turned back to Tenkodil with a hurt expression. 

   "Tenkodil..." she said. 

  "It's true," Tenkodil said in a sad voice. "I'm...I'm so sorry, Himipunzel. I had to do it."

   "Why?" Himipunzel asked. "WHY?! Why would you betray your own sister, Tenkodil?!"

   "It was to protect you!" Tenkodil replied.

    "...What?" Himipunzel asked quietly. "Tell me everything, Tenkodil! Now!" Tenkodil sighed.

    "What Kichi told you about the ogres...it's true," she began. Himipunzel gasped.

    "You WERE lying to me the whole time!" she exclaimed tearfully. 

    "Mother told me that when she was pregnant with you, she got very sick," Tenkodil continued. "She told me that she was on the verge of death, and father became desperate. He had stolen the rapunzel flower from the previous king and queen to heal her, and soon after, she gave birth to you. You were a beautiful, healthy baby girl with long and lush, red hair. She decided to name you after the very flower that saved her life."

   "Um...then, shouldn't her name be 'Rapunzel?'" Kichi pointed out. 

   "Hush, degenerate!" Tenkodil ordered. "Anyways, years later when you were about 5 or 6, Himipunzel, the same sickness that previously befell mother affected you, as well. You were on the verge of dying, and father didn't want to risk stealing another flower for you. He was going to let you die!" Tenkodil's face contorted with sadness and anger. "MOTHER AND FATHER WERE GOING TO LET YOU DIE!" she said through gritted teeth. "And I, as your sister, couldn't allow that to happen to you! So, I decided to steal a flower myself, only I wasn't as lucky as father. I was able to steal a flower and cure your ailment, but I ended up being found out. The reason why we ran away wasn't because of ogres. It was the police coming for me. So, mother and father told me to take you and run away, so I did. That's when we came across the tower in Four Seasons Forest."

   "How did you get into the tower?" Kichi asked. Though he was still very cross with Tenkodil, he was intrigued by the whole story.

    "Well, there WAS a giant, I wasn't lying about that," Tenkodil said quietly.