Misfit Trials

Chapter 45

Mother Gothel stared down at the flaxen haired child in her arms, humming a soft lullaby. Now a toddler of two years, the child was snuggled in the old witch's lap, yawning and coddling in for a nap.

Mother Gothel had named the child Rapunzel after the flower that created her. She was sweet and full of life. Though Mother Gothel had never thought that she wanted to have a child, taking care of Rapunzel had given her something new to look forward to.

The witch had never realized how lonely she was. Even though she cared for the people of the villages that are around her, they only came in their own times of need. To have a child around, someone who loved and cared for her, was something that Mother Gothel didn't know that she needed.

And now that she had it, she refused to give it away.

Elsa had come back to her approximately six months ago, begging to see the baby she had left with Mother Gothel, to which the witch had threatened to curse the woman to never be able to have children again if she darkened Mother Gothel's doorstep again.

What had originally scared Mother Gothel about the baby was what the actual rapunzel plant could have done to her development.

The rapunzel plant is an amazingly magical plant, full of healing properties. But when combined with the development of a child, weird things happen. The child can develop superhuman powers. Speed, strength, precognition, magick. All of these things can happen when a babe in their mother's womb is exposed to rapunzel.

So, when the babe was originally given to Mother Gothel, she watched her carefully for any signs that the child was more than what she should be. Surely the signs would be there fairly early. The child would be inordinately strong or levitate items that she wanted.

But, no. Nothing happened that showed that she might be different.

The child grew and developed in the way that all children do, learning to walk and talk around one year, loving songs and little games of peek-a-boo, and exploring the new world around her. Nothing seemed to be strange or different about Rapunzel and for that, Mother Gothel was very thankful.

The older witch stops humming and moves to put the baby down on the bed.

"Sing!" Rapunzel cries out in a sleepy voice.

"Baby girl, it's time to go to sleep," Mother Gothel croons to the child. "Just close your eyes. When you wake up, we'll go down to the stream."

"Sing, Mama! Sing!" the toddler cries out, rolling over and kicking her feet.

"Rapunzel," Mother Gothel says, attempting to soothe the child as she has before. "It's time to nap."

"No! Sing!" Rapunzel screams. The child bats her fists and then something strange happens.

Gothel feels something come over her, as if she isn't completely in control of her body completely anymore. "Rapunzel, honey. What are you doing?"

"Sing!" Rapunzel cries out.

And suddenly, Gothel begins to sing. "Hush, little baby, don't you cry..."

She clamps her mouth shut, trying to stop the song from coming out of her mouth. Her eyes are wide with fear. What the hell just happened?

"Sing, Mama!" the child demands again, though a smile that Gothel had never seen on her face crosses her lips.

And then the song starts to flow out of her mouth, "Mama's gonna sing you a lullaby."

"Yay! Mama sing!" Rapunzel says, looking directly into the woman's eyes.

Gothel continues to sing, unable to stop herself. And she knows. She knows exactly what the rapunzel has done to the sweet child in her care.

—

Fourteen years later...

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" Gothel calls up the tower.

It takes a few minutes before the long blond braid falls down the tower from the solitary window near the very top.

It feels like rope, the braid is so tight and the hair is so thick. And Mother Gothel has magically placed food holds in the stone to make the climb up the tower easier, though illusion magic hides them from the naked eye.

It seems that each year that she climbs the tower it gets more and more difficult.

When she finally makes it to the top, she sees the sullen faced teenager who allowed her up the tower.

"Hello, Mother," Rapunzel says, her voice just this side of being surly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Don't talk to me like that, Rapunzel. I came up here to give you a present. It is your birthday after all. But if this is going to be the reception that I get, I can always go home," I gruff at her.

Rapunzel's eyes light up. "A present?" Suddenly, I feel tingling all over my body and then the present is lifted from the inner pocket of the inside of my cloak and pulled into the light. "A music box! It's beautiful, Mother! Thank you."

The music box begins to wind as it makes its way through the air to the teen. Once it's in her hand, she opens the lid and "Hush Little Baby" begins to tinkle out.

"Oh, Mother! It's our song," Rapunzel coos, looking up at Gothel.

Gothel breathes out a sigh. Of relief or frustration, she isn't sure which. Because truly upsetting Rapunzel could lead to...very bad things with the powers that she holds.

That's why Gothel has been practicing her magick and building her skills. To be able to control herself around Rapunzel's magick. Magick that Rapunzel doesn't even have to practice. It just comes naturally to her.

And it seems to build with every passing day.

"So, what about the other part of my present?" Rapunzel asks.

Inwardly, Mother Gothel tenses, but she refuses to allow it to show on her face. "What other present?"

"Letting me out of the tower," Rapunzel declares.