Fire and the Flood ✺ Arthur Pendragon

𝒊. the perilous lands

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Once upon a time, a drop of sunlight descended from the heavens upon the earth of the Kingdom of Althoria.

From a little drop of sunlight in the ground, a flower has sprouted. An incredibly beautiful, lily-like blossom. The flower was a magical one, glowing when the required song was sung with healing powers that treated the many diseased or injured.

A woman named Gothel did not share the gift of the sun with anyone but herself, exploiting the magic of the blossom for her self-indulgent motives. The important thing is that an older woman with a deceptive exterior is memorable to you upon first insight ⎯ surely was and will be for those involved in the story when Gothel got under their skin.

♪   Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine.
Make the clock reverse,
bring back what once was mine,
what once was mine  ♪

       Her grey hair had taken on a healthy sheen once again and had turned a raven black. Her creased skin was smooth and blemish-free, just as it had been in her youth.

       The magic of the flower, which could have helped a lot of dying people, was used by her to preserve eternal youth for hundreds of years.

       She was an exceptionally loathsome human being beneath the facade of beauty on the outside and rotten to the marrow of her bones within   ⎯  but more on that later.

       The soldiers of the Kingdom of Altheria were doing everything in their power at the behest of their monarch, King Frederick, when his Queen fell gravely ill.

In the criticality of the plight, people start seeking a miracle that could have forestalled the tragedy   ⎯  in this case, a magic golden flower.

A search was launched for a magic blossom used to make a decoction to cure the Queen. A few months later, a healthy baby girl was born. A princess. With beautiful golden hair.

       Bearing the name Rapunzel, the one this story is really about.

To commemorate the birth of their first-born daughter, the prospective heir to the throne, the King and the Queen launched a flying lantern into the sky. In that one ephemeral moment, everything seemed beyond perfection.

       And then that moment ended.

Barely walking, nearly limping, Gothel crept into the nursery. She carefully drew the pair of scissors from her cloak, lifting a strand of Rapunzel's hair.

"Flower, gleam and glow, let your powers shine, make the clock re⎯" A shocked gasped left her lips when she cut the strand. The hitherto golden blond hair has now turned brown and fell upon the mattress, powerless.

Gothel stole the child, taking her to a place where no one could possibly find her. In the barren wasteland located northeast of Mercia in a hidden tower, she raised the child as her own.

The Perilous Lands were a place where no one would have thought that a long-lost Princess would be hidden.

No one would look for her here.

Gothel had her magic flower again ⎯ in living and breathing form. Only this time she was determined to keep the sun's gift well-hidden.