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

A Dangan Fairy Tale: Himipunzel (1)

      "Yup!" Himiko replied.

     "So, where do I come in?"

   "You'll have to read it and find out...WITHOUT getting ideas," Himiko said, wagging her finger at him.

   "I'll be a good boy, I promise," Kokichi replied.

   "Nyeh, good," Himiko replied. She turned her chair around, stretched her hand out and, with her magic, she summoned Tenko's desk chair from the other side of the room. It zoomed across the room and right into Himiko's hand. She moved it behind Kokichi for him to sit down on. He smiled with glee as he sat down. Himiko turned the monitor to him and he began to read her story:

    Once upon a time in a far away magical land was a girl who lived with her sister in a tall tower hidden deep within the enchanted Four Seasons Forest. Tenkodil, the older sister, was kind, strong, and loving, but fiercely overprotective over her timid younger sister, Himipunzel who was very naive, and reserved. Many years ago when they were very small, the sisters came across the tower, though Himipunzel, didn't know exactly how, given that she was too young to remember. Tenkodil explained to her that some ogres had attacked their home and had captured their parents, but the sisters had managed to escape and, with the help of a giant, entered the hidden tower in which they currently lived. Himipunzel was always fascinated by this story and asked why the ogres had attacked them in the first place.

   "Ogres are degenerate creatures," Tenkodil would always say. "They want things just to have them so that nobody else can, those bullies!" 

   "Is that why we have to stay in this tower?" Himipunzel would ask. "So they won't find us?" Tenkodil nodded.

   "But what did they want from us?" Himipunzel would ask. "Is it because my hair looks like blood? Ogres like blood, right?" Himipunzel stroked her 60-foot-long crimson braid. 

  "Maybe," Tenkodil would answer.

  "Tenkodil, why is my hair so long?" Himipunzel would then ask. 

   "Mom didn't want to cut it," Tenko would reply. "She said that your hair made you the most beautiful girl in all the land." Himipunzel smiled to herself every time she heard it. Though she didn't quite believe that, it was still nice to hear. "Well, we'd better get to bed," Tenkodil would say before the two sisters would settle in for the night.

   Years had passed with Tenkodil now seventeen years old, and Himipunzel's sixteenth birthday approaching in a couple of days. Earlier one morning, Tenkodil had gone out to retrieve a special gift for Himipunzel. She arrived back at the tower with a basket in her hand, whistling a cheery tune.

   "Himipunz-aroo! Let down your hair!" Tenkodil called up to the window. 

    "Okie-dokie, Tenkodilly!" Himipunzel squeaked back. She released her now 80-foot-long braid out the window for Tenkodil to climb it. Tenkodil climbed the 50-foot tower, enjoying the view as she did. She entered the window and greeted her sister with a hug.

   "So, did you get my present?" Himipunzel asked, pulling her braid back into the tower. Tenkodil smiled at her bashfully. 

    "Heh heh...actually, no," she admitted. "This basket is full of our dinner. I was walking through town when I passed the market. That's when I realized that we needed something for dinner. But after I put these groceries away, I'll go back out and get your present. I know exactly what to give you, and I should probably get it now in case something happens between now and your birthday!"

   "You'll be leaving again?" Himipunzel asked nervously. 

   "I'll be back, soon, Himipunzel," Tenkodil said. "I shouldn't be gone for more than a couple of hours."

   "Nyeh...I know the drill," Himipunzel replied reluctantly as Tenkodil put the groceries from her basket away. She went over to the tower window and once again slid her braid down the tower. 

    "Stay safe, okay?" Tenkodil gave Himipunzel a tight hug. "Remember, don't let your hair down for strangers, ESPECIALLY ogres!" Himipunzel nodded apprehensively. "You'll be fine, Himpunzel. I promise. Nothing will ever happen to you as long as I'm alive." Tenkodil then grabbed Himipunzel's braid and slid down expertly. When she hit the ground, she waved goodbye to Himipunzel and kept waving until she disappeared into the forest. 

   Two days had passed and Himipunzel's birthday had arrived. Tenkodil herself, however, had not. Himipunzel had been worrying herself sick in the tower, sobbing. She became weak with hunger as she didn't know how to cook, since Tenkodil had never showed her how. She always thought Himipunzel was too clumsy to work her way around the kitchen and would end up hurting herself. So, to keep Himipunzel from hurting herself, or worse, Tenkodil would do everything for Himipunzel, with exception of helping her get dressed. 

   "Tenkodil, where are you?" Himipunzel sobbed, looking out the window. "Please, come back! Oh, I hope nothing has happened to you!" She leaned her face into her arms which were resting on the window sill. "Something awful has happened to her, I know it," she wailed. Suddenly, she heard whistling from the forest down below, causing her to abruptly stop crying and perk up with hope. 

   "T-Tenkodil?" she called out. The whistling figure emerged from the forest, but it was not Himipunzel's sister.