I Thought It Was a Fairy Tale but the Genre Is Strange

Episode 38 – Rapunzel (9)

Gothell. He who had ended Rapunzel’s life for her hair, suffered a year of horrific torture. To my eyes, time flew by, a short period, but for him, that year was an eternity, a hundred years in a torturous, despairing hell.

Rapunzel pierced his skin very slowly. With her hair, she bored into his flesh, advancing minutely every minute. This action ensured that her hair was embedded in every part of his body. The head was the last to be done, because if she messed up there, he might die.

Also, every time he suffered a fatal wound, she would perform minimal emergency magic, ensuring he wouldn’t die. Gothell, at first, struggled and screamed in furious rage. He used all the magic he could muster, some of it of unimaginable power. But Gothell’s magic didn’t even leave a scratch on Rapunzel’s hair.

Then he fell into despair. He trembled with fear, constantly begging for forgiveness. He pleaded to be spared. He even claimed he could break the barrier of the tower. Rapunzel told him to try, but he couldn’t. He was incapable. He could create a barrier, but not break one.

It was Gothell, who, judging he could break the barrier if he stole Rapunzel’s power, cast it with forbidden magic.

Rapunzel just snorted, as if she hadn’t even expected it, and continued torturing him. Whenever she was bored, she’d cut off his tongue, tear off his fingers and toes. She even stripped off the skin, making the raw flesh beneath clearly visible. Each time, Gothell screamed and cried out to be saved.

But Rapunzel didn’t stop. Gothell gave up on everything. He’d rather just die now. He begged her to kill him. Rapunzel smiled coldly, refusing. She told him she would take great care in granting him a cruel death, and he should wait until then.

The Rapunzel I saw was chilling beyond words. But at the same time, I felt her sadness. A lifetime of sorrow. The pain of the void left by Meriel’s death, even though her killer had been revealed. The desperate feeling of having to continue her sealed life, unable to leave the tower.

It all washed over me.

She was more often wailing, banging her head against the walls, and thrashing. Each time, Gothel’s torment intensified. For the year she tortured Gothel, Rapunzel seemed to be holding back her own rage.

To prevent the fury that was bubbling up from deep within from exploding. It felt like she was unleashing that uncontrollable rage onto Gothel.

And so, after a year, Gothel’s mind collapsed. And her entire body was pierced by hair, dying in the same state as Merel, no, even more gruesome and horrifying.

Now that she had no one left to unleash her anger upon, Rapunzel’s gaze turned towards the kingdom.

She tried to go outside the tower, but as always, a powerful barrier kept her from taking even a single step. But her hair was different. Her golden hair passed through as if the barrier wasn’t there at all. She couldn’t undo the barrier, but her hair was free to come and go as it pleased.

Rapunzel sent out her golden hair, controlling it remotely. The hair writhed and coalesced, taking on a human form. It was Rapunzel. The hair transformed into her likeness. The sight of Rapunzel walking down the kingdom’s main street sent the people into a frenzy of screams.

“Kyaaak!!! A demon! A demon has appeared!!”

“Hwaaak! G-Gothel must have been defeated!”

“Everyone, run!!!”

People scattered, completely terrified. Some hid in corners, others barricaded themselves inside, drawing the curtains. A young man who came face to face with her on the main street collapsed to his knees, his mouth agape with fear, trembling and unable to speak.

Rapunzel glanced at them and simply walked past.

“Halt!!!”

Soldiers blocked Rapunzel’s path. It was Captain Bogart and his men. Fully armed, they glared at Rapunzel with tense expressions.

“Evil demon, Rapunzel, stop this instant!!!”

Rapunzel stared at Bogart.

“You call me an evil demon?”

“Yes! You broke Gothel’s barrier and have finally come out into the world! To curse this kingdom!”

“Captain Bogart, I am Rapunzel. The princess of this nation. Show some respect.”

“Shut your mouth! The moment you stepped outside, you became an enemy of the kingdom!”

“… I saw it through Gothel’s memories, but seeing it for real is disgusting.”

* * *

*SWISH!!!* In an instant, a golden whip lashed out, scattering the soldiers. They flew high into the air, crashing down and falling unconscious. Rapunzel muttered, stepping forward.

“I’m not a demon. Father and Mother… please.”

No one could stand in Rapunzel’s way. If even a single strand of her hair touched them, they would collapse. The soldiers guarding the kingdom fell like autumn leaves before a storm.

And finally, she stood before the King and Queen. She was moved to see her parents after so long, but she swallowed hard, nervous.

“Father, Mother, I’m…!”

“A, a demon!!!!!”

“Your Majesty, a demon has appeared! We have to run!!!”

Rapunzel had expected this. That’s why she tried to speak calmly, to reassure them first.

“I’m not a demon. It’s all Gothel’s doing! She killed Meriel, and she spread the rumors that I’m an evil demon. It’s all Gothel’s malicious work! I can perfectly control my power now! Look!”

Rapunzel used her hair to create a cute sparrow, placing it on her palm. The sparrow chirped sweetly. Rapunzel looked at her parents, her eyes full of hope. And then, her expression froze.

“Heeek! A bird, magic that creates life! A demon! You must be a demon!”

“No, that’s not my child! Oh, Rapunzel! Please, I beg you, go back to the tower!!”

“No, that’s not it! Please! Listen to me! Okay? I’m not a demon. I can use my power to restore the kingdom! It’s all because of Gothel!”

Rapunzel took a step forward.

“Hwaaah! Don’t come any closer!”

The Queen was hysterical.

“Get out of this holy kingdom at once!!!! You cursed demon!!!”

*Shing.* The King drew his sword.

Rapunzel stared blankly at the scene. Her mother trembling with fear, her father pointing a sword at her throat.

“Ha.”

Rapunzel let out a light, mocking laugh. No matter how cold a reaction she’d anticipated, the emotion she actually witnessed and felt was on a different level.

Her suppressed resentment and fury began to boil together. She glared at them, her shoulders heaving.

“You’re my mother and father! Parents! How could you not believe me, and only believe that disgusting Gothel? Do you know what she did to me? Do you have any idea what it was like to live locked up in that tower!!!!”

As she screamed, cracks spiderwebbed across the castle walls.

*Thunk.* The king looked at his sword. Cut cleanly in half. The king’s face became instantly etched with terror.

Rapunzel clawed at her head, wailing. Of course, not a single strand of her hair came loose.

“This is the worst. Everything is the worst!!! Nobody’s on my side. Nobody wants me.”

“Y-you, you wicked demon. G-go back to the tower…!”

Rapunzel stopped dead. Her eyes, wide and wild, fixed on the king. Eyes that deeply resented her own parents, the very people who should have offered unconditional love.

“Fine. If that’s what you want, I’ll be it. I’ll be the disaster, I’ll be the curse. I’ll be the demon who destroys this entire kingdom!!!”

*Whoosh!* Intense, blinding light poured from Rapunzel’s golden hair. And everything was swallowed by it.

“……”

I stood in an empty void. My emotion, having witnessed Rapunzel’s heartbreaking past, was.

Just sadness.

Her pain, her suffering, the sheer despair and awful time she’d endured living a life without love, it was impossible to even grasp how she felt.

“A demon….”

Soldiers slowly began to materialize from the floor. Ahead of them, familiar faces. Gothel, the king and queen, Bogart.

An army beyond any comparison to what they’d faced before.

“Kill the demon…!”

“Rapunzel must die!!!!”

“She’s a demon!!”

This is a memory. This is feeling. They are Rapunzel’s trauma made manifest. Negative emotions eating away at Rapunzel’s life.

I took up the scythe.

My purpose became crystal clear.

“Give me back my girl, you goddamn hair.”

I cut. And cut again. I cut endlessly. The more I take down, the more hair scatters. A fever burns within my body.

Each swing sends tremors through my legs, each ragged breath tastes like vomit. Still, I can’t stop. Even as their swords clash, and I’m scorched by Gothel’s magic, tumbling across the ground.

“Haa, haa.”

I can’t stop. No, I *must* get up. Because I have to tell her. To my girlfriend, of all people. The one I confessed to, the one who confessed back. For the tender-hearted girl trapped in the tower.

I have to get up and tell her.

“It’s not true.”

Blood streams down my face. Every twitch sends my muscles screaming. The scythe feels like a lead weight, and sweat pours like rain.

Painful, tiring, agonizing, still I move.

“Get out of my way.”

Keep moving, always moving. Never rest. Swing the arm before you can even register the pain.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!”

I can feel it. Just a little further. Just a little further and she’ll be there.

The moment to save the princess trapped in the tower is coming. So endure. So persevere. So take down every single enemy before you.

“I SAID GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!”

I must.

I have to tell Rapunzel.

That I’m not a demon.