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The Boy in the TowerA/N: Hey beautiful readers! I'm excited to release my second Markjin/Jackbum Fairy Tale AU after "The Prince and the Glass Hill" last year!
Just a quick note before we start: there a lot of versions of the Rapunzel story out there, and this one isn't based on any of the common children's/Disney versions people are probably more familiar with. In the original, when the sorceress discovers the relationship between Rapunzel and the prince, she blinds the prince and leaves a pregnant Rapunzel stranded in the desert. I took a few liberties with some of the plot elements (the twins in the original are a boy and a girl instead of a boy and a boy/Rapunzel doesn't return to the tower), but that's the version of the story this one is inspired by.
I hope you enjoy!
Part One: Little Darling of the Cursed Tower
Once upon a time, in an age where magic was slowly fading and being forgotten by a world that had become too practical and full of doubt to believe in wishes being granted and happily ever after endings, there lived a young orphan named Mark.
The orphanage was a particularly hard place to believe in magic since good things rarely happened there, but Mark was a child whose gentle nature lent him strength and made him nearly just as blessed as those who'd had fairy godmothers and guardian spirits once upon an earlier time. He was quiet but kind hearted, and just being around him could soothe the other children and make them more diligent as they went about their daily chores. The well-behaved children and the badly-behaved children alike adored him and wanted to be his friend. In a way, he was like a little spark of magic in a dreary place.
But a little spark of hope and magic couldn't necessarily make wishes come true, and the orphanage was a place of many wishes for a better life. Among the badly-behaved children were a brother and a sister—Malcom and Nellie. If Mark was a spark of hope, they were little shadows of the opposite. And as little shadows were wont to do, they sought out the rumors of darkness swirling around their sad home.
“There's a story,” Malcom told his sister one day, “that there's a tower in the woods nearby. That's why they call it a witchwood: a real witch lives there.”
“A real witch?” Nellie asked. “With warts?”
“No, a pretty witch.” Malcom lowered his voice. “I've heard it's the same witch. As the story of the girl with the long braid who had to let down her hair. Rapunzel”
Nellie shuddered. She didn't like witches with a habit of taking children. “Spooky.”
“But witches can be bargained with. If we ask her, I bet she can get us adopted into filthy rich families and we'll have everything we can want in life.”
“What do we have to bargain with?”
Malcom shrugged. “I guess we won't find out until we ask her.”
So the siblings made their plans, and one day when all the children in the orphanage were allowed to play in the courtyard during a sunny day, they slipped off into the witchwood to find the tower.
They wandered for a long time through the wood, which in spite of its name, was beautiful and filled with green trees and blossoming flowers. Still, most of the orphans knew better than to wander into a place called a “witchwood,” and the somewhat timid Nellie was beginning to worry the terrifying witch would swoop down on her at any moment. But Malcom encouraged her on, and at long length they arrived at a golden tower at the heart of the forest.
The siblings exchanged looks, and puffing out his chest, Malcom approached the tower on their behalf. “Ahem.” He cleared his throat. “M-Miss Witch?”
All was silent for a time. They could hear a hollow echoing in the tower of someone descending stone steps, and the four of them held their breath in fear. At long length, a figure robbed in white emerged after pushing aside a stone at the base of the tower. The figure held back for a moment, then slowly drew closer.
Nellie gasped when she caught sight of the face partially hidden by the robes. “It's not a witch! It's her!”
The woman pulled back her hood, revealing a face so beautiful it was almost unreal. And more noticeable than that was her hair: golden blonde and long, reaching past the heels of her feet. She looked like an older version of the Rapunzel girl they had heard so long of in stories—but those stories weren't really real, were they? And if they were, where was her prince?
“And you're no one important, only children,” the woman said, folding his arms. “Tell me why you are here. There are only two people who I sing to, who my voice is supposed to lead to this place, and they are not you. Why are you here, and how were you able to come if my love and my son cannot?”
“We want you to grant our wish,” Malcom said. “If you are a witch.”
“Do I look like a witch to you?” the woman said in a defeated voice. “I'm just a woman with long hair. If I had a drop of magic in me, I wouldn't be here. You're thinking of Dame Gothel, and she's been gone for a long time now.”
“But all the stories say that your hair was magic,” Nellie protested. “You must be able to do something!”
Rapunzel frowned. “Well, you clearly believe in the power of suggestion. Perhaps this will be interesting. Tell me what you wish.”
“We want to be adopted,” Malcom said. “And not just by anyone. By the very best families with the most money. I want to be a nobleman.”
“And I want to be together with my one true love,” Nellie said quietly.
“Ha,” Rapunzel sighed tiredly. “I'm sure you're looking for happiness, just as I always looked for happiness. We'll see if you have better luck than me.” She studied them one by one. “What price are you willing to sacrifice?”
The two looked at each other nervously. “Well, we heard the witch here took children,” Malcom said slowly.
“Again, Dame Gothel. And as the child taken by her, I can't say I truly approve of those methods.” She froze. “Unless you know... unless you've found my missing baby? You're from the orphanage, and I've always feared that they took him when he was separated from me. He would be about your age now, with golden hair like mine and brown eyes... like his...like his father.”
“Oh, you must mean Mark!” Malcom declared. “Yes, he's been with us this whole time. You must miss him terribly, so we would be honored to go fetch him for you.”
Nellie gave her brother a horrified look. “What are you doing? Mark doesn't have golden hair! No one at the orphanage does!”
Malcom gave her a hard stomp on her foot. “It was gold...when he was baby!” he lied. “But when he got older...it turned darker... just like his-”
“His father!” Rapunzel said, suddenly looking tearful.
“Malcom, you can't just give Mark away to some random person in the forest,” Nellie hissed under her breath.
“I'd give away anything to get what I want!”
“But Mark has always been so nice to us!”
“So? He's just a kid. Who cares what happens to him if it makes our wishes come true?” He looked at his sister sternly. “Nellie, if you pay this little price, you'll get to marry your one true love one day instead of winding up stuck teaching at the orphanage when you're old enough!”
She shifted uncomfortably, but didn't protest further.
“So it's settled,” Malcom said firmly. “Rapunzel, we will bring you your son. Mark.”
“Go, fetch him at once,” Rapunzel said desperately. “Tell him that his mother and his beloved twin brother await him. With my son returned to me, maybe his father will at last hear our songs to him and return to us. Perhaps if magic enough for that exists, there will be magic enough for you and your wishes.”
“We'll go back and get him, Miss Rapunzel! We'll be back soon.” Clutching onto each other's hands, the siblings scampered back off into the woods.
A few hours later, they returned to the forest with Mark in tow.
“Why do I have to come here?” Mark asked quietly as Malcom pulled him along. “We're going to get in trouble with the matrons.”
“It's okay,” Malcom said brightly. “We found a family who wants to adopt you.”
“But shouldn't the family come to the orphanage to get me?”
“They...can't. We have to bring you there. You'll see.”
Mark felt incredibly uneasy. There was something a bit sorrowful about the woods, and it bothered him that Nellie was refusing to look him in the eye. She almost looked like she was crying.
At long length, Malcom brought him to a tower situated in a clearing in the woods. A woman with hair down to her feet was standing there, clutching the hand of a dark haired boy about Mark's age. Mark felt overwhelmed in their presence, unsure of what to say. Was this who was going to adopt him?
The woman knelt down in front of him, studying his face. Her eyes were tearful, but something about her calmed Mark down a little bit and took away his fear. He didn't sense any ill will from this person.
“My son,” the woman gasped out, grabbing him by the shoulders. “I always knew you would come back to me. Why did you wander away from me when we were out searching for your father? Why would you make me suffer the pain of two losses when I was already hurting so much?” She threw her arms around him and started sobbing.
Mark stood in place blankly. What was she saying? There was no way he was this woman's son. He still remembered his mother, the details of her face, the way she had looked when she'd fallen sick with the plague. She'd had brown hair, the same color of his, and she was dead and gone.
“Come now, you must have been longing for your brother.” The woman withdrew from him and led him towards the boy with her. “Twins, but still so different, even though your hair is no longer gold anymore. But you're both so lovely...just like your father. Surely, now that we're all together, he will join us soon.”
“But I'm-” Mark started to say, but the other boy grabbed his hand firmly before he could say anything.
“Don't,” the boy whispered. “She needs to believe in this. You want a family, don't you? Why can't that family be us?”
Mark fell silent. There was a deep sadness in the boy's eyes that made him want to chase it away with whatever happiness he could manage. Maybe it would be better to stay.
“So, our price is paid, then?” Malcom asked the woman.
“Yes, yes,” she said impatiently. “Go on, live your little lives. I'm sure you will be rewarded equally to the good you have done. Now go, and leave us be.”
The woman, Rapunzel, took them up to her tower, chattering to Mark all the way up the spiraling staircase. “You've grown up so much since I saw you last,” she said. “And you hair! I never dreamed it would be anything but gold. I thought it was fated—one twin, golden like me, and one twin, dark like my beloved. But no matter! You are still my little joy. I thought you were gone forever when you wandered off. I tend to lose everyone I love, don't I? But you came back, so I'm sure one day your father will return to me.”
Mark vaguely knew the story of Rapunzel, about the little girl who was taken by a sorceress and kept in a tower just like this one. He knew about the long hair and the prince, but the matrons who told the story to him always wrapped it up with a nice, simple, happy ending. There was no mention of twins, and certainly no mention of the prince vanishing. He wondered why she seemed so convinced he was her lost son.
The top of the tower was a bit on the small side, but beautifully decorated with wildflowers and hand woven rugs. On one half of the room, there was a mattress situated by an open window, strewn with sheets of music and sketches of a man who looked like an older version of the boy still holding on to Mark's hand. On the other half of the room, there was a small fireplace, and a little bed carved out of wood where a ratty, golden toy rabbit was resting.
“Darling, please help your brother get settled,” Rapunzel said to the boy. “This unexpected joy needs to be written into my song—I must prepare it.” With a swift kiss to the top of Mark's head, she scurried off to the window to gather together her sheets of music.
Mark turned to the boy, feeling a thousand questions welling up inside him. “What's going on?” he asked to start.
The boy didn't say anything at first. He simply led Mark to the bed, and sat him down on it.
“You're not my brother,” the boy said after awhile. “My brother has little marks near his eye. I remember that about him. You're not my brother, but you can't say that to mama.”
“Why not?”
“Because she's gone without hope for so long...she needs hope, even if it's not real. If she gives up...I'm really scared what will happen.” The boy grabbed the golden rabbit and squeezed it tightly.
“What happened to your real brother?” Mark asked.
“I don't know. The forest...I think it's cursed. Not for you or your friends, but for mama and me. We can't leave it. I think the witch did it—Dame Gothel. That's why my father can't find us, because the witch won't let him. But my brother...I don't know how he got out. Maybe it was an accident, or the witch let it happen. But one day we were out searching for papa, and my twin wandered away. We never saw him again. I don't know where he is, but the parts of the forest we can go to are so small. If he was here, we would know it. So I know that he's gone.” The boy winced, tears springing to his eyes. Mark instinctively wrapped an arm around him and drew him close.
“Is there any way to break the curse?” Mark asked after the boy's breathing had steadied again.
“I don't know. The witch hasn't shown herself to mama since before I was born. I don't even know if the witch is still alive.”
“And how can I help now that I'm here?”
“That's a fast offer.”
“You're in so much pain. Your mama, too. I must be able to do something.”
“You can be kind,” the boy said after thinking for awhile. “We've been so lonely and sad. Maybe we always will be if we never find papa or my brother again. But you look like you carry happiness inside of you. If you share that happiness with us...maybe that will be enough.”
“I will,” Mark said firmly. “And I will be your mama's son if it makes her happy. And I'll be your brother, if that's what you want.”
The boy shook his head. “You can be mama's son, because that's what she needs. But I don't need a brother. I just need a friend.”
“Then I'll be your friend. My name's Mark. What can I call you?”
“I don't have a name.”
“W-what?!”
“Mama didn't want to name me or my brother until my papa could choose a name with her. She just calls me 'little darling' or 'darling boy', in hopes that day will come.”
“Well, I can't call you that!” Mark thought for a moment. “I read a story once, in the orphanage. It was a story about a king in a faraway kingdom, one who lived thousands and thousands of years ago. He was a little strange, but did many great things and he was kind and everyone loved him. Would you mind if I called you after him? I always liked that story.”
The boy looked at him, wide-eyed. “O-okay.”
“All right, Jinyoung,” Mark said, patting his new friend on the head. “It's nice to meet you.”
At that moment, Rapunzel began to sing. Her voice from the very first note was heart rendingly beautiful, filled with both sorrow and longing for a love that was lost. Mark felt tears springing into his eyes as he listened, feeling the full depth of her pain in her words and melody as she wove her way through the verses and told her story part by part. Coming to live in the tower with the sorceress, falling in love with a handsome stranger who was drawn in by her voice, being together with him for so many sweet days, being discovered and betrayed by the sorceress and set loose alone in the woods, the birth of the twins, the continued absence of her beloved, the loss of her little joy, and now his return.
Where oh where have you been my love?
Where oh where could you be?
It's been too long since my eyes have seen
Your face which seems only a dream
But as the tides come to shoreline
My love will one day return
This heart will always await that day
My love will always burn
Mark felt Jinyoung bury his face against his arm beside him, masking his tears. His heart throbbed in pain at the knowledge that there was so much sorrow in the world, and so little that could be done about it. But he also had faith that there was goodness and kindness in the world, and both could be a source of magic, and both lived inside his heart. Maybe there was little he could do, but he would pull out that bit of magic and make the world a better place for the woman with the beautiful voice and the boy who cried so sadly into him, his tears drying on his skin.
Though the circumstances that had brought Mark to Rapunzel's tower were strange, he was overall quite happy with his new situation. Though Rapunzel could be a melancholy woman, she was good and kind and did everything she could to make sure Mark was happy and well taken care of. She never kept him cooped up in the tower like she had been when she was a child, but let him and Jinyoung roam the parts of the forest that were open to them. She and Jinyoung couldn't stray far from the tower without the curse making them compelled to turn around, but Mark could wander a little farther to gather food for them or collect flowers for their tower. Rapunzel didn't like it when he went too far, out of fear of losing him again, but Mark made sure not to worry her. The poor woman had suffered so much pain already that he didn't want to be responsible for more.
And Jinyoung was always a delight to be with. He was clever and kind-hearted, and though he refused to allow Mark to be his replacement brother, he was the best and sweetest of friends. The two of them did everything together—playing games in the woods, decorating the tower, helping Rapunzel cook breakfast and dinner, and reading the books Mark occasionally stole from the traveling merchants who drove past the forest. Jinyoung loved stories of all kinds, but especially stories about magic. "If I study well, maybe I'll learn how to break the curse," he was always saying. But most magical stories only gave one solution: true love, and true love only. That dismayed Jinyoung a little. "If it was so simple, mama would have broken the curse a long time ago," he said. "Her love for papa is true and has never died no matter how many years pass. If that can't break the curse, what can?"
Talking was what Mark liked doing with Jinyoung best. On sunny afternoons, they'd go to the nearby stream, dip their feet in, and just sit and talk for hours. Mark would tell Jinyoung about the orphanage and all the children there, and Jinyoung would tell Mark about his family and their history. Having been kept in the woods for all his life, Jinyoung was desperately curious of the outside world and fascinated by all the inventions and stories Mark told him of it. He wanted to know everything about the kingdom there was to know from the good King Harold to the palace Knights to bustling market where goods from all the other kingdoms were bought and sold.
And the more they talked, the closer they became. Mark wasn't sure if it was because he was the only child Jinyoung had ever met, other than his lost brother, but the attachment between them was deep and instinctively trusting. Mark knew better than anyone that Jinyoung was entrusting a part of his mother's happiness to him, and he did his best to live up to the faith, even when he felt like he was being deceitful. For his part, he wanted to live up to every one of Jinyoung's expectations. He'd been such a sad, lonely child the first few days of Mark knowing him, but little by little he'd started to smile and become more free, and Mark wanted to draw out those smiles time and time again. They were so bright and blinding, overwhelming but at the same time gentle. He really was so much more brilliant than Mark that Mark couldn't help but wonder how Rapunzel could continue to mistake them for twins.
"Do you ever miss them?" Jinyoung asked one day when Mark was telling him a story of the children in orphanage taking a trip to the palace to watch the annual Knight Tourney.
"The other children?" Mark considered. The memories were becoming a little fuzzy the more time he spent in the tower. He still remembered the faces of the people he knew, but every once in awhile the details of their names and personalities would slip a little. They all seemed far less important to the friendship he had made here, and he knew he was less necessary to them than he was to Jinyoung. He couldn't shake the feeling that the children who had left him here had done so maliciously, though the result had been so good that he forgave them for it.
"Not particularly," Mark said. "I'd much rather be here with you."
"But I wonder if you'll always feel that way," Jinyoung said anxiously. "The stories you tell of the outside world are so lovely and exciting. And you could go back at any moment, unlike me. Will you really always stay here?"
"I will be here as long as you want me to be, Jinyoung," Mark said solemnly. "And if I do leave, it will be to help you find your father or brother, and I will say farewell to you before I go and promise to come back soon. I promise you."
"You swear it?"
"Pinky swear, cross my heart. I would sooner die than lie to a precious friend."
"Then I'll believe you." Jinyoung grinned up at him, his eyes wrinkling at the corners. "But really, I wouldn't blame you for wanting to go when you're older. There must be so many things you want to do, like in the stories. Marry a princess or eat roasted pig every night or dance in the palace ballroom."
"I'd rather eat berries every night and dance in the forest with you and Rapunzel," Mark insisted.
"And what of marrying a princess? You can't do that here!"
"Yes, but isn't living here with my dearest friend worth ten thousand princesses?"
Jinyoung's resulting smile was so big that Mark had no doubts in the slightest that he had said the exact right thing he'd needed to say. He meant it, too—Mark didn't at all regret leaving behind the orphanage or the people there or even the rest of the world outside of the forest. He just wanted to be wherever Jinyoung was, and felt that as long as that could be true, all of his wishes for happiness had already been granted.
In the evenings, they would help Rapunzel brush her long hair, threading it with some of the extra flowers they'd picked that day. While they brushed, she would tell them stories she had heard when she was younger, stories of fairy godmothers and magical beans and heroic princesses and princes from around the world. It went unsaid that these were stories she'd heard from Dame Gothel, but Rapunzel didn't talk about her often. They had been like mother and daughter once, but there was too much love lost there to be salvaged. If there was a curse on them, they all knew who had cast it, and it was beyond their capability to forgive.
When she finished her stories, Rapunzel would take Jinyoung's hand and Mark's and join them together. “Always be good to each other,” she said in her gentle voice. “The world is not as good as it should be, I think. That's why the magic is going, because we're not good enough for it anymore. But you two must always hold it in your hearts and carry it with you, whether in darkness or in light. You must always keep it and believe in it, or there really won't be anything left anymore.”
And then when it got late, he and Jinyoung would be tucked in to their bed, Jinyoung holding tight to his toy rabbit. He would hold tight to Mark, too, until he fell asleep and his soft breaths tickled Mark's neck. It was both a happy and sad feeling, and he couldn't find where one half of the emotion ended and the other began. He was happy to be where he was, and happy to be able to provide comfort to Jinyoung, who still so clearly remembered what it had been like to be lonely. But there was still a profound sadness to it. The world is not as good as it should be. He felt it creeping up on him like a shadow at times, and he was terrified it would swallow him up all over again. He was afraid that one day he wouldn't be able to protect and comfort Jinyoung, and that there really would be nothing left at all to hold on to in a magicless world.
They grew up, and with every year, things began to change. The overall details of their lives weren't so different. Jinyoung and Rapunzel were still stuck in their forest, and there was only so much there to occupy them. Rapunzel wrote her song, and grew more distraught with each passing year. Mark ventured out further and further into the city to get books for himself and Jinyoung to study, and they learned as much as they could—languages they would probably never have the opportunity to speak, courtly manners, mathematics, and even some new scientific studies. They kept trying to study curses as well, but there was little information left anymore. Magic seemed to be vanishing more and more, and only some people even believed it was real to begin with.
Both Jinyoung and Mark matured as well, and that was the change that effected everything else. In Mark's eyes, Jinyoung had become to handsomest, most admirable person in the entire kingdom, and this wasn't a thought that came to him with completely pure intentions. The fact that Jinyoung had never allowed them to be brothers had killed any brotherly thoughts he may have had if Jinyoung had truly accepted him into their family, and instead he was now overcome by a strong, fluttery feeling whenever he was with Jinyoung. They were seventeen now, and Mark had never kissed or been with anyone in all that time, but now was thinking about it constantly, to the point where he could barely even concentrate when he was in the same room as Jinyoung and his sweet, earthy scent and always gentle smile. They'd carved themselves a bigger bed, but still slept together, and what once had been a comforting activity had now become borderline agonizing now that Mark wanted to crush Jinyoung in his arms and smother his face in kisses with increasing urgency.
He hadn't told Jinyoung any of this yet, and strongly hesitated to. Still, sometimes he got the impression that Jinyoung knew, and was trying to push it out of him. As he went about his day, whether studying inside or scavenging outside, Jinyoung's eyes were a constant presence on him, though Mark really had no idea what he was thinking. Perhaps all the staring was a good sign, but even if Jinyoung did return his affections, it still remained that Mark was really the only person his age he'd ever met, and there was no one else around for him to give his affections to but Mark. If some wayward prince or princess swooped in to rescue them, perhaps Jinyoung's eyes would easily be opened to the possibility of a new world and all the new people in it.
But it was a hard thing to keep disguised when they were still so close. He and Jinyoung did nearly everything together, and the only way Mark could escape him was to venture out into the woods where Jinyoung couldn't follow, and he still hated to cause Rapunzel and Jinyoung the worry of slipping away too often.
That afternoon, they were down by the stream catching fish for supper when Jinyoung set down his rod and turned to look at Mark. “Mark,” he said, his voice a little uncertain as it was when something was bothering him. “You see many kinds of people when you go into town, don't you?”
Mark nodded. It was a little odd for him to interact with them at times because he was so used to their isolation in the tower, but he certainly did see them.
“And compared to me... they must be so much more beautiful and exciting, aren't they?”
Mark looked at Jinyoung in surprise. “Why do you say that?”
“They all wear the latest fashions and have so many more experiences than some cursed outcast like me. When you see them, it must be so refreshing to see something new and unfamiliar instead of just me and mama as always, and you must find them so lovely, don't you?” Jinyoung shifted a little. “Besides, if people from the outside world look anything like you, they must all be as handsome as princes.”
Mark snorted. “Hardly. And have you taken a good look at yourself? You're as prince-like as they come.”
“Am I? I have no one to compare myself to other than you, and compared to you...”
“You're far more handsome.”
“Am not!”
“Yes you are, but the fact that you're acting like a brat now maybe isn't helping.” Mark studied his expression. “What brought this on? You're still worried about me leaving?”
Jinyoung nodded, a little morosely. “You'll want to marry soon, won't you?”
“Not at all. Who would I possibly get married to?”
“I'm sure there are plenty of beautiful women out there.”
“Oh yes, plenty. But there's only one you, and you're right here.”
Jinyoung's eyes shone a little hopefully at those words, which made Mark realize how close to the uncrossable line he was walking. He gave Jinyoung what he hoped was an exasperated look and said, “Are you going to make me catch our dinner tonight by myself? Get fishing!”
Jinyoung sighed and picked up his rod, recasting it. They were silent for a moment, then Jinyoung cleared his throat.
“I think I'll never get married,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“I think that even if I can go into the outside world, there will never be another person as good and handsome as you, and I don't think I'd ever be happy if I had anyone less.”
“Jinyoung...” Mark said, his heart pounding a little.
“Don't tell me not to say it. It's true. I think you were a miracle given to us to heal our hearts, and not only did you heal mine, but you completely st-”
“My little darling!” Rapunzel's voice called from the window, cutting him off. “My little joy! Have you still caught no fish for supper? Just a moment, and I will come down to help you. We need a true feast tonight—it's the night of the full moon, a night of magic!” She withdrew from the window and hurried down the stairs to join them.
Jinyoung sighed, biting his lip and darting his eyes away from Mark.
“Jinyoung,” Mark said softly. “We shouldn't do this.”
“I know,” Jinyoung whispered back. “But there's no choice. This is my heart, and it's telling me I have to.”
Rapunzel was always happiest on the night of the full moon. She was a firm believer that when the moon was full, the magic of the world came to life and the possibilities of the old ways came back—wishes could be granted, faith could be restored, and love could find a way back. Even though so many years had passed without her beloved returning to her, Mark believed in it, too. Every full moon, Rapunzel would sing a song to the sky, and in the distance all three of them could hear a faint voice echoing back: Where oh where have you gone my love? Where oh where could you be? And the returning voice was not like Rapunzel's at all—whenever she heard it, she would close her tearful eyes and press her fist over heart heart, both delighted and deeply sorrowful. “He's still here,” she would whisper. “Lost all this time.”
So they all ate a big feast in the evening, and as the moon rose, Rapunzel would go to the window and prepare for her song. That particular night, Jinyoung and Mark were outside looking at the stars in the amazing new invention Mark had gotten Jinyoung in town—a telescope—as they waited for her performance to begin.
“How many of them do you think are out there?” Jinyoung asked, holding the device up to his eye to examine the stars. “I feel like I could spend the rest of my life counting them all.”
“They have people studying that these days. Scientists, and stuff. Maybe we can study it too one day.”
“I'm not sure. It never seems like the scientists who write the textbooks you bring back believe in magic. And there's nothing I believe in more than the goodness of magic.”
“Nothing? In spite of everything's that happened?”
Jinyoung nodded. “Mama always said that magic exists inside of our hearts. And my heart is filled with so many good and beautiful things right now, and I believe that you're the biggest part of that magic within me, so it can't be anything else but good.”
Mark's heart was now thudding so painfully now that he couldn't ignore it. Without thinking, he reached out to cup Jinyoung's face in his hand. Jinyoung looked back at him, eyes soft and wanting, and Mark felt pulled into them, drawing in closer and closer. Jinyoung's eyes widened for a moment, then fluttered shut, and even without their pull, Mark couldn't stop drifting nearer and nearer until their breath was dancing together, a sweet sigh escaping Jinyoung's lips before-
But he couldn't do it. He knew he couldn't, and he knew it would hurt Jinyoung all the more if he did it now only for it to become impossible later. He drew away sharply, releasing a tortured groan of frustration as he turned his back.
“I didn't want you to stop,” Jinyoung's wounded voice came from behind him. “Why did you?”
“Because we can't, Jinyoung. Not like this.”
“What do you mean? What moment are you waiting for that's more suitable or better than this?”
Mark whirled around again. “If it's so simple, please tell me what we're going to do about the obvious problem here, Jinyoung. We've been lying to your mother for years, and even now she thinks I'm her son. Do you want to be the one to tell her the lie we told her, after all this time? Or would you rather her catch on and think I'm seducing my brother?”
Jinyoung winced, his hands trembling. “No.”
“No to which one?”
“To...to...both. I can't tell her the truth now. It will break her, and she's already lost so much faith...”
“Then I can't do it, Jinyoung. How can I be with you when it would lead to something that would break her heart either way?”
“We could keep it a secret-”
“How? How do you propose we live the rest of her life in this tower you can't escape side by side, sleeping together in bed, and have her not know?”
“I don't know.”
“And neither do I. So I think it's pretty obvious that we can't.”
“But even if you ignore me every day for the rest of your life, I can't stop loving you, Mark. Acting on it or not is meaningless, because it will still be here either way.”
Mark took a deep breath, staring at Jinyoung levelly. He felt the same way—his love was far too strong by now to just shove aside or ignore. Something had to be done, and there was only one solution which presented itself to him. If he wanted to be Jinyoung's lover and not steal away Rapunzel's happiness in the process, he'd have to find the person he was pretending to be: Jinyoung's real brother.
“Jinyoung,” he said softly. “If you want me to be with you forever as Mark and not your mama's 'little joy', you have to let me go.”
Jinyoung's expression turned fearful. “Let you go where?”
“Out into the world. I'll find your brother, bring him back, and then we can be together as who we really are.”
“But you can't!” Jinyoung's eyes instantly flooded with tears. “If you go, I'll never see you again!”
“I promised to you-”
“I know. It's not you I don't have faith in. It's...it's...” He gestured broadly. “It's the world I don't trust. It takes everything I love, and if I give it the chance, it will take you, too. I don't want to be my mama, Mark. I don't want to sing for you every night and wonder if you're alive or dead or if I'll forget your face with the passage of time. I want you to be with me always. I can't let you go, you can't ask me to go through this a third time with the person I love the most.” He was crying fiercely now, his body shaking in terror. He always did his best never to show this side to Mark, so Mark hadn't realized his fear had scarred him to this extent. Seeing him like this made Mark's heart break in pity, and he couldn't keep himself from cradling his arms around Jinyoung and pulling him close to his chest, rubbing his back gently.
“Then what are we going to do, Jinyoung?” Mark asked quietly as Rapunzel's voice at last sounded overhead. Where oh where have you gone my love? Where oh where could you be?
“I don't know,” Jinyoung whispered hollowly. They were silent for a moment as they listened to the music surrounding them, filling the night sky with an ethereal beauty. “Mark?”
“Yes?”
“If I promise to think of letting you go do this, even though it terrifies me more than anything, would you promise me something?”
“Anything, Jinyoung.”
“Promise me that you won't go without telling me first. If you have to go one day, I understand, but promise me you'll say 'until we meet again' or 'I swear I'll return to your side' before you go.”
“Of course I will, Jinyoung. I promise.”
“And promise me you'll come back,” Jinyoung whispered tearfully into his ear. “Promise me that even if I lose everything else, I'll always have you.”
“I swear, Jinyoung,” Mark said, his hair. “Not even the most powerful curse in the world could keep me from you.”
Part Two: Little Joy of the Golden Palace
Jackson threw open the door to the library, fuming in frustration. He was not pleased at all to see Malcom inside, lazily perusing an atlas and possibly plotting world domination while he was at it. Jackson liked most people, but he absolutely loathed Malcom, namely because Malcom was a . And not just a , but the tiest of s. He also happened to be related (by adoption, but still—the documents made it officially related) to the man Jackson was hopelessly in love with.
“Let me guess,” Malcom said smoothly, shutting his book. “My charming brother turned you down. Again.”
And this is why I hate you, Jackson thought. Your first reaction when someone is suffering is grin like a freaking Cheshire cat. I would wish someone would break your heart if I believed you actually had one.
“Congrats on the good guess,” Jackson said sarcastically. “You win a pot of gold to add to your whole treasury full of pots of gold. In fact, wouldn't you like to run off and go count all your money for the millionth time?”
“That's 'wouldn't you like to run off and go count all your money for the millionth time, Your Highness' to you. You may be the personal friend of my brother—if not his lover, much to your eternal grief—but I'm still a prince and you're still a...a foot solider, is it?” Malcom snorted in disdain.
“And yet you have just about as much royal blood as me,” Jackson snapped back. “As in none.”
“Technicalities. The fact remains that I was brought in to the royal family, and if my 'father' and 'older brother' continue to be as useless as they have been their entire lives, I'm the one who stands to inherit everything. No one wants a blind madman and his glorified caretaker in charge of the kingdom.”
Jackson's eyes narrowed. “Don't you dare insult JB in front of me.”
“Did I? All I said was the truth. Ever since I had the honor of meeting him, I've barely seen him leave our father's side for more than a few hours, and of course 'dear father' has always been mad, hearing voices in the air and raving back at them, claiming a witch kidnapped his wife or the fairies have her, or whatever nonsense of the day he's decided to believe in. I bet the poor woman ran off on him, hideous as he is. I wonder how JB turned out handsome at all with such an ogre for a father.”
“You know, I was pissed before I came in here, and just seeing your face pisses me off ten times more, and if you don't shut your stupid mouth, I'm probably going to slam my fist into it,” Jackson snapped. “You being a 'prince' be damned. A guy like you ending up in the royal family is a joke the universe is playing on all of us, I'm sure.”
“Not at all,” Malcom said, unfazed. “It's simply the result of some good bargaining. The day the King's men came to the orphanage to find their 'emergency backup' to the two failures of princes in lineup, I was always going to be the one they left with. It wasn't fate, but the result of my own effort and sacrifices.”
“Call it what you want, but I still call it a joke. A very unfunny one, and when the people outside of the castle finally have to hear it, trust me, you are going to feel their displeasure.”
“And they will have me as their king and sovereign all the same.” Malcom lifted himself out of his chair, flourishing his cape like the pompous he was. “A word of advice, Jackson: give up on JB. He's never going to choose you over taking care of his father, and even if he did, it would still be an even wilder joke for a prince to settle for a nobody like you. I'm sure if you set your sights lower... very low, in fact...you'll find someone who will take pity on you. I'm sure no one will be sorry to lose you sulking around the castle, least of all me.” With another obnoxious cape flourish, Malcom exited the room.
“,” Jackson muttered.
But at the same time, Malcom wasn't exactly wrong. He went too far insulting JB and Prince Konrad, and Jackson had never believed for a moment that Prince Konrad was a madman because JB refused it and it was impossible for JB to be wrong. But he was right in saying that chances were slim to none that JB would ever take Jackson's attempts at romance seriously, because JB simply had bigger concerns than the attentions of a lowly foot soldier with a giant crush on him.
According to JB, his family was cursed. Not the good King Harold, but Prince JB himself and his blind father, Prince Konrad. Many years ago, Prince Konrad had been the most handsome and sought after man in the kingdom, but one day while hunting in the woods, he'd heard the voice of a woman singing, followed it, and fallen in love with the maiden in question. At some point, they ran off together, and the details of the story became vague because no one wanted to talk about it, least of all Prince Konrad himself. All that was certain was that when he next came home, he was severely damanged, his body broken and his eyes blind and covered in scars left by thorns, and his mind seemingly shattered as he ranted and raved of an evil sorceress tricking him and taking him away from his wife.
King Harold had done his best to look after his son, but nothing could keep the distraught Prince Konrad from slipping away from the palace to go searching for his wife, even as blind as he was. A group of soldiers had been required to accompany him at all times, lest he hurt himself in his hopeless quest. For years, he came back to the palace with nothing to show for his efforts, but one day he returned with a boy he claimed was his son—a beautiful boy with golden hair and no name who claimed to have come from a cursed tower in the woods.
Of course, none of the common folk actually believed he was Prince Konrad's son—the prince was dark haired, and this boy had hair like the sunlight—but since King Harold accepted it (“There is no mistaking those eyes,” he'd said. “They are my son's eyes. This is his son.”), everyone was forced to accept it as well.
So the boy was welcomed in to the palace as a prince, in spite of his mysterious background. He had no name, but told them that his mother had called him her 'little joy,' and Jackson had jokingly called him the 'joyful boy' at first, then later shortened it to JB. JB also claimed that the woman Prince Konrad was looking for, his mother, was in a forest not far from the palace, trapped there with his twin brother, unable to escape. “The forest chooses who comes and goes,” JB had insisted. “It let me out, but it won't let me back in. No matter how hard any of us searches, we'll never be able to find them again if the sorceress doesn't want us to.”
And sure enough, no one ever had been able to find the tower. Prince JB and Prince Konrad searched everyday, but the forest never welcomed them, and they always wandered helplessly in circles. A few years ago, Jackson had been assigned as part of their military , and he'd witnessed the search time and time again himself, and saw that no matter how many years went by, JB and Konrad would never give up. It was almost beautiful, in a way, the single-mindedness of their devotion. At lot of people believed they were crazy and that no tower or woman or lost twin brother existed, but Jackson believed. Not just because he trusted JB, but because sometimes, on the night of a full moon, he could hear a sorrowful woman's voice dancing on the wind. Where oh where have you gone my love? Where oh where could you be?
Jackson knew love well enough to believe that sadness and that voice were real, and that they belonged to a very real person who experienced very real pain. Because over the years, he himself had fallen in love with JB after witnessing his devotion and kindness and patience with his heartbroken father, and though Jackson's love was closer to his reach than the tower was to Prince Konrad's, it was still hopeless. JB couldn't divide himself in two, and there was no chance for Jackson when it came to outranking a father, mother, and brother JB loved with all of his heart. Jackson had been masochistic enough to ask him on several occasions, but each had earned him a stern refusal. “This isn't a story with much happiness, Jackson,” JB had told him. “Go and find yourself a happy ending and forget about us and our giant mess. It doesn't need to involve you.”
As he was brooding over this latest dismissal from JB, he heard a stirring from one of the bookshelves and glanced over. Instead of Malcom himself come to terrorize him again, it was Malcom's birth sister, Nellie. Jackson groaned inwardly. He didn't hate Nellie as much as he hated Malcom, but she grated on him from time to time as well. They lived in a palace full of gloomy people, and though she had little reason to be compared to everyone else, she was one of the gloomiest of all. In spite of her brother's good fortune and her elevated station in life, she liked to fancy herself as a doomed romantic heroine, more doomed than even Prince Konrad himself. She was always prattling on about losing the love of her life and how the 'blessings' that had showered down on her brother still had yet to find her even though she was just as deserving. Jackson didn't mind dramatics, but hers always seemed in poor taste when he considered what Prince Konrad was going through.
“What is it, Nellie?” Jackson asked impatiently. He wasn't in the mood today.
“I heard what you were saying to Malcom,” she said. “It's too bad about Prince JB. Really, as one also suffering from the agonies of love, I do understand what you're going through, and I'm terribly sorry for you. But I think the situation is much more simple than you think. Prince JB is in need of a hero, and you are only a foot soldier assigned to duty. If you prove him that you are more useful than you look, perhaps he will take you more seriously and be willing to involve you more in his situation...and in his heart.”
Jackson looked at her skeptically. “What do you want me to do? Win a war?”
“Heavens, no! What war? Our kingdom is peaceful, and I think we'd have to wait for my brother to become king before that changed. What I'm suggesting is much easier.” She studied him with a glint in her eye. “In the forest where the princes go searching for their beloved wife and mother every day, there is another poor soul trapped. A sorceress has ensnared my own beloved, and I would like to see him safely returned. And besides, it's equally beneficial to you. A daring rescue would prove your heroics to JB and make him more likely to listen to you, would it not?”
Jackson highly doubted that, but it was something to consider. “I'll think about it,” he said.
“No,” Nellie said quickly. “It has to be tomorrow. His...captors...they will be away in the morning. I've observed them for some time, and after the full moon, they always gather fairy roses to leave as an offering to the forest. Mark stays insides the tower and makes breakfast—he's their slave, you see!”
“Mark,” Jackson repeated. “Huh. And you say you've actually spied on this tower? So this whole time, you've been welcomed in the forest and you've never said anything to the royal family who's been desperate to find Prince Konrad's wife for ages?”
“This has nothing to do with Prince Konrad's wife!” Nellie said shrilly. “I've never seen her, and I know nothing about it! This is about Mark, and the fact that he can't be in that tower anymore. One of his captors is trying to put a love spell on him, and he must be rescued from it.”
“And you can't do it yourself, because...?”
“I... I don't dare get close to him. His captors have poisoned his mind with all sorts of things about me. Like that it's my fault he was captured by the sorceress when I had absolutely nothing to do with it.”
Sure you didn't, Jackson thought. This lady is protesting far too much.
Still, Jackson was good at heart, and he didn't like the idea of someone being trapped against his will and kept under a love spell. It did seem pretty damn heroic if he rescued this guy, and JB was in desperate need of being convinced that heroism still existed and that even some low rank guy like Jackson was capable of it.
“Fine, fine,” Jackson said, sighing in defeat. “I'll give it a shot. But just a warning, the forest isn't too welcoming to me. I doubt I'll be able to find the tower.”
“You will if it's with me,” Nellie said confidently. “The presence of the princes keeps you from seeing it, but the witchwood understands that I need to be there. We'll be fine.”
“Well, congrats to you,” Jackson said sarcastically. “Aren't you and your brother just absolutely special?”
“Yes,” Nellie said. “We are. He's had his chance to be rewarded for that. Now it's mine.”
Jackson had been incredibly doubtful about Nellie's claims regarding the tower given what he knew of the forest, but after just twenty minutes of walking through the witchwood with her, they did indeed come across a golden tower in the middle of a beautiful glade.
“Nellie, are you sure this isn't the tower Prince Konrad is looking for?” Jackson asked her, staring at it in awe. “Because this looks just like JB's description.”
“No, it isn't,” she snapped. “Trust me, I've come here often, and the only people there are Mark, the sorceress, and her henchman. JB has never mentioned a third person in the tower, has he?”
“No,” Jackson admitted. “But at the very least, shouldn't we capture the sorceress and force her to surrender JB's family?”
“NO, you stay away from her,” Nellie hissed. “She is a dangerous woman, and she'd kill JB's family before surrendering them. Just get Mark away before he's hurt, too.” With that, she handed Jackson a grapling hook and pushed him towards the tower. “Remember, he's under a love spell right now. He may not want to be released, but that's because he's been tricked. Knock him out if you have to, but get him out of there.”
Well, Jackson thought as he approached the tower. My first attempt at being a storybook hero. Here goes nothing.
He wound his arm and threw the grapling hook at the window, testing it to make sure it latched securely. Once it was, he tried putting his weight on it, and after confirming it held reliably, he started scaling the tower.
It was a long climb up, and it was a relief to reach the window and to be able to throw himself inside onto the waiting mattress beneath him. It was covered in sheet music which his landing upset, so he picked the papers back up off the floor before turning to the tower's shocked resident, a handsome, brown haired boy holding a frying pan over a small blaze at the fireplace. Jackson's heart was completely taken by JB, but even he allowed himself a moment to admire the beautiful captive.
“You...” the boy, Mark, whispered in a trembling voice. “Are you...?”
“I'm Jackson, a foot soldier in the royal army,” he said with a salute. “I'm here to rescue you from the evil sorceress.”
“Oh,” Mark said, a little confusedly. “You must have misunderstood the situation here. I don't need rescuing, and she's not a sorceress. She's just a woman with long hair.”
“No, you are the one who has misunderstood,” Jackson said sadly. He really felt bad for this guy, not even realizing he was a slave to an evil woman. “The love spell you're under might be confusing you, but-”
“Love spell?” Mark snorted. “Look, Jinyoung doesn't know any magic, and I didn't need any help to fall in love with him. If someone told you I'm some kind of...damsel or something who needs rescuing by a prince, you've stumbled into the wrong fairy tale. I'm not going to fall for you.”
“That's fine, because I'm not a prince, and I'm already in love with someone else,” Jackson said, stepping closer. “I just want to help you. This is no life for you, and you'll thank me when the spell wears off.”
Mark brandished his frying pan like a weapon. “I need you to back off. I'm not going with you.”
“Sorry, but yes, you are.”
“No, I'm not.” There was a look of real fear in his eyes, which made Jackson feel even sorrier. “If I'm not here when Jinyoung gets back, something terrible will happen.”
“A lot of terrible things have happened because of this sorceress. If you stay here, I'm sure something far worse than you're imagining will happen, and I don't want you to be left to that fate. Come with me.”
“I can't, just please understand. You've got this all wrong.”
“That's what you need to understand. I'm the good guy here!”
“Good or bad, I don't care! I'm NOT going with you!”
Mark lunged at him with the frying pan, but Jackson's years of military training prepared him well. He dodged the blow easily, tripping Mark in the process. As soon as Mark stumbled, Jackson snatched the frying pan from his hand and nailed him in the head with it, just enough to knock him out rather than cause him serious injury. Mark immediately fell to the ground, out like a light.
“Frying pans,” Jackson marveled. “Who knew, right?”
Still, he wasn't sure how to exit the tower while carrying Mark. He poked his head out to consult Nellie, who was pacing back and forth at the bottom of the tower.
“Hey, I've got your boyfriend up here,” he called down. “How am I supposed to get him out?”
“Not so loud!” Nellie hissed. “Carry him down the stairs and hit the black stone in the door. That's the entrance.”
“There were stairs this whole time?” Jackson asked. “What the hell was the grapling hook for?”
“I didn't want to risk you tiring out and taking too long in your mission. Hurry up, the sorceress could be back at any minute!”
"Tiring out? These muscles aren't just for show, lady!"
Jackson hauled Mark over his shoulder, and struggled his way down the endless staircase nonetheless, feeling seconds away from passing out. He'd thought he was strong, but apparently he still had some work left to do if he couldn't manage a stick like the guy he was carrying without getting winded. Still, it was a rather steep staircase.
At the bottom, he hit the black stone and was greeted by daylight. “Quick, quick,” Nellie said gesturing him towards the witchwood. “They're coming back.”
Jackson wanted to chance a glance into the distance to see what this terrible sorceress looked like, but there was no time. He followed Nellie into the witchwood, Mark bouncing along limply on his shoulder.
Some hero I am, he thought to himself. I could have fought the villain who ruined JB's life. I could have done something to find or save Prince Konrad's wife, but all I did was save the day for Nellie and her brainwashed boyfriend. JB's not going to thank me for this. I'll have to come back, even if I have to drag Nellie with me. I'm going to defeat that sorceress if it's the last thing I do.
Mark was starting to groan and wake up a little by time they reached the palace. Jackson had imagined Nellie would want to set him up in a bedroom and nurse him back to health, but she ordered Jackson to bring him to the dungeons. “He might be dangerous when he awakes,” she warned. “The spell will still be in effect, and it might lead him to be violent. For his safety, we should lock him up in a cell until it fades. I'll watch over him.”
Jackson felt reluctant, but it seemed like a fair enough point. He brought the two of them down into the dungeons, unlocked a cell, and rested him on the cot.
“I'll stay down here with you,” Jackson said. “It won't be safe if it's just you alone, if he's so dangerous.”
“Oh no, I'm afraid that won't be necessary,” Nellie said serenely. “You need to report to Prince JB after all.”
“That can wait.”
“No, it can't. I heard he's asking after you. You'll want to see him.”
JB's asking after me? Jackson felt a spark of hope. Maybe he'd heard the news and was already prepared to reward him, after all. Or at the very least, to ask for his intelligence about the sorceress and the tower.
Leaving Nellie to care for Mark, Jackson went back up to the main floor of the palace to seek JB in his private quarters. To his surprise, JB was standing there, sword in hand, looking incredibly irritated.
“YOU!” he snarled, pointing his sword at Jackson's throat. “I always knew you were a fool, but I never thought you would go so far as to lie to me and play me behind my back after everything you said to me. How dare you treat your prince in this manner?”
“Um?” Jackson asked blankly. “Have I done something to upset you?”
“Have you? I had the misfortune of hearing from Malcom this morning that you were going on a quest to rescue some manner of male damsel in distress with the intention of winning his hand in marriage after your rescue. Malcom is little better than a snake, but his sister confirmed his story, and I witnessed you setting out on your little journey this morning with my own two eyes. What were you playing at, professing your love to me over and over again if you could so easily shift your attention to another?”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Jackson said, lifting his hands. “I did rescue the guy, but only because Nellie asked me to. I wasn't under any understanding of marrying the guy afterwards—in fact, I thought he was Nellie's fiance or something like that?”
“Nellie's fiance? If that's the case, why would Nellie herself summon an elder to the palace to formally arrange an engagement between you and her own fiance?” JB lifted the summons and waved it angrily in front of Jackson's face. “Well, here's what I think of this summons!” He tore it down the middle and threw the pieces to the floor. “I was a fool to trust you. I resisted you for years in order to protect you from my family's curse, but don't think it was easy on me, Jackson. The people in my family lose the people they love, and I couldn't risk that happening to you, so I fought it every second of the way because I cared about you too much for you to vanish on me like everyone else. And this is what my love amounted to? You trying to run off with the first person who suits your heroic, fairy tale ideals? Well, I'm sorry Jackson. I'm never going to be an ideal, because my story's a miserable one. And you've just added another chapter of misery on it when I thought it couldn't get any worse. But I suppose I should thank you for revealing to me what kind of person you were before I fell any more. After all these years, Malcom has finally done me a good service at last.”
“Wait, JB,” Jackson said desperately. “You don't understand. You have to trust me-”
“Do I? Do I have to?” JB looked at him fiercely. “Then speak quickly and convince me, because after this moment, I'm not sure I'm ever going to trust you again.”
“Fine, then I'll show you in a way even you won't be able to q-”
His statement wasn't able to be completed. In the room over, Prince Konrad released a terrible wail, and JB immediately bolted for his door to knock on it. Malcom opened the door, and glided out like a self-important bat.
“I'm afraid father is asking for you again,” Malcom said in his slippery voice. “Night terrors, or something. He's quite rattled.”
“I'll see him at once,” JB said worriedly. “Father?”
Malcom shut the door as soon as JB disappeared into the room, then turned back to Jackson, smiling smugly. “Well, well, well, what did I tell you?” he asked. “Didn't I warn you it wouldn't be wise to continue chasing after JB? And look where it's led you. Straight into my sister's schemes.”
“And yours, too, it looks like,” Jackson snapped. “What do you want?”
“What do I want? It's quite simple. I want to be king. I suppose I could just kill Konrad and JB, but where's the fun in that? I think it would be much more satisfying to watch poor father completely lose his mind and for JB to lose hope until his mind is shattered just as permanently. And it's so refreshing to watch you, his supposed one true love, deliver one of the biggest blows to his faith yourself. Well done, Jackson.” He clapped his hands mockingly. “But I'm afraid my idiot sister involved you too closely while trying to get what she wanted. No one should know that tower exists. It needs to stay lost to everyone but us. I'm sure you understand. After all, you were seconds away from meeting the elusive Rapunzel and JB's beloved brother yourself.”
Jackson stared at him, frozen in shock. “W-what?”
“Indeed. You rescued no captive this morning. You just retrieved a bargaining chip I left with those guillible fools years ago. Such a shame. Mark was quite happy there, and now he's going to spend a very miserable life with my sister. You ruined so many lives today, I'm sincerely impressed.” Malcom grinned. “And now I'm going to ruin yours. You've witnessed too much to let you live, but it would be a crying shame for you to die before I become king. I think I'll savor you awhile in the dungeon while my plans march forward. Won't that be nice? Seeing your beloved JB break right before you die?” Malcom released a manic cackle, and before Jackson could do anything, his face was being covered by a scented rag. The smell was overpowering, and though Jackson tried to fight back, within seconds it pulled him under and his collapsing world went completely blank.
Mark awoke to the sight of a brown haired woman he didn't recognize gazing down at him. He rubbed his eyes, trying to dispel what must have been the remnants of a dream. There were no strangers in his tower—there was only Jinyoung and Rapunzel, more familiar to him than anyone in the world.
“Jinyoung?” he murmured, blinking his eyes.
“No,” a woman's voice answered him. “It is I, Mark. Your Nellie.”
“Nellie,” Mark repeated. He opened his eyes completely and studied the woman in front of him, but couldn't recogize her from any of his trips to town. “I don't know you. Why have you brought me here? Where's Jinyoung?”
Nellie's face fell. “What do you mean you don't know me? We've been destined for each other ever since childhood. I was your dear companion from the orphanage!”
“The orphanage,” Mark said, dazedly. “Wait...it's coming back to me. You're the girl who brought me to the witchwood.”
“Not for any ill intentions like that boy you lived with has probably filled your mind with! He's a wicked liar, planting false memories in your head. I've never done anything but love you, Mark, and it was never my idea to leave you with those horrid people. It was all Malcom, and I was helpless to stop him.”
“Jinyoung has never said a word about you in his life,” Mark said. “I decided on my own that you and Malcom had given me to them in exchange for something. What was it, Nellie? Money? A job at the palace?”
“Malcom was the one with the selfish wish, not me!” she cried out. “He wanted to be nobility, and sold you to the sorceress in exchange for that wish. I was the one who wished for your salvation! I wished I would marry my one true love, which would guarentee that one day you'd be freed and returned to me! And here you are! Both wishes have finally come true.”
“You're wrong,” Mark said. “Rapunzel is no sorceress. It was never in her power to grant you those wishes. But I'm sure she would have said anything to have her son returned to her, which you lied to her about.”
“But it's true!” Nellie insisted. “How would Malcom have become nobility if she was powerless? The power was real, which means we are going to get married as soon as you recover from your silly infatuation with that terrible boy.”
“I would rather die in this dungeon than marry you,” Mark snapped, overcome by fury. “What have you done to make me love you? Regardless of the happiness it brought, you and your brother sold me to a woman who you deceived. And then, when I became too happy for your liking, you pulled me away from the man I love in such a way that would make him think I left willingly, betraying his trust and my promise. Did you think I would thank you for it? Do you really think any amount of time would change my heart and convince it to love you when it will only ever love one person in this world?”
“Say what you want, but you have no choice! You will marry me, even if the sorceress's spell compels you. And don't worry, Mark, we will be blissfully happy. I will make you a wonderful wife, and you don't have to worry about your pitiful Jinyoung's broken heart. He may be a sad, cursed boy to you, but he's a prince of the realm who will stand in the way of my brother's throne. He will be disposed of along with his mother, and we will be free to wed.” Nellie smiled brilliantly, then slowly backed away from the door. “Until that day comes, I suppose I must leave you down here so you can reflect and come to your senses. But don't worry, my dear, I will visit you often. We have a wedding to plan, after all!”
Mark had never felt so defeated in his life. All he could think of was Jinyoung returning to the tower to find him gone with no sign of a struggle and any note of farewell. That had been Jinyoung's greatest fear, and the whole point of Mark promising not to do it in the first place was to show Jinyoung that he loved him too much to hurt him in that way. And now Jinyoung would think he didn't love him in the way he claimed and would believe Mark was all too willing to break his heart for his own gain. Would Jinyoung ever be able to trust him again after this? Mark was sure there was going to be no way back from this moment, and that he had already lost the heart he had wanted so badly.
Not that it mattered. He was never going to see Jinyoung again. Nellie had trapped him down in the dungeons, and if she was to be believed, her brother was planning on murdering Jinyoung and Rapunzel now that Mark was out of the picture. But why? Why had Nellie claimed Jinyoung was a prince, and why would Malcom feel threatened by him when Jinyoung couldn't leave the forest even if he tried?
If they kill Jinyoung, my life is over, Mark thought bleakly. I'd sooner bite my tongue off and die than marry the witch who brought me here. If that's the ending this is heading to, there's really no magic left in the world. There's no point in carrying on anymore. All our faith and hope was for nothing.
Not long after Nellie left, some soldiers carried down a body to shove into one of the cells. When Mark got a look at him, he saw it was the guy from the tower, the soldier who had captured him, thinking him to be under a spell. His face was bloodied and badly bruised, and he'd clearly lost conciousness, though Mark couldn't imagine who would have attacked him. Wasn't he Nellie's accomplice, someone she and Malcom would reward rather than punish for the role he'd played?
Mark supposed he'd have to wait until the soldier woke up. He had questions that desperately needed answers. Everything was probably over for him, but if he could find a way to save Jinyoung, he at least needed to try.
Before the soldier woke up, the door to the dungeon opened again, and someone new descended. Even though the lighting was dark, Mark could immediately see a head of brilliantly gold hair drawing closer. Rapunzel...?, he thought, his heart surging. But as the person came in front of the cells, Mark could see it was a man, one he'd never laid eyes on before.
“Jackson?” the man was saying, kneeling down in front of his cell. “Damn it, what have they done to you? This is all my fault! If I had just listened to you instead of listening to their lies like a fool when I know you would never betray me...But I will avenge this insult. I'll stab that bastard through the heart for every time he laid a hand on you.” He shook his head, the strand of hair in front of his eye moving back to reveal two little moles.
Mark stared at the man, his eyes going wide. The golden hair. The marks by his eye. His young age, the slight similarities to both Jinyoung and Rapunzel in the angles of his face... perhaps this was one last false delusion of hope come to haunt him, but he couldn't help but cling to it just one last time.
“Little joy,” Mark said, his voice breaking. “It's you...”
The man whirled around, staring at Mark in shock. “How did you know that name? Who are you?”
“I'm also little joy,” he replied, his heart surging stronger with courage. “I'm known to both your mother and your brother. Malcom and Nellie gave me to your mother, claiming I was you, in exchange for power and true love. I have lived your life to keep your mother's faith alive, and would have done so my whole life had I not fallen in love with your brother, the one you know as 'little darling'. His name is Jinyoung now, and there's not a day in his life where he hasn't thought of you. Do you still have your little toy rabbit?”
“Yes,” the man said in a shaken voice. “The black rabbit my mother made me when I was born. I sleep with it to my heart every night.”
“So does Jinyoung. He would pray every night for your return, and again every morning.” Tears came to Mark's eyes. “They were well when I left them, but I'm afraid they won't be anymore. Jinyoung will think I've betrayed him, and Rapunzel will think her son has left her again. I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect them in the end.”
“This isn't your doing,” the man said gruffly. “I think I know exactly who we have to blame. Malcom and Nellie knew where my family was all this time, and kept it from me and father. Both of them have a very good motive for that, and it's golden and rests on my grandfather's head. I must end this. Even if the curse blocks us from ever reuniting, I will protect my family from the evil which seeks to harm them.” He looked at Mark solemnly. “Is that also your wish?”
“Beyond anything.”
“Very well, then.” The man grabbed a key ring from his belt. “I also have a name, by the way. You may know me as Prince JB. 'Little joy' is a name that only really sounds good when my mother says it.”
“I'm Mark.” He waited as JB unlocked the door so he could again walk free. “So it's true, then: Jinyoung's a prince?”
“As sure as I am.”
“I'm not surprised. He's always looked like one.”
“I'm sure he does.” JB also unlocked Jackson's cell door and lifted him into his arms. “I'm not certain what scene awaits us in the palace, Mark. If Malcom realizes I came down here, he'll know his game is up, and he will retaliate. I have a lot of higher priorities than you right now—Jackon, my father, my grandfather, my mother, my brother—so I'll need you to fend for yourself, all right?”
“I will,” Mark said determinedly. “I promised Jinyoung that if I left, I'd come back without fail. I think I owe him that.”
Part Three: Little Hope of the Magical World
When Jinyoung returned to the tower, Mark wasn't there.
Immediately, he knew something was wrong, that Mark hadn't just wandered off to gather ingredients or get some fresh air. There was nothing in particular amiss about the tower other than the lack of the breakfast Mark was supposed to be cooking, but Jinyoung knew, just as he had known the exact moment his brother had slipped past the boundaries of the cursed forest and disappeared. Mark was gone.
His mama dropped the flowers in her hands, her body trembling. She knew it, too, and Jinyoung was well aware that if he didn't handle this just right, she might hurtle off her breaking point into madness at the second loss of her 'son'. But at the same time, he was seconds away from shattering himself. Mark is gone. Mark is gone and he didn't say goodbye, and I'm never going to see him again.
The only salvation was that he knew in his heart that Mark hadn't done this by choice. Mark had promised him that he wouldn't, and Jinyoung had unshakable faith in his word that wouldn't falter even at the sight of the pristine tower bearing no sign of a struggle. Someone had taken him—Dame Gothel, maybe, or those children who had left him in the first place—but he hadn't left because he'd wanted to. If he'd been given a single moment to, he would have left a message for Jinyoung so he wouldn't worry. The fact that he hadn't meant something was terribly wrong.
“My little joy,” his mama choked out, sobbing. “She took him from me again. I'll never escape her, will I? She'll take every piece of happiness from me until all I have left are ashes and dust.” Releasing a keening sob, she sank to her knees and tore her hands through her golden hair.
“No, mama!” Jinyoung cried out. “Mark promised to me—he promised the curse would never be able to keep us apart. He'll come back-”
“Like your father came back?” she screamed. “No—the witchwood is in control here. She'll keep him out and keep us in, and we'll always live in this terrible prison until we die of broken hearts. He's gone, gone, gone like everything is gone, and this is our ending!”
“I refuse,” Jinyoung yelled back. “If Mark can't go back to me, I'll go to him. They can't have taken him far, and I'll fight whatever evil is necessary to save him. I refuse to accept that it ends like this!”
But his mother was already half-crazed with grief, her body fevered and unable to rise from her collapsed position on the ground. Jinyoung determinedly lifted her up in his arms and carried her down the stairs and out of the tower. He walked as far as he could into the forest until the forces of magic ordered him to turn around, and as soon as he felt the compulsion, he planted his feet firmly into the ground and stayed where he was. “NO!” he yelled into the witchwood. “I refuse to turn around. I REFUSE.”
“You have no choice,” an ancient sounding voice carried on the wind taunted him. “You are under a curse. A powerless child such as yourself has no sway over magic.”
“I do have power,” Jinyoung snapped. “Maybe not much, but because I met Mark, I kept the magic inside my heart alive for all this time. The power of true love is greater than any force of evil, and I bring not only my true love to you, but my mother's. We've waited all this time, and we will wait no more. You will return our hearts to us.”
“Oh, the true love of a sheltered boy and his mad mother, how I tremble!” the wind whipped back. “See how far you can reach with such little power—I'll happily watch!”
Jinyoung felt the compulsion lessen a little and took a step forward. The forest seemed to be fighting his movement, like he was walking through a wind tunnel where each sharp gust bit his face and cut into him like the pricks of thorns. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It hurt, but it would hurt worse to stay when Mark needed him, when he needed Mark, when his mother needed his father and they both needed his lost brother, the real one, and they could no longer stay apart.
Jinyoung took another step forward and the wind lashed him again. He could feel blood trickling down his cheek, but ignored the painful sensation and took another step. As he walked, he started to sing—where oh where have you gone my love? Where oh where could you be? The night is long but the day will come where the sun will shine through the trees. As true as my hearts beats for my love, my faith will always live on. Your face may no longer reach my sight, but our love will never be gone.
A soft, weak voice joined him as he sang—Rapunzel's. She was hesitant at first, but with every step, her strength built and built until she was singing in her full soprano, singing with such a strength of conviction that Jinyoung hadn't been able to hear from her since he was very young. He sighed in relief, letting her take control of the singing as he persisted in his march forward. Her faith and magic were still there—after all this time, she still believed in love, and Jinyoung could do no less.
Little by little, the effort it took the walk lessened and the winds lashed him less terribly. We're doing it, he realized. We're fighting the curse—that was it, all this time. The curse was on the two of us, so it didn't just require mother's true love to defeat. It also needed mine. Well, it can take as much of the power of my love as it wants. No one is going to keep Mark from me. Not a witch, not a human, not anyone. Not even the world itself.
And with that resolve filling him, he at last opened his eyes. They were outside of the forest, standing in front of the palace. His mother was still singing, her voice richly filling the air around them, and the window above them was being thrown open, a head peeking out to behold them.
A man looked down at them, open mouthed. He was black haired like Jinyoung, his face covered in angry red scars and his eyes sealed shut. But somehow, Jinyoung felt like the man could still see them right in front of him, even though he was blind. He knew them as well as he knew his own heart, and Jinyoung knew him too, this man he had never before seen.
“Rapunzel,” the man whispered, his voice cracking. “My son.”
Rapunzel lifted her eyes, and her voice seemed to flourish that moment into the most beautiful note Jinyoung had ever heard in his life. “My love! At last I have found you. Dear Konrad!”
The man climbed out the window, and half-fell to the ground a little ways beneath him, stumbling on unsteady feet. Rapunzel flew to him, gathering him into her arms and kissing his wounded face tenderly. “My dear, what pain she inflicted on you! All this time, and I could do nothing but sing while you were so hurt. What shall I do? You dear brown eyes—am I never to look at them again?”
“Cry not, my darling Rapunzel,” Jinyoung's father said, returning her embrace. “I do not need to see your face to remember it perfectly. All I have wanted my whole life is to be by your side, and at last here I am! I need nothing more in the world other than this happiness. Come, take my hand and never let it go again.” He grasped her hand tightly, and extended his other blindly out to Jinyoung. “Come, my son. Come to your old father and comfort him. I have never known your face or your brother's, but let me feel it beneath my hands so I may know you.”
Jinyoung obeyed, kneeling on the ground and allowing his father to touch each of his features and then run a hand through his hair. As his hands moved, Rapunzel gazed down into his destroyed face, her tears of both joy and sorrow splashing gently onto his closed eyes. For a moment, her tears glowed there like little balls of light until they dissolved into his skin. A second later, the wounds on Konrad's face were knitting up and his eyes flew open, exposing a pair of brown eyes the beheld Jinyoung completely.
His face immediately burst into a delighted smile. “Why, you are the very image of me! As handsome as I will never be again, just as your brother is as lovely as your mother.” He turned his eyes to Rapunzel. “But she at least is as lovely as the day I first saw her. My beloved!” Then, he too began to weep.
Jinyoung stared at them in awe. Maybe there was no more magic big enough for fairies to command or witches to brew, but the magic of their love was still capable of so much, of blessings both simpler in nature and bigger in impact than a thousand of enchanted ball gowns or magic lamps.
“FATHER!?” a frantic voice burst forth at the front of the palace. “WHERE ARE YOU?” The doors were thrown open, and a golden haired man carrying a slumped over body in his arms stumbled out. There was no question of who this was as soon as Jinyoung laid eyes on him. It was as if the other half of himself was returning to him, and he was a whole person instead of just one half of an incomplete pair. Tears flooded him, and he extended his arms forward. “Brother,” he called out. “We've finally found our way back to you.”
The golden haired boy stared at him in open mouthed shock. Rapunzel also looked completely knocked over. “That—that is my little joy... my heart knows it without question. But—what of Mark?”
“I'm sorry for deceiving you, mama,” Jinyoung said, bowing his head. “But Mark was my joy, not yours. I asked him to take brother's place because I thought you needed him to be strong, but all along I was the one who needed him. I'm so sorry. But this is your son.”
Rapunzel shook her head. “No. Both are. One by blood, one by heart. My heart has room enough for as many loves as it can hold. But to see him again after so long, the picture of myself...my son...” She, too, extended her arms, and at last their lost boy ran forward to meet them.
“Brother,” he said, gazing into Jinyoung's eyes first. “He told me of you, that you looked just like a prince. That you've been praying for me, all this time. I knew that our prayers would be answered, that we would meet again. And here you are, every inch a prince.”
“You met Mark?” Jinyoung asked, his heart pounding.
“Yes. He's here. He may have to do some running to catch up to me—I bolted as soon as I heard a servant screaming that father had jumped out the window. But he'll be here.” His brother then turned to Rapunzel, his eyes glistening. “Mother. If I wasn't carrying Jackson right now, I'd hug you so hard you couldn't breathe. Maybe this is for the best.”
“You foolish boy,” Rapunzel sobbed through her tears. “You made your mother worry for so long.”
“I know. Will you forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive. You are here now, and I'll never let you from my sight again. My little joy.”
“It's JB, now. I'm sorry I didn't wait for you and father to choose a name, but Jackson settled on JB, and it kind of stuck.”
“How odd,” Rapunzel said, smiling. “Another boy did the same for my other son, and changed him from 'darling' to Jinyoung. But now that I look at it with clearer eyes, that boy may still look upon him as 'darling' in his secret heart. Is it perhaps the same for you and this boy? Are you his 'joy'?”
JB flushed a little. “Seems like it. He's a bit of an idiot and he almost got himself killed for it, but it seems like I may love him for some reason all the same.”
“You finally said it,” a weak voice came from JB's arms. The bruised boy cracked a swollen eye open and reached out to gently touch JB's face. “And look at this. You're smiling. You know, I don't think I've ever seen you smile before.”
“I've bit back a thousand smiles in front of you,” JB said, his smile growing softer. “But no more. I'll always be happy from this moment on. I can finally see the happy ending in this, after all.”
“Which is funny, because I sure can't,” a mocking voice came from behind him.
Jinyoung whirled around. A group of soldiers with spears were drawing in to encircle them, led by a man in a long cape and accompanied by a woman who was staring at Jinyoung with pure venom. It took a moment, but slowly it dawned on him who they were—these were the two who had abandoned Mark into their care, all those years ago.
“At least, I can't see a happy ending for any of you,” the man corrected himself. “For myself, I can see a glorious future, especially when all of you are dead. Which is particularly funny, because the one who guarenteed me this happiness is you, my golden princess.” He beamed down at Rapunzel. “You made this triumphant moment possible.”
“I did nothing of the sort,” Rapunzel said coldly. “I told you, I am no magical creature. Any magic I have exists for my family, and I don't have a drop of it for you.”
“And yet, here I am, a 'lowly' orphan become a prince of the realm. Exactly as promised. Terribly sorry for lying to you about Mark, but I believe you said I would be rewarded according to the good I did, and I did do you a good turn, didn't I? I hand delivered a lover and companion for you trueborn son and a sweet little replacement JB for you, and I have been richly rewarded.”
“Shove it, Malcom, you're such an insufferable prick,” Jackson said, finally rousing himself the rest of the way. “And Nellie—you know, I really hate to use this word, but for what you did to me in regards to Mark and JB, you've earned it. You are an evil, evil .”
“Sharp words indeed, but you seem to be entirely without a sword, foot solider,” Nellie said. “Meanwhile, we have twenty spears pointed at you. You've lost.”
“Do you mean to kill me, boy?” Prince Konrad asked, staring at Malcom. “You'd put the blood of your family on your hands?”
“You are no family of mine,” Malcom snarled. “When have you ever been a father to me, and when has your brother been my brother?”
“And when have you looked at us with anything more than gold in your eyes?” JB retorted. “Neither father or I wanted the crown as long as we had our quest to think of, and we would have been happy to welcome you as the new heir if you'd ever looked at us for one second with respect and dignity for what we suffered.”
“Mongrel dogs don't deserve dignity. Do you think I was proud to be the son of a madman?”
“Mad? You knew this whole time that we were telling the truth! You and your hateful sister saw my mother and brother with your own eyes, and never said a word to us.”
“If you had your precious family back, you'd start to remember who you were. You'd be the golden princes again, there would be a glorious princess to delight the kingdom, and you wouldn't even need a spare, because here is your precious spare,” he said, pointed to Jinyoung. “I had to keep you apart. My wish compelled me.”
“Your greed compelled you,” Jinyoung snapped. “You act like this was destiny, but everything from you bringing Mark into the forest until now has been your choice.”
“SILENCE!” Nellie shrieked. “I don't want to hear your disgusting voice! You ruined Mark and tried to take him when he was mine from the beginning, and I will never, ever forgive you. I will be his wife, and you will be dead. All of you!”
“Yes, I'm afraid my sister is correct,” Malcom said in a mock sorrowful voice. “You've all become liabilities. A swift execution for all of you, and a little poison for the good king, and I will have exactly what I want. I don't even require magic anymore.”
“Good, because I'm sure someone like you doesn't have a drop of it in him,” Mark's voice came from above them. They all glanced upwards. Mark was standing side by side with the good King Harold on the palace balcony. “But you might want to speak up a little louder. I'm sure there was some elderly woman in the next village who couldn't hear you speaking treason.”
“Now, now, these aren't the kind of threats I want to be hearing from my future brother-in-law,” Malcom said calmly. “It will make our family get togethers so awkward, won't it, Mark? And in case you haven't noticed, you have no power to stop me. The royal army has supported my claim and won't fight me. I've imprisoned every knight who resisted me. With what strength will you defeat me?”
“The only strength I have. Unfortunately for you, you have your spears pointed at the person I love, the woman who raised me, and their precious family, and I will not let you hurt them. What of you, my King?”
“I would sooner throw my crown into the sea than see a single hair on my children's and my children's children's heads harmed,” the king boomed. “I dare a single man here to lift a spear against my family. See what you are capable of against us.”
“Well, you heard your sovereign,” Malcom said to the soldiers. “Show him what you are capable of.”
Jinyoung stepped in front of his parents, blocking them from their attackers. But the motion was needless—no attack came. The soldiers strained their arms, but no matter how much effort they made, their bodies would not move. The spears stayed locked into place, completely motionless.
“What are you doing?” Nellie shrieked. “Slaughter them!”
“W-we can't,” one of the soldiers choked out. “We can't move. It's like there's...some kind of...force...on us.”
“Yes,” Mark called down to them. “The greatest force there is. The kind of power you will never have.”
Jinyoung's eyes widened. It was the same thing that had carried him through the forest, the same thing that had kept his mother singing faithfully in the tower for all of those years. He lifted a finger and gingerly touched one of the spears pointed at him. Instantly, it bent against his attacker at his touch.
Realizing what was happening, JB also reached out. The spear he touched, one pointed at Jackson, dissolved into dust in his hands. Jackson grabbed for a spear pointed at JB, and it instantly burst into flames.
“It's the sorceress,” Malcom screamed, pointing at Rapunzel wildly. “She's doing it! I'll kill you and destroy your power, and nothing will be able to stop me!” He lunged for her, hands wrapping around , but he instantly drew back, screaming. The skin of his hands where he had touched Rapunzel was bubbling, errupting into oozing sores that made him wail in pain.
“No one,” Prince Konrad said in a steely voice, “touches Rapunzel while I am here.”
“You've lost, Malcom,” Mark called down. “Surrender immediately, and we might spare you.”
“I would rather die than bend a knee to any of you,” Malcom spat out. “I'm the only king among you. You should all be grateful to bow to your better! I nearly destroyed every single one of you.”
“Yes, and nearly doesn't count, does it?” JB said, cracking his knuckles. “And if you want to die so badly, I'd be happy to help you.”
“No, little joy,” Rapunzel said, raising her hand. “I did give my word to this boy and his sister, after all. I said he would be rewarded equal to the good he had done. And he has done some good. Mark was a gift upon me and Jinyoung, and it would be discourteous of us to slaughter the ones responsible for it.”
Seeing herself defeated, Nellie instantly dropped to her knees and bowed. “Merciful princess! We are in your debt. Please do not be too hard on us for our foolishness. Indeed—show us the kindness we earned by giving you Mark!”
“Let's see...Mark gave us back our lives when we had thought them lost, so in return, you will have your lives. That is equal kindness, I think. I owe you no more than that. In fact, I think I owe you a punishment equal to the bad you have done. And so...I think a curse will suit, won't you?” She grabbed Nellie roughly by the chin. “For you... you who tried to rob my son of his love and take it for yourself, you will spend your whole life looking for love only to have it snatched from your fingers the moment you fancy that you have caught it. Only when your heart has been broken as much as mine and my beloved family's has been broken will you be set free.” She turned to Malcom. “And you—you beast of a boy who would sacrifice everything good for greed, this is but the first of your failures. Everywhere you go, the power you seek will forever be just barely out of your grasp. Every day of your life you will taste a new defeat until only bitterness fills your mouth, and then at last you will realize what hollow dreams you were chasing, but it will be too late. There will be no love in this world for a man with no heart to hold it.”
“A just punishment,” King Harold declared. “But not one that will unfold in this kingdom. Jackson, clap them in irons and them to the kingdom's borders. I hearby exile both from my realm, and may the forests surrounding us never welcome them back in again when they are gone. The King has spoken.” He looked down at his son and Rapunzel, tears clouding his eyes. “Now, I have never met my son's wife or her second son, and I would very much like to greet my family. Enough of this fighting and madness. Today is a day of celebration—our hearts have at last returned.”
There was a feast that night in the palace, and all the common folk were invited to be reunited with the renewed royal family. JB, Jinyoung, Rapunzel, and Konrad were given seats of honor, and roasted pig enough for everyone to eat more than a fair share was served as wine flowed into the wee hours of the night. Mark was glad of the revelry after so many years of pain endured by this family, but he did regret a little that it kept him away from Jinyoung—he, after all, was not an actual part of the royal family, in spite of years pretending to be JB. The real JB was now filling the seat he would have taken, and Mark was grateful for it.
When the noise and festivities got to be too much, Mark slipped outside for some fresh air. The tower had been a prison of sorts, but he missed it a little. There were so many memories there of being with Jinyoung, but that limited world couldn't keep them anymore. Jinyoung would move in to the palace, and the tower would become overgrown with ivy and moss with lack of care, and they most likely wouldn't go back. This was the world now—so much bigger, but so distant at the same time. They would never be alone together in the way they had been before. Mark would never again be the only awe-inspiring taste of freedom Jinyoung would have. Maybe he had been the first, but maybe he would one day no longer be the best. But no, he couldn't think that. He trusted Jinyoung. He didn't know what Jinyoung had done to get to him, but it must have been strong to shatter an entire curse.
“You didn't keep your word,” a voice came from nearby. Mark turned around to see Jinyoung walking towards him. “You didn't return to me. You made me chase after you.”
“I'm sorry,” Mark said, his heart swelling at the precious sight of Jinyoung. They'd only been seperated that morning, but it felt like he'd endured an eternity of anguish in that time. “How shall you punish me?”
“Last night, you seemed quite reluctant to kiss me,” Jinyoung said. “How's that for a punishment?”
“I am not worthy of that honor, Your Highness,” Mark said gravely. “I am just a commoner, and you are a prince! Surely you've seen people more beautiful and exciting than me today. I've lived most of my life in a tower, have such limited experiences, and am not nearly handsome enough when compared to someone like you.”
"Ah, you're using my own words back on me. They sound really foolish coming out of your mouth."
"No more foolish than when you were the one saying them and assuming I would ever love someone else more than I loved you."
“You tease me, but I'll take you seriously all the same,” Jinyoung said, looking him in the eye. “You are not just any commoner. You are a hero, and today you used the magic that has saved me a thousand times over to save those precious to me. And as for beauty, you are the most beautiful person in the world to me, and if anyone exists more beautiful than you, I will never be able to see it because they don't have brightness my love for you gives you when I look at you. And I don't need anyone exciting or experienced because I have had enough excitement to last me a lifetime in one afternoon, and all I wish for is a quiet forest with only a rushing stream and my one true love there to give me peace and happiness worth its weight in excitement.” He extended his hand to Mark. “I love you. With all the strength of love in my heart. And if I intend to keep that little bit of magic alive in the world, it seems I can't have anyone else in the world but you, my little hope.”
“Then I can give you no less than myself, my little darling.” Mark squeezed his hand. “If you promise I will always have you in return.”
“Always. I dare a sorceress of any kind to challenge my love again. I'd walk through five times worse what I endured today if it means always being with you.”
“And who am I to fight against a force so big? It seems I have no choice but to say what I kept from you yesterday. I love you—no, that's not enough. I have loved you and will always love you, and whatever you endured to reach me, I will endure a thousand times over if you only say the word. But I think I won't have to endure such a thing, because I think from now, there will never be anything separating us.”
“So you say,” Jinyoung said softly, drawing closer. “But I think we're a little too separated right now.”
“And that truly can't be endured, can it?” Mark smiled gently and tugged Jinyoung forward by his hand. Jinyoung smiled back, that bright, endearing smile of his, and Mark knew this time he wouldn't have to stop himself or say that it was impossible. It was the exact right moment, and there was nothing left to fear—no lies or fragile feelings to protect, no chance that one or the other would vanish when there was nowhere they wanted to be more than each other's arms.
Mark leaned in and claimed Jinyoung's lips, running a hand through his silky black hair. It felt—not quite like the kisses in the fairy tales he'd been reading since he was young. Jinyoung may have been a prince, but there was nothing particularly noble or commanding in his style given his isolation and innocence; he was more like the princesses of the stories, flushing and, for a moment or so, a little bit surprised. But that didn't make it any less charming—in fact, it made it more charming that he was a little timid in his movements at first, that he was waiting for Mark to pull him further in, to sweep him into his arms.
-well, I guess there's only one thing I can do here, Mark thought. Just barely breaking off the kiss, he grabbed Jinyoung by his waist and swept him completely off his feet and into his arms, kissing him again, deeper and harder. Now Jinyoung wasn't kissing back like either a prince or a princess—he was just like himself, the boy Mark had sat next to by the stream, warm and comforting, a paradise he needed no escape from, a serene and beautiful forest, a touch of a butterfly, a fairy rose, a magical little darling all wrapped up into one.
“We,” Mark said when he broke away, “are going to be so, so happy.”
“Happily ever after is the saying, right?”
“The happiest ever after. The end.”
“No, not the end yet,” Jinyoung laughed. “I want a nice, long story. Let's try that again. Once upon a time...”
Once upon a time, in a kingdom almost overtaken by a cruel prince, there was a royal family set free from a long and terrible curse.
With the cruel prince banished, the royal family was restored to their rightful place, and the kingdom welcomed the lost princess and her son with all the happiness and joy in their hearts. Healed in both body and spirit by the presence of his beloved wife, the once mad Prince Konrad thrived again, and put all of his energy into reversing all of the damage Malcom had done during his tenure as a prince of the realm. For her part, Princess Rapunzel was a shining beacon of strength and faith, and her kindness brought smiles to the faces of all who met her, from the youngest of children to the oldest of elders. Every night on the full moon, the people could hear her songs spilling from within the palace, no longer tales of sorrow, but tales of complete and perfect joy.
Freed of his duty to his father, Prince JB was now able to give his heart wholly to the one he loved, the heroic foot soldier Jackson. Bolstered by the support of the prince, Jackson threw himself into rebuilding the knights, and swiftly rose the ranks into the role of commander of the army. Though he had many adventures and was the hero of many stories told by the commonfolk, he never again attempted a rescue of any damsels in distress, leaving those heroics to the foot soldiers who had yet to taste glory. He strayed loyal and true to his prince, and his constancy was reward when at long last Prince JB demanded his hand and made him not only the most celebrated knight of the realm, but a prince-consort who was admired and treasured by all.
Though Rapunzel had as little power to curse as she did to grant wishes, the power of suggestion remained as strong as ever, and both Malcom and Nellie suffered from exactly what she had punished them with. Nellie chased steadfastly after any copy of Mark she could find, and her desperation and paranoia lost her the love of each. And though she suffered broken heart after broken heart, without the depth of love of Rapunzel and her family, she could never equal the pain she had inflicted on them, and she was never set free from her misery.
As for Malcom, he went from kingdom to kingdom making desperate bids to become king, but each time he failed more spectacularly than the time before. In a battle with King Youngjae of the west, he lost an ear and slowly began to lose his hearing entirely. In a battle with King BamBam from the north, he lost his sight, just like the father he had always mocked for his weakness. In a battle with King Yugyeom of the east, he at last ended up locked in the dungeon with the key thrown deep into the sea, never to be seen again. He spent the rest of his life alone in blindness and silence, but was too proud to admit his own defeat, and never learned how to find his heart.
Dame Gothel, the phantom behind this entire story, was never heard from again. She may have been dead from the beginning, and just the echoes of her malice had been left behind to torture those she hated, but the fact remains that she never laid another curse again, and she was the last evil sorceress the world had endured before they vanished altogether. The forest was free from her influence, and anyone could come and go as they pleased: it was no longer a witchwood, but just a lovely forest.
As for Mark and Jinyoung, their story found a much happier ending. Though Jinyoung was now officially a prince of the realm, he immediately retired from his position and took Mark back to the tower where they had grown up. Now that the forest was open to them, it was no longer the prison it had once been, and they lived there happily together, often leaving to visit Jinyoung's family in the palace or to study astronomy at the nearby university. But most important to them was the orphanage nearby from which Mark had been delivered when he was young. The few remaining children there were adopted by the young couple and taught carefully in the studies of both science and magic, learning that even though the world was changing and the old ways were slowly fading, there would always be the magic of love to be found in their hearts if they let it grow. The orphanage that had never known magic was now one of the most magical places remaining in the world.
The two of them never made it into as many stories as Knight Commander Jackson or the legendary Rapunzel and a her long-suffering Prince Konrad, and they never wore a crown as King JB did one day or became a terrifying haunt to frighten wicked children like The-King-That-Never-Was Malcom or the Wailing-Shriek Nellie, but those who knew them knew they were happiest two lovers in the kingdom, and that was all they really needed to be as they lived their quiet, content lives surrounded by their hard won love in their beautiful forest.
There is no power good or evil, after all, stronger than the force of true love.
And so this story ends as stories like these often do: and they all lived happily ever. But not the end. There is always a new story ready to begin with the same words we started with: Once upon a time...
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