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Chapter 8 - Chapter 10: voyeurs

There were once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child. At length the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire. These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had great power and was dreaded by all the world. One day the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion (rapunzel), and it looked so fresh and green that she longed for it, she quite pined away, and began to look pale and miserable. Then her husband was alarmed, and asked: 'What ails you, dear wife?' 'Ah,' she replied, 'if I can't eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die.' The man, who loved her, thought: 'Sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself, let it cost what it will.' At twilight, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his wife. She at once made herself a salad of it, and ate it greedily. It tasted so good to her–so very good, that the next day she longed for it three times as much as before. If he was to have any rest, her husband must once more descend into the garden. In the gloom of evening therefore, he let himself down again; but when he had clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the enchantress standing before him. 'How can you dare,' said she with an angry look, 'descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief? You shall suffer for it!' 'Ah,' answered he, 'let mercy take the place of justice, I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity. My wife saw your rampion from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she would have died if she had not got some to eat.' Then the enchantress allowed her anger to be softened, and said to him: 'If the case be as you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will, only I make one condition, you must give me the child which your wife will bring into the world; it shall be well treated, and I will care for it like a mother.' The man in his terror consented to everything, and when the woman was brought to bed, the enchantress appeared at once, gave the child the name of Rapunzel, and took it away with her.

Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower, which lay in a forest, and had neither stairs nor door, but quite at the top was a little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself beneath it and cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

 Let down your hair for me.'

Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the enchantress she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.

After a year or two, it came to pass that the king's son rode through the forest and passed by the tower. Then he heard a song, which was so charming that he stood still and listened. This was Rapunzel, who in her solitude passed her time in letting her sweet voice resound. The king's son wanted to climb up to her, and looked for the door of the tower, but none was to be found. He rode home, but the singing had so deeply touched his heart, that every day he went out into the forest and listened to it. Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw that an enchantress came there, and he heard how she cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

 Let down your hair for me.'

Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress climbed up to her. 'If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I too will try my fortune,' said he, and the next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

 Let down your hair for me.'

Immediately the hair fell down and the king's son climbed up.

At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man, such as her eyes had never yet beheld, came to her; but the king's son began to talk to her quite like a friend, The enchantress remarked nothing of this, until once Rapunzel said to her: 'Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it happens that you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the young king's son–he is with me in a moment.' 'Ah! you wicked child,' cried the enchantress. 'What do I hear you say! I thought I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceived me!' In her anger she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice round her left hand, seized a pair of scissors with the right, and snipped, snapped, they were cut off, and the lovely braids lay on the ground. And she was so pitiless that she took poor Rapunzel into a desert where she had to live in great grief and misery.

On the same day that she cast out Rapunzel, however, the enchantress fastened the braids of hair, which she had cut off, to the hook of the window, and when the king's son came and cried:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

 Let down your hair for me.'

She let the hair down. The king's son ascended, but instead of finding his dearest Rapunzel, he found the enchantress, who gazed at him with wicked and venomous looks. 'Aha!' she cried mockingly, 'you would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird sits no longer singing in the nest; the cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes as well. Rapunzel is lost to you; you will never see her again.' The king's son was beside himself with pain, and in his despair he leapt down from the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes. Then he wandered quite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries, 

In a huge room with a wood ceiling and wood walls, a beautiful girl sits on a throne made of dark gray ashes. Four other girls stand in front of the throne. The floor is gray, like ashes made of stone.

One of them, with magnificent, long hair that cascaded down her back like spun gold, folds her arms and shifts her weight, a concerned expression on her face. "So, Belle," she asks, her voice echoing slightly in the vast chamber, "what surprise is this? I never thought I would see you stand with us here. It is my first time. How do you make time with your busy schedule?"

The second girl, Belle, has "large and expressive" brown eyes that scan the room, a "sweet countenance," and gentle features. Her face is fair and radiant, and her long, chestnut hair is pulled back, framing her face. She looks up towards the throne, which is elevated on a dais, where Queen Nea with long pink hair sits with her hand under her cheek, seemingly lost in thought. A soft smile plays on Belle's lips as she answers, "What could be a better reason than waiting for her, our Queen NEA, to wake up and see her open her beautiful pink eyes Rapunzel ?"

Another girl with Black, long hair, dark, almond-shaped eyes, light skin tone, and a slim and athletic figure, wearing a long hanfu, said, "If she woke up and saw you two fight, NEA would be very disappointed and she would get mad. It's like she will ever wake up, she abandon us Mulan, don't you see that she doesn't want us anymore?"

The last of the girls, who has deep blue eyes and delicate and clear skin – "as clear and pure as a rose" – says, "Why is she going to abandon us? She is our savior. Thanks to her, I can walk without pain on land."

Mulan said, "And she saved me from becoming a man and saved you from Dame Gothel too, Rapunzel."

"I know, it is just I miss her a lot," Rapunzel replied.

Belle said, "We all miss her. You do not need to be a jerk about it."

Rapunzel's eyes flashed with anger. "A jerk? I'm just being realistic! Unlike you, who's always so optimistic and naive!"

Belle's eyes narrowed, and she squared her shoulders. "Don't you dare say that. Nea will return.

"And what if she doesn't? What if we're just wasting our time here, waiting for a ghost?" Rapunzel challenged, her voice dripping with venom.

Mulan stepped between them, her long hair swaying. "Stop it, both of you! This isn't helping anything."

Rapunzel lunged forward, grabbing a handful of Belle's chestnut hair. Belle cried out in surprise and pain, retaliating by pulling Rapunzel's long Shiny Blonde Hair. Mulan, horrified, tried to separate them, shouting, "Stop it! Stop it! You're acting like children!"

As the two girls grappled, their anger escalating, the girl with the deep blue eyes gasped, pointing a trembling finger towards the throne. "S-she... She moved! Nea moved!"

The fighting ceased abruptly. A stunned silence fell over the room as all eyes turned to the throne. Nea stirred, her long pink hair shifting slightly. She stretched out her arms, yawning widely, before her eyelids fluttered, then slowly opened, revealing eyes the color of a stormy sky. Confused, she blinked, her gaze sweeping over the four girls before her. For a moment, she seemed disoriented, her brow furrowed. Then, realization dawned, and she sat up straighter, a gasp escaping her lips. "W-what... what happened?" she murmured, her voice hoarse, as she took in her surroundings - the imposing throne, the huge room, the worried faces of her companions.

As Nea spoke, the four girls bowed deeply before her, their faces filled with joy, their heads lowered in reverence. Belle, her voice filled with emotion, began "My Queen, my savior, we have waited for this moment for so long. Welcome back to us."

Nea asked, placing a hand on her chest, "So, where are the rest of you? Snow White and Cinderella and Briar and Ice?"

In another room of the castle, a girl has skin as white as snow, cheeks and lips as red as blood, and hair and eyes as black as ebony. She asks the mirror in front of her,

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

you are full fair, 'tis true,

But NEA is fairer than you.

"Nea? But she is not here!" While saying that, the sound of bells came from outside her room. She ran toward the door. When she got to the throne room, she saw all of the girls standing, and when she looked up at the throne, her tears started to fall to the ground.

"So here you are Snow," NEA put her hands behind her back and came closer toward Snow White. When she got closer, she whispered in her ear, "I missed you, girl."

my voice is a low, rough whisper against her ear—hot breath skating over her skin as my lips almost touch, teasing. She shivers, and I smirk, nipping her earlobe just to hear her gasp. "Hah…" my fingers dig into her shoulders, pulling her closer. I can't help it.

Then—I take her mouth.

It starts slowly, just a brush of lips, a testing press—"Mph…"—before I tilt her head back and deepen it. my tongue slides against hers, wet and hungry, and she moans into me, high and sweet. "Fuck…" I groan between kisses, my hands dragging down her back, fingers splaying over the curve of her ass. "So fucking soft…"

"Mmm… You like that?"

She whimpers when I squeeze, arching into me, my nails scraping down her neck. "Ah!—Y-You—" Her words dissolve as I bite her lip, tugging just enough to make her gasp. "Shh…" I murmur against her mouth, licking into her again, "just feel it."

Every sound is swallowed by the kiss—the slick slide of tongues, the hitched breaths ("Nn—!"), the way her hips jerk when my fingers dig in harder. You can't tell who's panting louder, who's clinging tighter. All you know?

I gave her a last look. Then I got back on the throne, asked, "So, how is the plane these days?"

Snow White looked to the ground. "I wish I could tell you it is great, but it is not."

Snow White stopped, and Ice continued from where she left off. She was a beautiful and regal girl with long, shining white hair, a cloak made of white fur, skin as pale as snow, and eyes as cold and shining as ice.

"Several realities have mutated, and they are getting closer to the castle. If we do not do something, we may soon be overwhelmed by them."

"It is all my fault. I left you alone, and let all this happen, putting your lives in danger NEA Looking away."

"No, my Queen, we have to apologize to you. We despaired. We should have destroyed it before you came back to us," Cinderella said while Clenching her fists . She wore a gown made of gold and silver — shimmering and majestic.

"The thing is, we lost all hope. We were ready to die when you did not come back to us all that time," Briar Crossing arms .

Snow White, her voice trembling slightly, finally spoke, "It is not my place to ask, but did you save Lord Crimson Red, my Queen?"

Nea's gaze softened, a flicker of sadness passing across her face. "Actually, I did, Snow White."

A collective gasp filled the room, the girls exchanging wide-eyed glances. This was news they had longed to hear, yet dared not hope for.

Nea continued, her voice tinged with regret, "It's been a long and arduous journey. Even though I saved him, he doesn't remember anything. He has lost control of his power and his army."

Suddenly, the girls stepped forward, their voices ringing with renewed determination. "Once again, we, the Voyeurs, your loyal servants, vow to fight for you and for Lord Nabe, wherever and however you command us!"

Their voices swelled with fervor. "Your fight is our fight! Your enemies are our enemies!"

"We will not rest until we avenge Lord Nabe!" they declared, their eyes shining with unwavering loyalty.

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