PREVIOUSLY…

Oberon: Puck, stop whacking off.

Puck: Man, why you gotta’ hate? I’m just doin’ my damn job.

Oberon: Yeah right. You’re just screwing things up again. And I know all that jiggly fat’s gettin’ you off.

Puck: Hey man, keep it down! You know I’m a closet case!

Luke: Haha! The Puck’s got a fat fetish! That’s some nasty shiz, G.

Prince: Hold up… none of this even happened in part one!

Puck: You’ve got to ruin it for everyone, don’t you? Man, I’m gonna’ make sure you get smoted in this chapter. You and yo’ mama’s mama’s mama’s mama.

Oberon: Just shut up and start the chapter already. ***

The next morning when Rapunzel awoke, she began stuffing herself with comfort food. She felt absolutely horrible about what had happened the previous night, so she turned to the one thing she knew would always be there for her. And thus, she stuffed herself with the various pastries and desserts surrounding her, which she loved most of all, from mid-morning until late in the afternoon. At that time, she just lay back on her mattress and rubbed her enormous stomach as she sniffled, tears still in her eyes.

At about that time, Puck returned under his witch guise with the various items he needed to give Rapunzel, and he set them down at the base of the castle. Out of nowhere, a bright light erupted in Puck’s face, shaking him off of his feet. Before him was Oberon, in his miniscule fairy form. “I trust that you are ready to move on with our plans.”

Puck sighed. He strongly wished that he did not have to let Rapunzel go, as he had raised her as his own daughter. But he knew that if he did not relinquish Rapunzel to Oberon’s grand scheme, there would be hell for him to pay. He had incurred Oberon’s wrath before, and he did not wish to do so again. “Yes, my Lord. As much as it pains me to do so, I am ready to proceed onward with out plans. I have everything that I need to give her, and I’ve prepared a heart-felt speech that would turn even yourself to tears.”

“Don’t be a suck-up, trickster. But be assured, if you somehow manage to bungle this, I will seal your soul within the earth forever, never to die or reach paradise.”

Puck gulped. “Of… of… of course, my Lord.” Puck sighed once more, and then grabbed a part of the load, ready to call up the phrase by which he had taught Rapunzel to respond to.

But before he could, Oberon put a tiny fairy hand on the witch’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. Really I am. But this is the way things have to be. We can’t corrupt destiny to suit our own desires.”

Puck simply nodded as Oberon disappeared into thin air. He gulped one more time, running through the speech he rehearsed in his head. Finally, he shouted up, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Rapunzel’s eyes widened. It was never easy to hear things that were said from down at the bottom of the tower, but the witch’s voice was familiar to her. And if ever the witch was stopping by, Rapunzel knew what she needed to do. Nowadays though, what she needed to do took her several minutes to do if she was able to do it at all. So just like the day before, Rapunzel heaved against her bed, in an attempt to push herself upward and onto her feet. After several attempts, and her face being covered with sweat, she managed to rotate her belly to the right and swivel her legs onto the floor. With one more effort, she pushed herself off of her bed, and stood up. It took her another few minutes to regain her balance, and then catch her breath from all of that effort. Finally, Rapunzel wiped the sweat from her brow, and dragged her flowing locks to the window. From there, she lowered them down, until they reached their full length, coming down very close to the ground. Now came the part that Rapunzel hated the most. Though her locks were long, and she was large enough that the witch’s weight would not pull Rapunzel out the window; the pull on her bangs hurt a lot, and gave her headaches.

After about five minutes of climbing, the witch reached the top and deposited her first load. The two of them had previously agreed to save all of the chitchat for when all of the loads had been delivered, as Rapunzel vastly did not enjoy having her hair pulled on.

Finally, all the loads had been delivered, so Rapunzel could sit back down on her bed. Being as lazy as she was, she hated having to stand in one spot for so long without being able to take a break and sit. As Rapunzel made herself comfortable once more on her nice, cushy mattress, the witch took a breath (it wasn’t a picnic to haul all of that stuff up the tower) and then gave Rapunzel a big hug as Rapunzel said softly, “It’s good to see you again, mummy.” After a few moments, the witch broke away and replied, “It’s good to see you again too, sweetie.”

For a few moments, nothing was said. Puck was gathering himself for what needed to be said, while Rapunzel, still very upset from the day before, was trying to overcome her embarrassment and tell the witch what had happened to her. Puck knew good and well what was wrong with her, and hated that he was forced to allow it, but he went right on and asked her, with sadness evident in her beautiful face, “Rapunzel, what’s the matter?”

Rapunzel sniffled, and as she wiped her teary eyes, she stuttered as she began to say, “The… the… there was a boy who came by here yesterday… I had been waiting for so long for something like that to happen… but then he came in… and he… he… he took was look at me and was…” All the while she was saying it, Rapunzel was trying not to break down, but as she had the previous day, she did so again. “He thought I was disgusting!” she shouted. “It’s because I’m so fat! He must’ve thought I was a slob!”

Puck wanted to cry as well, and tears welled up in the witch’s eyes. The witch walked back over to Rapunzel, and the two embraced once more. “I’m so very sorry, dear…”

Rapunzel, still sniveling, said, “I’ve always trusted your judgment, mummy, but… why did you have to make me like this? Now no man will ever find me attractive, and I’ll never be able to find my own happy ending…”

“Trust me, sweetie, you’ll understand someday… Someday everything will become clear to you…” As the witch broke their embrace, she continued, “As will what I, reluctantly, am forced to do now…”

Rapunzel’s eyes widened, fearing the worst, and she exclaimed, “What? What is it that you have to do now?”

The witch continued, as she placed her hand over her face. “Rapunzel, you are a very beautiful, smart, young woman. I knew that such a thing as what happened yesterday would eventually come, and it is time that you found your own place in the world.”

“What?” Rapunzel exclaimed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You can’t possibly mean…”

“Yes. Rapunzel, it is time for you to leave this tower, and travel off on your own, and find a place where you can discover what your destiny has in store for you. I cannot help you with this. I can start you out, give you a tentative push, but from there on out, it is your own journey.”

“You’re just going to abandon me like this?” Rapunzel exclaimed. Rapunzel was becoming hysterical. She thought to herself, I can’t go out into the world… Not looking like this… No… Please… Not now…

“In time, dear, you will understand. And believe me, you will do fine. I am not abandoning you, as you put it. I’ll be watching over you. But it is time that you stopped depending on me for answers and for to take care of you. These are things you now must do on your own. You are a very bright young lady, and I have faith in you. Now please, have faith in my words, and believe that what I am telling you is right.”

Rapunzel was still teary and stuffy, so the witch took a cloth and cleaned her face. Rapunzel tried to stop crying. “You do trust me, don’t you?” the witch asked. Rapunzel nodded her head, and the witch smiled. “There… that’s my girl.”

***

With that, the witch helped Rapunzel up to her feet, and then took her downstairs to clean her up and help her prepare for her journey. Rapunzel had been wearing the same bra and panties since the last dress she wore ripped, so they were really tight now and clinging to her flesh, and not easy to get off. Once that task was done though, Rapunzel showered, and the witch decided that Rapunzel needed her hair cut down to a normal length, so it was done. Afterward, the witch helped Rapunzel into the new clothes the witch had prepared for her.

At the moment, Rapunzel was wearing a cute cream-colored casual outing blouse with a matching skirt, both with baby blue stitching. Rapunzel was very comfortable in her new clothes, as the witch had intentionally made them a bit loose. Of course, they wouldn’t be loose fitting for very long, knowing Rapunzel. Rapunzel had also been made up nicely, with her blonde hair in cute pigtails with red ribbons.

Once Rapunzel was all dressed up, the witch took a large knapsack, and filled it with things Rapunzel would need; for her journey, as well as once she arrived in a nice town. Inside the knapsack were boxed up cakes and pastries, as the witch knew how much Rapunzel loved them, as well as clothes, underwear, and plenty of money to spend.

After the knapsack was packed tightly with everything, Rapunzel pulled the straps of the knapsack over her shoulders, and positioned the loaded bag so that it wouldn’t wobble. Then, the witch escorted her down the stairs into a lower chamber, and pressed a stone on the wall. As the stone slid deeper in, the walls opened up, revealing a secret entry/exit. Rapunzel raised an eyebrow and asked the witch, “Why didn’t you just use this entrance all those times you came by to bring things?”

The witch laughed, thought it was not easy. The parting was very sad for both of them. “I thought it might make things more amusing to do things in an unorthodox manner. Also, I like to unravel surprises like this…”

The two of them stepped out into the fresh breeze, and felt its tranquility wash over them. Rapunzel was still wary to take the first steps away, but then the witch put her hand on Rapunzel’s shoulder. “Wherever you go, remember that I am always looking after you. If you ever find yourself in trouble… I’ll be in the trees, the air, the animals of the forest… because that’s what love is.”

Rapunzel gave the witch one last farewell hug, and then she walked off, with the witch waving goodbye to her. As she walked on, she looked back at her again. And then a third time. But the fourth time Rapunzel looked back, the witch had vanished. But Rapunzel thought about what the witch had told her, and she smiled, looking onward.

***

In a peaceful village due southeast of Rapunzel’s tower, a theatrical presentation was taking place in the town square. Up in the front row of the seating sat two fine young gentlemen. One was a peach-skinned, blonde boy with curly hair, who was watching intently. Next to him was a slightly more tanned boy with black hair, who seemed to be quite bored with the show. From looking, it was quite hard to believe the two of them could be best friends. The blonde boy spoke dreamily with a whisper, “Ah… she’s so beautiful, Gabe.” The black-haired boy named Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at his friend. “Get real, Sam… You need to pull your head out of the clouds.”

Admittedly, Gabriel didn’t think that the girl Samuel was interested was a hottie at all. As far as the way the two of them looked at women, they were worlds apart.

The girl Samuel was entranced by was named Jessie, and she was a very cute, chubby redhead, with lots of freckles. What also attracted Samuel to her was her interest in the arts. Samuel deeply loved literature, and hoped to one day become a famous playwright. Jessie and Samuel had been good friends, as they had grown up together in this small village, but recently, Jessie had packed on a few pounds. Samuel couldn’t help but be turned on, as they had known each other very well, and had been studying together in theatrical arts. One fateful day, though, Samuel decided to ask her if she wanted to court him. Samuel was turned down. And in a bad way. Thus, things between them went the way of all incidents involving women Samuel was interested in. Poor Sam just wasn’t the luckiest fellow.

As he watched Jessie up on stage (it was very uncommon for women to participate in plays in renaissance times, but in the area where they lived, it was an exception) a tiny figure materialized on Samuel’s shoulder and slapped his face. The being on Sam’s shoulder was a radiant nymph-like creature, with angelic wings, cream-colored skin, flowing brown hair, and blue eyes. She was wearing a sparkling white gown, and Sam believed that she was his conscience. Or at least something along those lines.

When she appeared to talk to Sam, all surrounding humans just saw what they needed to see, and nothing more. Thus, Sam and his “conscience” could converse privately. “How many times do I have to tell you it’s impolite to gawk and trace women’s curves with your eyes like that?!?!?! I could almost swear there’s no helping you…”

Sam rolled his eyes and pleaded, “C’mon… I don’t see what the point of trying anymore is. I’m such a wimp that no woman is ever going to go for me. Really, what woman would want to be with a milquetoast like me when they can be with a bonehead like Gabe…?”

“How rude of you!” the “conscience” slapped Sam on the cheek yet again. And for such a small creature, her slaps hurt even worse than a full-sized person’s. “Listen good, Sam. There’s somebody for everybody. You just have to wait.”

Sam shouted at her, “Well I’m tired of waiting! Can’t you help me? Somehow…”

The “conscience” bit her lip as she began to sympathize with Sam’s dilemma. “Trust me, Sammy-boy. I know what I’m doing. I’ve been in this business for a long time, and hey, I think you’re actually getting better. And that’s a miracle on its own. I’ll be checking in real soon…”

Sam shouted, “Wait!” as she faded out, but as he looked around, he was back in synch with everyone else. Sam sighed, and then relaxed himself back in his seat, to view the rest of the play, all the while trying to keep thoughts of Jessie, and all the other girls who rejected him, off of his mind.

***

Meanwhile, in a familiar kingdom, the prince is with Luke and their gang once more in the royal courtyard. Only this time, the prince is with a woman – a woman who isn’t his betrothed one. Luke said, “Man… I swear, it’s gonna’ take me a lifetime to get that image out of my head… If you weren’t the prince, I’d kill you for sending me on that nightmare quest…”

The prince chuckled, and then kissed the beautiful, svelte, servant girl that was in his arms. “What can I say, bud? You win some, you lose some. I guess this time, you lost your lunch!” The entire gang except Luke laughed tremendously at the joke.

“You wouldn’t be laughing if you saw what I saw…”

From behind the courtyard gate, a fair woman, just a slight bit chubby, but nowhere near being considered fat, looked through the fencing. The woman, by chance, was actually the prince’s betrothed one, from a kingdom that was sealing a peace treaty by marriage of their eldest. “You see,” spoke a small male fairy on her shoulder, “your love has betrayed your kingdom… he had betrayed you…” Tears welled up in the poor girl’s eyes, and she swore silently to herself and the fairy on her shoulder with the demented smile, “I will make that wretch, and all who live in this despicable kingdom suffer for this!”

And so they did. Without any warning, the princess’s enraged father launched their army, one far greater than that of the prince’s small kingdom, and demolished it. Many of the people were killed, but some were taken prisoner. Under the guise of a head knight for the princess’s kingdom’s army, Puck grabbed Luke, in tattered clothes, by his collar, and threw him into a carriage with other prisoners of war.

“This had better teach you filthy maggots a lesson!” he shouted. “You should be grateful we’re letting you live!” As he closed and locked the carriage door, he walked away, unnoticed by anyone. And then, under a red, cloudy sky, the Puck, atop a building, cackled maniacally. “Muahahahaha!!!” he laughed, as lightning flashed in the sky.

TO BE CONCLUDED…