Her golden hair swept out, knocking aside the police officers who were trying to save her—she thought they had gathered to attack her, just as they had attacked us. Her feet touched the ground and Sullivan was caught by her magical hair. "Are you both all right?!"
Rapunzel ran off, still carrying Sullivan in her hair; Alice and I exchanged glances before Alice finally let out a sigh of relief, her worries vanishing now that she knew she had Everafter. "I should have asked you that instead"
"How do you feel?" Alice asked, because the sensation of nearly dying wasn't pleasant at all, and we both knew that all too well.
"I feel—" before she could speak, I immediately covered her mouth with my hand; she'd go on and on, and I wasn't in the mood to get annoyed or distracted by her ramblings.
"We'll talk about that later, first put the man down," I pointed at Sullivan who was still processing everything that had happened; the hair immediately lowered the man slowly to the ground. "But still... Your Everafter is truly unique; this is the first time I've seen body parts used as primary weapons."
"...But what have you sacrificed—"
Before I could say any more, my mouth was covered by Alice's hand. "Take your hand away," she said, and I withdrew my hand from Rapunzel's mouth, allowing her to breathe more freely.
"Everafter?" Rapunzel repeated, and only then did we realise we hadn't explained the basics of Everafter to her.
Alice withdrew her hand, folded her arms, and explained as simply as possible, "You could say your tiara is just like my cards and Red's shotgun." At that, Rapunzel's eyes lit up, realising she was "Special" just like us.
Before we could say a word, the sound of footsteps slowly drew nearer and a hand touched my shoulder and Alice's before pushing us aside—I looked up and saw that the rude person was Margaret—Rapunzel's mother.
She ran over and patted Rapunzel on both shoulders—sweat was pouring down her face, and an expression of panic and fear was plain to see, "Rapunzel, let's get out of here—let's go to another country and leave all this behind—forget all this and make a fresh start."
"And once we're in a new place... I won't let you even speak to anyone else but me." Those restrictive words were truly like chains holding back all her moves.
"I won't accept it!" Alice shouted, and that made all heads turn towards the girl beside me—her hands clenched tightly and she was gritting her teeth.
Margaret's pupils narrowed before she turned and her hand shot out, trying to slap Alice's cheek, but I stopped her hand before it could touch her skin. "Bastard…" She shot me a sharp glare.
"Why are you sticking your noses in?! This is none of your business?! Before you entered our world, everything was fine!" She snapped, and her hand struggled to break free. "You know nothing about us—not a single thing!"
"I do!" Alice snapped back, and that took Margaret by surprise. "...Long ago, there was a girl from a wealthy family; she could have anything she wanted except someone who could understand her."
"Outside her house, no one wanted to be her friend or even invite her to play; it was all because of the nasty rumours circulating about her family—leaving her to spend her childhood confined to the house."
"Over time, the girl found it hard to open up; she got used to talking to herself, felt like a stranger in a crowd, and always hoped that one day someone would be her friend without caring about her background."
Hearing this, Margaret's hand slowly stopped struggling; I released her hand, and as it dropped, Alice was able to continue, "Your daughter already has someone who understands her." She glanced at Sullivan before meeting the middle-aged woman's gaze, "So do we! We are the friends your daughter has always wished for!
Sullivan stepped forward, "Madam, I swear I will protect your daughter, and if I break that promise, you may cut off my lips." Hearing that oath startled Rapunzel so much she even screamed his name.
"MOTHER!" she called out and immediately approached the woman she called her mother. "I can protect myself now," she said. She glanced at one of the policemen and instantly her hair attacked him, flinging him away. "See that?"
"You didn't need to go that far, though…" I muttered, bewildered by her actions.