the girl in the tower; ❛ DAYLIGHT ❜
❝ You are never leaving this tower, Rapunzel! ❞

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Goldie Gothel had much bigger problems than the barrier which surrounded the island that she liked to call her home. People liked to describe the Island of the Lost as a prison but she did not look at it that way. Her real prison was the tower in which she lived in with her wicked mother.

Most villain kids were rotten and evil but she was one of the few who was simply unhappy. Her mother forbade her to leave her tower unless she went to school and made sure to make her life a living hell if she tried to escape. Once, Goldie hid in Evie's basement for a week straight, even skipping school so her mother would not be able to find her. Eventually, the Evil Queen found out she had a girl hiding in her basement so she told Gothel everything.

At Dragon Hall, Goldie had a reputation. She ran with the most feared group in the school who she aligned herself with long before they even became truly evil. She did not cause havoc with them outside of school and their hangouts mostly circled around skipping class to go sit in some ditch or one or two of her friends sneaking into her tower using the not-so-secret secret entrance which Gothel usually used.

Goldie sat in her chair and painted on the canvas in front of her, the face of an unfamiliar boy becoming more prominent with each stroke of her paint-brush. She dipped the brush into a light brown color to start painting his hair when the only entrance into the tower opened.

She jumped and snapped her head around to look at the entrance with wide eyes. Her previously tense shoulders relaxed and she sighed at the sight of a long hair brunette boy and blue-haired girl in front of her. Goldie scolded herself for not being focused enough to hear the usually loud creak of the stairs underneath the entrance which was the usual indicator that somebody was coming inside.

"Hey." She gave them a strained smile which faded the second she looked at the clock on the wall. "Why are you here at this time? You know that this is usually when my mom gets home."

"Your mom is at Mal's place with our parents and she actually knows we're here." Evie gave her an excited smile and a squeal escaped her lips as she announced, "We are going to Auradon!"

Goldie thought that it was a joke at first and just gave her a blank look. Then, she remembered that Evie isn't one for dumb and unserious jokes so she turned her gaze to Jay who gave her a solemn look (unusual) and a nod that caused her eyes to widen.

"What?" She blurted out in confusion.

"They invited the six of us to go." Jay explained vaguely. "I don't know why but I don't think it matters. Penny's dad and Mal's mom already have a plan."

Goldie squinted. "What plan?"

"We have to bring you there in order to hear it." Evie shrugged and looked over Goldie's shoulder at the painting which she was previously working on. Her face lit up. "Ooh, who is that? Did you find a new crush and forgot to tell me? I'm offended. Then again, it is an upgrade from that witch Gabi."

"I don't know who he is. His face just came to me in a──" dream. She cut herself off as realization hit in. That was the guy who she has been seeing in her dreams since she had turned fifteen. She was silent for a couple of moments before she gave Evie an awkward smile. "I actually have no idea."

Jay gave her a weird look while Evie shrugged off her odd reaction and said, "Whatever. We have to go and see what mess our parents are cooking up."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"You will go. You will find the Fairy Godmother and you will bring back the magic wand. Easy peasy."

Goldie scowled up at Maleficent, a look of disbelief on her face. Who does that woman think she is? The most powerful villain on the island, sure. But no one could even compare to Penny's mother. Goldie someone shivered at the mere mention of her name despite the fact that she died when they were all still children.

Besides, Maleficent lacked the only thing that made her scary in the first place: magic. She only really scared Mal (and poor naive Carlos) because, if Mal wasn't evil enough, her mother would not love her. Mal hated being a disappointment more than anything.

"What's in it for us?" Penny asked her, her gaze always a hint sharper than Maleficent's. The girl was a spitting image of her mother. Her father's biggest pride and Maleficent's greatest nightmare.

"Matching thrones. Hers-and-hers crowns." Maleficent waved the girl off. A part of her hated to even plant the idea of world domination in Penny's head. Once she got off the Island of the Lost and into the world of magic, she had the ability to either destroy everyone and everything with her powers or to simply destroy herself. Maleficent hoped it would be the latter.

Carlos raised his hand slowly, his voice small as he spoke to the woman. "Um, I think she meant us."

Maleficent rolled her eyes and dismissed him before turning her attention to her only daughter. "It's all about you and me, baby." Mal's eyes softened and Maleficent's coy grin grew. "Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?"

"Well, yeah." Mal deadpanned. "I mean, who doesn't?"

Carlos and Goldie shared a look. She was a hundred percent sure that they and Evie were the most level headed ones in the group when it came to the whole "evil" thing. Goldie thought that she was too useless to ever make it as a powerful villain (despite the fact that Penny claimed she was the smartest person in the group) while Carlos was raised to be his mother's lap-dog (pun intended) and was too soft-spoken to do something genuinely bad. Evie, well Evie only ever talked about finding a prince and a castle, which Goldie never saw as a necessarily bad thing ── just a reflection of her upbringing.

"Well, then get me the wand and you and I can see all that and so much more. And with that want and my scepter──"

"And Fiona's wand." Peter Pan chimed in for the first time since Goldie had arrived. He gave Penny a knowing look. "Find out where they hid it and you will be able to take all of them down with a flick of your wrist."

Maleficent glared at him. "That wand is less important. I just need you to take the Fairy Godmother's wand, take the barrier down and give me the wand."

Goldie figured that their parents would cause the worst damage while fighting each other to gain power. They claimed to be allies while all having the same goal but the second they eliminate their enemies they will be all for themselves. Pan and Maleficent will have the power struggle of the century if they pull their plan off.

Pan clenched his jaw and fists but kept quiet. He looked away from Maleficent to look at his daughter. His face was void of emotion but Penny seemed to understand everything, giving him a small nod that only Goldie seemed to catch.

Maleficent snapped her fingers in front of Mal's face, bringing her attention back on her. "And if you refuse, you're grounded for the rest of your lives, missy."

Mal started whining like a child which led to her and her mother having a staring contest. Goldie looked away and leaned back on the old worn out couch. Their fights always ended the same, with Maleficent winning and Mal obeying.

"Not like my life can get any worse, anyway." Goldie muttered to Jay, who was sitting next to her, "I'm always grounded."

Jay chuckled and tapped her knee in an attempt at comfort. He let out a long sigh as Mal finally backed away from her mother, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She hated when her mother backed her into a corner in front of her friends. She was supposed to be the meanest one.

Everyone started chatting with their parents loudly while Penny's dad dragged her to the side. Goldie watched everyone's parents giving them lectures and looked at her mother out of the corner of her eye.

Gothel has been silent throughout the entire conversation. Goldie only ever saw her roll her eyes or mutter something to herself with her gaze glued to the ground.

"Mom?" Goldie asked her quietly, "Are you okay with this?"

"You cannot and will not leave this tower unless I give you permission. My first daughter was an ungrateful brat who ran the first chance she could and I will be damned if you leave me too." Those were the words Gothel often repeated when Goldie was still a young girl.

When she ran away for the second time ever at the beginning of that summer, her lecture was much more different: "I gave you everything! I protect you from the real world. I keep you safe! You are an ungrateful brat. Forget about school. Forget about your idiot friends. Forget about that girl who you paint every night. You are never leaving this tower, Rapunzel!"

As muchd as Goldie craved freedom, she still felt like she was leaving her mother behind. She was not the best mother but she was protective over her and was afraid to be alone. That was how Goldie saw it, at least.

Gothel simply sighed and made her way up the stairs, probably to get herself together in the bathroom so she wouldn't cause a scene in front of everybody.

"What is wrong with you all?" Maleficent yelled, making everyone stop talking. "People used to cower at the mention of our names! For twenty years, they have robbed us of our revenge! Revenge on Snow White and her horrible little men." The Evil Queen flinched. Gothel walked back into the room and Maleficent pointed at her. "Revenge on that brat Rapunzel and her dirty thief." She turned to Jafar. "Revenge on Aladdin and his bloated Genie." Cruella met her gaze. "Revenge on every sneaky dalmatian that escaped your clutches." She met Pan's intense stare. "Revenge on Wendy who left you to rot in Neverland and revenge on their precious king and queen who locked us up here without magic, knowing it would drain the life out of Fiona slowly and painfully." He looked ready to knock the air out of her lungs, especially when she kept on talking. "And I, Maleficent, the evilest of them all. I will finally have my revenge on Sleeping Beauty and her relentless little prince." She looked around the room. "Villains!"

"Yes?" Cruella and Jafar asked.

"Our day has some. Regina, give her the magic mirror."

The Evil Queen gave her magic mirror to her daughter who gave her a disappointed look.

"This is your magic mirror?"

"Size does not matter." Gothel assured her.

"Yeah, well, it ain't what it used to be. But then again, neither are we." The Evil Queen stated.

Pan snorted. "Speak for yourself."

"The mirror helps you find things."

Evie perked up. "Like a prince!"

Her mom rolled her eyes. "Like my waistline."

Maleficent stared at them like they were idiots. "Like the magic wand, hello!" She shook her head and took a notebook out of the safe and handed it to Mal. "My spell book. It doesn't work here but it will in Auradon." She smiled at her allies. "Remember? When we were spreading evil and ruining lives."

The Evil Queen smiled gleefully. "Like it was yesterday."

Pan had a fond look on his face, clearly lost in thought. "Yeah."

Maleficent shared a look with Mal. "And now you will be making your own memories by doing exactly as I tell you."

Goldie swallowed and sank down into her seat, drowning out the conversations around her and thinking that maybe going to Auradon would be the best thing to happen to her in the last eighteen years.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

a/n: the dark fairy is basically the witch from beauty and the beast aka "the black fairy" from once upon a time. that bitch traumatised me