Correction Six: Rapunzel's Solitude

Thus far everything that I have told you has been corrections. I have been sitting here telling you that every aspect of the stories that you grew up loving have been a lie and that nothing is honestly what they tell you.

But now here comes a part that is part fact and part fiction that even I am not even sure is all true.

Was Rapunzel thrown into the tower by some wicked witch?

Or was it self-imposed?

This is when everything in this story becomes a matter of perspective.

"I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then." ―An excerpt from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol

Esther did not hesitate to send Caroline to live with Ayana. Though Mikael protested and was usually very strict and stern, the wild gleam in his wife's eyes made even him hesitate to question her decision. Esther gripped Caroline's arm so hard the girl didn't even need to look to know that it would bruise. Rebekah, Klaus, and Kol were the only ones that seemed the least bit saddened with her passing, though she was sure that Mikael seemed slightly displeased with it also.

"Grab your things," Esther had barked the moment she was done swaddling Kol with kisses and love. Her eyes were accusing daggers, which ripped into Caroline with serrated edges. "You are no longer staying with us. Ayana will be your keeper now."

The trunk that she never remembered belonging to her was now Caroline's responsibility to drag across the town to Ayana's home. Esther marched, or waddled would be more accurate, ahead of her. Her head held high as she muttered lowly to herself.

This woman scared Caroline. She had never had to deal with adults not liking her. The worst she had to deal with was adults disregarding her as her parents so often did. But this woman, this woman despised her. The looks that she gave her were burning as if all the problems in the world could be linked to Caroline. Caroline felt like the scum of the earth when Esther glanced at her.

Caroline was scared how Kol's mother not liking her would affect her and Kol's relationship. Caroline needed to see Kol. He was the only one who could understand the evilness that was the witch. He was the only one that had seen and experienced what she could do. Emmie had tethered the two together as only a bad experience could.

"Hurry up girl!"

Caroline jumped and rushed to catch up to Esther, who waddled impatiently. The clouds hung dark and ominous over their heads and the wind seemed possessed that day by something malevolent. Mikael had asked if they could leave another day but Esther was impatient to get Caroline out of the house and away from her children.

The girl was nothing but a slip of skin covering immense magical power.

She was small, barely large enough out of babyhood to be considered a child. Maybe though she was bigger than Ayana was seeing now. The child's fear and Esther's blatant malice crushed everything in the room with an oppressive force.

"Here is the child, Ayana," Esther hastily spouted. Esther whipped on her heel, her wheat hair spinning out behind her, and dragged the large trunk out of the poor child's ruddy hands and pushed it towards Ayana. "All of her things are there. If I find anything else of hers I will bring it myself." Esther was quick to leave, her girth not inhibiting her retreat in the slightest, but then the girl spoke up.

"Mmm…Esther will I be able to visit Kol? He's my friend," the girl asked politely. Her eyes shone out from under her thin little lashes and she bit her lip innocently. An angel, Ayana thought.

The devil, Esther's body language screamed. "You will never see my children again," she spat. Then she waddle-marched out of the room. Ayana frowned at the unnecessary cold statement and turned to the girl who stood with a trembling lip.

"There, there child. No need for tears. You will see Kol, just as you will see the others," Ayana eased though the words sounded stiff coming from her mouth. It had been a long time since she had last comforted a child. Not since her daughter was young and maybe Rebekah when she got into the occasional tiff with one of her brothers. The child hugged her, clutching the fabric of her skirts and burying her face within them.

"Why does she hate me?" Caroline murmured into her skirts. "I tried to be good." Ayana shushed the girl and gently patted her back. There was no way that Ayana could explain to the girl that Esther hated her for her power and whatever it was that she did to Kol. There was no way that Ayana could explain to the child that Esther was frightened and jealous of her. There was no way that Ayana could explain that to the child. At least not yet.

"She does not understand you, child," Ayana muttered into her hair. "She is just confused."

Caroline gave a small sniffle and pulled away. Ayana bent down to her level. "There, there. You see once Esther gets her head on straight she will be kinder to you."

"And if she is not."

Ayana frowned. It was highly unlikely that Esther would become kinder to the girl. Esther saw any that was more powerful than her as a threat to her and her family. At one point even Ayana was seen as a challenge as she was more powerful and experienced. Caroline already surpassed her in power and the power would only grow with age. No, Esther would never warm up to her.

"It matters not child, all that matters is that now you are with me," Ayana stood and turned towards the cooking pit, "Come I am sure you are hungry."

The girl said nothing, but followed Ayana to the cooking pit. So small the girl was and the way she cowered from all the magical artifacts in the room only decreased her already meager size into something infinitely small. Ayana bestowed the bowed girl's head a smile and her aged hands reached for her chin so Caroline could see her face. "It is okay to be scared child. Fear is natural."

Caroline's lower lip wobbled even more and her eyes brimmed with tears. "Why does no one like me?"

Ayana had no answer for that. She did not know the past of the girl or whatever deep rooted insecurities that she held. Ayana did not bother to answer her and only gestured for the girl to sit near the fire pit as she got the food ready.

It was later in the night that Ayana awoke to something niggling at her senses. Strong, chaotic magic lingered in the air. Magic was similar to wind. Something that could touch you but not something that you could touch in return. This magic was a whirlwind. A maelstrom of unbridled strong winds that could toss villages well to the edge of the world.

The moment that Ayana's eyes shot open she turned to look at Caroline. Though she could not see her at first she knew that the magic was coming from her. There was no one else in the village who held magic that strong. Ayana with just a thought lit the fire, and made her way over to where the girl was asleep on a bed of furs. Caroline was tossing and turning restlessly. The blonde whimpered in her sleep and rolled around, tossing the furs on her body.

Ayana closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Yes, the magic was coming from here, but this… This wasn't her magic. Ayana focused harder on the waves of power that swelled from the girl. This was strong magic and it was coming from inside of her, but it wasn't Caroline. This was someone else. Opening her eyes, Ayana frowned as she looked down at the girl. This was something that she did not expect to face. Having two different types of magic lingering inside of one body was dangerous especially if the two were a volatile mix. That was what was causing the disruption in the girl.

The older witch remember what she promised her mother and all the other spirits from the Other Side. She had to protect the girl. For whatever reason the Spirits wanted her to be safe and trained. This would be the first test of Ayana's dedication. Ayana moved her hands over Caroline muttering while still keeping her eyes closed.

She needed to separate the two from one another or else it would only cause problems for Caroline later on. In order to get the magic, Ayana had to dig deep into a well of Caroline's magical power. Ayana dug deep to find the magic which despite being so strong was very elusive. It was almost like water, when it was in her hands it slipped through her grasps and hid somewhere else. Ayana was quickly growing frustrated. She needed to separate the magic from the girl but she had never imagined that it would be so difficult. Just as she was reaching the limits of patience the magic shot outwards, smashing into Ayana and flinging her back into a corner of her room.

As Ayana could do was gasp, and whimper as the new foreign magic burned through her sending her visions of a girl with black hair and bright green eyes. Ayana's closed eyes screwed tighter when the pain reached new heights. It was all she could do to bite back a scream when finally the pain subsided.

"You were trying to remove me."

Ayana opened her eyes to see a vision of a girl, with bright eyes and black curls. The power that swirled around her was the same one that burned through her not even moments ago. So Ayana curled a lip.

"Yes," she answered her voice firm. "You do not belong inside of the child. You do not belong here." The ghost child rolled her eyes and her wraith form moved towards Caroline, her eyes sharp and hungry as she stared. Ice pooled in Ayana's heart at the look that the girl was giving her, but she said nothing. The girl sighed and moved away from Caroline thought Ayana could not find it within herself to relax.

The ghost sighed. "I sent her here. Though I am upset that you will be the one that will train her. I've guided her as much as I could. I made her an ally."

"Ally?" Ayana thought back to the words of her mother. Ally. That was what her mother had said the girl made an ally, but an ally for what?

The girl took note of her pondering expression and looked bemused. "You really do not know who I sent back to you?" The girl floated close to Ayana. "I sent back the executioner. I sent her back to you! There all those that have hunted us witches will finally get what they deserve and I won't be imprisoned at that horrible penitentiary."

"You sent her back? Here? That means…" It was all beginning to dawn on Ayana what the girl was, and what exactly it was that she did. There was no magic strong enough that would be able to pull off what she was suggesting. Time travel and magic was something that many witches dreamed of, but for it to be real…

"That means that must have upset the balance of nature. You have corrupted that which was once pure," Ayana accused, but the girl only laughed. She waved in hand playfully in the air as she floated around swatting at nothing like a kitten.

"No, then it wouldn't have worked." The ghost child flew close to Caroline again. "Magic was already off kilter in my time. So I just sent her back to before it started. Nature allowed it."

Ayana sighed and rested back on her haunches. If magic had allowed it, if the spirits had allowed it then the future must have been so off kilter that it was too unbalanced. But the girl… Why send Caroline back at an age so young? Why not wait for her to grow into her power to make it so that whatever it was that needed to be done was done with haste? This was a headache waiting to happen. And Ayana knew that she would be the one that would have to take care of it.

"And you? What is your purpose here?" The girl would not have been sent back without a purpose. Rash decisions were not in the sense of the Spirits.

"To guide her I suppose, but there is only so much I can do from inside her head. No she needs you. Someone old and wise and can teach her the ways that magic can be used," the girl said with a sigh. She seemed put out by the thought that she would not be Caroline's one and only teacher. She was foolish to think that the spirits would allow her to monopolize Caroline. No, that was too much power for just one person to handle. This power needed to be grown and nurtured. Left in her reckless hands it would become as chaotic as the magic that comprised her visage. It would be up to Ayana to make sure that Caroline would be able to use her magic correctly.

"Yes, magic once balanced is different from what you are probably used to." Ayana looked at Caroline's sleeping form before she returned her eyes back to the ghost. "Be gone now. I need my rest."

The girl giggled as her form faded. "See you later grandma!"

Ayana laid back down. She would need sleep for the days that were to come.

Living with Ayana had so many chores!

She had to sweep and help fetch water and gather berries and learn to bake bread. And seriously, Caroline wondered why they just couldn't just go to the supermarket and get all these things but when she asked Ayana gave her a look that made her feel like an idiot for asking.

With all this work all she wanted to do was sit down and complain. Her parents never made her do this much work! Why was Ayana making her do this? Though that wasn't even the worse part about all of this though, the worst part was that with all this work she was sure that she would never find the time to go to over to the Mikealson's and see Kol. They were friends now after they both suffered from the witch and Caroline was desperate for someone to talk too.

But for now she was stuck in the forest picking from a berry bush. Ayana had left her here while she went off and did some grown up stuff. She hoped that Ayana went to go talk to Esther about letting Caroline stay with them again. Maybe that way she wouldn't have to do so much work. But then Caroline thought of the burning eyes of esther and think that no matter how much Ayana begged Esther would probably never let Caroline into her home.

The thought was a saddening one but Caroline refused to cry about it anymore. No use crying over spilled milk is what her father would say. If he was still around that is.

Before she could fall into that rabbit hole, though Caroline hears the small whimperings of someone near by. They are muted as if whoever was crying did not want to be heard. Caroline rose from where she was sitting on the ground and wiped off her dress—it was quite pretty. Prettier than all the dresses she saw the other girl's wearing, but that wasn't important—and walked off to go look for the crying person.

She stumbled over brush and other vegetation in the forest and it was very similar to the time that Caroline went out to go meet with the witch, but this time there would be no witch at the end of her trek just a crying...boy?

Caroline looked closer and yes in fact it was a boy. With the long hair that all the boys seemed to be wearing. He was blonde like her though his hair wasn't as shiny, but that was okay. He was crying and that was what needed to be addressed first.

"Why are you crying?" Caroline said in that blunt way that children had. She never really saw boys cry. She only saw Tyler cry once and that was after he had a "stern talking to" with his father after he broke something at a Founder's event. She doubted that talking was the only thing that happened when Mayor Lockwood dragged Tyler away.

The boy wiped his eyes and looked up at her. Ah! She knew him, he was one of the people who found her. One of Kol's older brothers. She went down the list. Finn, Elijah, Nik...Nikaus? Niklus? She knew he was that one but damn it how did you say his full name.

"I am not crying," he glanced back at her before rising from his crouched position. Caroline smirked at him.

"Yeah and the sky isn't blue. What's wrong?" She wanted to help him. He looked like he needed a friend. And besides, this was the first person that she had talked to since she woke up. Nik (she had settled to call him that) looked pensive before his face closed off.

"No. Nothing that a little girl can help me with." Nik practically sneered. Caroline frowned at the rude comment. She was only trying to be nice and he was being so mean to her! What had she ever done to him to make him so mean.

"Fine then! Be that way! I hope you trip and fall!" Caroline said as she marched away. There was a fire in her that burned bright at the insult. She would have said something more but she was already gone. Who needed Nik-whatever anyways. If he was going to belittle her then tough luck. He didn't know what he was missing out on.

Caroline was great at consoling people.

Mikael hated Ayana.

That was an understatement. If there was a possibility of Mikael being able to kill Ayana without her ghost raising hell from where ever then he would take it.

Mikael hated Ayana for a plethora of reasons. Some of them were stupid like Ayana getting the last of the bread to bigger things like Ayana having more power and prestige than Mikael. But the one thing that make Mikael hate Ayana was the fact that she had power and he did not. He did not know why the gods decided to bless weak women like Ayana and his wife with power, but they did. And that posed a challenge to Mikael because you could not combat someone who could use the elements to their advantage. So Mikael did the next best thing.

He controlled them.

If he could have these powers under his control than it was just as good as having the power himself. And that was what he was trying to do today. That was why he was sitting in the house of the woman he hated, sipping her tea while she gave him that annoying look that suggested she knew everything that he was trying to do.

"You want her to wear your name?" Ayana raised a brow and looked at him over the brim of her cup. He hated tea. It was bitter and Ayana made it too hot. "Why?"

"My sons found her. And she was under my protection before she came to you. I see no reason for it to stop now," Mikael answered. He had only a couple sips of his tea and he would have no more. He did not want anything else to enter his body that came from this woman. For all he knew she could have used her magic in making it. "She shall be my ward."

"She caused one of your sons tremendous pain," Ayana pointed out. Mikael clenched his fists, as if he did not already know that? "And Esther seems to hate the girl."

"Esther nears her due date and is at that point where anything will ignite a fire in her," Mikael said, "and Kol is doing well now. No need to hold a grudge against her."

Ayana took another take of her tea and said nothing. She was thinking and Mikael hated the fact that she even had to consider it. He hated that he even had to ask. He tried to sweeten the deal. "She can still ive here with you, but she will carry my name."

Ayana gave a laugh at this and Mikael felt the blood rush to his ears in anger. She gave him a look that he had seen her give to his children. It was one that said "Silly child."

"Do not think I do not know what you are after. You want the money that arrived with the girl. Her little...treasure chest," she said this part with an amused spark in her eye. Mikael's fingernails were digging into his calloused skin. "You want all the jewels, dresses, and finery that she arrived with. You want the glory. You want the money. You want to become the richest man in the town. But over than that," she leaned in close, "you want to control the power she possesses. You want Caroline under your control the same way you have Esther under your thumb."

Mikael wanted to hit her. She needed to be taught her place. She needed to learn that the man was the one in charge and that women needed to stay polite and submissive. Gods, she needed to be taught this and quick.

"I will allow for her to have your name. I see no harm in it. But know this Mikael. You will never control this girl the way that you control Esther. My former student may be blinded by love and fear. But this girl, her power once provoked will fall with such heavy retribution that you will crumble under the strength."

Ayana sipped her tea.

"Now get out of my home."

Mikael truly hated Ayana.

Niklaus walked wondering wondering why exactly his father was so harsh on him. He tried everything to be the perfect son but nothing would work. There was always some fault to be found in his behavior.

He was always doing something wrong.

And that girl. Caroline. Why had she approached him? They had spoken very little in the time that they lived in the same house before the snake bit her and Kol fell ill. Why had she wanted to help him?

Niklaus wasn't watching his step, and slipped down the sloping hill. He tumbled down hard and fast and once he landed his scream howled out into the forest alerting all of his pain.

When Caroline returned Ayana had a cool mask for a face. Nothing was coming in and out, no emotion, nothing. And that was what scared Caroline.

"Come here," Ayana demanded. Her voice was as cool as her face and Caroline approached with caution. She sat down in front of Ayana and waited for her to start.

"Niklaus is injured. He has a broken bone." Ayana said and Caroline's heart fell. She saw him today and he looked fine. He was fine. How could he have gotten hurt so badly. They should go and bring him something. Did they have chocolate here? Caroline loved getting chocolate when she was hurt.

"Is he okay?" Caroline asked tentatively. Ayana only shrugged.

"As well as he can be after what you did." Ayana said and Caroline froze. What? How was this her fault? She didn't do anything. She had barely even spoken to him. He was so rude to her and then she said…

"I hope you trip and fall!"

Oh no. No. Nononononononono.

Ayana glanced at her. "Now, you see. You caused this. You with your power caused this. All because you cannot control what you are."

Caroline began to cry and she was getting really tired of crying. Maybe she should stop crying because all she can apparently do is hurt people. She knows that Esther hates her for making Kol sick and she was pretty sure she would hate her for breaking Klaus' leg. Heck, Caroline hated herself.

Ayana age her none of the comfort that she knew Caroline wanted and needed. Caroline needed to learn.

"Your power is volatile. It was made to hurt people because you are a weapon. And weapons only hurt other people," Ayana said.

"I-I don't wanna be a weapon."

"Then choose. Do want to hurt everyone? Like Niklaus? Kill them? Or do you want to be able to control what you are?"

So was Rapunzel locked away? Did she hide on purpose?

I told you Disney got it wrong. Very wrong.

Author's Note: Hey, long time no see. How is everything going? I did not end up finishing my other works, I even started a new one called Witch's Brew, but it is nice to get back to writing stories like this.

Let me tell you that life is pretty hectic for me. I graduated high school and I got into college (Cornell! I can't believe I got into an Ivy League!) and I am not adjusting to the new work load because high school was a breeze compared to college. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Until Next Time,

wanderlust-bitethedust