As Varian wanders through the castle, he comes across a grand hall with a circle of towering, intimidating statues. He figures these must be the former rulers of the Dark Kingdom, but he gets a creepy feeling from them that he doesn't enjoy at all. He tries to hurry past them, but he stops when he sees an even stranger sight... A pile of old Flynn Rider Wanted posters.
Why in the world would those be here...? He wonders. He picks one of them up to study it, when he hears a door open nearby. He releases the poster as his eyes frantically scan for a hiding place. But then he remembers that he is invisible, and all he has to do is stand where he is.
To his surprise, Eugene enters the room. Varian glares at him as he notices the distraught expression on his face.
Eugene ambles over to the pile of posters, but before he can reach for one Varian sprinkles his re-visibility dust over himself and appears directly in front of him. "Gah!" Eugene exclaims, springing back in shock. "Varian! What are you doing here?!"
"Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing," Varian replies, still glowering.
Eugene sighs despondently. "Okay, yes... I get that you're mad at me. But I didn't have a choice."
"Didn't have a choice?!" Varian shouts angrily. "What are you talking about?!"
"Look, this is gonna sound crazy, but... this place is where I come from."
Varian raises an eyebrow. "You're right, that does sound crazy."
"Just bear with me," Eugene says. "Not only was I born here in the Dark Kingdom, but also... King Edmund is my father."
Varian's eyes widen slightly in shock, but his indignation still flares into sarcasm. "Well congratulations, Prince Eugene. Shall I bow to your royal regime of backstabbing?"
"Listen kid, I know we brought Rapunzel here to grab the stone, but everything... everything is different now."
"So you found your father, whoop-de-do!" Varian shouts. "How does that change anything?!"
"It just does!" Eugene shouts back. "You don't understand, Varian." He sighs in frustration as he grabs a few of his Wanted posters and scans through them. "When I was younger, I thought of myself as an outcast. I was a rogue, a thief, a joker... I thought I was alone in the world and that no one could love me.
"But, I found out I was wrong. I met Rapunzel, someone I could share my dream with. I felt so lucky, and I thought I knew what my purpose was. But again, I was wrong..."
"What?!" Varian can't believe what he is hearing. "Eugene, you can't—"
Eugene holds up his hands to stop him. "Everything I ever thought I knew —where I've been, where I'm going, and everything I counted on— turns out none of it was true. Everything I yearned for and planned, all of my sweetest memories... it's all crumbling. And if none of it was really me, then who am I supposed to be?" He stares dismally at his reflection in the black rocks.
"Okay, I admit that finding out where you came from is a big deal," Varian says. "But I think you're looking at it all wrong."
"Oh, really? And how am I supposed to look at it?" Eugene says. "All that love, trust, and happiness I had... It's done. It's gone. And now I'm alone again. I should've known..." He plops down next to the pile of posters. "Since my life meant nothing, I guess I'm someone else now. But, who?"
Varian grabs Eugene's shoulders firmly. "Snap out of it, Eugene! I get that you're having an identity crisis, but I still don't see how this changes Rapunzel's destiny!"
"The last time someone tried to destroy the Moon Stone, I lost my mother," Eugene tells him. "I mean, what if we lost Rapunzel?"
Varian shakes his head. "I'm sorry that happened. But for one thing, Rapunzel isn't gonna try to destroy the Moon Stone. She's going to take it. And another thing, the way you're acting right now, you're already losing her." Before he can protest, Varian reaches into Eugene's bag and pulls out Vigor's fortune. He shoves it into Eugene's hands, who stares at it for a moment.
"It's... It's me." The reality hits him like a ton of bricks. "I'm the one who turned against Rapunzel."
"Duh!" Varian says. His face finally softens as he adds, "Y-You broke her heart, Eugene. You have no idea how upset she is..."
Eugene winces at Varian's words. "I should've known better." He gazes at the fortune sadly, but then a look of determination crosses his face. He tears the paper to pieces as he smiles at Varian triumphantly. "Alright Varian, let's go find Rapunzel!"
Varian actually returns his smile. "That's the Eugene I know!" The two of them high-five, and then take off through the castle together. "She and the others are finding a way in through the back as we speak."
As he says this, the entire palace quakes violently. "What is that?!" Eugene shouts.
"It's the Moon Stone," Varian explains. "It's been reacting to Rapunzel's close proximity."
As they continue through the castle, they hear a commotion coming from the exact room they vacated. They rush back, and gasp at the scene before them:
Rapunzel and the others have made it inside, but King Edmund has intercepted them and is keeping them from getting to the Moon Stone. Cassandra, Lance, and Adira are all knocked out on the floor. Rapunzel's hair is glowing, and is pointing in the direction of the chamber that holds the opal.
"The Moon Stone knows I'm close," Rapunzel tells Edmund. "I have to go." She attempts to stride past him, but he stands in her way.
"No!" Edmund shouts at her. "No one may enter that room."
"I'm going in," Rapunzel says determinedly. "And you don't want to get in my way!"
Edmund leans in close to her menacingly. "You're not getting past me."
"Yes she is!" Eugene shouts, as he and Varian race onto the scene. "Let her in! She's the Sun Drop."
"Eugene!" Rapunzel says excitedly as he takes her into his arms.
"Rapunzel, I am so sorry!" Eugene says genuinely, as Varian instinctively rushes to the unconscious Cassandra's side to check on her. "I just thought—"
"There's no time for that," Rapunzel interrupts, stroking Eugene's cheek lovingly. "We have to get to that stone! This place is coming down around us!"
"But the Moon Stone must be destroyed, son!" Edmund shouts.
Rapunzel's face lights up as she looks to Eugene for confirmation. "Son?"
"Son?" Cassandra repeats in shock as Varian helps her up.
"You finally got adopted!" Lance adds.
"Look, I'll fill you all in later," Eugene says. "Thumbnail: I'm a prince... probably." He grabs Edmond's hand, and leads him away so that Rapunzel can get past to the Moon Stone Chamber.
Rapunzel darts for the door, and reaches out to open it. But before she can, the castle rumbles again and a strange, eerie glow emanates from the chamber.
Varian shivers as a sinister chill permeates the air. As he glances around, he sees that the others have noticed it too.
"What's going on?" Lance asks fearfully, as the statues of the past rulers begin to quake.
"It can't be..." Edmund says.
"What is it?" Rapunzel asks.
"Do we really want to know?!" Varian shouts.
"For centuries, my ancestors have sworn to protect this threshold," Edmund explains. "And now, their spirits have arisen to uphold that oath!"
Varian doesn't believe a word Edmund says at first, but then the eyes of the statues glow... and from each of them emerge ghosts of Edmund's ancestors, all equipped with illuminated weapons!
"Not necessarily how I imagined meeting your family," Rapunzel remarks to Eugene as the ghosts encircle them.
"Ten on the doom scale! Ten on the doom scale!" Varian panics, as they all scatter around the room to escape the ghosts.