[In The Castle Courtyard, Morning]
Birds fly around Rapunzel and her father, as the two prepare for her nineteenth birthday party. Rapunzel glances at her decorations with pride, before turning to her father with a smug smile.
Rapunzel then tosses Frederic the purple roll of streamers. He misses, then picks them up and gets them all tangled. "Oh, confound these infernal streamers!" He grumbles. Rapunzel laughs. "Aww. Is the mighty king having a hard time?" She teases.
"It's not funny. Have you any idea how difficult it is to-" Frederic asks, trying to get untangled. Rapunzel clears her throat then gestures to her long golden hair, indicating that she does know what it's like to deal with tangles. "Oh." Frederic replies, before the two laugh.
A lantern then appears, floating by the castle. A lantern with a scroll and key tied to it. Rapunzel gasps in delight, as the sky gets blanketed with dark grey clouds. Rapunzel shrugs it off, but then notices her hair is unbraided. She stands by the walls of Corona as her hair begins to glow brightly.
"Rapunzel!" Y/n cries. Rapunzel turns to her sister, who's hair streak also glows brightly. "What's happening?" Y/n asks. "Uh, I-I don't-" Rapunzel says. "Rapunzel, Y/n! Stay here, with me, where you two belong." Frederic says, by the castle.
"Y/n, Rapunzel! Help me!" They hear Varian shout. "Varian?" Y/n asks, looking in the direction of his voice. "Darlings, don't!" Frederic tells his daughters, as the black pointy rocks surround him. "Dad! Dad!" Rapunzel says, grabbing her little sisters hand and rushing after their father.
"But Varian needs our help!" Y/n protests, being dragged by her older sister. Their hair and streak turn dims, as they see their father stuck within a black rock. "Dad?" Rapunzel asks.
"Rapunzel!" Varian says. Rapunzel turns to see Varian behind her, with a cluster of the amber and boiling anger on the young alchemist's face. Rapunzel then turns to her little sister, but she's behind Varian. "You promised!" He yells at Rapunzel. "What?" She asks. With a furious glare, Varian charges over to Rapunzel, followed by the black rocks. "Varian, wait!" Y/n cries, before bright lights emerge. Rapunzel wakes up with a gasp.
Rapunzel wakes up to find herself suspended above her balcony with her hair spread out. "Hey, Blondie, you want-" Eugene says, entering the bedroom with a grin but then his eyes widen and he yelps in shock at Rapunzel hanging above her balcony. "RAPUNZEL!" Eugene yells worriedly, immediately running over and catching his girlfriend as she falls down.
Eugene lets out a small sigh of relief, then puts Rapunzel down. "What happened ? Are you okay?" He asks. "I-I-I.. I don't know.." Rapunzel breathes out, glancing out at the sun and the kingdom afar, then throwing herself into her boyfriends arms, as he hugs her protectively.
[A Little Later, In Rapunzel's Bedroom]
Y/n watches as her older sister hangs paintings on the wall. Paintings that display the strange dream she had. "It was like the dream I had after my coronation, only more intense. This one was trying to tell me something." Rapunzel tells them.
Rapunzel frowns and places another painting on the wall. Y/n's eyes widen at the sight of it. A painting of Varian, but his clothes are darker and a glare of hatred on his face has replaced the cheery, enthusiastic one that Y/n adores so much.
"Tell you what?" Cassandra asks. "A-And.. what does this have to do with Varian?" Y/n asks, looking at his painting with worry. Bucky nuzzles against her cheek comfortingly. "I'm not sure. The rocks, my hair, Varian, it's like they're all connected, and I have to find out how." Rapunzel replies.
"Uh, hey guys, sorry to interrupt dream chat here, but is no one else even a little bit concerned that Rapunzel woke up suspended in mid-air?" Eugene asks, before Pascal suddenly emerges from being camouflaged in the painting of Varian. Then, with a small squeak, he points to it, with his tail.
"Eugene, what I saw meant something." Rapunzel states. "Okay. Let's say it did. But what if it was a warning, telling you to stay here, where you're safe. I mean, we got it pretty good here, right? Maybe you should leave the mystery behind these rocks alone." Eugene tells her, walking towards her and gently taking a picture from her.
"No." Rapunzel tells him, clenching her fists. "I can't. I need answers. And I think I know where to start looking." She adds, glancing at her little sister and then at a painting of their father. Y/n lets out a small inhale, and then exhale, through her teeth. "Oh, boy.." She whispers, shaking her head, knowing that isn't going to be easy.
[In The Hallway]
The princesses approach their father for some well-deserved answers. But, as Y/n suspected, he isn't impressed.. or even willing to share. "I made it clear that we were not to discuss magic or glowing rocks." He tells his daughters, firmly.
Thinking about the painting of Varian, and everything that happened in his lab, Y/n glances up at their father. "Has anybody seen or been to Old Corona recently?" She asks, hopefully. Frederic glances down at his youngest daughter, noticing her saddened and worried expression.
"Daddy.. I'm scared. I think Varian might be in trouble." Y/n says. Rapunzel rests a hand on her shoulder, comfortingly, while Nigel glares at the two sisters in disbelief. "Princesses, Varian is dangerous. Have you forgotten the boy attacked and kidnapped you during the storm?!" He remarks, staring down at the youngest princess.
"He didn't attack us!" Y/n objects, pointing at Nigel with an annoyed expression. Rapunzel takes her hand off of her little sister's shoulder. "He was scared, and he needed our help. And for the fifth or sixth time this week, Nigel, he did not kidnap me. I ran away, to help him, and he saved my life in that snowstorm!" Y/n tells him.
"Y/n!" Frederic says, making his youngest daughter turn her attention to him after muttering a shy apology under her breath. Frederic sighs, holds her hand, then nods to his two daughters. "Come with me." He tells them. The father and daughters walk down the hallway, leaving a scoffing Nigel.
[In The Meeting Room]
"I've been aware of these rocks for quite some time. They posed a real problem. Uhm, displacing people from their homes, damaging roads.." Frederic tells his daughters.
Y/n's eyes widen at the black flags on several locations of the map of the kingdom. Knowing right away that the flags represent the black rock locations, she stares in worry.
"And encasing loved ones.." Y/n adds, unheard. "Oh, no." Rapunzel says.
"But-But fortunately, we've taken care of them, one by one. The rocks have been removed, and the people of Old Corona are all well and good." Frederic tells them, removing the black flags.
This confuses his youngest daughter, who deeply remembers the rocks being unbreakable and irremovable. She doesn't feel right about this.
But her older sister is more gullible than she is.
"But why all the secrecy?" Rapunzel asks. "Daughters, I apologize for not being more candid at first." Frederic says, then turns to his oldest daughter. "Rapunzel, I can only hope that when you're queen, you'll understand the value of not drawing attention and causing a panic over problems that.. have been handled. You see? And now you know what the situation is. Or rather, was." He tells her, making a skeptical expression appear on his youngest daughter's face, as she stares at the black flags in confusion and disbelief.
However, Rapunzel still remains gullible. She gives their father a satisfied smile. "That's a relief. And thanks for being honest with us, Dad." She tells him. "Yes.." Frederic chuckles. "Of course." He replies, giving Rapunzel a warm hug. He glances down at his youngest daughter with a slightly worried expression that Rapunzel doesn't notice.
"Is everything all right, sweetheart?" Frederic asks. "Huh?" Y/n asks, then shakes her head. "Uh-huh. I'm just.." She replies, replacing her worried frown with a smile of faux satisfaction. "I'm relieved that Old Corona is doing so well again." She lies.
"Yes. Of course." Frederic replies, separating from his oldest daughters hug and placing his hands on both the girls' shoulders. "Now, run along. We've got more pressing issues before us. Like planning Rapunzel's birthday party." He reminds them.
[Later]
Y/n is lost in thought as she, Cassandra, Eugene and Rapunzel walk outside together. A little girl wishes the oldest princess a happy birthday, and others leave presents by a statue of Rapunzel.
Y/n would think that Rapunzel would be pleased by the presents and the praising, but she knows she's still quite troubled by the conversation with their Father, and by the dream she had.
Rapunzel also notices her little sister's saddened and worried expression. "Are you all right, Y/n?" She asks. Y/n shakes her head, looking at the floor. "I just.. wish I knew where Varian is, of how he's doi-" She tells Rapunzel, but is interrupted by her older sister's sudden gasp of shock.
"What is it?" Y/n asks. "The kite! It's the same one from my vision!" Rapunzel replies.
"There's a note.." Y/n says, untying it from the lantern's string. A key is found after she unrolls the note. "And a key!" Rapunzel adds, picking it up.
Y/n immediately recognises the handwriting on the note and gasps. "It's from Varian! 'Y/n, Rapunzel, I need your help now more than ever. I may have discovered the key to the rocks. Find the bronze GRAPHTYC in my lab. But be careful. Especially you, Y/n. They are watching and will do anything to stop you'." She reads, wide eyed and anxious.
"'They'? Who are they?" Cassandra asks, glancing at Eugene curiously. "It's always somethin' with that guy." He remarks, crossing his arms. "Says the former thief." Y/n fires back, under her breath.
"I KNEW it!" Rapunzel states, whirling around to them with a determined glare. "I knew it, he still needs our help." She tells them. "What do you wanna do?" Cassandra asks. Rapunzel glances at her little sister, for an answer. "Do you have to ask? We have to help Varian!" Y/n insists.
Rapunzel clenches the key in her hand, glances at the castle, then sighs. "Sorry, Dad. We gotta go to Old Corona." She decides. "Yes! ♪ Road trip ♪" Y/n whispers excitedly, pumping her fist with a smile. Rapunzel giggles, as they walk away.
[Later]
Y/n sits beside Eugene, in her cloaked outfit, as Rapunzel sits beside Cassandra, who wears her warrior's outfit. The four sit in a cart together, with Maximus pulling them to Old Corona.
"Old Corona is just over this hill." Y/n tells Maximus, who nods in response. Pascal glances over Cassandra's shoulder and smiles nervously at Owl, who glares at him threateningly. "Sorry, Pascal, but he's not a big fan of reptiles. Unless he can eat them." Cassandra tells Pascal. Owl smacks his lips at Pascal, making the sheepish chameleon scurry over to Rapunzel's other shoulder.
"I can't tell you what a treat it is to be spending so much time with a cold-blooded dead-eyed bird of prey." Eugene tells Cassandra, crossing his arms.
"Uhh, Eugene? Owls are warm-blooded." Y/n pipes up, adorably not getting Eugene's remark. Eugene chuckles, with a hand on his sister-figure' shoulder. "That's cute, Kiddo. But I wasn't talking about the owl." He states, shooting Cassandra a glare.
"Stop the cart!" Rapunzel suddenly tells Maximus, who stops with a curious grunt. Rapunzel hops out of the cart, followed by Cassandra, Eugene and Y/n.
"What is it?" Cassandra asks. They see a pointy black rock. "Our dad told us that all the black rocks had been removed." Rapunzel tells them. "Okay! So he missed one!" Eugene says.
Y/n's eyes widen and she stares at Old Corona in horror. Cassandra, noticing her terrified expression, also sees and gasps. "Uhm, guys?" She says. "Or one hundred. They missed a hun- They-They did not do a very thorough job counting these rocks." Eugene points out, as Varian's village is littered with the black rocks.
"Do you think your father lied?" Cassandra asks. "No!" Rapunzel answers firmly, before her little sister opens her mouth. "Of course not. We trust our father, but clearly he has no idea how bad things have gotten out here. Come on. Let's move on." Rapunzel insists, linking arms with her little sister and leading her back towards the cart.
The more and more they enter the village, the worse it looks. There are black rocks.. everywhere, making it almost impossible to see ahead of them. "I've never seen anything like this." Cassandra says. "So far, everything in my dream has come true, there's no question now." Rapunzel states.
Rapunzel then turns to her little sister "These rocks they hold a secret, and somehow, Y/n and I are connected to it." She states. Y/n remembers how she touched the first black rock on the night before Rapunzel's coronation. "And maybe even responsible for it.." She adds, guiltily.
"What do you wanna do?" Eugene asks. "I'm sorry, Eugene, but I already let Varian down once. He wants us to get that graphtyc and that's what we're gonna do." Rapunzel states. "Well, let's go." Eugene says, holding his girlfriend's hand lovingly.
At that same moment, something catches the attention of Y/n. A small shadow is seen behind a large cluster of rocks. The youngest princess turns to it, squinting her eyes in concentration. Her eyes then widen, before the shadow quickly whirls away and disappears out of sight.
Y/n sighs sadly, then lets out a small, but startled, squeal when she feels a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, kid?" Cassandra asks, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "Uh, yes. Now, come on." Y/n replies, taking a deep breath and glancing across Old Corona with determination. "Varian's home is on the far side of town." She tells them.
"You heard the kid." Eugene tells Cassandra and Rapunzel, with a shrug. Y/n and Rapunzel walk through a large cluster of black rocks and Bucky gives a startled squeak as Y/n's golden hair streak glows brightly. "Rapunzel?" She asks, as her older sister's golden hair does the same.
"Uh, Blondie, Kiddo? Hair?" Eugene asks, steering the princesses away. "Fancy Pants is right. Remember what happens when you touch those." Cassandra reminds them. "Well, then we'll just have to be careful." Rapunzel says.
"How do we know if any of these openings will take us to the other side?" Rapunzel asks. "How about a bird's eye view?" Y/n suggests. Cassandra smirks, impressed. "Good idea, Y/n." She compliments, then turns around and whistles loudly. Owl flies over, instantly, and through the middle entrance.
Owl's hoot of confirmation makes Rapunzel beam, excitedly. "I think he found a way. Okay, Max? You keep watch." She instructs. Maximus nods, with a grunt of determination. Then grins when the youngest princess feeds him a red apple before she follows Rapunzel through the middle entrance.
As the four walk through the middle entrance, Eugene sends Cassandra a smug smirk. "So, you think I'm fancy?" He asks her. "Ugh." Cassandra scoffs. "That's not a retraction!" Eugene points out.
Rapunzel holds her glowing golden hair to avoid the rocks, as the group journey through the long tunnel of rocks. Meanwhile, Y/n hides her glowing hair streak within the blue hood of her long cloak.
"We're here." Rapunzel says. Y/n's eyes widen at the sight of the familiar house, covered in the black rocks. "Varian.." She mumbles, sadly.
"Well! What a convenient, easy-to-navigate path your bird found, Cass. That is some owl you got there." Eugene snaps, after stumbling through the rocks. "Thanks. Oh, and by the way? He's also an attack owl. I taught him to go for the eyes first." Cassandra informs Eugene, as Owl lands on her shoulder, points at his eyes with his talons and shoots Eugene a dark glare. Y/n winces, warily.
Eugene chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Of course, by some owl, I meant some very noble, very majestic, very non-eye-scratchy, did I mention majestic? Owl." He replies, steering the princesses towards Varian's house.
Y/n pushes the door open and glances around Varian's home. Nothing has changed at all. As expected, the lab is a mess. And of course, Eugene has to comment on that. "You know, someone should really sit this kid down, and have a frank discussion about the importance of an organized, clutter-free workspace." He remarks.
If she wasn't welling up at the sight of his lab, and at the thought of everything her and Varian went through that snowy night, Y/n would tell Eugene that Varian is actually a very organised person. He may (or may not) have OCD, after all. Anytime he had a messy station, he'd immediately clean it up.
But Y/n looks around Varian's lab, on the verge of getting teary eyed. It looks like everything has been thrashed around, after she was forced to leave by the guards. Shoved, broken and thrown around his lab, out of anger and bitterness. Y/n can imagine in her mind, as she scans her eyes across the lab.
Varian, being devastated about the amber encasing his father, frustrated that almost nobody had his back, almost heartbroken because Y/n, his best friend, almost died in a snowstorm to try and help him, and ultimately boiling with rage because his best friend (the only one who had his back) was interrupted during an attempt to try and free his father due to a horrible accusation that led the Captain and all of the Coronian guards to believe that Varian assaulted the youngest princess, then kidnapped her just for the sake of using her golden hair streak. Almost like what Rapunzel went through with her fake mother.
Owl flies down to Varian's desk, as Cassandra picks up a wooden box from it. "Look at all these." She says, brushing the dust off of the box. "What is-" She asks, opening the box. But the Lady-in-waiting is immediately engulfed in an enormous mist of purple smoke from within the small wooden box.
The large explosion pulls Y/n out of her thoughts and she gasps, turning to Cassandra. When the dust settles, the coughing Lady-in-waiting is stunned to discover that her hair is all spiked up and bright pink, as well as her cheeks and eyelids.
This cheers the youngest princess up, as she starts giggling softly but she ends up bursting into fits of laughter, as well as Eugene, Bucky and Pascal.
"Guys, come on. That graphtyc has to be here somewhere." Rapunzel says. "How about in a book? That sounds like the kind of cliché Varian would try." Y/n suggests. Rapunzel hums. "You may be right, sis.." She agrees.
If it is in a book, Y/n has a couple of ideas as to which ones the graphtyc might be in. Making a beeline for her best friend's prized Flynn Rider collection, she picks up the only book that isn't surrounded by others, but it's under a Flynn Rider poster that hangs on the wall.
After flipping through a couple of pages, a large cylindrical object catches Y/n's eyes and she gasps in excitement. "I did it! I found it! I found the graphtyc!" She exclaims, giddily.
Rapunzel gasps. "Nice going, sis!" She praises, smiling proudly at her. Y/n shrugs, with a shy smile. "It's no biggie. You learn a lot, when your best friend is an alchemist." She replies.
Rapunzel lets out a giggle, but hearing Y/n call Varian his 'best friend' frustrates her a little bit. Sure, she's really happy that Y/n is so close with somebody her own age, and she thinks it's wonderful for her. But the oldest princess knows very well, how Varian truly feels for her little sister. And she's been rooting for the youngest princess to discover these feelings for herself, ever since.
But how long will it take, before she does? Rapunzel knows how incredibly smart her little sister is, when it comes to handling difficult situations. After all, she helped Rapunzel handle the villagers with their problems. But the oldest princess has noticed that when it comes to true love, Y/n is as clueless as Lance is about how to behave in front of the royal family. Which says a lot.
"Great! Now let's get outta here 'cause this place gives me the creeps." Eugene insists.
As Rapunzel and Y/n follow Cassandra and Eugene, a shimmer of gold catches the oldest sister's eye. She glances up at a large.. structure, of sorts, hidden under a large tarp. Y/n glances up at what Rapunzel sees and the youngest princess' heart immediately pounds frantically, knowing what it is.
Rapunzel then gasps and grabs the tarp. "R-Rapunzel? I wouldn't-" Y/n tells her nervously, but her older sister yanks the large tarp off and gasps in horror, covering her mouth with her hands. The princesses stare, wide eyed, in horror.
It's Quirin, Varian's father. Trapped in the amber.
"Oh, no.." Rapunzel whispers, gripping her little sister's hand. "It's Varian's father!" Rapunzel whispers. Y/n nods, frowning sadly.
"Blondie, are you okay?" Eugene asks, hearing his girlfriend's whispers. "Maybe you were right. Maybe my dream was trying to tell Y/n and I to stay in the castle.. where we belong." Rapunzel replies. "What?" Y/n asks, turning to her older sister.
"Rapunzel, what are you talking about?" Cassandra asks. "We touched those rocks and now.. this." Rapunzel says, making Y/n's eyes widen in realisation. "A-Actually.." She pipes up, quietly. "I touched that first rock.." She recalls, guiltily. "But both of us have been affected by them." Rapunzel states, holding her little sister's hand comfortingly.
"Oh, come on, now. We don't know that any of this is your fault." Eugene tells them, pulling the princesses into a comforting hug. "We don't know that it's not." Rapunzel points out.
"Okay, princess? I know what I said before about forgetting all this, but this is way, way worse than I or anyone else imagined, and one thing has become clear. Fault or no fault, people are in danger. A lot of danger, and the Rapunzel I know was never one to run and hide from a fight." Eugene states, lacing his voice with certainty.
Just then, the door creaks open loudly, making the princesses gasp. A masked warrior, of sorts, stares at them with a raised arm. "Hand over the graphtyc." A familiar voice demands.
Giggling nervously, Y/n edges closer to her older sister. "I'm not you though, Rapunzel. My confidence is like Pascal. You never know when, but it comes and goes." She admits.
"Who is that?" Eugene asks, immediately standing in front of the princesses, protectively. "Must be a friend of Varian's." Cassandra replies, narrowing her eyebrows before charging to attack. She wields her sword and charges at the masked warrior, but is almost immediately knocked to the floor. "Cassie!" Y/n exclaims, worriedly.
"Oh, you just crossed a line, bub!" Eugene snaps, rolling his sleeves up and racing towards the masked warrior. He is eventually thrown into Varian's desk, accidentally pulling Owl with him, and the two end up with bright colours on their faces, like Cassandra did. "Oh, boy, that was that was a mistake." Eugene groans.
Y/n lets out a frightened mumble, as the masked warrior approaches the princesses with his staff in hand. "Hand it over, now." He demands.
Pascal quickly hops off of Rapunzel's should and into the disguised man's helmet, repeatedly smacking it with his tongue. The anonymous warrior stumbles back, before easily tossing Pascal onto Varian's desk like a ragdoll.
"PASCAL!" Rapunzel cries, grabbing her little sister's hand and the two rush over to the stumbling green chameleon. Y/n looks at the chemicals on Varian's desk and an idea blossoms in her mind. Rapunzel picks Pascal up, as a yellow beaker is flung at the anonymous warrior, which then engulfs him in a cloud of yellow mist.
"Stay away! I have a wall full of alchemy and I am not afraid to use it!" Y/n tells the masked warrior. "Nice going, sis!" Rapunzel praises, as Pascal tosses the oldest princess a pink beaker. Rapunzel tosses it at the masked man, then regrets it as it fills the laboratory with an awful stench.
Y/n gags, as Rapunzel covers her nose. "Really, Var? A stink bomb? Give me something a little more useful, please.." Y/n pleads, as Bucky tosses her another pink beaker. Thankfully, not a stink bomb.
'I'll have to apologize to Varian a billion times, about wasting all of his alchemical inventory on whoever's trying to stop us!' Y/n thinks to herself, tossing a dark blue beaker at the anonymous foe.
After Rapunzel tosses a green beaker, Y/n tosses another pink one but the masked man whacks it back towards her with his staff. This unfortunately knocks the graphtyc out of her hand and the masked man immediately darts after it.
Thinking quick, Y/n finds two pink spherical orbs which the youngest princess knows are the sticky traps that she, Cassandra and Rapunzel got themselves stuck in when they first met Varian.
Y/n tosses the pink spheres with all he might, and as expected, the masked warrior gets stuck to the ground with his hands stuck to the thick, purple, jelly-like substance. "Yeah! That ought to hold you!" Rapunzel cheers, as Y/n quickly runs over to where the graphtyc is and picks it up.
Rapunzel then grabs her little sister's hand and they run to Cassandra and Eugene. "All right, come on! Let's get outta here!" Rapunzel insists.
"Cassie, are you alright?" Y/n asks, as Eugene and Rapunzel have to help her up. Cassandra sends the youngest princess a small smile of reassurance. "I'll be okay, kid. Come on." She tells her. Y/n nods and, with one last sad glance at Quirin in the amber, she follows the others out of Varian's lab.
"Slow down, girls! Your hair touches these things and we're goners!" Cassandra tells Y/n and Rapunzel, who frantically run through the tunnel of black rocks, followed by Cassandra and Eugene. "Yeah! What she said!" Eugene adds.
"We can't slow down! Who knows how much time we have, before he manages to escape?" Y/n questions. "Who was that?" Cassandra asks.
"I-I don't know, but it must've been who Varian was trying to warn us ab-" Y/n replies, almost out of breath. "Y/N, WATCH OUT!" Rapunzel cries, then pulls her little sister out of the way of who looks like the exact same masked warrior.
The four run around a corner, then see the masked man again. "How fast is this guy?!" Eugene asks. They reach the end of the black rock tunnel, but Eugene pauses. "Well, I guess that explains why he could move so fast." He states. There are lots of masked warriors, surrounding the four of them.
Y/n clutches the graphtyc in her hands, tightly.
She won't let anybody take it. Varian needs it.
And she doesn't want to let her best friend down.
Eugene pulls his sister-figure behind him and stands in front of the princesses protectively, with balled fists. "Cassandra, you take the ones in black, We'll handle the rest." He instructs.
The army of masked men make the four of them back up, almost against the black rocks. Rapunzel's golden hair and Y/n's hair streak glow almost blindingly bright as their eyes widen nervously.
*Clang* One masked warrior is hit by a frying pan.
This makes him stumble and collapse to the floor.
Y/n opens her eyes and gasps, to see Maximus.
The white horse also holds a frying pan in his teeth.
Maximus kicks one masked man with his hind leg, headbutts another, then tosses the frying pan in the air, catch the handle in his mouth and whacks every other anonymous warrior out by spinning in a circle, hitting them all in the face with the frying pan, one at a time. Then he spits the frying pan out of his mouth, hitting one last warrior in the face, knocking him out. Because Maximus is incredible!
"Maximus!" Y/n exclaims, as she and Rapunzel run over to her favourite horse. "Oh, you couldn't have come a second sooner!" Rapunzel tells him, as they climb on. "Take us home, big guy!" Cassandra tells him, and Maximus races off with them on his back.
"These guys want whatever that is pretty badly. Something tells me we won't make it to the castle." Rapunzel points out, as Y/n looks at the graphtyc in her hands. "She's right. We need somewhere to hide and come up with a plan." Eugene suggests.
"I know just the place." Rapunzel tells them.
Rapunzel steers Maximus in the opposite direction and he races through the forest at top speed until they reach a cliff. "We're here." Rapunzel tells them.
"Here? Where's here?" Eugene asks. "You said we needed a place to hide. Here we are." Rapunzel says, getting down. "And once again, where is here?" Eugene asks, as Cassandra hears Owl hoot. "They're following us." She concludes.
"Guys, come on!" Rapunzel calls. Y/n, Cassandra and Eugene look down the cliff at Rapunzel, climbing down with a long green vine. "What are you slow pokes waiting for?" She asks, smugly.
Eugene hesitantly picks up a long green vine. "Okay, Eugene, today we are rappelling down the side of a cliff with a horse, two princesses, a chipmunk and a frog.." He says, with uncertainty lacing his voice. But it's fake. Completely fake. "Man, I love Corona!" He yells, enthusiastically. This makes Y/n giggle, as she unbraids her streak.
With a triumphant laugh, Eugene runs off of the cliff and down the long green vine he goes. Y/n, instead of using a vine, uses her very long, golden and unbreakable, hair streak.
Rapunzel probably didn't, because it takes way more time to unbraid and then braid all her hair. Tying the end of her hair streak to the top of the vine that Eugene uses, Y/n gracefully swings down the side of the cliff by her hair streak in a similar way that makes her recall when Rapunzel elegantly swung down her hair when she first left her tower.
Cassandra and Rapunzel let go of the vines and fall down. Y/n and Eugene then reach the floor next, with Eugene skillfully landing on his feet in a hero-like pose. Y/n lands on the grass and frees her hair streak from the top of the cliff, after a few tugs.
Meanwhile, Maximus accidentally ruins Eugene's grand landing by falling down and sliding beside him on the grass. This makes Eugene fall to his knees and brace for impact. But luckily, he remains unharmed. When Eugene lifts his head out of the grass and opens his eyes, Maximus grins smugly them spits a mouthful of grass at him.
Y/n's eyes widen in realisation of where they're going to when they come across the familiar curtain of vines. "Eugene, I'm surprised you didn't recognize where we are." Rapunzel says, as they reach the end of the stone tunnel.
"Actually, now I'm not sure I recognize it." Rapunzel admits, as the princesses stare in shock. The black rocks are all around the tall tower. Y/n exhales slowly. "Wow.. it-it's like.. the rocks know where you've been. And.. because you were there for all those years.. there are so many rocks." She suggests. "That could be true." Rapunzel agrees.
"This is bad." Eugene states. "These rocks are an even bigger problem than we thought." Cassandra adds. "Huh? Oh, no, actually, I was talking about my vest. I got it dirty during the fall, but, uh.." Eugene says, then clears his throat. "Yeah no, those rocks are bad, super bad." He agrees.
[In The Tower, At Night]
Y/n glances around at everything in the tower. The broken mirror, the seventy foot long head of hair that Eugene cut from Rapunzel.. the memories flood back to her mind at an alarming rate.
Letting out a slow sigh, it feels very weird for the youngest princess to be in the tower again. Not so much for Rapunzel, since she had to when they found Pascal. And apparently not for Eugene, who proudly boasts about everything that happened.
"Oh, and this is where she hit me with a frying pan for the very first time. Little known fact, but the blow actually improved my hairline. Yeah, pre-pan, cowlick, post-pan perfection." Eugene tells Cassandra and Maximus as they explore the tower.
Grabbing the green wooden chair by the closet and sitting down, Y/n looks at the graphtyc, with Rapunzel beside her. "What is so important about this thing?" Rapunzel mutters. Y/n shrugs.
"Oh, uh, watch your step, pal. That's where I died. See?" Eugene asks. Y/n can't help, but snigger at Eugene's constant bragging.
"Hm, it sounds like something's inside." Y/n points out, as she shakes the graphtyc and a rattling sound is heard from the inside of it.
"This is the armoire where Rapunzel and Y/n hid my unconscious body. You remember that, honey? Ha-ha What a romantic first date." Eugene says, as he and Maximus approach the closet. "With me, accidentally being a third wheel? Very(!)" Y/n jokes.
Cassandra struggles to open the graphtyc with her hand, and Rapunzel notices a family keyhole. "Wait a minute." She says. "They key!" She realises, holding it to the keyhole. After unlocking the graphtyc, she pulls out a scroll, of sorts.
"A.. scroll?" Y/n questions, as she and Rapunzel examine it curiously. "Guys? I think we have a problem.." Eugene says, nodding to the window.
Y/n glances out of the window to see the masked warriors climbing up the tower by using arrows, like Eugene did. 'Wait. Eugene's arrow climbing? The only ones who know that, are-' Y/n thinks, to herself. "You've gotta be kidding!" Rapunzel groans, seeing the masked men climbing up, while accidentally pulling Y/n out of her thoughts.
"What do you wanna do, Blondie?" Eugene asks. Rapunzel narrows her eyebrows. "No more running, no more hiding. These guys just ticked off the wrong princess." She states, with her game face on. "That's my girl!" Eugene says, with a smirk, twirling the frying pan around his hand skillfully.
"Sorry, Eugene, frying pans are great and all, but it's time for an upgrade." Rapunzel states, handing her little sister the graphtyc and unbraiding her long golden hair. "Rapunzel, what are you doing?" Y/n asks, nervously. "Letting down my hair." Rapunzel answers, approaching the window.
Rapunzel lets her seventy foot long golden hair fall down from the window. As soon as the hair touches one of the black pointy rocks, an enormous shockwave explodes, shaking the whole area and knocking everybody back. At least the masked warriors aren't on the tower anymore.
"Y/n! Kiddo, you okay?" Eugene asks, helping his sister-figure up. Y/n nods, groaning a little as she holds her banged elbow. "I'm fine.." She replies.
Eugene nods in relief, as Rapunzel gasps. More black rocks sprout at a tremendous speed. She quickly grabs her hair, opens the trapdoor to the spiral staircase and everybody climbs down.
"Uhm, I did not expect the rocks to follow us all the way up here." Rapunzel states, as the rocks block the stairs. "What did you expect them to do?" Eugene asks. "Come on!" Rapunzel tells them, and they head back up the stairs.
Rapunzel runs to the window, but a large rock blocks it suddenly. "Now what? We're trapped!" Y/n panics, pressing her hands against her ears tightly as the booming rocks echo loudly in them.
Hearing a hooting sound, the princesses glance up at Owl, who flies up to a hatch and pulls it down to open the sunroof. "That's the only way out! Let's go! Come on!" Rapunzel insists, grabbing her little sister's hand as they all flee up the staircase.
Rapunzel tosses her hair up to the rafters, as does Y/n with her hair streak, and Cassandra climbs Rapunzel's hair while Y/n uses her hair. Then Eugene climbs his girlfriend's hair, followed by Maximus. "So, horses can climb now! That's a thing." Eugene realises, with a shrug.
"Eugene, I think we've established that there isn't a lot that Maximus can't do." Y/n points out. Eugene nods. "Touché, kid.." He agrees.
Rapunzel climbs up her hair next, as the rocks almost cover the entire tower. Owl is startled by a rock almost impaling him and he falls down. Pascal quickly stretches his long toungue out and catches Owl by his talons, saving his life. Maximus then neighs at them to hurry up, once Owl is safe.
The rocks then cover the towers roof, making it crumble. Rapunzel hair glows, as does Y/n's streak and the oldest princess glances down with an idea. "There is only one way down! Guys, I think I have a way out, but it's a little crazy, so you're just gonna have to trust me." She tells them.
The tower then crashes a little, causing the youngest princess to stumble and almost fall over. "Uh, sure, let's go for it! I'm up for anything at this point." Eugene says, standing Y/n up. "Agreed." She adds, with a nod. "Follow me!" Rapunzel instructs.
"Ohh! Even your hands are cold!" Eugene tells Cassandra, grabbing her hand. "She's wearing leather gloves." Y/n points out. "Let's go!" Rapunzel tells them, as they run towards the edge. Y/n's eyes widen anxiously, as they reach the very edge of the tower. "I cannot believe we're doing this!" Eugene yells, as they all jump off of the roof.
As Rapunzel's hair glows the brightest, it suddenly shields them all in a protective sphere and they fall down to the ground safely. "What just.. happened?" Y/n asks, amazed. "Uh.. did everyone see that? Is-Is that new?" Cassandra asks, as the hair parts. "Uhh, let's just say it's complicated." Eugene states.
Rapunzel can't help, but frown as the tall tower (her childhood home) crumbles and collapses to the ground. Sure, it was her childhood home for dark reasons, but her eyes well up and a tear slips down her cheek as all the good memories of her living there swarm her mind.
"Can we avoid going up in towers from now on?" Eugene asks, as Rapunzel picks up a small section of the wall painting she made in her tower. The painting of her sitting down and gazing up at the lanterns. "Mm.." She mumbles, with a sigh.
"Are you okay?" Eugene asks Rapunzel, with a hand on her shoulder. She doesn't answer, but they share a warm hug which speaks more words.
"Guys? You wanna have a look at this?" Cassandra asks. They all glance up at the masked warrior leader, struggling through the rubble.
"Time for those answers, sis." Y/n states, immediately approaching the anonymous warrior as Rapunzel stands up and follows her little sister. Y/n knocks the mask away as the man reaches for it, and he looks up to reveal that he's.. the Captain?
Y/n KNEW it! Eugene's arrow climbing technique. There are only a few that know about that: Her, Rapunzel, Eugene, Maximus and the Captain. Eugene did teach the guards that trick, after all.
"Dad?" Cassandra asks, as Y/n and Rapunzel stare at him, wide eyed. "Princesses, we had orders to recover the scroll, to keep it from you." The Captain explains, standing up.
"Who?" Y/n asks - silence is her only response.
"Who ordered you?" Rapunzel demands.
The Captain and the guards continue to be silent.
"Answer them." Cassandra commands, firmly.
The Captain gulps. "Your father." He admits.
Y/n and Rapunzel take a step back, in shock.
Y/n then rushes over to Maximus' satchel and pulls out the graphtyc. All of them carefully examine the scroll. There's just a picture of the sun, the moon, several drops below each of them and peculiar-looking handwriting. At the bottom of the scroll is a picture of the Sundrop flower.
"Why would your father wanna keep this from you?" Eugene asks. Y/n shrugs, shaking her head. "I have no idea.." She admits, as a stern glare is seen from Rapunzel. She glances up at her destroyed tower. "But we're going to find out." She states, with certainty lacing her voice, as the dawn rises.
Question Of The Chapter!
I wrote a Tangled-based story which is a sort of parody of Snow White and the Huntsman. It involves Y/n, Rapunzel, Eugene and Varian, with cameos from other characters. You should give it a read! If you have.. what did you think of it?
My Answer: I really enjoyed writing it!
Your Answer?