"This is the library!" Calliope announces as they all enter a dusty room with stacks and stacks of books. "And yes, I've read all theses books, if you're wondering."
"I've read more books than this," Varian whispers.
"Nerd..." Cassandra says, pretending to conceal it in a cough.
"Hey, the things I've read have proved to be helpful!" Varian says defensively.
"Ahem," Calliope clears her throat, as if she can't stand that all the attention isn't on her. "Now, I just have to grab the Vault's map." She digs through some papers as she continues, "The Spire's Vault holds hundreds of the rarest, most abstruse artifacts from all over the globe."
As she searches for the map, Rapunzel notices two large, intertwined rings hanging from the wall. Calliope sees her, and rushes to her side with an excited gasp.
"I noticed you were eying my linking rings," Calliope says, removing them from their hook "I am something of a master illusionist!" She spins the rings around, throws them in the air, and then with a puff of smoke makes them disappear... almost. "Ta-da!" She says as the rings hang out of her oversized sleeves.
Rapunzel claps her hands slowly, but doesn't even bother to force a smile. Eugene and Lance stare at Calliope in confusion, and Cassandra just folds her arms. Varian sighs exasperatedly.
"Thank you!" Calliope says with a bow. "Did I hear someone say, 'encore'?"
"You most certainly did not," Cassandra says as Calliope begins to pull a long string of handkerchiefs tied together out of her sleeve.
"Cass!" Rapunzel scolds, still trying to keep it together. "It's just one more trick. What's the harm?"
But it isn't just one more trick. Varian watches as the candles in the room melt shorter and shorter, while Calliope does magic trick after magic trick... and all very horribly. He wishes he could use a few of his alchemical solutions to show her up and end this madness, but he knows that if he did Rapunzel would be angry with him. However, he still believes that this Calliope needs to be brought down a peg or two...
"Behold! The magic of flight!" Calliope announces as doves fly from her sleeves. Rapunzel now sits on the floor cross-legged, a forced smile plastered to her face. Eugene and Cassandra sit on either side of her, both glaring daggers at Calliope. Lance is lying flat on his back, sound asleep. Varian is flipping through the pages of the nearest book he could grab, which is in a language he can't read but appears to be about different symbols in other kingdoms.
"Yes!" Calliope continues. "And now, for my next trick—"
"NO! No more tricks!" Eugene suddenly shouts, jumping up. But when he sees the hurt expression on Calliope's face, he feels bad about his outburst. "Uh... No more tricks, because these tricks blew my mind." He chuckles as he walks over to Lance and forces him up, then helps Cassandra to stand up. "We need some time to process all the spectacle and wonderment."
"Yes! Yes, in fact," Cassandra says, playing along with Eugene, "Rapunzel, would you care to join us in processing? Outside? Now?" She and Eugene each grab one of Rapunzel's arms, and force her to stand.
As the four of them head outside to regroup, Varian stands up to put the book away and follow them. But before he closes the book, an image catches his eye: A familiar symbol, a circle with three lines coming out of its center. "That's... That's my dad's tattoo," he says to himself, recognizing it as the symbol on the back of his father's hand. "And Adira has one too. B-But what does it mean?" He really wishes he could read whatever language this book is in.
"Oh, that symbol? Yeah, that's the emblem of the Dark Kingdom," Calliope tells him, pushing her glasses up.
"The Dark Kingdom?" Varian repeats. But, that's where we're headed...
"Oh yeah," Calliope continues, ignoring Varian's confusion. "And you better watch out for anyone with that symbol tattooed on their hand. That means they're part of... the Brotherhood."
"The Brotherhood? Wha-what's the Brotherhood?" But when he hears shouting coming from outside, he decides he had better put the book away and rejoin the others. He plans on discovering more about this 'Brotherhood' when he gets the chance, though.
Outside, he finds to no surprise that Cassandra is the one shouting. "Make her give us the scroll, and let's get out of here!" She says to Rapunzel. "She's the most annoying person I've ever met, and look who I am friends with!" She gestures to Lance, who has somehow managed to again get ahold of the goggles from before and is currently wearing them over his eyes.
"Wait, we're friends?" He asks her.
"CassAndra, relax," Eugene says. "Now, I know Calliope is insanely irritating. But we're talking about Rapunzel here! She doesn't even know how to get annoyed with people. I mean, look at that fa—" He stops suddenly when he sees the expression on Rapunzel's face. "Oh no, she's annoying you, isn't she?"
Rapunzel is wearing a smile that is obviously forced. Her eyes are wide, but one of them is twitching. "Nooo," she says slowly. She glances at Pascal on her shoulder, who gives her a disbelieving look. "No, she's not annoying," she insists. "She's just... different! Besides, doesn't matter what I think. She's gonna give us the scroll soon, and we will be on our way."
"Okay! We're all set," they hear Calliope shout from a window above them. "I can get you that third piece."
"Great!" Rapunzel says. "So, where's the—"
"Well, bon soir !" Calliope interrupts as the sun begins to set.
"Wait, what?" Rapunzel says, exchanging confused glances with the others.
"It's French," Calliope replies. "It means, 'I'm off to bed'."
Rapunzel shakes her head as the others begin to grow irritated again. "But I thought we were gonna get the scroll from the Vault," she says.
Calliope laughs. "Oh no, silly girl! It's all the way on top of the mountain, in a vault called 'The Spire'."
"But then, we'll—" Rapunzel begins to say.
"It's a full day climb," Calliope interrupts again. "I'll need a good night's rest before I take that on. Hence, bon soir !"
"No, we really weren't expecting to—" Rapunzel tries to say, but Calliope has already shut the window.
"Bon soir actually means 'good evening'," Varian explains to the group. "Technically, bonne nuit would be more accurate."
"One know-it-all at a time is enough, thanks," Cassandra says with irritation.
"Hmm... Okay! So, I guess we'll just camp out here!" Rapunzel says. "Without a caravan... or a tent." She tries to sound cheerful, but Varian can tell that she isn't any happier about this than they are.
"Still don't think she's annoying?" Eugene says.
A streak of lightning suddenly lights up the sky, and thunder claps, causing Varian to flinch. Rain begins to pour, soaking them all instantly.
"...How about now?" Eugene says.
They all sit down and lean against the double doors, trying to get out of the rain. Varian sees that Lance is still wearing the goggles he took, and he shakes his head. "Would you take those off already? That's my thing."