A/N: Sorry this update was a little later than before. (*snorts* a little). Yep, that's probably what you're all thinking. I think. :P Well, to make up for the late update, I present you with a longer-than-usual chapter! Oh, and by the way, thank you to all those who have reviewed so far! You're AMAZING!
I OWN NOTHING THAT YOU RECOGNIZE TO BE ORIGINALLY DISNEY
And…. ENJOY!
CHAPTER THREE
PETER CRIES AGAIN
Everyone immediately ran in the direction where the voice was coming from: the meadows. They raced onto one of the hills, and the sight before them was not unfamiliar to the people from Corona. There was the same twelve-year-old boy, standing in the same position as before (bent over and laughing fit to burst), surrounded by a harmless, very white flock of sheep.
"Again… again… I fooled you… again!" he shouted, barely being able to speak, his mirth was so great. "Fools! You're all absolute fools!"
Some people from town had gathered around for the same reason as the royal family. Now they were infuriated. The boy seemed to be right; he had tricked them once more, and they were all envisioning themselves as fools.
"We are! The boy's right!"
"I can't believe this!"
"I canceled a sale for this?"
"Wait, what?" Anna said in a very confused voice. "What does he mean, 'again'?" she asked, turning to Olaf, who just stared at her blankly. "Why am I asking you? You're a snowman," she muttered to herself before facing Rapunzel. "What does he mean, 'again'?" the princess repeated.
Her cousin took a deep breath before replying. "He cried wolf earlier, before you guys arrived. And I think I need to handle this myself."
She stepped forward, but before she could even open her mouth to speak, Eugene put a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. Rapunzel looked at him.
"What?"
"Here. You had your turn last time. Let me handle this."
Rapunzel raised her eyebrows, but after a second, it seemed she had given in. "Fine," she relented, holding out her hands in a gesture that meant that her husband could pass. "Be my guest."
"Thank you." Eugene nodded stiffly to his wife. Then he approached the boy in front of them, who had been watching the couple with confusion on his face.
"Okay, look, um…" he started, and suddenly wished he knew the boy's name.
"Peter."
"Okay, then, Peter." The ex-thief cleared his throat. "Look. I understand you might think this is funny and all, but seriously, it's not. I mean, twice in a day, eh, yeah, I dunno about you, but to me, I think just one joke in one day is probably best. Actually, I have an experience with this one joke that went kinda crazy when I did it once too often. It was before I started the whole 'thieving' thing, which you probably already know about. Well, I used to stay at this orphanage, and when I was old enough, I became an apprentice to a printer at a print shop. Anyway, my employer-guy had made me do this huge load of stuff, and I decided to mess up on purpose. He didn't realize it until too late, when the newspaper had been sent out. And he had written one of these sections in it, and guess what I did? I signed his name as—"
"Are you supposed to be lecturing him on how to do a proper prank or how to be a proper young man?" Elsa interrupted.
Eugene gave her a look. "Okay, fine. Anyways, just, Peter, it's not really that cool to do stuff like that, okay? No more of it. Hear me?"
The boy, who had looked up in surprise when the ex-thief had first started instructing on a good joke, looked even more shocked that he had gotten away with this so easily. That is, until the same hulking, gruff man from earlier (whom Eugene assumed to be the boy's father) came walking up to them with a positively mean look on his face.
"This is not your boy," he said in a voice that matched his expression perfectly. "I will reprimand him how I like it, and I will not have you be doing it." With that, he proceeded to grab Peter's ear (again) and started practically dragging him away.
"Hey!" Eugene cried out indignantly. "Dude! You're hurting him!"
The man just ignored him. That is, until the ex-thief's patience ran out and he slapped him on the shoulder.
The person whom he assumed to be Peter's father then turned around with a dark look on his face that reminded Eugene horribly of the Stabbington Brothers.
"Excuse me?" His voice seemed to hold such menace in it that even the former Flynn Rider was ready to cower with fear.
"Umm… uh…. Nothing…." Suddenly, inspiration struck him. He knew it was quite a risky thing to do, but the Flynn Rider side of Eugene overcame him.
"Actually…. Take that!" And without further ado, Eugene pulled a certain something out of a satchel held by Maximus, who was standing right behind him, and proceeded to knock the man upside the head with a very useful cooking utensil in one smooth motion. "Frying pans! Who knew, right?"
"EUGENE!"
There is no possible way to describe how angry, vicious, violent, fearsome, and positively deadly Rapunzel was right now. She glowered up at her husband, and it seemed to him that she could win against the man before them (who had not been knocked unconscious—what was up with that?) with an evil-look contest.
"Why in the world of worlds did you do that?!" she exclaimed with indescribable indignation.
"Umm… uh…." Unlike with Peter's father, Eugene somehow gave in to the anger now before him. "Fine. Sorry. But that guy was really being a butt! Seriously!"
"But that is no way to treat the people of Corona! You are their prince!"
"Uh…."
But just at that moment, the man in front of them caught their attention by clearing his throat. The couple turned their heads to look at him, and saw a look of very severe anger and raised eyebrows.
Rapunzel tried to smile at his glowering figure—but found that she couldn't. "I am so sorry, sir. I honestly don't know what came over Eugene."
The boy's father looked at her, and then at the ex-thief. He nodded, and his expression softened a little. "Whatever. And by the way—why a frying pan?"
"Um… they can be very useful. Sometimes," Eugene said in reply, still feeling extremely intimidated by the man before him.
"We'll be going, now, then. My son has got a lot of explaining to do." And without further ado, the man put a hand to Peter's shoulder, pushing him along in the direction he had come.
The people from the village who had witnessed this encounter then went back to town, a lot of them muttering and wondering about what had just happened.
"People can be just… I dunno. Irritating. I think," Anna noted.
"Please do not tell anyone what just happened. Please," Eugene said hurriedly, ignoring the Arendelle princess's comment, to which everyone assented.
"Well," Rapunzel said, pulling herself together. "I think that we can all head back to our day-to-day lives, now. Guys, follow me. We have had too many delays already. It is time for us to have some lunch."
A few minutes later, the extremely large group of friends had arrived at the doors to the castle of Corona. Rapunzel nodded and curtsied to the two guards standing beside the doors, who both bowed and smiled in return. Inside, they could all see the walls were painted in light, pretty, calming colors, often adorned with simply amazing murals done by the princess herself. Sofas, framed paintings, mirrors, side tables, suits of armor, the occasional window, and such lined the long walls. Crystal chandeliers adorned the ceiling above them. It was similar to the palace of Arendelle, yet different as well.
"Whoa…" Olaf said in awe. "This is some castle! I love it!"
"Me, too!" Summer put in excitedly. "I love it, too!"
"Castles are amazing!" the snowman exclaimed.
"I know, right?" the snowlady agreed.
"I want a castle of my own!" Olaf decided suddenly.
"Me, too!" Summer exclaimed.
"I could decorate it with seashells, and it could be made out of sand, and it could have a lemonade fountain, too!"
"Like summer!"
"Yeah, like you!"
"You would be king, and I would be queen!"
"Yeah! I love that idea!" said Olaf.
"Me, too!" agreed Summer.
Eugene walked over to Kristoff and Nathan and muttered, putting a hand next to his mouth, "Are they always like that? I mean, I know what Olaf's like, I guess, but Summer, too?"
"Yep," the two other men replied at the same time.
"Interesting…. But, I guess one can live with that. I think. I dunno, can you?"
"Nope," Kristoff and Nathan said simultaneously.
"Ooh-kay, then," Eugene said, slightly disconcerted.
"It's just a little farther on until we find my parents. I told them we'd meet up in the throne room, and then head over to the dining room for lunch," Rapunzel explained to the group at large.
A chorus of 'okays' echoed throughout the hallway from the people. They continued on, now in silence (except, for the two snowpeople, continuing with their ideas about having a castle of their own), deciding to save more conversation topics for lunch and just thinking right now.
Rapunzel recalled what had happened since her cousins had arrived. First, the game of Spinach, which went very well, next, she ended up healing someone from a dog-or-wolf bite, and lastly, the boy named Peter had cried wolf for the second time. A lot was going on in her mind.
Should I have not healed Chrysanthemum? I revealed my powers to practically a complete stranger…. But it was to help her. She needed me. I couldn't have just let her stay that way, in pain. I don't like pain.
She shuddered, as, for some reason, an image of Eugene appeared in Rapunzel's mind. He was gaunt, lifeless, pale, injured—in pain. It was when he had been stabbed by Mother Gothel all those years ago in that tower. And only because he loved her.
No, she shouldn't be thinking of that right now. But somehow, that thought lead to another unsettling piece of mind.
Peter. Thinking back to what the boy had just done, Rapunzel became infuriated once more. He had tried and succeeded in fooling the people around him to believe that there was a wolf attacking his sheep. Twice. It was such a ridiculous thing, too. She wondered how she could have fallen for that prank two times. And the princess also couldn't believe that he had done it twice in the same day.
After having stewed in these thoughts for what seemed like quite a while (though it was only a few minutes), Rapunzel had arrived at her destination with her friends and family in tow. Once again, she bowed to the men standing beside two huge doors, this time leading to their destination. The guards then opened the doors for everyone and they all walked inside.
The throne room was huge, perhaps even larger than the one at Arendelle, as Elsa observed. It was long and narrow, with many purple banners showing Corona's emblem, a golden sun, on them. At the other end, on a raised platform, stood four chairs with similar banners draped across them. Two of them were for the king and queen; those were on opposite sides of yet another banner hanging through the center of the back wall. The chairs next to each of the first ones were for the princess and prince consort, Rapunzel and Eugene.
Sitting in the obvious thrones were Rapunzel's parents, Queen Primrose and King Benjamin. The queen seemed to be almost an exact replica of her daughter; her eyes were emerald green; her hair, though much longer, was the exact same shade of brown as Rapunzel's with the same flip at the top, near the part; and their faces were just so similar (though, the princess's nose was slightly more upturned than her mother's). The king, on the other hand, though he did have brown hair like his wife and daughter, looked almost nothing like either (which made sense, in some ways). He had a bushy brown beard and light blue eyes, and was very tall and fatherly-looking.
Queen Primrose was the sister of the former King Agdar of Arendelle. They had both lived in Arendelle until Primrose had left to marry the prince of Corona, though Agdar had stayed, of course, to be king and eventually married Princess Idun of another kingdom.
Of course, time went on, and each of these couples had families. Eventually, Rapunzel was reunited with her parents, which was when the Arendelle couple was in that dreadful storm to finally meet their niece, and… things happened. It was then three years later that Rapunzel and Eugene, for their honeymoon, had ventured out to the kingdom to witness Elsa's coronation for obvious reasons.
King Benjamin and Queen Primrose both smiled warmly at the crowd in front of them, standing up to greet their family. Rapunzel's mother held out her arms to them with her head tilted slightly to one side. But a moment later, her expression of welcome became one of horror and disgust as she laid eyes on the two snowpeople in the group before her.
It probably didn't help, either, that right at that moment, Olaf and Summer had been playing tag together, and they had both stopped dead. And their body parts were all in the wrong places, too.
The Corona princess, however, did not seem to notice this, and instantly rushed up to her and hugged her mother tightly, but then let go immediately and saw the look on the queen's face.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
"What are… those?" Queen Primrose pointed a slightly shaking finger at the snowman and snowlady.
"Olaf and Summer!" Rapunzel exclaimed indignantly as the two snowpeople started helping each other put their body parts back on. "I told you about them, remember?"
"You did?" her mother wondered aloud. But then she shook her head to clear it and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She opened them again, and this time the expression on her face turned back to the one it had been moments before. "Of course. I am sorry, Olaf, Summer. I had completely forgotten about the two of you."
"We're snowpeople. We cannot be offended!" they replied simultaneously, still with their unchallengeable innocence.
"Well, now that that's sorted out, hello, everyone, and welcome to Corona!" Primrose beamed at them all.
Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Kaara, and Nathan all curtsied or bowed before the king and queen. Olaf, Summer, Mary, Nya, and Sven didn't really know what to do, but everyone except the snowpeople eventually caught on and copied the others. Even Sven.
However, Queen Primrose quickly waved them off, saying airily, "Oh, there's no need for that. You're family, of course. Come here."
At that, Anna did the same thing that her cousin had done before, except this time, she grabbed King Benjamin's arm and pulled him in, too. "Come on, guys!" she exclaimed to the group at large, who all joined them in one big, happy family group hug.
It seemed as though no one wanted to let each other go (hugs were addicting like that), but they couldn't stay that way forever. And so, after a little while, the queen broke everyone up and spoke as kindly and motherly as a good queen should and would.
"Rapunzel has told me so much about all of you," she said. "It's so wonderful to meet you at last. I am so sorry we weren't able to come to your coronation, Elsa. The king and I had other very important affairs we had to attend to that we could not delay or cancel. That was the same with your wedding, Anna." She looked at all of them fondly, though also with an almost sad look in her eye.
Elsa nodded her head understandingly. "Of course, Queen Primrose."
At this, the queen's face turned down in concern. "Now, Elsa, dear, we're family. There's no need for that. I already told you. Just call me Aunt Primrose, or even just Primrose, or something of the sort. You are to feel right at home here. All of you," she finished, addressing everyone.
The Snow Queen smiled and her tone changed from regal formality to easy relaxation. "Yes, Aunt Primrose."
"That's better." The queen sighed suddenly and grabbed her niece up into a huge embrace. "It's been so long since I've seen you, and you were only just a little girl then. You've grown up so much." She then turned to Anna. "Both of you. Anna, you were such an adorable baby!"
The princess giggled. "It's nice to see you, too, Aunty Rose."
Primrose laughed. "Or you can call me that, too."
"Girls." King Benjamin enfolded to two sisters in a bear-like hug. They squeezed equally as tightly.
"And Kristoff! Nathan! Kaara! Oh, there are so many of you I haven't met yet!" his wife exclaimed. "I'll have to learn more about you all at lunch. Speaking of which, shall we get going, then?"
Everyone nodded, smiling, and they all ventured out of the throne room and to the dining room of the castle of Corona.
Soon they were all settled in very comfortable, if not a little high, seats at the long dining room table. Unlike at Arendelle, there were two seats at the head of the table, one for the king and one for the queen. Rapunzel took a seat next to her mother with Eugene on her left, while Elsa sat across from her, next to the king and Nathan. Beside Nathan sat Kristoff, and then Anna. Next to Rapunzel was Kaara, with Mary and Nya next. They would not be sitting at a children's table, which was often custom for things like these. The two snowpeople, having obviously come even though they were, well, snowpeople and couldn't actually eat, were next after Anna. And Maximus and Sven had insisted upon being in the room as well, and stood, chatting away behind Kristoff, where the reindeer got the occasional carrot from his best friend. Pascal was ever-present on Rapunzel's shoulder. And between the princess and prince consort was a set of highchairs for the babies.
"So, Elsa, dear, how do you like being queen?" Primrose inquired of her niece, once the food (soup, lemonade, sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, and milk) had been served.
Elsa looked up from her food in surprise at the question. "Umm… things are going well in Arendelle, if that's what you mean. Being queen is fine, I suppose." Then she sighed. "Actually, sometimes the dignitaries from other kingdoms can be a real pain. Especially King Charles of the Southern Isles and the Duke of Weselton—"
"Weaseltown," Anna interrupted insistently.
Her sister gave her a reproving look before smirking and letting in. "Fine, Weaseltown. Those two won't give me a rest. And Arendelle isn't even trading partners with either of them anymore!"
Queen Primrose smiled sympathetically. "I know, dear. Benjamin has always had trouble with those two."
"But at least I have you, Rose, to help me out in tight spaces with them." The king put his hands on his wife's.
Primrose looked up at him lovingly. "Always." Then she turned back to Elsa. "But you don't have anyone to help you, Elsa. Not like us, anyway. You need to find someone."
"I have Anna!" Elsa announced in a way that had both indignation and formality and even a little shock.
Her aunt looked at her fondly, shaking her head a little. "Oh, Elsa, that's not what I meant. Dear, what I'm saying is that you should find someone to rule beside you, not as a princess. I mean you need a king."
At this, both Elsa and Nathan blushed instantly. Primrose laughed good-naturedly. "Oh, in due time you'll realize just who the right person is. Don't worry."
She then lowered her green eyes down to her food and stayed there in silence for a while, leaving Elsa to ponder on her aunt's words.
Maybe she's right…. Arendelle does need a king. But isn't a queen good enough? For now, maybe, but what if something happens and just one ruler is not enough? And what if something happens to me? Of course, there's Anna. And Kristoff. But still, I wonder….
But she was getting ahead of herself. In order for anyone to become king of Arendelle, she would either have to die, leaving Anna and Kristoff as rulers (which was not something she wanted—for both obvious reasons) or marry someone. Marriage? No. She was not ready for that yet.
But she still had time. And there was Nathan. Elsa had thought about him a lot. Would he be a good king? He seemed… well, he did seem like he could be a good enough ruler, by what Elsa had learned about him. Ugh, why were these things so difficult?
"Hey, Elsa, could you please pass the butter?" Kaara's voice broke through her thoughts. Why did she keep doing that?
"Sure," the Snow Queen replied airily, and handed the plate of thick, white spread to her friend.
"Thanks." Kaara smiled at her.
Elsa shook her head to clear it. "You're welcome." Then she turned down to her food. She saw some berries there, and for some reason, the blueberries in the pile of fruit made her think of Nathan. Those dreamy blue eyes….
Ahh, Nathan, if only you knew how much I care about you.
"So how has everyone's day been?" Primrose asked the group at large.
"Good," they all replied simultaneously—and also maybe a little too quickly.
"Has anything, uh… interesting happened?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Postive?" The Queen of Corona raised her eyebrows.
A mix of 'yeses' and 'nos' could be heard throughout the dining room. The king and queen exchanged looks of amusement.
"Would you like to tell us anything important?" King Benjamin asked.
"We played Spinach!" Nya exclaimed happily.
"Oh, really? That sounds like fun," Primrose said. "Anything else?"
Rapunzel muttered something that sounded like, 'I bead some fun ith I pears'.
"What?" Primrose's expression turned to one of confusion.
Her daughter took a deep breath and announced, "I healed someone with my powers."
The queen looked shocked, while her husband seemed like he had been expecting something like this. "What? But didn't we agree that it was too dangerous?"
"Yes! We did! But this young woman had just been bit in the leg, and it was really deep and horrible-looking! I didn't want it to get infected! I couldn't just leave her there to bleed to death! I'm a princess, Mother!"
Primrose still looked shocked. But she took a deep breath and sighed as her husband spoke.
"I knew this would happen sooner or later."
"You did?" Nya asked curiously. "Can you tell the future or something?"
The king chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I can't tell the future, or anything like that. I just had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. Rapunzel's powers being revealed."
"You won't be getting any extra guards around the palace or anything, will you?" Rapunzel asked anxiously.
King Benjamin shook his head again, cutting off his wife, who had just been about to speak. "No. I trust your judgment, Rapunzel. I think you will be alright. Besides, you have Eugene with you. He'll make sure my baby won't get kidnapped by anyone, right, Rider?"
Eugene smiled at the use of his fake name. "No problem, Father."
The king chuckled again. "No problem, indeed."
"Oh, also, Mother," Rapunzel said. "Um, I told these guys about Lily."
"You did?"
"Yes, Mother. They're family. They wouldn't—and won't—give her away."
Once again, the queen looked like she was about to argue, but once again, the king held her back. "Let her be, Primrose. She can make her own decisions now. Rapunzel's not a little girl anymore."
"That's what I was afraid of." His wife leaned into her husband, sighing.
Everyone else turned back to their food, and for the rest of the meal, all was very quiet.
It was twilight, and the sun was setting, preparing for its sleep under the horizon. A young boy of about twelve ran out of his family's worn wooden house, taking a deep breath of the fresh air, relishing in the cool breeze flying past him.
The boy named Peter was going back to the meadows to check on the sheep in the pen where they were kept. Soon, he arrived there. It was very warm outside, and, seeing the light slowly fading away, Peter shivered, suddenly feeling a little bit scared. It was actually starting to feel a little bit creepy out here, with barely any light left. But he ventured onward, preparing to do the task that he probably would not have been doing had he had not been punished with extra chores—and also a slap on the bottom by his mother.
Peter was about to open the gate when suddenly, a noise that sent shivers down his spine reached his ears. It was a growl, and it sounded close. He looked over his shoulder, seeing only blackness in the forest beyond, and consoled himself slightly by flexing his muscles, thinking that he would be able to fight it off with his bare hands if he had to. Peter then proceeded to start opening the gate again, but stopped.
The growls could be heard from right behind him. He turned around slowly and to his complete and utter terror saw a huge, dog-like creature. Except it wasn't a dog.
It was a wolf.
"HELP!" Peter yelled out. "A WOLF! A REAL ONE! HELP ME! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
But no one came. They heard him, but didn't believe him. Suddenly, Peter felt extremely guilty at what he had done earlier that day and regretted ever even thinking about his prank. But it was too late to undo his actions now.
Especially because right at that moment, when fear, horror, and terror engulfed Peter to its fullest extent, the wolf, with its black eyes gleaming and pointed teeth bared, pounced.
