The Miracle-Redux
A/N: In this chapter; the beginning of an amazing and intriguing tale is revealed…
A/N #2: This story "kind of" follows my other stories, so you might recognize a few of my OCs here that are still awaiting their full development there… I am also providing this spoiler alert. That said; I hope not to spoil things too much.
A/N #3: This is my own tear transference story. I hope you enjoy it. And, oh yes, I do not own Tangled or its primary characters, though I do own mine and the idea…
Chapter Fourteen: The Tale, Part One
The no longer quite so small yet still intimate group, having reached the remote seashore, far from prying eyes and ears yet still quite conveniently located to the Royal Kingdom of Corona-by-the-Sea's castle, soon found comfortable spots in which to sit and looked longingly to King William.
"Now, I guess we can learn the rest of the story…?" William asked, as he looked around to ensure their absolute privacy.
"Yes, my good king. This story begins with not just one, but three drops of sunlight…"
"Three drops of sunlight?" King William asked, stunned beyond words by this new revelation.
"Exactly. There were three, not one, drops of sunlight that arrived at Sonnen III. The first two drops of sunlight landed on Io, the first one golden yellow and the second one an icy blue. The third drop of sunlight landed on the island nation of Nihon Koku, situated off the continent of Europa, it a flaming red." Mistress Cassiopeia confirmed.
"What is a drop of sunlight?" Stephanie and Chelsea both asked, simultaneously; the confusion they felt quite evident.
"It is complicated." Annabella replied; unavoidably giggling at the looks gracing the two crown princesses as they took in the beginning of the amazing story. She was quite sure that they would soon totally freak out.
"That is quite the understatement, Annie." Mistress Cassiopeia smirkingly replied as she took in the look of exasperation gracing the faces of the two visiting crown princesses.
"And…?" Chelsea impatiently prompted.
"The term 'drop of sunlight' is not really all that accurate." Mistress Cassiopeia admitted.
"I was about to say. How can sunlight be a drop? We do not get 'rained' on by sunlight!" An obviously quite confused Stephanie asked; the desperation to understand clearly etched on her flawless features.
"That is why we say it can be quite complicated. You see, it is not a true drop in the pure sense of the word. Rather it is a quite small sphere of the sun's energy that, once leaving the host star, is able to interact with anything it comes into contact with. In each case, the droplet reacted in quite different ways."
"Three drops; but what about Dr.…" Catherine began.
"…Lambert?" Cassiopeia finished.
"Yes. He told me the tale of the drop of only the single yellow-gold tinted sunlight that landed outside the confines of the current Kingdom of Corona. He also told me how its amazing powers saved my life and most apparently transferred to Rapunzel."
Rapunzel and Eugene exchanged surprised glances. They had wondered why William and Catherine had seemed nonplussed at the whole amazing story they were told after he brought her home.
"Yes. I will admit that he, for the uninformed, is quite knowledgeable on the powers of the drop of sunlight and its transformation into a beautiful flower. However…"
"What?" Catherine asked.
"…due to the locations of each of the three drops; he, his father, and his father's father only had knowledge of the one."
"You mean to tell us…" William began.
"Yes, King William. The other two landed in very widely spaced and distinct areas and, most importantly, came from different, non-yellow, suns; suns far outside our own system."
"Came from different suns; suns far outside our own system? What do you…?" The group asked.
"Oh, yes!" Rapunzel excitedly shouted as she recognized the revelation. The others in the group looked longingly at the Corona crown princess, waiting for her to reveal more.
"I see that our young and very intelligent Corona crown princess has figured it out." Mistress Cassiopeia happily replied as she smiled brightly at an obliviously quite proud William and Catherine.
"Figured what out?" Stephanie and Chelsea asked as they looked on in envy; thinking not only of her envious relationship with the handsome and brave Eugene, but also her extreme intelligence.
"Simply that the stars we see in the night sky are, in fact, suns that host their own groups of other planets. Our own sun is but one of a vast multitude of stars." Rapunzel stated with a flourish as she grinned at a similarly grinning Eugene as he too made the same connection.
"Other planets?!"
"Yes. Many, if not a vast majority, of the stars in the night sky host a plethora of planets that travel around their hosts in a regular fashion just as Sonnen 3 travels around its yellow host. It is not known if these planets, however, happen to occupy that very special zone around the star where life such as ours can thrive. It is also not known if the other stars out there, ranging from very small white stars to gigantic red stars are even stable enough to provide the proper conditions as our own yellow star does. And, while this is all very, very intriguing and could occupy an entire week of discussion and is of interest to note, this is not the most important facet of this amazing tale."
"What is then?!" Everyone impatiently asked.
"The simple fact that each of these drops, coming as they did from very different types of stars, carried different elements within them that acted in distinctly different ways when they struck the surface of Sonnen 3."
"Different types of stars?" The group, minus those from Avandell, asked; the confusion, despite the excellent explanation, very obviously displayed on their features.
"Yes. The three 'drops' of sunlight, coming as they did from very different stars each contained a wide variety of elements that predisposed them to react in very differing ways as they all impacted the surface of Sonnen III."
"Are you saying what I think you are?" King William asked as he took in this new knowledge.
"Yes, my good king. The second drop to impact Sonnen III, the yellow star drop, landed very close to Corona and reacted with nearby vegetation to form the miraculous yellow starflower where once only a flowery weed grew; the very flower that saved Catherine's life and inexplicably transferred its power. This power was excited in one of two principal ways; the song and the creation of the special herbal drink."
"So this is why Rapunzel had the bright, almost glowing, blond hair at her birth." Catherine replied.
"Yes indeed, Catherine. The tea, made from the petals of the flower, apparently not only healed your life long ill health and ensured the health of your daughter Rapunzel, but also reacted with her cells to give her the gift of eternal youth to those who knew its secret; the special song. It was this one facet of the flower's power that led to your kidnapping by one who apparently had found the flower and knew of the song centuries before and used it selfishly for her own gain."
"But, what about…?" Rapunzel began to ask.
"…the other power this flower obviously has?" Mistress Cassiopeia asked.
"Yes."
"Let's save that for later, ok?"
"I guess so…"
"I promise we will not leave anything out. The second drop of sunlight, this one an amazing blue, coming from a star in the vicinity of the constellation of Orion the Hunter proved to be even more miraculous than the yellow star drop. It also landed on the continent of Io; specifically in the confines of Avandell. It happened to land in the communal well, of all things, of an important residential portion of the village. This drop reacted with the waters of the aquifer underneath Avandell and transferred its powers to those who drank from it. The strength of the reaction was initially much localized to one particular area as it absorbed into the bricks lining a particular well before it rapidly spread throughout the entire aquifer. It was in this portion of the village that several very special individuals were born and initially raised."
Eugene and Amanda could not help but look first to each other and then to Rupert. They then looked at their parents with wide grins. It was as patently obvious to the three as to be as blinding as the sun. They could not help but continue to smile as they took in the impact of this knowledge.
"Ah, Eugene, Amanda, and Rupert; I can see by the looks gracing your faces that you know exactly why this part of the story is so important. Yes?"
"I do." Amanda eagerly replied.
"As do I." Rupert excitedly confirmed.
"I guess so…" Eugene hesitantly replied as his confidence suddenly failed him.
Mistress Cassiopeia, seeing the quite sudden distress in Eugene's eyes walked over to him and gently hugged him about the shoulders.
"Eugene, please believe me when I tell you that you are just as amazing as Rupert and Amanda; if not more so."
"It is hard, Mistress. I mean I used this amazing and benevolent power for ill will, not for good." Eugene confessed, bringing warm looks of affection towards him to the faces of all present, especially a certain new blonde.
"I know, Eugene, that you are still very guilt stricken and do not feel worthy. But trust me when I tell you that everything happens for a reason. I can also tell you that you did not just do ill acts. You, in fact, did far more to aid the Kingdom of Corona than you might think. Especially your actions today. You must, therefore, let go of the past and live for the future; a future that will be very different completely due to your actions this very day. That said, I want you to look closely at Rupert and Amanda, ok?
"Ok. What am I looking for?" Eugene asked.
"Can you see their auras?"
"Yes, of course." Eugene replied. His confidence slowly returned as he took in the sight of the two glowing auras and the small tendrils reaching out towards the other.
"And…?"
"Well, Rupert's is an amazing red, while Amanda's is an icy blue."
"What else can you tell me about it?"
"Well, they seem to be intertwining and merging into a…" Eugene abruptly stopped as he saw the two single auras merge into a purple one.
"…purple one?" Mistress Cassiopeia asked.
"Yes! How did you…?" Eugene began to ask before the realization that Mistress Cassiopeia would already know this caused him to pause and to look at her for more information.
"Before I answer, please look to William and Catherine."
The royal couple, already knowing the importance of Mistress Cassiopeia's words, moved towards the other and gently wrapped their arms around the waist of the other, causing their auras to merge as well…
"I can see the royal blue aura of William intertwining with the emerald green aura of Catherine."
"And…?"
"They are merging into a single aquamarine one."
"Very good. I am sure you can also see those of your parents?"
"Yes; their two blue auras are merging into an even brighter blue one. But I do not understand…" Eugene hesitantly stated as he watched the blue aura of his mother merging with the aquamarine aura of his father; the two forming a brighter aquamarine aura.
"The importance of this cannot be overstated. You see, these auras easily merge into a single, more powerful, one due to one very important reason that I will discuss here in a minute. This said, do you understand what a soul mate is?"
A/N #5: What happens next?
A/N #6: Please review…