Disclaimer: I only own this plot, though I would love to own Tangled.
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Chapter Twenty-Five
Rapunzel was afraid. More afraid than she had ever been in her life. She was awake, but somehow she couldn't see anything around her. Had she been struck blind like Gothel had said would happen if she kept reading in dim light? She hoped not. That was the worst thing that could happen to her! Being blind meant no more painting, no more reading, and most importantly, it meant no more looking at Eugene. But…no, she was sure that she hadn't suddenly gone blind. Maybe she was dreaming? This certainly felt like a dream…
"Ah…she's finally awake there," a voice—her voice, she realized with a start—purred in satisfaction. "Finally. I was beginning to wonder…"
Suddenly, her voice stopped with a gasp of pain. Wherever she was, Rapunzel couldn't feel the usual ache of being away from Eugene…at least, not very strongly. Where was she, anyway? It was starting to scare her, not knowing. And where was Eugene? What was going on?
"What is it, Mother Gothel?" another voice, one that Rapunzel didn't recognize, asked.
"I don't know!" Rapunzel's voice replied, and suddenly the young Princess recognized that tone. Ice ran through her veins as Gothel continued. "Something is wrong. I shouldn't be in pain over this…What has she done to herself?"
There was a long silence and Rapunzel's panic was starting to grow. Why was Gothel using her voice? And just how bad was the pain? If she was in pain, then so was Eugene, and that was the last thing that Rapunzel wanted. Her thoughts were interrupted by the other voice.
"Interesting…now it seems Flynn Rider will have to come after us."
"What do you mean?" Gothel demanded, still in Rapunzel's voice.
"I mean, that unless he finds us soon, neither he nor the Princess have long to live."
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"What do you mean, 'We're not going to the tower'?" Flynn demanded as Granny waited for him to mount Max. "That's the place she's most likely to go to."
"And the first place that anyone who knows about the tower would look," Granny retorted with a sigh. "We have to think like Gothel to find where she has taken Rapunzel, and the last thing she wants is to be found. Not again, now that she has Rapunzel with her once more."
Flynn couldn't argue with that, and not just because the logic made sense. Just at that moment, an especially sharp wave of pain washed over him, leaving him clinging to Max's neck and breathless. Looking up at Granny, Flynn caught the brief look of pity that crossed her face, much to his chagrin. He didn't want her pity right now. All he wanted was to get Rapunzel back. There was a soft whicker from Max, and Flynn idly stroked the side of the large horse's neck.
"I'm okay, tough guy," he muttered under his breath. Flynn was sure Max didn't believe him, and he couldn't blame the horse. Flynn didn't really believe himself. "Oh, shut up," he muttered when the horse turned his head to glance up at the thief.
"Are you sure that you can keep up…?" Granny started to ask.
"No," Flynn said a little snappishly. "But I don't care at this point. Let's just find that old witch and get Rapunzel back."
Granny arched an eyebrow at this before shaking her head and mounting her own horse, an older mare that Flynn had noticed around the stables before, but never paid much attention to. The old horse didn't look like much, but Flynn had learned a while ago to not judge a book by its cover. Gripping Max's reins tightly in his hands, Flynn sighed heavily and nodded at Granny.
"Let's go."
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This was really starting to get on Flynn's nerves. Sure, because he was getting closer to Rapunzel the pain was a tiny bit better, but that didn't mean that he was feeling better. Far from it. Just knowing that he was still so far away from Rapunzel made the ache feel worse than it actually was, and it was starting to get to his temper. Granny was starting to become the victim of his very bad temper, and Flynn was very surprised that she hadn't smacked him yet.
"Where the hell is she?" he demanded sharply the morning after their departure from the city. "If she's not at the tower, where else could she be?"
Granny only sighed heavily as she stroked her horse's neck. "I'm working on finding them, Eugene. Trust me."
That shut him up. Up until now, only Rapunzel called him Eugene. Sure, he was Mr. Fitzherbert to the king and queen, but nobody else had called him by his real first name for over ten years before he met Rapunzel. Not since…But he stopped himself right there. He wasn't going to think about that part of his life right now. There would be time for reminiscing later.
"How are you finding them?" he asked, trying to sound less tense, though he wasn't sure that he succeeded.
"Magic, Mr. Fitzherbert," Granny said with a roll of her eyes. "Magic. At this point, it's the only method we have that could have even a hope of succeeding."
Flynn didn't like the sound of that too much. It made it sound like they would most likely never find Rapunzel, Gothel, and whoever was helping the woman's spirit. Well, that was probably true in any case, but that didn't mean Flynn liked hearing it from Granny. She was supposed to be the woman with a plan, after all, not the one foretelling doom and gloom. This…was not going to be good, was it?
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Isabelle had told Gothel that the body she now inhabited only had a limited amount of time, but something told Isabelle that the old woman's spirit didn't believe her. Which was just simply foolish on the part of Gothel. The evidence was right in front of the woman, and yet she believed none of it. Sighing in exasperation as Gothel rubbed at her chest, Isabelle crushed her hair back away from her face.
"You simply have to believe me," she said firmly. "Some magic binds the Princess and Flynn Rider together now, and so they are doomed to die if separated. The only reason you're still alive can only be that Rider is following us."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Gothel snapped. "Just wait here for him to find us? The plan won't work if we do that, and you know it."
"This is true," Isabelle agreed with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean we can't use this to our advantage. After all, this means that he needs to come to us."
"Stop talking nonsense and just tell me what it is you have planned!" Gothel snarled.
The Princess Rapunzel's voice really wasn't suited to snarling, Isabelle noted to herself as she pulled a brush out of her saddle bag and began running it through her hair. "We wait, but not until Rider has found us," she explained. "He somehow survived for at least several weeks without being in the Princess' company from what I can make out of what happened to them, so if we keep a set distance between us and Rider…we can keep both Princess and thief alive just long enough to fulfill your plan."
Gothel pondered this for a moment, and Isabelle could see the calculating look in the green eyes, as well as raw envy as Gothel watched Isabelle brush out her hair. They were both silent until Gothel spoke again. "You have a great deal of potential, Isabelle. That is a very good plan. It should work quite well."
Just so long as the Princess' body wasn't weaker than Isabelle assumed, but Isabelle didn't say this out loud. Let Gothel sort that out on her own. The old woman was supposed to be intelligent, after all. Calmly pinning up her hair while Gothel watched, Isabelle sighed and moved to where their two horses were grazing.
"Then you will have to be ready to at least leave some signs for them to follow, if we want them to be able to remain a set distance behind us," she said quietly. "Do you have any ideas for what we could leave? Perhaps something that is special to the Princess…?"
Gothel calmly reached up and snagged off part of Rapunzel's nightgown, taking the lace in her hand and ripping it off the sleeve. "This will do."
Isabelle didn't respond, simply nodding. This was going to be an interesting journey, to say the least.