What's up everybody! I know this chapter came a bit late, but school keeps getting in the way. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you guys like it! Enjoy!
The top of the mountain is a large, flat expanse of icy terrain. The wind whips cruelly at their faces, turning Cass's cheeks red from the cold. They huddle near the fire, trying to absorb all the warmth they can. Adira, who is calmly eating an apple, sits cross-legged on the ice. She calls out to Aris, who is dangerously close to the edge of the mountain, looking down at the view below him. "Watch out, Beanstalk. One wrong move and you're gone."
Aris looks back at her, teeth chattering, but excited. "But look at the view! It's beautiful! I also saw a crow somewhere, which is odd, because crows aren't normally found at high altitudes like this." He turns his head back. "I have never been anywhere this high up! My parents never let me. They're afraid of heights." He stops talking when he spots another bird, squinting to figure out what it is.
"Don't you feel cold, Adira? Come sit by the fire." Rapunzel leans into Eugene for warmth, looking questioningly at Adira.
Adira tosses her unfinished apple to Maximus, who delightedly chomps down the fruit. "It's fine. If you're all warmed up, we need to enter the cave now."
Eugene raises his eyebrow. "Cave? Adira, we are literally on the top of a gigantic mountain, what cave could there possibly be up here?"
Adira watches him shiver, unblinking. "You're right. There is no cave up here. She strolls to the center of the peak, where she pushes a mound of rocks out of the way, revealing a massive crater. "That's why we have to jump."
"JUMP?"
"Are you insane?!"
"Adira, I love you, but that's a bit much, don't you think?"
"We're gonna get ourselves killed!"
The commotion is interrupted by a loud rumbling, and the ground underneath them shakes violently. Cass stumbles and falls to the ground, and even Adira grabs onto the boulders for support.
"What's going on!" Rapunzel calls out fearfully. As if on cue, a black rock erupts through the ground, narrowly missing Lance's foot. He yelps in fear and takes Shorty and the horses towards Adira, who's motioning at them frantically. Cass helps Eugene and Rapunzel up before sprinting towards Adira, when a second quake sends them all sprawling to their feet. Cass feels pain shoot through her injured hand and she hisses. She feels the ice vibrate right underneath her hand, and she rolls out of the way just in time to avoid a black spike that would've speared her right through her heart. All around them, black rocks were shooting up everywhere. She hears a terrified scream, and she turns her head just in time to see Aris get slashed by an erupting black rock, giving him a gash on his chest. He stumbles backwards, and Cass sees it in slow motion, the way his eyes widen as his foot no longer lands on the ground, as he waves his arms frantically, another scream on his lips. Cass never hears that scream, because in a flash, Aris is gone.
Rapunzel screams in terror, already undoing her hair and rushing to the side of the mountain, Eugene right by her side. The mountain has not stopped shaking, and Cass is struggling to balance, and she tries to run towards them.
No, no, no, this could not be happening, he was just an innocent kid.
A deafening rumble and shake drops her to her feet, and she feels strong arms grip her shoulders and carry her away from Aris.
No, no, no, no.
Lance yells so that she can hear her. "Cass, it's too dangerous! We can't go there!"
"THEY'RE GOING TO DIE, LANCE!"
"You're injured Cass. Stay here. Max and I will go help."
She sits down angrily, huffing and panting with fear and exhaustion. She watches Adira, who is hacking away at the black rocks that are threatening to block the entrance to the cave. Her right hand is burning, and she tears off her glove to look at it. She recoils in disgust, the black burnt flesh rotting in front of her eyes. She hears Eugene yell, and she forces herself up. She can't do this. She can't wait in the wings. The violent shaking has not stopped, and Cass struggles to make her way to the others. They're all way too close to the edge, staring down and yelling at someone, Cass doesn't know who. Aris is dead. Who could they be talking to?
She grabs Eugene by the shoulder. He looks at her, fear apparent in his eyes. "We need to go," Cass says. Eugene shakes his head, pointing down the mountain. "We can't! The kid's alive! We need to save him, fast!"
Cass looks down, and she sees Aris, a long, long way down, hanging on with both hands to an emerging black rock. He's crying, she can see, and he's screaming with a pain so raw it rattles her bones.
Rapunzel has her hair down, bringing it as close as she canto him, but not close enough. "He's too far away! I can't reach him!"
"HANG ON, ARIS!" Lance yells, terrified tears in his eyes.
Cass was not about to let a child die on her account. She looks at Rapunzel, jaw set with determination. She grabs Rapunzel's hair, and before anyone can protest, she leaps off the mountain, using the hair as a rope.
The cold air whips at her face as she falls. The wind burns at her eyes and nostrils. Her hand feels like it's being burned and frozen at the same time, and she can smell metallic blood and the stink of sweat. She ignores it all, concentrating on getting to the kid as fast as possible, and avoid getting skewered by black rocks along the way. She slows her fall by digging her boots into the side of the mountain, and Rapunzel's hair goes tight, not long enough to take her all the way to Aris. She looks down. Aris is still quite far, and she can see him holding on with all his strength, his arms shaking from exhaustion.
"Hurry, Cass!" His voice is shaking with fear and pain and panic, and Cass's heart pounds with adrenaline. One of his hands slip, and Cass's heart goes still, but he holds on with his other hand, terrified but determined. Cass leaps off her step, grabbing onto a black rock that just emerged, and then dropping lower to another spike, slowly but surely making her way to Aris. Grab rock, drop, repeat. She's almost a foot above him when his fingers slip, and he falls, screaming. She jumps off the rock she was on making it just in time to grab his hand while hanging on to a black rock with the other. Aris desperately clings to her injured hand with all his force. Cass screams in pain, but she pulls him up to the rock she's on.
"I got you kid," she gasps. "But we gotta move."
He's clinging on to her with sheer desperation, still crying and gasping for breath, not budging in the slightest. A rock erupts right next to her knee, and she gasps in fear, jumping up and grabbing the rock above her. She pulls herself and Aris up, thanking her lucky stars that the kid is scrawny and that she has years of strength training under her belt. She feels sweat running down her face in streams, but she keeps going, grunting, pulling herself and Aris up slowly but surely. Her muscles are in agony, and she can feel herself slowly slipping into exhaustion.
It feels like hours have passed when she is finally able to grab the golden blonde hair and shut her eyes in exhaustion. Rapunzel, Lance, Eugene, and Max pull them up quickly, and sweep them into a hug, with lots of tears and whispers. Another massive shake of the mountain and the emergence of another spike gets them off their feet, and they run to Adira, supporting Aris and Cass in between them. When Adira tells them to jump, they do so with no hesitation, jumping straight into the massive crater. Cass can't think anymore. Her vision goes black.
He's falling again.
Aris screams. Not again. Which means Cass didn't save him. He imagined it. He's falling. How many times did his dad tell him to stay away from cliffs? They were right. Absolutely.
Now he's falling to his death, and he feels tears slipping out, his hair whipping all around his face. His chest feels like it is on fire, and he just wants it to be over, because this feeling of falling is so terrifying and unbearable and ー
SPLASH!
He's landed in some water. Wait a minute, there wasn't any water at the bottom of the mountain. He feels someone pull him out, and he's on some rocky, warm ground, spluttering and gasping for air. The warm air is soothing, and he lets out a shaky sigh, his wet hair covering his eyes. It's okay. He didn't want to see anyways. He puts his face down on the warm rock, sniffling. God, when did he become such a baby?
"Aris." It's a gentle voice, warm and soft. Rapunzel's voice. He brings his head up and she pushes his hair out of the way, looking at him with concerned green eyes. She beams at him, her smile a little shaky. "You're awake!"
She props him up, surprisingly strong for a petite blonde, and hugs him fiercely. Aris flinches with pain. She feels it and draws back.
"Sorry!"
"Hey little man, you're ok!" Lance is wringing out his vest, a warm, relieved smile on his face. Eugene pops in and ruffles his hair, letting out a relieved sigh.
He pushes them aside, his eyes scanning for Cass. He sees her watching him from the side, wrapping bandages around her hand. He walks purposefully over to her, drops down and wraps his arms around her, burying his head into her shoulder. Cass flinches, unnerved by the contact, but she hesitantly pats him on the back.
She's warm and solid, and Aris wants to say so much, thank her for saving his life when he was sure it was all over. "Thank you," he manages. He feels Cass push him away gently. She looks at him, a wry smile on her face. "Payback for Klosov," she says. Aris smiles back.
Rapunzel is instantly at his side, bandages in hand. "Aris, you're hurt! We need to patch you up."
He looks down, and is startled to see the massive gash in his chest. The pain was still there, but Aris was too muddled to think clearly about it. "Oh, um, yeah."
Rapunzel is gentle as she wraps the bandages around his upper body. He's surprised that he feels a little better, and when Eugene and Lance drop by to give him some food, he eats it ravenously. By the time everyone's dried up from the landing in the lake, he's able to stand on his own two feet and hold the sword Adira's given him, already missing his bow. He's also finally able to take in where they are.
The cave they landed in is huge, lit by green torches of fire. He sees multiple paths going different ways, but this place is clearly not empty. Someone has been using this place. The warm, rocky ground he was laying on, he sees, has a large engraving on it. A symbol of some sort. He looks around, noticing lots of mirrors on the walls.
Adira motions them to follow her, leading them into one of the paths of the cave. The path was not narrow, it was wide enough for all of them to walk together. The green torches illuminated the way, and but Aris could barely make out the walls of the cave in the distance.
Adira turns to face them, walking backwards. "To most, Mt. Ester is simply that. A mountain. But to those of us who know, Mt. Ester is the lair of Zhan Tiri's third, most treacherous disciple. She was known as Gotula, but she called herself ー"
"Gothel." Rapunzel's eyes are hard, staring at one of the mirrors on the wall. Aris notices Cass flinch and her eyes narrow. Eugene swears quietly, his hand drifting to his stomach. Pascal turns white as a ghost on Rapunzel's shoulder.
Gothel. Aris knew her, and their history with her. Eugene had told him about it one night by the campfire, when he was sure they were all asleep. He told him the story, and Aris knew it was painful for all of them. He remembers Eugene had tried to make light of the story, made some stupid joke about how he was so attractive even Death wanted him for a moment, but Aris knew Eugene well enough by then. Gothel had hurt them all. He wasn't sure why Cass had reacted that way though. Cass didn't have anything to do with the witch.
Adira watches Rapunzel, her face a mask of stone. "Yes. Gothel." She turns back around, leading them forward. "A former student of Demanitus, she stole his research on the Sundrop, giving it to Zhan Tiri. Fortunately, Zhan Tiri was never able to find it, because Gothel stole the Sundrop for herself, breaking off ties with the warlock and losing most of her magic, in exchange for eternal youth. And you know how the rest goes." She kicks a rock out of the path. "The Brotherhood fought many battles with Gothel, because of her proximity to the Kingdom. I only discovered her lair recently, and it's a huge shortcut to the Dark Kingdom. As you saw up on Ester, we are running out of time. The rocks are reacting more and more violently as the Sundrop closes in on the Moonstone. They must be erupting everywhere."
Rapunzel's face falls with concern, and Aris matches her feelings. What if his village was attacked as well?
Adira stops. "We will rest here. But Sundrop, you must know something now." She turns to face Rapunzel, her face stony. "The magic of the flower came with a price. When used in vain, it takes life from an innocent soul and gives it to the user." Rapunzel gasps, her hands over her mouth.
"So everytime Gothel used itー"
Adira nods, her face showing the slightest bit of sorrow. "Those souls haunt this lair at this very moment."
The room suddenly feels a lot colder. Aris can feel the hairs on his arm rising, and he could've sworn he heard a wail. Lance whimpers in fear, Cass's eyes grow wide.
Eugene snorts, and laughs, breaking the tension.
"C'mon guys, that's the stupidest thing I ever heard! Ghosts don't exist! I know that for sure, because I've never had a ghostly lady flirt with me. Ever. And that's impossible, I'm telling ya."
Cass rolls her eyes, but she cracks a smile. "That's because they have good taste in men."
"Yes, exactlyーwait a minute!"
Lance lets out a hearty laugh, a warm, melodious sound that brings the warmth back into the cave. Rapunzel smiles, and Aris can't help but smile either.
Adira lets it slide, walking away to do whatever secret knight warrior women do. The horses settle down for a well-deserved nap, and Lance, Eugene, and Rapunzel go to lean against Maximus and get some shut-eye. They invite Cass, but she politely declines, and Aris, who refuses, because he knows if he falls asleep then he'll start falling again, and he can't bear that right now. So he sits with them, laughs with them, but as they nod off on each other, Aris grabs his sword and walks away so as not to disturb them.
He wants to practice with his sword, but he's always been terrible at sword fighting. Archery was always his strength. But Adira's words keep ringing in his head. You might even stand a chance. Without a sword, he was useless. He kept holding back the team. He had to train. He tried a couple of swings. The blade felt awkward in his hands.
"Practicing?"
Aris jumps, pointing his sword at the sound. Cass looks back at him unflinchingly. He lowers his weapon, feeling embarrassed.
"Sorry," he mutters.
She doesn't reply. Instead, she unsheathes her sword, standing in front of him in a fighting stance.
"Stand diagonally, sword tucked in close, dominant foot forward." She says it calmly, steely gray eyes watching him closely.
He does as he's told, getting into the position. The leather grip is soft and firm, and the sword feels a little heavy, but the stance helps alleviate some of the awkwardness in the grip.
She holds her sword with her left, uninjured hand. She shows him how to jab, how to parry, how to guard, how to read your opponent. She shows him how to sidestep, and Aris is surprisingly good at that. They spar, and Cass does not go easy on him. He's left panting and gasping, sweat streaming down his face and his chest screaming with pain. But he feels good. He feels alive.
She knocks his sword out of his hands for the fourth time, not even breaking a sweat. He dodges her swipe, and grabs his sword just in time to deflect her blow. He gives a couple of strikes of his own, his heart beating faster and faster, as her jabs and thrusts seemingly get harder and stronger. His muscles are burning and his hands are sore, but he blocks and parrys, refusing to let his guard down. It's over when she knocks the sword out of his grip, his hands stinging from the hit, and places her own blade at his neck, keeping him shock-still. Aris is happy to see that she is breathing just a tiny bit harder, and she grins back at him.
"Not bad, kid. You have it in you."
"You think so?" Aris feels warm from the praise, and follows her after retrieving his sword.
"My dad taught me how to fight. He always said some people are born with it. You can tell." Cass is smiling as she thinks of her dad, and Aris has never seen her face this carefree. He thinks she looks much friendlier this way.
"He also says that every fighter has his own style. It takes practice to find it."
"What's your style?"
"Hm. I would say I'm a straightforward, soldier type. Every motion must be perfect, in form and position." She's sheathed her blade, and is settling down to rest.
"Hey Cass?"
"Mhmm."
"How are you so brave?"
Cass opens her eyes, surprised. Aris looks at her nervously. "I want to, um, learn to be like you."
Aris doesn't know how she'll take it. Really, he hasn't talked to her as much as the others. But her eyes soften, and her mouth quirks up into a sad smile.
"When you can mask your fear well enough to hide it from others, that's when you know you're brave."
Aris memorizes those words. He drops down next to her. All the sparring has drained his energy, and he feels his eyes closing of their own accord. Cass cracks an eye open and looks at him, annoyed. "A little distance, maybe?"
"Oh, sure, ok."
Adira watches them, and smiles.
But, if you let me heal him, I'll go with you.
NO!
Sshh, it's okay.
I can't let you do this!
Eugene's eyes shoot open, his heart pounding and his breath catching. He looks around. It's dark, save for the ghostly green light, and it's silent. Then he hears Lance and Rapunzel's snores, and he feels much better, his heart calming down.
God, he hasn't had that nightmare in months. He hopes Blondie's doing okay in the sleep department. He looks down at her, and he stifles a laugh. Her mouth is wide open, and her hair is all in her face. He tucks her hair behind her ear and she smiles, letting out a content sigh. He gently moves her off of him, and gets up, stretching hard. He has a lot to think about.
His mind is still reeling from what happened up at the mountain. Maybe bringing a child along with them wasn't the best idea. It's not safe for him.
Eugene can still hear his scream, he can still see the way the rock sliced through his skin like butter, he can still feel the fear and panic pumping through his veins. It was a terrifying ordeal.
And then there was Cass. What respect he had for her before the mountain had only doubled after it. The sheer determination and fearlessness he saw on her face was unbelievable. She was a hero, through and through.
He sees her asleep nearby, and he's hurt to see that she chose to sleep alone. But then he sees Aris, snoring next to her, his new sword laying next to him, and he chuckles.
Eugene completely understands why, after all he's been through with them, he still chooses to stand with them. Because they're doing the right thing. Not to mention the insatiable thirst for adventure the kid has.
His mind drifts back to his nightmare, and his smile drops. There was a lot more to that mean old witch than he had ever imagined. So she worked for the monkey. Then she quit, stole his secret Sundrop research and worked with the demon warlock, and then backstabbed ー ouch, bad choice of words ー him as well, taking the flower for herself. And everytime she used it, she took some life from an innocent soul in exchange. That was horrible. He wonders if she took life from his parents too. He feels a burning hatred for the witch, for hurting so many people, for hurting Blondie.
He spots Adira, who is sitting cross-legged on the floor, her eyes closed. He walks over to her, hoping he doesn't startle her and get turned into minced meat. She nods, opening her eyes. "Fish Skin."
Eugene has long since given up trying to stop her from calling him that. It was a compliment anyway. "Any sign of Hector?"
Adira shakes her head. "None. It's like he's vanished."
"Cause I'm kinda having some deja vu right now, what with everyone resting in a large creepy magical cave, and you sitting here doing nothing. Kinda reminds me of the last time he visited."
Adira gets up. "He's not here. That I am sure of. But you are right. We should move. Rouse the others."
"Who even says the word rouse anymore? What are you, 80?"
"Move it Fish Skin."
"Alright alright!"
Rapunzel wakes up to a beautiful view: Eugene's face. He's smiling and gently shaking her. "Let's go Sunshine. Wakey wakey."
She gets to her feet, feeling fresh and well-rested. Max proved to be a very good pillow.
Eugene gets up and looks at Lance, who's snoring peacefully. "Now I have to rouse this guy. Impossible, unless we haveー ah, there we go ー Lance, wake up! Breakfast time!"
Lance is up instantly, smiling happily at Eugene, who rolls his eyes and hands him some bread and fruit. Cass and Aris are already up and ready, waiting by Adira for the others. In a matter of minutes, they are once again walking down the path, which is slowly leading them upwards.
While they walk, they engage in easy conversation. Rapunzel stays mostly quiet, thinking about the person this place belonged to.
She was the only human she had ever known for 18 years. Memories of Gothel are clearly imprinted in her mind. Many of her mannerisms made sense now after what Adira told them. Why she was constantly going out, and for such long periods. She was visiting her lair.
She felt terrible when she found out that the Sundrop took life from others when used in vain. She felt like a murderer. Eugene had firmly told her that it wasn't her fault, it was Gothel who used her, who abused her. It was Gothel who ruthlessly stole life from hundreds, maybe thousands of people. She had to realize that.
"The exit is just through that tunnel. You'll have to crawl in there in twos, as it's not very big. The horses will have to ー"
Adira is interrupted by the sound of a loud hiss. Everyone draws their weapons, looking around in alarm.
A ghostly green vapor emerges out of the ground, taking a vague shape of a human. It solidified into a pale, fleshy green form. It was faceless, and it held a sword in its hand.
Eugene groans dramatically. "Of course the ghost decides to show up now."
"There's more of them!"
Lance is right. Dozens of green vapors begin seeping out of the floor, surrounding them and blocking off the exit. They solidified, just like the first, and had weapons as well.
Adira strikes at the nearest ghost. It catches her blow on its sword, and throws an attack of its own. Uh oh. These ghosts had skills. She gracefully sidesteps its swipe, slicing its head in one move. The ghost evaporates back into the vapor.
"They want revenge on the Sundrop! Take them out quick, and get out as soon as you can!"
Everyone jumps into battle, weapons clashing. Rapunzel confronts a taller ghost holding a spear. It thrusts at her head, and she ducks, smacking it in the face with her frying pan. It stumbles, and Eugene finishes it off with an elegant slice. He gives her a wink, and Rapunzel thinks he has no right to look that good in battle.
Cass fights like a demon, whirling through the lines of ghosts, slicing and hacking at a ferocious speed. Rapunzel doesn't like the look on her face. Her eyes hold a glint of madness in them as she fights.
Aris, to his credit, was trying his best. Rapunzel was surprised to see him able to block one of the ghost's strike, and counter with his own, stabbing it in the chest and sending it into a puff of smoke. Aris looks just as surprised, and would not have seen the sword coming down on his head. Rapunzel makes it just in time to deflect the blow, and hits the offending ghost so hard its head falls off. Aris looks at her, wide-eyed, breathing hard.
"Thanks!"
She doesn't have time to reply, because the ghosts seem to have sensed her and she is surrounded by the monsters. Aris cuts into the circle and fights right by her side, helping her keep the ghosts at bay. Cass whirls in, taking out 3 with a clean stroke.
"Wider arcs, Aris! More force on the thrust!" she yells.
The ghosts don't stop coming. They need to leave. Rapunzel barges through the circle, taking Aris and Cass with her. They fight their way to the exit, where Adira is waiting for them.
"Fish Skin and Earrings are already out. Short Hair, Beanstalk, lets go."
Max and Fidella have taken Shorty and Pascal with them. It's just Adira and Rapunzel, fighting off wave after wave.
"Will they follow us out?" she pants after taking out another ghost. She's getting tired.
"No," Adira replies, while kicking a ghost in the gut. "They're bound to Gothel's lair."
Rapunzel nods. "Let's go then."
With one last strike, Rapunzel crawls through the tunnel as fast as she can, Adira right behind her. Soon, the angry hisses and whispers are left behind, and Rapunzel steps out of the tunnel and is instantly blinded by the brightness outside.
She claps her hand over her eyes. "Aaagh! So bright!"
Lance giggles. "That's ironic."
Once her eyes have adjusted, she walks over to where everyone else is standing. They're gazing at something. Once she sees it, her heart drops.
The Dark Kingdom looms in the distance, a giant menacing tower surrounded and built on the black rocks. The spikes are massive, larger than any Rapunzel has seen yet, and they all point towards the heart of the castle. It's intimidating yet intriguing, and she can sense the yearning the Sundrop has for the Moonstone.
She gulps. This is it.
End of the line.
I really loved the idea one of the reviewers left of Cass and Aris having an older sister/younger brother sibling dynamic. I tried implementing that this chapter. Let me know if you liked it!
To the reviewer who's confused about whether this is an AU or not, it isn't. It's just me writing my own version of Rapunzel's adventure. And yes, Aris is an OC. What's your opinion on him?
I absolutely love when people tell me what they think of my story, it makes my day. Thanks, and see ya (hopefully) next week!