A high-pitched whistle echoed in the destroyed Throne room, followed by a prompt 'Ouch!' as Artemis smacked the alchemist beside her upside the head,

"Hey! What was that for?" the blonde looked unimpressed, "Well, considering this mess is your fault…I thought a good smack to the head was deserved."

"Yeah…but you hit hard…like a man." Eugene looked at the teen with wide eyes, "Oh, Kid…those were not the right—" he flinched as Artemis hit Varian again, "—words." The former thief took a step away from his sister.

"Okay, guys. After the Sapporian attack, this kingdom could use a real pick me up, and what better way to bring everyone together than with a community project?" The room was filled with cheers,

"With a little hard work and a whole lot of Corona spirit, we can rebuild this kingdom. So let's do it!" Rapunzel tossed shovels out to everyone, Artemis looked around at her friends, she had a feeling this was going to go south….really fast.

And…not even 20 minutes in there were already arguments,

"Hey, I have the artistic eye."

"You dip, I paint." Her eyes wandered from Catalina to Kira who were fighting over a pain brush, over to one of the guards struggling with some other project.

"I know this is typically your thing, Sunshine, but if you're trying to bring everyone together maybe grueling manual labor isn't the best idea…" Artemis flinched as Rapunzel swung the axe in her hand, cutting the log in half, "Don't think if it as grueling manual labor, think of it as…creativity…through destruction"

"Yeah, well, no offense, Rapunzel…but Creativity can't be forced." A sudden explosion started all of them, "Oh, now look what you made me do."

"That was your fault, ya loafer!"

"Loafer? I've never been so insulted." Artemis eyed Feldspar and Ms. Crowley. "Looks like those two could use some advice." Rapunzel gave Artemis a light shove forward, the teen looked mortified.

"You want me to talk to them?"

"Oh, come on, it's a way to see if those diplomacy lessons have been paying off."

"I don't know Rapunzel…" She felt a comforting hand on her other shoulder, looking back she saw Varian, his usual goofy smile on his face,

"You've got this." Artemis passed her shovel to Rapunzel and walked over, doing her best to remember to keep her head up,

"Feldspar, Ms. Crowley, let's not fight. Yes, we were supposed to keep that wall, but this just gives us more room to make improvements…together." There was a collective groan between the two and Artemis felt like shrinking back into herself, "This is why Crowley works alone." The teen watched in dismay as the elderly woman walked away.

"I'll go get glue." She watched as feldspar walked away as the wall next to her crumbled, "Oh boy…" waving some dust from in front of her eyes she was intrigued to see something etched into the wall.

"Rapunzel?" the blonde hurried over.

"Here lies King Herz de Sonne's lost treasure?!" Rapunzel turned around, excitement written all over her face, "You guys, this is an honest to goodness treasure map!"

"I have heard the legend of Herz de Sonne's lost treasure. It is said to be buried in his crypt. The tale begins millennia ago—"

"Uh, Xavs, bottom line us, would ya?"

"She's right, it's a map." Artemis looked at the blacksmith with mild intrigue,
"How do you know so much about Corona's history?" the man just gave her a cryptic smile,

"You guys, this could be just the right thing to bring everyone together."


"How many of you have ever dreamed of having a treasure of untold riches?" Artemis looked around, she personally didn't wonder about how her life would be changed by money, but then…she had just found out she was a princess, so did she really have to worry about things like that?

"We are holding a Corona wide race for the lost treasure of Herz de Sonne." Everyone seemed excited at the idea, "But wait, it gets better. Because this is about having fun together, everyone will be racing with a partner."

This was going to end in disaster… "Who picks our partners?"

"Uh uh, not who, what." Rapunzel pulled a tarp away, revealing some kind of contraption, Artemis looked at Varian,

"Didn't you design that for the senior's bingo thing at the Goodwill festival?"

"Yeah, well…Rapunzel decided it could have multiple uses, I just didn't think this would be one of them."

"Couldn't we have just pulled names out of a hat?"

"Ah, but it is a hat. It's called the Horitory Automated Team builder, or H.A.T." She cranked the handle and everyone watched to see who they would be paired with.

"And our first team is…Stan and—"

"Stan and Pete, Stan and Pete." The guard seemed used to his usual pair up, but Rapunzel seemed to have knocked the wind from the poor guy's sail.

"Angry."

"What? This is an outrage. It's Stan and Pete, everyone knows it's always Stan and Pete!"

"Yeah, and I don't wanna be paired up with some dopey guard."

"You're not pairing up with some dopey guard, you're pairing up with…ohhh." Rapunzel carried on with the next set of teams.

"Pascal and max. Aww, cute."

"Xavier and Varian"

"Rudiger and Hamuel." Artemis winced at the mention of the dopey Crow her father had left behind, "Oh…no."

"Eugene and, of course, Lance.

"Ha ha ha, are you kidding me? Me and lance together, searching for treasure? Just give it to us right now."

"Nice…" Artemis shook her head disapprovingly at her older brother,

"And finally, me…and Feldspar." She ran over to high five the cobbler and he cowered in fear, "Oh, please don't hit me." Seeing Rapunzel meant no harm he straightened up, "Oh, I see, it's a gesture of comradery. Well, then I'm all in, up high!" As Rapunzel hurried back to the front of the crowd, she realized she had forgotten Artemis,

"Oh…I must have forgotten to write your name down." She turned, "Anyone willing to have a team of three?"

Artemis felt a hand on top of her head, "Stick with us, kid, and look at it this way, it'll give us a little brother sister bonding time." Varian looked over and shrugged, giving her a sympathetic look,

"Don't take it personally, Varian." The Alchemist quickly averted his gaze, a bright blush on his face.

"I-I-I wasn't, I didn't—" Artemis just laughed at his reaction, "Hey, at least he doesn't know about that night in Old Corona." She winked, a devilish grin on her face, Eugene quirked a brow, looking suspiciously between the two young teens, Varian's face just got more red.

"N-Nothing happened!"

Rapunzel hurried back to the front of the crowd,

"Okay people, take a good look at the map, be sure to memorize it because you cannot take it with you. It's up to you and your partner or, should I say, your new bestie, to find your way to the treasure."


Everyone seemed to gather near the Corona gates, anticipation had built up, that much was obvious,

"Are you sure this is going to work out?"

"Relax, Artemis. The point is to have fun, speaking of, where is Eugene?"

"He and lance are over there" Artemis pointed to a lone bistro table, "…they seem really sure of themselves."

"On your mark, get set." A sudden squawk from the Cannon as Rapunzel lit the fuse made the younger teen jump, "Treasure!" as everyone ran off Eugene and Lance stayed at the sidelines, "It's sad really, all these people getting their hopes up when Lance, Artemis and I are, obviously, going to win."

"Oh, I'll tell you what will be sad. The look on your face when me and my partner get to the treasure first. Right, Feldspar?" Artemis and Rapunzel turned to see the Cobbler had gotten his head stuck in a wheel.

"How…? You know what…actually, never mind."

"Does anyone have any…butter?" Rapunzel and Eugene made short work of getting the man free, "You guys are gonna do just fine…in second place."

"Aha ha, laugh now, but Feldspar and I are a force to be reckoned with. Right, Feldspar?"

"He's got his head stuck again…" Artemis pointed to the red-haired shoemaker,

"Wouldn't you just know it? I did it again." Artemis and Rapunzel both shook their heads,

"Hey, take a load off, Kid, we've got this in the bag." The young teen frowned, "You and Lance might think you have this in the bag, but I don't think so." The blonde turned and walked away from the dynamic duo.


"A northerly wind is coming."

"You two haven't left yet, either?" She followed their eyes to Stan pushing Angry in a wheelbarrow, "I'd like to say that's the strangest thing I've seen in this kingdom…but I grew up with you and I control magical black rocks"

"Hey!" Varian took mild offense, "Tell me I'm lying."

"If only there were a way to catch it's mighty draft and use it to our advantage."

"W-Wait, the Sapporian's use hot air balloons. Uh, I know how to build one."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she suddenly felt him yank her forward, "Come on, you get to be my assistant!"

"Oh…yay."

"Oh, that reminds me of a legend of the mighty balloon. In day's of yore, an intrepid traveler ventured into the sky…" Varian turned around and started to push Xavier along as the old man shared his absurd story.

"So where exactly are you going to find a basket big enough to attach a balloon?"

"Don't worry about it."

"You know, the last time you told me not to worry about it, my hair was green for two weeks."

"Hey, green is a good color on you." Artemis wondered if that was supposed to be flattering, "Whatever you say." She watched him work on the Hot air balloon and before long, it was finished,

"I'll never understand how to put these things together so quickly."

"Ha, this is so great. I feel like a bird,"

"Indeed." Xavier placed a hand on Varian's shoulder as Artemis pressed herself into the corner of the Basket, "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, you know….every time I get into a hot air balloon something goes wrong, so I just have a very mild case of PTSD!" Xavier looked at the two young teenagers,

"Have you two heard of the legend of the lone birdman of Swandeli?"

"NoOo." Artemis looked at the poor boy in front of her, he looked like he wanted to throw himself over the side of the Balloon.

"Well, I…no, but…oh." It was too late, Xavier had started the story, "the ancient people of Swandeli were actually a seafaring tribe—" Varian dropped his arms over the side of the basket in exasperation, "Hey, look. Someone needs help." Xavier lowered the balloon to the ground, "Hold on, we're almost there." Artemis happily hopped out of the basket once they touched down, and even if they had been duped, she was relieved to not be dangling hundreds of feet in the air,

"Hey!"

"What are you doing?"

"Looks like we're winning."

"You're playing dirty."

"Uh, Varian…" She was going to tell him to take his shoes off before getting in the water, but it was already too late. When the fabric constricted he'd figure it out.

"There's nothing in the rules that says we can't be smarter than you."

"This reminds me of the legend of perpetua demonstedies, the young girl who thought she was smarter than all of those around her." Varian slammed the back-up guards helmet over his head to try and drown Xavier out.

Sitting next to him, Artemis leaned her head on his shoulder, "You know, my mother used to tell me that legends are lessons. They ring with truth." Xavier had plopped down some distance away from them,

"Maybe his stories are his way of passing on what he knows to the next generation."

"I think life in the Palace has made you for too mature." Varian teased, lifting the helmet off his head. Artemis smiled, glancing up at the sky, "You might be right, but I'm learning so much about what my life was supposed to be. Not everything is going to sound like it applies to your life right now, but if you look at the bigger picture, you'll be able to connect the dots." She motioned to the abandoned boat,

"It's not anywhere near as fast as the Hot Air Balloon, but it's just as capable." She smiled, offering him a hand up.


"And so goes the legend of the wise man dummy." Artemis laughed as Rapunzel and Feldspar suddenly sped past, "Where'd they come from?"

"I have no idea…but that's the first time I think I've ever seen something on her feet."

"How are they moving so fast."

"I just told you…"

"Wait, she has a map. HEY!"

"Relax, Varian…this is supposed to be fun. Map or no map, fun." She scolded, he'd been really uptight today, he suddenly fell out of the boat.

"Varian?!" he scrambled back into the boat after resurfacing, "Aha ha ha ha, you look like something the cat dragged in!" He looked over at her, his expression unamused as he picked her up and dropped her into the river.

"Vari—" When the blonde came back to the surface, she flipped him off, "I hate you." He just smiled and blew a kiss at her as she climbed back into the boat.

"Using a map is cheating, indeed. Which reminds me of the legend of the cheating willows."

"Enough with the legends!"

"Varian!" the Alchemist said nothing as he paddled the boat by hand down the waterway.


"Hey, cheaters!"

"For shame!" Feldspar went to hide behind Rapunzel, "I'll block the entrance from here. If that's all right?"

"You're cheaters!" Artemis looked at Rapunzel and Feldspar in disappointment, "I thought Royal's always played by the rules, Rapunzel."

"Yeah, she's right!" Varian turned his eyes to Angry, "A-And y-you, you're one to talk. You stole our Balloon."

"That was well within the rules." Stan quickly came to the little girl's aid,

"Turn me around so I can get in on this."

"Is that Shorty?" before long everyone was back to arguing.

"Stop fighting, and listen." The room quickly quieted again, "No one can take the treasure. It's cursed."

"Why should we listen to a cheater?"

"Yeah?!"

"I'm not a cheater! Okay, you could make an argument that I did cheat, but it was to save your lives."

"Hey, the girl's got the treasure."

"Catalina!" the small red head threw the treasure chest at stan, where it got stuck in the sap, the guard looked less than enthused.

"Stop, Listen to me. Everyone, please." Rapunzel took the map from Feldspar, "It says right here, if you claim that treasure, we are all doomed.

"What do you mean by doomed?" everyone chattered to one another, "Could you clarify doomed?"

"Yoink." Out of seemingly nowhere Eugene and Lance rolled into the crypt,

"Eugene! No, no, no, no, no!" Lance opened the jade casket, "Whoa."

"Doomed… why is it always us?" there was a beam of red light that shot upwards through the hole at the top of the crypt,

"I don't regret my decision to come along with you and Xavier now, if it's of any condolence. Because obviously my idiot brother cannot be trusted to listen when someone tells him NO!"

"What did you do?"

"Don't—"

"Ten on the doom scale, ten on the doom scale!" everyone scurried to make sense of what was happening as the lanterns started to flicker,

The eyes on the statues around the room lit up in an eerie gold color, "Oh, I did NOT sign up for this!" as one of the sarcophagi opened up a robed skeleton stepped out, followed by several others.

"The legend is true! The undead protectors of Herz de Sonne's treasure have risen!"

"What?!" Varian looked terrified as the group of skeletons closed in on them,

"Good job, Horace! If we die in here, I will find a way to bring you, and myself, back to life so I can kill. you. again. myself!" Eugene looked at her in fear, ducking behind Lance.

"You know, next time lead with the—the high doom ratio legends!" Varian paused, letting something sink into his brain before turning to look between Artemis and Eugene, "Wait…Horace, Really?"

"Eugene, put the lid back on." Both blondes looked at him reproachfully, Still terrified, he closed the lid, but when nothing happened, that fear only grew.

"We have to put it back where it belongs!" undoing her hair, she used it to fight off the Skeleton's, unfortunately, the princess missed and the skeletons took hold of her, throwing her to the side. Eugene tucked the treasure box under his arm and made a run for it, the robed guards trying to deter him from reaching his destination. Eugene reared his fist back, aiming to punch the skeleton in the face, but the robed monster caught his hand mid-air,

"Hey, Ugly!" A black rock shot out of the ground, disassembling the Skeleton in one quick shot. "Leave my brother alone!"

Before it fell apart the Skeleton had tossed Eugene to the ground and the casket slid across the floor.

One of the other robed guards grabbed Feldspar, pinning him to the wall. "Oh please, I'm but a humble shoe man." As she watched everyone get thrown around, Artemis made a dive for the treasure box, taking hold of it, she used another black rock to shatter another one of the skeletons.

"So much for bringing the kingdom together."

"It is not too late to do that." Artemis slid to a halt alongside the others, the box tucked safely in her arms, almost like a book.

"We are getting out of this, together. Everyone! Our only chance out of this is to put that treasure back on its alter. So let's show these mummies what Corona spirit can do!" Tying the casket into her hair she whipped it around before launching it towards the alter, annoyed with one of the mummies caught it.

Vladimir and Monty tackled the mummy and sent the casket flying again, and as everyone kept fighting, Rapunzel looked at the Casket, springing forward to get it and running towards the stone alter.

"Out of the way, coming through." Rapunzel came to a halt as one of the mummies went for Eugene, her eyes darting to Varian who was about to be attacked as well,

"Leave. Him. Alone!" Artemis had destroyed the mummy that had tried to attack Varian, "Hey, Var, you ever think of, oh, I-I don't know, carrying some kind of weapon?!"

"Is now really the time to be criticizing me? We're kind of in the middle of a fight for our lives!" one of the mummy's hands touched her shoulder and she used another one of the black rocks to break it apart.

"Ah, returned from the grave, I see. Much like the mummy of Questiana." Even the mummy didn't seem to like Xavier's stories, "or so the story goes. You see, there was once a mummy who –" Artemis took the moment of distraction to pull Varian away.

"Let's go, Romeo."

"Feldspar, you're a geniuuuus!" Two sets of eyes watched as Rapunzel flew through the air, when she landed, she put the treasure box back on the stone alter, much to the mummies' dismay. Their angered souls returning to their sarcophagi.

"Good riddance."


Now that they were all out of harms way, it seemed everyone just wanted to put today's events behind them,

"Good job, Xavier."

"Yes, you two as well. Varian, Artemis." Xavier turned to walk away, it seemed even he was tired after what had just happened, and honestly, who could blame him?

"Hey, xavs? I-I just realized something; you never finished the last legend of the cheating willows." Xavier looked excited,

"Really? Well, it is a rather long story." Artemis smiled fondly at her boyfriend, "I'm proud of you, Varian." She nudged the young Alchemist forward

"I got time.", turning back to look at the blonde he smiled, "I'll see you back at the castle."

"And so, it is my honor to present to you, our brand-new throne room." Rapunzel cut the purple ribbon blocking the door and everyone stepped inside,

"Well, the treasure hunt didn't go quite how I planned, but, it did bring everyone together."

"Even if I never got to meet…caviar Lance."

"Ew! Why would you want to? You know what Caviar is right?" Artemis looked repulsed by the idea,

"I know what Caviar is…" He leaned over to Eugene, "What's Caviar?"

"It's fish eggs, Lance." Artemis smiled as Rapunzel and Eugene leaned into each other, "You know, Sunshine, I think it all turned out well, for everyone." Artemis had run forward to catch up with the others.

"M'lady." The small blonde chuckled, "M'lord." She teased back, booping Varian's nose. Eugene watched their interaction with a fond smile,

"You know, despite her temper and complete disregard for safety in certain situations, she turned out pretty okay, Sunshine. I'm glad she and the kid found one another." Rapunzel watched them as well,

"Well, she could have done a lot worse. Despite Varian's flaws and failed experiments, he has a never give up attitude, and it's clear she picked that up from him. She's lived life from one perspective, Eugene. It's nice to see that even now, when her life is changing, she's not letting it change who she is."