Through silent agreement, they headed for the throne room. No one had to say it, but they were all thinking it. If they could get to the Mind Trap, there might be hope.

They barged through the door and Rapunzel shoved it closed. She thrust the bolt into place and whirled around, ready to fight.

But the room was empty.

"She's not here," Lance said.

"Yeah, we can see that," Eugene replied. "And it looks like she took the Mind Trap with her, wherever she is."

"But you guys know who is here?" Jaiden said, staring upward at something near the ceiling. She pointed.

"Ruddiger!" Varian gasped. He was still up there! Varian silently berated himself. In all the commotion, he had nearly forgotten about the raccoon's predicament.

Ruddiger had not moved. And Varian didn't blame him. He had been up atop that pillar for two days and a night, with no food and no water, just terror.

"How did he get on that pillar?" Rapunzel asked worriedly.

"The Queen put him up there," Jaiden responded.

"I have to bring him down." Varian turned to the others. "Get me up there."

In a minute, Rapunzel's hair was tied around one of the beams crisscrossing the ceiling near where Ruddiger was perched. Eugene and Lance were guarding the door, and Jaiden was calling up words of encouragement to both Ruddiger and Varian.

The alchemist was climbing up Rapunzel's hair as if it were a rope ladder. Before long, he was pulling himself onto the beam. He sat on the shaft and took in the situation.

Ruddiger's perch was a little higher than his, and too far away for him to reach. Varian chewed his lip as he realized what Ruddiger had to do.

The raccoon lifted his head the tiniest bit and chittered at Varian.

"Hey, buddy," Varian said softly. "I'm going to get you down, but I can't reach you. You're going to have to jump."

Ruddiger chittered nervously, glancing down at the ground far below and back up at Varian.

"It'll be fine," he said. "I'm going to catch you. You'll be okay."

Ruddiger nervously glanced down at the ground again.

"Hey," Varian said, making the raccoon's gaze lift to him again. "Listen to me. You can do this. I believe in you."

It could have been Varian's imagination, but he thought he saw a soft, hesitant Okay in Ruddiger's eyes.

"Alright," Varian murmured, reaching out to him. "On three, okay?"

Ruddiger nodded a little and shifted his position.

"One…"

The raccoon stood up atop the pillar, doing his best not to look down.

"Two…"

He crouched, readying himself.

"Three!"

He jumped. Varian leaned forward as much as he dared and caught the raccoon neatly in his arms.

Ruddiger was shaking violently, so Varian didn't start down just yet. He held the quivering raccoon tightly and murmured calming words into his ears.

He peered down to see the others looking up at him, concerned expressions on their faces. He gave them a thumbs-up just to let them know that they were both fine.

Once Ruddiger stopped quivering, Varian glanced down at him. "You ready to head back down?"

Ruddiger nodded and climbed up onto his shoulders. Varian was slightly surprised, because he had been ready to carry the raccoon down, but it wasn't like he was complaining. He grabbed Rapunzel's hair and began to work his way down.

Then he heard a crash from below him. He glanced down and nearly lost his grip.

The Brotherhood had broken through the door. They were bearing down on Eugene and the others, their eyes and marks glowing steadily.

He heard Rapunzel gasp from below him. That spurred him back into action. Rapunzel couldn't defend herself while her hair was stuck up here. He began climbing down faster than before.

He heard noises and shouts from below, but he tried not to look down. Ruddiger was curled up on his shoulders clinging tightly to his shirt. Varian tried to tried to tell him to keep hanging on while climbing even faster.

And suddenly, he was falling.

Luckily, the ground wasn't too far away. He landed hard but jumped quickly to his feet. Rapunzel had been attacked by Hector's pets. One of the bearcats had jumped on her, while the other had snatched her hair down from the beam, bringing Varian along with it.

He grabbed a chemical ball, ready to throw it at the animals attacking Rapunzel, but the princess was more than capable of defending herself. She whacked one bearcat away with her frying pan and flung the other across the room with her hair.

Gathering up her hair in her hands again, she made eye contact with Varian and grinned. Then she sped away again.

Varian turned and found Edmund bearing down on him. He tossed the chemical ball, but Edmund darted to the side, dodging the explosion.

Ruddiger chittered. Varian glanced down to see the raccoon offering him up a green ball. Varian snatched it up and tossed it at Edmund's incoming sword. He didn't bother to dodge as the sword neared his head.

Edmund growled as he saw his sword disintegrate before his eyes. He cast it to the side and lunged for Varian. Before the alchemist had a chance to move, Edmund had grabbed him by the shirt collar and lifted him clear off the floor.

Varian gazed into the king's unseeing blue eyes, his breath unsteady and fearful. Edmund seemed unsure what to do with him, until Ruddiger squealed, leapt onto his head, and bit the king square on the nose.

Varian fell to the ground as the king howled in pain and swatted at Ruddiger. The raccoon quickly jumped back onto Varian's shoulders just as he threw a ball at Edmund. The ball shot out cables that coiled around the king until he was entirely wrapped in the rope.

Varian grinned at the invention's success and dashed away into the fight.