"This is a disaster!" Rapunzel exclaimed, flopping, belly first onto her bed, "Cass can't leave," She peeked up at her boyfriend with uncertainty, "Can she?"
Eugene let out a sigh, "I don't want Cass to leave either, but Sunshine, we can't force her to stay." Eugene plopped down next to Rapunzel and gently rubbed her back, he let out a sigh, before adding, "Some people don't forgive easily," he confessed, "Trust me, I know if it wasn't for my charm, good looks, way with people, and the fact that I brought the lost princess home I probably would have skipped town too."
"Really?" Rapunzel asked.
"No, but I can understand why Cass might think that skipping town is her only option, people can be cruel."
"We have to do something to make her change her mind." Rapunzel insisted, jumping off the bed.
"Change her mind, Sunshine, she hasn't even made up her mind yet," Eugene protested, although he knew it would be a waste of breath for Rapunzel was already in planning mode.
"We could host a party in her honor," Rapunzel suggested, twirling around to look at Eugene who shook his head.
"Come on Sunshine parties are a you thing not a Cass thing."
Rapunzel stuck her bottom lip out and gave Eugene a pouty look before returning to her scheming, "Okay so maybe you are right about the party, but what can we do instead."
"What does Cass like?" Eugene asked, "Besides insulting me that is."
"Weapons, fighting," Rapunzel said quickly, "But those are things she can't really use anymore, with her bad hand," she trailed off, thinking, "There has to be something we could do for her, what else does she like?"
"She likes tops," a new voice called out as Lance leaned against the door to Rapunzel's room, "She's the reason we got turned into kids in the first place."
Rapunzel looked at Lance and then at Eugene, "We could get her a top," she suggested.
"It's an idea," Eugene confessed, "Maybe there's something more meaningful to her."
Rapunzel thought for a second, "A music box," she suddenly announced, "The memory that Zhan Tiri used to manipulate Cass with was of Mother Gothel giving her a music box, a music box that broke the night I was taken."
"I don't know Sunshine," Eugene said, rubbing the back of his neck, "We don't really want to remind her about Zhan Tiri."
"It will be great," Rapunzel insisted, "In fact, I bet Varian can fix her old music box,"
"The one that Pascal used the music to lure the mole to break down the wall of rocks to save you from the poisonous gas?" Eugene asked, arching an eyebrow, "Besides, isn't the rest of it buried somewhere in the remains of Gothel's Cabin, Sunshine, that's going to be impossible to find, and there is no guarantee we'll be able to fix it even if we find all of the pieces."
"Not with that attitude we won't," Rapunzel insisted, jumping up and grabbing her bag, "Come on, let's go."
...
Eugene looked at the gapping cave that Rapunzel had led them to, "You sure this is the place?" he asked, glancing at Rapunzel as she slid off Fidella.
Rapunzel nodded, "I'm positive," she insisted.
"But this is nowhere near Gothel's Cabin," Eugene argued.
"We traveled a long way by mine cart," Rapunzel explained, shrugging, "The Cylinder and Comb should be somewhere around here."
"If it wasn't completely crushed by the mole when it broke through the wall of rocks," Eugene muttered.
"Don't think like that," Rapunzel insisted, dropping down on her hands and knees, "Come on, we could use your help on finding it."
Eugene rolled his eyes, but got down on his hands and knees anyways, helping Rapunzel look for the part of the music box.
A good five minutes past in silence as the two humans, two horses, and a chameleon looked in bushes and behind boulders to find the missing piece, "How long do we have to keep looking before you are willing to admit that it's not here anymore," Eugene asked, stretching his back a little.
"I guess there is no use to keep looking," Rapunzel said, sadly, standing up as well, her hand in her bag. She smiled at Eugene's confused look as she pulled something from her bag, "Because I found it."
"Sunshine," Eugene let out a laugh, giving her a peck on her cheek, "You had me going there for a second," he informed her as he pulled himself back up on Max. "I guess the next stop will be Gothel's Cabin."
...
For a Cabin in the middle of the woods that had been abandoned for the past twenty years and recently tipped on its side, it sure was in one piece and standing upright, "Zhan Tiri must have used her magic to tip the house over and then righted it once you found the underground cavern."
"The Music Box should be near the front door," Rapunzel said, "Cass dropped it when she realized that Mother was leaving her."
"Great," Eugene said, "while you look for that, I'm going to look for anything else that might be useful or valuable."
Rapunzel just nodded her head absentmindedly, bending over the broken pieces of the music box.
Eugene scanned the dust-filled room, he wondered if there was anything of value, the guards were more concerned about finding Rapunzel, and Cap had been more concerned about Cassandra, that anything worth anything had been left abandoned in this house for almost twenty-one years. He walked over to a trunk and opened it, it contained nothing but clothes. The next trunk he opened contained a few blankets and a handful of toys, this one must have belonged to Cassandra, the clothes in it were way too small, the blankets moth-eaten, but the dolls seemed to be in fairly good shape, he pulled them out and stuck them in his satchel.
There was only one more trunk in the place and it was locked, that caught Eugene's attention if it was locked then it didn't contain the day to day stuff like the last two trunks, it was even possible that it would contain something Valuable, like Gothel's jewels, or money. It took him all but ten seconds to pick the lock. He grinned wildly as he pushed the heavy lid open, and let out a groan, the trunk was filled with hand mirrors.
"What have you found?" Rapunzel asked, appearing at Eugene's shoulder.
"A trunk full of mirrors, I knew that she was vain, but why in the world would she need this many mirrors?"
"She enchants them," Rapunzel said, picking up the one on top, "they're like my journal, she talks about her day in them," she finished by gently touching the glass on the mirror.
The mirror swirled with colors before settling again, Mother Gothel was standing in front of the mirror, pulling on her eyes, checking for wrinkles, "I met the most splendid man today," she announced, "A real King, can you imagine my luck, he actually offered to buy me dinner at a local pub, I'm going to keep my eye on this one, finally someone who can afford to give me beautiful things."
Eugene picked up the next mirror, tapping it to activate it, once more Gothel appeared in the mirror, this time admiring a necklace, "Isn't it lovely," she said, "King Edmund gave it to me earlier today, I'm having dinner with him again tonight, I can't wait to see what he will bring me."
"Woah, Woah, Woah," Eugene said, dropping the mirror on the ground, "Did she just say King Edmund, as in my father?"
Rapunzel frowned, "I don't know of any other King Edmunds," she confessed.
"But Dad would totally tell us if he ever had a fling with Gothel right?" Eugene asked, grabbing another mirror, this one was different, there was no denying that his father had had a relationship with Gothel, for this one showed them together, getting ready to go to a ball together, the next several mirrors were all about the gifts his father had given Gothel.
Rapunzel glanced at the trunk there were only ten or so mirrors left, she picked one up and activated it, "I should have known, of all the..." Gothel screeched, "I caught Eddie donating money to the local orphanage, money that he could have spent on me, and now he's gone, back to his Kingdom, miserable man, he's never going to find someone as beautiful as me, no matter where he looks."
Eugene looked at the mirror in confusion, "Dad donated to the orphanage," he said, looking up at Rapunzel, "The same Orphanage he left me at to protect me from the black rocks."
Rapunzel nodded picking up another mirror, this one almost the same size of the trunk, and activated it, Gothel once more filled the mirror, but this time she looked different, her hair had several streaks of gray in it, and her stomach protruded out.
"She's pregnant in this one," Eugene announced, leaning forward, watching the mirror.
"Wretched Edmund, leaving me the way he did, and his blasted child, it hasn't even been born yet and the lousy pest is already ruining my life, I can't make the hike out to the Sundrop. I hope once it's older it can be of some use around here. It will be able to do the housework while I take care of me."
"Eugene," Rapunzel called out, looking at her boyfriend, "Do you think Gothel is talking about Cassandra?" she asked.
Eugene was silent for a moment, doing the math, "She's the right age," he concluded, looking at Rapunzel in bewilderment, "Sunshine, do you know what this means?"
"Cass is your younger sister," Rapunzel said in surprise, "For real."
Eugene grabbed another mirror and activated it, Gothel appeared, she looked younger this time around, but tired, extremely tired, "Blasted Pest," she growled, as a baby crying in the background could be heard, "She won't let me sleep if I knew where this Dark Kingdom is I'd ship her off to her father, let him deal with her. No one seems to know where this Kingdom is and the trader's caravan refuses to take the Brat with them even though I am sure they know where the Kingdom is, they trade throughout the seven kingdoms and beyond." By this time the baby screaming was getting louder, "Oh be quiet Cassandra, I"ll be there in a minute," Gothel shouted over her shoulder before rolling her eyes at the mirror.
"We really need to talk to your dad about this." Rapunzel said sticking the mirror in her bag, "And Cassandra."
...
A.N.: Duh duh duh, Cassandra and Eugene are half-siblings, how do you think Cassandra's going to feel finding out, please review.