Note: For all our years of writing fanfiction, we still wish we knew how to do action scenes. We hope the last chapter was okay with most people. We also hope the Psychopomp doesn't become one of those horribly annoying OCs. It's always a difficult balance with OCs to have characters that are unique and developed but don't completely overshadow the main characters. Don't worry: this is still a Cassunzel story through and through.

Oh, also, we changed the name of the story. We like it better now. We may change the description later. Who knows? Mystery! Anyways, enjoy.

"Geez, how hard did you hit her, Raps?"

"As hard as I could. I didn't realize my own strength…"

"Hey, both of you. She's waking up. Get ready."

She probably wasn't used to this—getting up slowly, not knowing where she was. She probably wasn't usually the one who was asking questions, struggling as she realized that her hands were tied behind her back and that her ankles were so thoroughly bound with rope that she could barely move. She was probably used to standing where they were now: over her, pointing two swords—and one very devastating frying pan—directly at her head in case she tried to escape.

Rapunzel could practically replace her own thoughts with that of their captive. I'm an assassin. I'm better than this. How did that dumb Princess get the better of me? Rapunzel wished she could answer that with some confidence. By all accounts, she should be dead. The Psychopomp had been toying with them, engaging in all of their banter and their tricks, delaying the inevitable out of some gross combination of amusement and pity. She underestimated their abilities, and because of that, maybe, they were still alive. Rapunzel wanted to make sure she never got the chance to rectify that mistake.

The aftermath of the fight was swift as they figured out what to do with her. Adira took care of the rope-tying, despite Cassandra's insistence. Petty rivalries really weren't helping anyone, something Rapunzel made sure to remind her best friend. Adira was still sore when she carried the Psychopomp into the inn, flexing her shoulder to try to regain any feeling in her arm. That electric blast came out of nowhere, and she could still feel the tingling gently jumping up and down her muscles like ripples across a stream. "I'm fine," she insisted, though honestly, Rapunzel doubted she would ever admit to being hurt. Dealing with pain was something that Adira must have been used to—an unfortunate thought that Rapunzel didn't try to linger on.

Oh, and explaining what was happening to the innkeeper? Or, more specifically, not explaining? That cost an extra few shiny gold coins so they wouldn't get kicked out. Turns out that most people aren't very forgiving of armed combat on their property.

There was also the matter of Maximus—poor Maximus. Rapunzel shuddered at the thought? Was he all right? Whatever the assassin did to him, she had to find a way to reverse it. She was sure there had to be a way. There always was. And then there was also Cassandra, who was more anxious than ever to get the assassin secured. Keeping Cassandra at bay was almost harder than the fight itself. She settled for letting Cassandra take her weapons and gadgets away from her and put them safely up on the bed, though she couldn't help but notice her friend being a tad rougher than necessary when she stripped the fighter of her sandals. But somehow, despite all of their differences, and their injuries, and the lingering confusion over what was happening in the first place, they managed to get the Psychopomp tied down by the foot of the bed in the inn room. By the time the assassin awakened, they had come up with a plan to deal with her.

Well…sort of?

The Psychopomp's face stiffened, and once she realized that her binds were unbreakable, she looked up at her captors and sneered.

"Let. Me. Go."

Rapunzel looked to her left and her right. Neither Adira nor Cassandra wavered. Funny; just a few short minutes ago, they were at each other's throats. She supposed she had a knack for bringing people together through adversity, even if it was completely unintentional. Rapunzel stepped forward, holding her frying pan out in front of her threateningly, and shook her head.

"Not before you tell us everything we want to know," she stated. "First, tell us how to unfreeze Maximus. Then, tell us who you are and who asked you to kill me." She tried to read the assassin's face. She was really was young. A child compared to her, yet with none of the innocence and twice the rebellious instinct. Stripped of her mask and her raven-feathered cloak, she was dressed rather plainly in brown colors and form-fitting clothes. She would hardly stand out from a crowd. There was barely a scratch on her, except for the marks left near her eyes by Owl. That same bird perched on the windowsill, eagerly surveying the situation unveiling before him, just in case he needed to strike again. The assassin's eyes drifted to him for a moment, and she muttered under her breath.

Her piercing eyes locked back with Rapunzel's. "I'm not telling you anything. Let me go."

"That's not an option."

The Psychopomp rolled her eyes, but Rapunzel didn't let it get to her. They were alive, after all. More importantly, they were in control. It was that fact that really seemed to upset the assassin once she fully realized where she was, and what had happened to her some twenty minutes earlier. It didn't bother her that she was tied up in a stupid, shady inn, barely big enough to fit the four of them, nor did it bother her that all of her tools and equipment were taken from her. Oh no: she could handle that. Rapunzel could tell just by looking at her. But letting herself get beaten by them? That was a bridge too far. There was already enough pride in the room between Cass and Adira. Adding more just created unnecessary complexities.

"Look," Cassandra stated, stepping toward their captive. "There's the easy way we do this or the hard way."

The Psychopomp just snickered. "Heh. That's supposed to be my line."

"Do you think we're joking?" Cass responded angrily. The Psychopomp was unamused.

"I think you're using empty threats."

"We're using what?"

"You heard me," the Psychopomp cracked. "You're pointing all those swords at me. Oooh, how scary. Like any of you would actually hurt me."

Cassandra growled and stepped forward. "Wanna see me try?"

Rapunzel, avoiding catastrophe, reached out and placed her hand on Cassandra's chest, holding her back. "Cass. Don't."

The Psychopomp just huffed. "See. That's what I'm talking about. There are two ways to extract information. Threats or compliments. You people aren't the threatening types. I know you. You won't torture me, or hurt me, or let anything bad happen to me, so just stop acting tough, let me go, and let's get fighting again before I die of boredom."

Rapunzel tried her best to tame Cassandra's fury, though it may have been too late at that point. She didn't know what had gotten into that woman. She wasn't this protective of her back when she was her literal bodyguard. Yet in the past however many days, she felt like Cassandra had been snapping to defend her more than usual. She would have to schedule a talk with her when there were less pressing matters. While the two were spatting, Adira sighed and sheathed her sword, seemingly giving up on the idea of threatening the assassin entirely.

"I told you this wouldn't work," she said bluntly. "The Psychopomp is trained to withstand all sorts of torture. No offense, Princess, but you wouldn't be willing to squish a fly."

"That's not true," Rapunzel said meekly. "I've squished tons of flies."

"And Short Hair probably wouldn't be able to hit fly with a broomstick," Adira added.

Cassandra groaned. "Oh, wow. Great. I save your life, and now we're right back to the insults."

"You are implying that we are anywhere close to even," Adira claimed. She spoke so plainly that she might as well not have been feeling anything at all. The act that her grudge seemed boring even to her only further served to piss Cassandra off more.

"Hey, how do you even know what a Psychopomp is?" Cassandra asked, changing the topic to distract herself from her own boiling blood.

Adira answered simply. "I know what everything is."

"Including the concept of humility, apparently."

Rapunzel, stuck in the middle of them, closed her eyes and just screamed. "Please, everyone! Can we stop fighting for just one moment?"

Cassandra's expression softened. Adira crossed her arms. It was honestly more out of either than them that Rapunzel was expecting. She knew it was difficult for them; heck, they were ready to stab each other not too long ago. All of those positive thoughts about relaxing tensions may have been a little premature. Still, she hoped that both of them cared enough about protecting her to stop fighting for just a moment—at least long enough to get something useful out of their captive.

That very same captive was loving their fight, though. She loved it so much that she actually allowed herself to do something other than sneer. A wicked, near-petulant smile crossed her face, and as Cassandra and Adira's argument came to a standstill, she took advantage of the silence to mockingly coo at her opponent's weakness.

"Oh, no. Please. Don't stop for me," she teased. "It's so fun watching you try to be intimidating and failing."

Rapunzel scrunched her nose and pointed accusingly at the tied-up assassin. "You be quiet."

"Make me."

Rapunzel groaned. Now she was losing her temper. Today was supposed to be a good day. She started it by getting her energy back. Why was the universe being so frustrating?

Deep breaths, Rapunzel. Deep breaths. Focus. Just…just focus.

"Adira," Rapunzel asked calmly. "What do you know about her?"

"Her specifically? Nothing," Adira admitted. "The Psychopomp? Plenty."

Cassandra placed her hands on her hips. "Wait, how does that make sense? She is the Psychopomp." She smacked her lips together, rolling her tongue around her mouth. "Psychopomp, Psychopomp…man, that's weird to say."

"She's a Psychopomp. I don't think she's the first," Adira explained. She carefully paced around to the side of the bed, keeping her eyes locked onto the young assassin as if she were carefully studying her. "I remember hearing about the Psychopomp when I was training as part of the Brotherhood. That was a long time ago, as you can imagine. I heard stories about a legendary assassin from the Grecian Isles, deadlier than anyone else in the world. They had a collection of rare magical artifacts that were imbued with the powers of the Gods themselves. The speed of Hermes, the strength of Heracles…" Adira grimaced, gently shrugging her injured shoulder. "The lightning of Zeus."

Adira looked over the many magical artifacts laying on the bed. They had taken great care to remove them, not knowing how dangerous any of them truly were. There were around sixteen in all, varying in shape and purpose. Rings. Swords. Bags of powder. Crystals. Any one of them could kill if misused, and despite her earlier boast about knowing everything, even Adira acknowledged that she didn't understand the specific powers the Psychopomp had at her disposal. Cassandra, far less cautious, immediately walked to the bed and grabbed the pronged rod that had dealt so much damage to the painted Brotherhood warrior, holding it in front of her face to examine it.

"Lightning of Zeus, huh?" she wondered aloud, before Adira snatched the device out of her hands before she could even blink.

"Careful, please," Adira reprimanded her. From the floor, the assassin's smile faded, and her unsavory sneer returned.

"Yeah. Hands off my stuff."

Cassandra pursed her lips, and unintimidated grabbed something else from the bed: the small crossbow that was used to attack Max.

"Let me guess. Medusa arrows? I assume there's a reverse version, right?"

"Reverse version?" The Psychopomp seemed baffled. "Oh, what? For the horse? You want to unfreeze the horse?"

"That horse is our friend," Rapunzel said sternly. "And a more honorable fighter than most people I know.

The Psychopomp laughed. "I'm sorry. The horse is what now?"

Adira couldn't help but shake her head. "Don't take it lightly. That horse is no joke."

"As I can tell from the fact that he's frozen solid."

Rapunzel snapped. "Do not talk about Max that way."

The Psychopomp seemed unperturbed—until she noticed the owl in the window, glaring at her and stretching out its wings. It probably wouldn't attack her. Almost certainly not again.

Right?

Then again…

"I-It's only temporary," the Psychopomp said quickly. "He'll go back to normal in about twelve hours. He won't even feel a thing. Just don't knock him over until then."

Rapunzel's mouth curled into a slight smile. Was it really that simple, or was she just being lied to? She supposed the girl had no reason to lie. She already knew they weren't going to hurt her—at least, the humans in the room wouldn't. She let herself breathe a sigh of relief. Max would be okay. She repeated that in her head. Max would be okay. It was crazy that such a simple thing would make her feel so good. After Pascal and Eugene, she wasn't sure if she could bear another loss so soon—especially if it was because of her. Max never would have been in danger if she had just stayed put in Corona. If she had only done what everyone asked her to…or if she had just given into the assassin's demands…

And there was that creeping guilt again. Poisoning her mind. Whispering to her and burrowing deep in her soul, sucking her dry like a leech.

Cassandra noticed Rapunzel's hesitation, and for a moment, she contemplated taking her aside and comforting her. She thought against it. Now wasn't really the time to show weakness. They needed information. Never one to be impractical, she turned her frustration into determination and strategy, thinking of how to drive what they needed to know out of the young killer. Direct threats weren't getting anything done. In fairness, they should have seen that coming. Rapunzel? Threatening? Even when she was slaying literal demons and fighting her with sun powers, she was hardly intimidating. It was those big, innocent-looking eyes. They needed a new line of approach.

Youth…now that was something to exploit.

Cassandra placed the crossbow down on the bed and knelt on the floor beside the assassin, getting up close and personal to the woman that tried to kill her less than an hour ago.

"So, you heard about the Psycho-whatever when you were a kid," she reasoned. "That means that either this girl has a potion that can make her young forever, or she's a different person than the one you've heard about."

Adira nodded. "I'm assuming it's the latter. The Psychopomp is a legend more than a person. It makes sense to me that it would serve as a title passed down from one person to another. That way, no matter how much time passed, or if the current Psychopomp died, they would always find a way to keep the legend going on. It'd keep the assassin's identity a secret, too, if it kept getting moved to new people. It's a rather effective way to maintain a reputation. Legends are often more important than actions."

Cassandra smirked at the assassin, whose face remained still as Adira pieced together her backstory. "I get it. So, you just started out in the assassin game, didn't you?"

The girl did not answer.

"That would explain why we aren't dead," Adira noted, admiring the lightning weapon herself. "The legends I heard about the Psychopomp was that they could take down a hundred men at a time. If she's really inexperienced…"

The Psychopomp writhed in her binds, snarling at Adira. The elder fighter simply pursed her lips and shook her head, as if scolding a disobedient child.

"Okay. She doesn't like it when you call her inexperienced. Noted."

"So that gets a reaction out of her," Cassandra stated. The disdain in her voice was so grossly apparent that Rapunzel almost felt bad for the assassin for having to put up with her. It wasn't like Cassandra was unjustified in her anger. But teasing her? She was still a child, and Rapunzel didn't want to think of what terrible circumstances led to a person becoming a killer at such a young age.

"Show some respect," the Psychopomp warned, but Cassandra just loudly snickered.

"Show respect? To the brat who tried to sneak attack us?"

The Psychopomp sneered. "Don't call me a brat."

"Oh, I'm sorry, kid. Didn't mean to offend you."

Another growl. Another glare. Rapunzel hesitantly stepped forward.

"Cass—"

"You know, can I offer you some fighting advice?" Cassandra said, checking her nails. "If you are going to fight someone, don't talk. Just fight. Talking is for losers."

"W-What?" The Psychopomp stuttered. "You idiots were talking the whole time!"

"Yeah, but we're used to that," Cassandra shrugged. "You know, we have experience. Grown-up experience."

Rapunzel was dumbfounded as the Psychopomp's brow furrowed. Cassandra seemed completely laid back, a far cry from the bloodlust she was displaying earlier. What the hell was she planning though? Pissing off the woman they needed information from was hardly a wise move. Had she gone insane?

Unless…

"Stop it. I know what you're trying to do," the Psychopomp warned. "It won't work."

"Looks like it's already working," Cassandra smirked. "I mean, I can already see the tears welling in your eyes."

"Shut up. I'm an assassin. You think you can talk down to me?"

"I mean, 'assassin' is pretty generous," Cassandra claimed. "A real assassin wouldn't have gotten her ass kicked by a literal princess. Rapunzel is a princess. You do know that right? Like, she's a flower child. She doesn't even wear shoes. Can you imagine seriously losing a fight to her? I bet the last Psycho-whatsit would have killed her in about twenty seconds."

"Don't push it."

"Heck, I've lost to Rapunzel once, and I still haven't let it down."

"Shut. Up."

"Shit, I bet you've never even killed anyone before."

The last comment pushed the Psychopomp over the edge. She gritted her teeth, straining against her binds. She bit and snapped at the air like a rabid animal. Adira was taken aback by the spontaneous viciousness, but Cassandra remained calm as ever, kneeling by the assassin's legs and barely reacting to her outburst. She checked her nails again and rolled her eyes, looking so comically over it that her intentions became clear immediately to the Princess watching her. Cassandra had always been good at pushing buttons; one only needed to ask Eugene about all the borderline harassment she received. But Rapunzel was impressed—she was playing the assassin so effectively that she got her screaming and throwing a fit within seconds. If Rapunzel didn't know any better, she would say that Cass ruined whatever chance they had of making ground with the child.

But Cass was smart. Blunt. Clumsy, sometimes. But smart. She would never intentionally sabotage herself like that. Everything she did had a point. And though it was a bit outside-the-box, Cassandra was actually acting quite normally. The two had talked about this very situation in the past.

"Ooh, Cass. I should be the bad cop."

"Raps, you are the furthest thing from a bad cop I can possibly think of."

"Maybe I can be a different type of bad cop."

"I don't think being super nice and handing people cookies is a type of bad cop."

"It can be."

A new type of bad cop. Rapunzel had to hand it to Cassandra: She was certainly inventive. The fundamental purpose of a good-cop-bad-cop routine was to get the captive in a position where they would be trusting enough to reveal information. Usually, it was through the creation of a contrast, and traditionally, that contrast was brought about by threats. A person was supposed to fear the bad cop. But getting annoyed and mocked by the bad cop? That was clever.

All Rapunzel had to do was follow through.

"Cassandra, that's enough." Rapunzel's calls were stern enough that Cassandra's smug grin faded, and the Princess motioned for her friend to go outside. Cassandra very painfully groaned and stood up. Rapunzel turned to the other warrior in the room, motioning all the same. "Adira, you too."

"Princess," Adira questioned, "do you think leaving her alone is a good—"

"Now," Rapunzel instructed. Adira hesitated, completely clueless, but Cassandra followed her best friend's instructions without pause. She threw up her arms in defeat and sauntered toward the door, loudly mumbling in disagreement.

"Suit yourself. Try not to kill yourself." She bitterly walked past Rapunzel but stopped ever so briefly to shoot the Princess a subtle, proud smile, hidden from the assassin's view. She mouthed silently. "Charm her ass off, Raps."

Rapunzel didn't react. But she would. She'd have to. Cassandra stopped again in the doorway and whistled, and Owl heeded his master's call and flew to the perch on her arm. She left the inn without any more fuss, and sensing that she wasn't going to get anywhere on her own, Adira relented and followed suit.

"Keep an eye on her wrists. If she starts to break free, scream as loud as you can."

Her advice was appropriately brief. Rapunzel nodded. It was kind of Adira to look out for her. Despite their recent adversity, she was still a dependable ally. She didn't know what their future would look like; she severely doubted that Adira would let her continue on her mission to Madrid with assassin's hunting her. But for the first time in days, she felt truly hopeful that things would turn out okay.

Assuming, of course, that Adira wouldn't murder Cassandra when they were left alone together. Rapunzel decided not to linger on such depressing things.

Soon, Adira was gone, shutting the door behind her. It was just Rapunzel and the Psychopomp alone. A Princess and her would-be killer. There was a glib tension between them. They knew they couldn't hurt each other. No point in keeping up pretenses. But Rapunzel still had a job to do, and she approached it with the same level of passion and drive that she brought to everything in her life. The murderous intent was different, but like most things, her goal involved being very, very nice to someone. The past week had strained her confidence, but this?

She had this in the bag.

"I'm so sorry about Cassandra," Rapunzel began earnestly. "She can get kind of…mean sometimes."

The Psychopomp's scowl hardly diminished in Cass's absence. "No, you're not. You like making me upset."

Rapunzel smiled sadly. "You must not know a lot about me, then."

"I know all I need to," the Psychopomp stated. "Princess. Cushy life. Former Sundrop wielder. Cursed and going to destroy the entire world."

Rapunzel cautiously approached her. "I think we can get to know each other a little better. Do you even know my name?"

"Don't need to."

Rapunzel carefully sat down in front of the assassin, crossing her legs and speaking slowly. "I'm Rapunzel. What's your name?"

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both."

"Okay, then." Rapunzel changed tactics. "You know, Cassandra and I used to be enemies, too. She wasn't kidding when she said that we fought each other."

"And what? You were so polite to her you made her un-evil?"

"Something like that."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't kill her. She's so much fun to be around."

"I promise that she's not that bad when you get to know her. She had some problems, and…admittedly, I may not have treated her the best."

"I don't care."

Rapunzel continued anyway, her smile turning somber. "She always tried so hard to be the best. She was my Lady-in-Waiting, assigned to protect me at all costs. But I didn't think I needed protection. I didn't want it. I tried so hard to prove that I didn't need her, and at the time, I thought that was okay. I didn't realize what I was doing to her…how worthless I was making her feel. I was trying so hard to always shine as bright as I could, but I didn't realize that I was trapping her in my shadow. Our friendship broke down, and she…well, she found out some things that were really complicated, and then we fought. We fought a lot. She really hated me back then. To tell you the truth, I think a part of her might still hate me."

The Psychopomp's snarl softened. "Why are you telling me this?"

Rapunzel shrugged tiredly. "I…I don't know. Maybe I just want to be thankful. Ever since this curse started, I've been having to think about a lot of things. I haven't had a lot of time to do as much as I could have. I spent the first eighteen years of my life locked in a tower. My only view of the world came out a single window. When I broke free of that, I spent the next three years trying to do everything I could. I went on adventures. I met my husband. I got to meet so many amazing people and learn all these wonderful things. But…during that time, I lost Cassandra. My best friend abandoned me. I eventually got her back, but I can't help but look back and just think about all the time we lost. I'm glad we're back together now, but it isn't enough. It's never going to be. And that's been something I've been trying to come to terms with.

"But also…it helps remind me that things aren't so bad. There was a time when we were so at each other's throats that I thought we'd never make amends. But now, she's here by my side again. She's still my friend. And no matter how things bad things get, no matter how hopeless things may seem, it can get better. Even though we were enemies back then, we don't have to be now. And you and I don't have to be enemies either. I don't expect you to care, but…I just wanted you to know that."

The Psychopomp looked down at the ground. Her jaw tightened. Rapunzel could see a small war wage behind her blue eyes. She was getting through…

"I'm not your enemy."

"You tried to kill me."

"And I said that wasn't personal," the assassin stated. "I don't take hit jobs for money. I operate on a code. I only kill when it serves the greater good."

"And killing me serves the greater good?" Rapunzel asked, hurt.

"You do know what curse you have, right?" The Psychopomp warned. "Those scars are looking worse by the second. If that curse reaches its full potential, your friend Cassandra and her stupid owl are just going to be the first people to suffer."

"Then help me stop it," Rapunzel pleaded. She could see the sympathy in the assassin's face. She was just a kid. A good kid. She could change her mind.

"There is no way to stop it," the assassin said directly. "The only way this ends is if you die."

"We don't know that," Rapunzel explained. "We're going to Madrid. We think there are witches there. Followers of the Coven of Carmine Therasia Navarro de la Sombra: the witch who created this curse. If we can just talk to them, we may be able to find a way to undo this. Help us find them. If you really aren't my enemy—if you don't want me to die—then you should help save my life."

The Psychopomp looked at her for a long time, perplexed and utterly fascinated. Rapunzel couldn't tell what was happening inside that head. Was she getting through? She could only hope so. Please, God, let something go right. Let her not be wrong about this.

Then, the Psychopomp did something Rapunzel didn't expect.

She started to laugh.

"Oh, no. You've got to be kidding me."

The laugh wasn't insidious. If anything, it felt more disappointed than anything. Like a cruel joke had just been played on her.

"W-What's so funny?" Rapunzel asked worriedly.

"You're…you're looking for the Coven de la Sombra?" The Psychopomp asked darkly.

Rapunzel felt her heart sink. "Don't tell me. They don't exist?"

The Psychopomp just closed her eyes and sighed. "Don't exist? Rapunzel…they're the ones who asked me to kill you."