Enchancian Expedition

Summary: In honor of his upcoming retirement, Roland decides to take nearly the entire Enchancian castle (including friends, family, and some workers) on an extended holiday. They have plans to travel to several countries and realms, and they'll make a number of surprising discoveries along the way. (Note: The setup is similar to but not exactly like AIM. :D)

Disclaimer: I own Corban, Alamea, Dominic, Serena, Angel (mentioned) Arnold (the newborn of Vivian and James), and several other familiar OCs you'll see in this story (including those from Mahiya, Helvetica-mentioned, Reimagia, the children of Mateo and Elena, and others). MarionetteJ2X owns Nana and Tanya as well as the characters from the Abstruce Realm. Mr. Shortman92 owns characters from the Absentia Realm as well as the 'Evil Cedfia' duo and their child Angelina (mentioned), Delilah, and Dana. Everyone/everything else originally from Sofia the First belongs to Craig Gerber.

A/N: A visit to Rapunzel and Eugene? Why not? Haha, we haven't seen her in my stories in a few years now, so surely things have changed… And if you thought that, then you are certainly correct. Let's just see how much!

Chapter 3: Corona

Corona was extremely busy this time of the year. Many summer festivities were going on. The small businesses were bustling with customers in and out. The castle had visitors and traders alike flowing in and out nearly daily.

So the Enchancian crew was lucky to get an audience with Rapunzel at all. According to one of the guards, she and her husband Eugene were on a family outing in the village with…their toddler son.

"I didn't know Rapunzel had a son," James admitted with a small laugh. "It's so weird to think about."

"James had a huge crush on Rapunzel when we were younger," Amber whispered in a dramatically loud voice to Vivian, who just rolled her eyes and smirked at her husband's flustered response. "Seriously, I thought he would probably challenge Eugene to a duel for her hand or something."

"It was a phase," the other twin finally defended clearing his throat. "She was nice, loyal, warm, and soft…" He trailed off when he noticed the unamused look on his wife's face. "Uh, I mean… Heh…" He grinned sheepishly.

"Would you like to be alone with your thoughts?" the dark-haired princess challenged, gently bouncing a fussy Arnold as he whined.

"I'm totally over her now! Obviously." He grinned, leaning forward and kissing his wife's cheek. "Love you, Viv."

"Flattery gets you nowhere, James." She snickered as he pouted.

It took a bit of searching, but the group finally located Rapunzel and her family. They were outside a café, Rapunzel and Eugene sitting across from each other and talking, while their little son sat between them, his hands wrapped around a bottle with some sort of juice sloshing around the container as he greedily drank from it.

"Rapunzel!" Sofia called, grinning as the other princess looked up and gasped. "Wow, you look great!"

Rapunzel no longer had the long blonde hair that made her famous, but she also didn't have the short brown hair that she'd gained after saving Eugene (or later fighting Cassandra). Instead, whether by natural occurrences or magical interference (or whatever), her natural brown hair was now down to her hips. "Hey, you guys! It's good to see you!" She then smiled pleasantly toward Roland. "And I hear you're retiring soon, King Roland. I'm very happy for you."

He chuckled, shrugging. "Thanks, Rapunzel. I'm not really sure how I feel about stepping down, but I know it's time."

"I can't wait for that day," Eugene sighed, grinning. "Granted, we've still got a few decades left with Rapunzel's rule, but it'll come. Guess I shouldn't rush it, right?"

"It will go quicker than you realize," Miranda informed him. "My advice is to enjoy this time, even if you don't believe you can. It'll be gone before you know it."

"Who's that?" Corban asked curiously as he pointed toward the little boy seated between the couple at the table.

"Oh! Guys, this is our son, Zayn." Rapunzel smiled sweetly at the little boy, who gazed up at her. "Can you say hi to my friends?

The little blonde waved at them. "Hi."

"Aw, he's so sweet," Violet gushed. "Such a precious little one."

Nigel grinned and nudged Baileywick, who grunted in annoyance. "I think your girlfriend has baby fever, Wicky. Better be careful, or you'll end up with the next tiny tot."

"Nigel, stop that," the former steward chided, willing away his blush.

"And girls, these are Rapunzel and Eugene," Sofia told her girls. "Guys, I think you've met Nana and Tanya before at least once, but this little one…" She nodded toward her youngest daughter. "This is Serena, our toddler."

"Aw, she's so cute!" Rapunzel gushed, smiling as the little girl smiled happily.

"Thank you," Serena told the other princess shyly, blushing a bit at the attention.

"Um, Rapunzel," Cedric began as he tilted his head while studying the child near his friend. "Just out of curiosity… Your natural hair is brown, and so is your husband's. How is your child blonde?"

"Heh, if only that were the weirdest part…" The princess of Corona held her hands out to her son, and she laughed as he shyly stood up in his chair and leaned toward her, allowing her to scoop him into her arms. "Turn around for Mommy." As he did as asked and sat down in her lap, Rapunzel indicated a thick ponytail that was clearly looped several times to hold his hair in place. "If we took his hair down, it would trail behind him by at least ten feet."

Sofia blinked at this information. "How…did that happen?"

"It sounds like a curse," Tanya suggested, glancing down at Nana, who nodded in agreement.

"Believe me, we've tried everything," Eugene sighed. "Scissors split in half. Blades disintegrated before our eyes. Even magic isn't any match for our kid's hair…" He shrugged. "I figured after all that mess with Cassandra, we were done with this. Well, Blondie is done with it. Now our kid has to be settled with it, for whatever reason."

"It's really pretty," Serena spoke up, her eyes shimmering as she gazed up at the little boy, who turned and looked at her in surprise. "It looks good on you!"

Zayn was taken aback by the other child's words, and he smiled shyly. "Thanks…"

"I'm Serena! Want to be friends?"

He giggled and nodded. "Okay! I'm Zayn." He clambered to his feet, walking over to the little girl, then holding out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Serena nodded and shook his hand, like she'd seen adults do, and then she threw her arms around the shocked boy. "We'll be bestest friends!"

"I do not think Finn will like that very much," Tanya teased, grinning as Nana snickered and Serena blushed.

"We're just friends, sissy," the dark-haired girl explained exasperatedly, rolling her eyes.

"Are you guys staying for a few days?" Rapunzel asked, seeing the group nod. "Oh, good! You have got to see some of the festivities going on. Lots of games, food, and contests, and I'm sure the kids will have a great time, and so will you guys. In fact, come on." She jumped up from her seat, taking Sofia's arm in a good-natured way. "There is so much to do!"

Sofia laughed. "Lead the way then!"

To be continued…

Next Chapter: Merroway Cove