Cassandra stared at her mother in confusion and surprise. "What are you doing out here, Mother?"

Gothel smiled sweetly at her daughter. "I couldn't let you run away from me. I had to make sure you were okay. After all, I imagine taking a powerful and dangerous stone would have such a bad affect on a person." Then she pointed at Cass. "It certainly hasn't done your looks any favors."

Cass looked at the black-rock armor covering her body. She suppose she could see why her appearance would be considered bizarre. "Its not as bad as it looks." She assured, feeling a bit insecure.

Cass watched as her mother shrugged. "If you say so." The older woman said. "Not what I'd prefer, but to each their own, I suppose."

"Mother, why are you here?" Cass asked again.

"Its rude to repeat yourself, Cassandra." Her mother scolded, causing the Dark Princess to close her mouth. Then Gothel sighed. "As I said, I was worried about you, I wanted to make sure you were okay.

"You did?" Cass asked.

Gothel smiled softly. "Of course, dear. Why wouldn't want to check on my dear daughter?"

Cassandra was surprised. But also touched. While she knew her mother truly did love her, for as long as the young woman could remember, her mother had always been distant towards her, giving more of her affection to Eugene, something that aggravated her more than she was willing to admit.

Cassandra allowed a soft smile to form onto her face. "Thank you, Mom." She said. "I love you."

Gothel gently smiled at placed a hand over Cass' heart, where the Moonstone was. "I love you most." Cassandra's smile grew at her mother.

"You can't trust her." She heard the enchanted girl whisper to her, startling Cass and causing her to pull away from her mother.

"What's wrong with you Cassandra?" Her mother asked, her voice mixed with annoyance and concern.

"N-nothing, Mother." Cass assured.

Gothel smiled. "Good." Then she started walking off. "Now, after that little stunt you pulled, I think its best we don't return until you've learned to control your new powers. Luckily for you, I think I know where we can get some answers."

Cass frowned. "How do you know that?"

Gothel frowned back. "I'm part of the Dark Kingdom royal family. Its my duty to learn all I can to help my kingdom. Now enough wasting time, and let's go." Then the older woman continued walking off.

Cassandra was conflicted. The chance to learn to control the Moonstone's ability sounds great, but her mother didn't really explain how she would now. But this was her mother, she knew she would never do anything to hurt her. But the Enchanted Girl's warning also echoed in her mind.

"Go with her." Turning, she saw the Enchanted Girl floating beside her, looking up at her. "She will guide you to where you need to go."

"How do you know that?" Cass asked. "And why did you say I couldn't trust her?"

"Don't you find it strange that after all those years of you trying so hard to get her attention, she finally gives it to you, only after you obtained the moonstone?" The Enchanted Girl asked. "But she knows how to help you unlock the power of the Moonstone, so go with her. For now at least. But remember: Be careful who you trust." Then she disappeared.

As Cassandra thought over the Enchanted Girl's words, she decided to follow her mother, but shrugged off the warning that she couldn't trust her mother. After all, this was her mother. Sure, she was a bit hard to please, but it was only so Cassandra could work hard and prove herself. Her mother loved her and truly did want what's best for her.

Yes, maybe some of her mother's actions were suspicious, but it had to be for a good reason. The point was that this was Cass' mother and she could trust her.

Rapunzel tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep. After the conversation in the Infirmary, it was suggested that they should all head back to their rooms and try and rest from everything that happened.

But that was proven to be a task easier said than done. At least for Rapunzel it was. Pascal was able to sleep soundly, Rapunzel was actually envious of the chameleon. Pascal had offered to stay awake with her when he noticed Rapunzel having difficulty. But she wasn't to let her own issue keep her friend awake.

Then she heard footsteps outside her room. She carefully got out of the bed and went to see who it was. When she opened her room door, she saw the young Alchemist, Varian, walk by with a plate of food in his hands.

"Oh, Hi, Princess." Varian greeted. "I didn't wake you, did I?"

The blonde shook her head. "I couldn't sleep." She admitted. She looked at the plate in his hands and asked. "Getting a late snack?"

"Huh?" The boy mumbled, then he looked at his the plate of food in his hands. "Oh, this isn't for me. Its for Eugene. I don't think he's eaten tonight, so Lance and I thought we'd make a plate for him and give it to him."

"That's nice." Rapunzel said, giving the younger boy a smile.

Varian smiled back. "Wanna join me? It might be good for Eugene to see some friendly faces after today. Afterwards, you could come back to the kitchens with me. Lance making more food."

Her smile grew. "I'd love too." Then she followed Varian.

She hadn't seen or heard from Eugene since he left the Infirmary, which that itself wasn't a surprised. He probably was sleeping after everything.

But she remembered how quickly he left after talking with her. That made her worry for him, something told her that was more than just what happened with Cassandra and the moonstone. She hoped she would be able to talk to him, maybe apologize for whatever she had done to make him leave so fast.

After a bit, Varian stopped in front of a large door. She figured it was Eugene's bedroom door, but the door looked so much simpler than her bedroom doors back in Corona Castle. But she figured it was just the style of the Dark Kingdom.

Varian knocked on the door. But after a moment, there was no response.

"Eugene?" Varian called. "Its me, Varian. I brought you some food."

There was still no response. "He's probably asleep." She whispered to Varian. "Maybe we should go."

"No, he's up." Varian assured. Then he knocked again. "C'mon, Flynn. Don't do this."

"Flynn?" Rapunzel asked aloud. Why would he call Eugene 'Flynn'?

Before Varian could respond to Rapunzel, Eugene's door cracked opened. "Rapunzel?" He asked.

Awkwardly, Rapunzel waved and gave a small smile. "Sorry if we woke you up."

Eugene frowned. "You didn't." The three fell into a rather awkward silence before Varian presented the plate to Eugene.

"Here you go." The alchemist said as he gave the plate to Eugene. "Lance made it for you."

Still frowning, Eugene took the plate and nodded at the pair. "Thanks." He mumbled.

Then Rapunzel tried to speak. "Eugene I-" But then Eugene quickly closed the door. That seemed to confirm that Eugene was upset with her. "Maybe I shouldn't have come along."

"No, you're alright." Varian assured. "Today's just been stressful for Eugene, that's all." But that didn't seem to convince Rapunzel, so Varian gently placed his hands on her arm. "C'mon, join me and Lance and the kitchen. Some good food might cheer you up, and you'll be able to sleep better with a full stomach."

That managed to get a small smile from Rapunzel. "Alright." Then the two walked to the kitchens.

When the pair reached the Kitchens, the first thing that Rapunzel noticed was the pleasant smell, indicating good food was being cooked in there. By the time they entered, Lance was preparing two plates of pancakes.

"Mind making an extra plate, Lance?" Varian asked.

Lance turned from what he was doing to look at Varian and Rapunzel. Smiling at the pair, Lance nodded. "Right away, Hairstripe." Then he returned his attention to cooking. "She can have my plate. You don't mind syrup on your pancakes, do you, Princess?"

"Not at all." Rapunzel said. "Thank you, but you don't-"

"Nonsense!" Lance insisted. "You're a guest! And its time you got a real taste of hospitality!"

Varian grabbed the two prepared plates and placed them on a table. Then he took his seat and started eating his plate. Rapunzel sat down next to him. She took a small bite of the pancakes given to her. She was pleasantly surprised at the flavor.

"These are delicious!" She praised.

Lance beamed. "Thank you, Princess!"

"Hey may not be a great guard-in-training, but he is a good cook." Varian commented.

"Thanks." Lance said. But when he realized what Varian said, he glared at the boy. "Hey! I'll have you now my guard skills are just as good as my cooking!"

Varian and Rapunzel laughed. Lance just returned his attention to finishing his pancakes.

Once Rapunzel stopped laughing, she spoke. "Sorry for laughing, Lance. I'm sure you'll be a good guard."

That got Lance to smile again. "Thank you. At least someone recognizes my potential."

After making his own plate, Lance sat with the others at the table. "How's Eugene doing?" He asked Varian.

Varian frowned. "Well, he took the food, but I don't think he's doing too great at the moment. He hardly spoke to us."

Then Rapunzel frowned. "I think that was my fault. I tried to talk to him, but he didn't want to talk to me."

"I told you, that wasn't your fault." Varian reminded.

Lance nodded. "Yeah. Trust me, Eugene likes you way too much to ever be upset with you."

Rapunzel blushed. "You really think so?"

Lance smiled at her. "You haven't noticed? Well, let me tell you, Eugene is completely-ow!" Before he could finish, he yelped in pain, then Rapunzel watched as he rubbed his leg.

Then she saw Varian glare at Lance. "Just because Eugene isn't here, that doesn't mean you can talk about him behind his back like this. He would never forgive us."

Lance then mumbled something Rapunzel couldn't understand. Then the three continued eating their pancakes. But then the blonde broke the silence.

"I know you said you didn't want to talk about Eugene when he's not here, but I was wondering, why did you call him 'Flynn'?"

"Oh! That's just a nickname." Varian answered. "Its from those Flynn Rider books. Have you heard them?"

"Not really, I have heard of them, though." The Princess replied.

"When me and Eugene were kids, we were obsessed with the Flynn Rider Books." Lance replied. "When he started sneaking out of the castle, he started using it, hoping having a different name would keep people of recognizing him."

Then Varian spoke up. "But from what I heard, it didn't really work, since Eugene is the prince, I figure it wouldn't be hard to recognize him."

"But Eugene kept it and the citizens started calling him that more." Lance added.

"How come?" Rapunzel asked, confused. "If everyone knows he's the Prince, why continue calling him by that nickname?"

"I guess because they know he doesn't want to be a prince." Lance assumed. Then Lance quickly covered his mouth and Varian frowned.

Rapunzel frowned. "You don't need to keep a secret. I know about Eugene sneaking out, and I know that he isn't as happy as someone would think he is as a prince."

The two males looked at each other, then Lance removed his hands from his mouth, than spoke. "Don't get the wrong idea, he's cares about the Dark Kingdom, and the people love him. Every Weekend, he would go to the orphanage and read to the kids there."

The Varian spoke up. "It isn't that he's irresponsible or lazy, but I think its more because he doesn't want to be like..." Then Varian got quiet, not sure if he should continue what he was saying.

"Like his father?" Rapunzel guessed, remembering that Eugene mentioned that he and his father didn't get along. Varian looked surprised at Rapunzel's guess, but nodded.

"Eugene told you about that?" Lance asked, surprised

"He said he and his father didn't get along and that he felt trapped as a prince, but he didn't go into details about that." Rapunzel admitted.

Lance scoffed. "No offense to Eugene, but 'didn't get along' doesn't begin to describe him and his dad."

"Lance!" The alchemist scolded. Then he turned to Rapunzel. "Rapunzel, I know you're curious, but Lance and I shouldn't say more. Eugene is our friend, and it wouldn't be fair if we talked about his personal stuff behind his back. Sorry."

The blond Princess shook her head. "No, don't be. I shouldn't be asking, its not my place."

The three fell back into a state of silence before Rapunzel got up. "The pancakes were delicious, thank you." She said. "I'm going to try to get some sleep. Good night."

The other two said goodnight back and Rapunzel left the kitchen and went back to her room. Though she wasn't able to sleep any better than before.

(Sorry for taking so long to update. I needed to take a break from writing for a while. A lot of stuff was going on to the point where I had no energy nor inspirations to properly write, and I was trying to get other stuff done. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next one should hopefully come sooner, but I can't make any promises.)