Eugene quietly gulped as he stood outside his father's bedroom door. Fear bubbled up inside him as he just stood in front of the door. He knew he said that he would finally go see his father, but he hadn't realized that it would be so hard. He figured he would have some difficulty, given his father was still in a very weak state, but he hadn't realized it would be this hard.
"Eugene, its okay." Rapunzel's gentle voice told him as he felt her gently take his hand. "I'll be by your side the whole time. You don't have to do this alone."
Eugene gave her a week smile. "I know. Thank you. Just give me a moment."
Then the prince took a deep breath, which did help calm him a bit. Not a lot, but a bit.
He gently cracked open the door, and saw King Edmund, still resting in the bed, still looking as weak and pale as he did since Eugene returned from Corona. There was a rag on his forehead that looked fresh and wet, one of the maids must've come by and given it to him earlier.
His anxiety began to build up again. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to just close the doors and try to forget seeing his father like that. But he knew he couldn't do that.
Hesitantly, he opened the doors some more so he and Rapunzel could enter the room. Quietly, they walked to the Edmund's side, with Eugene next to the bed and Rapunzel slightly behind him.
At that moment, all Eugene could do was just stare at his father, his voice seemed to be caught in throat.
"Breathe, Eugene." He heard Rapunzel's voice gently instructed. It wasn't until he was taking deep breaths did the prince realize he had been holding his breath the whole time.
"Sorry." Eugene said to her. "I just...I don't know what I want to say anymore."
Rapunzel put a hand on his shoulder. "Just breathe and relax. And remember, you are not alone."
Eugene nodded at her before turning his attention back to his father. Once his steadied his breathing, he tried to speak. "Um...Hello. I...thought you should now that the black rocks aren't causing trouble in the kingdom anymore. Well, that's mostly because Cass ending up taking to moonstone, which apparently allowed her to get rid of the stones, which is good! But we don't know where she is, but we're gonna find her!"
Then King Edmund let out a quiet groan, interrupting Eugene's rambling. Eugene felt his anxiety rise up again, then he remembered the cold rag resting on his father's forehead. He gently took the rag and began to gently brush it against the king's face and head, wiping away any sweat the prince saw or just to cool the king down in case he had a fever.
That managed to calm the weak king down, which also calmed Eugene a bit. He looked at his father a few moments longer before continuing.
"Dad, I know things between us haven't been great. For probably a long time." Eugene said as he continued to rub the cloth against his father's face. "But I want to say that, I'm sorry. I am so sorry about what I said before I left. I know you and I don't see eye to eye, I admit that I haven't exactly done anything to try to fix that, but I swear I didn't mean when I said I wished you weren't my father."
Eugene felt his eyes water up again, but he continued to speak. "I want to you know that if-when you recover, I will do everything I can to make it up to you, to prove to you how sorry I am and how proud I am to have you as my father."
Then Eugene cried again, Eugene carefully put the rag back on his father's forehead and moved away a bit, so he wouldn't get tears on Edmund or the bed.
He felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around him. Eugene allowed Rapunzel to hug him as he cried, not caring if she saw his ugly crying face this time.
Once he had calmed enough, he wiped away any remaining tears and turned to Rapunzel. He smiled at her. "Thank you for being here with me. If there's anything I can do for you."
"You don't owe me anything, Eugene." Rapunzel said with a smile. "I simply did what anyone and should do. You are welcome though."
Eugene's smile grew. "I mean it, though. Ever since meeting you, I've felt more hopeful, that things are actually getting better."
Rapunzel felt herself blush. "I've felt the same since meeting you." she quietly confessed.
Then Eugene gently took her hand in his and smiled at her, his eyes seemed to shine as their eyes locked. "Meeting you has been one of the best things to happen to me, Rapunzel. I-"
But before the prince could finish his sentence, the doors had opened and in came Quirin and a maid. Quirin and the maid looked surprised as they looked at the two of them.
"Um...The maid is here to check on the King." Quirin awkwardly stated.
The pair pulled away from each other and nodded, quickly exiting the room as the maid went to Edmund's side.
"I see you came to see your father." Quirin stated, uncertain what to say.
"I did." Eugene said, also a bit awkward. "Rapunzel came with me, for support, is that okay?"
Quirin shrugged. "No, no, its fine, I mean, there's no reason for her not to."
"Great!" Eugene said quickly. "So, I'm...uh...gonna go clean myself up. And then we can all meet up for breakfast?"
Quirin didn't say anything that time, but he did nod before walking, at a rather fast pace.
The Prince and Princess were left alone, the awkwardness still there.
"So, I'll se you at breakfast?" Eugene asked her.
"Sure." She nodded. Then she remembered what she wanted to do earlier "Actually, I was hoping I could write a letter to home."
The Prince nodded at her. "Sure, I'll show you where it is."
Meanwhile, back in Corona, things were quiet, but there was a sense of tension that made people uneasy, especially within the castle.
Since Rapunzel had left, with the flower, the King had been very angry. Angry at the guards for not doing their jobs properly. Angry at Rapunzel for taking the flower and leaving, even after he ordered her not to. Especially angry at his wife for conspiring against him. How could she do that? Didn't she realize the dangers she had put their child in by allowing Rapunzel to go?!
But if he were being completely honest with himself, he was angry at himself. Not only had he failed to protect his daughter, but he had caused her to resent him, to abandon him.
Why couldn't Rapunzel understand, why couldn't any of them understand that he was trying to protect his family?!
He would do anything for them, he would send armies to protect them and fight wars for them! The only reason he hadn't sent one to get Rapunzel back from the Dark Kingdom was because he needed to focus his resources on repairing damages and healing those injured from those weird black rocks. And deep down, he knew that no one would support him, not his guards, not the citizens, and especially not his wife.
"Frederic, breakfast is ready, whenever you want to join." Arianna said to him that morning. She had come to the castle archives, where he started to spend more and more of his time. It was the one place he could escape from everything that was going on at the moment.
"Have the servants bring my breakfast here." Frederic stated, not looking up from the various documents and letters at his desk.
"Again?" The Queen asked. "Dear, don't you think its time to come out from hiding in here?"
King Frederic scoffed. "Oh, now you care about how I'm doing?"
Arianna was not pleased with his tone. "Don't be ridiculous, Frederic. I love you, I'll always care."
"You have a funny way of showing it." Frederic commented.
"Frederic!" Arianna scolded. "I know you're still mad about Rapunzel leaving, but that doesn't mean I'll let you talk to me like that."
Frederic glared at his wife and stood from his desk. "Forgive me, but how can I not be mad at you, since you not only helped her leave, but also gave her the Sundrop?"
"What was I supposed to do? Let her do it by herself and allow her to get hurt or worse?" Arianna asked. "You and I both know that if I hadn't, she still would've done everything she could to leave and would try to take the flower with her, even if it means hurting herself in the progress."
"She wouldn't have had the chance." The King countered. "I would've have the guards stationed all over. Then she would still be here, safe and secure."
Arianna glared at him. "Have you ever considered that you 'protecting' her was doing more harm than good?" Before Frederic could reply she continued. "Keeping her locked inside the castle of the time like a cage bird, you'd have to be oblivious not to see how much it saddened her."
"I was just-" King Frederic tried to defend.
But Queen Arianna didn't give him the chance. "Rapunzel is a free-spirited, she dreams of traveling, meeting new people, seeing the world, and you've done everything in your power to try and crush those dreams for her.
"I don't want to lose her!" Frederic shouted at her, his voice breaking. "I had almost lost you both before she was even born, and now, because I used the Sundrop to heal you, Rapunzel could be paying the price for my actions."
He slunk back into his chair, resting his arms on the desk, and laying his head in his hands. He was too drained, physically and emotionally, to continue arguing or even continue being angry.
The he felt a pair of hands rest on his shoulders, looking up, he saw Arianna looking at him, with a look of gentleness, love, and sympathy he hadn't seen in a while.
"I know you're scared, Frederic. So am I." Arianna admitted. "But we need to trust Rapunzel. And we can't keep her locked away all her life, it isn't fair to her."
Frederic sighed. "I know. But I just want to keep her safe."
The pair were silent for a moment, quietly taking comfort in each other. Then a messenger entered the archive. and in his hands, was a black bird.
"Your Majesty. This bird crashed into the window." The messenger announced. "It had a note tied to its ankle. Its seems to be from the Dark Kingdom."
The messenger then took the letter and gave it to King Frederic. Then the bird flew out of the messenger's hands, only to crash by the nearby window. Cringing at the bird, Arianna cracked open a window and allowed the bird to leave.
"Thank you." Frederic said to the messenger. "Leave us." The messenger bowed at the them and left the archive. The King presented the letter to Arianna. "Its from Rapunzel."
The Queen's eyes grew wide. "From Rapunzel? What does it say?"
Frederic opened the letter and started to read.
"Dear Mom and Dad,
I just wanted to let you know that I am okay and things are doing okay enough in the Dark Kingdom. The Black Rocks are gone in the Dark Kingdom and I hope they are no longer in Corona either, but I'm not sure how long that will last, so stay on guard. I will be staying a little longer to help them rebuild and to take care of other business.
Love Rapunzel.
P.S: Dad, if you're readying this, I want to let you know that I am sorry for what I said before I left. I don't hate you I'm starting to understand why you did what you did. I love you very much and I'm sorry for leaving. I hope someday, you'll understand why I'm doing all of this."
It wasn't until after Frederic finished reading that he realized he had been crying, as he noticed something wet fall down his face and little droplets of tears stain the letter.
He felt Arianna wrap her arms around him and hold him close to her.
"She's going to be okay." She whispered as she hugged him. "We just have to trust her."
"I'll try." He mumbled. He tried to relax in his wife's embrace. He still worried for his daughter and wanted nothing more than to have her back here with them. But he was going to trust her judgement and allow her to do this.
"Mother? Can I ask you something?" Cassandra asked her mother.
The pair had stopped to rest for a moment, as Gothel had complained that so much walking was starting to hurt her ankles.
Gothel stared at her daughter for a moment before replying. "I suppose. What is it?"
"Do you know how Dad's doing?" Cass asked.
Gothel rolled her eyes. "How am I suppose to know that, Cassandra?"
The young woman flinched at her mother's tone. "I...I was wondering if you had gone to check on him before we left. He wasn't hurt, was he?"
Gothel sighed. "I don't know, dear, but I'm sure he's fine. If he managed to survive after trying to get ride of the opal himself, I'm sure he'll survive you almost destroying the castle with the rocks."
"I didn't do that on purpose." Cass defended, getting a bit angry at the accusation.
"Watch your tone, young lady." Gothel scolded with a glare. "You will not talk to your mother like that."
"Sorry, mother." Cassandra quickly apologized,
"Good." Gothel said. Then she gave her daughter a waterskin. "Now, be a dear and refill this. Its running low on water."
Cass nodded. "Of course, mother." Then she walked towards a stream that was admittedly not as close to where they were resting as she would've liked it to be, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.
"Are you really going to let her treat you like that?" The Enchanted Girl asked as she floated in front of Cassandra.
Startled, Cass almost dropped the waterskin. "Why can't you ever announce yourself when you pop up out of nowhere?" She asked, annoyed.
The Enchanted Girl didn't answer her question, but she did speak some more. "I know you're smarter than this, Cassandra. Surely you should see your mother is manipulating you."
Now you're starting to sound like Eugene." Cassandra snapped. "That is not what's happening."
"Is it?" The Ghost girl asked, raising a brow. "The way she talked to you, the way she accused you of trying to hurt your father, and the why she stopped you from defending yourself from her. She is gaslighting you to keep you under her thumb."
Cassandra didn't say anything, she just did her best to fill the waterskin and ignore the girl.
"And she makes you do menial tasks for her to earn her 'forgiveness'." The Enchanted Girl continued. "Why does she make you fetch water when she is perfectly capable of doing it herself?
"Because I-" Then Cassandra stopped herself before she finished her sentence. The Enchanted Girl just stared at her, challenging her to finish what she would say, as if she knew whatever the Dark Princess would say would only prove her point. "I don't need to answer to you."
"I know you don't." The Ghostly Girl said, her voice and facial expression becoming gentle. "And you don't have to answer to her either. After everything she put you through, you don't owe her anything. However, she owes you. A lot more than you think."
"What do you mean?" The Princess asked.
"For starters, she owes you an explanation. Or two." The Girl answered. "She hasn't even told you where you're going, for starters."
Cass though for a moment. And she couldn't deny that she was right. They had been traveling for a while, but her mother still hadn't told her anything. Not where they were going or how going there would help her learn to control the powers of the moonstone.
"And the other explanation?" Cass hesitantly asked.
"Why, after so many years of ignoring you in favor of your brother, a child that is not even her own, that she is finally acknowledging your potential." The Enchanted Girl said. "But I suppose that can wait another time."
"CASSANDRA!" Gothel's voice shouted, interrupting their conversation. "What is taking you so long?!"
Turning away from the Enchanted Girl, Cassandra turned to the direction her mother's voice came from to reply. "Just finishing up, mother!"
But when Cassandra returned her gaze to where the Enchanted Girl was, she saw that the girl was gone. Back to wherever she keeps coming from, The Dark Princess figured. As she went back to her mother, she thought over what the girl had told her. While she still wasn't sure what to think, she at least admitted to herself that not everything she said was wrong.