Note: Figured we should get another chapter out soon since everyone was hanging off the last one. Thanks for all the positive feedback. We guess the Cassunze community was starved from heavy angst stories. Just doing our part. Also, we thought we'd plug ourselves by letting you know we are on discord at GodSaveTheKings#6799 if you ever want to chat with us, or ask us questions, or just bother us for no reason. Feel free to send us all your angsty Cassunzel fanart as well. Not even related to this story. Just general angsty fanart of these two desperate lesbians. Anyway, that's it for now. Here's another chapter. Enjoy.

Tick tock.

Rapunzel felt the castle stretch out into miles. She had raced through those halls a thousand times, skipping, galivanting, cartwheeling, so much so that the impression of each individual tile stuck out in her mind. She could practically picture each of the guards at their specific posts, her thoughts filling in the blanks of their stern faces. That familiarity was the reason why everything felt so wrong. It all should have been so perfect, only it never was. Perfect, like everything else, had escaped her. She had to get her body back. That much was clear. It was the only clear thing that she could think of. Everything else was a swirling, discombobulated mess. The monsters, Adira's arrival, Cassandra—mostly, overwhelmingly Cassandra—all clogged her thoughts and threatened to turn her inside out. She ignored them the best that she could. Retrieving their bodies before the Void reawakened had to be the most important thing.

But where the hell were their bodies in the first place?

"They have to be in the kitchen," Rapunzel had explained. "That's where they were holding our bodies before."

It made a kind of bizarre sense. They were food, so of course, the Void would store them in the kitchen. The kitchen was only a room away. It would take mere seconds for them to arrive. It would also be far too good to be true. When Rapunzel entered the kitchen, she wasn't met with her body or anything else—only a gently pulsing mass of confusing shapes and sounds.

"Whoa!" Rapunzel cried, skidding to a halt. While the dining hall had been relieved of the mutations of the Void, the slumbering beast still left its fingerprints. The kitchen's innards had been gutted of their stainless steel, counters stripped out of their contents, abandoned and dirtied. The floor just beyond her feet transformed into a thick canvas of pink slime, gently burbling and festering and putrid. Rapunzel recoiled in fear; trapped within the sludge, birthing from its depths were human bodies; citizens of Corona being grown and mutated into shape. They were only half-finished. Torsos. Heads. Skeletons and organs. Rapunzel had to quickly remind herself that they weren't real, only twisted images pulled from her mind. It was all she could do to stop herself from passing out.

The Psychopomp didn't care, stepping up behind Rapunzel and giving her a slight push. Rapunzel gasped as the slime suddenly gushed between her toes.

"Move it, Princess!" Delilah shouted. "We don't have time for trauma!"

It was a sentiment Rapunzel agreed with, even as she felt her resentment shake within her. But she didn't have time for anger either. The assassin brushed past her, taking the lead, and she threw back a challenging glance behind her skull mask. Rapunzel grimaced but she kept her lips sealed. It was a gentle reminder that the Grecian woman was only in this for herself. If Rapunzel happened to get stuck in the Void, she would be more than glad to leave her to rot. Rapunzel would have to be the bigger woman for now—just one more burden on top of the mountain, she supposed.

"Right," Rapunzel nodded, taking another step forward into the slime. The four of them traversed through the kitchen, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of the Princess's human form amidst the grotesque muck. The kitchen was massive, which made sense when trying to feed an entire hungry castle of staff and royalty. With only the remnants of its appliances, the room was still a maze, and Rapunzel knew she had to check each twist and turn for their real bodies. The slime wasn't thick enough to stall them. It was just disturbing. Thankfully, just disturbing. Several unconscious moans called out from the bodies as if the phantoms of their voices were beginning to take shape. The Void was dreaming, and like any dream, it allowed its memories to run wild and take whatever form they may without conscious intent. Rapunzel trucked forward, trying to keep her eyes on the walls ahead of her and not on the endless decay. Adira followed closely behind, keeping her sword drawn in case the walls suddenly decided they wanted to eat her alive. Cassandra lingered in the back, lazily tracing their movements. Rapunzel felt implored to grab her and carry her along, but she was sure that pushing Cassandra past her limits would only lead to more resistance. She checked on her often, glancing to make sure she hadn't been swallowed whole, and sure enough each time, Cassandra was there, slowly but steadily walking in their footsteps. She barely seemed to react to the slime at all.

"I'm not seeing your bodies anywhere," Adira said. There was only a slight hint of worry in her voice, which itself was more terrifying to Rapunzel than anything the Void could conjure. "Are you sure it's in here?"

"They've got to be," Rapunzel stated. "They wheeled us our bodies out of here like a big dinner platter. Where else would they store them?"

"The Princess has a point," Delilah grunted. "Though honestly, I'm not sure it would matter if she didn't. The Void doesn't occupy any physical space, so whatever part of the castle it conjures up is probably limited. I doubt it could generate that many rooms without really concentrating…or ripping out your thoughts so badly they would kill you. This kitchen might be the only place to look."

"How do you know so much about this place?" Rapunzel asked. "It's not like you've been here before."

"Hey, when you know the people I know, information has a way of getting around," Delilah claimed roughly. "You have your field of knowledge. I have mine. If I ever wanted to know the ins and outs of a monarchy, I'd write you a letter."

Adira scowled. "And during none of the time you were with us did you decide to share that knowledge."

"Again: Didn't think it'd be relevant!" Delilah sneered. "I've been in and out of the Void a hundred times. Never once did I accidentally fall through reality!"

"It's not their fault the Void was playing tricks on them," Adira said defensively. Her tone softened, and for once, she allowed her anger toward the Psychopomp to subside. "Princess, this place hasn't hurt you at all. Has it?"

Rapunzel kept walking forward, not once turning back. She forced herself to smile. Just to herself.

"No…we're fine."

Adira bowed her head in softened shame. It was her job to keep Rapunzel safe. She swore an oath that she would bring her home unharmed. If she had failed in that duty, she didn't know how she would forgive herself. She wasn't a woman who made many friends. The field didn't require it. Hell, sometimes it demanded otherwise. When someone lived as long as she did, keeping others at arm's length became a necessity unless one wanted to revel in the loss of it all. Rapunzel was one of the few people who was constantly decent to her. It wasn't anything special. By all accounts, Rapunzel was friendly toward everyone. It still meant something, however small. It made Adira appreciate the young woman, and it also let her hear the obvious stutter in her voice when she said she wasn't hurt.

But Adira didn't bother calling her out for lying. Somehow, it just didn't seem worth it. Not now, anyway.

Tick Tock.

"There."

Hearing Cassandra's voice for the first time sent a cold shudder down Rapunzel's spine, freezing her in place. It sounded almost alien to her. Had Rapunzel really pushed every thought of Cassandra so far out of her head that she couldn't recognize her voice anymore…or was she so broken down that her words barely sounded like her own?

Cassandra was pointing, staring blankly at a door at the far end of the room. Rapunzel didn't recognize it, but Cass managed to stumble through her words enough to explain.

"We used to store meat in there," she said dully. "Back when I was a handmaiden. If it was going to put our bodies anywhere, it'd probably be there. I mean, if that's all we are to it."

Adira raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Cassandra shrugged. "Worth a try."

Adira knew Cassandra even less than Rapunzel. Her closest memory of the blue-haired woman was when she forced her way inside of her head. Even seeing her now taking a similar form brought a foul taste to her mouth. Yet, all the same, she kept her mouth closed about her tear-stained eyes and nodded in agreement. She only mused over Rapunzel's pained expression and wondered what horrors the Void had subjected them to.

The four of them made their way over to the pantry, hurrying as the threat of the Void's awakening drew nearer. Rapunzel had spent a lot of time in that kitchen over the years, and each step brought the allure of sweeter memories. The chefs were kind enough to indulge in her baking habits, and she would often use them as guinea pigs for her new muffin recipes. She recalled stewing about in the long hours of the day, carefully planning out the meals for the big events her kingdom regularly hosted. Those memories seemed like an impossibility now, but she kept herself hopeful they could return one day. Then again, with everything she was learning, reveling in the past may have been misguided. Who knew how happy those memories really were? Maybe the chefs actually hated her barging into their spaces and taking over their ovens. Maybe they despised her cookies and just lied because they were afraid of getting fired. Maybe they were all secretly in love with her. Why not assume such silly things?

Rapunzel strained as she pulled open the pantry door, but when it was halfway pried, Adira suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Rapunzel, get back!"

She was pulled away before she felt any danger, stumbling and nearly falling back into the sludge. Adira pushed her way to the front, keeping her sword forward, and aimed at the pantry door. Delilah stepped back, pulling a thin blade out from her sleeve in case she needed to lunge. Rapunzel needed to recover a moment before she was able to peer into the pantry, and when she spotted the creature within, she understood the terror from her companions. Her voice became caught in her throat.

"Oh, my God…"

Within the pantry, she saw Pascal—bloated, giant, bigger than a horse and squeezing against the walls. His skin was blackened and decayed, with chunks of his face stripped of flesh and rendered in bone. He was sleeping like the rest of the Void's creations, his burly mass gently rising up and down with his breaths. Trapped beneath his arms, Rapunzel finally saw her body, resting next to Cassandra's under his mass, stuck amidst the slime but otherwise unharmed. She became frozen, her memories overwhelming her of the last time she had been with him. She remembered how sickly he looked, dying from the curse she inflicted on him, and she remembered saying goodbye knowing that she may never see him again, and for just a moment, she remembered the first time she ever met him, healing him when he happened to stumble through into her towel. All of those precious feelings hit her all at once, and she gasped in pain as they rushed through her heart and constricted her throat.

Adira kept Rapunzel steady as Delilah lowered her weapon. "It's sleeping," the Psychopomp said quietly. "We need to move quickly."

"Right," said Adira. She checked beneath her arm, where Rapunzel was clinging to her in a desperate attempt to stay upright. Her shaky knees threatened to fall out from under her at any moment. "Princess, are you okay?"

"I'm…I'm…"

Rapunzel closed her eyes. It was better when she didn't have to look at it. It was all fake. She just needed that reminder. It was all fake. Pascal was…

"Delilah," Adira said suddenly, turning her attention toward something useful. "We found the bodies. Now what?"

The assassin kept her distance from the pantry, unbothered by Rapunzel's struggles. Whatever hell the Princess and her guard were going through, it wasn't really important to her. At least, not more important than her own survival. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Adira asked sternly.

"Why would I know?" Delilah shrugged. "I've never done this before."

"You knew how to do everything else."

"And this isn't everything else. I've never been in this situation before. Your guess is as good as mine."

"You know, you have quite the habit of not mentioning important information when we need it," Adira growled. She suddenly turned back to Cassandra, motioning to the quivering blonde tucked against her ribs. "Short Hair. A little help with this?"

Much to Adira's chagrin, Cassandra ignored her. She just stood there, several feet away, arms limp by her sides, looking at Rapunzel's shuddering back. She didn't even make a move to comfort her. Her face carried with it an unbearable, worthless sadness. She might as well have been on another planet. She couldn't be of any use to her or Rapunzel, and Adira was forced to take matters into her own hands.

Tick Tock.

"Okay, here's the plan," she said bluntly. She grabbed Rapunzel tightly and pushed her toward the pantry door. Rapunzel was forced to open her eyes just so she wouldn't fall on her face, staring down at her muck-covered feet. "Rapunzel, touch your real body."

"W-What?" Rapunzel asked, shocked. "What would that do?"

"I'm just guessing," Adira said, forcing Rapunzel closer and closer toward the slumbering chameleon. "Maybe when you touch it, you'll magically fuse back into it. Lots of magical things happen whenever you touch certain objects, right?"

Adira wasn't exactly wrong. The black rocks, the Moonstone, magic mirrors, wands, pendants…magic tended to be pretty sensitive to the touch. A simple poke was sometimes all she needed to accidentally trigger a supernatural catastrophe. Still, when Rapunzel was pushed toward the open door, she felt a deep, desperate need to retreat from it. It was horrible enough when the Void wore the skin of her husband. It was horrible when it stole Cassandra's mannerisms and used her image to mock and berate her. But there was something truly despicable about taking the form of Pascal. Pascal was the embodiment of innocence. She couldn't count the number of nights where his presence meant everything to her. Gothel would sometimes leave her alone for entire weeks without any warning, only to return demanding that she sing and heal her wrinkles before storming off again. The kind of damage that did to a child's psyche was immeasurable. She constantly asked herself what she had done to deserve such treatment, how horrible she must have been to make her mother not love her anymore? The one thing that kept her sane was Pascal, giving her all of the love that Gothel never could. He was the first real source of affection she ever had.

And the Void was mimicking him. She wanted to throw up.

Even looking up took an incredible amount of effort, and when she did, she saw the giant Pascal directly in front of her. She started to scream, but Adira quickly clasped her hand over her mouth to silence her.

"Hey, zip it," Adira whispered. "Don't wake it up. Focus, okay?"

Focus? Adira sounded like her when she was talking to Cass. It was so much easier to stay focused when it wasn't her head being messed with. But her body was right there. The truth was that she did need to focus. There was so much more than her life at stake. Cassandra, Adira, Delilah—if she couldn't get a grip, they would all be trapped there until the Void wasted them away. If Adira was right, all she had to do was reach forward and touch her body, and she would get sucked back into it in some magical flash, and everything would go back to normal. She had to ignore that she could feel Pascal breathing on her, and she had to look past his rotting flesh, and she just had to lean forward and touch her body and focus. Adira kept her steady as she took a deep breath, slowly removing her hand from the Princess's mouth. Rapunzel didn't scream. At least there was that. If she had, Delilah was already standing by, ready to lunge at her to keep her quiet.

Tick Tock.

Rapunzel shook her fears away. She needed to be fearless like she always was. She needed to find the Rapunzel she used to be, the one who could lunge into danger without a second thought. The curse may have broken her body, and the Void may have shattered her confidence, but she would be damned if she let that break her. Realizing her time was running short, she pushed herself away from Adira and reached forward. Her body was lying still, nearly dead, its face marred by the bright blue cracks that split her pleasant features in two. Rapunzel pushed past the dissociation, mustering up her courage placing her fingers against the frail body's forehead. The skin was pale and cold beneath her touch. She braced herself for the worst.

Nothing happened.

Adira and Delilah stared at Rapunzel expectantly. The Princess winced, looking at her own body as if it would suddenly spring to life. There had to be some crazy magic that was about to happen, right? Something? Anything?

Anything?

Rapunzel quickly removed her hand from the body and poked it cautiously. She poked it again.

Still nothing.

She pressed her hand more firmly against her head.

Still nothing.

Rapunzel glanced behind her. "Um…I don't think this is—"

The entire room exploded in a burst of white light.

A thin hiss ripped through the air like a knife through skin, and the others were forced to cover their ears to try and shutter the terrible sounds. Rapunzel felt a thick ripple journey up the length of her arm, her skin folding and riling up like waves. Everything—her mind, her body, her soul seemed to bend and merge into one, shrinking and folding in on itself, and for a split second, her thoughts went completely blank. Then, with an elastic pop, it all came back into focus.

The light faded almost as quickly as it arrived. Adira, Delilah, and Cass all opened their eyes and stared at the pantry. The young Princess was still standing before them, hesitantly looking down at her own arms in disbelief. Though her face was turned away from them, they could see her hair—once blonde and long and beautiful—had been cut short and darkened, and even from behind they could see the faint glow of the scars running down her arms. The body in the pantry had vanished. She was all that remained.

Just like that, Rapunzel's daydream had ended. She was back in her normal body. She felt an immediate rush of euphoria.

Then, she collapsed.

Adira wasn't fast enough to save her this time, but Rapunzel managed to catch herself on her hands before she completely splattered into the slime. She was truly back within her original body, and with it, all of the power of the curse came back rushing into her senses. The aches. The fatigue. The despair. She gasped for air, trying to regain sensation in her limbs as they suddenly went numb on her. Her thoughts scattered and recombined within a split-second of one another, disorienting her. She briefly had no idea where she was or what she was doing; even for that one moment, her own name escaped her. A searing pain hit her face like a warm kiss, one final reminder of the hell that she had gotten herself into.

"Rapunzel!" Adira cried, rushing to her side. She helped the struggling Princess back to her feet, catching her as she staggered. Rapunzel winced but managed to smile at her.

"I'm fine, Adira," she said calmly. "I just…need to get adjusted to this."

Adira surveyed the Princess carefully, and when she determined that there was no more danger, she turned back to Cassandra. She expected that Cass would be in mid-step, bounding across the kitchen to care for her wounded friend. She really expected that. But Cassandra, like always, was just standing several feet away. She grabbed one of her own arms, shoulders slouched, an almost ashamed look across her face. Her eyes were on Rapunzel's dress. It was a nice dress before it was covered in slime. It deserved better.

"Short Hair, come on," she said, beckoning the adventurer toward her. Cassandra moved forward silently, knowing her role well enough. One body returned. She was next. That didn't stop Delilah from pestering her.

"Hurry up," she said anxiously, checking around her. "We don't have a lot of time left."

Cassandra wanted to shoot her a nasty glare, but she didn't. She didn't say a damn thing. She walked straight up to the pantry, walking right past Rapunzel without so much as a glance. Rapunzel reached out to her just a little too late for Cass to graze past her fingers. She pulled them back regretfully.

Cassandra stopped directly in front of the giant, decaying Pascal and looked down at her own body beneath his arm. It had been in better shape. Even resting peacefully, the wear and tear on her face made her look ancient. Her hair was an absolute mess. Beneath the tunic, she knew lied a body that she hadn't been keeping in proper shape. It was pale and cold and too rough even in its most tender areas. Cass looked down at her own hand, her blackened, flayed fingers outstretched. She was really supposed to just touch that thing? And then what? She would get thrown back into it and everything would be normal. A small voice scratched at the back of her head, one that she hadn't recognized in months. Do you really want to go back to that?

She clenched her fist. A pang of disgust struck her.

She placed her hand against her body anyway, and she waited a few seconds.

"So, when is this going to—"

Pascal's eyes shot open—and immediately stared right through her.

The giant beast sprung to life, swatting Cassandra to the other side of the room. Rapunzel screamed as she landed back first into the slime, the wind knocked out of her lungs. The decaying chameleon rose up to its feet, dangling the real Cassandra's lifeless body from its blood-stained lips. Cass—seeing her real body nearly being swallowed whole—tried to rise back to her feet. She was stopped when hands burst forth from the slime and wrapped around her arms, trapping her in place. Hands burst forth from all around the room, grabbing onto Adira, Delilah, and Rapunzel, each of them startled and frightened. Cassandra growled, fighting to get free. Adira and Delilah drew their weapons, ready for the hardest fight of their life. Rapunzel stared into the slime. She saw faces begin to emerge from the depths as they took new forms. There were dozens of them. Every single one looked like Eugene.

Tick tock.