Note: Hello everyone. Fun fact: this chapter and the last chapter were supposed to be part of one super-long chapter, but we decided to upload them in parts instead because we just wanted to get it out. We also have been going on a kick of watching old Cassunzel clips to get back in the Tangled spirit, since it's been like a year since we last saw the show. Hell, it's been almost a year since we started writing this. It really doesn't feel like it. We hope people have been enjoying the story so far. We understand it's kind of very weird, and it can get pretty dark in parts, but if you've been liking it, let us know in the comments. Feedback is always super helpful for us when we're writing so we don't overstep any boundaries. Thank you so much for reading. Enjoy.

Absolute chaos broke out. Pascal scampered out of the pantry like a rat, rushing away from the others toward the exit. It dragged Cassandra's body across the floor, and while the woman herself may have been too emotionally stunned to do anything, Delilah sprang into action.

"Oh no, you don't!" She made a mad dash toward the lizard, hoping to cut it off before it had a chance to flee. She could only make it a few feet before the Void started fighting back. The floor came alive, and a massive wall of slime emerged in front of her. She skirted around it at the last moment, but the entire room was sensing her movements. She had no real chance of fighting back. She only made it another few steps before the ground swallowed her ankles, trapping her in place. How the hell was she supposed to fight back against an entire world?

"Skull!" Adira said, panicked. Her first priority was saving Rapunzel, and her instincts allowed her to grab Rapunzel by the arm and start to run. Like Delilah, she didn't get far. The moment she touched Rapunzel, she felt the entire floor shift from underneath her, and she was suddenly sliding backward twenty feet toward the other side of the kitchen. She stared at her feet in shock, but tried to refocus. The Void was splitting them up. It wanted to consume them piece by piece. She couldn't let that happen. She rushed to get back to Rapunzel's side—only for an army of Eugenes to spontaneously rise up from the ground like the dead. Dozens of them. Smiling. Cocky. Just like the real deal.

"Going somewhere, Adira?" Their smug voices all came out in unison. Adira looked past them toward the Princess she was sworn to protect, and then she glanced down at her sword.

"Murdering a bunch of Fish Skins," she grunted. "Not the weirdest day I've ever had." With a scream, she charged forward into the crowd, slicing in every direction she could think of. The Eugenes fell quickly, but for every one she slaughtered, another would quickly rise up in its place. All the while grinning. Mocking. It only pushed her harder.

Cassandra only lay there, having no idea how to react. Rapunzel wanted to run to her, but something drew her attention away from her friends. Downward, ever downward.

"Raaaaapppuuunnnnnzzzzeeelllllllll."

There were screams echoing throughout the kitchen. Struggled grunts. Cries. Somehow, all of them managed to slip into the background as the Void's voice forced its way into her thoughts.

"Why are you leaving us?"

The living slime crept its way up her legs. With her eyes transfixed to the forming faces beneath her, she could only guess as to what chaos was happening around her. She felt Adira leave her side. A dark shadow rushed past her. Eugene's voices, multiplied, laughing. A faint smell hit her nose. Char. Pascal sprinted toward the exit—and Cassandra was right on its path.

"Are you sad about Cassandra?"

"Don't mourn her."

"She doesn't deserve it."

A rigid scream shattered the air like glass. Cassandra somehow woke up from her stupor before the chameleon throttled her. She thrashed about, eyes wide, fists balled, limbs flailing. Irony of ironies, she finally came to life in the few moments before the world killed her. Rapunzel slightly turned her head. She saw the decaying beast sprint toward her, about to collide, maybe gobble her up as its dinner. In the end, she saw none of it. The voices of the Void quickly beckoned her back before impact.

"Ignore her."

Why was she following its command?

She felt very numb. Her vision became blurred except for the faces of Eugene pooling beneath her. Their smiles were so warm they could melt blizzard. A part of her wanted to dive into them and give them a kiss, slime and all.

"You're really incredible."

"Remarkable, really."

Hell came up around them. Adira's sword slashed through the twisted arms as they reached for her face. She saw Cassandra trapped against the ground as Pascal advanced toward her, and she lunged to strike at the beast. Rapunzel heard the sound of steel melting into flesh. Time seemed to slow down as her trance deepened.

"Your subconscious is fascinating. Even its darkest corners are overwhelmed with light."

"What an honest, open soul."

A brilliant purple flash emerged in the corner of Rapunzel's eye. Delilah's frustrated grunts hit her ear and then were taken back into silence like everything else. How many magical artifacts did she have buried in that cloak? How many of them did the Void render useless? The war outside her gaze might as well have not existed. The many Eugene faces coalesced into one but mutated; enlarged, grinning, its dozens of eyes cluttered together like a spider.

"Cassandra was a mess."

"A pure disaster of a psyche."

"But you?"

"You're so pristine."

"Like a diamond."

"There's not a monstrous bone in your body, is there?"

Rapunzel forced her eyes shut. The Void was worming its way into her mind. The diseased Pascal, the monstrous Eugene…all it wanted from her was to break her down into a million digestible pieces. It had already hurt Cassandra. She couldn't let it continue. They were so close to escaping. She knew—somewhere deep down, she knew—she could do it if she just broke free from its control. But she had to wonder: what did the Void possibly have on her? She didn't keep secrets from people, least of all not the kinds that Cassandra had. She didn't have that many regrets. She barely made enemies, not ones that stuck around. Her life was good. She was happy.

Or, she guessed, she used to be.

Pascal shrugged off Adira's sword like a flea. He turned and battered her away, where she stumbled into a sea of grasping arms. The Eugenes swarmed her like hornets, grabbing at her, pinning her down so she could no longer be of any use. Cassandra, finding some fleeting new life, kicked and rolled until the binds around her waist snapped. She scrambled upright and sprinted toward Pascal, reaching out to touch the body dangling from his swollen lips. The slime tightened around her feet, slowing her down, but she trudged through it like thick snow. Adira kicked away the arms swatting toward her, but they quickly overwhelmed her, snatching her sword and grabbing her braid, and restraining her. Delilah lost her grip on her weapon and cried out as something grabbed onto the back of her head and began to squeeze. They were falling apart within seconds.

In that brief moment of realization, Rapunzel's self-doubt actualized. The Void's words formed into shapes perfectly matching Eugene's, and its words carried a cold, condescending bite.

"How does it feel knowing that you're going to get all of your friends killed?"

Rapunzel felt the weight of the world come down on her shoulders. She shuddered.

Killed?

"I…no…"

"Pascal died because of you. You were his greatest friend, and you killed him."

Rapunzel shook her head. She didn't. It was lying. Pascal wasn't gone yet. Right? There was still time…

"Eugene is scarred forever now. You know how much he values his looks. Even if he survives, he'll secretly despise you for the rest of his life."

Nonsense. Lies. She shut it down. Eugene would never be mad at her. He would understand what she was going through. He had to. If he turned against her, she didn't know how she would be able to live with herself. It was just trying to break her. She had to remain strong. That was an impossible task as the flashes of Eugene's wounds forced their way into her sight. She saw him clearly as if he was right in front of her, splayed out on his bed, unconscious and barely breathing, his arm black and rotten and…and…

"Cassandra, too. She only came back because of you."

And then it just had to say that.

It had to hit her where it hurt the most.

How was she supposed to know how much Cassandra cared about her? She never talked about anything so personal. There was so much they could have done differently if she only knew. How much suffering was Rapunzel causing her without even realizing it? If she loved her—if she truly, honestly loved her—then was she hurting her every single time she was with Eugene? They always had a feud. Her imagination got the worst of her as she imagined the kind of heartbreak their every kiss and affectionate glance would do to the young handmaiden. Was her betrayal motivated by that kind of twisted jealousy? She had only ever wanted what was best for Cassandra. Always. She tried to give her everything she ever wanted. But if all of her efforts just led to her being forced into a friendship she wasn't happy with, then wasn't all of that for nothing? Why did it all have to be so complicated? Why did Cassandra have to be this way? It just wasn't fair. Not for any of them.

Rapunzel held back a sob. "S-Stop this."

"She dedicated her life to keeping you safe. If you hadn't gone and cursed yourself, she wouldn't be forced to care for you."

"I said stop."

"She threw away her destiny because of you. She feels worthless because of you."

"She had all this potential, but you ruined her."

"Ruined her."

"You're the root cause of her suffering."

"And you can't even feel bad about it."

Cassandra's face stood out in her mind. That cold, emotionless stare. She couldn't even find the strength to cry. It was genuinely crushing. Cass was always so full of life, even when directed through her worst intentions. Was this what the Void was going to do to them: break them down until there was nothing within them?

Rapunzel felt the slime tightening around her midsection. It was going to break her in half. She could feel it deep within her gut. It was going to snap her right in half and consume her whole. The Void ushered the sound of Cassandra's struggles into her mind, blasting them as loud as it could until every gasp, grunt and cry echoed like shots from a cannon. She couldn't do anything. She had no weapon. She had no magic hair. She was so worthless, standing there as everyone else fought her battle for her. It was like when she was facing the wasps, or when Delilah tried to kill her. She was bound and helpless and forced to watch everyone else suffer just to try to keep her alive. Why? She never asked for any of their help. She never wanted any of them to come with her. She wanted to do this on her own. It was her burden. Why couldn't they understand that? Why did everyone always have to try to give her something like they owed her?

Because she was nice?

Because she was loyal?

She was trapped in a nightmare—an honest-to-God living nightmare of her own making. Years and years of trying to be the best person she could be had gotten her this. If she had just been more stern; if she had pushed Cassandra away and stopped letting her cling to her out of some impossible romance; if she just told Adira off or grudgingly returned to Corona with her; if she just left Delilah behind instead of trying to turn her into an ally; if she had just, just…just never left her tower in the first place, then maybe…maybe…

All of it could be tied back to her.

She was the nexus of everyone else's suffering.

They had all come to rely on her. They all cared about her. She made them all care about her because she couldn't stop being her.

Rapunzel stopped resisting the Void's voices. She stopped struggling against her restraints. She stopped trying to find Cassandra and she stopped trying to find any meaning. The battle was drawing to its anticlimax around her, but she didn't care. The Void's voices crept up in tone, eager and excited as her spirit broke under their spell.

"You see it now, don't you?"

She finally did.

"It's you, Rapunzel. Sweet, perfect Rapunzel."

The Void was right about her. She was sweet. She was innocent. Cassandra had tried to find flaws in her and she came up blank. She was kind enough to befriend animals, enemies, and assassins. She was beloved by all and cherished by her Kingdom.

"You can never live up to them."

She couldn't.

"You will be the death of everyone you've ever loved."

She would be.

Unless…

"That's right. Give in. Let it all out."

The anxiety left Rapunzel's face. So did the guilt, and the fear. She let herself become completely calm. Then, the calm was replaced by something else.

"Show us all that wonderful emotion."

Taking on Pascal's form? Mocking Eugene's voice? Making Cassandra suffer?

"Yes."

"Perfect."

"More."

Cassandra…that jerk. She just had to keep all those secrets from her. She wanted to kill her. She wanted to sleep with her, and all this time, she couldn't trust her enough to tell her? She just had to bottle all of it up until it became too much, didn't she? She just had to push things past their breaking point. She just had to make everything so damn complicated. She always acted so tough, so collected, above it all like she could handle anything, but deep down, she was always this weak and fragile…and she did nothing to tell her about it. Cassandra had to keep her damn mouth shut until it was too late.

Rapunzel clenched her fists.

"Feel it."

"Embrace it."

"Come on, Princess."

She had been holding back on this…this thing that was mocking her. It was evil and sadistic, and she was still begging it like it was her master. How pathetic could she be to let that worthless Void rule over her?

"Show us."

She was too perfect for all of them?

"Show us."

Too kind? Too sweet?

"Give it up."

They wanted her to forgive and love and all of that bullshit?

"What are you waiting for?"

Rapunzel's eyes shot open. The Void really thought she wasn't a monster?

She would show it how much of a monster she could be.

Rapunzel found the strength to speak. "Wither and decay."

All it took was those simple words for the room to suddenly grow cold and still. The shift was noticed immediately. Adira, struggling against the flailing limbs from the slime's depths, suddenly felt their resistance cease. She didn't notice its cause at first, but the hair rose on the back of her neck and a terrible feeling traveled through her gut.

"End this destiny."

Delilah screamed, punching at the ground in a desperate attempt to fight back. She felt the sludge beneath her knuckles go slack and her fist fell into the slime. It turned to the consistency of soup. It barely seemed to react to her at all. She felt the ground rumble beneath her feet.

"Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free."

Cassandra lunged toward the giant Pascal—but all at once, the tension gave out from beneath her feet and she stumbled forward, falling onto her face. Pascal reared back on his hind legs like a startled horse. His entire being began to violently shake, and the body dropped from his lips and splattered on the floor in a heap. Cassandra looked up from her tired state confused.

"What the…" she muttered. "How did—"

"Wither and Decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free."

She was cut off when Rapunzel's words broke through the silence. With no more fighting left to clog their senses, all they could hear was the Incantation, dark and unbreakable. Cassandra had been in a trance herself for the past several minutes, but her shock at hearing those godforsaken words again caused her to briefly forget about her pain and search for Rapunzel in the room. It only took a few seconds to locate her. She wished that she hadn't.

"Wither and Decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free."

Rapunzel's hands were black; not burned, but mutated and shaded dark like coal. Her fair skin slowly turned to shadow, creeping up her arms and melting away all the beauty in her skin. The slime that had been wrapped around her body became stiff and grey, and within mere moments it turned to ash and crumbled into nothingness. A thick, black pool appeared beneath her, slowly expanding out from her bare feet, whose toes had already turned grey.

And those scars—they glowed as bright as the moon, cold ripples cracking across her entire body.

"Wither and Decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free."

"Rapunzel!" Cassandra cried. She tried to stand up, but something repulsive lurched inside of her and she was forced back down to her knees. Rapunzel's voice was bitter. There was so much fury in her voice that Cassandra couldn't remember hearing before. Every other time she triggered the Incantation, whether by accident or not, she was immediately distant and pained, like she lost all control of herself. But there was so much determination in her words, every syllable strained and pointed. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't regretful. Cass realized immediately that she wanted this.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A loud shriek ripped through the air; a hundred voices that seemed like nothing human. Cassandra clasped her hands over her ears. Adira and Delilah jumped back, searching for the sound before they realized that the entire room was screaming at them.

"What are you doing to us?"

The pool of black extended rapidly across the floor. The trembling increased tenfold. Rapunzel continued chanting, each repeating of the Incantation causing the darkness to spread further. More cracks appeared in her skin, down her neck, her shins, and her back. The infection was rapidly getting out of hand, but she held steadfast in repeating her mantra, determined to unleash its full power.

"Wither and Decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free."

Delilah nearly lost her balance as the tremors shifted beneath her. "What the hell is she doing?"

"I think she's trying to kill the Void!" Adira shouted over the collapse.

"But we're in the Void!" Delilah screamed. "She's going to bring this whole place down on top of us."

Rapunzel cast a cold sneer. "Wither and Decay. End this destiny…"

A massive blast rocked the ground out from underneath them, and Adira and Delilah were forced to grab ahold of each other to stay upright. The remaining Eugenes screamed and clutched their heads, falling to their knees. Cassandra looked up just in time to see the black sludge advancing toward her, crawling backward to get out of its way. The shadows reached Pascal first, too shocked to move out of the way. The moment the black touched his skin, he began to melt. Cassandra watched in horror as the giant chameleon let out an empty moan as he dissolved into nothing. She was too disgusted to properly think straight, but some part of her managed to notice that her body was still close by—directly in the shadow's path.

"Cassandra, grab your body, and let's go!" Adira called to her. Cassandra's head was spinning. She couldn't tell if the Decay Incantation was somehow affecting her mind, or if all of the residual trauma from the past few days was finally becoming too much for her to bear. Whatever was causing her to break, she had to put herself back together. The entire world was slowly collapsing around her. It wasn't just Rapunzel anymore—large cracks quickly appeared in the wall, traveling up into the ceiling. The Void's shrieks of agony were becoming more frequent, louder, and more horrid with each passing second. Cassandra heard the sound of something crumbling above her, and her instincts told her to dive out of the way before a huge chunk of ceiling fell down onto the spot where she was just resting.

Her body. She had to get her body back.

Somehow, Cassandra managed to push herself onto her feet. Somehow, she managed to sprint toward her body and grab onto it before the decay arrived. Somehow, she managed to ignore Rapunzel's words before they triggered any more awful memories, and she managed to not let it affect her when she saw that the shadows had raced up Rapunzel's neck, consuming nearly her entire body. Cassandra pulled her lifeless body out of the way of the advancing darkness and put her hand on the other's forehead. She needed to move into that body. She had to move into that body. Come on. How long was that supposed to take?

Delilah didn't waste any time either. The darkness spread to the Eugene clones, consuming them one by one. She was going to make her move while she still had her chance. She rummaged through her cloak until she found her transportation crystal, and pointed it at the ground directly in front of her. "The second Cassandra switches bodies, we are getting out of here!"

"Rapunzel, got that?" Adira shouted. "Rapunzel? Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel heard her loud and clear. She just didn't care anymore.

"Wither and Decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free."

The more the Void screamed, the better it felt. She wanted to know if it was really capable of feeling pain, or maybe it was just continuing to mimic their behaviors. Would she really be able to kill it? Could something that barely seemed to be alive really die the same way a person could? Better question: did it even matter? The Void was suffering. It hurt Cassandra. It destroyed Cassandra. It couldn't be allowed to get away with it. She refused to let it live to hurt anyone else again. She wanted to watch it crumble and burn. She wanted to dig deep within it and find its true face, just so she could see how it contorted in anguish. When was the last time she had ever felt like this? She honestly couldn't remember. When Gothel died, it was almost an accident. She still felt some loss for the woman who raised her for eighteen years. Even when she destroyed Zhan Tiri, she was merely fulfilling her destiny. She was eliminating a powerful source of evil from the world. There was nothing malicious about it. But now? Now, she was reveling in the misery she was causing the Void. She thought she was powerless to fight back against it, but she was more powerful than she ever could have dreamed of. Who was the Void to mock her weakness? Who was anyone to stand in her way?

She didn't even know why she needed to be afraid of this curse. What was wrong with feeling this good?

"Raps, come on!"

She heard Cassandra calling to her, but she couldn't leave. Not now. Not when it still breathed.

"Raps, please! We need to go!"

Need? Who was Cassandra to tell her that she needed anything? As if Cass ever understood her needs…

"Rapunzel, what the fuck are you waiting for?"

"Princess, come on!"

"No, don't touch her! I got this!"

She could barely hear them over the wailing destruction. Whatever they were planning, it would have to wait. She was so close to ending it all. So close. Just a little more.

Then, Cassandra darted into her vision. Rapunzel hadn't seen the flashes from when their bodies swapped. She hadn't seen the energy from the gate to the outside world opening. But when Cassandra stepped into view, all for a brief moment, Rapunzel recognized her—not the blue-haired usurper or her false wife, but the real woman who had been her best friend for years. Her green eyes spoke to her more than any words could. She could finally see the anguish on Cass's face. More than that, she saw her fear.

"Raps," she begged. She was nearly on the verge of tears as she reached out with her burnt hand. "You have to snap out of it."

And all at once, Rapunzel remembered. She felt ashamed for ever forgetting.

The Incantation stopped. The cracks slowly dimmed and vanished from her skin. The darkness retreated back down her flesh and dissipated. Her passion, her determination, and anger all faded like they had barely been there at all, and slowly, Rapunzel began to tremble at what she had done. Cassandra tenderly met her gaze, but she only waited as long as she had to. Just until the Princess was safe to touch. The moment she realized she wouldn't be burned again, Cassandra grabbed Rapunzel by the arm and dragged her across the kitchen, where Delilah and Adira were waiting by a glowing, crackling portal. They beckoned her toward it as the Void managed to settle and calm itself. Its screeching voice clawed back from the abyss.

"Get back here! You worthless humans!"

"We'll eat you alive!"

"Rapunzel! Cassandra!"

Cassandra pushed the voices out of her head. She didn't waste any more time. While the Void was still incapacitated, she furiously sprinted toward the portal. The ground started to come alive again at her feet, but she pushed through as hard as she could, carrying Rapunzel with her. With barely any time to spare before the room came back to life, Cassandra lunged through the gateway, disappearing out of the Void. In the moment before Rapunzel followed her, she heard the voices whisper in her mind one final time.

"What the hell are you?"

Rapunzel honestly wished she knew the answer herself.