Chapter 15
Blizzard


"Princess Rapunzel, your majesty..."
"What is it, Nigel?"
"The snowstorm... It seems to be becoming a blizzard, and a terrible one at that!"
"Blizzard?" Rapunzel stood up from her throne.

Rapunzel hadn't even been paying any mind to the snow today, since she kind of tired herself out yesterday by playing all day until nighttime. "Yes... I'm not sure if it will stop, and the winds are getting mighty strong..." Nigel explained to her, sheepishly pulling at his fluff collar.

Rapunzel bit her lip,
Her mother was still out traveling, and she should be arriving back around this time.

What if she got caught up in it? Or worse, hurt by it?

"Nigel, please inform my dad! He must know of this!" Rapunzel said quickly.
"Yes, your majesty, right away." Nigel bowed and ran off to go tell King Frederic.

Rapunzel plopped back down in the throne nervously. Terrible blizzard? Mighty strong winds? What was she going to do? What was her dad going to do?!


Meanwhile... Cassandra was riding her horse, Fidella, through the snow, her pet owl friend (that she had named Owl, which wasn't creative and she knew it, but she just wasn't a creative person. She left that bit to Rapunzel, who wanted to paint on literally everything and everyone.), was perched on her shoulder, looking around the Kingdom of Corona's streets.

"The snow's getting worse. Maybe Varian was right to be worried about it snowing so early in Autumn." Cassandra held the reins tightly. Fidella whinnied and neighed in agreement.

Owl hooted in agreement too.

"Should we go talk to him? He seems like a big nerd that would know about all the science behind weather. After all, he seemed the most concerned about it." Cassandra asked the animals, and they seemed not to agree. "And why would you- Whoa, Fidella!" Cassandra tugged on the reins, there was too much snow to go any further, which worried her because of Varian.

"We... might need to report this to Raps." Cassandra frowned and pulled on the reins, slowly heading back to the castle to inform Rapunzel of the extremely tall snow blocking the streets.

Rapunzel paced profusely for a half an hour before Nigel came back into the throne room, "Well?! What did he say?! Is the Kingdom of Corona safe?!" Rapunzel grabbed a hold of Nigel's shoulder with a panicked expression spread across her face.

"We aren't sure of that currently, but I do know he has sent the royals guards to try and find Queen Arianna to make sure she is safe." Nigel explained. Rapunzel slid her hands off of Nigel's shoulder and brought her hand to her face, nervously chewing her nails.

"You shouldn't chew on your nails, Your Majesty..." Nigel pointed out.
"N...Noted." Rapunzel took away her hand and whimpered.

Suddenly, the wind blew one of the windows open, making a loud clank noise against the wall where the window frame hit the brick, then wind gushing through the throne room, which sent chills through Rapunzel, Pascal and Nigel;

Nigel was quick to run and close the window.

Rapunzel remembered what Xavier said that night;
"The air is cold, but not with weather change. Something is going to happen, and not for the good. It doesn't matter to who, good or bad, as it'll affect them all just the same."

Xavier would know what to do, right?
"I'm heading out! Gather my winter clothes!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

Nigel jumped and stuttered quickly; "Your Majesty, with all due respect-" He ran after her and walked out of the throne room, closing the door behind him.

Once they got there, Xavier smiled; "Ah yes... This reminds me of the legend of Zhan Tiri." Xaiver brushed through his salt-colored beard. "Zhan Tiri?" Rapunzel sat down on the stool and looked at him confused. Nigel, just wanted to go back to the castle because he was cold, but he sat beside Rapunzel nevertheless.

"Yes. Long ago, there was an evil, demon warlock that went by the name of Zhan Tiri..." Xaiver began to explain the story of Zhan Tiri and how she took form of a blizzard, and tried to destroy all of Corona, then how Demanitus, a famous engineer, sealed her away with a machine that he created and built within the Corona castle's secret tunnel system that went a long ways; underground. Nigel didn't believe it, but Rapunzel definitely did.

"Bu...But those are just legends? Right, Mister Xaiver? Only rumors started by the ancients, yes?" Nigel fondled his own hands together. Xaiver shook his head, "Ah. That is where you are wrong. All legends are born from truth." He said, adjusting his jacket before setting his hand on the counter. Nigel scrunched up his face in disbelief, yet stayed quiet for the time being.

Cassandra tried her best to find Rapunzel, but she couldn't; which worried her. "Where is Raps?!" She stormed through the halls, though she sounded anger, she wasn't, just scared. "Owl, search the Kingdom, tell me if you can see her, okay?" Cassandra went outside and looked at Owl.

Owl hoo-ed and then flied away to look for Rapunzel, leaving Cassandra with her horse; Fidella.


Varian had went full out scientific mode, trying to figure out the cause of the suddenly cold, snowing weather that had appeared out of nowhere. "Cold front? No, no. Hurricane? No..." He mumbled and muttered to himself; flipping through pages of his science books that he had borrowed from the bookshop. Ruddiger chirped nervously at the sounds of the wind and cuddled up close to Varian, hoping that everything was going to be safe.

"Varian, hey! You in there?" Cassandra called.

Varian put down his book and headed to the window, "Yeah. What's up, Cassie?" Varian sat on the windowsill. "Don't you see what's going on outside? I came to ask you if you knew anything about it, since you seem to be a dork for science crap." Cassandra crossed her arms.

He couldn't help but notice that Cassandra was covered with snow, like, a lot. "Did you walk all this way through the snow to see me?" He asked; "And also... I'm actually trying to figure that out right now, but my research has proven to be useless. I can't figure out why this is happening." He added. Cassandra uncrossed her arms, "Yeah, I walked all the way here." She replied.

"Hm." Cassandra looked back at the snow. "Is it warm up there? You doing okay?" She called to him again. "It's not warm, but it's good enough for me. Are you doing alright?" Varian asked. "I'm looking for Raps right now, she's not at the castle. So..." She sighed. "I have my pet, Owl, looking for her now." She informed him as Varian climbed down to her with Ruddiger.

"Well, that's good at least. It would be scary if the princess disappeared during this... After all, didn't she disappear once already?" Varian awkwardly shuffled his feet. "How'd you know that? But you're right, she was the lost princess." Cassandra nodded.

"I've...been in Corona for a while now. Plus, I like to research, mainly about Science, but I like history every once in a blue moon." Varian shrugged. "Nice. I don't have time for books anymore. I used to read books about sword fighting and wars when I was younger though." Cassandra laughed softly. "Wars? Wow, that's...a new one for me." Varian raised a brow.

Cassandra softly looked away, "I've always been interesting in becoming a leader of an army, or royal guards. I don't know why, I think it's because of my dad being Captain of the Royal Guards."

"I've always been interested in being an Alchemist, and I consider myself one. You see, I read this book about a guy named Demanitus and-" Varian was interrupted by Owl flying to Cassandra and perching on her shoulder, "Whoa! Is that your owl?" Varian jumped back.

"Mhm" Cassandra then looked at Owl; "Did you find her?" She asked.
Owl shook his head yes and then flew in the direction of Rapunzel.

"Kid, you coming or no?" Cassandra asked.

Varian went to speak, but got flustered and stumbled over his words. "Uh, s-shur-" He spoke wrong. Cassandra grabbed his wrist, then ran off with him; Varian occasionally tripping over his own feet and the snow. Ruddiger jumped on Varian's shoulder and rested there...

He couldn't help but feel a slight amount of fear, after all; the princess had Royal Guards, and he was a thief. Would this be his arrest if he was spotted? He only hoped for the best...

For everyone.