It's an early morning in Corona as the castle's exterior is decorated with sun symbols and purple banners. Rapunzel smiles in amusement at her father, who struggles to just keep the decorations off of him. Harmony giggles at him, sliding down the ladder.
"Oh, confound these infernal streamers!" He exclaims in frustration, the two sisters laughing.
"Aww. Is the mighty king having a hard time?" Rapunzel teases him.
"Who would've thought streamers would be his worst enemy?" Harmony smirks, crossing her arms.
"It's not funny," He brushes a piece off his shoulder. "Have you any idea how difficult it is-"
Rapunzel clears her throat, twirling a piece of her hair as an example, giggling again. "...Oh. Hm." They all start laughing together, two lanterns flying into view. One of them has the sun symbol, and the other with the moon one. Both of them are attached to strings with scrolls on the other end.
"Hm?" Harmony looks up at the objects, Rapunzel seeing them as well. They both gasp happily at the sights, watching them fly into the clouds. Turning around, that happiness turns into a sharp gasp. Rapunzel's hair is somehow out of her braid as Harmony's hair is fully out, cascading down her back. Hers glows turquoise blue while Rapunzel's glows golden. They touch their hair in confusion, wondering what's going on.
"Rapunzel! Harmony!"
They turn around to their father. "Stay here, with me, where you belong..."
Their eyes soften at his worried tone. "Rapunzel! Help me!"
"Vari?!" Harmony whips around at his voice. She hasn't seen him ever since he went into hiding, but he kept his promise and sent two letters a day. It still pained her that it had to be this way...though she could understand why.
"Darlings, don't!"
Harmony's left hand glows blue, the black rocks appearing around him. "Oh no!" She gasps, glancing between him and Varian.
"Dad!" Rapunzel shouts, the rocks surrounding him. "Dad!"
The two run up to him as more black rocks shoot out of the ground. They narrowly avoid them by running side-to-side. Once they reach him...he's encased inside a black rock, his eyes closed in agony. Harmony puts a hand to her mouth in horror as their hair stops glowing. This...is almost like how she saw Quirin...
"Dad...?" Rapunzel couldn't help but wonder why he's inside it. As far as she knew, Harmony's not able to do that...
"Rapunzel!"
They turn around to Varian, who's standing in front of the amber. "You promised!" He looks at the blonde with a glare.
"What?" She murmurs, Harmony stepping forward a little.
"Vari...?" From her spot, she can't see Quirin in the amber like she saw him. Varian starts running towards them, black rocks following his every step.
"Varian!" Rapunzel shouts at him, the black rocks suddenly glowing. There's an explosion and they gasp, getting engulfed in it.
She opens her eyes and notices that she's standing on her balcony, her hair in every direction. Eugene walks into the room. "Hey, Blondie, you want-aah!" He sees her falling towards the edge of the balcony. "Rapunzel!" He rushes forward and catches her just in time. She kneels onto the ground, panting slowly, wondering what she just saw. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"I-I..." She didn't even know how to describe it. "I-I don't know...oh..." She looks out towards the sun, hugging Eugene. Then the woman suddenly gasps, standing up.
"Harmi!"
She runs out of her room and to her sister's, where she finds the princess walking to the edge of her balcony. She steps up onto the railing, her eyes glowing blue with no pupils. Her hair is fully turquoise blue as it flies above her head like a flame. Then they see her about to step off!
"Brownie!" Eugene leaps forward, grabbing her arm and dangling over the edge, screaming. Rapunzel grabs his waist with her hair, trying to help him. Harmony blinks, turning back to normal completely. Her hair falls onto her back. She looks downwards and yelps, seeing the unforgiving concrete down below.
"I got ya," Eugene helps her back onto the balcony, both of them landing on their backs, panting slowly. "Okay, what is going on?"
"I..." Harmony sits up, looking at them, a look of confusion on her face. "I..."
"Harmi..." Rapunzel murmurs and pulls her into a hug. "It's okay..."
Eugene hugs her too, patting the back of her hair.
Once they've taken a few minutes to calm down, Rapunzel plants a piece of paper on her wall. Harmony steps back to look at it.
"It was like the dream we had after our coronation, only more intense," Rapunzel explains to Eugene and Cass. She picks up another paper. "This one, this one was...trying to tell me something," She plants a picture of Varian on the wall. Cass looks to Eugene.
"Tell you what?"
"I'm not sure...the rocks, our hair, Varian," She looks at the frowning painting of Varian. "It's like they're all connected...and I have to find out how."
"This isn't just about me anymore," Harmony gestures to herself. "My senses are telling me that there's more to this than we know...I just wish I knew what."
"Uhh, hey guys, sorry to interrupt dream chat here, but is no one else even a little bit concerned that Rapunzel woke up suspended in mid-air?! Or that Harmony almost walked into being a flat pancake?!" Eugene exclaims, hands on his hips. Pascal comes out of hiding in front of the Varian painting, pointing to his head. Daisy chirps, pointing her wing to Harmony's head from the girl's shoulder.
"Eugene, what we saw...meant something."
"Why else would we dream about this?" Harmony jerks a thumb behind her.
"Okay! Let's say it did. But what if it was a warning, telling you both to stay here, where you're safe?" He approaches Rapunzel, taking away her paper. "I mean, we've got it pretty good here, right? Maybe you two should leave the mystery behind these rocks alone."
He's worried that something like this will happen again to them, and next time he might not be able to stop it.
"What if it's a cry for help instead?" Harmony defends her sister.
"No!" Rapunzel answers Eugene and clenches her fists. "We can't. We need answers. And I think we know where to start looking," She glances at the part of her mural that shows herself with her family.
"But, Harmi...it's Varian. He kidnapped you during the storm."
"No, he didn't! Not that I expect someone like you to understand. In your eyes, I'm a child who knows nothing," Harmony yells at Cass in anger. "Well, guess what? I'm not like that and if you think I'm gonna let this go, you got another thing coming!"
Her eyes widen at the princess' tone. Harmony leaves with one last huff, opening the door and shutting it behind her.
"Do you know what she's talking about?" Cass looks towards the door.
"That's something she'll have to tell you herself..." Eugene glances at Rapunzel.
Frederic walks down the hall, looking very annoyed. "I made it clear that we were not to discuss magic or glowing rocks."
"Has anyone besides Harmony been to Old Corona lately?" Rapunzel then covers her mouth, her sister looking at her wide-eyed. "Oops...he didn't know that, did he?"
"You've been visiting Old Corona? For how long?" Frederic gives Harmony an accusing look.
"After the storm...Papa, you need to come see it. No one's even around anymore! Not even Vari himself. And...his father...well, you should see for yourself, both of you. I can't even bare to say it out loud."
"We're worried that Varian is in trouble," Rapunzel frowns in worry.
"Princesses, Varian is dangerous. Have you forgotten the boy attacked you during the storm and kidnapped Harmony-"
"Nigel!" Frederic warns him, Harmony gritting her teeth. He sighs slowly, looking at his daughters. "Come with me."
They walk together to his meeting room. "I've been aware of these rocks for quite some time."
"...Why didn't you tell me?" Harmony whispers softly.
"I didn't think that you were the one creating them at first," He pats the side of her hair, staring down at the girl. "They posed a real problem." The two look at the model of Corona, noticing black flags in Old Corona. "Um...displacing people from their homes...damaging roads...fields riddled with-"
"Do I really have to hear this?" Harmony asks furiously, not wanting to be reminded of what her black rocks have done.
"...Sorry."
"Oh no," Rapunzel murmurs, looking at the flags.
"But fortunately we've taken care of them, one by one," He plucks one away. "The rocks have been removed, and the people of Old Corona are all well and good."
"But...why all the secrecy?" Rapunzel looks up at him.
"And if everything's okay, then why haven't we heard of it until now?" Harmony couldn't help but wonder. Varian would've said at least something in his letters about it: it's not something he'd keep to himself from her.
"Rapunzel, Harmony, I apologize for not being more candid at first. I can only hope that when Rapunzel is Queen, you'll understand the value of not drawing attention and causing a panic over problems that have been handled." He grips the flags in his hand, which doesn't go unnoticed by the two sisters. "You see? And now you both know what the situation is. Or rather, was."
"...That's a relief," Rapunzel smiles a little. "And thanks for being honest with me, Dad," The two hug him.
"Thank you, Papa," Harmony murmurs, reminding herself to write Varian and see if he's been to Old Corona ever since he left.
"Yes, of course," He chuckles a little, smiling at them. "Now, run along. We've got more pressing issues before us. Like planning your birthday party."
She smiles at him over her shoulder, the two leaving. He shakes his head at the flags still in his hand.
The two princesses walk on the dirt path that leads to their statues, a little girl waving at the older one.
"Happy birthday, Rapunzel!"
"Thank you," She waves politely. Her statue is surrounded by gifts and flowers for her. "We still don't know anything about where Varian is, and according to Harmi, he won't tell her out of caution-" She gasps at the lantern...the same one from her dream.
Harmony looks at her statue and sees another one.
"The kites...wait, it's the same one from our vision," Rapunzel takes it into her hands, Harmony bending down and picking up hers. "There's notes, and a key! They're from Varian. Rapunzel, I need your help now more than ever. I may have discovered the key to the rocks. Find the bronze graphtyc in my lab. But be careful, they are watching and will do anything to stop you."
Harmony skims over hers.
Mona,
I wish I could see you again, but for now, it has to be like this. Like with your sister...I need your help, desperately. I think I've figured out the key to your rocks. Find the bronze graphtyc in my lab. But watch out, they're watching and they'll do anything to stop you. My only hope is that you don't get hurt.
I miss you,
Varian
"They? Who are they?" Cass asks in confusion.
"It's always somethin' with that guy," Eugene crosses his arms.
"Hey!" Harmony whips around to them. "If we're gonna do this, can you stop talking about him that way in earshot? He's not dangerous like everyone thinks he is, he's just in a bad place right now."
Eugene holds up his hands slowly as an apology. "I knew it!" Rapunzel turns around to them. "I knew it, he still needs our help."
"What do you wanna do?" Cass asks them seriously. The sisters look at each other and Harmony sighs.
"Listen guys...you don't have to do it if you don't want to. My black rocks...they can appear at any time, and the last thing I want them to do is hurt you in any way," Harmony grips the scroll to her chest. "So...I should do this alone."
"No way," Rapunzel denies immediately. "Princesses by chance, and sisters by choice, remember?"
"If this is important to you, it's important to us as well," Cass nods in agreement.
"And besides, we stick together. We're not leaving you to deal with this whole situation on your own, kid," Eugene places a hand on her shoulder. "You may be young, but...you keep us together."
She smiles at his words, gripping the scroll. "Thanks, guys."
"Sorry Dad," Rapunzel murmurs to herself while looking towards the castle. "We gotta go to Old Corona."
They all walk away from the statues to prepare for the trip.
Max takes them in a wagon, Rapunzel wearing a black cloak over her dress. "Old Corona is just over this hill."
Pascal glances to his left, seeing the glare from Owl. "Sorry, Pascal, but he's not a big fan of reptiles. Unless he can eat them."
Owl looks at the chameleon hungrily, who moves to Rapunzel's right out of fear. Daisy just chirps, rolling her eyes.
"I can't tell you what a treat it is to be spending so much time with a cold-blooded, dead-eyed bird of prey," Eugene quips, crossing his arms.
"Owls are warm-blooded, genius," Cass retorts to him and he laughs.
"I wasn't talking about the owl."
"Oh ho ho ho, I guess I walked right into that one," Cass replies sarcastically, Rapunzel's eyes widening.
"Yeah, you really did," Eugene is still chuckling.
"Really?" Harmony shakes her head at the two, looking in Rapunzel's direction. She gasps sharply.
"Stop the cart!"
Max does so and she runs up to a black rock. Harmony opens her mouth in shock, following after her. The others glance to each other, running after them.
"What is it?" Cass wonders, the blonde turning around to them.
"Our dad told us that all the black rocks had been removed..."
"Okay, so he missed one," Eugene waves it off.
"Um, guys?" Cass moves away, showing the black rocks still in Old Corona. Harmony steps back a bit, terrified by the sight. She hadn't been back here ever since Varian went into hiding...chances are he hasn't seen this either...but the damage that was done here is hard to stomach.
"Or one hundred. They missed a hun...they-they did not do a very thorough job counting these rocks."
Harmony blinks back tears, covering her mouth in horror. Rapunzel and Eugene see this, the woman hugging her little sister. Eugene places a hand on her back as she starts to cry. She couldn't believe her black rocks did this...and she didn't even know about the current state of the town...
"Do you think your father lied?" Cass walks up to the trio. Rapunzel rubs Harmony's back in comfort.
"No, of course not. We trust Dad, but clearly he has no idea how bad things have gotten out here."
Harmony sniffles, suddenly letting go of her sister and running back to the wagon. "Come on. Let's move on," Rapunzel takes her seat across from Harmony, Eugene rubbing her shoulder.
"it'll be okay, Brownie..." He tells her gently as she stays silent. Owl flies in front of them as Harmony briefly looks over her shoulder, pulling her cloak closer to her body. All of this damage...was it ever worth finding out the mystery behind her black rocks?
"...Will you tell me what happened?" Cass suddenly speaks up, getting all of their attention. "I'm willing to listen...something I should've done before."
Harmony smiles gratefully, taking a deep breath. "When no one wanted to listen because of my age...it really got to me. So I thought since Varian felt so hurt, that I would go after him on my own. I-I was just so upset with Punzie that I didn't care about what happened to me...well, I got lost, and...I thought I was going to die...until I saw him. I kept calling for him, hoping that he'd hear me, and then I passed out. The next thing I knew, I was at his home and he was warming me up from the cold. He took care of me...made sure I felt safe. I guess neither of us noticed that the storm had stopped, because the guards came storming in and assumed that he kidnapped me. I tried to explain, but they didn't listen and they took me away from him..."
"...So he really didn't kidnap you. He saved your life despite risking his own..."
"Yeah..." Harmony nods slowly. "I just hope that he's still not angry at me for not being able to help him more than I could've."
"That's not true," Rapunzel places a hand on her shoulder. "He still cares about you, Harmi...I know he does."
She smiles weakly at her friends.
Once they've gotten to a safe place to put the wagon, they walk down the path to Varian's cottage. The black rocks glisten slightly as they stare at them.
"I've never seen anything like this..." Cass states, Eugene's arms around the young princess to comfort her.
"So far, everything in our dream has come true, there's no question now. These rocks...they hold a secret, and somehow, I-I'm—I'm connected to it. And...maybe even partly responsible for it," Rapunzel says sadly, holding out her arms to her sister. She steps up slowly and hugs her, closing her eyes. It was slowly helping, but...the back of her mind keeps telling her that she did this...
"...What do you two wanna do?"
A shadow is watching them from behind some black rocks, but when Cass turns around, she sees nothing.
"Sorry, Eugene, but...I already let Varian down once. He wants us to get that graphtyc and that's what we're gonna do. Besides...Harmi deserves this," Rapunzel rubs the top of the girl's head. "And I wanna help the both of them see this through."
Eugene takes a hold of her hand and she smiles, grateful that he's here too. He smiles back and they embrace briefly.
"Well, let's go."
"Harmi," Rapunzel turns to her and she stays silent. "If you feel uncomfortable at any point, you don't have to keep going. I don't want to have to make you do this if you don't want to."
"No, Punzie," She shakes her head slowly. "As scared as I am of what might happen...I'm thankful that you guys are there for me. I know it's not easy doing this for Vari considering what happened with the storm, but...I'm lucky to have friends like you."
"And we're lucky to have you, Brownie," Eugene ruffles the top of her head, the others smiling. Rapunzel steps up and holds her hand.
"Okay, if you're upset or scared, just squeeze my hand and I'll squeeze back. That way, you're not alone."
Harmony smiles softly and nods. "Well, let's go. Varian's home is on the far side of town," The sisters take the lead.
"You heard the lady," Eugene lightly shrugs, the others following after them. Harmony glances around at all the black rocks, already feeling a sense of dread. She squeezes the blonde's hand, who returns the gesture as promised. They stop in front of one and it glows blue, their hair glowing as well just like in their dream. They both gasp and Eugene moves them away. "Uh, guys? Hair?"
"Fancy pants is right. Remember what happens when you touch those," Cass warns the two.
"You try having the powers of the Moonstone," Harmony rolls her eyes.
"Well, then we'll just have to be careful..." Rapunzel glances at the younger princess. Both of them nod in agreement to not touch them. They look up at two paths up ahead. "How do we know if any of these openings will take us to the other side?"
"Can't you sense the way like the way you could feel that old lady was dangerous?" Eugene asks the girl.
"It's not exactly 100 percent guaranteed since I don't know how to strength it...I'm getting the same vibe from both directions," Harmony points between the two passages.
"We need a bird's-eye view...or two," Cass winks at Daisy. She turns around and whistles, Owl flying over. "Daisy, you go right, Owl, you go left."
They both nod and take off, flying through the paths. Owl hoots from his end. "I think he found a way!" Rapunzel exclaims happily, turning towards the horse. "Okay, Max? You keep watch."
He whinnies, nodding as Harmony whistles, calling Daisy back. The duckling flies over to them, landing on Harmony's head. They start walking through the left path.
"So, you think I'm fancy?" Eugene wonders to Cass, who groans. "That's not a retraction!"
As they go further, their hair starts to glow again, both sisters narrowly avoiding the rocks. They finally reach Varian's home. "We're here."
Eugene stumbles to a stop near them. "Well, what a convenient, easy-to-navigate path your bird found, Cass," He replies sarcastically. "That's some owl you got there."
"Thanks," Owl lands on her arm. "Oh, and by the way, he's also an attack owl. I taught him to go for the eyes first."
Eugene laughs nervously, clearing his throat. "Of course, by some owl, I meant some very noble, very majestic, very non-eye-scratchy, did I mention majestic?" He stammers while leading the two princess towards the cottage. They just smile towards each other in amusement. "Owl."
The same person from before is actually still following them in the shadows, watching the four walk up to the home.
Rapunzel slowly opens the door, all of them walking into the lab. Harmony clamps her mouth shut, squeezing her sister's hand again. "You know, someone should really sit this kid down, and have a frank discussion about the importance of an organized, clutter-free workspace."
"Have you seen my room?" Harmony rolls her eyes towards him. It's still the same messy lab that she remembers well...though the lack of use lately did equal some cobwebs and dust. By the looks to the others, he's been gone for a while now.
Owl lands near a box, Pascal and Daisy joining him. Cass takes a hold of it. "Look at all these. What is-" She dusts off the box, only to get pink smoke in her face, leaving her hair and cheeks a pink mess. She glances towards Harmony, who doesn't even have to turn around to know what happened.
"Yeah, I wouldn't touch anything in here. Most of it's booby-trapped in case someone ever got into his things," She calls out. Cass looks towards the three animals laughing, but Owl stops, looking at Pascal. His face turns fully pink and he continues laughing. Eugene chuckles into his fist, clearing his throat.
"Guys, come on. That graphtyc has to be here somewhere..." Rapunzel keeps looking around, footsteps in front of the door. She looks towards her sister, who nods for her to take it. Rapunzel opens up the book, and finally finds what they're looking for. "We found it! We found the graphtyc!"
"Great! Now let's get out of here, cause this place gives me the creeps. No offense, Brownie."
"None taken..." She murmurs, not wanting to be here any longer...mostly because something behind her is heart-breaking to see again. Rapunzel looks up at the cloth, seeing a piece of amber sticking out...which shows a hand holding a note. She gasps and removes it to see Quirin, covering her mouth in horror.
Eugene and Cass run up to her, Harmony turning around and her eyes widening. "Oh no...it's Varian's father...is that why you said I needed to see it for myself? And Dad too?"
The girl nods slowly, walking up to Quirin. "Yeah...I didn't see this until I visited Varian after the storm...he didn't seem to want to talk about it either when I was still warming up from the cold...then I saw him crying in front of it. He had gotten back here too late..."
"Guys, are you okay?" Eugene asks in concern.
"...Maybe you were right," Rapunzel replies softly. "Maybe our dream was trying to tell us to stay in the castle...where we belong," She glances towards her sister, who says nothing as she looks at Quirin, hurt that she wasn't able to save him in time...if he had just told her during the storm...she could've saved him.
"Rapunzel, what are you talking about?" Cass wonders from behind
"I touched those rocks, and now...this," She says in guilt.
"I was the one who created them, Rapunzel...it's not just you," Harmony hugs herself.
"Oh, come on, now," Eugene hugs his girlfriend in comfort. "We don't know that any of this is your fault, girls."
"We don't know that it's not..."
"She's right," Harmony murmurs softly. "We still set this all up."
"Okay, Princess," Eugene looks down at them. "I know what I said before about forgetting all this, but this is way, way worse than I or anyone else imagined, and one thing has become clear. Fault or no fault, people are in danger. A lot of danger. And the Rapunzel I know was never one to run and hide from a fight. The Harmony I know, someone I can call my little sister, would also never let her fears take over her." He pats Harmony's head, causing her to giggle.
The door suddenly opens and they turn around in shock to see a man standing there, wearing a silver helmet and red cape.
"Hand over the graphtyc," He demands them.
"Who is that?" Eugene glares at him, standing in front of the princesses.
"Must be a friend of Varian's," Cass glances at the three.
"No...I don't recognize him," Harmony shakes her head slowly. "I've been here every day after the storm, and I've never seen him before in my life."
Cass runs up to the intruder, pulling out her sword. She jumps and swings at him, but he blocks her attacks, lifting her up with his staff. He knocks her away and throws a bolo, capturing her feet.
"Cass!" Eugene shouts, the other two looking at her in shock. "Oh you just crossed a line, bub!" Eugene rolls up his sleeves and runs up to the man, sliding underneath him. He grabs the staff from behind, trying to wrestle it out of his arms. He tosses Eugene and he lands into Owl, crashing into some chemicals. This turns his face blue with pink cheeks, and pink hair with green, blue, and yellow streaks. "Oh...boy, that was a mistake."
Owl sits up, having the same hairstyle as Eugene. "Hand it over," The man approaches the princesses. Harmony luckily has her quiver on her back and swiftly pulls out her bow and arrow, pointing it towards him. Pascal and Daisy hiss, jumping onto his helmet and attacking him. He pulls them off and they hit the desk.
"You just made a big mistake," Harmony hisses, firing an arrow. He catches it into his hand, and a beaker hits him.
"Stay back!" Rapunzel warns him. "We've got a wall full of alchemy, and some arrows, and we are not afraid to use them!"
"If I were you, I'd stop making demands and leave," Harmony narrows her eyes at him, pulling out another arrow from her quiver. She readies it and lifts herself up, aiming another arrow towards him. "Try me."
Rapunzel tosses another chemical as Harmony fires her arrow. "Guys," Rapunzel turns to the two pets. "Hit me!"
They hand her another beaker as the younger princess puts another arrow in her bow. Rapunzel gets an idea and uses some stray rope, tying it and the beaker to the arrow. Harmony fires and it lands in front of the man, exploding.
"Ugh..." Rapunzel waves a hand in front of her nose, Harmony coughing. "Stink bomb? Come on!"
Pascal throws one and it hits the floor, the man jumping to the side. Daisy tosses one herself and Rapunzel throws some. He knocks one back using his staff like a baseball bat, hitting it back towards them. This knocks the graphtyc out of Rapunzel's hand and near the black rocks. Harmony fires her arrows as the man runs towards the object, but they do nothing to stop him. Pascal rolls a pink ball to the desk.
"Aha! Thanks! Harmi, let it rip!" She sticks both of them to the tip of the arrow and when Harmony fires, pink smoke explodes from the alchemical solutions, trapping the man's arms in pink goo. "Yeah! That oughta hold you! Nice one, little sis!"
"You two, sis," Harmony smirks up at her. Rapunzel runs around Quirin and grabs the graphtyc. The two run up to Eugene, who's untying Cass' feet.
"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Together, the three help up the lady-in-waiting, bringing her to the door. Rapunzel and Harmony look at Quirin one last time before they end up back outside, and run through the field of black rocks.
"Slow down, guys!" Cass calls out to them. "Either of your hair touches those things and we're goners!"
They jump over a black rock in their path. "Yeah, what she said!"
Okay, agreeing with Cassandra is a rare thing for him, but they both knew that he was still going to follow them.
"We don't have much time before he gets free!"
"Who was that?" Cass couldn't help but wonder. "Are you sure you don't remember him, Harmi?"
"Pretty sure I would've recalled!" She calls out as Rapunzel looks over her shoulder.
"We don't know, but it must've been who Varian tried to warn us-"
They stop in their tracks as an arm is trying to grab them. Cass grabs their hands and turns right. However, he manages to get into their path. "How fast is this guy?!" Eugene exclaims in disbelief as they turn right again. The princesses go through a narrow path, holding onto their hair, but they finally make it out of there.
"Well...I guess that explains why he could move so fast..." Eugene says slowly as they see more men just like him standing in front of them all. "Cassandra, you deal with the ones in black, we'll handle the rest." They just stare at him, as all of them are wearing black. The group approaches them and they knew that they couldn't take them all. As they back away, the hair gets closer and closer to the black rocks. Rapunzel cringes up at them when suddenly a frying pan hits one on the head. Max whinnies as he's holding the weapon his mouth, landing in front of the four. He kicks one from behind and then headbutts one in the stomach. He throws the pan into the air and catches it, spinning around and knocking out the rest in one swing.
He spits out the frying pan and it hits one in the face. "Max! Oh, you couldn't have come a second sooner!" Rapunzel jumps onto him in front, followed by Cass and Eugene. She hears another whinny up ahead and sees Silver running up to her.
"Silver!" She cries out in relief, running up to the horse. She frontflips and soars into the air, landing on his saddle safely.
"Take us home, big guy!" Cass orders and the two horses run off, the group of men getting up.
"These guys want whatever this is pretty badly," Rapunzel looks at the graphtyc in her hand, looking towards the three. "Something tells me we won't make it to the castle."
"Even if we could, I don't want these guys terrorizing the kingdom and causing a panic," Harmony glares up ahead.
"They're right," Eugene agrees with them. "We need somewhere to hide and come up with a plan."
"I know just the place! Silver, follow Max!" She turns the horse around to go left, Silver turning sharply. The two jump over a log, running deeper into the forest. They stop at a cliff and Rapunzel smiles at everyone. "We're here!"
"Here?! Where's here?!" Eugene exclaims in disbelief.
"You said we needed a place to hide!" Rapunzel jumps off Max. "Here we are."
"And once again, where is here?!"
He hears Owl as Harmony looks up ahead. "They're following us," Cass says knowingly.
"Guys! Come on!" Rapunzel calls out, the others looking to each other skeptically. They race after her to see that she's hanging onto a vine, climbing down the cliff. "What are you slowpokes waiting for?"
Eugene takes a hold of it. "Okay, Eugene, today we are rappelling down the side of a cliff...with a horse, princess, frog, and a goose...Man, I love Corona!" He laughs and they all slide down onto the grass. Owl lands on Cass' shoulder as Eugene lands safely. He hears two whinnies, looking behind him to see Max's backside sliding towards him. He ducks out of the way, only to get grass in his face. Silver lands on his back and he groans in pain.
"Eugene, I'm surprised you didn't recognize where we are," Rapunzel chuckles a little.
"...Should he?" Harmony glances at him in confusion, she doesn't know where they are since she's never been here before.
"Oh, right! You haven't been here, have you?" Eugene looks down at her as Rapunzel removes the wall of leaves.
"Actually...I'm not sure I recognize it."
The tower...the same one she was raised in, is now surrounded by black rocks. "This is bad..." Eugene murmurs as he dusts himself off.
"These rocks are an even bigger problem than we thought..." Cass puts a hand on Harmony's shoulder.
"Huh? Oh no, actually, I was talking about my vest," Eugene explains, getting looks from both Max and Cass. "I got it dirty from the fall, but uh..." He clears his throat. "Yeah, no, those rocks are bad, super bad."
"As much as I hate seeing this...what is this place again?" Harmony asks everyone.
"Harmony...this is where I was raised," Rapunzel gestures to the tower and the girl slowly widens her eyes.
"S-So...this is the tower? The one you all told me about? Where...all of that stuff happened?"
"Yeah..." Cass sighs a little.
"Punz, I...I'm so sorry about this..."
"It's okay," Rapunzel places her hands on her shoulders. "I don't blame you for it." She looks back to the tower. Never did she think that she'd see it like this...
Once they're all in the tower...it's still the same as before. Harmony gasps sharply at the long cut hair, the broken mirror, and all the glass shards.
"Oh, and this is where she hit me with a frying pan for the very first time," Eugene is showing everyone but Rapunzel around since they've never been in the tower before. "Little known fact, the blow actually improved my hairline."
Cass and Harmony look up at the mural Rapunzel painted of her seeing the lanterns. "Yeah, pre-pan cowlick, post-pan perfection."
Harmony watches her sister put her cloak over the chair as she examines the graphtyc. "What is so important about this thing...?"
"I can tell you one thing: you won't be able to open it on your own. You need something to open it with," Harmony points to it from behind.
"Watch your step, pal," Eugene warns the two horses. "This is where I died, see?"
"Have you seen anything like this?" Rapunzel asks the two, shaking the object. "It sounds like something's inside." She holds it up for them to hear.
"This is the armoire where Rapunzel hid my unconscious body. You remember that, honey?" Eugene laughs at the memory. "What a romantic first date."
"I don't think that counts," Harmony looks over her shoulder. Cass tries to pry the graphtyc open, but it won't budge. Rapunzel eyes something at the end.
"Wait a minute..." She realizes the shape, as she's seen it before. "The key!" She takes it from her bag and opens it up. Rapunzel slowly pulls out a scroll, looking at a picture of three golden petals, something dripping onto it. "It's some kind of scroll...have you seen this before?"
"No, never," Harmony shakes her head. "Not that I can recall."
"Oh, uh, this is where Mother Gothel fell to her doom." Eugene looks at the window. "Guys? I think we have a problem."
Max looks out the window to see one of the men climbing up the tower with Harmony's arrows. Several others follow.
"You gotta be kidding!" Rapunzel exclaims in disbelief, wondering how they found them.
"How'd they found us?!" Harmony screeches as she sees them.
"What do you wanna do, guys?" Eugene asks the two princesses. They look to each other and silently agree on the same thing.
"No more running. No more hiding," Max grins widely at her declaration. "These guys just ticked off the wrong princesses!"
"That's my girl," Eugene smiles at Rapunzel, spinning the frying pan into his hand. Rapunzel grips the graphtyc. If they were going to get out of this alive, they had to do something different.
"Sorry, Eugene, frying pans are great and all, but...it's time for an upgrade," She plants the graphtyc in Max's satchel, starting to untie her hair. "Harmi," She bends down to her sister and whispers in her ear. Once she's finished, Harmony recoils back.
"No way! I can't do that, Raps! I don't know what'll happen!"
"It's our only shot. I believe in you, little sister."
Harmony sighs slowly. "...Alright..."
Rapunzel walks up to the window. "Rapunzel, Harmony, what are you doing?" Cass asks them.
"Letting down my hair..."
"You'll see," Harmony cracks her fingers together. Rapunzel tosses all of her hair out the window and it flies pat the men climbing up. It touches one of the rocks and Harmony's left hand glows. It causes a major explosion that blows all of them away from a safe distance.
Rapunzel gasps, looking outside as Harmony's black rocks start appearing. She pulls up her hair and pulls open the attic door. Eugene holds her hair as they both jump in, followed by Cass, Harmony, and the two horses. They manage to squeeze inside, the rocks growing at a faster rate up the walls and the stairs. The five run down the steps, only to see the path blocked.
"Um, I did not expect the rocks to follow us all the way up here..." Rapunzel says nervously.
"I-I can't stop it!" Harmony anxiously looks at her left hand.
"What did you expect them to do?" Eugene asks as they show no signs of stopping.
"Come on!" Rapunzel runs up the steps, the others following. Harmony gasps at the rocks as they reach the room they were just in. The black rocks spout up from the exit, Cass landing in front of her friends. Rapunzel runs up to the desk, a black rock appearing right in front of her. She looks to see Owl and Daisy flying around to avoid them, reaching the ceiling. Owl presses the mechanism that opens the ceiling hatch.
"That's the only way out! Let's go, come on!"
They all run up the stairs as the rocks follow their path. Rapunzel spins her hair like a noose, throwing it over a beam. Cass and Eugene go first, with the former thief seeing the two horses climb up the hair. "So horses can climb now...that's a thing."
He continues climbing as Harmony looks over her shoulder, moon beams appearing on her feet. She uses them to jump into the air, gripping the make-shift rope. Rapunzel climbs up last as the black rocks start to surround them.
Eugene pushes the horses out the hatch, followed by Harmony. Daisy pushes Owl away from an incoming black rock, but another one appears right near his wings, knocking him off balance. He falls towards the black rocks, Pascal flinging his tongue and capturing his leg. He looks up at the chameleon, who pulls him up to the ceiling. Max whinnies at the three and they jump on him. He recoils back as a black rock covers the hole. The horses back away, black rocks following their every step. The ceiling starts to cave in and they look at the growing cluster. There's nowhere else to go...
The four gasp, Rapunzel looking at the black rocks underneath them. "There's only one way down..." She looks to her glowing hair, looking back at her sister. "Harmony, is there anything you can do with these rocks?"
"Like what? If I was able to, I'd stop them!"
"Just think of something! I know you can!"
Harmony bites her lip, looking at her hand. "While she's doing that, I think I have a way out, but it's a little crazy, so you're just gonna have to trust us!"
The tower crumbles and they stumble on the ceiling. "Uh, sure, let's go for it! I'm up for anything at this point."
"Follow us!" Rapunzel pulls away Eugene, who's holding onto Cass. Harmony takes the lead as she holds out her arms to balance herself.
"Even your hands are cold!" Eugene comments to Cass.
Owl rolls his eyes at Pascal and Daisy holding out their limbs, taking them. Max and Silver run forward, Harmony sprinting on the roof. The rocks get faster and faster as they're nearing the edge of the roof.
"I cannot believe we're doing this!" Eugene shouts at the top of his lungs. They all jump off the roof, Rapunzel's hair glowing as they look towards the grass. Her hair wraps around them like a ball as a black rock sprouts out from the grass, touching it. This causes them to miss a cluster of black rocks in front of them, landing safely behind all of them.
"Oh, did everyone see that? Is-Is that new?!" Cass shouts as she hasn't seen this before. Rapunzel gets onto her feet.
"Uhh, let's just say it's complicated," Eugene tells her as Harmony stands up, dusting dirt off her. "Harmi...you actually controlled one?"
Her eyes widen as she looks at her palms, laughing in shock. "I...I did! I controlled a black rock!" She jumps up into the air happily. "I did it, I did it, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. No evil here tonight, whoo! No evil here tonight, whoo!"
"No evil here tonight, you on a diet!" Eugene sings along, Rapunzel just staring as the tower slowly crumbles into pieces. A tear falls down her cheek. She knew that Mother Gothel wasn't a good person, but...she still grew up here. It was her childhood home...and now it's gone. They get caught up in the cloud of smoke, and when it goes away, all there's left is black rocks.
"...Can we avoid going up in towers from now on?" Eugene rubs the back of his neck. Rapunzel bends down to a piece of her mural, sighing lightly. She caresses the piece, looking away sadly. "Are you okay?"
Rapunzel silently hugs him as Harmony frowns sadly. "I'm...I'm really sorry, Rapunzel."
"Oh, Harmi...I don't blame you for any of this," The woman hugs her little sister, both of them closing their eyes. "I know that you can't control it, and that's not your fault. You're just a teenager, after all..."
"Guys? You wanna have a look at this?" Cass interrupts the moment. A slab of rock is lifted up and the helmet is off.
"Time for answers," Rapunzel strolls up to him, sliding the helmet away. The man looks up...and reveals his face.
The two princesses recoil back in surprise. "Dad?" Cass murmurs at him. He pants slowly, getting onto his feet.
"Princesses...we had orders to recover the scroll, to keep it from you."
"Who?" Rapunzel demands him. "Who ordered you?"
"You scared the life out of us, you know that?!" Harmony shouts at the man. "Who could've possibly ordered you to do that?!"
The Captain glances at the other guards, not sure how to break it to them. "Answer them," Cass orders them.
"...Your father," The Captain closes his eyes. Their mouths open wide, backing away slowly. They couldn't believe it...he lied right to their faces. Rapunzel takes the graphtyc, opening up the scroll. She opens it up follow to see the sun and moon side by side. Both of them have drips going towards somewhere, the moon going towards a black rock...
"Why would your father wanna keep this from you?" Eugene asks from behind.
"I don't know...but we are going to find out," Rapunzel glares and they all look towards the remains of the tower...