Angel: Hello everyone, I hope that you're doing well during COVID19. Uh, pretty soon, I'm going to be updating this story daily, because I've finished the first part of the final episode. As much as I hate to admit it, I have to move on with not just academics, but with my plans for stories since I have a lot on my hands...I'll start the daily updating tomorrow. I think I will also upload my OneShots story for Tangled when this story is officially done. If you guys have any requests, let me know.
I don't know why, but people I talk to on occasion ask me if I have the virus. I just wanna let you guys know that I have been in my house for almost a month now without leaving or even going outside. No one in my house has it, sometimes they wear masks, and I stay a good distance away from them. I've been cleaning after myself. If I was sick, I would definitely not be uploading anything, I can tell you that. I know it's out of concern, but I'm really fine. I'm just annoyed at being in my house for being so long. And my parents work at a hospital, so it's not like I won't be taken care of. I just want all of this to be over, so stop asking me please if I have the virus, because I don't XD
"Lumbard's Pass," Rapunzel announces as they're in a mountain area. "Looks rough. But if anyone can cross it, it's us! Although, those swaying towers of rock at the end, ooh, could be a bit of a challenge," She looks through her telescope, wearing her old dress.
Harmony peeks out the window from the second caravan, looking through her binoculars.
"A bit? We have to take not one, but TWO caravans across those rock towers," Harmony holds up two fingers. "No one's ever done that before."
"Then I guess we'll be the first!" Rapunzel smiles as she looks around the corner.
"Um, but Lumbard's Pass is, I don't know, the deadliest mountain in the world?!" Varian calls out.
A few rocks fall into the unforgiving ground below once they pass by. Pascal and Daisy squeak nervously, the horses looking a bit skeptical themselves.
"So the road is a little, um, how do I put this?"
Hook Foot pops his head out of the roof. "Horrifying?"
Lance pops up next, holding up a finger. "Stomach churning?"
Shorty leans out the window next to Cass. "Hello."
Harmony moves Shorty away as she had moved to the first caravan. She sticks her head out the window. "Rapunzel, I know that the black rocks led us here, but you don't really think that we can cross it so easily, do you?"
"We're talking about crossing Lumbard's Pass," She gestures to the road in front of them. "And it's going to feel so rewarding after we do! Besides, if we wanna stay on your black rock path, Harmi, it's our only choice."
"Technically, I didn't create the path. The path created itself, all the way from Corona," Harmony defends, crossing her arms. "I would definitely not lead us here if I had any control."
"Now who's with me?" Rapunzel stands up, holding her telescope into the air. Hook Foot and Lance sink a bit out of fear. "That's the spirit!"
Suddenly, they hit a bump, her telescope flying out of her hand. She gasps sharply. "My telescope!"
They watch it fall into the ground below, the horses coming to a stop. Cass and Harmony are both cringing at what just happened.
"That telescope was a present from my father for this trip!" Rapunzel frowns a bit. "Harmi, can you get it back?"
"Without significantly damaging it in the process? Uhh, gonna go with don't risk that?" She asks with a wince.
"Can't we just make a new one?" Varian steps down from the second caravan, Harmony gesturing for him not to say that.
"NO!" Rapunzel shouts at him and he recoils back. "It won't be the same if we just make a new one!"
"Should not have asked," He whispers to himself.
"Besides, even if I could get it back, it's not like I can sense your telescope anyway, only evil stuff. Sorry, Punzie," The girl shrugs regrettably.
"Ugh!" She groans at this. "Alright. Let's split up so we find it faster," She jumps onto the ground. "Eugene, Hook Foot, Varian, and Harmony, you're with me."
"We'll search as long as it takes, Princess. Even if it means we never, ever cross Lumbard's Pass," Hook Foot shakes his head, a fist to his cheek. "Ever!"
"You do know that there's no other path we can take, right?" Varian crosses his arms. Hook Foot's eyes widen and he sinks fully back into the caravan.
"You know, look, I hate to say this, Blondie..." Eugene steps over to her. "But maybe we should just move on. You know? The telescope was a nice gift," She undoes her hair. "But Lumbard's Pass is gonna take us hours to-"
She jumps and he stops speaking. "And she's already done there looking, isn't she?"
"This is a surprise?" Harmony raises a brow. "When's the last time she didn't do something when we tell her to?"
"...You know, Brownie, you make a good point. You know Rapunzel better than I do!"
"Call it sister instinct," She smiles in amusement, exiting the caravan with her arrows in hand. "Now let's see if you boys are up to a little...unconventional climbing."
The three look to each other nervously as they don't like that look.
The four climb down the cliff while using Harmony's arrows. "Thanks for doing this, guys. That telescope is really special to Rapunzel."
"Like your binoculars from your dad," Varian turns to the brown-haired girl.
"Exactly," She grins a little as she looks at him. "And I'm sure it means a lot to my sister that you're actually helping her for a change."
"Between you and me, I don't care about the telescope." Harmony looks to Hook Foot and slaps him on the arm. "Ow! What I meant was, I just wanted to avoid doing something dangerous." His foot slips from a rock and he falls towards the ground.
"Hook!" The three shout in alarm.
"Help! I'm too young to splat!" He cries out, a yellow harness of hair catching him. He looks around and then sees Rapunzel on the ground lowering him. "Oh, thank you."
The other three reach the end. "That was close," She sighs in relief. "Are you okay?"
"I guess that's what I get for shining my hook with olive oil," Hook Foot gestures to his hook.
"Ever heard of hook polish?" Harmony raises a brow, causing the man to turn to her in confusion. "What? That's a thing in Corona. I should know: I made it."
"Why didn't you tell me that before the trip?!" He screeches at her in shock.
"You didn't ask," She shrugs slowly. "But it works really well, and they're always sold out by the end of the day back at home."
"Ohh! You mean Princess Harmony's Shiny Hook!" Rapunzel smiles in realization. "I love that stuff."
"Hook Hand mentioned it once when we met him," Eugene grins a bit, Hook Foot looking between all of them, baffled.
"Why haven't I heard of it?!"
"You didn't know?" Varian smiles in amusement at the man. "My dad uses it all the time for his fishing hooks."
"No, I didn't know!"
Chimes suddenly clink, interrupting the conversation. "Those chimes are so familiar. Sounds like..."
"Our day just got a whole lot worse?" Eugene asks knowingly.
Hook Foot blinks, but follows after them. They follow the noise to a familiar cart that four of them know very well. "Eugene, Harmi, Varian, look!" Rapunzel exclaims at it, and then they're face to face with Vigor again. He picks at his ear. "Vigor! Madame Canardist! I am so surprised to see you two!"
"We don't have any coins today," Harmony shakes her head.
"But we are obviously not surprised to see you," Canardist states, gasping at the teenage girl. "Oh, your hair! It's so exquisite," She lightly touches it and when she steps back, Harmony's necklace is gone from her neck.
"Of course!" Rapunzel chuckles, leaning towards the monkey. "I mean, Vigor is the world's most prophetic prognosticator!" She pokes his nose and he chitters.
"The world's most prophetic what-ca-what-icator?" Hook Foot asks in confusion. Vigor jumps onto Eugene, who shrieks.
"Get off! Get off! The old woman's a scam artist who passes the chimp off as some kind of psychic to bilk suckers out of their money. Or steal gifts from teenage girls," He swipes the Harmonium necklace back from the lady, who glares. Harmony gasps as she quickly puts it back on, annoyed at her. Varian narrows his eyes, grunting.
"Now that's a sound business model," Hook Foot compliments, Eugene looking away in annoyance.
"Yeah, real impressive," Harmony grits her teeth. Canardist walks up to the man.
"When you were a child, you were much shorter."
"...She's right!" He gasps at her. "I was shorter by one foot."
Eugene stares at him, baffled. Of course he was shorter, he was a child! Shorty could have been given that prediction.
"We'd really love to catch up, but we're looking for..." Rapunzel scopes the shelves and quickly finds her telescope. "My telescope!" She happily takes it into her hands. "You found it!"
"That is absolute kielbasa!" The old woman snatches the telescope out of Rapunzel's hands. "This is my telescope."
Pascal points to the inscription. "To my love, from your father," She reads it.
"See? This was a gift, and a reminder of my dad," Rapunzel glares at her.
"I don't care who you think you are, but you can't just go around and keep lost telescopes! She dropped it, and you must have found it nearby. Trust me, you don't wanna keep that," Harmony gestures to her sister.
"You think you are the only person in the world is loved by their papa?" She nuzzles the telescope, smirking. "Or has a necklace such as this?" She holds up Harmony's necklace, who looks at her neck again.
"Wha-? How did you-?!"
"Oh, come on!" Eugene places his hands on his hips. "You didn't even know that inscription existed until just now!"
"If you really want my precious telescope and necklace, even though it would break my heart, then you must pay for them."
"SAY WHAAAAAT?!" Harmony screeches in anger. "My necklace isn't for sale, which you stole from me!"
"Nonsense! I created this necklace for myself."
"No, no!" Varian glares at her. "I made her that necklace as a present! It's made in her favorite color, you don't even know what it's made out of!"
"Not everyone has a different favorite color, you know," She smirks, gesturing to the blue on the telescope and the blue from the element. "It matches my telescope. And I love it already!"
"What?! No! We are not buying back our things," Rapunzel storms up to her.
"Oh, that is correct. You'd be buying back my own telescope and necklace!"
"But you—arrgh!" Harmony holds her hair in frustration. She didn't know how much she could hate an old lady until now.
"That necklace isn't something that you can just buy!" Varian shouts at the woman. "I gave that to Mona to impress her! This is ridiculous! You can't just take it bluntly and ask us to pay for it."
"And it is impressive," She caresses it. "And I am asking you to buy my necklace." The two sisters narrow their eyes, snatching their things back.
"Fine! Take the telescope and necklace!" Vigor growls at them both. "What's that, Vigor?" He snarls at the duo. "He says he is very unhappy you upset me, and he is going to cast a most malignant curse on you!"
The monkey continues to snarl and they stare at him until he stops. "Vigor says, may there be no success and no luck in your lives, until the telescope and necklace are returned to me, their proper owner!"
"Well, it's been a real hoot seeing you two again," Eugene places a hand on a worried Rapunzel's shoulder. The two teens just look very annoyed. "Crone, primate, I bid you adieu," And with that, they leave.
"You should really be ashamed of yourselves," Rapunzel scolds the two. "That necklace has no value and shows just how much Varian loves my sister, and you wanted to take that away!"
Eugene leads her away, the two sisters glaring at her. "That woman is twisted in the head if she thinks she can take my necklace and then try to make me broke by asking me to pay for something that was given to me by my own boyfriend!" Harmony huffs in anger, putting her necklace back on. She turns around and shakes a fist at the woman. "I hope this comes back to bite you someday, you ungrateful scammer! Don't ever ask us to help you find that monkey again!"
Varian cringes as he pulls her backwards, but she's still yelling towards the woman.
Hook Foot lingers behind. "So, back to my height. Do you see me ever getting taller?"
"Vigor has spoken!" She yells and he immediately leaves. She blows out the candles.
They climb back up to the caravans, Hook Foot exhausted as he reaches the top. "I wish I knew I was gonna have to rock climb today. I would've worn my grappling hook. Hey Harmi, do you have some of that hook polish?"
"Save it!" She grunts as she storms past him.
"Can you believe that?" Rapunzel asks as Eugene helps her up, Varian reaching the top last. He could tell that Harmony needed space right now. "And after we helped her find Vigor when Red and Angry monkey-napped him! Honestly! Really? A curse? UGH! The whole thing is just absurd," She paces around, just as angry as her sister is. "And she had the nerve to steal Harmony's necklace even after finding out the fact that Varian made that especially for her!"
"Uh, I don't know if I'd blow off the curse so quick," Hook Foot speaks up as he gets onto his feet. "A few years ago, Big Nose ticked off a shaman and got himself cursed."
"Really? What happened?" Rapunzel asks curiously.
"I don't wanna get into details, but before that day, we just called him Nose."
Harmony and Varian both cringe at this.
"Guys! There are no such thing as curses!" Eugene tells them all.
"I have to agree. Bad luck is bad luck, but a curse? Not possible," Harmony shakes her head. "Though if I did believe in them, I'd put one on Madame Canardist and that thieving monkey of hers."
"But you have the powers of the moonstone!" Hook Foot gestures to her left hand.
"Having powers and a curse aren't the same thing," Varian raises a brow.
"Exactly, my powers don't cause any curse," Harmony crosses her arms.
"You know what, I agree too. I don't believe in bad luck curses, Hook Foot. The world is full of things you can't explain," Rapunzel smiles towards her sister.
"She's right. Where does the wind come from? Why are mimes so creepy? Why is 'Peggy' short for Margaret? Who knows really? But just because you can't explain it, doesn't mean that it's sorcery. No offense," He turns to the teens.
"None taken," They say in unison.
"And I don't find Ulf entirely creepy...but he still sometimes freaks me out," Harmony shudders a bit.
"Precisely on both accounts," Rapunzel points to her boyfriend and sister. "Now, come on, let's get back to camp and have a nice, warm dinner before we-" Her foot lingers over a mud puddle. "Ah! See? If either of us were cursed, I would have stepped right into that mud puddle. Madame Canardist is just trying to get into our-" Rapunzel screams as she lands in another mud puddle.
Harmony bends down, trying to help her up.
"Heads..."
The girl pulls Rapunzel up too quickly as she falls, landing in the first mud puddle.
"Aw man..." She complains as she looks at herself. "Rapunzel had these custom-made...!"
It starts to rain as the horses trudge through with both caravans. Everyone is in the girls' part of the first caravan except Cass, who's keeping watch from the front. "So, you really believe that you're..." Lance whimpers a bit. "Cursed?"
"Well..." Rapunzel puts her hands on her cheeks. Harmony is in her old dress, cleaning up her clothes with a water bucket and washboard. Varian is helping her get out the mud stains.
"Oh, come on, sweetheart. Curses aren't real!" Eugene insists to her.
"Or are they?" Hook Foot asks creepily behind the teens, causing them to turn around. They all see a book in his hands.
"The Source Book of Superstitions? Come on! Why do we even have this in the caravan?" Eugene looks on with disapproval.
"Oh, I got it from Harmony's library."
She blinks as she looks up, narrowing her eyes. "You went into the other caravan while we weren't there?"
"I'll put it back!" He smiles nervously at her look, opening up to a specific page. "Ah! Here we go," He clears his throat. "The telltale signs of a hex. Number one: weakness."
"Huh. I am a little bit worn out," She sags her shoulders.
"We've been walking for hours!" Eugene tells her.
"Number two: cold feet."
"My feet are freezing!" Rapunzel touches her feet.
"You don't wear shoes!" Her boyfriend exclaims in exasperation.
"Which brings us to number three. Bad luck. Princess, that's three out of three. Harmony, aren't you feeling the same signs?" He leans in towards the girl.
"Yeah, but like Eugene said, we walked all the way back to the caravan and I've been barefoot for almost a year now. So no, this isn't a curse," She glares up at him.
"What about the mud puddle?"
"Anyone could fall into a mud puddle! I fell into one when I was visiting Old Corona before Varian! So what if I got my other outfit dirty? It's almost clean anyway!" She exclaims in disbelief, gesturing to her clothes in the wash bucket.
"But you have the three signs too...which means..."
"Which means, it's time to stop talking about this baloney and keep moving!" Eugene snatches the book from Hook Foot.
"I don't think it's the curse," Varian speaks up. "It's just a coincidence. Like Mona said, anyone could fall into mud puddles."
"But it wasn't just anyone. It was both of them!" Hook Foot points to the sisters. Harmony looks at him in annoyance, pushing his finger away from her face.
Something approaches the caravans and Cass looks to her left, gasping sharply. A bunch of water out of nowhere is heading right towards them. She cringes at the sight.
"FLASH FLOOD!"
"Flash what?" Eugene looks out the window.
"Uh oh..." Varian cringes as he looks outside. "We're gonna crash!"
The water hits all of them, knocking everyone into the river nearby. All of them are now soaked and the two caravans are on their sides...
"I'm sorry, but this just screams curse," Lance speaks up. Rapunzel tucks away a bang, Harmony wincing. She didn't believe it until now...
But she may be cursed after all.
"Look, I get why you think you're cursed, Blondie. I—I do," Eugene stammers to her as they walk next to the river the next day. "When strange things happen to us, we wanna believe it's for a reason. But remember what you said about making your own luck?"
He takes her hands and an apple falls over their heads. Eugene catches it before it could hit her head. "The best way to predict the future is to create your own."
She smiles softly, taking the apple. "Maybe you're right. Eugene, look! The river receded!" She gasps sharply. "We can cross it in the morning!"
"See?" He smiles, nudging her arm. "Bad luck, shmad luck!"
"I guess I was being kind of silly."
"Well, I mean, I didn't wanna say it," He chuckles a bit. "But yeah, 'silly' is the right word. 'Kooky' works too. Or completely ludicrous," He leans on a tree and it breaks, sending him into the water. She cringes at this.
"Eugene...?"
He pops his head out of the water. "This is still a coincidence!"
She sighs slowly, looking away. "Aah! Something just touched me!"
Shorty comes out of the water. "Excuse me. No street clothes in the swimming pool. Rude." He dives back into the water, leaving dead fish in his wake. Eugene shudders at them.
"Pst!"
Rapunzel looks towards the tree behind her, where Hook Foot is standing. "I know what to do."
"Hook Foot?"
"Uh, maybe. Meet me under the full moon tonight with your sister, at midnight. Tell no one but Harmony..."
Rapunzel gasps at the cryptic message. "Why not?"
"Because it sounds more dramatic this way..."
Harmony is in a small clearing, sighing as she drags a stick along the grass. Daisy chirps a bit in concern while Varian is picking apples. Ruddiger takes one and crawls down onto the grass, planning on eating it. "Ruddiger, you promised that'd be the last of the apples you'd eat!"
His eyes widen and then he drops the apple, scurrying off. "Whew!" Varian climbs back down, holding a big basket full of apples. "Well, this should be enough apples for dinner since our food storage got soaked..."
Harmony sits on a big rock, holding her cheeks. "We can buy more food at the next stop...Mona?" He notices that she hasn't said anything. "Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh," She looks up at him. "It's just...this whole curse thing. I'm not usually the type to believe in it, but...well..."
"Oh come on," He takes his seat next to her. "You can't really think that you're cursed! I mean, this type of stuff can happen to anyone!"
She glances at him skeptically. "Okay, yes, not everyone experiences mud and a flash flood in the same day, but luck is almost nonexistent because it's you who decides how to live. And I know I'm the luckiest guy right now to have you."
She smiles softly. "Aww, Vari. Maybe you have a point."
"Yes. Yes I do," He leans in and pecks her lips. "Now wait here, I think I found some blueberries! We can make a pie for everybody."
He rushes over to a nearby berry bush, digging his hand in deep. "Ah, Ruddiger, get out of there."
He holds up the tail...revealing that it's a skunk he's holding. "Ahh! ...You're not Ruddiger...okay, little buddy, I'm sorry. Just gonna...put you back where I found ya."
The skunk glares at him and sprays the boy in the face. "Agh!" Varian covers his eyes, Harmony opening her mouth in shock.
"Vari!"
"Nope! Not bad luck!" He shakes his head rapidly. "But the smell is just awful, ugh!"
Harmony frowns at him sadly. If she didn't have this curse, he wouldn't have gotten skunked...
"Pst!"
"Hm?" She looks up to see Hook Foot behind a tree nearby. "Hook Foot? What are you doing?"
"I have a solution. Meet me under the full moon tonight with Rapunzel, midnight. Tell no one."
"...Okay, stop with the drama, I get the point," She holds up a hand, rolling her eyes.
That night, an owl hoots as the three are standing on top of a cliff. "Ooh! So like I said, this ritual guarantees to counter the darkest hexes and curses imaginable."
"I will do anything to end this curse," Rapunzel tells him.
"Ditto! I don't want Vari to suffer from my curse, he got skunked because of me."
"Oof. No wonder why he won't come out of the second caravan...and why we had to get a bunch of tomato juice," Rapunzel rubs her chin.
"Hold this," Hook Foot places the book into their hands. "Let me get the ingredients."
The two glance at each other skeptically, wondering if this was really gonna work. "One tuft of bar fur, a blind beetle, three toenail clippings, a sprinkling of oregano, and last but not least, a weasel tooth." They catch all of the ingredients with the book. Pascal snatches the tooth with his tongue. "And you'll need these!" He places grass hats on their heads. "Even got one for you, little guys," He places a tiny one on Pascal and Daisy, the two staring at the hats.
"Okay, step two: we gotta walk counter-clockwise around the cauldron while the cursed soul, or in this case, souls, read the mystical spell," Hook Foot instructs them both.
"Spirits on high..." They both read, placing in one ingredient. "Heed this verse," Another ingredient goes in. "Obey my command, and lift this curse?"
"You're not selling it! You gotta say it with feeling," Hook Foot calls out from a tree.
"I thought you said 'we' were performing this spell," Rapunzel glares up at him.
"Whatever happened to teamwork?" Harmony places a hand on her hip.
"I ain't the one who's cursed!"
They roll their eyes, Pascal and Daisy blowing a raspberry at him. "Banish this pain...banish this sorrow..." Rapunzel tosses in the last vial. "Remove this curse, or know no tomorrow! By the winds of the west, the flames from the east, crush this hex, slay this beast!"
Hook Foot gulps at their second effort. It's so selling that he's actually scared of them. "Maybe a little less feeling?"
"Hey, you asked us to come out here," Harmony points up at him. "Take what you get, Hook Foot."
Max is eating some grass nearby while Lance and Shorty are sleeping outside. Varian rubs his armpits with tomato juice, grunting at the smell still on him. The caravans are covered in garlic, incense, and horseshoes from outside.
Eugene knocks on the door to the girls' room. "Psst! Rapunzel?" He opens the door and steps inside. "Rapunzel? Harmony? I'm sorry to bother you, but-"
"INTRUDER!"
Cass starts beating him up.
"Oof! Ow! No! Hey! Ow! Ow! Why?!"
A match is lit as Varian opens the door, having heard the commotion from outside. "What's going on?"
Eugene removes the shield over his head. "What are you doing?" Cass asks him while holding a candle. She sniffs the air and waves a hand in front of her nose. "Whew! Even with all the garlic, you still stink."
Varian gives her a deadpan look. "You're not the one who got sprayed by a skunk!"
"Well, I was just looking for a blanket, but now my bigger concern is trying to find my spleen!" Eugene exclaims at Cass. "Oh, there it is, over by my dignity. Wait, is that a horseshoe?"
He sees a horseshoe around Cass' neck. "Uh..." She stammers nervously, unsure how to explain herself.
"You know, it's bad enough these caravans are both covered in garlic and incense, but now you're in on it too? Rapunzel, Harmony, this curse nonsense needs to end right no-" He looks at their bunk beds to see that neither of them are there. "...Cassandra? Varian? Where are the girls?"
The cauldron is bubbling. "Bad luck curse, you're nothing but trouble," The two sisters chant, putting in another ingredient. "But after this chant, you'll be squashed on the double!"
"Oh come on, really?" Harmony stops reading, looking up at their friend in disbelief.
"Just throw in that weasel tooth!"
"Fine," She mutters in defeat. "Pascal?"
Pascal holds up the tooth, giving it to Rapunzel. She drops it in and the cauldron shakes, its contents shooting up into the air. They both scream as they step back in shock. They look to each other and then the cauldron burns through the branch it was attached to. Suddenly it starts flying around out of control. The two sisters watch it flies past them.
Hook Foot screams as it's heading for him, and then jumps down from the tree. The cauldron knocks down a couple of trees, flying past them. They gasp in horror...and then it comes straight towards them. They brace themselves, but Varian, Cass, and Eugene knock them onto the ground. The cauldron goes towards the water and then falls. The four look to each other and get up, looking over the edge.
"Where is it? It couldn't just disappear."
The cauldron suddenly appears behind them, and once they look, they all scream, running out of the way. Varian pushes Harmony onto the ground safely as the cauldron hops towards Hook Foot.
"Oh boy," He murmurs and then it gets stuck onto his head.
The others cough from the smoke, Eugene hugging Rapunzel. Hook Foot runs around with the cauldron over his head. "Oy vey." He manages to pull it off, sighing as he rubs the back of his neck.
"You guys might wanna get a different recipe for spinach soup," Eugene raises a brow.
"Well, it was supposed to be a counter-curse," Hook Foot tells him, the two sisters sighing.
"It's no use, Hook Foot. There's only one thing left to do," Rapunzel looks at her younger sister, who nods in agreement. "Return the telescope and the necklace to Madame Canardist in the morning and put an end to this curse."
"We can't go through Lumbard's Pass cursed like this...so, as much as I hate to admit it, Rapunzel's right..." She crosses her arms.
"What? Mona…" Varian steps towards her. "She kept trying to steal the necklace from you."
"Yeah, and those things are really important to you," Eugene frowns in disapproval.
"I don't like it anymore than you do, guys. But I can't risk your life further by dealing with the curse…" She looks towards Varian, who has his eyes closed. A bit of fear leaps in her heart. "Are you mad at me?"
He takes a deep breath. "No. We don't need a necklace to show how much we love each other. I understand that this is what you have to do. The love I have for you in here..." He takes her hand and places it on his heart. "Is much more than a mere possession."
She smiles and hugs him gratefully. He returns the hug, smiling into her hair. "Thank you, Vari."
"Eugene, my man," Hook Foot places a hand on Eugene's shoulder. "If the ladies want to return 'em, let her return 'em. Varian will still love Harmony no matter what, so what's the harm in it?"
"Yeah, we'll pitch in and get 'em new ones, better ones, one with more glass and more beads," Cass adds in.
The two sigh sadly, Harmony removing her necklace sadly. "We'll take them back first thing in the morning if we can even make it through the night. Aw, look! A family of black cats!" The cats screech, causing the four to cringe. Eugene and Varian glance to each other, a bit worried for their girlfriends. They had to do something to help, no matter how ridiculous the whole curse thing is. Plus, those objects are really treasured by the girls, they shouldn't have to give them up to a scammer. Who, for the record, stole Harmony's necklace despite her protests.
The next morning, the sisters reluctantly go down the path to Madame Canardist, Rapunzel reading the inscription. Harmony rubs a thumb against the Harmonium, trying not to shed a tear. She hadn't taken it off ever since Varian gave it to her...
"Wait, uh, Blondie!" Eugene calls out.
"You too, Mona," Varian steps up to her.
"Look, I know I said this whole curse thing is silly, but then I remembered something," He opens up a box to reveal a tooth attached to a string. "And I don't know why I didn't think of this before. It's an old tooth I found during an adventure once, and I don't know, I just had a 'good feeling' about it."
"And I found this last night!" Varian smiles widely, holding up another tooth for Harmony. "So, put this back on," He puts the Harmonium necklace over her neck. "And this too," He ties the tooth around her arm to make a bracelet.
"What? I can't believe it," Rapunzel states in disbelief. "Mr. Anti-superstition has a good luck charm?"
"What changed your mind?" Harmony raises a brow.
"I never really thought of it that way. I just held onto it because it made a cool trinket. But then we saw this," Eugene opens up the book to a particular page.
"The moose tooth is one of the most powerful counter-curse charms in the world, warding off evil, and inviting positive forces of the universe," The sisters read in unison. Rapunzel scoffs once they've finished reading.
"No! That thing? You're kidding, right? Is this a joke? Of course it's a joke. Ha ha ha, good one."
"Yeah, I-I don't think this will really work, Vari. I mean, come on. You're telling me that you found a moose tooth all the way out here? Just randomly? I appreciate the help, but no. At least you got out the skunk smell."
She takes off the bracelet, kisses Varian's cheek, and follows after her sister. They suddenly stop in place, a bit doubtful still.
"Is it a joke? I'm still unclear."
"I'll suspend my belief that a moose tooth can really stop a curse," Harmony holds up a hand.
"Hey, you read it for yourselves, Blondie. We're just the messengers here," Eugene holds out the necklace. The sisters glance to each other and then at their boyfriends.
"Can't you at least try? For me?" Varian smiles a bit and she sighs.
"I can't believe I'm about to do this..." She holds out her hand and he plants the bracelet on her arm.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel excitedly puts on the necklace. "This is incredible! I mean, I do kind of feel bad for the moose, but hopefully all the rest of his teeth are intact, and he's also got antlers, so-"
"Sunshine," Eugene interrupts her. "Hi. Focus."
"Right. Sorry," She smiles up at him. "Do you think it'll work?"
"I really do," He smiles back, the woman smiling widely.
"Mm...I dunno," Harmony gives a skeptical look, shaking her head.
"Oh, come on! It's fact," Varian holds up the book with a grin.
"Well, okay," She smiles a bit. "Thank you so much for doing this." She lightly touches the element from her necklace. She didn't really know if she could actually give up her necklace, anyway...so she'll trust him just this once.
Rapunzel looks at her neck, a determined look as she snaps the reins. Harmony and Varian are sitting on Silver and Fidella. The three horses look towards their path nervously, Rapunzel getting them to take off. She kisses the tooth for luck as Eugene stares at her. He chuckles anxiously, looking at the narrow path up ahead. The three horses run as fast as they can, Hook Foot whimpering in fear.
Harmony kisses her tooth as well, smiling at the fearful four nearby. They reach the rock towers. "Here we are..." The girl murmurs, Varian taking a deep breath.
"Of all the Deadly Bridges of Swaying Rocks I've seen, this is the deadliest!" Lance holds his head. "But only the second swayey-est."
"That's not a word," Varian raises a brow at him.
"So I invented it; my point still stands!"
"Don't worry, guys. We've closed the door on disaster," Rapunzel smirks at Max, and he nickers with a nod. He looks up ahead to the first rock, all three horses slowly stepping forward. The tower sways over to the next, Eugene screaming out of terror. The first one falls as they get onto the second, and then they repeat the same strategy. Tower after tower falls after they step off. Eugene hugs the wall behind him, whimpering.
Varian hugs Fidella's neck as Harmony takes a calming breath. They've gotten this far...They reach the next tower, the one in front of them a bit farther away than the others. The three horses step closer, the tower starting to tilt.
"Get ready," Rapunzel warns everyone, watching the rock from the next tower tilting. "Now!"
They run and jump across, sliding to a stop. Eugene glances behind them, Rapunzel pumping a fist. "Yes! That was impeccable timing!"
"Nice job, sis!" Harmony smiles at her.
"Now we just have to get past the rest, and we're safe!" Varian looks towards the rest of the path.
"Didn't see the moose tooth coming, did ya, curse?" Rapunzel holds up the tooth.
"These actually worked!" Harmony stares at her tooth, both of them kissing the teeth. Shorty pokes his head out from the window between her and Cass.
"Moose teeth? More like my teeth!" He takes the tooth from Rapunzel and Harmony, putting them back into his mouth. "Welcome back, Edna and Edith. I kept your rooms just like you left them."
Cass closes the window, Varian trying not to throw up. "That's disgusting," He murmurs, holding his stomach as Harmony gives a look of horror.
"What is going on here?" Rapunzel asks slowly.
"...What did you two do?" Harmony gives Eugene and Varian a scary glare.
"Ha! What are the odds Shorty has the same size teeth as a moose? I never, ever would've guessed that." Rapunzel's shocked look turns into a glare as well.
"Eugene! Those weren't good luck charms, weren't they? Those were just Shorty's teeth. Ugh! And we kissed it, ew."
Harmony gags at the reminder, covering her mouth and swallowing in her vomit. "What are we gonna do now?"
"And why didn't you just tell me it was his tooth? You watched me kiss that thing, gross," Harmony turns to Varian accusingly.
"I just wanted to help! You were gonna give that necklace back to undo your 'curse,' and I couldn't let you do that."
"And THIS is any better?!" Harmony gestures to their situation. The second caravan tilts down, and the first one falls back a bit. The three horses whinnying and they all let out a scream.
"You both lied to us!" Rapunzel gives Eugene and Varian a look. "You said those were lucky moose teeth!"
"Now, just a second, Blondie. I didn't lie. I simply relayed select truths," Eugene defends with a wide smile.
"I didn't lie, either. I just...gave the story a little flair?" Varian gives a nervous chuckle.
"What are you talking about?!"
"That's basically lying!" Harmony adds in furiously. She couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Well, I did find the tooth on an adventure. This adventure to be exact," Eugene states, as he took the book from Rapunzel's bag while she was asleep. "After taking the book, we stumbled upon the section of anti-curse charms, and saw the moose tooth passage. From there, we just kind of rolled with it. I mean, how were we supposed to know they were Shorty's teeth?"
"We really did just find them," Varian states to Harmony. "But...I'm sorry."
"Okay, lie or 'select truths', we're mere inches away from our doom, so can we please focus on that, people?" Cass gestures to the second caravan as the three horses are trying to keep their balance due to the extra weight.
"W-We can't! The curse!"
"Now that we know the truth, it's all starting to come back," Harmony frowns up ahead. The horses skid forward, the second caravan leaning more and more backwards. Lance whimpers as they look over the edge.
"Rapunzel, look at me," Eugene puts his hands on Rapunzel's shoulders to make her look at him. "Think about it. Bad things only started to happen to you two once you thought you were crushed. And good things started to happen once you both thought you found the counter-curse. Look, someone once told me that they don't believe in bad luck curses."
"...And someone once told me that the best way to predict the future is to create your own," She smiles up at him.
"Did I say that? Wow. That is very poetic. I didn't-"
"Our luck is no worse or no better than anyone else's. What matters is what we choose to focus on. And I'm choosing the fact that we've almost made it across this bridge without a scrape, and there's no reason to stop now! Isn't that right, little sister?"
Harmony blinks at her speech, smiling softly for the encouragement. Varian smiles as he looks between the two.
"You're right, big sister. I shouldn't focus on a curse, only on what I choose to believe in."
"That's right, Princesses! Show that bridge who's boss!" Lance pumps a fist.
"Yeah! You got this, girls! Tap into that optimism!" Cass cheers for them.
"Ain't that the tooth," Shorty adds in.
"Good one, Shorty," Lance comments, Cass pushing the man back inside again.
"I believe in you two," Varian places a hand on Harmony's shoulder.
"Alright, guys. Drop your heads, and engage your hocks! Harmony, Varian, over here."
The two teens crawl over to their side, sitting next to Rapunzel. The three horses, with all their strength, walk upwards. They manage to get back on balance, the three smiling at each other.
"YES! That's the Raps I know!" Eugene cheers for her.
"If we time this right, we can make it, guys!" Harmony pumps her fists.
"And that's the Harmi I know!" Eugene adds in.
"Just two more towers to go."
"We're gonna need a lot of momentum to make it across both of them to the other side!" Cass states as she runs up ahead.
"Meaning a lot of speed," Varian points out.
"Then let's make a run for it!" Rapunzel grins widely. The tower starts to tilt, both Lance and Hook Foot screaming. The three horses jump across...but the tower in front of them falls as the last one hit the base.
"Oh no! Oh no!" Cass shouts as the three horses slide to a stop.
"The curse has scrambled their brains!" Lance screams as the horses barely stop at the edge.
"We've got to get to the other side!"
"Oh, sure! Maybe we'll all just flap our arms and we'll fly across!" Eugene retorts back to Cass.
"What do we do?!" Varian looks up ahead.
"Fly across..." The sisters murmur, remembering the one thing they have that can fly.
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Harmony grins at her sister.
"Yup! Hook Foot, do you still have all the counter-curse ingredients?"
"Everything except a weasel tooth," He explains to them.
"...Shorty?" Rapunzel turns to the open window. "We're gonna need to borrow Edna and Edith again."
"It's crazy, dangerous...but we have an idea," Harmony smirks a little.
He holds up the teeth.
The tower begins to move, Harmony tossing a stick into a fire. She's made a makeshift catapult for the cauldron. "Gang, hold on tight!" Rapunzel warns everyone. "It's time for takeoff!" The two place in their teeth, the cauldron starting to bubble again. "Get ready!"
It shoots up into the air, causing everyone to look around in alarm. The two pull the lever. "Now!"
The lever moves the cauldron so that it's facing away from the caravans. It tilts up, the two sisters smiling. Suddenly, they take off like a rocket, soaring across. The horses neigh in fear as Pascal and Daisy hide. But they safely land on the other side, spinning around to a stop with both caravans intact.
Cass pants heavily, her hair slightly messed up. She sighs in relief, sliding down a bit.
"I can't believe that worked..." Varian murmurs, holding his hair slightly.
"Yes!" The two sisters cheer, an arm around each other as they pump fists.
"Blondie, Brownie, that idea was genius!" Eugene congratulates them.
"You two saved us!"
"Yeah. Come on. No big deal," Rapunzel waves it off.
"All in a day's work. Science!" Harmony points to her head, a hand on her hip. "And we did it without that curse hanging over our heads."
"Yeah, it's not like we were cursed in the first place," Rapunzel smiles in amusement. Varian runs up to Harmony, grabbing her waist and spinning her around.
"You did it, Mona!"
She laughs as he puts her down. "And, uh...sorry for lying to you..."
"It's okay," She smiles softly at her boyfriend. "You helped me realize that I don't need to be cursed to be myself." She lightly touches the necklace around her neck. "Truth be told...I didn't wanna give this up anyway deep down."
He smiles back, glad that she didn't end up giving it away.
"Max, Fidella, and Silver are gonna need those," Rapunzel walks up to Eugene as he's taking off a horseshoe. "We've still got a long journey ahead of us. Thank you for encouraging me. I guess, I was just looking at things through the wrong end of the telescope," She holds up her telescope. Pun intended. From now on, no hexes, no trinkets, no 'select truths.' Together, we make our own luck!"
The two share a brief kiss and she walks off to go check on Harmony and Varian. "Well, it's like I said all along, there's no such thing as curses," He spins around the horseshoe, which suddenly falls off and hits his head. "Ow!" He then tumbles down a small hill, screaming. "This is perfectly normal!"
He groans when he lands flat on his back. He opens his eyes to see Vigor staring down at him. "Aah! Vigor? How in the monkey's uncle did you get over-"
The monkey growls at him, glaring. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?!"
"Vigor!" Madame Canardist calls out. His eyes turn back to normal. "We go now." He chitters and runs off, Eugene looking after him in annoyance.
"What is that monkey's problem? Why don't you go climb—Ow!" He bumps right into a tree. "Who put this here?!" He looks down at the horseshoe he dropped.
"Eugene, are you coming?" Rapunzel yells from the top.
"Be right there, Sunshine." He looks around and places the horseshoe inside his vest. "Eh, never can be too careful."