The Miracle
A/N: For those of you who have read "Favorite Things," by 9r7g5h you might recognize my plot bunny. I give full credit for the idea to her and recommend her stories!
A/N#2: This story "kind of" follows my other stories, so you might recognize a few of my OCs here that are still awaiting their full development there… I am also providing this spoiler alert. That said; I hope not to spoil things too much.
A/N#3: This is my own tear transference story. I hope you enjoy it; it has expanded quite a lot from my original idea. But, then again, as my Muse and friend (you know who you are) would state; most stories do sometimes grow legs, as this one currently has. Do not worry, though, the next few chapters (three to five, I think) will bring us to the end. And, oh yes, I do not own Tangled or its primary characters, though I do own mine and the idea…
Chapter Twenty-One: The Savior of Corona, His Amazing Tale; Part 5
The Present…
The group, having watched the melding of Stephanie and Marcus junior, waited with baited breath as the second, younger, couple attempted their first link with the other…
Crown Princess Chelsea, the only child of the wise King Christopher and compassionate Queen Elisabeth of Estrella, and ever the shy and quiet type, quickly found her comfort zone as she cleared her mind first and began to reach out with her feelings towards the shy Robert. She quite easily saw his azul aura as it swirled around him and the small tendrils of azul energy as they tentatively reached out towards her. She similarly reached out with equally small tendrils of azul tinged emerald energy, similar to those of the Coronian Queen Catherine who had also drank from the same well within Estrella prior to her move to Corona in the summer of her 17th year, and sought to intertwine hers with those emanating from Robert.
Robert, also the quiet type soon found his comfort zone as well and further cleared his mind of distracting thoughts, saw the tendrils as Chelsea gestured to them with her mind, and began to similarly reach out towards Chelsea. He could easily see her azul tinged emerald aura, a mixture of the normal Estrellan emerald green and a smattering of azul from the drop of sunlight, as it swirled around her and the small tendrils of energy as they too reached towards him in response to his actions.
The tendrils slowly began a dance as they intertwined with the other as the young pair continued gesturing to them with their minds. Despite the newly derived clairvoyance of the young pair, they were so extremely shocked when the two auras finally merged that they suddenly pulled the other into a bone crushing hug that left them breathless and standing cheek to cheek as they relied on the other to remain upright. The explosion of azul and aquamarine energy launched a sphere of positively charged, yet happy, azul tinged aquamarine energy both outward towards those in the small group and upward and skyward where it merged explosively with the sphere of energy currently orbiting above Corona. The brightening and enlarging of the now 50,000 foot diameter ball of aquamarine energy soon shone with a power to rival that of the sun as it began to orbit Sonnen 3 in such a way that it remained directly above the Kingdom of Corona-by-the-sea and served as a beacon for all of Io to home in on.
"Wow!" Mistress Cassiopeia loudly whispered as she first felt the blast of benign energy pass through her and then looked skyward and watched the sphere of energy suddenly brighten by tens of hundreds of orders of magnitude as the smaller sphere absorbed into it.
"I take it you did not expect such a reaction?" King William quietly asked as he somehow maintained his cool in light of all that had happened in the past several tens of minutes.
"No, my good king, I did not. Of course, I should have given the reaction of Eugene and Rapunzel. There seems to be a deeper connection between Estrella and Avandell than Marcus or I previously thought."
"A deeper connection…?"
"Yes. But let's wait until after we hear of Eugene's epic struggle against the Olvassian Empire."
"Agreed, Mistress."
"Chelsea?" Robert hesitantly and stutteringly asked, through their new link, as soon as he found his voice again.
"Yes, Bobby?" Chelsea also finally stuttered out, through their new link as well, as she too found her voice.
"I have never felt anything like that before!"
"Nor have I. I had no idea of the joy such a connection could bring me! I was so happy that Rapunzel, after her captivity, could find such a wonderful man, her preordained soul mate, to share her life with. I just never thought that it could happen to me."
"I now see why my father asked me to come along with him. He knew that I would meet my soul mate; one who fits the empty spot within me so perfectly; the empty spot I did not even know existed. Little did I know that she would be as such a wonderful and beautiful young woman as you!"
"Oh, Bobby, that is so incredibly sweet of you! I also did not know of this emptiness within me. Nor did I realize that this empty spot within me was tailored made for such a handsome young man to fill."
"So, Chelsea, since you can sense my thoughts almost as quickly as I can think them myself can you sense what I am thinking now?"
"Let's see. You are thinking that you wish me to be your girlfriend?!"
Robert, who to the amusement of those watching him, was lightly blushing, replied; "Yes, Chelsea. I feel that I have known you far longer than just our meeting today to the extent that I know you as I have known no other and I would be most honored to count myself as your boyfriend."
"Oh, Bobby; this has become the most amazing of days! I would be so proud and feel so lucky to count myself as your girlfriend!" Chelsea replied as her cheeks soon colored themselves in several shades of red, again to the amusement of those present.
"Mmmmm…!" The young pair sighed as they too shared a passionate first kiss; oblivious were they to the vast audience watching them. Poor Pascal had barely turned back to his normal green coloring after the kisses shared by both Rapunzel and Eugene and Stephanie and Marcus junior when he was embarrassed a third time by an even more passionate kiss shared by Chelsea and Robert.
"It would seem that our three Ioian crown princesses each have prince consorts to be. Yes?" Catherine asked the group at large, smiling at the blushing couple of Rapunzel and Eugene.
"I would say so, Kat." William quite happily replied.
Lord Marcus and Mistress Cassiopeia allowed the two new couples about twenty minutes to further bond as the four eagerly expanded their newly formed connections with the others. The four were brought back to the present when both Cassiopeia and Marcus lightly touched their arms.
"I feel bad that I had to end our two young couple's initial meldings. Now that I have discussed the preordained connection with and the roles of Marcus and Stephanie, Robert and Chelsea, it is now time for me to continue the tale. As I stated previously, I provided much needed intelligence to Flynn about his target…"
Five Years Previous…
"So, as I stated, the journey to the castle itself will be quite easy. As will the entry into the castle itself. Once you enter through the service door, you will be in a rectangular room with doors, apparently on three sides only, including the service door you will enter through."
"Three sides only?"
"Yes, the fourth apparently empty wall, to your right, actually contains an enchanted doorway that allows entry directly to a spiral staircase…"
"…that leads to the target?" Flynn finished as he observed the other patrons of the Witch's Cauldron; ever careful to ensure that he did not give anything away to potential eavesdroppers.
Marcus, looking around the tavern, decided not to be too revealing concerning the object of their conversation. He therefore used nondescript words to describe the goose and the golden eggs…
"Yes. This spiral staircase will lead directly to the room with the item. If the timing is right, you should also see the objects as they funnel down a similar spiral channel towards the collector. Just four days ago I made a dry run on the target area…"
The Present….
"You saw the goose…!" Lady Annabella exclaimed as she made the connection. It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes, Annie. I did indeed see it, which is how I knew of its dire condition and the urgency of the need of its rescue from the clutches of the evil emperor and his minions. The only thing that stopped me from handling this task myself was that I do not possess the power of either your mother, my sister Cassiopeia, or Eugene."
"But… Cassiopeia told Andy and myself that she is rendered to insignificance by the connection Eugene has with the Wirkungen. Eugene has that much power?"
"Yes. At this earlier time, though, it was not as fully developed as it has become in the past days, yet was still several orders of magnitude stronger than mine. His connection with the Wirkungen, and its resultant powers, will continue to develop over the next several years. It was at the time, however, very adequate to the task at hand."
Everyone looked at a severely blushing Eugene as he attempted to downplay his new found fame. He was not too successful.
"Eugene, I am finding more and more reasons to simply adore, cherish and absolutely love you!" An obviously proud Rapunzel categorically stated.
"Umm…." Eugene stuttered; much to the amusement of those present. Becky giggled as she stroked the back of Pascal as he hissed out what could be called a giggle.
"So, what happened next?" Lady Annabella asked, much to the relief of the embarrassed Eugene who weakly smiled at her as she returned the smile with one of her own.
"I went on to describe a few other key points about his mission…" Lord Marcus continued.
Five Years Previous…
"This ring will help you defeat the enchantment." Lord Marcus stated as he handed a non-descript ring to Flynn and watched him place it on his left pinkie finger.
"So, how does it work?" Flynn went on to ask after he placed the ring on his finger.
"It will interact with the mortar in the wall. You will only need to count down fifteen rows of bricks from the ceiling and tap twice at the mid-point of the room. This will serve to unlock an unusually shaped doorway that the original builders installed."
"An unusually shaped doorway? …original builders installed?" Flynn asked.
"Yes. The door, once open will reveal a hidden stairway that leads directly to the target room. You see, a few of the builders, able to see into the future, added a few features to the castle as it was built."
"Very interesting…" Flynn thought out loud.
"Perhaps the best part, is that while this doorway is open and plainly visible to you, it will appear as a normal wall to anyone who should happen by."
"I guess I have all that I need to prevail…" Flynn lightly remarked as he took in this last bit of vital information.
"Yes, indeed."
"So. I guess I will meet you in three days' time at the Dark Forest." Flynn stated as he bid Lord Marcus farewell.
"Good luck, Flynn. You may use my horse after you complete the mission."
"Thank you."
Flynn quickly left the Witch's Cauldron, his nonchalant weapon held at his side as one would carry a cane. He walked down the dirty street, ignoring the listless citizenry, ducking down convenient alleyways as he easily avoided those Olvassian Empire guards that happened to be purposefully marching down the street, weapons in front, ready to harass the poor citizenry. As the sounds of the marching soldiers faded he casually strolled back onto the main street, continuing towards the border. He easily made his way towards the border of the Empire and, while still about 200 yards out, stealthily moved over 200 yards laterally into a densely forested area where he made camp while he awaited the new moon.
The two days passed quite quickly and he quickly broke camp and hid all his gear for use upon his return. He then changed into his uniform and darkened the shinier parts of his face and neck with mud to help blend in with his surroundings. He checked that his specially designed jumpsuit with hood and hand and foot covers was properly donned. This garment, made of varying shades of dark green, dark brown, a smattering of lighter greens and various shades of grey was specially designed to blend into the surroundings as it also had living foliage attached to it.
The Present…
"Living foliage attached to it?!" Rapunzel asked, shocked. Her look of awe, this time, was shared by everyone, even Andrew and Annabella who had made it their work in life to help those in need.
"Yes; it contained actual living plants carefully chosen for their resemblance to the surrounding vegetation. The fabric contained a magic that allowed living plants not only to thrive but to vary their shades to match the background. That includes both plant and inanimate objects such as walls and whatnot. I would rely on this magic, so to speak, to allow me to effortless blend in with my surrounding as easily as…"
"…Pascal does with his!" Rapunzel happily cried out as her little friend happily and excitedly jumped from shoulder to shoulder, pausing only long enough to match the varied backgrounds of each person's garb.
"Exactly right, Punzie; minus the slimy tongue in the ear, of course!"
"EUGENE!" Rapunzel exclaimed, laughing so hard she was crying; as was everyone else.
"So as I was saying…" Eugene stated as everyone calmed back down and looked on upon the future Prince Consort with baited breath. Amanda and Rupert, she on his lap, were inperceptibly leaning forward as they eagerly awaited the next words. Andrew, with Annabella sitting beside him with her head against his shoulder looked on with unmistakable gleams in their eyes; as did their parents.
Five Years Previous…
FLynn purposefully and silently made his way to the border via a very circuitous route; doubling back a few times to dissuade any trackers as well as verifying the security of his routing. As he moved from cover to cover he carefully analyzed the area with his keenly trained eye and was happily surprised to see that indeed there were no guards around this portion of the Empire.
He soon found himself at the poorly defined and almost unmarked border; in this case a slow moving river not yet swollen by the delayed summer showers.
The sun was about 10 degrees above the horizon as Flynn reached the base of the massive peak. It was about 7:30 pm as he, making one last check of his appearance and equipment, hid the remainder of his gear and began the long trek up the disused but serviceable road that led up the five hundred foot peak that the castle was located on.
The next eight hours were to change the history of Io in ways no one else could ever have predicted…
A/N #4: Please review…