Chapter 22

Drying Off

When the wall of water hit the party, Sora, Donald and Goofy were surrounded by a white light and glowing bubbles. When the light faded, the three of them had transformed. Their clothes had vanished, and parts of their bodies had been morphed. In place of legs, Sora had the back half of a dolphin, sleek blue-gray skin leading into a tail, with a dorsal fin on his lower back, and he also had gills on his neck. Donald's flippers had morphed into six blue octopus tentacles with a yellow underbelly. Most of Goofy's entire body had become that of a sea turtle with a green shell, an orange underbelly, and black limbs.

The three of them gained their bearings and realized that the spell that Donald had cast so they could safely enter the underwater world of Atlantica had kicked in automatically. They also realized that only they had been affected by this spell, and Riku, Kairi and Mickey were left helpless.

They cast their eyes about and saw their friends, the guards, and the Stabbington Brothers being carried about by the rapid current. Maximus was nowhere to be seen, but a quick glance upward showed that he somehow made it to the surface. Seeing he was fine, they ignored him.

"Donald, you have something that can keep the fluid out of their systems?" Sora asked with a sense of urgency as they swam toward Riku and Kairi.

"Yeah!" the cecaelia-duck confirmed. When they got close to Riku and Kairi, he pointed his staff at them. "Oxyale!" With that incantation, bubbles shot out of his staff and went into the unconscious teenagers' mouths and nostrils. The bubbles expanded out of those orifices until they fused together and formed a large bubble surrounding their heads.

"Neat," Sora said, before grabbing each of them by the hand. He carried them as he maneuvered through the current, avoiding rocks and pieces of wood caught in the current. Meanwhile, Donald swam around to each guard and cast Oxyale on each of the guards. A bubble formed around their heads, and the water that was forced into their airways was expelled.

Goofy searched frantically, looking for the King. He saw the Stabbington Brothers being carried along, and above them he saw the mouse king. "Down there!" he alerted the others, divebombing toward his friend as fast as he possibly could. Sora and Donald followed. Goofy swept under Mickey and caught him onto his shell. As quickly as he could, Donald cast Oxyale, encasing his king's head in a bubble. He watched intently, hoping to see some sign of vitals. He relaxed when he saw Mickey take a soft breath.

"He'll be fine," Donald told Sora and Goofy. He offhandedly cast Oxyale on the Stabbington Brothers, then dismissed his staff as he had expended his mana creating the bubbles.

"What about Rapunzel and Flynn?" Goofy asked as the current carried them out of the crevasse and through a ravine.

"I lost sight of them when they got to the cave. They're on their own for now. We need to worry about getting out of this flood!" Sora explained. He swung Riku and Kairi out of the way of a boulder.

Donald spun himself around an overhanging rock and launched himself above the surface of the water. He momentarily transformed back into his normal self, clothes and all, and took a look off into the distance. His eyes widened when he saw the edge of the ravine, dropping off into a river. But the river seemed pretty far down from the ledge…

He dropped back into the water and returned to his aquatic form. "We're gonna go off a cliff!" he warned his friends. This earned panicked expressions from Sora and Goofy.

Sora beamed when he had an idea. "Donald! Take Riku and Kairi. I'll latch onto the wall off to the side with my Keyblade right where we go off, then you and Goofy will launch yourselves out of the water before you fall in. I'll reel you in."

Donald was taken aback, and Goofy was just confused. But when they met Sora's steely gaze, they trusted his judgment. Donald grabbed hold of Riku and Kairi's arms. Sora let go of his closest friends, leaving them in Donald's hands, and summoned his Keyblade. "A hundred feet ahead," Donald informed him. After a few seconds, he shouted: "Ready, now!"

Sora cast Fire downward, creating a jet of steam that propelled him into the air, throwing him to the left of the water flow. He stabbed his Keyblade into the rock wall right at the ledge, then, since he was now a human again, set his feet on footholds on the wall. Donald and Goofy threw themselves out of the water just as it fell over the cliff. They soared through the air, terrified. Goofy held Mickey tight in his arms while Donald held Riku and Kairi's wrists for dear life. Sora grabbed onto the cliff wall with his free hand, yanked his Keyblade out, and pointed it at his friends. "Magnega!" A vortex of white light materialized in front of the tip of his weapon. Light particles swirled in a sphere around the ovoid vortex. The airborne party members were pulled out of their trajectory and found themselves spinning around the vortex's orbit.

As the vortex started to fade, Sora grabbed Riku and Kairi and wrapped their arms around his neck, using a Blizzard spell to freeze their fingers together so they would not fall off. Goofy grabbed onto the wall and Donald grabbed onto Goofy's back, holding Mickey by the arm. The Oxyale bubbles had dissipated after everyone left the water.

"Everyone all right?" Sora asked. Donald and Goofy nodded. Riku, Kairi and Mickey started to come to.

"Ugh… My head," Riku groaned. "Um, where are we? What happened? And why can't I move my fingers?"

"Long story short, we got caught in a flood and separated from Rapunzel and Flynn, but now we're holding onto a cliff for dear life," Sora summarized. "Now you all hold on while we climb down to safe ground.

Rapunzel and Flynn found themselves stuck in a pitch-dark cave with, in spite of the boulder sealing off the way they came in, water filling up rapidly behind them. They turned to run, but quickly found a pile of the rocks sealing the way completely. Flynn dove under to find a way out while Rapunzel and Pascal searched the wall for a loose point to clear the way, but to no avail. Rapunzel started hitting a rock with her frying pan. Flynn forced himself against the rocks to try to dislodge them, but he ended up cutting his hand. He dove under again, but came back up with a distressed look on his face.

"It's no use. I can't see anything," he said resignedly. Rapunzel started to dive under but Flynn pulled her back up. "Hey, there's no point. It's pitch black down there."

Rapunzel leaned back against the wall as the gravity of the situation sunk in. "This is all my fault," she whispered in despair. "She was right. I never should have done this. I'm so… I'm so sorry, Flynn." She broke down into tears.

"Eugene."

"What?"

"My real name is Eugene Fitzherbert," the thief confessed. "Someone might as well know."

Rapunzel giggled as the despairing moment turned sweet, even as the water was now at their necks. "I have magic hair that glows when I sing," she said.

This flat-out confused Flynn. "What?" he asked.

At the same time, Rapunzel realized something. "I have magic hair that glows when I sing! Flower-gleam-and-glow-let-your-power-shine—" They took a deep breath and went underwater as the water level rose above their heads.

At first, there was no light down there, but then a golden glow began to emanate from Rapunzel's seventy-foot-long hair, lighting up the entire cave. Pascal was treading right next to Rapunzel's head. Flynn gasped in surprise at the sight of the glowing hair, forgetting he was underwater, and covered his mouth quickly. They followed the golden path of the hair until they saw a pack of rocks near the bottom of the cavern, loosely stuck together and appearing to cover up a way out. Without a moment to lose, seeing that this was their only shot at freedom, they swam down and started tossing the rocks out of the way.

The light of the magic hair faded, leaving them in darkness, but they knew what they were doing and kept working. Within moments, they pushed out the last wall of stones, and the force of the water pushed them out and into a pond.

Rapunzel and Flynn climbed up onto the shore, Pascal sitting on Rapunzel's frying pan, and they laid there, catching their breath.

"We made it!" Rapunzel said triumphantly.

"Your hair glows," Flynn said in shock.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy ran up to them. They were all soaking wet just like Rapunzel, Flynn and Pascal. For some reason, Rapunzel noticed, Riku and Kairi had their own fingers stuck together.

"Hey! Glad you made it out!" Sora greeted, relieved.

"Gosh, are you all right?" Mickey asked, concerned.

"We're alive!" Rapunzel exclaimed, still celebrating their victory over the forces of nature.

"Never seen that coming. Her hair actually glows. Why does her hair glow?" Flynn asked the chameleon, gripping his cut hand protectively.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel called to him. "It doesn't just glow."

Sora, Riku and Kairi looked at Rapunzel in confusion. "Eugene?" Riku repeated.

Further into the forest, Gothel came across a hollowed-out tree. On the ground inside the tree, there was a circular trapdoor with a yellow duckling painted on it. With her hood raised, she drew out her dagger, waiting for her quarry to come through. But when the trapdoor was pushed open, it was not Rapunzel and Flynn Rider who came out, but the Stabbington Brothers. On seeing this, Gothel slipped behind a rock, watching the duo's movements.

The brothers stopped to catch their breath, still recovering from the incident at the canyon. "I'll kill him! I'll kill that Rider!" the brother with the sideburns cursed. "We'll kill him and get back the crown. Come on."

"Boys!" Gothel called. The two scoundrels turned to get a look at the woman. "Perhaps you want to stop acting like wild dogs chasing their tails and think for a moment." She held up the satchel containing the crown.

The brothers drew their swords, intending to just take it from her. She chuckled in response. "Oh, please. There's no need for that." She tossed the bag to the brothers, and they immediately began fighting over it until the one with the sideburns withdrew the crown. "Well, if that's all you desire, then be on your way. I was going to offer you something worth one thousand crowns. Would have made you rich beyond belief and that wasn't even the best part!" She laughed at this point. "Oh, well. C'est la vie. Enjoy your crown." She turned to leave.

Their interests piqued, they looked at the crown uncertainly, then back at Gothel. "What's the best part?" Sideburns asked.

With a wicked smile on her face, Gothel brought up the Wanted poster. "It comes with revenge on Flynn Rider."

The brothers smiled evilly at each other. A Shadow Heartless rose up out of the ground, watching the group plot, drawn together by their own darkness.

"Well, that is intense," Flynn commented while Riku added wood to the fire. After reuniting, they had found a Safe Point and decided to use it as a spot to camp and recover, electing to dry off and rest before completing the trek to the kingdom. Mickey sent a message up to the Gummi Ship, and a camping set materialized in front of him. Riku and Kairi's fingers had thawed and they were able to separate them and move them freely. Riku and Mickey gathered firewood, which Sora lit, while Kairi and Goofy cooked dinner with the food that Donald and Goofy had smuggled out of the Snuggly Duckling. The group sat around the campfire, seated on a circle of rocks, and they traded stories of what happened during the flood.

"Wait, if everyone else was unconscious and you used the oxygen spell to save them from drowning, how did you survive?" Rapunzel asked. Riku, Kairi and Mickey turned to Sora, Donald and Goofy, as they were also curious about what happened.

"Well, Donald had cast this spell on me, Goofy and himself a while back so that we could survive underwater when we visited an undersea kingdom," Sora explained.

Kairi stared in shock. "Sora! Orlds-way ecrecy-say!" she reminded him, concerned that he was violating the world order which she had been told was supposed to be maintained.

"Kairi, the first thing you need to know about the secret order kept between the worlds is that nobody cares," Sora retorted.

"He's right," Mickey added.

"Besides, it's not like they're going to actually find their way to other worlds, let alone Atlantica," Sora continued. "Anyway, this spell gave me the lower body of a dolphin, Donald the tentacles of an octopus, and Goofy the body of a sea turtle. And I guess it just kicks in whenever we get submerged in deep or turbulent water. So, it's a good thing that happened."

"And you two got out of that flooding cave because of Rapunzel's magic glowing hair?" Riku asked for clarification.

"It didn't glow when you were singing in the pub earlier," Kairi noted.

"Well, it requires a specific song," Rapunzel told them. "And it doesn't just glow. Flynn, give me your hand." With a raised eyebrow, Flynn held out the hand that he had cut while in the cave. Rapunzel grabbed a lock of her hair and wrapped it around Flynn's palm several times. She pulled it too tight, causing Flynn to wince in pain.

"Sorry," Rapunzel said. "Just, don't… don't freak out." She then closed her eyes and started to sing a soft melody. As she did so, her hair began to glow. "Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine." Flynn, as well as the onlookers, followed the path of the hair as the golden light slowly covered the entire length. Flynn finally looked at his hand as the hair wrapped around it began to glow, and he felt a warm tingle in the skin of his injured hand. "Heal what has been hurt. Change the fate's design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine…" When she stopped singing, the glow faded.

The others stepped in behind Flynn to get a closer look. Flynn uncovered his hand and adopted a shocked and surprised expression. The others, having seen the effects of such magic at work already, merely looked intrigued and amused. Flynn's hand was completely healed, the open wound closed and any signs of infection gone. Flynn stared at his hand in utter disbelief and started to scream.

"Please don't freak out!" Rapunzel quickly said, interrupting the freak-out.

Flynn stifled a small version of the scream and tried to segue it into a comment. "I'm not freaking out. Are you freaking out? I'm just very interested in your hair and the magical qualities that it possesses. How long has it been doing that, exactly?" He put on a nervous grin.

Rapunzel relaxed and let out a small chuckle. "Forever, I guess. Mother said, when I was a baby, people tried to cut it. They wanted to take it for themselves. But, once it's cut, it turns brown and loses its power," she explained, pulling back her hair to reveal a lock of short brown hair that reached below her right ear. "A gift like that, it has to be protected. That's why Mother never let me… That's why I never left, and…" She looked away shamefully.

"You never left that tower," Flynn finished. Rapunzel looked back at him, the sad look in her eyes saying it all. "And you're still gonna go back?"

"No. Yes…" She dropped her head into her hands. "It's complicated." Pascal leaned against her foot reassuringly.

The others considered what she had said. On top of what he had already been told while in the tower, Sora put together his own thoughts on Rapunzel's Mother. She had kept Rapunzel in a secluded tower for eighteen years, which she was never permitted to leave, and often left her on her own for extended periods of time with barely enough to stave off boredom and keep from going insane. On top of that, she had instilled in her mind the idea that all people were inherently cruel and selfish and continually insisted that she was incapable of handling herself, probably tearing down her self-esteem in other ways as well. And she claimed that this was because evil people would exploit her healing powers, and the Mother kept her to herself to protect her and that "gift". Sora shared a glance with Riku, Kairi and Mickey, and they all seemed to have similar suspicions. But before he could come to any definite conclusions, he wondered one other thing: If the power was to be "protected" for good use, then how had the Mother been using it? Clearly, it had been in use, as Rapunzel knew the song well enough to recite it herself

Rapunzel peeked past her fingers and realized that Flynn was still staring at her in sympathy. She decided to change the subject. "So, Eugene Fitzherbert, huh?" she asked, giving him a playful look.

"Ah, yeah. I'll save you the sob story of poor orphan Eugene Fitzherbert. It's a little bit of a downer," he tried to brush the issue off.

However, Rapunzel inched closer to him, and Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy moved around until they were standing in front of both of them. This forced Flynn to relent.

"There was this book. A book I used to read every night to all the younger kids. 'The Tales of Flynn Rider', swashbuckling rogue, richest man alive, not bad with the ladies either. Not that he'd ever brag about it, of course," he explained.

"Was he a thief too?" Rapunzel asked.

"Uh… Well, no. Actually, he had enough money to do anything that he wanted to do. He could go anywhere that he wanted to go. Not too much unlike you guys," he said, comparing the literary classical hero to the six adventurers in front of him. He faltered as he slipped back into his own childhood insecurities. "And, for a kid with nothing… I don't know, it just seemed like the better option." He looked to his listeners and held out his hand entreatingly. "You can't tell anyone about this, okay? It could ruin my whole reputation."

"Ah. We wouldn't want that, right?" Kairi teased.

"What book?" Riku added with a wink.

Flynn shrugged. "Well, a fake reputation is all a man has," he said. This caused all eight of them to laugh.

Rapunzel and Flynn's eyes met for an extended period. Sora and Kairi looked at each other knowingly, and Donald and Goofy snickered.

Flynn realized what he was doing and broke the eye contact. "Ahem. Well, I should get some more firewood." He stood up, stepped over the strewn-about hair, and headed into the line of trees.

"Hey," Rapunzel said, causing Flynn to turn back around. "For the record, I like 'Eugene Fitzherbert' much better than 'Flynn Rider'."

This definitely resonated with Flynn. "Well, then you'd be the first," he said solemnly. "But thank you." Sora, Kairi and Goofy nodded in agreement with Rapunzel's statement. A soft smile appeared on Flynn's face as he turned back to go get firewood.

"We should start keeping watch and getting ready to get moving in the morning," Mickey said. The others agreed and split up in groups of two, leaving Rapunzel to watch the fire.

When she was alone, Rapunzel heard someone she was not expecting. "Well, I thought he'd never leave!" Mother Gothel said, revealing her presence.

Rapunzel turned around in shock. "Mother?"

Gothel lowered her hood, revealing that strands of her hair were turning gray. She had a few new wrinkles on her face. She was also wearing an obsidian bangle on her right wrist. "Hello, dear."

"But I-I-I-I don't… How did you find me?" she stammered as Gothel walked up and hugged her.

"Oh, it was easy, really. I just listened for the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that," Gothel replied, clearly guilting her.

"Mother—"

"We're going home, Rapunzel," she said sternly, grabbing her by the arm and starting to drag her away. "Now."

"You don't understand!" the girl protested. "I've been on this incredible journey, and I've seen and learned so much. I even met someone."

"Yes, the wanted thief. I'm so proud," Gothel retorted sarcastically. "Oh, and a union of Keyblade wielders, too. How nice."

This caught Rapunzel by surprise. "How do you know about that?" she asked, mystified.

"Oh, please. Rapunzel, my dear, I've been on this earth for a long time, and I've seen more than you will ever hope to understand. I had certainly hoped that those weapons were gone from this land for good."

"What do you mean?"

"The Keyblade only brings destruction and despair, and its wielders claim to protect the light, but they only care to take whatever power they can for themselves and let the world burn. The fact that you failed to see that shows that I was right, and you are a hopeless fool for thinking you could do this on your own."

"But—"

"Uh-uh-uh. No 'buts'. These 'friends' of yours don't care for you at all. You're best off at home. In the tower. Come on, Rapunzel."

"Mother, please. I think… Eugene… I think he likes me."

Gothel scoffed. "Likes you? Please, Rapunzel, that's demented."

"But Mother, I—"

"This is why you never should have left! Dear, this whole romance that you've invented just proves you're too naïve to be here. Why would he like you? Come on, now, really? Look at you! You think that he's impressed? Don't be a dummy. Come with Mummy. Mother…"

"No!" Rapunzel said defiantly, standing firm.

"No? Oh… I see how it is." Gothel sneered, intimidating Rapunzel. "Rapunzel knows best. Rapunzel's so mature now. Such a clever, grown-up miss. Rapunzel knows best. Fine, if you're so sure, now, go ahead, then give him this!" She pulled out the satchel and showed it to Rapunzel.

"How did you—?" Rapunzel began to ask, shocked that her Mother had found it, and also surprised that she knew what it was.

Gothel took the crown out and held it up for the girl to see. "This is why he's here! Don't let him deceive you! Give it to him. Watch, you'll see!" Gothel tossed it to her, and she caught it.

"I will!" Rapunzel shot back.

A dark aura rose from Gothel's person, though it burned into a black flame around her right hand. "Trust me, my dear. That's how fast he'll leave you. I won't say I told you so! No, Rapunzel knows best! So, if he's such a dreamboat, go and put him to the test!"

"Mother, wait!"

"If he's lying, don't come crying! Mother knows best!" She turned away, swinging the cape of her cloak dramatically, and vanished.

Rapunzel stared at the crown uncertainly for a moment. Was her Mother telling the truth? Was Eugene just using her? Were her new friends truly as wicked as she claimed? No. She refused to believe that.

"Hello? Hey, can I ask you something?" she heard Flynn calling from a distance. Rapunzel quickly put the crown back in the satchel and hid it behind a tree, then returned to the fire.

"Is there any chance that I'm gonna get super strength in my hand? Because I'm not gonna lie. That would be stupendous," Flynn said as he approached the fire while carrying an armful of branches. When he noticed Rapunzel looking away silently, he looked at her with concern. "Hey, you all right?"

"Oh. Sorry, yes," Rapunzel lied, turning to face Flynn. "Just lost in thought, I guess."

Flynn seemed to buy that. He set the branches down and struck up conversation with the girl.

Sora and Riku watched Rapunzel return to the fireside. They had seen parts of the confrontation between her and an older woman, who they guessed was her Mother, but they did not get to hear the exchange. Riku thought he saw a dark aura around the woman, but it was already so dark out that he could not be certain. However, they had seen enough to support their suspicions about the woman.

"We can't let Rapunzel go back to the tower and stay alone with that witch," Sora declared.

"I want to hurt her for the way she treats her," Riku affirmed.

But at the moment, they could do nothing about the abusive old woman, so they went back to patrolling the perimeter.

Not too far off, though far enough to not be spotted by either the duo at the campfire or the patrol group, Mother Gothel and the Stabbington Brothers watched Rapunzel and Flynn intently from behind some trees. The brothers prepared to move in, take Flynn out and grab the satchel while no one was watching, but Gothel held her hand up.

"Patience, boys. All good things to those who wait," she calmly told them.

A/N: Just so you all know, starting next chapter, I will be referring to Flynn Rider by his real name, Eugene in the narration.