Chapter 12

In the morning, Cassandra is the first to wake.

Bright rays of sunlight illuminate the tavern bedroom. Birds sing distantly outside. Faint voices and shuffling are heard through the walls, with the rest of the tavern's patrons also beginning their mornings. The quiet is an unusual shift after the noise and celebrations of last night's party.

Cassandra lets Rapunzel sleep in, figuring she might need it. Not wanting to leave her alone in here, she busies herself in the meantime after rising out of bed herself.

She's standing in front of the dresser, strapping her bow and quiver around her torso in preparation for the journey ahead. They'll continue on the road as soon as possible.

To her surprise, Flynn hasn't yet knocked on their door, or barged in – since that seems to be more his style. Realizing that he's probably still asleep next door makes Cass even more grateful for the temporary silence.

She hears Rapunzel making noises in bed behind her - shifting between the sheets, and sighing deeply.

Cass briefly peers over her shoulder, discovering the princess to be slowly waking.

The events of last night are a murky puddle in Cassandra's head. Their last conversation keeps her from saying what she otherwise would. She looks forward again and continues what she is doing, ignoring Rapunzel instead.

"Is this what having a hangover feels like?" Rapunzel eventually mumbles, to what sounds like nobody in particular. Her voice is hoarse from having just woken up. She's staring up at the ceiling, rubbing her palms down her face. "My eyes are actually stinging. I feel like I hardly slept at all."

Cassandra would be lying to say she didn't also drink more than she should have last night. Only she'd learned how to handle it years ago. She doesn't feel anything right now.

Her annoyance with the subject causes her to comment bitterly, "Must be from dancing all night with prince charming." Cass doesn't really think before saying it. All she does is continue to strap her knife to her hip holster with more aggression than she means to, not even caring anymore whether it's fair for her to say that or not.

Instantly, Rapunzel's mood drops.

She looks over at Cass' backside, who is still avoiding her gaze. She slowly sits up in bed. Her voice remains soft, but there's an underlying bite to it. "I wanted to dance with you actually. But you were off doing… I don't even know what." Rapunzel mumbles the last part, shaking her head, as if already giving up on the argument.

That causes Cass to regret herself. She hadn't thought about that at the time – that Rapunzel may have actually been looking for her last night. She didn't think the princess even noticed that she was gone, or that she would even care. She'd seemed too preoccupied, which is why Cass left in the first place.

She thinks again of their last conversation, and how offended Rapunzel had sounded when Cass had pushed her away as they'd kissed.

But Cassandra hadn't meant to react like that. It was instinct. A brief panic. Then Flynn had appeared before she even had the chance to explain herself.

"I wasn't upset with you." Finally, Cass stops what she's doing, and turns around to face Rapunzel. "I mean, I was but…" She sighs softly. "When you kissed me… I felt something. This… pain." She wants to say it was like nothing she'd ever felt before, until at some point she'd realized that she has. She doesn't want to admit it, after everything else. Doesn't want to acknowledge that whatever it was had found her once before and is likely to find her again. "I felt it in the cave too."

"What?" Rapunzel gapes.

"I almost didn't notice it at the time," Cassandra explains. "I thought maybe the air was just thin, then the cave collapsed and… we just had bigger things to worry about. But at this point, I'm betting whatever happened last night is connected to it. To everything."

She remembers it vividly now. Rapunzel had read the incantation. The trees around them had shriveled. The cave had turned dark. Cracks split in the rocks. A blackness suddenly washed over everything like a tidal wave, including Cassandra's own insides.

She'd felt like she was choking, on what had only logically seemed like dust at the time. Now she realizes it had been something else entirely.

Rapunzel remains sitting upright on the bed, the sheets tangled around her legs. All she does as she hears this is stare forward, as if detaching herself from reality. "You mean… I hurt you?"

Cass hadn't expected that to be her first question. But from the horrified expression on the princess' face alone, she knows why Rapunzel asks it.

She looks absolutely terrified. Ashamed of herself, and what she had unintentionally done.

"I know you didn't mean to," assures Cass in a soft voice.

Rapunzel doesn't say anything for a while. Doesn't meet Cassandra's eyes. She's afraid to ask what she's thinking, but does so anyway. "What… What did it feel like?"

Cass presses her lips together, wondering if she should even answer that. Anything she says now is sure to make Rapunzel feel even worse, but the girl deserves to know.

"Like something was withering inside of me," Cassandra reluctantly admits. Just saying it out loud makes her stomach churn all over again.

"You mean like I did to the plants." Rapunzel realizes, eyes becoming distant once again. "Oh, no. No… My powers… They're getting worse." She peers down at her own open palms, as if searching for answers within them. A brewing panic creeps into her voice. "But I touched Flynn. I didn't hurt him."

"Maybe it's only when you kiss me," theorizes Cass. "Like how you were able to heal me."

"But we don't know for sure," puzzles Rapunzel.

Cassandra isn't sure how else to confirm it. She shrugs weakly. "We could try it again."

"No." Rapunzel insists. Potentially hurting Cass again is the last thing she wants to do. She doesn't even want to think about it. "No… Maybe it's best I just don't touch anybody or anything. Not until we figure out what's going on." She rubs a thumb against her opposite palm, seeming to stare right through it. "If my powers are still changing, I don't know what could end up happening."

Cassandra doesn't want to admit that's for the best, yet doesn't want to deny it either. Not kissing Rapunzel, let alone touching her anymore is going to be insanely difficult. Is that even the answer? And how long would it last?

Instead of racking her brain trying to find the answers to any of it, Cassandra forces herself to remain on the surface. At least for the time being. She'll go insane if she doesn't.

"We'll find a way to fix this. I promise," assures Cass. "For now, let's just focus on getting to the Dark Kingdom. Whatever's waiting for us there better have the answer to all of this."

The three of them continue on the road after a quick breakfast at the tavern, and relieving Maximus from his post.

The journey is long, and mostly silent. The events of last night have seemed to create a rift between them all.

Flynn isn't certain what exactly happened between the two women last night, only that he'd seemingly walked into what looked like a tense conversation between them at one point.

Adira's warnings have settled at the back of his mind ever since. The feeling of her lurking eyes just watching them is something he can't quite shake. Like they're being followed by her at this very moment.

Cassandra hasn't said a word to Flynn all day. What she does instead is glare at his backside as she walks a few paces behind him, feeling uneasy - searching for information she can't quite reach, as much as it causes her blood to boil just from the sight of him.

Whatever he'd been doing alone in the woods last night had kept her awake in thought afterwards. She doesn't bring it up, but questions herself on whether it's even anything to worry about.

Rapunzel thinks of nothing but keeping her distance. From both of them. And every tree and shrub that they walk past, which is insanely difficult.

She walks with her chin lowered, shoulders slightly tense, hands fiddling with each other as if attempting to settle the sparks within them - the sparks of an unpredictable power. Like she can feel something brewing within them that may very well only exist in her mind.

When the sun goes down, they find a spot in the woods to set up camp for the night. Cassandra hunts. They build a fire. The process has become routine to them during the recent weeks.

The forest is a canvas of shadows beneath a crescent moon and a starry sky.

Rapunzel and Cassandra are settling in for the night, each kneeled on the forest floor and laying out a blanket each. The air is so warm that they no longer need to be covered by one as well.

Maximus is laying nearby, drifting into sleep. Flynn is getting comfortable a distance away.

Rapunzel can't help but peer over her shoulder at him.

She faces Cass again. "Maybe we should tell him what's going on."

He's far enough away that he doesn't hear.

Cassandra doesn't look up as she shoves her knife underneath her blanket. "Not a chance."

Rapunzel presses her lips together nervously, unsatisfied with that answer. She lowers her voice even more. "What if he finds out? What if he… sees something? Wouldn't that be a lot harder to explain?"

"He's taking us where we need to go. That's it," insists Cass. "He doesn't need to know anything else."

Rapunzel thinks about pressing the matter further, before realizing that maybe Cassandra is right. Maybe it's best he doesn't know. It would only make things more complicated. Either way, it would be difficult to explain.

So, they both curl up onto their sides in silence, facing the other. Still remaining a safe enough distance apart.

Rapunzel wants to shift closer. To feel Cassandra's warmth, like she always does. Maybe it would be enough to ease her clouded mind. Then she remembers that Cass is clearly still upset with her.

She's hardly spoken to Rapunzel all day, only doing so when it's absolutely necessary. And when she does, it's with the same dismissive tone that she has been known to previously have - that Rapunzel is used to, yet hates just as much.

Rapunzel can't imagine why, but assumes the reasoning has to do with Flynn. She didn't think Cassandra's jealousy last night was so serious that it would carry on into today. Hopefully today is where it stops too.

It makes Rapunzel briefly wonder if she'd overstepped a line with him. Then she asks herself whether it's Cass who's done the overstepping instead. She can't imagine how having fun could have been wrong, which is all her and Flynn had been doing.

Maybe bringing it up isn't the best idea right now. They have bigger things to worry about, which is probably how Cassandra would respond anyway. Brushing it off as usual.

Rapunzel's thoughts shift to something else she hasn't been able to dismiss so easily. "Cass… Do you think whatever's happening to me is going to get worse?" she asks as she remains still on her side. "What if I hurt you again?"

Cassandra lays facing her, with her arm folded beneath her head. "It won't come to that."

"How do you know?"

Their voices are soft within the night.

"Because whatever this is, I'm going to put an end to it. I don't know how yet, but we'll figure it out. Just like we always do." Then as if reading Rapunzel's mind, Cassandra tells her, "Everything's gonna be okay."

As she speaks, Rapunzel's thoughts begins to drift. Her eyes glaze over. They seem to stare right through Cassandra, and a blank, yet horrified expression forms on her face.

All she sees anymore is darkness. Black spikes of marble shooting from the ground. Green leaves withering into dust. Cassandra's heart in her hand, crushed between her fingers.

She almost doesn't hear Cassandra saying her name, faded in her ears.

"Rapunzel?"

Suddenly, the princess blinks back into focus.

As their eyes meet again, Cass is staring back at her, brows pressed together with concern. "What is it?"

It falls silent between them.

Then Rapunzel's hand shoots out and clutches Cassandra by the neck.

A strangled noise escapes her throat.

Rapunzel scrambles to sit upright and crawl top of her. She straddles Cassandra's hips, with one hand wrapped around her throat and the other pressing hard against her mouth.

Cassandra's scream is nothing but a muffled noise beneath Rapunzel's hand. She tries to thrash her arms, to push her off, to fight, but Rapunzel's strength pins her down.

Both of the princess' hands move to Cassandra's throat, lifting her chin, tightening by the second.

Cassandra gasps for air that never reaches her lungs, whimpering.

Rapunzel's fingers squeeze harder until her own arms are shaking from the force, and all Cass can do anymore is choke.

Her eyes begin to roll into her head, until no sound escapes her anymore.

Rapunzel jolts awake.

Her eyes shoot open. She inhales a small gasp. Her heart is pounding along with the violent pulse in her ears, racing all the way into her fingertips.

It takes her a few moments to realize she's laying on her back, staring up at a blackened sky obscured by the leaves of trees that tower over her. It's silent aside from the hum of crickets and her own panting.

She looks over to find Cassandra sleeping soundlessly next to her.

Her back is turned. All Rapunzel sees are the curls of her hair from this angle, but the sight of her brings immediate relief.

Swallowing, Rapunzel takes a steady breath.

She closes her eyes and lays there for a few moments, fighting to calm her own heartrate. Then something warm just beneath her nose begins to itch.

She raises her fingertips to her face. When she retracts them, they're painted in blood. She feels it oozing slowly from her nostrils, warm.

Rapunzel slowly pushes herself to sit upright. She peers over at Cassandra again, who remains unmoving.

She notices Maximus and Flynn, also asleep nearby. The air smells faintly of smoke. The embers of last night's campfire are nothing but a pile of ash. The world is still around her.

Quietly, Rapunzel rises to a stand.

The moonlight guides her path as she wanders into the woods, sniffling and attempting to wipe the blood from her nose.

She walks further from camp until the trees have completely encased her, and it's no longer clear which direction she had come from.

The vivid image of Cassandra slowly getting strangled by her own hands is what causes Rapunzel to stop in her tracks.

She closes her eyes again in a desperate attempt to shove it away, yet it's all she can see anymore. She tells herself it was only a nightmare, despite how real it had felt.

But something about it was like nothing she'd ever experienced in her sleep before. It was as if an uncontrollable strength had overcome her. A force. Like her mind was blank – owning nothing but the desperate urge to kill.

She'd like to think she's never succumbed to such thoughts before. Never with Cassandra, but rather with someone who had once tried to kill her. The man Rapunzel did kill, one of the many people who have haunted her nightmares ever since.

She'd felt the same kind of rage then too. Just like in her dream.

Rapunzel's fingers are still quivering. A lingering anxiety courses through her veins. There's a sickly feeling in her stomach, as if she might throw up.

A snapping twig somewhere behind Rapunzel startles her.

She whips around with a gasp.

"It's just me."

Through the darkness, she notices Cassandra standing there between the trees, holding a wary hand out. Her knife is clutched within her opposite hand, glistening by her hip.

Finding her there – alive and unharmed - is both relieving and unsettling.

"What are you doing?" questions Cassandra, stepping out into the open.

"Nothing." Rapunzel averts her gaze, suddenly unable to look at her. She'd wiped her blood-stained hands onto her dress, and most of it on her face has dried now. It's hopefully dark enough out here that Cassandra doesn't notice whatever streaks of blood remain. Rapunzel tries to hide her hands anyway. "I just… had a bad dream."

She hears Cassandra's voice in her head, telling her to let her know if anything weird happens. But is it considered weird if it wasn't real? Dreams are nothing but figments in someone's mind. That's all it was. Though, that doesn't explain why her nose started bleeding immediately after waking up. Maybe the stress alone is all that had caused it.

Still, mentioning it would mean reliving it, and that scares her.

"I'm fine. Really," Rapunzel insists, hoping to rid herself of this forever.

Cassandra observes her with suspicion. The way that Rapunzel says it only makes her think the opposite.

Then again, nightmares are not unusual for either of them. Cassandra assumes what Rapunzel's had been about. Corona. Her parents. Nothing she hasn't dreamt about before. So, she doesn't press it.

"Okay," says Cassandra. "Just… Come back to bed."

The last thing she wants is for Rapunzel to be wandering off on her own in the middle of the night. If Rapunzel won't sleep, Cass at least wants her near.

Without another word, Rapunzel follows her back to camp.

They lay down next to each other again, just as they had been before.

Cassandra closes her eyes. Rapunzel's remains open, predicting she won't be able to sleep again for the rest of the night.

All she does is stare up at the sky, and forces herself to think of anything else.