Hi Everyone! I apologize for the delay but between work and family issues, it has been rough finding time and inspiration to write. But as I always say, I promise not to give up on this story. I will finish it no matter what. With that being said, this next chapter is probably one of my longest chapters so hopefully it will make up for my long absence. There are some things in this chapter about the lore of Corona and I must confess that those ideas I integrated from the Tangled series that aired on Disney Channel a few years ago. I wanted to give a disclaimer because we should always give credit where credit is due. Without further ado, please enjoy the next chapter and always, HAPPY READING! :)


Chapter 18

"Alright cuties, it's almost time for the lantern celebration." Rebecca wiped the drool from the twins' face with a soft cloth, "Today would have been your big debut and you two would have released your lanterns with your parents. Unfortunately, due to dangerous circumstances, you two will miss it this year. However…" She effortlessly scooped both of them up into her arms, she had gotten pretty good at dealing with the twins at the same time over the last few months. She walked over to a rocking chair that was situated by the single window in Rapunzel's old tower. "Your mother told me that the lanterns could be seen from this window and I know it would make her happy to learn you two watched the celebration." Before taking a seat, she slowly twirled around, taking in the numerous amount of paintings Rapunzel had made throughout the eighteen years she spent in this tower. She could not help but notice how the Corona sun emblem had snuck its way into nearly all of Rapunzel's artwork.

She glanced up at the ceiling and admired the constellations that were documented above, "Incredible." She smiled down at the twins who were happily babbling as they also looked up at the ceiling. As she looked at their innocent faces, a small wave of sadness washed over Rebecca. She thought about how long Rapunzel was locked away in this tower with no one around besides Gothel. And yet, Rapunzel never seemed to let her traumatic past define her. If anything, the adversity made her an amazingly kindhearted, understanding, thoughtful, and resilient ruler. Rebecca gently swayed the babies in a soothing manner, "Your mother is truly an inspiration. You two are very lucky to have her."

She then glanced at the broken mirror across the room, or what was left of it. Upon arriving to the tower, Rebecca made sure to clean up and remove anything deemed unsafe for the babies. All that was left of the mirror was the frame. But even without the broken shards, Rebecca knew the importance of that mirror. She meandered over to the mirror and then looked towards a nearby wooden beam that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Rapunzel had told her the story of what happened here with Eugene. This was the spot where he died. Despite Rapunzel's best attempts at cleaning the mess years ago, a small amount of blood still stained the wooden floorboards. Perhaps Rapunzel and Eugene decided to leave this small stain as a reminder of what was once lost, of how fragile life truly was, and why one must never take their loved ones for granted.

Rebecca spoke in a small voice, "Your father is a remarkable person too. His love and devotion for his family is unrivaled, except maybe by Rapunzel." She smiled down at the twins, "You two have some wonderful parents." She glanced over at the clock, "Oh! It's almost time! Pascal!"

The little chameleon scurried down from the rafters where he enjoyed sitting so he could have a good vantage point while watching over Rebecca and the twins. He happily chirped as he situated himself on the window's ledge in order to have an uninterrupted view of the lanterns.

Rebecca excitedly walked over to the rocking chair and sat down with the twins on her lap. She giggled as she rhythmically bounced the babies on her lap, watching them squeal with delight. A couple minutes later, the clock struck nine and, right on time, Pascal could see the soft glow of light radiating beyond the trees of the forest. Another minute or so passed before the first few lanterns could be seen from the tower window. Pascal excitedly hopped up and down, chirping to let Rebecca know the ceremony was starting.

"Look over there Flynn and Evie." She outstretched her arm towards the sky so the twins could see where she was pointing at. Over the next couple minutes, more and more lanterns rose above the tree line, filling the night sky with illuminating lights of hope, wonder, and beauty. Although the twins were only a few months old, the bright lights captured their attention and they sat completely still for those few minutes, watching the lanterns float higher and higher into the heavens.

As they continued to watch the lanterns, a couple of tears stung Rebecca's eyes. It would be fair to say that the lantern celebration was a bit emotional for nearly every citizen in Corona. From the first ceremony that celebrated the miraculous birth of Rapunzel to the following eighteen years that symbolized hope in finding the lost princess. Now it was a celebration of Rapunzel's return and this year it would have also celebrated the next generation of Corona royalty, the twins. Even Pascal wore a sad expression on his face. This was the first time in nearly two decades that he was not by Rapunzel's side when watching the lanterns gleam and glow.

As Rebecca reached up to wipe the tears away, an unusual bright light exploded off in the distance, making Pascal jump. Although Rebecca could not see the castle from the tower, she knew the general location of it and that explosion of light came from the castle. A couple seconds later, she and Pascal heard a low rumble, almost like thunder. Except there were no rainclouds and there was no lightning. Rebecca looked over at the little chameleon and noticed his uneasiness as he quickly climbed up the side of the window. He scurried out the window and up on the roof of the tower, trying to get a better view of the castle. After a few seconds, Pascal returned with a concerned look on his face.

Rebecca grabbed the twins and held them close, she knew what had happened. "Oh no. It happened. I can't believe it. It actually happened." She looked down at the twins sleepily cuddling against her chest, a worried expression etched on her face, "I hope everyone is safe." She squeezed her eyes tightly, then looked up towards the heavens, "Please let everyone be safe."


Rapunzel stood in shock at the disastrous sight before her, "Oh no…" She clenched her jaw and tried to blink away the tears, "Not again." Rapunzel and Cassandra were stunned as they watched the stone walls crumble while the nearby banners glowed with flames. The dust from the collapsed marble columns and the smoke from the fire made it nearly impossible to see anything that was not directly in front of them. This brought back thoughts of the explosion in London, although Rapunzel had been unconscious when the bomb went off then, she recalled the traumatic events Hans and Eugene had told her.

Anger bellowed inside of Rapunzel. Vortex did it again. They are trying to destroy everything I love. I cannot let them win. Whatever it takes. I will not let them win.

"Cassandra! Let's spread out to find any wounded!" Rapunzel ordered her former lady-in-waiting, "I'll take the right, you take the left!"

"Rapunzel wait!" Cassandra grabbed her arm, "Please listen to me. This is important."

Rapunzel frantically looked around at the destruction surrounding them, "But-" She took one look at her friend's concerned expression and begrudgingly relented, "Fine. Please make it quick."

"You have the power of the Sun Drop-"

"I had the power of the Sun Drop. I gave all that up years ago."

"You thought you did. I thought so too. We all thought so. But it turns out that you still possess the ability to call down the powers of the Sun Drop and Moonstone."

Rapunzel raised a skeptical eyebrow, "How do you know all this?"

"There's a legendary book, 'Census Actus Supernaturalis', found in the Mystic Vaults that keeps records of all supernaturally gifted individuals throughout history. You're still in it, Raps. You can call down the powers of the Sun Drop and Moonstone with any of those incantations you learned."

Rapunzel's eyes lit up with renewed hope, "So I can reverse all of this destruction?! Heal what has been hurt? Change the fates design-"

"Shhh!" Cassandra leapt forward and covered Rapunzel's mouth, "But you cannot use any of the incantations. Not the Healing Incantation nor the Hope Incantation and especially not the Black-Rock Incantation, nor the Decay Incantation."

Rapunzel jerked her head back, pushing away her friend's hand, "Then why would you bother to tell me this if I can't use it?!"

"Given the situation I was afraid you'd try some incantation." Cassandra placed a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, "But no matter what, you can't use them. Because she will find you."

"Who is 'she'?"

"Deam Perfide, aka Rogue Goddess. She's hunting down gifted individuals to steal their powers. Whenever you use your powers, it's like a beacon signaling for her to come find you."

Rapunzel scoffed, "I am the Princess of Corona, I'm not exactly hiding."

"Raps, I'm just trying to protect you." Cassandra gently squeezed her friend's shoulder, "Promise me that despite whatever this aftermath may bring, you will resist the urge to use your powers."

Rapunzel hesitated. "I think you know me well enough to know I won't make promises that I can't keep." Without waiting for a response, she shrugged off Cassandra's hand and made her way into the destroyed room.

She covered her face with her arm, trying to take shallow breaths to avoid breathing in the air as it was thick from the dust of collapsed stone palace walls and the smoke from the fire. She could hear the screams from the villagers as they watched the iconic ceremonial lantern balcony crumble and shatter as it hit the ground. The heavy layer of smoke and debris made it hard for her to get her bearings on the room but Rapunzel knew she had to get to that balcony as soon as possible in hopes of saving her family.

Her best friend hesitated by the door, "Raps, I really think you should get out of here! This is all just a trap-"

"No!" Rapunzel determinedly continued pushing through the debris, desperately trying to find any signs of her family. "I will not abandon my family when they need me most!" She moved some small pieces of stone and to her surprise she found an injured guard, "Oh!" She turned to call out to Cassandra, "I found a survivor!" She bent down beside the man, "How are you doing? Are you hurt?" The guard just stared up at Rapunzel with a look of confusion, as if he couldn't understand what she was saying. "Can you tell me your name?" She yelled a bit louder.

He shook his head, trying to shake himself out of the daze, "Oliver?" He cleared his throat, "Princess, what are you doing here?"

"I am here to help find survivors." She began looking him over, "Where are you hurt?"

"I-I don't know." He continued to wear a blank expression on his face, "My ears are ringing and my head hurts. It's hard to hear and to think straight."

"Hmm. I don't see any serious wounds." She stopped examining him and glanced around at the ruins surrounding them, "Oliver, what happened? Where are my parents?"

"They were on the balcony, Your Highness. We didn't see it coming."

Rapunzel's heart sank, "What about Eugene? Where is he?"

"Um. It all happened so quickly. Like a blur." He rubbed his forehead with a shaky hand, "He ran in and ordered everyone to move away from the balcony. He ran towards the King and Queen but I don't remember if he got to them in time."

Rapunzel was about to respond but she paused when she heard someone walk up behind her. She turned around to find her friend, "Cass." Rapunzel stood up and dusted herself off, "Help Oliver get out of here. I'm sure the medical staff will be here shortly."

Cassandra nodded and gently grasped the princess's arm, "Raps, I must insist that you should also get out-"

"That is enough, Cassandra!" She yanked her arm free from her friend's grasp, "I am not leaving until I find my family! I never give up on anyone. You of all people should know that."

A sad and guilty expression grew on Cassandra's face. She knew Rapunzel was referring to the time Cassandra betrayed Rapunzel in order to gain possession of the moonstone. The dark powers of the moonstone had corrupted Cassandra and she tried to kill Rapunzel and destroy the kingdom. But despite all the destruction she brought upon Corona, Rapunzel never gave up on her best friend and did everything she could to rescue her from herself.

Cassandra dejectedly looked away, "Fine. But don't say I didn't try to warn you." She bent down to assist the guard, dismissing the princess.

Rapunzel ignored her friend and continued to search further into the disaster zone. She carefully stepped over some larger stones that had fallen, noticing that the closer she seemingly got to the balcony, the larger the pieces of debris were. "Eugene?!" She began to call out for her family, desperately hoping to hear someones voice. "Mother?! Father?!" She began to cough as the smoke started to make it difficult to breath. Nonetheless, she continued to frantically search for a few more minutes, the sorrow in her heart growing more and more as each minute passed. She heard a commotion by the door but the air was still so thick with smoke and debris that she could not see what was happening. She could only assume that the medical staff and more guards were rushing onto this catastrophic scene.

After a couple more minutes of searching and calling out for her family, she decided to briefly pause to catch her breath and gather her thoughts. I should have been at the balcony by now. But I'm so disoriented, I can't even see where I'm going. It's so dark in here and I have no source of light. Every moment I waste trying to figure out where I am, someone I love could be taking their last breath. She anxiously rubbed her face. This is hopeless. Hopeless. Her eyes lit up with realization, "Hopeless! That's it! The hope incantation!" Different to the healing incantation, the hope incantation would allow Rapunzel's eyes to glow bright and clear out the destruction surrounding her.

Suddenly a knot formed in her stomach. What about Cassandra's warning? If there truly is a rogue goddess tempting me to use my powers, this would definitely be the most obvious opportunity. She continued searching for her family amongst the debris while pondering her options. Cassandra said this goddess wants me for my powers. If I say the incantations then I can find my family and save them. If I don't use the incantations then I will only be saving myself. She paused once more when she came to a small clearing but there was still no sign of her loved ones. My family has been and always will be my priority.

She closed her eyes, tightly clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and began to recite the hope incantation, "Power of the sun. Gift me with you light." Her hair began to glow and rapidly grow out to her formerly luscious blonde locks, "Shine into the dark. Restore our fading sight." Her head momentarily dropped but when she lifted it, her eyes glowed a bright yellow light and she ever so slightly began to levitate, "Our fading sight!" As she repeated that line of the incantation, she outstretched her arms and a powerful burst of pure solar energy was unleashed causing all the debris to crumble away into nothingness and the flames were immediately extinguished, revealing the entirety of the room.

Cassandra was on the far side of the room, helping the injured guards reach the door, when she noticed what was happening. As Rapunzel was finishing her last line, Cassandra ran towards her friend, "Rapunzel! Stop!" She remembered what happened the last time this incantation was spoken and she did not want to risk the appearance of the moonstone, especially if Deam Perfide was now on her way to Corona. Fortunately, Rapunzel did not complete the entire incantation, hopefully keeping the moonstone hidden in the heavens. Rapunzel immediately collapsed onto the floor as her eyes returned to normal.

"Rapunzel?! What did you do?! Are you alright?!" Cassandra dropped to her knees to be beside her friend.

Rapunzel stiffly sat up and placed a shaky hand on Cassandra's shoulder, "Phew, it's been a while since I harnessed that kind of power." Rapunzel realized that her other hand was clenched shut, but what was more strange, was that there was something inside of her hand. She slowly opened it up to reveal the golden-yellow SunDrop stone swirled with the dark blue veins of the Moonstone opal glowing in her hand, "Oh wow." Her eyes widened at the familiar sight, "I haven't seen this in a few years."

Cassandra frowned, "The stones are intertwined with each other? How is that possible?"

"I supposed that makes sense. The last time these stones were on Earth, they were combined into one extremely powerful gem. And when I returned the stones back into the heavens, they were in this fused state. It seems they never separated."

"So you can possess both the SunDrop stone and Moonstone opal at the same time?"

"I did it before. I suppose I'm still worthy to possess the ultimate power." She looked at her friend, "Cass, promise me you won't tell anyone about this."

"Uhh, Raps?" Cassandra gestured at Rapunzel's long blonde magical locks, "I think people are going to notice that something is different about you."

"We'll just tell them that I only called down the SunDrop stone. No one needs to know that I also have the Moonstone Opal. If this 'Deam Perfide' entity is looking for both stones, then let's lead her to believe that the Moonstone Opal is still lost in the heavens." She outstretched her free hand, "Promise?"

Cassandra smirked, "Promise." She firmly shook her hand, "So clearly you didn't heed my warning about avoiding the incantations."

She took a quick scan of the room, noticing that all the smoke and debris had vanished. "But it worked! Come on!" She tucked the SunDrop/Moonstone into a hidden pocket in her dress before she quickly scurried to her feet and ran towards the balcony that was mostly gone, due to the explosion. Rapunzel stood at the edge of the collapsed balcony and looked over the edge. She continued to watch the commotion unfold on the ground below them. Several guards frantically searched through the rubble while several more were on crowd control. Some concerned citizens tried to offer their assistance to help with the search while others were trying to regain their composure. Rapunzel crouched down and peered into the dark chaos, trying to see if her high perspective could help her spot any hints of her family.

"I don't see anything." Cassandra squint into the darkness, "What about you?"

Rapunzel kept quiet as she carefully scanned the ground. She could almost feel time stand still as she watched guard after guard remove pieces of rubble. The longer it took, the more her heart began to lose hope. But then it finally happened. She finally caught sight of white material hidden underneath some moderately large pieces of debris. "There!" She shouted while pointing, "Captain! I see something!"

The captain of the royal guard looked up at the sound of her voice, no doubt doing a double take when he noticed her blonde locks. He looked to where she was pointing and he hurriedly moved to the spot. He noticed the white fabric as well, "We got something here!" He feverishly began removing the debris while more guards ran over to assist him.

Rapunzel looked over at her friend, "I've got to get down there."

"Well…" Cassandra turned around and saw that the doorway to leave was blocked with a horde of medical personal attending to the injured guards, "Unless you got another idea, we're stuck up here."

"It's only a couple stories down." She lifted up her long golden locks, "And I kind of got rope." She found one of the few stone pillars nearby that had not collapsed and swiftly tied her hair around it securely, "You coming?"

Cassandra apprehensively looked over the edge and then back at Rapunzel, "I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?" She tightly held onto the princess. Without hesitation, Rapunzel skillfully leapt off the edge and brought them down safely in record time. Cassandra let go with a smirk, "I feel like you miss having the ability to do that."

"Yeah, well…" Rapunzel expertly twisted and pulled her hair until the rest of it came tumbling down towards them, "There are pros and cons about having this hair."

"Princess! We found them!"

Rapunzel and Cassandra ran over to the captain as he pulled a large chunk of stone off the back of a battered prince. "Eugene!" Rapunzel immediately knelt beside him, "Eugene, can you hear me?!" No response. She reached down and felt a strong pulse, "He's alive." She let out a brief sigh of relief. She closely examined her husband's beaten up body. He was laying on his stomach, his head tilted to the side, legs splayed out. If it was not for the seriousness of the situation, Rapunzel could have almost laughed at how much this reminded her of the first time she knocked him out with her frying pan in her tower.

But this was not the time for nostalgia.

She began to absentmindedly run her hands through her long locks. My husband is critically injured. My parents are still missing. On top of that, a rogue goddess is probably on her way here to confront me about the SunDrop/Moonstone.

"Raps?" Cassandra did not mean to startle her friend out of her deep thought but as she curiously looked at Eugene, she noticed something, "Is it just me, or does it look like there's something underneath Fitzherbert?"

Rapunzel bent down even more to peek underneath her husband who had his arms tucked under him. She realized he was in this strange position on purpose, he was protecting something or someone. "We need to move him. But carefully! We don't know the full extend of his injuries." She looked up at the captain, "I think there's someone under him."

The captain and a couple more guards grasped Eugene's body and gently moved him away from where he lay, revealing another body.

"Mother!" Rapunzel crawled over to her mother and gently cradled her head, "Mom? Are you alright?"

To everyone's surprise, the Queen's eyes fluttered open. She let out a couple harsh coughs before smiling up at her daughter, "Rapunzel? Are you alright?"

Rapunzel delicately moved some stray hairs out of her mother's face, tears of relief brimming her eyes, "I should be asking you that. But I'm okay. How are you feeling? What happened?"

Her mother blinked at her a couple more times, trying to get her bearings, "Um, I think I must've hit my head pretty hard because your hair looks blonde again."

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if you hit your head but you're also not wrong." She nervously laughed as she touched her hair, "Turns out, I can still utilize the power of the SunDrop." Rapunzel stopped talking when she heard several footsteps come up behind her. She turned around to see the doctor and his most skilled nurses arriving with stretchers and other medical supplies. As she continued to talk with her mother, she could see the doctor attending to Eugene as they carefully moved him onto a stretcher. Rapunzel faced her mother again, "Mother, the doctor is here to look you over. But before you get preoccupied with that. Can you tell me where Father is?"

"Well, we were on the balcony releasing the lanterns when Eugene came running in. He was telling us to get off the balcony. Before I knew what was happening, your father grabbed me and wrapped his body around mine and that's the last thing I remember-" The Queen's eyes widened ever so slightly, "Oh dear. I-I think he's under me?"

"What?!" Rapunzel looked up at the Captain, "My father is underneath my mother!"

"Wait!" The doctor rushed over to them, "I need to see if the Queen is stable enough to be moved." He thoroughly looked her over as quick as he could before waving in a couple nurses, "Alright. Let's move Her Majesty to a stretcher and then take her to the infirmary."

Rapunzel stood up and gave the medical staff some space to work, holding her breath that her father was alive. After a minute or so, the queen was on the stretcher and on her way back inside the castle to be further examined, along with Eugene. Rapunzel and the Captain both anxiously looked in the rubble that the queen had just been removed from. And there he was. The King of Corona. Covered in blood.

"Father!" Rapunzel fell onto her knees, reached down, and grasped his hand, "Dad, can you hear me?"

The Captain stepped aside to make room for the doctor, "Nurse! Bring another stretcher! We need to get His Majesty into surgery as soon as possible."

"Surgery?!" Rapunzel gasped, "What's wrong, Doctor?"

"Severe internal bleeding." The doctor moved so he could lift the king's legs above the level of his heart, "If not treated immediately, his heart rate and breathing rate will continue to increase while his blood pressure will decrease. It takes about two hours until he will lose too much blood and die." A group of nurses arrived with a stretcher and with the help of the guards, they were able to swiftly move Rapunzel's father onto the stretcher while keeping his legs raised. As they began to hurriedly move the King towards the castle doors, the Doctor huffed, "We already lost a half hour trying to find him. I've got to act quickly if I am to save his life."

Rapunzel silently followed the group, still holding onto her father's hand. She could not think of anything to say. The severity of the situation rendered her speechless.

Cassandra stayed behind, watching her best friend run inside the castle with her injured father. She observed the guards holding the castle doors open as Rapunzel's long golden locks trailed behind her. Cassandra's mind was racing with the thought of losing the King of Corona but also, the impending arrival of Deam Perfide. Rapunzel had done the one thing she was warned not to do. Now they must prepare themselves to reap the consequences.

"Cassandra?"

She slowly turned around at the familiar sounding voice, "Father?"

The Captain of the Royal Guard stood there with a baffled expression on his face. He had not seen his daughter in years. He hardly even heard from her. Once in a while he would receive letters from her about her adventures, but he could never respond since she was always on the road.

Ever since her corruption from the moonstone and her destruction upon Corona, Cassandra always felt ashamed whenever she faced her father. He was the Captain of the Royal Guard after all and she knew that during her reign of terror, her father stepped down from his role as Captain due to the conflict of interest. In his absence, he asked Eugene to take over as Captain of the Royal Guard. Surprisingly enough, crime in Corona dropped to a record low while Eugene was in charge, with Maximus by his side of course. Once Eugene married Rapunzel and his royal duties became his priority, he stepped down from the full time position and asked her father to reclaim his role as Captain.

Cassandra felt a little uneasy about his stunned silence, "Father, I can explain."

"Explain what?" He slowly walked towards her, "Explain the sheer coincidence of you returning the same day that Corona experiences its first terrorist attack in years?"

"I came to warn Rapunzel about this." She got nervous when he stopped directly in front of her with a stern expression on his face, "I had nothing to do with this, I swear-"

She was interrupted by the bear hug he enveloped her in, "I've missed you so much Cassandra. I'm so glad you came back home."

Now it was Cassandra's turn to be stunned into silence. She tentatively wrapped her arms around her dad and returned the hug, "You're not mad?"

He chuckled, "Why would I be mad? Wait a second." He stepped away from the hug and gave her his signature captain-of-the-guard stare, "You said you came to warn the princess about this? How did you know?"

"It's a long story…" She anxiously rubbed the back of her neck. "But given the situation, you should probably hear it."


Rapunzel anxiously paced in the halls within the infirmary. Her father was in surgery with the doctor, her mother and husband were being attended to by nurses, and the rest of the injured guards were resting in the recovery rooms. Being that she was the Princess of Corona, she had already fulfilled her royal duties by checking on each injured guard in the infirmary and she was now waiting to hear any news about her family. During this waiting period, she had also tied and braided her hair into a more manageable length so she would not accidentally trip any of the medical staff. Part of her wished Cassandra was here to help distract her and to also explain what this whole Deam Perfide thing was about, but she was informed that Cassandra was currently debriefing the Captain about the situation. Rapunzel knew she should be in that debriefing as well but given that her entire family, aside from the twins, were possibly on the cusp of death, she did not want to step away from the infirmary at all.

Another agonizing half hour passed before a nurse approached Rapunzel, "Your Highness?"

The Princess's eyes flooded with worry, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I wanted to let you know that the Queen and Prince Eugene are in stable condition. They have been cleared to receive visitors if you wish to see them."

A small weight was lifted off Rapunzel's shoulders but the elephant in the room remained, "And my father? How is he?"

The nurse lowered her eyes and uncomfortably shifted, "We still have not received word about His Majesty's condition. He is still in surgery with the doctor."

Rapunzel nervously let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding, "Alright. Thank you."

The nurse bowed and hurried away to attend to one of her many tasks. Rapunzel made her way towards her mother and Eugene's room. Although they were in separate rooms, they were placed right next to each other. Both doors were open which made it easier for Rapunzel to stand in the hall and peer into both of their rooms to see if either were awake. On the outside of their doors were clipboards that had summaries about their injuries. Since both were either asleep or unconscious, she casually scanned over their medical reports.

Queen Arianna

Mild concussion. Minor scrapes and bruising. No broken bones. No internal bleeding. Vitals are stable.

Rapunzel felt a bit relieved that her mother faired relatively well, thanks to the protection of Eugene and her father. She tilted her head in the other direction to glance over her husband's report.

Prince Eugene

Severe concussion. Moderate scrapes and bruising on dorsal cavity. Possible minor compression fractures on T4 & T5 vertebrae. No internal bleeding. Vitals are stable.

Rapunzel was not as relieved about her husband's prognosis, especially the severe concussion and possible spine injuries. She knew that meant a long road to recovery and given that some 'rogue goddess' was possibly on her way here to confront Rapunzel, she knew her husband would not be around to help. Thinking about Deam Perfide made Rapunzel look down at her long blonde hair, remembering how it once used to provide magical healing abilities. But that time has passed, or has it?

Rapunzel quietly shuffled into Eugene's room and approached his bed. She noticed that he was laying on his back with a couple pillows placed under his knees to decrease the pressure on his injured back while his head was wrapped in a head bandage. She delicately caressed his cheek with the back of her hand before gently placing her thick braid on his body. She clasped her hands around her husband's hand, closed her eyes, and began the healing incantation. She opened her eyes halfway through the incantation but to her dismay, her hair was not glowing. As she continued singing, she let a tear fall onto Eugene's hand, just in case, but still no response from her husband. She removed her hair and sat on the chair beside the bed with a heavy sigh, wiping the tears from her eyes. As she numbly sat there and watched Eugene's chest rise and fall with each breath, she let her mind wander to her children who were fortunately far away from this catastrophe.

I wonder how Rebecca and Pascal are doing with the twins. She has so much experience with babies and Pascal loves children so I'm sure they are doing fine. I wonder if they saw the explosion? They may not even know about what happened here tonight. I must send a letter to Rebecca explaining the situation. I will also need to send more supplies to her as well. Who knows how long this may last.

A bit of anxiety washed over Rapunzel. How long will this last? Hopefully not more than a couple of days. But what if it doesn't end? They could be in that tower for months. Years. Eighteen years?!

Rapunzel rubbed her face, trying to get a grip. But if what Cassandra said is true about Deam Perfide hunting down gifted individuals and stealing their powers for herself then that means not only am I in danger but so is Evie.

Her eyes lit up with realization. That's it! Evie! She has the healing abilities! That's probably why I don't have that power anymore.

Rapunzel's eyes rested on her husband. Evie could heal Eugene. She could heal my father! But bringing her back here would be putting her in grave danger.

Rapunzel drummed her fingers against the armrest of her seat, letting out an irritated huff while she tried to conjure a plan that would allow Evie to heal her family without putting her in danger. There is no perfect plan. No matter what, someone will be put at risk and I am not willing to put my daughter in any sort of precarious situation.

She reached forward and grasped her husband's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. We just have to pull through without the healing abilities this time. We've done it before. We can do it again.

"Raps?"

The Princess turned toward the door to find her best friend standing there with the Captain of the Royal Guard. She noticed the odd look on their faces and she immediately knew something was wrong, "What is it? What happened? Is it about my father?"

Cassandra shook her head, "We just talked to one of the nurses out in the hall and she said he was still in surgery. His condition is unknown."

The Captain stepped forward, "Your Highness, I know this is a difficult time for you but the citizens of Corona are growing anxious to hear some news. They are very worried about the royal family and I believe now would be a good time to show a strong resilient front. Show that Corona will not kneel to the terrorists that did this."

Rapunzel glanced at Eugene's injured body, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness. She knew the captain was right. She had to make a display of strength. Especially if Deam Perfide was lurking around Corona. She had to show she was not afraid. "You're right." She slowly stood up, still keeping her eyes on her husband, "Corona will not take this lying down." She glanced at the Captain and Cassandra, a determined look in her eyes, "If it is a fight Deam Perfide wants, then it is a fight she will get."


In less than an hour, Rapunzel had cleaned herself up and changed into a new dress that was more appropriate for addressing the people of Corona. She needed to wash off the dirt and debris from the aftermath of the explosion and she had decided to don a familiar dress that she had only worn during her reign as temporary queen a few years ago. The last time Rapunzel had possessed the SunDrop stone, a former enemy had taken over Corona while Rapunzel was away discovering the secret of the SunDrop. The enemy had temporarily wiped the memory of her parents so when Rapunzel came home to fight the invading force, she had also taken on the role of acting-ruler of Corona until her parents' memories returned. And here she was again, standing before her people in her dark purple temporary queen dress that had a badge of the Corona sun emblem stitched on the left side of her chest, by her shoulder. The significance of this dress was that the badge also conveniently doubled as a hidden locket for the magical gem, that way, she could carry the SunDrop/Moonstone with her at all times and no one would know.

"…I understand there are a lot of questions and we are doing our best to answer them all. I can confirm that we have some solid leads. But most importantly, the royal family is alive. Perhaps a bit battered, but alive no less." Rapunzel paused to collect her thoughts and to monitor the crowds' response before continuing, "Corona has had its fair share of attacks, whether it be from rivaling kingdoms or mystical beings seeking to destroy us. And every single time we have risen from the ashes stronger than before. There is no reason why this time would be any different. I stand here today, amongst the rubble from the explosion, to ask each and every one of you to stand with me and our beloved kingdom. As we have done before, we must work together to overcome this adversity. The spirit of Corona will never be destroyed and neither will our kingdom if we each do our part. As for tonight, I ask that each and every one of you go home and spend time with your loved ones. When morning comes, the rebuilding will begin." She observed people nodding in agreement and the fear in their eyes seemed to be calming down. "It is my job to protect this kingdom and every citizen within its borders. I promise that I will do everything in my power to ensure no more harm shall fall upon Corona tonight." Now even more people were nodding along to her words of comfort. "Due to the late hour, I will not be taking any questions at this time. All concerns will be addressed in the coming days. I will do my best to keep everyone up to date on the latest news." She put on a kind yet determined smile, "Thank you for your time and I wish you all a good night."

As she stepped away to thunderous applause, she could have sworn she heard a familiar voice shout, "What about your hair?!"

Sullivan?! Rapunzel quickly turned around to glance at the crowd dispersing but she did not see Thomas Sullivan. She could have sworn she heard his voice. She leaned back against the castle doors and briefly watched as the citizens of Corona shuffled out of the castle courtyard and back to the village. Perhaps she just imagined the voice. She figured that her long blonde locks would pique the peoples' interest so maybe her intrusive thoughts were just playing tricks on her. Nonetheless, she had a lot of work to do.

Besides monitoring her family's condition, she also needed debriefings with the Captain and Cassandra then write Rebecca a letter explaining the situation along with sending more supplies to her and the twins. She still contemplated whether or not she should tell Cassandra about Flynn and Evie. As much as Rapunzel trusted her best friend, the less people knowing about them and their location, the safer they would be. And right now, the safety of her family and her kingdom were her top priority.

Upon stepping through the castle doors, a nurse frantically ran up to her with a panicked look on her face, "Your Highness! Princess Rapunzel, you must come quickly!"

"What's wrong?"

"It's King Frederic." She lowered her eyes, "He isn't doing well."


The clock in the main hall struck eleven as Cassandra hurried through the castle corridors. She had just received word that the king was not doing well and that Rapunzel was already on her way to see him. Given that Cassandra grew up in the castle as a maid servant before becoming Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting, she felt a strong connection to the royal family and she wanted to support her best friend during this difficult time. As she strode down the hall, her mind wandered to the words she spoke in London before saying goodbye to Gregory and Hannah at the docks.

Remember, this is ultimately their fight, not ours. We are merely messengers to help them defend themselves, their family, and their kingdom. As much as we want to fight, it is out of our control. Deam Perfide is more powerful than anyone we have ever faced. So I want you to be mindful of the situation. If they request our help, we shall give it. If they want us to stay out of their way, then let it be so. They are the ones calling the shots. Do you understand?

Cassandra sighed, "I've done all I can for now." She glanced up as she passed a pleasant portrait of Rapunzel and her parents shortly after Rapunzel had returned to her family. "I tried to warn Rapunzel but she didn't listen. There's only so much I can do. Perhaps facing Deam Perfide was inevitable-Oh!" She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as she stared at a young handmaiden with a bewildered look on her face, "I'm sorry for running into you, I didn't see you there-"

"Its quite alright." The young woman blushed from embarrassment, "I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going either." The young woman glanced up and down at Cassandra with a confused expression, "Are you a guest here? I don't recall receiving word that we were hosting company this evening."

"Oh no, no, no." Cassandra nonchalantly waved her hand, "I'm not a guest. Far from it. I grew up here. I used to work as Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting."

The handmaiden's eyes widened, "OH! You must be Cassandra!" She excitedly smiled, "I've heard so much about you. It's a pleasure finally putting a face to the name."

"Thank you." Now it was Cassandra's turn to blush. She was not used to hearing such kind words. She did notice that the handmaiden's wrist was wrapped, "Are you alright?"

"What?" She noticed Cassandra was looking at her injured wrist, "Oh, I'm fine. Just a small sprain or something. No big deal."

"If I may ask, where are you heading in such a rush?"

"Well, I was just in the infirmary but then I was told to fetch some food and drink for the injured. So I guess to answer your question, I am heading to the kitchen."

"Infirmary? Do you know what happened to the King?"

Her face saddened, "Immediately following the surgery, King Fredric was stable. But suddenly his health started to fail. I don't understand how it could change so drastically. The doctor is very concerned His Majesty may not make it through the night."

"His health began to decline rapidly? No indications of what caused it?"

The handmaiden shook her head with a shrug, "As far as I know, nothing."

Cassandra silently pondered. Suddenly his health took a turn for the worse. No reason. Either he was not in stable condition after all or there is foul play afoot. Possibly magical interference courtesy of Deam Perfide? Perhaps this handmaiden knows more.

"What is the doctor's plan of action?"

She pursed her lips as she thought, "Um, I believe he mentioned something about hoping Rapunzel's magical hair can heal him."

Cassandra furrowed her brow, "That's assuming her powers from the flower were returned to her."

"What do you mean? Her hair is blonde now which means she can use the healing incantation right?"

"Not necessarily." Cassandra crossed her arms with a knowing look, "The second time her hair grew back on the eve of her coronation, she received a whole new set of powers. None of which included the healing ability. Believe me, we tried."

"Oh." Her cryptic response sounded odd to Cassandra, "Well, hopefully she can squeeze a tear or two out then. Magic tears still work right?"

"Again, not necessarily."

An awkward silence hung in the air.

"Well, I should be getting those refreshments for the wounded. It was a pleasure meeting you, Cassandra. I hope I run into you again."

"Same to you…" Cassandra paused as she watched her hurry away, "Hey! I just realized I never caught your name."

"Oh I don't believe I gave it." She stopped to properly curtsied, "My name is Rebecca. I am Rapunzel's current lady-in-waiting."


"I'm here!" Rapunzel burst through the infirmary doors, "Where's my father?!"

"Follow me, Your Highness." One of the nurses hurriedly led her to another private room that was right across the hall from her mother and Eugene's rooms, "The doctor is currently with him. He can better explain the situation."

"Thank you." Rapunzel anxiously entered the room to find the doctor meticulously examining her father. "Doctor, what's happened?"

The doctor looked up at her with a stressed expression, "Princess Rapunzel, I do not have a clue as to what happened."

Rapunzel remained silent as she walked to her father's bedside. She studied his bloodied and bruised body for a few moments. Her voice was quiet and her eyes remained focused on her father, "Did the surgery not work?"

"That's the strange part." He took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose, "The surgery was a success. I was able to stop all the bleeding and get His Majesty to a stable condition." He put his glasses back on and glanced at Rapunzel, "After monitoring him for a while, I stepped out to check on your mother and Prince Eugene. Next thing I know, one of the nurses call out to me that he stopped breathing-"

"What?!" Rapunzel's eyes snapped up to the doctor, "He stopped breathing?!"

The doctor spoke in a calming tone, "I was able to resuscitate him but his vitals have been unstable ever since."

Rapunzel anxiously rubbed her face, "And you have no idea what caused him to stop breathing?"

"That's what I was working on when you arrived." He briefly hesitated as he eyed Rapunzel's hair, "Your Highness, I was wondering about your hair."

"I already tried the healing incantation, doctor." She apprehensively played with her blonde tresses, "It didn't work."

His eyes dropped, "I see." He glanced back up at her, "Do you know what it can do?"

"Besides using the hope incantation to help clear the rubble? No."

"Hmm. It would seem that this set is more aligned to the power of the SunDrop stone than the healing flower?"

"So it would seem." Rapunzel wanted to end this conversation before anything about the Moonstone Opal was mentioned.

A long silence filled the air as the doctor continued examining the King's vitals while Rapunzel watched in concern. Finally, the doctor spoke up in a quiet voice, "Princess, I am worried that your father may not make it through the night." He glanced up at her, trying to get a read on her stoic face. When she did not respond, he continued, "If my concerns are warranted and he should pass away-"

"He will survive." Rapunzel's face remained emotionless.

The doctor furrowed his brow in a saddened expression as he watched her reach for her father's hand. He knew she must be feeling scared with a mixture of sadness and anger. Her family was in the infirmary. Her babies were hidden away. Her people were frightened. Her kingdom was under attack. She was no stranger to being alone, given her childhood and upbringing, but she also never had this much at stake without the support from a loved one.

"Rapunzel?"

She looked up at the sound of her name coming out of the doctor's mouth. He had never called her by her first name without any sort of title. He must have noticed her surprise because he gave her a comforting fatherly smile, "Let me assure you. I will do everything in my power to help your father."

She returned his smile with a half-hearted smile of her own, "As will I." She glanced around the room, "By any chance, do you have some spare stationary lying around? I must write Rebecca a letter informing her of what has happened tonight."

"Of course. If you go into my office next door and check the upper left drawer on my desk, you should find everything you need." He sheepishly smiled, "It's not as nice as your royal stationary but it should get the job done."

Rapunzel laid a gentle hand on his shoulder with a kind smile, "Your stationary is more than enough, doctor. Thank you."

She walked out of the room and hastily strode into the doctor's personal office. She pulled open the upper left drawer and found his stationary supplies. She would have normally gone to her study and used her own stationary, but given the dire state of her father, she wanted to stay nearby just in case. She scooped up a couple items and hurried out of the office. Upon entering her father's room, she briefly froze when she saw that a visitor had shown up.

"Cassandra?"

Rapunzel's best friend was standing against the wall, a hardened expression on her face, "Hey Raps. I just wanted to check on you and your family. The doctor just informed me about your family so the next thing to ask is how are you holding up?"

"I'm holding." She stepped further into the room and took a seat in the chair beside her father's bed. She felt a bit awkward because she wanted to take this time to write a letter to Rebecca but she had not told Cassandra about Rebecca or the twins. "How are things going regarding the situation at hand?"

Cassandra tilted her head from side to side, "I've debriefed my father on everything I know about Deam Perfide. I don't know what kind of power she possesses but I know what kind of power you possess with that SunDrop stone. You should be able to put up a tough fight."

Rapunzel paused as she thought about Cassandra's words. "If there is to be a fight, I don't wish for it to be within the city center of Corona. I need to find a way to move this possible battle away from the town. I cannot allow anymore destruction to fall upon this kingdom."

Cassandra nodded but remained silent. She could feel the conflict within her best friend. She was not completely sure if Rapunzel was hiding something from her or if she was just imagining it. She knew her friend was under a great deal of stress but Rapunzel was normally a lot more open about her feelings. To be fair, Cassandra had been gone for a few years and a lot can change in that time. The two friends stayed quiet as their minds reeled from the day's events, each thinking of what to say. Finally, Cassandra cleared her throat, "Sooo…how do you like your new lady-in-waiting?"

"What?" Rapunzel tilted her head in an inquisitive manner, "Where did that come from?"

"I mean, after I left, I figured you'd find someone to replace me-"

"You're irreplaceable, Cassandra." Rapunzel gave her a sincere smile.

Cassandra chuckled, "I wasn't trying to fish for a compliment or anything, but thanks." She looked down at her boots, "I just meant…are you happy with her?"

Rapunzel slightly hesitated, she was not sure why Cassandra was so interested in her lady-in-waiting all of a sudden, "Rebecca is a lovely young lady. She's gentle, kind-hearted, and patient. A good listener-"

"I get it." Cassandra sharply cut her off.

Rapunzel smirked, "Are you jealous?"

"Psh. Me? Jealous of being confined to this castle every day?" Cassandra scoffed, "Nah. I'm finally following my dream of exploring new lands and going on endless adventures. Never knowing what tomorrow may bring." She cautiously glanced at her friend, "That used to be your dream too."

"Used to be. Dreams change, Cass." Rapunzel nostalgically began playing with her blonde hair, "I lived my dream of a life filled with adventure. We visited so many places during our quest to solve the mystery of the black rocks and we met so many people. Some good. Some bad. We discovered who we were meant to be. And I am meant to guide, provide, and protect the kingdom of Corona and all who inhabit it. I am happy to be in this role. I love what I do."

"Hmm." Cassandra glanced back down at her boots.

"You know. The first time I went to go see the lanterns on my eighteenth birthday with Eugene, I was so nervous about seeing those floating lights because I had been dreaming about seeing them for my entire life. Once that dream was complete, I was unsure about what I was supposed to do. But Eugene told me, 'that's the good thing about dreams. You get to go find a new one'." She gave her a warm smile, "Like I said. Dreams change."

Cassandra crossed her arms as she thought about her friend's advice, "I don't even know what my next dream would be. I don't want to go back to working here as a maid servant but I'm not so sure I want to continue living this nomadic lifestyle of adventure. I miss having a place to come back to."

Rapunzel stood up, placing the stationary supplies on her seat, and then sauntered over to her best friend, "Corona will always be your home, Cassandra." She placed a comforting hand on Cassandra's shoulder, "And you are always welcome here."

Cassandra glanced up at her with a small, but sincere, smile, "Thanks, Raps."

Rapunzel returned the smile before meandering back to her seat, "Just out of curiosity. What made you think about my lady-in-waiting, anyway?"

"Oh, I ran into her in the hall on my way here." She chuckled, "And I mean I literally ran into her."

Rapunzel froze, "You ran into Rebecca? Here? Tonight?!"

"Yes?" Cassandra analyzed her friend's strange reaction to this seemingly unimportant bit of information, "Raps, you're acting really weird. Is there something wrong?"

"Cass…" Rapunzel slowly turned around, her face slightly pale, "Rebecca is currently out of town. She couldn't possibly be here."

Cassandra furrowed her brow, "Maybe I was mistaken? Maybe-"

"What did she look like?" Rapunzel abruptly cut her off, a concerned look in her eye.

"She-" Cassandra did a double take as a young woman passed by the doorway and entered Eugene's room. "She looked like her." Cassandra pointed at the young woman in Eugene's room.

Rapunzel peeked over and saw that the woman tending to Eugene looked exactly like Rebecca. "That's impossible." She whispered. The two friends gave each other a knowing look. They were both realizing this was an imposter. A Deam Perfide imposter. Rapunzel's expression hardened, "I'll be right back, doctor. I need to go talk to someone." The doctor half-heartedly nodded in response, he was a bit preoccupied with taking care of the King.

"Okay, wait…" Cassandra hopped in front of the princess to temporarily stop her, "Play it cool."

The intense look in Rapunzel's eyes subsided as a nonchalant expression played across her face, "My cousin is the queen of ice and snow. Being cool is apart of my genetics."

"Says the princess with the SunDrop stone in her possession." Cassandra nodded at the Corona emblem on Rapunzel's dress before stepping out of her way with a smirk.

Rapunzel rolled her eyes before heading into the hall. She cautiously, but in a non-suspicious kind of way, strode into Eugene's room. "Oh!" She feigned surprise, "Hi Rebecca. You are a sight for sore eyes. With all the commotion going on, we've certainly had our hands full, huh?"

The imposter turned around and politely curtsied with a smile, "Hello, Your Highness. Yes, I apologize for not being available but the medical staff needed all the help they can get." She subtly glanced back at Eugene, "I wanted to check on the royal family and I was also hoping to run into you here." She paused as Cassandra stepped into the room, "Hello Cassandra."

Cassandra gave her a small wave but she remained silent, allowing Rapunzel to continue talking, "I heard that you two already met in the hallway? I think Cassandra mentioned that she literally ran into you."

'Rebecca' giggled, "Yes, neither of us were paying much attention to where we were going. But I am glad to meet the infamous Cassandra. After hearing about all the adventures you two shared, it's nice to put a face to the name."

Rapunzel fondly smiled, "Those were some good times. Life seemed so complicated and yet so simple back then." The dreamy composure faded away for a more serious tone, "You said you were hoping to run into me here? Is there something wrong?"

"Not exactly, but…" The imposter eyed Rapunzel's magical locks, "I'm curious about your hair, Princess. It's once again blonde. Does that mean your powers have returned?"

"I suppose so? Although I don't know what it can do." Rapunzel's eyes wandered down to the imposter's wrapped up wrist. "But one thing is for sure. My hair nor my tears can heal. It seems I've completely lost the healing abilities from the SunDrop flower."

"I see." The imposter subtly tucked her injured wrist behind her back, "Well, that's unfortunate. We could have used the extra help in the infirmary."

Rapunzel smirked, "Yes, I know." She inquisitively tilted her head, "Rebecca? Have you ever heard of a mythological goddess named Deam Perfide?"

The imposter's eyebrows shot up in surprise, clearly taken aback by Rapunzel's boldness, "I, uh, can't say that I have? I'm not well read in mythology."

Rapunzel nodded understandingly, "Well, rumor has it, this whole terrorist attack on Corona has something to do with this 'rogue goddess'."

'Rebecca' shifted uncomfortably, unsure if Rapunzel had figured out she was a fraud, "What would a mythological goddess want with Corona?"

Cassandra slyly cut in, "Given with what happened a few years ago regarding Zhan Tiri, I can see why some mythical beings would find Corona a place of interest. Especially now that Rapunzel has activated the SunDrop again."

The imposter paused, she was not sure if they were just making small talk or if they were onto her. She reassured herself that they could not possibly know about her plan, neither of them knew about the legendary book. Or did they? "Do you know anything regarding this 'Deam Perfide' entity or why she would be here?"

Rapunzel shrugged, "I know she is a goddess that possesses the ability to absorb others' powerful gifts."

"How do you know that?"

Rapunzel guiltily smiled, "Well, I was stuck in a tower for eighteen years, remember? I needed to find ways to entertain myself. One day, I was really in the mood to read but I had already read and reread all my books many times. So while Mother Gothel was out for the day, I snuck into her room and I found this book on mythological beings. That's how I learned about Deam Perfide."

The imposter let out a small sigh of relief. Clearly Rapunzel had not figured out who she really was, "So you think that she's after you and your hair?"

Rapunzel nodded, "Although I am perplexed about one thing. Why didn't Deam Perfide seek me out while I was in my tower? I was a much easier target back then."

'Rebecca' paused, pretending she needed to think, "Perhaps she couldn't find you?"

"Hard to believe that this so-called powerful rogue goddess had trouble locating a young girl trapped in a tower for eighteen years."

Cassandra's eyes widened in realization, "Unless Deam Perfide didn't know of your existence until after you left your tower." Rapunzel and 'Rebecca' turned towards Cassandra with curious expressions on their face. "Raps…" Cassandra took a step closer to the princess, "What was Gothel's greatest possession?"

"The magical flower?"

"Yes. She loved that flower more than anything or anyone else."

"Yes, I am aware." Rapunzel crossed her arms in an irritable way, "What are you getting at?"

"Gothel would want to protect this flower at all costs, correct? She would do whatever she could to keep it safe and hidden."

Rapunzel let out a short, exasperated sigh, "Yes? Hence the whole hiding me in a tower for eighteen years thing."

"Remember what Lord Demanitus said about Gothel?"

Lord Demanitus was a legendary ancient engineer and inventor of Corona, who also dabbled in arcane lore and high-level spells. He lived thousands of years ago when the ancient SunDrop Stone and Moonstone Opal fell from the heavens to two separate parts of the world. Demanitus was a fierce protector of the SunDrop Flower and the Kingdom of Corona. He would constantly battle his archenemy Zhan Tiri, an evil demon sorceress, who sought to destroy Corona in order to find both the SunDrop and Moonstone to gain the Ultimate Power. Many centuries ago, Zhan Tiri almost destroyed Corona in a deadly blizzard, but thanks to Demanitus' skills, he used a rare combination of pure magic and science to build a device that imprisoned her and banished her to the Lost Realm. Over the years, Demanitus had continued to capture many evil spirits and imprisoned them in the device as well.

Rapunzel thought back a few years when she, Cassandra, Eugene, and a few other good friends ventured outside of Corona to discover the mystery of the magical black rocks that were causing havoc to the kingdom. Little did they know the black rocks were connected to the Moonstone Opal hidden in the Dark Kingdom. While uncovering the origin of these black rocks, they were able to communicate with Demanitus' spirit and discovered Gothel had been a pupil of his but she eventually betrayed him when she became obsessed with the magical SunDrop Flower and took it for herself.

"How do you suppose she managed to hide this power for so many centuries?"

Rapunzel lifted an inquisitive eyebrow, "I assume you're alluding the answer has something to do with magic?"

"Exactly." Cassandra nodded, "Gothel was a student of Demanitus for such a long time. Why should we be surprised if she picked up a spell or two that would, oh I don't know, make it almost impossible to track down a powerful gift like the SunDrop Flower's healing abilities?

Rapunzel's eyes lit up, "You're saying that Gothel might have put an enchantment on the tower in order to truly keep it safe from anyone who wished to harness that power."

Cassandra took another step closer to her and lowered her voice, "Rapunzel, when I spoke to the entity guarding the ruins and the legendary book, he told me that you were still in it. But one thing that was odd was how incomplete your resume was. The first entry, besides the night you were kidnapped, was the day before you turned eighteen. When you escaped that watery cave and healed Eugene's hand."

Rapunzel turned around and looked past 'Rebecca' to stare at her injured husband. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in her head, "Do you think the tower is still enchanted?"

Cassandra shrugged, "With Gothel dead, who knows?"

Rapunzel slightly furrowed her brow, silently thinking to herself. After a few moments, she slowly spoke, "I need to go look for something. Cass, can you stay here and keep Rebecca company? I'll be right back." Without waiting for a response, Rapunzel hurried out of the room.

"Sure?" Cassandra hesitantly responded even though her friend had already left the room. She turned to look back at 'Rebecca', "That was a bit odd, don't you think?"

"Very peculiar." The imposter shifted uncomfortably. She overheard Cassandra mention the ruins of the Mystic Vaults and the legendary Census Actus Supernaturalis book to Rapunzel. Perhaps they were onto her after all and that made her a little uneasy. She needed to adjust her plan to take this newfound information into account, "Seems like the princess has a plan?"

"If I know Rapunzel, and I do, she always has something up her sleeve." Cassandra smirked.

"Hmm." The imposter casually looked Cassandra up and down, an idea beginning to brew, "May I confess something?"

Cassandra cautiously eyed her, "I suppose?"

"I may have overheard a little bit of the conversation you and Princess Rapunzel were having in King Fredric's room. Please forgive my eavesdropping, I wasn't trying to-"

"What exactly did you hear?" Cassandra cut her off as she defensively crossed her arms.

"Nothing really." The imposter rubbed her injured wrist behind her back, "Except that you are trying to figure out your 'new dream'."

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "Those were Rapunzel's words, not mine."

"It's nothing to be ashamed about. Everyone has secret desires they wish they could turn into a reality."

Cassandra paused at the cryptic response, "That…" She suspiciously eyed the imposter up and down, "…is an interesting way to put it."


Rapunzel threw open the library door and ran over to one of the many bookshelves inside. She quickly scanned the tall bookshelf until her eyes rested upon the book she was looking for, located on the top shelf. With a sigh, she grabbed a nearby ladder and rolled it over to where she needed it. She swiftly scurried up the ladder and grabbed the book before easily sliding back down to the ground. This book once belonged to Gothel and was also one of the few books Rapunzel hid among all the other hundreds of books in the library. No one knew that Gothel's old books of spells and mythology were hidden within the royal library. Rapunzel had hidden them in here years ago, back when she first reunited with her family and moved into the castle. Gothel may have done many evil things but perhaps this enchantment she put over the tower for many years might hold the key to saving her family.

Rapunzel flipped through a book full of spells, desperately trying to find the enchantment Gothel used all those years ago. She froze when a promising page popped up, "This could be it." She silently read through the spell, "It seems relatively straight forward. I just need a magical relic with protective properties." She remembered the last time she possessed the SunDrop stone, it had given her hair the ability to wrap herself in a glowing orb-shaped shield that protected those around her from anything. She touched the Corona sun emblem badge on her dress, with the hidden locket that held the SunDrop/Moonstone, making sure it was still there, "Magical relic? Check. Assuming it possesses the same protective powers as last time. What else?" She scanned the spell again, "And I just need to be standing in the location I wish to enchant." She slammed the book shut, "I guess I'm going back to my tower. And I'm bringing my family with me."

Rapunzel tucked the book in her arm and hurried out of the library, heading back to the infirmary. She burst through the doors and made a beeline to her father's room, "Doctor!" She felt a little bad for startling him but fortunately he was just writing something down, "Sorry to burst in like this but I think I found a solution. But there's a tiny wrinkle."

"I'm sure whatever it is, we can make it work."

"I need to transport my family to the safe house where Evie is at. She can heal them."

"Transport? How far is this safe house?"

"That's confidential, doctor. But I'm asking you, is this transport possible?"

"Well, for the Queen and Prince Eugene, that is possible. But your father?" He looked down at the severely battered king, "His health is still unstable. Transporting him to who knows where could possibly kill him-"

"Rapunzel!"

A loud commotion sounded across the hall. Rapunzel raced into Eugene's room to find Cassandra lying on the floor with blood seeping out of her side, the imposter nowhere to be seen.

"Cass!" Rapunzel knelt down beside her friend, "What happened?!" She looked at Cassandra's injured side, "Can we get a nurse in here?! She's hurt!"

"I'll be fine, it's just a flesh wound." Cassandra put her hand on her side and applied pressure, slowing the bleeding, "I didn't see it coming, Raps. She just attacked me."

"What happened?! Where's Deam Perfide?!"

A couple of nurses rushed in with medical supplies and immediately began to attend to Cassandra as she explained the situation, "Deam Perfide kept trying to talk me into some kind of deal that would help me find my new dream or whatever. She kept promising me all these things that would make all my desires come true. All I had to do was tell her everything I knew about you, the SunDrop stone, and the Moonstone Opal. When I turned her down, she attacked me with her knife. I dodged out of the way but then she tried to stab Eugene, so I had to intervene and that's how she slashed my side."

"Where is she now? How did you stop her?"

"A swift twist to her injured wrist did the trick." She grimaced while the nurses finished wrapping up her injured side, "It seemed to cause her immense pain but then she just disappeared right before my eyes."

"I guess we can add teleportation onto her resume of party tricks." Rapunzel huffed as she looked around the room, seeing her husband laying unconscious, her best friend slashed and bleeding, and her father across the hall in unstable condition. "This has to end. Right here. Right now." Rapunzel glanced at her friend, "Are you well enough to travel?"

Cassandra sat up with a smirk, "For you? Always."

"Great. I've got a plan."

"Seems like you still have a little adventure left in you, Raps." Cassandra carefully stood with a wince, "I'm in."


In a matter of minutes, Rapunzel and Cassandra were on horseback swiftly riding out of town and into the surrounding forest. They carefully watched their backs just in case Deam Perfide was following them. Fortunately for them, they knew the forest better than anyone besides Eugene. Growing up as thief on the run, he had the best knowledge of every nook and cranny to hide in and every hidden trail memorized. But these two friends were not novices either. Despite Rapunzel growing up in her tower and Cassandra growing up within the walls of Corona, their years of adventuring to new lands had given them the skillset to expertly navigate unfamiliar environments. Of course, traveling to and from Rapunzel's old tower was the one route she knew by heart, for better or worse.

"How are you holding up, Cass?" Rapunzel yelled over her shoulder.

Despite the pain from her wound, Cassandra smiled, "I'm doing better than I have been doing in a long time. I miss these spontaneous adventures, Raps."

"Unfortunately, this adventure has high stakes. We cannot afford to mess this up."

Cassandra hesitated. She knew there was a lot at stake but she sensed there was more to that statement than what her friend was letting on. After a few more minutes, Cassandra recognized the route Rapunzel was taking, "We're going back to the tower? Is there something there that belonged to Gothel? Something that could help us?"

Rapunzel did not respond, she still felt a heaviness in her heart about bringing her daughter into this mess. But if this protective enchantment worked, then she could manage to at least heal Cassandra, her mother, and Eugene without risking Evie's life. However, with her father's condition being so unstable, she struggled to find the solution to saving him.

The heaviness in her heart sank even more when they passed through the thick waterfall of ivy that hid the secret entrance to the alcove where Rapunzel's tower stood. They slowed their horses as they approached the base of the tower. "Rebecca?!" Rapunzel shouted up, "Rebecca, are you there?!"

The shutters to the tower flew open and a brunette stuck her head out, "Princess?! You're here?! You're blonde?!"

Rapunzel nodded, "There's been an incident! I'm coming up!" She dismounted her horse before hurrying around to the backside of the tower. She opened the hidden door and began the long ascent up the winding staircase with Cassandra following close behind. The two friends quickly came upon the trap door at the top of the stairs which was already opened, thanks to Rebecca. Rapunzel popped up her head first, "Rebecca?"

"I'm here." She extended her hand and helped pull Rapunzel up into the tower, "What happened, Princess? We were watching the lanterns when I saw a bright flash and then a loud rumble followed and-who is she?"

Rapunzel turned around and hurried over to help Cassandra who was climbing into the tower, "This is my good friend Cassandra, she used to be my lady-in-waiting and then we became best friends and the rest is history."

"Oh! You're that Cassandra?" Rebecca politely curtsied, "It's a pleasure to finally put a face to the name. I've heard so much about you."

"Whoa." Cassandra cautiously looked her up and down, "Deam Perfide sure had you figured out. The similarities are uncanny."

Rebecca tilted her head in a perplexed manner, "I'm sorry? Who did what?"

Rapunzel stepped in between them, "Deam Perfide is a shapeshifting goddess who has an abundance of powerful gifts and she is trying to take mine, aka the SunDrop stone and the Moonstone Opal."

Rebecca slowly nodded her head, "Ohhh okay, that would explain the blonde hair."

"Raps?" Cassandra huffed as she placed a gentle hand on her wound, "Why are we here? And why is your lady-in-waiting hiding in your old tower?"

Just as Rapunzel opened her mouth to respond, a tiny wail came from Rapunzel's old bedroom. Without saying a word, Rapunzel hurried up the small set of stairs that led to her former room and pushed the curtain aside to see Evie beginning to cry. "Hi sweet girl." She carefully picked up her daughter without disturbing Flynn who was fast asleep with his thumb in his mouth. Tears stung her eyes as she held Evie close to her chest, happy to see her twins safe and sound, "Don't worry baby girl, mommy's got you." Feeling the familiar warmth of her mother seemed to calm Evie down enough to stop the crying. Rapunzel slowly turned around to find Rebecca and Cassandra standing by the entrance of the room, Cassandra's jaw dropped and her eyes wide open.

"Y-you…h-have…a…baby?"

Rapunzel shyly giggled, "Actually Eugene and I have twins. This cutie here is Evangeline and this handsome fellow sleeping in the crib is Flynnigan. We call them Evie and Flynn for short."

"Cute." Cassandra tried to shake off the initial shock, "How, uhm, old are they?"

"They're only about five months old. Flynn being a few minutes older than Evie."

"So uh…" Cassandra cleared her throat as she regained her composure, "I guess this answers the question of what have you been up to since I left Corona."

Rapunzel cocked a challenging eyebrow, "Well, I've done a lot more than make babies-"

"Alright that's already more than what I want to hear. I don't like to think about you and Fitzherbert canoodling, let alone having children." She shook her head as if trying to remove those exact thoughts. "Let's stay focused. Why are we here?"

Rapunzel glanced down at Evie and her blonde hair, "I realized I no longer possess the healing ability of the SunDrop Flower and the reason for that is right here, sleeping against my chest."

Cassandra studied Evie's blonde hair for a couple seconds and then her eyebrows shot up when it finally clicked, "Ohhh okay. She really does have your hair then." She glanced up at Rapunzel, "But you don't want to use her hair to heal me or your family because it'll alert Deam Perfide of her location."

"Precisely. Which is why I brought a book with what I think has the enchantment Gothel put on this tower to protect me for 18 years. If I can utilize this enchantment then I can use Evie's hair to heal you and my family."

Rebecca quietly interrupted, "Princess, what happened to your family?"

"Someone planted a bomb in the palace, specifically the ceremonial lantern balcony. The bright light you saw and the low rumble you heard was the bomb exploding. Eugene and my mother are in stable condition. My father, not so much."

"Oh, Rapunzel, I am so sorry." Rebecca's hazel eyes flooded with worry.

Rapunzel glanced down at her daughter resting peacefully against her bosom, "It's a relief that Evie and Flynn were here with you and Pascal-wait a second." Rapunzel took a quick look around the tower, "Where is Pascal?"

Rebecca inquisitively glanced around the room, "He was here a minute ago."

Rapunzel scanned the tower once more before her eyes settled on a flower-painted pot. She softly giggled as she meandered over towards it, "Really, Pascal? I think you can do better than a repeat hiding place." The friendly chameleon chirped as he turned back to his original shade of green and excitedly hopped toward Rapunzel's open hand, no doubt happy to see his best friend alive and well. He quickly scurried up her arm and took his place on her shoulder, giving her cheek a soft cuddle that made her smile, "I missed you too, Pascal."

"Um. I hate to break up this lovely reunion but…" Cassandra slowly sat on Rapunzel's old bed, grimacing from her stab wound, "I'm still kind of bleeding over here."

"Yikes! Sorry, Cass." Rapunzel guiltily smiled as she reached into her shoulder bag, pulling out the book of spells and enchantments. "Let's move to the main room. I don't want to wake up Flynn."

Rapunzel, still carrying Evie and Pascal walked out of the room, while Rebecca helped Cassandra stand up and slowly move to the next room. As the group shuffled into the main room of the tower, Rapunzel placed the book on the table and flipped it open to the page with the enchantment she suspected was the one Gothel had used on the tower for eighteen years. Once Rebecca helped Cassandra sit down on a dining chair, she gently took Evie from her mother so that Rapunzel could focus all her energy on this spell. Rapunzel took a deep breath and she glanced around at the group, "Everyone ready?" Rebecca and Cassandra silently nodded. Rapunzel reached up and unlocked the SunDrop/Moonstone from the hidden locket on her dress, making sure to keep it concealed so Rebecca would not see the Moonstone infusion. She firmly grasped it in her hands and began the enchantment. Shortly after she started, her hair began to glow and as she continued to read the spell, her hair magically undid the braid it was in and formed a large orb-shaped cocoon around the group. Once she finished reading the spell, the group cautiously looked around as they were now all wrapped in this sphere of safety made from Rapunzel's hair.

Cassandra smirked, "Well, what do you know? It worked."

"This is incredible." Rebecca's eyes widened in wonder, "I have never seen anything like this. Well…" She glanced down at Evie sleeping in her arms, "Besides Evie's magical hair of course."

"Speaking of which," Rapunzel smiled at Evie then faced Cassandra, "Would you like to be healed?"

Cassandra grimaced as she turned in her chair to make sure Evie's hair could reach her injured side, "Yes, please. I would be quite grateful."

Rebecca leaned towards Cassandra and gently wrapped Evie's hair around the wound. Rapunzel inquisitively tilted her head, "Rebecca, I'm going to let you do the honor of singing the incantation since…" She glanced down at the SunDrop/Moonstone still firmly grasped in her hands, "I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Rebecca nodded and began to sing the healing incantation, "Flower, gleam and glow…" Cassandra's eyes widened as she watched Evie's hair begin to glow like her mother's. She had seen glowing hair before because of her adventures with Rapunzel, but she had never seen the healing incantation in action. The bright lights stretched through the baby's hair and slowly reached Cassandra's wound. She thought she would feel something, either pain or a tickle, but the only thing she felt was relief as the pain slowly faded away. "Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine."

Cassandra lifted Evie's hair off of her side and gasped at the perfectly healed wound, "I can't believe it. It's completely healed."

Rapunzel smiled, "You didn't think it would work?"

"Given all the strange magic I've seen, I didn't doubt you, Raps. But it's still unbelievable."

Rapunzel softly giggled as she released her firm grasp on the SunDrop/Moonstone and let her body relax which ended the protective enchantment, causing her glowing hair-orb of safety to unwind and return to her normal blonde locks. "So I think we have established that both the enchantment and the healing flower incantation still work." She put the stone away in the hidden locket on her dress and began tying back her hair, "Now it's time to go get my mother and Eugene. We'll bring them back here to be healed."

"What about your father?" Cassandra inquired.

Rapunzel slightly hesitated, no doubt the weight of her father's health weighing heavily on her mind, "I'll talk to the doctor again once we return to the castle. Hopefully he is fit to travel as well."


An hour later, Cassandra was helping the nurses carefully load up the Queen and Eugene on an inconspicuous cart that Maximus would take to Rapunzel's tower. While the final preparations were being made for their escape, Rapunzel was in her father's room with the doctor.

"Are you sure he can't come with us?"

"I wish he could, Princess, I really do." The doctor tiredly rubbed his forehead, "He is still not in a stable state right now. You'll need to move fast to sneak out of the city limits and one wrong jar of the cart can have serious repercussions on his health."

Her face fell a bit, "I understand." She grasped her father's hand, "Dad, I am going to be gone for a while longer. I'm going to make sure Mom and Eugene get healed. Then I will come right back here to be with you. I promise." She leaned over him and gently placed a loving kiss to his bruised forehead, "And when I promise something, I never ever break that promise. Ever." She took one last look at her father before letting go of his hand and walking out of the room. She had a precarious journey ahead of her and she needed to prepare.

Before meeting up with Cassandra in the stables, Rapunzel stopped by her and Eugene's room to grab a couple of things. As she walked into the room, she realized this was the first time she had stepped foot in here since the festival started many hours earlier. It was a strange feeling walking around the eerily quiet room. Usually the twins would be babbling or crying and she would be chatting with either Rebecca or Eugene about the ongoing events of the day. This room normally had so much life in it, and now, nothing but complete silence. Rapunzel took a moment to sit on the foot of the bed and just contemplate the past several hours. She felt a whirlwind of emotions hit her, wave after wave. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted a hug. She want to punch something. She wanted to rest. She wanted to fight. After a couple more moments, she let out a long, heavy sigh and stood. She made her way to one of her dressers and pulled out her infamous frying pan. Although she had her magical hair, she always felt a lot safer when her frying pan was within arms reach. She then made her way to her nightstand and opened the drawer. All the way at the bottom, covered in a light layer of dust, was a journal that was given to her by her mother the day after her coronation as Princess of Corona many years ago. Her mother shared with her some of the tales and adventures she embarked on before marrying her father, all of which were written down in a journal similar to the one she was gave to Rapunzel. Her hope was that Rapunzel would document all of her own adventures in the journal, just as she once did. And Rapunzel happily obliged.

Rapunzel's journal was full of stories and drawings about her time learning about the Kingdom of Corona's traditions, getting to know the citizens of Corona, the mystery of the black rocks that nearly destroyed Corona, and all the adventures she experienced when she and her closest friends travelled around the world. Inscribed on the back of the front cover was a message from her mother written in French which translated to "There is more in you". A small smile played across her lips as she ran her fingers over her mother's message. There is more in me. I can do this. I will do this. Not just for me, but for my friends and family, and for my kingdom. She skimmed through the pages until she found what she was looking for. The incantation page. During her journey following the black rocks to the dark kingdom, she discovered the different types of incantations that controlled her magical SunDrop hair. She had nearly forgotten them until Cassandra mentioned them earlier. "You cannot use any of the incantations. Not the Healing Incantation nor the Hope Incantation and especially not the Black-Rock Incantation, nor the Decay Incantation." Rapunzel felt a small wave of anxiety as she silently re-read these incantations, trying to refresh her memory in case she needed to utilize them. She knew the Healing Incantation did not work so she did skipped over that.

"Not as if I could ever forget that song anyway. It's practically engrained in my memory." She thought out loud to herself.

Next was the Hope Incantation.

"That's also an easy one. I just used it earlier today."

Next was the Decay Incantation. She paused before reading it. Unlike the Hope Incantation or the Healing Incantation which summoned positive magic, the Decay Incantation called upon dark magic. The Decay Incantation was the complete opposite of the Healing Incantation. While the Healing Incantation stemmed from the SunDrop Flower that provided healing and life, the Decay Incantation originated from the Moonstone Opal which unleashed decay and death to anyone and anything in her proximity. Rapunzel only used the Decay Incantation a couple times due to the significant amount of power it used, so much so that it would overpower the SunDrop power within her. This dark incantation would turn both her golden blonde hair and bright green eyes to black and it was very difficult for her to snap out of the deadly trance. If anyone or anything tried to touch her while in this trance, they would get severely burned. However, the intense power of this incantation would be a useful tool to have in her arsenal just in case she has another run-in with Deam Perfide. With that thought in mind, she reluctantly read the Decay Incantation to herself, making sure she remembered each and every powerful word.

Finally was the last incantation. The Black-Rock Incantation. This incantation also stemmed from the Moonstone Opal and whoever held this magical opal would have the power to control the indestructible black rock spikes that once threatened to destroy Corona. These black rock spikes originated from the ground where the SunDrop Flower sprouted from and they feed off of negative feelings such as anger, hate, sorrow, and loneliness. This would be the last resort for Rapunzel. But like the Decay Incantation, she reviewed the Black-Rock Incantation as well. Just in case.

Once she was sure she had properly memorized each incantation perfectly, she closed her journal and hid it in her nightstand drawer. She could not afford to have these spells fall into the wrong hands. She stood up and walked over to her full-length mirror, staring at her appearance, more specifically her hair. "Well…" She sighed as she tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "Here we go. One last adventure. One last fight." She took off her tiara and carefully placed it on the pillow sitting upon her vanity, "One last time." As the clock struck one, Rapunzel grabbed her frying pan and hurried out of the room.


Rapunzel hastily jogged into the stables to find Cassandra pacing back and forth with her arms crossed. The princess knew her best friend well enough to recognize Cassandra's nervous habits. "Everything alright? Are we ready to go?" Cassandra ever so slightly jumped. This was not a good sign from her tougher-than-nails friend, she must be more anxious than Rapunzel thought. "What's wrong? I've never seen you get startled before."

She let out a humorless laugh, "I wasn't startled. I, uh, got a chill. It is one in the morning you know."

Rapunzel smirked at her friend's stubbornness, "It is also summer, Cass. It doesn't get that cold at night."

"I suppose not." Cassandra sighed as she uncrossed her arms, "I just don't feel completely confident about the plan. What if we encounter Deam Perfide on the way?"

"We go separate ways. The Rogue Goddess will come after me and you make sure my mother and husband make it safely to the tower."

"But I can't use the Healing Incantation without you and your hair for the enchantment."

"Before we left the tower, I asked Rebecca to search the tower for any trinket Gothel could have used for the protection enchantment. She must've used something there with protective properties besides me. Hopefully that trinket is still there."

"And if we can't find it? What then?"

"Then wait for me to return to the tower." Rapunzel spoke in a matter-of-fact tone while she fastened the clips in her hair.

"How can you be so sure that you will escape Deam Perfide?"

"Well…" Rapunzel sauntered over to Maximus who was tied up to the cart, "First of all, I have Max, who just so happens to be the fastest horse in Corona." She gently nuzzled his snout and smiled when he let out a soft whinny. "Second of all, I have the SunDrop stone." She touched the hidden locket on her dress, making sure the stone was secured. "Third of all, I am a mother." She gave Cassandra a firm look, determination in her eyes, "No one comes between a mama bear and her cubs. I will return to the tower."

Cassandra silently nodded as she locked the back hinges of the cart and pulled a tarp over the Queen and Eugene to cover them up, hiding them from sight. She walked over to the other horse pulling the cart beside Maximus and fastened the belts. "I can't help but notice you brought your frying pan."

"Better to have and not need, than to need and not have." Rapunzel hopped up onto the seat at the front of the cart, "I can't help but notice you brought more weapons."

Cassandra smirked at the princess's cheekiness, "Better to have and not need, than to need and not have, right? And besides…" She climbed up onto the cart and sat beside Rapunzel, "You know how much I adore my weapons."

Rapunzel giggled, "Yes, I know." She firmly grasped the reins, "Max? Fidella? Let's do this."

The two horses started off at a slow, smooth pace in order to not disturb the hidden passengers in the cart. The plan was to try and keep a low profile while they passed through the town, but once they reached the forest, they were to move fast in order to avoid being followed or ambushed. Rapunzel and Cassandra kept quiet, they were hyper-focused on their surroundings in case any shenanigans should occur. For the most part, all the citizens of Corona were asleep and their homes were dark. The only sound or movement they noticed were some nocturnal animals going about their nightly routines. Suddenly, Rapunzel felt a chill go down her spine, causing her to uncomfortably move in her seat.

"You okay, Raps?" Cassandra noticed her shift in behavior, "Something bothering you?"

"I feel like we're being watched." She cautiously eyed her surroundings, "You kept tabs on everyone who helped load my mother and Eugene on the cart, right? No sign of her?"

"I only recruited a handful of nurses who I know I can trust. I also kept an eye out for any imposters wearing a bandage around their wrist."

Rapunzel silently nodded. She was concerned about Deam Perfide, but something else was nagging her. Her mind kept thinking about how she could have sworn she heard Thomas Sullivan's voice in the crowd of people she addressed a couple hours ago. She glanced over at her friend, "Where did you sail in from?"

"Pardon?"

"You've been traveling around the world. I was just curious about your latest adventure."

"Oh." Cassandra nonchalantly shrugged, "London."

"London?!" Rapunzel instantly felt a knot form in her stomach, "Why London?"

"I had some business to attend to before coming to join you."

"Private business?"

"Well, if you must know, this business is the reason why I am here. I got into contact with a couple of people that needed my expertise on the subject of Deam Perfide."

"By any chance was one of those people a middle-age redheaded woman named Hannah?"

Cassandra stared at her friend in stunned silence, "Okay, now you're kind of freaking me out, Raps. How on earth did you know that?"

"Eugene and I traveled to London last year…" Rapunzel silently thought to herself for a minute, letting herself gather her thoughts, Vortex is a coverup for Deam Perfide's plan. That's why Sullivan kidnapped Elsa and I in London. But he let me go and took Elsa and Hannah instead. Why? In a quiet voice, Rapunzel worriedly looked up at her friend, "Thomas Sullivan escaped didn't he?"

Cassandra solemnly nodded, "Did you know him?"

"It's a long story…" Rapunzel sat up a bit straighter as they neared the forests' edge, "But let's just say he isn't a fan of my family and I since we got him locked up."

Cassandra looked at her with a bewildered expression. She knew there was more to this story than what Rapunzel was letting on. And now she had more questions than answers. But this was neither the time nor place to get into that conversation. They had more urgent matters at hand.

As soon as they exited the capital city of Corona and entered into the forest, Rapunzel snapped the reins to let Max and Fidella know it was time to speed up. The two powerful horses easily got up to a steady gallop in record time. Cassandra turned around to check on the Queen and Eugene, but something in the shadows caught her eye.

"Uh…Raps?" She squinted harder into the darkness, "I think we've got company."

Rapunzel glanced over her shoulder and, just as predicted, she saw a fast moving shadow following them at a distance. "Alright. This is what we prepared for." Rapunzel carefully stood up from where she was seated on the cart and skillfully leapt onto Maximus' back, "Cut us loose!"

Cassandra pulled out one of her many weapons and effortlessly cut Max out of the harness that tied him to the cart. "Be careful, Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel nodded, "Take care of my family!" As they neared a fork in the road, Rapunzel snapped Max's reins once more, letting him know it was time to break away from the group and head in the opposite direction. In a matter of seconds, Max and Rapunzel broke off to the left while the rest of the caravan broke off to the right. And just as Rapunzel planned, the shadowy figure followed her. But what she had not planned on, was a hidden second shadow following behind the first, except the second shadow went right and continued to pursue Cassandra and the others. "Cass! Behind you!" Rapunzel yelled as loud as she could, hoping that even though she had already split away from her friend, maybe she still heard her screams.

Fortunately, Cassandra did hear Rapunzel's voice, although she was not sure what she yelled out. Nonetheless, it caused her to turn around once more and that is when she noticed the second shadowy figure chasing them. She had to think quick, she knew she could not go to the tower while someone was following her and another split in the road was coming up quickly. Then suddenly an idea struck, only the Queen and Eugene need to make it to the tower. I don't.

"Fidella! Slow down!" The horse looked back at her in disbelief, "Trust me, we need whoever is chasing us to catch up and quickly!" Fidella obediently did what was asked of her and slowed to a canter. In a matter of seconds, the hooded figure was upon them just as the second fork in the road was coming up. "You remember the way, Fidella?!" The horse loudly whinnied with a curt nod. "Great! Make sure you reach your destination!" Cassandra double checked her weapons to make everything was securely fastened on. Finally, the hooded rider was parallel to them and as Fidella began to break off to the left, Cassandra leapt off the cart and tackled the pursuer off their horse. They landed on the ground with a loud THUD but Cassandra easily tumbled out of it and was back on her feet in no time, weapon drawn. She briefly watched Fidella and the cart disappear into the darkness, hopefully safe from any more threats.

Cassandra cautiously sauntered over to the person who followed them, "You there!" She pointed her sword towards the hooded figure's back as they continued to lay on the ground, "Who are you?" The figure slowly moved with a groan, clearly roughed up from being tackled. "Don't move. State your name." She rested the tip of her sword between the person's shoulder blades.

Upon feeling the cold steel of her blade, the person froze, "We haven't met, but you know of me only by name."

Hearing that the voice belonged to a man, she had a strong feeling she knew who this was, "Thomas Sullivan, I presume."

"Very good, Miss Casandra. Daughter of the Captain of the Royal Guard. Former Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Rapunzel."

Cassandra scoffed, "Is that supposed to freak me out? You pretending that you know me, even though we've never met? Turns out you don't know me at all because I'm not as weak-minded as you think-"

"The woman who kidnapped Princess Rapunzel, was your biological mother, right? You're only the adoptive daughter of the Captain of the Royal Guard. But your true lineage comes from Gothel." Noticing that Cassandra had gone silent, he continued with a smirk, "Didn't Gothel abandon you when you were just a toddler in order to live in hiding with the kidnapped princess?"

Cassandra tensed up. No one knew about her past besides Rapunzel, Eugene, and of course her father. "Who told you about that?"

"Gothel was a student of Demanitus. Demanitus was the arch enemy of Zhan Tiri. Zhan Tiri and Deam Perfide were acquaintances. Deam Perfide and I work together." He chuckled, "You see the connection?"

Cassandra scoffed, "So what if Gothel was my birth mother? Why does that matter to you?"

"Oh, it doesn't. But it matters to you. Your own mother chose her over you." He tilted his head in order to get a glance at her stoic expression, "You always felt second best to Rapunzel. And here you are again, at her service. Doing her bidding. Except you're not even her lady-in-waiting anymore-"

"I'm not doing anyone's 'bidding'. I am helping my best friend because I care about her and her family. Maybe you can't comprehend that because you don't have any friends besides a rogue goddess who is only using you for her own devious plot." She firmly pressed the tip of her sword into his back, watching him squirm, "It's ironic you come here to lecture me about doing someone's dirty work when that is exactly what you are doing with Deam Perfide."

"I had a friend. He was one of my best friends." He dropped his head, his voice filled with regret, "Until Deam Perfide killed him."

Cassandra lightened the pressure of her sword against his back, "What happened?"

"He went to the Southern Isles to warn Prince Hans and the rest of his family about Deam Perfide. I guess she found him and decided he was a loose end that needed to be tied up."

"Wait a second." Cassandra felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach, "Any chance your friend's name was Gregory?"

"Yes. Prince Gregory of the Southern Isles." He sighed, "I don't know how he got entangled in this mess. I did everything I could to ensure he stayed away from all of this. The house arrest sentence should have kept him in London, where he would be safe. I can't figure out how he managed to end up in the Southern Isles."

"Oh no." She took a step back, "You're sure he's dead?"

"That's what the guards told me in the Southern Isles." He noticed that she had taken another step back, a look of guilt on her face, "Wait…how did you know my friend's name was Gregory?" When she did not respond, he sat up on his knees and faced her, "Did you know him?"

Cassandra nodded, "I may have run into him while in London a few days ago. He was a good man."

Thomas stared at her for a few seconds. And then it clicked. "You!" He leapt up onto his feet, "You told him about Deam Perfide! You talked him into going to the Southern Isles! You are the reason my best friend is dead!" He pulled out a revolver hidden in his sleeve, "This is all your fault!"

"Now wait a second-" Cassandra dove out of the way as a gunshot rang out, "You can't blame me for his death!" She scrambled to her feet and jumped behind a fallen log as he fired another shot at her. "I did not kill Gregory! Deam Perfide did! You should be angry at her, not me!"

"I knew Deam Perfide wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who stood in her way. Which is exactly why I purposely kept him in London!" He fired another shot at the log she was hiding behind, "You should not interfere with things you do not know about!"

Cassandra slid her sword back into its sheath and pulled out her crossbow. "If you expect me to just step aside and let this homicidal goddess do whatever she wants to the people I care about then you really don't know me at all!" She waited for him to fire another shot, knowing she would have a few second to retaliate in between reloads. As if on cue, he angrily fired his revolver again, a few splinters of wood flew off the log by her head. She promptly popped out from behind the log and aimed her crossbow at his weapon-wielding arm. Just before he was able to finish reloading his revolver, she fired her weapon and nailed him in the shoulder. He screamed out in agony, dropped his gun, and fell to his knees while clutching his right arm. Cassandra hopped over the log and sauntered towards Sullivan, kicking the revolver away from him as she got closer while carrying her crossbow over her shoulder.

Thomas angrily looked up at her smug expression, "You missed."

"I don't miss." She knelt down to his level, "If I wanted you dead, you would be. But I think you could be of use to me."

"I already work for one psychotic woman, I can't work for another."

Cassandra chuckled, "Well, it's a good thing I'm not crazy."

He grimaced from the pain, "What do you want from me? Information?"

"Information is always a valuable trade but I already know a decent amount about your homicidal employer. I want an inside man."

"What makes you think that I would betray one of the most powerful enchantresses to ever exist just to help you?"

"You're not the only one with powerful friends." She grabbed hold of the arrow stuck in his shoulder, causing him to yell in pain, "I know someone who can heal you."

"You're lying. I was told the healing incantation didn't work."

"Then how do you explain this?" She showed him her bloodied shirt and the large tear from Deam Perfide's knife, "Your boss slashed my abdomen earlier tonight and yet here I am, kneeling in front of a lowlife who is being offered a second chance at redemption."

He suspiciously eyed her, "How do you know I won't betray you once I get healed?"

"I know because you and I are not so different. There was a time I was manipulated by the powerful sorceress, Zhan Tiri. She brainwashed me into betraying Rapunzel and the entire kingdom of Corona. She groomed me to be this destructive vengeful pawn in her game. If it weren't for Rapunzel, I would've succeeded in destroying everyone and everything in Corona. I was incredibly fortunate that Rapunzel never gave up on me. She continued to remind me of who I really was underneath all the anger and despair. Eventually, I saw the light and Rapunzel and I managed to defeat Zhan Tiri together." She tilted her head to meet his gaze, "Now, I may not be your best friend. But I am sure that if Gregory were still alive, he would encourage you to reach your full potential just as I am doing now. He would've wanted to see you become the good man he knew you to be. Take this opportunity at redemption. Trust me, you won't regret it."

He hesitated, letting Cassandra's words sink in as his shoulder throbbed and blood began to run down his arm. Finally, after a minute of silence, he whispered, "I want to destroy Deam Perfide. I want to avenge Gregory's death."

Cassandra smirked, "Welcome to the team." She stood up and dusted herself off before walking over to his revolver, "So before I take you to get healed there is one stipulation."

He groaned with an eye roll, "I'm already risking my life to help you. What else do you want from me?"

"Well…" She bent down to pick up his revolver and headed back over to him, "Princess Rapunzel made it very clear she wants to protect the identity and location of this healer."

Sullivan cautiously glanced between the revolver in her hand and her stoic expression, "What is that supposed to mean-"

WHACK!

Cassandra knocked him out with the butt of his gun and watched his unconscious body crumble to the floor. She pocketed his revolver and then bent down to fling his limp body over her shoulder. With a groan, she carefully stood up until she found her balance. With a heavy sigh, she began to hike towards Rapunzel's old tower.


"Faster Max! We need to lose her!" Rapunzel glanced over her shoulder and noticed the shadowed figure was closing in on them. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Deam Perfide caught up to them. She needed to move on to Plan B. She had hoped it would not come to a stand off with the rogue goddess but there was no other choice. She noticed a low hanging branch ahead of them in the distance and an idea popped into her mind, "Max, head towards that branch! Whatever happens, don't stop! Don't come back for me!" Max sternly whinnied in disapproval. "Promise me you'll meet up with Cassandra and the others. The safety of my family is my priority!" Max hesitantly snorted in agreement as they neared the branch. Rapunzel let go of the reins and then swiftly unclipped her braid, letting her long blonde locks flow free in the wind. She firmly grasped her hair in one hand, frying pan in the other, and as Max continued to run at a hard gallop, she snapped her hair around the low branch and swung off of Max's back. Like a pendulum, she used the momentum to swing back towards the hidden figure and caught her by surprise. Deam Perfide tried to duck out of the way but Rapunzel was able to outstretch her frying pan far enough to collide with Perfide's face.

BANG!

The rogue goddess was violently knocked off of her horse and harshly hit the ground, her horse disappearing into the night. Rapunzel effortlessly landed onto the dirt path and unwrapped her hair from the tree branch. With her frying pan firmly grasped in her hands and outstretched in front of her, she cautiously approached the hooded figure who was lying motionless on the ground.

"Hello?" Rapunzel's voice was firm but quiet, "Deam Perfide?" No sound or movement came from the seemingly unconscious goddess.

It can't be that easy, can it?

Rapunzel pondered as she used the handle of the frying pan to remove the hood, revealing her lady-in-waiting's face.

Rebecca?!

She took a step back in surprise but then she noticed the wrapped wrist that the imposter Rebecca wore earlier in the night.

Oh that's right. Deam Perfide is a shape-shifter. But still, seeing Rebecca lying here, even a fake one, is very unsettling.

"Are you done staring?"

Rapunzel gasped as she lifted her frying pan to strike again.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Rapunzel froze, "Why not? It worked last time."

"Because…" Deam Perfide turned her head and gave Rapunzel a mischievous smirk, "I am the only reason your father is still alive."

"What do you mean? What did you do to him?"

She slowly sat up with a groan, clearly a bit shaken from being hit with the frying pan, "When the explosion didn't kill him off, which was annoying by the way, I had no other choice than to take matters into my own hands."

Rapunzel angrily pointed the frying pan at her, "What did you do!"

"I injected him with an enchanted poison that is directly linked to my well-being. When I get hurt, his condition get worse. If I die, he will also die." She touched the bloodied cuts on her face with a grimace, "You can't win, Princess."

Rapunzel lowered her frying pan in defeat, "So what next? It appears that we're in a stalemate."

"Not really. A stalemate would mean neither of us can make a move. But that is simply not true." She laughed with a spin-chilling grin, "I can still kill you."

Rapunzel's fighting spirit connected to the SunDrop/Moonstone, which seemed to activate it. Her indestructible magical locks began to glow as she confidently twirled the frying pan in her hand. She aimed the frying pan at her opponent and smirked, "You can try."


Cassandra trudged along the dirt path that led to Rapunzel's tower, carrying Thomas' limp body over her shoulders. She estimated that she was a little over half-way to her destination but, given that his body felt heavier with every step, she knew she had a long ways to go. She eyed a comfy looking stump a little off the path that she could rest on. As she tiredly stepped towards the stump, she heard the thunderous sound of hooves coming down the path. Not knowing if the horse belonged to a friend or foe, Cassandra picked up her pace and hid in a nearby bush. Once the horse got closer, Cassandra recognized the white mane and military sigma on his chest, "Maximus!"

The horse screeched to a halt, ear perked up, and looked around at the sound of his name.

"Max! It's me!" Cassandra stepped out into the open, "I am so glad to see you! I need your help-wait!" She looked around, "Where's Rapunzel?"

Maximus snorted as he looked back in the direction from where he came from.

"Is she alright?!"

Maximus gave a stern nod and began to anxiously trot in the direction of Rapunzel's tower.

"You're right. Rapunzel told us that no matter what happens, we must get to the tower. Once we heal Eugene and Queen Arianna, we can come back to help her. And speaking of healing…" Cassandra disappeared behind a bush and dragged Sullivan out of their hiding place, "We need to take this man to the tower as well. He's going to help us stop Deam Perfide."

Max suspiciously eyed the man but nonetheless he crouched down so Cassandra could easily hoist Thomas onto the horse's back. She swiftly mounted the horse as he stood back up, "Thank you, Max. Now let's get to the tower." Maximus took off at a steady gallop and in a matter of minutes, they burst through the waterfall of ivy that led to the hidden alcove where Rapunzel's tower stood. As they approached the tower, Cassandra saw Fidella and the cart at the base of the tower. She noticed the tarp was pulled back and the cart was empty, she assumed Rebecca had already taken Eugene and the Queen up into the tower.

"Rebecca?!" Cassandra called out, "Are you there?!"

Rebecca popped her head out of the window, "I'll be right down!"

In less than a minute Rebecca was at the base of the tower, "Hi Cassan-who is this?" She curiously eyed the man that was slung over Cassandra's shoulders.

"This is someone who is going to help us defeat Deam Perfide and he's also in need of healing." She groaned as she shifted her body weight while his limp body began to slip, "And he's starting to feel heavy."

"Oh! I'm sorry, let me help." She reached forward and threw one of his arms over her shoulder while his other arm was slung around Cassandra's shoulder. As they shuffled up the winding staircase, Rebecca huffed, "So…who is..this man?"

Cassandra grunted, "His name…is Thomas Sullivan…he is going to be…our inside man."

"Wait, what?!" Rebecca stopped at the top of the stairs, "This is the Thomas Sullivan?! The one that kidnapped Princess Rapunzel and Queen Elsa in London?!"

"He did what?!"

Rebecca climbed through the trap door that led into the tower, "Uhh…I guess Rapunzel didn't tell you about that yet." She helped pull Sullivan's limp body into the main room of the tower and gently placed him on the floor beside the Queen and Eugene's body.

Cassandra climbed into the tower, "How did you get Queen Arianna and Eugene up here on your own?"

Rebecca giggled as she walked away to get Evie, "I'm a lot stronger than I look, Miss Cassandra." She strode back into the room with Evie sleeping in her arms, "Alright. So? Where's Rapunzel?"

Cassandra glanced towards the window, looking out at the forest treetops in the distance, "She's a bit preoccupied. She told me you might have a backup protection enchantment relic?"

Rebecca worriedly looked at the former lady-in-waiting, "Yes, I was hoping Rapunzel would be here so I wouldn't need to use this item but I did find something." She walked into Gothel's former bedroom and emerged with a handheld mirror. "This was hidden in Gothel's room so I assume it belonged to her. I couldn't figure out why a seemingly simple handheld mirror would be worth hiding but then I realized that I've seen this mirror before." Rebecca placed the mirror on the table and flipped open the book of spells and enchantments that Rapunzel brought earlier, "See this?"

Cassandra looked at the page, "This is the same mirror! This is a magic mirror?"

Rebecca nodded, "Apparently this small handheld mirror was the magical counterpart to the larger full body mirror that once stood in the tower. Gothel probably brought this mirror with her when she left the tower so she could keep an eye on Rapunzel while she was gone. The two mirrors were magically linked. When using this spell, she would be able to look at this small mirror and use it as a type of portal to see into the tower through the bigger mirror. But now that the larger mirror is broken, the portal no longer works. But that doesn't mean the handheld mirror doesn't hold some sort of magical abilities."

"And this is what kept Rapunzel hidden from Deam Perfide for eighteen years?" Cassandra picked up the book and closely examined the page, "Because Rapunzel said we needed a magical relic with protective properties in order for this enchantment to work."

"Maybe? Gothel probably had her own magical relic but since she's no longer alive, we'll never know. So, assuming Gothel used this mirror to watch over Rapunzel while she was out, it was kind of used in a protective way?"

Cassandra looked at her skeptically, "That's a bit of a stretch."

Rebecca shrugged, "It's worth a try?"

"Fine. With Rapunzel gone, we really don't have any other choice." Cassandra and Rebecca knelt down on the floor beside the three injured individuals. With a sigh, Cassandra began to read the protection enchantment and to their surprise, the mirror began to glow. As she finished reading the spell, a single beam of blue light shot out of the mirror and hit the top of the tower. Slowly the entire tower began to glow blue from the enchantment.

"I think it worked." Rebecca whispered.

Cassandra studied the glowing blue light emitting from the tower celling and walls, "But for how long?"

"Who knows? But, just in case, let's not touch the mirror until we're done." Rebecca sat in between Queen Arianna and Eugene, placed Evie's hair on both of them, and began to sing the healing incantation. While she did that, Cassandra crawled over to Thomas and began to treat his injury as well as place a burlap sack over his head and tied his hands together. She knew that as soon as Rebecca was done with the incantation, Sullivan could wake up and she did not want him to know about Evie or the tower. Once Rebecca was done, she hurried over to Sullivan and placed Evie's hair on his wounded shoulder and then continued with the incantation. While Rebecca was working on Thomas, Cassandra crawled over to Queen Arianna and Eugene just in case either of them awoke.

Almost immediately, Queen Arianna began to stir and she sleepily opened her eyes, "What? Where am I?" She rubbed her forehead, "What is going on?"

"Your Highness?" Cassandra placed a gentle hand on the queen's back and helped her slowly sit up, "How are you feeling?"

The Queen blinked at her a few times, looking confused, "Cassandra? Is that really you? I haven't seen you in years. Is this real?"

Cassandra politely smiled, "Yes, Your Majesty. It's me and this is real."

Queen Arianna glanced around the room, "Where are we?"

"This…" She hesitated. Cassandra never thought about how the Queen would react when she found out this was the place her daughter was held captive for eighteen years. "This is Rapunzel's tower."

"What?" An alarmed expression showed on her face, "This is the tower?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. This is the perfect safe house for Rapunzel's children-"

"Excuse you…" A male voice interrupted, "but they're my children too, ya know." Cassandra and Queen Arianna looked over to see Eugene sitting upright, removing the bandages around his head. He glanced over at Cassandra and did a double take, "Oh no. This can't be real. This is a dream, right? Or, if you're here, should I say nightmare?"

"Funny. I see your injuries haven't affected your sense of humor or your wit, Fitzherbert."

Ever since they first met many years ago, Cassandra and Eugene had a very strong sibling love-hate relationship with each other. Sometimes it was amusing. Sometimes it drove everyone crazy. For whatever reason, Cassandra and Eugene always seemed to enjoy throwing witty, sarcastic comments at each other. But underneath all the banter was a mutual respect for one another.

Eugene chuckled, "All joking aside, you look well, Cassandra. Living that nomadic life of adventure suits you. So what brings you back here?"

Cassandra sighed with a smile, "Thanks, Fitzherbert. I've come back to Corona to offer my assistance. There is a lot to explain but right now, we have some extremely pressing matters to attend to."

"Well, I have two important questions to ask." Eugene held up a finger, "One. Who is that?" He pointed to the man laying on the floor beside him with a burlap sack over his head.

Cassandra nervously chuckled, knowing Eugene would not be happy if he knew that man was Thomas Sullivan, "He is someone that needed healing and we need his help. That's all I'm going to say for now."

Eugene incredulously eyed her, "Fine. So question number two." He glanced around the tower, "Where is my wife?"

Cassandra gasped, "Rapunzel! We need to help her!" She scurried to her feet, "Rebecca are you finished?"

Rebecca stood up with Evie in her arms, "Yes, we can stop the enchantment."

Cassandra grabbed the mirror and the glowing blue light surrounding the tower disappeared. "Alright, that seemed to work. Now…" She looked around at the group, "Rapunzel is in the forest keeping a powerful goddess occupied so I could bring you here without endangering the babies. She may need some backup."

Eugene lovingly grazed a gently finger across Evie's sleeping face, "I'll go."

"I was thinking that I should go-"

"Look, Cassandra, you've done a lot tonight and you clearly have a plan in the works. I think you should follow through with the rest of your plan. I will go help Rapunzel." He gently kissed Evie's forehead and gave Rebecca a grateful smile, "Thank you for keeping Flynn and Evie safe."

Rebecca politely bowed her head, "I would do anything for you and Rapunzel. Flynn is sleeping in his crib if you wish to see him before you go."

"Thank you." He quickly left the room to go see Flynn.

Cassandra watched him walk away and then turned to face the Queen, "Queen Arianna, since Eugene insists on helping Rapunzel, I will take you back to the castle as soon as possible. King Frederic is still in critical condition which is why he could not make the journey out here."

Queen Arianna nodded, "Yes, I understand. I must go see my husband immediately."

"If you wish, you can head through this trap door and take the winding staircase down to ground level. Fidella will take us back in the cart. I will be down in a minute."

She gave Cassandra a kind smile, "Thank you. Please hurry."

Once the Queen was out of sight, Cassandra whispered to Rebecca, "We need to take Thomas downstairs as well. I'll take him back to the castle 'as a prisoner'. If you can escort him down, I will stall Eugene."

"Of course, but you must take Evie back to her crib." She handed the baby over to Cassandra and giggled at her uncomfortable body language, "She's just a baby. Why are you holding her like that?"

Cassandra awkwardly tried to cradle the young princess, "I, uh, don't really handle children or babies very often. This is uncharted territory for me."

"Well, it's a good thing you like to explore uncharted territories." She laughed at her own joke, "Just take Evie to Eugene and he can tuck her into her crib." She bent down and helped Sullivan get to his feet, "I'll take care of Thomas."

Cassandra carefully walked up the small set of stairs that led to Rapunzel's former bedroom which was now the twins' current bedroom. When she walked in and saw Eugene gently rocking Flynn's crib, she could not help but crack a smile, "I can't believe you're actually a father."

Eugene softly chuckled, "Neither can I." He looked up and saw Cassandra awkwardly holding Evie, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. Rebecca told me to bring her to you."

"Cassandra, it's a baby. Not a bomb." Eugene laughed as he swiftly reached out and scooped Evie into his strong arms, "Hey there sweet girl. You've done a lot of good work tonight. Now it's time for you to rest." He gently placed her down into her crib and tucked her in.

"I will take the Queen back to the castle-"

"Who is the man that you're trying to hide from me?" He continued to gaze down at his daughter but Cassandra could tell he was onto her.

She shrugged, "I'm not trying to hide him from you. I'm just trying to keep the location of the tower a secret."

He turned towards her with an unconvinced expression, "Then who is he?"

"I'll explain everything later, but for now, you must go help Rapunzel. Now."

"Yes, you're right." He strode out of the room with Cassandra following close behind, "Where is she? Who is she fighting?" Cassandra briefly explained the situation about Deam Perfide as fast as she could while Eugene and her hurried down the winding staircase. As they stepped outside, Eugene headed towards his right-hand horse, "Hey Max, ready for another run?" Maximus stood at attention with a firm nod and a serious snort. "Excellent. I can always count on you, Max." Eugene faced the Queen who was seated on the cart, "I promise I'll bring Rapunzel home safely."

Queen Arianna nodded, "I believe you will, Eugene. Take care."

He nodded with a reassuring smile before mounting his horse. Just as he was about to head out, Cassandra remembered something, "Fitzherbert, wait! I almost forgot to tell you about Rapunzel's hair."

Eugene sighed, "Why does that sentence give me a weird feeling that my wife is a blonde again?"

"She is." Cassandra anxiously laughed, "She has called upon the SunDrop stone and now possesses those powers…again."

Eugene casually leaned forward on the saddle, "Well, then she'll put up a good fight."

"As will you." Cassandra unclasped one of her favorite swords from her belt and held it up to him, "Take good care of it. I want it back in one piece."

"I'll make sure to bring back the sword in one piece even if that means I return in two pieces." He playfully winked as he accepted the weapon.

Cassandra smirked, "That's all I ask." She stepped away from him, "Max will take you to where Rapunzel is."

"Alright, Max. Let's see how fast you can run." He snapped the reins and the white steed raced away, hooves pounding on the ground at a speedy gallop.

Cassandra watched the duo disappear through the waterfall of ivy and then she mounted the cart to take the Queen and Thomas back to the castle. She said her goodbyes to Rebecca and then they were on their way. During the first few minutes of their journey, Cassandra told Queen Arianna everything she knew about Deam Perfide and what this could mean for the Kingdom of Corona. As they were mid-conversation, Thomas cleared his throat, "Excuse me? If I may interrupt?"

Cassandra glanced back at the man sitting in the cart and pulled the sack off his head, "What is it, Sullivan?"

"Do you really think Princess Rapunzel can hurt Deam Perfide in a fight?"

"Well, given that her hair is practically indestructible. Yes."

Thomas went silent for a brief moment and then quietly spoke up, "If that is the case, then I think I should go help Deam Perfide."

"Excuse me?"

"Think about it. After she spilt off to pursue Princess Rapunzel, she knows I continued to follow you. She anticipates I will eventually rejoin her. If I am to be a double agent, then I need her to continue to believe I am on her side. What better way than to swoop in and help her if Princess Rapunzel should have the upper hand in the fight. Especially now that Prince Eugene is on his way to intervene, she may need my help."

Cassandra mulled over his words for a minute. As much as she wanted to keep him in her custody, she had to agree he made a good point. The issue was, did she trust him?


A bright blast of light flashed as Deam Perfide struck Rapunzel's hair. They had been at this for a while and the rogue goddess was starting to lose her patience with Rapunzel's impenetrable magical locks. This was not Rapunzel's first time battling a powerful entity with the powers of the SunDrop stone and her experience was shining through. When Deam Perfide tried to attack her with any weapon, it shattered upon impact with Rapunzel's unbreakable hair. When Deam Perfide tried to use her telekinetic abilities to launch dangerous rocks and boulders at her, Rapunzel's powers either deflected the blows or completely obliterated the boulders to dust. At one point Deam Perfide tried to throw Rapunzel off balance by violently shaking the ground but the SunDrop stone provides Rapunzel the ability to levitate so, once again, she was unaffected. The most frustrating part of this fight for Rapunzel was the inability to fight back in fear she would hurt her father. She knew if Deam Perfide's well-being was not linked to her father's fragile health then this fight would have been over a long time ago.

As Deam Perfide took a few steps back to catch her breath, Rapunzel smirked, "Ready to give up?" Her glowing magical hair slowly began to fade as they temporarily took a break from fighting.

The rogue goddess snarled, "I never give up. Everyone has a weakness."

"My weakness is the love I have for my family. If it weren't for you holding my father's health hostage, you would be in a world of pain right now." To make her point, she snapped her hair towards Deam Perfide as if it were a whip.

Rapunzel's feistiness made Deam Perfide smile, "Now you're beginning to understand my genius."

"I wouldn't say you're a genius." Rapunzel began to circle around her opponent, "Your plan has a lot of faults."

"Does it?" She laughed, clearly entertained by the banter, "Please elaborate."

"Well, you're here to kill me, right? You want to take my powers." She stopped walking when she was behind Deam Perfide, "But that's never going to happen."

"How come? Is it because you think you're invincible?" She turned around to face the Princess of Corona, "Or is it because you're purposely avoiding the use of the Moonstone Opal so I can't possess both stones and unlocked the ultimate power?"

"I am not invincible. We both know that." Rapunzel started circling around the goddess again, feeling relieved that Deam Perfide was unaware she was in possession of the Moonstone Opal, "But you're right about one thing. I refuse to use the Moonstone. And you won't kill me until I call it down. So…"

"So?" She curiously cocked her head.

"We're clearly not getting anywhere. So let's raise the stakes." Rapunzel stopped walking, "Release your hold on my father. If you're as powerful as you claim to be, then you shouldn't need a fallback when fighting me."

A bit of anger surged through Deam Perfide, insulted that this puny princess would insinuate she was afraid to fight her, "Alright. I'll make a deal with you, Princess. I'll leave your father alone. But you must call down the Moonstone Opal. If you're as powerful as you think you are, then you shouldn't worry about me defeating you and possessing the stones." She smirked when Rapunzel hesitated to accept the terms, "You said you wanted to raise the stakes, Princess."

Rapunzel defiantly crossed her arms, "You have yourself a deal."

"Wonderful." A sinister smile spread across Deam Perfide's face. She conjured a strand of King Frederic's hair out of nowhere, "Once I destroy this totem, my attachment to your father will be gone." She continued to smile at the princess as the strand began to smoke and in a matter of seconds, it caught on fire and was incinerated. "There. A bargain is a bargain."

Rapunzel let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding, "Yes. Except for one thing." Now it was Rapunzel's turn to smile, "I already have the Moonstone Opal."

"What?" Deam Perfide incredulously glared at her, "You're lying. You show no signs of it."

"You don't know much about the stones, do you?" Rapunzel firmly grasped her hair in each hand, ready for her opponent to strike, "Just because you carry the stones, doesn't mean you're embracing their power."

"Prove it." The rogue goddess sneered.

"Give me a reason to." Once more, Rapunzel's fighting spirit activated her magical locks as they began to glow again.

Deam Perfide sinisterly smiled, "Ask and you shall receive, Princess." The rogue goddess flicked her wrists and flames instantly engulfed her hands. Rapunzel took a step back, fear growing in her eyes. Deam Perfide menacingly laughed, "You didn't think you were the only one holding back, did you?"

"This…" Rapunzel nervously gulped, "Should be interesting."

Deam Perfide continued to laugh as she began launching balls of fire at the Princess of Corona. Rapunzel instinctively wrapped her hair around her forearms and used that as a barrier to protect herself from the blaze. Although her hair was indestructible, she could still feel the heat of the flames through her magical shield. The inferno bombardment began to take its toll on her as she dropped to one knee, desperately trying to ignore the burning sensation she felt against her forearms. She knew she had to retaliate but it was difficult to make a move when Deam Perfide would not let up with the fireballs. Suddenly, she heard a distinct sound off in the distance and she could hear it quickly getting louder as it approached. Given the dangerous predicament she was in, she could not see what the noise was until the barrage of fire stopped all of a sudden. She instantly dropped her hair that had grown dangerously hot from the flames just as she heard a loud scream of anguish. Her head snapped up to find Deam Perfide on the ground writhing in pain with Eugene and Maximus standing behind her, blood on the blade of Eugene's sword.

"Eugene?!" Rapunzel felt a wave of relief wash over her. "You're alright!"

He gave his wife his usual suave grin, "Did someone call for backup?" He easily dismounted Max as Rapunzel ran over to him.

"Thank goodness you're here!" She jumped into his open arms and gave him the biggest hug she could muster, "You're timing is impeccable!"

"As always." Eugene chuckled as he spun her around. "So…" He put Rapunzel down and stared at the goddess lying very still on the ground, "This is supposed to be the great Deam Perfide? She doesn't seem too scary."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes, "Speak for yourself." She lifted her arms and showed Eugene the burn marks on her forearms.

"What the heck? How did the flames get past your hair?" He gently took her arms into his hands to take a closer look.

"I don't know-ow!" She flinched when he accidentally touched the burn marks.

"Sorry." He looked up her in concern, "Let's get you all healed up. I happen to know where we can find a wonderful healer." He joked with a smirk.

"Yes, but first." Rapunzel torn her eyes away from her husband to glance down at Deam Perfide, "What are we going to do with her?"

"Well, I stabbed her pretty good. And, just speaking from experience here, usually when you're stabbed, you die."

"But, it can't be that easy can it?"

"You think this evening has been easy?" Eugene chuckled as her reached for her hand, "Rapunzel, let's get you healed and then go see your father."

"Alright." Rapunzel and Eugene began to walk away hand in hand, heading in the direction of Rapunzel's tower. Then suddenly, Eugene stopped walking. "Eugene?" Rapunzel turned to look at him, seeing a terrified expression on his face, "Eugene, what's wrong?!" He strained to open his mouth to answer but no words came out, but the fear in his eyes spoke volumes. "Eugene!" She looked behind him and saw Deam Perfide struggling to sit up, her hand outstretched in front of her towards them. "What are you doing?!"

"You expect me to just lay here and die without getting my final revenge?" She slowly started clenching her hand, causing Eugene to start gasping for breath.

"Stop!" She grabbed her frying pan and rushed towards her with Maximus by her side, ready to finish this once and for all.

Deam Perfide quickly outstretched her other hand and forcefully pushed Rapunzel and Max back, knocking the frying pan out of her hand and conveniently hitting Max in her head, causing him to fall limp onto the ground. "Max!" She saw him breathing so she quickly scrambled to her feet and began to sprint towards the goddess once more. But again, Deam Perfide released another powerful blast at her, launching her back even farther and throwing her against a tree. Rapunzel carefully touched the back of her throbbing head, feeling a sticky wet substance on her fingertips which she knew was blood. Her vision was slightly blurred from the head wound but nonetheless she shakily stood back up. She saw Eugene's face was beginning to discolor and her panic began to grow. She tried to take a few steps towards the rogue goddess but she was beginning to feel really groggy. She knew she was on the verge of blacking out, but she needed to stop Deam Perfide. Whatever it took.

Suddenly an idea popped into her head. It was time to utilize the Moonstone Opal. She gathered her hair and spun it around, launching it towards Deam Perfide and lassoed her wrists together.

"What?! You think that is going to stop me?!" She clenched her hand completely and Eugene's body went limp.

"That won't stop you. But this will." Rapunzel took a deep breath and began the Decay Incantation that would unleash decay and death, "Wither and decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains. And set the spirit free. The spirit free." As she called upon the dark magic, her golden blonde hair and bright green eyes turned to black. "Wither and decay. End this destiny. Break these earthly chains. And set the spirit free. The spirit free."

As soon as the hair wrapped around Deam Perfide turned black, the goddess immediately let go of Eugene and began to writhe in agony. She felt her strength and even the life within her begin to fade away. She screamed at Rapunzel, "Make it stop! Please!"

Unlike the Hope Incantation or the Healing Incantation, Rapunzel had no control over this power. Once she fell into the trance, it was very difficult to snap out of it without outside help. Deam Perfide watched in horror as everything around them began to wither away while Rapunzel mindlessly continued repeating the incantation.

As Deam Perfide started to close her eyes, she saw a figure running towards them from out of the forest. Her eyes lit up when she recognized the man to be Thomas Sullivan, "Help!" She gasped, "Please!"

Thomas ran onto the scene with a bewildered expression on his face. He saw Eugene and Maximus lying on the ground unconscious, Rapunzel standing in a ghostly trance repeating some incantation, and Deam Perfide also lying on the ground looking rather pale with Rapunzel's black hair tightly tied around her wrists. He took a hesitant step forward and accidentally kicked Rapunzel's frying pan. Then an idea struck him. He grabbed the frying pan and raced towards Rapunzel. The closer he got to her, the weaker he began to feel due to the Decay Incantation. Fortunately, he managed to get close enough to firmly knock her out of the trance with the frying pan. He did not want to hurt Rapunzel since he was trying to be a double agent but he wanted it to be convincing to Deam Perfide. Rapunzel collapsed to the ground and her hair began to turn back to blonde. Thomas hurried over to Deam Perfide and helped her sit up, "What happened?"

"The stones. They're so powerful." She slowly sat up onto her knees and started coughing up blood, "I need medical attention. NOW!"

Thomas saw a big blood stain on her blouse around her abdomen, "Let's get you out of here." He threw one of her arms around his shoulder and carefully got her onto her feet. They slowly disappear into the dark forest, out of sight of anyone who might come to Rapunzel and Eugene's aid. "Where do you want me to take you?" He huffed as he continued to carry her further into the forest, "Clearly Rapunzel's hair does not heal anymore so were running out of options."

"I know of a healer. She is the goddess of healing."

"What? Why didn't we just start with her instead of trying to use magical healing flower?"

"Because I wanted the stones. But that doesn't matter right now." Deam Perfide gasped as her injuries were beginning to take its toll on her, "The goddess of healing..she is my mother."


Once again, thank you to all who have stuck with me throughout all these years! I already started working on the next chapter so hopefully it will be up within a week or two. As always, please review and have a wonderful week! :)