Eugene woke up the next morning with the biggest headache he's ever had. "Ugh, man," Eugene said. "I think I had to much to drink." He rubbed his temples. "RYDER!" the Captain of the Guard yelled behind the door. "Ryder! Get out here!"
"Don't yell at me!" Eugene replied. "I can hear you just fine!" Eugene rubbed his head, ran his fingers through his hair, and opened the door. The Captain of the Guard stared at him. "You look rough, Ryder," he stated. Eugene just stared at him. The captain straightened his stance, puffing out his chest a little. "Your mission will start in an hour, Ryder, so be prepared to be outside! We will NOT wait for you!"
"Got it," Eugene said, tired.
Eugene closed his door and sat back on his bed. "Ugh," he moaned. "This is gonna be wonderful." He rubbed his eyes again. "Okay, Eugene, let's see the damage." Eugene grabbed his comb and walked over to his mirror. "Oh, my gosh!" Eugene cried.
His hair is in completely different directions, messing up his whole life of perfect hair. To finish the look, he noticed eye bags. "Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man," Eugene said, checking his eye bags. "This is bad! I can't have eye bags!"
Eugene brushed his hair, fixing it back to it's perfect shape. "Oh, man, Eugene. What did you get yourself into?" Eugene tried many tactics to remove his eye bags, finally concluding with a little bit of foundation to cover them up. "Okay, no one needs to know, no even yourself," he said to himself, examining himself in the mirror.
Eugene fixed his goatee, then checked himself in the mirror. "You look great today, like always, Eugene. Drop them dead!" He clicked at himself in the mirror, and winked. Eugene, despite his headache, felt in a much better mood than he did yesterday. He doesn't need to speak to the king. Although, he does have to leave Rapunzel at the tower for four days, which he isn't looking forward to, but he has to do it for the king's trust.
Today's the day to earn the king's trust, and there seems to be no way out of it. Rapunzel stopped Eugene in the hall. "Eugene!" she called. "I heard that you're going with the Captain too!"
"Yeah?" Eugene said.
"Where are you going?" she asked excitedly.
"I, uh," Eugene said, rubbing his neck. "Well, uh-"
"You can tell me, Eugene!" Rapunzel said, smiling.
"Uh, well, the first thing you should know is your old man doesn't want you coming along," Eugene started. Rapunzel's smile faded. "Eugene?"
"The next thing you should know is that I'm doing this for you," Eugene continued, grabbing Rapunzel's hands. Rapunzel grew worried. "Third thing is that I'm going with two people who still have it out for me. Well...one's a horse, technically, but it still counts!"
"Eugene, just tell me," Rapunzel said.
"I have to go out of Corona for four days to pick something up for your old man," Eugene finally said. "And he doesn't want you coming with me."
"Why?" Rapunzel asked, hurt.
"He's probably trying to protect you," Eugene said reassuringly. "I mean, he hasn't seen you in eighteen years, and you just came home after being kidnapped from Gothel, lost your magic hair, and nearly died on many instances. He's just trying to protect you, I'm sure."
"Protect me?" Rapunzel asked, angry. "I'm going to talk to him! You shouldn't have to do this!"
"Blondie, it's okay, really," Eugene said.
"No, it's not okay!" Rapunzel said, pulling away from Eugene. She stormed off, into the throne room, slamming the doors open. "Dad!" Rapunzel called, anger in her voice. "We need to talk!"
"Princess, please," Nigel said. "Now isn't the time for this."
"Nigel," King Frederic said. "Leave us."
"Yes, sire," Nigel said.
Nigel left the room, leaving Rapunzel and King Frederic inside the room. "Dad!" Rapunzel cried. "How could you?"
"What, dear?" King Frederic said.
"Send Eugene out for you!" Rapunzel yelled.
"Oh, you've heard," King Frederic said, slightly ashamed.
"Yeah, I heard!" Rapunzel replied. King Frederic put his hand on her shoulder. "Dear, I'm doing what I have to."
"No!" Rapunzel cried, pulling away from her father's touch. "You don't have to do this!"
"Unfortunately, I do," King Frederic said. "I have to follow the decree from King Harold, dear. You know that."
"I don't care what the decree says!" Rapunzel yelled. "You're sending him on a suicide mission! He's not ready for that kind of responsibility!"
"He can handle himself for twenty years, dear, with only being imprisoned twice. I'm sure he's prepared to take on this task."
"Dad! You don't get it!" Rapunzel cried. "He saved me! He actually died for me, dad! And you're still willing to send him out to a different kingdom, just to grab stuff that can wait for a few weeks, and all because you don't trust him?"
"Rapunzel-" Rapunzel pulled away from him again, tears filling her eyes. "No, dad! This isn't his fight! This is yours! You can't find it in your heart to trust Eugene."
"Rapunzel, I do trust him. That's why I'm sending him out to-"
"No, you don't!" Rapunzel cried. "You don't trust him! You don't believe me when I said he saved me from Gothel! You don't believe me when I said I fell in love with him! And you don't even call him Eugene! You keep calling him Flynn Ryder! That's not him anymore, dad!"
"Rapunzel, just listen to me," King Frederic tried.
"No, dad! You listen to me!" Rapunzel said. "You have no faith in Eugene! I'm not letting him leave!"
Before King Frederic could say anything, Rapunzel stormed out of the room, crying.
Author's Note
"I was lying on the staircase, begging you please don't go."