Hello, fans! I'm back!
In a previous update, I mentioned I was going to work on Charmed more, but I ended up redoing the list it was on, so I decided to take a break from it. Plus, Moonlight Phantom was at the top of the list, and there was a high demand for it, so this works out for everyone.
Now, this one's gonna be a little shorter, partly because I don't like this episode because the captain annoys me. I'm just procrastinating at this point. The rest of the episode will be covered in the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Tangled. I only own this story idea.
Rapunzel tossed and turned as she slept, her brow furrowed. She was having another dream about the rocks and the Moonlight Phantom.
"Phantom?" She called. This time, fog obscured the area around her, but she could still see the shapes of the black rocks within it. "Phantom, are you here?!"
"I'm here!" He called to her, though she still couldn't see him.
"Rapunzel!" She looked behind her and saw the castle. Her father was standing with his arm outstretched, pleading with her. "Please, don't go. Stay here with me."
"Rapunzel." She looked back towards the fog as it started to fade. The Moonlight Phantom was there, surrounded by calm black rocks this time. He reached out a hand to her, silently asking her to come to him.
"Rapunzel!" King Frederic called again.
"You're not alone, Rapunzel," Moonlight called. "And I'm never too far away."
"I… I…" Rapunzel looked at each male, feeling torn as she held her head. The Princess gasped as her hair started to glow and lift into the sky again before black rocks started rapidly coming out of the ground.
"Rapunzel!" Her father called.
"Don't be afraid!" The masked teen told her. "They won't hurt you!"
Rapunzel curled up on the ground as the black rocks surrounded her, her hair still floating into the sky…
And then she woke up with a gasp and groaned, rubbing at her eyes. "Ohhh, wow… that was crazy."
She got out of bed and opened her balcony window, looking out at the rising sun. She sat on the railing, looking towards the mainland, as the wind caught her hair and drifted in that direction.
While Rapunzel couldn't shake the feeling that something magical was behind her dreams, a part of her wondered if her anxieties were also charging them. On the one hand, she loved her father and was so happy to be home again. However, her father was so overprotective of her that she felt like she was back in the tower again, cut off from the world she wanted to understand. On the other hand, the Moonlight Phantom had been there for her when she really needed a friend, not unlike a certain alchemist she had befriended.
She looked over at the painting of Varian she'd left on the easel and sighed. Both boys had been so understanding and weren't pushing her to be something she wasn't. The Phantom reminded her she was brave, innovative, and strong and could easily leave here. Varian wanted to help her find answers that her father had forbidden her from seeking out.
Rapunzel felt like she was caught between two sides that wanted what was best for her, yet it seemed that only one was actually listening to what she wanted. It hurt that everyone around her was trying to make her feel content with a sheltered life as if she couldn't decide that for herself.
Sighing again, Rapunzel decided to keep this dream in her head, not anywhere anyone could read or hear about it. The last thing she needed was more headache. After all, she had that famous painter coming in two days to paint her royal portrait. She couldn't be distracted now.
Rapunzel was nervous about meeting someone new again. What if she made a bad first impression, like at the welcoming ceremony? And what would she even do for her picture? This was going to take some thinking.
She looked back at the woods, knowing Old Corona lay somewhere within. "Maybe I should pay Varian a visit. It's been two weeks since we were last over, and maybe he could give me some advice."
Pascal woke up and yawned before looking around. He came over to join her, climbing up onto her shoulder. "Hey, Pascal." She smiled and greeted him. "You're up early, too?"
Pascal squeaked happily, and she smiled, rubbing his nose.
(Later that day)
"Okay, guys, wait for it…" Rapunzel put on a flower headband. "How's this?" She was sitting on the ground, posing with her guitar. Next to her were some books and burning incense.
"Hmm," Cassandra rubbed her chin. "Too bohemian."
"Ugh." Rapunzel sighed as she slumped a bit. She then grabbed the books and balanced them on her head. "What about… this?" She put on a pair of glasses and held an open book near a bouquet of flowers. Pascal sat on top of the stack, balancing his own book on his head.
"Way too uptight."
"Mmhmmmm?" Rapunzel prompted as she posed beside a bust with sculptor tools in her hand.
"Too…"
"Lighten up, Cass, it's just a painting." She turned to Eugene, tossing an apple in his hands.
"It's more than a painting, Eugene. This is the Princess's royal portrait." Cassandra gestured to Rapunzel as she played with a tennis racket.
The Princess sighed as she lowered the racket. "She's right. I mean, every one of these portraits says something about what made that particular king or queen unique."
"It's tradition, and she's gotta decide on her look soon. The Giovanni gets here in two days, and, from what I hear, that guy is as famous for his temper as he is for his art." Cass smirked a little in amusement.
"Well, look at this guy," Eugene said, nudging the painting he was next to. "He's not doing anything, and he seems pretty happy."
"Whoa! Careful!" Cassandra ran over and righted it. "These paintings are priceless, especially that one. That's the only known painting of Robin the Eleventh."
"Wait." Rapunzel went over to join them. "This kingdom had eleven Robins?!"
"Nope. Just this dud." Cassandra pointed at the picture. "They called him Robin the Eleventh because the only thing interesting about him was that he had–"
"Nine, ten. Eleven fingers," Rapunzel realized. "That's right, I remember reading about him."
"Listen, Raps, if you're trying to find your defining activity, don't listen to this dud," She jabbed a thumb at Eugene over her shoulder, "whose whole work history is being a two-bit hood."
Eugene laughed condescendingly. "Two-bit hood?! Hold the pastry! I'll have you know, Cassandra, Flynn Rider was a légende."
Cassandra scoffed, crossing her arms. "Key word being 'was.' And, what is it you do now?"
"I, uh… I do many… things. You know, important things. So important that you wouldn't understand them! Sometimes, I don't even understand them! Tell her, Blondie." He said awkwardly before turning to Rapunzel, who was busy thinking while Pascal bounced on the tennis racket and changed colors.
"What?" She asked in confusion when she noticed them staring. Cass simply looked at Eugene smugly.
(Sometime later)
Having sent word ahead with Owl, Rapunzel and Cassandra were riding Fidella to Old Corona. "You know, he's not going to have the answer to everything," Cassandra said as she and Rapunzel approached the village.
"I know," Rapunzel sighed before they stopped and climbed off the horse. "But, he might help me feel less uncertain. I mean, it's supposed to be a painting about me. Why am I having so much trouble knowing myself?"
"Hm." Cass hummed as they headed towards Varian's house.
As they walked, villagers noticed the Princess and waved to her, which she did in turn. Rapunzel smiled as she saw some little kids playing hopscotch before they waved to her, too. The girls stopped for a minute as the Princess enjoyed the serenity of the village. She then frowned before asking her friend, "Hey, Cass?"
"Hm?" She responded.
"Is it… wrong that a part of me wishes that this was my life?"
"What do you mean?" The handmaiden looked at her in confusion.
"I just… I love my parents and am glad to be with them again, but… I wish the life that came with them was more like… this." She gestured to the farm life around them. "I'm so used to doing everything myself and caring for my corner of the world. It's been weird having other people do stuff for me and having a packed schedule that I can't control."
Cassandra wasn't sure what to say to her, but it was clear this had been bothering her for a while. Cass felt guilty that she hadn't noticed it before since she was one of the closest people to Rapunzel besides her boyfriend.
Before she could say anything, though… "Ah, Princess," They looked up to see Quirin approaching them. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Hello, Sir Quirin," Rapunzel smiled. "I just wanted to visit with Varian and maybe ask for some advice on something. Is he around?"
"Last I saw, he was still in his lab," Quirin answered. "Go on ahead. I still have some work to do in the fields."
"Thank you." She nodded before the girls headed towards the manor.
Going in the way they came before, they opened the door and stepped inside, noticing the lab door was open when they approached it. Hearing a commotion inside, the girls looked at each other and ran in to find out what was happening. "Come on, get out of there!" Varian yelled as they found him reaching under his desk. "You can't hide from me!"
They could hear him wrestling with something out of their sight before he tumbled onto his back, his goggles askew while holding a squirming raccoon. Rapunzel giggled a bit at his appearance, catching Varian's attention. "Rapunzel!" He pushed his goggles up, pleased to see them. "Uh, one second, please…" He took something from the raccoon's paws and set it on a shelf. "There."
He let the creature go, and it ran off to climb onto a table and curl up. "Stop grabbing my stuff, Ruddiger!" He dusted himself off and walked over to the girls. "Sorry about that."
"Ruddiger?" Rapunzel hummed, looking at the raccoon. "Isn't that your last name?"
"Yeah. That's actually the raccoon I was having trouble with. After getting in through the chimney of all places, Dad said I could keep him as long as I kept him out of the orchard. I figured that since he was going to stick around, he needed a name, so I thought giving him my family name would work as well as anything," Varian explained. "I was so happy when I got your letter saying you guys were coming over."
"Well, I figured it had been a while since we last saw you, so we should visit again," Rapunzel said. "Besides, I kinda need some advice about something."
"Advice about…" He pointed to his hair.
"No," She shook her head. "This is about something else. Do you have time to talk?"
"Sure, come on up," he said, leading the way out of the lab and to the door to the manor. "You're just in time for lunch, anyway."
"Sounds good," Cassandra said as they followed him up.
Varian led them to the kitchen, where he removed his gloves and apron. "Are ham sandwiches all right with you?"
"Sure," Rapunzel agreed as the girls sat at the table. After a few minutes, the sandwiches were done and served with mugs of apple cider. "Thank you."
"So, what advice do you need?" Varian asked as Ruddiger came in and chowed on a bowl of fruit he set on the floor for him.
"Well…" Rapunzel sighed. "This famous painter is coming in two days to paint me, and I'm… I'm not sure what to do for it. It's my royal portrait, very important and special. It's supposed to showcase how I'm unique, but I can't decide on a hobby."
"It's tradition for her to have a portrait." Cassandra nodded.
"Ah. Well, first off, hobbies don't make you 'unique.'" Varian explained. "Hobbies are something anyone can do. If we interviewed everyone in the Kingdom, I'm sure you'd have one or two in common with everyone."
"Hm, good point." Rapunzel agreed.
"What you need to do is think of what makes you stand out, appearance-wise. Is it your extremely long hair? The fact that you don't wear shoes? Maybe the fact that you always have your chameleon with you… Speaking of, where is he?"
"Pascal decided to stay at the castle this time," Rapunzel said. "He probably wanted some alone time."
"I see," Varian nodded before getting back on track. "Anyway, the problem is that you're focusing on the wrong parts of you. It's not about what you can do. It's about what makes you… you."
Rapunzel looked down at her bare feet and fidgeted with her hair. "You're right. I was being silly."
"No," Varian shook his head assuringly. "You just got caught up in the 'tradition,' which is a weighted word that means different things to different people. It's a smaller list when looking at the right section."
She nodded, smiling. "You're such a big help to me, Varian. Thank you."
"Happy to be of service." He grinned.
A few minutes later, Quirin came inside. "Well, looks like a party in here."
"Hey, Dad," Varian smiled at him. "I left a sandwich on the counter for you."
"Thanks, Son," Quirin smiled appreciably. He served himself and sat beside him as they ate and talked.
With the others preoccupied, Rapunzel took a bite of her sandwich, her mind wandering to last night's dream as she chewed. The Moonlight Phantom told her to not be afraid, assuring her that the rocks were safe, but she was always so full of fear during the dream. Then there was the other aspect of the dream when she felt like she was being forced to choose between her father and the Phantom, one's protection and the other's understanding.
A part of her wanted to ask Varian about it since he was so good at problem-solving, but then she decided against it. She didn't want Varian too involved in this for fear of him getting in trouble if either of their fathers overheard.
They heard a knock at the door, and Quirin got up to answer it. "Yes?"
"Hello. I was taking a cab back home, but the driver took me to the wrong place and left me here. Could you be so kind as to take me home?" a rather distressed-looking old woman asked.
Quirin looked at Varian. "Will you be alright?" His son nodded. The village head nodded back and walked out, closing the door behind him.
"Yeesh, I sure hope that driver doesn't keep that job," Varian grimaced. Rapunzel hummed in agreement before taking another bite of her sandwich.
(Around sunset at the castle)
Pascal landed on a pillow, nuzzling into it to take a nap. He had just closed his eyes when the door suddenly opened, causing him to wake with a shock.
"Who knew having a job would be so much work?!" Eugene asked tiredly, slumping into a chair.
After the girls left, Eugene ranted at the Snuggly Duckling before trying to get a job to prove Cassandra wrong. However, that wasn't going as well as he had hoped since he failed at most of the jobs he tried and was fired. The one job he did well at didn't work out because he had stolen from that person before.
"I mean, what with all those rules and responsibilities. You should've seen some of these guys I worked for. Like, hey, buddy, who died and made you boss?! Ugh," He put his head in his hands. "Maybe Cassandra was right… ugh, just saying those four words sent bile into my mouth, down the throat, oh, that–ugh!" Eugene groaned before being depressed againg. "But it's true, maybe the only thing I was meant to be was a–"
"Thief!" They suddenly heard a woman cry before looking out the window. "Stop, thief!"
A man in a dark hood ran through the castle courtyard, holding a sack over his shoulder.
"I know where he's headed," Eugene murmured when he realized the direction he was headed. "I know where he's headed!" He bolted out of the room, leaving a confused chameleon behind.
The guards showed up as the thief slipped through the crowd, trying to find him. "Guys, he's headed for the docks!" Eugene ran up to them, pointing in the direction he went.
"We'll handle this, Rider, and besides, he ran in the opposite direction, genius," The Captain retorted before they ran the other way.
"No one calls me a genius and gets away with it!" Eugene declared, running towards the docks.
The thief got to the docks just as Eugene had predicted, glancing behind him with a smirk when he saw no one was following him. He was halfway down the pier when a black boot appeared from behind some crates, tripping the man into some wooden planks. He looked up to see Eugene before getting to his feet for a fight. The former thief kicked a knife into his hands, cutting a rope beside him. This released a bunch of fish onto the thief before a net fell on him, trapping him.
"Psh, amateur," Eugene scoffed at him.
"Rider, what are you doing here?" The Captain showed up with the other guards.
"Well, Captain, I don't wanna say I just did your job for you, but I just did your job for you. It was the old distract-and-run-to-the-docks-to-catch-the-last-ferry tactic. I know because I invented it. Nice hustle, though. Keep your chin up." He said smugly, walking past them and the gathered crowd.
"I don't believe it. Flynn Rider on the side of law and order." Stan commented, making Eugene pause before beaming in realization.
Like I said, it's a short chapter. I'll just rip off the bandage and finish the episode next time. Fortunately, this is one of my multi-chapter updates, which will be done soon.
In the meantime, watch for updates on Celestial Bonds and With You while waiting for this one.