Cass closed the book and put it back on the shelf in a very calm manner. Then she opened her mouth, "I'm going to kill your parents, Rapunzel. And you can't stop me."

"Wait," Rapunzel said, placing her hands on Cass's arms. "Please, let me explain."

"Your parents founded the Society! This book" – she picked it back up – "proves that! And you never told me. How long have you known?"

"I… Cass, please."

"How. Long?"

Rapunzel knew there was no winning this fight. "Ever since I got the book in Egypt. I've known ever since you've been traveling with me and Eugene."

Cass glared at her and didn't say anything. For some reason, that hurt even more. "So, you lied to me again."

Rapunzel knew she could say that she never lied about Gothel back at the Academy. That she just chose not to tell Cass that Gothel was the woman who kidnapped her.

But Rapunzel knew it was pointless. She had deliberately not told Cass about Gothel because she didn't want Cass to hurt. And now, she deliberately hadn't told Cass about her parents being the Society's founder because she didn't want to get hurt herself.

There was no more point in keeping secrets. Sooner or later, people got hurt.

"I did," Rapunzel finally said. "But I did it because I knew you'd want to kill them and I can't have that."

"Who cares?" She tossed the book onto the ground. "Your own father just tried to kill the man you love. Don't you want them dead?"

Rapunzel recoiled back. "What? No! Of course I don't want them to die. Despite what happened back in the lake, I don't want either of my parents to die. I want to get to know them. I want to mend the bridge between us. I don't want to condemn them to death. And shame on you for even asking me that in the first place."

"Well, Raps, seeing as I don't care about what you want, I'm going to kill them. First, I'm going to get answers. Why did they create a Society that lies to people? That keeps things from us? And then once I have an answer I'm satisfied with, I'll kill them. I said I was going to take down the Society and this is the way to do." She brushed past Rapunzel.

"Cass, wait! I talked to my parents. They may have founded the Society but they're not in charge anymore. If you kill them, it won't bring down the one person who is in charge."

"And who's that?" she asked, keeping her back to Rapunzel.

"Agent Tom."

Cass laughed in a way that showed her disbelief. "No way. He's just a foot soldier. There's no way he's in charge."

"He is. So, if you want to bring down the Society, then you need to go through that portal and find headquarters and talk to Agent Tom. Killing my parents won't accomplish anything."

"No. You see, Raps," she said, turning to face her, "killing your parents will accomplish something. You killed my mom. It's only fitting I kill yours." She ran for the door.

Rapunzel had no choice but to follow. "Cass, wait!" She ran down the steps out of the tower. "Please. Just stop and think for a moment."

She whirled around to face her. "I have thought about this. I always said I was going to kill the people who founded the Society. I was always going to take them down for lying and keeping secrets. So, I am going to do this."

"You know I can't let you."

"How are you going to stop me? I'm a better fighter than you."

Rapunzel sucked in a breath. "By doing this." She kicked out and landed a blow to Cass's stomach, making Cass stumble back. Rapunzel used that to her advantage and she took off running towards the lake. She needed to warn her parents but… if Cass tried to kill her parents, they would probably defend themselves. Rapunzel didn't want to see anyone die.

"Rapunzel!" Cass shouted, running after her. "You can't stop me!"

Cass was always the better fighter but Rapunzel was always faster. She didn't stop running until she came upon the lake. Her parents were nowhere to be seen but Eugene was there, pacing back and forth. The water creature was still meandering around the lake, looking more at peace without the piece of wood in its throat.

"Eugene," Rapunzel gasped out.

He looked at her with wide eyes. "Rapunzel. What is it?"

"It's Cass. She's going to kill my parents."

"Where are they?" Cass asked, catching up to Rapunzel. "Where are they!"

"Hold on." Eugene held his hands up. "What the hell is going on?"

"I'm going to kill Arianna and Frederic," Cass snapped. "That's what's going on."

"She knows they founded the Society," Rapunzel explained to Eugene's confused face.

"Oh. Oh. Oh, that's not good."

"No, it's not. Help me stop Cass from killing my parents."

Eugene hesitated. Rapunzel jerked away from him. "You're not going to help me?" she asked.

"It's just… Frederic just tried to kill me, Rapunzel. I don't exactly have any love for him."

"But he's my family. He can't die."

"They must be in their time machine," Cass said, heading straight for it.

Rapunzel watched her ex-friend walk away. "Eugene, please help me."

After a moment, he sighed deeply. "I don't want to," he admitted. "But I will. For you."

She sagged in relief. "Thank you. We need to stop Cass."

"I think your parents are good enough fighters that they don't need our help. In fact, Cass is probably more likely to die than they are."

"I don't want that either!"

"Doesn't sound too bad to me," he said.

"Please don't joke right now."

He nodded once. "Gotcha."

"Come on. We have to get to my parents' time machine." They took off running, going after Cass.

When they reached the castle time machine, Rapunzel saw Cass beating on the door.

"Open up!" she was shouting.

A window above the door opened and Arianna poked her head through it. "What's going on?"

"I know you founded the Society!" Cass said.

Arianna blanched. "Y-yes. I did. We did. But… what's the problem?"

"Open the door!"

"Don't open the door!" Rapunzel shouted. "Cass wants you dead. Stay inside where you're safe."

"Are you safe?" Arianna asked her and her concern touched Rapunzel's heart.

Before she could answer her mother, Cass suddenly grabbed Rapunzel and placed a small dagger to her throat.

"I thought you didn't have any weapons!" Eugene cried.

"I always keep a spare weapon on me," Cass said. "Just in case." She drew Rapunzel closer to her, pressing the dagger into her skin. Rapunzel winced.

"Cass," Eugene warned. "Don't do this."

"Come out!" Cass said to Arianna right as Frederic showed up, poking his head out the window too. "Or I'll kill your daughter. Is that what you want? For her to die?"

"You would kill me?" Rapunzel asked in a softer voice. "Again?"

"I'm doing what I have to do, Raps. If this is the only way to get close enough to kill your parents, I'm taking it."

Arianna and Frederic exchanged a look before Frederic nodded. "We're coming out."

"Come on, Cass," Eugene said. "This is nonsense. Let Rapunzel go."

"No," she growled.

"You'd ruin your friendship all over again?" He crossed his arms. "That's pretty shitty."

"Stop talking. And this isn't about Rapunzel. It's about her parents."

"We both know it's about Rapunzel."

"Can you both stop talking like I'm not here?" Rapunzel asked. She was trying to keep her breath steady. Every time Cass moved, the dagger slipped closer to her neck.

The door to the time machine opened and Arianna and Frederic stepped out, both their hands raised.

"What is going on here?" Frederic asked. "Why are you threatening to kill our daughter?"

"Because she lied to me about you. You founded the Society and I made a promise to take down the Society. So, you both need to die for me to accomplish that."

Rapunzel winced, waiting for her parents' reply.

But what they said instead shocked her.

Frederic chuckled. "That's a silly promise to make."

Cass frowned. The dagger on Rapunzel's neck eased a little. "It's not silly. The Society kept so much from me. I never knew what had happened to my mother. But the Society knew. They never told me that my mother was the one who kidnapped Rapunzel. I had to find all this out when I went looking through the archives. I was betrayed. The institution that took me in – raised me and taught me everything I knew – had been lying to me the entire time. So, yeah, that's why I've wanted to bring the Society to its knees. It has to pay for its lies. They send assassins after people. I never knew they did that growing up. They hurt people. It has to end."

"So," Arianna said, "you think by hurting us that's going to bring the entire Time Traveler's Society to its knees?"

"Yes."

Arianna and Frederic looked at each other and laughed. "That's not how this works," Arianna said. "We're in not in charge anymore. We got kicked out. That's why we're trying to get back to headquarters – so we can bring down the man who kicked us out in the first place. We have the same mission. We both want to bring the Society down. We want to take over again so we can make changes."

"Positive changes," Frederic added.

"Changes that will help the world and all the other worlds in the galaxy. We created the Society to help people. To save people. And we've been doing that. We want to end the pain and suffering."

"I don't believe you," Cass said. "You tried hurting that water creature without a second thought."

"That's because it was trying to kill our daughter," Frederic said.

"And," Cass continued speaking like Frederic hadn't said a word, "I just saw you try to drown Eugene while your daughter was pleading with you to stop. I don't think you want to help people. I think you just want to get back in charge and I'm going to make sure you can't do that." She pushed Rapunzel away and lunged at Frederic. She managed to land a slice to his arm before he jerked back. Arianna ran forward and kicked Cass in the stomach, sending her stumbling away.

Eugene knelt down to help Rapunzel stand and they clung together as they watched the proceedings.

"Do we do something?" Eugene asked her.

"We can't let Cass kill them… and I can't let them kill Cass." She looked around for a solution and when she spotted it, she knew.

She knew there was one way to get her parents away from Cass. If they were trying to get to headquarters then Rapunzel would make sure they would, even if it meant saying goodbye to Cass. But at least she'd be alive.

"Stay here," Rapunzel told Eugene. "I got this." She gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" he asked.

"I already forgave you. You're the man I love. I could never stay mad for long."

Cass managed to get a blow against Arianna's leg. Arianna stumbled to the ground. Frederic swung his fist at Cass but Cass backed away at the last second.

Rapunzel left them fighting as she ran back to the lake and to where the water monster still was. It was still early morning, so the sun wasn't fully in the sky yet but Rapunzel knew she didn't have much time before the water creature went back under water.

She waded into the water and approached the creature with care. "I helped you, so please help me. Let me use the portal."

The water creature blinked down at her and nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you. Can I bring my parents with me? I know they… tried to hurt you but they were just protecting me."

"You can bring them but they have to promise to leave me alone."

"Yes. I'll make sure of it. And… you have to make sure Cass, the black haired girl, can't come through. Not for a while, anyway. Not until we're long gone."

The creature nodded once.

"Thank you." She moved as quickly as she could back out of the water and to her parents. Frederic had managed to pull Cass onto the ground and was restraining her.

"Let her go," Rapunzel said. "We're leaving. Frederic. Arianna." They didn't look at her but she knew one way to make them. "Dad. Mom."

They both whipped their heads in her direction.

"We can leave through the portal. The water creature said we could. We can reach headquarters and you can return to your rightful places as rulers. But let Cass go. Don't kill her."

"She'll just come after us," Arianna said.

"No, she won't. I made a deal with the creature. She can't follow through the portal until we're gone. That will give us a chance to get away. But we need to go now."

"We'll go," Arianna said. "Come on, Frederic."

"I will go," he said slowly. "But only if Eugene doesn't come with us."

"What?" both Rapunzel and Eugene said at the same time.

"Or I'll kill her," Frederic said, nodding down at Cass. "You, me, and your mother. We're the only ones to go through the portal. I'll agree to let Cass go. I'll agree not to kill her if you come with us and leave Eugene behind."

Rapunzel felt like she was being suckered punch straight to the heart. She looked over at Eugene who was shaking his head.

"That's bullshit," Eugene said. "Rapunzel wouldn't leave me behind." He turned to her. "Blondie, say something."

She stared into Eugene's eyes. Into the eyes of the man she loved.

She couldn't leave him but… she had to save Cass. Her father clearly had the upper hand. If he wanted to, he could plunge his sword right through Cass's stomach and that would be that.

This was the only way to save both Cass and her parents.

But it meant leaving Eugene behind.

"If he shows his face again," Frederic said, "then I'll kill Cass the next chance I get."

"So much for being a good person," Cass snapped, spitting into his face. Frederic tightened his hold onto her, making her wince.

Rapunzel was seeing an entirely new side of her parents she had never seen before. Granted, it's not like she had seen that many sides to them since she only met them yesterday. But it was becoming obvious to her that they weren't as good and pure as she had been hoping they would be.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. It wasn't fair that Cass had hurt her many times and Rapunzel was still trying to save her life. It wasn't fair that her father hated Eugene when Eugene hadn't done anything to him. It wasn't fair that Rapunzel had been locked up for eighteen years of her life by a madwoman.

And it wasn't fair that she was being asked to sacrifice her happiness with the man she loved to save both her parents and Cass – neither of whom were exactly good people. But she still didn't think any of them deserved to die.

She knew what she had to do and she didn't want to make it.

Eugene must have seen the resolve on her face because his eyes turned pleading. "Rapunzel, don't. Don't leave me behind." His words cut her to her core. "I know you don't want to."

"Of course I don't," she whispered.

"So, don't! Don't go with your parents. Not if it means you're unhappy."

"Who says she'll be unhappy?" Frederic asked.

"Can't you see her face?" Eugene waved a hand at her. "She's suffering. You're making her suffer. Don't kill Cass and let me come with. That's what will make Rapunzel happy. Don't do this to her."

"You don't know what will make my daughter happy," Frederic said. "You're just a boy. I'm her father. She doesn't need you in her life but she does need her parents."

"Arianna?" Eugene turned to her. "What do you think?"

"I…" She sighed. "I think I agree with my husband."

Eugene crossed his arms. "I don't think you do. If anyone can talk him out of this, it's you. Don't you want Rapunzel to be happy?"

"Of course," she said raggedly.

"Then don't be like Gothel."

That hit Arianna to the core. It was obvious from the pain in her eyes. "I'm nothing like that woman," she hissed. "I lost my child. I never stole any children."

"You're stealing your daughter's happiness right now," Eugene said sadly.

Frederic huffed. "How highly you think of yourself. You truly believe you're the reason for my daughter's happiness?"

"Ask her."

Everyone looked at Rapunzel. Even Cass, who was still being held down by Frederic.

"Eugene makes me the happiest I've ever been," she said. Eugene looked smug but she knew she was going to have to crush his heart. "But" – she had to watch the smile slowly slip from Eugene's face – "I'll go with you. To save Cass and to save both of you. And to save Eugene. I don't want you to try and kill him again. If going with you means I can save everyone, I will. But you need to know that I am not happy about it."

"You will be," Frederic said. "In time, you will be. You'll see. A girl needs her parents. Arianna, go grab some rope so we can tie both of them up. I don't want them trying to follow us."

Arianna didn't move. She met Rapunzel's eyes, saying something silently that Rapunzel didn't understand. After a moment, Arianna walked back into the castle and came back out with rope.

"We can run away," Eugene said quickly to Rapunzel. "Just you and me. You don't have to do what they want, Rapunzel. You know that."

"But then they'll kill Cass or Cass will kill them. And I can't have that on my conscience." She grabbed his hand. "I love you so much. I'll see you again."

"When? We fought so hard to get back to each other. To finally be on the same timeline. Now, you're just throwing it away."

She jerked back. "Don't say that. Don't end this on an argument. We'll see each other again, Eugene Fitzherbert. I promise you that. Just kiss me. Please."

And he did but it was filled with sadness and longing.

Frederic walked over to them so they pulled apart. Cass was tied up, left on the ground. "No more of that," he said. "Don't come after us." He lifted up the rope and grabbed Eugene's hands before Eugene could back away. Arianna stood on the other side of him, making sure he didn't run.

Eugene didn't put up a fight as her parents pushed him to his knees and tied his hands and feet together. He only looked at Rapunzel.

"I love you," she said again, wanting to make sure he knew that. He needed to know that because she knew she was breaking his heart.

He still didn't say anything. He only looked at her with betrayal in his eyes.

"There," Frederic said once he finished tying off the rope. "They won't be going anywhere for a while. Let's go through that portal."

Rapunzel wanted to resist her parents but she knew it was futile. She had made her choice even as it broke her heart into pieces.

They waded into the water and approached the water creature. It moved out of their way, revealing the portal on the other side of the lake. They reached the edge of it.

Rapunzel saw only light on the other side. Who knew what awaited her but being without Eugene, she knew none of it would be good.

She was about to step through the portal when Eugene called out to her. She could just barely make out his voice across the lake. When she turned around, she saw that he was saying something to her.

"Come on," Frederic said, motioning to go. Arianna gently placed her hand on Rapunzel's arm and steered her through the portal.

It was only then that Rapunzel realized what Eugene was saying. He was telling her, "I love you too."

Eugene watched Rapunzel step through the portal and disappear. He wasn't surprised she chose to do the selfless thing. Of course she'd want to save everyone if she got the chance. Eugene did not blame her for that.

But holy fuck – his heart was breaking.

The love of his life just left with her parents, who he deemed evil by this point, through a portal that led who knows where, just to save his life. And he couldn't follow or Frederic would try to kill him. Again. Or kill Cass, which he wasn't as concerned about but he knew Rapunzel was.

All in all, this sucked.

He flopped onto his back, trying to move around but it was hard since his hands and feet were tied together.

"So, was that your plan?" he asked Cass, who was lying on the floor beside him, also tied up. "To exile us?"

"Of course not," she snapped. "I wasn't… thinking." She sounded remorseful which was surprising. It was hard to make fun of someone for being remorseful.

"How are we getting out of this? Cass? Talk to me." She was being awfully quiet next to him, which worried Eugene. Cass loved snapping back at him. "Cass?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I don't know."

"Well, thanks for your help."

"What do you want from me, Eugene? I messed up, ok? I shouldn't have gone after Rapunzel's parents like that. I saw them fight. I knew they were good. I let my anger take over."

"Problem of yours, I take it?"

"Oh, how did you know?" she asked sarcastically.

He shrugged as best he could while being tied up. "I'm just that good."

She snorted. "I can't believe I'm stuck here with you. You of all people."

"I feel so flattered."

She rolled onto her side to look at him. "Fine. We're stuck together. We need to work together to untie our hands and feet. And then I'm sneaking back into MacSweeney's castle and I'm getting my sword back and then we're going after Rapunzel."

"To kill her parents? Because I would advise against that. I just want to be with Rapunzel."

"You're not going to get that chance unless her parents are dead. Frederic will never allow you to be with her."

"I don't care what Frederic thinks of me. Rapunzel is an adult. She can make up her own mind. I'm getting her back and then we're going to leave together. Where, I don't know. Just wherever her parents can't find us, I guess."

"What do you think their plan is when they reach headquarters?" Cass asked.

"It sounds like they want to be back in charge. I'm thinking that might not be the best idea."

"I agree. We need to stop them, Eugene. You know Rapunzel would want to stop them."

"Yes, but she doesn't want them dead. We need to find a way to stop them from taking over the Society again, reinstate someone better to rule, and do it all without killing anyone. Because we can't kill anyone, Cass. Rapunzel wouldn't want it."

"Well, why do we always have to do what Rapunzel wants? Why can't we do what I want?"

He stared at her for a moment. It wasn't until this very second that Eugene realized just how pitiful Cass's life was. "Maybe if you weren't so intent on hurting people, then we could do what you want. But Cass, you're no different than Rapunzel's parents. You've hurt people. Hell, you've killed people. You killed me and Rapunzel over and over again in that time loop. You're not a good person."

Her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to speak when she quickly shut it. "You're… right." All the anger left her body and she slumped against the ground. "I've done bad things. I've been so fixated on bringing the people to justice who hurt me that I… wasn't even thinking of the people I've hurt."

"Admitting your wrongs is a good first step."

She glared at him again. "I hate you, you know that?"

He winked. "I've had some idea. Now, let's get ourselves untied and get out of here."

They had to do a strange on the floor dance to get each other untied but after a few minutes, they managed it. Eugene was just grateful Cass was more flexible than him, which let him know that he really needed to work on his hamstring flexibility because damn, he was tight.

Eugene stood up with a flourish. "Let's go!" Then he promptly frowned because the water creature was gone from the lake.

And so was the portal.

And right at that moment, MacSweeney and his men were riding on horse back to them. "Did you defeat the monster?" he asked.

Shit. They still had their deal they made with MacSweeney in place. If they defeated the monster, they'd be free to leave. If not, they were to be held as prisoners again.

Eugene and Cass exchanged a glance. This wasn't good.

MacSweeney scoffed. "Of course you didn't. No one can. Men, grab them and bring them back to the dungeons."

All Eugene could see as he was being dragged back to MacSweeney's castle was a calm, empty lake. No water creature or portal to be seen.

Rapunzel was long gone and he was only getting farther and farther away from her.

Until Sunday!