The shock of learning that Cassandra was the traitor among the group hit the reality of Rapunzel and Varian. After everything they had been through, Cass threw it all away for a taste of power. The look of betrayal on Varian and Rapunzel's faces as Cass looked at them with a look of hatred. "Cass... Why?" Rapunzel can barely eek the question out in a whisper.
Hunter and Eugene were just as confused. That is until Hunter started to piece things together. He aimed his staff at Cass, ready to protect Varian. "That room… The one in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow. You saw something, didn't you?"
"The truth," Cassandra replies through gritted teeth. "A familiar cabin in the woods, a young child who only ever wanted the love of her mother..."
"Cassandra, you're not making any sense," Rapunzel says, interrupting.
"She chose you over me, Rapunzel!" Cassandra screams out. "My mother abandoned me for you!"
Rapunzel ponders this for a moment. "For me? What...?" She gasps when it finally clicks. "You mean... Gothel?"
Cass then revealed that while she went looking for Rapunzel in the house; someone had called her name and led her to that door. She found herself outside a house that was familiar to Cass; her childhood home. She was only four but Gothel never loved Cass; she only loved herself. She left Cass alone in the house after she left for the palace. It turns out, she had abandoned Cass on the same night she kidnapped Rapunzel as a baby. She led the guards to her house then she cut the bridge to the house and left. Cass was only four years old when it all happened; the captain took pity on her and took her in as his own.
Cass had completely forgotten who she was until the truth came out; now she wanted Rapunzel to feel the same pain she had felt all those years ago. "Cass, if what you're saying is true, it means—"
"It means that I'm Gothel's daughter," Cassandra shouts. "And your destiny belongs to me."
The black rocks behind her begin to glow blue again, and more form in front of her. Varian realizes that her having control of the Moon Stone means that she now has control over the black rocks. Eugene reflexively takes a step back, but Rapunzel steps closer to Cassandra. "Cass... We are friends," the princess says. "In fact, being Gothel's daughter, that... that makes us closer than friends. It makes us sisters!"
Cassandra chuckles derisively, as the energy of the Moon Stone crackles. "Sisters?! My own mother chose you over me. My whole life, I've been cast aside for you." She glares, energy from the opal cracking around her. "No more."
Cassandra seems as if she is about to attack Rapunzel, but Varian steps in front of the princess. "Cassie, please!" Varian begged, "I know you're in pain but this isn't the way! Give me the Moonstone, it's too much power!"
But Cass refused to listen; Suddenly, the double doors to the chamber swung open. "So, what'd we miss?" Lance says, he and the others obviously have found a way to remove the statue blocking the entrance.
"Lance, not now!" Eugene says, gesturing to the scene in front of them.
"Ooh," Lance says in shock, totally confused by what is happening.
"Cassandra, please!" Rapunzel continues. "Let me help you."
She takes a couple of steps forward, but Cassandra shoots out rocks in between them. "Stay back!" Cass shouts.
But the rocks don't deter Rapunzel. They only make her angry. "Cassandra, you've got to give me the Moon Stone!" The princess says. "It is too dangerous! The whole world is at st—"
"I said, stay back!" Cassandra shouts again.
This time the black rocks blast Rapunzel back to the entrance of the chamber, but her glowing hair protects her from the blow. "CassAndra!" Eugene scolds her furiously, cradling Rapunzel protectively.
Eda growled then she went into Harpy Mode, charging at Cass. But Cass controlled the black rocks and formed a shield, sending Eda crashing to the ground. Varian looked angry then he used his staff to send a blast of moonlight at Cass. Not only did the spell break the shield; some of the rock circled him. The rocks around him started to glow; the mesmerizing blue glow had Varian's attention. Hunter then teleported next to Adria and 'borrowed' her Shadow Blade. With the blade in hand, he charged towards Cass. "Wait, Hunter, no!" Varian screams a warning. But his lover doesn't stop, and attacks Cass with the sword.
"Give up the Moonstone Cass. You don't know what you're dealing with." Hunter stated.
"Neither do you!" Cassandra shouts.
With a bright blast of energy, she throws Hunter back against a black rock. In the blast, the Shadow Blade lands next to Cassandra. She takes it and creates a sheathe of black rock to carry it on her back. Varian looked angry; his hair stripe glowed brighter and brighter. Varian grabbed one of the black rocks then something crazy happened. The rocks around him glowed then they formed a straight line towards Cass and the energy sent her back into the wall of black rocks behind her. Varian looked at his hands in shock because he didn't know he could do that without the moonstone.
Cass shakes off the attack and then rushes towards the door, but Eugene hops up. "Oh, no you don't!" He shouts, running in front of her.
But Cassandra had already shoved him back with a black rock and sprinted out the door. The others tried to stop her but Cass shoved them out of the way. Varian wanted to run after Cass but Rapunzel had already gone after Cass. Varian helped Hunter to his feet then the two of them chased after Rapzunel and Cass. Cass was running down the hallway until Rapunzel called out to her and she stopped. "This has to stop now," Rapunzel said, "Whatever you're going through, you and me can fix it together like we always have!"
But this only angers Cassandra further. "No! What has to stop is you thinking you're my friend, but not even hearing how condescending you are like you've always been!"
"Please, just listen to me," Rapunzel says.
"I'm listening," Cassandra says with irritation.
"I... I know it can't be true that you actually want to do something like this," Rapunzel says. "Please, just look into my eyes... I know you feel it."
Cassandra sighs, and she actually seems like she might be coming around. "Maybe..."
"It's not too late, you know!" Rapunzel continues. "So before another line gets crossed and we lose everything we have... just wait."
Hearing that word, a sudden new darkness crosses Cassandra's face. "Wait?" Cassandra repeats, the opal's energy crackling around her again. "No, I won't wait!"
She manifests a cage of black rocks to encircle Rapunzel, and then she runs away. Cass was done with being on the sidelines for Rapunzel. She didn't want to be stuck waiting in the wings, never getting the chance to be something more like Rapunzel. She felt the power of the moonstone coursing through her veins. Rapunzel managed to get through the black rocks but by the time she caught up to Cass; she started using her newfound powers. Cass had crossed the line; she was done being held back. She used her power to leave black rocks in her steps. Every drop of power made her feel alive.
Rapunzel follows Cassandra for as long as she can, watching as she climbs up and swings around the black rocks, testing her new abilities. But when they reach the chasm, Cassandra creates a bridge out of black rocks to get across. Rapunzel jumped onto the bridge to follow Cass. But the second Cass saw Rapunzel, she pulled out her blade, staring at Rapunzel with hatred. "And for us if we're over that fine!" Cass shouted.
"Cassandra, wait!" Rapunzel shouted.
The last words Rapzunel heard from Cass were, "I'm crossing the line." She then sliced the bridge completely off forcing Rapunzel to run back. Cass was on the other side and disappeared, leaving Rapunzel and the others completely broken.
By morning, the events of last night still played in Varian's mind. He was so hurt by Cass's betrayal; Hunter spent all night comforting Varian. But the one taking this betrayal more was Rapunzel herself. She started to act way too cheery; more cheery than her normal sunshine energy. Eugene was worried so he tried to talk to her but Rapunzel just buried her feelings. Amity, Luz, Willow, and Gus felt bad that Rapunzel was still hurt. Even Lilith and Eda understood what a sister's betrayal was like. Now everyone needed to figure out how they were gonna leave the Dark Kingdom since the caravan was smashed.
"We could fly out of here on the Palismen," Lance suggested.
"Fat chance with the extra weight." Eda stated, "It worked for short flights but with the horses, that would be too much."
"Well, we could just fly off in that balloon." Short drunkenly suggested.
"Right. What balloon?" Hunter asked.
"The one that's heading our way," King said, pointing to the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw a hot air balloon coming their way. It landed in front of them but the strange thing was, no one was in it; at least so they thought. They heard something move in the basket; everyone got into a fighting stance expecting a fight. When the person that came out was someone unexpected, Ulf the mime. "The mime?" Eugene asked, completely confused.
Rapunzel on the other hand ran to hug Ulf. She was so happy to see a familiar face. "How did you find us? What are you doing here? Did someone send you?" Rapunzel ranted.
"Why did they send you, specifically?" Eugene asked.
"Um, does anyone speak mime?" Luz asked.
To everyone's surprise, Shorty actually spoke mime. He translated Ulf's movements as a message that Corona was in trouble. Invaders from a foreign land had taken over and the people of Corona were scared. So Ulf followed the rocks to the Dark Kingdom by balloon. Rapunzel knew that it was time to head back and save her people. Varian wasn't too sure about going back due to his crimes. But Luz assured Varian that going back was the right thing to do. Everyone said their goodbyes to Adria and Edmund; Edmund whispered to Varian to give a message to his father, Quirin.
Rapunzel, Eugene, Lance, Shorty, Max, Feidella, and Pascal piled into Ulf's hot air balloon. Varian got on his palismen with Rudiger on his shoulders. Hunter, Willow, Gus, Amity, and Lilith also got onto their palismen. Luz and King rode on Owlbert while Eda was in her harpy mode. Soon the whole group was flying back to Corona. They were flying past the places where they had their adventures. Some places were adventures that Rapunzel and her friends had before Varian and the witches had joined them. After a long flight, they were finally back where it all began, Corona.
Everyone landed in the Townsquare; Rapunzel was so happy to be back home. Varian was so nervous to be back in the kingdom that turned their backs on him. Rapunzel went around looking at all of her favorite places in the kingdom. Willow, Amity, Gus, Eda, Luz, Hunter, Lilith, and King didn't seem completely overwhelmed. "Kind of reminds me of Bonesburrow." Luz said, "But without the people."
Varian looked around, the entire town was completely empty; the place was like a ghost town. Even Rapunzel was confused too; normally this place was full of lively people. Rapunzel, Eugene, and Varian called out for anyone but no one answered or came out of their homes. Suddenly, everyone heard what sounded like glass shattering. Everyone looked to where the sound was coming from; It was Feldspar the cobbler who had dropped a bucket of strange green crystals. He looked in a frantic state as he scrambled to pick up the crystal shards. But when he saw Rapunzel; he felt so relieved to see her back.
"Princess!" he shouted with his lisp, "Oh, thank goodness you're back!"
"Where is everyone?" Rapunzel asked, helping him pick up the crystals.
"Oh, it's awful. It's just awful! Everyone in Corona has been forced to quarry, mining these pesky green minerals." Feldspar explained, before putting the crystals back into the bucket.
Feldspar then looked at Varian who gave him a weak smile. Feldspar glared at him, "So you're back? I wouldn't be surprised if you were behind this messy!"
Varian looked down at the ground, looking upset. Eda then grabbed Feldspar by the shirt, "Listen here buster! Varian has been with me the whole time. So if you keep blaming him, I won't heist to show you what happens when you mess with Mama Eda." Eda growled.
"Whoa! Eda, put him down." Rapunzel said, trying to defuse the situation.
Ulf knew about the mining of crystals but Shorty had left that part out on purpose to make some editorial decision. Rapunzel refused to believe that everyone in Corona was forced into the quarry. "I'm going to the castle to speak with my father," Rapunzel said.
"I'm not sure what good that will do. Your father is the one who gave the order." Feldspar revealed.
The news that her own father gave that order hit like a punch to the gut. Now Rapunzel was more determined to find out what was going on.