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Lost in the fog, her entire kingdom in danger because of what she did to - or, worse, didn't do for Varian, Rapunzel felt somehow detached from reality. There was… some kind of monster, chasing them and hurting people, and she couldn't determine what it was. People were yelling - yelling orders or yelling for someone or yelling in pain - and her heart was thrumming with anxiety and- and-
If she had helped Varian, none of this would have happened. The guilt was here, an ever-growing monster pressing inside her chest and taking the breath out of her lungs as her hands shook at her sides.
Suddenly, Eugene was behind her, his hand on the small of her back as he pushed her out of the way. He was frowning, trying to take a look at the thing hiding in the fog, but he still took the time to check her over, a small, worried smile on his lips. And just like that, she could breathe again. She- she wished she had helped Varian. She wished she had been there for him during the storm. And maybe if she had gone with him, none of this would have happened, but not because she would have saved his Quirin - because Corona would have been destroyed by the snow, and a lot of her subjects would have died.
In another world where she had helped Varian during the storm, who knew how many other newly orphaned kids would have attacked Corona in his stead, because she had failed as their Princess and let their parents die?
The guilt stayed there, warm inside her heart, but it quieted, becoming less smothering when confronted by logic. She should have done better after the storm, should have helped him then, but she couldn't have changed the initial situation. She… She would try to make things right. She set herself free again, she wouldn't let her dad manipulate and imprison her in a tower again, and she would help Varian, one way or another. But for now, he was a threat, and she needed to act. She couldn't allow herself to be submerged by her feelings.
A sudden movement to her right startled her, though not as much as the sight of her mother, sword in hand in the battlefield, did.
"Mom?" Rapunzel called, a mixture of feelings preventing her for saying more.
"Rapunzel!" Arianna ran to hug her, and even if it wasn't quite the time, Rapunzel melt into her embrace anyway. A growl from the fog made them jump back quickly.
"Mom, what-"
"I wasn't going to hide while my family and subjects risked their lives," she answered, raising her sword with a confident smirk on her lips. Rapunzel laughed, and went at her side, ready to protect her kingdom too.
Once they understood that the creature was playing hide-and-seek with them, it was pretty easy to defeat it - Rapunzel was used to finding a chameleon, big monster here was an easy job. She ordered Pete and Stan to drive it one way, and Eugene and Lance the other, to try and make it fall into her trap. Lance had said something that she couldn't hear over the noise, but the work was done anyway and soon, they had caught the creature, which was none other than Rudigger. Seeing the destruction that was left behind, the wounded still moaning in pain as others helped them to their feet, Rapunzel felt a cold anger building inside of her.
Varian went too far. She might feel guilty about her role in all of this, but it was no excuse for this, no excuse for Varian risking the lives of everyone. She knew she would have to make her mistakes up to him, but for now, and as long as he persisted in this path, he was a threat that needed to be stopped. It all needed to end. And now her dad was telling her that she shouldn't have left her room, and her mom was arguing with him, sword in hand, and Rapunzel only wanted all of this to stop . It was selfish, perhaps, but she was tired of being manipulated and hurt by those she loved on her birthday.
"Princess," Lance interrupted, voice too choked and nervous for her comfort. "Eugene's not here."
She swirled around so quickly she startled him. "What?"
"He- I didn't see him when you told us to distract Rudigger, and I still don't see him now," he explained. Her mind flashed back to his inaudible voice some minutes prior, that she had dismissed so easily. Another mistake. "I- I think someone took him."
It's funny, in a way, how she had wanted everything to stop mere seconds ago, only to regret it when time froze as dread washed over her. She… She hadn't seen Eugene since he had smiled to her earlier, hadn't even heard him and- How could she have not noticed? No matter how focused she was, she should have- she should- Lance shouldn't have had to tell her, because she knew he never would have had to tell Eugene if she disappeared. People were talking around her, but her heart was beating so loudly that she couldn't focus on any of it; couldn't focus on anything else than her guilt, slowly trickling into her growing anger.
Someone took Eugene.
Varian took Eugene.
"I'm getting him back," she growled, her nails biting into her palms as she tightened her fist. The King was already fighting her on it, telling her that it wasn't safe, but she didn't care - she would get Eugene back, one way or another.
One year ago, Eugene had given everything to save her - and Rapunzel was ready to do the same for him today. He was her dream and no guilt, no parents, no kingdom could ever make her give up on him.
For the first time in a very long time, Rapunzel had yelled at someone angrily. Not someone, no; her dad. The King, who wanted to order her to stay behind and hide. Rapunzel had yelled, because she knew that if it was her or Arianna who had been kidnapped, the King wouldn't hesitate - but it was Eugene, and, apparently, he wasn't family enough for him.
She bit back the scathing answers on the tip of her tongue, bit back the desire to tell her father that Eugene was more family than anyone else here, bit it all back because that was counterproductive and they didn't have time. Eugene didn't have time.
Finally, they came up with a plan. Rapunzel knew they couldn't impulsively burst into Varian's home, because he was too smart for it to work, but waiting and talking and thinking seemed to take an excruciating time. She didn't want to imagine the worst, didn't think that Varian was the sadistic type - he was, despite everything, a hurting kid that had resorted to anger out of desperation, as hard as it was to remember in this situation. But the fact of the matter was that Eugene was in his clutch. At the very least, he had to be knocked out and restrained, and that mental image only made Rapunzel want to be sick. Imagining Eugene being hurt and helpless, on her birthday… It brought back memories she tried hard everyday to forget.
She was supposed to sneak in accompanied by Lance, who had insisted on helping get Eugene out. Her parents, the guards and Shorty, disguised as her, would offer Varian a distraction while they freed Eugene. They had been proud of this strategy but, not even five minutes in, her and Lance had been captured, feet stuck on the ground by Varian's weird purple goo.
"Welcome back, Rapunzel," Varian laughed, his eyes hard as he took in her appearance.
It was all so different from their first meeting. The guilt was roaring its ugly head again, because Rapunzel knew that the eager kid she had met back then shouldn't be so bitter and angry today, but her growing fury made it hard to sympathise.
"Varian," she growled, more poised than she thought she could be, "where is Eugene?"
He smirked, condescendance dripping from his voice. "Princess, I know it's hard for you to understand, but you are in no position to demand anything," Varian said, and Rapunzel had to fight the desire to tell him just how much she understood. She had never been allowed to demand anything, never had anyone truly listen to her wishes except-
Except for Eugene. And for him, she would bit her tongue and play Varian's game.
"In the spirit of compromise," Varian singsonged, going towards curtains she hadn't seen before, "how 'bout I meet you halfway?"
Nothing Rapunzel had imagined could compare to seeing Eugene, gagged and hands chained to the wall behind him as he strained against it. She called for him and she could hear him call for her back, his voice muffled by the gag and- and- Was he as horrified as she was right now when he found her again in the tower one year ago? In the split second he had to register the situation, in that split second before being stabbed, did he also feel like the entire world lost its focus except for her eyes, a sick feeling creeping up his throat? His hands were hung low behind his back, forcing him to kneel awkwardly, and she couldn't understand what he was yelling angrily under the gag, but she guessed it was unsavoury. Eugene, forced to be captive and silent was an unnatural sight that she instantly hated, and she only wanted to free him.
Rapunzel felt Lance's arms going around her as she tried to go to Eugene, felt Varian's solution anchoring her to the ground anyway, but she didn't care. She didn't care and she couldn't care, not when the love of her life was helplessly looking at her, fear evident in his gaze.
If Eugene could talk, she would have no doubt that the fear was for her and her alone. But he couldn't - and so, Rapunzel let this image burn itself inside her mind and harden her heart.
"Let him go, Varian," she ordered, but he ignored her.
"I will, but first, I need you to do something for me," he explained lightly.
"What do you want?" Lance intervened, more serious than Rapunzel had ever heard him. His gaze was hard and angry, but she didn't notice, eyes still meeting Eugene's as he strained against his bounds. She knew he hated this - knew the guilt he would feel because he had been used against her, had put her in danger by being captured. She knew he would think that, and that she would fight him on it because it wasn't his fault, but Eugene wouldn't see it the same way. He wouldn't care about what happened to him, but what had nearly happened to her because of him, because he was more self-sacrificing than anyone else.
Well, Rapunzel was too.
"Now you care about what I want," Varian exclaimed, drawing her focus on him again as he grew closer to Eugene. "All it took was threatening the things you love the most."
His hand went to pat Eugene's hair lightly, and he didn't even flinch at the death glare his former idol sent his way. Rapunzel did, though - she did when Eugene turned his gaze towards her again, and begged with everything but his voice that she didn't listen to the kid. Varian was explaining his plan, going on about how her unbreakable hair should be able to shatter the amber, but she was barely listening.
Earlier, she had wondered if Eugene had felt the same horror and fear when he found her bound and gagged in the tower. Now, she wondered if he had felt the same peaceful clarity, as he chose to give up his life and cut her hair so she could be free. She would do anything to keep him safe.
And, seeing how Eugene was fighting even harder to break free, he knew that all too well.
"It's not your choice, Lance," Rapunzel sighed when he said that she wouldn't risk her life for Varian's plan - but she wasn't looking at him, or at Varian for that matter. Only Eugene. His eyes seemed to be shining in the darkness, intense and pleading, but she couldn't listen to him, not this once.
Especially not when Varian poured his solution on the black rocks, to speed things along as he said. Watching the amber growing and Eugene having to scoot back towards the wall, with Quirin's shadow hanging over them all - it only fed Rapunzel's resolve. It's not your choice, and Eugene knew it, and was fighting his manacles so hard as she let down her hair that she worried he would dislocate a shoulder.
She wouldn't let him die near her birthday again. She wouldn't let him die nearly one year after he made the ultimate sacrifice for her - she had always been ready to do the same for him. Rapunzel wouldn't let Eugene die because she loved him, more than he would ever know.
Varian started his machine, and her entire body hurt. Eugene's screaming got louder behind his gag, but she could barely hear him, her entire body vibrating with pain. Her head felt like it would explode, pain pulsing behind her eyes as she fell to her knees painfully, trying and failing to be quiet. It hurt. It hurt, and Varian said it could shatter her but she was doing it for Eugene, she-
"Rapunzel!" Eugene yelled, pure panic in his voice - he had managed to get the gag off with his frantic movements. "Sunshine!"
She raised her head, mind cloudy with pain, and there he was, looking more scared than she had ever seen him. More scared than when he had decided to give his life for her - and she understood, really, because despite everything, she wasn't as terrified as when Eugene died for her. She didn't care about the pain, not when it could save him.
"Varian, please," Eugene begged, tugging on his bound arms again, "you're hurting her!"
She tried to say that she was okay, like he did when he was the one bleeding out in her childhood home, but she was too breathless to do it. Varian was talking but she couldn't make sense of his words, couldn't make sense of anything but the pain in her bones growing and growing and growing. Then, everything stopped. Her heart was still fluttering in her chest, her entire body still felt numb, but her hair stopped glowing and the pain reduced to aches. She didn't see Lance move after Pascal helped him; didn't see him raise his sword and break Eugene's free, didn't see Eugene run across the room.
But she certainly heard him when he called her name desperately, and she certainly felt him when his hands cupped her cheeks how so softly. His eyes were wildly checking her over, a little damp, and his wrist were red from the chaffing but, overall, he seemed okay - and the weight in Rapunzel's chest lifted with this realisation.
"Sunshine," Eugene breathed, something akin to tears in his voice, "I'm so sorry, I- Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," she murmured, and it wasn't a lie - Eugene was fine. Eugene was safe, and touching her, and now he was hugging her, his embrace warm and tight as they both trembled. She was okay, because he was too.
And when they had to stop Varian - when she had to rescue Cassandra and her mother, when she chose to face her destiny and grab the black rocks, Rapunzel wasn't afraid. She was thinking about her kingdom, her friends and family, Eugene, and she knew exactly what she had to do. She wasn't afraid of pain, if it was to save them.
Eugene had been scared, however. She could hear it in his voice, see it in his eyes, feel it in his shaky hands. She kissed him, to try and tell him that she was fine, but even when he softened, she could see that his anxiety hadn't completely left him. They would both need to heal from this.
"We have got to find better ways to spend your birthday," he laughed, eyes wet, and she could only smile sadly. A birthday where none of them were chained up or risked their lives sounded good, that was for sure.
However, seeing the new path drawn in front of her by the black rocks, Rapunzel wasn't certain they would have a peaceful birthday for quite some time. But, a long as they were fine - as long as Eugene held her hand tightly in his like he was doing now, as long as she knew he was safe and sound - Rapunzel knew it would be okay.