Chapter Text
stars veil their beauty soon
beside the glorious moon
when her full silver light
doth make the whole earth bright
the moon has set
and the Pleiades;
it is midnight, and time passes
and I sleep alone
-Sappho
*** *** ***
Eileen Fitzherbert had been raised in an orphanage run by Catholic nuns. She, herself, was no longer Catholic, though sometimes she found herself muttering a prayer out of habit. That had been an interesting thing to explain to Rapunzel.
“I didn’t realize religion was so complicated.” Rapunzel had said, about a week after she had returned home, and the two were sharing a rare private meal on the roof. Her father would have never approved, but that was what made it fun.
“Yeah.” Eileen said, slightly embarrassed for the mishap of crossing herself before she had taken a bite of the sandwich. She had really thought she had kicked the habit. “That’s why I got out of it.”
“You’re not Catholic anymore?” Rapunzel asked.
“I never really was, honestly,” Eileen shrugged. “Just happened to be the type of orphanage I grew up in.”
“Did...I don’t know, what was it like?” Rapunzel said.
“Extremely boring.” Eileen said, and laughed when Rapunzel looked at her incredulously. She shrugged. “I don’t know, what do you want me to say? I went to a mass every Sunday instead of getting to play, listened to some old guy talk about nonsense, did confessionals, and listened to some off-key choir chant in Latin. Not the most exciting thing for a kid. Or anyone.”
“Confessionals?” Rapunzel asked.
“It’s this thing where you have to confess your sins to a priest so you can get into heaven,” Eileen shrugged. “You go in this little box so he can’t see you-it’s supposed to make it anonymous, but I’m pretty sure he always knew when it was me-and just say whatever you did wrong.”
“How would he know it was you?” Rapunzel asked.
“I always got in fights with the other girls.” Eileen chuckled.
Rapunzel rolled her eyes. “Of course you did. What if you don’t remember everything you did?”
“Wow, do you have a track record?” Eileen smiled when Rapunzel elbowed her playfully. “I dunno, you just tack on ‘I’m sorry for everything else I didn’t mention’ at the end.”
“You don’t know?” Rapunzel asked.
“I never said it, I wasn’t usually actually sorry for what I did,” Eileen shrugged. “Those girls were petty bitches, they had it coming.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” Rapunzel scolded lightly. “Does it count if you aren’t actually sorry?”
“I dunno, they never really said,” Eileen paused, thoughtful. “Maybe? You can’t make yourself be sorry for something.”
“Maybe it’s the act of apologizing. Showing you’re willing to try. Or maybe that makes it worse, because you’re lying about being sorry?” Rapunzel said, thinking out loud.
“I’m too hungry to get into a religious debate.” Eileen declared, and Rapunzel had laughed, and they moved on to something else.
Eileen wasn’t sure why that conversation popped into her head as the Moonstone burned away at her very being.
She might have been screaming, but she couldn’t tell, couldn’t feel anything other than complete, absolute burning in every fiber of her being. It swallowed her up, taking away her awareness for a moment, as if she had never been whole at all, only a ball of pain and freezing fire.
Dimly, she was aware of someone screaming her name over and over, and she bent her arm, surprised it worked. She couldn’t really see around her, everything engulfed in white light, and she wondered if she was dead and this was hell. Maybe that was why she was thinking about Catholicism.
But if this was hell, why was Rapunzel screaming her name?
She had to do something with the Moonstone, if it sat in her palm much longer it was going to burn a hole through it, and then where would she be? A shitty Jesus copycat, that’s what. Was that why she was thinking of religion? Holes in her hand?
In a jerky movement, she pressed the Moonstone to her chest, against her heart, desperate to get it out of her hand. The pain shifted, and her heart raced, but instead of blindness and burning, she felt...power. Raw, cold, nearly limitless power flooding her body, racing through her veins like a sweet poison.
She heard something crackle, and her vision cleared, just enough to see what was going on. Rocks had sprung up around her, and the Moonstone pulsed at her chest, in time with her heartbeat. The rocks covered her in some kind of armor, and despite her dizziness and terror, she felt more powerful than she ever had in her entire life.
Rapunzel must have been thrown back, because she was on the other side of the bridge now, her hair loose, an expression of horror on her face. Eileen’s mouth was moving-
And then she realized why that particular memory popped up. Because she kept apologizing, but she didn’t mean it.
“I’m sorry,” Eileen gasped, knowing she would do it again over and over because it meant Rapunzel was safe, and she refused to leave that up to some destiny. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, oh God, I’m sorry.”
Cassandra looked furious, and Eileen had no doubt that if she was next to her, she would have stabbed her. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Cassandra demanded.
“I’m sorry.” Eileen babbled on. She stared at her holeless hands, and saw they were not shaking. “I’m sorry.”
“Eileen…” Eileen stumbled back, startled to see Rapunzel so close all of a sudden.
“Eileen, please, I need the Moonstone,” Rapunzel said, her voice tremulous yet hopeful. “We can fix this.”
Eileen shook her head robotically, taking another step back. She wanted to explain, to tell Rapunzel everything, but all that came out was another empty apology.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Rapunzel said, and Eileen saw she was lying too. Because this was not okay. Not even a little. “Please, Eileen. Give me the Moonstone.”
Eileen might have broken, she felt close to doing so. Despite the power, she had never felt so fragile. The door swung open, and Lance, Maximus, and Adira stepped inside. “So what’d we miss?” Lance asked, looking almost comically surprised when he saw the situation. “What the hell?”
Adira’s face turned dark, and Eileen stepped back, her hands up to show nonviolence. The rocks had different ideas, though. Several sprung up in front of her (blunt ended, thank God) and threw Rapunzel back. “I’m sorry!” Eileen said, this time meaning it.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Cassandra demanded again, furious for something Eileen wasn’t quite sure she understood.
Adira took this opportunity to race forward, slicing through the rocks with her black sword. Eileen stepped back, raising her arms to block what was surely going to be a blow that would cleave her in half as Adira leapt into the air, bringing the full force of the sword down on Eileen despite Rapunzel’s desperate cry of “No!”
The sword met Eileen’s new armor and clanged. “Release the Moonstone,” Adira hissed. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“I’m sorry.” Eileen said, stupidly, because she had just about forgotten how to say anything else at this point. She pushed forward, and in a flash of light, Adira was thrown back roughly, dropping her sword.
Unsure, Eileen grabbed it, blinking in surprise when the sword lit up in her grasp, and then blinking in surprise once again when she found the rush of power that accompanied it was not unpleasant. It was nice to feel like she had control, like she had the power to stop bad things from happening to her, through sheer force of will.
This is not about you. This is about Rapunzel, and not letting this shitty rock and shitty destiny kill her.
“Eileen!” Rapunzel cried, tears welling in her eyes. “Eileen, please, don’t do this!”
Eileen glanced up, seeing expressions of horror, shock, and fury. She gripped the sword tightly, cementing her choice. She stepped back, and the rocks bent to her plan, an escape forming before she had even fully decided.
“I’m sorry.” She said, one final time, and fell back, letting gravity take her.
She heard Rapunzel scream, a sound of complete grief, but couldn’t make herself feel guilty for taking the Moonstone. When she landed, the rocks having moved for her so she didn’t impale herself, she ran.
She had been running for her whole life, and a few cushy years at the palace didn’t take away that instinct. She ran through the rocks, the blue glow lighting her way. She ran away from the shouts and screams and refused to look back, knowing if she saw Rapunzel she would lose her nerve. She ran through the rocks when they moved aside and offered her an exit to the outside world.
Eileen disappeared, unrepentant.
*** *** ***
Rapunzel was somewhat grateful for the distraction of the hot air balloon landing on the steps of the Dark Kingdom palace. It distracted her from her twisting heart, Lance’s awful look, and Cassandra’s unplaceable expression of absolute fury.
“Ulf?” She asked, her voice slightly raspy from screaming.
The mime waved good-naturedly, oblivious to the disaster that had just taken place. Rapunzel forced a smile. “I didn’t know you ballooned! How did you find us?!”
Ulf began to gesture uselessly, and Rapunzel paused. “Er…”
“Everyone,” Shorty said, tumbling off of Maximus’ back with all the grace of...well, a drunk. “I believe I can be of some incontinence, as I am fluid in Ulf.”
“Um.” Rapunzel said, but Shorty already stumbled up next to the mime, smiling serenely.
Ulf shrugged, beginning to gesture again. Shorty coughed. “There’s trouble in Corona!” He narrated. “Invaders from a foreign land! The people of Corona are scared. So Ulf followed the rocks here.” Shorty paused, and then nodded. “And now he’s just standing still.”
Rapunzel frowned. “There’s...trouble in Corona? I…” She bit her lip. Every fiber of her being screamed to chase after Eileen and shake her until she realized her mistake. Even just thinking about Eileen made her want to throw up.
She promised she wouldn’t leave, she promised so many times, and then…
And is that what you’re going to do? Leave behind your kingdom to go on a wild goose chase after her? She made her choice. It’s a bad one, but now you need to be a princess and make yours. That’s what she would want you to do.
Rapunzel took a deep breath, hoping her distress wasn’t visible. “We need to get back home as soon as possible,” She turned to the others. “Adira, what’s your plan?”
“I’m not coming with you, if that’s what you’re asking,” The warrior woman shook her head. “I apologize, princess, I truly do. But my path and destiny leads elsewhere.”
“Okay, okay.” Rapunzel said. She hadn’t seen Edmund since she had watched Cassandra break the news of Eileen’s betrayal in a voice lined with fury. The man’s expression had fallen, and he nodded wordlessly, disappearing back into isolation. Rapunzel found she didn’t have the energy to chase after him with questions. “Salvage whatever you can. We have no idea what we’re going up against. We’re on the clock, let’s go!”
And she threw herself into her tasks, refusing to let grief catch up to her, lest it tear her apart.
*** *** ***
“Rapunzel.” Cassandra said, her voice quiet.
“Hey, Cass, do we have any food left? I know we kind of destroyed the wagon and everything, but are there any provisions we managed to save-” Rapunzel paused, noticing Cassandra’s stony look. “What...what’s wrong?”
“I’m not coming.” Cassandra said.
“What?” Rapunzel asked, though she had heard perfectly clearly.
“I’m not coming,” Cassandra said. “I’m going after Eileen.”
“What? But, Cass…” Rapunzel felt like she had been punched in the stomach, though the use of ‘Eileen’ instead of ‘Ellie’ didn’t escape her notice. “Why...why are you mad at her?”
“She betrayed us. Kind of obvious.” Cassandra snapped.
“That’s not it.” Rapunzel said, feeling dizzy. Puzzle pieces she hadn’t even realized were there began to click together, creating an awful picture. “You’re angry at her. For...for something else. You’ve been acting weird ever since the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow. What’s going on? Why are you going after her?”
“Rapunzel-” Cassandra started, but Rapunzel suddenly felt panicked.
“Are you going to kill her?!” She asked, and her panic only grew when Cassandra frowned. “Oh my God, Cass, please, talk to me.”
“It’s none of your business,” Cassandra snapped. “I’m going after her. This is something I need to do.”
“You want the Moonstone.” Rapunzel said. It wasn’t a question.
Cassandra sighed, long and deep. “Yes.”
Rapunzel’s hands went to her mouth in shock, and she knew she must be white as a ghost. “Cass…”
“And it’s none of your business why,” Cassandra snapped, suddenly looking almost dangerous. “Adira’s following her path, and I’m following mine.”
“This can’t possibly be your path! Killing our friend?!” Rapunzel asked.
“I don’t want to kill her, it’s not my goal.” Cassandra said, though that hardly helped.
“Cassandra, I...you can’t leave. I need you.” Rapunzel said, fully aware she had resorted to begging.
Cassandra’s face suddenly twisted in fury. “So that’s it? I stay because you need me. You need someone to help you with whatever new disaster has befallen Corona. You need someone to cry to because Eileen went off the rails and grabbed your stupid rock. You need someone to be your shadow.”
“What?! No, Cass, of course not-” Rapunzel said, and felt herself panic once again when Cassandra turned to walk away. The thought of being alone, of facing this new threat without either of them by her side made her ill. She grabbed Cassandra’s arm. “As princess of Corona, I order you to stay!”
She blinked in shock as soon as the words left her mouth, and Cassandra looked back, just as stunned. Rapunzel dropped her arm, and realized with a twist of morbid irony that she had grabbed Cassandra’s bad arm. “Cass, I-”
“No,” Cassandra said, voice low. “And if that marks for me treason, fine.”
“I-I didn’t mean-” Rapunzel’s voice was shaking. “Cass, please. I need you.”
“Then that’s too bad.” Cassandra said, and she slipped into the growing shadows before Rapunzel could stop her.
“Cassandra! Cass!” Rapunzel shouted, but it was no use. “Please don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!”
Cassandra had left, and Rapunzel was once again abandoned.
*** *** ***
The balloon swooped low into the city of Corona, marking the quietest, most tense passage Rapunzel had ever been on.
The wagon had been quiet before. At night, usually, but that was because everyone was asleep. Sometimes the air was quiet from an awkward fight, or from a tense, dangerous road where noise might attract unwanted attention. Sometimes it was simply companionable silence.
But this silence was filled with a deep, burning grief and loss.
Rapunzel took a breath, drinking in the familiar town. “I can’t believe how much I missed home.” She said, climbing out of the balloon’s basket.
“Er, princess?” Lance said, the first time he spoke since Eileen’s Moonstone grab. “There’s...no one around.
He was right. The streets were utterly deserted in the middle of the afternoon. Fidella and Maximus nickered nervously, and Pascal squeaked from her shoulder. “Hello!” Rapunzel called, and her voice echoed. “Anyone there? Hello!”
“That’s creepy.” Lance decided.
Glass shattered, and Rapunzel whirled around to see Feldspar the cobbler stumble out from an alley, dropping a bucket filled with green crystals. He moaned, looking panicked. “Oh dear, oh dear! Woe is me, I’ll never meet my quota!”
“Feldspar!” Rapunzel gasped, rushing forward to help him clear the crystals.
“Princess!” Feldspar smiled. “Thank goodness you’re here!”
“Where is everyone?” Rapunzel asked.
“Oh, it’s awful!” Feldspar moaned. “Just awful! Everyone in Corona has been forced to quarry, mining these stupid green minerals!” He gestured at the crystals.
Rapunzel glanced at Ulf. “Did you know about this?” Ulf nodded, and Rapunzel sighed. “Shorty…”
“What?” Shorty said defensively. “I thought his story dragged, so I took the artistic license to make some judicious cuts. I stand by the choice.” Fidella whinnied her disapproval.
Rapunzel frowned. “I’m going to the castle to speak with my father.”
“I’m not sure what good that will do,” Feldspar said. “Your father is the one who gave the order.”
“What?!”
*** *** ***
Rapunzel pushed open the door to the throne room, and almost burst into tears.
Her parents were sitting right there, and both of them looked at her when she entered the room. It was almost enough to make the stabbing pain in her heart abate for a moment, and she stumbled forward, already feeling tears spring to her eyes.
“Mom! Dad!” She practically fell into her mother, hugging her tightly, knowing she was shaking. “I missed you guys so much!”
“Frederic-” Arianna said, her voice slightly pitched, and Rapunzel pounced on the king with a hug as well.
“Dad!” She smiled widely. She hadn’t realized she had missed home this much until she was back.
“Young lady, please.” Frederic said, sounding far too regal.
“Young lady?” Rapunzel repeated incredulously, pulling back to tease him about it. But he didn’t look at all happy to see her. “Dad, what’s going on?”
“Oh, this is awkward.” Lance said.
Rapunzel eyes flicked to his medallion. Instead of the proud sun emblem she knew and loved, there was a new symbol. A helmet like, complex structure she had seen with-
“That medallion,” Rapunzel said, her heart sinking. “It’s-”
“Saporian.”
Rapunzel whirled around, stiffening when she saw none other than Andrew leaning casually against the door, a smug grin on his face that Rapunzel wanted to wipe off with a frying pan. (It had been a trying day)
“Hey, Princess,” He pushed the door open, and several others walked in, grinning too widely. “Nice to see you again.”
“Who’s this guy?” Lance asked. Maximus snorted, as if telling him he didn’t want to know.
“It’s me! Andrew!” Andrew looked offended. “I nearly single-handedly felled Corona?!”
“We bring you up as a joke sometimes.” Rapunzel said, pleased when Andrew looked even more offended.
“Oh, that’s the guy with the hot air balloon that Eileen puked in-” Lance’s mouth shut after that, as if suddenly remembering all over again.
Andrew scowled, coming into the throne room with his posse. “I’ve taken over Corona. Or as we now refer to it, New Saporia!”
“These guys?” Lance scoffed. “The guard must’ve been on vacation, this’ll be a piece of cake-”
He stepped forward, but something pink and smoky exploded in front of him, and he yelped. “Lance!” Rapunzel shouted, running to him.
“What the hell-?!” Lance coughed, trying to move, but his feet were stuck to the floor by some kind of thick pink gel.
“We didn’t do this alone,” Andrew’s stupid smile grew wider. “You might recognize my former cell-mate.” He motioned with his sword.
A thin figure stepped out of the smoke, wearing goggles and a mask, but the blue streak in his hair made him instantly recognizable. Varian yanked down his mask, grinning and sporting a tiny goatee that looked suspiciously like charcoal.
“Welcome home, Rapunzel,” Varian smiled. “Hey, weren’t there more of you last time I checked?”
Rapunzel didn’t answer, her heart sinking even further than it had before. “Oh, God.”
“Oh!” Varian grinned, going over to Andrew. “I see you’ve already met my new friends.”
“Varian!” Frederic said, sounding vaguely confused. “My most trusted advisor.”
“Varian?!” Rapunzel looked between the two, still half-thinking they would burst out laughing at their prank. “Mom?! Dad?! Don’t you remember what he’s done?!”
Varian laughed. “No, no, they don’t.”
“They don’t remember?! What’s going on?!” Rapunzel demanded.
The old woman next to Varian twirled a stick, and Rapunzel suddenly realized what it was. “The Wand of Oblivium! You erased their memories?!”
“Me?” Varian chuckled. “Oh, not really. Actually, you know, I’m all about science, but Clementine-” He nodded at the older woman. “She added a little bit of...uh, flavor!”
“Magic.” Clementine said.
“Today, the king and queen,” Varian said. “Tomorrow, Corona. I’m synthesizing the wand’s powers into a gas that will erase the memories of everyone in Corona! And I named it Quirineon, so no one will ever forget they turned their back on my father!”
Rapunzel paused, waiting for Eileen to get her snide comment in, and then for Lance to quip back so the two could snicker while they fought. Cassandra hated it, but she smiled too, sometimes, and-
Rapunzel had the blink for a moment. It would be bad if she started crying now. “I can’t let you get away with this,” She said, and tugged at the bindings around her hair. “Guys? Let’s send these Saporians back where they came from!”
It was probably not her best move.
They outnumbered, for one, having lost two fighters, one of them now replaced with Ulf, who-wonderful as he was-was useless in physical battle. And Varian had equipped himself and his “friends” with all kinds of alchemy tricks.
“So where is Eileen and Cassandra?” Varian asked, dodging Rapunzel’s hair. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t send them on a separate mission together, but…”
“It’s complicated.” Rapunzel said, pushing her rising emotions down.
She stumbled back, realizing she and her other friends had been backed into a wall. “Varian, tell them to stand down!” She said, a bit of pleading slipping into her voice.
“Why would we,” Andrew said, withdrawing a small metal canister. “When we have the upper hand?”
He tossed it, and Rapunzel opened her mouth to shout a warning, though she wasn’t sure what good it would do-
The canister landed, and a massive explosion rocked the palace, throwing the Saporians back. When they stood up, and the dust cleared, there was a hole in the castle.
Rapunzel and her friends were nowhere to be seen.
Andrew chuckled. “Powerful stuff, kid,” He nudged Varian, who suddenly looked nauseous. “Come on.”
“This is gonna be fun.”