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It’s cold.
These rocks, this dark place. That tiny ghost bitch with the stupid hair. It’s all so cold.
Cassandra’s skin feels almost numb over her bones and she duly notices her fingers are encased in a scaly, reptile-like glove, as is the rest of her body. She’s almost sure if she pulled the gloves off her pale fingers would be blood red and trembling from the cold. She doesn’t remove them.
Instead, she trains, the same as every day. She trains, she forages for scraps of food, and she sleeps, however fitfully. It’s like clockwork.
“Fuck!” Cassandra yells as another black rock slices through her armor and makes its home deep in the flesh right below her ribcage. It’s not a mortal wound, so Cassandra knows the ghost bitch won’t do anything to heal her. At least, she wouldn’t if she were even around. Cassandra hasn’t seen her in days.
She grits her teeth and pushes her body from the rock. The sharp end catches on her skin as it slides out and Cassandra yelps before gritting her teeth and steeling herself against her sword. These days the sword has gotten more use as a cane than as an actual weapon.
Maybe Cassandra should be more worried.
Fuck that.
She hobbles out of the throne room and makes sure to flip off the offending rock which glints in the low light. It takes a while to get up the set of stairs that lead to her bedroom, but it’s worth it to collapse on her meager bedroll comprised of ratted blankets and her old cape. It’s all she has, and for now it’s enough.
There’s a small towel that ends up pressed to the leaking wound, already stained copper from all the incidents like this that came before. It barely even soaks up the mess anymore, but it’s better than nothing.
Cass throws her old cape over her shoulders and leans back, tucking a spare blanket behind her head like a pillow. It does nothing to chase away the chill of the Moonstone lodged inside her chest.
God, it’s so cold.
---
When Rapunzel’s hair glows, Cassandra is finally warm. It happens in the corridors of the castle, Zhan Tiri on the loose, guards chasing after her, Eugene’s shouts echoing from the main hall and Rapunzel...
She’s so bright. Just like the sun.
Cassandra had been away for so long she forgot how it felt to be in her presence. The heat of Rapunzel’s power almost thaws the ice in Cassandra’s chest. Almost.
It isn’t until Zhan Tiri has them trapped together that Cass finally breaks, shattering into pieces at Rapunzel’s bare feet with just a few well-placed words. It feels like weakness, and that’s okay.
When they hug Cassandra tries to ignore the initial flinch Rapunzel gives from touching her ice cold skin, welcomes the way the blonde maneuvers them so their bodies slot together. Cassandra’s joints creak then soften up as the contact prolongs and Rapunzel doesn’t mention the wet spot on her shoulder where Cass had been crying. The blonde just extends a hand to her, already formulating a plan of escape.
Cassandra doesn’t remember fighting Zhan Tiri or being healed by Rapunzel afterwards. She remembers feeling cold even without the Moonstone nestled in her chest, wonders if, after all this, she’ll still have a little quiver in her fingers from shivering for so long. She remembers seeing a bright light, remembers Rapunzel chanting. Then there’s two trembling bodies on top of her, hands wandering under her skintight suit, checking for damage. Cass can feel every single finger on her body and they burn against her flesh.
It’s Eugene and Rapunzel, checking her over. One of Eugene’s calloused hands slips through Cassandra’s short hair, brushing it away from her face just enough for him to cup her cheek with no interference. A slim finger runs over her cheekbones, scratched from her relentless training. She whimpers pathetically.
“Cass..” Rapunzel whispers, so faint and full of disbelief. It’s the last thing Cassandra hears before the world goes black.
---
Cassandra jerks awake to a dark room. There’s shit wrapped all around her, much more than her meager stash of supplies she’s used to waking up to. It’s not freezing, and she’s not on the floor of her castle. Everything is soft. Her whole body aches.
She instinctively starts ripping blankets off of herself before she accidently hits something solid and it grunts. Cassandra freezes.
“Mmh, Cass?” It’s Eugene. Why the fuck is she in bed with Eugene?
She palms the blankets beneath her, recognizing the texture. There’s only one person that has sheets this soft in Corona except for the king and queen. This is Rapunzel’s bed. Why the fuck is she in Rapunzel’s bed?
“Cassandra.” Eugene’s voice snaps her out of it. It’s deep and gravelly with sleep and Cassandra is too tired and still too cold to pretend like the timbre of it does anything but comfort her. She hums in acknowledgement.
“How do you feel?” Eugene asks quietly.
Cassandra huffs a breathy laugh. “Like shit.”
“Yeah, I figured. The healer said you had some internal injuries from before the battle, then some bruising and broken ribs from the fight with Zhan Tiri, same as me.” Eugene relays into the dark room. Beyond Rapunzel’s giant window a few stars wink in the dark sky. Cassandra wonders what time it is. She wonders why Rapunzel isn’t in this bed instead of them.
“Where’s Raps?”
“Wow, no ‘Eugene, I’m so glad you’re okay! I missed you so much!’ I’m hurt, I really am.”
Cassandra flings her arm in Eugene’s general direction and is rewarded with a weak grunt as her forearm makes contact with flesh. She has a millisecond to crow to herself before Eugene has her arm in his hands and the contact burns. It’s so hot against her still freezing skin and she rips away from him with a hiss.
“Shit, I’m sorry Cassandra. I didn’t-”
“It’s fine.” She interrupts him, cradling her arm in her cold hands. “You’re just... warm.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Does what hurt?”
“When I touch you, does it hurt?”
“No I-” Cass clears her throat, drops her arms back down to fist them in Rapunzel’s too soft sheets. “Well, kind of.”
“You’re not giving me much to work with here, Cass.” Eugene sighs. He throws one of Rapunzel’s embroidered pillows off the bed and scoots back against the headboard. Cassandra can see he’s wearing just a plain white tunic with the neckline splayed open in typical Eugene fashion. There’s a gold necklace glinting on his bare chest that Cassandra doesn’t remember him wearing before. Did he steal it?
“Rapunzel will pick at you worse than this if you don’t give me something to tell her. I can keep her off your back for at least a week if you just talk to me.” Eugene supplies when Cassandra stays quiet.
At least he’s offering to give her some time, it’s more than she deserves after all she’s done.
“I... don’t know if I’m ready to talk yet.” Cassandra whispers. She avoids Eugene’s dark eyes in favor of glancing around the tower, noticing things that weren’t here before she fucked off and almost ended up dying. There’s a new mural, the colors blotchy and indistinguishable to her eyes in the dark.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to. Just tell me if you’re in pain. That’s enough for now.”
Cassandra hums then rolls her shoulders experimentally. Her muscles pull underneath her skin and places she’s never hurt before clench up in agony. A tiny noise escapes her throat before she can swallow it down and Eugene is there instantly, his hands hovering a millimeter from her skin as if asking for permission. Cassandra doesn’t give it. Not yet.
“Fuck... y-yeah. It hurts.” She grits out. A few strands of dark hair fall into her face and Eugene brushes them away, still careful not to touch her.
“I’ll have the healer make you something tomorrow, everyone’s gone from the castle for the night.” Eugene says, hands still hovering a hairsbreadth from her skin. Cassandra can feel the heat of him even through the thin tunic she’s wearing, tries and fails to convince herself that curling up into that warmth would be a bad idea. She’s drawn to it like a reptile.
“Okay. You can... you can touch me. I think it’s just that my skin is so cold that the heat from your body hurts. I’ve had worse.” Cassandra says and she feels Eugene’s calloused hands settle on her biceps oh so carefully. The slow contact seems to do the trick and Cassandra doesn’t feel a startling pain like before, just a slow burning as her blood vessels expand to welcome the heat.
“Is that better?” Eugene asks.
Cassandra hums in response and her body melts farther into Eugene’s hold as if it has a mind of its own. She can feel when he chuckles and moves to accommodate her wrecked body, lets her lay next to his chest even though just a few days ago she was trying to kill him. Apparently, Eugene’s forgiveness comes easy, though Cass should have expected that from the sort of childhood he had.
“And to answer your question, Rapunzel is god knows where with Varian right now. I think they’re trying to find a way to melt your rocks since they didn’t go away after Zhan Tiri was defeated. She told me to watch you while she was gone under threat of death. It was very dramatic, you know how she is.” Eugene explains quietly into the dark and Cassandra chuckles.
“How long has she been gone?”
Eugene takes a second to think. “Maybe a week? I can’t really remember.” He shifts his arm to wrap around Cassandra’s shoulders and tugs the thick comforter back over her. A week?
“Eugene, how long have I been asleep?” She asks, pulling back just far enough to look him in the eyes.
“Two weeks, give or take a couple days. Time has been fucked for me since the healer’s kept me drugged up. We both had to sleep off our injuries because Rapunzel couldn’t heal everything with magic, especially those wicked gashes you’re sporting under that shirt. I’d ask how you got them but I don’t think you’d tell me.”
Two weeks? She’s been asleep for two weeks ?
Eugene grunts when Cass tries to squirm out of his hold. She just needs to stand up, walk around, maybe take a deep lungful of night air. Eugene doesn’t let her. He probably knows she wouldn’t be able to stand on her own even if she could get away, and the warmth of him makes it hard to fight.
“I just want some a-air. Let me go.” Cassandra wheezes and her legs kick feebly under the mass of blankets. Some embroidered pillows worth more than she wants to know hit the floor in her struggle.
“I know, I know,” Eugene says calmly and locks Cassandra’s arms against her body in a way that somehow doesn’t aggravate her broken ribs. “But Cass, your body is fucked up. I’ve got orders from the healer and the Princess not to let you out of this bed, I don’t even think you’d be able to walk anywhere anyway.”
“Fuck you, Eugene.”
“Yeah I know. But if- ngh-” Eugene gets an ice cold hand to the face and he pries it off slowly. “Gods above will you quit it? If you just stop I’ll go open the window for you.”
Cassandra tries a few more times to no avail and finally gives up with one last dramatic kick. Eugene, after making sure she won’t try to run, leaves the bed to pop open Rapunzel’s huge window. The flowy curtains draped around the room automatically come to life and they writhe like ocean waves in the darkness just beyond Cassandra’s vision. She has to will her body not to shiver in the absence of Eugene’s heat and she’s relieved when he automatically returns to the bed and slides back under the covers, taking up the exact position he was in before he left.
The night air smells good, it’s so much more fragrant than she remembers. Almost like it’s more alive than it was in the Darklands, tainted with her Moonstone’s energy. As much as she loved the wicked gem and reveled in the power it gave her she’s glad it’s gone. She’s more glad that Eugene and Rapunzel have forgiven her, though the verdict is still out on how Rapunzel feels.
“Thank you.” Cassandra mumbles into the fabric of Eugene’s tunic.
“For what, opening the window?” She can hear the smile in Eugene’s voice. What a tease.
“Yeah. But also for... everything else.”
Eugene’s hand flexes from where it’s draped over her shoulders. God, that was so fucking sappy. Why did she have to say that? He’s going to make fun of her for forever about-
“You’re welcome, Cass.”
Oh, nevermind then.
She sighs. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I forgive you. You might have a harder time winning back everyone else, though.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Eugene sighs and pulls the comforter around her a little tighter in the silence. It’s nice, feels warm and soft. One of his large hands cards through her hair absentmindedly as her body heats up and returns to almost a normal temperature. She clutches at Eugene’s tunic and the blankets like someone will take them away from her, like all of this is a dream.
“You’ve stopped shivering.” Eugene’s voice cuts through the quiet.
“...What?”
“I don’t think you’ve stopped shivering since I saw you after the fight. You were more... spasming then. I’ll admit it was pretty scary. That turned into shivering which turned into just little tremors in your sleep. Rapunzel wasn’t here for most of it.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Are you warm?”
Cassandra hums. “I think so, yeah.”
“Good. Now rest.” Eugene sighs and runs his hand through her hair again, sweeping it away from her cheek so he can run his fingers over the hard scab of her cheekbone. The touch is welcome and Cassandra finds herself leaning into it rather than away, too tired to fight her instincts.
She was asleep for two weeks, what’s a few more hours going to do?
---
There’s a calloused hand caressing her face and a warmth all around her. Memories from the night before- or was it a dream?- flit through her mind while a low voice slides through her ears.
“Cass. Hey Cass, c’mon it’s-”
Cassandra instinctively flings her arms out and her left hand connects with flesh before she realizes it’s Eugene and they’re still in Rapunzel’s bed.
“Hey, watch it!” Eugene’s disgruntled expression comes into view, his eyes crinkled at the corners. “That makes the second- no, third time you’ve hit me. Someday I’m gonna get you back.”
Cassandra huffs a laugh and sits up, rubbing sleep from her stinging eyes. “Oh yeah? You can try.”
Beyond Eugene’s horrible case of bedhead Cassandra can see midday sunlight filtering through Rapunzel’s silk curtains and illuminating the room. She can now see everything she couldn't in the dark, like the new mural and the mess of pillows on the ground. The mural is gorgeous, like everything Rapunzel paints. It’s got lots of purple and blue swirled around memories of the road trip they all went on together. Cassandra notices everyone is included in the painting but her. She tries not to think about it, chooses instead to look at Eugene.
He’s got these dark circles under his brown eyes that Cassandra has never seen before and a few more pale scars on his face, likely from debris or a run in with some bad guys. Maybe they’re from the Brotherhood, after Cassandra sent them to attack him and Rapunzel. Otherwise, Eugene remains unchanged, the collar of his shirt gaping like usual and a shitty smirk on his face.
“What are you grinning at?” Cassandra groans and pushes a few stray hairs out of her face.
Eugene sighs. “Nothing, I’m just happy you’re back even if I get slapped in the face every time you wake up.”
“That wouldn’t happen if you slept in a different room.”
“Touche. However I’m much more afraid of what Rapunzel would do to me if she came back and you weren’t being watched by someone.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you almost took control of Corona, Cass. And no one trusts you.”
“Oh,” Yeah, Cassandra forgot about that part.
Eugene sighs again and runs a hand through his untidy hair, fixing Cassandra with an honest look. “They’ll come around eventually.”
“It took Varian a year and then some to win back everyone’s favor, and he still isn’t allowed in half the shops in Corona. I don’t think they’ll come around as fast as you think, Eugene.” Cassandra fidgets with her fingers as she thinks about it. She can still remember how Varian got harassed out of the kingdom and all the vandalism his father’s house had been put through. The people of Corona were lovely if you were on their good side but if you were on their bad side... well.
“Hey, it’ll be fine.” Eugene notices her discomfort and reaches out to set his hand on her shoulder. The contact burns but Cassandra doesn’t say anything. As much as she terrorizes the man she’d much prefer if he didn’t pull away.
“You can’t say that. We both know it isn’t true.”
“Well-”
“Eugene,” Cassandra interrupts him. “lets just... not.” Eugene’s hand feels just a little heavier on her shoulder as he sighs.
“Okay. How are you feeling?” He asks, changing the subject. Cassandra is grateful he doesn’t try to press harder.
“Still like shit. What, did you expect me to magically heal in a few hours?”
“Stop being so goddamn prickly. I’m just asking because I’m going to the healers and need to know what stuff to bring back. That’s why I woke you up.”
“Oh, right. Sorry. Maybe some muscle relaxers and just a general pain elixr. My whole body aches.” Cassandra says, rolling her joints experimentally and listing off the areas that hurt.
“Oh, and I’ll get you some bandages and stuff for the abdominal wounds, maybe ointment for the scratches on your cheeks?” Eugene supplies and runs a finger over Cassandra’s cheekbone.
“Y-yeah okay.”
Eugene nods then pulls his hand away to stand up, bracing himself on one of the bedposts as he sways a little. Cassandra sees him take a deep breath before letting go and walking to the door. He’s favoring his right side.
“Don’t die on the way there.” She calls after him.
“Or what, you’d miss me?” Eugene smirks over his shoulder then he’s gone, out the door and hopefully down the hallway without injury.
“Maybe.” Cassandra says into the empty room.
---
The days go by steadily despite Cassandra’s fucked up sleep pattern. It appears she has not, in fact, magically gotten rid of all the issues she developed while she had the Moonstone and it becomes pretty obvious. She pukes up her first real meal at the castle, the food too rich for her ruined stomach. Human touch continues to be a problem unless it’s a gradual increase of pressure. The healer tells her it’s the lasting effects of the Moonstone crystal. Apparently Cassandra’s body had adjusted its resting temperature to something far lower than any human being can survive without the help of magic. Now she’s paying the price while her body comes to terms with the fact that she should be warm, not cold like a reptile.
She startles at loud noises, jerks awake every night at least twice (to Eugene’s incredibly annoying dismay) and tends to favor the darkness more than the daytime, choosing to stay inside both because she’s scared of the citizens of Corona and because the sunshine gives her headaches. Most importantly she learns she’s got a few fractured ribs, two broken fingers on her right hand and some abdominal wounds she sustained from her ‘training.’
After seeing the castle healer for the first time since she’s been back she gets ordered to bed rest for another week or at least until her wounds close up a little more. It also doesn’t help her case that she’s incredibly tired and can barely stay awake for a few hours before she dozes off again. The healer says it’s because her body is trying to fix itself.
Needless to say, Cassandra finally gets the rest she’d been craving while she had the Moonstone. Hell, she gets more than enough. Eugene is a surprisingly agreeable roommate.
The week passes fast; it’s a lot of sleeping, eating and listening to Eugene tell her about all the stuff she’s missed. At the end of the week Cassandra starts rehabilitation. The healer gives her stretches and orders her to do small stuff like walk down the hallway and back three times a day. Cassandra has never felt so weak in her life.
Eugene helps by annoying the self-hatred right out of Cassandra’s body. He always walks with her and even does her stretches with her. Despite the acidic tone she takes with him he never leaves her alone. It might be because he’s still head of the guard and someone has to watch her, the evil traitor, or it might be because he’s her friend and just wants to keep her company. Both are sickening and at the end of the second week Cassandra is just about ready to slice his head off.
When she really can’t take it anymore Rapunzel returns with Varian in tow. At least that’s what Cass assumes because she doesn’t actually see the alchemist, just hears Rapunzel come back into the tower one night in the quiet.
Of course, once Cass realizes it’s Rapunzel sneaking into the tower in the dead of night she pretends to be asleep like any rational ex-villain would. Cassandra hears fabric hit the floor and screws her eyes shut before the mattress dips slightly and Rapunzel lets out a little sigh. She smells like a campfire compared to the clean, flowery scents that have been surrounding Cassandra for the past few weeks. She smells like adventure.
Eugene snores quietly from beneath Cassandra, her head tucked into the space between his neck and chin like usual. She dully realizes this has been the first time in too long that she’s woken up without jerking him awake as well.
Suddenly, a small hand is in Cassandra’s hair and she fights the flinch instilled in her bones because the hand is careful and explorative as it brushes her bangs aside then runs down her scabbed cheek and over her nose. The touches feel like fire to Cassandra, who is far too committed to the act to let up now. She forces her face to stay neutral as Rapunzel’s soft hands caress her like she’s making sure Cassandra is real.
Cassandra is real, alright. She’s also awake, but she won’t tell Rapunzel that.
Eventually, Rapunzel’s hands withdraw and she sinks heavily into the mattress on the other side of Eugene. Between the comforting smell of campfire that clings to Rapunzel and the steady warmth of Eugene beneath her Cassandra begins to drift off again but not before she hears Rapunzel breathe a few words. It’s so quiet that Cassandra could almost convince herself it was her imagination.
“Thank the Gods.”