Wth guys, this book almost has 2k reads! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
————————————————————————

    You waved the piece of paper in the air shouting again, "We did it!!!"

    With the last bit of strength you had left...you took one last step until you collapsed onto the soft grass...

    You did it...

     You were safe...

(DORA DORA DORA THE EXPLORA)

-Varian POV-

     I glanced towards the sun while pacing around the campsite. It had been three hours since (Y/n) and Cass had exited the tunnel. THREE HOURS! And they still weren't awake yet!

     I sighed, sitting down on a nearby log. Lance was currently setting up our tents while Eugene went off to get the horses, leaving Rapunzel and I to care for (Y/n) and Cassy.

     My brain hurt, trying to recall what had happened. Immediately after the two had collapsed onto the floor Rapunzel told us to let them rest. She laid out a blanket she brought with her while Eugene, not willingly may I add, placed Cassandra on the soft fabric, me doing the same with (Y/n).

     I cringed, looking down at the Princess' twisted leg and Cassy's broken foot.

Stay too long and you'll meet your fate...t-they could've died...struggle to much and you'll suffocate...they were meant to die...it's a miracle that they escaped alive...

     I sat down next to the blanket, grabbing the Princess' wrist, trying to check her breathing.

     "Varian, this is the fifth time in the past hour that you've checked on her, I promise you, she's fine..." I looked up, seeing Rapunzel sitting on the opposite side of the blanket. She took hold of Cassandra's hand, squeezing it lightly, "They both are..."

     Sighing, I let go of (Y/n)'s wrist, going to check her leg for any swelling. "I know Rapunzel, it's just...I'm worried. They could've gotten seriously hurt, worse than they already are, and we didn't do anything! We could've done more, we should've done more!"

     Rapunzel wrapped a bandage around Cass' foot. I watched as she tightened it carefully. "Well, everything's in the past now," she said, standing up and dusting herself off, "What matters now is that we make sure their injuries get better and we find the next page."

     I grumbled, standing up, "I guess you're right..."

     I glanced down at the sleeping princess. Sighing, I grabbed my backpack, pulling out the two pages we found so far.

     Two down...three to go...

     I connected the pages like a puzzle, which not to brag, I'm really good at. They fit perfectly. The first half of the scroll was finally complete.

     I studied the scroll. What the? I gasped in surprise, stumbling back.

     "Holy sugar honey iced tea..." I mumbled.

     I could finally see what the moon's drop had landed on...a large, black, blueish palace surrounded with rocks.

     "Rapunzel! Our theory was right!" I panted, running up to her and shoving the scroll in her face. (It's just a theory...a game/film theoryyyy)

     "The moon did cause the rocks to sprout!" I exclaimed, pointing to the picture of the black rocks.

     I watched as she studied the scroll. "Varian...it's a dark palace..."

     I lifted a brow, confusingly, "And?"

     "Hidden in a palace of black, but when you go you can't turn back! It's from Xavier's legend!" she exclaimed, "Whatever holds the moons power is inside that palace!"

     My eyes widened, "Then where, or even better, what's the third element?"

     Immediately after I said those words I heard a loud gasp. I turned around seeing (Y/n) wide awake. She looked...panicked?

-(Y/n)'s POV-

     My eyes opened, slowly adjusting to the brightness of the room.

     Where the heck am I?

     I stood up from the hardwood floor below me. My eyes darted from the silky, (f/c) curtains to the soft carpet beneath my feet. I was in...my bedroom?

     I looked around seeing a small girl huddled under the covers of my bed. I walked closer, trying to get a better look at who this strange child was.

     Turns out on closer inspection the strange child...was me. Well, little me.

     I shrugged. I guess I kinda was a strange child.

     I lifted a brow, seeing my terrified expression. No, wait, little me's terrified expression. God, this is confusing. Could she see me? Or am I just invisible?

     I jumped, hearing the loud bang of my bedroom doors slamming open. "(Y/N)!" I heard. Turning around I saw my father, anger boiling in his eyes, "I thought I told you, no messing with the staff!"

     I froze, my eyes widening in realization. Oh...it's this night...

     My eighth birthday.

     "I-I was only trying to help!" little me's voice trembled.

     "Help? Help?! (Y/n), there's a ball later tonight and you decided to mess everything up! The dishes are unorganized, you changed the guest list, and the invitations haven't even been sent out yet! How do you expect me to fix this in time?!"

     "B-but daddy, it's my birthday, I don't know the people on the lis-"

     "(Y/n), you're a princess! It doesn't matter if it's your birthday today, tomorrow, or any day! You must act to our standards!"

     "But-"

     "No buts!" the king snapped, "You're lucky that we even allow guests to attend! It takes a long time to go through background checks!"

     I sighed. Right...I remember those. Dad always made sure to handpick each guest to his liking and even if they were picked to attend, the royal court still had to go through their background information, criminal history, etc.

     He was way too overprotective and I never knew why.

     Child me popped her head out of the covers, "I-I'm sorry, I-"

     "(Y/n), I have to go fix what you've done. When the guests arrive I expect to see you perfected..."

     And with that...he walked out of the room.

      My heart sunk as I heard the quiet sobs coming from under the covers. I lifted the blanket, revealing my little self's teary face.

     "I-I'm sorry daddy...i-it's my fault..." she mumbled to herself, covering her ears.

     I frowned, trying to think of something to say to her...me...past me? I was about comfort her but before I could a loud, bloodcurdling scream knocked me out of my senses.

     I turned around seeing...the rocks? I-I don't remember them...

     Looking up, my eyes widened. A dark red liquid was flowing from one of the spikes...

     The spike impaled my father.

     Blood was oozing out of his body, a look of shock on his face.

     "D-dad?!" I panicked, "D-daddy can you hear me?! Please, please hear me..."

     Tears ran down my face as I heard whispers surrounding me. "It's your fault..." they said. I plugged my ears but the whispers only got louder.

     "Dad!" I yelled, "Dad please!!!"

     "It's your fault..." they echoed.

     "Dad!"

     "All your fault..."

     "DAD!"

     "EVERYTHING IS YOUR FAULT."

     .

     .

     .

     My eyes snapped open. I panted, my breathing all over the place.

     I felt something wet drip onto my hands.

     Tears.

     What the heck was that?!

     I looked up seeing Rapunzel and Varian walking towards me...

-Varian's POV-

     "(Y/n)?" I exclaimed, running to her side. I smiled, she was awake and-

     W-was she...crying?

     My expression fell. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?" I stared worriedly at her. Her eyes reflected a look of shock and pain. Her happy, adventurous light had faded.

     "I-I'm fine, don't worry!" she said, looking away from me.

     Lies.

     I could see the tear stains she tried to cover up.

     "Who hurt you..?" I asked, subconsciously furrowing my eyebrows, "Or...what hurt you, what happened?"

     (Y/n) brushed off my question. She was about to stand up until Rapunzel stopped her, "(Y/n), hold on, your leg might not be fully healed yet..."

      "Oh..." (Y/n) mumbled, sitting up. Since she couldn't go anywhere so I took this time to question her. (Interrogation mode: activated)

     "(Y/n)...what happened?" I asked once more.

     No answer.

     I thought for a moment, "Was it one of your...dream...vision things again?"

     I caught her (e/c) eyes widen.

     Bingo, I was right.

     "What was it about?" Rapunzel asked, her curiosity showing.

     (Y/n) flashed a small smile, "It was just a vision from when I was eight, nothing bad."

     I lifted a brow, "Then why are you crying..?"

     "I-It was a...happy tears! Yeah, h-happy tears..." she mumbled, looking down as if the fluffy blanket below her was the most interesting thing in the world.

     Rapunzel and I made eye contact, mutually deciding that it would be best to keep our mouths shut. I turned my attention back to (Y/n), seeing her eyes were glued onto Cassandra's broken foot.

    "I-is Cass alright?!" she exclaimed, worry laced into her tone.

     I frowned at the princess. She was clearly worried for Cassandra than herself. What actually happened in the tunnel? I wasn't sure, no one was. All we knew was that these two were in danger...and I couldn't do anything about it...

     Rapunzel wrapped (Y/n) in a hug, comforting her sister, "Cass is fine, she only has a minor injury."

     I saw (Y/n)'s eyebrows furrow. "Minor injury?" the younger princess repeated, "Her bones cracked, I heard it! You call that a 'minor injury'?!"

     I placed a hand on (Y/n)'s shoulder, "Princess, don't be so worried. Cass is strong, she'll survive."

     I tried calming her down, but somehow it only made her worry more. She got up despite our protests and started pacing around the campsite.

     "No, no, no, you don't understand! I was trapped, not Cass! I should've broken my leg, I-I told her to go without me but she refused! And..." she stopped.

     Trapped? Rapunzel and I watched her with utter confusion.

     "It's my fault her leg's broken, now she can't walk because of this! B-because of me..." she paused looking down at her hands, "If I wasn't trapped she'd be safe, if I hadn't come along, i-if I hadn't even existed! I...it's my fault..."

     She glanced at Cass, tears flowing, "I'm so sorry...I-it's my fault..." she then looked to the sky, mumbling a quiet, "I-I'm sorry dad...it's always my fault..."

     I could feel my heart shatter.

    This girl, this incredible human being, the Princess of Corona...my queen was crying.

     I walked closer to her seeing her tear struck face clearly. I held onto her, making sure her leg wouldn't fail her. "Princess, listen to me, everything's going to be alright. We'll find a way to help Cass walk, she'll heal, don't worry."

     I watched as she finally cracked, her tears flooding, letting out all the pain she had locked up.

   "I shouldn't have come along with you guys, I-I'm just a pest anyway..." she sobbed, looking down.

     I lifted her chin, her (e/c) eyes connecting with mine. I smiled sadly, "That's not true, princess...please don't cry...it's not your fault..."

     I hugged her, my hand caressing her soft hair.

     I lifted an eyebrow, hearing...a cat dying? I glanced to the side.

     Oh. It's just Rapunzel.

     Was she watching us this whole time?!

     She squealed, putting two thumbs up. My face heated up. I turned my head towards (Y/n), ignoring her sister.

     I looked down at the princess, her tears started drying up. I chuckled, wiping some tears with my thumb, "See princess? Now everyone can see your beautiful face."

     That sentence earned another squeal from Rapunzel.

     I smirked seeing (Y/n)'s face flush a deep red. "Varian!" she exclaimed, backing away from the hug. I laughed as she tried covering her face.

     "Are you okay now?" I asked, hoping that I at least helped lift up her mood.

     She nodded, a soft smile making its way onto her face, "Yeah...thank you..."

     "AHHHHHH! YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER!" Rapunzel squealed, running up to us. She engulfed us in a tight hug.

     "Raps!" (Y/n) whined, "I'm surprised the poem didn't mean you would suffocate us to death."

     I laughed, Rapunzel letting us go. "Fine, but it's true! You two are cute together!" she fangirled.

     My face reddened. (Y/n) and I? Together? "That's crazyyyyy!" I said, brushing her off.

     "Mhm, if you say sooooo!" Rapunzel sang, walking away from us. I could still hear her faintly whisper, "I ship it!" in the background.

     I turned to (Y/n) seeing her face and mine were practically identical. Flushed red. I laughed, grabbing her hand.

     "Let's see how red you can get," I smirked.

     I bent down, playfully kissing her hand. I looked up, bursting into laugher. She was frozen and red from top to bottom.

    (Y/n).exe has stopped working.

     I chuckled walking away, leaving her there.

     As I walked away I heard her scream, "WHEN THE HECK DID YOU BECOME DOMINANT?!"

     I laughed running away from her. After getting a safe distance away I bumped into Lance, seeing he had just finished setting up camp.

     "What'd I miss? And why is (Y/n) a tomato?"

————————————————————————

     Ahhhhh sorry if this chapter sucked. I've been really busy lately and I wasn't really feeling creative.

Anywho! Remember the drawing I drew last chapter? Well, let's see who guessed the character correctly!

    Drumroll pleaseeee...

The charcter was Becky Barnes from Black Friday! It's an amazing musical if you haven't seen it. It's a StarKid musical so it's professionally filmed and put on YouTube for FREE!

The shoutout goes to hogwartshm go check her out and show her all the love that she deserves!!! (And yes she is a she, I checked her bio. I'm so, so, sorry if I misgendered some of y'all in the past, I'll try and be more aware next time😅)

She was the first one I saw who guessed it correctly, but the other people who guessed correctly were:

-sunkissedvarian
-kara-raine

One last announcement! We're soooo close to 2k reads! Thank you guys for all your support! There's so many different people of different nationalities and I think that's incredible that one book can bring so many people together!

I hope everyone has a good day/night! Byee!💛💛💛