Elizabeth's POV:

Rapunzel was pacing around her room.

She seemed upset.

"So, I guess it's a pretty safe bet that Corona won't be hosting a daddy-daughter dance anytime soon?" Eugene asked.

I stepped on his foot as Pascal squeaked at him.

"Yeah, sorry, not the time for jokes."

"I'm not sure what's going on, but I know Corona's in some kind of danger, and I feel like I'm the only one who wants to do anything about it." Rapunzel said.

"No, no, you're not. Listen, Blondie, no matter what we're up against, I'm with you all the way." Eugene reassured her.

"I am too!" I said.

"I know, thank you, I just" Rapunzel sighed "I think I need some time alone."

"Understood. You know things do seem pretty dark right now, but if anyone can find a light, it's you. I've got a feeling everything's gonna be okay."

Suddenly we noticed to guards arguing.

"Quit being so mean, Pete!" One said.

"Wait! All I said was your breath smells like tree-rot, you are a sub-standard croquet player, and previous instances where I asserted you had a lovely singing voice were patently false." The other one said before covering his mouth.

"You've always loved my voice!" The first guard said sadly.

"Pete! What are you doing? Stan's your best friend!" Rapunzel asked, confused.

"I know, I can't help it! It's like I- I have to say whatever's on my mind!" The guard, Pete, said.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you have cookie crumbs on your cheek." The guard, Stan, cried before running off.

"Stan, wait! I'm sorry!" Pete chased after him

"This is weird..." i said.

"You've got enough on your plate, Blondie. Go get some rest. We'll handle this. Right pigtails?" Eugene asked.

I nodded.

Rapunzel sighed and walked away.

Varian's POV: The next day

Ruddiger and i noticed Rapunzel sitting on a boat in the water.

I sent Ruddiger over to her while i snuck around.

"Did you hear something? Ah!" I heard Rapunzel say.

"Oh! Ruddiger! Where did you come from?"

I took this chance to jump on the boat.

"Shh."

Rapunzel looked at me.

"Oh, Varian! Where have you been? I-I-I've been so worried about you." She asked, hugging me before backing away.

Was she ok?

Nevermind that!

"Yeah, uh, I've had to lie low. A funny thing, the people of Corona aren't too keen on guys who attack their princess." I said awkwardly.

"Attack me? You mean during the storm? You came for help." She said.

"And you got to see why I needed your help." I told her.

She had a look of shock and guilt on her face.

"Varian... I am so sorry! I had no id-"

I held my hand up, signaling her to stop talking.

"You had to save the kingdom, you did what you had to, but you can help me now, Rapunzel. Do you have the scroll?" I asked.

"The scroll! I-I-I got it, like you asked. I have no idea what it is, but my dad was desperate to keep it from me." She said, handing it to me.

"Now, it took me a while to translate this old language, but from what I can tell, those black rocks are actually some kind of- of ancient darkness. Its destructive power can only be stopped by its counterpart, the SunDrop." I explained "Rapunzel! The- the flower!"

"You mean the flower? The one that healed my mom and gave me my hair? But... my dad said it was long gone." Rapunzel said.

"Hmm. Would you say your dad has been really a reliable source of information?" I asked.

"Well, um..."

"No, Rapunzel! No, it's still here. I'm sure of it. Your dad wouldn't just throw away something that could wield that kind of power. A single petal from that flower would solve all of our problems. That's all we need!" I said.

"Yeah, but even if the flower is here, I don't think we can just ask my dad to hand it over." Rapunzel said.

"Oh, I know we can't" i said "which is why we have to steal it."

Elizabeth's POV:

"It can be hard to look away from shiny things, huh, buddy?" Cass asked Eugene who was staring at a suit of armor.

"The royal chef just told me my ears were too big for my head!" Eugene said.

People are being weirdly honest today.

"What? No... It's just your head's too small for your ears." Cass laughed.

"No, no, seriously, people are acting really strange." Eugene said.

"Then you're gonna love this." Cass opened the door.

There were people there who kept telling the truth like crazy.

"Yeah, we might wanna look into this." Eugene said.

"Defiantly" i said.

Varian's POV:

Rapunzel and i ran to a door in the castle.

"Ah! Princess, what are we doing here? The flower would most likely be in the royal vault, and that is on the other-"

"Other side of the castle, I know. But if we want to get past the vault security, our best bet is to use the underground tunnels, and Herz de Sonne's journal has a complete map of them." Rapunzel said.

How did i forget that!?

Rapunzel grabbed the journal and stopped to stare at a painting of the king.

"Rapunzel, you got what we came for. Come on, let's go!" I said.

"Taking the journal, stealing the flower Varian, these are all acts of treason." Rapunzel said.

But it's also the only way, princess...

"This may be my dad's only hope. This... may be Corona's only hope. Rapunzel, Corona needs our help." I said.

"For Corona...come on" Rapunzel said.

We walked down the hall before Rapunzel stopped around a corner.

"Blondie, what you doing?" I heard Eugene ask.

"Doing? Uh, I wasn't doing anything?" Rapunzel said.

"Rapunzel are you ok?"

I froze in place, not sure what to do.

...Ellie?

"What do you got there?" Eugene asked.

"What? Nothing... nothing!" Rapunzel said, giving me the book.

"Right... okay. I know you want to be alone, but the girls and I, we-"

Rapunzel started laughing nervously.

"You okay?" Eugene asked.

"Mm-hmm!"

"Rapunzel?"

"Eugene, how far would you go to find the truth?"

"Personally... not very far. Frankly, the truth's not all it's cracked up to be. Blondie, you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, sorry. I just, I've had a lot to process lately. I promise I'll talk when I'm ready, okay?"

'I promise to talk when i'm ready' yeah right!

Rapunzel pulled me away as soon as they turned their backs.

"I found the entrance! Down here!" I said.

"We have to go this way." Rapunzel pointed in one direction.

"Um... that way?" She pointed in the other.

I wasn't in the mood to get lost today!

"Wow... Oh, oh! These tunnels depict an ancient technology of pre-Corona-era-" i started explaining before i saw a skeleton and screamed.

"Uh... yeah, this way." I said pointing in the opposite direction of where the skeleton was.

"We've gotta be careful. Herz der Sonne's tunnels may have long been forgotten, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous. They are lined with deadly booby traps." Rapunzel explained.

I laughed.

"As you can recall, I know a thing or two about booby traps." I said.

"Varian, watch out!" Rapunzel yelled as i unknowingly stepped on one.

"Huh? Oh! Whoa! Well, that's one down." I said, blocking the arrows that popped out of the wall with my alchemy staff that i made.

We walked into another room and the doors closed behind us.

Suddenly the walls started closing in.

"We're gonna get squished!" I yelled.

"Ah! Ah! Pascal, wedge this into the axle to stop it from turning. Hurry!" Rapunzel said, handing something to Pascal.

Suddenly the walls stopped.

It actually worked...

"Oh! Good. Now, go behind the wall to find some sort of release mechanism."

After a minute they started closing in again.

"Pascal! Ah! Oh! Pascal, do something! Hurry!" Rapunzel yelled.

Just as we were about to get squished the walls stopped.

"Pascal, you did it!" Rapunzel said excitedly.

"I think I'm gonna be sick" i said.

Elizabeth's POV:

People kept arguing.

"Yeah, this reminds me of Xavier's mood potion, only now, everyone can't help but tell the truth." Eugene said.

"Out of my way, Big Ears." Someone said.

"Except for that guy. He had no idea what he's talking about."

"If this is some kind of truth potion, we have to figure out how it got into the castle. Who was the first person you noticed being a little too honest?" Cass asked.

Later

"Okay, Pete let's start at the beginning. Walk us through your day." Cass said.

"And relax, just tell us what happened." Eugene added.

"Well, I woke up confused, because my mouth tasted like beans, but I had no recollection of eating beans the day prior. Then I saw my cat, and I said, 'Hello, Mr. Happy-Paws! Who's a fluffernutter?' Of course, he can't talk." The guard started saying.

"We may be here a while" i said.

Cass sighed.

Varian's POV:

"Tripwire." I pointed out.

Suddenly Pascal tried to catch a spider walked on the string.

"Pascal, no! I need you to carefully let go of that spider." Rapunzel said.

Which, surprisingly he did.

"Phew"

Suddenly Ruddiger walked through and snapped it.

"Watch it! Oh... Everyone okay? We're getting closer to the surface. We don't want to alarm the guards." Rapunzel said.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure they and everyone else have their hands full." I said without thinking.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"N-nothing. Uh, it's just, um, they have their hands full every day! Corona, you know? Busiest kingdom on earth! Whoa! Whoa! Oh!" I said, accidentally setting off a trap.

"Varian! Hang on!"

"Way ahead of you!"

As she helped me out, the ground started falling.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"I'm gonna go with... run!" Rapunzel said.

Elizabeth's POV:

"I got into work, high-fived Stan, and I noticed his hand was sweaty,-" the guard continued.

"Gah! Aah!" Cass grabbed him by the collar.

"Oh, boy! You are scary!" He said.

"Listen, we've been here for 30 minutes, and all you've been doing is boring us with useless information!" Cass said.

"Useless! I gave you my recipe for strawberry scones!" Pete said.

"That was the most useless part!" Cass said.

I wouldn't say that...oh! Maybe i can rope Varian into testing out the recipe, he has been trying to get better at baking.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, let's try this. Can you recall anything out of the ordinary? Maybe something not soul-crushingly boring?" Eugene asked.

"Well, I did find the man in the bush who gave me purple cookies a bit peculiar." Pete said.

"I'm sorry what!?" I asked.

"You think you might have led with that?" Cass said.

"Everybody's been eating these things!" He said, holding one up, about to eat it.

"Don't! Someone may have laced them with some kind of truth serum." Cass smacked it out of his hand.

"Listen, Pete, what else can you tell us about the man in the bush?" Eugene asked.

"Well, let's see, his voice was kind of squeaky? Oh, and he was asking about the SunDrop flower, which the king has been secretly hiding in the vault ever since he used it on the queen." Pete said.

"Wait, wait, wait- the SunDrop flower?" Eugene asked.

"So... someone with a squeaky voice trying to keep a low profile used a potion to get information about a magical flower. Sound like anyone we know?" Cass asked.

I thought for a minute before the realization sank in....

No....

"Varian! So that's why Rapunzel was acting so peculiar. Come on, she might be in trouble!" Eugene turned to leave the room before he stopped infront of me.

"Pigtails? You coming?" He asked.

"Are we sure Varian is the only person we know who fits that description?" I asked.

Eugene sighed and Cass put her hand on my shoulder.

Varian's POV:

Well...we nearly just fell who knows how far below the castle.

"That was too close. You are sure this flower is worth it, right? It's Corona's only hope?" Rapunzel asked.

"It should be, but, uh, I'm not really concerned about Corona." I said before realizing.

"You don't care about Corona?" Rapunzel asked.

"Uh, I mean, of course I'm concerned about Corona, I love Corona, I just meant, right now I'm really concerned about how it's gonna help my dad. Corona, too!" I said, trying to correct myself.

I hope we're almost there...

Elizabeth's POV:

"Out of the way, boys! We need to get into the vault and get the SunDrop flower!" Cass said.

"SunDrop flower? Why, whatever do you mean?" One guard asked.

"Oh... I heard... the SunDrop flower... was destroyed..." the other said.

"We know the secret- Let us in! The princess could be in grave danger!" Eugene yelled.

Varian's POV:

Dead end...

"Oh, it's a dead-end." I said.

"No, this is it. We are right under the vault. Do you see that trap-door?" Rapunzel pointed to the ceiling where there was some kind of door.

"Yeah, how do we get it open?" I asked.

"Hmm... One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... Seven pillars. Huh..."

Rapunzel messed with the pillars a bit before we heard something.

"Uh, Varian?"

I looked over my shoulder.

"Fascinating! I believe this is an automaton, a-a marvel of ancient technology, really.I've heard about them, but to see one in person-"

"Varian! Look out!"

"Don't worry, princess, I've got this." I said, throwing a vial at it.

"See? I told ya! I got this..." i said seconds before being knocked into a wall.

"Uh, Varian?"

"Oh... Despite the excruciating pain and the fact I am about to pass out, the science at work here is spellbinding!" I said excitedly.

"We're gonna need some kind of a plan if we're gonna defeat that thing. Uh... hey, you! Metal-head!"

"Automaton!" i corrected.

"Come and get it! Distract him and draw him towards you! Come on, let's go!" Rapunzel said.

Elizabeth's POV:

"Sorry, strict orders from the king. No one is permitted beyond this point." The guard said.

"Let's ask ourselves a question, shall we? Whose wrath would you rather face, the king's, or hers?" Eugene pointed to Cassandra who cracked her knuckles.

The guards held up the key.

Varian's POV:

"There it is! The flower!" Rapunzel said.

I walked up and grabbed it.

"Varian" she grabbed my bag "You said... you were just gonna take one petal?"

"But what if one petal's not enough to harvest what I need?" I asked.

"Varian!"

"What difference does it make? It's just sitting here, rotting, anyway!" I yelled.

As i pulled away from her something fell from my bag.

"That flacon... That had Xavier's mood potion in it. Varian, that potion is dangerous. You shouldn't be fooling with it!"

I took it from her.

"There were just a few drops left, but it was enough for me to replicate and modify. I had to be sure the flower was here." I explained.

"So you made a truth serum and gave it to everyone?" Rapunzel asked.

I laughed.

"You'd be surprised what people will tell you for a cookie." I said.

"Pete? Stan? How could you?" She asked.

I was getting annoyed.

"Oh, do you honestly expect me to be concerned about the welfare of Corona?" I asked.

"But you said you-"

"Rapunzel!" I cut her off "I used you! I begged you, and this kingdom, for help. Everyone turned their back on me! It has to be this way."

"I defied a direct order from my father, the king, because I trusted you. We both broke the law." Rapunzel explained.

I thought about it.

"Give me the flower, Varian. We can find a way to fix all of this, the rocks, your dad, everything. I promise you. I promise! Just this is not the way. Please?" She begged.

I sighed.

Maybe she was right.

I was about to reach into my bag before i thought about it again.

I heard people trying to get through the door.

"Sorry, Princess, but I know firsthand how well you keep promises." I said.

The door swung open.

"There he is! Get him!" Eugene yelled.

I reached into my bag, grabbed a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground.

Elizabeth's POV:

As the smoke cleared i tried to process what i had just seen, there was no denying it anymore....

I felt tears running down my face.

"Rapunzel, are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Rapunzel said before turning to the door "Varian!"

Varian's POV:

"Work! Work! Please, work!" I said using the flower on the drill, trying to break the amber.

Nothing happened.

"No... No, no, no! No! This is useless! It's like it no longer holds the SunDrop's power!" I cried.

You mean the flower? The one that healed my mom and gave me my hair?

The rocks are demonstrating an actual physical response

...to you.

I looked at the flower.

"The SunDrop isn't the flower... anymore..." i said to myself, crumbling up the flower and wiping away the dust off a piece of paper.

"It's Rapunzel!"