(Warning: Small Singing Ahead)

×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××
Chapter 28 -
One Problem At A Time
×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

“Oh, I feel horrible about Eugene.” Rapunzel says, pacing around in her room and you're sitting on a stool at the edge of her bed with Pascal still on your shoulder. “Rapunzel, I know you do love Eugene and I do know you want to marry him someday, just not like this.”

She whines in frustration, “I know…..” She holds her head then leans over, sighing, “....I need to get out and clear my head without a fleet of guards tailing me.”

You stood and grin, “Say no more, I need you to stay here and Cass should be coming for you right below your balcony.”

Heading out into the halls, you spot Stan and Pete. “Stan, Pete!” They turn to you and smile, walking up.

“(____)! Is there something you need?” Pete asks.

“Yes, it's something important involving the Princess. Lady Cassandra and I want you to make sure no one goes into the Princess’s room. You know to have time for herself.”

They smile and salute, heading to Rapunzel's room. You smile and make your way to Cassandra's room. When you step into Cass’ room, you see Cass showing Rapunzel her wardrobe of weapons.

Cass changes and you hear something heavy drop. You turn to see Rapunzel pick up a ball flail before throwing it back in and picking up a cloak.

“I have a feeling this gonna be fun.” Rapunzel says, putting on the cloak once Cass is done getting ready.

You laughs lightly, “Trust me. It is fun, especially when you're sneaking out with Cass.”

Cass nods, smirking and Rapunzel seems more excited. “Oooo! Okay, Pascal. I need you to stay here and make sure no one knows I'm gone.” Pascal saults happily.

Cassandra leads the way to a storage room and you notice the lantern she had was lighting everything in a lime colored light. You walk ahead and pull back a drape when Cass pushes away a crate.

“IS THAT A SECRET PASSAGE!?” Rapunzel says gasping loudly and running up to it. She pushes off the drape onto Cass.

“It was-”

Before Cass could say anything to more, Rapunzel pulled you in and you yelp slightly. So you end up leading her half way and Cass finally caught up. You're in the basement of one of the town person's home, luckily they were asleep.

Rapunzel pushes open the small window and crawls out. “That was so FUN!” Her voice squeaks and you shush her.

“Rapunzel, we're supposed to be sneaking out, so that means try to be quiet.” You say.

She chuckles sheepishly, “Sorry, but come on. You two should know I can be pretty sneaky when I need to.”

Your eyes widen when Cass pulls you and Rapunzel behind a wall. There were guards walking by and you smile, realizing Owl gave Cass a signal. You decide to get a boat ready when Owl flies onto her arm.

A soft neigh scares you and you fall into the boat. “Max!” You whisper-yell and he laughs silently. You notice Cassandra's horse, Fidella, is here too.

The boat tips back a bit from the weight of the horses and you cling to Rapunzel once Cass shoots a rope across, pulling it to move the boat.

Soon you're heading down the small river and Rapunzel begins to sing, "Seems like I've spent my whole life hoping. Dreaming of things I've never tried." The five of you get off and Rapunzel hugs Max. "Tangled in knots just waiting for my time to shine."

You all began to walk away from the boat, "What if the doors began to open? What if the knots became untied? What if one day nothing stood in my way and the world was mine.” The night breeze blew around you and you seen Rapunzel enjoy the feel of the wind in her hair, "Would it feel this fine?"

"'Cause I got the wind in my hair and a gleam in my eyes and an endless horizon!" Cass pulls you up behind her on Fidella and you hang on as you guys ran. "I got a smile on my face and I'm walking on air." Rapunzel stopped and wanted to tiptoe through the shallow waters, giggling at the fish. You jump off as Cass leads Max and Fidella.

Rapunzel grins and points to the fish swimming upstream. You smile then follow as she runs to a small waterfall. "Everything life ought to be. It's all gonna happen to me out there. And I'll find it, I swear, With the wind in my hair!"

You all get to a fork in the road and you rolls your eyes as Rapunzel chooses the slightly darker path. "So many roads I've yet to travel. So many friends I haven't met." A wolf jumps out in front of us and Cass pulls out her sword, but you blink as Rapunzel begins rubbing the wolf's tummy. "So many new adventures just around the bend"

"Plenty of mysteries to unravel. Tons of mistakes to not regret." Rapunzel walks up to tall grass and pulls it back to reveal a small marshland, almost like a big pond. "So much to see and to do and to be, a whole life to spend. And it doesn't end." The fireflies light up and now begin to follow you, Cass, and Rapunzel.

You hop onto Fidella with Cass and run as Rapunzel does the same with Max. She has him jump high, "And I got the wind in my hair and a song in my heart and the fun's only started." Max launches Rapunzel onto the top of the wall and you can see the fireflies fly around as she spins, "I got a skip in my step and I haven't a care. That beautiful breeze blowing through."

Cass climbs up and helps you before handing the rope to Rapunzel, "It's gonna carry me who knows where. And I'll take any dare." Rapunzel looks back the castle's silhouette and glances at you, not seeming sure. You smile and wave for her to go on. She grins and jumps off, swinging to the ground, "With the wind in my hair!"

Your eyes widen when you realize where you were. The ruined bridge. You slid off of Fidello once she stops a few feet away from the bridge. “We have to walk across, maybe Max and Fidella should stay back.”

Cass and Rapunzel look to each other before hopping of their horses. “Okay, Max. Can you stay here and watch Fidella for me?”

“Okay, you two, just remember no one can know I took Rapunzel outside of Corona’s walls.” Cass says.

“Don't worry. No one is going to find out.” Rapunzel smiles.

You knew that wasn't true. The King always finds out, especially now Rapunzel is here and he wants to protect his daughter.

“There is something I want to show you, Raps. It should be around here somewhere. Owl lead me here when we were exploring just for fun.” Cass said.

You stayed back a bit from them and wonder if this is a good idea. You did want to see the rocks again, but…..you sigh and just keep walking with them.

“So what did you want to show me?” Rapunzel asks as you three go down to the ledge.

“It's better if you see it for yourself.”

You stay close to Rapunzel and the rocks don't seem to do anything when you pass. “They're… Beautiful.” She goes to touch them, but ends up leaning in to examine it. “What are they?”

You hug yourself and see your reflection on their surface. “I don't know. They just kind of sprouted up here half a year ago.”

Rapunzel raises a brow, “You mean a few months ago?”

Cass nods and you jump when Cass takes out her sword, “Watch this. Um….you two might want to step back for this one.”

You and Rapunzel take one step back, while Cass lifts up her sword and swings. The sword collides into the rock and breaks into pieces, leaving no scratch on the rock.

“These things are unbreakable and you want to know the weirdest part?” Rapunzel follows where Cass was looking, spotting the pedestal. “This is where they found the miracle flower that saved your mom.”

You start to see the rocks glow when Rapunzel began to reach for the stone pedestal. “Rapunzel. Maybe we should go.” You say, feeling the tension in the air. “Rapunzel! Don't!” You grab her hand just as she touches the rock and you both fly back from the strong pulse of energy.

“I'll set you free, but promise me that you'll be there for him.”

“Remember why you're here. YOU are mine to control.”

“You're safe, but please help us protect everyone here.”

You held your head, tearing from all the voices and pain your feeling throughout your body. A spot under your forearm felt numb, but it also hurt.

Lifting up your left sleeve, you notice a familiar mark glowing brightly.

Suddenly you're pulled up by Rapunzel and she grabs your hand as you two began to run.

“You two! Hurry to the horses and don't look back!”

You try to examine the glowing mark, but Rapunzel's arm keeps shaking yours from running. You yell when the ground shakes from many black rocks sprouting out and following you two.

“Don't stop you two!” Cass had stopped.

You pant, trying to keep up with Rapunzel's pull. A bright golden light slightly blinded you and your mark did the same.

Rapunzel jumps and when she lands, she let's go of your hand. The glowing stops. You glance at Rapunzel and immediately see the yellow blonde hair that stretched behind her.

“Rapunzel.” You say and she looks only to call out in panic.

“Uh! Cassandra!”

You can hear Cass coming up and she yells for us to to keep moving, only to stop in her tracks. “Whoa!” Cass stares at her hair, “Wh-what happened?!”

You fix your sleeve so neither of them could see it and worry. “We don't know, but we'll deal with it later! Let's go!” You say and run toward the bridge.

“Ah!” Rapunzel yells out.

You turn to see the end of Rapunzel's hair is caught between a crack. The two try to pull her hair and you spot the rocks getting closer. Quickly, you run to the end as the bridge suddenly goes up. You hang onto her hair, then yell when it land back down.

“(_____)!!”

“I'm okay!” You try to yank the end of her hair from the crack, but it was really stuck. You kick the crack and it finally broke which caused her hair to fly up.

You panic as you start slipping toward the black rocks, “No, no, no, no! Ah!” You feel something yank you up by the collar of your shirt. There was a muffled neigh above you, so you close your eyes.

There sounds of the bridge breaking and the feeling of Max jumping very high. You hit the ground, groaning from the impact.

“Cassandra!” Rapunzel yells and you turn to see that Fidella had grabbed Cass before she fell.

You all now look down at the deep trench. “See, I told you I would get you in and out with anyone knowing. Piece of cake.” Cass says, smiling.

You look at Cass, shaking your head and slightly jump when Rapunzel bursts. “PIECE OF CAKE!? Did you see the 70 feet of, ‘My Father's Gonna Kill Me’, growing from my head?” She says stressfully pulling her hair.

Cass glances at you and sighs, “One problem at a time, please.”