"Well? What can you see?" Rapunzel asked from the ground as they stood on each other's shoulders to have Catalina look through the gem.

"Um... it looks like we're moving," Catalina said as she peered through the jewel.

"Wh-where is Max taking us?" Varian asked from on top of Rapunzel's shoulders.

"Ugh. Max isn't the one carrying us. Dwayne is," Catalina said with distaste.

"Hey! Catalina, do you think you could push that jewel out of its setting?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah. Good idea, good- if you can, you might be able to-to squeeze through that opening!" Varian struggled to hold the weight of Aquaria, Angry, and Catalina all at the same time.

"I'll give it a try!" Catalina started to push on the jewel. "It's in their pretty good!"

She kept trying to force the jewel out of it's place.

"Almost... got it!" Catalina got the jewel to pop up.

"Great job, Catalina! Can you fit?" Rapunzel asked from the base of the human tower.

"I'll try!" Catalina called down to her before slipping her fingers through the jewel. She pulled them back in when she saw that her fingers were normal size outside of the pendant.

"Woah! Guys! Going down!" Rapunzel warned as she gave out and they all toppled over.

Aquaria yelped as she fell into some pillows. She looked up to see Varian tangled in a banner before he fell on his head.

She went to his side and he saw a plaque on the floor.

"Guys, look! Wow... this- it appears to be some sort of ancient chirography," Varian said and they all came over to look at it. "Yeah, Mionotion perhaps? No, no... maybe early Saporian?"

"Uh, Var, you're looking at it upside down," Aquaria pointed out.

"She's right," Rapunzel said before walking around to read it properly.

"Oh, right, 'course..." Varian said with a bit of embarrassment.

Aqua smiled and pecked his lips making Angry exaggerate a gag.

"'You are now prisoner of the shell. To escape its curse, you must return it to the briny deep of the sea, or remain inside of it evermore,'" Rapunzel read the plaque.

"Uh, how can we return the shell to the sea when we're stuck inside if it? Plus, the princess that would probably be able to get us to the sea is currently without magic!" Catalina pointed out.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again... WE'RE DOOMED!" Angry cried out dramatically.

"Hey! Don't forget, doom upside down is woop! And while you think about that, think about this," Rapunzel started before standing up straight. "Our friends are still out there. Max is the best tracker in Corona! And he's probably on Dwayne's tail as we speak!"

"And Pascal is really, really smart," Catalina added.

"Plus, Ruddiger can be surprisingly resourceful," Varian said as he jumped up onto a ledge. Aquaria nodded and smiled.

"He's also very loyal. He won't give up till we're out of here," Aquaria added.

"Anybody wanna say anything nice about that bird?" Angry asked with her arms crossed.

Everyone looked away from her and Aquaria cleared her throat as Varian started whistling, tapping his foot a bit.

"Well, shall we try looking for a new way to escape?" Aquaria asked and Rapunzel nodded.

"Yeah! Let's see if we can find an exit! Great thinking, Aqua!" Rapunzel smiled at her little sister.

💧

They searched for what felt like forever.

"No trapdoors, no secret passages, not even a hidden compartment," Rapunzel said after a while. "What kind of enchanted talisman is this?"

"Looks like we're gonna be here for the rest of our lives," Angry said as she looked at Rapunzel.

"I call this couch!" Catalina jumped onto the orange couch. "Hey! Maybe it won't be that bad."

"As long as I have Varian, it'll be fine," Aquaria said with a grin before she kissed Varian's lips, knowing that Angry and Catalina hated when she and Varian acted romantic around them.

"Ugh, I take it back. This is gonna be torture," Catalina said before she felt something under her pillow.

Aqua was laughing a bit as she looked at Varian who laughed as well, his cheeks dusted slightly pink. Varian leaned in to kiss Aquaria's forehead but he suddenly had a bird skull in his face.

"Hi, roomie! My name's Scully! I got a bone to pick with you!" Catalina changed her voice as she used the skull as a puppet.

"Let me try!" Angry said excitedly.

"Why? You wanna tickle everybody's funny bone?" Catalina spoke for Skully.

"Skully, shhh! Do you hear that?" Rapunzel asked and they all went silent.

They could hear Dwayne singing from outside the pendant.

"Oh, brother," Angry said as she put her hand on her head and dragged it down her face.

"Guys, don't you get it? If we can hear him, he can hear us! We just need to make our voices louder," Rapunzel said before she grabbed what looked like a glass funnel. "Hello!"

"Is someone there?" Dwayne asked.

"Listen you bone-headed weasel!" Angry shouted into the funnel after she snatched it from Rapunzel.

"Angry, give it back," Rapunzel said sternly as she took back the funnel.

"We are not going to get him to bring us to the sea by insulting him," Rapunzel said before she looked back up at the jewel.

"Something tells me he's not gonna do it if we ask him nicely either," Varian pointed out as he slung his arm around Aquaria's waist.

"You're right," Rapunzel agreed before thinking of something. "Dwayne! This is your subconscious!" She made her voice sound spooky.

"Huh? Sub-what now?"

Aqua facepalmed at the man's stupidity.

"Your subconscious," Rapunzel repeated. "You know, your innermost self? That little voice in your head?"

"I don't understand," Dwayne complained.

"Just listen! You need to drop the pendant into the sea," Rapunzel said in a ghostly voice.

"Well, why? This thing is worth a fortune!"

"It is, uh, but it's a, uh, a magic pendant. If you throw it into the sea, it will grow, uh, ten times as big and be worth so much more," Rapunzel tried.

"Uh... I don't know," Dwanye said unsurely.

Rapunzel lowered the funnel and thought for a second. "Might be time for some reverse psychology."

"I don't think forward psychology would work on this dimwit," Angry said in exasperation.

"You're right, Dwayne. Don't do it. Let the lucky crook you sell it to do it. That way he can get rich," Rapunzel said.

"Why, that backstabbing jerk! No one double-crosses Dwayne!"

Aquaria was surprised when he actually took them to a cliff to throw them into the sea.

"That's it, Dwayne. You're almost there," Rapunzel said and they all tumbled over as the pendant was held horizontally, but they got up and went to the gem to watch excitedly.

"Oh! He's actually doing it!" Catalina said excitedly.

Suddenly, they could see Pascal.

"Oh, be careful, Pascal!" Rapunzel looked at her green friend.

"Pascal? My name's Dwayne! I'm beginning to think you're not my... my sub... sub... tha-tha-that-that thing you said," Dwayne stammered as he tried to remember what she had called it.

Suddenly they were flung around and Varian clutched onto Aquaria tight, grunting when they landed on the floor with her on top of him.

"Sorry, you okay?" Aqua asked before they were thrown to the side again, this time Varian was on top of her.

"Yeah, you?" He asked with a cheeky grin before helping her stand.

The five of them gathered around the gem again since the pendant was on its side so they were standing on the wall of the pendant.

"Wow, did not see that coming," Rapunzel said as they all watched the sea grow farther and farther away from them.

"Well, that didn't go quite as planned," Aquaria said as she looked at everyone.

Eventually, they were thrown back onto the couches.

"I'm getting really sick of this tossing and turning!" Varian shouted.

They all agreed and waited for a while before they towered up again and Angry popped the jewel up.

"Looks like we can officially count the animals out of our rescue plan," the black haired girl said with a sigh.

"Guys, I have been in a lot of situations like this. Well, not like this. I mean, how often does a person get stuck inside a trinket? But, the important thing is we can never give up hope on our friends," Rapunzel said as she looked up the tower.

Aqua nodded with a smile as she looked down at her sister.

"Max is a top notch guard. He just needs to learn that a great leader has to listen as well as give orders. In other words, he has to learn how to play well with others. They all do. Each one of those guys has something special about them," Rapunzel said with a bright smile. "Pascal may be small but he's mighty. And... also adorable."

Aqua giggled a little and Varian nodded as he looked up, locking eyes with his girlfriend.

They all started to get down from the tower.

"And Ruddiger is cunning and loyal," Rapunzel said to which Varian and Aquaria nodded. "If they could just come together, they would be unstoppable."

Varian jumped down last and put his fists on his hips as he stood beside Aquaria.

"I couldn't help but notice you forgot to mention the bird," Angry pointed out.

"Oh! I didn't forget!" Rapunzel said with a sheepish smile.

"But, princess, even if those guys got their act together, how would they find us all the way up here?" Catalina asked and Rapunzel hummed.

"You're right," Rapunzel said before walking over to one of the hanging pieces of fabric. "Did you say your finger was normal sized when it was outside of the shell?"

Catalina nodded as she bent her finger a few times.

"Varian! Your bag!" Aquaria realized and he took it off, knowing what she was thinking of. "We can use some alchemy to make some beacons! And we can make them have a delayed explosion time so it'll definitely get their attention!"

"Aqua, you're a genius!" Rapunzel praised.

"Oh, man, did I get lucky," Varian said to himself with a bright smile as he watched his girlfriend get to work and he quickly started to help her.