Romance Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Stars Above - A Cassunzel Fanfic ❯ Chapter 31: Tu Es Ma Lumiere (The Final Showdown Part 1) ( Chapter 31 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

“Kill her.”

Cassandra turned towards Rapunzel and extended her hand towards her, her eyes glaring daggers into her soul. Rapunzel held her breath and waited for the inevitable. But it never came. Rapunzel met Cassandra’s eyes and was surprised to see full recognition hiding in her dark blue hues. Cassandra, who’s back was turned towards Zhan Tiri and Gothel, smiled and winked at her.

Rapunzel didn’t have time to think about it before Cassandra suddenly whipped around in less than a second and smirked. “How about… no.” Before they could do so much as react, Cassandra trapped both Gothel and Zhan Tiri, much to their aggravation.

“What?” Zhan Tiri snarled. “How?! You should be completely under my control! There’s no way you could have resisted the magic of the blackstone! It’s impossible!”

“It’s not the first time I’ve beat the ‘impossible’.” Cassandra responded.

“You should be drowning in your own sorrow, I made sure that you would!”

“Yeah and it worked,” Cass responded. “But there’s one thing you didn’t take into account.”

“And what’s that?”

Cassandra’s eyes darkened and she wrapped the shadows even tighter around them. “No matter how hurt I am, no matter how weak I may seem,” Cassandra started. “...My will to protect my family will always be stronger.”

Rapunzel watched the whole exchange with a small smile. She was never worried. She always knew that Cassandra could overcome anything if she believed that she could. She just needed to start believing in herself as much as Rapunzel did. Cassandra seemed to consider their enemies for a second, their faces unreadable, before she turned around and lent her hand out to Rapunzel with a gentleman-like smile. Rapunzel smiled back and grabbed it as Cassandra pulled her up.

Cass seemed to look her up and down before she reached forward and brushed Rapunzel’s hair behind her ear, her eyes full of concern. “Are you okay?”

Rapunzel leaned into her touch and nodded. “I’m fine,” She responded before placing her hand over Cassandra’s. “I knew you would come.”

“That makes one of us,” Cassandra mumbled before sighing and fixing Rapunzel with a guilty expression. “I’m sorry for the way I acted back there, Raps, I just...”

Rapunzel shook her head and interrupted her. “It’s okay Cass. All that matters is that you’re here now.”

Cass suddenly chuckled. “Well, one of us had to save Nova,” She paused. “You’re terrible at rescues.” She teased.

Rapunzel huffed. “I was getting to it,” She responded. “I just got a little... preoccupied.”

“You’ve been gone for only an hour and you already nearly died.”

“Well, at least I tried unlike someone I know who gave me every excuse in the book.”

“You practically guilt-tripped me into coming here.”

“Oh please, you know I was right. Admit it,” Cassandra looked away and mumbled something incoherently. “Sorry Cass, I didn’t hear you. What was that?” Cassandra cursed under her breath at the sarcastic savage she created.

Cassandra growled. ”Fine,” She grumbled. “You might have been right.”

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow. “‘Might have’?”

“Ugh, fine!” Cassandra groaned. “You were right, okay? Happy?”

Rapunzel giggled and leaned up to kiss her on the cheek. “Very,” She patted her arm. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Cassandra rolled her eyes and mumbled grumpily, making Rapunzel giggle. Cass then turned her attention back to their enemies who were currently trying everything they could to escape but to no prevail.

Zhan Tiri snarled. “Do you really think you have won?”

“Duh,” Cassandra responded sarcastically. “The odds are in our favor. You’re trapped.”

Suddenly, Zhan Tiri chuckled darkly. “Well, there’s always a backup plan.”

“Wha-?” Cassandra didn’t get to finish because there was an explosion that made them go temporarily blind. Cassandra and Rapunzel both had their arm over their eyes before Cassandra instinctively placed her arm in front of Rapunzel. When the smoke finally cleared, Cassandra and Rapunzel couldn’t hold back a gasp. There stood Zhan Tiri in her natural form. But unlike before she was... much bigger.

Cassandra kept her arm in front of Rapunzel and slowly backed up. It was then that they noticed the moonstone glowing against Zhan Tiri’s chest. “Shit,” Cassandra mumbled.

Rapunzel nodded, much to her surprise, and responded. “...You said it.” Zhan Tiri suddenly smirked evilly. Cassandra saw it coming before it came. Whipping around and picking up Rapunzel as fast as she could, she jumped and hid them behind a far wall. As soon as she did, Zhan Tiri let out a ferocious shout and all but exploded the cave they were once standing under. Rocks flew everywhere as Cassandra continued to use her body to protect Rapunzel. When it was over, the cave they were once standing in was no more and they were standing in the middle of the open field the cave was located in.

Zhan Tiri stretched and smirked. “Ah, so much better. It was so stuffy in there.”

“What are we gonna do Cass?” Rapunzel whispered.

Cass seemed to think for a second before she responded: “I fight.”

“You? Singular?” Rapunzel asked. “You’re seriously going to run into battle with not even a plan nor a backup plan? Without help? Cass, not only does Zhan Tiri have the moonstone, but she charged the moonstone with blackstone power. It won’t be an even match - you won’t stand a chance!”

“Thanks for the support...” Cassandra mumbled sarcastically.

“You know what I mean,” Rapunzel responded. “You’re going to get hurt or...”

“What other option do we have?”

“Well, if you just let me help-”

“No.”

“Cass-”

“No.”

“Cassandra...!”

“No, Rapunzel,” Cassandra responded, using her full name just like how Rapunzel did to her.

“Why not?! Haven’t you learned by now that we’re stronger together??”

Cass fixed her with a deadpan look. “What exactly are you gonna do? Fry pan them to death?” Rapunzel opened her mouth then closed it, knowing that she didn’t have an answer. She looked away instead.“You don’t have the sunstone anymore, Raps, it’s dangerous. You have nothing to protect yourself. What if something happened? I’d be too busy with Zhan Tiri that I wouldn’t be able to get to you in time. I’d be too worried about your safety to even focus.” When Rapunzel continued to avoid her eye contact, Cassandra sighed and linked her finger under her chin then directed her head back towards her before pushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “It’s you who they’re after.”

“...I just want to help.” Cassandra frowned as Rapunzel looked away again. She knew that Rapunzel hated to be helpless. Rapunzel wasn’t the type to just sit back and let someone else fight her battles for her. Rapunzel wasn’t the type to let someone fight alone. She felt useless and powerless. Cassandra knew the feeling.

“I know,” Cass responded sympathetically. “But the best way to help me right now is to stay out of the way so that I know you’re safe. Okay?”

Rapunzel slowly nodded. “Okay.”

“Promise?”

Rapunzel nodded again and met her eyes before reluctantly saying: “I promise.”

Cassandra gave her a sweet smile before leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Cass.” Rapunzel responded but Cassandra could hear the pained strain in her voice. Her smile was fake and knowing her, she was probably holding back tears too. “Please be careful.”

“Always am.” Rapunzel didn’t seem convinced by her cocky attitude and fixed her with a serious look.

“I’m serious Cass, be careful. You know that they’re both ruthless and will stop at nothing to get what they want.”

Cassandra sighed. “I’ll be careful, I promise. Now you find somewhere to hide and stay out of sight.” Rapunzel slowly nodded. Cassandra gave her one last smile before she turned around and bolted off. Rapunzel held her hand as long as she could before they lost contact with each other and her arm was slightly extended to the spot Cass was standing before. Sighing, she slowly lowered her hand and did as she promised: find a safe place to hide.

“Hey Zhan Tiri!” Cassandra shouted, making the demon look towards her. Bravely, Cassandra walked until she was nearly directly in front of her. She stood nearly a 100 feet tall and towered over Cassandra.

“Cassandra,” Zhan Tiri snarled. “Where’s your princess?”

“Nowhere you’ll find her,” Cassandra responded.

“You better hand her over if you know what’s good for you.”

Cassandra laughed darkly. “Oh, really? What are you gonna do if I don’t?”

“Kill you, painfully, of course.”

Cass’s smirk darkened. “I’d like to see you try.” She responded darkly. “Afterall, you trained me, remember? I was your pupil after all. But you fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book - twice. Are you so weak that you have to manipulate others to fight your battles for you?” Her plan worked. Zhan Tiri’s temper exploded and she started launching rocks towards her. Cassandra jumped away at the last second. Rapunzel was right, she didn’t stand a chance against the moonstone that carried blackstone magic. But she was smarter. If she could get Zhan Tiri to attack her in a blind fit of rage, she could catch her off guard and take her down.

Cassandra made a wall of shadows to block one of the rocks that she couldn’t get away from. It worked, but barely. Cassandra might have been able to resist the darkness of the blackstone but she barely knew how to use it, let alone control it. If she was being honest - she was winging most of it. So much for having a good plan. Or a plan at all.

“You can’t run forever Cassandra!” Zhan Tiri bellowed.

“Sure I can,” Cassandra responded, panting. “I had to keep up with a free-spirited, eager, fresh-out-of-the-tower princess 24/7. This is nothing.”

“We’ll see about,” Zhan Tiri snarled before throwing more rocks in her direction. Cassandra barely escaped the last one as it cut deep into her arm. Hissing and landing on her knees, she placed her hand over the already bleeding wound. She barely had time to get up before another set of rocks came barreling towards her.

This wasn’t good. She was already getting tired and was quickly running out of energy. Maybe if she taunted her... “You know, Zhan, you’re not a very good villain. This is what... the third time you’ve tried to kill us? Your so-called ‘plans’ have failed every single time. And you had to get a partner to do your dirty work for you.” She could practically feel Zhan Tiri’s aura darken. “Oh, did I hit a nerve?” Cassandra asked sarcastically with a smirk. “My bad.”

“Your big mouth is gonna be your demise, young one.” Zhan Tiri snarled.

“Your conceited, arrogant attitude is gonna be your demise, old one.” Cassandra had to hold back a laugh at the pissed off, annoyed expression Zhan Tiri made.

Zhan Tiri suddenly smirked as her shoulders sagged. “Are you really gonna fight me? Remember, I was all you had while your so-called ‘princess’ trusted and put other people first before you.” Suddenly the field they were in disappeared as Cassandra’s head filled with all the memories from those times. She was bathed in complete utter darkness. It surrounded her as she fell to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut. Cassandra was desperately trying to focus on regaining control before the blackstone took over her heart. She could practically feel Zhan Tiri’s triumphant smirk. But she couldn’t see her.

Cassandra felt everything she did back then when she first had the moonstone: Sorrow. Pain. Anger. Her anger only heightened when she saw a particular memory. Their time in the Great Tree; from the moment they got there to until they left. How Rapunzel didn’t trust her, how she didn’t listen to her, how she ignored her... How she chose Adira over here after knowing that she didn’t trust her and was uncomfortable… How she nearly lost her hand because Rapunzel didn’t - No. Cassandra shook her head and reminded herself that she was different now and so was Rapunzel. Rapunzel had hurt her - but she had hurt Rapunzel too. But now... now they are so much more. Over the last year, they built a trust like none she had ever known. Rapunzel was her life, her light, her soul, her reason for living, her everything. She wasn’t gonna go down that dark tunnel again and fall for Zhan Tiri’s tricks.

The last year has been the happiest she has been in her whole life. She finally felt like she belonged somewhere after looking for so long. She found her missing piece. She had someone to protect, someone to fight for... No... Someone’s. She had a daughter with Rapunzel. Rapunzel brought light into her life; she chased away the darkness that was buried in her heart for a long, long time. They’ve been through hell and back together and still came out on top stronger than ever. Even after Cassandra tried to kill Rapunzel, her home, her friends... Even after Rapunzel nearly burnt her hand off... Even after they fought and nearly blasted each other off of a tall tower... Even after all the horrible things Cassandra said and did to her... Even after everything... They were still together. Still going. Still living. Still loving. And they were stronger than ever. And she wasn’t gonna let Zhan Tiri change that.

Cassandra finally saw it now. No matter what her and Rapunzel did to each other, no matter how they hurt each other, no matter what they said to each other, they will always come out even stronger. Before, Cassandra never believed in the word ‘unbreakable’. Everyone had a breaking point. Every relationship had a breaking point. But her and Rapunzel? Their bond was like no other. They were united as one. They were truly and undoubtedly unbreakable. They were intertwined; the sun and the moon coming together as one to make a star.

Coming to this realization, Cassandra fought against the darkness that was trying to take hold of her. She was the owner of the blackstone. She controlled it, it didn’t control her. Cassandra focused on regaining control. Although she was still bathed in darkness and bad memories, she could still feel Zhan Tiri’s presence. She could feel Zhan Tiri. They think they won... Man, did they have another thing coming.

“Did you really think that...” Cassandra panted and slowly rose to her feet as the darkness slowly faded into a beautiful light. Zhan Tiri and Gothel, who were currently gloating, snapped their heads in her direction. Cassandra’s eyes suddenly snapped open, fire hidden in them. “....I would turn against Rapunzel again?”

“But I showed you-”

“It doesn’t matter what you showed me. I will never fall for your tricks ever again! I know what’s real and true. Maybe you were able to take over my mind all those years ago and convince me that Rapunzel didn’t need me, but now, I’m a different person. I’m stronger. We both are. We’ve moved on.” Cassandra smirked. “Have you? You lost and you came back for more but the outcome will just be the same. After All, the villain always loses in the end.”

The moonstone crackled against Zhan Tiri’s chest. “I’ve had enough of this!” She roared and started throwing everything she could at Cassandra. Cassandra was able to dodge the rocks being thrown at her. All except for the last one. It caught her off guard, if she was being honest. She was struck down and thrown to the floor. She landed on her side and groaned as she tried to pick herself back up.

Slowly rising to her feet, she pressed her gloved hand into her side and it came back bloody. “Dammit,” Cassandra mumbled. She inspected the wound from what she could see and was relieved to see it wasn’t all that bad. There was a nasty gash on her side but it wasn’t deep. From what injuries Cassandra has survived through, this was nothing. To her, it was like if a kid fell off their bike and scraped their knee. That didn’t mean it did not still hurt like hell though.

“Cassandra!” Hearing her name in warning, she jumped out of the way just in time for a gigantic rock landing right where she was standing a second earlier. Snapping her head around, she glared at the princess. Rapunzel tensed.

“What are you doing?? I told you to- ″ Her eyes widened upon noticing the evilistic smirk on Zhan Tiri’s face. “Raps, look out!” But she was too late. Zhan Tiri extended her hand and shot rock daggers at her. Cassandra tried to rush to her but she was too far. She was never gonna make it in time! “Rapunzel move!” But she didn’t. Rapunzel seemed to be frozen in place in fear.

Rapunzel watched helplessly as the daggers flew in her direction. She knew what she needed to do - but her mind and feet just didn’t seem to be working or cooperating with her. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and wait for the inevitable. She could hear Cassandra shouting her name. The daggers were inches away from hitting her now. “NO!” She heard Cassandra shout. She waited. But it never came.

Rapunzel slowly opened her eyes and she gasped upon seeing Eugene in front of her holding a black rock sword in front of him. How he got one is a mystery. “I see you’re still getting into trouble.” Eugene said with his usual teasing attitude as he held the rocks back.

After she got over her shock a big smile spread across her face then it slowly fell into a teasing grin. “Well, you know me. Always getting myself into random predicaments.”

“‘Random’ is not the right word considering I told you to stay away and hide.” Cassandra gave Rapunzel a reprimanding glare as the princess looked away to avoid her eye contact. Cassandra shook her head with an exasperated sigh before turning her attention back to their little ‘savior’. “Always have to steal the spotlight, don’t ya?”

“Hey, I can’t help it if I shine everywhere I go.” Eugene smirked his usual arrogant smirk. Cassandra rolled her eyes; but not in any annoyed way but a relieved way.

“What are you doing here Eugene?”

“Did you really think we were gonna let you fight an evil sorcerer without us?”

Cassandra opened her mouth to respond then realized he said ‘we’ and ‘us’. She gave him a confused look. “Wait - ‘we’? ‘Us’?”

“Cassie! Rapunzel!” Cassandra’s eyes widened. She knew that nickname... Peering behind Eugene she was stopped in her tracks upon seeing Rapunzel’s - no, their - friends coming to the rescue. Varian. Lance. The girls. Even Max. Rapunzel seemed to share her surprise. Cassandra and Rapunzel were barely able to prepare before they were engulfed in a group hug. Rapunzel accepted it happily and leaned into the warmth of their friends. Cassandra was slightly tense and uncomfortable but anyone who knew her would see that she was happy too.

When the hug ended, Rapunzel asked the question Cassandra was dying to know: “What are you all doing here? Not that we’re not happy to see you but you’re awfully far from Corona.”

“Eugene told us about how he ran into you two and how Zhan Tiri and Gothel were back,” Varian stated. “Sooo we guessed as much that you two would probably get yourself into some serious trouble so we tracked you down.”

“Tracked us down?” Cassandra asked. “How?”

“It’s not like it was that hard,” Lance jumped in. “It’s not a common thing to hear about the ‘runaway star-crossed lovers’. Words of you guys are everywhere.”

“But we mostly followed the trouble you left behind everywhere you went.” Kiera responded with a raised eyebrow.

Before either could respond or defend themselves, they heard light chuckling and they all whipped around. “I hate to break up your heart-felt sickening reunion,” Zhan Tiri said. “But I’m afraid we’re gonna need to speed things up. Got a schedule to keep afterall.” The moonstone cackled. “Now, I’m only gonna ask this once, hand over the princess and no one gets hurt.”

Cassandra stepped in front of Rapunzel and placed a protective arm in front of her. “Not happening.”

“Fine but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Suddenly, rocks appeared from the ground. Cassandra was able to pick up Rapunzel just in time and jump away. The others seemed to get away as well. But their escape didn’t last long. Using a small portion of blackstone magic, Zhan Tiri summoned people-like figures with blank faces that held swords. They were surrounded. Cassandra mumbled a spray of curse words, realizing that she couldn’t fight Zhan Tiri and protect the princess.

A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned to find Eugene smiling at her. “We’ll make sure Rapunzel is safe and take care of these weird no-face people. You go take down Zhan Tiri.”

“Yeah! You go Cassie!” Varian cheered enthusiastically. Her other friends gave her encouraging words and smiles. Cassandra couldn’t stop the smile that formed on her face even if she tried. Just a couple months ago she thought that these people - these people who went halfway across the world to aid them in battle - were against her.

Cassandra nodded confidently before looking at her lover. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Rapunzel grinned as she spun the frying pan that Eugene gave her. “No promises.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes before giving her a loving look. But it was a short version of her usual loving looks because of the company around them. “Love you.”

Cassandra blushed deeply at the many ’aww!’s coming from behind them. Rapunzel giggled at her embarrassed expression before pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Love you too. Now, go take her down!” Cassandra nodded and jumped away. As she ran into battle, she couldn’t help but smile gratefully at her realization of how much she loved her friends.

‘Friends’.... That was a new one for her. For the longest time, she thought the only person she had was Rapunzel. She never knew what it felt like to be a part of a group, to be a part of something, to be cared for and sacrificed for... She didn’t even feel it on their way to the Dark Kingdom. But now…. Now she does know what it’s like. And she couldn’t have been more grateful to have met each and every one of them. She had friends. She had friends. The more she thought about it the happier at the realization she got.

She had friends and for once, she felt like she finally belonged somewhere; to a family.

The fight was pretty brutal. Everyone was exhausted. Rapunzel and the others took down what no-face people they could but they just kept coming and coming. Cassandra had been dealing with Zhan Tiri and since their powers were technically evenly matched now, because of the fact Zhan Tiri kept using so much of her blackstone magic that was in the moonstone, it was just back and forth constant battling. Both sides were exhausted.

Zhan Tiri smirked as Cassandra panted. “As you said before, I trained you. And I’m pretty sure I trained you better than this,” She taunted. “You’re not using your full potential.”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. “Fuck. You.”

“Now, now, is that anyway to talk to an old friend?”

“You were never my friend.”

“I beg to differ,” Zhan Tiri responded. “You were so convinced that Rapunzel’s ‘destiny’ was your own, that you fell for every trick in the book. I suppose you did take on the princess’s destiny. After all, her destiny was to die.”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes and growled. “That was never, and never will be, Rapunzel’s destiny.”

“Oh, but it was. You see - the moment Rapunzel would have touched the moonstone, it would have killed her.”

“Raps used the moonstone. Sure, it knocked her out for a bit, but it didn’t do anything to her.”

“That’s because she didn’t have the sunstone. The sunstone was a part of her - so the moment her fingers so much as grazed it, it would have been the end of the ‘Perfect Princess Rapunzel’.”

“Good thing it didn’t come to that then, huh?”

“You were so stuck in your ways that you probably wouldn’t have cared.”

“That is not true!”

“Isn’t it, though?” Zhan Tiri asked with a tilt of her head. “You didn’t seem to care when you left her to die in a cave full of poison with no way out.”

“T-That’s because you manipulated me and used my own emotions against me and turned me against my friends!”

Zhan Tiri chuckled. “It’s funny you think that.”

“Because that’s what happened-”

“Is it though?”

“Yes!”

“That’s not the way I remember it. Do you really think I was the one to turn you to the dark side? No, you did that on your own. I only gave you a little push. In all honesty, I was kind of surprised due to the fact that you turned on your friends, on Rapunzel, so easily.”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. “You showed me-”

“I showed you what? Who your real mother was? Let’s not forget that I showed you sympathy, whether it was fake or not. You created the idea on your own and you acted on your own. If I hadn’t come into the picture, you’d probably have turned your back anyway.”

“You told me my destiny was to destroy Rapunzel!”

“And you didn’t put up much of a fight, now did you? As soon as I mentioned your beloved ‘powers’ you changed your mood around real quick.”

“It was a complicated situation-”

“Are you going to keep giving excuses? You blame me for your troubles, for your betrayal, for your guilt, but I only showed you the truth. You did everything else on your own. I pushed you - but you made all those decisions on your own.”

Cassandra stopped in her tracks as she really thought about it. All this time she had been blaming Zhan Tiri for manipulating her, which she did, but in reality... she really did make those decisions on her own didn’t she? “I-I didn’t... I didn’t want to... I-I..” In the last hour, she’s had so many realizations. This one wasn’t one she was pleased with. Honestly, she was horrified at the realization. She made those decisions... Zhan Tiri might have influenced them, but she created the ideas. She acted on her own. She turned her back. She attacked Rapunzel. She tried to kill Rapunzel. She destroyed Corona and took it over. She hurt her friends, her father, Rapunzel. Zhan Tiri never told her to do any of those things - she did them on her own.

As a horror-filled expression planted itself on her face and hundreds of different thoughts and memories filled her mind, she didn’t notice Zhan Tiri’s slow smirk. “Gotcha.” Zhan Tiri thought. She extended her hand towards the distressed warrior and... shot a rock dagger towards her. Cassandra didn’t move, she didn’t even seem to know it was coming. She was too lost in her own dark thoughts.

“Cassandra, look out!” Hearing a voice, Cass was knocked out of her thoughts and finally saw the dagger barrelling towards her. But it was already too late. There was no way she’d get away in time. Everything was going in slow motion as she watched it soar towards her. This was it... this was the end. This was her end. It was seconds until it hit her....

....But she was suddenly shoved out of the way. Landing on the floor with an ‘oof!’ a couple feet away, Cassandra looked up, confused, and when she did.... her breath got caught in her throat. She saw it happen - In the spot she was in before, the rock dagger impaled Rapunzel through the stomach, the force of it knocking her a couple feet away. Everyone stopped. Everyone was frozen. The forest went quiet. Eerily quiet.

Cassandra was in shock herself at what just happened. When her brain finally caught up, she shot to her feet “NO!” Ignoring everyone, she ran to the princess and slid on her knees, quickly bringing her into her arms and pressing her hand over her rapidly bleeding wound. Her eyes were barely open. Cassandra’s eyes had already filled with tears. “You idiot! Why’d you do that?! I told you to stay away! You should’ve let it hit me!”

Rapunzel only gave her a weak smile. “...You’re always protecting and saving me...” She responded weakly. “...it was my turn to protect you.”

Cassandra shook her head and choked back a sob as she pressed her forehead to Rapunzel’s. “....You’re so stupid... So, so stupid...” But there was no bite to her tone. Only fear and sorrow.

Rapunzel closed her eyes. “...’m sorry...” She responded. Rapunzel reopened her eyes and her expression changed into a somewhat serious expression. “Cass-”

“No.”

“I didn’t even-”

“No. I know what you’re gonna say and it’s not happening! Y-You’re gonna be fine just... just hang on...”

Rapunzel shook her head weakly. “Cass, you need to make sure they don’t get the sunstone. You need to get the moonstone and finish them off once and for all.”

“No!”

“Cassandra-!”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“I’m gonna die Cassandra!” Rapunzel responded, her voice strained, saying what they all already knew but didn’t want to admit.

Cassandra deflated, tears spilling over as her hands shook. “N-No.. you’re gonna be fine... y-you..”

Rapunzel’s eyes softened as she reached up and placed a shaky hand on her cheek. “You need to promise me, Cass. Promise me that you’ll make sure Zhan Tiri and Gothel’s plan doesn’t work.”

“I-I can’t... I-”

“Cass, please.”

Cassandra shook her head. “....Please don’t leave me.” She said quietly, her voice so full of heartache and pain it broke Rapunzel’s heart. “Y-You promised me everything was gonna be fine! You said you never break a promise! Liar..!”

“....I guess I’m going to have to this one time.”

“Please...” Cassandra begged, her voice shaking. “Nova needs you... I need you... You’re my best friend, my love, my everything. I can’t go on without you...”

Rapunzel’s own eyes filled with tears as she reached up and brushed Cassandra’s banes from out of her eyes. “You’re gonna have too... Nova is going to need you.. You have to go on for her - for me. For them. For us. Promise me you’ll never give up. That you’ll stay strong.”

Cassandra shook her head and whispered: “...You can’t ask me to do that.”

“Cass, promise me. Please.” Rapunzel pleaded.

Cassandra knew what this was. She could hear it in the way Rapunzel desperately pleaded with her. It was a last request. “...I promise.” She sniffed.

Rapunzel’s eyes softened. She could feel herself slipping. She could feel the darkness coming to consume her. She didn’t want Cass’s last memory of her to be sad... With her final bit of strength, she pushed herself up, grabbed Cassandra’s shirt and pulled her down to meet her lips; tears flowing down her face. Cassandra pressed back. It only lasted a couple seconds before Rapunzel pulled away and used her final breath to whisper: “...I love you.” Then her hand fell and her head landed against Cassandra’s chest.

Cassandra’s eyes slowly fluttered open and she gently shook the unresponsive girl. “Raps?” Nothing. “Rapunzel??” She shook harder but to no prevail. There was no blinding smile smiling back at her. There was no warmth of her hands over her body. There was not even a ‘Cass’. There was nothing. She was lifeless. “Rapunzel!” Cassandra shook harder anyway. “Wake up!” She yelled, desperately trying to wake her up; hoping that she would but knowing it was futile. Cassandra’s eyes grew angry. “Dammit Rapunzel, wake up! You can’t do this to me! You can’t do this to Nova! You promised, you told me you never broke a promise, you liar! You shouldn’t have jumped in front of me, you should have listened! You idiot!” Still no response. Rapunzel lay lifeless in Cassandra’s arms, the warmth from her body slowly fading. “WAKE UP DAMMIT! PLEASE!”

Suddenly a hand planted itself on her shoulder. She snapped her anger-filled eyes up to see Eugene standing above her. Her anger immediately vanished upon seeing the tears streaming down his face. The tears streaming down all of her friends’ faces. “She’s gone, Cassandra.” Eugene said quietly, his voice full of pain and heartache. But there was genuine sympathy and empathy there. He didn’t use ‘Cassandra’ like he always has. For the first time since she’s known him, he used the correct pronunciation of her name. That’s when the reality of the situation started to become real.

Cassandra quickly snapped her head back to the lifeless princess. “N-No, she can’t be... she... she... she promised me. She promised me we would be together forever. She can’t leave... S-she...” Cassadra brushed Rapunzel’s stray hairs out of her eyes and realized she was cold to the touch. Upon coming to the realization that her love, her everything, her life was really gone, for good this time, Cassandra’s eyes filled up with unstoppable tears. As memories of her time with Rapunzel, from the beginning to end, all the good and the bad, filled her mind and flashed before her eyes... she squeezed her eyes shut...

....and let out a pain-filled, agonizing scream.