Romance Fan Fiction ❯ Enemy of the Stars (A Stars Above Sequel) ❯ Chapter 8: Behaving ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

As soon as the sun rose, they were already back on the road. Not much was said and when Carina saw the marks on Rapunzel’s neck, she smirked darkly. She was going to tease her about Rapunzel’s noticeable winces every now and the marks covering her neck but a glare from Cassandra told her to not say a damn thing. Now, it was an hour later as Carina stared out over a slim cliff that they were supposed to walk across.

Carina turned and smirked, meeting Rapunzel’s eyes. “Long way down, eh, snowflake?”

For the last hour, Carina had been trying everything to get under Rapunzel’s skin. Cassandra was quite honestly surprised by how well she was holding out. Now the real question was: How long could she hold out? “Yeah,” Rapunzel grit her teeth, keeping in her barely contained rage.

Carina snickered. She was trying everything she could to push the princess over the edge. She saw how pissed Cassandra was yesterday and she was hoping by Rapunzel exploding, it would push Cassandra over the edge and she’d finally leave her. Some time started to pass as they began their journey across the steep, narrow cliff.

With each step they took, the thinner and steeper the cliff got. Rapunzel peered over the edge and swallowed before pushing herself as close to the wall as possible. She was hoping Carina didn’t notice but of course, she did. “Aw, are you scared, snowflake?”

Rapunzel snapped her head and glared at her. “I am not scared. And for the last time, that is not my name.”

Carina merely smirked. “My apologies, snowflake.” Carina laughed as she walked ahead of them.

“I’m gonna kill her,” Rapunzel spoke, narrowing her eyes to the back of Carina’s skull.

Cassandra glared at her. “Don’t you dare. Remember our deal?”

“If I didn’t remember, I would have pushed her off the cliff already. You could at least say you’re proud,” Rapunzel turned and gave her a teasing smile. “This isn’t easy you know.”

Cassandra chuckled. “I am proud.” Then she smirked. “Let’s just see how long you can hold out.” She gave Rapunzel a suggestive grin, stepping in front of her, and making the princess stop to a halt. “I had a fun time last night.” Her eyes darkened as she walked past Rapunzel and looked over her shoulder with a dark grin. “Let’s see if we need to repeat it~.” The dark blush covering Rapunzel’s face made Cassandra laugh as she walked ahead.

Rapunzel pouted, her face redder than a tomtato. “...We’ll see about that,” Rapunzel mumbled before following them again.

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Another two hours had passed and they still hadn’t found the other side of the mountain. Although she was trying to hide it, Cassandra could tell by the look on Carina’s face that they were lost. “Carina,” Cassandra’s dark threatening voice started. With her back turned, Carina stiffened. “Are you sure you know where you are going?”

Carina turned around and gave her a nervous grin. “Yeah, yeah, of course, I do!” She gave her an arrogant smirk. “I always know where we are going.”

“Sure you do,” Rapunzel mumbled under her breath.

“You better.” They began moving again.

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Another 2 hours passed and Cassandra finally had enough. She rushed forward and placed herself directly in front of Carina, making the young woman stop to a halt. “We’re lost, aren’t we?” Her voice was cold and threatening.

“Uh,” Carina shrunk. “...Maybe?”

“Are you serious??” Rapunzel spoke up. “One day out here and you’ve already gotten us lost! Ugh, I knew you weren’t to be trusted!”

Carina glared at her. “It’s not like I tried to get us lost,” Carina seethed, turning her full attention to the princess.

“How long ago did you realize that we were lost?” Cassandra asked darkly, narrowing her eyes.

Carina looked away. “...A couple of hours ago.”

“A couple of hours ago?!” Rapunzel seethed. “So, instead of sucking up your pride and admitting that you got us lost, you continued forward and got us even more lost! You said that you were ‘skilled’ but the only thing that you seem to be good at is screwing everything up!”

Carina narrowed her eyes and closed in on the princess, hoping to appear intimidating, but it did nothing to phase the young woman. Usually, it would work on other people but apparently, it didn’t work on Rapunzel. She stayed right where she was and only narrowed her eyes in response. Carina had one hand on her sword. “She’s got guts, I’ll give her that.” Carina thought. “You’re way out of line, snowflake.” She tried her absolute hardest to make herself sound dark and cold but it still didn’t even phase Rapunzel.

Rapunzel narrowed her eyes. “Do not talk to me about ‘being out of line’. I don’t follow orders from you and I don’t abide by your ‘rules’.”

Carina couldn’t help but smirk. She was almost there. Just one more little push… “Maybe not but you have to listen to that ‘master’ of yours over there. Come on doggy, I bet your bark is much worse than your bite.”

“That’s it!” Rapunzel seethed and lunged toward her. Always ready for a fight, Carina smirked and lunged back but before any of them could reach each other, Cassandra stepped in the middle, bringing both women to a halt.

“Stop it!” She yelled, looking between both of them. “God, can you two go a whole day without trying to kill each other?!”

“She started it.” Carina cut in.

“Oh, I started it?” Rapunzel hissed, looking past Cassandra who was still placed between them. “I’m not the one who got us lost, you arrogant know-it-all!”

“Softy!”

“Selfish!”

“Pain in my ass!”

“Self-centered!”

“Obnoxious!”

Rapunzel laughed bitterly. “Oh, I’m the obnoxious one? How about you? You indecent, sadistic, patronizing little bit-”

“ENOUGH!” The sound of Cassandra’s sudden un-Cassandra-like shout made them both stop in their tracks in slight fear. Cassandra glared madly at both of them, anger in her eyes. Rapunzel knew she finally met her limit. When Cassandra’s glare met her eyes and she narrowed her eyes, Rapunzel looked away in slight shame and fear. She never meant to explode, she honestly didn’t even realize that she was. For once in her life, anger took over her senses and caused her to act before she really thought about it. Now she knew how hard it was for Cassandra when she was so mad, all those years ago. That had never happened to Rapunzel before. What was going on with her? “I’ve met my limit, you’ve finally pushed me over the edge,” Cassandra hissed. “I tried to be nice so now, either shut the fuck up and get along or I’m pushing you both over the actual edge!”

“Cass-” Rapunzel tried to step in only for Cassandra to snap her a glare that kept her pinned to the spot.

“Shut. It.”

“But I-”

“Shut up!” Cassandra hissed. Rapunzel had to back up a bit. Cass never talked to her like that. “I don’t want to hear it! So, for once in your damn life, for your sake, keep your damn mouth shut!” Cassandra was too pissed-off at the moment to care about the hurt that flashed across her face. Rapunzel placed one hand on the opposite arm and slowly nodded as she looked downward. Having shut her up, Cassandra stormed towards Carina and snatched the map from out of her hands.

“Hey-!” One death glare from Cassandra shut her up real quick. Carina put her hands up in defense. “Fine, jeez. Take it.” Cassandra mumbled angrily under her breath. Rapunzel was able to catch some of the words she said and... Well, they weren’t good ones. The fact that some of those words were directed toward her made her shrink back even more.

“Let’s go,” Cassandra said coldly. Fidella, not wanting to mess with her owner right now, followed right away, Nova sleeping soundly inside the caravan. Carina followed second with a roll of her eyes. And finally, Rapunzel followed behind, one hand still placed on her arm as she kept her head downward.

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With Cassandra’s expert map skills, they were able to find their way back to the actual road. Neither had said a word the whole time. Rapunzel slowly trailed behind, Cassandra was still seething in front, and Carina was in the middle bored as hell. The path they were on eventually led them to an open valley. “We’re stopping here for a bit,” Cassandra spoke, her voice cold and final.

Carina slumped onto the ground under a tree. “Finally!” She groaned. She tilted her head when saw Cassandra storming away. “Where are you going?”

“None of your damn business.” She responded as she stormed into the forest, seemingly forgetting multiple rules she placed. Carina merely rolled her eyes and started to sharpen her dagger. Rapunzel stood in the same place she stopped as she watched Cassandra disappear into the forest. When she was out of eyesight, Rapunzel turned in the opposite direction and slowly made her way to under a generally large tree. It was far enough that Carina could barely see her because she can hide behind the tree but close enough where she could keep an eye on the caravan that held Nova. Besides that, Fidella was there, she wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

As soon as Rapunzel made it behind the thick tree, she slid down it and did what she had been trying to hold back the last couple of hours: she started to cry. She hid her head in her knees as she tried to keep her sobs as silent as possible. After a couple of minutes, she slightly lifted her head, her teary and blurry eyes staring out into the open. Without her knowing it, Pascal had followed her and disguised himself to watch her. Ever since Rapunzel snapped at him before they left, Pascal had been keeping to himself.

“Maybe they really would be better off without me,” Rapunzel’s shaky and breathless voice spoke to herself. “God, I always mess things up. Why do I always mess things up? She’s never talked to me like that before. Have I finally pushed her to hate me…?” Rapunzel didn’t know who she was talking to or why she was. Maybe she asked out, hoping someone would answer these questions for her. But unfortunately, no one responded. “...I can never do anything right…”

Pascal’s heart clenched at his best friend’s monologue. He slowly climbed down the tree and onto the grass. He didn’t want to leave the princess like this but what could he do? He was only a little lizard. Sighing, he started to hop back to the caravan. He looked back one more time before looking downward and continuing to make his way to the caravan.

Back under the tree, Rapunzel saw something shining in the sun. She reached forward and picked up a piece of glass. Rapunzel stared at it for a second, her eyes, body, and soul feeling numb. She placed the sharpest end on her arm without even realizing what she was doing. She hesitated for a second before pushing down and sliding it across her arm. She hissed as soon as the sharp piece of glass cut a deep, already bleeding scratch into her arm. She hesitated after the fact. Somehow, the physical pain put a hold on the emotional pain so she did it again. And again. And again. She did it until her arm was bloody and thoroughly cut.

She finally realized what she was doing and quickly dropped the bloody piece of glass onto the floor. She stared at her arm and the glass piece in slight horror. She moved her arm and hissed, quickly bringing it to her chest. She slowly pulled the appendage over from her chest and held it up to her face. Her arm shook in front of her as blood dripped down her arm and fell off her elbow to stain the grass below her. Her arm was covered in blood, and her hand was in the same state. She stared wide-eyed at it. How the hell did she even do this? But she felt like she deserved the pain it brought for upsetting her wife. She felt like she deserved the pain because all she’s been doing was screwing everything up. Carina was right - she hadn’t been the one screwing everything up. Rapunzel was. She kept screwing up, she kept upsetting her lover, she kept putting her daughter in the middle of it and she kept making this already dangerous journey, which was only happening because of her, harder than it had to be.

She heard the crunches of leaves and her breath caught in her throat realizing that Cass was back. It wouldn’t be long before the warrior searched for her. Rapunzel tried to use her shirt to wipe away the blood, not even caring how much it hurt. She hissed but continued to do so. Unfortunately, blood kept coming out. “Dammit...!” Rapunzel whispered, hissing in the process.

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Cassandra walked back into the territory they were resting at and immediately realized Rapunzel was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Rapunzel?” She asked Carina, who was currently sunbathing with one harm placed behind her head.

Carina shrugged. “How should I know?”

Cassandra glared at her. Carina sighed and rolled her eyes. “She’s over there somewhere.” Carina pointed to the big tree a bit away. Cassandra puffed her chest. She needed to have a word with that princess. She made her way past Carina. “A thanks would be nice!” Carina yelled. Cassandra simply ignored her and she made her way toward the tree.

Cassandra had the right mind to scold the princess as all hell. She was still severely pissed and she needed to have a word with her lover. “Rapunzel-” But when she turned the corner, she stopped in her tracks. Rapunzel’s panicked eyes met her wide ones as the princess cradled a bloodied arm to her chest. Cassandra was by her side in the second, grabbing the arm away from her and gripping it in her own hands. “What the hell did you do?!”

Rapunzel yanked her arm away from her and held it against her chest again. “N-Nothing, i-it’s nothing!”

“You call this nothing?!” Cassandra seethed. She wasn’t having it as she grabbed the princess’s arm a second time, this time gripping harsher. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a rag, tightly pressing it to her bleeding wounds. Rapunzel hissed. “What the hell were you thinking?!” Cassandra asked as she focused on stopping the bleeding.

“I-I don’t know…” Rapunzel responded softly. “....guess I wasn’t.”

“Yeah,” Cassandra responded bitterly without looking at her as she worked on her arm. “When do you ever?”

Rapunzel’s face lit up in hurt once more and she had to bite her lip to hold back tears. “...I’m sorry..” She said miserably. She tried to keep her voice level but her own emotions betrayed her and it came out as watery and weak. How pathetic was she?

Cassandra finally took a chance to look up and all anger faded. Her eyes… held something Cassandra had never seen in her before. But it was so complicated and pained that Cassandra couldn’t even decipher what was really storming through her emerald-gold eyes. In the corner of her eye, she could see a bloodied piece of glass glimmering in the sunlight and that’s when she realized that this was her fault. Rapunzel did this to herself because of her. And Cassandra’s heart shattered at that revelation.

Rapunzel looked away. The poor girl looked like she was trying everything to hold back tears. “Oh, Raps,” Cassandra eventually said. Cassandra raised her hand and her heart tore, even more, when Rapunzel flinched away from her touch. Her words from before echoed throughout her mind and she couldn’t help but wince at them.

“So, for once in your damn life, for your sake, keep your damn mouth shut!”

“Yeah,” She remembered her most recent insult. “When do you ever?” She never meant to say those things. She barely even remembered saying them. Here she was, on Rapunzel’s ass about keeping her temper under control, when she couldn’t even do the same. “Rapunzel,” Cassandra said softly, trying to meet Rapunzel’s eye contact. But she continued to look away. “...I’m sorry.” What else was she supposed to say?

Rapunzel shook her head quickly, most likely to hide whatever tears that were just begging to fall. “N-No, you’re right… I s-shouldn’t have…” She couldn’t even get it out. She was scared that if she spoke anymore, she would burst into tears. But she did anyway. “....I-I’ll be quiet from now, I promise. Just please don’t hate me…”

“What?” Cassandra asked. “I could never hate you. You should know that by now. Why would you think otherwise?”

“I-I… I just keep messing everything up... We left Corona because of me. We now are put in a serious amount of danger because of me. And I’m making everything so much harder than it already is.”

“None of this is your fault, Raps,” Cassandra said softly.

Rapunzel let out a bitter, watery laugh, her voice becoming more broken the more she continued. “Yeah, like us running from a demon who wants to kill me isn’t my fault.”

“That’s not your doing. There’s no way you could have ever-”

“Maybe I should just do the job for him,” Rapunzel whispered, cutting her off.

“What?” Cassandra stopped. “You don’t mean that.” Rapunzel didn’t answer. She merely looked away. Cassandra tried to catch her eye contact but Rapunzel kept avoiding it. “You don’t mean that, right?” She didn’t respond. “Right?” She asked a second time, this one slightly more panicked. Rapunzel still didn’t respond. “Rapunzel…!”

No response. “...Don’t you even dare,” Cassandra demanded. “We’ve been over this, Rapunzel. Nova and I-”

“....need me, I know. But honestly Cass?” Rapunzel finished quietly. She finally looked up to meet her eye contact. “...I don’t really care anymore..” Cassandra’s face flashed with hurt. “...I would never want to hurt you, Cass. Either of you. But no matter how many times you tell me this is gonna go away, it’s not and it’s getting worse.”

“I told you that it’s going to take time.”

“How much time?” Cassandra didn’t respond. “Exactly. You don’t know.”

“...Neither do you.”

“I don’t know if I wanna stick around to find out…”

Cassandra’s heart clenched in fear at that statement. “Where is this all coming from? The last couple of days, you have seemed to be fine…”

Rapunzel went quiet. Cassandra waited for her to respond. 1 minute passed, two, three…

“You promised she wouldn’t tear us apart.” Rapunzel eventually whispered, catching Cassandra off guard.

“Carina? She’s not tear-”

“Yeah, she is. Ever since she showed, you’ve been… different towards me. You’ve taken her side so many times…”

“I have not taken her side.”

“Maybe you don’t think so but you have. You yelled at me instead of her, you barely talk to me or touch me when she’s around, you forced me to stop responding to her constant insults and when I do finally stand up for myself, you suddenly hate me. Most of the time now you act like I’m not even there. You pretend like we are merely friends, maybe less, and nothing more. Are you…” Rapunzel paused as she looked at Cassandra with a pained expression. “...embarrassed of me?”

“What?” Cassandra was taken back as she quickly gripped her cheeks in her hands. “No, of course not!”

“...Well that’s what it sure feels like,” Rapunzel responded quietly.

Cassandra used one hand to brush her hair behind her ear. “I’m… sorry.. if that was the perception I gave off. I’ve just been… so focused on keeping you and Nova safe.. and worried about this risky journey that we are nowhere near finished, I just…” Cassandra sighed, realizing that there was no excuse for it. She really had been treating Rapunzel lower than she was to her. Cassandra pulled the princess forward until their foreheads connected. “...I’m sorry.” She said softly. “That’s not… I wasn’t doing it on purpose. I never meant to hurt you or make you feel that way…” Cassandra took a shaky breath. “..But this…” Cassandra grabbed the princess’s arm again, this time much softer, and cradled it in her hands. “...is inexcusable. What were you thinking?” Unlike before, her voice was soft, worried, and gentle.

“I…” Rapunzel started. “I-I don’t…” She shook her head to try and keep the tears in but it was no use. “I-I do…don’t..” Cassandra’s eyes softened and instead of letting her finish, she pulled her into her arms. Rapunzel hesitated for a moment but the tears she had been trying so hard to keep in started to pour out as she buried herself in Cassandra’s chest. She raised one arm, the good one, and gripped Cassandra’s shirt to try and pull herself even closer. Eventually, Cassandra pulled the princess into her lap and started to rock her back and forth.

“I love you, okay? With all my heart. That will never change, I promise you.” Cassandra spoke after some minutes. Rapunzel merely nodded. Cassandra then let out a small smile as she pulled the princess closer. “It hasn’t changed since the first time I fell in love with you. Not even the times I wanted it to, like when I had the moonstone. And boy, I tried.” She wanted to try and lift Rapunzel’s spirits as she poked her in the side, slightly tickling her. Much to her relief, Rapunzel let out a watery giggle. “But I guess you’re just too irresistible.” Cassandra did it again and this time, Rapunzel pulled away and let out a small laugh.

“Irresistible, huh?” Rapunzel asked as she wiped at her eyes with a small amused smile. It was a start.

“Yep,” Cassandra responded, placing her hands on her hips and pulling her closer. “In more ways than one~.” Cassandra nuzzled her neck, making Rapunzel let out another laugh.

“You’re such a dork,”

“Oh, I’m the dorky one? Says the one who rather prefers freedom over money, unlike most royals.”

“Well, I’m not like ‘most royals’, am I?”

Cassandra snorted. “Not even close.” Having an idea, Cassandra smirked at Rapunzel and backed up slightly.

Rapunzel’s eyes widened upon realizing what she was planning. “Cassandra, don’t you da-!” But it was already too late. Cassandra tackled her and pinned her to the ground then she started tickling her. Being as ticklish as she is, Rapunzel couldn’t help but start laughing. “Cass!” Rapunzel wheezed. “Stop it!”

“Not until you admit that you love me~.”

Always loving a challenge, Rapunzel shook her head. “Never!”

“Fine, then…” She started tickling her in Rapunzel’s most sensitive places. Rapunzel let out a squeal of laughter as she tried with all her might to push Cassandra away but it didn’t do any use. She wasn’t relenting and Rapunzel was pinned.

Unable to breathe anymore, Rapunzel eventually gave in. “Okay, okay! I love you! Yeeeshh…” Cassandra immediately stopped.

“Good.” She smirked. But she didn’t move off of Rapunzel. Instead, she flattened out her hands and moved them sensually down the princess’s body. Rapunzel shivered as Cassandra’s warm hands touched her skin. “I love you too,” Cassandra said eventually. Rapunzel looked up at her and having the very strong urge to kiss her, Rapunzel grabbed her by her shirt and yanked her down to meet her lips. Cassandra was caught off by it but groaned into the kiss once it deepened. The kiss lasted for a good minute and before things could go too far considering they were outside, Cassandra pulled away and got off of the princess.

Rapunzel, still heated by the ever-so-intense kiss, was able to push herself up into a sitting position. Cassandra grabbed Rapunzel’s arm again and sighed. She grabbed some bandages she always kept on her in case of an emergency and started wrapping it. “Idiot,” Cassandra said, focusing on caring for the arm. But it held no bite. “Don’t do this ever again. Alright?” Although her voice was demanding, Rapunzel could tell that it was still soft and full of worry.

Rapunzel only nodded. “...Okay.” A couple of minutes passed before anyone spoke again. “...I’m sorry Cass.”

Cassandra looked back up to meet her eyes. She leaned forward and pressed a small, but still ever so sweet, kiss to Rapunzel’s lips before pulling away. “Don’t be. It isn’t your fault. It’s mine.”

“Cass-”

“Come on Raps, this wouldn’t have happened if I had been paying better attention to you.”

Rapunzel looked down. “I shouldn’t be… someone you need to constantly watch over.”

Cassandra hooked her fingers under her chin and raised her head back up. “But you are, as of right now. And that’s okay.” She smiled sweetly and rubbed her thumb lovingly across her cheek. Rapunzel didn’t respond. Cassandra’s smile dropped as she sighed and pulled the princess close so she can place a kiss on her forehead. “I love you, you know that right?”

“Yeah…” Rapunzel responded with a nod but she sounded unsure. “...Right.”

Cassandra sighed and pulled them both to their feet. It was clear as day that the princess was still obviously upset. She placed a hand around her shoulders and pulled her into her body. “Come on,” She said softly. “Let’s get you inside and get your arm properly cleaned.” Rapunzel merely nodded. As they walked back towards the caravan, Rapunzel kept her head directed downwards. Carina was still in the same place where Cass last saw her.

Carina got to a sitting position and raised an eyebrow. “Finally pull the stick out of your ass, Cassandra?”

Rapunzel wanted to glare at her but she found she didn’t have the energy to do so. Cassandra snapped her head towards Carina and glared at her anyway. “Shut it.”

“Apparently not,” Carina mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

“We’re staying here for the night.”

Carina shot up at that. “What?! We can’t do that!”

Cassandra raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because we’d just be wasting time!”

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

Carina growled and got to her feet, ignoring the question. “We can’t keep stopping every time your wife has a damn mental breakdown!”

Cassandra’s glare darkened. It made Carina stay in place. “We are staying and that’s final.” Before Carina could respond, Cassandra slammed the door in her face. Carina mumbled angrily and stormed off to sit under the same tree the two were just by moments prior.

Rapunzel sat on the end of their bed. She watched Cassandra with dull, tired eyes as the warrior angrily mumbled and searched for the aid kit. “She’s right, you know,” Rapunzel spoke eventually.

“What?” Cassandra asked without looking at her.

“About stopping every time I freak out.”

“Stop it,” Cassandra answered, finally grabbing the med kit. “We’re not really in any hurry. Besides, we could all use the break.”

Rapunzel shrugged. “I guess.”

Cassandra made her way back toward her and sat next to her on the bed. She held out her hand expectantly and Rapunzel gave her her arm. Cassandra unwrapped it carefully and when she finally got a good look at the damage, her heart broke. “Oh, Raps..” Rapunzel didn’t respond, she only looked away. Sighing, Cassandra brought out the healing ointment before looking up at Rapunzel and giving her a pained expression. “I’m not gonna lie, this is gonna hurt.”

“Just get it over with.” Cassandra nodded and squirted some of it onto her head. With that, with the utmost gentleness, she started applying it. Rapunzel let out a small hiss but otherwise stayed still. It was silent as Cassandra focused on cleaning it and wrapping it. Nearly 20 minutes later, Cassandra was finally done.

“There,” Cass said, standing up to put away the aid kit. “All done.”

Rapunzel pulled her arm to her chest. “Thanks.” She whispered. Cassandra put away the aid kit before turning back around. When she saw her wife, she stopped in her tracks. Rapunzel was sitting on the edge of the bed, arm tightly pressed against her chest, hair falling in her face, and looking down with the most tired, sorrowful, almost numb look Cassandra had ever seen on her. Sighing, she walked back over to the princess and scooped her up in her arms. Rapunzel let out a cute surprised squeak. “Cass, what are you-”

“Shush,” Cassandra said softly as she brought them both onto the bed. Cassandra crawled to the middle before she placed the princess in her lap and held her close, gently rocking her back and forth. Rapunzel wanted to protest but a sudden wave of fatigue came over her and she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open anymore. She cuddled herself closer into Cassandra’s warmth, her head placed firmly over her heart. Cass was humming some sort of lullaby and the sound itself as well as the vibration that radiated throughout her chest slowly started to lure Rapunzel to sleep. Not a second later, Rapunzel was sound asleep.

Cassandra sighed as she continued to rock the princess back and forth. Her eyes landed on her bandaged arm and her heart squeezed. She heard a quiet squeak and looked up to see Pascal on the side table, looking worriedly at his best friend before re meeting Cassandra’s eyes. “It’s getting worse, Pascal.” She whispered. “...And I don’t know what to do anymore.” Rapunzel stirred softly but she only cuddled closer to Cassandra, her nose pressed firmly in the crook of her neck. Cassandra smiled sadly and re positioned the princess so she would be more comfortable. Her smile fell soon after. “This started out as just her thoughts, which scared me enough. But now she’s harming herself? She could’ve seriously damaged herself or hit an artery or something. This is getting more dangerous by the minute.” Pascal squeaked softly before jumping onto the bed. Cassandra pet his little head with one finger. “I think we’re in way over our heads with stuff we don’t understand. There’s only so much I can do. I’m terrified that every time I turn my back… she’s gonna do something stupid.” Cassandra sighed.

“I think it’s time we find some help.”

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Phew! I know that chapter was quite depressing but I promise the next chapter will be a little more light-heated and wholesome. A Cassandra's birthday chapter and Rapunzel has a lot planned for her!