Romance Fan Fiction ❯ Enemy of the Stars (A Stars Above Sequel) ❯ Chapter 10: Shadows of the Heart ( Chapter 10 )

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

 

The group had gotten back on the road nearly an hour ago. Carina seemed less… annoying. She still endlessly teased Rapunzel and continued to tick her off; after all, Carina was still Carina. But she seemed to be doing it less which Cassandra was thankful for. For her sanity. Rapunzel seemed to be a little more… Rapunzel.. today which Cassandra was also thankful for. She still has a long way to go but it was a start. For the first time since this journey began, the day started off pretty calm and quiet. 

 

Little Nova wanted to be a ‘big girl’ and walk next to the grownups. Unfortunately, just like her mother, she got distracted by everything. Her curiosity nearly led her into multiple dangerous situations if not for Cassandra grabbing her at the last second. Cass, being the over-protective person she was, kept chasing after the toddler who seemingly had endless energy. But everything has to come down eventually so when Nova passed out, Cassandra put her in the caravan and sighed in relief, slightly sweating and out of breath.

 

Rapunzel raised an amused eyebrow. “Are you out of stamina? I thought it was endless.” 

 

Cassandra gave her a half-attempted glare, still slightly out of breath. “She’s harder to keep track of than you were and I didn’t even think anyone could be worse and more danger-prone than you. One thing’s for sure: She definitely your kid.”

 

Rapunzel laughed. “I sure would hope so. Otherwise, 9 months of back pain, constant mood swings, and the pain of childbirth would have been for nothing.”

 

“Hm, are you sure you’re still not going through those mood swings?”

Rapunzel huffed and playfully shoved the warrior, making her laugh.

 

“Don’t forget that she’s as reckless and fearless as you are.”

 

“Oh, I’m the reckless one? Alright, Mrs. Cliff Jumper,”

 

“It was one time!”

“Oh, I can name a bunch of other times.” When Rapunzel only let out a cute frustrated huff, Cassandra couldn’t help but smile teasingly. 

 

“Will you two stop flirting for two seconds and hurry up?!” Carina yelled back. Rapunzel groaned and Cassandra shook her head slowly. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming,” Cass responded.

 

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It had been another couple of hours since they got back on the road. Nova was still passed out in the caravan as the trio continued on their long journey. They eventually made it to a clearing surrounded by grass and trees. “We’ll rest here for a couple of hours,” Cassandra spoke up eventually. 

 

“Oh, thank god..” Rapunzel groaned, slightly leaning on the warrior. Apparently many hours of walking and lack of sleep really wore a person out.

 

“What? But-” Carina tried to interject but Cassandra shot her a glare and she quickly shut her mouth, mumbling frustrated curse words under her breath. “Whatever.” She responded before plopping herself onto the ground. 

 

Cassandra rolled her eyes at her display of immaturity. Rapunzel was about to comment on it but something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked in the direction that caught her eye but all she could see was forest. She hesitantly looked away but as soon as she did, she saw it again and this time, she spun around. But like before, there was nothing. Cassandra eventually noticed her wife’s unusual silence and when she turned towards her, she immediately grew concerned when she saw the princess searching worriedly for something out in the forest. “You okay, Raps?”

 

Rapunzel hesitated for a moment before responding. “I thought I saw something…” She was about to decide that her mind was probably just playing tricks on her but as soon as she began to turn back around, she saw it again, and this time; it was clear as day. But as soon as she turned back around, it disappeared once more. “Cass, did you see that?” She asked without looking at her.

 

Cassandra, who was looking in the same direction the entire time, gave her a confused expression. “Uh… no?” Rapunzel continued to stare in that direction. She didn’t say anything. “Raps, are you sure you’re okay?” Cassandra walked forward and placed a hand on her forehead to see if she had some kind of fever. Rapunzel only swatted her hand away.

 

“I’m fine Cassandra. I’m telling you, Cass, I saw something out there.” 

 

Cassandra went silent for a second. She was looking in the same direction the whole time and she saw nothing. Did she imagine it? It wasn’t like Rapunzel to make stuff up like that. “...What do you think it was?”

 

“I…” Rapunzel hesitated. “...I’m not sure. But there was something.” She stopped. “...And I feel like we’re being watched. Do you feel it too?”

 

The fact that Cass couldn’t feel it threw her off guard. Her instincts always told her when something was off and as much as she hated to doubt her wife, this time she wasn’t too sure. “Maybe you just need to rest. It’s been a long day of walking…”

 

Rapunzel quickly shook her head. “No,” She responded. “There… there’s something out there.” Her doubt must have been present on her face because Rapunzel immediately gave her a disbelieving look. “...You don’t believe me.”

 

“W-What? Of course, I do.” 

 

“Annnd you’re lying to me now.” Cassandra bit her inner cheek at being caught. “Cassandra, I’m not going crazy, I swear I saw something.” 

 

Cassandra sighed. “Would you feel better if we checked it out?” Rapunzel slowly nodded. “Alright, fine, let’s go then.” Cassandra turned to the young woman sitting against the caravan. “Do not go anywhere and keep an eye on Nova and the caravan. We’ll be right back.”

 

Carina opened one eye, wondering where they were going. But she also really didn’t care. She closed her eye again and nonchalantly waved her hand. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Cassandra nodded toward Rapunzel and they both started to head toward the forest. Carina merely rolled her eyes and she was about to lay back down but then something caught her eye. In the forest, exactly where the two women were heading, was a figure made out of shadows. Carina bit her lip, trying to decide whether she should warn them or not. Wait - why would she warn them? Whatever that damn Azriel was planning wasn’t any of her business. She rolled her eyes and placed her hand over her face. But she still couldn’t get rid of the agonizing feeling of wanting to help them… 

What the hell was happening to her?

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Cassandra and Rapunzel walked through the forest as they searched the area. After about ten minutes, Cassandra spoke up. “See? There’s nothing here.” 

 

Rapunzel wasn’t convinced. “But I still can't get over the feeling that we’re being watched…” 

 

“Raps, maybe you’re just tired-” 

 

“No,” Rapunzel cut her off. “The fact that you don’t believe me kinda hurts.” 

 

“It’s not that I don’t believe you..” Rapunzel raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe.” Rapunzel scoffed. “Look, if you did see something, it’s gone now so there’s nothing to worry about.” Rapunzel didn’t respond. She seemed… transfixed about something. She scanned the area, trying to pinpoint where the feeling was coming from. She knew there was something out there, she could feel it. She vaguely heard Cass trying to get her attention but she was too focused on trying to find what was out there. Her senses suddenly became… muffled. That’s the only way she could describe it. Her hearing went muffled, and the area around her seemed to go still. The air became nearly suffocating, the entire area suddenly became so suffocating. It was as if everything was going in slow motion. She couldn’t move, so it seemed, and she couldn’t hear nor feel Cassandra anymore. What was happening? 

 

But suddenly, something flashed before her eyes. It went so fast that she couldn’t even see what it was. But the force of whatever it was nearly knocked the wind out of her as she was pulled out of her stupor and she pulled back with a gasp. That’s when she saw Cassandra’s worried eyes standing in front of her, her hands on her shoulders, as the princess heaved and tried to catch her breath.

 

“Hey, hey, Raps, come on breath.” Cassandra's worried voice echoed as Rapunzel’s senses came back to her. “What the hell was that?! I’ve been calling your name for like 5 minutes!”

“...I..” Rapunzel heaved as she slowly started to calm her breathing. “I-I don’t know-” But that’s when she felt it. “Cass, look out!” She tackled the warrior, breathing them both to the ground and as soon as she did, a dagger, seemingly made out of shadows, stuck itself into the tree they were standing in front of only a moment ago. As soon as the dagger made contact, the tree turned to ash. 

 

“What the hell was that??” Cassandra shouted. Unfortunately, her question was answered soon after as a group of shadow people surrounded them. Cassandra quickly got them both to their feet, a protective arm in front of Rapunzel. 

 

“See?!” Rapunzel said from behind her. “I told you I saw something!” 

 

“Now is not the time for ‘I told you so's!” 

 

“Would’ve been nice if you believed me in the first place...” She mumbled.

“Rapunzel!” Cass reprimanded as the shadows surrounded them and started to circle them, trapping them in a tornado of darkness with no way of escaping. 

 

One specific shadow stood out among the rest. While the others were merely black darkness, there was one shadow that had red eyes and it seemed more… human-like than the others. It was clear that it wasn’t human but it seemingly had human mentalities. And its red evil eyes fell onto Rapunzel.

Rapunzel gulped and moved closer to Cassandra. “Oh boy…” Cassandra didn’t comment as she unleashed her sword. “What are you gonna do with that?? I doubt you can cut through something that isn’t even there or a part of this world!”

 

“No clue but it’s the best we got right now!” They had to shout due to the wind of these things circling them being so damn deafening. But suddenly, it stopped. And it went quiet. Cassandra and Rapunzel were tense as they waited for something, anything to happen. But nothing did. At least, not where they could see. Cassandra kept her body firmly placed in front of Rapunzel. But the shadow with red eyes seemed to be... staring at them. Wait, no… it wasn’t staring at Cassandra, she realized. It was staring at Rapunzel. 

 

Its red eyes seemed to stare into Rapunzel’s soul as she was put into a trance and she found that she couldn’t look away. It spoke to her… but what was it saying? All she could hear were muffled sounds. What was it trying to tell her? Suddenly, she realized that, like before, she couldn’t move. The air became thick and stuffy and as time passed, she found it hard to breathe. Everything around her disappeared except the red-eyed shadow staring straight at her. It didn’t move, not physically, but she could feel it quite literally enter her body. She fell to her knees. 

 

Cassandra felt it before she heard the princess drop. She spun around and panic coursed through her veins as she saw the princess in a complete trance, her eyes glassy and unfocused. Cassandra quickly got to her knees. “Raps?” She called out but she only kept staring at the shadowed figure. “Rapunzel??” She tried to shake her but it did nothing to wake her from the trance. Cassandra spun on her knees and glared at the shadow. “What the hell are you doing to her?!” It didn’t answer. It didn’t move. The area was eerily quiet. It continued to stare at Rapunzel. Soon, its piercing red eyes started to glow. 

 

“Wither and decay..” She heard the princess start to mumble the words Cassandra hoped she would never hear again. Cassandra’s eyes widened as she snapped her head back towards the princess. 

 

“End this destiny..” What was happening? Why now? The princess’s shoulder-length brown hair started to turn black. But unlike before, it stayed the same length. 

Cassandra started to panic. “Raps?” She reached out to shake her but she stopped as her mind flashbacked to what happened the last time this happened. “Rapunzel, snap out of it!” 

 

“Break these earthly chains..” Her eyes turned black. Trails of green started to flow down her hair. 

 

“Rapunzel!!” She shouted. Nothing. Cassandra quickly got to her feet and backed up as the floor beneath the princess started to decay into black. Cassandra looked around, panicking as she tried to find the source. She spun around to see the red-eyed shadow still staring her down. She grabbed her sword and in an act of desperation, she tried to cut through it. But just as she figured, it didn’t work. She went straight through it. The shadow didn’t even move. Suddenly, Rapunzel got to her feet and turned towards the warrior. She lent out her hand towards her and Cassandra could see some sort of power charging up; pointing straight at her. She started walking towards her. Cassandra slowly backed up until her back hit a tree. She was trapped. 

 

Rapunzel stopped merely ten feet away from her, her hand still outstretched. “R-Raps... Hey, it’s me, you recognize me, right?” She didn’t respond. She merely raised her hand even farther until it was pointing at Cassandra’s chest. “Raps, come on, snap out of it!” No response. She kept repeating the decay incantation over and over again. Tears started to stream down the princess’s face. “Rapunzel, please! Come on, you can fight this!” Nothing. The power coming from Rapunzel’s hand started to glow brighter. Anything second now, Cassandra was toast... Not knowing what else to do, Cass squeezed her eyes shut and waited for it to come. 1.. 2.. But it never got to three. Cassandra suddenly heard a vague shout and her eyes shot open. 

 

She saw Carina burst through the clearing and shove something into the red-eyed shadow’s midsection. The shadow’s middle burned red and it lost focus as the princess’s eyes and hair turned back to normal and she passed out. “Grab the snowflake and let’s go! It won’t be distracted for long!” Cassandra didn’t even question it as she rushed to Rapunzel and picked her up bridal style. With that, both warriors took off running towards the caravan as the shadow tried to mend itself back together. 

 

As soon as they reached it, Cassandra and Carina jumped onto the front and Cass grabbed the reign. “Go Fidella!” The horse didn’t question her owner as she took off. But the nightmare didn’t end there. They heard a deafening screech and soon, the shadows were taking off after them. Cass tried to lose them but it was no use. 

 

“Take that path!” Carina suddenly yelled as she pointed to a cave.

 

Cassandra snapped her head towards her. “What?! But we’ll be trapped!”

 

“Just trust me!” Cassandra seriously considered that but decided, for Rapunzel’s sake, she had no other choice. She quickly turned the caravan and took the path she was told to take. As soon as she entered the cave, something forbade the shadows from entering. Cassandra took a chance to look back and the red-eyed shadow met her eye contact and its evil eyes narrowed. After that, they disappeared. 

 

Just to be sure, Cassandra continued on until they were a good distance away from the entrance. She slowly started to slow the caravan. “Phew,” She heard Carina say. “That was close.” 

 

“What the hell was that?” Cassandra seethed, glaring at Carina as she held the princess close to her body. 

“Hey, don’t be mad at me. You’re lucky I even saved your asses.” 

 

“Why did you save us? And how did you even know that we needed saving?” She asked in suspicion. 

 

“I assumed something was wrong when I heard shouting,” Carina responded simply with a roll of her eyes. “And besides, if you two die, I won’t have anyone to help me cross Death Valley.”

 

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Of course, you did it for you.” She paused. “Wait, how did you distract that shadow thing?”

 

Carina dug into her bag for a piece of paper. “With this,” She responded. Cassandra peered over and noticed writing on the piece of paper; writing in another language. “This isn’t the first time since shadow people have attacked people. I got these from a priest a month or two ago. They temporarily stun the shadows but they don’t last very long. We’ll be safe here - they can’t enter these parts because it was built by priests and they put protection here to hide civilians from the shadow people. But we shouldn’t leave anytime soon. They’ll be waiting for us on the other side.” 

 

Cassandra narrowed her eyes and before she asked the question that was plaguing her mind, she placed the princess in the caravan then she glared at Carina, crossing her arms. “How do you know so much about these shadows?”

 

“Have you seriously been living under a rock?” Carina asked, shaking her head. “These things have been showing up for months; attacking villages and people.. Searching for her.” Carina grit her teeth. Without either of them knowing, Rapunzel stirred inside the caravan. She groaned, placing a hand on her head, wondering where the hell she was. Before she could question much, she heard voices talking from outside. She got near the window and listened.

 

“But why?” 

 

Carina tilted her head. “Do you not know the story?”

Cassandra gave her a confused expression. “What story?” 

 

Carina groaned, rolling her eyes. “Of course, you don’t,” Cassandra narrowed her eyes. Carina sighed. “A long timte ago, there were a set of friends. The holder of the sunstone, the moonstone, the blackstone, and finally, the stone of eternal suffering.” She tilted her head to the side. “Sound familiar?” Cassandra stayed silent so Carina continued. “Something happened to the holder of the blackstone and after that, the holder of the stone of eternal suffering went mad with power. He killed thousands of people with shadow figures, destroyed homes, lives… He became unstoppable. But it wasn’t enough. He needed more. He tried to obtain the moonstone and sunstone but the holers were able to trap him in a thousand-year prison. About a year or two ago, something… unleashed him.”

 

“...If that’s the case, why is he showing up now?”

 

Carina shrugged. “I think it’s because he was too weak to do anything. The way he obtains shadows is by taking others over. He takes over their mind, their heart, their soul and traps them in their own mind, in darkness… and then he kills them. Then they become a shadow of who they once were, pun definitely intended, and become brainless followers. They aren’t human anymore and nothing can revert the damage. It’s said that he’s.. searching for something. He can’t physically use the stones but he can manipulate their holder. The moonstone has no use to him, it’s not powerful enough. But the sunstone… is what he’s been searching for. Or rather - the holder of the sunstone.” She directed her eyes towards the caravan.

 

“...But why? What use would she have to him?”

Carina looked back to meet her eyes. “You saw what happened back there. He’s using her own emotions against her; trying to turn her to the dark side. If he can end up turning her… he’ll be completely unstoppable and the world as we know it will be under his mercy.” She shook her head. “Unfortunately, she’s already too far gone. He’s in her head. And because of that, those shadows will be able to manipulate her to hurt people. He's basically already won. Once he’s in someone’s head… there’s no getting him out. The world is already doomed. The only way to stop him is to do the job for him, that way he won’t be able to completely take control over her.” Rapunzel’s eyes widened from inside the caravan as she held a hand to her mouth.

 

Cassandra’s eyes widened then they darkened. “Hell no.”

 

“Did you not hear the part where we’re doomed?” 

 

“I don’t give a shit,” She spat. “There has got to be another way; another way to stop him.”

 

“There isn’t,” Carina seethed. 

 

“There is no way that-”

 

“You don’t have a choice!” Carina shouted. “For once, stop being so damn selfish! Millions of people are gonna die if we let her live! She’ll kill all of us! Me, you, even that daughter of yours!”

 

“Rapunzel would never-”

 

“Yeah because she showed that real well back there,” Carina spat. “She’s corrupted, Cassandra. And it’ll happen again. Look, I’m sorry, but there’s no other way.” 

 

“There’s always another way!”

 

“Not this time! This isn’t like all those other times!" Carina shouted. "Stop trying to fix something you can't fix! She can’t be saved!”

 

Cassandra was about to respond back but then she stopped and narrowed her eyes. “...How do you know about those other times?” Carina stopped. Cassandra growled. “Carina.”

“I-I was going to tell you..”

 

“Tell me..” She paused, her eyes widening before they darkened. “You work for him.” She stated simply, her voice dark and cold. 

“Not like you think!” She resorted quickly. “I’m here to help you-”

 

“I don’t need your help!” Cassandra seethed, unleashing her sword. “You lied to me! Again! And you’re working for the enemy?!” 

 

Carina put her hands up in defense and backed up. “Look - I’m here because she needs to die otherwise everyone we love, our lives, is over as we know it!”

 

“Fuck off! You aren’t getting anywhere near her!” As the two warriors screamed at each other, Rapunzel slowly slid down the wall of the caravan, her eyes wide and unfocused. Slowly but surely memories from some minutes ago filled her mind. Her turning… her almost hurting Cassandra… She placed a shaky hand over her mouth before her eyes landed on the sleeping Nova. Rapunzel quickly shook her head and before she knew it, she pushed open the caravan and ran. She vaguely heard Cassandra yell her name but she kept going. After a couple minutes of running and she quickly hid in a hidden part of the cave. As soon as she did, Cassandra ran by.

 

“Raps??” The warrior yelled. Rapunzel squeezed her eyes shut and stilled her breathing. “Rapunzel, come on, where are you?!” The warrior ran past the opening. “Rapunzel?! Come on, come back, we’ll figure this out! Please!” She heard the warrior get farther and farther away. Rapunzel slowly slid down the wall and hid her face in her knees and she started to sob. 

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It had been four hours since Rapunzel ran off. Cassandra searched the entire place for her but to no use. Her last resort was to return back to the campsite and hopefully Rapunzel would return on her own. That was almost two hours ago. Cassandra paced back and forth, her hands digging into her hair. Carina watched her with bored eyes as she leaned against her arm. “Will you stop it already? She’s fine.” She paused. “...probably.” 

 

Cassandra snapped her head towards her. “This is your fault!”

 

“My fault??” Carina huffed, sitting up straight. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be toast by now!”

 

Cassandra stormed towards her. “You should’ve told us what you knew sooner!”

Carina shrugged. "It wouldn’t have changed anything.”

 

Cassandra growled. “You-” She didn’t get to finish that thought because the sound of clicking caught her attention. She spun around and there was Rapunzel, walking towards them slowly, her head directed downwards. She quickly made her way over to her. “Where have you been??” 

 

Rapunzel didn’t look at her. She didn’t respond. She merely walked past Cassandra, her hair covering her face. “Raps-” She tried to reach out to her but Rapunzel pulled away.

 

“Don’t touch me.” Cassandra pulled her hand away. She never heard Rapunzel use that tone before… especially not toward her. The princess continued walking forward until she made it to the caravan and opened the door. Cassandra slightly jumped when it slammed behind her. 

 

“You should probably leave her alone,” Carina spoke. “Who knows, she may freak out and hurt you.” Cassandra glared death at her. 

 

“Leave.” 

 

Carina snapped her head up. “What?” 

 

“I said leave.” She grit her teeth and gripped her sword tightly. “Or else.”

 

Carina laughed bitterly, immediate offense taking over her senses. “Or else what? You ain’t gonna do anything to me.” That apparently was the wrong thing to say because Carina was suddenly slammed hard against a wall. She tried to push Cassandra away but a dagger was suddenly held to her throat.

 

“Don’t test me,” Cassandra responded cooly with the darkest, most devilish voice Carina had ever heard. It was so dark that it wiped her cocky attitude right out the window and she slightly cowered. Cassandra suddenly pulled Carina away from the wall and tossed her to the floor. “And don’t ever come back or I’ll kill you. I promise you that.” 

 

“Fine,” Carina spat out blood as she got to her feet. “Have a death wish, I don't care. Don’t come crying to me when it all goes south.” Without another word, Carina stormed off. Cassandra watched her with darkened eyes until she was sure she was gone. 

 

Once Carina disappeared, Cassandra’s facade dropped as she looked worriedly at the caravan. She walked over and slowly opened the door before shutting it. She gently shut Nova's door in hope that she wouldn't wake up. She tried their door but realized it was locked. “Raps, please open the door.”

 

“Go away.” She heard the princess’s quiet voice respond from the other side. 

 

Cassandra placed her forehead against the door, one hand pressing softly against it. “Rapunzel, please, we can talk about this…”

 

“I don’t want to talk.” 

 

“I don’t care,” Cassandra responded softly. “Just.. open the door.” No response. “Please… I just… I just want to help you..” 

 

From the other side of the door, Rapunzel snapped her head up. “You can’t help me.” She said venomously. 

 

“Because you won’t let me.”

 

“You heard what Carina said. There’s no helping me.”

 

“But you don’t know that!” Cassandra responded. “You’re seriously going to believe what she said? She works for him!”

 

Rapunzel was silent for a second before she responded quietly. “...I could’ve killed you, Cass..”

 

“But you didn-”

 

“Dammit Cassandra, I was going too! Stop making excuses for me! Stop protecting me when the facts are set directly in front of us! I’m dangerous, Cassandra! What happens the next time, huh? Next time we won’t be so lucky. Hell, the next time it could be Nova!”

 

“There won’t be a next time-”

“You don’t know that!”

 

“Neither do you!”

 

“...All I know is that I’m a danger to you and Nova; to the world. And even if we made it to Ingvar, I’m still gonna be a danger! I’m basically a ticking time bomb ready to go off!”

 

“Ugh, Rapunzel, please…! L-Let just talks about this, together, okay? We’ll figure-”

 

“Stop saying that!” Rapunzel snapped. “You keep saying that - that everything’s gonna be okay, that we’ll figure it out - but we haven’t figured anything out!”

 

“That’s because you haven’t allowed us to! You refuse to let me help you! You refuse to talk to me! You refuse to tell me the full story!”

 

“You want the whole story? Fine.” Rapunzel spat. “For months now, I’ve been having nightmares about what’s going to happen. And it doesn’t end well. Everyone’s gonna die. You, Nova, Corona, everyone.” She paused. “...Unless I fulfill my destiny.” 

 

Cassandra understood the hidden meaning behind her words as she hardened her eyes. “Dying is not your destiny.”

 

“Then what is?!” Rapunzel shouted, her voice breaking. “Because that’s all anyone wants to do to me! Even way before… before all of this! Zhan Tiri, Varian, Gothel… god, even you! And that’s not even scratching the surface!”

Cassandra sighed and leveled her voice. She pressed her forehead more against the door and closed her eyes. “Look, I-I know everything’s confusing right now and you’re hurting but…” 

 

“THIS ISN’T ABOUT ME!” Rapunzel yelled, catching the warrior off guard. She’s never heard Rapunzel yell like that before. Ever. “This is about the millions of lives that are at risk because of me, this is about the fact that your lives are in danger BECAUSE OF ME! AGAIN! Whatever I do, wherever I go, no matter what I do, no matter how much I try to fix things… I just make it worse! All I do is cause pain and constant danger toward everyone I come across!” Her voice started to break. “S-So, that’s why…” She took a shaky breath. “...If you are gonna be selfish and keep protecting me… then I’ll just take care of it myself.” 

 

Cassandra’s heart started to pound. “W-What?” 

 

On the other side, Rapunzel’s shaky hands held a dagger. She held it to her throat, her breathing labored. “I won’t allow myself to be the reason why you die. Why all of you die.”

 

Cassandra started trying to open the door by turning the handle over and over again. “Rapunzel, open the door.” She demanded, her voice panicked. No response. “Rapunzel!” 

 

“...I’m sorry, Cass..” Cassandra’s heart merely stopped. Panic took over her senses. Her eyes were wide as she desperately tried to open the door.

“Don’t do this!” No response. “RAPUNZEL!” Nothing. As a last resort, the warrior backed away and kicked the door open. Just in time too. She saw Rapunzel, holding the dagger and the princess panicked but Cassandra was quicker as she plucked the knife from her hands, and not knowing what else to do, she pulled the princess into her arms and held tightly.

 

“Let me go!” Rapunzel yelled and did everything she could to get away from the warrior. But Cassandra merely squeezed her eyes shut and held tighter. “Cassandra, LET ME GO!” She didn’t. Rapunzel’s energy slowly became zapped as she kept trying to struggle away. She pushed with everything she had but the warrior’s grip was unending. “L-Let me.. Let me g-go!” She kept repeating ‘let me go' over and over again and with each passing second, her voice became more and more distraught and her energy slowly started to wither away. Cassandra didn’t budge. She didn’t say anything. She merely held tightly for that’s all she knew how to do at the moment. Finally, after constant struggling, the princess finally gave up and raised her shaky hands and tightly gripped Cassandra’s shirt before she dug her face into her chest and started sobbing; her body going completely limp. It was all she knew how to do at the moment. 

 

The warrior merely hugged her tighter, the adrenaline of fear still taking over her body. The princess’s body was shaking so badly as she sobbed into her shirt. But so was Cassandra’s. The warrior took a chance to open her eyes and as she held the princess, she stared wide-eyed in fear at the dagger (covered in blood) laying against the wall a few feet away. Cassandra could feel wetness coming from both of the princess’s arms as well as from her legs. The blood stained her shirt. Cassandra’s body and mind shook as she realized… a second later and she would’ve lost her. 

 

Rapunzel kept repeating terrifying phrases over and over again as she sobbed in Cassandra’s shirt, her voice barely audible. How did it get this serious? Cass wanted to believe so badly that she was getting better… she wanted to believe that it would all be okay… but in reality, it was all a lie. And because of Cass's negligence, she could’ve lost her. Cass kept giving her time, she thought she was doing the right thing. But she was wrong. She should’ve pushed and she promised herself, from now on, she was going to. No matter how much her wife yelled at her. Even if she told her she hated her. She didn’t care. 

 

Cassandra had never been more scared in her life than at that moment. She was so close, so close, to losing her again. This time would have been for good. Cassandra’s hand shook as she raised it and dug it into the princess’s hair at the back of her head. She had no idea how much time passed. But she knew that it was a long time before Rapunzel’s sobs slowly turned into miserable whimpers. Her body was still shaking greatly. 

 

Even when Rapunzel went silent, Cassandra refused to let her go. 

 

For she was afraid that if she did… 

 

She was going to lose her.