I do not own Tangled the Series, the characters, or the cover. Thank you. 

Picture by @AyzBraiker. Give this artist some love and go vote on their book!

Thanks for your patience. It was midterm week. 

~SophieRose

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Cassandra wasn't sure why, but she wasn't afraid when she cut open a massive door to the black rock fortress. In this exact moment, she was the perfect example of a fierce, female warrior. With inspiring power shining like a beacon and bravery radiating from her, she shone like a brilliant star in the darkest night sky. She was facing death head-on with incredible courage. She was one with darkness, but she wasn't assisting evil: she was shining through it. Her curly, black hair stuck to her pale face like a sticker. Sweat dripped down her forehead and caused her fair skin to shimmer in the blue light that was occasionally shinning like lanterns through the blackened fortress. Her clothes were ripped in patches showing blood and bruises underneath, and yet she was determined despite these signs of a beating. 

Glancing back at the Seporians, Cassandra took a  brief moment before preparing her lungs for her announcement. 

"HEY! MOTHER!!!! Unfortunately for you, I'm still here." Clenching her fists tightly around the handle of her blade, Cassandra continued to holler into the haunting void. Other than her strained echoing voice bouncing off the walls, the fortress was empty and silent. "Since you failed to kill me last time, are you going to try and redeem yourself, or are you too scared?" 

Continuing to shout out taunts, Cassandra gave a different tone with her eyes than with her voice. Staring at Clementine and the other Seporians, Cassandra's brown eyes were anxious. After some time, footsteps crumbled the silence, and the malicious form of Hector and his two monstrous creatures loomed through the moonlight. The most striking feature, his green glowing eyes, instantly sunk into Cassandra's memory. 

The Great Tree.

Vines wrapping around him. 

Green oozing everywhere. 

"'Those who have felt my power.'" Cassandra quoted from one of the inscriptions. "So that's how they got you!"

Smiling wider, Hector signaled for his bearcats to rush the Seporians. Without hesitation, Cassandra pointed her sword at Hector and charged towards him. 

The battle had begun.

                                                                                       ******

Andrew slipped through the dark, castle-like vicinity. By this time, his eyes had adjusted; however, he still felt like he was aimlessly walking through a maze. It wasn't until he notice a small, stab of light - so frail that he thought he had imagined it at first - that he tiptoed towards it. He had climbed up several flights of stairs, and it felt like a solid half hour had passed since Cassandra and the other Seporians led their distraction. Andrew knew the importance of time, but he couldn't help thinking it was all in vain. What if he never found Varian? What would happen if he did find him? Or worse... what if Varian was already dead? 

By the time Andrew reached the source of the light, his nervousness had reached it's peak. The dim, blue light was coming from behind a cracked door. When Andrew tried to open the door made of black rocks, he found that it wouldn't budge. The sliver of light shimmering through the door was so tiny, only an ant could slip into the room. Against his better judgment, Andrew pushed his forehead against the door frame and peeped in. 

The interior of the room was exactly similar to the rest of the fortress except for the fact that the rocks inside were glowing with a dark blue light. They must be reacting to something. He mused. Unable to do anything else, Andrew observed a small something in the corner of the room. It looked like a body, but he couldn't confidently tell from the dimly light room. 

Here goes nothing. Andrew took a deep breath before whispering, "Varian? Varian, is that you?" 

The form fidgeted slightly, but Andrew had caught the rustling and knew that whoever was lying there had heard him. Then why didn't it respond?

"Varian. Uh-it's me. It's Andrew." 

Carefully, the form sat up and rubbed it's eyes before squinting around the room.

"I'm at the door!" 

The weakened frame stepped off the bed and cautiously approached the door, before his blue eyes went wide.

"Andrew?" He asked in shock and drowsiness. 

"Man, kid, you've looked better!" Andrew couldn't help but add a friendly and nervous chuckle to the end of his sentence. Varian looked like the shell of a dead spirit: completely and hauntingly pale. His blue eyes shone brighter than before, but they wore an undeniable tiredness in them as well as another emotion that Andrew couldn't pinpoint but found to be unnerving. In prison, the kid didn't look great, but this - Andrew could feel his gut wrenching at the sight of his unhealthy and astoundingly deathlike face. Before he could stop himself, Andrew found his tongue had blurted out softly (almost gently) "Are you okay?"

Varian's shirt was completely torn and his pants were shredded at the bottom. Dirt and other nasty things were covering his bare feet, and his hair was strangely clean and without tangles. But it was the look in his eyes that made Andrew most on edge. Something was very wrong. 

"Honestly, I don't know." Varian's voice croaked from unused as he tried to smile, but found it too difficult. "You came back for me?"

Andrew hesitantly nodded. 

"Why?" 

Andrew noticed behind the blue eyes in front of him that the young alchemist truly didn't understand nor could he hardly believe that someone had actually come for him. Something inside of Andrew's heart ached, but he pushed it aside as he flippantly said, "You carried me to freedom, it's only fair I do the same. Besides, you saved my life a couple times, shouldn't I return the favor?"

Unable to bring himself to answer, Varian looked down at his blackened feet. Both were quiet for a moment as they communicated unspoken feelings. Finally, Varian spoke up. 

"So what's the plan?" 

                                                                                                *******

Dodging with effort, Cassandra grunted as her muscles complained with soreness. Her body was starting to betray her as exhaustion began taking over. However, she couldn't give up seeing as Hector was masterfully striking blow after blow at her. 

Cassandra jumped back so that Hector's swing would clash with the wall. She was hoping that his sword would weaken by the constant collisions with the Shadow Blade and black rocks. Unfortunately, it wasn't working as planned, and his sword was more resilient than she expected. Before she was able to resume their duel, she notice a flicker of green to her right. Snapping her attention towards it, she instantly felt a weight of dread sicken her stomach. 

Gothel, Sugarby, and Matthews each wickedly grinned with glee. Life was looking pretty good for them in this moment. The three, no longer ghosts, were in a full fledged battle against the Seporians. Green magic shot from Gothel's fingertips viciously. She laughed like the maniac she was while the bearcats tore into the Seporians like scissors through paper. 

It wasn't a match. 

It was a slaughter. 

Cassandra turned towards Hector once more, fighting the sinking feeling of defeat threatening to pull her down. This entire battle, Hector hadn't uttered a word. He was very unlike himself. Maybe there was a chance to bring him back to reality. But how? 

Was there a way to reach him? 

"Hector!" Cassandra yelled over the battle, "What are you doing? Who are you fighting for? You are a member of the brotherhood! You're not supposed to join the team that's trying to destroy them! This isn't you! Why would you turn on your family? Why would you turn on Varian?" 

He didn't phase. It was like he couldn't hear her. 

Perhaps her couldn't. 

"Fall back! We can't win this fight!" Clementine's shrill voice ripped through the tense air. The Seporians desperately tried to flee, but were mercilessly caught in the festering, green magic. They were screaming in pain and fear; the sound was unbearable. Cassandra winced. Come on, Hubert. Hurry!  

Distracted by their cries, Cassandra didn't defend Hector's attack fast enough. Off balanced by the blow, Cassandra was unable to dodge Hector who swept her feet from under her. Falling hard on her back, the wind was taken out of her, leaving a nasty pain in her chest as she gasped for breath. Her neck suffered a whiplash from the impact of hitting the ground and then slamming back into her chest. She had dropped the Shadow Blade in surprise. 

Seething through these discomforts, Cassandra looked up in horror as Hector raised his sword above his head.

All was lost. 

Her peripheral vision caught a strange blue light. It was coming from the Shadow Blade. 

"Cassandra, hold on!" 

That voice. 

She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Rapunzel. 

                                                                      ******

"So let me get this straight: you came in here to 'rescue' me without any idea how to cut the black rocks? This place is made of black rocks, Andrew!" Varian pinched his temples. He had most certainly recovered some of his strength as his personality of always being right and shaming people with unintelligent ideas had returned. 

Andrew couldn't decide if he was happy about this or not. "It's not like I have a whole lot of resources to work with! I was hoping you'd be in the Corona prison! I know that place like the back of my hand. I would know what I'd be doing there, but this place?" Andrew was visibly stressed, "I didn't sign up for crazy magic or creepy rocks. Frankly, I don't know what's going on!" 

Varian took a deep breath. "I just traded one cage for another..." His voice faded before continuing, "You shouldn't be here. I'm sorry I dragged you into this." There was something so utterly hopeless in his voice that Andrew found disturbing. 

Andrew had only been in here for a short while, but Varian..? Who knew what he had been through in here? 

Feeling the extreme need to cheer the boy up, Andrew weakly smiled, "Well look on the bright side, at least you're not chained up with a serial killer adviser, and you don't have to eat those absolutely distasteful meals." He forced a short chuckle. 

Then, Varian's eyes widened. 

"I know that look, kid!" Andrew smiled for real this time. "You have an idea?"

"Chains!" Varian paced back and forth. "Argh, Brain, come one!" He tugged at his hair. "Chains, chains, chains." 

"Uh, kid? Please tell me you didn't lose it."

"No! There was a weird chant the disciples were using to control the rocks. The word 'chains' was in it. Maybe if I can remember it, I can control the rocks momentarily to get me out of here!" 

"If that's not the craziest thing I've ever heard." Andrew's voice trailed off before perking up again, "Well, it is magic, so I guess nothing is impossible." 

"'Chains. Ugh, what was it!?!" Varian had been finding it incredibly difficult to hold onto a thought since he had arrived at this fortress. He wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't, but Andrew was helping him keep his head above water. If he could just get away from these rocks!

Chains... Come on, Varian, think! The young alchemist fought internally, Chains. To be broken. Break something, something chains. Set? Yeah, that's it. Set something free. 

Suddenly, as if he had unlocked a door, words sprinted into his mind. 

"Andrew, don't freak out, but this is going to get really weird." 

"Thanks for the warning..." Andrew steps back from the door. 

Varian starts speaking quietly. "Crescent high above. Evolving as you go. Raise what lies beneath and let the darkness grow." 

Nothing happens to the rocks, but Varian feels strange. For a reason he doesn't know and yet somehow understands, he raises his hands towards the door and speaks the next line with certainty. 

"Bend it to my will." 

Andrew gasps as the door made of black rocks opens on command. 

Free at last! Varian can't help a giddy smile. 

                                                                    ******

The sounds of grunts, swords swinging, and magic swirling outweighed the quiet oncoming footsteps. Unnoticed by everyone, a slender women causally entered the black rock fortress. 

She sighed, "Finally, I'm home."

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Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question :)

I can't believe that the series is coming to an end tomorrow! I don't know about you, but I am NOT emotionally ready for this! Anywho, I am planning on continuing this story even after the show ends, so I hope ya'll will stick around! 

Also, we reached 10,000 reads!!!

~SophieRose