"That was so sweet of you, Daddy!" Opal coos.

     "I meant it. And I still do," Varian says, reaching for Cassandra's hand and gently kissing it in the same manor he did that day. She rolls her eyes, but cannot hide the smile that has spread across her face.

     "Ooh, you two are still the cutest!" Rapunzel squeals.

     "I can't wait to see what's in the hatch! Whatever that is," Opal says.

     "It's an opening that allows passage from one area to another," Varian explains. "We were basically going down into a basement."

     "Oh," Opal says with realization. "But basements are so scary!"

     "This basement wasn't scary, kiddo," Cassandra says. "In fact, it led to our first real discovery..."

"I'll wait indefinitely for you, Cassie. You are the moon and the stars to me."

     As Varian ducks down into the hatch, Cassandra remains motionless, too stunned to speak or move. She figures she shouldn't have expected anything less from him, but she wasn't aware of how deeply he cares for her. She isn't used to the attention, and she feels that she doesn't deserve it at all.

And he called her Cassie, for the first time since her return. When Abhu calls her that, it makes her blood boil. But hearing Varian say it, it feels so natural. Almost... comforting.

But what really stands out the most to her is, how is he aware of her fear? Again she wonders if he may have used his Truth Ray on her somehow, but she knows that this is not something he would do to her. Does he really just understand her that well?

No, that's crazy. No one could ever understand her that completely.

Right?

Frustrated with the direction of her thoughts, she blows a stray hair out of her face and follows the others into the hatch. A few feet down the concrete hallway, she discovers that the guys have already run into a dead-end.

"This is great," Abhu grumbles. "We've hit a wall!"

"I don't think it's just a wall," Varian observes, moving his light source to the center of the barrier. "Look!"

     The light reveals a small box attached to the wall, that seems to be a locking mechanism. There are four dials, with letters instead of the expected numbers.

     "It's clear that the combination is a word," Varian says. "But what word?"

     "A four-letter one, obviously!" Hugo says with a laugh. But no one else laughs with him.

     "Everywhere we go, there seem to be clues leading to the next thing," Cassandra says. "So maybe there's a clue somewhere regarding the password."

     "You're probably right," Varian says. The smile he gives her makes her uncomfortable, so she turns her gaze away from him. But her eyes fall upon Abhu, who is glaring at Varian. Ugh, how did things get so complicated?

     Once Hugo and Varian both roam around the hallway with their lights, they discover a metal plaque screwed into the floor.

     "'A head and a tail I have, but a body I lack'," Varian reads the plaque aloud. "Heh, according to Rapunzel and Eugene this sounds like something Lord Demanitus would put here."

     "A riddle?" Cassandra groans. "Who has time for riddles?"

"Apparently, someone thought we do," Abhu grumbles.

     "This shouldn't be too difficult," Varian says. "I'm pretty great at riddles, if I do say so myself."

     "Then quit bragging about it, and solve it already!" Abhu sneers.

     Varian rolls his eyes, and then studies the plaque. "A head and tail, but no body..." He glances back at the lock on the wall. "Four-letter combination..."

     "A coin!" Hugo shouts. "The answer is a coin."

     Cassandra and Abhu look to Varian for confirmation. He appears none-too-thrilled that Hugo solved the simple riddle before he did, but he strides over to the lock and turns the dials until they read 'coin.' To everyone's delight, the lock clicks and the wall splits apart at the middle. Once it opens, Varian and Hugo head inside first to check things out.

"It's an elevator!" Varian says excitedly once he has observed their new surroundings.

"All aboard!" Hugo says, gesturing for Cassandra and Abhu to enter.

"Is this safe?" Abhu asks.

"We're about to find out," Hugo replies, unworried.

Abhu hesitates, but Cassandra pushes him forward. "Just come on!"

Once everyone has set foot onto the elevator, Hugo steps over to the pulley system. "Ready for me to show you the ropes, Freckles?" He laughs at his own bad joke, while the others shake their heads. Varian joins him, and the two of them work together to pull the rope and move the elevator up.

Reaching the top of the shaft, they tie the rope off and illuminate the path ahead of them.

     "It's just another room," Cassandra says.

     "A small room," Abhu adds. "Remind me why I'm here, again?"

"I wonder that all the time," Varian remarks.

     "Look!" Cassandra says, distracting them from starting yet another argument. "There's something over here."

     The guys approach to investigate her discovery: a miniature door at the end of the room, that is only a couple of feet tall. It doesn't have a doorknob.

     "Well, we're definitely not going out that way," Hugo says.

     "I knew I shoulda let Ruddiger come in here with me," Varian says.

"So what're we supposed to do with a tiny door?" Abhu asks.

     Cassandra kneels down to get a better look at the door, as does Varian. He is near enough that she can smell the scent of burned chemicals and slight sweat coming off of him, and she wonders if his close proximity is on purpose or if he is simply excited about their discovery and doesn't notice.

     But then she catches sight of the hint of a blush on his cheeks, and knows for a certainty that he absolutely recognizes their closeness but is choosing to ignore it, as she is.

     "Hey, what's this hole here?" Cassandra asks, pointing at a small slot in the door. "Could it be for a key?"

     After staring at the door for a moment longer, Varian's eyes widen with realization. "It isn't for a key." He digs around in his pocket, and pulls out a small, shiny object with the Coronan seal on it. "It's for a coin."

"Ah, so the riddle had double meaning!" Hugo says. "Way to go, Freckles!" He slaps Varian on the back, causing him to drop the coin. But Cassandra reacts quickly, catching the coin before it can roll away as Varian glares at Hugo.

Cassandra slides the coin into the slot while the others wait with bated breath. After a few clicks! and a couple seconds of silence, the small door pops open and... a bright yellow orb rolls out, directly into Varian's hands. The orb is shiny and mesmerizing.

     "Just like my dad's sketch in his journal," Abhu says, his astonished voice barely coming out as a whisper.

"We have our first orb!" Varian says excitedly, hopping up and holding it above his head for all of them to see. "We're one step closer to solving this mystery!"