Tangled After Ever After

Cadence Pattern

The cavern had grown dim from the dark rocks illuminating like azures, surrounding, leaving no evade. Closed off from the rest of the world made the air musky, which appended the silence between the alchemist and the guard - who remained stationed. They both sat across from the other, a bonfire resting between them with loose embers drifting from the smoky mist of wet stone and pine, urging their thoughts upward into the bitter space. They had remained silent for what seemed like days, though it was only a few hours.
Perhaps the young alchemist (being claimed a fool) was wrong for destroying the map and its contents, though he knew he had made the right decision.
The alchemist let out several sighs that night as he struggled to comprehend the changes in Cassandra. She had transformed drastically, and it was scary how frequently she shifted from being his co-lady-in-waiting to being the adversary he had once battled. Occasionally, he caught her gaze, distinct from the previous one each time. Sometimes, her eyes were filled with anger, while at others, they expressed sadness, regret, and even loneliness. It seemed as though she was struggling to comprehend herself.
Varian felt anger bubbling inside him as he remembered all the times he had given in to her to please her side of the story. His love for her became a joke, and he realized he was foolish for thinking they were on the same page. They were not.
Cassandra had made a deal (he knew that, at least) means of helping the destruction of their realm. Varian returned to the remnants of Corona floating around him-no life of any kind in the once vibrant kingdom.
He swiftly turned his gaze to Cassandra as she made a sudden movement. She had her left hand tightly gripping her right hand to her chest, with her eyes squinted and jaw clenched. She held this position momentarily before lowering her arms to her sides and digging her fingers into the dry earth. Her eyes remained fixed on him with a determined expression.
"Varian. You're being childish," she spoke, causing his mind to jolt. However, he quickly retorted, "And who are you to call me childish? I'm sixteen, Cassandra." He smirked, aware that she had no rebuttal for that. His hands instinctively opened, acknowledging the distance between them.
"This silence can end. Just tell me about the deal you made, Cassandra." Her hands folded across her chest, moving her legs into a crisscross position.
Varian's hands fell to his knees as his mouth widened with his gaze, shaking his head, "You would rather be alone, huh? Isolated even. For - what - your pride?" Varian breathed in deeply, calming his emotions. "Cassandra, we need to talk. Avoiding the obvious is getting exhausting."
Her eyes shifted downward from the flame to the grains of rock and bone beneath her. "We were co-ladies in waiting once. You and I, against the laundry, were unstoppable," A smile came to his lips, though faded, "However, I suppose we both wanted different things that day...which made it impossible for us to be a team."
"You don't know anything, Varian. You have no idea who I am. And I didn't need you. You offered your help, and I took it. And if you didn't, I would have found my own out. I always do." Her expression turned cold as her words deepened. "I've done many things alone and didn't need anyone's help...I helped myself."
"Just as you should've." Cassandra pinned her gaze back to Varian, expecting to see tears; however, that same fury that burned inside her smoldered in the engineer.
"You know, Cassandra. As much as you like to admit you are strong and independent, you're not. You're weak by yourself, and you needed me. Why can't you see how many people have always been there serving YOU? Have you already forgotten what Rapunzel did for you?" Her eyes widened, finding Varian's bright blue, "She saved your life...at the risk of Corona, knowing that you were worth the sacrifice. How could you do this, Cassandra?! Rapunzel trusted you. I TRUSTED you!!"
Varian's shouts dimmed, waiting for a response. "Was it worth risking all those good moments for an unfortunate one?" Cassandra only stared blankly, her posture leaning back away from him. "I don't think it was.
A gentle, quivering response broke through her rough exterior, "I've never seen you this angry since...your father-."
"-No! You don't get to talk about my father. You would rather help yourself than help him-." Her eyes bent down, shame - and regret. Her teeth grinded as she roughly pressed her eyes shut in desperation. Every morsel of her body tightened until gentle tears released, cascading her impression down her cheeks and making her breath shallow.
A gasp suddenly flooded her lungs, "What I've done? Isn't...who am I? I've done this all..."
She brought her hands around her, bringing her knees to her chest. "I didn't intend to cause this...I just wanted to be acknowledged and recognized for my efforts. No matter what, though, I was never good enough, especially for Raps."
"She shouldn't have risked everything for me. I should have died that day.
I wish I could have died that. I would give anything to go back and tell Raps it was okay so I could move on instead of enduring this." She motioned not to her surroundings but to her body.
"Varian..." She tightly interlaced her fingers with his arm, digging her nails deep as she searched his eyes for understanding, compassion, and a hint of fear.
"Cassandra... you're scaring me."
"Zhan Tiri engulfed me, Varian. She lives inside me, and I can't get her out of my head."
"What? What are you talking about? You don't have any signs of possession. You...fine." Varian's voice dropped roughly, grabbing her arm from around his. He watched in surprise as she lifted back her glove from around her hand, revealing black scorch marks digging deeper into her arm, causing excesses of ash to fall, landing on the floor like snow.
Varian's temperament dampened, seeing Cassandra's tear-stricken face pinched in agony as his hand roughly rounded around her arm; his lips trembled as his voice cracked a whisper. "It's spreading."
"The pain keeps escalating with every passing day, Varian. It's changing me into someone I don't want to be. I'm scared of hurting people again. I can feel myself becoming like her, and I can't stop it. She promised to stop consuming me if I completed aligning the stones and finished what she believed I was close to achieving."
"Varian, that's why I've been trying to convince you to leave me."
Understanding the situation caused his grip to loosen... every second, she told him to go home, and her betrayal.
Her tears fell again. "I've caused you so much harm, but I knew I needed your help because...I-I am weak and can't find the stones without you."
"The stones? What? Where? The scroll was supposed to bring back the stones. They're here?!" Cassandra moved her glove over her hand, carefully pushing down the leather to her fingers.
"I performed a ritual for Zhan Tiri and brought back the stones, though it didn't bring them directly to us as she would have hoped. Instead, they were transported to Lord Demantis's Sacraium, deep in the center of Grotto's Keep, just below the Dark Kingdom."
Cassandra rubbed her hands together, motioning her fingers into a tight ball, pulling her attention to her chest as it sped. Varian's eyes fixed on Cassandra, his brow slightly furrowed in concern, as he listened intently to her plea.
"Varian...please don't forgive me; know I will do everything possible to keep you, Raps, and Corona safe. I've caused so much harm and would never wish to do anything more to my home. And to my family. I promise, just let me help you."
Varian fell to his knees, looking skeptical, and grabbed Cassandra's arm, causing her to release a painful yelp. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry," he said. His grip slowly softened, and he carefully moved his fingers from her glove up her arm, then over her shoulder and to the neckline of her shirt. He saw that the scars were just barely visible above her neck.
"Zhan Tiri is back? And she's consuming you...and there's nothing you can do? Except get the stones back," Cassandra nodded in response. He shook his head as he took a deep breath. "If we want to save Corona, we must use the stones?" His eyes widened, "No. Zhan Tiri wants to get us together...but we have no CHOICE! The Saporians will kill everyone left of Corona, my father will be trapped in the amber forever, The royal family will be who knows where, and you'll die!" Varian's eyes blazed with hatred, finding a dim stone of coal from their fire, "When will this end!" throwing it up into the sky, hitting the top.
A bright golden glow of sunlight promptly hit them as debris fell below them, consuming them in its radiant light and transporting them to reality. As they opened their eyes, the obsidian rocks around them shattered like glass, revealing intricate patterns inside the dark crystals.
Once the shattering dimmed, the beam of sunlight stretched across the pattern strands, molding into a silhouette of a set of double doors in a chiaroscuro.
Varian rose from amidst the chaos, his eyes brimming with excitement. His fingers danced over the broken shards, carefully examining the strange symbols etched upon them. He hurried towards the door once he found what he was looking for. He quickly identified the pattern for the small cognitive lock that surrounded the shadow of a handle. Above the commotion, Varian's voice rang out loud and clear.
"Cass! We were trapped in a Cadence Pattern. Meaning a steady rhythm of gravitational fluency volumes. Like frequency in music."
"It was a subtle research conducted by Demanitus, in which he believed he had grasped a comprehensive understanding of humanity. He believed that anyone who remained trapped in the monotonous cycle of repetition would either force them to confront their existence." The opening's silhouette unfurled completely, revealing internal mechanisms roughly treated for years of abandonment.
"....or it would destroy them from the inside out. Regardless, It was clear that such a condition was too dangerous in a world where no one lives in a reality but their own."
Varian found himself kissing the ghost of a door handle, "Oh, Demanitus, you genius!" The gears creaked and whinnied, slowly opening doors, revealing glints of exotic contraptions covering the ample space. "Oh, Cassandra, imagine having all this space to yourself, never needing to worry about anything or anyone else, but your creations... sound like a dream." Cassandra stood, grasping her arm as she pulled herself up, moving towards Varian, "Did this all happen by chance?" she asked him. Varian seemed about to shrug but stopped as the doors of the contraption paused, leaving only a crevice to walk through. "Not entirely by chance...but even though Demantis is no longer alive. He wants us to succeed, and I know we will."
"So you are going to help me." Cassandra's face brightened her hand; reaching for his, he glanced down, ignoring her gesture. "I'm going to help help Corona."