A Cassarian Story
Varian always knew that he cared for Cassandra. But he didn't realize how much until she was gone.
Six long years after Cassandra leaves Corona, she finally returns. Varian is overjoyed, but she comes bearing terrible news. A stran...
"This story is getting really sad..." Opal admits.
"I tried to warn you, Little Gem," Varian says, softly tucking a strand of hair behind his daughter's ear.
"Maybe we should stop there," Cassandra suggests. "It really only gets worse from here."
"No, I wanna hear the rest!" Opal protests. "I wanna know how something good, like you two falling in love, came from so much bad."
Varian and Cassandra smirk at each other. Their daughter inherited her persistence from both of them, so they know that she won't let up.
"Alright, alright..." Cassandra tells her. "So, your father had just decided that he was traveling with me to the Dark Kingdom. But he wasn't the first to come to this decision..."
Cassandra feels horrible that she had to break the news of the Dark Kingdom to Varian and Eugene. And she especially feels bad when Varian makes a swift exit from the room. A part of her wants to follow after him and make sure he is okay, but she holds herself back. She isn't sure he would want her to check on him...
Varian has been acting really strange around her ever since she returned, and she can only guess why. Could it be that he never truly forgave her for what she did in the past? It doesn't make sense, considering he, himself, has a similar past to hers. She never imagined that he'd be that hypocritical. But she can't figure out why else he would be reacting this way when she's around...
But here she is, worried about the way Varian may think of her, when there are things much worse to be worrying about.
"I... think I'll take the rest of my dinner to go," Cassandra says, standing up from the table.
Eugene steps in front of her, blocking her way. "What else can you tell me about this dome?"
"I've told you all I know," Cassandra replies.
"Are you sure? There's nothing else?" Eugene presses.
Cassandra shakes her head.
Eugene suddenly slams his fist on the table, causing Lance and even Rapunzel to jump. "There has to be something else! Anything else!" He shouts.
"What do you want me to say, Fitzherbert?!" Cassandra shouts back, as Lance begins to slowly back into the corner with his plate of food. "I don't have some magical answer to fix this!"
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Eugene opens his mouth to retort, but Rapunzel gently touches his arm. He sighs deeply, and then plops back down in his chair. "I know, I'm sorry Cass. I'm just—"
"Hey, no need to apologize," Cassandra tells him, her voice softer.
"We'll work through this together," Rapunzel adds, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
