Tangled After Ever After

Fragments

The ground below them shifted into a carpeted hallway lined with portraits, much like the Corona castle. Turning down the hall, a painting caught his attention, portraying the King and Queen holding Rapunzel in their arms. Varian smiled before progressing back to Cassandra, realizing that she had paused.
Tracing her eyes, a young version of herself stood at her feet. Her hair was wild and long, with her toes visible, she tapped Cassandra's boot playfully before she turned up to her, giving a soft grin. The girl's short attention span plummeted, running around them before following in line with the incoming trace of boots.
Varian watched the sight, asking softly,
"Can she see you?"
"Maybe..." She brought one of her arms around her stomach, the other hand still gripping Varian's glove, walking behind the young thing. Hoping it would lead her through her memories.
"Cassie? How did you get here?" Her eyes turned down, observing her young self.
She wore one of her father's helmets, dipping over her forehead.
Looking up at Cassandra, Varian went to ask the question again, though as if sensing his thoughts, her face remained on her younger own,
"Just watch."
As she furthered to the end of the hall, a group of young girls noticed her, observing her attire in a judgmental fashion.
Their silent sentences became visible as Cass's pace slowed, stopping her patrolled march with the guard. The group stared at her, confused. Cassandra's knees pinched, bending to the other, her arms crossed, stoking for comfort before she finally spoke to the young group,
"Hi. My name's Cassandra." She waved lightly at them with a bright smile beaming.
They observed her for a quick second before they turned, forming a circle of the three girls. Isolating Cassandra from them.
Her waving hand dropped in regret at even trying, and she returned down the hall, continuing with the patrol of guards. Sadness crossed over her once gleeful features.
Cassandra softly walked after her before she came to a room, pausing once more and turning inside. Varian found that the room was Cassie's; as he had once been there, it held the same distorted order. Besides, the sword slashes against the wall, singling some distress.
Her young self appeared older; Her hair had recently been chopped to her ears, the remains puddling on the floor. A small dagger wrapped around her hand, revealing the culprit for the loss.
Gideon's hands gripped her shoulders in sadness at what she had done, resting his cheek over her head. Cassandra's eyes stained red, staring into the mirror disgusted. Cass's hand rounded her memory's shoulder, causing the facial expression to still as if instantly forgetting her sullen thoughts.
"This is when I began to forget about my past. We have to go deeper into my thoughts and memories." Varian's arm was roughly grabbed by Cassandra, suddenly leading him through herself and toward the mirror.
Her eyes pierced his deep for a final significance, it seemed.
"This is your final warning to stop here. If we go further, I will lose myself in my thoughts, and you will not be able to stop what I do."
He yielded to the front of Cass, peering through herself. Her reflection stood at the front of the mirror, a sword in hand. A look of distraught held her image, hair weaved in striped blue, awaiting the arrival of her externalization.
Varian's form shook at this realization that she would not be herself but a version that feared yet fascinated him. He breathed deeply, turning to the two forms. Discerning the situation, he squished Cassandra's hand again before pulling her into his chest quickly, hoping she would allow him to comfort her.
"I'll follow you, Cass. And I promise I'll help you through this." He was surprised to find her hands tightly wrapped around him before she pushed him away. Her eyes brimming into him, wondering if he was genuinely sure he wanted to go this far.
He was...?
Varian's smile turned upward, motioning for her to continue towards her reflection.
She sighed, her hand reaching back for Varian, an instant clasp. Gripping Varian brought silent peace, fearfully her finger softly pressed against the glass. Her image grinned widely before grabbing her wrist and pulling her into herself. They began to form into one, colliding into an uncontrolled repeated memory.
Varian watched in shock, his hand clutching her still, as her grip turned into stall fury.
They were sucked into the glinted realm; as the reflection wholly took hold of Cass, forming and twisting into a terrifying resolution of scars. Their entwined fingers were now reduced to Varian's desperate grasp on Cassie's wrist, swaying and wavering.
The moonstone-made scales crawled to a strange point, making a round, windowless space of dark matter. Cassie's back faced away from him, hair ombreing from her once blackened curls to aqua blue, with an electric pulse bustling through her attire, which seemed unconnected between each layered piece of detail, drifting within the familiar light of glowing blue.
He rounded his lips as he moved over her form with a slight stutter before he began to conclude his haunting speech of admonition,
"Cass? - - Becoming the villain...isn't the answer. It WILL consume you until there is nothing left," His words felt longer than the last time he had spoken the varied line.
"...-Until you lose everything..." His voice swayed, reminding me of solemn sadness.
Her head turned gently to him. Before her other hand, which wasn't gripped, snapped to his forearm, causing imprints of black to prick into Varian's skin. Her globes of glowing blue drilled into him with defiance, taking in every ounce of his emotion.
"You sound so confident, and yet, you choose your anger just as I have...now look at you,"
Her nose wrinkled,
"Fully consumed by rage...which you've allowed to burn and wither."
Varian pushed himself forward despite the pressure gnawing, "Which is exactly why I don't wish for you to be stuck in the same position I am!"
"I can't allow you to suffer like I have!..," His words erupted, echoing madly through the cylinder.
"You can't even imagine the loss I felt after losing my father, even now that I have lost him again! I can't allow this anger to resurface in you or myself! There are too many lives at stake for that!"
His eyes dropped, his voice quaking, fading into his outburst; he hadn't expected all that emotion to release. His hand found his mouth, hoping to take back, as well as stop, his words. Cass's image smiled widely at him, her grip dropping with his body. His breath felt dense; the air grew fuzzy, and he tried to breathe.
"You overthink about your past, Varian." He watched her shadow trace across the dark stone leading up to a throne made entirely of black rocks. He brought his hand over his stomach, standing to face Cassandra. He was limp as his body ushered him back to the ground to rest, but he wouldn't leave her
Cass swung her legs over the throne, observing her gloved hand as Varian pressed towards her.
You've made mistakes," His hand clutching his side at the impact.
"You do as well, Cassandra. You think about them as much as I do." He brought his hand up to his chest, "All the hurtful things that you can't undo. You have to live with them for the rest of your life."
She laughed, bringing her hand to her chin, "That's what makes you different from me. You see those experiences as a curse when really they are just another form of mercy."
"Mercy?"
She glanced at him, "You can become so powerful when you acknowledge those memories and finally...decide to do something with them,"
"Instead of allowing your guilt to consume you, as you have once stated," Her eyes turned down in understanding.
"It's the same anger, guilt, and...regret; Varian...no matter how you deal with their impact, it will always be some force consuming you!" Her voice turned from rushing liquid to an unbelieved solid stone. Her hands found her middle, adjusting her head to lean back into the open air.
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean you need to keep hurting...I can help you." She sighed, looking away, her index nail pricking into her temple.
"Why can't you do the simplest thing!" She yelled. "How can you allow so many to use you and try you like you are worth nothing!"
She stood up angrily, her boots clicking fast down the throne steps towards him, only standing a few feet away. Her fist clenched in a fist as a sword erupted out of her palm made of dark rocks. She raised it to his neck, bringing him close to her chest to meet her eyes.
"How!?!"
Her echoed scream surrounded them before fading lightly in the cold air, allowing Varian's soft undertone to surface.
"...Because I know that If I do, there might be someone out there who will see me and finally acknowledge all I do." She came closer,
"And what if they don't. What if you end up standing and waiting there forever. Unloved and uncared for!" Her tears pricked, gripping his collar tightly as her sword pressed against his skin.
He looked deep into her eyes as his breath grew apart.
He gulped raw; lips chapped at her closeness,
He intently gazed at her and spoke in a low, husky voice, "If you truly love them and dare to reveal your true self, you will succeed." His hand moved quickly and wrapped around her neck, pulling her close. Their lips met, and he tasted dark cherry on her breath.
Cassie's grip on him loosened momentarily, allowing him to catch his breath. But he didn't expect the sudden force that pushed him away. He stumbled backward and fell, but the rocks around him stopped his fall, leaving him dazed and disoriented.
As he looked up, he saw Cassandra's eyes blazing with fury and her hands gripping his shirt tightly. He realized that he had underestimated her, and Varian knew he would have to be more careful.
"Sadly for you, not everyone will accept your trying."
"You know what I mean, Cass," His eyes squinted at her in displeasure as she dropped her grip, motioning for the rocks to engulf him. The rocks curled around his form, slowly and painfully applying pressure. She turned her back and walked away from him, but Varian was unwilling to give up.
He pulled through the stone, his voice echoing, "You spend all those years waiting for your mother to notice you and finally treat you better! And whether she hurt you intentionally or not shouldn't matter!"
"...You should have never been treated the way you did and shouldn't have been by everyone. But why would you wish that same pain on others."
Her form stopped at his words, unannounced to him, fingers curled up, tracing her lips as she turned aside, eyeing him slightly.
Her tears pricked with silent huffs of disconsolate, allowing the feeling of his action to immerse.
"...Why can't you just let go of me. It's been much easier for me to have nothing left to lose. For me to leave everything behind. To not be a burden,"
Her one hand stretched over to her right, holding it close to her chest before her body shuddered in glowing blue,
"Why are you making it so hard!?" Her blade appeared again, plunging into the ground below, causing a rippling stream of rocks to come near Varian; they ceased just as a point was placed at the tip of his nose.
"Why would I ever let you in here?! I promised myself that I would let you go, and yet even after all my attempts of trying, you still refuse to give up even on the brink of death?!"
She glowed more violently as she held tighter.
"Just give up, Varian!" Her head whipped around, releasing a quick crack. The fury inside blurred the sighted trauma. As her heels clicked back towards him, on black stone. Varian's form blended into visible lines. His body was crippled white, face drawn down.
Lifeless.
"Varian...Varian!" Her scream rose over hands, coming to lips once more, the clicks growing closer to the limp boy.
The dark rocks had torn into his skin, revealing bloody gushes dripping down the stone. Cassandra's eyes widened, dropping the foundation instantly from around him, watching his body plummet, collapsing into himself.
Varian held his chest with both hands curling into a tight ball as gasps of pain echoed from him. Arms pulled him close, stroking through his hair roughly as the terror of the fantasy began to unwind.