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...
"How could he do that to you?!" Opal shouts, angered by Hugo's actions in the story. "He's just a bad guy!"
"But always remember, Opal," Rapunzel says, still listening from the corner of the room. "Bad guys can sometimes change. Your parents did, after all."
"I know," Opal replies, and then returns her attention to her father. "So what happened next? How did you get out of the tunnel?"
"Your mother came to the rescue," Varian says, smiling lovingly at Cassandra.
"Yeah, well, I had to find him first," Cassandra adds. "But that wasn't too hard to do..."
Cassandra follows the path through the forest that the guys left behind. Footprints, broken branches, a browned apple core that she assumes was Ruddiger's doing... Tracking them should be a breeze.
But it isn't long before she realizes she doesn't have to track them. She hears an alarmed hoot from Owl as he swoops down from the sky. She extends her arm out, but he doesn't land on it. He only flits in urgent circles above her head.
"What is it?" She calls up to him. "Do you want me to follow you?"
Owl hoots in response, and flies away through the forest.
"I'll take that as a yes," Cassandra says, racing after him.
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As she follows her feathered friend, she hears shouting coming from nearby. Once she draws nearer, she realizes it is Abhu. She quickens her pace, and emerges from the brush to find him yelling at Hugo.
"No, you are not taking it!" Abhu has a firm grip on his father's journal, and Hugo is grasping the other side.
"Ugh, not again..." Cassandra moans. She rushes at Hugo just as he is about to pull something —most likely alchemical— out of his pocket. Before he has the chance to react, she has him pinned against a tree. "What is going on here?!"
"Ah, there you are Gorgeous," Hugo smirks. "I thought you disappeared for good."
"Don't you dare start that again," Cassandra says, pressing her forearm to his throat.
"You're right," Hugo chokes out. "It's no fun when Freckles isn't around, anyway."
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