Twisted Destiny

Spire II

"What. Is. This. MADE of?!" Cassandra asked as she stabbed into the box with the Mindtrap inside repeatedly. "Nothing is getting through! Not even these rocks!"

Zhan Tiri sipped at her tea as she sat on top of a sleeping Calliope. "It is most likely protected by magic." She theorized, then looked over as Sugracha pulled something off the shelf. "Suggy, stop poking around."

Sugracha walked back over to them. "Ah, Cassandra, if only you knew how much your mother wanted to see this place."

"I guess the old Keeper was a real pain in the side, huh?" Cassandra threw the box on the ground dejectedly.

"Oh, quite." Sugracha nodded. "At least, the one we talked to."

"So..." Cassandra sighed. "Was your name 'Sugarby' before? And who were you married to?"

"A man I left to pursue knowledge and power." She shrugged.

"Oh, good. Because I was about to guess Tromus—"

"Well, that's an unpleasant thought." Sugracha made a face. "I'd sooner kiss Regulus."

"Who's that?" Cassandra asked.

"A traitor." Zhan Tiri said calmly. "He turned on us before we attacked Corona, so I cursed him into an animal form and sent him away."

"Hah, what animal? A bird? A donkey?" Cassandra knelt to pick up the box again.

"A raccoon." Zhan Tiri finished her tea and made the dishes disappear.

"That's random." Cassandra laughed.

"Not at all. He'd always been rather raccoon-like in behavior and looks, I just finished the job." Zhan Tiri shrugged.

"How long do you suppose until the Sundrop Princess gets here?" Sugracha asked.

"I don't know. When we came here before, it took weeks. With upgraded technology on her side, who knows?" Cassandra sighed and leaned against the wall of the Spire. "I wasn't able to keep him away from her..."

"Oh, don't fret, Cassandra." Zhan Tiri smiled. "We will have plenty of chances to take the alchemist from Rapunzel."

"You think so? She's probably got him under heavy guard and a magical barrier." Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'll worry about that later. What if she doesn't give us the key?"

"With life and death on the line?" Sugracha gestured to Calliope. "If she does not give us what we want, then this girl will not wake."

"She better hurry, then." Cassandra smirked.

--

After making sure they had coats and even Ruddiger and Pascal had some winter gear packed, they set out for the Spire. Varian manned the controls while Rapunzel draw in her journal and Eugene lazed around.

"So...I'm curious, how come you weren't with Andrew today?" Eugene asked.

"He's busy planning battle strategies with Frederic." Varian said as he focused on their destination. "Rapunzel suggested I take a break, but we see how well that goes. Every time I 'take a break', something happens." He sighed heavily.

Rapunzel smiled a bit. "It was just bad timing. Besides, what are you even working on?"

"I'm attempting to improve my amber solution and find a way to melt it without using magic." Varian shrugged. "There's loads of black rocks around to experiment with without endangering anyone."

"Hey, Sunshine, speaking of weird magic occurrences, remember that time we used that cauldron to launch the caravan off that rock thing?" Eugene asked her. Rapunzel turned back in her journal and showed him a particular page. "Of course, you painted a picture of that." Eugene sighed.