Child of the Moon.

~Chapter Twenty~

"Quick! Everyone hide! Eugene's coming!"

Everyone in the throne room ran to hide under anything they could when they heard Rapunzel announce that Eugene was arriving.

King Edmund had informed Rapunzel of Eugene's actual birthday. In celebration, she decided to put together a little surprise party for him with a few of his family and friends in the throne room. Everyone had pitched in to put up the decorations, but the accessorizing had been brought to a halt when Rapunzel spotted her boyfriend striding down the halls of the palace towards them.

Before Hector could dive under a nearby table, Rapunzel grabbed him and pushed him towards the door, pressing a long piece of paper into his arms.

"Distract him!" She instructed rapidly. "Tell him I need a few things from town for... uh... an art project!"

The door was swung open, and Hector was shoved out before he could even open his mouth in protest. The door slammed behind him, and he was left to stare awkwardly at a very confused Eugene.

"Are... you okay there, buddy?" Eugene questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure!" Hector responded frantically, grabbing Eugene by the arm. "We're going shopping!"

"Wha- why?"

"Because Rapunzel needs some things for an art project!"

Eugene took the list from Hector's hand and inspected it, growing visually confused.

"This..." he said, looking up at Hector. "This is a list of names."

"Uhhhh... Must've grabbed the wrong list!"

"What list is this then?! People's names are crossed out in red!"

"Nothing!" Hector said loudly in a sing-song voice. "We're just going shopping!"

"Shouldn't we go back and get the actual list?"

"NOPE! We're going shopping!"

"Why are you being so loud?! And who's paying for this?!"

Hector didn't answer and instead swept Eugene away and out of the palace as fast as he could. All the while, Hector could only think, Just keep lying, just keep lying! ...What list was that?

Hector took Eugene to the nearest paint store and had him look around for a while, hoping that he would forget the awkward interaction at the throne room door. After a few minutes, Eugene had picked out what colors he thought Rapunzel would like, paid for it, (He was quite disgruntled about that and had asked Hector why Rapunzel didn't give him any money, to which Hector hadn't responded) and was about to go back to the palace when Hector whisked him away to go pick out canvases and picture frames. After that, Eugene once again tried to go back to the palace only for Hector to frantically suggest that they go get lunch.

Throughout the walk to Eugene's favorite little bakery, Hector said nothing and kept his eyes trained on the ground, an awkward smile plastered on his face. It was then that Eugene asked his first non-shopping-trip-related question.

"Hector," - Eugene stepped in front of his friend, stopping him in his tracks. - "What's wrong? You've been acting weird and stressed all day. What happened? Did you get bad news about Maldue?"

Hector's smile faded and he turned away harshly from Eugene, remembering the worry that had been on his mind constantly for over a week.

"No," The warrior growled slightly. "I haven't heard any news about him at all."

Eugene tried to place a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder only for him to shrug it off.

"I just don't know why he'd disappear like that! It's been ten days, and no one's seen or heard from him. Not like they'd care anyway. Maybe they were the ones who finally chased him away!"