The Rider's Tangled Journey

Chapter 10; Realization

REMINDER; I own nothing except my OCs. Everything else belongs to CAPCOM, Disney and Marvel respectively.

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As the light of dawn shines on the kingdom, Eugene is pacing back and forth in his dungeon cell pondering anxiously over what just happened last night. He's wondering what to Jonah and Dante, friends he's made. Most of all, he can't help but worry for Rapunzel. He's worried that the Stabbington Brothers have taken her to use her power for money. He's also worried that Graves might be torturing Jonah at this very moment.

The cell door opening snaps him back to reality as he  turns his attention to the captain and two guards.

"Let's get this over with, Rider." The captain says.

"Where are we going?" Eugene asks not understanding what's going on. All he got from the captain was a stern look on his face.

"Oh." Eugene says as he understands now; they're taking him to be hanged for his crimes.

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Back at the tower, Gothel picked the last of the several flowers that were in a depressed Rapunzel's now unbraided hair.

"There! It never happened." Gothel says as she picks up a basket of the flowers before making her way to Rapunzel's bedroom curtains. "Now wash up for dinner. I'm making hazelnut soup."

Gothel notices Rapunzel's depression. Then, the older woman lets out a sigh before she tells her, "I really did try, Rapunzel. I tried to warn you what was out there. The world is dark, selfish and cruel. If it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it."

Then, she notices the cross that Rapunzel was holding in her left hand.

"Even your outsider friend has fallen victim to the world's cruelty." Gothel continues. "If I understand his story correctly, he sacrificed his very soul for his mother's health to be restored to her. And this is what the world gave him in return; heartache and solitude."

After that, Gothel leaves Rapunzel's room to give her a moment, if she's being generous, as the girl looks down on her Coronan souvenir, missing both her guide and her bodyguard, despite feeling completely betrayed by the former. Pascal tries to comfort her, but Rapunzel still feels completely heartbroken. She remains in silence as she's praying to God to not forsake Jonah, but to watch over him instead. To make sure he's OK.

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Meanwhile, somewhere in the woods, Jonah, who's covered in cuts and bruises, is taking more punishment than anyone else could handle at Graves' hands; being punched in the face, kicked in the stomach whenever he's down, and tossed into a dirt or rock cliff wall - sometimes face first.

"If only I could cause you the same pain and heartache that you've caused me!" Graves hissed through his teeth as he picks a writhing Jonah up by his jacket. "But, I'm just gonna have to settle for beating you to a bloody pulp."

Then, Jason throws Jonah into a dead hollow tree, which resulted in nasty splinters.

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Back at the tower, Rapunzel was laying back on her bed staring at her paintings all over her ceiling. Then, she looks at her sun flag souvenir. After that, she looks back and forth at the paintings and the flag until she really focuses on the paintings.