Being acting Queen meant that many things demanded her attention. Being a good friend meant that many people needed her attention. Being a good daughter meant her parents needed her. The list went on. And of course she always felt bad when she had to tell someone to wait for her to get back to them. Especially Varian and how that turned out a few years prior.

Luckily enough, she managed to break away from the party to go find him again. She figured that he'd be in the water heater room since he was talking about showing Riley it earlier. As she guessed, he was there, but there was no Riley.

"Alright, Varian. You wanted to talk?" She grinned as she set her hands on her hips.

The boy turned to her before pulling her back outside in the hall and closed the door. He glanced down both ends of the hall before replying. "Something supernatural is happening."

Rapunzel sighed. "I feel the same. There has been some strange occurrences that I'm not sure what to make of."

"Strange dreams?" Varian offered.

"Uh..." She thought about it for a moment. "Nope, I haven't had any of those..." The princess paused, noticing the expression on his face. "Varian... Have you?"

"I..." He opened his mouth to speak, but he appeared to be struggling to get the words out.

"So you have?"

He eventually shrugged, but the look on his face told her that he had. She tapped her chin, deciding the best action to take. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it, but of it was important or related to the earthquake, then she needed to know.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She inquired.

"I can't," he sighed.

"Can't?" She raised a brow, gently setting supportive hands on his shoulders. "Varian, what's going on?"

"I don't know. But I physically cannot tell you what I saw. She won't let me."

"She?"

He ran a hand through his hair, a habit she noticed he did when he was frustrated. She offered him a small smile. "Hey, we'll figure this out."

The sound of the door opening made them shift their attention. Rapunzel expected to see Riley coming through the door, but she felt her body freeze upon seeing who was really there.

"Hello. Long time no see, guys." Andrew leaned against the doorframe as he rotated the blade in his hand.

Instincts kicked in and she immediately pulled Varian behind her as he yelped in shock. She could handle Andrew, but something told her that he didn't come alone. "It wasn't wise of you to come back," she hissed.

Andrew merely laughed. "It wasn't wise for you two to come down here alone." He suddenly slammed the door shut, locking it.

"Oh, crap," Varian gasped as he suddenly ran out of Rapunzel's reach. He grabbed his backpack as he ran behind the water heater.

"Varian!" Rapunzel called. She stepped back, not daring to turn her back on Andrew. When she walked beside the water heater, she realized that Varian had run towards the other exit and was barring it shut from the inside. He was trying to prevent any surprise Saporians coming in from the back.

She scanned the room, her eyes resting on the wrench beside her. Andrew jumped at her and she grabbed the tool and used it to block the blow. To her surprise, it worked well.

"Rapunzel!"

The woman glanced at Varian who threw her an alchemy ball. She jumped away from Andrew and caught it. Smiling with triumph, she smashed it down on his feet. The man was immediately entrapped with the pink goo. She set her hand on her hip while she spun the wrench in her other.

Andrew looked down at his feet. Once Varian was by Rapunzel's side, the man snorted. "This is cute." He dropped a handful of powder from his pocket on the goo and ran towards them.

Varian and Rapunzel were barely able to dodge the sword slash Andrew aimed at them. Rapunzel felt her back hit the water heater and she hissed as her neck hit the hot metal. She could feel the burn mark it was bound to leave on her unprotected skin.

She watched Varian grab a metal pipe and deflect Andrew's advances. Rapunzel moved to run to her friend's aid, when a loud boom to her left caught her attention. The back entrance that Varian had barricaded had blown up and the other Saporians were spilling in. Now they were out numbered. If only she had her frying pan.

Rapunzel grabbed her own pipe and jumped in between Andrew and Varian. "Varian! Get out of here!" She demanded.

"I'm not leaving you here!" He insisted.

"Then open the front entrance. I'll follow," she promised.

He nodded and ran to do as she requested. Rapunzel took her fighting stance to defend Varian while he was busy getting the door open so they could sprint. Since Andrew had locked it with a key (she wasn't sure how he got it) Varian would either have to pick the lock or develop a chemical to break it.

She blocked the swords coming in her direction, quickly becoming overwhelmed. "Not to rush or anything, but hurry!"

"I'm trying," Varian hissed before he threw an alchemy ball at the Saporians.

Smoke rose around them and Rapunzel quickly adapted her fighting to use the smoke to her advantage. She felt someone kick her in the stomach and her back slammed against the door. That meant Varian had moved, which explained why he threw the smoke bomb to begin with. He must have needed time and a place to hide to make a solution.

She raised her pipe as a sword swung down at her. Juniper pinned her up against the wall, a smirk playing on her dark face. "Got ya."

"Rapunzel!" Varian came through the smoke, swinging the pipe into Juniper's side. The woman flew to the side, freeing Rapunzel from her grip.

Varian grabbed Rapunzel's wrist and he started sprinting. She followed, running as fast as she could. They ran out of the smoke towards the other exit. It would be easier to escape that way since the Saporians had come to the other side of the room.

When they reached the opening, they both froze. A gasp escaped their throats as they saw a big bulky man standing behind the entrance. She knew it felt like they were missing a Saporian. How could she forget about Kai?

They backed away as the man began to advance towards them. Rapunzel scanned the room, praying for some kind of plan. All five of the Saporians surrounded them and Rapunzel and Varian went back to back, tightening their grips on their pipes.

"Alright," Rapunzel said breathlessly. "New plan. We fight."

"Probably should have just gone that route to begin with," Varian agreed as he slipped a knotted handkerchief into her hand. "Hold your breath."

Rapunzel understood immediately. She wasted no time pulling the cloth over her mouth and nose while blocking a sword. No sooner had the bandana fallen in place when Varian released the sleeping gas, tossing the bomb in Andrew's direction.

Unfortunately, Andrew had foreseen Varian's plan of action and had pulled up his own bandana. But Maisie didn't have one and fell unconscious in under a minute. Clementine fell next, but the other two were wearing masks.

"Now we're more evenly matched," Varian proclaimed.

Despite the fact she was wearing a mask, Rapunzel still felt drowsy. She understood that cloth masks didn't prevent the sleeping side effects, but merely delayed them by lessening the intake of smoke she was breathing. She just had to out last the other three and her and Varian could reach a safe destination.

The three remaining Saporians attacked and they quickly deflected the attacks. Rapunzel easily pushed Juniper off. She quickly twisted her torso and hit Andrew off of Varian. Unfortunately, her friend fell to the ground under Kai's pressure.

"Varian!" She cried as she aimed her next hit at Kai. The back of a sword handle slammed against her head. Yelping, she fell forward.

There was banging sound. Rapunzel glanced towards the main entrance. The door had been kicked off the wall. Riley stood panting in the doorway, his sword drawn. Blood dropped down the side of his head, indicating that Andrew must have attacked him before coming to attack her and Varian. He wasted no time charging towards them.

Rapunzel rolled on her back, dodging a blade. She managed to get back on her feet by the time Riley caught up to them and Jumped on Kai's back. The large man stumbled back and Varian rolled away from the Saporians' reach.

Her, Varian and Riley grouped up, their back towards the main entrance. The conscience Saporians regrouped, their backs towards the back entrance. Andrew's eyes were squinted with annoyance. It gave Rapunzel an odd sense of satisfaction.

"That's it," he muttered, pulling out a vial with green liquid.

Varian gasped. "Stop! You'll blow us all up!"

"No, just you." Andrew threw it.

Before Rapunzel could react, Varian jumped forward, catching the vial of Quirinium. To her relief, nothing happened. She rushed forward to defend him, but didn't make it before Andrew kicked the teen in the head. Her heart almost stopped when the boy fell limp. She raised her weapon, but Andrew grabbed it.

Her body was starting to tire from the chemicals Varian had thrown. She tried to kick the man in the stomach, but he twisted her weapon and forced her to the ground. She felt him stomp his boot onto her head and her vision blurred. Her ears rang and all she could see were blobs of color moving away from her.

Slowly, her vision and hearing came back to her. She blinked trying to put her vision back into focus. Rapunzel was met with an eerie silence. The Saporians were gone and so was Varian. She turned her head, finding Riley slumped against the wall. The side of his head was soaked in dry blood, but she could see his chest moving. He was alive.

"Blondie?"

She looked at the doorway, finding Eugene standing in the doorway. He ran over and helped her sit up. How long had she been unconscious?

"Eugene!" Rapunzel gasped and grasped her fiancee's arm. "They took him!"

"They? Took who?"

"Varian!"

Eugene seemed to understand. "Andrew," he hissed.

He scooped her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style. She wrapped her arm around his neck to help him support her weight. "Wait. Riley..."

Eugene looked around. His face grew pale when his line of sight landed on the boy's frame. "Oh, crap..."

"Take him first," she said. "He needs medical attention. I can walk."

He looked at her, not completely confident in her claims. But she slowly pushed herself out of his hold and stood on her own two feet. Her head pounded and she teetered a little, but she managed to hold herself up.

Eugene picked up Riley and Rapunzel grabbed his arm for some support. They slowly made their way back into the castle.

"Sunshine," he began softly. "We'll get him back."

She nodded. There was no way that she would be able to rest until he was safe.