Chapter 7
The four walked into The Great Tree, all of them unsettled by their surroundings, especially Varian. He was very uncomfortable with all the withered, dark vines barely moving millimeters every hour. "Which strip of the scroll is in here again?" He nervously asked Cass as he tightly held onto Rapunzel, trembling, trying not to show his fear. "I believe it's the Hurt Incantation.." Cassandra answered. Varian nodded, holding his sister tighter, shuddering even more. But Princess Rapunzel didn't mind, since she was better at hiding fear than her brother was, obviously. Eventually, they were at the heart of the tree, where the scroll was being kept. Rapunzel reached out to grab it and then tried to read the incantation on it. "Vari, you may want to step back, I may know the effect of this incantation." Cass warned. Varian did what he was told and with that, Rapunzel recited the words on the scroll, the Hurt Incantation. "Wither and decay, end this destiny, break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free." Rapunzel chanted. Cass was disappointed, Eugene was confused and Varian had an idea, albeit he found out it was a bad one. "Hey, can I try? Maybe I have a link to it.." Varian asked, stepping to his sister. Rapunzel was hesitant, since she didn't want him to get hurt, but she clearly couldn't use it so she handed to scroll to him. He unrolled it, took a shaky breath, and began to recite the incantation himself. "Wither and decay.. end this destiny, b-break these earthly chains.. and.. and set.. the spirit.. free." Cass watched as Varian shivered, the ground under his feet rapidly darkened and this corruption spread. She ran up to him, and saw that his eyes were squeezed shut. Varian opened them, revealing they were completely black. Cass gasped before he continued to chant the incantation, "Wither and decay, end this destiny, break these earthly chains and set the spirit free, wither and decay, end this destiny, break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free.. the spirit free.." Cass didn't know what to do, so she tried to shake his shoulders, only to get hurt and Cassandra exclaimed in pain. Her yell snapped Varian out of it. Cass staggered backward, away from Varian. "C-Cassie?" He asked. He was confused why Cassandra was backing up from him, he thought they were friends. That was when he realized that her shoulder was bleeding and that beside him was a black rock stained with scarlet at the tip. "Cassie.. Cass I-I.." Varian stammered, Cass putting a hand on the heart of The Great Tree. In that moment, Cassandra screamed in agony as she felt a jolt of pain in her after touching the tree. "Cass!" Rapunzel cried out. Her arms were being wrapped by black vines, black veins rapidly crawling up her neck and face. But she couldn't let go, no matter how much she tried. "Vari?!" Cass called out. "God!" Varian muttered under his breath, Cass's sclera and iris turning black and her pupils now green, shrinking. "Cassie!" Varian shouted. Before she could respond, Cassandra became strapped onto the tree as she closed her eyes, a tear burned out of one of them. She smiled manically at Rapunzel, Varian and Eugene. "No.. No.. C-Cassie..?" Varian asked tearfully. Cassandra couldn't hear him, she shot glowing green vines at Rapunzel and Eugene, the thorns piercing their skin. "Varian!" Eugene cried out. "Eugene!" He called. "Brother.. You need to use the Hurt Incantation, it's the only way to weaken the power of the tree so we can defeat the tree's corruption." Rapunzel told Varian. "No. I-I can't do that again! I don't want to do that again!!" He begged. "Please.. This is the only possible way.." Rapunzel said. "But what if I hurt you?!" Varian cried. "We'll be okay." Eugene assured. With that, Varian took a deep breath, and recited the Hurt Incantation once again, "Wither and decay, end this destiny, break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free.." The vines around Eugene and Rapunzel became loose and they were able to get them off and the heart of the Great Tree flashed as it's power weakened, Cass was able to let go and be free from her possession. "You did it! You really did it, brother!" Rapunzel praised. But Varian couldn't hear her, he remained frozen as a ghost as he stared into nothing, his black eyes very eerie in the green lighting. "Varian?" Rapunzel asked, trying to reach out. Then she recoiled before she tightly hugged him, saying, "I didn't give up on Cass.. I'm not giving up on you either." Rapunzel seemed to be immune to his burning skin, which was why she didn't get hurt. Varian gasped and almost collapsed to his knees but his sister was able to stop him from falling. "I.. I didn't hurt you this time? Did I?" He weakly asked. "No, you didn't, you saved us! I'm so proud, I knew you had it in you!" She exclaimed. Varian was surprised as he softly smiled at her. Then he looked back at Cassandra, who's scar healed. He ran up and hugged her, sobbing. "Cassie.. I'm so so sorry I-I hurt you!" He cried. Cass was shocked that the prince was being vulnerable, but she accepted the hug and said, "It's fine, you didn't mean it, I was just startled in that moment." Varian looked up at her, tears in his sapphire eyes. "Get over here!" Cass teased, ruffling his raven hair. The four all laughed as they walked out of the tree, but Varian didn't know why, but a small part of him.. liked hurting Cassandra.. and that part terrified him the most. TO BE CONTINUED..