Gothel's Greatest Gift

Chapter 13: See You Be Brave

Hi readers! I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've last updated, I've been super busy with college and have been dealing with a lot of things emotionally. I can't promise that I'll ever be as frequent of an updater as I used to be, but I'll still update when I can. Honestly, I got pretty tired of this story for a while, but I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter, so maybe a break was what I needed. I hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 13: See You Be Brave

"AAAHHH!" Flynn Rider and his friend, Lance Strongbow, bellowed at each other while they played with pretend swords.

Rapunzel chuckled at the two friends. Varian just rolled his eyes in disgust, while Xavier put an agreeing hand on his shoulder.

"On guard!" Lance called out to his friend while pointing his sharpened stick at him.

"You'll never defeat me!" Flynn called back.

Flynn Rider and his friend, who was revealed to be Lance Strongbow, were notorious thieves back in the day. At the peak of their career, they were the kingdom's most feared thieves. However, since Flynn Rider had been exposed by Rapunzel, and Flynn refused to go down alone, he dragged Lance into the mix. The two agreed to help the kingdom defeat Zhan Tiri and save Cassandra in exchange for their freedom. What could go wrong?

While the two were busy chasing each other, Rapunzel noticed a great tree in the distance.

"Look!" she called out.

"The Great Tree!" Varian exclaimed excitedly.

"I haven't seen this tree in many years," Xavier whispered wisely.

Everyone looked back at the blacksmith dramatically.

"You've been to the Great Tree?" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"How come you never told me?" Varian asked his mentor.

"Well, you never asked," he replied. "And like I said, it was many years ago..."

-

Zhan Tiri was happily humming to herself while she flew to Corona. Oh, did I mention Zhan Tiri could fly? Yeah, even in a human host. Anyway, as she was soaring over the wastelands, she thought about all the ways she could destroy Corona.

"Well, let's see, I could burn it, flood it, or ooh, I could put a curse on it!"

"Or you could not destroy it" Cassandra retorted.

Zhan Tiri turned around, looking for where the voice came from.

"I'm still here," Cassandra added.

"You! How are you able to talk?"

"I figured out how to hijack your, er, my brain".

Somewhere deep inside her, Cassandra regained her confidence. I guess the saying, "When you've hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up" is true.

"Well, that's no matter," Zhan Tiri tried to pronounce passionately. "I still have control of your body, and you're trapped inside your mind".

While Zhan Tiri was right, Cassandra knew how powerful her mind was. She wasn't about to let an all-powerful ancient demon get the better of her.

Suddenly, Cassandra noticed a crowd of people down below. She wouldn't have thought much of it until she saw a long streak of golden hair.

"Look down there!" she called to Zhan Tiri.

Zhan Tiri rotated midair to see Princess Rapunzel and her friends headed towards the Great Tree!

"What are they doing?" she wailed desperately. "I wanted them in Corona when I destroyed it! They can't escape!"