Sometime later
Cassandra woke up suddenly in a cold sweat, her mind pounding as a migraine forced her to wince and sit up.
She was cut short however, her skull slamming against something hard, causing her to hiss and press a hand to her head.
She cursed under her breath, her eyes slowly adjusting to the low blue and yellow light that glowed softly against a ceiling of black rock.
She raised her brows and blinked, seeing something wrong with her current situation. "What?"
Dark stone seemed to encase her, curling and forming a low ceiling that she could hardly sit up in. She noticed the small lines illuminated by the light weaved a pattern into the rocks.
Slowly she lifted a hand to touch the source of light coming from her chest. A familiar smooth stone of swirling color met her fingers.
She gasped quietly, eyes widening as she momentarily forgot her pain. "What? I- how am I..."
She reached up to touch her face, both hands skimming over intact skin and dried blood. "Am I dead?"
Her headache returned full force, making her grimace. "No, no definitely not dead."
She ran a hand through her hair, a thousand questions running through her head. "What's going on?"
This wasn't right. She was alive, not dead, and the Moonstone was back.
Did the Moonstone save her? But how? It didn't have any healing magic. Zhan Tiri said that the Moonstone represented power and destruction, not healing.
She looked down at her chest and saw the yellow and blue gem. Right, this isn't the Moonstone.
She quirked a brow, remembering that she and Rapunzel combined the Moonstone and Sundrop to defeat Zhan Tiri and that she used their power to save Corona and kill the demon once and for all.
She also remembered that she practically suffocated and fell unconscious.
"Huh, well..."
"Hoo?"
Cassandra twisted at the sound and tried to focus on the feathered form sitting on her leg. "Owl?"
Owl gave a small hoot in affirmation.
Cassandra blinked slowly. "How..."
She fell silent, staring at Owl intently as she tried to wrap her head around what exactly happened after she passed out.
After a few minutes, Owl hooted at his friend, concerned with her mental state.
She snapped herself out of her thoughts, suddenly remembering where she was. "Oh... Right."
Owl raised a brow at her very intelligent response.
Cassandra flushed slightly and reached out a hand to the black rocks, watching as they glowed blue as her hand came close, she could feel their connection to the gem on her chest. "Alright Owl, how about we get out of here and figure out what's going on."
Owl chirped lightly in agreement and scooted closer to her side.
Cassandra chuckled and moved to press her hand against the rock. "Well, we-"
She was cut off by her own screaming voice when she made contact with the rock, her mind overloading with information it could barely process.
She could sense EVERYTHING through the rock. There were images of bare trees, the sound of rustling grass, and the rippling nearby pond flooding her brain as a chaotic mess. Her mind burned with the pictures of caves and underground tunnels that seemed to stretch on for miles.
Owl watched with fear as she shrieked, wondering what was wrong with his friend. Her eyes were clouded over and her head rolled to the side.
The dried blood on her face didn't help his pounding heart.
He glanced at her hand pressed against the rock and quickly connected the dots.
Moving swiftly he pulled her hand away from the black rock, Cassandra's screaming stopped instantly.
She carefully pulled her hand away from Owl's grip, cradling it to her chest. "What the fuck."
This wasn't right. With the Moonstone she could use the rocks to feel what was around them and once to communicate with Rapunzel but she could never use them to SEE.
She looked down at her chest, seeing the yellow and blue gem on her chest.
Right. This isn't the Moonstone, it was something much more dangerous, more powerful.
She paused as she heard her stomach rumble loudly, practically begging for food.
She turned to Owl and saw his eyes filled with worry in the dim light.
Cassandra shook her head, pushing her growing questions to the back of her mind. She had other things to focus on, like WHERE EXACTLY she was and finding something to eat for the two of them.
"Well, -" Cassandra began, sighing as she raised a hand to the dark rock. "-let's try getting out of here."
She stretched her power against the stone, commanding it to retreat into the ground without touching it.
She really didn't want to experience 'seeing sound' again.
The rocks obeyed and receded into the ground, revealing the sun shining on grey grass and bare trees.
Owl quickly took off, making loops in the air as if to celebrate his freedom.
Cassandra smiled and looked around, standing up as her eyes narrowed at the area's state.
This definitely wasn't the castle.
The trees branches were bare and grey, the grass was dark and wilted. This looked exactly like the work of the decay spell.
Cassandra bent down and touched the ground, feeling how it crumbled like sand. This wasn't right.
She reached a hand under her cloak and touched the stone on her chest, sensing the power within. She could heal this.
Owl landed on her shoulder and tilted his head, sensing her discomfort.
Cassandra reached for the power of and stone and prepared to sing the incantation, but a flash of uncertainty washed over her, making her hesitate.
Neither one of the pair noticed how Cassandra's eyes took on a green tint, smoke softly wafting from her eyes.
A small voice nagged the back of her mind, making Cassandra think of the last time she used the power and consider the consequences of using so much so soon again.
What if this time the stone killed her?
She paled and let go of the energy, quickly hurrying out of the dead clearing. The more she thought about it the more she didn't want to risk using the stone again. Sure she would heal THIS place, but what if she hurt Owl, or even herself?
Cassandra shivered, thinking back to what Zhan Tiri did to Corona. She knew exactly what would happen if she overdid it.
Choking oh her own blood and passing out again didn't exactly sound all that appealing right now... Or ever.
Cassandra shook her self from those thoughts, the whites of her eyes quickly returning before she glanced at Owl. "Alright, you scout ahead, try to find the nearest town."
Owl gave a nod and leaped into the air, flying high above the trees.
She glanced up at the sun, it was evening and night would likely set in in a few hours.
Alone with her thoughts, she began to think back on what happened in Corona, how Rapunzel reached out to her with open arms even when she didn't have the moonstone to offer anymore.
Even after everything she did she had been welcomed back with open arms by her friend. She had no resentment for her, no righteous anger or bitterness for her.
'There is more to you.' Rapunzel told her. Cassandra smiled at her friends inspiring words. She was worth more than what others saw, more than a Maiden in waiting.
More then just a puppet for Zhan tiri.
Cassandra stood taller at the thought. She was so much more than that, no matter what everyone else saw.
She would return to Corona and fix what she had so carelessly broken, what she had been so willing to throw away.
A loud squawk resonated through the air, disturbing her mind.
Cassandra turned to the noise, watching as Owl dived down towards and calmly lifted her arm as he neared, smiling as he slowed down and perched himself on her arm. "So did you find a town close by?
He hooted an affirmative and gestured to her left, a small lake was settled between the clearing and the trees.
Cassandra strode forward, following her friend's direction. "We better get going if we want to make it before nightfall."
She would make things right, that was a promise she intended to keep.
As she passed the lake she glanced at her reflection, looking over her features. She had electric blue hair again, her eyes also glowed with the same shade of color, tracks of blood trailed down her eyes and nose.
Cassandra paused. Tracks of blood trailed down from her eyes and nose.
Owl looked at Cassandra, puzzles by her actions until he saw her staring at her reflection. She had noticed the blood.
Memories of the stone flashed in her mind, making her stare down at her hands. She could remember how much it burned in her fingers, how hard it was to breathe and how her hearing faded into nothingness.
Cassandra tried to remember more, feeling like she was forgetting something.
It had hurt so much, the burns, the screaming, the light...
Cassandra put a hand to her head, feeling her headache coming back.
It was horrible, especially the light.
She groaned and pressed her palms against the sides of her head, trying to soothe the growing pain.
Purple sparks slipped from her eyes.
Owl watched as his friend sighed and lowered her arms, breathing deeply through her nose for a moment.
Cassandra decided to ignore the pounding in her head and kneeled before the water, taking a closer look at her face. It would seem that blood also trickled from her ears.
She dipped a hand into the water to help rub away at the blood, repeating the motion to clean the rest of her face. It would be gross if she left it on.
Satisfied with her reflection she turned to Owl, raising a brow. "Did I get it all?"
Owl looked over her face, nodding in approval.
With a smile, Cassandra stood back up and continued her walk, quickly stepping out of the ring of decay. She could worry about what exactly happened later, right now she needed to find her friends.
As she walked through the trees she thought about her next course of action. Food took first priority of course, she could find some berries on the way. Second, she would need to enter the town and try to figure out where she was...
As Cassandra mulled over her situation a short blue lady with two buns of hair watched her from between the trees, her eyes flashing green and expression oozed malicious glee as she slowly faded away from sight, dispersing into thin air.