The 8 of them, Rapunzel, Eugene, Celeste (sitting on Eulgene's shoulders), Lance, Kiera, Catalina, Varian and Cassandra made their way through the forest clearing towards the campsite.It felt nice for all of them to take a break and let loose after being cramped up in the castle, the pressure of duty on all of them except Lance, Cass, Kiera, Catalina.

Lance was in charge of carrying their tents,( One for the royalty, one for Lance and his daughters, one each for Varian and Cass) Varian and Cass were in charge of luggage, Rapunzel carried all their food.

They walked for a while, till they came to the outskirts of corona and everything was peaceful till Lance accidentally dropped Cass's tent while they crossed a river.

Lance gasped and looked at Cass giving him a death glare that could even scare Adira. She pilled her share of luggage on Varian, who swayed a bit under its weight, Unsheathed her sword and ran after Lance, who let out a girlish scream and dashed away. Eugene immediately gave opal to Rapunzel and ran after them. "Cassandra make good choices! Make good choices!"

The weight of the luggage squished Varian and he dropped everything. He decided to leave it on the floor and just watched, along with Rapunzel and Celest, laughing as Eugene struggled to restrain Cass from killing Lance.

After Cass relaxed a little, she looked at Raps questioningly.

"What am I going to go now?

Rapunzel pretended to think for a moment." Oh, I know! You can share with Varian! Rapunzel said grinning ear to ear.

Cass's Eyes widened and Varian spit the water he was drinking on Eugene's face.

" But we're not, you know-" Cass stuttered nervously.

"Who cares if you're not together! It's only us here and do you guys care?" she asked looking around to everyone else. They shook their head vigorously to show they don't mind.

They all looked at Varian and he put his thumbs up to show he was fine with it. Cass gave him a nervous smile, which he returned. Cass continued walking but when she was out of earshot Varian burst.

"You guys did this on purpose didn't you!" He hissed

"Yup!" They chorused

Varian huffed and continues walking forward everyone else following

-----------------

Once they reached the campsite(which was just under Mount Saison), they set up the tents and gathered the firewood. They sat on logs around the fire and talked and laughed as Lance and Varian cooked dinner. Once they finished eating, they roasted marshmallows, which were a new thing to both Celeste and Varian.

A light bulb hit Cassandra. She leaned over to Varian, who was sitting beside her, and whispered something in his ear. He grinned mischievously and whispered something back. Cass then excused herself and went into Varian's, now their shared tent. Varian then started telling a ghost story.

"Covered in crystal white, her nails as long as 7'inch rods. Hair as dark as death. Glowing Alma is said to appear every half moon night and suck the souls of those who who dare to step in her territory."

Lance whimpered in fear and hid his daughters under his huge arms. Eugene did the same to Rapunzel and Celeste.

Varian continued talking but gasped at seeing something behind the others. He shakily pointed at something behind them .

Everyone slowly turned to look and screamed.

Glowing Alma stood behind them with short black hair flowing behind her as her black hands with long nails held a glowing candle.

Catalina had turned into a werewolf while Lance and Kiera hid behind them.

Varian burst out laughing and all heads turned to him.

The ghost started laughing too and took of a glow in the dark cloak revealing Cassandra. Eugene glared at them both and Celeste started laughing. With a huff, everyone went inside leaving the duo to pack up the campsite.

Once they finally stopped laughing, they started cleaning, occasionally catching each other by the eye and bursting into fits of laughter.

" That was great Var"

Varian stopped short and raised his eyebrow amused." Oh hey Cass, First of it's Varian not Var"

Cass quickly caught on what he was trying to do. "There you are, Varian-not-Var, we didn't finish our conversation earlier"

"I did"

" Hey! Wanna be my assistant for putting out this fire"

"No - you know what fine"

"Great! We... We can be, uh, co-ladies-in-waiting "

"Let's not put a label on it"

"You ready? Because a certain person could use her assistant"

"Listen, Cass, I'm really sorry, but things have changed. I can't help you anymore."

Cass made her way to the fire pit with a bucket of water. She dropped the bucket and just as she was about to fall too, Varian caught her.

"You chose me!" though she won't admit it, him holding her like this made her feel weird.

"Don't flatter yourself Cass "

As Cass went to pick up the bucket, Varian helped her." Where do you think you're going? You're gonna need an assistant!"

Together they put out the fire. 

"Thanks. And, Cass, about putting my own ambition in front of our friendship, I'm sorry"

"It's... It's okay, Varian."

" Hey, call me Var"

With that they started laughing and headed into their tent.

Unknown to them, Rapunzel and Eugene were still awake and heard the whole conversation.

Rapunzel squealed while Eugene fake gagged at the cheesiness of it.

-----------------------------------------------

Back at the castle ...

"Guards, capture them!"

"Oh I don't think that's going to happen" A man chuckled.

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Hi! Sorry I took so long to update. I watched Encanto and I couldn't help but write an fic on it😅

Quick question: who do you think is a villain other that Zhan Tiri? Personally, I see the king and his advisor as the least favorable person there. Right after comes Rapunzel.

As always, criticism is Welcome!