Chapter Text
Terrified as ever, Cass slid down and sat on the ground in her little cage, hugging her knees, finally safe from those people, finally exhaling from that dangerous situation. She was alone at last. The feeling she hadn’t felt since… well it wasn’t anything new. This time though, she could move and breathe and react, she was free. Even if the concept of being free was relative at the moment.
Cass was trembling and she was scared, finally able to think about everything that happened outside of the amber. She could let all her emotions out. She realized what she had lost and that she had been in the amber for a long time. She had seen through the amber all the things that had happened... how her best friend Rapunzel was forced to do horrible things... to kill everyone in Corona.
All of these things... all of these horrible things happened because Cassandra let herself be manipulated by that little ghost called Zhan Tiri, the ancient sorcerer demon who had reached her victory. Cass felt extremely guilty for all these things, she’d lost everything... all she wanted to do was to find her destiny, she hadn’t meant to help destroy Corona and kill her friends and family.
She was having a total breakdown. I destroyed everything! I d- destroyed everything… it’s all my fault! Everything’s gone, everyone is…
Heavy breaths. Tears rolling down her face like rain. She wasn’t that crying type of person, but this broke her. Holding herself as tight as she could.
Before, of course, she checked that nobody could hear nor see her. Not like this. She felt safe enough to let it all out, she couldn’t hold it any longer. Knowing that they were still present didn’t change the situation, she kept it for herself too long to keep it in any longer. A thick wall of black rocks provided enough privacy for her.
There was nothing she could do now; she couldn't go back and make things right, she couldn't change the mistakes that she already made, it was all so overwhelming for her. She wasn't even thinking about what could happen next, her heart was beating faster from fear. This was her worst nightmare and it was all real.
She couldn't think straight about the future, not even past this situation. Then she returned back to reality. All of sudden, she heard a strange noise really close to her. She couldn't tell what it was. But it was scary. Cassandra decided to back up a little from the wall that she made with black rocks. She didn't know what was happening, she just knew that she didn’t feel safe anymore. Her heart was racing faster each second. She begged for an end, but that wasn't in plan.
She felt so helpless. Why? The answer was easy, Cass had literally nobody who could help her or save her out of her misery. She didn’t have Raps who always gave her positive energy in dark moments, she didn’t have her dad who always wanted to protect her and taught her how to protect herself, she didn’t even have Eugene who was trying to be supportive too, even if they argued.
Nobody had left the room, and Cassandra knew it very well. Any one of them could still try to attack her if something happened to her cage. Who knew if they had a way to break through it now? Her heart continued pounding.
Wh- what can I do now? Just to wait here for them to come after me? If- if they can cut the rocks too, I’m helpless against them. I- I have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide… There were s- so many of them, I stand no chance against them all now. I can’t even stop shaking…
She knew she was on her own and that she was very afraid. She was shaking from fear. What are they doing? The noisy sounds were getting louder every minute and Cass was just sitting there in despair. They weren't so friendly before. Yes, they got me out of the amber, but why? What do they want from me? Their intentions were unclear to her and she just grew more scared.
That fear was consuming her. For everything that had happened and was happening to her, she was slowly losing control. Control of her feelings and her powers. She felt that horrible feeling before, but not with such intensity, and then the Moonstone acted. To protect her from that fear, red rocks started to spread everywhere around her. She just let go, she couldn’t do anything about it.
Now, glowing red rocks started to spread in the room, cracking out of the floor and soon spreading outside the room and into the basement. Agents were alarmed and took the sudden appearance of the jagged, mysterious rocks as an attack. Their classified mission was getting further out of control. They couldn't break those black rocks, which was frustrating them already, but now a new kind of those rocks appeared and the atmosphere in the room was even more tense.
These new red rocks weren’t reaching agents or stabbing them, they just appeared there, but it seemed like a warning sign. The agents felt a growing sense of fear and dread, but that fear served as a motivation for them to stop the threat.
“Keep cutting!” a voice called out, and the agents focused on trying to cut through to reach her. They used stronger methods, more motivated to break through than before, but they still failed.
The effects of the red rocks continued, fear seized several agents and overcame them, all seeing terrifying visions, starting from the ones closest to the source. The least courageous agents in the room couldn’t hide their fear any longer and panicked, some of them were so consumed they seemed to freeze.
The agents, who weren’t suffering the effects as quickly, were alarmed. Coulson spoke up, “Stand down!” The agents started to back down. It was clear there was no way they could get into the cage and their position was beginning to endanger every agent in the basement. The agents saw their frozen allies and did not wish to end up like them, overwhelmed by her clear show of power and strength.
“Avoid the red rocks at all costs.” came the commanding voice of a senior agent, noticing as more agents continued to panic.