Another New Visitor (Robert/Rapunzel/Giselle)

[Eugene Fitzherbert]

It wasn't until after Eugene stepped out of his room in the palace--the single best room he had ever had in his life, by the way--that he realized anything was wrong. The entire staff was in a panic about something, and it wasn't until he pulled aside one of the maids that he figured out what exactly had everyone so worried.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" he asked, though he was afraid that the poor girl was going to faint right there.

"Oh...the princess has gone missing, sir!" she squeaked before running off again.

What? Rapunzel missing? That was not good...not good at all. Looking around hastily, he tried to find someone else who knew anything about what was going on. What he found was the Queen, looking as though her entire life had come to a catastrophic end.

Eugene couldn't help feeling sorry for her. She just got her daughter back, and now she was missing again. That could not be easy. It sure wasn't easy for Eugene to sit through as the Queen calmly explained that the servants had discovered Rapunzel's absence when she didn't come to breakfast and then didn't answer when people came to knock on her door. Then Maximus had been discovered wandering back to the castle, looking lost and worried. And Pascal, to top it all off, was just sitting morosely on top of Rapunzel's bed, a very determined shade of dark blue.

"Right..." Eugene muttered, trying to sound confident. "Look, Your Majesty, I'll find her. I'll bring her back. Trust me, she probably just went exploring and got lost. She's a curious kid, right?"

The queen managed a weak smile as she met Eugene's gaze. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she silently thanked him before going off to find her husband and comfort him. This didn't make Eugene feel much better about the whole thing, really. Making a quick stop in Rapunzel's room, he picked up Pascal, putting the chameleon in the small pouch on his belt.

"Don't worry, buddy," he said softly. "We'll find her. We have to."

Maximus was already saddled and waiting for Eugene, looking incredibly guilty about coming back without the princess. Trying to reassure the horse as he mounted, Eugene reached down to awkwardly pat at Maximus' neck.

"Yeah...I'm worried too, but it's probably nothing," he said in what he hoped was a chipper tone. The horse didn't seem to be buying it, though. "Okay," Eugene grumbled as he cleared his throat. "Take us to where you got separated, Max."

It didn't take long for the horse to reach the spot where the princess had gone missing, and Eugene was quick to dismount so he could start looking around. There were signs that someone had definitely fallen not too far away, but the trail from there ended in a dead end at an old well that had most of the stone work missing. Frowning a little at this, Eugene inspected it, trying to find out why there was no other sign of Rapunzel. As he walked around the well, he glanced at Max over his shoulder.

"Start looking around for her--" he started to say.

He was cut off when he stumbled against the well and fell in. Unlike any normal well, however, Eugene didn't feel himself hitting water. If anything, the fall just continued on until he looked down at his hand and he looked...well...more substantial, if that were possible. Frowning at this as he looked around himself, Eugene noticed a bright light and made his way towards it. Pulling himself out through the small hole he found, Eugene had to pause for a minute, half in and half out.

"What the--?" he muttered in confusion.

This was certainly not Corona, he thought as Pascal shifted around inside the pouch before making his way out to stand on Eugene's shoulder. Even the chameleon looked different, Eugene noticed. Not as cute...weird.

"Pascal...I think we're lost," Eugene said as he finished climbing out of the hole.

He nearly got run over by...something metal, and he quickly ran out of what appeared to be a strange sort of road. Now, surrounded by more people than he had ever seen in his life, Eugene began to look for Rapunzel. This was going to be a very long day, he thought sourly to himself.

[Robert Phillip]

Robert was on the way to work in the morning. It had been a pretty long night. He had another strange girl staying in his house now. Granted, things with Giselle had turned out well enough. Okay, really well. But that didn't mean he now ran some kind of home for lost princesses. Still, she was here, and it made Giselle happy to hostess her, and he wanted Giselle to be happy. Yeah, yeah, he was a pushover sometimes. At least when it came to her.

Things got stranger, though. His taxi suddenly stopped, throwing him forward against the safety restraint of the seatbelt he was now glad he’d fastened, and glancing out of the taxi’s window, he quickly enough noticed the reason: an oddly dressed man, now running away. "Not again..." he muttered with a sigh. He opened the door quickly and jumped out of the car, briefcase banging against his leg, as he started running after the guy.

It was true that seeing strange people in New York City really wasn’t strange at all, but considering that this was definitely not the first time he had come across people who looked like they belonged from a fantasy world and those people – Giselle, Edward, Nathaniel, Narissa, and now Rapunzel, and this guy – really had come from a fantasy world, he knew enough to realize that they were all connected somehow.

He wasn’t sure if this guy was a good guy or a bad guy, so he was going to take things slowly. The only evil thing he knew from Andalasia was Narissa, so the odds were that this guy wasn’t bad, since he wasn’t dressed like it or anything, and that was usually a give-away in places like Andalasia. Or wherever it was that Giselle had said Rapunzel came from. It was weird, meeting the character from the stories; she hadn’t been like he’d expected.

So who was this guy? The prince who climbed up her hair? (Which, by the way, wasn’t that long, but he hadn’t asked questions.) Hopefully this wasn’t the Grimm’s version of the tale where he got blinded, but he looked like he was running around well enough, so Robert wasn’t too worried. He knew the city better than the other guy did, though, so he caught up to him quickly enough.

“Hey!” he shouted, taking a final stride to him to put a hand on his shoulder. “Would you happen to be looking for Rapunzel?” He sure hoped so, because he didn’t want to be late for work, again, and have it be for nothing. At least here he could be doing a good deed. This guy didn’t really have the look of a typical New Yorker, and had the disoriented expression all the Andalasians, as well as Rapunzel, had, so he just had to expect it.

((OOC: Maybe Robert and Eugene can talk for a few posts until they go to Giselle's apartment, and then we can bring in Giselle and Rapunzel, if that works for everyone! I didn't want to do too much in this post and have to god-mod or anything))

[Eugene Fitzherbert]

(OOC: That's cool! Thanks!)

Eugene was more than a little surprised when he felt someone place a firm hand on his shoulder. Only years of training his self control prevented him from hitting first and asking questions later. And yes, contrary to popular belief, Flynn Rider had indeed been in possession of the virtue of self-control. Had he always acted on it? No, not really, but Eugene was much better at that sort of thing than Flynn.

Still, he couldn't exactly control the chameleon, who made a gurgling growl in the back of his throat and fixed this stranger with a calculating look. Reaching up with one hand, Eugene quietly put a hand on the chameleon and gave Pascal a comforting look. At least, what he hoped was a comforting look; it probably wasn't.

But the guy was asking if Eugene was looking for Rapunzel. Relief flooded through Eugene as he smiled a little at Pascal before turning his attention to the man whose hand was still on his shoulder.

"Yeah...I am," he said firmly. "Why? Do you know where she is? Is she all right?"

Poor kid was probably scared. Well, to be honest, so was Eugene. This place was just...too different. And way too full of things that could kill you, if those metal...vehicles were an indication of anything. He hoped that Rapunzel was all right. So did Pascal, who was doing an odd sort of dance on Eugene's shoulder and making various growly sounds.

"Oh, hush up, Pascal," Eugene muttered. "Eugene Fitzherbert, by the way," he added, holding out his hand to the man who had stopped him.

[Robert Phillip]

He gave the guy the once-over, quickly. He was dressed for the part, all right. Except, unlike Edward, he didn’t have a sword. That was comforting. And this was a considerably better greeting than having a sword held to his throat; near-death had been his reward the last time that he had kindly taken in a strange girl from a, as far as he was concerned, nonexistent place.

He noted the small animal on the shoulder; that appeared to be a standard accessory for these type of people. At least the reptile was the only thing that seemed hostile; the guy actually smiled.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine,” Robert was quick to reassure the both of them, in case it turned out they had some sort of weapon after all. “She’s staying with me for the moment; my fiancé is taking good care of her, don’t worry. They’re a lot alike, actually.”

It was almost uncanny, really. Not that this guy would know any of it, but he would find out soon enough. Assuming he wasn’t as hasty as Edward, and gave Robert enough time to show him to the apartment without decking him.

“Uh, nice to meet you, Eugene,” he said slowly. Not the most princely of names, but hey, it made him feel a little better about himself. (He wasn’t going to lie; he did feel a little self-conscious sometimes about the fact that he wasn’t Prince Charming, even though he’d gotten a fairy tale princess.)

“So, I’m guessing you’re Rapunzel’s prince, huh? Come on. My apartment’s close.” He led Eugene over to his building, into the elevator, and up to his room. He was going to have to call his boss and tell him he’d be late… Sometimes he thought he should just quit, if it was financially feasible (it wasn’t. Of course).

“Giselle, honey, we have another guest," he announced, entering.

[Eugene Fitzherbert]

Eugene snorted loudly at being called a prince. Sure, right. He was the princeliest of all thieves. "I guess so...in a way," he managed to say finally, placing Pascal firmly in his pouch. The chameleon protested, but at this point Eugene didn't care. "If you call being a reformed thief being a prince."

Shrugging slightly at this, as though it were no big deal, Eugene looked around with a smile as he followed Robert through the streets. Great...now he could get Rapunzel, take her home, and have this whole mess fixed before the king and queen had a nervous breakdown. He hoped.

He was about to ask how one got back to Corona when Robert finally reached the apartment and called for someone called Giselle.

[giselle]

Giselle had been sitting in the bedroom sketching new designs for dresses when she heard Robert's voice. She hurried out of the room and ran to him with her usual enthusiasm, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek before turning to the aforementioned guest.

He was tall, and rather handsome, with wavy brown locks and warm brown eyes. His clothing was definitely not that of most New Yorkers, and Giselle quickly realized that this was Rapunzel's own true love.

"Oh, you're here for Rapunzel, aren't you?" Giselle said excitedly. "Oh, that's absolutely wonderful, she'll be so happy to see you!"