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Chapter Text

“Never give up Ruddiger.” Varian slammed his fist down on the table. “So our last formula didn’t deliver quite the reaction we hoped….” He poured his latest reagent into a solution, mixing it with his pipet. “So what? The important thing is, we GOT a reaction.” As Varian bent over to pour the mixture on the black rocks sprouting from the floor of his lab, he was interrupted by his father.

“Son, I just wanted to-”

“Oh, oh.” Unbeknownst to Varian, in his surprise he had dumped the entire beaker onto the rocks.

“Varian. I told you to stay away from those rocks,” Quirin’s expression was stern. If he’d told Varian once, he’d told him a thousand times- those rocks are dangerous. He son didn’t understand what he was messing with. It had the power to destroy everything.

“Um, yeah okay. I know what you said, but-”

“Then there should be no misunderstanding.” Quirin placed his hand on his son’s shoulder and forcefully guided him away from the rocks. “Now listen to me when I-”

“No!” Varian screamed as he shoved his dad away. “No you listen to me, dad. Our village is dying. You think running away from the problem is gonna fix it? No! These rocks aren’t going away.”

Quirin pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know, Varian. But there is more to them than you can possibly imagine.” Images of death and destruction played in his mind. No! He had to protect his son. He wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

“Then why won’t you tell me? Dad! I just, I deserve to know.” Varian was frustrated. His dad was a coward. He would rather lie and run from this problem than face it head on. Well they couldn’t run forever. Sooner or later they would have to face this. He needed to know the truth. He needed to know the depth of the danger they were facing.

Quirin turned, pulling off his glove and examining the tattoo on his hand. “I am sorry, son, you are not ready.” Turning back around, he spotted crystals growing from the black rocks next to Varian. His son must have triggered some sort of chemical reaction and not realized it.

“Varian watch out!” Quirin ran forward, shoving his son out of the way. Varian tumbled to the ground, rolling away. He looked up to find the amber encasing his father’s left arm.

“Oh! Dad! Dad! Hold on dad. Hold on. I’ll-I’ll get you out.” Think Varian, think. There has to be a way to get dad out of there. There has to be a way to save him.

“No! Stay back,” Quirin cried out. His son needed to stay put. He couldn’t risk him getting hurt.

“I-I can fix this.” Varian grabbed another beaker and quickly added reagents. This had to work. He had to save his dad.

“Varian, NO! It’s too dangerous,” Quirin pleaded with his son.

“Hold on dad. Hold on.” Varian ran towards the amber, and poured his solution on its slowly creeping crystals. To his dismay, no reaction occurred. The amber kept creeping forward, spiraling upwards, slowly encasing his father.

Then, to Varian’s horror, he felt something wrap around his leg. Looking down, he saw the amber twisting around his ankle. Varian dropped his beaker in shock- it shattered against the ground.

“Varian!” Quirin panicked as he saw the amber had begun to encase his son’s leg.

“Dad!” Varian looked up at his father, tears in his eyes. He frantically tried to pull his leg from the amber’s clutches, but it was no use. He was trapped.

Varian felt tears begin to roll down his face. He could feel the amber creeping higher, snaking up his leg like a greedy vine. “Dad, I’m sorry.”

Quirin reached out his right arm, pulling his son to his chest. “No, son. I’m sorry. I should have told you. I thought you weren’t ready. I was just so scared I’d lose you.”

Varian flinched. “I guess none of that matters now,” he mumbled.

Quirin sighed. “Son. I think it’s time you learned the truth about our past- about where we come from.” Quirin knew he didn’t have much time. He could see the amber climbing up Varian’s body, and feel the amber slowly beginning to wrap around his own.

“We come from a kingdom far from here- the Dark Kingdom. Many years ago, before you were born, I was a part of an organization called the Brotherhood. We were sworn the protect the Dark Kingdom and its terrible secret- the moonstone. This stone is the counterpart to the sundrop. While the sundrop brings life and healing, the moonstone brings death and destruction.

There was an… incident. Our king tried to neutralize the moonstone, and it destroyed our kingdom. I was one of many who fled for our lives. I started a new life here in Corona, where I met your mother. A few years later, when we had you, my hope was restored that everything would be okay. I figured nothing could ruin our life here- I wouldn’t let it. The moonstone and the black rocks were dark secrets from my past, and I was hoping they would always stay that way.

But the black rocks have come to Corona, and there is nothing I can do to stop them. They’re dangerous, and I just wanted to protect you- to keep you safe. But I failed. I’m so sorry, son.”

Varian listened as his dad told the story, trying to ignore the feeling of the amber creeping up his body.

“I’m sorry, dad. I should have listened. I just wanted to help, and I felt like no one was doing anything, so I had to do something.”

“I know, son. I know. I’m so proud of you for trying.” Quirin hugged his son to his chest, holding him tight with his right arm. Varian returned the hug, laying his head on his dad’s chest. He felt the amber slowly climb up his torso.

As the amber encased his arms, and slowly crept up to his neck, Varian shuddered. “Dad… I’m scared.”

Quirin rested his chin on his son’s head. “It’ll be alright son.” He wasn’t sure he believed that, but there was no need to scare Varian if these were their final moments. And he’d lied to his son a lot lately, what was one more lie anyways?

Varian whimpered one last time as the amber reached his mouth, before it crept forwards, muting all sound.

“It’ll be okay, Varian,” Quirin whispered. The amber had yet to encase Varian’s ears. “It’ll be okay, son. I love you.”

Quirin felt the amber reach his own mouth, sealing it closed. Gazing down, he took one last look at his son before closing his eyes, feeling the amber crawl up over them. Then all he knew was darkness….

Chapter Text

“Never give up Ruddiger.”

Ruddiger watched as Varian slammed his fist down on the table. His friend seemed more agitated than usual. He had been messing with these strange black rocks that had sprouted from the floor a few weeks ago ever since he came back from wherever he went. Somewhere that had something to do with the king and lies; Ruddiger wasn’t quite sure. Varian’s rant after he got back hadn’t made much sense. Ruddiger wondered what was bothering him. It couldn’t just be these strange black rocks could it?

 “So our last formula didn’t deliver quite the reaction we hoped….” Varian mixed two liquids, turning them a greenish yellow. “So what? The important thing is, we GOT a reaction.” As the boy began to pour the mixture on the black rocks, the scary man that liked to yell entered the room. Ruddiger quickly scampered over the side of the lab bench, and hid under the edge of the table, allowing himself to just peak over the ledge so he could see.

The scary man, or “dad” as Varian called him, did NOT like him. Last time he saw Ruddiger in Varian’s lab, he yelled at his son for at least 15 minutes. Ruddiger didn’t want to get his friend in trouble so he hid.

“Son, I just wanted to-”

“Oh, oh.” Varian turned around in surprise upon seeing his dad. Ruddiger heard a sloshing sound. Varian must have accidentally spilled whatever concoction he had made. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Varian. I told you to stay away from those rocks,” Dad sounded mad. Ruddiger had heard that tone enough to know it meant trouble. Varian seemed to try to stutter out some sort of excuse.

“Um, yeah okay. I know what you said, but-”

“Then there should be no misunderstanding.” Ruddiger flinched. Yup dad was DEFINITELY mad. Well, no use in staying around here waiting to be discovered. Varian appeared to be in enough trouble as is.

Ruddiger crept along the back wall and climbed up some shelves into the rafters. Creeping along silently, he made it to the makeshift hole he used to get in and out of Varian’s lab undetected. Crawling out, Ruddiger clambered down the outside wall.

Landing softly on his feet in the fresh white powder that covered the ground, Ruddiger shivered. Of course it was snowing the one day Varian and his dad got into a fight. Okay, well not the one day, but this was the biggest one in a long while.

Turning back towards the house, Ruddiger considered his options. All of a sudden shouting echoed from within the house. Yeah, there was no way Ruddiger was going back in there. Not right now anyways. He’d rather take his chances in the snow than face an angry dad, and the last thing he wanted was for Varian to be in trouble…, well more trouble than he already was.

Mind made up, Ruddiger turned away from the house. However, he only made it a few steps before he heard whimpering coming from within the house. Ruddiger paused. Dad must have been extra mean if Varian was crying. He should go help his friend. But then he heard low whispers that had to be dad, meaning he was still with Varian. Ruddiger still couldn’t return without getting Varian in more trouble. Turning away from the house one final time, Ruddiger chittered in sympathy.

Hang in there Varian, he thought. I’ll be back. And then you’ll have all the nuzzles, hugs, and cuddles this raccoon can offer. I promise.

Trotting off towards the orchards, Ruddiger headed to his den hidden within the small alcove of one of the larger trees. Curling up, Ruddiger settled in and prepared to wait out the storms, both the snow and the father-son argument kind. He hoped neither would last long. He was cold, and even though it’d only been a few minutes, he really missed Varian.

Varian was his best friend. He always looked out for him, and took care of him. Ruddiger whimpered. If Varian was here right now, he’d be wrapped in a big warm blanket and curled up in his lap listening to a passionate lecture on some sort of experiment his friend was planning on attempting. But Varian wasn’t here, so he curled into himself tighter and prepared to wait out the storms.

~~~~~~

It was a few hours later when Ruddiger awoke from his fitful nap. Standing up, he shook himself, trying to get some warmth back into his limbs. The snow appeared to have finally stopped.

Leaping from the tree, Ruddiger decided it was time to return home to check on Varian. Hopefully by now Varian and dad were done with whatever disagreement they’d have. Hopefully….

Ruddiger made his way to the outside wall and listened. Silence…. He breathed a sigh of relief. Varian and his dad must have either made up or had called a brief truce. Ruddiger didn’t particularly care which at the moment; he just wanted to be indoors somewhere where it wasn’t freezing. Once he was indoors, and back with Varian, he could examine his friend and see which was the outcome off the fight, and go from there on deciding how to comfort his friend.

Reaching the lab door, Ruddiger pawed at the wooden surface. No answer…. That was odd. Varian usually always let him in nowadays when he scratched at the door. Ruddiger tried again. Maybe he was just despondent after his fight with dad? That was unlike Varian though. Varian usually dealt with failure and disappointment by seeing it as a challenge. Normally he wouldn’t be surprised if he walked in to already find Varian working on his next project.

Maybe he was so focused on his next experiment he didn’t hear him? Ruddiger tried one last time. Still no answer…. Was Varian mad at him for leaving? He didn’t mean to upset him- he just didn’t want to get him in any more trouble.

Sneaking back around to the wall of Varian’s lab, so as to make sure dad didn’t see him, Ruddiger began to climb. He hadn’t used his makeshift hole to get into Varian’s lab in forever. Ever since the boy had unofficially adopted him, he mostly used it to sneak out of his lab when dad showed up.

Upon reaching the hole, Ruddiger shimmied through, and dropped gracefully to the floor. The lab was silent, which was a rare occurrence. There was always some machine making noise, or some reaction bubbling, or even the sound of Varian’s voice ringing throughout the lab as he announced his ideas to raccoon friend.

Ruddiger shuddered. Without the noise the lab seemed… empty, dull…. Lifeless…

Ruddiger chattered in agitation as he maneuvered around shelves and experiments, winding his way through the lab. He froze when he saw the amber monolith. Squealing in alarm, Ruddiger raced towards the towering crystal. Not willing to believe his eyes he scrunched them closed before slowly reopening them.

There, encased in crystal, clutching his dad’s vest, was his best friend. The transparent amber did nothing to hide the terrified look on Varian’s face. Dad appeared to have wrapped his arm around Varian in an act of comfort. His own face was partially hidden by Varian’s mop of hair where he rested his chin on his son’s head, but his was one of solemn acceptance. As if, as the amber had crept up around them, slowly creeping forward in its destructive path, dad had given up on escape for both himself and his son.

Ruddiger retreated back a few steps. No. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be happening. He was only gone a few hours. How could this have happened? How could he have let this happen?

Because that was what was bothering him the most. He let this happen. He knew Varian needed him, and he LEFT! Granted it was for reasons other than he previously thought, and he had no idea what he could have done to help had he been here, but that wasn’t the point….

The point was, his best friend needed him and he left because he was afraid. He was a coward. He abandoned Varian when he needed him the most. Well never again.

Ruddiger crawled up to the amber, placing a paw on the smooth stone surface. I won’t leave you, Ruddiger thought. Not again. Curling onto a ball at the amber’s base, Ruddiger rested his head on his forepaws. I’m not going anywhere Varian.

Chapter Text

A few months later….

“Your majesty, the rocks grow ever closer. The people of Corona are in a panic. The black rocks have reached the outskirts of Corona’s city. Within days they’ll be at the palace. What do you want us to do?” Nigel asked.

“Captain, report,” Frederic demanded. Perhaps Nigel’s description of the situation had been exaggerated. The captain was a serious, straight-forward man. He would be able to alleviate his fears about the breadth of the black rocks’ destruction.

“Unfortunately, your majesty, Nigel’s report is accurate. The rocks have crossed the bridge into Corona proper. Thankfully no one was hurt, but a few houses and businesses have already been destroyed. We have started evacuating people further into the city in an attempt to outpace the havoc reaped by these rocks.

In addition, we have had to quell a few riots, as the townspeople are growing restless. They feel you are being… passive… when it comes to dealing with the whole… situation…. They want to know their king can protect them. Matters have only been made worse, as we have lost contact with the villages in several of the outer territories, including Old Corona. I was attempting to organize a scouting party to report back on the state of said villages, but then the riots started, and I cannot afford to spare any men. We are already spread to our limit between the evacuation and the riots. I fear when it comes to the villages, we must assume the worst.”

King Frederic placed his head in his hands. So much for Nigel’s claims being exaggerated…. How had the situation gotten so out of hand? How could he possibly save his people?

Nigel stepped in to comment. “If we assume the worst about the outer villages, then you are implying that hundreds of people are… unavailable. People who are mostly farmers and hunters by trade. People whose livelihoods provide for most of Corona’s food supply, and quite a few valuable exports.”

“Is that all you care about Nigel?!?” the captain shouted.  “Corona’s exports?!? We have no idea where these people are, or if they’re even still ali-”

“ENOUGH!!!!” King Frederic’s voice echoed throughout the throne room. The captain nodded and backed down.

“I apologize your majesty,” Nigel began. “I did not mean to imply that the lives of the villagers on the outskirts did not matter. I simply wished to point out that IF these villages are… gone…, then the current black rock situation might not be our only problem. We could be facing a massive food shortage within months.”

“Thousands would starve…,” the captain trailed off, realization casting a look of horror upon his face.

Nigel nodded. “We must come up with a plan…, and soon.”

King Frederic nodded. They should have come up with a plan a long time ago.

“I have a plan!” A strong determined voice rang out from the opposite end of the throne room.

King Frederic’s heart sank as he looked up to meet his daughter’s fierce gaze.

“Rapunzel. We’ve talked about this. My top priority is to make sure you are safe.”

“How’s that working out for you… DAD?!? The black rocks will reach the palace within the week, dissolving whatever delusion you’ve convinced yourself of that we’re safe here. That I’M safe here. We can’t hide in the palace forever….”

Frederic cringed. Deep down he knew his daughter was right. He just didn’t want to see her put in harm’s way. He had already lost her once, only to have her miraculously returned to him. To lose her a second time would surely break him.

“Our people- men, women, CHILDREN, are terrified because they think we’ve abandoned them. But I will not hide here any longer. I have a plan, dad. The question is, are you going to be part of it?” Rapunzel leveled her gaze at her father, staring him down.

Frederic sighed. “Alright…. Since we are out of options, I will hear out your plan. But then I will decide what we do. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

King Frederic nodded for his daughter to proceed in relaying her plan.

“The plan is simple. Months ago, when the black rocks first started appearing, Cassandra and I began to work with an alchemist named Varian to discover the both their source and their weakness. When Varian came to the castle a couple of months ago, he told me the rocks had reached his village- Old Corona.”

“IMPOSSIBLE!” Nigel shouted. “Quirin himself said that their harvest was bountiful. You were there princess. He even requested more land-” Nigel cut off as he realized what that meant.

“Quirin lied,” Rapunzel stated. Turning to her father, she frowned. “But you already knew that didn’t you?”

King Frederic sighed. “I had my suspicions….”

“And yet you did nothing…,” Rapunzel practically growled. “These are our people dad. How could you abandon them like that?”

“Rapunzel…. I was hoping the rocks would go away, or simply not be as problematic as they turned out to be.”

“PROBLEMATIC?!? Is that what you call destroying homes, endangering lives, and ruining livelihoods?!? PROBLEMATIC?!?” Rapunzel paused, taking a moment to compose herself. “The point is, DAD, when Varian came to the castle that day, I made a promise to him that everything would be okay. And that’s a promise I intend to keep.”

“What are you proposing?” Frederic asked.

“I propose that the guards continue the evacuations. Bring everyone to the palace if you have to. Meanwhile, Cassandra, Eugene, Pascal and I will head to Old Corona to check in with Varian. See what sort of progress he’s made on discovering the black rocks’ weakness.”

“And if no progress has been made?” Frederic asked.

“Then we’ll work with him to make some. That’s our only hope,” Rapunzel stated firmly.

There was a long silence as King Frederic seemed to mull it over. After a few minutes he finally responded. “Alright. But I’m coming with you.”

“YOUR MAJESTY!” Nigel shouted. “You can’t just leave! We are in crisis! Without your leadership, the people of Corona will believe you have abandoned them completely, and the kingdom will descend into anarchy.”

“I trust the captain to keep things under control, and place the kingdom in the hands of my capable wife, Arianna. Hopefully the people will trust in their queen even more than they trust in their king.”

The captain of the guard and Nigel shared a look, but made no move to argue.

Turning towards his daughter, Frederic asked, “When do we leave?”

“Immediately.”

~~~~~~

They set a brisk pace on their ride to Old Corona. While the roads had become impassible by carriage due to the black rocks, a single file line of horses could pass through easily enough. As Rapunzel gazed out over the destroyed landscape, she frowned. They had let this destruction go on for too long without doing anything. Her dad should have done something! She should have done something! And yet they did nothing.

Speaking of her dad, after passing another dilapidated house, abandoned and punctured by black rocks, Rapunzel turned to glare at him. While this was her fault as well, he was the king. And he ignored this wreckage on purpose! However, one look at her father, who looked like he might hurl at any second, and she decided to drop it.

He had strongly protested when they first decided to take horses instead of make the trek to Old Corona on foot. Something about the galloping motion making his stomach queasy. Rapunzel had simply pointed out it was a time issue- if he wanted to take a leisurely stroll to Old Corona to check on the status of the black rocks there, then perhaps he should have left a month ago… at least. Her dad had climbed up on his horse without further argument.

When they finally dismounted on the outskirts of Old Corona, Rapunzel couldn’t help but gasp. There were back rocks EVERYWHERE! To the point where you almost couldn’t move without running into one.

“Careful, Raps,” Cassandra warned as they began to navigate the maze of spikes. “Remember what happens if your hair touches one of those….”

Rapunzel nodded, and accepted Cassandra’s help in moving her hair around the rocks. After what felt like forever, they finally reached Varian’s house. It was just as dilapidated as the rest of the houses. Black rocks punctured multiple walls, and even through the roof in some places. It appeared deserted.

Rapunzel hesitantly opened the door to Varian’s house, the others following her lead. “VARIAN?!?” she called out. No answer. Her heart sank.

Turning to the others, she asked about what she believed to be her worst fear. “Do you think he just… left? He wouldn’t do that right? We’re supposed to figure this out together.”

Seeing tears in Rapunzel’s eyes, Eugene placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay, Blondie. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

Rapunzel nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. Now we just need to find him.” Reaching the door to the lab, Rapunzel hesitated. This was it…. If Varian was still here, if he really hadn’t abandoned them, if he hadn’t fled after the black rocks destroyed his home, he would be behind this door.

Taking a deep breath, Rapunzel opened the door gently. “VARIAN?!?” she called again. “VARI- OH NO!” Rapunzel gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Well there goes the theory that Varian abandoned them…. Although now she was realizing that that was no longer her greatest fear. No, the truth before her was much, much worse than Varian fleeing Old Corona with his dad.

She crept forward slowly, as if hoping that this was all a bad dream- a nightmare she would soon wake up from. Placing her hand on the surface of the cold lifeless amber, Rapunzel finally accepted that this wasn’t just a bad dream- this was real.

Distantly she felt Eugene wrap his arms around her, asking if she was okay as he drew her into a hug. But she wasn’t listening. She couldn’t take her eyes off Varian and his father. Varian’s faced was scrunched up, his eyes closed tight- in fear or in pain she couldn’t tell which. He clung to his father, knuckles white with strain, his grip seeming as hard and encasing as the amber surrounding them.

Quirin looked absolutely defeated, his chin buried in his son’s hair, and arm wrapped as tightly around him as he could. One arm, Rapunzel noticed- his right one. His left was held at an awkward angle away from Varian. It was obviously how he became entrapped.

“How did this happen?” Rapunzel asked, as if anyone in the room, not frozen in amber, would know the answer. “When did this happen? Have they- have they been like this since-” Rapunzel froze, refusing to finish that thought. Because if they had been frozen like this since the last time she saw Varian- she shuddered. That was over 2 months ago. Were they still alive in there? Or were they dead, forever immortalized in their desperate fear? Had it been quick, as the amber encased them? Or had they slowly starved to death, unable to move? Rapunzel shuddered, but was broken out of her thoughts by a pitiful chittering.

Turning she saw a languid Ruddiger, curled up feebly by the base of the amber. “Ruddiger?”

The raccoon made no effort to acknowledge her. Moving closer she examined him. The poor raccoon was mangy, fur covered in dust as if he’d barely moved. He was so thin she could practically count his ribs.

“Ruddiger?” she called again, bending down to try to gently scoop him up. Ruddiger hissed in response, patchy fur standing on end.

“Ruddiger, it’s me, Rapunzel.”

Pascal squeaked in warning. Ruddiger did not look like he was in the mood to be picked up. Pausing, Rapunzel handed Pascal off to Eugene. “I’ll be fine, buddy. It’s just Ruddiger after all.”

Bending forward again, Rapunzel reached out towards Ruddiger. The raccoon hissed and reached forward, scratching the hand that Rapunzel had placed out in a gesture of greeting.

“Ow!” Rapunzel cried, drawing back, holding her injured hand to her chest. She could feel the blood beginning to seep from the scratches.

Pascal made to hop down from Eugene’s shoulder and confront the raccoon who hurt his best friend, but Rapunzel stopped him.

“It’s okay Pascal. I shouldn’t have tried to do that.” Pulling supplies from her bag, she quickly bandaged her hand. Turning back to face Ruddiger, she noticed he was staring up at Varian’s frozen form forlornly.

“You miss him don’t you? You won’t let me pick you up because you’re worried I’ll take you away…. You won’t leave him.”

Ruddiger whimpered softly and pawed at the amber before finally turning his gaze upon Rapunzel. She nodded in understanding. Reaching back into her bag, she pulled out some berries, and her canteen. Approaching slowly and carefully, she gently set the food and water in front of the raccoon. Ruddiger sniffed hesitantly and then slowly began to eat. Rapunzel smiled. Well at least she could help Ruddiger, if only by making sure he didn’t starve to death before Varian got… out? Back?

“This is all my fault…. I should have known something was up. Why didn’t I check on him?”

“Come on Rapunzel, you can’t blame yourself,” Eugene stated.

“He’s right, Raps. It’s not your fault,” Cassandra agreed.

King Frederic nodded his assent. “They’re right, Rapunzel. This is all my fault. I should have listened…. He tried to warn me….”

Rapunzel gazed at her dad in confusion. “Who tried to warn you?”

Frederic began to tell the tale of two opposites- the sundrop and the moonstone. How he used the sundrop’s healing power to save Rapunzel and Queen Arianna, even though he had been warned by Quirin himself that he would be awakening a great darkness. At this he paused, staring up at Quirin’s face. “I should have listened to you, old friend. But now I’ve destroyed everything.”

“So what do we do now?” Cassandra asked. “Our plan was to help Varian figure out the black rocks, and now he’s….” She gestured to the amber monolith.

“This isn’t over,” Rapunzel declared. “It can’t be. There has to be something we can do.”

“We should return to the castle. Perhaps we can formulate a plan on the way-” Frederic stated, only to be cut off by his daughter.

“NO! We’ve already wasted enough time hiding in the castle. I won’t abandon anyone else!”

“Rapunzel, I only meant that there’s nothing more we can do here. At least at the palace we can-”

“NO! I’M NOT LEAVING!”

Eugene sighed. “Rapunzel, I know you’re upset but your dad’s right…. It’s time to go.”

Rapunzel sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed.

“This is my fault. I’m connected to the rocks; I just don’t know how. People keep getting hurt because of me.”

Silence fell over the group, only to be broken a few seconds later by Pascal’s squeak of alarm. Turning to see what the problem was, Eugene cried out, “RAPUNZEL, WATCH OUT!”

But it was too late…. As if sensing Rapunzel’s sadness and her desire to discover her connection to the black rocks, her hair had begun to twist and twirl through the air, the black rocks growing to meet it. Upon contact, they both glowed a brilliant yellow and blue before the rocks rocketed outwards, blasting a hole in the back wall of Varian’s house.

Looking up in shock, Rapunzel stared as the black rocks continued on their path towards Corona’s wall before slowing their momentum and stopping altogether. Rapunzel stood hesitantly, walking past the amber and out the gaping hole in the house. Staring at the wall and the black rocks leading towards it, she frowned in thought.

“I’m connected to the black rocks,” she said aloud. She knew what she needed to do.

Reaching out her hands to both sides, she called two rocks to her.

“RAPUNZEL!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?” her father shouted.

“Facing my destiny!” With that she grabbed ahold of the rocks, screaming as their power coursed through her. New rocks sprouted from the ground, racing towards the wall, before puncturing it, and punching a hole through it.

Rapunzel felt the rocks’ power leave her as she released them, collapsing to the ground. Eugene was by her side in an instant asking if she was okay. After reassuring everyone that she was fine, they turned to see the black rocks that had broken the wall flattening to form a path.

As Rapunzel set her feet down on the trail, the rock pavement glowed a bright blue before fading back to black.

“Where do you think it leads?” Rapunzel asked.

Frederic replied, “To your destiny…. I now see that these rocks are pointing in a direction- pointing you in a direction. It is your destiny to follow them, Rapunzel. I only regret that it’s taken me this long to see that.”

Rapunzel nodded, turning back to face the opening in the wall.

“So Blondie…, you ready for a little road trip?” Eugene asked.

Rapunzel nodded again. “I won’t let you down Varian. I promised everything would be okay- I’ll make sure it is. Whatever it takes.”

“For Varian,” Cassandra stated, nodded her head solemnly.

Rapunzel, Eugene, and Pascal all nodded as well.

“For Varian….”

Chapter Text

“When the captain said he had an assignment of the utmost importance, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Pete muttered as he held the door to Varian’s house open for Stan.

“Thanks, Pete,” Stan smiled, adjusting the bag on his shoulder, careful to avoid his injured arm. Moving forward, he took in what was left of the inside of the house- if you could even call it a house at this point. “This is important, Pete. The princess specifically requested the best men for this job, and well- the captain chose us.”

“I think the captain just picked us because with that arm of yours in a sling, you’re not exactly in tip-top shape to be on guard duty,” Pete grumbled.

Stan frowned, “Are you saying I’m expendable?”

“At the moment, yes, and I’m the unlucky sap who got stuck with you for this job,” Pete teased, setting his own bag down on what remained of a kitchen table.

Stan smirked, setting his bag down besides his friend’s. “And here I thought you were my best friend, Pete…. Now it turns out you’re just some poor fellow who’s been stuck with me since basic training…. I had no idea…. I hereby relieve you of the terrible burden of being my friend.”

Pete rolled his eyes, “Thanks, Stan.” Face turning more serious, Pete glanced around. “Where do you think the little guy is anyway?”

“According to the reconnaissance gained by the king and princess, he should be in the lab, near the amber,” Stan replied.

“You can hardly call it reconnaissance, Stan,” Pete grumbled. “Just like you can hardly call this an assignment.”

“Well what would you call it, Pete?” Stan questioned.

“Simple, Stan- we’re babysitters.”

“I think you mean pet-sitters,” Stan chuckled as Pete’s face twisted in annoyance.

“Whatever…. This isn’t even a real job. There is unrest in the kingdom- riots are happening every day, and we’re out here to take care of some raccoon that can probably take care of itself.”

“Not just some raccoon, Pete. This is Varian’s raccoon, and Varian is a close friend of the princess. And since this raccoon is important to him, therefore, it is important to her,” Stan explained.

“Whatever…. If the princess cares about this raccoon so much, why didn’t she just take it with her? She loves animals.”

“According to the captain, the princess said he won’t leave.”

Pete frowned. “Well, how do we even know the raccoon wants us here?”

“Well there’s only one way to find out….” With that, Stan headed off in the direction of the lab. The princess had given the captain very strict orders, as well as care instructions, and a map of the route to the lab. Stan followed the map to a door that was slightly ajar. “Hello?” he asked, pushing it open completely.

Pete rolled his eyes. “He’s a raccoon- what’s he gonna say, Stan, ‘come on in…. Welcome to my home?’”

“I’m just trying not to spook him, Pete,” Stan argued.

“You act like he’d even understand you!” Pete shot back.

“He might. Pascal’s pretty smart- he seems to understand us. And Maximus is smarter than us, remember?”

“Yes, Stan. I don’t need to be reminded that we are outranked by a horse, thank you very much. Maybe, the captain should have sent Max to handle this.”

“Send a horse to take care of a raccoon? Don’t be ridiculous, Pete. And besides, Maximus is needed on Rapunzel’s journey.”

“Why does a horse get to have all the exciting jobs?”

“Because he outranks us, Pete…. Now help me find the little guy. That raccoon has got to be around here somewhere.”

After looking around for a solid 20 minutes, neither guard had succeeded in locating the raccoon. The lab was empty minus some broken science equipment and the cloth-covered amber. The princess had said she had covered it out of respect for the father-son duo before leaving.

“Well, we tried…,” Pete grumbled. “Maybe the little guy ran off and we can go back to doing important things back at the castle.”

“Come on, Pete. We should at least find him and make sure he’s okay first,” Stan replied.

“You’re right,” Pete sighed. “Maybe we should try calling him by his name? What was is again? Roger? Rudy? Rutabaga?”

“What sort of name is Rutabaga?” Stan yelled.

“I don’t know, Stan. It’s a farming village, and he’s a kid- you’re the one with the care instructions. Don’t they have a name on them?”

“Varian’s 14, Pete. That’s a teenager. And it says here his raccoon’s name is Ruddiger.”

“Alright, let’s try that.” Turning to walk around the lab, Pete began calling out, “Ruddiger! Here boy!” Turning to Stan, he frowned. “He is a boy, right?”

“I don’t know Pete- he’s a raccoon!”

“Raccoons have gender, Stan!”

“Well the instructions don’t say….”

“Of course they don’t….” Frowning, Pete turned back to searching for the raccoon. “Here Ruddiger! Here, raccoon! Come on buddy! Come out, come out wherever you are!”

“We just want to help!” Stan called. “Ruddiger! Please! Show yourself, so we can help you!”

“Show yourself?!?” Pete asked incredulously.

“Hey! Whatever gets him to show up,” Stan defended his call.

“This is the STUPIDEST thing I’ve ever done,” Pete grumbled.

“I don’t know…,” Stan smirked. “There was that time you challenged Max to a duel and he knocked you flat on your ass in front of the entire royal guard.”

“Yeah- that’s because it’s Max. He’s the best guard we have,” Pete replied.

“Earlier you were complaining he outranks us.”

“Just because I complain about it, doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve to outrank us.”

“That’s fair,” Stan replied. “Now where do you think that raccoon is?”

“I have no idea,” Pete muttered. “RUDDIGER!” He got no answer in response. “Maybe we could find a new raccoon, and say it’s Ruddiger? Like anyone will know the difference….”

“The princess will KNOW, Pete. And so will Varian.”

“That depends on if Varian is even- you know… alive….”

Stan sighed. “We can’t think like that Pete.”

“I know,” Pete frowned. The guards stood in silence for a few minutes before Pete spoke again. “Do you think the princess would mind if I took a peek?”

“I don’t know, Pete…. I don’t think that’s such a good idea…,” Stan replied.

“Come on, Stan- just a quick look,” Pete pleaded.

“Alright fine. But we don’t tell ANYONE about this. Okay?”

“Deal!” Pete smiled, and slowly lifted his hand to remove the tarp. Both guards gasped in shock as the amber was revealed in all its infamous glory.

“I had no idea,” Pete whispered as he reached out his hand to lay it on the smooth cold surface. And then was promptly attacked by a face-full of feral raccoon.

~~~~~~

“Well at least we found him,” Stan smirked, as he helped his friend bandage his newly scratched face.

“Shut up, Stan.”

~~~~~~

Ever since Varian had been encased in the amber, Ruddiger went through the same routine every day. Wake up in front of the amber, remember this wasn’t all some terrible nightmare- Varian was still… gone…, paw at the amber some, walk around it yet again to check for weaknesses, find none, and once again curl up at the foot of the amber to wait. There was nothing he could do but wait. He didn’t know how to free Varian, and he wasn’t going to leave him, so waiting was his only option.

He wishes Varian was here. Varian would know what to do. Varian would have already freed himself from the amber at least 6 times over, in the amount of time Ruddiger has just been sitting here- waiting.

Occasionally, he’ll sneak over into the kitchen to get a small bite to eat and some water- just enough to make sure he’d still be there when Varian comes back. If dad were here, he’d probably yell at him- Ruddiger finds himself even missing dad nowadays.

The day the princess comes, Ruddiger mostly ignores her. Except for when she tries to pick him up- he scratches her then. He didn’t mean to; he just reacted. He has to stay; he has to be here for Varian. So when she tries to pick him up to take him away, he tries to get her to leave him be, and ends up hurting her on accident. The princess seems to understand though, and soon after she leaves, but not before putting that stupid tarp over the amber.

Ruddiger hates that stupid tarp. How is he supposed to make sure Varian is okay when he can’t even see him? Humans are dumb. Well, all humans except Varian. Varian would understand- Varian’s smart. But Varian’s not here, so he now has to figure out on his own how to remove this stupid tarp from this stupid amber, so he can make sure his best friend is okay. Well…, as okay as he can possibly be given the circumstances….

A little after 2 months of Varian being encased in the amber, and a couple of days after Rapunzel left, Ruddiger finds himself climbing through the rafters of the lab, looking for a way to remove the tarp from this angle. He’s already tried tugging it off from the bottom, maybe if he loosens the top, he can pull it off?

Then those dopey guards walk in and immediately start arguing. Ugh, Ruddiger ignores them. He has bigger concerns at the moment. But then they start calling his name, and arguing some more, and Ruddiger is beginning to lose it when that one guard rips off the tarp.

Ruddiger’s relief and happiness at FINALLY having the tarp issue resolved is short-lived as he sees said guard reaching for the amber, reaching for Varian. No way was this man going to hurt Varian! Not on his watch! Ruddiger lunges from the rafters, landing on the man’s face, and immediately begins to claw at this villain that wants to hurt his best friend.

“AH! STAN! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” the man screeches, and Ruddiger feels hands attempt to wrap around him and pry him off this man’s face, but he knows he can’t give up. Varian’s trapped, unable to defend himself. Ruddiger may be just a raccoon, but right now he’s all Varian has in terms of defense, and if this man wants to harm Varian, he’s going to have to fight a face-full of raccoon to get to him.

Finally, the other man manages to pry Ruddiger off the first man’s face, but in the struggle, Ruddiger gets thrown sideways into the hard surface of the amber. Shakily getting to his feet, Ruddiger bristles, preparing to make his last stand to defend Varian against these monsters.

The man not holding his face in pain while crying, the one who pulled him off the other man, turns to look at him in shock. “Ruddiger?”

~~~~~~

After Stan helped him finish bandaging his face, Pete glared at the violent little monster that did this to him.

“You’ll live,” Stan stepped back, admiring his handiwork.

“Yeah, well that little trash panda is DEAD!” Pete growled back.

“Now, now, Pete. We’re here to protect that- Did you just call him a trash panda?” Stan looked amused.

Pete was anything but amused. “Yes, Stan. That’s what raccoons are. And this one is a feral beast.”

“You’re fine, Pete. Just some scratches. He missed your eyes- you’ll be okay.”

“Gee thanks. I feel so much better,” Pete rolled his eyes. “See- the little pest can take care of himself. Can we go now?”

Stan bent down to examine the bristling raccoon, making sure to stay at least a good 10 feet away in order to avoid meeting the same fate as his friend. “I’m not so sure, Pete. I mean- look at him. He’s mangy, his fur’s patchy, and the poor guy looks like he hasn’t had a good meal in months.”

“I can see why if this is how he reacts to people trying to help him,” Pete grumbled. “Can we PLEASE go now?”

Stan sighed. “Come on, Pete. We have a job to do. And besides if we head back now, the captain’s going to want to know what happened to your face. Do you really want to have to explain to him that you lost to a RACCOON?”

“No…,” Pete sighed. “Alright, fine. We’ll stay. But keep that… thing… away from me.”

Stan smiled. He knew Pete would come around. “Sure thing, Pete!”

~~~~~

Humans were stupid. Ruddiger had already established this, but these dumb butts just seemed to reiterate what he already knew. They constantly argued which made a ton of noise, and distracted him from keeping watch for Varian. How was he supposed to watch Varian, and watch these idiotic guards at the same time? He was one raccoon.

And the bigger guard kept trying to bribe him with food and water. Please, like he needs this idiot’s help. He’d appreciate it if everyone just left him and Varian and dad alone- unless of course they know how to free them. But one look at these dumbasses was all Ruddiger needed to know that they weren’t the answer to freeing his best friend. Ugh, at least these idiots got rid of the tarp- so in a sense they were more useful than Rapunzel.

It was about midafternoon when the guards sat down on the floor of the lab for lunch. Apparently, they didn’t want to take their eyes off him after it took them so long to find him. Whatever…. The bigger guard held out some berries as if making a peace offering. Ruddiger hissed in response.

If this guy thinks he can bribe him into leaving Varian, then he better prepare himself for some scratches to match his partner. On the bright side, his partner seems to have gotten the message if his glare is anything to go by.

“Why don’t you just leave him alone, Stan? He obviously hates us, and quite honestly the feeling is mutual at this point.”

“Oh, come on, Pete. I thought you loved animals. What would Mr. Happypaws say?”

“Don’t you dare bring Mr. Happypaws into this. Mr. Happypaws is my lovable fluffy cat, not some feral monster who scratches my face for no reason.”

“I’m sure he had a reason, Pete.”

“Yeah, well when you figure that out, feel free to let me know, but until then, just make sure that THING stays far, far away from me.” With that, Pete picked up the remainder of his lunch, and stormed off. Ruddiger hissed at him until he was out of sight.

“You’ll have to forgive Pete,” the other guard sighed. “He’s just tense because he thinks we should be in Corona helping with the situation there.” Ruddiger glared at him. Like the situation in Corona could possibly be any worse than the situation here.

The guard continued, “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m kind of glad to be here. What’s going on in Corona- it’s scary. Maybe that makes me a bad guard, but after what happened- well, let’s just say looking after you seems like a much more appealing option,” Stan whispered.

Ruddiger curled up into a ball at the foot of the amber in response, making sure to keep his gaze fixed on this guard. This guard could have all the heart-to-hearts he wanted; it wouldn’t change Ruddiger’s mind about him. Ruddiger was here to protect Varian, and no dopey guards were going to get in his way.

~~~~~~

5 hours later and the only difference in the standoff between raccoon and guard was the sun seen setting through the window. Their standoff was interrupted by the other guard returning with berries from the orchards. He was going on and on about something about scones. Ruddiger didn’t particularly care to listen. At least not until the other guard stood up, breaking their standoff. The 2 guards began to leave the lab, saying something about sleep.

Ruddiger frowned. On the one hand, he was happy they were leaving. On the other, were they really going to travel all the way back to Corona proper to sleep? This late in the evening?

Ruddiger glanced back at his best friend, before making a quick decision. He would follow these guards, make sure they left without causing any trouble. It would be a quick trip; he’d be right back. He’d left Varian before to get food; he’d be fine for a few minutes while he checked to make these guards left peacefully. It’s not like Varian was going anywhere anyways.

Mind made up, Ruddiger quietly slunk along following the guards. But to his surprise, instead of turning towards the front door to leave, they turned down the hallway which led towards the house’s bedrooms.

Why would they be headed that way? Ruddiger thought as he crept along after them. The shorter guard stopped in front of dad’s bedroom, turning to his partner.

“Alright Stan, when I scouted out the rest of the house earlier, I found 2 bedrooms. While the walls have some damage from the black rocks, they seem sturdy enough, and both beds are intact. So I’ll take this one, and you can take the one at the end of the hall.”

“Sounds good, Pete.” The taller guard, the one from the standoff earlier, “Stan” apparently, headed down the hall towards Varian’s bedroom.

Ruddiger stared after him in shock. Was he seriously about to trespass into Varian’s room? He’d already trespassed in the lab… was that not enough?

Ruddiger took off in a sprint, racing down the hall towards Varian’s bedroom. Stan was setting his bag on the floor, and was beginning to take off his armor when he noticed a small streak of grey burst into the room.

“Ruddiger?” he asked, confusion clouding his face.

Ruddiger took one look at the man about to sit on Varian’s bed, and felt his fur begin to bristle. Low warning hisses left him as he glared at the man. Don’t you dare- don’t you dare violate the one room that is still Varian’s.

The lab was still in every sense Varian’s, but the giant amber monolith was a constant reminder that Varian was trapped. That Varian might not be coming back. Varian’s bedroom was the only place in the house that was still undeniably his. It even still smelled like him, and on occasion, Ruddiger found himself coming in here (just for a moment of course- he never dared to leave Varian for too long in case something happened) just to breathe in the scent that was distinctly Varian.

And sometimes, when he found himself missing Varian even more than he already thought was possible, he liked to come in here, and curl up in Varian’s blankets. Imagine that their warmth was his boy holding him close, and breathing in Varian’s scent, and closing his eyes, he could almost imagine that Varian was still here. That Varian was okay.

And now this man wanted to violate this room. Destroy Varian’s scent by masking it with his own. NO! Ruddiger would not let that happen! If this was the one piece of Varian he had left, if there was even a slight chance Varian might not come back, he wasn’t going to let this man destroy it. And so he continued to hiss as the man slowly backed away.

~~~~~~

Stan had admittedly thought it was a little creepy sleeping in the rooms of the two people who may or not be dead. And if they were dead, then their two beds which were just down the hall from the amber tomb encasing their two bodies. Pete had agreed, but also pointed out that the alternative was sleeping on the floor. So here Stan was, getting ready for bed, in a potentially dead teenager’s room, just down the hall from his potentially dead body, when in streaks a flash of grey.

“Ruddiger?” he asks. Please be Ruddiger, and not Varian’s pissed off ghost. Please, please, please, he did not think he could handle a ghost if the princess’ story of Ruthless Ruth was anything to go by. But sure enough, there’s the little raccoon, bristling and hissing at him. Stan wonders if maybe he would have preferred the ghost….

Stan straightens up from where he was about to sit on Varian’s bed, and slowly backs away, his palms held in front of him in a placating gesture.

“Hey, Ruddiger…. It’s okay, buddy. It’s just me. There’s no danger here. So if you could please just calm down….”

Ruddiger continued hissing and began to move towards the bed as Stan slowly backed towards the bedroom door, the 2 keeping a large distance between them. Why was Ruddiger so upset? Stan thought, as he continued backing away. Maybe he was still just antsy because of the new people?

However, it all clicked into place as Ruddiger stopped in front of the bed, continuing to hiss, while Stan continued to back towards the door. So that’s why the raccoon was acting so defensive. It was all beginning to make sense.

Stopping his retreat towards the door, Stan keep his palms up as he began to speak. Pete might have his doubts on whether Ruddiger can actually understand them, but if his reaction just now is anything to go by, the little raccoon’s smarter than they thought.

“Hey, Ruddiger. Hey, it’s okay.” The raccoon continued to hiss.

“Hey, it’s okay buddy. You miss him don’t you. That’s why you won’t leave him. That’s why you won’t let me stay in his room, because this place is his right? His bed probably still smells like him. And this is all you have of him, isn’t it, buddy?”

Ruddiger’s hisses stopped, but he continued to bristle as he stared the guard down.

“Hey, it’s okay. I get it. If you don’t want me in here, then I’ll leave. I just need to grab my stuff first…. Okay?”

Ruddiger began to hiss again as Stan made his way to where he’s left his bag at the foot of the bed. Stan made sure to move slowly, and telegraph his movements.

“It’s okay, Ruddiger. I’m just going to grab my things and leave. I promise I won’t come any closer than I have to. I’m just going to grab my things.”

Stan finally made it to the foot of the bed without getting a face-full of racoon attack. He gently picked up his bag and slowly backed away towards the bedroom door. Ruddiger stopped hissing as he once again backed away, but remained on guard by the bed.

Stan finally reached the door, and turned to leave. Guess sleeping on the floor of the lab it was. Maybe he could convince Pete to take turns sleeping on the floor each night. It was worth a shot. Maybe he could play the injured card, and get some sympathy. Pete was his best friend after all.

~~~~~~

Ruddiger made sure the man was really gone before letting his guard down. Turning towards the bed, Ruddiger climbed up into its blankets and sniffed long and hard. Yup, they still smelled like Varian. That man hadn’t ruined it. Nuzzling his cheek against the softness of the blankets, Ruddiger took one last sniff before turning to head back towards the lab. He needed to keep an eye on that guard after all- make sure he didn’t try to ruin anything else before Varian got back. Because Varian would be back. Ruddiger was sure of it. His fading scent on 2-month-old blankets couldn’t be all that was left of Varian. Ruddiger just had to hold on until then.

~~~~~~

“What are you doing on the floor?” Pete asked incredulously, when he found his friend on the lab floor the next morning. A glaring Ruddiger watched them from near the amber- did that thing ever sleep?

“Ruddiger doesn’t want people sleeping in Varian’s bed,” Stan replied, flinching as he rolled his aching shoulder.

“Well did Ruddiger happen to notice you are injured, and need a good bed, not sleeping on this filthy floor?”

“I think he’s a little preoccupied missing Varian.”

“Well next time, come wake me. You can sleep in Quirin’s bed tonight. I’ll be fine on the floor. Now if it’s okay with Ruddiger, I’m going to use the kitchen to make my famous strawberry scones using the berries I picked yesterday,” Pete stated before walking off towards the kitchen.

Stan turned towards the little raccoon, still watching him from the foot of the amber. “Well Ruddiger, is it okay if Pete uses the kitchen?”

“I was joking, Stan,” Pete called.

“I wasn’t,” Stan called back.

~~~~~~

“Do you think raccoons can eat strawberry scones, Pete?”

“How am I supposed to know, Stan? What am I? A raccoon expert?”

“It was just a question, Pete….” Stan turned towards Ruddiger, who still lay at the foot of the amber. “Hey Ruddiger! Would you like a strawberry scone?” He held one out to the little raccoon. Ruddiger responded by simply turning his head to the side and ignoring him.

“Pffftttt…. It seems like that trash panda just doesn’t have tastes. My scones are excellent,” Pete muttered.

“Yes, yes they are Pete,” Stan smiled as he took another bite.

~~~~~~

All humans are stupid and useless (of course, Varian is still the exception). These humans seemed even more so. They come into his house, just to what? Sleep in his friend’s bed and make delicious smelling scones (be strong, Ruddiger, you cannot be bribed- remember your goal: protect Varian, don’t let these yummy smelling treats fool you into falling for their devious trap). What’s their endgame?

Whatever…. Ruddiger would figure it out. There’s no way he’d let these imbeciles outsmart him and hurt Varian. He’d make sure of it….

~~~~~~

A week later, and Ruddiger is no closer to figuring out Stan and Pete’s endgame, unless of course it’s to annoy him to death. Apparently, Pete recently purchased an accordion, and has be DYING to try to learn how to play. In Ruddiger’s opinion, the only one dying is his eardrums. Apparently, raccoon-sitting is the “perfect time to learn how to play, Stan. We’re never going to have this much down-time ever again.”

At first Ruddiger thinks Stan is just a really good friend for tolerating Pete’s “musical genius,” but towards the end of the week, Stan starts to sing along, and Ruddiger finds himself wondering if the amber is soundproof, and wishing he was the one trapped, because oh my goodness they are both TERRIBLE.

And they won’t shut up about some stupid band they want to form called the “Unguards” and Ruddiger sincerely hopes that this isn’t what humans actually enjoy listening to, because that would just reaffirm his theory that Varian is the only one with any brains whatsoever. Everyone else’s died listening to this music.

By the end of week 2, Ruddiger has a massive headache. Of course, it’s probably not helping that he’s barely sleeping between watching the guards and watching Varian. Not to mention the fact that he hasn’t eaten since before the guards showed up, because going to get food would mean leaving these dimwits alone with Varian, and he is not accepting their bribes- they are NOT friends thank you very much.

Halfway through the third week, Ruddiger can’t take it anymore. Pete’s made yet another batch of those delicious-smelling strawberry scones, and when Stan offers him one, Ruddiger takes it (though not before giving him a hiss for good measure).

He quickly retreats back to his spot by the amber to nibble on it, glaring at Stan the whole time. Stan just smiles back knowingly. Stupid guards- they are NOT his friends.

~~~~~~

Or at least that’s what Ruddiger keeps telling himself. Ruddiger’s never had human friends before, minus Varian of course, but Varian’s special. Yet, he can’t help feel like he’s betraying Varian’s friendship as he grows to not just tolerate, but actually sort-of like these dopey guards. Even if they are stupid. Ugh, things were so much easier when it was just him and Varian.

~~~~~~

And then everything changes one night, 3 weeks into Stan and Pete’s adventures in raccoon-sitting. Ruddiger is curled up in his usual spot at the base of the amber dozing, Pete’s soft breathing echoing from across the room, when Ruddiger hears a soft cry.

Ears perking up, Ruddiger shoots up, turning towards the amber. Varian?!? He hopes. But no, the amber is as solid as ever, shadows dancing across its smooth surface, Varian still trapped inside. Then where- Ruddiger hears it again.

Checking on Pete, Ruddiger finds him still snoozing peacefully. The cry must be too soft for his human ears. Taking one last look at the amber, Ruddiger creeps along silently, looking for the potential source of danger.

The cries keep getting louder as he creeps down the hall towards the bedrooms. Pausing outside Quirin’s bedroom door, Ruddiger listens. The source of the cries is definitely in there. Racing into the room, Ruddiger finds himself prepared not only to defend Varian, but also to protect Stan and Pete as well. Those dimwits have kind of grown on him.

Only the source of the noise isn’t a source of danger. As Ruddiger enters the room, Stan shoots up in bed, shoulders shaking as he places his hands over his eyes. Ruddiger looks on in fear, before recognizing the action- it’s one he’s seen Varian do many times after a failed experiment, or after dad yells at him. Stan is crying.

Ruddiger stands there awkwardly in the doorway. If this was Varian, he wouldn’t hesitate to rush forward and comfort him any way he could. But this isn’t Varian, this is Stan, and so Ruddiger is left feeling helpless as he debates what to do.

Ruddiger is just about to turn and leave, when he hears a sob slip from between Stan’s lips. Well that does it. Stan may not be Varian, but he could still use some comfort, and while Ruddiger may not totally 100% like him yet, he’s all the man has right now. Slowly creeping forward, Ruddiger climbs up onto the bed, and then into the man’s lap.

“Ruddiger?” Stan asks as he removes his hands from his face, looking down at the small weight that has settled in his lap.

Even though it’s dark, Ruddiger can see the tear tracks staining Stan’s face. Leaning forward, Ruddiger nuzzles into his chest. It’ll be okay, Stan, Ruddiger thinks. It’ll be okay. Stan clutches him tightly to his chest and sobs.

~~~~~~

It was the same nightmare Stan had been having every night since, well… the incident. It had been over 3 weeks, and he still couldn’t sleep soundly at night because of it. Maybe it was because the pain in his broken arm made it too real, but Stan had a feeling it was more than that. Not that he’d ever tell anybody.

At the time of the incident it was no secret that the rocks were growing. Growing rocks led to escalated destruction, led to heightened fears. And thus, the riots began.

Stan and Pete had been part of a squad positioned in the courtyard of the palace. The week prior, the king had stopped holding court for hearing his subjects’ needs. The official word was that too much turmoil was creating a fear of assassination attempts, but everyone knew the truth. The king had stopped holding court because the black rocks problem had become too real, and there was nothing he could do. Why hold court to listen to a thousand variations of the same complaint about the black rocks, when there was no solution to be had?

And so, Stan and Pete found themselves lined up in front of the courtyard along with 8 other guards. Their orders were simple: no one in, no one out. Protect the princess at all costs. Simple…. Except nothing’s ever really simple is it?

Around midday, a small group of townsfolk had gathered to peacefully protest the king’s lack of response to the black rocks. The squad of guards allowed them to proceed- peaceful protests were of no concern to the princess’ safety.

They carried signs that read things like “save our homes” and “stop the rocks.” One very brave person even had one that read “king or coward?” However, since they were peaceful, the guards ignored them. Their job was to protect the princess- no one in, no one out. And as long as the protestors were not attempting to force their way into the palace, they would allow them to continue peacefully.

A few hours later, the protest size had grown to a few hundred people. The captain had responded by placing 2 more squads of 10 in the courtyard as extra security. And yet both sides remained peaceful.

Pete cast a nervous glance at Stan, but Stan had given him a reassuring smile. These were Coronans. They may express their doubts about the king, but he encouraged them to voice their opinions. At the end of the day everyone would return home, and hopefully the black rock issue would be resolved soon. There was nothing to worry about. How wrong he was….

About an hour after Stan gave Pete that reassuring smile, Uncle Monty had shown up at the protest. Which was odd, because Monty had always been a strong supporter of the king, even if he had some sort of squabble with the princess. But hey, if he wanted to protest, he could.

Except he wasn’t here just to protest. Spotting Stan in the line-up of guards, Monty hurried through the crowd of people towards him. “Stan!” he cried, as he approached the guard.

“Uncle Monty! Hi! I’m so sorry, but I can’t talk right now. I’m on duty, with strict orders from the captain-”

“Stan, you have to help me- please!” Monty cried, placing his hands on Stan’s shoulders.

Stan turned to Pete who shrugged. Stan sighed. “Alright, Uncle Monty. What’s wrong? Tell me what happened.”

“Oh Stan! It’s so horrible! The rocks- they-they broke through the walls of my candy shoppe. My own great-grand pappy built it with his own hands, and now it’s-it’s gone.”

Uncle Monty broke down crying. Stan stared at him in shock before reaching forward to give him a hug.

“I’m so-so sorry Monty. I’m so sorry this happened. I swear I’m come and help you as soon as my shift is over, but I-”

“No, Stan. I-I have to see the king. He-he can fix this,” Monty pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Monty, but I have strict orders that no one goes in or-”

“Stan, please,” Monty protested. “I have to speak to the king. NOW! You know me- I introduced you to your wife. I just need to speak with him. Please, Stan!”

Stan could feel eyes being drawn to their conversation. He needed to calm Monty down, and get him home. This wasn’t a safe place for him.

“Uncle Monty, I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry. But please listen to me when I say you need to go home, I’ll come by later, I-”

“NO!!!!!” Monty cried as he pushed past Stan and made a break for the castle. Upon seeing Uncle Monty charge the line of guards, a call from one of the protestors rose through the crowd, “Chaaaarrrrggggeeee!!!!!”

Next thing Stan knew, he was being trampled under an angry mob. He tried to right himself, but found himself being pushed down underfoot. He tried to find Pete, find Monty, find ANY of his fellow guards and friends, but all his saw was the swarm of people trampling him. He tried to force himself upwards, but then he heard a loud snap, felt a burst of pain, and then all he knew was darkness….

When he awoke in the palace’s medical wing, Pete was at his bedside. His best friend told him he had a broken arm, and a minor concussion.

“What about Uncle Monty?” Stan asked hesitantly.

Pete sighed. “I’m afraid Monty has been placed under house arrest for instigating a riot.”

“WHAT?!?” Stan asked incredulously. How could it have come to this- that sweet Uncle Monty was under house arrest?

“I know, Stan. I know,” Pete sighed. Leaning in he whispered conspiratorially, “The king wanted to make an example of him. Make a show of force to demonstrate that these riots will not be tolerated.”

“But Monty?” Stan whispered. “He didn’t want a riot. He just wanted to speak to the king!”

Pete shrugged. “He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Stan….”

~~~~~~

Ever since that fateful day, Stan awakens every night to some variation of that nightmare. Sometimes he’s just being trampled underfoot. Sometimes he’s watching Monty being taken away, but he can’t move.

The night he wakes up sobbing, Monty’s being taken away, but he can’t reach him. There’s a swarm of people in his way, and it doesn’t matter how many he pushes aside, he can’t quite reach Uncle Monty. Monty’s screaming his name, begging him to help him. He cries back that he’s coming, just hang on Monty! But then he loses his footing and he’s being dragged down under the swarm of people, and he can’t get back up no matter how hard he tries. Monty calls his name one last time before Stan startles awake sobbing.

He places his hands over his face, muffling his cries, and hoping he hasn’t woken up Pete. Pete’s his best friend, and he’s sure he’d understand, but this is one of those things he’s not quite ready to share with Pete yet.

He isn’t sure how long he’s sat there, quietly crying, when he tenses as he feels a small weight in his lap. Removing his hands from his face he looks down into the concerned eyes of a small, mangy raccoon.

“Ruddiger?” he asks, because until this point the raccoon has never come anywhere near him except to snatch bits of offered food or water before returning to his post by the amber. The raccoon responds by nuzzling his face into Stan’s heaving chest.

Stan blinks tears out of his eyes, staring down at his furry comforter in shock, before he is once again overwhelmed by the residual emotions from his nightmare. Clutching Ruddiger close to his chest, he sobs, no longer caring if Pete can hear him.

Ruddiger lets him hold him, and continues nuzzling him, as if to say, in his own way, that everything will be okay. Stan holds him close, and wonders when this assignment became not just about them taking care of Ruddiger, but Ruddiger taking care of them.

~~~~~~

Pete doesn’t comment when he finds them curled up together in Quirin’s bed the next morning, except to complain that, “Oh sure, everyone gets to sleep in a bed, but me.”

Stan is grateful his friend doesn’t pry. He knows he’ll talk when he’s ready. Ruddiger returns to his post by the amber, but when Stan offers him some berries at lunchtime, he curls up next to him to eat them. Pete looks on in shock as Ruddiger even lets Stan stroke his fur.

“You know,” Pete starts, “if you’re gonna pet that mangy thing, you should really give it a bath first.”

“That thing has a name, Pete. It’s Ruddiger,” Stan comments, as he gently scoops Ruddiger up.

Pete stares up at him in shock, waiting for the raccoon to claw his face off. To his surprise it doesn’t. “Where are you going?”

“To give Ruddiger a bath.”

~~~~~~

Ruddiger isn’t entirely sure why he lets Stan pick him up. Maybe because he trusts him now after seeing him at his most vulnerable. Maybe because he’s studied him closely for 3 weeks now, and he’s made no move to harm Varian, nor shown any intent to do so. Or maybe it’s because it’s been a lonely almost 3 months now, since Ruddiger lost Varian to the amber, and while Stan may still be some dopey human, he’s a nice dopey human, and Ruddiger enjoys his company. Not as much as Varian’s, but he’ll do until Varian gets back. And who knows, maybe Varian will like Stan as a friend too.

And so Ruddiger lets Stan pick him up. Let’s him carry him away from the amber, although he whines as he watches Varian slip from view. But Stan whispers simple reassurances the whole way.

“It’s okay, Ruddiger. We’ll go right back. We’re just going to get you cleaned up first. That way you’ll feel better, and Varian won’t have so much work to do taking care of you when he comes back, okay?”

So Ruddiger lets Stan rinse his fur, and lather it full of soap. He even lets Stan apply some foul-smelling ointment that he murmurs will help him feel better and take care of that nasty mange. And Ruddiger will admit, he does feel better, at least physically. His heart still aches for Varian though.

A few days later, Ruddiger returns from following Stan into the kitchen to find Pete setting up a blanket in Ruddiger’s spot near the amber. And then Ruddiger realizes that it’s one of Varian’s blankets and all he sees is red.

Spotting the hissing raccoon, Pete holds his hands up from where he’s adjusting the blanket in a placating gesture. “Stan will you please tell your new friend that this is for him. I know he misses Varian, and I know he hates leaving him, but it must be awful sleeping on this hard ground for the last 3 months. I would know, and I’ve only slept on it for 3 weeks. And you told me how he likes these blankets because they probably smell like Varian, so I decided to make him a bed out of one of them. So if you could please tell your friend Ruddiger to calm down, and not attack me- that would be great.”

Ruddiger paused his hissing as he listened to Pete’s words. Tentatively, he crept forward, watching Pete out of the corner of his eye as the guard slowly backed away. Reaching the blanket bed, Ruddiger carefully crawled into it, lying down. The blanket still smelled of Varian. So now he could see Varian, and smell Varian, and couldn’t help the whines that began to escape him throat. He missed Varian so much.

Pete looked at Stan in alarm as Ruddiger began to whine. His face had FINALLY healed from when he got scratched last time; he didn’t want to relive that again. But Stan seemed just as confused as he was.

Carefully, both guards slowly approached the whining raccoon. Stan carefully reached out a hand to pet Ruddiger, and was surprised to find Ruddiger leaned into his touch. Pete reached his hand forward to pet Ruddiger as well, but stopped. He’d never pet the little raccoon before. He’d never let him.

Upon seeing Pete’s hesitance, Stan gave him a nod of encouragement. Slowly, Pete reached forward and stroked Ruddiger’s back. In response, the raccoon turned and nuzzled his chest.

Pete looked down at the little raccoon in awe. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “You really miss him, don’t you buddy?” Pete whispered, continuing to stroke Ruddiger’s back. The raccoon nuzzled closer in response.

“Hey! It’ll be okay Ruddiger,” Stan whispered. “He’ll come back. And we’ll be here until he does. Right, Pete?”

Pete nodded. “Of course, we’re not going anywhere, Ruddiger.”

~~~~~~

Humans were stupid, but there were exceptions to this rule. Varian, obviously, but maybe Stan and Pete weren’t so bad either. Even if they played horrible music, and had stupid arguments about stupid things like “What sort of middle name is ‘the’, Stan?” “Our middle names are the same, Pete!”

Maybe the great thing about humans wasn’t that they were smart. After all, raccoons were obviously smarter. But they did give great belly rubs, make delicious food, and were pretty good at comforting him and making him not miss Varian as much.

He missed Varian a lot, though. But he was coming back. Ruddiger was sure of it! And until then, Stan and Pete made pretty good friends, if he did say so himself. He hoped Varian would agree.

Chapter Text

~25 years ago~

“The stone and its destructive power must be kept secret from the world. It is the Brotherhood’s duty to keep that secret; it is King Edmund’s dying wish,” Quirin reiterated. Adira once again thought she knew best.

She argued back, “There is another way! If we could go out and find the sundrop-”

“Enough!” Hector interrupted. “The sundrop is a myth, sister.”

“It’s real, Hector, and its power could neutralize the moonstone!” Adira stated.

Quirin glanced between his brother and sister. This was not going to end well.

As if to prove his point, Hector continued, “Go, go, chase empty legends like a fool, but just know, if you come back, you ain’t my fellow brethren. You’re a traitor.”

Hector grabbed Adira’s face. Adira tensed. Quirin inwardly groaned. The king was dying, and instead of respecting his final wish, these two were arguing over the proper course of action. The king had already told them what to do. There was no other path, Adira. And Hector knew better than to grab her- Adira doesn’t like to be touched.

“Sundrop or not, I’ll end you.” With that, Hector released Adira’s face and stormed off. Adira huffed and glared after him.

Quirin sighed. “He’s right, you know….”

Adira whirled back to face Quirin. “So, you want to give up?!? When there’s a chance to stop all this destruction?!?”

Quirin frowned. “Adira, the only way to protect the world from the moonstone is to hide it from them. Then they be will safe.”

“There is another way, Quirin,” Adira shot back.

“We can’t put our hope in fairytales, Adira. You know that. We must respect King Edmund’s final wish. No one must ever know of the moonstone’s power.”

Adira frowned, but conceded. Good, Quirin thought. Adira had always been headstrong, believing she knew what was best, but in this case, there was only one course of action. It was time for them to leave.

Twenty minutes later, and the Brotherhood was saddled up and leaving the kingdom. Adira gazed solemnly at her home one last time before turning back to face the future. She knew the sundrop was real. It wasn’t just a legend, Hector. Nor was it a fairytale, Quirin.

As the members of the Brotherhood bid farewell to each other, before heading off to their respective corners of the world, Adira couldn’t help but feel they were making the wrong decision. This wasn’t right. They shouldn’t have to live in fear for the rest of their lives, guarding their dangerous secret.

And so, she decided. She would find the sundrop, return to the Dark Kingdom, neutralize the moonstone, and save them all. The best way to protect the world from the secret of the moonstone was to neutralize it. She was sure of this! It didn’t matter what Hector or Quirin said. She knew deep down, she was right. Now she just had to prove them all wrong.

~~~~~~

~11 years later (aka 14 years ago)~

Quirin had just finished tilling the fields, and was on his way home for dinner when he felt it. His instincts screamed at him that something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As he walked home, he was greeted by villagers who were also returning to their homes for the night. No one stopped to warn their leader of any issues or problems within the village, and yet deep down, Quirin knew something was amiss.

Quirin cautiously approached his house, taking the time to walk around it to make sure there were no signs of trouble. Satisfied that he was probably just tired from a long day of grueling work in the fields, Quirin opened the door to his house, only to jump back in shock.

“Hello, Quirin,” Adira greeted from where she sat at his kitchen table, drinking tea. In his house…. In his chair…. What the heck?!?

Adira sighed. “If you wouldn’t mind coming inside and shutting the door, that would be greatly appreciated. I went to a good deal of trouble to make sure I wasn’t seen, and we both know how much townspeople love to gossip. You were always the one who cared the most about our secret.”

Quirin continued to stare at her in shock, but slowly moved to close the door behind him.

“Much better,” Adira gave a small smile as Quirin stood in shock in front of the now closed door. “Well don’t just stand there…. It’s not every day your sister comes to pay you a visit.”

Quirin crept forward cautiously, taking the other seat at the table. He glanced nervously past her, down the hall before turning back to face her. That was odd…. She’d have to address that later.

Blunt as ever, Quirin frowned, asking, “Why are you here?”

Adira sighed. “I’m looking for the sundrop.”

“YOU’RE WHAT?!?” Quirin screamed, before once again nervously glancing down the hall. Seriously, what was up with that?

“I know it was here, Quirin. I heard the reports. The queen and princess were saved by a magical healing flower. That has to be it!”

Quirin refused to meet her eyes. “You’re wrong, Adira. It’s not here.”

Adira sighed. “I know…. The flower remains, but the power of the sundrop is gone.”

Quirin looked up in shock. “What?!?”

Adira continued, “I heard a rumor the king was keeping the flower in his vault, so I broke in. Don’t worry, no one saw me. I was in and out before those idiots they call guards ever noticed. The flower is there, but it no longer possesses the power of the sundrop.”

Quirin gaped at her. “You broke into the king’s vault?!?”

“I know, I’m awesome.” Adira smirked. Before Quirin could comment, she continued. “Look, I know it was here, and the king used its power to save his wife and child, but now its gone. And you know as well as I do that we need it Quirin- now more than ever. By using the sundrop, the king has awakened the darkness. We need to stop this before it’s too late.”

“Don’t you think I tried?!?” Quirin growled. “I tried to warn the king that by using the power of the light, he’d awaken the dark. He wouldn’t listen. If the power of the sundrop is no longer in the flower, then it’s gone. There is no hope for us now. Our only chance is to honor King Edmund’s dying wish and make sure the moonstone stays a secret.”

“I can’t believe this!” Adira snapped. “You’re just like Hector, wasting your life hiding something the world isn’t even looking for! The world doesn’t care about the moonstone, Quirin! No one is looking for it! Now I need you to come with me, help me find the new identity of the sundrop, and save us all before it’s too late!”

Quirin frowned, looking down at his hands. “I can’t, Adira. I’m sorry.”

Adira glared at her brother. “Quirin, the sundrop is real. I know this. I was right! I-”

“I know,” Quirin whispered. “But it’s gone. You’ll never find it. It vanished along with the lost princess.”

Adira frowned. Her brother looked so defeated right now. “It’s okay, Quirin. We’ll find it. We’ll find her.”

Quirin shook his head. “You don’t understand, Adira. I can’t leave.”

Adira had had enough of Quirin’s crap. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN’T LEAVE?!? I promise you; no one is looking for the moonstone! You don’t need to hide here any longer. Quit cowering here in fear, and come with me on this quest!”

Quirin sighed. “I can’t, Adira. This village- I’ve made a home here. A life here.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure you’re an excellent farmer,” Adira snarked. “This village will be fine without you. On the other hand, I need you to come with me so that-”

“Is everything alright?”

Adira jumped. She’d been so caught up in yelling at Quirin, that she had failed to notice the third person join their little group. Turning around in her chair, she prepared a sarcastic retort, before freezing. Standing in the kitchen’s doorway, was a VERY pregnant woman. Holding a vial of some glowing green chemical kind of threateningly if Adira did say so herself.

Quirin immediately got up and went to her, taking the vial from her hand. “Ulla,” he murmured. “You’re supposed to be resting.” Gently taking her hand, he led her to his chair at the table, and helped her sit.

Adira gaped at them. Oh crap. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…. She never imagined…. She’d never even considered…. Quirin of all people?!? Mr. “We must respect the King’s dying wish at all costs” had a wife. Not just a wife, a very pregnant wife. Which means…, he was about to be a father…. Quirin….

Adira realized she was staring now, but she couldn’t help it. Quirin- husband, father, farmer…. This was a lot to take in. Quirin didn’t seem to know what to say either, as he studiously kept his eyes on his wife, refusing to look at Adira.

Thankfully, his wife (Ulla?) stepped in. Turning to her husband, she began to apologize, “I’m sorry to bother you, honey. I didn’t realize we had company. I just heard yelling, and thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.”

“You’re supposed to be resting. Not sneaking down here with alchemy vials, ready to defend me,” Quirin groaned. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”

Ulla smiled, patting her husband’s hand where it rested on her shoulder. “I seem to recall several occasions where my alchemy was beneficial in saving your life.”

“Ulla…,” Quirin groaned. “Not in front of her,” he sighed, gesturing to Adira. “Now why don’t I escort you back to bed. She was just leaving.” With that Quirin stared down Adira, daring her to disagree.

“Nonsense,” Ulla smiled. “She just got here. And I’ll rest after you two tell me what’s going on.”

Quirin glanced at Adira, a worried look on his face. Adira got the message. His wife didn’t know about his past.

“I’m just an old friend of Quirin’s. I was just passing through, and decided to stop and say ‘hello’ to an old friend.”

“Does Quirin’s old friend have a name?” Ulla smirked.

“Adira.”

“Ulla,” the woman replied, confirming her name. Reaching down to pat her belly, she smiled. “And this is Varian.”

Adira glanced at Quirin, but he was once again avoiding eye contact with her. She couldn’t believe he was going to have a son. He’d never been the most nurturing- but lots of things have obviously changed about her brother. Maybe this had changed too.

Ulla was obviously very curious, as she began to ask questions. “So, I’ve never met any of Quirin’s old friends. In fact, Quirin never talks about his past. How do you two know each other?”

“We grew up together,” Adira replied.

“Where?” Ulla asked. “Pardon me for prying, but my husband doesn’t like to talk about his past. It’s so great to finally meet someone from it!”

Adira sighed. “Yes, well, it’s not a good story. We grew up together in a village far from here. Our leader made an unwise decision a few years ago, one that your husband and I disagreed with, and so we left along with a few others. It’s nice to see Quirin has started a new life now. I’m afraid some of our friends are too caught up in the past to move on. I’m just glad your husband isn’t letting his life waste away.” Adira pointedly looked at Quirin as she said this.

Ulla frowned. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” Turning to Quirin she sighed. “I see now why you don’t ever want to talk about it.”

“It’s alright,” Quirin smiled.

Adira smiled at the small family in front of her. “I should be on my way.”

Ulla frowned. “I’m sorry if I upset you-”

“No, no…,” Adira reassured. “I must continue on my journey. I’m trying to help my old friends. It’s nice to see I have one less to worry about though,” Adira smiled at Quirin.

As Quirin escorted Adira out of the village under the cover of night, he couldn’t help but worry about the consequences of this visit.

“Adira, I-” he began.

“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry too. I meant what I said though. I’m glad you aren’t wasting your life worrying about hiding the moonstone’s secret.”

“It’s not that I’m not hiding it, it’s just-”

“You can have a life too. I know. Trust me. You can respect King Edmund’s dying wish, and create your own path, Quirin. I’m doing it too. I’m going to find the sundrop, and neutralize the moonstone. Then we can all live our own lives, free from the burden of the moonstone.”

“Then I wish you luck, Adira,” Quirin replied. “Thank you, for everything…. Stay safe, and hopefully we’ll see each other again one day.”

Adira smiled. “I know we will.” And with that, she hoisted herself over Corona’s wall.

~~~~~~

~A week after Rapunzel’s black rock breakthrough~

As night fell, Adira walked through the abandoned town of Old Corona, frowning. The black rocks had destroyed nearly everything. Thankfully, she was closing in on the sundrop’s location. She was sure of it!

She stopped outside of Quirin’s house. There was no harm in making sure her brother was safe, as well as her nephew. She’d heard the news about the wife of Old Corona’s leader years ago. She couldn’t make sure they were okay then, but she could make sure they were okay now.

Adira silently slips inside, making sure to keep to the shadows. She hears soft snoring, and relaxes. Quirin and Varian must be relatively okay, even though their home is destroyed. Adira sighed. I guess Quirin’s used to losing his home to the moonstone at this point, she thought.

As she crept down the hall towards the bedrooms, she paused. While one set of snores was definitely coming from a bedroom, the other was coming from the lab at the end of the hall. Adira smirked. Seems the kid took after his mother’s love of alchemy.

Deciding that checking on Quirin could wait (her brother could take care of himself), she decided to check on her nephew. She knew Quirin wasn’t the most nurturing- she’d grown up with him after all- but this was ridiculous! You can’t let your son sleep in his lab. Even she knew this, and the last kid she’d had direct contact with was King Edmund’s son before he was sent away.

Tiptoeing into the lab, so as not to wake the kid, Adira is shocked to find, not Varian asleep in his lab, but some random guard. Turning to leave, she frowns. Maybe the kid’s in his dad’s room? But that doesn’t make any sense, because she only heard one set of snoring.

Creeping down the hall, Adira checks Quirin’s room to find yet another random guard sleeping soundly. Did Quirin take Varian and flee Old Corona after the black rocks appeared? That was a typical Quirin move- avoid the problem until you had to face it. He’d fled the Dark Kingdom, and now he’d fled Old Corona. Typical….

Deciding to walk through the house one last time to make sure they weren’t there, Adira found herself back in the lab after seeing the moonlight glint off something in the middle of the room. Approaching the object, Adira found herself stepping back in shock. Creeping forward she placed a hand on the cold surface of the amber.

“No,” she whispers. So it turns out Quirin hadn’t fled Old Corona after all. The moonstone had once again hurt the people she cared about. Adira clenched her fist where it rested on the amber. She let this happen. She had failed to find the sundrop in time to prevent this. Her brother and her nephew are trapped, and she doesn’t have the power to save them.

Adira isn’t one for crying- it’s impractical, wastes time, and will ruin her face paint, but she will spare a moment of silence for a fallen brother. A moment for her friend, and his young son, who are lost.

Removing her hand from the amber, she vows right then to find the sundrop, and make sure it gets to the Dark Kingdom safely. With the moonstone neutralized, Quirin and Varian should be freed. It has to work.

And so, gingerly making her way out of the lab, making sure not to disturb the raccoon, Freckles, or Mustache down the hall, she leaves the house. She still has the same quest, but now it is much more urgent. Much more personal. The sundrop has always been the only hope for the world, but now it’s the only hope for her family.

~~~~~~

Adira has been following Rapunzel and her crew for months now, helping them at various times when their competence was lacking, when they finally reach the Great Tree. Of course, Hector was there, but Adira was confident in her abilities to handle him. Or at least in her ability to sneak the sundrop past him as quickly as possible.

“Adira, wait. Who was that man who attacked us?” Rapunzel asked

“And don’t give us any of your cryptic runaround talk,” Short-hair demanded.

Adira resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “His name is Hector. And I don’t think I appreciate your tone.”

“Oh! I’m sorry I gave you the impression I care about the things you appreciate,” Short-hair replied sarcastically.

“Alright, alright…,” Rapunzel interjected. “Who is Hector?”

“He’s a member of the Brotherhood, a group of warriors sworn to keep any and all away from the Dark Kingdom,” Adira stated.

“Dark Kingdom? That’s where we’re headed.”

“How many are in this brotherhood?” Short-hair asked.

“Not many. But you’ve encountered one before today. Quirin, father of Varian.” Adira did not fail to notice the way the groups’ eyes all widened. “But none of the brothers is as dangerous or sadistic as Hector. And this is his domain… The Great Tree. He’s sworn to stay here to ensure no one crosses these mountains.”

“And how do you know so much about all of this?” Short-hair asked.

“Let’s just say some of us in the Brotherhood disagree on a couple of things.” Well, not just a couple, but the princess didn’t need to know about Hector’s threats.

Rapunzel sighed. “Adira, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Short-hair shook her head. “You don’t have to tell her anything, Raps. She’s been hiding stuff from us this whole time. I told you we couldn’t trust her.”

Rapunzel ignored her, pressing on. “It’s about Quirin….”

“I know,” Adira replied.

“You do?” Rapunzel asked, obviously confused.

“I know many things, Rapunzel…. I only share with you, what I believe is relevant to your journey. But yes, I do know about Quirin and Varian’s fate.”

“Then you know why I’m here,” Rapunzel replied. “Adira, I’m so, so sorry.”

Adira sighed. “Don’t be. You’re here now. You have the power of the sundrop within you. My job now is to make sure you get to the Dark Kingdom safely. Once you neutralize the moonstone, chances are Quirin and Varian will be freed.”

“And what is they’re not?” Rapunzel asked.

Adira frowned. “I don’t have all the answers, Rapunzel. But I assure you, I am a friend to you, just like I’m a friend to Quirin. And as your friend, I’ll remind you that you’re making the right decision following this path. The only one.”

“I know,” Rapunzel whispered. “I’m following my destiny. It’s the only way to save Varian, his father, and my kingdom.”

Adira smiled. “Then let’s press on. The Great Tree awaits, and beyond it- the Dark Kingdom.”

Chapter Text

Cassandra’s betrayal stings more than Rapunzel would care to admit. It’s one thing for her friend, her sister, to betray her, but by stealing the moonstone Cassandra might have condemned Varian to be trapped for all eternity. Hurting her is one thing, but they set out on this quest to save their friend. Even knowing about her painful past, Rapunzel still wonders how Cassandra could ever turn her back on Varian.

After they’d found the amber, after the black rocks had broken through Old Corona’s outer wall, Cassandra’s the one who had supported her the most in their quest to save their friend. She’d been the one to state their purpose – “for Varian” – once they’d made the decision to follow the black rocks. For Cassandra, the goal had always been to save their friend, and their kingdom. When had the quest stopped being about Varian and started being about herself?

~~~~~~

Cassandra feels guilty. Yes, about taking the moonstone, but no, not because it’s supposed to belong to Rapunzel. Ever since the princess returned, Cassandra’s been working hard to help her achieve her dreams. Well, now it’s Cassandra’s turn to chase her own.

Her only regret is that Varian might be lost forever, all because his destiny collided with her own. No, she can’t think like that. Varian will be okay. Rapunzel doesn’t quit- she’ll find a way to save him without the moonstone. The moonstone is her destiny. It always was. She’s already betrayed her best friend. What’s betraying one more friend?

No- Rapunzel was never her friend. She’d stolen her life from her. It was her turn to take it back. And there was no guarantee Varian was even still... alive.... She wasn’t about to sacrifice her destiny for the off chance the moonstone might be Varian’s only hope. Varian was either fine or he wasn’t. Rapunzel would either save him or she wouldn’t. The moonstone didn’t matter as much to them as it did to her. Maybe that was selfish. Maybe it was cruel to care more about her own past rather than Varian’s future, but this was the way things were. This was the way things have to be.

The moonstone is hers, not Rapunzel’s. She’ll find a way to save Varian without it. It’s her turn to have to make do with what life gives you, instead of what should have been yours. And if an innocent child gets hurt in the mess that’s been created, well, welcome to the club. Rapunzel’s already hurt so many. What’s one more child in the scheme of things?

Cassandra frowns, clutching the moonstone. No! Varian would be okay. He had to be. Rapunzel would find a way to free him- life had a habit of providing her with the means to accomplish whatever she desired. Varian will be fine. There was no point in dwelling on his fate any longer.

She needed to focus on her own path now. It was time to move forward- to discover her own destiny. Rapunzel had told her to “wait.” Well look where waiting has gotten her. Look where waiting had gotten Varian! She’s done waiting! So, she takes that first step forward, holding the moonstone- her destiny- close to her heart, and crosses that line into the unknown.

~~~~~~

Rapunzel’s heart is still pounding from the adrenaline of Cassandra’s betrayal and the subsequent chase, when Ulf arrives in his hot air balloon. But as he tells them about the trouble in Corona, Rapunzel swears she can feel her heart stop. She’s failed them. She’s failed her people. Just like she failed Varian. She can’t protect anyone. If Cassandra’s betrayal has taught her anything, it’s that she can hurt people without even trying. Sometimes just by doing nothing.

Eugene, as if sensing her distress, hugs her close, and tells her its not her fault, and deep down she knows he’s right, but she can’t help but wonder what she could have done differently. She wonders how she could have been a better princess, a better person, and most of all, a better friend.

Climbing into the balloon, she waves goodbye to Adira and King Edmund. Adira had said her destiny lies elsewhere – Rapunzel wondered how she could be so sure of her destiny. Personally, Rapunzel feels like she finally found hers, only to have it snatched away from her. Maybe that’s how Cassandra feels. Maybe that’s how Varian felt.

The ride back to Corona is a quiet one. Eugene keeps sending her concerned looks, but she ignores him. She needs to think. Thankfully, everyone else is studiously avoiding her. How can she save Varian and her kingdom without the moonstone? There has to be a way to stop the black rocks. There has to be a way to free him from the amber. Rapunzel wishes she knew how.

Staring out over the side of the hot air balloon, Rapunzel watches as landmarks from her journey pass by. As the Dark Kingdom fades from view, Rapunzel watches as the clearing where the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrows had been comes into view. Not long after, the Great Tree passes by, and Rapunzel gasps as it finally hits her. She has an idea for how to save Varian from the amber. Here’s hoping it would actually work.

~~~~~~

The battle with the Saporians is relatively short and honestly an embarrassingly easy defeat for Andrew and his cronies. While their takeover of the kingdom was simple and effective due to the Wand of Oblivion, with their princess’ return, the people of Corona were able to rise and defeat them.

“You know, they really should have had a plan B,” Eugene shook his head as the guards took the Saporians away. “What did they think was going to happen once you got back, Sunshine? You would just let them continue to rule without a fight? Honestly, that’s ridiculous. They should have had a backup plan- like an explosion. That would have stopped us. But nooooooo…. Manbun was so confident in his sword fighting abilities, he didn’t think to maybe set some traps or something.”

Eugene turned to smile at Rapunzel, only to find her gazing towards the palace gates. “Everything alright, Blondie?” Maybe she was finally ready to talk about Cassandra.

Rapunzel turned and gave Eugene a small smile. “Yes. I’m fine. I need a favor though, Eugene.”

Eugene nodded. “Anything, Blondie. You name it!”

This time Rapunzel’s smile was brilliant as she took his hand. “It’s time for me to keep my promise.”

~~~~~~

The ride to Old Corona is the longest of Rapunzel’s life. Even the journey to the Dark Kingdom didn’t feel as long. Rapunzel can’t keep the spiral of anxious thoughts from swirling around in her mind. What if the hurt incantation doesn’t work? What if Varian is trapped forever? What if Cassandra stealing the moonstone somehow affected the amber, and hurt Varian? Or worse? And what if she hurts Varian when she tries to get him out? What if Varian isn’t even alive?

“You okay, Blondie?” Eugene calls from where he and Max are following close behind her. Shaking her head in an effort to clear her thoughts, she gives Eugene a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about Varian. I’m… excited to finally get him out.”

Eugene nodded. “He’ll be okay, Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel frowned, turning back to face the path Fidella was racing down towards Old Corona. “I know. But what if he doesn’t forgive me?”

Eugene stares at her in shock. “Forgive you?!? Rapunzel you’re doing everything you can to help him.”

“But I told him everything would be okay. I promised!” Rapunzel shot back.

“And it will be,” Eugene reassured her. Rapunzel sighed, but nodded. “Okay….”

“So… what’s the plan for getting him out?” Eugene asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Rapunzel smiled. “If I tell you, you’d never let me try.”

Eugene frowned. “Rapunzel, I trust you, but whatever you have planned, I just want to keep you safe.”

Rapunzel nodded. “I know, Eugene. I’ll be okay, and so will Varian.” Turning back around, Rapunzel watched as Old Corona came into view. “He has to be….”

~~~~~~

Upon arriving at Varian’s house, both Eugene and Rapunzel dismount. They make their way through the house, before arriving at the door to the lab. Turning to face Eugene, he gives her a reassuring nod, before she takes a deep breath and gently pushes the lab’s door open.

Inside, Stan and Pete immediately jump to attention, aiming their crossbows at the intruders. “HALT IN THE NAME OF THE PRINCESS!” Pete yells, as Ruddiger angrily chatters in the background, fur standing on end.

“Whoa!” Rapunzel cries, as Eugene shouts, “Hey! It’s us!”

“Sorry!” Stan calls, as both guards hurry to lower their weapons. “It’s just been so long, we….”

Rapunzel nodded. “It’s okay.” She frowned as she saw Varian’s pained face beneath the amber. “Who removed the tarp?”

Stan and Pete exchanged glances before Stan spoke. “Ruddiger doesn’t like it, so we removed it.”

Rapunzel looked confused. “Ruddiger doesn’t like it?”

Stan nodded. “He likes to be able to see Varian.”

“He’s been keeping watch over him this whole time,” Pete added.

Rapunzel nodded, turning to face her friend’s raccoon. She smiled as he seemed to be doing much better. He was no longer dangerously skinny, and his fur looked freshly groomed. “Thank you for taking care of Ruddiger while I was gone,” she smiled at the guards.

“Eh, he’s not so bad,” Pete muttered, while Stan murmured something about “it being mutual.”

Turning back to the amber, Rapunzel sighed. It was time…. Taking her hair in her hands, she began to wrap it around the amber. Ruddiger hissed as she came close to Varian, but Stan gently scooped him up, holding him to his chest, and whispering things that were too soft for Rapunzel to hear. Pete reached over, and scratched behind his ears, and Ruddiger seemed to relax in Stan’s arms. Rapunzel couldn’t help but smile. She knew the captain would choose the right men for the job.

As Rapunzel finished wrapping her hair around the amber, she grabbed a bucket and began to fill it with water. Eugene frowned, but said nothing as he watched her work.

As she finished filling the bucket, he finally spoke, a skeptical look on his face. “Blondie, how exactly do you plan on freeing Varian?”

“The hurt incantation,” Rapunzel replied as she scooped up the bucket.

Eugene stared at her in shock. “The hurt incantation. As in, THE hurt incantation. The one that almost killed you- killed US in the Great Tree.”

“Yes.”

Eugene face-palmed. “Rapunzel, you know I trust you, but this is insane! You could die! You could get us killed! You could kill Varian and his father! You can’t control it!”

Stan and Pete exchanged worried glances, but said nothing. Stan did seem to hold Ruddiger tighter though, and Pete moved on from just scratching Ruddiger’s ears to stroking his fur down his back.

“I know,” Rapunzel replied. “But I have to try…. For Varian.”

Eugene grimaces, but doesn’t object. Rapunzel hands him the bucket and gives him what she hopes is a reassuring smile. “Just promise you’ll wake me up.”

Eugene nods solemnly. “I’ll do my best.”

With that, Rapunzel turns to face the amber.

Behind her she hears Eugene sigh. “Be careful, Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel nods, turning to Stan and Pete. “Whatever happens, make sure Varian and his father get out okay.”

“Yes, your highness.” The guard exchange concerned looks, but say nothing.

Rapunzel glances at Ruddiger, still clutched in Stan’s arms, before taking a deep breath and turning back to face the amber.

“For Varian...,” she whispers. Then she begins to sing.

Wither and decay

Eugene grimaces as her hair turns black, and the familiar haunting melody reaches his ears. He can’t believe he’s letting her do this.

End this destiny

Eugene stares in shock as the amber begins to melt. Sneaking a glance towards Stan and Pete he finds a similar shocked expression on both of their faces.

Break these earthly chains

Once again facing the amber, Eugene finds Quirin and Varian are mostly freed. It’s time to wake Rapunzel up. He splashes the bucket on water on her face, but the only reaction is the subsequent burst of steam.

And set the spirit free

“NO!” Eugene shouts, but receives no response. She wasn’t waking up! She was supposed to wake up! Why wasn’t she waking up?!? He reaches for her before he remembers what happened to Cassandra the last time she tried to do that. Drawing his hands back, he clutches them to his chest.

The spirit free

“Rapunzel?” he asks. “Please wake up.” No response. It’s not working! She can’t hear him! “Rapunzel, please!” Eugene cries. “You have to wake up! Varian needs you! Your kingdom needs you!”

Covering his face in an effort to prevent the tears from running down it, he whispers, “I need you.”

Rapunzel gasps, broken free from her trance. Eugene catches her as she collapses to the floor.

“Are you alright?” he asks.

Rapunzel blinks blearily, but nods. “I-I’m fine. Varian?!?” she cries as she struggles to stand up.

Turning around they see turn to see Varian and Quirin- free from their amber prison. “You did it, Blondie!” Eugene smiles, hugging her close.

Rapunzel nods. “Everything will be okay.”

~~~~~~

Distantly, Varian hears a faint melody floating through the air. It’s unfamiliar and haunting, and he wants nothing more than to flee from it, but he can’t. His arms and legs won’t move- something is keeping him pinned in place. And then, suddenly the pressure keeping him still is gone. He opens his eyes as the amber melts away, sliding down his body. Without its support, he sinks to his knees, leaning against a firm weight.

The melody continues as he looks up to find the identity of that weight is his father. His dad. His dad’s okay! He’s okay! The melody ends, and he faintly hears shouting, but he can’t make out what’s being said. Groaning, he wraps his arms tighter around his father, leaning in to listen for his heartbeat. He hears it beating strongly within his chest, and he sighs in relief.

“Varian?” his dad whispers, and he feels his dad’s arms wrap around him, and reach up to stroke his hair.

“I-I’m okay, dad,” Varian whispers back. For a moment it’s just the two of them, finally free from their amber prison. “What happened?” Varian asks as he gently pulls back from the hug, only to be met with a face-full of raccoon.

“RUDDIGER!” he shouts, as he wraps his arms around his friend, hugging him close to his chest. Ruddiger responds by nuzzling his chin. Quirin chuckles at the reunion between his son and his friend, before turning to survey the rest of the room. There are two guards in one corner, and the princess and her boyfriend in the other.

“What happened?” Quirin repeats Varian’s question from before.

Varian looks up from where he’s stroking Ruddiger’s fur to see the princess, and smiles. “She came for us. She freed us. Rapunzel kept her promise.”

Rapunzel returns Varian’s smile from across the room. “Of course. You needed me- and I always keep my promises. Especially to my friends.”

Varian’s smile grew as he felt his dad once again wrap an arm around his shoulder, helping him to stand. Clutching Ruddiger close, he faced the princess, smiling at her. Everything was okay. Just like she promised.

Chapter Text

Flynn (or was it Eugene? -Varian was still confused regarding the whole name thing – he’d only interacted with the man twice after all) ended up carrying Varian to his room. After his dad had helped him stand, Varian had taken a few hesitant steps forward before his shaky legs gave out and he face-planted. It had been beyond embarrassing, even though Rapunzel had assured him that it was to be expected given how long he’d been… stuck….

He felt better though, after watching his dad accept support from the two guards on the way to his own room. His dad had insisted on walking himself, but the fact that he allowed the two guards to tag along, and even leaned against them at one point shows he was struggling just as much.

After his face-plant, and everyone’s subsequent panic that he’d hurt himself further, Flynn/Eugene had gently scooped him up into his arms. Ruddiger scrambled up into Varian’s lap, and rested there as Flynn/Eugene carried him towards his room to rest. Varian cradled his best friend close as he stared up in awe at his hero. Flynn Rider – THE FLYNN RIDER – was carrying him (even if he was going by Eugene now). BEST! DAY! EVER!!!!

Rapunzel followed closely behind them, asking Varian over and over if he was okay, or if she could get him anything. Varian continued to shake his head – he was just tired. You would think after being trapped in unbreakable amber, unable to move, he’d at least be well-rested. And yet, Varian felt as if all the energy had been sapped from his body. He just wanted to sleep.

As they entered his bedroom, Flynn/Eugene carefully placed him on his bed, Ruddiger curling up at his side. Rapunzel immediately began to tuck him in, asking him of he was comfortable, if he was sure he was alright, and that he didn’t need anything. Varian shook his head. He was fine now. He just needed some rest.

“Are you sure, because-” Rapunzel asked before Flynn/Eugene interrupted.

“Blondie, I know you mean well, but you’re mother-henning. Let the kid sleep. He’ll tell you if he needs something.”

Rapunzel turned to face Varian as if checking to be sure. Varian nodded. “I’m fine,” he muttered sleepily, feeling his eyelids begin to droop. He felt Ruddiger snuggle closer into his side. “Thanks, Rapunzel,” he murmured, already half-asleep.

Rapunzel smiled, tucking him in tighter. “You’re welcome, Varian.”

~~~~~~

The one good thing about being absolutely exhausted was that Varian didn’t dream. Or, more accurately, no nightmares plagued his rest. He awoke five hours later to a grinning Rapunzel, a warm meal, and Ruddiger’s wet nose burrowing into his neck.

As he shifted to sit up, Rapunzel passed him a tray with a bowl of some sort of stew and a glass of water. As he began to eat, Flynn/Eugene re-entered the room, taking a seat in the room’s other chair, which had been pulled up to the other side of his bed.

Varian ate in silence for a bit, watching as Rapunzel nervously toyed with her hair. Flynn/Eugene kept glancing between them, his face filled with concern. Varian frowned. Rapunzel obviously wanted to say something, but didn’t know where to start. Well, he could at least try to initiate conversation.

Turning to Flynn/Eugene, he smiled. “Thanks for carrying me, Flyn-gene.” Varian resisted the urge to face-palm. He’d been so panicked about not knowing which name his hero had decided to go by and not wanting to look stupid, he’d done the most stupid thing of all and combined both names.

Flynn/Eugene gave him a questioning look before bursting out laughing. “Did you just call me ‘Flyn-gene’?” he asked.

Varian blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry, I just – I thought I remembered you saying something about not going by Flynn anymore, and I panicked,” Varian muttered.

“Eugene,” the man supplied. “I adopted the name ‘Flynn Rider’ from the books while I was a thief. I’m not actually the book character – my adventures are superior. And book Flynn Rider wishes he had this hair….”

Varian felt his face grow redder. So, this man, who carried him to his room, wasn’t his hero from the book like he thought. The carrying thing was now a lot less awesome and a lot more embarrassing.

Eugene, as if sensing the teenager’s embarrassment, hurried to reassure him. “But I LOVE the books! I’m a huge fan – that is why I took the name after all. Maybe we could hang out and discuss our favorites sometime. You know – Team Awesome or whatever….”

Varian smiled. “Yeah, that’d be great!”

Rapunzel cleared her throat, getting the attention of both boys. Taking a deep breath, she sighed. “Varian, I have a few questions, if you don’t mind me asking, and I think we should talk about what happened.”

Varian’s smile disappeared immediately, but he nodded. “What do you want to know?” he asked.

Rapunzel frowned. She hated to have to ask, but she needed to know. “Varian, what happened? How did you- How did the- When we found you, you were already- and we didn’t know what had happened, or how to fix it, and-” Rapunzel stumbled through her questions, before pausing and letting out a breath. “Varian, I need to know if we’re in any danger. If the amber poses a threat to us or to anyone else in the kingdom. I don’t want you, or anyone else getting hurt again.”

Varian shook his head. “We’re safe,” he mumbled.

Rapunzel let out a sigh of relief. Watching as Varian’s hands began to tremble, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder in support. “Hey! Take all the time you need.”

Varian nodded, taking a deep breath as he began to tell his tale: “I was trying to find a weakness of the black rocks. I know you said we would figure it out together, but I knew you were busy, and I figured if I ran some preliminary tests, then at least we wouldn’t be starting from scratch.

After examining the rocks’ alchemical make-up, I began to create mixtures in an attempt to get a reaction from the rocks – hopefully, a positive one that would make them go away. I had a couple of explosions and fires, but for the most part got no reaction. Then I finally came up with an idea for a new formula, which I concocted. I was just about to pour a drop of it onto the rocks when my dad came in. He-he was mad at me for messing with the black rocks.”

Varian began to get choked up as he continued. “He-he told me not to mess with them, but I-I’d been experimenting all morning, and apparently when he’d come in, I had accidentally spilled the compound, but I-I didn’t realize it, and-”

Varian shuddered. Rapunzel and Eugene exchanged concerned glances, and Ruddiger nuzzled closer as he continued. “He shoved me out of the way,” Varian whispered. “I-I should have gone to get help. H-he told me to stay back. But it was my fault, so I had to fix it, bu-but I couldn’t, and-”

Varian broke down sobbing as he finished. “Maybe if I’d gone to get help, I-I could have reached you. You could have come and helped, and this whole mess could have been avoided. Instead, I failed, and we were both encased, and I-”

“It’s all my fault,” Varian whispered. Looking up to meet Rapunzel’s heartbroken gaze, he sighed. “I was so scared, Rapunzel…. If something had happened – if we hadn’t made it out – if you hadn’t come-”

Rapunzel leaned forward, pulling her friend into a hug, Eugene snatching the tray before its contents could be spilled. “Shhhh, it’s okay,” she whispered. “You’re okay.” She gently rubbed Varian’s back as he cried into her dress. “Varian, it’s not just your fault – you can’t blame yourself.”

Varian shook his head, attempting to pull back from the hug, but Rapunzel just pulled him closer. “I promised everything would be okay, but it wasn’t. I never should have placed the burden of discovering the mystery of the black rocks on your shoulders. That wasn’t fair, and I’m sorry.”

Varian’s breath hitched. “But the amber-”

Rapunzel sighed. “Yes, you might have been the one to create it, but like I said, I never should have placed this burden on your shoulders to begin with. You were only trying to help, and I’m sorry I couldn’t help you sooner. I’m sorry I let you get hurt trying to solve my problems.”

Varian pulled back, and Rapunzel let him. His red eyes met her own watery ones. “It’s okay, Rapunzel. You kept your promise. Everything is okay.”

Rapunzel smiled. “Yes, I suppose it is, now.”

As Varian settled back, propped up against his pillows, Eugene passed him back his forgotten tray. After a few minutes of silence, Varian spoke again. “So, how did you get us out?” he asked quietly, reaching over to stroke Ruddiger’s fur.

Rapunzel and Eugene shared a look. “It’s a long story,” Rapunzel stated.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Eugene snorted.

Varian stared at the princess expectantly, so Rapunzel began to tell him about the events that occurred while he was… unavailable. She told him about finding him and his father, how the black rocks had worked together with her hair to break through Corona’s outer wall. How they’d discovered the Hurt Incantation at the Great Tree, and that’s what Rapunzel had used to free them.

How they’d returned from the Dark Kingdom after hearing there was trouble in Corona. Eugene frowned as he noticed Rapunzel pointedly avoided mentioning Cassandra and her betrayal, but said nothing. He wasn’t going to force Rapunzel to talk about it if she wasn’t ready.

Varian nodded attentively, occasionally interrupting with questions, but for the most part just listening. After Rapunzel finished her tale, his brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?” Rapunzel asked, concern lining her features.

Varian frowned. “Nothing. It’s just, you went on such an amazing adventure, and experienced so many different things, and it makes me wonder….”

Rapunzel looked confused. “Wonder what?”

Varian turned to face her, looking concerned. “How long were we trapped in there?”

Rapunzel opened her mouth, closed it, reopened it, then looked to Eugene for help. Eugene sighed. Guess the bearer of bad news responsibilities fall to him.

Varian, for his part, seems to be growing more and more concerned by the second as nobody says anything. “How long?” he repeats, eyes wide with fear.

Eugene sighs. “About a year,” he states. He watches as Varian’s eyes grow even wider.

Varian, for his part, is floundering. A year! A whole entire year! “WHAT?!?” he yelps as he pushes back the blankets, standing up and beginning to pace.

“Careful!” Eugene shouts as Rapunzel cries, “Varian!” upon both seeing him get up from the bed, remembering his face-plant earlier. Both breathe sighs of relief, seeing him pace on strong legs back and forth across the room, oblivious to their concern. Ruddiger crawls out of bed and follows behind him.

“A year,” Varian whispers as he continues his pacing. “A year.”

“Varian, it’s oka-” Rapunzel began, before being cut off by a choked chuckle from Varian.

“A year,” he began to laugh hysterically. “An entire year….”

Rapunzel and Eugene shared a look. Rapunzel decided to try again. “Varian, I-”

Varian stopped, turning to face them both, an incredulous look on his face. “I was about to have a birthday!”

Rapunzel and Eugene shared another glance. “Ummmmm…. Happy Birthday?!?” Eugene tried.

Varian shook his head. “This is unbelievable! I was supposed to be turning 15…. Which means that had I not been trapped in amber; I would be turning 16. So, which is it?!? Am I 15 or 16?!? How do I know?!? It’s not like there’s any visible difference that shows I’ve aged!”

“Well, it was only a year,” Eugene muttered.

“EXACTLY!!!!” Varian shouted, before returning to his pacing.

“Not helpful, Eugene,” Rapunzel muttered.

Eugene winced. “Sorry.”

Varian continued on, oblivious to their conversation. “Do you have ANY idea how many alchemical tests I’m going to have to run just to figure out how old I am?!?”

“87?” Eugene asked. Rapunzel glared at him. “What?!? That’s how many he ran on you when you were trying to figure out your hair.”

Varian ignored him. “106! Not to mention all the tests I’ll need to run to make sure there’s no negative health effects from being encased for a year, because I need to make sure I didn’t inadvertently hurt my dad – you, know, aside from TRAPPING HIM IN AMBER FOR A YEAR!!!! And-”

Rapunzel stood, grabbing the pacing alchemist. “Whooaaaahhh, slow down. It’s okay. You’re okay. Your dad’s fine. Breathe with me, Varian. In… and out….”

Varian stopped pacing and began to breathe with Rapunzel. He was surprised to find he’d been close to hyperventilating.

After a few more breaths, Rapunzel paused. “Better?” she asked.

Varian nodded. “Thanks.”

Guiding Varian back to bed, Rapunzel sat down next to him. “It’ll be okay,” she reassured him. “We’ll figure this out together. I promise.”

Varian nodded. “Thank you.” After a few moments, he froze. “Speaking of together, where’s Cassandra?”

It was Rapunzel’s turn to freeze. Eugene glanced at his girlfriend nervously, but she simply sighed. “Cassandra took the moonstone, Varian. She’s gone….”

Varian stared agape at Rapunzel. Slowly, his shock faded, and his face filled with sympathy. “I’m sorry, Rapunzel. It must hurt to have lost such a good friend.”

Rapunzel nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. This time, it was Varian who pulled her into a hug, Eugene quickly joining them.

After a few minutes, they all pulled back, Rapunzel once again wiping the tears from her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Varian nodded. “Of course.”

Rapunzel took a deep breath before continuing. “For what it’s worth, it does hurt to lose a friend.”

Varian nodded in sympathy.

Turning to face Varian, Rapunzel gave a watery smile. “That’s why I’m so glad to finally have you back.”

Varian returned her smile, once again hugging her. “It’s good to be back.”

~~~~~~

When Varian awakes the next morning, he finds Rapunzel and Eugene have been replaced with the two guards he distantly remembers from the day before.

“The princess is checking in with your father,” the taller one with a mustache states, as Varian looks at them in confusion.

Varian nods.

“And besides,” the smaller one states. “We need to talk.” With that, he pulls up a chair, spinning it and sitting backwards in it, staring Varian down from over his arms folded on the chair’s back.

The other guard rolled his eyes good-naturedly, taking a seat normally in the chair next to his buddy.

Varian sits up, scooping Ruddiger into his lap as a means of comfort. Both guards frown at that action. Varian gulps. Whatever these guards want, it probably isn’t good. Before he can ask what the matter is though, the smaller guard speaks.

“We want Sundays and Mondays,” his states, leaving no room for argument.

“What?!?” Varian asks, confused.

“Well, you see,” the other guard interjects. “We usually get Sunday afternoons and Monday mornings off as part of the guards’ rotating schedule. So that’d be the best time for us, if you don’t mind.”

Varian continues to stare at the guards in confusion. “What?!?” he repeats.

The guards share a look. “It wouldn’t even be for the full day – just part of each. 24 hours, if you will,” the guard with the mustache states.

“I don’t understand…,” Varian states, looking between the two.

“Look kid!” the shorter guard stands abruptly, towering over Varian. “You can’t expect us to watch him for an entire year, and not get attached. And you can’t tell us he hasn’t grown attached to us either! All we’re asking for is shared custody with some visitation rights. You can’t deny us that! It’s not fair! We’ll go to the princess herself if we have to!” he shouts.

“Is everything all right in here?” Eugene asks, appearing in the doorway. Varian breathes a sigh of relief – finally someone who might make some sense!

“The kid’s being uncooperative,” the shorter guard mumbled.

“What?!?” Varian screamed indignantly. “I don’t even know what’s going on!!!!”

The taller guard with the mustache frowned. “Look, Varian…. All we want is 24 hours with Ruddiger a week. We think that’s fair, and we’re hoping you’ll agree. We’ve grown attached to him. Please don’t take him from us.”

Varian and Eugene shared a look of shock. All of a sudden, Eugene bursts out laughing. “Wait…,” he began in-between laughs. “Stan? Pete? Are you fighting a custody battle with a 16-year-old for a raccoon?” Eugene wheezed.

“Maybe!” Stan and Pete screamed as Varian screamed, “We don’t even know if I am 16!”

Eugene excused himself as he continued laughing. Shutting the door behind him, Varian could hear his laughter fade as he walked down the hall. Turning back to the two guards, Varian sighed.

“So…, you want to visit Ruddiger?” he asked.

Both guards nodded. Varian looked down at Ruddiger in his lap, stroking his back. Ruddiger nodded at him, nuzzling his chest before crawling across the bed, over to one of the guard’s arms and up onto his shoulders.

Varian repressed the urge to frown. He was NOT jealous. Not at all. Not even though Ruddiger was sitting on the guard’s shoulders like how he sits on Varian’s, and he looks so comfortable, Varian can’t even bring himself to grab him back. The other guard scratched behind Ruddiger’s ears, and Varian watched as his friend leaned into the touch. Nope, not jealous at all!

Varian was about to call Ruddiger back to him, when he made eye contact with his friend. Ruddiger may not be able to talk, but he was smart, and Varian knew he understood his struggle. Ruddiger’s eyes pleaded with him, nodding as Varian shook his head. Well, fine…, since Ruddiger felt so strongly about it.

Varian sighed. “Okay…. Just Sundays and Mondays though, right?” he asked. Ruddiger was free to go whenever he wanted – it’s not like Varian controlled him, but it still hurt that he was choosing his new family in addition to his old. It had always been the two of them, and Varian didn’t realize how much he appreciated his best friend always being there until he had to share him.

The two guards smiled. “Yes! Thank you!” they replied, grinning.

Ruddiger chattered happily before making his way back to Varian where he nuzzled into his side, as if to reassure him he made the right choice. Varian stroked his back yet again, and was reminded of how well-kept Ruddiger’s fur was. Varian suddenly felt a wave of shame engulf him.

He’d been gone for a year. He’d been so overwhelmed with his father’s and his own health and safety, and Ruddiger had just been there when he was freed. He was fine. Varian had never even considered his friend might have needed help.

Patting the raccoon’s head, Varian turned to smile at the two guards. “Thank you for taking care of Ruddiger while I was gone,” he whispered.

Both guards nodded. “It was mutual,” the one with the mustache replied.

“We had a rough start, but Stan’s right,” the other (Pete) agreed. “We looked out for each other while you were gone.”

Varian nodded. Maybe he could make this joint custody thing work.

~~~~~~

Rapunzel, Eugene, Stan and Pete leave in the afternoon. While Rapunzel wishes she could stay, with her parents’ memories gone, she is needed to run the kingdom. Varian assures her at least a thousand times that yes, he’s fine. That yes, if he needs something he’ll come to the castle. That yes, he’s sure she doesn’t need to stay – her kingdom needs her more than he does right now.

Truthfully, Varian’s just thankful for some time alone with his dad. He loves Rapunzel as a sister, and he’ll forever be grateful to her for freeing him, but the overwhelming concern was beginning to grate his nerves. Plus, he hasn’t gotten to talk to his dad alone since “the incident” as they’ve termed it, and it’s about time they had this discussion.

Varian finds his dad in his lab of all places, staring at the melted pool of amber that once held them captive. Varian shuddered, but entered the lab, coming to stand by his father’s side.

Upon seeing his son, Quirin smiled, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

“How are you doing, dad?” Varian asked, leaning into the hug.

Quirin snorted. “I could ask you the same.”

Varian nodded. “Better…, you?”

“Much better,” Quirin responded, bringing his hand up to ruffle his son’s hair.

Varian playfully batted the hand away, once again leaning into his father’s side. “For what it’s worth,” he began, “I’m really sorry, dad.”

Quirin nodded. “Me too, son.”

Varian frowned. “I know, but it was my fault, and-”

Quirin grunted, shaking his head, and turning to face his son. Gently placing his hands on his shoulders, Varian’s reminded of the last time his father did that, after his hot water system burst – it feels like a lifetime ago.

Looking his son in the eyes, Quirin speaks. “No, Varian. You were only trying to help.”

Varian shook his head. “But we could have been seriously hurt, or-or…,” Varian trailed off, not wanting to finish that statement.

“But we weren’t,” Quirin replied. “And who’s to say what would have happened otherwise? It’s best not to dwell on what could have been, and focus on what could be.”

Varian nodded in agreement. “Okay, dad.”

Turning back to face the mess the melted amber left behind, Quirin sighed. “Well, might as well start cleaning up this mess….”

Varian frowned. “Actually dad, I was wondering if I could do that Monday. I want to spend some time catching up with Ruddiger before Stan and Pete’s visitation.”

Quirin stared at his son in confusion.

“We have joint custody now,” Varian replied, as if that explained everything.

Quirin just shook his head, amused. “Sure, Varian.”

Smiling, Varian scooped up his friend and exited the lab. “Thanks, dad!” he called.

Quirin chuckled, turning back to take one last glance at the amber pool before exiting himself. When had his son’s announcement of shared raccoon custody with two guards become one of the least weird events in his life?

Chapter Text

Varian glanced skeptically around the throne room, surveying the damage. Turning to face Eugene, he frowned. “I thought you said defeating the Saporians was ‘embarrassingly easy’?” Varian asked, making quotes with his hands.

Eugene sputtered, turning to face the teenager standing beside him. “I’ll have you know, Hairstripe, that most of this damage was NOT my fault!”

“Yeah!” Lance scoffed. “It’s not Eugene’s fault Andrew slammed him into that wall, or that he was shoved into those flowers destroying them, or that Andrew-”

“Alright Lance,” Eugene interrupted, glaring at his best friend. “I think the kid gets it.” Turning to Varian he sighed. “The point is – we defeated Andrew and his flower children with no injuries and only minimal damage to the throne room. So yes, it was an embarrassingly easy defeat.”

“For Andrew,” Lance clarified. “Not Eugene.”

Eugene scowled, but Varian ignored them both. “This is minimal damage?” he asked, gazing around the throne room. There were a few human-sized holes in the walls, multiple ruined tapestries, and destroyed flowers scattered everywhere.

“Okay so maybe I shouldn’t have used the word ‘minimal’,” Eugene replied. “But we’ve definitely seen worse, right Lance?”

Lance nodded in agreement. “Oh yeah, this is nothing, kid. You should have seen The Great Tree.”

“Or the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow,” Eugene added.

“Or the caravan after we were run off the road and it crashed into the river,” Lance replied.

“Or Old Corona after a certain someone built some hot water heaters,” Eugene remarked snidely, turning to face Varian who flushed with embarrassment.

“Ooo-oooo…, speaking of Old Corona, what about the time Rapunzel touched those black rocks and punched a hole through the back wall of that person’s house and then through the wall surrounding the edge of town – now THAT was some major damage,” Lance commented.

Eugene elbowed his best friend harshly before glancing at Varian. The kid’s face had gone from bright red with embarrassment to a ghostly pale color.

“Are you alright, Varian?” Eugene asked, placing his hand on the kid’s shoulder.

Varian nodded, turning to face the ground. “I’m fine, Eugene.”

Eugene frowned, but before he could say anything else, Rapunzel called everyone over to discuss the repairs.

“Okay, everyone. After the Saporian attack, this kingdom could use a real pick-me-up. And what better way to bring everyone together than with a community project?” Rapunzel began.

Everyone cheered in response, including Varian to Eugene’s relief. Thankfully he didn’t seem to be taking Lance’s inadvertently hurtful comment too badly.

Rapunzel continued, “With a little hard work, and a whole lot of Corona spirit,” with that she did a dramatic twirl.

Nice touch, Eugene smirked. That’s his overtly positive girlfriend.

“We can rebuild this kingdom. So, let’s do it!” she finished, tossing out supplies.

Once again, the people of Corona cheered.

~~~~~~

The cheering and high spirits lasted approximately two hours before infighting and petty squabbling took their place. Honestly longer than Eugene expected if he was being honest. He loved Rapunzel, but sometimes her idea of “fun” wasn’t exactly sympatico with everyone else’s.

When he commented that perhaps “grueling manual labor wasn’t the best idea to bring everyone together,” she’d cheerfully responded to “not think of it as grueling manual labor, but as creativity through destruction.”

Before Eugene could counter that remark, their conversation was interrupted by Old Lady Crowley and Feldspar knocking down a wall. Eugene sighed. That was one of the walls they were supposed to keep, wasn’t it?

Sure enough, Rapunzel confirmed that was, in fact, one of the walls they were supposed to keep. Eugene resisted the urge to facepalm. As Old Lady Crowley stormed off, more of the wall fell down, revealing an inscription carved into the wall.

“What is that?” Eugene asked, coming to stand next to his girlfriend.

“I don’t know,” she replied, “but I’m going to go grab a book to help me translate.”

With that, Rapunzel ran off, returning a few minutes later with her book. Holding the book close, she began to translate. “Here lies King Herz Der Sonne’s lost treasure,” Rapunzel translated, before turning around in glee stating, “This is an honest to goodness treasure map.”

Xavier began to regale them with some legend nonsense, something something, blah blah blah, before Eugene decided to intervene before this turned into story time.

“Uh, Xaves,” he interrupted. “Bottom line us, would you?”

“She’s right. It’s a map,” Xavier replied.

“This is just the thing to bring everyone together,” Rapunzel smiled.

Eugene grinned at his girlfriend. If you say so, Blondie….

~~~~~~

Varian stood in the palace courtyard, surrounded by his fellow Coronans, waiting for Rapunzel to reveal whatever she had hidden under that tarp. When Rapunzel had invited him to the palace to aid in the repairs, he’d thought they’d spend the day actually repairing something, not standing around in the palace courtyard. So far, the only repairing he’d actually accomplished was using his alchemy to help repair a couple of smaller holes in the walls, and to clean the floor. Not exactly a stellar accomplishment, at least in his opinion.

But at least he was able to use his alchemy again. He’d had concerns at first, given what happened the last time he tried to use his alchemy to help, so he’d decided to start slow - only minor experiments he knew for sure would have no negative reactions. But being around Rapunzel, and all of her friends, he was beginning to feel more confident in his abilities again. Rapunzel had been able to help him fix the last mess he’d gotten himself into, surely, she could help him again if he needed it. Not that he would… probably…. But like dad said, it was always best to think things through.

When Varian had first shown up at the castle, Rapunzel had welcomed him, asking for the gazillionith time how he was doing, and if he needed anything, to which he responded that he was fine, giving her a reassuring smile. The princess had immediately smiled back, complimenting him on his new outfit, and escorting him to the damaged throne room before leaving him to go look over the drawings for repairs.

He’d awkwardly stood off to the side for a few moments, (he’d never had many friends before “the incident” and it was hard to relate to people when you’ve been absent for the past year and were still getting caught up on current events), before Eugene waved him over. Smiling in relief, Varian hurried over to join the other half of Team Awesome.

Eugene and his friend, which Varian was introduced to as “Lance,” were easy to talk to, unlike the kids from Varian’s village. Their friendly banter back and forth was amicable, and so unlike the jeering Varian was used to (being the “weird kid with the magic” didn’t exactly afford him many friends to joke around with). And they didn’t get mad when he pointed out that the damage to the throne room wasn’t exactly minimal. In fact, Lance had joined in, poking fun at Eugene for his apparent struggle against some dude named Andrew.

Varian frowned. He’d never heard of an “Andrew,” but it sounds like he was irrelevant now that Rapunzel and her friends had defeated him and his gang. If it turned out he was important, which Varian highly doubted considering all the other more dastardly criminals the group had seemed to face, he would find out eventually. For now, he simply ignored the name, as it meant nothing to him.

What didn’t mean nothing to him was Lance’s mentioning of his destroyed home. It’d taken weeks for them to repair it, and it still hurt knowing that all this destruction had occurred while he’d been trapped. Not only had he lost time, but he’d lost a part of his home. And yes, now the walls themselves were rebuilt, but it was still weird knowing that all of this had occurred when he’d been mere feet from the destruction, and yet might as well have been miles away.

While Eugene’s original jab had been funny, Lance’s was like poking a freshly healing wound – a scab that was still forming over the discovery of all he’d lost. The rebuilt walls of his house were just another reminder all his lost time, of their family’s lost time, of the pain he’d caused both himself and his father.

Eugene immediately seemed to notice his best friend had taken the joking too far, and asked if he was okay. Varian couldn’t bring himself to meet Eugene’s eyes, but still responded as he always did. “I’m fine, Eugene.”

Thankfully before Eugene could express his doubts about Varian’s lie, Rapunzel called everyone over to discuss the repairs. Varian was sure that one day he would be fine – that all of this would seem like a distant memory, but for now he appreciated the distraction in the form of one flamboyant princess rallying the people of Corona to rebuild.

The following manual labor wasn’t so bad – he’d grown up in a farming village after all, and while he’d never been extremely muscular like his father, he did have some muscles from hauling pumpkins, and helping to plow fields.

Unfortunately, it seemed everyone else did mind the “grueling physical labor” as Eugene put it, and thus, the throne room slowly descended into chaos around him. Varian could feel his anxiety slowly begin to increase as more and more people started screaming around him. His lab was never exactly quiet between all the noise from his machines, and the sounds of his experiments running, but the sheer volume of the people around him was beginning to be a lot.

It was almost a relief when Feldspar and Old Lady Crowley knocked down that wall, causing everyone to hush as Rapunzel raced to translate the inscription. After revealing it was a treasure map, Rapunzel was suddenly very excited. Xavier began to tell a tale of the lost treasure, but Eugene cut him off. While Varian was grateful that they didn’t have to listen to Xavier’s full legend (he knew how long-winded some of the blacksmith’s stories could be), he wondered if perhaps they should have listened to this one.

And so that’s how Varian found himself in the courtyard, waiting for Rapunzel to unveil whatever was under that tarp.

As per usual, the princess began her presentation with her usual dramatic flair. “How many of you have ever dreamed of having a treasure of untold riches?”

Untold riches…, Varian thought. You know how many experiments he could afford to perform with that kind of money?!? He could get a whole new set of beakers and flasks, and the fancy test tubes his dad never let them buy because they were too expensive for the amount Varian broke on a weekly basis (author’s note: Before anyone laughs at me, yes there are “fancy test tubes” – I’m a scientist, I can confirm, and they’re so nice and beautiful but also so expensive if you are going to be using a lot (which I assume Varian does), and my advisor never lets us buy them because of that. It’s actually very sad ☹). Or he could splurge and buy new parts for his machines, oh, and a new cart for his dad of course, and all the apples Ruddiger could eat. He had to win!

Rapunzel broke him out of his thoughts as she continued, “We are holding a Corona-wide race for the lost treasure of Herz Der Sonne!”

Varian cheered along with the rest of the people gathered in the courtyard.

“But, wait! It gets better,” Rapunzel stated.

Varian glanced at her skeptically. How could the chance to gain a fortune of untold value, not to mention become famous for something other than destroying his village, possibly get even better?

“Because this is about having fun together, everyone will be racing with a partner!”

Varian groaned. No! No, no, no, no, no…. How could he possibly be expected to race with a partner?!? He doesn’t really even know anyone here except Eugene, Rapunzel, and Ruddiger. Varian breathed a sigh of relief. Ruddiger – he could always count on Ruddiger to be his partner. Together they would win this for sure!

Varian’s hopes are dashed as Rapunzel reveals that they will not, in fact, be picking their own partners, but rather some machine she invented. Varian would be impressed, except he’s too busy freaking out right about now.

Rapunzel placed the berries in front of the gopher running the machine, and soon enough, she was reading off the first two names.

Please be with Ruddiger, please be with Ruddiger, Varian thought as he watched the balls with the names turn in Rapunzel’s hand.

“And our first team is…”

Please please please, for the love of all things Demanitus, let me be with Ruddiger, Varian thought.

“Stan and…”

“Pete! Stan and Pete!” that shorter guard from his house started chanting.

“Ruddiger,” Rapunzel called, setting the two balls aside.

“WHAT?!?” both Varian and Pete shouted at the same time.

“This is an outrage!” Pete began to scream. “It’s Stan and Pete. Everyone knows it’s always Stan and Pete!”

Turning to see Ruddiger pad over to Stan, and climb up onto his shoulders, Varian felt something within him snap. “It’s not Monday!” he shouted. “It’s not your turn! It’s my day! This isn’t fair!”

“Yeah! The kid’s right!” Pete agreed. “This is so not fair!”

Stan shrugged, sending both his friend and the teen a sympathetic glance. Rapunzel continued on, in spite of the outbursts, as if nothing happened.

Varian frowned. How is this fair?!? It’s his day with Ruddiger! He’s supposed to be his partner! Not Stan’s! Now his best friend was paired with some dopey guard, and he was stuck with who knows?

Varian sighed. It’s fine. It’s whatever. This could still work out. Maybe he would get partnered with Eugene or Rapunzel. Both of those are good options. He wouldn’t mind working with either one of them. He could deal with the Ruddiger and Stan situation later.

Rapunzel collected the names for the next team. “Pascal and… Max! Aw, cute!”

Grabbing the balls with the next set of names, she read them off, “Xavier… and Catalina!”

Varian breathed a sigh of relief. Statistically speaking, he now had a chance of being partnered with Eugene or Rapunzel. It would all work out, this would all be okay….

Rapunzel called out the next set of names, “Angry… and Hamuel!”

A loud scream ripped through the courtyard. “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?”

Varian turned to see an angry girl he didn’t recognize glaring at Rapunzel.

“YOU’RE TELLING ME I’M STUCK WITH THE STUPID BIRD?!?”

Well at least now he sees why they call her “Angry.”

Rapunzel continues on, ignoring her tirade. “Eugene… and, of course, Lance.”

Dang it, Varian thought. Well, at least there’s still Rapunzel… who was already reading the next set of names. “Varian… and Pete!”

Varian gasped, turning to face the guard in shock. No way! No way was this actually happening…. Not only was he not partnered with Ruddiger, but he was partnered with a total stranger. No! Worse than a total stranger – some random guard with whom he was being forced to share raccoon custody. This was his worst nightmare. Okay, not worst nightmare, (and he would know as he’s had a lot of those lately), but high on the list nonetheless….

The guard gazed back in shock as well. Rapunzel called out the last sets of names, but Varian wasn’t listening. He was too busy trying to figure out what he was going to do about the situation he’d now found himself in.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get much time to process his predicament, as Rapunzel was already telling them to take a good look at the map. Varian gathered with the rest of the people around the map, memorizing it almost immediately. Okay, he could do this. It was just for a few hours. No problem. He’s got this.

After memorizing the map, he made his way to the starting line along with everyone else. Varian repressed the urge to groan as his “partner” came to stand next to him. This was going to be a long few hours….

Rapunzel stood next to a cannon on the side of the road, preparing to start the race. “On your mark, get set….” The cannon blasts as Rapunzel screams, “TREASURE!!!!”

Varian takes off running, sensing his partner beside him doing the same. As they run through the town, making it to the edge, Pete turns to Varian as he runs.

“Okay, kid. Here’s the plan. We’re going to run as fast as we can to the treasure, taking the most direct route, and beat everyone else there,” Pete stated, continuing to run.

Varian frowned. “But the most direct path looked like it had a ton of obstacles, so maybe taking an alternate route like using a boat to follow the river would be a better plan.”

Pete huffed in annoyance. “Look, kid. I’m a guard. I have all the training we will ever need to get us through any obstacle. So I say we take the direct path. It’s faster.”

“But what about-”

“We’ll be fine!”

“But maybe I could build something and we could-”

“Nope! Bad plan! The fastest route always wins!”

Varian scowled at his partner, but decided to let him have this one. Hoisting his backpack containing all of his alchemy supplies higher onto his shoulders, he sighed. Worst case scenario, his alchemy could help them along the way. Probably…. From the map, he remembers seeing a least one sap pond, and a bramble patch on the most direct path. Hopefully, Pete would be able to get them through. If not, he might have some alchemy tools to help them.

The two fall into silence, the only sound between them their footsteps in the grass, and the sounds of their breaths. Varian frowns as he notices his breathing is much more labored than the guard’s. Note to self: add more cardio, Varian noted on his mental list of exercises.

Varian had never been particularly athletic, but a year trapped in amber hadn’t really done him any favors. Come to think of it, this was the first major form of exercise he’d experienced since getting out. And so, he found himself thankful when they stopped at the edge of the first sap pond.

Placing his hands on his head, Varian took deep breaths, trying to slow his accelerated heart rate, while his partner bent down to sniff the sap. Varian gagged when he saw the man taste it. Literally why? It was obviously a sap pond. It had been right there on the map.

“Yep. It’s what I was afraid of,” Pete stated. “What we got here is a good, old-fashioned Corona sap pond.”

Varian rolled his eyes. Obviously, someone had not been paying as close attention to the map as he had. It had literally been right there on it!

Pete continued, “Okay, kid, to cross this, we’ll need expert timing, balance, and agility.”

Varian frowned. “Um, Pete….”

Pete turned to face him. “Yeah, kid?”

Varian rubbed the back of his neck as he felt his face flush with embarrassment. “None of those are really my strong suits…. I’m kind of a clutz in all honesty.”

Pete smiled. “Relax, kid. Fortunately, I’ve got the training and skills needed to cross this sap pond with no problems. Once I’ve made it to the other side, I’ll find a way to get you across.”

Varian glanced at his partner skeptically. “Are you sure, because maybe my alchemy-”

“Trust me kid,” Pete interrupted. “I got this.” Grabbing a vine, Pete stepped back, pulling it taut. “Pete, your time to shine.” With that, Pete began to run forward.

Varian sighed, watching as the guard prepared to swing over the pond. Staring between the vine and the ground, Varian froze as he realized the problem. Given the length of the rope and the downward radius of Pete’s swing, there was no way he’d ever make it across safely.

“Pete, wait! Your vine’s too long!” Varian called, but it was too late. Pete’s feet had already left the cliffside. Varian watched in horror as his partner swung down, directly into the sap pond, being covered completely.

“PETE!” Varian screamed as he ran to the edge of the cliff, peering down over the edge. Varian held his breath as he waited for any sign of his partner to show he was okay. Thankfully, after a minute, Pete’s face emerged from the sap.

“Pete!” Varian called. “Are you alright?”

“Mhh-fimhnn-mhmmid,” came the muffled reply.

Varian rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief. So much for having the training. Taking off his backpack, Varian dug through its contents looking for the right alchemical tool to help him get across. After a few minutes, he pulled out multiple light blue spheres.

“Perfect,” he smiled as he stepped up to the edge of the cliff. Tying a vine to the edge of a tree trunk, Varian slowly lowered himself down until he was right above the sap pond. Taking the first of the spheres, he dropped it onto the pond, smiling as a small portion of it became covered in ice.

Carefully stepping down onto the ice, Varian breathed a sigh of relief as it held his weight. Taking the rest of his spheres, he slowly worked his way across the pond, jumping from ice sheet to newly created ice sheet until he finally reached the other side, climbing to the top.

“I made it!” Varian smiled as he stood atop the other cliff. “I did it! It worked!” Varian started to do his victory dance before he heard a muffled cry from below. “Oh, right,” Varian sighed.

“Hold on, Pete,” Varian called. “I’ll get you out!” Grabbing another vine, Varian tossed one end down to Pete, who thankfully was somehow able to grab it. Wrapping the other end around a tree and then around his waist, Varian called down to Pete, “I’m going to pull you out of the sap, and then you can use my ice sheets to get across safely.”

All he got was a muffled reply, but that was good enough for him. They needed to keep moving if they wanted to get to the treasure first. Tugging on the vine, Varian slowly pulled Pete out of the sap, then watched as the guard slowly made his way across the pond, and up the side of the cliff.

Upon reaching the top, Varian saw that Pete was still completely covered in a thick layer of sap. Taking his animal trap neutralizing particle from his backpack, he sprinkled some on Pete’s face. The sap dissolved almost instantly.

“How’d you do that?” Pete asked, allowing Varian to sprinkle more of the neutralizing compound over his arms and legs.

“The animal goo traps I made have similar properties to sap. I wasn’t 100% sure it’d work, but I figured it was worth a shot,” Varian replied. “Unfortunately, I don’t have enough to get rid of all the sap,” Varian sighed, “but at least your face, arms, and legs are free.”

Pete nodded. “Thanks, kid,” he replied. “Now let’s quit wasting time, and go get that treasure.” With that, Pete began to start running again.

Varian sighed, following after his partner, pointedly not pointing out that Pete was the one, in fact, who had wasted their time. Just a few more hours, Varian thought. You can do this.

~~~~~~

The next obstacle they came across was a bramble patch.

“Alright, kid,” Pete sighed. “Looks like it’ll take too long to go around. We’ll have to go through.”

Varian frowned, looking at the twisted mess of thorns. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Pete,” he commented.

“Well, do you have a better idea?” Pete asked, turning to face his partner.

“Actually, yes I do,” Varian replied, smiling as he pulled a pale blue sphere from his backpack. Smirking at Pete’s confused expression, Varian threw the sphere on ground at their feet. Upon impact, the sphere immediately burst into thousands of tiny bubbles, coating them both.

“What the-?” Pete questioned, shaking his arms free of bubbles.

Varian flushed. “Oh…. Sorry, Pete. That was a…, yeah, that was a bath bomb,” Varian finished sheepishly.

Pete sighed, turning back to face the thorns. “Through it is then…,” he muttered.

“Wait, Pete! I just grabbed the wrong sphere. You know, I really should label these, and-”

“No offense, kid,” Pete cut him off, “but I’ve seen up close what your alchemy can do, and I think I’ll pass.”

Varian winced, flinching back as if he’d been slapped.

“Now, come on. The way to the treasure is through here,” Pete stated, beginning to shove his way through the bramble.

Varian watched as his partner entered the bramble patch, wincing as he heard Pete cry out in pain. He knew what he was doing…, he just grabbed the wrong sphere – it happens. Pete was wrong about his alchemy. Wasn’t he?

Varian shook himself out of his thoughts. Well, there was no way he was going through there. His plan would work – he was sure of it. Grabbing another light blue sphere (and this time checking to make sure it was the correct one), Varian dropped it at his feet.

This time upon impact, the sphere expanded into a bubble that surrounded Varian and began to lift him into the air.

“Whoa!” Varian cried out, momentarily losing his balance, before righting himself within the bubble. “Okay, Varian. You can do this. No problem. You got this!”

With that, Varian began to walk inside the bubble, pressing on the bubble’s wall, causing it to roll forward as it rose.

“I-I’m doing it!” Varian exclaimed happily as he began to cross the bramble patch from above. “I’m actually doing it.”

Upon reaching the other side, Varian used his screwdriver to pop the bubble, throwing down a pink orb that reacted once it hit the ground, creating a cushion for his fall. Sliding off the side of the soft compound, Varian’s feet hit the ground on the opposite side of the bramble patch, completely unharmed.

Dusting himself off, he smiled. “I did it! Take that, Pete!” Varian shouted.

“Take what?” Pete asked as he exited the bramble, covered in the stuff. While Varian’s neutralizing compound had been able to dissolve most of the sap, some still covered his chest and back, causing the bramble to stick to him.

“You made it?” Pete questioned, right as he tripped and fell to the ground.

Varian nodded. “Yeah, I used my alchemy to-”

“That’s great, kid,” Pete interrupted, “but can you help me pry off some bramble?”

Sighing, Varian moved forward to try to help pry off some of the bramble. As he was attempting to remove some of it, he heard a voice cry out from up the hill.

“Outta the way, slow boats!”

Varian braced for impact as an older man pulling an elderly woman in a cart behind him raced straight towards them. Thankfully, at the last second, the old man tripped, slamming into Pete, and sending the old lady flying.

Sighing, Pete stood up, with the old man still attached to the amber on his back. “Come on, kid. We need to move,” Pete stated, turning to leave.

Varian frowned. “You can’t be serious? There’s no way we can continue to go on foot – we’ve struggled with every obstacle we’ve come across.” Or at least, you have, Varian thought to himself. “We need to take the river.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, kid, but we don’t exactly have a boat,” the guard replied sarcastically.

Varian smiled, turning to face the cart. “Leave that to me.”

~~~~~~

The raft he made wasn’t exactly the prettiest, but it would work… probably… maybe… hopefully…. Varian did some mental math – okay so there was an 8.6% chance of failure – no big deal. He’d done more with much worse odds. Of course, he’d also done a lot of damage with a lot lower odds, but Pete didn’t need to know that….

“Are you sure this will work?” Pete asked skeptically.

Varian nodded. “Yup! 100%!”

Pete frowned, but climbed onto the raft.

“Well, I think it’s great!” the man attached to Pete’s back commented.

“Uhhhh…, thanks,” Varian replied, climbing onboard as well.

Both he and Pete began to row in silence, the only sound being the rushing river below them.

After a while, Pete broke the silence. “This is a nice raft, kid.”

“Thanks,” Varian replied, continuing to focus on rowing.

After a few more moments of silence, Pete sighed. “I’m sorry for what I said back there… about your alchemy…. I didn’t mean it.”

Varian froze, looking up from where he was paddling. “What?”

Pete frowned, placing the handle of his oar across his lap. “I just – I’m supposed to be the adult, the strong guard who can protect you – and I’m not. I failed at every obstacle we’ve faced today, and I took out my frustration on you, and for that, I’m sorry.”

Varian stopped paddling, allowing his oar to dangle in the water as they drifted downstream. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “You at least called it alchemy, which is more than most of the kingdom,” Varian stated, giving Pete a small hesitant smile.

Pete returned the smile, before his face turned serious again. “I didn’t mean to imply your alchemy was dangerous. I just – I want to keep you safe, Varian. I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but that’s all I’ve been trying to do for a year now. I’ve been looking out for you, even if you didn’t know it, and I just want to make sure nothing ever happens to you again. It’s my duty as a guard to protect people, and we failed with the black rocks – I failed. You’re just one of many people that I let down, that I couldn’t protect, and I’m sorry.”

Varian stared at the guard in shock after his confession. Sighing, he laid his own oar across his lap. “It’s not your fault, Pete. There’s no one to blame for what happened except me. I ignored my father’s warning and we both paid the price. I just wanted to help; you know? It’s like no matter what I tried, I still failed.”

Pete nodded solemnly in understanding. “When we were first assigned to watch over you and your family, I thought it was stupid at first.”

At Varian’s raised eyebrow, he continued, “I mean, we were supposed to take care of a raccoon and make sure nothing happened to you and your father, but after arriving, and seeing the amber – there was nothing we could do. Nothing I could do, except sit there and stare and you, and hope you were okay, because if you weren’t then you were just another person I let get hurt because I wasn’t good enough.

Stan won’t talk about it, but he got hurt before we were sent to keep watch over you and take care of Ruddiger. I’m his partner – I’m supposed to look out for him, keep him safe, but I failed. I was so scared, helping to carry him to the medical wing – he’s my best friend – and thankfully he was okay, but he still got hurt. And seeing you, trapped like that,” Pete shivered. “You’re another person I let get hurt. Another person I was supposed to protect, but failed.

So I know you’re a great kid, with an amazing talent for alchemy, but today, I wanted to be the one to guide you, the one to get you to the treasure safely. I failed you last time, and I’m not going to fail you again.”

Varian stared at Pete in shock before replying, “It’s okay. I’m still not even too sure about my alchemy. I mean, I love it, and at one point I thought I loved it more than anything else in the world, but then it hurt my dad, and-” Varian sighed, examining the oar in his hands. “And it hurt me,” he whispered.

“I failed, and it cost me so much, and it hurt the people I love, yet I still want to try. Maybe that makes me crazy,” Varian muttered.

“I don’t think it does,” Pete replied. “There’s nothing crazy about wanting to continue to try, even after a failure. If I’d given up after every failure as a guard, then I never would have made it through basic training. What’s crazy, is letting the fear of failure keep you from trying. If alchemy is what you love, and you can help people by doing it, then I say, ‘go for it!’ Yes, you can learn from your failure, and move forward more wisely, but you can’t give up, Varian. Regardless of what idiots like me might say when we put our foots in our mouths,” Pete smirked.

Varian nodded. “Thanks, Pete.” He smiled at his partner. Dipping his oar back into the water, he grinned. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re actually pretty smart?”

Turning to face Varian, Pete stared at him in surprise. “You would be the first….”

Varian smiled, turning to face his new friend. “Well, you’re pretty smart, Pete.”

Turning back to paddling, Varian’s face turned determined. “Now let’s go get that treasure!”

~~~~~~

After a few minutes of rowing, both look up in surprise as a cheering Rapunzel and Feldspar race past on land.

Varian stared at them in shock. “Where’d they come from? How are they moving so fast? Wait, she has a map. Hey! You’re cheating!” Varian called, leaning forward to get a better look, but losing his balance and falling off the raft, dropping his oar.

Pete quickly reached over, grabbing him, and hauling him back onto the raft.

“Are you okay, Varian?” he asked.

“Fine, bu-but Rapunzel… she-she has a map!” Varian gasped for breath.

“Huh?” Pete questioned. “She has a map?!? Well, two can play at that game…,” Pete smirked.

“You have a map?” Varian asked hopefully.

Pete sighed, looking down. “No, I do not.”

“It’s okay, buddy,” the old man on Pete’s back patted his shoulder in comfort.

Varian rolled his eyes. “Come on! We have to hurry!” With that, he reached over the side of the raft and began paddling once again.

Pete nodded and began paddling again as well. Eventually they reached the spot on the river where they disembarked, and raced towards their final destination.

Varian noticed upon arrival that the rest of the kingdom had made it the same time as them (except surprisingly Eugene and Lance which was odd), including that angry girl and the bird. Either that girl was super smart and fast, or the rest of them just sucked at treasure hunting, because Varian honestly didn’t expect to see her anywhere near the treasure. It was honestly a little embarrassing that he and Pete did just as well as that girl and the stupid bird. Okay, actually a lot embarrassing, but he’d deal with that later. For now, he was too busy screaming at Rapunzel for cheating.

“You’re cheaters!” the angry girl yelled.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Varian echoed.

Rapunzel went on to tell them how the treasure is cursed.

“Why should we listen to a cheater?” Stan asked.

Fair point, Stan, fair point, Varian thought.

As Rapunzel attempted to explain herself by making excuses, she was interrupted by someone screaming that the girl had the treasure.

Turning from Rapunzel to face the treasure, Varian stared in shock at the red-head who had managed to sneak past them all, and was now holding the treasure. As the townspeople approached her menacingly, she tossed the box to her partner, Xavier, who caught it.

“Stop! Listen to me, everyone, please!” Rapunzel shouted. “It says right here, if you claim that treasure, we are all doomed!”

Varian froze. “Can you clarify doomed?” he grumbled. He did not sign up for doom. Treasure - yes, doom – no thank you.

Just then, Eugene and Lance showed up, stealing the box from Xavier’s hands. Before anyone could stop them, they opened it. All of a sudden, an eerie red glow was released, forming the shape of a skull above them.

Varian grimaced. This… was not good. “Oh, 10 on the doom scale! 10 on the doom scale!” he cried out, staring up at the red light in fear.

Just when he thought it couldn’t get much worse, the eyes on the sarcophaguses lining the walls began to glow. Not good…, not good at all…. Mummies began to come out of the coffins, surrounding the Coronans in an instant.

“Oh! The legend is true!” Xavier shouted. “The Undead Protectors of Herz Der Sonne’s Treasure have risen!”

“What?!?” Varian screamed. “You know, next time, lead with the, the high doom ratio legends!” He knew Eugene should have let Xavier finish his story back in the throne room….

“Eugene, put the lid back on,” Rapunzel called.

Eugene closed the box, but to no avail. The mummies screeched, and closed in on the townspeople.

“We have to put it back where it belongs!” Rapunzel yelled, letting down her hair and attacking.

“Varian!” Pete called.

Varian turned to face his friend. “Yeah, I know. Stay back, and you’ll protect me. But Pete, I-”

“No!” Pete shook his head. “You got this!” he stated, gesturing to Varian’s backpack.

Varian smiled. “Thanks, Pete!”

Pete nodded. “I’ll watch your back!”

“And I’ll watch yours!” the old man yelled.

Varian rolled his eyes, but smiled, digging through his bag. As he searched for the perfect compound (he really should label them), mummies approached from both sides. Pete took out the one to his right, Ruddiger, Pascal and Max appearing to take out the one on his left.

“Thanks, guys,” Varian called, pulling multiple alchemy spheres from his bag, and hoisting it back onto his shoulder. Turning to find more mummies incoming, Varian smirked.

“Hey dead-beats! Catch!” Varian shouted as he threw his alchemy spheres. The spheres exploded at the feet of three different mummies, trapping them in his animal trap goo.

Racing past them as they pried at their feet, struggling to get free, Varian threw two more spheres, stopping two more mummies in their tracks.

“We have the alchemy!” Lance shouted in triumph as Varian tossed him a sphere, which he used to trap the mummy he was currently fighting.

With so many of the mummies trapped, Rapunzel had a clear shot to the podium. Racing past the remaining mummies, she returned the box to its pedestal. The Coronans cheered as the mummies all returned back to the sarcophaguses from which they came.

“You did it!” Pete yelled, clapping Varian on the back.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” Varian smiled. “But I couldn’t have done it without you watching my back.”

Ruddiger scampered over, climbing up onto Varian’s shoulders.

Varian giggled. “And you too, Ruddiger.”

Stan ran over to help his best friend, yanking the old man off his back.

“I see you two had quite the adventure,” Stan commented.

Pete nodded before turning to Varian. “Hey, Varian. I know we were just partners for the race, but you’re a cool kid. If you ever want to hang out, you’re always welcome to come chill with us.”

Varian smiled, nodding. “Thanks, Pete.” Turning to scratch Ruddiger behind the ears, he grinned. “You know, while I am out of neutralizing particle, if you wanted to swing by my lab on the way back to the castle, I could whip up some more to get rid of the rest of that sap.”

Pete smiled, wrapping an arm around Varian. “That’d be great!” Attempting to pull away, he realized his mistake. “There was sap on my side wasn’t there.”

“Yes, there was,” Varian smirked.

“This was a mistake,” Pete continued.

“Yes, it was,” Varian laughed. “But don’t worry. I can fix it.”

Pete nodded. “I know you can, kid.”

~~~~~~

Later, back at the palace, Rapunzel cut the ribbon, opening the doors to reveal the new throne room.

“This is awesome,” Varian commented as he entered.

Pete whistled. “Yeah, it’s really something.”

After a few hours of mingling with the others, Varian turned to head home.

“Hey, Varian!” Pete called.

Varian turned to find Stan and Pete approaching him.

“Would you like an escort?”

Varian shook his head. “You guys don’t have to do that.”

Pete grinned. “I know, but we want to.”

Varian smirked. “Does this have anything to do with wanting to spend extra time with Ruddiger?”

Pete rolled his eyes, wrapping his arm around Varian’s shoulders. “Nah, I just want to spend some time with my ‘new bestie’ as Rapunzel put it.”

Stan frowned. “But I’m your bestie, Pete! It’s Stan and Pete! It’s always Stan and Pete!”

Pete smirked, winking at Varian. “I seem to recall someone feeling differently about that earlier when you were partnered with Ruddiger. It’s Varian and Pete now, Stan.”

Varian rolled his eyes, giggling at Stan’s indignant glare. “Don’t worry, Stan. I won’t steal your best friend. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Stan nodded but frowned, lost in thought. ‘Yet that’s exactly what we did to you, isn’t it?’ he thought looking between the boy and his raccoon.

~~~~~~

The walk to Old Corona was full of laughs, with Stan and Pete sharing stories from basic training, and Varian sharing stories of some of his alchemy misadventures. As the two guards waved goodbye to Varian and Ruddiger, they fell into an amicable silence as they began to make their way home.

After a few minutes, Stan broke the silence. “Pete, we need to talk.”

Chapter Text

~~~Varian ~~~

Ever since the battle with the undead, Varian’s been feeling more confident about his alchemy. So when Rapunzel mentions that they’re headed to Neserdnia to return some stolen goods, Varian asks to tag along so he can get a new copper-plated alembic. Of course, Rapunzel is ecstatic he wants to come, and happily agrees to let him join their trip.

When the trio picks him up from Old Corona, he is surprised to find the people returning the stolen goods are the two children he remembers from the treasure hunt, whom Rapunzel introduces as “Angry and Catalina.” He hadn’t been surprised when Rapunzel had told him that the reason she was traveling to Nerserdnia was to help some friends return some stolen loot so they could put their thieving past behind them. After all, her own boyfriend was once an infamous thief himself, not to mention her friends mostly consisted of former criminals. But he is surprised at the age of these former thieves.

Both girls can’t be older than he is, and from the looks of the sack of loot in the back of the cart, they were quite accomplished thieves. When exactly did they start their criminal lifestyle? Where were their parents? How could two children so young have such an infamous record?

Varian found himself being inwardly thankful for his dad. It was safe to assume that if Rapunzel was the one helping these two girls return their stolen loot that they either didn’t have parents, or didn’t have parents who cared. His dad might not have always been the most expressive person, but after the amber he was being more honest and open. And even before “the incident,” he had always cared for Varian and helped to keep him out of trouble.

Varian frowns, looking at the two young girls sitting next to him. Without his dad, would he ever have resorted to a life of crime like these two? Would he ever have found himself so desperate without his father’s guidance that he would ever have sunk so low as to hurt people through his actions?

Varian shook his head, dispelling those thoughts. That was a ridiculous notion. His dad had always been there to protect him, and Varian could always take care of himself (or worst-case scenario, Rapunzel would make sure he was okay). Though, he was still grateful for his dad being there to help keep him on the right path. He’s thankful Rapunzel has given these girls a second chance for them to do the same.

As the cart jolts, Varian is broken out of his thoughts. Leaning forward to see what caused the disturbance, he frowns as he sees Ruddiger taunting Max with an apple. This won’t end well. As Max jerks forward, the cart follows, slinging them and the cart’s contents around.

As Rapunzel asks the two animals what happened, Varian hears Catalina ask, “What is this?”

He tunes out their discussion as he notices the path they’re on. Given their current trajectory, they should be coming up on Deadman’s Curve. Varian shivers. Dad had always told him never to come here, at least not alone, as it was full of robbers. And of course, now he was traveling through it with a cart full of loot. Fantastic….

But he trusted Rapunzel, and she seemed to have no issue with traveling through this part of the woods. I mean, who was he to contradict the princess who had spent the last year traveling the world, when he had been… not traveling…. Literally at all – not even a foot. But that wasn’t going to stop him from relaying valuable information that could keep them all safe.

“Uh, gang, hi, hello, speaking of valuables… we, uh, might want to stow the loot. We’re coming up on Deadman’s Curve. Yeah, it’s a hotbed of highway robbery.”

Reaching over, he grabs Rapunzel’s hair, holding it close to his chest, shielding himself. It’s not that he’s scared, per se, he’s just concerned is all. Plus, he’s using her magical non-breakable hair to shield his non-magical breakable self – that’s just smart!

Angry smirked at his reaction. “Relax, V. Real thieves don’t waste their time on here. It’s mostly for hacks and knuckleheads.”

A figure dropped down in front of the cart. “Hand over the goods!”

Varian clutched Rapunzel’s hair more tightly. See, this was exactly what he was afraid of.

Catalina frowned. “Or in this case, both.”

“Hi Dwayne,” all three girls groaned.

Varian frowned, slowly lowering Rapunzel’s hair, realizing he was the only one still freaking out. They all knew this guy? Literally how?

“Ah, nuts. Hello, princess,” Dwayne replied sheepishly.

“Dwayne, what did we talk about last time you were caught trying to steal?” Rapunzel admonished.

“Don’t do it,” Dwayne replied knowingly, kicking a rock. “I promise. I’ll never steal again.”

Varian huffed. Yeah, right.

“In fact, I’m gonna go look for an honest job right now,” Dwayne insisted as he walked past them, reentering the woods. “Nice running into you. Enjoy your trip!”

Varian didn’t even have time to roll his eyes before Max began chasing after Ruddiger, who’d stolen an apple from his saddlebag. The cart went round and round in circles, before Max finally came to a halt, sneering at Ruddiger who had climbed up into a tree, waving the apple mockingly.

“Ruddiger, get down here!” Varian yelled. Honestly, what had gotten into him?

Pascal stole the apple from Ruddiger’s grip, racing away, but tripping and falling down onto Max. Ruddiger followed, and the fight continued. Eventually the bird used a shell pendant to grab the apple, and all of the animals tackled him.

“Enough!” Rapunzel yelled. “Maybe it’s time for you all to just shake hands and get along.”

Sitting back down in the cart she corrected herself. “I mean, shake hoof and tail or beak and paw…. Is that what raccoons have? Paws? I can never remember if it’s paws or feet,” she asked, turning to Varian.

Varian just stared back at her, unimpressed. This was her idea of conflict resolution?!? No wonder Cassandra left….

“Oh, well. Just shake what you’ve got and get on with it.”

Smooth, Rapunzel. Very smooth. Not surprisingly, Rapunzel’s conflict resolution tactic did not work, and Ruddiger raced forward, struggling with Hamuel for the apple.

Varian gazed in surprise as a bright yellow light erupted from the shell pendant attached to said apple, spiraling up and around them. All of a sudden, he was pulled up and into the pendant, collapsing on a pile of pillows inside it. Slowly sitting up, Varian stared in shock at his surroundings.

“Okay,” Rapunzel began. “Either we’ve somehow been magically shrunk down and imprisoned inside the shell pendant…”

“Or?” Catalina asked.

Varian gasped. Imprisoned?!? They were trapped! He was trapped! Not again! He would never get out! Not this time! He would never see his dad again! He would never see Ruddiger again! Why was this happening again?!? He was with Rapunzel! He was supposed to be safe!

Pulling his knees to his chest, he wrapped his arms tightly around them. He would never get out. He was stuck here forever. And this time he didn’t get to say goodbye.

Distantly, he heard Rapunzel reply, “Or… yeah, sorry. I was hoping I’d think of something more positive sounding by the time I finished that thought but I’ve got nothing.”

Varian whimpered. Rapunzel had nothing. No ideas. No way out.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! We’ll find a way out of here. We have been in much worse situations,” Rapunzel tried to reassure them.

Varian fought the urge to chuckle bitterly. Of course, he had – at least this time he could move. But this time, no one was coming to save them. No one had made a promise to help them. They were alone. There was no way out. He would never see his dad again, or Ruddiger again. He escaped last time only because Rapunzel freed him. Now she was trapped with him. This time there would be no escape….

~~~Ruddiger~~~

When Varian decides to bring him along for the trip to Neserdnia, Ruddiger doesn’t really mind. He’s glad his boy is branching out and meeting new friends. This trip will be good for him, and if he needs an old friend to tag along, Ruddiger’s happy to be there for him.

It’s not until the cart pulls up outside the house that Ruddiger realizes his mistake in agreeing to come along. That pompous jerk of a horse, Max, was the one pulling the cart that would take them to Neserdnia. That stupid horse had had it out for him since they’d first met and he’d used him as a step stool to get some apples. And then there was the whole “he scratched his princess” when she tried to take him away from Varian, and honestly that self-righteous jerk needed to get over himself and let it go. Like he wouldn’t have done the exact same thing.

Admittedly, when it came to the fight over the apples, he’d started it. He shouldn’t have taunted Max, and he shouldn’t have stolen his apple. But that horse was the most obnoxious sanctimonious animal he’d ever met! He deserved it for being a jerk!

And once the fight started, well, he couldn’t lose. He wouldn’t let that self-righteous goody-goody beat him. It was his apple. He grabbed it first!

He hadn’t counted on that bird using the shell pendant to harpoon the apple, and he certainly hadn’t counted on it SUCKING HIS BEST FRIEND INTO IT!!!!

Ruddiger peered down at the shell, trembling. Not again. Please, no, not again. He’d already lost Varian once – he couldn’t lose him again. Reaching out shaking paws, he gently scooped up the pendant, examining it.

Max neighed, stomping at him. “This is your fault!”

Glancing up in shock, Ruddiger felt his gut-wrenching fear meld with indignant frustration. “My fault?!?”

Pascal interrupts the two before the argument can escalate. “It doesn’t matter whose fault it is! But now we need to work together to get them out!”

Peering down at the amulet, Ruddiger sighs. “You’re right. Neserdnia is that way. If we keep walking, we can make it by morning and maybe find someone who can help us.”

Max stamped his hooves. “No, we need to turn back, and head for Corona. We can seek help there.”

“That plan makes no sense. There’s no one in Corona who understands magic enough to help. Our best chance is to head to Neserdnia,” Ruddiger argued.

“But in Corona we have friends who would want to help us. Plus, it’s faster. We head to Corona,” Max stated, turning back the way they came.

Ruddiger growled. “No! Neserdnia!”

Max turned, getting in Ruddiger’s face. “Corona!” Leaning forward, he grabbed the chain on the pendant, yanking it from Ruddiger’s paws.

Ruddiger screeched indignantly, reaching forward to grab the pendant once again.

“Guys, seriously?!? Now’s not the time,” Pascal yelled, as he tried to push the two apart.

The three continued struggling, until finally their combined force pulling the pendant in different directions sent it flying. The animals stared at each other in shock before racing after it.

When they finally located where it fell, they were surprised to find the pendant was gone. Luckily, the person who had stolen the pendant had left behind footprints. Sniffing the ground, Ruddiger pointed in the direction they should go, turning to find Max was pointing in the exact opposite direction.

Which of course led to another fight, which was wasting time. He needed to find Varian now. So if Max could get off his high horse and cooperate, that would be FANTASTIC!

Leaning back from where Ruddiger and him were nose to nose, Max neighed. “Well, I’m going this way!” he stated, before walking off. Pascal shrugged, before chasing after him.

ARE THEY SERIOUS?!? Ruddiger wanted to scream. Throwing his arms in the air, he grumbled. No one ever listens to his ideas when it comes to him protecting Varian. Not Rapunzel when she covered the amber with that stupid tarp, and now not her idiot horse, Max.

Fine! He’d go with them. If only to say, “I told you so!” But he would find Varian, and he would save him this time. Make no mistake…, he would do whatever it took to get Varian back. He wasn’t going to sit around, helpless like last time. This time he could actually do something to help his friend.

“I’m coming for you, Varian,” Ruddiger chittered as he followed after the other animals. “Just hang in there…. I won’t let you down – not this time.”

~~~Varian~~~

Varian is beginning to wonder if the shell has a limited oxygen supply, because it’s suddenly very difficult to breathe. Figures he survived being trapped in unbreakable amber, only to suffocate in a shell. What a cruel joke life has decided to play on him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the energy left to laugh at life’s savagery. “I’ll never see dad again,” he whimpers, burying his face into his knees. “I’ll never see Ruddiger.”

Clenching his fists, he digs the heels of his palms into his eyes, trying to hold back his tears. It’s getting harder and harder to breathe. He doesn’t want to die in here. His dad might never know what happened to him. It wasn’t even his fault this time. It wasn’t fair!

But this was it. Rapunzel was the only one with powerful enough magic to break the amber, and who’s to say the shell isn’t just as strong. With her stuck in here – there’s no way out. They’re going to be imprisoned forever, or at least until their limited oxygen runs out – which, judging by his increased respiration, but no relief for his burning lungs, is very soon.

They’re out of time! He’s out of time! There’s no escape!

~~~Catalina~~~

When they are first trapped in the shell pendant, Catalina panics a little. Not that she’d ever admit it, or at least not to anyone besides Kiera, but she’s freaking out. This is beyond weird, and that’s coming from the girl who doubles as a werewolf. Thankfully, Rapunzel steps in before she can panic too much.

“Okay,” Rapunzel sighs. “Either we’ve somehow been magically shrunk down and imprisoned inside the shell pendant…”

“Or?” Catalina asks hopefully. Maybe there was a bright side, or an obvious escape route she just wasn’t seeing.

“Or… yeah, sorry. I was hoping I’d think of something more positive sounding by the time I finished that thought but I’ve got nothing,” Rapunzel admits.

Catalina deflates, seeing Kiera mimic her reaction next to her. If Rapunzel has no ideas, then they really are in trouble.

Seeing their faces fall, Rapunzel rushes to reassure them. “It’s okay! It’s okay! We’ll find a way out of here. We have been in much worse situations.” Sighing, Rapunzel continues. “Definitely not weirder, but worse.”

Catalina frowns. That wasn’t exactly reassuring.

Rapunzel continues her pep talk, “Chin up, guys! I bet Max and the others are already on their way to get help. I’m sure we will be free in no time.”

Catalina nods, exchanging a glance with her sister. They’d be fine. Rapunzel was right – they’d been in worse situations than this one, and they always made it out safely. There was nothing they couldn’t handle. Or so she thought….

Turning to get a better look at their surroundings, Catalina frowned as she noticed the shaking boy curled in on himself. That morning had been the first time she’d been properly introduced to Varian, but she’d seen him around the castle before, and she’d watched him kick undead butt during that treasure hunt. He seemed nice, even if Kiera had called him a nerd behind his back. She loved her sister, but sometimes her first impression judgements were unbearably harsh.

After the battle, she’d come to respect the kid (and yes, she knows she shouldn’t call him a kid considering he’s older than her, but life experience trumps age, and this kid was as innocent as they come). To see him now, literally shaking and whimpering into his knees – it’s the exact opposite of his cool confidence he displayed during the battle with the undead, and it’s unnerving.

“Ummm… Rapunzel?” she asks, gesturing to the frightened kid.

Rapunzel turns, finally noticing the petrified teen. It appears she’d been so busy trying to keep their spirits up, she’d failed to notice Varian… struggling…. That’s the word Catalina would use to describe it, but it’s inadequate in every way.

The poor boy is literally shivering, pressing his palms to his eyes, as if he can free himself from this prison just by refusing to look at it. He keeps whimpering under his breath, but it comes out in broken gasps as the kid struggles to breathe. Catalina knows fear – she’s experienced it herself, and has comforted Kiera through many nightmares of her own (although her sister would never forgive her if she admitted that to anyone), but this is different. Catalina’s never seen anything like this – this raw, untamed terror. It’s frightening, and she doesn’t know what to do. She finds herself feeling even more helpless when it comes to helping Varian than finding an escape route out of this shell.

Thankfully, Rapunzel seems to know what she’s doing. Slowly approaching the kid, she carefully crouches a couple of feet away from him, beginning to speak to him softly, as if he’s a wounded animal.

“Varian?” she asks gently. “Varian, can you hear me?”

Varian doesn’t respond. If anything, his palms press tighter into his face.

“Varian?” Rapunzel tries again. “Varian, it’s going to be okay,” she whispers. “I know you’re scared right now, and that’s a valid feeling. This is a scary situation, but we’re going to get through this together. Everything will be okay – I promise.”

Varian’s hands pull back from his eyes and he looks up at Rapunzel, but he doesn’t stop shaking or gasping for breath.

Rapunzel rewards him with a gentle smile for his efforts. “You’re okay, Varian. We’re going to get through this – together. I’m going to be right here with you the whole time. And so are Angry and Catalina.”

Catalina nods fervently. It’s not like they could go anywhere anyways, but if Varian needed reassurance, then she was happy to give it.

Rapunzel’s gentle whispers continue. “Varian, I need you to breathe with me, buddy. I promise you’ll feel much better if you do. And you know that I always keep my promises. So breathe with me – in… and out….”

Varian takes a shaky breath, spastically releasing it. Rapunzel nods in approval. “That’s okay. You’re doing great. In… and out….”

Varian takes another breath, just as shaky as the last, but this time its release is less frantic. Rapunzel keeps repeating the breathing cycles, whispering words of encouragement to Varian as his spastic shaking is reduced to mild tremors, his breathing slowly returning to a semi-normal state.

Catalina finds herself subconsciously mimicking the breaths; it’s actually quite calming. She wonders how Rapunzel knew to do that (later she would ask and Rapunzel would tell her how she gets scared too, and that was the first trick Eugene taught her to help calm down).

After these few minutes of quiet – the only noise being Varian’s ragged but slowly calming breaths, and Rapunzel’s whispers, Rapunzel finally speaks. Her voice is still soft and gentle, but no longer a whisper.

“Are you feeling any better?” Rapunzel asks.

Varian pauses, before hesitantly nodding slowly.

Rapunzel smiles, a soft one, not one of her usual cheery glee, but of a quieter relief. She hesitates before asking her next question. “Can I… give you a hug?” she asks.

Varian ponders her question for a moment before shaking his head.

Rapunzel nods in understanding. “That’s okay. I’m just glad you’re feeling better. Take your time.”

Varian nods, slowly extending his knees from where they are pressed up against his chest. Using his shirt sleeve, he scrubs at his face, erasing the tear tracks from his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

Rapunzel shakes her head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. We’re all a little scared, but as long as we stick together, we’re going to be okay.”

Varian nodded. “You promise…?”

Rapunzel nodded, smiling. “I promise.”

~~~Ruddiger~~~

Of course, Max’s “trail” ended up being tracks made by Hamuel. Stupid bird! Stupid horse! This is why raccoons are the smartest animals – they don’t do stupid stuff like this. Ruddiger sighs. They’ll never find Varian at this rate. He misses his boy. So much so, that it’s not even that satisfactory when he gets to tell Max, “I told you so!”

Max of course, is indignant, and blames the bird. Ruddiger doesn’t care. If he had just listened to him, then maybe-

Their argument is once again interrupted by Pascal, who points out their thief is passing by on a raft down the river. It’s a lucky break; one they desperately needed. Before he can run after the raft, Max grabs him and Pascal, and races after it.

Max’s “plan” to stop the raft using a vine fails spectacularly of course. Just like every other plan he’s had today. Ruddiger groans. He’s beginning to wonder how this horse outranks Stan and Pete.

~~~Varian~~~

After his anxiety attack, his shakiness slowly becomes replaced by embarrassment. Here he was, flipping out over being imprisoned, and these two young girls were perfectly fine. Now, Catalina keeps sending him sympathetic glances, and Angry keeps looking at him as if he’s one of their more fragile treasures they stole and he might shatter any minute if she’s not careful (and honestly, he feels like he might).

What he needs is to distract himself from all… this…. Thankfully, Rapunzel is quick to give him a purpose – something he can focus on and work towards.

“Alright, there’s a crystal at the top of the pendant,” Rapunzel states, glancing up at said crystal. “I think we should try to get up there and see what’s going on.”

The girls nodded, and Varian found himself agreeing.

“Okay. So how do we feel about a human ladder?” Rapunzel asked, turning to face Varian.

Varian resisted the urge to cringe. He was still very overstimulated, adrenaline still causing his heart to race, the bright colors surrounding him making his head hurt, and his breathing had just returned to somewhat normal. There was a reason why he’d declined Rapunzel’s hug – it was too much in the moment.

Putting on a brave face, he sighed. This was necessary though. Perhaps, after seeing where Ruddiger and the others were taking them, he would feel better. And so, he hesitantly nods.

Rapunzel smiles encouragingly, before helping him to climb onto her shoulders. He flinches as Angry climbs up onto his, followed by Catalina climbing up onto hers. He reminds himself this is necessary. He can do this.

“Well, what can you see?” Rapunzel calls up.

“Um… it looks like we’re moving,” Catalina calls back down.

Varian raises his eyebrow in concern. “Wh-where is Ruddiger taking us?”

“Ugh. Ruddiger isn’t the one carrying us,” Catalina groaned.

Varian frowned. I mean, he guesses that makes sense. Max is the bigger animal and could move faster. What he doesn’t understand is why Catalina sounds annoyed. “Okay, um, then where’s Max-”

“Dwayne is,” Catalina continues, rolling her eyes.

Varian froze. No, no, no, no, no! This was bad!

“It’ll be okay, Varian,” Rapunzel calls. “Take a deep breath.”

Varian whimpers, but is able to do as she says. The breath really helps, and he finds himself, well, not calm, but also not on the verge of panicking again.

Calling up to Catalina, Rapunzel suggests an idea. “Do you think you could push that jewel out of its setting?”

Varian feels a small burst of hope. “Oh, yeah. Good idea. Good… if you can, you might be able to squeeze through that opening.” Maybe they could get out on their own.

“I’ll give it a try,” Catalina replies. Varian hears her groans as she shoves against the crystal. “It’s in there pretty good.” After a minute of struggling, he hears, “Almost…. Got it!” Catalina exclaims in triumph.

“Great job Catalina!” Rapunzel calls. “Can you fit?”

“I’ll try,” Catalina answers.

Next thing Varian knows, he’s being sent flying as the shell shakes. When the quaking stops, he ends up tangled in a tapestry, which he immediately falls from, landing on his head. Ouch…. The one good thing about his landing, is he finds that golden placard.

“Guys, look!” he calls. Beginning to examine the foreign writing, he tries to interpret. “Wow. This… it appears to be some sort of ancient chirography. Yeah! Mionotion perhaps? No, no… maybe early Saporian?”

Rapunzel frowns. “Uh, you’re looking at it upside down.”

Varian grimaces, turning his head. She’s right. That’s embarrassing. “Oh, right. Of course,” he sheepishly replies.

Clearing her throat, Rapunzel begins to read. “You are now prisoner of the shell. To escape its curse, you must return it to the briny deep of the sea, or remain inside of it evermore.”

“Uh… how can we return the shell to the sea when we’re stuck inside of it?” Catalina asks worriedly.

We can’t, Varian thought. That’s the point of the curse – you can’t free yourself. You can never free yourself. This was no different from the amber.

“We’re doomed!” Angry caterwauled.

Varian trembled, wrapping his arms around his middle. That was an excellent way to put it.

“Hey, don’t forget. Doom upside down is whoop (author’s note: doom = woop)!” Rapunzel smiled.

Varian chuckled bitterly at her joke. She didn’t get it. None of them did. His quiet chuckles slowly escalated into hysterical laughing. They were trapped. They were doomed and Rapunzel just didn’t get it. She was making word puns of all things!

Speaking of Rapunzel, she was now looking at him, concerned. “Varian? Varian, you need to calm down. Ruddiger and the other animals are still out there. They’ll get us out.”

Varian shook his head, gasping for breath between laughs. “You don’t get it.” Turning to look each of them in the eyes, he sighed. “None of you do. Even if our friends were right outside, even if they still possessed the shell, they might as well be miles away. We’re trapped. There’s no escape!”

Rapunzel frowned. “Varian, it’ll-”

“No! It won’t be okay!” Varian screamed, surprising even himself. “You don’t get it! We’re cursed! I’m the only one here who has any idea just how screwed we are! This is just like last time!”

Rapunzel froze. “Varian… this isn’t like the amber.”

“ISN’T IT?!?” Varian shrieked. “We’re trapped, no way out, freedom just beyond these unbreakable walls. Freedom is yards away, and yet, it might as well be untouchable, unreachable. And this time, you’re not out there to save me. You’re stuck in here – with me. Angry’s right. We are doomed! And no amount of stupid word games can change that!” Huffing out a breath, he buried his face in his hands yet again.

Rapunzel came to sit next to him, gesturing for the girls to join her. Wrapping one arm around the girls, she gently placed her other hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up and meet her gaze. “You’re right, Varian,” she states. “This isn’t like the amber. We know what we need to do to get out, and we’re going to do it. We are going to get out of this, and we’re going to do it today!”

“But-” Varian begins to protest.

Rapunzel continues on, determined. “Max is the best tracker in Corona! And he’s probably on Dwayne’s tail as we speak.”

“And Pascal is really, really smart,” Catalina adds.

Varian sighs. “Ruddiger can be surprisingly resourceful.” And he knew his friend would never give up until he got him back. Ruddiger had proven to be his most loyal friend over the last year. He wouldn’t abandon him now.

“Anyone wanna say anything nice about that bird?” Angry asks.

“Weren’t you partnered with that bird for the treasure hunt?” Varian comments.

Angry smirks. “Yes, yes I was. Which is why, as his former partner, I can officially say we are screwed if our lives depend on him.”

“Angry!” Rapunzel admonishes.

“What? It’s the truth!” Angry replies.

Rapunzel shakes her head good-naturedly. “Alright guys, let’s look for a way out of here.”

~~~Angry (aka Kiera)~~~

Being trapped in the shell is scary, (not she’d ever admit that to anyone except maybe Catalina), but V is terrifying – at least at the moment. But not even terrifying in the usual sense. The Baron – menacing but handled, her werewolf sister – kinda creepy but beyond cool, V having a freak-out – horrifying. She knows firsthand how your past can haunt you, (that is why they traveling to Neserdnia in the first place after all, to reconcile their past), but this is next level.

She’s comforted Catalina through many nightmares, but this – she has no idea how to begin to even handle this. She misses nerdy V. Nerdy V was a little bit of an annoying dork, but she’d take annoying dork any day over uncontrollably panicked Varian. He was scary, but not in a run and hide sort of way, nor in a stay and fight way.

It reminds her of a time when Catalina had gotten sick when they were little, and she couldn’t find any medicine to steal. The town they were in had just had a major flood, and all supplies were either being used, or washed downriver by the storm. The next town around wasn’t for miles, and she couldn’t leave her sister. She had sat, with her sister cradled in her arms, for three days, waiting and praying for her to somehow get better. Thankfully, she did. On the fourth day, her sister had cracked open her eyes and smiled at her, and Kiera had known she would be okay. But she would never forget that feeling. A feeling she feels strongly now: helplessness.

Thankfully, Rapunzel steps in, taking charge, and saving the day. She calms V down, multiple times, and helps to refocus them all on their mission: get out of here.

After searching the shell for an escape route for what feels like hours, (it probably wasn’t actually that long – Eugene had said she needed to work on “patience” or whatever…), they come up with nothing. Figures…. After pointing out that V was right, they’ll be stuck in here forever, her sister happily claims a couch. Well, at least Catalina doesn’t seem to be doing too badly.

She giggles as her sister finds a parrot skeleton and proceeds to make jokes around Varian. Her sister has always been the kinder, more sympathetic one, and she can see what she’s doing.

“Hi roomie! My name’s Scully. I got a bone to pick with you,” Catalina says as she makes the skeleton’s mouth move.

Kiera laughs. Her sister always knows how to make people feel better, herself included. Unfortunately, V seems more disgusted than amused. At least he’s not panicking, though.

“Let me try,” Kiera states, running over to her sister.

“Why? You wanna tickle everybody’s funny bone?”

Rapunzel shushes them, and they all look up to hear Dwayne singing to himself. Kiera groans as he fails to spell his own name correctly. Of all the knuckleheads….

Rapunzel moves forward, picking up some sort of glass cone, pointing out that if they can hear him (unfortunately, Kiera mumbles), then he can probably hear them if they make their voices louder.

“Hello!” Rapunzel calls, putting her mouth to the cone. Surprisingly, it works.

Kiera snatches it from Rapunzel’s hands. “Listen, you bone-headed weasel!”

“Angry, give it back,” Rapunzel states, snatching the cone from her hand.

Kiera rolls her eyes. Whatever… fine… we’ll do this the nice princess-y way.

After a few minutes of trying to convince Dwayne that she’s his subconscious, Rapunzel frowns. “Might be time for some reverse psychology.”

Kiera rolls her eyes. “I don’t think forward psychology would work on this dimwit.”

Varian facepalms. She knew she liked that nerd.

Somehow, Rapunzel magically convinces Dwayne to take them to the sea. Kiera wonders if her hair gives her the powers of persuasion too, because it’s literally a magical miracle that Dwayne actually listened. Or maybe, he’s even dumber than she thought (she’d have to reevaluate her whole scale of stupidity if that was true, as he would have just invented a new level).

However it happened, they’re now headed towards the sea, and towards freedom!

~~~Ruddiger~~~

When they finally track down that idiot thief, Ruddiger watches in horror as he’s about to drop the shell into the sea. He shudders. Even if Varian doesn’t drown in that shell, he’ll never find it in the churning ocean waves below. Varian would be gone for good.

Max draws a stupid plan involving him single-handedly saving the day. Ruddiger corrects it for him – if anyone is saving his boy, it’s going to be him. He doesn’t trust Max to do it properly, especially not after all the idiocy he’s seen today.

Their fighting once again leads to them losing the thief. No surprise there. The giant bird is a little unexpected though. Of course, Max blames him. The feeling is mutual. After a few more minutes of arguing, they all storm off in their different directions. Ruddiger doesn’t have to put up with this garbage.

After a few minutes of walking, it’s like the skies open, rain pouring down. Ruddiger climbs up into a tree for shelter from the storm. He doesn’t realize until he’s up in it that it’s an apple tree. The rain runs down an apple in front of him, making the outline of Varian’s face.

He’s failed his boy, his friend, his Varian. He was so caught up in fighting with Max, that he lost focus. He’s a terrible friend. He’s let Varian down, once again. Varian deserves better. Draping his tail over his eyes, he begins to cry, the pouring rain the perfect backdrop for his grief. And now he’ll never see him again.

~~~Rapunzel~~~

Admittedly, the bird was a bit of a problem, one she did not see coming. But it’d be okay. Looking around at the girls’ and Varian’s dejected faces, she sighed. She was scared too, but she had to help keep their spirits up.

“I know we’re in a bit of a predicament now, but we can never give up hope on our friends,” she stated. “Max is a top-notch guard. He just needs to learn that a great leader has to listen as well as give orders. In other words, he has to learn how to play well with others. They all do. Each one of those guys has something special about them. Pascal may be small but he’s mighty. And also adorable. And Ruddiger is cunning, and loyal.”

Angry pointed out she “forgot” the bird. Hamuel… right…. Rapunzel stopped in thought, trying to think of something good to say about him, before thankfully Catalina interrupted, reminding them that even if the animals come for them, they won’t know where to find them.

Think, Rapunzel, think. After a few moments she smiled. “I have an idea.”

With Varian’s help, putting together the firework-filled lanterns was pretty easy.

“Great idea, Princess! Nothing like a little alchemical pizazz to get their attention.” Varian smiled as he began to release the lanterns.

That was his first real smile since they’d been trapped, and Rapunzel felt herself breathing a sigh of relief. Her friend, while scared, would be okay. She’d make sure of it.

~~~Ruddiger~~~

Ruddiger lifts his tail from his eyes when he hears a gentle neigh and squeak from below. Max and Pascal stand at the base of the tree. “Go away!” he chitters, turning his back to them, and draping his tail back over his eyes.

“Come on, Ruddiger!” Max calls. “We need you!”

Pascal climbs up into the tree, sitting next to him. “We’re going to go save our humans.”

Ruddiger shakes his head. “We failed. I failed Varian. He’s gone.”

Pascal frowns, glancing down at Max. Max winces. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a team player, Ruddiger,” Max apologizes. “You didn’t fail Varian. At least not alone.”

“We’re going to get them back!” Pascal stated.

“How?” Ruddiger asked. “We don’t even know where they are.”

“Then we’ll keep searching until we find them.”

“Yeah,” Max agreed. “We’ll search all night, and all day until we find them. Now the question is, are you in?”

Ruddiger nods, hopping down onto Max’s back. “Let’s do this!”

~~~Max~~~

Does he feel bad about Ruddiger losing his kid again? Yes, yes, he does. Was it partially his fault in the first place? Yes, yes, it was. But now he’s going to make sure they work together and get him back – get them all back.

It’s Ruddiger who first sees the fireworks, and of course immediately identifies them as Varian’s alchemy. Max takes off running. They have no time to waste. Not this time.

He draws up a plan for how to get the shell back, this time being more of a team player, and Ruddiger helps improve upon it, pointing out that having him jump from a rock would help increase his downward momentum, and thus increase their upward force.

At his surprise, Ruddiger smiles. “Physics!” he states. At his continued look of confusion, Ruddiger smirks. “Varian’s my best friend – I’ve picked up a few things!”

It’s Max’s turn to smirk as Pascal walks him through proper launch protocol.

“Head down.”

“Head down.”

“Arms in.”

“Arms in.”

“Knees apart.”

“Knees apart. Knees apart?”

At that cue, Max jumps, sending both of them flying. Huh… Ruddiger didn’t scream near as much as Eugene. Oh well, just another thing to use to make fun of former nemesis turned friend later.

So far, so good. Here’s hoping that the rest of their plan would work.

~~~Varian~~~

When Ruddiger appears at the top of the cliff, it’s one of the happiest moments of Varian’s life. He knew his best friend could do it! When Ruddiger falls over the side of the cliff, it’s immediately the worst moment of Varian’s life (including the amber).

“No! Ruddiger!” Varian watches as his best friend disappears from view, tears forming in his eyes. When Ruddiger reappears a few seconds later, and Rapunzel announces this is all part of their plan, Varian breathes a sigh of relief. His friend’s okay.

Life is just full of bad moments today, though, it seems. First being trapped in the shell pendant, then thinking he’d lost Ruddiger, and now plummeting towards their death all because of stupid Dwayne.

As the shell, with Pascal attached falls down, down, Varian can’t even find it within himself to scream. This is it. He knew he would die in here. He’s thrown to the floor as the shell jerks to a halt. He lays on the cushioned carpet, just breathing for a while. He’s not dead. HE’S NOT DEAD!

“Nice shot, Rapunzel!” Angry calls.

Varian looks up to see Rapunzel with her hair out of the shell. She must have stopped their fall. As Max gently takes them in his teeth, Varian breathes a sigh of relief. They’ve made it. Everything is going to be okay. Just like Rapunzel promised.

~~~Ruddiger~~~

His distraction worked perfectly, if he does say so himself. Surprisingly, Hamuel was actually useful for once. As they soar through the air, he can’t help but smile. Yes, they are being chased by a giant bird, but flying is AWESOME! Maybe he can convince Varian to work on building him some wings or something.

As they struggle to get away from the bird, Ruddiger notices Pascal guiding them back towards the log. He relays the info to Hamuel, and the bird steers them back towards their friends. After they exit the log, Max kicks it, causing it to spin, and the giant bird to smash into the rocky cliffside. It flies off afterwards.

Shortly after, Rapunzel calls to them from inside the shell, telling them what they need to do in order to free them. So apparently that idiot thief wasn’t as much of an idiot as they thought when they saw him trying to dump them into the sea. Their bad….

When they finally reach the sea, Max gently tosses the shell pendant into the water. Rapunzel is the first to pop up, gracefully landing on her feet. The two girls soon join her, landing safely as well. Varian finally appears, splashing back into the water, falling on his butt.

Ruddiger smiles. That’s his clumsy kid. Leaping off Max’s saddle, Ruddiger pounces on Varian, hugging him close. The action catches Varian by surprise, and he reaches his hands forward, causing him to lose his balance, and fall back into the ocean. Varian sputters, trying to sit up as Ruddiger snuggles into his chest.

His Varian’s here. He’s safe. He’s okay.

“Ruddiger!” *splash* “I-” *splash* “Ocean-” *splash* “Can’t breathe!” *splash*

Oh! Right! Ruddiger hops off of Varian, allowing him to sit up properly.

Max snickers from the shore. Ruddiger sticks his tongue out at him. He’s just jealous because his stupid horse legs don’t let him properly hug his princess.

After Varian has sat up properly, he reaches over, grabbing Ruddiger and hugging him tightly to his chest.

“Uh, V?” Angry called from the shore. “You gonna get out of the water?”

“In a second,” Varian calls, hugging Ruddiger even tighter. “I thought I lost you,” he whispers.

Ruddiger chitters indignantly. You thought you lost me! Ruddiger nuzzles into his chest. I love you, Varian.

“I love you too, buddy,” Varian whispers.

~~~Varian~~~

The rest of the ride to Neserdnia is calm. It’s nice. Angry and Catalina fall asleep in the back of the cart, leaving just Varian and Rapunzel up front to talk. Ruddiger is curled up in his lap, dozing.

Varian sighs, turning to face Rapunzel. “I’m sorry for yelling earlier, and for freaking out, and for calling your word puns stupid.”

Rapunzel turns to face him, a small smile on her face. “It’s okay, Varian. I’m just glad you’re doing better now.”

Varian nodded. “Thanks for… for your help back there… calming me down.”

Rapunzel nodded. “Of course. I’m happy to help a friend.”

Varian sighed. “I still shouldn’t have panicked like I did. Everyone else was so calm – I was the only one freaking out.”

Rapunzel shook her head. “I was scared too, Varian.” At Varian’s surprised look she continued. “That situation just wasn’t as scary for me as it was for you. We all have our fears, Varian. No one blames you for having a valid reaction to one of yours. I’m just glad I was able to help you through it.”

“Me too,” Varian replies. “I don’t think I could have gotten through that alone.”

Rapunzel smiles, shaking her head. “You’re stronger than you think, Varian.”

After a few more moments of silence, Varian reached over and hugged her. At Rapunzel’s surprised look, Varian smiles. “I decided I finally want that hug.” He hesitates. “If-if that’s still okay.”

Rapunzel nods, hugging him close. “Of course, it is.”

After a few moments, Varian pulls back.

“You should get some sleep,” Rapunzel comments.

Varian nods, gently scooping up Ruddiger, and climbing over the seat into the back of the cart. “Thank you, Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel nods. “Anytime, Varian.”

Varian carefully steps over to the far side of the cart, laying down a few inches away from the girls so as not to disturb them. Placing Ruddiger down, he gently strokes his fur. He’s surprised when he hears a quiet whisper in the night.

“Hey, Varian.”

He turns on his side, surprised to see Catalina staring back at him. He had thought both girls were fast asleep.

Ignoring his shocked expression, she continues. “For what it’s worth, I was freaking out too.” With that, she snuggles closer to her sister, and shuts her eyes once again.

Varian stares at her for a moment, processing her words, before rolling back onto his back. As he drifts off to sleep, he smiles. Maybe he’s not so alone after all.

~~~the next day, but still Varian~~~

Varian races through the castle. I’m late. I’m so late! He rushes past maids, tripping and falling, but quickly picking himself back up and resuming his run.

He bursts into the guards’ barracks, gasping for breath. “I’m here. I’m sorry I’m late. Traffic on the way back from Neserdnia was a nightmare, plus we got trapped in a shell pendant, but I’m here!”

Stan and Pete share a confused look, before glancing back at the gasping alchemist. “You were trapped in a shell pendant?” Pete asks.

Varian nodded. “Don’t-don’t ask.”

Walking forward, he gently lifts Ruddiger from his shoulders, handing him to Stan. Turning to leave, he hesitates, turning to look back at his best friend.

Stan and Pete share a knowing look. “Is everything alright, Varian?” Pete asks.  The two guards watch in horror as Varian’s façade immediately crumbles.

~~~Stan~~~

Stan watches in horror as the teenager in front of him breaks down sobbing. Turning to Pete, he sees his friend’s face must match the look of horror on his own.

Varian reaches forward, scooping Ruddiger from his arms, and clutching him close to his chest. In-between sobs he begins to stutter, “I know it’s not my day, but please, I need him.” Varian buries his face in the raccoon’s fur.

Stan gets up from the chair he was sitting in, gently placing a hand on Varian’s shoulder. Varian flinched away from his touch. Turning to his partner, Stan sighed. “Pete, get him a glass of water, would you?”

Pete nods, racing to pour a glass of water from the pitcher across the room. Varian slowly sinks to his knees, clutching Ruddiger tighter and tighter to the point where Stan worries he might be crushing him. If Ruddiger’s in any pain, he gives no sign, instead burrowing more into the teen’s chest as if to remind him he’s still there.

Pete approaches cautiously, holding out the glass of water to Varian. When he doesn’t take it, he gently places it out on the floor in front of him.

Stan kneels on the floor in front of the kid, Pete joining him. “Varian, what happened? What’s wrong?” he asks.

Varian shakes his head, never lifting his face from Ruddiger’s fur. Stan and Pete share a concerned look. Varian was a tough kid, so whatever happened must have been bad if he’s this upset.

“That’s okay, kid. Take your time,” Pete replies gently.

They sit like that for a few minutes as Varian cries. Thankfully, no other guards come in during that time. After a while, Varian’s sobs slow, and are replaced with forcefully taken deep breaths.

“You’re okay, kid. You’re safe,” Pete says, taking exaggerated deep breaths, hoping Varian will mimic his breathing. Thankfully it works, and Varian slowly calms down, but still refuses to let go of Ruddiger.

After a few more moments of silence, Pete continues. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Stan gives a gentle smile. “Pete’s a great listener,” he encourages.

Varian takes a deep shuddery breath before speaking. “I was trapped. I couldn’t get out. But Rapunzel got me out. She saved me – again. I was just really scared, and Ruddiger… helps.”

Stan and Pete share another knowing look. Stan leans forward. “Varian, can I hug you?”

Varian hesitates before nodding. Stan shuffles forward on his knees to his side, wrapping his arms around the boy and his raccoon. Pete shuffles forward as well, embracing them all from Varian’s other side. They stay like that for who knows how long.

Long enough to where Stan’s knees start to hurt. He’s not as young as he once was. He smiles down at Varian, “Hey Varian, I’m loving this group hug, but Pete’s knees aren’t what they used to be. That old man would probably be more comfortable if we moved this hug-fest to a sitting on a bed.”

Pete scoffs indignantly, but says nothing. Neither does Varian for that matter.

“Varian?” Stan asks. Bending down, he sees the kid is fast asleep, head bent forward, resting against Ruddiger’s.

Glancing to Pete, he sees Pete’s noticed too. “He’s exhausted,” Pete confirms.

Stan pulls back from the group hug as Pete carefully scoops up his “treasure hunt bestie” in his arms, carrying him to his bed, and laying him down, gently draping a blanket over him.

They sit down on Stan’s bunk, right next to Pete’s, in order to watch over him. When a couple of the other guards enter the barracks, they look at them in confusion, but Stan’s been practicing his “get lost” glare, and Pete’s been practicing his shushing. They leave without incident. After a while, Eugene comes in.

“Hey! Stan! Pete! Have you seen Varian? Rapunzel’s looking for him, and one of the maids said she saw him come in here-” Eugene freezes when he sees Varian, curled up in Pete’s bunk, clutching Ruddiger to his chest even in sleep. Smiling, he continues in a whisper. “Looks like you boys have it under control. I’ll send a message to Quirin telling him his son’s alright, and that he’ll be spending the night.” With that, Eugene leaves and they’re once again alone with their sleeping charges.

Watching Varian sleep, Ruddiger cradled to his chest, Stan sighs. “It’s time, Pete,” he whispers.

“I know,” Pete replies softly. They’d talked about this on the way home from Varian’s house after the treasure hunt. It was time to let Ruddiger go.

“Pete?” Stan whispers hesitantly.

“Yes, Stan?”

Stan sighs. “I think I’m finally ready to talk about what happened that day.”

Pete’s eyes widen, staring at his partner in shock. “You mean…?”

Stan nods, but doesn’t move to continue.

Pete nods in understanding. “Take all the time you need.”

Stan gives his best friend a grateful smile before beginning to tell the story. The one of that day in the palace courtyard. The one in which he couldn’t help Monty, and he’d watched the kingdom descend into chaos. The one in which he got hurt. The one which had haunted his nightmares for the last year.

After Stan finishes his tale, he sighs. “I was just as scared as he is,” he says, gesturing towards Varian.

Pete nods. “He thinks of himself as a failure, and I can relate. I failed to protect you both.”

Stan shakes his head. “We’re both still here, and we’re both still safe. You didn’t fail, Pete.”

Pete sighs, turning back to face Varian. “I didn’t succeed either.”

“He’ll be okay, Pete,” Stan reassures him. “Ruddiger will succeed where we failed.”

~~~Ruddiger~~~

Varian’s breakdown catches him by surprise, but also not really. He’s mostly just surprised his boy managed to put it off for this long after going through so much. He’s grateful for Stan and Pete, though. He remembers at one point, he hated them for being the idiots he thought they were, but he’s grateful for the compassionate friends they are now. They take care of his boy, just like he tries to do.

~~~Stan~~~

Varian sleeps peacefully through the night. Stan and Pete take turns keeping watch over him, and sleeping on Stan’s bunk. It’s not so different from the past year, except now they know for sure the kid is safe.

When Varian wakes up it’s to the smell of strawberry scones Pete made. “Scones always cheer me up when I’m sad,” Pete states at Varian’s look of confusion.

“Me too,” Stan says, reaching to grab another one. They eat the rest of breakfast in an amicable silence.

After breakfast, Varian sighs, frowning. “I’m sorry I ruined your day with Ruddiger.”

Stan and Pete share a glance. “Actually, we wanted to talk to you about that,” Stan stated.

Varian flinched, and both guards watched as he forced himself to let go of Ruddiger.

“We’ve been thinking,” Pete begins. “Between our strict schedules, we don’t get much downtime. And so we don’t get to spend as much time with our loved ones – Mr. Happypaws for me and Stan’s wife for him.”

“So we’ve been thinking,” Stan continued. “This whole ‘joint custody’ thing isn’t going to work out. You’re going to have to take Ruddiger back. Full time.”

Varian stares at both guards in shock.

“That’s not going to be a problem is it?” Pete asks innocently.

Stan turns his head away from Varian’s view, rolling his eyes at his friend.

Varian smiles, jumping up in excitement. “No! Of course not! I mean- I’d be happy to!” After a moment, he pauses. “But won’t you miss him?”

Stan gives Varian a gentle smile. “Of course, but we were thinking, maybe we could all hang out once a month. Have a game night or a music night or something….”

At the mention of music night, Ruddiger starts chittering angrily, shaking his head.

“Or not music night…,” Pete frowns.

Varian stares at them in confusion. “You want to have a monthly game night with a raccoon?”

Pete laughs, shaking his head. “I meant all four of us! We could hang out, play poker-”

“WE ARE NOT TEACHING THE KID POKER, PETE!” Stan shouts. “He’s a teenager, we’re guards, that’s illegal.”

“Right…,” Pete replies sheepishly. “My bad….” Turning to Varian, he smiles. “How do you feel about ‘Go Fish!’?”

Varian smiled. “I’m more into word games and games of strategy, but ‘Go Fish!’ is fun, I guess. Maybe I can bring some other games from home.”

Stan smirked. This was going to be the start of many embarrassing losses to a teenager wasn’t it?

Stan gently scoops up Ruddiger off the bed, handing him to Varian. Making eye contact with Ruddiger, he smiles. “Take care of him, will you?”

Ruddiger nods, determined.

“I will,” Varian replies, not realizing that the conversation wasn’t meant for him.

As Varian exits, Pete turns to his best friend. “We made the right decision. He’s his best friend, and the kid’s already been through so much. He needs him more than we do.”

Stan nods in reply. “I know.”

Chapter Text

~~~Varian~~~

When Eugene and Lance show up on his doorstep, Varian is surprised to say the least. The fact that they’re both trying to hide smiles, and Lance keeps shushing Eugene is even more curious, but Varian decides not to question it. Eugene is the king of spoilers – he’ll find out eventually what’s going on.

His dad grins at him as he greets his friends, which is even more strange, because while dad had been more expressive since “the incident,” his dad still wasn’t really much for grinning. He glances at Ruddiger on his shoulder to see if his best friend is picking up on the unusualness of the situation, but if his friend finds any of this odd, he’s not showing it.

Turning back to the two men, Varian raises an eyebrow in confusion. “What are you guys doing here?” he asks.

Eugene’s smile widens. “We’re here to see if you wanted to go into town with us. We need to get some supplies.”

Varian frowns. “You came all the way to Old Corona, through the town square, just to see if I wanted to come with you to get supplies?”

Eugene nods.

Varian stares at his friends, confused. “Wouldn’t it have been easier just to pick up the supplies yourself? Not that I’m not glad you invited me, but you walked a lot farther coming to ask me than if you had just gone into town yourselves.”

Eugene opened his mouth to answer, froze, and tried again before Lance intervened.

“Yes, but then we wouldn’t have gotten to see our favorite little man,” Lance smiled, ruffling Varian’s hair.

Varian groaned, shoving Lance’s hand off his head. “I’m not little,” he muttered. “I just haven’t hit my growth spurt yet.”

Lance chuckled, reaching behind Varian’s head to scratch behind Ruddiger’s ears. “I was referring to Ruddiger,” Lance smirked.

Varian rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He turned to glance at his dad who was still grinning at him. This was so weird.

Turning back to the guys, Varian sighed. “Look, I appreciate you both coming all this way, but today’s kind of a special day, and I planned on just spending it here with my dad and Ruddiger.”

“Oh, and what special day would that be?” Lance asked, barely concealing a knowing smirk.

“Um…, well…, it’s my birthday,” Varian replied sheepishly.

“WHAT?!?” Eugene exclaimed. “YOUR BIRTHDAY?!?” WE HAD NO IDEA!!!!” he stated dramatically.

Lance elbowed his friend in the side, and Varian just barely caught him muttering under his breath, “Too much, Eugene, too much.”

Eugene cleared his throat awkwardly, glancing sideways at Lance before turning back to Varian. “Um…, well now you HAVE to come with us. To, um… pick out your birthday gift! We feel bad because we TOTALLY FORGOT!” Eugene glanced at his father, raising his eyebrows as if to try to communicate something. “Right, Quirin?” he asked.

Quirin nodded quickly. “Yes…, of course.” Turning towards his son, he smiled. “Go on, son. Have fun with your friends. We can celebrate tonight with dinner when you get home.”

Varian hesitated, glancing between his dad and his friends. “Are you sure, dad?” he asked, hesitating once again.

Quirin nodded. “I’m sure, son.”

Varian turned to follow the two men out the door.

“So, how old are you anyways, buddy?” Lance asked.

“Um…, 15,” Varian replied. “I had to run a ton of tests, one hundred and six to be exact, but I confirmed that neither myself nor my father aged in the…,” Varian hesitated. “the amber.”

Both men nodded, each placing a comforting hand on Varian’s shoulders.

After a moment, Varian smiled up at both of them. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“No problem!” Eugene replied, smiling back. “But enough about that. Let’s go get you a present. It’s not every day you turn FIFTEEN! You don’t celebrate your FIFTEENTH birthday every day.”

Varian stared up at Eugene in concern. “Um, are you okay, Eugene?”

Eugene’s smile was just a bit too wide when he smiled down at him. “Of course, Goggles! Just so excited that you’re FIFTEEN now!”

Lance rolled his eyes, shoving Eugene out of the way. “Sorry about that, Varian. He just gets a little too excited about birthdays, especially ones for kids and teens. It comes from a deep-seated trauma, relating to the fact he never had real birthdays on account of him being an orphan and all.”

“WHAT?!?” Eugene screamed indignantly. “I’ll have you know; firstly, I am NOT an orphan – not anymore. You met my father! And secondly, we have the same trauma – you’ve never had a real birthday either!”

Lance smirked, bending down to whisper in Varian’s ear. “Some of us are coping better than others.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Eugene growled, stomping forward as they walked towards the town.

Varian and Lance followed behind, laughing.

~~~Quirin~~~

As Varian followed the two men out the door, Ruddiger still wrapped around his shoulders, Quirin smiled. He struggled not to laugh as he heard their lingering conversation, with Eugene emphasizing “fifteen” every few seconds. Maybe he should have told him that he already knew his son’s age thank you very much. But then again, if he had, he wouldn’t have gotten to hear this amusing conversation now.

As the four of them disappeared from view, Quirin heard a sound coming from behind the outside wall of the house.

“Caw-Caw!”

Quirin rolled his eyes. He told them was he NOT going to do bird calls.

“CAW… CAW…,” the voice repeated.

“Psssttt, Quirin,” another voice added.

“Are they gone?” Rapunzel asked, sticking her head around the corner of the house.

“You were supposed to wait for him to answer the signal,” Pete mumbled, following behind her as she entered the house.

“I never agreed to the bird calls,” Quirin stated, closing the door to the house as Stan joined them.

Stan turned to his best friend, “I told you bird calls were lame.”

“Oh, because ‘Psssttt’ is SO MUCH BETTER!” Peter replied defensively.

“Better than ‘Caw-caw’,” Stan retorted.

“Guys, focus!” Rapunzel stated. “Eugene and Lance can only keep Varian occupied for so long, and we have a lot of work to do.”

“I still don’t think sending Eugene to distract him was a good plan,” Stan frowned.

“Yeah, everyone knows Eugene can’t keep a secret,” Pete added.

Rapunzel sighed. “That’s why I sent Lance with him.”

“You’re just bitter because he told everyone you are afraid of mimes,” Stan smirked.

“Am not!”

“Are to!”

“GUYS!”

Quirin sighed. This was going to be a long day, wasn’t it? Hopefully, the look on Varian’s face would make it all worthwhile.

~~~Eugene~~~

Operation “Keep Varian Distracted” was a success. Easiest job he’d ever done, and he was doing a pretty good job of it, if he did say so himself. Blondie was so wrong about him. He could totally keep a secret. He’s got this! He does not need Lance babysitting him while he babysits the kid. He can do this!

They’d already stopped by the baker, the tailor, and now were on their way to Monty’s Sweet Shoppe to pick something up for Varian’s birthday since they “forgot.”

Eugene smiled at Monty as they entered the shoppe. While it wasn’t exactly a good thing that Rapunzel’s parents had had their memories wiped, one advantage was Rapunzel was able to use her new power as the interim leader of Corona to remove Monty’s house arrest sentence. And if this happened to make their relationship more amicable (though not much), well, that was another win.

“Hey Uncle Monty!” Lance called out. “The new shop’s looking good!”

Monty smiled as he looked around the shop. “Yes, we were able to salvage some of the old structure when rebuilding. It’s not the same shop my great-grand-pappy built, but it’s close.”

“I get what you mean,” Varian whispered.

Frowning, Eugene turned to see Varian looking dejected. The kid had lost his home after all (amongst other things). Just like Monty, Quirin and Varian had had to rebuild. But that was a depressing thought, and no one should be depressed on their birthday. Eugene had to snap Varian out of it.

“So…,” Eugene stated, turning to Uncle Monty. “You got any special treats fit for a birthday boy!”

Varian groaned. “I’m not a kid, Eugene.”

“Fine,” Lance muttered. “More sweets for us then.” With that, he scooped up some chocolates.

“You know, I do have something you might be interested in, Varian,” Monty smiled as he reached behind the counter, pulling out a yellow lollipop with brown swirls.

Varian’s face lit up as his eyes fell on the lollipop. “My favorite!” he exclaimed, as he took the lollipop from Uncle Monty.

Eugene smiled. Regardless of the man’s beef with Rapunzel, he was a good person, who knew how to cheer anyone up.

As Eugene made Lance pay for his chocolates (Varian was the birthday boy, and thus got free candy, Lance, you are not, and no being an orphan does not mean you can pick your birthday to be today, today is Varian’s – just pay for the chocolates, Lance), he smiled as Varian asked if he could get another for his dad.

Upon seeing Eugene’s smile, he blushed. “It’s my dad’s favorite, too,” he stated sheepishly.

Monty wrapped up two lollipops for Varian to take home, that way they could enjoy them together later. Both of which were free, much to Lance’s frustration, but at least this argument was serving to successfully distract Varian.

~~~Varian~~~

As they made their way to Xavier’s stall, Varian smiled. It had been a great day so far, and soon he would head home to his dad and they would celebrate, just the two of them, and this day would be perfect.

Upon reaching the stall, Varian began to talk shop with Xavier (he’d been thinking about experimenting with more steel in his inventions but was curious to know the blacksmith’s opinion). Eventually the conversation devolved into swapping of legends. Xavier always had the best ones, even if some of them were long-winded.

With Ruddiger curled around his neck, and his friends on either side, Varian found he didn’t mind if the blacksmith talked and talked. After everything he’d experienced in the past, he was content in this moment just to be.

~~~Eugene~~~

After a while, Lance began nodding off, and Eugene began tapping his foot impatiently. After a few more minutes, Eugene gave up. He couldn’t take anymore of Xavier’s tangents.

“Well, this has been fun, really,” Eugene stated, “but we have to get going now.”

“Go where?” Varian asked, as Lance shot awake, glaring at his friend.

“We should probably get you home, shouldn’t we?” Eugene asked.

Lance shook his head, gesturing to the pretend watch on his wrist.

“Or we shouldn’t…,” Eugene responded hesitantly.

Varian glanced at Eugene with a confused look on his face. “Since when do you care so much about when I go home?”

“I… I don’t…,” Eugene stated. At Xavier’s concerned look, he paused. “Well, actually…, I mean…, I do…, but we can stay. Or we can go, but not home, no, not yet. We could, um….”

“Why can’t I go home?” Varian asked, skeptical.

“Because…, um…, because your dad probably doesn’t want you home yet.”

Varian flinched. “My dad doesn’t want me home?”

“NO!” Eugene shouted. “Um, I mean, ‘yes,’ I mean… I actually don’t know if your father wants you home right now, I mean- I haven’t asked recently, and-”

Ruddiger crashed into a display of tools, just as Lance’s body crashed into his own.

“Ruddiger!” Eugene heard Varian call as he grumbled at Lance to get off him.

“What was that for?” Eugene asked, dusting himself off as he stood up from where Lance tackled him.

“You were blowing it, Eugene,” Lance stated, crossing his arms.

“Was not!” Eugene retorted, frowning.

“Sorry, buddy, but you’re blowing this whole operation. Time to bring in back-up.” With that, Lance whistled.

“Back-up?!? What back-up?” Eugene asked.

“So…, you couldn’t keep it together, could you?”

Eugene jumped as he turned to find Angry leaning against the forge’s entrance. Catalina giggled.

Eugene stared at the girls before glaring at his best friend. “You brought the girls in as back-up!”

Lance shrugged. “Had to – you were falling apart there.”

“Was not!”

“Was too!” Angry interjected. “We saw the whole thing.” Catalina nodded in agreement.

“Face it, Eugene. We need help – and what better way distract a kid than with some kid friends?”

“We’re not kids!” Angry huffed.

“That’s the spirit!” Lance shouted, as they all turned back to finishing the mission.

~~~Ruddiger~~~

He felt really bad about knocking the display of tools over, but it was a necessary evil. The princess’ boyfriend was blowing it. Varian was getting upset and he wouldn’t shut up, so it was up to Ruddiger to save the day. Unfortunately, saving the day in this case meant abandoning the safe comfort of Varian’s shoulders to knock over some heavy tools, and thus forcing Varian to clean them up, but hey – sacrifices had to be made here. What else was a raccoon to do?

~~~Varian~~~

After he finished picking up the tools and apologizing profusely to Xavier, Varian turned to find Angry and Catalina at the forge’s entrance.

“Hey V!” Angry calls. “Eugene here says it’s your birthday.”

Varian nodded.

“Well, have we got a surprise for you!”

Varian gulped. This would be interesting.

~~~Lance~~~

While Lance was grateful for the girls’ interference after Eugene almost blew their entire operation, he wasn’t so sure he should be grateful now. The girls had taken them all to their treehouse in the woods, where they’d shown them their latest addition.

“When did you girls have time to build a zipline?” Lance asked as he stared at the rope disappearing through the trees.

“And just who exactly told you that you could?” Eugene reprimanded.

“Relax, it’s perfectly safe,” Angry retorted. Turning to Varian, she smiled. “Birthday boys first.”

Varian looked down over the edge of the treehouse. “Um… I’d be okay with someone else going first,” Varian murmured.

Angry shrugged. “Suit yourself!” With that, she grabbed hold of the handles on the zipline and jumped off the edge.

“Kiera!” Lance shouted as he watched the girl vanish from view. He held his breath as he listened for any thuds or screams of pain.

After a few seconds, he heard shouts from across the trees. “That was AWESOME! Come on, V! You HAVE to try this!”

Lance smiled in relief. A relief that was short-lived as Catalina used the line to pull the handlebars back to the top of the zipline.

“Your turn, Varian,” she stated.

Lance watched as Varian gulped and stepped towards the edge.

~~~Varian~~~

Varian gulped as he handed Ruddiger to Eugene, edging towards the zipline. He had never been a huge fan of heights.

Catalina smiled at him, as if sensing his concern. “Relax, Varian. It’s perfectly safe. It’ll be fun!”

Varian nodded, glancing back towards the edge. “It’s just…, I’m pretty clumsy, and it’s a long way down….” Varian stared pointedly at the edge.

Cataline nodded. “I understand. Here.” She handed him the rope holding the handlebars in place, and she grabbed another rope, threading it through the anchor at the top of the zipline. Turning, she fastened it around Varian’s waist, pulling it taunt. “There. Now even if you somehow, in your infinite clumsiness, even try to fall, you can’t.”

Varian nodded, glancing at the rope hesitantly.

“And Kiera can untie you once you make it to the other side,” Catalina reassured him.

Varian sighed, taking a deep breath. He examined the rope yet again – the physics behind it seemed pretty sound. Catalina was right – he couldn’t fall if he tried.  With a deep breath, Varian inched closer to the edge.

“You know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Eugene stated.

Varian shook his head. “No, I-I want to try.”

Catalina smiled. “You can do this, Varian.”

Varian took a deep breath, and prepared to jump, but then made the mistake of looking down once again. He wasn’t so sure he could do this.

Faintly, in the background, he heard Angry coming up the elevator to the top floor of the treehouse.

“He still hasn’t jumped?” she asked. “What’s the hold-up?”

“Give him a minute,” Catalina shushed her.

Varian took a deep breath. He could do this. The zipline would hold. He was fine. This was completely safe.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Eugene reiterated.

“No, I want to,” Varian repeated.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Angry asked.

“I think I’m overthinking it,” Varian replied.

Catalina nodded. “You can do it! Just jump!”

Varian nodded. He could do this. He could totally do this! He inched ever closer to the edge. “I can do this! I can do this! I can-” Varian screamed as hands pushed him off the ledge, sending him flying down the zipline.

“I CAN’T DO THIS!”

~~~Catalina~~~

Catalina turned to her sister in anger. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!?”

Kiera shrugged. “V needed a push, so I gave him one – it’s called ‘tough love.’”

Catalina glared. “You were supposed to wait at the bottom to help him dismount, not come up here and shove him off the edge!”

“If I hadn’t pushed him, V would still be here questioning himself. I just showed him he can do it!”

Catalina rolled her eyes. She loved her sister, but sometimes she could be so insensitive. “Well, I’m going after him.” With that, she grabbed some extra rope, slinging it over the zipline, and jumped off the edge.

~~~Varian~~~

Admittedly the zipline was not as horrible as he thought. Sure, the first few seconds were terrifying, feeling his fall as his weight surrendered to the force of gravity, but once the rope caught him, it was actually kind of fun. That doesn’t mean he’s not still mad at Angry, though.

Screaming at her will have to wait, though, as he sits, stranded in his makeshift harness at the end of the zipline. Angry was supposed to be here to help him down, but noooooooo, she was too busy pushing people off ledges!

Varian heard whooping as he saw Catalina racing down the zipline towards him. “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” he shouted as he braced for impact, but it never came.

Varian opened his eyes to a smiling Catalina looking up at him from the ground. “I wasn’t going to hit you, Varian,” she stated, smiling.

“I-I knew that…,” Varian replied sheepishly.

“Uh-huh,” Catalina smirked at she climbed the tree the other end of the zipline was attached to, reached forward to help untie Varian from his harness and help him to the ground. “Did you like it?” she asked, smiling.

Varian nodded. “Yeah, it was fun.”

Catalina smirked. “Wanna go again?”

Varian shook his head. “I’m good. One adrenaline rush is enough for the day.”

Catalina nodded, but didn’t comment. Varian decided he liked her much more than her sister.

The walk back to the treehouse was short and uneventful. From there, they’d said goodbye to the girls before beginning the trek back to Varian’s house.

As they approached the house, Eugene and Lance slowed, before Lance muttered something about needing to ask Quirin a personal question. What the heck was that about? Varian wondered.

“What’s going on?” he asked Eugene after Lance left.

Eugene refused to make eye contact with him, glancing anywhere else. “I don’t know. It’s Lance – who ever knows what’s going on with him?”

“Eugene...,” Varian sighed, unimpressed. “You’ve been acting weird all day, and we both know you can’t keep a secret, so just spill already.”

Eugene bit his lip, glancing between Varian and the door to his house. After a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness,” he muttered. “They’re ready for us.” With that, Eugene grabbed Varian’s arm and began dragging him towards the house.

“What’s going on? Who’s ready?” Varian asked, digging his heels in the dirt. “Eugene, just tell me what’s going on.”

“NO!” Eugene screamed, turning to grab Varian with both arms to better drag him after him. “I made it all day. I am NOT ruining this now!”

“Ruining what?!?” Varian screamed as Eugene dragged him towards the doorway to his house.

“Just… work with me, here, Hairstripe,” Eugene groaned, as he changed tactics, moving behind Varian to shove him through the doorway.

“Eugene! I-” Varian cried, as he was shoved through the door, only to be interrupted by the group of people shouting, “Surprise!”

Varian looked around in shock as Rapunzel, Stan, Pete, Angry, Catalina, Lance, Ruddiger, and his father all smiled back at him (somehow the girls had beat them back).

“What-what’s going on?” Varian asked, as Eugene stepped inside behind him.

“Happy Birthday, Varian!” Rapunzel shouted, coming forward to place a party hat on his head.

Varian looked around in shock. “All this, is for me?”

“Well, it’s not every day someone turns fifteen,” Eugene smiled.

Varian grinned, turning to face his dad. “I thought we were just going to have dinner, you and me?”

Quirin frowned. “I just figured, it’s your birthday, so you would want to celebrate with your friends. I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted….”

Varian reached forward, hugging his father. “No, dad. This is perfect. Thank you,” Varian whispered.

Quirin smiled. “You’re welcome, son. Happy Birthday!”

Stan and Pete brought out the birthday cake for Varian to blow out his candles.

“I see you got my message about only needed FIFTEEN candles,” Eugene stated, apparently proud of his “discreteness”.

“Actually, Eugene, Quirin already knew Varian’s age, so we didn’t need you to find out after all,” Rapunzel stated.

Varian laughed as his father smirked at Eugene’s frustrated sigh.

“Well, I tried…,” Eugene muttered.

“Now make a wish,” Rapunzel smiled at Varian, gesturing towards the cake.

Varian took a moment to think about his wish before blowing out the candles. It was hard to make a wish when he had everything he wanted right here. Realizing that that was the truth, Varian made his wish, blowing out the candles on his cake. He wishes things could stay perfect, just the way they are right now. Unlikely, yes, with Cassandra still out there, his dad’s mysterious (albeit less mysterious now) past making an appearance, and all the other trouble that seemed to have a way of finding him and his friends, but for now, in this moment, everything was perfect. He wishes it could stay that way forever.

After cake comes presents. Stan and Pete had combined their money to buy him the expensive test tubes he really likes. Ruddiger, of course, gave him a few apples. Lance, it turns out, had baked him some cookies earlier. Rapunzel gave him a sketchbook to “help him design his machines that help make dreams come true,” and Eugene gave him an autographed Flynn Rider Wanted poster. When it was Angry and Catalina’s turn, the girls hesitated before handing him their gift.

“It’s not a lot,” Catalina stated.

“But it’s the first gift we’ve ever given that hasn’t been stolen,” Angry added.

Catalina nodded. “Rapunzel did help, though.”

Varian smiled, taking the gift from the girls. Pulling back the wrapping paper, he revealed a portrait of him, and all his friends present framed in a handmade woven wooden frame.

“Rapunzel painted it, but we made the frame,” Catalina stated.

Varian nodded, smiling. “Thank you! I love it!”

After another hour or so, the guests began to leave. Lance had argued with the girls about how it was past their bedtime, which had led to an argument about who was in charge of establishing bedtimes. Varian had smirked as the girls had eventually nodded off, leaving Eugene and Lance to carry them home.

After their guests had left, his father turned to him. “Varian, I have a gift for you, too. It’s just, more personal…. I wanted to give it to you after the others left.

Varian nodded. “Okay, dad.”

Quirin took a deep breath. “Varian, I know I haven’t always been honest about my past, and I had my reasons.”

Varian nodded in agreement.

Quirin sighed. “But you knew that already.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small box. “This is for you, son.”

Varian carefully took the box, opening it. Inside he found a dark metal pin, shaped like the tattoo on his father’s hand. Varian looked up at his dad in confusion.

“It’s the symbol of the Brotherhood,” Quirin stated, moving forward to help pin it to his son’s vest. “It represents my past, our history. The warriors sworn to the Moonstone, like myself, have worn this as a symbol for generations, to show our loyalty to the Moonstone. I give this pin to you now to show I trust you, Varian. My loyalty has been, and always will be, to you. No more secrets, son. I’m so proud of you, Varian.”

Varian’s eyes filled with tears as his lifted the pin attached to his vest, admiring it. Letting it go, he turned to hug his father. “Thanks, dad. I love you.”

Quirin returned the hug. “I love you, too, son.”

~~~Quirin~~~

After that, they sat in the kitchen, eating the lollipops Uncle Monty had given Varian for the both of them.

“Did you have a good birthday, son?” Quirin asked, turning to his son hopefully.

Varian nodded. “The best.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Varian smiled. “I rode a zipline.”

Quirin stared at his son in shock. “You did what?!?” He had told Eugene to keep him distracted. He hadn’t realized he needed to emphasize safety as well.

“It was fun! A little scary, but good scary. I knew deep down I was safe, but in the moment, it was thrilling, you know what I mean, dad?”

Quirin nodded. He had had plenty of his own adventures in his youth before leaving the Dark Kingdom.

Varian grinned. “Maybe we could both go next time, and you could try it.”

Quirin hesitated before replying but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Frowning, Quirin glanced outside to gauge the time – it was well into the night. Who would be up at this hour? Carefully opening the door, Quirin prepared himself for anything, only to be greeted by a messenger.

The young man glanced up at him before handing him a package. “Delivery for Varian, son of Quirin of Old Corona.”

Quirin nodded, taking the package as the young man walked off into the night.

“Who was that?” Varian asked as he returned to the table.

“A delivery… for you…,” Quirin stated, setting the package carefully on the table.

“Should I open it?” Varian asked, hesitantly.

Quirin inspected the package, turning it over in his hands. He couldn’t find anything obviously wrong with it. “Sure, son but be careful.”

Varian nodded, carefully reaching forward and opening the package. Inside was a small knife, with a note attached. Quirin recognized that knife, just as he recognized that handwriting.

It read, “For my favorite nephew on his 15^th birthday,” and was signed, “your favorite aunt.”

Quirin stared at the note in shock before his son flipped it over. The note was continued on the back. “Please remind your father, he really shouldn’t be this shocked – I know everything.”

Varian stared at his father in confusion as Quirin chuckled. “I have an aunt?” he asked.

“Not by blood, but by covenant and by friendship. I’ll have to introduce you one day. She drops by every once in a while, usually when you least expect it,” Quirin replied, gesturing to the package.

“What’s her name?” Varian asked, turning the note back over.

Quirin smiled at his son. “Adira.”

Chapter Text

~~~Cassandra~~~

Cassandra grunted in concentration as she focused all her energy on growing the black rocks. To her dismay, the growth of the one she had managed to sprout had slowed to a stop. Panting, she clenched her fists in frustration.

“I can’t control it,” she gasped.

“You will, Cassandra. In time,” her mentor reassured her.

“I thought by taking the moonstone, my destiny would become clear. But… what if I don’t even have a destiny?” Cassandra asked. She had risked so much by taking it. What if it was all for nothing?

“Of course you do. It is to destroy Rapunzel,” her mentor replied nonchalantly.

Cassandra stared at her in shock. “Destroy Rapunzel? But… I-I couldn’t-” Rapunzel had been her friend. Sure, she hadn’t been a good one, putting her dreams above everyone else’s, pushing others to do things like she knew best, but that didn’t mean Cassandra wanted to destroy her.

When she’d taken the moonstone, she’d taken a chance that Varian would be okay without it. The guilt still lingers that she doesn’t know if he’s okay. She doesn’t know whether he made it, whether Rapunzel was able to free him, whether he was alive. He was just a kid, and she’d risked his life because his destiny collided with her own. How many more people were going to have to get hurt in order for her to achieve her destiny? How many people would she have to hurt to get there?

Bright red rocks smashed through the ground near her feet, expanding outward, and racing down the path towards Corona. She stared at them in shock. Had she done that?

“What’s happening?”

Her mentor watched the rocks run rampant before speaking. “You are connected to the rocks. They respond to your feelings. Even fear.”

Cassandra stared in shock as these red rocks continued growing. A few seconds ago, she had barely been able to grow one black rock, and now she couldn’t stop these red rocks from sprouting. What was she going to do?

~~~Varian~~~

Varian stared at the scroll, then glanced down at his notes.

“What does it mean, Demanitus? What does it mean?” he asked, groaning in frustration. He understands that Demanitus needed to make the code complex so as to deter people from translating it, but he could have thought about making it a little more comprehensible. Just in case someone needed it translated for a good reason – like, I don’t know, maybe because a former friend had stolen the moonstone and was up to who knows what.

As Varian turned back to attempting to translate the next line, he heard a call that made his blood run cold.

“Varian!”

Dad? Whatever was happening, dad sounded scared. Dad wasn’t supposed to sound like that. Dad wasn’t supposed to be scared.

Varian raced down the hallway, listening for the call again. “Dad?!?” he cried out.

“Varian!” the call came again, and this time Varian could pinpoint where it was coming from. He raced to his lab, slamming open the door, only to gaze upon the sight before him in shock.

There, suspended in the creeping crystals of the amber once again, was his father, shouting for him to help.

“Dad! No! No, not again!” Varian screamed, instinctively racing forward, before stopping himself, pausing a good six feet from the amber. He couldn’t risk going any closer. He couldn’t let what happened last time happen again. But he has to help!

Varian takes another step forward before he realizes, he should go get Rapunzel. Yes! She could help! She helped last time, and she could help again.

Turning towards the door to his lab, Varian screamed he was going to get help. “Hold on, Dad! Just hold on! Rapunzel can help!”

But as he reached the door, he looked on in horror as another amber monolith came into view. Varian gasped as he recognized the figure inside it.

“Rapunzel?!?”

No! NO! This couldn’t be happening, Varian raced forward, pounding on the cold smooth surface of the amber.

“RAPUNZEL!”

“Varian!”

Varian turned to see Eugene, the amber slowly snaking up his neck. “Varian! Run! You have to leave! Save yourself!”

Varian stood frozen in fear, watching as the amber overtook his friend, unable to move.

“Varian! You have to ru-!” Eugene’s last words were swallowed by the amber.

Shaking himself, Varian turned, fleeing from the amber’s chasing grasp. As he ran, he felt hot tears begin to race down his cheeks. His dad was gone, their only hope for salvation trapped, and now he was losing his friends too. Once again, there was nothing he could do to stop the amber’s greedy path of destruction.

Racing down the hallway, he heard cries of terror. He burst through the front door of his house, only to find Stan struggling to pull a terrified Pete from the amber’s clutches.

“You have to go!” Pete screamed, as the crystal crept further up his torso.

Stan turned to see Varian, and a hint of relief crossed his features. Running towards him, he grabbed Varian’s arms. “Varian, thank goodness you’re okay. The amber- it’s-it’s- we have to go! NOW!”

With that, Stan began running, dragging Varian along behind him. Varian struggled to keep up with the guard’s rapid pace, but the adrenaline pumping in his veins kept him moving. They raced through town, passing more amber monoliths, encasing dozens of people.

How had it gotten this bad? Why had the amber returned? What were they going to do without Rapunzel to stop it?

As they reached the edge of the town, Stan tripped, dragging Varian to the ground with him. Varian turned to look back and watched in horror as amber tendrils reached out for him, seeking to claim him too. Just before they could grab him, he felt strong hands drag him out of their reach, shoving him forward.

Varian stumbled to his feet, turning to see Stan, his savior, pinned to the ground by the very amber that should have trapped him.

“Run, Varian!” Stan cried out as the amber encased more and more of his body. Looking Varian in the eyes, his voice took on a more solemn tone. “Don’t look back!”

Varian shook his head, tears leaking down his face, and followed Stan’s order. He ran. He ran until his lungs burned and his legs ached, and then kept running. He didn’t know where he was supposed to go. He didn’t know how far spread the amber reached. But he pressed on anyways.

He pressed on even when his lungs screamed and heart pounded, only to be jerked to a halt by a grip on his ankle. Varian cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, twisting to see gold crystal winding up his leg.

“NO!” Varian cried in terror, grabbing his leg and attempting to yank free. “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!”

The amber continued to climb, uncaring in his struggle.

Varian’s steady stream of tears turned into sobs as he watched the amber wrap up his torso, helpless to stop it. He hadn’t made it. He wasn’t fast enough, or smart enough to stop it. Chances are everyone he loved was now encased in amber, and he would soon be joining them.

This time there was no promise to help him. This time there was no Rapunzel to save him. This time, as the amber crept up his body, he was alone.

~~~still Varian (but now a conscious Varian)~~~

Varian shoots up from his desk, heart pounding.

“No! What? Uh…” He breathes a sigh of relief as he realizes it was all just a horrible dream, a terrible nightmare.

That doesn’t change the fact that it felt so real. Hands shaking, he gently scoops up Ruddiger on the way out of his room, placing him on his shoulders, his friend’s weight a small comfort. Walking swiftly, he exits his house, only to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Morning, son,” Dad greets, as he walks by, pushing a wheelbarrow full of their harvest. There’s no amber anywhere in sight.

Ruddiger squeaks before hopping off his shoulders, chattering worriedly as he runs over to some new rocks.

“What is it buddy?” Varian asks, as he follows after him. Ruddiger sniffs the rocks, and then cautiously backs away, obviously agitated.

Varian bends down to inspect rocks. These ones were red and gave off an ominous glow, unlike the black rocks from before.

“Well… this is new.”

~~~Ruddiger~~~

Varian insists on going into town to inform the princess of the new red rocks, even though he’s obviously still very shaken by whatever nightmare he’d had. As Varian’s unofficial emotional support animal, Ruddiger personally thinks he should take it easy, but unfortunately even smart humans like Varian don’t always listen. That doesn’t mean Ruddiger is going to let him go alone, though.

As they make their way into town, they come across more and more of the red rocks. People seem to be acting strange – stranger than usual. Varian pauses as a townsperson runs past him screaming something about snakes.

Ruddiger leaps from his shoulders to inspect the area. He’s not going to let Varian get bit – not on his watch! Besides, Varian still seemed too shaken to be actively paying attention right now.

Ruddiger carefully approaches some of the red rocks, to make sure nothing was hiding behind their depths that could hurt Varian. These rocks were strange, and gave off a weird feeling, but Ruddiger could ignore that in favor of protecting Varian. He only needed to inspect them for a moment.

As Ruddiger drew closer, that uneasy feeling increased. Just as he came close enough to sniff them, something else caught his attention. Tilting his head, he listened for the noise again.

“HELP!”

Ruddiger turned towards the source of the cry, listening again. It didn’t make any sense. That sounded like Varian, but like he was far away, and Varian had been right there beside him.

Turning to look behind him, to reassure himself, that Varian was still right there, that Varian was perfectly safe, Ruddiger froze as empty space greeted him where Varian had once stood. Beginning to tremble, he listened again for the cry.

“HELP! SOMEONE, HELP!”

Ruddiger took off, racing towards the cry’s source. He raced around buildings and through alleys, weaving under people’s legs and around carts. He just hopes he makes it in time. He HAS to make it in time!

As Ruddiger veers around a corner, he freezes at the sight before him. He stares, eyes wide in horror.

“HELP ME!” Varian screams, as the amber winds its way up his body.

Ruddiger chatters in anguish, racing forward to paw at the growing amber, trying to stop it, trying to save his best friend.

NO! This can’t be happening again! He just got Varian back! He can’t lose him again! It’s no use, though, as the amber slowly makes its way up Varian’s body.

Varian makes eye contact with Ruddiger and lets out one last panicked scream before his voice is muffled forever. “RUDDIGER, HELP!”

Ruddiger paws frantically at the amber, but it’s no use – Varian is gone. He failed him, again.

A red glow begins to creep up his body, but he’s so focused on Varian he doesn’t notice until it’s too late. The red overtakes him, and then all he knows is darkness.

~~~Varian~~~

Varian wishes he could blame him still being on edge on just the nightmare, but the Coronans around him were acting strange. It was as if these red rocks were making people see their worst fears or something.

Varian dodges a shrieking villager and pauses as another runs by screaming about snakes. He feels Ruddiger’s weight leave his shoulders, and he frowns, turning to follow after his friend. Ruddiger carefully approached the black rocks, before tilting his head in a different direction.

Varian frowns as he attempts to tell what it is Ruddiger is hearing. He hears nothing. Maybe it’s a raccoon thing.

All of a sudden, Ruddiger races off, leaving Varian gaping behind him. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Varian chases after him, but Ruddiger has a head start and he’s fast.

“Ruddiger!” Varian calls as he attempts to catch up with his best friend. Eventually he loses sight of him, and is left to choose random alleys and hope Ruddiger is down one of them. After a while, he finds him near a cluster of red rocks.

“Hey! Buddy, I was looking for you!” Varian smiles as he kneels in front of him, but his smile quickly fades as he sees Ruddiger up close.

His best friend is frozen, a red glow encasing him completely where he paws at the red rock surface before him, looking panicked.

“Wha-what are you-?” Varian waves his hand in front of Ruddiger’s face but receives no reaction. “Hello? W-what’s wrong?”

When Ruddiger once again gives no reaction, Varian reaches forward, gently scooping him up. Ruddiger is as hard and cold as stone. An unfortunate comparison that leads Varian to a realization – Ruddiger has been encased in the same material as the red rocks.

Varian feels a knot form in his throat and tries to fight down his own rising panic. These red rocks, whatever they were, were encasing people. Just like the amber. He had to find Rapunzel – now!

~~~Rapunzel~~~

The morning had been unusual, what with the addition of the red rocks, but they’d handled rocks before. They just needed to figure out what was going on before they formulated a plan to stop them.

When Rapunzel had first touched the red rocks, she had... felt… Cassandra. It was difficult to explain, and she wasn’t sure anybody would understand if she tried. She wasn’t sure how Cass was connected to these red rocks, but gaining that information wasn’t as important as figuring out how to stop them (for now, at least).

These new rocks seemed to be making people see their worst fears. As Eugene screamed about his nonexistent cowlick, Rapunzel’s suspicions were confirmed. Now to figure out how to stop these red rocks.

“It’s okay, Eugene! These rocks are messing with our heads.” As Rapunzel turned to continue their walk-through town, she jumped in fright. “Whoa!”

There, in front of her, was a petrified Ruddiger, face frozen in agonized fright. A sheepish voice spoke from behind the raccoon, as he was slowly moved to the side to reveal a shaking Varian.

“Sorry! Sorry. Just me. Hi. And, uh, and Ruddiger. Kinda.” Varian looked down at his friend in concern, before glancing back up at Rapunzel.

“Varian, is he okay? What happened?” Rapunzel asked. Pascal hopped off her shoulder, and onto Ruddiger’s head, tapping him, resulting in a light clinking sound. Ruddiger was frozen solid.

Holding Ruddiger in one arm, Varian reached his other hand up to nervously rub the back of his neck. “Um, I’m not quite sure, but I think it has something to do with these new rocks. I mean I’ve only been able to study them for a few hours, but their effects appear to be extremely dangerous.”

“Oh, yeah?” Eugene interjected. “More dangerous than bringing people’s greatest fears to life?”

Varian frowned, glancing back at his frozen friend. “Yes well, if people remain under that fear spell for too long, it looks like they’ll become frozen with terror permanently.” Varian took a deep breath, shuddering as he released it.

Rapunzel placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Varian.”

Varian looked up at her hesitantly before turning back to Ruddiger. “Can you- can you get him out?” he asked hopefully. “Do whatever it is you did for me and my dad?”

Rapunzel shared a glance with Eugene. It’s not that she didn’t want to get Ruddiger out – she did, but the Hurt Incantation was dangerous, not to mention it left her feeling drained. There was no way she could use it to save everyone affected by these red rocks. Not to mention, they weren’t even sure it would work (just because it worked on the amber, doesn’t mean it would work now).

Sighing, Rapunzel turned back to Varian. “I’m sorry, Varian, but I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. We’ll work on getting him out after we make sure everyone is safe, okay?”

Varian looked at her utterly dejected. Rapunzel could only imagine what was going through his mind.

“We’ll get him out. Ruddiger will be okay - I promise. But there’s no point in freeing him, unless we’re certain he won’t get… stuck… again.”

Varian nodded, but refused to make eye contact. Walking over to a cluster of the red rocks, he began to inspect them up close.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Eugene whispered as he watched the boy gently place Ruddiger’s frozen form beside him.

Rapunzel sighed. “I don’t know. These rocks…, if it’s true what he’s saying about them encasing people, causing them to turn to stone, then I worry about his past playing a role in his ability to help. I don’t want him getting hurt.”

Eugene nodded. “Maybe he should sit this one out.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Varian. “Guys, I think I might have an idea.”

~~~Varian~~~

Rapunzel informing him that she wanted to wait to free Ruddiger was… disappointing…, but understandable. He didn’t know much about the incantation she used to free him and his father, but if it was as dangerous as he’d heard, then she couldn’t risk performing it for every trapped person they came across.

As they walked back to the castle to formulate their plan, Varian tightened his grip on his solid best friend. This wasn’t like the amber. Everything would be okay. Rapunzel had promised. He just had to remain calm and do his best to help. Then they could free Ruddiger, and he could go home to his dad – DAD!

Varian froze in his tracks. Rapunzel and Eugene turned to stare at him in concern. “Varian, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“My-my dad,” Varian gulped, as he turned away from the castle, and towards the road that led to Old Corona. Stupid, Varian, stupid! He hadn’t even thought that by leaving to inform the princess, he could have left his own father in danger.

Rapunzel followed his gaze, before glancing at Eugene. This time Eugene broke the bad news to him.

“Kid, I’m sorry, but if these red rocks are as bad as we think they are, then your best chance of helping your dad, of helping everyone, is to help us formulate a plan so we can stop them.”

Varian turned his gaze back to him, eyes revealing a deep hurt. How could they say that? How could ask that of him?!?

“I’m sorry, Varian. We’ll check on him as soon as we have a plan,” Eugene attempted to reassure him.

“He’ll be okay,” Rapunzel reiterated.

Varian clutched Ruddiger closer to his chest, the petrified raccoon’s fearful eyes gazing unseeingly up into his own.

“You don’t know that,” he whispered, refusing to make eye contact with the princess. No one knew anything for sure about these red rocks. He couldn’t let his dad get hurt – not again. Sure, this time it wasn’t his fault, but it might as well be if not being there was what led to his dad getting hurt. Before Varian could voice as much, their conversation was interrupted.

“Your highness!” Pete called, racing up to the group as Stan trailed close behind. “We checked the east side of town like you asked, and-” Pete cut off as he looked at Varian. “Are you okay, Varian?” he asked.

No, Varian wanted to reply, but what good would that do? He needed to check on his father. He needed to help the princess. He couldn’t do both.

“Ruddiger!” Stan cried out as he saw the frozen raccoon. Turning to Varian, he frowned. “What happened?”

Varian clutched Ruddiger tighter. He didn’t know. He has an idea, but what if it’s not good enough? What if he can’t save his friend?

Eugene sighed. “Guys, now’s not the time. We need to get to the castle and formulate a plan. That’s the only way we can help people and stop these red rocks.”

Both guards nodding, snapping to attention. “Your orders, Princess?”

Rapunzel gave him a strange look before turning to the guards. “Stan, Pete, I need you to journey to Old Corona – make sure Quirin is safe.”

Everyone looked at the princess in shock, himself included. Rapunzel turned to him, giving him a small smile. “We need your help to formulate a plan on how to stop the red rocks, but I don’t want you to worry about your father either.”

Varian nodded, a small smile on his face. “Thank you.” He hesitated for a moment, before turning to Stan and Pete. “Could you, um…,” Varian paused, before sighing. “Could you take Ruddiger for me? Make sure he’s… safe, I guess?”

Both guards shared a look before Stan gently took Ruddiger from his hands. “Of course, Varian. We’ll take good care of him.”

“And we’ll make sure your father is safe,” Pete added.

Varian nodded, clasping his hands anxiously now that he had nothing to busy them with. Both guards reached forward, pulling him into a hug.

“I’ll be okay, Varian,” Stan stated, as he pulled back from the hug.

“You got this, treasure-hunt bestie,” Pete added, nodding in agreement.

Varian gave a small smile in return. Maybe everything would be okay.

~~~Rapunzel~~~

The plan was simple enough.

“Now, theoretically, if we sever this chain of rocks,” Varian stated, circling the area, “using one of my alchemical solutions, then we can cut off the red rocks’ fear power.”

“Oh, we can so cut off their power,” she stated confidently, glancing at Pascal. They could do this. Everything would be fine.

“You just need a cavern that runs deep enough.” Varian continued.

Rapunzel frowned in thought. “Deep cavern….” After a moment of thinking, she gasps. “I know just the place!”

Both turn in fear as they hear shrieking coming from the hallway. Racing out the room where they were formulating a plan, they look on in horror as a maid turns to red stone.

“Oh, no! It’s getting worse,” Rapunzel cried. “We can’t let this happen to anybody else.” Turning to Varian, she stated determinedly, “Your plan starts now.”

Chapter Text

~~~Varian~~~

As Varian mixes the compounds needed to make the amber solution, he shudders. He can do this – he has to do this. It’s the only way. That doesn’t take away the feeling of wrongness that lingers, or the fear that lies underneath.

It’s just the red rocks, he thinks to himself. It’s just them messing with you. Everything is going to be okay – Rapunzel promised. Varian shudders as the image of Rapunzel trapped in the amber reappears in his mind. That wasn’t real – it was just the red rocks messing with him. They would go down into the underground cavern, pour his solution, cut off the red rock’s power, and he would feel better. It was no problem – they’ve got this!

As Varian finishes packing the vials of the solution, he joins Rapunzel, Pascal, Lance, and Eugene.

“Alright,” Rapunzel begins. “I’m going down into the tunnels to cut off the rocks’ fear power. Lance, you’ll escort Varian to Old Corona so he can check on his father, and Eugene-”

“Wait, what?” Varian interrupted, clutching his backpack full of the vials tighter. “You’re going alone?!?”

Rapunzel sighed, turning to face him. “I won’t be alone – I have Pascal. Someone has to cut off the red rocks’ power, Varian, and I don’t want risk you getting hurt. You’ve already done so much just by coming up with this plan. Pascal and I can handle it from here.”

“You don’t trust me?” Varian asked, his voice sounding more hurt than even he expected it to.

“Of course, I trust you, Varian,” Rapunzel tried to reassure him. “But-”

“You don’t think I can do it,” Varian whispered, hugging his backpack close to his chest. The princess was right not to believe in him. The last time he’d tried to stop the rocks, he’d ending up trapping himself and his father for a year, not to mention that these red rocks were fueled by fear, which Varian had plenty to offer.

“It’s not that,” Rapunzel insisted, a pained look on her face. “It’s just,” she sighed, taking a deep breath. “I can’t let you get hurt again. I don’t want to let you down.”

Varian nodded. “I understand, but I’ll be fine. I want to help. I’m coming with you.”

Rapunzel sighed, but acquiesced. Turning to Eugene and Lance, she gave revised instructions.

“It’s up to you two to keep the people’s spirits up. Remember, you can’t let fear take hold of anyone for too long, or…”

“Don’t worry, sunshine,” Eugene stated. “We’ll think of something.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “With us two putting our heads together-AH! Get away from me, Clown-spider!”

The group watched as Lance ran away in terror. Varian shouldered his backpack, trying not to think about how that could be him. He could do this – no problem. He’s got this.

“Or I’ll be thinking of something at the very least,” Eugene sighed, turning to follow after his friend.

“You ready?” Rapunzel asked.

Varian sighed. “As I’ll ever be.”

~~~Rapunzel~~~

Rapunzel frowned as she added another tally to her journal. Varian continued repeating his mantra, changing cadence and pitch each time. “No problem. We got this. No problem, we got this.” Rapunzel added two more tallies before glancing at him in concern, as he nervously chuckled to himself.

She knew it was none of her business whether Varian repeated the mantra to himself over and over, especially if it was helping to keep him calm, but he had said it now 23 times, and she was beginning to get more and more concerned with each tally mark she added. And yes, keeping track of how many times Varian said “no problem – we got this” was probably rude, but it was helping her to keep her mind off her own greatest fear.

Sighing, she turned to Varian. “You okay, Varian? Because you’ve said, ‘No problem, we’ve got this,’ 23 times now.” Rapunzel gestured to her journal. “Look, I’m actually keeping track. Heh.”

Varian’s nervous chuckle in response is nowhere near reassuring. Even less reassuring is his obvious lie.

“That’s… I’m fine, really. Uh, you know, just trying not to set off the 3,000 traps down here!”

Rapunzel sighed. She didn’t want to push him, but this is part of the reason why she didn’t want him coming down here. Varian was a brilliant kid, but these red rocks were definitely hitting too close to home. She just wanted to keep him safe, and not traumatize him anymore than he already was. But she didn’t know how to articulate that, so she decided to try to reassure him based off his lie.

“Relax. We’ve been through these tunnels too many times for that to-”

Before she could finish that statement, Pascal set off one of the traps as he attempted to catch a fly.

“Look out!” Rapunzel called as she jumped to safety. Turning back, she looked on in horror as Varian began sliding down into the chasm revealed by the trap doors.

“Whoa! My supplies!” Varian cried out as the contents of his backpack spilled into the chasm below, an explosion resounding throughout the cavern.

Rapunzel watched in horror as Varian clawed at the trap door, trying to find anything to hold onto. Releasing her hair, she threw it over a beam and down to Varian, hoping he would catch it in time.

Varian’s screams echoed in her ears before a weight tugged on the end of her hair. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Varian latched onto it. She slowly pulled him up, helping him to safety.

“Ooh! Oh, thank you,” Varian gasped, as he pulled off his backpack.

“Are you okay?” Rapunzel asked.

“I’m fine,” Varian replied. “Oh, but we’ve only got one vial of my solution left.”

Rapunzel sighed.  “Well then, I guess we’ll just have to make it count.”

As Varian walked off, Rapunzel turned to glare at Pascal, clearing her throat as he eyed another fly. She was supposed to be keeping Varian safe, and she was failing miserably – the kid almost fell to his death just moments ago. This is why she had wanted to leave him at the surface, not because she didn’t trust him, but because she hadn’t wanted to risk him getting hurt. After all, she’d never been very good at keeping him safe.

~~~Varian~~~

“No problem. We got this. No problem, we got this.”

Maybe if he keeps repeating the words to himself, he might actually believe them. Varian rubbed at the pin on his backpack strap. It was the pin given to him by his father less than a week ago on his birthday. As he traced the circle, he sighed. Everything would be okay. He could do this. His dad would be fine. Ruddiger would be fine. He would be fine.

Rapunzel asked him if he was okay, and he lied saying he was just worried about the traps. As if to mock him, the universe decided that would be an excellent time for one to be set off, opening some trap doors below him.

But Rapunzel saved him, as she always did. He could do this. He could help save the kingdom. Rapunzel may have wanted him to stay on the surface, but he could do this. He would prove to her that he wasn’t just a scared little kid.

He traced the circle of the pin yet again. No problem, we got this.

~~~Stan~~~

The ride to Old Corona was uneventful, minus the screams of villagers as they passed through town. Stan clutched Ruddiger closer to his chest. It wasn’t as comforting as when Ruddiger was actually there to nuzzle into his chest, and remind him everything would be okay, but it would have to do for now.

As they arrived at Varian’s house, Pete knocked on the door, only to receive no response. Both guards looked at each other in fear before Pete knocked again. Still no answer….

At the third knock, Pete was practically pounding on the door, and Stan was preparing just to break it down, when Quirin finally answered.

“Can I help you?” he asked, looking at the guards in confusion before freezing. “Is Varian hurt? What happened? He said he was going to see the princess. I knew I should have gone with him. I-”

“Varian is fine,” Pete rushed to reassure the man. “We’re actually here to check on you.”

“Check on me?” Quirin asked, his face once again taking on a look of confusion. Glancing between the guards, his eyes came to rest on Ruddiger, still frozen in red terror.

“It’s the rocks, isn’t it?” Quirin asked, as he let the guards inside.

Stan nodded as they all sat at the kitchen table. “But Varian is fine,” Stan reassured him.

Quirin shook his head, clasping his hands in front of him. “The rocks are back,” he stated. “They’re new and they’re different, but this is still the work of the moonstone.”

Stan and Pete shared a glance. “Don’t worry, sir,” Stan stated. “The princess has a plan to stop the red rocks at their source.”

Quirin’s eyes widened in concern. “And where does this plan put Varian?”

~~~Varian~~~

Varian clutches the bottle of solution tighter to his chest. No problem, we’ve got this. There is no amber, well, minus the solution in your hand – the red rocks are messing with your head. No problem, we’ve got this. It’ll be okay. Rapunzel promised. No problem, we’ve got this. There is no amber, there is no amber. It’s not real. No problem – we’ve got this.

Thankfully, Rapunzel’s voice interrupts his thoughts. “Not much further. We’re almost there, Varian. Have that solution of yours ready.”

Come on Varian – you can do it. Just a little further. No problem, we’ve got this. The amber’s not real. Or at least this amber’s not real. You’re okay. You’re okay. It’s not – this isn’t like last time. You’re okay. You’re-

Once again, his spiraling thoughts are interrupted by Rapunzel.

“Varian, whatever the red rocks are showing you, they’re just visions. They’re not real.”

Varian shudders as he pushes images of creeping crystals out of his mind. He traces the circle of his pin yet again.

“But they are. Do you know what this is?” he asks, holding up the vial.

“It’s what’s gonna help us sever the red rocks’ power,” Rapunzel replies naively, Pascal looking over her shoulder. Of course she doesn’t know what this is. She wasn’t there. No one was there to save him in that moment – except his father, but that only led to him getting trapped as well. What was he thinking, trying to use this solution again?!? It was dangerous!!! It was – no, that was the red rocks. He could do this. It would be okay.

“Yes, but it’s also the same compound that encased me and my father,” Varian replied quietly. “You know, the red rocks make everybody else see hallucinations, but what I see is something that really happened – that is happening right now. The rocks encased me, and they’re back and it may not be the same as the amber, but they’re encasing people again, and I’m-I’m-”

Varian gasped, sucking in air in an effort not to hyperventilate.

“You’re okay, Varian. Breathe with me,” Rapunzel whispered calmly, beginning to take deep exaggerated breaths. “It’ll be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Varian followed her breathing until his own leveled out, the fear fading, but still bubbling under the surface.

“It’s okay to be scared, Varian,” Rapunzel stated, taking his hand and squeezing it. Pascal nodded reassuringly from her shoulder.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Varian stated. “You have the power of the sundrop at your fingertips, protecting you, making sure you stay safe. You don’t have to be afraid of anything. But for ordinary people, like me, fear is just a little bit more debilitating.”

Rapunzel gave him a reassuring smile. “Varian… I’m right here, right beside you. We’re going to get through this together.”

Varian took a deep breath nodding.

Rapunzel smiled, squeezing his hand again, as she began to walk, pulling him along. “Oh, and Varian,” she continued, “There is nothing ordinary about you.”

~~~Cassandra~~~

Cassandra stared at her reflection in the red rocks, hoping that maybe they could provide the answer.

“There must be another way.”

She couldn’t destroy Rapunzel. She didn’t want to have to hurt people any more than she already had. This was about chasing her own destiny – why did she have to use others as a stepping stool to get there?

He mentor sighed. “You once questioned why you have no destiny. Now that you have one, don’t question it. You must wield the power of the moonstone and the sundrop. But you cannot do that without destroying Rapunzel.”

Cassandra stared at the red rocks in pain. This couldn’t be the only way. Could it?

~~~Quirin~~~

Quirin stood abruptly from his chair, it falling backwards to land on the floor behind him.

“How can you say my son is safe when he is at the forefront of danger?!? How could you possibly believe Varian is safe when this plan has put him directly in harm’s way?!?”

Quirin clenched his fists as images of his son mixed with images of the rocks’ destruction from his past. Varian could be hurt, or dead, or-

“Quirin?” Pete asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

Quirin expected the guards to be looking at him in concern, but instead he found their eyes glued to his hands. Peering down at his clenched fists, Quirin looked on in shock at the red that had crept up them. Taking a deep breath, he released it, watching as the red slowly faded.

“Varian will be fine,” Stan repeated. “The princess will keep him safe.”

Quirin sighed, picking his chair up from the ground, and collapsing back into it. Glancing up at the ceiling, Quirin tried to keep images of dangerous rocks and Varian from his mind. He tried instead to replace them with fond images of Varian – the first time he’d held his son, the smile on Varian’s face when he’d given him his lab, Varian’s ecstatic cheering as one of his experiments was a success, the look of terror on Varian’s face when his compound failed and the amber had reached towards him and- NOPE! Not going to think about that!

Quirin sighed, reaching up to rub at his temples, noticing that the red had once again begun to creep up his fingertips. Varian would succeed – he had to. Quirin didn’t know what he would do if his son failed.

~~~Rapunzel~~~

As they walked through the tunnels, Rapunzel could tell Varian was getting more and more anxious. Pascal kept glancing at the teen in concern, confirming her fears.

“Rapunzel, we really gotta hurry. How much farther is it?” he whined.

As they approached the cavern’s entrance, Rapunzel smiled. “Uh, we’re here. You wanted a big underground cavern? I give you… the Demanitus Chamber.”

Varian looked around in astonishment. “Whoa. It-it’s amazing.”

Rapunzel smiled. Leave it to Demanitus to take Varian’s mind off the red rocks. “You should have seen it before all these red rocks.”

Varian looked at her in surprise. “Y-you’ve actually s-seen this before?”

Rapunzel frowned as she remembered the circumstances under which she had first found this chamber. Pascal nuzzles her shoulder in comfort. “You could say that….”

At Varian’s questioning look she continued. “There was a blizzard – the device down here helped save the kingdom.”

Varian frowned. “I don’t remember a blizzard.”

Rapunzel cringed, refusing to meet his gaze. “It was shortly after you and your father came to court, so it was most likely after the amber,” she whispered.

Varian stared at her in shock for a moment, before recovering. “Oh… right…,” he stated. “It was cloudy, and cold that day…,” he trailed off. “That sounds really scary, though.”

Rapunzel nodded. “It was.”

Varian sighed, turning back to face the towering red rocks. “Well, I guess the one good thing about the amber was I didn’t have to be in that blizzard.”

Rapunzel turned to face the red rocks before them. “True, but how about we add saving the kingdom to that list?”

Varian set his face in determination. “Let’s do it!”

~~~Varian~~~

Whatever happened during that blizzard, Varian can tell it was bad based on Rapunzel’s reaction. Pascal comforting her confirmed those suspicions. He’s just glad he wasn’t there to experience it – he has enough trauma as is, thank you very much.

As they walk down the stairs towards the ledge near the red rocks, Varian attempts to change the subject back to something happier.

“Man, I would’ve loved to have met Demanitus.”

Rapunzel turns to him, smiling. “I did. Nice guy. He was a monkey. Uh, long story.”

Varian stared at her in shock. She got to meet Demanitus?!? But that-

Varian’s thoughts were interrupted as they reached the ledge.

“Oh! Okay, there’s the base. Encasing it in amber should stop the fear from-”

The cavern rumbled.

“Okay, less explaining, more pouring,” Rapunzel commented, wrapping her hair around his waist as he reached over the edge towards the red rocks.

“Varian! Help! Son, help me!”

Varian looked down to see the amber climbing up around his father.

“Varian, run!” Eugene’s voice joined him.

“Run, Varian!” Pete called.

“Don’t look back!” Stan echoed.

“You can do this, Varian,” Rapunzel calls from behind him, and Varian shakes himself.

He can do this. He can do this. It’s not real – fight the red rocks’ power!

Reaching forward, Varian pours his solution on the red rocks, racing back to hide behind Rapunzel and her hair. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that reaction – not after last time.

After a few moments, the color from his solution faded, with nothing happening. Of course the one time he actually needs the amber, it won’t grow. Typical….

Varian shouts in frustration, “What? Gah! I don’t understand. This solution should encase the red rock….” After a moment, the realization hits him. “Oh, of course! Oh, so dumb, Varian! Whatever turned these rocks red must’ve also changed their internal chemistry.”

“So, that solution only works on black rocks?” Rapunzel asks.

“Yes. Well, what’s left of it,” Varian mutters, tapping the almost empty flask. “But, I… I don’t even see any black rocks.”

Rapunzel smiles, pointing up at a black rock way above their heads, near the top of the chamber. “I do.”

Varian gulps. “Okay, this just got a lot harder.”

~~~Pete~~~

Watching the red creep up Quirin’s fingers was disconcerting to say the least. They needed to remain calm, though. The red rocks fed on their fear. They just had to hold on for a little longer, until Varian and the princess could stop them. They could do this.

Out of the corner of his eye, Pete saw his best friend shudder, clutching the frozen raccoon closer to his chest.

“It’s okay, Stan. It’s not real,” Pete murmured, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Quirin didn’t even glance up from where he’d begun nervously pacing across the room, the red slowly creeping further up his arms as time went on.

“But the mob, and Monty-” Stan shuddered yet again.

Pete looked on in fear as red slowly began to encase Stan’s feet.

“It’s okay, buddy. I know – but that’s in the past. It’s over now.”

Stan shook his head, gazing down at his feet as the red crept more quickly now up his legs. “It feels so real. It was real.”

Pete frowns. “I know, but it’s over now.”

Stan nodded, and the red slowed its ascent, but it still continued. Pete frowned. He was trying to help keep Quirin and Stan calm, but nothing he said was reassuring enough to help. He was useless – he couldn’t do anything to help. Just like when Varian was trapped in the amber, just like when the angry mob trampled Stan – he was useless. What was the point of being a guard if he couldn’t protect anyone?

Pete turned to check on Stan yet again, only to find his best friend smiling at him. That was odd…. Frowning, Pete glanced around only to find they were back in the palace courtyard, which was even more strange. Hearing shouting in the distance, Pete turned to see an angry mob approaching. He turned to warn Stan, but when he did, the man was gone.

“Pete! Help!”

Pete turned back towards the mob, only to watch in horror as Stan disappeared under them, being trampled underfoot.

“Stan!” Pete screamed, racing towards the mob. He didn’t know what he could do, but he had to do something. As he approached the angry mob, his breath caught in his throat.

“Mimes...,” Pete whispered. The mob was made completely of mimes. Stan was being trampled by mimes, who were running from something he couldn’t see, and it was too much. He couldn’t move – he stood frozen as the mob passed him by.

“Pete!” Stan shouted, but Pete could no longer see him.

“Pete!” Stan called again, but he couldn’t move.

“Pete!” Stan screamed, but he was already frozen in terror.

~~~Stan~~~

“Pete!” Stan screamed, shaking his best friend, trying to snap him out of it. It was no use – the red crept over Pete’s face, leaving him frozen in terror where he sat.

Quirin stopped pacing to look on in horror. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Stan turned to face the man. “Varian can fix this, though, right? He said he had a plan.”

Quirin returned to his pacing, the red once again creeping up his arms.

~~~Varian~~~

Varian chuckles nervously as he gazes up at the singular black rock. “You’re telling me I gotta climb all the way up there?” He can’t help the nervous laugh that escapes him. “Nobody in their right mind would climb-”

“Race you up to the top!” Rapunzel shouts, leaping onto the structure and beginning to climb.

“Oh, come on,” Varian muttered, following after her.

~~~Quirin~~~

Quirin had nothing to say to the guard. He didn’t want to lie and be reassuring when he didn’t even know what Varian’s plan was, much less whether it would be successful. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Varian, he does, but he didn’t want his son getting hurt. And the more time that passed without the red rocks disappearing, the more Quirin worried that Varian was injured or frozen like the guard sitting at his kitchen table. He just didn’t want his son getting hurt – not again. Especially when he wasn’t there to protect him.

~~~Varian~~~

Climbing the structure to get to the black rock sucked, but at least having to focus on climbing took Varian’s mind off of the amber and people being encased by the rocks. Damn it – stop thinking about that, Varian.

Rocks crumble, and Varian stumbles, clinging to the ledge he’s on as they race past him. Don’t look down. Don’t think about how far it is to the ground, don’t think about how unsafe this is, don’t think about the amber, don’t think about the rocks – honestly the list of things Varian was not supposed to think about was getting so extensive it was exhausting. At this point, it would probably be easier to list the things he could think about – like climbing. Climbing was good. Climbing was safe.

Once again, the universe decided to mock him – more rocks fell towards them as they climbed.

“Whoa! Watch out!” Rapunzel called as she dodged the rocks nimbly, Pascal clinging to her shoulder.

Unfortunately, Varian was a lot more clumsy. He screamed as he fell, hurtling towards the bottom of the chasm.

“Varian!” Rapunzel shouted, throwing her hair down to him.

“Oh!” he cries, latching onto it.

Rapunzel grunts as she uses her weight to pull him back up.

Varian clutches her hair, trembling. “It's no use, Rapunzel! I can't do this!”

Rapunzel looks at him in concern, Pascal mimicking her expression. “Varian, you cannot let fear run your life. Look, I'm afraid too.”

“Yeah, you said that, Princess,” Varian interrupts. “But you don't see what I see. This situation isn’t your worst nightmare come to life.”

Rapunzel sighs. “That’s true. I don’t see what you see, and I know this is a really scary situation for you, but I’m scared too, Varian.”

She pauses before continuing, “In my visions, I see Corona. It's covered in black rocks. And I see Cassandra. She's conquered the kingdom, destroyed it forever. I couldn’t stop her. I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t save anyone. In my visions, I fail.”

Varian frowns, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry - I had no idea.”

“These red rocks – I don’t think Cass means to hurt us, but she is. I just- I don’t know what to do.”

Varian sighs, turning to glance up at the black rock protruding from the structure. “Well, you can start by giving me a lift.”

Rapunzel gives him a small smile. “One lift coming up.” She pauses before sending him skyward. “Actually, here-” she gently lifts Pascal off her shoulder, and places him on Varian’s.

At Varian’s confused look, she smiles. “As long as I have Pascal – I’m not afraid of anything. He helps.” Turning to face the chameleon, she sighs. “Take care of him, buddy.”

Pascal salutes in response, clinging to Varian’s shoulder as she sends him rocketing upward before he can protest. As Varian lands on the ledge, Rapunzel calls up to him to hurry. He glances down to see her pushing back against some red rocks. Pascal squeaks in alarm, nudging Varian to get him to start climbing again.

Varian grunts as he climbs. “The amber’s not real.” He can feel the red stiffness creeping up his arms. It’s very similar to the amber, and not helping. “I can do this.”

He leans forward with the vial, his hands trembling. “Come on! Come on…. No!” he shouts as he drops the flask. He somehow manages to catch it with his foot.

“Varian!” his dad screams, as he manages to toss the flask back up to his hands and hold it over the black rock.

“Fight the fear! Fight it! You can do this Varian! Come on! Come on!” The amber’s not real. The amber is not real.

Varian can feel the stiff redness creeping up his body. It’s faster now, more greedy than the creeping crystals of the amber ever were.

“Varian!” his dad cries out, and suddenly it’s not the redness from the rocks climbing up his body, but the amber slowly encasing him, as he hugs his father.

“Dad, I’m scared,” he whispers.

He can’t move. He can’t breathe, and yet the amber continues climbing, snaking its way up his torso. He’s failed. He’s failed, and no one is coming to save him, and it’s happening all over again.

No! It’s not real! He has to fight it. But it feels so real. No, Varian – it’s not! But the rocks are encasing people – this isn’t a dream. No, it’s a nightmare.

His hand trembles as he angles the flask over the black rock. The liquid glides down the inside of the flask, slowly edging towards its lip. The red creeps faster. It’s up to Varian’s chin now, and quickly spreading up his face.

Come on, Varian! Fight it! It’s not the amber!

“Varian!” his dad calls.

It’s not him. It’s not -it’s not real. It-it can’t be. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not- it’s not real.

Varian shudders as he feels the red creep up to his forehead, freezing him just as the amber did such a short time ago. It’s not-it’s not real. It’s not- it’s real. It’s real. It’s real.

As the red finishes its trek up his body, Varian watches in horror as the amber solution slows inside the flask, getting caught at the lip, not progressing any further. He’s failed. As the red rocks claim him he has but one final thought: dad, I’m sorry.

~~~Pascal~~~

Pascal looks on in horror as red slowly creeps up Varian’s body. He squeaks in alarm, trying to snap the boy out of it, but it’s no use. He prods Varian’s neck, jumps on his shoulder, but it’s to no avail – the boy does not respond.

Pascal glances between the redness climbing up Varian’s body and his trembling hand holding the flask and realizes something – he’s not going to make it. The angle of the flask isn’t enough – the solution won’t reach the black rock before Varian is frozen.

Scurrying up Varian’s arm, Pascal races towards the flask. Rapunzel had asked him to look out for the boy – it was up to him to help. Just as the red finishes its trek, freezing Varian in terror, Pascal reaches the flask.

Climbing to the top, he pounds on the bottom of it. The solution inside jiggles but does not fall. He pounds again, and the liquid moves a little closer to the edge of the flask’s opening. He pounds again, and again and again, each time the solution getting a little closer to falling.

“Varian!” he hears Rapunzel cry – she must have seen the boy frozen in terror. Pascal looks down to see her beginning to be overtaken by the redness from the rocks too. No! He wouldn’t let them take her too. He pounds on the flask and keeps pounding.

Thud…. Thud…. Thud….

Finally, on the next pound, Pascal watches in relief as the solution drips from the flask onto the black rock. As the amber sprouts, Pascal cheers, sighing in relief as Varian begins to unfreeze, the red fading from his limbs.

It’s only then that Pascal realizes the precarious position the boy was in trying to pour the solution before he was frozen. Pascal has just enough time to squeak in alarm before a freshly thawed Varian stumbles, sending them both plummeting towards the ground.

~~~Stan~~~

Stan can feel the redness creeping up his body, stiffening his limbs, when all of a sudden, the feeling fades. He looks down to find the red gone. He hears someone gasp next to him and sighs in relief as he turns to find Pete unfrozen.

“Well, that sucked,” Pete commented, and Stan finds himself laughing. Yes, indeed.

Quirin smiles in relief as the red fades from his body as well. “Varian did it. Varian is okay.”

~~~Rapunzel~~~

Rapunzel gazes up in horror as both Varian and Pascal fall off the ledge, plummeting towards the ground. Grabbing her hair, she uses some of it to tie herself to the structure, and using more of it to create a lasso, aiming it towards Varian.

Varian seems to finally be out of the daze the red rocks left him in, because now he’s screaming as he plummets towards the earth. Thankfully, her aim is true, and she catches Varian so that he only falls about 70 more feet instead of all the way to the ground.

Groaning, she hauls him up and over to the ledge below, before untying herself and climbing down after him. As soon as her feet reach solid ground, she’s racing towards a trembling Varian, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“Are you okay?” she asks, voice shaking. Please be okay, please be okay.

Varian only cries into her shoulder in response, Pascal gently patting his shoulder in comfort.

“Oh, Varian,” Rapunzel sighs. “I’m so sorry.” This is all her fault – she was supposed to protect him.

After a moment, Varian looks up at her in surprise. “Yo-you’re sorry?” he asks, bewildered. “I’m the one who failed. You were right – I couldn’t do it. If Pascal hadn’t been there-”

“What?!?” Rapunzel interrupts. “I never thought you couldn’t do it.”

Varian looks at her, confused. “But you didn’t want me to come, and-”

“Varian, I didn’t want you to get hurt. You’ve already been through so much, and I knew this was dangerous, and you almost- and it would have been my fault, and I-I keep putting you in danger. I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Varian reassures her, but Rapunzel doesn’t feel any better, especially after he continues. “I was the one who wasn’t strong enough to face my fears.”

Rapunzel shakes her head, hugging her friend tighter. “That was really scary, Varian. For anyone – and even more so, you. It’s okay that you weren’t completely successful – there’s a whole town full of people who we just freed who weren’t successful either. But the point is, you kept fighting, even when it was tough. You aren’t giving yourself enough credit. You’re stronger than you think.”

Varian gave her a watery smile, as she released him from the hug. Climbing to her feet, Rapunzel turned, holding out a hand to the boy. “Now I believe we have a certain father to check on….”

Varian smiled, taking her hand. Rapunzel was reassured by his strong grip. Varian was safe – he wasn’t okay by any means, but she would support him the best she could. She would help him the same way she did everything else – by taking it one day at a time.

~~~Cassandra~~~

Cassandra deflates as she watches the red rocks recede back into the ground. Her mentor appeared behind her, shaking her head.

“Do you see now? Rapunzel can strip you of your power, Cassandra. If you do not destroy her, she will destroy you.”

Cassandra stared at the ground where once stood red rocks. Her mentor was right. If she truly wanted to claim her destiny, she would have to make sure no one else could take it from her. Rapunzel was the only major threat that possessed the power to do so, and therefore, Rapunzel would need to be out of the picture for her own destiny to survive. Rapunzel had stolen everything from her, time and time again – this time Cassandra would make sure she wasn’t there to stop her destiny.

~~~Varian~~~

Varian sighs in relief as they find dad in town. Apparently, his father had been wise enough (or worried enough) to come find Varian, rather than wait for him to come home. They hug briefly, before Quirin pulls back, ruffling his son’s hair.

“I knew you could do it, Varian.”

Varian pauses, unsure how to tell his dad that he failed – that Pascal had to step in to save the day.

Rapunzel places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “He did great, sir. He’s a hero.”

Quirin smiles at Varian, and Varian feels his shoulders relax a little. “I know.”

Then Stan and Pete are appearing, and hugging him as well, and a not frozen Ruddiger is happily handed to him, and cuddling into his chest, and everything seems okay for a moment. Obviously, it’s not – Varian still has a lot of feelings he needs to work through regarding today (and the past year, really), but for now he feels maybe just a little okay. Gently tracing the circle of the Brotherhood symbol on his pin, he smiles. Maybe just a little okay is all he needs to be.

Chapter Text

~~~Rapunzel~~~

Rapunzel wishes she didn’t have to ask this of Stan and Pete, but with Cassandra wreaking havoc (intentional or not), and with Varian possessing the scroll, she’s not taking any chances. Varian has gotten hurt, or almost hurt, too many times on her watch. It’s about time she starts being proactive.

~~~Stan~~~

When the princess comes to them with a new assignment, it’s one they happily accept. It’ll be nice to spend more time with their friend. And who knows? Maybe with their presence there, Varian will finally be safe.

~~~A few days later~~~Eugene~~~

Lance has been acting strange all day. He’s never been this thorough with anything before, and Eugene highly doubts that this supply run for Rapunzel would be the task that causes him to turn over a new leaf. But, if he’s being honest, he can’t think of a reason why Lance would be acting so strange, so he decides to just let these events play out. He’ll find out why everyone’s acting so weird sooner or later.

As they finally enter the ballroom after a long day of gathering useless junk (he loves Rapunzel, but ever since she’d gotten out of that tower, she’s been fascinated by everything – which he loves – but also, he worries about her collecting everything), he stares in shock at the amount of people gathered.

“Surprise!” they all shout.

“Gah!” Eugene shouts in surprise as he gazes around the colorfully decorated room. “Whoa... This is for me? Why?”

His girlfriend smiles as she saunters up beside him. “Because today is your actual birthday!” she exclaims, beaming at his surprised look.

“Is it?” Eugene asks, seeking confirmation. As the people around him nod, he smiles. “Oh, wow! This party is for me. An entire evening where everyone gathers to pay homage to my existence? Oh, how did I go so many years without-?”

“Because I sent him away as a babe and his whole life was a lie,” his dad interrupts. It was still weird referring to Edmund as dad, but Eugene counts it as progress that his mind supplied the term immediately.

Sighing, Eugene resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Always a dependable ray of sunshine, Dad. Well, bring on the cake!”

As the cake is rolled toward him, Eugene’s smile quickly fades as he makes note of something weird about it. “Hold up,” he states. “I don't mean to nitpick but there are one too many candles on this cake.” If he’s going to have a first real birthday, then he wants it done right – come on, people.

Rapunzel hesitates before her smile becomes impossibly wide. “Uh... no. Nope, that's right. You are one year older than you thought, Eugene. Hooray for another birthday surprise!”

Eugene chuckles. “You are so funny, but also incorrect. I am 25 years old. The number of candles on this cake indicates that I'm 26 years old. One year too many.” It’s a simple mistake, really, and one that can be easily fixed.

“No, no, you're 26 years old today,” dad interjects.

“Yep, that's right. 26!” Rapunzel confirms.

Eugene feels like the rug has been pulled out from under him. This is a lot to process. He’s barely been adjusting to having his father back in his life, and now the man pulls this surprise on him. As the crowd’s whispers of “26” turn into roars inside his ears, he stumbles, landing in a chair Lance thankfully pulls up for him.

“I am a year older than I think I am?” Eugene whispers. He knows this shouldn’t be as huge of a deal as he’s making it, but it’s just another thing about his life he thought he knew, but it turns out he was wrong. When everything he ever thought he knew is turning out to be untrue, how can he trust anything in his life?

Realizing people are beginning to stare at him in concern, and knowing he’ll have time to process this new information on his own later, he readies his best coping mechanism and forces out a sarcastic comment. “This explains the lines on my eyes. Are these crow's feet?”

Rapunzel’s eyes soften, but she thankfully doesn’t press the issue. Eugene knows she’ll ask him about it later, but he’s thankful that in this moment she decides distraction is best and turns back to the cake.

“Right, well, why don't you take your mind off your age and make a wish?”

Eugene smiles as she links her arm through his. “Well, I can think of at least one wish I'd like to have come true in the very near future.” As he takes a deep breath, preparing to blow out the candles for the first time on his first real birthday, the candles flicker and go out as a gust of icy wind blows through the courtroom. Turning towards the entrance to the room, Eugene frowns. Well, if it isn’t the party pooper herself.

Cassandra scowls as she enters the room. “Swell party. I'm guessing my invitation got lost in the mail?”

~~~Earlier that day~~~Varian~~~

It was a surprisingly hard sell to get Rapunzel to allow him to work on translating the scroll. Apparently, you almost die a few times and suddenly people start caring about your safety or whatever. It’s an odd phenomenon Varian isn’t really used to. Usually, the only one worried that he almost died is dad – the rest of the townsfolk usually just yelled about how he destroyed their homes with his dangerous witchcraft. Not that he made almost dying a common occurrence or anything – it definitely wasn’t a habit. Alchemy was just sometimes unpredictable – that’s part of what made it so exciting!

Apparently, the princess was feeling responsible for him, (to which Varian argued he could take care of himself, thank you very much), and insisted upon him at least staying close by while he worked. When Varian tried to argue further, she offered him the Demanitus Chamber, and he admittedly caved pretty quickly after that. So here he was, working where his hero once worked, translating his unparalleled wisdom – a crash interrupts his thoughts.

“Sorry,” Pete murmurs as he bends over to pick up the tongs he knocked off the bench.

Varian rolls his eyes. Rapunzel had also insisted that Stan and Pete help him as his new crown-appointed lab assistants. He can’t comprehend as to why – they have no experience, no science knowledge, and – Varian groans as another crash echoes from the other side of the workshop.

“Sorry!” Stan calls.

And were both incredibly clumsy. As in, worse than him – which is saying something. The only logical explanation he has come up with, is that Rapunzel worries about him being alone down here and wanted him to have some friends.

As Ruddiger scurries away from the mess Stan had created, climbing up to Varian’s shoulders and hissing at Stan, Varian sighs. Rapunzel had insisted having some human friends wouldn’t hurt.

“I said I was sorry,” Stan whines, pouting as Ruddiger glares at him.

Varian sighs. So helpful. Sighing again, he closes his notebook and turns to the two men. “Why don’t we take a break?”

Both men perk up. “That’d be great!” Stan agrees.

“Yeah, we still have plenty of time to make it to Eugene’s birthday party,” Pete adds.

Both Varian and Stan flinch. Sighing Pete glances between the two. “Okay, we don’t have to go if you both don’t want to. I know how you both feel about crowds. Maybe we could have another game night?”

Varian inwardly groans. Well, at least it’s better than being surrounded by an enormous crowd, full of loud people and an overstimulating amount of noise.

~~~Earlier that day~~~Cassandra~~~

“I-I know where the scroll is,” Cassandra admits hesitantly.

Her mentor examines her for a moment before sighing in exasperation. “Rapunzel has it, doesn’t she?”

Cassandra nods before turning her gaze to the dirt.

“Why are you hesitating?” her mentor growls, clenching her fists in frustration. “This is the girl who stole your mother. She’s not your friend – she never has been!”

“That wasn’t her fault!” Cassandra shoots back.

“Well, what about the times that were?!?” the girl argues back. “The challenge of the brave, guilting you into staying in Corona instead of chasing your destiny in Ingvarr, The Great Tree – she wasn’t even actively against you then, just passive. She never listened to you, never trusted you – how long are you going to defend the girl who took every opportunity to squash your dreams while encouraging others to pursue their own?!?”

Cassandra clenches her fists, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling.

Her mentor sighs, continuing, “Now that she’s actively against you, are you going to sit around and wait for her to snuff you out again? Just sit here, waiting for her to come crush your dreams once more?”

“I won’t let her,” Cassandra shouts.

Her mentor pauses before frowning, turning back to face the kingdom of Corona. She continues softly, “The problem with being friends with the sun, Cassandra, is you will always be outshone. That is what I have been trying to teach you. Do you plan on spending your whole life waiting in her shadow?”

Releasing her clenched fists, Cassandra turns back to face Corona. “I’m not waiting any longer.”

~~~Back to the party~~~Cassandra~~~

“Swell party. I'm guessing my invitation got lost in the mail?”

Eugene grumbles something about having input on the guest list, causing her fists to clench tighter. So, she was as unwelcomed as she thought.

“If you don't mind, I'm going to help myself to a slice of this cake,” she states, dragging her sword threateningly along the floor. She refuses to show any weakness.

Eugene scoffs. “You know, Corona has a pretty warm climate. Did you pay extra for the gust of cold wind? Or do you get a discount now that you’re a villain?” he finishes, eyes narrowing.

So that’s how it’s going to be, Fitzherbert….

“Eugene!” Rapunzel scolds quietly before turning to face her. “It's... Where have you been?”

Cassandra frowns. There are many ways she could answer that question. Chasing her destiny, hiding in the woods, freaking out over the accidental red rocks she sprouted – none of them seem like the right answer.

She settles on, “Helping myself, you might say. It's about time I helped myself, don't you think?” Perhaps, if Rapunzel agrees, she can take the scroll without any violence. “I thought a lot about how we left things, and it makes me sad,” she states cloyingly.

Rapunzel’s face softens, “Oh, it makes me sad, too. I... I miss you, Cassandra. I want to help you. Maybe, we can-”

“Excellent!” Cassandra cuts her off. “I’ll take the scroll then. Now, preferably.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Eugene whispers.

“Stay out of this, Fitzherbert,” Cassandra shouts. “Blondie can think for herself, Hmm? Give me the scroll and I'll leave Corona in peace.”

Rapunzel hesitates. “Cassandra, I don't think-”

Cassandra rolls her eyes. “Oh, I know. It's hard making decisions when the only friends and advisors you have left are ex-convicts and losers.”

“Hey, we are not ex-convicts!” Eugene interjects.

“Technically, we have never been convicted of anything,” Lance adds as he fist-bumps Eugene.

Cassandra clenches her fists. “Fine – I’ll give you some time to decide.” As she exits, she drags her sword along the floor one last time. Turning right as she exits, she makes eye contact with Rapunzel. “Actions have consequences, princess. Don’t wait too long.” With that, she leaves.

~~~Rapunzel~~~

“Just to be clear, because I think it's important, I did not wish for that,” Eugene mutters.

Rapunzel sighs as she paces across her room. “I can't give Cassandra the scroll.” As much as it pains her to admit, her former best friend is making some poor life decisions right now and can’t be trusted.

“Hey, I agree. On the one hand, if she gets the scroll, it could be the end of the world. On the other hand, she did say we would never see her again, so, you know, pretty big upside,” Eugene snarks.

“Not helpful, Eugene,” she states, pausing in her pacing to shoot him a look. Yes, what Cassandra is doing is evil and hurting people, but trashing her every second is not conducive to solving the current problem – protecting the scroll. Not to mention, Varian who is quite possibly in great danger since he possesses it.

“You could hide it!” Catalina pipes up.

“Yeah, we know lots of great places she’ll never find,” Angry adds.

“That’s the other problem…,” Rapunzel adds sheepishly. “I don’t have it….”

“Then who has it?” asks Lance.

Rapunzel sighs, beginning to gather up her stuff.

“Where is he?” Eugene asks, tone dark. “You know he doesn’t stand a chance against her alone. He’s just a kid.”

“Hey!” Angry and Catalina protest, before Lance shushes them.

“I know – that’s why Stan and Pete are with him,” Rapunzel states. “They’ll protect him until we can get there.”

“And if they can’t?” Eugene asks, voice filled with concern.

“They will,” Rapunzel replies determinedly. “I won’t fail Varian again.”

~~~Stan~~~

After multiple embarrassing losses to the boy genius at chess, followed by Varian’s horrible attempts at any game that contested their strength (not that the boy wasn’t strong – he honestly lasted longer than either of the guards expected, but he was just a teen going up against 2 trained guards), followed by a “brief” argument over whether “bequeath” was actually a word, followed by a longer argument over how to spell it (Stan is still of the opinion that Varian should have let Pete have it since he could define it, even if he couldn’t spell it), they had almost given up on game night completely.

After an argument that was honestly shorter than either “bequeath” argument, and swearing Varian to the utmost secrecy, they had finally found a game they all enjoyed.

“I’m not folding,” Varian states, glaring at Pete from across the table.

Ruddiger chitters at the outburst from where he’s curled up at the edge of the table.

Stan sighs, placing his own cards down in defeat. He was beginning to regret teaching the boy how to play poker, and not just because gambling was illegal in Corona. Of course, they could have played without bets, but a certain someone had insisted that takes out the fun out of it. Stan copies Varian’s glare at his partner. At least they were only betting candy from Monty’s shop and not actual money.

“Then prepare to lose,” Pete smirks, throwing down his cards in a flourish.

“Hi guys!” a chipper voice calls from the top of the steps. Stan and Pete pale as they see the source of the voice before Stan dives, wiping as much evidence of their game as possible off the table.

“Hey! I was about to win!” Varian complains.

“We weren’t doing anything illegal!” Pete interjects.

The princess’ smile fades into a frown as she descends the stairs, followed closely by the guys. “Um… ok?”

“Are you guys playing poker?” Lance asks, voice astounded. “And here I thought Corona’s guards were no fun. Deal me in fellas!”

The princess’ frown deepens. “I thought gambling was illegal in Corona.”

Lance smirks. “That’s what makes it fun, princess.”

Varian at least has the sense to look embarrassed, his face flushing red as he apologizes. “We got bored,” he admits.

Eugene crosses his arms. “What happened to translating the super important scroll we entrusted into your care?”

Varian’s blush deepens. “I-I made progress. We were just taking a break and-”

The princes frowns. “Eugene….”

“Hey! I’m just saying I’m very disappointed in the kid,” Eugene states.

Varian winces, but before he can apologize again, Eugene continues.

“The other half of Team Awesome finally does something the teensiest bit illegal, and I’m not even invited to play?!? On my birthday! You wound me, Goggles,” Eugene whines, placing a hand on his heart.

Varian grins at Eugene’s overdramatic display. “Happy Birthday!”

Eugene comes up behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders. “I bet they didn’t even teach you the proper way to win. Only a seasoned thief can do that. Don’t worry – I’ll show you later.”

“Cheating is against the rules!” Pete interjects.

“And gambling at all in Corona is illegal, emphasis on the ‘ill,’” Eugene states, smirking.

“Guys! Focus!” the princess interrupts. Sighing, she turns to Varian. “Do you still have the scroll?”

“And perhaps any anti-aging remedies?” Eugene adds. At Rapunzel’s glare, he sighs. “Okay – not the time. Sorry.”

“I still have it,” Varian states. Leading the group over to his notes on the wall, he smiles as Ruddiger climbs up onto his shoulders. “It took a while, but I was able to use this key to translate the text in its entirety.”

“We helped,” Stan adds.

Varian’s smile falters. “Yes, yes you did.”

Stan frowns. Okay, so maybe he and Pete weren’t the best lab assistants, but Varian was perfectly safe under their care, so that had to count for something. And that was the whole reason the princess assigned them to be down here anyways – to protect Varian at all costs. Make sure nothing bad happens to him. And if they had to tell a little lie that the princess assigned them as his lab assistants so he didn’t complain about not needing protection, then so be it.

The princess gives him a knowing nod, which he returns. Maybe Varian was oblivious to the true reason why they were down here, but at least the princess was grateful for their efforts.

“Varian, you’re a genius! What does it say?” the princess asks.

Varian begins to walk them through his translation, Stan zoning out as the boy goes over the stuff he’s heard a million times. 4 incantations: healing, hurt, complete control over black rocks, and a fourth unknown one Varian has been ranting about for days now.

“So that’s why Cassandra wants the scroll,” Rapunzel states.

Varian nods his affirmation.

“Uh, guys, you might wanna stop talking about the secret of the scroll,” Lance coughs, gesturing to the entrance to the chamber where Cassandra stands smirking.

“Don't stop on my account.”

~~~Cassandra~~~

She admittedly feels a torrent of emotions upon seeing Varian again. The last time she’d seen him, he had been encased in the amber, helplessly clinging to his father within their golden cage. She feels relief upon seeing him alive and well – she’d always felt a bit of regret for stealing the moonstone, supposedly his one hope for escape. He was just a kid – she hadn’t wanted him to get hurt. But then again, she wasn’t the one who hurt him in the first place.

Her anger returns anew because it was Rapunzel pressuring him into finding answers that led to his entrapment in the first place. And then, of course Blondie figures out how to free him without even needed her precious moonstone. Because things always come easy to the princess. She’s never known what it feels like to have to struggle and fight for your destiny – it’s always been handed to her.

The reason why it is so easy for her to encourage people to chase their dreams, is because she’s never had any of her own doused by the cold reality that some dreams are impossible. When all of your dreams always come true, it’s easy to make new dreams and move onward, but once your dreams are crushed, sometimes you can only cling to the ashes that remain.

Rapunzel has never known that feeling, just as she’s never allowed her lowly handmaiden to feel the relief that comes once you finally find your destiny and fulfill it. That changes, starting today.

“Cass!” Varian calls, and Cassandra knows she must be imagining things because he almost seems happy to see her.

“Don’t get any closer, Varian,” Rapunzel warns, stepping protectively in front of him.

The boy’s raccoon climbs down from his shoulders, hissing protectively in front of his owner. Stan and Pete draw their swords, hesitantly glancing at each other before narrowing their eyes in determination at her.

Cassandra chuckles. “Stan and Pete are the best you could do?” Shaking her head, she gestures with her sword, “Step aside, boys. We all know I could beat you when I was 8 – no one has to get hurt as long as Blondie gives me what I need.”

“Varian, take the scroll and hide. We can’t let her get her hands on that incantation,” Rapunzel warns.

“But the scroll is worthless without the translation key,” Varian adds helpfully.

Cassandra smirks. “Well, then sounds like I need two things.” Turning back to Rapunzel she sighs, raising her sword again. “Actions have consequences, Rapunzel. I won’t ask again. Give me the scroll.”

“Cass, I-” Rapunzel begins. “I can’t.”

“Then what happens next in your fault!” Cassandra yells as she lunges forward with her sword, Rapunzel blocking the blow with her hair.

In the background, she hears Eugene shout for Varian to, “Get that scroll out of here!” He then joins the fight, bringing his sword down in an obvious blow that she easily dodges.

“Going easy on me, Fitzherbert?” she teases.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Cass,” he replies, his voice uncharacteristically solemn.

Cassandra smirks. “I wouldn’t worry about that.” As his next blow comes at her from the side, she blocks it with her own sword, causing his to shatter into a thousand pieces.

Eugene’s eyes widen in surprise. He has just enough time to call out a warning that, “Her armor is made of the rocks,” before she satisfactorily pushes him down the steps. With that pest down, she turns back to her prize.

Rapunzel annoyingly steps in her way – yet again. “Cass – you have to stop this! Please. We were once friends. I can help you!”

Cassandra rolls her eyes, shouting, “When will you finally realize not everything is about you?!?” With that, she shoves past her, slicing part of the Demanitus Device, causing it to roll after Eugene and the others. Rapunzel gasps, running after it to help them.

Cassandra stalks towards Varian, still guarded by his two “valiant protectors.” “And then there were three,” she states, smirking.

Her smirk is short-lived as a furry ball of fury attacks her face. Screaming in frustration, she pries the stupid raccoon off, tossing him to the side.

“Ruddiger!” the three boys scream in horror. The guards’ eyes narrow as they raise their swords higher.

“You’ll pay for that,” Stan growls.

Cassandra scoffs. “I doubt that.”

The two guards charge, lashing at her with their swords, both of which she breaks easily. “My armor is made of the rocks, geniuses,” Cassandra states sarcastically. “Or did you forget?”

“Well, admittedly-”

“Not the time, Pete,” Stan interjects. Turning to Varian, he shouts, “Run – we’ll hold her off!”

Cassandra shakes her head. “Stay down and I won’t hurt you.” She really doesn’t want to hurt anyone – she just wants the scroll and the translation key. She would prefer for things not to get messy, especially with the two men before her who she once considered friends.

“Never,” Stan growls as he rises to his feet.

“We’re not letting you anywhere near him,” Pete adds, voice low.

Cassandra sighs. “I don’t know what light the princess has painted me and my actions in, but I assure you, I am not your enemy. All I want is the scroll. Are you really prepared to sacrifice for a princess who only cares about her kingdom when it suits her?”

“Not just for her,” Stan replies.

“For Varian, and everyone else who is innocent and should be protected from your wrath,” Pete adds.

Cassandra frowns. “So be it.”

~~~Pete~~~

Pete likes to consider himself a pretty easy-going guy. He knows Stan would disagree, given how many petty arguments they’ve had over the years, but none of them have ever been that serious. In fact, he can count on one hand the number of times he’s been this angry. This blood-boiling, fire-stoking, raging ball of anger that has settled in the pit of his stomach as the woman he once considered a friend glares at him. This all-consuming rage as he hears Varian’s frantic footsteps running away from them. As he sees Ruddiger’s motionless body lying nearby from where Cassandra tossed him aside. Well, he’s not going to let a raccoon outrank him too.

Releasing a guttural cry, he charges at Cassandra, brandishing what is left of his sword (just a jagged end sticking out of the handle). Stan follows suit, and Pete could think of many poetic things about charging into battle alongside his brother in defense of the boy who’s become their friend, but for now, the anger has tinged his vision red as he charges.

He ducks under the swing of her blade, elbowing her in the side as he dances around her, ignoring the pain the blow causes as his soft skin collides with her dark armor. He smirks in satisfaction as his distraction allows Stan to land a punch, Cassandra gasping as she stumbles back, clutching her cheek.

The victory is short-lived as Cassandra growls in frustration, swinging her sword again, forcing them both to retreat. The rest of the fight is brief – they manage to get in a few glancing blows that appear to annoy Cassandra more than injure her. But then, Pete times his dodge wrong, allowing Cassandra an opening.

Time seems to slow around him as he hears Stan’s scream before the man tackles Cassandra to the ground in a fit of rage. Cassandra manages to shove him off, using the hilt of her sword to land a blow to his head that knocks him out cold. As Pete reaches out towards Stan, he finally sees the red coating his fingers, and time seems to speed back up as a wave of pain radiates down his side.

Cassandra turns from Stan and appears to recoil in shock as she sees him. “This-this is her fault,” she mutters as her eyes widen in horror.

Vaguely, Pete can hear someone screaming his name in the background. They sound scared. He frowns. They shouldn’t sound scared – Stan and Pete are here to protect them. A twinge of pain echoes from his side again, as if to remind him of why the person might be screaming. His side feels wet to the touch – he decides he hates that sticky feeling. Well, at least Varian ran – he’s probably long gone by now. Far out of Cassandra’s reach.

As he turns on his good side, trying to get away from that sticky feeling, he frowns as a screaming Varian comes into view. The boy ran, but only to his translation key, where he appears to have been making some sort of alchemical reaction. Pete groans. Now was not the time for the boy to be a hero. The irony is not lost on him as he subconsciously whimpers in pain.

Varian screams his name once more before his gaze turns away from him, and he begins to furiously mix his solution once more. Frowning, Pete turns his gaze to see an angry Cassandra stalking towards the boy, now that all of his lines of defense have been defeated.

“Varian, no,” Pete attempts to cry out, but his voice comes out a weak whisper. “Run!”

He has just enough energy left to see that Varian does not listen to him (typical) before his eyelids become too heavy and he surrenders to the painful darkness.

~~~Varian~~~

After seeing Ruddiger thrown to the side and Stan’s shouting at him to run, Varian does, but only to the table by this translation key. He knows the guards will yell at him later about that’s not what they meant, but he has to destroy it. He can’t let Cassandra get her hands on it.

The acid he makes is a simple recipe – no time for flare, but it’s effective. After watching Pete go down, Stan following suit quickly after, and then seeing the amount of blood streaming from Pete’s side, he forces himself to focus on his mixture, lest he pass out from his hemophobia. He has to trust that they’ll all be okay. Rapunzel will make sure of it. But for now, he has to do his part and keep Cass from getting what she wants, otherwise this is all in vain.

As Cassandra stalks towards him, he tosses the acid onto the wall, effectively destroying his translation key. He ignores the ache he feels at having his hard work destroyed – he can rebuild. There are more important things at hand right now.

Varian smirks as Cassandra’s eyes narrow in frustration at what he’s done. “If you wanna read that scroll, you are gonna need my translation key.” His hands tremble slightly when confronting her, but he forces them to clench into fists. He refuses to be afraid of her. He knows what her rocks can do, but he refuses to let fear rule his life.

“And now that I've destroyed it, you'll never know what the scroll says because the only translation in earthly existence is locked safely away up here,” Varian states confidently, pointing to his head before crossing his arms (admittedly to hide more trembling, but it helps). He doesn’t expect Cassandra to chuckle in response.

“Is that a fact?”

Varian’s eyes widen as he realizes his mistake. “I should have not said that out loud.”

Cassandra’s smirk terrifies him. “Then I guess you're coming with me.”

She lunges forward to grab him, but he nimbly twists out of her grasp. He reminds himself to thank Stan and Pete for teaching him a few moves before a pang of guilt echoes in his chest. He barely ducks under Cassandra’s next grasp, cursing himself for losing focus.

Racing around the table, he grabs a few of his alchemy spheres, tossing them at Cassandra as the opportunity presents itself. He groans in frustration as she dodges them all.

Vaguely, in the background, he can hear Rapunzel yelling at him to just “hold on – they’re coming.”

He mistimes his duck, and Cassandra takes the opportunity to snag his waist. Twisting in her grasp, he manages to use his elbow to hit her nose, smirking as Cassandra releases him as she gasps in pain.

Righting himself, he sighs in satisfaction as she gingerly touches her nose – it wasn’t enough to break it, but she’ll definitely feel that for a while. His satisfaction is short-lived as she screams in anger, black rocks racing towards him in response. He feels a sharp pain in his leg, gasping as he sees the trickle of blood leaking out of it.

For a moment, Cassandra hesitates, looking past him. “I-I didn’t mean – no one was supposed to get hurt! If she had just-” she shouts, her eyes focused on something behind him.

He turns, only to find no one there.

“I’m not – I…” Cassandra pauses. “I’m ready to do what needs to be done.” With that, her gaze turns to him once more.

Shakily getting to his feet, he raises his last alchemy sphere in defense.

“Surrender, Varian,” Cassandra growls.

“Never,” he whispers back, voice low. Taking aim one last time, he throws the sphere as hard as he can, smirking as it makes contact. His eyes widen in horror as it bursts into a cloud of bubbles. He’d taken Pete’s advice when it came to labeling his tubes and vials but may have forgotten about his spheres. He has just enough time to imagine Pete saying, “I told you so,” before Cassandra towers above him, hitting his head with the hilt of her sword, and the world goes dark.

~~~Rapunzel~~~

When she finally manages to pull the guys up from where the piece of the Demanitus device had caused them to fall into the chasm, she turns to find Cassandra and Varian gone.

“Cassandra!” she calls. “Varian?!?”

“Rapunzel!” Eugene calls from where he’s run over to check on Stan and Pete. Nearby, Lance cradles an unmoving Ruddiger. “Stan took a nasty hit to the head and Pete’s side-” Eugene’s voice cuts off, before he takes a deep breath, forcing himself to continue. “They’re not responding,” he whispers.

“Go get help!” she screams at Max before kneeling beside them, Pascal attempting to comfort her on her shoulder. Cassandra’s voice echoes in her ear, “Actions have consequences, Rapunzel.”

As she shakily reaches out her hands to grip the guards’, she feels an uncommon emotion stir up inside her – one she tries to avoid but can’t upon what she’s seeing. As anger swirls through her veins, and she clutches the guards’ hands, wishing her hair would magically decide to start healing again, that voice keeps repeating in her head. “Actions have consequences.”

Gripping the guards’ hands tighter, she whispers, “And yours are coming for you, Cassandra.”