Chapter Text
"Varian!" The Princess called cheerfully as she entered the alchemist's room in the castle. "I know you're super busy, but it's dinner time."
Varian looked up from the scroll he was currently reading. "Alright Rapunzel. I'll be done in just a minute."
"How's the translation going?"
"It's not too far off from the other scroll I did a translation for. So it's actually going pretty quickly."
The scroll had been a 'gift' from Lance, along with a 'cool rock' that had accompanied it. The man had gotten it from a traveling salesman claiming it was 'an artifact the great Demanitus himself had studied'. For all the bravado put on by the salesman, Varian could confirm that it was indeed legitimate. This was definitely the code Demanitus had used.
The aforementioned 'rock' was currently sitting on Varian's desk. It was surprisingly smooth and resembled a feather.
"Apparently it's called the Silver Wing,'' Varian informed.
"Ooh," Rapunzel smiled. "That's so pretty."
"There's just a little bit more."
"How much more?" She raised a brow.
He coughed. "Uh, about..." He coughed again. "Maybe a couple more hours worth."
Rapunzel, bless her, just smirked before bopping Varian's nose with her finger. "I'll give you five minutes and then we're taking a break for dinner." With that, she headed towards the balcony, most likely to ensure he actually would only get five minutes.
Varian had gotten a few more words translated before he heard a sudden crashing and what sounded like stone falling, but even worse than that was Rapunzel's scream.
"Rapunzel!?" The teen leapt out of his chair and ran to the balcony, finding his pseudo sister hanging by one hand off the balcony. It must have given way while she was standing out here. It didn't matter, now wasn't the time to be questioning the integral structure of the castle's tower. As quick as he could he ran over and grabbed her arm, using all his strength to pull her up. Varian was by no means weak; he had grown up on a farm after all, and lifted hay bales twice his size, but trying to deadlift the Princess like this wasn't exactly easy. Especially at the angle he was forced to pull from. After a second of thinking, he opted to use both arms. It was risky, but if she fell he'd never forgive himself.
Using every ounce of strength he had, the alchemist was able to pull Rapunzel up enough where she could grab hold with her other hand onto the stone and work with him to pull herself up.
Almost. Almost.
She was almost there when-
Varian leaned too far forward.
And then he was falling.
"VARIAN!!!" Rapunzel's screams of horror filled his ears. This was it.
This was how he was going to die.
He closed his eyes. Not wanting to see the ground getting closer and closer, but then it stopped. He didn't feel the hard stone below. He felt.. a breeze? He opened his eyes and noticed he was suspended in the air with what appeared to be a gentle breeze lifting him back to where he was on the balcony.
Confusion took a backseat as the only emotions he and Rapunzel could feel was relief.
"Oh, Varian!" The young woman rushed to hug him. Varian could feel the tears escaping his eyes as well. The two stayed like that for a while, hugging and sobbing before Rapunzel pulled back and looked at Varian's face. Not a scratch on him. It caused her to start crying all over again.
Varian's senses were the first to return as he led them both inside. The two took a few moments to compose themselves.
"A-Are you okay?" Rapunzel finally asked once she could speak without completely breaking into tears.
"Y-Yeah. I-I'm fine. Are you okay?" He wasn't the only one who had a near death experience just now. Rapunzel just shook her head insistently. "I'm just so glad you aren't hurt…" She started crying again before pulling him into a hug.
---
The two were still shaken at dinner, and this didn't go unnoticed by King Frederic or Queen Arianna.
"Rapunzel? Is everything alright, dear?" The king asked, his voice full of concern.
"Um…" Rapunzel couldn't bring herself to lie, and this was a pretty big thing that just happened. But she wanted to ease her parents' minds. "Well, before we came here for dinner… Varian saved my life."
The king raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Eugene looked over inquisitively. Rapunzel had seemed a little off, but he figured she'd talk when she was ready, which luckily for him, seemed to be now.
"Yeah," she continued. "I went to get Varian for dinner and..." She took a breath. "I went out onto the balcony and it just... It gave way... And I fell."
"What!?" Eugene was up and by his fiancé's side, checking her over.
"What do you mean you fell?" Arianna asked, trying to keep her voice steady. Rapunzel seemed distraught so Varian stepped in.
"She, um... She was hanging off the edge. So I ran over and pulled her up. From what I could tell at the time, she wasn't hurt, and she's not," he was quick to follow up. "Just a bit shook up still." He shuffled in his chair a little bit. "I kind of am too."
Sure he was shook up still from the whole incident. He could have lost Rapunzel. He himself could have died. Maybe the whole thing was in his head, or maybe he got hit by some debris when he fell, because his back was killing him at that moment.
At hearing his story both the king and queen got up from their seats and rushed to Rapunzel. Wrapping her in a warm, safe hug. Eugene stood aside and went to Varian before giving him a hug as well.
"I was scared, Eugene." He spoke quietly enough so only the two of them could hear.
"I know," the older man replied. "Thank you."
While Rapunzel appreciated her parents' attention, she couldn't help but wonder why Varian didn't say anything about what happened afterwards. She knew it wasn't her place to tell, but she'd definitely speak with him later.
Once King Frederik pulled away from his daughter, he turned towards Varian. "If there is anything we can do for you just say the word. Anything you want, we'll make it happen."
The boy rubbed the back of his neck "Thank you, but I'd prefer not to make a huge deal out of it. I just wanted to help."
"Well you'll at least be given a medal of honor," Arianna insisted.
Varian gave her a soft smile. "Thank you."
---
After dinner Eugene followed the two out of the dining hall.
"Okay, so. That couldn't have been the whole story. And you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand this is a sensitive subject, but..." He couldn't keep up the facade any longer. "No! You have to tell me! Blondie, what happened!?"
"There wasn't anything missing from my story, Eugene." She took his hands gently in hers. "But..." She glanced over at Varian, who seemed to be trying to crack his back.
"What?" Eugene looked over at the alchemist. "Varian, are you hurt?"
"My back is just a bit stiff," he replied. "Might have gotten hit with some debris when I fe- When! I fell out of my chair earlier!" He tried to recover.
He did not.
–
Eugene was constantly bombarding Varian with questions as they returned to his room and upon entering, the former thief went ballistic.
"Alright! Nope! Nada! Full stop! You are not staying in this room tonight!"
"I'm not going to be going on the balcony, Eugene." Honestly, Varian wasn't sure he'd want to go on a balcony ever again after what had happened.
"Still, as Captain of the Guard, I am putting this room under lockdown. So, grab whatever alchemy sciency thingies you need and move it all to Rapunzel's room for the time being."
Varian raised a brow and smirked at the Princess. "The captain is so serious."
"In all honesty though," she fiddled with her short hair, "I really would like to have you closer to me tonight, to ease my mind."
"Yeah. I can understand that," he replied, this time with a softer smile. "Let me just 'get my sciency stuff'," he said, fully mocking Eugene as Rapunzel giggled.
"Huh... That's weird." The alchemist glanced around his desk and under papers.
"What's wrong?"
"The Silver Wing is gone," he frowned, searching around some more. "This is bad. I don't think anyone would have taken it."
"Fine," Eugene sighed. "We'll put out a search for your silver thing too, but right now we need to barricade the door."
"Leaving it closed for now should be enough," Varian replied, rolling his eyes as he picked up his scrolls and notes. He could at least work on the translation, even if he didn't have the artifact at that moment.
He quickly gathered up his supplies and a few clothes for the morning, then left the room with Eugene and Rapunzel tailing after him.