Chapter Text
To say Eugene was unhappy with this situation would be a major understatement.
Still, standing in front of an empty cell, he wasn't as concerned as he probably should have been, given that an extremely dangerous prisoner had escaped just two days after he was appointed to captain-in-training. That worry went with the same pile with previously existing ones, such as friends who had turned their back on them, Eugene's new duties and Lance's suspicious meat pies.
"How did he escape?" he asked a guard who had shown him to the cell. He was on the younger side, probably a couple of years younger than Eugene himself.
And just a couple years older than their runaway prisoner…
"During the transfer, sir", the guard said immediately, apparently known to expect this question. "Many prisoners were taken to the port to be transferred to the prison barge and this prisoner was accidentally taken with them. He managed to escape among a couple of others. Sir."
Eugene sighed again, rubbing his face. He really needed to do something to the guards' incompetence: this wasn't the first time they had sent a wrong prisoner to the prison barge, and not the first time somebody had escaped either. "Any signs of him?"
"Not after the escape, no sir."
"Very well. Leave the keys to me."
"Yes, sir."
The guard then hurried to attend his other duties. Eugene was left to stare at the small cell, the narrow cot, the tiny window that barely let any daylight in.
It felt wrong to put a child in there. Even if the child in question was the most dangerous criminal Eugene had ever met.
"Gone?"
"Yes, Sunshine." Eugene sighed heavily. He didn't want to be the one to deliver this news to Rapunzel, but didn't want anyone else to do it either. "He ran off when prisoners were loaded to the prison barge in the port."
Rapunzel blinked. "But why was he there? My dad would never allow that!"
"No", Eugene said, happy he could tell her the truth. "It was a mistake. The guards take wrong prisoners to the barge all the time."
"Well, we must find him." Rapunzel turned to look out the window, at the vast glimmering sea. "We need him, Eugene. I need him. Cass can come back any day now and we need to prepared even if I hope -I wish-"
"I know Sunshine", Eugene said quietly. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. "I hope Cass will come back to us too, but we need to be prepared if she -doesn't."
"I know", Rapunzel said, green eyes glimmering with worry. "And for that, we'll need Varian."
Eugene looked deep into Rapunzel's eyes, hoping that whatever she saw in his was reassuring. "And I will bring him to you, Sunshine. I promise."
I promise. How much damage could those little words bring?
It wasn't difficult to choose where to start looking for Varian.
Eugene took a few men and went to Old Corona, to the destroyed castle. The place chilled him to the bone: it was like the tragedy that happened here still echoed in the broken walls, all the anger and despair carved in them. Eugene could almost hear the alchemist scream in rage when he stepped in and half expected to see him lurking in there somewhere, plotting his revenge against those who had bested him the last time.
But there was neither hide nor hair about Varian: the man frozen in amber, mercifully covered by a tarp, remained the only person in the house. Still, the search did prove not to be completely fruitless: they found evidence that the boy had been there, even if for a short while.
Eugene followed a trail of footsteps left in the dust and found Varian's bedroom. It was as neglected as every other part of the house but based on opened drawers and a pile of prison rags left on the floor it was clear the boy had been there, both taking shelter and gathering supplies for wherever he had gone.
There were a few items left on the dressing table. Eugene crossed the room to see them better even though the floor creaked ominously under his feet.
There was not much. A book about edible herbs with several pages ripped off, a big sword the boy had probably deemed too big to carry, some hair pins, and, what made another shudder run down Eugene's spine, a pair of handcuffs.
The cuffs were old and rusty but they were definitely Corona's standard model. Eugene looked at the hair pins and wondered how long it had taken for the kid to get rid of the cuffs. Based on some bandages next to them, it had taken some time and effort.
Poor kid, Eugene thought before he could stop himself. Then he shook his head like a dog trying to get rid of water drops in his fur. Nothing wrong in feeling compassion but he shouldn't forget that the boy was a criminal and a clever one at that. He couldn't let compassion cloud his judgement.
But now, if he wanted to catch Varian, he had to think like him. Where would he have gone? Not back to Corona, obviously. Probably not anywhere in this area either: some Old Coronans had come back now the black rocks had disappeared and Varian most likely didn't want to run into any of them.
The only answer looked Eugene straight in the eye, no matter how much he tried to ignore it: Varian had left the kingdom and currently had a two day head start.
And now it was up to Eugene to catch him.
Eugene didn't want to leave Rapunzel, but he had no choice: Varian had to be brought back to Corona, by force if necessary, and Eugene didn't think he could give this task to anyone else. It was far too important and besides, he didn't trust the guards enough to bring the boy back in one piece. At least not some of them.
Besides, he could be useful to Rapunzel in another way while looking for a runaway alchemist. He could go all the way to Koto to find out if there had been any sign of Cassandra. The trip would take two weeks, maybe maybe three, but the old captain could keep things in control until Eugene returned and Corona needed him to do this trip. Even if he was going to miss Rapunzel every second of it.
To his surprise Rapunzel did not argue with his plan: she just looked at him with her green eyes, green like forest in the middle of the summer, and asked him to come home safely when he was done.
When Eugene promised he wondered again how dangerous those little words could be.
The very next day after Varian's escape Eugene mounted Max and led three guards out of the courtyard and towards the Great Bridge of Corona, on their way to Koto and hopefully Varian.
He had spent the last evening and some of the night too with Lance, checking the maps and wondering where the boy could have gone. Eventually they had settled on two options: either he would try his luck in Vardaros, or take the long and difficult route through the woods all the way to Koto. Eugene was willing to put his money to the latter: most Coronans knew to stay away from Vardaros, knowing how dangerous it was, while Koto was known for its nice weather and diverse population. Varian could easily fit in there, find work somewhere and disappear for the rest of his life if he so wished.
Eugene shook his head, earning himself a few confused looks from the guards. Why his first thought was that Varian would try to find himself a new life? Most likely the boy was plotting revenge right at this minute, wherever he was. What proof Eugene had that Varian was trying to move on?
Besides, the whole train of thought was fruitless. What Varian wanted didn't really matter. He had to come back and help Rapunzel translate the scroll and then endure the punishment she saw fit. It was the least he could do.
And on top of that the boy was in danger. The journey to Koto was not an easy one, even though bandits rarely attacked anyone there: there was only a narrow road between trees so big the woods between Corona and Koto were called the Giant's Forest. The road was so narrow two carriages had difficulties crossing each other and the terrain in the woods was difficult as well. On top of that the forest was known for its giant bears, icy rivers and beehives. It was not a forest you wanted to get lost in.
And if Varian had gone to Vardaros instead…well, the sooner they would catch him, the more likely he could keep his life.
Eugene sighed. It seemed like his work was cut for him.
The journey to Koto proved to be fruitless.
No sight of Cassandra, no sight of Varian, and no clue where either of them could be. On top of that, the "amiable weather" proved to be whimsical and it rained the whole week Eugene stayed in the kingdom. Corona's ambassador whose house he was staying at said he had never seen weather like this in all twenty years he had lived in Koto.
The only good side was the food that was amazing as always. Eugene mourned he couldn't bring fresh melons to Rapunzel as a souvenir but opted to sour watermelon candies instead. The people in Koto were masters in preserving fruit, which Eugene was grateful for: he didn't want to make the journey back with just dried meat and crackers in his saddlebags.
The day they left Koto was the first day the sun shone in weeks. Eugene thanked the ambassador profusely and indeed he had done his best to make their time in Koto enjoyable even though it had proved to be fruitless. He promised to keep an eye on both Cassandra and Varian should either of them travel to the town.
"It shouldn't be difficult", he laughed when Eugene asked him this. "They both have blue hair, right? Easy to spot!"
"Yes", Eugene said, trying to muster a smile to his face. That was a worrying thought. Both Varian and Cassandra indeed had indistinguishable features and both of them would probably try to, well, distinguish them. He had to keep an eye on anyone who looked suspicious, blue hair or not.
He said his final goodbye to the ambassador and turned Max towards the town's gates. Just two weeks of travel and then he would see Rapunzel again. Maybe even less if he found some carrots for Max…
The guards settled on their places, one on Eugene's side and two behind them. He had chosen them himself and was happy with his choice even though the men had had little to nothing to do on the trip. He had wanted to get both Stan and Pete to come with him but Pete sprained his ankle just a day before they had to go and had to stay at home. Stan had come with but he seemed a bit lost without his best friend.
A guard called John had taken Pete's place. Eugene did not know much about him except he was a quiet and reliable man. The captain had recommended him and so far it seemed he had seemed a good choice.
The last guard, Tilk, was a bit of a wild card. He was young, even younger than Eugene and while he had seemed excited to be on the trip he hadn't really been of any use. Eugene sometimes felt he was traveling with a child.
After they left Koto's capital the atmosphere changed. The guards rode closer to each other and glanced around nervously, their eyes flickering from side to side. Eugene wondered if he should calm them down: the way was as safe as any road through the forest could be. Highwaymen didn’t come this way during the spring, they would stay in Ingvarr and Neserdnia where the weather was finally mild enough to travel through cities and more people were on the road with more goodies.
Eugene glanced at Tilk and decided not to say anything. This would be a good learning experience for him.
They rode in silence for hours and only stopped briefly to have lunch and let horses drink. The silence continued most of the day: Tilk tried to engage the others in discussion a couple of times but didn’t succeed. Eugene did order the men to talk loudly a couple of times to scare off bears but other than that he spent the time pondering what he would like Lance to cook when they finally got home and what Rapunzel was doing at the moment. There was not much else he could do: for the next week the only thing they were going to do was riding.
When Tilk spotted a creek next to the road Eugene decided they were going to stop for the night. The sun was already starting to set and it would be best to stay close to the road. The animals usually stayed away from it.
They set up the camp and let horses drink their fill. Eugene knelt by the creek himself and washed his face. The cold water felt refreshing and he felt much better when he raised his head.
Then he saw the tree.
It was a young pine tree, similar to all the others around it. What made it odd was that it had scratches all around it, like somebody had tried to shave off parts of it.
Eugene pondered a bit, then took a couple steps back and jumped to the other side of the creek. The guards looked at him oddly but he decided not to care, focusing on the tree instead.
Yup, the bark had been cut off. It wasn’t surprising: there could be several travelers who had seen the creek like them and decided to cut some bark for fire when they were at it. What caught Eugene’s eye though, was the pinkish hue in some of the chips that had fallen on the ground.
Pink like this was not a natural color. It could only be caused by chemicals.
Varian, Eugene thought, feeling hope raising for the first time in weeks. There had been no sign of the alchemist during their journey to Koto and the reports he had gotten from Corona had also been unsuccessful. He was willing to cling to hope, even a small one.
He looked at the tree again and tried to conclude when it had been cut: by the fact that the leftover bark was already mostly dried it had been hours, possibly a day. He made quick calculations in his head and determined that Varian -if it had been Varian - had been here earlier that day, but more than five hours ago.
He sighed, wishing they had rode a bit sooner. Just a couple hours and he would have gotten Varian in his hands, spared Rapunzel from a lot of worry and himself sleepless nights wondering when and how the alchemist was going to attack again. But now he only had a few pieces or bark, nothing else.
Despite not hoping much he ordered the men to spread and look around. It wasn't entirely fruitless: Tilk found remains of a fire just a couple meters off the creek and that had the same, pinkish hue. Eugene could also see a few sticks that had been cut to be the same size and a used bandage lying close to them.
Was the kid injured?
When the sun started to set Eugene reluctantly called off the search and told everyone return to the camp. It would be useless to look around in the dark forest, they would just end up in the bears’ stomach. He pondered with the thought of going to look around himself with a torch but quickly gave up that idea. He didn’t want the guards to write a mourning letter to Rapunzel, he wasn’t sure if Tilk could even write.
What he did do though, was to take the first watch. He tried to listen to the sounds of the forest, to hear if there was anything odd in them but heard nothing more than owls howling and sticks cracking under the little forest animals that had started hunting now the bigger ones had gone to sleep.
John took the watch at midnight and Eugene tried to sleep but was still awake enough to notice when Stan took over. Then, lulled by Max’s snoring and fire cracking he finally fell to sleep.
When he woke up the world was bright and gray. It was an early morning, so early the forest hadn’t really awakened yet. Eugene hoped the day would continue to be bright: he really didn’t want to ride all day in rain or shiver in a tent waiting for it to cease.
He lied still for a moment, getting ready for the day when he noticed something important: the fire had died and only gray ash remained. Next to the fire sat Tilk, his head slumped against his chest, fast asleep.
Eugene frowned. He had to have a talk with the kid later. They were lucky none of the animals in the forest hadn’t been brave enough to defy the smell of the smoke.
He sat up and took a few steps closer to the fire, just in time to see something - someone - to disappear between pine trees.
Someone small who had dark hair.
“Varian!”