Chapter Text
“What do you think, Varian?”
Rapunzel asked, picking up a vial of something on the nearby table.
“Well, princess, don't touch that, what I’m thinking is ‘why am I being asked?’ Isn’t this a decision for your father? He’s still technically the king is he not?” The aforementioned alchemist responded, grunting as he tightened a bolt on the water heating system.
“Well, yes, but he’s stepping down soon-ish and is starting to push these sorts of decisions onto me. And I want to know what all of my friends think! Besides, as someone who was once branded a villain, your opinion holds a different type of weight.”
Varian turned to his friend with a deadpanned expression. “You mean you don’t want to make the decision on your own?” Rapunzel didn’t skip a beat and nodded bashfully in response. The 17-year old sighed and climbed down his ladder, stopping briefly to check the internal pressure, before climbing to the ground turning to face the princess. “Well, Rapunzel, on one hand, joining Auradon would mean a lot less decision-making on your part. You’d still be in charge of managing the kingdom of course but any political decisions would probably rest in the hands of Auradon. I may be wrong though, afterall, politics isn’t really my strong suit. On the other hand, this “Isle of the Lost” idea makes me a bit nervous.”
“Why? If this is about your past Varian, you’ve been forgiven for all your crimes. Royal pardon and everything.” Rapunzel knew that her friend often found himself lost in the past, regretting the person he became three years ago.
Varian laughed softly. “Well I’m not entirely sure Fredrick forgives me but I will admit your insistence reassures me slightly. No, my worry is about other people from Corona they may send there.” He gave her a look that told her to think carefully about it.
Rapunzel was quiet for a moment before asking. “Cassandra? She’s off around the world right now. Even if we were to send her, which we aren’t, we wouldn’t know where to find her.”
“No, I’m not particularly worried about her. I know you’d never send her away.”
“Well… there’s Andrew and the Saporians. Oh, and the Stabbingtons! Lady Caine… Oh! Is this about Zhan Tiri? Fairy Godmother, that’s who’s going to be in charge of making the Isle, confirmed to me that the magic that killed her is too powerful.”
“Gothel. I’m talking about Gothel, Rapunzel.” Varian said tersely.
“Oh…” Rapunzel’s voice died in her throat. She honestly hadn’t given her former tormentor much mind since Zhan Tiri was defeated. Since then things were finally going well for her. Her father was a lot less strict now. Varian was the royal alchemist. She was training to be queen. Everything was good. And then the other day they’d gotten a notice from Belle and the Beast about their plan to unite the land under one name: The United States of Auradon, and they were inviting Corona to join this union. They also revealed their plan for all the villains or any scandalous individuals to an isolated island, cut off from magic or the outside world, with no way out called the Isle of the Lost. They also stated that they would be bringing back any villains who may have perished, claiming to give them a second chance of life over on the Isle. She didn’t think about how that probably included Gothel.
“They were probably okay with Zhan Tiri not coming back cause she’s less known as a villain. Everyone who knows you, Rapunzel, knows about Mother Gothel. If you agree, they will bring her back. I’m surprised Eugene didn’t remind you of that.”
“Well… yeah he probably forgot.” Rapunzel chuckled before looking away. The room was silent for a bit, save for the bubbling of potions and humming of machines. Finally the princess spoke again. “Maybe it’ll be for the best. Perhaps being mortal and magicless on the Isle will force her to learn how to love.”
“Perhaps.” Varian shrugged, walking across the room to turn down the burners on one of his potions. “Kind of ironic though. For 18 years she had you sealed away in a tower. And now you’re about to seal her away on an island. Excuse me, princess, but I need to test this and I don’t think you want to be in here when I do.”
“O-Oh sorry” Rapunzel quickly left the room. Closing the door behind her, she heard a loud hiss of smoke erupt from the room, followed by Varian’s yelp of surprise and she smiled a bit. The kid really had come far from the angry teenager who tried to destroy the kingdom all those years ago.
Perhaps uniting into the Auradon would give her more time for moments like these with her friends. These days her time was booked with princess duties and queen training. If they were part of Auradon, there would be less responsibilities, right? Besides, they’d have access to resources from all over the world. Varian could learn so much from the other kingdoms. Not to mention all the places to explore and people to meet. Suddenly, Rapunzel felt herself getting excited over the union.
She had decided. Spinning around, she quickly ran to the throne room to inform her father that Corona agrees to join Auradon.
.
.
.
A week after the unification was made final, Rapunzel was walking through the halls of the castle. The past week had been busy as the Kingdom of Corona became a state of Auradon. Unlike other kingdoms, most of the magical objects in Corona’s past had been destroyed in previous events. Nonetheless, items such as some chunks of black rock, debris from Rapunzel’s tower, and Rapunzel’s dead hair, which was just weird, were retrieved from the ruins of the tower, which they had stated was to be rebuilt… for some reason. Varian had offered to turn in the last of the automaton scraps he had and some of the amber potion to the museum, to which he got some strange looks but they nonetheless took the materials.
Besides what was to be saved for the museum, many of the responsibilities the royals had were now transferred to Belle and Beast, the royalty becoming more of a status symbol. Of course civil, state-specific matters were to be handled by the crown, almost everything was to be handled by the government of Auradon. Not that there was much to be handled anyway. The world was living in a time of peace. All the major villains were immediately rounded up/revived and brought to the Isle. Auradon has since stated there were only a couple of minor villains and last-minute kingdom requests to take in. Apparently they even somehow got Hades to be sealed away on the Isle. Wasn’t he a god?
Corona was pretty much done with the transition. Within the first couple of days, the crown received news that Mother Gothel had been revived and brought to the Isle. Rapunzel had a strange feeling in her gut when she heard that. She didn’t know how to feel about Gothel being back. She kind of wished she could’ve been there to see it. The other day, Auradon officials ventured into the dungeons to move most of the prisoners over to the Isle. Saporians, Lady Caine, Axel, The Baron, all of them were moved.
She was just passing by the throne room when she heard her father’s voice. “Yes. His lab is just down the stairs to the right. Thank you for coming on such short notice too.” Curious, Rapunzel cracked the door open to see who he was talking to. She recognized the outfits of the men as the same as the people who came to take the prisoners away. She watched the walk out the door her father mentioned and decided to make her presence known.
“Who were they?”
“Oh, Rapunzel! I didn’t see you there. Those were just some men for Auradon. Coming to do final checks for any villains before they seal the Isle.”
“I thought we already cleared out the dungeons of everyone we wanted to send.”
Her father didn’t meet her eyes. “I made a last minute decision the other day. Decided to send one more person to the Isle.”
“Why didn’t you-” the question died on her lips as she remembered what her father had told the men. His lab is just down the stairs to the right. That’s right where…
A familiar, panicked voice echoed through the castle. “Rapunzel!”
Her eyes grew wide. “Varian!” She took off down the hall in the direction of Varian’s lab. She found him halfway there, being carried out in handcuffs by the Auradon guards. The boy’s eyes were wide with fear, tears threatening to slip. “Stop! This is a mistake! He’s not a villain.”
The guards frowned behind their sunglasses. “Apologies, princess. But we have orders from King Fredrick that Varian of Old Corona be sent to the Isle.” One said as they marched past her closer to the exit.
She raced after them as Varian called out for her. “Rapunzel, I thought I wasn’t going!”
“You’re not!’ She reaffirmed, running to put herself between the exit and the guards. “Stop. Varian has been given a royal pardon for his crimes. There is no reason he should be sent to the Isle!”
“Let them pass Rapunzel.” Her father said, exiting the throne room behind her.
She turned around to look at him, the guards walking past her as she did. “Dad… why? Varian is a hero to this kingdom now. He shouldn’t be sent.” She could only watch helplessly as she watched her friend’s struggling form be dragged further down the hall. She was getting deja vu from the blizzard 3 years ago.
“You must understand, Rapunzel. I still get nightmares where the boy hurts you or your mother. I can’t allow him to decide he still holds anger towards my family. This way the boy has relative freedom.”
“Relative freedom? You’re sending him to an island where he’ll never be able to escape from! Trapped with some of the worst people in the land! You effectively handed him a death sentence! Varian has done nothing but serve this kingdom to show he is loyal again!”
“I’m sorry Rapunzel. But it has already been decided.” Down the hall, she heard the door to the castle close. Inside she felt a fire she hadn’t felt since Zhan Tiri. They were not going to take her friend.
“Not if I can help it.” She brushed past her father and ran towards the exit. If her father was going to refuse to budge, she’d go straight to the top. Belle and her got along pretty well in the past, they were both very intelligent, curious women. She’d see reason.
She burst open the doors of the castle just in time to see the black limo with Varian inside drive away. She looked around and saw Eugene and Max sword fighting in the training ground. She rushed over to the duo, her fiancé taking note quickly of the frantic look in her eyes. “Blondie, what’s-”
“We need to go, now!” She said, quickly saddling Fidella and riding in the direction of Auradon. Eugene and Max shared a quizzical look but the human shrugged and saddled the horse and rode after the girls.
“You going to explain what’s happening? Not that I’m not down for a frantic horse ride through the country but I have a feeling there’s more to it.”
“My dad called the Auradon guards to send Varian to the Isle.” Rapunzel said determinedly. “I need to talk to Belle before it’s too late.”
“Varian?” The man’s eyes widened and all jest in his tone vanished as he pushed Max to ride faster. The man had really bonded with the kid since everything. Team Awesome and all. “Doesn’t the kid have a pardon? Why did your dad decide to ignore it?”
“He still doesn’t trust him! Said he could turn against us any day. I should’ve noticed when Varian said he wasn’t sure my dad hadn’t forgiven him!”
“Your dad- That’s why Varian said he had a really bad encounter with him the other day! Wait, has anyone talked to Quirin? Varian’s still technically a minor!”
“They didn’t listen to me, I doubt they’ll listen to Quirin. Besides, he’s off with Adira right now working in the Dark Kingdom.”
They continued riding after the car. When the United States of Auradon formed, Fairy Godmother magically moved all the participating kingdoms closer together so the ride to Auradon was only a couple hours. As soon as they arrived on the castle grounds, Rapunzel spared no time dismounting Fidella and rushing into the castle, making her way directly to the throne room.
Luckily, Belle was in the throne room with her husband at the time. The two were talking about something benign but looked surprised when they saw the out-of-breath princess burst into the throne room. “Rapunzel?! What are you doing here, dear? Is something wrong?”
“Yes! My father made a last minute request to have Varian of Old Corona be sent to the Isle. Please, you need to override it. Varian does not belong on the Isle! He’s been pardoned for all his crimes and is completely reformed. Please, he can’t go there!”
Belle and Beast looked apologetic at that. “Oh dear. I’m sorry. We just got word that Fairy Godmother has sealed up the barrier. It’s too delicate right now, to unseal it and bring someone out might shatter it entirely.”
Rapunzel felt tears starting to slip from her eyes. “Please! I’ve already let him down once! I can’t do it again. There has to be something we can do!”
The couple looked between each other and Beast sighed. “We can ask Fairy Godmother.” He snapped his fingers within a few moments, Fairy Godmother scurried into the room. “Fairy Godmother. The princess of Corona had requested the extraction of Varian of Old Corona from the Isle. Is there anything we can do?”
The fairy looked shocked. “Oh! Oh no. I’m sorry. It’s much too dangerous. Plus I got strict instructions from your father not to let that boy out for at least twenty years.”
“Twenty years!? He can’t do that can he? Isn’t there anything we can do?” Eugene asked.
“I could… give him better accommodations!” Fairy Godmother exclaimed, waving her wand and casting a bit of magic. “But for getting him out, no. I can’t do that.”
That was that then. She failed him. Again. She said nothing as she exited the throne room, walking out of the castle and leaning against the railings of the porch, looking out over the Isle. Her friend was gone. And there was nothing she could do.
But as she looked out across the bay she promised herself she wouldn’t give up on him.