So this begins our adventure through season 3 and I already know the ending to the tale i've spun, though i'll be sad to see all the characters go :( I enjoy writing for this franchise and may create a whole new story once this one is finished.
A/N I have gotten a few messages telling me I skipped over certain episodes, and I know, I did that on purpose because I deemed them a waste of time and effort tow rite out when they didn't fit in with the plot, plus season 2 is so full of filler...why did they have to write an entire episode about everyone being turned into birds?
Anyways, onto the chapter! (Psst, it;s super long_
"You saw all of this in the house of yesterday's tomorrow?"
"I saw everything, Rapunzel." Artemis sat propped against the back wall, watching the scene before her unfold, "Cass, if what you're saying is true it means—"
"It means that I'm Gothel's daughter and your destiny belongs to me."
"Cass, we are friends, in fact, being Gothel's daughter that…that makes us closer than friends it makes us sisters. Cass couldn't hold back her laughter at the ideas, "Sisters? My own mother chose you over me. My whole life I've been cast aside for you. No more."
"So what did we miss?" Everyone turned to look at lance, "Aaaand…terrible timing as usual… but what else is new?"
"Lance, not now." Everyone turned back to Cassandra and Rapunzel,
"Please, let me help you." Using the black rocks, Cassandra blocked the pathway, "Stay back."
"Cassandra, you've got to give me the moonstone, it is too dangerous. The whole world is it at—"
"I said stay back!" the rocks sent Rapunzel flying backwards and Eugene moved forward to catch her as she slid to a halt, "Cassandra!" Artemis quickly got to her feet as Adira charged in, cutting the rocks out of her way as she went,
"Release the moonstone, Short-hair. You don't know what you're dealing with." As Adira pushed Cass, Cass' irritation grew and she blew Adira back, "Neither…do you!"
"Adira! Breathe easy, your lancey's here." Artemis looked to Cass and took a step forward, "Cass, Please." Bright blue eyes stared back at the blonde, "We have to destroy that stone. I know you think that this is your destiny but it's not."
"What do you know about Destiny, Artemis? You're only out here because Rapunzel took pity on you."
"That is…not true." The teen took another step forward, pushing the rocks out of her way.
"You think I don't know what you're going through, To feel like there is nothing to fall back on?" Cass grabbed Adira's sword and charged forward, aiming to knock the teen from the bridge,
"Oh no you don't!"
"Eugene, no!" The former thief charged forward but he was too late, he watched his newly found sibling teeter on the edge of the bridge as he was thrown back,
"Cassandra, wait.." Rapunzel took off after her, and Eugene made another attempt to get to Artemis, catching her by the hand as she fell over the edge,
"I've got you."
"Thanks, Eugene." When they were all back to safety Max helped wrap wounds, "Gentle hooves, max. gentle hooves."
"Don't mind him, Max. you're doing a great job." Artemis and Eugene shared a look, "All right, up and at 'em everybody. The Moonstone's gone so no use sticking around this dreary place."
"Shouldn't you be a little, I dunno—"
"Upset right now? She should be…"
"Hey, sunshine, I couldn't help but notice you're kind of doing that…thing."
"That thing?"
"You know, the thing where you act like everything's peachy when clearly it's…" the strained smile made even Artemis flinch from where she was sat,
"Sweetheart, what Cass did—"
"Yeah, that was bad. Anyways, moving on." Eugene was left confused as Rapunzel danced around the topic. "Okay gang, we need to get out of here. Any ideas?"
"Well, we could just fly off in that Balloon." Everyone's eyes drifted to the quickly approaching hot-air Balloon, "A balloon is a great idea…if we had a—" Eugene patted her shoulder to get her attention,
"A balloon!" Everyone approached with caution as the basket moved, "Careful."
"You really think you're frying pan is going to be—" A hand clamped over her mouth and the teen narrowed her eyes, her expression darkened when she saw it was Ulf.
"Great…the mime." Tucking her frying pan away, Rapunzel rushed forward to give the silent man a hug,
"I didn't know that you Ballooned. How did you find us, what are you doing here, did someone send you"
"Why did they send you…specifically?" Artemis stared unamused at the mime, "Yeah, answer that one."
"Gentlemen, I think I can be of some incontinence as I am fluent in Ulf." Whatever hope they had instilled in Shorty was diminished a bit as he fell off Max' back. Walking forward, shorty took a place next to Ulf who began to Mime,
"Ahem, there's trouble in Corona, invaders from a foreign land. The people of Corona are scared, so Ulf followed the rocks here." There was silence as everyone looked at Shorty like he had grown a second head, "And now he's just standing still."
"Guys, there's trouble in Corona, we need to get back as soon as possible." The group dispersed, gathering any supplies they might need, "All right, chop chop, all aboard. This Balloon isn't getting any hotter, people."
"Kids, I have dedicated my entire life to protecting—"
"So, you're staying, or you're going?"
"Sorry…long-winded isn't his style." Edmond looked between his tow children, "I must think of a way to soften this blow."
"You're staying, we got it. We'll see you later." Eugene and Artemis climbed into the basket, "Okay, is that everybody?"
"Oh I certainly hope so because it's tight." Rapunzel reached for the pull string, "Everyone ready? Then…Corona, here we come!" as the balloon started to drift away whoever was steering took the Balloon the wrong way.
"Hey guys, Uh, Corona's the other way."
"Of course, I knew that, I was just seeing what a view before we turn around and go the other way."
The Kingdom of Corona finally came into view and there were happy smiles all around as they finally touched back down.
"Finally! No offense to any of you people but we have been together for way too long and I need a break from your faces, except for you of course, Rapunzel."
"How rude…" Eugene turned to Artemis and playfully ruffled her hair, "And you too, Kid. You know we'll probably be seeing so much of each other we'll get to do the whole sibling rivalry thing." The teens expression softened as she swatted his hand away, "I look forward to it….big brother."
"Oh, I can't believe how much I missed home." The realization set in and the Princess took off, "Home, how I've missed everything so much! I've missed the book store, and I missed the fountain. Oh, I missed the Sweet shoppe and Bakery, yum."
"You know what I missed about Corona? The people." Now that they all took a look around…where was everyone, "In fact…I'm still missing the people.
"Yeah, that's weird. Hello?!" nothing but the Princess' voice echoed back in the empty cobblestone streets,
"It's kind of spooky."
"Hello, People?! People!" Artemis peered through the window of one of the shops but didn't see anybody, "There's no one inside…Where is everyone?" the sudden Crashing of something against the stones alerted them to someone, looking over it was Feldspar. Artemis looked at the green crystal like things he had dropped.
"Oh, whoa is me…I'll never make my quota." The two blondes helped him pick of the strange substance and she felt a sad smile spread across her face, "Feldspar." He took a closer look at the purple clad woman before him, "Princess! Oh thank goodness, you're back."
"Where is everyone?"
"Oh it's awful, just awful. Everyone in Corona's been forced to Quarry, mining these pesky crystal minerals. Oh, oh, I've gotta get this in by nightfall." Everyone looked at Ulf,
"Did you know about this?" Ulf nodded and motioned to Shorty,
"Shorty." The old man looked caught off guard, "What? I thought his story dragged so I took the artistic license to make some judicious cuts. I stand by that choice."
"I don't believe it. I'm going to the castle to speak with my father." The group turned to leave, 'Well, I'm not sure what good that will do, your father is the one who gave the order."
"What?" Rapunzel turned, shocked at the news.
Once back at the Castle Rapunzel led them through the maze of hallways to the throne room, "Mom, dad!" she enveloped her mother in a bear hug, "Oh, you guys. I have missed you so much!"
"Frederick…"
"Young lady, please." Rapunzel pulled back, "Young lady? Dad, what's going on?"
"Ooh, this is awkward…" Artemis looked between the King and Queen, "Rapunzel…look." Green eyes trailed down to her fathers chest, "That medallion, it's—'
"Sapporian." Everyone eyes landed on the door, "Hey, Raps." A smirk grew on Artemis' face, "Well…if it isn't Hubert."
"My name is Andrew!" he lost his cool composure for a second, his voice rising in embarrassment at his birth name's use.
"Whatever you say…Hubert."
"Would you just— never mind." He swung the door open, revealing other Sapporian's, "Nice to see you again.
"I'm gonna be completely honest, like, I remember you but I don't remember you."
"He tried to steal Herz De Sonne's book." Eugene looked like he was drawing a blank, Artemis face palmed, "Remember that hot air balloon fight where we almost got killed?
"Oh, right. less attractive than me with the man-bun, yes, I remember you now."
"I've taken over Corona, or as we now refer to it—" He drew his sword, "New Sapporia." The group of invaders chanted something from behind him, "I'm sorry, but you, man-bun guy and your flower children took over Corona? Well this is only gonna take a minute." Eugene drew his sword when something familiar flashed Infront of her eyes, a Chem Ball exploded and a familiar pink fog filled the room, leaving Artemis' blood to run cold.
"Eugene!"
"What the goop?" Artemis' eyes drifted upwards again, "Oh, we didn't do this alone. You might recognize my former cell mate. Blue and gold orbs watched as a figure emerged through the smoke,
"Varian?" he lifted his goggles,
"Welcome home, Rapunzel." Varian's hardened expression shifted for a second as he looked at Artemis, "Oh, I see you've already met my new friends." His resolve steeled again as he stood next to the Sapporian's."
"Ah, Varian, my most trusted advisor." Rapunzel turned to her father, "Varian? Mom, dad, don't you remember what he's done?" His laughter drew their attention back, "No, no they don't."
"They don't remember?"
"Varian, what did you do?!" the short, stout woman waved something in her had, "That's a Sapporian wand of oblivium, you have erased their memories."
"Who me?" he laughed again, "No, not really. Actually as you know I'm all about the science but uh, clementine here, she added a bit of, um….uh…" he fumbled with his words, "Texture" the short woman chimed in,
"Magic."
"Yes, today the king and Queen, tomorrow, Corona. I'm synthesizing the wands power into a gas that will erase the memories of everyone in Corona and I named it Quirinian so no one will ever forget they turned their back on my father."
"but once the people are infected by this gas, they will forget that they turned their backs…on your…father."
"Yep, that's some flawed logic right there."
"No." he seemed to mull over that information, "So… You know what I mean!"
"I can't let you get away with this." Rapunzel started to undo her hair, "Hey guys, let's send these Sapporian's back where they came from."
Andrew drew his sword, "I thought you might say that." He rose his sword in the air as a declaration, "Sapporians." As Rapunzel charged forward Varian threw another mixture to the ground, filling the are with a heavy purple smoke,
"They got the Alchemy." Max charged forward and was captured in some kind of bubble, "How in the—"
"Pretty Impressive, isn't it?" Narrowing her eyes, she turned and came face to face with the boy she had left behind a year ago, "Varian."
"Welcome back, traitor."
"Traitor? I think all the time locked up has driven you insane."
"Oh, contraire, m'lady, it's opened my eyes." She threw a cluster of rocks up at him, throwing him backwards, "Still as feisty as before, and did you do something with your hair?" he got right back up and threw something down at her feet, she pushed herself into the air before the ball exploded, safe on one of her rocks.
"Oh come on, Varian. You'll have to do better than that, I control them." Andrew charged forward, trying to strike Eugene,
"I have to admit I'm relieved I have to fight you and not Cassie. Where is my old flame, anyways?"
"Sensitive subject."
"I've got more tricks up my sleeve" he threw three more of his chem balls at her and she continued to dodge until the last one caught her foot. A familiar blur of Green made her erupt in Laughter as the little Chameleon stuck his tongue into Varian's ear, "Gah, Pascal…get off me!" Artemis only laughed more as the Chameleon climbed all over him, stealing on of the yellow orbs from his chest strap, "Hey, come back here with that."
"Run Pascal!" Varian caught the little guy of guard with a bath bomb, coating the floor in a soapy residue. Artemis drew her attention to max who seemed worried about something, "Uh…" did she tell him or did she let a 2000 pound animal just drop, "Varian…" he ignored her and as her eyes trailed back up she saw the bubble pop, send max to the ground. The horse looked at Varian in anger and took off after him.
Artemis just hung upside down from the rock pedestal, watching the fighting drag on as her head began to swim from the rush of blood to her brain, she suddenly found herself falling, "Whoa!" hitting the ground with a thud she grinned, "Thanks, Pascal." She hurried to regroup with the others,
"Varian, tell them to stand down."
"Never!"
"Why would we when we have the upper hand?" there was no escape now, The Sapporian's had them trapped as Andrew fished something out of his pocket,
"Is that…?" Varian looked at the device, "Scatter!" she had seen him working on this in his lab before the battle of Old Corona. When the dust settled there was a hole in the throne room wall and once again, they found themselves outside.
"Powerful stuff, Kid. This is gonna be fun."
"Pascal, are you all right, buddy?" The reptile shook it off, "Is everybody okay?"
"Give me a minute." Lance sat up, rubbing his head
"There is a horse on me…" Rapunzel motioned to Max to get off Eugene, "I've got the rope!" All eyes trailed back up to the throne room, Artemis shoved some of the debris off of her, struggling to stand.
"Ugh, Cork fiber? Clementine, you know cork cording chafes my hands."
"Let's get out of here."
"What? We can't just leave. We've gotta stay and fight. How do you think those Sapporians would like a face full of frying…pan—" Rapunzel brought the cookware item back to observe it "Ness…"
"Look, Blondie, trust me. Sometimes it's better to live to fight another day." Taking one last look back at the Castle, Artemis took off after the others,
"Guy's come on, they're getting away." The took off out of the courtyard and sought refuge behind some shipping crates, "we cannot allow the princess and her gang to interfere with New Sapporia's take over of Corona."
"Ooh, do you see something?"
"Yes." Panic started to rise, "Look at these shoes of Equine oppression."
"Oh, Barbaric Coronan's." everyone help their breath until the Sapporian's left, startled when one fo the walls opened up before them,
"Psst, Princess."
"Xavier!" everyone hurried inside the hide out. "The captain of the guard sent out many search parties to find you, he has yet to return, but in the mean time…" as they stepped into the basement room they were met with familiar faces.
"Princess, you're back." She rushed forward, hugging everyone, "It is so, so, so good to see all of you…" she paused, looking at Monty, "Even you, Monty." The rotund candy shoppe owner merely smiled,
"We stay hidden, everyone in Corona now lives in fear, spending their days mining Varian's minerals."
"What? The people of Corona are so brave, why wouldn't they stand up?"
"We cannot defy the orders from the king and queen…" The tension was thick, "Any act of aggression against them is treason. But, now that you have returned, the game has changed."
Artemis sat with her back to the wall, watching as Rapunzel repaired her frying pan, her mind on Varian.
"Please…please don't be a lost cause…"
"Hey, blondie, how you holding up?"
"Me? Fine." She quickly ducked the finished product into the barrel of water, letting the steam roll off the surface, "What do you think? Not bad, right?"
"You've been through a lot since we got back, not to mention what happened with Cassandra…" Rapunzel laughed the problem away, "What? To tell you the truth I haven't even thought about that—" she squeezed the tube of gold paint into the pan with aggression "Person." Grabbing a paintbrush, Eugene stopped her,
"Rapunzel, you can't even say her name. there's a difference between setting feelings aside and burying them so deep they change who you are." His words rang true not just for Rapunzel, but for Another blonde sitting across the way,
"What are you saying, Eugene?"
"What I'm saying is that you're not alone in this."
"I know." She turned her gaze away from him, "But maybe it would be better if I were."
"What was that?" Xavier cleared his throat, snapping all three of them out of their thoughts, "Am I interrupting?"
"No, I'm just making a new pan."
"Princess, we need to discuss our strategy."
"I'll be there in a second." Eugene gave her a quick peck as he headed back to the others.
"Coming, Kid?" Artemis smiled, "I'll be in in a sec, gotta take care of something."
"So, what's your plan for once you're inside?" Rapunzel jumped nearly a foot in the air, "Artemis, you followed me?" she looked annoyed and angry, yet somehow relieved, "Duh, I knew there was no way you were going to risk the lives of everyone in there, not after all this." Artemis gestured to the deserted streets,
"You have to go back to the others, it's not safe for you. What if they—"
"Look, Rapunzel, whether I can control these rock's, or I can't, they can't use it against Corona unless I'm willing." The princess frowned,
"but you don't know what they're capable of."
"And neither do you? Do you think you running in blind and getting caught is going to help your people? Think like a ruler, Rapunzel, otherwise you may as well be right back in your tower." The princess was stunned to silence,
"I'm not letting you do this alone, so we can either do this together or I can drag you back to Xavier's and you can explain to my brother, the love of your life, that you tried to leave him behind in some stupid act to prove yourself." Artemis offered the Princess her hand, "Together?"
A smile spread across Rapunzel's Face as she took the teens hand, "Together."
"Great, now let's get going, Eugene's gonna notice we never came back." The two walked in silence until Rapunzel stopped, "We can't get into the castle through the front door, they'll be expecting that, but…check this out." She moved the grate to the side, revealing a secret tunnel.
Once inside the palace, Rapunzel motioned to be quiet, they couldn't risk getting caught if there was no way of telling what the repercussions might be.
"Well, Lately I've been into essential oils, you know peppermint or—"
"Wow…Eugene was right…Sapporians really are flower children…" Artemis whispered once they were out of the enemie's earshot.
"What was that?" as the footsteps got closer the other guy drew him away, "It wasn't anything, come on. If you ask me, you should lay off the essential oils. You're hearing things." Both princesses heaved a sigh of relief and carried on, ducking into another room as another Sapporian rounded the corner,
"Kai, is that you?" closing the door, Rapunzel turned, realizing where they were.
"Is this…"
"Cass' room…" Artemis watched as Rapunzel opened Cass' wardrobe, pulling out her lady-in-waiting dress before collapsing onto the bed, "I thought she would always be here."
"Mph!"
"Well, well, well, look who we found." Rapunzel turned with wide eyes, seeing one of the Sapporian's restraining her friend, the smaller blonde narrowed her eye and bit down on the man's hand
"Ow, She bit me!" the burly man from earlier kept a firm grip on the teen as someone snapped something shut over her hands, She looked down at the metal contraptions as they were drug off to the dungeons.
"Varian." Both girls turned as the cell door locked behind them, "How could you do this?" the alchemist narrowed his eyes and stepped towards the door, "I want you to know, I wish it didn't come to this—" he knocked on the iron bars, "But when someone trusts you and you betray them…well, this is what happens."
"My kingdom needed me, I couldn't do anything about the amber and I had to stay. I never meant to break my promise to you, Varian. We were friends." Artemis struggled with her restraints as Varian and Rapunzel conversed, they had secured her shackled to the floor, apparently her former boyfriend had deemed her a danger,
"That's the beauty of my plan, in the end, when your memory has been erased, we can be friends again."
"Varian, please…" Blue eyes rested on Artemis' pale face, he hadn't noticed before just how tired she looked and for a moment, the teen could swear she saw a hint of the boy she had left behind, "You're only making it worse. None of these people did anything to you."
"It's not what they did to me…" He turned his back to Rapunzel and Artemis, "It's what I did to them. And…there is no way that they will ever forgive me."
"How do you know, if you don't give them the chance?" Artemis gave up, sinking to the floor in defeat, Rapunzel took over trying to sway Varian, "I took their queen prisoner, I-I threatened their princess, I helped these guys take over their kingdom. You think anyone's gonna give me a second chance? I don't think so." He stood outside the cell door, taking in the view before him,
"No, making them forget…is the only way to fix what I've done."
"Yeah, there's been a slight change in plans, buddy." Andrew stepped forward, grabbing Varian by the shoulders, leading him away.
"Now that they're back, we don't have time for you to get your memory formula right."
"We are still using the formula you've curated, Quirinian explodes. It will turn Corona to ashes."
"Wha—no, no, we agreed nobody would be harmed."
"Relax, Varian. You don't want to end up on the wrong side of history." Andrew nudged the teen in a friendly fashion, "You understand, buddy." Varian turned his gaze from the Sapporian's to Rapunzel and Artemis, Rapunzel looked hopeful as she always had…but seeing his former friend huddled in the back of the cell with no hope, he balled his fists,
"You're right…so I'm gonna have to ask you…" he fished out one of the bath bombs, "To step inside that cell." The Sapporian's backed away, inching towards the cell behind them, "Are you betraying us, Boy?"
"I'm getting on the right side of History."
"Take him out." Varian threw the chem ball, it erupted and covered the Sapporian's in soap, "Oh….yeah, sorry guys…yeah, that was a bath bomb…" He found himself in the cell with Rapunzel and Artemis as the others took off.
"He's made his choice, let's move. We launch the air ship in twenty."
Rapunzel busied herself with trying to pry the bars apart, "All I ever wanted was for my father to be proud." Rapunzel and Artemis both turned to look at him, the former with a tired expression, " 'course if he were free from the amber now…Saw everything I've done…well, he'd be ashamed."
"You know…standing up to Andrew just now was…pretty brave. Look, I know how much it hurts to have someone you trust let you down. I mean, after you go through something like that, how can you ever trust anyone again?"
"I don't know. That's why I thought m-maybe if…if I could make you both forget everything that happened you know, we could be friends again. Learn to trust again" Artemis turned her gaze to the window, "We lost Cass, Varian…"
"Cass is…gone?"
"When we got to the Dark kingdom and we finally found the moonstone…she made a choice similar to yours, she took what she wanted without thinking of the consequences. She felt outshined by Rapunzel…" She turned her eyes to Varian, "You need to make a choice. Sometimes life doesn't always work out the way you planned, but we didn't abandon you…"
"Okay, this is very sweet, but honestly I'm offended. I can't believe you were going break into something and you didn't even ask me, it's kind of my thing." Eugene picked the lock to the cell, Rapunzel hurried over to him, "Thank goodness you're here."
Varian turned to look at Artemis, kneeling in front of her, "Ari, I'm sorry…" she watched his expression as he fished something out of his pocket, "I know I wasn't the easiest to deal with…back in Old corona." One of the locks clicked up, releasing her hand and he went to work unlocking the other shackle, "And now I've made a mistake I probably won't come back from without difficulty but—Whoa!" the second lock clicked open and the Alchemist found himself pinned to the ground as Artemis wrapped her arms around him,
"I'm just glad you're safe! I was so worried." As the two sat up, Varian looked down at the girl in his arms, "You worried about me?" she flicked his forehead, "Of course I did, you idiot! But then I am back in town for lass than an hour and I found out you staged a coup?" Varian smiled sheepishly as he offered her a hand up, escorting her out of the cell, "After you, m'lady."
'"Oh-ho, boy do I have stories for you when this is all over." Artemis stood next to Eugene and Rapunzel and Lance stepped in front of Varian, "and where do you think you're going, little man?" Artemis laughed as Lance rubbed the marker goatee off Varian's chin,
"Guys, we're going to have to trust him." Artemis placed a gentle hand on Lance's arm, "after everything hair-stripe here has done, you are going to trust him?"
"Yes, he's the one that made the formula that the Sapporian's are about to drop on Corona." Rapunzel stepped forward, "We need him."
"there's enough Quirinian on that ship to destroy corona, ten times over." Artemis slapped him in the back of the head, "Ow!"
"why would you make so much?"
"Is there anything you can do?" Varian looked remorseful, "If you can get me on that ship, I think I can neutralize it." Well, they had a plan now, that was something, now they had to worry about execution.
They watched as Andrew escorted the King and queen into their carriage and locked the door before sending them away,
"Eugene. I need you guys to free my parents."
"You heard her, boys. Let's go." Andrew cut the rope securing the air ship, "Rapunzel, if we're gonna do this…it has to be now." The three stared at the rising ship, "We have got to get up there." Artemis grinned, "I have an Idea." Rapunzel and Varian watched as he blue eye started to glow, "Hang on."
Artemis focused on the ground, pulling a large rock pillar from the depths and raising them all into the air, "Rapunzel, Now!" the blonde undid her hair and threw it up to the airship as one of the barrels was tossed overboard, using another strand she prevented said barrel from exploding.
"Any second now…" Rapunzel quickly hauled them up to the main deck.
"What is going on?"
"Drop something?" Rapunzel dropped the barrel and untied Varian and Artemis from her hair, the Sapporian's turned, "Hello again, Hubert."
'Stop…calling me that, my name is Andrew!"
"I know, I just don't care."
"Varian, get your alchemy belt and neutralize the coronion—"
"Uh, Quirinian, Rapunzel, say it with me." Artemis narrowed her eyes and smacked him upside the head again, "Ow, again?! What, i-i-is it always gonna be like this?"
"Not the time, Varian. Bigger fish." She said motioning to the advancing enemy, she shoved him out of the way as one of the Sapporian's threw a punch, landing a swift kick to the guys nuts and watching him drop like a sack of flour. The guy groaned in pain as Varian took off.
Rapunzel took care of two of the others as Andrew charged, sword poised to strike, "This is the last time you—" a cloud of green some enveloped Andrew and Rapunzel, turning his sword to dust,
"Heh, not bad for an alchemist, eh?" Artemis face palmed again as Varian started showing off, one of his alchemy mixture exploded and encased Pascale in a soap bubble.
"Varian!"
"Whoops, my fault." Another bubble latched onto Rapunzel's foot, lifting her leg into the air. "Whoa, that one's on me, Artemis dodged out of the way of the exploding chemicals after years of practice.
"Stand down, Alchemist." Artemis snuck up behind the woman and swiped the sword from her grasp, "You stand down, that's an order."
"On who's authority?" Artemis pressed the tip of the sword to Clementine's nose, "Who said anything about Authority? I've got your weapon, and I'm not afraid to swing." The stout woman rose her hands in front of her,
"You know, if we weren't in mortal peril right, now, I'd say that was attractive."
"Dammit, Varian! Quit showing off and neutralize the compound."
"Yes' ma'am." He darted off "Uh uh. I'll take care of him." Andrew grabbed Varian by the jacket, dangling him over the edge of the ship.
"Drop him and you die." Artemis had tied the stout woman down with some loose rope, pressing the tip of her stolen sword into Andrews back.
"Traitors to Sapporia pay with their lives." Andrew and Varian both suddenly fell to the ground, turns out Pascal had smashed into Andrews leg, securing Varian's safety. "Good Chameleon!" the bad part was watching the Sapporian criminal topple off the other side of the air ship.
"Pascal, come here." The little reptile turned to Rapunzel as Artemis kept the remaining Sapporian's at bay,
Varian quickly applied the solution to free the Chameleon, "Well that wasn't so hard."
"We're not down yet. Time for Corona to go boom." Artemis looked at the bubble encased man as he floated back up to the ship and had to bite back laughter,
"Hey, I have a new nick name for you, Hubert…how's bubble boy sound?"
"Would you stop with the names?!" the teen just shrugged, "What do you want from me? I'm a teenager, it's in my job description to be annoying." Varian and Rapunzel looked at the girl with mild intrigue,
Andrew cut the rope and the ship started to fall, one of Varian's alchemy compounds exploded, trapping the Sapporians in bubbles,
Rapunzel had grabbed Varian and Varian had grabbed Artemis as the ship hung precariously over the village below, "That single burner cannot generate enough heat to keep this ship in the air, if it crashes…it'll destroy all of Corona."
"What if we use the Quirinian?"
"Yes, Yes, heating the Quirinian will increase the temperature enough to make the balloon rise, we just have to get it high enough so that…when it explodes it doesn't destroy the city. You two need to get off this ship."
"What? No!"
"I have to clean up my own mess."
"No. you do not have a shield of magic hair or magic rocks that will protect you when this thing explodes." Rapunzel tied her hair around Varian and Artemis, "What are you doing?"
"It's your mess, but it's my kingdom." Rapunzel let her hair unravel, placing the two teens safely on one of the rooftops,
"No, Rapunzel!" the teens watched as Rapunzel carried out her plan, "She's gonna be okay, right?"
"She always is."
The ship went up in green flames, but there was no sign of the princess, "Rapunzel!" Artemis tried to summon up the rock's, but Varian held her back, "Let go of me!" the Teen kept a firm grasp on her, "She said she'd come back." The two waited on bated breath until a drop of light fell towards them,
"She's safe!"
Rapunzel Varian and Artemis found themselves back in Old Corona, "I never thought I'd say this…but I missed being home." Varian led them into his lab, and they watched Rapunzel wrap her hair around the amber,
"Once I start this incantation…I won't be able to stop it, and it could seriously harm you and your father, so..." Rapunzel passed a bucket of water to the young Alchemist, "I'm trusting you to snap me out of it once your father is free."
"You can trust me, Rapunzel." The princess turned to Artemis, "After what happened in the tree, are you sure you'll be okay?"
The younger teen nodded, "I'll be fine. I can handle this." Rapunzel turned and picked up the strands of her hair that were wrapped around the Amber,
"Wither and decay, end this destiny, break these earthly chains… and set the spirit free." Artemis watched as Rapunzel's usually gold hair turned black, amber streaks flowing into it from the encasement, she could feel the pain she had before start to return but she fought through it, noticing the amber begin to melt away,
"Wither and decay—"
"It's working!"
"End this destiny." Artemis and Varian watched as the Amber released Quirin,
"Dad!" Varian went to run to his father, but stopped, eyeing Rapunzel and then the bucket of water,
"Break these earthly chains—" he threw the water at it to no avail, she didn't snap out of the trance. Artemis could feel the pulsating pain growing in her chest,
"And set the spirit free—" Varian tried to shake Rapunzel out of it, but as soon as he touched her his gloves burned away,
"Rapunzel, snap out of it!"
"The spirit free." Quirin was free of the amber, but now his friends were in trouble and he didn't know how to help, "Rapunzel…Artemis?" He looked between the two young women with regret and pain, "you didn't give up on me, I'm not giving up on you." Rapunzel's eyes and hair returned to normal and the pain Artemis felt slowly ebbed away, "Are…are you both okay?" Rapunzel nodded, motioning for Varian to go to his dad. He cast a look to Artemis,
"I'm fine. You've waited long enough." He hurriedly hugged the two before turning to his father,
"Dad! Dad, you're alive!"
"Oh, son."
"Dad, the note." Rapunzel helped Artemis steady herself, helping her get to Varian and Quirin, "Wh-What did it say? I need to know." Rapunzel gave the younger girl a small wink, signaling she'd be outside.
"All it said was, I'm so proud of you Varian, I always have been." Quirin turned to Artemis, "I'm proud of both of you, and I know if your mother could be here…"
"Please don't…" Varian looked at his friend with sympathy, he had gotten his family back, but she was still alone.
"Congratulations, Varian. You did it." She smiled as the father and son duo hugged it out, turning to leave the lab.
"Is…everything okay?" Artemis stood next to Rapunzel, "Yeah, I just can't bring myself to tell him…"
"Tell me what?" Rapunzel smiled, "I'll see you back at the castle?"
"Yeah." The princess left the teens alone, "So, what are you having difficulties telling me." Artemis looked at her feet, "in the last year that we were out there, searching for the Moonstone not a day went by that I didn't think about you and how you were doing, but recent developments might put a strain on whatever our relationship is…or was."
"I…don't understand."
"Varian…when we got to the Dark kingdom everything changed, I'm not the same girl I was a year ago." She felt his fingers entwine with her own, "Hey, whatever it is…"
"I'm not…" she looked into his baby blue eyes and her expression shifted, "I'm not who I thought I was, my mom and Hector weren't my birth parents, but the truth…the truth is still hard to swallow.
"What is the truth?" He wouldn't pull his eyes away from her face and it was making her uncomfortable,
"The truth is I found my real family, and didn't even know that my own brother was so close."
"Your real family?" Artemis smiled as she looked towards the dark kingdom, " I know it's going to sound crazy…but, I'm…The princess of the Dark kingdom." Varian didn't know if he should laugh or not,
"You, a princess? But, You're—"
"No, Son, she's telling the truth." Quirin emerged from his home, a stern expression in his face.
"Quirin?"
"Dad? But then…that means that you'll have to…" she could see the sadness in his eyes, "You'll have to leave again." Artemis took both of his hands,
"No, I made my choice when I came back, my brother can have the throne if he wants it. My place is here, in Corona. Here with you…if your father allows me to stay."
"You'd give up a kingdom for me?"
"I'm not giving up anything, Varian. My title doesn't change anything. I can't rule a kingdom, I'm just that scatter brained little girl you helped all those years ago." Varian laughed, pulling her in for a hug.
"It's good to have you back." Wrapping her arms around him, she rested her head on his shoulder,
"It's good to be back."
