"Are you ready?" Artemis stared at the blonde in her doorway, "Ready…for what?"
"For your first day of princess Lessons." Artemis frowned and pulled the blanket back over her head, trying to go back to sleep.
"Look, Rapunzel, I get that you're excited to show me the ropes…but it's 7 in the morning…" the princess had insisted she move into the palace, much to her dismay, she'd much rather be in Old Corona, with Quirin, and Varian.
"Oh come on, sleepy head." Rapunzel grabbed the girls ankles and tried to pull her out of the four-poster bed, "Nooooo." She grabbed for the headboard and Rapunzel sighed in defeat."
"Okay, I guess I'll just have to tell Varian about that day we got turned into birds and you—" A hand clamped down over her mouth and she was met with a dark expression, "Don't you dare." Rapunzel smirked, her plan had worked,
"Great, now that you're up. Get dressed." The teen groaned in protest as Rapunzel left the room, "Princess training…who cares."
"I'd turn it this way, feldspar, so it's visible to the afternoon traffic." Artemis sighed, she tugged at the collar of her new dress, Rapunzel had insisted on this as well. She said a princess' appearance was everything.
"I hate this…"
Princess Rapunzel!" The princess picked up a red ball. Handing it back to the little girl, "Keep your eye on the ball." The little girl smiled and ran off, "And watch that follow through."
Artemis sighed and followed her as she delivered the good news, "Your plans were approved! Build that Haberdashery!"
"Why is any of this important if I don't plan on taking over the Dark kingdom?" Rapunzel stopped in her tracks, "You don't plan to take over?" Artemis shook her head, "Why not?"
"Rapunzel, look at me. I was raised poor, among commoners in a foreign kingdom. Diplomacy is not my strong suit."
"Rapunzel, you realize that as Queen, you don't need to be out in the streets, all the time, right?"
"Well remember, technically I'm still a princess. Besides, this is where the real action is." Artemis Looked at Eugene and Rapunzel, hoping the distraction would give her a chance to sneak off,
"Whoa, Boy, whoa." A rodent had spooked one of the carriage horses and the animal was having a fit,
"Hey, settle down." The horse reared back and charged forward with the cart full of Hay, "Watch out." Rapunzel and Eugene threw themselves out of the way and Artemis grinned, launching herself up with one of the black rocks and landing on the horses saddle, grabbing the reigns.
"And there's the action, right no cue! Go, Kid, Go!" Artemis gave her older brother a thumbs up as the horse carried on, "Okay…tug the reigns upwards…and steer the horse to a steady pace…I've got this." The horse turned at a sharp angle and the teen hastily pulled the leather reigns upwards, "Whoa!" she could hear Rapunzel and Eugene behind her,
"Is this a new alley?" Artemis frowned, now wasn't the time to be admiring Coronan architecture. Steeling herself, Artemis pulled the reigns tighter, forcing the horse to slow down as Eugene and Rapunzel caught up.
"Duck crossing!"
"What?!" Artemis looked ahead to a family of ducks, "Oh, come on!" She managed to get the cart to stop, but not before the horse threw her,
"Somebody….catch!" Her prayers were answered, but not be anyone she wanted to see, "Oh, Hello, Daughter." Artemis narrowed her eyes, unimpressed by the greeting, "Oh…great."
"Edmund?" The three stared at the Dark Kingdom's ruler with varying expressions.
"What are you doing here?" Artemis looked appalled as the raven on his shoulder coughed up feathers, as far as Awkward family sit downs went, this was one for the books.
"Uh no, Hamuel, let me tell them."
"Hamuel?" The siblings shared a look of distaste, "After our rather…unfortunate run in with the family recently, I wanted to ensure you got this." He slid two decorative boxes towards each of his children, "They are priceless heirloom's that have been passed down for generations." Eugene opened the lid on his to reveal a leather sash, "Ooh, pretty."
"It's our family sash."
"Oh, Fantastic, that's fantastic. This'll go so great with my chainmail dinner jacket. So, thanks for stopping by and making everything awkward…for both of us…bye now." Eugene closed the box and Rapunzel frowned, giving him a disapproving look. Edmund turned to look at his daughter,
"You're not going to open yours?"
"With all do respect, your Majesty, I've only just learned about all of this…about being a princess, about having a brother, Taking princess Lessons…and…" She looked at the box, pushing it back towards him, "I'm sorry, but, it's all too much."
"Artemis?" Rapunzel looked at the girl with surprise, perhaps her lessons on diplomacy were paying of, "Well, perhaps I should…leave." Edmund looked to the raven perched on his shoulder, "Although, I'm kind of hoping they invite me to stay..."
"Oh…"
"Yeah, no, he says what he thinks…a lot."
"Your majesty, you have come such a long way. Why not just stay for the night?" Edmund looked mildly shocked at the proposition, "Oh, no, I really shouldn't." Artemis pushed herself away from the table,
"I mean no disrespect, Father, but I'll be taking my leave." She curtsied and promptly excused herself, leaving Eugene and Rapunzel alone with Edmund.
"I know that was rude…but she was so polite about it." Rapunzel beamed as she watched the girl go, Edmund watched his daughter leave,
"Hey, she'll come around."
"Hey, you avoiding the elephant in the room, too?" Eugene tucked the sash back into it's box, "Hey, Kiddo." He patted the spot next to him and she sat down, staring out at the sunset,
"You know, my mom used to say family doesn't always start with blood…but now I've started to question her wisdom. Everything is different now, there's no chance for me to go back to my old life."
"You mean with Hair-stripe? You know, knowing that you're my sister certainly changes my perspective on letting you date." Artemis laughed, "Oh, don't you go getting all big-brother-protective on me. Next time I get hurt I don't want to hear that you kicked in Varian's door and beat him to within an inch of his life."
"Hey, I'm not going to make any promises I won't. it's my job to look after you, now." He lightly nudged her with his elbow,
"Whatever!" she nudged him back." A voice interrupted the moment, "Thinking about your dad?"
"All right, first of all, he's our dad, okay. He is a strange man who can't keep his thoughts to himself. Second, he abandoned me…us…as children, and he didn't even try and stay in touch, and then…this."
"Edmund's only company is a crow, who could get lost in a boot."
"Yeah, that actually happened…remember?" she recalled their little run in with the birds just before they hopped the Gondola,
"He's lonely. Come on you two, you might even get to like him."
"And shorty could sprout wings and lay an egg, but hey, you never know."
"No…No, I'm pretty sure that happened when those psychos in the woods turned us into Birds…" Eugene looked at the young girl before him, "You have an incredible memory. How do you do that?"
"It's a curse…" she recalled the awkward memories of her and Varian's childhood, shuddering as she recalled him accidentally walking in on her changing one time.
"I'm doomed to remember everything… Oh look, the bird got lost in a boot…again." The three watched with dismay as Hamuel flew around aimlessly, his head stuck inside a boot.
"I'm sorry, is that my boot?" Rapunzel smiled and took Eugene's hand.
"I'll leave you two alone." Artemis winked at the two lovebirds as she stood.
A sudden pounding startled Varian, dragging him away from his work, who was possibly here at this hour? Opening the door he looked down to see Artemis,
"What are you doing here? It's late, shouldn't you be back at the palace?"
"It's fine, I just needed to get away from…everything." He noticed the look in her eye, "I know that look, Artemis. What's going on?"
"My father showed up…" Varian's eyes shot wide open, "Y-Your father, like…your birth father? The king of the Dark kingdom?!" She clapped a hand over his mouth, "Shh, I don't want everyone to know!" Varian licked the palm of her hand with his slimy tongue and she drew her hand back, "That, is disgusting." He merely shrugged her disgust off, "For all you know, I could have shoveled horse manure all day." Varian's expression shifted to match her own, "You didn't…"
"You're right, I didn't, Instead I had princess and Diplomacy lessons with Rapunzel…and stopped a runaway cart that was carrying fresh hay." He looked at her in disbelief, "Can we just go inside, it's getting cold." Varian crossed his arms,
"I'll tell you all about my day and you can ignore me as you work on your formula's and equations."
"I won't ignore you, that would be rude." She quirked a brow, "Okay…so I might get a little carried away…sometimes." She just smiled, "Come on, it's a long story….and I brought Cupcakes from Atilla's."
"After you m'lady." She stopped briefly in the doorway, "Please stop calling me M'lady, it makes everything feel more real." Walking with her into the living room she set the cupcakes on the rough wooden table and sat down,
"Is that a bad thing? I mean, with all that's happened?"
"I don't know, Varian, it's just—" she tugged on the fabric of her skirt and tugged at her now, slightly more tamed, hair.
"Fancy dresses, Lady's-in-waiting, and Princess lessons, that's not me." Varian took a good look at the girl in front of him and quirked a half-smile,
"For as long as I've known you you've always done the right thing for other people. Would it be so bad to try and do something for yourself?"
"I know you're right, it's just…I want things to be like they were a year ago. I want to stay in Old Corona, and take walks in the woods with you." Varian could feel the heat rise to his cheeks, "I don't want to live in a palace where I have to ask for directions to the kitchen." Before he could stop himself, the suggestion just slipped out,
"Why not stay here tonight?"
"What?"
"Y-y-you said you wanted things to go back to normal, s-so I thought—" he stumbled over his words, and she swore she could see steam come out of his ears as she leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek,
"I'd love to stay, but will your dad be okay with it?"
"Will I be okay with what?" The teens immediately darted to separate sides of the couch, "Oh U-Um…with me staying the night." Quirin gave her a friendly smile, "You know you're always welcome, Artemis." Quirin disappeared into another room and the teens just shared an awkward look,
"S-So…you said you had some interesting stories to share with me?" Artemis grinned, "You have no idea! Okay so this one time when we were out on the road, we stumbled upon this couple and they turned us into birds—"
"What? How is that even—" They carried on well into the night with Artemis telling the Alchemist stories of their journey to the Dark kingdom,
Upon her return to Corona she spotted Edmund and Eugene getting ready to leave, "Hey, did I miss something?"
"Ah, Hello again, Daughter." Artemis looked unamused, "I have a name you know… you don't have to keep calling me daughter."
"Hey, you remembered to pack food, right?"
"Are the two of you going somewhere?"
"Of course I did, Horace." He held out his satchel and A huge grin spread across Artemis' face, "A bounty unlike any you've ever had."
"Horace?" Eugene looked down at the girl blocking their way,
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Horace?" he laughed nervously, "Did you just call me Horace?"
"Yes he did….Horace~" Artemis sing songed before erupting in laughter,
"Indeed, Horace is your given name." Artemis' laughter only increased, "Did I not…mention that before?"
"Oh…Oh no, you did not, but this is wonderful."
"How is it possible that my real name…is even worse than Eugene!?"
"I can't wait to tell Rapunzel!"
"Don't you dare!" Eugene sent the teen a hard stare, "Okay, what's her given name, I need to even the playing field." Edmund looked at the blonde,
"Her given name is Amaris." Artemis remembered reading that name, "You named me "Child of the moon"?"
"Precisely. You were born at night, and it was actually your mother who chose the name, it's only fitting Hector chose something similar to it when I gave you to him and Delilah."
"So she gets Amaris, and I get…Horace." Max laughed at Eugene's misfortune, "Ha ha, very funny. You know what, never mind. Let's just get on the road."
"Bonding time?"
"The sash I gave your brother was stolen."
"Stolen?" She watched as Edmund and Eugene left, shaking her head.
"Making wishes?" Artemis watched the display as Rapunzel pulled a single gold coin from behind a child's ear
"Eugene taught me that one. Go ahead, come on, make a wish." The little girl took the coin and tossed it into the fountain.
"Princess, somebody broke into my shop." Artemis watched as Feldspar broke up the moment, there just wasn't a single day in Corona where something wasn't happening, was there?
"They tracked two sets of identical muddy footprints across my new rug." Identical footprints…
"Identical, you say?" Rapunzel looked to Artemis and then to the child sitting on the fountain,
"I saw 'em. One of 'em had an eye patch."
"Identical footprints, an eye patch…?" Rapunzel looked lost in thought, "Double security, I want sentries posted on the bridge and patrols every hour.
"Yes, Princess."
"Rapunzel?" The princess still seemed lost in thought, "The Stabbington's are back in Corona." Rapunzel took off, stopping to pour a few more coins into the little girls hands, "Oh, Here…back up wishes." Artemis quirked a brow and took off after her,
"You wanna tell me what's going on? Eugene told me he used to tangle with the Stabbington's back in the day…but how dangerous are they?"
"Let's just say they aren't someone you'd want to be alone with." Artemis blinked the thought away, hearing sobbing coming from one of the alley ways,
"Stop!" Rapunzel skid to a halt, turning into the Alley,
"How'd you two find us?"
"Well…it could have been the effeminate crying…or maybe we're just that good." The two blondes untied the guards,
"I'm sorry, Princess. The Stabbington's came out of nowhere."
"It's okay. I'm sure they're after Eugene. Good thing he's out of town." She turned to Artemis, "I want you to go back to the Castle, it's not safe." Artemis frowned and the guards looked nervous,
"What did you two do!"
"You didn't tell them about Mount Saison, did you?" the two grumbled out their answers and Artemis felt her blood boil.
"I'm not going anywhere, your highness. He may be your boyfriend, but he's my brother. I can handle this on my own." Artemis quickly hopped on Fidella's back and took off.
"Artemis, come back!" The teen ignored Rapunzel and urged Fidella to move faster.
Dismounting Fidella, Artemis surveyed the meadows of tall grass for any sign of Edmund or Eugene,
"There was clearly a fight here." Her foot knocked something over and she knelt down to pick it up, "A wind up toy…and a yo-yo?" Tucking the items into her bag she stood up again, hand feeling for the dagger on her belt "We have to be getting close, come on!"
She got back onto the saddle and they took off.
Fidella came to a stop and once again Artemis hopped off, peering over the cliffside,
"We'll give you a chance to make it up to him."
"Take us to Ryder." Artemis squinted to get a closer look at the thugs below, Did they really think attacking Edmund was a good idea? "Now!"
"I'm not foolish enough to help you."
"Bet I know somebody who is." The blonde watched curiously as they sent Hamuel off with one of the daggers
"That is…a terrible idea. But where is Eugene?" The two brothers took hold of Edmund and led him away, Artemis started to climb down the rock wall
She stopped as she heard hooves approaching, "Edmund! Edmund!" Peering around the corner she spotted Eugene, "Hey, Domino, where's Edmund?"
"Right here, sonny boy!" she ducked back into her hiding spot, "You want him? Come and get him." Her blood started to boil again, and she knew she could use the black rocks to at least separate him from the Brothers, but she couldn't risk it, not with where they stood, the platform looked less than sturdy,
Looking up she spotted the second brother; he had dislodged a rather large boulder from its perch "Eugene!" She watched in horror as her brother shove Max out of the way,
The other brother hopped down from his post,
"Flynn Ryder is gone."
"No!" something had snapped in the teen and she charged out of her hiding spot
"What do we have here?" Artemis drew her dagger, "Take another step and you'll regret it." The ginger stood at least 2 feet taller than her, "What do we have here?" The other brother turned, "Looks like a little mouse who lost her way." She felt her feet leave the ground and zeroed in on whichever one was picking her up, narrowing her eyes she brought her hand up and sliced the blade of her dagger across the guys face.
"I said you'd regret it!" The brother that had hold of her slapped the dagger out of her hand, "You little—"
" We got the sash, let's just take her and the king and go."
"Things are looking up." Artemis struggled in the Brothers grip, her eyes trained on her father who just laid still, defeated, "Looks like the mouse has some fight." Artemis managed to gain some leverage by wrapping her legs around her captors arm and swinging upwards, causing him to punch himself in the face, effectively dropping her,
"Don't mess with this princess!" She snatched her hidden dagger from her boot and got into a defensive position as the other brother dove for her,
"Wow, I guess what they say is true," The brothers shared a look, "The bigger they are the stupider they look when they get their butt's kicked by a 14 year old."
"Why you little…" Artemis jumped onto one of the brothers' shoulders and down onto the log behind him, tripping him up by kicking the back of his knees and topping him over again, a familiar head of blonde hair caught her attention.
"Rapunzel!" she spotted her brother too, "Eugene, You're okay!"
"Ryder?!"
"Yup, still alive." He sent a proud smile in his sisters direction before assuming his own fighting position, "You dropped a boulder on me, and you missed. I mean, who misses with a boulder, really?"
"Horace, you're alive." Artemis had pulled the gag off their father's face, tossing it over the side of the run-away log, "You two came to rescue me." Eugene undid the ropes after temporarily discombobulating the Stabbington's.
As they went around a corner everyone lost their footing and Edmund almost went overboard, "Well, what did you expect?" Rapunzel stopped one of the Stabbington's from knifing Eugene, knocking his dagger away.
"Nice try."
"I've never been so happy to see you." The other brother made another grab for the scrappy teen but she hopped over him again,
"Guys…Log Jam, Log Jam, Log jam!" All eye looked forward, "Everybody, my log, now" Eugene helped Edmund to the other log, but last minute he was unwilling to leave the brother's behind, "Oh, who am I kidding, they're like family. Right?"
"Eugene!"
"Son, we cannot save these cretin's on time, it's impossible."
"Dad's right, Eugene, we have to go!" Artemis looked at her brother with hopeful eyes, but she could see he wasn't going to let up,
"If something's not impossible—" Edmund looked between his two children, Artemis sighed, tucking her dagger away and going to help the other brother up, "If it's not impossible, it's not worth doing. You know, your big heart is gonna get us killed one day." He merely shrugged as they carried the brothers onto Rapunzel's log.
Artemis turned her head as something fell onto the wood,
"The sash!"
"Leave it, Eugene." Eugene smiled, "Dad, you called me Eugene."
"You called me dad!"
"Guys, seriously?" Artemis passed the other Stabbington to Edmund, "Go! I'll get the sash."
"It's too risky, Artemis."
"GO!" The former thief and king looked at the teen without asking further questions, she gave a look to Rapunzel before signaling to her head and diving for the sash, Rapunzel got the hint and as soon as Artemis had hold of it she quickly grabbed hold of the teen, pulling her to safety.
"Ha ha ha, this woman is amazing."
"I know! And she's getting so much better at her landings," Rapunzel untied Artemis from her hair, "That was a stupid, and risky move. You could have been killed." Eugene checked her over for injuries,
"But I wasn't…and this meant so much to him." She fished the sash out of her satchel, "You got back?"
"Of course I did. I picked up a few tricks when we were outside of Corona." Eugene took the sash, pulling the teen in for a hug.
"I'm proud of you kid, that took gut's, especially trying to take on the Stabbington's to save his life." Eugene motioned to Edmund,
"It's what families do." One of the brothers stood,
"You went out of your way to rescue us…Again?" Max neighed and the Stabbington brother took his seat again,
"I guess my son believes in second chances." Eugene smiled, "I learned that from the best." He stood next to Rapunzel, Edmund turned to Artemis,
"I see so much of your mother in you, Artemis. Freya was just as clever and strong willed, I'm proud to see what a wonderful young woman you've turned into."
"Thanks…Dad."
"Guy's check this out. Isn't he great?"
"Hey, hey, hey, guys. I invented a move. I call this one stroll with the blood hound."
"Uh, blondie, they already invented that move. It's called—you know what, never mind." Artemis looked up as Edmund entered the room, "Edmund, oh, uh, we were, uh, reminiscing, ha ha ha, not playing. Reminiscing, like adults do…with my old toys." Artemis leaned back against the wall of Eugene's room,
"Speak for yourself, bro." Rapunzel left the three alone, "it was nice that you saved it Artemis…but, I decided we didn't need that old sash. Xavier and I made you a new one." H e handed over the newly made sash to Eugene, and from where she was sitting she could see the insignia of Corona,
"White and gold…just like the Flynn Ryder book."
"It's one of my favorites, you know." She smiled as the two grown men shared a hug, "Artemis…I know you said you didn't want it but…" he fished the gold box out of his cloak again, "It was your mothers." The blonde looked down at the box as Edmund set it in her lap,
"Well, Kiddo, you gonna open it?" She looked between her father and brother, both giving her an encouraging look. Giving in, she lifted the lid to reveal two ornately designed rings.
"That was our wedding set, It was meant for your 18th birthday, but now that we've been reunited…"
"Thanks dad."
"Besides, Eugene tells me there's a special young man in your life." The teen turned bright red, "Eugene!"
"If it's not too much trouble, maybe I can meet this boy?" Artemis mulled it over for a second, looking back at the man with a soft smile, "there's still time."
Edmund looked out the window, "It's night fall, Artemis."
The horses came to a stop just outside the old dilapidated castle of Old corona, "Your friend lives here?"
"Oh, I think you'll be in for a surprise, I'm not the only one with a friend who lives in Old Corona." Edmund looked to his daughter, but shrugged as she tugged him along, pulling him up the stairs and knocking on the door before stepping back.
"Who's there?"
"Guess who!" the door flew open, "Artemi—whoa! Who's the big, scary looking guy behind you?"
"Varian, meet King Edmund. My father." Varian looked at a loss for words, "Y-Yo-You mean…And you brought him here?!"
"Hello, Young man." Varian looked absolutely terrified, like he was about to faint, "Varian, who was at the door?" Artemis waved as Quirin stepped into view, his eyes widening,
"Your majesty!"
"Quirin?" Artemis looked between Edmund and Quirin then to Varian who just looked overwhelmed, "It's good to see you, old friend." The two teens stepped aside as Edmund stepped into the house,
"You know, it's quite surprising to know our children became friends, even though Artemis knew nothing of her lineage."
"She and Varian were inseparable as children, they were always getting into trouble together." The teens shared an unamused look,
"And now they're dating." Now both turned red, "Dating?!"
"N-No, s-sir…Y-you have it wrong! I'm not d-doing anything ill m-mannered wi-with—with-with your daughter…although there was the Day of hearts celebration where we kissed but that whole day was crazy, what with the hot air balloon fight and…and that guy stealing Herz de Sonne's book and…" Artemis couldn't bear the embarrassment anymore, she was going to die.
"I should hope not, son. But I've learned today that my daughter is fully capable of taking care of herself, and I see no reason why there should be concern with the two of you dating."
"d-do we have to put a label on it?" Artemis couldn't bring her eyes away from the wood floor, "I'm just glad to see she was in good hands here, in Corona."
"Well, things haven't always been the greatest in Old Corona, but we're working to make it habitable, despite the current conditions." As the two friends carried on their conversation, Quirin and Edmund looked over at the two teens, they had been silent for a while,
Artemis and Varian had fallen asleep, the young Alchemists head resting on top of hers, almost protectively,
"They've really been good for each other, Edmund. She keeps him out of trouble…for the most part." Quirin stood, grabbing a blanket and draping it over the two.
"I'm glad they found each other."
