Two custom chapters in one day! Whoo! This one is here to take the place of 'Beginning's' in the show, and I really love how cute it turned out, I felt really fuzzy and fluffy while writing it, so we get some real relationship development between our lovable little nerds Varian and Artemis.
Enjoy!
"Sweetheart, Varian's come to visit you." A messy head of blonde hair poked around the corner of the living room, " 'lo, Varian." She bounced over, pressing something into her moms hand, the brunette looked down at the stick of charcoal, "I'm not a'sposed to take it outside, I lost the last one she gave me." She grinned, "did you want something?"
"Oh, Um…My dad's busy so I-I was thinking maybe we could go play in the forest."
"The forest? But aren't there—" Artemis leaned closer to her friend, "—Monsters in there?" Varian puffed out his chest in an attempt to look brave, "You don't have to be scared, I'll be there to protect you M'lady!" Delilah chuckled at his act of heroism,
"My, Artemis, you've found a wonderful knight, haven't you?" the little girl beamed and hugged Varian around the waist, "Yup, he's the bestest knight in all of Corona!"
"You tow have fun, but stay near the tree line!" she called as the two ran off.
"What are you thinking about?" it was an odd day where, for the first time in almost a week since the Asmender tea incident, she finally had some free time and she was spending it in Varian's lab,
"When we were little." Varian slid the goggles up onto the top of his head, "Why?"
"I don't know, I just can't help but smile when I think about how silly we used to be. Do you remember the Howler Incudora?" Varian laughed as the name brought back one of their many adventures into the forests of Old Corona,
"How could I forget; he was 20 feet tall with a fang on the top and bottom of his mouth and I used to pretend to fight him off with my old toy sword. After all M'lady, it's a knights humble duty to save his princess."
"He's gonna eat me. Help me, Sir Varian!"
"Fear not m'lady, I'll save you!" He jabbed at the imaginary monster, "He's as formidable as he is vile, yet he is no match for the great knight!" Varian was merely repeating some of the big words he had heard in conversations during his and his father's visits to Corona.
"Be gone you foul beast!" Artemis felt panic when her feet actually left the ground, "Ah! It's got me, Varian, run, save yourself, it's too late for me!" She heard a deep chuckle from behind her,
"What are you two up to?"
"Dad!"
"Varian was saving me from the Howler Incudora." Quirin smiled, "You two have such vivid imaginations, what pray tell is a Howler Incudora?"
"It's 20 feet tall, with two razor sharp fangs that can rip you apart!"
"And he's got ugly brown, matted fur that grows all over his body except his legs which are grey and scaly!"
"And when it catches you it spins you into this webby stuff so he can eat you later!" Quirin looked down at his son as he set Artemis back on the ground, "And Varian's the brave knight who saves the princess from her doom!"
"So you're a knight, then?"
"Uh huh, I'm gonna save the princess! Then we can ride out into the sunset, just like in the story books!" Quirin chuckled as Delilah walked up,
"My, my, what's going on?"
"My son, the Knight, is saving your daughter, The Princess, from a rabid Howler Incudora." Delilah looked surprised, "That's a pretty big feat for such a small Knight, tell me, did you succeed in felling the foul beast, Sir Varian?"
"He was just about to when papa Quirin showed up." Artemis beamed,
"Well, I bet all that rescuing earned our Brave knight and princess a hearty lunch."
"Lunch time!" the two children cheered as they ran off.
"You know, It's funny, we can remember all the days we had these silly adventures, but I bet neither of us can pinpoint the exact day they stopped."
"You know, our days of fighting off Howler Incudora's may be in the past, but our adventure's aren't. Let's not forget the birthday Ball for your lucky 13."
"Oh god…I remember that day. You and Rapunzel wouldn't tell me what was going on and I spent the whole day getting cleaned up, the poor barber when he tries to get a brush through my hair before washing it."
"You looked beautiful regardless."
"How is it possible for your hair to be this snarly?" The poor barber had broken 2 of his combs in his attempt to tame her curly hair,
"I don't have time to brush my hair every day so it just…ends up like this." The barber groaned as he yanked the final knot from her hair,
"Magnifique! Now onto the wash." She remembered him leading her to a make shift sink and once they had finished the wash and inevitable restyle, Rapunzel had quickly drug her out of the small shop and down to the seamstress who had a field day.
"Such a thin waist, you'll attract a fine husband." The young girl turned a deep shade of red at the comment, "Especially with such a pretty face." She then turned and walked into the backroom, Artemis heard shuffling and the rustling of fabric and felt her anxiety rise.
"That woman terrifies me." The blonde shuddered, "She spun me every way possible before she finally settled on a single design…and she kept commenting that I'd make a beautiful bride someday. I still haven't forgiven you for leaving me alone with Rapunzel and that crazy seamstress."
"You're telling me." He shuddered, remembering his own fitting for what he'd worn that night, "But hey, it paid off in the end, your birthday that year was one to remember, right?"
"It was certainly something, You guys really went all out, and I remember this really handsome boy asking me to dance, he wore this ridiculous mask."
"Eugene told me it looked good."
"It did…but that mask did not do your real nose justice." Varian blushed, as she tapped the end of his nose.
"There was that day when you entered the challenge of the Brave too, I didn't think I'd ever see the day you took down someone like Wreck Marauder."
"Well, the bigger they are the harder they fall." Artemis laughed, "Yeah, but you used your brains to figure out a way to take him out while causing the least amount of damage possible."
"I just remember wanting to prove to you that I was more than just your artsy side-kick who always needed saving." She laughed,
"Well, you certainly made a statement, and not just to me. I believe your exact words to Wreck were 'It got ugly in here the second your mother birthed you, now would you shut up?' "
"He was so mad!" Artemis laughed,
"Are you girlies ready for this? Cause it's gonna get ugly in here." Artemis rolled her eyes at Wrecks intimidation technique,
"It got ugly in here the second your mother birthed you, now would you shut up?" she was already annoyed, and this syphilitic waste of air was only making her mood worse with his antics. Both Cassandra and Rapunzel looked at the teen with shock.
"Artemis!"
"That was cold…and that's coming from me." The Hulking man just cracked his knuckles in response to her statement, indicating he was going for her first.
"Ready, set, BATTLE!" the challengers sprinted into the circle, Varian covered his eyes, he couldn't watch this, the guilt would kill him if she actually got hurt in this challenge, because it would all be his fault. Artemis grabbed the first weapon available to her, A sword. Hearing gargantuan footfall behind her she whipped around and dodged out of the way of Wreck who was charging to headbutt her out of the ring as he'd done with Skull Kickr, there were 4 of the 12 original competitors left at this point.
"Hey ugly!" Artemis had an idea, if she could use his own force against him she could force him out of the ring. He turned around at the insult to see her climbing the pole in the center. "Ape man want banana?" she taunted climbing the pole as quick as she was able, she climbed into the crows nest and watched his frustration grow, "Aww, big ape man no climb trees?" Cassandra and Rapunzel watched in anticipation.
"I'm gonna wreck you, little girl!"
"Sorry, me no speak monkey!" she fired back as she untied of the ropes at the top of the mast. Cassandra got what the teen was trying to do and used it to her advantage, distracting him so they could finally dispose of the worst of the competition.
Having uncovered his eyes once she had tumbled into the Crow's nest Varian watched with anticipation now, could she actually pull off a win?
"Come on, Artemis!" she could hear him shouting from across the Arena as she finished untying the last of the knots, giving a signal to Cass. The woman got the hint.
"Just have to get enough speed and force to knock him out of the ring. Cass took off, leading Wreck on a goose chase, distracting him as Artemis launched herself out of the crows nest and right at Wreck marauders head, keeping her feet out but her knees bent she hit him full force and Cassandra gave a final shove, pushing him out of the ring entirely.
"Wreck Marauder is out!" Cass motioned to Rapunzel and Artemis nodded, staying out of the woman's way, Cass had been growing increasingly frustrated with her charge all day and was aiming to take her out now that the worst of the competition was out of her way.
"Oh yeah! wow…Cass was right, that was pretty harsh, wasn't it?" Varian shrugged, "I think it was just you in the moment."
"And then there was the Day of Hearts."
"Even when I had a crush on Cassandra, you were still there to support me. Who knew that would be the day we finally stopped seeing each other as just friends?"
"I think Rapunzel and my brother knew the entire time, The Queen gave me sound advice that morning, you know what she told me?" He shook his head as Artemis carried on, "She told me that love wasn't blind and that I just had to give you some space, that things would work out in the end.
"You look amazing! He's going to be so impressed…I mean…" she'd let her plan slip, "Rapunzel! You did all of this to try and get Varian and I together, didn't you?"
"Eh heh heh…guilty?" she flashed a nervous smile, "I can't believe this!" the girl kicked her shoes off and stormed for the door,
"You just can't leave well enough alone!"
"Artemis, wait!" there was a broken tone as Artemis spoke again, "He has feelings for Cass, and I've accepted that, but you just couldn't leave it alone, you had to push, just like you always do."
"I just want you to be happy."
"You want me to be happy? Then butt out!" she slammed the door behind her.
"And clearly, she was right. That was also the night we wound up fighting your buddy Andrew." Varian shuddered at the mention of the Sapporian radical.
"I am not getting in that thing." Rapunzel was making a serious effort to pry the blonde girl off the palace gates.
"Yes…you…are" she gave it a break for a minute, "You have a really strong grip." Artemis held her ground, clinging to the gate. Varian watched from the sidelines at his friends' antics, he wondered why all of this was suddenly so important to the Princess.
"With all due respect, Rapunzel, what are you trying to do?"
"I'll tell you what she is trying to do, she's so adamant that you and I get together that she doesn't care that you have feelings For Cass. She thinks that by forcing us together you'll forget about your feelings." Blue eyes fell to the blonde Princess,
"Is that true? You're trying to set us up, so I forget about Cass?" he wouldn't tell the princess that he had already given up on Cass and moved on, and now, he certainly wasn't going to tell her he had.
"Rapunzel. You can't force people together, love…it doesn't work like that."
"But Artemis really likes you, Varian" A hand slapped over the Princesses mouth, but it was too late. His eyes landed on the blonde's face in surprise. Stunned, the teen quickly removed her hand from her friends mouth and darted off.
"Artemis, wait!" Varian narrowed his eyes at Rapunzel before chasing after his friend.
"I was just so mad she had tried to set us up, despite me telling her to leave it alone."
"Hey, it all worked out in the end, and, I developed a healthy fear of death after that fight with Andrew."
"And we shared our first kiss that night. I just wished I had realized how amazing you are before we got to that point."
"Let it be known….I hate hot air balloons…" Artemis said as she collapsed onto the ground, the Guard had been notified and arrived at the scene not long after the arrest with Varian in tow. She walked over to him sheepishly after handing the book to Cass.
"Look…I know what you're going to say, it was reckless, and stupid and I need to think before I do things, but in my defen—mmph!" Her eyes shot open and she could hear Rapunzel squeal in delight, He had kissed her.
"Varian…what in the—"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you all night. I'm just sorry it took me so long."
"Whoo, way to go kid!" The teens blushed at Eugene's cheering, "and I was thinking...i-if you wanted to, that is…Maybe we could…"
"Sign the book?" he nodded, avoiding looking at her eyes,
"I'd love to."
"We'll…see you three tomorrow?" Artemis asked, turning towards their friends, Cass smirked as she saw the teens holding hands.
"I miss when things were that easy, Varian." He draped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her into a half hug,
"I know, even with all of our adventures, there were some bumps in the road to get where we are now. I mean, we committed treason, and even in the darkest of times you were my guiding light in the darkness." Artemis cracked a half smile, "That was corny, even for you."
"Hey, I thought that was charming."
"Pft, you would." Artemis tilted her head upwards, "It just feels like it's been a lot longer than 2 years, even if one of those was spent apart," Varian suddenly yanked her up so they were both on their feet
"Speaking of time apart. I have another surprise for you."
"Varian?" He pulled her along, leading her down the stairs of his lab and back into the kitchen of his home,
"I know it's not as special as the last birthday we spent together, but…"
"Well, in all fairness, my last birthday I was on the road, with a princess, the brother I didn't know I had, A man with a hook for a foot, Lance, and Cassandra heading for a kingdom that might not even still be in tact."
"Okay, touché, but I thought maybe this year we could just spend the day together, alone, and maybe share—" he lifted a the cover off the table revealing a large pastry, " A cupcake, like old times?" She gave him a fond smile, stepping forward and scooping some of the pink frosting off the top and putting it on his nose. Varian gave her a dopey smile,
"Happy 15th birthday, Artemis."
