This place seemed to honestly hate them. It was on its own a pretty bad place to be stuck at, but every step forward they were taking in it, was actually just to send them two steps backwards. With the last example of that, being the discovery of a way out, which they didn't even know how to use, as the weak light of the vial kept flickering, losing more of its glow every time. While Varian was desperately looking between the scrolls, trying to figure out something and the princess-

"That's it! I'm done with this place! We're done! We're doomed! That's it!" Was not really helping the situation.

"No, no, no! Stop!" He called at her, clearly on the edge of his own breakdown.

"Why?! You really think we can do something in less than a minute?!" She called back, as she turned to the scrolls he had dropped. "Look at this! And this! And this! They're all usele-! Huh?" She suddenly stopped, upon finding a single different scroll.

"What? What is it?" Varian asked, trying to make his way towards her... and almost tripping in some scrolls in the process. Just as the vial gave its final glow.

And everything surrendered into darkness. The silence with which the princess answered him, only making it feel worse. Varian felt his chest and throat burning, as a scream trapped inside them was making its way out, but merely in the form of slow, almost painful breaths. Unable to utter a word, he could only hold Rudiger tighter, while his legs little by little were giving away above the scrolls. He tried to keep it together, he tried to stay up, to say something, to even breath normally...!

But suddenly it seemed too much. And that was probably the worst thing about this. It shouldn't feel like that, he shouldn't feel like that. He had taken a few moments to calm down, they found Sugarby's diary, they discovered a clue to a way out-...

Only to return to darkness... This time probably for go-

"-ey. HEY! Can you hear me or are you dead?" Regina's voice was heard, effectively silencing his thoughts.

Upon hearing her, he gasped. "Huh? Y-yeah... I'm okay." There was silence for a moment. A silence he found unbearable. "What happened before? Did you find something?"

"...I think I did. But I need to concentrate. So, if you please... be quiet for a moment." An edge was in her voice, but compared to the other times it was different.

It wasn't angry, or bitter, but low and concentrated and careful. It somehow reminded him of himself a little, when he was talking while doing his alchemy. This thought felt a little out of place, pointless even, but at least it kept his mind busy for a while.

Until-

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

A light?

Before either of the two could actually process what just happened, the... light suddenly flew right to the main room and stopped right above the tree that stood in the center.

With matching perplexed expressions, Varian and the princess followed it, watching as it momentarily vanished inside the tree. And when it reappeared, it revealed a piece of parchment paper folded in the form of a hand mirror as its source. While at the same time the ground slightly shook and a familiar thunder-like sound echoed, after which a spiral, downward staircase appeared around the tree.

Without even a chance to question what was happening, the paper mirror started slowly flying down the staircase and they immediately went after it, soon reaching the chamber from before, coming out of the back of the pillar.

As they kept following it towards the exit, Varian stopped for a moment and turned back to face the image of that creature again.

Zhan Tiri...

The name echoed in his mind in such a way that made him shudder, as that uneasiness from before returned strong as ever, laced with a new, but familiar bitterness.

A feeling of looking up at an image of someone that he was supposed to recognize, but didn't. Someone he was certain he knew, but when it came down to it, his memory had nothing of them to show him, but a (usually) bitter emotion.

As he stared at that image, with his lost, despondent eyes locking to Zhan Tiri's, his hand moved to touch the sword yet again. And when it did, just as soon as the blade started coming out-

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The princess yelled at Varian, yet again snapping him out of his trance "That thing isn't waiting for us! Get going before we lose it!" As she was speaking she grabbed his upper arm and the two continued running after the light.

But at first, Varian was barely able to keep up. If the princess wasn't dragging him, he would have lost both her and the light. But even so, he was somehow... annoyed? Probably?

He himself didn't know how to describe that feeling, but he didn't want to leave that chamber. At least not yet. Not before he could understand, before he could remember...

He had almost half a mind to break out of her grip and turn back, but then-

"Hey! Watch it." Regina called out, as he bumped into her and the two almost hit the wall before them.

And only then did he actually notice that they had stopped and the light had disappeared again. Only to re-appear a few seconds later, accompanied by another slight quake and thunder-like sound, which were followed by the welcome sight of an ascending staircase.

The princess let out a relieved breath and immediately darted up the stairs so fast that Varian almost didn't see her. And soon, but with a sense of hesitation, he followed.

When the young alchemist finally made it up, everything was just like it was before that staircase appeared. The rain continued to fall, the princess was sitting in a corner next to her dress, trembling a little and the light that guided them had disappeared. The only difference seemed to be a crumpled-looking scroll in her hand.

"Hey... Are... are you okay?" He asked sitting next to her.

She was late to reply and her voice came as a whisper."...Yeah... Just tired. It's not like we went through a little, down there..."

"You could say that again..." He commented, and she giggled a little. "But, what did you do back there? And what is that scroll you got?"

"Look." She said and let him fully see it. "It might look like the others at first, but it was the only one that had an actual image under that symbol. And notice the dents it has, and how they fold?" She demonstrated a little as she spoke. "It's not just a scroll. It's an origami paper. I just folded it at the right spots and then... well, you were there. You saw what happened."

Varian was left looking at her dumbfunded.

"What?" She asked.

"You mean to tell me, that you were able to make an origami. Inside pitch black darkness?"

For a moment he could have sworn she blushed. But she quickly gave a prideful smile."Well... Of course! Not to brag or anything, but I'm amazing at it. I've been practising this ancient art for years, after reading an old legend from a faraway land. You see it was about this one-eyed boy who could create magic origamis by playing an instrument, and it was so good! I remember making them a lot back home... And pretending I could control them. And bring them to life like that boy did..." Slowly her pride was fading, and fondness replaced it.

Varian was smiling a little too, unsure of where it came from. Just moments ago he was frustrated for being unable to figure... anything out, and now he was at the front steps of a small talk. With a girl he could snap at and who could snap at him too, at probably any given time...

And the uncertainty was mutual. Regina didn't say a word beyond, not knowing why she was telling all that in the first place. What started out as a very rightful self-praise, was now turning into... into talking. Just simple talking about herself and something she liked. To a boy she knew was nothing but a lowlife, that fate forced her to work with...

Neither was looking at the other, both lost in their own thoughts, while the rain was falling still, but somehow a little softer than before.

After a few minutes, Varian was again the first to speak. "So... you like reading about legends?"

"...I guess. Mostly..." Regina's reply was low and hesitant. And it wasn't accompanied by a look his way.

"I prefer adventure stories personally. The tales of Flynn Rider is my favourite series. Ever heard of it?"

"Why are you telling me this?" Finally she looked at him.

He shrugged, petting Rudiger's fur. "I don't know. Why did you start... telling me all that stuff?"

"I'm not sure. It... I think it came on its own. I've never actually told anyone about this before." She answered, trembling again.

"Yeah, I don't usually do this much either. The only one I talk to like that is... Rudiger. And maybe sometimes my Dad."

For a moment surprise took hold of Regina. A question forming in her mind, but when she opened her mouth to speak it, she swallowed it. And it was stinging...

"Then I guess that makes you the expert among us." It was hard to tell if her tone was condescending or simply sarcastic.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused, but the only answer he got was an unreadable expression.

he princess then stood up and wore her dress again, after making sure it was dry.

Varian kept looking at her, still expecting an answer that he wasn't sure he'd get. And she was still looking back at him with that same look, but through the cracks of her eyes, something could still be faintly seen. Something that even after all this time could barely be supressed.

She turned away, her arms instinctively wrapping around her stomach, silently barating herself. When-

"Just so you know... I'm really no expert at this." If she was expecting anything, it would probably be yelling. But this... this sounded just sad. "...I'm actually not sure if I'm an expert at anything anymore."

"No!" The word came out entirely on its own, Regina immediately covering her mouth the moment it did. But luckily for her it was pretty quiet.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!" She blushed as she spoke, turning away to hide it.

The young alchemist leaned over, trying to see her face, when a thunder startled them both. And the princess clung to his arm with a yelp. But this time she pulled away before they could look at each other.

"I think... I think we should just sleep." She said and went to lie down at the other side of the tree, her face still being red.

As she walked away, Varian reached a hand out to stop her, but as soon as she had before, he retreated it. Looking first at her, and then at his sleeping raccoon, he laid down too, mumbling a familiar melody to help himself sleep and finally leave that never-ending day.

Noise... So. Much. Noise! Regina kept thinking as she was trying to sleep.

That stupid, annoying, forsaken rain! It wasn't enough that it was above their heads all day, couldn't it be more quiet?! She could have sworn that after she and the alchemist had stopped talking it had gotten louder.

Was it mocking her or something?

She sat up, looking outside...

Little droplets of silver falling all around, filling the air with a calming, clean coolness...

She stood and stared. Lost in that image, in that sound. And suddenly it stopped feeling grating. Instead it was...

Beautiful...

She looked at the young alchemist and his raccoon, who were thankfully asleep, and then went and sat right at the edge of the entrance, as close as possible. But still at a safe distance. There as she sat, she took a deep, deep breath, taking in all the coolness, all the... all the beauty.

It made her smile. And it made her wonder: How had she gone without this for so long?

Maybe...

She slightly lifted her hand, slowly reaching out to touch the rain. If only just a drop. It couldn't hurt-

Stop!

Just before she got it out, she withdrew it, as if she had been burned. And she felt it. She felt it burning, longing to feel the rain. But... But she couldn't do this... she knew that very well.

But it was still really painful. Craving for the very thing that could very easily destroy her...

She turned to look at the young alchemist for a moment, sleeping curled up with his raccoon in his arms. And she decided to try one more time.

Soon both of the two were asleep, each with their own special lullaby in their mind.

Halleluja! It's finally done! Take that writer's block! So, there you have it guys! That was chapter 36! I really really thank you for your patience and I swear, the next update is coming soon! For now, I hope you enjoyed this one here. Bye Bye and please stay safe everyone! (Also, please leave a review.) :)

(Bonus: I hid a reference to one of my favourite movies which is also a big inspiration source for me. Let's see if you can guess it ;) )