"Children! Children! One at a time, please!" Cedric cried. The young princes were all in his workshop asking about a mysterious herb they heard about. Apparently, it could give you the strength of ten men.
"Do you know how amazing and impressive that would make me!?" Hugo pointed out.
"C'mon, Cedric! Where can we find it!?" James demanded.
"What does it look like?" Zandar followed.
"Is it hidden or in plain sight?" Desmond added.
Cedric grew more and more frustrated, until he finally just handed the boys a book filled with information on magical herbs. "Brilliant!" James cried. He automatically started flipping through the pages going, "That's not it... No... Never heard of that... Hmmm, nope... Ooo! Wait, never mind... Uhhh...-"
"Let me see that," Hugo impatiently urged, taking the book from James' hands. He quickly zipped through the pages, until Desmond stopped him saying he saw it and pointed at the page. "'The Herb of Ten Men'! It IS it!" Hugo announced. Zandar questioned if it said where to find it. Hugo read through the page, then stopped and explained, "It's in the heart of the Enchancian Rain Forest, but it only shows up at midnight on the night of a full moon."
Zandar's face grew disgusted as he went, "A forest has a heart? Ewwww. I don't want to reach inside of a heart for a plant."
"The heart just means the center of the forest," Desmond clarified. "And tonight is a full moon!" he added.
"Sweet! Let's go!" James exclaimed as the boys rushed out of the workshop. "Thanks, Cedric! Mind if we borrow this book? Great! Thanks! Bye!" he cried as he slammed the door, making everything in the workshop shake, Cedric automatically grunting in response.
Rushing through the throne room, the boys passed by the princesses. "Where are you guys off to?" Sofia curiously giggled.
"To find this mysterious herb!" James answered as Hugo showed them the book.
"Hmmm... Why don't you guys take Varian with you?" Sofia offered. This was the perfect chance for the princes to bond and get along with Varian! However, the boys all seemed super hesitant. Sofia then pointed out, "He's super smart. He also has great survival skills."
"I do?" Varian questioned.
Sofia then questionably went, "Yeah. Didn't you tell me about several times you've survived being captured? And that you've defeated this threatening demon, San... Kiri?"
"Zhan Tiri," Varian corrected. He then nervously mumbled to himself, "I may have exaggerated those stories..."
"You defeated a demon!?" Hugo cried. "That's awesome! You should totally come along!"
"And you might have alchemy chemicals to help out with other stuff," Desmond added.
The princes all began to fill with enthusiasm and cheer for Varian to tag along, who nervously was scratching the back of his head. Well, all the princes except James. He immediately stopped the others, reminding them of previous things he's done that enraged the others. However, Hugo reminded him that none of that was on purpose. James let out a sigh; there was nothing he could do to change their minds. So, the princes and Varian all headed out of the castle and into the Enchancian Rain Forest.
"Woah... there are so many muddy puddles. It's, like, super wet!" James pointed out.
"Well, it is a rain forest," Desmond reminded him. Varian formed a smirk and stated how he could help with that. He reached inside his apron and pulled out a green orb. Still smirking, he rolled it across the ground. Soon, the orb exploded and unleashed green dust. Automatically, the mud and dirt began to transform into dry grass with not a puddle in sight. "Woah!" Desmond cried, being the most impressed. "You HAVE to teach me that spell," he begged Varian.
"Spell?" Varian chuckled. "That was no spell. That, my friends, had no magic involved. What you saw was all science. Specifically alchemy!" he told the others.
"Oh, yeah. Of course. I, uhhh, I knew that," Desmond replied, quite embarrassed. He then turned around and angrily whispered to himself, "How did I not know that!?"
Deeper into the forest, Varian turned looking at a tree and saw a small black creature with lots of legs. "SPIDER!" he blurted with fear, quickly tucking his head into his arms.
"SPIDER!?" Desmond exclaimed, jumping back. Hugo walked up to the tree and announced that it was just an ant. Varian gave a sigh of relief, but Desmond rushed and hid behind Varian going, "ANT!?"
The other princes gave an annoyed groan. Pointing at Varian and Desmond, Zandar sneered, "And this is why you don't bring geeks on a camping trip."
James rolled his eyes, then asked how much longer it will take until they get to the center of the forest. Hugo looked at the map and declared they were about three fifths of the way there. James stood and reminded him he doesn't understand 'math talk'. Desmond then chimed in going, "We're a little over half way there. We started at about five o'clock."
"It's now eight o'clock. Due to being three fifths of the way there, it shows that each fifth takes about an hour," Varian added.
Desmond and Varian together concluded, "Meaning we have about two hours left and should get there at ten o'clock!" The other princes simply stood with blank faces, not really knowing how to respond.
Eventually, the group of boys reached the center of the rain forest. "Well, this is the heart of the Enchancian Rain Forest!" Hugo confirmed as he closed the map.
"But... I don't see the herb," James said. Desmond then reminded him how it shows up at midnight. "Oh, right. What are we going to do until then? That's, like, two hours away!" Varian quickly stepped in, correcting him that it was actually one hour and fifty three minutes away.
"Let's set up our campsite!" Zandar suggested. Hugo paused, reminding him how muddy the rain forest was. Desmond's face lit up as he reminded everyone of Varian's alchemy set from earlier. "Yeah! He could make grass grow again!" Zandar added. Varian embarrassedly chuckled as he pulled out his chemical balls and once again tossed one on the ground.
Once again, grass began to grow as the mud dried up. So, one by one the boys set up their tents (some needing a bit extra help). Eventually they were all set up. They checked the time and realized that they still had about an hour and forty minutes left. Hugo let out a very annoyed sigh and complained how he didn't just want to sit around that long, then turned around heading into his tent and told everyone to wake him up when it's almost midnight. "I'm with you. I'm already bored," Zandar added, walking towards his own tent.
"No worries, my fellow princes!" James exclaimed, then awkwardly added, "And alchemist..." He once again grew confident concluding, "I will stay up and wait until midnight!"
Desmond replied with much doubt, "James... how do we know you won't end up getting distracted or falling asleep?" Varian questionably paused and wondered why everyone always doubts James. "If you knew James, you'd understand why," Desmond answered, assuring how James isn't the most reliable person for stuff like this. James grew slightly offended and asked why Desmond would say that. "Just a few weeks ago, you tried to make a plan against Hugo and me so we wouldn't spend time with your sisters. Remember...?" Desmond mentioned.
"Uhhh... Regardless! I'm pretty sure I can simply let you guys know when it's almost midnight," James promised. Desmond let out a sigh, then agreed. So he and Varian went into their tents for rest as James waited by the campfire.
Eventually, James started to doze off. He automatically shook it off and looked up in the sky noticing the moon's position. He gasped and cried, "Guys! Wake up! It's almost time!"
Zandar was first to exit his tent. He excitedly looked around until he paused stated how he didn't see it. Hugo walked out next and rubbed his eyes, reminding Zandar how it shows up at midnight. "Yeah, it's not midnight yet," Desmond added.
Suddenly, a pillar of light shined onto a spot in the grass. A small plant began to grow. The boys' faces all filled with excitement, until Desmond noticed there was only one herb but five of them. "Ooo! I know what to do!" Varian exclaimed as he pulled out another ball from his apron, this one being blue. "This can make two replicates of something! I can duplicate the herb into three and do it again, making five!"
"Varian is a lifesaver!" Zandar said as Varian began to duplicate the herb. Now, the boys each had an herb to bring home with them. They camped out the rest of the night then headed home.
To their surprise, two extra guests were there with the princesses. Rapunzel and Eugene were in the throne room. "Varian!" Rapunzel cried as she hugged and squeezed the life out of the young boy.
"They ended up appearing here the same way you did," Sofia explained. "They asked if we had seen you and where you were. I let them know how you were out camping."
"It had been days! We got worried that portal you made did something bad to you," Rapunzel recounted. Eugene added how they finally decided to enter the portal and find him themselves.
"Oh! I'm absolutely fine, guys. No worries," Varian assured. "I just... hadn't decided to come back yet cause I've been having so much fun," he clarified. The couple took a deep breath, then paused and asked how they were supposed to get back. "Like this!" Varian said, holding out a remote. "I can use it to make another portal."
"Let's go, then! This place is creeping me out," Eugene urged. He and Rapunzel then kinda paused and stated how Varian seemed slightly different.
"Let's just say I encountered a magical herb," he said with a smirk as he looked back at the princes. Varian then decided to push the button and a portal to Corona appeared. Hildegard automatically questioned if she could have a copy of that remote. "Ummm, why?"
"So I can still see my Vari-Berry," Hildegard dreamily answered.
"No thanks, I'm good!" Varian quickly responded. He turned around and Eugene was already gone while Rapunzel was thanking and hugging Sofia. Varian smiled and thanked everyone for such a great time. Hugo and Zandar told him he can still come by and visit. "Yeah, I definitely will! Thanks again," he said as he stepped into the portal.
"What a great guy," Sofia smiled.
"You mean... what a great alchemist!" Desmond responded as everyone else chuckled along.
The End!