Roadtrip (part 1)

Sometimes you just need to get away.

It had been almost a year since Rapunzel and Eugene's wedding, and two years since they discovered Varian's moonstone powers.

During the final fight with Cassandra, Rapunzel shattered the Moonstone entirely. That's when the powers of the moon transferred to Varian.


Rapunzel had beaten down on Cassandra with her gale force winds of solar radiation. The Moonstone completely shattered and slowly began to dim.

"No!" Cassandra wailed, clutching the broken pieces to her chest in a vain attempt to rescue her power.

Small wisps of light shot up from the shards, wisping around the battlefield as if they were looking for someone. That someone happened to be Varian.

The light slammed into his chest, knocking him down as the power of the moon fully integrated with it's rightful host.

He'd taken a few minutes to get up but as he layed there his hair turned white and the blue streak became more saturated and started glowing.

Zhan Tiri had called out for Cassandra to take him out before he could fully grip his powers.

"He will destroy you!" She screamed, fixating her gaze on him as he slowly began to move. "Hurry Casandra! You must-"

Her words were cut off when one of the black rocks punted her across the field.

Varian stood, his hair floating listlessly around his face and his eyes glowing.

His hand was outstretched and he brought down the wall of rocks that Cassandra had made only hours earlier.

He turned his gaze on Cassandra. She was completely helpless, sitting there with no weapon and no powers.

"Just get it over with." She said, glaring at him. "Kill me."

Varian had simply stared at her as if her words hadn't even reached his ears.

"Kill me!" She started to get up. "Do it! I know you want to-"

A black rock shot up from the ground, stopping inches away from her throat.

She stared at him, frozen. Watching to see what he'd do.

Lance and Eugene were to terrified to move near Varian. He hadn't said a word and wasn't acting very much like himself.

"Do it." She whispered.

The spike receded but two more rocks took its place by trapping her hands, forcing her on her knees.

"I'm not going to kill you." He said. The glow faded and his hair returned to it's normal black color. His bangs dropped down onto his forehead and he looked at her with saddened eyes. "I can't kill you, Cassandra."

She was taken away, to prison. Zhan Tiri was nowhere to be found and that leads us to the present day.


As previously said, it had been two years since then. Lance and Eugene decided to take Varian on a roadtrip, just the three of them, for his eighteenth birthday.

Said day was just one week away and Rapunzel was running around, trying to get everything ready.

"Is this really necessary?" Varian asked, walking up to her. "Rapunzel, I really don't need a big party."

Rapunzel smiled. "Eighteen is a very big birthday, Varian. Exciting things tend to happen on eighteenth birthdays."

Varian rolled his eyes. "Exciting things always happen on birthdays. Eugene's twenty-sixth birthday was exciting. And your twenty-fourth birthday was exciting."

Rapunzel smiled at the memory. That day they'd gone out to the lake and discovered a giant fish monster living in the middle of it.

"Don't forget your seventeenth birthday with the-"

"The badgers. Yes, how could I forget."

Calliope had sent them the badger talisman for some reason on that day. She definitely didn't know that it was a birthday, she'd just sent it. They had alot of fun wrangling the badgers together. (fun read sarcastically)

"Birthdays are fun." She grinned and handed him a letter. "Oh, this is from Hector and Adira."

He opened it and smiled at his aunt and uncle's words.

Varian,

Sorry we couldn't be there for this exciting day but we wish you the best. -Aunt Adira

Miss ya, Squirt. Hoping to see you soon. Happy Birthday. -Uncle Hector

Rapunzel leaned over to read the letter and smiled too. Despite her distrust of Hector, he truly cared for his nephew and Adira had always show affection for Varian.

"Hector does know you're taller than him, right?" Eugene asked, walking up to them.

Varian smiled fondly at the letter. "Yes. He's just salty about it and in denial."

Eugene put a hand on his shoulder. Varian had indeed gotten alot taller in the past two years. He was already several inches taller than Rapunzel and was quickly catching up to him, and Lance.

"You ready for the roadtrip, kiddo?"

Varian rolled his eyes at the nickname. "First of all, I'm not a kid. Secondly, of course I am. Not to be rude to Raps, but her enthusiasm about this can be a little suffocating."

The princess had walked away at this point.

Eugene nodded in agreement. "Don't tell her you said that."

"I won't." He looked down the hall. "Eugene, I'm gonna go do something. I'll be right back."

Eugene didn't even get a word in to ask what he was doing before Varian dissapeared down the hallway.

He ventured deeper into the castle until eventually, he found himself at the prison gates. The guards let him in with no question. This was a recurring visit.

He walked down the familiar halls of stone and iron before coming to a stop in front of her cell. He sat down on the ground while he waited for her to speak first.

"Hi." She offered softly.

Varian smiled. "Hi, Cass."

She looked at him for a long time before continuing. "Have you found her yet?"

He shook his head. "Not yet but we are still looking."

She nodded and looked out the barred window for a split second and then back at Varian. "And she hasn't tried to attack you or Rapunzel, right?"

"No, Cass. We're fine."

"Just... be careful on your trip. She's out there, looking for a way to steal your powers."

"I will, thank you." He started to get up and leave when she called through the bars.

"Hey Varian!" She gave him a smile. "Happy birthday."


"Got everything?" Eugene asked, tightening the harness around Max and Fidella.

Varian nodded, tossing his bag into the cart. "Yep. Now we're just waiting for La-"

Lance suddenly hugged Varian from behind, squeezing him tightly with alot of enthusiasm.

"Roadtrip!" He exclaimed. "This is gonna be fun!"

"Lance- can't- breathe-" Varian choked out, squirming in his grip.

Lance released him and ruffled his hair. His way of apologizing.

"Sorry, I'm just excited!"

They climbed onto the wagon and set off.

Rapunzel watched them leave with a smile. They would be back in three days and that gave Rapunzel enough time to get the big surprise ready.

She rushed off to get the note from her room and attached it to Owl's foot. She sent the bird off and grinned. This was going to be great.