Varian waited anxiously for his father to return. He tried to let himself be distracted by Eugene and the so-called games that were really just ways that he could take care of himself, but he couldn't calm his nerves. Varian wanted to have his dad back. He'd tried so hard to bring him back, and the very first thing that his dad did was leave. Varian understood why, really he did, his dad had to take care of their family, and now he knew that their family was bigger than just the two of them.
After having his dad be trapped in amber for so long Varian wouldn't be convinced that his dad was okay unless he was standing right in front of him. He couldn't relax. He got food, just like Eugene wanted, and he didn't use his powers, but he was far from calm. Eventually Varian found himself sitting in front of a window, his legs curled tightly to his chest as he stared at the hole in the wall, waiting to see his family.
Varian thought that Eugene would try to drag him away from the window and force him to sleep or play another game instead of just staring out the window for an hour. To Varian's surprise the man did nothing besides his initial distraction attempts. When it was clear that Varian's thoughts were with his dad Eugene left him alone.
"I've seen a lot of kids at the orphanage do this exact thing." Eugene said when Varian asked him why he had given up on trying to distract him. "Granted, your situation is different, considering your dad is actually going to come back, but I still know how it feels to want to do this kind of thing."
After a while Varian noticed that Eugene was looking out a window too, but he wasn't looking towards the wall. "What are you looking at?" Varian asked.
"Nothing." Eugene said. "And hopefully it stays that way." He turned to look at Varian. "I'm keeping an eye out for the guards."
Varian jolted, feeling a rush of terror. He tore his gaze away from the wall and looked in the direction of the capital so quickly and sharply that he almost fell out the window. Eugene caught him and pulled him back into the safety of the house.
"Whoa, whoa, kid, calm down." Eugene grabbed Varian by the back of his cloak and pulled him back into the house. Eugene held onto him. "There're no guards here, and they probably won't come all the way out here to a town that they think is abandoned. I'm just making sure."
Varian hadn't thought a lot about the guards since he had freed his dad from the amber. He'd been far too worried about his family. With Eugene's reminder Varian couldn't forget about the fact that he was a wanted man…boy…whatever he was. Were they still looking for him after all this time? What if they were watching Old Corona, just in case he returned? Varian didn't want to be dragged back to the dungeon.
Varian had known for a long time that he couldn't exactly stay in Corona. He hadn't had any issue with that. He didn't have any love for Corona as a kingdom. He wouldn't mind moving to the Dark Kingdom, or becoming wanderers whose entire world was their home, but just because he was okay with leaving didn't mean that his dad would be.
His dad loved Corona. He was loyal to the king, and protective of the people. And he was also a farmer. He couldn't cultivate the land if they moved from place to place, and he couldn't farm if they moved to a desolate and bare kingdom.
After being separated from his dad for so long Varian wanted to stay at his side, but what if he really needed to leave Corona but his dad really wanted to stay? Varian was terrified of him and his dad taking different paths, but what scared him even more was that he knew that his dad wouldn't leave him on his own again.
Wherever Varian went his dad would go with him. Varian appreciated his dad's support, but at the same time he didn't want to make his dad uproot his entire life and sacrifice everything that he wanted for his sake. He deserved better.
"Kid?" Eugene brushed some of Varian's hair out of his face. "You know I'm not going to let the guards take you, let alone hurt you. You're safe now."
Varian shook his head. "It's not that." Varian fiddled with the moonstone. "I have no idea how things are going to be with me and my dad now. We didn't have the best relationship before, because he was keeping secrets from me and I felt like I was entitled to be treated like an adult." Varian snorted. He may be older now than he was when this whole mess had started, but he somehow felt younger in the sense that he wanted people to take care of him.
"I know that things will be different, and I hope that it's for the better, but things are more complicated than just our relationship." Varian said. "I'm a criminal. How can I just drag my dad into that?"
"Take it from a former thief, just because you were a criminal doesn't mean you are now." Eugene said. " I'll talk to Rapunzel, and we'll see if we can get your record expunged. If me and Lance can be free men, so can you."
Eugene gave Varian a small smile. "As for dragging your dad into your problems, well, that just comes with caring about people. Their burdens become yours. Yeah, you have to find a balance, but I really don't think your dad would think that helping you with this mess you've found yourself in isn't worth it. You're his son. He loves you, even if you do have a knack for getting in trouble."
"At least I don't go looking for trouble the way that you and Rapunzel do." Varian muttered. Eugene just laughed.
Varian chuckled and looked out the window again. Dusk was falling, and it was starting to get too dark to see things clearly past the wall. He couldn't watch out very well for his dad and the others, but he felt better to watch anyway.
Shortly after night fell Varian could see several figures walk past the wall, approaching them. Varian could only see their silhouettes but Varian knew that it had to be the others. Most Coronans didn't have the body-build that his dad, Edmund, and even Lance all had. What was the likelihood that four strangers that shared the same body type as the people he was waiting for would be approaching the abandoned town after dark?
"It's them." Varian tugged on Eugene's sleeve, gesturing at the figures in the distance. "Eugene, look, they're back!"
"I see, I see." Eugene assured him with a chuckle. He let Varian pull him out of the house and out onto the roads. The boy ran towards the walls to meet up with the others. Eugene kept up with him, keeping in an arm's reach of Varian so he could pull him back and protect him if necessary.
As they got closer Varian saw that it really was his family. Varian grinned, laughing to himself. His dad was back. Hector was okay.
"Dad!" Varian shouted. His dad knelt on the ground and opened his arms so Varian could launch himself at him. His dad held him tight. "I was so worried."
"We're all fine." His dad said as he ran a hand through Varian's hair. They stayed like that for a long moment before Varian's dad pulled away and looked towards Hector, who looked exhausted, but surprisingly content.
"Alright, off to bed with you, and if that demon goes back on her word then I need you to tell me." Quirin said.
Hector smiled in a way that Varian didn't see often from him, especially not since he'd freed Zhan Tiri's power. "Hey, you don't gotta tell me twice." He ruffled Varian's hair and began to make his way towards the castle that was their home. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at Varian.
"There's something you should know before I completely forget to tell you." Hector said. "Zhan Tiri told me that even when her power was trapped she still had some influence over things like the weather. She said that she took the form of a blizzard."
"Oh, I remember that story." Eugene said. "Xavier told us that story when…" He trailed off and gave Varian a concerned look. "Well, I've heard the ancient legend."
"I'm not talking about an ancient legend." Hector scowled. He looked to the side, probably looking at Zhan Tiri's ghostly form. "I'm talking about the blizzard Corona was hit with a year and a half ago." His gaze shifted to Varian, a concerned look in his eyes. "Your blizzard. The one that made the princess break her promise to you. That was Zhan Tiri."
Varian was quiet for a long minute as he understood just what he'd heard. It couldn't be possible. The blizzard, the reason why Rapunzel had been too busy to help him, and at least part of the reason why he started to get sick and spiral out of control, was because of Zhan Tiri?
It made sense, if Varian thought about it. The blizzard had shown up so suddenly, and he'd heard that Rapunzel was able to send it on its way by using something called the Demanitus divide, which shouldn't have been possible if it was just a normal storm.
Varian hadn't thought that there was more to know about the storm, but now the knowledge was being handed right to him and he didn't know what he was supposed to do with it. Why was Zhan Tiri so obsessed with their family. What did she want from them? Because to Varian it just felt like she wanted to torture them for no reason but because she thought it was fun.
Varian's dad looked furious. The boy was worried for a moment that he was the one his dad was mad at. He was used to being the only person that his dad truly got mad at. It took him a minute to realize that the firm grip that his dad had on his shoulder wasn't a warning grip to keep him from trying to run away. It was his dad's way of reassuring him, and of reminding himself that Varian was right there and he was safe.
"Exactly what promise is that?" Varian's dad asked. Varian supposed it was time that he tell his dad everything that had happened. He was worried, but at the same time he thought that it would also be a relief to get all of this off his chest.
"It's a long story." Varian rubbed the back of his neck. "But, uh, you know how you told me to stay away from the black rocks and not investigate them? Well, when we went to the capital and after you…after you lied to the king I was so confused, and upset, and frustrated, and Rapunzel was feeling the same way. She promised me that we would work together to figure out what was happening with the black rocks. S-she said she would help me."
Varian took a step back from his dad and gripped his arm, clinging tightly to his elbow. "I-I know you told me to leave the black rocks alone, but I couldn't do that. I had to do something. T-that's why I experimented on the black rocks, to try to understand them, and then you…you were..." Varian's chest felt like it was squeezing him from the inside out.
Varian squeezed his arm and folded in on himself. "It's my fault. I-it was all my fault." Varian closed his eyes as tight as they would go, trying to keep tears from falling. "I-if I hadn't…if I'd just…I'm sorry." He'd blamed Rapunzel for so long, and he was still really mad at both her and the king for their inaction that had endangered the whole kingdom, but he knew that he was the only one to blame for the amber.
Varian's dad pulled him in for a close hug. "I don't blame you." He said quietly, so Varian was the only one who heard him. Even though Hector, Edmund, Lance, and Eugene were all still there, his dad's words were just for Varian's ears. After so long of being scolded and reprimanded in the middle of town where everybody could hear them, it was nice for their conversation to be between just the two of them.
"I've kept so many secrets from you for so long." Varian's dad said. "I know it may be a little late to make up for it, but from this point on I'm going to do my best."
"Me too." Varian sniffled. He'd been wanting to talk to his dad for so long, but now that they were finally doing it he felt like he needed just a little nudge in the right direction. "C-can we talk about it at home? Maybe over some kvass?"
Varian's dad gave him a tight smile. "I think some kvass sounds good right now. There might be some fermenting in the storage room, unless you got to it before somehow ending up in the dungeon."
Varian shook his head. "I left the kvass alone." He hadn't wanted to touch anything that belonged to his father, and the fermenting drinks fell into that category.
They all made their way into the castle. Hector immediately made his way to the bedrooms, with Edmund following close behind him, saying something about watching him, just in case. Eugene and Lance looked at each other, shared a few short words, and announced that they would be going to the capital just to tell the king that Rapunzel was on her way home.
Varian was a little worried that they were going, but he thought that he trusted Eugene to not sell him out. Besides, their reasoning was sound. King Frederic was fiercely overprotective of his daughter, and it was a wonder that he let her leave at all. Telling him that she was on her way home would probably get him in a good mood, which would make it a little easier for Eugene and Lance to slip into Demanitus' old chambers under the castle to see if they could quickly find any clues about getting rid of Zhan Tiri.
Varian wanted to investigate Demanitus' chamber himself, but as long as Rapunzel was gone her father would be irritable, and when he was upset he increased security around the castle. Varian wouldn't be able to get in undetected, at least not until Rapunzel was back. For now, having Eugene and Lance go in his stead was the best they could do.
Varian appreciated the risk they were taking. While Eugene and Lance would have an easier time navigating the castle than Varian would, and their news might put the king in a good mood, it might also infuriate him. Varian could easily see King Frederic being concerned that Eugene was back without the princess, and he might take that anger out on him, regardless of if it was deserved or not.
"Just be careful." Varian said. Eugene gave him a small smile.
"Hey, I got this." Eugene said. "Good luck."
"I think you'll need it more." Varian said. As hard as this discussion with his dad would be, Varian was nowhere near as afraid of his father as he was of King Frederic.
Eugene and Lance left. With them gone, and Hector and Edmund in the bedrooms, Varian was alone with his father. Varian lit a few lanterns and got a fire going so they could see better. His dad took one of the lanterns and took it down to the basement to grab the kvass as Varian tidied up the kitchen just enough for it to look livable.
Soon they were both sitting at the kitchen table, a mug of fruity kvass in front of each of them. Varian took a long drink. It tasted like home.
"So, you were saying something about a promise." Varian's dad said, giving Varian a place to start. The boy took a deep breath and started his story, starting from when he ran from home to try to find some help from the princess. His dad listened attentively. He didn't scold Varian for making such a long journey in the middle of a blizzard. He didn't give Varian a disapproving look for expecting Rapunzel to drop all of her royal duties to help him with his own problems. His dad just listened.
Varian's voice faltered when he got to the part about his return home, and the sight that awaited him. It was the most horrifying thing he'd ever seen. Varian still had nightmares about finding his dad in amber, and the empty feeling that threatened to swallow him whole when he realized how frighteningly alone he was.
Varian wasn't able to talk about it. He knew his dad was back now, but the memory of seeing him trapped just hurt too much. His dad understood. He didn't question Varian's tears, he just scooted his chair around to the other side of the table so he was sitting next to Varian instead of across from him.
"I'm here." Quirin said. "You're home, and I'm never letting go of you again."
Varian didn't feel like he could talk much more at the moment about what he'd been through. His dad seemed to understand. "We both have a lot to tell each other. You clearly already know about the moonstone, the Dark Kingdom, and the Brotherhood. Is there something you wanted to know more about?"
There was so much that Varian wanted to know. He thought about it for a second before he decided on what was the most important. "What's wrong with Uncle Hector? You said you'd tell me."
"There are a lot of things wrong with him, but this isn't my secret to share." Quirin said. "I talked to Hector, and he's okay with you knowing, but it's only right that he tells you himself, so you'll have to wait just a little longer until after he gets some rest."
"Is it really okay for him to sleep?" Varian asked. He was fine with hearing from Hector himself, even if it meant waiting. There was a lot that he could talk to his dad about in the meantime.
Quirin smirked slightly. "Somehow we've managed to convince Zhan Tiri to keep out of Hector's dreams, and he thinks that she'll keep her word. Edmund will stay with Hector, just to make certain that he's okay."
Varian nodded, thinking of what else he wanted to talk to his dad about. There was something he'd been wondering about since King Edmund had first mentioned it. "Why didn't you tell me you were into astronomy?"
His dad looked shocked for a moment, though the look soon turned to one of embarrassment. "I can't believe Edmund told you that."
"I can't believe you didn't." Varian grinned. "For years I thought that we didn't have anything that we could talk about, and it turns out you were holding out on me this whole time." Varian's grin faded with his excitement as he felt a familiar hurt. "Why?"
Varian's dad sighed. "I truly do like astronomy and science, but I had other things that I needed to focus on. You know that Old Corona was one of the biggest farming communities in the kingdom. Our town is small, but our harvest feeds people all around Corona. I needed to help the people cultivate the land, to do my part to contribute to the community."
Quirin looked wistfully towards a window. "I would have loved to stay up until the late hours of the night and map out the stars, to see how different they are from back in the Dark Kingdom, but that wasn't possible when my responsibilities demanded that I wake up early every day."
Quirin gave Varian a small smile. "So many times throughout the years I intended on taking you on an extended camping trip far enough away from the Kingdom of the Sun that we can see the stars properly. I would have taught you how to navigate using the stars, and I would have told you the legends and stories of our people." Quirin looked at the moonstone, which glowed brightly, reflecting what little moonlight shone through the window. "I might have finally told you about the moonstone."
"So why didn't you?" Varian asked quietly.
"It never seemed like the right time." Quirin shook his head. "Looking back all of the reasons that felt so important at the time just feel like excuses now."
Varian felt like he should be hurt that his dad would continuously put off the two of them sharing an experience that would be meaningful for the two of them, but he couldn't bring himself to be upset. "Maybe…maybe we can still do it." Varian suggested. He'd never learned more than the very basics of astronomy and myth, let alone the myths of the Dark Kingdom. He would like to learn more, and he especially wanted to learn from his dad.
Quirin gave Varian a small smile. "I would like that a lot. And maybe you can tell me just what alchemy means to you, because I admit all of your experiments are vastly different from the elixir of life and turning metal to gold alchemy that Ulla did."
Varian was surprised. He knew his mom was an alchemist, but whenever he thought about her he thought that she was just like him. The kind of alchemy that Quirin was talking about was more mythical and almost magical than Varian preferred to work with. Varian knew that it was possible, theoretically, but it wasn't his style. Was that really what his mom was interested in?
"I don't like that magic stuff." Varian said. His dad just gave a pointed glance to the moonstone. "I'm not denying that magic is real, because clearly it is, but I don't want to use science to make magical things happen. What I want is to use my knowledge of science to understand magic."
Varian fiddled with the moonstone. "I want to know how to use science to defeat magic, or enhance it and better control it." Varian had heard about traditional alchemy, involving finding cures that could heal anything, elixirs to bring immortality, and making precious metals out of things that were pretty much worthless, but those kinds of things had seemed too finicky to Varian.
Maybe someday he'd try to understand those aspects of alchemy, but for now he just wanted to understand the world as it was around him, both the scientific aspects and the magical elements.
Quirin gave Varian a small, fond smile. The kind of look that he lived for. Varian's dad didn't often look at him with so much softness and patience, especially as Varian got older. Hopefully he'd be able to see that look more often.
"You've always tried so hard to make things better for the people around you." Quirin said softly. "I don't know if I can think of one of your experiments that you did just for yourself." Quirin closed his eyes. "I tried to not set too many expectations for you growing up. All I wanted was that you were kind and happy."
Quirin's smile fell. "You've always been kind, but I couldn't see it through the trial and error that came with your experiments. Without trying to, I started to expect you to show your kindness that was more, well, normal." Quirin shook his head. "I don't know how I expected you to be even remotely normal or like everybody else. The Dark Kingdom fosters oddness. It's in your blood."
Varian agreed that his dad's siblings weren't exactly normal, but as far as he could tell his dad wasn't much odder than anybody else in Corona. Was he just really good at pretending, and Varian really did get his weird behavior from him, or was he talking about something else?
Varian glanced out the window. He could see the numerous black rocks that grew everywhere. They glowed in the moonlight. Varian knew how dangerous the black rocks could be, but ever since he had seen the Dark Kingdom for himself and taken the moonstone he'd been able to see the beauty in the rocks.
Varian tapped his fingers against the table, biting his lip as a question started to run through his head. "Dad, did…did you know about my connection to the black rocks and the moonstone?" Quirin stiffened and his face took on a very familiar expression. Varian had just asked a question that his dad didn't want to answer. Varian had seen this look far too many times for him to count.
Two years ago Varian would have lowered his head, apologized, and let the issue be pushed under the rug. He wasn't going to let that happen ever again. He was glad to have his dad back, but that didn't mean that he was going to just let things go back to the way they were before.
"Dad," Varian's tone hardened. His dad actually looked apologetic. "Did you know about it?"
Quirin was quiet for a long moment before he sighed and his shoulders fell. He looked tired, and like he had a migraine. Varian knew how much pain his dad's headaches could bring him, and he tried to not bother him too much when his migraines got really bad, but this was important. This wasn't just his dad keeping a secret about his own life, this was a secret about Varian.
He had powers, and he hadn't been able to control them until he held the moonstone. Varian knew that the black rocks began to show up in the first place because they'd been reacting to the sundrop, but what if the reason why Old Corona was hit so much worse than the rest of the kingdom was because of Varian?
He'd been trying to save his town from the black rocks, and it was incredibly possible that those rocks were only a problem because of him. It was bad enough when Varian knew that his dad had been encased in the amber because he'd been messing around with something that he should have left alone, but the thought that the black rocks had only been an issue because of him was terrifying and made Varian feel sick to his stomach.
"Dad," Varian's voice cracked as he pleaded with his father. "Was it my fault?"
"No." Quirin said sternly, though his eyes were kind. "You…you couldn't control it." Quirin shook his head. "I never thought you'd be able to control it. Not by yourself."
Varian clenched his fists as his breath quickened. His dad knew about his powers. Not only that, but he knew that Varian wouldn't have control of his powers without the moonstone. His dad had known the whole time, and he'd never said anything.
Varian had hoped that his relationship with his dad could be improved on what they'd had before. He was sure that it would be different now, but now he was wondering if it would just be bad in a different way.