Everything was dark, but it felt like he was floating...or was he falling? It was hard to tell. His eyes felt like they had heavyweights keeping them shut. No matter how he tried, he could not open them.
His heart pounded in his chest, and his breath quickened in panic. What was going on? Where was he? He reached his arms out, flailing them around, searching for something to grab onto, but all he found was open air. He opened his mouth to scream for help, but no sound left him. He was defenseless.
Finally, after what felt like hours, he landed on a soft surface, and his eyes finally were able to open. He took deep calming breaths and slowly got to his feet. He was okay...but where was he?
He looked around his surroundings and felt his breath hitch as fear filled him once more.
Bright, vibrant colors filled his vision, as well as odd and strange looking creatures—the Lost Realm.
On instinct, his hand reached up to his hair, and he felt relieved when he didn't find the snake attached to his head.
Yet.
He needed to get out of here before the transformation started! He glanced around and saw three paths with arrows point in different directions. He approached the sign, hoping to know which way was which, but all the writing was faded away. Only a bit of chipped paint was left to tell him that words were once there.
He lacked facts and strategy. He needed to find a way home, but in a world where there is no logic...how, could he find a logical solution to get out?
"Think like Lance." He murmured to himself. "Think like Lance."
He closed his eyes before picking a random path and started to run down the bright pink path. He ran and ran only to end up right where he began. He turned and ran down the green path, and the results were the same.
He felt tears of frustration and panic threaten in the back of his eyes, but he quickly rubbed them away. He will get out of here.
He turned to the final path and started to approach it slowly. This path was different; it was a sickly, orangey, yellow color that looked familiar. It looked like it was initially a liquid that turned solid. He bent down and knocked on it to confirm his suspicions. It was human-made. It was similar to the chemical reactions he's done before...
He kept down the path; all of it seemed so similar to him...
He let out a gasp and took a step back, no! It couldn't be!
There, trapped inside an Amber, was all of Corona. All of the buildings, the plants, even the palace was all covered.
As he walked closer into the kingdom, he saw Coronans trapped, Uncle Monty, Atila, Xavier...but then to his horror he saw Rapunzel and Eugene trapped, hugging each other, with fear laced on their faces.
He shook his head and backed away, only to bump into one with Lance and the girls. His breathing became heavy, and tears were streaming down his cheeks.
He turned to run away, but there was Cassandra, trapped, and looking down at him with such hatred…
He turned to go down the path he came from but was stopped in his tracks once more. In the middle of the road, was his father. Trapped in the Amber just like he was all those years ago.
"No! Dad!" He was alone, everyone was trapped, and it was all his fault.
He fell to his knees and sobbed harder. It was all his fault.
"Varian"
He was a monster
"Varian"
He was the one who should have been trapped.
"Varian"
Finally, he looked up at the sound of his name. But he didn't see anyone? He wiped his eyes and looked around.
"Varian."
He heard it again and slowly stood on his feet. He looked around, looking for the source of the voice.
"Varian"
In a desperate need to find who was calling for him, he started to run in the direction of the voice.
"Varian!"
He didn't stop running, the closer he got to the voice, the more difficult it became to run. He looked down and saw the Amber sticking to his feet, trying to latch onto him. If he stopped, he would be trapped too.
"Varian, come here."
He forced himself to keep going until finally, he found himself in front of a large mirror. He tried to gaze into it, but the glass was covered in dust, and he couldn't quite make out his image. He reached his hand up to wipe the dust away, but he was too late. He looked down as he was encased in the Amber, trapped like everyone else in the kingdom.
"Varian...Stardust…."
...
He didn't know how long he was asleep or even what day it was. All he knew was his head was killing him, and he never wanted to leave his bed ever again. Why did people insist on doing this to themselves? It doesn't seem worth it just to drink a throat burning drink that turned you into an idiot.
He slowly opened his eyes and squinted at the light shining right in his face with a groan—stupid sun.
He rubbed his aching head as his mind went back to his dream. It's been a while since he had a nightmare so bad. It wasn't uncommon for him to have them, but this one felt different. Who was the voice that was calling for him?
He shook it off and rubbed his eyes to get the sleep out of them. It was just a dream, and he didn't have time to focus on whatever his subconscious was trying to tell him.
Little by little, he got himself out of bed and in a standing position. Where was he? He looked around the room, not recognizing it. It's not his bedroom, and he didn't remember checking into an inn last night.
He slowly walked over to the door and peeked out. Oh, he was in the Goat's Milk still. He walked back into the room as he remembered the events that happened the night before. He was so embarrassed by his behavior. He was usually better than that.
He grabbed his cloak and put it on. He then reached in his pocket and sighed in relief to see the instructions to find Cass was still there.
He slipped the hood over his head as he walked out of the room and into the surprisingly busy tavern. It seemed that business was active all day long.
"Ah! Morning sleeping beauty!" The bartender grinned at him. "Have a night rest?"
All he could get out was a "Yeah" and a shrug of his shoulders. He cleared his throat and looked up at her, "thank you for letting me spend the night." He finally could get out.
She shrugged, "Any pal of Cassandra's is a pal of mine." She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, "now let's get some food in you, buttercup."
"I'm Varian, by the way." he introduced himself to the lady who has been very kind to him.
"Louisa." She smiled at him, "But everyone calls me Lou."
"Nice to meet you, Lou." He murmured as he sat at the stool where she had a plate of food waiting for him.
"You too, Varian." She grinned at him, "Also, if there is anything you need to help with the situation in Corona, you come for me, alright?" She lowered her voice and looked at him seriously.
He nodded and smiled at her, "Actually, the queen asked me to rally people to help…"
"Say no more." Lou held her hand up, "Vardaros has changed, and so has the people." As she said that there was a sound of broken glass and yelling, "Well, most of us... I'm sure I can find a few people to help. Just have Cass send Owl to me to let me know where and when you need us."
Varian felt an overwhelming amount of gratitude for the woman, she may look like she could crush you with her bare hands, but her heart was soft and big. "Thank you." He murmured to her, not knowing how else to express how thankful he was.
"Eat up." She winked at him before going to the men to stop the fight. It was a family place during the day; roughhousing was for later.
As he ate, he pulled out his map and the note she gave him. "Okay, where are you, Cassie?" He mumbled under his breath. He rubbed his head with a groan, it was hard to focus with the splitting headache, but he had to. He needed to find her.
Slowly but surely, he mapped out a route to find Cass. He smiled with satisfaction and finished the rest of the meal.
With a few apples in a satchel, Varian said goodbye to Lou and went to find his animal friends.
He looked around and frowned when he didn't see them. "Great." He mumbled, letting out a sigh in frustration. He needed to get to Cass, but now he had to find his mode of transportation first. He feared this would happen.
...
He wandered the streets of Vardaros, eyes wandering every which way for his horse and raccoon. "Ruddiger?" He called "Eden?"
Suddenly, in the distance, he heard the noise of a horse struggling and the chirping of a raccoon. "Eden! Ruddiger!" He gasped and ran in that direction.
"You can't just keep stealing things that aren't yours, Weasel." Vex said, pointing her sword at the thief, "Vardaros has changed, you either change with it or get out of this town."
Captain Quaid kept a grip on the rope he had just lassoed around Weasel and smiled at her words.
Varian slowly approached and sighed in relief, seeing Eden and Ruddiger. "There you guys are." He murmured and gave each of them an apple.
"Thank you." He told the sheriff and Deputy, which caused them to shrug.
"Whatever," Vex said as they gathered Weasel up and headed to the town's jail.
Varian made sure all his supplies were still there before mounting the horse. He smiled when Rudigger settled on his shoulders, taking comfort in the familiar feeling. He took one last look at Vardaros before setting out of the town.
"I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this town." He mumbled to his animal friends, who nodded in agreement.
He patted the horse's neck and headed into the direction of the Forest of No Return.
