They were getting ready to leave Corona, and Rapunzel almost felt more nervous than she'd been when she had left the tower. This trip was going to take a lot longer than just the few days she'd planned to see the floating lanterns, and there was a lot more at stake than Rapunzel achieving her dreams.
They were reuniting a boy with his family, saving him from a demon sorcerer, and, Rapunzel's own selfish goal, trying to get him to warm up to Eugene again. To make things more complicated, The boy didn't trust Rapunzel at all, and the feeling was mutual.
She felt bad for Varian, and she wanted him to be safe at home and taken care of, but she hadn't forgotten that he had kidnapped her mother. She knew that Varian was desperate, and had a manipulative sorcerer whispering in his ear, and she was sympathetic, but still cautious.
Rapunzel hoped that during their journey she'd be able to get to know Varian a little better. She didn't know if they'd ever become real friends, but they could at least learn how to be civil with each other.
Rapunzel adjusted her grip on the large satchel of books that she'd so carefully packed. She hoped that Varian would appreciate this gesture of good-will. She had just finished saying goodbye to her parents, and was about to join back with Eugene so they could finish packing up the carriage and be on their way when Cassandra grabbed her arm and pulled her back. For a moment Rapunzel thought that Cass was trying to keep her from getting too close to Varian, who she might see as a potential threat, but her friend pulled her away from everybody, not just the kid.
"Raps, I just wanted to say good luck." Cassandra said with more than a little bit of awkwardness.
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Rapunzel said cheerfully. She hoped that if she acted like she was confident then she would be able to trick herself into thinking that she wasn't so nervous. Rapunzel stared at Cassandra's empty hands. She didn't have any luggage or stuff with her. "Where are your things? We're leaving soon."
"In my room." Cassandra took a deep breath and straightened her back. She also seemed to be trying to act confident despite how she might be feeling. "I've been thinking about it, and I decided to stay here."
"You…you're not coming?" Rapunzel frowned. Her chest tightened. It was hard enough to say goodbye to her parents. Did she really have to say goodbye to her best friend too? She wasn't ready for this. "Why not?"
Cassandra gave her a small smile. "In a few weeks they'll be recruiting new guards. Since you're leaving, I won't be a lady-in-waiting anymore and will go back to maid duty, which will give me a lot more time to train. I'm sure I can be ready this time."
Rapunzel knew all about Cassandra's wishes to be in the guard, to be a warrior and respected for her fighting skills, but she'd also heard about how she couldn't do it. "I thought you weren't allowed in the guard."
"The captain was the one who said that." Cassandra pointed out. "My dad, who is going with you. While he's gone a new captain will be put into place. New captain, new rules. I think I actually have a shot at this."
Cassandra sounded so excited, but Rapunzel was still hurt. She wanted to see the world with those that she cared about. She wanted her friend to share these experiences with her. But being in the guard was Cass' dream. Rapunzel knew how important dreams were, and she knew how much it hurt to be told that her dream was unattainable. Could she really be the one who kept her friend from finally having the chance to live her dream?
Rapunzel looked back towards Eugene, who was hugging a furious and terrified looking Varian. Their relationship was so complicated right now, and Rapunzel personally believed that a big part of the reason why things fell apart for them was because their entire relationship was built on duty and responsibility.
It was Eugene's job to take care of Varian. It was Varian's job to keep Eugene from running away. Varian got hurt, and even though it hadn't been Eugene's fault he blamed himself because he was supposed to keep Varian safe. Eugene had taken his freedom and destiny into his own hands, and Varian ran away from home to follow along after him because that was his job.
Rapunzel knew that they cared about each other, but would they both be so hurt like this if they were just allowed to be friends without constantly teetering on the natural power imbalance?
Rapunzel considered Cass her best friend, and she liked to think that the other woman felt similarly, but there was no denying that in a way Rapunzel was Cass' boss. She had a natural authority over Cass. At the same time, sometimes Rapunzel felt like Cassandra acted like she was babysitting her, protecting her from perceived threats when she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
Depending on the situation, they both had power over the other that upset the balance of a good friendship. Rapunzel knew that she could use her authority to command Cass to come with them, but where would that lead them? Cass would start to resent her, and then they might find themselves in a similar situation that Eugene and Varian were in now.
As much as Rapunzel didn't want to say goodbye to her friend she especially didn't want to lose the friendship forever.
Rapunzel took Cass' hands and gave her as bright a smile as she could manage. "You'll make a great guard."
Cass gave her a dubious look. "Will you really be okay with me staying here?"
"I'm going to try really hard to be." Rapunzel said. It'll just take her some time to get used to all of this.
"You'll have to tell me about this supposed Dark Kingdom." Cass said. "I want to know all about the place that weirdos like Varian and Adira came from."
Rapunzel didn't think that Varian and Adira were that weird. A little intense, sure, but so was Cass, and Rapunzel herself. They were just intense in a different way.
"Just be careful out there." Cass said as she glanced towards Varian and Eugene too. There was a hard look of distrust in her eyes. "I still don't trust that kid."
"To be honest, I don't either." Rapunzel said quietly. She didn't want Varian or Eugene to overhear her. "But I trust Eugene, and he trusts Varian, so I'm going to at least give him a chance." Rapunzel gave Cass a hug. She knew her friend wasn't a big hugger, but they were saying goodbye and didn't know when they'd see each other again, so Rapunzel thought that right now was an appropriate time to embrace.
"I'll be careful." Rapunzel promised. "Show everybody what you're made of. You'll do great." Rapunzel held on to Cassandra for as long as she thought she could before she pulled away. Rapunzel slowly stepped away from Cass and walked towards the others.
Varian watched her with distrust and instinctively leaned closer to Eugene before he flinched and took a step back to be closer to Lance. Rapunzel kept her distance from Varian. She didn't want to scare him.
"Hey, Varian." Rapunzel said quietly. She slowly took off her satchel and offered it out to the boy. "I-I know we're not exactly friends, and maybe we won't ever be, and I blame myself for that, but I wanted to at least try to make things right." She held out the satchel. "So I brought a peace offering.
Varian stared at the satchel for a long moment, looking at it like it was about to explode. They stood there awkwardly for too long before Lance stepped forward and took the satchel on Varian's behalf. Rapunzel felt just a little hurt. She wouldn't give Varian anything that would hurt him, especially not when she was claiming to give him a gift, but she didn't blame him for his caution. Varian's trust was not freely given.
Lance looked inside the satchel and grinned. "Hey, kid, I think you'll like this. It's a bunch of old books."
Varian still looked cautious, but he looked more curious than scared. He snuck forward and looked in the satchel, which Lance was holding out to him. Varian stared at the books curiously before he took one of them out to get a closer look. Varian's eyes widened.
"What language is this?" Varian said to himself. "I recognize it, but I don't understand it." He looked at Rapunzel. "What are these?"
"They're old journals that we think belonged to Demanitus." Rapunzel said. "Me and Eugene have been looking for some information about Zhan Tiri, trying to figure out what to do about this whole situation, and I remembered that Demanitus had an old workshop under the castle. I went down there and found some journals and workbooks that belonged to him. I can't tell you what they say, because I can't read it either, but Eugene has told me all about how smart you are. If anybody can translate this stuff, you can."
"You want me to translate them?" Varian asked.
"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to." Rapunzel said. "I just thought you might like it. Demanitus was an alchemist and an engineer, and Eugene says that you're a bit of an alchemist and engineer too. You might be able to learn some really cool things if you can figure out how to translate those books."
Varian just stared at Rapunzel, and she was starting to think that this gift hadn't been such a good idea. Would Varian think that she was just trying to bribe him? Or that she was trying to force him to translate the books so that Corona could use the information for themselves?
Varian eventually tore his gaze away from Rapunzel to stare back down at the books. He didn't say a word to Rapunzel. He just put the book back in the satchel, put it over his shoulders, and went to the carriage where Adira was waiting for them, watching the sky.
Lance gave Rapunzel a reassuring smile before he followed behind Varian, leaving Rapunzel with Eugene. She groaned and put her face in her hands. She felt like she was messing everything up.
"He hates me." Rapunzel muttered. Eugene had the nerve to chuckle as he pulled her in for a hug.
"I promise, Rapunzel, he doesn't hate you." Eugene said. "Trust me, you would know if Varian hated you. It would involve a lot of screaming, blood, and maybe being threatened by massive automatons. The Brotherhood has never been good at being subtle about their feelings.
"I don't know." Rapunzel said. "Adira's so hard to read."
"That's just because you're not used to her." Eugene said. She's an open book once you know her. Not like Quirin. That man is so stoic and serious that you never know when you've gotten on his bad side until he's ready to snap you like a twig." Eugene grimaced. "That's what I have to look forward to as soon as I get home."
"Quirin's Varian's father, right?" Rapunzel asked. Eugene had told her about his family. Most of what he had to say was good, as he wanted to convince Rapunzel that his family really was nothing like Gothel had been, but he'd told her some bad things too, mostly about his father. Rapunzel knew that Eugene loved his family, and his kingdom, but he felt stifled by them.
Rapunzel understood the feeling. It was how she felt about her own father.
Eugene nodded. "I think that Quirin actually does hate me, and I can't blame him at all." Eugene said. He still hasn't forgiven me for nearly getting Varian killed by a tiger when we were kids."
"A tiger?" Rapunzel hadn't heard this story.
"Yeah." Eugene rubbed the fur of his cloak. "It's not a very nice story."
Rapunzel took his hand. "Eugene, I want to know everything about you, your home, and your family." Rapunzel said. "The good, the bad, and everything in-between. I just want to know you."
Eugene took a deep breath and gave her a shaky smile. "If you say so. Well, it all started when I was just fifteen." Eugene blinked. "Huh. I was Varian's age. That…that's just insane." Eugene chuckled and shook his head. "Anyway, Varian had only been in the Brotherhood for a few months when he got really sick."
Eugene told Rapunzel the story, not sparing any details. He paused for a few minutes when they finally joined the others at the carriage and went on their way. The six of them set off, with the carriage being pulled by Max and Fidella, who had been loaned to the Captain by Cassandra.
Adira handled the horses, while Varian sat at her side. The captain and Lance walked alongside the carriage, both so they could keep an eye on Varian, though both had their own reasons. Eugene and Rapunzel rode in the carriage itself. Once they were situated Eugene continued his story.
They only travelled for a few hours before they stopped for dinner. It felt a little early in their journey for them to stop, but Eugene said this was for a very specific reason.
"We've just crossed the border of Corona." Eugene gestured to the wall that went around Rapunzel's kingdom. "Our journey officially begins now. Back home it's tradition for us to start trips under the light of a full moon."
Eugene looked up at the sky, just like Adira had done earlier. "The full moon is tonight. So we're going to break, have some food, and wait for the sun to finish setting and the moon to come out, and then we'll set off again."
"Why didn't we just wait until the moon was out before we left?" Rapunzel asked.
"It's not exactly normal for people to start trips after dark." Eugene said. "Your father would have been worried about bandits."
Rapunzel shrugged and nodded. Eugene had a point. Rapunzel's father was a bit overprotective. "I guess you guys don't have bandits in the Dark Kingdom to worry about."
"We barely have wild animals to worry about." Eugene said. "I'm not exactly exaggerating when I say it's an isolated kingdom of darkness and death." Eugene said this almost fondly.
Eugene and Rapunzel had left the carriage to look for some firewood. They weren't gone for too long, as they didn't need a lot, and with all the trees around they didn't need to go too far. They were soon returning to the carriage, only to pause in their tracks at the sight in front of them.
Varian was sitting on the ground with all of Demanitus' old journals laid out in front of him. There were stray pieces of paper everywhere, as well as several quills and a bottle of ink.
"Lance, Lance, look at this." Varian said enthusiastically. Rapunzel had never heard him sound like this before. Varian practically shoved the book he'd been looking at in Lance's face. The man chuckled and just went along with it.
"Okay, okay, I'm looking." Lance said. He stared at the book for a long moment, even turning it upside down, hoping that it would reveal its secrets to him. "What am I looking at?"
"The drawing." Varian said in quiet awe. "The schematics." He quickly took the book back from Lance and looked at it himself. "Look at the details. Even just by looking at the plans I can see that these machines and automatons were way ahead of their time. They would be impressive by today's standards, and Demanitus was alive thousands of years ago."
Varian sighed, a look of longing and excitement in his eyes. "Can you just imagine how incredible it would have been to see his work in person?"
"Maybe you can." Adira commented. She was sitting behind Varian, keeping a watchful eye on him. "You have the plans right in front of you. You can replicate Demanitus' experiments."
"What, me?" Varian snorted. "No, no, I couldn't."
"Why not?" Lance ruffled Varian's hair. "You're a genius if I've ever met one. Whoever this Demanitus guy is, he couldn't possibly hold a candle to you."
"You're crazy." Varian giggled, looking pleased with himself despite his disbelief.
Rapunzel watched Varian with a fair amount of disbelief herself. Beside her Eugene was watching Varian with a small bitter-sweet smile on his face.
"I don't think I've ever seen him smile." Rapunzel said quietly. She didn't want to alert Varian to their presence, as she knew that would immediately put the kid on guard again. "Let alone laugh."
"It's been a long time for me too." Eugene said. He put an arm around Rapunzel's shoulder, pulling her against him. "The journals were a great idea. Look at him. He's barely left Corona and he's already looking like the kid I grew up with."
Seeing Varian like this, relaxed and getting excited over a half a dozen books that he couldn't even read, it almost made Rapunzel forget about how dangerous he could be when he wanted to be. The Varian she saw in front of her wasn't a threat, he was just a little kid.
Rapunzel knew this wouldn't last. As soon as Varian saw Eugene and Rapunzel he would become angry and scared all over again. For this short moment though Varian was happy, Eugene was happy, and everything felt just fine. Maybe someday they'd reach the point where things could always be like they were right now.