Lance didn't consider himself an angry or violent person. He saw himself as more of a lover than a fighter. However, he knew what he wanted and he was willing to do whatever it took to get it. He would rather not get physical if he didn't have to, but he wasn't afraid to if it came to it, and he thought they were starting to reach that point.
Lance had thought that his life was weird and exciting enough as it was, but after meeting Varian he had come to realize just how tame his life had been. Don't get him wrong, Lance loved Varian and he wouldn't change it for anything, but he could do without the demons, the broken wrists, and the protectiveness that hurt Varian more than it helped.
Most of all Lance could do without the arrogant prince that was always finding new ways to completely ruin Varian's life. Lance was trying to give Horace the benefit of the doubt. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and Lance was willing to accept that two or three mistakes were unintentional, and that the prince was trying to make things right with Varian. But they had moved way beyond what should be acceptable and forgivable.
Now this…this was a new low, and Lance wasn't about to let it slide.
He didn't know what happened. None of them really knew. He'd just been relaxing when Rapunzel had come running up to him, saying that Horace wanted to see him and something was wrong with Varian. Lance hadn't hesitated to run off to where they were, leaving Rapunzel to look for Adira.
Lance found Varian clinging to Horace's side, and a pit formed in his stomach. He knew the kid well enough to know that he wouldn't hold onto Horace like that unless something was seriously wrong, and even then there should still be at least some distrust in his eyes. The final nail in the coffin though was that when Varian saw Lance his eyes narrowed dangerously, suspiciously. Lance had been on the receiving end of this glare numerous times, but it hadn't happened in months. Varian trusted him, and yet now he was staring at Lance like he was a dangerous threat, all while clinging to Horace, who had hurt him countless times.
"What did you do?!" Lance practically shouted. Horace grimaced and Varian flinched.
"Nothing." Horace said quickly. "I had nothing to do with this."
"Yeah, right." Lance scoffed. "And you expect me to believe that?" He took a step towards them but froze in his tracks when Varian steeled his expression and stepped in front of Horace, holding his arms out protectively.
"Don't you dare touch him." Varian growled. His tone was cold, sounding way too similar to the way he'd sounded when they'd kidnapped the queen to try to get Horace back. This was Varian's 'I'm-probably-doing-something-really-stupid-but-you-can't-stop-me' voice. Lance had always admired Varian's determination, but not when it was used against him.
"Hey, I'm not going to touch him." Lance held his hands up defensively, just to show that he meant no harm. Varian didn't look like he believed him, and it hurt.
"Varian, it's okay." Horace put a hand on his shoulder. "Lance is a friend, just like Rapunzel." Lance didn't think he had ever heard Horace refer to him as a friend. He didn't know how he felt about it.
Varian turned his head slightly towards Horace, but he kept his eyes glued on Lance. "You keep saying these strangers are our friends. When could we have met them?"
Lance felt a chill run down his spine. Strangers? Just a few days ago Varian had called him a brother, and now he was a stranger?
"What happened to you, kid?" Lance's voice broke. Horace gave him a pained look.
"What are you talking about?" Varian asked suspiciously. "Nothing happened to me."
"He doesn't remember." Horace said quietly. He looked at Lance with wide eyes. "He doesn't remember anything."
"Wait a second, do you mean anything as in he doesn't remember what happened, or anything as in he doesn't remember anything?" Lance asked, panicked.
"Varian!" Adira came running towards them. The kid immediately relaxed when he saw her.
"Aunt Adira!" Varian ran towards her. He tugged on her arm the way that a little kid might, pointing at Lance. "These guys did something to Horace. They…they brainwashed him or something, and now he's saying they're our friends." Varian furrowed his brow. As he gave Adira an odd look. "Wait, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be guarding the moonstone?"
"Your father has that handled." Adira said. "King Edmund sent me after you two."
"What? Why?" Varian pouted. He was looking more and more like a little kid. It was a weird thing, to see Varian so suspicious and yet so innocent at the same time. "I thought he trusted us to watch the Great Tree for a few weeks."
Adira blinked, looking blatantly shocked. Lance wasn't used to seeing her like this. Adira was still for a long moment before she took a deep breath and knelt, bringing herself closer to Varian's height. She put her hands on his shoulders.
"Varian, I need you to think carefully." Adira said gently. "What is the last thing you remember?"
Varian frowned. "I-I don't know. We left the Dark Kingdom a few hours ago, but that's all I remember." The boy's frown deepened when he saw the panicked and concerned looks that the others gave him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that."
"Varian, you didn't leave the Dark Kingdom a few hours ago." Adira said. "Do you really not remember anything else?"
"What am I supposed to remember?" Varian was starting to sound frustrated and scared. This was all very overwhelming for him. Lance wanted Varian to remember whatever it was that he'd forgotten. He wanted the kid to know who he was, but he also didn't want him to look so scared and hurt. Varian feeling safe was more important than anything else.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Lance put on a big reassuring smile. He had a lot of experience comforting Varian and helping him to feel better, even when he himself was floundering a little bit. "I'm sure it'll come back to you."
Varian stared at him curiously. He still looked suspicious, but more than anything he looked like he was just trying to figure him out. Lance saw this as a step in the right direction.
Horace stared at Varian tensely. "I don't understand. You were just fine a few minutes ago, and now…I just don't know what happened."
"Well, what were you two doing?" Rapunzel asked. "Did Varian hit his head?"
"I don't know." Horace said. "Varian was in the carriage doing some research or something on the wand of…oh." Horace's eyes widened in terror. "I-I've gotta go check on something." Horace swung open the carriage door and scrambled inside. Lance didn't trust him. He took a step towards Horace, just to see what he was doing, but Varian growled warningly at him. Not wanting to upset the kid, Lance stayed where he was and just watched the door.
Horace was in the carriage for a long minute before he swore loudly. He came out carrying a stick, one of Demanitus' journals, and one of Varian's notebooks. Horace looked pale. "Adira, come look at this." Horace sat on the ground, spreading the books on the ground so he could see them all at once. It was the kind of thing that Varian frequently did.
Adira and Varian approached Horace, kneeling to take a look. Lance, wanting to respect Varian's personal space, but wanting to know what was going on, stood behind Horace to look over his shoulder. Ruddiger, who had been taking a nap behind on Lance's shoulders, stirred with a small chirp. Varian perked up and looked towards Lance. His eyes widened when he saw the raccoon.
"Ruddiger!" Varian reached for his friend. Lance took a step back at the same time as Horace held a hand out and stopped Varian.
"Kid, you can't be around Ruddiger right now." Horace said apologetically. "He's being possessed by Zhan Tiri, and you're vulnerable to her manipulations."
Varian blinked in shock. "I am?"
Adira frowned. "You always have been. Do you remember when you were younger and had those nightmares? You kept on hearing voices in your dreams. We thought that Zhan Tiri was the one responsible."
"I-I'd almost forgotten about that." Varian muttered. Lance hadn't even known that Varian had nightmares like this when he was younger. How old had he been when it had happened? How did it stop? Why had it happened in the first place. Lance was curious, but he didn't think that right now was the best time to interrogate the kid about his past. Not when he didn't remember his present.
"How is Zhan Tiri possessing Ruddiger?" Varian asked.
"It's a long story." Horace said. "I-I'll tell you later, but we need to focus on getting your memory back right now, okay?"
"Okay." Varian said without a moment of hesitation. It shouldn't hurt Lance to hear the kid be so trusting so quickly, but it did. When he met Varian he'd already been hardened and suspicious after being alone for so long. Lance still didn't know all that happened to wear Varian down and made him so distrustful.
Horace cleared his throat and pointed at Varian's notes. "This thing is called the Wand of Oblivium. According to, well, you, this thing can be used to erase things that people may wish were forgotten." Horace grimaced. He clenched his fists and slammed them down on the ground, swearing under his breath. "I'm such an idiot. The things you were saying, I should have…I'm so stupid."
Lance crossed his arms. "Already regretting erasing the kid's memories?"
"I…what? No!" Horace looked at Lance in shock. He looked slightly ill. "You don't really think that I did this to him, do you?"
"You were the only one with him." Lance said. "And you're the one that would have the most to gain if the kid forgot what you did."
"Yeah, but I didn't do it." Horace insisted. He sounded sincere, but Lance knew better than to take Horace at his word, no matter how genuine he seemed. Horace looked at Rapunzel and Adira for support, only to be disappointed when he saw the suspicious and slightly guilty expressions they wore. "You guys can't be serious."
Rapunzel took Horace's hand. "Eugene, you've been putting a lot of pressure on yourself lately. You're hurting, and lonely, and saw that Varian was too. Maybe you were just desperate and acted recklessly because you were trying to do what you thought was right."
"It wouldn't be the first time." Adira pointed out. Horace's face grew stormy.
"I didn't do it!" Horace growled as he yanked his hand away from Rapunzel's. Varian looked at him in concern.
"Then who did?" Lance demanded.
"It was…" Horace glanced at Varian, an odd look in his eyes. He picked up Varian's notebook and flipped through some of the pages. Horace grimaced, pained, closed the book and put it into his pocket. "It was probably just an accident."
"You can't seriously expect us to believe that." Lance scoffed.
"Look, I don't care what you believe." Horace got to his feet. "Let's just worry about fixing this." Horace looked down at Demanitus' journal. "There's gotta be an antidote in this thing or something."
"Which would be great, except none of us can read it." Lance said. Varian was the only one that was able to figure out how to translate it, and it was a really slow process for him.
"We'll just have to have Varian translate it again." Horace said. He looked at Varian, giving him a tense smile. "You think you're up for it, kid?"
"Sure." Varian picked up the journal, giving it a quick glance. "I can figure it out."
"It would probably go faster if he looked at his notes." Rapunzel said helpfully. "Maybe Varian already translated the cure or antidote."
"He didn't." Horace said.
"And why should we trust you?" Lance said. Varian glared at him.
"I trust him." Varian said. "And I don't think he erased my memory either. He would never hurt me." Lance glared at Horace, who barely had the decency to shift guiltily.
"Maybe the translation would go faster if Varian had his notebook." Horace admitted. "But I think it would be best if I hold onto this."
"Are you going to tell us why?" Lance asked. Horace just stared at him. "You know, it would be a lot easier to trust you if you didn't keep secrets from us."
"And it would be easier to open up to you guys if you didn't immediately think the worst of me." Horace said. He ruffled Varian's hair as he stepped away from the others. "I'm going to go for a walk. I just need a few minutes alone." Horace rolled his shoulders as he began to walk away, ignoring Rapunzel's attempt to reach out to him. "Set out as soon as you can. I'll catch up with you guys later." Just like that, Horace left.
Varian stood up, meaning to go after him, but Adira pulled him back. "Give him some space. He'll be back soon. Why don't you get started on that translation?"
Varian frowned, clearly disappointed, but he did as he was told. Lance wondered if Varian had always been this obedient, and just when that had left. Apparently being by himself had been an effective, but cruel, way of teaching Varian how to be independent and take initiative.
Lance hated this. He shouldn't wish that Varian was back to being sad and distrustful, but this was wrong. Varian trusted Horace blindly, and looked to Adira for comfort. After everything that the two of them had done to him, it wasn't right, and nobody else seemed to see the problem with this. They were just going with the flow and taking advantage of Varian's trust. They were just setting him up for disappointment and pain all over again.
Lance was furious, and he knew that he needed to calm down. If he let his anger get the best of him then he would end up doing something that he would regret. Horace deserved anything that Lance might do to him, and more, but if Lance hurt Varian the kid wouldn't forgive him.
The kid's mind was stuck in the past, when he was nothing but loyal to his prince. Lance knew that Varian didn't entirely trust him right now, but if he made the kid think that he was a true enemy, somebody to fear rather than be cautious of, then the boy would lose the only ally that actually had his best interests in mind right now.
Lance walked away from the others, grabbing Ruddiger off his shoulders and holding onto him, both to make himself feel better and to keep the raccoon from running off and trying to cuddle against his clearly distressed boy. Lance knew that they should be leaving soon, but he could whip up some hot chocolate in just a few minutes. He needed the chance to destress, and Varian clearly needed something sugary to cheer him up.
Lance worked quickly and in silence. He didn't sing or even hum to himself as he worked. He just focused on making the hot chocolate, trying to figure out just what he could do to help Varian, because he felt just as in the dark as the kid was.
Lance finished his hot chocolate a lot sooner than he normally would. It took just a few minutes. It was amazing how fast he worked when there were no distractions. Of course, Lance missed the distractions. This just wasn't as fun if he didn't have Varian at his side, acting happy and cheerful, and enjoying himself for once.
Ever since they had left Corona Lance had been making more hot chocolate so that there was enough for everybody, but this time he made just enough for him and Varian. Nobody else deserved this treat right now. Lance portioned out the hot chocolate, adding some extra chocolate for Varian's cup, making it just the way that he liked it. Hot chocolate in hand Lance went to find Varian, and he soon found sitting right next to the carriage, right where he had left him.
"Hey, kid." Lance said. Varian jolted and immediately reached for the place where he normally kept his dagger, though it had long-since been confiscated from him. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I come bearing a peace offering." Lance held out the cup. "I know how much you like my hot chocolate."
Varian stared at Lance curiously, but with not nearly as much suspicion as he had expected. Varian held out his hands, accepting the treat. This was a lot easier than Lance had expected. He had been ready to let Varian choose which cup he wanted, and then to taste test both of them, just to prove that they were both safe. Somehow Varian was more suspicious than usual, and yet less so. It was like Lance was looking at a total stranger now.
Varian took a small sip of the hot chocolate, smiling when he tasted it. Well, at least some things never changed. "It's good."
"Well, I should hope so." Lance said. He gestured to the ground next to Varian. "You mind if I join you? I won't bother you with your work. I'll just work on my own thing."
"I, uh, sure." Varian said quietly. He pulled his work closer. Lance sat on the ground a few feet away from Varian, giving him plenty of space. Lance set his cup on the ground and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the fabric that he had bought a few weeks ago in town. The fabric was soft and a vibrant shade of blue. It had been really expensive, but it was worth it for what he had in mind.
Lance pulled out the needle and threat that Rapunzel had loaned to him. He began to sew together the pattern pieces that he had previously cut out. Lance wasn't a seamster or a tailor, but living on the streets he'd learned a lot of practical skills, like sewing up some small holes.
This project was bigger than making repairs on clothes, but Lance was determined to see it through. At least he had Rapunzel around to give him advice and pointers. Lance wanted to do this himself, but a little bit of help never hurt anybody.
Varian tilted his head at him. "What are you making?"
"A surprise for a friend." Lance said. "I don't really want to say what it's supposed to be yet, because this is my first time doing something like this, and if I get it really wrong, like I probably will, then you won't know just how badly I messed it up. I can't just change my claim at the last minute, and you won't be any the wiser."
Varian gave a small giggle, and Lance smiled. At least he was still able to get a laugh out of the kid.
"So, you find any ideas yet?" Lance asked. Varian immediately began to dive into an explanation that Lance didn't understand, but that was just fine. This wasn't for his benefit, it was for Varian. Lance knew that Varian thought best when he could talk through his process. Thinking out loud helped Varian to notice things that he had otherwise missed, and Lance was always happy to lend a listening ear.
Lance didn't know how they would fix this, and he didn't know just how bad it would end up being. He wouldn't stop until Varian got his memory back. The kid may have been through a lot of things that had hurt him, but experiences and memories were what made people who they were. Varian was missing a part of himself now, and not just a year and a half worth of memories.
Lance would stand by Varian no matter what, but he would have to tread carefully if he wanted the kid to not push him away. It hurt that Varian had no idea who he was, but Lance would move at the kid's pace and play by his rules. He would give Varian whatever he needed, just so long as he could stay by his side.