The journey to the Dark Kingdom felt long, but it wasn't hard. Lance wasn't the best at navigation, but even he knew that following the black rocks, which originated from the Dark Kingdom, and heading towards the eternally overcast skies in front of them would eventually bring them to the Dark Kingdom.
When they reached their destination Horace and Varian actually looked just a little bit relieved. Lance didn't know whether it was because they liked seeing their home after so long, or because this whole kidnapping business could be over soon.
Lance hadn't really meant to kidnap anybody, but he'd been worried about Varian. He didn't think the Brotherhood was good for the kid, but he didn't think he'd be able to convince the kid of that.
Of course, now Lance might have ruined everything. He'd taken Varian away from his father, and now the kid would be reluctant to listen to anything that he had to say. Not for the first time in his life, Lance had done what he had thought was best without fully considering the consequences.
Lance hoped that he hadn't made the same mistake with his decision to take the moonstone. It had been a spur of the moment choice, but he had actually thought things through. Lance didn't know the extent of the consequences for his actions, but he knew that there would be consequences, and he was ready to deal with them, both the good and the bad.
Lance was more than happy to face what was waiting for him. He stood by his choice. He wasn't doing this for himself. This was for Varian. All of this was for the kid, and the fact that Varian would probably hate him forever wasn't going to change that.
When they reached the borders of the Dark Kingdom they stopped to look at it for a long moment. Lance was a bit in awe. This looked like his kind of place. Isolated and a natural repellent for anybody who may be after him. And if Lance was going to hide away anywhere why not go to a castle?
Horace and Varian stared at their home. Horace actually looked content and somewhat at peace, even though the only reason he'd agreed to return home was for Varian's sake. As for Varian himself, he looked like he was staring down his own doom, even though just a short time ago he had told Lance that he was still hopeful about returning to the Dark Kingdom.
"Has home always looked this lonely?" Varian asked quietly.
"I used to think so." Horace said. "Now it actually looks like a safe haven, like curling up in a blanket while a storm is raging outside."
Lance wondered when Varian and Horace's opinions about home switched, because last time he checked their opinions had been similar to the way they'd always been. Lance wondered if this was because of what he had done, or because their family wasn't here. He hoped the latter was the case. He already felt guilty enough for what he had done for Varian. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if Varian didn't feel safe at home just because of what he had done.
Horace sighed and reluctantly turned his attention to Lance. "So, what's the plan here? I hope whatever you have in mind can be done quickly, because you have to know that the Brotherhood can't be far behind us."
"It should just take a few minutes." Lance said. "Once we get to the castle, of course."
"Are you going to tell us what you're up to yet?" Horace asked.
"You'll just have to wait a little more." Lance said. He'd come this far. He wasn't going to let them stop him. He gave the horse a small kick to nudge it forward so they could continue on their way. Varian and Horace exchanged stories as they rode towards the castle. Horace did most of the story telling, clearly trying to cheer Varian up as the kid sulked and drew in on himself. The poor kid was snuggling up against Zmeya. Lance was glad that the stuffed toy he made was good for the kid. Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary soon though.
Eventually they reached the castle, and Lance was equal parts nervous and excited. This was long overdue.
Of course, he didn't really know exactly where he was going from here, but he knew someone who did.
"Alright, you little monster," Lance grabbed Ruddiger from off his shoulders and set him on the ground. "Where are we going?"
Ruddiger's eyes flashed green as he chattered at Lance before scampering into the castle. When it reached a corner, it turned and looked back towards them, waiting for them to catch up.
"Are you guys ready?" Lance asked. Horace got off the horse, grimacing as he put the wrong amount of pressure on his hurt leg. It was doing better after their days of travel, but it was far from completely healed. Horace helped Varian off the horse. The kid's leg was better off than Horace's, but they would both be limping. "You can just wait here."
Varian blinked. "I thought you weren't going to let me out of your sight."
"Well, Ruddiger's coming with me, and I really don't think you'll be going anywhere without him." Lance shrugged. Besides, he was tired of keeping Varian against his will.
"Varian can do what he wants, but I'm not leaving your side." Horace crossed his arms. "You've said that I wouldn't approve of whatever you're up to, and if you're right about that then I don't want to be left in the dark. Whatever mess you're about to make, somebody has to be there to clean up after it."
"Glad to hear it." Lance said, and he meant it. He was standing by his decision, but while he didn't know exactly what the consequences would be he knew that it wasn't going to be anything good, and it would be nice to have some backup.
"I'm coming too." Varian said without a moment of hesitation. Lance didn't know if he was coming because he didn't trust either of them, or because he wanted to make sure that Ruddiger was okay, or if he just didn't want to be alone. He didn't ask though. If Varian wanted to come, then that's what he would do.
"Let's go." Lance said. He followed behind Ruddiger, with Varian and Horace bringing up the rear. The castle halls were completely abandoned. This whole place gave off the feeling of being haunted, and the fact that they were following a raccoon that was currently possessed by a demon sorceress definitely didn't help.
They went down some stairs into a part of the castle that didn't look nearly as fancy. The rooms down here were closer together, and the doors weren't as ornate. Lance guessed that these were the servants quarters of something. When Horace mentioned in passing that their training rooms were just down the hall, Lance's guess was practically confirmed.
Ruddiger moved and skittered around anxiously and with a small amount of uncertainty. He would frequently pause and sit up, sniffing the air, before darting off. Finally Ruddiger stopped in front of a door and started scratching at it. Behind them, Horace stopped in his tracks and Varian's breath got caught in his throat.
"Lance, what are we doing here?" Horace asked carefully.
"Do you guys know this room?" Lance asked.
Varian nodded and moved to the door. He ran his hand across the door before slowly opening the door. "This is my dad's room." Varian walked inside, looking around. "I used to stay down here when I was really little, before I started staying with Horace."
Lance felt like something was nudging the back of his mind. He remembered how Varian had said that he used to have nightmares when he was really young. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but Lance didn't think so. Zhan Tiri wanted Lance to come here for a reason, and there had to be a reason why she had reached out to a child that really couldn't have done anything for her.
Maybe those reasons were one in the same.
Lance seethed, but he pushed his anger and the temptation to wring Ruddiger's little neck down as much as he could. He needed to remain in control, because he needed to use the powers of the moonstone without letting them use him.
"Step back." Lance said as he rolled his shoulders. "I need room." He looked at Ruddiger. "Okay, where are we doing this?"
Ruddiger ran to the back wall and rested his front paws against it. Lance took a deep breath and brought one hand up to the moonstone while he held the other out. He didn't really trust himself with the moonstone right now, but he didn't need to do a lot with it. Lance just needed this one short thing.
This wall looked like it was made of black rock, and the only thing that could break through the black rock was more black rock. This was why he needed the moonstone.
Lance closed his eyes, reading for the power that he was harnessing, and let it all out. There was a crashing and crumbling sound, followed by an alarmed sound from both Horace and Varian. When the dust settled Lance opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that a few black rocks had grown through the ground and broken through the wall.
The whole thing didn't collapse, which was probably a good thing, because Ruddiger was still standing right next to the wall and possessed or not Lance really didn't want to kill the raccoon. The black rock had just broken a hole through the wall.
Ruddiger chattered excitedly and scampered up the black rock. He jumped into the hole, exploring the walls. Lance held a hand out protectively to make sure that Varian and Horace didn't get too close. They waited anxiously for a long moment before they heard a triumphant sound that it was hard to believe had come from a raccoon. Soon Ruddiger came climbing out of the hole, dragging a thick book behind him.
"Wh-what is that?" Varian asked. Lance had never thought he'd hear the kid sound so nervous to see a book. "It feels…it feels like my nightmares."
"Your nightmares." Horace looked thoughtful for a long moment. Lance thought that he was putting together the same pieces that he had figured out a little bit ago. "That book, it belonged to Zhan Tiri."
"I think so, yes." Lance said. "I'm thinking spellbook." Just because, in a spooky place like this and a demonic spirit, what other kind of book could it be.
While they talked, Ruddiger opened the spellbook and started to peruse the pages. Horace stared at him in alarm before he steeled his expression and took a step towards the raccoon. "If it's a spellbook, we can't let Zhan Tiri use it. Who knows what she can do with it."
Lance gently but firmly pushed Horace back. "Don't. I've got this." They had come way too far for Horace to ruin it all. Lance, despite his nerves, moved towards the book and nudged it closed with his foot. "Hey, we had a deal, remember? And reading your book wasn't part of that." Lance didn't want to give Zhan Tiri the chance to find a good spell and curse them.
Ruddiger's eyes flashed dangerously as he glared at Lance. He felt unnerved about having a demon look at him like this, but the fact that it was with the eyes of a cute little raccoon made it a little less intimidating.
Their staring contest lasted for a long moment before Ruddiger sighed and closed his eyes. Ruddiger was still for a long moment before his fur stood on end and a chilling breeze from nowhere brushed past them. Lance shivered. He caught a glimpse of what looked like a ghostly little girl, who smirked dangerously at them. Before he could get a good glimpse at her, the girl vanished along with the chill and ominous feeling in the room.
They were all still for a long moment before Ruddiger's eyes snapped open, and Lance had never been so happy to see those deep, dark eyes of his. Ruddiger looked around, looking momentarily confused, before he laid eyes on Varian. Ruddiger perked up and scampered over to Varian to nuzzle and lick at him.
"What…what happened?" Varian asked what they were all wondering.
"Zhan Tiri's gone." Lance said. "Ruddiger's his own raccoon again." Varian looked at Lance with wide, hopeful eyes.
"You…you got me Ruddiger back?" Varian asked breathlessly, sounding like the kid that he was. "Zhan Tiri's not coming back?"
"Not that I'm not thrilled, but what's the cost?" Horace asked. "What exactly was your deal with Zhan Tiri?"
"She would leave Ruddiger alone." Lance said as he picked up the book. He knew it was still a spellbook, but it didn't feel dangerous or nefarious. It felt like any other book. "In return, I would help her get to a magical item that she lost when she was in the Dark Kingdom so long ago." Lance looked at the book. "She didn't tell me what the object was, just that it had a portion of her magic. That's why she wanted it. If she has more of her power, then she wouldn't have to rely on possessing a raccoon."
Horace looked like he was battling with his anger. "So Zhan Tiri is stronger, and out who knows where…but Ruddiger is okay."
Varian blinked and looked at the hole in the wall. "Zhan Tiri's power was in that book? And it's always just been right here in that wall?" Varian shuddered. "I-is that why I had those nightmares and felt her? Because a part of her was right there?"
"I'm afraid so." Lance said sympathetically. Varian looked a little scared, and Lance couldn't blame him at all. He would completely lose it if he found out that his childhood bedroom had basically been haunted by a portion of an angry spirit's magic or soul.
Varian took a deep breath to calm himself before a small smile came to his face. It was not at all what Lance had expected from him. "So I didn't feel Zhan Tiri because I was weak, it was because she was literally there." Varian let out a small laugh. "That…that's actually a relief, you know?"
Lance actually didn't know, but he was glad that Varian was happy and feeling a little bit better about himself.
Horace gave Varian a small smile before he turned to Lance and reached for the book. "May I?"
"Be my guest." Lance was happy to hand over the book. He had absolutely no interest in it, and while the Brotherhood's main focus was on protecting the moonstone they still protected Zhan Tiri's power. If anybody could do some good with this book, it was the Brotherhood.
Actually, that reminded Lance of something else that that Brotherhood was best suited to protect. Lance took the moonstone and willingly offered it to Horace, who looked relieved to take it and put it in his satchel.
"Thank you." Horace said.
"Hey, I just needed it to get the book." Lance said. "It's all yours."
They all jumped when they heard a loud cawing as Hamuel flew into the room and crashed into the wall. Horace sighed and picked up the bird.
"I knew we didn't have long." Horace said. "It looks like the Brotherhood's here." He looked at Lance. "You know they're not going to be anywhere near as understanding of this as I am."
"I can take it." Lance said. He was a little nervous about the Brotherhood, but he hoped that if he volunteered to work with them to hunt down Zhan Tiri and actually take care of the problem instead of just letting her roam free, then they might cut him some slack. "Honestly, I've got some stuff to talk to them about too." Lance knew that essentially kidnapping Varian had been a short-term solution, but he didn't know if he trusted them to be good for the kid.
Varian pet Ruddiger, frowning slightly. "Is there going to be more fighting?"
Lance and Horace looked at each other. Without saying a word they seemed to be thinking the same thing. Varian had been dealing with far too much, and they shouldn't add more to that. If he didn't want them to fight, then they would do their best to not fight. They didn't know how well this would work, but they had to try.
Hopefully they could find a compromise and some solutions with minimal violence and yelling.
A/N: There's going to be one more chapter after this, just to tie up some of the loose ends.
It was actually a fairly recent decision for me to have Zhan Tiri want to get to an old magical item of hers, but I was so excited when the idea came to my mind. For so long I've been talking about Varian's nightmares and how he was vulnerable to Zhan Tiri's influence, but I never really came up with a reason why. I was ecstatic to have thought of something that works well with both of these things.