Chapter 31
Saporian

Varian was clothed in a dark coat, white pants and black boots...
On the coat, was a patch that had the Saporian symbol on it.
It mocked him, at least, he felt it did. He didn't like it.
He added his own little touch by wrapping his red bandana around his neck.

Varian looked in the dirty mirror, the outfit reminded him of the streets of the Kingdom of Corona, not the good parts, the bad parts. Bullied by the older kids; Lady Caine jumping him; Running from the Royal Guards; Stealing and Breaking into Houses... The guillotine.

Varian got a fountain-pen out of his bag and drew a fake goatee on his chin.
...That made him a little happy, but he just wanted to be out of here.

But Cassandra would get him out, right? She was tough, and strong, and clever, and-

Varian shook his head; now wasn't the time to think about how cool Cassandra was.

Andrew walked into the room and saw Varian in his new outfit. "Ah, you look great." Andrew put his hand on Varian's shoulder roughly, looking into the mirror with Varian.

"Looking in this mirror, I see a powerful, handsome, smart individual." Andrew said. Varian looked down at the floor and smiled slightly at the compliment. "Oh and look, then there's you." Andrew pointed at Varian and laughed, letting go of Varian's shoulder and walking off.

Varian's smile faded and he glared; right, Andrew was a jerk. Of course.

"So, alchemist-" Andrew started, "Varian." Varian corrected him. "-Whatever. Can you make something that'll destroy all of the Kingdom of Corona?" Andrew glanced over his shoulder to look at Varian with cold eyes. "No. I can't." Varian faced Andrew and crossed his arms.

"Can't? Or won't." Andrew raised a brow.
"Can't." Varian glared harder at him.
"I still think you mean won't." Andrew grabbed Varian's shoulders roughly and stared him down.
"You... You don't scare me." Varian hissed; though he was terrified.

Andrew stared for quite a moment before letting go of Varian with a push, which made Varian stumble a bit, and then Andrew slapped him across the face, which then knocked Varian down. "I should." He sneered at him with wicked eyes. "I'll be in the other room." Andrew walked out and closed the door and locked it. Varian looked at the door, holding his face...

Tears prickled in Varian's eyes; he felt like he did back in the alleyways.
Except Andrew was all three bullies at once.

"Cassie... Please help me..." Varian hugged his knees and buried his face, sniffling and crying.

Cassandra was making a mess of the hotel, throwing blankets and pillows around, shouting and cursing at herself (and to Andrew) for what had happened this morning. Owl had hid underneath the bed with Ruddiger to avoid any projectile-pillows. Cassandra finally calmed down and plopped on the bed, laying down and looking at the ceiling.

"I have to figure out a plan to rescue Varian, before Andrew hurts him, then I'll have to hurt Andrew." Cassandra said out loud. Owl and Ruddiger crawled out from underneath the bed and went to her, nuzzling her as comfort. "Thanks guys, I appreciate you two..." Cassandra sighed.

"...What would Raps do..." She said quietly.
Rapunzel was always getting herself or someone else out of tough, sometimes even dangerous, situations, so how could Cassandra do the same? What did Rapunzel do that she didn't?

Varian had to occasionally wipe down the inside of his goggles and his eyes, both, because it was hard to see through a series of tears, but he was doing it... He was trying to help Andrew, he didn't want to, but he had to if he wanted to not get hurt and abused.

He looked closely at the serum he was creating and then gently poured it in a flask in a metal stand, slowly the green liquid shot through the tubes and went through various other flasks and bottles. "If my calculations are correct..." He mumbled to himself...

While mumbling, Varian started hearing an abnormal sizzling noise, so he looked towards the beaker of green liquid and noticed it was bubbling and acting very unstable. His eyes widened and suddenly, the whole thing shattered and exploded, knocking him into the wall, covered in green goop. "And it appears my calculations...were incorrect." His voice cracked, stuck to the wall until the goop's stickiness finally wore off and he face planted to the floor.

Andrew unlocked the door and came in and noticed all this.
He looked at the liquid and judged what happened from there.

Then he got an idea.
"That serum is perfect, make a bunch of it and put it in a barrel." He said.

"What?" Varian looked up at him, his hands against the floor, green goo covering his face, goggles and red bandana. "Exactly what I said, it's perfect, make a bunch and put it in a barrel." Andrew repeated, crossing his arms. "But it's unstable and might explode..." Varian whimpered.

Andrew's calm stare turned into a wide, evil smile. "Exactly." He said.
"Perfect for destroying Kingdoms."

Varian looked down and frowned while Andrew laughed to himself, walking out of the room again, locking the door behind him. Varian wanted to curl up into a ball so much right now...