Chapter 12
Coronian Sun
(Author's Note)
Poor Varian and Cassandra... :(
~ VarianLeAlchimiste
Cassandra ran to the Stabbington Sisters, holding the satchel. "Ah, there you are! I've been searching everywhere for you girls since we got separated." She said.
She looked over at Catalina, "Hey, the pigtails are coming in nice, huh? You gotta be excited about that." Then she looked towards Angry. "Anyhow, just wanted to say, I shouldn't have split. The crown is all yours." Cassandra threw the satchel to the two.
Cassandra went to walk off, "I'll miss you, but I think it's for the... best." But she was stopped.
"Holding out on us again? Eh, Rider?" Angry crossed her arms.
"What?" Cassandra stopped and looked at Angry.
"We heard you found something." Catalina spoke, which was rare. "Something much more valuable than a crown. We want her, instead." Angry glared.
Cassandra's eyes widened and she stepped back, "No."
Varian waited for a while, until he saw a silhouette what appeared to be Cassandra, which alit his eyes because he was so glad she came back. "I was starting to think you ran off with the crown and left me." Varian said with relief.
Until he realized, it wasn't Cassandra.
The silhouette split into two silhouettes. "He did." Angry shrugged.
"What? No! She wouldn't." Varian
Angry smirked, and she moved her hand towards the water, "See for yourself."
Cassandra was sailing across the water, away from Varian, Angry and Red.
Varian gasped, "Cassie?"
"Cassie!" He cried for her.
Angry snickered, "Fair trade. A crown, for the boy with the magic hair."
Catalina asked, "How much do you think someone will pay to stay young and healthy forever?"
Varian panicked, his eyes pricking with tears. "No, please..."
Angry pulled out a bag and slowly walked towards him. Varian cried, "No! No!" He quickly ran off.
He ran, and ran, but then his hair got caught on a log. "Aah! No!" Varian pulled tightly, even though it hurt him to do so, but... Angry and Red didn't come for him.
Varian looked confused, until he heard Cap. "Varian!"
"Father?" Varian slowly got his hair out of the log and came around the corner to see Father Cap holding a big stick, the two girls passed out in the grass.
"Oh, my wonderful son!" Father Cap dropped the stick.
"Father..." Varian ran to him and hugged him.
Father Cap made him stop hugging him and looked at him closely, "Are you all right?"
"Are you hurt?" He asked.
"Father, how did you?-" Varian asked.
"I was so worried about you, boy. So I followed you. And I saw them attack you." Cap explained.
He then tried to beckon Varian to follow him, "Let's go, let's go before they come to!"
Varian looked at the water, across it, actually, at the sailboat that Cassandra left in. Tears rolled down his eyes; how could she have lied to him? After all this time...
He let out a sob and then turned around to his father, then ran and hugged him tightly again.
"You were right, Father. You were right about everything." He cried profusely.
Father Cap comforted him, "I know, son. I know..." And then they headed back to the tower...
The sailboat eased its' way to the dock of the Kingdom, getting noticed by the Royal Guards. They looked closely and they saw Cassandra and the crown, but...
Cassandra was unconscious and tied to the seat and wheel to appear as if she had left Varian.
"Look! The crown!" The guards saw the crown.
She slowly woke up, "Varian?"
Blinking her eyes, she spoke again; "Varian?!"
She saw the Royal Guards heading towards the sailboat, "Wait, wait, wait! Guys, guys!"
Fidella heard this from the pier and turned to see the Royal Guards roughly pulling Cassandra away; she was struggling and shouting; "Varian!" She called and cried for him.
Fidella looked to where they had originally sailed with a terrified look on her face.
Something really, really bad had happened.
Early the next morning, Cassandra paced restlessly in her dungeon cell, upset and worried about Varian, until Captain Gothel opened the cell. "Let's get this over with, Rider." She said coldly.
Cassandra confusedly asked, "Where are we going?"
Until she suddenly realized... She slowly put her hand on her neck. "Oh..."
Back at the tower, Father Cap was cleaning Varian's hair of all the flowers.
"There, it never happened." He stood up and threw the flowers off to the side.
He walked out, "Now, wash up for dinner. I'm making hazelnut soup."
There was silence, no movement.
So he walked back in, to see Varian staring at the floor sadly, sitting on his bed.
"I really did try, Varian. I tried to warn you, what was out there. The world is dark, and selfish, and cruel. If it finds even the slightest ray of sunshine, It destroys it." Cap sighed and explained.
Father Cap then left, closing the curtain-door and walking downstairs.
Varian sadly opened up his hands and looked at the balled-up Coronian flag that Cassandra had bought him. He glanced over at Ruddiger, who was carefully petting Varian's leg in a comforting manner, a very sad look on his face, chattering quietly.
Varian smiled at Ruddiger, it was very small, barely a smile at all it was so tiny. He laid down in the bed, holding the flag to his chest, staring at the ceilings he had painted with all his alchemy recipes, and research, and illustrations...
Then something...just...hit him.
It was small, like the smile he showed Ruddiger.
He looked at the flag carefully, held it up to the ceiling, squinting at it, then moved the flag away from the ceiling and back again a few times before sitting up. He looked closer, and closer, and closer, and closer... Until he saw it. Right within his alchemy.
On one of the illustrations of the bottles...
The Coronian Sun.
Then he kept looking around on the ceiling, and kept seeing more, and more of them. Some on other illustrations of bottles, capsules and crystals, some as symbols that explained how to do his recipes and such, and even on a doodle of a cup of hot chocolate...
The Coronian Sun.
He ran out to the middle of the tower, out of his room, and looked at all his alchemy writings and he kept seeing them, all of them. It all had the coronian sun on them, each and every illustration!
He suddenly had a flashback to a crib, it was so blurry and faint though.
King Quirin and Queen Ulla were looking down at him, smiling.
Then he had a flashback to the mosaic, showing the three, including the baby boy that... that was him! He even had a flashback to seeing the crown in the satchel...
He jumped back, surprised, knocking into some of the tables and falling.
It couldn't be!
