The noonday sun was bright in the sky as Varian followed Shay back to the Haderon Forest. After what had happened in the crypt, the adrenaline was finally starting to wear off, and a headache spread out through his brain in a painful wildfire. His arms shook when he raised them, and his legs felt like jelly as he climbed over tree roots and up rocky slopes. They walked on for nearly an hour without speaking, their minds muddled and frayed. It felt as though they had just woken up from a nightmare. The only one who didn't seem affected was Rudiger, who scampered back and forth through the tall grass like nothing strange or terrifying had happened.

Eventually, the tension reached a peak, and Varian couldn't take it anymore. "Shay," he spoke into the silence. "Listen, what happened back there –"

"Don't," she cut him off without turning around. Her voice was a terse, husky bark, a tone she was very unused to. A grey frog jumped out of her path, and Rudiger chased noisily after it, his black nose twitching.

Varian reached out to steady himself on a tree trunk. "Will you just stop for a second? Do you even care that we just left him down there? I mean, I don't know if you're aware that my compound wears off in about a day. That doesn't give us much time to –"

Shay whirled on him, her hair flying about her heated face. Varian didn't even have time to brace himself for what he knew was going to be a very hot outburst. "'Us?' 'Us?' The walls of my mother's house are thin, Varian Quirinson. I have good ears – I heard everything that Caius said to you last night, and you believed every single word of it!" She was shouting now, broken and hysterical as red sparks started to dance through her black hair. "You say you trust me, but only after what? You had to see just how helpless I was, had to threaten my life – and after I saved yours – so that you could be sure which side to choose?!"

"What other choice did I have?!" Varian shouted back. "I know there's something that you're not telling me about all this. That never spells out trust, no matter what country or kingdom you come from!"

"Like you're one to talk!" Shay retorted. Her hands were literally on fire, illuminating the nasty scrape that had torn her dress. "Prison? Threatening to kill the queen? I know when Caius is lying, and you didn't even try to deny his claims! When exactly were you going to tell me that you're a wanted criminal? Or was it always going to be strictly need-to-know?!"

Varian's brain stalled for an instant. "It's not what you think," he ground out between his teeth.

Shay clapped her flaming hands to her sides. "Of course not. You probably don't even believe that I can think, do you?"

"Oh, don't make this a sexist issue! I don't expect anyone to understand. How could they when even the princess herself knew what was going on and still didn't keep her promise?" Varian didn't even realize it, but he had started tugging his equipment off, tossing his satchel to the ground as he struggled to breathe. It felt like the entire forest was closing in on him, suffocating him, threatening to drown him in its leering shadows. "Do you know what it's like to be screaming in a crowd of people and no one can hear you?!" He threw his gloves into the grass, flung his coat to the side. "I did what had to be done because it was the only way to even get noticed, let alone find the answers that I needed! And you know what I got out of it? NOTHING!"

He broke off, panting, waiting for Shay to speak. She looked shaken, her eyebrows a stormy, rigid line over her startled gaze. The fire in her fingers had started to die. Varian's eyes bored into hers as he gave a shaky sigh. "Nothing," he continued, wetting his lips. "Just a dead flower and a princess' pity." He set his back to the tree trunk and slid to the ground, sitting on its gnarled root with his arms over his knees. He curled and uncurled his naked fingers, trying to air out his sweaty palms. "I knew I could trust you by the face you made. The princess made the same expression, that innocent disbelief, when I betrayed her. No one can fake a face like that."

Shay asked the question: "What happened?"

Varian started at the beginning, from the day the princess first came to his house in the village, asking about her strange, golden hair. He told her about when the black rocks began to appear in the fields, about his father's audience with the king. He even told her about the science exposition, the embarrassment he'd suffered there. He told her about his failed experiments, the one that cost him everything. He told her about the princess Rapunzel's broken promise and neglect. He told her about the day he was imprisoned. He told her everything, and she listened without a single interruption.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone," he finished. "All I ever wanted was to help. I was supposed to be village leader someday, to set an example for the people. Now it's a future I'll never have." He checked his thumb where the dye had leaked out. His pale skin was stained red, the dark and angry color seeping under his nail. "I swore that I would free my father if it's the last thing I ever do. My dad is all I have left. And I can't –" His voice cracked, and tears welled in his eyes. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I won't accept the possibility that I'll never be able to free him. My dad seemed to trust your mother. Or, at least, she trusted him, enough to leave him with a map to find her. I have to believe that if I can free her, she'll have some idea of what I can do." He looked up at her, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do you understand? I can't give up now, not after everything I've done. There has to be a way."

They stood there under the trees, quiet and still. Shay fixed the ground with a watery stare, flicking a stray tear from her smudged cheek. A gentle breeze whistled through the leaves, rustling as silver branches wavered overhead. The wind tangled Varian's unkempt hair, dark and blue strands floating in and out of his view. Rudiger returned, his fur mussed and damp from tumbling through a nearby stream. He crawled into Varian's lap, purring contentedly into his chest. Varian stroked the raccoon, his heartbeat slowing as the creature's fur calmed his trembling fingers. He wasn't sure how long it was before Shay finally spoke.

"Varian," she said, her voice soft again. "I need to get to the capitol. I have to find Xavier. He's the only one who can help. But…" She shook her head helplessly. "I don't know the way."

Rudiger leapt out of the way as Varian rose to his feet. "I do," he mumbled as he gathered his things. "I can take you there."

"No," Shay anxiously stammered. "It's too dangerous for you, and I-I see that now. You can draw me a map –"

"Caius will be coming," Varian insisted. "I'm no safer here, and neither are you. There's nothing in it for me if I stay here, anyway." He closed the distance between them and stood there, weary but resolute. "I don't know if you could ever trust me again, and by this point, I don't expect you to. But you're the closest thing to a friend I have now. You asked me if we were in this together. I know I've done terrible things. I don't know if I can make up for them...but I'm going to try."

He expected her to turn away, to tell him everything he expected to hear. She had to be angry, how could she not be? But Shay started to wring her hands instead, biting her lip. "Varian," she whispered, staring into the air over his shoulder. "I don't know if my mother can help you."

Varian coughed out a single, dry chuckle. "I knew that from the start, remember? It's still a better chance than anything else the world has given me. Besides, I…" He became sober once more. "I'm in your debt, Shay. The least I can do is try to keep you safe, after everything you've done for me. Of course, I suppose I haven't done a very good job of that so far, but…What?"

Shay eyes had finally moved to meet his. Her face had crumpled into the same wistful, vulnerable look she'd given him the night they'd escaped the crypt. She reached out hesitantly, and Varian's eyes widened as she gave him a very gentle, very unexpected hug. She barely touched him, like she was embracing a frightened animal, afraid that he would run away. But it had been a long time since Varian had been shown any sort of affection, and it pierced his heart like he'd been shot again. He drew her close and held her, his chest compressing with emotion until he couldn't breathe. He could feel her heart beating fast, like a little bird that had once flown into his room in Old Corona. It had been a pretty bird, soft and grey with a white downy breast. It had made beautiful sounds as he had coaxed it back to the open window, releasing it into the fresh spring air. The memory was sweet; it reminded him of better days. Having someone hold him made him dare to believe that there could be days like that again, days when he could smile and know that what he was doing was right. Even when he let go of her, he still grasped the feeling and folded it carefully away in his mind, so he wouldn't forget it.

"We shouldn't waste time," he told her. "We need to get moving, before your uncle catches up to us."

Eugene had just returned to the campfire with more dry wood in his hands when he saw Rapunzel sitting by the flames, her eyes wide and red with sleeplessness. It was late into the night; even Cassandra was asleep, adding to the cacophony of noise their companions produced in their deep slumber.

"Blondie?" he asked as he set his stack of wood down and sat next to her by the fire. The lively embers caused her gold locks to shimmer in sheets around her. "There a reason why you're up so late? Not that you have a curfew or anything, heaven forbid I enforce something like that on a princess."

Rapunzel sighed, poking at a loose log with a prodding stick. Pascal was asleep on her head; the chameleon licked his lips once, as if tasting a fly in his dreams.

"Oh, dear," Eugene scratched the back of his neck. "I know that sigh by now. You either stepped in something earlier, or you had a nightmare."

"No," Rapunzel grumbled, her full lips pursing into a pout. "Not a nightmare, exactly. Just…"

Eugene stretched his legs out, leaning back on his hands. "Come on, Blondie. What's on your mind? I know a lot of crazy things have been happening lately – which is a complete understatement, now that I've said it out loud."

Rapunzel sighed again, lifting her eyes towards the star-strewn sky. The moon stretched out in a wide circle above them, sprinkling pale streams of light over the darkened landscape. "I had a dream about what happened last year, in Old Corona. Varian was there, in his automaton suit-machine-thing, but he couldn't control it. I was reaching out to the black rocks, trying to use them like I had back then. But when I reached for them, they started moving away from me. Then I saw someone I've never seen before. A woman with red hair and a strange voice, calling out to me." She shook her head helplessly. "She seemed familiar, but I don't remember meeting anyone like her. Then I woke up, and I couldn't get back to sleep."

"Well, of course you couldn't," Eugene said whimsically. "You were dreaming about Varian, the crazy kid, instead of me, so you had to come see me in the real world. It's completely understandable." He cleared his throat when his jest received only a small smile from his favorite girl. "Look, all jokes aside, sometimes dreams are just that. Every once in a while, you have a weird and wacky dream that involves vengeful teenaged alchemists and temperamental magic rock-spike-things, and it doesn't actually have any meaning. Not that I would know personally – the few dreams I actually remember when I wake up are about lounging on a beach or sharing a very passionate kiss with you. Sometimes both."

"Eugene!"

Eugene held up his hands. "I'm just saying! It's just your brain dusting cobwebs, and there's a little navel lint mixed in with it, and it all gets aired out in the light of day."

Rapunzel gave a weak laugh. "Maybe you're right, Eugene. Maybe I'm just trying too hard to see something that isn't there." Her face became somber once more. "But it makes me wonder. We have to go back to Corona eventually. I guess I'm just worried…what are we going to find there? What will be waiting for us?"

Eugene took her hand and pressed his mouth to her palm. "Our future, Rapunzel. That's what waits for us there."