Book I: Serial Dilution
Chapter X: Snow Day
Sora yawned as he slowly began to come out of his deep sleep. The fire in the room he and his friends had been given had gone out during the night, and the first thing his conscious senses took note of was that it was unusually cold. It was winter in Corona, certainly, but he hadn't felt this cold the day before!
The spiky-haired teenager reluctantly threw aside the cover of the sleeping bag he had been snoozing in; Donald was still slumbering in one of his own, quacking quietly in his sleep, while Goofy snored away in bed, whistling through his large teeth with each exhalation.
The teenager rubbed at his eyes, yawning again and smacking his lips as she scratched his side…then tilted his head and blinked as he saw a strange, white shimmer coming through the closed curtains of the window in the room. He somewhat unsteadily got to his feet and moved over to the window, pulling open the curtains…
…And his jaw dropped at what he saw. The clouds that had gathered the day and night before had finally loosed their bounty onto Corona.
"Snow," he breathed…then a childish, eager smile came over his face as she hurried to wake his friends up. "Hey! HEY, DONALD! GOOFY! GUYS, IT'S SNOWING!"
An hour or two later, Sora and Company hurried out of the palace and trotted into the castle courtyard. A blanket of purest white, sparkling in the sunshine that shone through the gaps in the gray clouds above, was spread out before them, covering much of the grounds and dusting the paths – the paths would have had more on them, but some of the servants had just finished clearing them for easier movement. Donald had used his magic to create thick winter coats and mittens for himself and his two traveling companions; wrapped up warmly in such gear, Sora grinned widely, blue eyes bright and shiny, as he felt a kind of deep warmth fill his heart. It was like Christmas had come early!
The trio headed towards the gates; Flynn Rider, Rapunzel, and of course Pascal (once again perched on Rapunzel's shoulder) were all assembled in a line. They were also dressed in winter gear: Eugene Fitzherbert was garbed in a wooly green cap and matching jacket and mittens, while Rapunzel wore a long, pink coat lined with fur, as well as a pair of pink earmuffs and winter gloves.
The King and Queen stood by the Royal carriage; Arianna wore a large wooly blue hat, and a similar long coat to Rapunzel and gloves to Rapunzel; hers were in shades of blue to match her headgear. Frederic was garbed in a darker shade of blue, with a royal feathered cap that likely didn't help much for warmth, but certainly looked fitting atop his regal head.
At the head of the gilded carriage, the trio noticed a familiar white stallion, the strong horse standing tall and proud, his light yellow mane, cut short in the style of many military steeds. The horse glanced back over its shoulder and grinned, then let out a celebratory neigh as it saw the trio approach.
"Hey there, Maximus!" Sora called out with a wave. "Long time, no see!"
The teenager's call attracted the attention of Eugene and the royal family. They all smiled, and Pascal gave a friendly wave.
"Well, there you all are," chuckled Frederic. "We were hoping our guests would be on time to see us off."
"Sorry if we're a bit late," Goofy apologized. "I guess we slept in a bit…"
"No worries," Arianna said in a soothing tone that made all three smile and feel even warmer yet; it was as if every word was perfectly motherly, no matter who she addressed.
The Queen then turned to Rapunzel and gave her daughter a hug. Pascal joined in, hugging and nuzzling against the Queen's neck.
"We'll send a message your way as soon as we reach the mountain retreat," the Queen assured her daughter.
"I'm so excited for you guys!" laughed Rapunzel as she pulled back, then looked to the white horse. "Take good care of them, Max!"
Max nodded and smiled proudly, holding his head high as he snorted out steam from his nostrils into the cold air. Pascal gave the horse a thumbs-up.
"Now, you two kids have fun!" teased Flynn with a chuckle…which subsided at the dry look the King gave them. Frederic glanced about, taking in the sight of the snow-covered courtyard; he seemed rather worried as he also eyed the clouds overhead.
"You're positive you'll be fine on your own?" he urged Rapunzel. "Because…we could stay. We have plenty more anniversaries to look forward to in the future, I'm sure."
"Frederic!" snickered the Queen, nudging him in the chest.
"Don't worry, Dad," Rapunzel soothed. "I've got this."
"Yeah, Your Majesty!" Donald grinned stepping forward and puffing out his chest. "We'll have everything under control!"
Frederic looked doubtful. The worried look he noticed on Pascal's face did not help his nerves, either.
"Ah…thank you," he said slowly…then blinked as he glanced toward's Eugene's booted feet. "Wait…I'm sorry, are those MY boots, or…?"
"Why, would you look at the time!" laughed Flynn and hurried to move behind Sora and Goofy. "You two had better get a move on, or you'll never get there before nightfall!"
Frederic scowled half-heartedly, while Sora, Eugene, and Goofy all flashed innocent smiles.
"They're right," Rapunzel said, and gave her father a hug. "And I won't let you down."
"I know you won't, sweetie," the King smiled, brushing a thumb against her cheek. "Just remember this: when you have to take the lead – even for a short while – many voices will cry out to be heard. Never forget that the voice in your heart is the one you should follow."
"I'll try to remember," Rapunzel swore, and then bid her parents a final farewell as they stepped into the carriage. Max let out a short whinny and then galloped out of the castle gates, towing the carriage behind him with a confident puff of air.
The five heroes waved farewell to the couple, and then sighed with some relief as the carriage disappeared into the snowy streets.
"Well, Sunshine," Flynn said, placing a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, "What's first on today's agenda? Because I was thinking a good ol' fashioned kitchen raid would be-GAH?!"
Flynn yelped and stumbled forward as a snowball smacked into the back of his head, knocking his cap over his eyes. He glared vengefully back at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as the two cartoonish animals sniggered, and Sora, innocently, turned his head up towards the sky with a whistle.
Rapunzel and Pascal glanced at each other with matching smirks.
"I think I have an idea for how to get this day on a good foot!" the Princess nearly sang.
Sometime not so long after, Rapunzel stood on the balcony outside the palace, with two ramps leading up and down from the speaking area to the courtyard below. Sora and Flynn stood to her left, while Donald and Goofy stood to her right. Several dozen people had gathered in the courtyard below, after receiving word from the town crier that the Princess had a proclamation to deliver.
Rapunzel stepped up to the railing, placing her gloved hands upon it.
"Ahem!" she coughed, and then lifted her arms as she raised her voice, letting it ring through the snowy sky: "Friends and Loyal Subjects! As your Temporary Queen, I hereby declare today to be…A SNOW DAY! "
A hearty, happy cheer rose from the crowd; in an instant, people were taking advantage of the moment. A group of kids gathered together to build a snowman in the courtyard (the King and Queen had never minded such antics, and Rapunzel certainly didn't), and another group of people found the frozen pond in the courtyard and began to skate. Still others left the courtyard entirely, heading back to their homes to enjoy the day off from work and have fun in the snow with their families.
Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's hand with a grin and pulled her beau towards one of the icy ramps.
"C'mon, Eugene!" she sang out. "Let's slide!"
"Uh…B-B-Blondie!" Flynn sputtered. "Sunshine, I'm not…look, I'm awesome, I know, but I'm not that good at-YAAAAAAH!"
"WOO-HOO!" cheered Rapunzel as she and her reluctant boyfriend slid down the icy slope of the ramp and thudded into a soft bank of snow at the bottom. "Ha HA! That was fun! I was never able to play in the snow back in my tower; what else can I do?"
"You could help me out, for a start," came Flynn Rider's muffled voiced; he had landed into the snow bank headfirst.
Sora chuckled at the sight…then yelped shrilly as he felt something wet and round hit him in the shoulder. He turned and looked down…and found Donald and Goofy each at the bottom of the other ramp, bouncing snowballs in their palms with challenging smiles.
Sora matched their grins.
"Ohhhh-ho-ho, if that's how you two wanna play it!" he cackled, and formed a snowball of his own before hurling it towards them. He'd been aiming for Goofy's chest, but the bipedal pooch clumsily managed to bound out of the way. Donald ducked and hurled his snowball at Sora.
The keybearer ducked the snowball, and with a whoop and a holler slid down the ramp on his feet, almost like he was surfing a wave. As he went, he gathered snow in his hand off the railing, then hurled it in a loose clump towards Donald. The duck quacked as he lifted an arm to shield his eyes…at which point Goofy, who had recovered tossed a snowball at his tail.
"WAAAAK! HEY!" Donald exploded, and began to chase after Goofy. "You're gonna pay for that one!"
Goofy chortled and tried to run…by the angry duck tackled him into snow and began to tickle him.
Sora grinned as he watched his traveling companions battle it out…then, as if by instinct ducked as a pair of snowballs flew over his brown-haired head. He whipped around fast…just fast enough to see a green jacket and a flash of golden hair dive behind two bushes.
"Bad form! From the back?" he jeered.
"Says the kid who nearly knocked my hat off!" came Flynn's voice.
Sora rolled his eyes and prepared another snowball.
"Okay then! I'll take you all on!" he taunted, somewhat dramatically…and the moment Rapunzel poked her head out, a ball of snow ready to hurl at him, he pitched his first.
"Hey!" giggled the Princess as her hair was dusted with white powdered crystals.
"NONE CAN DEFEAT THE MIGHTY SORA!" laughed the teenager, as the snowball battle continued, dodging pitches from right and left as Donald and Goofy's laughter rang out behind him.
Maybe Yen Sid WAS wrong, he began to think. After all, on a day like this was turning out so far…what could possibly go wrong?
Old Corona was silent and empty in the snow. Quirin had seen to it all of the people in the village by now had been moved to the land Frederic had granted. He'd put Peter in charge of taking care of things till he got there, shortly explaining there was some business he needed to take care of before he moved himself.
In the old, dark castle he called home, the middle-aged ex-knight quietly opened the chest near his bed. He sighed softly as he pulled an old helmet, with a long scratch running along one of the eyeholes, out of the box. His reflection was murky and gray as the cold sky outside as he stared into his own eyes in the long-unpolished metal.
Quirin's eyes drifted upwards as he looked at the painting he had hung over the spot where he kept the old chest. The image showed a younger, more clean-cut vision of himself, a look of absolute love and bliss in his eyes as he held onto the shoulders of a young, red-haired young lady with baby blue eyes. The woman smiled with equal love, both of them looking down at the little white bundle in her arms…from which out peeked the round, bare head of a bucktoothed baby boy, with eyes just like his mother's, freckles on his little rosy cheeks.
Quirin smiled a faltering, frail smile, and wiped the back of his gloved hand across his face. He put the helmet back in the chest and turned his head down, continuing to rummage through the items within, taking careful stock of the contents…
…And steadily, as he went through everything…his expression changed. The sentimental softness left his eyes as his search became slightly more feverish. His face visibly shifted to confusion…then worry…then realization…
…Then something between both anger and dread.
"The Scroll," he whispered to himself…then looked back over his shoulder towards his door…as if looking past it and down the stairs beyond.
"Varian."
"Never give up, Ruddiger!" Varian declared, pounding one fist on his table, while his raccoon buddy nodded in decisive agreement. "Physical force can only keep these 'Heartless' at bay for so long…but these creatures have never had to contend with the awesome power of Alchemy!"
He snickered with glee and then turned his attention to the scroll he had unfurled across his table. He rubbed his chin in thought with one hand, as the other spread out the scroll and smoothed its surface.
"The answer has to be here somewhere!" he insisted, and then moved to his chemistry set, looking it over thoughtfully. "If I can just find the reason, I can find a way to fix the Soranium, o-or maybe brew something new to deal with these monsters! It's only a matter of time before they attack again, and I don't think changing locations will stop them. We don't know how far, exactly, they've spread!"
Ruddiger nodded again, then scampered over and carefully climbed onto the chemistry table. He began to inspect various vials on a rack, as if looking for some special ingredient.
Varian smiled at his pet, then turned back around and lifted the scroll in both hands. He gave it a shake and bit his lip as he tried to read the ancient runes upon it.
"I'm just trying to decipher this legend…if I can work out-"
"VARIAN!"
The teenager squeaked like a trapped mouse and jumped, instinctively shoving the scroll behind his back. Ruddiger yelped and rolled off the table, before scampering to hide behind the curtained alcove of the laboratory.
"Oh! Oh, uh…h-hi, Dad!" Varian grinned oh-so-innocently. "Is, um…ah…h-have you finished getting ready to…you know…heh heh…oh, boy, I'm in trouble…"
Quirin scowled as he entered the lab, shutting the door behind him.
"So," he almost growled. "You DO have the scroll."
Varian gulped.
"Scroll?" he replied in a strangled sort of voice. "Wh-what scroll?"
"This is about those dark creatures, isn't it?" Quirin snapped. "I thought I told you…!"
"Ye-yeah, um…okay, listen, dad, I know what you said, b-b-but-"
"THEN THERE SHOULD BE NO MISUNDERSTANDING!" Quirin shouted, and stomped forward. He reached over his son's shoulder and snatched away the scroll from behind his back. Varian flinched and let out a small, sharp whimper, turning his eyes downward.
"Son, I know you mean well, but those things…and all of THIS?" Quirin went on, gesturing to the workshop with the beaten-up parchment roll. "It's all too dangerous! Listen to me now: you should-"
"NO!
Quirin jumped back, startled; in fact, nearly shocked. His son had never – not once, in his entire, short life – snapped back at him with such volume and vehemence. The young alchemist was shaking, looking either on the verge of breaking down into tears or laughing hysterically, seething as he looked at his father icily.
"NO, YOU LISTEN TO ME!" Varian yelled. "Dad, our village is DYING! Corona itself is DYING! You think running away is just going to fix everything?! No! Those creatures aren't going away, and I KNOW I can stop them!"
"There's more going on than you realize," Quirin responded, darkly.
"Then tell me what you know!" Varian almost pleaded, voice beginning to grow shaky as he wiped a tear from one of his eyes. "I-I only want to help! I just want you to see what I can do, a-and I can't fix ANYTHING if I don't know how! Please, Dad, just…I deserve to know! D-Don't I?"
Quirin opened his mouth to respond…then suddenly froze. His eyes widened with horror.
"Varian…VARIAN, LOOK OUT!"
The alchemist yelped as suddenly his father charged forward and shoved him to one side. He then drew the short sword from the scabbard at his side, and swung it outwards…
…It swiped through mid-air, as the pair of Heartless that had suddenly materialized in the room – both of them Soldiers, the same kinds that had attacked Varian before – leapt back and away from its sharpened steel point.
Varian stumbled back and caught himself against his chemistry table, gasping with fright as he watched his father swipe and stab at the two Dark Creatures, desperately fighting to fend them off, kicking one to the side when it got too close, then blocking the talons of another.
"Run, Varian!" Quirin bellowed over his shoulder. "Get out of here, now!"
Varian gulped. Run? How could he run?!
"I can't just leave you here to fight them off!" he protested.
Quirin was about to answer…then gasped as the Heartless pounced, and he fell to the floor, nearly on his back, parrying their claws with his blade. The man hit the deck near the alchemist's writing table.
"Just GO!" Quirin roared. "That's an order, boy!"
Varian blinked…then glared.
"Ohhhh, you should NOT have called me 'boy,' Dad," he mumbled, and suddenly ran towards his chemistry set.
"Son? Varian! What are you doing?!" Quirin snapped, as he struggled to get the Heartless away from him, their crimson claws inching towards his chest…
Varian snatched up the flask that contained the Soranium and unsealed it.
"Alright, you…you…whatever-you-ares!" he snarled. "You asked for it! NOBODY MESSES WITH MY DAD!"
The Heartless paused…and their unblinking yellow eyes turned towards Varian, peering at him through their visors.
"You want something to eat?" Varian grinned. "Then EAT THIS!"
And without another word, the teenager hurled the beaker at the Heartless.
KRA-THWOOMPH!
The glass shattered and a cloud of yellowish mist filled the room. Varian coughed and fanned the air; his eyes stung briefly from the pungent smell of the stuff…
…Then he looked up and saw the two soldiers fleeing from the laboratory; they vanished through a pair of dark portals before reaching the door.
Varian blinked, stunned…then grinned widely and began to dance in place, pumping his fists.
"Yes! YES! Ha Ha Ha HA! BOOM, AND THERE IT IS!" Varian cheered, and shook his fist after them. "That's right, run away! Bunch o' little scaredy-goblins! Am I the Awesome Alchemist, or AM I THE AWESOME-?!"
"Son…"
Varian froze mid-rant…then slowly turned.
His face went gaunt and pale.
The amber-like crystals he had learned his formula had sprung from the spot where the glass beaker spilled and broke…and as the cloud of mustard-colored mist cleared…he saw his father's entire left side was steadily being engulfed by the crystals as they grew, his arm, hip, and leg already covered in the golden, translucent, glassy constructs as they rose from the floor. Quirin groaned and strained, trying to pull himself free; he pounded at the crystal with his fist, but of course, the amber was unbreakable. Varian had tested it himself. Hammers, hacksaws, gunpowder…nothing.
"No…no, no, no, no!"
Varian tried to move closer.
"Dad! D-Dad…Dad, ho-hold on, I'll get you out…!"
He tried to move around the steadily growing crystals…but a sharp spike jutted out, nearly colliding with him.
"No!" Quirin urged, and held out his hand to stop his son. "Stay back! Please…"
Varian felt his heart pounding as his father gave him a pleading, desperate look. His baby blue eyes flickered as the gears in his head turned fast, desperately looking for a solution. Then, a lightbulb seemed to go off over his head: he'd used the Darkness to create this stuff.
And he had a feeling he knew what might fix that...
"I'll…I'll go get help!" he insisted, nodding energetically. "I swear, I'll…I'll save you, Dad! I'll be back soon, please, just…!"
He trailed off, not finishing his thought, as he raced towards the door out of the laboratory. He grabbed a fur-lined cape of gray, a matching jacket, and a satchel, and then hurried out.
"Son, Wait!" Quirin called out…but either Varian didn't hear him, or simply didn't listen. As the door to the workshop shut, Quirin sighed deeply, his good shoulder slumping. He could hear Varian's footsteps drawing further away. There was a look of tragic resignation in the former warrior's face.
Quirin glanced towards the drafting table…and stretched out as much as he could. He managed to get hold of one of Varian's pencils and a small piece of parchment, and began to scrawl out a message onto it as fast as he could…
Even as Quirin scratched out the message on the paper, Varian stepped out of the castle. The snow was coming down steadily harder. There was no cart, no pony…he'd have to walk. He'd have to run. He pulled his goggles over his face, and lifted the walking stick before pulling three vials from his satchel. The lad gave them a careful shake, and all three – one purple, one green, and one blue – began to glow in the dim gray light.
Varian tied the vials to the walking stick, creating a makeshift glowing staff…then, with a look of resolve on his face, marched off into the snowstorm.
I will save the day this time. Whatever it takes, I'll make it all up to you, if it's the last thing I ever do. And maybe when I get back…you'll realize that you never actually knew me at all.
As the Alchemist vanished into the snowstorm, Sir Quirin winced as the cold, amber crystals covered his chest and part of his left shoulder. He lifted the paper up, trying to keep it as far from the crystals as he could…
"Please, hurry, Varian," he nearly sobbed to himself, for once finding his own eyes laced with dew. "And please be careful…whatever happens, just be careful…"
And with those words, Quirin fell silent…and waited.