Book I: Serial Dilution

Chapter XX: A Father's Confession

The door to King Frederic's private chambers shut with a BANG! that echoed through the entire castle.

From further down the hall, a group of heroes watched, and looked to each other carefully.

"Okay…SO!" Sora spoke up, after taking a deep breath. "How should we approach this?"

"Gawrsh…I don't think it's a good idea for us all to be in the same room with His Majesty," Goofy admitted, scratching his head.

"He's upset enough as it is," Donald Duck agreed.

Eugene Fitzherbert paused thoughtfully, then smiled and placed a hand on Rapunzel's shoulders.

"I think it's up to you, Blondie," he said, softly. "He IS your Dad, after all."

Rapunzel nodded back, then looked to Sora.

"I could use one friend at my side," she said, almost shyly.

Pascal squeaked indignantly on her shoulder. Rapunzel chuckled and scritched the back of his head.

"ANOTHER friend at my side," she corrected herself.

Pascal smiled and nuzzled her neck.

"I'll stand by you," Sora said, firmly. "It's time we both got these answers."

A groan echoed down the hall. The rest of the gang turned, and frowned worriedly; Pete and Stan, the two dopey guardsmen, were just now hauling a stretcher towards the Palace Infirmary; the Captain of the Guards lay across it.

"We should probably make sure Cap is okay," murmured Flynn Rider, and looked Rapunzel, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "He'll listen, Sunshine. After all this, he has to."

"I hope you're right," Rapunzel murmured, then stepped away and began to march down the hall.

"Come on, Sora," she called over her shoulder, while Pascal waved for the spiky-haired teen to follow them.

The keybearer walked after the princess without delay. The remaining three members of their party headed towards the infirmary.

The pair approached the Royals' chambers. They looked at each other, then back at the door. Sora reached up to knock…

"Don't bother," Rapunzel whispered, and carefully opened the door; it hadn't been locked at all.

The two peered into the wide, spacious, lavish living quarters inside. Only one candle had been lit, and this, plus the moon and stars streaming light through a wide open window, was all the illumination available. King Frederic sat quietly at the foot of the bed. He gazed up towards the wall. Upon it was hung a painting of himself and the Queen…cradling small child with light blonde air between each other.

Sora felt his heart grow heavy, and gulped slightly, as he saw a single tear form in the King's eye. The monarch of Corona buried his face in his hands and sighed shakily.

Rapunzel's own eyes shone with tender sympathy. She pushed the door purposefully till it creaked, then called out quietly: "Dad?"

Frederic froze up. He wiped his face on the back of one sleeve, and glanced towards the door.

"Oh. Rapunzel. Sora," he greeted, lamely.

"Hi," Sora said, softly, waving a bit awkwardly and not bothering with any honorifics as he stepped inside.

Rapunzel stepped in after him, and quietly shut the door.

Frederic looked at the pair for a moment, took a deep breath, and stood. He began to straighten out his regal arraignment…

"I thought I had made it perfectly clear to the two of-"

WHUMPH.

Frederic stopped short and stumbled a bit…as Rapunzel all but tackled her father in a tight hug. He blinked down at his daughter…then smiled thinly and hugged her back.

"Thank you," he said in a quavering voice.

"Things are gonna be okay, Dad," Rapunzel whispered, then backed up and looked around. "Where is Mom?"

"The Guards are looking for her," muttered the King. "I…I thought she might have run to safety when she saw the commotion outside."

"Yeah…I…that sounds reasonable," Sora piped up, but he sounded doubtful.

The King and the Princess looked to him briefly, then back at each other. Frederic squeezed his daughter closely and gulped back a sob.

"This…this is all my fault," he moaned.

"No, Dad," Rapunzel smiled, optimistically. "It's…none of it is your fault. It's Varian, the Rocks…"

"Not to mention the Heartless," muttered Sora, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

"No," Frederic sighed more deeply, and pulled away from Rapunzel, taking her hands in his. "My dear…I'm so sorry…it IS my fault. I have, indeed, been keeping secrets from you."

"We knew that already," Sora said blandly.

Frederic looked to him morosely. Sora exhaled and softened his tone.

"Your Majesty…whatever you've been hiding…it's costing too much. We can't help if we don't know what's going on."

"I know you want to keep me safe," Rapunzel put in, "But whatever has happened to Varian…he's not stopping. And we can't even say about other troubles. Please…I need to know."

"We all do," Sora put in.

Frederic looked between his daughter and her friend…then puffed softly through his nose – a sort of laugh without mirth – and nodded in surrender, before pulling away and releasing the Princess' hands.

"Very well…I'll tell you what I can…"

The King of Corona took a deep breath, and turned to look up at the painting on the wall. He straightened his back and put his hands behind it, clasping them tightly as he finally began to tell his tale.

"As you know, Rapunzel, on the night you were born, your mother fell deathly ill. I was desperate to do anything to save her…and you."

"So you went looking for a miracle," Rapunzel nodded.

"The Sundrop Flower," Sora nodded, as well. "I remember being told about it. It's what gave Rapunzel her-"

"Yes," Frederic cut in, looking back over his shoulder at the pair. "But what I never told anyone – none of my subjects, not even my own family, let alone relative strangers – was that there was more to the story."

He paused impressively.

"Earlier that night, as I was pondering and considering my options…Quirin came to me. Privately."

"Quirin?" Sora gasped.

"You mean…Varian's father?" Rapunzel said slowly.

"Yes," Frederic nodded, keeping his back to them. "Quirin and I were old friends, you see; we fought together long ago. But this is not about old war stories…it's another matter altogether."

He began to walk towards the wide open window as he spoke. Rapunzel and Sora looked to each other, then back to the King, and followed steadily and respectfully.

"Quirin knew something about the Sundrop that I never did. That no one in our Kingdom ever could have known."

"What was that?" Rapunzel asked.

"He did not give me details," admitted King Frederic. "He did, however, show me a portion of a scroll he kept from travels long before I met him: he warned me that if I used the power of the Sundrop, it would have unimaginable consequences. By removing the light, I would be inviting the darkness."

"The Dark Creatures," murmured Rapunzel.

"Heartless," hissed Sora.

The King nodded, pausing briefly…then moved out onto the balcony outside his palace room.

"Quirin was never one for exaggerated nonsense," the King nearly sobbed. "But I saw no other choice. I had to take the risk. I've known about the Dark Creatures – the Heartless – all along. So did Quirin."

"That explains what happened when he had his audience with you," Sora mumbled.

"I tried to deny at first they were the result of my actions. And when that didn't work…he and I both chose to try and flee from them. Ignore them as long as we could. Perhaps if we just…shut out the darkness and didn't give it a thought, it would go away. I wanted everyone else to do the same."

"Including me," Rapunzel realized.

"Yes!" Frederic exclaimed, turning to face the two for the first time, eyes wide and slightly glassy. "Yes, especially you! You are connected to them, somehow, and I am responsible."

"But why would the Heartless be after me?" Rapunzel asked, looking to Sora.

Sora smiled thinly.

"The Sundrop isn't the flower anymore," he said, simply. "It's you. The Heartless seek two things: extreme light, and extreme darkness. The darkness is where they live and breathe…but light is their destroyer. If they can eliminate the light…if they can smother it, or break it…"

"…Then they can devour everything else," Rapunzel realized with a shudder, and hugged herself. "That's why the Stormbringer focused on me when my hair began to glow…but also why I could hurt it, and why it was afraid."

"There may be more to it than that," Sora admitted, and shrugged. "There has to be, too many unanswered questions. But I don't know what those answers are."

"Whatever the basic case, none of this would have happened if I hadn't been so selfish," Frederic spat, turning away again as he berated himself, clenching his fists. "A good king would never put the safety of his own family over the safety of his country…!"

"But a father would."

Frederic froze…and turned.

Rapunzel smiled back radiantly, while Sora gave him a sympathetic smirk of his own.

Frederic weakly smiled back…and he and his daughter hugged once more. Pascal cheeped atop the Princess' shoulder and nuzzled against the King.

There was a brief pause…then Sora broke it, clearing his throat.

"Well…now that we know the truth," he said. "We need to see about finding the Queen, and figuring out a way to help the Kingdom."

"You're right," the King nodded, a stern look crossing over his face. "Especially with that boy now clearly flying off the handle."

"I still don't understand," Rapunzel frowned. "Why would Varian create a monster and attack us? Why make such a dramatic gesture?"

"Fallen to darkness or not, it seems sort of self-destructive," the King agreed.

"Yeah," Sora muttered, scratching his chin. "It's like he WANTED us to-"

"RAPUNZEL! RAPUNZEL!"

"YOUR MAJESTY!"

"SORA! SORA, HEY!"

All three jumped as the chamber door flew open. Flynn, Donald, and Goofy stood there, panting.

"What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked.

"It's the queen!" Goofy gasped.

"She's disappeared!" Donald quacked.

"What?!" thundered Frederic.

"The guards have looked everywhere; she's nowhere in the castle!" Flynn said, sorrowfully. "Rapunzel…your mom…she's gone."

The blood of the princess and the keybearer ran cold. They looked to each other grimly.

…And each spoke the same name at once.

"Varian."