Book I: Serial Dilution
Chapter XXI: The Mad Alchemist
Queen Arianna groaned as she finally began to open her eyes. Her head felt foggy and heavy; the groggy, drowsy sort of stupor one feels when they awaken after perhaps a shade too much sleep. She lifted her hands to rub at her eyes…and blinked when she realized that, in trying to lift one arm, the other came up with it.
Steadily, alertness and consciousness returned to the Queen's head. She tried to stand, and let out a short, soft cry of surprise – a sort of gasping, faint yelp – as something seemed to tug on her leg. Inspecting herself, the purple-gowned royal realized that her right leg had been shackled to a large bolt in the floor by the ankle, and her wrists were bound with hemp rope.
The Queen gazed around herself. She found herself in a dimly lit and cluttered room; a very fine layer of dust had gathered on the tables and chairs; broken bottles and tossed tools lay scattered all around. Someone, she figured, had been trying to do something with them…and when that failed, they promptly hurled them against the nearest wall, or chucked them against the floor. A fresh spider-web had been formed about four to five feet above her head, in a nook of a wall; a Daddy Longlegs lay in wait for fresh prey. An acrid and musty sort of odor filled the air, making her cough lightly.
In the dead center of the room, blocking the Queen's view of the door beyond, was a huge, patchy, gray-green tarpaulin. The Queen could not make out what was under the tarp, but shards of amber-colored crystal that jutted out from its edge gave her a hint.
CLANG! BANG! BANG! CLANG!
The sound of metal striking metal caught Arianna's attention. In the shadows to her left, Arianna spotted a huge, hulking shape; she couldn't quite make out what it was, but it was clearly made of metal. A small figure – decidedly humanoid – was standing on a small ladder, propped up against the iron giant; Arianna could make out the figure's rather scrawny-looking arm as it swung a hammer against the object. Sparks flew from the metal surface's colliding…then, a sigh came from the shadows…
"At last."
Steadily, the figure stepped down from the ladder, and then propped the ladder against a nearby wall.
Baby blue eyes briefly glanced towards the Queen with boredom…then, the figure did a double-take, surprised to see Arianna awake, before its widened eyes slid back to half-lidded, rather uninterested expression.
"Oh. You're awake, finally."
Arianna's jaw dropped, and she sputtered slightly before uttering the name of the boy who stared back at her.
"Varian?"
Varian blinked slowly at the Queen, as if he hadn't heard her. He looked her up and down with a deeply unsettling look of eerie coolness. Arianna squirmed in place, uncomfortably, the chain on her ankle rattling as a result. She knew the young alchemist: he'd participated in a science exposition at the palace a few months ago, and was generally known as one of her daughter's friends. She wasn't exactly the most familiar with him, but she'd seem him working before at the expo. The way the teenager looked at her now filled her with a sense of dread; it was as if she was a bug under a microscope in his eyes.
For many reasons, that was a troubling sensation.
Varian nodded to himself, as if he had decided something – what, Arianna did not know – and then turned a cold shoulder on her as he moved around the large, vaguely pyramid-shaped obstruction. He glanced towards it VERY fast…and Arianna saw the way the lad's shoulder's bunched up.
Anger? Fear? Regret? All of the above? None of the above?
She had no clue. Yet.
"Varian," she spoke up again, as the teen had yet to say another word to her, "What am I doing here? What is going on?"
Varian didn't even look at the Queen as he lifted a sheet of parchment from his drafting table and inspected it for a few moments.
"I think even you would know what a 'hostage situation' is, Your Highness," he responded, in an even, almost casual tone of voice. The boy then hunched over his table as he put the parchment back down and began scratching away at something with a quill pen.
Arianna blinked; her mouth opened and closed a few times, in a most undignified manner, but no words came out. Finally she managed to regain her composure.
"And why are you…holding me hostage, then, if I may ask?" she inquired, as calmly as she could. She'd never known Varian to be this icy before.
But the ice wasn't ready to thaw soon, it seemed. Varian let out an almost weary sort of sigh, and Arianna heard the faint "clink" of the quill pen as he replaced it in the inkwell.
Then – still hunched over, Varian turned to look at her, the shadows of his teal-striped bangs making his blue eyes seemed to almost faintly glow in the dark. The Queen flinched back; Varian didn't seem like the sweet, excitable boy she'd seen at the castle those months ago. His posture, his expression, his demeanor…it all felt like something out of the bogey stories children were told.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Varian's voice came through his large, suddenly sharper-looking-than-the-Queen-recalled teeth. "Not yet, anyway."
That really didn't make Arianna feel any better.
"Varian…whatever you want, I promise-"
She shut her mouth fast as Varian snarled, and pointed a pair of rusty scissors in her direction.
"Do. Not. Say. That. Word. Again."
Each word was slowly-spoken; methodical…but also shaky. There was pain in each and every LETTER the boy uttered, so harsh and so ragged it seemed to scrape against Arianna's motherly heart like a broken file. She could see Varian's gloved hand trembling as he held the scissors out, blades towards the Queen; she couldn't tell if he was shaking with anger…or with fear.
She had a feeling it was both, and she had a feeling she knew what he was scared of.
"Okay, Varian," she said, calmly and patiently, deliberately making her voice as honey-smooth-and-sweet as she could, and holding out her bound hands placatingly. "I won't say that word. I'm sorry. Please…put those down."
Varian narrowed his eyes and snarled again, softer than before…then, something flickered in his eyes, and he shook his head, turning away fast and nearly slamming the scissors back into their container.
Arianna bit her lip, and dared to glance around the laboratory again. Her expression perked up slightly, with some curiosity, as she spotted what – or rather, who – she was looking for: Varian's faithful pet, Ruddiger. The raccoon was seated on a stool on the opposite side of the room as Varian. The gray-furred critter was watching the youthful alchemist closely, with a sense of trepidation…but also something else.
Pity. Pity and…worry.
Arianna felt her heart soften, even despite her current position. Whether it was because of the raccoon who worried so much…or the boy who clearly needed that sympathy, she was not sure.
However, real fear jumped into her throat as Varian turned towards her again after a moment.
"Don't worry," he said, in a sibilant, slippery sort of voice that…frankly didn't sound like Varian at all. "You are merely a Pawn, My Queen. An important Pawn, however."
He grinned, and his large, white teeth flashed; his baggy eyes and hunched position once again created a most disturbing visual.
"You're going to bring me to checkmate."
Arianna gulped.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"To be blunt, Your Highness: you are my bait. I need you to lure the Princess here."
Varian glanced up at the tarp…and his eyes grew deep and sad.
"My father," Varian said, in almost reverent tones, "Had a scroll that told me everything. Your daughter is connected to the arrival of the Dark Creatures; to those strange Black Rocks that pop up around her. And only the magic of her unbreakable hair can help me."
"But…if you needed help, why didn't you just ask?" Arianna asked, with a light laugh, clearly trying to lighten the situation…which clearly was the wrong thing to help, as Varian's eyes narrowed into cold cobalt slits.
"Oh, I tried asking for help in a civilized manner," Varian sneered. "I was denied by everyone in Corona."
He gestured rather flippantly towards Arianna herself.
"So, unfortunately, THIS is my only remaining recourse."
Arianna shook her head.
"No, Varian. There's always another way to-"
"THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!" Varian suddenly screamed, with such intensity dust dropped from the ceiling above. "I walked through miles of ice in a raging blizzard, and I BEGGED your daughter, THIS KINGDOM, for help! EVERYONE turned their back on me! It has to be this way!"
The Queen was silent. Ruddiger, where he sat, put his tail between his legs and whimpered, ears flattening back. Varian seethed, fingers twitching, teeth bared in a snarl that seemed somehow more vicious than it should have been on his freckled, pink-nosed face. His eyes were crackling with azure flames.
Then, the boy seemed to freeze up. It was as if he'd heard something. He looked up quickly at the tarp-covered object. Varian winced, as if he'd been struck, and whimpered…then suddenly ran up to the huge obstruction, and knelt before it, clutching the cloth tightly.
"No! No, it's…it's got to be!" he pleaded, as if speaking to the object itself. "I have to…I have to try! This is the only chance I have left! Please!"
He hung his head, shaking slightly.
"Pl-please…let me…let me come through for you…just this once…"
The Queen shuddered, even as her heart began to break. The look in Varian's eyes was one she'd seen only once before, when she and her husband had paid a visit to a hospital, where certain soldiers had gone after fighting a great war. Not all of their wounds were physical.
Madness. Madness, pure and simple.
His youth and clearly unstable emotional plane only made it harder to watch.
Varian recovered quickly. He took a few deep breaths, stood up, and straightened his apron and gloves.
"Varian," Arianna spoke carefully. The teen turned toward her with an annoyed scowl, and she went on: "What's, ah…what's under there?"
Varian blinked, as if surprised she hadn't somehow known already…then shrugged to himself in a very sad, heavy sort of way. His shoulders lifted and then slumped back down as if they weighed half a ton on either side.
The teenager didn't say a word, but simply grabbed the tarp…and swirled it off dramatically.
Arianna's face turned pale and she gasped with shock…at the sight of Quirin, preserved in a picture of desperation, trapped within a shell of golden crystals.
"This," Varian said, placing a hand against the amber, near his father's chest, "Is why I need Rapunzel. Only she can free my father."
The Queen glanced between Quirin's face and Varian's.
"…And…after you free your father?"
Varian let out a bark of laughter.
"After?!" he cackled, before his face took on an expression of total bitterness, teeth grinding as he answered: "Oh, well, I'm afraid Corona will pay for turning their backs on me."
"And…h-how do you intend to…make that happen?"
Varian smiled again, and it sent shivers up and down the Queen's back. The teenager reached into his apron pocket, and pulled out a small, oval-shaped device, with a large red button on it. Varian pressed the button…
CLICK.
…And then…a haunting, disturbingly jaunty music box tune was heard playing through the laboratory.
Though not as haunting as the five, huge, pupil-less, glowing green eyes that suddenly blinked open in the shadows where he'd been working earlier, staring down emotionlessly at the Queen from eight ten feet over her head.
"Now," Varian said, "You can start worrying, Your Majesty."
"So…what's the plan?"
In the King's battle room – which presented a scale model of the entire Kingdom of Corona – Frederic, Flynn Rider, and Rapunzel had gathered their allies. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood across from them; the Guards, Stan and Pete, stood to their left at the head of the table; even Maximus had been called in, and stood at the foot of the table, closest to Old Corona's side, while Pascal perched atop his head. The two animals tilted their heads from side to side as they watched the humans (and the dog and duck, naturally) discuss their strategy.
It was Flynn Rider who had asked the question. He crossed his arms, looking expectantly towards the Princess and her father, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy fidgeting impatiently with anxious eyes.
"I had initially considered a full scale attack on Old Corona," Frederic said, pointing towards Quirin's castle on the model map.
"Sir, with all due respect, that…THING hit us pretty hard," Stan said. "Everyone's going to be okay, but we won't be launching a full-scale ANYTHING for quite some time."
"That is part of why I said INITIALLY," the King stated, patiently.
"We played right into Varian's hands when that Monster attacked us," Rapunzel put in. "He never wanted ME, or even Sora."
"He used Ruddiger to pull us all away from his real target: The Queen," Sora put in with a frown. "We're not gonna beat him with swords or fists. He'll be waiting for it."
"Well, gawrsh," Goofy mumbled, scratching the side of his head, "Then what're we gonna do?"
Rapunzel smirked, and pointed to the castle of Quirin herself.
"We launch a full-scale attack against Old Corona!"
Pete frowned in confusion.
"But…wait…didn't you just say-?"
"We're making him THINK he has the upper hand," Rapunzel elaborated, then looked to Eugene. "You and Max will lead the assault to the front of Varian's home. The attack will keep him distracted, and whatever he's got ready for the strike, he'll be so busy with it, he won't notice our own true objective."
"And what IS the true objective?" Donald asked.
"Simple," the King smirked, and placed a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder. "While the front assault distracts the young Alchemist, myself, my daughter, and Sora will sneak in through the underground tunnels."
"I get it!" Sora cheered. "We'll pop up right from under Varian's nose, and save the Queen!"
"That's the plan!" grinned Rapunzel.
"Fight sneakiness with sneakiness!" grinned Flynn Rider. "Great thinking, Sunshine! You know, in another life, you would have made a great partner-in-crime."
Rapunzel blushed; the rest just rolled their eyes.
"One problem, Princess," Stan spoke up. "Varian really only wants you. Once he realizes you're not there, won't he suspect something is wrong?"
Maximus let out a soft neigh of agreement, while Pascal nodded nervously.
"Oh, we thought of that already," Rapunzel assured them all. "On one of the cavalry horses, a member of the party will act as a decoy."
"Ohhhh, a Fake Rapunzel!" Sora smiled, and gave a thumbs-up. "Nice trick!"
"Oh, really?" snorted Donald, crossing his arms and raising one eyebrow. "And just who is gonna be this 'decoy,' huh?"
All eyes looked at the little white duck.
Donald blinked…looked behind him a few times…then glared back.
"What are you all staring at?!"
The eyes didn't blink or look away.
Realization hit the duck…and he nearly collapsed to the floor.
"Oh. Ohhh. Me an' my big mouth…"