Varian knew that his family had been through a lot, and he knew that the kingdom of Corona was their enemies, but still he had a hard time really understanding that they were actually at war here. It wasn't until slaves, Saporian and otherwise, began to show up, preparing for battle, did he realize what they were in for.
It was terrifying. He knew that he had been ready to jump to a fight when he'd been trying to save his dad, but this seemed so much different. Bigger.
Varian wrapped his arms around himself and watched as dozens of people spread out across the fields of Old Corona, going through drills. Some of these people were barely older than Varian. All of these people were willing to do anything they could to gain their freedom. Varian wanted to do the same thing, but the thought of fighting was absolutely terrifying. He wasn't physically capable.
His dad was leading the training. Varian felt like he should be out there, but his dad had outright forbidden it. He didn't want him to be in harm's way. But Varian couldn't just sit by and do nothing. He stood up and went inside. That was where the council was happening. Here they weren't training soldiers, but diplomats.
Edmund was sitting at the kitchen table with Lady Arina, Micah, Eugene, Lance, and a half dozen of the Saporian nobility from the compound. They were trying to figure out how to lead and unite the people, and what they would do after freedom really was theirs. Varian wanted to be part of this group, but Eugene insisted that he needed to stay out of it. Being a leader, where the eyes of enemies and allies alike were right on you, waiting for you to make one small slip up, that wasn't something that everybody could handle. Eugene was feeling overwhelmed, and he didn't want Varian to go through the same thing.
Varian very reluctantly respected Eugene and his dad's wishes. They had a lot to worry about right now. If he forced himself into places where they didn't want him, they would waste their time trying to protect him instead of focusing on what was really important. So Varian kept out, but that didn't mean that he had to watch everybody that he cared about suffer. There was a lot he could do to help.
Varian looked around the table and made his way upstairs. Hector wasn't training, and Andrew wasn't with the council, even though Varian knew that there was nowhere else either of them would want to be right now. If they weren't doing what they wanted, then they had to be doing what they felt they needed to do. Things that they didn't think anybody else could, or would, do.
Varian went into his bedroom. There was Hector, lying on his bed, not sleeping, but meditating. Trying to hear the voice of the moon. Andrew was pacing around the room, asking for advice on how he was supposed to do something that went against everything he'd been taught. Hector just took a deep breath and said that he was still trying to figure that part out.
"What's going on?" Varian asked. He sat on his bed. Hector smiled and without opening his eyes he ruffled the boy's hair. "Are you okay? You've been sleeping a lot lately."
"The moon is trying to speak to me." Hector said. "I can feel it. It's something important. It's easier to hear her voice in my dreams, and now that my sleep can be comfortable and undisturbed, I've been trying to take advantage of that."
Varian didn't completely understand the whole moon thing. It wasn't that he didn't believe in the goddess herself, he'd seen way too much of its power to dismiss her off-hand. He just had never heard from a deity for himself. He couldn't even imagine how it felt.
He looked at Andrew. "What about you? What's going on?"
"I think I know what our first step could be." Andrew said. "But I have to do it alone."
Varian jolted. No, that wasn't right. They were here as a group. They were stronger together. None of them should have to do anything alone.
"Why do you need to do it alone?" Varian asked.
Because his people won't help him." Hector said. "The Coronans rely on the land. The Saporians have a similar connection to the earth that the Brotherhood has with the moon."
"We can't control the elements, but we can ask for aid from nature." Andrew said. "I think the spirits of the earth will help, even if it means temporary devastation to the land itself. It will hit Corona hard, and show them that we're not taking this lightly."
"But the Saporians wouldn't go for that." Varian frowned slightly. He remembered the way that Andrew had protested to the moonstone's power just draining the life from a few plants. The Saporians respected and loved all life, and wouldn't want to take life to save lives, even if the cost was just to the land itself.
"Even if they did, I couldn't ask them to do it." Andrew said. "But my prayers alone aren't strong enough for something like this."
Varian looked at the walls where his blueprints and notes lined every inch. His eyes went to one particular experiment that he'd been working on a year ago. There had been so many times where he had accidentally ruined a crop or the land with his experiments. He had dedicated many hours to figuring out exactly what part of his chemicals had affected the land and why. He knew dozens of compounds that could effectively poison the land, and he knew how to control the effects so the damage only happened when and where he wanted it to. He hadn't learned this stuff with the intent to cause damage, but to understand.
But these were drastic times, and drastic measures were called for.
Varian got off the bed and went to the walls, looking over everything he'd written down. "If your prayers won't be enough, maybe you don't have to rely just on them." Varian ran his hand across the papers. "I've had enough alchemy accidents that I know how to hurt the land. If we can at least start something-"
"Then maybe I can convince the spirits of the land to help take things further." Andrew grinned to himself. "You really think you can do that, kid?"
"Yes." Varian said confidently. He gathered some of his notes. "Give me half an hour."
"I'll think of just where to strike." Andrew said. He approached Varian and put a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Buddy."
"I'm just trying to be useful." Varian said.
"You're beyond useful." Andrew gave his shoulder a small squeeze. "It's nice to know that I have a friend on my side."
Varian smiled, all traces of irritation and betrayal with Andrew forgotten. "I'll be back soon." Varian grabbed his notes and ran out of the room, determined to be useful. This was perfect. He had been forced to use his alchemy to help the slavers. No he was going to have the chance to use it to get back at them and save his people, and everybody else that needed help.
Varian's lab was a mess, but he knew how to work around it. Within ten minutes he had a few vials put together that would do wonders to eliminate entire orchards. Five minutes later he set those vials aside and started working on components that would attract insects. He knew they were at war, but it didn't feel right to destroy the entire food source that innocent people relied on. If they had insects mess with the harvest, many of the crops would die, but maybe not all of them.
Or would they even work with the crops at all? Varian didn't know what Andrew had in mind. He could plan and prepare a few general things, but he was following Andrew's lead.
Forty minutes after going into his lab, Varian went back upstairs to find Andrew on his way down to greet him. He didn't look upset at being kept waiting. The Saporian just looked eager. He was almost excited.
"You think of something?" Varian asked.
"I think so." Andrew said. "See, I don't want to poison the land itself, because it will take time to recover from that kind of thing."
"I was thinking the same thing." Varian said.
"So I was thinking, what if we hit Corona with something a bit more direct?" Andrew said. "The capital is on an island, so the best way to really get them is through-"
"The water." Varian blinked. "You want to corrupt the water."
"Nothing lethal." Andrew said. "We'll keep a close eye on things and make sure that it doesn't get too bad for the citizens."
Varian sat on the ground and started going through his bag, searching through the vials. He had made them to affect agriculture, but he knew how many of these elements would affect water as well.
"I can make the water taste absolutely revolting." Varian lifted up a vial. "But it'll be ultimately harmless." He picked up something else. "I've also got things that will cause rashes, something to attract insects and vermin, there's even something here that won't do anything but make the water look blood red."
"Let me see that last one." Andrew said. Varian handed him the powder. "How strong is this?"
"It tainted the rivers of Old Corona and all of the crops for weeks." Varian said. "You have no idea how long it took me to convince people that, despite the colors, there was nothing actually wrong with it."
Andrew eyed the vial, tilting it to see it from another angle. "And there won't be any lasting effects on the land itself?"
"None that I could tell." Varian said. "And once the color faded I didn't hear anything else from the Saporians that live in Old Corona.
"That's good enough for me." Andrew said. He pocketed the vial and grabbed Varian's hand. "Come on." He pulled him outside, pausing just long enough for the two of them to grab hooded cloaks, just in case.
Varian went to tell his dad that they were going out. His dad had just frowned and said that there was no way he was going. Fortunately Hector came out and said that he would go with them to make sure they were safe. Quirin had reluctantly agreed, just because there was safety in numbers, and between Hector and his rhino they would be strong and fast enough to get out of trouble.
Varian was used to the trip to the capital taking all day, but the rhino was a lot faster than a horse pulling a cart. In what felt like no time at all they found themselves sitting on the banks on the mainland side of the water, looking towards the capital. Nobody even knew they were there, but they would know of the aftermath.
"Time to cause a bit of panic." Andrew said far too cheerfully. He stepped into the water until it went mid-way up his leg. He took the vial from his pocket and opened it. He poured the contents into the palm of his hand. He stared at the powder for a moment before he opened his hand and tilted it, letting the powder fall into the water.
The reaction was instant. The water turned deep red. It was a gruesome sight, but it didn't go very far. This water was a lot deeper and wider than the streams of Old Corona. The stain would remain, but it wasn't enough to cover this much space. Andrew seemed to know as much, but he wasn't worried about it.
"This is where I come in." Andrew said. He knelt in the water and spread his arms across the surface. His head was bowed. He looked like he was praying, and Varian realized he probably was. He had helped take the first step, but now they needed some divine intervention.
Hector looked up at the sky. The moon wasn't visible right now, but that didn't seem to bother him. "They say the moon affects the tides." He muttered to himself. He approached the water and put his hands under. He looked like he was starting to meditate again, or pray.
Varian didn't think he had ever prayed once in his life. He wouldn't know whether to pray to the waters, or the moon, or what. He supposed it shouldn't really matter. He wasn't putting his trust in the gods of Saporia or the Dark Kingdom, he was trusting his friends.
"Let us get through this." Varian whispered to himself, unnoticed by the others. "Let this work."
It was hard to know exactly when it started, but eventually Varian noticed that the subtle waves on the water were rippling and rising differently than before. It gradually got stronger until it seemed to resemble a pulse. Varian watched in awe as the agitated water took the tainted water and spread and pushed it, without diluting it. Right before Varian's eyes the water all turned red.
"It's working." Varian said breathlessly. He grabbed onto his uncle's arm. "It's working!"
"Yeah it is." Hector grinned and stood up. His hands were slightly red, looking a little irritated, but Varian knew that it was just a stain from the water. Hector looked towards Andrew. "Hey, royal pain, it looks like your gods have powers after all."
Of course they do." Andrew stood up. His pants had the same stain as Hector's hands did, but he seemed completely unbothered. He just looked across the water towards the castle. "We just need the Coronans to see it too."
Varian heard a piercing scream in the distance. He looked in the direction of the disturbance, towards the bridge that connected the island to the mainland. Even from this distance he could see the disturbance on the bridge. People were already starting to stare and panic. Varian grinned to himself.
"I think they already have." Hector chuckled. Varian wasn't the only one who found just the smallest amount of joy from this. They weren't really doing this for revenge, but if they found a little enjoyment in making the Coronans suffer just a little bit without hurting them, could they really be blamed after everything they'd been through?
"And now we wait?" Varian asked.
"We watch." Andrew stepped out of the water. "We wait." He looked at Varian's bag full of compounds and elements. "And if nothing changes, we'll go to step two, and we keep going until the kingdom of Corona sees us."