Rapunzel's Return Part 2
The sound of a child's blood curdling scream was the first thing Rapunzel heard when she came to: Varian's scream. Her eyes opened and panic began to flood her system. She looked around, but couldn't find anyone in sight.
"Pascal?" she said, uncovering her little chameleon from her hair and scooping him in her hands. "Are you alright?"
Pascal gave a shaken, but conforming squeak that he was fine; relieving his best friend.
"Is everyone okay?!" the princess called out, looking around for her friends.
"Give me a minute." Lance answered with a groan as he sat up.
"There is a horse on me." Rapunzel heard Eugene's muffled voice from under Maximus.
Once the stallion got up, Eugene took a very much needed breath of fresh air.
Lance was alerted by the sound of Varian crying out for the princess too. But, his heart dropped when he saw that the kid was gone. The former thief was very scared for the kid's safety and everything in him wanted to rescue him from wherever he was now.
"I got the rope!" Clementine's voice chimed, alerting the group. Kai whined in response of doing more menial labor.
Quickly, Eugene took a hold of Rapunzel's arm and tried to pull his girlfriend away from the fray.
"Blondie, we gotta go!" he urged the princess.
"What?" Rapunzel was beside herself that Eugene was suggesting that they flee rather confront the bad guys. "No! We have to stay and fight! We can't just let them- I mean- they can't, no!"
She reached down to grab her handy-dandy frying pan, ready for round two.
"They will love a face full of frying pannnnnsss?" she was shocked to find her trusty weapon was badly misshapened. It must've happened from the force of the explosion.
"Blondie, trust me. It's better to live to fight another." Eugene wisely said as everybody ran as fast as they could.
"We'll come back for you, kid. You can count on it." Lance thought, glancing back at the castle as the Saporians minus Andrew chased the Coronans.
"GUYS C'MON! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" Juniper exclaimed.
Soon, the group of Coronans to Xavier's forgery to hide and tried their hardest to stay quiet.
All the while, Rapunzel's mind was focused on one thing: Varian. She kept asking herself why the child was so catatonic back there. She knew that he didn't want to help the Saporians, so what was keeping him getting away from them and helping the princess? Did Varian like the Saporians more than he liked her? Did they treat him better than she did back then? Were they... better at keeping promises? Looking back on how she broke her promise to poor Varian almost a year ago, she wished that things didn't turn out the way they did. Especially since she was so fond of the boy back when they were friends. He may have done regrettable actions, but Rapunzel didn't hate the child. She never did.
Her train of thought came to a crashing halt when she heard Maisie's voice say, "We cannot allow the princess and her gang to interfere with New Saporia's takeover of Corona."
The Saporians were combing the streets looking for the escaped Coronans with Kai using a lantern to illuminate their way. And they were edging closer to their hiding place. Rapunzel grabbed a pair of pliers and was about to attack when Eugene lightly pulled her back and put a finger to his lips, urging her not to engage.
"Ooh, did you see something?" Clementine asked Kai who was dangerously close to where the princess was hunkered down.
"Yes. Look at these shoes of equine oppression." the big Saporian said directly his attention to a horseshoe.
"Ugh, barbaric Coronans." the mage groaned.
As the Saporians left, the princess was alerted to a low screeching sound coming from the hearth; which turned out to be a secret door to a hidden room. Standing in the doorway was Xavier himself.
"Princess!" he said warmly.
"Xavier!" Rapunzel whisper shouted. It was so good to see a friendly face after what she and the gang had been through.
The group filed into the secret room before the Saporians could come back. This was their best hiding place for now while they thought of a plan.
"The captain of the guard sent out many search parties to find you." the blacksmith briefly filled Rapunzel in. "He has yet to return. But in the meantime..."
He lead everyone down a flight of stairs to a smaller group huddled around a fire to keep warm. That group consisted of Big Nose, Monty, Friedborg, and Atilla. They immediately perked up when they saw Rapunzel.
"Princess! You're back!" Atilla yelled in happiness.
She beamed as she ran to embrace her people, "It is so so good to see all of you! Even you Monty."
"We stay hidden. Everyone in Corona now lives in fear, spending their days mining Varian's minerals." Xavier explained.
Lance's attention was grabbed at the mention of the kid. He noticed that the blacksmith didn't speak of him in bitterness and disdain, but rather in sadness and pity. Xavier sounded almost as worried for the alchemist as he was. The former thief turned to Rapunzel for some sort of input as she was racking her brains.
"W-what? But the people of Corona are so brave! Why wouldn't they stand up?" she asked, making sure not to mention Varian.
"We cannot defy orders from the king and queen." Xavier answered. "Any act of aggression against is treason. But now that you have returned, the game has changed."
The blacksmith then bowed before the princess and the other Coronans followed suite. Xavier was right. As long as Rapunzel's parents were puppets in the Saporians' terrible scheme, acting in retaliation was dangerous business. But with her as acting queen, the tables may have been turned in Corona's favor. All they needed now was a plan of action.
Back in the castle, Varian was sitting against one of the walls of the closet he was locked in. At least, he thought it was a wall. There was no light in the little area that held him captive. The alchemist couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face. He hugged his torso and squeezed his eyes shut. Every fiber of the boy's body ached with pain and he feared that Andrew would catch him asleep in here should he return.
That was when Varian heard footsteps approaching the closet. Every part of him immediately froze with fear. It had only been 20 minutes since the teen was thrown in the closet. Maybe? It was hard to keep track of time in here. And usually, Varian would be trapped until morning, so why would somebody be coming now? Did he do something wrong unknowingly? He trembled anxiously as the footsteps drew closer and closer.
There was a click of the lock and then, the door swung open.
"Up 'n' at 'em Hairstripe, there's work to be done." Andrew announced, clapping his hands together. "With the princess back, we can't afford any delays. We are on a time crunch after all."
The kid looked up at his abuser with shock, but got on his feet despite having jelly legs when the Saporian gave him an intense glare. Every step Varian took to get to the lab was agonizing. It would usually take all night to prepare him for such an arduous walk. But this time, the pain came to the teenage alchemist without so much as a warning shout.
By the time he made it, Clementine was already waiting inside; perhaps to provide extra supervision. The mage inspected Varian's condition and just rolled her eyes nonchalantly as he gathered the necessary chemicals. Andrew stood next to his comrade and kept a constant vigil on his little pet. The young alchemist worked wordlessly, trying his hardest to ignore the two Saporians who were watching him like hawks. About half an hour of analyzing and note taking later, Andrew finally broke the silence.
"How is it coming, hairstripe?" his voice startled Varian from his concentration.
"Yeah!" Clementine chimed in.
"If my calculations are correct, w-when the Quirineon gets heated, it'll converted into a gaseous state." the boy surmised as he heated the chemical in question over a Bunsen burner.
His eyes widened through his goggles as the heated Quirineon began to burst from within the beaker.
The explosion blasted Varian into the wall, hard. And then, he fell flat on his face. That did not give his already ailing body any accolades. As the kid got on all fours, he winced in pain from the aftermath of the explosion. Varian clutched his torso while getting on his feet and croaked, "M-my calculations were not correct."
A scowl formed on Andrew's face and he was on the verge of hitting the teen, tell him to clean up the mess, and order him to get back to work. But, Clementine stopped in his tracks by grabbing his sleeve.
"If it won't erase people's memories, the boy's chemical may have... other uses." she elaborated wickedly, laughing.
The Saporian leader took that thought into account as he looked at Varian's destroyed work station.
"Alright kid, listen up." Andrew spoke. "I'm gonna let off the hook, this time. But don't expect me to go easy on you in the future. Now, us grown-ups need to step aside to discuss a new plan."
He and Clementine then stepped out of the lab, leaving the little alchemist by myself to tidy things up. Varian didn't know what Andrew meant by "a new plan" and quite frankly, he was almost too scared to ask.
Rapunzel's forging hammer vigorously came down repeatedly as a determined expression was furrowed on her face. Her anger of what happened with Cassandra and the Dark Kingdom was channeled into crafting a new frying pan.
"Hey blondie, how ya holding up?" Eugene hesitantly asked, checking in on her girlfriend.
The princess put on a fake smile as she ambled from the anvil to a barrel of water.
"Me? Fine!" she happily told him before her expression turned angry as she roughly dipped the frying pan into the water to cool it off.
As steam billowed from the barrel, Eugene swallowed nervously for the sake of the sundrop. The princess then withdrew the pan from the water to admire her work. She made a pretty good blacksmith if she did say so herself.
"What do you think? It's not bad, right?" she asked Pascal.
The chameleon gave a gesture of approval, but was just as worried for his human companion as Eugene. Of course, it wasn't exactly Rapunzel's frying pan without a few personal touches.
"You've been through a lot since we got back... not to mention what happened with Cassandra." the dark prince continued as his girlfriend made her way to the paints.
"What? Ugh, I mean to tell you the truth; I haven't even thought about that... person." she laughed it off before squeezing the tube of paint rather aggressively, not mentioning her best friend at all.
It didn't matter what happened in the Dark Kingdom in Rapunzel's eyes. She was actually glad to have this new mission. Varian and the Saporians were a good distraction from you-know-who. The sundrop wanted to focus on the here and now rather than dwell on the past, no matter how hard of a task that proved to be.
But just before Rapunzel's paintbrush could make the first stroke, Eugene took a hold of her wrist and held her back.
"Rapunzel, you can't even say her name." he said. "There's a difference between setting feelings aside and burying them so deep they change who you are."
Pascal nodded in agreement.
"What are you saying, Eugene?" Rapunzel asked, not looking her boyfriend in the eye.
"What am I saying is that you're not alone in this."
Eugene didn't say it out loud, but he was just as hurt as the princess was about Cassandra's betrayal. Even though he and Cass bickered like five-year-olds, the two of them were as close as siblings. So, the dark prince shared in her girlfriend's unspoken grief.
"I know. But maybe it would be better if I were." Rapunzel mumbled, looking further into the distance.
"What was that?" Eugene didn't quite hear what she said, but knew the princess said something.
She didn't get to answer as Xavier cleared his throat and asked with a chuckle, "Am I interrupting?"
"No! Heh. I'm just making a new pan!" the sundrop answered, forgetting about the very uncomfortable conversation earlier.
"Princess, we need to discuss our strategy." the blacksmith informed her.
"Uh, I'll be there in a second." she said, kissing Eugene before he joined Xavier.
Pascal leapt off the dark prince's shoulder when he noticed the princess grab her handbag and sneak away from the secret hideout. She glanced back with a hardened look of determination on her face as she her way back to the castle. Nothing was getting past this chameleon.
After tirelessly cleaning the lab from top to bottom, Varian was told by Andrew to go to his room "while the adults talked." The child of course heeded the command without complaint, that would do him no favors. He walked to his room which he rarely slept in. Correction, Varian never slept of his own free will. He may pass out on pain after a beating or Andrew would put a drug in his water. If the kid was allowed to eat, there would most likely be a sedative in his food. Quickly, Varian came to the conclusion that Andrew puts him to sleep on purpose so that he can punish him later.
Come to think of it, the little alchemist never woke up in the same place he fell asleep in after that happened. He would always wake up in that small, confined closet that brought nothing but torment. Varian hated that closet.
In his bedroom, he was laying on his bed with his hands folded across his stomach; looking up at the ceiling. The teen tried not to fall asleep, no matter how comfy the bed. He would be reprimanded for that later. But he was bored out of his mind as he listened to the meaningless conversation between Kai and Maisie outside his bedroom door.
"Well lately I've been into essential oils. You know, peppermint or eucalyptus or- Huh? What was that?" Kai's voice drawled on.
"It wasn't anything. Come on. Ugh, if you ask me; you should lay off the essential oils. They're making you hear things." Maisie's voice replied.
That was when Varian heard a sound. The sound of a door opening from the room next to him.
"Kai, is that you?" Juniper's voice called out and the boy sat up.
"Oh, it's just Kai." he thought, breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe he was just getting himself worked up over nothing. But then again, Kai doesn't usually walk that quietly.
"How could she go off on her own like that?! I mean I know she's tough, but she is one person! She can't take on all those Saporians by herself! Not to mention Varian!" Eugene ranted, pulling at his hair.
"Eugene, I don't think Varian's as big of an enemy as you think." Lance told him with a sad tone in his voice.
"Look Lance, I get that he's a little guy; but let me tell you-" the dark prince prepared to argue.
"I know what he's capable of, but that's not what I mean." his best friend cut him off. "I'm saying that the kid doesn't want any part in this."
"Well if he didn't wanna be with those knuckleheads, why didn't he stop them like we're trying to?" Eugene riddled.
"You and I both have experienced the consequences of child abuse at the orphanage first hand, remember?" Lance brought up as he entangled his hands in his lap.
"How could I not." The dark prince recalled the shaken looks from a handful of his fellow orphans. The sight broke his heart and it was part of the reason why he didn't want to be adopted by some strange couple, so that he wouldn't have to go through that.
"Some of the kids were forced to do bad things for their foster parents. And if they refused..."
The realization hit Eugene like a ton of bricks as he gasped. That could be what's happening to Varian right now. He did notice that the boy looked somewhat out of it, but refused to let that deter him from the brawl during that time.
"Sun above." he muttered.
"Andrew told me what's been going and Varian was giving off all the signs that he's going through abuse. I mean, did you not see how that kid was all skin-and-bone? It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Saporians haven't been feeding him." Lance recalled from their first fight.
Just then, Xavier who had been listening on the conversation for the past few minutes; joined in, "Hmm, if you are that sure about Varian's plight; I suggest extricating the boy from that situation as carefully and swiftly as possible."
The younger men caught onto the fact the blacksmith agreed on having the young alchemist rescued from the wicked separatists.
"Well when you're right, you're right Xaves." Eugene spoke after a bit of pondering. "Okay, new plan. We go after blondie and rescue the kid from Lord Un-handsome and his flower children. Are you in, Lance?"
"Right behind you, buddy." Lance answered, following his best friend and eager to rescue the alchemist from Andrew. He had no tolerance for anybody who beats up kids.
"Please, bring Varian back safely. That boy is one of many wonders." Xavier implored with a kind look in his eyes.
The two friends didn't know what that meant, but decided that was a question for another time. So they gave affirming nods as they left the forge.
Varian had his ear pressed up against the wall as he heard the sound of a closet door opening. That other room belonged to Cassandra. And lucky him, the boy just happened to be right next door. Andrew had said that room was strictly off-limits, so how could possibly be waltzing in there?
The boy could hearing someone softly sobbing and then he heard a familiar woman's voice saying, "I thought she'd always be here."
Rapunzel? She came back to the castle? Why would she do that? Didn't she know that the Saporians were trying to hunt her down? Nothing good would come out of this if the princess were to get caught. Everything in Varian wanted to go in there to tell her she shouldn't be here and to leave before she got busted. Unfortunately, it was too late for that as he heard Cassandra's door swing open again.
"Well well well. Look who we found." the teen heard Kai say mockingly.
The soreness in his body screamed at Varian to lie back down. But, he continued to eavesdrop on everything through the wall. But then, his own door opened and the boy felt his blood freeze over.
In the dungeon, Rapunzel glared at the group of Saporians as they closed and locked her cell door. Pascal had a shackle around his underbelly attached to a ball and chain. Varian came forward after Andrew harshly shoved him in front of the separatists. The child looked at her with anxious eyes and the princess softened her glare when they were face-to-face with each other.
"Varian-" the sundrop began with hurt in her voice. "I- why- how could you?"
"I didn't want it to be this way." the alchemist said lowly, approaching the cell. "But you abandoned me. You lied to me. And this is happens to someone who betrays your trust in them."
"Varian, my kingdom needed me, I couldn't do anything about the amber..." the princess explained and he sharply turned away at the mention of the amber. Rapunzel instantly regretted that, knowing it was a pretty touchy subject for him. "I had to stay. I never meant to break my promise, Varian. We were friends."
"Aw don't worry Raps. You won't even remember you both stopped being friends after this mess is over. It'll be like waking up from a bad dream. Right, buddy?" Andrew smirked as he joined Varian's side. The kid said not a word.
"But you're only making things worse, Varian!" the princess continued, ignoring the Saporian's comment. "None of these people did anything to you! And I know that deep down inside, you don't want to go through with this."
A storm of hurt and anger inside Varian bubbled to the surface until he eventually boiled over.
"Of course I don't want to go through with this! But I don't have a choice! Besides, it's not about what they did to me!" he snapped before his voice cracked. "It's what I did to them. And I know there's no way they'd ever forgive me."
"How do you know that, Varian?!" Rapunzel asked desperately.
"You want a list, Raps?" Andrew asked smugly as the teen cowered slightly and the sundrop gave a low growl. "Kidnapping the queen, threatening the princess, taking over Corona alongside us. Must I continue?"
"Okay, we get it." Varian stopped him, ignoring the separatist's snarl. "No need to rehash my mistakes for all the world to hear. N-no, making them forget is the only way."
"Yeah, there has been a slight change in plans buddy." Andrew said as he grasped the boy's shoulders, making him freeze up. "Now that the princess is back, we don't have time for you to get your memory formula right."
"We are still using the formula you've curated." Clementine added with a wicked grin. "Quirineon explodes! It will turn Corona to ashes."
Varian's eyes widened with shock and anger as he shook free from Andrew's hold.
"What? No, no! We agreed no one would be harmed!" he yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at his abuser.
The Saporian was definitely taken aback by the way the kid shouted at him. He hadn't done that since they were cell mates. Nevertheless, Andrew would not take Varian's teenage rebellion lightly. He glared stone cold daggers at the alchemist as he inevitably felt small under the man's gaze. The separatist grabbed Varian's accusing hand and pushed it down, squeezing it a little too tightly for the kid's liking. He winced in discomfort.
"Relax hairstripe, you don't want to end up on the wrong side of history, now do you?" Andrew asked, trying to sound as nice as he could.
The young alchemist glanced at Rapunzel as if for an answer as she looked on desperately. He uncoiled his fist at the sight of her.
"Y-you're right. So I'm going to have to ask you..." Varian spoke as he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled one his alchemical balls. "to step inside that cell."
He pointed his weapon of choice at the Saporians threateningly as they backed up to the other side of the corridor. Rapunzel's face lit up at the sight of the teen standing up for himself.
"Are you betraying us, boy?" Clementine asked bitterly.
"I'm getting on the right side of history!" Varian answered sharply.
"You're making a big mistake, pal." Andrew said angrily.
"No, the real mistake was me thinking I could ever I trust you!" the kid shot back as he threw the sphere at the bad guys, blocking them from view in a thick gas cloud.
Quickly, Varian went to unlock the princess's cell. But just as he did that, Andrew emerged from the smokescreen and grabbed the boy by the arm roughly and pulled him away, looming over him like a real-life monster from his nightmares.
"That was a poor choice, kid!" the separatist leader snapped at him before looking at Rapunzel. "But if you want to be with the princess so badly, you can join her behind bars."
"N-no no no! Y-you can't do that! Please, I can't-" Varian's beseeching was cut off when his abuser backhanded him across the face.
The sundrop was horrified and livid at the violent display. What started as embers inside Rapunzel were quickly fanned into a flame of rage that seemed almost maternal for lack of a better term.
"Don't you hurt him!" the princess yelled at Andrew.
The Saporian leader was confounded by her rage for hitting the child. He certainly wasn't expecting this kind of reaction, but paid it no mind as he dragged Varian to the cell, opened it, carelessly tossing the alchemist inside, and locked the cell up again. And there the kid laid on the floor like a discarded ragdoll.
"Not gonna lie, Varian. I'm extremely disappointed in your behavior. I'll be back to deal with you later. And when I do, you're going to wish you never born." Andrew reprimanded his little pet. "Now if you'll excuse us, we've got a kingdom to obliterate."
And with that, he and the other Saporians filed out of the dungeon to begin their new plan of wiping Corona right off the map.
Varian fearfully watched the bad guys leave as he tried to sit up. The ache in his beaten body kicked in again as the teen curled one arm around his torso and the other propped himself from the floor. His eyes were shut right and winced as he did this.
Rapunzel was finally able to get a good look at Varian after having so much distance between them. She could see just how pale and scrawny he was like he hadn't been outside or eaten in several days. Dark bags were under the boy's tightly closed eyes and he seemed to be on the verge of tears. His heavy looking outfit covered almost every inch of his body, minus his head. The princess could also make out that Varian had a healing split lip, a bruised eye, and scrapes on his cheek. If his face looked this bad, there was no telling what other injuries the child's clothes were concealing. There could be several lacerations under that jacket alone.
Rapunzel started to approach him and crouched down to his level, but the alchemist took no notice. That is until he felt her hand on his shoulder.
"Varian?" she spoke quietly.
Varian violently flinched away and blocked his face defensively with his hands while the princess drew her own hand back. The teenager was hyperventilating and the sundrop was at a loss of what to do. Her eyes widened as he saw just how frightened and Varian looked as he trembled uncontrollably. It didn't make any sense of why he could be reacting to her like this. Did he honestly think she was going to hurt him?
"V- Varian?" Rapunzel tried again. "What's wrong? I-I'm not going to hurt you, I pr- I swear."
The kid didn't say a word as he backed away until his back met the wall. Varian was breathing way too rapidly and the princess knew that she had to intervene before he passed out. She got her feet and took a few slow and careful steps towards the boy and then got back down on her knees. Varian shrank away the princess as she did this. It was almost like he couldn't differentiate abuse from genuine consolation.
"Varian, I need you to breath okay?" Rapunzel remembered the breathing exercise Eugene taught her and instructed the child to follow. "In for four seconds and out for four seconds."
As Varian did this, he could feel himself start to calm down a little and the princess kindly praised him for doing so.
"Now I'm not going to hurt you, do you understand?" she asked and the boy silently nodded in response.
"Is it okay if I touch you?" Varian shook his head for no.
"Okay. Well, are you comfortable if I sit with you?" He nodded again for yes. So the princess sat against the wall, returning her sight to the still quivering boy and asked in a sad voice, "Varian, what did they do to you?"
The alchemist hugged his knees to his chest and shakily responded, "I didn't want to do this, I really didn't. I just- Andrew just- I wasn't given a choice on the matter, a-and now things are only gonna get much worse because I turned against him and-"
"Shhh. Deep breaths, Varian." the sundrop calmed him as he was panicking again. "Are you saying that Andrew hurts on a regular basis? Just so that you do you what he tells you to do?"
"Rapunzel, Andrew didn't even allow me to leave the castle. Even when he went on reconnaissance missions." Varian answered with tired eyes.
Rapunzel gasped and tears stung her eyes though it probably wasn't the worst thing that the child had endured. But as someone who was a captive in a tower for eighteen years, the princess could somewhat attest to that feeling of being trapped.
"Look, you've clearly been through a lot; but I won't make you go into full detail about what's happened to you." she said to Varian. "How about we hold off for now and you can tell me whenever you feel like you're ready? Does that sound okay to you?"
The alchemist brought his knees down and gave a slow nod. The princess gave a him a sweet smile in return.
She then offered to wipe away Varian's tears as they streamed down his cheeks. He nodded in compliment as Rapunzel fished a handkerchief from her belt pouch. It was the only thing the Saporians didn't manage to confiscate from her. And the princess sure was lucky that the separatists didn't pat her down.
Gently, she dabbed the boy's cheeks with the cloth; soaking up all the teardrops. This was the closest physical contact that the two of them could establish for the time being.
"Pssst, hey blondie. What's up? Not going to lie, I'm kinda offended. I can't believe you were going to break into something and you didn't even ask me." Eugene said with fake offense in his voice as he picked the lock.
Varian jumped a little at the new arrival which aggravated his bruises.
Rapunzel glanced up find the her boyfriend and his best friend, relief washing over her as the barred door opened.
"Oh thank goodness you're here!" she beamed as she rushed into the dark prince's arms.
Lance smiled at the romantic reunion, but the smile faded the moment he saw Varian. He was curled up into a ball and looked absolutely petrified. The former thief then realized that the kid hadn't left his spot on the floor since the two men arrived. Eugene walked in and used his trusty lock pick to remove the shackle from around Pascal. He then followed the lizard's gaze Varian who had a panic stricken look in his eyes.
"C'mon kid, let's get you out of here." the dark prince spoke in a soft voice, having experience with these kinds of situations.
Pascal hopped on his shoulder as he slowly extended a hand out for the alchemist to take.
"B-but, I'm a bad person. I deserve to be behind bars." he said in disbelief.
"Look kid, I know a bad person when I see one. And you aren't one of those people." Eugene assured him.
Varian was still reluctant about taking the man's hand, but then he saw Lance give him a smile, showing that he agreed with his buddy's statement. The boy then put his smaller hand in Eugene's, much to the latter's delight. Varian got to his feet with the dark prince's help, but grimaced as he stood up. That didn't go unnoticed by Eugene. And he knew one thing was for sure, Andrew was definitely going down. He led the boy out of the cell, still holding his hand the whole time.
"Now, let's save Corona." Rapunzel proclaimed encouragingly.
"Good to have you back on the right side, kiddo." Lance quietly told Varian who smiled in response.
The small group arrived at where the Saporian airship was being docked and hid behind a bunch of barrels all filled with Quirineon. Varian couldn't help but shrink in on himself again from seeing the horrible chemical of his own creation.
"There's enough Quirineon on that ship to destroy Corona ten times over." he said fearfully.
Eugene was right by his side and that's when the kid realized that he hadn't let go of his hand since they left the dungeon.
"Is there anything we can do?" Rapunzel asked, keeping her voice low.
"I-uh. If you can get me on that ship, I think I can neutralize it." the alchemist responded, feeling uneasy.
But then, there was still the matter of the king and queen who were being loaded into a carriage. Andrew had tasked Kai to drive the royal couple to their deaths all while they were completely oblivious to it.
"Eugene, I need you guys to free my parents." Rapunzel requested from her boyfriend.
Eugene squeezed the young alchemist's hand in reassurance as he gave his girlfriend a firm nod. Varian finally let go and watched the dark prince leave with Lance and Max to go after the carriage.
"For Saporia!" the remaining Saporians cried out as Rapunzel, Varian, and Pascal watched the airship take flight.
"We've got to get on that ship." the princess said firmly.
On board, Andrew had asked the Saporians to take a moment of silence to solidify that this would be the day that Corona would burn to the ground. Right after that, he launched the first barrel of Quirineon and waited for the inevitable explosio. But, no such sound came. The Saporians looked over the edge of the ship and couldn't any sign of the barrel. It should've still been in one piece if it didn't detonate.
Unknown to the bad guys, the heroic trio were under the hull of airship, hanging by Rapunzel's hair. Varian used some more golden tresses to catch the lethal chemical just before it plummeted to the ground. The princess smiled proudly at him for the impressive catch as she climbed up to the ship's deck.
The Saporians heard a thud and were surprised when they saw that Varian, Rapunzel, and Pascal had boarded their ship.
"Drop something?" the princess asked innocently.
"You!" Andrew said with anger in his tone. "Nice to see you again, hairstripe. I always knew you'd come crawling back to me."
Rapunzel could the teen visibly wince at the sound of his nickname. The princess made a mental note to never call him that. She would have to make sure Eugene doesn't call Varian that either when this was all over.
"Varian, get your alchemy belt and neutralize the Coronion- or whatever it's called!" she instructed as she readied her hair for battle.
"I-I... It's pronounced Quirineon, but okay." the alchemist responded just as Maisie came rushing over to him.
He put his panic aside and ducked, narrowly missing being socked in the face. The boy then raced over to some of the Quirineon with Maisie right on his tail. Rapunzel, fueled by a maternal desire to protect Varian tripped the Saporian and entangled him in her hair. She was determined to keep the child safe with every ounce of sundrop power inside her.
Juniper prepared to strike the sundrop, but was easily stopped by her blonde hair. With her busy subduing two of his comrades, Rapunzel almost didn't notice Andrew coming at her with his sword held high. But then, a cloud of green smoke obscured their field of vision. Once the smoke cleared, the two of them could see the blade of Andrew's sword disintegrate and footsteps followed.
Out came Varian having reclaimed his alchemy belt and had another orb in his hand as he joined Rapunzel's side. The boy kept the ball aimed at his abuser in case he tried any funny business. The separatist leader narrowed his eyes furiously at the kid, but Varian's adrenaline kept him from buckling in fear. Andrew then looked at the hilt of his ruined sword and chuckled. He chucked it the boy and two alchemical spheres went flying from his grasp.
The spheres trapped Pascal and Rapunzel's left foot in bubbles. Both of which started to float away.
"I'm coming, Pascal!" Varian said as he chased after the floating chameleon.
Suddenly, a sword pointed right at him stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Stand down, alchemist!" Clementine demanded as her sword edged closer to the frightened teen.
"I'll take care of him." Andrew's voice said as Varian was roughly hauled over the ship's edge.
Below him was an approximate 200 foot drop. The only thing keeping the kid from plummeting to his doom was Andrew's tight hold on his jacket collar. He grabbed his abuser's wrist in the event that Andrew happened to let go. Varian's eyes darted back and forth from the Saporian to the ground.
"Traitors to Saporia pay with their lives, Varian." Andrew reminded the kid of the Saporian credo. "I was hoping your death would be a little more fun for me, but we can't always get what we want, now can we?"
Just as the separatist was about to drop Varian, Pascal's bubble bounced into Andrew's legs, causing him to lose his balance. Varian was sent flying back on the airship and watched as the Saporian went over the edge along with a few alchemical orbs. He got to his feet and saw that his abuser had a bubble encasing his head as he floated away.
"This isn't over, kid! Do you hear me?!" Andrew yelled at him through the bubble.
Varian gulped and looked to find the other Saporians out cold. He then ran to Rapunzel and Pascal to free them from their bubbles with the neutralizing particle. The Saporians still on board the ship were starting to come to with pained groans.
The child's adrenaline started to fizzle out and was replaced by pain over again.
"Oh, we're not done yet! Time for Corona to go boom!" Andrew's maniacal voice belted out, filling Varian with fear.
And then, the crazed man cut the rope holding up of the balloons with his dagger. Flames erupted as the ship tipped vertically. Rapunzel and Varian held onto the edge while the Saporians fell and were bubbled like Andrew.
"That single burner isn't enough to keep this ship in the air. If it crashes, it'll destroy Corona!" the alchemist panicked, his adrenaline still diminishing.
"Varian, look at me and breath." the princess instructed, trying to keep him grounded. And then, she got an idea. "What if we used the Quirineon?"
"Yeah- Yeah!" the boy exclaimed, catching on. "Heating the Quirineon will increase the temperature enough for the balloons to rise. We just have to get out high enough so that when it explodes, it didn't destroy the city."
He then looked away for a minute and squeezed his eyes shut in sadness.
"Varian, no-" Rapunzel began, having read the boy's mind and understanding what he was about to consider.
"Rapunzel, you have to get off this ship. I-" the child sighed. "I need to clean up my mess."
"No." the princess said sternly, her eyes welling up. She missed the way Varian flinched from the volume in her voice. "Varian, I have a shield of magical hair to protect me."
The sundrop then wrapped some of her hair around him and he groaned when his ailing body stirred up.
"I'm not going to let you get hurt again." Rapunzel proclaimed as she kissed the boy on his forehead.
The gesture caught Varian off-guard to the least. And then, he felt himself being dropped onto a nearby roof.
"No, NO! RAPUNZEL!" he cried out as the ship got farther away.
The princess stared back with a heartbroken look in her eyes.
The young alchemist kept telling himself that Rapunzel would be fine, but it was just so hard to convince himself of that. He frantically looked for a way to get down. But then, he felt something grab the back of his jacket.
"Surprise!" Andrew exclaimed pyschoticly.
Varian screamed at the sight of his abuser still armed with his dagger.
Rapunzel saw the sight unfold, that protective motherly nature still ablaze inside. She grabbed a piece of wood that had somehow not fallen the ship and hurled it at Andrew's bubbled head. The separatist dropped the child as a result. Luckily, the little alchemist landed in soft pile of hay behind a house. Now it was a just a matter of meeting her on the ground.
Rapunzel gathered all the Quirineon she could to the top of the ship where the burner was and poured it in, facing the fire at it.
Throughout the whole process, she contemplated on everything regarding Varian. At first, the princess was angry that the alchemist had aligned himself with the Saporians. But then, she was confused that he refused to fight her. And finally when the two of them were locked up together, Rapunzel was angry once again. But this time, it was at herself for letting such a terrible ordeal happen to the child. And now, she wasn't going to let anything happen to that boy again. Not her watch. Because despite what Varian did back then, the princess still deeply cared for him. She could feel tears trickle down her face at the thought of how terrified the little one was of even being touched. Rapunzel didn't plan on leaving Varian's anytime soon.
After successfully but comically rescuing the king and queen, Eugene and Lance watched the balloon from afar.
"Come on guys, get out of there. That's it, come on." Eugene said to himself, believing strongly in Rapunzel and Varian, not knowing that the kid wasn't on board anymore. And then, the ship exploded in a cloud of green.
"Rapunzel! Varian! No!" Lance cried out, dropping to his knees in despair.
"Just wait, Lance. Just wait." his best friend assured him, his faith unwavering. "They'll be okay."
And right on cue, a golden ball of light fell from the ship and the two men ran back to the kingdom.
After recovering from his fall, Varian ran over to where Rapunzel fell. He kept saying that his friend would be fine, but he still needed to see it to believe it. And sure enough, there was the princess; completely unharmed and very much alive. The boy then rushed over to her and slid on his knees.
Rapunzel gazed up at him and silent tears streamed from his eyes. But as badly as she wanted to scoop the little one up in a great big hug, she didn't want to risk scaring him away. But then, the princess felt a body get thrown into hers in a tight embrace; Varian's body. He was hugging her and Rapunzel gladly returned the embrace, letting out a breathe as she let him cry.
"It's okay. He can't hurt your anymore. No one's ever going to hurt you again. I'll make sure of it." The princess promised him.
The alchemist's adrenaline was finally gone and he just broke down. Silent tears turned to sobs as he buried his face in Rapunzel's shoulder.
"Thank you." his muffled voice said repeatedly and the sundrop continued hugging him.
When Lance and Eugene reunited with them, they smiled sadly at the duo embracing each other.
Eugene crouched down beside them and rejoiced, "It's all over guys. You did it."
His girlfriend let out a chuckle and felt Varian's grip loosen, but not completely let go. She then proceeded to rub soothing circles on his back.
"Not yet. There's still one promise I have to keep." the princess said quietly.
Eugene smiled and wrapped his arms around the two of them. Then, Lance joined on the group hug. And for the first time in forever, Varian really and truly felt protected.
When he and Rapunzel arrived at his house in Old Corona early the next morning, the princess gave him a minute to change out of his Saporian clothes. It felt very good to be back in his usual attire after all this time. And it didn't take a genius to see why.
Rapunzel had told him that during their journey, she found an incantation that had the power to destroy stuff. It could be the key to freeing his father from the amber.
Varian kept hearing a negative voice in his head saying that his dad would blame him for trapping him in the first place. But this is his dad, not Andrew. He would never react like that. Right?
As Rapunzel finished wrapping her hair around the amber she turned to the boy who was carrying a bucket of water.
"Okay Varian. Once I start the incantation, I won't be able to stop it. And it could harm you and your father. I need you to snap me out of it once your father is free." the princess instructed her young friend.
"You can trust me, Rapunzel." Varian assured her with a small smile.
"Wither and decay." she began, her hair slowly turning black. A feeling of dread began to grow in the boy's stomach. "End this destiny. Break these earthly chains. And set the spirit free."
His friend's eyes shot open, but they were now black instead of green. Black as night. This unnerved the child, but then saw the amber had started melting like ice.
"It's working." he breathed.
Wither and decay.
"It's working!" his excitement was rising.
End this destiny.
"D-dad!" Varian cried out as he felt happy and scared all at once. He didn't know what to do, but then he remembered what he was asked to do. The alchemist splashed the water on Rapunzel hoping to snap her out of the trance, to no avail.
Break these earthly chains, and set the spirit free.
But then came another strange occurrence. Varian felt pain blossom in his head. However, this was a different kind of pain; pain he had never felt before. And that was when the streak of blue hair he's had since birth began to glow.
The spirit free.
"What's going on?" he asked as Rapunzel's hair fell away from the amber and started going after him. The boy instantly ran over to the princess to try to snap her out of it manually.
"Wake up!" he cried, grabbing her shoulders and his gloves melted away. Rapunzel had warned the teen that touching her during the incantation could badly burn him, and yet his hands remained unscathed.
The sundrop's tresses had caught up to the kid and coiled around him like snakes, threatening to cocoon him. Varian felt helpless so against his better judgment, he put his hands on his friend's shoulders again and still felt nothing.
"Snap out of it, Rapunzel!" he tearfully pleaded. "Rapunzel? You didn't give up on me. I'm not giving up on you."
That did it. The princess gave a sharp gasp and dropped to her knees, her blonde hair falling off Varian as he own hair stopped glowing. He fainted but only for a moment.
"Are you okay?" the young alchemist asked.
Rapunzel's green eyes had returned and she smiled warmly at him. The child smiled as well as he threw himself into his friend's arms saying, "Thank you."
"DAD! DAD! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Varian exclaimed as he rushed into his father's loving embrace. He smothered himself into his dad's furry vest as he cried. But then, the teen saw the note he had dissolved in the melted amber. "Oh, the note! W-what did it say, Dad? I need to know."
"All you need to know is that it said, 'I'm proud of you, Varian. I always have been.'" Quirin answered simply.
His smile then faltered when he noticed the cuts and bruises on his son. But, Varian didn't notice. He had wanted hear his dad say that he was proud of him for so long.
"I love you, Dad." the boy said, falling back in this father's hold.
"I love you too, son."
Rapunzel looked on at the beautiful reunion, her braided back up. And noticed that Quirin was understandably concerned about his son's physical state.
"You know, there's a parade happening in the city later." she said, cutting into the moment. "You two are more than welcome to come if you're up for it."
"Thank you, princess. We'd love to come." Quirin accepted graciously after exchanging glances with his son.
"Think you'll be okay while I'm gone, Varian?" the sundrop asked.
Varian silently and slowly nodded almost not wanting her to leave. Instead, he wanted to go back with her which was strange. Yes, he missed his dad like crazy. But he felt much safer Rapunzel, Eugene, Lance, and the animals for some weird reason.
And on the other hand, the princess didn't want to leave Varian either. The last time the child was left alone, he was badly abused. But Quirin wasn't Andrew. And surely her friend felt safe with his own dad. Maybe she was just being paranoid.
"Okay, see you soon." Rapunzel smiled, waving goodbye as she left. "I'll be sure to find you in the crowd."
The parade went swimmingly. Everyone rejoiced in the city rejoiced in the return of Rapunzel and her triumph over the Saporians. She and her boyfriend were wearing new purple corresponding outfits. The princess marched alongside Eugene and Lance as people launched floating lanterns into the sky.
That was when she spotted Varian approaching her. He was walking stiffly and seemed kind of on edge. Quirin walked alongside him as they both walked over to the trio.
"Look, Varian's here!" she alerted her friends and the men found the alchemist, making his way through the other parade goers.
"Hey kid!" Eugene called out once he was close enough to hear. The child waved shyly at the threesome.
"Varian! Good to see you, buddy!" Lance laughed jubilantly.
He then noticed how panic stricken the kid looked. Lots of people. Loud noises. Varian was clearly not too crazy about big gatherings. The former thief glanced at best friend and he nodded. The two men then proceeded to talk up a storm with the boy, chewing his ear off with tales of their thieving days in hopes of distracting Varian from triggers of the parade. And it worked like a charm.
Meanwhile, Quirin tapped Rapunzel on her shoulder and asked, "Princess, may I have a word with you please?"
"Of course." she answered with a sinking feeling that this conversation wasn't going to end well.
"He is going to pay!" the older man growled. "That terrorist will suffer at my hand for-"
"Quirin, Andrew is locked away in the dungeon now." the princess stopped to quell his rage. "And Varian has been officially pardoned for his misdeeds. He just needs time to heal and anger won't help with that."
"That's the thing, Your Highness." Quirin explained. "He refuses to eat and sleep. And when I tried to touch him, he flinched like I was going to hit him. I got so upset for being encased for a year that I snapped at him! After that, he descended into a panic attack. I have a very short temper, Princess; and that's the last thing my son needs right now. All I need is time to get anger management, no matter how much time that ends up taking. Which is why I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to take over Varian's care for me. I understand that's a tall order, but he seems to trust you and your friends the most right now. And clearly, you care a lot about him a lot-"
"I'd love to!" the princess answered enthusiastically before clearing her throat and composing herself. "I mean, of course Varian is more than welcome to stay with me and my family in the castle for as long as it takes you. Of course, it's Varian's decision if he wants to stay.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I really appreciate it." the village leader said before turning to his son. "Varian, come over here please."
Varian broke away to join his dad to tell him about the plan while Rapunzel huddled up with Eugene and Lance.
"Am I in trouble? Did I do something?" the boy asked nervously. "I won't happen again! I promise I-"
"Breathe, Varian. You're not in trouble." Quirin assured his son. "I just feel like it would be in the best interest to distance you from my anger issues until I can get them under control. You don't need me taking my frustration out on you right now, not when you need time to readjust to freedom. But ultimately, the choice is up to you."
The kid looked back to see Eugene and Lance's eyes glimmer at the idea of him moving into the castle. He then returned his gaze to his father and said, "Okay. I think I'd like that as long as you come visit sometime."
"Absolutely."
Meanwhile, the guys were all abuzz with suggestions for activities to do with the little alchemist. The princess couldn't help but smile at their reactions, having a few ideas for endeavors to share Varian herself.
At the end of the day, Rapunzel showed the teen his new room. It was less like a guest room and more like a luxury suite; complete with a four-poster bed, vanity table with a mirror, and large bookshelf. The room was almost as spacious as the princess's. Varian supposed it was better than his last room when the Saporians took over.
"My room is right next door and Eugene's isn't too far down from here." Rapunzel informed him. "If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask us."
"And speaking of needs, here are some pajamas so you can settle in for the night." Eugene emerged from his room with some long-sleeved pajamas for the boy. "And in the morning, we're going to treat you to the biggest breakfast the world has ever seen."
Varian couldn't help but chuckle the man's exuberance.
"Do you need anything else before you turn in?" the princess inquired.
"I-I think I'm good for now." the alchemist answered. "I'm gonna try and get some sleep."
"Good. Some rest will help." Eugene gave a small smile as Varian headed into his room.
Once he got changed, the boy tossed and turned in his bed with his eyes closed trying to fall asleep, but it proved to be futile. Maybe it was the emptiness in his tummy. So the teen got up and decided to go the next door to talk with Rapunzel and Eugene. The two of them were clearly having a conversation, but he just couldn't make out what they were saying except for two sentences.
"Eugene..., I think I'm ready to talk about Cass." Rapunzel's voice declared.
"Well then, I'm all ears, Sunshine." Eugene's voice said in reply.
"What about Cass?" the child asked in a soft voice, walking in the room.
"Varian, I thought you were in bed." the sundrop gasped, surprised to see him up and about.
"I couldn't sleep. Empty stomach." Varian explained as Eugene offered him a cupcake. "I noticed that Cass was missing from your group before but I didn't bring it up. What happened to her? Is she okay?"
The couple exchanged awkward glances with each other and the princess even drew a sharp breath in through her teeth.
"You know what, never mind." Varian decided to back off. "It's probably still not any of my business. I'll just leave you two alone."
"No, Varian. You can stay. Come take a seat." Rapunzel invited him and he sat in between the couple on the window seat while indulging in his confection. "You deserve to know what happened at the end of our journey."
The princess went on to tell the young boy about Cassandra snatched the Moonstone out from under her nose, told her that her mother was Gothel, and called Rapunzel out for taking her mother away from her before running off filled with rage.
"Well, that's the whole story." the sundrop finished.
"Wow. That is a lot to take in." the alchemist commented, a little stunned.
"Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Rapunzel wondered.
"How am I feeling? What about you?" Varian replied in disbelief. "You're the one went through it all. The least I could do is be here to listen."
"At first, I felt betrayed. I mean Cass is my best friend." she explained. "But now I'm, I don't know; angry, sad, confused? A whole jumble of emotions."
"Like when I betrayed you back then." his friend mumbled.
"Anyway, I'm glad we could talk. But let's get you back to bed." the princess said as she and her boyfriend guided the boy.
Rapunzel then took the liberty to tuck Varian in and even offered to stay with him until he fell asleep, which he gratefully obliged. As the boy started to doze off, Eugene and the princess looked at each other thinking the same thing. Varian had a long road to recovery ahead of him, but he wasn't going to travel it alone; that's for sure.