Chapter 2: Rapunzel's Return Part 1
Rapunzel's nerves were through the roof as she and her friends were flying in a hot-air balloon to make it home. When Ulf arrived at the Dark Kingdom with the distressing news of invaders in Corona, she and company made no haste to board their mode of transportation to get there. After Cassandra went rogue and stole the Moonstone, word of her kingdom being attacked was the last thing the princess wanted to hear. Her heart rate was going faster than Maximus at full gallop and her knuckles turned white as gripped the rim of the balloon's basket. There was no telling what awaited for upon their arrival and Rapunzel was having mixed feelings. On one hand, she was happy to be heading back to Corona. It was nice to be finally going home after all that time on the road. On the other hand, there was a sense of dread as to what might've been happening over there. Were her subjects okay? Was anyone getting hurt? Were there any casualties?
That's what terrified the princess most of all. Was anyone killed while she was gone? Rapunzel was already suffering from Cassandra's disappearance. She couldn't handle much more heartache.
In a instant, her breathing stopped and she stared off into space, her eyes squinting in deep thought. Anxiety and panic came crashing down upon the princess like a tidal wave and she squeezed the balloon basket tighter. She felt a hot flash and couldn't find the ability to breath.
Rapunzel's panic induced trance finally ended when Eugene took her hand and she jumped in response to his presence.
"Take a breath, Sunshine." he whispered in her ear as she followed his instructions. "In for four seconds and out for four seconds. That's it. Good job. Look, everything's going to be okay."
The princess remembered when her boyfriend first taught her that breathing exercise when she was just starting to adjust to castle life. As she regained her composure, Rapunzel was glad to count on Eugene to help keep her grounded.
"You're probably right. I got lost in my head." she said with a painful smile. "I'm sure that our friends back home are just fine!"
Pascal and Eugene could tell that the princess was still in denial from earlier events. The faithful chameleon lightly patted his best friend on her cheek while the dark prince cuddled Rapunzel close to his chest.
After days of soaring through the sky, the gang's hot-air balloon landed in Corona at last. Everybody in the basket cheered happily as the balloon touched the ground. It was so great to be back in their home kingdom after being away for so long.
"Finally!" Eugene was the first to speak as he jumped out of the basket. "No offense to any of you people, but we've been together for way too long and I need a break from your faces. Except for you Rapunzel."
He helped his girlfriend out of the basket and gave her a side smile.
"I can't believe how much I missed home! Home!" Rapunzel said full of glee as she frolicked down the cobblestone roads of her kingdom, visiting her favorite places. "Oh! How I've missed everything so much!"
"I missed the bookstore!" She lightly smacked the store's hanging sign.
"And I missed the fountain!" She gently splashed the water inside.
"Oh, I missed the sweet shop and bakery! Yum!" She enthusiastically pulled her boyfriend to the conjoined buildings.
"You know what I missed about Corona?" Lance brought up, adding to the conservation. "The people."
But that was when he noticed that they were the only ones here, "In fact, I'm still missing the people."
Rapunzel realized that Lance was right. She was expecting at least a handful of people coming to welcome them back, but the capital town was virtually a ghost town. The princess could feel that sense of dread creeping up on her again.
"Yeah, that's weird." the princess agreed before calling out for anyone that may be around, but all she got in reply was her own echo. "Hello?? HELLOO?"
"That's kinda spooky." Lance expressed under his breath as everyone joined in calling for any people within earshot. But nothing.
Things were starting to look bleak really fast. What if the sundrop's worst fears were coming true? Just when the gang was about to quickly assume the worst, a familiar man with curly red hair came tumbling out of an alleyway. In doing so, he spilled a bucket full of green crystals into the road. It was Feldspar! In that instant, the princess felt her hope being restored. This was the first person that she and her friends have seen since they arrived. Maybe no one was seriously hurt after all.
"Woe is me! I'll never meet my quota!" Feldspar cried in dismay as he struggled to collect his bearings.
"Feldspar!" Rapunzel cried as ran over to him, dropped to her knees, and helped him clean up the mess.
"Princess!?" the cobbler gasped. "Oh, thank goodness you're back!"
"Where is everyone?" the sundrop inquired, feeling concerned for everybody else's well-being.
"Oh, it's awful! Just awful! Everyone in Corona has been forced to quarry! Mining these pesky green minerals." Feldspar explained, showing her the shards he before putting them back in his bucket. "Oh, oh, I gotta get these in by nightfall!"
It seemed that Rapunzel had gotten more questions than answers. Someone was making everyone in the kingdom mine for crystals? Even the women and children? Who could've been responsible for this? And why?
"Did you know about this?" Rapunzel asked Ulf who nodded sadly and pointed at Shorty, indicating that the gang's trusted interpreter left that one detail out of his distress call.
"Shorty." the princess scrutinized the old man.
"What?" Shorty shrugged with sass. "I thought his story dragged so I took the artistic license to make some judicious cuts. I stand by that choice."
Fidella nickered in annoyance.
"I-I don't believe it." Rapunzel proclaimed with a guarded tone in her voice. "I'm going to the castle to speak with my father."
She started to make her way to the castle with her crew not far behind. If there was mutiny going on in her kingdom, her dad would surely know what to do.
"I'm not sure what good that will do." Feldspar informed her. "Your father is the one who gave the order."
"What?" the princess gasped, looking back at the castle. Panic began to flood once again. Why would her father give an order like that? Sure her dad had strict rules about a lot of things, but he would never enslave his own subjects; right? Now Rapunzel was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this.
Meanwhile, Andrew was watching from one of the castle windows as he anticipated the arrival of the princess. Varian was standing behind him waiting for orders.
A little while back, the Saporian leader decided it was time to give the kid a new look. Varian of course was forced to just go with it. Nobody had pick out his clothes for him since he was five and he hated being belittled by his abuser by letting him have a limit in choice.
The young alchemist was now wearing a heavy black jacket with red accents that covered most of his body, a blueish-gray vest with a sash like belt aligned with his alchemical spheres, bright red gloves, tan pants, black boots, and a burgundy bandana with teeth on it. Andrew had once said that he looked like a true Saporian, if he did say so himself. And Varian hated it. This did not represent his true self, but it did help cover up most the bruises from Andrew's violence.
Speaking of Andrew, the separatist was inspecting the teen from top to bottom and grinned at how small and insignificant Varian looked in his eyes. Just the way he liked him. The boy looked completely dazed. Varian didn't even seem to notice what was happening around him. His eyes were half-lidded and glossy like he was on the verge of falling asleep. There was a far-off look on the kid's face that seemed as if he focusing on something and yet nothing at the same time. His superior waved a hand front of him and he did not respond at all.
Andrew shrugged it off and returned his gaze out the window. That was when he noticed the princess and her lackeys approaching their base of operations. It was a clear indication that it was time to break Varian out of stupor.
"Hey, Hairstripe!" Andrew spoke sternly, dropping a hand on the teenager's shoulder. Varian's eyes widened as he threw his hands up in a defensive way, knocking his abuser's hand away. The separatist rolled his eyes and grabbed the his wrists as he harshly restrained him. "They're back. Time for action."
He gave a loud whistle to summon the other Saporians as they all huddled up.
"Listen up, friends." Andrew announced. "Rapunzel is finally back. What do you say we give her a nice warm welcome?"
The terrorists all spoke in the agreement amongst their leader. Varian kept quiet during much of the huddle.
"And what's a good show without special effects?" His superior added, gesturing to the little alchemist.
"It's called alchemy, but I'll let that one slide because you didn't call it magic." he chose to reply which earned a sharp glare from Andrew, telling him to clam up. So he did.
Andrew led his entourage to the throne room where the princess was and Varian was about to follow, but was halted by his abuser.
"You hang back, kid. We'll go warm them up for you." Andrew instructed. "Wait until I give you the signal and only when I give you the signal. Capiche?"
"Y-Y-Yes sir." Varian nodded shakily as the separatists disappeared behind the double doors. The boy pressed his ear against the doors to hear what was transpiring on the other side.
Rapunzel had just arrived in the throne room to reunite with her parents, only to learn that they no recollection of their own daughter. That was when the princess noticed her father's necklace. It didn't have the Corona sun, but it did display another symbol she could recognize.
"Dad- that's- t-that medallion, it-it's..." she shakily spoke.
"Saporian." Andrew cut her off, gracing her with his presence. "Hey Raps, nice to see you again."
He opened the door to let his fellow separatists in and they followed him closely like a pack of wolves. The four of them looked almost as callous as Andrew.
The well-dressed looking man was Maisie. He had been a separatist relatively the longest and was the best strategist of the group. The little old lady Clementine was also an experienced separatist. She was a mage with a knack for dark magic. The girl with the long dreadlocks was Juniper. Around as old as Rapunzel, she was a younger separatist and a lean, mean fighting machine. The other younger separatist Kai was the biggest among the group. What he lacked in brains, he made up for in extra muscle. Altogether, this ragtag bunch of criminals were definitely a force to be reckoned with.
"I'm gonna be completely honest, like, I remember you, but I don't remember you. Does that make sense?" Eugene said who as far as he was concerned, just saw them as a bunch of unfriendly strangers.
"It's me. Andrew. I nearly single-handedly felled Corona?" Andrew hinted, but sighed as that didn't seem to ring any bells in the former's mind. "I took you for a ride in a hot-air balloon."
"Ohh, less-attractive-than-me guy with the man-bun." the dark prince finally caught on.
"I've taken over Corona. Or as we now refer to it, New Saporia!" the separatist exclaimed, raising his sword high like a mighty warrior.
"Long live New Saporia!" the other Saporians chanted, raising their own weapons as well.
"I'm sorry, what? You, man-bun guy and your little flower children took over Corona?" Eugene mocked, looking unimpressed. If these guys wanted trouble, they sure were going to be in trouble very soon. He drew his own sword and gave a laugh. "This is only gonna take a minute-"
"Showtime kid." Andrew said quietly, looking behind him.
All of a sudden, Eugene was engulfed in a cloud of pink smoke.
"Eugene!" Rapunzel cried out.
When the smoke cleared, her boyfriend discovered that his feet were glued to the floor by a gelatinous substance.
"What the goop?" he said, trying in vain to free himself.
Rapunzel's was blindsided for a brief moment. She recognized that goo anywhere. And she knew that there was only one person who could make that.
Andrew gave a dark chuckle, "We didn't do this alone, you might recognize my former cell mate."
From the other side of the doors, Varian indicated that was his cue to come forward. It was at this point that he realized his goggles were still over his eyes from working in his lab and he forgot about. Well, no time to deal that now. So the boy covered his nose and mouth with his bandana to hide the split lip he got from a previous beating. Then, the young alchemist traipsed into the throne room through the pink smokescreen. Despite the fear of doing something he knew wasn't right, Varian's eyes were devoid of any emotion.
"Welcome home, Rapunzel." he said, putting his goggles on his head; but kept the remainder of his face masked.
The princess had an expression of horror on her face after having not seen him for a year and Eugene looked almost dejected. Varian decided to put on a villainous act while Rapunzel was still in fear.
"Oh, I see you've met my new friends." he continued, trying to sound as confident as he could while joining the Saporians.
"Ah, Varian! My most trusted advisor." King Frederick greeted the boy warmly.
Varian felt guilt pool in his stomach as he wicked smile faltered. But once he was shoulder to shoulder with Andrew, the kid put his facade back on. Lance had caught that brief break in character, but Varian glared sharply as if to defend his emotions.
"Varian? Mom? Dad? Don't you remember what he's done?" Rapunzel questioned in disbelief.
"No, they don't princess." Andrew answered smugly as he turned to the boy, whose confidence was already diminishing fast.
"What do you mean they don't remember?" the princess demanded sharply as she glared at the Saporian.
Clementine in response twirled the pink wand in her hand like a baton in a parade.
"I'm sure you know what that st-" Andrew started.
"WAND, MAN-BUN!" the mage rudely corrected him.
"Wand is."
Unfortunately, Rapunzel was very familiar with the magical object; having been a victim of it herself. She gasped, "T-that's a Saporian Wand of Oblivium. You erased their memories!"
"Well, not me. I don't do the magic stuff. But Clementine had no problem with it." Varian explained, clearly feeling uncomfortable about the action on Clementine's behalf.
Andrew immediately put a hand on the kid's shoulder. His eyes widened and he went back to his villainous front. Lance, having paid close attention to Varian's body language gave him a skeptical look as the teen looked him right in the face. He seemed almost crestfallen and was shaking his head a little. This was a clear sign to Lance that something wasn't on the up and up. But in an instant, Varian went back to his menacing guise.
"Yeah Raps, the King and Queen today. Tomorrow, Corona. My buddy here is going to be sure of that. Right hairstripe?" Andrew spoke darkly to his little pet.
When the kid didn't respond right away, the separatist tightened his iron grip on Varian's shoulder. The boy felt like he was suffocating in Andrew's hold.
"Yes." he barely managed to comply.
"Hmm, not much of a chatterbox today; are you?" His superior raised an eyebrow. "No matter, I-"
Lance tuned out everything Andrew was saying and kept his focus on the teenager. He had been taking note of everything, including the way Varian flinched when Andrew raised his hand like he was going to hit him. When in reality, the separatist was just grabbing his sword. The former thief put two and two together and realized that the kid was a victim of the Saporian's abuse. Varian may be in more danger than anyone knew.
"I can't let you get away with this!" Rapunzel's determined voice cut through Lance's epiphany. "Hey guys? Let's send these Saporians back where they came from!"
And with that, all chaos erupted. Rapunzel and her gang charged at the other party and Varian threw down a purple alchemical sphere, thick smoke billowed leaving everyone blindsided. Maximus made a mad dash for the Saporians, but unfortunately, they were armed with alchemy too. Juniper took a small blue orb and tossed it at the stallion, trapping him in a bubble and set adrift. Shorty was bucked from the saddle and got ahold of Kai's sword. Before the bigger Saporian could make his move, Rapunzel stops him in his tracks and tosses him into a flower bed with her hair.
The sundrop then focused her attention on the young alchemist again who wasn't too far behind Kai. She eyed him from top to bottom and her heart nearly stopped at the sight before her. There was so much fear in Varian's eyes and he seemed to be at a loss for direction. He looked frighteningly scrawny and seemed adamant on keeping his face covered. But Rapunzel brushed the thought aside as a reminder that the child was still aligned with the Saporians.
Eugene was so fondly distracted by his girlfriend's capability to stand her ground, he almost didn't notice Andrew brandishing his sword; but he quickly engaged. And given that he was stuck in one stance, the dark prince had to adapt.
"I have to admit, I relived I have to fight you and not Cassie." the separatist leader said between clashes. "Where is my old flame anyway?"
Rapunzel and Varian's interests were briefly piqued at the mention of Cassandra's name.
"Sensitive subject." Eugene ducked the question and shoved his enemy away.
The princess continued to stare at the boy as he just stood in place. He wouldn't even make an attempt to attack and Rapunzel for the life of her couldn't understand why. Varian could see Andrew was busy combating Eugene and felt like he could breath a little easier. He then covered his eyes with his palms and groaned audibly. It was hard to tell if the teen was going to cry or if he was having a headache. He peeked to see Rapunzel lower her hair slowly and she held back from attacking him, watching him with solicitude.
"Get your head out of the clouds and attack, Hairstripe!" Kai yelled at the kid. From Rapunzel's perspective, she could see Varian jump at the volume of the command and his eyes looked like he had just seen a ghost. He wanted no part in this.
"Varian-" she began, but wasn't able to finish that sentence.
"I'm sorry." the teen spoke softly, but loudly enough for the princess to hear and not Andrew. "I really am."
Just like that, he tossed three alchemical orbs in her direction and Pascal jumped out of the way. When the balls exploded, Rapunzel found her hair stuck in the raccoon trapping goo. She tried to pull it free and didn't take her eyes off Varian once.
Pascal managed to climb on the boy's shoulder and gave him an odd look, as if wondering what was going on inside that head of his. The alchemist discovered the lizard and locked eyes with him. He then darted his eyes about as he gently cupped the chameleon in his gloved hands. The child looked around one more time to make sure that the Saporians weren't paying attention to him and gave Pascal the neutralizing particle, much to the lizard's confusion.
"Get out of here before you guys get hurt." Varian told the little creature.
Pascal gave him a confirming nod and went to free Maximus. Once the horse was freed from his bubble, he prepared to charge at the alchemist, but Pascal hopped on his nose motioning him to stop. He then pointed to direct his fury toward one of the Saporians instead. The stallion was suspicious, but he took his friend's word for it. The chameleon then rushed off to free his human companion.
Meanwhile, Eugene and Andrew were still going at it. Their swords were still clashing with each other, the cacophony of metal blades banging against one another echoed through the throne room. And neither side was relenting. Eventually, Andrew managed to knock Eugene's sword out of his hand. The separatist was about to make the final blow when Lance's sword came in to block him, saving his best friend in the nick of time. Now, it was his turn to engage with Andrew.
"What are you doing to the kid?" Lance spoke in a low voice in the midst of the duel.
"Oh, you needn't worry about him. I assure you we're taking good care of him." Andrew shot back, soundly disturbingly cryptic.
"What are you doing to Varian?" The former thief got a little more angry.
"The kid's got useful skills I need him. All it takes is some hard discipline and he's like putty in my hands." Andrew chuckled.
As much as Lance wanted to deny that he was right about Varian's situation, there's no denying it at this point.
"Varian doesn't want to be with you, does he? Are you really hurting the kid just to get him to do your dirty work?" he interrogated the bad guy.
"You got that right." Andrew teased. "A little beating is all it takes to get that brat back on the right path."
The right path? Lance was so appalled to hear this, he didn't know what else to say.
"Looks like things are getting rough." the Saporian laughed, seizing the opportunity to gloat as he let his hair down.
"So much volume!" Eugene gawked, getting lost at the sight of Andrew's brown locks.
Lance on the other hand was unphased. Right now, his focus was on one objective: get Varian as far away from this lunatic as possible.
As Rapunzel got her hair free from the goo, she saw that Varian and the Saporians had her friends with their backs against the wall. So she ran over and placed herself between both parties.
"Varian, tell them to stop. You don't want to do this." she urged the boy.
"I-I can't." he spoke, his voice tinged with guilt as Lance looked him square in the eye.
"Varian, come with us; please. You don't have to be with them anymore." the former thief implored, feeling genuinely worried for the young alchemist.
Varian was about to reply when Andrew roughly grabbed his shoulder and jerked him backwards. Judging by the sour look on his abuser's face, the teen knew that he was in a world of trouble. He mouthed "I'm sorry," which were empty words at this point. Andrew whipped out a strange contraption filled with something green. Varian was terror stricken when he realized what it was. The green component inside that little device was a prototype batch of Quirineon. It was highly combustible, maybe even more so than Flynnolium. How the Saporian managed to get ahold of that, the boy would never know. He watched as Andrew threw the makeshift bomb at the princess and company.
"No!" Varian cried out as the bomb blew up and green gas filled the throne room. The Saporians shielded their eyes from the explosion.
When most of the smoke cleared, they saw a gaping hole in the wall and all the Coronans were gone.
Varian and Andrew went to inspect the damage and the teenage alchemist could see the princess sprawled out in the courtyard. He began to fear the worst, but then he could see the sundrop twitch a little. It was a sign that confirmed she was alive, much to Varian's relief.
But then without warning, Andrew grabbed a fistful of the kid's black hair and started to drag him away.
"I better see a little more action out of you next time, Hairstripe." his abuser said venomously.
"No no, wait. I'm sorry! I promise I'll do better!" Varian begged fruitlessly. And whether it was intentional or not, he slipped out the words; "Rapunzel, help me!"
As a result, Andrew stopped dead in his tracks and locked eyes with the alchemist as the fear inside the boy continued to grow.
"What did you say?" the separatist spoke in a dark tone.
"I'm sor- I didn- I-It just-" Varian stammered, unable to say anything clear enough to save himself.
"Did we not talk about the princess never forgiving you? And suddenly you go crying out to her for help? Don't you remember where that got you before?" his superior scolded the little alchemist.
The poor boy was so afraid and shaking like a leaf in the wind so much, he couldn't even dignify that query with an answer.
"Well just for that, I'm going to extend your beating by ten minutes!" Andrew snapped as he continued to forcefully drag Varian out of the throne room. And he completely ignored the boy kicking and screaming the whole way.
Eventually, the kid was back in the dreadfully familiar room to receive every punch, slap, kick, and cut that was coming to him. He didn't dare cry or his punishment would be extended by another couple minutes. When it finally over, Andrew dragged Varian into his closet for a timeout. The door was locked behind the kid and he was left alone curled up on the floor, letting out all his tears.
"Rapunzel, please help me." Varian sobbed.
He didn't know how much he longer he could endure all this torment even with the goal of erasing everyone's memories in mind. But the boy was too afraid of being abandoned by Andrew and the others that he had to stay in his good books. But how long would it take before he succumbed to the pain of his abuse?
