I know everyone's been waiting for this so let's jump straight in.

Content warning: emotional outbursts, scars, denial, injury and past trauma

Chapter 13

Indecision

Rapunzel was starting to realize that following her destiny was a lot more complicated than she thought. She had touched the black rocks like she did back in Corona and like before they made a path for her to follow in this strange new world. She couldn't find Eugene, Cassandra or Lance. She couldn't even find the door she came out of. Still this had to be where she was meant to go. The others knew that she's following the rocks so it was best to stay on the path. The rocks were still here and still leading her. Only…she had a small problem.

There were two paths now. One leading left and one leading right. This could be a problem if the others were trying to find her. She made a quick marking on the side of a building and tried the right path first. She was convinced this was where she was meant to go, it led her to a grand palace. Problem was there seemed to be no way in. She tried for days and was getting really frustrated with not getting anywhere. She thought about trying the decay incantation but with no one to help her she wasn't sure she could pull herself out of the curse.

Then she had an idea. She backtracked to where the path split thinking maybe she'd find a key or…something. Maybe she was supposed to go there first. What she found at the end wasn't a key but it was something she was looking for.

Varian, after all this time she had finally found him. This was it. She was supposed to find him so he could help translate the scroll so she could fulfill her destiny. She wanted to run up to him but the last time they had met they had not been on the best terms. There was also something nagging her in the back of her mind but she pushed that aside for now.

This…this was fine. She had been getting messages from her Dad saying he was getting better. Maybe he turned over a new leaf like that living painting woman said. Maybe had broken out because helping her was his destiny as well. There was that nagging feeling again. She shook her head harder to get rid of it.

She heard a shout, something about war? Fear rose up in her until she looked and saw it was just a bunch of kids and they were playing a game. They were throwing water sacks at eachother how fun! And Varian was among them joining in the game.

She relaxed that stupid nagging feeling. Varian could be scary in the past but he was still just a kid. Gathering up her courage she called out to him.

"Varian!" All of the sudden the game stopped and Varian was looking at her in… fear? Tha-that wasn't right, why was he afraid of her? It must be a mistake, maybe he didn't recognize her after almost a year. Darn that nagging feeling sure is persistent.

"I finally found you!"

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It took a few moments for Varian to find his voice. He wasn't ready for this. After the emotional rollercoaster he had just gone on Rapunzel of all people literally just showing up on his doorstep was the last thing he needed.

"What are you doing here?" he said coldly, making a few of his friends blink at the sudden harshness of his tone. Unfortunately Rapunzel seemed unfazed.

"I've been looking for you. Well, you and following the black rocks but they both lead to you so…" she held out her arms as if she was expecting a hug but Varian backed away. She paused and put her hands down.

"Lookin-how did you find me? How did you even get here?" Rapunzel was starting to get the impression he wasn't very happy to see her.

"I followed you or what I thought was you through a door in a house made of seashells." Varian slapped his hand on his face. He was trying not to spill the fact he was from another world and she was practically screaming it. Alya however perked up at this.

"Oh, you mean like Doorman, the superhero from New York?" Varian could kiss Alya but he doubted Nino would like that very much.

"Ah that sure sounds like him or at least someone with similar abilities." He gave Rapunzel a look that he hoped convey 'Don't let them know you're from another world.' she nodded somehow understanding.

"Hey I'm sorry but…who is this?" Nino asked, surprised to see someone from Varian's mysterious past.

"I'm Rapunzel, a friend of Varian's from…back home." At the mention of 'friend from back home' many of the other kids looked at each other uneasy. Varian had made it very clear that his so-called friends abandoned him when he was in need. A few others recognized the name 'Rapunzel' as well. Nathaniel pulled out a picture he drew for Marc's writing project when he was asked to rewrite the story of Rapunzel. They glanced between the drawing and the new girl noting that she did have a massive head of hair. No wonder everyone called her Rapunzel.

While the kids were starting to whisper to each other, Varian was seeing red.

"What makes you think we're friends?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious. Rapunzel for her part was looking a little uncomfortable and the whispering didn't go unnoticed.

"I mean, I know we were friends before…well before the blizzard but that doesn't mean we can't start again." Varian was tempted to shout but looking around at all the concerned faces he tried to quell his temper.

"What if I don't want to start again?"

"Varian!"

"No, that's it!" He took a deep breath. "I'm not going to wish any ill will on you but we're not friends. I've learned a lot since I came here and these people," he gestured to the crowd. "Are my real friends." The other smiled as he looked at each of them. "So I'm asking you to just leave me in peace and I'll do the same."

Rapunzel was stunned but also a bit relieved. He wasn't swearing revenge like he was last time. He seemed to have found some kind of piece. A part of her was telling her to just leave him be. If he was happy here why should she disrupt that? But it wasn't that simple. The rock had somehow reached all the way into another world. It was her destiny to stop them and for that she needed to know what was on the scroll. She wished she had it on her but hopefully she'd find Eugene and the others soon. Varian was the only one she knew who could translate it.

"I'm…I'm sorry that you feel that way, Varian. I really did see you as a friend." Varian scoffed.

"Well you had a funny way of showing it. When a friend pleads for your help he doesn't expect to be tossed out in a blizzard and ignored." Rapunzel was starting to get a little defensive. Sure she made some mistakes but his were way bigger by a long shot.

"I had no choice. I was the one in charge and I had a whole kingdom counting on me. It was either helping you or hundreds of others. I hated making that choice, I felt terrible but it was the right one." Varian was about to respond but Alya raised her hand.

"Sorry I know this is a…personal fight but I have a few questions." She was a journalist after all. "I get that Varian's Dad was hurt during a time of crisis and you couldn't spare the time to help but what about after?" Rapunzel's eyes widened while Varian just smirked.

"Well Rapunzel? I think she asked a very fair question. What's your side of this story?" Varian folded his hand awaiting her response. Truth be told he was honestly interested to hear her excuses. Rapunzel started tugging at the sleeve of her dress suddenly aware of all the eyes on her.

"I…I was under a lot of pressure. It was my first time in charge and it was only supposed to be for a day or so while my parents were out of town. I had been making bad calls all day. Most were small ones but there were a lot." Varian rolled his eyes, she was stalling.

"Still waiting to hear how that left me stranded."

"You weren't the only one struggling that day! My parents were lost in the blizzard and nearly died. I risked the safety of my people on a legend and I thought I'd lost Pascal in the process."

"Pascal?" Nino asked.

"Her pet chameleon."

"So many things could have gone wrong-"

"But they didn't! Your parents were rescued, your people were fine and Pascal survived. Everyone gets a happy ending except me and my Dad. So I'm asking you again. Why did you abandon me?" He tried sounding religiously angry but choked on a half formed sob at the end.

"I didn't I-"

"Three months!" He screamed the anger he had fought so hard to control now bubbling up to the surface. "I waited for you for three months and you never came!" There were tears threatening to spill out as he remembered waiting for a friend who never showed up. "I get that you had to help during the blizzard but I guess I wasn't worth a thought in your head even after everything had calmed down." Rapunzel shook her head.

"That's not true at all!" she exclaimed. "It hurt so much to have to turn you away, it was all I could think about."

"So wait." Alix exclaimed. "If you knew Varian needed help why didn't you see how he was doing after? You keep dodging that question." By now Rapunzel couldn't deny the fact that she was dodging the question.

"I…I was afraid." If anything this only made Varian angrier.

"How do you think I felt!"

"I was too scared to make another decision, what if I made another mistake."

"But you did make a decision." All eyes shot to Marinette. "I know it must have been hard to face him knowing your choice hurt him. And by confronting him it would only confirm that. I understand that feeling I really do but choosing to do nothing is still a choice. If you were too afraid to go see him you could have sent a message, or sent someone else to check up on him." In truth Marinette could sympathize a little. She too struggled with indecision when it came to Adrien and other parts of her life but to just ignore someone you supposedly care about?

"I'm sorry, OK. Yes I made a bad call, another one but you could have written sooner." Varian's eyes narrow.

"I'm sorry, did you think my problem that was so dire that I came to you during a blizzard would just magically go away? And I couldn't have written to you earlier since I had a bad case of pneumonia after being thrown out back into the storm."

"I didn't know you were just thrown out. I told the guards not to hurt you."

"Well maybe you would have known if you had bothered to check on me!"

"Wait." Adrien said, picking up on something. "Varian you had pneumonia? Is that why you keep getting sick?" Varian looked away and rubbed his arms.

"I'm not sure, it's possible though." Rapunzel paused.

"Yo-you've been sick?" Max nodded.

"He's had a history of bad headaches and passed from at least one of them." She felt sick to her stomach. Was this her fault?

"And after I was well enough to get back on my feet your father sent out his men to keep me a prisoner in my own house. Getting that one letter out to you took weeks of planning to get it passed them. And even then I knew you wouldn't just drop everything just to help me. You would have been there a lot sooner if that was the case. No, I had to bribe you with information to get you to come down to see what I was dealing with. And guess what, it worked."

He was both relieved and disappointed when she finally came. Proving she was only interested in what he could offer her than actually being there for him.

"You only gave me that so that I'd help you steal the flower anyway." she said defensively.

"Which is why I couldn't trust you to help me without some form of compensation. It's why I lied to get your help to steal the flower. Because I sure couldn't count on the goodness of your heart, you'd already proven that."

Rapunzel dropped her gaze. Maybe there was a grain of truth there. When Varian didn't bring up the issue with his Dad right away she thought maybe the problem did resolve itself. She didn't ask because once again she was afraid of the truth.

"Hang on," Kim asked looking confused. "I'm confused, you said you sent Rapunzel the letter and then you stole the flower." Both nodded.

"Yeah that's right."

"So…why were guards at your house before you committed a crime?" Varian looked back at her with a dark expression.

"Because someone was spreading false rumors about me saying I attacked the princess."

"Varian I didn't know about the rumors until later." That nagging sensation was back. She didn't exactly correct Nigel when he said the boy had attacked her. Why didn't she correct him?

"And then," Varian continued. "They continued to harass me non stop when I wouldn't give them my Dad's graphtic. Said they needed to keep me quiet, said I knew too much."

"Varian I'm sorry for what my Dad's men did but I had no clue this was happening. Yes I could have been a better friend, yes I should have checked up on you but you can't blame me for everything bad that happened to you." She gave him an angry look.

"And you're not as innocent as you're painting yourself to be." Varian flinched knowing what was coming next. "Just because you were hurting it didn't give you the right to attack my family! You hurt a lot of people and my Mom did absolutely nothing to you!" Everyone in the audience looked back at Varian who hung his head in shame.

"Yo-you're right." Rapunzel was a little surprised he didn't try to deny it or blame her again. "I escalated things too far and for that I'm sorry. And I honestly hope Ariana is doing well, I really mean that." Everyone was now processing this new piece of information. This was a part they hadn't heard before. While Varian didn't seem eager to share that part of his story he did seem sincere when he apologies. Even Rapunzel softened a little.

"Look Varian I know things have been a little tense between us but Dad said you were getting better. And I thought you'd-"

"Wait wait wait!" Varian interrupted, waving his hands in the air. "Your father said what?"

"That you were getting better and learning from your mistakes."

"Your father left me to rot starving in that disease infested cell! If 'getting better" means that I was too weak to put up a fight when the guards were beating the shit out of me then yeah, I guess I was getting better." He hadn't meant to say that aloud and now everyone was looking at him in shock. Rapunzel wasn't looking much better.

"What? But…in his letters…he said…he said you were doing well."

"Oh Jee, the man who lied to you before has lied to you again, big shocker!"

"He may have lied to me before but he swore to me you'd be safe! He was…he was supposed to be helping you!" Blinded by fury Varian did something he swore he would never do. He took off his gloves in front of everyone and shoved his scared wrists in her face.

"DOES THIS LOOK LIKE HELP TO YOU!" The crowd gasped and some covered their mouths in shock but at that moment he didn't care. He needed Rapunzel to see what kind of monster her father really was. "When I had lost so much weight the shackles they gave me slipped off. Clearly that meantI was trying to escape so you know what your Dad did? He ordered new ones to be welded to my wrists, not caring when they cut into my skin or burn my flesh or my pleas for mercy! So tell me again Princess, how your father wouldn't lie!"

Adrien and the boys from the sleepover knew he had scars on his wrist but none of them knew it was this bad. Rapunzel stared at his wrists dumbfounded, the red imprint of the shackles staring back at her accusingly. Memories of her father telling her the rocks were taken care of and later finding out he was lying not just to her but the whole kingdom came flooding back. He used that same tone when she asked him to help Varian after he was arrested and he promised her he would.

"They were infected, you know. Pretty sure the plan was to just let me waist away and die why you were away. If it wasn't for-" he almost said the portal but quickly corrected himself. "A kind man named Gabriel no one would even know what became of me."

For Adrien and all of Varian's friends so many of the puzzle pieces that were Varian's life were now starting to fit together. They now knew most of what happened between Varian and his friends and why he was so mad at them. No one could blame him for that even if most suspected they were both leaving something out. The scars painted a horrible picture of what their friend had gone through and why he was so secretive. The mystery of why Varian was so defensive and close to Gabriel Agreste was hinted at earlier and was now also solved. Proving Gabriel could in fact be a decent human being. Much to the surprise of many there.

Rapunzel had no clue how to react. She just stared at his wrists and the realization of what had happened to Varian was right in front of her. Her own father had done this or at least let this happen. He lied to her again? He was her real father,supposed to be good!

He…he wasn't supposed to be like Gothel.

Varian felt his head starting to hurt. He was pushing himself and he knew it. The last thing he wanted was to pass out and make his real friends worry about him again. Rose noticed this too.

"Ah, Miss Rapunzel. I think it might be a good idea if you left. Varian was injured a few days ago and he only just woke up this afternoon." Rapunzel was only now noticing the bandage on his head.

"Injured?" Marinette came up and gently guided Varian away from his old friend.

"Yeah he was hurt when the rocks suddenly started moving again." She was scanning the skies looking for an Akuma who would very easily find a few victims here. "Let's all calm down a bit. Things are getting a little…emotional." Shadow Moth hadn't been active in the last few days, Alya suspected he was injured in the latest rock attack but Marinette didn't want to take any chances.

"He was hurt…by the rocks?" Varian was now clutching his head as Adrien let him back inside the house. Adrien sent a glare in her direction as he did so.

'This…this is my fault.' She was the one who touched the rocks so she could get back on her journey and find her destiny. 'How many times have my actions hurt him? Hurt others?' She thought about the blizzard and how she did nothing to help him after. She thought about Cassandra and how she ignored her warning about using the decay incantation. And then she thought she was leaving Varian in good hands only to be wrong again.

Varian was safe inside the house by now with the rest of his friends just staring at her. More than a few had a look of hate in their eyes. She needed to leave, she needed to leave right now.

She took off in a run not having any destination in mind. She wanted Eugene, she wanted Cassandra or Lance. Tears spilled down her cheek hoping and praying she'd find them soon. This may be her destiny but she couldn't do it alone.

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Back in the Agreste Manor Adrien was helping Varian back into bed. Varian groaned, still holding his head.

"I just slept for three days. How can I still be tired?" Adrien handed him some pain relievers.

"You're probably more emotionally exhausted after seeing Rapunzel again." That was troubling for Varian. He didn't know how she got here in the first place. First the rocks now her. Something or someone must be causing all these dimensional rifts and he doubted it wasn't Ladybug. And what if they weren't the only things that came through.

"Hey you should probably eat a little something before you go back to sleep." As tired as he was, he was feeling a little hungry.

"I could probably handle a little soup." Adrien smiled as he got up.

"No problem I'll be-" but Varian grabbed his hand.

"Wait. I…I'm sorry for keeping that from you. I was afraid of what you'd think after finding out how bad I lost it." Adrien paused for a moment.

"I knew you were arrested and I didn't think it was for stealing a flower."

"Well they tried but I escaped and after that…it wasn't my proudest moment. I did some bad things, very bad things. Things that I regretted later. But I was alone and being persecuted and at some point I figured that, if they were going to treat me like a villain then I might as well give them what they wanted." He closed his eyes, unable to get any more out.

He had taken things too far; he knew that but had he learned his lesson? Here he was teaming up with a known villain and despite what he kept telling himself people were getting hurt in this war. He wasn't sure what to do any more.

"You don't need to force yourself to tell me everything." He thought for a moment. "Does father know?" Varian nodded.

"He was…surprisingly sympathetic." That was an understatement.

"Well let's get you that soup before you drop off again." Amber the cat had come in through the open door and jumped onto Varian's bed. "Good idea Amber, keep him awake until I get back." She meowed and they both laughed.

Settling down Varian sighed thinking about Rapunzel and the rocks and just…everything. True, not everything was Rapunzel's fault but she had hurt him. It would be best if they didn't see eachother again. All they seemed to do was hurt each other. So why did that thought hurt so much?

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Juleka had been quiet throughout Varian and Rapunzel's fight. It wasn't unusual for her so nobody questioned it. Unfortunately Varian's old friend showing up out of the blue put a wrench in her plans.

She had opened the letter Luka had left for her but most of it was unreadable. The few parts she could make out was something about Varian and Tanuki. She wasn't sure what that meant but she didn't want to make assumptions about her friend.

She still suspected Tanuki was the one who pulled her brother from the water, saving his life. But Tanuki had also stolen Chat Noir's ring. If Varian and Tanuki were one in the same, that painted a very confusing picture. She had been hoping to talk to him during the gettogether. Off to the side but with a crowd nearby just in case.

Then there was Rapunzel. They both referred to her as a princess and in charge of a kingdom but Germany wasn't a monarchy. Maybe their village had some weird outdated ideas and had their own independent country or maybe they were in some kind of cult? Both of them being from another world would make sense, strange as that sounded. Ladybug had told them the black rocks were from Tanuki's world but he didn't know how to stop them.

Still she wasn't 100% sure and hearing how he suffered because of a false rumor made her hesitant to tell everyone else. Still she felt the need to confront him. She had an odd feeling he'd tell her the truth.

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This had to be the most awkward family reunion in history. Eugene found out he was some kind of lost Prince, Miss know-it-all was his Aunt and creepy feral guy was his Uncle. The look of shock on Adira's face was almost as priceless as the look lemon faced Hector was wearing.

Oh, and wouldn't you know it Quirin, Varian's Dad, was also part of this adopted brotherhood making him the kid's cousin.

He conveniently left Varian out of this discussion because that was a whole kettle of worms he was not ready to kick open with all his stabby relatives in the same room.

He finally managed to ditch his crazy family and reunite with Casandra and Lance who had been chasing Varian. Wait what?

"I saw his doppelganger earlier in the magic mirror on our first night here and Lance just spotted him running down the hall." Cassandra answered looking incredibly agitated. He was too stressed to make fun of her.

"You sure it was the kid Lance?" His childhood friend nodded.

"Unless there's another kid running around with a teal hair stripe. Say, is that a dye job or is it natural? Because it's a little strange-"

"Not now Lance." Cassandra interrupted. "Rapunzel's missing and I'll bet anything that little brat has something to do with it." Eugene was about to argue but he knew first hand how slippery the young alchemist could be.

"Alright, let's find him before my long lost family shows back up to continue the reunion from Hell." Cassandra looked at Lance as if this was some kind of in joke but the former thief just shrugged.

It didn't take them long. They spotted the teen at the end of another hallway. As soon as they turned the corner they spotted an open door and the tail of Varian's coat slipping through. The group paused. The door seemed to lead outside but it wasn't a place any of them recognized. They were debating if this was another trap set up by the house and Mathews when Eugene spotted something.

"Look at that wall, it's one of Rapunzel's drawings?" Sure enough Cassandra recognized her best friend's work and a decision was made.

"Then we're going in after her."

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Mathews sighed in relief as the group finally entered the door with the scroll in their possession. It took a lot more out of him than he realized he was barely able to keep the house from caving in on itself. But it was done, and Nigel need not know about his little blunder. He'd just say the whole crew went with the Princess, it wouldn't matter. Rapunzel was the only one who mattered; it's not like anyone in her party could change their plans. The door was closing and he was preparing for a nice long rest when something stopped it.

"Oh what now?"

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King Edmund had arrived just as the magic door was closing and shouted at Hector to keep it open. The knight was just quick enough to catch his fingers in the door and start to pry it open. Adira shoved in her black rock sword to help keep it open. Their king held up the dormant Moonstone and looked back at the door.

"The Moonstone's power is through there I can feel it!" His son was also on the other side of the door so the decision was clear. Hector managed to wrench the door open as Adira stabbed her sword into the ground, keeping the door open long enough for the knights to make their way through.

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Mathews collapsed completely drained. OK the brotherhood hunting the Moonstone in the other world could be a problem. Was it worth getting chewed out by Nigel to tell him about it? Maybe it was OK, the portal was becoming unstable by that point so while they still ended up in the same world they could have easily ended up somewhere far from the Moonstone and their master…he hoped.

Just as he was about to sleep for a week Nigel called him in the mirror. He groaned but he sucked it up and tried to clean himself up as best he could.

"Nigel, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Sorry to bother you old chap but with your success in bringing the Princess to the Moonstone's holder I was hoping you could help with something just as important." Mathews was hoping he wasn't asking what he thought the other disciple was asking. "I need you to bring someone else to that world as well. How soon can you get to Corona?"

Double crap.

"Nigel I'm flattered the Master thinks so highly of my skills but opening a portal to another world was more draining than I thought."

"Are you saying you can't do it?" Mathews' pride was his downfall.

"Of course I can, I just…need a few days to regain my strength." Nigel smiled back at him.

"Very good, report when you are able to get to Corona and I'll give you further instruction. Until then." The mirror went dark and Mathews cursed to himself. He was going to need more than a few days to recover but the thought of disappointing his mistress was more frightening than losing control of his magic. He'd just have to get as much rest as he could and then he'd just have to do it. After all, he did it twice-er three times already. What was one more?

And should he be concerned that walls in the East Wing had turned to cheese?

To be continued…

Next time: While looking for Rapunzel, Eugene and the others run into Varian. I'm sure this will go well.