Aside from all the other stuff he had going on, Varian loved to help Rapunzel with her royal duties. He was more than happy to offer his assistance in her day-to-day tasks. And today was no exception.
"Alright, Eugene, agenda us." Rapunzel told her boyfriend.
"Okie dokie. We're gonna start off with promises to be tons of fun, the semi-annual wheat crop report." Eugene said, reading of the schedule.
"Already reviewed, and I know you were kidding, but, believe it or not, it was fun." the princess told him, handing back the formatted report who handed it to Lance.
"Next, you've gotta approve the design for the castle's new footbridge." the dark prince read the next thing on the list.
"Did it this morning." his girlfriend stated, passing him the approved designs and pulling out her own blueprints. "In fact, while we were at it, Varian and I designed a few more footbridges. Or would it be feetbridge?"
"Nah, the former was the correct term." Varian replied.
"Woof!" Eugene huffed breathlessly.
"What? I'm used to getting a lot done by 7:15." Rapunzel said confidently.
"Me too. That's what happens when you grow up in a farming village." the teen alchemist added.
"What about breakfast?" Lance asked as a handmaiden walked by with a plate of croissants.
"Breakfast? We eat motivation for breakfast." the princess answered with caliber as Pascal and Ruddiger each fetched their respective humans a croissant. "Well, and cherry croissants. Thanks, guys."
"Mmm." Varian indulged in his pastry.
"You know, I gotta say, Sunshine, even I-" Eugene chuckled before he saw something that made him jump back.
"Cass' sparing dummy?" Rapunzel spoke in surprise, recognizing her artistic creation.
"What's that doing out here?" Varian asked.
"Oh, that's rich. Cass isn't even here, and she still finds a way to annoy me." the dark prince rolled his eyes.
That was when the princess and alchemist noticed Old Lady Crowley wheeling cart loads of Cassandra's belongings out of her quarters. If Varian could take a guess, he'd have to say that the room was almost empty now.
"Mrs. Crowley, what are you doing with Cassandra's things?" Rapunzel asked the elderly woman as she and Varian approached her.
"Yeah. Why are you cleaning out her room?" the boy wanted to know.
"Meh. She's gone, so now it's junk." Crowley stated simply, taking Cassandra's royal guard helmet.
"Whoa! Junk is a bit of a strong word, don't you think?" Varian commented, being taken aback.
"Now, just a minute." the sundrop stepped in. "I have faith that Cass will return, so kindly put her things back where you found them."
"Besides, I'm sure Cassandra would be pretty upset to have her quarters cleaned out without her consent." her friend added.
"Sure. While I'm at it, are there any beds you would like make to unmake, or trash that needs to be brought back in?" Mrs. Crowley asked with condescension.
"No, no. I guess we'll just do it." Rapunzel offered, a frown creasing her features.
"Help yourself. I'm on my break." the old woman said, handing her Cass' helmet and walking off. "The rest of her stuff is in the storage vault."
"Uh, t-thank you." Varian called uncomfortably.
Varian didn't like being in the royal vault. It brought back a lot of unpleasant memories of him betraying Rapunzel and stealing the withered Sundrop Flower. He just wanted to find Cassandra's belongings and get out as soon as possible.
"Cass' stuff has gotta be here somewhere." Rapunzel groaned as looked for Cassandra's belongings and tossed things over to Lance who caught them quickly.
The only other person looking besides herself was Varian, albeit more carefully and thoroughly. And then, he found a chest being mostly covered by a shield.
"Hey! Over here!" the kid called to the princess who rushed over. Together, they moved the shield and propped it against a shelf. Then, the two of them opened the chest and looked inside.
"Oh, it's Cass' things alright." Rapunzel smiled as she looked over a few items. "Look, her shield, her mace. Aww. Her lucky halberd head."
"She really was one-of-a-kind." Varian lamented with a sigh.
"Look, I know you love Cass, and I can totally understand why you'd want her back in your life. But don't forget that she betrayed you." Eugene spoke seriously as the princess loaded some of Cassandra's mementos into a box.
"She's still a friend." she replied in denial.
"Even after she double crossed you?" the young alchemist brought up to which the sundrop nodded, understanding why he was asking that.
Despite what Varian did to her in the past, Rapunzel didn't hold anything against him. And she had constantly reminded him of that, no matter how guilty the boy felt about his actions. And even now, he was still struggling to see that he was being forgiven for his misdeeds.
"I just don't wanna see you get hurt anymore, that's all." the dark prince attempted to reason with his girlfriend. "It's time to put yourself first and let her go."
"Are you suggesting that we just forget about Cassandra like she never even existed?" the teen asked him.
"Eugene, friends don't leave friends behind. Okay? I need you to understand that." Rapunzel told the prince firmly.
"Rapunzel, she's the one who left you." Eugene deliberately pointed out.
At this point, Varian couldn't say anything else to vouch for the princess. She looked so hurt and he felt vindicated to speak on Cassandra's behalf, but the look on Eugene's face was daunting to the kid. He had never seen his friend/guardian look that serious before.
That was when Lance popped in with a target that had Eugene's face painted on it.
"Hey! Look what I found. For once, they even got your nose right! Not to mention that this..." he chuckled only to be interrupted by Varian clearing his throat. "...is so very awkward."
"It's okay, Lance." Rapunzel spoke as she set the collection box down and accidentally sent some goblets flying.
"Oh, catch those! Those are irreplaceable!" Varian cried out.
"I-I got it, I got it!" Eugene said as the trio raced after the relics and safely procured them.
"I think I'm gonna go outside. Get some air and reorganize this stuff." Rapunzel declared as she grabbed the box and walked out of the vault.
"I'll come with you. It's getting a little stuffy in here anyway." Varian offered, following the sundrop.
Later that day, Rapunzel and Varian were seated outside the café in the town square, sorting through Cassandra's keepsakes.
"I remember painting this, Varian." the princess showed him a painting of the two women during happier times. The teen noticed that Eugene was ripped out of the portrait. He assumed that was Cass' doing. "All these things have their own story."
"Wait! That's her Cassandrium necklace!" Varian exclaimed, pulling out the piece of jewelry. It was in perfect condition. The child could feel tears start to spill over his face.
"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. Of course, Cassandra's absence is hitting home for you too." Rapunzel consoled him, wrapping her arms around the sad alchemist.
"No, it's not that. It's just... a-after the way I betrayed you guys, I-I always thought she got rid of this. But h-her still having it proves that s-she did still care." Varian sniffled.
After that moment of solace, the princess continued to sort through Cassandra's stuff, she noticed something purple and blue that definitely didn't belong with all the keepsakes.
"Wait, what's this?" she wondered, studying the strange item.
"Is that an hourglass?" the teenage alchemist asked.
"Hmm? This isn't Cassandra's." the princess said analytically.
"It must've gotten mixed-up in all her things." Varian predicted.
The colors in the hourglass then mixed and emitted a bright light which caused Rapunzel to drop the item, thus shattering it. She and Varian were caught in a whirlwind of blue and purple clouds. The two of them coughed to get the smoke out of their systems.
"Ah... Well, I can't say that wasn't weird." the princess commented.
"Uh... wasn't there a table here? There was just a table with Cassandra's mementos right there!" Varian flipped out.
"Thieves!" someone suddenly cried as two cloaked boys ran out of a jewelry store and bumped into the two friends.
"Hey, careful! That egg's priceless! Move it, Patches!" the tall boy yelled, pushing Varian.
"Who are you calling Patches?" the young alchemist asked.
"Come on, Burnsie, you're gonna get us caught! Go, go, go!" the lanky boy urged Rapunzel while holding a blue ornamental egg.
"What? Burns- whoa!" the sundrop tried to ask.
"Stop, thieves!" the jeweler shouted again.
The four of them quickly ran into an alley and ducked behind some crates to evade the guards chasing them.
"Well, that happened." Varian said simply as the group stood up from their hiding place.
"Now, just hold on! Okay?" Rapunzel told the cloaked boys firmly as they removed their hoods. "You had better tell us who you are right... now?"
The two friends stood in shock as they gawked at the two strange teenagers. The short teenager had dark brown tied in a ponytail, brown eyes, fair skin, and his face was covered in zits. Under his cloak, he wore a long, dark blue jacket that reached his knees. He almost looked Eugene in a way. The tall teenager was bald, had dark skin, telltale signs of a mustache coming, and also had brown eyes. He wore a fancy burgundy dress shirt under his cloak and seemed to bare a striking resemblance to Lance.
"Uh, w-what are you guys staring at?" the brunette asked.
"Am I finally growing facial hair?" the dark-skinned boy wondered, checking his face.
Rapunzel and Varian were speechless. That is, until they heard a sound from the alley.
"What was that?" the young alchemist asked, holding the princess's hand and turning around.
From behind, he could see a young white horse charging right at the group of four.
"Oh! Not him again!" the brunette teen groaned grabbing Rapunzel's other hand and pulling her and Varian along. "Lance, apple pie!"
As the other three rounded the corner, Lance spilled a barrel of apples to trip up the colt and the guards that accompanied him.
"Quick, in here." the brunette ordered as the quartet went into the back of a boutique.
Eugene and Lance removed their cloaks and everyone hid to avoid being seen in the window as the guards and the colt ran right by.
"Phew! No more gruel for us!" Eugene breathed a sigh of relief and laughed kissing the egg he harbored. "Tonight, we eat lobster! Not to mention, we'll finally be able to pay off the Baron."
Varian and Rapunzel just sat there with mouths agape, completely astonished by the other two boys.
"This is crazy! A young Lance and Eugene? It can't be!" the princess spoke in incredulously.
"Well, they look like them. They kinda sound like them." Varian said.
"Who's the man? You're the man!" teenage Eugene flaunted with his reflection in the full-length mirror before scrunching up his features.
"Uh, what is wrong with your face?" teenage Lance asked.
"I-It's just a little something I've been cooking up. I call it, 'The Blaze.'" his best friend explained, trying to make a signature expression.
"Blaze?" he laughed. "It's barely a smolder."
"And they definitely act like them." Varian verified, feeling a twinge of annoyance.
"Yep, that's them alright." Rapunzel agreed. "And either they found the fountain of youth, or..."
"Rapunzel, look." her charge alerted her, pointing out the window. There was a lost poster with a picture of Rapunzel as a baby on it.
"Varian! That's the poster from when I went missing!" the sundrop said in shock. "We just went back in time."
"Normally, I would say that this is unheard of, but recent events have definitely made me a believer in magic." Varian commented.
"But, why do they seem to know us? They keep calling me Burns..." the princess wondered, but then, she and the alchemist gasped when they saw their reflections. In the window's glass, they were the young Stabbingtons with Rapunzel being Sideburns and Varian as Eyepatch.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." Rapunzel freaked out while Varian hyperventilated.
"Guys! Shh! Keep it down!" Eugene barked as he and Lance pinned the panicking duo to the floor.
"I heard something this way." a guard alerted his small battalion as they circled the boutique again.
"Okay. So, apparently, we're trapped in the bodies of the teenage Stabbingtons?" the princess spoke in disbelief.
"But why?" the young alchemist asked.
"I don't know, but for now, uh, we go with it, and try to remain calm until we can figure out what's happening." his friend proposed.
"We know you boys are in there. We have the building surrounded." a guard announced who was practically at the door.
"Oh no. What do we do?" Varian asked, feeling scared.
"Alright, nobody panic. We can get out of this if we all work together..." Rapunzel declared, her voice trailing off when she realized that she and the little alchemist were the only ones in the store. "Great, they ditched us."
"Yeah, I'm starting to understand why the Stabbingtons hate Eugene so much." the kid added as the guards barged in.
"Where are the other two?" one guard interrogated the duo as halberds were pointed at them. Varian squeaked in fear at the sight of the weapons and clung to his friend/guardian.
"Uh, to be honest, I don't even know where we are right now, so-" the princess tried to explain, only for her arm to be grabbed by a guard as she was led out of the boutique.
"Take these wise guys to the wagon. We'll find the others." another guard commanded as a third one apprehended Varian and dragged him away.
Immediately, the kid started freaking out as haunting images from the aftermath of the Battle of Old Corona flashed in his brain. Varian vividly remembered when he was escorted into a prison wagon in shackles. And now, here he was again, being forcibly put into a barred wagon that would cart him off to jail. The teen started strained as he hopelessly tried to squirm out of the guard's hold.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he cried frantically.
"Please be careful with him. He's very sensitive." Rapunzel pleaded after she was loaded into the wagon.
After a bit of panicked screams and grappling from some more guards, Varian was finally thrown into the wagon and right into the princess's arms. The wagon door shut and the guards walked off, not caring what was happening inside.
"You're okay, sweetie. I need you to take slow, deep breaths." Rapunzel comforted the anxious alchemist as best she could.
He tried to calm down, but the princess could see that it wasn't easy for him when Varian was in such a scary place. If only there was something to distract him. And then, as fate would have it, a distraction did come their way.
"Hey, Varian. Do you recognize that little boy over there?" the sundrop asked, pointing to the little boy coming in their direction.
"That's me." the teen gasped, scooting to the bars to get a closer look at his younger self.
If Varian had to guess, he would say that he was around four years old in this time. His younger self was wearing a smaller version of his old clothes and his signature goggles were atop his head, the goggles his mother gave. He was enjoying a light orange lollipop and had a blank expression on his face, and yet, he still looked carefree.
"I almost forgot how innocent I was back then." Varian in his teen years thought with an awestruck look in his eyes.
"Aw, too cute!" Rapunzel cooed, watching past and present come together.
The teenage alchemist couldn't help but feel sad as his four-year-old self walked away. He held his hand out to the ambling little boy.
"There's just so much that I wanna tell him about what awaits in his future." Varian said wistfully.
But then, the reality of his and Rapunzel's current situation came crashing in again. The kid's breath picked up once more.
"Rapunzel, what are we gonna do?" he asked the sundrop fearfully. "I don't wanna be stuck as a Stabbington and trapped in the past forever!"
"Varian, listen, we're gonna get out of this." Rapunzel assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm well-versed in Corona laws, so we'll probably only be detained for a night."
"You two scrubs are wanted in all seven kingdoms. You're going away for a long time." the captain of the guard suddenly said in a surly tone as he locked the wagon door.
"L-l-locked away... b-behind b-bars... a-again... f-f-forever?" Varian stammered as his vision started to blacken. He didn't hear the princess cry out from him as his consciousness faded.
Some time later, the young alchemist felt himself coming to, and the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was his friend/guardian's worried face. Varian felt warm and quickly found out that he was being cradled in Rapunzel's arms.
"Oh, thank goodness you're awake." she signed in relief.
"How long was I out?" the boy wanted to know.
"About 10 minutes." the princess answered, helping him sit up.
That was when the same white colt from before came marching beside them like he was a big horse. The time travelers soon recognized him as a teenage Maximus. Rapunzel couldn't help fawning over how adorable Max was back then as the little horse went over to Stan and Pete.
"We've gotta get back to our own time, but first, we've gotta get out of here." the princess told Varian as they watched the guards converse.
"O-okay, but, we're gonna need the keys. If only there was a way to distract the guards." Varian replied.
"Hmm... I think I know what will do the trick." the princess stated before using her best Sideburns impression. "Hey, Patchy. We might be behind bars, but I'll tell what the real crime is. That guard's mustache."
When Stan and Pete's heads perked up and turned to the prison wagon, the boy could tell that got their attention.
"You know, I'll tell you who should have a mustache. His partner. Now, that guy has a stache face." Rapunzel continued.
"I told you I should be the mustache guy." Stan told his partner.
"Nobody said you can't." Pete replied.
"Nah, you can't both be the mustache guy." Rapunzel inputted.
Pretty soon, the two guards were arguing with each other and got into a childish slap match.
"Grab the keys." the sundrop instructed Varian who snatched them from Pete and handed them to his friend/guardian.
Rapunzel then unlocked the prison wagon door, and she and her charge tiptoed away hand-in-hand.
"That'll buy us some time." the young alchemist whispered.
The two time travelers went through town until they were across the street from Xavier's forgery.
"Okay. Xavier has all kinds of books on mystical stuff, so if there's a way to get back home, this is where we'll find it." Rapunzel told Varian as the blacksmith went on his break.
"We better hurry. Xavier's breaks don't last too long." the child informed her.
They ran across the road to the forgery while keeping an eye out for guards.
"The books are up there." the young alchemist said, pointing to the bookshelf above his head. "Too bad I can't reach them. Ugh, short people problems."
Rapunzel came around and she, or rather, her reflection accidentally banged its head on a small pot hanging above her. But, she actually felt real pain.
"Ow! Gah, forgot that I'm a foot taller." the sundrop groaned.
"Wait, if you're a foot taller than you true height, then I'm not really short at all! Thank you, Eyepatch." Varian said with a laugh as he grabbed a blue book from the shelf. He then flipped the pages until he found a familiar artifact. "Rapunzel, check it out! The hourglass from earlier. It's a perfect match."
"Yes, Varian, you genius!" Rapunzel smiled as she and her boy held and read the book together. "Okay, okay, okay. 'The hourglass,' blah blah blah, 'has great power,' yada yada yada... 'It will send any who fall within its mist forward or backward in time 10 years?'"
"10 years?!" Varian exclaimed at the same time.
"Hurry up, mustache man, they went this way!" Stan's voice shouted from not too far away.
"Uh oh, sounds like the guards found out about our great escape." the young alchemist commented.
"Quick, the secret passage." the princess said as they ran to the hearth. "How did he open this again?"
"First horseshoe on the left." her charge answered.
She turned the horseshoe and the fireplace rolled to the left. The two friends ran into the passageway as the hearth closed behind them. Rapunzel lit a torch while Varian held the book as they made their way down to Xavier's secret room.
"So, that's why we're the Stabbingtons. They must have been the two people closet to where we traveled through time!" the princess gleaned.
"And if we want to get back to the present, we need to find the hourglass in this time. And that's in the royal vault, assuming I'm correct." the boy added, closing the book.
"Okay, we gotta break into the castle and steal the hourglass, so we can get back home, Varian." Rapunzel professed as she pulled a roll of paper to draw a map.
"Yeah, problem with that is, we're not exactly experts on breaking and entering." her charge pointed out as he handed her a writing utensil.
"True. If we're gonna pull a castle heist, we're gonna need some help." the sundrop affirmed as she started drawing a layout of the Corona castle.
Later, the two time travelers went to the mainland and Eugene and Lance's hideaway in the river cliffs. They used a rope that they tied to a tree to swing down to the cave's entrance.
"Hello!" Rapunzel greeted the teenage thieves in a sing-song voice as she and her charge landed. The sound off startled Eugene who fell his seat.
Varian lightly nudged the sundrop, reminding her that they were the Stabbingtons right now. So they needed to act like the people Lance and Eugene saw them as. The princess cleared her throat and started over.
"I mean, um, hello, jerks." she said in her tough guy while her boy crossed his arms and scowled at the other teens. "We have another, um, opportunity we thought you two might be interested in."
"Nah, we're all set." Eugene denied as he got back on his feet. "Besides, I'm surprised you came back. We left you and Ugly high and dry back there."
"Oh, you're one to talk, pimple monkey." Varian insulted back.
"Hey, first of all, that's mean." Rapunzel lightly scolded him before turning to the brunette. "And second, he is not ugly. He's sweet and adorable."
"Would you excuse us for a moment?" the kid chuckled through clenched teeth as he and the princess turned around to have a private conversation.
The two friends exchanged awkward glances at one another, not understanding why their accomplices were acting so peculiar today.
"I know that was rude, but they're teenagers. They think they know everything, but they don't know better, and this is coming from an actual teenager. It's all about speaking their language." Varian explained in a whisper.
"Oh, gotcha." the sundrop caught on, giving a thumbs-up.
"You two okay over there?" Eugene asked.
"Yeah, yeah. You're right, he is ugly." Rapunzel said, acting tough again while Varian gave the boys a stink-eye. "And tough. We're both tough. Nothi- nothing but a couple tough guys over here."
She proved her point by punching Eugene in the shoulder which knocked another ornamental egg out of his jacket. This one being red. Lance caught his friend in the act and it was safe to say that he was beside himself.
"You told me there was only one egg!" the dark-skinned teen gasped angrily.
"There was! After I took the first one." Eugene tried to defend himself, but it wasn't working.
"You tried to cheat Lance?" Rapunzel questioned him.
"That's not okay." Varian added in disapproval.
"Ha! I shoulda known! You were always trying to cheat me, Flynn." Lance reprimanded the brunette.
"I'm not always trying to cheat you, Lance. Alright, let's call it 70-30." Eugene proposed.
"In what world is that a fair profit ratio amongst the two of you?" the young alchemist inquired skeptically.
"You're a selfish jerk, you know that?!" Lance snapped, poking at his friend's nose.
"Yeah, well, being a selfish jerk is how you get ahead in this world." Eugene shot back.
"Oh, that's it!" the former shouted as he tackled the brunette to the ground.
And soon, the young thieves got into a full-on wrestling match. Rapunzel pulled Varian away so that he wouldn't get caught in the scuffle. The brawl got to a point where the boys ended up breaking the ornamental eggs in the process.
"Okay, if you guys are done with all that mess, and I'm gonna assume you don't have any more eggs stashed on your person, the offer is still up for grabs." the child proclaimed.
The two friends stood up and tried to look cool and collected, a far cry from the chaotic squabble that had happened seconds prior.
"After some spirited discourse, Lance and I have decided we'd like to partake in your opportunity as we have recently come into some rather, let's call it, unfortunate financial limitations." Eugene informed in a business like fashion, much to Rapunzel and Varian's delight.
"Wise choice, boys." the princess praised them as she laid out the castle map she and the alchemist had drawn out.
"So, what's the mark?" Lance inquired.
"The royal vault." Rapunzel answered as Varian inwardly winced.
"Come again?" the tall teen spoke in disbelief.
"You say what now?" Eugene added.
"Yeah, you heard right." Varian said to both thieves.
The quartet spent that afternoon plotting out their game plan, but they waited until nightfall for the plan to be executed.
First, the group slipped into the secret passage and through the curtain walls surrounding the castle. From there, they made their entry in the guard's tower and took the west corridor. Sure, it would get to the vault that way, but Old Lady Crowley had it closed for cleaning, which made the friends less detectable. After that, they found a laundry chute that would take them down to the vault level, but it was a bit of a tight squeeze. So only one person was allowed down per trip.
"Flip to see who goes first? I call heads!" Eugene said, flipping a coin he pulled out of his pocket. He caught the coin and it showed heads facing up, which meant that Lance had to go first. "Sorry, buddy."
His friend groaned as he tucked the coin away, but it fell out of a hole in his pocket and landed at Varian's boot. The young alchemist immediately bent down and scooped up the coin.
"Better luck next time." the teenage thief told Lance as he loaded himself into the dumb waiter and was lowered down.
"You might wanna fix that pocket of yours or you'll-" Varian said before cutting himself off when he recognized the coin from his grandfather's assortment of baubles. He then showed it to Rapunzel. "Does this look familiar to you?"
"That's a double-headed coin!" she said, examining the trinket and then pointed her gaze at the young thief. "You cheated Lance again, Eugene."
"Oh, come on! He's fine. In fact, he's the one who gave me this coin." Eugene said, seizing the coin from her and putting in his other pocket. But then, he gasped and let go of the crank. "Wait a second. How did you know my real name is Eugene?"
"L-lucky guess?" Varian shrugged nervously. "Ah, the crank!"
He raced to stop it, but Lance had already crashed at the bottom of the shaft. Meanwhile, the distant sound of a horse neighing alerted the trio. Max was coming!
"Come on! Dive for it!" Rapunzel told the boys as they jumped down the laundry chute without a moment's hesitation. They fell and slammed into Lance who was still in the dumb waiter.
"Sorry. We had to make a quick exit." the princess apologized as everyone spilled out.
"You all right there, Lance?" Varian asked.
"Hey, I think you guys crashed into me and stabilized my voice!" Lance said, sounding deeper than before. "I sound incredible!"
"Wow." the young alchemist commented.
"Well, in that case, you're welcome." Rapunzel told the fancy-looking teen while pushing him in the right direction.
The four friends quickly made it to the vault's enormous door. Without a key, it was up to Eugene to pick the lock.
"Okay, Flynn, work your magic." Varian told the brunette.
In just five seconds flat, Eugene activated the lock's tumblers and the door was open.
"Voilà! Beauty and brawn, am I right?" he bragged as Lance quickly went inside.
"I don't get how either of those things helped crack the lock." Rapunzel said with a deadpan expression.
"Besides, I'm pretty sure it's beauty and brains." Varian corrected him.
"Just get in there." the young thief ordered the two of them.
Inside, Lance and Eugene were marveling over all the gold, jewels, and other precious goods they could steal. Meanwhile, Rapunzel and Varian were after one thing, and one thing only. But being in the vault again gave the alchemist anxious tremors.
"L-let's find that hourglass fast. I do not wanna be in this p-place any longer than I have to." the kid told his friend/guardian, shaking.
"We'll leave as soon as we can." the princess promised as she looked on the shelf where the hourglass was before. But alas, it wasn't in that spot. "Oh no, it's not here!"
"Where could it be?" her charge wondered.
"Hey, what is that?" Lance asked, pointing at the end of the vault.
Rapunzel and Varian looked and saw the withered Sundrop Flower in its glass container.
Immediately, the young alchemist froze up and clutched the sides of his head as terrible flashbacks flooded his brain. The pace of his breath picked up and tears streamed down his face.
Seeing the child's situation, Rapunzel decided to jump in.
"Oh, that's nothing." she spoke, diverting the boys' attention from the cosmic relic. "There's nothing here but the kingdom's priceless treasures."
She slid a chest full of gold and jewels over and that was all it took to distract the two thieves.
"We'll take it!" they both said eagerly.
With them occupied, the princess took the opportunity to settle Varian down. She hugged him and gently ran her fingers through his hair
"Shhh, come on. Deep breaths. That's it." Rapunzel consoled him.
The little one felt himself relax in the sundrop's comforting embrace and he was breathing normally again. As soon as he recovered from his anxiety attack, Varian noticed something blue and purple out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey, that must be it!" the kid chanted as he pointed to the hourglass that was sitting on a shelf.
"Yes, yes! You found it!" the princess beamed, giving her boy a side hug.
Just then, everyone heard little Max coming their way again.
"You know, I am really starting to hate that horse." Eugene complained.
"He is persistent. You gotta give him that." Varian said in a complimentary tone.
As soon as the colt came charging towards the open doors, the teenage thieves immediately slammed them shut.
"Whoa! That's was close. I think we're safe." the brunette spoke.
"Uh-huh, sure. But, one tiny thing. We're trapped in here now!" Lance brought up angrily.
"Maybe not completely trapped." Rapunzel spoke quietly before turning to Varian. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Together, they opened the passage in the floor that led under the castle and climbed down the ladder.
"Guys, get down here." the princess alerted the two thieves.
"What in the what? Again with the secret castle stuff?!" Eugene spoke incredulously.
"Uh, let's just say we're history buffs? Now, come on, and don't touch anything." Rapunzel told the thieves she and her boy went below the floor.
"Also, try to be careful where you walk." Varian added.
The young thieves happily accepted this exit and went down the ladder after the time travelers. As soon as they did, the passage closed above them.
Varian never thought he'd be down in Herz Der Sonne's tunnels again. The system was riddled with traps in the most unpredictable of places. And with two inexperienced spelunkers like Eugene and Lance, the kid had a bad feeling that a disaster was eminent.
"What is this place?" Eugene asked, looking around.
"No time for questions, boys, just keep it moving." Rapunzel ducked the question as the quartet sprinted.
"And stay together!" Varian added.
"I think we lost him." Lance panted after a little bit.
"Uh, you thought wrong." the princess differed as Max's shadow came around the corner. "Hurry, this way!"
The friends took a few turns and Varian could see that Lance was falling behind by a lot.
"Come on, Lance! Keep up!" the young alchemist told him as the fancy-looking teen's face collided with some cobwebs.
"Abandoned spiderwebs!" his voice squeaked. Puberty was so random. "Oh no. My voice crack is back! Why is everything awful?!"
"This path feels familiar..." Rapunzel spoke softly.
"Yeah, I remember it too." Varian agreed.
"That silver brick springs a trap, so watch your step." the sundrop advised Eugene as she and her boy easily dodged the tile.
"You don't have to worry about me! I'm light on my feet! In fact, they call me the Sweet Feet Cham-" Lance bragged before being cut off.
Rapunzel and Varian were too far ahead to know that Lance had gotten trapped or Eugene had turned back. Soon, they could finally see the end of the tunnel.
"A light! We're almost there!" Varian chanted happily.
Rapunzel removed the grate that covered the tunnel exit and the two friends found that they were just by the bridge that led to the mainland. Needless to say, they were completely out of breath.
"Oh, that was close. I am so winded. Sideburns really needs to step up the cardio." the princess panted.
"Yeah, couldn't hurt Eyepatch to do a couple of leg calisthenics every now and then either." Varian huffed.
Just then, Eugene crawled out, having finally caught up with the time travelers, but something was wrong. His best friend wasn't with him.
"Wait a minute, where's Lance?" the sundrop inquired.
"Yeah, what happened back there?" the young alchemist questioned.
"Uh, he, uh, sorta got a little bit arrested." Eugene explained.
"He what?!" Varian said incredulously.
"B-but, hey! He knows the deal. Every man for himself. That's just how it goes." the brunette downplayed it like it was no big deal. "So, let's split up the loot, and, uh, get outta here-"
"Eugene Fitzherbert! How could you?" Rapunzel berated him.
"That was just cruel!" her charge added in denouncement.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Enough with the real names, guys!" Eugene told them, being annoyed.
"Just listen to me." The princess urged him to hear her out. "We know you better than you think we do. You say it's easier to walk away with the excuse, 'Every man for himself,' but Lance? Lance is not just every man. He is a friend. He is your best friend. And friends don't leave friends behind."
"Especially best friends." Varian included.
"Wow, guys, that was remarkably insightful, and so not like you." the young thief said, not expecting to hear such advice.
"It's called loyalty. Something I guess a thief like you would never understand." the teenage alchemist replied.
"Take this to the woods and guard it with your life. I'll be back soon." Rapunzel then instructed, handing him the hourglass.
"But where are you going?" Varian asked.
"I've got a friend to save." the princess responded, pointing a glare at Eugene.
"I can't let you go in alone. And I don't wanna be alone either."
"Listen, this won't take me long, hopefully. I just need you to believe that we'll meet up again once I'm done with the rescue."
The two of them shared a brief but warm hug.
"All right. Just be careful." the child sighed.
"You too." his friend/guardian said before crawling crawling back into the tunnel.
Varian saw that Eugene had slid down to the cobblestones, looking guilty. He could tell that the young thief didn't want to ditch Lance. But the kid supposed being a friend and being a crook definitely complicated things.
"Hey, I know you still care about Lance deep down inside. You both grew up the same orphanage. You've had each other's backs for this long, why stop now?" Varian wisely told Eugene before heading into the woods.
As he was making his way to the meeting place, the young alchemist realized that Old Corona was just on the way to the woods. He wasn't one to let himself get distracted, but the chance to check on his younger self again before heading back to the present was too good for the kid to pass up.
"Okay, just a quick peek." Varian told himself.
He made his way through the village until he got to his house. The teen's younger self was most likely asleep. Varian was about to peek into his bedroom window when something loud and gruff got his attention. The boy quickly hid.
"I thought I told you to get out." his father's angry voice said from inside the house.
"Oh come, Quirin. There's never been a man that I've met that was immune to my beauteous charm." a feminine voice argued.
And then, the woman who owned the voice was pushed out. A woman with dark curly hair, green eyes, a maroon dress, and a black cloak. Varian quickly recognized the woman from Rapunzel's paintings.
"Gothel?!" he whisper-shouted so as not to draw attention to himself.
"I don't know what gave the idea that Varian is worth kidnapping, but you will never have him. You've already stolen the lost princess. I'm not about to let you take my son, especially not after he has just lost his mother. Now for the last time, leave!" Quirin demanded firmly.
"You can't protect him forever, Quirin. One of these days you're gonna slip up, and when you do, that little boy of yours will be mine." Gothel shot back.
The poor boy gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth, fearing that he might have been a little loud. He then ran into the woods as fast as his legs could carry him.
Once there, Varian paced around the clearing in confusion and distress as he waited for his friends.
"W-Why would Gothel wanna k-kidnap me?" he asked himself, his voice shaking.
Just then, he saw Rapunzel, Lance, and Eugene exit through a tunnel that was hidden under a tree.
"Oh, good. They finally made it." the young alchemist sighed in relief.
"At last! Sweet, sweet freedom! The air smells so fresh! Oh, the trees are so green!" Lance exuded, frolicking and doing cartwheels.
"Lance, you were in jail for 12 minutes!" Eugene yelled.
That was Rapunzel noticed Varian's pale expression.
"Varian, what's the matter? You look like you've just seen a ghost." she asked, making her way over to the boy.
"I-I'll tell you about it later." the kid answered quickly as he gave her the hourglass.
This was it. The two of them were almost home. All they had to do now was break the artifact and it should send them back to the present day.
"Alright, Patches, show us what we got!" Lance asked excitedly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. But when Rapunzel turned around to reveal the hourglass, his entire tune changed. "What the?! A junky sand clock?"
"Y-yeah, I know it's w-weird." Varian stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Look, I promise we'll explain everything to you in about 10 years. I'm really happy we got spend some time with you as a teenager." the princess told the two thieves.
"See you in the future." Varian replied, waving farewell.
"Guys, what are you talking about?" Eugene asked as Rapunzel held the hourglass over her head while her boy clung to her. He quickly realized what she about to do. "No, no, no!"
The sundrop smashed the hourglass to the ground and a whirlwind of blue and purple vapor once again swept up the time travelers. They both coughed again as soon as the mist faded.
"Did it work? Are we back in the present?" Varian asked, looking around. The duo were back outside the café where they started, but looks could be deceiving.
"Only one way to know for sure." Rapunzel responded as they looked at the closest reflective surface they could find. In this case, it was a store window. And they were happy to discover that they could see themselves again.
"Yes! We have our own reflections back!" the teen cheered.
"Yeah, looks like we're home." the princess declared as the two of them raced and sat by the fountain. "Oh, Varian! Doesn't it feel wonderful to back in our own skins again?"
"Absolutely." Varian agreed, hugging himself as they both looked at their reflections again.
"And look at you! You're back to your sweet, freckled self." the sundrop told him who blushed modestly. Then, a full-grown Maximus came into the picture. "Max! You are looking so grown up today!"
She hugged the stallion's muzzle while the boy patted his neck.
Back at the castle, Rapunzel and Varian were shocked to find Eugene bringing the last of Cass' stuff back into her quarters. This confused them because of the tense discussion that happened prior to their time traveling adventure. The dark prince went to say that he was the one who notified of Old Lady Crowley getting rid of Cassandra's belongings.
"You wanna save Cass' stuff? Didn't the two of you share a mutual disgust of each other?" Varian questioned him.
"Yes! I mean, look, as much as I dislike Cassandra's taste..." Eugene shuddered while holding an ax that belonged to the former lady-in-waiting. "...you gotta put friends first. Especially if it's a friend like Cassandra."
"Really?" Rapunzel smiled.
"Is that so?" the young alchemist added.
"It's like I always say, friends don't leave friends behind." the dark prince wisely told them as they all got together for a group hug.
It felt really satisfying for Rapunzel and Varian to know that fixing Eugene and Lance's friendship in the past gave the dark prince a reason to believe in Cassandra. After all, friendship is worth fighting for.
Later that evening, the young alchemist was in his room working on the Demanitus Scroll when the princess came by.
"Hey, sweetheart. Just wanna make sure you don't go to bed late, again." Rapunzel said.
"Don't worry. I was just about to call it a night anyway." Varian reassured her as he went to his bed.
"So what happened while I was breaking Lance out of jail? You promised you'd tell me." the sundrop wondered.
"Oh, I-I didn't think you'd r-remember that." the kid replied uncomfortably.
"Well, judging by how spooked you looked, it was kinda hard not to remember."
For a while, the boy was silent and the princess decided to sit beside him as a form of consolation.
"I-I... I don't... I don't think you wanna hear it! It's just terrible!" Varian finally responded in tears.
"Varian, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Rapunzel told him.
"Okay. I s-stopped by my house in O-old Corona to check on my y-younger self. While I was there, I saw... I-I saw..." the little alchemist started, his voice trailing off at the end.
"Saw what?" the sundrop wanted to know.
"I saw Gothel! She was in my house!" her boy answered loudly.
Now it was Rapunzel's turn to be rendered speechless. She was definitely alarmed to hear her kidnapper's name being brought up. But she had to remember that they were only in the past and Gothel was gone now.
"Why would someone like Gothel be at your house?" the princess asked.
"S-she wanted to k-kidnap me, but my dad k-kicked her out. She was probably s-stalking me since the day I was b-born." Varian tearfully explained. "Do you think s-she knew that I'm the M-moon Child?"
"I don't know." Rapunzel replied. She always wondered what Gothel was doing when she wasn't in the tower. The witch had lied to her about so much. So why wouldn't she lie about her whereabouts?
"A-and what if there are other p-people who wanna t-take me away just for my p-powers?" her poor boy sobbed.
It broke the princess's heart to see Varian look so distraught. But, she had an idea to help soothe him. So Rapunzel undid her hair and let it fall to the floor. And then, she lightly coiled the little one in golden tresses until they blanketed him. Afterwards, the sundrop let the teen rest his head on her shoulder.
"Think of it as a comfort swaddle." Rapunzel whispered to him, planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "It'll be okay, baby."
Soon, she started humming a familiar tune. It was the melody for healing incantation. Varian remembered how calm the song made him feel, despite the princess's healing powers being gone. He could feel his sobs deescalate to quiet hiccups and sniffles. A wave of sleepiness was slowly flushing his systems.
As her boy was starting to succumb to sleep, Rapunzel started to fear that Varian having powers could paint a big target on him. She knew all too well what it was like to be preyed on for the magic inside them. The princess and her friends didn't know if the child was going to be put in danger for his magic, but they would just have to cross that bridge when they got to it.