#[The Fallen Princess Of The Moon- Royal!Corona]

[strykingback]

Literal definition Doberman.

A Wolfdog.

A literal rabbit.

Then we have the German Shepherd.

[phoenixbsblog]

Tangled: The Next Generation!

Eugene

Okay, where were we? Oh yes, Rapunzel and I got married everything was perfect until Max dropped the rings. I took my eyes off that horse for a few minutes and he gets himself covered in tar, a pink frock, a hat and shoes. You guys had one job!

The reception was not as expected, we were going to have a big party in town but all of the wine and bimberry juice was spilled. The tables were turned over and the food was lost, the cake had fallen down the hill. Instead we gathered around in the good old Snuggly Duckling!

Soon after Rapunzel and I made our own baby. Our folks were thrilled, the hard part was choosing a name then it hit me! Aurora!

It was perfect since Rapunzel is the Queen of the Sunshine Kingdom and I am from the dark side with the moon. Aurora is the Latin word for ‘Dawn’ the time between night and day.

The day our little ray of sunshine was born was one of the best days of my life.

I was in my office doing the usual boring paper work when Stan came to me in a panic.

I jumped up onto my feet, panicked thinking something terrible had happened.

“Sir!” Stan called as he tried to catch his breath. “It’s Rapunzel!”

I felt my heart in my throat at that moment. “Is-Is she okay?”

Stan looked a bit unsure. “She’s-She’s having the… The Baby now!”

My jaw dropped at that moment, the doc said she was not due until another week but Arianna said babies do not always come dead on the date, I was born a bit early according to Dad. I shoved past Stan and ran up two flights of stairs to the upper floor and the tower.

“Ahhh!” I heard her scream from the end of the corridor.

“I’m coming!”

As soon as I got in, I sat by her side and held her hand. “Rapunzel, squeeze my hand as tight as you want, it’s okay.”

She did, she squeezed my hand real hard, yeah it hurt but it was nothing compared to the pain she was going through.

“It’s okay, Rapunzel,” Varian said softly as he placed his hands over her stomach to ease her pain with his moon magic. Oh, yeah, Varian has that, who knew right?

“Okay, Your Majesty, push whenever you feel a contraction, work with your baby!” The midwife said as she watched her progress.

Rapunzel groaned as she pushed, I am just glad she is healthy so we won’t land in the same situation her mother was in.

Eventually, Aurora came out crying her little head off, she got washed and handed to her mother.

“Oh! Hello, darling!” Rapunzel smiled as she laid on her chest. “She’s beautiful.”

“She sure is,” I nodded. “Just like her mommy, Princess Aurora.”

“The newest addition to the Coronan Royal family, she’s going to be a great Queen one day,” Varian said as he smiled fondly at her. “I just know it.”

Yeah, with us to guide her, she will be brilliant. “Who knows, maybe there will be a mini Science Nerd in the future.”

Varian chuckled but shook his head. “No, I don’t think so… It would run the risk of passing on the Moon power and I can’t have a bunch of Moon People running around.”

Eugene hummed thoughtfully. “There’s adoption.”

Varian shrugged. “I’m not sure I want kids, you know, I’ve got a lot of stuff going on with my work and… Haven’t had much luck in the romance department… Anyway, never mind me, today is about you, Rapunzel and your baby girl!”

At that moment Stan came in with Frederic and Arianna. “Are you alright, Your Majesty?”

“Yes,” Rapunzel smiled. “We have a Princess.”

“Oh, wow! That’s brilliant!” Stan beamed. “She’s adorable, congratulations Queen Rapunzel and Captain.”

“Oh my goodness!” Arianna gasped as she put a hand over her mouth, her eyes brimmed with tears. “She’s gorgeous!”

Frederic placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, tears of joy welled up in his eyes as smiled adoringly at their granddaughter. The future of Corona, the circle of life went on.

“Mmm,” Rapunzel nodded as she looked down at her, we do not want to put too much pressure on her. Let her enjoy her childhood while it lasts, experience things that we never got to do.

My wife and newborn daughter had a nice long rest before we presented her to the kingdom. Part of me is relieved that she did not get Rapunzel’s Sundrop Power, honestly parenting is stressful enough without thinking about someone stealing your magic child!

“Good afternoon, everyone, thank you for coming we are pleased to present to you our daughter, Princess Aurora!” Rapunzel called as she turned her around for people to see her face.

There was a roar of applause and cheers from the crowd, overjoyed to meet the new Princess.

To celebrate her birth we had a small party for close family and friends only, my dad came all the way from the Dark Kingdom to see her. He was relieved that both mother and child were okay but also saddened that he could not hold her.

“Hello, Aurora, I am your Grandpa Eddie!” King Edmund smiled as he held her little hand. “She’s so tiny! Reminds me of when Hor-Eugene was born!”

Rapunzel chuckled. “Yeah, it was hard but Varian’s magic took the edge off.”

“Well done, Varian,” King Edmund said.

Varian nodded. “No problem, anything I can do to help.”

“Wow, she’s so sweet,” Catalina smiled.

“Aww man! You’ve got me crying now!” Lance moaned as he wiped his face with a handkerchief. “We’re growing up so fast!”

I place a hand on his shoulder. “You’re as young as you feel.”

“Brace yourself for the long nights and early mornings!” King Edmund chuckled then turned solemn.

“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” I waved my hand dismissively. I thought how hard could it be?

“WAAH! WWAAAHH!”

It turned out to be very hard. She woke up crying in the middle of the night or early in the morning for her mommy although sometimes I stepped in for her. As any good father should, I helped in any way I could.

[frie-ice]

Sorry if my drawings of the Big Four as the VKs from Disney's Descendants aren't very good, I'm better at drawing objects than people.

*Hiccup Haddock/(Bludvist): Drago prefers to call his son, "Dragoo", "Hiccup" was the name his mother picked, and he keeps it to remind him of her. Like Maleficent, Drago is hard to say "no" to, he lost his leg as a teaching moment and he tries to make up for it, make his father proud of him by causing trouble on the island, trying to find and master a dragon and made his father's metal arm moveable again. There are times when Hiccup feels like his father sees him as a tool and not as his son. The chance to finally see that loving, father look came to him when he and his friends were sent to a school off the island. All he has to do is play the "good boy" until he has his dad's old bull-pike, master a dragon once he finds their sanctuary and steal the man in the moon's orb!  But things change as he got to know the future queen, befriended a Night Fury and learns that he can choose who hewants to be. (I took a look between Mal and HTTYD2 Hiccups' looks, and they weren't so different and far off, that is why I changed the top part of Hiccup's flight suit in order to make him look like the son of a dragon slaver.)

*Rapunzel Corona/(Gothel/Dagger): (Rapunzel wasn't born with the power of the golden flower and that's why she's not a blond.) The blue serves her colour while Red, Black and Gold reminds the people she walks pass who her mother is, the vines and gold petals are a reminder of everlasting beauty.  As she tried to keep herself beautiful without making herself prettier than her mother and to be just as bad as her. There are times when she wonders if she'll ever be more than just a pretty little face and who her father is. The keys to her answers were given to her when she and her friends were sent to a different school and a new crowd to show off to and remind. Rapunzel might have fallen prey to the charming cheater jerk, trouble getting through class without her mother's little mirror and getting people to look at her as Rapunzel and not as Mother Gothel, until she and her friends steal the moon orb.  But things get a little better with Eugene Fitzherbert's help as she got a B+ in science, made friends by being nice and finally feeling that she can be more than just her mother's pretty little face, she was starting to have second thoughts about the orb and what would happen if they were to bring the orb back to the island.  If only their parents weren't villains and would do anything to prove themselves to them.

*Merida DunBroch/(Axe): On the island Merida shoots her arrows through people's cloths, food out of their hands, let them know she's coming and for fun; she even uses her bow to zip line around the island.  Her father trains her to be a warrior with the hunting skills of a bear than how to be a royal, it's the only way to see her as his daughter than is departed wife and to keep his dream of overthrowing his brothers alive.  Merida knows that her father "means well" and she does trust her skills, but she wishes that he would at least let her try new things and understand that shooting her arrows makes her feel free. New targets came into her hands when she and her friends were sent to the school of goody two shoes. Merida loves a challenge and the challenge of putting up with people asking her to a princess in a dress until they get the Manny's orb will be her toughest yet.  But things change when people saw how good she is with her archery and got a trophy for it, she starts to wonder if stealing the orb for her father's love is the right thing to do. (I've put the tattoos that Mor'du and his brothers had on their arms on Merida's, and since Elinor is not her mother in this AU she can shoot as many arrows as she wants and be messy and wild.  I have also placed the lost kingdom crest on her quiver)

*Jack Frost/(Black): Jack's mother is a winter spirit who had a thing for bad boys and understood Pitch's pain of not being seen, that's why she gave him their son.  So he can be seen without filling him with fear. Jack can not only control ice with the staff his mother left him, but he can also have power over nightmares and can tell when someone's scared. But he has much more fun and control with ice and his father has great plans for him and he is reminded of that when Pitch says, "What goes better together than cold and dark," but he doesn't find fear fun. The chance to find and understand new kind of fun was given to Jack when he and his friends were picked to join a school off the island. People's fears of his dad and how must alike he could be made it hard for him to make friends and join in the fun, fun that doesn't involve scaring people. Things got better when a little pixie felt sorry for him and became his friend, as the two became close Jack started to worry of what might happen to her when the orb is brought back to the island. (I've dressed the top part of Jack to look like he was representing Pitch, while the bottom part is to remind him of his mother.  Carlo dressed himself to look a bit like his mother, so let's Jack do the same.)

[whitecatindisguise]

Lance Strongbow Appreciation Week

By @tangledbea

Day 7: AU (AO3)

Lance swiftly dodged the slash, metal harmlessly bumping off his arm plate. He smirked and hit the extended arm with his elbow, earning a painted yelp. Without stopping, he used the momentum to grab the same arm and pull on it, bringing his opponent closer. He forced their arm to bend at the elbow and pushed it behind their back, the strength of his grip making them let go of the sword. He pushed his own blade against the opponent's throat and grinned.

"Dead." He announced, earning a groan in response. 

"That's unfair. I wasn't ready." The brown-haired man complained and Lance shook his head laughing.

"We're practicing surprise attacks, Your Highness. You should always be ready." He replied letting go of the man's arm and reaching for the fallen sword. "Your father expects me to train you."

"What if I don't want to fight? Maybe I want to try the more peaceful approach?" The man asked, rubbing his arm. "And I already told you to call me Horace when we're alone."

Lance sighed and sheathed his own weapon.

"Look, you can't always rely in your negotiation skills. You have to be able to defend yourself." He said, face scrunched in worry. 

"That's what I have you, Lance." Prince Horace patted him on the shoulder and grinned. "You always have my back."

"And what if I can't get to you on time? Or if there are more enemies?" Lance asked, staring down at the Brotherhood symbol pinned to his chest, the clip holding his cape in place. "I am your bodyguard, but even I'm not invincible. 

Horace slumped and started playing with his sword, digging its tip into the ground. Lance shot him a reprimanding glare and the man smiles sheepishly. 

"I'm sorry, it's just-" He lifts blade, staring at his reflection in the metal. "I guess the coronation tomorrow stresses me out. I don't think I'm ready to rule."

"It's just a formality. You turning eighteen, it's a tradition for princes and princesses to be officially crowned on tha day of their 18th birthday." Lance explained shrugging. "Besides, no one expects you to actually rule just yet. Your father is still the king and he doesn't show any signs of stepping down anytime soon"

"Thank the Moon." Horace mumbled under his breath. The dark-skinned man smiled. 

"Hey, I heard the Royal Family from Corona is coming for the coronation. Apparently, they have a very beautiful daughter." He winked and playfully bumped Horace's shoulder. Said man smiled slightly.

"Are you trying to hook me up with her?" He asked and Lance laughed in response. 

"Who? Me? Nooo…" He grinned at him. "But, if by any chance you two do hit off, I want a recognition."

"You didnt even do anything.." The prince chuckled and Lance gasped.

"You wound me, my liege." He moaned, putting a hand over his heart in fake hurt. They both laughed at that.

"God, I hope Varian doesn't blow up anything tomorrow. The kid always tries too hard." Horace said between the chuckles. 

"How about we go see if he isn't planning anything too life-threatening after we finish?" Lance suggested and the other man nodded.

"Sounds good." He agreed. 

"Well then." The Brotherhood member unsheathed his sword and got into the fighting stance." Again."

---

And that concludes day 7. This one was especially fun to write. Hope you liked it.

I have prepared one more oneshot which I'll post tomorrow.

As per usual, please reblog if you liked it.

[newsiegirlscout]

An Alchemist Thing

Whoo! At last, the fanfiction I’ve been planning for weeks has touched a keyboard just in time for the premiere! 

I tried to write seriously.

I tried.

Trial Zero: Lunaris Carcerem 

The stars glowed in the silent night sky overhead, the full moon’s rays cutting through the darkness and casting a single shaft of light across cell block A-113. The young prisoner’s chest rose and fell softly, and as Cassandra stretched and patrolled the block, she was mildly surprised to see the once-alchemist asleep more peacefully than he’d been in any of the other nights in the last tide she’d had to take the shift. 

Then, she stopped in her boots, mid-quarter turn. 

His hair glowed with a soft but blindingly snowy white shine, and in the fields, she could just barely make out the outlines of the rocks ebbing and flowing across the Old Corona countryside like a stormy tide. Watchful luminescent eyes sparked fearfully in the opposite corner of the cell, little paws bounding lightly to the door of the entrance upon seeing Cassandra, a silent plead to awaken 24601.

She blinked, and 

The cell block was as quiet as it had ever been, the rocks as still as they had ever been, the young boy’s ruffled locks perhaps overgrown but still the same raven-black and cerulean- streaked as ever. The moon’s full effulgence had since moved on. The boy’s breath hitched in his throat and the tearstreaks running down his cheeks began to fade. 

It must have been nothing more than a trick of the light.

Cassandra walked away.

Trial One: Lunares Stratera

“And then, the Earl of Weselton tossed the purloined purse--and the time-turner, if you recall--to his accomplice, Captain Clovis. Flynnigan Ryder, with a millisecond to act,” said Varian, casting a hefted coin purse into the air and lightly stepping over stacks of books to swing over his desk with an air of practiced grace, papers fluttering to the ground as he landed, “lept before Captain Clovis, flung his arm out in a single stroke to block him, and caught the time-turner’s purse on the tip of his sword afore it landed the arc.” The enthusiastic teenager accentuated the story by indeed catching the loops of the purse on a wooden sword he’d drawn just as seamlessly as the rest, his back foot poised against a shelf of beakers that clattered at his touch but didn’t break. 

Flynn and Lance themselves whistled appreciatively as Varian’s face flushed a cherry-blossom pink and he laughed softly, lowering his sword. 

“Hey, now!” applauded Lance, running a finger along the chalk-dust landscape of the fictional kingdom’s Aureole dancing across the walls, “Sounds like these books are still just as awesome as we remember, eh, buddy?”

Flynn chuckled, sitting on the edge of the desk with his eyes sparkling in boyish delight. “Even better, I’d say. Almost as awesome as us, eh? Hey, kid, do the Ryder of Seas thing again!”

Varian giggled, resketching the dragons arcing over the Forest of Fallen Stars and shaking the chalk dust off his gloves. 

“What, the--” he said, clearing his voice and standing straighter, “I stand for the call of adventure, the tide and the windswept of skies, for my heart is the heart of a Ryder, and the call of adventure is nigh!” 

The last line echoed in chorus by Lance and Flynn, the two friends cheered with unburdened excitement. Flynn laughed animatedly, swinging his boots with glee. Varian crossed back to tap the loose papers against his desk and giggled with a light smile. 

“So, any reason you needed to ask me about Flynnigan Ryder and the Labyrinthine Destiny, or are you two just hiding from the castle?”

“Wh-what? You know, Goggles, I am astonished that you’d think such a thing.” retorted Flynn confidently, a playful smile dancing at his eyes.

“I could have lent you the book.”

“Aww, but you do them so well!” trailed Flynn, gesturing to the laboratory set up as a scenic (if imaginative) replica of Aureole’s kingdom, “Besides, Lance is illiterate.”

Lance cuffed his friend’s shoulder. “Remarkably so, Eugene here is also illiterate wherever a rulebook is concerned. And also when Rapunzel is negotiating trade agreements with Neserdnia in the royal court, and the king isn’t feeling so friendly.”

Flynn stretched and nabbed one of the loose papers off the desk, highlighted with Varian’s trademark looping scrawls and singed edges. “So, we thought we’d come see what we could do, catch up on Aureole, lend our immense talent and wit to...asphodellic dichloridiafluoramech?”

The alchemist’s attention sparked. “Ooh, I could use a hand on that one.”

“Like finding a catchier name?” Lance suggested, leaning over, “Something that’s not so long, but maybe more memorable….like Strongbowlium.”

Varian, crouched by the lower shelves to hold a beaker to the light, shook his head. “Em, I’ll take that under advisement.” he said, grinning sheepishly, “But if you could, ah, hand me that phosphorus selenide solution up there? It’s the purple one, second from the left.”

Flynn leaned over Lance’s shoulder, causing him to jostle the bookcase. “Ohhh, so that’s what that one is. See, I was hoping it’d taste like, whatsit,”, he said, snapping his fingers, “Wisteria,  in that cake, but it just--”

Varian stood up sharply, knocking his head against the top of the lower shelves. 

“Exploded.” he finished, lightly stepping up and taking the flask from Lance’s hand and tucking a middle-shelf beaker under his arm, “Surprisingly common with unknown reactants.” 

The top shelf was positioned at a near forty-five degree angle, but if Varian noticed, he didn’t pay it much mind. The curious thing, Flynn noted as his young friend continued to talk happily with Lance, was perhaps the vials themselves.

“Annnnd….there! One trial of strong-shelled hyperreactive Strongbowlium complete!” remarked the alchemist, tossing the ball experimentally. 

Flynn stretched his legs, tired in spite of himself. “Hey, kid, one question…” he said, gesturing to the vials the moonlight shone across, “How’dja get these to stay standing, with, y’know, the minor detail of gravity in the way?”

Varian grinned, clearly amused, and standing on his toes, lifted his hand to the edge of the shelf, standing it straight once more. “Ah, I don’t really know. Not everything that should fall does, which is lucky, I guess, or you’d never be able to walk anywhere in here. Must be an alchemist thing, I guess.”

Flynn shrugged and ruffled through the remaining files.

“Hey, good a reason as any. Looks like the next on the list is….ooh, is this one like slime?”

And the moon’s rays passed on.

***********************************************************************************************************

Trial Two: Lunares Praesidium

“Wither, and decay,

End this destiny,

Break these earthly chains,

And set the spirit free,

The spirit free.”

Rapunzel sang in the still glow of the night, a deep and infinite obsidian running through her hair and pooling in her eyes like black waters. The incantation sang through Varian’s bones with an ethereal afterecho,  and before his eyes, the amber he’d tried to long to crack was melting. Quirin was, at long last, free. 

But Rapunzel was not.

It was a sensation more than her song, more than her light or more than the shiver colder than the frosts of Old Corona intertwined in the melody, but he could feel it nonetheless; how the incantation was threaded within her magic, held her as strong and as tight as a siren’s lullaby. The thought hit him on the peripheral of his senses, calling like a frog from the bottom of a well--the water--but it vaporized to naught but steam once it hit her, almost exactly as he’d been expecting.

“You didn’t give up on me, I won’t give up on you.” he said resolutely, pressing his hands to his chest. 

-the incantation’s melody fluttered like the feathers of a dark angel, filled everything and nothing and anything in between, pushed at the essence of reality, pressed in his heart and flowed through his veins--

He grasped Rapunzel’s shoulders at once with a hold stronger than ever, and his gloves melted off his hands like water. And all as his promise had been pledged, the light returned to Rapunzel’s eyes, the gold flowing back through her hair. 

Everything was alright. The Hurt Incantation had been silenced. 

His hands still felt the light prickling of a force that could never be harnessed, only quieted.

*****************************************************

Trial Three: Lunares Somnia

It was difficult to be heard, at times.

Luckily, Varian knew exactly the princess who would always listen.

The first time or two had come as a misstep; he'd fallen asleep at his desk, the graphtic's key held tight in his hands, when the lantern, cast from his hands, floated softly in a dream's illusion of reality over the bright Corona castle's skies. The girl with golden hair looked up with delight, then alarm as it sailed into the darkening thunderclouds, until the whole of the Corona she knew disappeared to a wasteland, her sunny hair the only thing still shining. 

It was then that he'd known it was not his dream he acted on, but Rapunzel's. 

Once, he only acted as an unconscious bearer, knowing enough to express himself to the ally but not enough to express anything besides a raw, unfiltered message speaking almost directly from an essence that felt of, but not entirely, himself. 

Come out, Rapunzel. Face your destiny. 

He had awoken with a start, knowing, somehow, that she had too.

But as the time had passed, and he had grown to think it was only a too-close coincidence, he found himself once more standing in a plane between reality and illusion. The essence was frigid, like a midnight's breeze, but he felt nothing. 

And there she stood. 

Though only her blurred outline was seen, something sparked his instincts almost immediately that it was her, though he dared not step forth. 

"Varian?" she said softly, words echoing and swirling through the aether like butterflies.

"Rapunzel." he responded to the stillness, and then, with a swelling like the tide, "This is not the last, Rapunzel. There is more you have yet to see."

A thickness in his throat as if he were a messenger for something greater, "There is more you may never see nor understand."

"What have you come for?" she asked, though she said not a word. 

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, his heart pounded with energy. The grass blades around him rippled like a stone cast into still water.

"I know not." he said softly, the touch at his wrists fading, his essence feeling much more like his own once more, "What may pass must be beyond either of us." 

And he awoke, his heart beating harder than ever.

*****************************************************

Trial Four: Vi Lunares

"Cassandra!" said Rapunzel, her hair loose behind her, and her eyes still blazing with a queen's courage, "You may have fallen, but I will do my best to lift you back to greater things. I know this isn't your true destiny, and..I think you know it isn't yours, either."

Cassandra's gaze softened for only a moment. 

"I think you've gotten enough in your own destiny without mine, Rapunzel." Cassandra snapped, outstretching a hand. Black rocks spiked along the path, positioned exactly in the right trajectory to pin Varian and Flynn against the cliff's face….

"No." Varian said quietly, an impulse more sudden than a snap compelling him to throw out his hand, splaying his fingers as Cassandra did and throwing his arm hard against Flynn's waist as an afterthought. 

The streak in his hair glowed an ethereal alabaster for no more than a few seconds, and the rocks stopped in their tracks, the strap of Rapunzel's satchel caught on the closest.

Flynn watched the streak in Varian's hair return to the same blue it ever was. With no more than a beat ("Hey, Blondie's got magic hair, Cass 's a moonstone guardian, I'm a prince, and the frog adopted a dragon. I'm done, not another one before teatime."), he patted Varian on the back.

"Thanks, kid." 

And, drawing their swords, Rapunzel's army strode forth into the battle.

*****************************************************

Trial Five: Solar Eclipse

No more than three years older, but having aged far more in the same time since he'd met Rapunzel, Varian straightened his tie and held his hand softly to the glowingly jubilant, happily married Queen Rapunzel of Corona.

"May I have this dance?" he asked with a gentle smile as she placed her hand in his.

"Of course!" she said, her cheeks aflush with her love and a light grin playing at her sun-freckled face for her friend, "Awww, Varian, I didn't know you were one of Eugene's groomsmen."

The alchemist chuckled lightly, twirling her on her heels. "Well, besides being his best friend and all….I did bring the cookies, so he really had no choice but to accept."

"Varian…." she said with a playful sternness. 

"What? They were good!" said the newly (and thankfully, entirely unreluctantly) crowned King Eugene, twirling a peppermint-dusted Celtic Knot in his fingers, "I mean, really good. Have you tasted these, Blondie?"

Varian laughed and broke from Rapunzel to nudge Eugene. "I mean, yeah, but aren't we forgetting the entire, oh…", he said with a teasing flippant hand wave, "Saving Corona thing? And being your best friend?"

"Lance is my best friend."

"And being your best friend?"

Eugene laughed, ruffling Varian's hair. "Ha, can't keep anything from a smart kid like you, Goggles. Speaking of which…"

Varian sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I know. Decided lack of lab safety protocol in the royal wedding dress code, wouldn't you say?"

"Let's just hope nothing totally crazy happens from here to tomorrow, then." quipped Eugene as the stars began to dapple the evening sky.

The seventeen-year-old rolled his eyes. "Last I heard, crazy was what Rapunzel did best."

"Hey!" tittered Rapunzel as Varian grinned, "That may be true, but you two are just as much so."

"Is that so?" replied the boy as the kingdom dance's tune began, Eugene stepped nimbly to his partner, and Rapunzel rested her hands on her friend's shoulders.

"Yeah, I'd say you're pretty good at having fun too." she retorted with a smile, sticking out her tongue in a very ladylike manner as Varian chuckled and nodded with a reluctant agreement. 

She stepped lightly on her toes, shifting to the elegant Box Left and Forward Progressive as Varian followed in the early light of the tune. 

"I've seen the girl who has crossed mountains,

And showed all the stars how to shine" she sang gently with the lyres, beaming like a brilliant sunrise. 

"I will fol-low her through field and glen,

And I wish that she'll be mine." Varian finished melodically with her, the same smile on his face. Rapunzel skipped happily, pirouetting so jubilantly in the waltz that if her hair could still shine, it would have been blinding.

"And we will cross the seven seas,

We'll dance on wings of gold,

For our light could glow, my dear,

And magic will never burn old!"

At this last step, Rapunzel dipped Varian back in her arms, both of them carrying the last note high and strong. The parting crowd around them halted in silence, and in the stillness, they realized the cerulean streak in Varian’s hair was glowing with what could only be called magic. 

Standing to his full height, Varian glanced at Rapunzel and they both shrugged.

“Must be an alchemist thing, I guess.”

[codynaomiswireart]

“Gauze in the Wound” - Part 14

[“Public enemy number one, right?  In case you didn’t get the headline, or unless you’ve been living under a rock this whole time.  Oh!  Come to think of it, I don’t recall seeing you there at the battle in Old Corona.  Too scared to come to the aid of your precious royals were you-?”]

In one sense, Varian’s quip hadn’t actually been completely off the mark.

While Xavier hadn’t been “living under a rock” per se on that fateful day, some would claim that he often had his head in the clouds with tales of lore and legend, which – ironically – sometimes lead him to places underground; deep beneath layers of earth and rock and stone.  On the princess’s birthday – one of the few days in the year that the blacksmith had off work – Xavier had devoted nearly all of those precious hours to investigating further the underground chamber that contained the legendary Demanitus Device, as well as the ancient seals that held Zhan Tiri’s demon followers at bay.  Xavier had of course noted the damage done to the seal that had once held Sugracha the Eternal, but fortunately no others seemed to have been damaged as badly as that one was.  “No worrying about any more demons today,” Xavier thought to himself with a sigh of relief as he turned from scanning the walls of the chamber.

It was also upon exploring this chamber further that Xavier came to find a chest hidden underneath one of the stone stairs.  Xavier had accidentally discovered it as his foot shifted loose the stone slab that covered it (nearly taking a tumble himself in the process), and found it contained several old tomes written by Lord Demanitus and his followers!  Some of which seemed to contain hints about the legendary Demanitus steel!

Naturally, the blacksmith spent hours in that chamber pouring over the tomes’ contents, jotting down in his own notes anything that seemed to bring him closer to achieving his life’s dream.  He also found references to living weapons and metal soldiers (very likely automatons and other such creations), elixirs the likes of which Xavier had never dreamed possible, and – most curious of all – encoded messages that seemed to indicate a forgotten city or kingdom far away to the east, and always the repeating symbols of the moon, the sun, something like a comet, and what appeared to be teardrops of some sort.

It was all most intriguing to be sure.

“Oh, is it that time already?” Xavier had finally asked aloud through a yawn as he looked at his pocket watch through tired eyes, and saw that the time was now nearly five o’clock in the morning of the day after.  He had literally been up all night.  Though Xavier knew he would be paying for it later, he couldn’t help but feel like he wouldn’t have wanted to spend his time any other way upon such discoveries as this.

“Best head back up then,” he muttered to himself as he stood and stretched his back and shoulders, both having gone stiff after sitting for several hours on the hard stone floor at the base of the Device.  While Xavier was not looking forward to making the climb back up so many stairs with his heavy treasure trove of books slung across his back in a thick burlap sack, he couldn’t help but feel that a good several minutes of step exercises would also be good for his now nearly numb legs.

“Take heart now Xavier ol’ boy,” he couldn’t help think to himself as he huffed and puffed his way up the many steps, and felt trails of sweat trickle their way down his brow as he went.  “It’ll be worth it once we get up there.  Just wait until his majesty finds out about this latest discovery!  This has truly been a great day in the history of Corona!” 

…But not even ten minutes later, Xavier had emerged back into the breaking dawn to find just how much of a disaster the day had truly been for the kingdom... 

The first sight that met Xavier’s eyes upon emerging from the underground tunnels was the entire palace square in complete disarray, with splintered wood, twisted metals, and torn canvas and play nets scattered all over the place.  Xavier looked about him, wide-eyed in bewilderment as he saw that several of the townsfolk had been working to clean up the mess, but now nearly everyone had gone still and were murmuring in nervousness to one another as all eyes turned to the troupe of soldiers returning from Xavier knew not where, and with one of the prison carts being pulled along gravely behind them.

What on Earth had happened here?

“Excuse me!” Xavier called out to one of the townswomen nearby, whose daughter clutched tightly at her skirts as if seeking comfort and protection from some enemy that might jump out at any moment.  “What’s going on here?”

“Oh Xavier, there you are!” the kindly woman exclaimed as she turned to him.  “Where have you been?  We looked all over for you when the king had called all of Corona’s capable fighters to arms for the assault, but you weren’t in your shop and-and we thought-”

“Wait, an assault!?” Xavier asked in alarm, nearly dropping his sack of tomes.  “Where?  What’re you talking about?  What’s happened?” 

There was a long pause as the lady stared back at Xavier with surprise, and her daughter nuzzled in closer to her mother’s side.  “Y-you mean, you didn’t…you haven’t heard that-”

But the townswoman never did finish what she was going to say, for at that moment the prison carriage came to a stop in the middle of the square, and everyone nearby went dead silent as the guards Pete and Stan unlocked the door, and dragged the reluctant occupant out from inside.

Xavier’s jaw dropped, and he felt his heart go cold and shocked inside of him as he saw whom the guards brought out of the wagon; the increasing daylight glinting meanly off a set of iron handcuffs clinging to his wrists, and the sunbeams casting a stark shadow across his hostile, defeated, tired, tearstained, and ice-cold eyes.

It was Quirin’s son - Varian!

If Xavier hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would’ve had a hard time believing anyone who told him that Quirin’s young boy had caused so much danger so as to be forcibly brought back to the castle in chains, and that the mess that greeted the boy and his raccoon companion as they existed the cart was of Varian’s own doing from only a few hours before.  But there was certainly no denying this, and while a dozen questions still buzzed about in Xavier’s brain about what exactly had transpired, there was one thing Xavier knew for certain as he saw Varian’s eyes dart briefly to the faces that surrounded him, and then turned to remain looking straight ahead in a hard glare as he was led away through the crowd that parted like the Red Sea to allow the guards to pass by with him; all eyes burning into Varian with mixtures of fear, anger, bewilderment, and some even with downright disgust.

Xavier was seeing a ghost.  A hollow shell.  A sad, twisted, angry, frightened (yes, frightened, even despite the pure rage more clearly seen), and broken version of what Varian had once been.  Xavier had once heard it said that the greater, more talented, more pure, or more powerful something was – whatever it was – it was all that much worse whenever it went bad.  Angels that were fallen were said to become demons, monarchs that were corrupted became tyrants, wizards that opened themselves up to evil became wicked warlocks, wordsmiths that applied their craft for propaganda became false advertisers at best, blacksmiths that once applied their trade for protection became engineers for bloody warfare, etc.  Xavier had figured that perhaps there was some wisdom to this idea (one who deals with weapons perhaps couldn’t afford to ignore it), though he had been so blessed to live in a land and a time where such drastic examples seemed so far away, that he hadn’t given it much thought really. 

But now, just seeing what had become of Varian…and thinking of how he used to be… 

Xavier felt an involuntary chill run down his spine, and felt as if a heavy stone sat in the pit of his stomach as he saw the state of that soul reflected in Varian’s eyes in the brief moment the boy passed by him, and Xavier felt his heart break and sink in tandem with the castle doors shutting behind the guards, with Varian locked in on the other side, and perhaps never to be seen by Xavier or the rest of the world ever again.

“…This cannot be…” was all that Xavier could think as the crowd began to mill about again, and most of the townsfolk resumed their cleanup attempts while they muttered and whispered to each other about the dangerous wizard that the guards had just succeeded in capturing and locking up.  Xavier could hear a few words here and there expressing some sort of concern for Varian (mostly due to his youth more than anything else about him), but most of it went something like: 

“Well, thank goodness that’s all done with!”

“I’m so glad the guards got him when they did.  Whew!  I know I’d never have been able to sleep through another night if that crazy kid was still on the loose with his monster.”

“Well, we don’t have to worry about him any more.”

“Such a shame really – Quirin’s only child and he turns out like this.” 

“What would his father think of him if he were still here?  Absolutely mortified I’m sure.”

“That little whipper-snapper is really gonna pay for the damage done to my stall, I can tell you that!”

“Insane I tell you!  Absolutely cracked!”

“Now you see, this is what a real overreaction looks like!  Huh!  And you thought I was such a drama king while we were courting!”

“Xavier-?”

Xavier found himself starting as he felt the gentle hand of the townswoman tap his shoulder, snapping him out of his keen eavesdropping as he met her concerned eyes and those of her daughter.  “Are…are you ok?”

“Oh!  Y-yes,” Xavier lied.  “Just…thinking, that’s all.”

“Mm,” the lady hummed in understanding, and now also caught sight of the large sack Xavier had been carrying over his shoulder.  “What’s all that you’ve got there?”

“Oh!  Uh, well,” Xavier stammered, suddenly now realizing he had all but forgotten his great discovery over these last few minutes.  But also now, suddenly…it didn’t seem to be all that joyful of a thing to him at that moment.  Not after all he had seen. 

“It’s…just a little something I found last night.  I was going to bring it to show his majesty.”

“Oh, that important huh?” the townswoman replied, trying to project a sense of normalcy into the current dim mood around them as she feigned interest.  “Are you going to show him now?” 

“Erm…no,” Xavier managed to say, shifting the sack back over his shoulder to a more comfortable position.  “No.  I…His majesty has enough to attend to right now I’m sure.  I’ll just drop it off real quick back at my shop and return to help everyone here where I’m needed.”

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” the townswoman replied, and now moving to carry her daughter in her arms as the little girl yawned, exhausted.  “I’ll be back too.  I just want to take my little one home now that I know it’s safe to go back and leave her there.”

“Yes of course,” Xavier said.  “And-and do tell me more about what happened here later would you?”  The woman agreed, and she and Xavier bid their quick good-byes as they each attended to their respective errands. 

As Xavier trundled his way back to his shop, his sack suddenly felt a lot heavier than it did before.  He wanted to convince himself that it was only from being so tired, but he just couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that.  Everything suddenly felt a lot heavier after all that just went down, including the tomes’ contents hanging over his shoulder.

…And in more ways than one…if Xavier’s hunch was somehow correct…

And what a twist of fate if it were…

Xavier shook his head.  “None of that now,” he tried to tell himself as he continued on down the lane, and tried to prevent himself from thinking too hard about it.  “Besides, you don’t even know if you’re right, and there are more urgent matters at hand.  All of that must wait until another day…”

But now, it seemed, that day may have come, and as battle exploded onto the field before his eyes on this very night, Xavier had never felt a situation to be more precarious in his life.  And he was terrified about how it may end.

If his hunch was correct that is…and if he was forced to use it as a last resort.

The world burst into pinks and blues before Varian’s eyes as the vials he had thrown exploded in midair, and several arrows and crossbow bolts became trapped within the sticky consistency of the gooey, cotton-like cloud that formed upon the vials’ implosion.  Having successfully shielded himself from this first round of projectiles, Varian went dashing in behind Ruddiger, who had managed to crash his way through the main line of separatists, and sent several of them flying and sprawling around the clearing as he bowled his way through the crowd.  While Varian could hear a few sharp yelps of pain escape Ruddiger as a few arrows and bolts stuck into his shoulders and forelegs as he went tearing into the enemy line, most of the arrows and bolts either bounced off Ruddiger’s thick hide and hard skull, or else gave him no more trouble than if he were running through a cloud of toothpicks.  Apparently, while the male spy had certainly thought a lot of things through upon Ruddiger donning his feral form, he hadn’t counting on Ruddiger being quite so hard to take down initially.

If they weren’t in such imminent danger, Varian would’ve almost wanted to take the time to gloat over what a spectacular tank Ruddiger was in his attack form.  But as it was, there was too much happening too fast to even begin to think about any sort of boasting.  For after shielding himself from the first volley of arrows, Varian was now forced to engage in some hand-to-hand combat as several of the separatists’ scattered forces now made to attack him directly.  Varian had learned a few basic offensive and defensive sword moves from Quirin (as Quirin had insisted it was good for Varian to know these sorts of things when living in a village right on the border of Corona), but Varian never took to it very extensively.  That was why, despite his rage, Varian also felt a faltering in his courage as he brandished his Demanitus steel sword from its sheath, and soon was looking into the faces of two agents who were now nearly on top of him with their own weapons drawn, the silver steel of them glinting in the moonlight above his head.

But then, two things happened almost at the same moment, which soon renewed some of Varian’s confidence in how this battle may turn out for them.  The first thing was that one of the agents had suddenly dropped his weapon with a cry of surprise, and staggered back as an arrow from off to Varian’s right hit the man’s weapon smartly on the handle, causing him to grip his wrist in pain as the shockwave of the strike went up his arm.  Queen Arianna had made a direct hit on his weapon and disarmed him, and was now rushing in to take him on herself, leaving Varian only one opponent to worry about for the next few milliseconds.

“Don’t even try it boy!” the Saporian agent growled at Varian as he made to lock swords with the young alchemist. 

But as their blades made to cross each other, Varian came to discover perhaps another good reason why Demanitus steel had gone underground the way it did for the last several centuries.

…It was insanely powerful.

While Varian had little doubt that the Saporian agent before him must’ve been more skilled than he was at hand-to-hand combat, Varian found after only a few strokes exchanged that once he was able to land a direct hit on his enemy’s weapon, the Demanitus steel sword would cut the whole of the other steel cleanly in half, just like it did with the black rocks and the amber.  With a quick “swang” and a shower of sparks, the Saporian agent cried out in alarm as his two-handed steel sword was in the blink of an eye cut down to the size of a knive, and the tip of Varian’s sword barely missed grazing his nose by a few centimeters.

For a second, both Varian and the agent were frozen still, their eyes each darting quickly from the severed blade to each other’s faces as they each took in the marvel they just witnessed from the dark sword in Varian’s hands.  But while they both had witnessed the same marvel, their resulting expressions couldn’t have been more different, as Varian’s face suddenly lit up with a new exhilaration that perhaps only the irrational thrill of battle could bring about, while the agent opposite him had a look that definitely indicated words going through his mind that Quirin would’ve considered too vulgar for Varian’s young ears to hear.

The next moment, the agent was retreating with a scream to where several other of his comrades still advanced with weapons, with Varian right on his heels, and letting out his own caterwaul of delight.  Already Varian was reaching to grab another set of alchemy vials with his free hand, and made to repeat the previous process of launching them at his enemies, and then attacking with his sword once he was shielded and they were distracted by whatever bizarre chemical reaction resulted from their shattering. 

“We’re doing it!” Varian thought excitedly as the world again exploded into color in front of him, and he ran in slashing his way through the cloud of pink and purple smoke that rose up before him.  Again and again he felt one weapon after another cleave in two as they met the strikes of his own dark sword, and Varian began leaving a trail of angry combatants as they were left struggling in vain against the sticky substances that kept them rooted to the spot where the stood trapped and unarmed.

“We can actually win this!”

Xavier struggled desperately against his bonds as battle began waging around him, and he managed to duck just in time as several Saporian agents went flying over his head as Ruddiger bashed his way through them; the great beast scattering their forces like ten pins as he charged and swiped around him in a feral frenzy.  Looking frantically around him, Xavier soon saw the glimmer of a battleaxe dropped nearby him, and he quickly set to the awkward work of cutting the ropes that held his wrists behind his back. 

“Thank goodness they didn’t use irons,” Xavier thought to himself as he began to feel the fibers of the cords cut loose.  But just then-

“Oh no you don’t!” a deep voice bellowed in Xavier’s ear as he was seized by the shoulders, and the battleaxe was picked up by another man.  “You’re not getting away from us that easil- GWAH!” 

Xavier cringed as he could’ve sworn he heard the sound of a few ribs cracking as Ruddiger charged himself headlong into the man holding Xavier hostage, and with a quick swish of his ringed tail sent the other agent with the axe sprawling onto the grassy turf nearby.  With a quick nod of gratitude to Ruddiger before the beast again turned back into the fray, Xavier quickly worked again at getting his bonds off.  After a few more tense seconds (which felt more like whole minutes in the heat of battle), Xavier was able to get his hands free, and soon made to join in the fight himself as he quickly weighed the battleaxe in his aching hands.  While Xavier was of course one for vouching for any non-violent solutions to things before resorting to any physical confrontation, he also was not opposed to engaging in self-defense or the defense of others when the need called for it.

“Just hang on you two!” Xavier thought to himself about the queen and Varian as he began to take on the Separatists from behind, and found himself locked in combat with a couple of them as Ruddiger continued to bite and scratch at the enemies around them.  “Hang on!”

Meanwhile, Arianna was making excellent use of her bow and throwing knives in the fight.  While the scattering of the Saporian agents by Ruddiger had made it more difficult for her to guarantee hitting a target, it didn’t stop her from enacting whatever long-range support for Varian and Ruddiger she could give.  It was alarming work trying to switch quickly back and forth between her bow and her knives so constantly, and to avoid hitting her own allies by accident, but Arianna had been able to manage it before when battling pirates out on the seas near Gushambai, and also when taking on a clan of rogues just outside of the city of Vardaros.  True, she was a bit rusty, but Arianna found her confidence boosted when she disarmed several agents from across the way, and succeeded in pinning another against a tree with a couple well-aimed knives.  For the most part, she was able to successfully keep any combatants well enough away from herself so as to be safe, and to also cover Varian as he slashed through the Saporian armaments with his sword, and immobilized many of them with his many concoctions. 

But soon enough, Arianna found herself facing an opponent that required a bit more effort to defend herself from than a few well-aimed throwing knives, and she was forced to draw her twin sabers as he approached her.

“May I have this dance, your highness?” the male spy asked mockingly as he rushed forward, and soon he and Arianna were both in the fight for their lives.

“I must say your majesty,” the spy began between strikes, “‘tis a shame that you are indeed Corona’s queen.  What a waste it is to have such a noble and capable woman associated with the stain that is that pathetic kingdom and its disgraceful king.  If things were different, I’m sure we all certainly would’ve loved to have you as an ally to our cause.”

“If things were different,” Arianna retorted as their swords locked with one another, “I would have you and yours all rooted out from across the Seven Kingdoms, and all memory of Saporia would be blotted out from history.”

“Oh?  Is that so now?” the man replied with the sneer, the two of them pulling apart.  “And what’s stopping you from doing so now?”

Now it was Arianna’s turn to sneer back.  “Because I’m not like you and yours.  I’m better than that.” 

Immediately, the man’s sneer vanished and was replaced with a hard scowl, and he and Arianna were at it again, with Arianna feeling the strength of anger that now poured into the man’s strikes against her own. 

A few moments of hard combat later, a long, loud, and shrieking cry could suddenly be heard across the way, along with a brief glow of blue light, though Arianna wasn’t really able to take in either of these things as she and the male spy continued to go at each other.

“Ah!” the spy managed to huff out between parries, and a smile could be seen briefly flickering across his features as he blocked another one of Arianna’s attacks.  “If I’m correct, I believe that signals your time is just about up now, your majesty!”

Varian would’ve hated to admit it, but he had been downright giddy for the last few moments of the battle.  He remembered experiencing something similar (at least for a time) when he had been in the Battle of Old Corona on that one fateful day…but he didn’t allow himself to dwell on those memories.  Instead, Varian embraced the feeling in the here and now, and with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and with his sword cutting through the Saporian’s defenses with such little resistance, it was little wonder that Varian found himself enjoying things perhaps a bit too much. 

“VARIAN!”

Upon hearing the calling of his name, Varian snapped out of his glee for a moment as he turned to find Xavier now running to his side, and the blacksmith roughly shoving away a Saporian fighter with the handle of his battleaxe.

“Xavier!” Varian exclaimed, though any further happy greetings were interrupted as the two of them were forced to stand back-to-back with each other as more agents came crowding in on them.

“Ha!  What a night for a rescue, huh?” Varian said through his giggles as he braced himself for the next wave of attack.

“Varian, get a hold of yourself!  This is serious!” Xavier scolded him harshly over his shoulder as he parried another warrior’s thrusts, not at all liking the euphoria Varian seemed to be getting from the battle experience.  “What were you thinking!?  You and her majesty- y-you two shouldn’t even be here!  Do either of you have any idea what could befall Corona if either of you got-?”

“Well that’s not very grateful of you,” Varian interrupted, though Xavier could hear the smile in Varian’s voice as he said it, and as he sent another volley of vials at his opponents.  “Ha!  See?  Bull’s eye!”

“Varian, please!” Xavier tried again, now very stern.  “You’re not thinking clearly!  You need to get out of here now!”

“We’re all getting out of here!” Varian shouted as he again crossed swords with another agent.  “I’ve got the Demanitus sword!  We can do this!”

Xavier again opened his mouth to reply, but he never did get to say what he was going to, for right then, on horrible cue, the tides of battle changed in an instant as a horrible cry broke through the dark night around them.

Somewhere, in the corner of his vision, Varian caught sight of Ruddiger rear his head back, his mouth opened wide in a loud, shrieking cry, and then the great animal dropped down hard on the turf as his form was simultaneously engulfed in a light blue glow.  Varian and those nearby all shielded their eyes from the bright light, and as Varian blinked in the ensuing darkness that came as the light faded, Varian could just make out the silhouette of the lady spy standing dark against the starlit sky, and holding up high with one hand the limp form of a de-transformed Ruddiger.

The lady spy held her cutlass up to the raccoon’s ragged form, and its sharp blade glinted a bright silver in the moonlight.

The euphoria Varian felt only moments before vanished instantly, and it felt as if the world stood horribly still for an eternity as he took in the sight of his friend hanging helplessly in the hands of an enemy that had a blade to his throat.

“NOOOO!” Varian screamed, and without even looking to see what he was grabbing, the young alchemist ran and chucked forward in the lady spy’s direction whatever vials he managed to grab from his pack, and hoping, praying that whatever happened next would somehow be enough to save his dear friend.

“NO VARIAN!” Xavier cried, and tried to reach out and grab Varian, but he was too late, and soon he and Varian were separated again as Xavier was forced to block the blow of another fighter attacking him from the side. 

Varian, meanwhile, threw vial after vial at the lady spy, but these all proved futile in any attempt to hurt her as she expertly dodged the ensuing explosions of green and yellow flames, and came to alight on a stack of boulders a few yards above Varian’s head, perching herself just over Varian who looked up helplessly at her as she continued to hold Ruddiger up by the scruff.  For a sickening second, Varian was certain the next thing that would meet his eyes would be the lady killing Ruddiger right then and there in front him, just out of Varian’s reach to be able to do anything.

Just like that terrible day, all over again.

But instead of bringing her cutlass back to Ruddiger’s limp form, the lady spy instead surprised Varian beyond all belief by simply letting Ruddiger go; the raccoon’s limp form dropping like a sack of potatoes towards the ground.

With a quick yelp of alarm and without even thinking, Varian immediately dropped his sword, and slid forward so that he just managed to catch Ruddiger in his arms before the poor little creature could hit the turf.  Words are slow, but in the few milliseconds that followed, Varian registered several things.  One was that Ruddiger was still alive and still breathing, though his breathing was shallow, frantic, and frightened.  Two was that Varian could also feel something warm and wet soak into a spot on his sleeve where Ruddiger’s fur made contact with it.  At first, Varian thought Ruddiger had suddenly wet himself in fright from the fight and the sudden fall (which Varian would not have blamed him for at this stage), but when he realized the truth, Varian rather wished it had been what he thought it was at first.  For in an equally horrible fraction of a second, Varian realized that what he was feeling wasn’t urine, but blood.

Ruddiger had been wounded, and he was bleeding!

But the next thing that hit Varian like a horrid thunderclap was that he was no longer holding his sword!  As Varian began to look around desperately for it, he suddenly felt himself being jerked upright from behind, felt Ruddiger fall out of his grip with a dull thud, and after a brief moment of struggling against the arms that held him, Varian went still as stone as he felt the cold, sharp side of an ebony blade – his blade –  press itself up against his neck.

“LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS!” the lady spy shouted to Xavier and Arianna passed Varian’s shoulder, and the both of them froze in horror as they saw her holding Varian against herself with a sword at his throat.  “BOTH OF YOU!  NOW!”

“NO!” Varian wanted to shout, but the feeling of the sword against his throat prevented him from trying to make any sound come out.  “NO!  NO NO NO!  WE…WE HAD THEM!  WE DID!  KEEP FIGHTING!  KEEP GOING!  WE CAN DO THIS!  WE CAN’T LOSE!  IT-IT CAN’T END LIKE THIS!  WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP-!”

But Varian could only stare at Xavier and Arianna wide-eyed as the both of them after a tense pause dropped their weapons, and each held up their hands in the air.

“No…” Varian repeated again in his mind, now feeling himself having to struggle to hold back any tears that threatened to emerge as it all began to register.

They had surrendered.  The both of them.  For him.  And the battle was over.

They had lost.

“No, please no!” Varian thought desperately, trying once again to wriggle his way out of the lady spy’s grasp, but it was no use as he could feel her grip on him tighten further, and he felt his legs turn to pudding as his skin detected the moisture of the first drops of blood his sword drew from anyone.  Of course those drops would be his own.

No.  The word repeated itself again and again in Varian’s mind as both Xavier and Arianna were also roughly grabbed now, and several agents moved to tie them both up as Varian too felt his hands being moved to behind his back, and Ruddiger was still left lying stunned on the grass.

“Heh, so sorry little brother!” the lady spy hissed in Varian’s ear as she drew the sword away from his throat, and Varian could hear some of the other agents begin to jeer and laugh at Xavier and Arianna as they too were taken prisoner.  “But don’t worry.  You and your sword will be used in a most worthy cause I guarantee you.  You’ll see.  And not only did you bring the formula to us too, but you even brought the very queen of Corona herself!  Ha ha!  I’m actually almost jealous of you, if I’m honest.  Do you even know how many Saporians would’ve loved to be in your shoes right now?  There’ll definitely be a big promotion waiting for you once you see reason and can- whoa!  Hey, don’t give me that look!” the lady spy scolded as Varian looked up at her with an expression that was borderline on grief-stricken.  “Yeesh, they really did do a number on your brains didn’t they?  You look almost if you really just betrayed your best friend or something.”

 “What?” Varian just barely managed to think as he registered her words.  Was…was that really how he looked?

Was that really how he felt?

…Yes.  It was true.  Varian had hardly any idea how, but he did feel that way.  And what was worse, it wasn’t just Queen Arianna, Xavier and Ruddiger that Varian had let down so badly this night, but he had also let down Friedeborg, the Captain, Pete and Stan, and perhaps even the whole of the kingdom of Corona in his foolhardy plan. 

And…he had let down Dad, too.  Again. 

“No…no no, please!” Varian thought desperately as he shut his eyes against the hot tears now began to prick at them, and as he heard more jeering and laughter as one of the men surrounding them took the opportunity to spit on the queen. Varian let out a choked sob as he heard it, and again saw against his darkened eyelids the image of his hands uncorking the vial that held the vial green liquid that he used to nearly encase the queen in amber on that other terrible day.

“No no!  Somebody, please-!”

“Varian…”

Varian’s misty, frightened, heartbroken eyes snapped open as he heard his name being spoken, and his head whipped round to where Xavier had gently called out to him from where he and Arianna were kneeling on the grass.  Varian was almost sure that Xavier would start scolding him again as he did on the battlefield just a few moments before…but something about his countenance was off.  Xavier didn’t look angry, nor even sad or ashamed.  He looked…conflicted, somehow – almost exactly as he did on that day he met with Varian, right before he told Varian that he knew about what had first caused Quirin’s encasement.

It was an expression that said, “I’m sorry,” though Varian was at a complete and utter loss as to why on Earth Xavier would be wearing such an expression in their current situation.

But in the next moment that followed, Varian found out why.

“I can’t do it!” Xavier had insisted to himself as his hands had once again been tied around his back.  “I can’t!  It might hurt him!”

“He’s hurting now.  And you know you’re just wasting time,” that small voice inside of Xavier argued with himself.

“But what if he’s not ready?  He’s never given no indication that he has any idea-”

“He is ready.  Or even if he isn’t, he’s as ready as he’ll ever be.” 

“How can I be sure?” 

“You can’t.  But you did promise Quirin, right?”

“That was just a passing thought.” 

“Was it?”

Xavier frowned hard, recalling once again all that he had found in those old notes by Demanitus, and also cringing as one of the men spat on the queen beside him, and Varian looked shattered all over again from where he sat defeated on the grass. 

“Don’t be afraid.  It’s now or never.  You have to try.”

With that, Xavier’s mind made itself up.  Sending up a quick, silent prayer, Xavier called out gently to Varian. 

“Varian…” he said, and swallowed hard as he made eye contact with Varian, and then began to speak the words that he knew would likely change the course of Varian’s life forever.

“Puer lunae Ab herede Demanitus Consurge, consurge Et da nobis lux vestra”

For a moment, Varian thought that perhaps his hearing had gone weird as Xavier began to speak to him.  But then, Varian’s brow furrowed hard as he realized what he heard had been Latin.  But what Xavier had said made absolutely no sense to him.  What was he trying to s-?

But then…Varian knew.  He didn’t know how he knew, but somewhere, deep, deep down inside of him, Varian knew, and the world around him was suddenly flooded with blue and silver, and his head began to blossom into pain as the light got more and more intense, and Xavier’s words echoed again and again in his brain, calling whatever it was deep down in him up into the light.

Consurge, consurge…ab herede Demanitus

Puer lunae 

“I’m so sorry,” Xavier thought, as he could only wait and watch to see what would come next for Varian.

...For the Heir of Demanitus.

...I suspect that some of you had to know that this was coming. ;)

The moon!Varian theory was first posted by @ghosta-r.  I just love this theory so much, I had to include it at some point in my fic! I hope that's ok!

Also, my apologies to anyone who knows Latin and sees that/if I happened to really botch it, or if Xavier's spell just really doesn't sound great to Latin-knowing ears. I did my best via Google translate, but whatevs. xP

I also don't often do action sequences in my writing, so I'm also sorry if this all came out a bit confusing or convoluted or whatever. Hopefully it's an enjoyable read though!

[strykingback]

A NEW UNIVERSE HAS BEEN LOCATED!!!!

Beginning Universal Scan...

Universal Scan Complete. Displaying Now.

OST: A New World.

Welcome to the Realm of Trenadera, where there are those who live here are surrounded by the four Great Kingdoms.

The Desert Kingdom of Vascuros The Principality Of Brumellis The Eastern Kingdoms of Izanami and The Primus Empire.

Yet this continent also has its secrets, along with stories beliefs and much more which many have yet to see and learn from its elders. Yet each Kingdom has its own Demi God as it was forged by the Six Gods of Life.

These Demigods are either defenders of their respective kingdoms or traversing the lands and beyond itself.

Starting with Vascuros Demigod.

"A famous treasure hunter and the Inheritor of the Flame and Thunder Gods blessings?! Hell to the fuck yes!!!"

[THE ROYAL WHO SEEKS ADVENTURE- Royal!Blade]

The Principality of Brumellis Demigod.

"As long as The Primus Empire stands. We musn't yield to them, nor should we! As long as our Kingdom remains strong and steadfast we shall prevail!"

[THE ROYAL PRINCE OF ICE- Royal!Kazura]

The Eastern Kingdoms Demigods

"Whoever erased my memories.... I must find out for myself!!!"

[THE FALLEN PRINCESS OF THE MOON- CORONA]

"My dream is to unify all Eastern Kingdoms as one in order to create a better future!!!!"

[THE PRINCE OF THE RISING SUN- Royal!Louvel]

Finally the Demigod of the Primus Empire...

WILL BE REVEALED WHEN WE GET THERE!!!!!!

INSPIRED BY @liroyalty and OTHERS ! STRYKINGBACK PRESENTS

THE ROYAL ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!!!!!