Chapter Text
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I am not the same, having seen the moon shine from the other side of the world.
-
Varian had been in this smelly Corona jail cell for - he looks over to the wall and counts the tallies. Yep, just as he thought. Nearly two-hundred and seven days he’s been here and nearly... he counts again… two-hundred and ten days he’s been without his father. By now, the anger within him has almost receded all the way - now there’s a gaping void of despair that’s replaced the seething rage inside of him. He almost misses it. It was easier to do what he had to do when he was angry. Easier to betray his friends when blinded by rage.
Now all that’s left for him to do is sit in his little corner with the raccoon dozing off besides him. Varian wonders how Ruddiger can do that - just sleep peacefully while there’s a storm of brooding thoughts running unbidden through Varian’s mind. It’s probably better to be a raccoon, he thinks darkly. No betrayal, no tragedy, just foraging in trash cans looking for food. Good life to live.
Varian manages a rare small smile, reserved for Ruddiger and Ruddiger only these days, pats Ruddiger’s head and leans his head back on the hard cobblestones. He goes back to thinking.
Then he gets a special visitor.
“Varian?”
Varian raises his head, the anger returning with a vengeance. He scowls at his visitor, his eyes meeting the tear-filled ones of Princess Rapunzel. Even in the dark, he can make out the glowing silhouette of her head. The thin stream of sunlight from the window creates a halo of pale gold around her hair. He glares at her, annoyed by how radiant she looks, even though she’s obviously in distress.
She comes closer when he says nothing, and Ruddiger, that little traitor, trots over to her with his tail in the air. Rapunzel meets Ruddiger at the bars, kneeling down in order to pet him. Ruddiger chitters empathetically, rubbing his head against her hand. Rapunzel sighs, looking at Varian through tear-stained lashes. He looks around apprehensively but sees no one else. Rapunzel came alone.
He sighs in surrender after a few moments of silence and rests his head back on the cobblestone wall. He doesn’t look at her, but he can feel her watching. Ruddiger’s chitters keep the room from complete awkwardness, but it’s not like Varian cares about such things anymore.
“What do you want?” he asks finally, the anger in his voice contrasting sharply with the comforting chitters of his companion.
Out of the corner of his eye, Varian sees Rapunzel flinch, and he reluctantly turns to look at her. He doesn’t usually consider his own state of being, but he supposes it’s pretty bad considering how Rapunzel regards him. Either that or it’s just a reaction from being in the presence of an enemy. Someone who tried to kill her and all her friends.
“I… I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” says Rapunzel softly, and Varian scoffs. He sees her rub her arm anxiously, an attempt to comfort herself most probably. Varian doesn’t even want to hear what she’s gotten herself into this time. It’s Eugene probably. She’s here for him. Varian rolls his eyes.
“No,” he says. “You wouldn’t have come down here for that, Princess.”
“Varian-”
“Don’t,” he snaps, and Rapunzel shuts her mouth. “Just leave me alone, Rapunzel. I don’t need or want to hear your voice.”
“But it’s-”
He laughs once, but it comes out a mirthless dirge. “Oh don’t tell me,” Varian drawls. “Your precious Eugene has gotten himself into trouble and you need my knowledge to save him.”
“No, Varian-”
“Well you know what? You can save him yourself, Sundrop,” says Varian darkly. “You’re perfectly capable.”
“Varian, please just listen to me-”
He snaps, white-hot anger taking a hold of him for the first time in a long while. “I don’t care which one of your friends needs help, Rapunzel! I would never, ever help you. Not after what you did.”
Silence takes its rightful place once more. Varian feels Ruddiger’s head beneath his hand as the raccoon tries to comfort him. Varian pulls him onto his lap, and Ruddiger settles there, placing his head on Varian’s arm. He looks up at his master forlornly, cooing softly.
“You promised, Princess,” Varian speaks at a normal volume this time, throwing his words from half a year ago back at her. “You promised you would help me. Why should I listen to anything you have to say?”
Varian hears a strangled sob from the other end of the bars and winces at the sound. He wishes she would just go away. And miracle upon miracles, she does. He doesn’t look up when he hears the rustling of Rapunzel’s skirts as she stands, doesn’t meet her eyes. He doesn’t want to.
“I really am sorry, Varian,” says Rapunzel softly. “I never expected any of this to happen.”
He shuts his eyes, pretending to not listen to her or care. Something happened to her. Something big. There’s something behind her words, a sorrow that very nearly rivals his own when he lost his dad. He wouldn’t appeal to his own curiosity now, however. He doesn’t need to hear about Rapunzel’s problems when he has his own to deal with.
“Goodbye Rapunzel,” says Varian coldly.
He hears her sigh. “Bye Varian.”
And Varian is all alone again, nothing but his own thoughts and the tight void of despair in his chest to keep him company.
~
He expected Rapunzel to come back. Varian knew better than to think that she’d just give up. He just never expected her to bring an entire posse with her this time and he never expected her to bounce back so quickly, returning to his cell the following day.
Varian looks up when Ruddiger hops off his lap and trots purposefully over to the front of the cell, chittering excitedly. His confusion quickly turns to annoyance when he sees Rapunzel again, crouched down and in the middle of giving Ruddiger a belly rub - which the raccoon seems to enjoy immensely, much to Varian’s chagrin.
He glares at the raccoon. Where’s the loyalty?
“I thought I told you, Princess,” says Varian icily. “Go find someone else to help you. I’m not moving.”
“Blondie, the kid’s not gonna help us. How do you know he even cares anymore?”
“I know he’ll help us,” Rapunzel says to Eugene, who remains in the shadows along with three other people. Neither of their shadows look familiar to Varian, and it strikes him suddenly that something, or someone is missing from the group. “He has to.”
The princess’ voice snaps him back. “Like hell,” he snorts indignantly, lips curled back in a snarl.
Varian’s eyes snap back to Rapunzel when he sees her stiffen, and this time, he sees angry dark eyes from the shadows meet his.
“Listen kid,” Eugene snaps, wrapping Rapunzel protectively in his arms. She looks up at him.
“Eugene,” she says softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. He’s just hurt.”
“Let me handle this, Blondie,” Eugene tells her. “You don’t have to talk to him. Not so soon and not about this.”
When his eyes met Rapunzel’s, they softened considerably, but when they lock on Varian’s, they’re seething, dark and bottomless. For the first time, Varian finds himself a little afraid of Eugene. He once again asks himself if he really wants to know what caused this once jovial group to turn cold.
Varian lifts his chin and faces Eugene. He wouldn’t show fear in front of these people. Especially not Rapunzel’s boyfriend when he looked at him like that. But still. There was something off about this entire situation and it rubbed Varian the wrong way. “I’m listening,” he says.
“It’s Cassandra,” Rapunzel cuts in, her tear-ridden eyes angry, as though it were Varian’s fault. “She’s gone.”
Something stirs in Varian as he meets the princess’ eyes. He looks around the room, meeting the unfamiliar faces. An unexpected burst of panic swirls uncomfortably in his chest. She’s right. There is no sign of Cassandra.
He masks his interest, prompting to cross his arms instead. He hasn’t seen Cassandra in more than half a year, and yet the reminder of her sends a pang of guilt through him.
(“Hello, Cassandra. I always knew I could sweep you off your feet!”)
Now she’s gone? It can’t be. She’s… Cassandra. She can’t be gone, that wasn’t possible.
(“You chose me!”
“Don’t flatter yourself, kid.” But Varian could see the slightest bit of an amused smile forming at the corner of her mouth and his heart fluttered happily.)
Varian ignores the beginning onslaught of grief, inwardly scolding himself for getting so soft. Ruddiger patters over to him and places his head in Varian’s lap, chittering softly. Varian sighs. “Why should I care about Cassandra?” he asks, voice tight. “If she’s dead, she’s dead. You can’t bring back the dead, not even with alchemy.”
“She’s not dead, pipsqueak,” speaks up an unfamiliar voice from the shadows. “But we don’t have much time. If you don’t come with us, she might as well be.”
Varian meets the dark brown eyes of a woman he doesn’t recognize. She raises a thin eyebrow at him and steps forward, and Varian backs up instinctively. The woman is imposing, and she practically radiates power. She could tear him apart, he just knows it. Then Varian notices something else. The mark, the one with a circle and three slashes, is painted onto this woman’s hand. Varian narrows his eyes at her, not trusting her but also unable to conceal his curiosity.
“Who are you?”
“Adira,” she says nonchalantly, shrugging. “And you’re Varian, son of Quirin.”
Varian scowls at the mention of his father, and surprisingly, Adira’s eyes soften. She nods understandingly, and Varian looks away. He doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.
He sees Rapunzel kneel, her golden hair a beacon, warning him to her location. Everything was fine as long as she remained outside his cell. He didn’t want to be any closer to her than he has to be.
“Varian, please just listen. I know we’ve had our differences in the past and-“
A bitter laugh as Varian rises swiftly, heading to the front of his cell. Proximity be damned, she was infuriating.
“Differences? Differences?” he echoes, and Rapunzel scrambles backwards into Eugene’s awaiting arms. “What you did goes far beyond differences, your highness.”
“Please, Varian. This isn’t about me. This is about Cassandra.”
Varian crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes. He looks away. “And what makes you think I still care about Cassandra?”
A flash of anger sparks in Rapunzel’s green eyes, and she opens her mouth to speak.
“They all die in the end,” Adira’s voice cuts in sharply from the darkness behind Rapunzel, causing the princess to flinch. “And she will be no exception, once the stone has its way with her.”
Varian meets Rapunzel’s eyes for a few seconds, his curiosity outweighing his patience. “What did you do to Cassandra?” he bites out.
Eugene rolls his eyes. “Okay, can we cut all this ridiculous dramatic bull? Cass-an -dra thought it would be fun to pull an old side switch at the last minute.”
Varian raises an eyebrow. “Side switch-?”
Eugene waves his hands. “I know it’s a dumb expression, but that’s not the part you should be focused on! Look, there’s all this weird stuff that’s gone down since your little… uh… well, since you tried to kill us all. Long story short there’s this opal that’s connected to the rocks, a terrifying incantation, and a darkness that’s apparently been unleashed since the day the king ripped the golden flower from the ground.”
Varian rolls his eyes. “I know about the moonstone and the darkness.”
“Oh, perfect, he already knows!” Eugene raises an eyebrow. “So yeah, basically Cass went all power crazy and stole the opal for herself.”
“And everyone who has stolen the moonstone’s power before her has died in under a week,” an unfamiliar voice booms from the darkness. Varian meets a pair of brown eyes and a large mustache. He backs up at the sheer size of the man.
“Oh and yeah, I’m a prince!” Eugene cuts in, nudging the man’s broad shoulder.
“Back to the dying part of this,” says the man, and Eugene rolls his eyes. “The fun part, obviously,” the man adds dryly. “Lady Cassandra is in danger, as is everyone unless it is removed from her, do you understand?”
Varian scowls. “I don’t even know who you are.”
The man holds out his fist, revealing a circular mark with three slashes through it. Like Adira’s, like his father’s. “I am King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom, boy. I knew your father well.”
“My father is still alive!” Varian snaps.
“Your father hasn’t been exposed to air in a near year, boy,” Edmund replies. “He is dead.”
Varian scowls. “Get out.”
Rapunzel’s eyes widen. “But Varian-”
“I said get out!” Varian snarls.
Adira puts a hand on Rapunzel’s shoulder. “He won’t help us, princess. We must find another way.”
Varian meets Rapunzel’s gaze for a little while, until she relents with a sigh.
She narrows her eyes. “Fine. Don’t help us. But just so you know,” Varian looks up at Rapunzel. “The Varian I knew wouldn’t have abandoned Cassandra.”
“I’m not the Varian you once knew, princess,” Varian answers darkly, his gaze firmly on the moon outside. “That Varian died when his father was encased in amber.”
“This trip down memory lane is pointless,” says Adira. “If we don’t find her in time, Short-hair is going to die.”
He grits his teeth. “And what makes you think I can find her?” he growls. “I tried to kill her. I tried to kill most of you.”
Rapunzel gasps. Varian flinches.
“Just leave me alone, Princess,” he sighs, hoping his sheer exhaustion isn’t audible in his voice. Judging by the empathy mirrored in Rapunzel’s eyes, he assumes it very much is. He looks away.
Rapunzel nods her head. “I’m sorry Varian. For everything I’ve done.”
He clenches his hands into fists. After everything she had done to him, to his father and even to Cassandra, he hated the sight of her. “Goodbye, Rapunzel,” he growls again.
They file out in the next fifteen seconds, and Varian is alone once more.