Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Varian wakes to the sun in his eyes from a slit where the curtains didn't close all the way and Ruddiger nudging him insistently. 

“Ughh, get off.” He pushes his raccoon off the bed, ignoring the indignant chittering and pulling the blankets over his head. He'd been up late again and needed to sleep, especially if he was right about Rapunzel throwing him a ‘surprise’ party. All the people that would inevitably show up would mean Varian having to act happy to be around everyone and not like he wanted to run away and hide. Which he eventually would.

He loves Rapunzel and Eugene, they're as much his family as his dad at this point, but they were a lot. And with Cass out doing sun knows what, there would be no one to stop them from inviting the entire kingdom to the party. If Varian got to make the guest list for his party, it would be the two of them, Ruddiger, his dad, Lance and his daughters, and that's it. Most of the kingdom still doesn't trust him, although they’d never say anything to his face. As much as he loves Corona, every once in a while he wants to get out, see new places and meet people who don't know a thing about him. Where he's just Varian, not The Alchemist or the princess’ friend.

“Varian? Son? You awake?”

“No, it's too early.”

Quirin just laughs and pushes the door open, closing the curtains. “I expect the princess will be here in a few hours, but when you're up I have a gift for you.”

This has Varian throwing the blankets off. He was getting too hot anyways. “"What? You didn't have to get me anything.”

“I figured it was time you had it.” Quirin hands Varian a book, bound in leater with a simple clasp. It's not new though, the spin is worn and cracked, the pages slightly yellowed with scraps sticking out of them and a few stains. “It was your mother’s.”

“W- this was Mom’s?”

“It contains all of her research on the Eternal Library, and the quest she undertook to find it.”

“The Eternal Library? Like the one Demanitus built that supposedly holds all the knowledge in this universe if not others?”

“You've heard of it. Yes, the very one.”

“Do you know if she found it?”

Varian opens the book carefully, his mother's handwriting filling each page, along with diagrams and maps labeled in codes.

“She did not. Her partner, Donella, came and told me. Gave me this, told me Ulla was gone, and left. I never found out exactly what happened to your mother. I hope you learn more about her through this journal. You’re very alike you know, she too was obsessed with science.”

Varian loves this, that even now he can connect with his mother, that he's so much like her despite not remembering anything of her. Reading her words, his finger running over the slight indents of her findings, he's struck with an idea. “What if I found it?”

“What?”

“What if I follow in her footsteps? What if I went looking for the library?” Varian sets his mother's journal aside, standing up. “Think of how many people that knowledge could help, how many inventions nobody has thought of, how many mysteries I could solve! And- and I could find out what happened to mom!”

Quirin doesn't say anything for a second, emotions unreadable as ever. “Varian-”

“And before you say I'm too young, I'm 18 and I've dealt with a lot! What could I face out there that I haven't seen already?”

“I'm not saying no, just that you plan this out and be careful. As much as I still see my little boy in you, you're right. You're not a little kid and you should get a chance to explore, live your life. After today, I'll help you get ready to go as long as you promise to come back, Library or not.”

“Promise! Thanks Dad!”

Over the next few hours, Varian gets so engrossed in poring over his mother's journal that he jumps when Raps knocks on the door.

“Variaan! Come on out!”

Varian takes a few deep breaths, steeling himself for the large crowd most likely outside, opens the door and-

And it’s just the six people he would have invited himself. Lance has Kiera and Catalina on his shoulders, Raps is holding a cake, Eugene a small pile of presents, and Quirin's there off to the side.

“Surprise kid! We figured you'd want a smaller party so it's just us.”

“Eugene you can't call him a kid anymore, he's 18.”

Rapunzel lights the candles on the cake and holds it out to Varian. “Make a wish!”

Once the cake is cut, Varian opens the gifts his friends brought. Rapunzel made a painting of him eating a cupcake with Ruddiger curled around his shoulders, Eugene a new pair of gloves and an apron with extra pockets, and Lance a shaving kit. Kiera and Catalina giggle a lot handing Varian his gift, and their box turns out to be a windup box that played music very loudly when Varian opens it. Eugene gives them a glare after jumping about two feet in the air but they show no remorse.

Towards the end of the party, Varian stands. “Everybody, while you're here, I have a bit of an announcement.”

“You finally got a girlfriend!”

“Kiera! Shush.”

Varian just laughs. “No, but I have decided I'm leaving. I'm following in my mother's footsteps and looking for the Eternal Library.”

“Isn't that one of Demanitus’ creations?”

Eugene sighs. “Him again?”

“Uh, yeah Raps, it is. You heard of it?”

The princess shrugs. “Yeah. Supposed to hold all the knowledge of everything.”

“It is, and with the help of my mom's journal I'm going to find it.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Soon, probably in the next few days.”

“We'll supply a wagon unless you already have one.”

“Eugene you don't have to-”

“You're going off and exploring the kingdoms by yourself. You need to have a roof over your head.”

Varian recognizes Eugene's no-nonsense voice and knows there's no point arguing. Not that he really wanted to anyways. “Ok.”

Which is how, a week later, Varian finds himself loading a few bags into a wagon Rapunzel was obviously set loose on. The outside is painted in purple and yellow with the Corona symbol and flowers all over it, and the inside has four storage compartments and two sets of bunk beds.

“Rapunzel, why are there four beds in here? It's just me and Ruddiger.”

“You might make some friends along the way! Speaking of, if you find Cass, tell her to come back and visit soon.”

“Will do.”

The princess pulls him into a tight hug, soon joined by Eugene and Lance. Varian's gotten used to these kinds of group hugs, to the feeling his bones might crack, but he still doesn't exactly like it. Thankfully they step back after a few seconds, double checking the wagon and the harness on Prometheus. His dad just rests a hand on his shoulder.

“Stay safe son. No matter what.”

“I'm gonna be fine.” How bad could it be?

After a few more slightly teary goodbyes from his friends, Varian climbs onto the wagon and sets off. He's got a whole world to discover.

Chapter Text

After a few days of travel, Varian finds himself in the outskirts of Bayangor. It's getting late when he sees a house by the side of the road and decides to ask them for directions to the main city so he doesn't get lost. The sound of laughter and shrieking audible from the doorstep means there are probably a few kids in the house. When he knocks, the door is opened by a woman in a long red dress, her black hair twisted and held back by two sticks stuck through it.

“Hello?”

“Hi! Um… I’m trying to find the main city and I was hoping for directions?”

The sound of something crashing proceeds two kids running into the room behind the woman. “Moooom Yong's experimenting again!”

“One second.” The woman turns back to Varian. “Why don't you come in for a minute. I can find a map and show you the way as soon as I take care of this.”

“Oh, ok!.” Varian hesitantly walks inside and sits on a chair in the main room. The two kids who'd run in earlier scamper up to him.

“Who are you?”

“Uh… I'm Varian.”

“Where're you going?”

“The- the main city?”

“For the firework festival? That's what Yong's trying to get into!”

“Is Yong one of your siblings?”

“Yeah, he likes to play around with stuff but he keeps messing up and exploding things.”

“Oh ok.” This Yong kid kinda sounds like Varian had been when he was a kid.

The woman who had answered the door walks in with soot on one of her hands. “Sorry about that, my son likes to experiment and he tends to get… violent reactions.”

“It's no problem! I used to have the same issue growing up. If you wanted, to pay you back for the help, I could give him a few tips?” Varian really wants to meet this kid, he didn't have anyone to talk science with in Corona.

“I- sure, I would appreciate that very much. Soot stains are hard to remove.” She turns towards the hall, her voice managing to cut through the background noise that comes with several children. “Hey Yong! Come out here please!” She turns back to Varian. “I'm Su. We're not far from the main city, an hour or so on foot. If you want to stay the night, you could come with us tomorrow for the firework festival?”

“I'd hate to impose.”

“It's no problem, if you're helping me out the least I can offer is some food and a roof over your head. You can’t be much older than my eldest.”

That's when a short, scruffy-haired kid with scorch marks on his clothes walks out. “What is it?”

“Yong, this is- yknow I never got your name.”

“Varian, of Corona.”

“He's heading to the city tomorrow and offered to give some advice on your fireworks in exchange for a place to stay tonight.”

Not exactly how it went but whatever. 

Yong's eyes light up in a way Varian knew his used to. “You make fireworks too?”

“Not intentionally, but I'm a scientist. Why don't you show me what you've been working on?”

“Ok!” Yong grabs him by the hand and practically drags him down the hall and into a bedroom that has seen its fair share of explosions. In the middle is a tube painted in red and gold, along with a funnel and several containers of chemicals. “I've been trying to make the firework red but strontium's not easy to come by so I'm experimenting with the shape of the tube first but when I add the strontium the explosions don't work.”

“Hm, can I see your calculations?”

“My what?”

“You are trying to calculate the right amounts of everything first right?”

“Nah, I just try stuff and remember what happens with each combination.”

“That's- Yong that's amazing, to learn like that. Why don't you show me how you're doing it, and I'll see if I can help you get it to work out.”

At some point, Su brings up some food and Varian scarfs it down. “This is really good!”

“Family recipe. I haven't heard any explosions in a while, is that a good or a bad thing?”

“Mom, it's awesome! Varian's been showing me all sorts of things about how the different chemicals react with each other so I don't cause any massive explosions!”

“That's amazing.” Su mouths a ‘thank you’ as she leaves.

Even after their dinner, the two stay up for hours. Varian knows Yong should get some sleep, he's twelve after all, but he can't bring himself to stifle the spark of finally getting something to go the way you want it to.

The next morning, Su wakes Varian and Yong to the smell of something Varian doesn't know, but it's mouthwatering. Breakfast is hurried, and Varian counts at least six other kids getting ready to head out. Apparently this firework festival is a big deal.

Varian leaves Prometheus and the wagon behind, but Ruddiger comes along wrapped around his neck like a scarf. The weight is comforting, and something he's thankful of when they round a corner and see the absolute mayhem of the crowds.

“Ok kids, have fun, watch your bags, littles stay with your partner. Meet back here for the finale and have fun!”

The kids disperse into the crowd, quickly out of sight, and Varian lets Yong drag him to a few stalls. Everywhere is colorful and bright and the music and chatter combine into a cacophony of celebration Varian rarely hears in Corona.

Varian glances down at his arm, where he wrote the directions for finding the trial he could decipher from his mom's journal. “Yong! I gotta go check something out!”

“Can I come with you? You don’t know the way around here!”

Well, he might be helpful, as long as he didn't enter the trial with Varian. The kid did not need to end up in danger. “Ok! I'm looking for a giant dragon statue!”

“I know where that is, come on!”

Yong pulls him through the crowd surprisingly easily, ducking through and around clusters of people. Before long, the crowd breaks and Varian is at the foot of a huge dragon. It's 20, 30 feet tall, and its tail curves up to the cliff behind it. If Varian looks closely, he can see a staircase carved between the spikes of the tail. He knows he has to get into the dragon from the mouth, so he starts walking.

“What're you doing?”

“I have to get up there, all the way to the top.”

“Is this for that library thing you mentioned yesterday? The one with infinite knowledge?”

“Yep. And before you ask, no you can't help. I don't know how dangerous this might be and I'm not risking a kid.”

“I'm like, six years younger than you.”

“Which is half your age. You're not going in.” Varian makes the mistake of looking down. Falling from so many heights had given him a healthy fear of them.

Once they reach the top, Varian starts looking for a way in. There are small crevices between the scales leading to the edge of the mouth, so he straps his staff to his back and climbs. The task is difficult enough Varian doesn't look down, but he also doesn't notice Yong following behind him until they’re both in the mouth of the dragon.

“Yong! I told you you weren't coming!”

“Come on Varian please! I can be helpful, what if there are monsters or something? I can be a distraction! If it's a fire trial, things might be explosive and I've got more experience with that than you!”

“You're really not taking no for an answer are you?” He is not seriously considering letting Yong come, is he? Yeah, looks like he is. “Fine, but you have to promise-” Varian doesn't get to finish that sentence because Yong shifts his weight and a piece of the stone sinks underneath him, causing the slab they're standing on to tilt, dumping them down a slide.

A short drop, screams echoing against stone, and they're in a red stone cave. As Varian sits up, he realizes the stone isn't red. It's lit by the lava a dozen feet down, surrounding the stone pillar they stand on. 

“Oops. Guess that was the way in.”

Varian takes a deep breath, he can't blow up at the kid. He hadn't meant to do it, and Varian was letting Yong come along anyways. “Ok. Guess we're in the trial.”

“What're we supposed to do with these?”

Varian glances over to see Yong pointing to a large cardboard tube and about a dozen chemical vials.

“I don't kn-” The whole room shakes and Varian looks over the edge of the stone platform to see the lva slowly but surely rising. Across the cave is another platform, slightly lower than theirs, with a door. “We need to get over there.”

“Hey, most of these are for making fireworks!”

Varian glances between the door, the tube, and the vials. “Maybe if we make a firework that can carry us across? Without blowing us up midair?”

“Yeah, sure! Uh but I- You should do it.”

“What? Yong you're the fireworks expert here.”

“What if I get it wrong! We'd die!”

Varian walks forward until he's in front of Yong, crouching down and putting his hands on the kid’s shoulders. Oh sun he's turning into Eugene. “Yong, you've made a bunch of great fireworks. True, not all of them worked as intended,” Great pep talk Varian! “but you're still way better at this than I am and I trust you. You can do this, I know it.”

“I guess I can try.”

“Yes! Ok, how can I help?”

“Hold the tube still so I can mix the right chemicals in!”

Varian does, and helps Yong pour the chemicals in. He keeps one eye on the rising lava, and- what was that? It sounded like something coming down the slide-

“Hop on!” Yong pulls Varian up onto the tube. “3, 2, 1!”

The explosion echoes in the cavern and Yong almost falls off as they shoot across the cavern. When they're almost over the platform, Varian yells “Jump!” and throws down a bath bomb. 

Yong and Varian both land in the suds and it takes a few minutes to get out.

Varian pushes open the door, revealing a long hallway.

“We're done! That was scary, I almost thought we were gonna die.”

Varian ruffles Yong's hair. “You did a good job! Let's not celebrate just yet, there might be booby traps in this hall. Watch your step.”

Each step has Varian more and more suspicious, this couldn't be this easy! There has to be one more challenge.

But after a few minutes of walking, they come up on a pedestal where the totem-

Is in the hands of a tall blonde in green. His hair is pulled back into a ponytail, yellow-lensed goggles around his neck and glasses reflecting some of the red lighting. He’s tall, easily six inches taller than Varian, and he has earrings. And he's stealing the totem.

“Hey! That belongs to us!”

“Huh. Weird. Kinda seems like I'm holding it, which makes it mine.” The thief's voice has a faint accent, not Coronan but from some other kingdom. Galcrest maybe?

“No way! We did the trial, not you. Hand over the token.” Varian holds his staff up, prepared to shoot the compound at the end in the thief's face.

“I like your magic wand, it's pretty.” Yong pulls out a few firecrackers. “And some fireworks! How fun. Well you two are adorable but I'm on a schedule so…”

The thief throws down a smoke bomb, filling the air with blue sulfuric-smelling gas. When it clears, he and the totem are gone.

“Yuck, it stinks!”

“The smoke bomb he used was also a stink bomb.”

“That's kinda genius.”

Varian hates to admit it, but it is. “I know.”

“Also, how do we get out of here?”

Chapter Text

Turns out there's a passageway at the back of the room where the totem was supposed to be, which spits Varian and Yong out at the base of the dragon again.

“Hey, it's almost time for the finale!”

And yep, there are Yong's siblings all gathered back at the entrance to the festival grounds. Su sees them and waves them over. Varian follows, might as well have some fun before, what, heading home? What does he do now that one of the totems is gone? 

Varian spends most of the rest of the festival lost in thought while Yong’s siblings talk about what they did. They fall silent when the music stops, everyone around them doing the same. Before Varian can ask, there’s a scream, an explosion, and fireworks light the night sky. Massive orbs of falling sparks, in red and green and every color Varian can think of. Some fizzle, some explode a second time, circles becoming halos. Some are loud, some are quiet. Some even form shapes of dragons and butterflies and flowers.

Every time the sounds of explosions start to fade, another wave begins. Eventually, even Varian’s ears are ringing and he’s heard his fair share of explosions. Ruddiger comes running out of the shadows, and- wow Varian hadn’t even realized he was gone. He curls up in Varian’s arms, paws over his ears. He chitters softly but doesn’t run off, used to Varian being a safe spot around chemicals exploding from his time in the lab.

By the time the fireworks end, two of Yong's siblings are falling asleep on their feet. Su picks one up, slinging them on like a backpack, but before she can grab the other Varian is picking them up.

“I got this one.”

“You really don't have to do that.”

“I know. But you guys have been pretty nice and I grew up on a farm so I can handle it. Cmon, let’s get going before any more of them doze off.”

Sure enough, a few more are dragging their feet and everyone is yawning. Most of the kids fall asleep the second they hit the pillow, leaving Varian and Su awake.

“So how did the trial go? Yong didn't say and you've been pretty quiet.”

“Oh. Right. It was fine, Yong was pretty helpful, but um… the totem was stolen. Some guy slipped past us and nabbed it.” How had he gotten across? Not by firework. Had he climbed the walls or something without them seeing? “So now I don't know what to do.”

“You keep going.”

“What? But I don't have-”

“That guy who took the totem probably wants the Library too, right? So if you keep going you'll run into him eventually.”

“I- Yknow, you're right. So I guess I'll be heading out in the morning.”

“Hey, Yong really looks up to you and lord knows I'm no help with his fireworks. How dangerous is this mission of yours?”

“I don't know, but I can't guarantee it'll be completely safe.”

“He might learn some valuable lessons. Just promise to bring him home, I know he wants to go with you.”

“Yeah, I'll make sure he comes home. You sure you want him doing this?”

“Yep! He was quite adamant earlier that I convince you to let him come.”

“Ok then. Tomorrow morning, I'll take Yong with me.” And then he'd need to write to Raps, that girl had to have some level of psychic ability to know he'd need the bunks.

Yong had been so excited to go that he started packing the second he heard.   

“What do you think I'm gonna need? Fireworks? Supplies to build more fireworks?”

“Yep, but don't forget the essentials.”

“I'm so excited!! I can't wait I'm gonna learn so much!”

“Settle down Yong. This trip isn't just fun. It could be dangerous.”

“Yeah but you'll protect me!”

Would Varian? Obviously he’d try but could he really promise Yong’s safety? No, he couldn’t. Not completely.

“Yong, seriously. I get you’re excited, and I have to admit it’ll be nice to have company, but you can’t assume I’ll always be able to protect you. You’ll have to be able to protect yourself in case I can’t.”

“Are you gonna teach me to fight?! That’s even cooler!”

This kid’s optimism is unshakeable. Varian just hopes he doesn’t lose it, that this trip doesn’t crush him.

An hour or so later, Varian is loading Yong’s bags into the wagon. There are a couple storage compartments, one of which Varian has filled with food, another with alchemy supplies, and a third with his own stuff. The fourth one is where he stows Yong’s bags. He also assigns Yong the bunk below his, since he’s small enough to not hit his head on the underside of it.

Yong’s siblings are all in a tangled group hug Yong is barely visible as the center of. It reminds Varian of his family.

“Ok Yong, we should be going if we want to avoid getting caught in the woods at night.”

“Got it! Bye guys, I’ll see you soon!”

There’s a chorus of “Bye Yong! Have fun adventuring!” and his siblings head inside.

Su shakes Varian’s hand as Yong runs over to the wagon. “Thanks again for taking him with, he’s so excited.”

“I’ll make sure he comes back safe.”

“Varian! Come on let’s go!”

“Alright alright, settle down.”

Varian hops up onto the front of the wagon and they set off. “Settle down?! We’re going on an adventure!”

A few days of following the road later, they reach a crossroads. Varian can’t discern from his mother’s notes, or the map, which way is the better one. He’s been poring over the map for a while when Yong tells him to take a break.

“Varian cmon! My mom always says if you’re having a problem, take a nap or get a snack and then take another crack at it.”

“Yeah. maybe you’re right. I can’t figure out whether to take the main road or the mountain pass. Maybe after a nap I’ll be thinking clearer.”

A voice from the trees almost makes Varian drop the map. “Well, the mountain pass is temptingly short, I’ll give you that. Although I hear it’s lousy with avalanches this time of year.” Varian turns around and sees the thief leaning against a tree. “Probably not the best choice.”

“You!”

He pushes off the tree, arms spread dramatically. “Me!” Yong dives at the thief, who dodges. Yong just spins and dives at him again. “Hey! Woah there, I’m here to talk.”

“You’re a dirty thief!”

“See, this is why Funsize here is right about you getting some sleep. You’re cranky when you’re tired, you start calling people names-”

Varian just raises an alchemy ball from his pocket. “Where is it?”

“Yeah! Hand it over!”

“Ah yes, the totem. That’s what I’m here about. If you want it, you gotta hear me out.”

Varian glances at Yong, then lowers the ball. He doesn’t slip it into his pocket though. “What do you want?”

“First, let me introduce myself.” The thief puts on a slightly dramatic tone that almost reminds Varian of Eugene whenever he’s telling stories of his Flynn Ryder days. “My name is Hugo, and I’m from the powerful nation of Ingvarr.” Oh, so that’s what the accent is. “I’m an accomplished alchemist, engineer, and adventurer.” Wow, so humble. “So of course, when I heard of the Eternal Library, I just had to try and find it. I’m sure two men of science, like yourselves, would agree.” When Varian and Yong don’t respond, Hugo clears his throat. “Eh hem, anyway. When I arrived at the first trial I was surprised to find there were others on this quest. And you were so talented!” Hugo applauds mockingly, and Varian fumes. Who is this guy to talk like that? “But I still felt I needed to test you. See if you required my specialized skills.” Hugo ruffles Yong’s hair, and the kid swats at his hands.

Varian just scoffs, raising an eyebrow. “Skills?”

Hugo leans into Varian’s personal space, and Varian leans back. He doesn’t move away, somehow it feels like that would be losing a piece in this chess match of a conversation. “You see, life hasn’t always been easy for me. Orphaned, growing up on the streets, I had to adapt. Become streetwise, ready for anything. You two, on the other hand… Well you allowed someone to sneak past you! Couldn’t stop me from running off with the totem.”

“That’s a mistake I won’t make again.” Varian raises his hand, about to throw the compound in his hand, one he used to use to keep raccoons out of his lab, but Hugo catches his wrist.

“I think you might. I mean, just think of all the other handsome rogues out there who might try to steal from you. Unless, of course, you have someone like me there to watch your back.”

Varian rolls his eyes. Handsome? Hardly.

“Wait, so- You want to join us?”

Had that been what Hugo was saying? “What? No way.” Not a chance this thief was coming with them. He’d wait until they were asleep and run off with everything they had!

“Oh, right. You’re still waiting on that gesture of good faith!” Hugo tosses the totem to Varian, who barely catches it. “So, what do you say? Am I in?”

Varian smiles, tucking the totem into his bag. Like it would be that easy. “No. Come on Yong, we’ll take a break after we get away from him.”

Varian smirks as he hears footsteps following down the path. “Slow down there! I gave you the totem back!”

“You stole it in the first place.”

“I can take it back whenever I want!”

“Good luck.”

Yong and Varian keep going, leaving Hugo behind. They got the totem back! 

And Varian is so busy internally celebrating that he doesn’t notice they’re being followed until Yong yelps and a cloth is pressed over his mouth. He tries to hold his breath, like Eugene had taught him in one of his ‘avoiding kidnapping’ classes, but whoever is behind him jabs a fist into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. Varian gasps for air and everything spirals into blackness.

Chapter Text

Varian wakes in an empty room, tied to a chair. Well, not exactly empty. There are two giant redheads there. In fact, he recognizes them. This is… not great.

“He’s awake.” One of the Stabbingtons, the one Eugene always calls Sideburns, stalks up to Varian and grabs his hair, wrenching his head back and placing a knife at his throat. “You’re the princess' pet scientist, aren’t you?”

This is not good. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Don't play dumb. You got the Corona symbol all over your dumb wagon, hand painted by the princess from the looks of it.”

“And you assume she gave me the wagon? I stole it.”

“You're lying. Doesn't matter. Rider will pay a nice price to get you back.”

Sideburns backs away, and Varian almost sighs in relief when the knife leaves his neck. The one with the eyepatch opens a door. “You think we can get something for the kid?”

“I'm sure someone’ll pay.”

“W-wait! If it's money you want, I can get you money! Just let the kid go, I'll make sure you get all the money you could ever want!”

The two brothers glance at each other, then back to Varian. Maybe they'll- “Nah, we searched your wagon. You've got nothing cept nerd stuff, and while the princess and Rider will pay to get you back, we know you ain't important.”

They leave, slamming the door shut behind them. “Don't-” But they're not listening.

Dammit! He'd promised Su Yong would be safe and a few days on the road and they'd gotten kidnapped! And now he’s going to be blackmail against Raps and Eugene while Yong gets sold off to sun knows who!

Varian isn't sure how long he's stuck in that room, but eventually he hears something outside. It's not the Stabbingtons, whoever it is is quiet. The door handle wiggles, followed by a muffled curse and the door swinging open. The light blinds Varian for a few seconds as a lanky silhouette appears in the doorway.

“Well well well. How's that quest going?”

“Hugo?? What the fuck are you doing here?”

“That's not a nice thing to say to your rescuer. Saw you and Sparky get grabbed, figured I'd follow you.”

“Why? So you can steal the totems?”

“Tempting, but no. Unfortunately I've realized the trials will be easier with a few extra sets of hands, so I'm here to help you out, if you let me join you.”

Well. Varian isn't exactly in a position to say no. “Fine, you can join. I don't trust you, but if you’re willing to help us out I'll give you a chance.”

Hugo moves behind Varian, untying him quickly. “Great! These oafs are pretty slow and they were just leaving when I got here, so we can catch them and get going again.”

Varian rubs his wrists, and for a second Hugo's hand looks blackened, but he blinks and it's gone. Weird. “Did you see where my stuff is? We can't go at them unarmed.”

“Yeah, this way.”

Out of one room, down the hall, into another room, and Varian grabs his staff and alchemy bombs. He turns back to Hugo to see the thief spinning a knife that looks to be made of copper.

“We're not killing them.”

“Whatever you say, Goggles.”

“That's not- whatever. Let's go save Yong before he gets sold off.”

Hugo spins the knife, sheaths it, and starts off down the hall again. He’s fast, his freakishly long legs making it hard for Varian to keep up, but they both make it outside in time to see the Stabbingtons loading Yong onto the back of a horse. Varian throws a pink alchemy bomb, encasing the horse's hooves. “Let him go.”

“Oh look, it's the scientist. How'd you get free?”

“Not important. Let him go.”

Hugo throws something from just behind Varian, and it envelops the Stabbingtons in a green gas. They both drop like stones.

“What was that?”

“Sleep bomb. Those two are too thick to listen to threats.”

“You know them?”

“The Stabbingtons? Ran into them a few times. Idiots.”

They certainly are. “Let's get Yong and get going.”

Varian pulls Yong off the back of the horse and slings him over his shoulder. The kid's heavy, but manageable. Hugo ducks around the back of the building, and Varian carries Yong to the wagon, setting the kid on his bunk. Then Varian moves his alchemy stuff into the same compartment as the rest of his things. It fits, barely, and if they crash and a glass breaks it'll be a pain to clean up, but there's a space for Hugo's stuff now.

Varian climbs out of the wagon, and notices the Stabbingtons have been dragged inside. By who he doesn't know, maybe Hugo’s stronger than he looks. Speaking of, where is he? They shouldn't hang around, who knows how long the Stabbingtons would stay out.

⚙️ Hugo ⚙️

Well that was easy. The Stabbingtons had really done him a favor grabbing Goggles. Gave him an in. He just had to let Don know and grab his stuff while the other scientist was occupied with Sparks. Fortunately she was in the treeline around the back of the building.

“So?”

“I'm in.”

“Good. They can't know your real motives.”

“Relax! I know what I'm doing.”

“You better. If you fail, you know what happens. I need to get in that library. Do whatever you have to.”

“This is the last one though, right? After this I'm free?”

Donella is quiet a second too long for comfort. “You get me in that library, you keep the kid from messing anything up, and yes. You’re free. Now go, before he wonders where you are.”

Hugo nods, grabs his bag from the ground at her feet, and heads back to the wagon. He can do this. If he keeps his secrets close, he can do this. What could possibly go wrong? He's dealing with a twelve year old and some kid of a random farmer who thinks he's tough. Easy job.

🧪Varian🧪

He almost walks straight into Hugo as the thief comes out from behind the building, bag slung over his shoulder.

“Hey Goggles, watch where you're going. I didn't see you down there.”

“We should get going before the Stabbingtons wake up. I don't want them to follow us.”

Hugo just starts walking over the wagon. “Where are we headed next?”

Varian almost has to jog to keep up- seriously, why does he move so fast- while he tries to remember what his mother’ journal said. “Neserdenia.”

“Only a day or so from here. Good. You still got the totem?”

“Yeah, but I’m not telling you where.”

Hugo puts a hand to his chest. “I'm hurt Goggles. After all the help-”

“I told you that you could come along, not that I'd trust you.” The self-assured arrogant charm might've worked on Varian in the past but he knows better now. Knows what happens when you trust too easily.

“You'll like me eventually.” Hugo winks. “Everyone does.”

Varian watches Hugo climb into the wagon, wondering why every word out of the blonde’s mouth has his face flushing. He doesn’t quite know what this feeling is-

“Goggles, is this wagon built for elves?” Hugo pokes his head out of the wagon, glances down at Varian, then smirks. “Right, you’re just that short.”

Oh yeah. Now he recognizes this feeling. Loathing. Unadulterated loathing.

Chapter Text

Two days of traveling with Hugo and Varian is… wary. He's clearly trying to help, and he definitely wants to get to the Library, but something feels off. Maybe it's Varian being paranoid, maybe it's just that they don't get along, or sun maybe it's the fact Hugo has to be better than Varian at everything. Whatever it is, Varian's keeping his guard up.

According to his mother's journal, the trial is just outside the capital city of Neserdenia, in a system of caves by a river mouth. The notes are a bit vague, but they're definitely going to be swimming.

Varian drives the wagon until the path ends, then locks the wheels and door. “Ruddiger, stay here and keep an eye on everything.”

“Oh, good, a wild animal can keep an eye on our stuff.”

“He is not a wild animal!”

“He's a raccoon.”

“Ruddiger is a good raccoon.”

“Mhm. Let's get going, I want to get the trial done before dark.”

Hugo starts walking off, and Varian rolls his eyes. “Trial’s the other way idiot.”

“No, it’s not. It’s in those caves, right there.”

Hugo points at a cave he was walking towards, and Varian checks his mother’s journal. Dammit, he’s right. “How did you know?”

“The giant water symbol carved into the stone above them, duh. Really Goggles, how blind are you?”

“You’re the one with glasses.”

“Guys! Stop fighting! We need to work together for the trial, right Varian?”

“You’re right Yong, we do. You have your fireworks in a waterproof bag?”

“Yeah! Let’s go swimming!”

Walking into the caves, Varian shakes a few vials and attaches them to his staff. There’s no source of light beyond what emanates from the mouth of the cave, and he’s not about to risk activating some kind of trap because he can’t see.

“Nice glowstick Goggles.”

“Oh like you’ve got anything better.”

Hugo pulls something out of a pocket, clicks it, and a beam of light appears. It’s brighter than Varian’s vials, by a lot. “Actually, I do. Little invention of mine, useful in Ingvarr where we’ve got smog all year round.”

“Is that why you’re so pale? I think I’ve seen sheets of paper with more color.”

“You must spend all day out in the sun, your freckles cover half your face.”

“Corona is the Sun Kingdom. Kinda in the name?”

“No doubt why your wagon is covered in them. So proud of where you came from?”

“Raps thought it would remind me of home. I couldn’t exactly tell her no.”

“Well maybe you can tell her that it got you kidnapped. She owes me for saving your ass.”

Hugo and Varian continue bickering as they walk, Yong a few steps behind. They’re so distracted neither of them notice they’ve entered an obviously man-made tunnel until a door slides shut behind them.

“What-”

Then water starts flooding in from the floor. It covers their feet in seconds.

“Guess we gotta swim, and fast.”

Varian straps his staff to his back and starts moving as fast as he can. He can hear Yong splashing loudly behind him, the sound echoing off the walls and making it sound like dozens. Before too long the water is waist deep, then at his shoulder, before he’s able to start swimming through it. He can see the end of the tunnel, but they’ve only got a few feet of air left and if anything the water’s coming faster.

Wait, why can’t he hear Yong anymore?

He turns to see Yong floating in the water, not swimming.

“Y-” A wave of water crashes into his face, filling his eyes, his mouth, his ears, blocking everything out. He’s spun until he doesn’t know which way is up, so he kicks in a random direction and hopes he picked right.

There’s a light above him, as his chest starts to burn from lack of air, and he breaks the surface-

And sits bolt upright in bed. What? Wait- this is his room in Old Corona. Was it a dream? It had to be, right? There’s no other explanation for how he’s here. It felt so real though.

“Son? You up?”

“Yeah, I am. Had a weird dream.”

“Well you better get ready, the princess is gonna be here to take you to the award ceremony soon.”

Award ceremony? For what?

“What ceremony?”

“Did you forget? For synthesizing a compound to get rid of the black rocks! You saved all of Corona, remember?”

Oh. Right. That dream really scrambled his head. Of course there was an award ceremony, Raps had told him weeks ago. He even had a suit hanging in his closet for this.

The second he thinks about the suit, he’s up and wearing it. No, he’d gotten up and put it on. He shakes his head, hair flopping into his face. He must be really tired. 

“Varian! Breakfast is ready!”

Ruddiger’s curled around his shoulders, trying to steal his food from his hands.

“Ruddiger, stop it! This isn’t for you.”

The raccoon chitters and scurries off, sulking in the corner.

A knock on the door and Varian is outside, climbing into a carriage to go to the castle. Rapunzel is there but he doesn’t remember seeing her when he climbed in. Her hair is coiled at her feet- wait, no, it’s hanging just past her shoulders. She doesn’t have long hair anymore, it stopped being indestructible when he destroyed the rocks.

“It’s gonna be so fun! Almost the entire kingdom’s been invited, and I think everyone else is showing up anyways. I know you love huge parties.”

What? Crowds gave him headaches, or- no, he fixed that. He could do everything he needed to as Royal Engineer. There was nothing wrong with him.

So why was he nervous? He shouldn’t be nervous, he knew how to do this. He was amazing at dealing with lots of people talking to him at once, he astonished people by running multiple conversations at once. Everybody loved him.

Water rushing spinning bubbles something shaking him-

“Varian? You ok?”

“Yeah. I just had a weird dream last night, must be tired.”

“You better wake up then.” wake up! Goggles- “You’ve got a speech to make.”

Varian wipes his hands on his shirt and walks forward, the crowd going quiet.

“Hello Corona!”

Everyone cheers. “Varian! Varian!”

“Today is a great honor! It’s not everyday a farm kid gets a medal from the King himself.”

Laughter from the crowd and Varian smiles. There’s a flash of blond, someone running through the crowd. Hugo?

Hold up he didn’t know a Hugo.

“It took a while to get rid of all the black rocks, to stop them from destroying our beloved kingdom, but-” seriously goggles you have to fight this “we are almost finished rebuilding. And now you all have hot running water!” ice cold filling his veins his lungs everything can’t breath can’t move “So… uh. I guess that’s the whole of my speech.” Why can’t he think straight? Or catch his breath? There’s Hugo in the crowd, no, in front of him- right in front of him- really? An award ceremony? And he calls me shallow What the fuck.

“How’s the search for the Library going?”

“What about the source of the black rocks?”

Faces in the crowd blurring. This isn’t- this is wrong. This isn’t how it happened.

Varian turns to see Cassandra standing next to Rapunzel, but they’re flickering. Cass’ hair keeps flashing electric blue- her and Raps fighting- Zhan Tiri- The moonstone the Saporians jail amber trials Yong Hugo none of this is real!

“Varian? Finish the speech.”

“Finish the speech!”

“Join us! Don’t bother fighting.”

Not Rapunzel, something else. Something dark and fanged and blurry through the water-

Blurry and getting smaller. Smaller and smalelr as he’s dragged backwards, upwards, into the air-

Hugo drags him onto a rocky ledge above the water. They’re at the end of the tunnel, and he can hear Yong coughing up water a few feet away.

Varian sucks in air, and the spinning in his head fades. It’s replaced by a massive headache instead.

“Finally! Damn Goggles, they almost got you.”

“They?”

“Sirens or something, must’ve been the trial. What did you see?”

“I- I fixed a mistake I made a while ago. What about you?”

“Uh- you know, riches, everything I could ever want.”

“How’d you get out?”

“The gold didn’t have the right weight.”

“I won the firework contest. All my siblings cheered, I didn’t blow anything up at home. I wasn’t a failure.”

Hugo and Varian glance at each other and Varian gets up, putting a hand on Yong’s shoulders. “You’re not a failure. You got us through the first trial, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“I couldn’t have done that. You’re also a lot younger than I am, and you’re already so skilled! You’re gonna be amazing when you’re older.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Awww, so cute. Can we get going?”

Varian helps Yong up, and they follow Hugo down another tunnel, wet shoes squelching against the floor and leaving two sets of footprints behind them.

At the end of the tunnel is a podium with the totem, but it’s behind a wall of crystal. The floor is covered in pools of water, but when Varian looks down into one he can’t see the bottom. Just his own face, staring back at him.

“What’s the point of this?”

Hugo rolls his eyes. “Goggles, do you ever read? There’s writing on the floor.”

Sure enough, there are instructions written in the same language as Demanitus’ portal plans.

“To reach what you seek, find the pool through which you can peek.”

“Weird.”

Varian furrows his brow and looks back into a pool of water. “I can’t see the bottom. Maybe we have to find one where we can and jump in?”

“Sounds good!”

Yong runs off and starts staring into pools of water before yelling “Not this one!” and moving on. Hugo glances between the writing, the totem, and Varian a few times before sighing and starting to check pools.

Varian does too, and finds nothing but his reflection over and over and over again. It takes maybe twenty minutes for Yong to yell “I found it!”

They all jump through and land behind the crystal, completely dry. Hugo snatches the totem and a staircase appers.

“Oh yay, more walking.”

It’s sunset when they get back to the wagon, and the totem is stowed with the Fire Trial one. Yong falls asleep the second he hits his bunk, but Varian ends up staring at the ceiling.

“You really knew it was fake by the weight of the gold?”

“I’m a thief. I know real from fake. What mistake did you see fixed?”

“That’s not a story I’m willing to share.”

“Dark past? You? I doubt it.”

He has no idea. Varian plans on it staying that way. If Hugo or Yong found out? They’d hate him, or worse, be scared of him. Nope, he’s gonna keep his cards close to his chest

Chapter Text

In the two days it takes them to reach Pittsford, Varian sleeps maybe an hour. He tries, really, but his dreams are plagued by… well everything that happened when he was 14. Plus jail. So every mistake he’d “fixed” in the trial.

Basically his subconscious is in replay-Varian's-terrible-life-choices mode and he can't sleep. 

“Hey Varian! Look! There's a science expo in town today! And the prize is access to the ancient historical references!”

“Well Sparks, that's great and all but we do have things to do.”

“Actually, Hugo we-”

A voice cuts through the crowd. “No no no! This is not right! My podium needs to be exactly six inches from the edge of the stage!”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Of course, Mr. St. Croix.”

“I was going to say we need access to the records since my mom never wrote down the exact location of the trial, but…” Varian laughs. “I will finally get my revenge!”

“Uh, Goggles? What do you mean revenge?”

“Let's just say I've met the judge before. Actually I was in the contest four-ish years ago. He disqualified me for lack of flair.” Plus Shorty almost cut his nose in half, but y’know. “This year, I'll show him flair.”

Varian stops the wagon at an inn and buys lodging for the night, then starts poring over his mother's journal. In the margins are all kinds of alchemical theories she had, most of them not even related to the trials. Maybe one of them will win him the contest.

“I'm gonna build a huge firework! The biggest ever!”

“As long as you don't blow up my entry. I don't think the judges would appreciate that much flair.”

“You guys are entering too?”

“Why? Scared I'll beat you, Hairstripe?”

Oh this is going to be fun Annoying! Now there's no way he can lose this.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Should he be getting this invested in a science contest? No. They're doing this for the trial. Their odds are better with all three of them entering, especially since there's no way Hairstripe's alchemy can beat Hugo's engineering.

He'd enter Olivia if he-

No, don't think what-ifs. How are you winning this, Hugo? How are you beating the farm kid at science?

It seems laughably easy. It should be.

But wouldn't it be more fun to beat Goggles using something he'd originally made, that Hugo improved?

🧪Varian🧪

His mother is a genius! He wishes he could have met her, he could learn so much! Like this invention he's finishing up. It's a glass rod treated with chemicals that light up different colors based on the temperature of the room. A flashier thermometer, really, but St. Croix likes flair. The winner of the last contest Varian attended used made up words and magnets where he invented a whole new element!

Varian yawns, but pinches his arm. He’s not going to be able to sleep even if he tries, and he needs to stay awake.

He’s one of the first up to present, but St. Croix is droning on about the marvels of science. 

“I bet that guy can’t even name an element.”

Varian jumps at Hugo’s voice from behind him. He hadn’t heard the blond approaching. “Hugo! How the hell-”

“I’m a thief, kinda second nature.” Right, duh. “Ready to lose, Goggles?”

“You wish. What did you even make?”

“Nice try. You’ll just have to watch the presentation like everyone else. I’m right after you, so people will quickly forget whatever you’ve managed to make.”

“Actually, they’re going to be so amazed at mine they won’t even care about yours.”

“More like blinded when it explodes.”

Before Varian can respond, he’s called up to present. Shame, it was almost fun.

He yawns on his way to the stage, wide enough his jaw cracks. He’s gonna need to sleep after this and hope he’s tired enough to avoid the nightmares.

By the time he finishes presenting his invention, to boisterous applause, he can barely keep his eyes open. He tries to walk down the stairs, but his heel catches on one and he falls into something solid.

“Watch your step Goggles.”

Oh. It’s Hugo. He’s weirdly cold. “‘M fine.”

Hugo says something Varian doesn’t quite hear as three days of no sleep finally drags him under.

He’s woken maybe twenty minutes later by Yong shaking him. He sits up from where he was lying in the grass- had Hugo set him here?- and holds up his hands.

“I’m up I’m up!”

“You won!! Your light stick won the contest! Hugo’s up there accepting the ribbon on your behalf, he said to let you sleep but you need to know that you won!”

Hugo’s what? Varian stands, shaking away the dizziness, and moves to the side of the stage. Sure enough, Hugo’s up there next to St. Croix.

“-rian isn’t able to accept this himself, he worked so hard on this he forgot to sleep.”

“Enthusiasm! I love it. Well your companion now has access to the ancient ruins of this lovely town, some of which are old enough to have been walked by Demanitus himself.”

Hugo smiles, takes the ribbon St. Croix offers, and bows his head before leaving the stage.

“Hello sleepyhead. Back with us? We’ve got a trial to do.”

Hugo hands Varian the ribbon, fingers brushing Varian’s, and moves past, headed to the inn they’re staying at. Yong quickly follows, and Varian hesitates a second. He flexes his hand, he must’ve slept on it funny since his fingertips are all tingly.

Anyways. Hopefully he’ll actually be able to sleep. The trial tomorrow is going to be difficult.

Chapter Text

The trial is located somewhere in the underground ruins, and that’s all Varian’s mom wrote down so they have to explore pretty much all of it.

Varian’s using his staff with a few glowing chemicals on the end, so similar to when he forced Rapunzel to help him steal the Sundrop that he’s having deja vu.

There don’t seem to be any traps in these tunnels, though he knows that will change when they find the actual trial.

“These tunnels are creepy.”

“Chill Sparks. They’re just old, and abandoned, and-”

“Probably haunted.”

Hugo laughs at that, sounding more surprised than actually amused. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

“My siblings always tell me ghosts are real. That you can see them if you’re about to die.”

“There are many legends of the supernatural. Magic is real, maybe your siblings were right. But I don’t think we’ll be running into ghosts down here. The townsfolk would have seen them.”

“Ohhh yeah that makes sense.”

There’s a click up ahead and Hugo shouts back from where he’s left them behind. “If you two are done telling scary stories, I found the trial.”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Of course Sparky believes in ghosts. Hugo’s not surprised, the kid is… well. A kid.

Goggles walks up beside him, glowing chemicals casting a multi-colored light into the room in front of them.

“Secret button on the wall?”

“Yep.”

Granted that’s not how Hugo found the door, just how he opened it, but still.

The trial room is huge, with random stone outcroppings throughout the middle and the totem visible on the other side. When all three of them are in the room, the door slams shut.

“That’s not good.”

Sure enough, all the seemingly random rocks in the room start moving.

Very, very fast.

There’s a three foot wide zone safe from the rocks on this side, but the podium on the other seems to be the only spot not under threat of getting crushed besides that.

Hugo smirks. Piece of cake.

🧪Varian🧪

How are they going to get the totem?

“Don’t worry, I got this.”

Varian barely contains an eyeroll. Of course Hugo would use this as an opportunity to show off.

“You can’t just run through it, there’s got to be a pattern to it somehow.”

“I’m a thief, remember? Running’s what I do.”

Hugo ducks past Varian and spins past some of the rocks.

“That implies you’re a bad thief!”

Varian watches as Hugo narrowly dodges a rock that drops from the ceiling. He doesn’t want to admit it, but Hugo’s fast.

There’s a second, when three rocks slam together right where Hugo was standing, that Varian thinks he failed. That Hugo got crushed between them.

But no, somehow he slipped through because he’s dashing back towards them with the totem.

And Varian hadn’t even figured out the pattern.

“Hugo! You almost got crushed there!”

Hugo ruffles Yong’s hair, tucking the totem into his bag. “Nah, I was nowhere close to getting hurt.”

It’s impressive, honestly, that Hugo figured out the pattern that easily. Varian still hasn’t managed to map a way through, but maybe Hugo saw something running through that Varian’s missing?

Either way, they have this totem. 

And the next trial is going to be extremely difficult to do, seeing as Varian’s mother changed her code mid-way writing the notes for it so he has to decipher the new one.

That’s what he’s doing, sitting next to their fire that night, while Hugo is supposedly studying the map for a safe route to Koto.

“So. Goggles.”

Varian jumps when Hugo speaks right next to him. 

“Hugo! What is it?”

“I heard you named an element after your crush? You must’ve been head over heels for her.”

Varian feels his face heat. “How- what-”

“Yong told me.”

“Yong!”

Varian whirls to see the pyrotechnic traitor on the other side of the fire, munching on a cookie.

A purple cookie.

“You’d be surprised what people will tell you for a cookie.”

Varian snaps his eyes back to Hugo, who’s grinning like a cat. Varian tackles him, his mother’s journal falling shut as he shoves the blonde to the ground. Hugo squawks and tries to push Varian off, but he fails. Varian just laughs and gets up, offering Hugo a hand.

“How are you so strong?”

“I grew up on a farm, remember?” Varian staunchly ignores the flicker of warmth in his chest at the compliment, so similar to the when he first met Hugo but undeniably different.

He doesn’t have time to deal with that now. He has a code to crack.

Chapter Text

Varian finally cracks the code on the journal after three days on the road, which gets them to the outskirts of Koto. According to his mother, the trial is in the caves under the castle. This has Varian wracking his brain, because there’s no way they can just waltz through the front doors.

“Varian look! There’s a ball tonight! We should sneak in!”

“That works in theory Yong, but we don’t have an invite and I seriously doubt they’ll just let us in.”

“Goggles it right, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use the ball as a distraction. You two find a place for the wagon, I’ll go scout the place for a way in.”

Varian doesn’t trust Hugo not to swipe something extra in his ‘scouting’, but whatever. They need to get to the trial.

So he and Yong go find a hotel with a stable for their wagon and Prometheus, and Varian’s delighted to discover they have running water here as well. Nothing like a shower after being stuck with rivers and rainwater for a while.

By the time he and Yong are done, Hugo slips back in. He pulls a key out of his pocket grinning like a cat. “Got us our way in.”

“How did you get that?”

“Nobody can resist my charm, Goggles. They practically asked me to break in.”

Varian interprets this as Hugo flirted with whoever had the key and stole it. For some reason he doesn’t like the idea.

“Now, we need to get outfits for this thing. Your usual attire isn’t gonna cut it.”

“Like you have anything better!”

“I do, actually. It’s called being prepared.”

“For sneaking into a Koto royal ball?”

“And many other scenarios.”

“Uh-huh. Fine, Yong and I will go find something fancy for this, you stay here and make sure no one takes our stuff. The door doesn’t really lock and I don’t feel like jamming it shut right now.”

Varian and Yong spend a few hours looking for suits in their price range. Eventually, they walk back, Yong with a dark red suit and Varian with a navy one the sales lady said “brought out the blue in his eyes better”. She kept crowding into Varian’s space, so he was all too glad when they could leave.

“Fixed the lock while you two were gone, your precious things will be safe while we’re at the ball.”

Even though Hugo’s tone is heavy with sarcasm, Varian thinks he hears a little warmth in it. 

“Doors open just before sunset, but if we get there right on time it’ll be harder to sneak in. So we’ve got maybe an hour to spare.”

“Yes! I’m gonna experiment with some new explosives!”

“Yong, no setting the building on fire!”

“It’s fine! I’m not setting any of them off.”

“Well I am going out for a walk.”

And Hugo slips out, into the streets. Varian uses his absence to take a nap, after telling Ruddiger to make sure Yong doesn’t get them kicked out of town for explosions before they can retrieve the totem.

A little after sunset, Hugo gets back. Varian, having woken up maybe ten minutes prior, is working on his mother’s journal.

“Nice walk?”

“Oh, uh yeah.”

Is Hugo’s tone a little off? Maybe. Varian brushes it off.

“Cool. Let’s get ready to crash a royal ball then.”

After dragging Yong away from his explosives and helping him get his suit on, Varian pulls all the layers of his own outfit on. He’s been in outfits like this once or twice for formal events Raps dragged him too, but the tie gives him a little trouble.

He turns away from the mirror to see Hugo leaning against the wall in a dark green suit.

Fuck.

No, Varian’s not admiring the look.

Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening.

“Struggling there Hairstripe?”

“No.”

Hugo pushes off the wall and walks over, undoing the tie at Varian’s neck.

“Hey!”

“It’s lopsided, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb with it like that.”

Hugo swiftly fixes the tie, close enough Varian can count the few freckles dotting his nose. His face is bright red, he can feel it. Thankfully, Hugo steps back as soon as he’s done.

“Let’s go, we need to finish the trial tonight. Got your alchemy stuff?”

“Yep.” Thank sun for pockets. 

They make it to the ball, slipping into a group of people. Nobody asks to see their invitations.

Inside is a ballroom not unlike the one in Corona, except in place of sunbursts and dark purple drapes this one is decorated in constellations and silver curtain.

“Woah.”

Yong's voice is full of awe, but Hugo looks… disgusted actually.

“Yeah, it's fancy. Oh look, there's a banquet table.”

“Really? I wonder what kind of food they have here.”

Yong dashes off, leaving Varian and Hugo alone at the edge of the dance floor.

“How are we going to find the trial?”

“C'mon Goggles, there's only one way to scout out a ballroom.”

“And that is?”

Hugo grabs Varian's hand, smirking. “From the dance floor.”

“Hugo I don't-”

“Just follow my lead.”

Hugo spins Varian into the circle of people. Varian trips over his feet, staring down at the ground in an attempt to not step on Hugo's toes.

“Stop overthinking it Hairstripe.”

Varian's eyes snap up to Hugo's smug face. 

“How do you even know how to do this?”

“I know a lot of things. Relax, listen to the music.”

Varian does, trying not to stare down at his feet the whole time. It's kinda fun, dancing with Hugo.

Then the music shifts and a wicked grin splits Hugo's face.

“Don't let go.”

“Wha-”

And Hugo dips Varian, in unison with the rest of the dancers. 

“Hugo!”

“It's fine, I'm not going to drop you.”

Thankfully the song ends, and Hugo leads him off the dance floor. 

“By the way, found our way to the trial.”

“Really? Where?”

Hugo nods towards a door to the left. “It’s the only one closed, and there was a guard there until some lady swept by and asked him to dance.”

“Definitely suspicious. Should we try and track Yong down?”

“Nah, he'll be fine. Don't want to miss our window, that guard might come back.” 

Varian nods, then he and Hugo slip through the door.

“Hello gentleman. Lost, are we?”

Varian spins to see a girl, a year or two younger than him, standing there. She's in a lavender and silver dress, patterned in stars. There's a small silver circlet resting atop her dark hair. Shit. She must be one of the princesses.

“Hello, your highness. We were just-”

“Spare me whatever bullshit you're about to spew. Looking to steal something, based on how you snuck back here the second the guard left his post.”

There's a ringing in Varian’s ears, drowning out whatever Hugo and the princess are saying. They got caught, he;s going to jail again. He can't do this he can't go to jail what would his dad say? What would Rapunzel?

“You're really bad at this.”

“I am an expert thank you.”

A whistling sound fills the air, and the princess goes pale.

“No not tonight.” She slams the doors open just in time for a guard to scream “METEOR!”

Everyone starts running just as the ceiling crashes inwards

Chapter Text

⚙️Hugo⚙️

His first instinct when a rock falls through the ceiling is to run. To find somewhere safe, or use the commotion to swipe some jewels.

But he’s here for the trial, and he needs Hairstripe to not die. Speaking of, where did-

Of. Fucking. Course. Goggles is running towards the stampede of people. There’s a kid just… standing there. In the middle of the floor, crying. A whistling sound, a rock shooting through the window behind the kid- Hugo can’t watch this- but then he drops to his knees, momentum sending him sliding. He grabs the kid and just barely misses getting hit with a rock.

And well, Hugo can’t let him have all the glory.

That’s the only reason he follows the princess- ugh- into the chaos. Not because for a second that crying kid was one of the ones at the orphanage where he lived.

Don’s gonna kill him.

🧪Varian🧪

It’s absolute chaos, dust and frantic people and falling rocks. Varian pushes a kid into the arms of a guard and scans the room. Where the hell is Yong?

A flash of red out of the corner of his eye, there he is! Yong’s stumbling forward from the dust, wiping at his eyes. They’re red, he must have gotten something in them.

“Yong!”

“Varian?”

Yong starts running, not looking where he’s going.

“Careful! You’re going to-”

Yong trips, falling and smacking his head on a piece of rubble.

He doesn’t get up.

“Shit!”

Varian rolls him onto his back carefully, and immediately notices a bruise starting to form on the kid’s forehead. No blood, and he doesn’t seem to be hurt too bad. Just knocked out.

Varian lifts Yong onto his back and heads for one of the side doors. Almost everyone else is out, and the meteors seem to have stopped.

He runs into the princess from earlier carrying another kid, her tiara crooked and dress torn and dusty.

“This way, we have an infirmary just down the hall.”

Varian follows her, and a few more people follow her down the halls with other injured people. The doctors are ready when they walk in, cots set up throughout the room, and Varian is immediately shown where to set Yong down.

It takes a while for the doctors to check on him, more focused on the people with broken bones or worse injuries, but eventually they do.

“He’ll be fine, a day or two of bed rest and he’ll be good as new. Are you planning on staying in town long?”

“A little while at least.” Until Yong’s awake. 

Varian starts when a hand rests on his shoulder. He must’ve dozed off.

“Goggles. Come on, get up.”

“Wha- Hugo? Where are we-”

“Trial, remember? Sparky’ll be fine, we need to do this.”

Unfortunately, he’s right. So Varian sits up and they sneak out of the infirmary and back to the hallway for the trial.

“Again? Really?”

Fuck.

“Hey, your highness.” Was that the right title? “We were just-”

“Sneaking off to do whatever I caught you at before the meteors hit? What’s so important you need to do this?”

“None of your business.”

“Hugo! It can’t hurt to tell her, we need someone who knows their way around the castle or we’ll be looking all night.”

“Looking for what? I’m not helping you rob the palace.”

“No, no we’re not stealing anything. We’re looking for the Demanitus trials, to find the Eternal Library. It’s a-”

“Magical library with all the knowledge in the world.” The princess looks hopeful, excited.

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Yeah! I wanted to go looking for it a year or so ago so I could figure out a way to stop the meteors. So, if you want my help, you have to let me come along.”

“N-”

Varian cuts Hugo off. Whyever the blond hates royalty, it doesn’t matter. They can bring one more person, and the princess might be useful. “Ok.”

The princess holds out her hand. “My name’s Nuru.”

Varian shakes it. “Varian.”

“Right, now that you’re friends,” Hugo rests a hand on Varian’s shoulder. “we can get going.”

Varian rolls his eyes, and notices Nuru doing the same.

It takes at most five minutes to find the entrance to the trial with Nuru’s help.

“I always wondered what was behind this door. Nobody’s been behind it in centuries, and there’s no recorded translation of the inscription.”

Varian shakes an alchemy vial, a blue light appearing from the reaction, and holds it to the carved words. “Let the light be your guide? Well, that’s unoriginal.”

Silence. Varian turns around to see Nuru and Hugo staring. “What?”

“That language has been dead for as far back as our history is recorded.”

“Yeah, but I translated it. There was an old scroll and the sundrop and moonstone, long story.”

“You translated a dead language?” Hugo sounds surprised- no, awed. Varian turns back to the door as his face flushes.

“Y-yeah. It’s no biggie. Let’s go!”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Fuck. Holy fuck he actually-

Wow. Just wow.

Hold up, not wow. Snap out of it Hugo, you knew he was a brainiac. An annoying nerd who you’re just tagging along with for the trials.

An annoying nerd who fucking translated a dead language.

There’s a sound from down the hall, and everyone spins to see a figure standing in the doorway. The princess relaxes, but Hairstripe doesn’t. Hugo’s eyes flick to the edges of the figure- blurry- and then back to the others.

“Oh, hi B! How are you?”

“I am doing well, princess. Why are you and your friends attempting the trial? Have tales of its danger not spread to you?”

“I know it’s dangerous, but another meteor shower just happened. I have to find some way to stop this before any more of my people suffer.”

The princess seems to realize something and spins to Goggles. “Oh! You guys probably can’t see who I’m-”

“I can.”

Hugo nods too, obviously he could see the ghost. And he knew Hairstripe could, just not how.

“That’s… not a common thing.”

Goggles just shrugs. “I’ve almost died a dozen times. Actually… I think I did for a little.”

What. Why is there a twinge in Hugo’s chest at the thought?

Sparkles seems equally shocked, but she shakes her head. “Ok. Anyways, let’s get this done before my parents send the guards out to find me.”

🧪Varian🧪

It’s dark inside the trial, with only a few pinpricks of light on the ceiling. No light from the hall makes it into the room, blocked somehow. By magic or science, Varian’s not sure. Knowing Demanitus, probably some massively insightful combination of the two. It’d be amazing to take the trials apart, figure out how they were put together and maybe even a way to replicate them, or make something similar!

“They’re stars.”

Nuru’s voice echos slightly in the dark room, the lights flaring brighter in the ceiling. She glances down at her skirt, which Varian notices is a map of the stars, then points at the ceiling.

“There’s Leo, the brightest one in the middle is the Regulus star. And over there, Orion!”

“Let the light be your guide! It’s telling us to navigate by starlight.”

Hugo scoffs. “That’s a little obvious, don’t you think?”

It is, actually.

“It would be if the stars were accurate. They’re wrong, look up there! Draco’s in the wrong place, as is Eridanus, and I think I see Musca in the wrong spot as well.”

Varian has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “D, E, M? I’d bet the names of the misplaced constellations spell out Demanitus.”

“So the old guy was a narcissist too? Of course.”

“You’d know all about that wouldn’t you Hugo.”

Hugo mock-gasps at Nuru’s words. “Are you calling me egotistical?”

“You said it, not me.”

“And here I thought princesses were supposed to have good manners.”

“Guys! Focus, please?”

Nuru’s hand slips into Varians. “Let’s stick together, this might be trickier than we think.”

Varian reaches back for Hugo’s hand, but the blond ignores him and just follows close behind them.

It doesn’t sting, and Varian did not have butterflies at the thought of holding his hand.

He’s so fucked.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

None of them talk much as the princess leads them through the dark, past constellations Hugo never bothered to learn and a few he did. One of those is Coma Berenices, and The Mice galaxies inside. He’d always loved finding those, they reminded him of being a little kid and stargazing with Callie.

“See zat one, Hugo? Zose are ze mice, les souris.”

“Like Olivia!”

“Oui, she is une petite souri. Just like you are mine.”

Hugo shakes his head, shoving that memory back in its box. Now is not the time for sentimentality, and that train of thought only goes somewhere dark.

“And there’s Scorpius, which makes the last one.”

When Sparkles says the name of the constellation, there’s a blinding flash of light as a circle of mushrooms lights up.

In the center of the circle is a box. Hugo walks up carefully, mindful of any potential traps, and runs his fingers over the lid.

It's iron, with something written on it.

"Hey Goggles! Think we need your translating skills again!"

🧪Varian🧪

Hugo calls him up to the box, forcing Varian to look away from where he'd been examining the mushrooms.

He's right, the inscription on the box is in the same language as the door.

"The stars were your guide to me, part of your quest for the library, but knowledge has phases like this box's key."

"So, what, we stick this box outside at night and the moon unlocks it?"

"Must be. Think anything happens when we take it?"

"Uhhh... guys?"

Varian whirls to see Nuru backing away from a giant frog-like creature.

"Run."

Chapter Text

Varian grabs the box, tucking it under his arm, but that causes the cave to rumble ominously. The stars start flashing, and more sets of eyes open in the surrounding darkness.

Hugo curses in what sounds like French- Varian is really fucked isn’t he- and starts running back the way they came.

Varian grabs Nuru’s arm as he runs past her, forcing her to unstick from where she’d frozen. The sound of frogs chasing them is loud, echoing in the caverns alongside their pounding footsteps.

“Duck!”

Varian drops to the ground as Hugo throws something small and green over his head. It hits a frog in the face and explodes into a gas that stings Varian’s eyes and throat before he pulls the cloth of his shirt over his mouth.

The frogs all drop, asleep, and Nuru pulls him up to keep going.

By the time they get to the door, Varian’s head is spinning. He still has the box under his arm, and he hands it to Nuru. “Where do we go for… the moon?”

“Woah, Goggles, you good?”

“Yeah, just-” Varian’s interupted by a jaw-cracking yawn. “tired.”

“You probably inhaled some of my sleeping gas back there.”

Varian tries to respond, and maybe he does, but before he knows it he’s falling into the dark of sleep.

⭐Nuru⭐

Varian pretty much passes out on his feet, but Hugo catches him, slinging the ravenette onto his back. Ah, ok. That makes sense.

“Come on, we can leave him in the infirmary with the kid and go open the box.”

Hugo nods, and neither of them speak for the walk to the infirmary. The kid is awake when they walk in, despite the late hour.

“Hugo! Why’s Varian asleep?”

“Shhh. It’s the middle of the night, Sparks.”

The kid- Sparks is definitely not his name, Hugo seems to have problems using people’s real names- glances at her.

“Woah, are you a princess?”

“I am. Nuru, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Yong!”

“Great, introductions over. Do us a favor and keep an eye on Hairstripe while we go finish a thing for the trial?”

“Ok!”

Hugo sets Varian on the bed next to Yong, then they’re headed to the observatory.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Varian?”

“Deal? There’s no deal. I figured it’d be faster to do the trials with a few other sets of hands, and he and Sparks were also doing it anyways.”

“Uh-huh.”

Nuru can feel Hugo’s glare in the corner of her eye. “Just because you’re royalty doesn’t mean you know everything, ok? We’re just temporary allies on the same quest. Like you and I.”

She doesn’t believe him, but she also doesn’t say anything. Maybe he hasn’t realized it yet, but there is something there.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

The princess hasn’t even been around a day and Hugo already wants to strangle her. Acting like she knows what’s going on between him and Goggles.

There’s nothing there, he doesn’t even like the guy!

Except, well. There had been a flicker of worry when the alchemist passed out, despite Hugo knowing exactly why.

Fuck. Maybe he doesn’t hate Hairstripe as much as he did. As much as he should, if this is going to work. Head in the game, Hugo. Just one more job and you’re free.

🧪Varian🧪

He wakes up on a cot, the sound of Yong snoring right next to his head. The sun is peaking through the open windows, falling on the bed and Hugo, sitting in a chair to the side of the room.

“Do you ever sleep?”

“Good morning to you too Goggles. I’m fine, thanks for asking. Got the box open last night with the princess, we are ready to move on to the next trial. Speaking of the princess, I’m pretty sure she’s already moved into the wagon, so there’lll be no more picking up strays.”

“You were one of the strays I picked up so no complaining.”

Hugo rolls his eyes, then pushes himself up from his chair. “You wake the kid, I’ll go snag some breakfast so we can go.”

Varian flops back against the pillow, then rouses Yong. It’s not easy to get him to wake up, but before too long they’re in the wagon and on their way to the next trial. They’re already halfway done, but Varian has a feeling the next four will be even harder.

Chapter Text

“I told you we weren’t going to make it!”

“I didn’t expect a literal snowstorm Hugo!”

“Princess school didn’t include meteorology?”

“I’m surprised you even know what that word means!”

“Don’t need fancy tutors that charge a year’s wage an hour to learn.”

“God what is your problem?”

“My problem is-”

“Guys! Stop it.”

Hugo and Nuru’s heads snap towards Varian, both of them clearly ready to keep this argument going. It’s been like this for a week, constantly at each other’s throats. Nuru fights with Hugo more than Varian does, which is not something he ever expected to think.

Then again, his fights with Hugo usually end with the blond joke-flirting and Varian flushing bright red.

But now, they’re in the middle of nowhere instead of the outskirts of Glacrest, where they need to be for the next trial, and it’s snowing. A lot. Varian’s shoving down nightmare images of amber and black stone but it’s hard.

Some ghosts don’t leave easily.

“Hey, I think I see a light over there!”

Varian’s gaze follows Yong’s finger to what looks like a window, the warm light cutting through swirling white.

“They probably won’t let four strangers inside.”

“Wouldn’t blame them, you’d rob them the second you got in the door.”

“I would not!”

Varian rolls his eyes, resigning himself to more bickering, and directs Prometheus towards the house. It’s worth a shot at least.

Nuru and Hugo do stop bickering as they walk up to the front door of the house. Varian can hear laughter inside, from at least two kids. He catches a glimpse of Hugo’s face, and-

Wow. 

The blond’s masks of sarcasm and deflection have melted, revealing a look of longing Varian’d never expect from him.

Then Hugo’s eyes snap to Varians and the masks are back. Varian doesn’t say anything, just turns and knocks on the door.

A woman opens the door, apron covering her dark blue dress and flour dusted across her hands and face. Varian almost drops his staff. She looks exactly like his mom. A little older than the picture he’s seen of Ulla, but they’re identical.

There’s no way, right?

⚙️Hugo⚙️

The sound of children laughing briefly sends Hugo into a memory, of a fireplace and Callie reading while he tinkers with Olivia.

Fuck, what is it with hanging around Goggles that has him all mushy and sentimental? 

Speaking of, the alchemist is staring at Hugo. Once he realizes he’s been spotted he quickly looks away, a faint blush making his freckles stand out like stars.

Hugo does not need to be distracted by a little crush. C’mon, focus. Remember what happens if you fail this.

Yeah, that does the trick. No more getting sidetracked by Hairstripe.

“Hello?”

A woman’s voice pulls Hugo out of his head. Goggles is standing there, frozen, as a red-haired woman glances at the members of their group.

“H-Hello. Sorry we’re… we’re travelling to Galcrest and were wondering if you might have some space for us to sleep? Just until the storm stops.”

“Of course! Come on in.”

Goggles trips on the door frame a little, but catches himself and lets everyone else inside before the woman closes the door. Something’s off, he’s being clumsier than usual.

“I- sorry you just look a lot like… did you know a woman named Ulla?”

Isn’t that Goggles’ mom? Why is he asking this complete stranger-

“She was my twin sister… why do you ask?”

…. Huh. Not what Hugo expected, because seriously what are the odds.

“She was- I’m her son.”

The red-haired woman's eyes widen, her mouth practically falling open in shock. “Varian?!”

🧪Varian🧪

Varian keeps pinching himself. Seriously? He went on a quest to find his mom and ended up finding his aunt, uncle, and six cousins. They’re all sitting at the table now, food on everyone’s plates and conversation flowing. His aunt’s name is Lily, and his uncle is Alex. Then there’s the cousins. Amber is sitting next to Nuru, talking animatedly while her food sits untouched. There’s a faint blush on her cheeks, and on Nuru’s. Next to them is Olive, who seems to have built a catapult using a spoon and hair tie from their wrist, which they are using to fling peas at Ness whenever their parents look away. On the other side of the table are Isha and Lou, the twins, who are communicating in a mix of words and hand gestures Varian can’t decipher. Finally, Josh sits next to his mom and dad, not making eye contact with anyone and just staring at the table. He’s bobbing his head though, humming some tune Varian’s never heard.

Yong seems to be unable to decide who to talk to, jumping in and out of conversations like a fish.

Hugo is….

Hugo’s not here.

Varian looks around and spots Hugo sitting alone by the fire, tinkering with some contraption of his. The firelight is bouncing off his glasses and limning his hair in gold. He looks almost ethereal.

Shit.

Varian forces his gaze back to the table, but he can feel his flush. His aunt nudges him under the table, and he glances up to see her giving him a knowing look.

“Something going on there?”

“What? No.”

She glances at her husband, who also grins.

“Tell that to your face. Somebody’s smitten.”

“I- You- He’s annoying-”

Varian can see the laughter in their eyes and snaps his mouth shut.

So yeah, he has a crush. So what?

Well. Maybe a little more than a crush. But he has to focus on the trials, because after that Hugo’s leaving again.

The thought hurts more than Varian’s willing to admit.

Why did it have to be him?

— — —

Varian looks up from playing with Lou to see Hugo slipping outside. He’s been distant since they got here, barely talking to anyone. So Varian follows him outside.

Back into the snowstorm and nightmare-memories.

He finds Hugo sitting in a tree, watching the snow fall through the branches.

“Hey Goggles. Following me now?”

“I came out here to check on you. What are you doing?”

“Needed a break from the picture perfect family fun.” Hugo air quotes the words, but Varian swears he hears a touch of… something. Something empty and raw.

He knows Hugo had a tough childhood, the blond admitted as much, but clearly it affects him more than he lets on.

However, Varian doesn’t feel like having this conversation from the ground. So he climbs up and sits on a branch next to Hugo.

His movements shake some snow off the higher branches, but somehow it lands everywhere except on Hugo.

This includes Varian’s hair, where it melts and sends icy water down his back. He must make some kind of sound, because Hugo smirks.

“Cold?”

“Are you not?”

“I don’t get cold.”

“What’s bothering you? The truth.”

“You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”

Varian doesn’t say anything, but Hugo sighs and sits up. There’s snow on the branch where he’d been laying, somehow.

“Fine. You want the sob story? Your family reminds me of what I didn’t get in the orphanage.”

Hugo clearly expects this to be enough for Varian, and he probably shouldn’t push. He does anyway.

“You don’t talk about your family. Or your past, as much as you like to mention that you lived on the streets.”

Hugo snorts, like Varian said something funny.

“Not much to tell. Plus, I don’t do the sappy emotional stuff you do.”

“You do, otherwise you’d have left all of us a while back. You just don’t want to.”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Goggles is way too observant for Hugo’s liking. But normally, this level of… whatever the hell is happening would make him uncomfortable.

Now, it makes him want to stick around. Which is bad.

“If you say so Hairstripe.”

The ravenette looks like he’s about to say something else before Hugo lets gravity pull him backwards off the branch, flipping to land on his feet.

“Have fun in the cold Goggles.”

“Showoff!”

Hugo just smirks and starts walking.

He almost runs into Sparkles on his way back inside, leaving Hairstripe in the tree.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Hugo.”

“Your highness.”

She rolls her eyes, but doesn’t move to let him inside. “You’ve been acting weird. I know that look in your eyes.”

“Oh, do you?” What could she possibly know about-

“I do. Because I’ve felt it. You want this.” She gestures at the house behind her, the people inside. “A family like this.”

“What, your family isn’t good enough for you?”

“I love them, but royalty doesn’t mix well with emotions. I get it. And hey, maybe you’ll find a family of your own someday.”

Hugo doesn’t know why he says it, clearly there’s something wrong with him today. “Guys like me don’t get a happy ending.”

The princess just smirks. “No, but guys like Varian do.”

Chapter Text

🧪Varian🧪

“Wait, you guys are looking for the trial thing?”

Amber’s question puts a stop to the breakfast conversation. Varian nods, unaware she’d been listening to what he had been telling his aunt. “Yeah, we are.”

“I know where it is, it’s like a mile from here.”

“Really? My mother wrote about it being in Galcrest…”

“It is, technically. The woods cross the border into Galcrest and I think the trial is like right there.”

“How do you know this?”

Amber glances at her mother and away again. “I found one of Aunt Ulla’s letters and when I was out looking for flowers for the garden I stumbled across this old rock with the same inscription she described. Or, well, I think it was the same one. I couldn’t read it.”

“We should check it out, if we don’t have to go all the way to the capital it’ll be a shorter journey to the Dark Kingdom.”

“Can I come?” Olive’s questions sets off everyone else, all Varian’s cousins clambering to join.

Lily’s voice cuts over the cacophony with the ease only a mom can achieve. “No, you cannot go. These trials are dangerous. However, you may show Varian and his friends where the trial is and wait for them outside, in case they need assistance.”

This promise assuages his cousins, who wolf down their food and rush to change for the adventure.

It takes about an hour to gather all the supplies they think they’ll need, since they’re planning to come back after the trial so they’re not bringing everything. It then takes another two hours to get to the trial, as the younger kids keep getting distracted and running off.

By the time Amber points out the stone, she looks ready to tear her hair out. Interestingly enough, Varian’s noticed Nuru walking near her, stepping closer and then away again. Is there something there?

Maybe, but Varian’s never been the expert on anything like that.

“Yeah, this is the trial alright. I just can’t figure out where to go from here.”

“What does the stone say?”

“To find that which you seek, you must tread a path not for the weak. You will wish to take the easy path, but sometimes knowledge has an ice-cold wrath.”

Hugo rolls his eyes. “Of course it rhymes. So, what, we walk toward the creepy vibes?”

Varian doesn’t answer, just moves to stand at the north side of the stone. There’s a slight warmth to the air there, like standing at the very edge of a campfire’s reach. On the south side of the rock, however, Varian feels colder, like he shouldn’t be there. The kind of feeling he gets every time he steps into the basement back home.

“It’s this way.”

Olive tries to head into the trees, but Nuru sticks an arm out. “What did your mom say? These trials are dangerous.”

“Ugh, but Yong’s twelve! Why can he go but I can’t?”

“Because Yong’s mother trusted me to take care of him.” Honestly, Varian still doesn’t understand the decision. 

Olive rolls their eyes but doesn’t push it, instead grabbing a handful of snow off the ground. “You guys get going, we’ll be here when you get back.”

They throw the snow at Amber, who squeals and starts making her own snowball. “This means war!!”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

The shrieks and flying snow quickly fade as they walk through the trees, following Goggles. Hugo’s actually glad he stuck with these idiots, whatever effect the trial is having on the rest of his team isn’t working on him.

It makes sense, the second trial didn’t affect him either, but damn.

Hugo accidentally walks into Sparkles when they pause for whatever reason. The princess spins around as she steps away. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Pardon moi your highness, wouldn’t want you to get tainted by a street rat.”

“Can you get it through your thick skull that I am not the stuck-up royal you think I am?”

“I don’t put things in my head that aren’t true.”

“You-”

“Guys! Can you- Wait. Where’s Yong?”

Hairstripe’s question pulls the princess out of her tirade, and she spins around a few times, scanning the trees.

Hugo looks too, because… where is Sparky?

“There’s footprints there, looks like he wandered off.”

“Shit, ok. You two go on ahead, we need to finish this trial before dark and it’s already the afternoon. I’ll go find Yong.”

The princess shoots off before either of them can say anything.

“Cool. Guess we keep going.”

Goggles hesitates, watching Sparkles until she disappears into the trees, then shakes his head and turns to continue on.

🧪Varian🧪

The trial leads them to a cave at the base of the mountain, where there’s a torch sitting in a bracket and nothing but darkness heading in and up. It’s definitely where they’re supposed to go, Varian just really doesn’t want to.

The feeling of wrongness has gone up as the temperature plummets, most likely spurred on by the flashbacks haunting the edges of his senses.

Things get worse when Hugo lights the torch. It helps them see the pathway, but the orange light obscuring any outline of Hugo’s reflection in the ice looks too much like amber.

So as the cold feeling takes root in Varian’s bones, and the echoes of his past fill his ears, they climb.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Hugo loses track of how long they climb. It must be at least two hours with how far the torch burns down. 

Eventually, he starts to see white daylight bouncing off the ice and down to them. He and Hairstripe quicken their step, and the cave spits them out at the very top of the mountain.

In front of them is a thin walkway of ice leading to a podium. On either side of the walkway is a ravine, like the mountain is split down the middle and hanging on by a thread.

“Of course climbing a mountain wasn’t enough.”

Goggles doesn’t say anything, just starts walking. He’s a little shaky but Hugo ignores it. Probably just cold.

Hugo’s about halfway across when he feels himself lose traction on the ice, slipping backwards down the mountain. Before he can think of anything, a hand shoots out and grabs his wrist.

Green eyes meet blue and Hugo feels like he’s still falling.

Varian pulls him back up onto stable ground, but doesn’t let go.

“Careful there. Bit of a slippery slope.”

Hugo just nods, for once unable to think of a snappy retort.

Because the swooping sensation of falling has morphed into a buzz, butterfly wings in his skin as they fly from where Varian’s holding his hand through his whole form.

God.

Dammit.

Really?

No. Him?

Fuck. Don is going to kill him.

Hugo shakes his head, squashing the feeling like he can un-open that Pandora’s Box.

Because sure, Hairstripe’s smart and way too kind for the world Hugo knows. Sure, it’s a little cute when he talks to the raccoon like it understands him, or when he shows Sparky how to not kill everyone around them when building bombs.

But no way in hell is Hugo falling for him!!

It’s not going to go anywhere anyways. As soon as the trials are done, Hugo’s leaving. Varian will go back to whatever weird family he has in Corona, probably hating Hugo for all eternity…

Because Hugo’s working for Don. Somehow he keeps forgetting that. Forgetting what she has, why he’s here. Focus, dammit. Emotions are what got you into this situation in the first place.

That, and the shitty infrastructure of Ingvarr but that’s not the point.

“Hugo?”

Goggles’ voice snaps him out of his train of thought, and Hugo realizes they’re across the bridge.

“Hm?”

“Any ideas for getting back down the mountain besides walking? It’ll take until after nightfall that way.”

Hugo’s eye snags on a wooden board, leaning against the podium.

“One.”

🧪Varian🧪

“That is the single worst idea I have ever heard.”

Hugo just smirks. “What, never been sledding before?”

“I have, just not down an entire mountain!”

“You wanted a faster way down. Why else would this be here?” Hugo shakes the board, barely big enough for two people. He’s… probably right. There’s no other reason it would be there, Varian just doesn’t like the idea.

“If we crash and die, I’ll kill you.”

“Then I’d be dead th-twice over.” Varian just gives him a look that has the blond rolling his eyes. Again. “Trust me, we won’t die. I value my own life too much for that.”

“Fine.”

“I HATE THIS!”

Hugo just laughs, steering the sled past a tree. They’re going faster than Varian would have thought possible, and somehow haven’t crashed yet. The wind nearly ripped his goggles from his head before he shoved them in a pocket, and his eyes are watering.

They hit the bottom of the mountain and keep going, the momentum carrying them through the trees. Varian swears his life flashes before his eyes several times before he can see his cousins- along with Nuru and Yong thank the sun- gathered around the rock at the start of the trial.

There’s a very long second where Varian thinks Hugo is going to run into them, but the blonde sends their sled into a spin that showers everyone with snow instead.

“Hey, you guys survived!”

Nuru offers Varin a hand, which he accepts. She pulls him to his feet, and is about to say something before Amber cuts in.

“We really need to get going, if we’re gone too much longer Mom’ll send out a search party.”

So they start heading back. Hugo walks past Varian, his hair barely even ruffled despite the mess Varian’s is in. Un-fucking-fair.

⚙️Hugo ⚙️

After they get back to the house, where Varian’s aunt scolds all of them for worrying her and being out too late, everyone is quick to head to bed. Before he does, however, Hugo pokes his head into Varian’s room and sees the alchemist talking through an experiment with his raccoon.

“This should give us a stronger adhesive for the bombs…”

The raccoon even has goggles and gloves. Hugo hasn’t seen those before. 

He’s struck with a vision of a younger Varian making the goggles for his pet. Fuck it’s cute.

Wait, no, shut that down.

Hugo knocks on the door frame, causing Goggles to jump and set off a reaction. There’s a moment of chaos as he scrambles to neutralize it before he turns to Hugo.

“Yong, what did I tell you about sneaking up on-”

He cuts himself off, a faint flush blooming under his goggles when he realizes it’s not the kid.

“Uh…. hey. Just me.” Fuck why is he being awkward pull it together Hugo. Nothing’s changed, just a majorly inconvenient realization that’s being ignored until it dies.

Varian’s entire face flushes bright red and he leans back against the desk, probably aiming for nonchalant. It fails when he almost falls over.

“H-hugo! Hi- um- I wasn’t uh- I wasn’t expecting you- What are you uh- wh-what’s up?”

It’s a fumbling trainwreck of a question…. And unfortunately adorable. Dammit.

“Right. Anyways, about earlier… on the mountain, yknow, you being all ‘heroic’ or whatever…” Hugo makes the mistake of glancing at Varian right as the ravenette pushes his goggles up, revealing the blue eyes Hugo has definitely never gotten lost in he is not that cheesy.

He clears his throat and continues. “I just wanted to- uh, to stop by and say…. Thanks. I guess. Means a lot.”

Ok and shutting up now he should never have come in here.

“Ha, wow. A thank you from Hugo himself. Must’ve been real difficult for you.”

“Haha, very funny. I do mean it, though.”

“W-well of course. That’s what friends are for!” Hairstripe punctuates this statement with an awkward shoulder punch that does nothing but make his face even more red.

And maybe Hugo’s too. Weird how that happens.

The alchemist turns and starts packing up his books.

“Yeah, friendship… and… all that.”

Hugo isn’t supposed to be friends with Varian, much less-

“WELL I think I’m done with the lab for tonight so if you need to test anything out yourself then feel free to do so-”

“Uh, do you need help with those?”

“Me? Oh no I’m fine, totally got it!”

At that second, the raccoon darts across the floor in front of Goggles, causing him to trip and fall-

Right into Hugo, who catches him on instinct.

There’s a second or two where they just stare at each other, before Varian’s gaze flicks down and up again so fast Hugo’s not even sure it was real and the alchemist is pushing himself away.

“You ok?”

“YEP. Just fine- gosh would you look at the time I guess I gotta… uh… head to bed… then. Need my rest for the trials!”

Hugo notices Ulla’s journal amidst the books and picks it up, tossing it to Varian. 

“Hairstripe, you forgot this!”

Varian turns back just in time for the book to hit him smack in the side of the head.

“OH- Shit I- I didn’t mean-”

“Aha- it’s ok!! Goodnight.”

And just like that, Varian’s gone.

“Stupid stupid-”

Wait a tic.

Since when did he start thinking of him as Varian?

Chapter Text

⭐Nuru⭐

They head out the next morning, unfortunately. Nuru does want to save her kingdom but… she also wants to stay and get to know Amber.

“Write to me?”

“Y-yeah. Of course.”

As they’re loading up the wagon, supplies refilled at Lily’s insistence, Nuru notices something new. Hugo and Varian are bickering as they work, like they always do, but there’s a different energy to it. Nuru’s never been able to read Hugo as well as she can other people, which is part of why she was so reluctant to trust him, but even a blind man could see this. Something happened between the two of them.

“Think they kissed?”

Yong appears at her elbow, almost causing her to drop the bag in her hands.

“Maybe, but something tells me it wasn’t that. Knowing those two, they finally realized they’re crushing.”

“They still haven’t talked, have they?”

Nuru laughs. “Definitely not.”

Yong sighs, then starts walking to the wagon. “Maybe we can fix that.”

“What, lock them in the wagon?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

Nuru rolls her eyes. Yong is more meddlesome than she is, and with how unbelievably done he is with both Varian and Hugo… the tension has been there since day one. Idiots, the both of them.

🧪Varian🧪

Varian’s never been to the Dark Kingdom. He didn’t go with Raps and everyone the first time, obviously, but he’s heard their stories of how difficult it was to get in.

Clearly, King Edmund was serious about his plans to rebuild, as there’s now a road cut into the countryside that leads straight to the castle.

“Wow, this place is dark.”

“It’s the Dark Kingdom.”

“I know, super creative naming skills there Goggles.”

“Wh- I didn’t name it!”

Hugo just laughs. “No shit.” He climbs into the wagon without another word, leaving Varian lost. Was that… a compliment? Maybe.

Weird.

Soon enough, Varian’s knocking on the massive entrance doors. Two seconds later, they’re flung open and Varian’s shoved to the ground, the point of a sword to his neck.

“Who are you? How did you find your way here?”

“Hector! Stop attacking visitors! We want people to- Oh! Hello Varian!”

Hector steps back, sheathing his sword, and Adira offers a hand. Varian takes it, and she pulls him to his feet with startling ease.

“Hey Adira. How’s the rebuilding going?”

“We’re making progress. Hey Glasses, you’re not as sneaky as you think you are. Drop the weapon.”

Varian turns to see Hugo holding a small vial. He recognizes it as the same compound he once used to trap raccoons in his lab.

And Rapunzel, back when they first met.

Hugo glances at Varian, and fuck if his heart doesn’t flutter. 

“It’s fine, they’re family.”

Hugo tucks the vial away as Yong bounces up. “Wow! You have a lot of family Varian.”

“Quirin wrote to us of your journey, but not your companions.”

“Yeah, I sorta picked them up on the way. This is Hugo, Yong, and…” Varian trails off. Should he introduce Nuru as a princess? Should he not?

“Princess Nuru, of Koto. Shocking to see you away from your kingdom, your family has a reputation for never leaving.”

“Hard to justify trips while our people are at risk.”

“Yes, we’ve heard about the meteor showers. I assume that’s why you’ve joined my nephew?”

“It is.”

“Well, all of you should come inside. As it happens, we’ve found the entrance to the trial in our rebuilding. Hector, Varian’s friends to where they can stay for however long this takes. Edmund will wish to see Varian before anything else.”

Ruddiger jumps up onto Varian’s shoulder, curling into his neck. The raccoon’s nose is cold, sending a shiver down Varian’s back.

Adira doesn’t say anything until his friends disappear around the corner. “So. Does Quirin know about you and Glasses?”

“Wh- He knows I’ve made some friends, I’ve been writing to him.”

“Hey, I don’t care you like men. People are people. Just wondering if I need to not mention it to Quirin in my letters.”

“There’s nothing-” Adira just raises an eyebrow. “Am I really that obvious?”

“You both are. Now, I believe Edmund is in the throne room…”

Adira starts walking, Varian following after her. His head is spinning with questions and a dizzying rush of hope. 

They both are? Does Hugo-

No way. Nope. Not possible. Adira must be reading him wrong.

In the throne room, Edmund is directing a few people Varian doesn’t recognize.

“A little to the left- there! Set it down carefully!”

Slowly, the head of a massive statue is set atop the rest, the workers quickly moving to attach it with mortar.

Edmund then turns, bird squawking from his shoulder- what was its name again- and beams when he sees Varian.

“Ah, Varian! Quirin wrote to us of your epic quest for the Eternal Library. Tell me, how has the trip gone?”

“I’ve made a few friends, and the trials haven’t been anything we can’t handle.”

“Good, good. Shame my son didn’t travel with you, I’d have loved to see him again.”

Edmunds looks like he’s about to either space out or fall asleep when Adira cuts in. “I can show you and your gang the trial entrance tomorrow after breakfast. In the meantime, your room is this way.”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

It’s around 2 in the morning when a crow pecks at the window of his room. Hugo immediately recognizes it. Fanny. Her full name is a bit on the nose for Don, Hugo’s pretty sure she let Cyrus name this bird.

He makes sure the door to his room is locked, pulls his grappling hook out of his bag, and rappels down the wall of the castle.

Don is waiting just outside the sight of the crazy guy with the rhino, who’s on guard at the front entrance.

“Well?”

“We’re starting this trial in the morning. From there, Ingvarr and Corona.”

“There’s been a change of plans. I don’t want you going all the way to Corona. Signal me in Ingvarr, I’ll grab the boy and take the totems and journal. We can do the Corona trial on our own.”

“What happens to V- Goggles after that?”

Don just raises an eyebrow. “Concerned for his safety? Need I remind you I can-”

“I know. I know, believe me. Just curious.”

“The boy will die. I can’t risk him notifying anyone in Corona and interfering. The other companions will be ransomed back to their kingdoms for a profit.”

Hugo feels cold at the thought. Varian, dead?

“He’s worth a lot of money, more than the princess or Sparks if you negotiate. He’s important to the royal family of Corona, they might even hand over the crown for hi-”

Hugo cuts off as Don’s dagger buries itself in his shoulder. He bites down on his tongue, tasting iron. He knows better than to make a sound.

“Do your job, or else. Don’t get attached Hugo. You know what happens when you get attached.”

Don disappears into the dark, leaving Hugo standing there. He pulls the knife out of his shoulder, ignoring the slight shake to his hands. Fuck. He still has to climb back up to his room.

🧪Varian🧪

The night passes slowly, Varian’s mind turning over Adira’s words and every single interaction with Hugo since the beginning.

He can’t deny it, the blond has warmed up a little. But there’s just no way he likes Varian too.

It’s completely impossible.

Isn’t it?

There’s a little voice whispering hopeful maybe’s in the back of his head. It sounds exactly like Rapunzel. Sun she’d have a field day with this.

Breakfast is simple, eggs and bacon and (burnt) toast, but it’s enough to get them going. The trial entrance itself is deep under the castle.

“This chamber once housed the moonstone. That’s no doubt why the trial remained undiscovered until now.”

“Woah. I heard about the moonstone, everyone did.”

“Pretty sure the moonstone killed me for a minute.”

Yong’s jaw drops open, as does Nuru’s, but Hugo just looks at Varian like a puzzle piece finally fell into place. Varian shifts, realizing how insane his sentence was.

“I- I mean- I was in the fight between the sundrop and moonstone-”

“That’s insane.”

“You’ve been in a fight?!”

“Yes, Yong, I’ve been in several.”

Adira clears her throat. “If you’re done sharing stories, we’re here. Best of luck, all of you. I’ll see you afterwards.”

The trial entrance is a simple stone door with an inscription.

“Some of the words are rubbed off, but I see… trust, dark, and what might be maze or death, it’s cut off.”

“Oh goody, that’s not ominous at all.”

“I don’t like the dark….”

“Relax Sparky, Goggles and I have enough luminous compounds to make them have to rename this place to the Light Kingdom.”

Thankfully, Hugo enters the trial first, so he doesn’t see the barely-contained smile and blush on Varian’s face.

Based on Nuru’s raised eyebrow, however, she did see it. Fuck, Varian, you’re worse now than you were with Cassandra. Chill the hell out.

At least he hasn’t named an element after Hugo though.

… well ok there WAS the Hugorium compound he created as an attempt to neutralize a particularly powerful acid he found but that’s totally different!

🧨Yong🧨

It’s dark in the chamber until Hugo and Varian pull out vials, shaking them and passing some fo him and Nuru. Four different colored lights form circles around each of them, bouncing off the shiny tunnel walls. It looks like obsidian.

He’s so entranced in watching the lights play off each other that he doesn’t notice he’s walking towards a massive hole until Varian catches the collar of his shirt and pulls him back.

“Woah there Yong, don’t fall. I have no idea how deep that pit is.”

Yong cranes his head over the edge and can’t see the bottom through swirling black.

“Demanitus was really original with this one. Dark Kingdom and the whole trial is dark. Ok, where do we go from here?”

Nuru follows the edge of the ravine, so Yong goes with her.

Partially because he does not want to watch Hugo and Varian dance around each other anymore.

Just a little ways away from the tunnel, they come across a pedestal with a carving of a maze in the stone.

“Hey, you guys find something?”

“We did, I just have no clue what it is.”

Yong notices a small button on the side, with some kind of engraving on it.

“Hey Varian? I think there’s a-”

Click

Whoops. Yong didn’t mean to push it.

There’s a scraping sound, and Yong turns in time to see the floor under Hugo and Varian’s feet cave in.

Hugo says something, probably a curse, and Varian shrieks as they plummet down.

🧪Varian🧪

The stone under his feet falls away and Varian’s shooting down a slide. A scream echoes off the stone- wait he’s the one screaming. 

After a few seconds, he and Hugo land in a dark room.

Or, more accuratly, Hugo lands and then Varian does.

He’s glad of the dark, it hides the crimson painting his cheeks.

“Well fuck. Where is this?”

“I think it has something to do with the trial.”

“No really I thought this was just an extra bonus room.” Hugo pulls out a vial, shaking it and lighting up the small space. It’s spherical, perfectly so, made of the same smooth stone as the rest of the trial.

The room around them shakes, and two wheels appear, one on each side. They’re too far away one person to use both.

“-D OUR FRIENDS COULD BE DEAD!”

Nuru’s voice suddenly fills the chamber, causing Varian to cover his ears. Damn, she can be loud.

“Hey princess! Quit yelling at the kid.”

Her voice cuts out, quickly replaced by Yong’s. He sounds like he was crying.

“Hugo, you’re ok! Is Varian with you? Where even are you guys, how can we hear you?”

“I’m fine, we’re in some kind of other chamber, and there must be a system in place to carry the sound.”

“Hold up, guys there’s a maze carved up here and how there’s a dot in the middle. I think that’s you guys.”

“Ok, so what, you guide us out of the maze? There are wheels down here we could probably use.”

“Probably. Let’s figure this out.”

Turns out, piloting a giant stone orb and working in a team with Hugo to do it, not easy.

“On three, spin your wheel right.”

“Your right or my right?”

Varian knows Hugo wants to get out of this and fast, so does Varian, but goddamn it he wants to strangle the blond sometimes.

“We’re facing the same way, so we have the same right.”

There are a couple turns they take too fast and end up thrown against each other and wall, which is awkward and frustrating, but eventually they drop into a divot and a panel slides open.

Varian gasps when he climbs out, finally realizing he hadn’t taken a full breath since getting in the orb. Small dark spaces are still a nightmare.

But hey, they finished the trial!

“How do we get back up? It better not be stairs.”

It’s stairs.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Goggles is out of breath by the time they reach the stop of the stairs, and the slight flush on his face is highlighting his freckles. 

He doesn’t notice Hugo staring as Sparks dive-tackles him into a hug the second he sees Varian, the princess running over shortly after.

“You guys are idiots.”

“Hey!”

The princess just shrugs. “You are, that took all day.”

“Guess we’re staying the night. Then, tomorrow, we head for Ingvarr.”

Sparks whines from where he’s still glued to Varian. “I don’t want this trip to end!”

Funnily enough, neither does Hugo.

Chapter Text

The road from the Dark Kingdom to Ingvarr is mostly shrouded in thick forest, but around noon on the second day of travel they come across a clearing. The road runs through one side, and on the opposite is a small cabin, half swallowed by moss and decaying vines.

“Wonder who used to live here.”

“Maybe it was a forest witch!”

Varian laughs, ruffling Yong’s hair. “Most likely an old hunting cabin. Long since abandoned by the looks of-”

“HELP!”

He glances away from the cabin to Hugo, who definitely heard it too. A kid’s voice, coming from the cabin.

Without another word they’re all running over, Nuru lagging a few seconds to tie Prometheus to a tree before following.

Hugo gets to the door first, shoving the rotting wood open with ease, and they all rush into the house-

Only now Varian’s alone in a room that definitely doesn’t belong here. The walls are golden, the carpet thick and plush if a little dusty. There’s a hall to his left, lined with doors, and a mirror on the wall in front of him, but no signs of his friends.

“Guys?”

Varian starts down the hall, poking his head into some of the rooms. He doesn’t recognize anything until one of the doors swings open to a toy room.

“Wait…”

Varian’s eyes scan the shelves, snagging on a top he recognizes from Rapunzel’s drawings.

Fuck.

He knows where they are, and they have to leave. Now.

He’s racing down the hall now, throwing open doors as he searches for his friends. “Guys? Where are y-”

One door disappears and Varian doesn’t have time to slow his momentum before tumbling into the pitch black.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Hugo really hates magic sometimes. It’s ironic, actually, since he also owes his entire existence to magic, but it’s annoying.

Like now, when this stupid house split them all up and dumped him in a maze of identical hallways and doors.

It has to take at least half an hour before Hugo flings open a door and sees-

“Goggles?”

Varian is standing in the middle of the room, every muscle tensed as tears roll down his face. Hugo glances around, but there’s no sign of anything else in the room.

“N-no- please don’t- let me go!”

Varian’s shaking more, hands balled into fists tight enough his nails are cutting into his palms. Hugo winces when a drop of blood falls from the alchemist’s hand. He rushes forward, hesitant to touch Varian but knowing he needs to shake him out of this.

“Goggles!”

“You promised! Rapunzel please- I need your help!”

Isn’t that the princess of Corona? What the hell-

“They will all pay.”

Hugo takes a step back. Varian’s still crying, but whatever nightmare he’s in just took an odd turn.

Or… maybe it isn’t a nightmare.

“I won’t stop until you feel every ounce of pain I have!”

It doesn’t sound like Varian, that level of anger and hurt. What the hell happened? Hugo grabs Varian’s shoulder and tries shaking him out of it.

“Wake up!”

“If we get the king and queen, taking over the rest of the kingdom will be a piece of cake.”

Wh- Did Varian take over a fucking kingdom?

“You can’t blow up the whole kingdom! That wasn’t the point- we were supposed to make them forget!”

If this is a memory, Varian’s list of crimes might be longer than Hugo’s. Which is not something Hugo ever thought possible.

A door slams open, Sparks and the princess running in. The kid has a piece of paper in his hands and tears in his eyes, where the princess’ face is absolutely blank.

“V-varian- he-”

“We found a wanted poster for The Alchemist. It’s Varian.”

Varian screams, still shaking, as Hugo glances from him to the other two.

“Help me wake him up, he’s stuck in some kind of nightmare.”

The princess hesitates, but stands next to Varian and shakes his shoulder too. The kid latches onto Varian’s leg, crying into the ravenette’s shirt.

“Wake up! Varian, wake up!”

🧪Varian🧪

He’s yanked out of a swirling tunnel of his past to see Hugo’s face inches from his own. The blond’s hand is on his shoulder, Nuru’s on the other, and Yong is latched onto his side.

“Wh- what happened?”

“You were stuck in a vision-thing. Said some pretty crazy stuff.”

“We found your wanted poster.”

Nuru’s voice has no emotion, except a hint of accusatory anger. 

Well. Shit.

His friends do him the courtesy of waiting until they get outside to bombard him with questions.

“You’re the Alchemist?”

“Di- did you really do all this?”

Yong’s voice wavers as he points to the list of crimes on Varian’s wanted poster.

“Yes, and yes. I… wouldn’t blame you guys if you wanted to leave me behind and finish the trials without you.”

Nuru opens her mouth to say something, but Hugo holds a hand up before she does.

“Hold up. You had to have a reason for this, right? So, what was it?”

Varian hesitates, then starts talking. He tells them everything, black rocks and amber, treason and a year in prison, the Saporians, and finally Rapunzel forgiving him and moving on.

“So… yeah. That’s all of it.”

Nobody’s said anything the entire time, beside Hugo’s awed “That was you?” when Varian admitted to having built the automatons. They’re still silent for the seconds that stretch into eternities after he finishes talking.

Shit, this is it. They’re going to ditch him by the side of the road or lock him up or maybe just kill him and really can he blame them Nuru is a princess and he spent a year in jail for attempted regicide sun he’s never going to see his family again is-

“Varian!”

Yong’s voice snaps Varian out of his spiralling thoughts. His vision is blurred with tears and he can’t breathe properly around the expanding ball of fear in his chest.

Yong hugs Varian, squeezing him as tight as he can, and it feels like a cage a trap he’s stuck-

But then Hugo takes his hand, and Varian’s eyes flick up to emerald green. Breathing gets a little easier, then Nuru rests her hands on his shoulder. There’s no sign of anger or fear in her face, or in Yong’s.

“It’s ok, Varian. We’re not scared of you, it was a while ago and you’re different now.”

“Plus that was completely justified, Goggles. You were just trying to save your dad.”

Hugo sounds like he knows exactly what Varian was feeling, like maybe he did something for family once too.

It doesn’t matter.

“Let’s get the hell away from this place. We have a trial to do.”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Hugo flops onto his bunk, the last one to go to bed besides the princess, who’s guiding Prometheus away from that creepy house, and rolls onto his side. Varian’s sprawled on the bunk opposite, the raccoon curled on his chest. His eyes are still a little red from crying earlier.

Hugo never would’ve guessed the adorably annoying man he’d been traveling with was the notorious Alchemist who almost overthrew Corona twice, but… he doesn’t mind. He’s committed his fair share of crimes in every kingdom, plus Varian was a kid. Hugo doesn’t blame him for any of it, and clearly he’s changed.

This actually explains quite a few things. Varian’s obvious claustrophobia, the nightmares occasionally sending him running out of his tent or the wagon in the middle of the night, his fighting abilities.

As Hugo stares at the ceiling, waiting for the night to pass and piecing together the puzzle that is Varian, he’s struck with one realization.

He can’t go through with this. Somewhere along the way, he got too close and now he’s stuck.

Well fuck. That complicates some things.

Chapter Text

⚙️Hugo⚙️

“Says here the trial is in the…. Bouclier.”

Hugo winces at Varian’s butchering of the pronunciation. “Of course it’s in the most heavily guarded place in all of Ingvarr. I was wondering when this would start to get difficult.”

“Hugo we’ve almost died in like every trial?”

“The keyword there, Goggles, is almost. You can only have so many brushes with death before they get dull.”

“Well sorry to bore the great Hugo with-”

“Can you two quit flirting? We need to figure out a plan for getting into the trial.”

Varian flushes bright red. “I- we- flirting? What? N-” He glances at Hugo, who quickly looks away to hide his own blush. “Anyways, Nuru’s right. We need to focus.”

Hugo glares at the princess. Did she really have to do that? He was not flirting thank you.

… not that Varian would notice if he was.

Move on Hugo, you have bigger worries right now. Like the fact that the only way to access the Bouclier is locked and Don has the key.

“If it’s heavily guarded, how do we get in?”

“The Bouclier is only ever accessed by two people. The Royal Engineer and the Leader of Defense. But, for the last decade or so, those titles have been held by one person. And I seriously doubt she’d just give us the key.”

“So, what, we steal it from her? I can’t do that, if we’re caught Koto will be drawn into a war we can’t afford to fight right now.”

Maybe the princess does care about more than her fancy clothes and finery in the castle.

Or maybe she knows she’d lose those to fund a war effort. Who cares, royalty is royalty.

Varian doesn’t answer for a second, no doubt weighing the options. “Yeah. I guess we’re stealing the key. Nuru, if you’d rather guard the wagon for this part, I understand. You’re here to save your kingdom and a war would do the opposite.”

The princess sighs. “If you guys are doing this, I’m doing this.”

“If it makes you guys feel better, she’s basically the real woman-in-charge and while it’s never been proved, everyone in Ingvarr knows she runs the crime ring responsible for the majority of the problems here.”

Goggles and the princess just stare at him.

“What?”

“I think I’m starting to understand why you hate nobles and royalty so much.”

Hugo just rolls his eyes. The princess isn’t wrong but he’s sure as hell not admitting that.

🧪Varian🧪

This whole plan is giving him major deja-vu. Stealing from the leader of a nation in order to complete his own mission? Yeah.

Hopefully they don’t get caught, Varian does not need another charge of treason added to the list. Nor does he need to be partially responsible for starting a war.

Varian, Nuru, and Hugo barely fit behind the bush they’ve chosen, but it’s dark enough out it should be fine. Thank sun they left Yong to watch the wagon, as much as the kid wasn’t happy about it. Less risk of them all getting caught, and there’s no chance he’d end up in jail because of them.

“Once that guard turns the corner, we’ll have fifteen seconds to get through that door before the next one comes around the front. From there, it’s two lefts and then a right to get to her office. The key should be inside.”

“Remind me how you know this?”

Hugo hesitates a second before responding. “Stolen from her before.”

Something about his tone says something else happened, but Varian can’t think about that right now.

“Ok, go.”

Hugo picks the door lock in less than two seconds, opening the door with a slight wince. Varian lingers there for a second, expecting some acidic compound on the door… nothing but metal, slightly cold to the touch. Huh. Weird.

The office door takes a little longer to open, but what they see inside Varian did not expect. Neat and organized papers, a rack of weapons on the wall, but on the desk is an envelope addressed to a Donella.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Varian knows that name. His mom’s partner, the one who told his dad that his mom was never coming back.

“Goggles?”

Hugo and Nuru are staring at him- did they say something else he didn’t hear?

“Varian, we got the key. You good?”

“Donella- she was my mom’s partner.”

“Yes, I was. Nice to meet you, Varian.”

Before Varian can react beyond a partial turn, the room fills with smoke. Varian’s vision starts going fuzzy, head filled with fog, before he falls-

Into two arms, one at his waist and the other under his knees.

“Sorry ‘bout that Goggles.”

Varian doesn’t hear anything else.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Varian is lighter than Hugo thought he would be. The alchemist’s bangs are drooping over his face, partially obscuring his eyes. Those are closed anyways, as he sleeps off the compound Hugo’d dropping in Don’s office.

He’d been able to signal the princess to cover her mouth, but he couldn’t do the same for Varian without Don following suit.

Speaking of Don, what the fuck did he just do? Was he seriously stupid enough to give her that obvious of a clue towards his betrayal? 

Hugo spends the three hours it takes Varian to wake up half-expecting to be wiped from existence any second.

But when he doesn’t… he starts to hope. Did Don not realize what that was? Did she see it as him reenforcing his cover?

Or did she just want to watch him die? Was she waiting to catch him after the trial? To prolong things?

Hugo is yanked from what was quickly on its way to being a panic attack- what is wrong with him he would never have done that a few months ago- by Varian waking up.

“H- what happened?”

“I threw a sleeping compound so we could get out, and I couldn’t warn you to cover your mouth like I did her royal highness. You’ve been out a couple hours, it’s almost dawn.”

“We should probably get going then, before Donella can lock the Bouclier down.”

“Y-yeah.” Hugo would rather they wait until Varian’s not still a little loopy but he does recognize the need for them to get the hell out of here so… “I’ll go wake the others, we’re gonna need to run as soon as we finish the trial.”

Varian nods, and Hugo rouses Sparkles and the kid.

They make it to the outside of the Bouclier just as the sun breaks over the tops of the buildings. The princess unlocks the door and then locks it behind them, pocketing the key again. Hugo shakes a vial, a blue light illuminating a complex system of levers, pulleys, and moving platforms. It’s an engineering marvel, and Hugo would love to study it to figure out what it does and how it’s still running, but they don’t have time for that.

“Where are we supposed to go?”

“The top. My mother even included a list of what she did, so this’ll be a piece of cake.”

Yeah. Definitely easy.

What feels like an eternity later, they’re at the top of the Bouclier. There’s a window allowing them to look out at Ingvarr below, and Hugo can see the first signs of people starting their days.

He also sees guards surrounding the base.

Merde.

“Goggles, we got company.”

“Fuck. Ok ok, how are we getting out of here?”

An echo of a conversation a decade ago resurfaces, and just like that Hugo has a plan.

“See zis line here, ma souris? Zat’s the sewer tunnel. Zere’s supposed to be an access hatch every twenty feet, but zere’s none here for forty. Right where one is supposed to be…”

“The Bouclier!”

“Exactement! If you need somewhere to hide, try zere. No one will look for you.”

“Ew, the sewers? Really Hugo?”

“You got a better idea princess?”

She doesn’t answer, just sighs and ties her hair back.

Something hits the door, metal reverberating from the force of it. The kid flinches and yelps, hands going to his ears.

“Time to go!”

Hugo pulls open the sewer hatch- is this thing solid iron?- and helps Sparky and the princess down. Varian hesitates, then climbs down too.

Right, because he has massive trauma involving dark underground places.

“There are easily a dozen ways out, they can’t block all of them. We won’t get trapped.”

Varian nods, then, and jumps down. Hugo spares one last glance at hte door before following, closing the hatch behind them.

🧪Varian🧪

After a dozen twists and turns, they burst out of the sewers into a cluster of trees. The branches above block most of the early dawn light, shrouding the area in shadow. Nuru’s doubled over, clutching her sides and clearly out of breath from running. Yong is flopped on the ground at her side.

Varian turns to Hugo, who slid the sewer closed behind them.

“Any idea how to get back… to… what the fuck?”

“Wh-”

Hugo glances down at his hand, which is black, charred, and smoking.

“Iron’s a real bitch, isn’t it?”

Nuru’s got her breathing back under control, but her words make no sense. Varian glances from Hugo to her and back again a few times.

“The fuck is she talking about Hugo?”

Yong’s whisper turns Varian’s blood to ice.

“I knew ghosts were real.”

Hugo gives a weak half-smile. “Haha… surprise?”

Chapter Text

⚙️Hugo [3 years earlier]⚙️

“Olivia, where is she?”

The mouse squeaks, then runs over to the map on the floor. It’s a weathered, torn, and pretty out of date copy, but it’s all Callie could find. Olivia points to a copse of trees in the middle of nowhere.

“I know she’s on a job, so why are you here and she’s not?”

Olivia mimes Callie scouting something out, then shock, fear, running, handcuffs.

“She got caught?!”

The mouse nods, gears whirring softly.

“Callie never gets caught. And this place she was stealing from, it’s in those woods?”

Another nod.

“Ok. Take me there.”

Olivia shakes her head.

“What do you mean, no? I have to help her.”

Another no. Then Olivia mimes him, stab, death.

“I’ll be fine. I know how the last one went, but it’s fine! I can do this, I have to get Callie back.”

“That mouse- did you make it?”

Hugo whirls around, grabbing a knife from the table and pointing it at the intruder. “Who are you?”

The woman steps into a shaft of light, revealing a scarred face and long grey hair. “I’d like to help you.”

“What’s your price?”

“That mouse, you made her?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“You’re very good.”

Hugo doesn’t know how to react to that, so he doesn’t. “What do you want?”

“I want you to help me with something. Make one little device, and I’ll help you get your sister back. According to what I saw, she’s been taken by someone who’s causing a little trouble for me.”

“So you want me to build something for you and then you’ll help me get my sister back?”

“I’ll even throw in something extra. When you’re done, you’ll be able to steal whatever you want, do whatever you wish, forever.”

Hugo pauses, thinking… it sounds too good to be true, but… he needs to get Callie back. “Ok. You have a deal.”

The woman smiles. “Good. Now come along.”

[Present day]

“So who was she?”

Sparkles cuts in, tearing Hugo from his past.

“She didn’t give me her name. Now, can we hold the questions until the end? It’s a long story.”

The princess nods, as does Sparky, but Varian doesn’t say anything.

“Right. Anyways, this woman brought me to her base, to a room full of every engineering and alchemical tool you could imagine…

[Then]

“Woah. I’ve never even heard of half of these tools.”

“You’ve done remarkable things with limited equipment. I’m curious what you can accomplish with everything at your disposal. There’s a blueprint on the desk over there, build it and see if you can improve it as you go.”

Hugo picks up the paper, marveling at the complex design. It appears to be a prosthetic of some kind…

“What do you want it to do that it doesn’t?”

“You’re a creative boy. I’m sure you can figure something out to be of use to me.”

Hugo nods, and starts collecting materials.

It takes him three hours to build the prosthetic arm, including a knife that snaps out when the fingers are flexed the right way, a secret compartment for storing things, and a set of alchemical compounds that can be shot out of the wrist in combat.

When Don comes back, she twists her arm off- he hadn’t been able to tell it was a prosthetic holy shit- and screws the new one on. She spins to a target on the wall and immediately hits a bullseye with a glob of acid. As the target disintegrates, she turns back to him.

“This is excellent. Now, come, I’ll show you where I believe your sister is being kept.”

Don leads him through the trees, taking so many turns Hugo no longer has any clue where they are when they reach a clearing. Inside is a small hut, iron door bolted shut and every window sealed.

“I can’t go in with you, else I risk an all-out war, but I wish you luck.”

Hugo nods and slips through the shadows to the door, punching in the code Don had given him. The inside of the building is dark, and completely abandoned.

Every room Hugo searches is empty, no signs of life. Not a paper on a desk, no food in the kitchen, nothing.

All that’s left is the basement.

The door creaks when it opens, the wooden stairs groaning and flexing under his weight. The floor is stone, but it’s glistening like it’s wet. There’s a torch in the wall sconce, which Hugo lights with flint from his pocket.

He promptly drops the torch, mouth open in horror.

The stones are wet and red, blood pooling in the cracks and splattered on the far wall like a sunflower. In the center is a figure slumped against a post, back flayed and ribs exposed. It isn’t until Hugo’s eyes catch on her hair that he recognizes her.

“Callie? Nonono Callie-”

Blood soaks his knees as he sinks to the floor next to her, reaching out slowly. His fingers brush her face- cold, not the warmth he’s used to- and a sob echoes in the chamber.

“Callie! Please wake up. I- I need you! Callie!!”

Hugo doesn’t know how long he sits there, crying, but all at once he’s lifted off the ground by a hand in his hair.

“Looks like another rat got in.”

There’s a flash of firelight on steel, a cold sensation on his neck, then everything goes black.

[Now]

“Wow. That sounds… terrible.”

“Yeah, well, everyone dies eventually. I just got lucky and stuck around.”

“So, that woman… what happened to her?”

“I… don’t know. I never went back.”

The princess nods, then starts preparing for them to continue on. “Well. I wish you’d told us, but I understand why you didn’t. I guess we keep moving?”

Varian nods. “Yeah. We keep moving. Thank you for telling us, Hugo.”

Hugo smiles, hoping they can’t tell from his face that that’s not quite how the story ends…

[Then]

Hugo snaps awake in Don’s office. It’s- not warm, but not cold… he can’t tell what temperature it is, actually. Nor can he feel the ground under his feet.

“Well well, seems somebody ran into trouble.”

“Where am- What-”

“My rival is not known for mercy. No doubt one of her lackeys slit your throat?”

“How did you-”

“When people first come back as ghosts, they look exactly as they did when they died. You’ll learn to control that eventually.”

Hugo looks down, and sure enough his clothes are covered in blood. He looks in the mirror- nothing. He doesn’t have a reflection.

“In the meantime… I have a job for you. And you’re going to listen, or you’ll learn what it means to stop existing. Permanently.”

Chapter Text

🧪Varian🧪

As much as Varian would love to swing by Old Corona for a visit before going to the capital, he’s forced to skip the reunion. Donella is too close behind them after Ingvarr to risk any delays.

Unfortunately, he can’t skip Rapunzel, who spins him into a hug the second he steps inside the city.

That’s not even an exaggeration, she was talking to the guards at the gate- Stan and Pete, looking somehow closer than when he left- but sprinted right at him when their eyes locked.

“Varian!”

“Rapunzel!”

“You’re back! How did the trials go?”

“We’ve got one left, here in Corona.”

At the word “we”, the princess lets Varian go and glances behind him, to his friends standing awkwardly by the wagon.

“You made friends! You have to introduce them to everyone! Hi! I’m Rapunzel.”

Nuru immediately curtsies. “Your Majesty.”

Yong bows hesitantly, and to no one’s surprise Hugo doesn’t move.

“No need for titles, just Rapunzel is fine.”

“Didn’t know Goggles here was chummy with the queen of Corona. Makes sense now, why you love royalty so much.”

“Hugo, don’t start. She’s basically my sister.” Rapunzel glances between Varian and Hugo, one eyebrow raised like she knows something she shouldn’t. Varian flushes bright red- is it really that obvious- and waves a hand at the other two. “Anyways this is Yong and Princess Nuru of Koto.”

“Princess Nuru? I’m surprised your parents permitted you to leave, last I heard Koto was closed off.”

“It is, your- Rapunzel. That’s why I came with Varian. Hopefully, the library will be able to help my people.”

Rapunzel nods, then starts leading them to the castle. “How is Quirin? I assumed you stopped to chat?”

“Actually I had to skip that, we’re kind of being chased.”

“What? By who?”

“Her name is Donella, she used to work with my mother.”

Hugo tenses a little at the name, and Varian’s struck with the urge to reach out and comfort the blond.

Rapunzel doesn’t miss this either, smirking at Varian before going back to waving at people as they walk.

By the time they get to the castle entrance, Yong has run off three times and ended up with some new trinket each time, whilst Varian has had to force Hugo to put back several stolen items.

“Hey Eugene!”

“Blondie! How was the- Varian! You’re back!”

Eugene ruffles Varian’s hair, grinning, before his eyes snag on Hugo.

“You!”

“Hello Rider.”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

So not only is Varian close friends with the queen, he’s also friendly with the king and captian of the guard, Flynn Rider. Or, as he’s apparently called now, Eugene Fitzherbert. No wonder he changed that name.

“Eugene, he’s a friend!”

“He’s a thief!”

“So were you!”

“He sold me out for an extra coin!”

“It was ten coins.”

Rider just gestures mutely at Hugo, while Varian gives him a glare.

“Not helping your case here. Eugene, seriously, I know what he used to do- hell he stole from me when we first met- but he’s my friend. I trust him.”

Varian stares down the older man, who eventually relents. “Fine. I guess I can’t judge someone for their past, but just know I’m watching you.”

“Oh no, so scary. Can we get going now? We need to finish the trials before Donella catches up with us.”

“According to my mother’s journal, we can’t do this trial until sunset. We have a few hours to kill, and I don’t know about you three but I need a shower.”

The princess and Spary nod, prompting the queen- who Rider keeps calling Blondie despite the fact her hair is brown- to call over a few guards. They chat with Varian for a few minutes, excited to see the alchemist again, before leading them all to spare rooms.

Hugo just flops onto the bed, content to spend the time avoiding the entire castle of people.

That is, until his door is thrown open and he’s shoved into a bag.

🧪Varian🧪

“Where’s Lance? Or Angry and Catalina? I think they’re the only people I haven’t seen.”

Varian finishes toweling off his hair as he talks, Rapunzel sitting on the edge of his bed. It’d taken a while to actually to get back to his room, everyone in the castle intent on saying hi to him.

“Lance is at the Snuggly Duckling for the day, and I don’t know where the girls are. Probably giving Nigel a few more grey hairs.”

“Still causing trouble then?”

“Catalina less so, but we both knew Angry was always going to cause chaos.”

“True. How has everyone been, while I’ve been gone? It feels like it’s been forever.”

“It’s been almost a year. Everything’s good, actually. Mom and Dad moved into a cottage, they’ve been relaxing there. Mom says Dad’s still getting up at the crack of dawn though.”

“Everyone seems really happy. You’re a great queen. And… where’s Cass?”

“She actually came back a few weeks after you left. She cleaned out Gothel’s old cottage, pretty sure she’s living there, at least for now.”

“She settled down?”

“She kinda had to. She got married while she was out adventuring, and her wife has a kid- you should see her, she’s the cutest kid ever- so they wanted somewhere stable for a few years.”

Holy. Shit. “Cass- What?! Wow. I never expected her to get married, much less without telling us.”

Rapunzel just smiles. “I saw it coming, her letters started getting really sappy. Speaking of romance…. Hugo, huh?”

Varian groans, flopping face-first into a pillow. “That obvious?”

“Oh yeah. You might’ve been more subtle with Cass, which I didn’t think was possible. Name an element after him yet?”

“No. Just a compound I made on the trip.”

“Hmm, a downgrade then. Hope he doesn’t get jealous.”

“You’re never letting this go are you?” A glance at the princess reveals she has her Planning Face on. “No. Whatever you’re thinking, no.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I’m thinking is how Quirin keeps talking about visiting the Dark Kingdom, helping with the rebuilding. It would be difficult for you to work without an assistant.”

“You are not inviting Hugo to stay and be my assistant.”

Rapunzel smirks, then Eugene knocks on the door.

“Sunshine? You in there?”

“Yep! What is it?”

The door cracks open to reveal a very frazzled Nigel standing next to Eugene. “Angry and Catalina… well it’s probably easier to just show you. Varian, you need to come too.”

⚙️Hugo⚙️

“What the fuck is this?”

One of the two kids who kidnapped him smiles, red pigtails bobbing as she gestures to the lawn behind her.

“You’re a “friend”” why did she airquote that? What does she know? “of Varian’s. Consider this your entrance exam.”

The other one, a kid with short black hair, rolls their eyes. “It’s an obstacle course to test if you are worthy of Varian. There’s also a written exam after.”

“How did you two get me all the way out here? You’re tiny.”

The redhead just grins. “I’m stronger than I look, ghosty-boy.”

Wait.

What.

“How did you-”

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell. Your time starts in three… two…”

“Angry! Cat! What are you-”

Hugo turns around to see Rider, Varian, the queen, and a frazzled man who looks like a rat in a suit running up.

“Cmon Varian, we’re just testing him.”

“Did you kidnap from his room to make him run an obstacle course?”

Angry- a fitting name if Hugo’s ever heard one- crosses their arms. “Techincally, Cat did. I just picked the lock.”

“Hey! It was your idea!”

“You agreed!”

Rider steps in between the two, in a way that suggests he’s had to do so several times. “Guys! It doesn’t matter whose idea it was, we don’t kidnap people. Why were you even making him run this?”

“Because he’s a friend of Varian’s and we were curious if he was worthy.”

Varian just gapes at the two for a second before shaking his head. “He’s a friend, not a spy.”

The queen just smiles. “Var, I think this was their version of a shovel talk.”

Varian flushes a bright shade of crimson and stutters a bit before spinning on his heel and walking away.

“Blondie, what do you mean-” Rider cuts himself off, glancing between the queen, Hugo, Angry and Cat, and back to Hugo. “No. Not a chance in-”

“It’s Varian’s choice, and Hugo’s-”

“I don’t trust-”

“My dad didn’t exactly like-”

“That’s different-”

“He’s almost 19-”

“Too young-”

Angry and Cat slink off into some bushes, so Hugo tries to follow but a hand grabs his shoulder.

“Not so fast.”

🧪Varian🧪

Yknow, maybe hiding in his lab forever isn’t a bad idea. He’s got his alchemy supplies, Ruddiger can fetch him snacks… really the only downside is-

“Hey Goggles.”

That the door doesn’t lock.

“Hi Hugo.”

The blonde hops up onto Varian’s lab table, almost knocking a rack of vials over, and runs a hand through his hair. “Pretty sure Rider-”

“Eugene.”

“Whatever. Pretty sure he just threatened to hang me if I ever hurt you.”

“He does that. To… a lot of people. He’s basically my older brother so he’s super protective.”

“Your family is weird. Anyways, queenie said we’ve got dinner in twenty minutes, then we need to start the trial.”

“Got it.”

Varian turns to go back to his notes, but Hugo doesn’t leave. Instead, he starts examining Varian’s tools.

“Careful, those are iron.”

“Worried about me Goggles?”

“Yeah.”

Hugo’s silent long enough Varian glances at him again. The look on his face is somewhere between longing and hurt… weird.

“Something wrong with that? You’re my friend.”

“Y-yeah. Friend. Right…. why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“I mean, why do you care about me? Why are we friends… why do you trust me?”

Varian sets down his pen. “I care because we’re friends, we’re friends because I trust you, and I trust you because you’ve proven I can.” When Hugo’s face doesn’t change, Varian continues. “Yeah, you stole from me when we first met and yeah, you piss me off sometimes, but you’ve also risked your own li- existence to save me, Yong, and even Nuru. I realize you didn’t grow up around people you could trust, but you can trust us.”

“I…. thanks, Varian.”

Hugo spins and leaves, then, almost fleeing. It isn’t until he’s down the hall that Varian realizes…

That’s the first time Hugo has ever actually used his name.

☀️Rapunzel☀️

Over dinner, Varian details what he knows of the trial from his mother’s journal. Rapunzel is only half paying attention, more focused on the way Hugo keeps glancing at Varian. There’s a faint blush on the blond’s cheeks that only intensifies when Varian catches him staring.

Her eyes flick over to princess Nuru, who’s also watching the exchange. The two royals make eye contact, and Nuru just rolls her eyes.

Yeah… Rapunzel wasn’t expecting Varian to have gotten better with his emotions while he was gone. It’s fine, she can help him along now.

The second the sun starts to set, painting the sky in reds and purples, the groups splits up. Yong goes with Eugene, Nuru with Angry and Cat, Varian with Stan and Pete, and Rapunzel snags Hugo.

“Ok, we know where we’re going?”

“Yeah.”

“Yep.”

“We got it Goggles.”

“Meet in the Demanitus chamber when we’re done.”

Rapunzel and Hugo make their way to their location, an old tower along the beach. At the top, hopefully, is a crystal they have to align to catch the sunlight.

“So, you and Varian, huh?”

“What? No there’s nothing- we’re friends, is all. Kinda hard not to be.”

Rapunzel waits a few minutes, the two walking in silence through the streets. “He told me about some of the science stuff you’ve done. He’d be mad I’m telling you, but he was legitimately impressed sometimes.”

“Hairstripe? Impressed by me? He should be.”

“His dad, Quirin… well he’s Varian’s assistant right now but I know he wants to go back to his farm… Varian’s gonna need someone new to help him out. You’d get paid, of course, and there’s a spare room next to Varian’s-”

“Are you offering me a job? Working as… what, assistant to the Royal Engineer?”

“No. Co-Royal Engineer seems more fitting.”

Hugo doesn’t say anything.

“Unless you have a job back in Ingvarr?”

“No. I- No. I don’t. It’s just… I don’t think Varian will want me to stick around.”

“It’s clear there are things you haven’t told him… and I don’t expect you to just tell me what those are. But maybe you should talk to him, before you make a decision?”

“Yeah. I probably should. After all of this, I’ll talk to him. And if he doesn’t hate me… maybe I’ll consider sticking around.”

“He won’t. Hate you, that is.”

“I hope you’re right.”

🧪Varian🧪

The sun has almost finished setting when they all meet back up. Angry and Cat have scraped palms, while Hugo’s tense, face deep in thought. Rapunzel practically skips up to him.

“All the crystals aligned?”

“Only one way to see.”

As the last rays of sun slip behind the horizon, four bright lights shoot through panels up in the walls. They rebound off reflective stones Varian hadn’t seen the last time he was here before converging in one spot…

Right on a ring of patterned stone in the wall. Varian pulls the key he’d made from the totems in every trial from his bag, and the world seems to hold its breath for the second it takes him to insert it into a small hole in the wall before twisting it.

The stone ring moves towards him, revealing complex metal, wires, and crystal, all lit up a blinding blue.

There’s a whoosh, like all the air is sucked out of the room, and a swirlling blue portal appears in the ring.

“Holy shit. We did it!”

“We did it?”

“Yes. You did.”

No. Nonono.

Varian whirls, back to the portal, to see his friends trapped and tied up by Don’s lackeys. Half of them are unconscious, the other ones fighting still.

Everyone except Hugo, who’s never looked more scared than this moment.

“Thank you Hugo, so much, for leading me right to the portal.”

What?

Chapter Text

⚙️Hugo⚙️

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit-

This was not how things were supposed to go. They were supposed to get in to the library, find a way to stop Don, and then, when Hugo was ready, Varian would find out. When there was almost no chance he’d leave Hugo, when he would forgive him.

Instead, the queen and king of Corona, Varian’s fucking family, are tied up, Yong and Nuru too, and Don’s right fucking next to him acting like he’s still on her team.

“Now, Hugo, be a good boy and tie him up. Can’t have him getting in that library before I do.”

Hugo doesn’t move. “Did you hear me?” Still, he doesn’t move. There’s a crash, shouting voices and clanking armor signalling the appearance of the royal guard. Don’s lackeys slip away, no doubt to hold them off. “Ugh. Fine. This is what I get working with teenagers.”

Hugo’s gaze finally moves to Varian, and the world falls apart around him.

🧪Varian🧪

Varian stumbles back. No no no it wasn’t true it couldn’t be true. “Hugo? What is she-”

“Varian, you are so trusting! It’s pathetic really. Hugo’s been working for me this whole time. He was never on your side.”

Varian won’t look at her, can’t look away from Hugo. He can see it’s true. Hugo won’t meet his eyes, it’s true. Of course it is. That was always how this worked wasn’t it. The second he let someone in, trusted them, they betrayed him. Silly Varian, always trusting the wrong people. He’d thought Hugo was different, thought this time he actually trusted the right person. But no, nothing’s ever that easy.

Hugo must see the change in Varian’s eyes, must see the shift because he finally moves. “Goggles wait I can explain-”

“I trusted you!” Varian can see Donella slinking away, towards her minions still fighting the guards, but he can’t bring himself to care. “I trusted you despite the fact you stole from us, gave us no reason to believe you were on our side! I fell for every trick and all this time you were just going to betray us?”

“N- Well yes but-”

“God I told you everything! Every secret, every weakness, and you probably celebrated. I finally let you in, gave you something to work with. No wonder you’ve seemed so different lately. The trap was almost closed and you just couldn’t wait to watch me fall.”

“Varian it wasn’t like that, please just-”

“No! I’m not listening to another one of your lies! Neither of you are ever getting inside the Library.”

Varian turns, hits the switch to activate the portal, and runs through, dropping an alchemy bomb behind him. He watches as Hugo runs forward, only to freeze when pink goo covers the portal frame and the gateway closes.

⚙️Hugo⚙️

The second Varian disappears, Don spins back to Hugo. He hadn’t even noticed her leaving, noticed her trusting him to handle things.

“What the hell? You let him get away?!”

Don doesn’t even wait for a response before backhanding him, iron rings searing indents into his skin.

“Pathetic waste of-”

Hugo sweeps his leg out, knocking her off her feet. She falls flat on the stone, and he gets to his feet just before she does.

“What are you doing?”

“Sorry to break it to ya, Don, but I’m not helping you.”

She just laughs. “I’m sorry, what? You’re really doing this, betraying me, for nothing?”

“Not for nothing. For my friends.”

“Friends. You won’t have any friends when I destroy Olivia. That little mouse is the only thing keeping you here and she’s mine.”

“You don’t have her here with you. You’d have left her in a safe back in Ingvarr, to reduce the chance that your enemies steal her and force me to switch sides.”

“Oh?” Don pulls a chain from around her neck, Olivia dangling from the end. “Think again. You really are so gullible.”

Hugo stumbles for a second, completely thrown, and one of Don’s lackeys grabs him from behind. His arms are wrenched behind his back, but Hugo phases through him before the iron cuffs go on.

“Same old tricks, Don? Please. It’s been three years, I know how you like to run things.”

Don just smirks, too confident for Hugo’s comfort. “And yet you’ve never realized I took you to my base when you were looking for your sister.”

Wait. One. Fucking. Second. “What?”

“Oh, yes. One of a few things you never figured out. My enemies didn’t kill your sister. I did. The bitch tried to steal from me, I taught her a lesson. Then you show up, a scrawny street rat. There was a fire in you, that’s why I showed you her body. Then I had one of my lackeys slit your throat, followed by his own. Cursing you was Cyrus’ idea, to make use of your stellar talents.”

Hugo blinks rapidly, shoving down tears and grief, leaving only anger. “You fucking killed her?!”

Hugo dives at Don, knife to her throat before she can move. Olivia flies out of her hand, landing somewhere out of sight.

“You don’t want to do this.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

Don leans closer, Hugo’s blade sending a small trickle of blood down her neck. “Because Varian’s not alone in that library.”