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.