Reunion at Sea

His Story

"I still can't believe you're human now." Rapunzel said, looking Ruddiger up and down. "Hey, what if we turned Max human?"

"I think he'd be offended at the offer." Eugene shook his head. "So, uh, Ruddiger...Regulus...which do you want us to call you?"

"Ruddiger is the name I associate myself with now." Ruddiger shrugged, leaning back in his seat casually.

"You're going to fall if you tip the chair." Varian warned him.

"I'll be fine." Ruddiger assured him.

"If you fall, I will laugh." Varian smirked.

They had gathered around the dinner table with Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra, Arianna, the Brotherhood, Andrew and Juniper. Lady Caine had been offered to join them, but she had politely declined saying she had too much work to do in ensuring the criminals didn't cause trouble in Corona anymore, since they were allies now. Some habits just were taking a long time to die.

"Hey, maybe Hamuel could turn human." Adira remarked, looking at the crow-raven sitting on King Edmund's shoulder. "That might be a sight."

"Pft, what about Pascal?" Eugene looked at said lizard sitting on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Now, hold on." Ruddiger leaned forward in his seat. "It's all well and good that I turned human because I was human before, but turning a normal animal into a human could be a major shock to their system. Not to mention you'd have to make accommodations and dress them and they wouldn't be able to sit on your shoulders anymore. Hamuel would lose the ability to fly, and they'd both have to adjust to higher views and longer lives and...becoming something you're not is scary. Take it from me." He shuddered. "Those first few years, I thought that I would for sure...you know...raccoons...only live five years, maybe eight if they're pampered enough. When I hit that point and didn't die, I realized that I'd been made immortal. Heck, I didn't even age." He looked at himself.

"Hamuel wouldn't, either." King Edmund told him. "The Brotherhood all had our aging frozen by the Moonstone when the wave hit."

"What--is it reversible?" Varian asked in alarm.

"You tell us." Adira shrugged.

"Ruddiger..." Rapunzel looked at him. "I know this may be painful, but...I'd like to hear a first-hand account on...why someone would become a Disciple."

"...Heh." Ruddiger nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you would be curious. Why would we betray the old man and side with a demon? It's a big question." He clenched his fists. "...I was fourteen when Lord Demanitus sought me out. I was a kid with 'great potential', he said. He wanted me to use my skills to help him with some research. At the time, I had a little brother that was dying of an unknown illness. The Sundrop, I was told, could save him. So I agreed to be his student and joined the ranks of...well, there were quite a lot of us. He started an academy in Corona, where he had made a home. It was a long way from the Iron Kingdom, where I lived. I think it's changed its name since, now it's...uhm...Ingvarr or something. Culture changed, too, at least from what I hear." He sighed. "Anyways, I came to Corona to study with Lord Demanitus and his partner Zhan Tiri."

"Partner?" Rapunzel breathed.

"Yeah. I didn't know where she was from, but she worked very closely with them. I thought they were lovers, but I never saw them so much as hold hands. I dunno, I was a dumb kid. Then when I was sixteen, they broke up or something and I didn't see her around. When I asked, Demanitus just told me to focus on my work and don't talk about her."

"Uh, hold on." Eugene held up a hand. "Question, and this has been kind of bugging me since we met Lucas in the Great Tree, but wasn't Zhan Tiri a man? I mean, all the legends..."