Forget-Me-Not (Varian x Reader)

Chapter 16- Ready

"It's too late for reasoning, (yn)." The alchemist says while he slides a metal mask over his face and begins to assemble a machine of some kind.

V: "Believe me I know, I've sunk pretty low,

But whatever I've done, you deserved."

I try to walk to the boy despite my chains.

(Yn): "Varian!"

V: "Quiet!"

Varian strolls over to his desk and grabs more tools for his machine. Even now, I could tell that deep down he didn't want it to have come to this.

V: "I'm the bad guy that's fine.

It's no fault of mine and some justice, at last, will be served."

(Yn): "Please listen!"

V: "Now it's time to step up or it's time to back down

And there's only one answer for me.

And I'll stand up and fight 'cause I know that I'm right.

And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready~

Ready as I'll ever be."

I continue to pull against the chains but to no avail. As Varian keeps working on his machine, I'm finally able to tell what it is: A giant automation. I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I walk over to a small window.

"Please hurry, Raps..." I whisper.

:-:-:-:-:

I know Rapunzel and the rest of the guards have arrived when I hear Varian chuckle menacingly. "What a happy family reunion this will be..." Varian looks at me with a smirk. "...For both of us."

I try to appear tougher than I was. "You won't get away with this. Rapunzel will defeat you."

Varian rolls his eyes. "Honestly, this is getting annoying."

"You just can't stand to hear the truth." I give Varian a mischievous grin and he looks taken aback.

He walks over to his desk and grabs a white cloth. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." He steps closer to me and I try to back away from him to the best of my ability.

Varian simply grabs the chains bolted to the floor and yanks me towards him. I stumble forward a bit and fall to my knees. Varian takes his opportunity to tie the cloth around my mouth and gag me. I shoot him a dirty look but Varian only smirks. "I couldn't have you ruining the surprise, Now could I?"

As if on cue, we hear quiet whispering and banging on the trapdoor that leads into Varian's lab. Varian stands up. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a kingdom to destroy." He says, sliding a curtain in front of me.

I can only listen as I hear Rapunzel and both of my parents fall right into Varian's trap. I frantically try to spit out the gag to warn them, to let them know I'm okay-anything. The alchemist only chuckles. "Welcome back, Rapunzel."

I hear my father speak up. "Varian, I demand you release us, and tell me when my daughter is!"

Varian coos. "Your Majesty, I know it's hard for you, but for the first time in your life, you are in no position to demand anything! But, in the spirit of compromise, how about I meet you halfway?"

Varian pulls back the curtain, revealing me like I was nothing more than a party trick.

Rapunzel gasps and tries to lunge towards me. "(yn)!"

The king shoots Varian a death glare. "Varian if you did so much as lay a finger on my daughter-"

I manage to spit my gag out of my mouth. "I'm okay!"

"Let her go, Varian!" Rapunzel demands. A new look I had never seen before fills Rapunzel's eyes. It looked like a mix of fear, sadness, rage, and desperation. "Please! I just got a sister, please don't hurt her!"

Varian puts a hand on my shoulder. "First, I want you to do something for me."

"What do you want?" My dad hisses.

Varian rolls his eyes. "Oh, so now you care about what I want." he chuckles and runs his finger down my cheek. "All it took was threatening the things you love the most."

A horrified look washes over my family's faces as Varian walks over to the tarp that was covering his new and improved drill. More guilt floods my conscious.

I had helped him build that.

"What are you going to do, Varian?" My mother asks with a worried expression.

"Yeah, I'll spare you the details about the sundrop and darkness, blah blah blah, and get to the good stuff." Varian grins and reveals the drill. He walks over to a black rock and taps his finger on it. "Unbreakable," He moves to Rapunzel and picks up her hair. "Unbreakable. To put it plainly, with assistance from my drill, Rapunzel's hair should be able to shatter the amber and free my father."

"What do you mean 'should?'" the king demands.

Varian taps his chin. "Wellllll...I suppose it's just as likely the amber shatters Rapunzel...the properties-"

My dad pulls out his sword. "Absolutely not!"

Rapunzel looks down. "It's not your choice, dad..."

Varian gives my dad a smug grin. "She's right, 'Dad.'" The boy frees my mother from the goop she was trapped in and leads her to another set of chains, to which he shackles her ankle to. "And by the way, we're kinda on a time crunch here so I need to move things along." He pulls a small vial of a yellow substance out of his pocket.

I gasp. "Varian, don't hurt her! Do me instead, just don't hurt her!"

Varian ignores me and pours the substance on a black rock near my mother's feet. Yellow amber begins sprouting up and hungrily grows towards my mom. Mom gasps in pure terror.

"Varian, Stop!" Rapunzel shouts.

Varian only smiles and neutralizes the goo that had Rapunzel trapped. "Well...shall we get started?"