𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 {𝕍𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕩 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣}

-Chapter Twenty-Two- House of Memories

/baby, we built this house on memories/ take my picture now/ shake it 'til you see it/ and when your fantasies/ become your legacy/ promise me a place/ in your house of memories!/

-house of memories, panic! at the disco

"Varian! Y/n!" the king shouted furiously at the two unimpressed teenagers, who hadn't said a word for several minutes now. Y/n walked over to another window, watching with a smirk as her sister's reinforcements struggled to battle the automatons. On the other side of the room, Varian had apprehended Pascal, and was shutting the chameleon in a small wire cage.

"I demand you release us!" cried the king. "And tell us where the queen is!"

Varian tsked. "Your Majesty," he began, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I know it's hard for you, but for the first time in your life..."

He slammed Pascal's cage down on a table as he turned around to face the two attackers. "You are in no position to demand anything."

Y/n laughed and strolled over to the three like she had all the time in the world. "But, in the spirit of compromise... how about we meet you halfway?"

She walked to the purple curtain that sectioned off a part of the room, and flung it aside, like she was about to reveal a grand magic trick. She was brought back to that day at the Expo, when she had pulled aside the curtain to reveal Varian's invention. This wasn't too different- only now, they both had a stake.

Rapunzel gasped as she saw her mother on the ground, shackled to a black rock. "Mom!" she screamed. She tried to lunge for the queen, but the adhesive held strong, and her father put a hand on her shoulder.

Y/n's smile widened. This felt good. This felt right. The agony on her sister's face filled her with a kind of glee she didn't even know that she could feel, and she had to stifle a laugh.

"I'm okay, Rapunzel." the queen reassured nervously.

"Let her go! Please!" Rapunzel cried.

Varian stepped in front of the queen with a smirk. "First, you're going to do something for us."

"What do you want?" the king roared, still holding Rapunzel.

Y/n stepped over to where her mother sat. "Oh, so now you care about what we want!" she laughed, kneeling down and putting her hands on her mother's shoulders. "And all it took was threatening the things you love the most."

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

"What are you going to do?" barked the king, although Y/n detected a hint of fear in her father's voice.

Varian wheeled over the drill Y/n had perfected, covered by a sheet. "Yeah, I-I'll spare you the details about the Sundrop, and darkness, blah, blah, blah and get to the good stuff."

Grinning, Varian swept the sheet off with a flourish, revealing the final version of the drill underneath. Rapunzel gulped as light bounced off of its tip.

Y/n walked over to a black rock sticking from the wall, her hair's glow increasing as she approached. "Unbreakable..." she said with a smirk, rapping one gloved hand on the rock's surface.

"Unbreakable." Varian concluded from the other side of the room, picking up Rapunzel's braid and holding it in his hands.

He tossed the hair over his shoulder, walking away. "To put it plainly, with assistance from our drill, Rapunzel's hair should be able to shatter the amber... and free my father."