Dark Kingdom AU
You sighed as you walked around the castle gardens. You weren't even sure that's what you could call the place. Everything there was dead and. bare. There were sharp thorns everywhere covering the dead plants.
Being the princess of the Dark Kingdom wasn't the nicest life. The kingdom had been dying for years. Your dad had been trying to get rid of the opal that caused it all, but he could never do anything to destroy it or even get his hands on it.
Something suddenly caught your eye. It looked like something small and green. You gasped in excitement.
Varian took a deep breath as he tried to focus. Three opponents were sent his way. He drew his sword and disarmed them all in one swift motion. He jumped out of the way as they all charged at him, making them all run into each other. Varian heard a series of arrows being fired. He quickly reacted with a quadruple backflip. Every arrow missed him. He landed perfectly on his feet. He quickly swung around but stopped just before his blade could touch you.
"Hi, Varian," you said with a cheerful smile as if you weren't almost hit with a sword.
"Ugh," Varian said placing his sword back in his scabbard. "(Y/n), I told you, you can't just barge in here when I'm training."
"Sorry," you said. "But I found something, and I just had to show you!"
"I can't right now, (y/n)," Varian said. "I'm in the middle of training."
"Please," you said. "It will only take a minute."
"No," Varian said.
"Come on," you said. "You train all the time, surely you can spare a few minutes."
"Every minute counts, (y/n)," Varian said. "Need you forget, my dad is one of the closest knights to your dad, the king. As his son, I'm expected to live up to that."
"But you're already so great," you said. "Please. I'm even the princess so you could just be following an order." Varian groaned at your persistence. You pulled out your secret weapon: puppy dog pout.
"Come on, (y/n)," Varian said. "Don't do that."
"Pwease," you said continuing to give him the look.
"Ugh," Varian said face-palming himself. "Fine."
"Great!" you happily said grabbing his hand and running towards the gardens.
Once you arrived in the gardens, you let go of Varian's hand and walked towards where you saw the little miracle. Varian dusted off his black armor as he followed you. "Okay," he said. "Why did you bring me to the gardens? Everything here has been dead like forever."
"That's what I thought, too," you said. "Until I saw this." You pulled back a few dead branches to reveal a lovely, healthy flower.
"Astonishing," Varian said kneeling down and looking at the plant.
"I know," you said getting down next to him. "Isn't it amazing?"
"It's unbelievable," Varian said. "Nothing has been able to grow here for over a millennia. This plant even looks extremely healthy. How is this even possible?"
"Do you think, maybe, the moon opal could getting weak?" you asked with a bit of hope in your voice.
"I don't know," Varian said. "That stone has been unstoppable for as long as anyone can remember. The probability of it just suddenly getting weak doesn't seem likely."
"Then what does it mean?" you asked.
"I'm not sure," Varian said. "The only thing I can make of this is that something is changing." Varian stood up and offered you his hand. "We should go tell your dad."
"Okay," you said taking his hand and getting up. You gave one last glance at the flower as you and Varian walked into the castle. Once you were inside, you made Varian wrap one of his arms around you.
"Really, (y/n)?" Varian said.
"At least until we get to the throne room," you slightly pleaded. Varian just sighed and playfully rolled his eyes.
