The Alchemist's Princess | Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

Chapter X

Aquaria went to Varian's lab and he was beaming.

"Well someone looks happy today," Aqua commented and Varian nearly squealed like a little girl.

"I finally finished the secret project I told you about! Wanna see it?!"

"Of course!" Aqua had been so curious about the project, but she knew it was a surprise.

"Come with me!" Varian practically dragged her to the fields and she giggled.

"So because we haven't been having much luck in the rain department lately, I created a way to water the crops without relying on the rain! I have tubes running down the rows with holes in them. When I turn on the machine, the pressure in the tubes will make the water squirt out of the holes and it'll water the plants with water from the lake on the other side of town! Isn't it genius?!" Varian looked at her excitedly.

Aqua smiled brightly as she looked into his eyes. He desperately wanted her to be proud of him and he couldn't wait for his father to see it so he could make him proud.

"It really is, Varian! This is amazing! Can we turn it on?!"

"Yeah! Come on!" Varian ran to where the machine was located and he turned it on... but nothing happened.

Aqua frowned and saw Varian panicking.

"Wh-why isn't it working? It should've worked!" He felt so disappointed in himself and Aqua hugged him.

"It's okay, Var. I can help you fix it," Aqua said to him.

"But it was supposed to wor-"

The machine exploded, blowing the two back. Varian held onto Aqua tighter instinctively, wanting to protect her.

The explosion sent the water shooting through the pipes, building up too much pressure. The pipes burst and the fields flooded. All of the water from the line that had connected the machine to the lake pushed out of where the machine had been and a geyser started to flood the village of Old Corona.

Everyone was in a panic and Quirin was desperately looking for his son, having a feeling that it was an experiment gone wrong.

He saw Varian helping Aquaria up off the ground and he ran to them.

"Varian! Aquaria! What happened?! Are you both okay?!" He hugged them both tightly.

"I-I was just trying to help..." Varian teared up as he clung to his father.

The townspeople were coming towards them and none of them were happy.

"It was Varian's fault!"

"He did this!"

"Quirin! Your son is a disgrace!"

"He almost killed the princess!"

"He destroyed our fields!"

Varian cried as he listened to everyone yelling at him.

"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..." He trembled before the guards took Aqua from Quirin and Varian.

"Your highness, it's not safe," a guard said and Aquaria frowned.

"But I-" She looked around and knew that she could help. She couldn't just watch the village flood and not do anything about it. "I'm gonna fix this."

Quirin looked up at her before warning, "no, princess. You can't." He knew exactly what she was thinking and he knew it would expose her secret.

"I have to," she argued before she ran from the guards and went closer to the geyser.

"Princess!" The guards ran after her.

She put her hands up and closed her eyes, pushing the water from the geyser back down into the pipes to go back to the river. She then ran down to the village and concentrated on bringing all the water to her.

The townspeople were watching in shock as all the floodwaters were lifted into the air and gathered in a sphere above their princess.

Aquaria cried out a little as she overextended herself. She let the water absorb into her. Her brown hair started glowing and became a brilliant ocean blue color and her eyes glowed even brighter. She had never used her magic like this before.

Once all of the water had absorbed into her, she collapsed. Varian gasped and dashed to her side.

"Aqua! Aqua, wake up! Please wake up!" He shook her as she stopped glowing,  but her hair stayed a beautiful shade of blue with a few streaks of different blue shades scattered through her hair.

Varian hugged her close when she wouldn't wake up and he cried.

"You have to be okay! Please! I need you! You're my best friend! Please don't leave me!" Varian begged desperately.

"Get him away from the princess!"

"He's gonna kill her!"

Varian trembled as he held her form closer to him. "I'm so sorry... I wanted to make you and my dad proud... I never wanted to hurt you..."

Aquaria groaned a little as her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Varian with a little smile.

"Aqua! Oh thank the stars!" He buried his face in her neck.

"Princess, get away from him," a guard said and Aqua frowned.

"But-"

"Aquaria!" Frederic ran over and scooped up his daughter from Varian's arms. "We heard what happened! Are you both okay?" He looked at his daughter and her friend. He then noticed Aqua's hair was no longer brown. "What happened to your hair?"

"Well-" She started, but was cut off.

"Varian almost killed her! He flooded our village but the princess saved us!" One of the citizens shouted and Frederic looked down at Varian who felt like such a failure.

"My liege, I don't think it is safe for the princess to be around him," one of the guards said and Varian let out a soft sob.

"That's not true!" Aqua argued, not wanting to be told that she couldn't be around Varian.

"Sweetheart-"

"He was just trying to help! You know he wouldn't hurt me on purpose! You can't keep me from seeing him!" Aquaria shouted.

"I didn't say that, darling. I know he wouldn't hurt you intentionally. I just think you need to be more careful with your machines, Varian. You both could've been seriously hurt and the town could've flooded even more if Aquaria wasn't able to stop it," Frederic said and Varian hugged himself.

"I'm really sorry... I just wanted to help water the crops because of the drought... our lands have never been this dry and I wanted to do something to help the village..."

"I understand," the king said softly before turning to the townsfolk. "Everyone! Go back to your routines! I apologize for the interruption!"

Everyone went back to work, talking about what had happened as they cleaned up what damage had been done from the flood.

"This is all my fault... I made you reveal your magic to the people and I nearly got you killed... I'm the worst friend ever..." Varian said to Aqua, but she shook her head. Frederic put her down and she hugged Varian immediately.

"You are the best friend I could ever have. I could never replace you," she murmured and Varian hugged her back.

He looked up to see his father's look of disappointment and it broke his heart. He wanted most of all to make his father proud of him, but he screwed it all up.

"Now come on, we can finish up those cookies from yesterday," Aqua said as she let go of him and grabbed his hand. They went to his house, but Varian couldn't smile.

Frederic sighed as he watched them go. He knew that Aqua was in danger around Varian, but he also knew that she would never forgive him if he never let her see Varian ever again. He didn't know what to do.