Second Chances

Chapter 1

On the Road of Destiny.

⚠️TW: Implied SH⚠️

It had been a month since Varian's attack. A month since the rocks had destroyed Corona's wall and created a path for Rapunzel. A month since she had lost one of her best friends.

They had just finished packing the caravan. They were just waiting on Cassandra who was meeting with her dad. Rapunzel was talking with Eugene and Lance when someone cleared their throat. She turned around to see her father, King Frederick, looking down at her with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Dad!" Rapunzel swung her arms around the King. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I send my daughter off on her adventure?" The King chuckled.

Rapunzel laughed and scolded her dad, telling him that she didn't need any sending off. Of course, the King shook his head in disagreement. But suddenly the King's smile fell.

"But there's another reason I'm here Rapunzel." The King sighed.

"Oh, what is it?"

"It's about Varian. We decided that prison was too harsh of a sentence for a child no matter what his actions were."

"So what are you going to do about him?" Rapunzel asked, worried for her former friend.

The King nodded to a guard behind him. Rapunzel heard scuffling and shouts. Soon the guard came back around, leading along a young boy with shackles around his wrists. The boy didn't speak, didn't resist, he was just blank. Emotionless.

It was Varian.

"He hasn't spoken since he was placed into solitary confinement." The King sighed. "He's barely eaten, barely slept. He either sits there staring blankly at the wall or throws himself against it." He looked at the boy worriedly.

Rapunzel noticed the bruises and scrapes all over the boys' frame. His apron and gloves had been taken from him but she noticed the goggles still perched on his head.

"He refused to let us take them. Put up a big fight so we let him keep them." The King explained sadness lined his voice. "It was the only time he actually spoke. He said they were his mother's."

If Rapunzel didn't know any better, she would have hardly recognised the boy. His hair was messy and dishevelled, his skin was deathly pale and was covered in bruises and scrapes. His eyes had darkened and only held rage and despair, dark circles surrounded them. The scrawny boy had somehow gotten thinner, his clothes hung loosely off his body. He was covered in dirt and dust and his freckles looked like dark ink splotches. His face held no smile, just a grim line. This was not the boy she once knew.

"I decided that a better punishment for his crimes would be to come with you."

"Hey now, you're actually letting that crazy kid come along?!" Lance called from his spot by Eugene. "Isn't that dangerous, he could turn on us!"

Varian didn't react to the statement.

"I assure you he will not cause any harm to you." Frederick looked over at the boy worriedly. "To himself is another matter though."