"You know what I'm gonna do when we get into town?" Pocket asked. "I am gonna pillage."
"Pillage? Not me! I am gonna plunder." Otter said smugly.
"Pillaging and plundering are the same thing!" Pocket said impatiently.
"Fine, then I'll loot." Otter declared.
"Pillage, plunder and loot are all synonymous, you morons." Anthony said, rolling his eyes. "I prefer to 'despoil'." He brought a hand to his chest in a dignified way.
"Boys, boys, boys. Let's not argue over semantics." Lady Caine walked over to them. "There will be plenty of time for that later."
Andrew chuckled. "Get a load of them." He nudged Varian.
"Guys, don't be so quick to raise suspicion or you'll be right back in prison." Varian told them with a sigh. "Stick to small crimes and build up over time, and make sure they don't see you do it. Steal from homes when the people are out, wait for them to go for firewood to rob their carts, stuff like that."
"Why can't we just coax one of them into handing the goods over?" Lady Caine smirked, looking back at him.
"I don't know, do any of you have baby-blue eyes and the face of a child that can do no wrong?" Varian asked, putting on puppy eyes before smirking.
"Point taken." Lady Caine chuckled. "Is that going to be your strategy, then?"
"My next move is reliant on the Princess." Varian replied. "If Eugene was telling the truth, which I know he was, then this 'Moonstone' should be able to help me free my father. I'm going for it. Whether I'm going to have to be sneaky about it or can convince her to take me to it is up to her."
"Still don't feel good about you planning to go off alone with her, but I'm sure you can take care of yourself. For now, let's keep our wits about us until we find that ferry." Lady Caine nodded firmly.
Eugene groaned fromwhere he was still tied to the mast. He couldn't hear what was said clearly from where he was, but it didn't sound good. He struggled with the ropes binding his wrists and realized with a long groan that on top of the rope, he also had goo on his gloved wrists. Of course, why did he expect any less?
"Hey, can someone let me loose for a bit?" He called. "I think that truth serum is really going through me or something!"
"We're not falling for it!" Varian called back as the others laughed.
"Darn." Eugene sighed heavily and looked over at Maximus, who was looking miserable, then looked back at his captors. "You know, I just don't get it. You're a ship full of criminals. You have to know that the law will be all over you as soon as you hit the mainland!"
"Well, here's the thing," Lady Caine walked over to him, "they'll be too busy worrying about the damage caused somewhere else."
"What do you mean?" Eugene paled.
"We're going to send someone ahead in secret to blow up something." She smirked. "Something big. Maybe another ship. Or maybe, we'll just blow up the ferry once we get what we want from it."
Eugene laughed. "Come on, you won't take the ferry! Cassandra is there, and she can take any of you on!"
"Sure, but will she act against her Princess's word?" Varian walked over and leaned his arm on Eugene's shoulder and he glanced at him, really taking in how much taller he'd gotten, his head easily reaching Eugene's shoulder now, around Rapunzel's height. "After all, you're not getting free of this thing until I let you loose. Or until thirteen hours have passed, take your pick." He shrugged. "Either way, nothing can stop us from killing you if she doesn't cooperate. We already promised the Stabbingtons they can have at you in that case. And, by the way, Cassandra attacking us is not cooperating."
Eugene sighed. "Always five steps ahead, aren't you, kid?" He muttered.
Varian just looked smug and patted his cheek before he walked off to lean against the railing andtalk with Andrew quietly.
"It was his idea to use you for ransom. The rest ofus wanted you dead." Lady Caine remarked. "You should thank him, he's the only reason you're not thrown overboard strapped to an anchor."
Eugene groaned and silently hoped for another tripping at the finish line to happen.
--
"Captain, please!"Rapunzel cried. "We have to go back and look for them! My friends could be in serious danger!"
"I'm sorry, but I've got a schedule to keep, kid!" The captain insisted. "If those Genella torches stop burning before we make it to the mainland, there'll be nothing to keep the firefly from destroying all these crops!"
The ship suddenly shook violently and they both ran out to see something flying out of the fog before it impacted the ship, starting a small fire. The crew rushed to put it out anxiously, and then they saw a ship coming up alongside them.
"What—who—" Rapunzel looked up at them.
"Raps, that's the Coronan prison barge." Cassandra said, seeing something on the side that identified it.
They all gasped as swords were thrown and stabbed into the ferry, with rope attached to them. Then they saw figures swinging out at them from the other boat, their appearances obscured by the fog.
"Who's there?!" Rapunzel cried.
She gasped as she heard someone land behind her and turned in alarm to see--
"Varian?!"
He looked very much like her nightmare vision on the island, if a little taller. "Hello, Rapunzel." He greeted with a sly smile. "Been awhile."
"Get away from her!" Cassandra ran at him.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you!" Varian held out a hand to her in a halting motion. "If you attack me, the Stabbingtons will kill Eugene."
Rapunzel glanced around and saw Corona's criminals all over the ship, with frightened crew and passengers at their mercy. "...What do you want?" She looked at Varian, guessing he was the ringleader somehow.
Varian chuckled and nodded to the barge, which lowered its ramp. "Come onboard. Lady Caine wants to speak with you."
"Lady Caine." Rapunzel breathed, then reluctantly followed him up the ramp. "Varian...how are you here?"
"You can thank your father for that. No, really, thank him. It's the one good thing he's done for me, finally letting me out of that hell and sending me off to the prison barge." He chuckled bitterly.
Rapunzel's brow furrowed. "He promised to help you."
"Oh, he helped me, alright. He helped me learn just how bad a kid I was, how little I mattered to the Kingdom, that it was by his good and royal graces that I was even still alive." Varian said coldly. "He taught me those lessons with words and with the strike of a whip on my back. He taught me that I was born dangerous and would never be anything good."
"I-I don't believe it." Rapunzel shook her head. "My father wouldn't—"
"Would you like a visual demonstration of your father's 'help'? His 'care'?" He turned to her. "Because we can go below deck and I can show you what he did to me. What he did to many of us." He turned and walked on.
Rapunzel looked back at Cassandra, who had been silently following alongside her. "H-He can't be serious."
They stepped onto the deck and she gasped when she saw Eugene bound to a mast. "Eugene!" She ran past Varian and looked him over anxiously.
"Relax, Princess," she tensed and looked over as Lady Caine walked up to her, "we didn't hurt him."
Rapunzel frowned, then looked over at Varian and was surprised to see him walking over to stand next to—
"What's Hubert doing here?" Cassandra asked coldly.
"Oh, wow, you still remember that lie." The Saporian man chuckled. "My name is actually Andrew, not Hubert. I was messing with you."
Cassandra fumed. "Well, why are you here?"
"Well, Cassie," Varian gestured around them, "he was in prison. My cellmate, actually! And then we both got shipped off with the rest of them! Best day of my life, really."
Andrew chuckled. "I recall you saying 'you'll probably regret this' as we left."
"And here we are." Varian gestured towards Rapunzel.
"That's right. Here we are." Lady Caine said, and Rapunzel looked back at her. "Honestly, we hadn't planned on meeting you, but it was sure lucky for us that your idiot boyfriend decided to fall overboard and then climb up into our ship. So, now, you have a choice to make, Princess." She grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Eugene to stand in the middle of the deck.
"A choice?" Rapunzel breathed.
"I know, you're so bad at those. But, I think you can manage this one." Varian assured her. "We want your cooperation to ensure safe passage to the mainland, and I want you to take me to that Moonstone Eugene told us about."
"WHAT?!" Cassandra roared. "You TOLD him?!"
"He snuck truth serum on board and coated an apple in it!" Eugene said defensively. "I didn't realize it because it wasn't purple!"
Varian smiled and stroked Ruddiger's fur fondly. "My best friend ensured I would have everything I'd need to get away, once out of the King's sight." He said fondly. "Anyways, those are our terms if you want him back alive."
"And what's to stop us from throwing you off a cliff once we're on our way?" Cassandra challenged.
"I'll tell you what's to stop you." Andrew walked over and leaned his arm on Eugene's shoulder, casually holding a knife to his neck. "As long as you do as he wants, Corona is safe. But if you don't cooperate, then I'll send a message to my people to destroy the Kingdom and kill everyone in it, starting with your father, Cassie. We'll kill the King last, make him watch."
She clenched her fists. "You—"
"Cass!" Rapunzel looked at her desperately, then at Eugene, who was still in a dangerous position.
Cassandra stepped back. "Fine."
"So, those are our terms. Safe passage for our ship, and you bring Varian to the Moonstone. Not so hard to do." Lady Caine walked over and patted Rapunzel's cheek. "It's not really a hard choice, is it? Your lover's life and freedom for our very simple requests?"
Rapunzel pursed her lips. "Varian, you don't understand. I'm going to the Moonstone to des—"
"I know, he told me." He said sharply, cutting her off. "But, I can't let you do that. What if, when you do that, the black rocks vanish and take my father with them? What if you do it and he's trapped forever, with no way of freeing him? That Moonstone may be my only chance of freeing my father, and so I'm taking it."
Rapunzel looked torn. "Varian..."
He walked up close to her, uncomfortably close, and Cassandra had to force herself to not grab him and throw him away from her, knowing the slightest move would kill Eugene. "I'm not going to let you destroy it, Rapunzel. So, either you take me with you as a companion to your group, or I go there with my group and we take it before you can, and you lose Eugene and your Kingdom. Take your pick."
"Varian, is this what your fath—"
"Don't even try to pull that, Princess." He hissed. "Thanks to your family's
inaction, thanks to you asking me to study the rocks that your family was ignoring because you couldn't do it, thanks to you throwing me out into a snowstorm instead of helping me back then, my father can't want anything right now, and I have been put through hell." He clutched at his shoulder. "So, don't even try to ask me if it's what my father would want."
Lady Caine gently eased his hand off his shoulder and coaxed him back a few paces. "It's alright, we've got this in the bag. She can't refuse, she's just procrastinating at this point. She can't afford to turn her back on you this time."
"I know...I know, I just..." He sighed and leaned his head on her shoulder. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize, silly." She gently stroked his hair and then pushed his bangs out of his face before kissing his forehead. "Let me handle this, alright?"
He nodded and walked over to stand with Eugene and Andrew, instead.
Lady Caine sighed heavily, then turned back to Rapunzel. "Well, Princess, what do you say?"
"How would you know if we...if we didn't cooperate once we left you?" Rapunzel asked shakily.
"Varian is going to be sending us a message every week to let us know all is well." Lady Caine smirked. "Turns out, Andrew's got a hawk that followed us out to sea." She pointed up and they saw a hawk sitting high above. "He's been waiting for Andrew to leave prison."
Cassandra frowned. "I know that hawk. He sent messages to me with it before."
Lady Caine nodded. "See? Even your Lady-in-Waiting knows him."
"Her. Cleo is a girl." Andrew corrected.
"Right, sorry!" Lady Caine grinned at him.
Rapunzel held her head. "I...I can't make this decision on my own. I..."
"Corona's future Queen, everyone!" Lady Caine said, gesturing to Rapunzel. Cassandra fumed as everyone laughed and Rapunzel blushed with shame.
Rapunzel clenched her fists and closed her eyes tightly. "No. You're right. I can't be afraid to make choices, I can't rely on others to tell me what the best option is!" She opened her eyes and raised her head, a newly-lit fire in her eyes. "Fine. I will accept your terms."
"Rapunzel!" Cassandra and Eugene bothprotested.
"And when we get back to Corona, I am going tolook into what happened down in the dungeon after I left. And I will be making changes when I am Queen!" Rapunzel said firmly.
Lady Caine slow-clapped with a smile. "There we go. There's the fire you had at the coronation. Here I was wondering how such a meek, little girl went against her father's orders and bested me, but it looks like you just needed to thaw out after that blizzard, hm?"
"You're right. Ever since my failed attempt to rule during the blizzard, I've been afraid to make choices, content to just let others handle things for me. I started that day so confident, so sure that I had everything under control, but even before the blizzard, my confidence was shaken, and then everything came at once and when Nigel took control of the situation, I just let him and I know now that I should've been more assertive. When my father said everything was under control with the rocks, I didn't even question it or go to visit who I claimed to be my friend, and now...now we're here."She turned to face Varian. "I'm...I'm sorry. I should've been there. I should've never let them throw you out into the snow, or whatever else my father did behind my back—"
"I'll give you a hint, the masked men were already in Old Corona when you arrived and had been for weeks." Varian said calmly.
"—but I'm going to make things right! Starting with taking you to the Moonstone so you can find a way to free your father before we destroy it, so it never hurts anyone again." Rapunzel nodded firmly.
"And the safe passage to the mainland for Lady Caine and the others." Varian reminded her.
"Yes." Rapunzel nodded. "I will use my power as Princess of Corona to arrange that."
"Good." Lady Caine grinned. "Maybe we don't have to blow up the ferry, after all. Let's get your house-on-wheels up here, as well as the rest of your group, and we'll continue on our way."
"What did you do with the crew and guards?" Cassandra asked.
"Put them in acell confined in goo." Varian shrugged. "It'll wear off inthirteen hours."
"How do you even have the stuff to make that goo?" Cassandra frowned.
Varian smiled slyly. "You have no idea how fast my raccoon can run. While they were still loading up the prisoners and cargo, he was collecting everything I would need for a successful breakout and sneaking it and himself onboard." He fondly nuzzled his pet, who nuzzled back. "The guards just thought he ran away and left to live in the wild, boy were they surprised."
Pascal made a sound of discontent, then squeaked and pointed his tail towards Maximus, who was next to Lady Caine's horse and trapped in goo.
"Oh, thank goodness he's okay."Rapunzel breathed. "I thought we'd lost him, but I'd hoped..."
"Relax, we wouldn't hurt him." Lady Caine assured her. "Turns out, Saporians have a problem with hurting animals."
"Actually, we have a problem with humans forcing animals to work for them, too. The horseshoes and the saddle and bridle..." He cringed. "Well, there's a reason my people use hot-air balloon. Hawks and the others few animals that we work alongside are our partners, we don't confine them or bind them in any way. And we do have another way of communication that doesn't involve animals but I, sadly, don't have it on me right now."
"You still haven't taught me how to build one." Varian looked up athim.
"I'll draw you a blueprint when we get to the mainland." Andrew assured him, then pulled the knife away andretracted it back into the hilt before he slipped it into his vest and walked off. "I'll go tell the others to bring your group and caravan up here, Princess. You just sit tight."
"Eugene!" Rapunzel ran to Eugene's side again and Varian stepped away to give them some privacy. "Are you okay, did they hurt you?"
"Uh, kind of? Turns out, if you don't just give in to the truth serum, YOUR INSIDES FEEL LIKE THEY'RE ON FIRE!" He glared at Varian, who shrugged. "Who knew you'd be so SADISTIC?!"
"I was mad." Varian shrugged again. "The whole Kingdom turned their backs on me, Eugene, I wanted to get back at them somehow."
Eugene struggled in his binds and growled. Varian smirked. "Besides, it wouldn't have hurt if you'd just given in. Then again, I didn't learn that lesson, so I don't blame you for fighting it." He shrugged.
Rapunzel turned to him. "I agreed to your terms, let him go!"
He eyed her with a cold expression. "Not until we reach the mainland, Princess. We're not taking any chances."
Rapunzel clenched her fists, but she took a deep breath and released it before turning back to Eugene and gently cupping his face in her hands. "Eugene..."
"I'm okay, Blondie." He assured her. "We'll be out of this in no time."
"Aww, does this mean we can't gut Rider?" Anthony the Weasel walked over to them. Rapunzel moved in front of him protectively.
"Stand down, Anthony." Lady Caine assured him. "We got what we wanted. He lives, this time. But, I guarantee nothing for any future encounters." She chuckled and walked off with Varian.
"They seem...close." Cassandra frowned, walking over to join Rapunzel and Eugene.
"Guess she kind of adopted him as a little brother like Andrew did." Eugene sighed. "Sorry, Blondie, this is all my fault. I was so stupid, I was arguing with Maximus and we went overboard when the railing I was leaning on broke."
"Well, I think Maximus took a blow to his pride." Cassandra said, watching as Fidella came onboard and neighed aggressively to Axel before shoving him away from her partner. "Wow, girl."
"Yeah, me too." Eugene sighed, then looked over as Lance, Hookfoot and Shorty came onboard, followed by the caravan being hauled up by criminals.
"Uh, wow." Lance walked over to look at Eugene. "So, what happened?"
"Uh, gee, Varian was onboard, and his raccoon apparently smuggled in some alchemy stuff for him to use!" Eugene groaned. "And I'm stuck like this until he lets me go!"
"Wait, hold on, Varian? That alchemist? Where?" Hookfoot looked around.
"What, did you guys miss when he came onto your ship and escorted Rapunzel up here or something?" Eugene nodded towards where Lady Caine and Varian were talking, laughing about something. "He's the kid over there. Though, he's gotten a lot taller than before..."
"Wait, the alchemist is a kid?" Lance's brow furrowed. "We were fighting a kid back then?!"
"Oh, right. You didn't know." Eugene nodded. "Yeah, he wasn't just a short, gangly adult, he's a teenager. He's...a kid that was trying to save his dad and...did a lot of bad things to do it." He sighed. "All because we let him down."
Rapunzel clutched at her hair anxiously. "...I need to know...what my father did to him down there." She left Eugene's side and walked over to him. "Varian?"
He looked over his shoulder at her, and Rapunzel was suddenly struck with the realization that they were close to the same height now. When did he get so tall? "Yes, Princess?" He asked calmly.
His voice was deeper, too, and he'd filled out a little. He wasn't so gangly anymore, he had...aged.
"I...I wanted to know what my father did to you." She said, wringing her hands together.
"We'll have time for that later." He turned away from her to continue his conversation.
"Right." She nodded, stepping back. "I'll...I'll ask later, then." She walked away from him. 'I want to believe my father would never lie to me, that he wouldn't hurt Varian, but...why do I feel such a sense of dread? Of foreboding?' She looked back at him and had a flash of memory of when they had gotten into his home to save her mother. Her father had lunged forward and grabbed the doll, which he had thought was Varian himself, so roughly, held his shoulders so tightly and yanked him so quickly it would've surely hurt the actual teenager.
Teenager...she was still one herself, wasn't she? Nineteen years old and still so new to the world she wanted so badly to be a part of.
She looked up at the sky and silently prayed to the Sun for guidance.