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I am not annoyed... I AM NOT ANNOYED!
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Dusk had unfortunately come and the dreaded day of climbing the mountain had arrived.
Varian nudges you lightly with a sleepy smirk on his face, “Morning Milady.”
“Not yet… just a few more… years.”
Varian laughs softly as he leans against you and slowly closes his eyes with a peaceful grin on his face.
The door bursts open as Calliope marches forward. “RISE AND SHINE PEOPLE! A NEW DAY IS CALLING!!”
Everybody moans and wakes up slowly.
“Can you give us some time to wake up? None of us had a good rest last night. ” Sophie asks with a pleading voice.
“Nope! That's your fault, silly kids!” Calliope marches along, “EVERYONE FOLLOW ME!!”
“Find her annoying now?” Eugene asks.
꧁________________________꧂
“Cmon cmon cmon! Like this! Left-right, left-right, left-right. If we wanna get to the top of the spire we need to pick up the pace!! Les go! We're burning daylight people!”
Everyone groans.
“You guys go ahead, ima stay here for a while…”
Sophie rubs her eyes, “Ima join in with you…”
“C’mon guys... It's a new day!” Rapunzel smiles
“Yeah, Let’s give Calliope a chance…” You add.
“LET’S GO MAGGOTS!!”
You and Rapunzel laugh awkwardly that soon turns into a groan.
Varian runs up to you, “Listen, why don’t we hang out at the back of the group.”
“Yeah, and you Blondie. Let Cass and I be the irritation buffer, besides we have experience being annoyed with people.”
You smirk, “I have experience being annoyed with you.”
Eugene furrows his eyebrows as Cass high fives you, “And there's the sassy kid we all know.”
“For the last time, I’m not annoyed with her! Just getting to know her!” Rapunzel awkwardly hugs Eugene. “I'm sure there's more behind her eccentric, know it all and think she's soooo much better than everybody else exterior there has to be some shred of human decency, right?”
Eugene looks at you, “Please, can at least say you're annoyed with Calliope?”
“I'll say that I sometimes get annoyed with you guys, yes. But to a random person? That we just met? No way. Besides, we should give her a chance. There must be at least a little decency in that annoying- Nope be calm… no time for hating someone.”
Everyone else went ahead while Varian stayed with you for a moment.
He moves a piece of your hair behind your ear, “Sweetheart if you bottle it up, it’s just gonna get worse until you explode. Take me for an example. well, it took a potion but you know what I mean. Heh.”
You intertwine your fingers with his, “I assure you I'm fine, Varbear.”
Varian smiles warmly at you, he goes to kiss you but…
“MOVE ALONG MAGOTS! NO TIME FOR LOVEY DOVEY AFFECTION.”
Varian pouts, “Now can I say I ‘h word’ her?”
“Nope.”
“Fudgecakes.”
You groan as you walk up the stairs to meet the others, “I Am not annoyed with her. I am not annoyed with her!”
“Wait, hold up, hold up ladies!”
You and Rapunzel stop in your tracks and turn around to see Sophie and Lance. “I think we have something that might just help. This is Sockie, my stress reliever, and I made one for Sophie too, see? Whenever I feel pressured, I just squeeze old Sockie and wooo! Cool as a cucumber.”
Sophie passes you her ‘Sockie’.
“Does it really work?” Rapunzel asks.
“It’s why you see this, free, easy spirit today.”
You smile, “Well, thank you, both of you, but I don’t think we will need these.”
“WHERE'S MY HUSSLE PEOPLE!?”
Varian puts his hand on your shoulder, “I think you might need it. Hey, Lance, Sophie? Any chance you have another sockie?”
“Sorry kid.”
“Double fudge cakes.”
Everyone else walks ahead while you and Rapunzel squash the stress relievers.
“You’ll notice this path- KEEP UP PEOPLE!”
Varian runs back to you and offers you a piggyback ride with a grin on his face. Of Course, you accept.
꧁______________________꧂
You walk ahead, slashing a bush down with ease.
“Here, you're doing it wrong.” Calliope snatches the sword off and it slips out of her hands and down the side of the cliff.
Cass runs over to the edge, “Ugh! My sword!” she growls at Calliope.
Calliope points at you, “(__)’s Palm sweat made it slippery! Nice job (__).” she walks off.
Rapunzel glares at Calliope but then quickly starts squeezing the stress reliever.
Meanwhile, you run over to Cass, “Cass, i'm so sorry. Here, have my sword.”
Cass sighs deeply, “It's not your fault, Kiddo. And Thanks for the offer but I can get another. Eventually.” she stands up and ruffles your hair.
“HURRY UP PEOPLE! If we don’t make it up to the top today it'll be YOUR fault (__)!!”
You grab the stress reliever and squeeze it harshly.
꧁______________________꧂
Everyone's climbing a cliff, using Rapunzel's hair when your foot slips, causing you to fall.
Eugene catches you by your wrist. “Don’t worry I Gotcha, squirt.” he smiles at you while you gulp, staring at the massive drop below.
“HEY WATCH IT UP THERE YOU NEARLY KILLED ME!”
Rapunzel groans slightly, “Please tell me were near the top of the spire-”
“SPirEEE”
Pascal grabs the stress reliever and squeezes it himself.
꧁______________________꧂
Finally, you make it to the top. “THIS WAY PEOPLE!” Calliope shouts and walks north.
A plant looks way too familiar. Poison elm.
And Varian and Sophie were about to walk right into it. You quickly drag them back. “Wait, that looks like poison Elm! We need to go around.”
Varian sighs with relief, “Thanks. heh.”
Calliope scoffs, “I’m sure if there were poison elm on this SpiRe I’d know-”
“Ah! Itchy!” Lance yells.
Cass rolls her eyes, “And there it is.”
Calliope signals for everyone to follow her, “Now, can we just go around like I suggested before palm sweat got involved.”
Leo passes you the stress reliever as you glare at the woman.
Rapunzel slightly growls but shakes her head as Pascal passes her, her stress reliever too. Suddenly both of the stress relievers break.
“Sockies! No!”
You smile sheepishly, “Sorry you two… Rapunzel and I will make you both another one later.”
꧁______________________꧂
Varian gulps, looking down at the edge. “There had to be a safer way around, right?”
A loud shriek occurs, he turns around and misplaces his foot, nearly falling when you and Sophie grab him and drag him back up.
Varian kisses your cheek, “Heh, I don't know what that was, but I don't want to run into it. Heh.”
Eugene walks over, he kneels to you your height, “You three okay? No one hurt?”
“We're okay. It was just a trust fall. heh. Nothing to worry about!” Varian grins.
Rapunzel laughs awkwardly as she notices Calliope had stopped walking, “Uhh, calliope? Is something wrong?”
“No, No, just uh…”
You tilt your head, “What, we can’t hear you.”
“I said this is the wrong way…”
Cass and Sophie barge forward, “You took us the wrong way!?”
“No, no! It wasn't my fault!”
A loud roar occurs again, but this time a lot louder.
“What is that!?” Eugene shouts.
Calliope gasps, “It's real! The protector of the spire!!” she backs up. “The kurloc…”
Varians eyes widen as a red bear comes around the corner. “Fascinating! Terrifying! But fascinating!”
“Uh, calliope, what do we do?”
Calliope shakes in terror.
“Ima go with… RUNNN!” You shout as you run ahead, followed by everyone else, Rapunzel grabs Caliope as she froze with terror.
“Leo, you fly ahead and try to find somewhere to hide. Ash, you go with him.” You command, both of the animals nod and run ahead. “Varian, Raccoon trap, please.”
Varian throws over a chemball for you to catch.
“B-but you don't know the way, you're gonna get us lost! And you're just a kid!” Calliope shouts with a tremble in her voice.
“Shut it and let the girl do what she does best,” Sophie shouts back.
“Nice one, kid!” Cass smirks.
Leo and Ash come back and signal for you to follow. “Everyone follow the animals!”
They both show you a small cave between the mountain and everyone gets in just before the bear could get in.
You throw the raccoon trap at the bear but miss.
Calliope scoffs, “Good job (__)! Even I could have done that better.”
Eugene and Cass growl at the woman as Rapunzel glares.
Calliope laughs awkwardly, “That was a close one, huh guys?”
“What the heck was that thing!?” Sophie shouts.
“The Kurloc, you have to pay attention!” she clears her throat. “Well then, the keeper of the spire has to recollect her thoughts and strategize our next move!”
Cass pulls everyone into a group conversation, “We have to get rid of her, she has no idea what she's doing!”
“I agree, if (__) didn’t take charge back then, we would've been dead meat!” Sophie responded.
“Guys we can’t get rid of her!” Rapunzel argues back.
“Rapunzels right, We need her to get into the vault.” You add.
Varian and Eugene glance at each other then back to you and Rapunzel, “Your call, sunshines.” They both say in chorus.
You and Rapunzel glance at each other then turn around.
Meanwhile, Lance runs around scratching his back on a rock when it moves, letting in some light.
“I mean, Calliope has got us this far.”
“No, offence princess, but shorty could’ve got us this far.” Sophie crosses her arms.
A part of the roof collapse in and lets in more light. “Lance you did it again!” Lance compliments himself.
“Eyyy! Good job Lance!” You and Rapunzel laugh and climb out of the cave first.
“Great! Looks like I found us a way out of here!”
“Wait a minute! This is it! We're at the top of the spire!” Rapunzel calls down.
Calliope pushes you out of the way, “It is!? I mean, of course, it is! And I got us here.”
You and Rapunzel glare at her, “Yeah, you SURE did.” Rapunzel growls slightly.
Varian climbs out of the hole and helps you out. “Are you okay, Milady?”
Still glaring at the woman, “I’m FINE.” you growl then shake your head to cool yourself.
Walking away, Varian grabs hold of you, “(__), You need to stop bottling up everything, even if its an angry emotion. It’s a normal human reaction to someone like Caliope.”
“Varian, seriously, I’m okay. Let's just get this scroll piece so we can get out of here.”
Everyone walks towards the spire.
Once again, Varians eyes widened in excitement. “Woah! This place is huge!”
Calliope takes out a huge ring of keys, “Let me just find the key and we can get that scroll.” she tries the first key and! It failed… “Ugh, its never the first key you try… these must of got rearranged when we ran from the kurloc.”
Glancing away, a massive bear print catches your attention, “Uh, speaking of the Kurloc…” You track the paw prints, Everyone except calliope follows.
They led to a bush, Eugene separated it to reveal a den… “Uh, I don't like the look of that…”
Sophie's eyes widen, “Ohhh, that's bad.”
“Uh guys, I think this is its home,” Rapunzel says.
A loud roar occurs once again, you cover your ears, “You think!?”
Everyone runs back to Calliope Once they see the giant red bear.
“Uh, Calliope, now would be a great time to get that door open!” Eugene shouts.
“I'm trying!” she tries another key, “C’mon! C’mon!”
Suddenly, the Kurloc charges, heading straight towards you all.
Sophie picks Calliope up by her collar, “Open the door, NOW!”
“I- I don't know which is the right key!” Calliope admits.
“Watch out!” you push calliope, Rapunzel and Sophie out of the way when the Kurloc charges, everyone else managed to get out of the way.
Varian grimaces when he sees your angry expression. “Uh oh, she’s gonna lose it…”
You pin Calliope to the floor, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN you're THE KEEPER OF THE SPIRE!? HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW WHICH IS THE RIGHT KEY!?” You scream. “Man, that felt good!”
Calliope cowards down, “Because i'm not the real keeper of the spire…”
Eugene joins with Varian, “Uh oh, Rapunzel's turn…”
Rapunzel's face turns angry as she grabs Calliope by the collar, “Are..you… kidding me!? What do you mean you're not the keeper!”
The kurloc manages to set itself free.
“Uh, girls you might want to-”
“STAY OUT OF THIS, EUGENE!” You both say in chorus.
“Guys watch out!” Cass and Sophie grab hold of you three and stop you from getting charged into by the bear. But the bear is still determined and chases after you all.
“You know, for a 2000 pound flesh-eater, he is quite nimble!” Eugene shouts.
Glancing up, you see Leo which gives you an idea, “Everyone in the trees!”
Everyone gets into some trees, it’s yours, Rapunzels and Calliopes turn.
“(__), grab my hand!” Rapunzel orders.
You do as you're told and grab Rapunzel's hand as she swings her hair for a branch and lands on it.
Calliope laughs in relief, “We made it!”
You both glare at her.
“Oh, right I lied to you two.” She rubs her arm.
Suddenly the tree shakes as the Kurloc barges into it.
“I-I can explain.”
Rapunzel scoffs, “Yeah, I’m sure you can! In twelve languages no doubt. And I'm sure you’ll find an excellent way to bully my sister as well! UGH! Listen, whoever you are, I trusted you! And we both had to endure your condescension and your insults! And the ones that annoyed me the most weren't towards me, but the insults you gave (__)!! For the love of duckling, she’s 14 and the most amazing person I've ever met! And I’m extremely lucky to be able to call her my sister.”
Your gaze went towards Rapunzel, did she just compliment you? And did she just call you her sister again?
Rapunzel continues, “And we both had to go against our better judgement because you said you were the keeper of the spire!!!”
“It’s spIrE.”
You growl, “SHUT UP!”
“Sorry.”
“Who are you!?” You ask.
“I’m the keepers assistant. Or at least I used to be. before that I used to be an incredibly talented street magician… I would perform my tricks in front of hundreds of people! Not really, it wasn't really appreciated. Then one day, the keeper, the REAL keeper came up to me out of the blue! And asked me to be his apprentice! I had a purpose and I didn't want to mess it up. I wanted to learn everything I could about the spire. I had too! It was going well, or at least I thought it was… but a few months ago… the keeper just… disappeared. And once again, I had no purpose. That is until you two came along. Seeing you two, people who have such a clear purpose, inspired me. Maybe I could be the keeper, maybe I could help you get that scroll!”
“Why didn’t you just tell us you weren't the keeper?” You ask.
“Would YOU have accepted help from an apprentice? Especially if you knew if she was abandoned by her own master?”
You think back to the day your dad left you at the orphanage then quickly shake your head, “I- I don't know, but we probably wouldn't be stuck up this tree right now.”
“That's actually a really good point.”
Rapunzel smiles,”Calliope, you still need that scroll piece.”
Calliope smiles too, “And I still have one key I haven't tried!”
“Great, that great news! Why dont you use it to open that door before that THING comes back!!” Eugene shouts as Rapunzel lowers you all down again.
Varian runs over and embraces you into a hug, “Are you okay, (__)?”
“I'm Alright, now everyone, quick! This way!” You signal for everyone to run back to the spire.
꧁______________________꧂
Back at the spire, the Kurloc gets to the door first.
“I specifically said, BEFORE the thing gets back!”
“Gotta give it points for persistence,” Cass says.
“I'll give it more points if it lets us go nice and easy.” Lance whimpers slightly.
The Kurloc pounces at everyone, making you all flee.
“That’s A LOT of points you just lost!”
Everyone gets behind a tree.
“We have to get it away from the door, ideas anybody?” Rapunzel asks.
“Don’t look at me, i'm just a fail magician! If it doesn't involve flash or slight of hand-”
Varians eyes widened, “Wait a second! Everyone, I think I have an idea.” He smirks mischievously.
꧁______________________꧂
The smirk had now landed on your face after Varian explained his plan. “Okay, positions everyone, Sir genius? Smoke clouds?”
“Of course, Milady.” He and Sophie throw down enough as many chemballs as they can to make it pretty hard to see while Lance and Pascal use a campfire to help.
“Calliope, your up.”
She smiles determinedly, “ KURLOC, PROTECTOR OF THE SPIRE! IT IS I, CALLIOPE! The errr, APPRENTICE OF THE KEEPER OF THE SPIRE, ARTISTE, EXTRAORDINAIRE!”
You and Rapunzel stand up and look at Calliope determinedly before running off.
“Hey, Uh, Rapunzel?”
“Yeah?” She responds.
“Did you actually mean what you said back there? You still count me as your sister? Even after everything I did a few months ago?”
Rapunzel stops running and throws her hair up to a brand and climbs up with you, she places her hands on your shoulders and looks straight into your eyes. “(__), you will always be my sister, no matter what. You're the most amazing kid I’ve ever met! We're all lucky to be able to say that you are our little sister.”
The biggest smile crawls on your face as you hug her.
Rapunzel giggles softly, “Now C’mon silly, Let's Do this.”
Calliope runs past, Rapunzel swings down and grabs her while the rest of the group use Rapunzel's hair to trip the Kurloc.
Meanwhile, you threw a raccoon trap down the cliffside, giving the bear a sticky but soft landing.
“Nice job facing the Kurloc, Calliope. And those tricks weren't so bad either.” Rapunzel winks at Calliope.
“There's more where that came from. just an ordinary coin…”
“Nah, maybe later.” Rapunzel laughs.
In the meantime, You Climbed down the tree to get two hands to take you down the rest.
You smirk, knowing who it is, “That was a good plan Sir genius.”
“Well, what can I say? The miracle of alchemy always saves the day, and that reminds me we need to free that Kurloc. But unfortunately, there is one problem that alchemy can’t fix.”
“Oh, and what's that?” You question.
A devious smirk crawls onto Varian’s face, “What should I get the birthday girl for her special day? I completely forgot.” He tried to keep a straight face.
“Oh really? Is that why you're being such a terrible liar right now? Tell me what you got pleasseee!!”
“Nope! It’s a surprisseee! Just like what you did to me.” He teases, making you pout.
“C’mon you two, let's go get this scroll.” Rapunzel places her hand on your shoulder, “Ready sis?” She smiles.
You grin, “Of course!”
꧁______________________꧂
Calliope slowly opens the door to reveal a massive spiral staircase up the spire.
Varian giddily runs up the staircase, dragging you along, looking at all the artifacts.
“Woah! Varian calm down! You're gonna make us trip!”
Calliope and Rapunzel laugh as they follow you both up but a lot slower.
At the top, a purple gryphic sat there. Rapunzel takes it as you all got back down.
“The third scroll piece… and you got us here! You did it!” Rapunzel smiles at Calliope.
“And I couldn't be more proud.” A man in white robes comes in.
Varian flinches at the phrase but quickly shakes his head. You notice and frown, taking his hand and intertwining your fingers with his.
Calliope gasps, “Keeper!” she runs over to the man.
“Calliope you are now the keeper of the spire. You passed my test! Congratulations!”
“What? But I don't understand.”
“I’m sorry for leaving you, but I had to remind you why I chose you.”
You too, shake your head at this situation.
“Are you okay?” Varian asks. “It doesn't feel like it.”
“What? How can it feel like it?”
“You're squeezing my hand, and probably about to break my fingers.” he winces.
Your eyes widen, “Oh my ducklings! Sorry… heh.”
You notice Rapunzel walking out, so you both do the same. Finally.
This just reminded you of a memory that haunts you every night.
“Thank you, (__) and Rapunzel. Thank you for everything!”
“I’m glad you found what you were looking for.” Rapunzel smiles warmly.
You come back to reality quickly, “I- uh, yeah, well, goodbye Calliope.”
“You still didn't find my sword.”
“Oh didn't I?”
Cas gasps and looks to see it still isnt there.
“Ha! Made you look!”
You quickly turn around and go back to the rest of the group as they drag Cass away from Calliope.
꧁______________________꧂
It's now dark out, and now the camp is set.
You're sat next to Rapunzel as she held the scroll piece, “We went through a lot of trouble for this.”
Everyone gathers around.
“It better be one amazing scroll piece,” Lance says.
Rapunzel opens it up to reveal a man in a hood.
“A guy in a hood? All this for a guy in a hood!!?” Eugene complains.
“Who do you think he is? Cass asks.
Varian looks at the familiar face, yet he couldn't grasp where he had seen it. Like he had seen it in one of his books...
“I’m not sure, but I have a feeling we're gonna find out.”
Once everyone has gone except you, you stare at the dancing flames of the fire and feel the horrible guilt buried inside you.
You glance down and frown.
“What's wrong, sweetheart?” Varian asks as he leans against the Caravan then soon walks over to you.
You blush at the nickname, “I- I promise I'll tell you when i'm ready, Varbear”
He kisses your forehead, “Alright, goodnight, Milady.” He goes back into the Caravan leaving you gazing into the dancing flames.
“And when you're ready, too.”
꧁______________________꧂
A/n
Oooo! Suspenseeee
Remember that last bit kids, it may be important later on in the story.