Dante made his way to his throne room with a stern scowl on his face.
A guard ran up to him quickly as he sat in his throne.
"Well? Any luck?" Dante demanded an answer as he glared at the guard.
The guard dropped to one knee as he bent his head forward. "We have had no sightings or reports on Ulla's location, your majesty. Five of the eight troops you sent out earlier this week have just returned and the other three are on route to arrive any day now."
The kind slammed his fist on the arm of his throne. "Send the troops back out right now! Once the other three return, allow them to restock supplies and then send them back! My sister is still alive and out there somewhere! I will not rest until she's dead or rotting in the dungeon! Get out of my sight!"
"Y-yes, your highness." The guard shot up and scampered out of the throne room.
A little boy pranced in with a bright smile on his face. "Father! Cami found a bunny in the gardens! Can we keep it?!"
Dante groaned as he looked at his son. "How many times do I have to tell you? Pets are a distraction! You are a prince! I will not have a filthy rodent running around my palace!"
"Mother would've let me have a bunny..." Orion whimpered as he looked down.
"Your mother is dead! It doesn't matter what she would or wouldn't have let you do! I'm your father and your king! You do as I tell you, boy! Understand?!"
Orion's eyes filled with tears as he looked down with a nod. "Yes, father..."
"Now clean yourself up! I can't have my son looking like a commoner. You shouldn't be playing with that pathetic little servant anyways," Dante grumbled as he rubbed his temple.
"She's not pathetic! She's beautiful and I love her!" Orion quickly defended his friend.
"What do you know about love?! You're only nine! And I will not allow my son to marry a peasant!" Dante snapped as he glared his son down.
"I know more than you do! You can't tell me that I can't love her!" Orion shouted, tears trickling down his cheeks.
The king stood and marched up to his son. "I am your father and your king! I control you, your life, your future, and everything in between. You may be my son, but if you so much as dare try to tarnish this kingdom by falling in love with a silly little peasant girl, I will not hesitate to end the both of your lives. Do I make myself clear!"
Orion quivered under his father's angry stare. "I understand..."
"Now get out!" Dante pointed to the door and Orion made a dash.
He shut the doors to the throne room and kept running as hot tears streamed down his face.
He ran out to the gardens where his mother was buried and collapsed in front of her headstone.
"I hate him, mom! I hate him! Why did you have to leave me with him?!" Orion sobbed as he curled up on the ground. "It's not fair..."
The young dirty blonde haired girl approached the prince carefully. "Orion?"
He didn't look up, only curling up tighter against his mother's grave.
Camila knelt down beside him and wrapped her arms around him comfortingly.
"He hates me, Cami. I don't know what I ever did to him," Orion choked out as he trembled. "He doesn't want me to be happy."
"I'm really sorry, Ori... I wish there was something I could do..." Camila murmured as she rubbed his back gently.
"He said that I'm not allowed to love you! He said that if I tried to marry you, he would have us both killed!" Orion looked up at her with wide, tear-filled eyes.
Camila looked at him with a frown and she sighed. "I'm sorry..." She felt the pendant on the necklace that he had given her.
When they were younger, Orion would always say that he was gonna marry her. Of course, their mother's thought it was adorable. When they got a bit older, Orion had given her a necklace as a promise that when they were older, he would marry her.
She wore the necklace every day, so excited for the day that Orion would marry her.
They were still young, but Camila understood that Orion was always gonna be there for her and she was always gonna be there for him.
Tears came to her hazel eyes as she looked down. "I understand that you can't marry me... it's okay... you'll get to marry a princess! And we'll still be best friends, right?"
"Of course!" Orion nodded quickly and hugged her close. "Best friends forever!"
💧
Aquaria smiled as she walked over to Varian. She hugged him and Ruddiger crawled up onto her shoulders happily.
"I wish Iduna could see this..." Eret said softly and Elsa looked at him with curiosity.
"What did you say?" She asked the man, not knowing if she had heard him right.
"Iduna, my sister. She would've loved to see this. She died during the attack on the forest," Eret spoke, looking at the ground.
"Iduna is our mother," Elsa replied and he looked up immediately.
"What? She's alive?" Eret held hope in his eyes.
Elsa solemnly shook her head. "No... she died at sea with our father six years ago."
"How did she end up in Arendelle? We all thought she had been killed," Livli asked, having been friends with Iduna before the attack on the forest.
"She escaped the forest with our father. I never really thought about the fact that she had no family," Anna spoke up as she looked at Eret and Livli.
"Wait, but that means Aunt Iduna really was my aunt!" Aqua realized excitedly.
"And it means that we're cousins!" Anna added with a huge grin on her face.
The two girls hugged each other and Eret laughed.
"You act just like her when she was young. I'm glad that she was able to have a family," Eret spoke and Livli hummed.
"Speaking of family, I think you should know Aqua, you're gonna be a big sister," Livli revealed and Aqua turned to her immediately.
"Really?!" Aqua gushed and Eret nodded with a laugh.
"Yep. In about six months," Livli replied as she put a hand on her stomach. "I'm early on so it's not that noticeable."
"I was gonna say! I had no idea!" Aqua hugged her mother. "I'm gonna be a big sister! Hey! You know what?! You guys should meet my parents! Or, you know, my other parents."
Livli hummed softly and smiled. "I would love to meet them. They must be wonderful people with how you turned out."
"As would I. I want to thank your parents for taking care of you," Eret said, smiling at his daughter.
"Well then, come on! Let's all go back to Arendelle! We have to tell everyone that it's safe to go home!" Aqua jumped up and down excitedly and Elsa nodded.
"Yes, let's go," the queen agreed.
💧
"Mom! Dad!" Aqua exclaimed as she ran to Frederic and Arianna with Varian trailing close behind her.
They both looked up and ran to meet her, hugging her tight.
"You're safe! Oh thank the stars! We were so worried!" Arianna cried in relief and Aqua smiled as she hugged them. "You too, Varian!"
The former queen pulled the alchemist into the hug as well and Frederic laughed lightly. "I'm proud of you both."
Aqua beamed before she cleared her throat. "We also have some people who would like to meet you."
Eret and Livli walked over and the royals looked at them with a smile.
"Mom, dad, meet my mom and dad," Aqua introduced happily.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Frederic spoke as he held out a hand for to Eret.
"Same to you," Eret replied as he shook the former king's hand. "I wanted to say thank you for taking care of our daughter. I also know that as much as we love her, you both are her true parents."
"You are as much her parents as we are. We understand the decision that you made was not an easy one. We understand what it is like to lose your daughter and have no idea if she is safe or happy," Arianna spoke and Eret nodded.
"She's grown into a beautiful and strong young lady," Eret commented as he put a hand on her shoulder. "But, I do wonder if she is a bit young to be dating this boy."
Frederic hummed as he nodded. "I don't fully trust the idea of them dating, but Arianna trusts Varian and they are practically inseparable. I couldn't split them up even if I tried."
Aqua huffed but smiled as she held Varian's hand.
"Though, he's a good kid. She definitely made a good choice," Frederic admitted and Varian blushed as he smiled.
"Yes. He seems to care for Aqua very much," Livli said as she looked at the teens.
As the adults spoke, Aqua stepped aside with Varian and let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry if I scared you," she murmured as she hugged him.
"Scared me? I was beyond scared. I thought I lost you forever and I didn't know what to do with myself. But, it's not your fault. I'm just so glad that you're okay," Varian replied gently as he snaked his arms around her waist, holding her close. "I love you."
"I love you too, Varian." Aqua smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.
Varian happily returned the kiss with a smile.
When they pulled away, Varian rested his forehead on hers.
"If you ever decide to fall off a cliff again, just know that next time, I'm coming with you. So, stay away from cliffs," Varian said with a light chuckle.
She giggled in return with a nod. "Noted. No cliffs."
"How did you even survive that fall? Even landing in the water from that height should've been enough to kill you or at least cripple you but you're perfectly fine," Varian wondered as he looked into her eyes.
"I'm not sure. I was panicking and before I could hit the water, all of the sudden I was floating. I don't know how I did it, but whatever it was, it stopped my fall for a moment which let me fall into the water afterwards with very little force," Aqua explained as she hummed softly.
"We can figure it out when we get home. For now, I think we should just relax. We've had enough excitement for a few days," Varian said, pecking her forehead with a sweet smile.
"Agreed. I can't wait to go home and just sleep," Aqua replied as she rested her head on his shoulder, a content smile pulling at her lips.
Varian nodded as he closed his eyes and relaxed with her in his arms.
💧
Aquaria flopped onto Varian's bed after they got home.
"And this is Varian's bedroom!" Aqua explained as Eret and Livli came into the room.
"This is very nice," Livli said as she looked around and Varian smiled as he walked over to his desk, leaning against it.
"Do you two normally sleep together?" Eret asked skeptically to which Livli nudged him.
"Yeah. Not every night, but we do stay over here or at the palace together most of the time," Varian answered honestly and Aqua nodded as Ruddiger curled up in her lap.
"They're always together. Usually if you find one of them, the other isn't too far behind," Quirin said from the doorway.
"Oh, dad! You're home!" Varian pushed off his desk and smiled as he walked over to hug his dad. "This is my dad!"
"Hello. My name is Quirin," the village leader introduced as he held out a hand to Eret. "May I ask who you both are?"
"My name is Eret and this is my wife Livli. We're Aquaria's birth parents. Aqua and Varian were just showing us around Corona because Arianna and Frederic invited us to live in the palace to be closer to Aqua," Eret explained as he shook Quirin's hand.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. Your daughter is a wonderful girl. You should be very proud of her. I already think of her as my own daughter," Quirin admitted with a warm smile and Aqua blushed a little as she smiled.
She really was part of the family, just as Varian and Quirin were apart of hers.
"We've heard that she's grown into a strong woman. We're incredibly grateful that she got to live the life she deserved. Even though I wish she had stayed with us, I know that this was what was in the best interest for her future, and we were right," Livli said as she looked at her daughter.
"On that note, would you both like to stay for dinner?" Quirin asked.
"Actually, my parents wanted to know if you wanted to come back to the palace with us for dinner?" Aqua spoke up as she looked at Quirin.
"Oh, of course. I'd love to hear all about your trip as well. It seems like it was very eventful," Quirin said while the princess stood up, holding sleeping Ruddiger in her arms.
"Come on! We've got a lot to tell you," Aqua said with a bright smile.