It was an early morning about a week after the coronation, and just about the entire kingdom knew about Rapunzel's hair, although we still had no idea why it was back. I decided to have Cassandra and Rapunzel meet me in the garden, so I could tell them about my plan to get data on Rapunzel's hair.
"So why'd you call us here so early in the morning?" Rapunzel asks, sitting down on the steps of the gazebo.
"I think I know someone who can help us get some more information on your hair," I say.
"What? Who?"
"It's my friend Varian." I smile.
"Isn't he that wizard from Old Corona?" Cass asks.
"Oh no...he's not a wizard. He's an alchemist." I quickly correct her. I knew how much Varian hates to be called a magician or wizard. Basically, he doesn't like to be called anything that has to do with magic.
"I think it's worth a shot to go see him," Rapunzel says.
"Yeah, alright." Cassandra crosses her arms over her chest. "But we have to be discreet. Nobody can find out that I snuck you out, Raps."
"Nobody will find out, Cassandra." She reassures.
"Well if we're going to do this, we'd better get going. This might be a long trip."
:-:-:-:-:-:-:
I look at myself in the mirror and question my outfit choice. When Cassandra first heard that I'd be allowed out of the castle, she took it upon herself to find me a casual outfit that was like what the people of Corona wear. I've never worn anything that wasn't a fancy princess gown that reached the floor, so I was surprised when she brought me something so...normal.
My outfit consisted of a white short-sleeved blouse and (fc) skirt that reached my knees. A black corset with silver buttons wrapped around my torso and I was also given a pair of matching boots. A belt with a small bag attached to the side loosely hung down from my waist. I just left my hair down and slipped the pocket watch from mom into the small bag.
I smile at myself in the mirror. This was the me that could go out and explore the world. The me that wasn't trapped in the castle. The me I want to be. I look over at Dandelion. "You want to come? I know that you must be tired of this castle, too."
Dandelion happily nods and hops into my arms. She nuzzles my cheek, and I kiss her furry head. "Glad to hear it. Let's go meet up with Cassandra and Rapunzel."
:-:-:-:-:-:
As Cass, Rapunzel, and I rode up to Varian's house, Rapunzel shivered in worry.
"So this is where Varian lives. It seems cozy! In an 'I wish I would've said goodbye to my loved ones before I left' kind of way." She says as we walk up the front steps.
A strange green smoke leaked from underneath the doorway. I slowly open the large wooden door and walk inside to a dark room where a single door with purple gas leaking from inside, stood. We walk towards the door and Rapunzel steps on a tripwire, which triggers a machine to throw a strange pink ball at us, which explodes and covers our feet with some type of goo.
"What is this stuff?!" I gasp, trying to pull my feet free.
"I have no idea!!"
Suddenly, from the shadows, steps a big, bulky, figure with some type of mask. "What do you want?!" It demands in a deep, echoey voice.
"Uh hi, sorry to disturb you, but we were hoping you could help me with my hair?" Rapunzel meekly asks.
"Wait a minute..." the figure mumbles, approaching me. He removes his mask and reveals himself. "(Yn)?"
I smile. "Varian?"
"This is Varian? The person who can help us?" Cassandra asks, putting her hands on her hips.
"Rapunzel, Cass, I'd like to introduce you to my good friend, Varian."
"Great, can we move along to the part where he releases us from this goo?"
"What is this anyway?" Rapunzel asks.
"Oh! It's-It's a chemical compound of, uh, my own design, thankyou." Varian says, taking off his coat. "Uh, see, we have a bit of a critter problem here, and, through the miracle of modern alchemy, I have found a humane way to solve the problem." He takes out a vial and sprinkles the compound onto the goo, and frees a raccoon that wandered into the lab.
I smile to myself as I watch how excited Varian became as he talked about alchemy.
"This is riveting, but could you get us out of here?" Cass asks, clearly sounding annoyed.
Varian pats his apron trying to find the vial as he talks to himself. "Ha, where is that neutralizing parti-OH! Get outta here!" He exclaims, removing the raccoon from his lab once again, right as Dandelion hops into the room. "Wait, what are you doing here?" He asks the rabbit.
"I brought her along. I hope that's okay." I nervously say.
"She's welcome here. I'm just not okay with certain animals who steal all my food!" Varian says, shouting the last part at the raccoon, who was already trying to climb in through an open window. Varian sighs and walks over to us. He sprinkles the particle on the goo, causing it to evaporate and free us.
Varian nervously chuckles. "I am so sorry, Your highness." He says clumsily bowing to Rapunzel.
I giggle. "Varian, you don't need to be so formal!"
"(Yn)'s right. Just 'Rapunzel' is fine." Rapunzel smiles.
"Wow. Really? Okay. So fantastical stories of your hair returning have spread throughout Corona. Yeah, people say it's magic, but personally, I don't really believe that. Now as (yn) had probably mentioned I am a man of science, specifically, Al-"
"Alchemy. We know and now listen kid, we need your help but let me make something clear: what happens here stays here. You got it?" Cassandra says, grabbing Varian by his shirt collar.
"Cass! Don't be so rude! We can trust Varian. Right?" I turn to face him.
"You can trust me."
"Great!" I run over to Varian and wrap my arms around him. "I've missed you so much, Var. It's been forever since you've been to the castle!"
"Yeah! I'm not really sure why my dad hasn't been having his usual meetings with the king. He never mentioned anything to me."
"Really? I thought he told you everything."
"So did I."
Cassandra clears her throat.
"Oh! right!" Varian chuckles. "Let's head to my examination table. Right this way, your high—Rapunzel."
Varian leads us deeper into the lab and has Rapunzel lay down on a long wooden table. Varian takes out a large magnifying glass and studies her hair. I sit on the edge of the table watching Varian work, and Dandelion sits next to me, curiously observing the young alchemist.
"Oh, yes. This is...it's very...long." Varian says, moving the magnifying glass along Rapunzel's hair. "Oh no, don't worry, your highness—Rapunzel. I am sure that I, Varian, can unlock the mystery of your hair with the power of science!!" Varian heroically points a hand to the sky, right as the magnifying glass swings around and bonks him in the back of the head. "Ow!!" He rubs the spot.
I cringe. "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah yeah...no sweat, it's just a little..." Varian looks at his hand where blood from his head sat. His eyes widen and he instantly faints.
"What happened to him?" Rapunzel quickly asks, sitting up.
"Varian has a hemophobia. Basically, he can't stand the sight of blood." I explain, quickly sitting up and running over to where he fell.
"Ooh...Maybe I can heal his head with my hair?" Rapunzel suggests. "If it's back it must still have healing properties."
"That could work. Let's move Varian off the floor first." I say, kneeling down and trying to drag him over to a chair. Cassandra sees me struggling, picks up Varian in her arms, and sets him in a chair. I rub the back of my neck, embarrassed. "T-That works too."
Cass and I wrap Rapunzel's hair around Varian's head, and Rapunzel starts singing some sort of healing incantation. Varian slowly wakes up and looks at the golden hair on his head. He glances at me with worry, but I give him a reassuring smile.
"Better?" Rapunzel asks as she finishes the song.
"Oh, yea—NOO!" He cringes when he sees his blood on his hand.
"Huh...doesn't that usually work?" I ask.
"Yeah." Rapunzel examines a strand of her hair.
"Well, silver lining, we've acquired some critical data about your hair: It no longer possesses its legendary healing power." Varian stands and holds Rapunzel's hair up. "Progress!" He says with a smile. "Now, let's figure out exactly what this hair is made of."
Varian leads us to another machine. "This machine can analyze any substance for chemical makeup by topic, composition, and structural integrity."
I walk up to the machine and run my hand along its wooden side in awe. "This is amazing! Where'd you get this, Var?"
"Thanks, but I built it myself." Varian proudly places his hands on his hips.
"Nice!" Rapunzel exclaims.
Varian steps off the platform and walks to a controller. "If I'm right, this should tell us all there is to know about your hair." The alchemist then turns to me. "(Yn), can you please make sure that Rapunzel gets safely strapped in?"
"I can do that, but Varian, are you sure this machine is safe?"
"Of course. I'm an expert. Everything will be fine." He reassures me.
"Oh phew. I was worried for a second there..." I chuckle.
"Raps, are you sure you want to-Rapunzel?!" Cassandra quickly looks around until her eyes land on Rapunzel, who I've already strapped into the machine.
"Let's do this."
Varian grabs ahold of the levers to control the machine. "Okay! Rapunzel, now um, this may get a little..."
Rapunzel finishes for him. "...Exiting?!"
Varian and I exchange a nervous glance when I look up at the sharp tools attached to the machine. "Um sure...yeah...that's a good word for it..."
I check Rapunzel's straps one more time and send Varian a thumbs-up, who then pushes the levers forward, starting the machine. I quickly pick up Dandelion and dart off of the platform over to where Varian was standing.
The machine begins shaking and spinning around, pulling Rapunzel's hair in every which way. "Woah!!" Rapunzel exclaims as she's tipped upside-down. Then, just as quickly as it started, the machine stops and a little bell dings on a modified clock.
"And there we are! Done!" Varian announces.
Rapunzel wearily glances at the clock. "All right, not super-fun, but it's over." She says, sounding relieved.
Varian sheepishly chuckles. "Oh...sorry...yeah I meant done with the first test...but don't worry! Only eighty-six more to go!" He nervously glances over at me and smiles, pushing another lever forward.
"Eighty-six tests?" I ask.
"Heh, yeah. There was no possible way to gather all of the necessary data without splitting up the tests into so many parts." Varian shrugs.
"So the machine can analyze anything?"
"Yup. Wait, why?"
"Well, my mom gave me this compass and she said something about it helping me..."
"Release her, hair stripe!!" Eugene exclaims, kicking the door open and pointing at Varian.
We all look at Eugene. I awkwardly smile, and Rapunzel does the same. "Eugene!" She worriedly says. "Hey...."
"Blondie, you're okay!" He says, sounding relieved. Eugene's expression suddenly becomes cross. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"
Rapunzel looks at Cassandra and me for help, but we only shrug. I was as lost as her. None of us were expecting Eugene to follow us.
"Wait a minute...even (yn) knows your secret?! You're trusting a fourteen-year-old over me?!" Eugene scowls when he sees me standing beside Varian.
"Eugene, it's not like that!"
"You know what? I don't care, I'm getting you out of there!" Eugene comes marching over.
Varian's face suddenly lights up. "Hey!! You're Flynn Rider!!"
I grin. Varian had looked up to Flynn since he was a little boy. He would bring Flynn Rider books to the palace so we could read them together, and he would always talk about them. We would even re-enact some of the scenes from the books! Flynn Rider was Varian's hero growing up.
"No. You don't know what you're talking about. I've never seen you before in my life. You can't prove anything!" Eugene defensively crosses his arms over his chest.
Varian lets out a dorky giggle. "Heh heh, I'm your biggest fan!!" He runs over to a green curtain placed against the wall. He opens it, revealing all of the Flynn Rider books he would bring to the castle when we were kids, and several wanted posters. "See?"
We all stare at him for a moment. "Hey now, Flynn Rider, nice to be met." Eugene smugly says.
"I used to see your wanted posters all the time! You're my hero!!" Varian happily squeals again. I smile and walk over to him, as I place my hand on his back to try and calm him down. "(Yn)! You never told me you knew the Flynn Rider! You've been holding out on me!" Varian gasps.
"It never came up," I say with a chuckle.
Varian gathers all of his books and walks over to Eugene. "I've read every single book about you!" Varian then accidentally runs into Eugene, knocking all of the books everywhere.
Eugene takes one off of his head. "Oh...well, um...you see...that's not actually me. I just took the name from the book.."
"Hey!" Varian says holding up a book and some type of energy sword. "Remember the time you beat that evil knight, Blind Fool?" Varian begins swinging around the sword, knocking various items off of shelves and tables, as Eugene tries to explain that he isn't actually Flynn Rider.
Without thinking I run up and grab Varian's gloved hand. "Varian, wait!" I quickly say. "You're gonna hurt someone!"
Varian glances over at me. "Oh, sorry." He nervously chuckles, hiding the sword behind his back. His eyes slowly wander to my gloved hand that was still tightly gripped onto his. In sync, our cheeks turn pink and we quickly separate our hands.
"Someone please explain to me who this child is."
"I'm Varian!" He says, turning to face Eugene and in the process bumping a beaker filled with pink liquid with his sword. The beaker falls over and blows up, sending pink gas into the air.
"Are you three okay?" Cassandra asks, rushing over.
I let out a cough and nodded. "Yeah, we're fine."
Just then, the entire room begins rumbling, almost like a miniature earthquake. Almost as quickly as it started, it stopped.
"What was that trembling?" Eugene asks, walking up to Varian.
"Trembling? I didn't notice any trembling." Varian quickly says, looking away from Eugene. "Oh! I almost forgot to get the spectrum metric press. It's the only way I can read the results of the test. Flynn Rider, wanna come with?"
"Oh no." He says, crossing his arms.
I elbow Eugene in the arm.
"Ow!"
"Hey, if-if you come, I can show you something really special, but um, you've got to keep it a secret," Varian says. I smile to myself at Varian's efforts to impress 'Flynn Rider'. He's such a dork.
"You want to tell me a secret?" Eugene asks, clearly excited to be trusted with private information. "Did you hear that everyone? Varitas..."
"Varian!!" Varian says, sticking his head back through the door.
"Varian, a complete stranger, wants to tell me a secret!" Eugene exclaims, waltzing out of the room.
I roll my eyes and walk up next to Cassandra and Rapunzel.
"How many tests do you have left?" I ask Rapunzel, sitting down on the platform.
"Fifty-two." She says with a sigh, right as the machine begins picking up chunks of her hair and twisting them around. "Well, we have time to kill. So how did you even meet Varian, (yn)?"