Varian, Eugene, and Edmund were walking in front of the three horses and I was still on the one Rapunzel let us borrow. I was reading the Corona history book while the guys all talked about the Flynn Rider books. "And-and do you remember when Flynn Rider says, The kingdom and I aren't exactly simpatico at the moment?" Eugene asked and the other two said yes. "And people think it's a kid's book." Varian said and I saw him cross his arms over his chest. "Adults everywhere appreciate the nuance of Flynn Rider's adventures." Edmund said and I heard something rustle around us. "U-Uh...Eugene?" I asked softly and Eugene had heard it too. My mouth was quickly covered and I was forced off of the horse I was on. My hands were forced behind my back and I struggled to get out of them. I watched as my book fell onto the ground making me loose my page. "Shh, shh, shh. Quiet. I don't think we're alone." Eugene said softly to Varian and Edmund. "Right again, Rider. Or is it Eugene?" A man with red sideburns said as he tied my hands behind my back pulling out a dagger in front of me. "Don't ask." Eugene said and Varian looked at me and mouthed, are you okay, to me. The man's hand slipped down my mouth slightly. I took my chance and bit down as hard as I could. "Ahh!" He yelled and I ran over to Varian. "Why that little..." He said and Varian quickly untied my hands.
"Edmund, long lost father Varian, scary genius, (Y/n), witch, meet the Stabbingtons, lifelong nemeses." Eugene said and Varian pushed me behind him and next to Eugene. I looked at both of the men coming closer and closer to us. "Edmund claims he's my father, but you know, I actually have more of a history with you guys. So in a way, this is kind of like a family gathering for me!" Eugene said and I looked up at him. "Awe you consider us family?!" I asked him with sparkling eyes and he nodded. "Sapphs, did you hear that? We've been upgraded to family!" I said shaking his shoulders lightly. "I say this calls for a celebration." Varian said and I giggled. "Say, who wants some pudding?" Eugene asked. "I can tell he wants some pudding." Edmund said before sending a handful of pudding to the man's face. "He can tell a lot by looking into a man's eyes." Eugene said before kicking the man in the face. "Oh!" I cheered with a laugh. "Bullseye!" Varian said before pulling out a few different colored chem balls. I watched as he threw one at the other man and I faced the one who grabbed me.
I smirked at him as I let green surround my fingers and forearms. "This is for making me lose my place in my book." I said and vines grew from the ground and wrapped around his limbs. "Good job! Keep him distracted!" Eugene said to me and I nodded. The red haired man glared at me before easily ripping the vines on his arms into two. My eyes widened at the sight as he did the same with his legs. "U-Uh, okay, um, that's never happened before." I said slightly worried. I tried to hold him down again, but it was no use. "U-Uh, Eugene." I said as I watched the man go after him. Eugene picked up a large piece of the tall grass and held it like a sword. "Ha, ha! En guarde!" Eugene said before the man lunged at him. I laughed as Eugene hit him in the butt with the fake sword before he started charging at him. Eugene got punched in the face and fell back into the tall grass. I raised my hands up as layers upon layers of vines wrapped themselves over the man's feet making him fall to the ground.
He cut the vines covering him and went after Eugene. I turned around to see Edmund and Varian working together to fight off the other man. I giggled slightly as I saw Varian drop a couple of his chemical orb things and they made a mess on the ground. I turned back to see Eugene popping his head out of the grass. Not long after the man did the same. "Hello!" Eugene said before kicking him out of the grass right towards me. A soft blue covered my hands as I raised them making a large gust of wind go under him. He was lifted up into the air before being dropped straight to the ground in front of Eugene.
"Ha! Didn't see that coming, did you?" Eugene said right before the man jabbed his dagger into the grass. "Hey, how's your day going?" Eugene asked from a different side of the grass making me laugh. The man quickly sliced through the grass and Eugene appeared behind him by his feet. "Missed me. Little help here?" Eugene asked me and I nodded. Green surrounded my fingers and a single vine quickly wrapped around the man's leg. Eugene pulled it hard making the man fall into the splits. "Ooh, that has gotta hurt." I said wincing from the sight. A somewhat small explosion was heard and I saw the other man come flying into the other. Both of them were knocked down a cliff and Eugene cheered. "Yes!" "I told you all you needed is a little alchemy." Varian said with a smug smirk towards Edmund. We all helped untie the horses. "They're not going to stay down for long. We'll need to buy more time." Eugene said. "I have an idea." Edmund said and I picked up my book from the ground. Edmund tied the wind up crow toy to the grass using a yo-yo. We all started running once it was set up.
"Edmund, that was ingenious!" Eugene said and Varian nudged my shoulder and gave both the men a knowing look. "Ah, yeah. Ingenious." Eugene said awkwardly and I saw Varian roll his eyes. We all started walking and Edmund ran up next to Eugene. "Ha! Who knew this bag of lucky baubles would come in so handy?" Edmund said and Eugene laughed before there was a slight pause.
"The sash. Wait." Eugene said and Varian and I caught up to see what was wrong. "The sash?" I asked and Varian and I both saw what must be the missing sash in Edmund's satchel. "You still this from my room?" Eugene said pulling it out of the bag. "You had this the whole time?" "Well, yes. I did. It was I who wrote the ransom letter and sent us on this errand." Edmund said and Eugene turned around practically fuming. "This is an errand? We're stuck in the middle of nowhere with no food, no weapons, and two maniacs on our tail, but, yeah, lovely little errand this is!" Eugene said furious and I held Varian's hand. "I wanted to be part of your life, Horace. And I thought a father and son...well and other's...trip might-" "Might what, huh? Make up for 24 years? And for the love of everything that is holy, my name is Eugene! You know what? Here's your sash." Eugene said shoving the sash into Edmund's chest. "Come on guys. We're heading back to town." Eugene said and Varian and I glanced at each other before looking at Edmund. We both waved goodbye to him and got on our horse.
The ride was incredibly awkward. Varian and I didn't know what to do to make Eugene feel better. Instead of trying to strike up a conversation, I went back to the history book. It took me awhile to find my page, but I succeeded. Eugene was muttering to himself about how he couldn't believe he actually got dragged out here. And how we all got dragged out here for nothing. "I can not believe I fell for that nice-guy act." Eugene said before a caw caught all of our attention. I looked up from my book to see Hamuel with a dagger tied to his foot. "What are you do-wait. I know that dagger. The Stabbingtons." Eugene said and Hamuel hit a tree hard. "What do you wanna do, Eugene?" He asked and Eugene groaned turning Max around. "Aw. Dads are more trouble than they're worth." Eugene said and I giggled. "Agreed." "Uh, no, not agreed. Dad's are important. Any family is important." Varian said and Eugene groaned again. "Come on, guys. The old man needs us." Eugene said before taking off with Max. Varian flicked the reigns and our horse started following Eugene.
"Edmund!" "Edmund?" "King of the Dark Kingdom?" I called out last. We spotted Edmund's horse and quickly approached it. "Hey, Domino. Where's Edmund?" Eugene asked softly to the horse. "Right here, sonny boy!" The man with sideburns came out with Edmund. "You want him? Come and get him." The man said and a large shadow casted down on all of us. "Max, kids, look out!" Eugene said as he shoved all of us out of the way. A giant boulder crashed down right where we had been standing. "Eugene!" Varian and I both yelled and the man with an eyepatch jumped to the ground. "The great Flynn Rider is gone. Now, for the kids." The one with sideburns said and both men turned to look at Varian and I.
"Come on! We have to go!" Varian said tugging on my arm. "No! We-we have to do something!" I said as I ran towards the giant rock. "Even if Eugene survived that, there's no way just the two of us can move that thing!" My fingers brushed against the rock and a soft voice whispered in my ear. 'You really think it's his time?' My eyes widened and I was about to say something before I was thrown over someone's shoulder. "H-he's-" Varian placed me on Max's back quickly. I stared with wide eyes at the boulder. The men getting closer and closer to us. Varian jumped on Max and he took off. "H-he's alive." I said softly and Varian stared at me stunned. I turned around so I was facing him and placed my hands on his shoulders. "He's alive!" I yelled with a smile and Varian nodded. "Come on Max! You heard her! Let's go get help!" Max neighed and ran faster.
Max kept running before running straight through a bush and halting. I looked up and saw Rapunzel and Fidella. "Max? Varian? (Y/n)?" Rapunzel asked and Varian spoke up. "Eugene and Edmund are in trouble. Come on! We have to hurry!" Varian said urgently and Rapunzel nodded. "Give me the details. What are we dealing with?" Rapunzel asked as we all took off to where Eugene was. "Crazy twins were after us, found out Edmund had the sash all along, had to go rescue Edmund, twins part 2 featuring a giant boulder! They dropped said boulder on Eugene. He's alive, but I don't know if he's underneath it, behind it, or what." I said quickly catching Rapunzel up to speed.
We quickly made it back to where the action had happened only to see no one else was here. "Eugene?" Rapunzel called out. "Rapunzel, I'm in here!" Eugene called out and I got off Max with Varian. We watched as Rapunzel used her hair and wrapped it around the horses. "Pull!" She yelled and the boulder soon cam crashing down. I smiled as Eugene walked out of a small cave with Domino and the horse Rapunzel had lent us. "Eugene!" Rapunzel yelled giving him a giant hug. I bounced on the balls of my feet waiting for her to pull away so I can hug him too. She soon pulled away and Varian and I both hugged Eugene tight. "Thanks you two." I hugged him tighter. "You scared us!" I said finally pulling away with a pout. "I know, and I'm sorry." Eugene said and we all glanced over to a moving log. "All right, that's it. No more Miss Nice Princess." Rapunzel said and we all hopped onto a log. She used her hair on a lever making more water come out behind us. "Just for the short term. After we deal with these guys, I am totally nice again." Rapunzel said with a smile. "I wasn't worried, but thanks anyways!" Eugene said and the water pushed the log forwards making me stumble into Varian. "Careful, milady." He said holding my arms steady.
The log dropped suddenly and I cheered while the others screamed. "This is so much fun!!" I yelled with my arms in the air laughing. "I think I'm gonna vomit." I heard Varian say next to me as he covered his mouth. We approached the log with Edmund and the Stabbingtons. Eugene jumped off our log onto the other one.
"Rider!" "Yep, still alive. You dropped a boulder on me, and you missed. I mean, who misses with a boulder, really?" Eugene said and the Stabbingtons went to attack Eugene, but he easily dodged them. "Horace, you're alive. And you came to rescue me!" Edmund said and both logs hit a bump. I laughed as Varian held onto my arm tightly. "Please tell me when this is over." He said and I laughed. "Well, what did you expect?" Eugene said while holding onto Edmund so he wouldn't fall off the log. Sideburns was about to use his dagger on Eugene when Rapunzel wrapped her hair around his hand, pulling it back. "Nice try." Rapunzel said and they were both hit with a large branch that the horses pulled back. "Yeah! Nice team work!" Eugene called to the horses.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, LOG JAM!" Varian yelled and pointing ahead of us. "Everybody, my log, pronto!" Rapunzel said and the horses quickly jumped over to us. "Oh, who am I kidding? They're like family, right?" Eugene said before going to grab the two men that had tried to kill him multiple times. "Son, we cannot sage these cretins in time. It's impossible." Edmund said and Eugene turned to him. "If something's not impossible..." "It's not worth doing!" Edmund and Varian finished and I smiled at him. He looked like he was going to hurl, but he still looked happy. Edmund ended up dropping the sash on the log. "The sash!" Eugene called out. "Leave it, Eugene." "Dad, you called me Eugene." Eugene said softly with a smile. "You called me Dad." Edmund said just as happily. "Guys, seriously?" Rapunzel asked and I looked down at the sash. I reached one of my hands out, white surrounded my fingertips and the sash. I concentrated on the sash only to hit a bump. The magic around my fingers vanished and the sash was left on the log.
Edmund made it safely onto the log and Eugene was sent flying over us. Rapunzel was quick and used her hair to grab him and one of the Stabbingtons. Behind us, logs fell, breaking the entire system. "Ha ha ha! This woman is amazing!" Edmund said and Eugene stood up. "I know! And she's getting so much better at her landings." Eugene said and Rapunzel smiled. Varian leaned over to my ear and whispered softly. "I think you're absolutely spellbinding." He said and I shoved his shoulder lightly as he laughed.
We were back safely on the ground. Pascal ran up to Eugene with the broken pieces of the sash. "You went out of your way to rescue us again?" Sideburns asked and Max glared at him making him sit back down on the log. "I guess my son believes in second chances." Edmund said and Varian shrugged his shoulders. "And third chances too." "I learned that from the best." Eugene said and he kissed the top of Rapunzel's hands. I leaned my head on Varian's shoulder. "Sapphs? Are we as cute as they are?" I asked softly and Varian hummed in thought for a moment. "No, we're definitely way cuter than them." He said before placing a soft kiss on my head. Not long after, we went back to the palace.
"Guys, check this out! Isn't he great?" Eugene asked as he wound up the toy crow. "Hey, hey, hey, you guys, I invented a move." Rapunzel said as she held up a yo-yo. "Ooh! Show us!" I said excitedly and stared up at her. "I call this one...stroll with a bloodhound." She said and threw the yo-yo down and I smiled at it. "Woah! That's so cool!" "Thank you, (Y/n). I've been practicing." Rapunzel said pulling the yo-yo back up into her hand. "Uh, Blondie, they actually already invented that move, actually. It's-" Rapunzel glared at him and Varian leaned over to Eugene. "This is where you choose life or death." "You know what? Never mind." Eugene said and we heard someone clear their throat.
Behind Eugene was none other than Edmund. "Edmund! Ooh! Ah, we were, uh, we were reminiscing. Not playing. Reminiscing. Like adults do, with my old toys." Eugene said awkwardly and Varian and I laughed. "I decided we didn't need that old sash, anyway. With (Y/n)'s brilliant idea, Xavier and I made you a new one." Edmund said handing him a white and gold sash with the Corona crest on it. "White and gold. Just like the Flynn Rider book." Eugene said softly. "It's one of my favorites, you know." Varian and I smiled as we watched both men hug.
"This is great and all, but I have a question. When were you guys going to tell me that Corona had a witch trial?" I asked and everyone turned to me confused. "Witch trial? Corona has never had a witch trial." Varian said and I quickly opened the history book up to the chapter I had been reading earlier. "Then why is this chapter in this Corona history book?" I asked showing the group the chapter. "There's even a drawing of the witch." I said turning a couple pages to show a picture of a woman on a cross with dark black wings coming out of her back. I looked up at the group and they all stared at the book even more confused.
"Wait...you guys seriously didn't know about this?" I asked and they shook their heads no. "(Y/n), may I ask where you got this book?" Rapunzel asked and I nodded. "I talked about wanting to learn more about Corona with Sunny. The next morning, I woke up to this on my nightstand. I'm not really sure where it came from." I said and Rapunzel nodded. "I would normally ask to borrow this book and ask my father about it, but that won't be any use to us." Rapunzel said and I nodded remembering how the King and Queen don't remember anything about anything. "Xavier tends to know a lot about this stuff. We can probably just ask him!" I said with a smile and everyone nodded. "Okay! It's settled then! We'll go ask Xavier about this soon. This is the first time we're not on a time crunch for this sort of thing." Varian said and I nodded. "Come on, Sapphs. Let's head to bed. Goodnight everyone!" I said picking up the book and Varian and I headed to my room for the night.
I stared down at the book in my hands. 'Why does no one know about this? Maybe once I finish the chapter, I'll understand more.' I thought to myself before flipping the book back open to where I had previously been reading.