Varian held back shouts of pain. He was certain that the Baron had just shattered his wrist with his boot. He was only putting more pressure on it. Then the man lifted his other foot to stomp on his head and Varian covered his face with his free arm.
The man that Varian had previously thrown dirt in his eyes, suddenly leapt onto the man, knocking him off Varian. The latter laid there gasping for a shred of breath. Then he rolled over, picking up the vial of antidote, still intact. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Kid!" Andrew deflected an attack on Varian before he helped him up.
"I need to get the antidote to Lance," he explained.
"He's in the mansion in a guest room," Vex said, running up to him.
"How do you know this?" Andrew asked.
"A little bird told me." She gestured to an unconscious thug on the ground.
"Vex, show me where," Varian said.
She nodded and they ran into the mansion. Vex led the way to the room where they found Lance in a bed. "Lance!" He cried, shaking his shoulder a little.
"Lance, wake up. Say something, anything-"
"Clovis. You grew a goatee. Heheheh."
"His tongue is swollen." Varian poured the liquid in his friend's mouth.
Vex leaned over. "Think he'll pull through it? Looks pretty dead to me."
"Clovis. You shaved your goatee…"
"Do I have facial hair?" Varian patted his chin, but remembered that he had gloves on.
"Not even a shadow, kid."
They waited for a few minutes until the door swung open. Cassandra and Rapunzel ran through, pulling Varian into a hug. "Ow! My wrist!"
"You're hurt!" Rapunzel cried. "Your cheek is swollen too."
"I'm fine. I've had bruises before," Varian said.
"Let me wrap up your wrist for you," Cassandra offered. She found some bandages in a drawer and took off Varian's glove. She wrapped it while they waited for Lance to show signs of recovery.
"Everything is all dealt with," Andrew said as he walked in with the others.
Eugene wrapped an arm around Rapunzel. "Hey, Varian. That was pretty awesome when you got that antidote."
"Don't encourage him," Cassandra warned.
"For pulling a stunt that you know full well you would pull?" Varian retorted, but then he smirked. "I learned from the best, didn't I?"
She tightened the bandage and Varian hissed. "Don't follow my example."
"So what's with the lady with the face paint and the muscle man?" Eugene asked, pointing a thumb at Adira and her brother.
"I am Adira. Look, I am a friend. And I am here to make sure you get to the end of this journey you're embarking on." She hands Rapunzel a piece of a scroll. "Listen, I don't have all the answers. But now that I've seen all that I have, I have no doubt. These rocks are not looking for you as I had first assumed."
"They're looking for me," Varian said.
"Exactly. We thought the one who bore the moon powers was dead. That is until today."
"Why did you think that the moon holder was dead?" Rapunzel asked.
"It is true. I never found the body, but your crib was stained in blood and the scratches indicated there was a wild animal," Adira's brother began.
"You! You're the man from the painting in Old Corona," Varian exclaimed suddenly.
"And you are the boy in the painting." The man stepped forward.
"What painting?" Cassandra asked.
"The one in Old Corona. When Lady Caine kidnapped me, there was a painting of the former mayor of Old Corona and his wife and child."
"Quirin and Ulla, my Mom's old friends," Rapunzel said.
"When we saw the rocks going crazy, we figured the moonstone was trying to unite with the sundrop, but now that we know that Quirin's son is alive, we now know that it's trying to unite with its human vessel."
"Son?" Cassandra looked at Varian and Quirin. Varian's eyes widened with the realization. That was when they noticed the tears in Quirin's eyes.
"Well, he looks exactly like Ulla and blue hair isn't normal," Adira said.
"Varian-"
"I need some air." Varian pushed past them.
"Varian," Cassandra started to follow, but Rapunzel set a hand on her shoulder.
"Give him a second to breathe."
"I don't get it," Vex started. "Shouldn't he be excited he has a father?"
"It's... Complicated," Rapunzel said. "You see, Varian grew up thinking his mother was Gothel. So did I. When I found out she wasn't my mother, it was shocking. And we've assumed Varian might not have been her son, but to hear it for real is probably that shock all over."
"Not to mention Gothel wasn't the best parent and let's just say his adoptive father was less than charming," Cassandra added, crossing her arms. She walked up to Quirin. "So I'm going to set this straight right now. If you hurt him or force him to be something like your son when he's not ready then I will make sure you won't be around to do so. You let him decide if he wants to be your son."
"Cass, stop threatening people. You don't know how hard this is on both parties. Remember how it was on my parents?" Rapunzel said.
"I do. But I always remember what Fredric did to him. To all of us."
"You can rest easy knowing that I am not Fredric," Quirin said bitterly. It was apparent that the name was not one he saw as a friend like they had believed. He reached in his pocket and pulled out another part to the scroll. "See to it that he gets this."
Cassandra took it with a curt nod. Adira and Quirin left and the others helped take Lance back to the caravan where he would sleep off the rest of the poison.
Even Varian came walking back. He sat on a log. Rapunzel and Cassandra sat on either side of him and pulled him into a hug. He gave a tired chuckle. "Thanks."
"Hey, we're going to be with you the whole time. You don't have to worry. No one is going to make you decide anything. You take all the time you need," Rapunzel said.
"And if you ever need it, I can punch anyone of them into the ground," Cassandra added.
Varian let out a laugh. "I know."
"Here. He wanted me to give you this." Cassandra set the scroll in his hand. "No idea what it says, but if anyone can figure it out, it's you."
"I wonder what it's going to be like... The Dark Kingdom."
"I guess we'll have to find out," Rapunzel said.
Cassandra: We're gonna walk down that path and over the rise
Varian: Guess we'll discover just where our destiny lies
Andrew: Who cares how dark it'll be
Eugene: 'Cause I got you
Rapunzel: You got me
Eugene and Rapunzel: So let's go see where this whole thing's going
Everyone: Next stop, anywhere!
Varian: Headin' where I'm supposed to be
With you close to me
Everyone: Next stop, anywhere!
Cassandra and Andrew: Facin' every jeopardy
Linked inseparably
Everyone: Next stop, anywhere!
Eugene and Rapunzel: Though it may get rough for us
We're enough for us
Everyone: Next stop, anywhere!
Cassandra and Raps: And the world is waitin'
Varian: I feel it waitin'
Cass, Raps, Varian: With new adventures to share!
Everywhere
Eugene, Andrew: Everywhere
Everyone: Everywhere!