Various inventors milled around behind the stage, waiting for their turn. Varian noticed Rapunzel, Maximus and Eugene standing with some big object and nodded to Adira before he walked over to her. "Hey, Sundrop." He greeted cheerfully.
"Varian, you made it in time!" She hugged him. "I'm really looking forward to what you're going to present!"
"As if I'd miss the chance to show up everyone here?" He asked teasingly.
"One of you will walk away with the greatest prize in all of the sciences. My approval." De Croix said from the other side of the curtain.
"Better get back." Varian took her hand and kissed it. "Until later, my fair lady."
She giggled, blushing a bit. "See you later."
He winked and walked off to his own invention, passing by Fernanda as he walked. He glanced at her and noticed she was eyeing him as well. He just smirked and then went to stand next to his hidden invention.
"As for the rest of you, may the universe show mercy...on your wretched souls." The judge continued.
"Talk about dramatic." Varian smirked at Adira as he stood next to her.
"Good luck!" The judge finished, and then it was the first person's turn. When the curtain opened to let the first guy through, he noticed that Cassandra was his assigned security guard and smiled. Such a big role, he was happy to see that she'd been given such a chance.
One by one, people showed their inventions. One by one, they were sharply rejected by the pompous judge.
A man came out with a device made to milk a goat. DeCroix turned to him and smugly asked, "Can it milk a cow?"
"No, sir!" The man replied.
"Next!" The judge said sharply.
One by one, people were rejected. One by one, people started to lose confidence. The only ones who still seemed to have it were Varian's group, Rapunzel's group, and Fernanda Pizzazo, the last of which was eyeing the other two groups smugly.
Varian narrowed his eyes at her.
"Oh, Pascal, we've had some missteps in the past, but I think this one is the winner." Rapunzel said, looking up at her large invention.
"You've got this in the bag, Blondie." Eugene assured her.
"Next!"
"Right." Rapunzel nodded and then walked to the stage. Varian gave her an encouraging smile as she passed him. As soon as she stepped out, there was wild applause, of course.
"Dangerously wet hallways, cold, wet clothes, wet hair that takes forever, and I mean forever to dry. All those things are yesterday's problems!" Rapunzel said on the other side of the curtain.
"Adira, I want you to keep a close watch on that woman when she steps up." He said quietly, nodding to Fernanda. "Something about her doesn't feel right."
"Say hello to the Mega Dry!" Rapunzel went on.
"Yes, Moon." She said quietly.
He looked over as Rapunzel had Eugene dump water on a dress, and then he held it up as Maximus started to run on something, making the device activate. "The Mega Dry uses cutting-edge equine technology to release a powerful, focused stream of air." She explained over the racket of the invention. "The result?"
The device came to a stop and Eugene proudly held up the dry dress. "What used to take hours to dry, now takes seconds!" Rapunzel said cheerfully.
"Hm." The judge seemed impressed. "Well, it's a contender. Next one."
"It's time." Adira smiled at Varian, and he nodded before they brought over their invention. "You ready?"
"Don't ask me that, I'll get nervous." He said, looking at her. "I'm fine. We got this."
She nodded and then they stepped out with the invention. "Behold, the power of alchemy!" He declared, as Adira pulled off the cloth with a flourish. "I give you, the Elemental Remogrifier! "
There were ohhs and ahhs and even the judge looked impressed. He smiled at Adira, who picked up a bag set next to the machine and started to pour the contents inside as he walked ove rto a lever and knelt to turn a wheel below it a bit as she pulled the bag up and held it at her side. "Here we go." He said to himself, then straightened up to grip the lever and pull it, starting up the device, which started to spin counter-clockwise. "The rotation causes friction, which heats the sand, while the counter-centrifugal force promotes particle compression." He explained as the device continued to run. "The end result?" He pulled the lever again, shutting it off, then walked over to reach into it. "Fifty pounds of sand turns into..." he pulled out a beautiful purple stone, "this."
The crowd gasped, ohh'd and ahh'd. He smiled brightly as he held up the element for all to see. "I'm calling this new element Rapunzium, for our beautiful princess."
"Aww!" Rapunzel said from backstage.
"That...was very impressive." The judge admitted. "A definite contender for first place."
Varian bowed at the waist and then went backstage with Adira and his invention, slipping the new stone into his pocket for later before he moved close to the stage, Adira taking up post on the other side.
Fernanda Pizazzo walked past him with her own invention. "Cute machine, kid, but let me show you how a pro does it."
Varian raised an eyebrow.
She approached the curtains, then threw down alchemy bombs, creating a pink smoke just like before as she threw open the curtains dramatically. "Everybody at this expo, make some noise!" She cried. "This is the momensational moment you've all been waiting for! But, first!" She yanked a rope she'd been holding and something was fired out of a strange device she had with her. "I give you...chocolate!"
Varian quickly caught one and opened it, eyeing her suspiciously. On the surface, it didn't seem too dangerous. Maybe just a bribe for favor. But, he had learned to always trust his gut, and he created a knife out of black rocks and cut into it carefully, gasping when he saw what was inside. "DON'T EAT IT!"
"What? Why?" Someone asked.
He held up the chocolate, the silver-green "cream" oozing out. "Because they're not chocolate!"
"What is this?" De Croix asked as the woman looked at him with wide eyes. "Did you put something in these chocolates?"
"Don't be silly, he must've done it himself!" She insisted.
People started breaking open their chocolates, finding the same strange "cream". She stepped back in alarm as Royal Guard came to apprehend her for suspicious substances. "Oh, come on, it's just a little bit of alchemy!" She insisted. "Just something to increase the endorphins in thechocolate!"
"Take her away!" The Captain ordered.
"You didn't eat any, right?" Cassandra asked De Croix with concern.
"I almost did." He cringed.
"I'm sorry, I should've never let it get near you." She said, bowing her head.
"You couldn't have known." He assured her. "We were all tricked by that...that..." He frowned. "How often has she done that to me?"
He cleared his throat. "Well, the contest must continue. It comes down to the two that actually managed to impress me. I will deliberate on this and let you know my final choice." He stepped to the side, clearly shaken by what had almost happened.
The woman's inventions and all the chocolates were confiscated and taken back to the castle. "Varian," The Captain walked up to him, "would you be willing to inspect the chocolates later?"
"Of course." He nodded. "Anything I can do to help the Royal Guard."
"Thank you." The Captain nodded, then went to continue taking the woman to a holding cell for questioning.
Adira walked over to rejoin Varian. "Well, that went well." She said with a shrug.
"Yeah, well, it could've gone much worse. I wish he'd decide already so I can get started on figuring out what's in those chocolates."
Rapunzel walked over to Varian. "You look nervous." She nudged him playfully. "Worried about losing to me?"
"Ah, actually, I was thinking of that woman." He smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I was thinking of someone else."
"Oh, I was joking, actually." She assured him."You'll probably win, I mean...that stone was beautiful."
He smiled and took it out. "I made it for you."
She blushed. "Really?"
"Yeah. I'm planning to put it on a necklace, if you want." He nodded.
"I am ready to declare the winner." De Croix said, and they nodded and walked up to the stage together.
He still looked shaken, and who wouldn't be? Everyone who had gotten a chocolate just learned that they were about to consume an unknown substance hidden in the safe, happy shell of a chocolate candy. She knew that everyone in Corona had a sweet tooth and wouldn't hesitate to pop that strange serum in their mouths.
"Well," he cleared his throat, attempting to maintain composure, "It was...very difficult to choose which is the winner but, after some deliberation, I have decided..." he cleared his throat, "I could not choose between them. One is sure to be of great use to anyone with large laundry loads, but the other is impressive and uses something common to make something valuable. Therefore, for the first time ever, I am declaring a tie." He gave them both blue "First Prize" ribbons. "Now, I...I believe I need to lie down. Security." He walked off and Cassandra walked off the stage with him.
"Right." Varian nodded as the cheering crowd started to disperse. "Adira, let's get the Elemental Remogrifier back to the lab." He looked at Rapunzel. "As much as I would love to celebrate with you, my Sundrop, we need to find out what this woman was planning. It might be best if you got somewhere safe. Eugene?" He looked at him as the man came over. "Make sure she's safe. The woman could have an ally."
"Right." Eugene nodded firmly. "Come on, Sunshine."
Rapunzel nodded and took Varian's hand before she kissed his cheek. "You be safe, too."
"Don't worry, I'll have Adira." He assured her.
She smiled worriedly and then headed off with Eugene, Maximus and Pascal.
Varian nodded and turned to Adira. "Come on, let's find out what we're dealing with."
--
Fernanda cried out as she was shoved into the holding cell. "Hey, you can't lock me up! You don't even have any charges!"
"That's why you're in a holding cell, not a prison cell." The Captain told her. "We're going to be inspecting your belongings, and our local alchemist is going to be studying your chocolates. As a matter of fact, we are required to search you, so I suggest you cooperate."
She tensed and backed away from him, clutchingat her chest. "Stay away! At least have a woman search me! I don't trust your men!"
He sighed. "Stan, go swap back with Cassandra. We need her help here."
"Yes, sir!" He saluted and headed off to find her.
Fernanda stepped back again, then started muttering to herself anxiously.
The Captain stood watch over her until Cassandra arrived. "We need youto search her." He told her. "Find out if she has anything else suspicious and confiscate anything of note."
"Yes, sir." She said, making sure not to call him "dad" around the prisoner. He walked out and closed the door and she turned to the woman. "Alright...it would be a lot easier for both of us if you just cooperate, so...you know, don't fight me, okay?" She walked towards her.
"Do people normally get searched like this when they're arrested?" She asked shakily.
"Well, yeah, to take any hidden weapons and stuff. You already made chocolate dangerous, who knows what you have?" She sighed. "Face the wall and place your hands against it."
The woman hesitantly obeyed. "You're a woman, so I can trust you not to take advantage of me, right?"
"No one on the guard will do that to you. They're all good, honorable men." She assured her, walking over to unfasten the woman's dress. "You're shaking...you're actually scared?"
She bowed her head and started to mutter to herself again, in a language Cassandra didn't know. She frowned and finished unfastening her dress, then pulled it open, reaching in to check for anything dangerous. She hiked up her skirt and reached around, making sure not to touch her breasts or between her legs.
"What's this?" She murmured, feeling something banging from around her neck. She moved one hand to the back of her neck and found the clasp, then unfastened it, catching it with her other hand before she pulled it out. "A necklace?"
The woman tensed as Cassandra opened the golden locket. "This looks familiar." She murmured, then set it aside with anything else she'd found. A little knife tucked in her boot, various alchemy bombs, her earrings, her bandanna, anything of note. Then she fastened her dress again and walked over to gather up the confiscated items. "We'll let you know what we find out."
Fernanda slumped to her knees, murmuring in that odd language again. Cassandra frowned and knocked on the door before it was opened for her and she stepped out. "Right, so...let's go through her stuff, I guess." She said as the door was closed and locked behind her.
They brought the stuff over to a desk and started to put it in a box. "Dad," Cassandra picked up the golden locket, "does this look familiar?"
He frowned and took it, then opened it up with a gasp. "It can't be. It was a good thing she was caught when she was! Now I am greatly concerned about the chocolates." He said grimly.
"Dad?" Cassandrafrowned.
"Cassandra, this is the emblem of the Separatists of Saporia." He said grimly.
Her eyes widened. "...Oh...wow. But, the last attack was...years ago! I didn't know they were still around!"
"It seems they are." The Captain clenched his fist around it. "The King must beinformed."
Cassandra nodded. "But...what do we do about her?"
"We find out if this was an attack, or if she was really just intending to shift the odds in her favor to rig a contest." He sighed. "And that's up to Varian."
--
When trying to determine what a serum was, you had two options: you could either give it a try, which was a stupid move, or you could go the long route and break it down to its separate components to find out what the effects may be. The latter had a pretty big chance of failure, so he was glad that he had several samples to work with.
Adira was his lab assistant, as always, and Ruddiger sniffed at the chocolates curiously. "Ruddiger, don't eat that." He said, lifting him off the table and setting him on the floor. "Be good, okay?" He straightened up and then got back to work, his lips pursed.
He worked for hours, draining chocolate ball after chocolate ball to try to get enough of the serum in one vial to work with, throwing away the contaminated chocolate and attempting to isolate it from the serum. It was getting late when he finally started to see some kind of reaction, but it wasn't anything he expected.
Whatever these components were, they weren't normal alchemy components. This wasn't a serum, this was a potion, he realized. "Okay, so that...that makes this a little harder." He murmured. "Potions are a whole other...uh...thing."
"'Thing'." Adira smirked.
He pulled his goggles up and rubbed at his eyes. "Hush. I'm tired. Been at this for hours with very little results. All I've managed to do is determine it's magic-based. I'm going to make something similar to my tester at home." He left the potion alone and went to start pulling out metal from boxes.
"Tomorrow." She walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Right now, you need rest. And you don't want to miss dinner, do you?"
He sighed and nodded. "Yeah." He walked over and shut off the burner, then headed for the door. "At least we determined that it's magic-based. As for the purpose of it...I don't want to use it on someone, but we may have to get a volunteer. I don't think it's a poison, at least."
"Hm..." Adira looked thoughtful.
"Well, maybe I'll just use Fernanda as a test subject." He shrugged and they walked out, closing and locking the lab behind them before they walked down the hall.
"Varian!" Rapunzel smiled as she turned a corner and saw them. "I was just on my way to get you for dinner!"
"What a coincidence, we were just on our way to see if there was dinner yet." He chuckled and took her hand. "Let's walk together."
She nodded and they continued back to the dining hall. "So...did you find out what it was?"
"Well, I found out what it's not. It's a potion, not alchemy." He looked at her. "This is magic."
Her eyes widened. "Magic? She knows magic?"
"Or knows someone that does. And it's not magic like yours or mine, this is something else, something less...raw. This is magic-circles kind of magic." He explained. "But, I heard that everyone that could do that kind disappeared years ago."
"Maybe the stories are wrong." Rapunzel frowned. "We'll have to talk to my father about it."
They walked into the dining hall and took their seats, Adira taking her usual seat next to Varian. "Varian." King Frederic greeted. "How are you doing?"
"Tired." He admitted. "I've been working on studying those chocolates."
"What have you found out?" He asked, his expression one of concern.
He sighed, running a hand through his bangs. "It's not a serum. It's not alchemy." He reached up to release the braided bun from its tie, so his braid hung down his back. "It's a potion. This is magic we're facing. And not the celestial kind."
The King's expression was grim. "I feared as much. We found evidence that the woman is part of a group of dangerous terrorists that specialize in alchemy and magic."
"I don't yet know what this potion does, but I don't think it's lethal." Varian went on. "Therefore, I would like to propose that she be a test subject for it."
"Whoa, is that ethical?" Eugene frowned.
"About as ethical as her planning to use it on anyone who ate one of those chocolates." Varian shrugged.
The King nodded. "Alright, I give permission for you to do so."
Varian nodded. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll do so tomorrow."
He nodded. "On a lighter note, I heard that you and Rapunzel both got the first prize at the expo today."
"Heh, in the end, he couldn't decide between both of our amazing inventions." He looked at Rapunzel with a smile.
"I've already set it up for use for laundry tomorrow." Rapunzel said cheerfully. "Those clothes will be dry soooo fast."
"Plus, it'll be nice to be able to get dried off while on the way in after a rain." Eugene chuckled.
"I'm pleased to hear you both enjoyed yourselves." Queen Arianna smiled. "Now, there is a certain matter that you need to decide on, Rapunzel."
"What is it?" She asked, looking at her.
"The annual Day of Hearts is coming up, and there will be a couples' dance. The question is, which of your suitors do you intend to take the dance?" She asked calmly.
Rapunzel blinked. "...What's the Day of Hearts?"
"It's a very romantic holiday that celebrates the romance between two people that ended a war long ago." Queen Arianna explained. "It's said that if you write your names together in Herz Der Sonne's journal, you will be with that person forever." She smiled fondly at her husband.
"Did you write in it before you chose dad?" Rapunzel asked.
"Oh, of course not. I'm not telling you to choose who you write with you, that will be once you've made your final choice." She chuckled a bit. "Trevor didn't come to attend it with us, so I always went with Frederic, but your suitors both live here. So, you have a choice to make."
"Can't I just go with both and switch off during the dance?" Rapunzel asked awkwardly.
"Only if you bring someone to dance with them in your stead when you switch off, or else they'll be dancing alone while waiting for you." Queen Arianna said gently.
"Right...someone to dance with them..." Rapunzel looked thoughtful.
--
"Okay, there's a lot of things I will do for you, Raps, but dancing with Varian or Eugene at a couples' dance is not one of them." Cassandra said as she helped Rapunzel get ready for bed. "You just have to pick one of your suitors to dance with, that's all. You spent most of the expo with Eugene, why not take Varian?"
"But it's a couples' dance, on the most romantic day of the year!" Rapunzel gripped her hair anxiously. "How can I decide?!"
Cassandra sighed. "I dunno, Raps."
"Come on, pleeeeease? I don't want them to feel left out while I'm dancing with the other one!" She pleaded.
Cassandra sighed. "Look, Raps...I have my own choice to make, okay?"
"O-Oh, really? I didn't know you had anyone you liked!" Rapunzel said with surprise. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"What? Uh, no, it's...work-related. Really. Just..." she sighed, "it's related to the Royal Guard. I don't have anyone I like that way." She glanced away.
"Oh." Rapunzel nodded. "But, if there were, you'd tell me, right?" She put on her best puppy-eyes.
Cassandra chuckled. "I don't know. Maybe. I mean, like I said, I don't have anyone right now. I just have to make a choice that's related to the Royal Guard."
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll make the right one!" Rapunzel hugged her, earning a sharp gasp from the older woman. "And I'm here if you need any help!"
Cassandra smiled a bit. "Thanks, Raps."
--
"So..." Eugene fiddled with a comb awkwardly, "who do you think she'll pick?"
Varian shrugged as Adira brushed his hair. "That's up to her. We only have to be accepting of her choice and not upset her. Her happiness is the most important thing, after all. We should never be the ones responsible for her smile faltering."
Eugene leaned against his vanity. "I bet she'll pick you. You can dress up in matching themed outfits and wow everyone with your grace and..." he sighed, "did you know she thought that Yuletide was bad?"
"What, did she get told about the Krampus?" Varian asked casually.
"Uh, no, she got told by Gothel that St. Nick was a monster of a man and—you know what, that's on-brand for her. Men are evil and the outside world is scary and Yuletide presents are all pranks."
Varian frowned. "So, she's never had a happy one?"
"Ah, no. After I rescued her, she had her first Yuletide celebration and now she loves it!" Eugene smiled. "So, I'm thinking...you know, I got to spend the most wonderful time of the year with her...so, you can have this one."
"Well, that should make things easier for her." Varian smiled. "Why don't you go tell her?"
Eugene stood up. "You know what? I will." He grinned. "You should get your beauty sleep."
"Don't need it, but thanks anyway." Varian smirked at him as Eugene left.