/i will make you proud!/ i will make you have faith in me!/ i will prove that the way i used to be is all in the past/
-let me make you proud, varian
A large group of people had gathered in the palace foyer, huddling around fires and bundled in blankets. Pascal was serving warm tea to a long line of townsfolk, and Cassandra was stoking the fire with a grim look on her face.
Y/n sat perched on a windowsill, gazing outwards at the view beyond. Her vision was severely limited by the haze of the snowstorm, so her eyes merely followed the progress of the tiny flakes falling to the ground below.
She knew that she should be panicking, or crying, or doing something. Sure, Y/n's parents had been... less than supportive, but she should probably still feel something about her disappearance.
Still, Y/n could not bring any emotion about them into her heart, no matter how hard she tried. Does this make you an awful person? Not even caring about your own parents?
She wondered why, exactly, she had felt nothing when she learned of the dilemma. She... cared for her parents. No matter how many times they compared her to her sister, ignored her, forgot about her, scorned and neglected their youngest in favor of their perfect firstborn... Y/n still cared about them. Didn't she?
She knew that she had disappointed them- and maybe they were right to have doubts in her, maybe they were right to forget her. Still, though, Y/n had always tried her hardest to make them proud- futile as her efforts may have been, she couldn't help but try.
Y/n glanced up, hearing her sister approach their father's assistant, Nigel.
"Nigel, I need to go look for my parents." Rapunzel was saying with determination.
"But Your Highness..." protested Nigel, "you're the queen!" Y/n bit her tongue, half convinced that she would legitimately scream if one more person reminded her of that fact. "You can't just leave your kingdom in its darkest hour!"
Nigel sighed and led Rapunzel away from the fireplace, closer to where Y/n was sitting. She turned slightly, making an effort not to look at them or make her presence known- who knows what they may not want her to hear?
"Oh, Rapunzel, as much as it pains me to say this... their chances in elements such as these are-" he paused, seemingly afraid to continue, but Y/n could fill in the gaps just fine. "Oh, well. Let's pray your parents found shelter before the worst of the storm hit."
"But we can't just let them freeze!" cried Rapunzel angrily. Y/n stared at her gloved hands in the bone-white light of the snow, wondering if it would just be one more disappointment to her parents that she couldn't bring herself to care whether they lived or died.
Nigel looked down dejectedly. "My dear, going out in that weather now is a virtual death sentence. You cannot go!"
"He's right, Rapunzel." Y/n heard Eugene's deeper voice as a set of doors creaked open, revealing him and Rapunzel's gang of rogues and thugs standing there. "You can't..." Eugene walked forward with a determined expression. "But we can."
Rapunzel approached Eugene with a worried expression. "But you just heard Nigel! It's a death trap!"
"Look at us, Princess." said Lance from the doorway. "If the rest of the world had its way, each and every one of us would either be on the run, or locked up somewhere."
One of the thugs spoke up. Y/n never remembered his name, so she had just labeled him "Big Nose" in her head until she could find something better. "But your parents had the heart to give us a second chance. A chance to prove ourselves and go straight."
Y/n glanced over as she heard Attila's voice from beneath his metal helmet. "The least we can do is give them a second chance of their own."
"Listen to them!" exclaimed Eugene, taking Rapunzel by her shoulders. "Rapunzel, there's no other option. The mountains made for a great hideout back in the day. I know those roads better than anyone."
Eugene looked at Rapunzel stubbornly. "Face it. We're the men for this job." He laughed grimly as Y/n raised one eyebrow. "Besides... even a make-believe king has gotta make himself useful."
Y/n saw him share a look with Cassandra as the two came to an unspoken agreement. The Captain stepped forward to Rapunzel, looking unsure. "Your Highness, the guards should really be the ones to go."
Eugene stepped forwards as well, having let go of Rapunzel. "If this storm keeps up, things could get ugly, and this kingdom will need its guards."
Y/n thought back to her tutors, and realized that Eugene had a point. When disasters struck, and weren't handled accordingly, people tended to lash out- and monarchies were often the first target.
The Captain sighed. "Your Highness, it's your call." Oh, right, don't ask for anyone else's opinion at all. Especially not the princess who studied for these situations her whole life. No, just rely on the decision-making skills of someone who declared a snow day during a blizzard. Excellent logic.
Maybe if just once these people had let Y/n prove herself to them- maybe they would have realized that she could stand tall, that she was her own person, that she was something more than just Rapunzel's shadow.
Rapunzel and Eugene stared at each other for a long time, before Rapunzel sighed and looked away. "Go." she said softly.
Eugene pulled Rapunzel into a tight hug. "We'll be back." he whispered. "I promise."
With one last kiss to Rapunzel's forehead, Eugene left through the tall double doors, his group following behind him. Maximus turned at the last moment, pressing his snout to Rapunzel's face.
"Bring them home, Max." she whispered. With one last glance behind him, Maximus followed the group out the doors, and Cassandra rushed over to Rapunzel.
"Don't worry, Raps." she said reassuringly. "If anyone can find your parents," Cassandra paused, pulling Rapunzel into a hug, "they can."
Y/n looked away. She couldn't bear to watch their sorrow any longer, feeling none of it herself.
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her vial of Flynnoleum, cradling it between her hands. It reminded her of Varian, in a way- scientific, reactive, and it was always meant well- no matter how much havoc it may have unintentionally caused.
Y/n tucked the vial back in its place, one hand lingering in her coat, and turned back to the window she rested on, staring out into the icy void beyond.
She could deal with this mess of emotions- because despite her own conflicted heart and head, at least she knew a set of important truths. Whatever happened at the palace, at least Varian was home, warm, and completely safe.
After all, Y/n could be okay, as long as he was.
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Some time had passed, and the foyer was now nearly empty. The civilians had all either been evacuated or moved to other areas of the palace, only leaving Nigel, Cassandra, Rapunzel and Y/n in the space.
Y/n was still perched on her windowsill, and Cassandra waited next to another as Rapunzel paced the room.
A hoot emanated from outside of Cassandra's window. With a gasp, she yanked it open, allowing her owl to fly inside. Cass slammed the window shut again as the bird landed on her arm.
"Cass, what is it?" asked Rapunzel nervously. The owl hooted at Cassandra before flinging itself off of her arm, and Cass sighed. "The worst of the storm is yet to come." she said grimly.
Cassandra's owl let out a content noise as it landed by the fire, warming its feathers. Nigel approached from the other side of the room with a nervous expression, the Captain close on his heels.. "Unless we do something, Rapunzel, the whole island will be buried."
He glanced back at the Captain. "Our only hope is to call a state of emergency, evacuate to the shelters on the mainland, and pray this storm blows over!"
Rapunzel looked... well, scared. "We'll never be able to get everyone to safety in time." she realized. Maybe she should have thought of that before we were trapped in a blizzard?
Her sister sighed. "That can't be the only way." Rapunzel put her hands on the sides of her face, walking away from the group before stopping in her tracks. "What about... Xavier?"
Y/n spoke up from her window, barely containing the disgust in her voice from her sister's brainless conclusion. "Rapunzel, I appreciate Xavier as much as you do, but we have no scientific proof for any of that. Stick with a solution that we know will work, please."
Nigel looked indignant. "I must agree! Your Highness, with all due respect, lives are at stake here!" He put a hand to his face in exasperation. "We can't go chasing after fairy tales in our darkest hou-"
He was cut off by the scream of a familiar voice echoing from the hallway.
Y/n froze.
"Princesses! Y/n! Rapunzel!"
Her blood ran cold.
Seconds later, Varian burst into the foyer frantically, Pete and Stan on his heels.
He was wearing a thick brown coat and a red scarf, and his expression was one of pure terror.
"Sorry, Princess-" said Pete, trying to catch his breath, as Varian was forcefully grabbed by the Captain, "he ran right past-"
"Wait!" shouted Y/n, leaping up from her spot on the window, the smallest portion of her anger seeping into her voice. Even the tiniest bit of the fury buried within her, however, was enough to make Stan and Pete flinch and back away from Y/n nervously.
"It's okay." said Rapunzel, in a softer tone.
"Oh!" Varian gasped as the Captain released him, putting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. Did he run all the way here?! Y/n rushed over to him, fear beginning to creep its way into her mind. What was making him this terrified?
"Rapunzel, Y/n!" he cried. "My dad's in danger! You-you're the only ones who can help! Please!"
His expression was pleading, scared, but solidified a moment later. "You have to come to Old Corona with me! Now!"
Y/n was ready to drop everything and run to help him, but Rapunzel seemed more hesitant. She took Varian by the arm, gently leading him away. Y/n was not invited, but she followed regardless.
The trio reached the hallway, where it was far darker and quieter- in other words, more suited to Y/n. "Varian, what's wrong?" asked Rapunzel, her voice laced with concern. Whatever it is, he clearly doesn't have time for this!
"Please!" begged Varian desperately. "Please, the rocks! They're- they're encasing my dad!"
"Encasing?" asked Rapunzel in confusion. "Wh-what are you saying?"
"Come! Come see for yourself!" Varian pleaded urgently, beginning to move down the hallway. "You two can help! I- I know you can!" his voice got quieter as he ran down the hallway. "You two have a connection to these rocks!"
Rapunzel sighed. "Varian... It's a state of emergency here."
Wait.
Was Rapunzel going to say no?
"I'm sorry!" said Rapunzel. Varian halted his steps at the end of the hallway, his back turned to the princesses. "I-I-I can't help you! Not right now."
Varian turned around, his face panicked. "No!" he cried desperately. "No, no, no no. Listen to me! My dad doesn't have much time!" Varian's expression was one of pure anguish and terror. How can she do this to him? She made a promise! "You two are the only ones who can help!" He turned to Y/n, and she felt her heart break at the pain that he was feeling. Or whatever's left of it. "Y/n, Rapunzel, please!"
"Your Majesties, please!" said Nigel, who had followed them out here. Oh, so NOW he acknowledges your existence. "Whatever the boy's problem, it must be set aside! The storm's growing stronger by the second! Your Highness, we need you to make a decision!"
"No!" yelled Varian, taking Y/n and Rapunzel's arms. "No, no, no, please!"
Y/n saw Nigel call for guards, and she was filled with rage. "Please, Princesses, you-" he gasped for air, "Wha- Rapunzel, you promised you'd help me! You promised!"
"Varian!" cried Y/n as Stan and Pete grabbed Varian by his arms, pulling him away. Y/n tried to rush after him, but the Captain was behind her, holding her shoulders tightly and preventing her from following.
"Princesses!" Varian screamed as he was dragged away. "My dad needs help!"
"Don't hurt him!" Y/n shouted furiously, struggling in the Captain's grip.
"Rapunzel!" she could hear Varian cry as he was carried away. "You promised!"
"You promised!"
As his words echoed through the hallway, Y/n shoved her elbow upwards into the Captain's face. He dropped her with a shout of pain, and she hit the ground running, sprinting down the hallway where Varian had been carried.
"Y/n!" Rapunzel shouted, although it was halfhearted. Y/n turned one last time, halfway down the hallway, taking in the scene- Rapunzel was regretful, Nigel was indignant, and the Captain was holding his hands to what would probably end up becoming a black eye.
"Y/n, stop!" Cassandra cried, having followed the group into the hallway.
Her anger that had been buried since Rapunzel had returned had just barely started to release- but even the smallest fraction was enough to make Y/n practically see red with outrage. They were going to abandon Varian, and then they dared to try and stop her from helping him?
Y/n narrowed her eyes, and spoke one sentence, letting all the fury and rage from the past weeks power her voice. "You lied, Rapunzel." she spat, her words laced with venom. "And if you won't fix this, then I will."
And with that, Y/n pulled her coat tightly around herself, running after Varian and into the darkness.
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"Varian!" Y/n screamed, her voice raw, running for the door he had been taken to. She pushed past Stan and Pete furiously, who were walking back from one of the palace's exits.
She made it to the wooden double doors that led outside and threw them open, not bothering to close them behind her. Y/n's eyes frantically scanned the frozen landscape before her until her eyes locked on a dark shape.
Y/n ran to Varian, who had been unceremoniously flung into a snowbank. .He was facing away from her, and Y/n could see tears falling from his eyes into the snow he was curled in.
She ran over to him, kneeling down in the snow beside him and looking into his sorrowful blue eyes.
"Varian?" Y/n asked, her voice broken and furious. "I'm here. I'm coming. You'll be alright."
Varian looked up at her, his expression a contradictory mix of relief and hopelessness. "Thank you." he managed to get out, wiping his tears from his eyes.
Y/n stood up and extended her hand to him. He took it, and she pulled him up to his feet. "My things are at the front doors," he said quickly. "I can get them- and- we can go! You can help!"
Giving him her most determined expression, Y/n nodded. "I'll get my horse."
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Y/n had collected (H/n) as quickly as she could, and ran to the entrance, holding her by a lead. She could see Varian waiting nervously, holding both his satchel, and something new- a tall wooden staff, with three luminescent vials secured to the top, in green, pink and blue.
"Let's go!" Y/n said urgently, swinging herself into the saddle and reaching a hand down to help Varian. With his free hand, he took it, wrapping his arms around her waist with his staff resting in his elbow.
Y/n kicked her feet to the side of the saddle, and (H/n) took off with a grumble. She knew that it probably wasn't good to be taking a horse in snow this heavy, and that someone could get hurt- but Y/n didn't care. Varian needed her help, and she wasn't about to let him be hurt because of her sister's negligence.
They rode as fast as they could, Y/n leaning forwards and silently begging to move faster. Both passengers were silent, holding their breath as they raced against time.
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Y/n pulled her horse to a sudden stop as they reached Varian's home in Old Corona. The streets were deserted, and the black rocks had multiplied- their obsidian spikes jutted from nearly every structure in town, and Y/n's hair streak had lit up instantly upon entering its borders.
She and Varian both slid off of the saddle as quickly as they could and began to run, sprinting past the clusters of rocks and up the steps towards Varian's house, Y/n's hair and Varian's staff coloring the snow in ethereal- and foreboding- glows as they ran.
The black rocks seemed to have overtaken the house even more at this point- they had grown from the front wall and tilted the house slightly backwards, the cobblestone walls resembling a pincushion more than a flat surface.
Varian stumbled in the snow, catching Y/n's arm for support and stopping briefly before they ascended the stone steps as fast as they could go. "Dad!" he cried as he and Y/n ran for the door. "Dad, I'm back!"
They pushed the door open, and Y/n slammed it behind them, before following as Varian ran for his lab.
"Dad!" he shouted frantically, pulling the door open, keeping his eyes down.
"Dad, Rapunzel refused to help, but Y/n is here, and I..." Varian's voice trailed off as he looked upwards, and Y/n walked through the door, terrified of what she might see.
"Dad?"
The first thing Y/n saw was the amber. A deep golden color, it seemed to have sprouted from the cluster of black rocks in the center of Varian's lab, small growths off of it spiraling in different directions, though the main peak seemed to follow the rock's path.
It took her a moment to realize that Quirin was inside.
Y/n fell silent. A quieter person, shock and dismay tended to make her freeze, rather than lash out... and she could barely wrap her brain around what she was seeing.
Varian ran towards the amber in dismay. "Oh, no." He threw his staff to the ground with a clatter, and lunged at the golden stone, pounding his fist against it. "No, no. No. No!"
"No!" he screamed once more, punching the amber with one gloved fist in anguish, as if this wouldn't be real if he denied it enough- like it was a dream that he just had to wake up from.
"Dad!" he cried, placing both hands on the translucent stone, staring up at his father. "Dad! No!"
Varian began to sob, tears falling from his eyes and landing on the cold stone floor as he tried to reach for his father through the amber. "No, no, no, no!"
"No!" he screamed one last time, sinking to the floor and sobbing.
Y/n took a closer look at Quirin, trying to see the amber through an analytical perspective. She had to- it might be the only thing stopping her from freezing up right now.
Quirin was raised off of the ground in the golden stone, looking like he had been frozen- and not quick. It seemed like he had struggled, and his eyes were squeezed shut with a strained expression. He held a note in one fist- it was clenched so tightly that Y/n couldn't read the words.
Y/n shook her head, as if she could get rid of the horrors simply by not looking at them. She walked over to Varian where he sat on the cold floor, and wrapped her arms around him.
You needed to protect him. You should have protected him.
And now... he might just be hurt worse than you.
Varian embraced her back, sobbing into Y/n's coat and mumbling "no, no, no," over and over again. She placed one gloved hand in his hair and held him close as he cried, for too long to even keep track of.
Rapunzel did this.
Y/n could barely see, barely think, barely breathe, her fury was so strong. Rapunzel took everything from Y/n- she had ruined her life even before she had returned from the tower. And now, she had found the only person that Y/n cared about anymore, and managed to ruin him as well.
She hurt him.
This is all her fault.
─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───
Varian's sobs had faded away, and now he just sniffled quietly. He hadn't moved from Y/n's arms, and they had been sitting there for longer than Y/n had cared to keep track of. She could see Ruddiger out of the corner of her eye, who seemed... afraid to approach the two.
The snow had stopped falling outside. Whatever her sister- oh, the phrase brought even more hatred now- had done to stop it had clearly worked. Frankly? Y/n couldn't care less.
For the first time in hours, Varian spoke- not to Y/n. "Don't worry, Dad." Y/n glanced down at him, still curled in her arms. "I will get to the bottom of this."
"I promise."
The phrase caused a fresh wave of fury to sweep over Y/n. She knew just what that phrase meant to him- how Rapunzel had promised to keep him safe. To stay by his side... and then she had left him.
Varian's voice cut through the silence. It was beautiful- and tragic. Y/n had never heard him sing, but this was heartbroken, and the anguish in his voice made her want to take revenge on everyone who had caused Varian this pain.
"I will make you proud..." Varian leaned slightly away from Y/n, gazing up at his father, "Get the answers and set you free."
"Don't you worry, whatever it might take... I'm finding a way..."
Varian stood up, pulling away from Y/n and flinging his coat behind him. Y/n stood up as well, staring up at the amber as Varian approached it. "And I swear right now... that no matter what comes of me,"
Varian placed his hands on the amber briefly, before pulling one away and pressing his other palm to the stone. "Anybody who stands or has stood in my path... they are going to pay!"
Varian stepped away from the amber, looking down with his eyes closed. Y/n could feel the remnants of her heart breaking, melting away into nothing. What had happened to the boy she had first met that day in Old Corona, the one who couldn't even fathom that someone would want to do him wrong?
Rapunzel got to him. What else? All she does is lie, take, and hurt, leaving nothing but broken people in her wake.
He's broken now, because of her.
Just like you are.
"They..."
Ruddiger hid under a table in fear, as Y/n did the opposite and stepped forwards, Varian's hands clenching into fists.
"Will..."
And if Varian wants revenge...
"Pay."
He won't be taking it alone.
─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───
...we're sorry.
-leviathan and yuki