/tell you you're the greatest/ but once you turn, they hate us/ oh, the misery/ everybody wants to be my enemy/ spare the sympathy/ everybody wants to be my enemy/
-enemy, imagine dragons
Two days.
That was all the time Y/n and Varian's plan had taken to work.
And it had played out perfectly.
Y/n and Varian had hid themselves in the abandoned houses of Old Corona, since the guards hadn't left Varian's.
It was going to be Rapunzel's birthday soon- making this a perfect time for the kingdom to be distracted while this plan was put into motion.
Varian had written a letter to Rapunzel, telling her to find the graphtyc in his lab. Y/n had suggested that he add a nice, ominous "they are watching, and they will do anything to stop you" to the end of it- just for motivation.
The two of them had crept up to one of Rapunzel's statues scattered across the kingdom. They were still making an effort not to be noticed- who knew which guards were watching, and which ones were still wary of Varian?
Y/n had wanted to tear the statue down as soon as she saw it, but they had left it intact as they tied the key, and the letter, to a paper lantern with Corona's symbol. Oh, sweet irony.
Within less than a day, the lantern had been collected, and they had watched from the abandoned houses as Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra traveled to Old Corona entered the house, shocked by the rocks that had overtaken the town.
A short while later, the group had emerged, a horrified expression on each of their faces as they ran through the tunnels of black rocks that had grown from every surface in Old Corona. They've found out about Quirin.
After they had left, evading the Captain and his guards, the masked troops had exited Varian's house quickly following their absence. And that means they've gotten the graphtyc.
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It was nearly time to set the next steps of their plan in motion.
Once the guards were gone, Varian and Y/n had returned to the house, preparing everything that they would need to get the Sundrop.
At the moment, they were both in the lab, working. Y/n was using one of Varian's alchemy sets to prepare a variety of chemicals that they could put in his satchel- smoke bombs, explosive mixtures, fluorescent compounds to light the dark. Of course, Varian still had his staff, but one could never be too careful.
Thankfully, Ruddiger was alright when they had returned to the house. The soldiers didn't seem to have bothered him, and he was now napping on the floor of their workspace.
Varian was on the other side of the lab, experimenting with the remains of the mood potion. Thankfully, there was just enough left to replicate and improve for their own purposes.
"How's it coming over there?" called Y/n as she finished pouring her last compound into a vial, stopping it with a cork as she turned around and set it next to the others she had prepared.
Varian exhaled softly, and removed his hands from a beaker of lavender liquid, raising them in the air and taking a few steps back from his desk. "Done." His tired expression turned to a joking smile as he raised his gaze to Y/n, laughing at the last word of his sentence. "How's it going, assistant?"
Y/n snorted and picked up Varian's satchel from her table, delicately inserting the vials and spheres into its many pockets, taking care to make sure that none of them broke. "I've finished over here as well."
"Okay." said Varian triumphantly. "We're almost ready."
"Did you decide how we're going to distribute the serum?" asked Y/n with a smirk- she had left that part up to him.
"Well..." Varian grinned. "I did say that I'd show you how to bake, didn't I?"
Y/n gave him a curious look. "And... what exactly is this new serum going to do?"
Varian's grin grew into something more sinister. "We should confirm where the flower is, just for safety, but this needs to be a distraction as well- so I think it's time for the people of Corona to tell the truth."
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A few more hours and a pan of cookies later, they were ready to leave.
Varian had his satchel over his shoulder with Ruddiger around his neck, and Y/n picked up his staff as he walked over to the door, holding it in one hand and gazing upwards at the vials tied to the top.
"May I, milady?" Varian asked with a smile, reaching for the staff. Y/n pulled it away with a laugh.
"Who knows?" she asked. "Maybe I want to keep it."
Varian laughed. "I'd offer you a cookie for it, but..."
Y/n smiled at him, her body tensed with excitement over what they were about to do. "I suppose I shall allow you to reclaim this staff, by the graciousness of my heart."
She tapped him on the shoulders with the staff, as if she were knighting him, before handing it over.
He took it, tossed it from one hand to another, and held out his free hand to Y/n with a smile.
She took it, and they began to walk out of the house, blinking in the dimming light as the sun had begun to sink lower in the sky.
"We can take (H/n)." said Y/n, and Varian gave her a confused look before she clarified. "My horse. Should this go wrong... we may need to get out fast."
The two walked down the steps to where (H/n) was resting, in the wreckage of what used to be a stable. Y/n had taken breaks to feed her over the past few days, but black rocks had begun to rise from the ground around her, and she was looking increasingly panicked as the rocks were tearing down the buildings around her.
Y/n picked up her saddle from where it was resting, laid across a black rock, and she secured it to (H/n), who grumbled quietly.
She led her from the stable and used a black rock to kick herself into the saddle. Y/n noticed an increase in her hair's glow when her boot made contact with the rock, but nothing else happened. You're not nearly lucky enough for any magic- that's all for your sister, evidently.
Varian took Y/n's hand as she extended it and got up on the horse behind her, one arm around her waist as he held his staff and satchel with the other, Ruddiger balancing on his shoulders.
Y/n kicked the sides of the saddle, and (H/n) began to move.
"When do we expect to reach the palace?" asked Varian, his voice cold as they passed through the shadows of black rocks that had now completely overtaken Old Corona. "I don't typically go on horseback."
Y/n squinted at the sinking sun. "We can probably get there around sunset at this pace."
"Perfect."
Varian paused for a brief moment, and Y/n could feel his arm tighten around her waist as he asked "Do you think that this is going to work?", his voice quiet.
"Of course." Y/n said confidently as they passed the borders of Old Corona, ruined houses giving way to green woods.
"We're smart, we're persistent, and we both have serious reasons we need this to work." She took her eyes off of the path for a moment and turned around to glance at Varian. "We won't fail." She neglected to say I promise at the end- she knew just what that would mean to him.
Y/n couldn't see Varian, as she had turned to face forwards again, but she felt him relax behind her. "We won't fail," he repeated confidently, his voice solidifying into something dark.
"We can't."
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It had taken a few laced cookies subtly given to the right people, but the two had confirmed the Sundrop's location. Y/n had been right- it was in the royal vaults. With some preparation, they had adopted false amicable attitudes- despite how painful it would be, they had to convince Rapunzel.
The pair were walking down by the docks. They had waited all day, but Rapunzel had finally emerged, and seemed to be having a moment in one of the boats. Y/n had swiped Varian's luminescent staff again with a grin, and held it up as they walked, casting multicolored glows across the rippling water as they made their way to the canoes that were tied to the wooden pier.
She could hear Rapunzel muttering to herself as they approached. "There's always a way." she was saying. "I just have to find it."
Y/n didn't know what Rapunzel was referring to, and she frankly didn't care. Ruddiger flung himself off of Varian's shoulders, hitting the ground with a thud. Rapunzel's head snapped up with a gasp, and Y/n pulled Varian behind a wall as her sister's eyes scanned the street.
Varian pulled his goggles over his eyes and crept forwards towards the boat, as silently as he could. Y/n stayed behind the wall- the light from Varian's staff would give them away, and they really didn't need Rapunzel announcing their presence to the entire kingdom. Not after the guards.
Rapunzel gasped again, but released her breath a moment later. "Oh! Ruddiger!" she cried in relief as the raccoon revealed himself. "Where did you come fr-"
She was cut off with a startled yelp as Varian jumped from his place in the shadows and onto the boat, putting one gloved hand over Rapunzel's mouth. "Shh!" he whispered, releasing Rapunzel and pulling his goggles back onto his head. Y/n emerged from behind the wall a moment later with the staff in hand and gently stepped into the boat, walking over next to where Varian was sitting and lowering herself onto the bench next to him.
Rapunzel looked shocked and scared for a moment, but her expression instantly relaxed when she realized who it was. "Oh, Varian! Y/n!" She leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around the two teens in a sudden embrace. "Where have you been?"
Y/n stiffened at the sudden physical contact from her sister, her muscles tensing as she resisted the urge to pull away. This has to be convincing. While Varian also didn't react negatively, Y/n could see that he didn't move at all as Rapunzel squeezed him tightly- his expression showed no emotion, and his arms hung stiffly at his sides.
Rapunzel didn't seem to notice this, however, and merely pulled away with her hands on the two's shoulders.
"I-I-I've been so worried about you two!" Oh, spare us the sympathy. Clearly, she wasn't worried enough to even check in or do a single thing to help.
"Yeah, uh..." Varian winced, but smiled as Ruddiger scampered into his lap. "We've had to lie low. A-a funny thing, the people of Corona aren't, uh... too keen on guys who attack their princesses."
Y/n nodded, twirling Varian's staff in her hands. "And I wasn't planning on leaving him alone." Not like she did.
Rapunzel's expression softened slightly at Y/n's words. Crap! Does she know? For the love of Demanitus, how many people know about this? Not even Varian knows! I thought they were supposed to be idiots!
Still, Rapunzel's face went from warm to confused a moment later. "Wait, attack? You mean during the storm? You came for help!" Which she declined.
"And you got to see why I needed your help." Varian said, his face becoming sadder. While Y/n knew that most of his sorrow was cranked up to guilt-trip Rapunzel, she still felt awful that he had to be upset at all. And angry, because you know that it's Rapunzel's fault.
Rapunzel gasped, horrified, seemingly recalling what she had surely seen in Varian's lab. "Varian..." she said, raising one hand to her mouth, "I am so sorry. I had no id-"
It's not enough, Y/n thought bitterly as Varian interrupted Rapunzel, raising his hand like he was asking her to stop. "You had to save the kingdom, you did what you had to."
Y/n briefly wondered if the real reason he interrupted was because he didn't want to hear her apology- like he was worried that she might get through to him, might make him change his mind.
Y/n shook away these thoughts and stopped twirling the staff, looking up at her sister. Let's put our pieces into play, shall we? "But you can help now, Rapunzel. Do you have the scroll?"
"The scroll!" exclaimed Rapunzel, who began to rifle through her pockets. "I-I-I got it, like you asked."
Varian held his hand out as Rapunzel pulled the scroll from one of her dress's pockets, and looked at it excitedly as she placed it in his palm. "I have no idea what it is, but my dad was desperate to keep it from me."
With a grin, Varian pulled one bronze end from the graphtyc, revealing a torn scroll- just as he had described it. He sighed as he unrolled the scroll, eyes scanning the page. "Now, it took me a while to translate this old language, but from what I can tell... those black rocks are actually some kind of-of ancient darkness. Its destructive power can only be stopped by its counterpart..." Varian lowered the scroll. "The Sundrop."
"The flower, Rapunzel!" exclaimed Y/n, who was fidgeting with the staff again and trying desperately to seem like she didn't loathe every second spent in her sister's presence.
"You mean the flower?" asked Rapunzel in disbelief. "The one that healed Mom and gave me my hair?"
No, Rapunzel, it's a completely different magical flower that's connected to ancient darknesses.
"But..." Rapunzel sighed. "My dad said it was long gone."
Y/n raised a hand to her chin and looked up at her sister. Here's where things get interesting. "Hmm... would you say that our father has been really a reliable source of information?"
Rapunzel looked away, still seeming unsure. "Well, um..."
"No, Rapunzel!" exclaimed Varian, the smallest hint of exasperation creeping into his voice, the mask of friendliness he had put on faltering for a moment. "No, it's still here. I'm sure of it."
He looked up at the two princesses in the canoe with him. "Your dad wouldn't just throw away something that could wield that kind of power."
Y/n put on her most reassuring smile for her sister. "A single petal from that flower would solve all of our problems. That's all we need!" Or... perhaps the whole flower, but she certainly doesn't need to know that.
Rapunzel sighed. "Yeah, but, even if the flower is here, I don't think we can just ask my dad to hand it over."
"Oh, I know we can't." said Varian with a mischievous grin. "Which is why we have to steal it."
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(hey, it's yuki! for any of you that are interested, i'm starting a solo story over on my account! the fic is based on Keeper of the Lost Cities, and it's a Keefe x Reader. the account is Mitsurischild. hope i see you there!)
thank you all for reading! it's FINALLY time to kickstart this villain arc. we appreciate all of your support!
-leviathan and yuki