I know about the argument that Varian's hands were more protected against the hurt incantation because his gloves were like, alchemist gloves and everything,, but I like the theories that he's just immune to it.

Besides, he didn't seem all that affected anyways, like,,, he didn't start coughing, he could still breathe and all that in the show, so yeah. I had to put his hair stripe to good use somehow, ok? And I didn't want to do moon powers varian, bc there are already so many good moon varian fics out there, and I feel like it wouldn't fit with this one. SOOO long story short teehee?

After Adira's sword didn't work, Varian searched endlessly for an answer. He snapped himself out of his numb state, and forced himself to try harder. It was actually quite worrying to the adults. He wouldn't sleep, or even take breaks. All he did was run through chemical solutions and equations on his notepad. Sure, he couldn't do alchemy right now, but he could certainly go through everything he needed and compile lists of what would and wouldn't work.

He knew that the Amber was a much more complex compound than the black rocks. It was much stronger, much more durable. It was the only thing, aside from Rapunzel's hair, that Adira's sword could not destroy.

So he stayed up, day and night, writing and writing and writing, but no matter how many notepads he went through, he didn't think that any of the solutions could possibly work.

It only took two days for everyone to decide to put an end to this obsession, because it was honestly kind of scary how deep into his work he was getting.

"Varian" Cassandra spoke, giving everyone else a side glare, because they just had to make her the bad guy, "you need to stop this. Put the notepad down and eat."

Much to their surprise, Varian didn't argue much. He just sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth, holding his notepad closer for a moment, before sighing and nodding.

"Really? It was that easy?" Lance questioned, "I thought you were going to put up a fight" Eugene elbowed and shushed him.

"I have to listen to Cass, if I don't she'll murder me" Varian said, joking lightly as he took his soup from the woman and began to drink the broth.

"It's good to be both respected and feared" Cassandra smirked.

Adira nodded in agreement and stared at the boy in thought for a moment before speaking, "have you only been trying out things that could break it? What if you tried to make a compound to melt or dissolve it?"

Varian's eyes widened, "hey, yeah! I've thought about breaking and dissolving it down with no results—but melting it might work."

Cassandra nodded as she grabbed Varian's empty bowl from him, "sounds smart—ah! Ooh—" she seethed through her teeth, hissing as she clutched her hand close to her chest.

"What happened?!" Varian exclaimed.

"Are you good?" Hector asked. His face twisted with concern, but only for a moment.

"Yeah! Ugh—" she waved her hand around, "i'm fine. I grabbed the bowl back with my bad hand."

"Ooh, the withered one?" Varian questioned, "that sucks, is it going to be like that forever?"

"I actually don't think it can heal fully. Not on it's own, or even with the best doctor in the world. It was an incantation, like a curse. I barely touched Raps and it nearly melted my hand off" Cassandra sighed, "i'm sure it could melt even the black rocks, seriously!"

"It's kind of cool if you think about it—how it's so powerful! I bet it could melt anything!" Looks of realization crossed everyone's faces, but Varian kept on rambling, "like—did it almost even destroy Rapunzel? Didn't it suck the oxygen out of the room or something? I mean, it just sounds so cool!"

"Varian..." Lance said, "are you even listening to yourself?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" He questioned.

Adira shook her head fondly and Eugene smirked, "Kid. I think you're right when you say that it could destroy anything."

"Uh...why are you all looking at me like that?" He chuckled nervously.

"Varian, aren't you a child prodigy?! Think!" Cassandra exclaimed.

A grin spread across Rapunzel's face, "if I performed the incantation, maybe it would be strong enough to free your father from the amber!"

Varian's eyes widened, before he slapped himself in the head, "Oh!"

Hector did the same, "don't worry kid, I was just as lost as you."

Adira rolled her eyes, "maybe you two will get along better than I initially thought."

Varian started bouncing up and down excitedly, "do you really think it would work?! That we could finally set him free?! I mean, it's been so long, and i've tried everything, I mean, this could quite literally be the only solution!"

"It's really dangerous though" Eugene warned, "like, seriously, it's like she gets caught in a trance, like she needs to be snapped out of it, and it gets stronger the longer it goes on. If we do this, we're going to need you to stay away from her, because you really could get hurt badly."

"Wait...so even though it's super dangerous, you'll do it?!" Varian asked, hope lacing his every word as he snapped his head over to Rapunzel.

Rapunzel offered a gentle smile, "Varian, of course! I promised you that I would help you, and if this is the only way? Then so be it. I'd do anything to help free your father."

Varian's eyes filled with tears, and Rapunzel came over and opened her arms. He hugged her tightly, "thank you, Rapunzel. Thank you so, so much."

—————————————————————————

"Mom!" Rapunzel exclaimed as she ran towards her parents. It was the next day, and they were preparing Varian for the trip to get to old corona, "mom, dad! I'm taking a couple horses and carriages to Old Corona! I think we figured out a way to free Varian's father!"

"A couple?" Her father asked, an eyebrow raised, "how many people are you bringing?"

"Lance, Cass, Eugene, Varian, Adira and Hector" Rapunzel said, "unless I can find like—a bigger carriage? Max and Fidella are going to take us there. I just think that it would be better to take carriages, because I don't think Varian can ride on horseback all the way to Old Corona right now."

"Of course! We'll have the guards get a carriage prepared immediately, i'm sure we have one big enough for all of you. I really hope that your solution works" Arianna said, her eyes lighting up with excitement, "that boy needs his father."

"And the Village certainly needs their leader back" Frederic smiled, "people have started settling back in since all the damages have been repaired."

"Alright! I'm going to go and get everyone, and then we're off!" Rapunzel cried, "oh, this is so exciting!"

Arianna held her husband's hand as Rapunzel ran in the other direction. He was clearly nervous about facing Quirin.

—————————————————————————

They waited until the sun had went down to finally go, because Varian tried, he really did, but he stepped outside and was absolutely blinded by the sun. He actually thought he went blind for a few seconds there, but after being emerged into total darkness and then blinking for a while, they adjusted the lights back to their usual dimmed form and all was okay.

So, they took Varian outside, the chill from the cold fall air biting at his cheeks. It was nothing compared to the cell though, and it was nice to be outside after being in captivity for so long.

"Sorry" Varian mumbled when Adira had to carry him outside, "I—I haven't been able to walk."

"Don't apologize, it hasn't even been two weeks" Adira frowned, "you need to relearn these kind of things, it's going to take a while."

  Varian nodded, glancing around outside. It was so cool to be out in the world after being held in captivity for so long. They put Varian into the carriage and closed the door after telling him that they were going to go and get the horses.

"All of you need to go? To get two horses?" Varian asked.

"Yep! My my, what rambunctious horses they are, cya!" Rapunzel chirped, closing Varian inside.

"Okay" Rapunzel said omce they were in the stables. She grabbed Maximus, "If this actually works, which i'm pretty sure it will, and Quirin is no longer...alive...be very very careful...maybe don't even say anything, give him a while to..to process before we bombard him, alright?"

Cassandra nodded, "if that's the case, we should probably give him the room as well. Let him be alone with him for a while. But still close enough that we can get him if he needs help or decides to do something stupid."

Eugene grabbed Fiddella, nodding, "and what if this doesn't work?"

Rapunzel's eyes darkened, "it has to."

—————————————————————————-

The carriage ride to Old Corona was filled with tense anxiety, and undertones of excitement. Varian went through a lot of emotions. He rambled on and on about his father, trying to figure out what he was possibly going to say to him once he was freed, or if he was even able to be freed or alive.

He also stared through the carriage window, watching intently as they rode through Corona, "I don't even remember how to get to my house" Varian whispered, "this is so weird. It's been so long, I don't—I don't even know where we are right now..."

He cried, he laughed, he had a psychotic break...and by the time they finally got there, they literally had to drag him out.

"Okay. Okay okay okay, i'm ready. I'm ready" he sighed, "let's do this..."

Rapunzel nodded, holding the bright lantern in front of her as she trudged forward. They walked across the village, practically rebuilt from the whole black rock thing.

He looked around the quiet village. Lights were being blown out from candles, and old people who preferred to do farming chores such as watering plants and tending to the crops during the night to avoid the sun's harsh glare were outside doing so.

They got up to Varian's home, and he took in a shaky breath as he stared.

Home.

He hadn't been home in so long.

He opened the door, limping inside with the help of the wall, before Adira rolled her eyes and scooped him up.

"Woah..." Varian whispered as the lantern illuminated the house, "well, somebody sure fixed the place up. Thank the sun, dad never liked waking up to a messy house."

They walked over to Varian's lab, and uncovered Quirin.

Varian let out a breath, and was set down, shakily using a table to keep himself upright. He stared at the amber, his eyes locking onto his father. He felt tears building up in his eyes—he hadn't seen him in so long.

"Okay. As soon as he's freed, knock me out of it, okay?" Rapunzel asked, "i'm counting on you guys."

"I have a faucet over there" Varian said, "it connects to a nearby river and filters the water—anyways, we can fill a bucket up and splash you with it or something?"

"Oh, smart! I don't think that i'll even get wet, it might evaporate into nothing...let's do it" Rapunzel said.

"You sure, princess? That water's probably freezing" Cassandra said.

"Oh, i'll be fine!" Rapunzel said, waving a hand dismissively.

Eugene filled the bucket, and everyone held their breath as Rapunzel began to cite the incantation.

It didn't seem to do anything the first few times she tried, but eventually, her hair began to darken, and her eyes took on a shade of pitch black, as her voice took on a chilling melody.

  "Wither and decay

End this destiny

Break these earthly chains

And set the spirit free"

She kept on repeating the incantation, and she sounded haunted, lost in a trance as everything around them turned gray and began to die.

Everyone began to fall to the floor and collapse into a coughing fit, but Varian stayed upright, extremely confused, why was he not falling down, collapsing into a fit of coughs? Wasn't he weaker than everyone else?

His thoughts were interrupted when he gasped, because the amber was cracking. It was melting!

"It's working! Rapunzel, look! It's work—it's working!" He cried, pure joy taking over his voice, "keep going!"

The hard amber around his father began to melt quicker and quicker, as everything else around them also began to steadily decay.

His father began to cough, falling to his knees as the encasement of amber finally crumpled, turning into a liquid.

"Dad!" Varian began, nearly tumbling over, watching as the note his father wrote for him burned and sizzled, "he's alive! Rapunzel, he's—Rapunzel?"

Her melody continued, unfaltering.

Varian made his way over with the bucket as everybody begged him to get her to stop, and he splashed her with it. As predicted, the water evaporated, but it didn't phase her. She continued to sing.

"Rapunzel!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her a little, and his gloves immediately burned away. But strangely, his hands weren't burned.

"Rapunzel! Snap out of it!" He called.

"V-Varian!" Lance hacked, "help!"

"Rapunzel...you didn't give up on me. So i'm not going to give up on you!" He outstretched his hands, ready to grab her again, but her hair turned golden again and she fell to her knees, snapped out of it.

"Rapunzel!" He exclaimed, falling to the floor and hugging her tightly, "are you—are you okay?!"

"Yes" she said weakly, chuckling a little and hugging back, before pointing to Quirin, "go, see him."

The rest of them were busy recovering, and slowly made their ways over to Rapunzel and watched as Varian called out to his father.

"Dad!" Varian exclaimed, standing up, and taking a a few steps before trembling and nearly falling over, making it over to his father just in time to fall into his arms, "dad! Dad!" He cried, beginning to sob into his father's chest, "Dad—oh, dad, I missed you! I missed you, I missed you I missed you! I missed you so much!"

"Varian..." Quirin whispered, staring at his son. No. This...wasn't right. It couldn't be right—was he seeing things? Why was Varian so thin? Why was he so hurt? And did he get taller?  Was that a hospital gown?! It was his son. It was Varian, but he was—he was so different. So bruised and battered, "What happened?"

"You were in the amber—you pushed me out of the way I— it trapped you, and I did so many bad things and I don't even know where to start, and I" his chest began to rise and fall much quicker, "this better not be another dream! This better be real!" More tears began to fall and fall, until he was crying so hard that he fainted.

Quirin held Varian as tightly as he could. Afraid that if he let go, his son would disappear. Varian's head fell onto his father's chest as he fainted, and Quirin cradled his limp body.

Everybody watched with sad, smiling faces at the reunion.

"Is he okay?!" Rapunzel cried, getting back up on shaky legs and walking over.

Quirin's face morphed into an expression of complete and utter shock as he stared at his boy, "I—I know what happened to me. What—what happened to him?!"

Rapunzel cringed, "ooh...it's a long story."

"No—no no no, what happened? Why is he so small, why does he look like this? So hurt? He could barely even walk a second ago!" He exclaimed.

"We should move somewhere...more comfortable. It's a long story" Rapunzel sighed.

"I brought the court files from the trial" Cassandra said.

"Trial?" Quirin questioned, "what—" it was at that point he noticed Adira and Hector, "I—and what are you two doing here?!"

"Brother, it is a long story, as the princess said. So come on, let's get going" she said, "to the family area. Those couches looked quite comfortable."

Quirin simply nodded, picking up his son, who was so small, and so fragile, that he was afraid that he would break him. Seeing Arira and Hector again was certainly strange, but he had more important things to worry about as he rose to his feet and walked to his family area. The word trial rang through his head. 

"How long was I...he looks so much older...what season is it?" He asked.

"It's the middle of October. Varian is sixteen, so if I had to guess, you've been encased for...around two years" Cassandra said.

"Oh my..." Quirin whispered, "my boy....Please, can you tell me what happened to him, at least" Quirin asked, tears in his eyes.

"Varian wasn't...he wasn't treated well under my father's care" Rapunzel whispered, "i'm sure he'd rather tell you what happened himself. Here, you've been in the amber for so long, oh my goodness, how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, what i'm worried about is my son, what happened to him?" He asked again, voice becoming angry, "he's covered head to toe in some sort of bruise or marking!"

Varian's eyes began to flutter open as he rubbed his blood shot eyes, "oh my gosh—dad, it was real!"

"Yes, Varian. I'm here. And I promise, I will never leave you again" Quirin whispered, focusing his full attention back onto his son, voice so gentle as if he hadn't snapped at all, "please, Varian. Tell me what happened."

"It's..it's a long story" Varian whispered.

"Please, tell me. We have all the time in the world" Quirin said gently.

"Would you still love me? After all i've done?" Varian whimpered, "I—what I did—"

"Varian, what happened isn't as bad as you remember it" Rapunzel told him, brushing his hair from his eyes fondly, "i've told you, everything was okay in the end. Damages were repaired, injuries were healed."

"Damages...? Injuries...?" Quirin mumbled, "Varian, what did you do?"

He took in a deep breath, and began to explain.

—————————————————————————

Quirin was horrified. He couldn't believe his ears, and he couldn't even fathom that his son—his boy, was even capable of such destruction, such anger.

He'd just finished explaining how he turned Ruddiger into a monster, kidnapped the queen and nearly killed the princess, "I was defeated...by the armies. My automatons were no match for the black rocks."

Quirin didn't say anything, he just stared at Varian. The boy was quick to begin speaking again, "I understand if you don't care about me anymore. If you want me out of your house" he blurted, "I want to make it up to people, I want to fix my mistakes, but if you don't—"

Varian's eyes went round as his dad wrapped his arms around him quicker than he ever has in his life, "Varian. I always have, and always will care for you. Even if I never quite...expressed it well enough" he pulled away and frowned, "Varian I know I may seem disappointed with your inventions..a lot."

Varian chuckled, and the man smiled, "but I have always been proud of you. I was just scared that something would happen. Something bad, that could cost someone their life. I've always known how clever you were, and I would brag so much when you were younger" he teased, causing Varian to blush, "So this is what—all of this happened like right after I was incased?" He questioned, getting back on topic, "So then how are you so injured, Varian?" Quirin asked, "how are you so small?"

"I was....I wasn't hurt when this happened. Even though I was really violent, nobody ever really hurt me back. All they did was disable my automaton. The king told Rapunzel that he'd take care of me so that she could go on a journey to get rid of the rocks. And I was sentenced by the king. To the—to the dungeons" he got quiet.

Quirin's heart almost stopped, and his voice dropped to a low, livid whisper, "what?"

"I—I mean, dad, after all I did, of course I would go to jail!" Varian exclaimed, "I—I committed treason! I kidnapped the queen! And I was in the dungeons up until a few weeks ago—"

"You were in jail for nearly two years?!" Quirin exclaimed, "you were a kid!"

Varian cringed, "I—yeah."

Cassandra handed over the files from the trial, "reading these may help fill in some blanks."

He scanned over the information he already knew, before getting to the new stuff, reading along as Varian explained.

"Dad...I was...hurt. By two guards. Jefferey and Frank. They did...all that stuff on the paper... And—and I was so scared" his voice broke, "that i'd never get out—scared you'd be encased forever, and that I was going to die there."

"Oh...oh, Varian" Quirin whispered, putting the paper down, "I...I'll read it all later. I know all I need to for now. I just want to hold you. To talk to you."

"Would you like some time alone?" Adira questioned.

Quirin simply nodded as he stared at Varian in utter shock, the room silent as everyone filed out into the kitchen.

"Varian, show me...please, show me what happened. Show me the wounds" Quirin begged.

Varian but his lip, "they are—um, pretty bad. Please don't like, freak out or anything..."

He untied his gown from the back and dropped it down to his lap.

Quirin closed his eyes and looked away, trying to will his tears to vanish. But he just couldn't help himself from crying. Because his son was covered in nasty, dark bruises, marks, and deep scars that littered his skin. His arms were sticks, and his stomach was vacuumed into his back. He could count his ribs, most of which were visibly broken and healed wrong, and his collar bone was so defined. Just..jutted out. He was so skinny. It was scary.

"Did they even feed you?" Quirin asked, anger bubbling in his chest, "they did all of this?"

Varian nodded, "yeah, they did it all. And, No... they didn't feed me. Not regularly. Only when...when I was almost.." Varian trailed off, letting his dad fill in the blanks.

And sun, he wished he hadn't.

"I'm so sorry, son" he said, hugging his boy.

"I..." Varian whimpered, "I...there are stories, written down. On the file, that I told at their trial. If you have any questions...i'll answer them, I just—can't even think today. Just know that I was officially pardoned a few days ago, and have been out of prison trying to heal for two weeks. I can't...really walk or eat anything that isn't broth unless I want to puke. But i'm getting better."

Quirin put a strong hand to Varian's cheek and brushed his tears away with his thumb. Varian leaned into the touch, and Quirin brought him in for a hug. When he opened his eyes and looked down, his blood went cold. He snapped his head up, and gently turned Varian to get a better look at his back.

It was terrible.

Bruises that looked like boot marks. Like fists beating down on his spine. Large, raised bumps from whips and scars that would take decades to heal. It made his skin crawl, and a fresh set of tears fall down his cheeks.

  "Hey" Rapunzel whispered as she poked her head back in, "I swear, we aren't keeping Varian forever, but, um, just a heads up, he does need to return to the castle. Like, seriously. We've been keeping tabs on his injuries, and my father doesn't want him roaming around quite yet."

After seeing all that had been done to his son, Quirin could not give a fuck less about the king. "Well, King Frederic can kiss my ass!" He growled, ready to go on an entire tangent before Rapunzel interrupted him.

"Fair! Fair, totally fair, but it's all for Varian's own good!" Rapunzel told him, "the trial really helped, but the King wants to make absolute sure that the citizens won't try to do anything rash. It's dangerous for him. The king is trying very hard to make it up to Varian. And I understand if you're mad at my father. I myself still haven't forgiven him. It's hard to look at him knowing what he's allowed to happen, I just—well, I'm worried too, about Varian. And I can assure you, the king doesn't even know which room we keep him in."

Quirin hummed as he listened to the Princess, "alright, then."

"We've had the maids prepare a room right next to Varian's. Adira and Hectors are nearby as well, in the same hall. We're trying to help him recover, and the castle is a great, open space. The hall he's on is secluded, quiet. You won't be disturbed, and when I say nobody even knows where he's being kept, nobody except for us and a few doctors know" she explained.

"You want me to live in the castle?" Quirin asked, looking unsure.

"Not forever!" Eugene butted in, "don't worry. It's just...for as long as you need. By the time you leave, your house's kitchen will be stocked with fresh food. The townsfolk of Old Corona already helped to rebuild your home, and have been keeping tabs on your crops. It's going to be a long winter, and they wanted to make sure you were prepared if you got out before then."

Quirin smiled, shaking his head, "they're too kind. All of them."

"You and Varian can have the day to yourselves tomorrow...alright?" Cassandra asked, "i'm sure there's...much, much more to discuss."

"There is" Varian sighed.

"Alright. To the Carriages!" Rapunzel exclaimed, "—Adira! What, are you doing, those brownies are almost two years old!"

————————————————————————-

"Awe look, he's about to fall asleep!" Hector cooed, "such a dear boy he is, Quirin. Really" he teased.

"Stop it, I am not!" Varian whined, pouting.

"Really? Cause I am pooped. That incantation took a lot out of me. I'm still tired" Lance yawned.

"I think...it took a lot out of everyone" Rapunzel chuckled.

"...Okay, speaking of, did anyone else notice it? How Varian wasn't affected by the incantation?" Cassandra blurted, "he—he didn't fall down into a coughing fit. He didn't—didn't get burned when his gloves melted! Am I going crazy?!"

"Hey, wait!" Hector exclaimed, "you're right!"

"Huh...that's certainly strange" Adira mumbled, "perhaps he's immune?"

"Wish I was immune" Cassandra mumbled.

"How could that be possible?" Varian asked, "it's a—an ancient, old incantation that brings decay and death to everything! Maybe I just got lucky."

"Or maybe that mysterious streak in your hair is causing you to be immune to it! It's even blue, like the moonstone!" Lance exclaimed.

"Hmm" Quirin said, giving it some thought, "He does have the mark of the moonstone."

"The what?" Varian asked.

Quirin tensed.

"He already knows about the brotherhood and the dark kingdom" Adira said, "you can tell him."

Quirin sighed, "Well, some of the children of the dark kingdom born after that moonstone explosion have some type of marking. Yours just happens to be a blue stripe in your hair."

"Woah" Varian breathed, "that is so cool!"

"Hey! Now that I'm thinking, the sun-drop incantation didn't work on him either!" Rapunzel gasped, "his moonstone mark must make him immune! Oh, and I haven't tried it since—I thought that my magic was gone! What if Varian is just immune to the incantations?!"

"Do you think the healing incantation would work...if you tried on someone other than Varian?" Quirin questioned.

Rapunzel's eyes widened as she locked eyes with Cassandra, who took her protective glove off of her hand and nodded.

Everybody held their breath as Rapunzel wrapped her hair around Cassandra's hand and began to sing, soft and harmonic, beautiful, unlike the chilling melody from before.

"Flower gleam and glow

Let your power shine

make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine..."

Her hair began to glow, the golden shine overtaking the entire carriage. Varian squinted his eyes, eventually having to cover them up.

"It—it's working, Rapunzel! Keep going!" Lance cried.

Rapunzel smiled brightly, continuing the incantation and closing her eyes.

"Heal what has been hurt

Change the fate's design

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine..."

Cassandra stared at her hand in awe, covered by the golden, glowing hair.

"What once was mine."

She let her voice fade out and opened her eyes. Varian let his reopen as well, adjusting them and watching intently as Rapunzel slowly unwrapped her hair from Cassandra's hand.

Everybody let out a collective gasp when Cassandra lifted her hand up. It was healed perfectly. It was as good as new.

They stared at each other for a moment, before they both bursted into gleeful laughter, "it worked!" Cassandra cried.

"It did! It really, really did!" Rapunzel cried, "so it didn't loose it's magical healing abilities! Oh man, that would have been nice to know."

"How convenient that it doesn't work on the one guy who will probably literally die if he has one bad fall" Eugene chuckled.

"Just my luck" Varian said, rolling his eyes as the carriage came to a halt.

"We're here! Oooh, I can't believe I can actually still heal!" she cried, "oh, Varian! Let's go, i'm sure my parents will be so happy to see Quirin free!"

Cassandra was still staring at her hand. She was amazed.

"Yeah. I freaked out when she healed mine" Eugene smirked, hopping out of the carriage, "and I just had a cut." They walked together up to the castle gates.

"I'll put the horses away" Lance said.

"I can carry him to his room, brother" Adira offered as she watched Quirin get out of the carriage.

"No" Quirin said protectively, "no—I've got him." He sighed, "i'm sorry. I just..I don't want to be away from him. I got it..."

"So i'm an it now?" Varian pouted.

Quirin rolled his eyes, "you always have been, brat."

Varian gasped, "hey!" He laughed.

"Besides" Quirin said, "I don't need you kidnapping him again."

"It was two times!" Adira cried.

Cassandra glared at her.

"Okay, three, but Hector helped menthe other day!"

"What?!" Quirin exclaimed.

—————————————————

Rapunzel bursted into the throne room, where her parents were, having a quiet conversation. They stared at their daughter with wide eyes.

"Did it...did it work?" Arianna questioned, barely breathing.

Rapunzel let out silent a nod, breathless from running, and Quirin came through the door, Varian in his arms.

Frederic stood up, a hand covering his mouth. He let his hand drop and took a step forward, "My friend..."

Quirin glared at the king, and gestured to his child, Ice running through his veins, anger clouding his vision. "Friend?" He asked calmly, "would a friend treat his friends child like you did? Throw him into prison—leave him to die? I would have expected you to take care of him when I couldn't. But you didn't."

Frederic stared back, before sighing deeply, "Quirin, words cannot express—nor will they ever be able to express—how truly sorry I am. I didn't want to look for a better solution. All I cared about was punishment. I'm sorry. But you have to understand, you weren't there. He was dangerous."

His blood was boiling, "If you had given him time to think—taken his alchemy, would he have been so dangerous?" Quirin questioned, "he was already small before! If you would have taken away any weapons, do you honestly think he would have been a threat?!"

The king gave him a guilty look, "no, I suppose not, but how was I to know? Look, I take full responsibility, and accountability for what I've done. How about we speak some more later? When you've had some rest and cleared your head. I'm sure you're exhausted."

"Of course, your majesty. Thank you for allowing me to stay in the castle while Varian heals" Quirin said through gritted teeth. If he wasn't holding Varian, he probably would have beaten Frederic's ass and got himself sent to the dungeons.

"It's the least I could do" The King said.

"You're absolutely right" Quirin said coldly, before giving a sharp nod and leaving, joining everybody else on the trek up to Varian's room.

————————————————————————-

"Pyyyyyyjama's!" Rapunzel cried, bursting into Varian's room, "how about you get ready for bed? We'll hang with Varian for a while."

Quirin looked apprehensive to leave him, but Varian assured him that it was fine. So as soon as Quirin entered the bathroom, Varian became much more serious.

"You need to get my trial reports back from him" he hissed, "he can not read them."

"Why?" Cassandra asked, "Varian, he needs to know. He's your dad."

"It will break his heart!" Varian cried, "there is no way he will ever look at me the same if he reads what I said. What they did. He already knows they hurt me—but to read the details? How gruesome it was?"

"It's going to hurt both of you" Adira said, "believe me, it will be painful. Watching from even my seat was a struggle. I wanted nothing more than to get up and take those guards heads off. I had to restrain both myself and Hector."

"But..what about..the other thing?" Varian mumbled. He huffed, continuing when he was met with looks of confusion, "the molestation. The rape. I don't—I can't..."

Rapunzel frowned, "Varian, he has to know. Perhaps instead of giving him the shock of his life by waking up in the middle of the night and reading it while you're asleep, you be completely honest and vulnerable with him, okay? Tell him everything when you're ready."

Varian bit his lip and nodded, "How could anybody ever be ready to tell their own father something like that?" He mumbled.

"I...I don't know" she frowned, "but he's bound to find out eventually."

Varian closed his eyes and sighed, leaning his head against his pillow, "okay. I will."

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  When Quirin returned from the bathroom, everybody bid Varian goodnight and left the room, deciding to give the father and son a few moments to themselves before Varian fell asleep. Especially since the boy was so physically and emotionally exhausted.

"Hey...dad?" Varian questioned shyly as he was getting ready to leave.

"Yes, Varian?" His father asked, standing by the doorway, looking for any excuse at all to stay by his son's side.

"Could you..stay? Maybe? Like, sleep with me tonight? I'm scared that..that i'm going to wake up and you'll be gone, and I just—" his voice broke, "if this was all a dream, I just want to be as close to you as possible before I wake up."

"Varian, I can assure you this is not a dream but yes, I will stay" Quirin said, his heart breaking at his son's words. Varian looked so young and afraid.

It took hours for them to fall asleep. Varian just laid there in his dads embrace, hoping that he would never let go.