"Thank you again for babysitting," Rapunzel said as the two walked out of the sleeping baby's bedroom.

"It was no trouble, honestly. I'll babysit my goddaughter anytime."

It has been two days since his father gave him Ulla's journal and he has finally come to a conclusion, "Rapunzel, we need to talk."

Rapunzel tilted her head to the side, her hair falling off her shoulders, "Okay! What about?"

Varian took a seat and patted the bed as he waited for her to do the same, the queen obliged and sat down next to him. The boy grabbed his bag and pulled out his mother's journal, "Two days ago, my father gave me this journal, it belonged to my mother."

"Varian! That's amazing!" Rapunzel squealed, excited for her younger friend.

Varian chuckled at her enthusiasm, "Thank you but that's not all that I wanted to tell you." He then pulled out the map he got from Xavier's, "In my mother's journal, she talks about these seven trials, one set in each of the seven kingdoms. She died before she got to finish her quest, so I've decided to complete it for her."

Rapunzel continued to smile, though this time it felt less genuine, "That sounds like a fun adventure, I'm happy for you Varian."

"You don't think I should go, do you?"

"What? Of course, I think you should go!" Varian gave her an 'i'm not buying it" face, she sighed, "I think you should go, Varian. I promise. A quest through the seven kingdoms sounds like an amazing adventure, but also a long one, I'll miss you."

Three years ago if Rapunzel had said 'i promise' to him, he probably would have laughed in her face but now, he knows she is telling the truth. "I'm joining my dad on his trip back to Old Corona, I haven't told him yet, I don't know how he'll take it."

"Quirin will respect your decision, I'm sure he will."

Varian smiled before hugging the queen, "I'll miss you Rapunzel."

"I'll miss you too," Rapunzel hugged the boy back. "Now, who else do you have left to tell?"

"Eugene, Lance, Angry, Catalina," Varian eyes widened as he remembered something. "Oh! I want Catalina to replace me as Royal Engineer while I'm gone, I know she is only fourteen but she's naturally talented. I've been teaching her everything I know for the past year and she's a great student."

"I'll let her know."

"No, it's okay. I'll tell her when I say goodbye to them."

Varian stood up and walked other to the door, next to tell is Lance, Eugene and the girls. "Hey, Varian?"

He turned around, "Yeah?" The boy questioned, he watched as Rapunzel gave him a heartwarming smile.

"I'm proud of you."

Varian hates horse riding (no offence Max), he jumped off Max and felt as if there were stones in his stomach, thankfully the Snuggly Duckling isn't that far away. Varian grabbed out a red apple to give to Max, before walking into the tavern. "Varian!" Catalina exclaimed as she ran up to her teacher, Lance, Angry and Eugene following behind her.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

"I have something to tell you," he answered Eugene and then turned to the rest of them. "It's important."

"What's wrong?" Angry asked sarcastically, "Another one of your experiments blew up your side of the palace?"

Catalina elbowed her sister, "Stop being mean to Varian." Angry poked out her tongue and made kissing sounds.

Varian looked over at Lance who was glaring at him, clearly, something is happening that he isn't being told about. Varian looked over at Eugene for help, Eugene rolled his eyes before walking up to Varian and placing a hand on his shoulder, "What is it?"

Varian took a deep breath, "I'm leaving for a little bit."

"What?" Whatever Eugene was expecting him to say, this was not it. The older man looked hurt.

Varian bit his lip, he looked at Lance, Catalina and then Angry, they all shared to same pained expression. Maybe he shouldn't have just blurted it out like that, maybe he shouldn't have eased into it, oh well, it's too late now. "I'm going to travel the seven kingdoms, I'm not sure how long I'll be gone for."

"When are you leaving?" Angry asked.

"In an hour, I'm going to join my father on his travel back to Old Corona."

Lance frowned, "You haven't told him yet have you?" Varian shook his head, "Good luck with that."

"Thank you," Varian said sarcastically, although he knew he needed all the luck he could get.

Varian grabbed out a small notebook from his bag, it was the size of his palm and has colourful scribbles all over it, "This is all my plans for the next year," he tells Catalina, "While I'm gone, I want you to take over as Royal Engineer, as long as your dad is okay with it," he glanced over to Lance, who nodded in response.

"Really?" Catalina asked, the young ginger-haired girl was in shock. "But I'm only a student!"

"You are the only person who I think qualifies for the job, if you ever run into any troubles you can read my notebook or ask my father for help."

Catalina stared at Varian, she didn't know what to say so she hugged him, "Thank you so much, Varian! I won't let you down!"

Varian smiled, "You're welcome."

Lance crossed his arms, "How do you plan on surviving by yourself? I haven't even seen you leave Corona, let alone by yourself."

Eugene agreed, "He makes a point, kid. Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself? Do you have a horse? What about a caravan?"

Varian frowned, this wasn't the overwhelming support he had hoped for, "I was planning on buying a horse from Old Corona, but I wasn't going to get a caravan... is that something I need?"

"It is unless you plan on sleeping on the floor," Lance chuckled.

"Oh..." Varian didn't know where he would be able to get a caravan from in Old Corona and if he were to get one from Corona, he would have to find a reason for why he is bringing a caravan to the farm that his father would believe.

"What about you borrow our caravan?" Catalina suggested.

Angry shook her head, "No way! Varian will blow it up."

"You can take our caravan but on one condition," Lance grinned, "You talk to your dad about getting me a date with Adira."

"Oh, come on," ever since Varian and the others found out that his father was a part of the brotherhood, Lance has been bugging him nonstop to get him a date with Varian's aunt. "There is no way she will say yes to that."

"Maybe, but I want you to ask your dad to talk to her about it anyway. My charismatic smile will be enough to make her say yes."

Varian groaned, "Okay, fine, but if she says no it's not my fault."

"Deal."

Eugene shook his head, a warm smile on his face as he listened to the two, "I'm going to miss you kid, Corona isn't going to be the same without you."

The ride to Old Corona must have been one of the most uncomfortable experiences in Varian's entire life, and he spent a year in jail. The whole Quirin kept looking at the caravan attached to the back of their cart and then back to Varian, the boy was sweating each time, he felt guiltily leaving his father the last to tell. Varian kept trying to tell his father but every time he went to say it the words never came out. Varian doesn't want to scare his father, he knows what his dad is going to think, Varian is thinking the same thing himself, 'what if whatever happened to ulla happened to him' something on the trials killed his mother and now he is about to follow where she had gone.

"Dad," Varian said suddenly, stopping the father mid-leaving the cart, "I need to talk to you."

Quirin sat back down next to Varian, "You're going on the quest, aren't you?"

"What- How did you know?!"

"I told you. You are a lot like your mother," Quirin spoke with a soft smile, he thought about the woman he had last seen seventeen years ago, despite it being almost two decades he still remembers every freckle on her face. "You also have a caravan attached to the back of our cart."

"So you're not mad?"

"I'm not mad."

Varian smiled, he felt as if the stones in his stomach had finally gone away, so this is real, he thought to himself, he is finally going to leave Corona.

Quirin jumped off the cart and looked at his son, "Take, Prometheus with you. It's been a while since he's had some action, I'm sure he'll enjoy some change of scenery.

"Are you sure? Prometheus is our only donkey, I can just buy a horse from the Olsen farm-"

"Prometheus served me well in the brotherhood," Varian looked at the donkey in front of him, as a kid Varian was terrified of the animal. Prometheus would always eat Varian's new clothes and chase him around the village, as Prometheus grew old he started to leave Varian alone. Despite his grudge against the animal, Varian had to admit Prometheus is fast, at least fast for a donkey in his mid-twenties.

Varian went to pat the old donkey but retreated his hand as Prometheus tried to eat it. "Thank you, dad, this will help a lot," Varian tried to hide his nerves. The boy knew he needed to leave before the sun went down but he had so many more questions, more he needs to say to his father. The boy sighed, he will write and hopefully, he'll come back in one piece.

Varian unlatched the caravan to the cart and then attached the caravan to the donkey, "This is it," he said breathlessly, "The start of my adventure."

"Varian-" Quirin stopped the boy, "One more thing," he ran inside the home and back out in a matter of seconds, "I have something for you."

"Dad, you didn't need to," he tried sounding serious but Varian's curious eyes and squeaky excited voice gave him away.

Quirin handed Varian a belt, it was black leather with a silver circle and two lines on the edge of the circle, Varian felt hot tears form in his eyes, "Is this-"

"Yes, but it's yours now, you deserve it," Varian put the belt in his blue pants and adjusted it so that it would fit. Now, he proudly wore the single of the Brotherhood.

"I love it! Thank you so much!" Varian threw himself onto his father, suffocating him with a hug, "You're the best!"

Quirin chuckled and when Varian wasn't looking, wiped a tear away from his eye, "It's time for you to go, you wouldn't want to start your journey after sundown."

Varian climbed onto the caravan and looked past the village, as far as he could see. "I will make you proud."

"You already have."