A New Mistake

The Verdict

They took him to see the king.

"So, you're telling me that Varian, known genius and temporary enemy of this kingdom, had a piece of the Moonstone, the same Moonstone Cassandra attacked this very castle with, and didn't tell anyone for months?"
"Yes sir." Varian hung his head.
"You know how this sounds, yes?"
"Yes sir."
"Dad it's not what you think!" Rapunzel butt in.
"Isn't it?"
"He never meant any harm by it, you can see it, he's scared, I mean he hid in his lab, the Demanitus chamber, that giant hollowed out mountain for a month just because he was afraid."
"I was going to tell you." Varian mumbled. "I was going to tell all of you, but then this happened," he raised his arms, now fully covered up to both elbows, "and I was afraid this," he gestured at the room, and the king, "would happen, so I hid."
"A month you say?" The King asked.
"Yes sir."
"So you haven't seen your father in a month?" The Queen continued her husband's train of thought
"No- no I haven't! Oh no,- I've been meaning to ask about my hair since you brought it up earlier Rapunzel- but that's beside the point. I haven't seen my father in a month, he's probably disappointed in me by this point..."

"Quirin? Come over here please?" The king becomes towards the side door to his left.
Varian's father came into the room through it and Varian hastily crossed his arms, putting on a bad grin.
"Daaaaad, heyyyyy. How are you?"
"Never mind that, how are you?"
"Me? Me oh I'm-I'm fine, yeah, no worries or anything, why would you think something was wrong? Me crossing my arms does nothing to hide this, does it?"
"Varian I just heard every that was said to the king."
"Oh, right. You know, in hindsight, I probably should have come to you first, what with you being part of the Brotherhood, you might be able to help with this."
"Actually no. The Brotherhood was designed to help protect the Moonstone from anyone trying to get to it, and when I worked with them, the closest anyone got to touching it was King Edmund. We held him back, and no one got any closer to it until Cassandra grabbed it. Only her, and now you, are the only people to have touched it ever."
"Oh. Well that narrows things down, hehe..."

"Your Majesty, my son may make mistakes, but you will never meet a more determined, brave, loyal, genius kid in the 7 kingdoms. I doubt that he is trying to harm anyone with this. As Rapunzel said, he is just scared."

The room awaited the kings verdict. Ariana put a hand on his arm, reassuring him.

"Quirin, I wholeheartedly agree."
"Oh thank you sir." Rapunzel could see the tension fall from Varians shoulders.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Both of you, please you can drop the formalities. Varian you practically live here now, and Quirin we've been friends our entire lives."
"Oh, okay. Thank you."

"Varian. You have Rapunzel's, Eugene's and your father's trust. Even if I wanted to try, it's not like you couldn't have mine as well, given that you have the Princess for Corona and the Captain of the Guard in your side, as well as the leader of Old Corona, your father, whom I have known for life, and trust with that life. There will be no charges against you, because after how many times you have proven your loyalty, there would be no doubt in the world of your trust, if not for your more, questionable, actions in the past. We will solve this. Until then, you have the protection of the Royal Family, and the Royal Guard behind you."
"Oh- oh my god, thank you, your Majesty. Sir. Fredrick- no that's going to far. Thank you sir."
The entire room laughed at his little moment, and the weight of the situation left everyone's shoulders. Varian ran to hug his father, and was heard apologising endlessly to him for not talking to him for a month.

"So Rapunzel," the King had gotten up to stand beside his daughter, while the Queen beside Quirin and his son. "What are we going to do? The Sundrop and the rest of the Moonstone were destroyed, so what now?"
"I'm not sure. I think first we need to decide if he's an actual threat or not. And Cass should be home soon, she said she was planning on coming back home before heading to one of the further away kingdoms, so maybe she can help."
"Yes, good call. Does Cassandra know about Varian?"
"No, I only got her letter this morning and haven't written back yet, because Owl was resting, and then this happened."
"Alright. Don't tell her."
"What? Why?"
"Because I don't want word of this to get out side this room. Understood?"
"Yes Dad."

"Varian-"
"Your majesty- sir- I actually have no idea how I meant to address you now."
"You can still call me sir if you want to."
"Okay! What can I do for you, Sir?"

"Whoa, Varian, you know that nickname I gave you, Hair Stripe?" Eugene had stopped outside the side door, back after setting new rounds schedules with the guards. "I might have to change it to Hair Stripes."
"Wha-" Varian pulled at his fringe and frowned. "I got another one, didn't I? You know, I could deal with the armour, sure it pinches a bit but I've felt worse, but you did NOT have to ruin my hair, universe! I liked my singular stripe, speaking of, Dad how did I get my hair stripe?"
"I don't know. You were born with it."
"Oh. Did mom have blue hair?"
"Nope. But, her father did."
"Wait really?"
"Yeah, the MoonStone had an affect on some people, and kids were born with blue hair. It was rare though. I guess the genetics passed down to you somehow."
"I kinda thought it would be from mom, like her getting cursed or something and having blue hair, but nope. Instead, it's a magical rock with the power of gods that genetically modified my family to the point where I inherited blue hair, OMG that's actually way cooler-"
"Varian?" The king cut in.
"Your majesty?" Varian immediately snapped back to the conversation. His odd antics made the Queen chuckle, which in turn made Varian smile.
"Can you make anymore black rocks?"
"Wha- I, I don't know, the first time was an accident-"
"I know. But we need to know if your power could be a threat or not. Just try, please."
"Well, I can't refuse an order from the King." Varian held up his right arm, and focused on the ground, eyes closed in concentration. The room waited.
Varian let out his breath. "Nothing, sorry."
"Maybe, try the hand with the Moonstone in it? Just a guess." Eugene added to the table.
"But, I saved Rudigger with this hand." He held up his right.
"Hey, I'm just throwing out suggestions."
"Eh, okay." He held up his left now, and his eyes closed again.
"Still nothing. Sorry."
"No, this is good. You can't use the Moonstones power, at least not yet."

"Can I go to my lab?"
"What?"
"I want to go, maybe check out the damage, see if I can salvage any research, check if I can still actually use it as a lab, Oo maybe if I can make more rocks, I can form more amber and stabilise it again."
"NO! You are not to pursue this power, it could be dangerous."
"Fredrick, calm down. He'll be fine." The Queen held his arm again, before moving her hand to Varian's shoulder. They seemed to have a relationship that Rapunzel never noticed.
"Oh, of course. Yes sir."
"Very well. Take Rapunzel and Eugene with you, the chamber could still be unstable."
"Alright."

"Ouch." Varian rubbed his arm again.
"You okay?" Eugene wrapped an arm around Varian's shoulders.
"Yeah, yeah, just- it's grown more in a couple of hours than it did in my month of solitude, so that's fun." He twiddled his fingers.
"That's new." Eugene pointed at Varian's moving hands. "Usually you rub the back of your neck when you're nervous or something."
"Yeah, well rubbing my neck isn't comforting when my hands are permanently icy cold and my fingers are pointed."
"Oo- ouch." Eugene pricked himself.
"What did you expect?"
"Want to talk about anything?" Rapunzel shouldered him.
"The entire time the King was talking I was blacked out. I still heard him, just wasn't paying attention."
"Oh I do that all. the. time. Especially when it seems he could talk for hours." Rapunzel laughed at Varian's astonishment.
"Say, where'd you're stutter go? Usually your tumbling over every second word?"
"Oh, well I-I only really st-st-" Varian let out a defeated, slightly annoying growl. "Stutter when I'm nervous. Thanks Eugene, for bringing it- it back." He sighed.

"You know, the place looked a lot worse when we were running for our lives." Eugene pointed out as the reached the lab.
"Yeah, it did."
"Oh no, my table got crushed." Varian hung his head so far down he almost fell, with his hands held up at either side. "All my research..."
"What research?" Eugene asked.
Varian raised himself up again, an unimpressed expression on his face, he was almost as tall as Eugene at this point, and stared him in the eyes, while raising his left hand higher, and pointed at the jewel stuck to it with his right.
"Oh, right.
"It- its fine. It's not like I was getting anywhere anyways." He covered his face with his hands, before dragging them down it, then snapping his hands away from him.
"Oh, no Varian you've scratched down your face..." Rapunzel spoke gently.
"Really? Hadn't noticed." He deadpanned.

"Varian, you can check out your lab tomorrow, I think we should head back to the castle for now, you look so exhausted-"
"Practically dead." Eugene butt in.
"Not helping Eugene. Come on, you need proper rest, in an actual bed. Not sleeping on the floor, and not an unconscious black out."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right. I am really tired right now for some reason. Can I have Rudigger with me? He helps me sleep."
"Of course. Now come on, it's a long enough walk, and I'm not carrying you back."