A New Mistake

Goodbye...

"You know, I want to know why he's being all cryptic about this, like why not give us a simple, easy note that says, 'hey, I'm here' with a map?"
Eugene asked.
"Oh come on, there is nothing simple or easy about Varian, we know this by now." Cass pulled at the reigns of her horse. "We should get off our horses here, and walk the rest of the way. It'll be quieter." She whispered back.
They got off, and walked towards the cliffs edge.

Varian sat there, legs dangling over, watching the river rush by. It was different at night, he couldn't quiet put a feeling to it. But it was still nice, putting a small smile on his face. He heard footsteps behind him, but didn't turn around.
"Varian...?" He perked up a bit when he heard her.
"Cassandra! I'm so glad you came, I wasn't actually sure you would, it was really just an educated guess, but I'm glad I was right." His head fell to the side, ear almost to his shoulder, blue and green locks falling as well.
"Hey, I have a question; actually multiple now." Eugene picked up, moving towards his left side while Cass moved right.
"Ask away, I've got the time." He tilted his head to the left now, fully aware of the approach on either side of him.
"Okay, so-"
"What are you planning, Varian?" The princess spoke up. Upon hearing her, he sat straight up, perked in annoyance.
"Why is she here?" He said, still not turning around.
The Prince and Cass shared a look, before she asked,
"Rapunzel?"
Varian stood up, tall against the moon that hung low that night.
"You aren't supposed to be here!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Rapunzel, while his hair flowed a dark black. Eugene noticed the Moonshard on his hand was no longer that, but instead was the full MoonStone. But he stayed quiet for now.
"Raps I think you should head home..."
"But I only want to help!"
"HELP?! You can only help, BY LEAVING!"
"No, I want to stay-"
A jagged row of sharp black and yellow rocks burst through the ground, forming a divide between where Rapunzel and the other two stood. Eugene tried to rush to her side, but his feet were encased in black and blue rocks; looking over, Cass's were the same.
"GO HOME RAPUNZEL!"
"But Varian, I-"
"THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU!" Another flurry of rocks spat out of the ground, shoving Rapunzel back down the hill towards where the horses stood wait.
"Rapunzel, leave! Please?!" Eugene called out to her. She stared into his eyes, they were heavy with worry, and she gave a slow nod, before backing away.

Once he was sure that she left, he let Cass's and Eugene's feet free, before pulling up a plain black rock and sitting on it. His hair settled to that neon blue 'neutral' again.
"So can I ask my questions now?" Eugene poked what he assumed would be a sleeping bear.
"Of course. Ask away."
"Okay... first, why the puzzle?"
"Oh I just though it would be fun, did you guys not enjoy it?"
"It was, eh." Cass responded plainly. "How did you get out?"
"Lock me in my room for a few weeks, with nothing to do, the least I could do was memorise the guard schedules. I used that, obviously, to my advantage." He shrugged it off.
"Hold on, locked up, for weeks?" She turned angrily to Eugene.
"Hey I wasn't happy about it either. The king found out he was getting better at controlling the rocks, and locked him up. It's a habit of his it seems."
"It wasn't fun, I'll tell you that. Next question?"
"Random one; where's your sword?"
"Oh, you don't trust me?"
"No I just don't want you leaving it behind, if It gets stolen I doubt Xavier will make another one."
Varian laughed at this. "I have it with me. I modified it slightly to my liking, see?" He unsheathed it from his back, it looked the same, but-
"It's covered in those rocks?"
"Yeah, now it's super sharp, and can cut anything." He drew up a plain black spike, and sliced through it like it was butter. "Oh and I'm personally calling the rocks 'obsidian' for now, because it's easier than saying "the rocks" all the time." He put the sword away again.
"Final question: What are you doing out here?" Cass asked.
"Ah, I was waiting for this one. I'm leaving."

"What?! Why?" The pair asked in jinx.
"Because... I want to. I don't want to be held in a room because I might be dangerous, and I don't want to hurt anyone if I turn out to be. So I'm going away. No one can get hurt if I'm all alone. Simple as." He stood up again, as if saying it wasn't up for debate. The duo didn't get the signal.
"Varian you can't just leave-" Cass started.
"You did." He said emotionless, while staring right into her eyes. He could see her hurt, and his hair flushed grey with guilt. "Sorry."

"Varian, what about the people who care for you? Your father, Cass, Rapunzel," Varian scowled at her name, "me?"
"I'm sorry Eugene, but I'm doing you all a favour. If I leave you, you won't be at risk of harm. That wouldn't be fair, to hurt you when I care about you so much." Again, hurt flashed through Cassandra's eyes.
"Please don't leave." She asked.
"I have to." He stepped back towards to edge of the cliff, he was planning on turning and jumping off, but the edge was closer than he calculated, and his hair turned sharp white as he fell backwards.
"NOOO!" A thud sounded out, and the duo ran to the edge, to see he had landed on a layer of rock he had drew out of the wall. Looking up to stare the two in the eyes, he unsheathed his sword once more, and sliced off the sheet, falling on it into the water below, as it began to carry him off. His hair melted back to grey and cobalt blue, with a twinge of green mixed in, as he disappeared around a turn into the night.