Tangled: Stardust and the 12 Zodiacs (Varian Fanfiction)

Chapter 64: Monsters

Eugene woke up surprisingly early the next day. He glanced at the window, seeing the sun was just rising in the horizon before glancing at his pocket watch that was resting next to the sleeping Pascal on top of the nightstand, and groaned.

6:13 am.

Yep, definitely too early for his standards.

Well, since he's already up, might as well just get up and start his day earlier than usual. Maybe since he has a lot of time in his hands, maybe he can start on his beauty routine now? Oh! Maybe he could also do some facial while he's at it.

He got out of bed, careful not to wake Rapunzel who was sleeping next to him as he tiptoed towards his bags, taking his stuff and going outside to start his routine.

"Time to look handsome because handsome doesn't come natu— GAHH!" He screamed, coming in face to face with a certain black-haired just as he swung the door open.

"Shhhh!" Varian shushed him, peeking in the window to see if anyone woke up from Eugene's scream before letting out a sigh in relief. "Keep it down! It's still early and everyone else is still sleeping."

"You scared me, kid." Eugene breathed out, placing a hand over his chest. "What are you doing outside?"

"I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. So, I decided to just work on some alchemy and before I knew it, the sun was already coming up. I was just cleaning up when you came out." Varian answered, gesturing to his piled up alchemy equipment near a now put out bonfire from last night. "How about you? What are you doing up this early? You usually don't wake up until Rapunzel does."

"Well, like you, I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep." He replied before looking at him again. "Wait, what did you mean 'the sun was already coming up'?"

"I woke up somewhere around four." Varian shrugged, "Ruddiger and Hoots can vouch for me that I'm the real Varian. They have been with me since I woke up and have been keeping me company since."

Eugene let out a hum in reply as he looked at the two animals, who both nodded at him in confirmation. "So...what are you doing now?" He asked, letting the teen in and watched him head to his bags, grabbing his satchel and some cleaning supplies.

"About to find a lake or something to clean my equipment with. Wanna come?" Varian offered, walking back outside with his stuff.

"Uhm, sure! I was about to find one myself but since you're doing the same, why not?"

"Why?"

"I'm, " Eugene pointed to himself, a proud smile on his face, "going to get my handsomeness on. I mean since I woke up early, why not start my daily routine early too? And first on the list is to 'take a beauty bath', so that's what I'm going to do."

"Are you sure you want to take a bath this early? We might be on the warmer side of the country now but it's still winter and the water's going to be freezing. You might catch a cold." The younger of the two warned, concerned for his older friend's health.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I handled colder waters before." Eugene dismissively said.

"Well, let's go then." Varian grinned as he grabbed his equipment and placed them in a plastic bag he pulled out from his satchel. "We better be quick if we don't want anyone to worry about us and panic when they see us gone." He said, heading off.

"Wait, aren't we going to this forest or something? Why the village?" Eugene asked, pointing in the other direction next to the caravan.

Varian looked back at him and shook his head, "If there is a village, there's a high chance that there is a water source near it. Otherwise, they would have built it on this side and not the other." He then gestured for Ruddiger to come along and the raccoon happily chittered, jumping onto his shoulder.