Good or Bad (A Tangled: The Series Fiction)

6

That night, we settled down alongside the road. Rudiger was running around, climbing trees, and just being happy. Varian and I still weren't talking after the hostages thing. I felt bad; he clearly hadn't trusted me even from the start, and that didn't help. He had some issues that were affecting him, but there was nothing I could do about it. I just wanted to be friends, but he was pretty obviously scarred by something that made it impossible.

I also wanted to know what his issue with the princess was. I had a vendetta against the king because he didn't even treat me like a person, but why did Varian loathe specifically the princess? I wished I knew more.

I fell asleep long after Varian did, distracted by my own thoughts and the beauty of the night sky. We're there always this many stars? The glow of the moon was more than welcome to me. It was a breathtaking view, and I just allowed myself to enjoy it as I drifted off.

~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~

"Look! Look!"

"I can't look right now, I need to focus."

"C'mon, sis! Look!"

"Wait a moment, please. I'm working."

"Look, look!"

"Unless it's more important than stitching up father's wound, leave me alone."

"There's a strange man outside!"

"......What?"

~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~

I woke up slowly, then shot upright when I remembered the dream. It wasn't as bad as previous ones, but it was still disturbing. I sighed and rested my head in my hands.

C'mon, sis!

I shook my head, desperately trying to push away the memory of the innocent little voice. It hurt to think about. I didn't want to remember. I forced myself to focus on better memories. Ones not related to... Those people. The victorious feeling of successfully stealing food. The satisfaction of donating the money from scams to good causes.

"Racs?" I looked up at Varian, who was staring at me. His eyes were filled with a gentle concern, which contrasted the sharp, cautious look that was nearly always there. "What's wrong?"

"Um... Nothing, I'm okay, just a nightmare," I said with a small shrug. He gave me a disbelieving look, and I glared at him. "Really, I'm fine! It was a bad dream, not a life threatening injury! Quit looking at me like that!"

"What was it about?" He pressed. I looked away, shutting my eyes to avoid him reading my expression.

"Look!"

"Don't worry about it," I said, taking a breath. I opened my eyes and stood up, adjusting the bag I was carrying. I smiled wide and started down the road with a confident stride. Varian quickly grabbed Rudiger and his bag, then followed me. "So, think we can cover more ground than we did yesterday?"

Ignore the memories.

"Rac-"

"I think we should make a game out of it!"

I should have played more games with her.

"Raccy-"

"We can see how many steps it takes to get to different landmarks!"

Stop thinking about it.

"Racs!"

Varian jumped in front of me and grabbed my shoulders to stop me. I did stop, and he sighed.

"What's bothering you? Like I told you; you're a really bad liar. You're not fooling me by joking around," He scolded. I didn't let my smile falter. I just pushed past him and kept walking.

"I'll be alright by midday. Besides, I don't bug you asking about the things that bother you. Don't get on my case," I said. I looked to a large black rock leaning over the path up ahead. "How far do you think that is? I think about fifty steps. One, two, three..."

Varian gave up trying to make me talk about it, and relief washed over me. I kept counting until we reached the rock.

"Sixty. I was close," I told Varian. He nodded, but didn't say anything. I knew he was upset with me for not admitting anything was wrong, but I didn't care. It wasn't his business to know what was wrong with me. I wasn't even sure what was wrong with me. Those people were long gone.

I once again shook off those thoughts and kept moving, putting a bounce in my step to cheer myself up. I kept picking spots along the road and counting how many steps it was to get there, and eventually, Varian joined in glumly. I eventually turned to skip backwards while looking at him.

"Stop it, you're too adorable to act like a moody, depressed teen," I told him, giving a smile. He rolled his eyes at me.

"First of all, I modified a mood potion to be a truth serum. Second, I lost everything, was betrayed, and thrown into jail, so yeah, I'm not ashamed to admit I'm depressed. Third, I am a teenager. Lastly, quit doing that, it reminds me of the princess," He said. I turned and walked beside him, and bit back a laugh when I caught him secretly smiling.

"So... What is this?" I asked, pulling a random vial from my bag. It was full of a magenta liquid.

"Pour a drop on the ground, see what it does," Varian replied. I opened the vial, and let a single drop fall to the ground. The drop swelled in size, and turned into a jelly-like substance. I quickly grabbed a stick and poked it. The stick stuck fast into it. No matter how hard I pulled at it, it wouldn't budge. Varia smirked, then pulled a salt shaker from his pocket and sprinkled the contents onto the substance. It melted away, then disappeared entirely.

"That's so cool!" I said, looking at the clean stick. I tossed it to the side, then closed the vial and put it away. "How did you make it?"

Varian explained the steps to creating the substance, how it worked, and how he made the neutralizer. I watched his excited expression as he talked, and wondered how he could go for so long without pausing for a breath. It was funny how, no matter how bad his mood was, he could instantly revert back to an innocent, happy kid at the mention of certain subjects.

It was so hard to believe someone so sweet and compassionate could have ended up in a place like the royal dungeon. I thought about his crimes. He made an attempt at the lives of the royal family, but why? I couldn't help but feel this rand deeper than anything I knew.

Either way, I was glad to be traveling with him, and try to solve the puzzle that was his life and mind.