Clouded Memories - Tangled the Series

chapter 1

Ringing. That was all he heard. An unbearably loud ringing through his ears. But strangely, it was calming. Strangely, he was at peace. Until he snapped back into reality.

"...Rian!" He felt hands on his shoulders, shaking him violently. "Varian!" The familiar voice called out once more. As fast as his eyes opened, they shut. Blinded by a light shining directly at them. It took him some time to get adjusted to the light, but eventually, he could keep his eyes open without being burnt, as if they were vampires in sunlight, burning away. Then he noticed the person looming above him, they looked relieved, but concerned. "Wh-" the boy began, but stopped himself. His eyes widened, everything hit him all at once. Without warning, he sat up like a bolt of lightning, and coughed, like he'd never coughed before. His chest stung the more he coughed, but he couldn't stop. His head wasn't helping, it felt like it had been sliced open with a dagger, stitched back together, and smashed in by several boulders. The stranger placed their hands on his back, their soothing movements somehow helped him relax, and the coughing became less frequent. Once his coughing fit had fully stopped, the stranger stepped back in front of him. "Varian?" It was a woman's voice. Varian.. That word sounded.. Familiar.

He rubbed his eyes, and took a good look at the girl. She was blonde, with hair bright as the sun, yet it was longer than any hair he'd ever seen before.. wait, had he ever actually seen anyone's hair? He couldn't remember. Her face was full of warmth and kindness, yet.. sorrow. Was this woman's happiness a facade? Her smile was filled with joy, but her beautiful, emerald eyes were telling an entirely different story. Her purple and pink dress was majestic, it was nothing like he'd ever seen before either. Had he ever seen a dress..? It struck him at that moment, that he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything. His mind was.. blank. "Varian, are you okay?" The girl tried again. Varian.. was that.. him?

"Who are you?" His voice was calm and quiet, barely a whisper. It hurt to talk, his throat felt scratchy, and uncomfortable. The once cheerful smile on her face became that of pure shock. "What do you mean? I-it's me, it's Rapunzel!" She exclaimed, her tone was desperate as she registered what was happening. Desperate for him to remember who she was. But he couldn't. "I'm sorry I- I don't think I know you" He stared at the bed he was on. It was soaking wet, though there was a towel placed on the mattress. It was a pitiful attempt at drying up the water, because it seemed to have barely helped at all. "I don't.. think I know who i am."

The girl in front of him seemed to freeze in time, and then quickly her face was engulfed in many, unreadable emotions all at once. But most importantly, came her look of realization. His words seemed to have struck a chord in her. Of course, why was she surprised? He had hit his head after all, she should of expected this. She looked speechless for a moment before simply saying, "I'll- I'll be back," Rapunzel- the name he assumed was hers- spoke, frantic, yet trying to sound calm. Another facade, he'd only known her for a few minutes, but she seemed to be very good at faking her emotions, or at least she would be, if he couldn't see through her so easily. He watched Rapunzel exit the room, something about her was familiar, but he couldn't put his mind on it. That wasn't his main concern right now however, as he fully regained his consciousness, he noticed all the bandages wrapped around him. He had felt the pain prior, but he hadn't noticed the treatments. It was so.. odd. If he had gotten so injured, why couldn't he remember it? He was certain he would remember an incident that led to him being bound to bed like this, covered in bruises, and blood stained bandages.

Suddenly, Varian heard noise coming from the same door Rapunzel had exited out of, was she returning? He raised his head all he could, but didn't even catch glimpse of the girl's unmistakable golden hair. Instead, for just a split second, he could of sworn he saw an animal run through the door. He sunk into his covers, slightly uncomfortable at the thought of a wild animal loose in his room. He heard a chitter, then felt something crawling up on his legs, the creature continued to chitter, in a way Varian could only describe as excited. As Varian could see the creature more clearly, he was able to come to the realization it was a raccoon. A very chubby one at that. Were they just letting any old rodent into.. well.. he didn't really know what this place was, but from all his treated wounds, his comfortable bed and the visitors, he could only assume it was a medical center.

"Varian?" A voice called to him softly. He recognized it, it was Rapunzel again. She peered at him by the ledge of the door. "There are more people who want to see you," she began, her eyes trailing over to the raccoon on the foot of his bed. "I see one of them has already made his way inside" she chuckled in an attempt to make light of the situation. "Do you.. remember him?" she inquired hopefully, but to no avail, Varian simply shook his head. "His name is Ruddiger.. I- he was your raccoon. If you can't remember him..." she cut herself off, not wanting to divulge the thought. "A-anyways" Rapunzel stepped aside, and from behind her appeared a tall, bulky man. The look on his eyes though, much like Rapunzel's when he first saw her, was anything but intimidating. The male looked at Varian, his expression one of shock and denial. The way the man stood there in silence, just staring at Varian began to make him uncomfortable, and he once again shrunk underneath his covers. This made the man flinch, and snap out of his supposed trance. "I- the princess told me, but I wasn't sure it was true.." He looked towards Varian, his eyes now clouded with despair. Wait a second- princess? But Varian didn't have much time to think about his discovery, as the male spoke up in a dark, eery tone.

"Do you remember me?"

A pang of guilt struck his chest, was this another person he was supposed to know? Varian's silence seemed to speak to the man, because he let out a heavy sigh whilst grabbing the also hurt looking raccoon. "We'll talk later then" the man spoke up after a long moment of silence. Rapunzel seemed shocked at this statement, as she called out to him. "Quirin, wait!" she exclaimed. "You're not going to tell him?? Who you are I mean? I- maybe it could help, you and Ruddiger where- are- the most important things in his life!" Quirin. So that was his name. "I can't, princess. Not yet. It hurts too much. That look in his eyes!" Quirin pointed towards a very confused Varian. "He doesn't even know who I am. His eyes used to be filled with love when he looked towards me, now all I see is the look you would give a stranger." The man bit his tongue, seemingly holding back tears. Rapunzel seemed to understand, she nodded, letting Quirin walk out of the room. "But please.. come back when you can" she nearly whispered.

Quirin and Ruddiger were now out of sight, and the two were back right where they started. Rapunzel giving Varian worried looks, and him not even knowing who she was. After a while of this, the silence got to Varian, he had to say something. And so, he did. "Princess, huh?" he began. "What would someone with a rank as high as yourself be doing checking up on me? I don't remember much, if anything at all, but I can tell I'm not that important" he chuckled lightheartedly. Varian may not know who he or any of those people were at the moment, but the way everyone he had met so far was acting was enough to help Varian piece together what was happening. He had amnesia. So although she was a stranger to him, she had to have known him prior to this, therefore she must be feeling emotions he couldn't even put to word. He decided the best he could right now was laugh it off, and perhaps she would do the same.

"You are!" she protesting, gasping at the fact he would even suggest he meant nothing to her. Okay, so maybe she wasn't as big on jokes as he'd assumed. "Varian, you were one of my closest friends! You still are. You're like a little brother to me" she grabbed his hand, and cupped it with her own. "We're going to get your memories back. Whatever it takes. I won't abandon you, Varian... not this time." This time? Looks like Varian had a lot to learn about the past. And from the way her highness was acting now, it seemed like it wasn't any good.