The Moon Calls

13

Lance hummed to himself as he strolled down the street. He swiped something from a stall as he passed it and then gasped when it was suddenly gone from his hand in a gray blur. "What the—" A cloud of pink smoke suddenly went off and he blinked in disbelief before looking down to see he was encased in some kind of pink substance. "Uhh..."

"Eugene said you were looking for me?" He looked up and saw Varian standing in front of him, a guard not too far away putting back the item he'd swiped. "Thanks for invading my room and attacking my raccoon, by the way. Real nice."

"Eh, your raccoon is too sensitive." Lance said, then gasped when said critter came out from behind Varian and hissed at him. "Oh boy."

"Calm down, Ruddiger." Varian said, then looked back up at Lance. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Lance looked a bit nervous. "Uh...can we talk somewhere else?"

Varian raised an eyebrow. "The dungeon has a cell with your name on it if you cause any more trouble."

"Uh, wow, okay..." He squirmed a bit. "What...is this stuff?" He asked.

"It's an alchemical solution that starts off liquid and hardens to trap something inside it. I call it 'goo'." Varian explained casually.

Lance glanced around, seeing people starting to whisper and laugh at his trapped state. "...You know, the dungeon cell sounds better."

"Relax," Varian pulled out a vial and dissolved the goo, "you're only going there if you cause trouble. You wanted to talk? Let's go to my lab. Pete?" He looked over at the guard, who came over to them. "Hope you don't mind the escort, Lance."

Lance smiled awkwardly. "Right. To your lab, then."

--

"I need your help with something." Lance said once they were in his lab, Pete the Guard watching closely and Ruddiger poised to strike at the slightest threat to his boy.

"My help?" Varian asked.

"Yes. I've heard of your, uh, magic potions—"

"Alchemy." Varian corrected.

"Yeah, that. And, see, I have a problem. I'm trying to go straight, really, I am. But, when I was on to the way to return something I stole, it got stolen by someone else by these guys that jumped me. I know where they are, but it's too dangerous for me to go in there. Alone, that is." Lance explained.

"Why don't we just send the Royal Guard?" Varian suggested.

"Because if the guy that stole from me finds out I told the Royal Guard where he is, I'm dead." Lance grabbed Varian's arms and Ruddiger hissed while Pete's hand went to his sword. "So, I can't involve the guards. That's why I thought I could ask you for help and you could use your alchemy stuff."

"And you honestly think that I'd be allowed to go anywhere with you without a guard?" Varian raised an eyebrow, holding out a hand to calm Ruddiger before pushing Lance's hands off his arms, shaking his head at Pete.

Lance whimpered. "Pleeeease...Eugene already said he'd never help me again and I can't go alone!"

Varian sighed. "I have to talk to my sister about this."

"Uh, does the Princess have to know?" Lance asked.

"I'm not going anywhere without her knowing, guard or not. Otherwise, you'd be arrested as soon as we got back." Varian headed for the door. "Come on, let's go talk to her."

--

Rapunzel, of course, wasn't okay with Varian going off somewhere potentially dangerous – alone, that is. She asked Cassandra to go with him and make sure he got home safely, which she agreed to without any hesitation.