From Underling to Uva

The Alchemist and the Mystery

The crew walked a long time before reaching Old Corona. The sun was setting. It fell like Uva's mood - slowly sinking further into darkness. She plodded glumly next to Annabel who watched her out of the corner of her eye. Uva sighed. Rapunzel was stilling asking the other two loads of questions which Annabel was happy to let Antonio answer. Finally, they reached the alchemist's place. Rapunzel swung open the door.

"Varian!" She called. Suddenly, there was a small explosion followed by smoke. A small figure waved his hand in front of his face as he approached the group.

"Rapunzel?" He coughed. "What brings you here?" Then, he noticed the rest of the party.

"They brought this scroll." She handed the scroll to Varian. Varian eyes grew wide.

"This is Ancient Coronan! Where'd you get this?" He questioned the new comers.

Annabel was the first to speak up. "We obtained them from people who worked with a descendant of Zhan Tiri."

That was all Varian needed to hear. He cleared his throat and translated the scroll. "If Primus' plan fails, I will remove the obstacle to his rule. Time is on my side." Varian paused. "That's all it says."

The group pondered in silence for a minute before Antonio spoke. "Thank you for your help. It was good seeing you again."

Annabel shot him a glare. "He meant to say that he's glad to have met you." She corrected hastily.

The Coronans shared a confused look before wishing the group well.

"Sorry we couldn't be more help." Rapunzel sighed. "I hope you figure out what the scroll means before it's too late."

The weary travelers found an abandoned area and teleported back to the treehouse. Annabel and Antonio looked down at the ground.

"You two seem unusually quiet." Uva scoffed.

"Do we?" Antonio gave her a sad smile.

"What does it matter?" Annabel snapped. "We have to figure out what Segunda meant."

Uva frowned. Even she didn't know what Segunda wrote. The plan was still a total mystery. "Segunda's DNA mother is Zhan Tiri right?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Annabel questioned.

"What if she left a clue in Corona?" Uva wondered.

Annabel frowned.

"We can't fully rule out the possibility." Antonio admitted.

"Oh, and is she gonna offer to find it?" Annabel inquired.

"Why, yes, I am." Uva spat without thinking.

Everyone's eyes grew wide including Uva's. What was she thinking? If she helped them, she'd be betraying Segunda; however, it didn't bother her as much as it had before. After all, she'd do anything to show up Annabel. The more she thought about it; the more appealing the idea became.

"I'll figure out this mystery before you do." Uva grinned.

"Is that a challenge?" Annabel couldn't help but smile a bit herself.

Antonio chuckled to himself before jumping into the conversation. "I guess Uva will search in Corona then while we look elsewhere."

"Hold on." Annabel interjected. "If she's going to stay in Corona, I want someone to supervise her."

"What about Varian?" Antonio offered. "He was one of us when..." Antonio's voice trailed off and his eyes began to water.

"Rebecca's last mission." Annabel finished. "His memories of us were erased though."

"Rebecca..." Uva mumbled. "Why is that name familiar?"

"She was the guardian before Mamoru. She was responsible for Primus' death." Antonio explained.

"Of course! Primus' obstacle was Rebecca!" Annabel revealed.

"Isn't she dead though?" Uva asked.

"Yeah, she is." Antonio admitted.

"Does that mean Segunda's plan is already finished?" Annabel pondered.

"Knowing her, I doubt it." Uva countered. "We still don't know know what she meant by 'Time is on my side.'"

The other two nodded their heads in agreement.

"Very well. If Varian will keep an eye on you, you can investigate in Corona." Annabel muttered.

Uva smiled. This seemed promising.

"Just don't forget about Blaze’s warning." Antonio added with a small laugh.

With that, the trio headed back to Old Corona. After explaining the situation to Varian, he agreed to watch Uva.

"We'll get to the bottom of this." Varian assured them. "If she is related to Zhan Tiri, Corona could be in danger."

"Thank you for your help, Varian." Annabel smiled then turned to Uva. "I still don't trust you, but you're not that bad, I guess."

"See you later, Uva and Varian. We'll report back when we learn something new." Antonio informed them.

Antonio and Annabel left to do their own investigations.

"We should get some rest. We have a busy week ahead of us. Not only do we have this mystery to solve, but we also have to fix some of my inventions around the kingdom." Varian yawned.

Uva smiled slightly despite herself. Although she was under surveillance, she finally felt free. Perhaps Melon Boy had been right about her. Maybe she really could be the good guy after all. Hopes and visions of her bright new life played in her dreams as she slept that night. All thoughts of Segunda faded away. She was no longer an underling. She was Uva.