Twisted Destiny

Egg

"So, Cassandra is actively attacking Corona, now." King Frederic said grimly.

"I don't know." Rapunzel admitted. "It might not have been deliberate, maybe...maybe she's just as scared and uncertain of the future as we are."

"Perhaps. But, we cannot afford to be hesitant." King Frederic said firmly. "We must be prepared for another wave of those..." He struggled with his words.

"We're calling them 'Fear Rocks', Your Majesty." Varian helpfully supplied.

"Er, yes. We must be prepared for another wave of those." He nodded.

"I don't think it's likely to happen again." Rapunzel assured him. "When I was touching the rock, I could...feel her frustration and fear. She couldn't control it." She gasped in realization. "I think she can't control any of the rocks, not really. They just come out when she's really emotional."

"So...what do you propose we do?" Queen Arianna asked.

Varian cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, I'd actually like to make use of the Demanitus Chamber and set up a lab in there. I haven't been able to focus on translating the scroll while in Old Corona because there's just too much going on, and I think that working on it in his old workspace may give me a boost in the, you know, inspiration department and I can actually make some decent progress."

"But, you'd be all alone down there." Rapunzel looked at him.

"Ah, no, Ruddiger would be with me." Varian reminded her. "I just...the Saporians are great, but they're also distracting. They've never quite listened to my 'no audiences' rule when it comes to me working in my lab, and Kiera and Catalina and Dwayne are just as...er, nosy."

The others in the room chuckled and giggled a bit at his admission.

"Very well, but we will be sending someone to bring you food and making sure you actually sleep." Arianna said kindly, then held up a hand. "Ah, no, I see you about to groan and these are the terms. It's bad enough you will be hidden away in a dark mountain, you're certainly not going to be going without any form of care and abandoning your sleeping schedule."

"I can check in on him." Rapunzel assured her mother with a smile. "Just for delivering meals and making sure you sleep, okay, Varian? How long do you think you'll need?"

"Err...I can't really say for sure, but let's go with, uhm, five weeks?" He shrugged.

She smiled and nodded. "Sounds great."

"Great." He nodded. "Then, if you don't mind, I'm going to excuse myself to go and set up my new lab. Uhm, Rapunzel, Eugene, would you two mind helping me set up?"

They laughed and headed out, waving to the King and Queen as they went.

--

Ever since the red rock incident, things had gotten a lot better for everyone involved in the takeover, and King Frederic had allowed General Jenna to return to her people. He was therefore surprised when she came back to Corona, looking distressed.

The cause of her distress? Apparently, the Saporians had dragons, and one of their eggs had been stolen by a "treasure hunter" who thought it was a shiny orb. The mother had gone back to check on the eggs after laying them on a cliff last week and found one had been stolen away.

Nigel was beside himself with panic, but somehow managed to keep his composure despite everything in him telling him to tell his King that this woman was dangerous and dragons were dangerous. However, he had already put himself on thin ice by telling the King and Queen that Rapunzel had been viciously attacked by Varian, when the truth was that it was only a little shake of the arms from a begging, desperate child.