Twisted Destiny

Green

The boy didn't seem to realize that he wasn't alone. He was so focused on his work that he never bothered to look around, and Nigel watched with icy fear gripping his heart as the strange green figure hovered around the boy.

No...this was no stranger. He knew him well, but he had never seen him like this. This...strange figure, this apparition was the only guard of High-Security to escape the wrath of the Saporian Princess. Lucas, he recalled his name being. He was unnervingly fond of the boy, and not in a friendly way. He watched as he tested the boy's attentiveness, a hand hovering over his shoulder before he moved it away and vanished just in time to avoid being seen before he reappeared when the boy was bent over something. Nigel cringed when the "man" mimed doing something obscene to the boy, smirking up at him tauntingly, daring him to tell the boy that he was here. Then he vanished again.

He shouldn't be here, watching the boy work. If he was caught, they'd surely question how he even found this place. But there was something fascinating about how quickly he worked, moving back and forth between his desk and the wall, writing with chalk or with ink, his raccoon ever faithfully at his side.

Curious how the little thing didn't inform him that he wasn't alone. Perhaps it only detected danger, and Lucas was not being a danger – yet. Obscene motions for Nigel's benefit aside.

He should return to the castle, he had no place here and no way of warning the boy without ending his life prematurely. However, perhaps if he warned the rebel prince...yes, he'd have to tell them he followed them, but he'd just...leave out a few key details.

Yes. He swallowed nervously and, with one last look at the boy and his specter, fled back to the castle in hopes of the rebel prince and the ex-thief having returned by the time he did.

--

Vardaros was as lively as ever, at least after Rapunzel had been through it, and Eugene took Andrew to the Baron's old residence.

"What business do you have in here?" Vex asked as she escorted them. "I thought you were done with this place?"

"I was, but it turns out that my friend here forgot something here and needs to get it back. He was a guest for the Baron before, just briefly while he had upcoming business in Corona." Eugene explained. "Don't worry, though, he's on the up-and-up."

She narrowed her eyes. "Hm...what'd you forget here?"

"A magically-locked chest." Andrew replied. "It would be glowing."

"A glowing chest, huh?" She looked thoughtful. "Well, I haven't seen anything like that, but I haven't exactly dug around in all the guest rooms."

They entered the mansion and Andrew headed straight for his guest room. Vex made a sound of protest about him heading off without her and hurried to keep up with her shorter legs. Eugene chuckled as he walked along with the man and then they stopped in front of a room. Andrew placed his hand on the door and muttered something and the lock clicked before it opened, letting him in.

"I didn't know you could use magic to unlock stuff." Eugene said as they went in.

"Only things I magically lock myself." He shrugged and walked over to a chest in the middle of the room which was, in the darkness of the room, glowing a dim golden color. "Here we are." He placed his hand on the chest and muttered something before it unlocked and opened. He reached in and pulled out a bag, then reached into a bag to pull out a mirror.

"Oh, nice!" Eugene grinned. "You got a favorite mirror, too?"

Andrew ignored him and tapped the surface. "Juniper."

The mirror started to glow and Eugene and Vex both jumped back when the mirror displayed Juniper. "Hey, looks like you got your mirror back finally."

"Yeah, would you mind picking one up for Varian?" Andrew asked.