Twisted Destiny

Preparations

After the initial shock of Ruddiger actually being a cursed human wore off, they went back to focusing on the battle ahead. Varian and Ruddiger worked in the lab together with Eugene supervising them, and when Varian had to do his Royal Advisor duties, Ruddiger worked on his own. Sometimes Eugene was replaced with Maximus, who was still adjusting to the fact that his apple-stealing raccoon nemesis had actually been a cursed human this whole time.

Rapunzel finished painting a picture of Ruddiger and Varian, then sighed as she sat back. The Goodwill Festival was coming up and she didn't know for sure if they'd be having it. She only hoped that they would be able to have the much-needed morale boost. Everyone was afraid, going to Xavier for any legends on Zhan Tiri they could find, while Varian and Eugene consulted Gothel's books.

Unfortunately, neither Ruddiger nor Gothel had any advice on how to defeat the demon. Therefore, Varian focused on Cassandra and, when he had free time, he read Demanitus' journals.

To make things easier, because his voice didn't seem to be recovering any time soon, everyone that was required to interact with Ruddiger had learned sign language, though some of them already knew it. He seemed to appreciate it.

--

The morning before the Goodwill Festival, or when it was supposed to be, was quiet. Well, aside from right next to Varian's home in Old Corona, where a group of black rocks were being used as a test subject for his latest invention.

He had also set up dummies and targets of Cassandra and her various allies along the black rocks. With how wildly she used it, he suspected that it wouldn't be hard to catch any of them in the crossfire.

Eugene, Ruddiger and Varian were propped up behind a haystack as Varian aimed his invention at the black rocks and pulled the trigger. They were engulfed in a yellow-orange smoke and turned into amber instantly. A few more shots and most of the black rocks and targets had been changed into or engulfed in amber.

"Alright, Team Awesome!" Varian said as they three of them stood up and pulled up their matching goggles. "Project Obsidian is a success!"

"Project Obsidian?" Rapunzel asked, walking over to them with Andrew and Juniper.

"Project Obsidian." Varian nodded. "It's what I'm calling my secret weapon against the black rocks and Cassandra."

"O-Oh, right. That." Rapunzel walked closer to them. "But, you're planning to use this...on Cass?"

Ruddiger reached for the weapon and Varian handed it over so he could run off and start shooting at more targets while Eugene spoke. "That is the plan, yes, but it's a last-resort. We have to be prepared to make necessary action."

"No matter how much we may not want to hurt Cassandra, the likelihood that she and Zhan Tiri might attack us is horribly high." Varian said grimly as they heard Ruddiger laughing when he encased a target with Zhan Tiri's face on it.

"But, we won't use it without your approval." Eugene pulled out a scroll and quill as Varian pulled out an ink bottle and opened it for her.

Rapunzel looked unsure. "I...I don't..."

"It's up to you, Raps." Juniper said gently.

"But, whether we have this weapon ready or not, she will be coming when the eclipse comes." Andrew said grimly. "And that, according to Kline, is due in two days."

She looked at Ruddiger, who was firing off the weapon again, then nodded and took the quill and dipped it into the ink bottle before writing her signature at the bottom. Then she put the quill back into the bottle and stepped back with a shuddering sigh.