Let's dare to dream

V

Varian stepped back to avoid the smoke and dispersed it with his hands as he coughed, that sensation was already familiar to him, as was the fact that Danielle was also panting trying to recover as her silhouette became visible through the smoke.Varian came over and helped her up.

-Danielle, are you okay?-

Before she could answer, the place trembled again and the heat was present again, that was their invitation to leave the tunnels as soon as possible. They both ran to the exit and left the house to fall on their knees and breathe in the fresh air outside.Both of them were sweating like gallons and with flushed cheeks, it wouldn't be crazy to think that they could have died of hyperthermia.After a few minutes of recovering, Varian got up and examined his house, everything seemed in order.

-Agh! No, I don't understand! I checked the gauge, did the math, i checked and rechecked, everything was in order! The only thing that could have made the core explode is...-

Then he turned to a spot on the floor and squatted down, scanning the floor with his hands.Finally he got up and slapped his forehead.

-How stupid you are Varian!-

He yelled at himself.Varian found out why the accident had happened.He had built the portal in a place close to his underground machines, which required pressure to keep the water hot, which had caused an effect similar to when a battery overheats. In addition to the fact that the water that ran through the vessels had flooded much of the base of the portal, something that Varian would have noticed had he checked more closely.

-Danielle, I know why the portal ended that way-

-Yes... me too-

He said he while he still caught his breath and leaned on the ground

-Really?-

-Yeah. This happened, because you are a strange boy, who doesn't know what does, or the things  gets into, and that's why almost killed us, I congratulate you "Best alchemist of the 7 kingdoms!" I hope you are happy-

Varian for a moment was going to admit his mistake, but his pride made him respond to Danielle.

-Oh, so you're saying it's my fault?-

-Yeah! That's exactly what I'm saying-

-Well, you know something? We wouldn't be in this situation if you weren't here!-

-So I'm to blame? I don't even want to be here! Did you forget that little detail? Don't you think that if I chose the world I wouldn't be in one shared with you!?-

Varian promised Rapunzel that he wouldn't fight Danielle, but he was already having a hard time holding back. He also did not lose his calm completely.

-You know? I think you'll need someone else to help you, because I'm not going to keep doing it.-

-We finally agree on something, I need the help of someone who knows what they are doing-

-Well, then go look for them and don't come back please, tell Rapunzel that I'm sorry for couldn't do something more-

-Oh don't worry, I'll make sure I never return to your cabin and never see you again!-

-That sounds great! Please start now!-

Varian and Danielle were already very out of them. Danielle was upset that Varian's carelessness had nearly cost her her life, while Varian was upset not only that she irritated him, but also that he had made a very obvious mistake and was probably going to disappoint Rapunzel, since in her eyes he was someone who could do everything, and he had failed even himself.

Varian was about to slam the door back into his house until he saw Danielle standing on the edge of the road and looking in all directions as if searching for something while giving two continuous claps that seemed to be a call to something.

-This has to be a bad joke, now what do you do?-

-It's none of your business, mad alchemist, but since you're so interested in everything I do, I'm calling the carriage, it should arrive any minute.-

Danielle said before clapping her hands again towards the path.

-Carriage?-

Varian asked raising an eyebrow in a clearly annoyed tone. He was pretty sick of her.

-Yes, my carriage, you know, it's a wagon with wheels, it has horses...-

-I know what a carriage is! But do you really think someone will come to pick you up?!-

Varian tried to calm down but at the same time he was about to explode. He took a breath and continued trying to relax.

-Listen Danielle, I know it's going to be hard for you, and I know we said we wouldn't talk again, but I feel like I have to tell you this. If you're going to be here you're going to do what we all do, so no, there are no carriages, and no one gets things easily. If you want to have any of those things you will have to start work, and please keep it away from me.-

-Work?-

-Yeah! Work! Do you at least know what that means?

Varian was already finding it impossible not to get angry.

-I know I've heard it before, but I'm not sure-

-You must be kidding, it can't be possible that you...-

Varian held his breath.

-Work! you know, give effort to get something you want-

-Oh that! Oh sorry in my world I don't do that-

Said Danielle with a somewhat cocky laugh.

The latter caused Varian to finally lose his patience.

-Well, princess, I don't know if you've noticed yet, but YOU ARE NOT IN YOUR WORLD! you're in mine, and I don't know what fantasy you live in where everything is perfect, but this is real life, and in real life not everything will turn out the way you want, because maybe you make such a big mistake that you regret it your whole life to the point where you can't sleep and have to beat it up-

The latter made Varian seem to talk about himself because of everything he had lived through, even his anger turned into his most serious and emotionless version of himself, so with that profile, he gave Danielle some real advice for the first time.

-So you have to make sure you make the right decisions now that you have time-

Danielle didn't know why the drastic change in attitude, but she was surprised that he didn't respond rudely, it seemed more like something to help her, besides that there was some sadness in him, so she took Varian seriously even without wanting to admit it.Danielle also put her anger aside and relaxed.She also stopped trying to call the carriage and just crossed her arms in a way that she hugged her abdomen.

-Goodbye, Varian-

Danielle didn't say anything else to her and she turned to leave. She started to walk down the path that left Old Corona pretending to have a superb look, but she couldn't stop thinking about it. She didn't want to show that Varian had made her come out of herself and even less that he had made her reflect on something she wasn't sure about, but he moved her deep down.Varian also turned around and as he walked forward he looked back hoping that Danielle had really heard him, even though he didn't like her at all, she was still someone who seemed like she needed help and no matter who it was, he wanted to make her better.He finally reached the threshold of his house and closed the door, still with a sad face, he passed a hand over his eyes, squeezing the tear ducts, and sighed.Later he went up to his room and tried to distract his mind from reading a Flynn Rider book while Rudigger, who was watching him from a distance, lay down next to him to make him feel better.Varian patted him head and leaned back on his bed to read his book for the thousandth time.