(Chapter warning: combat with fish-people)
As the vodniks rushed towards them, Varian felt himself not worried about the battle, but hoping against hope that they didn't throw another one of those coral shells. He couldn't break down again, he couldn't be useless to the party again...
"It's a frying pan," Rapunzel corrected the vodnik, and then rushed forward, wielding said frying pan. Cassandra and Varian quickly followed with their swords. Rapunzel dodged multiple swings from a vodnik and then frying panned him in the stomach, causing him to give an "oof" and stumble backwards. Varian and Eugene fought another vodnik. Suddenly, Lance's voice rang out from behind them.
"Eugene, Varian, duck!" He called out gleefully. Varian turned to see Lance holding a trident, and immediately ducked. In all honesty, he was more scared of Lance with a trident than a vodnik with a trident. Unless, of course, the vodnik had one of those coral shells. The vodnik gave a yell as the impact of the trident to his face launched him off the cliff and into the water. They had no time to celebrate, as a vodnik jumped up behind them, holding one of the dreaded coral shells. Varian's eyes widened, and he quickly dove out of range. He saw Cassandra kick the vodnik to knock him off balance, but he managed to throw the coral trap anyways. Cassandra quickly sliced it in half, and the two halves fell to the ground.
"Oh, I broke your jail," Cassandra mocked the vodnik. "What are you gonna do about it?" The vodnik gave an evil laugh as the shell exploded and released its coral anyways. Varian, who was just out of range, breathed a sigh of relief. Cassandra turned around to see Eugene and Lance stuck in the coral. "Oops," she said.
"You did that on purpose!" Eugene yelled, voice muffled. Cassandra turned and rushed toward the shell, only to have the coral trap her as well.
"Cassie!" Varian yelled, reaching out his hand toward her. A split second later, he put his hand over his mouth, and his cheeks flared bright red. He prayed that Cassandra wouldn't notice, but she turned her head towards him.
"What did you just call me?" She asked.
"Nothing!" He lied, his cheeks turning redder by the second. He rushed forward and began hacking at the coral with his sword. Suddenly, Hook Foot was forcefully thrown to the ground right in front of the coral by a vodnik.
"Hook Foot!" Varian heard Seraphina exclaim. Varian watched in horror as a vodnik came up behind Rapunzel and grabbed her wrists, pinning them behind her. Another vodnik pinned Hook Foot, and a third advanced toward Varian. Suddenly, a voice rang out.
"Stop!" Seraphina yelled from the edge of the cliff. She held a pearl in her hand, high above the water. "You want it?"
"What are you doing?" Hook Foot exclaimed from his position on the ground. Seraphina looked at him sadly, then held the pearl higher.
"I'll go in peace," she declared. "If you leave Hook Foot and his friends alone." She placed the pearl on a rock. "Or else," she continued, raising another rock above it,"goodbye pearl!" Varian gave a whimper as all of the vodniks turned towards Seraphina.
"No!" The lead one exclaimed. "Not the pearl!" He released Rapunzel's arms. "As you wish." Rapunzel quickly backed away, pointing her frying pan at the vodnik. She moved to stand by Varian. Seraphina tossed the pearl to the vodnik. After a second of fumbling, he caught it. Varian heard a grunt as Hook Foot pried the vodnik's arm off of him and ran over to Seraphina. He took hold of one of her hands.
"I don't want you to go," he said sadly.
"Sorry, sugar," Seraphina replied, hanging her head. "But I gotta." Hook Foot looked as if he was about to cry. He reached down, and with pull, he yanked off his hook.
"Here," he said, holding it out to her. "Something to remember me by." Seraphina took it, not meeting Hook Foot's eyes.
"Giving a hook to a fish? Really?" She asked. Hook Foot looked down at his feet. "Kidding," Seraphina said lovingly. "I love it." So quickly Varian almost missed it, she leaned forward and gave Hook Foot a kiss. Then, a vodnik walked over and picked Seraphina up.
"Seraphina," Hook Foot called, reaching his hand out toward her. "Seraphina!"
"Bye, good-looking," Seraphina said sadly from over the vodnik's shoulder, waving. The four vodniks leapt into the water with Seraphina and out of sight. Varian turned and gave a mighty swing with his sword at the coral trapping Cassandra, Eugene, and Lance. To his surprise, it cracked and then crumbled. Cassandra fell forward, not expecting the sudden release, and Varian quickly rushed forward and caught her. His cheeks burned red as he helped Cassandra back to her feet. She turned, seemingly about to walk toward Hook Foot, but then stopped. She turned her head to him.
"Thanks," she said. "I mean it." Varian's cheeks flared a whole new level of red as Cassandra walked away. He buried his head in his hands, blushing madly. He had told himself that he was over his silly crush on Cassandra. That he was older now, more mature.
But I guess some things never change, he thought, walking towards Hook Foot to join the rest of the group. The next day, Varian, Eugene, and Rapunzel walked over to Hook Foot, who was sitting in a chair near the water.
"Well, I'm sorry about how things worked out," Eugene told Hook Foot.
"Thanks," Hook Foot replied sadly. He drew "H + S" in the sand with a heart underneath. "I guess I learned that sometimes you gotta let the one you love swim away." A wave came up onto the beach and washed away Hook Foot's writing, but left a shiny blue piece of glass. Hook Foot leaned over and picked it up. "Mermaid tears." Then, the tide rushed out, revealing a myriad of blue glass sitting in the sand. Hook Foot stood and walked along the beach. Then, Eugene turned to Rapunzel.
"You know, Blondie," he said. "I can see what you were saying. Sometimes love just finds a way of happening all on its own."
"And I guess sometimes you do have to work at it," Rapunzel replied, smiling. She hugged Eugene. Behind them, Varian knelt and picked up a single, perfect, blue piece of sea glass. It's shape vaguely resembled a heart. He quickly stood and pocketed the glass as Eugene and Rapunzel walked over to him.
"Whatcha got there, Goggles?" Eugene asked. Varian blushed, averting his eyes.
"Nothing," he lied, hands clasped awkwardly behind his back. He walked into the sand, stopping just at the edge of the water. He gazed out into the beautiful pink sunset. No matter what was coming, no matter what had happened in the past, there was always space for love to find a way.
(Hello! Sorry, this chapter is a bit shorter because I didn't want to drag out the last scene. Next up: Happiness Is! There is definitely some funky magic going on in that episode, and it's not just the totem. 😜 Question, do you want me to draw a picture of Varian standing in the sunset? Alright, ciao for now!)
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Secrets of an Alchemist
FanfictionI was rewatching Keeper of the Spire randomly the other day, and I had an idea. What if Hector broke Varian out of jail? What if Varian trained with Hector and then tailed Rapunzel's group until they were attacked by the Kirlok at the Spire? (Calli...
