Tangled: The Varian-Verse

Chapter 4

"Dad?" the Varian with the Moonstone gasped as he noticed Quirin in the amber. His eyes fell from Quirin to Varian, still shackled in front of the amber.

Varian offered a half-hearted smile.

"What the heck—" Moonstone Varian demanded, taking a step backwards, wide-eyed.

Behind him, the portal bubbled and melted unexpectedly before it collapsed and dissolved into nothingness in midair. Cold Varian stepped out of the shadows, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"Who-who are you people?" Moonstone Varian demanded angrily, shooting glances back and forth between the other Varians. His knees bent and his head ducked as he stepped backwards. His eyes darted around the room, as if looking for an escape. He reminded Varian of an animal caught in a trap.

"Relax," Cold Varian ordered sternly. "We're you, after all."

Moonstone Varian didn't look like he was about to relax. "Wait...what are you saying?" he asked tautly. His eyes narrowed. "Are you...is this the multiverse?"

Cold Varian shot a quick glance at Varian, a triumphant smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as if to say See, stupid?

"I assume you found Dimanitus' writings on it," Cold Varian said calmly. "Good. Then you're up to speed."

"Not his complete works on it," Moonstone Varian replied slowly. "Most of it got destroyed centuries ago, but enough survived for me to know the theory. I assume you have his complete works?"

"That I do," Cold Varian said with a twisted smile. "Now, to business. As you can see—"

"Why is he tied up?" Moonstone Varian asked, gesturing to Varian.

Varian felt a sense of relieve. Maybe this version could help him escape—

"He's dangerous," Cold Varian replied calmly. "Vurian doesn't look it, but I suspect he's the most dangerous of us all. I had to take precautions he didn't—"

"That's a lie!" Varian shouted. "And my name is Varian!" He nodded savagely at his captor. "He's the dangerous one! He kidnapped two of us and turned Ruddiger  into a monster—"

"Strange, I thought that was you who did that," Cold Varian cut him off.

Varian opened his mouth to retort...but then he realized that at one point he had turned Ruddiger into a monster, too. Maybe on more occasions than one...

"Look, I don't need the whole story," Moonstone Varian cut in uncomfortably. "I need to get home and free my dad."

"With that?" Cold Varian asked, pointing to the Moonstone shining on the other's chest.

Moonstone Varian instinctively put his hand over it, his eyes tightening. "This is my only chance to save him," he said almost imploringly. "All my other shots are gone—"

"So test it out," Cold Varian suggested nonchalantly. He waved towards the amber across the room. "Save two for the price of one."

Moonstone Varian stared at the amber thoughtfully. "I-I—will it work?"

"Only one way to find out, kid," Cold Varian said, shrugging casually. Varian, however, could see the tightness around his eyes and the muscles moving in his jaw.

"It's Venrian."

Cold Varian's eye twitched. "Venrian."

Venrian's eyes flickered to Varian, still shackled. Varian stared back, but had no idea what to say. He wanted to beg for  help; but this Quirin deserved to be free, too. Slowly, Varian nodded, giving his consent.

Venrian nodded back before turning to Cold Varian. "Okay," he agreed.

Cold Varian gesture Venrian forwards. "The floor is yours."

Fingering the Moonstone on his chest, Venrian stepped forward and touched the amber. "Here we go, Dad," he murmured, softly enough that Varian barely heard him. With a grunt, Venrian raised his hands, clenched his fists and threw his arms down.

Nothing happened.

Varian felt a colossal amount of disappointment crash down on him as Venrian frowned, obviously perplexed. Resettling his shoulders, the Moonstone variant repeated the process, but with more vigor. Again, nothing happened. Varian sighed heavily.

"I—I don't get it," Venrian breathed. He looked at his hands and then the amber. "I don't feel the rocks—this is new, I normally can feel them, I just—"

Behind them, Cold Varian let out a vicious snarl and threw another bottle across the room.

"It normally works!" Venrian cried. Panic was written on his face. "I don't understand why it won't work!" He clenched his fists. "If it won't work here, then will it work back home?"

"It will," Varian assured him. Actually, he didn't know that for certain, but surely it would, right? "Maybe the rocks are different in each timeline," he suggested. "Like how we're all different."

"And the only Moonstone that will work is the Moonstone the rocks belong to," Cold Varian mused aloud.

Varian nodded.

"Could be," Venrian agreed, sounding relieved.

"Great," Cold Varian smiled.

Varian frowned. That smile was positively wicked—

Without warning, Cold Varian threw something at Venrian. A cloud of eggplant-purple smoke engulfed the variant, sending him staggering and coughing. Varian himself caught a whiff of it, and the world began to get hazy. He did notice their captor clamping irons on Venrian's wrists, however.

"You know the way to the Moonstone," Cold Varian snarled. "So you will take me there."

"Wh-why are you doing this to us?" Venrian's gasped between coughs. "You don't have to—" he broke off coughing.

"We want to help!" Varian squeaked. "You don't have to kidnap us for this!"

"Don't I?" Cold Varian snapped. "The last time I trusted 'help' my father got encased in amber. I won't make that mistake again. But don't worry," he added, hauling a coughing Venrian up. "You'll be plenty of help." Shoving the dazed variant towards the back of the room—and presumably the door—he threw his head over his shoulder and shouted, "Ruddiger! Dinner!"

"Wait, what?" Varian yelled.

A growl sounded from behind him. Before he could turn around, he felt something clamp down on his leg. One second later, he was being dragged across the wood floor, screaming.

This day could not get any worse, could it?