The Sleeping Alchemist

Part V

Warning: Major gayness, mild language

Varian had been asleep for a little less than a month now. They tried everything they thought of, but no one knew what to do to wake him up. So, having no other choice, they all took turns looking after him. Mia, Rapunzel, Altair and Ruddiger were steadily becoming more worried for him with every passing moment.

It was Altair's turn to look after him when Mia came in, carrying a plate with food. "Hey." she greeted softly. "Hey." he muttered.

She set the plate down next to Al and sat down next to him. "How's he doing?"

"He's alright. His breathing is normal, but still no sign of him waking up anytime soon."

The two just sat there for a few moments, just watching Varian sleep, each silently hoping he would wake up.

Later, they had packed up camp, and started following the rocks, Mia carrying Varian bridal style again, Rudy on her shoulders. They had been walking all day. When the sun began to set, Eugene suggested they make camp for the night. "Eugene, please, we're close. I can feel it." Rapunzel begged.

"Can we at least rest for a few minutes first? My feet are killing me." he asked after a moment, sitting down on a log. The others agreed, sitting down as well. Mia started rocking Varian like when he was a baby, humming their lullaby.

All of a sudden, the group's heads snapped up as one (Varian excluded of course, poor thing) at the feeling of someone approaching. "Who's there?" Cass demanded, drawing her sword.

A young woman came into view, a silver and blue headpiece atop her long black hair and three strings of white pearls draped gracefully across her collarbone. Her bare feet barely making a sound or imprint upon the grass, her bottle green eyes that complimented her tan skin so well sparkling in the moonlight, her light blue dress was just short of touching the ground, showing her shoulders, the bottom half of her sleeves gently flaring about like the bottom of her dress.

"Good, you all are here." she greeted, smiling a little bit. Cass raised her sword. "How do you know us?"

"I know everything about all of you." the woman replied coolly, unfazed by Cass's sword in inch from her button nose. Yikes!

"What do you want?" Rapunzel asked, standing up. "To help you find what you seek. Come." she told them, turning and walking into the forest. The group had no choice but to follow her.

After what seemed to be 5 minutes of walking, they came into a clearing, the black rocks pointing to a flower encased by a blue glow. The same glow as the moon. "The Moon Drop." Rapunzel realized. They all gaped at it, unable to look away. Altair managed to force himself to look away first.

"Is this what you were looking for, Rapunzel?" he asked, looking at her. "This is where the rocks leaded us, so I guess so."

"This is where the rocks were leading you, yes. But for you, no." the princess looked at this mysterious woman. "What do you mean?"

"Your quest was for another reason than you think. It was never about you, Princess Rapunzel. It was about the boy" she said, pointing to the child in his mother's arms.

"Well, that's the problem. Varian's been asleep for almost a month now." Mia confided in her.

The woman motioned for Mia to come forth. She did as she was asked. The woman gently moved away his bangs and placed a hand on Varian's forehead, shaking her head. "He is worse than I feared. He must wake before the clock strikes twelve tonight, or else it will be too late to save him."

"How do we wake him up? We tried everything."

The woman smiled at her. "Are you sure you tried everything?"