The secret of the Moondrop

Chapter 9: Back to Corona

Varian's POV:

Saying Varian's head hurt a bit would be an understatement. It hurt more than that time when a chemical reaction had burned off his eyebrows. And he had almost fractured his skull!
Varian opened his eyes and blinked, his head throbbing. He went to rub his temples, though his hand stopped halfway.
He was chained to the cold wall in which he was resting his back.
Great, he thought sourly.
Varian groaned as he tried to remember what had happened. There had been a prison break, he had refused to go with Andrew for some reason, and then...
Rudiger.
Those thugs, they had hurt Rudiger. Probably even killed it.
Because of HIM!
Varian fought back tears, tugging at his chains and clenching his teeth. The metal cut through his wrists, the alchemist hissed, deciding it hadn't been a good idea.
He tried not to panic, that wouldn't help him escape. The boy analyzed the situation calmly and looked for materials he could use to escape.
He looked at the almost healed injury on his left arm. Whoever had impresioned him, had also taken off the bandages, probably because they didn't fit inside the chains. Or maybe because they just didn't care.
Varian scanned the cold circular room and his new prison cell. There was a small wooden door in one side, the rest was all made of rock, except for another pair of metal chains placed right in front of him which he couldn't reach. He tilted his head and looked at the ceiling, there was a small hole from which he could make some light from the outside.
I hope it doesn't rain, he found himself thinking.
There was nothing else to look at, he was trapped, again.
But this time, apart from having no water nor food, nothing assured him the women wouldn't try to hurt him. Not Ariana, at least.
Suddenly, he heard some footsteps behind the door, which opened to reveal a red headed woman with tattoos, accompanied by the two men who had kidnapped him.
"You are finally awake" the woman said.
What was it with bad guys and their tendency to state the obvious? the alchemist wondered.
Varian frowned.
"Why am I here? Who are YOU?!" he asked trying to sound as confident as he could.
The tattooed woman laughed. Not the same laugh as in his dreams, Varian realized with relief.
"I'm the one who got us all out of prison" she answered with a half smile.
The boy paled. "Lady Caine?"
The woman bowed with mockery. "The one and only" she said "and you must be Varian... weren't you that nerd that tried to destroy Corona?"
Varian bit his lip. He didn't like to be called a nerd, but he guessed it wouldn't be a good idea to argue with Lady Caine while being her prisoner.
"What...what do you want from me?" he said, stammering despite his efforts.
The thugs behind Lady Caine both grinned.
"Scared, are we?" the thin one said.
Lady Caine shushed him with a hand gesture.
She walked through the round-shaped room and knelt in front of Varian, who pushed himself against the wall with fear.
Lady Caine smiled at that, he took him by the chin and made him look at her.
"Gothel wants me to keep you alive until she returns, only then I will be free of my promise... " she paused.
Varian didn't have time to react before Lady Caine punched him in the face. He whimpered as she got up and kicked him hard in the ribs multiple times, unable of defending himself because of the chains cutting through his wrists.
The alchemist spat blood, his eyes filling with tears. He thought he heard the faint sound of a crack inside his chest, though he didn't give it much importance in the moment.
"Key word, she wants you alive" Lady she Caine said as she cleaned his blood from her knuckles on a dirty handkerchief. "As long as you're breathing it will be okay, and believe me, there are much worse things than death, moon scum" she threatened the small boy in front of her.
The two men and the woman shared satisfied smiles.
"Don't try anything stupid" Lady Caine warned before closing the door.
Varian was left alone, sure he had one or two broken ribs and a black eye. He started crying, no longer able of retaining the tears in his eyes, no longer capable of acting like everything was okay. Nothing was okay.
"Get used to it" he heard a smooth voice he knew too well.

Rapunzel's POV:

They had arrived at Corona three days after the prison break. Rapunzel had been startled when she found out what had happened, and even more surprised when she went to check on Varian's cell for clues, accompanied by her mother and Cassandra.
Queen Arianna, who was usually the calmest and most reasonable person in the castle, seemed to be the most upset and worried of the trio.
Rapunzel had heard his father say Queen Arianna had been the one to take responsibility of Varian's rehabilitation, apparently establishing a bond between the lonely alchemist.
When they reached the place, the princess suddenly understood why she was so concerned about Varian's disappearance.
"Nothing except Rudiger has been moved since the day of the prison break" her mother said with glassy eyes.
"Varian left Rudiger behind?" Cassandra questioned.
The Queen shook her head. "We found him in a corner, the poor creature had a broken leg..."
Rapunzel widened her eyes. "Varian would never do something like that, would he?"
Cassandra shrugged. But Rapunzel knew better, she was just trying to hide her own surprise and worries. The thought of an insane fourteen-year-old hurting his own pet must have been overwhelming even for her fierce best friend.
The lady-in-waiting recomposed herself quickly. "What else did you found, your Majesty?"
Queen Arianna pointed with a shaky finger at a small thing lying in the cold floor.
When Rapunzel got a closer look at the object, she gasped.
"Varian's googles..." she mumbled while holding them.
Cassandra took them from her hand, she fiddled with the broken crystals, wearing her leather protective gloves.
"This is... strange" she said, her eyebrows furrowed.
Rapunzel nodded, her mind starting to form an even stranger theory.
"The locks from all the cells of the prisoners who escaped were melted with some chemicals" Queen Arianna added.
"That sounds like Varian" Cassandra said rolling her eyes at Rapunzel.
"Yes, but look, this lock looks like it was melted from the outside" the princess pointed out nervously.
The two women looked at her.
"What are you suggesting?" Her mother asked.
The injured raccoon, the broken googles... and now the lock that was melted from the outside. Rapunzel thought about what Gothel had said, a terrible feeling crept down her spine. Something horrible had happened to Varian... she knew it.
"I...I think someone kidnapped Varian" she blurted.