The secret of the Moondrop

Chapter 20: Connected

Varian's POV:

Varian's eyes shot open as a wave of energy passed through his body, he jolted, feeling two hands pressing against his chest.
The light was blinding, but for some reason he could tell who it was, Rapunzel.
What had happened?
Oh, yeah, he had been death for some seconds, Rapunzel must have resurrected him.
He could see her hair, levitating in slow motion while shining like the sun.
The moonlight grew fainter until he could finally see Rapunzel's face. Her eyes were red and puffy, hot tears still flowing down her cheeks.
He looked at the walls of the room, the moon had disappeared behind the clouds, yet there was still a bluish light coming from somewhere.
Varian then realized something, if Rapunzel had healed him, did that also mean that his powers had been returned? He pulled a lock of his hair and was surprised to find that it was glowing just like the princesses, except for the color, his was more of a white-blue light.
He could feel a goofy smile forming in his face, just like the ones he used to smile before his father was encased.
"What did I miss?" was the first thing he said to the wide-eyed Rapunzel.
She choked a sob, pulling him in a warm hug.
"I...I thought I'd lost you" the princess said through shaky breaths.
Varian blinked. Did she really care that much about him?
Something inside him told him so, a feeling like he could read what Rapunzel was thinking.
He considered him like a little brother, someone she'd bowed to protect.
She was happy and relieved, but also scared about what might happen next.
Okay... where did that come from? Varian thought. It was almost as if he could tell Rapunzels emotions just by hugging her.
Rapunzel let him go, wiping the tears from her eyes while wearing a small smile.
Varian looked at himself, searching for any injury or bruise. There weren't. His chains had also melted down and were lying in the floor hopelessly, which meant his wrists were free. Which meant he could escape.
Varian weighed his options:
If he decided to go with Rapunzel, they might take him back to prison. And they would surely cut his hair, even though an idea of how freeing his dad had started to form in his mind.
But if he escaped from Rapunzel, were would that lead him? He didn't want to be lonely again, not when everything had started to look up for him...
Was it possible that Cassandra and the others would forgive him, just like Rapunzel had?
The princess put a hand on his shoulder, startling him for a moment.
Her green eyes bore into his, her glowing hair slowly turning back to normal and falling to the floor.
He felt his own power dim, waiting in somewhere inside of him to be used again while his hair turned white instead of his usual black.
Seriously? I mean, it's cool and all but, white? Varian thought. Well, I guess we are even, she gets unnaturally long hair and I get it in a freakish color.
"Varian, don't worry" Rapunzel said softly, not saying anything about his new and strange hair "you aren't going back to prison"
Varian's white eyebrows shot up in surprise, had she just read his mind?
"And I'll make sure that we find a way to free your dad, I promise" she added hesitantly, as if she was still afraid what his reaction might be.
Varian simply nodded. "I trust you"
He could tell she was telling the truth, even thought he couldn't exactly explain how.
Rapunzel's face brightened, looking like she was ready to give him another one of her bone-crashing hugs.
Varian cleared his throat, pointing towards the gap in the rocks that lead to the exit of the cave.
"We should probably get out of here before this place crumbles down" he said tensely, looking at the cracks in the rocks coming from his 'dying spot'.
Fortunately, like the metal chains, the wooden door had been obliterated by the explosion.
The room was now in complete darkness and silence, they could only hear the constant dripping of water coming from one of the rocks.
They were free.
Or at least that's what they thought.
Suddenly, right in front of them, dust started to swirl in the ground forming a miniature hurricane.
"What...what's happening?" Rapunzel asked with fear.
Varian's eyes widened as he realized how the grains of soil and drops of water had started forming a somewhat human-shaped body.
"Is that...?" he started.
Rapunzel gasped, pulling the boy behind her protectively while holding a defensive stance.
She tugged at her hair, ready to use it if something really bad happened, which judging by their luck so far, was very likely.
Once the process was complete, Varian couldn't help but tremble.
"Scared, are we?"
The voice from his nightmares, the one that had been haunting him for the past month and almost driven him insane... was alive. And it was standing right in front of him.
He felt his knees buckle as the-voice-which-now-also-had-a-body pulled her black hood back, revealing a woman with high cheekbones, curly black hair and the evilest grin he'd seen since himself.
Her eyes lied on Varian.
"Calm down, Varian..." Rapunzel said through
gritted teeth.
She is also paralyzed with fear, Varian thought desperately.
Gothel was already able to hurt me when she was only a shadow of herself, how powerful was she now that she had a physical body?
"Varian, please, try to breath more slowly" the princess urged him, taking a step back closer to him.
Varian hadn't realized how he had been hyperventilating, his hair starting to glow again as well as Rapunzel's.
He clenched and unclenched his fists, calming his breath back to normal.
His power was more difficult to control than he had expected. Varian could feel it, pushing past his mental barriers, craving for more.
Black rocks sprouted around them, Rapunzel and Varian jumped.
Gothel cackled at this.
"This will be fun"