Varian's Tale: A Tangled Fan Fiction

Chapter 4

Cassandra had left two days ago. She said she'd needed to get back to Corona, to check on Varian. Rapunzel hadn't been happy to see her friend go, but she knew why Cass had done it. Rapunzel was also curious about her former alchemists friend. She hoped her father had kept his promise to help Varian. The boy needed help.
Nonetheless, Rapunzel had been more than a bit surprised to see Cass’s horse pounding towards her and Eugene.“Rapunzel!” Cass shouted, catching up to the princess and jumping off her slowing horse.
“Cass, you're back!” Rapunzel exclaimed, running to embrace her friend.
“Rapunzel, we need to go back,” Cass said, worry filling her voice. “Now.”
“What's going on?” Eugene asked.
“Varian escaped,” Cass said.
“Varian what?” Eugene and Rapunzel exclaimed in unison.
“What happened?” Rapunzel asked. “How... How did he..?”
“I don't know the details,” Cass said. “I think your dad got hurt somehow.”
“If Varian hurt him...” Rapunzel started as Eugene placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Your dad was fine when I left,” Cass told her. “A nasty bump on his head and probably a bit of bruised pride, but still, we need to get back.”
“Wait just a second,” Eugene said. “This is the kid that tried, and almost succeeded, at killing us, and we're going back to try and find him?”
“Don't tell me you're scared of Varian,” Cass smirked.
“Of course not,” Eugene snapped, crossing his arms. “He's my biggest fan.”
“Was,” Cass corrected. “He's changed. He's not the same kid he was.”
Rapunzel took a deep breath. This wasn't her fault. It wasn't. Varian, he had done this. It wasn't her fault. Not completely, at least.
“What do you think, Raps?” Cass asked.
“We need to go back,” Rapunzel answered. “We need to help him.”
“You know,” Eugene started.
“We're going to help him,” Rapunzel said firmly. “I promise.” And when she promised something, she never, ever broke that promise. Ever. Except she had, and she had to fix that.