•Once A Handmaiden spoilers ahead!!
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Varian aimed at his old friend, now enemy. His hands were shaking under the weight of the gun. He awaited an order he prayed wouldn't come. He didn't want to shoot her with this. He wished desperately that she would stop this and come back, come back to them and the way things were. That things would just
Freeze.
His eyes widen in terror as the golden prison wrapped around her body, encasing her, keeping her as a trinket. A single moment of her would be there forever. "No!" He screamed, seeing Cass stuck just as his father had been. "It- it must've malfunctioned, I didn't-!" He turns to Eugene, forgetting that he wasn't his father for that moment. "I didn't shoot!"
Eugene watched as tears gathered in the boys eyes. He helps him set the gun down only to hug him close. "It's okay, hair-stripe. She's gonna be okay."
Just as the words leave his mouth, Cass breaks free, sending shards of amber at anyone too close to her. "You want me to be the bad guy?" She growls, scanning the crowd until seeing Eugene, now holding Varian protectively as the boy struggles to understand what he'd done. "Fine. I'm the bad guy."
Eugene manages to push him away just before a black rock shoots up, knocking him into the air. That gave the citizens of Corona all they needed to begin their assault on the traitor. The battle began, each side giving their best, but Cassandra clearly gaining ground.
"The castle! Quick! We'll be safe there!" A voice rang out, prompting most of them to begin running. Cass knew she couldn't allow them to run that easily. She would make them face her.
"Sorry, that castle is off limits," she shouts as she holds a blue stone high into the air, a black marking covering the center. The Brotherhood.
A possessed Adira appeared at the castles steps. Beside her, Hector and his bearcats, waiting for an order. Their eyes shone bright blue. A proof of their allegiance to the Moonstone.
As soon as Cass willed it, they charged into battle, taking down any in their path. Eugene was frantically trying to get Varian to calm after seeing Rapunzel was safely in the castle with the royals. "It's okay, kid. She's safe but now we need to be."
"I can't!" He wipes his eyes, but it was useless against the stream of tears. "I-I did that to her! I could've-" his voice breaks. Eugene takes a knee and holds him by the shoulders.
"I know you're scared. Believe me, I am too. But if we're going to save Cass then we have to keep fighting. That's what Team Awesome does, isn't it?" He gives a small smile, prompting Varian to take a moment and think.
He had to save Cass.
He looks back, his eyes still red and stinging, but filled with determination. He didn't recognize the other brotherhood members, but he knew the mark. His dad had that mark. And that rock Cass had... it was the same color as their eyes. They had to be possessed. But if they were possessed...
Varian breaks away from Eugenes grip and grabs the gun. Rapunzel could undo the amber. Cass could undo the amber. Right now, he had to take out any threats to Corona. They had protected and accepted him- it was time for him to finally make up for everything he'd done. He just had to look for the people with that circle marking. The one his dad had- there! He sees the marking on someone in the crowd and shoots.
His blood turns to ice.
Amber was glued to Quirins feet, forcing him to stop running toward his son. "Varian!" He shouts. He knew it was impossible to escape but that couldn't stop him from trying. He had to get to his son. He had to protect him.
"Dad, no!" He throws the gun to the ground and races forward, only to have Eugene hold him back when he's just a few yards away.
"If you get closer, that amber is going to enca-"
"I don't care! Dad! I'm sorry!"
He kicks and fights against Eugenes unrelenting grip. Quirin watches from the growing amber, the substance now up to his chest, forcing his arms to stay outreached towards his son as they had been before. "Keep him safe!" He shouts to the captain. "I love you Varian!"
The amber grows further, once again cutting him off from the world.
