Tangled: Stardust and the 12 Zodiacs (Varian Fanfiction)

Chapter 23: Ancestors

Finally, out of the staircase room and now in the hallway, Rapunzel and Varian sneaked down the hall to where Eugene was, with Soul on the alchemist's back, cautious of not being seen. Going left, the three hid behind a wall as Rapunzel readied her frying pan before jumping out to see no one.

"Where's Eugene?" The brunette asked, panicking. The hallway where the ex-thief and Antonio's shadow double fought was empty, leaving no traces of where either of the two are.

"Maybe he defeated the shadow and went to look for Samuel and Clara?" Soul hypothesized as she was let down by Varian, attempting to calm the princess.

"But, what if he's not—" Rapunzel paused what she was about to say when she heard something, " DId you two hear that?" She asked, bringing a finger over her lips. Sure enough, a shout was heard from outside.

"You are under arrest!"Was what they heard the man shouted, catching their attention as they peeked outside the window..

"NO! NO! NO! I swear you guys got it all wrong!" A familiar voice shouted back a reply with the sound of chains and a door being closed was heard after.

"Wait, that's Eugene's voice!" Rapunzel exclaimed, quite relieved that her lover is safe but worried as she heard Eugene is going to be arrested. "He's going to get arrested! We have to save him."

"You two! For destroying private property and almost killing this poor man, you will be sent to prison with that trespasser!" Another officer shouted. Varian squinted his eyes to see who they were talking about and saw another officer, leading both Lance and Catalina inside the cart.

"Oh, no! They got Lance and Catalina as well." He informed the other two with a worried tone. "I can understand why they arrested Lance, but Catalina? She's just a kid.." he muttered through gritted teeth.

They then perked up when they heard footsteps and the talking of what seemed to be two more guards heading their way. Varian quickly scooped Soul up despite the girl's quiet protests while gesturing to Rapunzel to follow him. They ran to a corridor that Varian spotted when they entered earlier and hid behind a column waiting for the guards to pass.

"I know I heard someone here." A guard said, looking around.

Varian peeked a little but quickly ducked down as the guard turned to look at where they were.

"I'm pretty sure there's no one here." The other guard stated, shrugging his shoulders. The former put a finger up while slowly walking to where the three were hiding.

Rapunzel, Varian, and Soul tensed up, holding their breath until another guard came and distracted the two who were on to them.

"Hey, you two! The captain wants to see you." The guard who was so close to finding them stood straight, following his fellow guard.

After making sure that the guards were gone, they released their breaths, smiling at each other.

"That was awfully close." Rapunzel commented, nervously chuckling.

"Really close." Soul sighed before looking at Varian. "I told you not to look back, Beaver Teeth!" She scolded, while Varian shyly rubbed the back of his head.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" A voice asked from behind their back. Startled from the noise, the three backed away from the wall, only to realize that they were sitting in front of a metal door..

"Did any of you notice this?" Soul asked. Varian and Rapunzel shook their heads as she walked closer to the door, much to Varian's protests.

"Hello???" The voice asked again. That voice....it's oddly familiar . Soul thought.