Tangled: Stardust and the 12 Zodiacs (Varian Fanfiction)

Chapter 24: A Possible Clue?

Soul stayed on the roof even after Samuel and Clara can't be seen anymore, taking in the sight of the City of Aradia. The first city she stepped foot on, slowly disappearing into the distance. A lot has happened in their stay in the city, both memorable and somehow traumatizing events. But Soul is sure about one thing, and that is she will cherish these newly created memories forever.

"Hey, get down from there! You're gonna hurt your foot even more." Varian scolded from inside the caravan. "How did you even get up there?"

Peaking from the trapdoor, Soul answered. "Uh, I climbed?"

Varian facepalmed at the girl's answer, groaning. "What am I going to do with you?" He rhetorically asked.

"Relax. If it makes you feel better, I'll come down now." Soul said as positioned herself on the ladder, stepping down slowly. 

"Thank you!" Varian breathed out.

"You don't have to worry about me you know."

"Well, if I don't then who would?" Varian replied.

Soul rolled her eyes as she climbed down. However, the heavens seemed to hate her at the moment as Soul accidentally missed a step, forcing her to put too much pressure on her left foot where her ankle was sprained, causing her to lose her footing on the ladder.

"Watch out!" Rapunzel yelled as Varian rushed to catch her just in time before she hit the floor.

"This is what I was talking about!" He nagged as he set the girl down on her claimed couch/bed.

 Soul winced a bit as she stretched her leg on the couch. Flick whimpered as he jumped on his owner's stomach. "Oof! Flick, give me a warning next time." She grunted, petting the fox who snuggled in her hold.

"Let me check your foot." Lance offered. The burly man sat on the edge of the couch as he gently took the girl's left foot, examining it. "Yeah, that's a nasty sprain, alright." He commented.

"It was already bad enough before she fell off the ladder." Varian nagged, folding his arms as he sat on the other couch beside the door across Soul.

"It was an accident. Not like I wanted to fall off the ladder." Soul defended, wincing as Lance poked her ankle. "Ow!"

"Oh, sorry." Lance apologized as he placed the girl's foot back down on the couch, standing up. "Anyways, you have to stay in bed, well couch, until that sprain of yours is healed." He instructed as he sternly looked at her. "Understood?"

"But I'm fine! See?" Soul shakily stood up, sighing in relief as she successfully stood up straight. "I'm fine! I don't need to stay in bed."

"Why don't you walk here, then?" Kiera challenged, smirking.

The astrologer looked at the other side of the caravan where Kiera and Catalina were. It won't be a long walk. This caravan might be bigger than other caravans, but it's still a small room. Soul confidently walked towards the girls, but alas, it was not the astrologer's day to keep her pride high as the caravan passed through a bumpy road, shaking the vehicle a bit. Soul stumbled a little as she accidentally put all of her weight on her left foot, and like static, the pain jolted right up from her foot to her whole body as let out a scream of pain, falling on the floor.

"Yeah, you're not fine." Rapunzel chuckled as she helped the lavender-haired girl up, letting Soul use her as a support as the brunette guided her back to her couch.

"I am fine, it just hurt." Soul said with a huff.

"Just stop being stubborn, Soul. It's clear that you're in pain. Listen to Lance so you could recover faster. You're an important asset in this quest. From what I researched, sprains usually last a week or three, depends on how its treated. We have less than three weeks until we get to Maihara desert, which means you have to get that ankle of yours recovered by then." Varian stated as he stood from his seat and walked in front of Soul. A slight authoritative aura surrounded him.