Secrets Beyond - The Beginning (a Tangled the series original fan fiction)

Secrets - Chapter 11

On the busier road now, Chess, Iris, and Varian walked along, Ruddiger perched on the horse's back that Chess had taken from the stables back at the inn. "Gosh... that's nuts!" Chess laughed as the other two finished telling him about everything that had happened so far. "You really should have seen Varian when he was tiny!!! It was really cute." Iris laughed, gently nudging her companion in the shoulder who was beet red. "I- I wasn't cute!" he flusteredly muttered, causing Chess to smile.

As they walked along the path they would occasionally pass a wagon or another traveler. For the most part though it wasn't all too busy of a road, They enjoyed some conversation and Varian reexplained about the guardians to their newest group member.

"So you brought me along because you think I might be one???" Chess asked, giving his gem an interested turn over in his hands. Varian nodded. "I think you and Iris may be future guardians!!!" He exclaims excitedly, to which the young adult cocks his head, "You too though, right?" He asks, noticing that the alchemist only said him and Iris. The boy sadly shook his head, "I mean, I could be... I guess?... but I don't think so. Not only do I not have a gem, but I also don't think someone like myself could become or do something like that." He answered Chess. "A. Who ever said you need a gem to be a guardian?! B. If thats so, then what's that, just a decoration or something? Because it looks an awful lot like what your girlfriend and I have!" He said back, confusing Varian of what he was talking about. Iris could only give him an annoyed glare, she knew her retaliation was fueling his jokes, so she did her best to ignore him.

"Is what a decoration?" Varian asked, baffled.

"That." Chess says, pointing to something on his head.

"My goggles?" He asked again, even more confused now. The alchemist then took them off to further inspect. "Right there." The thief said, pointing to a golden and silver gem embedded into his goggles on the left side. 'How did I not see this before!?' He stared with bulging eyes, jaw agape. "How long has that been there!?" he asked, Iris looking over his shoulder. "Like the entire time, now that I think about it!" She said, realizing it as well. "How did neither of us notice!?...." Varian asked again, still dazed.

Chess snickered, "When you have an eye for riches and know what you're looking for it becomes obvious." He answered, "And you said that Iris only found out about the guardians today right? If so, then she definitely wouldn't have noticed. It was just another part of your outfit to her." The man further explained. The two younger travelers nod, finding his reasoning logical. "Wait, how long have you had these!?" Iris asked, still just as startled as him. "A while, Xavier was the one who gifted them to me!" the boy answered, "Wait wasn't he the one who told you about the legend to begin with??" The siren pointed out.

"No way!" Varian cried, making Chess laugh harder. "I guess it was meant to be!" He snorted, "Anyways, what's the plan?" Chess asks, after they've had some time to try to wrap their heads around the whole thing. "What plan?" Iris asked. "Then plan for getting to the mountain!.. Are we going to just keep walking in that direction until we get there, or do we have a charted course to help us see where we should go and what we should do? Do we want to stop in any kingdoms?..... What's the plan??" The used-to-be waiter elaborated.

Iris and Varian kinda just looked at each other, "Um... We never made a plan..." Iris laughed. The alchemist snickered as well, "I guess we kinda just decided that we'd keep going in as straight of a line as possible till we reached the mountain!" They both laughed. Chess could only chuckle along with them and shake his head, "If you had done that then you'd be toast. See here?" He asked pulling out a beat up map that was torn and carefully marked in multiple places. "This is right in between us and the mountains." He pointed to a strangely colored area on the map and in red ink nearby was written 'The Sanguine Bloodlands' It read, and next to it was written: 'avoid at all costs!!!' "This map belonged to my uncle... He gave me this map in hopes I'd continue his work of exploration and adventuring." The man said, spreading the fragile paper in his hands gingerly. "He died though... and uh, that may or may not be why I didn't leave the tavern for so long.... But I've been feeling ready for a while now; I guess i just needed a little shove." He finishes, taking a sad sigh at the memory of his father coming in with the terrible news. His uncle's lucky dagger being all that they were able to recover of his body.