Blinded By Stardust

Chapter 5: The Legend (Part 1)

They stared at the two petal peices. There was something very formiliar about them to Cass. Then it clicked. Mount Saison, the dream. It was a dream, right?

"What do you mean?" Varian asked. "There was what seems to be part of a flower petal in the orange juice, and what seems to be the same kind of petal Ruddiger brought from your lab," Rose answered. "I've seen it somewhere before," Cass said softly. Rose looked at her in surprise. "Where?" She asked. "Mount Saison," Cass replied, "the night before I came to the castle I stopped on Mount Saison for the night. There were dozens of flowers on the hillside, but when I woke up the next morning they won't there".

"Are you sure it wasn't a dream?" Rose asked. "No," Cass said bluntly, "but if it wasn't and this does have something to do with those flower, we might be able to figure out how he was blinded and find a cure".

"Okay, but a flower that could disappear like that would have to be... magical," Rose replied. "Like we haven't seen a magic flower before," Cass answered. "Or magic rocks," Varian added. "Or magic hair," Cass continued. Rose just stared at them for a second. "Good point," she said. "So, Mount Saison?" Cass asked as she looked away from the petal. "It's two hours away! I don't know if he's strong enough to make that trip yet," Rose responded as she looked over at her patient.

"We could always see if Xavier knows anything," Varian suggested. "The blacksmith?" Rose replied. "Yeah, if there's a legend about these flowers he would know it," he answered. "Okay, do you think you're strong enough to get there?" Cass asked. "Or you could always use the wheelchair," Rose added. "No thanks, I think I could make it," Varian answered. "Okay, but take someone with you," she told him. "I can go," Cass offered. "Thanks Cassie," he said as he slowly got up.

Cass and Rose helped him find the door and followed him out. "Are you coming with us Rose?" Cass asked as they walked through the hallway. "I can't, I'm on duty," she answered. She gave Cass the petal then continued, "but if we end up needing to go to Mount Saison we can go after my shift, in case he needs me". Cass nodded and they parted ways; she and Varian continued towards the front door and Rose, towards her office.

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Varian trailed his ungloved hand against the wall as they walked through the hallway. They walked in silence until his curiosity got the better of him. "Why were you going down to my lab yesterday?" He asked Cass. "Oh, well I had just gotten to town and I wanted to see how you were doing and," she sighed and continued, "I wanted to apologize for kidnapping you".

"It's okay, Cassie," he said with a smile, "besides, if you hadn't kidnapped me we wouldn't know how great we sound when we sing together," he continued and Cass giggled a little.

"You were right you know" Cass said after she sighed. "About what?" He asked. "Everything, I didn't realize how right you were till I stuck you out that window, I really did have nothing left to lose," she replied sadly as she stopped walking for a second, "I am so sorry, Varian".

Hearing how upset she sounded, Varian followed her voice to where she was, then found her hand and took it. "It's okay, I forgave you a long time ago, Rapunzel and Eugene forgave you a long time ago, now you just need to forgive yourself," he responded, giving her a sweet smile.

For a moment she was kinda glad he couldn't see; she could tell her cheeks were turning red. She cleared her throat and looked away from him. Gently she slid her hand out of Varian's then let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. After that, they continued walking in silence untill they got to the door.

Cass pushed the door open to see a formiliar guard next to it. "Still on door duty, John?" Cass asked him. "Yep, is Varian alright?" John replied. "Uh..." Cass started as Varian stepped through the door. "Varian, I'm glad to see you're okay," John interrupted when he saw him.

Varian chuckled nervously. "Yeah," he responded as he raised his head. John noticed his eyes and let out a small gasp. "I know," Varian replied when he heard him gasp. "What happened?" John asked. "Yeah, we're trying to figure that out," Cass responded as she looked at Varian.

"Do you need any help?" John asked. "Actually yeah, we're on our way to Xavier's, mind coming with us?" Varian answered. "Sure," John replied as he gave Cass a confused look. "We'll explain on the way," Cass told him as they started walking again.

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"...but when I woke up they were gone, we think they might be the same kind of flower," Cass explained as they walked through town. Varian was listening before he heard a voice in the crowd. "I thought you said you took care of Cassandra!" It said angrly. "I did," answered a second voice. "Well it sure doesn't seem like she was effected! She's right there!"

"Varian,Varian!" Cass called and snapped her fingers. "Are you okay?" She asked him once she got his attention. "Yeah, sorry," he answered then turned his head towards where the voices came from. Cass and John looked in that direction then at each other. "What is it?" Cass asked. "I heard them again," he answered. "The people who were outside your door?" She continued. "And who put that flower in your juice," he added.

They looked back to were Varian was looking then at each other again. "I don't see anything, but I'll keep my guard up," John said and they continued walking. As they kept going they started to hear the sound of metal hitting metal.

"Varian, Cassandra, its nice to see you again," Varian heard as he stopped. "It's nice too see you too Xavier," he responded, "or it would be if I could". Xavier looked at Cass and John for an explanation then looked at Varian. "What caused this?" He asked after he saw Varian's eyes. Cass showed him the petal. "We think they used a flower, they tried to do the same thing to me but we caught it in time so it didn't blind me," she told him.

"Is there a legend about a flower that's there at night but not in the morning?" Varian asked. "Ah, the Legend of Stardust," Xavier started, "It is said that with every meteor shower, comes a shooting star. When that star goes by it leaves behind a trail of stardust that falls to earth. It is said if that stardust lands in the perfect spot, it will grow into a patch of bautiful flowers that looks like part of the night sky on the ground. They're visible at night but not in the day, or so the legend goes".

"That sounds like the flowers I saw," Cass said, "does it say anything else about them? Could it be what caused this?". "That is possible, it is said that the right part of the flower would heal anything, but the other would blind, paralyze, and kill". Varian's heart sank when he heard the last word. "No, no," Cass said as she shook her head, "there- there has to be a way, a cure, there has to be something we can do! He- he can't... he can't".

"Well, if you can find the flowers and figure out which part of it heals, that could be the cure, though I don't know if it will restore his sight or if it will work at all. I don't know if its true," Xavier replied. "Every legend is born of truth," Cass quoted, "I saw the flowers, I know they're real, and if there's even a small chance that they could help Varian, or even save him, we have to try".

"That's right, we won't give whoever did this to him the satisfaction of winning, of getting rid of him, cause they won't succeed," John said, determined. "Thanks guys," Varian responded with a small smile, "but how will we know what's the right part of the flower?".

"I'd say it's not the petal, that's obviously the dangerous part," Cass answered. "That leaves the root, stem, and seeds," Varian added as he started to feel lightheaded. He grabbed his side and hunched over, groaning in pain. He started coughing, his legs gave out and he fell to his knees. Cass immediately knelt down next to him and put a hand on his back.

"We have to go to Mount Saison!"