The Third Power: TTS AU

Chapter Nineteen

Rapunzel watched Cassandra and Varian run to the edge of the forest then turn back and stand at the edge of the sea. What were they doing?

The princess couldn't pull her eyes away from Varian. His hair, his eyes, the still lingering feeling of seeing him use his powers in a panicked daze. She could only imagine what was going on in his head.

She looked over at her party, all of them covered in small burns from the steam.

"Is everyone ok?" she asked.

There was a pained, grumbled, "yes" from everyone as they helped each other to their feet.

"So that's the power of the sea, huh?" Eugene said through his teeth. His tone wasn't angry, though, more shocked and pained.

"If he can do that after using his powers once," Lance thought aloud. "Imagine what he could do after learning how to use them properly."

There was silence followed by a collective shudder at the thought.

"We'll have to find another way to stop them," Rapunzel said almost to herself. "But, for now, we should probably sort out these burns."

—————

"So the fourth step is in Atlantis?"

"Yep. The cave of treasure and suffering should be in the lost city," Varian said. His voice was still shaky from everything.

"I'm surprised you want to continue," Cass told him. "Are you absolutely sure?"

The alchemist nodded.

"There's someone there waiting for me." he said with a shrug.

Cassandra sighed and smiled.

"For someone who didn't even want these powers, you seem to be taking to them."

Varian laughed a little and rubbed his neck.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Alright then." Cass reached out and wrapped an arm around the boy.

"But how are we supposed to get there?" Eclipse asked. "You two need air so-"

"I'll get us there," Varian said firmly.

He moved out of Cassandra's arm and stepped a little closer to the sea until the waves just touched his boots. He held out a hand and closed his eyes, allowing his powers to do the work. When he opened his eyes, the waves were starting to part.

"Woah," Cass mumbled with amazement. "How are you doing that?"

"I'm separating the water from the air," he told her. "I think I can create a bubble for us to get to the city."

"Perfect," Eclipse said with a smile.

The three waded deeper into the water until they were almost fully submerged. Then Varian forced all of the water away, leaving just air for them.

Seeing the ocean from this perspective was incredible. The water was so clear and rushed past them in gentle waves. All three were looking around in awe.

"This is amazing," Varian said with a smile. Maybe reading the incantation hadn't been such a bad idea after all. Being able to see things from this view presented a chance for much more marine life experiments.

The view only became more amazing the further down they went. The water was gradually getting darker as the sun couldn't shine through. There were all sorts of plants and sea life floating and swimming around them.

"What is that?!" Eclipse asked as they went past some weird blob thing.

"A blob fish," Varian told her. "You should see one above water. They really-"