The Third Power: TTS AU

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I'm sad. I was watching TTS crack videos and just realised that Varian might have spent his fifteenth birthday in prison depending on when he and the Saporians broke out.

The merfolk were coming back.

Varian watched through the infirmary window as they flooded back through the gates, their tails turning to legs as they came into Atlantis' air bubble. It was so strange seeing the tails split and form into their own individual thing, even if he was watching from a distance that made it difficult to see the details. However, there was something else that had his attention even more so.

Rapunzel.

"It's almost scary how fast she can hunt us down," Cassandra remarked, leaning on the windowsill next to the alchemist.

Varian didn't reply. Rapunzel was a princess; she had a whole kingdom of people willing to assist her in everything she wanted to do. Of course it wasn't hard to locate them. What was confusing him was how she and the others had gotten down here. Magic maybe?

Speaking of magic, he saw Mari, and he felt the knots in his stomach relax slightly. Soon enough he'd be going to collect the Seastone.

He was surprised to find how much the thought excited him.

Mari led Rapunzel's group through the gates. Where would she take them? Would she bring them to him, Cassandra, and Eclipse? But if she really had a mental link then she knew that wasn't a great idea, right?

"This won't end well," Eclipse said with a grim smile, more to herself than them. "Our pursuers down here with us?" She shook her head.

Cassandra nodded hers. "Screams disaster doesn't it?" She laughed dryly. "Guess we should be ready for another fight then."

Varian frowned at the idea. He gazed down at his hand - the same one he'd used to form a ball of boiling water that he'd almost thrown at Eugene and Keira's faces. Could he do that again? Could he wield that power again, even with the Seastone, comfortably?

—————

Mari, thankfully, had received minimal damage from engaging in the fight with the squid. Cuts and bruises from being smacked into a rock were nothing.

She looked around at all the merfolk - at all her people - returning to the city. They had won; the squid has swam away after enough spears to the eye, but now came recovery. The infirmary was going to be busy.

She sighed and ended up walking right into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she started as she looked up. She froze when she realised she wasn't looking at merfolk but humans.

She took a good look at them as they turned around, but it all it really took was seeing the girl with thick, long, blonde hair to know who they were: Princess Rapunzel and her friends.

"Mari!" Reef was at her side in an instant. Her brown eyes were troubled. "Are you okay? Is everyone okay?"

Mari nodded, smiling. "We've taken worse blows," she told the warrior. Her smile grew to a grin. "But we gave the squid some lovely souvenirs, mostly in its eye."

Reef visibly relaxed. She huffed a laugh and then indicated the party of humans. "They came seeking... well, maybe they should tell you themselves."

Mari looked from Reef to the humans to a grouchy Skye.

"Hello." Rapunzel moved to Mari and bowed. "I'm Princess Rapunzel of Corona." She smiled. "And you're Mari, right?"

Mari nodded and bowed. "Greetings, Princess," she said respectfully. She raised her head. "What brings you to Atlantis?"