The Third Power: TTS AU

Chapter Thirty

Rapunzel looked at the infirmary.

Like the rest of Atlantis, it favoured a white and teal colour scheme. The room was empty except for two people: Cassandra, who was giving her a glare colder than ice. And, leaning stiffly against the wall...

"Varian!" Rapunzel moved swiftly to him, a smile taking over her face as relief swelled in her chest. He was here! They'd found him! "Varian, I'm so- woah!" she finished as a dark blade swung down in front of her. She looked to Cassandra whose glare still hadn't left.

"Careful, your highness," she all but growled. "I've got him 'mind-controlled' remember? Never know what I might have him do."

Rapunzel stepped back slowly, eyeing the both of them, surprised when Varian stifled a laugh at Cassandra's words.

"Now, now, there's no need for violence," Mari told both parties. Mari smiled fondly at Varian as she said, "Your friends have agreed to try and understand why you having the Seastone is a good thing. They're going to accompany us to step four of Demanitus' instructions."

Varian's eyes went wide and he looked from Mari to Rapunzel. "Really?" he asked, tone disbelieving. "You're... you're actually going to work with us on this?"

Rapunzel hesitated then turned to her friends. Lance and Catalina were nodding, smiling encouragingly. Keira and Eugene were blank faces. Their neutrality spoke volumes and made the princess sigh. When she turned back around, she did her best to keep her smile in place. "Absolutely. After all, keeping an open mind is important, right?"

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Varian couldn't help the brief feeling of happiness that gripped him. Rapunzel and the others were willing to try and understand? Could this be his chance to try and mend the bridge that had been damaged between all of them? Cass included? Could they all walk away from this as friends again?

But then his doubts made themselves known, and they were hard to push away. As much as he wanted to believe that Rapunzel was here to be friends, he had no proof of her actual intentions yet. 

But he had no proof her intentions were bad.

Be cautious for now. Maybe things will turn out good and it'll be a nice, pleasant surprise. But you don't start mixing chemicals without the proper safety equipment.

So he smiled, keeping his voice warm as he said, "That's great, Princess. I'm glad you understand."

And Rapunzel's own smile relaxed into something that felt more natural than it had. Eugene, Lance, Keira, and Catalina also seemed to relax a bit more.

Then Cassandra was at his side. He looked up at her. "Yeah, it's great you're actually making an effort to understand what we're doing instead of just forcing your own way." Her gaze was still steely and her words dripped with disdain.

"Yes. Yes, it is," Eugene conceded through his teeth, betraying his easy stance.

And then it went silent. Painfully so.

Until Mari cleared her throat.

"Well, we should go as soon as we can." She turned to Varian and Cassandra. "I'll have Veil check you both over and, if you're well enough, we'll proceed to the next step."

Varian smiled, and Cassandra nodded. Varian saw a satisfied smile on Eclipse's face as she hovered around just in sight.

"Finally continuing," she said in his mind. "At least we can rest easy knowing your... friends won't try anything. For now."