The Heart Of Alchemy

Conceal the Truth

Sorry to end the last chapter on a cliffhanger, my friends. But thank you all for the support on The Heart Of Alchemy! It means a lot to me! 😊

Also, I know it's not as long as the previous one, but there's still much more to come!

Hugo didn't understand. It. . . It didn't make sense at all. But deep down he knew it did.

Each of the seven kingdoms are advanced in one way or another. The kingdom he grew up in was mainly advanced in building structures, Yong's was advanced in its variety of food, Nuru's was advanced in education, and Corona's was advanced in machinery, and so on and so forth. Yet that also meant each of them were behind on something else.

Apparently Corona's was behind on its laws, the punishments, and impacts of them.

And with the way Varian has been acting yesterday and this morning. Everything clicked.

Varian wasn't ashamed of Hugo. He was trying to protect him.

" Kid, are you okay? "

But Hugo didn't respond to Eugene. He stayed silent and gazed at the ground before him. His thoughts drown the noise of the town out.

If Varian knew about these laws, then why did he let them come here? With the townspeople already having a. . . dislike in him, they would've understood that he didn't want to go back. Maybe it was because he wants to see his family again? But he could've done that on his own and would've been in less danger.

But he didn't. And that's what bothered Hugo the most about all of this.

Varian didn't care if he was putting more danger onto himself or not. He was a walking target here, and everyone had an arrow to shoot at him anytime. And now that Hugo was here. . . He suddenly felt uneasiness rise within himself.

" Did Varian tell anyone here about our relationship? " Hugo's voice wavered a bit.

Eugene shook his head and rubbed his temple. " The only time we ever knew he was in love was that crush on Cassandra, but he didn't feel that way for long. "

Hugo nodded. His index finger decided to draw in the dust that caked the ground. And the image: glasses and goggles intertwined into each other.

" Look, kid, I'm sorry about the whole, you know- " he pointed to the back of Hugo's head, which was now dried with blood- " though you're shifty, it was still wrong of me to do all that. "

" Is Corona, like, the 'Apology Kingdom' nowadays? " He made air quotes around 'Apology Kingdom'.

The comment seemed to lighten Eugene's mood a bit as he laughed slightly. " That's what it seems to be now, isn't it? " His face turned serious before he continued to speak once more. " But in all honesty, I shouldn't have done that. But after learning- all of this- I can see I was most definitely in the wrong. "

" I don't actually blame you for doing so. When I was with Donella, I was like the thief you knew, alright? But I'm not like that anymore. I know you're Varian's family, and you're like a Mother Hen around him- "

" Hey! " Eugene interjected. " I am not a Mother Hen! Geezes, you're sounding like Lance now. "

" Not my fault you are. " Hugo smirked before his face softened a bit. " But Varian's growing up, ya' know, you just gotta let him be Varian, if you get what I mean. "

Eugene nodded before looking towards the little image Hugo had drawn in the dust. Two different sets of eye-wear, yet had many similarities. Just like Hugo and Varian. " I do. Thanks, Kid. "

" Anytime, Mother Hen. " Hugo smiled a bit. " It's like what Varian said, we're like you and that girlfriend of yours. "

" Mhmm, " Eugene nodded. Now he understood what the Royal Engineer meant. Ah, clever kid.

~

By the time Varian came out of the woods it was the afternoon. His body still trembled a bit, but it was a lot less than before. The red in his eyes would be there for a while, but it didn't matter. Though that didn't mean he didn't try to hide then and the slender tear track that ran down his face.

He walked until he reached town once more, and set off to find the alleyway Hugo and Eugene were in. He didn't want to exactly intrude whatever they were doing, but he had to confront Eugene about. . . everything. With a shaky breath, he stepped into sight of the two.

" Hey guys, " Varian waved slightly. His eyes met their own in seconds.

He saw how Hugo was the first to go up to him, and the blond slightly wrapped his arms around Varian's waist. Varian felt nerves rack his entire body, and fear screamed at him to run away as fast as possible, but he leaned his head into the older boy's chest and let out a breath he didn't know he held.

Varian saw how Eugene looked at them: a small smile grazing his lips with warm eyes looking towards them. He accepted them. He accepted both of them. It made Varian smile a bit too.

A few seconds passed before Varian lifted his head up and Hugo released him. He stood tall with his arms rubbing at each other. No one spoke until Eugene decided to start the conversation.

" So. . . you and String Bean are. . . a thing and such? "

Varian nodded. It should've been a simple conversation. Yet his mouth felt dry and he felt his body shake once more. He didn't trust his own mouth to speak for himself.

" Okay then, " Eugene ran a hand through his hair. " I'm- I'm glad that you can be happy, Kid, really, I am! But how do you exactly plan to bypass the law? "

Varian stayed silent. It was a plan he had been working on ever since he and Hugo first got together.

But Eugene was okay with the two of them being together. He wasn't even supposed to find out about this all, but Varian was happy that Eugene knew. He didn't know why. He just was.

Eugene sighed. " You don't have a plan, do yo- "

" I do, " Varian interjected quickly. He closed his mouth shut and gazed towards the ground. Not even Hugo knew what he was going to do. The only one who knew was Ruddiger, and he couldn't even really tell anyone!

The ravenette took a deep breath before closing his eyes, squeezing Hugo's hand, which earned a look of confusion from the blond, before speaking. " Once we- "

BOOM! An explosion from the distance cut him off. Thin smoke began to enter through the alleyway as the screams of townspeople rang through the streets.

" I'm guessing that's not normal, is it? '' Hugo pointed towards the sky, which was where the smoke was billowing from.

" Not even close, but not the worst! "

With that said, Eugene began to run back into the town square to evacuate and figure out what was happening. Hugo gave Varian a stern look.

" Come on, " he said. " We better get out of here. "

Varian nodded. But just as he was about to exit the alleyway, a certain image caught his attention. It was the same one in his dreams. Glasses and goggles intertwined with each other.

" How. . . " his voice trailed off when he took note of the smears of dirt and dust on his lover's fingers.

" Varian, come on! " Hugo grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the alley.

Varian was confused about everything. Did Hugo see the same dream, or. . . Varian shook his head. Right now they had bigger things to worry about.

Sooooo.....I wrote this entire chapter on a school day....I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I DID THAT, BUT OKAY!

Have a wonderific day/night to you all! 😊

~ Brooklyn