The Third Power: TTS AU

Chapter Thirty-Five

Varian could safely say that, after ten mirrors, the Sea Incantation had started to grow stale on his tongue. But it was worth it.

Each mirror had shown him more of the Seastone's story. He'd learnt how the merfolk had chanced stumbling upon it and sensing its power and took it back to Atlantis. He'd seen Demanitus meeting merfolk who were willing to talk to him, Demanitus in a contraption not unlike Varian's own submarine being led to the city. He saw Demanitus working with the merfolk to figure out the Seastone's relation to the other two divine gifts as he wrote his notes and the Demanitus Scroll.

It was so much amazing history, and he'd taken notes on all of it.

He stepped away from the mirror he was in front of as it finished its scene of Demanitus decorating the cave from the beach with fractions of his knowledge. Varian had a new appreciation for his idol. Gathering all the information and then laying out his plan must have been years of work. But it had been worth it for both of them.

Varian felt the tugging dissipate. The wait was over.

He took a deep breath and put his notebook back in his apron pocket. "Breathe," he mumbled to himself. "You've got this."

He walked to the statue of the mermaid holding the stone.

He couldn't stop himself from noticing little details as he approached. The stripes in the mermaid's hair and the wings.

Oh, he realised, making him stop in place.

How long had she been alive for?

He shook his head to clear the thought, but hung on to the intention to ask about it later. The stone was his focus right now.

Demanitus, his stone. His gift.

It was impossible to get over.

Varian continued forward until he was in front of the pearl. It was beautiful, the same pale blue with the three twisting lines.

"Hey," he said. He couldn't explain the feeling that saying something was the right thing to do. He laughed softly. "I'm finally here."

He reached forward to take it.

He felt resistance.

"What?" he questioned out loud. "Another test or something?"

If so, what? There was no tugging towards another mirror. It was just him and the statue. What was he doing wrong? Was it something to do with how he tried to take the stone?

A memory cut through his thoughts. No, not a memory, but something of that nature. The vaguest of notions of an event that he couldn't fully grasp. But the idea was there.

He knew what to do.

Varian copied the statue's pose, holding his hands like hers so they were cupped, ready to accept the pearl.

As if in response, the statue's hands tipped forward, and the Seastone fell into the Varian's grasp.

A warmth spread from his palms to the rest of his body. It was magic.

Images flashed through his head of something that had happened years ago. He saw himself, tiny and with blue hair. He saw the evaporation of a lake before it was filled with rock.

That's the kind of power this thing has, he realised. The idea shook him almost as badly as nearly scalding Keira and Eugene had.

Another image flashed by. It was Mari - a younger version. She was in front of the statue Varian now stood in front of, one hand over her heart like when she'd bowed to him before.

Varian copied her pose, placing the Seastone over his chest.

The warmth of the magic momentarily peaked to burning as the stone sunk into his clothes. Varian gasped with shock and doubled over, but he watched as the Seastone shone and darkness spread from it. The darkness encased his body from his neck to his boots, shades of blue and green. It was rock. It was hard and stiff. And then it softened. It moulded itself until Varian was wearing an entirely new outfit.

The spike of energy ceased.

Standing up properly, speechless, Varian inspected the outfit. It looked very similar to Cassandra's. The suit was a dark blue, almost black, with sea green stripes littering the whole thing. His boots and gloves had been slimmed down, but they were still thick enough to be comfortable. Over his heart, exactly where he'd placed it, was the Seastone.

Varian ran a hand through his hair. He sighed with relief when he felt his goggles were still there.

Was this how Cassandra had felt when she'd taken the Moonstone?

Everything felt so different, but in what Varian was sure was a good way. He felt the soft thrum of magic coursing through him - something he'd have to adjust too, but not as unwelcome as it definitely would have been only a week ago.

"I have magic now," he said dumbly, numbly, bringing his hands up to see them, inspecting his new rock gloves then inspecting the whole outfit once again.

He had magic.

He'd gotten what he'd come for.

It was time to go, he supposed.

Varian looked around the cave one more time. He let his gaze linger on the statue for just a moment before he turned on his heel and headed back the way he'd come.

Time to talk to Rapunzel, he guessed.