⚔︎ 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗗 𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗦 ⚔︎ | 𝗩𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡

𝚄𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙰𝚒𝚍

You swallowed, your throat feeling unusually dry. Arms crossed, your fingers impatiently tapped against your forearm. There was nothing you wanted more than to run out of the room, but that wasn't an option.

It wasn't every day that the king and queen requested to talk to you. You, the child of two humble glass blowers, who ran a shop in town. Sure, you had known that your mother and queen Arianna were old friends, but you hadn't expected to ever meet her. Especially under these circumstances.

After all, they had quite the unusual request.

They had asked you here today to offer you a job. In itself, this wasn't too unusual, but the job they had offered was to help to guide one of Corona's most famous - and most dangerous - criminals, Varian, the infamous alchemist back onto his old, peaceful path.

Even before he had committed multiple heinous crimes, such as treason, kidnapping, drugging etc. , he had had a reputation. That of a crazy, unpredictable wizard. No one had wanted to meet him, or to ever see his full potential.

Alas, they did not get what they wanted. Life was simply cruel like that.

The young boy, who, mind you, was your age, had endangered not only queen Arianna, but every single citizen of the whole kingdom. Hadn't it been such a terrifying act, you would've been impressed with his genius, but the scared people - your people, your family, your friends - made you refrain from viewing him in anything other than the worst light possible.

The memory of your parents' frightened faces, the way they told you to run, the way they got injured in your place; it was all too fresh in your memory.

But, you were considering taking this job. Due to the fact that most of the people the royal family had turned to had rejected the offer, they were offering a fairly large sum of money. And this was exactly why you felt conflicted.

As cliché as it was, your parents were in desperate need of money. Business was going slow, which may have had to do with the fact that half of their store had been fully destroyed by an automaton that reached the borders. It didn't get any further than that, but lucky you, your parents' business was in the exact wrong place.

And with them selling  all kinds of glass, one can imagine what that would cause.

It didn't help that all the customers you had usually gotten were of high status. No nobility would show their face in a place as demolished as that.

Although some very kind people did. Yet these few people - who were very appreciated - weren't enough. Sooner or later, you would run out of savings, and what then?

On the other hand, you would have to interact with a highly intelligent, menacing, and most likely extremely unstable, boy. Which wasn't something you wanted to do, ever.

It felt bizarre to you how someone your age could be capable of almost bringing a whole kingdom down to it's ruins. It seemed absurd. But, this was the spine-chilling truth you were living in.

You had asked the king and queen why exactly they chose you. They could've asked any adult instead of you. Or, if they were only keen on helping out, your parents. Literally anyone would've been more capable in your eyes.

Their argument was understandable enough. ' We believe that Varian may be more moved to open up if it's someone who is closer to his age, a potential friend. Simply someone who might be able to understand his feelings better than we would. We've tried with some people who were considerably older than him - and even though they were experts in their field - no one managed to get a single word out of him. We're slowly running out of options, and this might be the last chance we can give him. '

Still, there were some holes in their thinking. For example, he was a child prodigy. Someone with an understanding of the most complex subjects. Someone who had literally created a new element for a measly little science fair.

You weren't sure he'd be able to relate to anyone. Especially people his age. He'd need someone who had the same way of thinking, a like-minded person.

But apparently, word had gotten around that you were eerily good and accurate at mirroring people. Maybe that should've been a sign for you to pursue an acting career.

Well, maybe not. You weren't the biggest fan of standing on stage, pretending to be someone you weren't. It could be refreshing, you weren't going to deny that, but you had grown to feel comfortable in your own skin.

It truly were times like these that made you slightly resent and even despise your reputation as a sweet and kind person who would help anyone and be at everyone's beck and call.

While this wasn't a lie, you didn't only help others to 'just help them'. As bad as it might have sounded, your actions weren't all based on your willingness to aid others or merely out of the kindness of your heart. There were obviously bound to be some requests that were out of your comfort-zone. Which for obvious reasons you should've been more inclined to decline.

No, it was the insane pressure people placed on you that drove you to help. You were kind of a people-pleaser, not that you'd ever admit that to anyone, including yourself.

It was the same pressure you felt right then, with two people of royal descent staring down at you from their thrones that intimidatingly towered over you, expecting an answer.

Scratch that, the pressure you felt in that moment was about tenfold the usual.

So it wasn't surprising when you started opening your mouth mindlessly, just wanting to get this over and done with.

"I..., I-"

You started stammering under their gazes, which were probably only patient, yet to you they felt judging.

You had never liked it when people had their watchful eyes on you. It made you feel put on the spot.

And it were moments like these that set the cogs in your brain racing and let you have the strangest train of thoughts.

It seemed greedy to you, but it truly was all about the money. Money was something you required if you wanted to lead a peaceful life without concerns. As much as you'd like to deny it, that was the truth.

Plus, hey, this 'Varatos' guy - or whatever his name was - 'Variant'? 'Variable'? - was, as had been stated many, many times before, with much emphasis, your age. He couldn't be that bad. Or that dangerous. You had caught a glimpse of him once or twice, when he had asked your parents for some glass vials or spheres, and he had seemed harmless enough. Kind of scrawny, even. You were pretty sure you'd be able to take him in a fight. Probably easily too.

So what's the harm in helping?

"-I would be delighted to take this opportunity."

Then, as always, all the disadvantages came flooding back. They poured into your brain torturously, seemingly mocking you and your entire existence and making your stomach drop. It was too late to refuse now.

No going back.

Crap.

Well, needless to say you were less than excited to begin with what was now your duty.

"Wonderful! You may start tomorrow."

Why did you have to always get yourself into these kinds of messes?