Forget-Me-Not (Varian x Reader)

Chapter 43- Inherently Bad?

The sun has begun to sink into the horizon by the time we prepare to leave. Normally, the island was still full of life at this hour, but thanks to the red rocks, everyone was locked up in their homes. The once bustling kingdom is like a ghost town.

As Rapunzel recruits Lance and Eugene to try and keep everyone in good spirits, I assist Varian in packing up his bag. I grunt as I set down a small crate full of flasks, each one filled up with an illuminated bright yellow liquid. As I pass the flasks to the boy, I hear him sigh. "What's wrong, Var?" I gently inquire. "Are the rocks showing you illusions again?"

The glow of the liquid illuminates Varian's face as he turns to look at me, his gaze sullen. "No...it's-it's just...the only thing strong enough to cut off the rock's power is...the amber."

My face falls. "Oh..." I kneel beside him and take a breath. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah...I-I just...I don't like who I was the last time I used this stuff."

"That doesn't make this compound inherently bad." I gently say. "Maybe it turned out bad last time, but that doesn't mean it's only capable of evil. This time you're using it for good." I give Varian a side hug. "Nothing is ever inherently bad. There's good in everything, you just have to search to find it."

Varian smiles a bit and hugs me back. "Thanks, Angel."

That nickname...it never fails to make my heart flutter.

:-:-:-:-:

The damp smell of the tunnels fills my nose as we walk through the winding caverns. A gentle tapping noise echoes against the stone walls as carefully step around various booby traps. The only light comes from the crimson glow of the red rocks. The more we walk, the more prevalent the rocks get.

Slowly but surely, we travel closer to the base of the red rocks, Rapunzel leading our little team into the battle zone. I walk behind her, and Varian lingers much farther away from the both of us. His eyes nervously dart around the cavern, as though at any moment a monster would jump out at us through the stones in the walls. "No problem...we got this. No problem, we got this" He chuckles dryly, tightly gripping the straps of his backpack.

As we climb over a fallen wooden beam, I look at Varian with concern. "Are you alright, Var?"

"-Because you've said, 'no problem, we've got this,' twenty-three times now," Rapunzel adds, holding up her journal, which has a drawing of a very terrified Varian next to a couple dozen tally marks. "Look, I'm actually keeping track."

Varian forces a chuckle. "I'm fine, really." He continues walking, still gripping his backpack straps. "Uh, y'know, just trying not to set off one of the three thousand traps down here!"

I gently take Varian's hand in my own, stopping him in his tracks. "Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything."

Varian gently smiles. "I know...I'm fine though. Really." His blue eyes drift down to our hands.

A blush creeps across my cheeks and I quickly pull my hand away. "S-Sorry."

"Uh, N-no worries." Varian quickly says, continuing to walk forward.

Suddenly Pascal hits a stone in the wall with his tongue while trying to catch a fly, triggering a trap door to begin opening below us. We start sliding down into a deep pit lined with red rocks, and my heart practically stops. I try to grip the sides of the trap door but to no avail.