The Raccoon and His Boy - A Varian x Reader story

XXI

The ride to the palace had to be the most confusing experience of my life. On the one hand, I was extremely nervous, having close to no information about what exactly I was getting into aside from the fact that, a) it was all my fault, and b) my failure could result in the end of Corona. There was, however, also an element of excitement from the whole situation – I was heading on my first real adventure, something I thought could only ever happen to book characters. And to top it all off, I still felt the weird fascination I always had when making my way to the palace.

Considering the early hour, not many people were out yet, and so the trip was incredibly short. Things were still being set up for the journey when I arrived, though, so I was invited in by Eugene and Rapunzel to eat a small breakfast with them.

"Sorry the announcement was so last minute," Rapunzel told me, leading us through the corridors. "It took a while to convince my dad, but we both agreed it was important for you to be on the mission. You were the last one to use the compass, and that can really help if we need to defend ourselves against it."

I nodded, still a little caught up in my thoughts. I clutched Star a little tighter to my chest, trying to imagine what the situation would look like: the currently faceless thief welding the elements against us and everyone expecting me to solve the problem. I shoved the scenario out of my head before it could get any worse.

Surprisingly, Eugene was the one to make everything better. "I'm sure we'll be fine, Sunshine," he said, taking Rapunzel's hand. "We've faced worse. And besides, we have some of the best people in the kingdom on our mission team."

I was about to ask who exactly those people were when I realized I probably wouldn't know most of them. This made my stomach twist a little tighter, so I tried to distract myself and focus on the beginning of Eugene's sentence and the guarantee that we'd be fine.

As we walked into the breakfast room, my eyes widened in shock. The only breakfast options I'd ever thought of were toasted bread, a fruit, or maybe a pastry, but stepping into the room made me realize just how many options there really were. Casseroles, egg salads, waffles, french toast, and a million other foods covered a wide table, each served on a decorated platter. The entire sight threw me off, and I wasn't sure what to do until Rapunzel beckoned me over to get some food.

"This is just the breakfast room?" I asked again, glancing around at the sheer size of the space.

Rapunzel nodded. "We eat other meals in the main dining hall. It's crazy, I know," she added, seeing my shocked expression. "I mean, I barely had a single table up in my tower, so it was probably an even bigger surprise than for you."

I wasn't so sure about that, but I just nodded along. Hungrier than I thought, my plate was soon piled high with pancakes and fruit, and one of the handmaidens prepared a small bowl of fish and milk for Star. Slowly, I made my way over to one of the seating tables and settled down with my food in front of Eugene and Rapunzel, who'd had an easy time picking out their favorite foods to eat.

As I slipped into the cushioned seat, I noticed their hands tangled together on the table's surface. Shifting my eyes away immediately, a tiny pang of jealousy shot through me. Why couldn't I have such a close relationship with someone? That was when I remembered the f/c crystal still sitting in my pocket, and I forced myself to be distracted by the conversations around me so I didn't go spiraling down the Varian rabbit-hole.

Still, I didn't feel so hungry anymore. I sat and poked at my food, taking an occasional bite and listening to Rapunzel and Eugene talk between them. Having to sit in one place with nothing to really distract me was torture, and so despite how nervous I felt, I was thrilled at the news that the team had all arrived and it was time to get going.