Escape the Dark, Hold the Light

Chapter 14: The King and Queen of Hearts

Out of anything in the world, Varian wanted to restore King Fredric and Queen Arianna's memories so badly. Having Rapunzel's parents suffer from amnesia because of him was the greatest skill that the kid carried in his heart. He knew it would mean everything to the princess if he pulled it bringing back the parents that she knew. So after much trial-and-error and several modifications to several algorithms, the teen was ready to give it another try.

It was a gloomy early morning on the Day of Hearts and Varian had the king and queen down in his lab in Old Corona (with his dad's permission.) Rapunzel had requested to be present during the experiment because if her parents did recover their memories, she wanted to be one of the first people to confirm it.

Frederic and Arianna were strapped down to tables for their safety. The entire lab was bathed in a pink hue and the teenage alchemist had his welding mask on to prevent any potential burns to his face. Though he couldn't resist letting out a maniacal laugh. Thunder crashed and shook the manor while the two particle converters sparked with electricity. But then, Varian's laughter turned from maniacal to adorable as he felt something crawling from under his clothes.

"Ruddiger, get out of my apron! That tickles!" he scolded at his raccoon, removing his mask while the little critter scurried out from his pants leg.

Rapunzel was stifling her giggles as she watched from the side. She found it adorable that Varian was extremely ticklish. That was definitely something to keep in mind in the future. But right now, there were priorities.

"Okay, 13th time's the charm, hopefully." the child said to himself as soon as he recomposed himself.

He pulled the lever on the control panel, sending more electricity into his machine.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" the sundrop asked her charge, joining him.

"If my new machine works the way I think it should, and it will, we are moments away from reversing the effects of the Saporian's memory wand." Varian responded with a confident chuckle.

Gauges cracked as the system overloaded. The mechanism rumbled and a hose that was attached to a steam-powered pump started flailing uncontrollably like an elephant's trunk. The hose sprayed the young alchemist's memory enhancement formula all over Frederic, Arianna, and Rapunzel, as well as the rest of the lab. As the machine died, the pink hue in the room faded and the princess was aghast. Pascal her managed to take cover and that was why he wasn't covered in the pink concoction. But he still changed color to make it look like he did, even though Rapunzel definitely knew better. Varian also managed to not get splattered by his compound. The freckled pair then watched with hopeful excitement, waiting for a reaction from the royal couple.

"Ugh... Where am I, and why am I so gooey?" the king groaned.

Hopes were quickly dashed. It was pretty obvious to the princess and the kid that the memory formula did not work. And that was the 13th attempt!

"I'm sorry, Rapunzel. I wa-was so sure this was going to work! I feel like I've tried everything." Varian apologized with a dejected sigh. At this point, he felt like he was getting his teeth kicked in.

"You did your best, and besides, I have another method of my sleeve." Rapunzel said, suddenly feeling cocky. "Don't get me wrong. The power of science is impressive, but it is nothing compared to the power of love."

"Normally, I would find that a little hard to believe, but I guess desperate times do call for desperate measures." the teen admitted with a shrug.

Just then, a large load of memory formula loudly burst from the hose all over the princess. Varian yelped and jumped back, clutching the control panel as he hyperventilated. Ruddiger then hopped down to grab a pawful of glop and started eating it. Rapunzel then decided to sample the concoction herself and she found that it was surprisingly scrumptious.