What comes next?

The Search Continues

Eugene and his men walked for what was most likely just over two days until they came across the burning cottage. The thief carefully approached it to investigate. "Let's get some water on this!!"

Following his orders, the soldiers began to collect what water from the river that they could to put it out. It took almost an hour, but they finally got the last of it out.

"Why would he have come here..?" Eugene entered into the burnt building to investigate, leaving the other guards to look around outside for any signs of clues of where they could have gone.

The degree at which the cottage was tipping was unusual in itself, but something else felt off. When finally he saw the chains in the corner. "Why would there be..?" He turned to see a familiar bag sitting in a nearby corner on the other side of the room. "Varian's bag? He was here..."

It was then when he heard the soldiers call him to come out. The moment Eugene left the building, he approached them with the bag in hand. "He was here. And he's in danger. I want this entire area searched! We meet back here by dark."

"YES SIR!" They were off to begin their search. Eugene looked down at the bag again and sighed heavily as Max approached, nudging his snout against Eugene's shoulder.

"Wherever he is Max, he's probably in a lot of trouble. If we don't find him tonight. We head back to Corona and regroup. Also, tell Rapunzel what we found," Max huffed in agreement, allowing him to climb onto his back. "For now, let's search with the others."

With that, the two were once again off.

-------------

"I don't get it. How is Varian- I don't even think it makes sense. It's just not possible. I destroyed both of them myself back when Zhan Tiri tried to destroy Corona!" Rapunzel was pacing back and forth, trying to make sense of all of this new information. "Also, Gothal being back?! She turned to dust! How does someone come back from that?"

Quirin took a few steps towards her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Back when I was alongside King Edmond, he attempted to destroy the moonstone himself. However. It set off a powerful blast of energy that nearly destroyed the kingdom. I can only assume, being so close to the king. It absorbed into me. Before Varian was brought into this world.." "

How-?" She paused to think before asking another question, one that just happened to pop into her mind. "Does- Does Varian even know? How much of your life before Old Corona did you tell him?"

A sorrowful expression crossed over Quirin's face at her questions. "I. I never suspected that it was actually something that could happen. We assumed his hair was just a unique trait to him. As for if I told him anything. No. I never spoke a word to him. It was far too dangerous. I didn't want... my son. The only family I had left beside the brotherhood, to be involved."

Quirin felt Adira hold his shoulder before voicing her own concerns. "You did what you could at the time. Now is not the time to dwell on the past. We need to locate the child and bring him back."

"He could be anywhere. Or even heading back. Unless..." Rapunzel would look away, her hand gripping lightly at the back of her neck and hair. "Is it possible. Even the slightest bit. That... Gothel already knows?"

The two looked at each other as if expecting the other to answer. Adira gave in and would speak up, hoping to put Rapunzel's worries at ease. "I don't believe she would know. It is, however, possible she knows he was involved with you. But that is all I suspect would be the case."

She nodded, taking in a shaky breath. "Alright. Well, let's get back up there and wait on Eugene. He should be back by tomorrow with some news. Hopefully..." This all was so much for her to take in, and even the thought one of her friends had a gift she never knew about. Not even he knew about. She wished they'd figured it out sooner.

However, she did pause halfway up the steps. "I do have one more question. The moonstone's powers were brought on by emotions. Cass told me about it. Why wouldn't he have known about it sooner?"

Quirin looked to Adira before looking back at Rapunzel. Neither of them answered. "Well? You would think his father being encased would have at least... Shown something. So, why now?"

"It is very likely, the small amount that is contained, was dormant until the moonstone was destroyed. However, despite the fact, the objects were destroyed. It is very likely their powers, or rather, energies. Do still exist." Adira would explain, allowing Quirin to finish.

Quirin cleared his throat lightly. "All that energy had to go somewhere to coexist. And should I guess correctly? It is somewhat possible that some extra magic from the moonstone could have made its way to him. But, that is also, a theory."

"Well, let's hope that none of it decided to surface for now. As long as it's dormant still, everything should be fine, right?"

-----------------

The end of the day came, and all of the guards returned with nothing. Eugene climbed off of Max and saw how tired all of the men were. "Let's head back. We need to regroup and report to the princess. We can begin again once we have further instructions. Who knows... maybe they went back to town instead of into the forest?"

Honestly, that was more wishful thinking than anything else.

"Well, men? Let's head back home." He climbed back onto Max and would guide them all back towards Corona.

The troops returned, tired and weary from the search, only to have nothing to show for all of their hard work. Eugene told them all to get some rest as he looked around the palace, not seeing Rapunzel. Had there been good news, he felt he would have seen her right away, quite possibly with their friend beside her. But, nothing.

He frowned and began walking towards the throne room, ready to give his report. The hallways thankfully were long, but that also had a downside since he was exhausted from searching. Finally, he reached the door and knocked before entering.

"Sunshine..?" He called, walking towards her and quickly noticed Quirin and Adira were there.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel smiled upon seeing him, only to see he was also alone. She moved towards him and placed her hands on his shoulders to hold him. "Eugene what did you find?"

He frowned and fell to his knees, still holding her in his arms before pulling the bag into their view. "We found nothing. There was no sign of him. We found this in an old cottage by a river."

Quirin reached down and grabbed the bag, holding it in his hands. "This is my son's bag. Do you know the area you found this in?" He would ask, hoping to have some kind of answer or even hint as to where he was.

Eugene nodded. "Yes. We came back to report and regroup. We are planning on heading back out tomorrow morning." He paused, noticing the look of determination on Rapunzel's face. "I know that look. No. No."

"Oh no. I'm coming with you. This is way more serious now Eugene." She narrowed her green eyes at him, refusing to take no for an answer.

"What could possibly make it more serious?!" He questioned, noticing her expression change from determination to fear.

"Gothel... Is back."