The Third Power: TTS AU

Chapter Nine

Quirin had been taken to the castle infirmary to get something to help him recover from the shock.

"Why would you put it like that?!" Eugene yelled at Lance.

"Well how would you have put it?!" the bigger man shot back as he folded his arms, clearly sure he'd done it the best way he could have.

Eugene stood there for a moment, trying his damndest to form a sentence and making a variety of hand gestures.

Fredrick and Arianna watched the two argue for a minute before the queen stepped in.

"Regardless of how he was told, Quirin now knows," she said in a firm tone. "So now the question stands: How are we getting Varian back?"

"We... aren't quite sure," Eugene admitted.

"We checked out Cassandra's fortress this morning," Lance joined in. "But we couldn't find a way in through the base."

The king and queen considered this information. They'd had the search party disband when it was revealed that Eugene and Lance knew where Varian was and now, it seemed, that was definitely the best choice. If they'd had a small group of guards trying to examine the dark castle, there was a good chance that Cassandra would've noticed. That would've ruined their investigation as well as put several lives in danger.

"What can we do then?" Fredrick asked.

"Us two, Rapunzel, Kiera and Catalina are already trying to come up with a plan," Eugene told the king.

Fredrick nodded. He supposed if anyone could save Varian it would be his daughter and her friends.

————-

"And this should mean... yes!"

Varian held up his piece of parchment and grinned at the finished passage translation. It had taken him all day but, finally, it was done!

He read through the full passage.

A final secret. One I hope Zhan Tiri never gets hold of. If she were to find this, it could spell doom for us all.
With the discovery of the third divine power, I pray that someone may happen upon it and use it. I hope they may find the Sundrop and Moonstone and, united, the three powers will finally finish a battle I never wanted to start.

To the one reading this, you must be of great intelligence to have translated my code. For that, I applaud you and hope you are on my side. I hope you also wish for Zhan Tiri's fall.

With that in mind, here are directions to the third divine power and fifth incantation:

A cliff hung over shining water.
A deep blue.
A sweet song to follow.
A cave of treasures and suffering.
A pearl of blue.

Upon reaching step three, you should find the incantation. Whoever you are, I wish you good luck. I pray you succeed where I have failed. Bring peace to our world, chosen one.

Varian chuckled at that last part. Chosen one? Who'd've thought that Demanitus would be so dramatic.

The alchemist rolled the parchment back up and put it in his backpack. He then looked out of the window and realised how late it was. The moon would be rising soon!

"Wow. This kept me busier than I thought it would," he said to himself, slightly amused by this.

Oh well. At least he could sleep knowing he'd done some good work.

Varian put his bag under his head to act as a pillow. He then curled himself into a ball and closed his eyes. Was it honestly not actually that late? Yes. Was he exhausted? Double yes.

—————

It was around 10pm when Zhan Tiri and Cassandra came up to the throne room to find Varian asleep.

"It's not that late," Cassandra said as she tilted her head at the sleeping alchemist. "He's usually up a little later."

Zhan Tiri nodded.

"He had some work to do today. I imagine he worked himself to exhaustion," she said quietly.

"What work?" Cass asked.

"He's been trying to translate a passage of Demanitus Code on the back of the scroll. I wonder how far he's gotten."

The two then left, leaving Varian to sleep soundly.

—————

Quirin lay in his bed back in his cottage in Old Corona. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Varian - about what danger his son could be in.

"Oh, Varian," he mumbled as he turned onto his side and into a more comfortable position. "I hope you're ok."

Quirin's dreams that night weren't dreams. They were nightmares - horrendous scenarios about what could be happening to his darling boy in that fortress. Too many times did he wake up drowning in sweat and trembling as the nightmare stayed vividly clear in his head for a few torturous moments just to then fade into a vague memory.

Eventually, he cried himself into a blissfully dreamless sleep.