Escape the Dark, Hold the Light

Chapter 9: The Lost Treasure of Herz Der Sonne

Of course Varian wanted to take part in the reconstruction of the castle throne room. He felt obligated to do so after Andrew blew a hole in it, with his alchemical concoction. It was another critical step to making for his past mistakes. And today, Rapunzel had gathered a group of volunteers, including the Fellowship of the Sundrop, to do just that. But the thing is, Varian wasn't comfortable with being in a room full of people who didn't trust as far as they could throw, except for his inner circle of friends. The kid just couldn't help but feel like the majority of volunteers were looking down on him. And it drove him crazy.

"Okay, everyone. After the Saporians attack, this kingdom could use a real pick-me-up. With a little hard work, and a whole lot of Corona spirit, we can rebuild this kingdom. So, let's do it!" Rapunzel riled up the crowd.

Everyone in the ruined throne room cheered, eager to get started. Well, almost everyone. Varian stayed quiet, but managed a strained smile as he stuck closest to the person he felt the safest with. In this case, it was Eugene.

However, well into the project, the majority of the volunteers were bickering or just getting on each other's nerves. Soon, there was more arguing going in the throne room than working.

Varian tried his best to actually contribute, but a vast plethora of things seemed to be triggers for his anxiety. He wanted to steer clear the increasingly disgruntled citizens to avoid any negative attention. The boy tried to keep to his own business and tune out the disharmony in the area. But one particular squabble between Feldspar and Old Lady Crowley really got to him. They yelled profanities at each other and the more they went at it, the greater the volume increased. Varian sharply flinched at the decibels and covered his ears. The kid hated it when people got that loud and wanted to tell the quarreling pair to stop, but feared of getting yelled at himself.

And that was when the alchemist noticed something else. One of the cans of paint was a bright neon green, the same green as the dreaded Quirineon he contrived. The color taunted Varian and hurt his eyes in more ways than one. Terrible memories of Andrew beating the boy senseless flashed in his head as well as the Saporian's impatient voice demanding that Quirineon be done quickly. In that instance, Varian's senses went into overdrive and as his back slammed against the wall. The noxious odor of the paint wreaked havoc on his nasal cavity. The sun seemed brighter than before, glaring in the kid's eyes and making his already pounding headache even worse. He could also make out everyone's disputes loud and clear, and his chest tightened as he breath accelerated.

What Varian didn't notice was Xavier who was right next to him and caught wind of his distress and alerted the princess. He was also unaware of Rapunzel approaching and even Eugene who had hopped down from the scaffolding he was sitting on to check on the teen. Varian's brain was cycling through memories of Andrew, the Quirineon, and the burning gazes of grudging people who saw the boy as a monster. He slid to the floor, his body trembling. The only thing that kept Varian from bolting out in panic was Rapunzel and Eugene's gently taking his hands and their soothing voices that kept him grounded.

"Shhhhh. Deep breaths, Varian. You're okay." Rapunzel hushed the little one.

"That's it, kid. We've got you." Eugene added in consolation.

And then, the argument between Feldspar and Mrs. Crowley took a turn when they accidentally broke the wall behind them. Rather own up for it, the two of them chose to blame each other. Rapunzel rushed to vainly break it up and suggested that they fix the wall instead, which they reluctantly complied. That was when more broken walls clattered to the floor and the princess saw it revealed some old writing.

Varian opened his eyes and the first thing that came into view was a dreadfully familiar symbol.

"Is- Is that e-emblem of S-saporia?" he asked, his voice shaking with horror.