Escape the Dark, Hold the Light

Chapter 16: Shell Shocked

Other than Rapunzel, Varian had never seen much of the world outside of Corona. And he certainly couldn't do that during his incarceration. Even the Saporians didn't give the boy that privilege when he was aligned, or rather, trapped with them. So when the princess asked if he wanted to accompany her and the girls on a trip to Neserdnia, the offer was just too good to pass up. Varian had been to go to Neserdnia since the Contest of the Crowns. He'd heard the kingdom had the best alchemical tools and ingredients on the market. Kiera and Catalina wanted to repay an old debt by returning the loot that they stole years ago. And Rapunzel was accompanying them to provide adult supervision.

It was late afternoon and Rapunzel and the kids were in a cart being pulled by Maximus on route to Neserdnia. Meanwhile, Hamuel was giving Pascal a high-flying ride, but the landing could've been smoother. They almost took a header at the loot being carried.

"Oop! Careful you two." Rapunzel told them, going in the back. "We don't want to break stuff before we get to Neserdnia."

"That's right, 'cause once me and Catalina return this last sack of stolen loot, we will have officially put our thieving days behind us!" Kiera added proudly.

"I can't wait to get my hands on a copper-plated alembic from the Neserdnian market!" Varian said excitedly, his fists stimming. "Do you have any idea how many poly-alchemical substration tests I'll be able to run?"

"Anyone wanna switch seats with me?" the raven-haired girl asked in annoyance, showing no interest in his talk of science.

"We're happy to have you along, Varian." Rapunzel told the boy, climbing back up front.

"I know. It's my first big trip outside of Corona!" he replied, practically swelling with joy.

"Plus, I'm hoping once Max and Ruddiger spend some time together, they can finally become friends." the princess added.

In response, Max whinneyed as if to say that was a big if. The stallion and the raccoon have had their issues in the past. But, Varian was with Rapunzel on this one. Those two animals needed to bury the hatchet, and soon.

All of a sudden, a bright red apple hanging from a tree caught Max's attention. He may be a stickler, but apples were his number one guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, they were Ruddiger's guilty pleasure too and he had his eyes set on the same fruit. So the raccoon scurried up the tree to snatch the juicy treat and put a pinecone in Max's mouth in place of the fruit. The cart jerked to a halt as the horse spit out the pinecone and saw Ruddiger balancing the apple on his tail as if to tease him.

"Ugh, not again." Varian groaned as Pascal as went to restore the peace.

But, the chameleon's efforts proved to be in vain. And the bickering animals' game caused their human friends' ride to get jostled which spilled a sack of its contents. Among the treasure, a pink seashell pendant appeared, almost out of nowhere.

"Whoa! What happened?" Rapunzel asked as Catalina went to the back of the cart.

"What is this?" the redhead wondered, picking up the shell pendant and showing her friends. "I don't remember stealing it."

"Oh. Whatever it is... it's beautiful." the sundrop commented.

"And I bet it's pretty valuable." Kiera added.

"What do you think, Varian?" Catalina asked the boy.

Varian's eyes did not leave the trinket once. He just couldn't take his gaze off of it, almost as if he was in some kind of trance. But then, the sound of snapping fingers brought him back to reality.

"Hey, Earth to Varian!" Kiera yelled, getting the kid's attention.

"Huh, what?" he blinked confusingly.