JadiinaHope

I'm a 21 y/o who loves Tangled/TTS, Star wars/Clone wars, anything and everything Disney, Epic the Musical, random funny things, random fandom stuff, and random fanfics

[jadiina-hope]

Hello do you have a https://www.fanfiction.net/ account?

No, I don't. I tend not to use ff.net. but I do have ao3 and Wattpad accounts 😁

Ao3:

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Wattpad username: Jadiina_Hope_7-7

[jadiina-hope]

This chapter's fun! But its also is the last chapter I have right now cause this fic is still a wip. I am working on the next one tho 😁

Forbidden Love

Chapter 12: Through the Doors ● part 1

Before Eugene left dinner, he and Rapunzel had agreed that it would be best to try and keep Varian and Cassandra away from each other for a bit. So, having no reason to get up early, Raps and Cass slept in late the next morning, or what would've been considered late in Corona.

As they stepped out of their room, they expected the castle to already be buzzing with life, but it seemed that it was just starting to wake up for the day. The girls only saw a few Wolves as they wandered through the halls.

"It's so quiet," Raps softly stated after a moment.

"Yeah, it's kinda eerie," Cass replied.

"I was going to say its peaceful."

"Peaceful? In case you forgot, we are stranded here."

"And it's pretty peaceful and safe."

"Raps," the swordswoman groaned.

"You still don't think so?"

"We've been followed by two armed men, one of whom is a Brotherhood knight, since we got here," Cassandra stated. "So, no. This kingdom may seem safe, but it's not safe for us."

Rapunzel simply sighed in response. She then turned and began descending their second flight of stairs of the morning. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Raps stopped for a moment and looked around a bit, before deciding to turn left down a corridor.

"Where are we going?" Cass asked after a moment, keeping pace with her friend.

"Since we're a little too early for breakfast apparently, I was looking for the kitchen to see if any of the cooks are awake yet, or if there happens to be any fruit or bread we can have," the princess answered. "I think the kitchen's somewhere over here anyway."

They continued down the quiet corridor, the morning light casting long shadows on the floor as it leaked through the window at the end of the hallway.

They walked side by side, passing several closed, wooden doors, but after a moment, one of them caught Rapunzel's attention. She slowed to a stop to simply stare at the door. It was closed like the others, identical to the others in the corridor, but something about it spoke to her, told her to open it.

It was subtle, but it felt like whatever was behind it was something a part of her was looking for. She'd gotten the same feeling a few other times since she first stepped foot in this kingdom, so she just thought it was a different type of curiosity.

"What is it, Raps?" Cass's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I don't know," the princess answered. "I think this one might be the kitchen."

"Well, your guess is as good as mine."

Rapunzel went to take a step towards the door, but Cass stopped her.

"I'll look first, we don't know what's in there."

Cassandra then stepped in front of Raps, slowly cracked the door open, and peeked through. After waiting a moment, Raps went to her side and looked through the door too. She wasn't sure how, but she was right; it was the kitchen.

When Rapunzel reached out a hand to open the door wider, Cass silently stopped her. At the questioning look from her friend, the swordswoman shook her head then pointed towards the back of the kitchen. After taking a better look through the door, she saw the reason why Cassandra had stopped her.

Towards the back of the kitchen, in the walk-in pantry, were Varian and Eugene. Rapunzel was surprised she didn't see them right away, but now that she had, she couldn't look away. The two men were simply raiding the pantry, but the way they were doing it was amazing to watch. There was something mesmerizing about it.

Even though they stood back to back, they didn't say a word to each other, they didn't even glance at each other, yet they worked together in a perfect rhythm.

She watched as Eugene grabbed a jar from the top shelf and dropped it down to Varian. The archer sliced off a chunk of dried meat, passing it over his shoulder to Gene before effortlessly catching the jar. The prince took the dried meat from V's hand with his mouth as he reached into a basket, grabbed a roll leftover from last night's dinner, and tossed it over to his Pack, who caught it with one hand.

They did it all so smoothly, so easily, and all without communicating with each other. It was like they knew what the other was going to do before he did it.

'It's like they're one person.'

Rapunzel had never seen two people work together so effortlessly.

Cass hadn't either, but rather than seeing it as amazing, she saw it as dangerous. The way they worked together, how fast and smooth and quiet they were moving.

'If this is how they work together, what's it like when they're fighting together?'

Cass was pulled from her thoughts by Varian's voice.

"You know, the way I passed the test gave me an idea for a new kinda arrow," he said, turning towards Eugene. "It'd be more of a close quarters, easily concealed, back up kinda weapon."

"So, a knife?" The prince replied, turning and leaning back against the pantry shelves.

"Yeah, you'd hold it by the shaft and wield it like a knife in close quarters, but it'd be an arrow so I could fire it from my bow if I needed to."

"That's not a bad idea," Gene agreed after a moment. "You could call them stingers or something."

"Stingers?" Varian repeated as he and Eugene stepped out of the pantry with their food. "I kinda like that."

Cass then nudged Rapunzel. When the princess glanced up at her, Cass gave her a sharp, vindicated look. Raps simply rolled her eyes in response and Cassandra grabbed her hand. The swordswoman tugged her friend away from the door then the two of them scurried down the corridor.

After a moment, Varian looked towards the kitchen door.

"You saw them too, right?"

"Yeah," the prince answered, taking a bite of a roll. "How long were they watching us?"

"About five minutes." The archer turned back to his brother. "Did you not notice right away?"

"I was distracted and hungry, what do you want from me?" Gene responded playfully.

Varian then rolled his eyes and chuckled before going back to eating.

☀️

The girls wandered the corridor for a few more minutes, waiting for the boys to leave before circling back to the kitchen. They then grabbed some breakfast before continuing to explore the first floor of the castle.

As they walked the corridors, the castle slowly woke. More Wolves were moving through the halls, maids began to mill about, and the smell of freshly baked bread slowly started to float through the corridors. They even saw Ulla, who greeted them with a smile and a good morning before she went through one of the closed doors, the scents of ozone and amber slipping out of the room before she gently closed the door behind her.

The girls passed a few more doors before they came to a crossroads. To their right was another hallway and straight ahead of them the corridor continued for a few more doors before ending at a small sitting area. But to their left was a wide, empty corridor that led to large, rounded, solid, double doors.

They both simply stared at the doors for a moment, then Rapunzel felt it again. That intrigue, that subtle pull, that quiet hum that was less like a sound and more like a feeling.

'It's just curiosity, right?'

"Where do you think that goes?" Cass suddenly asked, breaking the silence. "Courtyard maybe?"

"Maybe," Raps agreed then looked over at Cass. "We could always look and find out."

Cass knew she probably should've said no, but she found herself following her friend towards the doors anyway. They each put a hand on one of the doors, slowly pushed them open just enough to peek through, and simply stared in shock at the sight before them.

These doors opened up to a wide flight of black stairs that led down to a large courtyard enclosed by tall, spiked walls of moonrock. Sparring dummies, archery ranges, and weapons racks filled the space, along with three, large, dueling circles. They'd stumbled upon the castle training grounds, but that wasn't what kept them from stepping through the doors.

It was the clashing of weapons and violent flashes of light that made them freeze in place.

There were only two men down on the training grounds, and they were going toe to toe in one of the circles.

One of them lunged forward, his black, pointed bo staff swinging fast and wide. His opponent held his ground, widening his stance and lifting his moonrock and amber sword to block the attack.

KLUSHZZ!

Their weapons met, and teal lightning sparked and snaked between them in a blinding flash. As the weapons parted between strikes, the teal electricity was absorbed by the amber breaking up the sword, while it just danced and buzzed around the fully moonrock bo staff.

After several more sparking clashes, the staff was nearly consumed by the volatile energy. Without missing a beat, its wielder seamlessly skimmed one pointed tip against the moonrock covered ground, the electricity instantly siphoning off into the rock with a sharp crackle and bright flash.

That was when the girls recognized the two fighters. It was Eugene and Varian!

"They're so close with each other," The princess whispered, eyes wide with shock as they clashed again and again. "Why are they fighting?"

They watched as the boys then took a quick step away from each other, circling like wolves for a moment before lunging forward again. Cass simply watched them for a moment, noticing their sharp steps and aggressive movements, before coming to a terrifying realization.

'They're not messing around.'

Cass put a hand on the hilt of her sword, stepping slightly in front of Raps.

"They're not just fighting, that's a duel."

Varian swung his staff high, bringing it down in a fast, strong arc, but Eugene held fast against the strike, lightning exploding as their weapons met.

CHAKOOM!

"What!" Rapunzel softly gasped. "What could make them want to duel each other?"

"Something must've come between them."

With the next attack, the prince didn't just block it, he lifted his blade and pushed against it, forcing Varian back a few feet. He had to stab his staff into the ground to keep from sliding out of the circle.

"Eugene's definitely gonna win," the swordswoman remarked then the princess looked to her in disbelief.

"Really, Cass!"

"He's the stronger fighter, just look at them," she defended as another snap of electricity echoed around the training grounds. "This is gonna get ugly."

"What? No, I don't think they'd ever hurt each other."

CHRAZT!

"It's a duel. They're gonna have to."

Previous

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[jadiina-hope]

This chapter is adorable! I love it so much!! The Team Awesome brainworms are so real! 🤣😆🥰 and at the end of this chapter is some amazing fanart by @margiecartoon

Forbidden Love

Chapter 11: Loyalty

'They're Coronain.'

That was all Varian could think about at dinner that evening as he sat across from the girls, on Eugene's left.

Now that he'd had that thought, he couldn't help but notice all the little things about the girls that linked them to Corona.

It wasn't just the materials they wore, or their confusion about the ways of the Dark Kingdom. It was how they were acting, and even their height, or lack thereof.

'How did I not see it before?'

Their posture and manners as they ate with the royals. The way they both kept glancing at everyone who sat around the table.

Rapunzel was clearly still amazed and a little confused with how casual dinner always was here. That told him that, rather than casual and comfortable, her kingdom was more formal and poised. Like Corona was said to be.

Cass, on the other hand, looked as though she was trying to figure out who would attack them first, or who she'd attack first. She clearly had trouble trusting people, but she even looked at Ulla, the woman known for protecting people, like she was going to attack her and Rapunzel. Which made Varian think she had a deep distrust of not only the people of the Dark Kingdom, but of their morals and honor too. Almost like she was trained or taught not to trust them.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed Cass glaring at him, catching him staring. She was clearly challenging him, though he wasn't sure to what. She was always so hostile, so stubborn, so... Coronain.

Varian looked away from Cassandra's glare, turning his attention to the prince instead.

Gene was talking quietly with Punzel, a soft, genuine smile on his face, and a bright gleam in his eye. He was happy, really happy, a different kind of happy. Varian had never seen him like this before.

'Maybe I'm just being overprotective.'

Varian let his gaze shift from Gene back to the girls, only to see that Cass's glare had turned deadly.

'Or not.'

"I think I'm gonna turn in," he whispered to Gene, getting his attention right away.

"You okay?" The prince responded.

"Just tired," Varian lied.

He then excused himself and left the room.

For the entire walk up to his quarters, his mind was filled with thoughts of Corona and the war.

He had no doubt they were Coronain now. That meant they could be a danger to the kingdom. Could be. They hadn't really done anything yet, but that didn't mean they weren't going to.

His mind then drifted back to Gene and how happy he was. If he turned the girls in, he would be ruining that.

By the time he made it to his quarters, and against his better judgment, he decided that he'd keep the girls' secret, for Gene. But not from Gene. He needed to know.

Varian just wasn't sure how he'd take it.

🔷️

Varian had been pacing and overthinking in his room for about thirty minutes before there was a knock at the door. Gene then poked his head in and could tell immediately that something was bothering his brother.

"I knew it," the prince said, stepping into the room. "What's wrong?"

Varian stopped his pacing and simply looked at Eugene for a moment.

"You can tell me anything, you know that," Gene replied, seeing how hesitant his Pack was.

"Okay." Varian then took a deep breath. "So, you know how I've been pretty suspicious of Rapunzel and Cassandra?"

"And I'm guessing you still are?"

"Well, I finally figured out why," V continued. "They're Coronain, I'm certain of it!"

"I know."

"You know?"

"Dude, I've known this whole time," the prince told him. "I recognized the seal on Rapunzel's ring right away."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I didn't think it mattered."

"We are at war with their kingdom, Gene!" The archer emphasized. "They could be spies!"

"V."

"They could be going after the moonstone! They could be trying to overthrow your family!"

"Rapunzel's not," Gene stated.

"How do you know? How do you know she's not playing you like a fiddle?"

"You really think I wouldn't notice if that was happening?" The prince responded sharply. "Have a little faith in me, V."

"I do. I trust you, you know I trust you-"

"You're not acting it!" Eugene interrupted.

"You have to realize how insane this looks to me," Varian said after a moment. "It's only been three days and you already fully trust her! You're already head over heels for her!"

"V."

"She could be trained how to do that, to gain trust fast-"

"V!"

"To get men to fall for her, to get you to fall for her so she can-"

"Varian!" Eugene snapped, shocking his Pack into silence. "I've told you, she's not a spy! So trust me, and drop it!"

The prince then stormed out of the room, leaving Varian alone and staring at the door.

"Sorry," he whispered into the silence.

💠

The moment he slammed Varian's door, Gene felt bad. He felt bad for yelling, for snapping at his Pack. Yes, they annoyed and made each other angry sometimes but they never snapped at each other.

Eugene wanted to turn around and apologize, but he was mad, and he was hurt. Mad at Varian's words and hurt that V wasn't trusting his. So, instead of opening the door, he turned away from it and went up to his chambers.

Gene peered out his window for a while, watching as the town below buzzed with more activity and music now that the sun had set. As he looked out over his kingdom, V's words and accusations kept repeating in his head.

The longer he thought about it, the more he understood where Varian was coming from. It was their duty, the Brotherhood's duty, the prince's duty, to find and neutralize threats to the kingdom. And that's exactly what Varian was trying to do.

'He's right. We already know Cass is dangerous, Rapunzel could be too.'

But even that thought felt wrong to him. Rapunzel was just so curious, so smart, so excited, so genuine. Gene had no doubt that she could be dangerous if she wanted to be, but she clearly didn't want to be. At least, he didn't think she did.

🔷

As the moon moved across the sky and his kingdom drifted off to sleep, Eugene sat awake, thinking. He was now confused and conflicted rather than angry or hurt, but he still felt guilty. That guilt only grew as Varian's words replayed in his head again, but this time, only one word stood out to him: 'you'.

Varian had said it again and again. 'Using you', 'playing you', 'trained to get you', 'to overthrow your family'. Then it clicked. Varian wasn't trying to protect the kingdom.

'He was trying to protect me.'

That realization just made him feel worse. He couldn't take it anymore, didn't care what time it was, he was going to make this right. He needed to.

Eugene stood from his bed. He only made it a few steps towards the door before there was a soft knock on it. He quickly opened it to see Varian standing there, looking just as tired and guilty as he felt.

"Gene, I-"

Eugene didn't let him finish that sentence, pulling his Pack into a tight hug, Varian hugging him back right away.

"I'm so sorry, V," The prince immediately said.

"You're not still mad?" Varian muttered into the hug, and Gene shook his head.

"I shouldn't have gotten mad, I shouldn't have snapped."

"And I shouldn't have just started doubting you and accusing Rapunzel of doing stuff like that. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Gene responded. "You were just looking out for me."

"Yeah, when you didn't need me to."

Eugene released the hug, put a hand on Varian's shoulder, and looked him right in the eye.

"I'll always need you to," he stated. "You're a lot smarter than me."

V just responded with a soft, tired chuckle. Gene then took a good look at him. He saw the dark circles under his eyes as soon as he opened the door, but now that he was really looking at him, Gene saw how messy his hair was and noticed that Varian was swaying a bit.

"You didn't have to come all the way up here, V," he said. "I was about to come down to you."

"Beat ya to it," the younger mumbled, making his brother chuckle.

"You look like you're about to fall over. I'm not letting you go back down those stairs like this. Come on."

Eugene then put an arm around Varian and steered him towards his bed.

"Gene," he grumbled, even as he leaned into his Pack's side.

"It'll be just like when we were kids."

Gene climbed into his bed, pulling Varian with him. He then put an arm around his brother, pulled him closer, and tugged the blanket over both of them.

"Was just trying to protect you," Varian murmured after a moment.

"I know," Eugene replied fondly. "I promise I'll try to be more careful around them."

"Promise I'll try not to be."

"Deal."

Upon hearing that, Varian let out a soft, content sigh as he leaned back against Eugene, the rise and fall of his chest quickly putting him to sleep.

"Love ya, V," the prince muttered as he, too, drifted off to sleep.

Thank you again to @margiecartoon ! You have no idea how much I love these sketches!! 🥰

Previous Next

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[jadiina-hope]

This chapter's cute! 🥰

Forbidden Love

Chapter 10: Coronains

Several minutes of silence passed as Varian inspected the damage done to the balloon. Feeling the hostility that still bounced between their two friends, Raps and Gene decided it would be better to return to the castle and come back once everyone had time to calm down. Varian and Cass eagerly agreed, wanting nothing more than to get away from each other, so after taking some measurements and making a few notes, the four of them headed back across the bridge.

The trip through town was filled with a tense silence; or it would've been if the two royals weren't quietly talking as they walked shoulder to shoulder, between their friends.

As soon as they entered the castle, Varian turned one way and Cass the other, leaving Raps and Gene to watch them part ways. After a moment, Gene realized the two of them were alone and turned towards the young woman.

"I'm sorry about Varian," he said with a sigh, causing Raps to look at him.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry about Cass, she probably started it," she replied. "But I had fun with you today."

"I did too."

"We should do it again sometime," Raps suggested, twirling her hair.

Gene then gently took hold of the hand twisting her hair.

"I'd like that," he stated before kissing the back of her hand.

"Nice ring by the way," Eugene continued, turning his gaze back to her face. "Family heirloom?"

He saw panic overtake her face as she pulled her hand out of his then took a step back.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna turn you in," the prince reassured her.

"You're not?"

"No, it could get you exiled, or worse, and I don't really want that." He paused for a second, rubbing the back of his neck as he continued. "I think I'm falling for you."

"Raps!" Cass beckoned from down the hall, drawing her attention away.

Rapunzel quickly turned towards the call, but Gene could see the smile on her face as she scurried after Cass. He gazed after her for a moment. Gene then turned around, saw that Varian was waiting for him, and went to his side.

Seeing the teasing smirk on his face, Gene playfully shoved him before continuing down the hall, causing his brother to chuckle.

As they walked though, Eugene noticed how quickly the playfulness drained from Varian's expression, replaced with something like concern.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, and was a little surprised when Varian hesitated before answering.

"I know you're smitten for her," V started. "But just be careful, she could be using you."

"She's not, I can see it in her eyes."

"Okay," Varian responded, seeing the resolute look in Gene's eyes.

He may not trust the girls, but he'd always trust Eugene. No matter what.

🔵

The two men continued walking the halls for a few more minutes until Gene was called away, having some duties to attend to. Varian then went up his lab, deciding to get to work rather than continue being annoyed or concerned.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by slightly stale air. He knew he needed to air out his lab, but he loved the smell that filled it. It was dusty, tangy, and resinous: the mixed scents of note paper, his alchemical solutions, and the eucalyptus oil that fuels his burners.

Pushing the door closed behind him, Varian reached into his bag of supplies, grabbed his notes on the balloon damages, and hung the bag on a hook by the door. He then went over to his desk and began making a list of materials he'd need in order to repair the balloon.

They were all materials that would be easy enough to find; heat resistant fabric, a little tubing for the fuel line, a more durable flask as a replacement fuel reservoir, the metal to make a new heating coil, and the oil that would fuel the balloon.

There was just one problem though, he still didn't know what oil the balloon's burner used. Depending on what oil it used and whether or not they had it in the kingdom, he might have to tweak the burner a little. That could lead him to needing to repair it a little differently, which could mean needing different materials.

'One step at a time. Figure out the oil first.'

The easiest way for him to do that would be to just ask the girls, but Gene was busy and he'd already had enough of Cass for today.

Leaving his notes on his desk, Varian went over to the back, right corner of his lab. He then pushed a button hidden behind his bookshelf, opening a secret passage that connected his lab to the castle library down the hall.

He doubted he'd find any more information on hot air balloons, given how little he found the last time he looked, but he figured he'd check anyway. Unfortunately, he was right. An hour of searching and he wasn't able to find anything on the inner workings of hot air balloons or the oils that the Saporians would've had access to.

After leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling for a moment, he had a realization.

'Ma might know.'

Given Ulla's past and her love of engineering and science, she might have some insight that could help him.

Varian then put away the books and started towards her first floor lab, where she usually was at this time of day. By the time he got there, his mind had already gone back to his lab.

"Hey, Ma?" He said distractedly as he slowly pushed open the door.

His confusion and frustration must've been visible on his face, cause as soon as Ulla turned towards him, she could tell what was wrong.

"Project got you stumped?" She asked.

Varian nodded in response. Ulla then went silent, letting him decide when to explain. After a moment of contemplation, he continued.

"You were an engineer even before you left Corona, right?"

"That's right."

"Did you ever work on hot air balloons?"

"A few," Ulla answered.

"What fuel did they usually take?"

"Fish oil, I think." At the confused look Varian replied with, Ulla went on. "I know, it's very inefficient fuel for a balloon, but we had a lot of it."

"Did you ever try to convert a balloon to using a more powerful oil? Something like eucalyptus maybe?"

"Yes, actually."

"You can do it by replacing the heating coil, right?" Varian inquired.

"You could, yes."

"How?"

"You tell me," Ulla responded then her son thought for a moment.

"By replacing it with one made from a different material?" He guessed.

"What material?"

"What are the ones for fish oil made from?"

"Usually iron or brass," Ulla answered.

"That thermal conductivity is good, but a lower thermal inertia would be a lot better. With a stronger oil you'd need more control over the temperature of the coil," Varian said to himself, then to Ulla, "so copper, maybe?"

"Mhm, and if you want more control over the copper's temperature?" She prompted with a smile.

"Make the coil thinner?"

"That's my boy," Ulla stated fondly, reaching up to ruffle his hair a bit.

"Thanks Ma," Varian responded, quickly turning to leave before his mom could ask another question, but he wasn't fast enough.

"Wait, wait, wait. Do I want to know where you got the balloon you're wanting to modify?"

"Probably not," he answered then Ulla looked at him for a moment.

"Do I need to?"

"Possibly," Varian stated then practically ran out the door.

"Spark!" He heard Ulla call his nickname after a moment.

He slowed to a walk and turned towards the call, a little surprised to see how far he'd run.

"I'm proud of you!" His mom shouted from the door to her lab.

Varian didn't try to hide the grin that spread across his face as he turned to continue down the hall. Why would he hide it? How could he? He loved both his parents, but especially his mom.

He loved that she knew when to help him and when to push him, never pushing him too far. He loved that she trusted him and didn't press for answers, that she trusted him to tell her when he was ready or when it was needed.

He especially loved it when she was proud of him. It wasn't hard to make her proud but it still felt earned. Varian knew that, win or lose, success or fail, as long as he tried, Ulla would be proud. That alone made him want try harder, get better, at everything he did.

Arriving back at his lab, he was determined to get the balloon working again, maybe even improve it a little, so he began refining the list of supplies.

'Fuel' became 'eucalyptus oil'. 'Metal' became 'copper'. 'Durable flask' became 'amber flask', for a practically indestructible fuel reservoir.

As Varian continued revising his list, he noticed that he kept doodling suns. He knew it was because of the sun he'd seen on Punzel's ring a few days ago. He couldn't remember exactly what it looked like, and there were a few kingdoms and nations whose symbols were suns, but he had a feeling he knew which one it was.

He wanted to give Punzel the benefit of the doubt though, for Gene's sake, so he decided to do more research, this time focusing on the kingdoms with the sun seals.

But the more he looked into it, the more everything about the girls, from the fabrics and metals they wore to their confusion about the Dark Kingdom, told him the same thing.

'They're Coronain.'

Previous Next

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[jadiina-hope]

Ngl, I love this chapter, but I am curious how much of the hot air balloon lingo y'all are gonna understand... the amount of research I've done only feels slightly unnecessary 🤣

Forbidden Love

Chapter 9: The Balloon

"Cass, what are you doing?" The alchemist asked, suspiciously.

"None of your business," the woman snapped.

"It is my business if you make this take longer than it needs to!" He shot back.

Varian continued towards the envelope of the balloon, beginning to spread it out on the ground while Cass continued shoving things into bags.

"Would you stop that and come help me!" He snapped after a moment. "Why do you care if we see your supplies anyway?"

"Like I said, none of your business!" Cass retorted.

V glared at her for a moment. He then pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a slow, frustrated breath before responding.

"Look, I don't care what you're trying to hide. Right now I don't even care about what kingdom you're from, I just want you out of this one. So can you just help me?"

"Fine!" the woman relented. "What do you need help with?"

"We need to spread out the balloon so we can find the holes," he answered, going back to pulling on the heavy fabric of the envelope.

"I know where the holes are," Cassandra told him.

"You could've said that sooner," Varian growled, letting go of the balloon.

He then closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to calm himself.

"It's fine, that'll save time," he muttered, then in a neutral tone he asked Cass, "can you show me where the exit hole is? I can patch it if you can do the other one."

"Why the exit?" Cass asked.

"Cause usually it's more frayed and harder to fix than the entry," Varian answered.

"And you think I can't fix a frayed hole in fabric?"

"I didn't say that," he responded. "I was just trying to be nice but you can do whichever one you want. Just point me towards the other one."

Cass glared at him for a moment before pointing him towards the bottom left of the envelope. He quickly found the hole then they both fell quiet as they got to work on opposite sides of the balloon.

After several minutes of silence, Cass's irritation faded a bit and her curiosity got the better of her.

"Okay, I have to ask, what's with the hair stripe?" She inquired.

"Would you believe it's a fashion statement?"

"No."

"Okay, it's not," Varian began without looking away from the task at hand. "I was born with it. The doctors think it's Poliosis, when the cells don't produce melanin. Poliosis usually leaves the hair white or gray, but my mom ate large amounts of foods containing high levels of anthocyanins while she was pregnant with me, so it's teal instead."

He then glanced over at her and chuckled at her confused expression. "I'm kidding. You can't dye cells by eating too much blue corn. We don't know why it's teal."

"That's the last time I ask you a genuine question," Cass muttered, tying off her thread.

"I answered it, didn't I?" The young man responded. "Why so serious, Cass?"

"Did you really just ask me that?" She snapped.

"Why? Is that a loaded question?"

"No, just one with an obvious answer."

"Humor me."

"Are you done fixing your hole?"

"You're really not gonna answer my question?" Varian asked, "I answered yours."

"Are you done fixing your hole?" Cass repeated, climbing to her feet.

He sighed, tied off his thread, and looked over his work before responding, "yes."

Varian stood, picked up his bag of supplies, then started towards the basket, but Cass intercepted him before he got close to it.

"What do you think you're doing?" She snapped, blocking his path, then he sighed again.

"I'd like to light the burner and try to inflate the envelope to see if we've patched it well enough," Varian answered, then looked her right in the eye. "May I do that?"

Instead of responding, Cass just continued to glare up at him. After a moment, Varian let out an impatient sigh, rolled his eyes, and brushed past her. He left the faint scent of eucalyptus and smoke in his wake, like he always did.

It was really beginning to annoy her.

She turned around to see him climbing into the basket of the balloon.

"Did I say you could go in there?" The woman snapped, rushing over and into the basket.

"Cass, if you fight me every step of the way this is gonna take forever," the alchemist stated, "can you just let me work?"

He then opened the panel on the side of the copper cylinder connected to the bottom of the burner nozzles.

"When was the last time this was cleaned?" Varian muttered, putting down his bag.

Cass watched as he pulled out a cloth and began wiping down the cylinder and the coil that sat inside of it. Realizing this was probably going to take a while, she leaned back against the basket and continued watching him, still not trusting him.

From where she was watching, she had a perfect view of the mark on the back of Varian's left hand, a circle intersecting three short lines; the mark of the Brotherhood.

Even though he had the mark, Cass still doubted he was one of the Brotherhood. His mark was different from the others she'd seen. Eugene's mark was bold, with thick dark lines you could see from across the room, the rest of the Brotherhood's were the same. Varian's, however, was more subtle, with thinner, lighter lines.

After watching him in silence and thinking for a few more moments, she needed an answer.

"Why's your mark different?" She abruptly asked.

"I thought the hair stripe was the last genuine question you were gonna ask me," the alchemist replied.

He then glanced over and rolled his eyes at the glare she was giving him.

"It's cause I'm not sworn in yet," he answered.

"Right, cause at dinner the other night you said you'd just passed the test," Cass recalled. "What is this 'test' to join the Brotherhood?"

"It's technically years of training followed by five tests," Varian explained, wiping off his hands then tucking the dirty cloth into his back pocket. "It might be six for the next person, depending on if I decide to join in on that. You have to pass all of them to get in."

"What are the tests?" She asked again.

She watched as the alchemist pulled a thin, shiny stick out of his bag. He snapped about an inch off of it and the tip caught fire, which he used to light the pilot lights on the side of both the burn nozzles, then the one encircled by the coil. He then closed the panel and blew out the stick before returning it to his bag.

"You have to fight every Brotherhood member, one on one, and get past them to touch a special door," the young man responded. "You have to get past all of them."

He then noticed a flask fastened to the side of the copper cylinder, connected to a tube leading into it. The fuel reservoir, where you put the oil to power the burner, only it was empty.

Varian glanced around the bottom of the basket, quickly spotting a small hatch labeled 'payload bay'. He'd found the fuel storage, but when he opened it, all he saw was spilled oil and broken pieces of ceramic jugs.

"Of course," he muttered under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"But you kept failing one," Cass stated sharply, then Varian glared at her.

"What oil does the burner take?" He pointedly asked.

"So you can keep redoing the tests till you pass?" She continued, ignoring his question.

"Sweet solstice, Cass!" The alchemist snapped. "No! Normally you can only fail twice between all the tests. I just passed four out of the five I had to do on the first try, including the one against the king which is the hardest. That's better than Gene did, so they knew I was more than qualified. You have to pass all of them though, so they just let me redo Hector's till I passed!"

"Perks of being the Protector's son, huh?" She remarked bitterly.

"If you think that having to repeatedly redo a test with the man who hates my family is a perk then you're very wrong!" Varian shot back.

Before Cass could question what he was doing, Varian snatched a vial of eucalyptus oil from his belt, went over to the fuel reservoir, and dumped it in. He then yanked a pair of thick, black alchemist gloves from his bag and vaulted over the side of the basket. Putting on the gloves, he went over to the envelope of the balloon, grabbed the top layer of fabric, held it open, and shot the woman a glare.

"Don't burn me on purpose," he growled at Cass.

Cassandra just stared at him for a moment before realizing what he meant. They'd have to start inflating it on the ground before it would stand on its own, meaning someone had to hold it open so the heat could go in. Whether it was because he was 'trying to be nice' or he just wanted some distance from her, Cass was a little relieved he was the one holding the envelope.

She swiveled the burner and aimed it down towards the opening.

"Ready?" The woman asked, glancing at Varian.

When he nodded, Cass grabbed the rope of the blast lever, barely pulling it, and-

THRAW!

Massive white flames erupted from the burner nozzles!

Varian yelped, dropping the envelope and jumping back before the flames could lick him.

"What are you doing!" He exclaimed, rushing back to the basket. "It's gonna melt the envelope! Turn it off!"

"I can't! What did you do!" The woman yelled, fumbling to try and get it to stop.

The alchemist jumped back into the basket, flipped the burner towards the sky, then yanked the tube out of the fuel reservoir. Eucalyptus oil spilled freely out onto the floor of the basket, but the fire stopped right away.

" 'What did I do?'! Wolf's teeth, Cass!" He snapped, climbing out of the basket. "If you'd just told me what fuel it took when I asked, or stopped talking and let me think, that wouldn't have happened!"

"Varian!" Eugene's worried call sliced through their yelling.

Varian turned his back on Cass and started towards the cry, seeing Gene and Raps sprinting out of the jungle. As soon as the prince saw Varian he ran straight to him.

"Are you okay, V?"

"That woman is infuriating!" The alchemist replied, pointing back towards Cass, his hand shaking with rage and adrenaline.

Gene reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, comforting him almost instantly. Varian then closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again, he immediately saw how concerned Eugene was.

"I'm fine, Gene," he said, putting a gloved hand over the bare one that sat on his shoulder.

Once the concern left Gene's face, Varian let his hand drop to his side, leaving behind a thin layer of eucalyptus oil on the prince's. They both stared at the oil for a moment then Gene looked at the smoking scene behind Varian.

"Do I wanna know?" He asked, returning his gaze to Varian.

"I'll tell you later," the alchemist replied. "But can this please be the last time you leave me alone with her?"

Once Gene nodded, they both went over to the balloon. Varian then began assessing the new damage done by the blast while the two royals acted as a buffer between him and a still fuming Cass.

The first thing he noticed was that the bottom of the envelope was now melted closed.

After letting out an annoyed sigh, Varian climbed into the basket. He expected to see the fuel line he'd pulled out and would have to replace. What he didn't expect to see though, was the flask fuel reservoir cracked and warped from the sudden and intense heat of the blast.

After double checking that he still had his gloves on, he opened the panel on the copper cylinder and looked inside. The coil was still red hot, but he could see that the blast had broken and bent it out of shape.

'This just got more complicated.'

Previous Next

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[phoenixyfriend]

Reblog if you write fanfic and would be totally down with your followers coming into you askbox and talking to you about your fic

[writingwithoutconfidence]

sure

[jadiina-hope]

Feel free to ask away! 😆😁

[jadiina-hope]

Forbidden Love

Chapter 8: Across the Chasm

Varian didn't realize he had fallen asleep until a hand on his shoulder woke him up. He didn't need to look to see who had woken him, he could tell whose hand it was just by the feel, but he slowly opened his eyes anyway, glancing up to see Eugene.

"Dude, you know you have a bed, right?" The prince teased. Varian just grunted in response, closing his eyes again. "How late were you up last night?"

"Who keeps track of that?" The alchemist mumbled, the comforting smell of book dust lulling him back to sleep.

The prince then gently shook him. "Come on, V, Cass is getting antsy and I'm not dealing with that by myself."

"You just want me to keep her occupied so you can flirt with Punzel," Varian countered, glancing at his brother.

Gene scoffed lightly before responding, "that's not the only reason."

When Varian gave him a doubtful look, the prince continued. "You said you'd fix their balloon today."

Varian then sat up. "No, you said I'd fix their balloon," he corrected, "besides, arrow holes in an envelope take, at most, ten minutes to patch."

"Yeah, but the longer we wait, the more Cass is gonna wanna fight, and I'd rather you be there if that happens," Eugene urged.

"You know I'll always be your backup, Gene, but you realize you can easily beat her, right?"

"Oh yeah. I just thought you'd enjoy doing it more."

Varian just sighed in response then Gene continued. "Think of it this way, the faster their balloon is fixed, the faster Cass leaves."

"Fine, at least let me have some tea first," Varian stated, standing up.

"Not hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate isn't caffeinated, chocolate tea is, and I'm gonna need some caffeine before dealing with her."

🌟

After leaving the library and getting tea, Varian gathered some supplies. He and Gene then found the girls and the four of them were crossing the bridge within the hour.

Gene and Raps had been talking since the four of them met up, but as they came to the end of the bridge Rapunzel fell silent. That was understandable; this side of the chasm, while beautiful at night, was a little eerie during the day.

They stepped off the bridge onto bare dirt. That's all there was for three hundred feet straight ahead, which wouldn't have been unusual if it were just a path, but it wasn't.

It was a barren strip, a barren ring, that went all the way around the chasm. The dirt gradually gave way to grass, then foliage, until it became a lush, dark jungle.

This ring wasn't always barren, though. Every dusk, a thick moss carpet would start to grow, spreading until it filled the entire ring. But every dawn the moss would wither in the morning light and the ring would go barren again.

Varian could spend hours trying to figure out how or why the moss did that. He has before, many times, but he could never come up with an explanation. It would've been frustrating if it weren't so fascinating. Every time he saw the ring he wanted to do more research but he couldn't this time. They'd crossed the bridge for a reason.

Varian looked off to his right and immediately saw the deflated balloon. "How have the Wolves not reported this yet?" He asked as the four of them continued towards it.

"They have," the prince answered, "several packs told me about it yesterday."

" 'The Wolves'? That's actually what the guard is called here?" Cass questioned, "it's not just a nickname used by other kingdoms?"

"No, it's their official title, but it's also the highest military rank, earned title, and ultimate compliment in the kingdom. If someone calls you a wolf, they're complimenting your loyalty and protective instincts, so you can imagine what those with the title of 'Wolf' are known for," Varian answered. "Now, are there just two holes in the balloon? The entry and exit?"

"Why? Did you have to loose more than one arrow to hit us?"

"I'm not in the mood for you, Cass."

"The feeling's mutual," She shot back.

"Great, cause the faster we get this done, the less we have to deal with each other."

"That's the spirit!" The prince said, enthusiastically, draping an arm over his brother's shoulder.

"Gene," Varian growled then Eugene pulled back his arm.

"Yep, got it. Shutting up."

Varian glanced at him before they both looked back to the balloon to see that Cass had beaten them there. Both men watched as she began picking things up off the ground. She then climbed into the basket and began quickly shoving their things into small bags.

V and Gene exchanged a confused glance then Varian continued towards the balloon.

"Cass, what are you doing?" The alchemist asked, suspiciously.

"None of your business," the woman snapped.

"It is my business if you make this take longer than it needs to!" he shot back.

Eugene let out a sigh, watching as they started to argue. He debated going over to help get this done faster, but decided against it, quickly realizing that adding another person would probably annoy both Varian and Cass more. He watched them for a moment longer to make sure Cass wasn't going to draw her sword.

The prince then looked across the chasm at the kingdom, his kingdom.

The dark spikes and the chasm that was filled with them scared off their enemies and even put their allies on edge. Most travelers were scared of the kingdom because of the rocks, avoiding them as best as they could, but Gene has never been scared of it.

'It's not terrifying.'

Eugene gazed at his kingdom a moment longer, soon noticing that Rapunzel was doing the same. He watched her for a moment before deciding to go over to her. Once he got closer he noticed that she was sketching in a small journal.

He stopped behind her, looking at the kingdom from the same place she was. He then peeked over her shoulder at her journal and was amazed. She'd drawn the kingdom, but not like artists usually did. It wasn't ominous or shrouded in shadows. It didn't look dangerous, it looked protected, safe. It was-

"What do you think?" Rapunzel asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

"You made it beautiful," he responded, still staring at the drawing.

"I didn't need to," she replied, "your kingdom is beautiful, Eugene."

'She sees it like I do.'

"Can people not see that?" Raps asked, looking up at him.

"No, most don't," the prince answered.

He then shifted his gaze to Rapunzel, getting lost in her eyes. After a moment Raps let out a breathy laugh, looking down at her journal.

"I was- I was going to draw some of the jungle next," she said, turning to a blank page. "What part of it do you think I should do?"

"I know a spot," Gene responded, "we'd have to go into the jungle though." He then glanced towards their friends before continuing. "You think Cass would notice if we just disappeared?"

"Not if we do it fast enough," Rapunzel answered with a small but mischievous smile.

"Okay," the prince chuckled. "Come on."

The two of them hurried towards the jungle then Gene led her down a hidden path. Varian and Cass's arguing soon become muffled by the calming sounds of the jungle.

They didn't get too far down the path before it got dark, the thick canopy blocking most of the light. As they continued walking Raps looked around, in awe of the jungle. She'd never seen such tall trees, such thick vines. Eucalyptus and small clusters of Moonrocks covered with flowering vines spotted the jungle floor and the moss crawling up the trunks of trees seemed to glow slightly.

After walking a moment longer the canopy began to thin and Eugene slowed to a stop right at a bend in the path.

"Ladies first," he said, extending a hand in case she needed it.

Raps gave him a smile, put a hand on his, and went around the bend. What she saw took her breath away.

Twenty paces in front of her the path opened up to a small but beautiful clearing. Bright green grass and patches of wild flowers covered the ground and in the center was a crystal clear pond fed by a small waterfall.

"Eugene," Raps gasped, staring in awe.

"Is this the kinda scenery you were picturing?" Gene asked.

"It's so much better."

She then turned back to Eugene, grabbed his hand, and scurried towards the clearing, the prince laughing as she pulled him along.

She let go of his hand once they were in the clearing and Gene slowed to a stop. He just watched as Rapunzel slowly spun in a circle, looking around at the clearing, before she went towards the waterfall. She watched a couple frogs jump into the pond before dipping her hand in the water.

She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a moment she opened her eyes, took a few steps away from the water, settled down on the soft grass, and opened her journal.

Eugene knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn't help it.

'She's extraordinary.'

Rapunzel looked back at him with a smile, breaking the spell, and patted the ground next to her. He responded with a soft chuckle and fond smile as he sat down next to her.

"I was hoping you'd like it, Princess," he said softly.

"What!" She responded, startled.

"Does that make you uncomfortable?" Gene asked. "I'm sorry, it's just-" he softly chuckled at himself, "I was always taught to treat every girl like a princess. And I've always tried to, but you're the first girl I've wanted to make feel like one."

He shyly glanced over at Rapunzel to see her looking up at him. She quickly looked away, turning back to her drawing to try to hide it, but Gene saw the pink creeping across her cheeks. He chuckled softly to himself, sure his face was the same shade, before looking to the waterfall.

They fell into a comfortable silence, both of them enjoying the sounds of flowing water and singing birds.

"Can I ask you something?" Rapunzel asked after a few minutes.

"Of course."

"You don't have to answer, I was just curious," she started, "but, back at the balloon, did Varian silence you?"

"Yeah, he's not a morning person," Gene answered with a laugh.

"I'm just a little confused." She glanced at him. "It's obvious you guys are close, but is he allowed to do that? To order you around? You're still his prince after all."

"I always forget we have a weird kinda hierarchy," the prince said under his breath before continuing. "I'm guessing your kingdom's an absolute monarchy, right? The king outranks everyone, titles and power are passed down through bloodlines, and the respect you get is mostly based on your title?"

"It's not like that here?"

"No, well, not entirely. How do I explain this?" He paused for a moment. "I'm the prince cause I'm the son of a king, but that's just a title, a name. It's not why my people respect me. Here, respect is earned, not demanded or inherited. The only things that are inherited are the crown and the responsibility to keep this kingdom safe, and help it thrive as much as I can.

"For eight centuries, my family has led this kingdom with the philosophy of the first dark king; 'if I cannot earn their respect, they cannot bow to me'."

"but Varian doesn't bow to you."

"Cause he knows I respect him as much as he respects me, and here, respect determines rank and authority. If someone earned your respect, but they respect you more, they're saying 'you have my loyalty, I will follow you, you have authority over me'. If there's respect and its mutual, you're both saying 'I have your loyalty and you have mine, I'll follow you and you'll follow me, we're equals.' " Eugene smiled fondly as he continued, "but V's more than my equal, he's my Pack, so he wasn't really ordering me around, he just wanted me to get out of his face."

" 'Your pack'? What's a-"

THRAW!

The loud sound of a roaring fire turned both of their attention in the direction of the chasm. It was quickly followed by a yelp that sounded like

'Varian!'

"What was that?" Raps asked.

Eugene looked over to her and could tell they were both thinking the same thing.

"Come on!" He urged.

They both jumped to their feet and ran back towards the chasm.

Previous Next

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[jadiina-hope]

Forbidden Love

Chapter 7: Saporia?

"...so when luciferin is exposed to luciferase and oxygen, it triggers a chemical reaction that releases energy in the form of light, which is how some of ours glow," Varian stated. "But you said your kingdom makes ones that change color in the sun? Do they have thermochromic properties or is it more of a photochromic pigment?"

"We do both, but we mostly use photochromic pigments so the colors aren't affected by the temperature," the princess answered cheerfully.

This was one of those times that made the swordswoman remember just how smart Rapunzel was. Cass had no idea what they were talking about but the two of them had been talking like this for about thirty minutes.

They left the blacksmith and had gone to many other shops and food stalls over the past several hours. Cass watched as the wonder in Rapunzel's eyes grew with every shop they visited.

The princess's curiosity grew as well, and she started asking more questions as the day went on. Most of them were about the items in the shops, the food from the stalls, or the moonrocks, but some of them were so random or complicated that they would've surprised Cass if she hadn't been raised with the princess.

Gene didn't seem surprised by her questions though. In fact, he looked more intrigued by Raps than confused by her. He would try to answer her questions the best he could but if he couldn't they would ask Varian. And Varian was more than happy to answer if he could or make educated guesses if he couldn't. Or go back and forth with her like he was now.

When her questions got too complicated for the prince, the men switched places, Gene falling back to walk beside Cass and Varian moving up to go beside Raps. Cass didn't really like that last part.

She was more comfortable with Rapunzel talking to Eugene than she was with Raps talking to Varian. She wasn't sure why though, Varian was the less dangerous of the two men. Maybe it was because Varian was smarter, which lots of times made people more dangerous. Maybe it was because of what Eugene did in the blacksmith, subtly pushing Raps closer to her. Maybe it was because Varian was the one who pulled a weapon on her and kept threatening her. Maybe it was because he kept prying.

'Maybe Varian really was the more dangerous of the two.'

But as soon as that thought came to mind so did Varian's earlier threat: 'that is if Gene doesn't finish you off first.'

Every story Cass had been told about the Brotherhood said they were relentless, ruthless, and dangerous, and Eugene was one of them. He could've easily overpowered her when he was at the end of her sword last night.

'So why didn't he?'

"Is that how you've been glaring at me this whole time?" Gene asked, pulling her from her thoughts. "No wonder V's been a little testy today."

"You mean he doesn't like me glaring at his friend?" Cass shot back.

"Not when the glare says 'I want you dead'," the prince answered then paused for a moment.

"Cassandra, listen, I understand why you and Varian keep threatening each other, and if you keep threatening me, know that I won't send anyone after you," Gene continued, "but if I've offended or threatened you in any way, I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention."

"Even when you yelled because of how I was talking to Varian?" The woman retorted.

"No, I won't apologize for that, I meant what I said," he replied, "you can threaten us, you can disrespect me, but you will not disrespect him."

Cass stepped in front of the prince and stopped, looking him right in the eye. "Well, like you said, he has to earn my respect, but he's not going to," she stated, pausing for a moment before telling him, "take us back to the castle."

🔵

"We're really gonna do a Dark Kingdom experience but come back to the castle before sunset?" Varian muttered to himself as he walked the halls of the castle.

He expected the day to be a lot worse than it was, especially with Cass ready to fight at the drop of a hat. He was actually kind of surprised she didn't draw her sword once, though she clearly wanted to, several times.

He was also pleasantly surprised by how smart Rapunzel was and even though they just talked about glowing and color-changing paint, he genuinely enjoyed talking with her. It was kind of nice to talk to someone who understood and was actually interested in what he was saying.

The day was pretty successful, he shouldn't be complaining. He was just a little disappointed it ended so early. He loved the way the kingdom came to life at night. He had a feeling Punzel would too, but Cass had seen enough, and neither he nor Gene was in the mood to argue with her about it, so they just came back early.

Varian supposed he could just go back out, maybe with Luna, it had been a while since they had just hung out. There was still something off about Punzel and Cass though, and he wanted to figure it out before he fixed their balloon tomorrow.

He knew hot air balloons were a Saporian invention. He also knew that Saporian inventions were hard to come by and weren't to be trusted, especially around the Dark Kingdom, which was why he shot it down in the first place. The distrust had something to do with the way the Saporian/Coronain war ended.

It'd been a while since he'd read about that war, or Saporian history in general. He figured now was a good time for a refresher, so he went to the castle library.

When he got there he was a little relieved to see that no one else was there. With two levels of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, the second forming a ring around the edges of the room, the library had plenty of space; Varian just found that doing research in an empty library was more enjoyable.

He claimed his usual spot in the middle of the library, which had a simple chair, a large table, and a lectern off to the side. He set one of his newest inventions, a small orb that produces a bright light but no heat, on the table before beginning his search.

He started in the history section, expecting to find at least a couple of books about Saporia, but to his surprise there was nothing. He then moved on, looking through atlases in hopes of finding Saporia's borders or location. There was nothing there either. Economic and trade history? Nothing. International relations? Nothing.

Category after category, book after book, nothing.

Nothing.

'Why is there nothing?'

After several more hours of searching, the only mentions of Saporia were on one page in a book of inventions, talking about hot air balloons and something called a Wand of Oblivion, and something about an old king's diary in a book on cultures.

Varian leaned back in his chair and looked up at the tinted glass ceiling. Seeing that the moon was directly overhead, he scrubbed a hand down his face and sighed.

He then looked back at the book in front of him, staring at it blankly for a moment before hearing the door open. He glanced towards the sound to see Luna step into the library holding a plate of cubed cheese and sliced black diamond apples.

"I figured you were here," the princess said, coming to his side.

Varian gave her a grateful smile when she gave him the plate, then she looked at the table. Covered in open books and scattered papers, it looked like the type of chaos that came from a typical Varian research session. She could usually figure out what he was researching just by looking at one of his many pages of notes, but not this time.

Tonight, only one of the loose papers was written on but all it said was 'balloons' and 'Wand of Oblivion', followed by a page number. The rest of the page was covered in question marks and he'd drawn a sun in one of the bottom corners.

"What are you looking for?" The princess asked.

"Anything about Saporia," Varian answered.

Luna then skimmed over a few of the open books before looking at their covers.

"Oh, you're looking in the wrong books," she stated, "it's going to be in with Coronain history."

Varian gave her a doubtful glance, popping a cube of cheese into his mouth.

"During the Saporian/Coronain war, King Herz Der Sonne and General Shampanier fell in love and ended the war by uniting their kingdoms," Luna continued, "so it's going to be in Coronain history."

Varian watched as she went over to a nearby shelf and grabbed a book. She put it on the table, opened it to a page in the middle, then pushed it toward Varian.

"Seriously, look."

He looked down at the book to see that Luna had opened it to a chapter titled 'Saporia'. He stared at it for a moment before looking back at Luna.

"You only knew that cause it's a love story, didn't you?" He asked with a smile.

"It's one of my favorites, too," she replied and Varian chuckled.

He put a hand over hers on the table and gave it a gentle squeeze, then looked up at her. "Thank you so much, Luna!" He said, "I was beginning to think Saporia never existed."

Luna let out a soft laugh at that. "Only you would convince yourself that you made up an entire kingdom," she teased.

Varian then looked back at the book, continuing his research with renewed spirits. Luna stayed by his side for a while, reading a book of her own, a romance titled 'The Ballad of the Archer and the Fox'. After a few hours, the princess retired for the night, leaving Varian to his research.

Previous Next

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[jadiina-hope]

How has it already been three days since I posted a chapter?

Forbidden Love

Chapter 6: A Day In Town

After a breakfast of the strangest and, she hated to admit it but, most delicious fruit she'd ever had, Cass found herself following close behind Raps as the princess and Eugene walked side by side through the streets on the way to the next stop of their 'full Dark Kingdom experience'.

She kept a close eye on Raps and a closer one on Eugene. She didn't know where he was taking them, but as she watched the two royals, she began to think he wasn't leading them anywhere. Gene seemed to just be going with the flow of people while carrying on a conversation with Raps.

Cass wasn't listening to what he was saying, she was watching what he was doing. Every twenty paces, and yes, she was counting, Gene would scan the area. He would then look at Rapunzel, and if something caught her attention or piqued her interest, he would take them there.

'What are you up to?'

"He's not gonna hurt her," a voice suddenly said, startling her from her thoughts.

She glanced over her right shoulder to see Varian staring at her.

"Forget I was here?" He asked with a chuckle.

"No," Cass lied, "you just made me lose my train of thought."

"Given the way you've been glaring at him, that's probably a good thing," the archer stated.

"Well, forgive me if I don't trust either of you," the woman retorted sharply.

"Okay, we got off on the wrong foot, Cass-"

"It's Cassandra," she cut him off.

"We got off on the wrong foot, Cass," he repeated, "so let's start over; I'm Varian, and as long as you're not a threat to my pack, I'm not a threat to you."

Cass whirled around to face him. "You think I'm threatened by you?" She spat, "I could take you down without even trying."

"I would say, 'I doubt that,' but I don't belittle people's fighting skills," he responded cheerfully, earning a glare from Cass. "Is that just your resting face or are you thinking about trying to kill me?"

"Don't tempt me."

Cass heard him scoff as she turned around to continue following Rapunzel, but she and Eugene weren't there. "Raps!" She called, frantically looking for the princess, but the crowd was too dense.

"Where did he take her?" She growled.

"It seemed like Gene was following her," Varian replied, scanning the crowd, then Cass turned to him. She had one hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it, when-

"Cass!"

The guard immediately bolted towards the cry, pushing through the crowd till she reached a small shop. She instantly saw Rapunzel and ran to her side.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Look at this brush!" The princess beamed, showing her a beautiful paintbrush with silver bristles and a black, pointed handle.

"They have paint that glows in the dark, too," Gene told Rapunzel.

Cass then pulled Raps away from him. "I told you she doesn't leave my side!" She growled at the prince.

"Were you not behind us?" He asked.

"You know I wasn't. You had Varian distract me!" The woman hissed.

"No, he didn't," Varian replied, stepping into the shop, "I was just trying to be nice." Cass ignored him, returning a hand to the hilt of her sword. "Hey, you attack him, I attack you," the archer warned, "that is if Gene doesn't finish you off first."

"Okay, V, calm down," the prince said, then looked back to Cass. "I'm sorry, Cassandra, I honestly thought you were behind us. It won't happen again."

"Give me one good reason why we should keep following you!" The guard retorted.

"We said one day, Cass; it's been three hours," Raps stated, "besides, I think I saw a blacksmith shop down the street, right?"

"Yeah, it's on the corner," Gene answered, looking at Rapunzel for a moment before realizing what she was trying to do. "Most guests overlook it, but they're missing out on some really beautiful craftsmanship," he continued.

"You could get an answer to your question," the princess suggested.

"Raps," Cass groaned.

"I'll stay right next to you," Rapunzel promised, linking arms with her. Cass simply sighed in response.

"That's not a no," the princess stated then turned back to Gene and Varian, "lead the way, fellas."

🌟

Was it odd that Cass was more comfortable in a room full of weapons than she was walking the streets of this kingdom? A little, but being raised by the captain of the Corona guard will do that to you.

The blacksmith shop actually reminded her of the armory back home. A small, open room, weapons on shelves, in barrels, or hanging on the walls, only the weapons here were a lot more varied and a lot more beautiful.

The shiny, smooth steel was apparent in both kingdoms, though there was far more of it here. Another similarity was that most of the blades were black. In Corona, they mostly used rough, powerful iron that would turn black depending on how it was forged or how old it was. Here though, it was a smooth, shiny black, sometimes broken up by a streak or crack of a strange, amber-like material. The black looked solid at first glance, but once Cass took a closer look, she saw deep blues, rich blacks, and even the sparkle of silver making a grain that was similar to that of a piece of palm wood.

The black material, while beautiful, seemed like it should've put her on edge. It was new to her and almost unearthly, but it was actually the amber that put her on edge. It seemed familiar, the kind of familiar that's filled with dread, but she couldn't quite figure out why.

"That's what almost killed you last night," Varian's voice pulled Cass from her thoughts. Seeing that he was leaning against the wall next to her, she glared at him instead of responding. He continued anyway. "That material, it's the moonrocks."

"Funny, I don't remember asking," Cass retorted, though she was still curious about the material.

"Oh, sorry, I'm sure that sword was about to tell you that," Varian responded then turned to go towards Gene, who was watching them from the opposite wall of the room.

"Wait, they're made of the rocks?" Raps asked, then whispered to her friend, 'at least try, Cass,' before continuing. "How do they do that?"

Varian then turned back to the girls, a small but excited smile pulling on his lips. "I'm glad you asked!" He started, "It's a fascinating process, really."

"Oh no, now you've done it," Eugene barely had time to playfully mutter before the scientist began explaining.

"You remember last night when Ulla said the moonrocks are incredibly useful when they're not growing?" He asked, not waiting for an answer before continuing. "This is one of their uses.

"After every full moon, a team of volunteers goes out into town, harvests all the newly emerged moonrocks, and brings them here. That's what me and Gene were doing when you found us, except we were volun-told." Varian then looked to Cass. "I assume you're the one who told Ulla we were out here last night."

"Oh, I'm sorry, that was actually me," Raps stated. "I didn't know it would get you in trouble."

The alchemist glanced at her then chuckled a little. "Nah, it's fine," he responded, "we were honestly kinda expecting it.

"Anyway, so, after the rocks are brought here, the blacksmith cuts them, usually into thirds or fourths, depending on the length and type of blade he's planning on making. I say 'type' cause, as you can see," Varian waved a hand towards a display, "he makes a lot of different weapons.

"A third of a moonrock is usually enough to make about two dozen spearheads, ten axe heads, or four sword blades, depending on the diameter and length of each chunk. The first chunk though, the one with the natural point of the moonrock, is almost always made into a single sword blade, or if I get to it first I'll take the tip and make a special kind of arrowhead.

"But I know what you're thinking; 'what's that yellow stuff?' Now that's the truly fascinating part cause it actually isn't naturally occurring. That amber's a material of my own creation."

"By accident," Gene butted in.

"Okay, yes, it was an accident, but it turned out to be an extremely powerful binding agent, and when it's added to Moonrock tools, weapons, or armor, it adds an extra level of durability.

"You see, Moonrocks can only be cut using other Moonrocks, so there was a chance that if you didn't block or strike right your opponent's weapon would cut right through yours. But once I created the amber, we discovered that adding it as a core, or in my mom's case a coating, would prevent that, making it so you can only cut through them using the right technique, which is nearly impossible to do in battle."

Cass was kinda surprised she got an answer to her question that quickly and easily. She expected it to be more of a secret, but going off the amount of enthusiasm that Varian used, it didn't seem to be. She would never admit it to him, but he was right, it was fascinating.

To a certain point. He hit that point when he started talking about the properties of... something. She had no idea what he was talking about anymore. He got too technical, so she stopped listening and looked back to the wall of swords she was looking at before.

One sword in particular caught her eye. The blade was simple enough, about the length of her arm, straight, sharp, and steel, though it seemed to have undertones of black or blue. The hilt was what actually caught her attention. How could it not? It was beautiful; made from Moonrock and polished to perfection. It was a swept hilt with an elaborately carved swirl that, when held properly, would rest on top of your fist and curl down the back of your hand.

(Drawn and designed by the amazing @spiffy07 )

Cass reached out with her right hand to pick up the sword. Once she did, she noticed that her other arm was no longer linked with Rapunzel's. She quickly looked to her left and was relieved to see that the princess was only a few feet away.

Raps had her back to Cass and was just quietly talking with Eugene. Which was... fine, but Cass didn't even realize they'd drifted so far apart.

'Come on, Cass! Pay attention!'

Gene then glanced towards her, clearly catching Cass staring. He then took a subtle step towards Raps, getting a little too close for Cass' liking. She put a hand on her sword, which immediately caught Gene's attention. He took another slow step towards the princess, looking Cass straight in the eyes, Raps unconsciously drifting back a step in response, then it clicked.

Gene wasn't moving towards Raps to touch or hurt her, he was subtly pushing her back towards Cass. But

why?

'He's a prince, he doesn't have to do anything I tell him to. And he's one of the Brotherhood, so I doubt he's scared of me.'

Regardless of the reason, Cass found herself respecting him, just a little, for doing it.

Previous Next

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[jadiina-hope]

Ngl, I kinda love this chapter! Idk if its the world building or the dialog but I love it!

Forbidden Love

Chapter 5: The Next Morning

Cassandra and Rapunzel were up early the next morning. They were both eager to get out of the castle, but for different reasons. Raps wanted to see the town and experience the local culture, while Cass just wanted to find a way to fix their hot air balloon and get out of the kingdom. It wasn't long before they found their way to the front door.

As they stepped out of the castle and into the courtyard, they realized just how dark it must've been when they first arrived in the kingdom. There was so much they weren't able to see the previous night that now fascinated and amazed them. It felt so similar to Corona, but everything about it was different.

Instead of the clear blue sky and warm spring sun the girls were used to, the sky was gray, and the sun was blocked, but it wasn't dreary, cold, or dark.

Instead of tan, square stones covering the ground, it was smooth, black circles, of every size, overlapping and cut evenly to make level roads and walkways.

The houses and shops in Corona primarily had tan exterior walls and pale yellow, light blue, or bright red curved roofs, while here, they were gray, dark purple, or indigo, with peaked roofs made from the black rocks. Fences, store signs, wind chimes, and even bird houses were also made from the Moonrocks, along with many of the buildings' structures.

The castle was the only building completely made from the black rocks, though, and what a building it was. It looked like a cluster of six buildings, each one a different height, interlocked to make a unique and elegant castle. The biggest black rock in the kingdom stood at an angle in front of it and towered high above the structure. The main entrance was cut through the base of the spike, and, higher up, two towers peeked over the side of it, incorporating this giant Moonrock as part of the castle's structure.

(I might redraw this at some point)

The girls followed the path through the courtyard. As they left the castle grounds, they were met by a liveliness that rivaled Corona's. There were so many people that it made it hard to believe how quiet it was not even twelve hours ago.

While it made Rapunzel more comfortable, the number of people put Cass on edge. Anyone could be spying on them. Anyone could know where they're from, blow their cover, and attack them. Anyone could be a threat to Rapunzel, and Cass was focused on protecting her. So focused, in fact, that she practically jumped when the princess put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why are you so jumpy? Relax Cass," Raps said.

"No way, this place is dangerous," the swordswoman countered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't forget we're in enemy territory, Raps," Cass responded as they continued walking.

"Look out!" They heard Eugene call out after a moment. They looked towards the warning to see a Moonrock beginning to fall towards them. They quickly moved out of the way before it crashed to the ground, where the girls both stared at it for a moment.

"Sorry ladies, are you both okay?" The prince asked as he and Varian put down the saw they were using to cut down the Moonrocks. The girls nodded.

"You two should really be more aware of your surroundings," Varian stated.

"Sorry, we weren't expecting to be attacked by rocks when we came here," Cass retorted, watching as the archer picked up the large black sickle that was on the ground near him.

Varian then knelt in front of the black rock stump, put the sickle flush with the ground, and swiftly swung it through the stump, adding another circle to the thousands already covering the ground.

"Is she always like this?" He asked, glancing over to Raps.

"Yep, that's Cass for you," the princess answered jokingly.

"Oh, I just thought she didn't like us," the archer replied.

"I don't," the swordswoman stated.

"Cass," Raps scolded.

"Nah, it's fine. I did shoot you guys out of the sky," Varian stated.

"You know, if you want them to like you maybe stop bringing that up," Eugene whispered to his friend.

"I'm just not convinced you were the one who did it. Where did you even shoot from?" Cass asked.

Varian responded by pointing up at one of the castle towers.

"There's no way. Even if you had the aim, that's an impossible shot," the woman continued.

"Not impossible, just improbable. There was about a two percent cha- what do you mean 'If I had the aim'?" Varian interrupted himself.

"All I'm saying is that you don't seem like a master archer to me," Cass replied.

"Why? Are you a master archer? Do I not fit your standards? Last I checked, archers carry a bow and arrows."

"Oh, you got me. I'm not an archer but I'm pretty good at it."

"Is that so? How many years?"

"Four."

"Cute. Try eight."

"Eight years? With that aim?"

"Okay! You've seen me launch one arrow. One!"

"Yeah, and you missed."

"I wasn't trying to hit you!"

"You think we should make them get along or just keep them apart?" Eugene joked, watching as Cass and Varian started yelling at each other.

When he didn't get a response from Rapunzel, the prince looked over at the woman. She was still staring at the fallen Moonrock, a cautious curiosity visible on her face.

"It's safe," Gene told her, coming to her side and putting a hand on the  fallen rock, "see."

After staring a moment longer, Raps slowly extended a hand to touch the blackrock. "It's..."

"Creepy? Intimidating?" The prince guessed.

"Beautiful," Rapunzel finished, earning an astonished look from Eugene.

After a moment the volume of Cass and Varian's argument grew, getting Gene's attention just in time to hear the end of Cassandra's argument.

"You don't even look strong enough to do that, let alone to be part of the Brotherhood!"

Upon hearing that, the prince shot her a glare then looked at Varian to gauge his reaction and if he was going to retaliate.

To anyone else, the archer would've just looked furious, but not to Eugene. He knew Varian as well as he knew himself, and what Gene saw on his face was hurt. That statement wounded his Pack. She hit below the belt and he wasn't about to let her get away with it.

"Hey!" He shouted, quickly going between Varian and Cass, staring the woman straight in the eyes. "Let's get one thing straight, Cassandra. He's a member of the Brotherhood because he proved he deserves to be. Usually, that's enough for some respect but apparently not from you. We might need to personally earn it from you, but you will not speak to him that way again."

Eugene didn't give Cass a chance to respond, hearing Rapunzel ask her 'what did you say?' as he turned towards Varian.

"Don't let her get to you, V. You're a member, and you deserve it. If she doesn't respect you, get her to. Don't let her disrespect you like that," Gene told him.

"I don't even think I want her respect," the archer replied, "why would I want her respect?"

"It'd probably annoy her if you got it," the prince stated.

"That would be amusing," Varian muttered then glanced up to see Gene giving him a mischievous smirk. V briefly chuckled before continuing "Fine, but I'm not breaking my back to impress her."

"I never said anything about impressing her."

"It's either get her respect or impress her, and I don't think she's ever gonna respect me."

"Okay, but tell yourself you're trying to earn her respect. If you're trying to impress her you're gonna do something stupid."

"Gene, the reason these two are stuck here is cause I decided to shoot down that balloon and you decided we should go out on a full moon, both of which were stupid decisions in hindsight."

Gene stared at the archer for a moment before responding. "Well, can't argue with that. But you're gonna fix your stupid decision." Eugene then turned to the girls. "You want some help fixing your balloon?"

"What?" Varian and Cass replied in unison.

"V's an inventor," the prince answered, "he can fix it."

"Gene," the archer growled.

"Yeah 'Gene', we're good," Cass answered.

"You sure?"

"Yep, pretty sure I don't want you anywhere near our balloon."

"Why? There something you don't want us to find?" Varian questioned.

"I just feel like you'll mess it up more. You know what, if you want to help maybe find us a needle and thread," Cassandra replied.

"I didn't mean today. What's the hurry?" The prince asked.

"Come on, Cass, we came all this way and we're not even going to take a look around?" Rapunzel added.

"It's not that I don't want to stay-"

"Yes it is."

"Okay, yes it is, but it's dangerous here. When we get shot out of the sky I don't consider that kingdom safe."

"Again, my bad," Varian said, "if I'd known you were in it I probably wouldn't have shot it down."

"Okay, how about this; you stay for a day," Eugene suggested, "Let me and Varian give you two the full Dark Kingdom experience, show you that it's safe here. Then me and V will help you with the balloon tomorrow."

Cass glared at the prince for a moment then looked over to Raps to see the princess looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Don't look at me like that. Stop it! No, no. Raps-"

"Please, Cass."

Cass looked at her for a moment longer before responding, "Fine! Fine, but Rapunzel does not leave my side."

"Understood," Gene replied.

He looked over at Varian, back to Cass, then Rapunzel, and smiled.

"So, who's hungry?"

Previous Next

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[virgo-hibiscus]

which ao3 tag are you?

Tehe <3

Anyways find me on AO3 as Virgo_Hibiscus (recently changed it to match, used to be Ali_Hibiscus)

[jadiina-hope]

... yeah that checks out 🤣😆

[jadiina-hope]

Apparently I'm just posting a chapter every two days 🤣😆

Forbidden Love

Chapter 4: Dinner

As Eugene attempted to lead the tour, Varian stayed behind the two women, deep in thought. There was something about these women that he didn't like. He didn't know why, but he knew the sun on Rapunzel's ring had something to do with it.

'Why don't I like that symbol? And where have I seen it before?'

He was pulled from his thoughts by Cassandra's voice.

"What exactly are you trying to show us?" She asked, "We've been in this hall for ten minutes."

"Well we're not allowed to show you certain things," the prince answered.

"Certain things? You haven't shown us anything yet!" Cass exclaimed, growing more annoyed by the second.

"Okay, to put it simply we're not allowed to show you rooms that have this symbol on the door," Eugene stated, pointing to the back of his left hand.

"Why not?" The swordswoman inquired.

"It's complicated."

"Cause we're at war and we don't know where you're from," Varian stated.

"I guess it's not that complicated," the prince finished.

"There you are," Varian soon heard Luna say from behind him, "What's going on?"

Varian slowed his pace, letting the gap between him and the rest of the group widen before responding. "We snuck out, saw these ladies wandering around, Gene saved one of them and the other seems annoyed by that, they didn't have anywhere to stay so now we're attempting to give them a tour before dinner."

"Okay, first of all, why didn't you tell me you were sneaking out? I would've joined you," the princess replied.

"We couldn't find you," the archer responded.

"Fair enough," Luna continued, "secondly, you know my brother has no idea how to give a tour, right?"

"I'm starting to pick up on that."

"Yeah, also, you guys do realize supper starts in five minutes?"

🌕

The group of five slipped into the dining room just as the appetizers were being brought out.

"You're late," the queen said in a firm but loving voice as the group came to the table.

"Sorry Mom," Eugene responded and his mom smiled, noticing the girls.

"And who are these lovely ladies with you?" She inquired, waving to a nearby maid, who quickly placed two extra chairs at the table.

"This is Rapunzel and Cassandra," Eugene responded, "Ladies, this is my mother, Queen Rachel, my father, King Edmund, Ulla the Protector, and the Brotherhood."

Raps and Cass curtsied then the queen gestured for them to sit. As soon as they sat, one of the evening's appetizers was placed in front of both of them. As Rapunzel slowly started eating the delicious-looking salad, Cass stared at hers for a couple seconds, letting their situation really sink in.

They weren't just sitting and eating with the rulers of the enemy, they were in the same room as the entire Brotherhood! Sure, there's only five members, but everyone in the eight kingdoms knows about the Brotherhood. They're the legendary guardians of the Dark Kingdom and all its secrets.

Then there's Ulla the Protector. If you know about the Brotherhood, you know about her. Ulla isn't just a genius, she's also the only person who can defeat any member of the Brotherhood in combat, oftentimes without using a weapon. She could even hold her ground against the entire Brotherhood at once for a considerable time, and still walk away unscathed.

When she declined the invitation to join them, the Brotherhood requested that she protect the people and, if necessary, the kingdom from them... Whatever that meant.

A strange feeling washed over Cassandra. It was an odd mixture of immense fear and outstanding respect towards these warriors.

"You okay Cass?" Rapunzel whispered, pulling Cass from her thoughts.

It seemed that the princess wasn't the only one who could sense her unease, because when Cass looked up, she saw that every member of the Brotherhood was staring at her. The atmosphere of the room shifted and it fell silent.

"Guys, stop staring, you're making her nervous," Ulla said after a moment.

The Brotherhood immediately obeyed and went back to eating; all of them but Hector, who narrowed his eyes as he looked at both guests.

"Where did you say they were from, Horace?" The man asked.

"I didn't, cause they won't tell us," the prince answered.

"That's alright, we don't have to know right now," Queen Rachel said, looking over to the Coronains with a warm smile, calming Cass's nerves a bit.

The room then fell silent again as they finished their appetizers and moved on to the main course, quail.

"Uncle Hector, why do you have a scratch on your cheek?" Luna asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, I did that," Varian answered and everyone looked at him.

"He finally got you, huh?" One of the Brotherhood, the woman with white hair, teased Hector. The man just rolled his eyes in response and the woman, Adira, chuckled.

"You were taking the test when you did that, not just attacking Hector, right son?" Quirin asked.

"Of course, if you did just randomly attack him we completely understand that too," Ulla joked making the Brotherhood chuckle a bit.

"No, I was taking the test again," the archer answered.

"And..?" Luna prompted.

"And what?" Varian responded, earning a weird look from the dark princess.

"What do you mean 'and what'?" She replied.

"How'd it go?" Ulla asked and her son smiled.

"I finally passed!" Varian answered.

"Really?" His mom asked eagerly.

Varian then took off his glove and showed her his Brotherhood mark. The symbol that had once looked like a scar now looked more like a faded tattoo, an indicator that he had, indeed, passed the test.

"We're so proud of you son," Quirin said with a huge smile.

"We all are," Queen Rachel added, "though, I am surprised it took you this long."

"He's been skilled enough to pass for a while now, Hector just cheats," Adira informed the queen.

"I wasn't cheating, Sister, I was teaching him to think outside of the box," Hector stated.

"By keeping him from using his weapon of choice?" the prince asked.

"Which is blatantly against the rules when you do it for the test," Luna added, finishing her brother's thought.

"Like I said, Hector cheats, though I'm kind of surprised he had the guts to do it to you, Varian," Adira stated.

"I wouldn't say it took guts," Eugene said, partly teasing Varian.

"It doesn't take guts to mess with Ulla's son?" The warrior woman asked.

"Okay, when you say it like that," the prince responded then looked at Hector, "you really wanna pick a fight with Mama Bear, huh?"

"Hector, you're just lucky I don't want to scare off our guests," Ulla warned then saw a split second of fear on the man's face.

"Speaking of which, what brings you ladies to our kingdom?" the queen chimed in, changing the subject.

Both Coronains froze then glanced at each other.

"We've, um, heard a lot about this place, so we figured why not come see it for ourselves, " Rapunzel hesitantly answered. Technically that wasn't a lie, though it kind of felt like one.

"You're in for a treat then, it's beautiful here, but it can be dangerous, as you probably saw on your way through town," Adira responded.

"Those spikes, what are they?" Cass asked for both herself and Rapunzel.

"We call them Moonrocks, they're extremely dangerous when they're actively growing and extremely useful when they're not," Ulla answered.

"But, how do they grow like that? They're just rocks, right?" Rapunzel inquired curiously and the queen and king glanced at each other then back at the two guests.

"As long as you don't go back into town tonight, there's no need to worry about that right now," Queen Rachel responded, "for now, let's enjoy dessert."

"I can tell you two a little more about the rocks and answer any questions you have, after dinner, while I give you a proper tour," Ulla offered as one of the evening's desserts, a mini dark chocolate cake with raspberry filling, was set in front of everyone.

The cakes were so good that the room fell silent for the next couple minutes.

Once everyone was done, Ulla excused herself and both guests.

⭐

"Rapunzel and Cassandra, right?" Ulla asked once they were outside the dining room. The Coronains simply nodded in response. "Don't be nervous, I know the kingdom's a little intimidating at first, but I promise, we're not as scary as our reputation says we are," she said with a warm smile then both girls looked at her.

"Now, I know the prince did quick introductions, but I like to personally introduce myself, " she went on, "I'm Ulla, Alpha of the Dark Kingdom and Protector of the people; if at any time during your stay, either of you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, I'm who you would come to for help.

"That being said, two quick safety things. First, during your stay, neither of you will be allowed on any level of the basement, unless told otherwise by a member of the royal family, the Brotherhood, or myself," the woman continued, "there's some pretty dangerous stuff down there.

"Secondly, you may have noticed every member of the Brotherhood has a mark on the back of their left hand, looks like this." She pointed to the mark carved into the back of one of her amber-coated, black rock vambraces covering her lower arms and the back of her hands, "it hasn't happened for a couple years, but if you're ever with one of them, and notice their mark, or their eyes, start glowing, do not turn your back to them, and I'll try to get to you as fast as I can."

"Why?" Cassandra cautiously asked.

Ulla glanced at her. "Let's just say, our kingdom has some... interesting magic," she answered.

"Like those rocks?" Raps inquired.

"Would you like to hear the legend?" The Protector responded then both girls nodded.

"Once upon a time, a single drop of moonlight fell from the heavens, and from this small drop of moonlight formed a single, seductive opal stone. We call this opal, the Moonstone. It has the ability to destroy any and all who seek to possess it," the woman said then turned to the girls, "so I suggest not seeking to possess it."

"If it destroys anyone who tries to possess it, why isn't it trying to destroy you guys?" Cass questioned.

"Because we're not trying to possess it, we're trying to protect it, and I think the opal knows that," Ulla answered, "it's not trying to destroy us during the full moon, it just needs to release some of its magic."

"You mean, those rocks are coming from the opal?" The princess asked and the woman nodded.

"And if you can help it, try not to go outside when they're growing, they're still dangerous, even though the Moonstone isn't trying to hurt us," she stated and started walking, the girls followed.

"It seemed like it was trying to hurt us when we were out there," Cass said.

"Yeah, if the prince and Varian weren't there, we probably wouldn't be standing here right now," Raps added then the Protector stopped in her tracks.

"Come again?" She asked, looking at the girls.

"They saved us; Varian stopped Cass from going into the rocks' path and Eugene pushed me out of the way," the eighteen-year-old answered.

Ulla just stood there for a moment, torn between being mad that the boys snuck out, being impressed that they didn't get caught on their way out, and being proud that they saved two people. She suddenly chuckled a little.

"I'm glad they could help and that you're both okay," she said, "and I'm so sorry that was your first experience here. I promise, it's not always like that, we're just bad at first impressions."

Both girls laughed a bit, making the woman smile. She then began her tour, starting on the first floor, where they were, and ending on the third, where Raps and Cass were staying.

"... but I must request that neither of you go to either of the towers or above this floor, unless invited. I think that's everything," Ulla was saying as they came to the girls' room.

"I hope you both enjoy your stay," she concluded.

The Coronains thanked her for the tour then she left to let them get settled.

Previous Next

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

[jadiina-hope]

Forbidden Love

Chapter 3: Hospitality

Eugene jumped at the mysterious traveler, the black rocks barely missing his back as he pushed her out of the way, then there was a blinding blue light.

Once the light faded, Eugene looked down at the person he just saved to see a beautiful woman with emerald eyes and a dusting of freckles.

"Are you okay Miss?" He asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Um, yeah, I-I'm fine," Rapunzel answered, looking at the rock wall that seemed to appear out of thin air.

The man got up then extended a hand and the princess took it. They locked eyes as he helped her up.

"Who are you!" Cass exclaimed as she stepped between to two royals.

Varian and Eugene glanced at each other, as the archer came to his side, then looked at the two women.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Eugene responded, annoying the swordswoman.

"I said who are you!" She yelled.

"Cass!" Raps exclaimed as her friend drew her sword and put the point of the blade to Eugene's throat, making the prince freeze immediately.

"Lower your weapon!" Varian commanded.

"Or what?" Cass replied angrily.

Varian then pulled out an arrow. "Or this," he answered, touching the arrowhead to Cassandra's throat. The woman glared up at the archer, who smirked in return.

"Lower your weapon, and I'll lower mine," Varian said as Cass looked at the man at the end of her blade.

She then looked back to Varian and could tell he would honor his word, so she slowly lowered her sword. Once the sword was pointed towards the ground, Varian pulled the arrow away and put it back in his quiver.

"I hope I didn't hurt you Ma'am, but you threaten him again and I will," the archer warned.

Cass scoffed in response then Rapunzel put a hand on her shoulder, calming her a bit.

"Who are you guys?" The princess asked sweetly, stepping towards the two men.

"And why'd you attack us?" Cass added.

"The name's Horace Eugene Fitzherbert."

"And I'm Varian, son of Quirin, and we weren't attacking you," the archer added, crossing his arms.

"Oh really? I could've sworn I saw your buddy here tackle my friend," Cass growled.

"Cass, he saved me," Rapunzel responded, giving Eugene a grateful smile.

The swordswoman stared at her friend for a moment before noticing the wall of black spikes that wouldv'e hit Rapunzel. After a moment she looked back to Varian.

"If you weren't attacking us why'd you shoot an arrow at me? You missed by the way," she asked making Varian roll his eyes.

"I was trying to stop you, if I wanted to hit you I would've hit you," he replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Cass and Varian glared at each other before the crackle of the rocks returned. All four of them looked towards the sound and saw another cluster of black spikes growing.

"What's going on?" Rapunzel inquired, earning a confused and curious look from both men.

"Where are you two from?" The archer responded.

"What makes you so certain we're not from around here?" Cass asked, annoyed.

"Let's see, your sword is iron, you're out tonight, and you threatened the prince then asked who he was," Varian listed and crossed his arms.

"Are you always this smug?" The handmaiden retorted.

"Only when someone's annoying me, or when I know I'm right, in this case both," the archer replied, making Cass glare at him again.

"Yeah, he's not usually like this," Eugene whispered to Raps as Cass and Varian started arguing.

"He seems nice though," the princess whispered back.

"Oh, he is, smart too."

"Cass is like that too, only she has the tendency to rub people the wrong way."

"Apparently, I've never seen Varian so annoyed," Eugene finished then the two of them laughed a little.

"I'm Rapunzel by the way, uh, Prince Horace," she said with a small curtsy.

"Call me Eugene," he replied, looking into her eyes. The two just stood there staring at one another for a moment before their friends started yelling at each other.

"Cass, calm down," Rapunzel said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah Cass, calm down," Varian repeated, mocking Cass, earning an annoyed look from Eugene, "sorry."

"Do you ladies have a place to stay tonight?" The prince asked after a moment, looking back to Raps.

"We're fine, just point us towards the nearest inn and we'll be out of your hair," Cassandra answered before Rapunzel could.

"Happily, the inn's over there," Varian replied, pointing down a street that was littered with newly emerged black rocks.

"It should be closed right now though, you two can come to the castle, there's guest rooms prepared just for situations like this," the prince offered.

"We'll take our chances with the inn, thanks," Cass responded.

She was about to start walking towards the inn when Rapunzel stopped her.

"Even if it's open, we don't have anything to pay with, we only have Coronain coins," she whispered to her friend.

Cassandra sighed, realizing Rapunzel was right. "I'm not asking them."

"Um, would we still be able to take you up on that offer?" The princess asked sweetly.

☀️

"I can't believe you talked me into coming Raps," Cass said, "we're literally in the Dark Kingdom castle right now."

"Come on Cass, they saw we didn't have anywhere to go and gave us a room," The princess responded, "a nice one too, I love the color scheme."

Eugene had given them one of the largest guest rooms. It had two queen-size beds, both with matching tan and dark blue bedding. There was a nightstand by each bed, a soft, tan rug covering most of the floor, and a large window on one of the walls.

As Rapunzel took off her cloak, the swordswoman began scanning the room, noticing two doors. "One of these is probably a closet," Cass said, opening one of the doors, "yep, closet, a big one too."

"I wonder what this one is," Rapunzel responded, going to the other door and opening it. "Cass, we have our own washroom!" She exclaimed then looked at the faucet curiously before turning one of the handles. "There's running water!" the princess continued, making Cass come to the bathroom, "hot running water!"

"What!" Cass exclaimed then put her hand under the water.

"I did that," came a voice from the bedroom door, startling both girls. Rapunzel and Cass poked their heads out of the bathroom and saw Varian and Eugene standing by the door.

"First of the eight kingdoms to have hot running water, thanks to me," Varian boasted, "and my mom."

"Yeah, very impressive, what do you want?" Cass retorted, glaring at the boys.

"We just came to see if you wanted us to show you guys around a little before dinner," Eugene answered.

"Dinner?" Cassandra questioned.

"Yeah, dinner, you're guests, do you not want us to feed you?" The prince responded.

"No, no, it would be great if you could," Raps replied, looking at Eugene, confused and a little flustered. "Sorry, we um, we weren't expecting this much hospitality."

"Most people don't, it's probably the rocks that make us seem so... unapproachable," Varian responded.

"Well, that, and the fact our hot air balloon was shot down as soon as we could see the kingdom," Cass stated, crossing her arms.

"Oh... yeah, sorry, that was me," the archer said.

"You?" The handmaiden scoffed.

"Yep, I'm kinda the master archer around here," V answered with a proud smile.

"You, a master archer?" Cass repeated, "But you're like sixteen."

"Eighteen!"

"Whatever," the woman replied, earning a glare from the young man.

"Hey, before you guys start arguing again how bout we do that castle tour," Eugene suggested, stopping the bickering, "What do you say, Rapunzel?"

He then extended a hand for the princess to take. Once Raps took Eugene's hand, the princess's ring caught Varian's eye. Or should I say the symbol on it did.

Previous Next

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

[jadiina-hope]

One of my amazing readers, @margiecartoon sent me some sketches she did of a scene from Forbidden Love and I love them so much I just have to share them!!!

Its a scene from chapter 11: loyalty 🥰

Margie, you have no idea how much it means to me that you loved a scene so much that you drew it! You captured the brotherly love of this scene perfectly! Thank you so much!! ❤️❤️❤️

[jadiina-hope]

I know I posted chapter 1 yesterday, but I really want to do the next one! So

Forbidden Love

Chapter 2: The Dark Kingdom

A young man snuck through the dimly lit halls of the Dark Kingdom castle, what little sun they got in the spring was blocked out by the curtains.

He rounded a corner and looked into a large round room. Statues of the past rulers of the kingdom sat against the wall all the way around the room, the kingdom's seal was plastered on the floor, and a huge door stood across from where he peered in.

A sly smile spread across his face, but it quickly faded when he heard a soft knock behind him. He looked down the hall he had come from but didn't see anything. He then turned back to the room and was surprised to see a Brotherhood member, an older man with yellow eyes, blocking his path.

The men slowly stepped towards each other before the younger rushed in to attack. The elder dodged the attack easily, annoying the young man.

After he dodged a couple more attacks, the Brotherhood member knocked the attacker off his feet. He then grabbed his opponent's sword, pointed it at him, and sighed.

"At least try, Varian," the man said then handed the sword back to him.

"Seriously Hector, you know I'm better with a bow and arrow, you could've at least gone easy on me," the younger responded as he stood up.

"I was, you need to master more than one weapon if you're going to join the Brotherhood."

"Uncle Hector-"

"So I suggest you train more before doing this test again," Hector finished then left the room.

🟦

" 'I suggest you train more.' I've trained for eight years!" Varian ranted to the princess as he shot arrow after arrow at a target, hitting a bullseye every time.

" 'You need to master more than one weapon if you're gonna join the Brotherhood.' When I was ten, the king told me to choose a weapon and that when I master it I would join the Brotherhood," he continued, "I'd say I've mastered my weapon of choice, I haven't missed a bullseye in two years!"

"Really? Wow that's impressive," the princess said.

"Thank you, Luna!"

"You're welcome, Varian!"

"You guys just yelling at each other?" The prince asked as he walked onto the castle training grounds towards them.

"I was ranting, Eugene," Varian replied, getting ready to loose another arrow.

"That didn't sound like ranting."

"It was!" V snapped. Eugene then looked at his sister.

"He's mad," Luna stated.

"Yeah, I can tell," her brother replied, turning his gaze back to Varian, who had lowered his bow.

"I'm sorry, it's just..."

"You failed again, didn't you?" The prince gently asked.

Varian then put down his bow and sat on the ground.

"It's like Hector wants me to fail!" The archer responded, messing with the black feathers on the end of an arrow, "I mean, sure, I could use more practice with a sword but-"

"He's making you use swords for the test?" Eugene interrupted.

"Swords, spears, maces, halberds, everything except a bow," Varian answered then sighed.

"He knows we only need to master one weapon at first, right?" Eugene asked.

"Oh he knows, he just hates me," the alchemist responded, running his fingers over the black rock arrowhead.

"I almost passed the time I used a bo staff, but he won't let me use it again cause he knows I have a chance to beat him with it," Varian continued after a moment of silence.

He then took off his left black fingerless glove and looked at the faint symbol on the back of his hand.

"All I wanna do is join the Brotherhood, to be like my father, Adira, the king... you." He glanced over to Eugene before continuing. "But Hector won't let me," the archer finished, on the verge of tears.

He stared at the arrow in his hand for a moment before throwing it at the target. Eugene and Luna looked at the target for a second then Luna looked back to Varian.

"You still haven't missed," she said, putting her head on his shoulder.

He looked at her then at the target and chuckled; the arrow he just threw hit the bullseye.

"Can you do that again?" Eugene asked, still staring at the target, "get a bullseye without your bow?"

Varian nodded then stood up. He grabbed an arrow from the quiver on his back and threw it, hitting the bullseye again.

Eugene turned to the archer with a sly smile.

"I think I know how you can pass that test."

⚫

"You're not ready Varian, I thought it was obvious after that last test," Hector stated.

"Adira thinks I'm ready, my dad thinks I'm ready, Eugene knows I'm ready, even the king thinks I'm ready," the eighteen-year-old responded, "You're the only Brotherhood member who doesn't, why?"

"You're just not ready, you can't even use a sword," the man answered.

"Cause I'm not a swordsman, I'm an archer," Varian replied calmly then paused for a moment.

"So you won't let me use a bow, fine, but can I at least try with just the arrows? Just once?" the archer asked, "then I won't ask to retake it till I can give you a decent sword fight."

The man gave him a confused look before reluctantly agreeing. The test began within the hour.

🟦

"Eugene," Varian called as he stepped into the prince's chamber after the test.

"Did you pass?" The prince asked, putting down the Flynn Ryder book he was reading.

The archer then looked down, slowly working off his left glove. A small smile crept onto his face as Varian looked at his hand. His smile grew as he lifted his hand, showing Eugene the newly gray symbol on the back of it.

"In two weeks, I'm gonna be an official member of the Brotherhood!" Varian exclaimed proudly.

"You passed?!"

"I passed!"

"Yes! I knew you could do it! Let's hit the town to celebrate," Eugene suggested.

"Gene, it's a full moon, you know, when the rocks go crazy and no one in the kingdom's supposed to go out," the alchemist responded.

"I know, I know but.." The prince stopped, looking out the window, "Hey, do you see that?"

Varian followed Eugene's gaze and saw a light slowly floating towards the kingdom.

"What is it?" He asked then the prince grabbed his spyglass.

"Looks like... a hot air balloon?" The man answered, looking through the spyglass.

"There's never been a balloon this close before."

"I'll tell my dad," Eugene said as Varian opened the window.

"Nah, I bet I can hit it," the archer replied, using his fingers to measure the distance from the ground to the balloon.

A moment later, Varian reached over his right shoulder, grabbed the upper limb of his bow, and lifted the riser over the firm leather bolster keeping it in place on his back, the bow string popping free from its leather protection snapped to the front of his shirt in the process. He then shrugged his bow from his shoulder and grabbed an arrow from the quiver on his back.

"Dude, I know you're a master archer, but there's no way you're gonna hit that," the twenty-four-year-old said, watching as Varian launched the arrow out the window.

"Really?" V responded.

They both looked back to the window and watched as the light slowly fell to the ground.

"Okay, if we're not going into town to celebrate you passing the test, we're going to celebrate that shot, that was really impressive," Eugene said.

"We're gonna get in trouble, you realize that right?" Varian asked with a smile.

"Oh yeah, but when has that ever bothered us?" The prince responded as he grabbed his shadow blade.

"Good point," the younger replied with a chuckle.

With that, the two men were on their way out of the castle.

🔷️

Once they stepped out of the castle both men were on high alert. The usual sounds of crickets and cicadas were replaced with an eerie silence and the occasional soft crackle of a rock emerging. Sections of the ground were very faintly glowing a pale blue, revealing the path where new rocks would grow that evening.

As they continued through town, they began to hear some soft chatter. Varian and Eugene scanned the area, looking for the source of the sound.

"There," the prince said, pointing towards the outermost part of town, not too far from them.

Varian looked where he was pointing and saw two cloaked figures wandering away from the bridge.

"What are they doing?" Varian questioned as the crackle of the growing rocks grew louder.

He watched the dull path of light grow longer, then looked back towards the castle to see the rocks quickly beginning to rise from the ground.

"Um, do the rocks seem to be growing faster than usual?" He asked.

The prince nodded as he watched the rocks for a moment before looking back to the two strangers.

"They're heading towards the path!" Eugene exclaimed, causing Varian to look towards the hooded figures.

As the rocks began growing faster, Varian and Eugene raced towards the strangers, each on opposite sides of the path.

"Watch out!" Varian yelled as he pulled his bow free from its leather.

He grabbed an arrow from his quiver, stopped for a second, and launched it, stopping the taller of the two strangers, but the other wandered directly into the rocks' path, which seemed to make them grow even faster.

"Watch out!" The archer yelled again, the black rocks quickly gaining on them.

They whooshed past Varian and straight at the stranger. Eugene jumped to push her out of the way then there was a blinding blue light.

Previous Next

What if Edmond never tried to touch the Moonstone? What if he never gave the order to evacuate the Dark Kingdom? What if Gothel never "had

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46732432/chapters/117699025

[jadiina-hope]

In one of the chapters you said you would reveal who sent Cassandra to prison if someone guessed correctly. I wanted to know if that proposal still stands because I have a very good hunch.

Was that person Eugene's sister? Maybe it's just my imagination, but she gave off a Cassarian hater vibe to me.

I think I actually said I would give an extra snippet of the fic to the person who could guess who gave the order "scare her, hurt her. I don't care, kill her! Kill Cassandra!"

But yes, that proposal still stands 😆

[jadiina-hope]

Hi, how are you? Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to ask a few questions about "forbidden love".

Ask away! Forbidden Love is my passion project, I'll happily answer questions about it! 😆