Alchemist.

                                   “  Oh, please – don’t tell me that you’re suddenly going to grow your conscience back after all we’ve accomplished already.  “

The villain looks her former cellmate dead in the eyes, as though daring him to speak out against her plan that was going to work. Her expression rough as she’s ready to pull out her sword without any form of hesitation. If anyone – even Varian – would try to get in her way after all they had been through. She would be the one to remove them. And here she thought they had something special with being across from each other sharing horror stories as to how the royal family dared to treat them. Go figure, if you wanted something done right – you’d need to handle it yourself. Especially with the current crew she had to work with. The lot of them moronic enough to drown looking up at rain water, she was convinced. But they weren’t her concern for the moment – for now? Her attention would remain on the boy in front of her.

“  Unless you have a better plot to remove them from the picture, I suggest you follow along. Though you can always go and listen to that princess lie to you again. How’d that work out for you last time? Oh, that’s right. You had me to be your therapist.  “

                    Varian  would  be  lying  if  he  said  he  wasn’t  a  little  bit  afraid  right  now.  Lady  Caine  was  no  joke.  He’d  gotten  himself  in  too  deep  &&  he  was  just  now  realizing  this.  He’d  have  to  be  careful.  It  had  just  taken  him  too  long  to  realize  that  revenge  was  not  the  answer.  He  supposed  that  it  was  better  late  than  never,  but  now  he’d  have  to  stand  up  to  her  eventually.  

                    The  way  she  spoke  to  him  now,  it  made  him  flinch.  This  wasn’t  the  first  time  he’d  questioned  his  own  involvement  in  all  of  this,  but  it  was  the  first  time  he  voiced  his  concerns.  It  was  clear  to  him  that  she  was  trying  to  remind  him  about  his  anger,  but  that  was  gone  now.  He  didn’t  feel  angry  anymore  &&  he  regretted  what  he  did  in  the  midst  of  his  anger  &&  grief.  

“Okay, you’re– you’re telling me that YOU can do magic, too–?” He had yet to meet anyone besides himself who had the ability to use magic; funny, though, that all it took was a hop, skip, and a jump into an alternate dimension. (That he’d work out the details on getting back from later.) “That is– That’s so COOL.” | @chemisonne​ for vitas babeyyyyy

                    To  say  that  Vitas  was  surprised  would  be  an  understatement.  He’d  never  seen  anyone  quite  like  this  stranger  in  front  of  him.  He  decided  not  to  comment,  however.  He’d  noticed  the  staff  &&  was  admittedly  distracted.  To  meet  another  magic  user  was  always  exciting  for  Vitas.  

relief  coloured  her  smile  at  his  reply ,  the  trace  of  hesitance  which  sat  there  slowly  melting  away.    in  the  mess  of  it  all ,  cassandra  nearly  forgot  the  necklace.   not  ‘til  she  saw  it  again ,  sparkling  innocently  within  her  room   ———   set  out  on  display  by  someone  else’s  hands.   lucky ,  that  it  came  out  unscathed  when  she  subjected  her  room  to  the  brunt  of  her  rage.   it  gleamed  just  as  brightly  now ,  held  within  her  lap ,  as  it  did  the  day  he  presented  it  to  her  back  at  the  exposition.   a  day  that  seemed  a   LIFETIME  AWAY   now.

it  came  as  more  comfort  than  cassandra  expected ,  to  have  it  in  her  grasp  again.

lips  twitched  faintly ,  gaze  cast  toward  him  when  he  paused.   slowly ,  she  nodded  :   one  filled  with  an  understanding  they  shared.   cassandra  spent  a  lot  of  time  since  zhan  tiri’s  fall ,  mind  swirling  with  what  ifs.   with  regrets  of  all  the  things  she  wished  she  could  take  back.     “   i  know ,  varian.   it—   it  was  a  tough  situation.   but  i  don’t  hold  it  against  you.   ”     in  the  aftermath  of  battle ,  maybe  ;   not  now.

“   i  missed  you ,  too.   and  i’m  glad  you’re  alright.   y’know .  .  .   as  much  as  we  can  be  right  now.   ”     she  couldn’t  help  but  wonder  how  long  it  would  be  before  any  of  them   ———   before  corona  itself  could  be  considered   alright.     “   can  i ,  uh—   can  i  ask  how  you  got  out  of  the  tower  ?   i  mean ,  were  you .  .  .  ok  ?   i  know  things  got  pretty  crazy ,  &  i  didn’t  exactly  let  you  out  of  there.   ”

                    Varian  only  nodded  at  Cass.  It  was  such  a  relief  that  they  could  be  friends  again.  Repairing  his  relationships  was  the  hardest  part  of  everything  he’d  been  through  -  anybody  he  came  across,  if  they  hadn’t  wanted  to  forgive  him,  he’d  never  hold  it  against  them.  He’d  done  so  much  harm.  That  was  probably  what  made  it  so  easy  for  him  to  forgive  Cass.  Besides,  in  his  eyes,  he  was  the  one  who  betrayed  her  first.  Nonetheless,  he  had  no  ill  will  toward  her.  They  were  going  to  be  fine.  He’d  make  sure  of  it.  

                    Ah,  right  -  she  didn’t  know  how  he  left.  He  shifted,  slightly  nervous.  The  last  thing  he  wanted  was  for  her  to  feel  bad  about  it.  After  all,  he  was  fine!  A  slight  fear  of  heights  maybe,  but  he  wasn’t  worried  about  that.  

    ―    The creature hesitated as Varian opened the door, and seemed to take a step back. He still had his grin on his face. It could never leave. Focus stayed on the boy, and he lowered his enlarged fist. That was his friend… Why had he run in here like that? He looked panicked. He was lost in his own mind, in his thoughts. He wasn’t even sure what was going on around him. All he could feel was rage.

                       ❛   L … i a r … .   ❜

           His voice was harsh and scratchy. A body trying to emulate the sound it could once make. Ink dripped from his form, creating a pool around him that was just absorbed back into him. What was wrong? There had been so many things. So many things he had kept from Varian. He was just trying to protect him. Then he saw that thing in the lab. The Scroll.

            Suddenly he straightened up, and whipped his head back to the scroll, and let out a growl. Him. HE was the reason everything went wrong! He always was! Hand raised again to go after the scroll, to grab it.

            The inky hand however, couldn’t. Some force pushed against his hand, making it impossible for him to grab it. This only caused him to growl more, before it quieted down, and he fell with a harsh thud on his knees.

                       ❛   G o …       t o      b e d … . .       V a r i … a n … .  .   ❜

                    Varian  could  only  watch  as  Bendy  reached  for  the  Demanitus  scroll.  His  heart  pounded  in  his  chest  -  no!  He  needed  that  to  help  his  dad!  What  was  wrong  with  him?  He’d  never  seen  Bendy  like  this  before.  It  was  absolutely  terrifying.  He  was  only  slightly  relieved  upon  realizing  that  Bendy  couldn’t  actually  pick  up  the  scroll.  Even  with  that  though,  Varian  was  still  incredibly  worried  for  his  friend.  Bendy  did  so  much  for  him,  how  could  he  not  help  him  in  return?