-Best Thief Around-

RP RULES:

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Please refrain from asking questions that would be impossible for the admins to know. We’re not scientists.***

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**some light fun trolling is okay but there comes a point where it seriously gets to be too much.

*Belle steps into Jacky’s doorway, looking at him from there, not quite sure of coming in.*

*muffled*

Heh.. I know the feeling.

It just doesn’t make sense- I mean, none of anything that’s happened on this trip has ever really made “sense,” but at least that was magic or alchemy or something-

| His tone begins to settle and break |

It’s- it’s fine Hugo’s probably just in trouble and we’re all getting worried that he left agai-

*Belle realizes she’d let the word slip. She sighs*

Um... I just remember how it felt when Hugo first left Donella. And- I was still working for her at the time.

And now I’m glad he did she was awful but uh- I remember not knowing why... As much as we used to fight I remember feeling pretty alone...

| Jacky slightly lifts his head |

I know the feeling.

“Ditched” club.

| Jacky does a cheerless, “Woo.” |

The stupidest thing about this is that I just feel like that same stupid 13-year-old kid who just... Wondered where my only friend went. And if I did something wrong.

And I know that’s not the case now, but- I can’t help but-

| Jacky purses his lips to keep from crying and pulls his hood over his eyes and buried his head in his knees |

*Belle takes a deep breath and looks at Jacky sympathetically*

But uh- we’ll be okay... I’m sure whatever this is that it’ll get sorted out.

Everything always works out right? I mean, that’s just what happens with our group...

I’ve never really seen this group as “lucky.”

*Belle steps into Jacky’s doorway, looking at him from there, not quite sure of coming in.*

*muffled*

Heh.. I know the feeling.

It just doesn’t make sense- I mean, none of anything that’s happened on this trip has ever really made “sense,” but at least that was magic or alchemy or something-

| His tone begins to settle and break |

It’s- it’s fine Hugo’s probably just in trouble and we’re all getting worried that he left agai-

*Belle realizes she’d let the word slip. She sighs*

Um... I just remember how it felt when Hugo first left Donella. And- I was still working for her at the time.

And now I’m glad he did she was awful but uh- I remember not knowing why... As much as we used to fight I remember feeling pretty alone...

| Jacky slightly lifts his head |

I know the feeling.

“Ditched” club.

| Jacky does a cheerless, “Woo.” |

The stupidest thing about this is that I just feel like that same stupid 13-year-old kid who just... Wondered where my only friend went. And if I did something wrong.

And I know that’s not the case now, but- I can’t help but-

| Jacky purses his lips to keep from crying and pulls his hood over his eyes and buried his head in his knees |

*Belle steps into Jacky’s doorway, looking at him from there, not quite sure of coming in.*

*muffled*

Heh.. I know the feeling.

It just doesn’t make sense- I mean, none of anything that’s happened on this trip has ever really made “sense,” but at least that was magic or alchemy or something-

| His tone begins to settle and break |

It’s- it’s fine Hugo’s probably just in trouble and we’re all getting worried that he left agai-

*Belle realizes she’d let the word slip. She sighs*

Um... I just remember how it felt when Hugo first left Donella. And- I was still working for her at the time.

And now I’m glad he did she was awful but uh- I remember not knowing why... As much as we used to fight I remember feeling pretty alone...

| Jacky slightly lifts his head |

I know the feeling.

*Belle steps into Jacky’s doorway, looking at him from there, not quite sure of coming in.*

*muffled*

Heh.. I know the feeling.

It just doesn’t make sense- I mean, none of anything that’s happened on this trip has ever really made “sense,” but at least that was magic or alchemy or something-

| His tone begins to settle and break |

It’s- it’s fine Hugo’s probably just in trouble and we’re all getting worried that he left agai-

*Belle steps into Jacky’s doorway, looking at him from there, not quite sure of coming in.*

*muffled*

Heh.. I know the feeling.

It just doesn’t make sense- I mean, none of anything that’s happened on this trip has ever really made “sense,” but at least that was magic or alchemy or something-

| His tone begins to settle and break |

*Belle steps into Jacky’s doorway, looking at him from there, not quite sure of coming in.*

*muffled*

Heh.. I know the feeling.

*Belle steps into Jacky’s doorway, looking at him from there, not quite sure of coming in.*

*muffled*

[Varian stares at the last totem in his hand, the reality of the situation finally starting to sink in.]

We...did it-

That’s the last one-

[A bright smile starts to form on his face.]

Wow....Haha.

[Hugo brushes his hair out of his face in awe, the reality sinking in]

Haha!

[He turns to Varian with a grin]

*Belle puts an arm around Varian for a side hug*

You did it Var!

Haha! We did it. I mean, obviously I couldn’t have finished this journey without you guys, heh.

[Varian clasps his hands together, getting back to business.]

Okay! This is going to take a bit of assembly, but I’m sure it’ll be a snap.

[He opens to the page of Ulla’s journal that contains a diagram of the portal.]

Oh- Oh. Oh.

Oh, well-

| Jacky nods, clearing his throat |

Uhhhhh-

* Looks at Hugo *

Definitely difficult...

[He rummages through his bag]

But I’ve dealt with harder projects-

[Varian pulls out some tools from his bag.]

Why, thank you!

[Varian takes a deep breath and pulls the totem out of his bag.]

Okay...here goes-

What’s wrong? Don’t you want to get this thing going? See your mom finally, right?

What if she-

What if I’m not what she expected? I don’t-

*mumbles*

Varian, she’ll be glad to meet you—

[Hugo tries for a more light-hearted tone]

Her son, Varian, the Royal Engineer of Corona?

Vanquisher of the Red Rocks, Studier of Demanitus, Creator of Hot Running Water Machines, and Brewer of Hot Chocolate?

I can go on with more titles if need be to prove my point- But I think you get it.

I don’t know much about your mom, I’ve only read her journal a couple times- But I can tell you a few things you two have in common- You’re both dorks, you love alchemy, and you’re brave and crackpots.

[Hugo smiles]

You're getting pretty good at this motivational speech thing, heh.

*sincerely*

And that’s pretty cool, right?

Heh, I...uh-

[He smiles, his eyes starting to water just a little. From the "sun," of course.]

Thank-thank you.

You sap.

You’re the best friend we could have.

Aw-

[Varian stares at the last totem in his hand, the reality of the situation finally starting to sink in.]

We...did it-

That’s the last one-

[A bright smile starts to form on his face.]

Wow....Haha.

[Hugo brushes his hair out of his face in awe, the reality sinking in]

Haha!

[He turns to Varian with a grin]

*Belle puts an arm around Varian for a side hug*

You did it Var!

Haha! We did it. I mean, obviously I couldn’t have finished this journey without you guys, heh.

[Varian clasps his hands together, getting back to business.]

Okay! This is going to take a bit of assembly, but I’m sure it’ll be a snap.

[He opens to the page of Ulla’s journal that contains a diagram of the portal.]

Oh- Oh. Oh.

Oh, well-

| Jacky nods, clearing his throat |

Uhhhhh-

* Looks at Hugo *

Definitely difficult...

[He rummages through his bag]

But I’ve dealt with harder projects-

[Varian pulls out some tools from his bag.]

Why, thank you!

[Varian takes a deep breath and pulls the totem out of his bag.]

Okay...here goes-

What’s wrong? Don’t you want to get this thing going? See your mom finally, right?

What if she-

What if I’m not what she expected? I don’t-

*mumbles*

Varian, she’ll be glad to meet you—

[Hugo tries for a more light-hearted tone]

Her son, Varian, the Royal Engineer of Corona?

Vanquisher of the Red Rocks, Studier of Demanitus, Creator of Hot Running Water Machines, and Brewer of Hot Chocolate?

I can go on with more titles if need be to prove my point- But I think you get it.

I don’t know much about your mom, I’ve only read her journal a couple times- But I can tell you a few things you two have in common- You’re both dorks, you love alchemy, and you’re brave and crackpots.

[Hugo smiles]

You're getting pretty good at this motivational speech thing, heh.

*sincerely*

And that’s pretty cool, right?

[Varian stares at the last totem in his hand, the reality of the situation finally starting to sink in.]

We...did it-

That’s the last one-

[A bright smile starts to form on his face.]

Wow....Haha.

[Hugo brushes his hair out of his face in awe, the reality sinking in]

Haha!

[He turns to Varian with a grin]

*Belle puts an arm around Varian for a side hug*

You did it Var!

Haha! We did it. I mean, obviously I couldn’t have finished this journey without you guys, heh.

[Varian clasps his hands together, getting back to business.]

Okay! This is going to take a bit of assembly, but I’m sure it’ll be a snap.

[He opens to the page of Ulla’s journal that contains a diagram of the portal.]

Oh- Oh. Oh.

Oh, well-

| Jacky nods, clearing his throat |

[Varian walks across the halls of the castle, carrying some spare parts for his new invention when he sees something zoom across the floor in a blur out of the corner of his eye.]

*confused*

...What the-

*to Jacky*

Oh- oh NO- AHH!

[Varian falls on his back with a groan.]

That’s...agh-

Oh shoot, uh, sorry Varian- heh-

Oh, no, it’s fine!

[He jumps up with a grunt and brushes himself off.]

Happens all the time!

[He makes a “rewind” motion with his hands as he explains.]

I mean, not this exact scenario-

But falling-

Eh, don’t sweat it.

*sighs*

I mean.. I never knew how fun it was to.. slide across the floor in socks?

| He tucks one foot behind another |

Yeah, the castle floors are actually that slippery because of an invention of mine-

[He places a hand to his chest, clearly bragging.]

Not to brag, but it can clean this whole hallway in two seconds flat!

*clears throat*

Of course, assuming they used the compound while I was gone. They could have also just been cleaned the usual way, I don’t know, heh-

[He turns back to Jacky to switch topics.]

And hey, I was intending the stealing “intervention” to be a one-timer.

*under his breath*

Especially after a certain someone scammed me out of 10 silver-

[He huffs and placed his hands on his hips.]

So I believe ya. Plus it’s not exactly in my jurisdiction to administer any kind of punishment if you were stealing- it was mostly a suggestion-

*backtracking*

| Jacky looked at the end of the hallway |

Dang... That’s pretty awesome!

Ha- thanks-

And uh...that would be Eugene’s.

[He lets out a weak chuckle and toys with the stripe a bit.]

Uh...

Well, I mean he-

He knows about the moonstone and everything as a whole- but about me having it...

Rapunzel might have told him?

[The stripe starts to grow faintly, so Varian just tells the truth.]

| Jacky notices Varian’s stripe |

Oh yeah. It’s fun-

[The stripe lights up again and Varian sighs, pointing to it.]

Not exactly with combat, per se, just how to “control” the rocks, I guess?

There are other things like the incantations-

But the ones for the moonstone only bring bad news-

*stripe glows*

Like- hocus pocus?

Well, not exactly. See, the Sundrop and Moonstone lore goes back centuries- millennia even.

Demanitus discovered these, er, chants that basically ignite the power of the celestial stones. The Sundrop possesses healing and, uh...I don’t even know- some kind of deadly light show? Heh.

And then the Moonstone possesses “decaying” and, as you know, the rocks.

I have no idea how Demanitus discovered these incantations, nor how he knew they would work with the stones- but at this point I’ve just come to the conclusion that magic makes no sense and sometimes you just have to roll with it, heh.

[Varian blows some hair out of his face, needing to expound on that last point.]

I mean, it basically breaks every law of physics- practically every universal law known to mankind-

wow.

Uh- Okay, I really need to start reading up on this stuff.

I heard you use one of them. I- I think. I could just barely hear it through the caravan.

Crescent.... High....

Aghhh, haha-

Yeah, that’s the, uh-

[He spreads his arms out.]

“Ultimate Moonstone Incantation”

I guess I was using it to gain more control of the rocks or something. But it wasn’t really me- it was more-

*sighs*

If you count four as “a lot,” then yes, heh.

They were not easy to find, though. Took me months to translate the Demanitus scroll-

Which was originally split up into multiple parts and each piece was hidden-

Do they just- correspond to one stone?

No, no , no.

[Varian moves his hands around as he explains.]

See, there’s the Sundrop which used to be in a flower form but eventually just became Princess Rapunzel and that was quite an interesting situation.

And then, of course, there’s the Moonstone opal, but currently I guess it’s just... me?

No, no-

She’s-

[His laughter cuts off and he takes a second to ponder that statement.]

Well, I mean-

Uh-

[He opens his mouth to say more, and then closes it to think of a response.]

She consumed the...essence of the flower-

But not-

[Varian begins to realize how accurate Jacky’s statement might have been.]

I mean the old one still existed, just dead-

*under his breath*

She’s not a physical flower- but she did take in all of the Sundrop flower’s essence-

So technically she consumed the life from the flower-

But that life was put there by the Sundrop in the first place-

[As Varian goes on, he just confuses himself.]

Okay! To sum things up-

I’m not a physical stone, no-

Just have the powers.

[Varian takes a deep breath to calm down.]

But, okay, technically I guess you could say I’m the “human host for the moonstone.”

But, about those incantations-

| He crosses his arms to symbolize his point |

But, I mean, I’ve never really tried to-

[He glances down to where Jacky’s stab wound is, pondering something.]

I mean-

Obviously it’s not great, ha-

But you just gave me a great idea! Come on!

| Jacky basically trails behind Varian as best he can |

[He skids to a halt in front of his lab door in the castle and steps inside, pausing a second to catch his breath.]

Alright! I’m not really sure if this is going to work out...but I’m 99% sure that it won’t cause any additional harm, heh.

[He rubs the back of his neck and mutters.]

I kinda forgot to tell you-

The healing one, heh.

Which is the safest. Because if it goes wrong, nothing happens! At least, I don’t think it does. But from experience, there aren’t any effects.

Of course, that was the Sundrop instead of the Moonstone-

[He plasters a “confident” smile on his face.]

...I’m sure it’ll be fine!

[Varian rambles as he sketches out designs and writes down some formulas.]

Just the whole decaying thing. So, essentially draining the life out of people-

Which actually has happened to me. It’s not fun, heh.

And just “power” in general? Huge waves of energy that just sort of...stem from the core of the moonstone?

Also, gaining complete control of the rocks allows the user to literally make them do whatever they want! For example, I was once held hostage in a tower completely constructed of the rocks-

[He taps the pen to his chin.]

Oh, and, also trapped in a cage comprised of them that was probably higher off the ground than the top of this castle.

Basically my point is you can build things out of them, heh.

[He turns back to Jacky as he’s moving over to another table to start construction on his device.]

Uhm- Just asking to make sure this is safe- Just cover the baselines and such, you know.

| Jacky steers the conversation elsewhere |

[Varian scratches the back of his head for a second, trying to figure out how to word it.]

Quite a bit, actually. It grew on the outskirts of Corona, as the legend states, which has proven to be true.

[He works as he tells the whole story again, grabbing random parts from drawers and discarded scrap metal from a pile.]

The queen was sick at the time while giving birth to Rapunzel, so the king searched the kingdom to find the flower, drained it of its magic and fed it to the queen. It actually healed her and gave Rapunzel her 70 ft long, golden hair which had the power to heal-

And also assisted in some pretty awesome fighting techniques if I’m honest, heh.

Long story short- she was taken and returned 18 years later and the hair had been completely cut off into a rendition of the short, brunette style she has now. After discovering the rocks, however, which were growing in the same place, her hair returned and brought a plethora of problems along with it-

Through some...means of my own, I learned that the Sundrop flower didn’t actually possess any magic anymore, and Rapunzel was now the true source of the Sundrop’s power. At the time though, she was actually able to control the rocks.

[He turns back to Jacky, realizing how confusing it all is.]

| Despite Jacky’s attention on the conversation, he only got half of what Varian said |

Yeah, especially since the rocks broke through the border and covered quite a bit of land leading up to the Dark Kingdom, so I’ve heard.

It’s also where my dad comes from, I guess. As well as Eugene.

He’s actually prince of the Dark Kingdom, technically. It’s a long story.

[Varian pulls his goggles over his face and flips down the monocle for better focus as he wires part of the mechanism.]

You did?

[Varian cuts himself off to focus and solders the wires together with a tool. When he’s done, he lifts up his goggles and fits the wires into a long tube he made.]

| Jacky chuckles a little |

*jokingly*

This is like, the one time in my life I enjoy learning about science.

Eh, none taken. It’s not for everyone, ha-

I mean, if it was- I’d be out of a job!

[Varian carries the tube over to Jacky and hands it to him.]

All you have to do is just wrap this around the area that’s damaged. I’ll take this handle here and that’s the set up-

And then it uh...

[Varian pulls over a chair from his desk and sits across from Jacky, holding the handle of his device and focusing all of the power he can through the tube.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and suddenly...his hair begins to glow, but not just the stripe-

He tries not to look in order to keep his concentration on Jacky, but he could tell that something weird was happening.]

Okay...here ‘goes.

Woah...

| The incantation ends, and Jacky takes off the device |

I mean... You sing well?

[Varian rubs the back of his neck, kind of embarrassed.]

...Oh-

Well- this is familiar, heh.

| Jacky rests his hand on the wound- realizing it doesn’t hurt |

Wait...

| He taps it again, finding the wound gone |

...you-

REALLY?

I actually-

[A huge smile starts to form on Varian’s face.]

The stab wound’s- gone? Completely? Like it wasn’t even there-

[Varian smiles brightly and pushes his hair up with his hands in disbelief.]

I can’t even fathom how that works!

But it did-

I- I guess so!

I-

[Varian walks across the halls of the castle, carrying some spare parts for his new invention when he sees something zoom across the floor in a blur out of the corner of his eye.]

*confused*

...What the-

*to Jacky*

Oh- oh NO- AHH!

[Varian falls on his back with a groan.]

That’s...agh-

Oh shoot, uh, sorry Varian- heh-

Oh, no, it’s fine!

[He jumps up with a grunt and brushes himself off.]

Happens all the time!

[He makes a “rewind” motion with his hands as he explains.]

I mean, not this exact scenario-

But falling-

Eh, don’t sweat it.

*sighs*

I mean.. I never knew how fun it was to.. slide across the floor in socks?

| He tucks one foot behind another |

Yeah, the castle floors are actually that slippery because of an invention of mine-

[He places a hand to his chest, clearly bragging.]

Not to brag, but it can clean this whole hallway in two seconds flat!

*clears throat*

Of course, assuming they used the compound while I was gone. They could have also just been cleaned the usual way, I don’t know, heh-

[He turns back to Jacky to switch topics.]

And hey, I was intending the stealing “intervention” to be a one-timer.

*under his breath*

Especially after a certain someone scammed me out of 10 silver-

[He huffs and placed his hands on his hips.]

So I believe ya. Plus it’s not exactly in my jurisdiction to administer any kind of punishment if you were stealing- it was mostly a suggestion-

*backtracking*

| Jacky looked at the end of the hallway |

Dang... That’s pretty awesome!

Ha- thanks-

And uh...that would be Eugene’s.

[He lets out a weak chuckle and toys with the stripe a bit.]

Uh...

Well, I mean he-

He knows about the moonstone and everything as a whole- but about me having it...

Rapunzel might have told him?

[The stripe starts to grow faintly, so Varian just tells the truth.]

| Jacky notices Varian’s stripe |

Oh yeah. It’s fun-

[The stripe lights up again and Varian sighs, pointing to it.]

Not exactly with combat, per se, just how to “control” the rocks, I guess?

There are other things like the incantations-

But the ones for the moonstone only bring bad news-

*stripe glows*

Like- hocus pocus?

Well, not exactly. See, the Sundrop and Moonstone lore goes back centuries- millennia even.

Demanitus discovered these, er, chants that basically ignite the power of the celestial stones. The Sundrop possesses healing and, uh...I don’t even know- some kind of deadly light show? Heh.

And then the Moonstone possesses “decaying” and, as you know, the rocks.

I have no idea how Demanitus discovered these incantations, nor how he knew they would work with the stones- but at this point I’ve just come to the conclusion that magic makes no sense and sometimes you just have to roll with it, heh.

[Varian blows some hair out of his face, needing to expound on that last point.]

I mean, it basically breaks every law of physics- practically every universal law known to mankind-

wow.

Uh- Okay, I really need to start reading up on this stuff.

I heard you use one of them. I- I think. I could just barely hear it through the caravan.

Crescent.... High....

Aghhh, haha-

Yeah, that’s the, uh-

[He spreads his arms out.]

“Ultimate Moonstone Incantation”

I guess I was using it to gain more control of the rocks or something. But it wasn’t really me- it was more-

*sighs*

If you count four as “a lot,” then yes, heh.

They were not easy to find, though. Took me months to translate the Demanitus scroll-

Which was originally split up into multiple parts and each piece was hidden-

Do they just- correspond to one stone?

No, no , no.

[Varian moves his hands around as he explains.]

See, there’s the Sundrop which used to be in a flower form but eventually just became Princess Rapunzel and that was quite an interesting situation.

And then, of course, there’s the Moonstone opal, but currently I guess it’s just... me?

No, no-

She’s-

[His laughter cuts off and he takes a second to ponder that statement.]

Well, I mean-

Uh-

[He opens his mouth to say more, and then closes it to think of a response.]

She consumed the...essence of the flower-

But not-

[Varian begins to realize how accurate Jacky’s statement might have been.]

I mean the old one still existed, just dead-

*under his breath*

She’s not a physical flower- but she did take in all of the Sundrop flower’s essence-

So technically she consumed the life from the flower-

But that life was put there by the Sundrop in the first place-

[As Varian goes on, he just confuses himself.]

Okay! To sum things up-

I’m not a physical stone, no-

Just have the powers.

[Varian takes a deep breath to calm down.]

But, okay, technically I guess you could say I’m the “human host for the moonstone.”

But, about those incantations-

| He crosses his arms to symbolize his point |

But, I mean, I’ve never really tried to-

[He glances down to where Jacky’s stab wound is, pondering something.]

I mean-

Obviously it’s not great, ha-

But you just gave me a great idea! Come on!

| Jacky basically trails behind Varian as best he can |

[He skids to a halt in front of his lab door in the castle and steps inside, pausing a second to catch his breath.]

Alright! I’m not really sure if this is going to work out...but I’m 99% sure that it won’t cause any additional harm, heh.

[He rubs the back of his neck and mutters.]

I kinda forgot to tell you-

The healing one, heh.

Which is the safest. Because if it goes wrong, nothing happens! At least, I don’t think it does. But from experience, there aren’t any effects.

Of course, that was the Sundrop instead of the Moonstone-

[He plasters a “confident” smile on his face.]

...I’m sure it’ll be fine!

[Varian rambles as he sketches out designs and writes down some formulas.]

Just the whole decaying thing. So, essentially draining the life out of people-

Which actually has happened to me. It’s not fun, heh.

And just “power” in general? Huge waves of energy that just sort of...stem from the core of the moonstone?

Also, gaining complete control of the rocks allows the user to literally make them do whatever they want! For example, I was once held hostage in a tower completely constructed of the rocks-

[He taps the pen to his chin.]

Oh, and, also trapped in a cage comprised of them that was probably higher off the ground than the top of this castle.

Basically my point is you can build things out of them, heh.

[He turns back to Jacky as he’s moving over to another table to start construction on his device.]

Uhm- Just asking to make sure this is safe- Just cover the baselines and such, you know.

| Jacky steers the conversation elsewhere |

[Varian scratches the back of his head for a second, trying to figure out how to word it.]

Quite a bit, actually. It grew on the outskirts of Corona, as the legend states, which has proven to be true.

[He works as he tells the whole story again, grabbing random parts from drawers and discarded scrap metal from a pile.]

The queen was sick at the time while giving birth to Rapunzel, so the king searched the kingdom to find the flower, drained it of its magic and fed it to the queen. It actually healed her and gave Rapunzel her 70 ft long, golden hair which had the power to heal-

And also assisted in some pretty awesome fighting techniques if I’m honest, heh.

Long story short- she was taken and returned 18 years later and the hair had been completely cut off into a rendition of the short, brunette style she has now. After discovering the rocks, however, which were growing in the same place, her hair returned and brought a plethora of problems along with it-

Through some...means of my own, I learned that the Sundrop flower didn’t actually possess any magic anymore, and Rapunzel was now the true source of the Sundrop’s power. At the time though, she was actually able to control the rocks.

[He turns back to Jacky, realizing how confusing it all is.]

| Despite Jacky’s attention on the conversation, he only got half of what Varian said |

Yeah, especially since the rocks broke through the border and covered quite a bit of land leading up to the Dark Kingdom, so I’ve heard.

It’s also where my dad comes from, I guess. As well as Eugene.

He’s actually prince of the Dark Kingdom, technically. It’s a long story.

[Varian pulls his goggles over his face and flips down the monocle for better focus as he wires part of the mechanism.]

You did?

[Varian cuts himself off to focus and solders the wires together with a tool. When he’s done, he lifts up his goggles and fits the wires into a long tube he made.]

| Jacky chuckles a little |

*jokingly*

This is like, the one time in my life I enjoy learning about science.

Eh, none taken. It’s not for everyone, ha-

I mean, if it was- I’d be out of a job!

[Varian carries the tube over to Jacky and hands it to him.]

All you have to do is just wrap this around the area that’s damaged. I’ll take this handle here and that’s the set up-

And then it uh...

[Varian pulls over a chair from his desk and sits across from Jacky, holding the handle of his device and focusing all of the power he can through the tube.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and suddenly...his hair begins to glow, but not just the stripe-

He tries not to look in order to keep his concentration on Jacky, but he could tell that something weird was happening.]

Okay...here ‘goes.

Woah...

| The incantation ends, and Jacky takes off the device |

I mean... You sing well?

[Varian rubs the back of his neck, kind of embarrassed.]

...Oh-

Well- this is familiar, heh.

| Jacky rests his hand on the wound- realizing it doesn’t hurt |

Wait...

| He taps it again, finding the wound gone |

...you-

REALLY?

I actually-

[A huge smile starts to form on Varian’s face.]

[Varian walks across the halls of the castle, carrying some spare parts for his new invention when he sees something zoom across the floor in a blur out of the corner of his eye.]

*confused*

...What the-

*to Jacky*

Oh- oh NO- AHH!

[Varian falls on his back with a groan.]

That’s...agh-

Oh shoot, uh, sorry Varian- heh-

Oh, no, it’s fine!

[He jumps up with a grunt and brushes himself off.]

Happens all the time!

[He makes a “rewind” motion with his hands as he explains.]

I mean, not this exact scenario-

But falling-

Eh, don’t sweat it.

*sighs*

I mean.. I never knew how fun it was to.. slide across the floor in socks?

| He tucks one foot behind another |

Yeah, the castle floors are actually that slippery because of an invention of mine-

[He places a hand to his chest, clearly bragging.]

Not to brag, but it can clean this whole hallway in two seconds flat!

*clears throat*

Of course, assuming they used the compound while I was gone. They could have also just been cleaned the usual way, I don’t know, heh-

[He turns back to Jacky to switch topics.]

And hey, I was intending the stealing “intervention” to be a one-timer.

*under his breath*

Especially after a certain someone scammed me out of 10 silver-

[He huffs and placed his hands on his hips.]

So I believe ya. Plus it’s not exactly in my jurisdiction to administer any kind of punishment if you were stealing- it was mostly a suggestion-

*backtracking*

| Jacky looked at the end of the hallway |

Dang... That’s pretty awesome!

Ha- thanks-

And uh...that would be Eugene’s.

[He lets out a weak chuckle and toys with the stripe a bit.]

Uh...

Well, I mean he-

He knows about the moonstone and everything as a whole- but about me having it...

Rapunzel might have told him?

[The stripe starts to grow faintly, so Varian just tells the truth.]

| Jacky notices Varian’s stripe |

Oh yeah. It’s fun-

[The stripe lights up again and Varian sighs, pointing to it.]

Not exactly with combat, per se, just how to “control” the rocks, I guess?

There are other things like the incantations-

But the ones for the moonstone only bring bad news-

*stripe glows*

Like- hocus pocus?

Well, not exactly. See, the Sundrop and Moonstone lore goes back centuries- millennia even.

Demanitus discovered these, er, chants that basically ignite the power of the celestial stones. The Sundrop possesses healing and, uh...I don’t even know- some kind of deadly light show? Heh.

And then the Moonstone possesses “decaying” and, as you know, the rocks.

I have no idea how Demanitus discovered these incantations, nor how he knew they would work with the stones- but at this point I’ve just come to the conclusion that magic makes no sense and sometimes you just have to roll with it, heh.

[Varian blows some hair out of his face, needing to expound on that last point.]

I mean, it basically breaks every law of physics- practically every universal law known to mankind-

wow.

Uh- Okay, I really need to start reading up on this stuff.

I heard you use one of them. I- I think. I could just barely hear it through the caravan.

Crescent.... High....

Aghhh, haha-

Yeah, that’s the, uh-

[He spreads his arms out.]

“Ultimate Moonstone Incantation”

I guess I was using it to gain more control of the rocks or something. But it wasn’t really me- it was more-

*sighs*

If you count four as “a lot,” then yes, heh.

They were not easy to find, though. Took me months to translate the Demanitus scroll-

Which was originally split up into multiple parts and each piece was hidden-

Do they just- correspond to one stone?

No, no , no.

[Varian moves his hands around as he explains.]

See, there’s the Sundrop which used to be in a flower form but eventually just became Princess Rapunzel and that was quite an interesting situation.

And then, of course, there’s the Moonstone opal, but currently I guess it’s just... me?

No, no-

She’s-

[His laughter cuts off and he takes a second to ponder that statement.]

Well, I mean-

Uh-

[He opens his mouth to say more, and then closes it to think of a response.]

She consumed the...essence of the flower-

But not-

[Varian begins to realize how accurate Jacky’s statement might have been.]

I mean the old one still existed, just dead-

*under his breath*

She’s not a physical flower- but she did take in all of the Sundrop flower’s essence-

So technically she consumed the life from the flower-

But that life was put there by the Sundrop in the first place-

[As Varian goes on, he just confuses himself.]

Okay! To sum things up-

I’m not a physical stone, no-

Just have the powers.

[Varian takes a deep breath to calm down.]

But, okay, technically I guess you could say I’m the “human host for the moonstone.”

But, about those incantations-

| He crosses his arms to symbolize his point |

But, I mean, I’ve never really tried to-

[He glances down to where Jacky’s stab wound is, pondering something.]

I mean-

Obviously it’s not great, ha-

But you just gave me a great idea! Come on!

| Jacky basically trails behind Varian as best he can |

[He skids to a halt in front of his lab door in the castle and steps inside, pausing a second to catch his breath.]

Alright! I’m not really sure if this is going to work out...but I’m 99% sure that it won’t cause any additional harm, heh.

[He rubs the back of his neck and mutters.]

I kinda forgot to tell you-

The healing one, heh.

Which is the safest. Because if it goes wrong, nothing happens! At least, I don’t think it does. But from experience, there aren’t any effects.

Of course, that was the Sundrop instead of the Moonstone-

[He plasters a “confident” smile on his face.]

...I’m sure it’ll be fine!

[Varian rambles as he sketches out designs and writes down some formulas.]

Just the whole decaying thing. So, essentially draining the life out of people-

Which actually has happened to me. It’s not fun, heh.

And just “power” in general? Huge waves of energy that just sort of...stem from the core of the moonstone?

Also, gaining complete control of the rocks allows the user to literally make them do whatever they want! For example, I was once held hostage in a tower completely constructed of the rocks-

[He taps the pen to his chin.]

Oh, and, also trapped in a cage comprised of them that was probably higher off the ground than the top of this castle.

Basically my point is you can build things out of them, heh.

[He turns back to Jacky as he’s moving over to another table to start construction on his device.]

Uhm- Just asking to make sure this is safe- Just cover the baselines and such, you know.

| Jacky steers the conversation elsewhere |

[Varian scratches the back of his head for a second, trying to figure out how to word it.]

Quite a bit, actually. It grew on the outskirts of Corona, as the legend states, which has proven to be true.

[He works as he tells the whole story again, grabbing random parts from drawers and discarded scrap metal from a pile.]

The queen was sick at the time while giving birth to Rapunzel, so the king searched the kingdom to find the flower, drained it of its magic and fed it to the queen. It actually healed her and gave Rapunzel her 70 ft long, golden hair which had the power to heal-

And also assisted in some pretty awesome fighting techniques if I’m honest, heh.

Long story short- she was taken and returned 18 years later and the hair had been completely cut off into a rendition of the short, brunette style she has now. After discovering the rocks, however, which were growing in the same place, her hair returned and brought a plethora of problems along with it-

Through some...means of my own, I learned that the Sundrop flower didn’t actually possess any magic anymore, and Rapunzel was now the true source of the Sundrop’s power. At the time though, she was actually able to control the rocks.

[He turns back to Jacky, realizing how confusing it all is.]

| Despite Jacky’s attention on the conversation, he only got half of what Varian said |

Yeah, especially since the rocks broke through the border and covered quite a bit of land leading up to the Dark Kingdom, so I’ve heard.

It’s also where my dad comes from, I guess. As well as Eugene.

He’s actually prince of the Dark Kingdom, technically. It’s a long story.

[Varian pulls his goggles over his face and flips down the monocle for better focus as he wires part of the mechanism.]

You did?

[Varian cuts himself off to focus and solders the wires together with a tool. When he’s done, he lifts up his goggles and fits the wires into a long tube he made.]

| Jacky chuckles a little |

*jokingly*

This is like, the one time in my life I enjoy learning about science.

Eh, none taken. It’s not for everyone, ha-

I mean, if it was- I’d be out of a job!

[Varian carries the tube over to Jacky and hands it to him.]

All you have to do is just wrap this around the area that’s damaged. I’ll take this handle here and that’s the set up-

And then it uh...

[Varian pulls over a chair from his desk and sits across from Jacky, holding the handle of his device and focusing all of the power he can through the tube.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and suddenly...his hair begins to glow, but not just the stripe-

He tries not to look in order to keep his concentration on Jacky, but he could tell that something weird was happening.]

Okay...here ‘goes.

Woah...

| The incantation ends, and Jacky takes off the device |

I mean... You sing well?

[Varian rubs the back of his neck, kind of embarrassed.]

...Oh-

Well- this is familiar, heh.

| Jacky rests his hand on the wound- realizing it doesn’t hurt |

Wait...

| He taps it again, finding the wound gone |

[Varian walks across the halls of the castle, carrying some spare parts for his new invention when he sees something zoom across the floor in a blur out of the corner of his eye.]

*confused*

...What the-

*to Jacky*

Oh- oh NO- AHH!

[Varian falls on his back with a groan.]

That’s...agh-

Oh shoot, uh, sorry Varian- heh-

Oh, no, it’s fine!

[He jumps up with a grunt and brushes himself off.]

Happens all the time!

[He makes a “rewind” motion with his hands as he explains.]

I mean, not this exact scenario-

But falling-

Eh, don’t sweat it.

*sighs*

I mean.. I never knew how fun it was to.. slide across the floor in socks?

| He tucks one foot behind another |

Yeah, the castle floors are actually that slippery because of an invention of mine-

[He places a hand to his chest, clearly bragging.]

Not to brag, but it can clean this whole hallway in two seconds flat!

*clears throat*

Of course, assuming they used the compound while I was gone. They could have also just been cleaned the usual way, I don’t know, heh-

[He turns back to Jacky to switch topics.]

And hey, I was intending the stealing “intervention” to be a one-timer.

*under his breath*

Especially after a certain someone scammed me out of 10 silver-

[He huffs and placed his hands on his hips.]

So I believe ya. Plus it’s not exactly in my jurisdiction to administer any kind of punishment if you were stealing- it was mostly a suggestion-

*backtracking*

| Jacky looked at the end of the hallway |

Dang... That’s pretty awesome!

Ha- thanks-

And uh...that would be Eugene’s.

[He lets out a weak chuckle and toys with the stripe a bit.]

Uh...

Well, I mean he-

He knows about the moonstone and everything as a whole- but about me having it...

Rapunzel might have told him?

[The stripe starts to grow faintly, so Varian just tells the truth.]

| Jacky notices Varian’s stripe |

Oh yeah. It’s fun-

[The stripe lights up again and Varian sighs, pointing to it.]

Not exactly with combat, per se, just how to “control” the rocks, I guess?

There are other things like the incantations-

But the ones for the moonstone only bring bad news-

*stripe glows*

Like- hocus pocus?

Well, not exactly. See, the Sundrop and Moonstone lore goes back centuries- millennia even.

Demanitus discovered these, er, chants that basically ignite the power of the celestial stones. The Sundrop possesses healing and, uh...I don’t even know- some kind of deadly light show? Heh.

And then the Moonstone possesses “decaying” and, as you know, the rocks.

I have no idea how Demanitus discovered these incantations, nor how he knew they would work with the stones- but at this point I’ve just come to the conclusion that magic makes no sense and sometimes you just have to roll with it, heh.

[Varian blows some hair out of his face, needing to expound on that last point.]

I mean, it basically breaks every law of physics- practically every universal law known to mankind-

wow.

Uh- Okay, I really need to start reading up on this stuff.

I heard you use one of them. I- I think. I could just barely hear it through the caravan.

Crescent.... High....

Aghhh, haha-

Yeah, that’s the, uh-

[He spreads his arms out.]

“Ultimate Moonstone Incantation”

I guess I was using it to gain more control of the rocks or something. But it wasn’t really me- it was more-

*sighs*

If you count four as “a lot,” then yes, heh.

They were not easy to find, though. Took me months to translate the Demanitus scroll-

Which was originally split up into multiple parts and each piece was hidden-

Do they just- correspond to one stone?

No, no , no.

[Varian moves his hands around as he explains.]

See, there’s the Sundrop which used to be in a flower form but eventually just became Princess Rapunzel and that was quite an interesting situation.

And then, of course, there’s the Moonstone opal, but currently I guess it’s just... me?

No, no-

She’s-

[His laughter cuts off and he takes a second to ponder that statement.]

Well, I mean-

Uh-

[He opens his mouth to say more, and then closes it to think of a response.]

She consumed the...essence of the flower-

But not-

[Varian begins to realize how accurate Jacky’s statement might have been.]

I mean the old one still existed, just dead-

*under his breath*