#evil cassandra

You hadn't seen Varian in several days. You went to town looking for him, only to find he wasn't at his normal lab, but he was at a lab under the castle, doing something for the princess. You went up and knocked on the door. Varian aggresively opened the door. 

"I swear, princess, you said that I would have no interrupt-" 

He looked up and saw it was you. His frown melted as he scooped you up in a huge hug. 

"Y/N!" 

"Hey, Goggles." 

He peppered your face with kisses and put you down after another squeeze.  "Come on Y/N! I want to show what I've been working on down here!" 

"Let me guess, it has something to do with your amazing powers of alchemy."

"Actually, no! I'm translating this scroll that the princess brought to me. It has so much knowledge about these different incantations, and apparently there are four incantations! Not three! But I can't seem to find the last one....." 

His voice drifted off as he looked on the scroll. You stared at him, getting lost in his focused face. He lifted up the scroll, turning it at different angles to try and see the last incantation. You smiled dreamily and sighed as he kept turning the scroll.  

"Goggles?" 

"Hmm?" 

"You're really cute when you're focused." 

Varian's face reddened as his eyes drifted away from the scroll to look at you. 

"Y-you know, you don't look so bad yourself." 

Now it was your turn to start blushing. Your face was as red as a tomato as he turned his attention back to the scroll. You cleared your throat.  

"So, what are you working on translating right now?" 

"The one I'm trying to translate is the incantation to let the person in control of the moon stone control all of the black rocks!" 

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" 

"It's what the princess wanted so..."

Rapunzel burst through the door. Varian muttered under his breath.

"Speak of the devil." 

He leaned on the table as he turned around to face her.  

"Hey, Rapunzel, I thought you were going to give me 5 weeks of solitude to finish working on this." 

"I know, but I wanted to see how things were going. Also, Y/N's here." 

Varian stuttered, coming up with an excuse as you waved to Rapunzel.

"Yeah, well, Y/N knocked, she's my girlfriend, and I haven't seen her for like two weeks because of this project, whereas you come in once a day!"

Rapunzel opened and closed her mouth, trying to come up with a response. 

"Good point." 

Rapunzel went over to the wall to see his translations.  

"Varian? What does this all mean?"

The door burst open again to reveal Cassandra.  

"I've been wondering the same thing lately. What a coincidence." 

"Cass, wait. Before you do anything rash, let's talk about this." 

"We are far past the point of talking about this, Rapunzel." 

You stood behind Varian in fear as Cassandra approached the both of you. She crashed through the lab, taking the scroll off the table and flipping the table across the room. You tripped in surprise but then Varian caughted your arm. He urgently whispered in to your ear. 

"Go! It's not safe here!" 

You nodded and ran back to where Rapunzel was. You slipped in one of the alchemical solutions that was on the floor, landing in Rapunzel's outstretched arms. 

In a split decision, Varian grabbed a bottle of green liquid and threw it on his notes on the wall. It hurt him to get rid of such precious research, but you were more important.  

"Ha! Now you can't get the translation key! Now the only key is in my head and now that I've said that out loud, I think that wasn't the right thing to say."

"I guess you're going with me then."

Cassandra raised her sword and hit him in the head with the pummel, knocking him out.  

"NO, VARIAN!" 

She glared over at you as she threw Varian onto her shoulder. She took something from Varian's bag and threw it on the ground. It exploded with a bang and a flash of light. As your ears were still ringing and you were momentarily blinded, she left the lab quickly, avoiding the royal guard. 

You regained your senses and ran outside to look for Varian. As you ran outside, you were blinded again by the sun. You put your hands up to shade your eyes, and saw Cassandra up the hill with Varian draped over her horse. You were about to run after them, but Rapunzel grabbed your wrist from behind. 

"Let me go, Rapunzel! I need to get him!" 

"No, Y/N! It's not safe to go for him."

You twisted your arm out of her grasp and looked back at the hill. Cassandra and Varian were out of sight. 

"Perfect. This is just frigging perfect."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, you got no sleep. You were too worried about Varian to sleep. Rapunzel had barely convinced you that you shouldn't go after them. Given that you didn't know where they were and the fact that Cassandra actually knew how to use a sword deterred you. 

You got up, unable to sleep. You got out on to your balcony, wanting fresh air. You were out there for about two minutes when you heard something below you. You leaned over the railing to check it out, but saw nothing. You heard a whooshing sound behind you. Before you could turn around, you crumpled to the floor with a hit to the head. You heard Cassandra's voice before your world faded. 

"We've got the girl. Let's go back and see if he's up and ready to talk."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Varian woke up tied to a pillar. He opened his eyes and shook his head, remembering what happened. Cassandra had kidnapped him after he had told her that he was the only one who knew what the incantation was. He felt like an idiot. 

"Ugh. That was not the most pleasant experience of my life. Where are we?" Cassandra looked down on him, glaring.  

"I need that incantation, Varian." 

He glared back up, determination on his face. 

"Never!" 

Cassandra sighed and grabbed Varian's bag. 

"I thought you would say that, so I took precautions. I looked through your little bag of tricks to find something useful, but there was nothing. There was someone though. You kept whispering her name in your sleep." 

She held up a sketch of you that was inside Varian's bag. Varian's confidence fell. He fought against his bindings, but they were tied too tight.

"No! Y/N had nothing to do with this! Leave her out of it!" 

"Hmmm, no, I don't think I will."

Cassandra got up to get you and left Varian yelling at her.  

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING? CASSANDRA, PLEASE JUST LEAVE Y/N ALONE! SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" 

Cassandra just ignored him and walked away. Varian broke down, mad at himself for leading Cassandra right to you. He hit his head against the pillar, cursing himself. 

"You stupid, dumb, idiot! You lead a maniac right to your frigging girlfriend!"

Varian continued to curse himself out when Cassandra came up to him, you draped over her shoulder. His eyes went wide with panic. She dropped you on the ground in front of him. 

"What have you done to her?!" 

"Relax, Hairstripe. I haven't done anything except knock her out. I don't want to, but I'm prepared to do a lot worse if someone doesn't feel like sharing...." 

Varian turned away.

"Alright then. Your funeral."

Cassandra sent the alchemist a malicious grin.

"Or should I say her funeral."

Cassandra sent a swift kick to your stomach and you awoke with a gasp for air.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your eyes darted around as you studied your surroundings, not realizing where you were. You recognized Cassandra from the fight at the castle. You locked eyes with Varian and tried to get up to meet him, but Cassandra placed her foot on your back and pinned you to the ground. You gritted your teeth in pain as Varian struggled against his ropes.

"Let her go, Cassandra. She doesn't need to be a part of this fight."

"You don't want her to be a part of this fight? Fine. Tell me the incantation."

"You know I won't."

"And you know Miss Y/N here won't be let go until you tell me."

You shook your head at him the best you could.

"Don’t tell her. I'm not worth risking everyone."

You were about to continue when you received another kick, this one to your back.

"Quiet. Varian can make his own choices, can't he?"

Cassandra shot Varian a smug smile. She unsheathed her sword and started twirling it mockingly in her hand. She lowered it towards one of your legs.

"Still feel like keeping your mouth shut?"

Varian just kept his mouth closed, refusingto share the incantation.

"Hm. Well, if that's your choice, then..."

Cassandra thrust her sword down into your leg. You screamed and Varian's eyes shut tight. He struggled more against his ropes, but they held firm. He opened his mouth and you could see the wheels turning in his head. He was going to share the incantation.

"Don’t do it, Varian. I'm not worth the safety of all Coron-AHH!" 

Cassandra stabbed your other leg, making you cry out in pain. She lifted the sword and moved it so that it was right above your heart. 

"Tick tock, Hairstripe. Y/N is running out of time here." 

"Don’t give in to her, Varian! Don't do- AHHHH!" 

She moved it down until the tip of the blade was touching your skin. The skin broke, making your chest start to bleed. Your eyes closed and filled with tears as she drove her sword deeper.

"STOP, CASSANDRA! PLEASE JUST STOP!" 

You gasped as you felt the pressure of her sword lift. She moved her sword and stuck it in the ground next to you. 

"Oh, would you look at that? It seems our little alchemist is ready to talk."

"Varian, no! Think about the kingdom! Think about the-" 

"Oh, would you just shut up?!"

Cassandra kicked you again, effectively making you stay quiet. You recoiled and cried out in pain. Varian looked up at you, tears spilling out of his eyes.

"I can't. Not with you right here, getting hurt."

Varian looked back at Cassandra and recited the incantation, his voice pained. 

Crescent high above                    

Evolving as you go                                

Raise what lies beneath                         

And let the darkness grow 

Bend it to my will                           

Consume the sunlight’s glow               

Rise into the sky                                      

And let the darkness grow                        

Let darkness grow 

Cassandra repeated the incantation and felt new power flow through her. As she spoke, a tower rose from the ground.  

"Home sweet home." 

She looked back over to you and Varian. Varian had finally gotten his bindings loose enough to get out and was by your side, tending to your wounds. He held you close, trying to comfort you.

"You'll be alright. We can fix this. You'll be fine."

"Goggles, look, I appreciate you saving me, but I'm not worth risking everyone's safety!"

"Yes you are! You are the best thing in this world, Y/N! You are the most important person in my life! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you had died and I could've prevented it!"

"I swear, if I didn't love you so much..."

Cassandra looked down at the couple.

"As interesting as this.....conversation is, we need to go."

Handcuffs latched onto Varian's wrists. Cassandra waved her hand in your direction, motioning for you to leave.

"Thank you for all your help, Y/N. You can leave."

Varian became furious.

"HOW DO YOU WANT HER TO LEAVE?! YOU MUTILATED HER FRIGGING LEGS! YOU STABBED HER IN THE CHEST!"

"She's a smart girl, she can figure it out."

Varian planted his feet to the floor, making Cassandra stop moving.

"No. I'm not leaving her again."

"Would you rather she comes with us?"

Varian tried to come up with a response.

"Goggles. I'll be fine. Please, just go with her."

Varian turned back to Cassandra in desperation.

"At least let me bandage her first. Then I'll go."

Cassandra hesitated and nodded. The handcuffs crumbled off of Varian's wrists. He rushed over and knelt next to you.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have let her take you. This is all my fault."

Varian ripped off his sleeves and then ripped them into strips. He used one on one leg and the other on your other leg.

"Goggles. This wasn't your fault. You couldn't have prevented this."

"Well, actually I could've. I could've just told her once she brought you out. Now you're hurt and she has the incantation."

Varian moved on to his apron for the small wound on your chest, but wasn't able to get the bandageson before Cassandra decided he was taking too long. He handed you the strips as rock cuffs attached to his wrist again.

"Go. I'll find you again after this is over."

You nodded and kissed him before he got up to leave.

"Goggles?"

Varian turned back at you.

"Be safe."

Varian gave you a small, worried smile that was supposed to be reassuring but came out more fearful than anything else.

"You too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After about half an hour, you tried to get up. You promptly fell back down and hissed in pain. You heard a yell from Varian as you saw a cage of rock emerge from the top of the tower.

"VARIAN!"

He gave no indication that he could hear you, probably because he couldn't. He was a good hundred feet in the air and your voice was hoarse from crying.

You tried to stand up again and got a few steps when you fell down again. You were able to pull yourself to the wall by the entrance to the cave and used that to balance yourself. You walked, holding one arm over your chest and keeping one on the wall. You tried to ignore the stabbing pain in your legs as you continued.

You followed the wall until you heard voices. You tensed, but relaxed once you recognized them.

"How much further? I'm tired."

"Angry, you're not even walking. You're riding Max."

"Well, I'm tired of riding a horse. I want to be there already."

"We all want to be there."

You took your hand away from the wall to join the group, but your legs quickly started to wobble and you stumbled over your feet. You landed on your face with a loud smack on the ground. The sound echoed, alerting your friends to your presence.

"What was that?!"

Lance's shrill voice would've made you laugh if you weren't on the ground.

"Stay here. I'll go investigate."

You heard Rapunzel's soft footsteps and groaned. You pulled yourself back up to the wall as she came from around the corner, frying pan drawn. She dropped it as soon as she saw you and she gasped at the sight of your injuries.

"Oh my gosh, Y/N! What happened? Are you alright?"

Rapunzel immediately rushed to your side and grabbed your arm to help stabilize you. You let go of the wall and let her bring you to the group. She set you down on a rock and gathered everyone to where you were. Eugene saw a flash of red.

"Lance, get some bandages! Quickly!"

Everyone was startled to see you so injured. The blood on your legs and chest had seeped through the meager strips of cloth Varian was able to provide. It stained the front of your dress a deep red. Your skirt had two major tears it in where Cassandra had stabbed you. There was a small hole in your bodice as well that well through your dress, corset and undershirt and skin.

Catalina visibly hid behind Angry, who gasped. Lance grabbed some fresh bandages from Max's saddlebag and gave them to Rapunzel. She started to unwrap your legs so that she could put new bandages on them. As she wrapped, you recounted what happened at the tower.

"Cassandra took me last night, I think. I don't know. I woke up about 45 minutes ago because she was using me as leverage to get Varian to tell her the incantation."

You breathed shakily and winced as Rapunzel tightly wrapped your leg.

"Sorry!"

"No, it's fine. It needs to tight."

You jumped back into your memory and finished talking.

"Varian couldn't handle seeing me hurt so he told Cassandra the incantation. She took him into her tower after letting him bandage my injuries."

Rapunzel finished your legs and made a small pad of bandages for the cut on your chest. She made you take off the blood stained dress and corset. Your undershirt and leggings stayed on. She gingerly unbuttoned the top of your shirt and placed the pad of bandages on the cut. She wrapped it around your chest using other bandages and rebuttoned your shirt.

You stood up, grabbing her arm for balance, but you quickly lost your footing and bumped into Lance.

"Do you want to take Max back to Corona? You've already been through so much."

You shook your head and grabbed a stick that was against a tree.

"No. No, I'll be fine. The only thing I want to do right now is to save Varian. He's in trouble and I just left him there."

"Y/N, you didn't leave him-"

"Yes I did! I could have gone with him or stayed, but I didn't!"

You looked down at the ground and clenched your fists.

"I left him with her. And now he might get hurt. Not that I could really prevent that, but at least I would be there to help him."

Tears started falling from your eyes. You couldn't believe that you would really just leave him there by himself. Eugene grabbed you by the shoulders and tried to clear some tears from your face.

"Hey, kid. Varian will be fine, ok? We will go rescue him from Cassandra and everything will be fine. Alright?"

You nodded.

"Alright. Now let's go get your alchemist."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your group made their way over to the tower. There was no apparent way to get in, so you guys wasted a bunch of time trying to get in, until Rapunzel walked up to the wall. She whispered a few words to herself and the tower opened. You walked up to her in astonishment.

"Geez, princess! Why didn't you just try that from the beginning?"

Rapunzel pulled her hand back from the opening. She touched her hand and looked back at the tower.

"....I could sense her."

"Who? Cassandra?"

"Yeah. I could feel her through the rocks."

"Whoa."

Eugene walked up behind the two of you.

"Let's go save that alchemist of yours."

You nodded and gulped. The last time you were here, you had been stabbed, bleeding and forced to leave Varian. To say these were unpleasant memories would be an understatement. Your mind started to bring up these memories, but was stopped by Rapunzel's voice.

"Ok. This is a big place, so let's split up to cover more ground. Max, you stay with Lance, Red, and Angry. Y/N, you come with me, Eugene, and Pascal."

Everyone nodded in agreement and split up. Lance lead his group one way while Rapunzel lead you the other. She sent Pascal ahead to investigate and see if he could find Varian. Eugene sat down and decided to make conversation while you all waited for Pascal to get back.

"We might be waiting for the frog for a while. So, Y/N. How long have you known Varian?"

Rapunzel elbowed him sharply.

"What? I'm just trying to make conversation and get to know her better! She always hangs around us and I hardly know her."

"It's alright, Rapunzel. I don't mind."

She looked up at you.

"Are you sure? I know that is kind of a sensitive subject right now."

You nodded.

"It'll be fine."

You sighed and thought back to when you met Varian.

"I think we became friends when we were 6. I was running around Corona and bumped into him. Literally. I ran into him and made him fall over. I made a few comments about his hair and how I liked it and we were friends from then on out."

"You're like what, 16, now?"

You nodded.

"So you've been friends with Hairstripe for 10 years?"

You rubbed your arm and looked down at the floor.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You don't have to answer this, but how was the whole, I guess, "villain" thing for you?"

Rapunzel elbowed him again.

"OW! I said she didn't have to answer. I was just curious."

Your face sunk as memories that you had tried to block came flooding back to you. You remembered Varian and how desperately he needed help. How you tried to help him but he wouldn't listen to you. You remembered how cold he became and how he shut you out. How he got dragged away to prison because he wouldn't let you help him.

You remembered how he helped the Saporians take over Corona. That year was like living your worst nightmare. You couldn't not see him as your best friend. You still wanted to help him, but he wouldn't let you. He thought that the only way for anyone to ever forgive him was to make them forget what he did.

The day that you saw him and Quirin walking around the kingdom was the best day of your life. After seeing Varian happy and with his dad, you were just so relieved that he had come back. You could distinctly remember that conversation that you had with him.

You saw Varian in town next to his father. Tears were streaming down your face and you ran up behind him.

"Goggles? "

Varian turned around, but wouldn't meet your eyes and looked down at the ground. He rubbed his arm guiltily and you gave him a huge hug. He looked down at you in surprise as you picked him up with your hug.

"Y/N? What are you doing?"

You looked up at Varian's face while tears started falling from his eyes.

"I'm giving a hug to my best friend who just came back to me. He's been gone for a while and he's finally back."

He hugged you back and you spent the rest of the day together.

Your mind drifted out of the memories and you realized you had been crying while remembering.

"Y/N? I'm sorry. You don't have to answer. It was a dumb question to ask."

Eugene's voice was soft as you wiped your eyes.

"Let's just say that was a hard year for me."

There was a few minutes of awkward silence until Rapunzel cleared her throat.

"Well, I think we should check on Pascal. He's been gone for a while."

You nodded in agreement and stood up to go in the direction that the chameleon had gone. You found an opening in the wall and looked into it. Inside was a throne made of the rock and an opening to the outside. You motioned to the others to join you at the opening in the wall.

You all went in and you immediately went to the window. You looked out and saw Varian in his cage. He was hunched over the scroll, hovering his goggles over it. You pointed him out excitedly to Rapunzel and Eugene.

"Guys, I found him!"

Varian heard you and looked up.

"Y/N! Why are you here?"

Varian's tone turned quickly from excitement to concern and confusion. Rapunzel and Eugene had made their way over to you and looked out to Varian. You were about to respond when Rapunzel did it for you.

"She refused to go back to Corona without you."

You nodded.

"Are you ok? How are your legs? What happened to your dress?"

"I've been better. So have my legs. My dress is somewhere that is not here. It would just get in the way and it was in tatters anyway."

Varian shrugged and held out the scroll in your direction.

"Fair enough. I discovered something on the scroll, but I need a concentrated beam of sunlight to see it. I tried using my goggles, but they won't work. Do you happen to have a prism, a glass or...."

"A crystal?"

Rapunzel pulled a ring out of her bag. Eugene's face lit up when saw it.

"YOU WERE GOING TO ASK ME??!!"

Rapunzel giggled at his reaction and nodded.

"I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU!"

Eugene hugged Rapunzel tightly until you cleared your throat.

"Sorry, sorry, but I think we need to get that ring to Varian."

"Yeah, I'm losing the light and it will be too late soon."

Eugene took the ring from Rapunzel and climbed up on the beam that led to Varian's cage. You grabbed the back of his shirt, stopping him.

"Wait. Let me go. I can bring it over."

"Are you sure you want to do that? It might not be best have you do stuff like this until we can get your legs checked out professionally."

"Yes. I want to go. I can do it."

"Alright."

Eugene climbed down and handed you the ring. You climbed up and started making your way to Varian. You almost lost your balance multiple times, but you made it without losing the ring. The stabbing pain in your legs had made them numb to it.

You handed it to Varian who eagerly took it and used it to reveal the incantation. He got out a piece of paper to write it down, but the scroll caught fire. Luckily, Varian completed writing before it burned away.

"Did you get it?"

Varian nodded and looked up at you. He opened his mouth to talk but you spoke first.

"Goggles, I know what you're going to say, but first, I'm sorry. I know you said to go back to Corona, but I just had to make sure you were ok."

"No, no, it's ok. I've been really worried about you and I felt really bad that I was dumb enough to tell you to try and go home. With your legs so injured, it wouldn't have been safe."

Varian grabbed your hand and held it close through the bars.

"Don’t feel bad about coming back. I just didn't want you to get hurt anymore. I still don't, but you're here now and we're both ok."

You nodded and pulled his hand to you. You took off his glove and held his hand to your cheek.

"I missed you, Goggles."

Varian gave you a soft smile. He pressed his hand into your cheek.

"I missed you too."

Varian noticed the thick pad of bandages over your heart.

"Is this...?"

You nodded and Varian looked away guiltily.

"This shouldn't have happened. You weren't supposed to get involved with this."

You turned his face back to yours.

"V, you can't keep blaming yourself. It's not your fault. Besides, Cassandra was the one who did this. Not you. She started this by kidnapping both of us. She was the one who-"

The cage started moving back into the tower. You took Varian's hand and squeezed it tightly. You both were terrified of going back into the tower. In the last interaction you had with Cassandra, your legs had been left almost unusable, so you weren't exactly super eager to meet her again.

The two of you slid into the throne room to see Rapunzel pinned to wall with the rocks, Eugene hiding around a corner where Cassandra couldn't see him, and Cassandra in the center of the room. You clutched Varian's hand as tight as you could. Cassandra shot you a taunting smile as she saw you and Varian.

"Well, well, well. Now isn't this cute? Y/N came back for her little boyfriend. I wonder what would happen if I separated them."

You trembled in fear and Varian's grip tightened as he saw the terror in your eyes. Cassandra approached you and as she waved her hand towards you, a stream of black rocks came shooting out of the floor and hit you in the stomach and you flew across the room. As you were torn from Varian's grasp, a deafening crack rang through the room.

"NO! Y/N!"

You hit the wall and cried out in pain as you crumpled to the floor, landing on your newly broken arm. Cassandra used her powers and lifted you up with the rocks. You were soon in the same position as Rapunzel and stuck on the wall.

"CASSANDRA, PUT HER DOWN!"

Cassandra smirked.

"Alright. I'll put her down."

Cassandra used her powers to pull the rocks holding you up out of the wall. You dropped quickly, shrieking as you fell. Your head hit the ground hard, causing you to pass out.

"NO!"

Varian's voice was the last thing you heard before your world went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you came to, there was a ringing in your ears. You cracked open your eyes and tried to sit up. You groaned in pain and clutched your mangled arm. You saw explosions everywhere, Rapunzel floating towards Cassandra, Eugene was trapped in the rocks, and Varian was still in his cage.

"Va-Varian?"

Varian didn't respond, having not heard you. Your voice was quiet and dry from having had no food or water that day. You tried again, but it was too loud for anyone to hear you. You tried to drag yourself forward, but recoiled back in pain. Your arm and ribs screamed in agony, and when you tried to call out again, a small whisper was all you could manage without sending you into another spiral of pain.

"Someone, help, please..."

Your voice still went unheard. The conflict between Rapunzel and Cassandra had filled the entire tower with noise and light. The fight reached its climax and the top of the tower exploded.

Varian turned to avoid getting the dust in his eyes and he finally noticed your pain. You were curled in on yourself, clutching your arm close to your chest. He started, not expecting you to be alive, much less awake. He called out to you, his voice filled with hope.

"Y/N! You're alive!"

You groaned and tried to move your head in a way so you could see Varian. That small action sent a shiver of pain down your back. There were tears streaming down your face, but those tears were the most beautiful things to him in this moment. They meant you were alive.

At that moment, the cage around Varian crumbled. He immediately got up and rushed to your side.

"Hang on, Y/N! Everything will be alright. We'll get out of this."

Varian held you tight and wind started blowing rapidly around the exposed top of the tower. You felt his grip loosen around as you were blown off the top. You grabbed a legde with your good arm and grabbed Varian's hand before he fell.

Your bad arm screamed with the weight of his body, but you refused to let go. Varian looked down and saw Lance on a ledge beneath you both. He looked back up and noticed the strained expression on your face.

"Y/N! You need to let me go!"

You gaped at him and shook your head.

"No! I can't do that!"

Varian gestured to Lance beneath him.

"Lance can catch me. It'll be fine. You can't hold both of us for much longer anyway."

More tears fell down your face as your entire body screamed in pain. But that wasn't the reason for your tears.

"No. I can't let you go, Varian. We don't know if Lance will catch you."

Varian gave you a sad smile and looked at his hand.

"That's just a risk we'll have to take."

Varian slowly unclenched his hand from yours and his fingers slipped through your grasp.

"NO!"

Varian started falling. You watched him, terrified, and saw him land safely in Lance's arms. You let out a sigh of relief until you realized your own fingers were slipping.

You called out for help, but your voice was barely above a whisper. Rapunzel still noticed you weren't there and saw your hand holding on to the edge.

You heard the pattering of feet as Rapunzel and Eugene ran over to your side of the tower. You were hanging on by two fingers when they reached you, but you slipped right when they knelt to help you up. They both grabbed at your arm, but both missed and you fell.

You screamed the whole way down until you felt familiar arms around you. You slowly looked up at the boy who caught you. Varian was smiling with relief and pulled you close to his chest. There was pain in your legs right where he caught you and you had to stop yourself from groaning.

"I thought I lost you. When she- when you got hurt, I was more scared than I've ever been."

You forgot about your pain long enough to smile back at him.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. You're stuck with me now."

You heard a small chuckle as Varian let you go. You laughed a bit along with him, but winced at the pain in your ribs. The adrenaline left and you felt the full force of your injuries. Varian's face turned quickly to concern at your reaction.

"We need to check on these wounds."

"We need to get back to Corona first. There's no way to properly take care of them out here."

Lance cleared his throat.

"Speaking of getting back to Corona, we should get going now. Cassandra could come back any moment and Rapunzel and Eugene are already waiting for us at the bottom."

Varian nodded and got up. He held out his hand for you and you gratefully took it. He pulled you close and let you use him as a bit of a crutch as you made your way down the tower.

Varian kept glancing over to you as your broken arm hung limp at your side and your other one was draped over his shoulders. You gave him a weak smile.

"Why don't you save yourself some time and just stare instead of glancing at me like I'm going to die any second. You worried I'm going to dissappear?"

Varian let out a nervous laugh.

"A bit actually. You been through a lot in the last day."

"You have too-"

"Y/N, you've been kidnapped, stabbed multiple times, broken your arm and probably multiple ribs. Do we really want to talk about what I've been through?"

You laughed weakly but winced as you felt it in your ribs. You stumbled a bit as pain shot through your body and Varian caught you before you could fall.

You made it down to Rapunzel and Eugene without anymore problems. Rapunzel heaved a sigh of relief and ran toward you with open arms. She enveloped you in a hug, not realizing you winced as she touched your broken arm.

"Oh thank goodness you're ok! I was so worried when you fell! I didn't know if someone caught you or something!"

Rapunzel pulled out of the hug and noticed your grimace of pain. She realized what happened and profusely apologized.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking and-"

You cut her off.

"It's alright! Honestly, I just want to get back to the castle and these actually treated as soon as possible."

A thought entered your mind.

"Rapunzel? Do you still have my dress? It would make a good sling. I mean, as much as I liked that dress, it's beyond repair at this point. We might as well have it be useful for something."

As you talked with the princess, Varian stared. He was in a love-struck stupor and he wasn't coming out anytime soon. Eugene noticed his gaze and lightly poked the boy on the arm.

Varian batted his hand away, his eyes never leaving you. Eugene poked him again. This time Varian turned his head to look at the older man, but his eyes still traveled over to you. Eugene just chuckled and shook his head.

"Wow, kid. You are down bad."

Varian smiled like he did when he was excited about a new experiment and nodded.

"How could I not be? She's perfect. Even injured, she's still amazing and smart and the most beautiful person in my world."

Eugene nodded.

"I understand that. That's exactly how I feel about Blondie. When I first met her, I thought I was never going to see her again after I got my satchel back. Now, look at us! She's become a permanent part of my life. One that I intend to hold onto forever."

Varian's smile softened as Rapunzel tied the fabric from your dress around your neck. You sighed with relief now that your arm wasn't just limp at your side. Your legs and chest still burned in agony, but you gladly welcomed this slight decrease in pain. You walked over to Varian and tried to smile reassuringly, but it was more of a grimace. Varian placed a hand on your good shoulder.

"Hey, are you going to be alright?"

"I'll heal. Eventually."

"How are you so sure?"

"I'll have you by my side through it all."

Varian smiled and kissed you on the forehead.

"Through it all."

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FINALLY I FINISHED ONE