A few days ago...
"What is he doing here?" Adira spat out as she stared at the man closing the door.

"Now, Adira..." King Edmund began.

"I'm more of a member of the brotherhood than you'll ever be, you know, sister?" Hector calmly replied as he took his boots off.

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"We're almost there! C'mon guys! Aren't you excited?" Rapunzel spun around at the group, full of energy as usual.

"Yeah, just uh, give us a sec, blondie," Eugene leaned against a tree to catch his breath as Cassandra walked ahead.

"Why don't we scout ahead, Raps? We need to be prepared, anyway." Cassandra gently grabbed hold of Rapunzel's arm and led her further to the front.

"Okay! Sooo, I've been thinking. Do you... know?" Cass asked her as she scanned the area quickly.

"Know what?" Rapunzel looked at her quizzically, her head slightly tilted to the side.

"You know...about his family...has he told you yet?" She whispered.

"What about his family? You know who they are?" Rapunzel's eyes widened.

"Well, yeah. I heard him mumbling about it in his sleep. I didn't mean to overhear," Cassandra appeared embarrassed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"That's weird, but if it's as personal as that, maybe he needs time and that's why he hasn't shared it with me yet," Rapunzel decided as she trained her eyes to the front.

"Huh, I'd think that being the Prince of the Dark Kingdom would be pretty important for you to know..." Cassandra muttered and shrugged.

"What?!" Rapunzel whisper-screamed,

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about though, he maybe a forgetful idiot but he loves you, right? So he wouldn't have hid it on purpose," Cassandra said casually as she moved a branch aside.

"I...I suppose so..." Rapunzel answered but her steps slowed slightly and a bothered look took over her face.

Cassandra took note of this as she glanced over her shoulder.

"I was just worried because he was mumbling something about running out of time, and making his father proud...or something. It was kinda scary...reminded me of Varian," she said the last part softer than Rapunzel had ever thought possible.

That was the first time Cassandra spoke of Varian without Rapunzel or Eugene bringing him up first, and the Princess noticed this immediately, as she was intended to.

"I-" Rapunzel started but was interrupted by Cassandra's declaration, "We're here."

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"Of course he'll love it, your highness! Don't you trust me? It's the guaranteed way to get any son to want your respect!" The cheer in the boy's voice slightly unsettled the King and he was only able to nod.

"But isn't shunning him and pretending not to care a bit risky for a first meeting?" Adira walked in, the after effects of her seeing her brother evident on her scowling face.

"It's a calculated risk! I know him better than anyone, except maybe the Princess! I mean, he's been my idol since forever!" Varian's voice was filled with an innocence they hadn't heard from the boy before.

Adira's scowl lessened a bit and whatever doubt lingering in the King's mind was pushed back further.

"So... what do I do? I'm not good at that sorta thing! Can't you make me a script or something?" Kung Edmund rubbed his beard in thought.

"Oh, sure. I have plenty of time anyways," Varian said nonchalantly, as he had planned.

"They'll probably arrive this morning, so I'll get right to it after dinner," he mused and walked out.

"How did he know they'd get here by this morning?" The King asked Adira.

"Math and estimations, my king. Math," she said while pinching her nose bridge.

"Indeed. Some calculations. Quite odd how plans need our logic but your emotions to work," Varian whispers to himself outside the room.

After dinner and writing what he deemed a decent script, for its purposes, anyway, Varian snuck out through his window.

He took a short walk and observed that the moon was nearly full that night. With his eyes on the moon, he climbed up the twenty-first tree he saw on his walk.

"Tell me, Cassie, where would you hide a tree?" Varian watched from afar.

"You already know the answer."
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Madame Cheri breathes heavily. She is very, very exhausted. The chains holding her up have begun to cut into her wrists.

"Hadn't I told you not to mess with our affairs, disgraced dear?" Came the sickly sweet voice of a floating blue child.

The Madame closes her eyes and braces herself, it's nothing she's never felt before, after all. Pain was an acquired taste, and she's always meant to acquire it at some point.

A/N
I'm so sorry I haven't updated in sooo long! Thanks for always being so nice to me and voting and leaving comments! ^-^ So the reason for the long time of not updating: I recently started to learn digital art and my friends and I decided to make a short comic on Webtoon! We've got the script done and I'm currently in the process of drawing it. The title is "Wednesday" and the first episode will be out by April 30! If you guys are interested it's angst with a happy ending, too, and a bit of a mystery genre! Btw my tumblr name is Makahiya-child, and my webtoon name is Makahiya—