This one shot was requested by VarianWolf . I hope you all enjoy!

Trigger Warning: some gore

Warning: Spoilers for the end of Season two (technically, I haven't made it that far either, but I'm spoiler prone lol)

Ever since Y/n had accompanied Rapunzel on her journey to discover her connection to the black rocks, she fell into a depressed state. She was really homesick and she missed her best friend Varian.

For the entire year that they had been gone, Varian was stuck in the castle's prison after he had been defeated in a fight with Rapunzel. Y/n had strongly protested against the royal guards placing Varian into the back of the prison carriage, but King Frederic didn't listen. Instead, he promised Rapunzel that he would get Varian some help.

"Y/n, is something wrong?"

Y/n looked up to see that Rapunzel had a hand on her shoulder and wore a longing expression.

"I-I miss him." Y/n's voice cracked as she had said it. That was all it took before Rapunzel brought Y/n into a hug.

"I know you do, but he's seriously hurt me and the rest of the kingdom. Plus, my dad said that he'll get Varian some help. I'm sure he's doing alright," Rapunzel promised.

"Yeah, maybe... What about Cassandra? She betrayed you too," Y/n added.

Rapunzel sighed. "She's my best friend. I've gotta convince her to snap out of it."

"Cassandra, what are you doing?" Rapunzel cried.

"Taking what's rightfully mine," Cassandra replied. The moonstone was changing her. Her raven black hair turned into a bright blue color and she looked more vicious than before. "You have to be careful of who you trust..."

"Would you put her in prison like you did to Varian?" Y/n asked.

Rapunzel hesitated in answering. "I'm not really sure yet. We'll figure something out."

Time Skip

Days had passed since Cassandra had betrayed everyone and Y/n started to notice some changes in Rapunzel's mood. She was usually sad, but she would always brush off her pain whenever someone asked about it (sounds like me...). Y/n had also became worse. All she could think about was Varian.

What if Varian wasn't getting the help that he needs? Is he even doing ok?

Meanwhile, in Corona...

Queen Arianna paced outside the door to the throne room. Lately, she had heard nasty rumors of Varian's treatment down in the dungeons and she wanted to consult her husband about it. She was trying to come up with a way to delicately bring it up to King Frederic without him getting angry, but, so far, she hadn't come up with a solution.

"Whatever... It doesn't matter how I say it. It just needs to be said," Arianna muttered. She pushed open the throne room door. "Frederic, can I have a word with you?"

Frederic rose from his chair. "Yes?"

"I've heard things about Varian. How is he doing down there in the dungeons?" Arianna asked firmly.

King Frederic only replied with a amused chuckle. "I don't know what you're talking about, dear. There's nothing going on that you need to worry about."

"But-"

"Don't deny what I'm saying! Understood?"

"Yes, Fred..."

Time Skip

Arianna peeked around the corner to see if anyone was watching. She was currently down in the castle dungeon, waiting for her moment to catch a glance at Varian's treatment. Thankfully, all the guards had fallen asleep, so Arianna took this chance to sneak past them.

"Varian? Where are you?" Arianna whispered.

"H-here..." A quiet croak could be heard nearby. Arianna turned at the sound and gasped when she saw what state Varian was in.

Varian was covered in cuts, bruises, and burns. His hair was a disheveled mess and there were dark bags under his eyes.

"Varian, what happened to you?" Arianna inquired.

"They...they beat me up again," Varian answered. His voice was weak and scratchy, as if he hadn't been getting enough water or food.

"Who?"

"Th-the guards. E-every day, the King sends the guards down here and tells them to beat me so that I can learn my lesson. They-they bring out whips a-and hot fireplace rods, and then they hit me with them."

"Hold on, I'm going to get you out of here-"

"Not so fast, dear!"

Frederic was right behind Arianna.

"Frederic, let him go! You can't keep beating him up like this," Arianna demanded. Frederic grabbed her wrist firmly.

"I can do whatever I want to my prisoners," Frederick seethed. "After all, he's done terrible things to Corona."

"But he's just a child! You're abusing him!"

"Child or not, he's still a prisoner!!" Frederic snapped his fingers. "Guards, take her back to my room."

The guards obeyed, snatched Arianna, and dragged her away.

"You can't do this! Stop!"

One of the castle maids overheard the whole conversation and fled from the castle. She had to tell Princess Rapunzel!

Time Skip

On the way back to Corona, Eugene spent the trip comforting Rapunzel on the loss of Cassandra.

"It's going to be ok, Blondie. We'll figure something out."

Y/n gloomily hung around in the back of the group as they walked. Two betrayals in a year was too much to handle. She hoped that Varian was alright and she promised herself that she would check on him as soon as they all returned to the castle.

"Hey, who's that?" Eugene furrowed his eyebrows. Everyone else looked in the direction that he was pointing at. Someone was in a hot air balloon and they were approaching the traveling group at top speed. When the balloon landed, a women in a Coronian maid dress frantically ran towards them.

"Princess, it's your father! He's gotten into a fight with your mother!" The maid cried.

"What happened?" Rapunzel inquired.

"It's about the lad, Varian. They say he's been tortured and abused in prison for an entire year!"

"What?!" Y/n yelped. She grabbed the maid by her shoulders. "WHERE IS HE?! IS HE HURT?! TAKE US TO HIM NOW!"

"Y/n, calm down!" Rapunzel dragged Y/n off of the maid. "Please take us to Varian."

"Absolutely, Your Highness! Please, take this balloon," the maid offered. She climbed into the balloon and the others followed.

Time Skip

When everyone had arrived at the castle, Y/n dashed to the dungeons with everyone following close behind.

"Varian! Varian, where are you??" Y/n called out. When she had found his cell, she cried out at what she saw.

"Y-Y/n? What're you doing here?" Varian croaked.

"Varian, what did they do to you?!" Y/n sobbed. She tried to squeeze through the bars to the cell, but she couldn't fit.

"Y/n, I got this," Eugene reassured. He grabbed a hair pin from his pocket and used it to break into the cell. Y/n ran to Varian and cradled him as Varian clung to her like a scared little kid.

"What happened? Are you ok?"

"Y-Y/n...I thought I was going to die down here... I'm sorry for trying to kill you! I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it at all!" Varian wailed.

Y/n could feel her own eyes pricking up with tears. "It's ok. I forgive you." Her voice wavered and cracked.

"If they come back, they're gonna beat me and burn me and torture me! I can't live like this anymore!" Varian seemed extremely desperate; the way he clung to Y/n, how tearstained he looked, and how terrified he was.

"Step away from the criminal, Miss Y/n," a deep voice boomed. It was Frederic.

"No! Can't you see how much pain he's in? He needs help!" Y/n refused.

"He deserves punishment, not help. Let go of him."

"Dad, you...you said you would help him! You lied!" Rapunzel accused.

"He harmed our kingdom, Rapunzel! He kidnapped my wife and destroyed Old Corona. He doesn't deserve our help. We need to protect this family," Frederic argued. He yanked Varian away from Y/n.

"Don't hurt him!" Y/n pleaded.

Varian struggled to get out of Frederic's grasp, but his body was too weak.

"Let go of the kid!" Eugene demanded. He tackled Frederic and sent the king rolling on the stone tile floor. Varian ended up hitting his head against the cell wall. Y/n rushed to his side and helped him stand up.

Meanwhile, Rapunzel had untied her hair and wrapped it around her father.

"Dad, this has to stop now!" Rapunzel begged.

Frederic struggled as much as he could, but he couldn't get free. "Guards, get them!"

The royal guards obeyed and marched towards the gang.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Eugene shouted. He had a chair in his hands and smashed it above the guards' heads, causing then to pass out. Little green spirits floated out of their bodies. "Blondie, hit 'im with the frying pan!"

Eugene handed Rapunzel her frying pan and stood back as his girlfriend hit Frederic as hard as she could. Another green spirit exited from the king's body.

The battle was over.

Y/n hugged Varian and cried into his shoulder.

"Why are you crying? I'm all better now," Varian asked.

"I missed you so much, Varian. I-I thought about you every day and I love you so much," Y/n confessed.

"I love you too," Varian croaked.

Word Count: 1571

I hope you guys liked this one shot 😁