Aquaria got back into her dress and braided her hair, letting the braid rest over her shoulder. She left the bathroom and went down into the kitchen to see Quirin making lunch.

"Can I help?" She asked from behind him and he turned.

"If you would like to, dear." Quirin smiled and Aqua walked up to the counter. "Varian almost never helps me cook."

Aqua laughed lightly as she took a knife and started to carefully cut the fruit for the fruit salad.

"He took after his mother so much but she liked to cook unlike Varian." Quirin smiled as he thought about Rosamund. "She's the one who got him into alchemy."

"I remember Rose. Only a little but I still remember some stuff. She got me books and something else to go with them every year for my birthday," Aqua recalled to which Quirin hummed softly.

"She loved you. She always tried to get the king to let you and Varian play at our house but your father was paranoid. I completely understand it. When she... passed away... I stopped bringing Varian to Corona completely except for your birthdays," Quirin said and Aqua paused.

"But I thought that Varian never came with you to Corona even when Rose was alive," Aqua said as she looked up at Quirin.

"No, I did a few times but Rose took him a lot to get supplies for her experiments. The king never let us come in to let you and Varian play. Varian should remember but he was quite young," Quirin replied.

"What should I remember?" Varian asked as he walked over to his father and his girlfriend.

"Going to Corona with your mother when you were young," Quirin said and Varian hummed.

"No, I don't really remember that. She took me to Neserdnia a bunch of times and Equis... but I don't remember her taking me to Corona," Varian said as he thought about it. "Why?"

"We were talking about your mother and how much you are like her," Aqua said with a smile and Varian gave a sad smile.

"Yeah, I guess I am a lot like her. I miss her so much. I wish she didn't have to go," he murmured, feeling tears prick his eyes and Aquaria quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"I miss her too, son," Quirin spoke softly as he embraced both teenagers. "But I know that she is still with us. She would be so proud of the man you've become."

Varian smiled and Aqua kissed his cheek.

"We all are," Aqua said as she looked into his eyes.

"She would also definitely be happy with your choice for a life partner," Quirin added as he looked down at Aqua with a smile. She blushed lightly but smiled.

"I did make a pretty great choice, didn't I?" Varian pressed a gently kiss to Aquaria's forehead.

"Darn right you did. You chose a princess!" Aquaria laughed a little.

"I guess I did but I also chose my best friend." Varian grinned and Quirin chuckled at the two.

"Alright, you two. Let's get lunch made," Quirin said as he turned back to the counter and Varian quickly turned to go to his lab.

"Ep! Nope! You're gonna help mister!" Aqua said as she caught his sleeve and he slumped with a cute pout.

"Oookaaay..." Varian agreed begrudgingly.

"I'll help you with the scroll after lunch, I promise," Aqua said and Varian perked up.

"Okay!" Varian nodded and started to help make lunch.

💧

Aquaria had fallen asleep on Varian's lap while he was still trying to decipher the Demanitus Scroll.

They had worked on it for hours and had fallen asleep at some point during the night.

"No! What?"

Aqua yelped as she was thrown from Varian's lap.

"Hey! What the heck?" Aqua rubbed her head but Varian was already out the door.

She ran after him and saw him standing outside the door.

"Varian? Are you okay? You just threw me off and ran," Aqua said and he looked at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I am so sorry," Varian apologized as hugged her and she hummed.

"It's fine," she said softly before Ruddiger squeaked at them.

"What is it, buddy?" Varian looked at him before looking over where Ruddiger was looking.

The critter scurried over to some red rocks and sniffed them before backing up in fright.

"Well... this is new," Varian said and Aqua touched it before getting a cold feeling.

"I don't like this," she said softly as she backed away.

"Get away from me," Varian growled at her and she looked at him with fear.

"W-what?" She didn't believe what she had heard.

"I said, they may be like the black rocks," Varian repeated what he had said and Aqua hummed, confused as to what she had heard but she brushed it off.

"Maybe we can run some tests on these rocks," Aqua suggested.

"Yeah let's- Ruddiger?" Varian saw Ruddiger scampering back into the lab.

"Let's go and we can start studying these rocks," Aqua said as she held his hand. She saw him glare at her but as soon as she looked again, he was smiling at her brightly.

💧

"Ruddiger? Buddy, where did you go?"

Aqua had split from Varian to search the island for Ruddiger since they had chased him to the city before losing him. They had no idea what had spooked him so much.

"Varian! Hey- woah! Ruddiger?" Aqua saw Varian holding Ruddiger but he was completely frozen and glowing red. "What the heck?"

"I never should've trusted you! I hate you!"

"V-Varian? Wh-what do you mean?" Tears came to her eyes.

"I mean, I think these rocks are capable of freezing you with fear," Varian said and he saw that she was about to cry. "Aquaria? What's wrong?"

"Y-you were saying that you hate me... w-why?" Aqua frowned and Varian quickly hugged her after setting Ruddiger down.

"I don't hate you! I love you so much! It's these rocks. Trust me. You don't ever have to be afraid of me hating you. I will never ever hate you," Varian assured her before kissing her gently.

She kissed him back gently and smiled when he pulled away.

"Never think that I hate you. Aqua, you mean the world to me," he said softly as he held her close.

"I love you too, Varian. Come on, we should find my sister," Aquaria said and Varian nodded as he let go of her her.

He picked Ruddiger back up and they walked together to find Rapunzel.

They found Rapunzel and Eugene eventually, startling the older princess.

"Woah!" Rapunzel's eyes widened when she saw Ruddiger.

"Sorry! Sorry, just us. Hi. And, uh, and Ruddiger. Kinda," Varian said as he put Ruddiger on a barrel.

"Varian, is he okay?" Rapunzel asked as she looked at the frozen raccoon. "What happened?"

"Uh, I'm not quite sure, but I think it has something to do with these new rocks," Varian said as he motioned to some of the red rocks. "I mean, I've only been able to study them for a few hours, but their effects appear to be extremely dangerous."

"Oh, yeah? More dangerous than bringing people's greatest fears to life?" Eugene asked as he looked at Varian with terror.

"Yes well, if people remain under that fear spell for too long, it looks like they'll become frozen with terror permanently," Varian said as he picked Ruddiger back up.

"Well, gang, then it sounds to me like we need to find a way to turn these fearful frowns upside down," Rapunzel said, making Ruddiger smile in his frozen state. "Okay, yep. Sorry. That just wound up making him look creepier."

🧪

Varian looked at the map of rocks in the palace and hummed.

"Now, theoretically, if we sever this chain of rocks," Varian started as he circled the strain of rocks on the map. "Using one of my alchemical solutions, then we can cut off the red rocks' fear power."

"Oh, we can so cut off their power," Rapunzel said with a grin.

"You just need a cavern that runs deep enough," Varian said as he looked at the map.

"Deep cavern..." Rapunzel gasped. "I know just the place!"

Suddenly, there was a scream. They ran out to see what was happening.

"No, no, no, no!" One of the handmaidens froze against a cluster of red rocks.

"Oh, no," Rapunzel said as she looked at the maid. "It's getting worse. We can't let this happen to anybody else. Your plan starts now."

Varian breathed and Aqua put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go get your supplies," Aqua said and he nodded.

🧪

Varian walked into his lab with Aquaria, breathing deeply. His grip on her hand tightened a bit when they entered the lab.

"Do you know where you put the compound or do we have to make one?" Aquaria looked at Varian who hummed softly.

"I know where it is, blue," Varian said softly.

He let go of her hand and walked over to a chest that he unlocked. He looked at the one bottle and hummed.

"Actually, we'll need more..." Varian frowned and he saw his father getting trapped in the amber again.

"VARIAN!" Quirin cried out and Varian flinched before he looked over to see Aquaria chained up again but the amber was encasing her slowly.

"Varian, please! Help me! Don't leave me!" Aqua begged and Varian felt tears in his eyes before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the real Aqua and he hugged her tight.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Aqua comforted and Varian shook his head.

"It's not okay, Aquaria. I did awful things after using this compound. I almost lost my father forever and if you hadn't escaped, it would've encased you too and I... it was all my fault... I don't know if I can do this..." Varian trembled a bit in Aquaria's arms and she gently rubbed his back.

"You can do this, Varian. Rapunzel and Eugene believe in you. I believe in you. I know that the kingdom is still bitter but I know that you are back to being the Varian that I fell in love with. My best friend in the entire world," Aqua said softly and she gently made Varian look at her. "We'll do this together."

Varian nodded, so grateful that he had such amazing friends and an amazing girlfriend.

"You're right. Come on. Let's get making more of this compound so we can save Corona," Varian said and Aqua smiled.

Varian kissed her quickly and then they got to work.

💧

Aqua held Varian's hand as they walked through the cavern with Rapunzel.

"No problem. We got this. No problem. We got this," Varian repeated again with a weak chuckle and Aqua hummed softly.

"You okay, Varian? Because you've said 'no problem, we got this' twenty three times now," Rapunzel said as she showed him her diary where she had been keeping a tally. "Look, I'm actually keeping track."

Varian laughed nervously and Aqua rubbed his arm gently.

"That's- I'm fine really," Varian waved it off, walking forwards. "Uh, you know, just trying not to set off the three thousands traps down here!"

"Relax. We've been through these tunnels too many times for that- look out!" Rapunzel shouted as the floor opened up beneath them.

"My supplies!" Varian watched as his solutions exploded at the bottom of the pit with a few of his other books and implements. He then screamed as he fell into the pit.

"VARIAN!" Aqua cried, trying to use her powers to catch him but nothing happened.

Rapunzel threw her hair down and he caught it, pulling him up.

"Woo! Oh, thank you!" Varian felt so relieved and Aqua hugged him tight.

"I don't know what happened, I-I..." Aqua trembled as she held onto him tight.

"You lost your powers in the pendant. You're afraid of losing them again. It's okay, I'm okay," Varian comforted and she breathed deeply.

Varian took off his bag and looked inside. "Oh, we've only got one vial of my solution left." He pulled out the glowing yellow solution.

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to make it count," Rapunzel said and Varian nodded before he kept walking.

"It's not much further, guys. We're almost there," Rapunzel said. "Have that solution of yours ready."

Varian looked at the solution and pictured his father in the amber.

"Varian, whatever the red rocks are showing you, they're just visions. They're not real," Rapunzel said gently and Aquaria frowned.

"But they are," Varian said as he glared at the vial. "Do you know what this is?" He held up the yellow solution.

"It's what's gonna help us sever the red rocks' power," Rapunzel said.

"Yes, but it's also the same compound that encased my father. You know, the red rocks make everybody else see hallucinations, but what I see is something that really happened. This stuff ruined my life," Varian said as he thought about everything that had happened.

Aqua put a hand on his arm gently to try and ease him.

"Because of this, I did- I did terrible-" Varian accidentally dropped the vial but Pascal snagged it before it could smash.

"Great snag, buddy," Rapunzel praised the chameleon.

"If that had smashed, then Corona would've been done for," Varian started as he took the vial from Pascal before continuing, "and everyone would hate me even more than they do now. Not that I blame them."

"Var, we don't hate you. It's not your fault," Aqua said as she hugged him gently.

"Varian, you can't be so hard on yourself," Rapunzel said gently.

"She's right," Aqua agreed.

"That's easy for you both to say. You're a beautiful magical being that is friends with a water spirit," Varian said to Aqua who hummed softly. "And Rapunzel, you're the embodiment of the sun drop. You know, the-the wondrous, magical sun drop."

"Ah, you hear that Pascal. He called me wondrous and magical," Rapunzel said with a cheeky smile.

"No, what I'm saying is for ordinary people, like me, fear is just a little bit more debilitating," Varian said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Varian, there is absolutely nothing ordinary about you. Do you think I would've fallen in love with someone boring and ordinary? Absolutely not," Aqua said as she hugged him tight. "You are completely special and you're powerful in your own way."

Varian smiled and hugged her back, feeling a bit better.

"Now, let's go! We're almost there!" Rapunzel pulled them towards their destination.

The tunnels were crumbling around them.

"Rapunzel, we really gotta hurry," Varian said as he clutched the vial close. "How much farther is it?"

"Uh, we're here," Rapunzel said as they approached a doorway. "You wanted a big underground cavern? I give you, the Demanitus Chamber."

They entered the chamber and it was a wondrous sight, even if it was pretty destroyed.

"Woah... it-it's amazing!" Varian looked at it in shock.

"You should have seen it before all these red rocks," Rapunzel said and Aqua looked at him.

"Y-you've actually s-seen this before?" Varian questioned.

"You could say that," Rapunzel scratched Pascal's head.

"And you never told me?" Aqua asked in shock.

"Sorry," Rapunzel laughed a little.

"Man, I would've loved to have met Demanitus." Varian let out a little chuckle.

"I did. Nice guy. He was a monkey," Rapunzel said and both teenagers turned to look at her. "Uh, long story."

Rapunzel led them down the stairs.

"I can't believe you never told me about this place. When did you even come down here? Why didn't you take me?" Aqua asked as they went down the stairs.

"Well, I would've taken you with but you were desperate to go after Varian in the storm. You ran as soon as I gave the order. There was literally no stopping you. Other than the storm stopping you apparently," Rapunzel said and Aqua hummed.

"Oh! Okay, there's the base," Varian said as he pointed to the red rocks. "Encasing it in amber should stop the fear from, oh! Woah!"

The room kept crumbling as the rocks grew.

"Okay, less explaining, more pouring!" Rapunzel wrapped her hand around Varian's waist and he leaned over to edge.

He heard his father's voice calling to him.

"VARIAN! Please help me!" Quirin reach out for him.

Varian then saw Aquaria struggling to stay away from the amber and he gasped as he watched her struggle.

"Varian, please! I love you! Please save me!"

Varian clenched his eyes shut before opening them once again and reached out, pouring the solution onto the red rocks.

Rapunzel used her hair to block them from the amber but it never came.

"What? Gah, I don't understand! This solution should encase the red rock- I-" Varian tried to think. "Oh, of course! Urgh, so dumb Varian! Whatever turned these rocks red must've also changed their internal chemistry."

"So, that solution only works on black rocks?" Rapunzel asked as she stared at something above them.

"Yes, well, what's left of it," Varian said as he tapped the vial. "But I-I don't even see any black rocks."

"I do!" Rapunzel pointed up at the singular black rock that was jutting out of the side of the red rocks.

Varian looked up at it and his face fell.

"Okay... this just got a lot harder..."