"You're telling me I gotta climb all the way up there?" Varian question rhetorically. "Nobody in their right mind would-"

"Race you to the top!" Rapunzel said and Aqua laughed.

"Oh! You're on sis!" Aquaria jumped onto the rocks and followed her sister.

"Oh, come on." Varian grimaced at his girlfriend and her sister.

"Come on, freckles! You'll get extra snuggles if you beat me!" Aqua tried and he pouted.

"Not cool, blue!"

💧

Aquaria was right below her sister as they climbed and the chamber was crumbling faster.

She heard Varian slipping beneath her and she gasped.

"Watch out!" Rapunzel warned as some rocks fell and Varian lost his grip.

"Varian!" Both princesses cried out in unison.

Rapunzel jumped and threw her hair. They were both swinging on opposite ends of the long golden hair as it was slung over a bar.

"It's no use, Rapunzel! I can't do this!" Varian cried as he gripped her hair tightly.

"Varian, you cannot let fear run your life," Rapunzel said to him. "Look, I'm afraid too."

"Yeah, you said, princess, but you don't see what I see," Varian said as he looked down, seeing his father encased in amber and Aquaria begging for him to help her.

"That's true. I don't. But that doesn't mean I'm not seeing... other things..." Rapunzel sighed as she looked down and then back at Varian. "I see Corona. It's covered in black rocks. And I see Cassandra. She's conquered the kingdom, destroyed it forever. And you know what the weird part is? What I'm most afraid of is losing Cassandra as a friend... forever..."

"I had no idea," Varian said as he swung over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess we both have trouble talking about what scares us," Rapunzel said with a smile and Aqua smiled.

"I'm glad that you two are having a tender moment but can we please get up to that rock," Aqua piped up before the room started to tremble and crumble even more around them.

"I'll do it," Varian said. "Just uh, give me a lift," he said to Rapunzel.

"One lift coming up," Rapunzel said before she swung and forced herself down so Varian was flung up to a ledge.

"Hurry, Varian!" Rapunzel called up to him and Aqua watched with worry, but she knew he could do it.

"You've got this!" Aqua cheered him on with a smile.

Varian glanced at her and gave a weak smile before he kept climbing. He got stuck and he started to panic, but he breathed.

"It's not real... I can do this... okay," he said to himself and he continued to climb.

Aquaria let out a cry as the small ledge she was on crumbled.

"Aqua!" Rapunzel cried as her sister fell.

Varian looked over and gasped in horror, but Aqua landed on another ledge.

"I'm okay!" She called and Varian turned back to climbing.

Varian grabbed the vial out of his bad and stood as he reached out to pour the solution onto the black rock.

"Come on! Come on!" Varian tried to pour the last drop, but he couldn't turn his arm which was frozen past his elbow. The vial slipped from his grip and he panicked. "Ah! The vial! No!"

Aquaria watched with anxiety and gasped when she saw the vial fall.

Varian caught the vial just barely with his foot. "Oh, no, no, no! Don't!" He almost lost the vial but he hoisted it up into the air before catching it. "Gotcha!"

He reached out to pour the vial, time running out as the red hue spread up the black rock.

"Fight the fear! Fight it!" He told himself as he struggled to pour the solution. "Come on! Come on! I got it!"

The last drop fell onto the black rock and the amber started to grow.

"It's working! It's working! Oh!" Varian turned and jumped away from the amber.

Rapunzel jumped down to the main platform before Varian jumped down beside her.

"You tackled your fears, Varian! I knew you had it in you!" Rapunzel said as she hugged him and he smiled.

Aqua made her way to them and she nearly tackled Varian in a hug.

"You did it!" She smiled brightly at him and kissed him quickly.

Varian blushed but smiled bright. "I did it... I really did it..."

"You're our hero," Aqua said and Rapunzel nodded with smile.

Varian felt so proud of himself. Aqua and Rapunzel were proud of him. He knew that his father would be proud of him too. This was all he could ever ask for.

🧪

"If it wasn't for Rapunzel, I'd be-" Varian started as walked into Corona with his father and Aqua when he saw a familiar raccoon. "Ruddiger! Hey! It's good to see you, buddy!"

He picked Ruddiger up and the critter crawled onto his shoulder, rubbing the alchemist's hair.

"Woo! Nice job with those rocks, Varian!" Feldspar praised. "Rapunzel says you were a real hero so, uh, yes." The cobbler looked at the teens.

"Just doing my part," Varian said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "But Aqua helped too."

"Oh, yes! Rapunzel's sister! Well, good job!" Feldspar then left and Aqua frowned slightly. She didn't like being known now as Rapunzel's sister.

She forced a smile on her face as she looked at Varian.

Quirin smiled proudly and put a hand on Varian's shoulder gently. Aqua hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"We're so proud of you, Varian. I love you, son," Quirin said as he looked at Varian.

"Thanks, dad. I love you too." Varian smiled brightly at him.

"So, do you two wanna run off? I'm going to get what I need from the market and I'll be going back home," Quirin said and Aqua hummed.

"Yeah, I think we'll do that," Varian said with a smile.

"Be safe," Quirin told the two.

"We will!" Aqua promised before they ran off and Varian led her to the palace.

"Come on! I wanna talk to Rapunzel about something," Varian said as he took Aqua into her home.

"About what?" Aqua asked curiously as she ran with him.

"Well, I want some solitude so I can decipher the Demanitus Scroll. I was thinking maybe five weeks," Varian said and Aqua stopped.

"So I'm not gonna see you for five weeks?! Why didn't you tell me about this idea?!" She frowned, wishing he had told her sooner.

"You would be with me! I need my partner to help me of course!" Varian hugged her and she breathed. "I just need no distractions. No quests or crazy journeys. Plus, it'll give us some alone time."

"Oh?" Aqua raised an eyebrow. "We don't get plenty of alone time in our lab?"

"We do, but no one will interrupt us in the Demanitus Chamber!" Varian smiled brightly.

"The Demanitus Chamber? You want to stay there for five weeks?" Aquaria questioned.

"With you, yes. It's the perfect place and my father said that I could be isolated for five weeks because this is so important," Varian said and he looked at her, hoping he would join her.

"I don't know if I can be isolated for five weeks, but I'll definitely stay with you. I just may go visit my family. Okay?" Aqua said and he nodded.

"Okay!" He kissed her cheek and then took off to see Rapunzel once again.

Aqua laughed as she was pulled along. This was gonna be fun, right?

👑

"You want to do what now?!"

Frederic looked at Aquaria and Varian in shock.

"Varian asked me to help him with the Demanitus Scroll," Aqua replied calmly.

"But you want to spend five weeks with him alone in the Demanitus Chamber? Absolutely not!" Frederic said firmly, glancing at his wife to back him up, but Arianna said nothing.

"I would come up and see you guys! I wouldn't be down there the entire time! Plus, we need food and water, not to mention, a place to sleep. This is important, dad," Aquaria tried to reason and the king sighed, leaning back in his throne.

"But I don't want you two to be alone for that long. He's a teenage boy for crying out loud!" Frederic gave Varian a hard look and he gulped nervously.

"He's my boyfriend!" Aqua crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's the point! What do you think goes on in the mind of a sixteen year old boy?" Frederic turned his gaze back to his youngest daughter.

"Dad, you-" Aqua was cut off by Varian.

"No one has ever been in an empty room. If you think about it, as soon as you walk into an empty room, it's no longer empty. And it's still filled with air, light, or darkness all the time," Varian said suddenly and Arianna couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"But- wow... you're right. I never thought about it like that," Frederic said as his train of thought was momentarily derailed. "Wait, why is that even relevant?"

"Well, you asked what goes on in the mind of a sixteen year old boy. That's what was going through my mind," Varian said and Aqua stifled a laugh.

"You know what I meant! How do I know I can trust you to be alone with him?" Frederic sat up straight in his throne.

"Fred, they're alone together all the time," Arianna pointed out.

"But they aren't far away from an adult!" Fred countered.

"We went camping twice all on our own and nothing happened," Aqua added as she looked at her father.

"You left here best friends and came home a couple," Frederic said and Aqua huffed.

"Yeah, but nothing happened that you would kill us for," Aqua clarified. "We're not going down to the chamber to do inappropriate things behind your back, dad. I promise. We're going down there to decipher an ancient scroll that contains encrypted incantations that could destroy or protect Corona and possibly give Rapunzel answers about the sundrop and moonstone so she can save Cassandra!"

Frederic listened and sighed softly as he looked over at Arianna, having a silent conversation with his wife.

"Fine. You can go," Frederic gave in.

"Yes!" Aqua cheered with a bright smile.

"But!" The king started and Aqua quickly looked back at her dad. "I'm sending a guard to keep an eye on you two."

"Dad, the entire point is for there to be no interruptions," Aqua said as she put her hands on her hips.

"Fine, but I'm trusting you, Varian. Pretend that I'm watching you at all times," Frederic said sternly and Varian nodded quickly.

"I promise, sir," Varian assured with a smile.

"Thank you, daddy!" Aqua ran up and hugged her father.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Frederic replied, smiling as he hugged her back. He watched as Aqua moved to hug Arianna. "Why don't you both stay for lunch and then go down to the Demanitus Chamber?"

"I'd like that!" Aqua agreed and Varian nodded.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Varian smiled as Aqua walked over to him and slipped her hand into his.

"Alright then, meet us in the garden for lunch then," Arianna said with a warm smile. The two ran off to get the supplies they would need from the lab so they could just go straight down to the chamber after lunch.

"I hate it so much," Frederic murmured as he leaned back in his throne with a soft sigh.

"What do hate?" Arianna looked at him curiously.

"We missed all of Rapunzel's childhood and then we get blessed with Aquaria but it feels like her childhood flew by... I remember when we found her, well, when she was given to us. I'm so glad that you convinced me to keep her," Frederic said softly as he closed his eyes, picturing that night in perfect detail.

"I'm glad too. I'll be honest, I had wanted to have another child after we lost Rapunzel, but I never said anything because I didn't want you to think I was giving up on our baby. Then Aquaria came along and I didn't want to lose that opportunity," Arianna admitted and Frederic reach over, gently placing his hand over hers that was resting on the arm of her throne. He laced his fingers through hers and she gently curled her fingers with his as well.

"I know that you would've never wanted to give up on Rapunzel. I will admit that the only reason you were able to convince me to keep Aquaria was because I knew we needed an heir to the throne in the unfortunate event of Rapunzel perhaps being lost forever. I didn't want to see her as my child because I didn't want to replace Rapunzel but... seeing how much you cared for her and how happy she made you, I couldn't help but fall in love with her as well," Frederic said and Arianna hummed softly.

"She's our baby girl no matter what happens. We definitely raised her right." Arianna smiled and Fred nodded.

"Yes. Aquaria would've made a wonderful queen if Rapunzel had never come home. Most importantly though, she already makes a wonderful girl. She's smart, kind, beautiful, and brave, just like you," he said softly.

"Aw, Fred," Arianna murmured.

"But I believe she did get her stubbornness from you," Fred joked and Ari grimaced.

"Are you sure she didn't get it from you?" Arianna replied.

"Maybe she got a bit from both of us," Frederic said with a small grin.

"We'll go with that," Arian said as she gave a light laugh.

"I do wonder how she got her magic though. I mean, I know that the Northuldra lived with the help of the spirits, but they were not magical. Queen Elsa also has magic similar to Aquaria, but they are not related through blood and I do not know how Elsa received her powers either," Frederic spoke as he thought.

"We are also only assuming she is Northuldran. Granted, it is the most plausible assumption seeing as the note said that her parents were stuck in an enchanted forest. There's no way to get into the forest and find the Northuldra to ask them. That's even if the Northuldra are still living," Arianna pointed out.

"What do you think would happen if somehow the Northuldra did get out one day? What if Livli and Aquaria's father come looking for Aqua to take her home?" Frederic thought aloud with a frown. "They probably feel similar to how we felt when we lost Rapunzel, granted Aquaria wasn't stolen from them. But we know how much it hurts to not know where your baby girl is and if she's hurt. What if they take her home and we never see her again?"

Arianna frowned and her chest tightened. "Don't think like that, Fred. Aquaria would never just up and leave us. I know she wouldn't and you know that too."

"You're right," Frederic hummed softly as he thought back to when Aquaria was younger.

👑

Frederic was sitting in his study late one night, marking off all the locations the royal guard had been in search of Rapunzel.

"Daddy?" A soft little voice sounded from the doorway as it was pushed open slowly.

"Aquaria? What are you doing awake?" Frederic looked at his daughter as she walked over to him. He scooped her up and sat her in his lap.

"I had a scary nightdream... Mrs. Rose was hurt and a scary mean lady told me that I was gonna hurt everybody... I no wanna hurt everybody..." Aquaria curled into her father's chest.

"Oh, sweetie. It was just a bad dream. Mrs. Rosamund is perfectly fine and you aren't going to hurt anybody. I promise," Frederic comforted as he gently rubbed her back in a soothing manner.

"But I can't control my powers yet... wh-what if I lose control and I..." She buried her face in his chest.

"That's why we are training you and you're getting better. Delta has helped you with your magic too. I know that you won't lose control." Frederic kissed her head gently.

"Is that why you don't let me play with Varian or any other kids?" Aqua asked as she looked up at him.

"That's part of it," Frederic said softly and he looked at the map on his desk.

"Is it because of sissy?" Aquaria looked at the map as well and the king sighed softly.

"Yes. I don't want anyone to take you away from me," Frederic replied as he ran a hand through her silky brown hair.

"Nobody's gonna take me away, daddy, and sissy is gonna come home. I just know it," Aqua said as she hugged him tight.

"I hope she will but you still need to be ready to become the queen if sissy doesn't come home," Frederic told her with a smile. "But I believe that she will come home."

"I hope she does. I wanna meet her and I don't wanna be the queen," Aqua admitted.

"Why not?" Fred looked down at the little five year old in his lap.

"I would mess up and I don't wanna let you down, daddy," she said softly. "I would make too many mistakes."

"Sweetheart, I've made many mistakes. It's part of being a human. You will learn to be an amazing queen as you grow and you will never let me down. I'm always so proud of you," Fred assured her and she gave a small smile.

"I love you, daddy," Aqua said happily.

"I love you too, sweetie," Fred replied and he held her close.

👑

Frederic smiled at the memory.

"She always loved sitting on your lap while you worked," Arianna remembered with a smile. "She was so afraid to become queen for a while."

"She has grown so much and she may not be the heir to the thrown anymore, but she will be able to help Rapunzel should she need it," Frederic replied.

"I'm glad that they get along as well as they do. I know Willow and I fought sometimes so I expected Rapunzel and Aquaria to buttheads, but they haven't." Arianna and Fred hummed softly.

"I guess we did get pretty lucky that they became best friends," he said and Nigel came into the throne room.

"Your majesties, lunch is almost ready and Princess Rapunzel is already waiting in the garden," the royal advisor informed and the two royals stood up.

"Thank you, Nigel," Frederic said before he left the throne room with his wife.