There are so many fucked up things happening in this chapter. 

Get ready for a wild ride. 

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Two unwanted mother-son reunions

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You coughed the smoke out of your lungs, slowly lifting yourself from the ground. "Damn," you spoke, you're eyes notched together. "Since when could balls explode?" 

Varian rushed to your side, offering you a hand. You were just about to shove it away but ended up taking it hesitantly. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be that explosive! It's a chemical ball, that explodes whenever it touches a flat surface hard enough." He stood proud with closed eyes. "I invented it myself."

You rose your right eyebrow. "And so, you thought it would be a good idea to throw one of these 'explosion-balls' at me, your teacher when I wasn't looking?"

Varian's eyes winded, and he terrified rose his arms up, about to apologize and explain himself, but you met him half-way. 

"Nicely done." You smiled, patting his shoulder. 

While Varian stood there, completely shocked, you walked over to Eugene and Rapunzel. You had trained them the whole day, giving them advice on how they'd become better fighters. Eugene had some dried blood on his chin, and Rapunzel had wounds on her knuckles.  

"Rapunzel." You spoke, and you couldn't help but smile at how she flinched. "Surprisingly you're quite good at fighting. But remember to use the element of surprise to your advantage. A hard enough punch may be the one punch doing the trick. Go after the throat." You told her, while her terrified expression kept you amused. "If you can't reach the throat, give them a hard punch right here." You walked over to her, pressing a spot on her lower back, to the right. 

"Uh, sure, but... Why?" She questioned, touching the spot herself. 

You shrugged. "It's where the most nerves in your body meet. If you press it hard enough correctly, the target will most likely lose consciousness and collapse." 

The Queen sent a glance in Eugene's direction, mimicking: How does she know these kinds of things? But Eugene was too busy looking at you, to even notice.

He had stared at you like that, ever since you had sent him flying straight to the ground in your fight. Was he embarrassed by getting beaten up by a 16-year old? Probably. 

There was something about Eugene you didn't like. Probably the fact, that he didn't like you. Still, you had to give him some feedback, so he wouldn't get eaten alive in this dimension. "As for you Eugene, you were slightly more hopeless. Take this spear." 

You tossed him your spear, and so the only weapon you had left, was your lighter. "If you're fighting against a smaller demon, go for the heart. If it's bigger, go for the eyes."

Eugene growled, but ended up nodding. Still, he looked like someone who held in a massive shit. What was his deal?

Varian walked right up beside you, invading your personal space. But honestly, you had gotten so used to him being there, that you didn't even care. 

"So what now? Are we going to head to those stones?" He asked, looking at you. 

You looked into the red and blue forest. The light purple sky was beginning to get darker, and the wind was slightly colder than before. "It's beginning to get dark. However, there's no time to rest. So yeah, I'll say we start to get going."

Eugene's face was getting redder.

"If we hurry, we'll reach the stones tomorrow night. Then we'll prevent the world from its doom." You spoke, putting a hand on Varian's shoulder. "Varian, you and I will be front. Eugene and Rapunzel, you'll be rearguard. If we get attacked by a demon, it'll be easy to surround it." 

"Excuse me, who exactly made you the leader of this mission-" Eugene finally snapped, his face as red as a tomato. 

You rose your brows and crossed your arms. "Well, I am the one with all of the information, aren't I. Is something bothering you, Eugene?"

"Is something bothering me?! All of this is! The fact that the only source we have on this mission is a high-ranked villain, and we don't even know if it's reliable! Am I the only one who's skeptical here?!" He rose his voice, looking around. Both Rapunzel and Varian furrowed their eyebrows - Rapunzel in thought, and Varian in anger. 

You placed your hands on your sides. Eugene had always seemed suspicious of you, and now he was finally telling you off. Bad idea.  "Well, you're right. It would be very easy for Argo and I to fake the riddle you've just solved, and use all of this for a diversion, while all of the villains are taking over the castle - It would be a piece of cake because all of the guards are on a trip to find Argo, and the king and Queen are stuck in another dimension with me - a villain. But I think that I've made it pretty clear, that that's not the case."

Both Eugene and Rapunzel looked wide-eyed at you. Even Varian rose his brows a bit. 

You snorted. "I'm a criminal, don't be surprised that I think like one. Also Eugene, you're pathetic. Did it really take a nosebleed for you to figure out whether you trusted me or not? Why is this coming now? The whole world is relying on us without even knowing it, and now you think it's the best time to discuss this?"

"Get down from your high horse, will you? I'm just skeptical that we left the castle completely vulnerable, just because of the fact that you basically told us to. You haven't even shown your loyalty!"

You stepped warningly a step forward, your blood boiling. "Oh, I haven't shown my loyalty? Is that what you're thinking, big guy, huh? Do you wanna go?"

Eugene took a fighting stance, and you followed right up. You looked intimidating at each other, and were just about to lunge out, when Varian stepped in between. 

"Stop it! (Y/n) have sacrificed everything to help us out right now!" He yelled, completely silencing everyone. "She put herself in danger to save us! She went behind the backs of literally every criminal in the seven kingdoms and broke into the criminal base for our sake! She had been stuck in this dimension for several days, putting her own life at risk, because she wanted to save Corona - for god's sake, saving the whole world! And now, I get that you're just trying to take care of the kingdom, but try not to be so narrow-minded, that you can't see her, for who she's become. You were a criminal once too, and you turned good. So why is it so impossible, that (Y/n) is doing exactly the same!?"

Silence. You stood up normally, yet Eugene still stood in his fighting stance. Everyone looked at each other, to the sound of Varian's heavy breathing.

You glanced at Varian, and gulped. That was really nice, what he did just there. He stood up for you, in front of Eugene - the man he had always looked up to. 

Suddenly you felt overwhelmed with guilt. 

"He's right Eugene." Rapunzel tried, but Eugene just shot her a glare. He began slowly backing away, still red-faced in anger. And that's when you saw the little creature on his neck. 

Of course. 

"Eugene stand still." You spoke calmly, as you got closer to the angry male. 

"What- HEY, DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH ME-"

With one movement, you brushed the black creature of his neck, and Eugene immediately looked calm. "W-What the hell was that."

"A Leecher." You spoke. "It's one of the smallest demons out there. When it bites you, all of your emotions get strengthened 10 times. Especially the bad ones."

Eugene rubbed his temples, and Rapunzel ran over to him, high-speed, checking his neck. He looked like someone who had a serious headache. 

Varian scratched the back of his head, his cheeks slightly pink. He found it very embarrassing, that he had just gone off on Eugene, and thought the absolute worst of him when his actions had been caused by a "Leecher".

"But they don't make you lie." You said, examining your lighter. That was strangely the only object you found interesting right now. "And I'm sorry you feel that way, Eugene." 

Eugene was red in embarrassment. You weren't sure whether you enjoyed it or not. 

You pulled on your red jacket and cleared your throat. "Okay, as I was saying, before Eugene so kindly interrupted me, Varian and I will be front, and Rapunzel and Eugene rearguard. That way, when we see something in the woods, we can-"

"(Y/n)?"

"Yes, Varian?"

"I see something in the woods-"

You blinked a few times, before sighing. "Why won't anyone allow me to finish a simple sentence today!" You mumbled, as you narrowed your eyes, following his gaze. There, behind some bushes, you saw a very much human-looking creature. It had black tears coming out of its eyes, running downwards their chin and onto their black dress. 

Everything about it had the color black. Eyes, hair, clothes, lips... And their skin was grey. It was a strange sight in such a colorful world. 

Strangely enough, it was the human-looking demons, you had to keep an eye out for. Simply because they had the ability to speak. 

You immediately put your guard up, and stepped in front of Varian. Eugene did the same with Rapunzel. 

You stood like that for some time. Waiting for it to make a move. It looked blankly at the ground, and you began to question if the demon had even noticed you. You kept standing there in a fighting stance, but nothing happened. It was honestly getting pretty awkward. 

"Hello?" Eugene tried slowly as if he was talking to a baby. "Are. You. Friendly?"

You snorted, lowering your fists. "Did you seriously just ask a demon, if it was friendly?"

Eugene crossed his arms. "Uh, (Y/n), I think it's very generalizing of you to just assume that every demon is evil." 

"Well if that's your opinion, why only ask it then? Come on, go hug the demon, then we'll see if it's truly friendly. I dare you."

"Oh yeah? I might!"

"Both of you, quiet! She's gone!" Rapunzel snapped, as Eugene and you looked dumbly at the spot, the demon stood, only a few seconds ago. 

Eugene was just about to blame you, when he heard something growling from behind him and Rapunzel. He and Rapunzel carefully turned around, while backing slowly away. 

"Uh, sweetheart? I think it just got mad, that you assumed it's gender-" Eugene tried, looking at the demon in front of him. It had gotten seemingly bigger, and the black tears had made a whole puddle on the ground. It was growling, showing off its needle-sharp teeth. The purple tongue, which was the only colorful thing about it, was licking them back and forth. Its eyes were almost two black holes, and it stared directly at Eugene. But it didn't look like it was about to put up a fight. 

Then suddenly, something happened that made you all jump back - and in Varian's case, jump on you. He was very light, so you didn't even notice. No, you were to busy looking at the hand that was coming out of the black puddle. 

Rapunzel let out a scream, as the hand turned into an arm... Two arms, that seemed to be struggling, crawling out of the puddle. 

For the first time in a long time, you were confused about what to do. Should you attack the demon, while it was busy... Creating whatever that was. Or would that make the whole situation worse? 

You thought Rapunzel's scream was loud before, but now that a head and upper body had come out of the puddle, her scream broke all possible records. Eugene and Varian gasped. 

It was a woman with short, black hair - or was it just the black liquid? She had wide-opened eyes, looking directly at Rapunzel. The woman got on her feet and smiled creepily. 

"C-Cassandra?" Rapunzel stuttered, reaching out. Eugene took a hold of his girlfriend.

"It's... It's not her, sweetie. It can't be."

Varian jumped off you, staring at the so-called 'Cassandra'. His whole expression screamed that he knew her. as well 

You furrowed your brows. Who was this chick?

Cassandra didn't do anything. She just stared blankly at Rapunzel with a creepy smile on her face, beside the demon. 

You slowly bowed down to pick up you knife, that Rapunzel had held onto, but had dropped in pure shock. You were making up your mind - to attack, before this situation got any worse. 

But then another figure crawled up from the seemingly very deep puddle of tears. Another woman. Black liquid was running down her body, and out oh her mouth, that was open in a wide grin. She was staring at Eugene, and when the male recognized her, he lost grip of Rapunzel, and stumbled backwards.

"Mom?"

And that was when it hit you.

The demon was a summoner. 

"Guys." You spoke calmly, as the creature that looked like Eugene's mom, walked over beside the Cassandra-lookalike. "The demon is a summoner. It summons whoever you misses the most, to let your guards down. Do not loose focus! And whatever you do, don't touch them!"

Rapunzel was backing away, taking Eugene with her. You and Varian did the same. 

"What are we supposed to do, (Y/n)!?" Rapunzel called. You took a few moments to think, while a third person was forming in the puddle. 

"We can't attack while its making the... Creatures. Otherwise we'll get sucked into the puddle... Uh, I think according to the myth. We have to wait till Varian's and mine have been made. The persons we miss the most."

"And then?" Eugene gulped, staring at his mother. You were pretty sure tears were coming out of his eyes. 

"And then, we can attack. When the puddle is closed." 

"I-I can't fight Cassandra, I-... Not again." Rapunzel stammered. She was holding onto Eugene's hand, like her life depended on it. 

You were about to calm her down, when Varian let out a gasp. He sounded as vulnerable as ever when he spoke: "Mother?"

You froze. 

Slowly turning your head. 

And there she was. Varians mother. The woman that had died saving you. Ulla. 

[I changed Kiara's name to Ulla y'all, cause it's canon (:]

She crawled up from the puddle, looking directly at Varian, as she did so. 

So many emotions was running through you all at once, and you couldn't even begin to express even one of them. You felt like screaming, crying, shaking, everything. But all you could do was stare. 

And then the fake-Ulla turned her face to look at you. 

"Wait..." Varian suddenly spoke up, his voice thick from crying. "If these look-alikes looks at the person who summoned them... The person who misses them,-" 

He was beginning to put the pieces together. A tear was rolling down your cheek. You weren't ready for him to know- 

"-Then how come my mother is looking at both of us?"

-Know that the cause of his mother's death, was you.

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I don't know what I feel about this book getting so freaking weird, but like, might as well finish what we started-