#Ulla the Alchemy Queen

[adventuretolkienlover]

IM NOT DEAD! Woo Hoo! Sorry about the lack of updates. Procrastination sucks. Sometimes working on an animatic and a fic at the same time can be overwhelming. So here's a preview to tide you guys over!

[dangara2610]

(4/10) Teenager and Young adult Ulla - Part 9

Hey, I skipped an important part...., this is how I imagined Ulla staying with Quirin

Yes, Ulla met Quirin , he keep his secret agent missions along the Brotherhood, and asked her to go home.

Donella would try to sell her products secretly around, there were two posible clients, typical insurrectionist group and a cult planning to rob the Moonstone

But Ulla would crack at her camp on whatever time to ask her for love and professional advise.

Donella would hide her real merchandise and let Ulla see the fake products, cutlery, and offer Ulla settler if needed if she they stayed on the Dark Kingdom

But please, bring groceries and keep a schedule, Donella don't like surprises on the back, Ulla agreed.

She keep trying to reach Quirin, convince him about getting his freedom from this militar life and reconnect with his family heritage.

He told her he is orphan, no family heritage, she told him he is Demanitus' offspring, he kind of got interested but not later resigned, asking to be leaved alone, he just would like to have a life as simple as possible, the Brotherhood is all he knows and all he needs, please respect his choices and his secrets.

She confess she is in love with him and she really doesn't want to leave him, no matter if he is not an alchemist like her or not interested in her interests, he is getting attached and falling in love , but he is also a men of compromises and secrets, so he let her chose, if she want to stay on his side, it has to be a secret.

She thought about it, and came to the conclusion she would keep the secret, so , she asked for time to go and tell her parents (plus Xavier) who were waiting for her outside the kingdom to not wait for her anymor.

Why shouldn't they? Because she will stay with Donella, she is really invested on a project, not lies, they wish her well, and her parents are trusting, they will scort Xavier to Corona and also ask her no to forget she is welcome home whenever she likes.

And if she will stay longer on whatever other foreigner kingdom, please spare Yuletide/Christmas to visit them at Pittsford , Ulf as well agreed to this, family shouldn't forget their love to each other.

She thanked them, but as well, they wouldn't go that simple, they would throw a little goodbye party as they did with Ulf and his friends at Nesdernia, tomorrow they would buy the supplies and next day they would celebrate.

Would Quirin attend? No, his existence is a secret, would Donella attend? Of course, she is the best friend, the reason Ulla is staying, would only her attend? Donella suggest Ulla to find some people in town so this doesn't become a pity party, Ulla find this as a joke and has no problem inviting the groceries sellers she befriended.

They get everything ready, have their little feast and say their goodbyes.

Time to go back to the camp, Ulla trying to befriend and help the brotherhood, Quirin being scolded by Hector and teased by Adira for not expulsing her.

Ulla is being actually helpful with the power of alchemy, even if she doesn't get details about the secret missions, she provides resourceful tools

Every time she goes back to Donella's place, she spills the beans with her BFF, supposing she is her confident and is not even involved on this things, she is glad Don looks interested instead of non believing.

Donella uses that information to offer better products to her clients to defeat the brotherhood, but that's not free, she is making a fortune, they think she is a higher mistress of divination and science.

These clients are getting poor soon, but they don't give up, they payed for the information, now they have to save enough money for buying the armory and weapons.

The insurrectionist and cults stepped back, finally the brotherhood is at peace, all the royals, and due to that, there is an important announcement, a baby is coming, the queen was hiding it, but she had been pregnant since 7 months ago, people pray to the accents kings and warriors for the health of the soon to be prince or princess.

Brotherhood missions are now around the castle, and they always endup having a night shift taking care of the queen, and Ulla is tagged along, due to her help before.

During those days, Ulla asked Quirin is he ever wanted to have a child, have a family or settle down, he says that's not up to him, he has a duty to do as agent of the government/royals, and that's for life as long as he is needed.

She ask if can he renounce, and he answers that would be treason, so no, this is his life as long as the royals find use in him, she answers that indeed, she is in love with him, but she-

Oups I have to go, thanks for reading 🏵️🌻🌻🌸🌸🌹🍁💞🌙🍒🧭☀️🪷🦋🌷🌷📚🌺🌴👒🪁🍉🍓🍎🍒🌐🎀🎁🎲🎨🖼️🎹🧶👾

[zonerobotnik]

Fun thing is, the guy who made the pol is a Varigo shipper.

So that's essentially a huge slap in the face for the Vat7k fandom.

Honestly, there's not much you gotta do to slap the V&7K fandom in the face, so that's not hard. It's hard for them to compete with actual canon content, and Varigo is probably seen as "canon" as shipping him with one of many OCs that are shipped with him.

Besides, Hugo is kind of an unpleasant person in the concept, worse than Eugene in the movie before he decided to give up Flynn Rider. I had to seriously tweak him for TREL, and most people that ship them change Hugo to be more likable in their fics, even before he decides to drop the act and the mission and stand by his side against Donella.

And don't even get me into people screwing up Donella. The only "bad" thing she "canonly" does is send Hugo to intercept Varian and get ahold of the totems, but people have her doing things from kidnapping Yong for information to beating the shit out of Varian just for kicks, and then they kill her at the end in a last-ditch redemption sacrifice when even in the outline she isn't dead at the end.

And Cyrus? No one can seem to agree on his relationship with Donella. Me, I think he's her younger brother and was on the journey with them before but didn't do the Trials himself.

And should I even get started with Varian's "canon" choice of transportation? A donkey and later a donkey-pulled cart? Sleeping in tents? The Royal Engineer of Corona? The fucking only son of the mayor of the biggest farming village in Corona? The Sundamned dear friend of Queen Rapunzel and Captain Fitzherbert?! GIVE HIM A FUCKING CARAVAN!

And then... there's Ulla. Or rather, "Melting Point". What the fuck is going on with Ulla and Donella?! Were they seriously having a fucking affair while her husband and son were waiting at home?! People are out there making up reasons for why Ulla and Quirin are a bad couple, just so they can justify their ship making out while doing the Seven Trials! And, no, you CAN'T just wait several years to do the final one, because Alchemy is a delicate process and the Seven Stages of Alchemy, which the Seven Trials are clearly based on, require things to be done in a relatively timely manner! They started and ended the journey when Varian was barely a toddler. Donella is a homewrecker and Ulla is an unfaithful woman. (Alexa, play "Unfaithful" by Rihanna.)

And Ulla, what the hell actually happened to you? Did the Trials drive you insane? Did you trigger some strange defensive spell that turned you into a demonic entity? It's so painfully vague what happened to her, but apparently she needs to possess Varian to get out of there! Sure, Donella apparently has a special spell she used to keep her in, but why exactly? And why did Ulla need Varian? If Donella was trying SO FUCKING HARD TO KEEP HIM SAFE, then CLEARLY Ulla needed Varian in particular!

But, WHY? Is it a blood-relation thing? Could her twin brother (not getting into that, this is long enough) have done it? Why Varian?

I have a lot of thoughts on V&7K but, as I said, this is long enough and I am typing this on mobile because my tablet and Tumblr don't get along.

Plus, there's the painful fact that Ulla and Varian were literally a wall away while he was translating the scroll, which...why, guys. Why.

And is Demanitus seriously so cheap that he had to make the Demanitus Device:

-Banish the blizzard

-Unseal the demonic cultists????

-Be the focal point to open a portal to his secret, magical library

Like, dude...why? Just why? And why is the second part even a thing? Why did banishing the blizzard release Zhan Tiri's followers?

Okay, this got off topic, I'm gonna stop here.

[ackerslut]

of all i am made of (perhaps you are too)

ao3

Hugo does not believe in soulmates.

To be fair, he doesn’t much believe in anything but the feeling of coin in his pocket and the clever bite of his dagger. What use has he for god and destiny when he carves his own path of lies through time, with a sharp tongue and a cocky smile.

Why should Hugo believe the universe would gift him a soulmate when it already has made it perfectly clear that nothing is free?

Besides soulmates are rarities of the past--legends and folktales on the lips of elders and religious fanatics; the former clinging to superstition from the od era, the latter feeding false promises and hope to the instupid masses.

Soulmates are for hopeless romantics and tiny children. Not for Hugo.

“That does not surprise me,” Nuru says, the beginnings of a smile forming on her face.

She’s lying down in the golden field where they’ve set camp for the night. The contrast of the bright yellow against her dark skin is stunning-particularly in the moonlight, with her dark hair fanning out about her head.

Hugo, who is sitting upright a few paces away and playing with his daggers, frowns.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, unsure if he should be feeling defensive or not.

Nuru folds her arms beneath her head, propping herself up enough to make eye contact with him. “Even if you had a soulmate, you wouldn’t know what to do with them,” she scoffs.

He snorts. “ You believe in soulmates?”

“Is that so surprising?”

“Yes, actually. I thought you were the rational one in this party.”

Nuru gives him an expression that indicates how stupid she thinks he is. “I might be the only person who can keep their head in a crisis, but that doesn’t mean I can’t believe in a higher power, Hugo.”

She rolls over, so that she’s laying on her stomach, facing him. “Burning stars fall in my homeland every year. There are stories of a sun princess who’s tears heal the dead. Varian somehow hasn’t strangled you yet. I think you’d better start believing in a god.”

“Or soulmates apparently,” Hugo mutters.

“Or soulmates,” Nuru says. “Would it really be that far-fetched?”

“Do I believe there’s someone out there who shares my dreams? Or has my name written above their heart? Hard pass, Princess.”

“Alright then, how about sharing the same soul?” Nuru asks, folding her hands together and resting her chin on them. “You’re telling me that doesn’t sound at least a little romantic?”

“I don’t have a soul.”

“Now that,” she says, a grin stretching across her face, “that I can believe.”

___

“I think Anya’s my soulmate,” Yong says dreamily, staring at Varian’s redheaded cousin like she hung the fucking moon.

Hugo, despite secretly adoring the round child, rolls his eyes. Hard. “Do you even know what that means?”

“It means we share the same time threads,” Yong replies distractedly.

Varian and Anya are nerding out over something-something Hugo would find interesting or fun to mock them over, but right now, for some reason, he’s more interested in Yong’s adorable-if not misguided-crush on Varian’s little cousin.

“Time threads,” Hugo laughs, cracking his knuckles. Yong winces at the noise, momentarily taking his eyes off the two babbling alchemists. “Alright, color me curious. What are time threads?”

Yong frowns. “You’ve never heard of time threads? Every child in Koto learns about them.”

Ah, must be some religious poppycock only spread in the fire kingdom.

“Well, I’m not a child living in Koto, am I?” Hugo replies lightly. “Spill, little pyro.” He pokes the kid in the shoulder repeatedly until he gets swatted.

“Her lady, Odiyesi, spins a thread for each person,” Yong recites in a sing-song voice. “This thread contains the beginning, the middle, and the end of our lives. If she so chooses, two threads will be intertwined-maybe even beyond the Snip, if she wills it.”

“The Snip?”

“Oh yeah, that’s when you die,” Yong says, side eyeing Hugo.

Hugo ruffles Yong’s hair. “And you think Anya is your thread partner. That’s so cute .”

Yong ducks out from under his hand, scowling. “Why did you ask if you don’t even believe it?” he mumbles, face pink.

“You know what I think?” Hugo asks, pretending like he doesn’t hear Yong. “I think you should go right up to here and tell her all that. Give her a heads up about your eternally bound souls.”

“Your soul is eternally bound to the underworld,” Yong shoots back, with a surprising amount of fire.

Hugo bursts into laughter. “That,” he says, “is the first thing you’ve said all day that makes sense.”

___

“What do you think about soulmates?” Hugo asks mildly. He has a glass of wine in one hand, but he’s barely tasted it. Instead, he stands, staring out the stained glass window and into the courtyard.

Donella, sitting behind her desk, looks up from Varian’s Ulla’s journal-recently procured by Hugo.

The amount of deception and sneaking around he’d gone through to actually get it out of Varian’s line of sight had been painstakingly difficult. And it had been even harder coming up with an excuse to Nuru why he needed to spend the night somewhere other than their current lodgings.

He doesn’t really remember the lie. Just the trust in the Princess’s face when she’d briefly patted him on the shoulder, telling him to be back by sunrise.

Donella closes the journal with a snap, leaning back in her chair. “What a curious question. And from you, no less.”

When Hugo turns around, she’s smiling that sharp smile-the one that makes his stomach plummet with discomfort. Something in him churns at that dangerous expression now, unsure of what he’s suddenly gotten himself into.

He gives a casual shrug, raising his glass to his lips. “Just making idle conversation, I suppose.” The wine tastes terrible. Still, he takes another sip before setting it down on an end table.

“Hmm.” His mentor eyes him skeptically. “What do I think about soulmates?” she muses, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I suppose the proper answer would be that I hate them.”

He frowns. “So you don’t believe in them?”

“You can’t hate something you don’t believe in, Hugo. Of course I believe in soulmates.” Donella must see the surprise in his expression because she laughs after a brief pause. “I would be hard pressed not to believe in them after seeing it with my own two eyes.”

Hugo blinks, startled. “You met someone with a soulmate?” he asks, disbelieving.

“You could say that.”

“How do-how did you know they were-”

She opens the stolen journal again, long scared fingers deftly flipping back to her reading place. “Because I could feel when she was in pain. Now shut up, Waif, I still have three quarters of this tedious reading to get through and only five more hours to do it.”

___

Even though Eugene has decided to make the conscious effort not to kill Hugo, the guy still shows mild animosity. And by mild, Hugo-of course-means that he drags him around, making him do tedious tasks and scowls whenever he gets close to Varian.

Whatever. It’s not as if Hugo’s going to complain, considering that it’s mostly his fault there was a demon monster briefly unleashed onto Corona that destroyed most of her capital city. As long as Varian isn’t blaming himself, Hugo calls it a win.

So he lets the Prince Consort drag him around the city and put his alchemy to work.

“You don’t have to stay,” Hugo says, at one point, when it becomes apparent that even though Eugene has no idea how alchemy works , he was still going to hover. “I’m not going to cut and run.”

The man had snorted. “Yeah, I already figured that one out for myself,” he’d muttered and then proceeded to not explain what that meant.

So here Hugo is, with an ever present shadow, hovering like he’s a fucking five year old. Hugo honestly doesn’t see what Varian sees in the guy-or Queen Rapunzel for that matter. She looks at the ex-thief like he hung the moon and all the damn stars in the sky.

“It’s because they’re soulmates,” Eugene’s buddy-Lance, Hugo thinks-had said when he caught him staring.

Hugo had scoffed.

Now, bored and overheated after a long day’s work, Hugo watches Eugene frown over some blueprints in the Queen’s study. Hugo’s not exactly sure why he has to be present for this particular part of the renovation project, but he’s too tired to protest.

“Are you and the queen soulmates?” he hears himself asking.

Eugene lifts his head, eyes alight with surprise. He glances back down at the blueprints once, before leaving the table to join Hugo by the open doors leading to the balcony.

“Weird question, coming from you,” he snorts, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms. “But yes. We are.”

Hugo doesn’t know what to make of that. “How do you know?”

The older man hesitates, something like understanding dawning on the man’s face. A small smile crosses lips. “Have you ever met someone that no matter how many times you tried to walk away, you couldn’t?”

Hugo swallows.

“That’s how I know. Now,” he claps Hugo on the shoulder. “If you’ll stop messing around, I need your opinion on whether Yong’s demolition idea or Varian’s solvent solution is going to work best for the lower district’s avalanche problem.”

___

At the end of all things-or perhaps the beginning-Hugo finds Varian on a rooftop.

It’s not hard to find him, as when Varian is brooding, he likes to perch. It’s a habit that the alchemist has either picked up from spending most of his time in a castle with high roofs or perhaps it’s born of chasing his dumb racoon into precarious positions.

Either way, Hugo learns early into his friendship with the darkhaired boy, that when he’s being introspective, he likes to pick a high roof and perch like a fucking woodland creature.

So when Varian goes missing in the middle of Corona’s lantern festival, it takes precious few minutes to find him.

“You are so predictable,” Hugo says, dropping down next to him. Heights don’t usually bother him, but the castle is impressively tall.

The other alchemist doesn’t really seem to mind, however. He lets his legs dangle over the edge, occasionally swinging in the air.

“Or maybe I wanted you to find me,” Varian replies easily. His head--tilted up, toward the stars that are mirrored in the constellations of freckles on his face-is wearing a peaceful expression.

Something in Hugo’s chest clenches tightly at the sight of it. There was a time, not too long ago, where he was convinced he’d never see Varian happy again.

But now, Varian turns his face toward Hugo and offers him a smile. “Or maybe I’m just predictable to you.”

The tightness in Hugo’s chest dissipates. What is left aches for something he can’t have.

“Or that,” Hugo says, instead of doing something stupid like trying to hold Varian’s hand or kiss the stupid expression off his face.

Varian turns back to the stars.

“You know, they say shooting stars fall in the direction of your soulmate.”

Hugo rolls his eyes. “Not you too,” he groans, eliciting laughter from his friend. “I thought out of everyone, you would be on my side here.”

“Aw, don’t believe in soulmates?” Varian teases, grinning boyishly. “Sun and moon, I should have expected that.”

“Yeah?” Hugo raises his eyebrows. “How so?”

“You’re so cynical. And not in the way Cass is-she’s like realistically -cynical. You’re just oh poor me I could never have a soulmate because my soul is made of garbage -”

Hugo clamps a hand over Varian’s mouth, shrieking when he tries to lick him. “I- stop -I don’t have to listen to this slander -”

“-and if you ever did find your soulmate you would be insufferable about it,” Varian goes on, catching Hugo’s wrist when he tries to silence him again. “You would spend the entire time trying to prove to yourself and everyone else that there was no possible way they could be your soulmate and when you couldn’t you would-”

He stops. Blinks at Hugo with realization dawning across his face.

Hugo’s wonders if Varian can feel his pulse racing where the smaller boy’s fingers wrap around his wrist.

“Yeah? What would I do?”

Varian’s lips purse. “I don’t know what you would do. I’d hope you would be smart about it.”

He lets go of Hugo.

Hugo immediately misses his warmth.

“And what would be the smart thing.”

“Well,” Varian draws out the word thoughtfully. He scoots close enough to Hugo that if the taller boy wanted he could wrap and arm around his shoulder. “Well, an excellent start would be telling them.”

“And how would you tell them? If it were you,” Hugo adds quickly, when Varian shoots him a questioning look.

Varian leans back on his hands, head tipped back, exposing his throat to the sky. “I would tell them my heart started beating at the same time as theirs when we touched. That there’s a silver dagger inked on my shoulder that burns when they’re angry and sings when they’re sad-”

“Varian.” Hugo’s heart clenches so hard he briefly wonders if he’s having a heart attack.

“-I would tell them that I dreamed in color the first night we lay side by side in the forest,” Varian goes on, ignoring him. “I would tell them that when we touch I see every color-even the ones that don’t belong here.”

“Varian.”

Hugo’s hand finds his soulmate's.

Varian turns his head to the side slightly, finally meeting Hugo’s eye. With his free hand, he cups the side of Hugo’s neck, tentatively.

“I would tell him that our souls are made of the same thing.” He smiles gently. “It’s just science, Hugo.”

Hugo laughs, pressing his forehead into Varian’s. “How is that the most romantic thing you’ve said yet?”

“Because you’re a closet nerd,” Varian says, right before he leans in.

Underneath a starlit sky, Hugo kisses the boy made of the same stuff as him.

___

[severely-glorious-ruins]

TANGLED AU IDEA

I name it the Reluctant Wizard AU

The rumors of Varian being a wizard are true. Alchemy is still his ACTUAL passion but thanks to his awful luck he becomes a mage on the side to deal with the magical shenanigans that occur without fail. Since I am a sucker for Moon!Varian that is a thing here too. Things go down the same in the Dark Kingdom and Quirin gets blasted by the Moonstone.

Here in this AU the Moonstone and Sundrop are sentient. They both prefer to take the form of women and were worshipped as goddesses. Moonstone is named Lunafreya. I have tentatively named the Sundrop Aurora. All went well until Zhan Tiri hijacked the stone and places of worship meant for the moon. She threatened and killed until people considered her the moon goddess and Lunafreya got shoved to the side.

Cue to more or less present: Lunafreya got curious of the baby with her powers. She visited Varian and grew attached. Lunafreya declares him her"Little Moonbeam". She then proceeds to sing Varian lullabies and tells him stories.

Quirin and Ulla FREAKED when they noticed the ghostly lady hanging around their son. They went NOPE and packed their bags to Corona. After saying goodbye of course. Let Varian have family in the Dark Kingdom he exchanges letters with and visits on occassion. Awesome Sword Aunt and Feral Tree Uncle teach him to fight and use weapons cause they be like that. Quirin is a silent Despair in the back but agrees that his son knowing how to defend himself is a good thing.

Ulla notices the Moon Powers and goes looking for the Eternal Library for answers with Donella. It goes as well as predicted. We now have the V&7k plot waiting in the wings.Meanwhile Lunafreya can't leave the Dark Kingdom but since DREAMS are part of her domain she can still contact Varian. After earning Varian's trust she teaches him Magic & Alchemy. Lunafreya decides not to teach him about his moon powers until Varian is older and in the Dark Kingdom to supervise better. Varian calls Lunafreya as Mother while Ulla is called Mom.

Varian decides that people knowing about his magical powers and connection to the moon is too dangerous so he tries to hide it. Keyword being: Try. It is literally the worst kept secret cause Varian is a human disaster. He isn't discovered because Quirin is vibing in denial and busy with work. The villagers chalk up the explosions to Alchemy Experiments. Varian is Clark Kent-ing through life so hard.

When Rapunzel and co. arrive he is an internal scream. He still helps though cause he's sweet like that. Varian mostly sticks to Alchemy but if things get bad enough he will use his powers. Varian then proceeds to frantically bluff his magic away as regular tricks while everyone side-eyes him. Don't get them wrong, they like the kid. They just conclude its actual magic but can't prove it. Rapunzel subconciously senses his connection to the moon and goes "Guess I have a little bro now".

Queen for a day happens but Varian doesn't have a villain arc cause Lunafreya talks sense into him more or less. He's mad at Raps and the king for canon reasons though. Varian is just a constant state of tranquil fury and gets noticeably ruthless. Thanks to King Frederick's poor life choices he decides to leave for the Dark Kingdom. He is definitely not coming back until he can find a way to free his Dad and King Freddy stops drinking dumb bitch juice. There is much learning of lessons and character growth for the cast.

[finnoky]

AU where Quirin takes and raises Eugene after the DK falls

•| Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts |•

Oh you have no idea how much this enables me - I stand by Quirin raising Eugene until the end of time bc it’s what they BOTH deserve

1) Oki so, here we see Eugene taken away as a baby without disclosing an EXACT location — that will not stop Quirin though, who had a stance against cutting him off completely despite it being Edmunds orders [It made sense to send the boy away but to send him to an ORPHANAGE was another story] Quirin finds Eugene a month or so after they get separated, during that time he found a house and a stable farm to raise a kid on [Gotta have an income] and then promptly goes to the orphanage and adopts Eugene.

By then, Eugene’s name has already been changed and frankly... Quirin thinks it suits him, though he occasionally slips up and calls him Horace. He feels a duty to raise the Prince but also kinda has a “My son now” mentality! Disagrees with Edmunds choices + decides... His kingdom is doomed, so he’s gonna ensure Eugene gets a stable upbringing with KNOWLEDGE of the Dark Kingdom without necessarily telling him “Oh BTW you’re the prince”. Being a father is hard and he struggles a lot, esp in early days, it’s a whole new challenge from being a knight but... Not one he really regrets?

Cue some fluff! Knight-dad trying to raise a baby and establish a life in a new country — Over time he grows and becomes Village Leader + Develops a bond with the monarchs based on his knowledge and previous high-rank in society from being a knight! Gets offered a guard position but turns it down in favour of spending time with his toddler son. Eugenes first word is Dada and Quirins never felt so content. Baby fluff of Eugenes milestones — Quirin has Eugene helping on the fields as soon as he can toddle without tripping (tho it’s mostly Eugene playing and running around while Quirin works) Toddler Eugene is a little darling and knows exactly how to use his cuteness to get praise and sweets

2) Eugene starts thievery / acting out soon after Quirin dates and marries Ulla, though it soon become a hobby he usually indulges in with his friend Arnie [though they take on the names of the coolest book characters Flynn Rider and Lance Strongbow!] Quirin thinks it’s just a phase and leans into the whole calling Eugene ‘Flynn’ because... He really loves the books, that’s not too odd? Though he doesn’t know of crimes + just thinks they go out to play a lot. Eugene ignored Ulla for the first few weeks because he doesn’t like the idea of someone new staying around — He doesn’t hate her, it just raises a lot of questions about his mum that Quirin doesn’t know how to answer... He resolved on the explaination that she was very sick and couldn’t take care of him anymore, though loved him dearly — it’s enough to placate him.

Eugene doubles down on stealing when he’s 10 and suddenly there’s gonna be a new baby in the house. [He doesn’t WANT a sibling + worries Quirin will love the baby more than him since he knows he’s adopted & all that though is too scared to ask] Eugene grows an attitude and Quirin finds himself exhausted and constantly caught in petty bickers as Eugene keeps running away + acting up, especially to his wife (Who loves Eugene very much, of course) ‘Flynn’ declares he wants to travel the world and be far away from step-mums and nasty babies, uhhh Domestic fall out stuff?

Things change when baby gets here and suddenly Eugene is a big brother and Quirin is MORE distracted, sometimes they forget to even read him a story and he can’t stand the squirmy little creature... All it does is cry and take what little attention his misbehaviour had earned him... So naturally, petty crime continues + Eugene starts caring less about getting caught, so it becomes more risky. He and Lance befriend some bad influences and start taking Big Kid Crime. It’s fun! Until Eugene is brought home by a guard and Quirin gives him the silent treatment for the next week. Quirin... He loves his sons, both of them, but he just isn’t sure how to handle a distressed 11 year old and a baby, it feels like there’s not enough hours in the day and Eugene is SET on making life harder for everyone.

Eugene stays against ‘Varian’, frequently makes the baby the villain in his games and makes him cry on several occasions. It gets even worse when he starts crawling bc now he can’t get anytime alone, it’s just frustrating! The solution probably comes when Varians starting to talk and he says ‘Oo-gee’ as one of his first words — ‘Lisa’s first word’ style — and Quirin and Ulla admit that Varian is obsessed with Eugene. It’s sorta a wake up call for Eugene to start trying to get along with the kid, and it works! He finds it fun to teach him things & have someone to talk to (even if he just babbles back) By the time Eugene is 12 he’s calling Ulla mum and love spending time with his little brother

3) Right! When Eugene is about 18 he picks up theiving again, mostly because he isn’t suited to the farm life and it’s easy money (Plus how else is he gonna achieve his dream of financial independence?) He moves out the farm under the guise of finding a new life with his best friend, though they quickly realise it’s not amazing when they get tangled up with the Baron + his antics. Eugene visits home every so often and claims everything is fine, it’s going great, he doesn’t need any extra help + his life is just dandy. His dishonesty mostly bc he doesn’t wanna worry Quirin and there’s been a bit of a strain since Ulla passed away.

Life keeps on like this. Eugene ages, steals alchemy supplies for Varian and hides his true income source because he wants to make Quirin and Varian proud! Varian grows up to be more headstrong in what he wants because he has someone standing up for him and telling him he’s proud, though the longer Eugene spends away the harder it gets? He loves it when Eugenes here! But the house feels empty without him, and Quirin is so busy + stressed from Varians experiments that there’s still that desire to do more, prove himself.

4) Movie diverts a bit! Eugene finds out about the hair glow and thinks... If one person knows about this then it’s him, and takes Rapunzel to Old Corona over night rather than a campfire. Varian is ecstatic to see him though gets confused by a random girl Eugene claims to have just found — He’s about to ask questions when Eugene asks if Varian could do his magic thing to find out about her hair. Varian insists it’s alchemy and agrees, dragging Raps down into the lab! Boop gothel talks to her when Varians gathering all the equipment and talks her ear off about how cool Eugene is and asks how they found each other since the story is weird... Experiements start!

Meanwhile Eugene is talking to Quirin, when Quirin pulls out a wanted poster and puts it on the table. He finally found out about how bad Eugenes crimes are and wants answers. Now. Eugene sits and tries to explain its not what it looks like, but Quirin doesn’t wanna hear it. The disappointment is evident and Quirin criticises “I thought you grew out of this, what role model is this for Varian?” Eugene doesn’t have an answer but argues his case that it was to be reliant — and he doesn’t wanna do it anymore anyway! Quirin accuses him of using the girl, while Eugene insists her name is Rapunzel and he’s just helping her, get the crown, be set for life and never have to bother him again.

Their argument is cut short by a Varian coming back upstairs looking frazzled, says there’s something about the magic that’s familiar but he can’t place it — sure is strong tho, and continues gushing and asking Eugene for all the details of what he’s been up to. Eugene... Explains, his usual light-hearted rendition of a great quest, while Quirin leaves and stays upstairs the rest of the night.

Varian sees them off in the morning! Hours after they’re gone Vari is still looking into the magic thing — that’s when he remembers the old legend about a sundrop... about how it saved the Queen... About the Princess. Varian sneaks out the house and heads up to the lantern festival to tell Eugene and Rapunzel his revelation, but he gets there just as Eugene is being lead away by guards. Varian finds Max and tells him how they need to free Eugene + basically... Helps him escape with fewer pub thugs and more alchemy. When they get to the tower Eugene tells Varian to stay on the floor and climbs up to help Raps - Varian stays at the bottom of the tower for approx 10 minutes before finding the back entrance and climbing up. Figure he gets there just as Gothel deages, it’s suddenly and before anyone knows it Varian is the one pushing her out the window bc he saw a stabbed Eugene and put two and two together. Then! Cue New Dream scene, except Varian is sitting on the floor in shock a distance away... After New Dream hug Eugene looks at him and Varian admits that “Ok, magic isn’t that bad”

5) Oh god the series! First off — Raps is closer with Varian in this (that’s becoming a theme...) so doesn’t just throw him out into the blizzard when he comes asking for help. Instead he and Eugene go back to Old Corona together after the storm, Varian isolates himself from guilt + has a tough time dealing with what happened, but he lives in the castle as Eugene starts getting angrier with the king and wants answers for what happened. He’s the one that finds Dark Kingdom stuff and he and Varian work on it together... Eugene has a suspicion he came from the Dark Kingdom so when the rocks start pointing there he’s like dope!

No villain Varian joins them on the trek to the Dark Kingdom + it’s all fun and games, Eugene tries to get more answers from Adira as they travel but she says it’s not her place to say... All he needs to know is the kingdom fell, and everyone was evacuated... She’s almost annoyed as she explains it, then Hector is treble annoyed when he finds out Eugene was raised by QUIRIN since that went against the direct orders... Though Adira defends it and says he was doing his duty of keeping Eugene safe, it’s basically a rift between them that’s confusing until they get to the DK and the revelation happens.

I feel... Moongene could be a thing in this AU? but since I’m running out of points I’ll leave it with Cass taking her canon role! I will point out! when Quirin is freed initially only Varian runs into his arms... Eugene hadn’t really spoken to Quirin properly since their movie fallout & he’s not sure he belongs... Until Quirin holds and arm out to him and pulls him into the hug too (PARALLLELS) and we get a happy reunited family (tho with some issues to work out regarding somethings... they need to rebuild trust, but work on it slowly. Edmund stays ‘Edmund’ to Eugene. He sees Quirin as his father & doesn’t push as much to reconnect with Edmund... Though that makes it easier in a way. There’s less pressure once Edmund understands and they form a friendship, but Quirin is Dad 100% (Sometimes Edmund gets called Dad 2))

[fletchphoenix]

He’s Helpless

so i saw @betrayedtraitor ‘s post about Donella being the ultimate mom at the varigo wedding and couldn’t resist writing some supportive Donella :)) enjoy! I’ll try to link the OG post but ya!

--------------

Donella was happy.

Sure, Hugo had fucked up royally and betrayed her in order to help his boyfriend open the Eternal Library and, consequently, get possessed by her old partner, but he had found his happiness. She wasn’t one for sappy shit like soulmates or changing yourself at the last minute for the one you loved in order to make them happy - she used to despise it and think it was some bullshit trope for lonely people to indulge in, but somehow her son had well and truly proved her wrong.

She’d trained him up since he was a child to be the exact model of what she was - a thief. She taught him how to defend himself from attackers if he had to, how to steal and remove any trace that he was ever there, hell, she’d even trained him that the world was cruel and unforgiving, and that any hope you had would be crushed in an instant. She taught him love was simply something that people used to build you up and make you think you had purpose before they revoked it almost immediately. She really thought he’d accepted her ideals fully.

And then Varian came along.

Of course it would’ve been Ulla’s son to change her son’s mind. He’d inherited the moonstone blue, wide and curious eyes that his mother had, and her obsession with alchemy that she’d also passed on to her son. Maybe that’s why Hugo had gotten so attached to him, having someone so similar to his age and with the same interests, of course after years of having just Donella around him who was interested in alchemy, he’d instantly connect with someone else with that very interest. 

It didn’t surprise her when Hugo had told her that he and Varian were together romantically. In fact, she had a bet going with Cyrus to see how long it was taken (which, by the way, she’d won, thank you very much) and supported the couple endlessly. They were adorable together, the pair clearly loving each other more than anything else in the universe and willing to do anything for each other.

What did surprise her was how long the proposal took. It took far too long for the pair to finally decide to propose, Donella was sure she’d turn to ash before they even decided to bring up the option to each other. So when it happened, needless to say she celebrated silently and tore into Hugo as though she were a starving animal and he was a piece of meat.

“I am very disappointed in you, Hugo. Very very disappointed.” She declared, pacing across the marble floor in the hallway, the heels of her boots clicking against it as her son gripped onto the hand of his now-fiance. They must’ve been scared, both boys shaking in each other’s arms before she turned her head to look at them. “I mean, really. You’re my son and you didn’t even propose first! I seriously can’t believe it! You seriously took so long that he had to take matters into his own hands!” 

“Oh my g-Mom, you literally had me terrified!” Hugo complained as he leant forward, frowning at Donella and kissing Varian’s forehead as Varian cackled from laughter. Donella smiled softly and subtly as they held each other, nodding in approval towards her son-in-law before turning her back to them.

“All jokes aside, I really am happy for you two. I’m just disappointed it took you so long considering how many hours I’ve sat through you gushing about Varian and how he’s the ‘only person in the world for you’.” Hugo’s face flushed at that comment, his fiance smirking as Donella chuckled. “Anyway, get back to the party.” She ushered them back in with a smile before the widest grin in her life appeared on her face and she headed back in.

It was her proudest moment for her son to come to her for advice about her vows, though she’d never expected for his original draft to be so...long. She swore he’d been going on and on about the boy’s freckles for a whole month before finally moving on to something else. It was her fault - she’d tried and tried and tried to stop the boy from talking too much when he was a child, though it was a habit he never broke out of. He made a massive deal about a lot, and though it was useful in their previous line of work, they were good, (mostly) non-thieving people, and the need for an overbearing and..very weirdly specifically detailed explanation of something was no longer a necessity. 

“You’ve been talking for 40 years about freckles, Hugo. Just-come here and let me show you how to do it.” she complained, leaning forward and taking a quill, dipping it generously in some ink before proceeding to examine the speech. Editing and crossing things out left,right and centre, she finally settled back with a sigh and looked at her son. “I know you love him, Hugo. I can tell. But seriously, some of this is just...not needed at all.”

“What do you mean?” the blonde asked cluelessly, sitting beside her and fixing his tie, “I think all of it is quite relevant.”

“You talked about how he snorts when he laughs and how many freckles he has, followed by a detailed description about their shapes, sizes and if they join together to make a constellation. That..it’s sweet but I felt like slamming my head into a wall and praying that it knocked me out completely for three days. Just...try something like this.” She began, picking up some parchment from the table and beginning to scribble down some notes, handing the sheet to her helpless son. “That can be your starting point.”

Hugo took a glance at the paper, cringing at the monotonous words on the page. “I...okay, these are truly something else. I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.” He muttered, before something flashed over his face. “Oh ma. That reminds me. Me and V have been talking and uh..we wanted to know if you want to officiate the wedding. We thought you’d be the best pick for it so...what do you think?”

Donella’s heart soared at the prospect, though her face would never reveal the true extent of her emotions. Her son was really giving her the honour of officiating the wedding after everything that had happened between them. A tear must’ve welled in her eye, as Hugo’s face shifted into a frown. “Ma, are you okay? You..you don’t have to do it.”

Hesitantly, she pulled her son into a tight embrace, the boy seeming stunned before reciprocating the hug and holding onto her. “Yes-yes I’ll do that for you, Hugo. It would be an honour.” Donella declared, her face buried in her son’s shoulder as she let a few stray tears loose.

She was so proud of him when he read out his vows without a hitch, the abridged version of the original speech was marginally better thanks to meticulous planning from their combined efforts. “Are you crying, ma’am?” Cyrus questioned as her son stood hand in hand with his husband at the altar, their fingers intertwined and looking picture perfect, almost as though they were in a dream.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Cyrus.” the woman declared as she raised a tissue to dab at her eyes while the ceremony continued in front of her. Hugo’s eyes shone with pure joy, matching his husband’s gleeful expression as they finally exchanged rings and shared a kiss with each other. She could even hear their friends, notably the Queen, King, Star princess and Firecracker (as Hugo had declared them) cheering and laughing out loud as they finally tied the knot.

And though she would later deny it, she still indulged herself in a few glasses of wine and rambled on and on about how Hugo was as a child, despite his pleas and begs for her to stop. She couldn’t help it - she was a mother after all and she was sure Ulla would’ve done the same if she were here.

Still though, as she looked at her son and the way he shared his first dance with his husband, he knew the pair were destined to be together, and that fate truly did exist as well as soulmates and all that lovey dovey shit she had been so quick to deny prior to their meeting. So as Donella leant back against the body of her once-henchman Cyrus, whose other arm was wrapped around his wife, she accepted the fact that she was content with whatever the future had to hold for the pair.

Donella was happy.

[glacecakes]

Alchemy Lullaby (15/?)

Of all the changes that came with living in the castle, becoming a father was not one he anticipated. When Eugene encounters a small child suffering like he did, he gives them the opportunity to grow up the way he never did… helping them both heal. (AU where Varian is 4 and gets adopted by Eugene)

Experiments, imprisonment, and introspection.

Read the rest on AO3

woop woop  Once again thanks to Finn, space, and AJ for all the help they've given me on this fic, and to all of you for your kind words! We're in the endgame now! 2 or 3 more chapters! I'm starting finals week which is no fun, but im also starting to work on the next chapter right now, so hopefully it'll be out soon! But who knows! I sure as hell don't!

The dungeons hadn’t changed since last time. 

Eugene laid on his cot, staring up at the ceiling without much of a thought. How long has he been in here? He wasn’t sure. Nor did he really care. The only way he could tell time was the light in his window, and Lance. 

“Hey bud, how are you doing?” speaking of, there he was again. Lance stopped by at least twice a day to update him. It was pretty much the same conversation every time.

“So… the princess is still locked in her room,” The bald man said, twiddling his thumbs. “Her dad is sticking to his guns. You know. His kid was kidnapped, so he can’t exactly let her kidnap someone’s kid, it’s about the principle, yknow? Even though the kidnapping was justified…” he trailed off awkwardly. 

Eugene is silent. He doesn’t even blink. 

“Apparently the King figured out that Cass took the princess to the rocks, yknow, where she got her hair back. And he wasn’t thrilled. I think she’s going to a convent.” Oh, that was new. “She’s not thrilled about it for obvious reasons, I think even the queen is trying to talk him down.” Oh finally, someone is actually fighting back? He sighed through his nose. 

It was wrong of him to assume the others weren’t just as upset as him, but he couldn’t help but feel… betrayed? Furious? The feeling is unclear. It’s similar to how he felt when the Stabbingtons tried to kidnap Varian, but more urgent. It felt as if an alarm was constantly going off, sending his emotions into overdrive at all times, draining him of all energy. 

Eugene asked the same question he always did. “...Varian?” 

Lance sighed, and that was all he needed to know. 

-

“Good morning, Varian,” Quirin hummed, gently shaking the boy. “I brought you some breakfast.” 

The little lump shifted, and Varian peeked out from a messy bed head. Oh, it was so cute! Quirin once again kicked himself for letting his son go unnoticed by him for five years. He chuckled at how Varian pouted, but Varian didn’t seem to understand what was so funny. He took the banana offered to him and crammed his face like it was his last meal on earth. 

Though, knowing Ulla, it may be. 

He sighed as he helped get Varian ready for the day. Ulla, though she raised Varian, was oddly absent now that Quirin was here. She focused all her time on research, spending the day in her lab with Varian and the night in her room pouring over notes. What was their life like before? Did she ignore him often? 

Back at the castle Varian was quite a dramatic kid, always wanting to be the center of his dad’s attention. It was that desire for love that caused all this, after all. Was this where it stemmed from? 

It was with some reluctance that he handed Varian over to Ulla once the boy was dressed. She nodded at Quirin, but then gazed eagerly at her son. It wasn’t a loving look, not like how Rapunzel would excitedly grin at Varian. It was that same mischievous look she gave to her specimen on the road, and it sent shivers up Quirin’s spine now. To think he used to find it endearing. 

“Good morning, Varian,” She said. “We’re going to do some tests this morning, see how well you can control the rocks, ok?”

Varian whimpered at that. Now that Ulla seemed to think he could control them, she was determined to get him to harness it. Create specific patterns, cause them to retract, et cetera. He’d only ever gotten them to obey him exactly once before, back at the castle. 

Back when he wanted to use them for love, to fight for his family. 

Quirin gave him an encouraging smile. “I’ll make you ham sandwiches for dinner, ok? Just behave for your mother.” He’d go with, but discovered quickly he couldn’t stomach it. Seeing Varian so upset, seeing Ulla yell at him, it hurt too much. He’d nearly stopped the experiments, much to Ulla’s displeasure. They needed to do this, she said. They had to figure out how the moondrop manifested, how it worked, in order to get the moonstone out of him safely. 

He told himself this, and yet the screams from her lab still haunted him. 

-

Rapunzel paced around her room, frustrated. Every second she stayed here, safe and sound, was another second Eugene suffered, Cass suffered, Varian suffered. Her window was gated so she couldn’t climb down, and guards were stationed outside the door. She couldn’t even go to the bathroom alone! Pascal occasionally snuck out but he couldn’t exactly talk or help her breakout. 

She had her mom for that, thank god. Arianna currently sat on her bed, flipping through her daughter’s journal. While the pages were filled with her daily adventures, and occasionally a desire to explore, the longer the journal went, the more it focused on Varian. His quirks, his misadventures, his powers… 

She shut the journal. “Rapunzel, sweetie, I know you’re upset.” She said. “But you said you knew Varian was kidnapped? The whole time?”

“Not the whole time, just… most of it.” She admitted. “I knew it was going to come back and bite us, but not… not like this.” 

“Well, your father sure is a stickler for his laws. You should’ve seen him when Varian tried to take over,” She laughed slightly at the memory, but stopped when Rapunzel only became more miserable. No doubt her daughter blamed herself for the current situation. “I can’t say this isn’t your fault, because in a way it is. But you’re not alone in blame.” She walked over to rub her daughter’s shoulders. 

“No, but it’s not right!” The queen’s hands were shrugged off. “Varian was taken because his mom wanted to harness his powers and hog them all to herself. The only difference between her and Gothel is that she’s his birth mom! That’s it! He’s just a kid!” Rapunzel blinked, wiping away stray tears. “He’s just a kid, my kid…” 

Arianna was silent. Then, she sighed. Rapunzel was right after all. Her methods may have been wrong, but she was right. Sometimes, the law needs to be broken in order to do the right thing. After all, Rapunzel was brought home by the man who stole her crown. 

-

Well. Another day, another failure.

Ulla swirled the solution, staring at it idly. Varian had been fussy all day, crying and screaming whenever Ulla so much as raised her voice. That thief spoiled him, didn’t he? Stupid brat. She never wanted kids, not like Donella. Children would only slow her down, and the better she is, the better the world is. 

Right now, Varian was being tucked into bed by her partner. Quirin was great, truly, don’t get her wrong. He was soft, he was kind. But that softness would be his undoing. They’d always joked about the moonstone, what would happen if she harnessed it, what would happen if he destroyed it. 

A shame it turned out this way. In another life, perhaps they could’ve been a happy family.

They both knew what would happen here. One way or another, Ulla was going to extract the moonstone. Quirin would try and get his hands on it in order to destroy it, while Ulla would try to grab and absorb it for real this time. None of that womb gets first dibs bullshit. 

Come on, Quirin, she thought, you know what happened last time someone tried to destroy it! What’s so special about this time? She never did figure out how to destroy it, after all. She’d just convinced him that they could take it and experiment. He’d thought they’d work together on the moonstone in order to destroy it. But she’d never wanted to destroy it! Unbreakable houses, bridges defying physics, unrippable stitches, the ideas were endless! Why destroy knowledge? 

Why worry about the health of the parasite attached to it?

She’d been messing with an idea for the past few days: if a chemical reacted to the rocks, maybe it would react to the moondrop. The concoction in front of her turned a golden color, glowing faintly in the light. The bubbles trapped air like flies in amber. Carefully, with a small pipette, a single drop of solution was placed on obsidian. 

For a moment, nothing happened. She groaned.

Then a tendril of amber began to grow. And grow. 

She backed up quickly, just in time, as the whole rock suddenly groaned in protest. Amber tentacles wrapped and squeezed the rocks tighter and tighter until-

Snap!

Ulla stood, dumbfounded, as the broken piece of rock clattered to the ground at her feet. 

-

Quirin sighed, placing a plate full of food in front of Varian. The little boy was so tired he couldn’t keep his head upright without support. Drowsy eyes flickered over the sandwich before slowly raising it to eat. It was good that he was eating, right? Eating meant not sick. It would be adorable if it wasn’t so distressing. 

He couldn’t help but lament his past self. Foolish, lovestruck Quirin had been so willing to overlook Ulla’s flaws, her red flags. He’d convinced himself love had changed her, that taking her to the moonstone would convince her it needed to be destroyed. And when that didn’t happen, he’d blamed himself. How could he not? 

He spent five years chasing down the only woman he ever loved, fully prepared to forgive her. And when she’d told him the moonstone wasn’t with her, he had let himself hope. Maybe she had destroyed it, after all! Only to realize the moonstone survived… in his son. Their son. The son Ulla didn’t love, just like she didn’t love him…

Did she ever love him?

Varian’s head drooped, and would’ve dropped onto his plate without Quirin’s hands. He smiled despite the circumstances. Varian was definitely the one good thing to come out of this mess. 

“Come on, son. It seems it’s bedtime.” He lifted Varian effortlessly, and he laid his head on Quirin’s shoulder. 

Varian sighed sleepily. “Daddy…” 

The knight’s heart plummeted. It wasn’t him Varian was calling for.

He was going to put Varian to bed, when he had a bright idea. 

“Varian, son, can you wake up for a little bit? I want to show you something.” He carried him to the study, where the graphtyc sat unassumingly. He took it with him after the whole debacle in the castle. Varian groaned, rubbing his eyes, but glanced curiously down at the sheet of paper in front of him. He remembered it from the castle, this was what caused him to run away… this is what said he could hurt people.

“As my son, you have a birthright to the secrets of the Brotherhood,” Quirin said, stretching the paper out so Varian could read the translation. “This is one of them.” 

Baby blue eyes read over the paper. “Whatsit mean?”

“Well the first one I’m sure Rapunzel has sung to you. It’s a song to make you feel better.” 

“Oh!” Varian’s eyes lit up at the mention of the princess. “One time, my head hurt, and she said her song had magic healing powers!” 

Quirin chuckled. “Did it work?”

“Not really.” Varian reached out to brush his fingers against the black rock drawing, a frown etched onto his face. His hands shook almost imperceptibly as he read the other incantation. 

“That one is yours,” Quirin whispered.

“Mine?”

“You have the moondrop, you can use that one.” 

He could see the cogs turning in Varian’s brain; like mother, like son. “Does it actually work?”

The knight laughed a bit harder. “Yes, it does. But you shouldn’t use it unless you’re in danger, ok?”

Varian bit his lip. “Ok,” He whispered. Did momma count as danger? Is it ok to hurt people if he’s in danger? Is that what Quirin was saying?

His head spun. He wanted Eugene. Eugene made sense. Quirin didn’t. He was full of contradictions; the man wanted to keep people safe and yet he was keeping Varian from his family. Rapunzel said your real family loved you no matter what, and this wasn’t his real family. 

Sadly, Varian buried his head into Quirin’s shoulder. For a brief moment, he could pretend it was Eugene. 

Quirin sighed as he carried Varian to bed. 

“Goodnight, son,” he whispered, stroking Varian’s hair away from his face.

Varian whined. “Not your son.” 

The knight said nothing. He left the small room with his head lowered. As the door shut, he could faintly hear the beginnings of tears as Varian sobbed for Eugene.

Denial had blinded Quirin for too long. He’d never love Varian as unconditionally as Eugene does, he’s already proved it. His love for Ulla and dedication to the moonstone caused him to hurt the boy. There was no way Varian would forgive him, even if this all does work out.

He’d messed up big time, hadn’t he?

He had to talk to Ulla. 

-

Sometime around midnight, Eugene awoke to someone at his cell door, jostling with the keys. He swung upright, ready to yell at Lance about waking him up, but faltered. 

“Cassandra?” He asked, dumbfounded. Black hair bounced as its owner looked up. 

“Yo,” She simply said as his jail swung open. “Let’s go.” She walked away, but Eugene didn’t follow at first, too shocked. Her annoyance was clear in her voice. “Hurry up, daddy-o, we don’t have all night.”

“First of all, never call me that again,” Eugene complained as he followed her. “Second, I thought you were being shipped to a convent?”

“Yea, that was a lie,” she said as they snuck past several guards. “My dad made it up so we could plan this without suspicion.”

“Plan what?”

She looked at him like he had grown an extra head. “Your escape, dumbass. Me, Lance, and the queen.” Eugene choked on that last name. The queen? Breaking the law? It was hard enough to accept Cassandra deliberately breaking the law, but her? 

They snuck down large, moonlit hallways silently. Finally at Rapunzel’s doors, she and Arianna stood waiting for them. 

“Eugene!” Rapunzel gasped, racing towards her boyfriend. He easily lifted her into his arms, spinning around in the embrace. For a moment, they just stood there, taking in each other’s scent after so long apart.

Arianna cleared her throat, and they separated. “The guards have been relieved. We have 10 minutes till the next shift comes in.” She said. Her eyes were glittering like diamonds, full of mischief and determination. 

“Your majesty, I-I… what is going on?” Eugene gasped, struggling to find the words. “I mean, I can probably guess what’s going on, clearly you guys are breaking us out, but why?”

The queen’s eyes softened. She placed an arm on Eugene’s shoulder. “We spent too long trying to reason with my husband. He’s a man of the law, even if the law is unfair. For every minute we let him have his way… Varian has been gone.” She gripped his shoulder. “I know how painful that is, to know someone else has your baby, and you don’t know if they’re safe.” Her words shook so painfully Eugene wanted to hug her, but he wasn’t sure that was allowed. “Do what I was never able to do, but you did for me. Save your child. Bring him home.” 

Eh, fuck it; Eugene wrapped the queen in a quick, grateful embrace. She returned it. 

“We’re going out the same way me and Raps snuck out,” Cassandra said. “Lance and her majesty will keep the king and my dad occupied.”

“But there’s no telling for how long,” Rapunzel summarized. “So we have to hurry.” With that, they raced down the corridor, leaving Arianna alone.

“Hang on, Varian,” She whispered, glancing up at the moon. “Your parents are coming.”

-

Max rode straight into Old Corona, never stopping for a second. Each second they waited was another second Varian was in danger, or maybe worse. 

“He’s gotta be ok, right?” Rapunzel rambled as they rode. “Quirin is there, and he’s a good guy! He wouldn’t let Ulla hurt him… right?”

“Didn’t he betray us and hand Varian back over to his mom?” Eugene replied, getting an elbow from Cassandra. “Look, I’m just saying. We gotta be ready for a fight.” 

“He’s right, I doubt Ulla will give up so easily.” Cassandra said, brows furrowing. “Why exactly did they take Varian?”

“Varian is the moondrop, and apparently that makes him dangerous,” Eugene’s fists clenched at the thought. Sure he may have crazy rock powers, but dangerous? His boy? The kid befriended a raccoon and brought it to a fancy dinner party! He was just that, a kid! 

Cassandra shook her head to indicate it wasn’t what she meant. “Right, I got that. But why does he even have those powers? Quirin said it was an accident.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Eugene butt in before Rapunzel could respond. “What matters is that Ulla hurt him for having the powers, and we need to stop her.”

“Right.” As the conversation ended, they entered Old Corona… or rather, tried to. Max couldn’t even enter the city, it was so covered in rocks. 

“It’s worse than before,” Rapunzel hissed. “We’re going in on foot.” As they entered the village, her hair began to glow, reflecting off the rocks in tandem. 

In his room, Varian shot upright. A warmth radiated in his chest, spreading throughout his body and filling him with a sense of peace. “Punzel?” He whispered. He could feel it, but he wasn’t sure how. Tiny feet padded out of his door and downstairs. She was headed towards the lab entrance, he could feel her movements! And if Rapunzel was here, so was Eugene! He excitedly raced into the lab, only to stop at the scene in front of him.

Quirin and Ulla, glaring one another down.

A flask in Ulla’s hands, a sword in Quirin’s. 

The door to the lab burst open.

[polymathart]

Moon!Varian Alternate Story

Varian goes with Rapunzel and Co. to the Dark Kingdom.

All throughout the journey, Varian remains bitter towards all of them. But slowly he begins to warm up to them again. But he refuses to admit it.

In Vardaros, Varian has an extremely brief “date” with Vex. It is in Vardaros that Varian actually gets his bad boy outfit. He also stumbles on some hints that his mother might have once been in the city...

He bumps into Hugo for an extremely brief second among the crowd.

Throughout “Keeper of the Spire,” Varian is in the background trying to steal books and documents. Cass is always the one to catch him and make him return it.

During “Happiness Is...” Varian envisions his dad. He among all of them is the most livid and bothered when the Idol is taken away. While everyone else agrees to what happiness really is, Varian broods in the background, still feeling robbed.

When Eugene is “stabbed” during “Max and Eugene in Peril on the High Seas,” even Varian is shocked. This is the first indication that Varian is beginning to care about everyone.

Adira mentions that Quirin was part of the Brotherhood. This new information occupies Varian’s focus for most of the episode.

Cassandra still sings “Waiting in the Wings,” but this time the only person who overhears her other than Hector... is Varian. Varian talks to Cass and insinuates that she should help turn on Rapunzel, but Cass refuses and storms off.

When Rapunzel faints in the Great Tree, even Varian is worried for her but immediately rejects his compassion for her and anyone else, saying that they deserved whatever could’ve happened to them there and he wouldn’t have been heartbroken one bit.

Varian reluctantly agrees to help Rapunzel and Eugene during “You’re Kidding Me!” In fact, for a brief second he offhand mentions that he doesn’t think that they would make bad parents at all.

Varian meets Zhan Tiri who pretends to be Demanitus. She claims she can free Quirin and reunite Varian with Ulla. She also guides Varian in translating the scroll.

Cass is still Gothel’s daughter but she doesn’t turn on them. Instead she is angry but upfront about it with Rapunzel and it takes a while for her to reconcile.

Varian finds out about Cass’ background and the two bond over their struggles and their negative feelings towards Rapunzel. Varian secretly angry that Cass reconciles with Rapunzel, as if she, too, betrayed Varian and was siding with Rapunzel.

Varian goes AWOL. The gang returns to Corona where the Saporians have still taken over. They have raided Varian’s lab and combined his alchemy with their magic to create their bombs.

Rapunzel frees Quirin when Corona is liberated. She tells him about Varian. She also confronts her father for being part of the reason Varian turned dark. Cassandra at the same time decides she needs some time alone after all this fighting. She and Rapunzel are still civil, but it is clear to Rapunzel that something is changing in their relationship.

“Beginnings” still happens with Rapunzel wondering if she and Cassandra’s friendship was reaching its end. She realizes that if the two of them made it work in the past, there’s still a chance they can be friends again when all this is over. She is also reminded by Eugene that she will figure out how to reunite with Cass, and perhaps even Varian...

Varian finds the wreck of the caravan. Instead of Cass destroying her portrait with Rapunzel, Varian finds Cassandrium among the wreck, revealing Cass kept it the whole time rather than throw it away. Confused and enraged by both his feelings for her and her “betrayal,” he shatters the necklace.

During “Be Very Afraid,” Cassandra returns and accompanies Rapunzel to the Demanitus Device. They visit Quirin who gives them Varian’s amber potion. Cass sees Varian’s blue ribbon and invention from “Great Expotations” and admits that she, too, hopes Varian will reform. At the Demanitus Device, Cass and Raps bond over the very first time the two of them were there. Rapunzel briefly senses Varian on the other side of the rocks. Cass also sees her fears of being cast aside as second-fiddle to Rapunzel when she is Queen. Varian witnessed this through the rocks.

“Islands Apart” does not happen. Instead it focuses on Rapunzel again making Frederick see the wrong he did to his family and to his kingdom. Cass has a conversation with Cap about his plans to retire so that Cass can finally be Captain. However, Cassandra reveals that she is questioning if Captain of the Guard was still her real dream.

“Race to the Spire” is still mostly unchanged. Varian takes the Brotherhood Mind Trap. Rapunzel meets Zhan Tiri. Varian activates the Mind Trap, unaware that Quirin is out of the amber and thus also affected by the Mind Trap.

“Cassandra’s Revenge” is now “Varian’s Revenge.” Cass is the first to confront Varian. First Varian tries to use Cass’ fears that he witnessed thru the red rocks to sway her to join him. “Nothing Left to Lose” happens with roles reversed. Cass is taken prisoner by Varian. Eugene stays beside Cass while she’s trapped. They bond especially over their feelings about their parents and also that they care about each other despite all their rivalry. Varian is blown off the Tower. Cass, Raps, and Eugene all look for him but he is nowhere to be seen.

Outside Corona, Varian finds Quirin free. At first Varian wants to find a way to free Quirin from the Mind Trap’s power, but when Quirin begs Varian to surrender the Moonstone, Varian once again feels betrayed. He also believes his whole quest to try to free his father has been in vain as well as hijacked by Rapunzel. He briefly wrestles with Quirin for the Mind Trap. Varian has no other choice but to activate it and order Quirin’s allegiance. Varian is mortified at his own actions but nevertheless forces Quirin, Adira, and Hector to follow him before anyone warns Rapunzel of his arrival.

“Once a Handmaiden...” is now “Once an Alchemist...” Varian realizes who “Demanitus” really is. She claims that Ulla is still alive and can only be brought back by her. Varian has two options: continue helping Zhan Tiri so that he can find Ulla, or make amends with Rapunzel and stop Zhan Tiri. Varian has a breakdown and decides to make amends with Rapunzel. But when he sees everyone up in arms, he breaks. He summons the Brotherhood and takes over.

During the Eclipse, Varian wanders the halls while spitefully destroying anything remotely related to the Royals, Eugene, Cass, etc. He stumbles into Rapunzel’s room and sees the villain portrait she made of him, believing that that’s how everyone had and always will see him.

Zhan Tiri takes over while briefly comparing Varian’s downfall to Ulla’s. Rapunzel and Varian finally talk to each other. Rapunzel shares the wisdom she also shared with Cassandra: Plus Est En Vous. She explains that even though he has done so much harm, she still believes in Varian to change and do the right thing, and that he is capable of being far more than just a villain. The rest mostly plays out the same. This time both Cass and Eugene are the ones who perish on the Castle Steps. Rapunzel brings them back. Rapunzel, Eugene, Cass, Angry, Catalina, and Lance hug. And Rapunzel yanks Varian into the hug.

In the end, Eugene is Captain. Varian is ready to begin his quest to find Ulla. Cassandra knows what it’s like to not have someone there to call her mother, let alone a good mother. So joins him both for the adventure and to help him find his mother. And their very first stop is Vardaros to pick up a certain Hugo who might be able to help, too...

[theballadear]

Over the Garden Wall AU Alchemy Bros!!!

Hey!!! So this is high key long. I got pretty carried away but like ENJOY!!!

So clearly Varian is Wirt and Hugo is Greg

Hugo was adopted by Ulla and Quirin

Also like this is taking place in the same time as OTGW cause the 80s slap and I’d kill to see 1980s Alchemy Bros

So like Varian and Hugo were having a cute Halloween

Hugo was like “Let’s trick or treat!” but Varian was like, “Nah, I wanna ask this girl out.”

Hugo has a rock pun rock instead of facts

Sara is Vex cause I MAKE THE RULES

So like they go to a freaking cemetery cause Vex would-

Hugo is like spooked like “woAh bro bro, this is most non triumphant-”

And Varian is all “Cool it. I wanna ask her out.”

I’m keeping Jason Thunderburger cause I really can’t think of anyone who can live up to the man of legend

But like the group Vex is with clowns Varian cause they’re all “Oh he needs his big brother to chaperone him lol”

But OOP! The police show up cause like it’s high key concerning when a group of teens are at the cemetery

So like run time but like Varian and Hugo jump the freaking cemetery wall

They land on train tracks

Hugo finds a mouse in the bushes he landed in and tries to make a joke out of everything that happened

Bad idea-

Varian screams about how he feels neglected ever since Hugo came and how Ulla and Quirin are HIS parents not Hugo’s

Hugo: Oh, I’m sorry I’m such an inconvenience….

Hugo: I’ll leave…

Then they hear a train coming and Hugo pushed he and Varian into the water and they just-

Fall

Into the water

Unconscious

NOW HERE’S WHERE THE FUN BEGINS

They enter ‘The Unknown’

And Varian starts panicking and Hugo’s like “hehe I haz mouse”

Hugo does the whole thing of “Idk what to name it?”

So like then they see this woodsman but the woodsman is just Alec thinking he has the soul of his wife in there

So Alec’s all “BEWARE OF DONELLA!”

The Beast is Donella cause she totally would

So then the mill thing happens yada yada.

Then like the meet a talking blue bird, who’s just Belle cause the vibes

And Belle’s all “Hey I can take you guys to Cyrus the Good Man of the Woods”

And Varian and Hugo are like “Seems legit”

Then the pumpkin thing happens yada yada

So they find this school of animals

And Rapunzel is Ms. Langtree cause THE VIBES

Also they both had cruddy fathers, OOOP! Except the OTGW Dad is way better OOOOOP!

Jimmy Brown is Eugene cause it’s cute

Same thing happens yada yada

Okay but the Highwayman is that guard dude that apparently guards everywhere

Random Tavern Dude: Marriage?

Varian: nO-

Hugo: Lol, Varian’s in loooovvveeeeee.

Then like they steal a horse but it’s a talking horse and it’s just Jackie cause V I B E S

So then like they come across this mansion but it’s Hector-

Then like the blue lady is just some random person cause I don’t ship Hector with anyone tbh

ANYWAYS

All that plot happens yada yada

B O N D I N G

Yes, I am going fast to get to the angst

So like they’re on this ferry and like they sneak on to get to Cryus cause Cryus can send them back where they came from

Instead of Frog’s they’re mice

So like they bout to get caught

So they hide with the band

But OH NO!

The organist was flung over board

Belle: Can’t you play piano???

Varian: Uhhhhh

So like Varian play’s piano for a bunch of mouse 

Then Hugo’s mouse just starts singing 

AT NIGHT WHEN THE LAKE IS A MIRROR!

So then they make it to their destination

Hugo is pretty bummed because his mouse is being convinced to sign a record label with the other mece 

Hugo: Ya done good Mr. President, ya done good.

Then like Belle is laying awake cause she knows she’s sending Varian and Hugo to their doom cause like she wanted the scissors to save her and her family from being birds

She flies to Cyrus and is all “The deal is off”

And Cyrus is like “mhm, yeah right.”

Then like Varian and Hugo follow her and

Varian: We trusted you-

Varian: We-we TRUSTED YOU!

Hugo: Belle…?

Belle kills Cyrus to save them because she got attached

Varian: Come on, Hugo we’re leaving-

Hugo: But didn’t Belle help us?

Varian: Can you please just listen to me for once?!?!

So Belle’s alone and Varian took the scissors out of spite

Then like, they run into Alec again 

Then they run AWAY from Alec again

Then they find this cottage

And there’s this girl who we’re gonna say is Catalina 

And like Lance is taking the role of Auntie Whispers

LIKE SHIPS IS NOT SUNG HERE HON

They kinda just become buds

Then like Catalina transforms into a wolf and tries to eat them

But Hugo’s mouse ate the bell

Hugo: THE RINGING OF THE BELL COMPELS YOU TO GET OUT OF POOR CATALINA!!!!

So then the evil spirit leaves Catalina and happy times!

Varian and Hugo sail down a lake

Varian is losing hope while Hugo is still trying to have optimism 

They reach land and sleep for the night

Hugo has this dream of a cloud city and fights an evil wind cloud

The Queen of the Clouds rewards him with a wish and Hugo is like “I just want to go home with my little brother, ma’am.”

But the queen tells him that Varian has already been claimed by Donella

So Hugo asks to take his place instead

So Hugo is taken by Donella and Varian wakes up to find Hugo following Donella

Varian runs after then but falls through ice and almost drowns until Belle saves him

Varian wakes up to find himself in a nest with Belle’s bird family he thanks them then leaves to find Hugo

But Belle was already on the job

She sees him perform meaningless tasks for Donella 

Then a strong wind gushes her away and knocks her into Varian

Alec uses up what little Edelwood he had left then comes across Hugo being turned into an Edelwood Tree

Alec tries to free him (long shot I know but p l o t) and fights off Donella

Varian and Belle arrive as Alec disappears

Hugo hands Varian his rock pun rock and asks him to put it back in Mrs. Arianna’s garden cause he stole it

Varian: No no no! You can give it back to her yourself. I’m going to get you out of this. I promise.

Varian: Look! I have your mouse, cheese. Just please stay with me, Hugo. Please.

Suddenly Donella appears offering to keep Hugo's soul alive inside the lantern in exchange for Varian taking over the duties in keeping it lit

Varian considers this then refuses saying that it was stupid cause the lanter held Donella’s soul

Varian free’s Hugo and asks Belle to come with them but Belle refuses and says she’s going to just stay with her family as a bird but Varian hands her the scissors

Then Alec, outraged that Donella had lied to him extinguishes the lantern and kills Donella

Varian and Belle say goodbye

Then boom

Varian wakes up sinking in the lake he see’s Hugo and swims them both to safety passing out when everyone and the police show up

Then they wake up at the hospital and alls well ends well

FIN

@alchemy-bros-appreciation-week

[brushes-of-sage]

Alright so here r my thoughts on donella motive/backstory: She used to study with Ulla, traveling and investigating the sun+moonstone, alchemy, engineering, and the enchanted forest(from F2)After studying the enchanted forest for some time, they presented their findings to the king of arendelle, Quirin. Quirin and Ulla were immediately smitten for each other and quickly fell for each other and got married. Ulla wanted to settle down and invited Donella to stay at the castle. Donella refuses(1/4)

feeling a bit betrayed, and leaves, spending the next few(?)years continuing to research magic and alchemy. Donella and Ulla grow out of touch immediately. At first, Donella ignored Ullas letters out of spite, but then she just lost interest in hearing what Ulla had to say. Years pass, and during her travels she starts hearing rumors about how the prince of Arendelle had magical ice powers. At first she didnt believe it. Ulla had no magical lineage, neither did quirin(she investigated him(2/4)

when he and ulla were still dating)So she did some digging and found truth to the rumors. By the time she did this though, the castle was shut down, and no one really knew why. It was announced that the king and queen had died, and there was a quiet funeral and no citizens could attend(4 obvious reasons)Most assumed the castle would remain closed only briefly, so they could grieve and figure out who would be in charge until Varian turned 21. Their assumptions were wrong and remained closed(3/4)

until the new kings coronation, when Donella would pose as a foreign dignitary and get as much info on varian and his powers as possible. Tysm 4 allowing me to infodump on u like this. Any and all feedback is appreciated. I would love it if u ever noticed something off(someones ooc, theres a plothole, etc.)pls let me know i wanna fix it. Also pls ask any questions u might have. They help fill in parts of the story that may not b there yet. Thx!(4/4) -💙

“Immediately smitten” and now I’m imagining a ‘Helpless’ scene with the whole “and my heart when boom” moment 😂

But ohhhhhh, I like this! Donella having traveled with Ulla and studying all of these, not just scientific, but magical phenomena as well! (And ohhh, Ulla inviting her to stay at the castle too??? Akfjakdj my HEART- but oh, ignoring your friend after they leave you to go get married but also trying to find dirt on the same guy - as much as the feels are there, oof the image there just plays out like a drama 😂)

And ohhhhh, she does have a point there - how would Varian have gotten those abilities? Was it some effect that affected Ulla during their studies involving magic? And ohhh, the rumors that spread, if they were able to reach Donella they definitely would have reached the citizens as well too - might not be as important to the story overall but I wonder how their reactions would be to that? That the crown prince might potentially have magical abilities? Skepticism or slight wonder or wariness? If they grew up in isolation, and given that their parents’s funeral as a private event too (and one would think the citizens would be allowed to pay their respects as well) - hehehe, what a picture that would paint.

So I guess I’m imagining people’s reactions to Varian kinda like they were to Elsa - how they don’t know much so they’re curious in a way, if that makes sense?

But I love it - would Donella’s only motive be to study his powers or would she have a plan afterwards based on her findings? 👀

[adventuretolkienlover]

The Journey's Just Begun (Chapter 1: Epilogue and a Prelude)

Intro: It's here! Yay! My first multi chapter fic! This chapter is based on this piece of fanart by my all time favorite Alchemy Bros artist Cinn-a-mum! So this fanfic I'm writing to give the Alchemy Bros Role Play a more solid ending. It kinda left on a cliffhanger, so I'm hoping to wrap up some loose ends with this! And it's got cute Momma Ulla and Hugo moments too! I hope you guys have fun with this and let's see where it goes. Enjoy! (P.S. This isn't Varigo! This is a Sibling AU of Vat7k. Also called Alchemy Bros! So please don't tag as Varigo! Thank you so much peeps!🫶) EDIT: I fixed some typos! EDIT EDIT: I added a cover!

Chapter 2 ➡️

Summary: Ulla takes her first steps out of the library and is reunited an old acquaintance. Hugo! But will they remember each other?

Trigger Warnings: None!

Ulla gathered the few possessions she had and stuffed them in an old bag. Her son Varian had come and she was finally leaving the library! She was excited to say the least! She slung the bag over her shoulder and ran up to Varian, who was waiting patiently for her nearby.

"I got my things! Let's go!" She exclaimed! She grabbed Varian's hand and pulled him toward where the porthole was.

"Woah! Wait up mom!" Varian laughed.

Ulla stopped in front of the porthole and stared up at it. She could smell the flower scented breeze wafting through. Suddenly she felt a strange sense of joy and nervous butterflies. It had been so long. Will everything be okay? Would Quirin still feel the same about her? What if the world was so different, that she wouldn't know how to cope? "Are you okay mom?" asked Varian. He knew how hard things had been. He wanted to know if she was alright and ready to go through with it. Ulla took one last look at the dusty library that had been her home for eighteen years. Maybe on the outside of this place, things would be different. Maybe they would be scary. But if she did nothing, then none of the good scenarios could happen either. It was time to go. Ulla took a deep breath.

"Yes."

Varian smiled and took her hands in his. Slowly but surely, they walked through the port hole.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Hugo, Jacky, and Belle were waiting patiently outside the porthole in the chamber. There was an air of nervousness about them. Until Varian and Ulla came out of the library, there was no way to know if their mission was a success. Belle had taken to quietly sharpening her sword. And Jacky was playing with Cheese and Ruddigar. He rolled a marble he had found across the floor for Cheese to fetch. And Ruddigar was sprawling on his lap enjoying back scratches. Hugo was easily the most nervous. After all, anyone would be nervous about their little brother going through a strange magic porthole. Belle noticed the worry written on Hugo's face and paused her sword sharpening.

"Nervous?" she asked.

"Yeah." he said.

"Me too."

"You think he's okay?" Hugo asked.

"Sure! Probably..." said Belle.

"I wonder what Varian's Mom is like?" said Jacky as he rolled a marble across the floor. Cheese took off after it. He caught the marble and brought it back to Jacky.

"I don't know much, but it sounds like she's a lot like Varian." answered Hugo.

"Sooooo, dorky and energetic?" said Belle. Hugo laughed. "I guess." he said.

Suddenly the porthole lit up! Hugo and the rest quickly got to their feet. Varian came through first. Then Ulla. She was being guided by his hands. "It's okay. There you go." said Varian as he helped through. Ulla set her feet down in the chamber floor. "You guys are okay!" said Hugo excitedly! He ran up to Varian and embraced him tightly. Ulla still had her eyes closed. She was just a bit scared of what she'd see. What if it really was all just another dream and she'd see that she was all alone again? Varian walked over to her and gently took her hands.

"Mom. You can open your eyes. It okay."

Slowly she opened them. She saw she was really outside! Finally! After all this time! Her jaw dropped as she looked around. She half laughed half sobbed at the sight of a familiar space. She was truly free. Quickly, she hugged Varian tight as tears streamed down her cheeks. She never wanted to let go of him again. "Wow." thought Hugo. "She really does look like Varian." Hugo couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about her. Her face was one that he felt he'd seen before. Like a deeply hidden memory he couldn't quite reach. Suddenly Ulla realized that there were more people there. Young people like Varian. "Varian, who are these people?" she asked.

Varian suddenly remembered his friends. "Huh? Oh yeah!" He broke away from the hug and pulled her toward his companions. "Mom, this is Belle, Jacky, and Hugo. Everyone, this is my mom!" A round of hellos was said by the group. Jacky ran up to Ulla and shook her hand vigorously.

"Ah man! It's an honor to meet you mam'm! Varian helped us all out our journey! Your son is awesome!"

"Thank you." Ulla chuckled. She liked this one's enthusiasm.

"So," said Belle, "How does it feel to finally be free?"

"Really good, but I'm a little nervous." said Ulla with nervous laugh. Suddenly she noticed the boy Varian called Hugo standing off to the side. He seemed a bit quiet and he was looking down at the floor. Hugo had been trying to figure out what he wanted to say. It was Varian's mother after all. He wanted to make a good impression. Ulla felt there was something familiar about him. It was his eyes. They were so green and beautiful. The most beautiful she'd seen. She was sure she had seen them somewhere before. She smiled and walked over to him. "Hi." She said. Hugo looked up at her. "Oh, hi!" he said.

"Oh man! I have to tell you about Hugo!" said Varian as he walked up to them. "He's been by my side the whole journey. He's like my big brother! Really we're all like siblings! We just found each other along the way and became a family! And Hugo's was always watching out for us! Even when we got sick or hurt! He was basically like everyone's big brother!"

"Really?" said Ulla as she looked over at Hugo. Hugo rubbed his arm shyly. "Well, I did my best." he said.

"And I'm very thankful. Thank you for taking care of my boy and his companions. I owe you."

Hugo blushed and looked down with a smile. He wasn't used to this much genuine praise. Ulla looked him over closely. She laid her finger against the side of her cheek in thought. "You know, I can't help but think I've seen you some where before." Hugo was surprised.

"Me too." he said.

"Hmmm. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a really weird question, but please just humor me." said Ulla. "Do you be any chance come from Bayangor?" Everyone gasped! Hugo looked at her astonished.

"Yes!" he said. "But how did you know?!"

Ulla's eyes widened. "Ohmygosh! Okay, am gonna ask another weird question! Did you come from an old orphanage there on Ivycross Street?" Hugo's jaw dropped. "YES!" he said even more shocked than before!

"I knew it!" said Ulla excitedly! "I saved you when you were little and brought you there!" Hugo stared at her in utter disbelief. "I remembered that I gave you this nick name! I called you Little Human! And I remember how badly I wanted to bring you with me! Do you really remember me?"

"Y-Yes." said Hugo, trying not break into tears. He wasn't going to lie. He was having a hard time trying not to cry. The person that actually cared enough to stop and save him from dying in the streets was standing right in front of him. And it was Varian's Mom! His own best friend's mother! It was almost to much for him to take or understand. Ulla noticed he was clearly in shock. She smiled at him lovingly and she gently cupped Hugo's face in her hands.

"Shhh. It's okay. You're alright." she said softly.

Her touch felt so gentle. And motherly. It wasn't like anything Hugo had ever experienced. Certainly not with Donella. "Look at you. All grown up like Varian." said Ulla. "Who's a Little Human now, huh?" Finally the dam burst and tears came flowing from Hugo's eyes. Ulla pressed her forehead against his. "I knew you special." she said. Hugo flung his arms around her crying and he crumbled to his knees. Ulla went down with him and continued hugging him. She rubbed his back gently. Hugo felt so safe and loved in her embrace. He never wanted to let go. Varian watched in stunned silence. A grin spread across his face. He quickly joined the hug.

"Group hug!" yelled Jacky excitedly! And he dragged Belle into the hug with him! Even Ruddigar and Cheese joined. Everyone seemed to be laughing and crying at the same time. They stayed there for a good long while. It felt so good to know they would never have to feel alone again.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

At the base of the mountain which houses the Demanitus Chamber, a small trap door opened and Varian poked his head out. He climbed out into the open air. Ruddigar was sitting on his shoulder. Varian squinted in the bright sunlight. It felt warm and comforting after being in such a drafty cold room. "Come on guys!" he said as he waved for the rest to come outside.

Hugo and Belle were next. Belle let out a sigh of relief. "Whew! Thank goodness to be out of the dark room!" she said.

"Wait for me guys!" shouted Jacky as he clambered out to join his friends.

"WOO HOO!" Yelled Ulla as she tore out of the chamber and into the sunlight! She completely ran past the kids, plopped down on the cool grass, and stared up at the sky. "Clouds! Wind! Sky! It's paradise! I am BACK baby!" she exclaimed! The kids laughed. Her enthusiasm, while valid, was quite amusing. They sat down next to her and looked out over the land. It was a beautiful view. Varian thought he could see Old Corona from there. Ulla took a deep breath of the fresh air, taking it all in. She put her arm around Varian and pulled him close. Varian instinctively nestled against her. He glanced at Hugo. He had bit of a solemn expression. His gaze seemed to be directed toward the road leading away from Corona.

"Hey mom? I'll be right back." Varian got up and sat down next to Hugo. Somehow, Varian knew what he was thinking. Ruddigar seemed to as well. He laid down next to Hugo. Hugo scratched the critter behind the ears absent-mindedly.

"You don't have to leave you know." said Varian. "You can stay with me."

Hugo looked at him. "Really?"

"Of course!"

"What about your parents?"

"You really think my mom doesn't want you around? She loves you." said Varian as he gave Hugo a playful nudge in the shoulder. "She's practically OUR mom!"

"And your dad?"

"He'll love you."

Hugo hugged his knees unsurely. "I don't know." he said quietly.

"What's going on boys?" said Ulla as she walked up to them.

"Mom? Can Hugo stay with us?" asked Varian.

"Well, if his parents don't mind." Ulla said with a smile.

"I... actually don't have any." said Hugo.

"You don't?" said Ulla in surprise.

"Um. No."

Ulla sat down in front of Hugo. "Don't you have an family or a guardian? Surely you've been adopted by now?"

"No. I'm still an orphan. I mean I did get kinda adopted... But that didn't go well." He subconsciously rubbed one of the scars on his wrist. "But yeah, I don't have a home to go back to."

"Oh well we can't have that! You're coming home with me and Varian!" said Ulla as she took his hands in hers. "Me and my husband will take good care of you."

"You... Really want to do that?" asked Hugo.

"Definitely! Your coming home with us honey!"

"But what about Belle and Jacky?" he asked. "I can't leave them alone."

"We're not going anywhere." said Belle as she and Jacky walked over.

"Yeah dude! We're gonna find places to stay in Corona!" said Jacky. "We won't be far."

"So what do you say Hugo?" said Varian. Everyone looked to Hugo for his answer. Hugo was a bit taken aback. Everything was happening so fast! Ulla noticed the boy was feeling a bit overwhelmed. She thought about how nervous she felt when she was leaving the library. He must feel similar. She rubbed his hands comfortingly.

"It's okay to feel nervous about heading into a new situation." she said. "Especially if the last one was scary. If anyone knows about that, it's me." Hugo smiled a little. "And maybe even though you know the new situation is safe, you still feel scared because it also feels unfamiliar." Hugo nodded. "But I promise you will be okay." She continued. "We all got you. Okay?" Hugo looked into her eyes. Maybe things really would be okay. It couldn't possibly be like his life in Bayangor. Nothing could be that bad. And his friends would be there too. He took a deep breath and decided to take the leap.

"Okay. I'll go." he said.

"Yes!" exclaimed Varian happily! Varian tackled Hugo in a hug! "Easy Varian!" laughed Hugo. "You're crushing my ribs!'

"Aw man! This is great!" said Jacky as he jumped to his feet! "We're all gonna be together and we'll never have to worry about crazy mad scientist ladies ever again!"

"Mad scientist ladies? What mad scientist ladies?" questioned Ulla.

"AH! Nothing!" said Varian while Hugo frantically motioned for Jacky to be quiet. Varian sighed. "We'll tell you later."

"Yeah. Later." Hugo mumbled.

"Come on." said Varian as the group stood up. "Let's go home."

"Yes! I can't wait to see Quirin again!" Ulla exclaimed. "So kids, tell me about your adventures. I want to hear everything!" The kids each took turns telling exciting moments from their adventures as they began down the base of the mountain, toward home. It may have been the end of their adventure, but their journey's just begun.

The End

[dangara2610]

(4/10) Young adult Ulla - Part 10

Hi there 🎹🍉🎁🍎🎲🎹 Let's continue where I left

Ulla really wanted a family, so, she told Quirin if he didn't want one, she would understand, she loved him, but, if they couldn't share dreams, both would be unhappy if they kept together, so, after the royal baby born, she would go, it was a pleasure to meet the Demanitus desendant, it was a surprise is the only one left.

Quirin was surprised by this but tried to not show it and just accept it with resignation, as he had been doing all his life whenever someone try to give an opinion to change his life style, this is his mission and reason to live, isn't it? Protect the royals forever.

Time passed, during one random night, one of the insurrectionist tried to get in the national treasure to rob money, he got arrested, later another tried to murder the royal family but failed once the brotherhood got him easily.

Donella and Cyrus were convinced, any of the posible clients were broke and unable to make a new purchase, she would move, and she told Ulla about it to tag along with her.

Ulla agreed she would go with her to the next town, and maybe go back to her family next travel, just wait for her until the born of the royal baby, she was going to participate on the birth.

Twins were the result, both males , she was amazed, being a twin herself, and knowing how many twins Ulf searched for his tesis and finding very few, this was a miracle and a rare occasion.

The Queen looked like thinking and asked one of the nuns to hand her Prince Horace, not signaling one in particular, so, the nun picked the first born and gave it to the queen to embrace.

Then the Queen announced the second baby would be a secret, not even the king should know about this, a backup for the future, no one shall know the location of this twin, only the queen, as well these witnesses shall keep the secret, later she is private would assign someone to nurse him.

Ulla was offended by this separation of twins, but said nothing, this was royality decitions, once they presented the children to the king for him to hold him, there was a banquet announcement, everyone in the castle staff and court was invited.

But not the Brotherhood , at least, not in front of these people, they would have their own private party, after all, they were a secret to keep, Ulla opted for going half day to each banquet to say her goodbyes to all the friends she made among them and taste the feast.

The Brotherhood teased Quirin about losing the girl but shortly agreeing that was the best, this was their kind of life.

Ulla was allowed to carry food from the banquet for her journey back home, most of the food was going to the trash or the staff's houses anyway.

Donella asked Cyrus to go along but separately, so Ulla wouldn't suspect about her real armory and weaponry business, he traveled on the unofficial roads or even underground (thanks to Ulla's mother Holda soil scan technics they plagiarized without Ulla noticing ).

When both were having a lunch outdoors they felt an earthquake and saw an explosion over the Dark Kingdom castle , and then a new expansive explosion of spiky black rocks with few blue fluorescent veins, the screams of the people were herd where they were.

Donella was stunned but analysing, the cult of the Moonstone talked about this happening, explaining how the dumb king they had was so disrespectful to the essence of the opal and it was a matter of time before he tried a nonsense as touch it without the according blessing.

Ulla was stunned as well and analysing the escape routes of the city and were her friends were supposed to be at this hour of the day, so she got back to the camp to retrieve her aid kit and alchemy formulas to help.

Donella insisted it was not their business but Ulla insisted and went faster to the exit doors, tried to quit all the things blocking, and she used her explosives and acids, all the wood disappeared , all the stones gave away turned to dust,but the black rocks with blue veins would stay any way, there were indestructible.

She resigned, helped as much as she could, and gave up, she and Don let geo and went back to Pitchfork.

And well, I have to go, see you around, thanks for reading 🌺🌻🫐🌺🌻🫐✅🫐🎨🎛️✅🌺🫐🪷🌺🫐🪻✅🫐🌺🎛️✅🌺🫐🎛️✅🌸🧭🌻📚🍥🌻✅🎨🍥🌤️✅🎨🍥🌷✅

[adventuretolkienlover]

A writing preview everybody! And SPOILER ALERT! (Ulla lives in this story!!!) This fic is gonna be a few chapters long. I'm still deciding on the title, but the first chapter is almost finished! It's Alchemy Bros and family fluff galore!

[adventuretolkienlover]

For more info on who these Vat7k Sibling AU OCs are, check out this post. Reblogs would be greatly appreciated! To get wider results. But you don't have to. Thanks for helping me guys! Peace out!✌️

[adventuretolkienlover]

Ruddigar's Surprise! (An Alchemy Bros Mother's Day Special!)

Intro: A bit late, but I made it! Before Midnight! So it's still Mother's Day! Whew! I hereby dedicate this story to Mother's Day! And a family of baby raccoons that are currently living in my Grandma's Garage. Oh, and just to clarify, this isn't chapter three for The Journey's Just Begun. It's more of a bonus story if you will. Still in the same universe, but not to important to the story. Also you get to see Jacky flexing a little bit of his Spanish toward the end. I always headcannoned him as latin. Make sure to tell you mom or mother figure you love her! God bless! 💐🌹🌺🌷(P.S. As usual, not Varigo. Please don't tag as such. Thanks!🫶) EDIT: Per usual, I fixed my grammar and wording. LOL!🤣 This is becoming a habit!

Summary: Varian and his siblings are getting a surprise ready for Ulla's first mother's day. But after Ruddigar returns from being missing for a week, they discover they won't be the only one in their family celebrating this year.

Trigger Warnings: None!

Varian pulled Quirin's large cook book off the shelf in the kitchen and lugged it over to the counter. He plopped it down and began to flip through it. He was on the hunt for something special. Today was Mother's Day and him and his siblings had decided to give Ulla a special surprise for it. It would be her first Mother's Day outside of the library and they had planned to make her favorite dessert. Varian kept flipping through the book until he found it. The recipe for Pumpkin Pie his dad had written himself. "Hey! I found it Hugo!" he said out loud.

"Found what?" shouted back Hugo.

"The recipe for mom's Mother's Day surprise! Come here and see!"

Hugo walked into the kitchen. He was eating an apple and holding an Oliver Twine book.

"Is that it?" he said between bite of his apple.

"Yep! This is the same recipe for pumpkin pie my mom told me about! Dad made it for her when they were dating." Hugo came over and looked at the recipe. It did sound delicious.

"Anything that good tasting would win anyone over." said Hugo with a chuckle. Varian laughed. "Yeah. We have to make sure we make it just right."

"But how do we keep mom from finding out?" asked Hugo.

"Easy! Xavier is helping mom set up her own Alchemy Shop at the capital and she's gonna be there almost all day. That will give us time to get everything ready."

"Sounds like you have everything planned out." Hugo tried to toss his apple core into the trash can. But it missed and landed on the floor. "Whoops." Hugo went to pick it up and throw it away.

"If Ruddigar had been here, he probably would've have grabbed that before me."

"Oh, yeah." said Varian. Varian had been worried about Ruddigar. Lately he'd been disappearing for a few days. He would always leave at night and then come back like nothing happened. Varian had tried to figure out what was wrong. Was he not getting enough attention? Was he not getting enough apple slices to satisfy him? Varian couldn't figure it out. And now he'd been missing for almost a week!

"Have you seen Ruddigar?" asked Hugo. He was just as concerned as Varian for the pet's safety.

"No." Said Varian sadly. "He's a wild animal so he should be okay. But I don't know why he did this. It's not like him."

"Not like who?"

Varian looked up at Belle, who had just entered the kitchen. "Ruddigar. He's still gone." answered Varian.

"Still? That's just weird." she said.

"He still gone?!" exclaimed Jacky as he walked in next. "Have you guys looked for him?"

"I did. But he wasn't anywhere on the farm." said Varian. "But let's not focus on that right now. Right now we need to get-"

"Hi kids!"

"AAAAAAAAH!" Varian yelled and whirled around! The rest also turned around and gasped! Ulla was standing right there! "Mom! H - Hi!" stuttered Varian as he shut the cook book and slid it behind his back. "H - How you doing?"

"Dear? Are you in here?" said Quirin as he peeked into the kitchen.

"Geez! Why is everyone walking into the kitchen all of a sudden." thought Hugo.

"I just wanted to tell you kids that Quirin is taking me into town to meet up with Xavier. I'll be back tonight."

"Okay! Sounds good!" said Varian anxiously. Ulla couldn't help but notice Varian's nervous grin and the way Hugo was hiding behind his book. Even Belle and Jacky were acting suspicious. Jacky was standing looking at the wall for no reason and humming to himself. And Belle was for some strange reason looking through an empty cabinet!

"Are you all okay?"

"Just fine!" said Varian.

"Yeah! We're good!" added Jacky. "Isn't that right Hugo?"

Hugo nodded but kept his face hidden behind the book.

"See? Fine!"

Ulla didn't look convinced. But she shrugged and walked out of the kitchen and past Quirin. "I'll meet you outside honey." she said.

"Of course Dear." said Quirin with a knowing smile. Once Ulla was out the door, everyone relaxed and went back to their normal positions. Quirin turned to the siblings. "Do you have everything you need?" he asked.

Varian gave a thumbs up. "Yep! Mom's surprise is a go!"

"Excellent. Then we'll see you tonight." said Quirin as he began to leave.

"Alright Bye!" said Varian. The front door shut with a click. All four siblings sighed with relief.

"That was close!" said Belle.

"Okay! We need to get to work." said Varian as he reopened the cook book. "We need to get the ingredients AND we need to get our presents ready. Jacky, you can help me in the kitchen. Hugo and Belle, you're on present duty."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

It was almost nighttime. And everything was ready for the surprise. Belle and Hugo had everyone's gifts wrapped and waiting in the living room. And the pie had been baked and was waiting patiently in the oven. They had even managed to snag a Happy Mother's Day banner to put up. Rapunzel had helped them make it a few days ago. Raps had done some of her best painting handy work on it. And it was beautiful. The siblings were just doing some last minute cleaning up for the surprise. They had to hurry though. Quirin and Ulla would be home any second. Varian walked out of the kitchen and plopped down on the couch was a sigh. He was tired but happy. Hugo entered the living room too and sat down next to Varian.

"Well, we got the kitchen cleaned up." Hugo said. "Good thing too. When that bag of flour broke the kitchen looked like Galcrest in winter."

Varian laughed. "I told Jacky not to pick up the bag of flour like that."

Suddenly.... Scratch!Scratch!Scratch!

Hugo and Varian looked at each other. Then at the front door. Scratch!Scratch!Scratch! It came again.

"Is that... Is that them?" asked Hugo confused. "I don't think so." said Varian. Scratch!Scratch!Scratch!

Belle poked he head into the living room. "What's that sound? Are they here?"

Scratch!Scratch!Scratch!Scratch!Scratch!Scratch!-

"Okay! Okay! I'm coming!" said Varian as he got up off the couch. He opened the front door and looked around. The sun had fallen behind the mountains by now and it was very dark. He couldn't see anyone on the porch or anywhere really. Suddenly he heard a familiar chitter. Varian gasped and looked down at his feet. Ruddigar was there tapping his foot and looking quite annoyed for Varian not coming sooner.

"RUDDIGAR! You're okay!" exclaimed Varian! He picked him up and hugged him. "Guys! Ruddigar is home!" he shouted excitedly!

"He is!?" exclaimed Belle and Hugo simultaneously!

"Jacky! Get in here! Ruddigar's back!" shouted Hugo!

Jacky ran into the living room! He was holding the cookie jar and eating some cookies! "Huh?! Really?!" Jacky said between mouthful of cookie.

"Jacky!" said Hugo. "What are you doing?!"

"What?! There's a whole pie in there I can't eat! I got impatient!"

Belle took the cookie jar and put it on the table. "No more cookies. Now come on!" She took him by the hand and led him along toward the door. Hugo was close behind. They ran out the door. Varian was outside holding the raccoon. "See? He's fine!" said Varian cheerfully. Ruddigar got many pets and praises for coming home to them.

"I hope you satisfied mister." said Hugo in a mock offended tone. "Don't you go wandering off like that ever again." They all walked back inside and Jacky had just closed the door when - Scratch! Scratch!Scratch! Jacky looked at the door confused. Then shrugged and began walking away again. Scratch!Scratch!

Jacky stopped and looked at the door again. Then at Ruddigar with Varian in the living room. If he was there... Then what was that scratch? Jacky opened the door again and peeked outside.

"Hello?" said Jacky cautiously. He looked down at his feet. A tiny racoon kit was looking up at him. Jacky had to do double take! He looked back at living room. Ruddigar was indeed there, laying on the couch next to Varian. He looked back outside. Another kit had joined the first! "Wha?!" yelped Jacky.

"What's the matter Jacky? Is mom and dad home?" said Hugo.

"Uh, no. There's - HUH?!" Now there was a third kit was sitting in front of him! Then a fourth came forward! And then a fifth! "One. Two. Three. Four. Five?" counted Jacky. "Five mini Ruddigar's?!"

Varian walked up to Jacky. "Jacky? You've been standing there for while. What's up?" Jacky pointed down at the porch. Varian looked and his eyes grew wide.

"What?! How?"

Suddenly, from the darkness, a another racoon came forward. It appeared to be a female. She was just a bit smaller than Ruddigar and had lighter fluffier fur. She positioned herself between Jacky and the kits. She then stared up at Jacky and Varian and glared. Jacky and Varian looked at each other. Then at Ruddigar on the couch.

"He has some explaining to do." said Varian.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Ruddigar was snoozing on the couch as peaceful as can be. When all of a sudden...

"Ruddigar?"

Ruddigar woke up with a snort and looked toward the voice. He saw Varian holding three racoon kits and Hugo was gently holding his apparent mate. Jacky and Belle were seated on some nearby arm chairs, each holding a kit of their own. None of the siblings looked very pleased.

"Ruddigar?" Varian repeated. "Please explain." Ruddigar jumped up and looked bewildered at the kits. His face just screamed "I told you to wait outside!" He then looked at Varian with a sheepish grin.

Varian smacked his forehead and sighed. "Okay. Let me get this straight. You left for nights on end and then just disappeared out of nowhere, to have babies? I mean I'm not surprised. But buddy, you were holding out on us."

Ruddigar began to pace back and forth chittering and gesturing as he argued why he was completely valid. The siblings watched as the exasperated racoon with amusement. They were trying desperately to keep a straight face, but really none of them were mad at Ruddigar. Hugo tried so hard to hold in his laughter. But he couldn't and broke out laughing. The rest followed suit. Even Varian. Ruddigar realized he wasn't getting anywhere and just sat on the couch grumpily. Varian put down the kits and picked up the grouchy raccoon. "What am I going to do with you?" said Varian.

"You know, mom and dad are going to be home any second. We need to find a place to put them." said Belle. Just then, there was knock at the door! Everyone gasped! Even Ruddigar. "QUICK! Put them all in my lab!" said Varian! Hugo went to get the door while the rest herded the racoon family into Varian's lab! Hugo let Ulla and Quirin inside.

"Hi! Welcome back!" he said. "Hi!" said Ulla. She gave him a big hug while Quirin closed the door behind them. "Did everything go alright today?"

"Yeah! Everything went great!" said Ulla.

Clank! Hugo froze. Ulla and Quirin looked at the living room entrance in surprise. The clank was followed by what sounded like a shout from Belle! "What was that?" ask Quirin.

"Uh! Nothing!" said Hugo! "I'll be right back! Don't come in yet!" Hugo scampered off toward the living room. Ulla and Quirin looked at each other confused. They heard a few more exclamations and sounds of things being moved around. And maybe racoons chittering? Then all got quiet. "Okay! Come on in!" shouted Hugo! Ulla looked toward Quirin for answers, but he just smiled and took her hand. "You might want to close your eyes for a moment." Ulla didn't know what was going on for sure, but she shut her eyes. Quirin guided her into the living room. "Okay. Open your eyes." said Quirin. Ulla opened her eyes. "Surprise! Happy Mother's Day" shouted everyone! Ulla gasped as her eyes fell on the beautiful banner hanging up above.

"Oh my gosh! Mother's Day?! I can believe it! Thank you!" Varian, Hugo, Jacky and Belle all ran up to Ulla and surrounded her in a big group hug. Quirin joined in as well. "We wanted to surprise with something special." said Belle.

"Yeah! Your like, the only mom me, Hugo, and Belle have ever had! So we wanted to make everything perfect for you!" said Jacky.

"I completely forgot about Mother's Day!" said Ulla. "I was locked in that library so long, I guess I forgot when it even was. Thank you all so much! I love you guys!"

"We love you too mom." said Varian nestling deeper in the hug.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

After dinner, the family had some of the pie. It was delicious. Ulla commented it was exactly like how she had it when she was younger. Just right! After all that, they family had gathered in the living room and given Ulla their presents. Varian had given her a new journal to replace her old one. That way she could record their new adventures. And Belle gave her a leather crafted bag she had made. It had images of flowers stitched onto it and was quite beautiful. Jacky gave her a bird call he carved. He didn't know what bird it called, but it sounded nice. Hugo was especially bashful about giving his gift. He was nervous she wouldn't like it. It was painting he had made of some of her favorite flowers. Rapunzel had helped him make it when he happened to walk in on one of her painting classes. Ulla assured him that she loved it and that she would put it up in her shop when it opened. Quirin gave her an emerald necklace. Green happened to be her favorite color and he remembered that when he saw it in a shop at the capital. After all this, the family was relaxing by the fireplace, enjoying the tranquility. Ulla had even taken to writing in her new journal.

"Everything went great." thought Varian. He was leaning up against Hugo on the couch. Hugo meanwhile had picked up his Oliver Twine book again and was quietly reading. "We did good today. Huh Goggles?" said Hugo.

"Yep." Varian stretched his arms out. "A successful mission in my book." However, they had forgotten one thing. Actually, seven little furry things. The basement door creaked opened and tiny black nose poked out and sniffed the air. It caught a whiff of the empty pie tin. There were still some tasty crumbs left there. First one racoon baby walked out. Then two. Jacky, who was busy polishing his flute, briefly looked up from his work and spotted the escapees! He almost dropped his flute his shock.

"Psst!" he whispered frantically. Hugo and Varian looked at him. Jacky motioned anxiously at the kits. Now the next three had come out and we're making a bee line for the pie tin on a nearby table. Hugo and Varian both gasped. Varian was so shocked he fell off the couch! Ulla looked up from her journaling in surprise. "Oh! Are you okay honey?" she asked worriedly. Varian scrambled back onto the couch and tried to look normal.

"Of course!" Just then, everyone heard tiny high pitched chittering coming from behind them. Everyone looked curiously. The piece tin seemed to be hanging on the edge of the table. As if pulled by some mysterious force. It was pulled down and clanged to the floor. The loud sound sent one kit running right out from under the table and smack into Quirin's leg! "Oh no." said Quirin.

Varian jumped up. "I can explain!" But before he could, all the kits dog piled on him and knocked him clear off his feet! "Ack! Guys! Not now!"

"Awwwww!" said Ulla! And she picked one of them up. "Where did you come from sweetie?"

Varian stood up with the baby raccoons still clinging to him. "Dad I'm sorry! Ruddigar came home with them and I didn't know what to do-"

Quirin sighed and chuckled. "It's alright Varian. But I think Ruddigar may have some explaining to do." he said, looking at the raccoon, who had just came out of the basement with his mate. After this was all cleared up, the family got to know Ruddigar's new family. There were four boys and one girl. The girl happened to be the one that ran into Quirin. Quirin said the racoons could stay, but not inside. One raccoon inside was enough. They could have the nice tree that was up against the side of the house. It had a cozy hollow high in it's branches that would be perfect. All that was left to do was to name them. Varian, Jacky, Hugo, and Belle had taken them upstairs and were playing with them in Hugo's and Varian's room before bedtime.

"I think the mom should be named Ruby." suggested Belle. "It starts with "R" just like Ruddigar."

"Perfect" said Varian. "Now we just need to name the kits." Varian had three of the kits in his lap. And the other two were in Hugo's. "How about Eenie, Meenie, Miney, and Mo." said Hugo.

"Noooooooooo. We're not doing that." laughed Varian. "Why not?" asked Belle. Varian reconsidered. "Well, I guess it could work. But what about the fifth one?"

"Pumpkin." said Jacky.

"Pumpkin?" said the rest.

"Sure! Like the pie we had! It's a perfect girl's name!"

"Pumpkin." Varian repeated. "That sounds cute. Let's go with that."

"Bedtime kids!" shouted up Ulla. "Make sure you put those raccoons in their new home before you go to bed!"

"Okay!" shouted back Varian. Belle got up and stretched. "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Me too!" said Jacky as he jumped up and followed Belle out of the bedroom. "Buenas noches dudes."

"Goodnight Belle. Goodnight Jacky." said Varian as the two left for their own rooms. Varian then went downstairs with the little raccoon family and opened the back door. The tree was standing a few feet away. "Alright guys. Get some sleep." said Varian as he put them down. The kits scampered toward the tree excitedly. Ruby lagged behind to give Ruddigar a quick nose rub before following her kits to the tree. When Varian and Ruddigar returned to the bedroom, Hugo and Ulla were watching the racoons out the window. "Hey, check this out Varian." said Hugo. Varian walked over to the window and looked out. Six pairs of shiny eyes were staring back at them from the tree. "Wow. That pretty cool!" said Varian.

"Alright." said Ulla as she closed the window. "Time for bed." Hugo and Varian got under the covers. "Night mom." said a very sleepy Hugo. "Goodnight dear." said Ulla as she planted a kiss on his forehead. Hugo blushed and nestled deeper under the covers. Ruddigar was so tired, he fell asleep on the floor. Ulla picked him up and places him gently in his special basket bed and covered him with a small blanket. Ulla came over to Varian next. "And goodnight to you Varian." she said as she pulled the covers around him more. "Goodnight. Oh! And mom?" said Varian as he sat up. "Happy Mother's Day." Ulla smiled and hugged him tight.

"Thank you Varian." she said.

The End

And Happy Mother's Day Y'all!