Prepare for a bunch of confusing magic shenanigans. xP Just keep in mind: things are not always what they seem.

Sabine frowned as her eyes scanned over her guests currently seated at the dinner table. While Donovan and Hilda swapped jokes loudly between each other, and dug into their meals like hungry foxes, Xavier and Queen Arianna looked miserable as they slowly ate away at their bowls of stew. The seat next to Xavier – the one that had been meant for Varian – was vacant, as the alchemist had refused to join everyone that evening, and instead had settled for a small cup of soup and a hunk of bread by the fireside in his room.

Sabine sighed, again glancing out the window to see if Pontus had returned from whatever errand he had rushed to take care of. But the only movement outside was the swaying of branches in the breeze, and a few clouds lazily making their way across the sunset sky.

"And then," Hilda's loud voice giggled as it crashed into Sabine's wandering thoughts. "And then- Hehe! The parrot said, 'No, I didn't see a thing. I got so excited I fell off my perch!'"

Arianna glared at the two Saporians as they both began busting a gut at Hilda's punch line. It seemed Xavier was also getting very tired of their company, as his fingers twitched from where they had curled themselves around the handle of his cane in clear irritation.

Sabine sighed again. The sooner the house was ready to return to Corona and everyone able go their separate ways, the better. Morning couldn't come soon enough to the tense atmosphere of that house.

"I just hope Pontus is able to find us again," Sabine thought as the mystery of his absence continued to nag at her. "Whatever he's up to."

Meanwhile, Ruddiger stirred from where he had been asleep in one of the armchairs next to the fireplace. After eating his own dinner, the raccoon had settled down to nap, listening to the sounds of the crackling fire and the clink of Varian's spoon as he continued to slurp down his soup. But now, several minutes later, the raccoon peered around the room, and felt his senses struggle to wake up as he realized Varian was no longer there.

"Varian?" the raccoon chittered as he hopped down to the floor, and began to head towards the bedroom door. "Varian? Where did you-?"

Just then, Ruddiger had to leap back out of the way as the door to the bedroom flew open, and Varian came swiftly back inside, latching the door quietly behind him. Ruddiger blinked up at him, puzzled. Varian was no longer wearing his recovery clothes. Instead, he had on some traveling clothes (which he must've found somewhere in the house), and Ruddiger also noted that Varian's bandages had all been removed. Also, if Ruddiger hadn't known any better, he would've assumed Varian was acting like someone who had just been sneaking around.

But why would he do that?

"Varian?" Ruddiger chittered from behind, and Varian whirled round in alarm at the unexpected sound. As he turned, the boy also dropped something to the floor, and scrambled to pick it back up again before Ruddiger could get to it.

"Oh, Ruddiger," Varian breathed as his hands closed around what appeared to be a hunk of chalk, or some other white material that Ruddiger was unfamiliar with. "Y-you scared me! You weren't supposed to be-!"

Varian suddenly stopped himself, and Ruddiger cocked his head to one side as his eyes met his master's. Again, something about them didn't seem quite right, and Varian was acting very suspicious now.

"Varian," Ruddiger tried to say, despite knowing that his boy couldn't understand him. "You're worrying me. What's wrong? What were you doing?"

Varian shifted uncomfortably beneath Ruddiger's gaze, biting his bottom lip, and wincing. He then walked back over to where some of their dinner scraps still were, and seemed to shuffle about with them a bit before sitting down in one of the chairs again, his plate in his lap.

"Ruddiger," Varian then called softly, patting his lap for Ruddiger to sit with him.

Time seemed to slow down for Ruddiger as he found himself hesitating, and even having to resist the urge to take a step back as Varian beckoned him come. Something wasn't right. Something was wrong. But Ruddiger couldn't figure out what it was.

"Ruddiger?" Varian repeated, now with a hurt questioning in his voice. "C-c'mere boy, please?"

Ruddiger had once been warned by the other raccoons of the forest; about becoming too attached to a human. Once that happened, it would make you do things that no animal in their right mind would ever do. Any whiff of suspense, and any sensible creature would hightail it out of there to save their own skin. But humans seemed to have the strange effect of bringing out the unnatural in natural things (for good or for ill). Ruddiger had already felt it multiple times before now, and here, again, it was no exception. Ruddiger wanted to duck into a dark corner and hide, but he could tell that Varian was in some sort of inner distress, and apparently needed him. So, though a bit falteringly at first, Ruddiger shuffled his way across the floor, and leapt up onto Varian's lap.

"Good boy Rudy," Varian murmured as he began stroking his companion's fur, and Ruddiger snuggled into him in return. A little while later, Varian began nibbling on the remainders of the hunk of bread on his plate, and then broke off bits of it for Ruddiger to tuck into as well. Ruddiger ate up the pieces gratefully, despite just having a full dinner only a little while before. Whether wild or tamed, his raccoon appetite always seemed to be ready for more, no matter how much he had eaten.

…That was when it dawned on him.

Ruddiger let out a startled sound as he felt his eyelids begin to droop, and his limbs grew sluggish and heavy. He now realized it was no coincidence that he had been napping shortly after supper before, and it wasn't due to a food coma!

"NO!" Ruddiger thought through the fog that began to envelop his mind. "NO NO NO! VARIAN WOULDN'T! HE DIDN'T! WHY WOULD HE-!?"

"I'm sorry," Ruddiger heard Varian whimper from above as the alchemist hugged him close to his chest. "I'm sorry Ruddiger! I'm sorry for everything!"

Ruddiger was so confused. What was happening? Why had Varian drugged him? What was going on!?

"Varian!" Ruddiger tried to cry out, but only a small, distressed squeal escaped his throat before he felt his voice fading away into oblivion as well.

"Shh! Shh, it's ok Ruddiger," Varian cooed as he stroked a hand down the raccoon's back. "It's ok boy. I know, I-I'm sorry. But I couldn't risk…" Varian swallowed. "You've done so much for me already boy. It's my turn now. I'll make it right, ok? I promise. You just rest now, ok? I'll…I'll meet up again with you soon, all right?"

Ruddiger wanted to protest. Something was wrong! Varian was rushing into something again, and it was wrong! But it was getting harder and harder to think now, and Ruddiger knew it was a losing battle as he felt his eyes close, and he could hear Varian continue to mutter to him.

"It's gonna be ok Ruddiger. It's gonna be ok boy…It's ok…good boy…I love you…"

"You did the right thing, Puer Lunae" Varian heard the voice say to him reassuringly as he gently set Ruddiger down on the chair, the raccoon's side rising and falling with deep, slow, sleeping breaths. Varian clenched his teeth together, refusing to let himself cry anymore. He hated tricking Ruddiger like this, but he didn't want to risk him getting in the way of what he needed to do. And after all, if they succeeded, this whole incident wouldn't matter either in the end.

But time right now was of the essence. Clearly, Ruddiger's new powers made him recover from things like a drugged sleep much quicker than when he had been normal. But soon, if the plan went through, Ruddiger would be back to normal again. Everything would be normal again.

Varian sniffed, swiping a wrist across his nose, and after giving one last look at the sleeping Ruddiger, went over to the mirror hanging above his dresser. With tired, steely eyes, Varian gazed back into it, hating the reflection of the exhausted, injured boy that greeted him there.

"Well then?" the voice came again, and Varian saw Demanitus's reflection join his own as it materialized beside it. "Shall we get started?"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Varian pulled the piece of enchanted chalk from his pocket, and reached a hand forward to draw upon the mirror's surface.

Arianna stopped, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the mirror attached to the dresser in her room. By now, the sun had well set, and for a moment Arianna thought her eyes were playing tricks on her in the dim light as her reflection appeared to be in fragments upon it. But as she lit the nearby lamp and looked again, she now saw that the mirror was not fractured, but instead had some sort of white circular pattern drawn onto it. Arianna didn't remember that being there before she had gone to dinner.

"What in the world?" Arianna thought as she began to extend a hand out towards it, but something about it made her pull back quickly in caution, and she felt a sense of dread and fear settle in her stomach. A moment later, a soft knock sounded at her door.

"Um…your majesty?"

It was Varian!

In haste, Arianna opened the door, and there stood Varian. Arianna was very confused when she saw him. Instead of being in his recovery clothes, Varian was dressed in ordinary traveling attire, with his goggles back upon his head, and his bandages removed to expose the dark burn marks beneath. Not only that, but he also had a fairly large, oddly shaped pack strapped across his back, and his sword hanging from his side in its scabbard.

"What is it Varian?" Arianna asked nervously. "What's wrong? Why are you-?"

"Shh, your majesty, please," Varian whispered, and looking up and down the hall to make sure they were alone. "Listen," the boy began nervously, keeping his eyes downcast, "I…I'm sorry about being so rude to you earlier. But…I need your help now. Ruddiger…" Varian swallowed. "Ruddiger went running out into the woods a few minutes ago, and I think he wanted me to follow him. It might have something to do with Pontus or the moon stone or something. I don't want to worry anyone else, and Xavier can't walk very well yet, so I was wondering if…Well, if-if you would come with me? Please? I think Sabine went to the nearby pond to get water for the evening, so we can catch her there and let her know where we're going. We can be back before we have to leave for Corona in the morning. But this really can't wait. I…I think this is important."

Arianna frowned. It really felt like something strange was going on, and of course she hadn't forgotten the odd symbol on the mirror. But…this did sound like it was important, and if Ruddiger was guiding the boy along, they should probably take his instincts seriously. Ruddiger had, after all, been very reliable up to now.

"All right Varian," Arianna said, stepping out further into the hallway. "I'll come with you."

Varian let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, your majesty."

Quietly, the two of them made their way towards the front door of the house, with Varian poking his head into the living room to make sure no one was there.

"Right then," Varian said, and grabbed Arianna by the wrist as he led her up to the front door.

"V-Varian, would you please-?" Arianna began, not entirely liking having him grasp her like this. But her words were cut off as, suddenly, Varian whirled about so that before Arianna could react, he had her pinned against the wall next to the door, and she could feel the edge of his sword settle at the side of her neck.

"Oh, don't worry, your majesty," Varian whispered behind her, and his now cool, confident tone making a cold chill run down her spine, and her brain reel as the situation began to sink in. "You know the drill. Just cooperate, and no one has to get hurt, right?"

Arianna took in a breath to scream, to yell, to shout; to do something to sound an alert. But as she did so, she got a whiff of a sickly-sweet smell that was beginning to grow stronger. In a panic, and not heeding for a moment the sword at her neck, Arianna tried to fight back at Varian before the sleeping draught could take hold, like the last time. But Varian was ready for her, and with reflexes quicker than Arianna had ever seen come from him before, Varian had knocked her down, yet somehow had also been able to catch her before she could hit the floor with a thud.

As he set her down quickly, Arianna could feel Varian tie a gag around her mouth, and tie her hands behind her back.

"Get up," he now commanded her, hauling her up onto wobbly legs with one hand, and sheething his sword with the other. The drugs were not yet strong enough to make Arianna succumb to complete unconsciousness, but it did make her woozy, and though she tried to struggle against Varian, he now somehow seemed too strong for her.

"Now," Varian said with a grin, as with his free hand he reached for the astrolabe mounted to the back of the front door. "Let's get you home, shall we?"

The first thing to come was a slight rumbling through the whole house. Xavier had been staring pensively into the fireplace of his room, but had been snapped out of his thoughts as he felt the house begin to vibrate and creak around him, the noise crescendoing rapidly. Then, Xavier heard someone in the house scream in agony, and then he found himself ducking out of reflex, nearly falling out of his chair as later he mirror above the fireplace suddenly shattered into a million pieces. Xavier sat there, panting, hardly daring to move as his mind scrambled to take in what just happened. The house continued to groan and vibrate around him, and somewhere someone was still screaming in pain. Very carefully, Xavier got up from his chair, his heart pounding as he stepped carefully over the bits of broken mirror now scattered about the floor, and giving his head, arms, shoulders, and legs a quick inspection as he made his way to the bedroom door.

Fortunately, it didn't look like any shards of glass had lodged themselves into him, and he didn't appear to be bleeding from any scratches. This did little to calm Xavier, however, as he could still hear the cries coming from somewhere in the building, and his going was unsteady as the floorboards shook beneath him.

As Xavier managed to open the door and burst into the hallway, he found himself coming face to face with Hilda, who was pale as a ghost and clearly as frightened as he was.

"What's going on?" Xavier asked her.

"I-I don't know," Hilda said, and pointed with a quivering hand up the hall, "But Sabine, she-"

Xavier looked to where Hilda pointed, and saw Donovan kneeling beside Sabine, who lay whimpering in the corridor.

"Sabine!" Xavier cried, and rushed over to see what was wrong. As he gently turned her over so that he could see her face, Sabine had both hands clasped above her damaged eye, and tears were streaming down from her good one.

"What happened, Sabine?" Xavier asked, distressed at seeing Sabine in such pain. "What's wrong? Why-?"

"Y-you have to stop him!" Sabine managed to yell through her sobs. "Xavier, it's-it's Varian, he's-"

Xavier didn't need any further prompting. Somehow, despite the chaos, and ignoring the pain in his leg, Xavier began to run as fast as he could to the safehouse's front door.

"Varian!" Xavier shouted, trying to shove back the slew of fears that came crowding in on him. "Varian! Whatever you're doing, stop! You have to-!"

But as Xavier rounded the bend in the hallway to the living room, the blacksmith stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Varian standing out on the veranda, the blue streak in his hair glowing a dull, threateneing hue, holding a bound Queen Arianna firmly in one hand, and holding his sword to her throat with the other. Beyond the veranda, in the dark, Xavier could see figures holding torches, and hear the soft snorting of horses and gasps of men in alarm.

"Hello, your majesty," Varian shouted across the way to King Frederic. "I have a request I would like to make, if you don't mind."

It took everything within Frederic to not lunge forward from where he stood behind Pete and the Captain as he saw Varian emerge from the safehouse with his sword at Arianna's throat. The king felt his face flush with both rage and embarrassment as his fingers gripped tighter around the handle of his sword. They had all been tricked! They had all been fools! Of course Varian had been up to no good this whole time! He should've taken a company of men with him into Equis the moment they got word from Arianna. To heck with international diplomacy! He would've risked another confrontation with Trevor if it meant it could've prevented this.

But no, this was certainly not the time to kick himself about the "what could/would/should've been." Frederic forced himself to take a steadying breath. He had to focus on the here and now.

In front of him, the Captain growled with outrage. "Varian!" he barked at him, raising his crossbow. "That's enough! You're outnumbered, and we've got you surrounded! Put down your weapon and put your hands in the air! NOW!"

"Excuse me," Varian said cooly, not at all shaken by the Captain's warnings. "But I was talking to the king, not to you."

The Captain opened his mouth to give a retort, but was stopped as Frederic said from behind, "Easy, Captain," and cautiously stepped forward between him and Stan. "What do you want Varian?"

"No need to be so tense, your highness," Varian replied with a smug look. "I have a much more simple request than last time, I assure you. I only-"

"Varian, please!"

Varian stopped, rolling his eyes in irritation, as he looked over his shoulder to where Xavier stood in the doorway behind him, his eyes glistening with the tears he was struggling to hold back.

"Varian, listen to me," Xavier pleaded with him, keeping his voice surprisingly calm despite the situation. "Whatever you're doing, you need to stop. I know you're hurt. I know you're scared. I know you feel trapped and…and betrayed. But this isn't right. This won't help you. But it's not too late to stop. You don't have to do this. You can still come back from this. Whatever is wrong, we can figure it out, together. Just let me –"

Xavier's words were suddenly cut off as Varian mumbled something under his breath, the streak of blue in his hair glowed a bit brighter, and a black rock erupted through the floorboards of the veranda, causing Xavier to stagger back into the house just before it could hit him.

Xavier stood in shock, mouth agape, and heart pounding hard in his chest. Varian had just tried to hurt him!

"Stay out of this old man!" Varian snapped at him, pinning Xavier beneath his cold gaze. "I don't need your help!"

Frederic, Pete, the Captain, and even Arianna in her foggy state of mind all froze as they witnessed such a cold response from Varian towards Xavier. It seemed that he really had snapped again, and not even Xavier could reach him.

"Now, about my request," Varian continued, as if nothing had happened. "It's simple, your majesty, I assure you. All I want is your decree for my safe passage to Old Corona, where I will free my father, and then have safe passage out of the kingdom of Corona. Your spoken and written word on that in exchange for the queen. That's all I ask."

Frederic paused, both he and the Captain exchanging looks of uncertainty between them. This seemed too easy. Something had to be amiss. After all, this was Varian they were dealing with. They had to be missing some detail, but what?

"Ugh," Varian sighed in exasperation at the silence that followed. "You all really are so suspicious, aren't you? But," Varian shrugged, "can't say I blame you. Though perhaps though, this will help you make up your mind a bit quicker."

At these words, Varian muttered under his breath again, and as his hair glowed again, several black rocks erupted from the ground nearer to the line of men, and Varian's sword pressed further into Arianna's neck.

"STOP VARIAN!" the king shouted. "All right, all right, I'll-I'll give you the decree!"

"Very good," Varian purred, the light dimming from his hair, and the black rocks receding back into the ground.

With shaky hands, Frederic reached into his saddlebag for pen and paper, with the Captain remaining close at his side.

"Sire!" the Captain whispered urgently. "I don't like this! Perhaps we should try to stall for a while and see if-"

"No, Captain!" Frederic hissed back, though brought his tone back down as he continued. "I don't doubt that something could be amiss here. But if this is indeed all that Varian wants, this may be our only chance of getting out of this without Arianna or anyone else getting hurt. We'll have time to figure out more later."

The Captain frowned, though conceded with a reluctant nod as Frederic began to draft his decree. Something was missing, but what? The Captain couldn't figure it out.

"Varian," Xavier tried again as Varian waited for the king to finish his draft. "Why are you doing this? We would've gone to Old Corona anyway if you-"

"I don't want to hear it," Varian growled, shooting Xavier a threatening glare over his shoulder. "Just back off you, you hear?"

"But Varian-" Xavier tried to argue, but Varian only responded with yet another threatening glow from his hair.

…And, Xavier thought he saw, a glimmer of green also showing from somewhere within odd bundle on his back.

"Here you are, Varian," Frederic said before Xavier could think on this further. "Signed by both myself and the Captain, and in the presence of the surrounding witnesses, I decree by royal authority that you have safe passage to Old Corona, and from there to the eastern border of Corona. Trying to go elsewhere within our borders will result in your immediate arrest, and at the crossing of our borders, you will immediately be considered an exile of Corona. Any attempt at unauthorized reentry will result in your immediate arrest."

There was a full silence as Frederic finished his degree. "Do you have any questions, Varian?"

Varian smiled, "None at all, your majesty."

"Then let Arianna go!"

With another shrug, Varian pulled Arianna to her feet, and lead her across the yard to where he, the Captain, and the king met in the middle. It was a tense moment as the exchange was made, but, indeed, Varian cut Arianna's bonds, and released her as Frederic handed the sealed decree over to Varian.

"Arianna, darling!" Frederic breathed as he held her close. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Arianna shook her head, burying her face into her husband's chest as the whole ordeal left her shaken.

"Right," Varian said, and striding confidently towards the edge of the Molson's Grove. "I'll be off then."

"Hey!" the Captain snapped, again pointing his crossbow at Varian. "Stop right there! We promised you safe passage, Varian! We said nothing about letting you go on your own!"

"You didn't say I couldn't either, did you?" Varian asked with a smirk, raising his sword skyward.

"GET HIM!" the Captain shouted, and the closest of the soldiers bravely charged towards Varian. However, before anyone could reach him, Varian again chanted to himself (this time Arianna and Xavier recognizing it as the awaking spell from before), and Varian's hair glowed, his sword burst into moonlight, and then he smashed it into the ground, causing a whole wall of black rocks to spring forth around the grove, completely fensing everyone inside.

"VARIAN!" Xavier cried, as he dashed over to the wall of rocks, knowing that pounding against it was useless, but he did so anyway, with many of the guards also joining him in the attempt.

"VARIAN, STOP, PLEASE!" Xavier shouted, managing to catch sight of Varian through one of the tiny gaps in the rocks. The boy made eye contact with Xavier briefly before narrowing his eyes, grinning wickedly, and then making his way into the dark forest beyond towards Old Corona.

"Varian…"

For the second time that night, Ruddiger opened his bleary eyes as his senses came back to him.

"Varian!" Ruddiger immediately remembered as he returned to the waking world, and the raccoon rushed over to the door to the bedroom to run after his boy, wherever he had gone.

Ruddiger's paws twisted at the handle, but it wouldn't budge. He had been locked in!

"No…" Ruddiger thought, panic beginning to seize him as he frantically went from window to window, finding all of those locked as well.

"Varian, you idiot!" Ruddiger screamed, bristling with fury and worry. Frantically, Ruddiger, began looking around for anything that might help him shatter one of the windows, and as he looked, he stopped as he noticed something odd.

The mirror above Varian's dresser was gone.

"But, why would…?" Ruddiger thought in confusion.

…And that was when he heard it.

"HELP ME!" Ruddiger heard a voice call to him, and Ruddiger flinched as it sounded behind him. Whirrling round, Ruddiger looked all around, but couldn't see anyone.

"PLEASE!" the voice repeated. "SOMEONE! HELP ME!"

Ruddiger immediately began calling back, sniffing and spinning in circles where he could hear the voice coming from in the middle of the room, trying to get to its unseen source. For now – though he could not entirely understand how – Ruddiger knew.

He knew it was Varian. He knew he was in trouble. And he knew, somehow, that Varian was here!

Random fact: The punchline for Hilda's joke at the dinner table is meant to be a reference to a running joke in the British romantic comedy, "As Time Goes By."