The ROOSTER exploded with green fireworks reaching all over the kingdom and beyond as the inventor was on his butt coughing up green smoke.
"You added more Flynnolium, didn't you…?" Varian spoke in a raspy voice.
Then he picks himself back up as he begins to have it out with Lance.
"I SAID ONE LOUSY DROP! ONE DROP! ALCHEMY IS VERY DELICATE, LANCE!" Varian ranted as it was beyond angry at the guard.
"What?!" Lance shouted as he temporarily lost his hearing.
Varian sighed as he knew that the explosion deafened Lance. Then he suddenly heard two girls giggling as they were hiding from the explosion.
"You… You two did this!" Varian accused as he looked like he was going to strangle them.
But before any of them could do anything, the soldiers and the Queen and King arrived.
"What's going on? Why was there a massive explosion? Varian, what happened to you?" The King questioned while the guards were laughing at his appearance.
He looked like a raccoon.
Then Varian, Red, Angry and Lance started talking at once as it annoyed the king.
"Enough, we will figure this out at the throne room!" The King ordered as everyone was taken to the throne room.
At the throne room…
Varian was telling the king everything that happened.
"I told them to only have one drop for a reason and what did they do? They poured in an entire gallon of it into the ROOSTER! We were lucky that the entire castle wasn't destroyed!" Varian ranted.
"Umm Varian…" The Queen spoke.
"I told them not to touch anything after I labored over my invention! I watched all my hard work go up in smoke!"
"Varian."
"Speaking of smoke, there's probably fires all over the land by now! Flynnolium is a flammable substance and the metal from the mortar is probably all over the castle grounds! I KNEW I should've waited for Rapunzel and Eugene for this-!"
"Varian!" The Queen shouted as the alchemist finally stopped.
Queen Arianna then rose from her throne and hugged the boy.
"Breathe in." She instructed as Varian did so.
"Now, breathe out."
Varian then breathed out as he felt a little calmer.
"There, better?" Arianna smiled as she gently stroked his head in a soothing matter.
"…A little." Varian admitted as the queen chuckled.
"I'll take care of Varian." The queen assured her husband.
"And I will see that the mess from the ROOSTER is cleaned up and the pieces found." The King answered as the looked at the three troublemakers, who looked at him nervously.
"Come on, Varian. Let's get you cleaned up." Arianna smiled as she led Varian away from the group who were being punished.
The king and queen knew this wasn't Varian's fault that the ROOSTER exploded. They could plainly see the heartache and frustration in the boy's eyes and tone. You couldn't fake that type of irritation.
It only got worse for him as he could hear the servants whisper and snicker at his appearance.
"Woah, look at the mess he's in."
"Must've been the result of the big explosion we heard upstairs."
"He looks like his pet raccoon. It's cute."
"Yeah, like a raccoon boy."
Varian covered his face in embarrassment of the nickname as the queen tried to comfort him. She gave a glance to the servants and they quiet down and got back to work.
"When one of my inventions break because something I did, I learn from my failure and move on. When someone else messes up on my invention, it just leaves heartache and misery." Varian sighed as the queen patted him on the head.
"Varian, we are thankful for all the good you have been doing for the kingdom. It's only natural to feel upset after all your hard work was wasted." The queen smoothed as she stopped in front of a room, "Here, take a nice hot bath while I arrange for some new clothing for you in your spare room."
"Thank you, your majesty." Varian thanked with a bow.
"Think nothing of it. Consider it gratitude from the royal family." Queen Arianna assured as she left the boy alone to get changed.
As he entered the bathroom, Varian saw himself in the mirror.
"Man, they were right. I look just like Rudiger." Varian whined as he got the bath ready.
After a long bath…
Varian knew it would take a few more baths to get the smudge off his face, but on the bright side, he looked less like a raccoon.
After getting clean up and in cleaner clothes, he flopped on the bed, emotionally, physically and mentally tired. The queen could clearly see that Varian wouldn't have the energy to return home alone.
"Varian, why don't you rest here until your father comes to pick you up? That way we know you will be taken home safely?" Arianna suggested as Varian gave a tired smile.
He was too sleepy to argue or protest and instead thanked her as he drifted off to a much-needed sleep.
Once slumbering, the queen could help but watch him. It was impossible to imagine that the boy sleeping in this bed is the same one that kidnapped her some time ago. She knew Varian is trying very hard to make up for what he has done but when will enough be enough?
The queen even noticed how the villagers have been guilt-tripping him into doing tasks for them. She already put a stop to that. The queen couldn't help but feel guilty. Maybe if Corona came to him and his father in his time of need, none of what happened to him would have transpired. She finally has her memories back as did her husband, Varian is good now as Quirin is free, but the scars still remained.
Varian shouldn't be worried about all these grown-up things. He should be a kid and have fun. But shame and guilt hold him prisoner and is doing a number on him. She hopes that one day the boy can forgive himself and finally let it go.
Varian twitched in the bed as the queen covered him up and said goodnight to him.
Hours later…
Once Rapunzel returned with the newest captain of the Guard as the Baron was taken into custody, the Queen informed them of what happened, and why Lance, Angry and Red would be cleaning up the mess they made and apologizing to Varian tomorrow.
"How's Varian?" The princess wondered.
"Tired and asleep upstairs. His father will be coming soon to pick him up." The King answered.
"Poor kid, Varian really had pride in that ROOSTER thing." Eugene sighed as he scratched the back of his head.
"Don't worry, I'm sure after a good night's sleep, he'll be okay." The Queen assured as Quirin arrived for his son while the raccoon followed him to his master.
The Queen led him to Varian's room as the leader of Old Corona decided it would be best to let him sleep as he took him home.
He swaddled his son in blankets while Rudiger lied on Varian's stomach as the queen and princess marveled on how cute he looked.
"He looks like a baby raccoon snuggled in a blanket~." Rapunzel cooed as Quirin chuckled.
He was happy that his hard-working son had allowed himself to sleep peacefully.
"He has been doing so much for the kingdom, a little too much for my liking." The queen admitted as she hated that Varian was doing all this out of guilt.
"Well, maybe if I was a better father, he wouldn't need to make amends in the first place." Quirin sighed as looked down at his child.
"Well, tell Varian we said thanks and that sorry his invention was blown up." The princess requested.
"I will." The former member of the brotherhood promised as he took his Raccoon Boy home.