Rose followed Varian as he snuck into Corona. He wore a black and gray coat and a gray bauta that made his eyes seem to glow yellow. Rose was wearing a black cloak, and wore the hood over her head.

They crept through a castle door, then hid in a room where they knew they wouldn't be seen. From a nearby window, Varian threw a potion outside, causing blue fog to fill the entire courtyard.

"Hello, Corona," Varian's voice amplified throughout the courtyard. "Something dark is coming for you. Our king has refused to acknowledge it. In the hopes of keeping his secret, he has lied to you and vilified me. In a matter of days, Corona, this island, and the castle itself, will be overcome by this growth. It has already taken over the outskirts of the kingdom. The key to stopping this destruction is Princess Rapunzel herself. I have asked for help and have been ignored. I will not be ignored any longer. And to make sure I have your attention, I've developed a new serum, and created something special for you all."

From outside, they could hear loud stomping, and Rose knew that Rudiger, under the influence of a serum Varian had created, was causing destruction outside. Rose watched out the window as a large shadow fell over a group of people, but felt Varian grab her arm and pull her away. "Come on. We have a queen to capture."

They went up the nearby stairs to find Queen Arianna wandering throughout the halls. Varian snuck up to her, green dust held in his hand.

"Hello, Your Majesty," Varian said. The queen gasped as she turned around. "Sleep." He threw the green dust at her, and instantly the queen fell to the ground, unconscious. Together, he and Rose lifted the queen up, and carried her out of the castle, sneaking out through the fog.

Once they had reached Varian's home, Queen Arianna started to wake up again. Rose took a rope to tie her hands together. The queen struggled to get her hands free.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Varian said from the table he stood over. "You are merely bait to lure the princess here. Only the magic of her unbreakable hair can shatter the amber and free my father. I tried asking for help in a civil manner, but was denied by everyone in Corona. So, unfortunately, this is my only remaining recourse." He walked over to the amber which Quirin was trapped in, and threw the blanket covering it off, causing Queen Arianna to gasp.

"And after you've freed your father?" Queen Arianna asked.

"After?" Varian laughed. "Oh, well, I'm afraid Corona will pay for turning their backs on me. And that's when you should start worrying, Your Majesty."

After a little while, Varian put on his bauta and started welding automatons together. Rose took them outside and hid them in the ground, so as not to be seen by the attackers coming for them. After a little while, Varian started making an extra large automaton that Rose could see was meant to be operated by a person.

"Any moment now, Your Highness." Varian said, finishing the giant automaton. "Believe me, I know, I've sunk pretty low, but whatever I've done you've deserved."

Queen Arianna looked worriedly at him. "Varian-"

"Quiet!" Varian glared at her. "I'm the bad guy, that's fine, it's no fault of mine, and some justice at last will be served."

The queen tried reasoning with him again. "Please listen!"

"Now, it's time to step up, or it's time to back down and there's only one answer for me. And I'll stand up and fight 'cause I know that I'm right. And I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready! Ready as I'll ever be."

Varian continued to walk around his lab, gathering things he would need. Rose was shocked at his voice, again, for she had only seen him sing once before. Queen Arianna helplessly looked at her, as if pleading for her to see the wrong in what Varian and her were doing. All Rose did was stare at the ground.

Varian grabbed the giant automaton and started lowering it down into a trapdoor. "I'll make them hear me!"

Finally, the automaton was lowered into the depths of the trapdoor. "Ready as I'll ever be!"

Varian moved over to watch out the window, and Rose joined him. A group of people were moving towards Varian's home, obviously trying to stop the young alchemist. Varian grinned maniacally.

"What a happy family reunion this will be," Varian turned towards the queen. "For both of us."

Rose hid with Varian in the back of the room and watched as Rapunzel and her father, King Frederic, walked into the house through the secret trapdoor. They walked forwards, towards the dummy Varian had made, and set off a trap that led them stuck to the ground. Varian walked forward, Rose following behind him.

"Welcome back, Rapunzel," Varian said with a malicious grin.

"I demand you release us, and tell me where the queen is," King Frederic yelled.

Varian took Pascal from Rapunzel and shut him in a tiny cage. "Your Majesty, I know it's hard for you, but for the first time in your life, you are in no position to demand anything," Varian shouted. "But in the spirit of compromise, how 'bout I meet ya halfway?" He nodded at Rose, who stood next to a curtain that separated the room in two. She pulled the curtain back, showing Queen Arianna chained to a small cluster of black rocks.

"Mom!" Rapunzel yelled.

"I'm okay, Rapunzel," the queen reassured her.

"Let her go, Varian!" Rapunzel demanded. "Please!"

"First, you're going to do something for me," Varian said.

"What do you want?" King Frederick asked sternly.

"Oh! So now you care about what I want," Varian laughed, then narrowed his eyes. "All it took was threatening the things you love the most." He crouched down next to Queen Arianna and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Then Varian walked away, only to come back with a cart, a blanket placed over an item underneath. Rose was painfully reminded of the Exposition of Sciences. Why couldn't things be how it was then?

"What are you going to do, Varian?" the king demanded.

"Yeah, I'll spare you the details about the sun-drop and darkness, blah, blah, blah, and get to the good stuff." He stopped the cart and drew the blanket off of it, showing a drill beneath it. He knocked on a nearby black rock. "Unbreakable." Then he walked over to Rapunzel and picked up her hair. "Unbreakable. To put it plainly," he said, walking over to the amber, "with assistance from my drill, Rapunzel's hair should be able to shatter the amber, and free my father."

"What do you mean 'should'?" King Frederick inquired.

"Oh, I suppose it's just as likely the amber shatters Rapunzel-- I mean, the properties-"

"Absolutely not," King Frederick shouted, drawing his sword.

"It's not your choice, Dad," Rapunzel said, holding onto her hair.

Varian walked up to the king and placed his elbow on his chest. "She's right, Dad. Oh," Varian started walking backwards, towards the queen, "And I almost forgot, we're, uh, kinda on a time crunch here, so I'm gonna need to speed things along." He took out a vial full of a yellow-green liquid and handed it to Rose. She uncorked it and poured it onto the black rocks that were near Queen Arianna. Amber started to grow from the substance, moving closer to the queen.

"Rose, stop!" Rapunzel yelled.

"Well," Varian strutted over to Rapunzel, then freed her from the goop that stuck her to the ground. "Shall we get started?"

Varian stuck Rapunzel's hair into the drill, a tiny piece of it sticking out of the end. He pushed the drill up to the amber.

"Varian, if this doesn't work, and something happens to me, please, please, let my mom go," the princess pleaded.

Varin put his goggles on his head. "I can't make any promises, Princess." He turned the drill on, and pushed it against the amber. Rapunzel gasped and screamed. Her hair started to glow, and Varian pushed the drill harder into the amber.

"What?" Varian stopped the drill. "Why?" The amber didn't even have a scratch on it. He tried again, this time making Rapunzel fall to her knees with exhaustion.

"Stop it!" King Frederick yelled. "She can't take anymore!"

Rose watched helplessly as Rapunzel struggled. Her gaze went between Varian and Rapunzel, deciding which one to help. Finally, Rapunzel fell to the ground.

"Rapunzel!" Queen Arianna exclaimed.

The drill suddenly stopped. "I jus- I-I don't understand! Why won't it- her hair! It-it should've cut through it!" Varian put his hands up to the amber. "Why didn't it work?!"

Rose watched as Pascal dissolved the goop around King Frederick's feet, and he threw Queen Arianna the sword that was in his hand. Rose turned to Varian, watching him as he broke down. She didn't know how to help.

When Rose looked back over at the king and Rapunzel, the queen had somehow gotten free. All three of them hugged, and Rose narrowed her eyes. How dare they be so happy when Varian had no family left at all!
"No! No! I wasn't wrong!" Varian yelled. "It's not my fault! None of it is!" He looked up at Rapunzel and her family. "It's her fault."

He turned to Rose. "Get away from here. I don't want you getting hurt."

"What do you-?"

"Just go!" Varian yelled. Then he got up and ran, leaving Rose all alone. She didn't understand why he wanted her to leave. Not until she felt the ground tremble. The image of the giant automaton came to her head, and she finally understood what was going on.

With great speed, Rose ran out of the house into the battle outside. But before she could get very far, she felt a giant metal arm ram into her, and she hit her head on the house's wall. She fell to the ground, and everything around her went black.

By the time Rose got back up, Varian was being handcuffed and pushed into a carriage. Rose ran to him, only to be held back by the guards surrounding him.

"D-don't worry, Varian. I'll find a way to get you out of there," she promised. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "I'll never give up on you."

But then the carriage was escorted away, and Rose watched as Varian was pulled out of her life. When would she ever see him again? Would she ever see him again?

Varian silently stood in the carriage that carried him away. He stared at the ground, guilt flooding through him. Was that really him who had just done that, caused all that destruction? An image of Rose came into his mind. What does she think of him now? As a heartless person? How would she ever feel the same about him as he does her, after what had just happened? He sighed, and felt his eyes start to water. What had he done?