I'm back with the third and final part! I was NOT expecting this one to be so long, but I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for putting up with my lack of motivation😭

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"Stripes, you can trust me. Remember how I said you're my friend earlier? I promise you, that wasn't a lie." Hugo took another step forward and decided to take a risk. He seized the boy's shoulders, who immediately flinched away and struggled to break free. If looks could kill, Hugo would be dead. But they couldn't, so the blond kept his hold strong and forced Varian to look at him. Kind of hard to do when he's squirming like a worm.

"Why should I trust you?!" Varian screamed.

Hugo struggled to keep his grip on the panicking teenager. "Where's your father? Where's Quirin?"

Varian stopped jerking. He froze completely, going slack in Hugo's grasp. "What?" His voice came out barely above a whisper.

Well, shoot.

Surprised by the alchemist's reaction, Hugo dropped his hands on the side. "I- um... Quirin, right? That's your dad?" He couldn't read Varian's expression. The boy just seemed completely out of it, emotionless. That wasn't Varian. That seemed to be a reoccurring

"Yeah," he breathed. "It is." Still without an ounce of thought behind his words, Varian slowly took a step back. "What do you want with my father? How do you know his name?" He moved his hand behind his back. Those actions didn't go unnoticed by Hugo. Varian was getting ready to defend himself again.

What did I say wrong? Hugo thought to himself, starting to spiral. He couldn't have Varian pulling out another one of his alchemy vials, that obviously wouldn't end well. It was best to calm the situation down, as best he could. Though, with Varian, that would prove to be an excruciating task.

Did something happen to his father? In the caravan, Varian told stories that made it obvious he was very much so alive. So why was the son of Quirin getting so defensive?

"Goggles- "

"Don't call me that!"

Hugo winced at his sharp, threatening to rise tone. "Right. Varian. As I told you, I'm your friend." He spread his arms out. "I wouldn't lie to you."

"Oh yeah?" Varian sneered. "Rapunzel lied to me. Corona lied to me. What makes you any different?" The black-haired teenager brought out what he had behind his back. A vial of green liquid. Hugo's eyes widened with realization at what the chemical was. It was one of Varian's own designs. He had shown it off to Hugo with pride one night in the caravan.

"It's, hah... highly explosive."

Flynnonium.

The blond was too focused on the possibility of getting exploded by his friend's younger self to process the boy's words. Hugo backtracked and took time to process them.

"Rapunzel lied to me. What makes you any different?"

What was he talking about? They were friends, weren't they?

Hugo let out a nervous laugh. "Hey, goggles. Let's not do anything we're gonna regret, yeah?" He was rambling. It was strange, really. The moment in Hugo's life when he almost felt the most in danger was with the person he trusts the most.

Varian let out a cold, short laugh. "I'm already past that point. What's there left to lose?" He uncorked the vial with the Flynnonium with his thumb in one hand. Hugo's expression only got more helpless at the sound of the pop.

"Goggles, this isn't you," Hugo pleaded. Then his mind flashed back to the streets. Varian's wanted poster. His mention of the guards...

The automatons. His and Rapunzel's supposed argument.

Maybe Hugo didn't know Varian as well as he thought.

"You don't know me," Varian jeered, speaking Hugo's mind. The boy's gaze flickered between the stranger in his house and the vial of Flynnonium in his hands. A brief moment of hesitation flashed across his face. Hugo recognized the look. He could sympathize with the feeling.

It'd been flooding his senses whenever his mind racked up the elephant of his thoughts. Hugo tried not to think about it, but as the trial of the Iron kingdom rang closer and closer, he couldn't put it off anymore. He knew he was going to have to betray Varian and the others. When the time came, he would have to choose Donella over them.

The feeling was guilt.

Hugo had been feeling overwhelming feelings of guilt, and the obvious conflict in Varian's expression spoke for his lack of words. Maybe there was hope for Hugo yet. He just had to deescalate the situation.

Easier said than done.

"I know you don't want to do this," Hugo spoke gently. "How about you tell me what I did wrong before you go about exploding me with chemicals?" He had to fight every ounce of fear in his body to take a shaky step toward Varian. The blond didn't even really have a reason behind his distress. This was Varian. This was one of his closest friends. He was a good foot shorter than Hugo. So why were his limbs shaking with each step?
The thief's efforts to inch closer to Varian were to no avail. With every step forward, the fourteen-year-old took a step back, still holding the vial of Flynnonium. "Stop!" He screamed, alarm evident in the way his voice trembled. "Stop acting like you know me!" Ruddiger, still around his owner's neck, chittered at Hugo in agreement with Varian.

What was he supposed to do now? Hugo hoped that Varian might've helped him get back to the present, but now that possibility was seeming more and more unattainable with each second he spent in the past. "I do know you, Goggles. How else would I know about your fa-"

"DON'T!" Varian's voice rose and quaked with emotion. "Don't even say his name. Don't even mention him."

Hugo held his hands up to his face and groaned into them with frustration. "Why? Why can't I ask what happened to him-"

"You want to know where he is? Quirin? My father?" Varian glared daggers at the blond. He stumbled back slightly, as if the action was a literal knife to the chest.

Hugo opened his mouth to respond, but the alchemist was on the move. He stormed across the room, reaching a hand up to grab the tarp covering the strange tower in the center of the room. With an eyebrow raised with curiosity, Hugo followed close behind.

Ruddiger chirped and jumped off of his boy's shoulders as Varian reached up. Now, even in the present, Hugo could never understand the raccoon's emotions. It seemed to him that Ruddiger's only feeling towards Hugo was hatred. But as the thief watched Ruddiger practically leap off of his perch and scurry under the table, the way his little raccoon eyes were wide, it was clear to Hugo that he was scared.

Of Varian, though? That didn't make sense. Ruddiger obviously adored Varian (aside from the occasional dispute when the alchemist denies his pet a second apple). Once again, the image of the wanted poster flickered in his mind.

Who was Varian, really?

Just a few hours ago, Hugo would swear that he knew most everything about the alchemist. He learned a lot during their journey through the seven kingdoms.

The anxiety pulsing through Hugo's whole body only worsened. His green eyes kept their gaze on the peeking raccoon under the table.

"Ahem," Varian spoke behind him. His voice was completely void of any emotion. When Hugo turned his attention back to the alchemist, he continued, "You wanted to see my father? Here." In one grand swoop, Varian yanked the covering off and tossed it to the ground.

Hugo's heart completely stopped.

"What... happened to him?" Standing before him was in fact Varian's father, but definitely not in the way Hugo had expected.

Like a mosquito trapped in amber, Quirin was completely encased in a jagged, yellow prison. His arm was outstretched above him like he was reaching for something. Hugo gaped at the statue of Varian's dad frozen in time. Hoping for an explanation, he turned to Varian, but he looked absolutely destroyed. His eyes were locked on the floor, clearly refusing to even glimpse at his trapped father. Tears were already surfacing his blue eyes.

"Varian," Hugo whispered, taking slow steps towards the agonized boy, trapped in his own thoughts. He watched as Varian rubbed the cloth between his fingers, muttering something inconceivable under his breath, mouth moving rapidly. His hand that wasn't rubbing the cloth reached up to grab his shaking head. Hugo took a deep breath in and placed a hand on Varian's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Varian practically jumped out of his skin, causing Hugo's hand to jerk back. The young alchemist fell to the floor in short, panicked breaths. He hugged his legs, allowing his head to fall onto them.

Hugo ran a hand through his blond hair and took a step back, unsure of how to calm a clearly distressed Varian. He let out an awkward laugh and scooted next to him, stretching his neck to look the boy in his tear-filled eyes. "Goggles, talk to me, please? I'm sorry. I overstepped."

"I don't even know you," Varian said harshly. He looked up from his knees with a glare. "Why not just leave me alone?"

The rawness in the boy's voice was absolutely gut-wrenching. Hugo let out a short laugh and brought his own knees to his chest. "Yeah, you got a point there. You don't know me. It's hard to open up, especially to a stranger. But can you try?" He spoke in a gentle, non-pressuring tone. It sounded strange to Varian's ears. He slowly looked up.

"I- it's my fault," he whispered, guilt choking his words.

Hugo shook his head. "I highly doubt that."

Varian let out a bitter laugh. He let his legs into a crisscross position. "It is. I was trying to learn more about the rocks."

"The... rocks?" The images of Corona in its lowest flashed though Hugo's head. Black spikes poking up earlier, crashing through homes and destroying people's lives. Now that he thought of it, the rough edges of it striking a resemblance to those same black rocks. "How so?" Hugo asked with an eyebrow raised.

Varian shook his head. He slowly exhaled as he took a vial from his apron pocket filled with a yellow solution. Hugo's face reflected in it as the alchemist held it up to his face. "I was trying to find a way to get rid of them." He gestured to his trapped father behind Hugo. "My dad tried to tell me it wasn't safe. I didn't listen, of course," Varian self-criticized.

"The rocks didn't react well to the chemicals. They... trapped my dad in the amber." He looked aside. "It should've been me."

"Don't say that."

"You don't understand!" Varian snapped. Then he frowned as he watched Hugo jump away. The alchemist took a second to study the other's frightened expression before sighing and trying again, taking a much softer approach. "I was in the way of the amber. If he hadn't pushed me out of the way, I would be in his place." He paused for a moment, face falling as he considered his next words. "If it had been the other way around, it probably would've been better for everyone."

Hugo didn't know if it was the boy's fallen expression, the guilt in his voice, or Varian's bloodshot eyes. But something made rage boil in his chest. He furrowed his eyebrows, and without thinking, grabbed Varian's chin and forced eye contact. "Don't say that. What makes you think that, Goggles? You're only what, fourteen? Don't be so hard- "

"I've done some pretty terrible stuff, y'know that?" Varian interrupted. He violently lifted his chin out of Hugo's grasp with a glare. "I've 'attacked' the princess, according to Corona. I stole the sundrop, the kingdom's most prized position." He sneered, standing to his feet. "You wanna guess what the automatons are for?"

Hugo shook his head from his spot on the floor, looking up at Varian with wide eyes and a face whiter than sheet. He didn't even recognize the person standing before him. He had always assumed Varian had always been the saint Hugo knew him as, but that was proven false. His finger-less gloved hand reached for the folded up wanted poster in his pocket.

But Rapunzel and Varian were friends. Quirin was alive and well. There was something to the story he was missing. Being sympathetic was never Hugo's strong suit, but for Varian, he could at least try. With an undertone groan, the blond picked himself up and stepped toward the shorter boy, holding his hands out in surrender. "Alright, Goggles. You clearly have some messed up things that've happened to you. But I just want to help you. So how about you tell me what happened, and then you can decide whether to blow my head off with chemicals?"

"I was alone, when he got trapped."

"Sorry?" Hugo had been preparing himself to be shut down. The fact that Varian responded caught him by surprise.

"I was alone. I didn't know what to do. I was just so scared... there was a huge blizzard outside, but I was an idiot and decided to leave my father alone in hopes that Rapunzel would help me. I ran all the way to Corona through the worst storm we've had for a while." Hugo took notice of the way Varian's jaw clenched; the way he grit his teeth as he talked. He walked over to the table where Ruddiger had been hiding and held out his hand. The raccoon took the hint and crawled his way back up to his boy's shoulder.

"Emotions overwhelmed my head, leaving no room for common sense. I figured, 'hey, Rapunzel's my friend! She'll help me! She did promise after all!'" He whipped around toward Hugo, throwing his arm out in a grand gesture that made Hugo wince away. "She threw me back into the storm! She refused to help, and now my father may be dead!" Varian's voice broke in the last few words.

Hugo blinked, trying to process everything. "She threw you back into the blizzard?"

Varian shook his head, trying to regain his composure. He sighed and ran a hand through his mess of black hair. "Doesn't matter. I'll get my revenge." The boy paused, then turned toward Hugo with a villainous smirk. "You know, I found out that Rapunzel is the human embodiment of the sunflower. It's one of the, if not the most powerful magic-possessing object alive. It must break the amber. It has too."

"So, what'll you do if she won't come with you?" Hugo's feet took another step toward Varian, who was backed against his father. He knew what the answer was, but he didn't want to hear it come out of his friend's mouth. If it was what Hugo was thinking, then he wasn't sure he could classify the person standing in front of him as Varian. The Varian he knew was kind, sympathetic, forgiving, and would never do anything to hurt his friends.

Hugo told himself this over and over, but what else could the automatons and chemical solutions be for?

He held his breath as Varian seemed to consider the blond's words. Then his expression hardened into a glare as he stared at Hugo, then at his father. "See, I've thought about that. She didn't even come to visit me after the blizzard, and now I'm a wanted criminal. Why would the princess help save my father when she didn't do it the first time?" He placed his hand on the amber, tracing over Quirin's face with a frown. "The automatons will just be something to put them on edge. Make them scared. Once they're distracted, I'll send Ruddiger in to cause chaos. While Ruddiger's distracting them- "

"How's a raccoon supposed to stop them?"
"Quiet!" Varian barked. He reached up to his shoulder and scratched behind Ruddiger's ears. "If you stick around, you'll find out."

Hugo picked up on something small in the alchemist's tone and expression. A brief flicker of guilt flickered across Varian's face as he stroked his pet. His gaze dropped to the floor as he fidgeted with his apron. "I plan to kidnap the queen. I don't know what else to do. What else will lure Rapunzel here?" Varian asked, though it sounded more like he was asking himself than Hugo.

Hugo answered anyways. He answered because he knew Varian would regret it if he ended up going through with this. The short-lived moment of vulnerability the young boy had shown proved that he was just a scared, lonely little kid.

"Goggles," Hugo whispered, making sure to keep his voice soft. "I know it hurts. But what is hurting others going to do? I know Rapunzel lied to you, and I'm not defending her actions. I know you miss your father, but maybe there's another way to fix this without hurting anyone." He reached a hand out to touch Varian's shoulder. At Hugo's touch, Varian didn't move away, which was the reaction the blond had expected.

Instead, he let out a choked back sob and fell onto the other's chest. Ruddiger hoped off his shoulders and hugged Varian's ankles instead.

Hugo felt tears stain his shirt as Varian wrapped his arms around his ribcage. The taller of the two only hesitated a moment before returning the embrace, resting his head on top of Varian's.

"Thank you," Varian whispered.

Hugo laughed and held the alchemist's head. "No problem, Hairstripe. Anytime." He glanced down at Varian's face smashed into his chest and smiled with adoration. If he could have slowed down time and stayed there, he would've.

But this wasn't his Varian. In a few years, maybe he would be, but Hugo needed to get back to the present. The only problem was, he had no idea how to manage that. What had Varian be yapping about when Hugo first got ahold of the hourglass? Something about how a similar thing had happened to Rapunzel?

Yet, he couldn't remember what Varian had said for the life of him. All he could hope for was that in the present, they were working to get Hugo back from the past. However, that was trusting that they even understood what had happened to him, and that was unlikely. Hugo had dropped an hourglass and disappeared. That's not something that happens on a regular basis.

Then again, Varian was smart. As was Firecracker, and Nuru was also incredibly smart, though Hugo would never admit it. They would figure it out. They would get him back home.

Hugo readjusted his head, so his chin laid flat on the other boy's. Varian was still sniffling, finally allowing himself to let down his guard and show weakness since his father had been encased.

Standing there, with Varian pressed against his chest and with his arms wrapped around the blond, Hugo realized something. This was Varian's past. It was technically Hugo's present. If they had met when goggles was still fourteen, shouldn't Varian have recognized him at the fire trial?

Maybe he forgot over the course of four years. That didn't seem likely, however. Varian was smart. He would remember the stranger whom he almost blew the head off of and then ended up crying all over.

When they locked eyes for the first time at the fire trial, Varian didn't show any signs of remembering Hugo. The alchemist's face when they first met was scrunched up, red, and absolutely pissed.

So, yeah, if he did recognize Hugo, he didn't say anything.

Hugo glanced down at a small vial glowing in his satchel. He had something for every occasion, no matter how out-of-pocket, such as this one. He had been sitting in the caravan one day when he figured out how useful a quick-acting forgetful solution might be. If the gang had ever seen him talking to Cyrus or Donella, and there had been a few close calls, how easy it would be to set their memory back a few minutes. Granted, Hugo had never used it before, and he didn't know how much it made them forget, or if it was safe. But he didn't want to be messing up the space time continuum more than he already had.

"Hey, Varian?" Hugo kept his eyes on the pale green