𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 {𝕍𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕩 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣}

-Chapter Nineteen- Dream Sweet in Sea Major

/alone, at the edge of a universe, humming a tune/ for merely dreaming we were snow/ a siren sounds like the goddess who promises/ endless apologies of paradise/ and only she can make it right/ so things are different tonight/

-dream sweet in sea major, miracle musical

Varian and Y/n were out of ideas.

Currently, they were in the lab, exhausted from a several-hour-long brainstorming session.

They were both laying on their backs on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. They were facing different directions, but the tops of their heads lightly touched each other. Ruddiger was curled on Varian's stomach, and Y/n was repeatedly tossing a wrench into the air and catching it, the metal flashing every time it caught the light from her glowing hair streak.

"What about sending an automaton to get her?"

Varian asked absentmindedly.

Y/n sighed, tossing her wrench again and catching it by the handle. "They're not smart enough for tasks like that. It'd be too complicated."

Varian groaned. "...and we haven't even tried building one yet."

They'd been planning all day. The two had decided they would need Rapunzel- that was a given- but she wouldn't help them willingly.

"Her birthday's in two days." Y/n commented, throwing her wrench and catching it. "It'll be difficult to get her out of the palace."

She sighed again. "But what would get her to leave?"

Varian paused and let out a small hmm sound. "An attack won't be enough to draw her out. If we do send automatons, we'll need something else to get her out here." He groaned. "And we don't even have a way to get an automaton in the palace."

Y/n was silent, before an idea occurred to her. "If we could get the parts of an automaton in, do you think it could assemble itself?"

"Yes... but why would we do that? What's the point of sending the automaton?"

"Because," Y/n began with a glimmer in her eye, "while my father doesn't care about me, he certainly cares about Rapunzel. If the castle was attacked, and he believed that she was in danger, he might take... drastic measures."

She sat up, looking down at Varian, who gazed up at her curiously.

"He'll probably confine her to either the palace or her room, and she'll get desperate, meaning that she'll try to sneak out- and that will give us a chance to hit again."

Varian sat up too, Ruddiger jumping off of his with a startled yelp as Varian shot up, changing to a criss-cross position. "And if we attack a second time, then they'll know we're dangerous." He smiled. "And they'll come to us."

Y/n was about to agree with him, but she paused. That feeling was stirring again, that tiny voice inside her telling her to punish them all for what they had done. It made her feel elated, and she was suddenly struck with the perfect way to bring Rapunzel to them- while taking sweet revenge herself.

"What if..." she began in a whisper, before her voice grew stronger, "what if we lured Rapunzel here?"

"What do you mean?" Varian asked curiously.

"I mean," she continued with a small smile, "that Rapunzel cares about very certain people. And if, by chance, one of those people were to get taken..."

"She'd come right to us." said Varian, catching on with a smirk.

"And we'd be able to ensure that she'd do what we want." Y/n finished.