laminae | Tangled AU

Tangled AU

Fern's first memories are painful ones. The first thing he feels is like he's dying, which might sound like a contradiction but makes sense within the context of his creation. Rapunzel's voice echoes throughout the Great Tree, the Decaying Incantation killing the once great being, and in a last ditch attempt to avoid death, either by the Tree itself or Zhan Tiri's influence, the slowly fading embers of its life force are pumped into whatever plant life it can reach. Of course, the Incantation still hits most of it, and every single one of those plants wither away into nothingness all the same.

Everything, that is, except for a small patch of grass. It fades like the rest, but one last spark of life enters as the Incantation is abruptly cut off by the impulsive actions of one Handmaiden, and it remains. As the group moves on towards the Dark Kingdom, and Adira drags Hector off to bandage his injuries, that patch of grass comes to life.

It's painful, suddenly wrenched into sentient consciousness thanks to a spell designed to kill. Like an explosion of death and decay all around him, threatening to smother him the very second he started existing. With no eyes and ears he can't tell what's going on around him, and with no mouth and lungs he can't cry out, so he can do nothing but fight back and push through the agony until it subsides into a dull ache.

He's weak at first, and the remains of the Tree overhead block out any sunlight he could have used to grow stronger. Still, the grass twitches and curls and gradually bundles itself together into a ball, and then after more time something more person-shaped. It's a rough approximation of the body the Great Tree had possessed shortly before its death, and since those memories are strongest in his mind that's what he goes with: two arms, two legs, a head, a body, two eyes and two ears, a nose, a mouth. Something vaguely human and at the same time distinctly not, something that allows him to more freely move around, find a patch of sunlight, and regain some strength. Human senses follow, again based on vague memories that aren't really his, and over the next few months he finds his footing in the complete and total disaster that is Being Alive. He doesn't start living, though, until the man the Tree had possessed finally returns to his long-destroyed home.

~

Beyond the Tree a whirlwind of events happen, not limited to the near total destruction of a kingdom, the rise of an ancient demon, and the reuniting of two cosmic powers. To say a lot has happened is a total understatement, and frankly, Hector is just glad to get out of there, away from people. He always did better with animals, and he has some literal and metaphorical wounds to lick. Turns out getting mind controlled twice is a horrifying experience, who knew.

He is, technically, back at the site of the Tree per Edmund's orders. Before he and Edmund and Adira had left Corona there was talk of building up a proper road of some sort to better connect the two kingdoms, and that would obviously involve clearing out the Tree's remains to make the area more amenable to horses and wagons. Unlike the rest of them, though, he doesn't particularly care about any of that. This was his home for many, many years, and he isn't so eager to raze what's left of it in the name of friendship and progress. So he goes, but he goes because being around the epitome of sunshine is a lot to deal with, and he needs to get away from all of that. All of those people. He needs a metaphorical dark hole where he can be alone with his rhino and his binturongs and all he has to worry about is survival of the fittest.

So it's a big downer to find someone else has taken up residence in his home. It goes without saying that as soon as his binturongs catch the scent that something is off Hector is on the hunt, and then it's only a matter of time before he's ambushing one residual plant monster he assumes is being controlled by Zhan Tiri. Or is Zhan Tiri, whichever. He doesn't care, he's just happy to get a good fight in. The creature is bizarre and learns quickly, mimicking him in the span of only a few minutes and creating a hardened blade out of vine, similar to his own retractable gauntlet sword. The thing fights fiercely, but mimicry isn't a replacement for actual skill and experience, and it isn't long before Hector gets the upper hand. And once he does, the creature starts falling apart, fighting more and more like a cornered animal. As it tires out he gradually finds himself comparing the creature more to his animals than the cunning and deliberate Zhan Tiri. Still, he doesn't hesitate in chopping its head off, ending the battle.

.... Except that doesn't take at all, and while the creature finally backs off it doesn't actually die. It regrows and reattaches its head, then scrambles up some old vines out of his reach to hiss at him. Sort of like an upset cat that's been dunked in a river instead of some demonic monster. It's hardly the most threatening thing... in fact, it's actually a little funny.

Thus began the strange, feral relationship between Hector and a small grass creature. A few more fights occur, though nothing quite as serious as the first one, and each time the creature retreats before he can chop another body part off. It becomes increasingly clear that this thing, while obviously magical, doesn't seem to be an agent of Zhan Tiri. He even learns the damn thing can talk and eat food, after one unfortunate night when he let his guard down while cooking a rabbit he had caught. It was roasting on a spit over a fire, and he had dozed off for all of two minutes, and the creature had snuck past the animals to steal it. He had gone after it, cursing up a storm, and it had responded with some equally vociferous curses. After that night, it had apparently decided that speaking to him was safe enough, and it started doing so.

Though they were less conversations, and more it demanding to know what Hector was doing on any given day. The demands start out simple enough, wanting to know more about eating (makes sense, it's obviously a plant), but grow more complicated over time - how did you build that trap for dinner, what's that thing on your arm, why is it called a sword, how did you get the sword.

There are a lot of sword questions, and one day the creature reappears holding Demanitus's enchanted spear. Hector had thought that thing had gotten buried in the rubble of the Great Tree when it collapsed, but apparently this thing had been doing some digging.

It's gradual, but Hector even starts answering some of them. Mostly the questions about weaponry, and when he does his answers are usually bitingly sharp or mocking, but they're still answers, and the creature accepts them with the kind of curiosity you normally only see in kids. It's a tenuous foundation, but it's there and over time it becomes more solid, to the point where Hector finds he doesn't even mind having the grass.... kid.... thing around. He stays out of his way when he's in a bad mood, and he's aggressive and won't hesitate to fight, and the kid is clearly growing more attached to him (though, that might be because there isn't anyone else around). It's still strange, but it isn't the worst thing ever, and it's certainly preferable to being surrounded by actual people.

When the weather starts to cool down Hector leaves him some proper clothes (patched together, with more animal furs than necessary), and at some point their occasional fights shift from impulsive bursts of violence to actual training and sparring. Hector can't even remember when he started giving the kid a nickname, but he did at some point, if only because he needed something short when telling him off, and 'grass monster' was too much of a mouthful.

~

It doesn't last.

Hector had been keeping in contact with Edmund and Adira via letters sent and received by Hamuel during his time at the Tree. He hadn't mentioned Fern - there didn't seem to be much of a point, if he wasn't connected to Zhan Tiri - though he did offhandedly say the spear had been recovered. Unfortunately, he one day receives word from a very tired Hamuel that Edmund is ordering him back to the Dark Kingdom proper to assist with rebuilding efforts, and to leave the spear in Corona with Quirin's son, apparently some kind of genius alchemist similar to Demanitus himself. He has absolutely no desire to take the kid with him, though efforts to simply leave don't come so easily when Fern starts following him, so he does the first thing that comes to mind.

He tries to ditch him. Several times. But it turns out it isn't so easy to ditch a kid made out of grass in forests, so as soon as he meets up with Adira he tries to pawn him off onto her. That doesn't go so well, either. That leaves him with two options: take him to the Dark Kingdom, or dump him with Quirin.

He chooses the latter, and does it in the most spectacularly low effort way possible. Taking Fern with him, he makes a rapid trip to Old Corona, showing up late one night on Quirin's doorstep with absolutely no notice. He tells Fern a few simple lies to make him stay put long enough to get away, then knocks on Quirin's door. Quirin is, understandably, not thrilled with this arrangement, but Hector doesn't give him any options. After a very quick (and lacking) explanation of what's going on the guy books it out of there on his rhino, leaving Fern standing there on his doorstep, spear in hand. As exasperated as Quirin is, he can't very leave just leave... whatever this thing is... like Hector just did, so he sends word to Varian that the spear is currently in his possession and lets Fern stay. It takes Fern a few days to feel comfortable enough to even go inside the house, and while that isn't the best situation (his presence has a tendency to terrify the Old Corona citizens), Quirin figures he can get this sorted out before Varian arrives.

He's being far too optimistic, though in the meantime he does manage to persuade Fern indoors during a particularly heavy and cold rain, even letting him use Varian's bed for the moment. Just until he can get ahold of literally anyone else in the Brotherhood.

So that's where Fern is tonight. He isn't used to sleeping on a bed but it's a lot softer and more comfortable than the ground, so he doesn't mind. The faint aroma of chemicals bothers him more, honestly, and he tries to ignore it as he burrows further until the blankets.

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Fern doesn't stop. Fern doesn't even slow down. He is entirely focused on the spear and only the spear and nothing else. No feelings, nada.

He heads on up the stairs, letting his voice echo back down to Varian. "He won't care, all we're doing is grabbing the spear," he explains, "It's mine anyways, so it's not a big deal."

In other words, he isn't about to be talked out of giving Quirin's bedroom some space. Once he's up on the second floor he starts opening up doors, and when he opens up one and spies the spear he trots inside. See Varian, it's totally fine!!

Varian lets out a strangled sound, running after him. Oh man, this isn't good, if Quirin finds he's been messing in his room, he's gonna be in so much trouble! Fern of course, ignore shim and just wanders into Quirin's room like it's nothing. Varian hovers by the door, looking uneasy about the entire thing.

"Okay, okay, you got the spear. Just pick it up and let's go to the lab to look at it."

Rolling his eyes, Fern picks up the spear. Varian is really worrying over nothing, Quirin wouldn't have kept it in here if he didn't want them getting it later. "Fine, fine, don't be so -"

He turns to leave, and that's when he sees the painting. It's hard to miss, given how large it is and how sparsely Quirin's bedroom is decorated, and the subject matter is - well, it's noteworthy. Fern stops, staring up at it.

There's Quirin, obviously. Fern recognizes him immediately, though he looks younger in his portrait. Less grey hair. And one extremely excitable baby with buck teeth which, after a beat, he realizes must be Varian. And a woman, whom he doesn't recognize at all.

The strangest thing about it is how happy they all look.

Fern remains where he is, taking it all in, momentarily forgetting Varian is waiting outside.

Varian remains by the door, waiting for Fern to leave. When he doesn't, he exhales sharply, stepping into the room.

"Hey, c'mon, what are you waiting for? You got the spear, that's all you-"

He pauses, turning to look where Fern was staring. He's seen the portrait a thousand times before, he doesn't understand what the problem is. His brow furrows as he shifts a little closer.

"What? It's just a portrait."

It isn't just a portrait. It doesn't feel like it's just a portrait. It's happy family, one that's without all the horror of the black rocks and bad decisions and attempted murder. Nothing complicated, just two parents who clearly adore their baby.

Fern starts when he hears Varian behind him, tearing his gaze away from the painting to look over. He tries to think of something appropriate to say, falters, and at best comes up with, "That's you, right?" He gestures at the baby. "You look really happy."

Varian raises his shoulders in a half-shrug. This seems a really odd thing to fixate on, and he'd still rather not be in his dad's room discussing any of this. He's pretty sure the portrait is kept in here specifically to avoid talking about it.

"I guess. I don't remember it, obviously. I was a baby."

But the you look really happy does stick somewhere in his chest, sharp and uncomfortable. Yes, once he was happy. His dad was happy. They're happy again now, but once upon a time things were really happy. They were a full family - and it's a time he can't even pull up in his memories to take comfort in.

Edited 2021-09-01 22:38 (UTC)

God, Varian. Fern smacks a hand to his face, making a noise like a sigh. It isn't actually a sigh, since he doesn't actually breathe, but it's a good way to display his exasperation. "Man, do you always think about things in practical terms?"

Rhetorical question, there. Varian being a baby isn't the point, and surely the other boy must realize that.

Dropping his hand, he switches gears slightly, and points at the woman. "Is that your mom?" He only has a vague idea of mothers thanks to Hector, but at least the knowledge is there. "How come I haven't met her? Is she doing something important outside of Old Corona like you were?"

"Mostly? I'm a scientist it's... it's pretty much what we do?"

He's sounding a little affronted by that. He's still kind of mad about the whole dropping thing, and this isn't helping soothe any ruffled feathers. It could have well turned into an argument, but then Fern starts asking about his mom and Varian's shoulders sag a little, his arms hugging around themselves for comfort.

"She's dead. She died when I was a baby. I don't even remember her."

Science might be a useful thing, but scientists are, in Fern's opinion, starting to sound aggravating. He can't imagine always doing the practical thing, not when he's so emotional.

That's on the backburner of his mind, though, as Varian answers. Things had been going great, he had thought he was getting away from all that awkwardness at the wall, but here they are. Dead mom time. He isn't sure what to say, so he's quiet for several moments.

"Oh," he starts, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "... I guess that's the same as not even having a mom at all, huh?"

Seems like an appropriate question to ask.

Varian's already learned his lesson about being too emotional. It's much better to let his head lead in such matters. His heart makes things...messy. Just like right now, he'd rather not talk about this at all. It makes his chest ache for something he can't describe. For something he never had.

"It's exactly the same as that. Because I didn't have one. "

He hugs himself a little tighter.

"...We should go before Dad catches us in here."

It's unlike Fern, but he stops pushing when he hears that. Maybe it's because he's suddenly gaining a sense of tact, maybe because he empathizing with Varian over not having had a mother. Whatever it is, it makes him quiet and he nods softly.

He holds the spear out for Varian to take. He isn't sure what else to do, but science-y things makes the other boy happy so maybe it'll help?

"You're right. Here."

Varian was expecting more of an argument, and he's pleasantly surprised when it doesn't happen. His shoulders drop as he heaves out an audible sigh of relief, taking the spear from him.

"Thank you. Come on, let's go to the lab and see what this bad boy can tell us."

Thankful to be out of there, he turns and starts to head downstairs- towards his beloved lab. Nowhere near as big or impressive as the one he has in the capital now, but it was his first one and it holds a special place in his heart.

He watches Varian's shoulders sag, and starts chewing on his lower lip. Even though he barely knows the guy, there's a weird twisting inside himself for asking about the painting. A different one than before - this one just makes him feel sick. "Sure."

He gives the painting one more small glance before following Varian out and back down the stairs. With nothing else to do he moves to find an empty spot on a table to hop up and sit. He isn't actually sure what Varian will do with the spear, but he should stick around make sure it doesn't get broken, and... maybe try to help?

"You know what you're doing with that thing?"

Varian isn't sure what he'll do with the spear yet, either. As far as he was aware, it had gone, destroyed with the tree. Now that isn't the case- and an avenue he never thought he could go down to study has now been opened to him. Besides, in understanding the spear more, he hopes to understand Fern more. He can test the spear in ways it would be...probably unethical to do to the other boy. He puts the spear down beside where Fern is sitting, then turns to grab some tools.

"I'm going to try and understand what makes it work. Take samples, run tests, just about anything I can think of."

Fern kicks a leg absently as he watches Varian shuffle around his lab, collecting god-knows-what in order to a lot more... god-knows-what. He glances down at the spear, as if staring at it will clear any of this up. It doesn't. Science is a mystery to him.

"Wow," he says slowly. "So I guess if you figure out how it ticks, that means you'll get how I work too, right?"

Varian brightens as he works, the sour mood he had starting to lift as he gets into the science of things. It always makes him feel better. He understands science, where he struggles and fails at emotions and...people in general.

"That's right! I can test the spear more than I can you. I don't want to inadvertently end up hurting you in my studies. But because you and the spear share almost the same properties, I should be able to gain a better understanding of you through the spear."

After the awkwardness of the wall and the portrait, it's kind of a relief to see Varian relaxing and getting into what he apparently does best. Sort of like himself and fighting, but just replace fighting with science. Fern gradually relaxes too, even smiling a little.

"I don't know, I'm pretty tough. I don't think you'd be able to hurt me," he says, wanting to brag just a tiny bit. "But I'm not gonna lie, I wanna know why the spear made me - I mean, the Great Tree, go dormant."

This is so much easier than trying to deal with anything else. Varian's emotions have always been tumultuous at best- even before all the Bad Times he didn't have the best time in expressing them. It's so much simpler to just sink into science with all the facts and figures and things that can be proven in a lab.

"I'd rather avoid the risk regardless if it's all the same...tough as you are," an embarrassed smile flickers across his features as he realises that yes, Fern is pretty tough. "And that's what we want to do. Something in it clearly made that happen. Something had to be a causal factor."

Sitting around using machines to take measurements and whatever definitely isn't Fern's idea of a good time, but since he's never really seen anyone actually do science before it's interesting enough to hold his attention. Especially when it could mean some very important answers about who and what he is.

"Okay, well," he says. Clearly they're on the same page with this, that's nice, given how much friction there's been between them so far. "If you need any help with your science junk, I wanna help."

Yeah, he has no idea what that would actually involve, but he feels like he should at least offer.

Fern clearly has no idea what an actual good time is!! This is about as exciting as life gets, wow!!

"You do?" he sounds genuinely surprised - Rapunzel and his dad are the only ones who show any interest in actually working with him, and both of them are usually busy with their own duties. "Well, sure. I'd like to test some chemicals on it, and I'm curious to see if your connection to it means you have a reaction to it too- so that'd be helpful! I...uh won't use anything lethal."

He needs to put that caveat down. Because of...obvious reasons.

Varian's surprise is already giving him regrets, but he can't exactly back out now that he's offered. It would be way too cowardly, and it might mean not getting the answers he wants.

So he nods. A bit stiffly, because he has no idea what Varian means by testing chemicals on it. "Sure, whatever. Do what you want, I trust you," he says plainly. The alchemist is the expert here, he's just along for the ride.

Funny he thinks he has an option to back out now. Varian brightens even more at that. He's not sure what he's done to earn that trust- he's certainly not used to that, either. He nods, moving to grab a few test tubes.

"Thanks. I'll...uh- I'll try not to disappoint on that."

He opens one of them, a little blue concoction, before dripping some on the spear.

"This is a fertiliser I've been working on for the crops in the farm. Let me know if you feel anything in connection to the spear."

"Sure." He doubts he'll be disappointed. Neither of them are working off of very much, and Fern doesn't know anything about alchemy and science to begin with, so any results in his mind are going to be good ones.

He looks down at his hands as Varian starts, and when some of the solution hits the spear there's a slight tingly sensation in his fingertips. It's weird, and he looks a bit surprised by it. "Wow, yep - feeling something here," he says quickly, lifting his hands up. The grass blades there are twitching a little.

"Fascinating!!"

Varian moves over, pulling out a notebook and a charcoal pencil starting to scribble notes down furiously. Rather...inelegantly, he pulls out a magnifying glass attached to a metal hinged-arm. He takes hold of one of Fern's wrists, moving it to hold it under the glass. It's only about then he realises what he did, blushing a little before trying to focus on his book.

"Well, can you describe what it feels like?"

'Fascinating' wouldn't be Fern's first way to describe it. More like weird. But hey, Varian having an appreciation for his weird, weird body is kind of nice, so he just holds still, not even minding when his wrist is grabbed. He even notices the blush and blinks a little at it, watching the other boy's expression curiously.

.. So it takes him a few seconds to process that question. "Oh - uh, it... it kind of feels good? Like I could grow some more."

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