Chapter 1. Introduction to a Conspiracy
Belle was lost. She had never been in such a big city before; even though she was a princess now, her Prince ruled over a very small principality that had no cities like this. Also, she realized, it was probably a bad idea to read a book while walking in the unfamiliar city.
She spotted a man playing a tambourine in the square, and a girl dancing next to him. The girl had thick black hair and bright green eyes, and wore a dress with a white bodice and purple skirt. Belle put her book back into her basket and waited until the girl picked up some money from an old hat and sat down next to a fountain.
"Hello. My name is Belle," she said, "and I'm new in town. My husband and I are visiting from the principality of Lecroix."
"I'm Esmeralda. I would love to show you around, but you would be better off asking one of them." She gestured around the square at the other citizens of Paris. "I have to hide from Judge Frollo and the guards."
"But you were dancing just now. Surely that attracts attention?"
"I know the guards' patrol routine as well as they do. Phoebus told me. He's the captain of the guard, but he wishes there was something he could do to help my people."
"Your people?"
"You must really be new here. You mean to tell me you've never heard of the gypsies?"
"I've read about them in books," said Belle, "but I've never met one. I lived in a very small village, and Lecroix is a very small kingdom."
"Well, anyway, there's a judge here who hates us. His name is Claude Frollo. Lately he's gotten even stranger than usual. Phoebus says he was visited by a woman who looked like she could be his sister, and after she left he moved the people in the dungeons somewhere else. I don't know what to make of that. Usually people stay in the dungeons until they're executed or they rot. They're never moved. Supposedly it gives them too much of a chance to escape."
"Do you know anyone who's escaped from the dungeons?"
"They say Clopin has. I don't believe it, myself. Look, I've already said too much. For all I know, you're a spy for him."
"But I had never heard of gypsies! Or Claude Frollo! And I didn't even know where I was going!"
"You would be amazed what people say when they think they're talking to someone stupid."
"Excuse me? I may be lost here but I am not stupid, and I am not a spy. I am the Princess of Lecroix, and I can prove it." She took a mirror out of her basket and said "Show me the throne room of Lecroix three days ago!" The mirror glowed green, and showed a picture of a man in a blue suit on the throne, next to Belle herself in a golden gown.
"A magic mirror? I had heard of them, but never knew they existed. You'll want to hide that. Frollo believes even my simple tricks are witchcraft, and he would not be happy to learn that true magic was afoot here."
"The Green Enchantress gave this to my husband long ago, when she put him under a spell. I only found out recently that it can show me the past. It still cannot show me the future." She hid the mirror away in her basket, under her book. Esmeralda and the man with the tambourine ran down a dark alleyway, and Belle looked around. Two guards had come into the square. Belle asked them the way to Notre Dame, and one of them pointed. Belle waited for the guards to leave, then peeked down the alleyway.
"They're gone," she told Esmeralda, who came back out into the square. Belle waved goodbye, then started walking towards the cathedral.
Meanwhile, in a mansion in the kingdom of Sennotte, a woman with gray hair, wearing a dark pink dress, was awaiting a visitor. She had her new servant—a miserable creature, but all she could afford—make some tea, and her daughters dress in their finest gowns.
"Perhaps he will take a fancy to one of you," said the lady.
"It won't be Anastasia," said the older girl, a brunette in a green dress. "At least not until she learns that pink clashes with her hair."
"At least I don't trip over a speck of dust on a marble floor!" snapped Anastasia, who was indeed wearing a pink dress that didn't go very nicely with her red hair. "Besides, I don't know about you, Drizella, but I don't want him to like me. I think he's a nasty piece of work!"
"Anastasia, I must ask you to hold your tongue when he is present. Nasty or not, he is the ruler of a city, and one of the Seven Cities at that."
"So? We're not in his city."
"You might be in the presence of its future Queen," simpered Drizella.
"Is money and power all you care about? Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to marry someone who loved you?" asked Anastasia.
Shocked by the sudden outburst of sentimentality, the girl's mother tilted her head questioningly.
"I mean, the prince loves Cinderella."
"The prince only found her because of her shoes. If you ask me, there's something fishy going on there," said Drizella.
The servant knocked on the door of the parlor. "A Sultan Jafar the Magnificent to see you, madam," she said.
"Show him in. I will still expect the drapes mended by tonight."
The servant opened the house door, then the parlor door, before skittering off to do the drapes.
An elegant man in a black robe swooped into the parlor. "Ah, Lady Tremaine. How nice to see you are well. Have you followed my instructions regarding the judge in Paris?"
"Yes, I have. Why have you not gone yourself? After all, you are far more powerful than I am. You could probably take whatever you need from that palace."
"The time has not come for me to do that."
"You should go see him yourself, at least. Instead of making an old lady go all the way to Paris," whined Anastasia.
"I take it you have not met Judge Frollo? He would not take kindly to me, seeing as I am a sorcerer. I do not need Frollo, but I do need the Gate to his city, which happens to be buried under the Palace of Justice."
"Well that's a stupid place for a city gate," said Anastasia. "Aren't they usually outside the city, in the walls?"
"Not that sort of gate. A magical gate. It is said that whoever can control the gates of the Seven Cities will control the world."
"So how many city Gates have you found?" asked Lady Tremaine.
"I know the locations of three. The Agrabah Gate is well under my control, while the Paris Gate just requires a bit more digging by that useful idiot Frollo. As for the Gate of Lorellia…the Queen is so obsessed with her beauty and with getting rid of the Princess that she has agreed to turn over her Gate to me in exchange."
"So if you kill a princess, you'll be in charge of her city. Seems uneven to me," said Drizella.
"I won't be in charge of her city just yet. I will hold its Gate. She will still manage its day-to-day affairs. Until the time comes when I am ruler of the world, that is. Since you have been so instrumental in my plans to reveal the Gate of Paris, Lady Tremaine, you and your daughters will be richly rewarded."
"I have but one request, your Majesty," said Lady Tremaine. "My daughter Drizella has not been gifted with beauty, but she is a clever young woman who could serve you well. Take her with you."
"Why does she always get everything?" whined Anastasia.
"Before he showed up you said you didn't want him to like you!"
"Now, now, girls. This is entirely up to Jafar. He can take as many of you as he likes."
"Neither of them," snapped the sorcerer. "My conspiracy is big enough as it is. Next time, if it pleases you, send these young ladies out of the room when I arrive."
"But you just said you'd reward us!" said Drizella.
"When I rule the world, Miss Tremaine, and not a day earlier. What I do is not something a young lady wants to get herself involved in."
"You don't know anything about me!" said Drizella. "I want to get out of this crumbling mansion and this backwater city and see the world!"
"Touching, Miss Tremaine, but my mind is made up. Bringing your mother into this was already more than I wanted to do, but I could not have Frollo see me."
"I could take Mother's place delivering the messages!"
"Do that if you wish, but you can do that from here."
"Fine! I will!"
"Lady Tremaine, I must leave you. I have no more messages for Frollo at this time, but when I do, you will receive them, and may send them to him via the young lady." He said "lady" in a way that implied he thought
Drizella was nothing of the sort, then tossed a purse of money onto Lady Tremaine's desk and swished out of the parlor.
"I know you're disappointed in me, Mother," said Drizella.
"Not at all, Drizella. I thought you made your case quite persuasively. I shall send you to Paris next time. It is a shame he could not find better use for you, though."
"I never want to see him again!" said Anastasia. "I'll gladly leave the next time he shows up. Drizella, how can you stand being talked to that way? Drizella?"
Drizella was busy looking at a map of the route to Paris. I'll prove my worth to him, she thought. I'll prove I'm not just some ugly spoiled girl, and then he might find an even better place to send me.
"It isn't fair!" Anastasia burst out. "Cinderella's ticket out of here is a prince, and Drizella's has to be a scummy old vizier! I'm tired of being an ugly stepsister! And I know, as much as she wants to see the world, Drizella is too! I'm going into the village and not coming back until I find someone who can make us pretty!"
"I'm not stopping you," said Lady Tremaine, "but your sister may be on her way to Paris again before you find a wizard of that power."
Anastasia left the parlor. Lady Tremaine walked over to the map and put her hand on Drizella's shoulder. "My child, if you had told me earlier that you wished to see the world, I would have sent you to Paris before. Without any messages. What made you speak up today?"
"I want to impress him, Mother. I know it doesn't make any sense. I know it probably isn't going to work. But I thought I only wanted to impress him to get out of here, but now I want to prove myself to him for its own sake. Something about him…well, he frightens me, but at the same time I'm drawn to him."
"This was the last thing I expected. You know as well as I do that you do not have much of a chance."
"I know I'm not pretty, and I know I'm not accomplished. But I'll show him I can do something worthwhile anyway."
"Your determination is admirable, but do not get your hopes up. At most you will be a minion in his plan."
Drizella didn't seem to hear that as she skipped off to pack supplies for her upcoming trip to Paris.
Jafar, after leaving the Tremaines' house, teleported to the Kingdom of Lorellia. Queen Grimhilde, though a powerful witch who controlled the Gate of her city, was nearly driven mad by envy for her exiled stepdaughter, Snow White. Indeed, she had fallen off a cliff after her plan to kill the fair princess was complete, and only the darkest magic—provided, though Grimhilde did not know it, by the arch-demoness Maleficent, who saw that there might be some use for the queen—had brought her back. She had returned to power convinced that Snow White was buried alive, but her magic mirror had told her otherwise: Snow White, though in an eternal sleep, remained above-ground, in a glass coffin, for the dwarves could not bear to bury their friend. Still, Grimhilde had thought, she was the fairest to be seen. Snow White may still surpass her in the eyes of the magic mirror, but in the eyes of the ordinary people, the beautiful princess was gone.
Then, the queen got the news that Snow White had been woken up by love's first kiss and carried off to a prince's castle. It was then that she had received a visit from a mysterious wizard, who made her a simple offer: he would remove Snow White from the picture in exchange for the city Gate. But despite Jafar's great powers, the princess had proven most difficult to find. He had scried for her and sent out his minions. Finally, he had decided to pay the princess a visit in person. Perhaps the dwarves could be tricked into giving away her location. And so he trudged through the forest of Lorellia, hoping to catch the dwarves on their way home.
Unfortunately, he didn't notice the rope across the path, and promptly tripped over it, causing a net to descend from a tree and ensnare him. Ironic, he thought. I was trying to set a dwarf trap, but it seems the dwarves have set a Jafar trap.
Author's Note: 1. This is an AU where all the Disney worlds are connected, and either villains didn't die or the crossover picks characters up in the middle of the story (a la Kingdom Hearts without that Gary Stu Sora mucking up everything.) Lady Tremaine was an easy villain to introduce since she doesn't die in canon anyway, and Jafar, the would-be leader of the conspiracy, is still the sultan of Agrabah and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. He also made a different third wish. Aladdin and Jasmine are alive, but it took Aladdin longer to return to Agrabah, giving Jafar time to make the other wish and Jasmine time to escape on her own; they met back up outside the palace and left the city. 2. Since the only settings that had names were Agrabah, Atlantica, and Paris, I've made up names for the settings of the other movies. The cities are sort of plot devices, so I figured the least I could do was give them names.