The Legal Aid

Chapter 3: Contract Killers and Mystery Girls

"Hello? Magical, mystical, and royal advice—Zander speaking. May I ask who's calling? Snow White? Contract killings? Sounds like you're having a tough time with it. You might need some legal advice. Call this number and make an appointment. You have a pen handy? Yes, quill is fine. Ready? Okay, the number is 1-800-847-9000. Yes, I know it's unusual for a legal aid company to have an 800 number. There's no helping it; they mostly take Disney characters. Yes, yes. It was nice talking to you to. Give me regards to the seven dwarves. I have another caller on hold, so I'll have to let you go. Yes, yes. Have a nice day. Good-bye. Hello? Magical, mystical, and royal advice—this is Zander speaking. How may I help you today, Mister White Rabbit? Slow down, slow down. I understand you're late for an important date. Now, can you repeat that one more time?"

Snow White timidly entered the building, looking around hesitantly. A girl was sitting on the marble counter of the front desk, her legs crossed, a book held in front of her face. "Legal aid. Welcome." She said, not bothering to lower the book even in the slightest.

"Well, how do you do?" Snow White replied pleasantly.

The third door from the right opened and a small boy in a cape ran over to the girl, tugging on her jeans. She lowered the book, rested on her side, and leaned down so he could whisper in her ear. She nodded, whispered back in his ear, ruffled his hair and gave his a quick peck on the forehead. He blushed, nodded, and ran back to the door, still open, shutting it behind him. It faded from sight, as though it had never been there in the first place.

"There was an emergency case, so your legal aid representative has been detained. You'll have to wait quite a bit, I'm afraid, before he arrives. Would you like to make another appointment for another day, or do you mind waiting?" Her eyes were kind and sympathetic as she sized up the poor bewildered princess.

"Oh dear! Oh no, how terribly awful! I hope nothing to bad has happened?" Snow White inquired.

The girl shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say the circumstances under which this unfortunate accident has happened. Legal rights of the client, and all."

Snow White nodded understandingly. "I see. Of course."

The girl nodded, waiting a moment before repeating herself. "I'm sorry to ask this again, but I must make a note of your answer. Will you be making an appointment for a later date, or will you be waiting?"

"Oh, of course! I'm terribly sorry! I meant to answer right away. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you mind terribly if I waited here?"

The girl nodded. She hopped off the marble counter, approaching Snow White. Like a born diplomat, she offered the princess her arm, who gratefully took it, and led her to a plush chair on the left side of the room. Once seated, the girl made her way to the front desk, jotted something down on a note pad, before grabbing a water bottle from behind the desk. She opened it and walked over to Snow White, handing it to her.

"Oh, thank you! You're nothing like what I expected!"

The girl smirked, making Snow White blush. Her short hair and boyish looks made her almost roguishly handsome, although there was enough of a touch of femininity to her that it was obvious she was a beautiful girl. "I take it the clients felt no need to conceal my involvement with the firm."

Snow White nodded, feeling as though she was betraying her friends. "Cinderella praised this place for taking care of her legal issues. She claimed that her supposed rival even disappeared after she came here! She also told me of a girl she met in the lobby, a bit on the crude side, but very helpful when it came to giving advice."

"Cinderella, eh? Yeah, I remember her." The girl scratched the back of her head, a crooked smile slowly spreading on her face. "She was a sweet girl. If I remember correctly, she saw Roger that day. I pulled a few strings, got her a better lawyer than she was originally supposed to see. I think she was originally lined up with Hansel. Sweet kid, but a bit gullible. Believes in anything, even gingerbread houses."

"So it was you! Oh my, you really are nothing like I pictured! She said you had extremely long hair, down to your back, and you wore a pretty blue sundress!"

"Yes I've cut it since then."

"Well," began Snow White again, trying to measure the girl out of the corner of her eye. "My dear, dear friend Ariel told me a slightly different story. She said a rude girl argued with her father before telling them about a nasty legal loophole. When her father complained about the girl to their legal aid, he said that everything she had said was perfectly true within the extent of the law. He said although she could have phrased it better, all her advice was sound. He explained how to follow her advice, and even suggested a girl who would be willing to take Ariel's place for a short period of time. But before they could go through with the plan, the contract mysteriously disappeared, leaving them free of Ariel's legal bind."

"So the contract disappeared, huh?" Her smirk grew, a secretive glint in her eyes. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

"Was that you as well? She said you had curly hair, down to your mid-back and purplish eyes. She also said you were wearing a green skirt and a green blouse with blue flowers on it."

"It was a little shorter than she describe, but yeah. I've styled it differently since then. Curls only look good on me at about mid-length."

The girl standing before Snow White was nothing like the girl the others had described. She wore blue jeans and a white top that had in red letters, "Legal aid for a small fee: your soul. The same price every other lawyer charges." Most people would have laughed politely at this, although Snow White was too demure to laugh. Her hair, short in front, was slightly longer in back, running partially down the back of her neck. It was brown, although a shade darker than light brown, and had golden brown streaks in it. Her large purple eyes studied Snow White as she studied the girl in front of her.

"Why are you so kind to me?"

"Of all the Disney princesses, you have always been my favorite." She sighed and pushed her bangs back slightly. "You were also the last Disney princess I was hoping to see."

Snow White had been elated that she was the girl's favorite princess. The girl, even dressed so casually, could have easily passed for a model, even with her boyish looks. So when she heard that the girl didn't want to see her, she tried not to show how much that hurt her. She turned away slightly and the girl sighed again, turning and briskly walking away, back to the marble counter. She hopped up, seating herself, and picked up her book, opening it so it concealed her face. However, she did not begin to read. Instead, she asked Snow White a question.

"Do you have your questions ready for your legal aid representative? They should be with you shortly."

Snow White started at this change in conversation, and at the business tone the girl had taken. "No, now that you mention it, I don't. I'm not sure what to ask. You see, I've been having some trouble with my stepmother…"

"Mm-hmm?"

"She keeps trying to kill me. She hired a woodsman to kill me first. Then a pretty lady with some hair combs gave me a poisoned one."

"Poisoned comb. That's a new one."

"Yes, it was in a story book."

"Ah."

"And another woman tied a sash around my waist so tight, I couldn't breathe."

"Another story book?"

"Yes."

"Ah."

"Finally, she gave me a poisoned apple. She transformed her appearance into an old woman in order to do this, and I hear she cannot turn back. She blames me for this transformation and I'm afraid she might try to attack me again."

"Have you talked to your Prince-to-be about this?"

"Oh, no! I couldn't worry him like that!"

"Mm-hmm. I see." The girl continued to hold the book in front of her face. "Hiring a contract killer is a serious offense. If this woodsman is willing to testify against her, you might just be able to win your case. I'm not sure about this sort of thing, so you'll have to ask for more information from Jorge." She waved a careless hand to the far right door on the other side of the room. It magically opened. "That should be him now."

Snow White stood, smiling. "Thank you ever so much! You were a great help."

The girl nodded. Snow White crossed the room but just as a man appeared, ushering her inside, the girl's voice stopped her. "And Snow White? I didn't mean I didn't want to meet you. I just didn't want to meet you here, a place people come to when they're in trouble."

Hopping down from the marble counter, the girl stretched and made her way over towards Snow White. She stopped several paces away, in front of the third door from the right, which had magically reappeared. The little boy opened the door and rushed out to meet her, hugging her legs. He glared at Snow White, before taking her hand and leading her forward. The girl smiled and waved good-bye to Snow White before disappearing through the doorway. The door magically disappeared yet again.

"My, what a charming young lady." Snow White smiled and turned back to Jorge. My, he was a gorgeous man. That was another reason she hadn't told her Prince-to-be she was coming. She had heard from both Cinderella and Ariel that the legal aides were hunks, pretty boys who could leave a girl drooling. She had to admit, Jorge had her pretty close to drooling.

That was the (cough cough real cough) reason I wanted to creator this series. A legal aid service for the Disney princesses full of hottie hunks just for them. Of course, Cinderella didn't let her Prince Charming know she was secretly checking out their legal aid. This chapter was a little more serious than the other two. Not much humor to it, sorry. I kinda wanted to explain my character's presence thus so far. In case you caught it, yes, it was she who made Ursala's contract disappear. How she did so, I will leave up to your imaginations. As for the little boy, he's not as young as he seems, although he doesn't look much older than 12. His presence will be explained later. As to why he glared at Snow White, he was jealous.