Disclaimer: I do not own Marchen Awakens Romance or any of the characters mentioned in this fic.

Notes: Here, the story starts to diverge slightly, but not by much. Arg, all the scene changes!

Well anyway, enjoy!

Cinder-Aqua

Part 3: The Meeting

Back with Aqua and Toto, Toto is still running at full speed when a bend in the road suddenly appears. The bend in the road jets out into the sea. As Toto makes a sharp turn, the cables holding him to Akko-chan snap, and Akko-chan and Aqua are thrown into the sea, while Toto runs on. Luckily for Aqua (and her dress), Akko-chan can float, and they are now floating in the sea only a few miles away from the Prince's castle.

"Phew, that was close…" Aqua thought, relieved. That was when she heard a voice nearby.

"Uh, hello?"

Aqua looked down, surprised. There was a teenage girl, slightly older than her, in the water. She had orange and yellow hair and orange gradient eyes. She was also wearing an orange bikini top, but the lower half of her body was hidden by the sea.

"Ah, isn't it a bit cold to go swimming?" asked Aqua. "It is already—(Here, Aqua looked at the large clock tower that was set up in the midst of the village)—seven.

"Ah, well you see…" the girl answered, and then slowly lifted the rest of her body onto Akko-chan. Where her legs should be, there were fins! Aqua gasped.

"You're a mermaid!"

"Yes," said the mermaid. "And my name is Gido. I'm sorry to have surprised you like that, but I need your help. At the ball, there is a fisherman attending whom I have fallen in love with. His name is Ian. I would very much like to meet him in person, even if it is just for one night."

"Oh, how romantic!" cried Aqua, clasping her hands together. "But how will you go to the ball with fins?"

"I've got it covered."

Gido held out a blue, tear-shaped pendant for Aqua to see. She muttered some words under her breath, and when she was done, a bright light engulfed her whole body. Her fins became legs and a lovely, flowing lilac dress appeared on her.

"Uwah! Pretty!" cried Aqua, impressed.

"Unfortunately, the pendant's magic only works for five hours at a time, so I'll have to be back in the sea by midnight."

"Okay! That's fine by me." Said Aqua, but then she realized something. "Oh! I don't have an invitation on me, and I doubt you do either… How will we ever get into the castle without an invite?"

"Do not worry." Answered Gido. "I know a back way where we can sneak in."

And so, the two floated on Akko-chan towards the lights of the castle.

-----------------------------

(Back at the Ball, Prince Galian is STILL bored!)

Prince Galian stifled a yawn. He had spent the last few hours dancing, but it still hadn't been very exciting for him.

"So…found any girl to be your wife?" asked Rou, appearing next to Galian's side.

"No. Stop asking me that."

"You know, this party would be more fun if we had some techno music…"

"Techno music hasn't been invented yet."

"Aww…."

(On the other side of the ballroom…)

Nanashi was stealing stuff and Rolan was objecting. What else is new?

"If I can't find the girl, at least I can still make lots of cash with these!" Nanashi thought, as he expertly stole a diamond necklace from one of the ladies without her noticing.

"N-Nanashi-san!"

"Shut up, Rolan!"

Typical…

-----------------------------

(Back with Aqua and Gido):

Akko-chan docked gently at the cliff which the Prince's castle was rested on. Luckily for both Aqua and Gido, there were stairs etched into the side of the cliff, leading to the castle. They both climbed it, and sneaked into the castle discreetly through a back entrance.

"Well, I'll have to part from you here." Said Gido, walking away. "Please be careful."

"You too! And good luck!" said Aqua, starting to mingle in with the crowd.

A short distance away…

Rapunzel, Giromu, and Loco were staring in shock at the newcomer.

"Sis, sis! Who's that girl?" asked Giromu, pointing quite rudely at Aqua. Rapunzel glared at the girl.

"Eh? She's ugly compared to me!" screeched Rapunzel, scaring some of the kids nearby.

"Hmm, she kind of looks like stupid Cinder-Aqua, but the shell hat leaves me in confusion!" said Giromu, also glaring at the girl.

"What, are you all born idiots?" Loco resisted saying. If she did, it might give away Aqua's cover.

Another short distance away…

"Nanashi-san, who's that girl?" asked Rolan, tugging on Nanashi's sleeve.

"What?" asked Nanashi in annoyance, as he had just missed his chance to nab a rather pricey hairpiece. But when he saw Aqua, his face brightened. "Hey, that's the girl I was looking fo—oof!"

Nanashi had just been shoved out of the way by an angry Rapunzel, who was making her way towards the Prince, probably afraid that the new girl would steal him first, or something. Magical Rou and Edward were standing by Galian's side.

"Prince Galian, I LOVE YOU!" cried Rapunzel, rushing forward to hug Galian.

"…?(!)" went Galian.

"Who…?" went Rou.

"It's that mean, scary lady!" went Ed.

"Sis…ter…?" went Giromu.

"…WTF?" went Loco.

"She said a bad word!" went some random kid.

Er, anyway…

However, before Rapunzel even had a chance to hug Galian, he said, in a very calm and royal manner…

"Guards, arrest her!"

Many large guards appeared out of nowhere, surrounding Rapunzel. They quickly held her and dragged her away to the dungeons.

"What?(!)" sputtered Rapunzel, as she was dragged away. "NOOO! I'M THE BEST! I'M PRETTY! VERY PRETTY!"

And so, the evil step-mother Rapunzel was dragged away by armed guards while her brother Giromu tried helplessly to save her. But who cares about them, let's get back with the real story!

"Okay, now THAT was scary…" said Prince Galian, clutching his chest as if he almost had a heart-attack.

"Damn right." Went Rou.

"Hey, who's that girl?" asked Ed, nodding towards Aqua. "She looks familiar somehow, but I just can't put my thumb on it…"

"Why don't you ask her to dance?" asked Magical Rou, smiling.

"Huh, oh, I think someone wants to dance with her first." Said Galian, nodding towards a man with blonde hair.

"Hey, that guy looks kind of like you, your highness!" put in Ed. "How about we put on some techno music?"

"Hasn't been invented yet." Answered Galian, quite annoyed.

"D'aww…" went Edward.

A few feet away, Nanashi is making his way towards Aqua.

"I'm going to ask her to dance!" said he.

"Oh, so THAT's what you were planning to do all along!" giggled Rolan, finally realizing the truth. Nanashi turned a bright red.

"Shut up, Rolan…"

A little bit farther away, Loco confronted Aqua, who was looking for the Prince.

"I'm amazed you were actually able to make it." Said Loco to Aqua. Aqua was shocked.

"Ah, Loco!" said Aqua. "You actually recognized me?"

"Of course I do. I'm your sister after all. Well, adopted sister…" Loco added quickly.

"Where are Step-Mother and Step-Brother?" asked Aqua, looking around in worry.

"Don't worry, they've been arrested and thrown in jail."

"Yay! I mean—aw…too bad…" said Aqua, trying to hide a smile.

"…You're real good at hiding your emotions." Said Loco sarcastically. "Well, anyway, how did you get your dress? And how did you get here?"

"Ah, well, it's a long story…" But Aqua was suddenly interrupted by a male voice.

"Er, may I have this dance?" asked Nanashi, hesitantly. Rolan was behind him, urging him on. Aqua blushed; she had found her prince—or rather, what she THOUGHT was the prince…

"Er, I'd love to…" said she, stealing a glance at Loco.

"That's fine, go ahead; you deserve to have some fun." Said Loco, walking away. "I'll see you at home later, then."

And so, Aqua and Nanashi began dancing, as Loco made her way towards the buffet table.

-----------------------------

(Meanwhile, back at Aqua's cottage, Dorothy is quickly forming a search party!)

Dorothy stood in front of four ordinary objects: A pink teacup, an old teddy-bear, a flower pot complete with dirt and a single flower, and a small table lamp.

"I hope Aqua doesn't mind me borrowing these things for tonight…" thought Dorothy, aloud. She then started chanting a spell. "Hum dum la dee da HYAH!"

Another wave of the broom. Clouds filled the room, surrounding the four objects. Then suddenly, they glowed and transformed. The teacup turned into a young girl with black hair; the teddy-bear turned into a young boy with blonde hair; the flowerpot turned into another young boy with black hair; and finally, the lamp turned into and older looking boy with dark blue hair.

"Yay! We can move now!" said the young blond-hair boy who also had bright blue eyes. He was wearing a black shirt and baggy khaki pants. "Isn't that great, Snow, Jack, Alviss!"

"Right that, Ginta!" said the black-haired girl, who had big brown eyes. She was wearing a pink jacket with red shorts and had a large pink bow on top of her head.

"Yay!" put in the black haired boy, who had a monkey face and was wearing a green sleeveless shirt with orange pants.

"…" went the older boy, who looked on with light blue eyes. He had on a white, long-sleeved shirt and black pants.

Dorothy stared in stunned silence.

"Wait…" she began. "You guys had NAMES? I thought that inanimate objects didn't have any other name than what they were…"

"Oh, you didn't know?" piped up Snow.

"Giromu had this really weird obsession with naming anything he could find!" put in Jack.

"He named a rock 'Miara' once…" muttered Alviss.

"He got eaten by a dog…" finished Ginta, sadly.

"…That doesn't even make sense!" half-yelled, half-screamed Dorothy. "How the heck are you supposed to tell what gender an inanimate object is, anyway?"

"I dunno." Said Jack.

"Me neither." Said Snow.

"…" went Alviss.

"…Hey, do you want to know what he named the toilet?" asked Ginta, WAY too happily.

"NEVERMIND." Said Dorothy angrily. "Anyway, your job is to find Aqua and bring her back before midnight! You do know who Aqua is, right?"

"Of course," put in Alviss. "We may have been inanimate objects, but we're not blind.

"Or deaf!" put in Jack.

"Or dumb!" put in Snow.

"The only thing we can't do is speak!" put in Ginta.

"Alright, ALRIGHT!" cried Dorothy, putting her hands up as a signal for them to stop talking. "I get it… Geez, you guys don't ALL have to talk right after one another… Anyway, I would have asked Crazy Kilt to go, but she'd make everyone go crazy with her singing…"

With this, Dorothy took out another guardian ÄRM and summoned Flying Leo.

"You're not coming with us?" asked Snow, as she and the others piled onto Flying Leo.

"I have to stay here and clean so that nothing looks suspicious when Aqua's step-mother comes back." Said Dorothy, sighing. "I also have to fix that roof, and fill in that hole in the backyard too…"

"But…" started Ginta. "Wouldn't it be suspicious for a teacup, flowerpot, teddy-bear, and lamp to just spontaneously disappear?"

"No, because you won't be gone! The magic will wear off at midnight!"

"WHAT?(!)" went all of the formerly-inanimate-objects—except Alviss.

"Hey, I don't have enough magic in me to keep you human forever!" stated Dorothy, angrily. "And the same thing will happen to Aqua at midnight, so please warn her!"

"Alright, let's go!" announced Ginta, enthusiastically.

"Yay!" went everyone (except Alviss.)

And thus, our brave band of adventurers (who were formerly inanimate objects) went off to find our dear heroine Aqua. Godspeed, young adventurers!

To Be Continued…

Additional Notes:

"Techno music hasn't been invented yet.": This whole in-joke was started by Anu.

Rapunzel and Giromu seeing Aqua for the first time: This was from Anu's part also.

WTF: If you don't know what this means, then you obviously haven't been spending enough time on the internet. But for those who don't know, it means, "What the f---"

"Prince Galian, I LOVE YOU!": Yeah… real OCC… And no, I don't support Galian x Rapunzel.

"NOOO! I'M THE BEST! I'M PRETTY! VERY PRETTY!": This quote was taken from a bonus chapter from vol. 7 of the Violinist of Hameln manga. The bonus chapter was also a parody of Cinderella, so I used the quote here as tribute to it.

Aqua and Loco's confrontation: Some parts taken from Anu's portion of the RP.

"He got eaten by a dog…": It's a MAR in-joke. Because Maira got eaten by Toto in the second round of the second war-games. Wonder if anyone got that the first time…

"The magic will wear off at midnight!": Idea thought up by Anu once again. Credit goes to her.

Be glad that I'm even posting new chapters up so quickly. I have another fanfic chapter that I'm supposed to be working on that's WAY overdue. ((sweatdrops)) The next one might take a bit longer to post up because it's much longer, and I have a few appointments coming up. Senior pictures, eww…