Ch. 7 – The Ball

Cinderella was the last young lady to arrive at the ball. Bruno, her footman for the night, opened the carriage door for her, and she climbed out, treading carefully on her glass slippers. She wandered up the grand staircase and into the entrance hall of the palace, past tall guards who stood silently but whose eyes followed her as she passed. Then she entered the ballroom, where hundreds of ladies in beautiful ball gowns and men in dashing suits were scattered about the high-ceilinged room, chatting, flirting, or dancing. Cinderella wandered about the room as if lost, though she was really searching for Jim. Her heart was fluttering quickly, but began to sink as she wandered alone through the crowd with no sight of him. Was he not there? Or worse, would she turn a corner to find him chatting with some beautiful girl?

The ballroom, filled with glittering lights and spinning waltzing couples that glinted in the reflections, reminded Cinderella of the miniature model of the galaxy that sprung from the map Jim had given her. Cinderella did not realize as she wandered in search of the boy, but all eyes in the ballroom were glued on her as she passed; she shimmered like the brightest star in the miniature star-filled universe of the ballroom.

A man stood directly before her, and she noticed him a moment late, because she had been glancing around for sight of the brown-haired blue-eyed boy. The young man before her was dark-haired and much taller than Jim, and dressed regally. He bowed and kissed her hand, causing her to feel flustered, and then he asked her to dance.

"That's very kind of you," she said politely, "but I'm actually looking for someone."

"If you will say no to my asking for a dance," he replied with a smile, "then your Prince commands you to dance."

"Oh!" Cinderella gasped, for she hadn't realized he was the younger of the two princes, Prince Chartreuse. He did look like the portrait of his brother she had seen, but something about his eyes seemed colder.

"Yes, Your Highness," she answered reluctantly, and he put his hands on her and spun her into a waltz. As they spun in slow circles, the orchestra matching them perfectly, she stole quick glances around the crowd for a familiar face.

"You seem distracted," the Prince whispered.

"I'm sorry," she said, her eyes darting back to him. "It's just that, I was supposed to meet someone here. But," she added sadly, "I don't see him anywhere."

"What a foolish man he must be," the Prince replied with a smile, "to abandon such a partner alone at the ball. If he doesn't appear, I'll be forced to steal his dance partner."

"You're very kind," Cinderella said. "Thank you for the lovely dance, Your Highness." She broke away from him, though he only let go reluctantly. "But there are many other young girls craving a dance with you, and I couldn't steal their time away from them." She curtsied and then hurried away quickly.

"But-" the Prince protested, but a swarm of girls suddenly descended on him, hoping their turn would be next, crowding around and blocking Cinderella from view.

Cinderella was becoming distraught as she hurried alone through the ballroom, away from the Prince. The clock was almost at eleven. She could only stay until midnight, and Jim wasn't there yet. Maybe the Prince had been right; maybe he had abandoned her, alone at the ball.

Silver steered the boat to the back of the castle, and let it drop to the ground in a clump of trees, hiding it from view. Jim leaped out of the boat, wildly tried to smooth down his hair, and broke into a run. "I'll be back in a minute!" he called back to Silver.

Silver sat back comfortably in the boat and called back, "You'd better be, or I'm leavin' without ya, hear me, Jimbo? Don't overestimate me!" He laughed heartily. "Now go find your bonnie lass!"

Jim smiled as he heard the shout behind him, but he didn't look back. He ran through the palace gardens, around the fountain, up the sweeping staircase, and entered through the backdoor of the ballroom. The guards let him pass. Lady Tremaine had told Jim that Cinderella was working at the palace as a servant, so Jim assumed he would see Cinderella in a servant's uniform, perhaps offering appetizers, or setting the banquet table. He looked at everyone wearing a servant's uniform, but Cinderella was not among them.

Maybe Lady Tremaine had lied to him, like he suspected, and she was not a palace servant. In that case she must have attended as a guest, as the royal decree commanded. But what would she be wearing? He spotted Anastasia and Drisella with Lady Tremaine, and he hurriedly darted behind a pillar to avoid them. When they had passed, he continued his search. There were hundreds of maidens, all in different colored ball gowns and elaborate hairstyles, and Jim had only ever seen Cinderella in her household servant's clothes. Then he remembered: the dress he had sent her! What color had he told the dressmaker? He racked his brain. Pink! He narrowed his search to every girl wearing a pink dress, but he did not recognize any face.

He stood alone in the middle of the ballroom, shoulders slumped in exhaustion. Couples waltzed in circles around him, but he didn't move. He didn't see Cinderella anywhere, and everything depended on him finding her tonight. He noticed that all the heads in the crowd had subtly turned to look at a place behind Jim, over his shoulder. He wondered what they were looking at. He turned around, and directly before him, at the top of a sweeping staircase, was the most beautiful vision he had ever seen: a girl in a silver dress that shimmered like starlight in the Etherium. In shock Jim realized she was looking directly at him.

She slowly descended the staircase, her dress glittering like a comet shower whenever she moved, until she reached the dance floor and stood before Jim, who stood frozen in confusion. It was only as he looked into her blue sparkling eyes that he realized in certainty that it was Cinderella.

"Ella," he said in shock. "You look…" He trailed off dumbly.

"What?" she asked in puzzlement.

"Like I've seen you in the night sky."

"A heavenly body?" she asked jokingly, referring back to the pick-up line Jim had used on her the first time he had seen her.

"The Eighth Wonder of the Universe," Jim said.

She looked down, blushing. "I was afraid you weren't coming," she said. "I've been avoiding the Prince for an hour now, hiding in corners and behind pillars."

"I'm sorry. I had to catch a boat." He gave a malicious glance in the Prince's direction.

"I'm just glad you made it," she said, giving a wildly relieved smile.

Jim saw that the Prince had noticed them, looking surprised. He was making his way toward them. "Dance with me," Jim said quickly, and put one hand on Cinderella's waist and the other on her hand. He twirled her quickly away into the crowd of waltzing couples, out of sight of the Prince. "Ella," he whispered. "How would you like to leave with me? Tonight."

"Did you find your ship?" she asked, wide-eyed. "And your crew?"

"Yes, and yes, but I lost them again. But I do have a boat waiting out back, with a friend. We have to launch tonight; if we wait until morning, the boat won't start."

"Then quickly," she said, smiling excitedly. "Let's escape out the back. I have Morph with me, and the map."

"Great," Jim said, grinning. Then he remembered the thoughts that had been nagging the back of his mind for some time now, the thoughts that made him hesitate about taking Cinderella with him, as much as he wanted her to come. "Ella," he said, in a very different tone of voice, "Are you sure you want to come with me? This is your home planet, after all. As much as I want you to come with me, I want to be absolutely sure that it's what you want, and that you understand what it means."

"What does it mean?" she asked in a bewilderment as they waltzed. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"What I mean is, there's a whole universe out there, and it could be dangerous, and it's very big. And once we leave this planet, we probably won't ever be able to come back."

"I don't care if I ever see this planet again," she replied. "There's nothing left for me here. I want to go with you."

"You say that, but you hardly know who I am," Jim said, a hint of anger creeping into his voice, and they stopped waltzing abruptly. Jim didn't know what it was exactly he was trying to convey to her, but he was frustrated that she didn't understand it. "I'm not rich," he said, his voice wavering with resentment. "I'm not like the Prince. I don't even have a house for us to go back to; my house was burned down in a fire, when it was attacked by pirates. And me – I've got no future." He gestured wildly in frustration. "I'm just a cabin boy. I'm just a kid wandering around space in search of treasure or acceptance or something he doesn't even understand. Are you sure you want to cast your lot in with me? You don't understand what it is you're getting into."

Cinderella took a step back from him, her face an expression of shock and anger. "Why are you asking me this now?" she demanded. "Have you decided you don't want me to come anymore? I'm just a servant girl, not good enough to take with you? Did you find someone else to take along, someone richer or prettier or –what was it you said – 'with a future'? I guess you've realized that I don't have a future anymore than you do, and I've got nothing to offer, and you have no reason to take me with you," she said bitterly, her lovely features distraught.

"You don't understand!" Jim retorted. "I'm just trying to tell you who I really am-"

"And who are you?" she asked, stepping up to him and staring him straight in the eye. The couples waltzing around them were politely ignoring them, but stealing curious glances in their direction. "You're just a boy who fell out of the sky, and I didn't know from where or how, but I trusted you. Because I didn't know very much about you, but I could see just enough that I-" She stopped herself, and shook her head.

"Ella," Jim said. "I guess what's really bothering me is that, I'm not really supposed to be here. I sort of realized it over time."

"What do you mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes and watching him intensely.

"When our ship came through the wormhole," Jim explained slowly and painfully, "and crash-landed on your planet, it changed the timeline. By coming here, I changed what was supposed to happen. The crew of the ship – after they landed, they started attacking other ships. They attacked the Prince's ship. They killed the Prince, Ella." He could see she did not understand. "The older prince, Prince Charming," he went on. "Ella, you said you felt as if you knew him, even though you had never met him. I think it's because you were supposed to meet him. You would have, if my ship hadn't crashed here, and my crewmates hadn't killed him. I think you would have met him at this very ball. Ella, you were supposed to marry him," he said gently. "I'm sure of it. And I am so, so sorry, Ella," he pleaded. "Because it's my fault that he's dead, because when it all comes down to it, it was my stupid idea to set out for Treasure Planet. And if I had just done the smart thing and stayed home, we would never have come here, and he wouldn't be dead. And you would have found your true love and been a princess and lived happily ever after."

She stared at him with confused wide eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Don't you see?" he said. "I've ruined your life by coming here. It's all my fault."

"Your crew?" she asked, stepping back from him. "Those murdering pirates who killed the Prince, were your crew? They came here with you?"

Jim nodded regretfully.

"Then you're a pirate," she said in realization, her voice accusatory.

"I didn't help them attack that ship!"

"But you sailed with them," she said in a hurt tone, "and you said one of them was your friend, like a father to you!"

"Silver is different," Jim said shortly.

"But he's a pirate?"

"Yes, but – you wouldn't understand."

"I can't understand if you keep so many secrets from me," she said, her voice trembling in frustration. "I kept nothing from you, but you didn't tell me that those pirates were your crew; you just failed to mention it-"

"But Ella-"

"Now I'll tell you who I really am," she said caustically. "I'm not Ella, I'm just Cinderella the servant girl. I'm Cinders the scullery maid." She turned from him haughtily, but he reached out to grab her arm and stop her.

"Ella," he said hurriedly. "That isn't what I meant-"

"Didn't you hear?" she said, glaring at him. "I'm not Ella. I'm not who you thought I was, just like you aren't the person I thought you were." Jim stared at her in shock, and she pulled away from him. She picked up her wide sparkling gown and hurried away from him.

Jim was about to run after her when a thunderous noise shook the ballroom. Women screamed as the walls trembled around them, and the ceiling caved in in giant chunks, falling to the dance floor far below. Jim threw himself at Cinderella, shoving her out of the way of a giant chunk of ceiling that would have crushed her. They fell and skidded across the floor together, the ceiling chunk landing a few feet away where she had just been standing. People were screaming and running for the exits, as the guards ran in quickly and pointed their rifles up at the ceiling. Jim and Cinderella looked up to see an enormous ship hovering in the air, visible through the giant hole in the ceiling it had created. It was the R.L.S. Legacy, commandeered by the pirates. The Prince stood firmly as the guests rushed away in a panic. He ordered the guards to fire, and they peppered the ship with gunshot, but Jim saw that the ship's shields were engaged. The bullets bounced off an invisible barrier around the ship, causing a purplish glint whenever they rebounded.

Then a dozen ropes were thrown down from the sides of the ship, and a dozen ferocious-looking pirates from a dozen different alien worlds came climbing, sliding, scurrying, and crawling down the ropes. They had knives between their teeth and swords and blaster guns at their sides, and they landed on the ballroom floor, each with a wicked grin on its face.