There was soon a knocking at the front doors.
"Who could that be?" Belle wondered as she was passing Mo talking with Lumiere about his and Babette's anniversary.
"I'll get it!" Atticus called out rushing to the doors, having a feeling someone he knew in a good way was there.
Belle then smiled and continued her way.
"Hello?" Atticus opened the doors to see who could be at the castle at this time of day.
And where he saw a familiar Spellman witch making him smile.
"Hilda." Atticus smiled.
"Uh, have we met?" the woman asked, she didn't seem to have changed that much, aside from her clothes of course.
This caused Atticus to go face-palm, he should have remembered that this was the past only for him then to hear a giggle from Hilda as if she was kidding around.
"Wait... Hildegard Antoinette Spellman, do you know who I am?" Atticus folded his arms and tapped his foot.
"Hey, cool it with the Hildegard Antoinette stuff!" Hilda glared slightly.
"Sorry, sorry." Atticus said.
"And yes, Atticus, I know who you are," Hilda giggled. "I had a feeling you and the others would soon end up here one of these days."
"So, witches know all about time travel?" Atticus asked.
"Yes," Hilda replied. "Of course, you need permission in order to have a time based spell."
"How'd you get permission?" Atticus asked, remembering when Sabrina asked to turn back time after she first found out she was a witch.
Hilda sighed as she thought back. "Let's just say I owe a certain someone dinner and dancing."
"Let me guess, Drell, right?" Atticus smirked.
"You got that right," Drell said behind him, startling the strong Wiccan as he got punched in the stomach due to reflects. "Ow..." he groaned and fell to his knees in the snow. "I totally deserved that..." he then fell back and held himself.
"Oh, Drelly..." Hilda sighed to her husband.
"Drelly needs sweet lovin' therapy..." Drell put his hands together and pouted to her with puppy dog eyes.
"I am so sorry about that, Drell, but you should never do that to someone that has reflexes." Atticus said, arms folded.
"I'll make a note of that." Drell groaned.
Hilda patted Drell on his head, then wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, my poor Drell~..."
Drell purred lustfully with a cheeky smirk to her with a wink.
"So, anyways, why are you two here?" Atticus asked.
"Why do you think? To get you and the others out of here." Drell said.
"But we are gonna get out of here," Atticus explained. "As soon as Belle and the Beast officially fall in love, the spell will break, and then everybody will become human again."
"You do realize that you are stronger than him and can get yourselves free whenever you want, right?" Drell asked.
"We already promised the Beast that we wouldn't leave." Atticus said.
"You did?" Hilda asked.
"Yeah, after we traded places with Belle's father to save him, we promised the Beast that we would stay here forever," Atticus explained. "We gave our word... He got pretty mad at us when we came into the Black Forest, we're just lucky that he forgave us after that since it was Christmas."
"Well, then we can at least keep you company." Drell said.
"I dunno..." Atticus was a little nervous about that.
"Atticus, I visit here all the time, I'm practically one of the family," Hilda smiled innocently. "Trust me, I'm practically invisible around here!"
"Well, I guess it'll be okay..." Atticus let them inside. "Oh, and Drell, you shouldn't go anywhere near Cherry for a while, she's been having bad dreams lately."
"What about?" Drell asked.
"She won't say." Atticus shrugged.
"Well I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later." Drell said.
"Drell... What're you up to?" Hilda asked.
Drell giggled and went to find Cherry.
"Drell, please, she's suffering enough!" Atticus called, then sighed. "Seriously, Hilda, what do you see in that guy?"
"He makes me laugh..." Hilda batted her eyelashes.
"You go and do whatever you usually do here; I'm going to go make sure Drell doesn't scare Cherry." Atticus said.
Hilda nodded and went her own way to meet the castle staff.
Atticus then went to follow after Drell. "Oh, you better not torment my best friend!" he growled seriously.
Drell took out his wand as Cherry was seriously napping this time and decided to see what her nightmares were all about. Atticus was about to tackle Drell and stop him from torturing Cherry but then see that Drell was only using his magic to see what Cherry's nightmare was and so he decided to join in to see what it was too.
"Okay, Atticus, I know this looks bad, but I swear, this is charity work..." Drell put his hand up in defense.
"No, please continue, I would like to see what Cherry's nightmare is about." Atticus said.
"You're coming with?" Drell asked.
"Yes, please, Cherry is my best friend..." Atticus replied.
Drell then nodded, he put his arm around Atticus and waved his wand which made them disappear and then enter into Cherry's deepest subconscious. And where they were about to see what was frightening Cherry.
"So, Lumiere, what seems to be the trouble?" Hilda asked the candelabra after she met and greeted him with Mo who was surprised to see the witch woman in the eighteenth century, though it should be expected since she was 600 years old.
"Erm, uh, Mo just reminded me of mine and Babette's anniversary, I mean, of course I remember!" Lumiere sounded nervous. "I mean, the first anniversary of our second date... Is uhh... 'Ow's Tuesday sound?"
"The fifth anniversary of your first date is Saturday," Mo reminded him. "You forgot your own anniversary?!" she then glared at the candelabra.
"Sacre bleu!" Lumiere panicked. "I am, as zhey say, in hot water!"
"She may be expecting something special..." Hilda folded her arms. "After all, I'm the one who set you guys up!"
"And you better think of something quick." Mo said.
"But of course!" Lumiere smiled before dashing off. "I'll be back!" he then collected flowers in the dining room, took a bath in the dish washing tub, and dried himself with a polish and wondered what he could tell his one true love.
"Need some help?" Mo asked.
"What should I tell her?" Lumiere sounded worried. "I should have a speech!"
"I don't think a whole speech is necessary..." Mo replied.
"Oh, but I must zhink of somezhing romantic to say to her." Lumiere said.
"Come on, it's not that hard, we'll give you some time to think about it and get back to you on it." Hilda suggested.
"Yeah." Mo nodded.
Lumiere agreed, then decided to go in the study to write something romantic and sweet for his beloved Babette.
'I have a good feeling about this.' Mo thought to herself.
Hilda smiled.
"So, Hilda, what brings you to the castle?" Mo asked the witch woman.
"Uh, just visiting some old friends like Prince Adam." Hilda smiled.
"Prince Adam...?" Mo asked, not knowing who that was for a moment, then put it together. "Oh, you mean the Beast!"
"Mm-hmm..." Hilda nodded.
"So, that's his name." Mo smiled.
"Oh, you never knew that, dear?" Hilda asked.
"Uh, no one ever told us," Mo chuckled sheepishly. "We call him the Beast though."
"And he doesn't seem to mind it?" Hilda asked.
"Nope." Mo shook her head.
"Guess it's kinda fitting..." Hilda shrugged.
"Um, Hilda, do you know anything about the Enchantress?" Mo asked.
"Oh, you mean Circe?" Hilda sighed. "I know she means well, but it was kind of wrong of her to turn Adam into a monster... It's not his fault his parents died when he was young and he just missed them."
"Oh, dear..." Mo frowned.
"You never heard the story behind the curse, have you?" Hilda asked.
"No." Mo shook her head.
"I didn't think you did..." Hilda sighed. "It started a long, long time ago..."
"I figured as much." Mo shrugged.
"I'll tell you about it," Hilda smiled softly. "It's truly a tale as old as time."'
Mo smiled back to the witch woman.
"Would you like to hear it?" Hilda asked.
"Yes, ma'am." Mo smiled.
Hilda smiled back as she decided to tell her all about it.
Meanwhile, in Cherry's subconscious...
Drell opened a door into Cherry's dream world and tiptoed inside with Atticus. They came into what looked like a very dark version of the castle's music room.
"Oh, no, Drell; I think I know who's in Cherry's nightmare." Atticus whispered to Drell.
"Charles Forte..." Drell said through his teeth.
Atticus looked back. "Erm, you know Maestro Forte...?"
"Do I?!" Drell sounded angry and annoyed all at once. "That man made my life a living nightmare! My mother forced me to take organ lessons from him to pay for flunking out of the Warlock Academy!"
"You flunked out of the Warlock Academy?" Atticus asked.
"I don't wanna talk about it..." Drell growled.
Cherry was shivering in a dark corner as the room was dark and a flashing green color as Forte was a pipe organ again and was laughing wickedly as she suffered from the worst nightmares of the court composer.
"Leave her alone, Forte!" Atticus glared.
"This is Cherry's nightmare, she has to face her nightmare head on," Drell replied.
"But Forte's dead," Atticus replied. "...I think."
"Maestro Forte can't die, no matter what you've done with him," Drell explained. "He's actually immortal."
"Oh, so then he's just out cold," Atticus said. "Well, what can we do to help her face her nightmare head on?"
"We have to let him come back to you all," Drell said. "Besides, as shocking as this may seem, Forte is not evil."
"If he's not evil, then why did he try to kill us all when Belle fell in love with the Beast?" Atticus scoffed.
"It's not his fault, the curse corrupted his heart," Drell explained. "Besides, Circe was in love with him, but he was never interested in her like that."
"Okay, then how are we supposed to do that?" Atticus asked.
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but someday in the near future, you'll all reunite with Maestro Forte," Drell explained, putting his hands together. "He's supposed to have a destiny with Cherry."
"Well, that's interesting; let's just hope Cherry can forgive him for what he did." Atticus whispered.
"It's the only way to cease her nightmares, that, and talking about them," Drell replied. "I guess she hasn't been talking to you guys about them?"
'We know she's been having nightmares, but she never told us what about." Atticus nodded.
"Well, if she doesn't soon, then she'll keep on having the nightmares." Drell said.
"That sounds familiar..." Atticus agreed.
"You two have been through so much..." Drell slowly nodded his head.
"Yes, we have." Atticus nodded.
"It's from the prophecy..." Drell said. "When you were both born, your parents were supposed to give you both up for adoption and let nature run its course... It's a long story, I'll save it for another day."
"Oh, alright." Atticus pouted.
Everything suddenly started to fade.
"Cherry's about to wake up, we have to leave quickly or else we'll get stuck in her subconscious," Drell warned. He soon saw Atticus already running out. Drell's eyes widened and he ran after Atticus. "Wait for me!"
Cherry moaned in her bed with her eyes squeezed shut, then suddenly, the two made it out of her head and she slowly opened her eyes as they were red and puffy again and she was sweating intensely from her nightmare.
"Hey there, Cherry." Atticus said.
"Atticus...?" Cherry looked over as her eyes looked very disturbingly restless. "What're you doing in my room?"
"Cherry, it's time to talk about your nightmares." Atticus demanded.
Cherry turned over. "I told you, I'm fine, they're just dreams, they can't hurt me."
"I know that they are about Forte and if you don't talk about your nightmares soon, then you won't be able to get any rest at all!" Atticus told her.
"Nightmares about Forte?" Cherry smiled nervously. "Don't be silly!"
"Don't lie to us." Drell smirked.
"I'm not..." Cherry buried herself under the covers. "The only nightmare I'm having is Drell being in my new permanent bedroom!"
"I'm here right now," Drell smirked. "Now either you tell him or else I'll make you."
"Atticus, make him stop!" Cherry begged.
"Cherry, please tell us about your nightmares please." Atticus begged.
"Mm-mm..." Cherry shook her head.
"It'll make you feel better..." Atticus insisted.
"I'm fine, they're only dreams, they'll go away on their own!" Cherry hid under her blanket.
"No, they won't." Drell said firmly.
"Yes, they will!" Cherry glared.
Atticus sighed. "Drell, make her give up."
"With pleasure." Drell smirked before bringing out his wand.
Atticus sighed, he didn't want to have to do this to his best friend, but she left him no choice.
"Are you gone yet?" Cherry asked, then poked her head out and let out a frightened gasp at Drell's wand.
"You left me no choice." Atticus said.
Drell grinned darkly.
Cherry glared. "Do your worst... I dare you!"
Drell then began to recite the truth spell.
"EXCEPT FOR THAT!" Cherry's eyes widened.
Drell recited the spell and instantly zapped her.
"I HAVE BAD DREAMS ABOUT MAESTRO FORTE COMING BACK AND TRYING TO COME BACK FOR REVENGE!" Cherry yelped out before breaking down into tears.
"Cherry, why didn't you just come to me, Mo, and Patch and tell us about this?" Atticus asked about to comfort her.
"I didn't want you to think I was silly," Cherry admitted. "I mean... He's just a pipe organ... I don't know why, but he just looked so frightening up close... He could've killed us all by playing his music very loudly."
"How could you think that I would think you were silly?" Atticus asked.
"I mean, he's a musical instrument..." Cherry said. "How could anyone be scared of that?"
"That would be silly if the organ wasn't enchanted and tried to kill us all." Atticus said.
"So, it's understandable?" Cherry asked.
"Well, yeah," Drell spoke up. "It only makes sense... See? Doesn't talking about this make you feel a little better?"
"Yeah..." Cherry smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess it does!"
"See? The truth will set you free." Atticus smiled.
"I guess so..." Cherry replied.
"Let's go see how Lumiere and Babette are doing." Drell said.
"Something going on between them?" Cherry asked.
"From what I hear, it's their anniversary on Saturday, and Lumiere forgot." Atticus explained.
"Luckily, I never forget anything." Drell replied smugly.
"Really?" Atticus smirked. "When's Hilda's birthday?"
Drell opened his mouth, then coughed. "Umm... Uhh... I'm pretty sure she had one last year and she has one coming up this year..." he then rubbed the back of his neck.
"You forgot it, didn't you?" Atticus smirked.
"Oh, please, like you haven't forgotten your girlfriend's birthday." Drell scoffed.
Atticus narrowed his eyes.
"When's Mo's birthday?" Drell folded his arms.
"Ooh, this, I gotta hear." Cherry said, interested.
"Umm... Uhh..." Atticus felt stumped. "Earth Day."
"Bzzt." Drell mimicked a buzzer.
"Oh, yeah, when is her birthday then, Mr. Know-It-All?" Atticus glared back.
"September 15th." Drell replied as he took out Mo's birth certificate to rub it in.
"Oh, crud..." Atticus said.
Drell stuck his tongue out.
"If you could do that, why didn't you use Hilda's?" Atticus then asked.
"Yeah...?" Cherry smirked, leaning in.
"Um..." Drell said, worried.
Cherry and Atticus smirked to him.
"NOWHERE AND EVERYWHERE!" Drell threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared in a poof of smoke, making them both cough.
Atticus soon blew the smoke away to show Drell had sneaked out.
"Stupid Council Snacks!" Drell grunted as he was stuck in the window, then wiggled and yelled out as he fell out and crashed into the snow outside. "Ow, I landed on my keys..."
Atticus sighed before he went out the same way, landing right next to Drell, not letting him get away.
Drell sheepishly smiled up to Atticus. "Have I ever told you how much I love you like a son?"
Atticus then lifted Drell up off the ground before teleporting back into the castle. Cherry rubbed her eyes and decided to have a walk around once her nightmares were hopefully and possibly put to rest. She would know for sure once she would sleep for the night tonight.