Chapter Twenty Prince Charming
The girl continued to scream, edging away from the man standing in her doorway while he stood staring at her, an indifferent look on his face. Someone from inside the house called out, "Vincent what happened?"
"Nothing," Vincent said emotionlessly as Sora ran out of the house to see what was wrong.
Suddenly the girl stopped screaming. Though refusing to come any closer, she cautiously whispered, "K-keyblade Master? Is that you?"
Sora looked at the young woman on the ground and frowned in concentration as he realized he recognized the woman, "Snow White?"
"Y-yes," the girl said, now becoming less terrified. She slowly stood up, careful not to drop the apples she had a second time, "I almost didn't recognize you, you look so much older. Then again it has been quite a few years,"
"So this is your world, Snow White?" Sora continued to ask.
"Yes, this is my home," Snow White smiled but then looked fearfully back at Vincent, "I-is he a friend of yours?"
"Oh, Vincent is a good guy, you don't need to be scared of him," Sora grinned and turned to the Heartless man, "After getting to know him you forget he looks really creepy to people that never met him,"
Vincent shrugged and Sora helped Snow White bring the apples into the house. Riku and Kairi were standing, "What happened? We heard screaming,"
"Oh that," Sora laughed sheepishly, "That was just a misunderstanding,"
"What are you doing in this world, Keyblade Master?" Snow White asked as she put the fruit away in the kitchen, "Had I known you were coming I would have cleaned the house,"
"We didn't know this was your world, we sort of just ended up here," Riku explained.
"The Doors of Kingdom Hearts have been unsealed again. And it appears the only way to stop the Heartless is to find the world of that girl sitting at the table with the black and white hair," Donald continued, "We don't know who she really is, but the Heartless and a whole bunch of villains are after her,"
"Oh dear!" Snow White gasped.
"I don't suppose you know who I am, miss," Matilda said hopefully.
Snow White looked thoughtfully at the girl but shook her head sadly, "I'm afraid I don't. Then again, I don't know a lot of people who live here, I've spent most of my life living in a castle,"
"Snow White, are you okay?" a voice called out from the front door before a rush of seven small men came into the house, armed with pickaxes and shovels.
"Oh I'm fine," Snow White giggled, "These are the real owners of the house, the Seven Dwarves, they've let me stay with them. Gentlemen, this is the Keyblade Master and his friends,"
The seven men looked at each of the people sitting at the table with much suspicion. Sora got up and bowed in front of the men, "I'm sorry for barging into your house,"
"Figures that some rude kid would do something like this, I still say we should put locks in the door," said an angry looking dwarf.
"Now, Grumpy, there are very few people here in the forest, it's silly, and besides this young man did no harm. Snow White is fine," said the leader, Doc.
"The Keyblade Master is looking for this girl's identity," Snow White said pointing out Matilda, "Does she look familiar to any of you,"
"WATCHOO!" Sneezy sneezed before saying, "An odd looking girl like that isn't someone from around these woods. But she may come from the town just outside of it, they are known for some strange-looking fair folk,"
Snow White's cheeks began turning bright pink, "If you need someone to show you the town, I can show you,"
"I don't think it's a good idea, Snow White," Bashful blushed, "The queen is still after you, you know, it could be too dangerous for you to leave the forest,"
"Queen, what queen?" Goofy asked.
"My wicked stepmother. She wants to be the most beautiful person in the universe, so in order to get her wish, she gave me over to Maleficent since I was a Princess of Heart," Snow White said sadly.
"That's terrible! How can your own family do that to you!" Sora was outraged.
"She still wants to be the fairest person in this world and is still trying to destroy me," Snow White seemed more determined, "But if the Keyblade Master is with me, then I will be fine. Stepmother wouldn't try to do anything with him around!"
"Alright, but be careful," Doc finally agreed.
Though Vincent insisted on with staying with Matilda, he, Piff, Riku and Donald stayed behind with the dwarves while Sora, Kairi, Donald, Matilda and Lulu went with Snow White to the town outside the forest. Sora and Kairi stayed close to the princess but Kairi noticed something funny about Snow White's insistence to come to town.
"Snow White, I know you'd like to help us, but what is the real reason you wanted to show us this village?" Kairi asked, "And don't worry, you can tell me,"
Snow White's fair cheeks turned pink again, "Well, that town is part of a kingdom ruled by a prince. Once I walked to this village to buy some sugar for a pie I was baking and I saw him riding on his horse, he was so handsome. I'm hoping I can see him again,"
The princess sighed and Kairi giggled. The forest thinned out and a bustling town spread out before the group. The dwarves didn't lie when they said the town was full of odd-looking magical creatures. There were dozens of normal humans in town, but there were also dozens of fairies flittering about. The problem was the fairies were all tiny, and as lithe as Matilda was, she was still a normal sized person. Almost immediately the girl realized the pretty world with trees was not hers. Seeing the defeated look on her face, Sora tried to cheer her up, "Don't get give up right away, Matilda. Someone still may recognize you. You did remember a place with lots of trees, right?"
"I guess I did…" Matilda was still not convinced, but still looked around.
"While you look, I'll buy some more sugar, I'd like to make a pie for all of you this evening," Snow White said.
"Hold on, Snow White, I'm not letting you out of my sight. You still are in danger," Sora said warningly.
"It will only be for a moment, and I don't want to interrupt your search," Snow White said.
Sora was skeptical, "Have Donald come with you,"
"I promise I won't be long," Snow White said earnestly and skipped away with Donald in tow. Then Sora, Kairi, Lulu and Matilda split off and began asking people questions.
Donald had a hard time keeping up with the princess on his short duck legs, "Hey, wait up for me, I'm your bodyguard!" Snow White didn't seem to hear him and disappeared in the crowd. Donald rubbed the back of his head, realizing he had messed up badly, "Oh Phooey,"
In the palace of the wicked queen, the woman stood before her magic mirror scowling. She had watched every moment of from when Sora and the others arrived to when they left for the town, but was still in a dilemma as how to deal with Vincent. She walked away from her mirror and paced in front of her many spell books, "The Heartless man's power was triggered by the girl's power, she unlocked her power when she thought the man was in danger. But how can I trigger that power? It would be difficult to attack without garnering the attention of my presence. Unless…"
She picked up a book of spells and flipped through it, a merciless smile cracking her cold beauty, "The man is a Heartless, but perhaps a potion that removes hearts will cause him to lose the bit of humanity that remained. What still remains is how to distribute that venom to his body,"
Holding the book she called on the magic mirror's powers once again, "Mirror, Mirror, looking glass, show me what I need to complete my task,"
The glass surface flickered and showed Vincent back at the dwarves home. He was sitting on a chair looking incredibly uncomfortable and irritable from listening to Riku complain, "I hope they get back soon, I'm starving!"
"So you've said, over and over again," Vincent stated.
"Hey, don't tell me you don't feel hunger!" Riku snapped back.
"Of course I do. And I'm also hungry, but I don't need to make a press conference out of it." Vincent's words cut like a knife and Riku became silent to muster the last of his battered ego.
"I'm sure they'll be back soon, guys," Goofy said cheerfully.
Back in her palace the queen tapped her nail against her front teeth and stood in thought, "It looks like with any man, the way to his heart, or what's left of it, is through his stomach…" She snapped away from the mirror and clacked past her bookshelf behind a secret door. Setting the book on a pedestal in front of a cauldron she began pouring various bottles into the great black pot. The contents mixed together in various vile colors, and satisfied with the result the queen put in one last ingredient. From a jar she pulled out a tiny dried worm and threw it into the potion. The concoction flashed a bright light and the worm floated into the air, now glowing a brilliant green. The queen gently pulled the creature out of the air and from a bowl pulled out a shining red apple. The worm crawled from her hand and wriggled into the apple, "No one will notice such a small worm in such a lovely looking apple. And when the Heartless man eats it deliver the venom that will turn him into a full Heartless! Now there is only one more thing to do,"
Emptying out the contents of the cauldron she put new ingredients into a new potion and her harsh cruel laugh slowly turned into a merciless cackle.
Snow White arrived the stand she was looking for and completely forgot that someone was supposed to be watching over her; she was too distracted by all the lovely ingredients the gnarly looking old woman had for sale. "What can I help you with, my dear?"
"I'd like a pound of sugar please," Snow White asked politely.
"Ah, sounds like you plan to make something special. Perhaps a sweet for a beloved?" the old woman asked.
Snow White blushed again and shook her head, "N-no, I'm having friends over and I'd like to make them a pie,"
"Oh a pie! That surely will make good friends, great friends, eh?" the woman commented, "Might I ask what kind of pie you're making?"
"I was thinking of making them an apple pie,"
"Oh that does sound mouthwatering indeed. Such a kind young woman like you deserves a present," the old woman reached behind her stand and pulled out a perfect looking bright red apple, "Take this,"
"I couldn't accept that," Snow White said modestly, "Besides, I picked some wild apples this morning,"
"Aye, but this apple is much more than it appears. It's magic!" the woman beckoned closer and whispered, "It has the power to make dreams come true, bring forth the wish from deep within your heart," Snow White backed away quickly and began blushing again, "Please dear, make an old woman happy and accept her meager gift,"
Snow White finally agreed and accepted the apple from the old woman. She paid for her sugar and suddenly realized that she somehow lost track of her protector. Frantic to find him again and not let Sora know she broke her word she began thoughtlessly searching the crowd. She was so busy looking that she did not see the person standing in front of her and crashed right in front of him. Smacking right into the man she began apologizing rapidly, "O-oh, how clumsy of me! I'm so sorry—"
"It's fine, miss," Snow White's eyes widened and her cheeks turned bright pink. In front of her was a handsome young man with dark hair and eyes in elegant clothes. The man she had crashed into was the prince of her dreams, "Don't I recognize you from somewhere?"
Without saying anything Snow White rushed off in a panic and kept running until she ran right into Sora and the others, "There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"I'm so sorry, Keyblade Master, I must have lost Master Donald and not realized it. I hope my foolishness didn't get in your way," Snow White looked very ashamed of herself.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't look like Matilda's from here, we might as well leave now," Sora sighed.
They returned to the dwarves' house soon after and the party members left behind were eager to learn what Sora and the others have discovered. And once again, the Keyblade Master had to announce the Land of Ever After was once again, not the real world of Matilda. Riku groaned, "Another world, another disappointment. I'm beginning to lose hope we'll ever find her world,"
"Don't say that!" Donald said, seeing the already sad Matilda verging on tears, "We can't lose hope and we can't quit. King Mickey put us on a mission and no matter how long it takes I'm not going to disappoint him! Do you realize how many worlds we went to in order to find him? Or you for that matter, Riku,"
"But this is different. Then the worlds were vanishing, as terrible as this sounds, there was a limit to the places you could search. This time the worlds aren't vanishing so the places we can search are infinite," Riku reasoned.
"We've faced worse odds before!" Goofy said cheerfully.
Riku smirked, "Well, if you and Sora aren't giving up, I'm not either. There's no way I'm quitting something before Sora does,"
Sora laughed, "That's the spirit!"
"Since this place isn't Matilda's world, it doesn't make any sense to stay here anymore, we should leave as soon as we can," Vincent said bluntly.
"Well you must stay this evening!" Snow White begged, "I was going to make a pie!"
Matilda looked hopefully at the Heartless man. Vincent sighed, "Fine, we will leave in the morning, we should restock our supplies anyway,"