Chapter 40: Planning an Escape

"Beautiful, simply beautiful. Soon Derek will be married and the kingdom will have a king again," Uberta exclaimed, excitedly as she looking at a jewel of a crown she was holding her hands.

Rogers rolled his eyes. "I doubt it. Derek still refuses to be king unless he finds Odette."

"Oh poppycock!" Uberta scoffed. "All that will change at tomorrow night's ball!"

"They're all coming to the ball!" a voice laughed. "Every princess is coming!"

A short man came running into the room where Uberta and Rogers were. He wore a blue ruffle collar around his neck with a purple and yellow attire followed by a medal that he wore over his neck. There was a large hat with a feather in it on his head. Just shortly, two servants came in who carried two bags of mail and they poured it out of the bag, dropping it on the short man before they exited out.

Uberta squealed from happiness as she plucked the mail, one by one. "Oh goody, oh my. Oh, this is wonderful! You see, Rogers. One of these is bound to change his mind."

"Oh absolutely… not," Rogers said.

"Do not lose one," Uberta said hastily.

"Oh, no, no, no no," Chamberlain shook his head.

"Where is Derek? Oh never mind I know where he is, working on the mystery of the Fat Animal."

"The Great Animal, Your Highness," Rogers corrected her.

Uberta scoffed. "Well, Big, Great. It's large and has fur."


"So…Sora's gone. We have no idea where Derek went and…we're bored," Donald replied, grumpily.

"I dunno about you guys but these treats are scrumptious," Riku replied with food stuffed in his mouth.

"You're disgusting," Kairi said, disgusted.

"Well, since we're here, why don't we search for the Lost Page? If we could get our hands on the second page, we would have one more upper advantage," Goofy said.

"I would want Sora to be with us for the page," Kairi pointed it out.

Donald scoffed. "Bah, we don't know where Sora is. If we're waiting for him, we might as well start looking for the page. We're just wasting time just by waiting for Sora."

Riku stuffed one more treat in his mouth, chewing as he spoke. "Okay but, how are we to look for the page? I mean, yeah we could check out the library since we had a small tour but the last time we searched in a library, it was fruitless."

Goofy scratched his head. "Well, I guess that's true. But maybe, checking the library again wouldn't hurt. After all, we are in a different world and maybe, we would find Derek in there. Besides, the look on his face when we told him about the animal was fierce. So, I bet he's in the library too."


"Listen to me, Derek. It's not what it seems."

"What did King William mean?" Derek muttered

Beside him, there were stacks of books scattered throughout the hall as he was desperately trying to figure out what King William had said to him before he passed away but to no avail.

Book upon book, Derek fruitlessly searched for nearly every book he grabbed hold upon. He then grabbed a ladder which had him swing to the other side and he grabbed a green book, flipping through the pages with a concentrated look. It wasn't until then where he stumbled upon a page and from there, he widened his eyes in realization.

"It's not what it seems, of course! It's not what it seems! Now I'll find you, Odette," Derek promised.

He excitedly slid off the ladder and down on another ladder, running towards the door and opened. As he opened the door, Uberta and Chamberlain came in though Uberta seemed way too enthusiastic about something.

"They're coming, Derek. Oh!" she squealed but then paused when she saw Derek carrying a book in his hands. "Oh, where are you going?"

"To find the Great Animal."

"Oh, wonderful. But be here for tomorrow night."

Derek paused in his tracks. "Tomorrow night?" he asked, confused.

"Uh. The ball."

"Mother, I… I can't. Oh please, mother. Don't do the lip thing," Derek pleaded, helplessly as he watched his mom quivering her lip. "If I leave now, maybe I can be back in time."

She then let out an excited squeal as she laughed. "OH! Thank you, darling!"

"But please, mother, don't turn it into one of your beauty pageants."

"Oh, no no no no no. It's just a few friends… And their daughters. I want this to be big. Every princess must have her own introduction," she rambled.

Chamberlain sputtered. "But you said—"

"Forget what I said. Now, send for the cooks and tell the band to start rehearsing! And I want four footmen for every carriage," she giggled. "Maybe five!"

Derek shook his head as he heard his mother's squeals and as he turned around the corner, he heard voices.

"See? I say the library and he was in the library! I was right, hyuck!"

Derek grinned. "Hey guys. Doing anything exciting lately?"

"No," Donald answered grumpily.

"We thought we could hit the library and do on some research on how to 'stop losing Sora' because we could never seem to find Sora," Riku stated as he shook his head. "That kid…I swear…"

Derek laughed. "Well, good luck!"

He was about to go until he stopped. "Oh by the way, this upcoming week, we have a ball and you're all welcome to attend to it if you like."


"Let me get this straight. You mean every night when the moonlight leaves the lake you transform into a Swan?" Sora said, trying to connect the dots. This was all too confusing.

"Right. The following night, if I want to turn back into a human, I have to be on the lake," Odette nodded.

"Hmph. All she needs is a little moonlight. Me, I 'ave to be smooched," Jean-Bob replied.

"No fear. You fly to your prince, we bring him back to the lake. The moon comes up, you change into a princess and, happily ever after," Puffin laughed as he made a trumpet noise.

"How do we find him?" Odette asked, sadly.

Puffin dropped Jean-Bob from shock. "You don't even know where he is?"

Odette shook her head.

"I bet he does," Speed said as he pointed to the castle up ahead but his tone held with disdain.

Jean-Bob scoffed at the ridiculous idea. "Oh that's a great idea. Just say, 'Monsieur Rothbart, I'd like to leave now, do you have a map or something?'"

Sora racked in his brains for an answer. Hasn't he saw the prince somewhere? He widened his eyes. Oh, that's right!

"Er, if we're looking for the same prince, which I assume we are, his name is Derek right?" Sora asked.

Odette nodded.

"Well, that's easy! Derek's in the castle!"

Odette gasped. "The castle! Oh, that's even more wonderful! But now all we need is a…"

"Map!" Puffin and Odette exclaimed which made Jean-Bob shriek.

"We?" Jean-Bob exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"You mean, you're not going to help us?" Puffin asked.

"Even I have to agree with Jean-Bob, going to an all-powerful wizard's lair, it could be tricky," Sora said.

"But Sora, that's why we also have you. Do you have magic?" Odette asked.

Sora stared at her before he backed away and then he raised his arm so that it was in front of him and with a breath, something started to be materialize in his hand. Jean-Bob squeaked as Puffin stared at the strangely shaped weapon.

"What is that thing?" Puffin asked, staring at the weapon suspiciously.

"This? This is a Keyblade. It's what I use to fight in battles and well…have magic spells," Sora explained.

But it didn't chose me, Sora thought but he decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

"Okay so. What's the plan? How are we going to get the map from um…er…?" Sora scratched his head. "What was his name again?"

"Rothbart," Speed replied. "Since you can't fly, Sora, why not have Puffin and Odette fly around the castle just to scout around the area and to check out the area as to where the map could possibly be located?"

Sora wanted to object with the "I can't fly" but he decided against it. He supposed being in a low profile would be a good idea. He didn't know if this world contains 'flying humans'.

"Um…yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Sora nodded.

Jean-Bob widened his eyes. "Wait! We're actually doing this?" when no one answered since Odette and Puffin already flew away, he muttered. "We're all gonna die."

The rest that were on the ground waited for the two to return which made Sora be lost in thoughts. He was in a world where there were powers that were capable to transform a human to a swan. Isn't that familiar? He racked his brains until he remembered about Merida. Her mom was also transformed by a spell too. To a bear.

In all honesty, in some ways, these two worlds aren't so different after all.

"It's hanging on the wall. In the upper chamber!" Odette shouted as they came back, snapping Sora back to reality.

He really has to stop being so lost.

"Odette can keep a look-out while we get the map," Puffin said.

"That's great!" Sora said.

"We?" Jean-Bob sputtered.

"You're not going to help us?" Puffin asked.

"Oui! What if this plan fails? This will be suicidal and all of you would be a sitting duck!"

Sora grinned. Jean-Bob really does remind him of Donald. He would also freak out whenever a plan is bad.

"Come on. I promise it won't be that hard. We'll be in and out of there quicker than you can say Rothbart."

"Rothbart," Jean-Bob said bluntly, still not amused.

"Aw, come on. I didn't mean to say it now."

Puffin chuckled. "No fear!" he exclaimed as he and Speed dragged Jean-Bob who kept yelling.

"Don't, stop it! Stop it! Don't! I value my life!"

The group then met at the front of the evil villain's castle. Sure, they had the nerves because so many things can happen but now is not the time to make a 'what-if' list. Sora looked at the others who nodded before he pushed the door open though he was surprised to see that it was swinging open for them. Well, that was easy.

He narrowed his eyes.

Too easy.

As they all filed in, Sora noticed that the main entrance was deserted. No sign of life. Where was Rothbart? Was he expecting them? Was that why no one was here?

"All right, quickly!" Puffin whispered.

"Easy for you to say. Ouch!" Speed muttered as he got stuck by the door in between. Sora pulled the door open wide enough so that the turtle can walk from it.

"Whenever I have to do something quick, I always bring a turtle," Jean-Bob said annoyed.

"Alright guys," Sora whispered. "Where should we go?"

Puffin shook his head. "I have no idea. But it's in the upper floor so maybe…um…the right?"

Sora shrugged. "Worth a try."

Much to their luck, after scouting around the levels endlessly, they eventually got to the right floor but as they climbed yet another case of stairs, Speed spoke.

"I think I pulled a muscle," he said as he shook his leg.

"I'm gonna die! I knew it! I'm on a dangerous mission with a lame turtle! You're gonna get us all killed!" Jean-Bob exclaimed as he waved his hands dramatically. Upon doing so, he accidentally knocked at a knight that was standing nearby and the armor suddenly started to fall, one by one which made a loud clattering noise.

Puffin and Sora instantly ran towards it to stop it from falling completely even though some parts of it already tumbled to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Sora said, trying to keep the Knight balanced.

"Beat ya," Speed grinned as he saw Puffin, Jean-Bob and Sora who caught up to him.

"Hey, it's Odette," Sora said as he opened the window for her to let in.

"And there's the map!" Jean-Bob exclaimed as Puffin made a fly towards the map where he took it off the wall with his beak. The map rolled down the table which captured Jean-Bob in the process and he gave out a yelp. Before he could fall, Puffin was quick to save him and then like a trumpet, he blew into the hole of the paper where Jean-Bob was spat out but he got knocked into a book as he flew across.

"Jean-Bob!" Sora exclaimed and he ran towards the fallen frog. But as he did though, Puffin suddenly let out a scream followed by a bang as though something got closed.

"Yikes," Speed said as he saw the newcomer with an evil grin.

Sora freed Jean-Bob from the book only to see the chaos. "Oh no! Who are you?"

"No time! Head for the door!" Puffin shouted as he flew away from the person.

Unfortunately, the lady trapped the door which made them pause in their tracks. And the group huddled towards each other, making a plan.

"All right. Jean-Bob goes deep, Speed gets the hand-off. Sora, you distract her. Ready?" Puffin asked.

"Hey, you! Bet you can't catch me!" Sora shouted, making a funny face which irritated the person.

She then ran after Sora who avoided her hands. They were so close in getting out of here. The sooner, the better. Sora grinned as he jumped on the table which made the hag hit her head, making her fall.

"I'm open, I'm open!" Jean-Bob shouted as Speed threw the map. Jean-Bob caught it which made Sora shout from victory but then he started to lose his balance when he saw that the table was shaking from the woman.

"Hey, cut that out!" Sora exclaimed before he made a somersault over the woman who got confused at first.

"Wind!" Sora shouted and the blast of power knocked the hag away but not for long though. It seemed that the attack didn't do much since she was already up on her feet with a mad gleam in her eyes.

"So much for your oh mighty powers," Jean-Bob smirked.

"I just got my Keyblade," Sora muttered irritated.

The group resumed their running but the frog didn't watched where he was going since the map covered his view and he saw sent falling over the rail, falling endlessly to the pit.

"Jean-Bob!" Sora shouted but he got captured by the hag who tackled him to the floor. He was fighting with her who stole the mysterious weapon from his hands. She stared at the blade in fascination but it dissolved into thin air which made her be surprise.

Meanwhile, Speed was quick on his feet by using a nearby rope where he grabbed Jean-Bob by the map and the two was sent back to the solid ground.

"Saved ya," Speed smirked.

"Yeah, that's right. You don't get no special blade!" Sora smirked before he used his strength to push her off and she was sent rolling away. "Let's go!"

But after a small mishap, Puffin, Speed and Jean-Bob were all sent sliding down the floor as Sora ran after them.

"That's cheating!" he called out before he slid down the rail from the staircase where he easily caught up with them. The hag was close on their trail too but she misaim her target and crashed to the upper wall as the group flew out of the window.

Author's Note: Alright, I'm gonna end the chaos here! Haha. So, they got the map and now they are ready to go back to the castle. Sora did got lost after he went away from his friends so he wouldn't really know the path which was why they still needed the map. What happens next? Find out! Toodles!