Chapter 30
As expected, they went a few days without an attack. And they knew this was probably the day the Enchantress would show up. Snow White had already left with Jack very early in the morning; Snow had explained that they needed to leave early for their mission's prerequisite. Thankfully, Snow was used to waking up early and Jack didn't need to sleep at all. M, who had previously been staying in Snow White's kingdom, stayed at the castle with the others in their place. The other princesses hadn't seen M in a fight before, but they at least knew she had magic powers. There were guards waiting vigilantly and the group had agreed to sleep in the same clothes they would be fighting in so they would be ready for an attack at any moment.
It was early in the morning when the sun was still raising and there were no signs of an army approaching yet. Rapunzel and Eugene were still asleep; a member of the castle staff was tasked with waking everyone up, but it was not yet the time. They laid quite peacefully despite the danger they had been expecting. Rapunzel was laying on her side next to Eugene with her hand on his chest and he had his arm around her. They looked so precious that even the Enchantress almost found it charming as she stared at them.
Careful not to make any noise, the Enchantress closed the door behind her. She didn't want anyone to see or hear her turn Eugene and Rapunzel into statues. The Enchantress was quite proud of herself for sneaking into the castle undetected. She knew they'd expect an army charging straight for the castle. But who would have suspected the Enchantress to be so subtle? She took another look at the sleeping couple. Her excitement to easily turn them into emerald statues was only slightly hampered by her disappointment. She had hoped that Elsa would have been the first victim she stumbles across, but Elsa was still sleeping at the inn. The Enchantress prepared her green claws and slowly made her way to the side of the bed. She stopped when she realized that she'd never done this to someone in their sleep. They were likely to wake up and scream, alerting the others. The Enchantress carefully planned how she would go about this. She knew that if she stabbed her claws near their lips, their mouths were turn to emerald before they had the chance to scream. The Enchantress positioned her claws over their faces and . . .
Suddenly, the door opened and M entered just in time. "Hey Raps? I thought I heard some- WHOA!" Acting fast, M teleported to the other side of the bed and shot a powerful lightning strike which sent the Enchantress flying out the door.
Eugene and Rapunzel were startled awake and sat up as soon as they stopped fumbling around in terror.
The Enchantress got to her feet quickly, wondering how anyone could have heard her when she was being so quiet. M quickly grabbed Eugene and Rapunzel and teleported with them into Ariel's bedroom. Unfortunately, Eugene and Rapunzel were still in sitting position when they reappeared without a bed below them and they instantly fell onto the floor.
Woken up by the thud, Ariel sprang up and asked, "What happened?!"
Rapunzel explained, "The Enchantress is here, in the castle! Thankfully, M was awake a little earlier than usual."
Eugene added, "And we left our weapons in the room we last saw her in."
Acting quickly, knowing she had to find Merida before the Enchantress did, M held out her open hands and smoke erupted from each of them, morphing into weapons; once again, a sword for Eugene and a frying pan for Rapunzel. As soon as they grabbed their weapons, M teleported to Merida's room. "The Enchantress is here! Get up! Get up!" M shouted in panic.
Merida leaped off the floor, still half asleep. Her feet started moving and she wasting no time in bumped into the wardrobe. Merida spun around in circles, trying to remember where her weapons were. Finally, her barely open eyes latched onto her weapons laying on the dresser and with ever step, she almost fell over sideways. Merida grabbed her quiver of arrow and tried to wrap it over her shoulder, but missed twice before she got it on properly.
M woke up Elsa and Phillip and teleported them to the castle as well. Thankfully, it was going to be far easier to find the Enchantress in Ariel's small castle than it had been to find Aurora and Snow's larger castle. Especially since the Enchantress was trying to find them.
The Enchantress wrapped her magic whips around various bits of furniture and threw them at Ariel. Making a tactical retreat, Ariel burst into the dining room and waited. Two of the four walls were mostly windows with a good view of the ocean. Once upon a time, there had been little other than water in that view, but now there were many floating platforms to be seen in the distance. When the Enchantress barged in, Rapunzel and Eugen rushed from each side and swung their weapons at her. Eugene put a shallow cut into her arm and Rapunzel clanked her frying pan against her head. The Enchantress used a shockwave to get them away from her.
Ariel leapt off the table, her trident pointing at the Enchantress's heart. The Enchantress changed into fireballs and passed Ariel. The Enchantress reconstituted herself on the table and started shooting mist out of her hands which soaked into the chairs around the table. There were only three chair at the time and Ariel didn't hesitate to do away with them. The trident ignited with a doomful glow. In a strange way, the trident orange light filled the room and yet their surroundings looked darker; as if all other sources of light were quelled by the trident. Ariel shot a beam of light from the trident into the chairs and table which caused them to violently explode. The explosions launched the Enchantress into the air where she created a shield made out of emerald. When Ariel shot at her, the Enchantress blocked the beam with her shield and cast it away less than a second before an explosion erupted from it. The Enchantress landed and said, "Do you think it was worth the loss?"
"What are you talking about?" Ariel asked.
"The trident. Was it worth killing your family to get that weapon?"
Ariel looked like she herself was about to explode. Did the Enchantress just accuse her of killing her own family? "Say that again!"
The Enchantress said in a condescending voice, "Are you happy with yourself for slaughtering your father and sisters to obtain a glowing dinglehopper?"
Ariel grit her teeth in rage. "How dare you! I did not kill my family!"
"Don't play innocent, Ariel. I know it couldn't have been anyone else." The Enchantress addressed Rapunzel, saying, "Did you ever ask her if she looked for her family's killer?"
"Shut up!" Ariel demanded, pointing the trident threateningly at the Enchantress. "It was you, wasn't it? You killed them and now you're trying to blame it on me!"
The Enchantress looked at her seriously and said, "Ariel, I didn't kill your family. . . . Though I wish I had."
Rapunzel dropped her jaw at the Enchantress's audacity. Ariel screamed in a fit of rage and shot at the Enchantress again.
The Enchantress turned into fireballs and flew passed Ariel's beam of light. She turned back into her human form in front of Ariel and prepared her claws. Rapunzel flung some of her impossibly long hair around Ariel's waist and pulled her out of the path of the Enchantress's claws.
Eugene rushed in and slashed at the Enchantress, only leaving a shallow cut in her side. The Enchantress covered her fist in emerald, but before she could use that emerald, she was struck with surge of ice. The Enchantress almost attack afterward, but she was knocked back by a lightning strike. M had teleported to the room, bringing Fauna, Merryweather, Merida, Phillip, and Elsa with her.
As soon as the Enchantress was on her feet again, an arrow hit right between her eyes and slid up her forehead, leaving a nasty cut.
"That was for Macintosh!" Merida declared.
The Enchantress casually touched the blood on her face and examined the sample covering her fingertips. "And what did I do to Macintosh in particular?"
"Don't play dumb!" Merida demanded. "You know what you've put us through! You sent your beasts to kill us, you tricked Macintosh into attackin muh family, and fer some reason you made everyone forget about Belle!"
The Enchantress stayed silent. That name made her stand a little straighter as she stared at Merida.
One year ago.
Belle never thought it would be strange to adapt to having a human lover. She had oddly gotten used to Adam's beastly appearance and when the curse was broken, she barely recognized him. His eyes were the same at least; that help ease Belle into his new look. In time, she had gotten used to the new him. And in time, she was making a positive difference at his side.
One day, Belle had just finished a visit at her father's house and as soon as she went out the door, she was found by a woman.
"Uh, bonjour." Belle said uncertainly. She had never met her before which was odd considering the small seize of the town she used to live in. Yet there she was, seemingly to see her.
"Hello, Belle," the woman said. Her tone was soft and friendly. "I was hoping I could speak with you. More accurately, I wanted to thank you."
"Alright. I suppose being thanked isn't such a bad way to spend my time. What have I done that you'd like to thank me for?"
The woman before Belle got a little misty-eyed. "I'd like to thank you for everything. Let me introduced myself. But first, let assure you that I come with peaceful intent."
"I could tell that from the fact that you came to thank me."
The woman cautiously said, "Then, on with the introduction. My name is Lenore. I am the Enchantress who . . . who cursed your Adam."
Belle took a step back in shock.
"You must not be frightened, Belle."
"Y-you cursed Adam?" Belle whispered.
"I did. But I will not be cursing him once more. Not after what you've done."
"Did it mean that much to you that I broke that curse?"
"It meant more than you can possibly imagine that you changed Adam into the man he has become. With you at his side, much progress has been made. Education has improved and this place has become much more egalitarian all thanks to you. When I arrived at his castle twelve years ago, I was so angry. I couldn't stand that people as bratty as him end up with that kind of power. I considered killing him for ruling the way he had. Belle, I have been working for . . . a long time to make this world a better place. I had been trying to find peaceful solutions for kingdoms with poor leadership. For so long, I felt the urge to simply kill them all; everyone who wears a crown."
Despite the Enchantress's prior disclaimers, Belle was getting a little nervous.
"But now," the Enchantress continued, "whenever I start thinking that peaceful solutions don't work, I think of you and I realize how wrong I would have been to kill him. You, Belle have kept hope in my soul."
Belle considered her words. She had something to say, but she had to summon her courage for it. "It wasn't the most peaceful solution to curse-"
"To curse the castle staff," the Enchantress said, wincing. "I know. I was so angry with Adam and in my rage, I considered them guilty by association. But I shouldn't have. I have found clarity since then and . . . cursing them for Adam's actions . . . unjustifiable. Thank you, Belle, for giving me this clarity. I'll never forget you for that."
In the middle of Ariel's dining room, in the presence of so many of her enemies, the Enchantress pondered that name. There was something about the Enchantress's demeanor that made the group curious to hear what the Enchantress would say about Belle. The Enchantress dared to take one step closer. While all other eyes were on her, the Enchantress looked straight at Merida, the one who had brought up the curse that made people forget about Belle. And then the Enchantress said something that everyone found to be very surprising. "Who is Belle?"
Author's Note: If anyone would like to write a review for this chapter, I have one request. Please write a spoiler warning if you wish to talk about the ending of this chapter. I wouldn't want new readers to look at the reviews and see that so soon.