Chapter 7

Tuesday

December 22, 2015

Oswald leaned against the doorframe, watching the sunrise with the morning guard posted outside the Princess' hut. From her home he could look down on the island as an orange light peaked over the horizon. He looked out at the ocean, wishing he could see anyone on the water's surface. He stood straight, rubbing his eyes before looking out onto the water once more. He could swear he could make out a small plane flying towards the island. Hoping he wasn't hallucinating, he turned his eyes back down on the village to divert his guard from thinking he had seen anything of note. Struggling to keep the wide smile from his face, Oswald let out a long yawn. With his free hand he waved at the guard before stepping back inside the hut. Looking down at the Princess laying sprawled out on her bed, he noticed she still held her arm out that she had ordered him to sleep in. A shiver ran down Oswald's spine, hoping he could sleep in his wife's arms tonight. Fear poked at the hope building inside him. He turned to a bowl of fruit sitting on a table by a window and picked out an apple for breakfast as he looked out the window. A nice morning breeze blew in, softly blowing back the thin cloth that was curtains.

Oswald took a bite of the apple and looked out the window, wishing he could see the plane again but he was now looking north. All he could do was hope it was a rescue party of some sort, and that no one would see the plane until after it landed.

" ," the Princess called, her voice muffled by sleep.

"You know, I have a name," Oswald said through a mouthful of apple. Swallowing he turned around and looked her in the eyes as the girl turned to her side. "You don't have to whistle for me like a dog."

"It's just your name in my language," the Princess informed. "Well, not your name, I guess." She pushed herself up, letting her blanket fall to her waist, as she asked, "How long will it take you before you go crazy being your bother?"

"As long as it takes to survive," Oswald said, giving her a silent growl.

The Princess smiled as she threw off the blanket so she could hang her legs off of her overly stuffed bed. Oswald diverted his eyes as she let out a yawn, stretching her arms upwards. Once she dropped her arms back to her bed she looked at the rabbit and said, "You've earned today." A sneaky smile pulled on her lips as she added, "Let's see if you can earn tomorrow."

"So does that mean I can trust food?" Oswald asked, taking a bite out of his breakfast.

"Why would I kill you with food?" the Princess asked, sounding frustrated.

Oswald moved back to the table with the fruit and looked back out the window as he heard her rise to her feet. He let her get dressed behind him before he asked, "Why do you want Mickey this badly?"

"I guess you could say I fell in love," the Princess said, wrapping her arms around his chest and placing her head on his shoulder.

"But he's only got eyes for Minnie," Oswald said, cringing internally away from her touch. "And I've got a wife."

"That's why I had to resort to kidnapping," the Princess said, taking hold of Oswald's white shirt in both hands.

"And if you could turn me into Mickey, why not turn one of your subjects into him?" Oswald asked.

"Tried, failed." The Princess let out a sigh that brushed Oswald's ear fur the wrong way. "They all died in a tangled mess."

"Ug," Oswald grimaced, the mental image unwelcomed in his mind.

"Come on, I wanna show you the village," the Princess said, releasing his shirt before taking her arms back.

Oswald forced down the last of his breakfast apple and turned to follow her out of her house. Tossing the apple core into the trees just to the west of her hut, they picked up the guard and traveled down the hill. Oswald looked around, curious but cautious of what he let run through his mind. He saw women and children with large jugs gathering as if to go in a group to fetch water for the day. As the Princess and her two followers passed, the adults gave her a polite bow of recognition.

The Princess brought Oswald to the rock in the center of the path and placed a hand on it. She turned to look at him and said, "This is the most important of all the island. When my ancestors found these people, they were cannibals. With my family's help they have become the civilization you see today."

"So what does the rock have to do with your family?" Oswald asked, pointing at the road block.

"My family brought it with them as a reminder to where we came from."

"And a reminder you're not even from this world?" Mickey's voice asked.

"Huh?" The Princess and Oswald turned to the voice, the guard already holding his spear with both hands, only to find no one on the path. "Show yourself!" the Princess ordered.

"That rock, and you, belong back in the realm of the impossible," Mickey's voice said from their right.

"No, this is my island," the Princess stated, her hands in fists at her sides.

"Sure, now it is," Mickey's voice said from behind them, getting the guard to turn on his heels and aim his spear towards it. "But you should know better than to draw attention to yourself."

"Kidnapping Oswald?" Mickey's voice said as a bush moved to their right. The three turned to see Mickey coming out of the long leaves.

"You should know better than to mess with my family," Mickey said, the voice coming from behind them as another Mickey stepped out of cover.

"Two Mickeys?" Oswald asked.

"What type of trick is this?" the Princess asked, looking back at the first mouse that appeared.

"Oh, no trick," a new Mickey said as an army slowly stepped out of hiding to surround the Princess and her guard.

"Well, maybe a little magic involved," a new Mickey said, letting out a laugh. That Mickey pointed a hand at the three and created an aura around Oswald, lifting him slightly off the ground.

"No! He's mine!" the Princess ordered, flicking out a hand to take over control of Oswald's ascent.

"Think again, sister!" Mickey's voice called out before a different mouse jumped up and grabbed Oswald around the waist.

"Get them!"

"I've got the guard!" a Mickey called out, disarming the dog of his spear.

Oswald looked down to see another Mickey had grabbed hold of the first one, trying to pull him back down to the ground as the Princess rose him higher.

"And this is for taking him!" a Mickey called out right before a mouse punched the Princess in the face. The girl dropped her hand and faltered a moment, holding her injured cheek as she stared at the mouse who assaulted her.

Oswald fell back to the ground with the two that had tried to be his anchor, letting out an "Ouf!" Sitting up, he looked at the two Mickeys and held a hand to his throat. "Hey! My voice is back!"

"Keep on attacking her!" one of the two Mickeys ordered as they quickly got to their feet.

"You don't have ta tell me twice!"

"Get Oswald out of here!"

Oswald found a gloved hand grab his and pull him out of the fray.

"No! Bring him back to me!" the Princess cried out.

"How can you tell who he is?" a Mickey asked, swiping her legs out from under her.

The Princess fell on her back with a scream. Letting out a few notes of order to the locals, she quickly rose back to her feet.

"Come on, we've got to go!" Mickey's voice ordered, pulling on Oswald.

Oswald lost his footing as his vision blurred on him. "Hey! Hold on," he tried as gravity took a turn on him without his say so.

"Ortensia! Help me with him," the Mickey holding onto him ordered as the sounds of battle over took Oswald's hearing.

"Ortensia's here?" Oswald asked only to realize his back was now on the ground. He closed his eyes, not sure if he deserved to see his wife, only to slowly open them to find he was being carried between two people.

"Hey, sit him down, he's coming to," a female voice ordered.

Oswald found himself being sat on a wooden surface, his back resting against something cold. He looked up to see one of the Mickeys stepping closer to him, removing his ears to show a pair of cat ears. "I feel like I've woken up in some old nightmare," Oswald admitted, holding a hand to his head. Something black hanging down over his head caught his attention. He reached up to find one of his long ears.

"Do ya t'ink I should get 'im some water?" a girl's voice asked.

"That might be wise," a different female voice said, one of the Mickeys nodding his head.

"What happened?" Oswald asked. "And why are you all that mouse?"

"Get your bearings first," Captain Churchmouse said as the older mouse walked over with Scrooge right beside him.

"What a daft thing to go and do, boy," Scrooge chastised. "What were you going to do if Mickey hadn't've come up with this plan?"

"Just going one day at a time," Oswald admitted, leaning close to the cat petting his head that he knew to be Ortensia now that her fake mouse ears were gone. He looked over the mice as one of them pulled out a handkerchief to wipe at their face, removing a black coloring from her forehead to reveal white fur. "Which one's the real Mickey?"

"Hey Oswald," Mickey's voice said as the one wearing his normal blue shirt and red pants stepped closer. Guess we should start from the beginning."

"You remember yesterday, when the Princess let you speak before dinner?" Churchmouse asked.

Oswald nodded his head as the mouse with an accent walked over. He looked up to notice her ears were removed, showing a long braid and two strands of bangs, and took the water bottle she handed him. "Thanks."

"We understood that as if she had too much on her mind, her hold on you would be broken," the mouse with white fur showing out from under her black disguise offered.

"Let me introduce everybody," Mickey offered. "That's Manny, she's similar to the Princess."

"From the realm of the Impossible?" Oswald asked, remembering one of the Mickeys on the island using the name.

"Correct," Manny said with a nod of her head. "A few years ago Mickey was a traveler through the realm, but he stopped when he had too many family commitments. Nice to finally meet that family." She threw a look at Mickey and added, "Why don't you bring them to the White Mouse and introduce them one of these days. Pipwolf would appreciate it."

"It'd be nice to see everyone again too," Mickey offered with a sad smile. He turned back to Oswald and added, "Manny's also the one that helped make the disguises work and made everyone have my voice."

"Creepy," Oswald commented before taking a swig of his water.

"This is Eric, my stunt double at work," Mickey offered, motioning to the mice in turn. "King Michael of Medioka, Detective Milly from Rat City, Inspector Mouset from Paris, Eurasia Toft, Melody Bernard-"

"Basically they called around for anyone who could pass as Mickey," a female voice interjected.

"Madeline?" Oswald asked, recognizing the voice as a mouse wiping black powder from her fur stepped forward.

"You remember her?" Minnie asked, surprised.

"Does that mean your memory's back?" Ortensia asked, her hand freezing on his neck.

"I think, for the most part anyway," Oswald offered, looking over at the cat without makeup on beside him. A pit formed in his stomach as he promised himself to tell her what the Princess had forced him to do.

"That's good," Ortensia said, smiling at him as her hand resumed petting.

"I hate to rescue and run, but I've got to get back," a posh voice admitted as a mouse wearing Mickey's red suit stepped over to Scrooge. "Is my suit still in your car?"

"Yes, let me take you there," Scrooge offered. He looked at Oswald and said, "Glad to see you home."

"You and me both," Oswald said, raising what was left of his water bottle to the retreating duck only for a yawn to overtake him.

"How are you feeling? Good enough to walk?" Ortensia asked, removing her arm from his back.

"I don't know about the whole way home, but I should be good for a bit," Oswald admitted. He pushed himself off of the wooden crate they had put him on only to wobble under his own weight.

"Whoa, gottcha," Milly said, the first to grab Oswald's shoulders to prevent him from falling.

"Thank you," Oswald offered, catching himself with bent knees. "Guess I'm a little more wobbly than I thought."

"Here, let me help you to the car," Madeline offered, putting her arm under Oswald's.

"I'm not that bad off," Oswald said as his wife took up his other side.

"I don't want to lose you again," Ortensia defended.