Meanwhile, Alise was soon coming down the steps, wearing her hair down, and was in a ruby red princess dress as she looked around.
"Oh, hey there, Alise," Cherry said as she came with her friends before she attempted to smile in a friendly way. "You feeling any better?"
"Oh... I'm not sure... I still have a lot on my mind..." Alise said softly before sighing which made Cherry quickly frown in empathy and concern for the poor girl. "I really miss my father."
"I know and Odette can relate," Cherry said. "But just know your father will always be with you in your heart."
Alise smiled as she placed her right hand over her heart.
"Yeah, there you go," Cherry smiled back softly. "It's going to be okay."
Alise then suddenly hugged Cherry.
"...Okay," Cherry said, trying to put up with the hug for as long as possible, though it seemed to take a while longer than she thought it would. "...All right, that's enough... Stop ruining a good moment."
Alise smiled before letting go and then looked around.
"Uh... Okay then... Let's try to have some fun." Cherry suggested.
"I think I know something fun." Mo smirked as she spoke up.
"This should be good." Cherry said.
"Um, okay." Alise said to Mo.
Mo soon went to go up the stairs. Alise was about to follow.
"Ah, ah, don't follow me yet." Mo said as she stopped Alise.
Alise merely blinked and looked around before stepping backwards with a shrug.
"Mo, are you sure it's a good idea to do that away from home?!" Cherry called out.
"Re-lax," Mo smirked before she sat on top of the banister. "I do this all the time whenever no one else is looking at home, 'specially Aunt Sarah."
"I wonder about that girl sometimes." Cherry rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"BANZAI!" Mo called out and she soon laughed and slid down the banister to show Alise what she was going to show her.
"Whoa." Alise smiled.
"Fun, right?" Mo asked as she landed on her feet.
"Yeah." Alise nodded.
"You wanna try it?" Mo asked in excitement.
"Um... I guess I could give it a try," Alise replied. "But won't Princess Odette be mad?"
"Ah, don't worry about getting into trouble," Mo replied. "Have some fun in your young life! You only live once after all!"
"She's right." Cherry nodded.
"Hmm... Well, alright." Alise smiled as she went up the stairs.
"Besides, I highly doubt Odette would get mad at her." Mo said to Cherry.
"You mean like how you thought Aunt Sarah wouldn't be mad and caught you doing that cuz you knocked down her cats the last time you did that?" Cherry smirked and crossed her arms.
"Those cats got in my way!" Mo retorted.
"Yeah, it was funny though," Cherry smirked. "I never liked those cats."
"I don't think anyone else even likes them besides her." Mo rolled her eyes before smirking back.
"Like this?" Alise asked as she came up the stairs and came to sit on the banister.
"That's right!" Mo smiled and nodded. "Now just slide down and trust me, it's a lot more fun than a playground slide!"
"Um, okay," Alise said before sliding down the banister. "Whee!" She soon jumped once she got to the end of the banister and landed on her feet.
"How was that?" Mo smiled at Alise.
"That was pretty great!" Alise smiled back.
"I thought you'd like it!" Mo beamed warmly.
Alise smiled as she seemed to cheer up a bit.
"I think you could use some real palace fun right about now," Mo suggested. "Hmm... What else should we do?"
"Mo, are you sure this is a good idea?" Thor whispered to the tomboy. "I mean... She did lose her father in a fire."
"Oh, I know, but I wanna help cheer her up," Mo replied. "Believe me, I know losing family is very rough and tough, but we should be here for her. Like big brothers and sisters."
"That does make sense." Thor nodded.
"So then let's have palace fun." Mo smiled.
"Yeah." Alise smiled back.
"Come along then," Mo beamed. "I'll make this experience unforgettable."
"Somehow I feel like living in the castle with Cinderella and Prince Charming would've been more adventurous if Mo had been there with me and Atticus." Cherry smirked to herself.
"You better believe that," Mo smirked back smugly. "That Prudence lady you guys talked about sounded like a real stick in the mud."
"Girl, you have no idea." Cherry rolled her eyes at the memories of Prudence.
Soon, some palace fun began for Alise along with her new friends who acted like substitute big brothers and sisters until she would feel better, given her tragedy before Odette and Derek brought her back home with them. Mo burst opened the front doors before Alise looked nervous and tried to hide behind one of the curtains before they would all go outside. Mo soon opened up the curtain where Alise was hiding and smiled as they went to go to have fun with Thor and Cherry.
'I somehow feel like Odette should get in on this.' Thor thought to himself.
Odette soon slid down the banister next.
"...Hello, Odette." Cherry blinked.
"I was right." Thor beamed at himself.
"I'm sure you were." Cherry rolled her eyes.
"Were you all about to go out and have some fun without me?" Odette smirked as she landed on the floor and put her hands on her hips as she looked excited.
"What? No, of course not." Mo smiled.
"Yeah, we were just waiting on you." Thor said.
'Great way of asking her to join us.' Cherry thought sarcastically.
"Today's the day for adventure!~" Odette began to sing as they were on their way outside. "So many things to try, Play Hide & Seek in the castle, Explore the countryside~" she then started.
They soon came to a table that looked like it was being set up for Queen Uberta's birthday party, but they decided to use it anyway to cheer up Alise.
"We can throw a party with our friends!" Odette continued as Puffin blew a noisemaker as Jean-Bob slipped and fell, getting his face in the cake. "Go try on all of my shoes~," she then added as she brought Alise inside to try on some shoes like at a shopping mall. "Have a picnic down by the water~"
Alise and Odette sat together with a picnic as Jean-Bob slipped and fell into the lake behind them.
"Take in the mountain view, I don't know how to plan the day, Until I hear what you have to say, Can you give me a clue? Which one sounds fun to you?~" Odette continued, giving Alise a noisemaker and party hat.
Alise then blew the noisemaker, making some mushrooms fall from it and into Queen Uberta's hair, making both her and Odette giggle a little.
"The Queen better not mind us using her party supplies." Cherry muttered a bit thickly.
"Oh, I'm sure she won't mind." Thor smiled.
"You better hope so." Cherry muttered.
"Well, at least Alise is starting to feel better." Tyke whispered to the others.
Soon, Odette brought Alise over to a swing set and began to swing with her. Mo smiled along with the others, except for maybe Cherry who was just being her usual self.
"Tell me what you're thinking~" Odette sang before swinging them right off of the swing and they landed in a big pile of hay like Fall leaves. "Because I wanna hear from you~"
"Now it's like a hayride!" Mo beamed. "Do you like hayrides, Alise?"
"Is that like when Papa would ride me around to collect firewood?" Alise asked softly.
"Well, no, this one you can sit in the hay and ride around and have fun," Mo explained. "It's a lot of fun."
"Especially on Halloween." Cherry smirked.
"I haven't had a ride like that before." Alise then said softly.
"Well, then we'll let you experience it first hand." Thor smiled.
"Yeah." Tyke nodded.
"Um, okay." Alise replied.
"Eventually, we'll see about that." Cherry said before she began to do something with some of the hay.
"What're you doing?" Alise asked her, trying to look.
"It's a prize." Cherry replied.
"A prize?" Alise asked.
"The best kind of prize is a 'sur'prise." Cherry said with a sly smirk before she continued doing what she was doing.
"She's right." Tyke smiled.
"Yep." Mo nodded.
"Oh, yeah." Thor smiled.
"Ooh, I wonder what it is?" Alise said.
Eventually, everyone else came out to the courtyard to see a bunch of people with Rogers and Queen Uberta as Rogers was dancing and the royal orchestra was playing music including Chamberlain and Bridget's company.
"Alise, these are our friends we were telling you about." Odette smiled as she introduced the young girl to the company.
Speed, Jean-Bob, and Puffin soon came by to meet Alise.
"Feels good to dance to the rhythm~" Jean-Bob sang as he hopped off of Speed's shell. "So let the music play~"
Alise smiled and cupped her mouth as she started to laugh a little bit.
"Your toes will tap to the beat now~" Jean-Bob continued to sing as Speed began to dance like a robot.
"Your hips will swing and sway~" Speed sang as he danced before he was suddenly knocked down by Puffin.
"Before we jam in the spotlight, repeat this one last step!~" Puffin sang as he balanced himself on the turtle's shell back.
"Have you ever heard of the moonhop?" Jean Bob asked as he began to do the moonwalk.
"Check out my pirouette." Speed said as he began to spin around on the back of his shell.
Cherry rolled her eyes a bit before she seemed to smirk a little.
"You think it could really work?" Queen Uberta whispered to the others.
"It'd take a lot to outsmart her~" Cherry replied in a singing voice before she glared at herself. "Wait, why am I singing? I don't know this song!" she then complained.
"Can you give us a clue?~" Everyone else sang to Alise as the animals did all of their unique dances. "Which one looks good to you?~"
"Have you ever seen this?" Puffin asked Alise as he balanced on his wing before he began to breakdance.
"Cool." Tyke smiled to himself.
"Oh-Ohh, we wanna hear what you're thinking, Oh-ohh, we wanna hear it from you, Oh-ohh, tell us what you're dreaming, Oh-ohh, 'cuz we wanna hear it from you~" Everyone sang to Alise.
Odette, Alise, and the others soon arrived in the kitchen as Odette helped tie an apron on Alise.
"Here are my ingredients, my dear, The perfect broth," Chef Ferdinand sang to Alise as she stepped over as he stirred a pot he was cooking with before he tasted a sample and looked unhappy with the result. "It's missing something, It's a little off~" he then held out his spoon for her to try.
Alise then took a taste before she seemed to not like it either. "Eww!" she then pouted.
"It is hard to taste, but it's not your fault~" Chef Ferdinand then said before taking out a container of salt. "All it needs is a pinch of... Hm?"
Alise then stood up on the chef's stool and began to add two shakers of salt before mixing it into the broth to make it taste better before she let him try some after she was done.
"Wow!" Chef Ferdinand beamed as he looked really happy about the taste.
"Guess you needed a salty flavor, Chef Ferdinand." Cherry smirked.
Patch groaned about that name.
"What?" Tyke asked him.
"Sorry... Last time I met a Ferdinand, it didn't end well." Patch rolled his eyes.
"I'll take your word for it." Tyke said.
Everyone soon came in, continuing to sing. Alise then took out a couple of wooden spoons and pounded them against the pots to make music while everyone else sang to her. Thor smiled as he took out a spoon and a wooden washboard while Rogers and Queen Uberta took out another washboard and a pot to blow into. The maids soon joined in as everyone danced while singing and celebrating Alise as she smiled and enjoyed this moment very much so far.
Soon Alise was moved outside and there was a carriage waiting for while everyone continued to sing "Tell us what you're thinking!".
Odette then came to sit in the carriage with Alise before it soon took off as the horses galloped off with them on board. Alise smiled before she brought out a heart-shaped hay garland and brought it out to Odette. Odette smiled back as she accepted it and hugged Alise as they shared a surrogate mother and daughter bond.
"I can't wait to tell Atticus all about this." Mo smiled in excitement.
"That is if he can get some time away from helping Derek solving the mystery of this guy." Cherry muttered.
"Yeah, you know how Atticus gets when it comes to a mystery." Thor said.
"I'm sure he'll wanna hear." Mo replied.
"So, Cherry, what were you making?" Thor then asked the perky goth.
"Yeah, what's the big secret?" Patch asked.
"Not that it's any of your business... But..." Cherry said before she took out what she had been working on. It was a doll made out of straw. "Ta-da." she then told them rather flatly.
"Aw, cute..." Mo smiled.
"That's so cute." Thor added as he also smiled.
"Is that for Alise?" Patch asked.
"Yeah... I thought it'd be nice..." Cherry shrugged.
"Aww... You do have feelings!" Thor smiled.
"Shut up!" Cherry complained and rolled her eyes. "...She's okay." she then added with a non-caring shrug as she held onto the doll for now.
"Well, either way, it's a very nice gesture," Mo smiled. "Nicely done, Cherry. I'm sure she'll love it."
"I guess we'll wait and see then." Cherry replied.
"In the meantime, while you guys have your little adventure, I think I'll take a bit of a nap." Cleo smirked as she began to curl up into a ball.
"Of course you will." Patch smirked playfully.
"Typical cat." Tyke added.
"I heard that." Cleo smirked back.
"Can I chase her?" Tyke asked hopefully.
"No!" Everyone else, especially Cleo, told him firmly.
"Aww..." Tyke pouted. "Phooey!"
Meanwhile, Queen Uberta sniffled as she sat at one of the tables and seemed to be all alone. "Happy Birthday to me... Happy Birthday to me~..." she sang while sniffling, very saddened about her situation. "Happy Birthday, poor Uberta... Happy Big 5-0... To me!~" she then finished as she broke down into tears as she held her cup very sadly.
The others watched and looked over a bit, feeling sad for Queen Uberta while Cherry looked like she didn't care, but she did feel sad too.
"Oh... Guys... I can't watch this." Cherry said as she smiled out of sadness.
"Same here." Mo frowned.
"Neither can I." Thor frowned.
"Can't we try and celebrate her birthday with her?" Tyke asked.
"It would help her feel less sad." Patch said softly.
The others looked at each other before nodding as they decided to join in. Alise looked over and she stepped over to see what was going on.
"Hey, Queen Uberta..." Cherry greeted. "Happy Birthday."
"Oh, thank you all so much, but I'm not sure if it means that much now as it did before." Queen Uberta pouted and sulked.
"Well... Cheer up, okay?" Cherry said with a shrug, not sure how to help. "It's going to be okay. I don't like getting older much myself, in fact, sometimes I wish I stayed in Neverland, but I do enjoy my birthday when it does come."
"Yeah, a birthday comes only once a year." Patch smiled.
"Yes, I suppose, but it's more special when others are there to celebrate it with you and to make you feel special." Queen Uberta frowned.
"You do have a point which is why we're here to celebrate your birthday with you." Mo told her.
"That's right." Tyke and Thor nodded.
Alise smiled softly at how the others were going to do their best to make Queen Uberta happy. The group then sat down and looked around.
"Not much of a party, but I guess we'll make do with what we have." Cherry replied.
"Yes, yes... I suppose you're right..." Queen Uberta agreed with them before looking up and gasping.
The group looked curious at why she did that before they looked up at the sky with her and looked rather shocked at what they had found.
"C-C-Chamberlain!" Queen Uberta gasped as a hot air balloon was coming down with a sign that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOTHER!" on it. "Oh... 'Happy Birthday, Mother'!"
"I guess Derek pulled through." Cherry whispered to the others.
"Oh! I knew he'd remember!" Queen Uberta beamed as she pulled Chamberlain by her side and pointed up to the hot air balloon in excitement.
"Hmm... Guess he put his investigation on hold." Patch whispered to Tyke.
"Yeah, guess so." Tyke whispered back.
They soon began to hear someone laughing as they saw a clown up at the hot air balloon.
"A clown. It had to be a clown." Cherry groaned.
Out came two other clowns who seemed unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Patch narrowed his eyes suspiciously as everyone else examined the clowns and the hot air balloon while Queen Uberta was delighted.
"Hello, down there! Hello!" The main clown in the middle greeted and laughed.
"Sounds kinda like Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed when he laughs." Cherry remarked as the others seemed to nod in agreement.
"Oh, how cute!" Queen Uberta smiled warmly as she and Chamberlain laughed at the clown together.
"What're you doing here, Uberta?" The boy clown on the right asked while laughing and grinning.
"Yeah, there's a big party for ya down at Swan Lake!" The girl clown on the left added.
"A party?!" Queen Uberta gasped happily. "Well, Derek didn't need to do that~"
'Something doesn't feel right.' Thor thought to himself.
Alise looked like she had the same feeling as she followed Queen Uberta to the hot air balloon as it began to start to land.
"Wow. Looks like Derek didn't spare no expense." Tyke smiled.
"Hey, Alise," Cherry greeted the girl. "You like clowns?"
Alise just stepped back with a nervous look on her face.
"Good girl." Cherry said, nodding as Alise didn't seem to like the clowns, at least, that was how it looked from Cherry's perspective.
"Oh, go on! Go on and get in Your Highness!" Chamberlain urged as he pushed the queen into the hot air balloon's basket.
The lead clown laughed as he nodded at the birthday girl. "Ah, welcome aboard, dear queen! I'd like to show you some safety features, but there are none!" he then told her before laughing some more once she came into the basket.
Queen Uberta laughed a little before stopping.
"Would anyone else like to join her?" The boy clown smiled.
"How about you, little girl?" The girl clown smiled at Alise.
Alise bit her lip and stepped back a little.
"Aw, come on! Have a little fun!" The girl clown told Alise, dragging her by the arm suddenly before she forced a smile on her face. "Erm... Little angel?"
Alise still looked nervous, but she was trapped into going for a ride with Queen Uberta and they were leaving the ground as the middle clown started the hot air balloon back up with Chamberlain and the adventure group down on the ground.
"And here we go!" The middle clown called out as he made the hot air balloon fly off suddenly.
"Have a nice trip! Uh, au revoir!" Chamberlain called out as Queen Uberta and Alise suddenly left on the hot air balloon to the sky.
"Have fun, you two!" Mo called out.
'Why do I have a bad feeling about those clowns?' Cherry thought to herself.
'There's something about those clowns that isn't right.' Thor thought to himself.
"Guys, I think we might need to do some work," Patch spoke up to the humans. "Probably some research."
"We'll do what we can," Cherry replied. "Hopefully Derek and Atticus come back soon."
The rest of the group nodded and agreed before they went to go back into the castle since Queen Uberta and Alise were going to be busy for a while. Speaking of which, meanwhile, while they were up in the sky, Queen Uberta was enjoying the sights while Alise was being very quiet and cautious about her surroundings.
"Oh, it's lovely!" Queen Uberta beamed as she stood with Alise in excitement. "I can see everything! There's The Duke of Lichstire's home... Oh, he sent me the most obnoxious birthday card!" she then huffed and crossed her arms before glaring as she pointed the man out who she was talking about. "Oh, there he is now! Oh, what I wouldn't give to give him a ripe melon! Oh, there's Swan Lake!" she then pointed out and showed Alise. "Oh, I can't wait. That's where Derek and Odette fell in love, you know."
Alise just looked at Queen Uberta as she was being quiet and nervous again.
"Oh... Why are we flying away from it?" Queen Uberta then asked the clowns behind them once she saw what was happening.
"Well, there's been a little change in our flight plans!" The middle clown laughed at her. "Our new destination: MY place!" he then added before grinning as he tore off his clown mask and wig to show that he was actually Clavius underneath.
"Finally we can take these costumes off." The boy clown said, revealing to be Jackson.
"About time." The girl clown said, revealing to be Vicky.
Alise got close to Queen Uberta as she looked scared of Clavius, Jackson, and Vicky. Clavius laughed wickedly as he looked successful.
"ARGH!" Queen Uberta snarled and grabbed Clavius' neck and shook him violently. "Nobody spoils MY birthday!"
"Augh! Stop it! Don't you know the rules?!" Clavius cried out and choked a bit from her wringing his neck.
Jackson snickered a little at Clavius' misfortune before grunting as Alise suddenly kicked him in the shin.
"I'll throw you out like a jar of bad mayonnaise!" Queen Uberta threatened until she was forced to stop strangling Clavius.
"All right, lady, just settle down and no one gets hurt, even the little twerpette." Vicky scoffed as she grabbed Queen Uberta and forced her to sit down and began to do the same with Alise before snapping at the girl like she would with Timmy. "BED, TWERP!"
"Oh, don't listen to her, Alise." Queen Uberta told Alise softly.
Alise sat in silence as she nodded to the queen.
"Hmm... She doesn't talk much, does she?" Vicky smirked. "Good. That means less noise from the twerpette."
"You will not insult my new granddaughter!" Queen Uberta glared as she comforted the poor girl.
"Says who, Granny?" Vicky huffed. "You don't scare me!"
"My word! Who taught you how to behave?" Queen Uberta firmly pouted.
"Don't know and don't care." Vicky just smirked as Jackson came beside her and put his arm around her.
"When Derek finds out about this, you will be insignificant trouble!" Queen Uberta snapped as she comforted and protected her new granddaughter.
"We're not scared of Derek. In fact, I have a ransom note telling him where to find us." Clavius said as he brought out a letter and arrow before putting the letter through it before laughing evilly as he shot the arrow down the ground so the letter could be delivered.
As the arrow landed on the ground, Chamberlain soon picked up the letter and read it, and realized the danger that Queen Uberta and Alise were in.
"An arrow?!" Mo gasped as she jumped up in shock.
"Maybe it's from Robin Hood?" Thor shrugged.
"I don't think so." Cherry replied.
"No, no, it's much worse than that!" Chamberlain told the kids. "That hot air balloon and clowns we saw were no ordinary hot air balloon and clowns!"
"Ya know, I never did like clowns much," Cherry shrugged. "Something tells me that a couple of dirty rotten rats are behind this."
"Those clowns were Clavius, Jackson, and Vicky!" Chamberlain panicked.
"What?!" Thor gasped.
"Who's Clavius?" Tyke asked.
"You don't know Clavius?" Chamberlain replied.
"No, he only asked just to see if you knew." Cherry said sarcastically.
"Sorry about that," Mo said as she covered Cherry's mouth suddenly. "Care to explain to us?"
"Gladly... Perhaps you folks should come inside with me." Chamberlain then suggested nervously.
"Agreed. Because if Jackson and Vicky are involved with him, this Clavius guy can't be good." Patch said.
"Oh, you can't even imagine it." Chamberlain replied before he and the other soon went inside.