Hiya, guys! It's been a while, huh? Well, been busy here and there, and with life's problems, I've been too occupied, but here I am!
So, the votes are in! Well, they're still pending since you can still vote, but it seems like the most votes right now are Kimetsu no Yaiba or Devil May Cry! You guys can still vote since it'll be a long while before I decide on which only one crossover world I'll do! Actually, I'm still uncertain as to whether or not I'll do the crossover world, but I'll tell you guys if I decide to or not.
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own any Kingdom Hearts games, only the OCs!
Ventus laid on his bedroom bed, halfheartedly waving around a wooden Keyblade toy Terra gave to him long ago. He was still lamenting over the fact that Terra didn't get promoted to Keyblade Master, whereas Aqua did.
Granted, he was happy for Aqua, but he also wished that Terra passed as well. Right now, Ventus wanted nothing more than to do something for Terra to help cheer him up. But, at the same time, he just didn't know what to say to Terra even if he went after him. He didn't want to further anger nor upset Terra by sympathizing and assuring him that everything was going to be alright, but at the same time, he didn't want to spiral Terra into a more depressed state that he already is.
Suddenly, the bells outside started ringing. The bells acted as a sort of alarm that warned of a disturbance out in the other worlds; something that Master Eraqus explicitly pounded into their heads in case of emergencies. If the bells were to ever be rung, that was the signal to be present in the hall.
Hearing the bells continuing to ring, Ventus hopped off his bed and started leaving his room when he heard an unfamiliar voice speaking to him.
"Better hurry, Ventus," warned Vanitas, leaning against Ventus' bedroom shelf.
Turning around, Ventus saw the masked youth and asked, "Huh? Who are you?"
"Or you'll never see Terra or that Ignis girl ever again."
Ventus frowned, confused before he snapped back a retort. "What? Get real, I can see both my friends anytime I want."
"Like right now? Terra's leaving you right behind, and by the time you catch up, he'll be a different person. As for Ignis, well, let's just say she was defeated and claimed in the hands of yours truly somewhere."
"What?! Look, I don't know who you are, but you don't know a single thing about Terra!" shouted Ventus. "And you can't seriously expect me to believe you kidnapped Ignis! She's a lot stronger than she looks!"
"You're right on that mark. She is strong. A lot stronger than you, at least." Facing Ventus, Vanitas took out the blood-red Wayfinder he stole from Ignis and showed it to him. "But can you honestly think I'm lying if I didn't have her possession in my hands right now?"
Recognizing Ignis' Wayfinder, Ventus gasped before letting out an angry cry as he charged and swung at Vanitas with the wooden Keyblade. Vanitas sidestepped out of the way and stuck his foot out, causing Ventus to crash into his bed.
"Oh, grow up. Charging into someone like that is just way too predictable," snorted Vanitas derisively before walking off.
Twisting his body around, Ventus demanded, "Where is she?! What did you do with Ignis?!"
"Let's just say she put up a pretty good fight, but I came out victorious and...well, you'll never know the truth unless you go out and look for your girlfriend yourself."
Ventus' blush couldn't be ignored before he replaced it with an angry expression. "She's not my girlfriend!"
"Ventus, Ventus, Ventus...We both know that isn't true," tsked Vanitas teasingly, shaking his head. "You might not have had feelings for her in the beginning, but even you started to have feelings for her afterwards. It's called puberty; get a dictionary and look it up."
"I swear, if you did anything more to her-!"
"Tick tock, Ventus. The more you spent time with me right now, the less time you have in saving both Terra and Ignis. Two lives can be saved if you act fast enough," warned Vanitas, summoning a portal of swirling darkness. "Come on, what could you possibly know when you're stuck here, looking at nothing but what's in your tiny little world?" With that said, he disappeared into the dark portal, being transported elsewhere as the darkness vanished along with him, leaving Ventus alone.
"...I don't like Ignis that way," Ventus muttered, still blushing. He recalled the more important fact that he needed to find Terra and Ignis for their own safety and rushed out of the room. "Terra! Ignis!"
Please! Be alright! Terra! Ignis! Where are you?!
With Ignis...
DING! DING! DING!
"WAAH!"
Letting out a startled cry, Ignis fell out of a bed that she happened to be lying on, crashing to the floor. Hissing in pain, she rubbed her back only to winch in pain. The moment she made even the slightest bit of movement, pain had coursed throughout her body. She grimaced and held onto her side with one hand as she struggled to stand up.
'C-Crap...! W-Why am I in so much...pain...?' Ignis thought, gripping onto the bed with her other free hand as support to help stand up. While the pain felt absolutely torture for her, the pain also helped her remember how exactly she gained those wounds, as well as the aftermath of the situation. 'O-Oh yeah...that happened...'
Light footsteps hurriedly reached for her, and Ignis found her sight blurry before she blinked a few times to clear her vision. She saw an open palm extended to her before glancing up, seeing the owner of the hand extending for her own hand.
The owner happened to be a young, beautiful woman with fair and flawless skin, bright blue eyes as clear as the sky, and medium-long strawberry blond hair. She had approached Ignis with a gentle and welcoming smile, having bent down and reaching her hand out towards her.
"Are you alright?" Even the young woman's voice was as sweet and gentle as honey; fitting for a kindred soul such as her.
"H-Huh? Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks," thanked Ignis, taking her hand and squeezing it as the young woman helped her up. But, even when she was trying to get up, the pain from her battle wounds still spread and stung throughout her body, causing her to cry out in pain and fall to her knees.
The young woman's smiling face quickly reverted to an expression of concern and panic as she kneeled down to Ignis' side, placing a hand on her shoulder and the other on one of Ignis' arm. "Oh! Your injuries! Here, let's get you back in bed, alright?"
With careful consideration, the young woman did her upmost best to place Ignis back in the bed as painlessly and quickly as possible. Though, with such movements, it wasn't possible for Ignis to get through the obstacle without experiencing some pain from her battle wounds.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..." groaned Ignis, trying to relax and rest on the bed. It was only now that she realized that she only had her underclothes on but no signs of her cracked armor. "Crap! Where's my armor?!"
"Oh, your armor? Why, I placed it right on that table over there," the young woman replied, addressing to the pieces of armor lying about on the table.
Despite being cracked in various places due to her previous fight, Ignis saw the armor retained its shine, as though it's been recently cleaned thoroughly. Now, Ignis always makes sure to daily clean her armor to ensure that it doesn't rust, but she honestly doesn't have a clue as to how long she's been out. Therefore, she would have no way of cleaning her armor herself. At least her pauldron, the one that could activate her Keyblade Armor wasn't damaged at all.
Noticing Ignis' somewhat puzzled and curious expression towards her shining clean, yet damaged armor, the young woman clasped her hands together and said, "Oh! You don't have to worry about your clothes or armor being all dirty! When you were unconscious, I made sure to remove your clothes to wash them and put them back on you once they were dried! As for your armor, I made sure to clean it carefully. I hope it was alright!"
"Huh? Oh, it's totally fine. In fact, thanks so much for doing so much for me!" Ignis said before winching in pain. "Urgh...Did you tend to my wounds, too?"
The young woman nodded. "Oh, yes! I was doing my chores when I found you outside, badly wounded and unconscious! It surely gave me a fright! Who could have harmed such a lovely young girl such as you?"
"Er..." It would be VERY difficult for Ignis to explain her peculiar situation, so she decided that it was probably best that her savior didn't know the full details. "I got into a fight...a really bad fight...yeah...But, you don't need to worry! I...it was a tie! Yeah!"
As if. Not only was Ignis not going to explain the circumstances of her own situation, but she was still too prideful and annoyed to admit that she blatantly lost the fight against Vanitas. Besides, it wasn't like it mattered to the young woman whether or not she learned the true outcome of Ignis' fight.
Upon trying to make even the slightest of movements, Ignis' pain reminded her that the young woman was responsible for treating her wounds, clothing, and armor unconditionally. Ignis turned to the young woman and said, "Oh, by the way, thanks so much for taking care of me and even cleaning up my armor! My name's Ignis, by the way!"
"Ignis...? What a peculiar name!" muttered the young woman before realizing that she said that right in front of her injured guest. "Oh, do beg pardon! I didn't mean to sound so rude! It's just that I've never really heard of such a name before! My name's Cinderella! It's nice to meet you, Ignis! Ignis, Ignis, Ignis! Ahaha! Certainly, what a peculiar name!"
Ignis grinned happily. "I know, right? I heard that in another language, it means 'fire!' That totally suits my hot-headed spirit real well!"
Cinderella's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, really? Why, that does sound quite interesting!"
"Yup! Can't remember which language it was, though! But Cinderella sounds like a peculiar name, too! In fact, 'Cinderella' sounds like a way prettier name than Ignis!~"
"Why, thank you! This is the first time anyone's complimented my name before!" cooed Cinderella happily. "By the way, Ignis? Are you, by any chance, a knight?"
"Hmm? Not...really...? I mean, what makes you say that?" wondered Ignis curiously.
"Well, when I found you, my first impression besides you being such a young girl is that you resembled a knight. Your armor is quite different from the armor that the knights that this kingdom wears, but I assumed that you must be a knight," explained Cinderella. "Although, I am surprised...I didn't know there were female knights around..."
Ignis could see why Cinderella could have mistaken her as a knight from first glance. Out of her friends, Ignis was more heavily suited in armor and that was even including without the use of her Keyblade Armor. That, and Ignis had visualized knights as heroes, which is why she wore armor resembling that to a knight. Even though the armor hindered her movement, it provided as good defense for her in battles.
Well, at least it did until her previous battle. She needed to find a way to repair the armor as soon as she could.
"Well, in any case, I really am not an official knight, Cindy," replied Ignis.
"Cindy...?"
"Oh! Sorry, I tend to have a habit of giving people nicknames even if I meet them for the first time! Sorry about that!"
Cinderella shook her head. "No, no. It's alright. My friends call me 'Cinderelly,' so I'm quite fond of cute nicknames! I've just never been called 'Cindy' before."
Ignis snapped her fingers, though did winch from the pain. "Eep...Ooh! I have a bunch of other cute and adorable nicknames just for ya, then! Ella! Elly! Relly! Cinderelly!"
Cinderella giggled. "Those are all very cute, indeed. But, that last one is already a taken nickname, so that's not anything new that I haven't heard of."
"Awwww! Well, Cinderelly is still a cute nickname!" Ignis said right before her stomach began grumbling. "Oh! Sorry! I guess I'm a bit hungry..."
Cinderella stood up. "Why don't I get you something to eat, then? I'll be right back."
Once Cinderella left, that meant that Ignis was left all alone with time to both rest and think for herself. From what she could recall, everything began with the Mark of Mastery Exam that Aqua passed and Terra failed.
No...no, that wasn't right at all. In fact, everything started right after the exam. Right when Ignis was exploring all on her own in the forest before taking a nap. That was when she was ambushed by Vanitas, forced into a fight with him...and then lost. It was only thanks to some mischievous quick thinking and luck that made her escape successful...while also at the cost of being gravelly injured, forced to leave home, and then falling unconscious afterwards.
Ignis knew that she had to be quite fortunate and lucky for someone to pick her up and heal her back to health. After all, who knows what could have happened if she had laid unconscious for who knows how long? Someone could have kidnapped her, like Vanitas if he had discovered which world she randomly transported to, or worst, she might have actually died from her wounds if she was untreated for too long.
Speaking of which, she had to figure out what sort of world she had gotten herself into. Who knows how long she was unconscious for? But, besides her injuries and Vanitas, there was also one more issue that Ignis found herself concerned with. Actually, just the thought of it started making her sweat with dread.
'Oh, God! Master Eraqus is gonna kill me once he knows where I am!' Ignis thought. 'No, scratch that! Even if I manage to get back home, he'll STILL kill me! My best bet to surviving this is to explain the situation and pray to whatever merciful god there is that I get a very lesser punishment for all of this!'
Hearing light sounds nearby that seemed to resemble scurrying feet, Ignis glanced down and saw a small mouse wearing a red hat waving at her.
"Hiya! I'm Jaq-"
"AIIIYEEEEEEEEEE!"
Cinderella happily hummed to herself as she completed the final preparations for her guest's meal, picking up the tray of food as she made her way towards the guest room. Well, it was actually the attic, and also Cinderella's living quarters since her stepmother and stepsisters denied her her own room in one of many available ones in the château where they lived.
For the first time, she actually felt happy and a bit excited over caring for such a chirpy and kind person. Oh, she still cared about her stepfamily, but they always mistreated her and barely spoke a word of thanks to her, whereas this guest at least took the time to chat and greet her kindly. Plus, she actually thanked her for all her hard work, which is more than what her stepfamily had given in gratitude for all her years of hard work.
Cinderella was happy with her small animal friends such as the mice, the birds, and even her dog Bruno, but she would be even more happier if she had at least one human friend to talk to. She never really had any human friends as she grew from a child to the young woman she is now and had longed for some form of companionship other than her friendship with her animal friends.
From what she could gather from Ignis, she could tell that the young girl had some sort of cheerful and innocent air about her that just makes her trustworthy. She appeared to be from a strange, foreign land, judging by her deep red hair color, peculiar name and strange armor. Although it was likely that once Ignis' wounds were healed, she would return to wherever she came from, Cinderella wished to at least get to know the girl better before that time arrives.
"AIIIYEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Startled, Cinderella nearly dropped the tray though was fortunate that she kept a tight grip on both sides of the tray, so nothing spilled. Still, she had to see what was happening. Hurrying, yet carefully as to not spill any contents on the tray, Cinderella climbed her way up the stairs before entering the room.
"What happened?" she cried out softly, taking in the sight before her.
Clutching her pillow as though ready to throw it as a projectile, Ignis continued shrieking while glaring down at Jaq. The small red-clothed mouse was frantically waving his arms and jumping up and down, attempting to calm her down.
Hurriedly placing the tray on the table, Cinderella then got in between the two, gently trying to resolve the situation. "Please, let's all calm down, alright? Let's settle down now, okay?"
"Yeah, I am NOT calming down when there's a frickin' rat here! EEEKK! I totally hate rats!" shrieked Ignis, swinging her pillow around indignantly before the pain in her wounds caused her to stop.
To her, as well as a lot of people, rats tended to be a lot more trouble than they're worth. They steal and eat food, carry diseases, and even the sight of them scurrying in a single area would make that area dirty itself, as it would indicate that it's rat-infested.
"Hey, hey, hey! I'mma take offense to that!" Jaq scolded, wagging his finger at her. "I a mouse! Not a rat! Get it right!"
The realization that Jaq, a mouse, could talk was what finally calmed Ignis down a bit, clearing her mind enough to think, '...Okay, I know that magic, other worlds, and other kinds of phenomenons exist and all, but a mouse talking is still just frickin' shocking! Well, I've never really encountered a talking mouse, so there's that. Come to think of it, what exactly is the main difference between a mouse and a rat anyways?'
Scooping Jaq up in her hands, Cinderella brought him closer to Ignis, who still inched back a bit. "Ignis, this is Jaq. He's one of my friends that I told you about earlier."
Ignis blinked. "Oh, wait! Is he one of those friends that gave you that cute nickname, 'Cinderelly?'"
Jaq nodded, placing his hands on his hips and holding his stout up high proudly. "Yup, yup! Cinderelly is Cinderelly!"
"...Hey, he's not...gonna bite me if I pet him on the head, is he?" Ignis wondered cautiously. Taking a closer look at him, Jaq, Ignis had to admit, he did kinda look cute for a rodent. While she did find small creatures adorables, rats, or in this case, mice, were not one of them.
Cinderella shook her head. "I promise, he won't even try to harm you. Right, Jaq?"
Jaq nodded. "Any friend of Cinderelly is a friend of me! Yeah, yeah!"
"Hmm...Okay, then..." After Ignis was handed Jaq by Cinderella, Ignis made sure to carefully cup him on top of her palm while stroking his head gently with one finger. After all, she was several times bigger than her, and she didn't want to accidentally crush Cinderella's mouse friend.
"Hey, hey! No messin' with the hat-hat!" said Jaq, trying to fix his red hat.
"Oh! Sorry!" That caused Ignis to stop stroking Jaq, though that didn't stop the giggle that escaped her lips when she saw Jaq grumpily looking at her. In a way, his grumpy expression was cute to her.
"Hey, hey! No laughin'!"
"Sorry, sorry! It's just that...you're so cute!~ Ahaha!~" Ignis giggled once more, bringing Jaq close to her cheek before nuzzling him. An embarrassed Jaq tried to push his tiny paws away from her, but even he secretly thought that the gesture was nice.
Cinderella also giggled at the sweet sight before her before making a suggestion. "Oh! Would you like to meet my other friends? I promise, they won't cause any trouble just like Jaq did."
Even if Cinderella's other friends were other mice, as long as they were harmless and cute like Jaq, Ignis didn't mind one bit. Well, she was half-right in that Cinderella's other friends were mice, but her other set of friends included a pair of birds, Bruno the dog, and Major the horse, though because of Ignis' condition, she couldn't quite meet with either Bruno nor Major, but she was still informed of them.
While talking amongst themselves, Ignis shared her food with Cinderella, the mice, and the birds because she felt bad that she was the only one eating while they were talking. While Cinderella's animal friends were more than happy to accept the food, Cinderella kept denying the food given to her until Ignis practically shoved her bread into Cinderella's mouth.
"Mpft?!"
"Come on! Just eat it! I'll totally feel all bad if you're the only one not eating!" Ignis pouted. "So, as I was saying..."
While Ignis chatted about her daily training routine as a "knight," aka being a Keyblade wielder, Cinderella took the bread out of her mouth and began to chew slowly, savoring the taste while listening to Ignis. Being forced food into her mouth was quite unexpected, yet at the same time, Ignis being concerned for her not eating anything was rather...touching.
What Ignis mainly talked about was her friends, Master Eraqus, and her training days, though she was very careful in not mentioning anything relating to Keyblades, other worlds, and so on. Although, 'careful' was a weak word in Ignis' attempt of keeping the world order a secret. At best, she had to stop herself multiple times from accidentally spilling the beans with the excuse of stammering and correcting herself each time.
When Cinderella left to put the tray back in the kitchen, which would take a while considering that it would take a flight of stairs' trip worth, some of her animal friends joined her to help her out. As for the other animal friends, even they had their own lives to deal with, thus dealing with other business to attend to, leaving Ignis completely alone in her temporarily hospitality room.
With Ignis all alone, that meant that she could now cast magic without worrying about anyone watching her! One of the otherworldly rules that she had to follow was to make sure whether or not a world accepted magic, because if she wasn't careful, she could accidentally turn an entire other world against her simply for casting magic. Ignis was told that she could be casted as an evil witch because not all worlds have magic, nor could they understand a very strong power that could help or hurt.
Standing up on her own two feet, though she forced herself to endure the pain of moving, Ignis raised her hand as much as she could while concentrating on the strongest healing spell that she knew. Thanks to the rest and hospitality that she received, Ignis' magic power had recovered completely, meaning that she could now cast spells.
"Curaga!"
Green energy veiled over her body in a protective aura-like form before dispersing as her injuries faded away. Being able to move around freely with no amount of pain only confirmed that her healing spell worked.
"Mmmm! Much better!" sighed Ignis, stretching her arms up in the air. "Now to get these bandages out of the way!~"
With the bandages unwrapped and dropped to the floor, Ignis turned and was just about to equip her armor back on when she heard a crashing sound from below. Ignis yelped, startled, before realizing that it was possible that Cinderella may have caused the crashing sound. Forgoing the thought of putting her armor back on, Ignis hurried downstairs.
"Cinderella? Are you okay? Cinderella!" called out Ignis, still halfway down the flight of stairs. "Good God, how many stairs does this area have?! Jeez!"
Finally, upon exiting the staircase area and entering a hallway within the château, Ignis glanced around, trying to find Cinderella. The noise from earlier had worried Ignis because for all she knew, Cinderella could have accidentally hurt herself or accidentally dropped something that caused the crash. Ignis hoped it was the latter, though.
As she treaded down the hallways, trying to find Cinderella, she suddenly felt a strong ominous darkness lurking within one of the rooms. For a moment, she had thought that Vanitas had found her since he was practically oozing with darkness during their battle against each other.
However, thinking back, Vanitas' darkness was much more stronger compared to the darkness she was sensing right now. Yes, this darkness was still strong, but much weaker than the darkness emitting from Vanitas. Therefore, there was a high possibility that whatever darkness she was sensing was not Vanitas' at all.
Suddenly, the door swung opened, causing Ignis to panic before hiding behind a wall to hide from plain sight. Peering out, she saw an elderly woman with a displeased look loudly addressing to something, or rather, someone, within the room she was exiting out of.
"And you better make certain to cook a very delicious dinner for tonight, Cinderella! For me and your stepsisters! I'll be having high expectations from you. Very, very high expectations."
'Cinderella? Does that mean that she's in there?' Ignis thought, watching the mysterious elderly woman walk away, fortunately towards a different hallway. Once the coast was cleared, Ignis hurried and opened the doors where Cinderella supposedly was.
As expected, Cinderella was certainly inside what appears to be the kitchen, but she was kneeling on the floor, trembling hands flat on the floor. Judging from her hunched over form and slow panting, Ignis figured that Cinderella must be incredibly exhausted.
"H-Hey, are you alright?" Ignis crotched down, placing a hand on her back before rubbing it up and down in an attempt to comfort her. Taking a look around her, Ignis spotted several shattered pieces of glass all over the floor, hence the source of the loud crashing sound from earlier.
Cinderella slowly got up, saying, "Yes...thank you very much. I'm truly sorry for the trouble, Ignis. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Reaching out and grabbing a broom a dustpan, Cinderella began slowly walking towards the mess she made.
However, seeing Cinderella's state, Ignis intervened by stepping in front of her with her arms widened out. "No, wait! You look tired! You should probably sit down and rest a bit first!"
"Oh, no, I'm alright-"
"Obviously not! Look, you look tired! Just-Just sit in this chair, and I'll clean the mess, alright?" Without waiting for her response, Ignis pulled up a nearby stool and gently shoved Cinderella to sit on top of it. She then snatched the broom and dustpan from her hands and proceeded to clean up the broken glass pieces herself.
While this was happening, Jaq peeked his head out of a mouse hole and saw the scene before him. "Hey, hey! What's happening?"
Nearly finished, Ignis heard Jaq and asked, "Oh, hey! Jaq! Can you look after Cinderella for me while I clean up this mess? She doesn't look good!"
Hearing about Cinderella's condition made Jaq straighten up as he saluted. "Right, right! Gotta help Cinderelly now!"
When Ignis was finished, she managed to find some food and water before giving them to Cinderella. "Here, you should have something."
Fortunately, thanks to some rest, Cinderella seemed less stressed than earlier. Granted, she still was exhausted, but even a little bit of rest seemed to do wonders for her. "Thank you," the young woman thanked, graciously taking in the food and drink given to her.
While Cinderella was preoccupied with the food and drink to replenish her strength, Ignis scratched her head and asked, "Hey...is it okay if I ask something? Who was that lady earlier? I kinda heard her say that you had to make her dinner. And I think she mentioned stepsisters?"
Jaq frowned as he took over the explanation. "Cinderelly's been hurt a lot! Yes, she has! Cinderelly's stepmother and stepsisters very bad! Very bad! They force her to do lots of work! Work, work, work!"
"Work? Do you mean stuff like chores?" Ignis wondered.
Jaq nodded. "Yup, yup, yup! Always doing work! Cleaning! Cooking! Sweeping! Cinderelly having no fun at all! But Cinderelly too nice! Too nice to get mad at stepmother and stepsisters!"
"What? Why doesn't her family help her out at all?" Ignis asked, glancing over to Cinderella.
"Cinderelly has to do all the work! Not fair! Not fair at all! Cinderelly works all the time! Has no thank you from family! Treat her like a servant! No love at all!"
Kneeling down in front of Cinderella, Ignis asked, "Cindy...is this true? What's going on?"
Cinderella, finishing her snack and drink, gulped down the last of the contents and shook her head, granting Ignis a smile. "Oh, it's really nothing to worry about. Honestly!"
"How can you say that? If it's something that's clearly making you tired, then obviously it's something to worry about!" Ignis protested, standing up. "What's going on, Cinderella? I-I feel really bad! If it's anything I can help you with, even if it's just talking, I want to at least try and make you better!"
Cinderella seemed hesitant at first. After all, this was the first time that she was actually allowed to express her feelings out loud to someone. Oh, she had her animal friends, and they always comforted and cared for her the same way Ignis was, but from one female friend to another, this was still an entirely different experience for her.
"W-well...perhaps just a little wouldn't hurt," Cinderella said. "As you can see...my stepmother and stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia, they aren't...the most kindest people around. They force me to do all the chores at home, and I never get any time to spend with them. It's been this way for a...very, very long time."
Ignis asked, "What about your father? Don't you have one?"
Cinderella shook her head. "No. Before, it was just me, my father, and my original mother. But, after my mother died, my father remarried, which is how I ended up in Lady Tremaine-I mean, my stepmother's care. But, my father died, and now, my stepfamily is all I have left."
Ignis looked away, as if ashamed of her question. "I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss."
"Oh, no! You didn't do anything bad! Besides, it's not terrible at all! Helping out my family and doing the chores! It's just...something I've grown used to over the years."
Ignis frowned at her statement. During the years she spent training under Master Eraqus, there was more than a significant amount of love passed around, and that familial love only grew with the appearance of Ventus around 4 years ago. Master Eraqus never favored one person higher than the rest, for he always treated everyone fairly and equally.
When it came to chores, everyone had their own fair set to do. If, for some reason one person was unable to do their chores, then everyone would cooperate to help each other out. That was how it went back in the Land of Departure.
But in Cinderella's case? From her and Jaq's explanations, it didn't seem like she received any love from her so-called stepfamily. If she had, then she wouldn't be the only one being forced to do chores. Her stepfamily would have helped out if they truly loved her. They wouldn't have left Cinderella in rags or make her do chores all the time.
'Is this...is this first ever case of child abuse I've ever seen?' Ignis thought, realizing that that could be the case for Cinderella's situation. 'I've only ever heard about it in books and from Master Eraqus' explanations of how dangerous and cruel other worlds can be, but to think that I'm encountering something like this for the first time-! How horrible...'
"Cindy...why does your family treat you like this?" asked Ignis. "Family...family is supposed to love each other, right? They aren't supposed to treat each other like this, right?"
"Oh, Ignis...I do love my family, and yes, while they may not love me, just being with them is enough for me," assured Cinderella, patting her on the head.
"No way! There's no way that's enough! Cindy, if your family really loved you, they wouldn't make you do all of the chores! Everyone has to have some kind of equal piece! Like one person cleans the floor, and the other cooks or something like that! Cinderella, I think you're being abused by your family!"
"Abused...is a very, strong word, but...it is appropriate for me, I suppose," admitted Cinderella.
"Then-! Then, why don't you just call the police, or-or-!"
"The police?" Cinderella asked, tilting her head in confusion. "What's...a 'police?'"
'Oh, they probably don't have police in this world,' thought Ignis, stopping herself. 'But...even so-!'
Cinderella then stood up, wiping away at her apron. "At any rate, I have to prepare for dinner. I have much to do."
Ignis realized that Cinderella is going to go through her chores no matter how much Ignis tried to convince her that her entire situation isn't right at all. But at the same time, she didn't want to waste Cinderella's time or else she might get in trouble with her family. If that were to happen, Cinderella would be punished, and Ignis didn't want that to happen, either.
Therefore, the only thing left would be to at least attempt to lessen Cinderella's burdens and help her out.
"Wait!" Ignis said, stopping Cinderella. "Let me help you out at least. And, I don't care if I'm a guest or not! You're clearly exhausted, and I want to help you out with dinner! And I'm not taking no for an answer!"
"Me too! Me too! Everyone will help! Everyone!" encouraged Jaq before scrambling back to the mouse hole to gather his mice and bird friends.
"Well, since it's come to this, I guess I have no choice but to accept your offer," huffed Cinderella. Although it did come off as a mild complaint, she was grateful for the assisted aid. "Now, can you please fetch the water and then boil it, Ignis? If you're going to help out, you might as well help prepare the ingredients."
In her desperation to help poor and kind Cinderella, Ignis froze, remembering that she was ABSOLUTELY terrible at cooking. In fact, she was so terrible, she was forbidden from anything involving the kitchen. Even entering the kitchen was forbidden for her.
"Uh...Yeah, about that...I actually can't boil the water," admitted Ignis. "I mean, I can get the water, sure, but the last time I boiled water, it lit on fire."
"Oh, my! Water being on fire? What a peculiar encounter!" Cinderella said, with curiosity and amusement behind her gaze. "Would you mind telling me more as we cook? It would certainly pass the time!"
Ignis giggled, grabbing a bucket to fetch the water. "Sure! Just lemme be right back real quick!~"
For the majority of their time spent in the kitchen, Ignis and Cinderella, along with the rest of her bird and mice friends, had a blast cooking for dinner. Cinderella mainly did the cooking, while Ignis mainly fetched ingredients and other supplies and the animals helped prepare the ingredients. During their time, Cinderella and Ignis exchanged short tales of their lives, but the two found that they shared a common trait in that they loved singing. While cooking, their playful and melodious singing filled the entire kitchen which lightened the atmosphere tremendously.
When dinner was finally completed, Ignis was surprised and impressed to see Cinderella serving three dishes at once. One dish each on one hand, but the most impressive sight was seeing the third dish balanced atop of her head.
"Whoa! That's so impressive, with that dish on top of your head!" complimented Ignis before frowning. "But...are you sure you don't need any help?"
"Yes, I'll be alright. Could you please wait here until I return?"
"Oh, sure!"
After Cinderella left to tend to her stepfamily, Ignis sighed and sat down to relax. She grabbed a piece of fruit and ate it while she waited. Even so, she couldn't help but think on Cinderella's predicament. Yes, Ignis will eventually have to leave this unknown world, but she didn't want to leave it the way things are now. She really wanted to help Cinderella with her issue, but she's never dealt with such a complicated case like hers!
"Oh! Oh! Bruno's back! Bruno's back!" Jaq and the rest of the mice's voice called attention to Ignis before she turned around.
Slowly crawling around the kitchen was a big, slender bloodhound dog, yawning and glancing around in search of something. All thoughts of Cinderella immediately flew out of the window as Ignis squealed at the sight of the dog. She raced over and embraced the dog tightly. Whatever death hug she gave him surely roused the dog from slumber.
"Bruno! Bruno! Iggy is Cinderelly's friend! Friend! Friend!" Jaq called out, jumping up and down while pointing to Ignis.
"Oh? His name's Bruno? He's soooo cute! So soft! So squishy!~" squealed Ignis, continuing to hug Bruno.
At first, Bruno the bloodhound dog was started when some unfamiliar girl started hugging him affectionally. But, upon smelling her kindred scent and being informed that she's Cinderella's friend, Bruno relaxed and allowed the red-haired girl to hug him as much as she wanted.
A high-pitched scream suddenly interrupted Ignis' playtime with Bruno. "W-what was that?!" exclaimed Ignis before turning to Bruno and the other mice. "I'll check it out!" She hurried out of the kitchen and tried to find out where the scream came from, hoping that it wasn't Cinderella.
It was quite frustrating to be repeatedly misled and lost in the maze of hallways inside Cinderella's home, but fortunately for Ignis, loud, obvious voices served as the key to figuring out the commotion. Following the loud voices, Ignis finally found Cinderella.
Or, at least, she stumbled across something, alright. Right before her was a collapsed Cinderella, and in front of Cinderella were two young, yet ugly-faced women accompanied by the same elderly woman that was ordering around Cinderella.
"You wake her up!" the young lady in the pink dress demanded.
"No, you! I don't want my hand to touch any filth!" shrieked the other lady in the green dress.
Both girls turned to the elderly woman, also known as Lady Tremaine and Cinderella's stepmother. "MOTHER! DO SOMETHING!"
"STOP!" Ignis cried out, hurrying to Cinderella's side. She flipped the unconscious woman over, noticing how sweaty and red-faced Cinderella was. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Cinderella was suffering a fever, and a high one at that.
Shocked by the appearance of a complete stranger, the lady in pink pointed to Ignis and asked, "Mother, who is she?! I've never seen her before!"
Lady Tremaine stepped forward and sternly questioned, "Who are you? I don't remember inviting any guests to my home."
'Did..Did Cinderella not tell them about me or something?' wondered Ignis, looking up at them. Because she was so concerned about Cinderella's well-being, it was only now that she realized that Lady Tremaine, along with her two daughters, were emitting a very powerful darkness within them.
"I-I'm Cinderella's friend," Ignis said, unable to come up with any excuse for her appearance. "B-But never mind that! We need to get her to a doctor, now!"
But, Lady Tremaine seemed unconcerned. "She'll be fine. What's more important is that she clean up this awful mess she made and remake dinner!"
Glancing around the scene, trays of spilled food was splattered all over the floor and carpet. If Ignis had to guess, this incident occurred thanks to Cinderella's fever, which made her collapse and spill the meals prepared for her stepfamily.
The two stepdaughters, Drizella and Anastasia, nodded in agreement firmly. "Yeah! That's right!"
"Cinderella made this mess, so she should clean it up!"
Anger fumed inside of Ignis, making her glare at the two sisters. Whatever fierce glare she delivered was enough to shut up the stepsisters and made them take a step back in fear.
"Are you serious?" Ignis asked, tightening her hold on Cinderella. "Cinderella's the one sick here, and all you can think about is making her wake up and clean this mess?! How self-centered and selfish can you be?!"
One of the stepsisters, Drizella, tried to defend her own actions. "W-Well, it's still Cinderella's fault that she made this whole mess to begin wi-"
"You gotta be kidding me! That's not even remotely important right now! You're her sister, right? Then, isn't it more important to care for your own sister than some stupid mess?!"
"That is none of your concern," spoke Lady Tremaine. "You shouldn't get yourself involved in other people's businesses, young lady, or you may find yourself in a heap of trouble! Now, wake up Cinderella so that she may clean up this filthy mess!"
"Cinderella's sick! She can't work! Do you not see the fever she's having right now?!" exclaimed Ignis. "She needs a doctor, now! Or, at least some medicine and rest!"
Anastasia, however haughty and overconfident that she is, did somewhat feel a bit sympathetic and suggested, "Um...Mother? Why not make this girl do all of the chores instead? Cinderella doesn't seem like she's waking up anytime soon, and it seems like that girl might replace her as our servant!"
"Wait, what?! I don't wanna be your servant!" Ignis complained.
Taking Anastasia's suggestion into consideration, Lady Tremaine couldn't hide the smug look on her face. "Yes...that's a wonderful idea, my beloved daughter. If Cinderella can't do anything in her condition, then surely a dear friend of hers will take over while she recovers, correct? Of course, we can't simply force her friend to do anything, so that means that Cinderella will have to wake up and clean this mess."
'...Okay, wow, she is clearly the definition of the devil,' Ignis thought, glaring at Lady Tremaine. 'No wonder she has so much darkness inside of her! Even more so than the other two! But...even so, I don't want to start a fight here. Not while Cinderella's here, at least. I should just play along for now.'
"...Fine. I'll take over Cinderella's cleaning duties until she's all better. Just...lemme take her back to her room to rest first, alright?"'
Lady Tremaine didn't seem to have a problem following Ignis' request, as this was clearly her victory. "Very well. Once you finished, then you must remake dinner."
'Fuuuuucccck! I really don't know how to cook! Okay, here's hoping that Cinderella's friends might help me out, then,' thought Ignis as she wrapped Cinderella's arm around her shoulder and half-dragged, half-carried her away as fast as she could.
While walking off, she realized that she didn't actually know where Cinderella's room was. That meant that she had to return to the kitchen because that was where Jaq and the others were. Hopefully, they'll be able to help her out.
True enough, Cinderella's animal friends caused quite a frenzy when they saw how ill the unconscious Cinderella was before they crowded around her. Ignis quickly explained the situation and pleaded for their help, which they were more than happy to oblige for the sick and kind Cinderella.
"Yup, yup, yup! Leave it to us! We'll help out with the food and anything else Cinderelly needs!" one of the female mice promised.
"Great!" Ignis sighed in relief. "So...where's her room? I need to take her there right away!"
"Her room is yours room!" replied Jaq.
"...Hah?"
"Cinderelly gave up room to let you sleep in it! Cinderelly sleep in barn! Lots of hay! Lots of hay!"
'Wait...so, the room I was sleeping in...that was Cinderella's room?' Ignis thought, looking at Cinderella. 'Cindy...Yeah, I can't let her sleep in the barn now.'
With great and hasty effort, Ignis hurried to carry Cinderella back in her original room, the same room that Ignis was occupying while she was being treated. Even if that meant that Ignis' new sleeping quarters were now the barn, Ignis knew that Cinderella needed the bed more than she did. Besides, her own wounds were healed, but she wasn't going to go anywhere until Cinderella's fever goes away.
As much as she hated it, Ignis knew that she was now responsible for Cinderella's chores. This...wasn't exactly the otherworldly experience she was hoping for, but as long as it helped someone, as well as save that person from forcibly going through chores while sick, then it's always worth it helping someone.
"Alright...time to get started," sighed Ignis, knowing that this would be a long night.
Dear Diary,
I'M SO TIRED AND DIRTY! I WANNA GO HOME!
So, what happened was this! First, after the Mark of Mastery exam, I went to explore the forest, you know? Clear my mind, take in the fresh air, maybe even take a small nap under the shade. Then, I wake up and see some guy hanging over me.
Oh, but it wasn't just "some guy!" He was wearing all black with strange, but awesome red markings all over his body! Oh, and he had a mask! His appearance definitely screamed BADASS! Oh, and he was wearing a skirt! A man skirt! He kept insisting that it's not a skirt, but hey, if it's hanging off his pants area, looks like a skirt, then it's DEFINITELY a skirt!
But, but! More importantly, even though he's masked, I can tell...HE'S SUPER HOT! HE'S TOTALLY MY TYPE! TALL, DARK, AND HANDSOME! TOTALLY FITS MY TYPE! I bet underneath his mask is a totally hot face! Why? His body just SCREAMS mysterious to me! And mysterious bad boys like him are always hot! That, and he surprisingly has a nice pack of abs! Man, I honestly just wanna run my fingers all over them!
But, while I learned that he was handsome, and no, I didn't have the chance to take off his mask, I also learned THAT HE'S A BIG PRICK! Seriously, he wakes me up, tries to pick a fight with me, snd so on! No, I mean, a literal 1-1 fight! And the worst part? He won! I lost! I LOST!
During the battle, he was super fast! Like, maybe even lightning fast! I mean, my defenses surely gave him a challenge, but it really didn't take him long to bypass them! He even damaged my armor, too! I so have to get that fixed, though.
And you know what else? He almost frickin' cut my hair off! Seriously, it took me YEARS to grow up my luscious, red, glamorous hair! Well, technically, he did cut off a few strands, but that's besides the point! Even a few is way too many!
Anyways, we fought, and after I lost, I fell unconscious for a little while. I did hear him saying that he did still need me alive or something. That guy-Oh! I forgot to mention his name! Vanitas! That's right! Vanitas! Anyways, Vanitas was filled with darkness, and he was extremely powerful! Maybe he was just as powerful or even more powerful than Terra and Aqua, and that's saying something, alright!
Anyways, I trick him by casting a Mine Shield spell, which caused him to let me go and be stunned. I knew that once he was freed, he was just going to come after me again. So, I did the next best thing I could think of...activate my light portal powers and automatically transport me away to a new world!
Of course, I still have absolute no control over which world I land into, so I could have entered into any random world. Honestly, I wished I could have seen the stupid look on his face when I absolutely played him like a fiddle with my latest move! Although, because of my battle injuries, as soon as I landed in the new world, I completely blacked out! I fainted!
When I woke up, I wasn't in any danger, because a kind and gentle young girl named Cinderella had found me, taken me in, and treated my wounds the whole time I was unconscious!
Honestly, I have no idea how long I was asleep. Also, I'm pretty sure that when my wounds finally heal, and I find a way back home, Master Eraqus is totally gonna kill me. Well, not literally kill me, but he's definitely gonna assign me a hellhole of a lot of punishments for sure! I'm so screwed when I get back, and just the thought of punishments awaiting for me is kinda a reason for me not to want to return, but I still have to. I need to make sure everyone's alright there. They must be so worried about me.
When Cinderella left the room I was hospitalized in, I quickly casted a Curaga spell on myself to heal my wounds, which worked. Master Eraqus did teach us not to use magic in front of other people unless they also knew the existence of magic, otherwise there'll be a bunch of bad stuff happening like witch hunts and all that other stuff.
Cinderella took care of me, like delivering me food, and she even introduced me to her friends. All of them were actually animals, though they were just some birds and a couple of mice. One of them was a small cutie named Jack! I had mistaken him for a rat, because at first glance, he did look like a rat, and I don't like rats!
I helped Cinderella out a bit with the cooking when I heard her accidentally drop something in the kitchen that made a huge crashing sound. She looked really tired, so I felt bad and wanted to at least help her out a bit as a sort of repayment. We had a lot of fun together, telling stories and singing a bunch of songs, even songs I've never heard of! Well, this is a whole different world, so it's obvious that this world would have songs I've never heard of.
But you know what happened next? Cinderella finished preparing for the meals, and they were all meant for her stepfamily. Technically, just her stepmother and two stepsisters, but then I hear some screaming and rush over. Cinderella was unconscious and probably fainted from over-exhaustion and a huge fever.
What REALLY ticked me off was that none of her family members cared to even get Cinderella to a doctor. Instead, they were more worried about the mess that Cinderella accidentally made instead of their own family member! Ugh, they're all such horrible people! No wonder I sensed deep darkness within them! Their darkness is nothing compared to Vanitas', though, but it's still pretty dangerous!
In exchange for having Cinderella rest, there was a sort of an agreement that I would take over her cleaning duties until she was all better. Obviously, I hate chores, but if this was for poor, sickly, Cinderella, then I'm willing to do it! Especially since she's taken care of me and has always been nice to me!
But now, it's been a long night, and I'm tired and so dirty! I wanna take a bath, but I wanna sleep too! It's sooo unfair! My healing magic can heal wounds, but it can't cure illnesses like Cinderella's! All I can do is pray and hope that she's alright. Please let Cinderella feel better soon...
~ Ignis ~
Interesting world, right? Well, I decided to spice things up a bit. In the original story, Ignis didn't ever go to Cinderella's world, but here, I decided that she would start the earliest out of all of her friends. Plus, this world will help kickstart her belief of light and darkness, as well as have her face the reality of life's unfairness. Hope you enjoy!
Read and review!~