A day had gone by since the death of Serrah and the citizens of Womanisia were doing their best to move along with their lives. And now it seemed as though they had acknowledged Mulan as their new queen.
On the beach, at the very place where Serrah had died, Mulan stood with the crown in hand and then looked to the city. As far as being the queen was concerned, she actually felt indifferent about it. On one hand, she didn't want to do it, but on the other hand, she felt like it was her responsibility, her duty. But of course, she knew she had to follow another duty, to her heart.
Just then, the other princesses, the good fairies, and Feemer found and met up with her.
"Mulan!" shouted Cinderella.
"Hey guys..." Mulan said.
"Lan? What's the matter?" Tiana asked.
Mulan sighed as she looked again at the crown. "It's just..." she said in a hushed tone.
"You're not actually thinking about this, are you?!" asked Merida.
"Well...a little bit," Mulan answered.
"Mulan!" Merida shouted. "Are you forgetting why we came here?!"
"Merida's right, Mulan," said Belle. "It's unfortunate what happened to the queen, but we came here to find one of those septors that, and let me remind you of this, we will need to save our loved ones!"
"Yeah! Have you forgotten that?!" Merryweather said.
"I haven't forgotten! But the queen chose me...me to take her place!" said Mulan.
"I understand how you feel, but first and foremost, what is most important is finding the septors. Nothing else matters," said Belle.
"We have to focus on our main objective, Mulan," said Cinderella.
"Wait! I say let her do it," said Tiana.
"What?!" said Merida.
"Tiana, what are you saying?!" Belle asked.
"Listen, it doesn't have to be forever, just until we find the septor, then Mulan can proclaim a new queen," Tiana said.
"Good idea!" said Ariel.
"I don't know," said Belle.
"Well I do, that's crazy!" said Merida.
"Actually, that's not a bad idea," said Feemer. We've searched all over the city and on the beach and haven't found anything, so it will probably take some time before we can find the septor. In the meantime, Mulan can keep the people occupied while we continue searching."
The gang thought about and realized there was some merit to Tiana and Feemer's plan. However, Merida was still in doubt. In fact, she was rather upset about the whole thing.
"No!" Merida exclaimed. "She can't be queen! She doesn't know anything about being a queen!"
"We don't have much of a choice, Merida! These people right now depend on Lan and we can use it to our advantage!" Tiana said.
Merida huffed in anger. "Fine! You know what, fine! You want her to be queen and forget about our mission, that's fine with me! They can give her a parade for all I care! More luck to ye!" she said before she stormed off.
"Merida wait!" Mulan said, trying to reason with Merida.
"Let her cool off," Jasmine said to Mulan.
Most of the gang went off to console with Merida save for Snow White, who approached the still indifferent Mulan.
"Do what you feel is right," Snow White said, before she left with the others.
The gang tracked Merida down to a nearby tree that she was wailing away at with her sword.
"Um...Merida?" Snow White said.
"What?!" Merida shouted, causing Snow White to pull back a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry, Snowy. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
After apologizing, Merida went back to wailing on the tree as Snow White approached her again. "Do not worry, Merida. Mulan won't leave us," she said.
Snow White's words stopped Merida in her tracks as she placed her sword to the ground. Shortly afterwards, a small tear fell down her right cheek. Yes, she knew it was important to find the septors and save the kingdoms and all their loved, including her own father, but at the same time, she felt distraught at the thought of Mulan being a queen. Remembering her previous experiences of being trained to be a queen by her mother, Elinor, Merida realized that the position of queen had its advantages and disadvantages, a disadvantage being corruption. And there was a chance that the same thing could happen to Mulan and she would lose a friend.
Suddenly, Mulan approached the gang. "Guys...I've decided...I'm not gonna do it," she said. "We have a mission and that is important."
In truth, the gang was actually relived. They would need all the help they could get.
Mulan and the others were preparing to continue their search when suddenly, a female resident of the island approached her. "Your Majesty, will you and your friends be needing anything today?" she asked.
"Um...no...nothing will be necessary...thank you," Mulan said.
"As you wish, Your Majesty. Oh! We have having a special banquet tonight in honor of our new queen in the palace dining hall and per tradition of Womanisia, it is customary for the queen to sit at the main table," said the resident.
Mulan tried to explain that she wasn't the queen, but before she could, the citizen grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from the gang to show her something.
"Yah, thanks for the help, Mulan!" Merida shouted sarcastically.
The rest of the gang just decided to go on ahead.
Meanwhile, the female citizen showed Mulan a giant statue of herself that the males of Womanisia had sculpted rather quickly. She couldn't help but be a little impressed.
Just then, the citizen looked up at Mulan's head and noticed something. "Your Majesty, why aren't you wearing your crown?" she asked.
"Because I'm not the queen. I don't really know anything about ruling an island," said Mulan.
"But our former queen chose you, so that must means she sees something in you," the citizen said.
Just then, a pair of female warriors and two males approached Mulan and the citizen.
"Your Majesty, your servants are ready to serve you," one of the warriors said.
Mulan again tried to explain that was not the queen, but before she could, the female warrior ordered the male servants to pick her up and escort her into the palace.
Once inside the palace, Mulan found herself being pampered to the highest degree. The male servants were doing everything from massaging her feet, feeding her grapes, doing her hair, painting her fingernails, plucking her nosehairs; everything you could think of, they did it.
Meanwhile, the rest of the gang continued their search. This time, they decided to go further outside the city. Their plan seemed to work as Feemer glowing brighter than he previously had before.
"Are you sure it is around here, Feemer?" asked Snow White.
"Absolutely, my dear!" Feemer said with confidence.
"You said that last time," Tiana said.
"Well this time I'm certain," said Feemer.
"You said that last time as well," Merida said.
"This time, we are in the absolute place," said Feemer.
"And you said that last time too," said Belle.
"Oh shut up!" Feemer shouted.
Tiana, Merida, and Belle chuckled.
Regardless however, Feemer's glow was exceptionally bright. All jokes aside, the gang figured the crystal septor was somewhere around their location. The question was where.
Tiana moved Feemer around and in the same place, he was glowing his brightest glow, she figured it had to be right where they were standing. The gang looked around but didn't see anything.
Tiana then eyed Feemer with disgust as she felt that he had lead them to yet another dead end.
Suddenly, Snow White had an idea. "Hey! Maybe it is underground," she suggested.
"Good thinking, Snow White!" said Flora.
The three good fairies waved their wands, made shovels appear, handed them to the princesses, and they soon began digging around the area.
For a number of minutes, the princesses dug and dug. Pocahontas was unsure of how to use a shovel and just banged on the ground with hers. Aurora's shovel clanked on something within the ground. It sounded like a kind of metal.
"Guys! Over here!" she said calling the others. "I think I found something."
Using her hands, she dug the rest of the way through until she discovered what looked to be a red jewel, almost like a ruby. When she tried to pull it out, it was dug deep. The other princesses lent a hand in digging around. Using their shovels, they dug down until they saw more of the jewel. Only this didn't look like any jewel, this had the appearance of a kind of round crystal with a red jewel in the center of it. They tried again to get it out, but it still wouldn't budge, so they dug around it some more and then tugged on it again and this time, it began budging. All together they tugged and pulled with all their might until they were able to pull it all the way out. The item appeared to be a long stick of some sort. Instantly, the good fairies realized what it was.
"It's a crystal septor," said Flora.
"You found it!" exclaimed Merryweather.
"Good job, dearies!" said Fauna.
"Them?! I'm the one who lead them to it and whatnot, I say, no appreciation, rather ghastly I must say," said Feemer.
"Yes!" the princesses all exclaimed before they gave a collective high five.
With the septor in hand, the gang realized their time on the island was done and now they had to get Mulan and get off Womanisia.
Nighttime had arrived and the dinner table had been set. An arrangement of foods from turkeys, to peas, mashed potatoes, chicken, ham, and pork lined the table.
Mulan herself was dressed in an elegant teal and turquoise dress. She gazed upon the selection on the table and again was impressed.
One of the female warriors walked up to her. "Everything is prepared, Your Highness," she said.
Just then a muscular man with short blond hair came in front of Mulan. "I prepared everything, Your Highness," he said.
The female warrior smacked the male servant hard on the head. "Who said you could speak to the queen?!" she shouted.
"No, it's OK, thank you for this, Mr..." Mulan said.
"You're asking what my name is?" the male servant said.
"Yes, don't you have one?" asked Mulan.
"Well...no..." said the male servant.
Mulan was confused by this.
The female warrior explained.
"We don't name the males here in Womanisia," said the female warrior. "We just refer to them as servant or nave or our personal favorite, lowly worm beneath the toe jam of our feet.
Mulan observed the male servant. "You look like a Walter to me," she said.
"If Walter is what you want to call me, then Walter is what I shall be, Your Majesty," the male servant said.
"Oh no, I didn't mean..." Mulan said before she heard various voices in the distance.
The voices were coming from her friends who rushed into the dining hall.
"Mulan! We found it!" said Cinderella as Tiana showed her the crystal septor.
"Wow!" Mulan exclaimed. "It's so beautiful."
The other princesses noticed Mulan in her new dress, particularly Merida who seemed rather disgusted.
"Oh I knew it! I knew it!" Merida said.
"What?" Mulan said.
"You've turned into one of them!" said Merida.
"No I haven't!" said Mulan.
"Oh please! Look at you! With that fancy dress and the fancy hair and the fancy statues and the fancy likeness of your head in macaroni and cheese?!" Merida said.
"They sure like to tickle her fancy, don't they?" Merryweather said to Fauna.
Mulan tried pleading her case. Saying that she had not changed at all. However, as she was speaking, between her sentences, she was snapping her fingers, ordering Walter to do things like fix the cowlicks in her hair, brush her feet, and trim her eyebrows.
"OK, maybe I am enjoying the attention, but I haven't changed that much!" said Mulan.
"You've turned into a spoiled princess!" said Merida.
"I am not spoiled!" said Mulan.
"If the prissy dress fits!" said Merida.
"Girls, please, don't argue. It's time for us to go," said Flora.
Just then, Walter stood in front of Merida sternly. "You dare insult the queen?!" he said.
The female warriors pulled Walter away.
"Shut your mouth, nave! We can take care of this," a female warrior said. "You dare insult the queen?!"
An angered Merida pulled out her sword and pointed it towards the female warriors who responded with their spears.
Mulan stepped in. "Wait! Please don't fight! Uh...your queen commands it," she said.
The female warriors acquiesced to her request.
"Oh...so now you're giving orders huh? I see how it is," Merida said.
"Merida I..." Mulan said, putting her hand to Merida's shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" Merida shouted, pointing her sword to Mulan, then walking off.
"I'll go talk to her," said Snow White before she followed after Merida.
Walter approached Mulan. "My apologies, Your Majesty," he said.
"We shall now begin the banquet!" a female warrior said.
"Well, I am kinda hungry," said Ariel.
Just then, most of the princesses stomachs rumbled. "Us too!" they said.
Tiana on the other hand was too focused on the task at hand. "We don't have time fo-" she said when her stomach started rumbling too and she instantly appeared in in a seat at the table. "Well, maybe a little bit wouldn't hurt."
With that, the other princesses took a seat as well along with the female warriors. Walter helped Mulan into her seat and was about to leave when Mulan stopped him.
"Wait, Walter, do you want to join us?" she asked.
The female warriors shared a collective gasp.
"Your Majesty! Inviting a man to eat with us?!" a female warrior said.
"Well he worked hard on this, so I think it's only fair that enjoy this banquet with us," said Mulan.
"That's outrageous!" a female warrior said.
The rest of the female warriors protested vehemently, But then Mulan, realizing that she was for the time being, the queen stepped in.
"As your queen, I am commanding that Walter eat with us! That is an order!" Mulan said.
The female warriors reluctantly agreed.
Honored, Walter sat down near Mulan at the table and the feast began.
As the feast went on, Mulan discovered that Walter was actually very well mannered. He knew a soup spoon from a tablespoon, he was very well behaved and the two often engaged in very intelligent and balanced conversations.
However, the female warriors were weary. Something like this had never happened before. This new queen was tampering with the ideals of the island. But as time went on, Walter's surprising charm was gradually getting to them. He complemented them and spoke politely to them. This was just as surprising. For years and years, the females of Womanisia never saw men as anything but brainless apes who could only count to 20 if they counted their toes. Seeing as male act like this was something they had never even heard of.
Just then, a female citizen of the island rushed into the castle and into the dining hall towards Mulan, panting and sweating and holding a message in her hand. "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! This is urgent!" she shouted.
"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down! What's the problem?!" Mulan asked.
The citizen handed her the message. "We got this message from the male invaders!" she exclaimed.
Mulan read. "Attention people of Womanisia, you may have won the battle, but this war is far from done. We will return with more soldiers and launch a full attack on your island. You will not be able to stop us. You have four days to surrender your island to us or we will take it by force."
"Your Majesty, what are your orders?" asked the citizen.
Mulan looked to the female warriors, followed by her friends, contemplating what she should do. They had found the first septor, so it seemed like the smart thing to do would be to leave. Mulan was not very good at making combat strategies, but for that matter, neither were the females on the island and especially nor the males. When it came to planning and strategy, the queen was the one they went to. And now with the coming threat of the male forces, it was clear that they needed a leader to support them. As Mulan looked around the city, she saw that the female warriors were distraught; their minds were scrambled and all over the place. Right now, it seemed like Mulan was the only one they could turn to. Seeing as how she had previous experience serving in the army, she figured maybe she could provide some kind of combat knowledge, but she realized even that could go so far.
So with reluctance, she placed the crown on her head, much to the shock of the gang, and looked to the citizen. "I will prepare the warriors, for in four days, we go to war," she said.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the citizen said before she walked off.
Walter and the female warriors stood before the queen and bowed, acknowledging her decision and then walked off to prepare for the coming war.
The good fairies and the other princess stared at Mulan confused, but Ariel realized that this was what her heart was telling her to do. The other princesses and the good fairies realized this as well and were ready to help her anyway they could. But they realized they would need Merida and Snow White, so they went off to find them.
Mulan had never saw herself as much of a leader before, but now was the time for her to prove to herself that she could be one. In four days, she would lead the forces of Womanisia into battle for the first time as their queen and even though she did not ask for this, this was something she and to do and she was willing to stick it out until the very end.
With resolve, she stared up to the ceiling, picturing the battle to come and only these words came to her mind. "Sweet shrimp, what have I gotten myself into," she said to herself.