"You'd better get going, you don't want to be late to the ball, do you?"
The pretty maiden, Cinderella smiled at her new friend before shaking her head and rushing off to change into the dress her friends had made for her. She quickly slipped into it before waving goodbye to her and the mice. "Thank you!"
Cinderella hurried down the steps, calling after her stepmother and stepsisters: "Wait! Please, wait for me!"
The three turned to see the girl in a beautiful pink dress adorned with ribbons and lace. She twirled in delight. "Isn't it lovely? Do you like it? Do you think it will do?"
Ignoring her questions, Drizella and Anastasia turned to their mother, whining about how they didn't want Cinderella to come with but she shushed them. "Girls, please. After all, we made a bargain- didn't we, Cinderella?"
The young lady smiled happily, it seemed she was finally about to have her dream come true.
"You did your chores and made your dress, and I never go back on my word…" Lady Tremaine stepped forward before lifting up Cinderella's necklace. "How very clever. These beads… They give it just the right touch. Don't you agree, Drizella?"
"No, I don't! I think she's-!" Drizella then noticed something and gasped in shock. "Why, you little thief! Those are my beads! Give them here!"
Cinderella gasped in shock when she tore off the necklace, sending beads everywhere.
"And that's my sash!" Anastasia growled, ripping off her waist.
"Oh, stop! Please, stop!" Cinderella begged but her stepsisters didn't listen, clawing and scratched, ripping and wrenching the dress until Cinderella was left dressed in tatters.
"Girls, girls, that's quite enough." Their mother said finally, satisfied with the state Cinderella was in. "Hurry along now, both of you."
The two trotted out the door, leaving Cinderella fighting back tears as her stepmother gave her one last cold look. "Goodnight."
Cinderella burst into tears the moment the door closed and ran out into the garden, collapsing onto the stone ledge of the fountain.
She'd really thought her dream would come true if she just believed… Reality had different plans.
Ven found himself in yet another forest and was surprised he hadn't ended up in the castle that had been the most prevalent landmark of the over world. He then saw the castle in the distance, glowing gently in the night. "Oh, there it is."
Just as he was about to head off to check if the royalty here was pure of heart though, he heard a soft sobbing.
Following the sound, he came upon a little garden where a girl lay on the fountain, crying. He bent down to her. "What's the matter?"
"…It's just that my friends made me the most beautiful dress-but my stepmother and stepsisters ruined it. And I was so looking forward to the ball…"
Ven but his lip, unsure what to say. He then remembered his master's teachings after he'd fallen into similar despair. "I know you're sad, but you can't let that grief consume you, it'll cloud your senses and judgement if you let it linger with you. You have to believe you'll get through it."
"I can't believe…" She sobbed. "Not anymore…! There's nothing to believe in, nothing!"
"Nothing, my dear?" A sudden gentle voice asked. Mist began to gather around the girl and Ven watched in amazement as it formed into an old woman with a kind face. "Oh, now, you don't really mean that!"
"Oh, but I do!"
"Nonsense! If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am.
The young woman glanced up then and realized what she'd thought was just a delusion was there in front of her.
"Oh, come now, dry those tears. You can't go to the ball looking like that." The old woman tutted.
"The ball? Oh, but I'm not-"
"Of course you are. But we'll have to hurry, even miracles take time! Now, where is that magic wand?"
"Magic wand?" Ventus asked in surprise.
"Why, yes. And who might you be?" The woman asked then.
"My name's Ventus, but you guys can call me Ven." He beamed.
"Everyone calls me Cinderella." The woman smiled kindly. She looked at the woman then with awe. "And you must be…!"
"Your fairy godmother? Of course." The woman grinned back to her while searching as if it wasn't unbelievable in the slightest. "Now, what were
those magic words? Oh yes... Bibbidi-Bobbidi-boo!"
Suddenly a nearby pumpkin expanded and ballooned until it poofed into a beautiful white carriage.
"It's beautiful!" Cinderella gasped.
"Now, with an elegant coach like that, of course, we'll simply have to have, uh... mice!"
The nearby horse snorted in disapproval when she transformed four nearby mice into proud horses. She turned to the dismayed one who'd been replaced and smiled kindly to him. "Tonight, for a change, you will handle the reins... and sit in the driver's seat as well. But instead of a horse, you're the coachman, of course. Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"
With her magic, the horse was placed on the driver's seat and poofed into a coachman.
"Well, that does it, I guess. Except for- oh, yes, the finishing touch... and that's you."
Cinderella smiled bashfully but was surprised when the magic instead picked up the nearby dog and placed him by the carriage. "Yes, Bruno, that's right! You'll be footman tonight. Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!… Well, well, jump in, my darling. We can't waste time!"
Cinderella stuttered slightly, looking down at her tattered dress, she couldn't possibly go like this! "But my dress…"
"Yes, it's lovely, dear. Love-" The fairy godmother finally opened her eyes and took in the dress before gasping in horror. "Good heavens, child! You can't go in that!"
With a few more "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boos', Cinderella was soon in a silvery blue dress fit for a princess.
"Wow!" Ven cried. "Cinderella, you look wonderful!"
"Oh, thank you!" Cinderella laughed, twirling around before pointing down to her feet. "And look, glass slippers too!"
The girl danced around a bit more before going to check her reflection in the water.
"Madam, may I ask you something?" Ven asked softly, approaching the fairy godmother with slight caution. Did she sense the darkness in him?
If she did, she paid it no mind and smiled up to the boy. "Can you go to the ball as well? Yes, of course, but you can't go looking like that."
"Huh? No, I-!" Ven shut his eyes when he was overtaken by a blinding light and then found himself in a charming green suit with golden buttons and a white kerchief. He smiled faintly and straightened himself a bit. "Er, thank you… But I was hoping you could tell me why you appeared here, was it because Cinderella was too deep in the darkness?"
"Oh, no, child." She laughed slightly, pinching his cheek. "I came simply because Cinderella has always believed in me. And don't you know? No matter the darkness, as long as you believe it will, light will come through for you in the very end without any magical intervention, the same way darkness will never allow for those of light to be in eternal peace. The two are balanced in that way."
"Balanced, huh?" Ven whispered to himself. Did that mean… his darkness appearing was a sign of the end of the seemingly endless reign of light in the Land of Departure? Is that why the master was so upset to see it?
"Now, you two must be off! You'll have only till midnight, and then, on the stroke of twelve, the
spell will be broken, and everything will be as it was before."
"We understand, don't we, Ven?"
The boy nodded and followed her into the carriage. They waved goodbye to the fairy godmother and we're off to the castle of Cinderella's dreams.
The two entered the castle only to find it swarming with those strange creatures, all headed to the ballroom.
"Oh dear!" Cinderella gasped in worry while Ven summoned his keyblade.
"Cinderella, stay behind me! I'll get you to the ball!" Ven proclaimed.
He slashed through the monsters all while pulling Cinderella though, making sure she didn't trip.
They finally reached the ballroom and were surprised to find none of the creatures in sight.
"That's strange… Maybe I was wrong about there being a Prince of Heart here…" Ven muttered.
Just then, a charming young man approached, giving off a practically glowing aura of kindness and warmth.
"Or maybe I was right…!"
The prince offered his hand to Cinderella and the two began to dance.
Still feeling uneasy about the peace here, he went over to the grand duke. "Excuse me, have you seen any strange creatures around here?"
"Oh, are you referring to the passion-driven monsters? People have been reporting seeing them as they came to the ball. They said the creatures seemed to appear at the same time a veiled maiden in black did…"
"A veiled maiden in black…?" Ven repeated. "That sounds like she'd be able to blend into the crowd here… but why isn't she attacking?"
"Oh! Oh!" The grand duke suddenly cried, getting his attention. "There! Isn't that the one?!"
Ven turned and saw a girl dressed in a tight black suit with a red skirt round her waist among the dancers, her eyes seemed to be on the prince and Cinderella as she danced with a partner who he couldn't see through a dark fog that seemed to surround him. Perhaps she was enchanting him in order to look less suspicious?
Ven could tell just by looking at her, this was a being full of darkness, just the opposite of the prince.
He slipped and worked his way through the crowd until he finally reached the maiden who seemed fully invested in talking to her partner now. "Hey, you!"
The guests gasped and shrieked in horror when Ven summoned his keyblade and he grimaced, realizing he had broken the world order but it wasn't like this woman and her underlings weren't already. He had to fight fire with fire.
The woman suddenly forced her partner to dip her to get a good look at Ven. Despite this, her veil still hid her face. He could feel the smirk behind it. "Look who's crashed the party! I was wondering if you'd show, Ventus."
That voice! It was the same that had taunted him at the exam!
"Wait, who…?! Ven?!" The fog suddenly cleared from her partner's face and he blinked away the spell before his eyes widened in shock at seeing both Ven and the woman before him.
"Terra?!" Ven gasped in shock. He then narrowed his eyes to the woman in anger. If she didn't still have Terra in her arms, he'd go after her. "What did you do to Terra?!"
"We were only dancing, weren't we, Master Terra?" The girl teased. Her face then turned to disgust. "Hate myself for toying with you, I should've gotten rid of you the moment I got you off-guard."
"Let go of me!" Terra growled, slapping her hand from his cheek before she could use it to scratch him.
"Shh, just relax…" Ven watched in horror as she easily made Terra fall unconscious. "And die!"
"NO!" Ven screamed, launching himself at her.
"Aww! It seems the party's over!" The woman laughed before vanishing. A giant conducting creature suddenly appeared in front of the prince and Cinderella. "So long, little Ventus!"
The boy slid to a stop before turning to the monster. "Everybody, out!"
The prince and Cinderella hurriedly got Terra on each of their shoulders, getting him away from danger like the strong lights they were.
"Come on! Let's dance!" Ventus yelled to the monster. He slashed through every instrument that conducted a terrible song until only the conductor remained. The thing took its final bow before he vanquished it.
"Terra!" Ven yelled.
The two embraced tightly, glad to see each other again.
"Terra, what are you doing here?" Ven asked, pushing away.
"I should be asking you that!" Terra cried. "The master sent me on a solo mission to defeat the Unversed, those creatures from earlier, and find Master Xehanort but then, you took off and Aqua followed right after!"
"Aqua followed me?" Had he gotten Aqua in some kind of trouble again? "Oh no… I just wanted to explore and learn new things, I didn't mean to-!"
"It's okay, Ven." Terra ruffled his hair reassuringly. "I'm going to find Aqua too and I won't be tricked again by that dark woman, you just need to go home, okay?"
"No, I can't go home yet!" Ven protested. If he did, his journey would be for nothing!
Terra tried to protest but the boy turned and ran out of the palace.
"Ven!"