Henry took one look at Snow and the Dwarves, and sighed. His guess had been spot on.
This was the world where the Evil Queen was.
"Guys, maybe I can talk the Evil Queen into leaving Snow White alone," suggested Henry.
"Don't be silly Henry! Snow said that the queen throws anyone who tries to reason with her in the dungeon!" said Sora.
"It's still worth a shot. Who knows, this whole thing might have been sparked by a monumental misunderstanding."
"Well if you're going to try and talk some sense into the queen, we'll go with you!" said Sora.
Henry thought on the fly.
"Why don't you go talk to the Evil Queen and I'll guard Snow White? She might be persuaded by you more than me. After all, you have two representatives of King Mickey and Queen Minnie. You'd have an easier time getting in than I would. And I could guard Snow White while the Dwarves are off at work mining," said Henry.
"Great idea!" said Sora.
"Now wait a minute!" said Donald.
"Think about it this way Donald. Would you rather be envoys of a king welcomed with open arms, or would you rather be caught skulking around like a thief?" said Henry sensibly. He knew he had the cranky Duck there.
"Fine, but Goofy stays here with you!" said Donald.
"Yeah, no telling what would happen if the Queen were to show up," said Sora.
Their course set, Donald and Sora went to try and reason with the Evil Queen. Meanwhile Henry waited for his mother to show up in disguise to trap Snow White in a sleeping curse. Considering how the games went, generally Sora and the others showed up during the parts where the bad guys tended to make their final gambit.
Goofy had long since fallen asleep when the 'peddler woman' showed up.
Henry was the one who opened up the door.
"Hey Snow, I think someone's here to sell you fresh fruit," he said, lying through his teeth. He might as well get this over with.
Snow White came up close, and when they were both within arm's reach of him Henry grabbed their arms.
Something inside of him clicked, and in the span of a breath, Snow's gasp of surprise and the Queen's hiss of annoyance at the idea of being caught changed.
The feminine dress on Snow White faded, though her facial features stayed the same.
"Henry? What's going on?" she said in confusion.
"What am I wearing?" said Regina in the same breath.
"Hi mom. Hi grandma. I can explain everything..." said Henry with a wince about how his mother was going to react to what he accidentally did.
In the Evil Queen's castle...
"Where is she?" said an irate Donald. Sora just looked bored, but he was starting to get worried too.
Suddenly the doors to the audience chamber opened up, and what they saw next had Sora torn between laughter and worry.
The Evil Queen had Henry's ear firmly in her right hand, and he looked more resigned than anything. Snow White was also there, as were the dwarves. Goofy just looked confused.
"Your Majesty, these two claim to be envoys of King Mickey," said one of her evil lackeys. He eyed the woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to Snow White with a wary look.
"You're dismissed. I'll deal with these intruders myself," said Regina, slipping back into her Evil Queen persona with ease.
He bowed, before making a hasty retreat.
Donald tried to make an introduction, but Regina ignored him.
"Honestly Henry, what were you thinking? You know the Sorcerer's Mansion had latent magic all over the place!" she scolded him.
"I forgot I left it there! We were so busy trying to bring her back from the Darkness that I didn't think about where it was! How was I to know one of the empty books would end up on top of it?" complained Henry, wincing as he rubbed his ear.
"It was an honest mistake Regina."
"Don't get me started Snow. In case you've forgotten I've been trying to get away from my Evil Queen side, and now I'm back wearing...this," said Regina in disgust.
"Look at the bright side... if we run into Robin I can simply send him and the Merry men here. And in this world Zelena hasn't tricked him into thinking she's Marion," said Henry. That seemed to slightly improve Regina's mood.
"Uh... What's going on here?" said Sora.
Henry winced.
"Sora, Donald, Goofy... I'd like to introduce my mom and my grandmother."
Sora stared.
"Snow White's your mother?" said Sora in disbelief.
"Other way around," said Regina dryly.
"She's your grandmother?!" said Donald in shock.
"It's a long story involving a curse that kept them at the same age for twenty eight years, and a lot of other things," said Henry tiredly. "The 'Evil Queen' adopted me as a baby and raised me for thirteen years before my birth mother broke the curse."
Regina was still in a foul mood because she was stuck as the Evil Queen again.
"At least this time I'm not stuck under a sleeping curse again," said Snow tiredly.
Sora and the others basically forced Henry to explain what was going on.
"So let me get this straight. Your mother is Snow White's daughter and your dad is Beast's son. Your adopted mom is the Evil Queen, and your grandmother on that side is the Queen of Hearts. You also have an aunt who's the Wicked Witch," said Sora, trying to keep it straight.
"Where I'm from, the Beast of Beast castle isn't a nice person. He's also the son of Peter Pan, who's also evil," said Henry tiredly.
"That is one complicated family tree," said Goofy. Donald nodded.
"It's also why I'll be avoiding the Beast and the Queen of Hearts. Though if you think that's bad, my mother Emma is the best friend of Maleficent's daughter Lily," said Henry.
"I have a headache," said Sora.
"Ditto."
"Well, just remember that the Evil Queen isn't as evil as everyone thought she was, and she's not after the Princess anymore," said Henry diplomatically.
"Hey wait... if both your mom's are royalty, doesn't that make you a Prince?" said Sora.
Henry made a face.
"I think I'll go show my mom some of the new tricks I've learned," said Henry. She would probably be thrilled to have something to share with him.
With Regina...
"So what is it you wanted to show me?"
"See that pot over there?" said Henry. He had taken her a little outside the castle without anyone knowing save his grandmother. Regina looked over at the pot, mostly to humor him. "Fire!"
Her humor turned to shock as he shot a fireball at the pot, destroying it.
"What... how?"
"Kingdom Hearts has a spell set that comes with all keyblades. I figured since I was going to be stuck here I might as well learn some magic, since it's on both sides of the family," said Henry proudly.
"Well at least it's not just a fancy toy," said Regina, before she grinned. "I'm glad you woke us up, Henry."
"I'm just glad I didn't have to watch you be evil," he said, hugging her.
"Now if only you hadn't forgotten your laptop where one of the empty books could fall onto it..."
Henry sighed.
"To be fair, that was practically the only place I've been able to get some peace and quiet, and Grandpa doesn't mind so long as I don't walk in on anything," said Henry.
It wasn't like Rumplestiltskin cared if Henry decided to stay in the library for hours on end, since he usually wore headphones and was rather quiet. Most days he forgot the boy was even there.
"So where is the 'former' Dark One?"
"Well since he's also the Beast, he's likely in Beast's Castle under a lot of fur. I'm going to avoid that place because the last thing we need is him running around with Maleficent and the others."
"I'm going to need a list of people to avoid," said Regina tiredly.
"I'll get you the books once we're out of here. But the main bad guys are Hook, Maleficent, Jafar, Ursula, Hades, and Oogie Boogie."
"Who?"
"The Boogeyman. He's from Nightmare Before Christmas. Kingdom Hearts is like a cross between Final Fantasy and the Disney films."
"Oh, those," said Regina in disgust. She hated that Snow White movie.
"I might be able to turn Hook back to our side, but I really, really want to avoid Pan. And he's supposed to be a good guy here," said Henry in equal disgust.
Killian Jones, aka Hook, was dating his mother Emma. Pan might be his grandfather, but he was a real jerk.
"Just be careful Henry."
"I will mom. Sorry I dragged you all into this mess."
"At least you woke me up. So what sort of story is this anyway?"
"It's fanfiction. Basically one where the 'Author' falls for the 'Artist'," said Henry with a blush. He liked Naminé.
Regina's eyes gained a gleam.
"And you're the 'Author' I take it?"
Henry refused to answer.
"Well as long as you have fun and we get out of this 'fanfiction' it's alright. Just remember to send Robin this way when you see him. I refuse to deal with Snow White without a buffer."
"If I remember right, my 'character' has the ability to use the Corridor of Darkness. I should be able to visit often enough that I can help keep you from slipping hot sauce in her coffee," said Henry snickering.
"Now there's an idea."
Sora and the others gave Henry a look.
"So your mom and grandmother are okay with you traveling to other worlds and fighting monsters?"
"They're from the Enchanted Forest. They actually more surprised it took so long for me to learn how to use a sword, and they never thought to check if I had magic. It's not like I'll be facing ogres or anything," said Henry shrugging. Facing a pissed off Maleficent in dragon form was more dangerous.
Besides, Kingdom Hearts was a kid's game based off Disney. That had more or less cemented that it was okay for him to go off adventuring and hopefully find out what happened to his mother Emma.
Considering that Snow White never had kids in the movie, and she was still the current Dark One, he was betting he'd find her at the end, likely as a final boss. He hadn't accounted for his birth mother going evil, so she was likely to unaffected by the trance state both his grandmother and mom had been in.
"So who's your dad?"
"The son of the worst villain in the Enchanted Forest, collectively called the 'Dark One'. Basically an embodiment of all the Darkness that exists in magic. Pretty much omnipotent, and capable of making deals that usually end up coming back to haunt you."
"What om..."
"Omnipotent means having great power or influence. Kind of like a god. The Dark One is something like a genie, except instead of a lamp they're bound to a dagger and they don't grant wishes. They do, however, make deals."
"Oh."
"Speaking of genies...it looks like we're about to visit Agrabah next," said Henry.
"Agrabah?"
"Desert world," clarified Henry.
"How is it that you're the only one who doesn't get caught in the quicksand?" complained Sora.
"Because I knew it was there and was quicker than you were in getting out," said Henry.
He had found a certain quill in Merlin's house, which the wizard had given him. Along with a notepad. Henry had used a pen while he was in the wizard's house, but he had kept the quill which had been a gift. Even if he didn't want to use it like Isaac had.
"Get us out of here!" shouted an irate Donald.
"Keep your feathers on," said Henry.
"Need some help?" asked a voice behind him. He had heard the irate yells of the duck and the surprised shouts of Sora and Goofy.
"I think I can handle this... there's my notepad," said Henry to himself, having gotten a new one while visiting his mother. She had felt happier knowing Henry had his ink and a copy of the Author's quill on him in case something went wrong.
"What are you doing?" asked Aladdin.
"Magic," said Henry. With a quick dip of the ink and a few motions of his wrist to write a simple sentence, the quicksand suddenly solidified under the trapped trio and rose from the sand as a solid platform of sandrock.
"What... how did you do that?" said Sora, amazed.
"Magic," said Henry by simple explanation.
"Wait, if you could do that, then can you find Kairi too?" asked Sora hopefully.
Henry firmly shook his head.
"Small things like turning quicksand into sandstone under your feet is fine, but big changes have bigger consequences. It's a really bad idea to rely on magic to get everything done for you... Trust me, my family's learned that lesson the hard way."
Magic made things harder long term, which was why he didn't like using the quill that often.
Aladdin looked pensive.
"I never thought about it like that," he admitted.
"If you were to turn yourself into a prince using magic, then eventually it would come out that you're just faking. The magic will wear off or something worse would happen. Where I come from they call it 'Equivalent Exchange'. Obtaining something means that you have to lose something in return."
Like in Castle Oblivion. To lose is to gain, to gain is to lose.
Aladdin looked disappointed, but he did get the message.
"I was really hoping to use Genie to help me get this girl I like too," said Aladdin.
"Trust me, if she can't like you for who you really are, then she's probably not the girl for you to begin with," said Henry sagely.
"You've got a point. I'd hate to get her because of a lie."
It was around that time that a monkey and a flying carpet appeared.
"Abu!"
"...You could always wish that you could understand what your 'friend' is saying, rather than trying to interpret what he's trying to say," suggested Henry.
Aladdin blinked.
"That honestly never occurred to me. It would save a lot of headaches later..."