Alice felt the weight of the world on her heart and it pinned her to the floor. Jasmine rolled onto her back but did not get up. Her breaths came fast and ragged. Ariel looked down at the two girls, her arms crossed under her chest, and then put her foot into Jasmine's side.

"It was you," whispered Jasmine. She clutched her side in pain and rolled over onto her stomach. "You are the corruption."

"I prefer, survivor, but the world magic calls me corrupt," said Ariel.

"I think I understood the Cheshire cat better than you two nutters," hissed Alice. She brought herself up to her hands and knees. Her vision struggled to pick out the two soot covered girls from the ash covered room. Darkness pressed in from outside and now the room was covered in a thin film of ash that brought it to match. "How can you even move?"

"I like you Alice," Ariel dusted off the blond girl's hair and weight of her hand was enough to make Alice fall back down to the ground. "That's why I'm going to keep you around to support the barrier. If you can't tell, I just don't have the heart for it." Ariel couldn't help but laugh at her own joke.

"She's not a princess of heart," explained Jasmine. "Ariel is doing something to break the world."

"Aurora thought she was so fancy with her fairies magic, but she's never witnessed the witch of the sea. Our knowledge is from the old ones and the magic is even older. She could play with the elements. Our magic touches the fabric of reality." Ariel raised her arms and twirled a few times. "You all would not even be alive it if were not for me and you dare call me corrupt."

"You're scaring me," cried Alice. "What was the point of this if we all die?" Each tear that rolled down her cheeks watched away a line of ash.

"I'm not waiting to find out!" Jasmine lunged for Ariel. She knocked the girl to the floor and they both rolled into the wall. Jasmine grabbed Ariel's wrists and pinned them above her head.

"You shouldn't be able to move!" Screamed Ariel.

"I can when I close off my heart," Jasmine said. Her hands gripped Ariel's wrists even harder as the young sea princesses struggled beneath her. "It's probably something you would learn with age. I just don't see you getting any older. Aurora! Finish her!"

"Thunder!" Lightning shot out the hand of the tall woman covered in black ash.

Ariel rolled with Jasmine. Jasmine was hit by the thunder spell and the electricity caused her to fall off of Ariel and arch in pain. Ariel touched the girl's forehead and she froze in place, wracked in pain, and trapped in that instant.

"A stop spell. I should have seen it earlier when the maid broke her nail. You can freeze things in place," said Aurora.

"It was too much to hope that Snow White would have taken you out," said Ariel. "Alice, it looks like your princess friends left all the heavy lifting to you. Alice?" Ariel looked around, but she had trouble finding the small blond girl. Given that her hair had been cleaned she should have been easy to spot in the dark room.

"No one is dead. I simply froze her heart. I needed to know who was corrupting this world. Now you need to go. Fire!"

"Stop!" Ariel could barely get the words out fast enough to stop the fire that had engulfed her. The room was now lit in the eerie glow of the orange fire as the flame princess closed in on Aurora.

"Fire!" Nothing came from Aurora's out stretched hand. Her magic had run its course. Ariel laced her fingers in between Aurora's and leaned into whisper into her ear.

"Stop."

Everything in the room was still. The only noise was from the heartless scraping against the walls and the crack of embers from the fire place. Ariel's own orange glow outshone the embers. Embers from the bottom side of the log, a side of the log, that hadn't been exposed earlier.

"Alice? Are you trying to escape up a chimney?" Ariel picked her way across the room. She was careful not to touch anything that might catch fire. The flames around her had started to burn, but only the time magic held them in place.

"Stay back!" Shouted Alice.

"This chimney is wide, but how did you even get up there?" Asked an amazed Ariel. The younger girl's legs pressed against one end of the chimney while her back was propped up against the other side. Her knees had to be close to her chest for the girl to be that sideways.

"I have experience with tight places," said Alice. She inched further up, nearing the top of the brick shaft. Above was the dark night sky, devoid of stars, but also clear of heartless. "Just stay away!"

"I can't remake the world if you aren't here to keep the barrier up," said Ariel. She stooped down to get into the chimney and the logs around her feet caught a flame. Smoke trailed up slowly, distorted by the stopped time around Ariel.

"You are a cruel woman. I don't want a world you make. You let Snow try and clean when you knew it wouldn't make a difference and you played dumb when Belle was killed just to make the others mad," said an exhausted Alice. She gritted her teeth and shimmied up a few more inches. She felt a breeze coming from the top of the chimney.

"I did play dumb when Belle died, but I didn't stop the floor to be cruel. I stopped it to keep anyone from working the keyblade," explained Ariel. She put her hands on either side of the stone shaft and held herself in place as her feet lifted off the ground to wedge in the corners. She was climbing much faster than the final princess of heart.

Alice gasped. Heat radiated from Ariel's flames and the fire below. Her feet slipped and she slid down half a foot to almost be with in Ariel's grasp.

"Come down, this has got to be killing you," said an exasperated Ariel. "I really do like you. I want you to be there when I remake this world."

"I wish I believed you," Alice slid to the side of the chimney and turned over the bucket she held in her lap. The water spilled down and douse the flames surrounding Ariel and the fire on the logs below. Ariel pushed harder with her arms and legs but slid down an inch.

"You thought water would stop me? Me? Did you think I'd melt?" asked Ariel.

"No, but fire keeps them out."

"Them?"

Alice closed her hands over her chest and let out a slow breath. Her focus was rewarded as the weight of the world was lifted from her shoulders. The barrier above her shattered and heartless began to swarm in. Heartless streamed down the chimney, past Alice, and onto Ariel. She each stopped heartless she pushed off was replaced by two more as they continued to pour in. The burns from Aurora's fire called out the mindless creatures in the same way Belle's leg had lured them in when they had broken past the door.

Alice slid down the chimney and scurried out of the way of the heartless, taking refuge at the save point, as they flooded the room. Those that could not get at Ariel searched out nearby hearts. Alice held her breath in hopes that she could keep her own heart closed off long enough to outlast the water princess. Her control slipped and several heartless heads turned towards her. They all turned back to Ariel when the cries silenced. The heartless' mouths opened wide and sharp teeth tore at her flesh.

The underwater princess's blood shimmered on the ground. The keyblade budged under Alice's resting hand. Joy surged in her and with that feeling her heart opened up once more. The heartless turned to look at her, but the menu above the keyblade had already taken shape. The room's color pallet changed to hues of blue.

Charging heartless hung midair, poised to rip the young girl apart. Through the gaps in the crowded room she could several of them still tearing at the inside of Areal. They slowly turned to look at her. They moved despite everything else in the room being held still.

"Oh no. No, no no no no no no." Alice stepped out of the yellow save point and the entire room began to move again. In an instant she was swarmed. Teeth sunk into her arms and legs. Claws ripped at her flesh. She lurched forward against the black tide, into the save point once more, but the heartless on her didn't stop.

Alice didn't have much time to look over the options. She knew her next move was probably her last. The menu responded to her will. The blue hue left the room and the item shop in Traverse Town was reclaimed by the heartless.

Gummy Ship

The ship hummed from all the machinery working to keep the floating vessel safe in suspended above Traverse town high above the world. Its cold floor was a stark contrast to the warm blood pooling around Alice. Kairi knelt down next to the dying princess and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Alice? Can you hear me?" she asked. Alice shuddered and coughed. Each cough brought on a series of convulsions that shook her entire being.

"Kai-ri?" Her mind struggled to accept what she saw before her. Kairi and two moogles were in the room along with Alice. Each with a sad look on their face. The moogles backed off when Kairi moved in closer. She turned the princess over and rested the blond head in her lap.

"Its ok, Alice. You did good. It's going to be Ok."

"Ariel. She said she saved us, but she was corrupted."

"I know. We were trapped in the Keyblade. We saw it all," said Kiari.

Alice closed her eyes and felt relief for the first time that day. Her heart felt unburdened. And then darkness. Kairi held the girl for hours. She knew what she came next, but for now, she just held Alice and wept.