Vanellope not slept so much, due to her worries and the hows coming from outside.
She finally gave up and left her bedroom, in fact Roxas' bedroom that Clarion let her borrow.
She haven't so much time to explore the house the night before so she began to randomly walk around 'till she finally found the kitchen.
She wasn't expecting Clarion to be at there, much less with a map over the table, a bag open at the ground, her long red hair cut down at her shoulders' height. She seemed like dark Clarion again.
"Good morning!" She greeted, trying to be nice.
"Hi Vanellope." Clarion replied sounding nice as she not seems, it made Vanellope smile. "You slept well?"
"Not so much. What lives in this forest that makes so much noise?"
"Swamp wolves, giant spiders, slime skyress and a lot of other things."
"And why you live in a so dangerous place?"
"Let me just say this is the safest place to us."
"And what you're planning?"
"We'll do a new search around the Arcade. We need to."
"And about me?"
"When everyone be up we will talk about this. You can go anywhere while it, just beware."
Vanellope nodded and walked off the hut.
It was a cloudy day, but weather wasn't really cold and Vanellope thought the landscape was beautiful outside even to a swamp. She climbed a tree and just sat there, enjoying the peace. But so she saw a light not so far.
Curious, she went down the tree and cautiously walked in that direction. After some moments she arrived in a limpid small lake, not so common to a swamp.
Vanellope kneeled down and took a little of water between her hands, but when she was about to drink, she saw, at the other bord of the lake was no one else than James.
"Hi Vannie!" He called happily.
"Jay-Jay! What are you doin' here?"
"Oh, I saw you coming here yesterday."
"And you come here because of me?"
"Well, why else should I be here?"
"So what's up?" She put her hands into her pockets.
"Well, it isn't obvious?" He approached her with a smile.
Vanellope stepped back frightened.
"Jay, what's you doing?" She asked.
"What I should've done much time ago."
Vanellope tried to walk away, but she felt a tree against her back, and before she could do anything, he pressed his lips against hers.
A red dust glowed in Vanellope's eyes.
"Come with me Vannie." James called. "I know how fix all your problems."
"But Clarion..." She blinked, her mind being confuse for a moment.
"My sweet sister will never win... You know she can't... But I know how to do it." He sweetly assured her, holding her hand between his. He stepped back, dragging the girl with him.
Vanellope just let herself be pulled forward with no reaction, directly to the water...
But suddenly she felt a hand pushing her back.
"No, lemme go!" She yelled to the boy holding her hand.
It was Ralph and he not paid attention to her, he was looking angry at James.
"You!" James said, his eyes turning bright red.
Leave her alone!" Ralph shouted to him.
"It's a little late boy. She's already curse. Don't matter what you do, she will always come back."
"How I uncurse her?"
"Hasn't how to do it Ralph. A mermen kiss haven't a cure."
"No?" Ralph dared him and without think twice he pushed the girl into a kiss.
It was quick and as he let her go, Vanellope blinked and put a hand on her head, her eyes turning back hazel.
"Owch, my head... Ralph!" She exclaimed surprised. "What happened?"
"Just stay behind me and all will be fine." He replied.
"You're very smart boy." James said. "Too bad you doesn't live to tell anyone how you saved the princess."
He let out an inhuman cry and various creatures emerged from the water. They had lime-green scales and red bright eyes, a fishy appearance, long pointed ears, sharp claws and teeth. James himself had turned in one of them.
Vanellope screamed scared as she saw the creatures.
"What is this?" She asked Ralph.
"Mermen. We have to get outta here."
"How I said, a little too late."
The two were surrounded.
"We're going to die!" Vanelloe screamed.
Ralph just smirked and let out a deep whistle.
"Ha, ha. Good try boy." The Mermen laughed and attacked them.
Ralph did his best to keep them away from Vanellope, but they were so much to him alone. But soon a light saber come flying and killed one of the creatures, while a boomerang knocked other two down, while laser shoots came from the trees and the rest of the gang come running to the fight.
Clarion took her light saber back and, turning it in a metal sword began to fight. Turbo had a laser gun, Felix a pair of boomerangs and the two kopas come firing fireballs at them.
In the middle of the battle, Gloyd managed to pull Vanellope up to a tree, where they watched while the others got ride of the creatures, mostly returning to underwater, but some of them haven't the same lucky.
"Run, your bunch of cowards!" Clarion shouted angry at them.
"Clar, they're gone." Ralph said her, puting a hand on her shoulder.
"Stupid water rats." She continued to mumble with herself. "And you?" She asked Vanellope. "I said not you to beware? What was you thinking? Come to this lake?"
"I didn't knew this creatures lived here." She tried to defend herself.
"Clar, calm down!" Gloyd asked. "You know she's a different Vanellope. "She not know this place as we do."
Clarion just groaned and walked away, the rest of the group followed her.
As they arrived the hut, Sticky was already awaken and Roxas had just arrived and was waiting for them.
"What happened to you?" Roxas asked as he saw his friends all wet and hurt.
"Mermen." Was all Clarion replied.
"It was my fault." Vanellope felt she should admit. "I was just going to walk a little. I didn't knew about them and... My memories are a little confuse..." She just noticed.
"They do it. Put you in a trance and make you forget." Sticky explained. "I remember first time we found them." She smiled.
"All right gang, time to decide our future." Clarion called, pointing to the door to the back garden.
Vanellope was going to ask about breakfast when she walked through the door and saw it was already on the table they had put outside.
Everyone took a place and sat down to begin the meeting.
"Let's see... First, Roxas, report." Clarion asked the boy, just at her right side.
"We have one more lost." He stood up and said. "Last time saw with King Candy in Sugar Rush." He looked down, sadness visible in his eyes. "One more orphan warrior." Roxas added, so looked to Clarion. "And we will be all if we don't do anything quickly."
Clarion sighed.
"It put we in more urgency than before. Second subject, Vanellope Von Schweetz." Roxas sat down. "Not our Vanellope, neither King Candy's Vanellope, she's a different Vanellope. Raise your hand who believe she's from another dimension."
Everyone, except for the twins, raised their hands.
"All right. So, taking this circumstances, more than ever this marriage couldn't happen."
"And how you'll do it?" Turbo asked. "You said you tried all you could."
"All I could without an inside help." Everyone looked puzzled to her. "You know what's need, at least, to a marriage to work?" Everyone kept silent. "The two who will marry and the one who will unite the two. If one of the parts is missing, it can't happen." The redhead smirked. "Would be tragic if the bride got kidnapped, it wouldn't?"
"Oh, right, who will kidnap Vanellope just under King Candy's nose?" Ralph crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Maybe three little kids who haven't nothing to loose." She replied, smirk growing bigger.
"You're saying..." Sticky began.
"...We'll kidnap her?" Gloyd finished.
Clarion nooded.
"But why?" One of the Kopas asked. "She's already with us."
"But King Candy know she's in Dragon's Hunters and is just matter of time to him to began to search her everywhere. But if she get back home like nothing happened and so get kidnapped..."
"I'm beginning to understand." Gloyd smirked too. "But why you said just three kids?"
"I, Felix and Roxas will do it. The others will have another roles in the plan. But all will run right if Vanellope cooperates."
"Count with me! I'm doing anything to see myself out of this mess. But if your plan go wrong..."
"Trust me, it will not. It's one of my best plans."