CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After Ventus left, I crawled into the mousehole and found an exit out of the house. I traveled around the house to the garden. I paused when I heard footsteps. I cried out and jumped out of the way as a pair of armored boots walked past me.
"Terra!" I cried, cupping my hands over my mouth. Terra paused and looked around, confused. "Terra! Down here!"
Terra looked down at me and gasped. He laid out his hand and I climbed onto it. He brought me up to his face.
"Hallie? Why are you so tiny?" Terra said.
I shrugged. "I'm just as confused as you are." I said.
We went silent at the sound of weeping. Terra placed me onto his shoulder and we walked into the garden. A large fountain with an angel statue at the top spewed water into the small pond underneath. Two stone benches were placed near the fountain, surrounded by greenery. A woman wept against one of the stone benches in a pink and white tattered dress.
"Cinderella?" I gasped.
"You know her?" Terra said.
I nodded and we approached her. Terra knelt down next to her.
"Cinderella! What happened to you?" I said.
"Oh, oh, Hallie... you made me the most beautiful dress, but my stepmother and stepsisters ruined it." Cinderella sobbed. "And I was so looking forward to the ball."
I clenched my fists. "How dare they! They have no right to do that!"
"Darkness always find a way into a wounded heart." Terra said. "You have to be strong. Strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trials."
"But I..." Cinderella said.
Floods shot out of the ground and surrounded us.
"Unversed!" Terra said. He brought me down to the stone bench next to Cinderella. "Watch over her, Hallie. I'll take care of them."
"Um... okay..." I said, wondering how I could defend the both of us while I was the size of a thimble. Terra summoned Earthshaker and I watched as he laid waste to the Unversed that appeared.
"I can't believe... not anymore..." Cinderella said.
I gasped quietly. "No, no, don't say that, Cinderella." I said. I rested my hand against her cheek.
"Strength of heart is important, but that's not all you need." a voice said. I backed away as a foggy light appeared.
"There's nothing left to believe in... nothing..." Cinderella said.
"Nothing, my dear? Oh, no, you don't really mean that." An elderly woman with gray hair wearing a blue cloak appeared underneath Cinderella, so the princess wept in her lap.
"Oh... but I do. It's just no use."
"Nonsense! If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am." Cinderella looked up and noticed the woman. The woman chuckled and helped Cinderella to stand. "Oh, come now, dry those tears. You can't go to the ball looking like that."
"The ball? Oh, but I'm not..." Cinderella gestured to her ruined dress.
"Of course you are. But we'll have to hurry." The woman pulled out a thin, white wand and tapped her chin with her finger. "Now, what were those magic words? Oh yes..."
The woman stepped a few paces past us and waved her wand.
"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"
A shimmering beam of magic shot through the air and found its way to a pumpkin. The pumpkin sprang to life and bounced towards us. The woman waved her wand and the pumpkin transformed into a white and gold carriage with a coachman and a white horse. Cinderella gawked at the carriage. The woman flicked her wand and Cinderella's tattered pink and white dress transformed into a sparkling silvery-blue ball gown with a low-cut scoop neck, floor length skirt, opera gloves that extended to her biceps, puffy cap sleeves, and a sash around the waist where the skirt and top met. Her hair was collected up in an updo with a white headband and a simple black choker around her neck.
"Oh... It's a beautiful dress!" Cinderella gathered the fabric in her hands and twirled the dress around, where I caught the sight of a pair of glass slippers on her feet. She hurried over to the fountain to look at her reflection in the water. "Why, it's a dream come true!"
"Yes, but like all dreams, I'm afraid this can't last forever." the woman said. "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."
"Yes, I understand." Cinderella gave the woman a hug, climbed into the carriage, and road off towards the castle, waving at us as she left.
"Her heart was full of light. Why didn't I see it?" Terra mumbled quietly. He turned to the woman. "What did you do? I can hardly tell she's the same person."
"Who are you?" the woman said.
"Terra."
"I'm Hallie!" I called from the stone bench. "Um... I'm not supposed to be this small, by the way. Do you think you could turn me back to normal size?"
"Of course, dear." The woman waved her wand and magic swirled around me. I rapidly grew back to my real size. I stumbled off the bench and shook away the dizziness. "Terra, Hallie, do you believe that dreams can come true?"
"Yes." I said, touching my crown pendant.
"I do. But I also believe you have to make an effort to make them come true." Terra said.
"Yes, of course. But sometimes, just believing in dreams is easier said than done." the woman said. "Cinderella believes her dreams can come true. I wanted her to see that she is right."
"So that's what made her shine..." Terra glanced towards the castle. "Faith in her heart that anything is possible. Where did she go?"
"To the royal ball at the palace. Go. And when you see her dancing, you'll know what she believes, and that will help you to believe, too."
Terra and I nodded and headed towards the castle. As we entered the forest and the woman disappeared, I realized I didn't even catch her name.
We headed into the castle's courtyard and fought off the Unversed that appeared. We headed up the stairs, where we saw a group of Floods surrounding Cinderella.
"Look out!" I cried.
Terra and I lunged and the Floods disappeared one by one. Cinderella looked up and gasped in surprise when she saw us.
"We'll take care of them. You wait right here." Terra said.
"Please, may I go with you? I so want to get to the ball." Cinderella said.
"Uh... All right. But stay close behind, or you'll get hurt." Terra chuckled. "You're not worried?'
"Didn't you tell me it was important to stay strong?"
"Oh, um... I guess I did. So... you ready?"
Unversed appeared as we headed down the long hallway. Terra went ahead and attacked the Unversed. I stayed close to Cinderella and attacked any creatures that got close to her. We lead her up the stairs and into the ballroom.
"Thank you, Hallie, and um..." Cinderella said.
"I'm Terra." Terra said.
"Thank you, Terra."
He bowed and gestured for Cinderella to go on ahead. She giggled and entered the room. She bowed to a man with a monocle and found herself face-to-face with a man dressed like a toy soldier, wearing a golden shirt with a belt and frilly epaulets, red pants, black shoes, and white gloves. They bowed to each other and made their way to the center of the ballroom. We watched as they danced together.
"Maybe just believing is enough." Terra said quietly.
"Who is she, Mother?" a familiar, unpleasant voice said.
"Do we know her?" another whined.
"Well, the Prince certainly seems to. I've never seen her before."
I looked over and saw three women standing together; two girls wearing similar-styled dresses and large feathers on their heads, and an older woman wearing a purple dress with her hands clasped together.
"Nor I. But she certainly is..." the older woman said, and her voice struck me as so familiar. Where have I heard that voice before? "Wait! There is something familiar about her..."
I gasped quietly when my brain clicked. It was Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters, the ones who forced the Princess of Heart into a life of work and sadness. The ones who destroyed the first dress she made. I scowled at them and clenched my fists.
"Unversed!" Terra suddenly cried. I followed his line of sight to one of the balconies, where I saw Flood jumping around. We approached one of the servants, the man wearing a monocle, the Grand Duke. "Tell me. How do we get up there?"
The Grand Duke cleared his throat. "Well, there is a passage beneath the foyer staircase." he said.
"Thanks!" I called, and Terra and I took off out of the ballroom.
We headed down the staircase and to a large white door at the bottom. We traveled down the hallway and climbed to the balcony with our Keyblades drawn. A Symphony Master floated in the air. He flicked his red baton and three instruments floated around him. He wildly conducted his baton and the dissonant sound drilled into our ears. I cried out as the air around me exploded and I wound up back down in the ballroom. The Symphony Master looked around, confused.
"Down here!" Terra called, pointing his Keyblade at the Unversed.
"Guards! Guards! Ooh, where could they possibly be?!" the Grand Duke said.
"We'll take care of this." I said. "Get to safety!"
Cinderella and her dance partner ran out of the room, followed by the other attendees.
"Go for the instruments, first." Terra said. "Then we'll focus on the big guy."
I nodded and we charged. Terra destroyed the violin, I destroyed the trumpet, and we worked together to destroy the drums. Once all the instruments were gone, we attacked the baton-waving Unversed.
"Thank you, you saved us all." the Grand Duke said after the Unversed vanished. He sighed. "The guests were just starting to enjoy themselves..."
"Well, don't give up just yet." Terra said. We turned our attention to Cinderella and her partner. They held each others' hands and talked with one another. "Tell me something. Have you always had a problem around here with those monsters?"
"No. I believe... they began to appear shortly after a boy in a mask arrived in our kingdom."
I gasped. "A mask?"
"Yes. Those that saw him said the monsters obeyed his every command."
I scowled and clenched my fists. Vanitas. Of course that wretched creature of darkness would be lurking around here.
"Do you know where he is now?" Terra said.
"Well... No, I don't believe anyone has seen him since then." the Grand Duke said.
"I see..."
The sound of the bell tower striking filled the room.
"Oh... My goodness! It's midnight!" Cinderella cried. "Good-bye!"
"Wait!" her partner cried. "Come back! Please come back!"
"The spell." I said. "It must be midnight. The spell's gonna wear off!"
"I'm sorry!" Cinderella called.
We walked to the top of the stairs and watched as Cinderella hurried down. One of her slippers fell off. She tried to go back and get it, but the Grand Duke picked it up and called after her.
"Mademoiselle! SeƱorita! Wait!"
We watched as the two ran out the door and another person stepped inside.
"Aqua!" Terra called.
Aqua turned around and looked up at us.
"Terra! Hallie!" Aqua said. We climbed down the steps to meet her. "Terra... Ven ran away from home."
"What?!" Terra said.
"I think he left to go find you. Do you have any idea why?"
"No... Wait. Actually... just before I left, he tried to tell me something." Terra walked a couple of paces ahead of us. "I should have listened to what he had to say."
Aqua turned to me. "Hallie, you've been with Ven a few times before. Do you know?"
I looked to the ground as I recalled mine and Ventus's first encounter with Vanitas in the blonde's room.
"He's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up, he'll be a different person."
"No." I lied. "I don't."
"Oh..." Aqua said. She turned back to Terra. "So... did you manage to locate Master Xehanort?"
"No, but it seems he's looking for pure hearts filled with light." Terra said.
"Pure hearts... filled with light?" Aqua said.
"All I can tell you is that his search hasn't taken him here."
But it would. Soon. I scowled at the ground. "Why are you even looking for that old man? Don't you remember when we contended against Maleficent? She was searching for pure hearts as well, just like Xehanort. Doesn't any of that trouble you?"
"I'm sure you're just mixed up." Terra said. "Master Xehanort has good intentions."
I growled, wishing I could knock this boy upside the head and scream, "This man is going to take your body and destroy you and your friends! Why won't you listen to me?!" But I held my tongue.
"Aqua..." Terra said. "Do you still have the same dream?"
"Well... yes." Aqua said.
"There's this girl here. Her name is Cinderella. She made me realize how powerful it is just to believe. No matter how impossible things seem, a powerful enough dream will always be enough to light the darkness."
Aqua smiled and nodded.
"If you see her, give her my thanks."
"Will do."
Terra turned around and walked out of the castle.
"He'll be alright." Aqua said quietly to reassure herself. "He won't give into it."
