In the ballroom, the prince and Anastasia were now going to dance together. Drell and Cherry soon made it into the ballroom. There was clanking heard from the glass slipper on Anastasia's foot.
"Make her mess up." Cherry smirked to Drell.
"First, that's cruel of you to request me to do that to her and second, she's a terrible dancer when she's lying." Drell said.
"Sorry..." Cherry replied, feeling her stomach turned.
"You should be!" Drell huffed.
Charming touched Anastasia's hand, but then felt something wrong deep inside as it wasn't like how he remembered last night.
"Looks like he's having doubts." Drell said.
The musicians played which forced the prince to bow and for Anastasia to curtsy so they could begin their dance.
"Here we go." Drell smirked.
Cherry wasn't too sure.
"Watch, watch." Drell snickered.
Cherry watched as Anastasia clumsily danced with the prince. "Wow." she then said.
Anastasia kept accidentally stepping on the prince's foot and he did his best to ignore it.
"Wow, he must have strong feet." Drell said.
Cherry grimaced and winced every stomp it took.
"I bet she falls backwards." Drell smirked.
"Poor Prince." Cherry said, trying not to laugh as Anastasia had very much misfortune during the dance.
And where Drell was right what was going to happen next. Anastasia grabbed onto the prince's shoulder and fell flat on the floor. The Grand Duke ran away fearfully while the King actually smiled down to Anastasia.
"Why is he smiling?" Cherry asked Drell, referring to the king.
"Of course, how could I have missed it?!" Drell face-palmed.
"What?" Cherry asked.
"Anastasia... She looks just like Queen Marianne!" Drell told her.
"Wait, do you think Lady Tremaine kidnapped her as a baby?" Cherry asked.
Drell narrowed his eyes. "The Queen was the prince's mother..."
"Well, yeah," Cherry shrugged. "Uh, show me a picture?"
Drell then conjured up a picture of the late queen who did in fact look a lot like Anastasia.
"The resemblance really is uncanny..." Cherry commented.
"Wait, I do seem to remember the king and queen also having a daughter." Drell said.
"YES?!" Cherry shook him violently.
Drell then grabbed her hands off of his. "I can tell you now or later."
"I'm on the edge of my seat." Cherry whimpered.
"Alright, then I guess now would be a good time as any." Drell said.
"I'm sorry, but you really caught me in a good mood." Cherry replied.
"Alright I'll tell you." Drell said.
"Please." Cherry begged.
Drell sighed. "All right..." he then walked with her so they could move on and he would tell her the story on the way.
Cherry followed, standing close by him so she wouldn't get lost.
"The prince once had a twin sister." Drell began.
Cherry looked up.
"They were very close..." Drell sighed as they walked together. "Almost like best friends..." he then muttered. "Like Atticus and Mo's future kids."'
"What?" Cherry asked.
"Nothing." Drell said quickly.
Cherry narrowed her eyes.
"Anyway, the prince and his twin sister were best friends, but one night, she was kidnapped by a mysterious figure." Drell said.
"Really?" Cherry replied.
"Indeed..." Drell nodded. "It was about a year or two after they were born..."
Cherry actually looked sorry and sad once she was being told his story that had never been heard before.
"Well, now we know who kidnapped her." Drell said.
"Lady Tremaine kidnapped Anastasia?" Cherry asked. "But why?"
"She's evil, does she need a reason?" Drell asked.
"I guess not, but... That was just cold..." Cherry said.
"Hopefully Charming realizes Anastasia is his sister..." Drell sighed.
"Is there anything else I need to know?" Cherry then asked the warlock as she fiddled with her necklace.
"Yeah, you and Atticus were right when you both assumed that Lady Tremaine killed Cinderella's father." Drell said.
Cherry's stomach turned as she remembered the day that Lord Ben had passed away. "That day was very tragic for both of us..." she then said. "He wasn't our father, but obviously, he felt like it for seven years."
"Anyway, let's pay attention to what's going on the rest of the time." Drell said.
"I still can't believe that..." Cherry said. "Anastasia was the prince's sister all this time."
"I know." Drell said.
"He he was nice to me." Anastasia smiled.
Cherry and Drell walked off while Anastasia was alone with her thoughts.
"He's under a spell," Drizella said. "He's supposed to be nice."
"It's more than that." Anastasia insisted.
"Ladies!" The king called down to them.
The two looked up.
"Your Majesty." Lady Tremaine then curtsied with her daughters.
"I need to speak with my future daughter-in-law immediately." The King declared which made Anastasia nervous.
Lady Tremaine and Drizella soon followed Anastasia as she made her way.
"Alone!" the King then said before leaving.
Anastasia felt even more nervous as she went to go speak with the king.
"Let's make a run for it while we can." Drizella muttered to her mother.
"Let's follow her." Drell whispered, referring to Anastasia.
Cherry nodded as she stayed close beside him while fiddling with her necklace.
"Dont' take that off," Drell told her. "If you do, you'll forget all about me."
"It itches..." Cherry pouted.
Drell groaned before he used his magic to make the necklace less itchy. Cherry scratched her neck as her necklace chafed until Drell fixed it so she wouldn't have any reason to take it off, erasing her memories of her destined future.
"Now let's follow Anastasia." Drell said.
Cherry stuck close by him as she followed. They began to follow Anastasia and the king as he was going to have a word with her. The two were coming into a portrait room.
Drell overheard the prince talking with the Grand Duke and how when they danced, he felt nothing.
"Looks like magic spells can't overpower the magic of true love." Drell whispered.
Cherry looked to him.
"Sorry, I had to see something." Drell smiled as he came back toward her.
"Well, come on, they're about to go into another room." Cherry said.
Cherry and Drell then continued to follow the king and Anastasia.
"Uh, I can explain everything, Your Majesty," Anastasia stammered nervously from the dance. "I have this inner ear thing and-"
"You, my dear, are a terrible dancer." The King chuckled.
"Yes, I know, Your Highness." Anastasia frowned.
"Reminds me of my queen..." the king smiled as he came up to a golden heart-shaped box and looked up to a portrait of him dancing with his late wife and she had roughly bumped him on the dance floor. "She trod on my feet too. But she took very good care of my heart."
This made Anastasia smile.
"Come, my dear." The King said.
Anastasia stepped toward him.
"I want to show you something." the king smiled as he invited her to join him on the balcony.
The view on the balcony was a beautiful sight.
"A princess is bestowed with many riches; land, jewels, horses, but today I wish to give you something much more valuable." The king smiled as he showed her a heart-shaped box.
And where this made Anastasia smile and excited as she thought it was something priceless inside it. The King then opened the box to show a small white seashell. Anastasia's smile and excitement dropped as she didn't see anything very special about what it was. Cherry and Drell saw why Anastasia's excitement went down and where Cherry understood why as there didn't seem anything special about it, but Drell knew why it was special.
"It's lovely, isn't it?" The king asked Anastasia while holding the small white seashell with a smile.
"A seashell?" Anastasia asked curiously.
"What's so special about that seashell?" Cherry whispered to Drell.
"There's a story behind that seashell." Drell whispered back to her.
"This shell was the queen's most prized possession, we found it while walking by the water on the day we met, you see; we reached for it in the same moment and when are hands touched, that's when I realized I found true love." The king smiled.
"You knew that just by touching her hand?" Anastasia asked with a smile.
"Love is the most powerful force in the world..." The King smiled as he took Anastasia's hand and put the shell in it. "True love..."
Anastasia cupped the shell in her hand and began to find it more valuable now.
"Ah, that's all," The King then cleared his throat. "Run along now, run along."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Anastasia smiled and felt like he was a father she hadn't seen in years.
"Francis would be proud, Anastasia." Drell whispered.
"By the way, Drell, what are Prince Charming and the king's names?" Cherry asked.
"Prince Charming's name is Henry and if memory serves me right, the King's name is Homer," Drell pondered for a moment. "No, wait, the prince's name is Charles and the father's name is Henry and as for the Homer name, well, that's someone else's name, though I don't know why that name came to mind."
"Homer Simpson?" Cherry smirked.
"Anyway, we better keep following her as mice." Drell whispered.
They then scampered off to do just that.
