Chapter 26

Rapunzel's Reunion

The guard opened the door to address the king and queen. The king stood at the window, staring pensively out to the city below, while the queen sat in a chair, reading a book. King Frederic was a tall, well-built man with a thick moustache and beard. He wore a blue suit with a raised collar and loose shoulder sleeves with blue and yellow stripes, an open brown vest, a wide necklace made of square and circular gold pieces inset with blue gemstones with a medallion shaped like the Corona symbol inside of a circle attached, a leather belt, and brown leather boots. Queen Arianna was a slender woman with waist-length brown hair. She wore a purple dress embroidered with pale vine-like designs on the front as well as a pearl necklace with three pink, teardrop-shaped jewels attached.

When the guard came in, the monarchs looked at him intently, hoping that he had come to deliver the news that they had waited years for. The guard simply nodded. The king and queen looked at each other, their eyes filling with hope.

They stepped out onto the balcony, where Rapunzel and Eugene looked out over the city, waiting for their appointment, holding hands. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy stood to the side. The couple turned around when they heard the door open. Frederic and Arianna stared at Rapunzel, taking in her features. Arianna approached Rapunzel and touched her cheek. She smiled, realizing that she was indeed who she claimed to be. She pulled her daughter into a hug, which Rapunzel reciprocated. Frederic happily joined in. Arianna looked to Eugene and held out her hand. He took it, but to his surprise she yanked him into joining the group hug.

Sora put his hands behind his head, crossed his foot behind his other ankle, and grinned. Riku put his hand on his hip and smirked. Kairi brushed some hair behind her ear and smiled. Mickey, Donald and Goofy chuckled.

During the next few hours, the king and queen as well as a detail of guards gave Rapunzel, Eugene, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy a tour of the castle. During the tour, the group exchanged stories, and the monarchs thanked the travelers graciously for helping them reunite with their daughter.

It was evident that the captain still did not trust Flynn Rider… Eugene after years as a criminal, particularly after the humiliation he endured over the past few days. However, he could see that Eugene cared quite a bit about Rapunzel, and he did help bring her home. He could also tell that the newcomers had their hearts in the right places, and he felt grateful when he found out that they had saved him and his men from the flood. For similar reasons, he had forgiven Maximus for helping break Eugene out of prison.

When the tour ended and they exited into the castle's courtyard, they were greeted by Hook-Hand, Big Nose, Attila, Vladimir, Shorty, and the other thugs from the Snuggly Duckling. After they had helped Eugene escape, the guards had apprehended them, but they were pardoned. Hook-Hand began playing on a piano, and Attila brought out some cupcakes that he was allowed to bake in the guard station's kitchen.

Sora felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see the captain of the guard. "You six have done much good for the kingdom," the captain said. "And you have all proven yourselves quite capable. I would like you to become a part of the royal guard. What do you say?"

Sora blinked and traded glances with his friends before turning back to the captain. "We're honored, sir. But, I'm afraid we're going to have to decline," he answered. The captain raised an eyebrow quizzically at this. "The thing is, we sort of have other kingdoms to help out." Sora pointed to Goofy. "And he's kind of the captain of his own knighthood." He pointed over to Mickey. "And he's a king who those knights serve. So, I don't know how that would even work if we were to sign up." The captain blinked in surprise and gave Mickey a quick bow. Sora snickered at this.

"Well, then I wish you good luck," the captain said. "I hope you can visit again sometime, and maybe show my men some of your training patterns." He held out his hand, which Sora gladly shook.

"I'll think about it," the younger adventurer replied.

King Frederic chuckled warmly. "Is there any way we can repay you for all you've done?" he asked in a deep, kind voice.

Sora realized that this would be an excellent opportunity to get some clues. He and Kairi had researched the history of Corona the previous night but had found nothing about any well-guarded artifacts. Perhaps the king and queen could help them.

"Well, we're actually investigating something. You see, there are these people who are looking for some hidden objects. They're supposed to be scattered all over the place and well-guarded, and I think there's supposed to be one in this land. I know it's supposed to be a big secret, but if these guys find all of these objects, some pretty bad things will happen. Do you think you could help us out with that?" he asked.

King Frederic rubbed his chin, considering what Sora had said. "I'm afraid that I am unfamiliar with such an artifact," he answered. He traded a thoughtful glance with Queen Arianna. "But we will let you know if we find anything." Arianna nodded in agreement.

"Well, then I guess we should keep searching elsewhere," Mickey said. He shook hands with the monarchs of Corona. "It was great meeting you."

"You're leaving?" Eugene asked. He and Rapunzel were saddened by the news.

Sora turned to answer him. "Yeah. We kind of have a quest to carry out."

"But you'll be back to visit, right?" Rapunzel asked.

"Of course," Kairi answered. "You two take care."

Pascal gave her a glance that seemed to simulate a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, Pascal. You three take care."

Rapunzel gave each of them a hug. Eugene shook hands with them and even gave Sora and Riku a bro-tap. The pub thugs hollered and waved good-bye and good luck and Maximus let out an encouraging whinny.

Mickey led Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy to a Safe Point next to a grocer's shop and, when he was sure that nobody was looking or would notice, beamed the group back onto the Gummi Ship.

Mickey took his place in the pilot's seat, Sora sat in the Gunner's chair, and Donald chose the copilot's chair. Riku, Kairi and Goofy buckled themselves into the passenger chairs.

Sora and Mickey sulked, wondering how they were going to make any progress in their hunt. They did not even know what to look for. Not even the reigning monarchs of the Kingdom of Corona know about it. They had hoped that someone of such high authority would be the one to know about and watch over the items. If that did not fit the bill, then where would they even start?

Donald summed their concerns up quite nicely. "Well, now what are we going to do?" he groaned.

"Well, look on the bright side," Goofy said. "Hopefully, this will mean that the bad guys won't be able to find the items so easily."

Riku disagreed. "Bear in mind that what little we know came from what that guy told the other villains," he clarified. "We still haven't found out what Ansem the Wise knew, but I'm sure that whoever is working with Maleficent, he knows far more than we heard. Odds are, he's one of the people who were supposed to be guarding these things."

Kairi busily sketched the symbol she found inside the tower and showed her drawing to Jiminy, who could only wonder at what it was. "Is there anyone we can ask who would know?" she asked.

"D'oh!" Mickey exclaimed, amazed that he did not think of it sooner. "Master Yen Sid! He should know something."

"Who's Master Yen Sid?" Kairi asked.

"He's the one who taught King Mickey to use a Keyblade," Goofy explained, "and he also taught him and Donald magic."

"He watches over the state of the worlds, and he knows a lot about what's going on everywhere," Mickey added. "If anyone would be able to help us, it's him."

"And maybe he would be able to tell us about this," Riku said, holding up the broken obsidian bangle. "He could tell us where that woman's dark power came from."

"Alright!" Sora cheered, then he took on a puzzled expression as he realized something that confused him. "Wait, are we going directly there, or will we have to go to Twilight Town and then taking the funny-looking train to get there?"

Mickey shot him a confused expression, then chuckled. "No, we can just go straight there. Yen Sid's tower isn't actually a part of Twilight Town or in a pocket dimension. It's its own world; it just creates a link to Twilight Town," he explained.

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's get going," Riku said. "It will be an honor to finally meet the wise master," he mused.

Donald nodded and plotted the course in his console. When the map was lined up, Mickey put the ship into gear. He gunned the engines, and the Gummi Ship shot toward its destination.

Well, that was the first world on their grand quest. Now, the next chapter is going to bring some important developments and build more on the mystery of what is going on. Stay tuned for future updates, and enjoy!