Chapter 7
Kingdom of Corona Part 1
The gummiship drifted in space as Molly and Libby were in search of their next world. Their luck seemed to have changed for the better after they saved Danville from Derek and the Pistachions.
Now that there were no longer any Heartless or Pistachions attacking Danville, Molly and Libby piloted the gummiship as they looked for a new world to explore. Despite everything working out, the girls still couldn't help but wonder where Xehanort went. After the way he helped them, Molly and Libby didn't know whether they should still consider him an enemy or a friend.
As if reading their minds, Chirithy appeared behind their friends as they said, "So, do you think we should continue to search for Xehanort?"
"We would have to if we would want to be his friend." Molly replied.
"Listen, Molly. Even if we do have a chance to be friends with him, do you think Xehanort would even want to be friends with us?" Libby asked.
"Well, Scratch didn't want to be my friend at first, but look at us now!" Molly smiled. "We might even become friends with Xehanort in the next world we visit!"
"We won't have to wait too long to find out because our next world is right over there." Chirithy pointed out the ship.
At that moment, Molly and Libby took notice of a new world that had a castle. That was when they decided to explore this new kingdom, so they guided their gummiship towards the new world before landing.
As they got out of the ship, Molly and Libby looked around to see that they were in the middle of a medieval kingdom. A bunch of decorations have been set up throughout the kingdom as it looked like the citizens were getting ready to celebrate some kind of festival.
"Hey, I don't know what is going on, but this world looks like a lot of fun!" Molly smiled as she admired the kingdom. "What do you think is going on?"
"I'm not sure. Whatever is going on, it seems like everyone is getting ready for a celebration." Libby noticed.
Molly and Libby were so distracted that they didn't watch where they were going. This caused them to bump into someone as they fall to the ground.
"Oof! We're sorry! We didn't watch where we were going." Molly apologized.
At that moment, the person that they bumped into turned around to reveal that she was a woman with long blonde hair, green eyes, and a purple dress. Instead of getting annoyed with them, she simply gave Molly and Libby a friendly smile.
"Hey, its okay! Accidents happen! Here, let me held you up!"
The woman soon held out her hand as she lifted Molly and Libby off the ground. Grateful for the help, the girls decided to thank the woman.
"Thank you! We really appreciate it!" Molly thanked.
"Don't mention it! I hope you two are excited for the Goodwill Festival!" The woman replied.
"The what festival?" Libby raised a confused eyebrow.
Once she realized that Molly and Libby weren't aware of what was going on, the woman could only assume that they weren't from here. "You two aren't from around here are you?"
"Well, let's just say we are from somewhere far away." Libby replied.
"I see! Well, let me be the first to welcome you to the Kingdom of Corona! I am the princess of the kingdom, Princess-"
"Rapunzel!" The woman was interrupted when a man called out for her.
The man had dark brown hair, along with a matching goatee and dark brown eyes. His attire consisted of a red coat, a pair of white trousers, and a pair a black boots.
"Varian says he needs more parts for the-" the man paused upon noticing Molly and Libby. "The secret project he is working on." The man whispered as he had what looked like to Molly and Libby was a look of guilt.
The woman named Rapunzel had a similar expression as she replied. "I'll be there in a minute, Eugene." Soon, her expression turned back to her cheerful smile as she brought her attention back to Molly and Libby. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you! My name is Rapunzel, and this is my boyfriend, Eugene!" Rapunzel introduced.
"It's nice to meet you! My name is Molly McGee and this is my girlfriend, Libby Stein-Torres!" Molly gestured towards Libby.
"So, this is a really nice kingdom! It looks so peaceful here!" Libby commented.
"I can see why you would think that, but Corona isn't exactly the most peaceful kingdom to live at. Especially with all those monsters invading the kingdom lately." Eugene explained.
"Monsters?" Molly had a feeling that she knew what Eugene was referring to before she brought her attention over to Libby. "He must be talking about the Heartless."
"Heartless?" Rapunzel repeated.
The moment Rapunzel asked about the Heartless, a bunch of Heartless suddenly appeared out of nowhere. These Heartless took the appearances of knights, each of them carrying swords and lances in their hands.
"Yeah. The Heartless are those creatures over there." Molly explained.
"Not again! As if we don't have enough problems already with dealing with Cassandra!" Eugene muttered to himself before getting ready to fight.
As the Heartless started attacking the kingdom, Molly and Libby summoned their keyblades to protect the citizens. Since she was the princess, Rapunzel was going to do everything she can to keep her citizens safe as well, so she untied the braids from her hair, letting it fall to the ground.
Much to Molly and Libby's surprise, Rapunzel's hair was extremely long with several feet of golden locks. Rapunzel soon got ready to fight as she grabbed one end of her hair and held it like a whip.
"Wow! I didn't see that coming!" Molly said, still not over the length of Rapunzel's hair.
"And I thought my hair was long!" Libby commented.
Suddenly, Molly and Libby were taken off guard when one of the Heartless swung a sword at them. They were thankfully able to counter it with their keyblades before striking the Heartless down. As more Heartless arrived, Molly and Libby continued to fight them off with their keyblades while Rapunzel knocked them down with her hair and Eugene fought back with his sword.
It wasn't long before the sword was knocked out of Eugene's hand, so Rapunzel called out for him.
"Eugene, catch!" Rapunzel threw an object towards Eugene before he caught it.
"Thanks for the help, Blondie!" Eugene said before he fought back with his new weapon.
"Wait a minute, is that a frying pan?" Libby asked, confused.
"Hey, don't knock it til you try it!" Eugene smiled before bashing one of the Heartless with the frying pan.
As the fight continued, everyone started to get surrounded by the Heartless before a handmaiden showed up to see what was going on.
"Hey, what is going on?" The handmaiden asked as she noticed the Heartless.
"Faith, run!" Rapunzel yelled, not wanting her handmaiden to get hurt.
Before the handmaiden named Faith could process what was going on, she was taken off guard when one of the Heartless swung its sword at her, barely missing her by an inch before she fell to the ground. Before the Heartless could do anything else, Faith kicked at its legs and tripped it to the ground before taking its sword as well.
It was at this point when Rapunzel's handmaiden joined in on the fight as well. However, even with her help, the Heartless slowly started to overpower everyone. One of the Heartless was about to hit Rapunzel with its sword, but Rapunzel's pet chameleon, Pascal yanked the sword out of its hand with his tongue.
"Whew! Thanks for the save, Pascal! I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, unless-" Rapunzel paused as she just thought of an idea. "Guys, I think I know what to do!"
With that, Rapunzel wrapped Molly, Libby, and Eugene in her long hair as she got ready to attack.
"Uh, Rapunzel? What's going on?" Molly asked.
"It's okay! Just trust me!"
With that, Rapunzel yanked on her hair, sending Molly, Libby, and Eugene spinning around in a circle, allowing them to take out a large chunk of the Heartless. To finish the rest of the Heartless off, Rapunzel sent her friends flying in the air before they all landed back on the ground as they all slashed at the Heartless.
Now that the Heartless were gone and the kingdom was safe for now, Molly and Libby put their keyblades away before making sure that everyone was okay. Thankfully, no one seemed to be hurt. They brought their attention to Rapunzel who helped Faith back up.
"Are you okay, Faith? You aren't hurt are you?" Rapunzel asked.
"No, Princess. I'm just glad that you weren't harmed." Faith sighed in relief.
Suddenly, a large bald man with a sword of his own came rushing towards everyone to help out.
"I'm here, Eugene! Now where are those monsters?"
"Sorry. You're a little too late, Lance. We have everyone under control, thanks to Molly and Libby's help." Eugene told his friend.
Upon noticing Molly and Libby, the man named, Lance was left surprised by the fact that two children were able to help fight back against the Heartless.
"Well, I'm impressed! I don't know what happened, but you two must be pretty tough if you are able to handle those monsters!" Lance said before holding out his hand as he introduced himself. "The name's Lance Strongbow! Eugene's best friend and partner in crime!"
"Former partner in crime, right, Lance?" Eugene reminded, not wanting to be reminded of his criminal life.
"Oh, right! Anyway, we sure are lucky to have you two to help us! We have enough problems with worrying about Cassandra!" Lance explained.
"Who's Cassandra?" Molly asked.
The moment Molly asked that question, everyone stayed silent. After all of the drama they had been through from dealing with Cassandra recently, none of them knew how to answer. Soon, the silence was broken when Rapunzel decided to answer.
"Cassandra was my former handmaiden." Rapunzel let out a depressed sigh before she continued. "And my former friend. Let's just say that a lot of stuff has happened between us, and we are now enemies. Despite that, I'm sure that we can be friends again! I just know it!"
Out of the corner of their eyes, Molly and Libby noticed that Faith looked sad as Rapunzel talked about Cassandra. She looked as though she was hurt the most by what happened.
"Sorry, I have to go!" Faith suddenly said before she left in a hurry.
"Is she okay? She seems so sad!" Molly noticed.
Rapunzel seemed to be just as confused as Molly. "I don't know. She seemed fine a second ago." It was at that moment when the chiming of a bell can be heard. "Oh no. I have to attend the festival. Molly? Libby? Can you do me a favor and make sure that Faith is okay?"
"Of course! We would be happy to help, right, Libby?" Molly asked.
Libby nodded. "Yes, we'll do whatever we can to make sure your friend is okay."
"Thanks you two are the best!" Rapunzel smiled before making her way towards the festival.
At that moment, Molly and Libby followed Faith to her a nearby tent. The girls opened the tent to find the handmaiden. At least, they thought it was the handmaiden. Molly and Libby were both surprised to see the handmaiden take off a shapeshifting cloak, revealing her true form, a woman with blue hair and black armor. Exhausted from the day she had, the woman sat down before placing a hand over her face in frustration.
"You really didn't think your plan to make things right would really work did you?"
Surprised by the unexpected voice, Molly and Libby looked to the other side to see a smaller woman who was sitting in a chair. She had pale skin and wore a black dress with her purple hair tied in buns.
"Zhan Tiri! What are you doing here?" The taller blue-haired woman demanded, clearly not in the mood to talk.
The smaller woman named, Zhan Tiri got up from her chair as she said, "I don't understand. After that monster attack was dealt with, you could have gone up to her and apologize face to face."
Thinking back to the woman's sad expression back when she was disguised as Faith, Molly and Libby could only assume that Zhan Tiri was referring to Rapunzel.
"I said, get away from me!" The blue-haired woman snapped.
Zhan Tiri opened her mouth to speak before she took notice of Molly and Libby spying on her. With a smirk, Zhan Tiri pretended not to notice them before she said, "Very well! Don't come crying to me when Rapunzel inevitably betrays you! I'll leave you alone with your two friends!"
Soon, the blue haired woman gave Zhan Tiri a confused look. "Two friends? What are you-"
That was all she was able to say before Zhan Tiri disappeared. It was at that moment, when the mysterious woman took notice of Molly and Libby, both of them greeting her with a couple of awkward smiles.
"Um, hi." Molly waved. "I don't think we have been properly introduced! My name is Molly McGee!"
"Hi, I'm Libby. Are you Cassandra?" Libby asked.
It was at that moment when the woman began to panic. She desperately searched for her transformation cloak, but knew that it was pointless since Molly and Libby already saw her. Seeing that she couldn't keep pretending, the woman reluctantly told the truth.
"Yes, my name is Cassandra, but I promise I didn't do anything to the real Faith!" Cassandra defended. "I just want to make up for all that I have done to Rapunzel."
"Rapunzel said that you two used to be friends." Molly recalled. "I don't know what happened between you two, but maybe Libby and I can help you be friends with Rapunzel again!"
Surprised by Molly's decision, Cassandra chuckled in amusement. "Are you really going to help out some stranger you just met?"
"Yeah! That's Molly for you! She is always there to help everyone no matter what!" Libby smiled. "So, what happened between you and Rapunzel, anyway?"
Cassandra looked down in sadness, almost as if she was reliving painful memories. Memories of her tragic past came flowing back to her as she avoided eye contact with Molly and Libby.
"I-I don't want to talk about it." said Cassandra.
"But why not? If you talk about your feelings, we can work this out and you and Rapunzel can be besties again!" Molly smiled.
Cassandra had only heard Molly speak for a few seconds, and she was already sick to death of her. There was something about Molly's annoyingly positive attitude that reminded her of Rapunzel, Upon seeing how annoyed Cassandra was with Molly, Libby took a moment to speak with her girlfriend as she held her hand.
"Molly, I don't think forcing Cassandra to talk about what happened is what she needs right now." Libby said, much to Cassandra's surprise. "She has clearly been through a lot, and she would only tell us when she is ready."
It was a relief to Cassandra that at least one of them understood her. It was clear to her that they only wanted to help her so she let out a defeated sigh.
"I was jealous." Cassandra suddenly said.
"Huh?" Libby looked at Cassandra in confusion.
"I was jealous of Rapunzel. You see, my mother, Gothel abandoned me as a child when she kidnapped Rapunzel and took her to a faraway tower. It made me feel worthless, so I ended up betraying my friends to form my own destiny and not be in Rapunzel's shadow for once."
After hearing about Cassandra's tragic backstory, Libby's expression turned to a look of pure hatred. She didn't have to meet this Gothel person to know that she was a horrible person. She had been in Cassandra's position before and knew where she was coming from. Before anyone could react, Libby embraced Cassandra in a tearful hug.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Cassandra asked, weirded out by the hug.
"I know what it's like to be abandoned by a parent and made to feel worthless." Libby sniffed. "You see, I once went on a trip with my mom to visit my dad, since I hadn't seen him in 6 years. I was so excited to see him again, but I later found out that he cared about his stupid writing career more than his own family."
This left Cassandra shocked by what she heard. After everything that she went through, she never wanted anyone to go through something similar and suffer the same kind of hurt she went through.
"Libby, I-I'm really sorry." Cassandra sympathized with Libby.
Libby soon wiped the tears from her eyes before she said, "Don't be! Despite what happened, there are still loved ones in my life who still care for me!"
"Exactly, and we are sure that your friends still care about you too!" Molly assured. "If they are really your friends, I'm sure they would be more than happy to give you a second chance! We can assure you that with our help, you can be friends with Rapunzel again and we will leave you both enhappified!"
"En-what-ified?" Cassandra raised a confused eyebrow, not used to hearing the random words Molly uses on a daily basis.
"Never mind that! The point is that Molly and I will do whatever we can to help you be friends with Rapunzel again!" Libby explained.
With a smile, Cassandra replied, "Thanks, you two. Listen, I'm going to continue to stay disguised as Faith until we figure out what to do next. Just don't tell anyone who I really am just yet."
"Your secret's safe with us! And don't worry Libby and I will find a way to restore your friendship with Rapunzel before you know it!" Molly assured.
"We'll see you later, Cassandra!" Libby waved goodbye before she and Molly left the tent.
Once they left, Molly and Libby silently tried to think of a way to get Cassandra back on good terms with Rapunzel. No matter what has happened between Rapunzel and Cassandra in the past, Molly and Libby were certain that everything would be fine as long as Cassandra still had light in her heart.