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“Castle of Dreams, huh?” Lea asked, peering over Aqua’s shoulder out the Gummi windshield. “That’s the big secret?”
“Are we going to the party?” Ventus asked, popping up from the other side. “They have an amazing winter party here!”
“How do you know that?” Lea asked, raising an eyebrow. “The last time you were here was ten years ago.”
“The mice told me,” Ventus said, as if that explained everything. Aqua and Lea exchanged a look, but Ventus insisted, “Mice know about parties! Kairi, we’re almost here!”
As Aqua took the Gummi ship down through the World’s barrier, a gleaming castle appeared in the distance. With its lofty white towers and blue turrets dusted with snow, it looked as if the castle itself was a huge holiday decoration.
“Wow!” Kairi said, appearing from the back of the ship and coming to watch beside Lea. “That’s Cinderella’s castle, right? I thought we were doing magic lessons today. What are we doing here?”
“You’ll see,” Aqua said cryptically. Lea, Kairi, and Ventus groaned, knowing prying for more information from Aqua was useless. The three of them had to content themselves with watching out the window for the moment, Ventus pressing so close to the glass that his nose was squished flat.
Aqua parked the Gummi ship behind the castle, tucked away in a corner of the gardens. As soon as the Gummi ship door opened, World Order magic took over, turning Kaira and Aqua’s training clothes into vaguely fairytale townsfolk dresses, and giving Lea the high boots and poofy white shirt of a questionable suitor.
Ventus immediately shrank to the size of a mouse.
“UGH!” Ventus shouted from the ground, high-pitched. Aqua scooped him up so they could hear him more clearly. “Why does that always happen?!”
“Oh dear,” another voice spoke up. “Now that won’t do at all for the Midwinter Ball, my goodness.”
“Fairy Godmother!” Kairi exclaimed, rushing out of the ship to hug her. “What are you doing here?”
“I never miss a ball!” Fairy Godmother said, patting Kairi on the back before releasing her. “We are running a bit behind, though, so Aqua has kindly brought you all to help.”
“Sure, but what’s that got to do with magic lessons?” Lea asked, scratching his head.
“There’s no time to explain,” Fairy Godmother said, pulling her wand out of her sleeve and flicking it as if warming it up. “It won’t be long before the carriages begin arriving, full of guests. But you can’t attend the Midwinter Ball looking like that!” Fairy Godmother brandished her wand. “Bibbidi bobbidi boo!”
Magic shot from the tip of her wand, wreathing all of them in rings of glittering white stars. Kairi’s simple dress melted into a proper pink ballgown, while Aqua and Lea both ended up resplendent suits of velvet, Aqua’s silver and blue, Lea’s green and gold. Ventus, still in Aqua’s hands, grew big enough that Aqua was holding him by the armpits instead. When she set him back on the ground, his hoodie had turned to a white palace uniform with a snappy red sash.
“Much better!” Fairy Godmother nodded in approval. “And perhaps a little for me as well…” She tapped herself on the head and her flowing periwinkle robes rearranged into a ballgown of her own, sparkling silver snowflakes embroidered along the hem and bodice. “There, all sorted! Now, come along, there’s no time to lose.”
Fairy Godmother was surprisingly fast, all of them having to hustle to keep up with her as they arrived at the rear entrance of the castle. The palace guards waved her through without batting an eye. When they reached the grand ballroom, the heavy gilded doors swung open easily at the touch of her wand, and shut just as easily behind them.
They found themselves standing at the top of the master staircase, the enormous ballroom spread out before them. Even undecorated, it was breathtaking, with polished marble floors and columns, curtains of rich red velvet, golden chandeliers giving everything a dreamy glow.
Lea whistled, tilting his head back to examine the nearest chandelier. “That thing’s bigger than the Gummi ship!”
“I’ve always wanted to sweep down one of these like a princess in a movie,” Kairi said. She whacked Lea in the arm. “Announce me!”
“Announcing Lady Kairi,” Lea intoned with a roll of his eyes, “Princess of the Destiny Islands, formerly of Radiant Garden.”
“My lady.” Ventus bowed, offering his hand. Kairi laughed, hooking her arm through Ventus’s elbow and walking down the stairs, waving as if to an adoring crowd below.
“That is not how you princess wave,” Lea called as he followed behind them. “It’s elbow elbow, wrist wrist!”
At the bottom of the stairs, Cinderella was waiting, looking very relieved to see them.
“Thank goodness you’re here!” Cinderella said. She was done up beautifully for the party in a gold and red ball gown, holly berries pinned up in her hair and bodice embroidered with poinsettia. Her festive appearance didn’t match her worried expression, however. “This is my first Midwinter Ball as princess and everything must go perfectly!”
“You do seem a few decorations short of a party,” Lea said, making Cinderella press her lips tight together. Kairi elbowed Lea. “Oof!”
“Tell us how we can help,” Kairi said. “What’s the problem?”
“When the castle servants began putting up the decorations, these bizarre flying creatures appeared!” Cinderella explained, wringing her hands. “They stole all the decorations and chased the servants and gave everyone such a fright. I never saw the like of them! They were striped red and white, with glowing eyes and little hats.”
“Peppermint Carols!” Lea exclaimed, delighted. Everyone looked at him. “What? You’ve gotta love a festive Heartless, come on. They say that if you steal a Peppermint Carol’s hat your Midwinter’s wish will come true.”
“Nobody says that but you!” Ventus said.
“I don’t see any now,” Aqua said, looking around the ballroom. “Where did they go?”
“The maids chased them outside with brooms,” Cinderella said. Lea snorted a laugh. Cinderella pointed to the glass doors that led out to the grand balcony; sure enough, a swarm of Peppermint Carols were visible through the glass, trying to bump their way inside like moths bouncing off a streetlight.
“We’ll take care of it,” Aqua assured, patting Cinderella’s hands. “Don’t worry about a thing! Go finish getting ready and it’ll be all taken care of by the time you’re back.”
“I suppose I could check on the kitchens and the cake,” Cinderella said dubiously, but she let Fairy Godmother lead her away, back out the main doors.
As soon as the doors were shut, Aqua turned to Kairi, Ventus, and Lea. “The best way to take out this type of Heartless is…?”
“Knock ‘em out of the air with magic, swat them on the ground,” Axel said, the veteran of a thousand synthesis-hunting missions involving Emerald Serenades or Sapphire Elegies. He paused, eyes narrowing. “Wait, this is magic stamina training! This is a scam!”
“What? Nooo,” Aqua said cheerfully. “Whoever knocks out the most Carols wins, no Ethers or Haste, natural magic only.”
“You guys might as well sit this one out, I’m an expert at these guys,” Lea said, summoning his keyblade and taking a practice swing with it.
“You wish,” Ventus retorted.
“Bring it on,” Kairi agreed, squaring up her stance and tapping Destiny’s Embrace on the floor like a batter at home plate.
Aqua went to the balcony doors, pausing with her hand on the handle. Outside, the Peppermint Carol swarm began buzzing more excitedly, their chiming audible even through the glass. “Ready?” Lea, Ventus, and Kairi all nodded. “Go!”
The instant Aqua swung the door open, the whole cloud of Peppermint Carols swept into the room, chiming like discordant handbells, zapping Blizzard and Stop magic chaotically in all directions. They were all sporting the missing decorations, some of them wrapped up in strings of lights, others in garland, others with star ornaments tinkling as they darted this way and that.
Kairi and Lea knocked down one each with clean shots, but Ventus slipped on a patch of ice and sent his Firaga spell bouncing off a chandelier.
“No collateral damage!” Aqua warned. “Aim, Ven!”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Ventus grumbled, climbing back to his feet.
“That’s three!” Kairi called, bringing Destiny’s Embrace down hard on a downed Carol; it exploded in a burst of ice like a snowball hitting a wall.
“Collision Magnet!” Lea cast, making two of the Carols slam into each other; a small shower of ice and power shards tinkled to the marble floor. “Four!”
“I’ll show you two,” Ventus shouted back. He struck at the nearest cluster of Carols with a series of Thunder spells until Wayward Wind was glowing yellow. One more hit was all it took for Ventus to change to Thunder Bolt style, electricity crackling off him. His next swing sent a bolt of lightning zig-zagging from the nearest Carol to the next Carol over, stunning both of them out of the air. “Take that!”
“That’s all your magic, better make it count!” Aqua warned. Ventus shot her a look over his shoulder before Blitz attacking the nearest downed Carol; the finisher of his combo electrocuted all of the stunned Heartless, exploding them all at once.
“You were saying?” Ventus said.
Aqua shrugged, folding her arms. “You aren’t done yet!”
“Two can play that game,” Kairi said. Rather than expending magic, she’d been chaining Dash and Sonic Blade attacks, until a flash of pink signaled her switch to Sky Climber style. Hopping on Destiny’s Embrace like a surfboard, Kairi swept up into mid-air to knock a trio of Carol’s down, then dropped to finish them off with the shockwave of her keyblade slamming the floor.
As successful as both Ventus and Kairi’s attacks had been, as Aqua had warned, both of their form changes flickered out, leaving them catching their breath and magic-less, with half a dozen Peppermint Carols still taunting them from above.
“Ouch!” Ventus yelped as a Blizzard spell caught him square in the shoulder, freezing his whole arm. Kairi tried to dodge out of the way but toppled to the ground from a Stop spell.
“Aw, did you kids forget to pace yourselves?” Lea teased, popping a Carol who dived too close with a simple Fire spell. Flame Liberator was glowing red, but he made no move to activate the form change. “Guess I can show you how it’s done.”
Taking hold of his keyblade’s grip in both hands, Lea pulled it apart into his two chakrams. He was a blur of metal and fire after that, sending his chakrams whirling out and back like a boomerang to strike the remaining Carols from all sides. Even the two harassing Ventus and Kairi zipped back towards Lea to join the commotion, but it was no use against the elemental advantage of Lea’s fire magic. The last Carol hit the ground with a bounce and rolled to a stop in front of Kairi like a collapsed top.
“Wait, wait!” Lea said, jogging up. He reached down to pluck the hat off the Carol, making it chirp angrily. “Ok, all yours.”
“Thanks,” Kairi said sarcastically. She bopped the Carol soundly on the head, disintegrating it into a little heap of glitter and Ice Shards, the same as the rest of its friends. “Nine.”
“Thirteen!” Lea gloated. “My lucky number.”
“Seven,” Ventus sighed, still trying to thaw out his shoulder.
“No worries, buddy. Here, I got you this,” Lea consoled him. He dropped the Peppermint Carol’s hat down on Ventus’s head, tilting it so that it was on a jaunty angle. “Make a wish!”
“I wish we weren’t going to get banned from Cinderella’s party for wrecking her ballroom?” Ventus said. All of them looked around the ballroom at the melting ice puddles, scattered synthesis shards, and scorched curtains.
“Yikes,” Lea said, surveying the damage with his hands on his hips. “Where’s the Restoration Committee when you need ‘em?”
“Will a Fairy Godmother do?” Fairy Godmother spoke up behind them, making all of them jump. She was smiling serenely when they all turned to look. “Sorry for startling you, my dears.” She held up her wand. “I think we can make it just in time if we work together.”
“This is definitely stamina training,” Ventus sighed, rolling up his uniform sleeves.
They sprang into action: Ventus dried the puddles with Aero and Lea gathered up the synthesis shards, while Fairy Godmother turned the curtains from red to royal blue one by one, dark enough to hide the scorch marks. Aqua and Kairi took care of replacing the decorations, Kairi hanging the garland and lights while sitting astride her keyblade like a witch’s broom, while Aqua spun huge snowflakes between her hands, clear as glass. She taught the others to make snowflakes when they finished their tasks.
“Anyone can toss a chunk of ice with Blizzaga,” Aqua said. She held up a finished snowflake, light refracting in its delicate and complicated rays. “This is all about patience and control.” With a flick of her wrist, Aqua tossed the snowflake up; it stuck where it touched the vaulted ceiling, catching the light of the chandeliers as it spun slowly.
“Like this?” Kairi asked, holding up a respectable snowflake.
“Exactly,” Aqua approved. “See? You got a magic lesson after all.”
“This is still a scam,” Lea accused, trying a snowflake of his own. His was turning out like an eight-pointed chakram, but was still pretty. “Eh, nobody’ll notice when they’re mixed in with the others.”
They were just hanging the last snowflakes when the main doors swung open, and Cinderella bustled in. She stopped in her tracks, eyes going wide at the sight of the decorations. “Oh, how beautiful! What a relief! Are those monsters all gone?”
“All clear, Your Highness,” Lea reported.
“And not a moment to lose!” Cinderella turned to wave, and soon the room was bustling with castle servants bringing in tables, platters piled high with food and sweets, and an enormous cake decorated with sugar birds and stars.
“We’re glad to help,” Aqua said, dodging a man with a tower of macarons. “We should get out of your way…”
“Oh, but you must stay!” Cinderella insisted, taking both of Aqua’s hands to pull her out of the way of a woman carrying a hundred glass punch cups. “As thanks for your help, I insist all of you enjoy yourselves at the ball.”
“See? Wish granted,” Lea said, holding up his hand. Ventus rolled his eyes, but slapped him a high five anyway. “And I want to meet your mouse buddies too, I hear those guys know how to party.”