Cinderella awoke to an almost ideal morning. She was in a comfy bed, the sun was shining through the window, and the birds were singing. After all the excitement last night, a good nights sleep was what she needed to feel ready to commence searching for King White!
Speaking of last night, she started to wonder what the dwarfs were playing at. She knew enough to know it wasn't anything bad, but they almost seemed too willing and able. Oh well, she had more important things to worry about.
For one, she remembers the main sitting area of their house being a complete wreck. While she didn't want to intrude, years of cleaning for a living got to her and she felt compelled to at least sweep the floor. With that she located the nearest broom after cleaning herself up for the day, and set about her tasks.
With a little musical accompaniment that is.
A dream is a wish your heart makes...
At the other end of the hall, the F7 awoke to an angelic sound that was recognizable as singing. "What's going on out there?" Merlin questioned before they all hopped out of bed and went to investigate. What they found was something out of a fairy tale.
Cinderella stood in the middle of the room, broom in hand, twirling around as she swept. The cherry on top was that she was singing in the most heavenly voice known to man. Coupled with the sun lighting her hair, she was a vision of loveliness.
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish
Will come true
When she finished and place the broom down to admire the now spotless, she almost jump a mile high when applause sounded from behind her. Cinderella turned to find the seven dwarfs with wide smiles and clapping tiny hands. "I'm sorry for waking you," she smiled sheepishly. "But after all you've done for me sweeping your floor seemed like the least I could do."
"Don't worry about it," Merlin assured her, causing her to smile at him before Jack added something. "Besides, you know what they say. The early bird gets the worm."
"I hope that's the case," she chuckled before a ding went off in the kitchens. "Oh, I also made you some muffins and scones."
"YOU BAKE!" They all cried in amazement. Beautiful, kind, prudent, and she could cook. She was to good to be true. With this in mind, true mental warfare broke out among the princes as to who could be the one to win her heart. And they knew the fastest way to do it was save the king.
They all sat down for a hearty breakfast, and while her skills didn't approach Hans's, she was still an excellent patissere. After washing all the plates, they went outside to take stalk, discuss their plan for the day, and test the triplets new invention from the night before, the printer.
"Here you go. I drew these up last night." Cinderella said as she past out her home drawn wanted poster. "I must say you have quite and artistic eye," Hans complimented her as he inspected it.
"Oh that's nothing," she snorted as she passed one down to Merlin. "Princess Snow's art teacher, Pablo Picasoger, is out of this world."
"Is it safe to assume the princess takes after her father," Merlin asked her. "Actually she takes after both of her parents pretty down the middle." She responded and was met with a nod from the wizard before Arthur came up and clapped him on the shoulder.
While Cinderella still felt rather salty with him after last night, for the sake of the king she was willing to cooperate and be civil with him as long as the muscle-head returned the favor. Although it did seem almost TOO convenient that she would be in a primary shopping district alone with him for the day. "Alright, you know the plan. Let's move. Deploy," He then ran in front of the group and stuck a pose. "Thunder Dwarfs are go!"
The blonde girl let out a chuckle at the reference as they all walked ahead. Except for Merlin. "And where do you think you're going?" Arthur stopped him and gestured to the captured bunny from the previous night. "Your post is right there."
"You watch the savage monster," taunted Pino as Noki growled and bantered with Kio. "I call him vicious!" "I call him wood-bottom." Last to leave was Jack who offered some 'uplifting' words. "Don't worry Merlin, we'll make sure you get kissed to. Eventually." This left the now human Merlin to himself while off in the forest the group split up.
"We'll split up here," Arthur directed as he and Cinderella made the turn to head to Golden Goose Avenue, her waving bye to the others. "I know where we could start looking," he informed her. "Really. I hope you're right," she responded with hope. He lead her along a stone path to a pavelleon where a sword stood, stuck in a stone.
"Wow," she gasped as she approached the weapon. "Is this what I think it is?" She turned to the dwarf beside her.
"I present Excalibur! A legendary sword trapped in this rock for centuries. Waiting for a man of great strength to release it."
"But doesn't this sign say , 'do not attempt to remove by force'", she gestured to a sign that said just that. "Aw, dang" the prince muttered to himself. He should have removed it last night. He then tried to cover his tracks. "The truth is I realized you were the woman of my destiny the moment I saw ya. I thought if i could show you my strength, I would be worthy of your affections."
He turned to Cinderella, expecting to see her swooning at his words, but instead he saw her standing on the stone, Excalibur aloft in her hand, and a surprised look on her face. "Oh, sorry. I'll put it back," the blonde said as she placed the blade back in it's slot.
"No,no!" He shouted as she returned 'his' weapon of great power to it's confines. "Can I hold it?" He then proceeded to pounce on the stone and tried to budge it out with force. "Sorry Arthur, It was probably beginner's luck. I could pull it out again if you want," she tried to console him as they walked away, the prince having just given up. "No," he responded. "I'm not humiliated at all."
However both left the site, failing to take note of the plaque on the stone's front which read;
Unselfish, gracious, and truthful must yea be
To set the sword Excalibur free
*******
Back at the cottage, human Merlin sat by the confined bunny on a barrel, angrily munching on a carrot. He was stopped by the utter look of disappointment on the creatures face.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm the real prisoner here!"
He then noticed it perk up at the sight of the food. "What? Your hungry?" He then pretended to toss a carrot away to mess with it yelling, "Fetch!" Then an idea clicked. Next thing he knew he was riding on the bunny's back through the forest, tossing the veggie in front of it.
"Hop along big guy! There's no way Arthur's breaking this curse alone. And i'm certainly not going to leave Cinderella with him."
*******
Back with Cinderella and Merlin, the two had just reached the gates to enter Golden Goose Avenue. The gate itself was a pristine set up, with a large golden egg standing above and arch. As they walked in however, Cinderella could feel the eyes of several people on her back, but for now she ignored them as she gazed at the hustle and bustle of the street.
It had been years since she'd had a day about the town and although locating the king was top priority, she would do her best to gather some enjoyment while working.
As she stood admiring the town, Arthur walked past her and when she went to follow, a man with a barrel perched on his shoulder came walking past. "Excuse me," he said, obviously trying to sound more masculine.
"Arthur, where are you going?" She asked one she caught up to the crestfallen dwarf. He simply held up the wanted poster, and Cinderella got the message as he walked off. "Ah, okay. I'll see you later."
With that she commenced her search, starting with the mason currently working on a stone goose in front of her. "Um, excuse me," she called out to him, his hand slipping and scraping the carvings neck when she surprised him "Look at what you made me do, you," he turned to yell at her but stopped in his tracks once he saw her face.
"You made me make it perfect," his tune rapidly changed to sound suave as he leaned on the stone, only for it's head to slide clean off.
"I am so sorry," Cinderella told him with remorse in her eyes before the mason cut her off. "Don't be. Are you alright? And don't worry about this," he tapped the now decapitated goose before setting to work on it at a rapid pace. In a matter of moments, he revealed a waist-up bust of Cinderella with the bottom half still-being the goose.
"Gosh, him too! Did the shoes do something to me," She wondered to herself, not stopping to consider the possibility that she was in fact that beautiful. Simply chuckling and waving bye, Cinderella wrote the encounter off and began asking around the town, getting normal responses from women while men seemed to put on a facade to impress her.
God, it confused her to no end.
Eventually she gave up on passerby's and moved on to the cart owners. She came across a man selling stuffed bunny's, and even when he responded no to having seen the king, he offered her a bunny which Cinderella politely turned down.
Next as she went up to the balloon-seller, she noticed a little girl's balloon flying away from her. The blonde retrieved it,and handed it back to the girl before going towards the seller, who released his entire bundle into the statosphere when he caught a look of her. She continued like this for an hour before she turned a corner, munching on an apple she had been offered and taken out of hunger.
What she found was Arthur sulking, faced pressed up against the window of a toy store where a little girl stood taunting him by pulling the toy sword out of it stone. This would do her no good. He needed to snap out of it. "Arthur, I was thinking," she told him. "what if I just went back and pulled Excalibur for you? Our secret."
At this she instantly saw the dwarfs face light up as he turned to her. "Really? We have a secret now," he gestured between the two of them. "Yep," she nodded and the two fist-bumped to seal the deal. "I like a girl who can keep things classified! Let's find your King, Cinderella."
This put a faint smile on Cinderella's face. Maybe he wasn't so bad. Personally muscle-heads weren't her type, but she could still see him becoming a good friend. Even though she had never been out with a guy, or spent much time thinking on the matter, some sleep over chat's with Snow left her knowing that she was attracted to a more intellectual man.
As the pair marched forward, a poster caught the blonde's eyes and made her stop in her tracks. There was a wanted poster with her face plastered on it. Looks like Regina had begun her search, and would no doubt be out her her head. Cinderella took the poster and rolled it up in her hands, but when she turned to find Arthur, she instead saw 2 big guards down the street asking around...for her!
They took notice of her, and Cinderella didn't hesitate to take off running, the guards pursuing her. Soon after, they crashed into an apple cart, giving Cinderella a chance to duck into an alleyway. She soon realized her error however as she hit a dead end.
Thinking fast she shimmied her way behind a standing mirror that was leaning against a stairwell, thankful for her slim physique. No sooner then she hid, the two guards came stomping down the alleyway. "She not here," once said. "Let's go, she must've taken the other turn."
Once they left, Cinderella waited a few moments to be safe and stepped out from behind the mirror, dusting herself off to go find Arthur.
*******
Speaking of Arthur, he was currently less then a block away form the girl location and calling out her name in hope that she would show up.
"Where's Cinderella," A familiar voice suddenly asked from behind him. "That's what I'd like to know," he responded before realizing his mistake.
"Wait a minute," the ex-wielder of Excalibur questioned as he strode over to Merlin who was leaning up against the giant bunny. "Who said you could leave your post?"
"I'm just walking the bunny," the wizard quipped, smugly. Arthur simply pushed his shoulder and walked right past him, continuing to yell, "Cinderella!"
In annoyance, Merlin gave the bunny another carrot as two armed guards came up to him. "Hey, have you seen this girl?" they asked him and gave him a flyer which to his confusion, had the face of the very girl he was looking for plastered on it.
*******
Just as Cinderella was exiting the alley way, 4 guards stepped in her path. "Well look what we found men, this pretty little bounty we've been looking for all day," he said in a patronizing voice.
"I can see why the boss want's ya," another said. "Your a real beauty. Shame your a filthy servant."
"Uh, I'm really not in the mood," Cinderella groaned. Over the years she had become disensitized to insults and they simply left her annoyed.
"But your shoes, now those are interesting. Hand 'em over." Another said, ignoring her warning. However, the might as well have dug his own grave as this command sparked an idea in Cinderella's head. Playing as innocent as she could, doe eyes and quivering lip included, she began slipping off her shoes.
"Please don't hurt me," she whimpered, and noticed the men dropping their guards. She took her chance to pounce, unaware of the short, green, and brunette dwarf that had just come looking for her witnessing the whole scene. He was positively seething with how they had talked to Cinderella, and was ready to strike them down when...
"Here!" Cinderella yelled as she quickly retracted her hands, dropping her shoes on the ground, brought her fist's together, and slammed them down on the first man's head, knocking him. The other three however, raised their lances at her, pushing her back at blade-point. Merlin saw his chance to strike, and lit them up sky high.
As soon as they dropped to the ground he saw the surprised look on Cinderella's face. He picked up her slippers and strode over to her. "Since I couldn't save you last night, though this might make up for it. Here are your shoes. "
Cinderella however was just staring at him in awe. Had he just come all the way from the cottage and saved her. "If he hadn't been here I might have..."
Overcome with emotions, she dropped to her eyes and embraced him like she did last night. "Thank you," she gave him her brightest smile as she stood up and placed her shoes on her feet. "It was," he cleared his throat. "It was no problem as all. I'm just glad your okay."
The moment ended as soon as they heard Arthur still calling out her name outside the alley. They both chuckled as Merlin made a ladies first gesture, the two of them making their way back to the orange-clad dwarf. However their troubles weren't over yet. As soon as they stepped out of the alleyway, and Arthur caught sight of her, he called out, "Cinderella," alerting the two previous guards to her presence.
"Stop!" They yelled as they chased her. Merlin, thinking fast rode on his new trusty bunny up to Cinderella and hoisted her up onto it. "Hold on," he told her as they hopped out of Golden Goose Avenue.
However, unknown to the servant girl, she had dropped her home made flyer for the guards to find. "Got'cha now," they cackled.
*******
After booking it through the forest non-stop, Merlin and Cinderella decided they had gone far enough and dismounted the bunny in a clearing set across from a beautiful flower field, the creature practically collapsing.
"Now we now how fast a bunny can hop in a pinch," Merlin commented to her, earning a chuckle from the blonde as she turned to him. "Thank you, again for all your help."
"It was my pleasure, m'lady," he put his hands up modestly. "But I also did it for us. By the way, uh, what is this," he pulled out her wanted poster.
"Well, cat's out of the bag. I just hope he doesn't think I'm mental." Cinderella twiddled with her thumbs. She would have to tell him about her shoes. "I know it sounds crazy but it's my slippers. Their magical."
"I know their fabulous," he responded, admiring the footwear. "But why are they after you."
"No," she said exasperated. "My shoes are actually made of magic." Before she could say any more, Arthur caught up with them, waving the poster. "Cinderella! Are you a criminal?"
"What," She asked shocked. "No, of course not. I promise." She assured him, and he let out a sigh of relief. "I knew a girl this pretty couldn't possibly be a criminal!"
"Here we go again," She thought. "Look,we should probably head back before it get's dark." After some more flexing from Arthur she started to walk off. This would make it so much harder to find the King. And what about Snow. Was she safe?
She turned around when she heard Merlin's voice however. "I have an idea," he told them before jumping into the flower field, walking around and kicking up petals, drawing out the likeness of Cinderella's poster.
The servant girl stood in awe at the petals falling around her, letting them fall into her hand before she refocused on Merlin. He really was a good guy, and honestly he was the person she had become closest to in the last 24 hours. Sure they hadn't talked much, but she could easily tell he had a good heart, intentions, and mind. Not to mention he was rather sweet and cute and...
Oh crud, did she like him?
No sooner then she had begun her musings, she was brought out of it by a "Ta da!" and Merlin looking proudly at his work. Cinderella felt her heart flutter just a tad. He had done this...for her!
"What do you think," he asked as he climbed up to her, brushing stray petals off his person. "That is absolutely amazing. I don't know what to say." She crouched to his level, before deciding to test her theory. His reaction would tell her if he genuinely liked her.
Slowly she leaned in, her mouth coming dangerously towards his face. Merlin stood in utter shock. Was this it! Had he done it? In the background the bunny and Arthur were gawking at the sight. Was Cinderella seriously about to kiss Merlin.
However just as it looked like she was about to plant her lips on his, and free him from the curse, she diverted her path and simply blew some petals off her face. She got hr information and he came back positive for feelings.
"You had some on your face," she shyly wrote it off as she stood. "Alright let's go." Arthur sighed in relief as he followed her, giving Merlin the 'I'm watching you' signal before turning. This left human Merlin standing in awe at Cinderella's retreating form. Sure he might have just been sucking up to her for his own gain at the start, but now he held genuine feelings for the blonde. It might have been to early to say, but he genuinely, romantically liked her.