Monsuno of the Magic Kingdom: Chapter 16

By: jungleboy69



Chapter 16: Parental Discussion


Dinner was already set in the dining room of Eric and Ariel's castle, the plates filled with piping hot food and the glasses filled to the brim with cool, refreshing drinks. All the royal adults were all gathered at the table, waiting for the kids to come down. When they didn't, Grimsby offered to go up to check on them.

While the children were upstairs, the adults entertained themselves with interesting stories. Eric wanted to catch up with his fellow monarchs and each one of them revealed their pasts, which was a real eye opener for them.

Cinderella smiled at Ariel. "Thank you again for sharing your secret with us." She said, chuckling. "I still can't believe you were once a mermaid." Ariel smiled back. "It was my pleasure," she replied. "I just hope you and the others will keep this a secret."

Although the local villages knew about merfolk and Atlantica, the rest of the Magic Kingdom did not, and Ariel wanted to keep it that way. Still, she was also impressed that Cinderella had a fairy godmother who helped her in getting ready for a ball to meet Charlie Charming.

Belle added, smiling as well. "We will, Ariel. I'm just that all of you took our story to stride, with my husband being a former beast." Eric and Ariel nodded, both a little stunned that Adam was turned into a monstrous beast-like creature. The ex-beast sadly explained that his arrogance and cold heart was responsible for his transformation, thanks to the enchantress's spell. Thankfully, it was Belle who helped him to change his ways and broke the spell.

"Oh, nothing about it." Eugene spoke up, jokingly. "We all have secrets we don't like to share much." "I mean, being a giant hairy monster sounds more convenient than being stabbed by a crazed evil woman." "That and having a wife with long magical healing hair..." He added, making everyone laugh a bit.

"Eugene..." Rapunzel replied, grinning a bit. "Well, it's such a shame it's gone..." Snow White added. "I would love to see it." "Still, is it true it grew back again," she asked. "just by touching a pile of black rocks?" "Yeah," Rapunzel chuckled nervously. "but those black rocks were a lot of trouble back in Corona."

"Trouble?" Eugene scoffed. "You have no idea what those rocks put us through; almost destroying the kingdom, making us travel halfway across the land, turning our friend, Cassie into a vengeful, nasty girl bent on destruction..." "Yeah, not so great years for us..." He muttered.

"Speaking of trouble," Aladdin spoke up, rubbing his head nervously. "I would like to apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you." Everyone looked at him in surprise "It's alright, Aladdin." Jasmine assured him, kindly. "You could have known that we picked up a stowaway on board."

"Oh," Naveen pointed out. "Are you talking about that annoying, loudmouthed, bad-tempered parrot who snuck on board your ship?" "Hey!" A loud squawk called out. "Who are you calling loudmouthed?!" Everyone turned to see a parrot with red feathers, blue wingtips and tail feathers with orange feet and a bright orange beak flying towards them.

"Hey Al, Jas!" He asked, landing on the table. "My secret stash of caviar has run out; ya think I can pop into the kitchen to get some?" "Iago..." Jasmine spoke sternly as she and Aladdin glared at him in annoyance. "We're guests here in Ariel and Eric's palace, and you need to show respect."

"Yeah, yeah..." Iago muttered, before. "Anyway, ya got any caviar around; Mushu and I are gonna have a guys' night-out with just the two of us." "Hey, bird-boy!" Mushu called out, causing everyone turning to look at the little red dragon at the corner. "Turns out I brought my own stash of caviar, ready for a fun guys’ night out?!"

"Heck yeah!!" Iago replied. "Well, see ya folks; Mushu and I got a date with the world's most jewel-encrusted jacuzzi tub with our names on it!!" With that, the parrot and the dragon raced out, while the royals shook their heads. "I never thought Mushu will meet someone like him." Mulan giggled a bit.

Ever since Iago met Mushu, they had become somewhat become inseparable. They engaged in all manner of discussions like get-rich-quick schemes or tall tales of themselves. Jasmine giggled as well. "I guess there is someone for anyone out there." At that moment, Grimsby approached them.

"Your majesties," he stated. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid... the children are not upstairs at all." The adults were surprised by this and a little worried. "Not to worry..." Eric spoke up. "There're probably playing hide and seek again." "We should look around to see if there're alright..." He added as he stood up.

"Maybe, we should split up." Florian suggested. "The men and I will search upstairs while the woman will search downstairs." Eric nodded and soon, all the royals and the servants left the dining room to search for the children.

Ariel, Rapunzel and Snow White were searching in the living room, calling out the children's names as they looked around. The fair Snow White sighed. "Oh, I hope Kathrin is alright." She spoke up. "She never plays games for too long." "What do you mean?" Ariel asked as she searched behind a sofa while Rapunzel searched under a table.

"Well," Snow White replied. "Kathrin was a bit of a bookworm; she would rather read a book than go exploring." "She may not be lazy, but she preferred to be still and enjoy nature." Rapunzel giggled. "Well, I wish Luciana was just like her." She added. "She and Garrick are like bundles of energy; always running off to explore and discovering new things."

Ariel stated. "I hope she can rub off on my Melody... My little girl is very active, but sometimes I wish she would slow down a little. And..." Her words stopped in her throat and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a peculiar sight through the large glass window, set up near the front doors.

Coming towards the castle, she saw a group of horses galloping towards them and when they got closer, she saw it was Tempest, Maximus, Sahara and Khan! "Girls, look outside!" She called Snow White and Rapunzel to the windows. When the two queens looked outside, they grew surprised as well.

"Max!" Rapunzel exclaimed in worry. "What are he and the other horses doing outside? I thought they were in the stables..." Knowing something was up, the three queens hurried outside. Upon seeing the queens, the horses reared up on their hind legs and whinnied loudly.

"Woah, Max!" Rapunzel called out, gently reaching up to hold and stroke Max's muzzle."Easy, boy; it's okay..." It managed to calm him down, but it did little to ease the horse's nerves. Ariel did the same with Tempest while Snow White calmed down Khan and Sahara.

"Eric!" Ariel called out. "Eric! It's the horses; there're out of the stables and I think something's wrong!" In a few minutes, Eric came to her side, followed by Adam and Phillip. Eric was surprised to see four horses and the carriage out, knowing fully well that the horses were supposed to be stabled and the carriage in storage.

"I don't get it." He asked. "Who would take the carriage out this late, and why would it return with no one?" "I don't know..." Ariel replied, worriedly. "Whatever it is, it's got the horses spooked."

Adam inspected the inside of the carriage, trying to figure out who was riding inside. Something was making his heart pumping a bit fast and his instincts were on high alert. Although he was human now, his time as the Beast had heightened his senses considerably. As a result, he became skilled in tracking.

The insides were slightly rumpled and had some scents on it. He also noticed a flash of green on the white silken covers and reached down. When he picked it up, he saw it was a sea-green hairband of some sort. His eyes narrowed in concern. "Queen Ariel!" He exclaimed. "I found something that you need to see!"

He lifted it up to Ariel, who gasped in shock. "That's Melody head-band!!" She exclaimed as Adam handed it to her. "That means she was inside!" Adam turned to look at the carriage seat and soon caught a familiar scent. "Mainard..." He spoke seriously. "He was at the reins, and I believe he and the other children left the castle."

"They must have used the cover so no one could see them in the carriage and then took off somewhere." He added. "I don't understand." Phillip asked. "Why would the children leave the castle so late?"

"Maybe they took off to go on an adventure?" Snow White offered, trying to lighten the mood. "Possibly." Eric replied, thoughtfully. "That strong wind we felt earlier and that loud noise... we assumed it was a nearby storm, but there's hardly a cloud in the sky." At that moment, the other royals came out to see what's going on. "Guys!" Shang exclaimed. "There's something Florian and I need to tell you!"

Florian added. "Shang and I were looking outside on the upper floor and we saw some kind of blue flash coming from the forest near the village!" "We think it must have something to do with the children!" He added. By now, Eric and Ariel were very worried, knowing full well of the danger in the forest that moment.

"I was afraid of this..." Eric stated firmly. "Everyone, I'm afraid the children must have ventured into the forest explore, and now they could be lost!" "There are some dangerous bandits that call themselves the Red Devils have eluded our for some time." He nodded. "If the horses have returned with no passengers, they could be in great danger!!"

The mothers gasped in horror while the husbands bore determined looks. Now, they were all scared for their precious children and were prepared to go in and save them. Eric spoke again. "Phillp, Charlie, Adam, Florian, Naveen, Shang, Aladdin and Eugene! Get some horses from the stables, and Grimsby! Gather some soldiers at once! We're heading into the forest to get our children back!"

Grimsby nodded and quickly left for the soldier's quarters while the kings followed Eric to the stables "I'm coming too!" Jasmine spoke up, following them. "Me too!" Mulan added. "As am I!!" Rapunzel agreed. "No, Punzie!" Tiana spoked, concerned. "It could be dangerous!" "It's alright." Rapunzel replied, firmly. "I've dealt with bandits back in Corona, and now I'm going to show them that no one messes with my kids!!"

Ariel looked into the forest and prayed worriedly. "Melody, children... Please, please, be safe!!" Little did she know, that there some guardian angels looking out for them... but they were protectors that NO ONE would ever think was possible!