Aqua's first destination is the Castle of Dreams, where she spots a woman running away from a Grand Duke. Terra appears and goes down to meet her. She informs him that Ventus ran away, much to his concern. Terra tells her that he hasn't been able to find Xehanort, but that he did learn he is trying to find pure hearts of light. He tells her that the Prince might have more clues as to Xehanort's whereabouts. Terra asks her if she still has the same dream, and he says that meeting a girl named Cinderella reminded him how important it is to believe in one's dreams.
While entering the castle's ballroom, Aqua passes by three women. As she does, she suddenly gets a very bad feeling. The Grand Duke tells her that the older woman is named Lady Tremaine, and the other two were her daughters, Anastasia and Drizella. The Grand Duke reports to the Prince that he found a glass slipper off the woman who ran out earlier. He tells him that they can find the owner of the slipper by trying it on all the residents of the kingdom, and that they will start with Tremaine's house, as she is the closest to the castle.
Aqua decides to go to Tremaine's house, where she senses a powerful darkness. Before she can enter the house, she is stopped by the Fairy Godmother. She tells Aqua that it is dangerous to fight darkness with light, since a strong light will in turn cast a darker shadow. The Fairy Godmother explains that Tremaine and her daughters are jealous of Cinderella, and that jealousy created darkness within their hearts. She asks Aqua to help a friend of Cinderella's named Jaq, but she says that Aqua will need her magic if she wishes to help him.
The Fairy Godmother uses her magic to shrink Aqua to a tiny size and transport her into Tremaine's room. Inside the house, Aqua meets Jaq, who is actually a mouse. He tells her that Tremaine locked Cinderella in her room, and he is trying to take the key to her. When Aqua pulls out her Keyblade, Jaq tells her that he met Ven before. The two of them overhear a conversation in the living room; one of Tremaine's daughters tried on the slipper, but it didn't fit, so the Grand Duke goes to the other daughter. Before Jaq can take the key further, some Unversed show up. Aqua manages to fend them off, allowing Jaq to get the key to Cinderella.
Aqua heads to the stairs above the living room, where both daughters have already tried on the slipper. When the Grand Duke attempts to leave, Aqua tries to go after him, but she suddenly grows back to normal size and falls down into the living room, much to the horror of Tremaine and her daughters She asks the Grand Duke if she can try on the slipper. Although the Grand Duke is hesitant, because he already saw that Cinderella left the palace while Aqua was there, he relents and agrees to let her try it on. Before Aqua can actually try it on, though, Jaq manages to unlock the door to Cinderella's room, allowing her to make it to the living room.
Cinderella asks to try on the slipper, and Aqua says she'll let her try it on first. Against the protests of Tremaine, the Grand Duke agrees. As he goes to put the slipper on, however, Tremaine trips him, causing the slipper to fall and shatter on the floor. Cinderella pulls out the other glass slipper, which the Grand Duke puts on her foot. It fits perfectly, confirming that Cinderella was the girl the Prince is in love with. The Grand Duke goes to take Cinderella with him to the castle.
As she leaves Tremaine's house, Aqua hears a scream. The Grand Duke screams and runs toward her, telling her that a monster attacked Cinderella in the forest. When Aqua goes to investigate, she sees that Cinderella has been attacked by an Unversed, called the Cursed Coach, created by Tremaine and her daughters. Just as the three women are gloating over their newfound power, a bomb dropped by the Cursed Coach falls on them and explodes, leaving their fates unknown, but likely unpleasant. Aqua fights and destroys the Cursed Coach, allowing Cinderella to reach the castle and reunite with the Prince. The two of them embrace and have their happy ending at last.
As Aqua watches from a distance, the Fairy Godmother appears. Aqua recalls that Terra told her Xehanort is looking for pure hearts of light, and she wonders if Cinderella is one of them. She asks the Fairy Godmother how she can eliminate the darkness if she can't destroy it with light, and the Fairy Godmother tells her that she isn't old enough to learn the answer yet. She says that as long as Aqua believes in herself, she will learn the answer someday. With Cinderella and the Prince together and happy, Aqua goes to continue her journey...
Tropes
- Adaptational Jerkass: The Tremaines here are far, far worse than in the films. The Cursed Coach is living proof that they're borderline Omnicidal Maniacs willing to destroy their world because Cinderella got her freedom.
- Cain and Abel: A more extreme case here, with Drizella and Anastasia becoming the Cains towards Cinderella's Abel, with the two sides not being biologically related stopping it from being straight up Sibling Murder. Unlike their counterparts from The Bible, Cinderella survives unharmed, while Drizella and Anastasia are permanently damned.
- A Day in the Limelight: This episode puts more focus on the Tremaines than towards Cinderella, with Aqua planning to assassinate them to protect the universe from their darkness.
- Death by Adaptation: Lady Tremaine and her daughters are blown up by a fire bomb from the demonic Unversed their raw hatred created. However, Aqua stated that they were overtaken by their extreme darkness, implying they became Heartless like Xehanort, Gothel, Scar, and Hans.
- Hate at First Sight: Aqua walks by the Tremaines as the ball comes to an end, and in an instant, detects that they're demons who are Beyond Redemption, and need to be killed to preserve the world peace.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: As far as Aqua is concerned, the only way to stop the Tremaine family from hurting people is to assassinate them first. The Fairy Godmother convinces her to take another option, but the Cursed Coach proved that Aqua was right.
- The Power of Hate: The Tremaines' pure hated towards Cinderella is what caused the creation of the Cursed Coach, and they send it after her to murder her and probably everyone else in the world.
