"I can't believe you did that!"
"I didn't any other choice!"
"There's always a choice! You chose the wrong one!"
"What was I supposed to do!? He would have just kept killing people until I eventually gave in!"
"You would've found a way to stop him, because that's what the heroes do!"
"Then I guess I'm not a hero!"
Ariel brings her face inches away from Aladdin's, brisling with anger. Her red hair fans out around her, a heap of tangles and knots that's going to take hours to undo. The stony ground beneath her sore feet is fading away, bright pixels erasing the rock, the ocean, and any existence of the place she willingly gave up her claim. Taking their place are dirt, trees, and endless shadows. It's very much like the level they danced in, but there's nothing pleasant and calm about this forest. It's eerie, silent, and gloomy. A faint mist shimmers into existence, the automated sounds of owls and wolves echoing beyond the trees.
But Ariel does not fidget, and neither does Aladdin. They continue to glare at one another, and through she is immensely shorter than him, the fierceness of her face makes up for it.
"The point is, it's done." She concludes, digging her feet into the soil. "Scar's got the powers of the sea now. This is all very bad. But at least no one died."
"No one died!?" Aladdin bellows, tossing his hands into the air. "Did you already forget when Scar stabbed our friend in the back, literally? Or when he threw Kristoff off a cliff? What about Mason, huh? What about Jim, and Mulan? We don't even know if they're still alive. For all we know, you and I could be the only ones left!"
"Stop talking like that!" She paces away from him, digging her hands into her unruly mess of hair. "The fairies said not everything in the game is real! So stop assuming everyone is dead!"
"I'm not assuming anything, because I saw evidence! I saw Scar kill Kiara!" His voice cracks, and he twists away from her, dragging a hand across his face. With all this chaos, he hasn't had time to properly mourn his friend. She was always the most daring, the one who never hesitated to join him on dangerous - and sometimes illegal - adventures they discovered in Storybrooke.
He wraps his arms around himself, eyes welling with frustrated tears. It was such a stupid idea to come here. He should have stopped Ariel from leaving town in the first place. He should have fought harder and kept her from giving Scar the power of the trident. He should have saved Kiara.
And it's not just these regrets that are burying him alive. What Scar spoke on the last level was true. He truly is alone, more alone than he's ever been. He lost his mother at a young age, and never knew his father. He was ripped away from Jasmine and Genie when Regina cast her curse. Eric was always friendly with him, but he married Ariel, had a kid, and started a life. Flynn eventually reunited with Rapunzel. Eli left Storybrooke and moved to New York. Kiara... She's gone. She's gone forever.
"I understand why you're mad." Ariel mumbles, her voice nearly carried off by the light wind. "You're right. I shouldn't have given Scar my claim. I should have found another way."
Aladdin casts a glance over his shoulder, but she pointedly avoids eye contact with him. Her delicate hands wring together, a light pink heating her cheeks.
"But I wasn't about to lose another member of this team." She sighs, toying with the loose ends of her hair. "I already hate myself for letting them get Jim. We don't even know what happened to Mulan or Mason, and watching what Scar did to Kristoff and Kiara..." She trails off, but the message is clear. She tilts her head up, false moonlight illuminating her tear stained cheeks. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't watch Scar take someone else's life away. Not again."
