The guardian

Back to Earth

"You're still not over it, are you?" Travis said as he watched his friend defeat his third ogre today. Hawk looked from his unconscious opponent, "What's that supposed to mean?" He pretended to look puzzled, but Travis could see right through him. "You know exactly, what it's supposed to mean. Ever since Rose said you were an unprofessional hero, you've been defeating more creatures than usual." Travis shook his head. Sometimes Hawk got too caught up in being a hero. "There have been more villains lately. We need to keep our world safe," Hawk announced, staring off into the distance. "You spent the entire afternoon circling the forest, just to capture three ogres, whose only crimes were stealing items from passing wagons. Trust me, Rose will not be impressed." Hawk huffed, as he swung himself onto his mission dragon. "For the last time, I don't care about was Rose thinks, I'm just proving her wrong." "Oh yeah, because that's so much better," Astoria said, rolling her eyes. "Although, I must say, it is kind of cute," Joy giggled, "Have you guys ever seen Hawk work so hard for a girl's attention before?" "I don't care about Rose!" Hawk shouted, making everyone laugh.

Later at the Snow White castle, Hawk was polishing one of his swords. Mirror Hawk watched him from behind. "I know what your problem is," he said from behind the glass. "Let me guess, I'm too obsessed with Rose," Hawk groaned, "Save it. My team has been annoying me with that theory all day." "Almost. What's bothering you is the fact that a teenage girl wasn't impressed by you." Hawk stared at his reflection for a second. "What!?" "It's simple really," Mirror Hawk went on, "Your grandmother is never really proud of you and your parents are never home to congratulate you on your achievements, so you try to fill that hole with praises from your friends, teachers and fangirls. And until Rose came along everyone outside your family told you, you were amazing, an excellent young hero. Then Rose comes into the picture. A good friend of your best friend Travis, that makes her someone more important. But instead of a fangirl, you got a negative critic, who's hot and kicks your butt. That, my friend, lowers your self-esteem. But you refuse to let that happen, so you start this crusade." Hawk threw his sword to the floor and flung himself onto the bed. "She's not that hot," he countered. "Then why were you checking out her ass, when you were walking to the gate?" Hawk grabbed a pillow and threw it at the mirror.

***********************************The next day*******************************

Hawk and his team were listening to a boring lecture on magic seaweed, when Professor le Frog ran in. "Everyone leave the school immediately. Someone stole the glass slippers!" "A real villain is on the loose, guys!" Hawk said, while jumping up from his seat, "Let's go find him!"

The team searched the whole school and Cinderella castle, but found no clue of the villain. When they went to ask Cinderella if she saw anything, they overheard a conversation between the teachers. "They're no longer here. I can't sense them in this realm anymore," Cinderella cried. "Calm down," Rapunzel said, trying to calm her headmistress down, "Which realm could the villain have taken the glass slippers?" "Probably Earth," Snow White suspected, "The only realm which we know least about." "To the gate , guys," Hawk whispered, "We're finding those slippers."

In the alleyway on Earth the team started making their plan. "I think we should go to Rose first," LingLing suggested, "She has a map which shows where all the banished villains live." "No," Hawk shouted, "We don't need blondie, okay. We can do it ourselves." "But we need her to tell us if the glass slippers are even on Earth," LingLing reasoned. "How would she know if the glass slippers are even here?" Hawk countered. LingLing looked at Travis for a moment. "Should we tell them?" LingLing asked her boyfriend. Travis met her eyes and nodded. "Tell us what?" Astoria demanded. "Rose Anderson isn't just an Earth girl who me and LingLing are friends with," Travis began, "She's actually only half earthian." Travis took a deep breath. "Rose is actually a Cinderella." "WHAT???" Astoria, Joy and Hawk gasped. "How's that even possible?" Joy asked. "Cinderella's daughter, Clara Cinderella, was banished to Earth after she graduated Regal Academy for some reason. On Earth she met Dave Anderson, married him and later had Rose Anderson," LingLing explained, "That makes Rose the granddaughter of Cinderella, which also makes her a Cinderella." "When were you two planning on telling us that detail?" Astoria shouted. "Actually never," Travis admitted, "Rose doesn't see herself as a Cinderella and doesn't like it when you mention it." "Even if she's a Cinderella, how would she even know that she's sensing the glass slippers?" Hawk exclaimed, while cursing himself in his mind. How had he not realized it sooner? Rose had pumpkin magic and she did look a lot like Headmistress Cinderella. "Yeah about that," Travis said while scratching the back of his neck, "She has held at least one of them in her hands before." "When!?" Hawk demanded. "You know how one of the glass slippers was gone for like two decades and then mysteriously reappeared next to other in the Cinderella castle last year," Travis said while looking at his hands. "Yeah," Joy answered, "The teachers ran like hundred tests on both shoes to make sure they weren't fake. Headmistress Cinderella was ecstatic when it was revealed that the slippers were the real thing." "Yeah, Rose did that," Travis explained, "She discovered the missing glass slipper at the evil stepsister's house, snuck into the Cinderella castle and put the glass slipper back." "And how do you know this?" Astoria asked while folding her arms. "I might've been the one that opened the gate for her," Travis shrugged. "WHAT!! YOU LET THE DAUGHTER OF A BANISHED PRINCESS INTO THE FAIRYTALE REALM!!" Hawk shouted. "She returned the glass slipper, Hawk. She brought back an important missing item. She could've kept and used it for her own wishes but she didn't," LingLing defended. "Since when are you team Rose?" Astoria remarked. "I might've met her again after meeting Travis's parents and hung out with her three times afterwards," LingLing answered shyly. "Wait, you're friends with Rose too?" Hawk exclaimed. "What? She's got good fighting skills and a good sense of humor. She's also very relaxed, when she's not dealing with a villain," LingLing said innocently. "Let's just go and find Rose," Joy suggested, "It seems like she's our best option for finding the glass slippers." "Fine! So where would Rose be right now?" Astoria sighed. "It's Thursday afternoon, so she's probably at her uncles garage," Travis answered, while walking out of the alley and leading the way. Hawk made the back of the group, mumbling something about the others being impossible.