Chereads / Sage of Hearts / Chapter 15 - Sage of Hearts C-15

Chapter 15 - Sage of Hearts C-15

Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Naruto, Disney or any of its affliated properties. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this now would I?

"The connection of our hearts…" : Speech (Bold for yelling ,Bijuu, or massive creatures)

'The connection of our hearts…' : Thought

Tremaine chateau, the day after the ball…

"So you actually got to come to the ball with the rest of us and with Naruto to boot! How did you manage to get him to wear all those fancy clothes? Grimhilde and I had a hard enough time trying to get him to agree to even bothering to come to the ball in the first place as he said and I quote – 'I don't have to waste my time trying to butter up royalty that's just using this ball as an excuse to hitch the prince up with some girl! I got a family to take care of!'." Snow said as the ladies had breakfast in the early hours of the day, far earlier than any of the Tremaines would normally wake up.

"Yes…yes I did. Step mother and her daughters tore my dress to shreds after you left – I think they only even waited that long because they didn't wish to incur Miss Grimhilde's wrath! I thought all was lost then – I had no dress and no way to actually get to the palace in time. However, this strange fairy calling herself my godmother appeared with Naruto in tow before casting a spell on the both of us, giving us the clothes you saw last night. So you see, I didn't have to convince Naruto of anything – he only saw me crying and tried to help out, like the lovable lummox he is~…" Ella said, her voice turning dreamy in the end as she remembered the dance and kiss they shared the previous night.

"Those cowardly harpies were right to fear us. It is only because you seem to have had the time of your life regardless of your meddling that I don't go and hex those women outright. They couldn't recognize you during the ball – there must have been some form of illusory misdirection magic woven into the spell you wore so they will not associate you with the Ella from the ball. I presume that your attempt to woo the Prince was successful based on your amorous tone?" Grimhilde said, her mind working a mile a minute, the mention of the fairy godmother ringing all sorts of bells in her head – not all of them were good.

'This fairy godmother of Ella's appears to be more than a little suspicious though. She appears when Ella's is at her most vulnerable and ignores her for most of her life when she could have used her assistance to make something of herself. This may just be paranoia but I don't think we should trust this fairy just yet…' Grimhilde mused as she chewed on her bottom lip in deep thought – she had enough of 'mysterious' magical figures after her deals with the Mirror Demon all these years ago.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Snow giggled merrily and got closer to Ella, cupping her cheeks in her hands as the girl looked away in embarrassment at the teasing and knowing look on Snow's face.

"Oooo…I know that look – she didn't get the Prince last night! She looked a little bored when dancing with him at the ball after all. So spill it girl – who really stole your heart yesterday? Could it perhaps be a certain someone we all know and love? Did he sweep you off your feet with his charm? Such a naughty man he is – he's already charmed both my step mother and I and now he's ensnared you as well? So insatiable~…" Snow said as Ella gasped in surprise and tried to defend herself.

"I-it wasn't like that! He was a complete gentleman all night – he even wanted me to try my luck with the Prince and didn't make any advances. I think he thought that he needed to let me make my choice since he didn't even think about romancing me before – it must have been strange for him to even consider that I, as his charge, could see him as a potential love interest (Snow shared a knowing look with Grimhilde at this part)."

Ella took a deep breath before continuing.

" I danced with the Prince but found myself finding him lacking – I always thought that I would fall for him at first sight…like in the stories of yore! At midnight, the spell began to unravel so Naruto and I had to make a quit exit and when we returned, we danced under the stars before I couldn't restrain myself any longer and…we kissed! I know he is your lover but I simply can't hold it in anymore – Snow was right all along." Ella said as she hung her head in shame, thinking that she had betrayed her friends by 'seducing' their lover.

One could imagine her surprise when Snow squealed in joy before hugging Ella , Grimhilde chuckling a little at the antics of the younger ladies.

"Don't worry about all that tripe! Your feelings for Naruto were pure from the moment the first seeds of romance were planted in your breast – I can sense, in my heart of hearts that you love him and that is enough for us." Snow said as Grimhilde smirked at Ella's gobsmacked look before adding her own two cents.

"Don't worry too much about this Ella. Besides, an energetic gentleman like him would proably be a beast in the sheets so we need all the help we can get to tame the stud, since I expect that his prodigious stamina would overwhelm us when we finally get to experience the pleasures of the flesh…" She said as Snow joined Ella in her mortified blushing at the older woman's crassness (hey, she was a mature lady after all – she was no virgin so stuff like this didn't faze her too much. Didn't mean she wasn't excited to bang her beloved though – she had a feeling that he would be the one to rock her world…).

Meanwhile, at the palace…

"What do you mean you didn't like any of the ladies at the ball son?! There were plenty of fair maidens ripe for the picking and I even saw you dancing with one last night?! Are you trying to keep me from getting the grandchildren I want to see before I die?! I am not getting any younger here!!" The king yelled at the prince, his face red with anger.

Prince Charming just sighed in resignation, wistfully looking at the glass slipper in his hand (creepy much?). He couldn't blame his father for acting this way as he was a well meaning fellow but prone to flying into fits of passion.

"Relax father – you shouldn't exert yourself so much, it's not good for your heart. I simply can't explain it though – none of the women interested me. The only women I approached either rejected me outright or ran away from me…if only I could find that woman again! She ran away from me and was also assisted by her escort…" The prince said as he showed the glass slipper to his father.

"You mean that beauty that appeared without announcement? I thought she was a princess from another kingdom! If she ran away from you but left this behind, then that means she's a subject of this kingdom and is just too shy to come forward! I will summon the Grand Duke immediately and have him check the feet of every eligible maiden in the kingdom – we will find your lady love!" The king said, taking the slipper from the prince (who was in no shape to make any snappy decisions as he was still sulking…) and rushing off to the throne room.

Throne room

"You called for me sire?" The Grand Duke said, bowing before the King, who looked positively manic with energy.

"Yes I did you buffoon! Why else would you be here! Never mind that now though – here is a slipper from our mystery lady last night. You will go to the town and check the feet of every eligible maiden to see if they can wear it. If the shoe fits, take the girl to the palace immediately so that my son can marry her!" He said, leaping off his throne to borderline throttle the taller man as he held his neck and shook him around like a ragdoll.

"Y-yes sire! But what if I can't find the maiden in question?" The Duke said after he caught his breath, only to immediately shriek when he saw the King give him the evil eye.

"Well then, I hope you will be ready to lose your head! How dare you insinuate that my plan won't work! Why I oughta…" He suddenly stopped as he pulled a greataxe from a wall display, struggling with its weight as he swung it towards the poor man.

"Ah! Yes your Majesty – I will return with the maiden!" The Duke yelled out as the king calmed down(more like tired himself out but the portly monarch would never admit to that…).

"Make sure you do. Bring back the two ladies that caught the prince's eye earlier if you must – their escort also disappeared after the ball so they must be single as well!" The king said as the Duke nodded and left.

'If I am not mistaken, those ladies were Snow White and Lady Grimhilde, vassals of the Tremaine nobility. Looks like that will be my last destination at the end of this foolish quest…' The Duke thought, feeling sorry for the poor man that held their hearts as the king couldn't be denied…

Town Square

"Hear ye, hear ye! By order of the king, all maidens of marrying age shall consent to a mandatory shoe fitting, conducted by his Excellency the Grand Duke! The woman whose foot fits the glass slipper will be deemed the mystery woman from the Prince's ball and will be escorted to the palace to be the crown princess immediately!"

As the castle page yelled this out in the streets, the women of the kingdom immediately made preparations to try and put their, pardon the pun, best foot forward as this was basically a gateway to the royal life with minimal fuss.

Back with the Tremaines, Madonna was chomping at the bit to get her daughters presentable enough to wear the slipper – she knew her daughters had huge feet and the slipper was bound to be some dainty little thing (and even as a mother, she couldn't say that her daughters had any dainty features). She could rest easy knowing that Snow and Grimhilde already seemed to have a sweetheart but Ella remained a big issue for her.

With Naruto and the ladies…

"So I was running some errands in the town and I heard something interesting – looks like the Prince is completely smitten with you. He has a slipper that you left behind and is using it to find you again. What do you think we should do? We could always leave the estate and you could join our little troupe on our adventures!" Naruto said as he looked at Ella, who had a contemplative look on her face.

"Yeah, we'd love to have you around! Grimhilde may not say as much but we already see you as part of our group, whether you admitted to loving Naruto or not!" Snow said, Grimhilde scoffing a little but not disagreeing.

"I-I suppose I could. There's nothing left for me here and I don't believe that this house is worth staying for if I am a scullery maid within its halls…" Ella said as she played with the glass slipper she kept after her dress dissipated. She thought it made for a cute souvenir and didn't think much about it other than the fact that the glass stayed cool to the touch, even when rubbed thoroughly.

This caught Naruto's eye though – he turned over to Grimhilde and beckoned her over.

"Hey Grimhilde – take a look at this slipper for us. The fairy godmother told us that her magic would unravel at midnight but this slipper has persisted for well past that time. What does that mean for the fairy in general? I don't think this fairy is all she appears to be…" Naruto said as Grimhilde took the slipper from Ella and ran her magic through the glass, the slipper glowing a dull grey as she did so.

Somewhere far away, in a magical dimension far, far away, the fairy godmother felt a disturbance in her magical energy as she raised her head curiously.

"Oh~ someone seems to be messing with things far beyond their ken…perhaps I should investigate. The Grimm Principles must be upheld at all costs!" She said as she teleported to the site of the interference, the door to Ella's room in the chateau.

"What's this?! I feel a strong demonic magic presence and it is near Ella! I can't approach her without incurring its wrath. I need to wait and listen in on the goings-on in the room beyond…" The fairy said as she could sense Grimhilde's massive dark magic reserves (inherited from the Mirror Demon but the fairy didn't know that…she also didn't know that Naruto didn't have magic but something much greater…).

Meanwhile with the others in Ella's room, Grimhilde grimaced as she felt the magic try to reject hers and as it failed, try to warp her energy by attempting a symbiosis. Of course, that failed – Grimhilde was an old hand at resisting possessions by foreign energies.

"Yes – this slipper still has a strong residue of the fairy's magic. She must be trying to force Ella and the Prince together for her own agenda. Why a fairy would care about who Ella marries is beyond me however – she must be trying to free her from her abusive family."

Grimhilde then took a deep breath before continuing, her face taking on a more serious look.

 "But why would she lie to Ella about the magic's limit if that was the case? You're right, she is definitely up to something – she must be trying to establish a strong psychological hold on Ella and possibly on the Prince. It must be a source of power as after all, faith is a potent source of energy, just the same as fear and despair."

"Alright then! We have a game plan now – we are going to make ourselves scarce and leave the chateau as soon as possible." Naruto said as the ladies nodded and left to make preparations. Lady Tremaine was all too happy to hear of their departure as that would mean Ella wouldn't get a chance to become the princess (she was sad to see Naruto leave however…).

When everyone left, the fairy rematerialized in the hallway, having heard everything that was said. She had a sour look on her face, like someone just spat in her soup or something like that.

"That Naruto fellow – he is causing too many ripples in the timeline. Perhaps it is time for more extreme measures – dial up the villainous impulses of the Tremaines and the brashness of the king. Naruto is an anomaly – one that needs to be eliminated in the name of fairy tale endings with respect to the Grimm Principles!"

Some time later…

The Grand Duke, with a contingent of guards of course, had begun the tedious process of checking the foot sizes of every eligible maiden in the town. This was a daunting task and ergo, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Duke began to look for any logical recourse to expedite this process.

He remembered two things from the ball – the first was that the mystery lady that stole the Prince's heart came with a male escort who was equally dazzling to the ladies of the court. The second was that while the lady went to dance with the prince, the man went to dance with Snow and Grimhilde, well known women in the kingdom as a whole. That meant that he could strike two birds with one stone by heading over to the Tremaine chateau without having to go to every house – he could meet the mystery lady there or if he didn't, could take the other two women to pacify the irate king (he was sure that the prince, regardless of how much he talked about true love, wouldn't refuse a marriage opportunity with either of these women).

Now normally, he wouldn't be able to make this logical leap – so dogged as he was in protocol and propriety to appease the king. However, the fairy godmother was subtly manipulating the poor man, improving his intellect to ensure that events transpired as was foretold (a tenet of – you guessed it, the Grimm Principle as it allowed for exponential augmentation of critical characters to the flow of destiny).

When he arrived at the chateau, Madonna received the Duke with all the courtesy he could expect from a woman of her stature and her daughters while not extremely beautiful, did have some homely charm to their faces(if only they didn't put up airs trying to look sophisticated, they could be somewhat likeable…).

"Now please sit down in the chairs here in the room – I shall try to put the slipper on your feet, one after the other." The Duke said as Anastasia and Drizella scrambled to get to the chairs in the living room.

"Now before I begin – are there any other women in this household I should know of?" The Duke asked, Madonna looking shifty for a moment before calming herself down.

"Yes – my daughters are the only eligible bachelorettes in this chateau. My vassals are engaged with someone else – Snow with Naruto and Grimhilde with someone I have to meet." She said as the Duke nodded but made to speak all the same.

"That may be true but I would still like them to be here with us. Where do they reside in the chateau?" He asked, Madonna letting out a 'tsk' under her breath before responding.

"They live in the servant wing your Excellency – I shall lead you to them immediately…" She said – looking over to her daughters, whose faces fell into confusion when they heard what their mother said as they were sure that their vassals had left already.

Things never go that smoothly in real life though as the Duke and his guards came upon Naruto helping Ella up on Spirit as Snow and Grimhilde had already mounted their horses, their trunks and large luggage containers spirited away in Grimhilde's magic space.

"What is this?! You said that there were only five women in this household! With this young lady, that makes six – and it appears that your servants are leaving the chateau! Do they not understand that this is a direct affront to the will of the king?!" The Duke yelled as Ella hid behind Naruto while Madonna tried to smooth things over.

"Sire – she is merely a servant girl, not even a vassal! Surely she couldn't possibly be the one you are searching for?" Madonna said as she put an arm on the Duke's arm, using a calm tone to try and ease the frazzled man.

That was an ill fated approach however, for a split second, a dark shadow passed over the eyes of the Duke and he gestured for his guards to approach.

"That is irrelevant! Girl – you shall take the test with your betters and should you fail the test, I will simply have to take the other two women behind you, by will of the King!" The Duke said as the women (sans Grimhilde) gasped at the sudden change in the Duke's demeanour – he almost looked frenzied now (a cross between and exasperation and a fear for his own life mixed with a healthy dose of sorcerous manipulation actually).

"Hold on there you old windbag! Ella doesn't have to do anything for you or your foolish king – as for taking my beloveds from me, over my dead body! Besides, Grimhilde would make short work of you if I don't get to you first – I don't think anyone needs to get hurt over the foolish infatuation of a prince who doesn't even leave his father's home to look for the thing he supposedly craves!" Naruto said, walking over to face the Duke, a mutinous look on his face.

Madonna was torn on how to act now – the Duke looked fit to set his guards to attack and arrest Naruto and while she did want Ella to leave, she also didn't want to lose the good graces she might have with the Duke. A small part of her also couldn't admit that she didn't want to see Naruto hurt for Ella's sake, to admit that that foolish man stole her heart, much like he did with her daughters but on a deeper level than their shallow crushes.

So in an act that surprised everyone who knew her (even the fairy godmother watching hidden from mortal eyes), in direct contradiction to how she acted in an infinite number of parallel universes, Madonna Tremaine acted to help someone and not just herself.

"Sire, he's just a young man – you know how hot blooded they are. Surely you don't mean to take his loves from him as that would be rather uncouth, wouldn't you agree?" She said, once again trying to calm the Duke down, trailing her hand down his arm and coming to stand in front of him, shielding a gobsmacked Naruto from his wrathful gaze.

The Duke wasn't having any of it however.

"Guards! Seize this foolish peasant and throw him in the dungeons!" He said, shoving Madonna away with a snarl, the woman falling over to Naruto with a startled squawk. Grimhilde made to prepare her magic but a quick look from Naruto stopped her – she didn't need a target painted on her back as well.

"Alright – looks like someone needs a good whooping to come to their senses, one that I am too willing to provide. Don't worry – I'll go easy on you guys!"

Having said that, the guards rushed over to seize Naruto, their bodies glowing with a faint gray glow, a sign that the fairy godmother was augmenting the abilities of the simple guardsmen. Naruto ran over to meet their charge head on, pulling his fist back, only to release a mighty punch when he suddenly came to a stop right before he collided with the guards.

His punch blew their armors apart like so much kindling, the men being knocked off their feet to land in front of the, now scared Duke. Believing that the fight was over, Naruto then began to walk over to the Duke, only to jump back when his instincts screamed at him to avoid a sudden burst of magic exploding at his position, the guards also rising to their feet like zombies animated by some eldritch force.

"So…you dodged that, did you dearie?" The fairy said, floating over the group waving her wand ominously while a faint gray haze glowed around her body.

"You have interfered in this story for the last time planeswalker! Once you are eliminated, the destinies of all those around you will return to what they must be!" She said, cackling wickedly as the guards attacked Naruto with frenzied swings, their punches leaving sizable holes in the earth.

"Naruto – the guards are being manipulated like dolls! I will dispel the magic – you just take care of the fairy!" Grimhilde said, her hands glowing with her own purple magic as she charged up a big spell and cast it on the ground, knocking the Duke and his guards out for the count, leaving Naruto to face the fairy (the Tremaines were hiding behind Ella and Snow, scared out of their minds at all the magic flying around them – much to the girls' amusement).

"What do you mean destiny? Why would you care how Ella gets to live so long as she lives happily with the one she loves?!" Naruto yelled at her as he leaped to reach the fairy, only to miss and get blasted with a wave of magic, knocking him down into the dirt.

"You foolish boy. This world is much bigger than the affairs of some little girl or some far flung kingdom – this world, nay this universe relies on the adherence to certain principles, certain events happening in the various stories. Ella was supposed to be Cinderella and marry the prince – Lady Tremaine and her family were to be her servants! Grimhilde here was supposed to die, her corpse picked clean by vultures after she fell to her death – Ella was to be the Princess of the Fairytale Castle in the Clouded Heaven!" She said as Naruto rose to his feet, the women gasping at all the things being revealed to them, their fortunes (or misfortunes based on how one looked at it) without Naruto were laid bare to them.

"You're not making much sense here hag – what exactly do you get from tailoring people's destinies?!"

"Simpleton. The very foundations of the magic and logic that govern this world rely on the uniformity of these hallmark events – they are serve as a foundation to the prime universe upon which a multiverse persists. We, as magical immortals call them the Grimm Principles – any deviation from these tenets would mean the collapse of all that was ordained and all will fall to chaos! Magic will behave erratically, gods will die, mortals will experience power they were never meant to wield!"

Taking a deep breath, she raised her wand, a massive ball of magic balancing on its tip.

"But enough talk – for the good of this world, the chaos you embody must be erased. Nothing personal darling – when you die, you will be assimilated and sufficiently depowered to not be such a threat to all of existence!" She said as she blasted the magic at Naruto.

"You don't get to decide any of that – to avoid change just because you fear unexpected losses is no way to live life! I don't normally make it a habit to hit grannies but congratulations, you're the exception!" Naruto said as he blitzed over to the fairy, whose eyes widened at his sudden burst of speed.

When he got under her, he applied a generous amount of chakra to his legs before leaping into the air, cratering the ground as he did so. He latched on to the fairy godmother before she could launch the magical attack and pried the wand from her fingers before back flipping off the old woman with a strong kick to her keister, launching her farther into the sky.

Naruto then landed on the ground and after he confirmed that the fairy had reached a satisfactory altitude from his kick, aimed the wand at her, launching her own magical attack right at her.

The result was spectacular – the magic attack was apparently a bomb and when it slammed into the fairy, it exploded in a spectacular display of lights and energy, with the shockwaves knocking all but Naruto to the ground with their force. When the sky finally cleared, the fairy was gone, vanquished as all that remained was the wand in Naruto's hand.

"I-is it over? Is that fairy dead now?" Madonna said, coming closer to Naruto, putting her hand on his shoulder as her daughters were being comforted by Ella and Snow. She had a whole new demeanor now, gone was her cold, calculating mien as it was replaced with a warm, almost motherly tone.

"Yeah…that hag is dead – I can't feel her energy anymore…" Naruto said as Grimhilde piped in.

"Yes, it appears as though the magical meddling of the 'Grimm Principles' as she put it has been dispelled – the Tremaines have become more agreeable and dare I say it, more comely? It truly is frightening to contemplate how little control we had as elements of our world if this is what happens when the veil of illusion is removed…" She said as Naruto turned to look at the Tremaines, Ella and Snow.

It was as Grimhilde said – the cartoonishly clumsy and ugly Anastasia and Drizella had transformed into rather normal looking women (they wouldn't win any awards for beauty but they certainly looked charming now) and their jealous and churlish behavior was removed, leaving behind a surprisingly childish and innocent psyche (which explained how Madonna was able to shape her daughters as she desired). They chatted with Ella and Snow animatedly, uncaring of their social status or such other tripe.

Madonna on the other hand, became more expressive – her eyes now twinkled with a warm affection for the young man before her as her body was rejuvenated to that of a sexy older lady in her forties. It was now clear how she got her first husband as she now possessed a Victorian lady's beauty that was very compelling. This mother had no intentions of misusing this blessing however, as she had a target in mind already (if it wasn't obvious, it was Naruto she was gunning for as even while Naruto was looking around, she started to massage his shoulders gently while Grimhilde looked on with a knowing smirk on her face).

Epilogue

When the Grand Duke and his guards came to, they were slightly confused as to what happened, their memories compromised by the magic of the fairy. The wand that Naruto procured was given to Ella, who then cast a spell (with Grimhilde's guidance) to restore said memories. Upon understanding what happened, the Duke apologized profusely before leaving the chateau to report his findings to the king, with Naruto and the ladies in tow.

When they met the King and Prince, they discovered that the Prince, while still thinking about Ella, wasn't so hung up on her as he was before (he wasn't sulking so much now…). Naruto and Ella told them, in no uncertain terms that Ella was in love with him and not the Prince. Naruto also added that the young man should not wait for the love to come to him if he cared so much about the whole affair – he should go out and claim it himself.

Now that the magical constraints on this world were lifted, the logical side of the King and Prince won out and they acquiesced to Naruto, allowing him to stay in the kingdom with his three brides (Madonna held her tongue, believing that it wasn't time to confess yet) at the Tremaine chateau.

As time passed and the seasons changed, the Prince and Naruto became good friends, with the former making the latter his advisor in many matters (much like the King and the Duke). This meant that the Prince visited the chateau several times while Naruto dropped in at the palace almost daily.

Of course, this meant that the Prince met the Tremaines more often as well and on one fateful day in the fall, Anastasia and Drizella confessed their love to the Prince, but not before waylaying him with kisses. The Prince was ecstatic – he had grown to like the sisters as they now were quite respectable individuals and having both sisters love him set his heart ablaze with passion. The trio was wedded in the early winter, with Naruto as the best man. Ella and Snow were requested as bridesmaids and they happily consented – watching the girls that were previously clumsy, worthless and frumpy blossom into fine women was a joy to behold, especially for Ella who still had trouble believing just how much the 'Principles' of the world dictated. Madonna was happy – she had what she wanted all along but surprisingly, she didn't feel all to fulfilled as she looked wistfully towards Naruto (who filled out his suit quite nicely she believed)…

After the wedding, the Prince took the sisters to the palace, where they lived together from then on. This left their mother, Madonna as the only Tremaine in the chateau. Seeing as Naruto was the Prince's adviser, he was no longer bound to the vassal contract and Madonna became strangely subservient to him, obeying his orders and even letting him sleep in the late Lord Montague's bedchambers, which she vacated for him.

Naruto was confused about all this but Grimhilde, knowing what was going on (having experienced what it felt like to fall for a man much younger than her) approached Madonna and told her frankly that she should stop dancing around the issue and just confess to the man (if she worried about her age, she assured her that a relationship with Naruto had certain 'benefits' that would take care of that issue). And, just like her daughters, she did – after first calling Naruto to the chateau gazebo one summer night for a spot of tea; she professed her love to the man, but not before taking his lips in a soul stealing kiss.

Naruto was thrown for a loop but quickly got used to the fact that Madonna loved him – in fact, she loved him for so long that she didn't mistreat Ella for fear of annoying him, back when she was a simple minded villain ordained by her destiny.

Ella didn't find this all too surprising however – she knew all too well how futile it was to resist the love one had for someone, especially if that someone was somebody as special as Naruto. She had come far in her use of the fairy's wand and was now a regular student of Grimhilde's magic lessons along with Snow and Naruto.

And for a while, the kingdom knew a period of peace and prosperity, with the nobles and peasants working in a system that eliminated the gross discrepancies between the nobles and peasants to ensure that one's worth wasn't tied to their circumstances of birth or parentage.

But like all stories, this wasn't the end for Naruto and co just yet – he hadn't realized it yet but the fairy had done a bit more than they thought before she disappeared. Naruto and all those he affected now existed outside of destiny and as such, were cursed to be reborn in a never ending cycle across the multiverse. However, with Snow's guiding light as the possessor of the heart of the Fairest One, the chakra of Naruto (disseminated over several worlds as an anchor) and the magical ability of Grimhilde and Ella – the curse was turned into a blessing.

The sage of hearts and his harem could now move across worlds without losing their memories to change even more stories and break them from their bonds of fate, in clear defiance of the Grimm Principle.

That however, is a story for another time…

That wraps up chapter 15! What a doozy – I thought I could fit in an interlude with a lemon in but the story kept spilling out of me! I saw some reviews on my story and I will put up a poll on whether to make the lemons public or patron exclusive. As you can see, the M rating can be earned when Naruto flouts the Grimm Principles, which basically means when Naruto screws with the vanilla Disney storyline, the flowery fairytales will start to resemble their grittier origin stories.

If you'd like to support me you can find me on Patreon on the 'search for creators' bar under DudeWithaMac (I only get free time on Sundays since money's extremely tight-details on Panacea chapter 14). Alternatively, you guys can follow this link: p#at#re#on.#com/DudeWithaMac (remove the hash tags). Reviews and comments are always welcome!