Castle of Dreams

Castle of Dreams is a world that is featured in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts Union χ. It is based on the Disney film, .

Development
In early trailers, Ventus is shown looking at the Castle Entrance with awe as Cinderella approaches, but in the final game, this scene never occurs.

Settings and Areas
Inside Yashikimae (屋敷前), where Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella, and (formerly) Cinderella reside, is the Ishō Heya (衣装部屋). Shinderera no Heya (シンデレラの部屋) is connected to the Wardrobe Room. Jaq and the other mice built s (ねずみの通り道) to navigate the chateau. The only exit from the chateau is the Yashikihazure no Mori (屋敷はずれの森).

Going straight leads to the lit. "Castle Gate Square" (城門広場). Going straight again and up a couple of stairs leads to the Rōka (廊下). Once again going straight, the corridor leads to the Daikaidan (大階段). From here, there are two ways to go; either go up the large staircase or head right. Going up the stairs leads to the Ōhiroma (大広間) where Cinderella and Prince Charming shared their romantic dance. Going right leads to the Shōmen Tsūro (正面通路). Navigating through the Passage eventually leads to the Hikaeshitsu (控え室). The only other exit leads to the Ballroom balcony, which can be jumped off to reach the Ballroom's main level.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Ventus is the first to visit this world. As he arrives, he is shrunk to the size of a mouse and finds himself in a mouse trap, taking over the role for Gus, Jaq's best friend. He is rescued by Jaq and Cinderella, who serves her stepmother Lady Tremaine along with her two stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella. As Cinderella is called off to help them, Jaq tells Ventus that a ball is being held at the king's castle, and Cinderella can only go if she can find a dress. To help her get there, Jaq and Ventus decide to find the last of the materials for the dress. Ventus travels down through the house to find them and brings them back to Jaq. The last item on the list is a pearl, which is guarded by the Tremaines' evil cat, Lucifer.

Ventus sneaks up on the sleeping cat, but Lucifer awakens and attacks. Jaq fends him off with a ball of yarn and gets away with the pearl, while Ven stays and fights. Lucifer is defeated and runs off. When Ventus returns, he asks Cinderella if she is looking forward to the ball. Not knowing her dress is finished, she tries to cheer herself up by saying that the ball would be boring anyway. When Jaq reveals the dress, Cinderella is excited that her dream can come true. She goes off to the ball, and Jaq asks Ventus what his dream is. Ventus answers that it is to become a Keyblade Master with his friends.

Terra arrives in the Tremaines' garden and meets a crying Cinderella, whose dress was torn to shreds by her evil stepsisters. Terra senses the light in her heart and tries to get her to believe in that strength, but her negative feelings at the ruin of her dress and dream bring out the Unversed. Terra defeats them as the Fairy Godmother appears. She uses her magic to create a carriage, a dress, and glass slippers for Cinderella, but warns that the spell will be undone at midnight.

Cinderella goes off to the ball, and Terra asks the Fairy Godmother why she fulfilled Cinderella's dream for her. The Godmother replies that believing in one's dreams is work enough to deserve them and says that he should see for himself. Terra goes to the castle and escorts Cinderella through the halls of Unversed to the ballroom.

Cinderella meets Prince Charming and dances with him for the whole night. Terra, meanwhile, senses an Unversed, and fights the Symphony Master, disrupting the ball. He defeats it as the clock strikes twelve. Cinderella runs away before the spell is undone but does not tell Charming her name. As she runs down the stairwell, one of her glass slippers falls off and is picked up by the Grand Duke.

Terra leaves as well and meets Aqua at the entrance to the castle. She asks what he has been up to after hearing of the dark deeds he committed in other worlds. He tells her that Master Xehanort is looking for the Princesses of Heart, but is not in this world. Aqua still wants to look around and heads inside the ballroom as Terra leaves.

After her meeting with Terra, Aqua enters the ballroom and finds out that someone left a glass slipper behind. She senses a notably strong darkness within Lady Tremaine's heart in the process, concerning her greatly. Prince Charming and the Grand Duke decide to tour the kingdom to find the girl whose foot fits the slipper. Aqua follows them to the Tremaines' manor, with the intention of killing Lady Tremaine before her darkness harms anyone, but meets the Fairy Godmother, who advises her not to do it, since Light and Darkness must co-exist, something Aqua had not learned from Master Eraqus. The Fairy Godmother tells Aqua that Cinderella has been locked in her room by Lady Tremaine so that she cannot meet the prince. The Fairy Godmother then shrinks Aqua to the size of a mouse to help her rescue Cinderella without being seen by Lady Tremaine. Aqua meets Jaq inside and protects him from the Unversed as he carries the key to unlock Cinderella's door. Once she is rescued, Cinderella heads downstairs to try on the slipper.

Aqua looks on from the banister, but suddenly grows back to her normal size and falls to the floor. She is able to distract the Grand Duke long enough for Cinderella to come down. Tremaine breaks the slipper so Cinderella must remain her servant, but Cinderella pulls out the other one. She leaves to meet the prince at the castle, but Aqua hears a scream in the meantime. Tremaine and the stepsisters summon a giant Unversed, a Cursed Coach, to murder Cinderella because she is no longer useful to them. They laugh as it attacks her, but before Aqua can strike the Tremaines, a fire bomb from the Unversed lands on the trio, which presumably blows them away.

Aqua faces the Unversed and defeats it, allowing Cinderella and Prince Charming to reunite. However, she is still worried about Terra's darkness. The Fairy Godmother informs her that Terra had helped Cinderella's dream come true, renewing Aqua's hope.

Some time after Master Xehanort and Vanitas are defeated, Cinderella and Prince Charming dance in the ballroom as Jaq and the Fairy Godmother watch from the balcony.

Between Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts
The Heartless eventually invaded the Castle of Dreams to kidnap Cinderella, one of the seven Princesses of Heart needed to open the Final Keyhole to the Door to Darkness. When Cinderella was taken, the Heartless ate the heart of the world, destroying it and sending the remains to the Realm of Darkness. This caught the attention of Aqua, who was attacked by the Dark Hide that had taken up residence in the forest. Defeating it, Aqua was left shocked and horrified at the next sight that awaited her: the Castle of Dreams itself.

Aqua continued on through the Castle Town, finding clock gears to rewind the clock to midnight to restore the path to the castle. As she did so, Aqua reflected on her last adventure and wondered about her friends. Upon reaching the castle, Aqua found a ghost of Terra from his time in the world, leaving her to wonder what happened to everyone who lived there.

When the Door to Darkness was finally sealed, the world was restored.

Characters

 * Prince Charming's father, The King is mentioned in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, but he does not physically appear.