Chapter One
(Songs in this chapter are "Til I Hear You Sing" from "Love Never Dies", and "Devil in Disguise" by Elvis Presley, and brief lyrics from the song "Loreley" by Blackmore's Night.)
Wendy Darling snuck out of her house in the dead of night. She knew it was stupid and dangerous, especially with all of the murders that had been going on over the past month. The latest victim happened to be a citizen of the neighboring village; Pocahontas. But Wendy didn't care; she had to get out, if even for a moment. She snuck through Nesidy and eventually made it to a cliff hanging over the ocean. Oh, Peter, she thought, I miss you so much. She would have stayed behind in Neverland if it wasn't for the fact she had a family here in Nesidy. Brushing away a tear that had escaped down her cheek, she took a deep calming breath. Perhaps someday she'll return to Neverland.
"It's dangerous out here," a quiet cold voice said behind her. Wendy swiveled around to see a lone figure wearing a cloak, the hood pulled over their head. The only features she could make out on the person was their red eyes.
"Um, yes," Wendy replied nervously, "I was just about to head back inside." She tried walking past the cloaked figure, but they had blocked her path.
"No, you're not," the stranger replied taking a step towards the young girl. Wendy suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, and looked down to see a dagger embedded in her torso, the stranger's pale fingers wrapped around the hilt. "Goodbye, Darling," the stranger mocked yanking the dagger back out of Wendy. The young girl placed a hand over the wound, hot blood seeping through her fingers. The stranger gave a maniacal laugh as they shoved Wendy over the edge of the cliff. Wendy didn't even get a chance to scream as she plummeted to the ocean.
Everyone in Nesidy had gathered at the beach early in the morning.
"What's going on?" Megara asked as she, Flynn Rider, and Tulio made it to the growing crowd.
"Another murder," Aladdin replied grimly from in front of them. He was standing beside Aurora, who was hugging a frightened Eilonwy and Irenie.
"Who?" Flynn inquired, shooting Tulio a worried glance. Please, not Aralyne. For Tulio's sake, not Aralyne.
"Wendy Darling," Aurora said quietly.
Tulio's gaze was stoic as he turned on his heel and left the crowd.
"How's he holding up?" Aladdin whispered, "What with Aralyne missing for a whole month?" It was no secret that Tulio had feelings for Aralyne.
Flynn and Meg exchanged glances. "Not so well," Meg said, "He's been wanting to go out and find her."
"We keep telling him to wait until we find a clue to her whereabouts, but he's becoming restless. I'm afraid he's going to do something reckless and get himself killed."
Tulio went back home, and entered his bedroom. Out of his wardrobe, he extracted a female white jacket – Aralyne's jacket. After she had been kidnapped by Rothbart and disappeared, Tulio had gone over to the Benbow Inn and took her jacket and penguin-covered outfit. They were the only objects that had truly belonged to Aralyne. Holding the jacket close to his chest, he began to sing:
"The day starts, the day ends
Time crawls by
Night steal in pacing the floor
The moments creep
Yet I can't bear to sleep
Till I hear you sing
And weeks pass and months pass
Seasons fly
Still you don't walk through the door
And in our haze
I count the silent days
Till I hear you sing once more
And sometimes
At night time
I dream that you are there
But wake holding nothing but the empty air
And years come and years go
Time runs dry
Still I ache down to the core
My broken soul
Can't be alive and whole
Till I hear you sing once more
And music, your music
It teases at my ear
I turn and it fades away
And you're not here
Let hopes pass, let dreams pass
Let them die
Without you, what are they for
I'll always feel
No more than half-way real
Till I hear you sing
Once more"
Tulio had made up his mind. He didn't care what anyone else said, he was going to go look for Aralyne. Tonight. He grabbed a sack and began to pack the essentials. The last thing he stored in the sack was Aralyne's jacket.
Danny hadn't been the same since Aralyne left and Kayley had noticed. Right now they were at her house collecting eggs from her chickens. Kayley was picking up the eggs and placing them in the basket Danny held, but he wasn't paying attention. He was staring outside at the blue sky thinking of Aralyne.
"Go," Kayley said quietly.
"What?" Danny said startled, turning to her.
"I know you miss Aralyne, "Go. Go look for her. It's what you want."
"Kayley –"
She held up a hand. "Stop, Danny. I know you still love Aralyne. Go find her."
Danny gave her a small smile and handed her the basket of eggs. "Thanks, Kayley," he said then kissed her on the cheek. He turned into his Phantom form and flew out of the chicken coup.
Once he was gone, Kayley began to cry.
The Evil One had to leave his castle behind after he had gotten rid of Aralyne. He knew that the heroes would eventually come looking for her and put up a fight he was not ready for. He wanted to wait until the number of heroes diminished due to the work of Siren, his secret weapon. In fact, she had already been going out and killing many people.
Right now, he was in his new hideout, deep within the Black Forest. The rest of the villains were throwing a little party to celebrate the murders. The hyenas were up on a makeshift stage playing music on animal skeletons. Lefu jumped onto the stage, cut off the music and started shoving the hyenas into the crowd.
"Go on, get out of here," he said waving them off. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed grumbled in agitation as Sarousch took their place on stage.
"It's my turn, you stupid laughing canines," Sarousch scoffed. He took a microphone and began to sing with Lefu repeating certain parts of the song:
"You look like an angel
(Look like an angel)
Walk like an angel
(Walk like an angel)
Talk like an angel
But I got wise"
Slowly walking out on stage was a woman wearing a revealing scarlet Saudi-Arabian outfit. A red veil was placed over the lower half of her face and another was on top of her dark-colored hair. The woman's scarlet eyes slowly raked over the crowd as she began to dance behind Sarousch.
"You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise
You fooled me with your kisses
You cheated and you schemed
Heaven knows how you lied to me
You're not the way you seemed"
The male half of the crowd began to cheer and wolf-whistle as she sauntered up and down the stage performing sensual moves every now and then.
"You look like an angel
(Look like an angel)
Walk like an angel
(Walk like an angel)
Talk like an angel
But I got wise
You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise
I thought that I was in heaven
But I was sure surprised
Heaven help me, I didn't see
The devil in your eyes"
The woman's gaze lingered a little longer on three particular males: Dr. Facilier, Rasputin, and Mozenrath.
"You're looking lovely tonight, Siren," Rasputin leered noticing her stare. Her expression remained stoic as she continued to dance.
"You look like an angel
(Look like an angel)
Walk like an angel
(Walk like an angel)
Talk like an angel
But I got wise
You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise"
Siren wanted something in particular from those three men. But how would she catch them alone? Then again, it wouldn't be hard. She just needed to turn up the charm and they'd be putty in her hands. She was, after all, called Siren for a reason.
"You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise
Oh, yes you are
The devil in disguise
Oh, yes you are"
Once the song was over, the males cheered for Siren, chanting her name over and over again, and she bowed, a mischievous gleam in her scarlet eyes. No one bothered to give Sarousch any praise and he skulked off stage, angry to be outshone by a woman – no matter how attractive she was.
Mozenrath couldn't stand being in a crowd for too long so he left the celebration, exiting the villains' hideout, which was now Chernabog's cave. He stood outside watching the setting sun as he listened to the start of a new song behind him. It wasn't long until he heard a beautiful voice singing:
"And the winds would cry
And many men would die
And all the waves would bow down
To the Loreley
And the winds would cry
And many men would die
And all the waves would bow down
To the Loreley"
He swiveled around to see Siren at the cave's entrance lounging against the wall.
"Beautiful sight isn't it?" she said gazing at him with her scarlet eyes.
"Of course," said Mozenrath giving her a thin smile as his gaze raked up and down her body, "But I can think of an even more beautiful sight."
Siren gave a low chuckle as she slowly sashayed up to him. "My, aren't you quite the charmer," she purred wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted up the veil on her face slightly to reveal her lips and pressed his against hers. After sharing a passionate kiss, with Mozenrath groping every part of her body, Siren pulled away and murmured, "I will make this a night you will never forget."
He smirked and replied, "I can consent to that." As he leaned in for another kiss, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and looked down in surprise to see Siren had stabbed him with a dagger. With a twist of her wrist and pulling her weapon back out, she allowed Mozenrath to fall to the ground.
"You really should listen to what songs say about me," she said kneeling beside him, "After all I am the Devil in Disguise. And I am a siren, leading men to their deaths." As his life was fading away, Siren reached out and tore the gauntlet off his right hand. The skeletal structure of his limb didn't faze her, and she thought nothing of it as she slipped the magical weapon onto her own hand. "Thanks for the gauntlet, Mozenrath. I'll make sure to use it often." When he was finally dead, she struck his dead body with a blue beam from the magical weapon, and his form disintegrated. "One down, seven more to go," she sneered….
In the dead of night, Tulio snuck through Nesidy, ready to leave the village for good in search of Aralyne. He hadn't gone far when he heard a voice call out to him in the darkness.
"Tulio, I had a feeling you would be leaving tonight."
Spinning around, Tulio saw Flynn and Meg step out of the shadows together, both of them with their arms folded over their torsos. He suddenly became tense as he eyed the couple. "If you two are here to stop me –"
"Stop you?" Meg inquired, "On the contrary. We want to help you. And whether you like it or not, we will be joining you."
"Besides," Flynn added, "What makes you think we'd let you do this alone? You're not the only one that cares about Aralyne."
He relaxed and gave them a small smile. "Thanks guys."
"Hmm. Looks like we all had the same idea," another voice cut in. Danny in his ghost form dropped down from the sky and hovered before the others. "You're going out to find Aralyne, right? I want in!"
"Really?" Tulio said in astonishment, "What about Kayley?"
Danny remained quiet and Meg lifted up her eyebrows in understanding. "I see," she said then added, "Well, Danny, you're more than welcome to join us."
The ghost-boy grinned at her, and the four heroes left Nesidy, beginning their quest.
(Did I make you wait long enough? Haha! So here's chapter one of the sequel to Hidden Strength. Hope you enjoyed!)