When Alice came out the other side of the portal, she stood in awe of what surrounded her. There was a long hallway with purple wallpaper and yellow crowning, with a yellow and white tiled floor. The walls were mostly occupied by doors of assorted shapes, colours and sizes with small paintings and signs between the doors. At the end of the hallway stood a large set of golden double doors with the word 'Disneyland' written above it.
"Neverland, Disneyland, I really ought to listen more in my geology lessons" said Alice, who had a habit of talking to herself aloud.
She rushed forward to the golden door to find a white note stuck to the panels of it.
"For the best adventures try all of the doors" she read, looking at the trail of doors behind her. She tried the handle on the golden door anyway but it remained locked tight. She noticed a strange keyhole in the middle of the doors and looked through it. On the other side sprawled a lush green field with tall trees adorned with fairly lights, a small path wound through the field and over a gleaming crystal clear lake. A train puffed nearby as it followed the rail lines and the path continued to an illuminated little town. Alice gasped as she saw what stood amidst the town; it was a giant white castle with blue banners and roofing. The fireworks boomed behind it and the stars in the sky shone brighter than any of the stars Alice had ever seen. Although the scenery was beautiful, an ominous black cloud loomed over the castle.
Alice withdrew from the keyhole and saw another white note pinned to the door.
"Well who do you suppose put that there?" Alice wondered, pulling it off to read it.
"You must find your own place before entering this one." Her own place? Hadn't she just come from there? Alice suddenly felt impatient as she looked at all of the doors in the hall. Although she felt better almost instantly; surely Peter Pan and Tinkerbell could help her. Alice held that thought and suddenly realised she hadn't seen either of them since they travelled through the doorway.
She scouted the hallway for a door with a sign that said Neverland but she had no such luck.
"Tinkerbell?" she called, hoping that by some miracle they would hear her.
"Peter Pan?"
"Oh Peter?"
She froze, unsure of who had also called out for Peter. She turned to see a girl her age had just walked through the portal. The girl had short curled hair, tied back with a blue bow that matched her nightdress. She looked similar to Alice in her features, but her skin was much paler and she was slightly taller. The girl looked at Alice with inquisitiveness as Alice returned the same look.
As if suddenly remembering her manners, Alice curtseyed and introduced herself. The girl smiled and introduced herself as Wendy.
"Oh! You must be the Wendy that Peter Pan was talking about" concluded Alice, "you see we were supposed to go on an adventure to meet you but I can't find him or Tinkerbell anywhere."
"I'm looking for him too; I need to find my brothers John and Michael so we can return home. I don't even remember how long I have been in here" said Wendy sadly.
"Have you been through some of the doors?" Alice asked hopefully.
"Why yes, I've been through many of them looking for Peter Pan or Neverland."
"Maybe he is behind that big golden door?" suggested Alice, showing Wendy the notes she found.
"Perhaps we could look together. Oh but did you see through the keyhole?" asked Wendy excitedly, "the trees and the train and the castle? Why, it was almost-"
"Magical" they both sighed in unison then smiled at one another.
"You know Alice, I feel as if I've known you my whole life."
"I feel that way too Wendy, although I'm not sure how as we have only just met. Perhaps when this adventure is over you can come over for tea."
They walked back to the first door on the left and observed the painting next to the door. It was a golden globe of the world, with a compass background. The door itself was painted like a world map in vivid greens and blues. The doorknob was a little golden globe like the one in the painting. Alice inhaled then breathed out slowly and slowly turned the doorknob. The door opened with a creak and bathed the hall in a yellow light as Alice and Wendy walked into it.
The room was circular on the inside, six white columns stood stationed around a pedestal with a worn brown book. Alice and Wendy proceeded towards the book and Alice opened it slowly. The pages contained maps of places with passages to describe the locations. "That is Neverland" said Wendy, pointing to the page. Alice skimmed over the words, looking for an indication for how to get there. She turned the next page hoping to read more but came across a new place altogether.
"Wonderland" she read aloud, "now why does that sound familiar?"
"Have you been there before?"
"I don't believe so" Alice said dismissively, again turning the page. "All of these places don't sound real, yet here they are in front of me."
"Now this is a place I recognise" exclaimed Alice, who showed the page to Wendy.
"Greece, that's a European country" recited Wendy, "oh, Alice look!"
On the pedestal appeared the golden globe of the world from the painting. Alice placed the worn book beside it and turned to Wendy.
"Now what do we do?"
"I'm not sure. I read about Neverland but found no answers so I went to another door."
Alice fixed her gaze again on the globe and softly placed a hand on it. She gave the globe a spin and prepared to exit the room with Wendy.
Suddenly the walls of the room began to spin, and the room filled with a golden cloud causing Alice to cough loudly. She sneezed and suddenly all of the chalky mist was gone. She looked back to see if Wendy was okay, however Wendy was nowhere to be seen.
"That's a shame" Alice thought aloud, "I did quite enjoy her company in a place like this. Now where do you suppose I actually am?"
The town was made of stone and terracotta roofing. The people chattered animatedly with one another dressed in sandals and togas, paying no attention to the strange girl in her blue dress and stockings watching them. Horse drawn chariots raced by, leaving dust in the air as they sped past. Alice was so caught up in her observations that she did not see the chariot speeding towards her.
"Look out!" yelled a stranger who stood in front of her in order to shield her from the impact. She closed her eyes in fear, and after what seemed like an eternity she slowly opened them. The stranger stood up and assessed the damage. The chariot was completely destroyed, the horse was dazed and the driver looked angry. But upon seeing who he hit, he apologised profusely to Alice's muscly saviour.
He stood tall with perfectly groomed orange hair and a pearly white smile, his muscles were pronounced and glistened with sweat. He examined Alice and offered her a hand. She smiled gratefully and stood up, walking to the side of the road.
"You have to be more careful, you could have seriously got hurt" he said, firmly but kindly. "You're not from around here, are you? You're trying to find your place."
All Alice could do was nod.
"I've been there too. When the villains held the Walt Castle, we were all lost. But if I could find my place again, you can too. They say when we all find where we belong, and when we find our purpose that we'll all live happily ever after."
A large roar bellowed through the town, causing Alice to jump. Suddenly a flying horse approached the two of them, and on its back was a small creature that was half man and half goat.
"C'mon kid, you know the drill. Rule number 19: evil won't fight itself. Two words: let's get moving."
The man grabbed his sword and with one swift movement, mounted the horse and disappeared.
"Be safe!" he yelled to Alice as they took off into the mountains. Alice stood in disbelief at the sight of the flying horse. "Well I suppose it would be a quick way to travel" she justified, shaking her head.
"Who was that strong man?" she wondered aloud.
"That was our boy Hercules" returned a female voice. Alice pivoted around to see five women standing before her. The middle woman, Calliope, wore a stunning yellow dress with a matching headband. The other women wore the exact same clothing and varied mostly by their hair and body shapes.
"More like Hunk-ules" grinned the shortest one, Thalia, waggling her eyebrows.
"He's my hero" sighed another, Terpsichore whose frizzy hair bounced with her excitement.
"He's everyone's hero honey" grinned Clio, the goddess of history, who was reading her scroll.
"What did he mean about villains in a castle?" asked Alice, unsure of what they knew of the situation.
"Oh hon, you must have forgotten. Well, let us explain the whole story. Come on girls" said Calliope as the other four girls followed her. Alice sat on the stone bench as the women assembled themselves.
"First things first, we are the Muses. Goddesses of the arts and proclaimers of heroes. We're here to guide you as you find your place in the great Disneyland" said Melpomene, the goddess of tragedy, theatrically.
"The place behind the golden door?" asked Alice.
Calliope nodded. "The place all around you is Disneyland. Hercules, like many of us, is a good guy. And the good traits in all of us keeps Disneyland alive."
"There are some not so good guys, villains who are selfish and cruel. They formed a villain's society and took over the Walt Castle of Disneyland. In doing so they banished all of the good Disneyland residents to different lands, condemning them to being lost and they erased the memories of all involved" said Melpomene with the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically.
"Oh dear, that sounds awful" said Alice, frowning with concern.
"There's a way to overcome it though, like our boy Hercules did. If someone finds their original place and fulfils their original purpose then they regain their memories and get us one step closer to taking the castle back from the villains and achieving what they truly desire."
"So I have to find my place and my purpose, and then we can restore Disneyland to its former state. And then I can get home to Dinah!" smiled Alice tearfully, almost crying with excitement. "If you wouldn't mind, Muses, could you tell me how Hercules went about finding his way home and finding the key to unlocking his purpose?"
The girls grinned with glee and looked back to Alice. "Oh honey we thought you'd never ask!"
