Author's Note: Here's chapter one! I didn't proofread it, sorry. When this story is finished I'll go back and correct some of the errors. Anyway, enjoy!

Please review! I would really appreciate that. :)

PART ONE: THE SORCERER'S HAT

CHAPTER ONE

Finn Whitman was late for English class.

Again.

Of course, it wasn't his fault. His previous teacher, Mr. Fletcher, didn't seem to grasp the concept that the bell ringing meant that class was over. He insisted on keeping them two or three minutes afterwards. Which would be fine if his class was last period, but it was sixth. So everyday, Finn found himself running through the crowded hallways of Winter Park High School, bumping into teenagers walking at snail speed, and climbing down the stairs, just to be marked as tardy everyday.

To put it plainly, his life kind of sucked at the moment.

In a weird way, he sort of wished that DHIs would start crossing over again at night. It was late September, and everything in his life was sort of…blah. Well, except maybe one thing.

"Did you do the homework last night?" He asked Amanda after he sat down in his chair.

"Hi to you, too." Amanda greeted, rolling her eyes. "And we didn't have any homework."

"Oh, good." He said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, and, um, hi." Amanda rolled her eyes again, but she was smiling.

"Fletcher held you again?" She questioned, and he nodded. "So glad I don't have him." The teacher then shushed the class. After twenty mind-numbing minutes of subject-verb agreement, the students were given time to work silently on homework. So, naturally, they all watched videos or talked to their friends. The teacher pretended not to notice.

"Have you talked to Wayne recently?" Amanda whispered.

"No, not since we left the cruise ship." He answered. Last December, the Keepers had gone to Castaway Cay to stop a small group of Overtakers from controlling the Disney Cruise Line. Amanda hadn't gone with them, having been stuck in Maryland with her sister, Jess.

"I guess that's a good thing." Amanda said. "It means the Overtakers are lying low."

"Yeah, but isn't that weird?" Finn asked. "I mean, it's been almost a year since anything has happened. I keep feeling like something is going to jump out at me at any minute." Amanda shrugged.

"Let's just enjoy it while we can." She glanced at clock: ten more minutes left of school. "Hey, want to hang out at the Frozen Marble after school?" She asked. She and Finn had been going out for the last two months, after he finally got enough nerve to ask her out. The past two months had been wonderful, even if the other Keepers kept making fun of them. The only one who refrained from this was Holly, though she had been unusually quiet the past couple months. Something was bothering her, but she would snap at whoever tried to ask her what it was.

In front of him, two girls were giggling about something on their computers.

Suddenly, one stopped and glanced at the other and pointed to the screen. "What the hell?" The other girl asked aloud. "Why would anyone do that?"

Amanda's eyes widen, seeing what they were referring to. "Finn, look," she commanded, sounding slightly confused.

He looked up at the computer screen, wondering what the big deal was. Opened was an Internet article with the headline Vandalism Strikes Again in the Happiest

Place on Earth. Under it was two pictures: one, taken years ago showed the It's a Small World ride in wreckage. Dolls floated in the water having been somehow ripped off of their platform. Finn recognized that one—it was taken the morning after the Keepers had been there. The dolls had actually come to life and attacked them, not that anyone would ever believe that story. The other picture, however, was new. In it showed the firehouse on Main Street where Wayne lived. In the picture, the building was covered in toilet paper and a weird, gooey substance—egg, by the looks of it.

"Can I see that?" Amanda asked. The girl nodded, moving the laptop towards them.

Finn read the article to himself:

Today, hundreds of workers arrived in the Magic Kingdom, baffled by the sight of raw eggs and paper covering the firehouse, a store in Main Street, U.S.A.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," said one of the security guards, who wished to remain anonymous. "Sure, we've had rides broken into before, but no one's done anything like this."

Disney has had a history of vandalism in the past two years. Overnight, rides would be destroyed, adding to the rumors of the mysterious 'Kingdom Keepers', a group of kids who supposedly woke up in the parks at night and defended Walt Disney World from attacks. The rumors have been dying down recently, but this new event is causing some suspicion. The security guard, however, finds this to be ridiculous.

"No kids would be able to get security without our notice." He says. "I don't know who did this, but they're obviously experts."

Some people are linking this to a recent robbery at the nearby Publix, where five cartons of eggs and multiple boxes of toilet paper seemingly vanished out of thin air. Nothing showed up on the security cameras, causing confusion for it's employees.

Who did this? What point were they trying to make? And why did no one catch them in the act?

"It's embarrassing for us," the security guard admitted. "You'd expect security to on top of things, but I guess we're not."

Updates to come.

"Bizarre, isn't it?" The girl said. "I mean, why would someone even bother?"

"Who knows?" Amanda asked, her voice slightly shaky. "But it's probably just some meaningless prank." The girl nodded, and turned back around before shutting her computer.

"It's the Overtakers." Finn whispered, once he was sure no one was listening. "I'm sure it is."

"It's Wayne's house." Amanda pointed out worriedly. "Do you think something happened...?"

"No." Finn responded, shaking his head. "They wouldn't be so public about that. Its probably just a warning, or something." Amanda bit her lip.

"I hope so." The bell rang, causing Finn to jump. He stood up, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He heard a buzzing noise. Amanda checked her phone.

"Not mine." She said. He grabbed his phone out of his bag, and sure enough, there was a new message.

From: Philby

Did you hear about the firehouse? Meet at Frozen Marble in 20 min.

"Philby." He explained to Amanda. "He said to meet at the Frozen Marble." Amanda sighed.

"Looks like this is starting again, huh?" She said.

"Yeah," He agreed. "Is it weird that I missed it?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No, I missed it, too." She admitted. "I just wish it wasn't so dangerous." She had a point. Finn couldn't remember all of the times one of them had been close to being killed by the Overtakers. Because of this, the Keepers' parents were constantly trying to interfere. Not that they ever succeeded.

"C'mon." He said, motioning towards the door. "Let's go."

~.~

Walking home wasn't Holly's first choice. One of the (many) problems with living in Florida was that you could never get anywhere by foot. Everything was stretched out with nothing but ugly roads, highways, and sidewalks to connect them. The black asphalt made it feel like a hundred degrees and the air was terribly humid. Most places cooled down by September. Most places had trees that changed colors in the fall. Most places Holly could actually bear living in.

Florida, unfortunately, did not qualify as 'most places.'

She had missed her bus, thanks to a club meeting that had run a bit longer then expected. She had been about to call her mother when she got a text telling her to go to the Frozen Marble. She wasn't entirely sure why. Something about a firehouse.

Wiping the sweat off her face, Holly left the parking lot of St. Thomas High

School. She couldn't wait to graduate, to be free. On days like today, she wanted nothing more then to huddle up in her bedroom and enjoy the silence of being alone. Away from teachers, parents, and anyone else who tried to get in her head with all of their stupid, prying questions. What's wrong Holly? Are you sure you're feeling O.K? I'm here to help you, Miss Turner. Why couldn't they just accept her as some freak and leave her alone? They weren't helping her, they just getting on her nerves! Why did something have to be 'wrong' with her, anyway? She felt perfectly fine, thank you very much!

Up in a tree beside her, a mocking bird echoed a song into air. Oh, how she envied birds. There were so much fewer restrictions and pressure put on them.

Especially the mockingbird, Florida's own state bird-it didn't even have to choose it's own song. It could just mimic someone else, and no one would tell it that it couldn't. The noise stopped abruptly. As she looked up, Holly saw the mocking bird fly away to another tree. Lucky, she thought.

Suddenly, Holly felt something liquid fall on her head and into her hair. At first she was afraid it was bird crap, but, scooping some into her hand, she realized it was gooier—something she saw her mother use all the time when cooking.

Egg yolk, the kind found in chicken eggs.

What in the…?

~.~

Sitting across from your ex, even when there are a million other people around you, is very, very awkward. At least, that's how Charlene felt. She and Maybeck had broken up last spring, and with the DHI business, she just couldn't get away from him. But it had been a while since they had talked face to face.

"Where is Philby?" She complained. "He's the one who organized this stupid meeting!" She sounded like a whiny brat, but she didn't care at the moment. It was just her luck to be the only other person to show up early. Maybeck wasn't known for punctuality, so why was he even here?

"Relax, Char." Maybeck said. "Calm down. Not that big of a deal." She glared at him.

"Shut up, will you?" She ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm not in the greatest mood today." Something about talking to Maybeck just pissed her off. She couldn't even remember why they broke up—just that they were arguing all of the time when it happened. "Oh, and don't call me that."

"Hey, guys!" Willa sat down next to her. She seemed to be completely unaware of the death glares the two teens were giving each other—or, more likely, she completely ignored the death glares the two teens were giving each other. "Did you see what Jess drew?"

"No." Charlene answered, frowning. "Is it something to do with the Overtakers?" Willa nodded.

"During lunch, she just got into this trance and started sketching." She explained. "She drew the firehouse. A few minutes later, Philby comes to us saying that some one trashed the firehouse. Creepy as hell."

"Did she draw anything else?" Maybeck asked. Willa nodded again.

"Yeah, but she wouldn't show us what it was." She said, frowning. "She looked worried, like whatever was in the picture really freaked her out. I'm not surprised, considering some of her other drawings. She said she would show us when she got here."

"Speaking of which," Charlene cut in. "where is everyone else?" Willa shrugged.

"Don't look at me."

Ten more minutes had passed by the time everyone had gotten there. Sure enough, when she got there, Jess was clutching a piece of notebook paper, glancing at it every few seconds. Meanwhile, Philby tried to get everyone's attention. "Guys! Listen!" He said. They quieted down, the seven of them—Holly had just run into the store at this point—looking at him with undivided attention. "Wayne contacted me during class today." He told them. "He said that what happened to the firehouse was the Overtakers, but a small and probably harmless group of them."

Maybeck let out a snort. "Since when have the Overtakers ever been harmless?" He questioned.

"They didn't seem that bad." Holly said. "I mean, we were able to get a hold of Alice by hitting her in the head with a book. And not even that heavy of a book."

"Yeah, but the ones you saw on Castaway Cay weren't that bad." Finn pointed out. "They weren't even part of the actual Overtakers—just a bunch of characters upset because no one paid attention to them. They weren't villains, and didn't have any of the powers that a lot of the regular Overtakers—namely Maleficent—possess. Trust me, that was nothing."

"Lovely." Holly muttered dryly.

"Anyway," Philby continued. "He said we need to keep our eyes open—that the Overtakers will be planning more attacks."

"Anything else?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, he told me to make sure we all cross over tonight. He'll meet us in the apartment." Philby looked at Holly. "We'll fill you in tomorrow." He promised her.

"'Kay." She said with a yawn. "I'm tired."

"You're always tired." Charlene pointed out.

"Yes." Holly agreed, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "It's amazing how insomnia does that to you. 'Course, I feel fine at night. Its just now that I'm about to faint." She stood up. "Bye, guys." She yawned again. "See you tomorrow…except you, Charlene…obviously, we're sisters… Did I mention I'm tired?" Willa laughed as Holly left the building, almost colliding with a couple in front of her.

"Your sister is weird." She said.

"Tell me about it." Charlene muttered.

~.~

Cinderella's Castle glowed in the night, illuminating the area around it. In front of it was a bronze statue, showing Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse holding hands, waving to an imaginary crowd. It was the center of the Magic Kingdom. From there, four pathways sprung out, each leading to a different land—Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Liberty Square, and Fantasyland. From a bird's eye view, the pathways looked like spokes on a wheel.

Jess climbed up the tricky and confusing stairwells in Escher's Keep, the entrance to Walt's apartment. She had only used it a few times, and it had taken her several tries to reach. No doubt the others were already there.

She held the piece of notebook paper to her chest as if her life depended on it. What it contained confused her. She hoped that whatever Wayne was about to tell them would clear it up.

As she opened the door, she felt seven heads turn towards her. Being a Fairlie, she had never loved attention, even when it was from people she knew. "Hey." Amanda said when she saw her. Jess said hi back, and sat down on the floor next to everyone else. Wayne stood in front of them, looking solemn. He looked even older then when she last saw him, over a year ago. It was amazing that someone could age so much in so little time. No wonder Wanda was so worried about him.

"Children," Wayne began, and then stopped himself. "Well, that's not true anymore. You all have grown up a lot since the last time we met face to face." The way he talked reminded Jess of a relative greeting their family. It seemed so normal. But Jess knew that he was only trying to ease the tension. Whatever he was about to tell them must've been important, if he was willing to risk going here. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"The Overtakers." Finn stated. "What are they up to?"

"Good question." Wayne said. He turned his towards her. "Jessica," He said. "Can you give me that drawing of yours?" Jess nodded a handed it over, wondering silently to herself how Wayne knew what it was. Not that she was surprised—Wayne knew a lot of things he shouldn't have. He flipped the paper over, so the other could see. Once again, Jess saw the picture that had been haunting her the entire day. In the picture, Maleficent was holding a cone-shaped hat decorated with stars and a crescent moon. It appeared to be glowing, lighting up the fairy's face. Maleficent had a gleeful expression on her face. Whatever she was happy about meant trouble for the Keepers. Behind her, a teenage boy was running towards her, his outstretched as if trying to grab something—Philby. He had a pained expression on his face. In the background a girl in pigtails was staring at a lump on ground. Her mouth was open, a shocked expression on her face. Jess couldn't tell exactly whom it was—Charlene, most likely, based on the nightgown the girl was wearing. It was hard to tell in the sketch, but Jess could've sworn the girl was crying. It was impossible to tell exactly where they were—the background was blurry and faded, as if someone had smudged it.

There was silence for a few moments. Finally, Philby spoke: "What is Maleficent holding?" Wayne raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you recognize it?" Based on Philby's facial expression, he did recognize it.

"It's the magical hat—the one that Mickey Mouse used in the Sorcerer's Apprentice." Philby told him. Wayne nodded.

"I'm afraid it is." He replied with a sigh. "The Sorcerer's hat, originally owned by the sorcerer Yen Sid, is an object of immense power. The user could do virtually anything they wanted to with it. It is a very tempting object, as shown in Fantasia when Mickey borrows it for his own selfish needs. It is not something you want falling in the wrong hands."

"Wait a second." Charlene cut in. "The way you talk about it…the Sorcerer's Hat is real?"

Wayne nodded. "Of course." He said. "Like the Disney characters themselves, the hat came into existence when the people began to believe in it."

"And Maleficent has it." Willa stated.

"Not quite." Wayne corrected. "I have reason to believe that she has not yet acquired it—and that she is looking for it currently."

"So you want us to protect us?" Maybeck asked. "Where is it?"

"Ah, but that is the problem." Wayne explained. "No one knows."

"Why not?" Charlene asked. "You have a huge, powerful object, and no one even keeps track of it?"

"We used to." Wayne answered. "You see, Disney characters and objects can only stay inside Disney land. If not, they start dying. Originally, everything stayed in Disneyland in California. But it soon got crowded, and once the Disney Company began to enlarge throughout the world, the other characters migrated to other areas. It was the first time this happened that the hat disappeared. Forty years ago, the Magic Kingdom—the very park you are standing in now—opened. The hat was brought here by Immagineers. They kept it for four years, constantly checking on it to make sure it hadn't been lost. Then, in 1975, the Disney villains—the ones we now call the Overtakers—began showing dismay. We then realized their plan for power, and we knew that the hat must be hidden. So two Imagineers were picked to find a location. Only they knew of the hat's existence. So when they died, the hat vanished from view."

"And you're saying you had no way of finding it?" Philby asked. "No one thought that this might happen?" Wayne smiled.

"It did occur to a few of us." He answered. "So we asked the Imagineers to give us a way of finding it, should something happen."

"So where is it?" Maybeck repeated, confused.

Wayne sighed. "I was hoping you seven—or eight, if Holly is willing to help—would help me answer that. The Imagineers gave us a riddle, but I'm afraid I can't make sense of it."

"A riddle." Maybeck repeated incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Maybe we should listen to it first before shooting it down." Charlene suggested looking pointedly at Maybeck.

Philby nodded in agreement. "What's the riddle?" He asked Wayne. Wayne took a deep breath, remembering the words that his coworkers had spoken to him so many years before.

"The second state's independence

Is where you first location lies

In the land where America revisits its past

Ever changing, the 38 call out their names

Two years the list will be revised

Find this place, and here you will find

The next clue to your journey."

Philby frowned. "The second state is Pennsylvania." He said. "What's that got to do with Disney?"

"'The land where America revisits its past.'" Willa repeated to herself. "Maybe they mean Liberty Square?" She suggested. "Is there anything in Liberty Square—like a replica of something—that was originally in Pennsylvania?"

"The Liberty Bell." Philby said. "That would explain the part about Independence."

"So the clue is at the Liberty Bell replica?" Finn asked, looking at Wayne.

"I have looked there." He answered. "I didn't find anything, but that doesn't mean that you will not."

"So should we go there?" Jess asked.

"I wouldn't hurt." Philby said.

"Wait a second." Charlene cut in. "What about the rest of the poem? 38 people calling out their names? There aren't 38 bells." She pointed out.

"Not to mention that bells don't talk." Maybeck added. Charlene frowned, as if recalling a bad memory.

"That's what you think." She muttered darkly.

"Okay then," Maybeck continued after giving her a 'whatever you say, crazy lady'–type glance. "So we're looking for something in Liberty Square that changes constantly and currently has 38 of something."

"Maybe it's not constantly changing." Amanda suggested, biting her lip. "Didn't it say something like 'the list will be revised in two years'?"

Finn looked at Wayne. "You know what it is, don't you?" He asked. Wayne nodded.

"I have a theory or two." He admitted. "Remember, this was written in 1975. What specific events happened two years later, in 1977, that would revise this so-called list? What happened in 1977 that had to do with liberty?" Philby's eyes widened in realization. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and started typing something on it.

"The presidential election." He breathed a minute later. "There was an election in 1977. That's when Jimmy Carter got elected. Before, there were only 38 presidents total."

"So?" Maybeck asked. "What does Jimmy Carter have to do with Disney World?"

"The Hall of Presidents." Willa said suddenly. "That's what the riddle's referring to—the building was based off of the Independence Hall in Philadelphia."

"What's the Hall of Presidents?" Maybeck asked, confused.

"It's an attraction in Liberty Square." Willa explained. "You watch a movie about U.S. history and then it shows a bunch AAs shaped like the different presidents. I saw it a few years ago. They update it whenever a new president is elected."

"Yeah," Charlene agreed, nodding. "You've honestly never heard of it?"

"I get enough of history in school." Maybeck grumbled. "Why would I want to learn more on vacation?" Charlene rolled her eyes at him.

"So should we go tonight?" Jess asked Finn. Finn, in return, looked at Wayne.

The old man shrugged. "It's up to you—I failed this quest many years ago. My turn is over, I'm afraid."

"Well, only two or three of us need to go." Finn said, thinking. "I don't see why we can't go now. Maybe—" Whatever he was about to say was drowned out by a large CRASH! He—as well as many of the others—jumped.

"What was that?" Willa exclaimed.

Wayne frowned. He stood up and walked towards the narrow window in the far wall. Peering through the glass, he told them, "A message from the Overtakers."

"What?" Finn ran next to him and looked out the window himself. Bellow, someone had used something—either chalk or paint, by the looks of it—to write out a single word: Beware.

"You must leave." Wayne told them, stepping away from the window. "It's too late tonight to get anything done, anyway." He took something out of his pocket—the Return. "Go to Liberty Square tomorrow evening. Hopefully, you will find the next clue there. I wish I could help you, but like I said earlier—I've had my chance. It's up to you."

"You—you can't help us?" Charlene asked, her voice wavering slightly.

Wayne shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. I must go back into hiding. I only left today because I needed to tell you about the Sorcerer's hat. Now that I've done that, I must return."

"Will we see you again?" Finn asked.

"Possibly," Wayne answered. "But if you do, it will not be for a good reason. If you're lucky, the next time you will see me is when you've acquired the hat." With that, he raised his hand and pushed the button.