A/N: Before I get to the chapter, I want to apologize for how long this has taken. I won't go on babbling about that, but I do have a lot of thank yous to give out. First, thank you so much Kalora for mentioning my story in Crowns of the Kingdom. I know most of the people reading this are doing so because of that. Thanks to Werecat Boy for always reading my chapters before I post them and offering advice and pointing out errors. He's also been my go-to for almost every bit of Disney trivia I need. (I already miss you so much! Be sure to get plenty of pictures of the skates and stingrays for me while you're at the cove:D ) A huge thank you to Crabby Matt. After only an e-mail and a few conversations, he's given me so many wonderful little jokes and many, many great ideas for this. And last, thank you everyone for reading and taking the time to review and being patient. I can't thank you guys enough.

P'tfami, I haven't forgotten about fixing the prophecy poem and I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to it yet. I want to make it flow better, but I've had to push it to the back burner for a little bit.

Be sure to check out this picture of the characters my friend Crimson Soul Taker made for me! Go to the Deviant Art website and look for art by AquarianWolf. I can't put the link here. :(

"Well, I'll let you get to your grand quest," the stepmother said kindly. Lady Tremaine's lips curled up into a thin smile and she gave a curt nod. Turning, she strode out of the room, her slender black cane leaving an echoing tap with each step. The fat, green-eyed black cat Lucifer had sat waiting just beyond the doorway. As his mistress brushed past, he sat up, stretched lazily, and then cockily followed at her heels, his fluffy tail proudly held up with it's off white tip curved to the side like a question mark.

Her departure was followed by a brief silence from the Representatives, making the cast members wonder if they trusted her completely. She was right, though, and they really had no reason not to believe her. As the last of the distant tap-taps faded somewhere down the hall, everyone noticeably relaxed a bit.

Cinderella finally spoke up, beaming at the four mortals. "From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. I wish you the best of luck in your journey."

"Wait," Frankie interjected, "you mean, you guys won't be with us? It's just going to be the four of us?"

"Well, yes." Cinderella smiled. "We have to stay here and keep an eye on things. If something were to go wrong…" She trailed off, worry in her voice.

"We gotta be here to set it right," Henry finished jovially. "Everyone trusts us to guide them."

Master Gracey chuckled softly. "Frightening thought if you think about it," he joked, smirking. "But, should you be in need of assistance, I'll be hanging around."

"And I'll go spread word to our friends and the other Reps," said Jose, spreading his bright red wings. "No need to keep this from the rest of the World." He soared up and out of the castle.

Liberty took a deep breath and exhaled quickly. "Well, I guess it's time for us to get going." She felt as if she should be spouting off some inspiring, grand speech. "Uh, we'll do our best!" Polite, quiet applause told her that would do, and she and the others marched out.

The quartet of cast members stood outside of the castle, facing Fantasyland. They felt as if they were in a dream, waiting to wake up. If that was the case, they thought, then they might as well make the best of it and play along. Morpheus could be humored.

"Anyone else think maybe, just maybe, we're all in simultaneous comas?"

"Ha," Isaac laughed. "No Jakey boy. This is the real deal." Reaching into his backpack, he took out his bottle of Mountain Dew and took a swig. "You talked to all of them, shook their hands. They were just as real as you and me. This is destiny, man!"

"Well, whatever it is," Liberty said, "we agreed to help. Jake, I think you were onto something when you said it would be obvious."

The skipper grinned proudly. "We'll be in and out in twenty minutes. Let's just get a list of any place with paper." After a short pause, he scratched his head. "Um, any ideas?"

Liberty furrowed her brow, scanning her memory. "Of course," the redhead mused, "there's the library in the Haunted Mansion. We could ask Master Gracey to help us look. That's the most obvious place I can think of." She felt a faint flicker at the back of her mind. She was forgetting something… Maybe another ride could be the answer. What was a better place to look for writing than the land based on storybooks? "Do you know of any places in Fantasyland, Frankie?" Not getting an answer, she turned around. "Frankie?" The girl had vanished! "Where did she go?"

No sooner than the question left her mouth, a gray blur swooped down over their heads, missing their hair by millimeters. It soared back up into the night sky, accompanied by a giddy, high-pitched shout.

"YAH-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOIEEEE!"

His large, slowly flapping ears silhouetted in the light of the moon, Dumbo hovered above them. Frankie waved from where she sat on the little elephant's back. "I thought I could get a view of the whole park from here!" she called down. After a moment, she added brightly, "I don't see any scrolls."

"You know Frankie," Liberty chuckled, her tone kind, "I doubt it'll be waving from the top of the castle like a flag."

"We don't know that for sure." Hands on the side of his mouth, Isaac yelled, "Hey, did you see any of those flying stone fish? I've always wanted to ride one of those!"

Dumbo touched down lightly and Frankie slid onto the ground. She waved as he took off again, soaring not quite majestically.

"Now I've seen everything," Jake quipped.

"Well," the princess asked, "how are we going to look for it? Or any of the other stuff! This place is huge. Walt Disney World's twice the size of Manhattan!"

Jake shrugged. "Why not do the Scooby crew thing and split up? We've all got our cells on us, right?" In one swift move, all four cast members whipped a cell phone out of their pockets. "Liberty, you and I can check out Liberty Square and Adventureland. Frankie and Isaac can take Fantasyland and Tomorrowland."

"Sounds good to me." Liberty smirked. "Jinkies, if I'm the redhead, this doesn't make me Danger Prone Daphne, does it?" She gave Jake a playful push and he quickly tried to hide the slight blush to his cheeks.

"Well, we do have a good candidate for Shaggy. Isaac is a total spazz…"

Isaac gave an indignant sniff. "I'd be offended if I wasn't being ridiculed by someone who thinks the backside of water is comedy gold." He took a sip of his soda. "And Shaggy rocks. So there."

"So, we're okay with the plan?" asked Liberty. "If anyone finds the scroll, call the others. Then we'll see where we go from there."

"All righty!" Frankie gave a mock salute. "We'll find it faster than you can say bippidy, boppidy, boo." She hooked her arm through the crook of Isaac's. The usually quiet girl's playfulness caught him off guard. He gave her a lopsided grin in return and they skipped away, singing. "Heigh ho, heigh ho! It's off for the scroll we go! Gotta find it fast, or Progress won't last! Heigh ho! Heigh ho! If we don't find this map, then we're in deep crap! Heigh ho! Heigh ho! Don't wanna be crude, but we're probably screwed! Heigh ho, heigh ho…"

Watching them depart, Jake asked, "Are we checking the Mansion first?"

Liberty nodded. "Yeah, but let's get our Ghost Host. I'd hate to think what would happen if the happy haunts thought we were invading their home."

"Oh, I'm sure they're just dying to meet any guest. Every boil and ghoul is probably so well manor-ed." Jake was so caught up in his punning, he didn't notice Liberty letting out a sigh and heading back for the conference room. "They'd treat us like the life of the party. Heh." He looked around. "Liberty? Hey! Wait up!"

The Haunted Mansion's Dutch-gothic façade was eerie at night, especially when the glow of the moon was dulled behind the clouds. Shadows of gnarled, thin tree branches reached across the pale red brickwork like grasping, clawed fingers. A wreath, dried and dead, hung just below the front door's knocker. Coffin shaped cement supports stood on either side of the small porch. The cast members had both secretly hoped they would walk up the skinny stairs to the false entryway and have a real mansion behind the façade revealed. But even with all of the wondrous magic in Disney World, this would not be the case.

Jake and Liberty followed behind the slightly transparent George Gracey as he led them through the normal queue, past the meandering thin ropes by the toppled birdbath and under the green awning at the left side of the house. After going through the turnstiles, they paused by the graveyard. The silly rhyming epitaphs could barely be read. But the mansion's master wasn't focused on any of them. Instead, he was looking at the newest addition to the small cemetery, Madame Leota's tombstone.

It was a rounded headstone, a little bit thicker than the others. A beautifully sculpted, three-dimensional woman's face protruded out. Gracey leaned over and playfully tickled under the chin. The eyes opened with a mechanical click, revealing bright green irises.

"Shoo!" the face snapped in a feminine, yet sharp voice. Then the eyes blinked. "Oh, Master Gracey, it's you!" She chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry. I thought you were another lizard. I love the little scaly green dears, but their feet make my face itch terribly."

George smiled, a soft chortle rumbling in his throat. "I was hoping I would catch you out here before going inside. I have some guests with me, and if you could put word ahead to the others, I would greatly appreciate it."

"You want me to tell everyone to be on their best behavior." It wasn't a question.

"If you wouldn't mind." George batted his eyelashes innocently.

"As you wish, Master Gracey. But I'll have you know, I came out here to get some peace and quiet!"

"I had guessed."

"Those swinging wakes always ruin my concentration!"

"I'm well aware of that, dear," he said absentmindedly, inspecting his fingernails.

Playfully, she said in a singsong tone, "You owe me!"

"Add it to the long list," he smugly waved it away, his eyes sparkling with laughter verbally held back.

Leota sighed. "Forget it. I'll do it for the sake of our guests, not for you." She winked. "Last word!" With that the face became motionless again and they were left looking at a very inanimate grave.

They weren't left standing there for long, however, for the set of dark, wooden double doors just a few feet ahead of the trio creaked open.

Gracey bowed and gestured that the cast members should go ahead of him. Excitement and apprehension filling them, they strode in as confidently as they could.

Frankie and Isaac tried not to feel despaired after asking the seven dwarfs if they had seen a scroll anywhere. Bashful only shyly tugged on his ear, babbling. Happy had said he didn't, but wished them luck just the same. Dopey had nodded at first, but then gave the matter a serious second thought and shook his head. Sleepy was snoring halfway through his answer. Doc tried to be helpful, but wound up just confusing everyone with his switched around words. Sneezy just had sneezing fits, and Grumpy nearly got into a fistfight with Isaac over how "dwarfs" should be spelled. Frankie had to pull them apart.

Now they stood in front of "it's a small world," wondering if they should go in. They couldn't recall any papers in it, though.

It was unsettling at night. The round, smiling white face of the clock tower wasn't leisurely spinning from side to side. Glittery, nonsensical numbers sparkled, reflecting in the dark water. Nothing could be seen when they tried craning their necks and peering into the archway leading into the first room of singing dolls. Only darkness looked back at them, accompanied by the gentle splashing of water. One solitary boat, empty, slowly bobbed in from the ride's last room.

"Don't they put all of those away at night?" Isaac whispered into Frankie's ear. He didn't know why he needed to whisper, he just felt like it was the best thing to do. "There's all of those weird, dark, round tunnels everywhere. I thought the boats went in and out of those." His eyes grew wide. "Maybe they're really portals to some dark, hellish dimension!"

Frankie had to giggle. It was so funny the way people reacted to this ride. Since her first trip to Disney World when she was four, she had loved "it's a small world" for its message of worldwide compassion and understanding. She couldn't understand what it was that annoyed everyone. Why, she even loved the song! She could hum it all day and not get tired of it.

The aqua colored boat was nearing the loading platform. It was as if it had been pushed out for them to find.

"C'mon, let's check it out," Frankie said, jogging through the queue.

"But…" Isaac trailed off. Giving one last nervous look at the entry tunnel, he dashed behind her. "Are you sure about this?"

"Sure I'm sure. What have we got to lose?" She had grabbed hold of the boat and had one leg in.

"Our lives?" he suggested, stopping beside her. Something was watching them! He could feel it!

Sighing, she made a stray black hair flutter up. "I don't get what it is that makes people hate this ride." She sat down on the front row bench.

He plopped down beside her. "People say it's the song. I don't think it's the song. Although hearing that line over and over and over is so obnoxious. No, it's the darkness! Even the walls and ceilings are painted black instead of some nice, happy background! And then there's all of those tunnels that lead to nowhere…" His eye twitched.

"I thought you just said those are for the boats to load," she teased, pushing them forward by bracing her hands on the platform and shoving.

He ignored her, continuing his rant. "And all those dolls…they sing but their mouths don't move…"

"Some do," she said helpfully. They were bobbing along nicely and would reach the tunnel soon.

Isaac was in his own little world now, eyes glassy. "And then there's the multi-armed shadow dancer. She gave me nightmares! The suns…oh, those creepy suns with the faces!"

"I think you need some help of the professional sort, the kind with the long couches and the pills."

"And with it so dark, an open entrance, and that water everywhere, I just know something is lurking underneath. Snakes, rats, roaches, maybe a giant squid…" He peered over the side, into the water. Something shined back in the gloom. Squealing, he leapt back, hoping to God it was just pennies.

Frankie just shook her head, smiling. How anyone could think such a sweet, charming little boat ride could be evil she had no idea.

Entering the first room, the boat slowed and gradually came to a stop. Waiting a minute, they let their eyes adjust to the darkness. They couldn't make out every detail, but could see the basic things around them. Isaac took out his flashlight to aid their search and flicked it on.

They were flocked on the right by France and on the left by Britain. The usually spinning chess pieces sat still, the can-can dancers frozen in mid kick.

"It's even creepier when all you can hear is just the water splashing," he muttered.

"Just water?"

"That's what I said," he muttered, anxiety mixed with annoyance.

Frankie turned to him. "If that's what you said, then who said, 'Just water'?"

"I thought it was you!"

She shook her head, lips pursed. Waving his arm around, he held the beam aloft, searching for the speaker. "There!" he screamed. "That doll in the tulip! It moved!"

The little blonde boy sitting in the flower slowly turned his head and stared at them. He clicked the toes of his clogs together. TAP! Woodenly, he raised an arm and pointed at them. "Brains!" he moaned.

"Holy shitake mushrooms," Isaac groaned.

"Brains! Brains! Brains!" From their perches and pedestals, the dolls climbed down, making their way for the boat. As one they chanted, "Chew their brains! Tear out their hearts! Drink their souls!"

"Drink…their…souls?" Frankie wrinkled her nose. "How do—"

"ABANDON SHIP!" Isaac shouted, flinging himself into the shallow water and treading as fast as he could.

The dolls marched closer, arms out in front of them like zombies.

Frankie shrieked and took the drier route, jumping onto the carpeted, thin pathway along the edge of the wall. She ran out, meeting Isaac at the exit ramp. Not waiting for the dolls to get them, they ran to the exit. Frankie dashed through the wheelchair exit gate. Isaac vaulted himself over a turnstile. Not until they were outside of Peter Pan's Flight did they stop to catch their breath.

"I—I told you!" Isaac wheezed. "That ride is evil!"

"But they all seemed so nice and cheerful before." She bit her lower lip.

"It was all just a cover for a bunch of soul drinking zombies!"

"At least they didn't come out after us," Frankie offered helpfully, watching the ride entrance. "Maybe we should try Peter Pan's Flight. I think the kids had a bookshelf in the nursery. Wendy could help us look."

"Oh no! No, no, no!" Isaac waved his hands. "And chance running into Captain Hook? Or Tick Tock? No way! Those dolls were enough! I say we check out Tomorrowland. I can't remember anything other than a couple of wanted signs in Frontierland. The dinosaur bones on Big Thunder will probably come to life and try to eat us!"

"All right, all right," she said calmly, trying to calm the shaking young man down. "Here, have some of your Mountain Dew." She got the bottle for him and he chugged it, his shaking ceasing.

"Always relaxes me," he sighed, putting the bottle back into his bag. Frankie just shook her head again in bewilderment and the two set off for Tomorrowland.

Meanwhile, back inside "it's a small world," the dolls were rolling with laughter and giving each other high fives.

"And here we have our library," Master Gracey outstretched an arm in a grand flourish towards the bookcases.

"Only ghost stories, of course," Jake quoted with a grin.

"A lot of medical books, actually," the Ghost Host commented. "You'd be amazed if you could see all of the details the Imagineers slipped in." He smiled wistfully.

Liberty had always loved the Haunted Mansion's library, with its books moving in and out; the rocking chair with its invisible occupant; the stern, watching busts; and the ladder that shuffled from side to side. The only complaint she had was the fluctuating light. Sometimes it was too bright, nearly giving away some of the effects. Other times, it could be too dark, putting riders in near pitch-blackness, save for the dim lamp near the chair. It was as if none of the ride's mechanics could control it.

She shuddered and tried not to think along those lines. The walk here had been creepy enough. Rather than take the Doombuggies, George had guided them along walkways along the track.

After entering the foyer with its green fire, they had stepped into one of the stretching rooms. They had not bothered to wait for the effects, but just walked right through while the tightrope gal, the quicksand men, and the widow laughed and tossed around a pair of pants from portrait to portrait, sending the flustered diplomat on a wild goose chase in his striped boxers. ("Ohhh, that's why he doesn't have pants!" Jake had exclaimed, happy to have finally solved the riddle of "that pantless dude on the dynamite.")

Gracey walked up to the ladder and called up to the top rung, "Oh Mr. Dewey! Could we have your assistance, please?"

"Yes, yes, very well. Hold your horses!"

It was a nasal voice, as if the speaker was not only stuck up, but had a bad cold. Footsteps were heard and something descended the rungs. No one appeared, by Liberty and Jake had the impression that someone was standing in front of them, hands behind his back, waiting for an order.

The invisible specter sniffed. "What is it you need, sir? I'm at your disposal, sir."

"Ah, nice to hear that Milton." George cut right to the point. "As you can see, I have a couple of guests with me who—"

"Guests!" Milton interrupted, finally noticing that someone other than the master of the manse was present. The lights in the room suddenly became a bit brighter. "Oh, how wonderful! I'm so lonely. No one ever talks to me and everyone just goes by in those little buggies so quickly. Once, I would just like to have a nice literary discussion with someone. It's very depressing you know, sir, being stuck in a silent room with a wealth of knowledge all around you that just begs to be analyzed and examined. Granny Rocker over there doesn't say anything!"

George looked over at the chair. "That's because there's no one there. That's just the little machine that makes the chair move."

The lights flickered insanely, threatening to blow a fuse.

"I've been chatting about Emily Dickinson to an empty seat for an hour?!"

"Yeah," George nodded. Pleasantly, he added, "Probably two. The woman that sits there tends to leave early after closing to go dancing in the ballroom." Before Milton could snap, George continued. "Now, I need some help from my favorite librarian."

The lights dimmed. "I'm your only librarian," Milton grumbled.

"And that makes you all the more special. Now, is there any kind of mystic looking parchment here, or a scroll?"

There was a light sound, of feet on carpet, and then the ladder creaked as if bearing weight. It slid from shelf to shelf for several minutes and tomes were pulled in and out of their place. Jake, Liberty, and George even joined the search. But it was to no avail. No scroll was found.

Jake sighed. "So much for our easy search. I could have sworn this would be the most obvious place."

"Yeah," Liberty mumbled, looking over the spines of books. She tried pulling one out, but saw it was just a stationary prop. Along the side, it read in dull red letters, Our Founding Fathers. She blinked. "Someplace obvious…"

"Maybe Frankie and the Trekkie are having better luck."

"Someplace obvious!" Liberty grinned and grabbed Jake's shoulders. "It's so obvious! Jake, I got it! Let's go!" She grabbed the confused skipper's hand and ran back the way they came. "Thanks for your help, Master Gracey!" she called over her shoulder.

The Ghost Host blinked his azure eyes in mild surprise. "Well, at least that's settled." He straightened his jacket.

"Say, sir, since that dilemma is out of the way," Milton started hopefully, "then perhaps we can debate on the mythological allusions found in the novel—"

"So sorry Mr. Dewey, but I do have some important business to tend to concerning our kingdom. Have a good night." He quickly, strode out, hands behind his back, hiding his silent mouthing of "Psycho!" from Milton.

The lights in the library flickered in Milton's despair.

He decided to continue his conversation with the rocking chair.

A/N: Milton Dewey is a character I created. He shows up in a few of my Haunted Mansion stories and the RPG game in the Disney forums here.