The Forbidden Fortress, much to Faith's displeasure, did not live up to its name through her eyes. She knew the other four couldn't see it, and she hoped that the spirits didn't notice that she could detect them. Faith was in the lead, seeing as she was the only one able to see through the dark by way of the ghost bright light that shimmered off their form. The others nervously whispered behind her, their hushed tones echoing through the – quite literally – ghostly, abandon chambers.

They all wished they had warmer clothes, Jay only sported a leather vest, and was currently shivering in it. Faith felt like a ghost just walked through her (and at some points this does actually happen). Mal's lips were turning blue, Carlos's breath appeared in white clouds as he spoke, and Evie's fingers felt like icicles, due mainly to the fact that they were soaked in rain and blood. It was colder than Dragon Hall, and there was no chance of anything getting any warmer.

Faith vaguely heard Evie talking about 'modern castle living,' but she didn't really understand it.

She sighed when she saw that inside every corridor, a dense fog floated just above the black marble floor, and there was always some poor lonely spirit moaning in the halls. Mal, thinking that Faith was sighing because of the fog nodded in agreement, "That has to be magic, right? The fog doesn't just do that," Mal said.

Carlos nodded, "The refracted energy seems stronger here. I think we're closer to the source than we've ever been."

As he spoke, a ghost with a powerful aura blew past them like an icy wind, whistling in through the shattered stain-glass windows high above them. Faith gagged at the smell that it left behind, the feeling was much like smelling too many perfumes at once. She recovered quickly though, and the five of them continued on their trek.

After a few intense feet Jay stopped, "What's that?" he asked, pointing. Green lights flashed through half-shattered panes of glass.

"It's what we've been tracking all along," Carlos answered. "That same electromagnetic energy: it's going crazy." He shook his head at the flashing lights on his box. "This fortress was definitely exposed to something that's left a kind of residue charge—"

"You mean, an enchantment?" Faith questioned, not looking back.

He shrugged, maybe just a little annoyed since he didn't see it as anything but scientific, "That too"

"And so, even after all these years, this place is somehow still glowing with its own light?" Evie looked amazed.

"Cool," Jay said.

Mal shrugged it off, "In other words, we're getting closer to the Dragon's Eye."

Faith nodded in confirmation.

They continued on, corridors led to more corridors, until the five villains in training passed through dark hallways full of framed paintings shrouded in cobwebs and dust. "It's a portrait gallery," Evie said, straining to see the walls through the shadows. "Every castle has one."

Jay looked behind him and jumped back, "Mal, stop it—" he shouted before slightly jumping again when Mal tapped his shoulder.

"Hello? I'm not back there, I'm right in front of you."

Jay held his heart, "Crap, I thought that picture was you," he said while pointing toward the picture.

"That's not me, that's my mother," Mal said with a sigh.

"Whoa" Jay said.

"You really do look like her, you know," Faith told her.

"Yeah, you two could be twins," Evie agreed.

"That my friends, is called genetics," Carlos commented with a smile.

"Gee, thanks—I look like my mother? Just what every girl wants to hear," Mal replied. She studied the portrait for a bit before shaking her head, "Now what?" Mal asked, trying to change the subject.

Faith looked around, there, in front of them, lay five corridors leading to five different parts of the fortress. A foul draft flowed from each path, minus the third one to the left. That one was coated with the scent of spirits. The moans of the dead reached her ears easily, they were incredibly loud, and apparently, powerful, seeing as Jay looked in the direction of where it came from with an unsettled look. He snapped out of it when Faith looked at him questioningly, he then yanked a matchbook from his pocket and lit a match, muttering a quick "biney-eenie-meanie-miney-mo," he said under his breath as he pointed down each corridor.

"How scientific," Carlos said, rolling his eyes.

"You got your way, I got mine. That one," Jay said, pointing to the corridor directly in front of them. Just as he did, the wind blew out from that same passage. Faith gagged silently at the foul stench that invaded her senses. Her watering eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light as the match was snuffed out by the wind.

Evie held her nose, and Mal did the same, the latter sending Faith a concerning glance as the voodoo man's daughter tried to regain her balance. "Are you sure about this?" Mal asked, her voice addressed everyone, but it was mainly directed towards the gagging girl.

"Duh," Jay began, not really seeing the situation, "of course not. That's why I played biney-eenie-meanie-miney-mo! One corridor is as good as the next," Jay said, entering the corridor and not waiting for the rest to follow.

"No, wait," Faith told him, making the thief halt. She stood tall and looked at the four of them. "You don't know where you're going. Carlos, check your box-compass-thing-a-ma-jig."

Carlos brought the box up to the intersection. It beeped. "Okay… I guess maybe Jay's right."

"Of course I am," Jay claimed, crossing his arms.

Faith snorted and walked past him and toward Carlos. "Don't get used to it," she muttered as she bumped her shoulder with his, then went to follow Carlos who was already leading the way down the passage.

Carlos held the beeping box in his hands, the sound echoing off the stony walls. Faith ducked her head as they entered a dank cold stairway that led further downward, deeper into the darkness. The frigid and moist air wasn't the only thing that made her shiver. It was the sounds of whispered and tortured screams, pleas of agony, and last wishes that caused the girl to tremor. The sound was so overwhelming that she could just barely hear the distant rattle that sounded of bones striking rock, or chains rattling in the wind.

Evie heard it much better than Faith had and sighed, "Because, that's so comforting," she muttered as she huddled closer to Mal.

Mal chose to ignore the annoying blue berry's presence, "The dungeon," she said, as she took inventory of the room, "Or, you might know it as the place where my mother encountered the lovestruck Prince Phillip."

Faith winced as she heard the sound of a whip crack and someone's shout of despair. "Maleficent was going to lock him down here?" She questioned, picking up on the scent of old blood as they slowed their walk for who knows what reason.

"For like a hundred years right?" Evie asked, "That would've been fun."

Despite herself, Faith snorted, "As if he'd live that long…"

Carlos looked around, "She nearly pulled it off, didn't she?"

Mal nodded at all three of the questioning teens. "If not for that trio of self-righteous, busybody, blasted goody-too-shoes fairies," She sighed, "She would've succeeded. Instead it was, cut, end of scene. Enter Isle of the Lost."

Jay looked back at them, noticing that they had lagged further behind during the conversation, "Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like we've been down here a hundred years already. Let's get on with it," Jay told them as he increased his speed and walked closer to a dungeon door.

Carlos followed closely behind and held the box up to the door, listening for its beep. "This is the one."

He went ahead with the box with Faith not too far behind him, while Jay and Mal and Evie helped each other slowly down the steps, bracing themselves against the wall as they went. They needed to proceed with caution, for there was no rail, and the treads were coated in thick, slippery black moss.

"Eck," Evie whined as her foot squished in the mucky moss, "Suddenly, the whole mud river thing doesn't seem so bad."

Faith nodded.

"Seriously," Jay agreed.

A few utterly squishy treks into the darkness later, and they found themselves in front of a rotten wooden door, practically hanging off the hinges. "Here?" Mal asked as she touched it, then jumped back as the frame of the door collapsed, sending the wood clattering against the floor. Even the heavy iron straps that had once bound the door fell against the stones and the wood, making an awfully loud noise that had Faith wincing.

"M-maybe we shouldn't touch anything," said Carlos.

Mal rolled her eyes, "Too late for that."

Faith shuddered as she looked around, "I think this is it."

Mal nodded, and Jay pushed aside what little remained of the door. As they entered Faith heard the sounds of raspy breathing, and smelt something foreign. The sound of chimes rung around her. "Somethings not right," she muttered under her breath. And something wasn't, while spirits feel out of place all the time, this feeling she was receiving was way to foreign, yet familiar to her. Like a ghost that doesn't belong.

Apparently, Jay noticed something off as he observed his surroundings. "Did any of you notice –"

"Shut up," Evie hissed, her eyes flickering towards the door remains. Faith looked back and saw what put her allies on end, the door looked like a mouth, that of some feline creature. And the doorway looked like opened Jaws.

The five of them walked inside the impossibly dark space. Even Faith had to squint in order to make out the room. And the only shapes she could make out where rough lumps of… well, she didn't know.

Jay struck something with his hand in his search for a light, and suddenly, the room was engulfed in the deafening sounds of metal and stone colliding and grinding together. Faith immediately covered her ears to block out as much of the noise.

Only for her to be blinded by the flooding light that filled her vision. Faith cried out as she covered her watering eyes as she fell onto something soft… Something soft and… grainy. Sand.

Faith eyes snapped open once Evie's scream sounded. Faith shot up and looked around to see Mal thrashing around in the sand that was already up to her calves, and Carlos was sifting through the stand looking for his box. Jay was the only one who stood remotely still as he looked at the glittering objects that filled the room along with the room.

Now she understood. Probably sooner than the others, why the place seemed so foreign. This isn't a part of the isle, someone teleported or moved a place to the castle. And the souls that had passed in here had come with it.

Faith noticed Evie push away some sand and saw a new crown on her head, she shook her head as the princess questioned, "What is this? Where are we?"

"I can assure you this is not a part of my mother's castle," Mal answered wryly. "More residue from the hole in the dome perhaps?" she asked after spitting out some sand and brushing her purple bangs from her eyes.

Carlos nodded. "It has to be. There's no other explanation."

"Wait a minute, where's the scepter," Mal questioned as she spun around to stare at Carlos, wide eyed and nervous. "I-it has to be here, right? Has anyone seen it?"

Faith stood silently as Carlos blew sand away from the machine and checked it over. "The thing is still working, but I don't know. It's not beeping anymore. It's like it lost the signal, or something." Carlos told her, and Faith covered her ears to avoid hearing Mal's loud bark that was sure to be released soon.