Author's Note: Hello fellow readers, this is Proto back from the abyss. Been some time since the last chapter and I'm sure your wonder why it took so long on this chapter. Well, you see this chapter is 'special' in a very large way. The subject on the matter isn't on the characters or story of this Kingdom Keepers reboot but instead on setting. While writing this chapter I realized that this setting needed to be more than just a simple back drop for the characters to roam around; this place needed special treatment. I said in the last author's note that there was a place I dreamed of going to long before I thought of going to Disney World and that when I got there that dream didn't come true; well this here is that place and I hope that everyone who reads this particular chapter can remember the details and picture it within their mind. I know I have.
There's two things I wish to share when it came to the making of this chapter that you should know before reading.
The first is a small interview that a Kingdom Keeper fan had with Ridley Pearson when asked about why he chose Maleficent to be the lead villain 'so to say' for the Kingdom Keepers series. He said and I quote, "The fact that if you look around most lists, including my own, of horrible Disney Villains, she's always very near the top. She's a pretty bad person. And she's also, at least in my head, she's tied more to our world, then a lot of the other villains whom seem to be in their own world, or in their own castle, or in their own this. Maleficent just has always struck me as someone who you might walk around a corner and bump into." THIS I took into deep consideration when I began this reboot story. Having read many types of fan fiction on Maleficent, both the hero and the villain, I wanted the Maleficent in Project DHI to be the most connected to our modern world than any of the others. I didn't want a copy and paste of the Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty or Kingdom Hearts, which many Kingdom Keepers fans tend to do, but at the same time I didn't want to erase that magical tone of Mistress of All Evil or make her too modern that she would be unrecognizable to her animated counterpart. Also, I didn't want to humanize her to the point where she's relatable to the 'average' flawed person in the real world because Maleficent IS NOT an average flawed person.
The second thing is a part of my childhood that is worth mentioning. Like Finn in this story, I too have a collection of VHS tapes of many Disney films, some of which were unheard of to many fans such as So Dear to My Heart, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and The Spirit of Mickey; to name a few. There were two places I always watched these classics as a young kid growing up; my small apartment and my day care. Well along time ago, when I had to wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning as a kid, yeah believe that, I was left at my local day care while my family went to work. I was always the first kid to arrive and every day we watched a Disney movie, took a nap, ate lunch, played outside, and got picked up to go home. I have many fine memories of that day care, mostly watching Disney movies with many other kids. For some odd reason I can only remember watching Sleeping Beauty a lot. Yet on this particular morning there was something else I watched on the television that wasn't a Disney movie. Nope. And what I saw is something that will always take me back to being a kid the same way a Disney movie does.
I share these two things because they both fit into this Disney setting that to me is no doubt the most sacred place in the entire Disney Universe. Not for it's relation to Disney but to the worlds of fantasy and reality when they collide. This setting, this place, where I cannot go but the Disney characters can is not only sacred but it is powerful. It's power is greater than anything in the Disney Universe and rules over all characters both good and evil. So where is this place? I can only say this.
One day 15 year old Briar Rose in disobedience to her aunts went into a village festival where a man who had traveled far told the towns folk told tales of a Castle that ruled over all. This place was the tallest he had ever seen and that to stand atop it is to touch the very sky itself. Urging for adventure beyond her aunt's cottage, Rose left in the late night to explore the world across the sea. Going through her unknown father King Stefan's Kingdom, she came to King Hubert's kingdom by the sea. From there she hoped on a boat that lead to the Kingdom of Corona where she befriended Princess Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. From there Flynn motioned to a close friend Prince Naveen where he took her across the ocean, pass Devil's Bayou, to the city of New Orleans to meet his love Tiana. After a good time in the city Rose boarded a train to the North, passing by the rural lands of Widow Tweed and Amos Slade. Then she got onto a bus in the town of Middleton, pass Kim Possible's house, and up through the Tristate Area, and upon entering the land she could see it. Wearing a blue stripe dress and wide glass to blend into the crowd Briar Rose could see the Castle. The Castle of the World.
Chapter 12: Kinsali
April 4, 1973
301 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York, USA
3:00 P.M.
A man dressed in a formal suit and a woman in a long trench coat made their way through the doors and into one of the most luxurious hotels in Lower Manhattan. Not wanting to waste time, the two made their way to the receptionist's desk.
"Good afternoon sir" the front desk clerk greeted the man. "Do you have a reservation with us?"
"Yes; I do" the man said as he pulled out his badge and laid it on the table. It was an FBI badge with credentials. "I hope this makes the process go faster."
The front desk clerk's attitude changed as he quickly got the phone to call his manager about the visiting agent. After a minute, the clerk hung up the phone and with a smile said, "Welcome to the Waldorf Astoria."
"Thank you" the agent replied as he got his badge.
The woman by his side was tall but silent. The clerk curiosity asked, "And who might this elegant lady be."
The woman gave a smile to him and said in a young but elegant voice, "That my fair man is classified."
Respecting their privacy, the clerk handed them their keys and the two made their way to the elevators. Making their way to the top floor, the man and woman entered their high suite penthouse in which they reserved for months in advance.
"Alright Elanor, we are finally here" said the agent.
"Come now Alan" the woman replied. "You can call me by my real name now."
Feeling awkward at saying the absurd name out loud the man said, "Fine Maleficent; Davis arrived yesterday so he's already in town."
"You will address him as 'Mr." Davis" Maleficent said as she looked at the agent in discontent.
"Don't forget the rules we laid out" the agent pointed towards her heart. "If you try to escape or hurt anyone, that detonator in your heart will explode and you'll be back in a Disney park."
Knowing her disadvantage she had to rescind. "Understood."
She walked away from the man to open the balcony doors to reveal a clear view of the southern area of New York City. Not too far away in the distance was where her creator would meet her.
"Are you certain that they are the tallest" Maleficent asked her mutual acquaintance.
"Yes" the agent replied, "They just opened to the public earlier in the morning, but I manage to get only you and Mr. Davis a private ticket to the top of The World."
In her many years of living in the new world she had never seen a pair of towers so tall that their steel would collide with the clouds. It amazed her how such a thing could be made without the skills of the Builders, the giants, or even magic.
Stroking the silver bracelets in her hair, she manipulated the television to see what was on the local news. Unfortunately, the television popped up to her remind of the defeat.
The news anchor spoke with a picture of an airplane in the background. "With the last of the POWs backs from Vietnam and U.S. armed forces withdrawing from the country, the question to ask now is how long while South Vietnamese government last? Will the N.V.A. and Vietcong break the peace accord and head straight for Saigon or will South Vietnam surrender to the North given the weaken performance of its own ARVN force. Whatever the future may hold one thing is absolutely certain; the United States is out of Vietnam."
After years of fighting Mistress Au Co in the Apeiron and her children in the physical plane, Maleficent clenched her fist in anger. Never had she been on the losing side of a war, let alone a human war; even worse to the fact that those who lost found peace in a false victory dub 'defeat with dignity'. There is never dignity in defeat.
"What a waste" Maleficent snarled.
With her mind she switched the channels to see if there was any news in the city talking about the towers. Luckily for here, one channel was playing it's opening day benediction. At that moment she listened to the priest bless the towers to the High Yasalimari. "Oh God the creator and sustainer of the universe look with favor upon this new center of trade, of commerce, and of culture. Give guidance, protection, and of right judgement to all who work and live here."
(Present Day)
September 11, 2019 (Wed.)
Location Unknown
6:35 P.M.
The group continued to walk on the stone path through the tapestry forest, feeling like they were a Disney film that was self-aware.
"You know this reminds me of Enchanted" Charlene suggested. "You know that one where the cartoon princess goes to real life New York City."
"Oh yeah I remember that one" Willa said in glee.
"Darn good movie for me" said Maybeck.
"You know I never got one thing about that movie" Philby said. "Why didn't the queen send her to Detroit? If you want to send someone to a place where happily ever after doesn't exist why not there?"
"No" Finn said sarcastically, "No. Not Detroit. Anywhere but Detroit."
"Speaking of which, any guesses to where the fairy send us to" Maybeck asked?
Everyone replied in silence as they took in the scenery around them.
The forest around them was so dense that they could barely see the sky and so low that the branches were at arm's reach from their heads. What was strange was how quiet everything was as there were no buzzing of insects or chirping of birds. The eerie silence was uncanny but the looming dread that surrounded the group was what would happen when they reach the 'castle' Maleficent told them earlier.
"Do you think if I hit my head on something birds will magically appear tweeting in circles around me" Maybeck asked in a comical sense to ease the moment?
"Don't try it" Charlene replied.
Then up front something caught Finn's eye. Along the side of the stone path was a large bell hanging from a wooden post covered in vines. The group stop out of a mystical feeling and pulled on the bells' rope to ring it. The bell's ring echoed loudly throughout the dense forest. Without saying a word, the group continue to walk along the path. It wasn't long till they could finally see a clearing in the distance.
"I think that's it" Willa said as she could make out the white cement payment on the ground.
Charlene look to Maybeck and asked, "You want to race?"
"Na" he replied, "I'm not that excited to see whatever castle Maleficent has in store."
The group then walked together towards the clearing.
"I hope this isn't some torn down castle with gargoyles all around it" said Maybeck.
"I wonder how it's going to look inside" said Charlene. "If it's anything like a fairy tale castle then I hope that it has a big ball room, with chandeliers, candles lighting the place; you know like something out of Beauty and the Beast."
"I say it will be more like the Cinderella Castle" Willa said from behind. "Not the park castle, but the castle in the movie, with wide spaces, being tall and grand. You know something that makes you feel small."
"I don't think it's going to be like that" Philby said from the front. "I think this castle isn't going to be from any movie."
Up front Finn was the first to exit out of the forest and almost instantaneously he froze in disbelief as he stared to the sky in awe. Philby, Charlene, Willa, and Maybeck behind him reacted the same way. What they looked upon wasn't a stone structure, but a steel building. At its base stood columns that resembled tridents, with their fork ends shooting upwards to the sky making the face of the building appear like a compressed vent filter. The building was square in its shape and it was so high that its top floor looked like a horizon in the sky. Nearby in the exact same shape and form was the building's twin.
Everyone had the same thought in mind. This is no castle.
There before the DHIs were the Twin Towers of The World Trade Center. Standing like they were never destroyed.
"What the..."
Maybeck's words were cut off as a musical melody of a wind instrument filled the air with instant harmony. The group's attention quickly turned from the sky to the ground in which they were looking upon a wide opened plaza with a large circular water fountain with a golden sphere at its core. From the plaza they could see that the twin towers weren't side-by-side but that one was ahead of the other. The kids walked across the vast open space and could see that apart from the two towers there were no other buildings surrounding them. Walking around the fountain they found the source of the beautiful music.
Sitting on a bench was Maleficent in her old animation form playing a wooden flute, looking almost exactly as she did in Sleeping Beauty. She wore her black robes with a purple lining down the middle, however the rest of her body was different. Instead of having her devilish horns, her head was covered in her long black raven hair that was flowing in the wind. She wore no makeup and her skin was more of a natural tone than being green or white. It was odd for the kids to see a human looking Maleficent playing such a lovely musical piece in the presence of a building that has a dark meaning in the real world.
After playing the last notes, Maleficent put her wooden flute aside and looked to the five teenagers with a small smile. She didn't say a word to them.
"I didn't know you could play" Philby said quietly, surprise to her musical instrument talent.
"Yeah" Charlene said right next to him. "Nice tune."
"I appreciate the complements" Maleficent said in a voice that wasn't as old as her animated movie self. "What do you think of my castle?"
"Your castle?"
"Yes. Your people left it here in image and memory; that makes it mine."
There was then a long silence between the kids and the evil fairy with the only sound coming from the hard wind that was funneled between the two towers. All eyes turn to one of the towers with the kids in awe at their colossal nature and Maleficent looking at them in delight.
"Do you know what day it is" the fairy asked?
Obviously.
"You said we would see a castle earlier" said Willa, "In our world we call this a skyscraper."
Maleficent's finger motioned to the two towers. "Back then skyscrapers were called castles, and this here is a special kind of castle."
Looking at the buildings again, Willa asked "Why?"
"While it may be only a pair of buildings to your eyes, this place is one of divine providence. Greater than Mount Olympus. Greater than the High Courts of the Fae. This is the Castle of The World and his name is Kinsali."
The kids were still not knowing what to think of her words.
"Well this is something you don't expect." Maybeck raised his finger slowly, "Question. Where are we?"
Maleficent replied, "An Apeiron."
"What" Philby asked?
"An Apeiron" the fairy repeated herself. "It's a realm that is the birthplace of imagination, creativity, and fantasy. Here memory gives birth to existence and the laws of the physical plane don't exist."
"So basically, this is imagination land" said Finn.
"A simple way of putting it; but yes, that's what an Apeiron is." The fairy then explained, "You see right now, as we speak, there are millions of twin towers in the minds of millions of your people all of whom have a single image in mind. That single image manifest itself into a single entity in the Apeiron and that entity is The World…" She cut herself from finishing her sentence. "I say this to give you clarity."
The kids look the buildings above them, but Maleficent stroked the wooden flute she held with her finger.
"So that's how you were created?"
"Yes" the fairy replied to Finn. "But Mr. Davis and Walter's pen were merely a part of my creation. The magic that gave power to all of this is the same magic that molded these towers from the metal of the Earth."
The fairy then appeared to take something off the wooden flute she held. It was a metal ring and once putting it on her finger she then began to transform. Black mist surrounded her hair and turned them into solid horns. Her skin turned unusually pale and her green eyes turned a menacing yellow. Now she was in her true Sleeping Beauty form.
She then got up to walk across the large open plaza towards one of the tower's columns. She then placed her hand which bared her metal ring on the tower and the ring began to glow purple!
I am here Kinsali and I brought you guests tonight.
The kids in confusion made their way towards her in. Finn asked, "What are you doing?"
"Giving you passage" she replied as her eyes were closed, clearly in a mental state of concentration.
No, it's not her; but they are her children.
A few seconds later, Maleficent said "Kneel on your knees."
"What" Finn asked?
"Kneel" she repeated herself. "He demands it."
Finn look to the others and node them to comply. All kids feeling embarrassed at the display took a knee down and bowed their heads.
"Now cover your ears and close your eyes."
The ringing of many bells filled the air as a strong gust of wind blew through the forest and towards the towers. Finn could feel in his stomach an inner force pulling his blood towards the skyscraper only a few feet away. The wind's power grew stronger and the only sound that could be heard were the rustling of leaves and the chiming of bells in the air. A brief humming sound grew from the buildings, making all five of the kids cover their ears for what was to come.
Suddenly from the towers above a blinding light turned the entire sky white followed by a defining boom!
"What the hell" Finn screamed out loud as everyone closed their eyes to the light!
The sound was as loud as thunder, but it wasn't an explosion. Instead it sounded like a synthetic horn belonging to a boat or train. The light and sound only lasted for a few seconds before the echo of thunder dissipate into silence. Opening their eyes, they were real once more! Their animated wardrobe was the same but everything around them changed from animation to live-action.
"What just happened" Charlene asked Maleficent.
Taking her hand off the building the fairy replied, "Apparently Kinsali want you to see him in his true form." She glanced at her glowing ring which slowly disappeared off her finger. Then her body was slowly beginning to transform back into her human self.
"Why did you bring us here" Charlene asked?
Maleficent turned to face the girl. "Because there are things that you must learn, and it will be important both in your mystery and for your futures."
She continued, "Now I'll leave you here while I get dressed into something more formal for dinner. We will be eating in the restaurant at the top of the first tower, once we are done then I'll take you back to the real world and you can go home."
The fairy appeared to perform a teleportation spell, but she froze as she could feel the uneasiness of the situation. "I know this is odd and unexpected. To see the towers and what you've been taught." Her voice turned heavy as she looked directly in the eyes of the five teenagers. "But I need you to realize something. I don't make this invitation for anyone and I don't make it lightly. After tonight you will never see this place again and it will be up to you if your time here is a gift or a curse."
She then casted her spell, disappearing from their sight.
The kids looked up, feeling so small compared to the twin towers looming over them. Willa, wanting to relieve the tension, let her inner Disney geek spill out. "Well…I guess we know why Giselle wasn't sent to Detroit."
Everyone turned to her, surprise to hear her try to attempt at comedy.
"That didn't help did it?"
Maybeck, looking at Willa, then look to the twin towers. "You know you should do a YouTube video on that. Make a dark Disney theory and get some big views."
The small speaker towers that surrounded the circular water fountain came on. "To all who come to this happy place: Welcome." The voice was of Walt Disney and each of the kids knew those words were from the opening day of Disneyland, but the audio went into static for a second. "Dis… land is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Dis... land is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all The World."
The speakers began to play music like the music played in the Magic Kingdom that would play on loops to keep guests in the entertainment atmosphere. As the carnival park music echoed across the towers, the DHIs looked up once again in a sense of trying to let go of logic as they agreed upon earlier. As they accept what was before them, all their minds began to feel a sense of wonder as they pictured two dead skyscrapers standing side by side deep in a forest devoid of any civilization. The feeling was magical in the senses that they really did feel like they were within a fantasy; where things that shouldn't be are real.
"Oh" Finn snapped his fingers; having a eureka moment. "Oliver and Company."
Philby, Willa, Maybeck and Charlene turned to him in confusion. "What?"
"Oliver and Company" he repeated. "It's a Disney movie not many people know. It's the only animated Disney film to have the twin towers in them. If this is all because of Disney magic, then that's why they are here."
"Well I didn't know that" said Charlene as she and the others return their attention to the towers. "But since we are here we might as look around."
The five teenagers then turn to the tower on their left and naturally ran to it; going across the large plaza and the water fountain. After a quick jog the kids came to a halt at a small column near the entrance of one of the towers. Upon it laid the text:
2 World Trade Center. Observation Deck 107th Floor.
"Did Maleficent tell us to meet her at a restaurant", Willa asked?
Charlene suggested, "Let's go find out where she wants us to be then we can split up and look around."
The kids then made a jog to the other building, which was clearly Tower 1, upon which they then had a clear view of the sky with nothing obstructing it. The forest surrounding made Finn suggest, "Hey, let's walk around to the back. You know to just see if we really are in the middle of nowhere."
With nothing to do, his friends agreed and followed him towards the forest.
Tilting his head as far as possible Philby said, "Just look at them guys. They look like they go on forever into the sky."
For a moment, they stop to see and agreed with Philby's words. With Tower 2 behind them, the kids turned the corner to the rear face of Tower 1 and were surprise to see how close the forest was to the building. With tree branches arching over the cement floor the kids were standing in a natural tunnel with sunlight shining at the other end.
A column ahead in tunnel caught their eyes so naturally the kids walked to it, but it was covered in vines from the dense forest which was only a couple of feet away from the base of the tower. Finn tore the vines down to reveal the column's text.
1 World Trade Center. Windows on the World 107th Floor Restaurant.
This was it. Turning to their left they walk under the trident columns that ran across the base of the tower to enter the doorway. Finn opened the glass door first and like the gentleman that he was, allowed the girls entrance first. Willa and Charlene who entered touched a side of the door in silence to respect the building. Philby, Maybeck, and Finn on the other hand beat their chest with a clenched fist and touched the door in a more masculine form of silent respect.
The kids were now standing in the tower's lobby which was huge given its three-story ceiling. The sun's rays provided the only light into the building, making the shadows of the forest cover the lobby in darkness. The carpet upon the floor was royal red and span the entire lobby. Above was a second-floor balcony where flags from all over the world were hanging along its side. The trident columns outside gave the lobby's windows a gothic feeling as if one was looking at a stain glass window in a church. With everything having a European style the kids real did feel like they were within a piece of art.
Suddenly a phone began to ring behind the lobby's huge desk counter. Looking over the counter the kids could see the red light blinking on the incoming call.
Finn reached over the counter, pick up the old-style phone that had a curly cord attached, and slowly put it to his ear. "Um…hello."
"Salutations my dear" said a woman's formal voice on the other end of the phone. Only it wasn't Maleficent's.
"Who is this" Finn asked?
"First put me on speaker so your friends can join the conversation."
Picking up the rest of the phone and laying it on the desk counter Finn press the speaker button to the phone machine. Having seen old movies, Finn then hung up the phone to let the person on the other side speak through the speaker.
The voice on the other side ask, "Can you hear me Lawrence, Dell, Charlene, Isabella, and Terrance?"
Everyone froze in terror.
Finn asked again, "Who is this?"
"The wisp who's been guiding you" the woman's voice replied.
That didn't fit with Philby. "Who are you?"
"My name is Elvira" the lady on the phone answered. "Maleficent doesn't want me to be talking to you, but I've known her for a long time and I find no danger in sharing a few details that she herself doesn't wish to say."
"Are you like a deleted Disney Villain or something?"
"Of course not! Maleficent would rip my throat out if I even spoke to those Overtakers."
The kids looked at each other finding the statement odd. Willa asked, "Why?"
"Have you not wondered why you've haven't seen her pet raven Diablo?"
The thought never occurred to the kids until now. Maleficent did have a pet raven, yet they haven't seen it.
"Did you see Maleficent's artworks earlier" Elvira asked?
"Yeah" Finn replied.
"Then surely you should've seen me and my social time with her."
Suddenly a wave of questions fills up everyone's minds.
"Wait are you Maleficent's friend" Willa asked?
"She would prefer to call me an acquaintance, but to me she is my dearest companion."
"So why aren't you here with us? You know as a cartoon or something?"
"Again, Maleficent doesn't want me to be there with you. All that she can do for me is give me a voice in the form of a wisp." The woman continued, "I think the powers your holograms carry should be with you in this place. I'll have to get back to you later. Someone has to give Maleficent an opinion on her dress."
Like that the line went dead and the lobby was silent. Philby pick the phone up out of blind hope but the woman was gone.
"Dress" Philby asked in confusion?
"I guess it must be a special night for her" said Charlene.
Curious to see if the woman was correct Finn reached for the counter and without thinking his hand passed through. It was as if he was a DHI but awake! With no resistance of any kind his hand passed through the counter like he was a hologram before returning to a natural physical state.
"I can't believe it" Finn said to himself as the others witnessed.
Philby then touched his wrist, curious to see if the built in Artemis system was also available. Touching is wrist a black bracelet band conjured on his arm and like their DHIs in the real world the bracelet projected a holographic display. "Well I guess we have something to make our time here a little more entertaining."
Without saying a word and feeling in a hypnotic trance, Finn walked along the red carpet of the tower's lobby and the others followed. They walked across the entire square lobby of the tower until coming to an escalator going down. Running on curiosity the kids made their way down the escalator going underground. To their left was a wall of revolving doors with text above it spelling out World Trade Center Mall and at the far end, beyond the tower's footprint, was the sign Parking Garage.
"There was a mall here" Charlene said surprised?
The kids made their way through the revolving doors and found themselves within the halls of an underground shopping mall. They stood at a right angle turn with a coffee shop stationed in front of them, at the corner was high style fashion store, and adjacent to them was a Citibank. Near the kids was an old newspaper station that used to take in coins for newspapers; back in the day when all news was print. In the case they could see the newspaper date: September 11, 2001.
Finn look to his friend and said, "I think were safe here, so if you all feel like splitting up I'm cool with that."
"That's fine by me" Charlene said.
"I'm with her on that" said Willa.
"If we keep in touch, I say okay" said Philby.
"Just be up at the restaurant before supper begins" Maybeck reminded.
Finn nodded to their agreement. "Alright then. If anything comes up just use your com tab and if we get a phone call like we did in the lobby upstairs, then try to share it."
"Gotcha" everyone said together.
Like that the group split up with Charlene and Maybeck going together down the adjacent hall, and Philby along with Willa down the hall in front of them; leaving Finn by himself.
I guess I'm on my own. Finn turned around to walk back to the escalator, but not before the parking garage caught his eyes.
Walking through the doors Finn found himself not in a garage but instead a dark cave. Destroyed cars and mountains of rubble littered the cavern and deep in the center was a huge hole in the ground with light dripping down into it.
"What the hell?" Finn said quietly to himself as he carefully made his way through the cave to the large hole. Upon reaching the edge he could see that above him was a crack to the surface with a little sunlight breaking through. Along the crack was concrete covered in moss hanging by the bent steel rods that supported them. Water tricked through the concrete and caught the sun's rays; making a trickling water fall that was carrying the sunlight down to the deep cavern below.
Finn brought up the Artemis to turn on his night vision ability and look down into the hole. Through the blue spectrum of light that covered his vision he could see that the hole was in fact a large opening nearly six stories down and having an opening of 30 or 50 feet. Within it were the destroyed cars and crumbled cement, with only steel beam columns rising from the bottom up. Finn had always been an adventurous spirit when he was young, but he knew better than to go down there.
Turning around to go back into the tower, Finn's eye caught a white arrow upon the pavement. Knowing it was a traffic arrow that could lead to an exit, he followed the highlighted path traversing destroyed cars and boulders of concrete. After a minute of walking to the far end of the cave, Finn found himself at the base of a ramp leading up. Reaching the top, he could see upon turning the corner a forest at the end of tunnel with a black sign on the ceiling that reading: EXIT.
Finn at that point decide to turn off his night vision, but before putting away his Artemis his curiosity urged him to try something. He pulled up his Scanner tab and click it to emit his blue scanning ray. Projecting the ray upon the wall Finn was surprising to see his Artemis tab message saying, Dark Data Downloading.
What the heck is dark data?
After a minute the message then said Park Map Complete.
I guess Wayne wanted us to explore the other parks later.
Clicking his map Finn was impressed to see that the whole Trade Center complex was on display. He could see that the others were still underground with Philby and Willa being near Tower 2 and Maybeck alongside Charlene still walking in the mall.
As he walked to the forest at the end of the tunnel Finn pulled up his com tab and said, "Guys, if you use your scanner you'll have a map of the towers and all."
"I got you mate" Philby replied.
"Thanks for the info" Charlene replied as well.
Once outside Finn looked back at the tunnel leading to the garage with its entrance being covered in forest and vines. Now it looked like a true cave. Climbing over the opening, Finn could see through the thick forest to the base of one of the towers and began to make his way through.
The Mall
7:00 P.M.
Charlene hung up on Finn as she along with Maybeck continue their stroll in the underground mall. Recently the two had passed a large row of escalators that lead down to the subway and were now coming across what appeared to be a Warner Bros. Store out of all things.
"Oh my God it's the Messiah!" Maybeck shouted sarcastically as he kneeled before a golden statue of Bugs Bunny.
Charlene looked behind him and said, "Cool it Donnie. Rabbit Jesus isn't going to come to life."
"Hey, you never know" Maybeck shrugged his shoulders as he got up.
The two then made their way down another hall. The mall was an underground maze with the mall having turn after turn and nothing but intersections.
While walking Charlene's mind felt it was right the right time. "Hey Terry?"
"Whoa" Maybeck said up front. "Why call me by my first name? Something special?"
"Kind of" Charlene shrugged. "It's been two days since those guys shot you and I just want to say thanks. You know, for saving my life."
Maybeck felt slightly embarrassed to see her talk to him so softly. "Come on now, don't go soft on me. I was just doing what my Aunt Jelly thought me. If there's a special girl worth protecting you protect her with your life."
"I'm I that special girl?" Charlene asked in both a questioning and suggestive manor.
Now he felt more embarrassed. "Well…not like that…I mean I would do it for you even if I didn't know you but…"
Charlene then quickly kissed Maybeck upon his cheek, making him freeze instantly.
"That was very brave of you Terry" she said. "Don't ever tell yourself otherwise."
"Yeah" he nodded as this was the first time he had ever been kissed by another girl. "It's cool."
Charlene could feel the awkward sensation growing in her. "Well…I'm going to go on ahead and look around."
"Sure. Sure." Maybeck nodded as he too had that awkward feeling.
"Okay."
As Charlene walk down the hall, Maybeck stood still as a statue. Once she was out of sight, the glee shot through him like an adrenaline rush.
"Oh, hell yes" Maybeck whispered quietly as he joyfully jumped. Once he calmed down an electronic store across the hallway caught his eyes. Entering the store Maybeck's could see something at the far end that caught his interest.
"Well I'll be." Running to the back of the store Maybeck found himself standing before an old-style boom box. For black kids like himself this wasn't just history it was treasure. Now all he needs now are tapes to play. To his side Maybeck could see Walkman players and next to them were the old-style cassette tapes. Picking a tape at random Maybeck looked upon the tapes plastic container that read: 1980 HITZ! He then clicked the eject button on the boom box, placed the tape in player slot, and closed it shut. With anticipation peaking at the tip of his finger Maybeck then press the play button and turn up the volume.
From the box's large speakers exploded a tune that Maybeck's ears instantly recognized. A beat that was to one of his favorite songs from his favorite singer. The song's name: Billie Jean.
Main Lobby
Floor 1
Tower 2
7:05 P.M.
Reaching the top of the escalator, Philby and Willa made their way out of the underground mall and into the lobby of Tower 2. The setting was pretty much the same as the tower they had entered prior.
The ringing of a phone call immediately echoed across the empty lobby. This must be the return call the woman mentioned earlier.
"Willa get the phone" Philby asked her to do as he pulled up his Artemis to call the others. "Hey guys we got ourselves another call."
Willa pick up the phone and clicked on the speaker button before putting the phone down. Philby, with his com channel open, rested his forearm near the phone for the message to carry over to the others.
"You picked up. Good." The same woman's voice spoke through the phone's speaker. "I see that she was modest enough to take you to Lord Kinsali; that's an odd move on her part."
Finn's voice came out from the com channel. 'Phone lady what is…"
"Elvira" the woman corrected him.
"Okay Elvira" Finn corrected himself. "Why doesn't you call this place what it is; The World Trade Center?"
Elvira chuckled to his question. "If I called my Lord by his true name then I would die a painful death and if Maleficent called him by his true name then she would give you a painful death. The power of The World is a power she doesn't wish to reveal to you children. Yet."
Maybeck then asked, "No offense lady but what is Maleficent trying to play something on us?"
"What do you mean?"
"She brought us here because it's 9/11. We know what happened to these towers. And I'm pretty sure we are here because of that."
"You are somewhat correct boy." The phone woman continued, "The answers that you seek lie before you. All you must do is explore and they will come to you. I have to warn you Maleficent doesn't just freely share her past, so do expect to pay a price of some kind after each new discovery."
The phone suddenly went silent, leaving the kids to now chat.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm willing to go on a little faith here and pay whatever price is needed to learn about who we're dealing with. She did after all said she wouldn't harm us today" Finn said to the others on the com. "Agree?"
"Agree" everyone said through the channel.
"Okay. I'm in Tower 1, just about to go up the elevator to the restaurant. You guys should really go scope out the roof. I mean we're in a skyscraper for crying out loud."
Like that Finn went off the channel. Then Charlene said, "Hey Philby."
"Yeah" he replied.
"Come to the waypoint I'm setting. I just found something that I think will make a geek like you smile."
A blue line shined upon the floor leading down the escalators back to the underground mall.
"Well, I guess I'll go see what she's talking about" Philby said as he made his way back downstairs.
However just before he left Willa on her own she said, "Dell, hold on."
Using his first name meant something. "What?" When he turned to see her, he was surprising to see her looking as shy as she was the day they met on the plane.
"I…umm…" she tried to find the words. "I never had a chance to say thanks. You know for…that night…"
"There's no thanks needed" Philby quickly replied.
"Were you afraid" she asked.
Philby was about to reply, but his words were quickly extinguished. "It was nothing. Now gone on to the observation deck, I'll catch up with you later. Alright?"
She felt it best to end the conversation. "Yeah. Sure. Okay." She then quickly left his view, taking a nearby stairwell that lead to the lobby's balcony area.
Philby, shaking off his thoughts on her, followed the holographic lines on the floor to Charlene's waypoint. Going down the escalators Philby was surprise to see that the line didn't go to the mall but to a door leading to the tower's core. Walking through it Philby found himself in a hallway like the utilidors in the Magic Kingdom, only here they were small as an office building setting should be. He continued his way down the hall until he came across a door which said: Operations Control Center.
This looks interesting. Remembering that he has his DHI powers, Philby walked through the door and found himself staring at a room which housed large computers systems. The old-style setting combined with the blinking lights made him feel like he stepped onto the bridge of a Star Trek ship. There before him was Charlene.
"Satisfied?"
"Oh yeah" Philby said with a smile on his face. Then an antique caught his eye. "A COMPAQ? I thought nobody used cathode ray tube computers anymore?"
"They don't" Charlene noted. Clearly the geek within him was taking over his spirit.
"Oh? Right" Philby said in embarrassment.
"I can tell you know computers?"
"Of course. My parents are computer engineers for Mesriya, the same people who helped Wayne with our holograms. Remember?" Philby turn to look back at the computer, or should he say monitor. "My parents have a Compaq Portable in my house, you can call it a technological antique. It's what got them interested into computers in the first place. First there was COMPAQ, then then they got bought out by HP, which then got bought out by Mesriya."
Suddenly there was knocking on the door. "Hey guys? You mind opening the door for me? I got my hands full."
Opening the door for Maybeck, Charlene was surprise to see him carrying a large boom box on his shoulder and a bag full of small tapes in his hands
"Thanks Charlie" he winked.
She rolled her eyes to his pride. "Don't let that kiss get to you hot shot."
Philby didn't need to hear that. "Hey Donnie, is that stereo?"
"It absolutely is" Maybeck replied looking at the large computer room. "So is this the hub that runs the towers or is this the bridge of the Enterprise."
Philby's eyes widened with glee as he asked Maybeck in shortness of breath, "You know Star Trek?"
"I came across an episode or two for one of its 1980's series. Real fascinating stuff."
Nerds. Charlene thought.
Suddenly in a corner at the far end of the room a phone started to ring. Seeing that the boys had their personal treasures in hand, Charlene pick the phone up and said, "Hello."
"HELLO" shouted an overly jovial voice which made Charlene push the phone away from her ear for a second!
"What was that" Maybeck asked in slight shock.
Charlene immediately put the phone on speaker. The voice then asked, "You kids listening? I hope your listening."
The woman's voice was from a different person as this one was too jovial than the more tamed woman earlier.
Philby asked, "Who is this?"
"Old friend number two" the woman on the phone replied. "I see Maleficent has put you in that painting of those towers she praises about once a year. She must have a liking to you if she's showing you our Lord Kinsali."
The kids merely stood silent, not really having anything to say.
"Anyway" the woman continued, "I'm just here to lend you on a little secret."
"And that is" Philby asked?
"If it isn't too late, get someone to the top floor on the observation deck. You'll see one of Maleficent's cherished memories. So just go up and..."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALEESA!?"
"Uh oh" the jovial woman said quietly.
The woman whom shouted continue, "What have you told them!"
"Oh, don't be so serious…" A physical conflict could be heard in the background, sounding like the two were beating each other up.
"Damn it" the serious woman said as the commotion settled. "Maleficent is going to be upset about this."
"Stern bit..." the jovial woman said quietly.
"BE SILENT!"
The calm woman's voice then came into the conversation. "Calm yourself Nayama, Maleficent wants Lord Kinsali to share her memories."
"What? To these strangers?"
"Don't question me on the matter. Now hang up that phone. You've probably scared the young ones."
The phone call then ended leaving Charlene, Maybeck, and Philby taken back in awe to the sudden drama on the phone. Unfortunately, none of their Artemis coms channels were open, meaning Finn and Willa didn't hear the conversation.
"Well I guess we know we have three callers" Charlene said.
"Yeah" Maybeck nodded, "One too joyful, one too angry, and one just right."
"God knows how the hell Maleficent befriended them" Philby said from behind.
Charlene then clicked on her Artemis to check where Finn and Charlene were, hoping one was near the observation deck high above them in Tower 2. Hoping to find out what the woman was talking about.
Top of The World Observation Deck
Floor 107
Tower 2
7:12 P.M.
After her failure of expressing thanks to Philby on his bravery, she dashed to the 2nd floor where she found a small 'photo shot' area near a ticket booth; which was where the souvenir photos would be sold to guest who went up. She then crossed a bridge that transverse the lobby and went into the core of the building where the observation elevator was located. Within a matter of seconds, she had gone from the second floor to the highest floor, or at least as high as the elevators could take her. Willa had never in her life ridden an elevator that had gone so fast in such a short time frame.
The doors to the huge elevator open to a colorful hallway that hung posters to Broadways shows such as Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, and the Lion King. Reaching the far end, she found herself in a massive hallway in which the floor looked like a piano keyboard, with the windows of sunlight laying out each key. Gazing out the window she was immediately taken over in shock and awe to how high she was. The plaza's large water fountain looked like a small puddle from above. Beyond that was only forest, bodies of water, and a slightly curved horizon line with the sun coming down. It was the most tranquil view she had ever seen in her life. If only she had her sketchbook to save this view.
Then something in the distance caught Willa's eye. Something that laid on the horizon that wasn't natural. Blocking out as much of the light as she could, Willa was surprise to see what it was.
A castle with flying banners upon its spires.
Willa took the image in mind and tried not to think, only wanting to be one with the picture she was in. She then continued her exploration of the indoor observation deck. Within the large empty hall were shoulder wide windows with special railing nearby in which visitors could lean or sit upon the edge of the building. The ceiling and floor were so white and clean that the reflecting sunlight was blinding.
Nearby to her right was an escalator leading to the top but that could wait.
Turning a corner Willa was surprise to discover an old-style pizzeria in the fashion of a New York subway station with the sign: Sbarro, New York's Favorite Pizza Joint. The joint was only five steps lower than the rest of the floor and above it shined colorful neon lights. Willa at that moment was sad looking at the empty lines to the pizza joint with empty chairs and tables nearby. At that moment, she could see at the far corner a view of the first tower which had only a tiny black TV mast no more than two stories high upon its roof. This meant she must be in the tower that has the large antenna at the top.
The bracelet on her wrist started to blink and so Willa pulled up her Artemis, expecting that one of the others had a call to share.
It was Charlene. "Hey, Willa. Finn. Are any of you on the observation deck?"
Before Willa could reply, Finn replied first. "No. I'm think I'm in some transit floor. I got in a small elevator and it only went up to Floor 44. There must be a few mini-elevators for traffic. This is one big building."
"Two" Charlene corrected.
"Guys" Willa said getting back to Charlene's question. "I'm on the observation deck. Is there something wrong?"
"No" Charlene replied. "We just had another call from another lady on the phone. She told us to check the top floor as fast as possible. Something about Maleficent's memories."
"Okay then; what am I looking for?"
"I don't know. Something out of the ordinary."
Willa then quickly ran down the long hallway, searching for something out of the ordinary. After turning every corner of the building, she found herself back in the hall she first entered with the escalator nearby.
Seeing that it leads to the roof, she made her way up the steps of the tight escalator and pass large windows that gave a better view of the land. Once reaching the top she found herself in a small blue room with a revolving door to her side. Going through the door and walking up another escalator, Willa was outside with a clear blue sky surrounding her. An elevated walkway laid squared on top of the tower with its deck painted blue and the railings chalk white. To the inward side of the deck laid benches with glass windows of some kind behind them.
To her surprise, there was no antenna on the roof, meaning both towers had clear roofs with barely anything on them.
It was at this moment that Willa could see that sitting on a bench in the middle of the walkway was Maleficent, wearing an old-style dress and having a 1960's hair style that was of high estate. She was only silent, looking at the horizon with no sense of direction.
Walking with caution, Willa asked politely "Excuse me but…didn't you tell us you would be in the other tower?"
Maleficent remained still, like she completely ignored Willa's question. Stopping three feet from her Willa noticed that something was off. Maleficent's body was outlined in a purple hue like the blue DHI holograms when they cross over. Remembering what Charlene said earlier about memories, Willa quickly pieced it together and called the others.
"Guys, I just found something. It's a hologram of Maleficent just sitting here on the top floor. She's just looking at the view."
"Is there anything else" Philby asked.
"Maybe we missed something" Maybeck suggested.
"No way" Charlene denied. "I think that Willa is just looking at a recording of Maleficent's memories."
"Just keep watch on her Willa" said Finn.
The fairy's hologram began to move slowly. Looking around herself, not even sensing Willa's presence, Maleficent pulled up the skirt of her dress revealing a case of some kind at the end of her leg stocking.
"Hold it guys, she's doing something" Willa said to the others.
Unlocking the small case Maleficent pulled out a paper that was folded in a protective plastic and carefully began to unfold it. Willa came across her back to see what was on the paper and glancing at it she could see that it was an animated drawing of Maleficent with three signatures signed at its bottom.
"You're late" Maleficent said out loud.
Willa jump in surprise, only to hear a quiet and tamed voice from behind.
"Now come on. You know I'm too old to move about."
Turning her head, Willa found herself looking at an old man who was mostly bald; wearing a shirt with a tie and carrying his coat upon one of his arms.
Willa quickly said to her friends, "Everyone, just listen to what's going on. Maleficent is talking with some old man." And from there she allowed the memory conversation play out.
Maleficent put the drawing back in its place.
"I see that Wayne hasn't given you a new drawing" the old man asked.
"It's not his call to make" Maleficent replied. "Disney never gave instructions of what to do with me in case he died."
Willa look to the old man, realizing that this old man was her animator and creator.
"I always told Walter to lay off the smoking" the man took a deep breath. "I'm sure he's up there drawing something for the angels."
Maleficent turn the man and said with graciousness, "Please sit down. It has been a long time."
The man complied as he took a seat near the evil fairy. It was silent for a moment as Willa took the image to mind of Maleficent and her creator sitting side by side on top of the twin towers of The World Trade Center.
"So how is Wayne" asked the old man.
"He is broken" Maleficent replied. "The peace to our war is nothing short of a defeat and he knows it. His companions are dead, and his lover has left him because she claims that he wasn't there to hold her."
The old man gave a sigh. "If only I was there to help him when he got home."
"If home doesn't care for Wayne after war then no one can help him."
The old man let out an even deeper sigh to the harsh truth.
"So then…how is the Magic Kingdom and Disney World? People say it's just as magical as Disneyland."
Maleficent's fists quickly flinched. "Of course, they do. They're the same people who wished for their damn 'peace'. What do you expect from those who chant love and not war?"
The old man didn't reply and instead turn to see the setting sun upon the orange horizon.
"Is that it" Charlene asked through the radio?
"No" Willa replied, "I think there is more."
After a minute of silence, the old man was the first to speak. "It is beautiful up here isn't it?"
Maleficent didn't reply as she continued to look upon the horizon without direction. The old man didn't seem to mind.
"May I ask you something" she asked her creator.
"Of course."
It took a moment for Maleficent to speak. "What is freedom?"
The old man looked surprised. "Why do you ask?"
"Is that not what Wayne went to war for? Is that not what this country praises above all else? Is that not your dream for me?"
"Okay then" the old man laid his coat upon his lap. "First, what is freedom to you?"
"To not be a prisoner to anything or anyone" she replied quickly. The strong tone in her voice made it clear that was what she truly believed.
The old man shook his head in disappointment. "If you think that is freedom then you are wrong."
She turned to face him. "Then what is it" she asked demandingly?
Her creator replied by saying only one word. "Choice."
Her face changed into one of curiousness. "Please explain."
"Freedom isn't about escaping something, it's about finding who you are by yourself. It has nothing to do with the past, memories, or even the world; it's all about what you want and what you do."
Maleficent rubbed her forehead in frustration. "And what if I come to a choice in which I cannot decide?"
"Then you have only yourself to blame" the old man replied in a stern voice. "There will always be hard choices for you to make and I can see why, but just because they are difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't decide. Some choices will lead you to where you need to be, and others will make you lost, but all that really matters is that those choices were yours alone."
She chuckled to his answer for a few seconds before calming down. "Your words never seize to amaze me."
"I only hope that it is enough."
Maleficent then turn her attention to the horizon without direction. Then the old man took something out from his coat. It was a wooden flute; the same one she played from down below. "Do you mind playing that old melody?"
The fairy took the flute and with her long fingers she began to play the same calming melody from before. It was then clear to Willa why Maleficent picked this place for them. Her hologram and the old man started to fizzle in static.
Maleficent's ended her song by smiling peacefully and looking at the sunset once more. "Your right. It is beautiful up here."
The old man joined her in seeing the view, saying one last line before the holograms faded away, "Yes. It really is."
The recording of the memory was over, and Willa was by herself on the observation deck on the roof.
Yet that moment didn't last too long as Charlene came up the escalator to the roof. "Was that it?"
"Yeah" Willa replied to Charlene and the boys on the Artemis. "That's the end of it."
Charlene's intention was to see Maleficent and her creator, but since she missed it she look at the view to appreciate the setting sun on the horizon. The sight was indeed beautiful. "Well I guess we know why she likes this place."
Then she took notice of the roof. "Hey, shouldn't there be a big antenna on top of one of the buildings?"
"Yeah why" Philby asked Charlene?
"Because there's no antenna up here or the other tower."
"What about the land" Finn asked? "What do you see from up there?"
She then replied with everything in her view. "Well we're completely surrounded by forest, there are snowy mountains in distance, a sea way out there, and a whole lot of castles."
"Castles" Maybeck asked?
"Yeah" Willa said as she could see the stone buildings out in the distance. "She's right. The landscape is everything. Seas, mountains, plains, forests; you name it we got it."
"Well then, I guess that all folks" said Maybeck. "Let's enjoy out time here while we can."
Everyone agreed with him on that and like that the radio went silent.
"You know I've never been on a building this high" Charlene said as she rested her arms on the railing; enchanted by the dreamlike landscape around her. "You think this is heaven?"
"I don't know about that" Willa said in honesty. "But I've got to sketch this when we go back to the real world."
The two girls stood silently as they observed the various landscapes around them. The silence was broken by Willa as she asked Charlene "How's Maybeck doing? You know from getting shot."
"He's okay. His shoulder looked okay to me. I gave him a kiss to say thank you."
"What!"
"On the cheek" she clarified calmly.
"Oh" Willa took a deep breath. "I won't go that far in saying thank you but okay."
"So how did you thank Philby?"
She was then taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"I know Finn's okay like Maybeck, but I think Philby was willing to risk his life to see you escape. Am I right?"
She was. "How could you hear him during all of that? The boys were shot, we were about to be killed, and yet you heard that?!"
"Well did you thank Philby" Charlene persisted?
"Well…I…said thanks and he said it was nothing."
"Really" Charlene look to Willa is disappointment. "That's it?"
"Well what do you expect me to do?"
"Tell him how brave he was. About how selfless he was. A message from the heart. A hug. You know something."
"Philby's a geek, I don't think he's one for soft talk and hugs." Willa crossed her arms, saying "It's not that I don't appreciate what he did it's just… you know. I don't want to make it look like we are… I don't want him to have that and I'm sure he doesn't want it for me."
Charlene nodded and said, "I see what you mean. I'm sorry."
"It's alright. No hard feelings."
Wanting to change the subject, Charlene turn to the scenery telescopes that were typical for tourists in scenic viewpoints. Looking through it she was pleased to see a magnified landscape and not a black out lens that needs to be opened by a coin. "Well at least we don't need quarters."
The two girls then went about their time looking at the different edges of the square shape building with a different landscape in each view.
A sign on the railing of the edge spelled West and upon the horizon was the sunset with the orange hue growing across the sky. Through the telescope lens on the West edge Charlene could see a castle like the Cinderella Castle with high spires and flying banners. To the left of the castle was a large fortress that had high walls and a large royal house its center. To the right was a huge lake that had an island castle in the middle of it.
Walking to the North edge facing the other tower, Willa look through the scenic telescope to see snowy mountains. A thick fortress that was embedded in one of the mountains catching her eyes easily because it's colossal size. At the base of the mountains were villages and small castles which in retrospect looked like a medieval city. She could see in the far background a castle that consist of two 'icicle' towers and between them grew a large winter evergreen tree.
Passing by Willa and towards the East edge Charlene could see that in the distance was a green plain with a European castle in the middle of the flatland. Through the scope she could see the rolling hills and small rivers that cut through the plains with very small villages laying upon their banks. Upon the horizon was the dark skies of the night with the large crescent moon above.
The girls eventually passed by the exit escalator on the East Edge to the South edge. From there they could see a dune desert set along a blue crystal sea in which another fortress style castle was set upon a branching peninsula. Along the sand dunes and the peninsula were small towns and villages that got more condense the closer they were to the castle. Out at sea they could make out a colossal island but looking through the telescope they realized it was the huge castle that was in Maleficent's gallery.
Despite see so many castles across the different landscapes, none of them appeared like the castles of the Disney movies. The only thing all of them had in common were that they existed in different realms and flew banners at their highest point. Looking directly up into the sky the girls could see a familiar Disney image that they remember from Peter Pan. It was the second star to the right, powerfully shinning over the realm and the twin towers.
"Hey, I'm going to head on downstairs and use the stairs to get up the other building" Charlene said to Willa.
"Are you sure about that? Climbing over 100 stories is going to be hard" Willa said.
"Relax. I can handle it" Charlene said as she made her way to the exit escalator on the East edge. "Besides I want to know how it felt. Going up if you know what I mean."
Willa did. "Yeah, okay. I guess I'll see you at dinner."
"Sure thing."
Windows on The World Restaurant
Floor 107
Tower 1
7:25 P.M.
After his getting on a third elevator, Finn had finally reach the highest floor of Tower 1. He hoped that he would be able to reach the roof like Willa but first he had to check on the restaurant. When the doors to the elevator opened, Finn found himself looking at a hallway with extravagant décor, marble walls, and a flamboyant atmosphere. Opposite of the hall were three elevators much the same as on his side. At one end of the hall was a pair of closed wooden doors from which he tried to open with no avail. He then tried to use his DHI powers to pass through but only failed as his body was forced back from the doors.
He pulled up his radio and said, "It's a no-go on the restaurant. It's locked, and I can't get through with my hologram. Looks like we are going have to wait."
"We gotcha" Maybeck replied. "Oh yeah…I'm going to try something with the PA system here on the bridge…"
"Control room" Philby corrected from the background.
"Yeah. I'm going to try and see if I can play some music."
"Music" Finn asked?
"Yeah I got a boom box here and a few tapes. It'll be nice to break the silence once and awhile."
Finn then pulled up his Artemis map of the tower to set a waypoint upon the roof. A blue line then appeared upon the floor and so he followed it. Turning around he went pass the elevators and to an intersecting hallway. His attention was then aimed at the emergency exit doors on one side of the hall with each one being meters apart and having signs reading Stairwell A and Stairwell C. The blue pulse that directed him to the roof instead pointed Finn to a small hallway. Running to the opening, Finn followed the blue line through the tight and narrow hallway. He then came to contact with a door with a sign saying Roof Access.
Suddenly a nearby phone near the door began to ring. Finn called to others. "Hey we got another call." He then picked up the phone and asked, "Hello?"
"Hello there" a mature voice said from the speaker. "What did you see?"
"And you are?"
"I am Nayama, Maleficent's first teacher" the woman replied. "One of many she had learned from across the far corners of the world."
"Okay" Philby said through the Artemis which Finn put up near the phone. "Was that her animator that we just heard?"
"Yes. That was Mr. Davis. The only human that she has ever cared for in this life or the one before."
Suddenly a chilling voiced echoed in every corner of air.
"Get out." It was Maleficent's voice.
The phone suddenly went dead, making Finn hang up the phone and listen.
"Guys" Maybeck said on the radio. "Did you all just hear God in the sky again?"
"Don't call me that" Maleficent's voice said coming from everywhere. "The man you listened to was Mr. Davis. He was my creator and the day that happened was the first day the towers were opened. At a time when I could leave the parks, despite being bound to Disney."
"You could leave the parks back then?"
"I could if I had a piece of Disney artwork with me. One blessed with his pen."
Philby asked, "So why are you stuck in the parks now?"
The fairy replied, "If you look hard enough you will find out."
Her voice in the air went silent. Looking at his clock Finn said, "Okay guys, let's do what she says."
"Right" everyone said in unison.
Looking back at the roof access door, Finn had a thought going through his mind. If this was a castle, then it needs a banner to fly upon it. He pulled up his radio to ask, "Hey Willa is there an American flag on the roof where you are?"
She replied, "Yeah there's one up here why?"
"Just curious. Thanks." Finn then deleted his waypoint and made his way back to the elevators. The moment he called the elevator, Maybeck's voice could be heard in the PA system.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen I am Donnie For The Win here to give you and those gone before us a few tune on the box. From the 70's to the 80's I got all the songs that you love here and now. Before the sun sets on this day let's give the twins a proper farewell with little bit of music and a whole lot of love that only your man Donnie can deliver."
Music then started to blast through the intercom speakers, putting a smile on Finn's face as he instantly recognized the 80's song. It was I Think I'm in Love, a song that was his father's favorite growing up in his high school years; a time when his mother had a crush on him. The song put a smile on Finn's face as he made his way down the tower.
Operations Control Center
Floor B1
Tower 2
7:40 P.M.
With his boom box plugged into the main computer Maybeck pressed buttons across the board pretending he was a real DJ. Despite being decades old the beat and rhythm of the 1980's music was still as uplifting as they were to the people who worked in the twin towers long ago.
"Hey Donnie For The Win, thanks for the music" Finn complemented.
"Your welcome sir" Maybeck replied in a gentleman's tone. "Got the idea from an old childhood film, not from Disney?"
"What is it" Charlene asked?
"That would be All Dogs Go to Heaven" Maybeck replied. "In the words of Charlie the dog, we may be dead but that doesn't mean the music has to be." He then clicked his fingers. "Speak of which, I got a song here straight from my home."
Digging through the pile of tapes, Maybeck found the cassette with the song he had on mind. He put it in the boom box and pressed the play button.
"Hello boys and girls, this is Donnie here to play a favorite of mine. There's no place I like to be then with family and for me I need to look no future than in Sweet Home Alabama." Maybeck then placed a tape in the boom box and a banjo started to play.
"Wait, you're from Alabama" Philby said dumb founded?
"Yeah; didn't I tell you guys this?" Maybeck continued, "Moved to Florida when I was a kid, had to move in with my aunt. Had to leave a lot of family behind, but Disney World, Universal, and Sea World made living in Orlando an okay thing."
"Are your mom and dad in Alabama" Charlene asked?
The smile on Maybeck's face suddenly melted away and was quiet as he remembered back to those days.
"Donnie" Finn said in concern?
Maybeck shook his head to get it straight. "Oh, yeah. They're in Alabama, but umm…" He then found an excuse. "I'll just look for the next song ready."
He then turned off his Artemis and took a deep breath; swallowing hard as the memories came back to mind.
(Meanwhile in the Plaza)
With Maybeck off the radio, Charlene exited the building and took a breath of fresh air. Walking to the center of the plaza she look to the forest surrounding the towers.
Sitting down in the same bench Maleficent sat on, Charlene rest to listen to the music playing through the plaza's speakers. It was odd sensation to see such upbeat music echo across such a tranquil landscape. She then inspected the circular water fountain before her that had a golden sphere on top of it. A small plaque before her read, Austin J. Tobin Plaza.
"So that's what this place is called" she said to herself.
Suddenly a clap of thunder echo in the sky above. Looking up, Charlene could see only the clear sky with no clouds in the air. Then something appeared from top of Tower 1. It was falling but not in a freefall. As it rapidly descended, Charlene realized it was a blue ball of light which was now slowing down as it approach the ground.
The speakers around the plaza went silent and the blue ball gracefully approached Charlene before coming to a complete stop before her.
A blue message appeared before Charlene's Artemis: PLEASE SCAN. And she did.
Dark Data Downloaded.
The blue magical wisp then summoned a woman before Charlene, kneeling with one hand on her heart and the other holding the staff behind her. The woman had silver-white hair that was knotted in a chignon bun and was young in her posture. Her attire consisted of a white robe draped in silk, breast bands that crossed her chest like an 'X', and golden jewelry across her waist, arms, and ankles.
Yet the most striking feature to her was a stone mask that covered her whole face; covering her mouth and eyes in an emotionless mold. Its design was like that of ancient Greek theatre.
"Greetings. I am Lady Britomarits and I am yours to serve."
Charlene was taken aback to the sudden introduction. "Um…Hello?"
The masked woman gasped a small breath as if she broke from a trance. She then let out a sigh which Charlene could tell was one of blushing. Even though her eyes were covered, with no irises or pupils, Charlene could feel the emotion behind her mask. "Forgive me, it's been a great many years since my Lord summoned me before anyone."
It clicked in Charlene's head of who she was looking at. This was the fairy from Maleficent's artworks, the one she dueled in her youth and as an adult. "Who are you?"
"A fairy" she replied in the softest and affectionate voices Charlene had ever heard. "I can't believe Wayne got my name wrong when making his trinkets." The woman rose up and to Charlene's surprise she was as tall as Maleficent but was more physically fit.
Wishing to see if she was indeed a magical being Charlene ask, "Prove it."
Tilting her head in pride, the fairy took on the girl's challenge. "Would you like stars or a rainbow?"
"Rainbow" Charlene replied quickly, feeling the anticipation.
"Hmm." Even though the fairy's mask covered her eyes she turned to an open area away from the towers. "A rainbow it is."
With a clash upon the plaza's floor the fairy's white wooden staff slowly transformed into an elegant long bow. With the stretch of her arm a glass arrow appeared upon the bow's string which was made of light. Arching her shot the fairy released the arrow creating a rainbow as it shot high into the sky far above the twin towers!
Charlene's jaw dropped in amazement. "Wow!"
Reverting her bow back into a staff the masked fairy turned once again to Charlene. "Glad to see that I can at least make a child smile."
"Who exactly are you?"
"First, let me introduce myself to your friends."
Suddenly the radio burst into full audio with everyone talking at once.
"Guys there's some lady in the elevator with me" said Finn.
"Who the hell is this" said Philby.
"Everyone another hologram has popped up" said Willa.
"Whoa how you get in here" asked Maybeck?
The masked woman bowed once again before Charlene, most likely being seen by the others as well. "I am Lady Britomartis, Keeper to the Kingdom of Hellas. I now serve Lord Kinsali and…" She swallowed hard as it was difficult to speak. "And to Mistress Maleficent of Britannia's Child."
Clicker her staff to the ground the masked fairy continued. "By their will I am your servant for tonight. You all must have many questions and I will share with you what I can. But for now, just enjoy the towers. Just call my name and I will come."
"Yeah…what was it again?" Charlene had forgotten.
"Britomartis."
"Hmm…I'm not feeling it" said Maybeck on the radio. "Sounds too weird. Can we just call you something short? Should we call you 'Brito' or should we call you "Martis'? What hang on that sounds way too much like a dude's name."
"Or…." Charlene cut Maybeck's rambling, "We can just call her 'Marta'."
"Agreed" the fairy said feeling embarrassed by the conversation. "You may call me Marta. If you wish to summon me all you must do is call me by that name."
With another click of her staff, the magical being disappeared in a flash of white light; the rainbow in the sky vanishing as well.
"Did you all see her?"
"Yeah; a lady with a Greek mask" said Finn.
"Doesn't she look familiar" Philby asked?
"Yeah, she's that white haired girl in the paintings" said Willa.
"We can't see Maleficent's three pals, but we can see this lady" Maybeck questioned?
"I don't know" Charlene said to her friends. "But if she'll help us get a clue then I say let it be."
The speaker around the plaza then came back on and continued to play music as if nothing happened. Charlene recognized the tune as it was her father's personal favorite: We Built this City.
"Well with that out of the way, I found a good track for you guys" said Maybeck on the radio. "From yours truly."
She then continued to make her way to the first tower and upon entering it she looked for the hallway that held the tower's stairs. For her running these stairs was identical to marathon runners running for a good cause. Climbing to the top would be a physical endurance test and her way of spiritual respect.
Wanting something to measure her progress, she pulled up her Artemis and placed a waypoint to the first tower's roof. Only a red message pop up: WARNING HAZARDS AHEAD!
She pulled up her map only to find it highlighting a red zone in the tower she was in. She instantly knew that the red area in the high levels was where the plane crashed into the building as a cartoonish outline of a plane displayed itself.
"Hey everyone" she called to the others on her com tab. "I don't think the tower is in one piece. Those impact zones are still here."
"That can't be" said Philby. "We saw them on the outside and everything looked fine."
"Maybe the fairy wanted to present them nicely and hide the ugly truth" said Maybeck.
"Anyway, it's just a heads up." Charlene then put away her Artemis to find a stairwell.
Walking down the hallway that cut through the tower's core column, Charlene could see near the elevators a door way that read, Stairwell B. For her she was going to take on the physical challenge of running to the top floor by foot. She was always one for a challenge, but for the most part she wants to see how it felt to walk the path. The path in which so many firefighters took that day when the tower came crashing down on them.
Opening the hard steel door Charlene could see that the floor and stairs looking very identical to the underground access paths to the Magic Kingdom's utilidors as they too were painted in a tannish white color. Her waypoint was active, and the blue line shot in between the crack area where the stairs meet like a pair of scissor blades. Looking up Charlene could see the stairwell going up almost indefinitely.
"Oh boy."
Top of The World Observation Deck
Floor 110
Tower 2
7:50 P.M.
The sight was one to behold for Philby. He didn't believe Willa when she said there were castles out in the distance but now he does. As he looked upon each castle his mind question where was Maleficent's cartoon castle as it was nowhere to be found in the northern mountain landscape. He guessed that was something only for Sleeping Beauty and wasn't a true castle in Maleficent's life.
Yet the question on his mind looking at both roofs of both towers was why there wasn't a large antenna atop the buildings? Every picture he knows shows one of the towers having a normal roof and the other having a large radio antenna. So where was it?
Below the observation platform was a standard security fence that went around the rooftop. What was also around the tower's perimeter was a railroad track, which carried the nearby window washing machines. Near the observation pier was a helicopter pad with the large H inscribed on it and beneath it was a security officer's box. He used his hologram powers to pass a locked gate and down a flight of stairs to the roof. He made his way to the edge of the building a very carefully looked straight down. The height was so great that he pulled back instantly in fear of falling. He then spent this time walking across the entire perimeter of the tower.
Upon the northern face, at the corner pointing to Tower 1 across from him, Philby could see a handwritten signature. Walking to it he could see that near the signature was a childish drawing of a circus tight rope act. He quickly realized that the signature was from the man who crossed the two towers on a wire a long time ago. Next to the tight rope signature was another signature, but Philby didn't know what to make of it.
From the plaza below he could make out the song being played. It was Don't Stop Believin', a song he remembered from a music performance in Epcot. He looked once again to the landscape all around him to take solitude in his situation. Not a moving or living thing appeared upon the vast expanse. He, his friends, and the music playing below were the only things to break the tomblike silence of the landscape.
Turning around Philby was surprise to see a purple wisp sprout from the roof before him. The wisp was like the green ones he and the gang had seen the night they met Maleficent.
PLEASE SCAN.
Reading the pop-up text, Philby pulled up his Artemis from his arm and scanned the wisp.
Dark Data Downloading…
The wisp vanished after completing the scan and a message pop up before Philby on his Artemis.
Dark Data Downloaded.
PLAYING RECORDED MEMORY…
Suddenly a hologram of Maleficent in her human form appeared before Philby and she was holding an object of some kind. He soon realized that the object was the DHI pyramid that powered their holograms!
"Hey everyone, I got another memory up here on the deck" Philby called to others. "She's got that pyramid we saw under the park."
"What is she doing with it" Charlene asked?
The purple hologram of Maleficent placed the DHI pyramid upon the roof's center. There she took out a curved dagger from her robe to cut her hand. She then smeared her bloody hand across the small crevasses that covered the pyramid.
"She is doing something with the pyramid."
"Is it blue" Finn asked Philby.
"No, there is no light. It's just a dud."
After a while Maleficent created a circular pictograph of symbols around the deactivate DHI pyramid and did something Philby wished he didn't have to see. She started to strip down.
"Oh Christ" Philby turned away, not wanting to see.
"What's wrong" Willa asked in concern?
"Nothing. It's nothing."
Eventually he had to see what she was doing and lucky for him he was at an angle that wasn't too revealing. Maleficent, being human and naked, summoned green magic within her hand to conjure up something she should've had before. A golden staff with an emerald crystal on top. Kneeling and laying down her staff before her knees Maleficent began to whisper in an unheard language.
"Guys. I think you should listen to this" Philby said to the others as he approached Maleficent's hologram to record her praying.
The language Maleficent was speaking wasn't like any Philby had heard before.
"Yasalimari de Divine, hei mi sole, mi kior, e vo. Ie pray ti flas ki e mi Kinsali"
"Kals e Kalises da Famoria e De Danann. Hei ki. Flas ki e mi Kinsali."
As Maleficent spoke, something behind Philby flashed brightly in the sky. He turned to see that high above the other tower was a small purple light that was slowly glowing bright.
"Flas mi kior. Flas mi sole. Moria ki e Kinsali a prima."
The DHI pyramid before Maleficent was also glowing! As for Maleficent herself she was slowly starting to morph back into her fairy form as her horns started to grow upon her skull. Yet there was something else.
The skin upon her back started to become transparent to the point where her spinal cord and all the nerves that connected to it were visible and all of it was highlighted in a deep dark black! The details were so extreme that Philby could clearly see the blood flow from her body to her brain and even the motion of her back muscles.
"Hei ki. Hei ki ai lo el Aperion e el Paradiso."
From below Philby could hear the bells within the forest began to ring. The DHI pyramid as well began to illuminate brightly. Maleficent then smeared her staff in blood from her injured hand and laid it to rest.
To Philby's surprise the purple light in the sky suddenly bled a stream of purple light down to the base of Tower 1 which laid beneath it. His eyes widen realizing now what caused the flash of light from earlier.
"Hei ki. Primordia, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Krishna, Budda, e all Kals e Kalises de el Warudo. Kal-Sol. Kalis-Luna. Kal-Terra. Lor-Staros. Lora-Avasina. Lor-Uchani. Loros e Loras de ovar y novar. Gira-Uniqaldrona. Gira-Cydronpraxa. Gira-Protodayka. Gira-Belladorra. Hei ki ai de el Divine Yasalimari."
Philby could then hear a growing flow of energy coming from the stream of light at Tower 1. At that moment he knew it was about to blow!
"Hei ki. Hei mi Kinsali. Moria prima. Moria prima. Moria prima."
BOOM! A synthetic horn roared in a torrent thunder from the steam of light atop Tower 1, knocking Philby off his feet and blinding his eyes for a moment.
When his eyes came back to focus. He was shock to what he was seeing.
He was no longer on top of a tower. Maleficent's hologram had disappeared and everything was dead silent.
Instead Philby was in a small apartment and he choked up as he realized where he was. "I'm home? In Leeds?" The small square table where he ate was as he remembered, nearby was the small kitchen and the living room. He remembered the living room being bigger but now grown up everything was small. The doors to the outdoor patio showed the green country side with the road passing by. Near the apartments exit was his parent's bedroom and returning to the dinner table was the guest bathroom as well as his own bedroom.
Then something caught his eyes, something the made him sick to his stomach and freeze in grief. It was a small cat bed with the word 'Elvis' inscribed on it.
Wake up. Wake up damn it! Philby closed his eyes and tried to escape his memories.
Opening his eyes everything was back on the tower, but everything was in animation form once again! He looked back at Maleficent, her body back in her Sleeping Beauty form, only to see that the pyramid before her was glowing purple. Her hologram then phased out and the roof was back to normal.
END OF RECORDING...
Yet his eyes widen as he noticed in the background stood a colossal antenna was now present atop the first tower!
"Philby what happened up there" Finn asked? "Why are we animated again?"
"Wait that wasn't an explosion" Maybeck said in confusion?
"Well that explains why the building shook" said Charlene. "Everyone okay?"
"Yeah" said Willa. "I was a worried when the lights went out here in the stair but I'm okay."
Philby took a minute to take in what he witnessed. "Did you guys see anything?"
"Yeah a big flash" said Finn. "I may be on 44th floor here but that flash was bright as lightning."
Was this all in my head? "Didn't you guys see anything else?"
"No" replied Finn.
Willa asked in concerned; "Are you okay Dell?"
"Yeah" he replied quickly; before looking up at the high spire on the other building. "That big antenna is now up top and it's huge. It's got to be 30 stories high."
"Well I'm glad hear that" said Finn. "Maybe this imagination-land place has a few glitches here and there. But anyway, be careful guys. We don't know what else this place has in store for us."
With Finn off the radio Philby pulled up his Artemis system hoping that somehow, he could call upon the masked fairy from earlier. "Marta. Can you hear me?"
In a burst of blue light Marta appeared before him. "You summon me Dell?"
Philby took a few steps back. "I don't think I told you my name?"
"Maleficent already told me about you children" she explained. "And Lord Kinsali has just old me what you saw. Your past. A painful memory you wish to forget."
It didn't take long for Philby to realize that the building in some form was alive and that it had just invaded his mind. "What the bloody hell was that?"
"A price" Marta replied as she looked up to the antenna on Tower 1. "My Lord allowed you to see a memory of Maleficent and so you must pay something of equal value."
I knew there was a catch. Philby shrugged off to his discomfort.
"You must not tell your friends about what happened.".
"Why not?"
"They must endure the same pain you have to learn a piece of the past."
"But we will learn something about Maleficent in return; right?"
"Of course."
"And it's not some magic trick?"
"Maleficent is many things but she is no liar."
For now, that would have to do. "Alright. You can go."
Instead of disappearing Marta looked at him directly into Philby's eyes. Even though her mask was shaped to be stoic and emotionless he could tell that she was concerned. "I know it's hard to see the past, I too have been there, but trust me when I say it's better to accept it"
Philby turned in slight anger seeing she was pitying him. "I said you can go okay!"
Lowering her head is shame. "As you wish." Then in a flash of blue light she vanished.
Now alone on the roof Philby pulled up radio and contemplated what to do. He knew logically he should say anything, but on the other hand he didn't wish his companions to endure their most painful memory in life as he had.
The moment he thought this, Maleficent's voice snarled menacingly in his head. "Don't try to do any stupid moves."
Taking a disappointing sigh, Philby put away his radio. Fine. You have me beat.
He then made his way back onto the observation deck and down the exiting escalator which lead back into the tower's interior. No surprise that he was in the tower's gift shop with many New York City souvenirs; all of them with the twin towers upon them. Old things from a time long gone.
As he wondered about the empty shop, Philby's mind focused on the building itself. Wondering just how alive it was and if it was sentient.
"Alright then" he said pointing his finger at the ceiling as if he was pointing at God. "If you are alive give me a sign."
Then from the tower's intercom system disco music began to play.
Operations Control Center
Floor B1
Tower 2
(5 minutes Earlier)
"Guys. I think you should listen to this" Philby said on the radio, prompting Maybeck to press the stop button on the boom box. He listened careful to what was being said on the other side of the radio and all that could be made out was some gibberish language that couldn't be made out.
As Maybeck laid back a tremor shook the room. "What the heck?"
The lights in the room then flickered as another tremor vibrated through the room. Everything went back to normal, only before another stronger quake nearly knocked him out his chair; the computers and phones nearly falling from their desks. As Maybeck regained his balance a growling sound began to echo from within the tower as Maleficent's foreign language continued to speak.
Eventually the growling became a roaring sensation that seemed to rise from beneath Maybeck's feet and move up through the tower. Whatever force this was Maybeck knew it wasn't good news.
Then everything went black in the room as an explosion of some kind could felt from above.
"Oh crap" Maybeck whispered to himself as he pulled up his Artemis to contact the others, but the radio tab read: OFFLINE. Ignoring this Maybeck turned on his night vison ability, only to find out everything was animated again. "What?"
After a while the lights were back on.
"Philby what happened up there" Finn asked through the radio? "Why are we animated again?"
"Wait that wasn't an explosion" Maybeck said as he turned off his night vision.
Everyone else called in to say they were alright and Philby gave word that the large antenna to the towers was up.
With the sudden drama over, Maybeck went back to check on the boom box to play another tape. Picking up a 70's tape he placed in the cassette slot, closed it, and pressed the play button. However, the moment he did that all the electronics in the room erupted into a flurry of flashes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa."
Suddenly familiar tune of a disco music began to play on the speakers and the tower's intercom system. Maybeck's eyes widened in shock. "Hold the phone, I know that beat." The jazz trumpets. The boogie music. It was The Trammps. It was Disco Inferno.
To mass fires, yes!
One hundred stories high.
People getting loose y'all gettin' down on the roof. Do you hear?
Folks were flaming out of control.
It was so entertaining when the boogie started to explode.
I heard somebody say Burn baby burn! Disco Inferno! Burn baby burn! Burn that mama down.
Maybeck's spine chilled to lyrics being sung.
"Donnie" Philby called on the radio. "Please tell me this is you playing the song."
Maybeck replied. "No dude. The damn building is singing to us."
Satisfaction, came in chain reaction.
I couldn't get enough, so I had to self-destruct.
The heat was on, rising to the top.
Everybody's going strong, and that is when my spark got hot
I heard somebody say Burn baby burn! Disco Inferno! Burn baby burn! Burn that mama down.
Maybeck then quickly got a hold with Finn, Charlene, and Willa. "Are you all hearing this?"
"Yeah" said Finn.
"Loud and clear" said Charlene.
"I can't believe it" said Willa.
"Oh, believe it" said Philby to everyone.
Up above my head I hear music in the air, I hear music!
That makes me know there's somebody going there.
After a minute the music went quiet.
This time it was Maybeck who called upon the magical woman. "Hey Marta! You got a minute?"
"Yes" her voice echoed before appearing in the room with Maybeck.
Pointing to the ceiling he asked; "Is this building alive?"
"Of course, he is" Marta replied casually as she looked to the ceiling as well. "Anything blessed by the Fae is granted a greater meaning of existence."
"So that's what Maleficent did up here" Philby said on the radio.
"Yes."
"Why?"
The fairy chuckled softly. "In good time Dell." She then turned to Maybeck. "It's not your duty to entertain your friends. You too must live your time here and see the towers."
Suddenly, a radio theme exploded from the intercom system followed by a voice. "This is Q104.3. New York's Rock Station!"
"Lord Kinsali will entertain you from here on. Now go and see what must be remembered."
The fairy then disappeared in a flash of light and Maybeck, now taken off the air, walk to the door and out of the Operations Control Center. The radio voice continued to speak on the intercom. "To all iHeartMedia listeners this is WAXQ broadcasting from the World Trade Center. It is 8 o'clock this fine evening and we can't wait to play tonight's list here. From Elvis to DIO, the best of rock is here on New York City's Rock Station. Here is The Spirit of Radio."
Before he made his way to the escalators back to the lobby, Maybeck looked over to a nearby restroom and stood inside to clearly hear the lyrics to the song. He knew there was more to the music than entertainment.
"Alright big guy; what are you saying?"
As the song echoed in the small room he made out something.
Invisible airwaves, crackle with life. Bright antennae bristle with the energy.
Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength, bearing a gift beyond price. Almost free.
Stairwell A
Floor 86
Tower 2
8:00 P.M.
Having decided to take the long way down Willa made her way down the path labeled Stairwell A curious to how it must feel in running down such a tall building. While old music played on the intercom Willa's mind wonder on what this place was to Maleficent beyond a simple memory.
Walking down she came to a sudden stop on the 82rd floor at the sight of an emergency door being blown out from one of its hinges. Beyond the door was a hallway shrouded in complete darkness with the only source of light being from the setting sun.
Letting her curiosity guide her, Willa walk down the hall which was abnormally silent. There was no electricity to power anything and the walls were either broken or fallen. Once at the end of the hall, her stomach shriveled in uneasiness to what she was looking upon.
All around her was the sight of internal destruction with collapsed roofs tiles, fallen walls, and broken furniture. Looking at a large gash that cut through the building she could see that the damage spanned across a diagonal plane that cut through the tower. The only objects that stood intact were the steel trustees that held the floor and the reinforcement columns at the core of the building. It wasn't hard for Willa to figure out that she was in an impact zone. It was a haunting sight to see the orange rays of the setting sun creep through the windows and into the tower's wound.
Looking towards the area of her floor that was stable, Willa could see an office of some kind at one corner of the building. Opening the doors, she found herself in a large office with small plaque spelling Fuji Bank. Fallen picture frames litter the floor. A long business table in the center of the room was blasted to the corner of the office with their chairs toppled over. Yet what caught Willa's attention was a single broken window on the west corner with a view of the sun. Looking out the window she felt the strong breeze blow through her hair.
Pulling herself back, Willa put a chair back up and sat down quietly. It was in that moment that a purple wisp dropped from the broken ceiling into Willa's lap.
Pulling out her scanner a blue light scanned the purple wisp making it disappear.
Dark Data Downloading…
Once it was complete a long text message appeared.
"Did any of you suddenly get a long text" Finn on the radio asked to everyone?
While everyone replied 'yes' in their own way Willa began reading the text.
Dark Data Downloaded.
Journal Entry #728
January 29, 1974
For my 15th birthday in this new world I've decide to do something special. Tonight, I will bless Britannia's Child with the greatest gift a magical being can offer; a castle of divine power. The map from Mistress Au Co pointed me to the Kingdom of Israel where I became the first magical being ever to step foot upon the Holy Land. What I found there was the soul of Adam and he gave to me the last Crystal of Eden that still retained its magic. Now I will use it to create the prophesied castle of the magical realm. The castle to rule over the World.
That castle will be the Twin Towers of Britannia's Child and their name to the Gods will be Kinsali. It will be the crown of this new kingdom; casting a powerful shadow upon all those who look upon them. As the last of the Fae I bestow this gift to our Goddess; Ruler of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. Seeing the two towers bridge the Earth and Heavens is a marvel to behold. To have such tall structures built so quickly without the labor of slaves or giants is an achievement so grand that The Builders would be envious. By my own benediction the twin towers will the true castle of this our Goddess's kingdom under the eyes of the High Gods. All those who lie beneath their shadows will knell before their power and those who refuse will know the full wrath of my resolve. As a warrior-servant I swear my soul to this promise. I Talia, daughter of Master Sovereign and Mistress Adarra, shall serve as a Kingdom Keeper to Britannia's Child. I will bring light to those of my kind to serve her, chain those dare defy her, and smite those who wish death upon her name. By the High Gods and the Great Decree, I give my blood and my body to her and our Lord Kinsali. To this I promise. To this I swear.
END OF TRANSMISSION
"WHAT" Philby shouted out loud on the radio! "That pyramid thing we saw under the park is from Adam?!"
"Ha" Maybeck expressed in smirky fashion! "God is real. I knew it."
"Hold on. Didn't Wayne call our holograms 'Kingdom Keepers'" asked Finn. "Oh crap, what the heck did he get us into?"
"Hey guys I think you should be careful" Philby warned. "I have a feeling that flash up top will blow any moment. So be careful."
The radio went quiet leaving Willa alone in the office. Sitting back down she felt it a better time than ever to talk with Marta. Using her holographic utility Willa summoned the masked fairy. "Is there something you wish of me?"
"Yeah" Willa turned her chair to the fairy before motioning her hand to another chair. "Let's chat."
Making her staff disappear Martha's voice was full of joy. "I thought you never ask."
Seeing her up close Willa could now see that the masked woman was as tall as Maleficent, making her no doubt a magical creature. As she sat down the chair strained to hold her super-human body. With her eyes covered by her mask the face to face interaction gave Willa goosebumps.
"I assume you're a fairy, right?"
"Yes. I am one of the Seelie; Fairies of the Light."
"And I guess you're from Greece" Willa motion her finger towards her own face. "You know…because of the…"
The fairy touched her mask in motion of disgrace. "Yes. She awoken my spirit upon Mount Tityros of Crete when she had the freedom to travel. It was odd seeing how much had changed since magic was purged from the world. At least the statues of my Gods and Goddesses still stand."
Feeling necessary to ask the obvious Willa couldn't help herself. "Why do you wear that mask?"
Tapping her stone mask Marta replied, "Even though I'm no longer in the Kingdom of Hella, of Greece, I still hold true the rules set down by the Goddess Artemis."
"Do you mind taking it off?"
"I cannot." She lifted her hair by the sides to show by the bands that held her mask. They were locked by a purple aura. "Lord Kinsali believes commitment to the Gods is above all else."
"Fair enough." Willa remembered from the artworks in the gallery. "Are you and Maleficent rivals?"
"We are more than that" Marta put her hair down. "At first it was simple competition for our Headmistress's grace but as we grew up Maleficent's methods of violating my life grew more sadistic."
"How?"
"If I had to choose the worst, I would say it was when she stole my Kinsali from me."
"Yeah about that" Finn called on the radio which Willa forgot to turn off. "What is it with that name anyway?"
"You know it rude to not address yourself" Marta said to the eves dropping boy. "The name 'Kinsali' is a title a fairy gives to someone or something that they prize or love above all else. Most of the time, our men would call their lovers Kinsali to win their fancy's."
Charlene, breathing heavily from exhaustion, came on the radio. "So…it's a….'sexy' name?"
Marta laughed at Charlene. "No. To put it simple, it's a name you give to the one you value above all else. One that is sacred. One that is most precious. Just the one."
From the forest down below Willa's her ears could hear bells echoing from the forest down below.
"Isabelle" Marta said rapidly, her demeanor changing instantaneously. "Whatever happens, you must not tell your friends what you see. You must give me your word that you won't say anything after that flash."
Feeling the concern in Marta voice, Willa replied "Okay. I won's say anything, but what is going to happen."
Laying a warm hand upon Willa's shoulder Marta said only two words. "Be strong." Then in a flash of blue light the fairy vanished from the room.
Heeding her warning, Willa kept still as a growing force could be felt climbing up the building. Feeling what was to come Willa closed her eyes and covered her ears before a blinding light filled the sky along with the blast of a loud horn!
After a few seconds she opened her eyes and was in closet of some kind?
"What? What happened" she asked herself as she opened the closet door. She stumbled and landed on a wooden floor which felt familiar to Willa. Looking up she wasn't in the tower but in a wooden cabin. A familiar cabin that she remembered vividly. She got up and looked around herself. She had stumbled out of a wardrobe and was in a tiny living room that had no phone and no television. The only technology around was the fan on the ceiling, a pendulum clock on the wall, and an old fashion radio on a desk nearby; it's antenna stick out diagonally.
In a corner of the room was rocking chair than made Willa's stomach shrink. She remembered who once sat in that chair. Near the chair was a small table with paintbrushes and pencils. On the other side of the room was a collection of canvases; some still drying on their stands. Looking out a window, she could see the red swinging bench by the babbling creek; the great Californian wilderness surrounding it all.
Static then burst from the radio near Willa as it turned on by itself. "The sun is setting on this beautiful evening and boy does the September weather make New York City look like Heaven fallen onto Earth. For our next track we got a little something special to a certain caller. Our city is Paradise, and this here is Another Day in Paradise."
Listening to the song, she could hear the meaning of the lyrics. As she listened to the song her fist clenched instinctively as she knew what this was all about.
Her grandmother.
The wooden cabin was her grandmother's. The song was her grandmother's life. And Willa couldn't distinguish if she was supposed to be happy to her memory or sad at her outcome. She never truly forgave her mother for what she did, even if it was with good reason. She only wished she had more time. Just more time.
Closing her eyes, she wished for the illusion to be over.
Opening them up she found herself back in the office in the tower; everything now in live-action. "What? What was that?"
"Finally, the radio's back online" Philby's voice called out on the Artemis radio. "I guess every time that flash happens it switches the reality from animated to live-action."
"I guess so" said Finn. "Are you all okay?"
"Same over here" said Charlene.
"Yeah what is with those flashes" Maybeck asked?
"It's…" Philby stumbled. "Nothing. Willa are you there?"
"Um…yeah" she replied as she tried to hold her emotions. "I'm alright."
Philby was silent for a few seconds. "Okay."
Taking a deep breath Willa remembered what Marta said earlier. Don't say anything.
Suddenly a rumbling noise began to grow from down below. Willa then made her way out of the office and to the edge of the impact zone. From the angle she could see the exposed core of the tower. As the seconds went by the noise became louder until eventually an elevator cart zoomed up and about. Pulling up her map she could see that it was Finn probably going to roof.
Wanting to get away from whatever presence created the illusion Willa quickly made her way back to the stairwell. Yet only after walking two stories down she had to come to a stop. "Oh, come on!"
Before her was heavy debris blocking the stairwell, though not too much that it was impassible. Squeezing herself against the wall against a fallen piece of debris, Willa slowly made her way down the stairs like a cat through a tight space. By the look of things, it looked like she would have to go through three or four stories of blocked stairs till she gets to safe ground. Yet for the time being anything to keep her mind off what she relived was okay with her.
Stairwell B
Floor 44
Tower 1
8:10 P.M.
Reaching what appeared to be the end of the stair well, Charlene's strenuous climb was starting to take its toll on her. The nausea was starting to swell her head up like a water balloon. Once reaching the 44th floor the stairwell ended with a hallway leading to the core of the building. At the end of the hallway laid a heavy door and upon opening it she couldn't help but smile.
The walls in elevator bank were of black marble. The large hall which cut through the center of the building had extravagant carpet, plants on display, and small chandeliers hanging upon the ceiling. And of course, nearby was a water fountain.
Without thinking Charlene ran to the fountain and pressed the button; hoping water would flow. She was relieved to see water shot from the faucet and she began to drink. Nothing more blissful than the hydrating sensation of cold H2O on one's lips.
Wanting to take a break from climbing, Charlene made her way out of the elevator banks and to the edge of the building which resembled more of a lobby than an office work floor. The entire floor was empty with the only lying about were benches near the windows. The music tracks on the intercom system continued, its track echoing across the halls. The song playing was one of her mother's favorites and personally for Charlene it was a great song to hear during the setting sun. The song was Broken Wings.
As the song played she walked about the entire perimeter of the building to admire the many scenic views. Taking a seat, she looked to see the rising night to the East where the flat plains laid.
"Hey Finn, you said this place was from a Disney film" she asked her friend on the radio?
"Yeah" he replied.
"Don't you think it's weird that there aren't any Disney characters here?"
"I don't think so" said Philby. "Whatever this place is it's for herself and anyone who wants to come in needs her permission."
"Still you think there would be more magical things here than just some voices on the phone and a fairy from Greece" said Maybeck. "You think we would see a giant, a pixie, something."
"Well let's look back at what we know and think about this" Philby expressed in a problem-solving manor. "We know she could leave the parks. We know she likes this place. If that fairy says Maleficent found her in Greece, then I'm sure she's been traveling the world finding more fairies. Now where those fairies are, let alone Disney characters, I don't know."
"Never mind that" said Charlene. "What we should be asking is 'how' she traveled the world."
"You know what Charlie that's a very good question" said Maybeck. "And I'm pretty sure Wayne had something to do with that."
"Well if you think about it, that probably would've been his best choice of what to do with her" said Willa. "Would you have someone like Maleficent stay in a park full of kids?"
She had a very good point. Especially when they saw firsthand of her brutality a few nights before.
Closing her eye, Charlene focused her mind. Marta. I summon you.
In a literal flash, Marta appeared behind her. "Yes?"
Charlene then asked her what was on everyone's mind. "Why does magic exist in Disney World?"
Marta took a deep breath before sitting down opposite of Charlene. "You may want to sit back because it's a long story."
"Everyone I think it's story time" Charlene said to her friends as she turned away from the windows and to Marta. "You guys ready for a story?"
"Yeah" said Philby.
"Please share" said Willa on the radio.
"Let's hear it" said Finn.
"If not, we wouldn't be in Disney" said Maybeck.
Marta then tapped the floor with her staff making the music on the intercom go silent.
"Well…once upon a time, before the High Gods cleansed the Earth of magic, there was a Princess named Britannia whose power and beauty were so graceful the Roman Conquerors named her island kingdom after her."
"You mean my home island is named after a fairy" Philby asked?
"A fairy under a Royal House of the Fae" Marta clarified. "One day Britannia was ordered by her parents King Lenjohnis and Queen Cordelia to see the Great Oracles to foretell her future. She then went on a pilgrimage to the one place on Earth where the High Gods could be heard. The Lonely Mountain in the Land of the Elephant. Once she reached the top, Britannia asked what her destiny would be. The Great Oracles, having spoken to the High Gods, said to her that in the future she would bear a child, one that would be destine to be a Goddess blessed to give us the one thing all magical beings desired for eons."
"And what would that be" Charlene asked?
At that moment, Marta's face dropped as the strength within her couldn't hold the weight of her mask. She then grasped tightly her breast bands across her chest, feeling the weight of what she held. To Charlene this was pain on a personally level.
"Marta?"
"Do excuse her" Maleficent's voice echoed from the sky outside. "Even after 18 years 9/11 still bothers her."
That was the first time any of the kids heard her say the infamous day.
"Oh, don't worry we will speak about that day when we eat. Now continue Britomartis."
The sky was silence once more and Marta relaxed herself.
"You don't have to do as she says" Charlene insisted. "We can talk about this another time."
"No." The fairy touched her stoned forehead, "I can go on."
"Well you ended with something that sounds like a prophecy so let's start there" said Finn. "After that what happened next?"
Taking a deep breath Marta continued. "What happened was that we believed the Oracles were wrong."
"And why's that" Willa asked?
"Because Princess Britannia was barren. That's why she took me in as an adoptive daughter when she was Maleficent's Headmistress."
"What" everyone said together in confusion and shock?
"Is there more to Britannia" Philby asked wanting to know more about the name of his home country. "I'm British you know."
"Yes, I know" said Marta. "Despite her destiny she became the Headmistress to her Academy and taught many Fae both of the light and the dark. Then one day she fell in love with a human; and his name was Arthur."
"Wow" Maybeck said in surprise. "Well that's something."
"However, fairy's and humans are forbidden to fall in love" Marta continued. "So, she prayed to the Gods to free her from all magic to be with Arthur, knowing full well she would loss her immortality. Yet by choosing this path she was granted the title of a Lower God and her existence could live forever in the hearts of the humans born on her kingdom. That is why she's the figure of your country Dell Philby. I have to say your people got her appearance on spot."
"That's great and all but what does it have to do with magic in Disney" Finn asked?
"Now come on Finn, haven't you figured it out" Philby said on the radio. "Britannia's Child isn't a person, it's a country. It's America."
"Yes" Marta confirmed. "Even with all the magic in the world gone, Britannia's spirit still lives just like mine. While she may have been barren in the physical plane, in the Apeiron she can give birth to children if the humans born of her land plant the seeds. When your ancestors Dell stepped foot in the New World they allowed Britannia to have 13 children. As time went by these children grew up, rebelled, then created a new Goddess to worship as they saw their mother as weak. This Goddess would be Britannia's Child; her true child and your nation."
"Why not just say her name?"
"No magical being is allowed to say her true name" Marta explained. "Lord Kinsali doesn't wish for magical beings to say his mother's name. He finds it to be blasphemy."
Connecting the dots Charlene asked, "So Disney magic is really American magic?"
"Yes. The magic you feel in Walter's parks only belong to Britannia's Child. Impressed by Walter's talents Britannia's Child asked the High Gods to allow his characters to exist in the Apeiron; allowing them to bring joy and happiness to the children everywhere. In accordance to their plan the High Gods allowed magic to exist on Earth for the first time in over half a millennium. They believed that it's most innocent form, powered by the will of children, would full their imaginations for possibilities when they grow up. Unfortunately, by the greatest of all coincidence Walt Disney's magic brought to life Maleficent's damned soul."
"Yeah she filled us on with Walt's magic pen" said Maybeck. "But what makes that pen so special? What is it really?"
"Walter's pen is one of many used by the Prophets to write down the words of their Gods onto paper for mortal man to read and share. Those pens are one of the few magical artifacts to survive the Great Purge and Walter by chance happened to find one in his time in Princess Titania's kingdom."
"Who" Charlene asked?
"Queen Titania of the Fairies" Finn answered on the radio remembering his 8th grade year in theatre arts. "A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare play. Ever heard of it?"
"Yes, I have" said Marta. "I'm sure Shakespeare himself held a Quill of a Prophet before it fell into Walter's hands. None the less his pen gave Maleficent the ability to exist beyond the Apeiron and onto the physical plane. It was then she was known only to Walter, Mr. Davis, and Wayne; all of whom wisely agreed that she was too dangerous to exist in his parks."
Suddenly a purple wisp fell from the sky lobby's ceiling and in between Charlene and Marta.
"He wishes for you to read another entry from Maleficent's journals" Marta explained. "Go ahead."
Charlene scanned the wisp and a long text appeared before her holographic screen on her forearm.
Dark Data Downloaded.
Journal Entry #1271
January 28, 1986
Today a disaster accorded along with a strange anomaly. The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on national television, showing that even the smartest of minds can't make everything safe. Yet as I watched the disaster something odd occurred. The moment the shuttle exploded on live broadcast I couldn't move my body and after 3 seconds I could move once more. This was too abnormal to feel like shock. Was this an anomaly of some kind? If so what is it? I must look deeper into this.
In a week I'll be sent with Alan's young lackey to deliver some armaments to a rebellion in Afghanistan as a token of good fate. I'm sure that land is the epicenter of the Great Purge. I'm amazed to the name this rebellion calls itself; Mujahideen. I suppose the Gods allowed the title of the great warrior race to survive; amazing to see that we weren't fully erased from the pages of history. Nayama will not be pleased when I tell her this. Still, if the soul of a Mujahideen Fae is present in that land then I better find them before Mother Rossiya does.
END OF TRANSMISSION
"Are you guys reading this" Charlene asked her friends.
"Yeah" Finn replied. "Marta did Maleficent had anything to do with the towers being destroyed."
"Where is this coming from" Maybeck asked in confusion?
"Don't you guys see documentaries?" Finn explained, "Mujahideen was the name of the rebels who fought Soviets during the Cold War. They're the guys, who became the guys, who would hate us, and do 9/11."
"If your implying she had a role in that attack your mistaken" Marta responded to Finn. "The Mujahideen were the greatest warriors of the magical realm and the High God who ruled over them allowed their teachings to be taught to mortal man. As you know their teachings is a power not to underestimate."
Looking at her clock Charlene was shocked to see how much time had gone by. "Well, thanks for the story Marta. I got to get moving if you don't mind. Long way up to the top."
"I understand." She got up to her feet. "And don't worry, I'll be alright."
"What?" Charlene was just about to ask that.
"Don't worry about me. My pain isn't yours to bare." Once again with a clash of her staff Marta vanished from Charlene's sight.
Making her way back to the stairwell the tower's intercom was back up. "For all those in the NYPD and the NYFD we like to send a shout out and a thank you for keeping all our New York neighbors safe. This is Danger Zone."
The upbeat music managed to lighten Charlene's mood. Opening the door to the stairwell going up she took a deep breath. Come on Charlie. You still got to get to the top.
Top of the World Observation Deck
Floor 110
Tower 2
8:20 P.M.
Upon reaching the top of the roof Finn step out from the West face entrance escalator and onto the blue floored balcony deck. On the West edge looking to setting sun was Maybeck.
"Hey Finn," Maybeck waved.
"Hey."
"What a view dude."
"Yeah, it really is something." Resting his hands on the white railing, Finn took a deep breath and to appreciate the view. The two boys then began to look through each scenic telescope to see every castle upon each horizon.
From below the boys could hear the radio play from the plaza's speakers. Finn noticed the song from the car radio earlier in the week. The song title: The Boys of Summer.
While Finn went his way looking at the castle in the distance, Maybeck pulled up his DHI map to check on everyone. He and Finn were on the top of Tower 2, titled the South Tower on the map, while Willa was beneath them on the 19th floor going down. Charlene was in the tower with the antenna on it, titled the North Tower, slowly making her way up. Philby laid underground in the mall beneath them.
After looking at the landscape for some time Finn turn to look at the inward railing having noticed the strangely shaped glass windows behind the benches that were just sticking out with no real purpose. Upon one of these windows on the north edge of the tower was a flag pole with an American flag waving slowly in the breezing air. This was what he was looking for.
Looking down he was reminded of what Maybeck told him about his race with Charlene two nights ago; how they could jump in mid-air like a video game with their DHI powers. He did just that and upon having one mid-jump in the air Finn landed softly on the roof floor below.
Then he stretched his arm to reach the wire holding the flag to the pole and suddenly a great growl of some kind came from within the building itself! The sound was like that of an industrial factory, mechanical and vibrant, but it's echo felt like that of an enraged beast!
"Whoa" Charlene said in shock on the radio! "What's that noise?"
Finn quickly backed away from the flag and the air slowly faded back to silence. He took a deep breath of relieve.
"Hey Finn. You mind coming up here" Maybeck said from behind as he looked north to Tower 1 and the mountains beyond.
Using his DHI powers Finn jumped his way back up to the deck next to Maybeck.
"I see the big guy didn't like you touching the old red, white, and blue" Maybeck then pointed towards an outdoor speaker raised on a pole. "Do you wonder how alive this place is?"
"I don't think we should ask that if we know what's best for us."
"Well I want to know." As the speaker continue to play the current song Maybeck asked, "I don't know if you can hear me big guy but if can would you mind Rick Rolling me."
The speaker then turned to static as the infamous and famous meme song played loud and clear.
Never going to give you up. Never going to let you down.
"Holy shit are we being Rick Rolled" Philby said in shock over the radio.
"That meme was supposed to die long ago." Finn asked Maybeck, "Why ask that?"
"Dude Rick Roll isn't the singer's real name. It's a meme term. We all grew up with it as kids, but that's the thing. That's a time when we were kids, long after a certain infamous day."
The song continued as Maybeck listen closely to hear a message.
We've know each other for so long.
Your heart's been aching, but… you're too shy to say it.
Inside, we both know what's been going on…we know the game and we're going to play it.
And if you ask me how I'm feeling…don't tell me. Your too blind to see.
"Well let's be careful what to ask" Maybeck warned Finn behind him and the others on the radio.
"Alright." Finn wanted to give it try. "Would you please play us Let it Go."
The speaker then went silent and no music was playing.
Maybeck then asked his favorites. "Shake It Up? Skyfall? Titanium?"
Silence.
"I think he doesn't have the tunes of today."
Finn then realized this was a chance to understand what the towers were to Maleficent. "Okay tower I want to know something. What is Maleficent to you?"
Suddenly the DHI Artemis on his arm lite up with a text. Faithfully.
Then the speakers then play the music.
They say the road aint no place to start a family.
Right down the line it's been you and me.
And love in a music man aint always what it's supposed to be.
Oh girl you stand by me.
I'm forever yours…Faithfully.
"And your mother" Finn asked pointing thumb across his shoulder to the flag behind him. "What do you think of America?"
The song then quickly changed songs like flipping a radio channel.
Though it's been a while I can still feel so much pain.
Like a knife that cuts you the wound heals…but that scar remains.
Another text appeared, but this one was odd to Finn? It wasn't an American based song or something one would play on the Fourth of July. The song's title laid the tone out. Every Rose has Its Thorn.
I know I could have saved a love that night…if I'd known what to say.
Instead of making love…we both made our separate ways.
But now I hear you found somebody new…and that I never meant that much to you.
To hear that tears me up inside…and to see you cuts me like a knife.
Everyone was still and quiet hearing that. If the towers were indeed faithful to Maleficent and they knew that America had built another tower to replace them then that spelled bad news.
"Why" Willa asked her question through the radio.
The next song's title answered that question. You Give Love a bad Name
An angel's smile is what you sell. You promise me heaven then put me through hell.
Chains of love got a hold on me. When passions a prison you can't break free.
There was no doubt about it. This was very bad news for all of them.
Shot through the heart, and you're to blame. You give love a bad name.
I play my part and you play your game. You give love a bad name.
Now it came down to the big question. Finn knew he had to warn the others of the potential danger. "Guys, you're not in any of the impacts zones, right?"
"Hold on I'm getting out of the stairwell" said Charlene.
"Same here" said Willa.
"I'm in the mall so I'm good" said Philby.
After a minute Finn asked the towers, "Do you remember the day you died?"
Without a moment of silence, the music changed songs once more. The song started to play with 70's funk and trumpets. The song's title was laid out on their Artemis.
September.
Do you remember…the - of September
Love was changing the minds of pretenders…while chasing the clouds away…
Our hearts were ringing…in the key that our souls were singing…
Only blue talk and love…remember… the true love we share today…
"What is it with this guy and disco music" Maybeck said in both shock and fascination.
Ba de Ya…say do you remember.
Ba de Ya…dancing in September.
Ba de Ya…never was a cloudy day.
Thankfully there was no explosive response. Everyone was quiet till the end of the song after which all was silent. Everyone was quiet thinking on what to say next very carefully.
"Yeah" said Finn as he looked to the floor. "We remember that day."
"Liar."
The two boys jumped as Marta had appeared before them in silence without a hint of magic being used.
"Come again" Maybeck said in confusion?
"How can you remember a day you've never lived to see" Marta asked, her arms crossed in a commanding gesture?
"Is remembering the day good enough" asked Finn?
"No!" Marta said loudly as her hands grasped tightly around her arms. "What is it to you?"
"Come again" Charlene asked on the radio.
At that moment a hologram of Marta appeared before each of the kids. "September 11th ,2001! What is it to you!"
The anger in her tranquil voice was disturbing to hear, her stoic mask only upping the creep factor. What warranted this anger was out of question for all five of the kids. Yet while Maybeck swallowed hard he could see a different expression in Finn. Instead of fear there was determination slowly turning to anger.
"Why" Philby asked?
"Because it matters to me" Marta replied. "In a way it never did to you. To Britannia's Child."
In that moment Finn's fist clinched so loudly Maybeck could hear the bones crack from the shear pressure! "You first."
Marta's holograms disappeared, leaving herself to Finn. "You will give me an answer to my question."
Finn quickly yelled in anger. "You are our servant are you not!"
Now it was Marta who was surprised to the boy's outburst. Before Maybeck could say anything Willa on the radio pleaded, "Finn calm down."
"NO" Finn yelled in fury! "You want to know what 9/11 was for me? It was my dad's call to war; a war where he died getting his head blown off and left to rot in some far away land!"
Maybeck's eyes widen in horror to the fate of his friend's father. Now he knew why he dodge the question a few nights ago.
Finn then walked up to Marta and rose his finger touching her stone mask! "I don't know who you are or what Maleficent told you but don't for a damn minute think this place is more important to you than it is for me or anyone in America! Got it!"
Before he knew it, Marta grasped his arm pulling it away from her. Even though he could feel the pressure crushing down on his bone Finn didn't flinch as he looked directly into her stone covered eyes. The two were frozen in a deadlock stare.
Then Maybeck put his hand on Finn's shoulder. "Come on Finn; let's just cool it down and let this go."
Yet instead of Finn standing down Marta let go of his arm before letting out a deep sigh of regret. She then turned and walked away to the West edge, sitting down where Maleficent's hologram had been, far away from the two boys.
Finn too walked away to the East edge of the building leaving Maybeck standing by himself.
"Guys are you okay" Willa asked on the radio.
"Yeah" Maybeck replied. "But…Jesus man. Did any of you know that about Finn?"
"No" said Willa.
"No" said Charlene.
"No" said Philby.
"Jesus give him strength." For a few minutes all was silent. No music was playing. Finn and Marta were on opposite sides of the tower's observation deck. With enough time gone by for everyone to calm down, Maybeck walked over to Finn who was looking at the night. He could see apart from Finn's tight grasp on the railing, trying to hold his emotions at bay.
"It's nothing dude" He took a very deep breath. "I'll be good."
Resting on the railing a good distance away and avoiding eye contact Maybeck asked, "So…how did you find that out."
"I cracked into my family safe" Finn answered. "Found it in his death report file. Had one picture to go with it. Bullet to the head. Execution style."
The joy in Maybeck extinguished. He had never felt like this since Nirvana happened three years ago downtown. "Sorry to hear that."
"Don't be" Finn said as he got himself back to normal. "Compared to other way of dying by terrorists I say that the best way to go."
"You are indeed correct on that" Maleficent voice said from the sky once again. She then let out a small clap of applause. "Well done boy with Britomartis. You remembered her word and established your authority over her. Your resolve was strong and composed. Very impressive Whitman."
Suddenly a flash of light appeared atop the antenna of the other tower. It had expelled a purple wisp that floated down towards the two boys.
"For that I believe you are ready to see Wayne's biggest mistake."
The wisp then exploded revealing a hologram of Maleficent appeared and she was holding a younger Wayne off his feet!
PLAYING RECORDED MEMORY…
"WHERE IS THE PEN WAYNE!"
"I told you I don't know where it is" Wayne said in great anger to the fairy. "And if I did, you think I would give it to you after what you've done!"
Maleficent then grasped his head in her hand making him scream in agony! Letting go she her face was filled with shock. "You really don't know where it is?"
Coming from behind the boys, two men then came up to the deck from the exit escalator. One of them was African with a pistol and the other was a white man with an AK-47 aimed at the fairy.
"Put him down Xana" the white man yelled in a Russian accent!
Maleficent turn to the man, grasping her red claws around Wayne's neck. "Shoot me and I swear to you I'll rip his throat out!"
"If you kill him then make no mistake we will kill you" The man with the pistol said in a normal American accent before pulling out a detonator of some kind. "For good."
Then across the tower on the West edge, where Marta was still present, an Asian man came up the entrance escalator with an M-16 aimed at the fairy. "You let him go now!"
Maleficent snarled at the three men around her. "So here the rabbles come to together to die." She squeezed Wayne's throat tight. "Damn you all."
Then a masculine voice echoed in the sky. "No. Damn you."
Marta gasped heavily as she turned to see a blue hologram of a large man whose was as handsome as he was muscular. He wore ancient spartan armor with a sword in hand and shield in the other. Another hologram of the spartan man appeared behind the African and Russian giving Finn and Maybeck a good glance at him. His brown hair striking a resemblance to Maleficent's lover from the artwork.
"Cedrick" Maleficent grinded her teeth in distain. "How did you…"
"Don't forget I'm the one who always beats you Talia." The spartan fairy's blue holograms then stretched their arms to the three men who had weapons. "To this weapon of truth, I bless to be swift and sure."
The guns in the men's hands then turned silver as magical indentations curved across their metal bores!
"That spell", Maleficent's eyes then widened in fear. "How did Fauna tell you…"
"No. I told her" Cedrick un-sheaved his sword that too was blessed. "A little spell I learned from my last master before I died." Looking at Wayne with a nod of respect he yelled, "NOW KILL HER!"
With her eyes turning wild like that of a wild animal Maleficent used her free hand to throw a fireball at Cedrick before quickly drawing her gun and firing at the African American holding the detonator.
"Spread out!" The spartan fairy used his sword to destroy her fireball into smoke. He swung it again to split the bullet she fired. The bullet split in two but one of the fragments hit the man none the less, thankfully it only gazed his shoulder.
The Russian then fired his rifle hitting Maleficent in the shoulder, making it explode as she screamed! "LEWIS FINISH HER!"
Then across the observation deck the Asian man fired from his long rifle hitting Maleficent arm that held Wayne and going through her torso, exploding bits of rib bones to the white railing.
Hitting the floor Wayne yelled at the African man, "Kill her Washington!"
The man shot by Maleficent then pressed the red button to the detonator.
BOOM!
A small explosion burst from Maleficent's chest making red blood spill on the observation deck. The wounded man then got up to his feet and with his other arm aimed his blessed pistol at Maleficent and unload his magazine.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Unlike begin shot by one of the intruders, in this memory Maleficent's force field didn't vaporize the bullets and they all pierced her body making her drop. Her body then slowly began to evaporate into black mists.
"Good shot there Lewis" Cedrick patted the Asian man on his shoulder who didn't seem to mind.
"That's what she gets for burning my village" Lewis replied.
The hologram near Lewis disappeared making Marta get up and look to the remaining hologram of Cedrick near Finn and Maybeck. As quickly as she could she teleported to their side of the tower; witnessing along with Finn and Maybeck.
As the Asian man came to help his wounded companion, the remaining hologram of the spartan fairy lend Wayne a hand.
"Thanks Cedrick." Wayne got up to his feet.
"No thank you. All of you."
Then from behind the men a hologram of various colors and person's laid behind them expect for Wayne. Behind the wounded African American was a green hologram of the African Chieftain from Maleficent's artwork. Behind the Asian was a yellow hologram of a Vietnamese woman dressed as a divine Empress. And finally, behind the Russian was a red hologram of a late teenage girl with flamboyant red hair wearing a golden kokoshnik and armor.
Maleficent laugh quietly as she her slowly tried to get up.
"What are you laughing about" the Russian man asked?
Rising to her feet Maleficent continued to laugh despite blood spiting from her mouth. "Fools, all of you. It doesn't matter if you kill me here I already killed your true loves, and nothing is going to bring them back."
Before any of the men could even respond the spartan fairy dash at Maleficent, impaling her heart with his sword. To Finn this was too reminiscent of how she died by Prince Philip in Sleeping Beauty.
"And to think I made love to you under the eyes of the Gods." He pressed the sword deeper, making Maleficent cough up a splash of blood. "I can't believe you named these towers after me."
Even though her body was breaking apart into black dust Maleficent's continued to laugh. "I didn't name them after you fool. My Kinsali is more important to me than you my pet."
Cedrick then twisted the sword, the disgusting sound of ribs cracking as Maleficent screamed in pain. "Even as an old hag you've never learned to be quiet." He then pulled the sword out.
Wayne then walked over to pick up a Colt 45 revolver laying on the deck. Cedrick's blue hologram got then got behind Wayne and the two joined in line with their comrades. Four men. Four holograms. And before them a fairy with a gap through her heart and bullets through her chest.
Maleficent on her knees merely stared at the men in an insidious manor, her tongue licking the blood off her smile. At that moment she merely pointed her hand in a gun gesture.
"Bang."
Nothing happened.
The holograms then infused their souls to the guns of the four men. Then they opened fired in a hail of bullets!
Before they knew it Maleficent's body was torn to pieces; bone and flesh becoming graphite and turning into dust. When the firing was done all that was left was her cloths behind soaked in a pool of blood which slowly turned from red to black. By then all the men dropped their empty magazines.
The Russian man then said, "Quickly Wayne, the drawing."
"I know Vasili."
Wayne then dug through the remains to retrieve her leg case, unlocked it with an override code, and took out the folded animation drawing. Looking at Wayne couldn't help but look at the signatures at the bottom of the drawing. Taking a deep breath Wayne closed his eyes and said, "Sorry Marc."
He then torn the animated drawing down the middle and again across, destroying the thing that allowed Maleficent to exist in the physical plane.
Falling to his knees Wayne was quickly patted on the back by the man named Washington. "Victor you got those cigarettes."
"Yup. Been holding them for a very long time." Victor then took out a pack of cigarettes and passed one to each man; Washington, Lewis, and Wayne. The four then came together with Wayne holding the shredded paper of Maleficent's drawing in hand. Lewis then took out a lighter and lite the pieces of paper on fire and each man took a piece to lite their own cigarette. As their holograms started to fade away the four men took a collective exhausted breath before disappearing.
END OF RECORDING…
In the moment Finn, Maybeck, and even Marta herself forgot the drama from earlier.
"And…it didn't end there" Maybeck asked?
Marta took a deep breath before quietly replying. "Of course not. I've…never seen that memory play before."
"So even though Wayne destroyed her drawing Maleficent survived" Finn said to himself to fit the pieces together. "How?"
"Lord Kinsali" Marta replied as she stroked the railing. "Despite her evil character he allowed her soul to live through the Apeiron. He gave Maleficent a chance she deserved. She protected his mother from other magical beings and so her duty as a warrior-servant was rewarded. Still despite all that she was still a prisoner to Walt Disney's kingdom."
"Then can I ask you something?" Finn motioned the two to the north edge to where the American flag stood. "Does he have a problem with me touching this."
"Yes, he does." Maleficent's voice echoed from the sky. "But having heard the sacrifice of your father Kinsali will allow it. May I ask as to what you plan to do with his mother's banner?"
Knowing the towers were listen in on him Finn chose his words carefully. "Well I've always been a kid who thinks that a flag goes to the highest point on a tower, so that's what I'm going to do."
Maybeck turn to the first tower adjacent looked up to the large red and white radio mast. "You mean you're going up the big antenna?"
"Yup."
In the sky Maleficent chuckled. "You know Whitman the only time an American banner flew on top of the mast was when it was in a pile of rubble on the ground instead of in the sky."
He already knew that.
"Very well then. Once you've achieved your task we will dine." Maleficent's voice turn to Marta. "Kinsali wishes for you to remain there Britomartis. He wishes to give you something for your loyalty."
The sky went silent.
Looking at the antenna once more Maybeck turn to Finn with a smile on his face. "Alright then; let's get moving."
"Funny, I was just about to ask you for help" Finn replied as the two jumped over the rail and onto the roof. The boys then lower the flag from its wire and folded it as best he could in a triangle fashion.
"Hey Finn" Maybeck whispered quietly. "You think it's safe to be around…" He motioned his eyes to Marta.
"Let's just keep quiet on that for now okay" Finn whispered back.
From above Marta could only stare at what was happening. Never has any of any realm touched the banner to Britannia's Child. Not even Maleficent could do such a thing and at this moment that sacred rule was overruled by two boys.
Flag in hand the boys used a stairwell to get back on the deck. "Guys does the gift shop on the deck have backpacks?"
"Yes" Philby answered to Finn on the radio.
"Okay then" Maybeck said from behind. "Let's stop there first."
Before the boys moved, Marta's grip tightened on her staff. "I'm sorry."
Finn and Maybeck turn to her.
"Forgive me for my behavior. "I couldn't help but feel his anger."
"Um…anger" Maybeck said troublesome.
"Yes. Towards that." She then pointed to the flag Finn held in his hands. "He hates what Britannia's Child did to him and what she has now become."
"And that would be" Finn couldn't help but ask?
Marta took a deep breath and turned. "Ask Maleficent."
Patting Finn on the shoulder Maybeck whispered, "Come on, let's get going."
Finn nodded before turning to Marta. "Okay then, apology accepted. If you stay cool, then we'll answer what you asked earlier."
The two boys then made their way to the west edge of the building and down the exit escalator. Suddenly a hologram of a man in a black suite appear, followed by Wayne's blue hologram coming from nowhere to punch the man!
"HOLLINGSWORTH!" Wayne punched the man, knocking him to the railing with a bloody nose. The holograms then quickly disappeared.
"What was that Marta" Finn asked the fairy from afar.
"A moment Lord Kinsali wished for you to know. I would take note of it."
The boys none the less made their way down the escalator, leaving Marta alone on the roof top. She then quietly turned the antenna of the first tower and kneel; holding her staff behind her in a bowing fashion. "You wish to speak to me my Lord."
After a minute of silence, a purple wisp expelled from the tower's antenna floating in the air before reaching her. Marta then stretched her arms to grab it, only for it to transform into a familiar sword with a ring tied on a string at the end of its hilt. She gasped the sword in her hands. It was Cedrick's sword, the one used to strike Maleficent down so long ago and then some.
But what caught Marta's attention was the ring at the end. She tore it off and held it preciously. For a time, she merely stared at the ring, until tears began to trickle through her magical mask to the ring. She then looked at her other hand upon which she bore the same ring on her finger.
Dropping her staff and sword she fell to her knees and grasped the ring close to her chest, wailing in agony to the sky.
800 feet beneath Discovery Island outside the Magic Kingdom (The Real World)
The Vault
8:35 P.M.
Two green wisps floated before the safety boxes that laid around the wall of the secure vault.
"Oh, the memories" said Aleesa. "Do you recall all the bizarre adventures we shared."
"I remember those days" Nayama said in a shrug tone. "I try to find happiness in the memories."
Soon a third wisp appeared in the vault. It was Elvira. "Kinsali just gave Britomartis Cedrick's Sword of Truth."
"And Maleficent is alright with that" Aleesa asked?
"Don't worry about it" said Nayama. "With the power of The World in her hands she can't be defeated by any magical weapon."
"If were lucky one day she'll share all it's secrets with us." Elvira then joined the others looking at the safety boxes. "Isn't Maleficent done dressing or is it simply that dinner isn't ready."
"It's the latter half, but for the most part she's entertained by what's going on in New York City."
"Come again" Elvira asked in confusion?
Aleesa then informed her. "Oh, that gunman we captured, turns out he's the older brother to the famous winch who got beaten earlier this week. Now that Maleficent burned their dwelling and her two brothers are 'missing' the people are revolting again. That makes this what, the tenth time this has gone on this year?"
Knowing Maleficent, Elvira understood. Nothing entertained her more that seeing simpleton fools tear at each other apart. It's what she planned for King Stefan and his kingdom by cursing his only heir. But regardless weather it's the 14th century or 21st century; fear always prevails as the greatest weapon in making people destroy each other.
None the less the three wisps looked at each safety deposit box in the vault as they recall their many adversaries. There were two benefits in Maleficent's time of being a Keeper to Britannia's Child. The first was that she traveled the world, learning the new world and all it's inventions. The second is that she could awake other dormant souls and make them loyal to her.
One box's plate read: Greece 1981: Lady Britomartis/ Guardian Artemis. Lady Marin/ Guardian Aquila. Master Aiolia/Guardian Leo. Mistress Shaina/ Guardian Serpentarius. Mistress Callisto/Guardian Hera. The Gorgon Medusa. Eris: Goddess of Discord. Within it laid dirt from the land along with other small artifacts, allowing Britomartis to exist within the realms of Disney's magic. Although there was more to her than that.
Box by box the fairies remember the journey's they had; both in the allies they made and the foes they've fought.
Chile 1973: Lord Santiago.
Israel 1974: Adam.
United Kingdom and Ireland 1975: The Goddess Britannia. King Lenjohnis/ Guardian Deaf Leopard. Queen Cordelia/ Guardian Aelita. King Elatha/Guardian U2. Lord Partholon/ Guardian Whitesnake. Master Busirane/ Guardian Black Sabbath. Mistress Morrigan/ Guardian Raven.
Argentina 1976: The Five Mamas: Mama of the Sea. Mama of Nature. Mama of the Moon. Mama of the Mountains. Mama of the Sky.
Nicaragua 1981: the Guardians K.I.S, A.Z.T.C, and X.L.R.
Afghanistan 1986: Master Muhammed Jiriya. Mistress Sumaya. The High Phoenix.
Ukraine 1988: Lord Chernobog. Master Cobach.
Panama 1989: Lord Wammu.
Kuwait 1991: The Demon Queens Ezdeath, Agra, and Satana.
Rwanda 1994: Princess Kamaliya/ Guardian Queen Bee. Master Chaka. Mistress Enyaba. Chief Kopa/ Guardian Black Panther.
Italy 1995: The Gods Romulus and Remus. Master Dio/Guardian Jupiter. Lady Flora/Guardian Minerva. Lady Fauna/Guardian Ceres. Lady Merryweather/Guardian Vesta.
Germany 1995: King Oberon/ Guardian Rammstein. Master Kayensar. Master Dellso. Master Dorrack. Master Thrawn.
France 1995: Queen Titania/ Guardian Telephone. Princess Acacia/ Guardian Joana. Lady Sarah. Lady Felicity. Lady Zalia. Lady Lovania. Lady Konstanze.
China 1998: The Monkey King. The Red Dragon. The Three Teachers. High Monk.
Russia 1999: The Goddess Mother Rossiya. Mistress Rozanica/ Guardian Aria. Master Deivos/ Guardian Kino.
Indeed, what joyful times those were.
However, one box that was open and it was the most secured one of all. It was locked by both physical and magical security mechanisms. Of all the artifacts found by Maleficent this one was the most powerful of all, on par with Walt's magical pen.
The box had no title for it was now Maleficent's. It had only a location, a date, and a name.
Iraq 1991: Lilith.
"Wow she's going to show them the crown" Elvira said in amazement. "Let's see how it looks on her."
The three wisps then went through the vault door, it's magical field deactivated, and into Maleficent's bedroom where she was watching television. It was amazing to see that in the 18 years gone by TVs had gone from being big wardrobe size bulks into thin flat screens that were so pristine in clarity they could just jump into the picture.
The breaking news on this day was once again at New York City, only this time the enemy was clear to see.
"The crowds of thousand have now reached the memorial" the news caster said as he behind him two crowds were feet away from each other; a line in the sand drawn by the black street and a white marbled floor. "One side protesters to the events in Orlando and the other made of New York officers, firefighters, and construction crews whom are determine to keep the crowd away from the World Trade Center Memorial which ends at this white marble floor here on West Street."
"Huh, I should've curse that child for 18 years" Maleficent said as she could sense the wisps behind her. "Look at them. Six centuries and nothing has changed."
"Wait I think someone's lighting something on fire." A roar from both side could be heard as a woman from protesting crowd could be seen on holding a glass bottle with it's rag lite on fire. Only it wasn't a rag, it was an American flag.
"Take your damn flag!" The woman threw it over to the crowd of officers and fireman, smashing into the white marble and setting the whole flag on fire. Then hell broke loss as the New York servants and workers charged into the protesters with blinding rage as they beat anyone they came into contact.
"Oh no" the news caster panicked. "We have to break off air. That was an American flag burnt on Ground Zero. Things are about to get ugly."
The crowds then screamed in horror as the sound of gunfire echoed in the air!
"Oh my God! Cut the feed!"
Maleficent slowly grabbed the remote from the stand next to her and muted the volume, taking a disappointing sigh. "What do you think?"
The three wisps silent.
"I feel the same." Their anger couldn't be expressed in words. "It's a good thing I wasn't wearing this" Maleficent pointed to a silver crown that resembled more of a tiara band than an actual crown. "If Kinsali heard this he would've probably killed one of those kids if they were in the wrong place."
Nayama couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure that you want to depend on them to find the pen."
"I told you I have no choice" Maleficent said as her fist grasped. "This may be the last chance for me to find that pen and be free of this damn park."
"And if that plan fails then what" Aleesa asked?
She turned the television back on hearing the live feed from New York City. Maleficent's Unseelie instincts came into mind as she saw people born under the same Goddess tear each other apart in the name of tolerance, inclusion, and love. She warned Walter that as more children watched his movies, their eyes would be blind the truth of the world. Now that the evidence was clear it was time to do what all Unseelie Fairies do when the light is to heavy on the scales of order.
Balance.
"If I won't be free from this place, then I will do what I swore long ago."
"You're really going to do it this year" Elvira asked?
"Yes" Maleficent answered. "They've disrespected me, Kinsali, and above all Mr. Davis. Now with this little protest, my patience is gone."
"You can tell the kids that when dinner is ready." Aleesa then changed the subject. "Why did you release Britomartis earlier? You sure she can be trusted?"
"A person can change a lot in eighteen years Aleesa" Maleficent replied as she continued to watch the television.
"Okay then. What about her daughter?"
Floor 103
Tower 1
8:40 P.M.
"We hope all you New Yorkers out there are having the time of your lives. From the station we love you and we love this city. This is New York City's rock station." A station jingle followed. "WAXQ…AXQ…N. Y. C!"
Wanting to scope out a business floor, Philby took an elevator to a random floor near the top of the building. It was odd that despite being in a colossal office building he never considered exploring a normal office floor until now. As he waited in the elevator another favorite classic began to play on the speakers. The song was In The Air Tonight, a tranquil song that always put him in a dream like trance.
Once the doors to the elevator opened he found himself in dark hallway with all the lighting turned off. Apart from the music on the intercom, all the electricity on the floor was off. The floor was covered in rows upon rows of white office cubicles that each had an old style dial up telephone and large computers. As he got a closer look he realized that many of the windows were broken with chairs and blunt objects nearby.
Walking in a dream like trance to the music Philby made his way to one many broken windows to see down below. The forest below looked like moss instead of trees and in the distance, he could see the castles. From his view he could see the other tower and the sea behind it to the south, and the Cinderella Castle to the West with the sun on the horizon. It was a good thing his mind admired the sight because he couldn't shake what he saw earlier on the roof.
As the song echoed through the empty office floor, Philby explored every room and space that he could find. To him exploring this tower was like exploring the shipwreck of the Titanic. Turning a corner to the East side the office space was illuminated only by the twilight skies of the night. While office cubicles litter the other ring of the tower, along the core were large offices with desks, filling cabinets, and polished furniture. Installed sheetrock walls help give some privacy to each workspace both in and around the tower.
Working his way to a corner of the building Philby found a business room with a sign nearby reading Cantor Fitzgerald. He walked into the room and took a seat, admiring the mountains in the distance. As he sat there only now did Philby began to feel uneasy as he thought about the sudden outburst from Marta.
"Hey guys, can I talk to you all for a minute" he called the others.
"Yeah what is it Dr. Phil" said Maybeck.
"Don't call up Marta okay, I want to talk about her. You know off the record."
"Good idea there Philby" said Finn. "She was all calm and normal until we asked the tower about that day."
"Yeah" said Maybeck. "The moment we brought that up she completely lost it. I swear man I though she was going to kill us."
"I think she has a right to be upset" said Charlene. "When Maleficent brought up 9/11 she looked really depressed. I don't know why. It's not like she lost anyone here like back in the real world."
Looking around at the empty room Philby pondered on that last sentence. Slowly but surely, he then realized that the answer to Marta's behavior was right in front of him.
Emptiness.
"Guys. I think I know why we've haven't seen any magical creature." Philby explained, "This place imagination realm used to have a lot of fairies like Maleficent and Marta around, then that day happened and the whole place was wiped out."
"What makes you think that" Willa asked, wishing to hear the explanation to Philby's conclusion.
"Think about out? That pyramid we saw under the Magic Kingdom, yeah that thing, it used to be stationed at the real towers. Maleficent found fairies, brought them to the towers instead of the parks, Wayne got on to her, and he took her out."
"Yeah I see where your going with this" said Finn. "And when he burned her drawing he thought she was dead."
"But she had a backup plan" Philby pieced it together. "That plan being the towers."
"Then how come she's still alive even though the towers are gone" Charlene asked? "Not only that but if that drawing she had was 'Disney' magic, shouldn't she be free of the parks?"
"I think she's tied to Disney regardless" Willa suggested. "Her body and everything exist because of her animator and of Disney. She can't cut herself away from those things. It's just not possible."
"Or…" Maybeck expressed. "She countered the Disney magic with something more real. Something evil. Like that day perhaps?"
Philby clapped as they pieced everything together and finally see the picture. This was why Maleficent brought them to the towers. It wasn't just a place where she would meet her animator, it was castle to a kingdom for magical creatures in an unseen world. A world that Walt Disney managed to tap into.
Finn then reminded everyone, "That still doesn't explain why Marta lost it."
"Leave her to me" said Charlene. "Trust me on this one."
"Alright it's your call, but if you do she's going to ask you about that day and you're going to have to answer her. What will you tell her?"
A moment of silence passed until Charlene replied with a single word. "History."
(Meanwhile)
Roof Access Stairwell
Floor 107
Tower 1
Finn took a disappointing sigh to the word. "Yeah I guess you're right."
"Don't worry Finn. I'll be fine."
"Alright then" said Maybeck. "Me and Finn will see you on the roof."
With the restaurant still closed shut, Finn lead Maybeck to the roof stairwell entrance. Before opening the door, Maybeck shouted, "Wait! We need to get something."
"What" Finn asked?
"Rope. You know as a safety line if we have to climb out in the open."
Finn couldn't believe he could forgot that. "Good idea."
"Alright then." Maybeck then spoke in a Schwarzenegger impression, "I'll be back."
Like that Maybeck bolted back to the elevator hall, leaving Finn once again by himself. Opening the door, he made his way up the two-story stairwell until he came to contact with a heavy door which had a yellow triangle with a radio label in the center. The door was tightly secure having a physical lock and a keycard lock.
Well that explains why they couldn't escape to the roof.
Using his DHI powers, Finn pass through the door to open it from the other side. He then picked up the backpack containing the flag and he made his way down the narrow hallway. Opening the door at the other end he found himself in what appeared to be a small garage of small construction equipment. Looking to his side Finn look to see a road ramp leading outside. At the end of the ramp was the large antenna that stood in the center of the building and above that was a violet blue sky with stars. The roof of Tower 1 was a forest of radio antennas and dish relays of all shapes and sizes. There was no fence of any kind, making falling off the edge a possibility.
While Finn waited on Maybeck he could feel the roof rumble beneath his feet. Looking behind himself, he saw a pulse of energy shoot up the large radio mast before it expelled a purple wisp that dropped like a rock from the sky and onto the roof. Not to his surprise the wisp landed right in front of him.
He scanned it, in slight anticipation of what he will get. It was a journal entry.
Dark Data Downloaded.
Journal Entry #1703
November 25, 1991
Mrs. Audley is dead. The talented woman who gave voice to me has passed on earlier this day in California. The infection within her lungs had finally taken her. Wayne told me not to long ago. He was expecting a change in my existence in the physical realm. There has been no change. While I may only watch her from afar I respect Mrs. Audley in giving me voice, even if it was older than my true voice. It is odd though when I watch Sleeping Beauty because now I can't see myself. It can't see myself act, talk, move, think, behave, or even pretend to be the cartoon I was born from. I've seen too much truth. Learned far too much. In fact, I would be shocked if I did indeed act like that because my goodness what cliché behavior! None the less, Wayne told me that she wished to be buried with her people, under the star of King David. I was hoping she would chose her home of New York, so I could pay my respects, but the choice was hers and I will respect that.
Thinking about Mrs. Audley I can't help but wonder when it will be Mr. Davis's time? And more importantly; what I will be when I lament in the decades if not centuries to come. He's already showing signs of aging, having not been able to come to the twin towers this year as we always do on my birthday. That was the first time I realized that life was indeed limited, but I guess in the end that's the grand difference between us. A man can live a century at the most and a fairy like me can live a millennium at the least. Thinking about it makes me think back to that day he first called me to the twin towers. Not a moment goes by when I thought about how I would still see that beautiful sunset long after he is gone. If there is one thing I fear it is the day I must be before his grave. It's a curse to be forever beautiful while all that you see ages, dies, and is ultimately forgotten. That was the fate of my people, but I will not let a fate come to Mr. Davis. I will not let this be the fate of Mrs. Audley. I will not allow it.
To this day I swear that I will keep the names who earn my respect to live eternally through myself. I will keep them alive by the monument's they've created, their achievements and legacies. This I promise to myself and to this I will uphold.
May your rest in slumber, Eleanor Zellman Audley. Thank you for giving me voice and existence.
END OF TRANSMISSION…
"A millennium" Willa said in shock.
"Damn she's old" said Maybeck on the radio. "But on the serious note, I assume that she has to face her animator dying when the time came. I want to know how she took that."
"Well ask her that when we meet her" said Charlene.
Just before everyone turned off their radios Philby quickly asked, "Hey you think it's strange things have been quiet?"
"What do you mean" Finn asked?
"Why haven't we seen another flash from the antennae up there?" Philby explained, "When I scanned a a wisp it triggered a flash."
"Same here" said Willa.
A rumbling quake shook the roof, making Finn loss his balance. He noticed that the large antenna in the center of the roof was starting to glow!
"Oh crap" said Maybeck on the radio. "Careful Whitman! Don't get blown off the roof!"
Below he could hear the bells within the forest start to ring. Realizing he was about to get a full blast Finn laid flat on the ground and covered his ears. A few seconds later the growing light upon the antenna exploded into the thunderous synthetic horn which blew air over Finn's head. Unfortunately, his eyes were open slightly and the white light blinded him for a few seconds.
His eyesight returned to normal, but he was in a pile of dead leaves underneath a tree. Getting up Finn was shocked to see that he was in the Arlington National Cemetery all the way in Washington DC.
What the hell!
They sky was cold and dark as the winter air, the grass still green despite the cold, and thousands of white tombstones laid organized row by row like a regiment of troops. Finn knew instantly what he was seeing. It was a memory from his past; the day of the funeral. Fifty feet away he could see the casket and the rows of chairs laid about, all of them empty. Naturally Finn ran quickly to the grave for a few seconds.
"WHITMAN STOP" Marta's voice echoed in the sky!
Finn's foot stumbles onto something at that moment and after blinking for a second he found himself running to the edge of the tower!
"Oh crap" he shouted, trying to stop his momentum! He had tripped over one of the window washer's rail tracks and was now stumbling towards the edge of the building!
Then from behind Finn felt a rope go around his body and he was pulled back safely to the roof. Finn landed on his shoulder and took notice that the rope was a string; a blue glowing string! Following the string, he could see who was holding it at the other end.
It was a girl with a yo-yo. In that moment, Finn's heart and body froze. Not out of fear but out of beauty.
The girl had long brunet hair and wore a white robe like Marta. Her blue eyes were hypnotically alluring. The small freckles on her checks showed a characteristic of weakness but her tan skin radiated fortitude and tenacity. Finn had always seen pretty girls at school, but he felt a different sensation looking upon this girl. She was quiet and only stared at Finn as she could tell that he was intrigued by her presence.
With everything in it's animation form once again it made the moment more magical.
"Let the boy go Amethyst." Marta's hologram fizzled in the air next to the girl unable to from.
The girl at that moment untied Finn from her yo-yo toy which resembled more of a lasso and emulated a blue aura that crawled across her body. Before Finn knew it, she vanished in a flash of light like Maleficent's teleportation spell.
(3 minutes earlier)
Floor 106
Tower 1
Finding string for a safety line was quicker than Maybeck thought. He only had to yank the string from window blindfolds. Laying them across his shoulder and made his way back to the stairwell. He heard the commotion from above and then the rumbling force from the rooftop. Knowing Finn was up top Maybeck dashed up the stairs till he was back to the steel door that lead to the roof.
"Oh crap" he said to himself. "Careful Whitman! Don't get blown off the roof!"
Maybeck focused on his DHI powers to go through the door, but he was halted by the string around his shoulder. He could hear the growing power atop the roof making him drop the string and go through the door.
The roof shook to the thunderous boom that burst the door that lead outside open, reflexing the white light from the antenna. Despite being in a hallway perpendicular to the ramp the light blind Maybeck for a moment.
Shit. Maybeck covered his eyes from the light.
Lowering his hand, Maybeck froze in terror to the change in setting. Instead of being in a hallway to the roof of the old Trade Center he was in a hallway of a correctional facility; the Dallas Country Jail.
Oh crap. Not this place.
The door Maybeck entered from had disappeared, so he had no choice but to move forward. Opening the door at the other end, he found himself in a visitor's area with the booths having the glass windows and wired phones nearby. Only one booth had a light on and Maybeck walked towards it.
Everything was like he remembered. The sense of despair emulating from the walls. The vile air that filled his lungs. And the dreed of having to contact the sinful. Walking in front of the booth a sign above read; Prisoner 10469. Xavier Simmons Maybeck.
Maybeck picked up the phone to the booth and slowly his anger flowed into the fists. After so many years his anger has still not died out. In a moment of rage Maybeck shouted and threw the phone at the window making it shatter into pieces and leaving a small crack on the glass.
"WHITMAN STOP" Marta's voiced yelled from out of nowhere!
Maybeck looked up, fearing that something may be happening to his friend. He quickly ran for the door and ran down the hallway he came from. At the other end of the hall the door had reappeared and so he opened it. When he did he collided with Philby.
Maybeck was back in the tower and everything was in an animation form. It turns out there were no birds circling around their heads.
"What the heck" Philby said in distain as he got up from the collision.
Maybeck was always one to make light of things but what he saw didn't warrant it. "Did you see anything odd when that flash appeared?"
"Yeah, earlier before" Philby answered. "Maleficent told me not to tell you guys that."
"Let the boy go Amethyst" Marta's voice could be heard from afar.
"Finn" Maybeck shouted! The setting and landscape were all animated as before, returning to the appearance of a European tapestry. The large radio mast nearby was slowly returning to normal as its illuminating light was fading away. From afar a fizzled hologram of Marta tried to appear but to no avail. As for Finn he was still as a statue, eyes wide opened as if he had seen something he can't forget.
"Hey, Finn" Philby shouted as he ran to his friend. "You okay up here?"
Snapping out of his trance Finn got up on his feet. "Yeah."
"You still want to climb that thing after what just happened" Maybeck asked Finn from behind as he look to the tower's antenna.
"I don't think it will do that again."
The three boys turn their attention to the colossal radio antenna that really was the size of a normal radio tower being 20 or 30 stories high. The mast was divided into four sections. The first and third were painted red. The second and forth were painted white.
"I promised myself I would get this flag up there" Finn shrugged the backpack on his back. "And I intend to get it up there before we eat."
Maybeck turn to Philby and said, "Can you go to the door and pick up the string I dropped please. I'm going up there with him and were going to need something to hold on to."
"Alright" Philby said as he ran back to the roof entrance.
Turning to Finn he asked, "Marta called out someone's name earlier? Was there someone else up here?"
For a moment Finn was quiet, until he laid his head back with a confident smile. "No. I was just lucky that all."
Maybeck didn't know why he was smiling, but none the less he was happy for him. "There you go. A good smile can fix anything."
Philby returned with the string. "Here you go. Good luck to you mates."
"Cheerio. Tot. Tot." Maybeck said in a British accent.
Philby couldn't help but laugh at the stereotype taught. "You know we rarely say that in U.K."
"What about tea time" Maybeck asked?
"Donnie" Finn patted Maybeck on the shoulder. "Come on, we have a flag to raise."
The boys then look to begin their climb at that base of the radio mast. The square base was covered with walkways and pipes, and after climbing a short flight of stairs the boys came across a hard hatch that looked as if it belonged to a warship. Finn and Maybeck open the hatch together and look within the antenna. Above them was a compact series of stairs going straight up. So now they climb.
Stairwell B
Floor 78
Tower 1
8:50 P.M.
Charlene took another break on the 78th floor, resting herself for the final climb. Even in animation form the radio on the intercom was still on. "We are about to hit the 9 o-clock hour and looks like the boys here are close to calling it a night. Not to worry our fellow New Yorkers we'll be on the air a few tracks longer. This is 104.3 station playing to you under the stars. Here is Silent Running."
With only a few floors to go Charlene return to the stairwell. Her Artemis waypoint showed her the path and she followed. By the time she hit the 80th floor she noticed something. The floor was wet and above she could hear the echoes of trickling water.
What is with the water?
Charlene then followed the water from the upper floors. The water soon become a flowing stream down the stairwell as she reached the 90th floor of the tower. Eventually she reached the 93rd floor to find the water was coming from a large broken pipe, along with a destroyed stairwell that rose to at least six stories; another impact zone.
Yet the Artemis waypoint showed her a path pointing her to exit the stairwell. Charlene followed it into the damaged 91th floor where she was surprise to what she was seeing!
Among exposed ceiling and burnt floor was an entire floor of the tower that was an art studio! Everywhere laid art equipment, canvas paintings, and artist desks that she assumed was for animation purposes. It was as if Disney had office space within the tower, but more than likely it was just another art studio for New York. For a while Charlene walked among the empty office floor where there were no walls anywhere apart from the tower's core and the outside skeleton. Her footsteps giving echoes as there was no music on the intercom. The broken windows gave breath to the outside wind breezing quietly through the empty floor.
Eventually Charlene made her way back the blue DHI line towards the elevator nearby and directed her to go through it.
Knowing it was the better than ever, Charlene turned off the waypoint on her Artemis, took a seat in the empty art studio, and mentally called Marta to see her. And like that a flash of blue light erupted behind Charlene.
"I know what your going to ask" Marta said in shame. "And I know what you all think of that day."
Charlene turned her chair towards the masked fairy who was kneeling in disgrace. "And?"
"It's disappointing" Marta rose to her feet. "History? A picture in a book? A few paragraph of words? Shallow sorrow?" She grasped her fists so tightly her fingers cracked from the pressure. "I see that Britannia's Child has failed to teach her children properly."
"Enough of that" Charlene said letting her inner queen out. "You threw a fit up there with the boys and it has to do with this certain day" she pointed up to the ceiling where a plane size hole laid above. "Why?"
Taking a deep breath Marta made her way to one of broken windows in the studio to look at the sun.
"It wasn't always like this." Her voice fill with sorrow as she continued, "This realm us to be a thriving world. One where we could live our lives as we remembered in the old world, while also having a window into the new. When Maleficent brought me to the towers, I like many others swore an oath to protect them as they stood as the castle to Britannia's Child. We were Kingdom Keepers."
There was that term again. "What?"
"A Kingdom Keeper" Marta then explain, "It's a special type of warrior-servant within the realm of the Fae. Unlike the normal warriors who fight for their own domain or servants who serve a royal family, a Kingdom Keeper is appointed by the Lower Gods to protect a given kingdom. For Maleficent, Britannia's Child was our Goddess and we swore to protect her kingdom and her castle; this castle."
"So, what happened when that day happened?"
Marta took a deep breath before turning back to Charlene and taking a seat. "There is a great penalty for a Keeper if they fail to protect their kingdom. You see when a fairy becomes one, they're body and soul are linked eternally to the kingdom they swore to protect. If that kingdom were to be conquered or destroyed, the fairy dies along with it. As you see the consequences for us were dire."
This then brought up a good question for Charlene that really did collide the two worlds. "If you're swore to protect this place by any means why didn't you us magic on that day."
"Because the Gods forbid it" she answered. "It has always been forbidden for the magical realm to meddle in human affairs. The Gods have a plan for humanity and no matter how good our intentions maybe we are not allowed to interfere with that plan."
"Even if it means the death for everyone? My people and yours?"
Marta was quiet as she lowered her head in both shame and confusion. "I was here that day. I endured pain you cannot imagine. Even in my dreams I feel the fire scorching across my body. Yet the only thing I remember is begging for my Gods, any God, to show me mercy. I received none. None of us did."
Knowing what was best for the fairy Charlene felt necessary to speak no more. "Okay, that's enough."
"Are you pitying me" she asked?
"No, I just know your not ready. It's okay." She got up to her feet and turned away from the fairy. "If it's not much do you mind helping me get to the top?"
Raising her head Marta clashed her staff to the floor and transformed into a blue wisp. "Very well. Follow me."
The wisp made its way to the elevator bank and with an invisible force opened the doors. Charlene followed and after taking a good look down the long elevator shaft which spanned the height of the tower. To her side she could see a maintenance ladder nearby. Looking up Charlene could see the ladder only went a few stories up before being cut into a dead end.
Marta's blue wisp flew up a few stories before stopping. "It's safe to climb."
Without fear of the tall drop Charlene stretch her arm to grab hold of the ladder and swung her body onto it. Climbing the ladder and she made her way up the destroyed floors, where she could see the point of impact. The sunlight seeping through the windows of the building which had the outline of an airplane; its tail and wings cutting across the building. For that moment Charlene rested upon the ladder and let the image sink to mind.
"Be careful here. I trust that you are well in balance?"
Eventually her mind came back to turn to the steel beams that stretched across the exposed core. Far on the other side Charlene could make out a collapsed floor which could serve as a ramp to the floors above.
"Well balance?" Charlene stood up onto a piece of flooring that was intact. "I'm a champion when it comes to things with balance. I got this."
She then got off the latter and onto the exposed structure; slowly making her way across it with extreme care. For Charlene walking on these beams was no different than a balancing act in her old gymnasium. Since she was a young girl she found the motion of body in action to be amazing. She's always been the one who wanted to climb the tallest rock walls, the longest rope, or the highest jump; to do acts that in fantasy would be adventurous.
Marta turned a corner to another beam and then from her wisp a wall of some energy starched across her like a transparent shield. "This will help you avoid being blinded."
Charlene followed the wisp and turned the corner; the sun's bright rays being reduced by Marta's shield.
"Careful now there's a break in the floor here" the wisp said over a large pit to that dropped deep into the tower. "I'll create a bridge."
"Don't worry about it" Charlene said as she looked up at an exposed pipe above the pit. "I think I got this." With a mid-air jump by her DHI powers Charlene grab hold of the pipe and swung herself to the other side of the pit. Landing safely on a stable office floor.
"Impressive" Marta complemented as she flew near the gymnastics girl. "You remind me my time as a young girl at the temple of Artemis."
Appreciating the complement, she then made her way to the improvised ramp to the floors above.
On the 99th floor she couldn't rely on fallen ceilings to make her way up as most of the floor was in one piece. Marta's blue wisp then flew through a hole in the ceiling that pierced the floor above. Pushing a nearby filing cabinet Charlene climbed her way up onto the holes ledge and pulled herself up. The floor she was on looked normal with everything being intact and standing.
"That will be enough Britomartis" Maleficent's voice echoed in the sky once more. "Let the children have their fun. There is something in the real world I wish for you to see."
The blue wisp was mute for a second until she replied, "As you wish, your grace."
"Hang on" said Charlene. "Thank you. For everything."
The wisp transformed once more into the fairy woman as she kneeled and bowed her head in a salute. "It's been a pleasure to be with you this night. Forgive me for any transgressions."
She could see that the fairy still felt guilty for her behavior. Charlene then came by the fairy and put her hand on her shoulder in a compassionate gesture. She could feel the warm sensation within the fairy, feeling more alive than a hologram. "You're forgiven."
Slowly the fairy touched the girls hand. "You are too kind." She then teleported out of sight leaving Charlene alone.
Hoping Maleficent was still present she looked up to the ceiling. "Why do hate her so much?"
"I can hate who I wish when I wish" Maleficent replied. "I wish she had died that September mourning, but she just had to touch Walter's pen and save Wayne."
Now that explained why she had survived.
"Don't worry it won't be the last time you see her. Now go with your friends. Enjoy the view. It will be the last time you ever have such a moment." The sky was then silent.
Shaking the moment off Charlene opened the door out of the office into the intact workspace. Finding a stairwell was easy and upon entering it she saw the number 100 painted near the floor. The stairwell going down was destroyed, leaving a nearly seven story drop at the end of the stairs. She was out of the impact zone.
Almost there. Almost there.
The Radio Mast
Floor 110
Tower 1
9:10 P.M.
Philby stared up to see Maybeck and Finn on the exterior of the antenna and were now going into it once more. They had now entered the second section of the radio mass, distinguished by the red coloring of the exterior. From below Philby estimated that they must be probably 10 stories high.
For the two boys it was a tight squeeze to move about. The inside of the antenna was thick enough to have a small stairwell within its tube, but sometimes the pathway up meant going outside and climbing a ladder.
"Hey" Willa waved as she made her way to the roof. Philby raised his hand to show where he was. She then pulled up her Artemis to call Finn and Maybeck inside the mast. "How the weather up there?"
"Sunny. No Clouds. Zero percent chance of …" Maybeck said before he was cut off by Finn.
"Open the hatch Donnie."
With the two boys out of view, Philby and Willa spent their time looking at the setting sun in animation form. There was always something enchanting of seeing an animated sunset in a Disney film. Both Willa and Philby stood sat quietly on the roof looking at the sunset while hearing the music playing in the plaza below. Philby knew the song playing.
Heaven.
The song felt appropriate given the view.
Then Philby pulled out an envelope that was tucked behind his pants.
"What is that" Willa asked?
"Souvenirs." He opened the envelope to reveal the post cards he had gotten from the gift shop from the other tower just after he was blasted by the light. "I want to see what happens when we take them back to the real world. You know, to make sense of it all."
"Okay." Looking back at the sun she said, "I really wished I had my sketchbook now because this is quite a view."
Putting the post cards back in envelope Philby asked, "Hey Willa?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do draw things a lot?"
Willa face was mute, not showing a clear emotion.
"You okay?"
"Yeah" she quickly replied. "I draw because it's a family talent."
"Family talent?"
"From my mother's side of the family." She continued, "My grandma…she taught me all the elements of drawing and painting. Use to stay with her a lot. One time I lived with her for over 6 months."
"Why" Philby asked?
"Marriage issues" said Willa. "My grandma didn't approve."
Remembering that her name was Hispanic in tone, Philby got the picture of what family drama took place.
At that moment Charlene made it to the roof looking wore out and exhausted. "I made it" she said quietly before kneeling and raise her hands in a victory pose. "YES! YES! Waa-ho!" Then she fell on her back and laid down, finally completing her climb to the top.
"Is that the victory cry of a special someone I know" Maybeck asked through the radio?
"Yup" Willa replied, knowing about the kiss from earlier.
Suddenly another pulse shot up the tower's antenna!
"Whoa" Finn said on the radio. "Don't tell me this thing is still live?"
The purple wisp shot out from to top and fell towards Philby, Charlene, and Willa at the base.
"Yeah it's another one down here!"
The boys above halted their climb.
After scanning the wisp with her DHI Artemis, the entry was a recorded memory.
Dark Data Downloaded.
PLAYING RECORDED MEMORY...
A wave of lighten then erupted both on the roof of the towers as well as down in the forest below. The light was blinding to Philby, Willa, and Charlene while catching the eyes of Finn and Maybeck high above. The light settled down to reveal a crowd of thousands if not tens of thousands of magical creatures surrounding the two towers; their holograms being of every kind of color. There were sorcerers, giants, dragons, and many other creatures looking up at the tower in which the kids were on. In the sky there were pixies as well as fairies who had both bird and insect wings watching in unison. And on the roof of both towers there were large groups of fairies that were of high status given their crowns, scepters, and staffs.
In the centered laid three dead fairies with Maleficent in chaisn on her knees, both of which were broken. Standing above her was Marta, still in her mask, along side the spartan fairy Cedrick. Charlene and Willa didn't get a chance to see the fairy that both Marta and Maleficent loved; they could see why.
"Any last words you wish to say" Cedrick pointed his sword down at Maleficent?
Maleficent's expression was frozen in shock as she looked at the three dead fairies before her, their throats slit by her lover's sword. Then that shock turned to fury and the look she gave Cedrick and Marta was unsettling. Philby, Willa, and Charlene could see up close the rage in her eyes that didn't belong to neither a mad woman or a wild animal.
"I saved you" Maleficent snarled, her teeth grinding in anger as she turned at the hundreds of fairies around her. "I saved all your worthless lives. And this is how you repay me?"
The crowd went into an uproar before Cedrick raised his hand to silence them. Clearly, he knew she had more to say.
"You want to know what I wish to say" Maleficent returned her focus back to Cedrick. "I wish that Ramzi had killed you all."
Again, the crowd uproar into shouting as they cursed the fairy that wished death upon them and to the Castle of the World.
"As an apostle of evil, you've been most effective" Marta's hologram said as she held Cedrick close into her arms. "What you do, you do not for us or Britannia's Child, you do it only to satisfy your own twisted sense of ego."
Maleficent's eyes widen as she looked directly at Marta. "No matter how much you think you are a saint to any Goddess will always be an orphaned slave girl."
Extending her hand Marta summoned an invisible force to choke the life out of Maleficent. It was halted by Cedrick's hand, trying to calm his new lover down.
"Your name will die with you" he said to Maleficent. "Those who praised your name will die with you. You will be forgotten and that will be the end for you."
"Now listen here." Maleficent turn to the fairies around her. "If you think your Goddess will save you on the Day of Prosperity you are mistaken. Your all damned just like me and nothing you do is going to change that. I was right once before and I'll be right once again."
Cedrick then griped both hands to his sword and laid it before Maleficent's neck ready to decapitate it. She merely looked at him with a smirk before closing her eyes. Then with a strong yell the spartan fairy lifted his sword and slice the horned fairies head clean off her shoulders. When her head fell on roof the holograms across the tower disappeared and everything was returned to normal.
END OF RECORDING.
"Wow" said Willa. "That was something you don't see every day."
"Saudi Arabia" Philby said quickly.
Maybeck's laugh could be heard through the radio! "Thanks for the FYI Dr. Phil."
"You boys have weird sense of humor" said Charlene.
"Come on Donnie, we still have some way to go" Finn reminded his friend.
"Okay, okay, hold your horses." After a while he was back. "Hey, on the serious side here, I might as well ask; what do you all think about 9/11?"
The question made even the wind fall silent.
"Anyone" Maybeck asked?
Charlene was the first to speak. "I don't know. It's something no one really brings up."
"Hey Philby, your British right" asked Maybeck from above?
"Yeah, why?"
"How did you feel when London had that terrorist attack four years ago?"
He could see what Maybeck was getting at. A big story they lived to see. "I felt worried for my old friend Hugo. He lived in Leeds then moved to London and I was afraid that he may've been in that music hall that got slaughtered. Thankfully he wasn't."
"What about that government building" Finn asked? "The one with the Big Ben clock?"
"Parliament" Philby clarified.
"Yeah. Did you ever imagine you would see it on fire?"
"No one's ever imagined seeing the Westminster on fire. Much like no one thought these towers would be on fire back then."
Charlene looking down she asked, "How could something this big crumble so fast?"
"Evil" said Finn as he entered a steep staircase encased in a caged box, making him have a view of the vast sky. "You guys remember Nirvana?"
"Of course," Willa said quickly feeling slightly insulted. She may have a need to escape reality, but there were things that she knew she couldn't run away from. "Everyone who lives in Orlando knows about Nirvana."
"A few days after the attack I went to Disney World and it was the first time I've ever seen the Cinderella Castle light up in the colors of the rainbow flag. I'm telling you it that of all the times I've been to the parks, that moment where everyone was hand in hand, that was true magic."
"You know my parents helped out that night" said Charlene. "My mom had just graduated nursing school and my dad was working the late-night shift. Their hospital was the one just down the street from the club. Weirdly they became gun nuts after that."
"So that explains why you know your guns" said Finn.
"Well my aunt Jelly and I went to a real vigil downtown" said Maybeck. "We had each other's backs, gave some blood, and lite up our candles when the night came. There was this one girl whose sister was injured in the attack and…I felt it necessary to cheer her up. I'll never forget her thanks or her hug after I made her smile. Thankful the girl's sister survived, but she lost an arm."
"Jesus" Charlene said down below, not knowing this side to Maybeck.
"I know Nirvana was close to home, but what do you guys think is our generations 9/11" Finn asked?
It took a while for everyone to think of what counted. For them they've seen a lot of bad things in the world, too many to count. Yet if they had to name one moment that told them evil existed in the world, only one place came to mind.
"Bueller Elementary" everyone said at once.
"Yeah, Michigan" Finn was reminded. "Sucks for those Kindergarteners."
"They never found out why the kid did it" Willa asked?
"Nope. They said he wasn't insane, on drugs, or anything out of ordinary. He just wanted to shoot people and that was that."
"Oh crap" Charlene realized. "Now I get what the fairy was trying to get with my that night?"
"Holy crap your right" said Maybeck. "If the fairy's been watching all the evil crap in the world that isn't a good thing for us. I'm afraid she's got the idea in her head that she can do something just as bad."
The thought of that gripped everyone's stomachs.
From above both Finn and Maybeck were at the half way mark, entering the third section of the antenna. Now their fear of falling was starting to take over as their legs and arms began to shake. Thankfully from there on the whole way up was to crawl through the inside of the radio mast.
"What is evil to our world" Finn asked?
"Whoa, what's with the philosophy talk? That's for Dr. Phil to ask" said Maybeck.
"No seriously what is it" Finn repeated. "I've always seen it as something beyond us."
"What do mean by that" Willa asked?
"I mean it's something within us that goes back all the way to the time we were apes; maybe even before that. We've all seen the bad in humanity with Nirvana, Topeka, and the Valentine's Day massacre last year; but I can't help but feel it's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to evil."
"That's why we have God" said Maybeck. "Got to keep the infection at bay."
"I think your wrong on that Donnie" said Philby. "I think everyone, heck even Disney, is wrong to think that evil is some disease; like the trend in making sad backstories for villain characters in stories. The message in that is basically that is if we all treat each other nicely then people won't become bad. Problem with that logic is that if you see something as a virus then there must be a cure. Well there is no cure for evil in the real world."
"Your saying we are born into it?"
"Yup" Philby replied to Maybeck. "I think it's something buried deep in our minds. So deep, we probably haven't dwelled there for thousands of years in our time of thinking. And I think the reason why terrorist, bombers, shooters, and every other bad guy in the real world does evil things is because they dig too deep."
Everyone was impressed to Philby's words on the matter.
"You know I really haven't thought of it like that" said Willa. "I know it's weird to ask but is that why the evilest acts come from guys?"
"Yup" Maybeck said from above as he opened a hatch that lead to the four and final section of the radio mast. "Believe me when I say that if you leave a guy alone, no family or girl to talk to, that leaves him a lot of time to think and what they find is very nasty. I've seen it in my father and it's not pretty."
Charlene now knew why he drop the subject matter earlier. "If you all think girls aren't bad your wrong. I come from cheerleading and it's not all smiles and giggles. We're competitive with each other, both on the field and looking good. Every time a new member comes one of us on the team just tries to tear them down and it's just wrong. Girls are slow and cruel when we do evil."
"And we punch each other in the face and blow shit up" Maybeck finished the point. "Evil is complicated."
"What about good" Finn asked? "No doubt evil in real world is bad, but we're not so great on the other side of the equation"
"What do you mean" Charlene asked?
"What I mean is that when it comes to heroes and what it means to be a hero we kind of suck at that" Finn continued. "I mean just look at what it meant to be a hero before us. Back then you weren't a hero because you were good; you were a hero because you were good while having a bull's eye on your head."
"Yeah, now a days if somethings got 'death' spelled on it, we don't mention it" said Willa. "Maybe that's why everyone likes fictional heroes more than the real ones. It's sad when you think about it really."
"Well no matter what, to me, there is no true than to my dad who had a bull's eye on his head gave hell to all those who tried to shoot at him."
Everyone's attention was on Finn.
"Listen I told you how my dad died, but what I didn't tell you is that he went down fighting. He was on a mission in the mountains of Afghanistan. A place called the Valley of Death. His helicopter got shot down and he along with his squad had to survive for days cut off from everything. Each helicopter that came for them got shot down until one manage to land. He stood behind, manning a machine gun, to buy his squad time to escape. When we figured he was a goner, we bomb the hell out of that valley. All that was left in the rubble was a camera for propaganda and that's how I figured out how it all ended for him."
There were no words from anyone. Everything was silent apart from the music down below in the plaza.
"Dead or alive my dad is hero and that is something I will never be sad about."
Hearing those words made everyone's dread disappear. Philby and Willa felt uplifted to Finn's family story and Charlene wished she could be up there to comfort him with a hug.
The music from the towers suddenly played a track to the boy's final words.
Dead or Alive.
"The big guy hears you Finn" said Maybeck from behind, giving a node of respect to his family's sacrifice.
"Guys this place is will be gone forever after tonight" Finn reminded everyone. "I don't care what Maleficent has in store for us, all that matters to me is sending these towers off with a nice fair well."
Willa look up the antenna with confidence. "Then go for it."
The final climb was a large tube that had a lone latter going all the way up along with few bars on the side to let the climbers rest. Once reaching the top, Finn opened a thick white hatch and above was the last few feet of the antenna. Normally being so high would make the boys panic, but for some odd reason they had no fear. Maybe because everything around them was like a dream.
"Okay get those safety lines up Donnie."
The boys tied the improvised rope across themselves and to the last stretch of latter. Securing it Finn was the first to make his way out. The circular base on top of the antenna was only one meter wide with no railing. Near him was a normal looking TV antenna that was made of thick wires and went 15 feet into the air.
Yet at the very top there laid a purple sphere that was no bigger than a soccer ball. It appeared to be a force field of some kind, protecting something from within that was the source of all the wisps that they've been seeing. None the less that was not what the boys had climbed for.
The wires to the TV antenna were in an hour-glass shape and had laid out in a way that made it ideal to climb freely. Reaching the second hour-glass above, both Finn and Maybeck tied themselves to the antenna with the strings they carried around their pants. Taking the flag out of the backpack, Finn and Maybeck slowly began to make their way up the top. Taking good advice to mind, they didn't look down as they slowly made their way out.
Slowly they tied the rope for their flag tightly around the wires and upon letting the flag out of the backpack the star spangle banner flied high above the tower. Finn's task was done.
"People, this castle now has a banner to fly" said Finn to the others down below.
Thirty stories below, Charlene, Willa, and Philby look to the sky and clapped to their friend's task. While they weren't ones to express patriotism, they did come from a high school where the overall theme is all things Americana. In this moment all their dread from their unpleasant memories seem to fade away and instead embraced the moment.
Charlene called to the boys on the radio. "How's the view up there?"
The two boys stood at the highest point of the tower with every castle in their sight. The sun having not moved, stretched across the orange horizon. The stars above shined brightly in the twilight sky with the dark blue vail of night at its side. Feeling the euphoria of the moment, the boys on the antenna did what any other teenage kid would do. They shouted in glee.
Maybeck extended his hand to the wind and yelled, "I'm the king of the world!"
Above him Finn shouted in wonder, echoing high above the World Trade Center in the vast land of fantasy and dreams. "WA-HOO! WAAAOOO!"
About that time the voice on the radio said in a calm voice; "Well fellow listeners it's time for us here on 104.3 to say good-bye. This is our final broadcast and we here at the station thank you for listening to us over years. As our final song we play to you God Bless the USA to always remember that America is the greatest nation on Earth and the greatest nation for rock. Good night, farewell, and to those about to rock we salute you."
Despite hearing it so many times on the Fourth of July, the classic American song never got old in the ears to each of the kids. In this moment there were no words or thoughts, only appreciation for all that was around them. Only then could they see the beauty that laid before them.
The glow of the dimming sun became warmth. The brimming of the trees made the forest appear alive. The flying banners of the castles to the west became marvelous to see as they breezed quietly in the far distance. The sea to the south glittered shiningly. The mountains of the north were grand in their colossal size. And the castles that laid to the east were became beautiful in the moon's twilight.
After a few minutes the song was over, making everything drop into silence. Then the fairy spoke out once again.
"Dinner is served. Now come on down."
A green aura surrounded Finn and Maybeck; bursting into a flash that made the boys disappear from the antenna. A second later the same thing happened to Philby and Willa whom too disappeared from the roof; leaving Charlene alone.
"Not you Turner" Maleficent said to her. "You stay there and look at the light like the others."
The roof tremored as the tower's antenna began to glow. With the bells ringing down below and Charlene backed off to the ramp that lead back into the tower. She took a deep breath and said to herself, "Okay. Do your worst."
The antenna then exploded into light making Charlene closing her eyes. She also covered her ears from sound of the loud horn.
"Open your eyes girl" Maleficent voice echoed in air.
So much for that idea.
Opening her eyes Charlene found herself in her room at her own house. Only it was decorated in Disney Princess items. The walls were painted pink. Her plastic castle was in a corner of the room along with her box of Princess Dolls that she used to play with. The bed had a Princess cover over it. The clock was a Little Mermaid clock with Ariel in the center. Her white bookshelf had Disney fairy tale books as well as coloring books of her favorite Disney characters. Her childhood wardrobe was filled with Disney themed dresses.
Then something caught Charlene's eyes. She gravitated towards it without thought. It was in her Princess wardrobe and she was reluctant to hold it within her hand. It was a blue Cinderella dress, like the one she wore to Kindergarten.
Dropping it Charlene yelled to Maleficent, "Okay that enough! Let me out now!"
When Charlene turned her room had disappeared and she was standing back on the roof of the tower.
"Your friends are waiting for you down below" said Maleficent. "Come down. You must be hungry."
Relieved to be back Charlene made her way off the roof and back to the stairwell. The twin towers were once again in dead solitude after two hours of being alive with the sound of music.
Until high atop the radio mast Marta appeared before the flag, her first clinched in anger as she looked at it in distain. Raising her hand, a wave of energy expelled from the banner to form a magical wisp which was a bright as the setting sun! Slowly the heavenly wisp formed into a glass orb of light and feel right into the fairy's hand. This was a small window for Britannia's Child and Marta was hoping that the Goddess she once worshipped was listening to her clearly.
"I've seen what has gone on in the World. I see the product of your love, and you allow such blasphemy to occur after all you've have done for them? Damn you."
The orb of light was silent, showing no response of any kind. She grasped the last stretch of the wire antenna, crushing it to the point of leaving her mark. "These are good children. They have shown me more kindness than you ever did. If saving them means killing your spoiled kind, then so be it. I've have no faith in you anymore. My body is no longer your pawn."
Once again, the orb of light was silent.
With a yell of anger Marta threw the orb onto the ground, only for it to withstand the force in a flash of light and bounce back into the banner from which it came from. With nothing more to say, she teleported out of the Apeiron realm leaving the five kids to Maleficent's grace.
Like before all was still. Silent was the boom box that played music. Silent were the chairs and tables throughout the twin towers. Silent were the hallways, the decks above, and the shops below. Silence was all except for the flag that that stood on top of the tower's antenna, it's stars and stripes still standing into twilight's last gleaming.
AN: Yup. This here is what I believe is the most important Disney setting of all. What was only a backdrop in Oliver and Company is now all that is left of the real thing. And yes, Briar Rose was indeed in the fantasy setting of a Pre-9/11 New York City. Watch Oliver and Company, check it out. When the gang first spot Jenny's limo you see Rose in the corner wonder about in New York wearing glasses, an 80's dress, and holding a bag. A Disney Princess cameo that almost NOBODY knows about. And after the fiasco of Dodger's gang trying to take the limo, Rose went her way to the Castle that ruled over all. To all Disney characters it is only known as the Twin Towers, it's true name unknown to all put one evil fairy. Upon reaching the top of the tower Rose's aunts finally found her, dap her with magic, and made her believe it was all just a dream when they got her back to the forest cottage in King Stefan's Kingdom. However, like Rose it was the first time the Three Good Fairies ever stood upon the Twin Towers and they felt something abnormal to their presence. An abnormality that they would soon learn to be far more sinister. Something not of their world to be sure.
So yes; the World Trade Center IS apart of the Disney Animated Universe. You and I can only go to Floor 1 at the edge of its footprint, but the Disney cartoons have the towers all to themselves. While the towers were destroyed on 9/11, it's still standing in the Disney Universe; but it is a wound within the realm that transcends all powers both good and evil. They are no longer just buildings, but a divine deity that is more powerful than all the Disney characters. So, here's the break down of how this chapter was painfully made.
1. The Twin Towers: First off, I just want to say that when it came to this chapter I did my research just as much as when Ridley Pearson did his research for the Disney Parks. And I'm not lying when I say EVERYTHING you read is EXACTLY where it needs to be! Nothing in this setting was made up. Every floor is exactly what it needs to look like. Every corner and room are exactly where they need to be. The benediction at the beginning is word to word as was said in 1973. My first and foremost job on this chapter was to bring these dead buildings to life, and yes I do love 1980's music and I wished to use it to bring that old atmosphere to life. And yes, even the radio station that is playing the songs is real and accurate. WAXQ FM 104.3, New York's Classic Rock; look it up people it's real. ORIGINALLY, I did plan on letting this chapter take place in the Disney Realm of Oliver and Company. Then I decided instead to let the setting be where I believe the Twin Towers lay in rest. While the towers are gone in our world, they exist still in the realm of imagination and that's where their going to stay till the end of time; which is why I took my time making sure every detail was on point. There is no movie or book that ever explores the World Trade Center in such detail in a fantasy story. Not only do the towers serve as a major setting, they also fix a VERY big problem when it comes to the Kingdom Keepers series and that is the fact that when colliding the realms of fiction and reality; just where does the spectrum end? Being a Disney story there is no question that the magical fantasy element will go off the deep end, but what about the real world? How much does that play a role in the Kingdom Keepers stories? Well in this reboot the buck stops on the Twin Towers and what they represent to our world of reality. The story won't go any deeper into reality because by then I would just be writing a story that is too real and not so much a Disney Story; like of like the Return series where we got little to no Disney characters or fantasy magic. Overall, this is the reason as to why this chapter took so long to create. I may be a fan of Disney, but this is far greater than the Keepers or Maleficent; this is THE WORLD here!
2. Disney and America: Apart from being a symbol of bridging the realms of fantasy and reality, the towers also needed to point out an obvious fact that almost all Disney Fans NEVER talk about; and that is the fact that Disney magic is an American creation. All the characters, settings, and inspiration it gives to children and adults is an American product which runs on American rules in entertainment and economics. Many fans say that Disney is not American because all its animated characters come from fairy tales from across the world and thus Disney transcends nationality. WRONG! Every character made by Disney exist only because it is translated through the American lens. Every movie we Disney fans have seen would be extreme depressing if we had these fairy tales in their original format from their origin countries. It's only when these fairy tales come to America and are translated through Disney do they become timeless stories and characters for all know and love. Disney magic is American magic and I cannot believe that Ridley Pearson never though of this idea while making the books because it is a very important aspect to all things Disney. Like in Walt Disney's speech on the Disneyland's opening day, his parks are the embodiment of America. AND THEN IT HIT ME! If America made Disney and Walt Disney himself; why not let America be a character that rules over all! This resulted in me doing something that has NEVER been done in any Kingdom Keepers stories. Using national persona characters as Gods whom are the embodiment of a country and rule over not only every fictional character, every Disney character, but also every man, woman, and child living under their flag. I never liked the idea of letting Mickey Mouse be the KING of all the characters, and that he should be the sacred character that is only seen once in the entire 10 book series of the Kingdom Keepers/The Return. If Mickey is the King, then America is his Goddess. The Goddess foretold to be Britannia's Child. There is A LOT more I wish to say about this concept, but it will have to wait till the next chapter because that's where Maleficent comes into play.
3. The Half-Century Gap: Every single Kingdom Keeper story has this problem, both in the books and in fan fictions. That being the question of what have the Disney Characters been doing before the Keepers came along? The Return books do a poor job at this because they only focus on witch-craft corporate weirdos who do voodoo magic and rob graves. That is a joke to me. Here I want it to be focused on Maleficent because she IS the first character to be brought to life and the lore of the Kingdom Keepers deserves a reason why. Normally many fans would just say she's been in the park for 50 years and has just got along with other Disney characters as time went by. NO! Maleficent is a dangerous character for 50 years and if she's to be connected to our world she needs to be more. Not only did I want to expand and create a world and lore solely around Maleficent, but also give history to Wayne and that fight he had in keeping her evil at bay. The hate these two have for each other is more than what this chapter shows and that is something that has always been missing in the Kingdom Keepers stories. And this leads me to another important aspect of this chapter.
4. The Lore Building of the Third Kingdom: When Ridley Pearson in that interview said the difference between Maleficent and all the other Disney Villains is that the Villains live in their own world while Maleficent lives in ours; there was no doubt I was going to use that to make her more superior to all the bad characters in the Disney Realm. While the Disney characters have the two kingdoms of Disneyland and Disney World; in this reboot I allowed Maleficent to make a THIRD kingdom realm under the magic of her own people; of an original lore that is only found here in Project DHI! The goal that I hoped for in creating this third kingdom was to fill in the 50 years Maleficent had spent in the real world and to build a mythology surrounding Maleficent's own world that is NOT Disney. THIS I wanted to SO MUCH and I had a very fun time doing it! If there is one thing I value when it comes to fictional world building it is giving nodes to the reader, viewer, or player hints at a much bigger picture. I know it's ironic when I say this, but I don't want to explain everything because it's a lot more fun to imagine the potential than laying it out. Yes; this is the longest and most detailed chapter written but this is the only time in the story where Maleficent's world can be explored before going into the realm of Disney.
5. The Good, the Bad, and the Towers: When I first began writing this chapter my first goal in terms of character development was to explore ONLY Maleficent's character by her relation to her animator; with the twin towers bridging the two. At the time there were NO memory recordings, NO original characters, NO flashbacks for the Keepers, and NO world building in this chapter. The focus was entirely on Maleficent and her creator, but when I began reading it I realized that just focusing on Maleficent wasn't enough for a setting as important as the Twin Towers. That's when I decide to go heavy on the world building and that is when I was satisfied with what I was doing to the towers. To relieve the shadow of 9/11 that will forever stain the towers, the world building allowed me to make them more than just a pair of American office buildings. To me personally the towers will always be my childhood castle, hence the Fae name of 'Sacred One'. After that it was clear that I making this chapter feel for like a Maleficent fan fiction than a Kingdom Keepers fan fiction, so I decided to focus next on exploring the five Keepers. This is where the bright light flashbacks came into play. Inspired by a good horror video game, I let the antenna of the tower serve as a magical rode that revealed the pasts of our five teenage heroes. Throughout Pearson's books, there is NO past for any of the Keepers! Despite so many books, we know NOTHING about the upbringing of Finn, Charlene, Willa, Philby, or Maybeck. We just get the standard characters with barely anything to their name and that should be unacceptable to fans of the series. At this point in the writing stage of the chapter I felt like it was finally balanced. The Twin Towers were brought to life and were the center linchpin to EVERYTHING in this chapter. Maleficent's world and her past are explored; creating a new mythology that goes beyond the world of Disney. The five characters have a past with the exploration of traumatic moments in their pasts. Still despite writing this chapter beyond what it was supposed to be, there was still an element I felt that was missing throughout it all. And this lead to me adding on one last thing that I felt was necessary.
6. Britomartis: The final thing that was added and not intended was an original character that would serve as a guide to the magical realm, the Twin Towers, and of Maleficent's character. It was this or having Maleficent or the Disney characters explain it all throughout the story; which would not allow any room for light-hearted Disney magic which is now really needed in Project DHI after this. The character who would serve as this guide was a tricky decision to make. One idea was to allow the Three Good Fairies for Sleeping Beauty to serve as their guide, but they wouldn't fit with the Twin Towers setting, from the REAL world, and the lore which they carried. A small but funny idea was that Pete, the first Disney Villain, would be in the chapter only once at the beginning and he would explain how the Twin Towers exist in the fictional realm of the Apeiron; but no, he's guarding the one in the Disney realm of New York City. There was no doubt I was going to let the three green wisps, who were always planned to be dark fairies like Maleficent, to be the guides to the five kids. This was the plan but after writing so much, their characters would conflict with the fact that Maleficent wouldn't want anyone to show her as weak and these three Unseelie Fairies would've done that. Then I had an idea. Let there be a Seelie Fairy aka a Fairy of Light! Originally the plan was to turn the DHI Artemis system into a fairy, but then it wouldn't have a character history. I did the next big thing and let Maleficent's rival be the light fairy and that is when I created Britomartis aka Marta. She serves as perfect guide to explain the world of magic, the prophecy of Britannia's Child that would result in Disney magic, and of Maleficent's character. Perhaps the most important thing of all is that Britomartis serves a character that has endured the horrors and cruelties of both worlds. Yet on the bright side, I'm glad to tell Kingdom Keepers fans I changed my mind on Amanda.
And that is all for this long and enduring chapter folks. After so many hours writing and rewriting this chapter, it is finally done. Now we to move on to part 2. Yeah, THIS was just half of what was intended, thankfully the next chapter isn't so detailed. So now comes Maleficent and why Pearson is right to say she's more connected to our world than anything else.
Thanks for reading. What do you think? What was done good? What was done bad? What should've been done? Please share your opinions with a review and if you haven't please favorite and follow Project DHI. This is Protodayka signing off with a bang….BANG!
