So I believe this may actually be my longest chapter yet! Wow! This chapter is a little over 3,000 words...I just couldn't stop writing! This is a very eventful chapter and a beloved character returns to the Kingdom Keepers!
Well I don't want to keep you guys waiting! So without further ado...Enjoy! :D
Amanda's P.O.V.
There was an eerie silence that fell upon the park, which was definitely unusual. We had not seen one character roaming around yet, nor have we seen any evidence of life in the park as we made our way towards the Haunted Mansion. I could feel Finn squeezing my trembling hands, hoping he can calm me down before we embarked on this dangerous rescue mission. I could almost hear my heart beating rapidly, causing my nerves to just take even more control.
"It's going to be okay, Manda. I promise." Finn whispered, pecking a short, yet passionate kiss on my lips. As he withdrew his lips from mine, the soft pink blush spreading on his cheeks was evident, but I also had a feeling I was blushing. My palms were clammy, and eventually began to slip out of Finn's grip. I quickly wiped them against the side of my sweatshirt and intertwined my fingers back into his own. In front of me, Willa trudged along with Philby, her head slightly nestled into Philby's shoulder. Philby's right arm was wrapped around her waist, the other grasping the magic lamp that we stole...Or should I say borrowed, from the Agrabah Bazaar. We were all aware that once we all made it safely out of the Haunted Mansion with Charlene, that we would have to release the Genie and make our wish.
"I still can't believe you pranked me...I'm usually the one who does the pranking." Maybeck scoffed at Jess, who both stomped angrily behind me, still fuming from their argument earlier.
"Admit it, Maydork. I'm good." Jess giggled, and I snapped my head back quickly to see her arms folded loosely across her chest and such a smirk painted on her face that I thought she was trying to imitate Maybeck.
"Never!" Maybeck growled, and after that, the two remained silent. Before I knew it, we stood at the entrance to the Haunted Mansion, the tall iron gates towering over us. As I scanned around us, I noticed various shadows shifting around very slowly and every once in a while I would hear an unfamiliar voice or giggle in the distance. Every little sound caused me to nearly jump out of my skin...Even the soft blowing of the wind. I was freaking out. There's no ride I hate more than the Haunted Mansion.
Finn's P.O.V.
The massive building swooped over us, draped in cobwebs and dust, only adding to the creepiness of the mansion. I loosened my grip from Amanda's and began to make my way towards the gate, pushing it gently to see if it was unlocked. To our luck, with a loud creaking that could give us away if anyone was around, the gate began to slowly unfold, allowing us a small path through. I was afraid of pushing it open even further, just in case any Overtaker was looming around. One by one, we all made our way through the gate, attempting our best at concealing ourselves and making no noises. Everyone hissed at Maybeck and sent him death stares as he abruptly let out a word that would definitely get me grounded when his shirt got caught on one of the spikes on the gate. With the help of Jess, his shirt was torn off and we made our way through the queue, following Philby down the non-interactive queue, because according to him it was shorter and would save us more time.
"Everyone knows what their duty is, right?" Philby whispered, addressing us all in a huddle. I nodded quickly and peered around to see the rest of the group nodding. Philby smiled slightly before giving us a thumbs up to go "all clear", so we could get inside the building. I quickly envisioned the train coming through the tunnel, and that perfect little pinprick of light shining through, and before I could even comprehend it, my whole body began to tingle and a faint blue line surrounded my DHI. My eyes fluttered open to come upon nothing, only the angered whispers coming from the other side of the door. Attempting not to freak out, I quickly stepped inside to meet the rest of the group.
"And I thought you were the one who mastered 'all clear'". Maybeck sneered, receiving a punch in the arm from an angered Willa.
"For once can you just leave everyone alone?" Willa cried out, her face reddening slightly. She took a second to calm down before allowing Philby to continue with our plan.
"Alright, here we go. Remember to crouch down and make as little noise as possible." Philby reminded. Without allowing any of us to respond, Philby was already on his way towards the stretching room. We all followed in a single file line, I myself taking the back of the line to keep lookout. I pushed Amanda in front of me and gently placed my hands on her shoulders, squeezing them carefully, hoping to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. I could see the blue line that had surrounded her DHI only seconds ago was quickly fading away, and I was aware that fear had taken over. I leaned over slightly and kissed her cheek, hoping that would help her achieve "all clear" again. It was necessary in order to complete this mission. Without all clear, we wouldn't be able to get through any locked doors.
Within a minute, we all stood in the stretching room, the creepy paintings on the wall glowing faintly in the pitch black room. Philby had explained to us earlier that there are special glow lights in the frames of the paintings so that the park guests could see them much more easily when the stretch room's lights went out. Besides their faint glow, the only other thing that illuminated the room was the soft light radiating from our DHIs. A message was passed down the line for everyone to hold the person in front of them's shoulders so we could be led through the darkness without losing anyone. Realizing that my hands were already on Amanda's shoulders, I ignored the order and continued to shuffle through the long hallway that remained hidden behind the door next to the stretching room. After what seemed like five minutes, we all came upon the ballroom scene, an eerie setting when the ride was turned off. It was almost pitch black, except for the glow of our DHIs along with a faint light coming from somewhere down a hallway. I found it odd that there were no Overtakers guarding the hallway that led to Charlene's holding place.
"Does anybody else find it odd that there is nobody guarding the hallways?" I asked, causing everyone to stop short in their tracks. It was silent for a minute or so as everyone pondered upon this, but we were interrupted by a shrill cry for help that sent goosebumps down my arms and legs.
"NO! PLEASE DON'T HURT THEM!" the voice cried. I knew that voice. Although muffled and faint due to it coming from a distance, I knew that it came from Charlene.
"No!" Willa cried, tears beginning to streak down her cheeks. Philby rushed over to her and wiped her tears, whispering something to her that I couldn't hear.
"She's talking about us...She doesn't want them to hurt us." Amanda spoke.
"But they're hurting her! We need to go...Now!" Willa pled, her eyes now filled to the brim with tears, her bottom lip quivering.
"We will...We will...But in a way, this is good. We now know that Charlene is not alone. There's someone else, or multiple bodies in that room." Philby explained. I was able to easily comprehend this, and soon realized that Uncle Walt's pen that lay in my shorts pocket and Amanda's ability to push was not going to be enough. Maybeck must have understood this too, because within seconds the two of us were scampering around the room, grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon. I grabbed a large, metal candlestick holder from the table as well as a few metal support poles that were holding up props and brought them back to the group. Maybeck had collected multiple candlestick holders as well and we began to distribute them to everyone. After passing everything out, I took a metal pole for myself and swung it around a few times, getting used to the feel. I almost felt like a ninja, and let out an soft snicker at the thought, although nobody heard it.
"Good thinking." Philby smiled and gestured us all towards the hallway.
"Is anyone else beginning to get really nervous?" Jess whispered, her voice shaky.
"I think we're all pretty nervous. But we have to forget fear right now and remember that Charlene is fighting for her life down there, and that she's doing everything she can to protect us. We owe her...We need to save her. So suck it up and let's go." Maybeck spoke, his tone strong and his face serious. I feel like ever since Charlene went missing that Maybeck matured a bit...And I'm not sure if it's because he really likes her or because he's just full of himself for thinking of the rescue plan. But I'll give this to him-We all really do appreciate his efforts.
Maybeck's P.O.V.
We were only feet away from entering the room that we believe Charlene is being held in. I could see my hands trembling, but no matter what I did to stop them, they just continued to shake. As we approached the room, the muffled whimpers from Charlene became more audible, which only broke my heart even more. I slowly began to raise my "weapon", preparing myself for anything that came at me.
"CRAP!" I heard a voice scream. As I craned my neck in front of me, I realized Philby was now dead in his tracks, glaring at a pirate who's sword was raised high above his head. I soon recognized him as one of the pirates from our encounter in the tunnels. That only gave me more of an urge to seek vengeance.
"What are you waiting for?! Kick the living daylight out of them!" I shouted, taking a deep breath before I sprinted forward, slamming the candlestick into the pirate's abdomen, sending him flying backwards. Finn shuffled forward, impaling the metal pole through the pirate's chest, causing him to sputter out a few cries before his system shut down. Everyone began to sprint towards the room, swinging our weapons desperately at any Overtaker in the way. It was almost as if our conscience's were turned off and we just reacted. We were savages...Almost beast-like. We fought with a burning passion and I knew that nobody would stop nor give up until Charlene was rescued.
"We're here! Move in! Jess and Willa will man the staircase, Finn and Maybeck get Charlene, and Amanda and I will hold off any Overtakers." Philby ordered. We all nodded and quickly braced ourselves for whatever was to come. I imagined only the worst, for I was afraid of seeing Charlene in a worse position than I imagined. Everyone began to slip into "all clear", and I soon followed, using one of my only happiest memories to set me in that state.
Flashback...
"Maybeck! Way to go!" Philby shouted, slapping me a high-five before embracing Willa in a big hug. Finn and Amanda were making out across the room while I stood with a blank face, staring at Charlene and Jess. We had been ambushed in Hollywood Studios inside the "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" show, searching for clues. I thought of the oh-so-brilliant idea to turn on the emergency water sprinklers that shorted out the animatronics that would have probably put up a pretty good fight against us.
"Nice thinking, Maydork." Jess smirked, whipping around, her hair nearly slapping me in the face as she skipped over to break up Finn and Amanda's lover-moment.
"I've got to say...That was a brilliant idea." Charlene smiled, her arms folded across her chest, allowing her delicate hands to dangle down on her hip bones. In response, I quickly winked at her, causing her to burst into a laughing fit, the reason I did not know. I merely shrugged it off and was about to walk away when she carefully placed her hand on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. I slowly turned myself around and came face to face with her, peering down into her perfect icy-blue eyes.
"And what do you want now?" I asked, mentally kicking myself for how rude I just was.
"Well...I just wanted to-Um...Thanks, for saving my pathetic butt." Charlene admitted, nervously running her hands through her hair, which must've fallen out of it's ponytail during the fight. I had casually taken down an animatronic that was about to take Charlene down from behind when she wasn't paying attention...but it was no biggie. Before I could react, she embraced me in a tight hug and pecked a soft kiss on my cheek. I could immediately feel my cheeks blush as she pulled away in embarrassment, her normally pale complexion turning to the color of a ripe tomato.
"Oh my gosh, I-I didn't mean to!" Charlene gasped, peeking around to see if anyone saw. To her luck, and unfortunately not to mine, nobody noticed her little "slip up".
"Don't worry about it...I-" I stopped myself before I revealed too much. I simply shrugged and waved her off, nearly ready to just jump for joy as she shuffled over towards Philby and Willa.
"Maybeck! Come on?! What are you doing?!" Jess snapped, breaking me out of the trance I had fallen into. The memory was so bittersweet, and caused my body to feel all warm and disgusting...The feeling was familiar, but I didn't want to allow myself to think I was getting soft.
"Right...Sorry, I must've dozed off." I apologized, looking down at my feet in embarrassment.
"This isn't a time for dozing off! We're on a rescue mission!" Jess growled at me, and when I looked up, I realized that everyone else was already making their way into the room. I took a deep breath and quickly caught up, raising my weapon and smashing whatever was in my way.
And there she was...Charlene. She sat limply in a chair, her arms and legs bounded tightly with a matted rope. Her head drooped down to her knees, her hair hanging over her face, concealing her face. Finn and I quickly sprinted over to her, Finn carefully grabbing one hand as I took the other. Weakly and slowly, she began to lift her head up, her eyes soon meeting mine. Our eyes remained locked for a few seconds before Finn gasped in horror at her injuries. Charlene was covered from head to toe in bruises, the deep purple swells mostly on her shins and wrists. There was a large cut on her forehead with dried blood lining the outer rim of it. The front of her shirt was burnt, and I was afraid to see what was under it, but didn't want to invade her privacy. She shifted upwards a bit, wincing in pain as she did, but a huge grin formed on her face.
"You found me." Charlene whimpered, her eyes lighting up with joy. I nodded quickly, my hands already working on the ropes that bound her wrists and ankles. Around me, I heard shouts for joy as everyone realized Charlie was okay, but the disgruntled grunts of battling began to worry me.
"There's no Overtakers left but I can only assume they're going to send another fleet in a matter of minutes!" Philby shouted through heaving breaths.
"Can you stand up?" Finn asked, standing up after he untied the last of the ropes. Charlene nodded and began to stand up, but her knees quickly gave out and she crumbled towards the ground. Finn and I caught her before she smashed into the ground, the two of us picking her up and cradling her between the two of us.
"I haven't stood in days..." Charlene whispered hoarsely.
"Don't apologize, Charlie. We've got you. You're safe now." I smiled softly. Behind us, I heard a loud slamming and realized that Amanda had just pushed nearly three pirates who were already making their way down the hallway.
"We don't have much more time! Let's move!" Willa ordered, her voice confident, most likely due to the fact that she saw Charlie alive and talking.
Finn transferred Charlene into my arms, and I cradled her like a baby, huddling over her over protectively. She peered up at me, tears in her eyes, as she whispered something that was too soft for me to hear. Finn made his way behind me as protection and we soon were all sprinting towards the staircase, Willa slamming the door shut behind her as we all made it safely inside. There was no time to converse or embrace Charlene's return, for we had no idea how long it would be until the Overtakers found us. I began to sprint up the stairs, taking lead, but the extra weight from holding Charlene made it more difficult to make it upstairs. Her arms flopped around at my sides, and I remained cautious, trying not to hit them into the metal railing. I was not even thinking as I burst through the door and out the entrance to the Haunted Mansion, desperately breathing in the semi-cool, fresh air. Around me, rapid panting filled the air, as everyone attempted to catch their breath after this exciting, yet exhausting rescue mission. I could tell that there was a high amount of adrenaline bursting through my body, for I still had the energy to run, and apparently everyone else did too, for Philby shouted, "Let's go back to the castle! We'll meet at Cinderella's Royal Table. It should be safe there!"
"Sounds like a plan." Finn agreed and began to sprint, though lost speed quickly and everyone passed him, giggling and shouting with glee. I was obviously the last one to arrive at the castle, rounding my way into the restaurant with a whimpering Charlene cradled in my arms. I slowly made my way towards the group, and they all turned towards me with huge smiles planted upon their faces. There, next to all of them, the Genie swayed in the air, peering down upon Charlene and I as I placed her down on top of one of the longer tables.
Woo hoo! Mission accomplished :] Charlene is rescued!
I know...Long chapter! I'm home sick today, so I've got time, haha. I definitely enjoyed writing this chapter a lot and I hope you guys noticed all of the romance thrown into it! Especially some Charbeck :] There will be some more of that coming up, for all of those Charbeck fans, in case you're wondering!
So what did you guys think? Good...Bad? Love...Hate?
Please review! I love hearing from you guys!
Well that's all for now! Ta ta for now!