I do not own any of the Disney franchises, characters and elements that appear in this story. The OCs Tracy and Serena are mine.

MysteryGirl: Shawn

Calm Before the Storm

The sun shone brightly, glimmering across the sprawling grass field that surrounded the towering castle. It filtered through the stained-glass windows and rainbow rays flickered across the marble floors as a pair of bare feet jogged through the coloured ripples. The figure paused only once to peer out the large bay window to drink in the landscape briefly before continuing on. Finally reaching her destination, she raised her fist and pounded on the wooden door.

"Tracy! It's ten in the morning! Wake up!" Serena Lockhart hollered, her freshly-showered raven hair framing her face.

Her response was a tired moan from the other side. Serena scowled and crossed her arms impatiently. She knew that her best friend wasn't a morning person. But the mornings just happened to be the best and most beautiful part of the day, and Serena didn't want to waste any more time wandering the halls of the castle. "Tracy!"

"Shut up! I want to sleep!"

Serena tried the door handle and wasn't surprised when she found it locked. Giving a disappointed sigh, she called, "Fine, whatever. I'll be downstairs eating breakfast if you decide to get your lazy butt out of bed."

She spun on her heel and retraced her steps through the high-ceilinged corridors. She descended the grand staircase and went into the dining chamber, where Donald Duck was already attacking the impressive spread of breakfast items.

"Good morning," he greeted.

Serena settled into the golden chair across from the duck and smiled. "Morning, Donald."

The smile was duller than it normally was and there was a distinct lack of brightness in her green eyes. After months of living with the girl, Donald knew these signs indicated that something was bothering her.

"What's the matter with you?"

Serena shrugged, reaching over to pile some eggs onto her plate. "I want to enjoy the morning. But Tracy disagrees."

Even though she had been living in the Disney Kingdom for half a year Serena still found herself captivated by its beauty. The mornings were when the Kingdom were especially breathtaking and it felt like a crime to waste even a second of it. Tracy had gotten over the charm of the landscape pretty quickly, and when Serena couldn't cajole her out of bed, she would wander the grounds alone.

"The heathen is still sleeping?" Donald questioned with a mischievous grin curling across his beak.

"Yup."

The duck jumped from his chair and left the chamber with a devious snicker. Serena had a very good idea of what he had planned and found it very hard to feel bad for Tracy. Donald was constantly on her case about sleeping in. When it became clear that Tracy wouldn't be establishing a consistent wake-up schedule, he resorted to playing dirty.

Just as Serena expected, a shrill scream erupted throughout the castle minutes later. Serena chuckled to herself just as the King and Queen of the Disney Kingdom arrived for breakfast.

Mickey gave a shake of his head, a slight smile on his face. "Donald and Tracy?"

When Serena nodded in confirmation Minnie gave a sigh of exasperation. "Those two are going to go too far one day."

They settled at the head seats at the end of the table and began to stack food onto their plates. An extremely satisfied Donald returned. "Is she up?" asked Serena in amusement.

"She'll be down shortly," chirped Donald. "She just needed a jolt to the system to get her going."

"You really should leave the poor girl alone," chided Minnie.

"And let her laze around all day? I think not!"

"I don't know if you're one to talk about laziness pal," said Mickey with a laugh. Donald sent him a scandalized look and Serena snickered.

"Wise guy," Donald grumbled, stabbing at his pancakes with more force than necessary.

Tracy arrived for breakfast with her face twisted up with annoyance. She took a seat beside Serena and sent her a glare. "Did you sic Donald on me?"

"No. I'm not you. But I didn't try to stop him."

"Rude," huffed Tracy. Narrowing her eyes at Donald, she warned, "One day, you're gonna get what's coming to you."

Donald snorted. "Ooh, I'm so scared."

When they finished breakfast the two girls excused themselves. As they were leaving the dining chamber Mickey hollered after them, "Behave!"

"Sure," returned Tracy with a severe lack of sincerity.

"We will," added Serena in a much more convincing manner.

They went through the massive front doors and acknowledged the guards who saluted them. They began to walk around the grounds, where the birds sang sweet songs and the breeze wafted delightful aromas from the gardens.

Serena could hardly believe it had been six months since she and Tracy had first arrived in the Disney Kingdom, completely by accident. They made a terrible first impression and caused chaos initially. But after events escalated, they both became determined to fix their mistakes and save the Kingdom from being dominated by villainous forces.

The aftermath had been rocky, to say the least. The inhabitants of the Kingdom were wary of them, as they had good reason to be. Over time the Kingdom gradually came to forgive them for their wrongdoings as the two proved that they were reformed.

Or in Tracy's case, mostly reformed. Being a con-artist and a trickster was in her blood, while Serena had only done it to survive the hardships thrown at her.

"You wanted me to get up early just to see this?"

Tracy's voice startled Serena out of her thoughts. "Yeah."

"We see this everyday, Serena."

"I know, but I can't get enough of it! Sometimes I can't even believe we're here, you know?"

"It's amazing, that's for sure. But seriously, you need to stop waking me up just to see this." Tracy elbowed her playfully in the side. "I adore you, but a girl needs her beauty sleep."

"I guess I can try."

"What's the plan for the day?" asked Tracy, stretching her arms over her head.

Serena sent her a bewildered glance. "We're going to Kauai. You promised Lilo that she could teach you how to surf today."

"You're making that up."

"I am not! You promised a week ago, after she kept calling and pestering you about it."

"I have zero memory of all of that."

"Well, you did," said Serena with a roll of her eyes. "And you're not getting out of it."

"Aw man. What time?"

"Who am I, your secretary?" griped Serena. "Lilo told you to come over whenever."

"Then I guess we better get this over with," muttered Tracy.

They returned to the castle to report to Mickey where they would be headed and Tracy went to collect her things. She changed into her swimsuit and tossed a bag over her shoulder, which contained a set of clothes and a towel. When she stepped out into the corridor and found Serena in the same outfit, she scowled.

"Why aren't you in your bathing suit?" she demanded.

"I didn't promise her anything," pointed out Serena. "And besides, I'm not the best swimmer."

To be perfectly honest, she hadn't gone in the water since Facilier tried to drown her all those months ago. Every time she pictured submerging herself into the dark blue depths her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest and it became difficult to breath. It was a fear she hadn't told anyone. She didn't like talking about it. She really wasn't the best swimmer, so she figured it didn't really matter.

"Fine," grumbled Tracy. "But you better not laugh."

"I'm totally going to laugh."

...

Despite that Facilier tried to kill her, he wasn't someone that Serena feared.

That mantle went to one person. The person who was responsible for many of her near-death scenarios. The person who had tricked them. The person who had hoodwinked them at the last possible moment during the battle between Disney heroes and Disney villains.

Shawn, the boy who had gone crazy with power. Driven mad with rage by the injustices he faced during his servitude to the villains he was forced to obey. Serena tried not to think about him but when she did, her blood ran cold. She knew she didn't have to worry. Shawn had been banished to the Dark Lands.

The Dark Lands rested on the very edge of the Disney Kingdom, surrounded by a barrier of pure magic. No one could get in and no one could get out, not unless it was authorized by King Mickey. Once you were banished to the Dark Lands you were forced to wander among the shadows for eternity.

There was no worse punishment than living in isolation forever.

Very few villains had been banished to the Dark Lands since the Disney Kingdom came into existence. Occasionally Serena would wonder who else lived in the desolate wastelands. But then she would shudder. If she thought Shawn was bad, she didn't even want to imagine who else warranted such an extreme punishment.

Unbeknownst to her, there were two particularly nasty villains in those lands. One of them commanded an army of demons. The other had an extraordinary mind and malicious intents. Both wanted control. Both wanted revenge.

And after years of plotting, planning and scheming, the day of vengeance was finally here.