Feemer's bright glow indicated the group was close approaching the next island. Though unusually, the fog appeared much thicker than the previous times. It gave off a rather haunting atmosphere and a feeling of uncertainty. But despite that, the group pushed forward.

Pocahontas climbed to the crow's nest and looked out into the distance. The thick fog made it hard for her to see anything.

Meanwhile, Mulan and Rapunzel stood at the mast of the ship and had no better luck making out what was in front of them.

Rapunzel turned to Mulan. "I have a weird feeling about this," she said.

As Feemer's glow grew brighter, the fog grew thicker and thicker. As it did, a slight chill engulfed the ship. Added with the faint silence, and no other sounds, but the gentle flowing of the waves, the group began to feel an eeriness they hadn't felt before.

Belle and Aurora wrapped their arms to keep themselves warm.

"I thought we were done with the chilliness when we left Frigum," Belle said, shivering.

"What do you think on the next island?" Aurora asked with curious caution.

"I don't know. I really don't know," Belle answered.

Suffice to say, none of the group knew what was on the upcoming island, but they never knew what was on the other islands either, so this situation was no different, and even though they admittedly, had an unseasy feeling about this one, they were ready tackle whatever the island brought to them.

While most of the group were outside of the ship, Merida stayed behind in her quarters.

Cinderella noticed this and went over to Snow White. "Hey, isn't Merida going to join us?" she asked.

Snow White knelt her head down. "No...I'm afraid not," she said sadly.

Cinderella placed a hand on Snow White's shoulder, wiped the tear that fell from her cheek, then gave a comforting hug.

Suddenly, the fog started to lift as the ship approached a sliver of land. There didn't appear to be any sign of a dock, so they had the dock the ship on the side.

But the lack of a dock was the thing that caught their attention least of all. What did catch their attention was what was waiting for them.

Now the group had seen some odd and bizarre things since they began their quest, to suffice to say, this had to be the weirdest thing yet. It didn't take long for them to be greeted by the island's inhabitants and all of them stared in shock as they looked down at them from the ship.

They were grey in color, wearing black and grey robes, but their most prominent feature were their triangular-shaped heads with black, alien-like eyes and tiny holes in place of their nostrils.

Five of them stood before the ship and raised their hands in unison to welcome the group.

Though taken back by their appearance, the group waved back so as not to be rude.

"Well they certainly are very...'unique' to say the least," said Fauna.

"Yeah, and I thought the people of the last island were weird," said Merriweather.

"Merriweather!" Flora scolded.

Admittedly, she agreed with Merriweather, but nonetheless, she couldn't let them know that.

After they docked, the group exited their ship to greet the inhabitants.

Flora was the first to approach them, introducing herself and the rest of the group.

The five beings gave a courteous bow.

One of them stepped forward. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Cestius," he said. Cestius motioned his hand towards the other four and introduced them as Poragon, Waestro, Gilus, and Tapir. "And you are right on time."

That last sentence befuddled the good fairies and the rest of the group.

"Excuse me?" asked Flora.

Cestius continued. "Well, Gilus thought you would be late. He was all, 'humans are not punctual,' but I told him otherwise."

"I did not say that!" Gilus protested.

"Yes you did!" Tapir countered. "You said the humans they would not arrive on time because humans are lazy, inconsiderate, and they smell like raw onions."

"Eww," Merriweather said in response.

Hygiene opinions aside, the group was still confused as to the previously stated line of them being on time. From the sound of it, it seemed almost as if they were expecting them.

"Um, what did you mean when you said, 'right on time?'" asked Fauna.

As it turned out, the residents of the island were in fact expecting them as they explained. They were what was known as Zenotytes; a race of a future-predicting, extraterrestrial monks. They had recently received visions that a group of princesses would come to their island in approximately four days and according to them, the group had arrived right on time. At least according to most of them.

"OK, so you had a vision we would come here. So that must mean you know why we're here?" Jasmine pondered.

"Indeed, you're here for the scepter," said Cestius.

"Oh! So you have it?" asked Jasmine.

"Yes. It is in our possession now," Cestius answered.

"Great!" exclaimed Mulan. "So will you let us have it?"

Before Cestius could answered, he was cut off by Gilus who answered with a curt 'no.' This garnered a slight scowl from Jasmine and Mulan.

Cestius playfully chuckled. "What he means is, we'll be glad to let you have the scepter, but first, one of you must pass a test.

Jasmine, Mulan, as well as the rest of the group sighed in annoyance. This felt like a repeat of what they had to go through on Topsy Daisy Upsy Turvey.

"Well you know why we need the scepter right? Why can't you just give it to us?" asked Jasmine.

Poragon approached. "We know of your quest, but we also that the scepter will only choose who is worthy of it, which is why we want one of you to test yourselves," he said.

"Of course, it's never that easy," Mulan sighed.

"Well, which of the princesses do you want to test?" asked Merriweather.

So far, most of the scepters had been obtained and they had chosen their princess, so based on that fact, there wasn't that large of a choice. The five monks, side by side, raised their fingers, and pointed to Rapunzel. She was the one who they wanted.

Rapunzel held her hand to her chest, surprised.

The question now was what kind of test did the monks have in store for her?

Cestius approached Rapunzel. "You must face a ghost from your past," he said mystically.

Most of the group were confused by Cestius' words. What exactly did he mean by a 'ghost from Rapunzel's past?'

As for Rapunzel herself, her eyes widened, her breath stilled, and her lips quivered in shock as she took a few steps back. For she had an idea as to what ghost Cestius was talking about.

Pocahontas noticed this and walked up to her. "Rapunzel, are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

The other princesses approached her as well. They could tell something was up with their friend.

"Is something wrong?" asked Aurora.

"I think we already know the answer to that," said Tiana.

For a moment, Rapunzel stood frozen, unable to move. She couldn't hear the voices of her friends, the good fairies, or Feemer. They were all drowned out by the constant image hovering over her head. Her hands shivered and drops of sweat trickled from her forehead as the vision of that which she thought she would never see again would soon reappear before her.

"Raps. Raps!" Tiana shouted as she shook Rapunzel to snap her out of it.

Rapunzel regained herself, holding her forehead, trying to gather her thoughts.

"Rapunzel, what is it?" asked Flora.

"Is everything alright, dear?" asked Fauna.

"Oh! It's nothing, I...just have a tiny headache," Rapunzel answered.

She tried to keep on a straight face, but the rest of the group wasn't buying, with the exception of Snow White.

"Last time I checked, a person doesn't quiver their lips when they have a headache," said Tiana with a raised eyebrow.

Figuring there was no point in hiding things, Rapunzel came out with the truth. "Alright look. I think I know what Cestius means by 'ghost from my past,' she began with a sigh. "It's Gothel."

The rest of the group gasped in shock.

"Wait. You told us about her. She's the one who was pretending to be your mother, right?" asked Cinderella.

"That's her," Rapunzel answered.

"Wait a minute, Gothel's dead. There no way she could be on the island," said Tiana.

"More like a vision of her," Rapunzel suggested, tightly grasping her hands.

It was true that Gothel was a ghost from Rapunzel's past and if Gothel was in fact the one for her to face, she wasn't entirely sure how she was going to handle it. It had been a while since Gothel's death and even she though had handled her in the past, to actually see her again would be an unusual experience to say the least.

Pocahontas and Mulan walked over to Rapunzel to comfort her. "Listen, Rapunzel. Don't let your fear overtake you," she said.

"She's right. It's like jumping into a cold pool; take a deep, then dive right on in," said Rapunzel.

The thought of taking a dip in a pool sounded much better to Rapunzel than taking the test, but she knew her friends were right.

Cinderella approached her next. "And just think about us when you're in there too," she said.

Rapunzel took a deep breath and nodded with assurance. Now all she had to do was dive right on in. She approached the monks with resolve in her face. "I'm ready," she said firmly.

So with that, the monks directed Rapunzel forward. She figured they would taking her to some special location for the test. However, to her confusion, there was nothing in the distance. No houses, no rivers, no streets; absolutely nothing but sand and the distant ocean.

"In addition to predicting the future, we also have the ability to shape reality," informed Poragon.

Waestro demonstrated this ability by waving his hands. Purple magic emerged and he used it to create castles made of water, flying goats, and purple pigs.

The group was amazed by this, though at the same time, they were used to this kinda thing in the Magic Kingdom.

Waestro made everything disappear as Cestro approached Rapunzel.

"This will be a difficult test, but one you must overcome. It will test you mentally and emotionally," said Cestro.

"So try not to mess it up," Gilus said condescendingly.

The five monks stood in a circle and summoned their magic, raising their hands to the sky. From out of the sand, a giant tower appeared, massive and wide in size.

"Well that's a thing," Mulan said, staring up at the tower.

The monks turned to Rapunzel.

"Your challenge in this tower," Cestro began.

"You will need to complete it to pass the test," said Poragon.

"And once you do..." continued Tapir.

"The scepter will reveal itself to you," said Waestro.

"If you pass, that is," said Gilus.

"Glius!" the other four monks shouted.

The good fairies and the other princesses walked up to Rapunzel, wishing her luck.

"You can do this, Rapunzel," said Merriweather.

"Just be confident," said Flora.

"We all have faith in you," said Fauna.

"Well, as much as we can, anyway," said Feemer.

Even though she was going alone, Rapunzel knew she had the support of her friends and for her, that was enough as she walked towards the tower. As she stood at the front door, she stared up at the massive, almost intimidating structure. It cast a large shadow over her, ironically signifying the shadows that awaited her inside.

"Mickey, please stop pacing," Yen Sid said grufly.

Mickey had been pacing for over an hour and his impatience was starting to make HIM impatient.

"I'm sorry, Master. But I can't help myself," said Mickey. "It's been months and the princesses haven't come back. You think they ever will come back?"

"Be patient, Mickey. We can only ask so much of them," Yen Sid responded.

Truthfully, Yen Sid often asked himself the same question, but having faith was all he or anybody else in the kingdom could do.

A large group of shadow demons, led by Grimhilde and Ursula, burst into the tower.

"Evening, sorcerer," Ursula chuckled. "Sorry for the surprise visit, but we were in the neighborhood and thought we'd drop by."

"You used an anti-barrier spell to get through, I assume," Yen Sid guessed.

"Well, aren't you the smart one," Ursula said.

Not only that, but Bonkers, Pan, and the others had all been captured, despite their best efforts.

At Grimhilde's command, one of the shadow demons grabbed Mickey.

"Hey! Let me go, you big bullies!" Mickey shouted, struggling.

The rest of the demons surrounded Yen Sid.

"We have a little favor to ask of you," said Grimhilde.

Yen Sid gritted his teeth as the shadow demons practically smothered him from all directions. From his count, there were at least thirty of them which was not the best scenario for him. Realizing the situation, he composed himself and let down his guard. "There's nothing I can do. You have me," he said bluntly as he dropped to his knees.

"Yen Sid! No!" Mickey shouted.

And with Yen Sid's surrender, he, Mickey, and all the rest were apprehended and taken from the tower.

Meanwhile, at another tower, Rapunzel reluctantly walked towards the door, slowly turned the knob, opened the door, and stepped inside the tower. The door closed behind her and disappeared, meaning she couldn't go out the way she came. There was no turning back.

Outside, Rapunzel's friends were concerned for her well being, but they remained faithful that she could pass the test.

There was nothing but darkness. Rapunzel looked around, but couldn't find any sign of life.

Her fear started to fester within her. She took small breaths to keep herself calm, but it wasn't easy to do. Seeing no precise path to take, she figured the best route was to just go forward and she did just that.

The darkness was so great, she couldn't even see her own shadow. The ground beneath her felt cold and there wasn't a sound to be heard.

Her teeth began to chatter as she tried in to find at least something, but to no avail.

Just then, in the distance, Rapunzel could see what looked like trees. It was faint, but indeed, they were trees. As she continued walking, she began to feel grass beneath her feet followed by a gentle breeze. She was no longer walking in darkness, she was in a forest; a rather familiar looking forest.

It took a while, but Rapunzel began to recognize the area around her; the trees, the flowers, the rocks, and the ponds. Yes, she knew exactly where she was.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps rapidly approaching and quickly hid behind a nearby tree. She wasn't sure who it was, but she didn't want to take any chances. As the footsteps became louder she peered from behind the tree so as not to be seen.

A cloaked figure sprinted past her.

Upon observation, Rapunzel noticed the figure holding what looked like a small child which also looked familiar to her.

The figure stopped and looked back to see if anyone was following it. Rapunzel took the moment to see the figure's face. Within seconds, she gasped for she knew from the wrinkled, haggard face of the figure, exactly who it was. And from that, she knew who the child was. And she knew where the figure was going.

Rapunzel whispered to herself as the figure continued forward, "Gothel."