Chapter 14: The Lesson Part 2

It was the next morning, both Yen and Wil got up early to meet with Walt in the main hall. While they were going to some important places, Walt told them that there was no need to dress in anything fancy.

It was almost 9:00 am the two boys had just finished getting dressed and made their way down the hall to Walt. As they approached, Walt was sitting on a bench with his arms on his lap and tapping his foot.

"Ah good to see you two!" said Walt as waved to the young wizards.

"Good morning," said Wil with a yawn.

Walt looked over Wil with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you alright? You look like you were up later than usual." Walt remarked.

Wil realized how ruffled he looked, and he straightened himself out really quick, he didn't want to draw any suspicion so Walt didn't find out about his nightly ventures readings

"S-sorry, I was just up late studying."

"Ah, well don't push yourself too hard Wil."

Wil responded with a nod of his head.

"Speaking of which, you boys are in luck!" Walt said as he placed a hand on their shoulder.

"You won't be spending the afternoon looking at old books!" Walt began to usher the boys to his automobile that was ready and waiting. "

"Instead, you will be spending the afternoon with me!"

Yen grinned from ear to ear. It had been a while since the boys had spent any real quality time with Walt."

As they approached the car, the drive opened the door so they could get in. Yen gazed over the inside with eyes wide in wonder.

"We actually get to ride in your automobile!?"

"Of course!" Walt replied. "I've seen you boys almost constantly eye it, so I figured that you both should get to experience it especially today."

With everyone now in the car, Walt gave the okay signal to the driver.

As they traveled Yen looked out the window at all the passing trees and people while messing with a few of the buttons within the vehicle and pestering Walt with questions about each one.. Wil however was occupied reading the notes that he wrote down in his journal. Every once in a while, yen would look toward his brother and sigh with worry.

After two hours, they finally made it to their first destination. The car came to a halt at the bottom of a large hill with what appeared to be a bench at the top. The driver opened the car door and let Walt and his company step out.

"You boys wait here for a moment," said Walt as he approached the driver.

While they were alone for the moment, Yen finally decided to voice his concern to his brother.

"Wil, you should really stop doing this."

"Doing what?" asked Wil.

"You know, sneaking out late at night and reading those books. You said that you were only one," said Yen.

"You've been watching me?" Wil asked.

"You aren't really good at covering your tracks, just be grateful that Walt's office is on the far side of the castle."

"Yen, with those books, I was able to learn more magic in just a few days than I was in the last six months!" Wil said in defense.

"Wil, I'm worried about you, you could get into serious trouble."

"So are you gonna snitch on me?" asked Wil

"Honestly, I think you should tell him. He'll probably let you off easy if you come forward about it," said Yen.

"For all we know, he could've already known what you've been doing and is waiting for you to be honest with him."

"But are you going to rate me out?" Wil asked again.

Yen lowered his head and uttered a "no" under his breath.

Wil smiled. "Good if Walt actually knew, he would've stopped me."

The two boys looked to Walt as he handed the driver a few dollars and told him to go get some coffee for himself. The driver smiled, thanked Walt, then drove to the nearest cafe.

Wil elbowed his brother and whispered to him "You should read one or two of those books yourself, it might help your magic improve."

Walt approached the two boys with a smile on his face.

"Well boys, follow me!"

As Wil and Walt walked a little ahead, followed behind for a few feet. Yen was in quite the predicament, one hand Wil has always loved and looked out for him when Walt wasn't around. But on the other hand, Yen had always viewed Walt as a father figure who trusts him with a lot of his personal life, it felt almost despicable to go behind his back to keep secrets from him. Yen had tried a few times already to reason with his brother so he wouldn't force him to tell Walt what he was doing, to avoid any of the harsh consequences. He was just lost on what to do.

"Okay, here we are."

Yen perked up at Walt's voice.

They made it to the bench at the top of the hill. Walt directed the boys attention to the scenery and the boys looked out in amazement. They were currently looking at the entire kingdom of Fantasia. After a few moments of taking in the beautiful sight, Walt told the boys to do something.

"Boys, I want you to take a close look at everything and tell me what you see."

Yen turned his head back to the bright landscape and tried to concentrate.

"I see the village, the castle, the lake, and the townspeople," said Yen.

"Good! Now Wil, tell me what you see?"

"I see people walking and laughing together, I also see children running around and playing together."

"Ahhh. good," said Walt.

"You see boys, I want you to look and understand this place as best as you can." he said. "I created this place so people could feel closer to their own dreams and imagination. This place is a special part of me that I want to leave behind for everyone. I want to be sure that it is left in the right hands to someone who knows the kingdom and the people."

"Of course Mr. Walt," said Yen. "We understand."

"Most definitely, you can count on us," added Wil

"Thank you boys," said Walt.

"We shouldn't waste too much time, we need to head to our next stop."

The next location they were heading to was not far from the castle itself. The car pulled up to the large garden and came to a halt. Walt and the boys stepped out of the vehicle.

"That will be all for now my good friend, I will see you later this evening," said Walt.

"Understood sir." said the driver as he proceeded to drive the car out the gate.

Yen and Wil were wondering why they were back here.

"Sir, why are we here?" asked Yen.

"You'll know soon enough," replied Walt.

The boys started following Walt through the tall greenery of bushes and trees. After going down a few of the stone paths, they came to a stone wall with a uniquely colored pattern. Walt placed his hand of the diamond-shaped stone at the center. The soon the wall glowed with magic, then there was a low rubbing and the stone wall began to move apart revealing a hidden staircase. Yen and Wil were amazed by what they just witnessed.

"How did you do that?" asked Wil.

"I myself have known and mastered a little magic from time to time," answered Walt.

Before entering the catacombs, Walt struck a match and lit a torch on the wall. The flame slid across the walls igniting additional torches in the process of lighting the halls. The group continued down the flight of stairs until they came to a large double door with the large signature letter D for Disney on the front. The doors slowly opened like they were aware of people who were present before them. The chamber they entered was fairly large in size, but it was the site on the floor that caught the two wizards by surprise. At the center of the room on the floor was a large round circle with strange glowing symbols that gave an eerie ominous tone in the air. The group came to a stop just before the circle.

"What is this place?" asked Yen.

Walt let out an uneasy sigh "This place or thing I refer to as the Shadow Vault. Within lies living nightmares, dark curses, and wicked evil beings who have given into their inner darkness."

"Why do you keep such an evil presence here in the kingdom, or existing at all?" asked Wil.

"I keep it here so I can watch over it," said Walt. "This castle also serves as a magic seal, keeping it closed. I had hoped to one day find a cure to rid of its evil influence, but truth be told we will never truly be free from the darkness within ourselves, we can only control it and keep it from running rapidly."

"This is under the castle," said Wil in his mind. "You think there is no way to destroy it?" asked Yen.

"We can only remedy it, but I have a feeling that my time will run its course before I can find one," replied Walt.

"This is a powerful but dangerous magic. It can corrupt any mind or heart if it's used without caution."

"Incredible." said Wil "Will we be watching over this ourselves?"

"You will eventually." said Walt "Always keep in mind what I have taught you both. Do not stray from the path that has been set."

Walt looked down at his watch.

"I believe it's way past lunchtime," he said. "There is a nice little shop in town that serves hot food and refreshments. It's not a far walk, we'll grab a bite to eat and you boys are free to have the rest of the day to yourselves."

Yen's stomach gave small rubble in agreement. "Sounds good to me sir!"

Walt and Yen made their way back to the entrance, after a minute they noticed that Wil was still staring at the vault.

"Wil!" they both called in unison.

Wil was shaken from his trance and went to catch up with them.

The rest of the afternoon proceeded normally, they ate lunch, went for a stroll around town for a little while, then returned to the castle. It was getting late and Walt had some work to do in his study so he accompanied the boys to the castle. As they walked through the gate, it was fairly dark already, Wil was deep in thought about today's events, mainly the Shadow Vault. The thought of all the magic being contained was fascinating to him, he knew that the symbols looked somewhat familiar to him from what he learned from the advanced magic books.

At some point, as they walked, Wil wasn't paying attention and tripped over one of the small statues that were in the courtyard. Yen and Walt went to help Wil up off the ground.

"Are you alright?" asked Yen.

"You took a little tumble there, bud," added Walt.

"I'm fine," said Wil as he brushed some of the dust off his vest.

It was quiet for most of the evening. After a few games of chess and checkers, Walt said goodbye for the night. As Yen was getting ready for bed he noticed that Wil was frantically looking under tables and turning over cushions.

"What are you looking for?" asked Yen.

"My journal!" replied Wil in annoyance. "I had it with me the entire day, how could I have lost it!"

"Wil, it's late. We had quite the long day, get some rest and we'll look some more in the morning," said Yen.

"It has to be around somewhere!" said Wil in worry.

"Com'on Wil! Worry about it later," said Yen with a yawn.

"Ugh fine!" groaned Wil.

Wil saw a scrap piece of paper on the desk, grabbed it then wrote some words on it.

"I at least don't want to forget about some of what we learned today," said Wil as folded the piece of paper in his pocket.

Walt bid the rest of the servants' goodnight and left for the car that was waiting for the gate. As he made his way to the car, he noticed something on the ground. He picked it up and inspected the contents. He looked it over with a raised eyebrow. Closing the book, he placed it in his pocket, and made his way to the car, all the while concern was written on his face.

When he stepped inside the car, the driver saw the worry on his face,

"Is everything alright sir?" asked the driver.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Head home please." Walt replied.

With that, the car drove off into the night.

END OF CHAPTER 14

A/N

Hey guys! special announcement! Starting today the 21st, I am officially 21! I thought it would be nice to post a chapter on my birthday as a celebration. Once again, thank you all for sticking with me all this time.

With that put of the way, there are a couple of things I want to address. I know I said that we'll know more about Zen in this chapter, but I feel like I still needed to set up more of the grounds, after all, Wil is a very important character. (Hint Hint) I'll try to wrap it up in the next chapter. Another thing is that I wanted to see if I could accurately match Walt's character.

The big thing I wanted to mention is that I want to help my audience visualize some of the characters better, so I made various characters on a website called Heroforge. I just need to figure where to post them for people to see. If you are interested in seeing them right away, let me know through PM and we'll work something out.

In the meantime check out my last A/N if you haven't already, let me know about any issues in the story as you have been. Let me know what you think via review.

Until we meet again!

I only own Zen, Wildroth, and this story all other properties belong to Disney.