Again, a little short...sorry about that. But hey, they all can't be super long! I hope y'all enjoy this one! :)

Chapter 34: The Plan That Fails

"Willa, where are we going?" Finn asked his sister as they hurried along an underground secret passageway that he had never known was there.

"To see someone."

"Who would that be?"

"You'll see."

Finn turned around and glanced back at Amanda, who was currently holding their sleeping newborn son in her arms. She shrugged. At this point, Finn had absolutely zero guesses on who they were going to see.

They had been walking underneath the castle for hours upon hours when Willa finally led them up some stairs.

Upon getting to the top of the stairs, Finn froze in shock.

Standing before him was his father. The one who was supposed to be dead. Amanda and the captain stood behind him and awkwardly waited for someone to say something. Willa and his father exchanged some words before they turned to address the other three.

"Finn, I think you remember your-our-father." Willa said in a small, but confident voice.

Instead of responding, Finn nodded. He couldn't believe it. His father was alive.

"Finn, my son." His father held out his arms for a hug that Finn did not want to return. After a few seconds, his father lowered his arms and stepped forward. "Finn, I know you're probably upset, but I can explain everything."

"You're…you're not dead?"

"Smooth Shark Fin." The captain muttered under his breath, but Finn chose to ignore him.

"Is this your wife, Amanda I believe?" Finn's father asked him.

"That's me, your highness." Amanda said as she curtsied.

"My, she's beautiful." Finn's father smiled at Finn and walked up to Amanda. "May I hold my grandson?"

Amanda nodded and handed the baby over to him carefully so that baby Dillard wouldn't wake up.

"He looks just like you Finn when he was a baby. He's going to be a strong, brilliant young man, and a great king someday."

"Father…what are you doing here? You died fourteen years ago!"

"How about you and I go and talk privately? There's a lot we need to talk about."

Finn nodded and his father gave his grandson back to Amanda. His father motioned for a door on the far side of the room and Finn was ushered inside.

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" Terry asked Amanda and Willa. Finn and his now un-dead father had been in the other room talking about who knows what for who knows how long.

Willa shrugged. "I have no clue."

"Does your dad know anything about Maleficent?" Amanda threw the question out there without looking up from the baby.

"He knows a lot, actually."

"Like what?" Terry asked. Now that Maleficent had recently come back from the dead—similar to Finn's father—Terry wanted to know everything there was to know about her.

"She was the reason why I wasn't killed when I was a baby. She's the reason he had to fake his death. She's got a hand in just about everything in the castle, except for the past three years."

It was as if all the sound had drowned in a sea of awkwardness.

Before any of them could start talking, Finn and his father emerged from the other room. Finn put on a smile, but even Terry could see the confusion and ultimate sadness in his eyes. Based on what Terry knew of Finn, his father had most likely brought up Maleficent and what it was going to take to stop her.

Knowing Finn, he would do anything to get rid of Maleficent—even if that required his death.

"So guys," Finn clasped his hands together. "We need to go save our friends. And I've got the plan to do just that."

Philby heard the noise of feet shuffling and immediately perked up. He had been in this cell, chained to the wall for a few hours. He didn't know where he was or how long he had been knocked out, but the one thing he did know was that Maleficent was back and that Isabel was probably in danger.

"Where are we…going to put this…one?" The first voice said. It might have just been Philby, but it sounded like the person was struggling to carry something, gasping in between words.

"I…I have no clue…how about in here with this one?" A second voice said. Philby had no idea what was going on, but when the cell door started rattling, he pretended to be asleep.

He watched through squinted eyes as the door was opened and something large was thrown into the cell with him. Whatever it was hit the stone floor with a sickening THUD!

When the door was closed and locked, Philby opened his eyes and did his best to see what was thrown inside his cage.

He heard a groan-a sign that it was a person.

"Hey…psssh….hey you." Philby whispered, trying to get the person's attention.

Whoever it was, they either weren't hearing him or was unconscious.

Philby tried to reach with his leg and kick the person, but he couldn't move his leg very far with the chains on his ankles.

A high-pitched scream echoed through the hall. It was definitely not from the person in his cell. Who else is here?

"Pssh!" Philby continued to stretch his leg. He was so close to being able to nudge the unconscious person with his foot.

Just a few more inches…

He successfully nudged the person. Whoever it was, stirred. Philby nudged again and let out a weak cry of pain. The chain around his ankle was digging into the skin. Philby was pretty sure he was bleeding, but he didn't care about that at the moment.

It was all about finding out who was in the cell with him. Especially since they weren't chained to the wall.

"Pssh! Hey, wake up!" Philby whispered as loud as he could.

The person mumbled something before moving away from Philby's foot. The voice sounded like a female and was extremely weak. Whoever she was, she was obviously hurt.

"Hey…who's there? My name is Dell Philby. What's yours?"

His whispers echoed off the stone walls of the cell. There was a moment of silence as whoever it was shifted again, moving out of Philby's line of sight.

"D-D-Dell?"

Philby's eyes went wide. "Isabel?" His voice grew more forceful. He felt the fire one would call anger ignite and spread throughout his whole body.

"Yes…where are you?"

"I'm on the wall opposite of the bars."

He heard some shuffling and before he knew it, she was right in front of him.

"Oh my gosh, Dell, you're chained to the wall!" She looked him over, searching for injuries.

"What happened? Why are you here?"

"Oh your ankle!" Willa did her best to move the chain off of the bruises and cuts, but wasn't very successful at it. Philby kept wincing in pain.

"I'm so sorry Dell. I'm…I'm trying to help."

"I know." He found her hand and took it in his. "What are you doing here, Isabel? You didn't go in after me, did you?"

"No, of course not. Jack found me and brought me to a safer place…well at least I thought it was."

"How did you end up here?" He took her chin in his other hand and examined her face. There were a few cuts, but otherwise she was still as beautiful as the day he met her.

Another scream echoed through the dungeon, its pitch deep, laced with torture and pain.

Willa's face winced as if the scream was hurting her. Her gaze lingered on the chains on his ankles for a few seconds before working her way up to his eyes. They locked eyes for a second before she finally answered him.

"I…I don't know how I got here."

Hmm...so what happened to Finn's plan? Who's screaming? Where are they being held? What happened to Terry, Finn, Amanda & Jack? And what about the baby? Hmm...so many questions...

Don't worry! We have time for all of them...in the chapters to come!

Please review! I want to hear what y'all are thinking! Oh, and I've got another multi-chapter that I just uploaded called "Whodunnit," so please check that one out! But if you don't, I won't know, so it won't hurt my feelings or anything :P

Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon! :)