Alright guys, here's the first part of the three (possibly four) chapter finale! You wonderful people only deserve the most epic ending I can bring!

Here's part one...chapter 40 :) Enjoy!

Chapter 40: Remembered As Heroes?

Finn ushered all of his friends into the throne room and slammed the door shut. With Philby and the captain's help, they moved all of the chairs in front of the door. Once finished, Finn saw Amanda holding back tears.

The chairs were in the throne room for the reception that was supposed to occur two days ago. Amanda and Finn were going to show off their newborn son to everyone in the kingdom. Now, neither of them were sure if they would ever see their son again. Would he remember them as heroes or hate them for leaving him at such a young age?

Finn shook the thoughts out of his head. He would make sure Amanda lived to see him again, even if it killed him.

Philby, who was gaining his strength by the minute, walked over to Willa.

"It's time we break this curse."

"And how do you suppose we do that Phildweeb?" The captain spat off. On the way over to the castle, Philby and Willa explained what the curse was and how Willa acquired it. No one had a clue on how Maleficent could create something like this or, more importantly, how to break it.

The captain's comment silenced the group. Finn could hear the sounds of Maleficent's army razing the city outside.

"I know!" Charlene's high-pitched voice rang out. She jumped up and down with joy. "True love's kiss! It worked last time on Terry and Philby! Why can't it work this time?"

Willa looked as if Charlene had slapped her across the face, but Finn knew that was because Willa hadn't thought of that.

Philby glanced from Charlene to Willa and back again. He seemed to be considering what Charlene was saying.

"Well?" Jess placed her hands on her hips. "Kiss her already Philby! We don't have all the time in the world!"

Finn saw Philby hesitate before turning to Willa. Something about this situation didn't seem right. Philby placed a hand on the back of Willa's neck and pulled her in close and kissed her.

The kiss lasted longer than Finn had expected. When they separated, someone behind him started clapping slowly.

"Congratulations my dear Isabel, you've accomplished exactly what I needed from you."

All seven of them turned to see Maleficent standing right in front of the throne.

"What are you talking about?" Philby yelled out as he stepped in front of Willa, shielding her from him.

"This so called 'curse' was just a trick."

"Old lady's got tricks? Awesome," the captain murmured as he unleashed his sword.

"What did you do make her do?" Philby yelled as he pointed his sword in her direction. Finn followed suit, ushering Charlene, Jess and Amanda over to the side, near a table that had one small glass flask on it. Inside was a gold liquid that seemed to be glowing.

"Kill you of course," Maleficent's tone of voice screamed evil.

"What?" Willa's trembling voice called out from behind Philby.

Before Maleficent could answer, Philby doubled over in pain and sank to the floor.

"DELL!" Willa kneeled beside him, trying to get him to stay awake.

"You evil witch!" Finn charged Maleficent.

She pulled out a dagger and threw it at him, barely nicking his shoulder. Amanda's screams could be heard a mile away. He stumbled back a few steps before continuing forward as if nothing had happened.

The sound of glass breaking made both of them stop in their tracks.

Finn turned around to see Charlene leaning against the wall and a broken flask on the ground. Its gold liquid falling onto Philby's sword. She must have ran into the table and knocked the flask over.

"NO! YOU INSOLENT FOOLS!" Maleficent threw out her hands in rage and the room started shaking violently.

"The roof's caving in!" Finn yelled toward the captain and the three girls. Amanda turned and ran toward him.

Stone blocks from the ceiling started falling where Maleficent's table was. Where Charlene, Jess and the captain were standing.

"Charlene! GO!" The captain's yell could barely be heard as more stones fell.

"NO! NOT WITHOUT YOU!" A girl yelled. Finn wasn't quiet sure, but he figured it was Charlene.

Charlene was pushed hard in the direction of Willa and Philby with the captain's sword in hand as the rest of the ceiling caved in.

"NO!" Charlene's pained cries echoed throughout the room. She rushed over to the pile of stones and started trying her hardest to remove them.

It took everyone a few minutes to process what had just happened. Jess and the captain and just been crushed by the falling stones of the ceiling.

Two of his friends—dead, another was close.

"Well, that was much easier than I expected. Three have fallen so quickly. It's not looking good for the rest of you." Maleficent let out a maniacal laugh.

Finn turned around and walked up to her, holding his sword out in front of him. "You did this!"

"Of course I did! Who else dearie?"

Finn's rage was building up. He had never felt so angry in his life. Before his mind could tell him otherwise, he lunged toward her, aiming for her neck with his sword.

Maleficent threw up a hand and grabbed his sword with her hand before he could strike.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She drew the sword closer to her and threw him as far as she could. The sword flew out of his hand, making a clanking noise as it hit the stone floor in front of him. Maleficent held out her hand and the sword flew across the room and into her hand.

"Now, if you don't mind, I've got some business to attend to."

She turned and walked over to the throne and pulled out the journal. Finn recognized it as the journal Willa had stolen back from them three years ago. How did Maleficent get it back?

"Finn!" Amanda cried out as she ran to Finn. He was still lying on the stone floor of the throne room. The pain from the fall was too much for him to handle at this point.

Amanda helped him to a sitting position. "Are you okay?"

Finn nodded. He looked her in the eyes and saw the tears she was holding back. The fear in her eyes made Finn felt like a failure. He couldn't make her feel safe.

Finn glanced over at Charlene as she continued to struggled to remove the stones off of the captain and Jess.

"Charlene…"

"Help me! Someone! Please!"

"Charlene, sweetie…" Amanda walked over to Charlene and tried to get her to stop. She wrapped her arms around Charlene and hugged her.

"Let go of me Amanda! We've got to get them back!" Charlene's tears were staining Amanda's dress.

"Charlene…they're gone."

There were a few minutes of quiet, the only sound Charlene's sobbing. "I know, it's just hard to believe."

"I know."

Finn struggled to stand up and walked over to Amanda and Charlene. Amanda finished her hug and Charlene fell into Finn's arms without warning.

"I love him, Finn. I really do."

"I know, Charlene. He loved you more than anything."

"He was going to ask me to marry him."

Finn's eyes went wide. He didn't know anything about that. That only makes his death that much harder for her to accept.

"Another story of true love, destroyed. Isn't that just wonderful!" Maleficent's voice echoed through the throne room.

Finn let go of Charlene and turned to face her.

"Leave us alone, or so help me, I will kill you!"

"Oh they'll be a time for fighting, Finn. But now it's time for this."

She motioned behind her, where there was a familiar sight looming over her.

The ancient spirit, Chernabog, was rising out of the journal—just as he did three years ago at the ancient temple. The news of the spirit was so shocking, even Willa stood up from her position of kneeling over Philby's dying body.

"Lord Chernabog, I believe it's only fair to exact your revenge on those unfortunate souls from three years ago."

Exacting his revenge? Finn was thoroughly confused. "What are you talking about? We did nothing to his spirit!"

"Oh, so you don't know? Your dear sister didn't tell you?"

Finn glanced back at Willa. Her face lacked emotion and was drained of color. She knows exactly what Maleficent's talking about.

"Everyone who is present at the awakening of the spirit is fated to die in its presence."

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked. Finn could feel her body trembling behind him.

"It means, the seven of you who went to the temple that day will die in its presence. One died three years ago, two were just crushed by the falling stones, poor Dell is on the brink of death," Maleficent's grin widened. "And three more of you will die today—hopefully four."

One of us can live? Finn asked himself. Who wasn't there that day?

And then it hit him. Amanda was sick that day.

Finn glanced back at Amanda for a brief second. The fear in her eyes was becoming more and more obvious. He wanted more than anything to be able to tell her that everything was going to be okay. But he wasn't going to lie to her. She deserved more than that.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Charlene running across the room with the captain's sword in her hand. She ran past Maleficent and toward the ancient spirit.

She's going to try and stop it. Finn started to head her way so that he could stop her, but Amanda grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

As it did three years ago, the ancient spirit began taking on a flesh form. It took a step forward, off of the journal and toward Charlene.

Charlene ran in between its legs, and ran in the direction of the journal. She turned around, facing the spirit's back and stabbed it in the back.

The spirit, though, was not one hundred percent flesh and bones. The sword was absorbed by the spirit's remaining ghostly form. Chernabog turned around and Charlene's eyes went wide. She was only there for a brief second before the spirit reached down and picked her up, throwing her across the room. She hit the stone wall behind the throne with a sickening THUD! She fell to the floor and did not move.

Maleficent turned to face Finn, Amanda and Willa. "And then there were three."

Oh dang! It's so hard to write character deaths...it just is.

Please review, I love reading your reviews and I'd love to see what y'all are thinking of the finale so far!

Trust me when I say it only gets better from here.

Anyway, I'll have the next part of the finale up as soon as I can! Have a great week! :)