Hey guys! I hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend! I hope this new chapter lightens your mood just a little!

Chapter 22: Friends on the Other Side

"Finn! We can't bring our son along! What if something happens? What if Maleficent comes back for him? What if she comes back for you?"

"Amanda." He walked over to her. "I won't let anything happen to you or our son, I promise."

Amanda sighed and looked at him disapprovingly. "Finn, don't promise that." She said in a small voice.

"Why not?" He asked her. She moved over and sat down on the bed, with their son still in her arms. Finn sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her back.

"Because…" She looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Finn. "When you make a promise, you won't back out of it…no matter what."

Finn let out a small laugh. "And when did that turn into such a bad thing?"

"You almost married Charlene, because you promised her your hand in marriage in exchange for help on that journey three years ago."

Finn studied her. He was sure they had gotten past that…three years ago.

"Amanda, that's not fair. What does that have to do with now?"

"Because you promised me that you won't let anything happen to me or our son. What if that involves you dying instead of us?"

"If there was the tiniest possibility that my death would save the two of you, I would gladly do it."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Amanda whispered.

Finn pulled her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "I only say that Amanda, because I love you. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you because of me."

"And that's noble, and I appreciate that, Finn, but I don't want you to promise me that you'll do anything to protect us."

"And why not?"

"Because you'll actually do it. I'm not letting Maleficent kill any of our friends, or our son, or you." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Don't you worry about me, Amanda. I'll protect both of you, I prom—"

"Don't, Finn. For your own safety."

"I want to promise you that Amanda, because I want you to know how serious I am about this."

"But Finn, what if you die?"

Finn smiled at her. "I'll do my best to stay alive, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead. "But you and Dillard come first."

She studied him before slowly nodding. He pulled her in for one last kiss before packing up a few belongings.

November 30, 2358
Animal Kingdom
Festival of the Lion King

3:45 P.M.

Amanda jolted awake. Despite the cold room, she was sweating.

"Take deep breaths," a soothing voice said from beside her. Amanda turned her head and saw Charlene sitting there with a sympathetic smile on her face.

Amanda took a few deep breaths before answering. "Where is Jess?"

"She's taking a nap over on one of the other bleachers." Charlene scooted over toward Amanda on the bench she was sitting on. "Bad dream?"

Amanda focused on her hands, trying to get them to stop shaking. "No, not necessarily. It was just…It was a memory…that…that wasn't mine."

Charlene raised an eyebrow. "Are you turning into Jess?"

Amanda let out a little laugh with that, but it didn't make her feel better. That dream had felt so real, but yet she knew it had never happened before—at least not to her.

"No, I just…" she shook the thought out of her head. She turned to Charlene. "Where are Philby and Maybeck?"

"They left to search the park about an hour ago. They claimed they'd be back by 5, but we'll see about that." Charlene rolled her eyes and stood up, checking her watch as she stretched. "They should be back in a little over an hour. We'll see about that."

Amanda nodded, focusing back in on her hands. "Oh okay."

Charlene frowned. "That dream really is bothering you, huh? Want to talk about it?"

"No!" Amanda said a little bit too fast and harsh.

"Okay, okay!" Charlene threw up her hands to signal she was backing off.

They wallowed in the awkward silence for a few minutes before Amanda spoke up.

"How come you and Maybeck didn't get captured?"

If Charlene was shocked or surprised by the question, she didn't let it show on her face. She sat back down on Amanda's right and put her head in her hands.

"I was having a horrible nightmare. I woke up screaming—I'm surprised I didn't wake up any of you out there in the living room. Lizzie had fallen asleep with me on the bed, so she woke up crying, which woke up Maybeck who was lying on the floor next to the bed. Once Maybeck had calmed both of us down, he suggested we go for a walk."

Charlene paused. "We decided to take Wayne's spare car and head into Orlando…or at least what's left of Orlando. Anyway, by the time we got back, it was eight in the morning and everybody was gone. The windows were broken, and there were blood stains on the floor...and...and..."

Charlene stopped. Amanda realized too late it was because she was crying too much to speak.

Amanda felt like she should say something, but she just couldn't find the words. Charlene composed herself and straightened up.

"I should probably stop crying," Charlene said as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "I've done enough of that the past few days."

Amanda put a hand on her knee. "It's okay to cry every once in a while, Charlene."

Charlene smiled. "I think Maybeck's running out of things to say. He doesn't do well with crying girls, you know."

Amanda laughed. "I can see that."

Charlene joined in. After a few brief seconds of happiness, the girls settled back into their awkward silence. It was as if they had both remembered their precarious situation at the same time.

"I'm sorry that we haven't found Finn yet, we're trying." Charlene whispered.

"I know, Charlene. I'm not mad at any of you."

"I would be," Charlene fired back. "If I were you."

"Why do you say that?"

Charlene shrugged. "I don't know. I just figured if I were in your situation, I'd be…mad at…well…everybody." Charlene paused to take a deep breath. "If I had just remembered who I was and who I was married to, just to have him ripped away from me…I'd be mad at…life, I guess."

"I am mad…" Charlene turned to face her with a confused look, "…at them. Maleficent. Overtakers. Everybody who's been keeping me and Finn apart. But I would never, ever be mad at you guys. You've done so much already."

Charlene reached over, without warning, and gave Amanda a hug. "I'm so glad you're not mad at me, Amanda."

Amanda laughed and hugged her back.

"We'll get him back, Amanda. ASAP," Charlene whispered in her ear.

"I know," Amanda whispered back. "I just hope he's alive when we find him."

Philby wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Normally he would be disgusted by the amount of sweat, but today he was relieved. He had just finished a very risky surgery on a man who had just been in a horrible car accident. Luckily, the patient had pulled through, but it had been too close for Philby's liking.

He was currently standing right outside the staff entrance to the hospital he was working at in the 7th province. Philby had been here for three months already and still hated every second. He wanted nothing more than to return to the streets of London.

He rolled up his sleeves and swatted away a mosquito. Stupid jungle weather.

He glanced down at his shirt and saw a few blood stains. They were going to take a while to wash out. Great, another thing I have to do when I get off of work.

Philby looked behind him, checking to see if any of his coworkers were looking for him. When he saw nobody in the hallway, he laid down on the bench. A nap seemed like the best thing he could do right now.

Right as he closed his eyes, his nap was interrupted.

"Hey there doc. Feeling blue?"

Philby opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows. Before him was a dark-skinned man dressed in a black suit with a purple undershirt—something that seemed out of place in the hot Indonesian weather. He wore a black top hat with a skull and bones painted on to it with white paint. He leaned on his walking stick, not out of necessity, but because he could.

"Can I help you?" Philby asked the man warily. For some reason the man seemed familiar, but Philby couldn't place it. He had been having these feelings more and more since Daniel Wesley showed up at the rebel camp in London and handed him the black envelope.

"Doc, it's not what you can do for me…but what I can do for you."

Philby sat up all the way, more confused than ever. "What do you mean?"

The man sat down to his left on the bench. "Doc, I've got friends on the other side that can help you out. You're in quite a situation here my friend."

Philby tried not to let the confusion show on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"I know all about that envelope your little friend gave you. You've got a lot of misery ahead of you. Sad story, my friend. I feel for you man."

Philby leaned in closer so they could whisper. "You know about the forbidden district?"

"Know about it?" The man laughed. "I used to live there before this wretched place was created." He motioned with his walking stick to the world around them.

"What can you tell me about it?"

The man put a hand to his left ear, as if listening to someone speak. Philby looked around the man, but saw no one. The man put his hand down and turned to face Philby.

"My friends tell me that you will remember who you are, but a lot of misery will follow." The man put a hand on Philby's left shoulder. "Rough time, man. Luckily, I'm here to help."

Philby brushed off his hand and narrowed his eyes at him. "What kind of help?"

"That depends on what you want, my dear little friend."

"What I want? What do you mean?"

"What's your deepest desire, Dell Philby?"

"How did you know my full name?"

The man ignored his question with a wave of the hand. "Riches?" The man eyed Philby. "No, no, not riches."

He put his hand under his chin in deep thought. "You look like a 'true love conquers all' sort of man. So you probably want to find that girl?"

Before Philby could interject, the man continued. "What about London? I know you hate this awful little corner of the world. Honestly, I do too. Maleficent was being cruel by sending me down here."

The man put his hand up to his ear again for a few brief seconds. He turned his head up in that direction. "Really? No price? Alright, if you insist!"

The man let out a frustrated sigh and pulled out two things out of his pocket. The first Philby could not see, for the man placed it on the bench to his left—just outside of Philby's peripheral vision. The second was a handkerchief that he used to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. He put the handkerchief back into his pocket and picked up the first item.

He turned his whole body to face Philby. "Give me your hand, my friend."

Philby hesitated before doing so, wary of what this dark stranger was going to do. The man took his hand and placed the item into it. Philby finally got to see that it was a simple black wire with what looked like some kind of wooden mask—like some kind of talisman or idol to some mythological god or goddess.

The man put a hand up to his left ear again, listening to the people who weren't there.

"This, my friend, is a beauty. The spirits told me to give it to you for free, no strings attached." He laughed as if that was a joke. If it was, Philby didn't get it. "After you remember who you are, you're going to reach a new level of misery you've never felt before. When you feel like you are at rock bottom, use this."

"But…how do I use it?"

The man laughed again. "You'll know when the time comes. You'll remember who I am, after all."

The man stood up and started walking away from the bench back towards the jungle outside of the hospital.

Philby stood up, grasping the necklace tight in his palm. "Wait! You never told me your name!"

The man turned on his heel, giving Philby a devilish grin. "Name's Dr. Facilier, my friend." He tipped his top hat in Philby's direction. "Call me the Shadow Man, if you prefer."

"Why are you helping me?"

"Turns out you're not the only ones who want an end to this curse." The Shadow Man winked at Philby and walked into the jungle, disappearing from sight.

November 30, 2358
Animal Kingdom
Expedition Everest

3 P.M.

Philby and Maybeck had been walking around Animal Kingdom, guns in hand, for the past two hours. So far, they had found nothing. Not even a single trace of OT activity.

Philby had never seen anything stranger in his life.

They reached Expedition Everest and stopped at the entrance to the now defunct ride. Philby loved this ride. It was his favorite part of Animal Kingdom. He knew Finn, Amanda and Jess felt otherwise, but they weren't here—so he didn't care.

"Dude," Maybeck whispered to him while staring in awe at the snowy mountain. "I wonder if the ride still works."

"Do you know how awesome that would be?" Philby asked back, a wily grin growing on his face.

"Totally epic," Maybeck returned his grin.

Maybeck and Philby exchanged a look. They both knew what had to be done—they had to see if the ride was still operational.

The two raced through the waiting line toward the start of the ride. Once reaching the starting point for the ride, both were thoroughly disappointed to see nothing there.

Philby was about to suggest they turn back, but a crashing sound came from the direction of the mountain.

Maybeck turned back to him and raised an eyebrow. "We should probably go check that out."

Philby shrugged. "Probably."

The two picked up their guns, readied a bullet and walked toward the noise. They followed the broken roller coaster tracks inside the mountain. Maybeck saw a hidden door on the side of the mountain and pointed to it. Philby nodded and followed Maybeck as he headed over toward it.

He opened the door without a sound and slowly stepped inside the mountain. Philby heard whispering echoing throughout the inside of the mountain, making it harder to pinpoint the location of the intruders.

Seeing the inside of the ride while not on the track was a brand new thing for Philby. It was one thing to research the ride and see its layout on a PDF file. It was another to see it in person.

The professor side of Philby—as Maybeck liked to call it—wanted to stay and analyze the inner structure of the mountain, but there were currently more important matters at hand. One prime example: who the heck is messing around inside Expedition Everest?

They stepped around a corner and Philby heard a loud gasp. He hurried after Maybeck and saw that Maybeck had his gun pointed at two girls—one with red hair pulled into a messy bun, the other with dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Based off what he saw in the little alcove they had just walked into, it looked as if the two girls had been squatting here for some time now.

Maybeck lowered his gun. "Storey? Mattie? What are you two doing here?"

I don't own anything to do with Princess and the Frog, FYI.

So what did y'all think of this chapter? I'm excited that I finally got to bring back my favorite element of story writing: flashbacks. Don't worry, Philby's flashback will come into play soon-just you wait! Please let me know what you thought (good or bad) in a review! I love reading them :)

Have a wonderful week this week! I'll update as soon as I can!