Four weeks later…
Belle had been the first one to arrive at the meeting spot; it had only taken her a few days to get there. The meeting place was a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. The other girls started showing up one by one within a few days of each other. Pocahontas lived the furthest away and had only just now arrived. Once they were all together, Marine appeared before them.
"We have found Skyla's lair," Marine told them. "But it is guarded by magic and we cannot go within 100 miles of it. You girls will have to finish this on your own."
"You're not gonna help us?" Ariel asked in a small voice.
"We can't. But if the eight of you stick together and work as a team, you can defeat her," Marine said.
"It took an entire city to defeat Judge Frollo, and he was just a man," Esmeralda said. "How are eight people supposed to take down a witch?"
"Skyla's source of power is a black crystal, if it is broken all the magic will disappear. She will then become mortal and can be killed," Marine explained. "Now, if you all join hands in a circle, and the crystal is broken inside the circle, it will be trapped and the magic will go inside each of you."
"And we'll all have the same power as Skyla?" Pocahontas asked.
Marine shook her head. "No. The crystal is made up of nine different powers: fire, water, wind, lightning, telepathy, nature, invisibility, time and teleportation. When the crystal is broken, the individual powers will scatter, and you'd each get one."
"It's been a month since Snow White has been captured," Belle said. "Do you know if she's all right?"
"She's fine. Skyla needs her as live bait. She will not harm any of you until she has all of you."
"Either way, Snow White has been Skyla's prisoner for a month. We need to stop wasting time and help her," Jasmine said.
Marine nodded in agreement. "The lair is a day's journey directly north of here. You can't miss it. Good luck, girls."
With that, Marine was gone. The girls took a minute to compose themselves and gather what they needed, then set off to Skyla's lair on foot. They walked in an awkward silence for a while.
Finally, Esmeralda said, "Have any of you dealt with a witch or magical being before?"
"I have," Jasmine said. "I've dealt with a lot of magical beings, but none of them have been immortal."
"I was attacked by a witch," Ariel said. "She wasn't immortal, either."
"How did you kill her?" Esmeralda asked Ariel.
"My boyfriend stabbed her in the stomach."
"My husband fought an evil fairy that had turned into a dragon. He stabbed her as well," Aurora said quietly.
Esmeralda nodded. "First we need to find the crystal."
"Um, if the crystal is the source of her power, wouldn't she have it somewhere on her?" Rapunzel asked, thinking of her own secret gift.
"Yes, and that'll make it more difficult to obtain the crystal, but we can still do it," Jasmine said.
"She may be more powerful, but we outnumber her," Esmeralda stated. "If we create a diversion, we can plan a sneak attack-"
"No way," Meg replied. "One of Skyla's powers is telepathy; she can read our minds. She'll know our plan as soon as we're anywhere near her."
"Then what do you suggest?" Pocahontas asked.
"She's immortal, so she has nothing to lose; unlike all of us. She'll be able to come at us hard, while we'll have to be careful. The only person who can defeat an immortal is another immortal."
"What are you saying?" Aurora asked.
"We can't win this," Meg responded.
"We can if we have the crystal," Rapunzel said, hopefully.
"And how do you propose we get the crystal?" Meg asked.
"She has to have a weakness," Belle said. "Everyone has a weakness."
"But, she's immortal…" Ariel repeated. "We can't hurt her."
"Her weakness doesn't necessarily have to be physical," Meg said quietly, remembering the night Hades discovered she was Hercules' weakness.
"She's right," Jasmine said. "It could be a person or a character flaw. Jafar was power-hungry and Aladdin used that to defeat him."
"But, how will we find out what her weakness is?" Ariel asked.
Belle thought about the adventure books she had read in Adam's library. "Right before a villain tries to kill the good guy, they always monologue about their plan. Once we're inside, Skyla will tell us her plan, and that will reveal her weakness."
"What about henchmen?" Aurora asked. "Don't villains have henchmen?"
Belle laughed. "Yes, but henchman are mindless; that's why they follow orders from the villains. They may be strong, but we can outsmart them."
The girls were starting to gain confidence, though they all knew it was still a long shot. But, for the first time since they were summoned, they had hope.
xxx
Some of the girls suggested they should stop for the night and rest, but Jasmine, Esmeralda and Belle thought they should keep going and not waste anytime. After debating for a while, they set up camp. The next morning, they awoke when the sun came up. They cleaned themselves up and continued on. They did not come up with a plan, knowing Skyla would be able to figure it out. They were careful not to think about, or discuss, any of what they talked about the day before. They knew they were getting closer to Skyla's lair, and wasn't sure how strong her telepathy was. Instead, they got to know each other; learned about what their lives were like before they left, and what kind of people they were. Everyone missed someone, and had someone waiting for them back home, except Meg. Meg would probably be the girls' best asset because, like Skyla, she had nothing to lose.
Up ahead the girls noticed a giant wall. They knew it had to be Skyla's lair. They ran to it, but when they reached the wall, they couldn't find an entrance, and it stretched on for miles in either direction. It must have been over fifty-feet high. Suddenly, a girl flew over the wall and landed in front of them.
"After a month, you've finally found me," the girl said.
"Skyla!" Rapunzel gasped. Skyla smiled wickedly at her.
The girls were surprised to see how young and beautiful Skyla was. Ariel wondered if she could change her shape like Ursula could.
Seeing how frightened the girls were, Skyla took a step forward. The girls tried to stand their ground. This was it. It was already time to fight, and the girls were not ready.
"Don't worry," Skyla said. "I'm not going to kill you, yet. Where's the fun in that? No, I have a better idea. I have put a spell on Princess Snow White. It will slowly spread through her, but once it is complete, Snow White will be filled with darkness and belong to me. I will place you girls inside my labyrinth. You will have twenty-four hours to solve the labyrinth and save Snow White, before the darkness has taken her over. You will be separated, and all eight of you must solve the labyrinth in time in order to have a chance to save your princess. When the time is up, anyone left inside the labyrinth will be killed instantly, the rest of you will have to fight against me and Snow White."
Skyla laughed. She hurled lightning bolts at the girls. The lightning bolts wrapped around each of the girls, slowly lifting them off the ground, and over the wall. But, the pain was too great, and the girls blacked out before they made it over the wall.