A Kingdom full of endless dreams for every girl and boy

Wondrous lands of make-believe will fill your heart with joy

A castle leads the entrance way to seven lands and more

Step inside our storybook; imagine what's in store…

It's all pure magic wrapped up in pixie dust (in pixie dust)

Welcome to a place where dreams come true

A timeless journey through lands of fantasy

Where only a wish

Creates things like this to appear

The most magical place on earth is here…

Fog rolled gently along the once-bustling streets, globed lamps shining through appeared to float on their own, lining either side of the street. Just outside the Emporium, the singular clock of the land struck midnight.

All seemed at peace, in this town-out-of-time. The park was closed for the day, the residents all snuggled up in their beds asleep. It seemed as though not even the wind was willing to disturb the hazy calm about Main Street…

Then, suddenly, a door banged open. Two indistinguishable figures; one tall and skinny, the other short and fat, came lumbering out of the alcove by the bank. They appeared to hold something between the two of them. One voice shushed the other as the tall one closed the door just as obnoxiously.

Shuffling of feet and the unmistakable jingle of coins could be heard, echoing off the brickwork and stonework alike. A baritone voice muttered something, but a tenor shushed the former again. This odd shuffle-and-jingle pair weren't the only ones out and about, however, and the only warning this third party gave was nothing more than a light gust of wind and a dull thunk as they landed in a crouch before them.

The figure was unmistakably female—either young or short, it was hard to tell. She wore the traditional Main Street-styled uniform—poufy-sleeved shirt, long skirt, apron. Full, lightly waved hair settled about the female's shoulders.

She said naught a word as she stood tall and rigid before them, hands on her hips. The two men stopped short, still carrying some kind of box between them, and for a while the three seemed to partake in a bizarre staring contest.

The third party moved first—stance shifted minimally, as though attempting to view the other two at a different angle, "Don't suppose you'd be willing to come quietly? See, you're in my territory, and it's kinda my job to keep the peace. And since you're stealing, I have to stop you."

"Oi, Jasper, I think this' that new Sorcerer," whispered the tenor. The baritone let out a single, barking laugh, "This pipsqueak? You're joking, Horace. She's what, twelve?"

"Fourteen," interrupted the girl stubbornly. "And that's any better?"

"As a matter of fact, it is," the girl's hands began to glow cerulean blue. She brought them together, joined at the wrist and fingers splayed towards the two. Neither of the men seemed to have realized the gentle breeze that continued to swirl the fog about until they could see the girl's face.

"I am Grey, the Keeper of Main Street, Sorcerer of Imagination, and you are acting against the good of the Kingdom. This is your last chance; come quietly, or I will be forced to use drastic measures."

Pale, freckled face was set in steely determination as 'Grey' stared them down. The men, revealed as Jasper and Horace Badun, seemed less than intimidated by her harshly glaring green eyes. "You can't do nuthin, girly," Jasper cackled, clearly confident. Grey's eyebrows raised, tone light, though the intensity of her glare remained, "Very well, you have been warned."

With no further ado, two blobs of a jelly-like blue substance shot out from the juncture of her joined palms, smacking each of the henchmen directly over their eyes. In shock, the two dropped the box, hands flying to their faces in an attempt to rid themselves of the odd globs of blue.

Jasper recovered first, fists balling as he started towards the Sorcerer, "Why you—"

"That will be quite enough of that, thank you."

The sudden appearance of a fourth being on the once-silent street corner was enough to render all three of the disruptors silent again. Jasper immediately straightened, not meeting the newcomer's gaze as he mumbled out a "yes'm."

Mary Poppins was just as stoic as always; she took a single sweeping glance over the situation before fixing her gaze on the brothers, "I believe you've dropped something, sirs." The two men promptly tripped over themselves, claiming they'd found it, that they were just on their way to return it to the bank, that it would be safe there, ma'am, yes it would.

It wasn't until the two were gone that Mary Poppins fixed her gaze on her charge. She said nothing, and Grey sighed. "I know. You took me in to help me. I shouldn't have gone off alone, especially at this time of night." Mary Poppins' eyebrow raised marginally, but she still said nothing. Grey continued, "At my level, I'm not ready to face more than one opponent at a time, and until I learn how to use my defense as offence, I put the order of Main Street on the line by my vulnerability. I was chosen for this because of my talent, but I cannot let that talent get to my head."

Mary Poppins smiled kindly, gently leading her pupil back to the house, "I couldn't have said it better myself. Though you did leave out one key part." Curious, Grey stopped at the foot of the porch stairs, watching her mentor. "You might be getting ahead of yourself, but you are also taking your job seriously, and that is worth commending." The two shared a serene smile before Mary Poppins jerked her head lightly towards the door, "Now, back to bed, spit-spot! You have a big day tomorrow."

CHAPTER ONE – Main Street USA

Splck! Splck! Splck!

"Again."

Splck! Splck! Splck!

"Again."

Splck! Splck! Splck!

"Again." I dropped my hands to my sides, ignoring the new targets, and felt my whole body sag as I stared at my supposed tutor, "Archimedes, I've been at this for hours. You push me much more and I'm never going to replenish my manna!"

The owl immediately ruffled his feathers, tutting his usual "what-who-what" nonsense. I did my best to ignore the dull pressure of his talons on my head as, despite his protests, I flopped tiredly against the nearest solid surface. "How is your manna ever going to grow if you don't let it?"

"Your method is illogical. You make me hit targets that never change and push me way too far no matter what!" I paused only long enough to gently pull him out of my hair, setting the ruffled bird beside me on the rail, "It's like picking at a scab; the more layers you peel, the tougher the next one is, sure, but the wound will never truly heal that way, and it always leaves a scar. I just don't want to lose it, you know?"

The owl sighed, resigned, and looked over his shoulder towards Refreshment Corner, "Very well, I suppose we'll do it his way. But I'm warning you, missy, that old fruitloop is more than King Arthur could handle!"

"That's not the way Wart tells it," I gave a tired chuckle and allowed Archimedes to perch on my shoulder as I forced myself on my feet and towards where I knew Merlin waited.

~u~

Main Street USA. I was still fuzzy on a lot of the details, but the way I understood it, I'd been summoned here from somewhere to help protect a kingdom—a kingdom that served as a Theme Park, of all things. Disney World was created by The King, The Creator—I still didn't know his name, as most people around here only called him one of those titles. It started as a theme park, but over the years it's become home to princesses and witches, mice and ducks, heroes and villains. It became too much for the caretakers to handle—villains are villains, after all—so they turned to Merlin the Wizard.

Merlin searched the entire universe for unique potential magics, and created the Sorcerers Society. Now, each of these Sorcerers are charged with keeping the peace of one specific 'land'—I had yet to see any of the others, but whenever I bring it up, Merlin reassures me that 'they're out there, somewhere.'

If I can ever get my manna to par, Mary Poppins agreed to give me free reign of the entire park. So far, I've barely been able to see all of Main Street, though—just how big are these 'territories,' anyway?

~u~

We found Merlin just past Refreshment Corner, watching as Mad Hatter, The Queen of Hearts, Alice Liddell, and Peter Pan played musical chairs in the courtyard. It was currently only down to Alice and Peter, with a single chair in the middle. Other onlookers were clapping in time to the song—Whistle While you Work, Archimedes had explained—and cheered the two kids on.

For a timeless wizard, Merlin never seemed to understand the difference between 'casual' and 'eye-catching'. He wore a Goofy hat over his short white hair, a bright orange Hawaiian shirt, denim-blue shorts, tall white socks, and bright red tennis shoes. The whole ensemble was tied off with a pair of angular black sunglasses and what looked like it might have, at one point, been a pin-trading lanyard tangled hopelessly into his overlong beard. He sat alone at one of the spindly-legged tables outside Main Street Bakery, stirring sugar into his tea.

"Seen sense, have you, Archimedes?" The wizard asked calmly, not looking up. "What-what?" The owl was ruffled enough by that to dig his talons into my shoulder, so I pried him off and sat across from Merlin, "I think we can spare him the I told you so, but I'm not sure I can take his method much longer."

With Merlin being an all-knowing wizard, I never knew whether or not to explain myself to him. He seemed to understand regardless, however, for he pushed the fresh cup of tea across the table towards me, "Drink up, dear; Mary Poppins' request. The tonic should help replenish your manna enough to start your training."

"Start? I thought I'd already started."

"That, Grey, was a lesson of what can happen when you overwork yourself. Mary told me about the brothers last night, so we'll need you in top form from now on."

"Yessir." The tea was good—apple raspberry, of all combinations—and I drank it quickly, immediately feeling more energized. From the depths of his beard, Merlin produced what looked like a pack of trading cards, "You'll practice your true power when you can, but no more of this target nonsense."

"How am I supposed to practice, then?"

Sighing, Merlin pulled off the sunglasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. When he replaced them, they had somehow turned back into his usual circular spectacles, "What is your power, Grey?"

"Essentially, Imagination. Paint and Thinner."

"Look around. What do you notice about this place, dear?"

I looked—really, truly looked. People of all shapes and sizes milled about, shuffling in and out of the main entrance tunnels just beyond the train station. Some gawked at stores, others hurried along with nothing more than a curious glance towards Mrs. Banks and her Sisters Suffocate or the Dapper Dans farther down.

The buildings were all classy, two-story, turn-of-the-century styled architecture, tall and proud. Green railing lined all the gardens, and there were trash cans every 25 or so paces.

And then I realized what Merlin had been trying to get me to see. Most of Main Street was 'toon—that is, created by the very things I held power over. The color was too vibrant for these things not to be. What wasn't 'toon around here was metal—structural things like the trolley tracks, building supports, these things were obviously metal, but there wasn't much else visible. "It's all 'toon…isn't it?"

"Find something small—it could be as simple as a tooth brush. Thin it out, then paint it back. Eventually you'll be able to work with things as big as buildings, but remember you have to be able to see it. This isn't just point-and-shoot—I think you know what happens when you do that."

I nodded—globs of paint and globs of thinner that were hard to aim and harder to control. It was a lucky fluke that what I managed to do last night worked at all. "Can I try?" At his nod, I looked down at my cup and tried to concentrate. I just needed it to disappear. No problem.

Hand hovering over the rim, I took a deep breath and visualized the Thinner streaming steadily from its juncture. As always whenever I called upon the slimy green substance, my veins itched and my fingers felt cold, but true to its charge the liquid drizzled from the inside of my wrist, just between the radius and ulna. I watched in sort of detached fascination as the green ate up the white of the cup, erasing it completely in its steady drizzle downwards.

Task done, I immediately scratched at my wrist in attempt to soothe the itch. Merlin watched with a curious tilt of his head but said nothing. "I don't like using Thinner," I explained lamely, "It makes me itch like crazy."

"With good reason," Archimedes nodded in his usual haughty way, "You're a 'toon with Thinner in your veins. It's a destructive substance and should only be used in emergencies."

"But you have paint as well, which is a very unique balance. So long as they are inside you, they cancel each other out, and so there is no harm."

"That's why you call me Grey, isn't it? Because I have both." It suddenly made sense. 'Grey' was the only name I'd known, and no one had bothered to explain why. It was an odd sort of name, but I supposed it fit me. My power wasn't specifically creation, nor was it destruction—it was the gray in between.

I hadn't realized Merlin had continued talking until he began to open the previously-forgotten pack of cards. "That, my dear, is only the beginning. There is more to being a Sorcerer than just your specific, given powers. You can gain powers from those you help, in the form of these cards here."

I took the cards gently, examining first the back of them. The crest was one I'd seen before; a circle with a tower in the middle. On the left of the tower, a capital 'M'; the right, a capital 'K'. The flag of the tower spiraled around to create an ornate capital 'S', and several stars littered the rest of the space. Above the crest held the word 'Sorcerers' while below held 'of the Magic Kingdom'.

As I turned them over, Merlin continued, "Each card is good for one spell, but in order to use them the cards must be activated by the person that card represents."

I looked the cards over with a light frown, "But Merlin, I don't recognize any of these people."

"As you rightly shouldn't. You must travel to the other lands and seek them out. Once all five of your cards are activated, come back here and I'll give you more."

"But I thought I'm supposed to stay here in Main Street?"

"You can't rightly protect your territory until you have the abilities to do so, can you? Luckily for you, Main Street is the least populated with villains, so Mary Poppins and I can watch over it for you while you are gone." My gaze fell again to the cards of curious names. They all sounded like spells, but the artwork was…curious. I suddenly realized that at the back of the stack was a noticeably smaller card. This sixth card was golden in color, holding an intricate key with the Sorcerer's Crest as its handle. The back was blank—completely void of any color or design or anything. It was like it wasn't there at all. "What's this?"

"That is your Key Card. For now, it won't do anything, but if the time comes for you to enter a portal, that card will activate it."

"When will I enter a portal?"

"When the time comes. Now, off you go; don't forget to pick up a map on your way. They are quite useful things, you know!"

Well, if that wasn't a dismissal, I don't know what was. I almost doubted I was ready for it—maybe I ought to have stuck with Archamedes more? But if Merlin the Wizard thought I was ready to leave Main Street, then who was I to argue? So, snagging a park map from one of the entrance tunnels, I took one final stop home to find it void of my mentor. She had told me from the beginning that, should the wind change, she might not be there. There wasn't much synonymous to 'changing winds' than my finally seeing the rest of the park, but I wrote her a note regardless and headed on my way.

I stopped at the Central Hub and looked back. Main Street was just as tall and vibrant as always, almost encouragingly so. My gaze was drawn almost immediately to the statue in the center—the Partners Statue. Recreated in bronze were the two closest things Magic Kingdom has ever had to Kings—The Creator himself, pointing towards the horizon with all the confidance and happiness of a man who knows what he's doing in life. Holding his hand, a small, two-foot mouse in gloves, shorts, and shoes, looking up at The Creator with all the admiration a boy could have for his father. I wormed through the bustling crowd of guests closer, reading the inscription at the base of the statue. We believe in our idea: a family park where parents and children could have fun – together.

As I passed around the statue to the left, I couldn't help but wonder: was he happy with what his park had become?