Walt's Princess: Chapter Twenty

A ghost accompanied Retlaw for his master’s comfort after the scene between him and Mickey. Worrying so much about the little mouse’s health has brought him deeper in despair. The only bright side of it was that he finally got to show someone other than Yen Sid his true identity and it certainly made him felt slightly lighter. The ghost brought Retlaw back his mask and tied it around his head. Underneath the mask, as strange as it sounds, he smiled. But why, one could ask. He just sent away the most iconic character in the history of icons along with the friend who always stood by him whether or not he wore the mask. Something crazy was going on in his mind he almost laughed. He stood up and approached the mirror before him.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall.” Retlaw started, “Tell me what goes on in the Disney Worlds all in all.”

Clouds appeared inside the mirror and they swirled in a spiral until a series of images appeared. The first one showed a few of the Disney Princesses getting themselves and a room ready for the Princess Social this evening, another was showing a few animals in the African Savannah area running around and doing their natural moral, next some kids like Pinocchio and Lilo and Mogli and Christopher Robin were attending school, everything seemed to be in order for the most until another image came out. It was Rachel and Yen Sid coming out the basement in Yen Sid’s tower. From the mansion, he can hear their conversation.

*******************************************************************************************

“Hurry now. It is more effective to use a transportation spell upstairs where more magic is involved.” said Yen Sid.

“Do we really have to use that spell?” Rachel moaned, “I almost got sick on the way here.”

“What other options do we have other than walking?”

“I don’t- hey, what about that plane?”

Rachel pointed up towards the ceiling on the wall next to the floating spheres. An airplane that looked like an idea from Leonardo Da Vinci hung from the ceiling, otherwise known as the Flying Machine or the Da Vinci Flyer. It was old, but it was in fine form; just dusty.

“That old contraption? I have not inquired it for my services since my early years of being in America.”

“Does it work, though?” she asked.

“It does look in good shape,” Yen Sid answered, “but I don’t think it’s rather adequate nor it is safe to put it to use right now. Besides, it has a limited amount of distance when flying it. You’d have to stop every once in a while unless of course if there were patches of fire going on all at one time.”

“So, I take that as a ‘no,’ huh?”

“Precisely.”

Rachel sighed a groan and said, “Alright, we’ll use the transportation spell, but I’m closing my eyes at this.”

“That’s fine by me since you are only a passenger. When you are casting the spell yourself, you will have to take in the understanding in which where you would wish to travel to with your eyes opens all the time. But don’t fret, you will get used to it after a while.”

“Better be soon. It kind of would be better to use that than to pay a lot of money to get a license and buy a car.”

“Humorous.” Yen Sid chuckled, “Take my arm.”

Rachel held to Yen Sid’s arm and skipping out the extremeness of the trip they both arrived in front of the Gracey Mansion. It was just as Yen Sid left it, but the thorny vines kept getting even worse looking than before. They grew taller as they continued to reach the top of the house. The more it grew, the more ugly it became.

“Oh God, you weren’t kidding when you said something about Retlaw keeping himself locked up. I know you mentioned a seal around the mansion, but this?” said Rachel.

“Quite impressive I must say. It’s not often that Retlaw ever uses magic for his use. In fact, he hardly used magic for himself during the times he was alive.”

“He did mention last night that he was more of a ghost-spirit of some kind.” said Rachel.

“That’s not entirely true.” said Yen Sid, “Before he died, he had a real name. A name that was beloved by millions. When he first came to the Disney Worlds shortly after his death, he made me promise I would never tell anyone whom he really was. Today, Mickey finally came to realize who he is which explains the event of his unconsciousness earlier this morning. I have feeling in me that Retlaw may not contain this secret any longer.”

“He really needs us, doesn’t he?”

“Yes…yes, he does.”

“…Then I’m going in.”

“Just a moment, Rachel. We need to think this through on how to get you inside.”

“Yeah…maybe we can burn down the thorns.” Rachel suggested, “No wait, that could cause the house to go down with it. Then again, the exterior is made of stone, yet it’s possible that if the ashes would fly away it would hurt the living in nature and perhaps burn down the forest. Wait, I got it! Yen Sid, by any chance, do you know how to use fire magic?”

“Hardly at the very least. Why?”

“In the movie, Michael Evers used his car to break through the glass into the greenroom and that one of the ghosts broke out of the mansion with the carriage pulled by skeleton horses. What if you were to burn a section of the thorns where the area of the house would mostly likely get broken, like the greenroom, while I use that empty carriage to break through and get inside.”

“Hmm…that could work.” Yen Sid stroked his beard, “But you’d have to put in a great deal of force to break into the mansion because unlike most breakable material, since the mansion is a cursed building, it can reconstruct itself back into place as if nothing ever happened to it. In addition, suppose you do get inside, those breakable materials could fall on you wounding you with bruises, cuts, and scars. You’re still pretty hurt from the crash in the dining room and facing against that creature from the Black Wall.”

Rachel sighed at his words and said, “If that’s the case, even if I was badly hurt, I’ll do whatever it takes to get in there with self sacrifice. Sid, I know I said that I don’t want any secrets to keep going, but would you mind not telling anyone about this? Especially Terrance. I don’t want him to get worked up like this morning.”

“Everyone except Terrance. Not on him, not on my son.”

Rachel smiled and said, “Awww…you really do feel like he’s your flesh and blood, don’t you?”

“Like everyone else here in the Disney Worlds, he’s one of my family.”

“Out of all the words you’ve spoken to me, that’s got to be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard from you.”

“I try. So, are you ready to do this?”

“Somewhat, but I’ll do it anyway.”

*******************************************************************************************

“This ought to be interesting.” said Retlaw still standing in front of his magic mirror ready to see what’s about to happen.

“Master,” said a ghost who stood behind him, “should you ask of us to raise our defenses if they get inside?”

“No, let them try. If either one of them gets in and finds me down here, I’d want only Rachel to be that one, but don’t let Yen Sid in…not yet.”

“As you wish, sir.” The ghost said leaving Retlaw where he stands.

“Alright, Rach. Show me what you got here.”

*******************************************************************************************

“Is the carriage ready?” Yen Sid called.

“Ready!” Rachel called back, “Just a little magical force to get this baby going and we’re in! You may fire when ready.”

Yen Sid took a few steps back from the thorns that blocked the mansion. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. The heat from the Sun beamed onto his head and throughout the rest of this body. With enough to feel the heat, he thrust his arms out and began shooting fire out the thorns. It spread all over the house up until it let an opening spot for Rachel to break through.

Rachel gripped onto the handlebars on top of the carriage that sat on a pretty steep hill beside the mansion and push her legs against a tree for boost. The carriage started moving and it went faster and faster and faster down the hill until she climbed down into the carriage’s interior and crashed through the greenroom! Glass shattered from above and clashed onto the ground behind the carriage with Rachel inside it. Smoke from the stone brick wall filled the air, but overall no one was hurt. So much for getting more bruises, cuts, and scars.

“Rachel! Are you alright?” Yen Sid shouted out.

“Y-Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine!” said Rachel, “You’d better get in here before the stones and the glass come back together.”

But it was too late. By the time Rachel broke into the mansion it already started reconstructing itself back to the way they were. Yen Sid ran to Rachel who was now separated from him by a glass wall and tried to get in himself, but it was no use. Rachel was trapped inside.

“Sid, I don’t think it’s going to work.” said Rachel.

“That’s alright. I’ll find another way in.” said Yen Sid, “But in the meantime, I must tell you Retlaw could be located.”

“Can’t you use the transportation spell again to get in?”

“Alas, no. This transportation I’ve been using thus far can only be cast only once in a while. At the very least fifteen minutes. Plus surprisingly, Retlaw’s magic is slightly more powerful than mine. Not even my magic can get rid of the seal alone. But that’s not important right now. You have to find Retlaw now!”

“Okay, where do I find him?”

“He’s in the mirror room far below the mansion. Head to the main lobby and go through the hallway between the staircases until you reach the farthest door at the end. Next to that door there’s a lever behind a painting. If you go through that door before pulling the lever, you’d only heading into the boiler room, but if you pull the lever the door will open into another staircase that leads to an elevator. Take the elevator to the bottom floor and go to the farthest door into the mirror room. Have you got all that?”

“I think so.”

“Good. You have better get going now. But be warned, Retlaw may not be in the best mood for visitors. Don’t be surprise if he isn’t. And as I explained before, there will come a number of ghosts who will do anything to you under Retlaw’s orders. Be vigilant.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be careful.”

“Very good. Now go! I will meet you inside.”

Rachel nodded and sprinted off away from the glass window and Yen Sid in pursuit to get to the main lobby inside the building. Around her were very large and exotic plants mounted on shelves and counters and even on top of each other. It was like a jungle in there! But just a few feet away there was a door that would out of the greenroom. She went after it, but then out of nowhere a ghost appeared in front of her.

The ghost was in the image of a woman. She wore a maid’s outfit, black dress with a white apron, black high heels, and a white cap. The expression she had on her face was not very pleasant or very welcoming. She stared at her coldly with a feather duster and a towel in hand. Rachel tried to stand aside to get by, but the ghost maid would not let her pass. With the feather duster, the ghost maid waved it at the girl as dust flew everywhere into a cloud. Some of the dust got into Rachel’s eyes and then the ghost maid wrung up the towel, tied it around Rachel’s neck, and she started choking her. The choke was unlike any choke Rachel had ever experienced and had wished she never did. Rachel grabbed the towel and pulled away from her neck. She twirled around and attempted to whack the ghost maid with the towel, but the ghost could not be touched. Rachel threw the towel at the maid’s face and then rushed into the door to the building. By the time the ghost maid was able to take off the towel, Rachel had already gone inside the lobby and locked the door shut. There was only one thing that she forgot was ghost and walk through walls! The ghost maid jumped through the door to grab the girl, but she missed. Then Rachel kicked a leg from one of the staircases. When it broke off, she picked it up, placed her palm onto the top of it and conjured fire to make a torch. Rachel held the torch firm and waved it against the ghost maid. The ghost flinched and moved back a bit. It seemed to get nervous over the fire considering fire can bring light. Ghosts don’t often like lighting especially those of the living who carry them around. Rachel charged at the ghost maid pointing the torch up front. It almost touched the ghost, but it didn’t and the ghost fled.

Making sure the fire would keep going, Rachel continued on in the lobby to the middle hall whose arch stood between the two staircases. Fighting a maid was only the beginning of her battle in the haunted mansion.

*******************************************************************************************

His sweet dream had to end at one point or another, but Terrance didn’t want to let it go. How could he let it go? Waking up would mean he would have to let go of all the sweet romantic images he has of his Angel of Magic. The way Rachel would circle and twirl, the way she’d smile, how shy she would be while in blush. The more napped, the harder his heart would beat for her. Pounding and pounding and pounding harder and harder and harder…he just got to have her! Before he was about to get out of control, he woke up. Wishing that Rachel would be here right now…well, he wants her to be here right now!

“Where are you, my Rachel?” Terrance cried in his mind, “I need you!”

The love he has for her was becoming more overbearing by the minute. He jumped out of bed and walked up to his desk. The beloved real rose he crafted up for her was looking even lovelier the more he takes his eyes off and looks at it again. He began to remember the spell he cast onto Rachel so long ago about being able to find her no matter she would go. With the psychic power he has, he can put to spell to work.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Terrance tries to imagine Rachel once more. Once he’s able to picture his dream girl, he can go find her. But the key to find the person he’d want to look for, he has to know the area well and focus on the nature in his surroundings whether he would be in a castle, a city, a forest or anywhere else in the world even if that world had to revolve in Disney. He took some deep breaths, he thought back to all the lessons of meditating his master had taught him, and in no time at all he began to feel the vibrations of Rachel’s footsteps from afar. But something about those footsteps didn’t quite feel right.

In his mind, after trailing the location of his beloved, the footsteps Rachel was taking weren’t feeling like she was walking. In fact, they felt like quick frantic running and shuffling turns in different directions. There was a reason why, though. The location he found her in was in the Gracey Manor where she was fighting ghosts! But why is she doing that? More importantly, why would she go back to the mansion after what happened to Mickey?

Suddenly, his mind snapped: Mickey! He had forgotten all about Mickey after all spending all the minutes thinking about Rachel. He grabbed his jacket robe, his cape, and a magic that’s he’s storing in case of an emergency and ran off to the room and up stairs where Minnie and Donald were looking after Mickey. How long had he been asleep, he wondered. Probably for as long as Mickey had been awake. When he got there, he only found Donald in the room. Minnie was gone.

“Donald, where’s Mickey?” asked Terrance.

“He already left about fifteen minutes ago.” Donald answered, “Why?”

“I told you and Minnie to give me update if anything happened to Mickey. Where did he go?”

“Sorry Terrance, but he told us not to tell anyone where he went. So I can’t tell you.”

“Wait, you can tell me?”

“No, I can-not?”

“What do tying knots have to do with this?”

“No! I mean I am not aloud to tell you where Mickey went.”

“Donald, you’re not being loud. Just tell me!”

“No!” Donald quacked aloud, “Mickey says I shouldn’t tell you anything particular of where he went!”

“Donald, I can’t understand a word you are saying.”

Donald slapped himself on his face. He grabbed Terrance’s cheeks and spoke slowly while looking right at his eyes and said, “I…can…not…tell you…where Mickey is.”

“Oh-. Well, why didn’t you say so?”

“I did say so! Doggone it! Quack, quack, quack…”

“Why did Mickey tell you to not tell anyone where he is?”

“Sorry. I’m not speaking.”

“You’re just stubborn because you hate being in second.”

“What? That’s ridiculous! You’re right; I hate being in second, but Mickey’s one of my best friends. And whatever stuff he tells me not to tell, I don’t tell. Especially you. Why should I tell you anyway?”

“Because Mickey’s life in there could also costs Princess Rachel’s life if it had anything to do with it. Please, for her sake, just tell me!”

“I’m really sorry, Terrance. I really do care about the girl’s safety, but I can’t back down on Mickey’s promise.”

“…Donald, do you like watching cooking shows?” Terrance asked.

“Yeah, I love cooking channels!” answered Donald, “Why?”

“Really. Then would you mind telling me what happens when a certain duck gets his goose cooked?” Terrance said towering over the poor duck while holding up his wand that conjured a tiny fire on the tip.

“Mickey went to the Gracey Manor to see if whatever he saw about Retlaw is true or not.” Donald said quickly in fright, “Please, don’t eat me!”

“Thanks a lot. I’ll be going now.”

“Huff…huff…you-you really like her, don’t you?”

Looking back, Terrance said, “I’m just doing my job in protecting her and my family. Nothing else.”

Terrance left Donald behind and trotted off downstairs on the way to the stable for a horse. Knowing where Rachel and Mickey have gone off too made things a little easier for him to get some things done his way. And his way is to keep the peace in order for both Rachel and the Disney Worlds.

*******************************************************************************************

Mickey huffed and puffed his way through the forest to the mansion. Since the incident of his falling in the mansion earlier today, he became very determined enough to find out the truth of who Retlaw really is once in for all! At that time, he couldn’t believe whom it was he saw behind that mask. He couldn’t believe to be true, not yet.

The mansion came right in front of him from a distance just as he was out of breath. Mickey was surprised to see what was going on over there. Vines of thorns covered the mansion and they were attacking someone. Even with an ache on the side of his waist he could not help but run again towards the fight. Finally arriving at the scene, Mickey was able to see clearly who the person the thorns were attacking. He ran up to that person to join his side.

“Yen Sid!” Mickey shouted.

Yen Sid turned around and spoke, “Mickey! I’m glad to see you’re awake and well. Are you feeling alright?”

“That depends if I’ll get hurt by fighting this thing on the way in.”

“Retlaw cast a seal on the house right after you fainted. I’ve been fighting this seal for about almost a half hour now and so far nothing.” Yen Sid shot a line of fire at the thorns when he finished his sentence. “Here, take this!” Yen Sid threw his hat to Mickey in hopes it would come in handy for Mickey.

Then Mickey formed a small fireball and shot it towards the thorns. He said, “So it was easy enough to put up a seal so people wouldn’t be able to get in but it was hard for him to tell everyone in the Disney Worlds who he really was? I’d be surprised to hear if anyone came to know about that before I did.”

Mickey glanced at Yen Sid not responding or even looking at him after the remark he made. He was too busy facing those thorns than to talk to his own former apprentice. That was when it hit him.

“You knew who Retlaw was all this time, haven’t you?” Mickey asked.

“Yes.” Yen Sid sighed, “Yes, I knew who Retlaw was and so will Rachel.”

“What?”

“Rachel wanted to talk to him and we were able to get her through the thorns and into the mansion. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ghosts are trying to keep her away from the mirror room.”

“He’s still in there after all that’s happened today?”

“Apparently. Perhaps he already knew we would be coming.”

“If he knew we were coming, then he must have known that Rachel to talk with him through the magic mirror!”

“If that is the case, then they wouldn’t go through so much trouble to block Rachel out. They’re probably not eve trying to fight back.”

“Then what do we do? Do we wait here and just let her go?”

“I wouldn’t count on it. Just because Retlaw wants Rachel to fight this senseless battle to get to him does not give us the intention that Rachel would not need help getting her there. I’m sure you are here to learn about this yourself, aren’t you?”

“If I am, then it’s not just so I can get the record straight entirely. You should know why I’m here.”

“Yes, I know very well that you do.”

“I just can’t believe that this is happening. After all the times I’ve needed him…you know?”

Yen Sid knelt down to Mickey’s height and gave Mickey a pat on the shoulder. He said, “I still can’t believe this myself.”

“So how are we going to get in there?” Mickey asked.

“I’m not really sure. Like every other plant, it needs light, soil, and water and so far fire is doing very little for a group of people to get in. But perhaps…”

“Perhaps what?”

“Mickey, do you remember when you put in to much water on one of my pots of herbs that were growing?”

“Please don’t get me started on that, Yen Sid. You know it was an accident. How was I supposed to know that adding too much water would kill- …ooooh-. I gotcha. You saying that we use more than enough water on the thorns-”

“Then the thorns will wilt and die and the seal will be broken!”

“This is why I could never find another good master for a teacher.”

“You didn’t even have a choice back then.” Yen Sid laughed.

“That was only part of the act for the movie. But where are we going to get so much water?”

“If you’ll return the hat to me, I will show you.”

“You won’t scowl at me, won’t you?”

“Not when I let you borrow it just now. You might want to stand back, though.”

*******************************************************************************************

Terrance finally arrived at the backside of the mansion with his horse. Vines of thorns were spread everywhere on the walls of the house. He wondered why there was a reason Retlaw or someone would cast shield-like spell to protect the house. Whatever the case it was for him, Rachel was inside and he was not going to stand aside and wait until the last minute to go find her. The question was ‘how was he going to get inside?’ But then he remembered the way he got into the mansion last night. Getting off his horse, he found an old canon sitting beside a boulder and a very thick plank of wood and started thinking of a way to get up on the roof without handling the thorn seal. His thoughts sparked with confidence that the plan he had in mind would work. Measuring and calculating the angle from where he stood to the top of the roof, he planted a catapult using the wood plank to throw him and the canon for the weight. Terrance stood on one end of the plank and with telekinesis he lifted the canon on top of the other end. He dropped the canon and with great force, the canon hit the plank’s end and shot Terrance clear into the air and he landed onto the roof.

The only problem was that unlike how he got into the mansion last time through the same entrance, the thorns have sensed the vibrations from Terrance’s landing and they grew even higher towards the roof to grab him! Terrance was cornered, but he was able to think things through quickly. Terrance, being careful with his footwork, ran behind the tiny tower making sure the vine-like thorns would do what he planned in mind yet wouldn’t catch him. The thorn vines wrapped around the small tower, pulled it right off the roof and threw it behind them. Given the chance to escape the thorns, Terrance jumped into the whole and began falling down the same pathway he came in before. And just like last time, he was safe from the thorny vines.

*******************************************************************************************

Without knowing how to return the remark, Mickey returned the hat back to Yen Sid. Once it was back on his head, Yen Sid spread out his arms and began to thrust water out of the living of the grass and trees from around the mansion and started flooding the surrounding area of the property. From the water that filled up the thorns were reenergized…or perhaps a bit too reenergized. Just as the mouse and the sorcerer predicted, the thorns were beginning to wilt from the over excessive pond. They began to turn into a brownish-gray, each branch of the vines fell, and the seal was broken. The two of them both ran to the front door and went inside. At this time, everyone was in!