Walt's Princess: Chapter Twenty Eight

A bag pulled up from over Diane Miller’s body sitting on a four legged chair all tied up. The room was pitch dark black all over with the exception of a spotlight shining over her. She struggled to at least get her hands free, but it was no use. Her car keys, her cell phone, and her wallet were taken away while she was unconscious. There were guards on both sides making sure she wouldn’t do anything reckless. Trying not to breathe aloud so fast, she was frightened like a little girl. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing she could do.

Abruptly, a row of lights made a pathway towards the door. Olin came inside and walked down that path to Diane and his henchmen. His hands were behind his back, his eyes shot a cold stare at the elderly woman, the footsteps he made echoed through the large dark empty room, and his frown was enough to curdle dairy. As he stopped in front of Diane, Diane gave herself the courage to speak.

“Where are we?” Diane asked, “How long have I’ve been out?”

Olin stared at her more coldly and answered, “About twelve and a half hours.” Then he ordered one of the guards, “Go turn on all the lights.”

The henchman went up to a light switch and turned it on. Suddenly, fire burst out from underneath causing Diane to make a short scream. The fires lit up the entire room showing some things that looked like it could be from the super natural. She spotted a large head with two different looking eyes; one of them was made with stone while the other eye was a hole filled with fire. Its face had jagged rocks for teeth and only both halves were both neat and ugly. Diane shot glances all over the area, frightened, almost about to have a heart attack. From where they were standing, the flooring felt like they were on some sort of wood…like a bridge. She looked down and noticed there was more fire along with some steel trail tracks and over her and everywhere an else cobweb and dead vines would hang from the ceiling. The henchmen that were beside her just stood there like nothing was happening while Olin continued towering over her like he was the devil, which in everyone’s case, he is.

“Recognize the place?” Olin asked.

“The…In-Indiana Jones: Temple of D-Doom ride.” Diane stuttered. “What do you want from me?”

“I want to know where it is. And you’re going to tell me straight. Where are the Disney Worlds?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! The only Disney world I know of is Walt Disney World. Nothing else.”

“Where is it?” Olin shouted, “Don’t lie to me!”

“I’m not lying! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You know what I’m talking about! You know what your father told you. Answer me!”

“My father never told me anything about you’re talking about. And even if he did, why is this so important to you?”

Olin watched her and blinked only once. He turned his head away to think. Silence filled the attraction. When an idea snapped his mind, he turned back to Diane, guarded by the henchmen, smiled evilly and broke the silence.

“Your father Walt, when he was still alive,” Olin began, “he used to bring you and your sister Sharon to his studio on Sundays, right?”

“Yes, yes he did just that.” said Diane.

“Did he show anything or at the most everything in that studio?”

“We…used to follow him around wherever he went, but I don’t remember exactly what routes we took or what rooms we went into. Look, can you please tell me what’s going on now?”

“You really don’t remember, don’t you?” Olin scoffed getting a head shaking ‘no’ for an answer. “I don’t believe that. I’m not dumb. But since I feel like I’ve got some things I need to get out of my chest a little, I’ll remind you. You might as well get comfortable in that chair, though. We wouldn’t want to bridge to collapse and drop you into that fiery pit.”

Diane looked down from the bridge and watched fire spewing out of the pits. It all seemed so real, almost a little too real. She quivered with fear and shot her head straight back up hoping that would be the last time she’d ever see that. Olin sneered a little at the expression on the poor woman’s face. He can’t he could blame her. For one thing, he wanted her to. And secondly, plenty of people would be scared stiff if it were to happen to them. Thankfully, this scene was definitely not like how something would happen in the Indiana Jones movies.

“To begin with, you know your dad blocked you and your sister away from the press growing up. And I’ll tell’ya, the Lindbergh kidnapping that time, personally I wish I’d seen it myself.” Olin stared into Diane’s deeply maddened eyes. This topic was definitely not something worth laughing at. “And during then, while he and your mother were out during some special events, your father had someone other than your relatives watch over you and Mickey Mouse. Do you remember who it was?”

“…Thelma Pearl, our former housekeeper.” Diane guessed.

“Try again.”

“The housekeeper before her?”

“Nope. I’ll give you a hint: neither of your housekeepers were present sometimes.”

“Uh…a-actually, there was someone else with us. It was a man; he was one of dad’s dearest friends. I remember one time while they were gone for an event, maybe a film premiere or an Oscar Award, that man would watch us while Sharon and I would play with Mickey.” Diane almost made a chuckle at that point; those were some good days to remember. “He was always fun, very kind and wise to us. I forgot his name.”

“Sidney Halric, by chance?”

“…Yes. Yes, that was him!” Diane perked up, “But how do you-”

“Know him?” Olin finished her sentence, “He’s my little brother. Of course he would never tell you about me.”

“I don’t think he did. I don’t even remember asking him. But why involve him into this?”

Finished listening to her question, Olin reached into his coat pocket and pulled out two photos. One of them was a picture of his brother, Yen Sid, while the other one was a much older photo of a young man in his thirties. He looked at Diane with his head down and his eyes looking up. Hiding an evil grin with those cold eyes he walked to Diane and made an order to his henchmen. Those eyes were cold to the bone to look at even when they’re standing in a hot mess of old vines, bridges, and fire.

“Let go of her arms, but keep her legs contained.” said Olin.

The henchmen untied the ropes that bind Diane’s hands and arms together. As Diane rubbed her wrists after having them get scratched and a big rash, Olin held the old photo of the man in his thirties in front of her.

“Is this the man you remember?” Olin asked. “Is this the Sidney Halric you remember?”

Diane leaned forward and squinted at the looks of the young man. He did look familiar to her. It was something about his eyes, the nose that stood out, and the expression his mouth made him look like he was somewhat frowning.

“Yes, yes that’s him.” said Diane.

Olin then showed her the other picture of Yen Sid today and asked, “Now who is this?”

“That’s the sorcerer from both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. What was his name again?”

“Yen Sid.”

“Right. But what does he have to do with this man, Sidney?”

“It’s no secret his animators made Yen Sid when they thought of your father.” he said. Olin handed Diane the photos and some markers of blue, silver and black. “I want you to copy the features of Yen Sid onto Sidney: the beard, the wrinkles, everything you see in him that Sidney doesn’t have. Take your time.”

“But I’m no artist.” said Diane, “I’m not very good.” But she was convinced enough to do it when Olin gave her the serious look. At the moment he was sounding a little nice, but as far as Olin’s concerned, he is still cold hearted to the core.

Diane pulled off the cap of the blue marker and drew the blue hat and robes onto Sidney. Then she used the silver marker on his beard and the hair at the back of his hair. And finally, she took the fine tip black marker and traced the wrinkles of Yen Sid’s emotion onto the old photo. Finished with her work, she couldn’t believe what she saw. The pictures of the two individuals in the photos made a striking resemblance! Now Sidney looks exactly like Yen Sid. But how?

“W-What’s the meaning of this?” Diane shivered.

“Is it not obvious, Diane?” Olin spoke, “The sorcerer, Yen Sid is Sidney Halric and Sidney Halric is Yen Sid. Your father met my brother after I he arrived in America for work. Walt knew in Sidney that he was a sorcerer and he promised to keep it between him until his death. But at this time, Yen Sid cannot die for a reason. Do you know why?” Olin asked, receiving a head shaking ‘no’, “Because your father made Sidney act out the role of the sorcerer in the original Fantasia, Sidney was forced to live his days in immortality under his Walt’s name. Now he’s living in hiding within the Disney Worlds and the parks from this world doing what he does best renamed as Yen Sid.”

“Then what do you have against him?” Diane asked in a low tone.

“From his birth, he was given all the love and respect I wished I’ve had from my family and friends. He even took the woman I loved without even consulting me first.”

“So you’re just jealous of everything Yen Sid had and you still can’t get over it?”

“Technically so, but that’s not entirely the only reason I’m this way anymore. My deal with Yen Sid is old news and I’ve learned to live with it enough a little. Now my biggest grudge falls onto a young girl.”

“Who?”

“I’ll tell you after you tell me where the Disney Worlds are.”

“I told you, I don’t know!” she cried, “So help me, sir, I don’t know anything about this! Who is this girl? I want to know now!”

“You best better tell me now or I’ll throw you into that fire pit of death!” Olin growled.

“Go ahead then. What good will it do for you if you throw me overboard? I’d give anything to keep my father’s name alive and going.”

“…I believe you shouldn’t throw her off the bridge, sir” said the first henchman.

“Who asked you to give me decisions?” Olin shouted.

The first henchman walked to Olin and turned their backs on Diane and the second henchman. “Hear me out.” he whispered, “Diane’s right. If we throw her off the bridge into that fire right now, we’d only be going back to the start all over again from scratch. Perhaps, if we keep her longer, maybe she could remember some things and we can try to force them out of her.”

“But even if she does know, she won’t budge.” Olin whispered back, “She’s definitely got that Disney arrogance in her.”

“She’ll budge. I’ve got ways to make her talk.” The henchman pulled out a pocket watch from his pants pocket and swung it side to side.

“That never works. I know that even if I’m not a sorcerer like my brother, hypnotism always fails.”

“Only in a way most people know of, but I know the secret. Let me try it on her when she remembers and we’ll get everything we need.”

Olin looked back at Diane and then to the henchman next to him. It’s a stupid idea, he thought, but what else have they got other than the only living Disney family member in the bloodline.

The old man sighed and said, “We are not doing your hypnotizing trick. Take it from me.” Turning back to Diane he continued, “However, we do plan to keep you with us for a while until we get what we want. I must warn you: don’t even dare try to call for help. I have the rest of my men watching your family and your closest friends. One little peep that they hear from you, they’re dead. Now we wouldn’t want to see that happen, don’t we?”

Angered at the threat of murdering her family, she kept her head down trying to hold back tears. Her family with her husband, her children and her grandchildren were all she has left since her father, mother, and sister’s death. Seeing them meet their demise would only bring much sorrow and torment to her world. After thinking about it, all she did now was shake her head ‘no’ in agreement.

“Bind her.” Olin commanded. The henchmen took the rope and tied them to Diane’s wrist again. In a dark, devilish tone, he continued to Diane, “You might as well think over your thoughts and tell me tomorrow about what more you know about the Disney Worlds, Mrs. Miller because this time, daddy isn’t here to save you. No magic in this world or any world can set you free from me. If you wish to see your family once more and forever until death to see the light of day again, you do what I say when I say without backing down. That’s an order. You got that?”

Reluctantly, Diane answered, “Yes.”

“Let’s get out of here for now. The lady needs her beauty rest if she’s going to follow orders from me tomorrow.”

The henchmen lifted Diane off the chair and pushed her to walk. Olin, following behind them, turned back to the fiery pit and at the eyes of Mara, the demon of death in the temple. He sneered and scoffed to the stone carving of Mara, “You think this is worst thing that can happen in Hell? I’m much worse than this.”

Olin turned away from the demon carved in stone and caught up with the Diane and the henchmen. He may not have gotten what he wanted tonight, but he feels close to getting it…to get the young woman he mentioned to Diane.

That girl.

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It started to rain outside late that night. The winds were blowing hard, the clouds were as black ebony, the rain almost flooded the dirt roads, and streaks of lightning sparked sky high. More lightning struck as Walt Disney shot upward from his pillows and let out loud breaths out of his fright. He must’ve had a nightmare, dreaming the worst of what’s to happen of a certain person he knows. Rachel? Mickey? Himself? Somebody, at least. Whoever it is, that person was facing a terrible problem right now. Walt’s stomach starting growling the more he thought about it. His hands and arms shook tremendously and grew goose bumps. The hairs in the back of his neck tingled and tickled him in a complete nerve racking way. But then he started to calm down a bit. Walt fell back his head slamming it onto his pillow with his hands covering his face. Within a few minutes, he fell back to sleep. This was going to be a long night if he continues thinking about this. And if one were to see it in his perspective, they wouldn’t want to anymore.

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At last, the rainstorm stopped and the sun rose up in the sky, streaking its light into Rachel’s bedroom balcony windowed door. Her hair was silky, brown and long along with her nightdress. Beside her, Terrance slept soundly as if he was dead. A sunray hit Rachel’s eye from a distance. Slowly, she opened that eye finding in front of her was the love of her life. She smiled and felt his cheek softly, embracing the thoughts of their happiness but trying not to wake him up at the same time. She thought she was dreaming of all this, but after seeing who was beside her with only one of her eyes, she wasn’t.

Lifting herself up into a plank position, she leaned over to Terrance and kissed him gently on his forehead, his cheeks and his lips. She fondled his hair admiring its color. Along with that, her left foot climbed Terrance’s leg trying to bring his lower half closer to her while she moved closer to his upper half. Again, she kissed her beloved softly yet passionately on his lips. With Terrance’s eyes still closed, he pictured Rachel in front of her kissing him like Rachel is doing for real. He was able to feel being pulled in by her like she was guiding him to Heaven. Guided to be with his Angel of Magic. His love, his future bride. He wrapped his arm around the girl’s waist without letting his hand grasp due to tiresomeness and let out a breath through his nose.

“Terry…” Rachel whispered, “Hey Terrance. Wake up, my love.”

But Terrance wouldn’t wake up. He was still too sound asleep after all that’s happened yesterday. So Rachel decided to let him be with another kiss on his forehead. All night, her heart leaped with joy! In all her years, she dreamed of finding someone who would love her for everything she is. Sleeping in her bed was the man for her. Her Terrance.

She covered Terrance up to his shoulder length with the blanket from the bed and blew one more kiss for him. The morning sunray continued to shine on the princess and warm her skin. Rachel walked out to the balcony to greet the new morning.

It looked beautiful today in the Disney Worlds. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the green grass was glowing and reflecting the sunlight, white doves flew over the fields, and church bells from different towns nearby could be heard from the tower. Rachel took a deep breath through her nose allowing the freshness of the world to embrace her. Then she noticed some water drops dropping from the top of the door behind her and from the railing in front of her.

“Oh, I guess we had rain last night.” she said, “I didn’t even notice.”

There was clock tower close by. It stroke ten minutes after eight, a reasonable time to wake up to start the day. The girl peered out to her kingdom also ruled by her hero. She began to wonder what the rest of her life would be like ruling side by side with Walt. One could question ‘how many people in the world would ever get this sort of chance of a lifetime?’ Not many, to answer that.

She looked down below her where she suddenly spotted a small black dot. Leaning over the railing a little, she could see that it was not just any black dot, it was Mickey Mouse lying there on the ground motionless! Quickly, Rachel quickly changed her nightdress into a t-shirt, Capri shorts and tennis shoes and then she cut her brown hair a little further below her shoulders. At first she was going to throw it away, but when she took a glance at Terrance and then back to her hair, she smiled at an idea in mind.

Pulling out a pencil and a sheet of paper from her backpack, Rachel quickly wrote,

‘My sweet love,

Last night  you have made my life so worth living for. I wish it had lasted longer. More than anything, I can never imagine comparing last night to any day I’ve lived. The moment I opened your gift and figuring out the truth about your love for me, I was thrilled beyond words. From the day you brought me into this world, not only have I’ve experienced so much magic going on, but you were the one to guide me through them and I no longer feel so alone. And then at the very end of everyday I end up receiving all the wonderful dreams you have given me. Right now, I want you to know that you have gotten your wish: last night, you, as my prince-to-be, commanded me for me and my love in return for all the unimaginable love and happiness you could bare me. I will give you more and better.

While you were asleep last night, my mistress, the Moon, came to me last night and told about the golden tear and the whole Sun spirit thing. As obvious that even a five-year-old can understand, Sun and Moon balance the world otherwise chaos would triumph. Because of the golden tear, you are Sun, while at birth I am Moon. What I’m meaning to say is since we are in love and we want to be together forever (proven by your longing for me in tears), as Moon I want you to rule with me by my side as my prince, soon-to-be-king, of the Sun not only because I’ve desperately fallen for you, but also to provide you some kindness in return. Did I mention I did this because I love you? ^^  I know and feel for sure that with you beside me, this magical kingdom will be at its most peaceful. Take you time to think about it.

For now, by the time you wake up, I won’t be here. Something came up, but I’ll be sure to return to you as soon as I can. You can tell by how my handwriting looks. I had to do this in a hurry. I hope you have a pleasant morning and I will see you soon. Call me if you need anything.

All my love to you,

Rachel.’


As fast as Rachel was able to complete the letter, she was fast enough to double-check outside to see if Mickey was still down below, which he was still down there unconscious and find an envelope to put the letter in. But then Rachel spotted a small bottle with a well-jeweled swan filled with a light purple-blue perfume liquid inside. She took a whiff at the scent; it smelled like dendrobium orchids. Perhaps this particular flower was tie-dyed in both purple and blue. The smell was delightful. She lightly sprayed the letter with the perfume, carefully stuffed it into the envelope and then placed it next Terrance on the bed. Hopefully, he will get the letter when he wakes up.

The princess rushed to her bedroom and pressed the button for the elevator to come up. It should have been up there by now. What was taking so long, she thought. Rachel didn’t have all day to wait for a large elevator to come up for her to make her rescue. But then she had an idea. She spotted the flying sash she drew a while back. She took the sash now wrapped around her waist and decided to do the most insane thing she’s done so far: she ran out to the balcony and jumped off the railing!

The run before the jump gave her a few butterflies in her stomach at first, but when after she took the jump a great thrill engulfed her! Falling and diving the princess went going downward. Her hair blew upward from the falling wind, her brown eyes squinted and became teary, her clothes waved like flags, and she even made sure not to show her teeth as much in case if she would come across bugs. As soon as she was close enough to nearly hit one of the roofs of the castle, she lifted herself while in midair and then glided safely the rest of the way down to Mickey.

Touching the ground again, Rachel ran up to Mickey, the unconscious mouse. Mickey was face down with his face covered in dirt. The princess tried shaking him.

“Mickey! Mickey, get up!” Rachel shouted in a calm tone.

Mickey grunted a little and slightly opened his eyes. As he was getting up, he moaned and clutched his stomach. At least he was able to stand on his own two feet.

“You okay, Mickey?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” said Mickey Mouse.

“What happened?”

“Well, I was on my way to see if you were alright and arrived safely back in your bedroom late last night when I accidentally caught myself in a collision course.”

“What’d you do?”

“Hmm…well, I think I might have saw you and Terrance in the sky on the way up to the tower when I put my foot down on the metal part of that hoeing tool, the stick hit my noggin so I backed up and I bumped into that pile of rope. The rope untied itself pulling that bucket up and ringing that bell. Then the bell shoved that bucket again that was already filled with water and it spilt the water in that pipe. It got out of that pipe within seconds, eroding that old stone into making that large pole to fall towards me and hit my head silly.”

“This place has everything!” Rachel laughed.

“So, I guess you’re alright now since you got back to your room safely.” said Mickey, “By the way, wasn’t Terrance with you last night?”

“Yes, he was. He’s still upstairs in my bedroom sleeping. I can’t say I blame him; it was a pretty big day yesterday.”

“Gosh, especially since we found out more about…you know, him.”

“Speaking of him, I wonder if he’s awake by now.”

“If he was, what would you do?”

“Nothing, I’d just go and say ‘hi’ and talk about some things. Things a fanatic of him would ask about.” she winked.

“Ha ha. Say, wait a minute. What time is it anyway?”

“It’s almost about eight-thirty.”

“O-Oh my gosh! I’ve got to go get ready to greet the guests at the park!” Mickey took off with a sprint.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Rachel called out, “You should get an ice pack for that bump on your head!”

“I’ll be fine!” Mickey called back, “I’m used to stuff like this. I’ve had eighty-five years of experience, haven’t I? Goodbye!”

Mickey continued on away from Rachel while Rachel just stood there watching him go. She thought that maybe Walt might be awake or not. If he was, then what could hurt going to visit, say ‘hi’ and talk about stuff? Thinking of Terrance, she looked back up in the closet. She wasn’t specific in the note of where she was going, but since she was in a hurry to check in Mickey, what time did she have?

Seeing how brought it was outside, Rachel figured it could be enough to wake up most of the Disney World kingdom. So Rachel trailed off into the forest on the way to the Gracey Manor. She recognized what she saw on the way since Terrance brought her to that haunted mansion and back to the castle on that road. The atmosphere was phenomenally clean and crisp since the rainstorm last night. Birds were chirping, butterflies fluttered, little woodland creatures scurried across the dirt road and climbed up the trees, and occasionally she’d see a small pond filled with tiny frogs and fish.

It was nice for Rachel to take a walk in a nice quiet place. She’d get the exercise plus a chance to clear her mind of some things. However, the only thing that couldn’t leave her mind was Olin and Diane Miller, Walt’s daughter. Rachel remembered that was supposed to be a topic she has to talk to Walt about. Just thinking of the worried and sad and angry expression he’ll get on his face once he hears the news only made Rachel feel worse. Most people who’ve never met Walt Disney in person have often wondered what would be like to see Walt Disney either angry or gravelly upset. In a way, it would be thrilling, but at the same time it would be terrifying.

Rachel tried so hard not to think about it for bit, but it was no use. She would need a much bigger distraction to help her forget for a while. Suddenly, Rachel heard rustling in the bushes. She flinched a little and stood her ground for a brief moment. The sound was gone, so Rachel continued forward, but then the rustling came back again! Something of someone must be following her. But what is it? She heard some growling, the thing that was making the noise was going around quickly trying not to be seen, the creature stayed quiet behind one of the bushes and trees surrounding the girl, and then…

POUNCE!