Walt's Princess: Chapter Thirty Four

The throne room, by the time Terrance had arrived, had already been brimming with decorations from top to bottom. Banners and tapestries were hung up on the balconies, a red carpet was laid from the main door to the two thrones that stood at one end, benches and chairs were neatly sorted in four blocks of lines (two of them were angled towards the thrones while the other two were placed to look straight ahead), streamers were wrapped around the pillars, and small boxes filled with thousands of pieces of confetti were dangling on the ceiling, ready to drop and flutter down once Rachel receives the crown.

“I guess everything’s already altogether in here.” Terrance thought aloud, “I should check in the ballroom.”

The ballroom was in the room left from the throne room. Yen Sid had mentioned earlier that Mike Wazowski, José Carioca, Goofy, and Baloo were handling the party planning for the coronation there. So Terrance trotted over there anticipating that he didn’t miss much of the collaborations. Inside the ballroom, the room was cluttered with boxes of party props and tableware and there were tables that were scattered everywhere! In one of those tables sat of group of four characters talking and mumbling their disputes.

“No, no, no, no! That is not right!” Mike Wazowski hollered out loud, “The tapestry should stream around the Disney family portrait where the princess will be sitting at. We all agreed to this!”

“Sí señor Mike,” José Carioca agreed, “Mas não seria muito mais fácil se tivéssemos apenas pendurar o que, sob o retrato e pendure balões no lado em vez disso?”

“Whoa there, little birdie!” Baloo stopped José. “None of us here can understand a single word you’re saying!”

“Yeah!” Goofy exclaimed, “Uh…what did he say exactly?”

“He said ‘wouldn’t it be much easier to just hang the tapestry under the portrait and hang the balloons on the sides instead.'” Terrance specified.

“Ah Terrance!” José jumped out of his seat and cried in Portuguese, “Tão grande de você a visitar-nos! Como vai você? Or as you Americans say, ‘How are you doing?’”

“Nothing much.” said Terrance, “I just got back from the Black Forest through a sort of magic spell and thought I would drop by to see how everything is going.”

“It’s going to be great!” Goofy beamed, “I’m in charge of the food and table setting arrangements, a’hyuck! It reminds me so much of the days when the House of Mouse was opened.”

“I’m just here to deliver some necessities for the party.” Baloo joined in, “I’m about halfway done after bringing them to the throne room.”

“I’m handling the entertainment." said José, "I’ve gotten Firehouse Five + 2, the Alley Cats, some thugs from ‘the Snuggly Duckling’, the Three Caballeros, and the Seven Dwarfs for music.”

“You’d better make that six dwarfs.” Terrance corrected, “Grumpy is sick. He’s gotten allergies from Sneezy after smelling highly-pollinated flowers outside the cottage.”

“Oh no!” Mike moaned. “Then that leaves us with only four bands to play!” Looking down on his clipboard, Mike continued, “Well, at least we’ve gotten some dances, magicians, and acrobatics. José, did you get Timon and Pumbaa for their hula dance?”

“I tried,” said José, “but Timon told me that Pumbaa had been eating twice as many bugs as he usually eats at a local ‘All-you-can-eat-bug-buffet’ restaurant not far from the jungle.”

“Oh jeez. Then who’s going to fill in for them? They’re part of the finale!”

“I’ll perform something for the princess.” Terrance volunteered.

“You? What can you do?” Mike asked.

“Perform magic, a couple of acrobatics, maybe show a little fencing.”

“But uh, wouldn’t Princess Rachel get bored of you building fences?” Goofy misunderstood.

Terrance chuckled, “Not fences, ’fencing! Like sword fighting.”

“Oh! A’hyuck! That makes much better sense.”

“Hold on there, little britches!” Baloo interrupted. “Wouldn’t that be a little much for you to do?”

“Well, maybe not all of them at the same time.” Terrance replied, “But I would do anything to win more of the princess’ affection.”

“More of the princess’ affections?” José repeated in confusion, “You mean to tell us the princess has apaixonei por você?”

“And so.”

“So what?” Goofy asked.

“The princess has fallen in love with Terrance!” José translated.

“Well darn tootin’! Congratualtions! Now uh, when’s the wedding?”

“Whoa, easy bro! There’s no wedding going on.” Terrance blushed, “But…maybe someday there will be when the two us are a little older.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed Baloo, “Even a man cub’s gotta be grown up to be getting hitched.”

“Are we going to just sit here all day and talk about mushy stuff or are we going to get this all done by tomorrow?” Mike said in an annoyed tone.

“Sí señor.” José agreed, “So what do you all think of the balloons on the side of the portrait and the tapestry underneath?”

“Hmm…that sounds alright so long as we could probably put a banner underneath it.” said Goofy.

“Yeah, I agree.” Baloo and Terrance said together.

“It’s not so bad,” said Mike, “but then we’d have to divide the tapestry into two if we were to put a banner up there in case if were going to wrinkle the banner with the tapestry behind it.”

“How thick is the banner?” Terrance asked.

“Thirteen ounces of gloss vinyl reinforced with nylon mesh.” Mike replied, “It’s well made in America and could last about three to five years if it were hung indoors all the time.”

“Not bad. Does it say anything?”

Goofy and José took out the rolled-up banner and unraveled it on the table for everyone to see. It said, ‘Welcome Princess Rachel McGivern! on it. There was nothing else on it; no decorations, no other words, just plain in bold red words.

“The headline is good,” Terrance observed, “but shouldn’t there be anything else to sort of make it ‘pop?’”

“What do you mean?” Goofy implied.

“Well, this is Rachel’s coronation. And I know that whenever we have a coronation for some prince, princess, queen or king in this world we make the atmosphere look and feel traditional in the Disney’s taste. But it shouldn’t it be so bad if we could just tweak a thing or two in here to make the people understand what sort of person Rachel is.”

“Well, what do you suggest?” Baloo questioned.

“Maybe we can put in a couple stars and a crescent moon in it since at night she’s a silver spirit at night,” Terrance began, “probably decorate the letters with some gold glitters or streams, and perhaps edge the banner with a couple colorful streamers on the side like the family portrait up there.”

“That’s good.” said Mike, “Can you work on that one yourself?”

“Of course, anything for the princess’ happiness and delight. I’ll get started on it right now.”

“Great! Since that and the tapestry on the Disney family portrait is settled plus the finale in the entertainment, all that’s left is wiping and setting up the tables, have the floor waxed, get all the food prepared, I understand the invitations are all sent out already, clean the glass on the windows and the door frames, and finally, reserve the tables for everybody that’s coming. We’ll start with waxing the floor. Get all the tables and chair out of the way.”

“But you told us to take them out already!” José complained, “We’ve spent all day rearranging them!”

“I can help with that part, too.” Terrance volunteered again, “Stand back.”

With everyone clearing away from the boy’s space, Terrance used his magic to levitate all of the chairs, tables, and other things that were sitting on the floor. Everything lifted into the air! And there was much space to sweep, mop, and then wax the entire floor! But considering the length and width, the room was massive!

“Well, you got everything in midair,” Goofy pointed out, “but it’s going to take all day and night to get the floor ready to put everything else together!”

“And for sure, you can’t possibly hold this up all day with your magic.” Baloo chimed in.

“If only there were someone who can…” José paused, thought and then burst out to Goofy, “Señor Goofy! Doesn’t Willie the Giant owe you for helping him sort his inventory up in his castle?”

“He did.” Goofy remembered, “But he already paid me back by blowing at the windmill to help make grain back when I had a farm for a time share.”

“You know, levitating all of this at once for me is a piece of cake.” said Terrance, “I can just hire some magic brooms to sweep and then mop while I do a little more magic to wax the floor.”

“We can do you better with the sweeping and mopping!” Mike added, “I think with the Beast’s permission, we could get all of the help of his broom, mops, and towel servants to clean the floor within a half hour and then the floor can be waxed in a jiffy.”

“That can work! Call him up!”

Mike took out his cell phone and dialed a number. It was ringing. Within a minute, someone answered the phone.

“Bonjour! Who is this?” said someone on the other line.

“Hey, it’s Mike Wazowski.” said Mike, “Who’s answering?”

“Lumiere. How are things at the university college?”

“Fine. Listen, this may sound a lot to ask but would you mind asking the Beast- uh, Prince Adam, if we could borrow a few of his servants to help clean up in the Disney World Castle ballroom? It’s for the coronation for the new princess tomorrow.”

“Why of course, monsieur.” said Lumiere, “I’m sure the prince and of course Belle wouldn’t hesitate. Would you mind if I put you on hold for a couple minutes and I’ll ask him immediately?”

“Sure, I’ll hold.” Mike replied.

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Lumiere hurried through Prince Adam’s, aka the Beast’s, castle to the West Wing. The prince’s bedroom was just up a few steps at the end of that hallway. Since the spell that the Enchantress had cast onto Adam had been lifted by Belle’s true love, the entire castle had been refurbished and restored to its former glory. When Lumiere arrived at the bedroom, he found both Prince Adam and Belle together on the balcony looking at the view of the kingdom they now rule together. Along with them was Cogsworth, the prince’s attendant.

“Master.” Lumiere spoke.

“Ah, Lumiere.” Prince Adam said aloud, “What brings you in here today?”

“We have a phone call from our friend Mike Wazowski asking if he could borrow our maids and servants to help with cleaning the Disney World Castle ballroom for Princess Rachel’s coronation tomorrow.”

“Cogsworth?” Adam handed over to Cogsworth.

“Well…we’ve already got our own ballroom ready for the next two days,” said Cogsworth, “the chefs are just about gathering ingredients for the banquet, and the tailors have finished with the outfits ahead of time. Everything is just about ready, Master.”

Prince Adam looked at Belle, who nodded at him in agreement, then to Lumiere and said, “Lumiere, tell Mike that he has my permission and that I will have my servants sent to the Disney World Castle immediately.”

“As you wish, sire.” said Lumiere with glee.

Lumiere quickly headed back to the telephone. He picked it up and put Mike out of hold.

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“Good news, Mike!” Lumiere gleamed, “The master says he will let you borrow his servants and will send them over immediately!”

“Oh golly, that’s fantastic!” said Mike, “thanks a lot, Lumiere!”

“Anytime. Goodbye!”

Mike hangs up and tells everyone the good news. Relief showers over everyone, except of course Terrance since he’s still holding the tables in the air. Lifting it all with magic seems to be tiring him out a bit.

“Well alrighty then!” Goofy exclaimed.

“Isso é ótimo!” Josè shouted, “Viva o príncipe bestial!”

“Now we can worry about everything else!” said Baloo.

“Uh guys? Can I put all of these down for now?” Terrance asked.

“Go ahead, kid.” said Mike, “It could take a while for the Beast’s servants to arrive.”

But just as Terrance was about to cease his levitation spell, the large doors burst open and in came a bunch of enchanted brooms and mops with buckets of water, floating washcloths, flying feather dusters, dustpans hopping in, and many more! They threw their water from their buckets onto the tile floor and, with their bristles tied on their poles, started running across the ballroom collecting dirt and mopping the floor.

“Some service!” astonished Terrance.

“Caramba!” José exclaimed.

“How’d they get here so quick?” Baloo wondered out loud.

“Who cares?” Mike shouts with delight, “It’s Disney! The laws of  physics don’t always apply here. Now while they handle the floor, we can go talk about the food menu.”

Everyone, except for Terrance who is still levitating the chairs and tables, left the ballroom and everything else for the enchanted cleaners to take care of.

“Uh, hello?” Terrance called out, “I’m still here!”

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

A knock on Yen Sid’s door at his tower was heard. A magic broom came down the stairs and answered it. Both Rachel and Retlaw (aka Walt Disney) were standing outside waiting and when the magic broom came, it escorted them both inside. Then the magic broom took hold of Rachel’s wrist while pointing towards the stairs. Rachel figured that the master sorcerer was upstairs and that the broom was trying to bring her to him. She allowed it and with Retlaw following them they all went up those stairs.

Crossing through the workshop and going up another stairway, the three of them entered another room: Yen Sid’s office. The sorcerer is seen standing at the crescent-shaped window looking outside at the Disney World’s castle and beyond. He turned to Rachel, the magic broom, and Retlaw and motioned the broom the leave them. As soon as the magic broom left and closed the door behind it, the room stood quiet for a moment.

Finally, Rachel stepped up and said, “I’m…sorry I’m late for magic class, Yen Sid. I was-”

“No need to apologize, Rachel.” said Yen Sid, “I’m glad to see that you and Walt are safely out of the forest. Though I must ask ‘did I just hear you weeping aloud in there from my tower?”

“…Yes.” she mumbled.

“Walt?”

“Just a personal thing that needed to be let out.” said Walt, “It’s all taken cared of now.”

“Very good then.” said Yen Sid, “Now then, Rachel. Shall we begin with your lessons?”

“Yeah, sure.” Rachel answered.

“Would you like to stay and watch, Walt? I believe it may interest you.”

“Thanks, Yen Sid,” said Walt, “but I actually have some other important things I need to check on.”

“Very well then. You may return whenever you like.”

Walt nodded to the sorcerer and was about to take his leave. But that was until Rachel grabbed his should and spoke to him.

“Wait a sec, Walt.” Rachel implied.

“What is it?” Walt asked.

“Well…there’s something I’d like to talk with you about as soon as I’m done here. Would you-”

“Say no more, kid.” Walt smiled, “Could one of you call for me when you’ve finished?”

“We will.” Yen Sid agreed.

With that response, Disney left the room and out of the tower. Meanwhile, Rachel and Yen Sid remain in the office room with nothing but more quiet. The girl then glared at the wizard for a second or two. Naturally, Yen Sid knew the sort of face Rachel was making; she was thinking of something; she’s about to ask him a question. Whatever the question is, he figured it had to be something important.

“Rachel?” Yen Sid spoke, “Is there something wrong?”

For a moment, she didn’t say anything. Not even for a minute. Finally, she quoted, “How do you know my predecessor, Clara?”

He knew it. It was something important. In the case for a silver spirit and someone else who knows so much about their kind, it most definitely had to be. Yen Sid walked to a shelf hanging on the wall that was filled with books. He searched through them as he continued his conversation.

“Why did you call me ‘Sidney Halric’ yesterday at the Gracey Manor when Walt finally revealed himself?” Yen Sid asked.

“I don’t know.” she answered, “It just popped into my mind all of a sudden that time.”

“Wrong. You do know. You just don’t remember.” Yen Sid pulled out a book and continued, “She was my wife.”

“What? How?”

“A long time ago, I was a man who was once in the pattern of mortality. At an age for a young grown-up, I was a student with the highest of grades, always recommended for certain careers, and, as people often referred to me, one of the most brilliant and most powerful the school had. I had often thought that a single distraction from outside my academic life would ruin it. But one night, I was asked to show one of my greatest accomplishments to a crowd at our school joining. I suppose you can say it is like an ‘open house’ you and your family would attend after hours. I had accepted the offer and shown them the tricks I knew about animating inanimate objects. But before that happened, I was running late for the performance. Along the way, I tripped into a bush of thorns, scratching and tearing my face to bleed down my face. Suddenly, I saw a bright light in front of me. Was it an angel? Was it heaven calling to me? If it had been, I thought it would have sounded a bit too dramatic for that sort of thing to come to me just because I scratched my face. When I got a better view of the light, it took the form of a young woman; somewhere around your age. I had assumed she was about a few years younger than I was. She came to me and with her hands glowing like moon’s light, she healed my bleeding scars. She disappeared the next minute and I had to return to the school. I showed them my magic, and then Clara showed hers. I had already mentioned to you what I had done, but more than I had ever expected it was Clara who was the highlight of the show. She healed the sick, raised a boy from the dead, and she miraculously made a new leg of flesh, bone, and blood for an old man who lost one of his in a great battle! I was more than astonished; I nearly cried! Truly, I have! When the student’s performances were over, I had the courage to ask Clara to dance with me. I can remember the blush color in her face when I offered her my hand. Neither of us danced much; we kept on stepping each other’s feet, ramming into other dancers, and we were so busy talking we hardly remembered the music was playing. Nevertheless, in one night, we felt so close. In an instant, we fell in love. Two months later, we were married and then later had a daughter named Sidyna. But then, in five years, Olin’s jealousy grew upon us. He used a boat Merlin had made that could travel through time, rounded an army of American soldiers from World War I, brought them back to our time, and he killed them all…including my wife and daughter.”

“He cut off her hair while it was silver?” Rachel guessed.

“Yes.” said the sorcerer in a lower voice, “And he held a dagger covered with her blood. It was horrifying.” Yen Sid then opened the book to the page he was looking for and continued, “This is her portrait.”

“That’s right. I’ve had visions of her not long ago in her silver form, but I’ve never seen her with anyone else.”

“She was my dearest friend. In a personal notation, the love of my wife and daughter were all that I had. And he took it all away from me for his enjoyment of destroying me.”

Rachel smiled, chuckled and scoffed a little. It had gotten the wizard’s attention, thinking she was taking it all in as a joke.

“What are you laughing about?” Yen Sid growled.

“Hmm? I was just thinking that, well…since Clara was one of my past lives and she was your wife, I guess that means that you and I are pretty much related. Except the whole ‘‘till death do we part’ deal ‘cause for one: I’m much younger to be your wife, you know, and second, I don’t look much like Clara pretty except when we’re both silver spirits.”

“Oh.”

“What? What’d you think I was going to say?” she asked.

Yen Sid’s expression of inner anger melted down from Rachel’s humor, he smiled and said, “It’s nothing important, my dear. I am just glad you know the truth.”

“My mistress probably would have told me anyway if I had asked her about Clara. But that doesn’t explain why I called you ‘Sidney Halric’ in the first place.”

“That was my name of birth before I had doffed it and changed it to ‘Yen Sid’ when I first became property of Disney.” Yen Sid clarified, “My father’s first name was Halric. In the middle ages, the father’s name always had to become its offspring’s last name.”

“Ohhh. That makes sense.” Rachel smiled.

“Good. Now why don’t we begin with your world history and-”

“Actually, I kinda want to start off with some math.”

“Math?”

“Well yeah. I can’t become a civil engineer if I don’t know much about the math.”

“You want to be a civil engineer?”

“You think it’s bad? Rachel worried.

“No.” said Yen Sid, “What is there to feel shameful about wanting to be a civil engineer? That’s a fantastic goal! But why?”

“You heard what Walt revealed about me back at the mansion yesterday: I want to become a Disney Imagineer. I want to make more new attractions and make people come, have fun and be happy!”

“Hmm…that’s a lot of responsibility for one your age who is also to become a princess. However, I cannot stop you from reaching for what good deed you really want to do in your life.”

“So math it is?”

“Math it is.” Yen Sid chuckled, “And then we will begin with your world history and learn about making objects appear with magic.”

“Awesome!” Rachel exclaimed.

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The sight on Diane’s face after she had seen the henchmen’s photo IDs humored them. There was no way in her mind that these people could possibly be who they really are. This is a complete nut house, she thought to herself. These pictures had be fakes, she couldn’t believe them.

“So?” the second henchman inquired.

“I don’t believe this.” Diane said, rubbing her aching head.

“Well, believe it or not,” the first henchman began, “Olin is right about Walt Disney building a secret Disney World and there really is a secret entrance somewhere in every Disneyland park in the world to get there! For years, we’ve been trying to keep Olin away form it so he wouldn’t destroy the magic.”

“This is crazy!” Diane exclaimed, “No one can destroy Disney magic; my dad made the magic himself by making the films, building this park with guests as the real main attraction, and then it keeps on growing and growing the more people come here and enjoy there time as a family.”

“Apparently, Olin doesn’t believe much about that.” said the second henchman, “He’s only focused on finding out where the source of the magic is and killing it in the palm of his hands. It’s no secret that Disney is the largest source of magic there is in the entire world today. And with that, just about every sorcerer there actually is in the existing world often come here for shelter from Olin’s oppression. Why else do you think there have been a lot more people coming to Disneyland everyday! They just keep mixing themselves with the crowd of people who aren’t magically gifted and come into the park the same way everyone else does.”

“Walt was aware of this crisis even before he built the park!” said the first henchman, “He’s been dealing with Olin since he started the company with the Laugh-O-grams, then the Alice Comedies, and then Oswald and Mickey, and so on. Olin was more than happy when he found out that Walt Disney died from the mortal land.”

“What do you mean ‘from the mortal land?’ Surely, you mean that Walt is ‘remembered alive, right?” Diane asked. She looked at the henchmen suspiciously, but the looks on their faces finally made her believe that… “He-he’s alive? My dad is alive?”

“He’s in the Disney Worlds with all the Disney characters right now.” the first henchman smiled.

“My God! Please, I don’t care who you are; you have to take me to him!”

“If we do that now,” says the second henchman, “Olin will come right behind us and then he’ll take out the Disney magic the way he wants to and kill Rachel for sure!”

“Rachel?” Diane wondered aloud, “Who’s Rachel?”

“The girl Olin mentioned earlier back in the Indiana Jones ride.” the first henchman replied, “She’s the other reason Olin is searching for the gateway to the Disney Worlds, but no one really knows why other than that she, too, is a sorceress from birth.”

“Is there a way we can get Olin off our backs for a while until we get to that secret world.”

“If there was, we would do it right about now.” the second henchman pointed out, “But your dad ordered the two of us to keep an eye on Olin, find out his schemes, and then report back when we get them. We’ve gotten a lot of juice from him, but we feel that there’s something more.”

“How much?” Diane asked.

“Much more! And if he finds out we’ve told you all of this, then the secret’s out and we’re all done for!”

“So that means we have to wait, doesn’t it?”

“Sadly, yes.” said the first henchman in gloom.

Diane sat quietly for a moment thinking. This whole thing, especially been given the news that her father is practically still alive somewhere in a world he’s never told her about all their lives! It was getting difficult to take in, but…“Alright, I’ll go along with this,” Diane agreed, “but only because I want to see my dad again.”

“Understandable.”