Kingdom Keepers VII (51 page)

O
NCE THEY MAKE IT ACROSS
to New Orleans Square, and among much celebration, Minnie leads the Disney characters on a short parade to Pirates of the Caribbean. Thanks to Violet’s translation, Philby has instructed Minnie to find the underground treasure caves he’s sure exist beneath the attraction, just as they do in Walt Disney World. Despite the aftershocks and the risk of explosion, the Keepers believe the good characters will be safer underground. The park will only explode if they, the Keepers, fail; they are not counting on that.

The Keepers and Mickey paddle canoes to the dock at the Hungry Bear restaurant and take shelter inside. Finn makes a second plea to the Imagineers, speaking directly to the Dillard. Several minutes later, all conversation stops when a man’s voice, not the Dillard’s, speaks from the hologram’s mouth.

“Finn? Can you hear me?”

Only now does Finn realize how much he’s come to accept the hologram as his neighbor and friend. When Joe’s deep voice spills out of the Dillard, it’s like something from
The
Exorcist
, as if the Dillard has been inhabited by evil spirits. Steeling his nerves, Finn answers in the affirmative.

“We’ve managed to find a workaround to Dillard’s isolation. We’re aware of your situation down there,” Joe’s voice says. “We ask that you lead the group to the Central Plaza for an immediate return.”

“That’s not happening,” Finn replies. “We’re staying. The reason I reached out is this: we need Sorcerer Mickey’s magic cap, the
real
one, as fast as you can get it.” He looks up at the crane rolling into the place, at the flashing sky to the southwest. The storm grows closer by the minute. “You’ve got half an hour. An hour at most.”

The Dillard’s mouth opens, but only rough static comes out.

“Talk about jaw-dropping,” Maybeck quips, winning nervous laughter from a few of the Keepers.

The Dillard says nothing.

“Tell me there’s a real one, Joe,” Finn says.

“Yes, it exists. But what you’re asking…I’d have to wake half the company, including Mr. Iger, to get permission. By the time that happens, it’ll be next week. I wish I were kidding, Finn. But even if I threw all that aside, it’s maybe thirty minutes to the warehouse where the cap’s stored, another hour or more to get it down there. Two hours minimum, and that’s if I’m willing to be fired tomorrow.”

“The park’s going to be fired tonight,” Maybeck says.

“Was that you, Finn?”

Finn stares at the Dillard, feels stupid for expecting his friend to know him better than that, struggling to rationalize Joe’s voice emerging from Dillard’s face.

“We think the plan is to torch the place,” Finn says. He quickly explains that the earthquake was only part one of a two-part plan.

“I see,” says the Dillard/Joe. He sounds as defeated as Finn feels.

“Mickey says, ‘There is no future in the past, so let’s make the future and live the present,’” Violet says to Finn pleadingly, seeming to hope that this will make more sense to him than it does to her.

“Did you hear that?” Finn asks.

“We were watching through Dillard as he came on stage. We saw Mickey and Minnie. Finn, there were more than a few tears here. And a lot of cheering. Congratulations to all of you.”

Joe’s words confirm Philby’s suspicion that the Dillard is being used to monitor the Keepers, but Finn can’t think about that right now.

“He says,” Violet continues, “that ‘the difficulty in life is not on how we struggle to survive the next day; it’s on how we live today.’”

The Dillard’s jaw flaps. Joe says, “Both those quotes are attributable to Mickey. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but your Mickey is authentic. He’s the real deal.”

“Yeah, we kind of figured,” Finn says. “We need his sorcerer’s cap, Joe. The one from
Fantasia
. It’s the final piece in all this. Without it…well, we’ll have been through an awful lot for nothing.”

“I wish I could help.”

“We have to have it,” Jess says softly. “I feel…I know now how important it is.”

Finn nods, and tells Joe, “This is do-or-die on our end.” The entire restaurant shakes from the force of yet another aftershock. “We don’t have two hours,” Finn says. He feels himself entering a more somber, reflective mood. “We’ve bunkered the good characters under Pirates. If anything happens, that’s where to search first.”

More static. Joe is apparently at a loss for words.

“We can’t just sit back and watch this happen,” Finn says. He looks into the eyes of his friends while speaking. He sees determination, commitment, and fear. Everyone’s scared, including him.

Philby steps up to the Dillard and addresses Joe. “If the Dillard is given the ability to control the projectors, couldn’t he make us invisible and get us safely to the Plaza?”

“I suppose,” Joe says.

“Because…if the Dillard can get us to the Plaza without being shredded, then you guys might be able to cross over the sorcerer’s cap. Correct?”

“Green-screen it and cross it over to you,” Joe says. The Dillard shows none of the excitement they hear in Joe’s voice. “Into Central Plaza. Might actually work!” Joe sounds excited.

“We get the cap to Mickey and hope like heck it’s got enough juice as a hologram to do whatever it is he needs to do to restore the park.”

“If Mickey’s going to repair things,” Joe says, “it needs to be from the highest point available. Big Thunder’s a hundred and four feet high. The Matterhorn’s one-forty-seven. Otherwise, it’ll be a partial job.”

“I think we could have told you that,” Maybeck mutters. He’s unable to get a look at the Matterhorn, but all the Keepers and their allies have the same mental image of Chernabog climbing toward the mountaintop.

“Drop the firewalls,” Philby says, talking over Maybeck. A demand, not a request.

“Done,” says Joe/Dillard.

“Get us the cap,” Finn says. “And throw in Mickey’s conductor’s baton, if you have it.”

“We have it. Thirty to get them here. Maybe another fifteen to image. Forty-five to an hour.”

“We haven’t got that kind of time,” Finn says. “But maybe we can stall them.”

A
ND SUDDENLY IT’S UPON THEM:
the advancing winds, driving angry storm clouds; the sight of Chernabog high atop the Matterhorn; dead birds littered at their feet; the smoke that continues to rise, apparently unseen by anyone not in the park.

Finn, Amanda, Philby, and Willa follow immediately behind Mickey, who’s made it clear through Violet (currently at his side) that he won’t be held back as the Keepers planned. Mickey’s words are an odd mixture of levity and leadership; he’s a lighthearted drill sergeant. The plan might as well have been sketched out on a sandwich bag.

What appears from a distance to be a slithering snake turns out to be Remy, Django, and their legion. There’s a brief celebration as the Keepers drop to their knees and pet whiskers and chins. Remy salutes Mickey, bows, and rises on his haunches. His gesture expresses his message well: Here to serve.

“Half of you will go with Maybeck,” Finn informs Remy. “The rest,” he tells Django, “with us. But first, I need four of your best scouts.”

Remy selects three extremely ratty-looking rats and one who’s something of a show rat, a blue-ribbon beauty.

“Find Elsa the Snow Queen,” Finn says. “Tell her Mickey and the Children of Light need her immediately. Two of you will look in California Adventure, in and around World of Color. Two others, in the cellars and tombs beneath Pirates. Do you understand?”

Maybe the cutest thing in the world is seeing four rats salute. It’s a light moment in the gathering darkness.

“Off you go!” Finn turns to Remy. “So good to see you! We were worried.”

Remy smiles coyly. In terms of attitude, he and Maybeck share more than a trait or two.

There comes a time when things become easy—like now, Finn thinks. He wonders if he seeks out conflict, given how comfortable he is with it. The crazier things get, the calmer he feels. Wayne has pushed him for years to accept a leadership role, and it took him far too long to realize acceptance isn’t something you do, it’s something you allow.

He pushes away worry because he has to: it’s key to his survival, his all clear depends on it. Smiling, he reaches down, takes Amanda’s hand, and holds it—in that special way that only holograms can hold hands—for a moment. Not long, but long enough. She smiles at him furtively.

“It’s never felt like this,” she says. She doesn’t mean their friendship. He knows exactly what she means.

“It’s him,” he says, nodding toward Mickey. He walks like he’s heading to a ballgame and can’t wait to get there, kicking his feet out to either side. It’s jaunty, silly. Violet is practically skipping to keep up.

“He’s a game changer,” Amanda agrees.

“I hope he’ll let us do this our way.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

“But we are. Counting on it, I mean,” Finn says.

“Show him the watch.”

“Why?”

“Trust me, when the time comes. Maybe it’ll jog a few memories.”

“You think he has memories?” Finn asks.

“That’s not the question. The question is: Do you think he doesn’t?”

“You’ve been hanging around Maybeck too much.”

“Somebody talking about me?” Maybeck calls from immediately behind them.

Remy’s team of several hundred rats has been in constant motion since the Keepers started walking. They scout ahead in groups of twenty or more, racing off like a long gray shadow. Minutes later, several return to report. They fan out in all directions, ahead and behind, right and left, tiny bodyguards keeping watch for any trouble.

It isn’t long before Remy reports to Finn and Philby that Elsa’s on her way. The girls spot her long before she reaches the group—as the Keepers continue past the Haunted Mansion—their girl-antennae warning of a formidable beauty’s approach.

Formidable she is. From her French-braided white hair and glowing pink complexion to her form-fitting ice-blue dress, her posture and bearing confirm her royalty: Elsa the Snow Queen.

Mickey stops at the sight of her. The two seem to know each another; Elsa gracefully bows and curtsies for him, and they share a knowing exchange of expressions.

“What’s going on?” Finn asks Violet.

“They’re talking. He’s telling her we need her. She says she’s honored.”

“Indeed,” says Elsa, turning to face Finn and the group. Her voice is like a pleasant melody. “I am, of course, at your service.”

Philby speaks first. “We know you can summon winter storms and ice. We’ve seen you do that! And wind. Lots of wind.” He sounds foolish. Willa isn’t the first to see that Elsa’s beauty has charmed him, left him talking like a dolt.

“Perhaps it is wiser to tell me what it is you want, and permit me to be the judge of my own abilities.”

Finn steps in. “We need to slow down the clouds, that storm.” He points. “To hold off the lightning for as long as possible.”

“Lightning happens in snowstorms, just as it does in rain,” the Dillard says.

“Yes,” Finn says, wincing. “We’d love to stop the lightning, we’d love to clear the sky and see the stars, but since that’s probably not possible…” He pauses. Is it? “Then slowing it down will have to do.”

“Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts,” the Dillard says.

Elsa smiles and nods. “Strange but true. Mountains and warm water can slow a storm. We have mountains here!”

“This is not where we want the storm to slow,” says Finn. “Just the opposite.”

“Can you distract a storm?” asks Willa, eyeing Philby and brimming with jealousy. “Make it stop and ignore where it was going?”

“An interesting notion. You are Willow, are you not?”

“Close enough.”

“We…” Elsa addresses all the Keepers, “are so grateful to you all for what you have done.” She looks warmly at Mickey. Any warm-blooded creature would melt under that gaze. “Is this what you wish of me? To ‘distract’ these clouds, as you say?”

“We need extra time, ma’am…madame…Your Highness,” Philby stutters.

“If I freeze the storm, it will only move more quickly. The lightning will become all the more violent. I’m afraid it will not do.”

Mickey takes in Elsa. She looks at him.

Violet whispers, “He’s asking her to use her magic as best she sees fit. Oh, how beautiful!”

“What?” Amanda asks.

Violet is practically glowing herself. “He said, ‘What is done cannot be undone, but what is left to be done should not be left undone.’”

“Whoa,” says Maybeck.

“You have given me an idea, Willow,” Elsa says. “Distraction. Yes. As when two young women appreciate the same gentleman.” Elsa steps closer to Philby. If Willa gets any closer, she’s going to knock him over.

“There’s no body of water between here and there,” Elsa adds. “But what is wrong with a pair of unexpected snowstorms in Southern California?”

“A pair?” Finn asks.

“One here!” Elsa pushes her hand up and out, toward the sky. A blue streak of light shoots from her palm like rocket flames, erupting into the night sky, reminding Finn of Maleficent’s fireballs. A flashing blue-white storm erupts to the south. A moment later, a second ice storm forms to the north. “Together, they comprise a triangle, something with which we’re all familiar. Your warmer storm will want to move, but it will not know which way to go. Left or right? I’ve made sure your storm will be
distracted
, as Willow has said.”

“An occluded front,” the Dillard volunteers. “A cold front overtakes a warm one, forcing the warm air higher. The warmer mass will stall as it lifts. In this case, the warm front will prevail, but Elsa’s right: the storm will be distracted and confused until it reforms.”

“How much time?” Finn asks.

The Dillard calculates. “Twenty-six minutes.”

“Is that enough time?” Elsa asks Philby.

“I…ah…”

Willa tries to shove Philby, but her hand passes through his shoulder.

“We’ll make it work,” Finn says.

Violet, speaking for Mickey, bids Elsa join them. They continue past Pirates, Finn separating them into two groups. Philby, Maybeck, Charlene, and Amanda, the mind and muscle team, while he and the others, including Mickey, take the lane toward the Tiki Room and the Plaza beyond.

The Dillard, no longer speaking with Joe’s voice, is like a kid in a candy shop. “You will be interested in everything beyond the firewalls, Finn.”

“You’ve been teasing me for the past few minutes, Dillard. I don’t appreciate it.”

“There is
so much
data.”

“You can start by making us invisible.”

“I am working on that. Have you considered that Elsa, Violet, and Mickey are not holograms?”

“Crud, I forgot,” Finn snaps. “Sorry, Dillard. Feeling the pressure, I guess.”

“You are grossly outnumbered, running out of time, and facing an enemy with supernatural powers that far outstrip your own. Given these conditions, emotional displays are not only expected, but predictable.”

“Spare me the armchair psychology and focus on shutting down the projectors, Dillard.”

“Understood. Engaged.”

Passing through Adventureland and Indiana Jones does not come easily to Finn. The Temple of the Forbidden Eye brings to mind the temple in Mexico and Dillard’s death, and the eye hieroglyph that is part of the Osiris myth. All that they have done and seen flows over Finn, threatening to overwhelm him.

Django appears and runs circles around Finn, stopping him. He points frantically, holding his paws in front of his eyes like a pair of binoculars.

“Spies!” Finn says, motioning his team to the near side of the path. “Dillard, shut them down, now! You all stay here and guard Mickey until Willa and I return.”

The Dillard counts down. “Entering DHI shadow in three, two…”

Finn takes Willa’s hand just before they, Jess, and the Dillard disappear.

Overtaking the Overtaker, a Sultan’s Palace guard, is almost unfairly easy. Finn and Willa hold hands in order to keep track of each other. They follow Django and six other rats to the roof. The rats frighten the guard, who runs scared until he’s pushed over the side by Finn and Willa. He falls into an umbrella, bangs his head, and is tied up and gagged by the remaining rats before he awakes. One down.

The Dillard keeps the projectors off. Those in DHI shadow form a daisy chain of hand-holding as Mickey, Violet, and Elsa lead the way into the Adventureland Bazaar.

Their dilemma is how to get Mickey across the Plaza to the Matterhorn when the place is swarming with Overtakers. Willa, selected for Finn’s team because of her brains, just as Maybeck and Charlene were selected for Philby’s team because of their athleticism, comes up with an imaginative solution.

Minutes after raiding the Bazaar, two girls appear, passing the Tiki Room and turning in front of the Jolly Holiday. Both wear turbans, jeweled veils to hide their faces, and flowing Arabian robes. One covers a superhero suit, the other a shimmering blue gown. Each of the girls is irreverently dragging an oversized stuffed character behind her. The girl under the white turban drags a mannequin dressed somewhat as an Aladdin lookalike, while the one wearing all black hauls a Mickey Mouse by its floppy wrist.

Blocking the view of the place the Partners statue should be is a pyre. It’s being prepared to do away with all things Disney. Everything from toys to costumes is piled high.

Hades’s henchmen, ghoulish spirits of the dead, patrol the Main Street end of the Plaza. They spot the girls.

“Hey! You there!” a henchman shouts.

The girls continue walking, as if they can’t hear. Given the high level of activity around the Plaza, and the clatter and groan of the maneuvering crane, this is understandable.

“Add him to the lot!” the henchman shouts, indicating the pyre and laughing. “We can burn him for ya!”

“I’d rather toss him off the Matterhorn!” Violet shouts back, unable to pass up a golden opportunity. She could ditch the outfit and go invisible for the climb, but they might shoot at her even so. She elects to stay in costume. “Tell the others I intend to do exactly that! That way they won’t shoot me when I climb it!” Under her breath she says, “Stay limp!” as Mickey squirms in irritation at the henchmen’s disdain.

She and the second girl drag their booty toward the Little Red Wagon.

Just for a moment, the air around the girls seems to swirl in an oily, otherworldly way. The henchmen consult each other. “Did you see that?” one asks.

“What?” the other replies.

“Never mind. Me eyes ain’t been the same since Mr. H melted me specs.”

“I know what you mean,” says the other. “He melted me gold fillings straight out of me teeth, he did. Me chompers ain’t never felt right since. But no complaining!”

“No complaining!” his partner agrees, echoing Hades’s number-one rule and glancing over his left shoulder. Hades is never far behind, and he’s
always
listening. They have found this out the hard way.

Like all the Keepers, Willa finds operating in DHI shadow thrilling. She has always felt so invisible throughout her high school years. Being truly invisible combines reality with fantasy in a way only old souls like her can fully appreciate. She feels right at home.

No one, including Willa, is sure how far Finn’s team can make it, but slipping past the Plaza instills in them a renewed sense of urgency and confidence.