World of Disney 3 - Chapter Sixteen (w/ Commentary Notes from the Author, Sean Livingston)

Chapter Sixteen: Making Amends & Fixing Mistakes

            The trek up White Mountain was less treacherous than anticipated. A safe, winding path guided Genevieve, Anne-Marie, Victoria, and Benji on foot. There was no chance of using magic to reach the apex, due to it being banned after Katie’s misuse from her confrontation with the dragon. Of course, hiking the old fashioned way proved to be more rewarding. The three women and their six-year-old companion marveled from the crystalline rock structure, which made it shine so bright in reflection of the Auda City lights. It provided enough illumination in the endless night atmosphere.

(Authorial Note: Much of the development in making the world of Fantasia feel alien was inspired from the many planets seen in Star Wars, such as the continuous night and cloudy skies. Even some of Auda City is taken from Coruscant and its massive city.)

            Genevieve and Benji walked side-by-side along the path, a short distance ahead of Anne-Marie and Victoria. This was purposely orchestrated by Genevieve to grant some one-on-one time with her grandson. The last few hours have been reflective for her, thinking of how Benji reacted to Vanessa’s presence back in Yen Sid’s workshop, and it had to be addressed sooner or later.

            “Benji…sweetie,” she began. “Can we talk about Vanessa for a sec?” She noticed him give her an uncomfortable glance. “Now don’t you give me that look, son. Something’s been upsetting you about her, and I want to know what it is.”

            He was quiet for a long moment. Then, he finally said, “She took you away.”

            “I haven’t gone anywhere, Binge.” Genevieve remarked, smiling. “Vanessa has a face and a voice different from mine, and she might even act a little differently than I do, but – somewhere in there – it’s still me…your ol’ granddaddy.”

(Authorial Note: I had a lot of fun in writing Genevieve's exchanges with the next generation members of the Thomas family, such as Benji and Brandy. It provided a chance for the "old man" spirit of Sean Thomas to express through the tone in her voice, as she instinctively acts as the father and grandfather she is supposed to be.)

            Benji looked up at her, his face registering confusion. “I don’t understand.”

            Genevieve sighed, knowing this topic was too complex for his very young mind. She tried her best to simplify it all enough for him to understand: “You know how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly after it’s all wrapped in its little cocoon? Well, it’s still the same caterpillar – it has the same thoughts and feelings like it did before it became a butterfly. That’s how I am. My body…it…changes, but I’m always the same person. You understand now, sweetheart?”

            Benji nodded. There was still uncertainty in his demeanor, but he managed to gain some understanding.

            “Just…give Vanessa a chance. She’s hurting so much inside because she thinks you don’t see me when you look at her. And she’s scared.”

            That last detail caught him off guard. “Why’s she scared?”

            Genevieve chose her words carefully. She was no longer sure if she referred more of herself than the tall redhead she will one day reincarnate into. “She’s an entirely new person, Benji…nearly both inside and out. She’s scared to lose everything she worked hard to earn when she was Genev—I mean, when she was me. I know it’ll be difficult but, trust me, you’ll find me in there…once you start to love her.”

(Authorial Note: Another habit I liked to integrate to the reincarnated characters is referring themselves in the third person, such in the way that Genevieve does in this scene. Sometimes, they lose track of who they are, since each of them still think as if they are Sean Thomas. This notion refers back to what Victoria said about "already wearing a mask" in Chapter Nine, as each reincarnation is just that to Thomas.)

            She could see the hope that began to manifest in his little face. “O.K.,” he acknowledged. He then surprised her with a hug, barely able to wrap his tiny arms around her waist. “I still miss you, Granddaddy.”

            Genevieve smiled, returning his embrace. “I know you do, my sweet lil’ man.”

            From her distance behind them, Victoria’s heart warmed at the sight of Benji and Genevieve. It was all that could momentarily take her mind off what she dreaded for hours with Anne-Marie. The Death Star and Sphere both loomed menacingly in the sky above, a constant reminder of the events to come within the next few minutes. And the fact that Anne-Marie helped to transpire them only drove Victoria that much closer to insanity.

            She maintained composure in addressing her future incarnation on the matter: “Just tell me why?”

            “Why what?” Anne-Marie remarked.

            Victoria frowned. “You know what I mean.”

            Anne-Marie smirked. “Of course, I do. We share the same mind, don’t we?” She glimpsed at the short-haired young Englishwoman. “You want to know why I pressed into going to war with the Empire when I know the outcome won’t be in favor of Fantasia. Well, I’ll tell you. It’s because of change.”

            “Change?” Victoria muttered with a raised eyebrow of curiosity.

            Anne-Marie’s nostrils flared, breathing in and out heavily. “It’s in the air. Can you not smell it?”

            It was certainly odd behavior from the usually straight-laced reincarnation. Victoria could only look on her as oddly as her beautiful face could manage. “What are you talking about?”

(Character Note: The change in Anne-Marie's behavior is meant as a metaphor to the change she refers to Victoria. She believes it herself to be a clever way of cluing her in on the fact; unfortunately, it goes over her head completely.)

            Anne-Marie glared at the young lady. “Oh, I forget that your power is not as in tune as the rest of ours.” Returning to her usual cold attitude, she continued, “I have seen a singularity in this new future that’s in motion. I can’t explicitly say what it is, but something different will happen from before.”

            “Is it good or bad?” Victoria curiously queried.

            “As I said before, I cannot determine the specifics. Right now, the future is in constant motion. One thing is certain though – things are different.”

            “You mean like Joanie being here when she wasn’t originally?”

            Anne-Marie uneasily nodded. “I still don’t approve of that. If she dies fighting in the war, then Sean Thomas ceases to exist, which in turn means that the four people walking along this path right now will also.”

(Authorial Note: The rules of time travel in World of Disney can sometimes shift between constant and multi-directional, depending on circumstances. The climax of the first story introduced the existence of alternate timelines in effect of changes to the past. However, The Marvelous World: World of Disney 2 and The Disney Access both establish the possibility of the original timeline continuing from where it was left off before the new one. Taking this into consideration, it's an uncertainty if Anne-Marie, Victoria, Genevieve, and Benji would all cease to existence in the hypothetical death of Joanie.)

            The very idea nauseated Victoria, yet she remained hopeful. “It won’t happen. She’s the original Guardian, which makes her more powerful than all of us together.”

            “I hope you are right in that notion.”

            Anne-Marie brought the conversation to a close once she noticed their arrival at the summit of White Mountain. There was a heavy current of wind that whipped the hairs of Genevieve, Anne-Marie, and Victoria in all directions, partially catching in their eyes and mouths. Benji’s short-cropped curly hair remained still. The view was breathtaking; Auda City being nothing more than a miniature model at an unbelievable distance.

            It seemed as if the group hit a dead end. There was only a forty-foot rock wall ahead of a large, wide crystal bridge. The bridge was sturdy enough to cross, yet it led to nothing in particular.

            “This is where she lives?” Victoria questioned, caught in the disbelief of traversing such a long way for empty space. “I don’t believe th—”

            A loud, earsplitting shriek abruptly echoed through the skies, deafening them momentarily. Victoria was cut short on her thoughts by the sound, covering her ears to do the best she could in saving her eardrums. Shortly afterward, they all heard heavy crumbling and felt the entire mountain vibrate beneath their feet. Ahead of them, a colossal figure emerged from behind the peak, peering down at the four intruders. It skin was white and scaly with diamonds embedded into it, sparkling as much as the mountain itself. A long slender form stretched out well over twenty yards, and a lengthy snout with razor sharp teeth stuck out from the mouth. A whip-like tail, hands and feet with spikey claws and talons, fierce blue orbs for eyes, and a mane of long flowing whitish-blond hair completed the ensemble.

(Authorial Note: My design of the White Dragon was tricky but not entirely difficult. I mostly imagined it from a standpoint that it was as beautiful to look at as it was terrifying. I also wanted the creature to seem like something that could actually exist in medieval mythology.)

            Undoubtedly, it was a dragon. But it was the dragon.

            The luminous creature spat white fire from its roaring mouth – a warning for them to turn back while they still could. Yet Genevieve, Anne-Marie, and Victoria remained persistent, standing exactly where they were and not budging an inch. Genevieve kept Benji behind her, shielding him. At any second, the dragon could lunge for them; and, although she had no power to stop it, she would do her best to protect her grandson.

            In its fury, the dragon leered more closely at the three intruders, spotting the fourth in Benji as he cowered behind Genevieve. Its demeanor swiftly changed. No longer did it seem as angry as it did a second ago. It appeared much calmer, giving a gentle moan and even smiling a little.

            It proceeded to crawl down the summit, its spikey claws and talons digging into the rock. Descending to the wall, its form morphed into that of a beautiful, barefooted young woman. The woman landed at the foot of the wall and stood to face her visitors, crossing the bridge to approach them.

            In this human form, the dragon donned a white, diamond-embedded robe that hugged her slender physique. It was opened partially to expose her half-naked body. Her eyes were those of an average human being, with the same color as her dragon form. Her hair maintained its long flowing whitish-blond color. She was radiant in every sense of the term.

            Approaching the four visitors, she notably towered all of them at a height Genevieve and Victoria nearly matched, yet Anne-Marie and Benji remained relatively dwarfed by. She paid no mind to the three women that stood around the six-year-old they accompanied, holding her right hand out to him with a warm, kind smile.

            “Don’t be afraid, little one,” she softly said to him. “I won’t harm you.”

            Seeing her offered hand, Benji was reflective and hesitant. He glanced up at Genevieve questionably, and she nodded him on with a smile. He trusted in his grandfather’s judgment and took the woman’s hand. It was ice-cold to the touch at first but quickly gained warmth.

            “I’m Deborah.” She introduced to Benji, who seemed to be her only focus at the moment. “What’s your name?”

(Biographical Note: "Deborah" is based on/inspired by actress Deborah Ann Woll, who is best known for her work on the HBO series True Blood and Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix. Because the human form of the White Dragon is meant to be alluring, I needed to base her appearance on a woman who readers could visualize from the given imagery in her introduction. Deborah Ann Woll, who was added to the story a few months after Daredevil premiered on Netflix, fit the type of woman I knew readers could see in the character, especially with her role as True Blood's Jessica Hamby.)

            “Benji,” he answered, close to a whisper.

            Deborah was delighted by his small, delicate voice. It was adorable beyond comprehension. She grazed the back of her left hand against the right puffy cheek of his face, feeling how it still possessed that baby smoothness. “I adore the color of your skin, Benji,” she observed. “I wish I could have a tone like yours.” Her skin was indeed close to ghostly white, even in her human form. It contrasted dramatically against Benji’s dark brown complexion.

            As beautiful as the exchange between Deborah and Benji was, there was an urgency that Anne-Marie needed to uphold. “Your Elegance,” she said, trying to catch Deborah’s attention. “I’m sure you are probably wondering why we are—”

            “Be silent!” Deborah snapped, her cold blue eyes now directed to the three adults. “You are supposed to be banned from here! What gives you the right to come to my mountain after one of you tried to vanquish me not so long ago?”

            Genevieve and Victoria were particularly dumbfounded at this accusation. “What?”

            Anne-Marie gave an aggravated sigh, knowing exactly what Deborah referred to. “Shortly before the Disneyverse’s rift incident, Katie came to White Mountain and faced Deborah down,” she clarified for her fellow reincarnations. “But it was a boneheaded mistake on Katie’s part. She thought that she would prove herself worthy to the Council of Sorcerers – mostly to Yen Sid.”

            “Yen Sid?” The tone in Deborah’s voice shifted again. It turned sultry in reference to the master sorcerer. The fingers of her right hand traced the fuzzy collar of her robe, almost touching the perfectly-shaped breasts beneath it. She was obviously enchanted. “How is the old man these days?” 

            “Not so good.” Victoria replied. “He was captured by an evil faction known as the Galactic Empire and put under torture before he was forced to bring them here to Fantasia.”

            “Well, that’d explain all the strangeness in the sky,” said Deborah, gesturing to the Sphere, Death Star, and Imperial armada hovering out of Fantasia’s planetary atmosphere. It then dawned on her the one crucial detail out of Victoria’s response: “Wait. Did you say ‘torture’? This ‘Empire’ tortured my Yen Sid? No one harms the man I love!”

(Authorial Note: The romantic history between Yen Sid and Deborah is inspired from the romance that was alluded but ultimately disregarded as canon in the Lord of the Rings characters Gandalf and Galadriel. You can read more on it here.)

            There was unfathomable rage in her eyes. She had genuine feelings for Yen Sid, a notion that Genevieve and Victoria could barely grasp. Deborah looked young enough to be his granddaughter; of course, by Fantasia standards, she was about as old as he looked.

            Curiosity got the best of Genevieve, urging her to ask Deborah, “How long have you and he been…a thing?”

            At this, Anne-Marie sharply turned to her and yelled, “Shut up!” She continued onto more pressing concerns, returning her focus to Deborah. “It is imperative that you help us, Your Grace. If the Empire was relentless in forcing Yen Sid’s hand, then imagine what they might do this entire world.”

            Deborah’s anger subsided enough to consider Anne-Marie’s words. “Why does it sound like I’m intended to be used as a weapon in this oncoming war?” Her haughty tone suggested how offended she was of the idea. She then gestured to Benji. “Even this little one has been used for something trivial…a bargaining chip in this circumstance.”

            Genevieve’s eyes lit and her body stiffened – Deborah caught on to her plan. Quickly, she did her best to cover her tracks: “Oh, no, no! Not at all, Your Majesty. I would never use my grandson in that way.”

            Deborah’s hands went to her hips, a knowing grin formed on her flawless face as she leered at Genevieve. “Really? Then why did you bring him to my mountain?”

            Genevieve bit onto her lower lip fretfully. She tried to come up with some sort of falsehood to throw Deborah off, yet there was none she could think of for this confrontation. She groaned, giving into the fact that there was no fooling the ancient being. “Alright. I admit that I did,” she said. “But only because I knew you’d never harm a child.”

(Character Note: A backstory was created to explain Deborah's love for children. Years prior to the events of World of Disney, she was once the mother to a boy who was just Benji's age when he was killed by Fantasian poachers. Because of this, Deborah secludes herself from the world outside her mountain domain, wishing never to be bothered by the residents of Auda City or any others on Fantasia. The incident with Katie only further fueled her desire to live in isolation.)

            Anne-Marie fumed over this, her left palm going to her face to hide the frustration masking it. She figured Deborah to be just as upset. Looking to her between the fingers that partially barred her eyes, she was surprised to see how serene Deborah was towards Genevieve.

            “So you’ve used this little one as a shield?” Deborah presumed, making Genevieve’s case sound even worse.

            “No, no,” she hurriedly disputed. “That’s not how it is at all. I was—”

            Deborah held up her hands to silence the young woman. “I’ve heard enough out of you,” she told her, before refocusing on Benji. She crouched down at eye level in front of him. “Are you angered by her abuse of your innocence?”

            Genevieve could feel her forehead getting sweaty. I’m so dead, she thought as she waited for Benji to give his answer.

            “I just wanna help my Granddaddy.” Benji remarked.

            The response not only relieved Genevieve of her fears in being roasted, but she was touched that Benji cared so deeply, despite her admission.

            Deborah was touched as well. For this very young child to see past corruption, no matter how small it was, and focus on the good of beings, it was a lesson that she could learn from him. “Bless your bravery, Benji. I can imagine you were quite scared when you came here. You’ve got nothing to be afraid of now, my little moonbeam.” She tickled his chin, drawing some giggles from the small child.

(Factual Note: The term "moonbeam" is a variation of "moonlight," both sharing the same meaning.)

            She then stood back upright, returning her attention to Genevieve, Victoria, and a very relieved Anne-Marie, who feared the worse in this meeting a second ago.

            “Now then,” said Deborah, her sternness once again accompanying her address to the three women. “Let’s discuss strategy in my fortress. Follow me.”

            “Your…fortress?” Victoria questioned, seeing nothing of the sort anywhere around the summit.

            Nonetheless, she followed Deborah alongside Anne-Marie, Genevieve, and Benji, moving along the bridge to the dead-end wall. Deborah waved her right hand to it. To the surprise of her visitors, the wall was erased out of existence, revealing a majestic crystal citadel within the summit.

            “Well, that should’ve made sense.” Genevieve uttered.

(Authorial Note: Invisible walls are the most common - if not cliched - forms of cloaking a secret entrance in fiction, particularly of the sci-fi genre.)

            The group moved into the hidden area, the wall returning shortly thereafter.

---------------------------

            Yen Sid sat in solitude within his workshop, still enfeebled from his experience on the Death Star. It was an ordeal he would like to put behind him and focus on the here and now. At the worktable where he sat since being helped into it by Vanessa and Marcia, he filled a chalice with purple-colored water and swirled his finger around the chalice’s rim. This caused the liquid in the cup to steam and bubble.

(Authorial Note: This is a potent healing potion that Yen Sid drinks. The gesture he makes to the chalice is a way of adding special ingredients to make it more acceptable to his taste buds, considering most potions have terrible taste or no taste at all.)

            He put the chalice to his lips and drank, inhaling the steam as the liquid ran down his mouth and throat, permanently ending whatever thirst left to quench. There was a sweet aftertaste that relaxed his entire body, freeing it of the remaining fatigue and reinvigorating the master sorcerer. He placed the emptied chalice back onto his worktable and looked upon the game board and pieces left behind by Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

            Rather than be usually angered from the thought of children playing around his workspace, Yen Sid saw it as an opportunity for practice. Even though he felt like his old self again from drinking the healing potion, there had to be certainty in whether or not his magic was entirely restored. After a few deep breaths, he closed his eyes and recited an incantation that he had not used since he was a child – a simple spell normally reserved for beginners.

            Reopening his eyes, he was met with the welcoming sight of the game pieces risen from the board, swirling through the air like planets in a solar system. Satisfied with the result, he rested the pieces back on the board.

            There was a knock at the door. He permitted the visitor to enter.

            A short, barefooted young blonde in a black sleeveless top and tight leather pants entered. From what Yen Sid gathered earlier of the newest characters to come to Fantasia, he knew this one’s name to be “Penz.”

            “Sorry to interrupt, Master,” she said upon entering. “I just wanted to let you know that most of the citizens have been successfully evacuated to the catacombs. The others who have bravely volunteered to fight are gathered at the central park.” She then added with a hint of trepidation, “And I’m returning Christina back home…Sean and Natalie have both agreed to stay and fight with us.”

            Yen Sid nodded in approval of these updates. “Thank you, Penz.” He then frowned. “I detect a difference in you from the other Guardians. Two souls sharing the same body?”

            Penz bashfully smirked. “Well, there’s a reason for that, Master. I’m an amalgamated reincarnation – a merged reincarnated form with the original form. Mine was Sean Thomas.”

            “Such a rarity in the science of reincarnation. You are more of a single breed than the Guardian herself.” He glanced downward at Penz’s feet, taking note in her lack of proper footwear. “You are shoeless as well. For what purpose?”

            Penz smiled, looking down at her bare feet. She wiggled her toes, the nails of which were polished in a rainbow of colors. “In my previous reincarnation, I wasn’t exactly human in appearance and capable of wearing shoes of any kind. I like the feel of my bare soles on various surfaces. Plus, my toes are cute in this form.”

(Character Note: It's been yet depicted what other specific species the Guardian is allowed to reincarnate into. Considering the multiple forms she can take via shape-shifting, the one default to the incarnation must be permanent until the next reincarnation.)

            It amused Yen Sid to see the personality of this unique reincarnated form unfold right before him. There was not much difference in her from all the others. She still had that childlike innocence mixed with a sense of duty and responsibility. Penz did her best to hide the innocence, appearing more as a straight-laced type of woman, such as Anne-Marie. Yet, at times like this very moment, she came off as easily distracted.

            Eventually, she snapped out of her trance in recollection of another reason for her visitation. “Oh! Where’s my head? I’ve arranged a meeting between you and a friend I made in the Star Wars realm.” She faced the opened doorway and gestured for an unseen individual to enter.

            A figure dressed in a dark orange mechanic suit walked in, wearing boots that made heavy clump sounds with each step taken. Her long, flowing hair was a familiar shade of red to Yen Sid. But it was the face, however, that made the master sorcerer grow tense. He stood right up from his worktable, approaching his newest guest as she approached him.

            “Her name is Chrissy,” Penz introduced the redhead. “She has two girls, Sierra and Sienna, who were brought to Fantasia by Joanie in her third reincarnated form for safekeeping. She’s come all this way for her daughters and to get a bit of insight on her condition.”

            “Yes,” whispered Yen Sid. “I’ve known all of this for some time now.” This surprised both Penz and Chrissy. “Penz…will you excuse us?”

            “Certainly, Master.” Penz obliged, smiling to Chrissy one last time before she departed from the workshop, shutting the door behind her.

            Alone with Chrissy, Yen Sid turned away from her, slowly pacing around the room. Chrissy stood where she was, overwhelmed from the prospect of standing in the presence of such a powerful man. It was like being in the presence of a god. From the stories she heard about him, this was someone who could change her life for the better.

            “I’m honored to have finally met you,” she told him, although his back faced her the entire time. “I’ve heard such great things about you. When I first heard about you, I thought that you were a Jedi Master. I mean, you even look like one that I’ve seen at my job over in Star Tou—”

            “I am sorry.” Yen Sid abruptly said.

            Chrissy frowned with confusion. “Sorry for what?”

            He finally turned and faced her way, his stoic nature coming through in his demeanor. “Your daughters are no longer on Fantasia. I have erased them out of existence…and I must do the same to you.”

            This news shocked and appalled Chrissy to her core. Every part of her numbed as she stared at the old man she thought would be a beacon of hope in her troubled life. Tearfully, she questioned, “Why would you do such a thing to my little girls? I…I thought you’re supposed to help…help me!”

            “I am helping. I am helping to protect the Disneyverse from your people.”

            More confused than ever, Chrissy bellowed, “I have no people!”

            “Yes, you do. They have prevented you from remembering during your existence within the realm you were birthed into. You are an anomaly that they have tried to fix for many years. You are mentally linked to Sean Thomas – a gift of telepathy granted unto you with shapeshifting in your evolution. They designed each copy to possess certain traits, only yours has done more harm than good.”

            Chrissy’s face was soaked in tears brought on by betrayal and uncertainty. “I don’t understand. Who are they?”

            “A race of beings that threaten the sanctity of the Disneyverse more than the Empire has now. I cannot allow any trace of them within this primary sanctum. For this reason, I again say that I’m sorry for what I must do to you.”

(Character Note: This is a subplot that was alluded in the sixteenth chapter of Marvel Mayhem, building up to the sixth World of Disney installment, which it serves as a central plot in. It explains why versions of Chrissy exist in multiple dimensions. We get a bit more to it in this scene with each "copy" of Chrissy possessing different abilities, this one with a type of "astral manipulation" that combines telepathy and shape-shifting. The prologue to the next story, The Disney Access, goes even further on the mystery.)

            Chrissy witnessed him advance on her. She tried to run away, going to Penz or anyone who could save her from this madman who was not the savior she was promised to meet. Unfortunately, something rendered her immobile. She was paralyzed from her head down to her feet.

            It’s him, she mentally realized. He’s got me locked! I can’t escape!

            The tears continued to stream out from her eyes, watching Yen Sid finally step up to her with hands positioned at opposite sides of her head. There was an intense beam of light that radiated around her, whitening her vision. When it dispersed, there was nothing but darkness – and nothing left of her.

            The deed was done. Chrissy Ryder was no more.

            But that did not settle Yen Sid’s heartbreak any less.

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