I stared into the pitch black tunnel that emerged from the bookcases of Walt Disney's library. A faint brush of cold wind blew by my feet as the skirt of my dress fluttered against my legs. It was as if there was some sort of ominous sound that was beckoning me to step inside, like something from one of those stereotypical scary caves from classic cartoons.

"What's in there?" I asked as I looked over towards the old man.

He moved away from the globe that had activated the hidden doorway, the object glowing a faint yellow as he came towards me. "The answers you're longing for," he smiled before extending his arm out, inviting me to take it. "Come along, it gets rather dark in there,"

Slowly I reached out linked my arm with his and he gently escorted me into the tunnel. The farther we ventured inside, the light from the entrance faded away into nothingness. I couldn't see anything around me, not even Walt, but I could still feel his presence so it helped me feel at ease, even just a little bit. I was safe here, wasn't I?

We took a few more steps before Walt stopped walking. I abruptly followed suit, having no idea where I was suppose to go or what to do. The other end of his body shifted as he rose a hand. I could feel the air brush near my face as he waved it to the side. "Blast it's darker than I remember. I know it's here somewhere. . ."

"Where what is?" I asked.

Walt hummed, though I feel it was in regards to trying to figure out how to go about what he was planning to do and not formulating an answer to my question. "Think you can shine a light for me?"

"I think so. . ." I responded as my voice trailed off with a bit of uncertainty. Lifting my free hand I calmed my mind and focused, think happy thoughts, as Fairy Godmother instructed me, and the palm of my hand glowed a bright pink. Flexing out my fingers, the glow flashed brighter as a pink orb of light hovered above. Walt and I were now able to see each other clearly.

"Thank you, darlin'" He smiled warmly before waving his free hand again.

White specks of light shimmered, twinkling in the air as a mechanism activated. I glanced down to see the cobblestone floor shifting below our feet. The tiles gave way as a metal globe like contraption emerged. The white specks flourished inside the globe, crackling like fireworks before giving off a wave that disbursed around us with more specks in various colours sparkled in the air. It was like standing inside a giant constellation.

I was completely mesmerized by the beauty of it all. I reached out, gently touching one with the tip of my finger and it flowed upon impact. "What is this?"

"This is a map. They show me all the wishful souls of all Wizards, past, present, and even future. A soul map, if you will," Walt explained.

"Like a tracker?" I asked. "As in it shows you where they are? Like in the World of Disney?"

"Not quite, it doesn't show me where they are, I don't want to be intrusive on anyone's private affairs, it's more so it tracks their magic, their happiness, love, and how powerful they are when combined," he elaborated, cupping his chin with one hand after shaking his head. "Let me show you,"

Stepping closer to the old man I watched as he waved over a series of specks. Each of them represented the four elements of Wizard magic.  Purple for Illusion, Green for Defense, Red for Attack, and Pink for Healing. The four of them shined brightly in the low lighting I almost had to stop myself from turning away. "What do you think these represent?"

"Me and my friends," I quickly realized.

"Very good," he smiled brightly with a curt nod. With his finger he taunted the pink speck forward, my speck, or rather my soul, towards me. Cupping my hands, I gently held the hovering glow of light. "Careful, they're extremely delicate,"

"How do they work?" My gaze never strained from the light. It felt warm in my hands as if I was carrying a tiny little candle.

"As I mentioned before, they track how powerful your magic is in this world. Your emotions, like happiness and love, can have serious impacts on how much power it can contain. It fluctuates, you see?" To demonstrate this he pinched my arm. I flinched from the pain, jumping in place.

"Ow!"

Looking down, I watched as the light reacted to the pain. It sparked, looking like a small flame burning out before adjusting itself slowly overtime to return to its original glow.

"I do see," I gazed at the light curiously.

Walking back towards the globe, Walt opened a latch that revealed a small clock. He cranked it to the side and the hands inside began to turn back, spinning rapidly. The souls reacted to this, their lights flickering and crackling as they surged and dancing around the room. One by one Walt reached out and extracted my teams souls. When he showed them to me again, they appeared distorted, gloomy almost.

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"Like how happiness and love can have positive impacts on your magic's capability, so can sadness and anger," he answered. "Each if you have gone through a hard time in your life that made your magic's resourcefulness fall into question. If you are not careful they can have dire consequences and do unspeakable harm that cannot be undone,"

A hard time. . .

Looking up at the pink and purple specks, the clock showed an exact date and time of when these distortions took place. The day when I lost my mother, and the day Santiago lost his father. It felt like my heart got ripped out of my chest and looking at my distorted soul it projected exactly that.

"You and Santiago had your family and friends to support you in your dire of need, and in time, your souls and magic were restored," with a wave of his hand, the clock began to move forward in time as it spun rapidly again and our souls returned to their glorious glow. They shined adjacent to each other as they hovered closely together. "And soon, you had each other,"

"You're suggesting we were destined to be together?" I rose a brow at him, arms crossed over my chest.

"I'm saying it's a theory," he winked.

I couldn't help but smirk a little at the idea. I had always felt Santiago had made me feel complete. He always made me feel like the happiest girl in the world.

"As for Ben and Sebastian," Walt brought fourth their souls, the green and red clashing almost violently with one another. "Each of their personal hardships collided with one another. They recovered, but their souls took a bit of work to get back to where they were before and even more so,"

Considering their past arguments, I imagine it had something to do with Kaitlyn, but I don't see her soul among us. Unless there was something more to it than that?

"I imagine you can't tell me what happened?" I sounded hopeful as I leaned on my side towards him.

"I'll leave that explanation to the boys," he stated. "But that is not why we are here,"

Slowly the other souls dispersed, hovering high above our heads as Walt walked over towards the metal globe. He placed a hand on it and the white specks of light highlighted the hand like scanner. Pulling away, the globe cut itself in half and pulled apart. Emerging from the contraption was a soul, but this one was different from the others. 

It glowed purple, so I quickly assumed that whoever it belonged to posses Illusion magic, but the soul appeared distorted, fractured even. It was like a storm was raging inside of it and threatened to break out at any moment. If you looked closely enough you could see hints of a red glow in the cracks. 

"Who's soul is that?" I asked. 

"The creator of the Dark Anomalies," Walt answered. ". . . His name is Thomas," 

With a wave of his hand, Walt activated the machine to turn back time once again. The souls spiraled around us but this time around there was an extra glow coming from the globe. There was a bright light as I was blinded from the light. When it cleared, I could hear children laughing and people talking and music. Moving my hands away from my eyes it looked like I was standing in some sort of carnival. 

A giant metal globe circled around a fountain. Flags with different countries from around the world flowed in the wind at high stands, at its center, the logo of UNICEF hanged tall. I glanced down at the people and noticed something different about them. They appeared normal, but their clothes looked old. As if they weren't from the present time. Dresses and puffed up hair, dress shirts and suits. Even the smells seemed off. My nose reacted horribly when I caught a whiff of someone's hairspray. 

Strange abstract buildings pavilions stretched as far as the eye could see. I looked over to Walt and he appeared smile, as if taking in a precious memory. 

"What is this?" I asked him whilst looking around frantically. 

"I think you mean when, my dear," he corrected with a tease. "We're at the World's Fair in Queens, New York in the good old year of 1964," 

My whole body tensed as my eyes widened in shook. My brain had trouble processing that last part. "1964?" 

That was the year my mother was born. My mouth gaped in awe as I took one last look around the area. 

"No need the fret, Ava, we're not actually in 1964. We're just witnessing a projection. A memory," 

"So this isn't real, but it's happened before?" I asked for clarification. 

Walt continued to smile as he stuck an arm out. A family group walked by as the father figure walked right through his arm. His body morphed as if it were a projection before regaining focus as he left the vicinity of Walt's arm.  

"That's insane--!" 

"While I would enjoy showing you around, we need to get to the matter at hand," Walt insisted as he offered me his arm. "Walk with me," 

Carefully hooking my arm around his, Walt took the lead as he led me down a long walkway. We watched as the people frolicked as if they were in a theme park. 

"Let me test your knowledge, Ava, what can you recall that happened here?" He asked. 

"Well," tilting my head to the side, the gears in my brain went into overdrive as I recalled my Disney history. "It's a Small World was debuted here! The Imagineers-- er, WED Enterprises technically speaking, built it in like 11 months," 

"Right you are, Miss Macht," Walt nodded in approval, appearing impressed. "In fact, that's where we're heading to now," 

Walt showed me the way as we walked towards the attraction. It looked like just like the one that the park. The white buildings with the famous clock and smiling sun shine swinging side to side as if it were dancing. Miniature wooden dolls played instruments as a marching band and rang bells as the music played over loud speakers. Crowds of people gathered to catch a glimpse of the architecture or to even snag a spot in line to try and ride it. 

"Well look at that! I'm seeing double," Walt pointed over to the entrance of the ride. 

His 1964 self was there with some executives, waving to the cheering crowd. As some of the executives were preparing to board the coloured boats of the attraction, Walt stepped forward to meet a few fans and sign some autographs. 

"So what do we do?" I asked as I looked over towards Walt. 

He sat down at a nearby bench, materializing a small box of popcorn in his hand. "Sit back and watch the story unfold," 

Switching my gaze between him and the scene before us I slowly walked over and took the seat beside him. 

The younger looking Walt graciously spared a moment of time with each guest. The executives didn't seem too bothered with the delay, as Walt appeared to be enjoying himself. As he went through the crowd he glanced over and caught someone's eye. A child. A small boy who appeared to by trying to get his attention but to no avail. His body kept getting pushed and shoved away by the other colliding bodies of the populous. 

"Now, hold on a second everybody," Walt raised his hands to signal everyone to attention. "Let's not hurt ourselves now, alright?"

Walking towards the boy as he struggled to push himself up to the metal bars of the ride line up. He looked about 10 years old, maybe 11 if you were pushing it. His sleek brown hair was a mess from the static shook of maneuvering through the big crowd, but that wasn't the only thing off about him. His clothes were dirty, his sneakers looking incredibly worn out. 

"What's your name, son?" Walt asked as he knelt down to be at a proper eye level. 

"T-Thomas, Mr. Disney," The boy nervously introduced himself. 

"It's alright, call me Walt, Mr. Disney is my dad," Walt reassured the boy with a soft smile as the people around him laughed at the joke. "Are you okay, Thomas? You hurt?"

Thomas shook his head, "No Mr.-- I mean, Walt," 

Walt nodded, taking a moment to examine is clothes and the state he was in. "Are you lost?"

Thomas shook his head no. 

"Did you lose your parents? Are they nearby?" Walt asked. 

No answer. Thomas' eyes began to water as he lowered his head to the side. Walt hummed, his gaze shifting as he nodded his head, processing the situation. There was a series of concerned murmurs that flooded the line, families whispering among one another. This seemed to cause the boy more discomfort as he wrapped his arms around himself as if to shield himself. 

Walt hummed in distraught as he glanced over to the side deep in thought. "Say son," looking back over to the boy he offered him another bright smile. "Wanna hop on the ride with me?" 

Thomas' eyes widened at the question, appearing speechless at the idea. "R-Really?" 

"Well sure," Walt stated ecstatically. "If it will help you relax, then you and me can talk a bit. Is that alright?" 

Stunned by the other, Thomas nervous nodded his head. Walt straightened up as he offered Thomas his hand and helped him over the railing with the assistance of the ride attendant. The people gossiped and looked in awe as Walt offered Thomas a front row seat on the boat before sliding next to him. 

I watched in marvel as the boat moved inside the attraction as the familiar and memorable tune chimed for the first time. 

The present time Walt slowly sat up from the bunch, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he threw out the popcorn box. "That day I learned that Thomas came from an abusive household. His mother passed away when he was a young and his father used alcohol as a coping mechanism. Earlier that same day his father passed away from alcohol poisoning and he ran away from home,"

"That's awful," I felt as if my heart had been stabbed with a dagger. I couldn't imagine something like that being done to a kids life. No child deserves such cruelty. 

The area around us began to erase itself, like paint being watered down off a canvas as everything became a mush of colour and darkness. The globe emerged from the ground and we were suddenly back in the chamber. 

"I brought him back with me to California and showed him this place, this world. A world where he would be safe from the harsh reality he was forced to endure. He had friends here, and he became family," Walt went on as he slowly paced around the globe with his hands behind his back. "He was also part of first group of established Disney Wizards. He helped me give life and perfect Illusion magic," 

He rose his palm in the air and waved over the spiral of souls. Small clouds formed as they projected various time stamps. 

"In the last 2 years I came to know him he became a strong and kind hearted leader, and I loved him as if he were my own son," Walt smiling lovingly at a shared memory of them posing for a picture with Mickey and the gang. "But soon that started to change," 

I could feel a lump in my throat at the realization of where this was going. "You got sick. . ." 

Walt looked at me knowingly as he sighed heavily. "When I told him about my diagnosis he felt as if his world had been shattered. He ran off on his own, lost deep in the uncharted part of the Disney World. For days I searched for him, using whatever strength I could manage. When I finally found him, I noticed immediately something about him had changed," 

Another projection appeared. The two of them were in a stand off, Thomas' aura glowing a dark purple with black clouds surrounding him as he glared daggers into Walt's soul. 

"He claimed that I was abandoning him, like his birth father before him. I tried to explain but he was not having any of it. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was as if he had done a complete personality shift. I had no idea why he had suddenly come to those claims so willingly, and then I realized. . . he didn't," 

"He was tricked?" My eyes widened. Someone so cruel manipulated a heart broken boy to turn on a dying man he thought of as a father? 

The projection zoomed in on the shadows that stood behind Thomas. A familiar shape was formed in the darkness and could make out those horns from a mile away. I bit my tongue, cursing myself under my breath. Of course it was her. How could I have overlooked this!

"Maleficent," I growled. 

"She found him in the woods and took advantage of him. She warped his mind and turned him over to the darkness. His magic became distorted with his broken heart and the Dark Anomalies was born. He tried to use them on me and I barely escaped with my life, but that didn't matter unfortunately," Walt hung is head low as another cloud displayed a projection of him in the hospital. 

"But you're still here," I argued but paused, tilting my head as I processed the statement. ". . . Kinda?" 

"Yes, I did die, but my soul still has a place here," He elaborated. "Allowing me to watch over the World I created from a far. Thomas doesn't know I'm still here, but with all of the destruction he and Maleficent have caused it's too dangerous for me to go down there. I can feel his power growing stronger by the minute," 

"So you want us to put an end to the Dark Anomalies once and for all?" I asked. 

"Yes, but perhaps most importantly," Walt walked closer towards me as he reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders. He looked me square in the eye almost pleadingly. "I want to you to save him,"

I could see the tears in his eyes as he spoke. He could barely keep himself standing still as his whole body trembled. 

"Please. . . if you don't, it could mean the end of everything," 

I reached out and grasped his arms, squeezing him gently as I offered him a smile. "I'll do it. I'll try and do it for you," 

Looking up I could see my pink soul hovering over head, glowing brightly with a warm radiance. 

"Thank you, Avalyn," Walt smiled brightly. "Now you know what you must do. Go, warn your friends, and prepare them for the coming battle," 

He waved me off as I gathered myself, sparing one last glance at him and the contraption as I turned and began my speed walk back through the tunnel. Walt watched me dissapear into the dark before turning back to look at Thomas' soul. He reached out, his palm cupping the glow gently as sparks went off as it reacted to his presence. 

"I won't give up on you,"