Kingdom Keepers: Once Upon a Dream

Chapter 1

A/N: So that was the prologue, here's the first chapter! Fair warning, that I should've added before, there is angst ahead. Like...big time angst. Arm yourself, but enjoy!

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"I think I found them."

Casey Jordan slid excitedly next to her best friend on the cafeteria bench, a wide look in her eyes.

"What?"

Erin Davies, Casey's best and only friend, stared at her with wide eyes, taken aback by Casey's sudden exuberance.

"The Kingdom Keepers," Casey explained. "I think I found them."

Erin sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Please don't tell me you're still on that," she said.

"Of course I'm still on it," Casey said. "Somebody has to be!"

The Kingdom Keepers was a popular series of books about a group of kids stopping the Disney Villains, known as the Overtakers, from taking over the Disney parks, and the world. Just having wrapped up a couple of years earlier, it was one of Disney's latest cash cows: everyone who wasn't living under a rock had heard of these books. There were movies and video games, the Disney parks displayed posters and sold merchandise, it was often hailed as the next Harry Potter.

Growing up in Orlando, Florida, with a Disney Imagineer for a father, Casey adored the books; she was the self-proclaimed biggest fan (and proclaimed by others as well). They'd always seemed to provide a sort-of companionship: even when others, including Erin, didn't understand her, the Keepers did. The Keepers made her feel a greater sense of belonging than she ever had anywhere else.

Recently, while spending an afternoon at the Magic Kingdom – an activity she often partook in– Casey had come to believe that the stories were real, and that the Kingdom Keepers were real, so she'd spent the past month dedicating all of her time to studying the books and Orlando-based social media accounts to try and find them. Erin was the only person she'd told, and this had consequently lead her best friend to believe she was going crazy.

"Listen to yourself, Casey," Erin chided. "This is nuts!"

"No, it's not!" Casey argued. "I'm telling you that I saw that doll move on It's a Small World."

"Yeah, the dolls move," Erin said. "That's the point."

"That's what Gary said in the books when Kim first thought she saw the dolls move," Casey pointed out. This earned a subsequent eye roll from Erin. "And look where they ended up!"

Casey referred to a famous scene in the books, where the Kingdom Keepers were attacked by the moving dolls on It's a Small World. Casey, while last riding the ride, was sure that she had experienced the same sensation.

"You can't be serious about this," Erin said.

"That doll didn't just move. It stopped doing the dance, and looked at me." Casey explained. "This can't be a coincidence."

"Maybe it's just you being delusional because you read those books too much,"

Erin meant the remark as a joke, but Casey sighed. When she told Erin about what she'd seen, she knew she wouldn't believe her. Still, she'd held onto a little bit of hope that being best friends since they were six would give her some kind of credibility. Erin, seeing Casey's disappointment, sighed and restored the conversation to be more serious.