Kingdom Keepers: Once Upon a Dream

Chapter 28

A/N: We are back! Hope you enjoy today's chapter!

***

Sneaking out of the house was a much less jarring task now that Finn had his memories-he'd done it plenty of times before-but he still didn't like it. In fact, now that he knew who he really was, he might have liked it even less. At least back in his world, his parents knew of the Kingdom Keepers, even if they pretended not to believe it. When he was missing there, they had at least some idea of what he was doing. Here though, if they woke up to find that their son had not come home the night before, especially when they'd seen him right before bed, they'd have nothing to go on. The thought of what his mother's face would look like made him want to vomit.

Of course, he knew, he had no choice. Much like in his old Keeper adventures, what he was doing tonight had to be done, and only he and his friends could do it. With nothing certain in this alternate reality, that concept seemed to be more true than ever.

All of this thoughts ran wild through his head as he descended the fire-escape ladder towards his backyard. The dizzying effect they caused didn't make his task any easier, and he begged all the forces of the universe not to let him fall off of the house. Finally, his feet touched grass, and he turned around to see Amanda smiling at him. He breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering he had her with him made all of this easier.

She enveloped him in an embrace.

"Ready to go?" she said.

"As I'll ever be!" He teased, hoping some humor might lighten the mood. He was wrong.

She stared at him for a few moments, her mouth a straight line, before reaching down and grabbing his hand. He returned the gesture by squeezing tight, the best way he knew to tell her that they were in this together, win or lose.

With one more look at each other, and a nod, they ran off to the front of Finn's house, where Wanda was waiting in her car with Jess to pick them up.

***

The text from Finn came in at 11:00.

Solid hit in MK. Be outside your house at 11:30 for pick-up. Urgent!!!

At precisely 11:28, Casey stood by her bedroom door, took a deep breath, and marched out into the hallway. As she made her way down the hallway, she focused only on her steps and what was directly in front of her. It was the only way she could keep from panicking.

"Where on Earth do you think you're going?!" her father yelled, sitting up sharply from the couch and walking towards her. Her mother followed close behind.

"Out," Casey said, continuing towards the door without even looking back.

Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, and her heart pounded.

There was no way she was doing this. Did she actually hear herself right now? She was going to be punished until she was 65.

"Out?" her mother hissed. She was seething, steam practically visibly coming from her ears.

"Yes," Her voice was shaking.

What are you thinking? she thought. Turn around! Save yourself now!

"And where, pray tell, are you going?"

Casey planted her feet on the ground and took a deep breath. There was no going back now, she told herself; there was no point in backing down.

"To Magic Kingdom," she said. "To help my friends."

"Oh no you're not."

Her mother reached and grabbed her by the arm. Not turning to face her yet, Casey felt tears fighting to fall again. She was about to give up, walk inside and tell Finn that she couldn't come, but then she remembered why she'd idolized him, and all the Keepers, in the first place: they always put saving Disney above all else, even when they were terrified. She thought of all the times Liam had lied to his Mom in the books, the times Darren had cried about concealing things from his parents, the time Sophia had snuck out while grounded just to help save Olivia when she was in SBS. They were all afraid, they all faced consequences, but they found every ounce of their courage and did it anyway. She thought about their real faces that had looked her in the eyes, and, taking a deep breath, turned around to face her mother.