The Relics of Álvaro

Chapter 22: After Darkness

Iss walked out into the empty street. Small pieces of left-over popcorn lined the streets, and forgotten park maps and food wrappers lay sprawled open as if they were trampled upon by a stampede. James, Delia, and Katie walked out from the Emporium and took in the sight.

“I’ve been to Disneyland at nighttime, but never when it’s this …dead” Katie said slowly, bending down and picking up one of the abandoned park maps. She turned it to the front.

“It says that they close at Midnight. Well, today is Friday, right?” she asked, looking at James. He nodded in reply. “Yea, so they are open until midnight” Katie stated, looking up at the other three. They shrugged and looked confused. “Iss, what time is it?” Iss looked at his wrist. His watch wasn’t there.

“Uh, I could tell you if I still had my watch. Must’ve been hijacked by Barbossa or something …” he said. Katie turned around and began to walk down Main Street. She looked up and down to see if there was a clock nearby.

“I’m not sure if we should be here …” Delia said, wringing her hands nervously. .

“What do you mean, Delia? It’s awesome that we’re here when nobody else is. It’s like heaven on earth” James replied with a smile. Delia sighed and muttered something that James couldn’t hear. Katie returned several minutes later.

“I found one in one of the shop windows. The time is 2:00 in the morning” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“What?!” Delia asked loudly. Iss sighed.

“Deals, its not that bad, I mean come on, how often do you get to be in a park when little annoying kids don’t aren’t running around and screaming ‘I wanna get an ottygraff from Tigger!!’” He said sarcastically. Delia turned around to him and shook her head.

“Do you seriously have no responsibility, Mister ‘I know it all’!” she snapped back. Katie and James turned to each other, rolling their eyes.

“What’s your problem? I didn’t know you were restricted by a curfew at Disneyland, of all places.” Iss said back.

“You must have no brains at all, Zach. I do not like to be out late in a foreign area. Do you know what dangers can harm us?” she snapped. Iss rolled his eyes.

“Oh yeah, is that right? Well if I don’t have brains, then you must not have any common sense, because you have to have common sense to know someone!”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Delia retorted, glaring at Iss. Iss shrugged her reply off.

“Of course it doesn’t, to someone who doesn’t have any common sense” He spat back angrily. Delia growled angrily and raised her hands. A yellow light came from her fingertips and shot into the night air.

“You know what, you can just stop talking to me!” she yelled. The yellow light hovered over their heads and shot down directly toward them. They all scrambled, besides Iss. He looked up to see the light falling down quickly.

“What the…” he gasped. The light slowed down and finally hit him between the eyes. It spread out onto his face and then to his shoulders and lower body. Delia had a satisfied look on her face.

Katie looked at James again.

“Aren’t you going to do anything to stop their babbling?” Katie asked pleadingly. James sighed and shook his head.

“Don’t worry, they always have their rows together, let them fix this one” He told her, nodding firmly. She rolled her eyes and pushed James.

“Are you an idiot or something? You don’t even care; you are just too lazy to do anything!” Katie exclaimed as her face turned bright red.

“Did you just call me an idiot, Katie?” James asked angrily. She put her hands to her sides and looked at him like he was a small child.

“What, did you not hear me? Yes I did, Mr. ‘I can’t make my own decisions!” she yelled.

“You know what? We all need to calm down!” James yelled over their bickering. Everyone turned to him, startled at how loud he had spoken.

“What do you know, James? Yea, that’s right, you know nothing about fights!” Delia exclaimed, turning around. “Katie, come with me. You boys can go wherever you want. Us girls ” Iss looked at James quickly.

“But…but what about the quest?” James asked quickly as the two girls began to walk away.

“Oh, I’m sure that the rides are still open. You can go do whatever you want” Delia said, and they walked off into the Castle Forecourt. James sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Girls” he stressed. Iss nodded in agreement.

“Well, at least we can be without ‘Miss Opinionated’. Come on, lets go explore” Iss said bluntly.

“But …but they just up and left!” James protested.

“So? Don’t be so worried. You did say that being at Disneyland after dark is like heaven. Besides, the lights are still on” he said, smiling.

“Yes, I guess it will be ok. Let’s go ride Big Thunder or Space Mountain or something” James said, excited. Iss curved his eyebrows.

“I’d rather explore the kingdom than just sit on some cheesy ride” Iss said. James nodded in agreement.

“Sure, let’s walk around Frontierland first” James said excitedly.

“Wait, where is that park map that Katie had? I want to see some of the lands so that I’ll know where to go and what’s in them and stuff”. James looked around but didn’t see the map anywhere in sight.

“I guess I’ll just have to conjure one up” James said coolly. Iss nodded. James held his hands up. “Forces of power, from the great winding trap, relieve us of confusion, and bring us a map!” he said shakily.

“‘Great winding trap’?” Iss asked sullenly. James shrugged. Nothing was happening. “Here, let me try” Iss said, pulling the sleeves of his shirt back.

“Forces of Disney bring forth a map!” Iss said in a deep, commanding voice. Suddenly, the air around them picked up and became a speeding wind that almost knocked them over. A thin piece of paper flew toward them and then stopped midair.

“See that? Pure, easy magic without even the slightest hint of a cheap rhyme.” He said proudly. James nodded, although he didn’t agree that Iss didn’t have to rhyme.

“Well, let’s look at it” James said, reaching his hand out to it. As soon as he touched the map, it sent a shock through his body. “Ouch!” he exclaimed, jumping back. Iss shook his head and tried to touch it. He didn’t get shocked, but as soon as he had touched it, the map grew larger. As soon as it became the size of a table, they could both see each land in the Disneyland Resort, both in Disneyland and California Adventure.

“Hey, what’s that big mountain?” Iss asked, scratching his chin.

“It’s the Matterhorn. Why?”

“Looks pretty cool. Can you climb it?”

“Uh…no…” James replied uneasily, “But I wouldn’t if I were you. I heard one time that this guy tried to climb it and he like fell off of it or something” James replied. Iss looked at him for a moment and then shrugged.

“Well that doesn’t really matter. I’m not ‘some guy’” he said, crossing his arms. James shook his head.

“I really don’t want to climb a fake mountain in the middle of the night with nobody else around” James stated, crossing his arms like Iss had.

“Fine, I can understand not climbing up a mountain for once in your lifetime. Anyway, where do you want to go, then?” He asked. James turned around to survey Main Street. All of the shop lights were still on, and music came quietly from speakers.

“Let’s take a ride on the Disneyland Railroad!” James said suddenly.

“Sure. Where is it?” Iss asked vaguely.

“Follow me” James said simply. They both walked down Main Street, looking at the different shops and stalls. When they reached the train station, Iss took a good look at his surroundings.

“Ok, I have to admit…” he began, pausing “…that this place looks cool. Even at nighttime, it looks awesome” he said quickly.

“Yup, I’ve always thought that” James replied happily. He pointed and they both walked up the stairs to the railroad station. James led him through a small gate and they stepped out into a waiting area. No train was in the station.

“Uh, where’s the train?” Iss asked frankly. James turned to him and looked nervous.

“Well, the train only comes around in cycles. There are several trains on the track at different times, and it goes around the full park. There’s a narrator and some cool scenes that you see as you pass along” James answered.

“And how does that have anything to do with the train being here now?” Iss asked arrogantly. James glared at him and sighed. “Look, I don’t know when it’ll come around again, so we might as well try to conjure it.” Iss nodded.

“Fair enough, ‘I su…” James stopped him suddenly.

“Hey, how would you know how to conjure a train? Don’t you remember what happened with the map just minutes ago?” James asked. Iss turned around to James, his hands in the air.

“Fine, you try it.” James nodded gracefully and unsheathed his staff. He raised it in the air and commanded it to become a full staff. It transformed itself quickly and he smiled.

“From all the forces of magic and Disney…. bring us the Disneyland Railroad!” James said loudly, waving the staff around. For a moment, the staff did nothing, but it suddenly began to shake in his hand. He raised his other hand and clasped the hilt with both hands.

Suddenly, a deep red light poured out of the staff and flew around the two teenagers. It swam around their heads and plunged toward the ground, smoothing itself out onto the railroad track. It ran along the length of the track and finally became out of sight to them.

“Oh, so when you do it again, it works perfectly” Iss taunted, folding his arms. James shrugged and smiled in satisfaction.

“At least yours worked on the fi…” James was stopped by a loud whistle in the air. The ground began to shake, and the railroad tracks shook and trembled. Iss stepped back, his eyes widening. The trembling became more violent, making the ground below them shift slightly.

“What’s happening?” Iss asked. Immediately, a booming noise came within the tunnel that the tracks went into. James smiled proudly, and moments later, a red train zoomed out of the tunnel. Iss jumped back.

“What the cr…,” he was soon drowned out by the loud whining of the train’s rails coming to a halt.

“I present to you the Disneyland Railroad” James told Iss. Iss sighed and looked James squarely in the eyes.

“You actually expect me to ride that? It’s a fake train” he said.

“If it were a fake train, then could it ride perfectly well on a real track?” James asked quizzically.

“Pfft.” Iss scoffed and walked toward the front of the train. He looked around the front compartment.

“So, do you know how to operate a train?” James asked. Iss turned and silently tapped the side of the front compartment with his knuckles.

“Well, I tried to drive a golf cart once when I was fourteen…but I’m pretty sure they’re not the same.” Iss said, giving a worried look at the operator’s seat. James titled his head to one side.

“What happened to the golf cart?” he questioned nervously. Iss smiled mischievously.

“I drove it into the pond and had to be fished out” Iss retorted sarcastically. James rolled his eyes in reply.

“Uh huh…” he said slowly. “Should I trust you with driving a train, Iss?” James asked bluntly. Iss rolled his eyes and sat down on the conductor’s seat.

“All aboard” Iss said unenthusiastically. James smiled and climbed into the train and sat down close to the conductor’s compartment. Iss reached forward and pulled a lever, flicked several switches on, and pressed a large red button. The train began to move as he did so, and they sat back, prepared for the journey ahead.