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Most people would find solace in an abandoned beach hut resting along the shore of a soothing tide.
But not Judge Claude Frollo.
Frollo was a type of soul who could find fault in paradise itself. And while a certain sympathy for his current plight was not amiss (he found himself in an unfamiliar setting with no recollection of why, just like several other inhabitants of this place who he had not met) the fury with which his makeshift staff combatted the accursed cocoanut tree that refused to relinquish its bounty clearly stemmed from an insuppressible belief that the world was conspiring against him.
Day and night had swapped places in the time it had taken Frollo to accomplish nothing in the pursuit of obtaining a meal. But as one final strike of the staff against the trunk severed the tip into splinters, he had no rational action left except to hurl what remained of it like a javelin at the palms above. A few seconds later came a splash as the staff hit the calm waters in the moonlight.
A growl appeared in Frollo's throat, building into what may have been a word he'd never dared utter until this very moment, but the slow burn was untimely snuffed by the sudden appearance of Kronk.
"Wow!" he laughed. "What are the odds I'd just stumble across another castaway?"
The large man carried an armful of fruits and vegetables that he'd collected from the jungle; a massive armful that towered over Kronk's head with a defiance of physics.
"What do you want?" snapped Frollo, more violated by the intrusion than surprised to discover he hadn't in fact been alone.
Kronk waved his free hand reassuringly. "Easy there, big guy. Just got turned around. Have you seen a woman? Dark hair? Tiara? About so tall?"
Frollo eyed him suspiciously. "Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry. The name's Kronk." He put his hand out but seemed not to notice Frollo's refusal to take it. "So do you live here alone or are you as confused as the rest of us are?"
"The rest of you?"
"Yeah, we've got this talking panther, and Jasmine, and this serious looking guy up in a tree. What else? A couple of fireflies, a bunny, I think I saw a whale but it may have been a weather balloon."
Frollo rolled his eyes and gave one more scowl to the top of the tree that had been mocking him.
"Here, let me help you with that." Kronk bumped the trunk with his shoulder and a loose cocoanut landed in Frollo's hands.
"How did you do that?"
"It's all in the leverage." Kronk demonstrated again. "Center of gravity. Listen, if you're hungry I can whip you up something pretty quick."
Frollo was about to protest, but a second cocoanut hit him on the head. By the time he'd steadied himself from the dizziness, Kronk had half of the food he'd been carrying minced and diced with a stone shard and laid out like a buffet.
Kronk grinned. "There's nothing paprika can't fix."
Frollo tentatively reached for an hors d'oeuvre as Kronk leaned in hoping for a culinary response. "So, you're not from here..."
"Nope. Not even sure where here is. If you got any details, feel free to jump in. Been thinking about it though. Best I can figure, there's been some natural catastrophe that warped reality itself, sending a few hapless survivors thousands of years into the future where rock monsters have taken over the world forcing all of the plants to huddle together on a tropical island. Either that or we're all part of some kid's imagination."
It was clear to Frollo that Kronk was hardly an intellectual, and he pondered the various ways he could ask the man to leave, searching for the most proper. But before he could narrow the list down, a soft female voice was heard in the darkness.
"Kronk?" said Jasmine, elated to see him after she and Elsa had been trudging through the darkness.
"Jasmine!" he beamed. "You made it! You ladies hungry?"
"Starving," she giggled. She composed herself to her royal demeanor as she turned to Frollo. "Good evening." Frollo didn't respond.
Kronk jumped in. "Oh, sorry. This is Jasmine. I probably mentioned her earlier. And this is..." he gave Frollo a confused look. "Actually we haven't completely met."
"Judge Claude Frollo," said Frollo.
"He sounds kind of important," Kronk gave an aside to Jasmine, unaware that his whisper was audible enough for all four people.
Jasmine exquisitely held out her hand to Frollo. "Princess," she emphasized, "Jasmine." Frollo looked displeased as he took her hand. "And this is my friend Elsa."
Elsa curtseyed politely.
"The name's Kronk." He gestured to the spread of produce. "Help yourself. I'll see about getting a fire going."
"Now hold on-" Frollo said, but his protests were interrupted by Jasmine.
"That's really sweet of you Kronk. Where's Bagheera?"
"I think he was happier in the woods."
"He was," came a deep feline voice from the opposite direction. Frollo blinked when he saw the talking beast but dismissed it out of necessity. "Then he picked up another one of your kind." The panther stepped lightly onto the sand with the human shape hanging back in the brush. "Come on," Bagheera prodded him.
"Hey, I recognize that guy!" said Kronk.
"His name is Tarzan? Apparently?" Bagheera coaxed the ape-man out of his cover.
"The more the merrier!"
"I beg to differ!" Frollo regained the group's focus. "I'm pleased everyone has found each other, but this happens to be my territory. I have not invited any of you onto it."
Nobody but the panther seemed to know how to respond. "And you're laying claim based on..."
"I was here first!" Frollo snapped, refusing to acknowledge the sheer immaturity of the defense.
"Human," snickered Bagheera, "You're not in one of your precious villages. You're in the wilderness. And your kind only survives in the wilderness as a tribe."
"Did you just threaten me, animal?"
"If there's a threat, it's not from me. I'm just giving you a reality. Anyone here wants to live? You stay together. You want to wander off to prove something? It's you're own life in your hands."
The waves lapped at the shore in a soft rhythm, and for a few moments no one said anything. But finally Elsa spoke, with a timid finality. "I think we should stick together." Jasmine smiled at her, and Kronk to himself. Tarzan watched Frollo carefully.
"Fine," said the judge. "The hut is mine."
"Aw come one, guy," said Kronk, giving him a friendly punch in the shoulder. "For one night, let the ladies have the hut. We all get some sleep and tomorrow we'll see about building us something stronger."
"And we try to figure this whole thing out," added Jasmine.
Frollo huffed. This wasn't a debate worth having. And he had to admit, if only to himself, that the panther was correct. He filled his mouth with food and waited for Kronk to get the fire built. A short time later there was warmth and light. Bagheera had curled up on the sand and Kronk was chattering non-stop to Frollo and Tarzan, neither of whom were participating in the conversation.
Elsa had rinsed off the slab where the food had been so as to not attract insects and Jasmine invited her to come over to the fire.
"I'm fine, really," she insisted.
"It's getting chilly out."
"I hadn't noticed."
"You know, you never mentioned where you were from."
"Arendelle. It's a much colder climate."
"Do you have family?"
"I have a sister," said Elsa, barely making eye contact.
In their walk to the beach from the yeti's lair, Elsa hadn't said much. Jasmine had tried talking to her, but Elsa was withdrawn at best. "I do want to apologize."
"Apologize? For what?"
"I think we're all pretty terrified right now. Maybe I've been trying a little too hard. If you just need space..."
"No," said Elsa, meaning yes, "I was thinking to myself."
She trailed off. Jasmine gave her a few moments of silence before accepting that Elsa wouldn't be returning to the conversation on her own. "Do you need me to pry a bit?"
"Oh, that's all right." Elsa smiled. "I'm just wondering. How many of us do you think there are out here?"
The flames on the candelabra ignited on their own producing a green light that cast a gloomy filter through the single roomed library. "Curiouser and curiouser," said Alice.
"That's the fifth time you've said that," said Meg as she removed a book from the shelf and flipped through it. "The pages." She held them up for Alice to see. "Completely blank."
"What do you suppose made the candles come to life?"
Meg pulled another book down and confirmed it was also devoid of words. "I think someone knows we're here."
"Do you believe in an afterlife?" asked Alice.
Meg shot her a look that she honestly didn't deserve but it couldn't be helped. "Believe? Doll, you believe in things you've never seen. I don't have to believe in an afterlife."
"What a delightfully unique answer."
Meg moved behind a table to examine an open book with some writing in it. "Well, as long as you're delighted, it makes skulking around the mystic manor worthwhile. Does this mean anything to you? '1 Rowboat, 20 ft. clothesline, 1 Canary-colour Gypsy Cart and 6 Chickens'."
Alice thought. "It isn't an acrostic. Do the numbers happen to correspond to a letter in the words that follow?"
"Not that I can tell. It's probably just somebody's market list." Meg tried to remove a quill from its inkwell, but the liquid had long since solidified. "Do you have any idea what we're looking for?"
"I think we'll know when we find it." Alice ran her fingers over a large globe next to the table, which seemed locked in place. A large suit of armor stood attentively in the corner of the room. She stepped towards it to get a better look.
"Don't touch that!" said Meg, startling the young girl. "Sorry," she added, "just...woman's intuition."
"Miss Meg, do you think this place is haunted?"
Meg's eyes shifted from Alice to the green candles, to the armor, and back. "No, Lilies. I think something much worse is here."
"Thank you for staying with me. This place would be particularly nightmarish without a friend."
"I'm a lot of things, but I'm not heartless." Reflexively, Meg went down a row on the shelf, tipping books forward in succession to see if anything triggered. "Are you still stuck on the idea that this is all a dream?"
"I'm thinking along those lines. Have you heard of he collective unconscious?"
"Only as it pertains to the political structure."
A small glow appeared in the darkness where Meg was searching the bookcase. At first she thought it was an afterimage from the candles. But then it grew. And hovered in front of her face like a wisp. It commanded her attention. Alice was still speaking, but Meg had stopped listening to her, finding this luminous orb captivating. She forgot about the library. And Alice. And the imposing fortress they had voluntarily strolled into. There was only this light in the darkness.
Beckoning.
"...So it's possible," continued Alice, while taking Meg's lead in checking another shelf for passageway triggers, "that all sentient beings who dream have this 'realm' as it were, beyond the physical, where their minds can be free to touch each other. So it's possible that I am dreaming right now, and you're merely a character in my dream. Or it's equally possible that I am merely a character in a dream that you are dreaming. Or, it is conceivable that this is a dream we are both having, from substantially different perspectives. Perhaps, as the verse goes, life is but a dream."
She stepped back from the bookcase as her efforts caused it to split neatly in half and swing inwards from opposite fulcrums. Alice smiled at her accomplishment.
"And with persistence, the pathway is opened."
At the very least, she was expecting a snide remark. But none came. She glanced at the place where her friend had previously been standing, only to find it vacant.
"Miss Meg?"
There was no answer.
"Meg?" she called louder.
Nothing. Meg was no longer there.
"Miss Megara!" She cried one more time in vain, with a noticeable quiver in her voice.
Alice was alone.
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