Rating: Rated T for violence and dark themes.

This is the sequel to The Happiest Place. Please read that work first to better understand the events of this story.

Disclaimer: I own none of the locations or characters depicted here.

The first thing Merida knew was a kind of sleepy weightlessness. Like those moments where she wasn't quite awake and no longer asleep. That place that was sort of in-between. The trouble was that it seemed to stretch on for a long time. Too long. She tried to move, just little, but nothing happened. From somewhere off in the distance, she thought she could just make out the sound of muffled voices. What was going on?

The world seemed to shudder and a light appeared behind her eyelids. When she blinked them open, she was nearly blinded by how bright everything suddenly was. Wincing, she held up a hand to shield her face. That was when she saw the strange golden sparkles that dripped from her fingertips. Checking herself through squinting eyes, she quickly realized that it wasn't just her fingers. The glitter stuck to her hands, her dress, her hair. Everything. With a note of disgust, she tried to brush them off. They didn't budge. Instead, they flickered a few times before finally winking out altogether. She turned her hands over a few times to make sure they were gone. At the sound of a soft cough, Merida looked around.

She wasn't alone.

A whole crowd of people stood around her. There was a cluster of girls in fancy, brightly colored dresses. Men and women and children wearing all sorts of outlandish clothes. Stranger still were the other… things. Merida wasn't quite sure what to call them. Most seemed to be animals of all sorts, whole groups of them standing up on their hind legs. No matter who or what they were, however, every pair of eyes still watched her expectantly. There wasn't a single familiar face among them.

"Er…"

She felt something tugging at her skirt. Looking down, she saw three black bear cubs staring up at her. They leaned against her legs, grasping her skirt for support as they tried to stay upright.

"You're bears?" she asked, but her brothers looked just as confused as she felt. Hubert did his best to shrug.

Merida wracked her brain, trying to figure out what happened. The last thing she could remember was riding through the woods along the edge of the loch with her mother. After that… nothing. And last she'd seen of the boys, they'd been human. The spell was broken! So, how were they bears again? Coming up empty, she looked around at their surroundings for some kind of sign as to what was going on.

On the far side of the crowd was a statue of a man holding the hand of some sort of creature with big, round ears. Behind her was a stone building with blue, pointed roofs topped with gilded spires. Was that supposed to be a castle? Not a single thing about the place was recognizable to her.

Turning back to the still-waiting crowd, she asked, "Um… where are we?"

One of the creatures stepped away from the crowd and walked up to her. It was small, with round ears, and dressed in shades of red and yellow nearly bright enough to make her eyes water. Merida's gaze snapped to the nearby statue. It appeared to be the same one.

"The name's Mickey," it said in a high-pitched squeak of a voice. "Mickey Mouse. Welcome to Disneyland."

It held out one gloved hand out to her, but all Merida could do was stare. She'd never seen a mouse that looked like that before. It seemed to realize her confusion because it quickly drew back its hand and cleared its throat.

"The characters – me included – are here to formally welcome you to the Happiest Place on Earth, Princess Merida."

That came as a shock.

"How d'you know my name?"

The mouse thing shrugged. "We know all about you, and your brothers. Uh." It paused and shot a quick look at the three boys. "I think one of them might be Harry…"

"Hamish, Hubert, and Harris," she corrected. "And you still haven't answered my question."

Several members of the crowd began whispering to one another. A ginger boy all in green hovered over their heads. How in the world was he doing that?

"Yeah, uh…" She looked at the "mouse" again, who now sported an apologetic grimace. Gesturing around, it said, "This place is Disneyland, open now for almost fifty-seven years, and we are its characters. Each of us came here from a different story. You're the latest arrivals."

A brown-haired girl in a yellow dress cleared her throat and started reading from the board she held in her hands. "Brave, a Pixar Animation Studios film. Released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, co-directed by Steve Purcell. Written by–"

"We got it, Belle. Thank you," the mouse said, cutting her off. Belle frowned and propped the board against her hip. "These stories? Well, plenty of other people know them. They come here to see us. And now to see you, too."

Something about that just felt… right, although Merida couldn't quite place why. The mouse had barely scratched the surface of answering her questions, but what it said still stirred something in her. Her words – her own words – briefly flashed through her mind. "Our stories are not yet legends." From what this thing told her, she was coming to the conclusion that that wasn't quite true. Others knew what happened? What others?

"Now, I know this is a lot to take in at once, so we'll keep this as slow as possible to start. The first thing you'll need is–"

"Hold on just a minute."

Everyone looked around at the sound of the new voice. The crowd parted to reveal a small group of newcomers. The three of them looked almost human. Almost. In the sunlight, their skin had a strange sort of shine to it. Their eyes were too big, too wide. Not lifeless, but not quite real all the same. Merida couldn't help but stare at them. While the other two stopped, the one in the lead took another couple steps forward. His gait was long-limbed and loose. With a lazy flick of a finger, he popped back his wide-brimmed hat, giving her a better look at his altogether too long face.

"Sorry we're late to the party," he said. "We all just figured that, y'know, since she's one of us, she'd pop up over in DCA."

"She's a Princess, Woody. Why would she be over there?"

The speaker was a girl around Merida's age with brilliantly red hair. The too-tall man – Woody – scowled at her.

"Because she's Pixar. That's why."

Merida stared at him in confusion. "Pix-what?"

Her question was ignored. Instead, one of the other two that had arrived with Woody skirted around him to reach Merida. She was also gangly with a wide hat perched atop her head. Her red hair was pulled back into a single braid tied off with a yellow ribbon.

"Well, look at you! Merida, right? The name's Jessie." She grabbed Merida's hand and shook it enthusiastically as she said with a grin, "Good to meet ya! Been too long since we had another redhead from the studio!"

Jessie's hand was too cool, too smooth. Definitely not human. Merida tried to carefully pull back.

Meanwhile, the argument had only worsened, with others now adding to the commotion caused by the original two's bickering. The third newcomer had joined in as well. He was stockier than his companions, and covered head-to-toe in white and green armored plates. Mickey hastily stepped in, even though the mouse was easily one of the shortest there, and raised its gloved hands.

"Hey!" The gathered crowd all stopped shouting at one another and looked down. Once it had their attention, the mouse went on, "There's still more we need to figure out, and arguing isn't going to get it done any faster."

"I say we should all be civil and hear him out," the armored man said. Giving his companion a look, he asked, "Right, Woody?"

Woody just stood with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes.

"Sure, Buzz. Fine. Whatever."

"The floor's all yours, Mickey," Buzz said, gesturing to the mouse.

"Thanks." Clearing his throat, Mickey went on, "These four are new arrivals, so they'll need mentors. Now, the boys might take a little more thinking, but the choice for Merida's obvious. And that'd be Ariel."

"What?" Jessie gasped.

"Hold on. Pixar characters always get partnered with Pixar characters," Buzz said with a frown.

"But she isn't just a Pixar character, is she?" Belle pointed out. "She's a Princess. She definitely could be the eleventh on the official roster."

There was that word again. Pixar.

"She's one of us," Woody insisted, pointing an accusing finger at the mouse. "She belongs with us. Not some mermaid."

Jessie was nodding. Other members of the crowd had started to shout their own opinions for good measure. Merida let out a soft tch and shook her head. It was all reminding her too much of the arrival of the three lords, and she didn't like that one bit.

"Hey, stop! Enough!"

Once again, the crowd quieted to turn their attention on Mickey.

"In case everyone forgot, Ariel's head of California Adventure," he said, loud enough so everyone was sure to hear him. "That means Merida'd be over there for most of her time off-stage. Got it?"

He stared at the so-called "Pixar" characters as he spoke. While the three of them looked disgruntled, none of them said another word. Clapping his gloved hands together, Mickey asked, "All right. What d'you say, Ariel?"

The red-haired girl who argued with Woody in the first place nodded.

"I accept," she said.

Polite clapping rose from many people in the crowd, although many still seemed on edge from the argument.

"So, when are our parents going to get here?" Merida asked.

Mickey turned to look at her. "What?"

"Y'know, our mum and dad?" Merida gestured to herself and her brothers. "Where are they?"

Just like that, everyone began to look uncomfortable again. Many of them refused to meet her eye. Mickey scuffed the toe of one of his yellow shoes against the ground and cleared his throat again.

"Well, you see, when characters arrive from the different films, not everybody makes the transition," he said slowly. "You and your brothers… you're the only ones that're coming."

"Except the wisps," Belle said, looking at her board again. "Maybe."

"Not helping," Ariel hissed at her.

Merida's gaze snapped between the three of them.

"Well, can we just go back?" she asked. Mickey just shook his head.

What they were saying slowly began to dawn on Merida. Their parents weren't coming, and they couldn't go home.

"No," she said, taking a step back and shaking her head. Her lower lip trembled. "No, this can't be happening."

"Oh dear," one of the other girls whispered, this one with black hair.

Merida had just gotten her mother back. Now she was never going to see her again. The girl felt tears welling up in her eyes and she hastily tried to wipe them away on her sleeve. Her brothers continued to cling to her skirt. Hubert let out a whimper of confusion and distress. Kneeling down, she hugged the boys, squeezing her eyes shut as she did. Were the four of them really all that was left?

At the sound of footsteps, she looked up. Mickey stood right in front of them now, looking solemn.

"I know this might not mean much," he said, "but we've all lost somebody. We understand."

Members of the crowd started nodding and murmuring words of assent.

"It's gonna be tough, I won't pretend otherwise, but I know what you're capable of," he went on. "I know what you've been through already. If anyone can make it, it's you kids. Now, Ariel's gonna be your mentor. That means she'll show you the ropes, explain how everything works. Get you used to living in Disneyland. That sound okay?"

Merida sniffed and wiped at her eyes again before nodding. When Mickey beckoned, Ariel stepped forward. She wore a shimmering, blue-green dress with puffy sleeves. Like Merida, she had blue eyes, though her red hair was wavy rather than curled.

Crouching down, Ariel offered her a hand. Merida took it and let the other girl pull her to her feet.

"Come on," Ariel said, nodding to the drawbridge. "We don't have long, but I can show you around the castle, at least."

"Wait. What about the boys?"

She looked back at her brothers, who were watching her.

"I've got it covered," Mickey said.

He whistled, and three balls of light flew in from beneath the castle drawbridge. At first Merida thought they were wisps. Then they landed nearby and transformed into three short women. One was dressed entirely in pink, the second in green, and the last in blue. Seeing them, Merida was reminded very much of Maudie.

"Don't you fret dear," the green one said to Merida. "We'll keep an eye on your brothers."

"A very close eye," the one in blue added. She was watching the boys intently. Merida got the feeling that she was ready for whatever trouble the boys would get into, though Maudie always thought she was prepared as well. At least there were three of them. It might almost be enough to deal with the wee devils. She wished them luck with that.

The crowd began to disperse. Grabbing her arm, Ariel led her across the drawbridge to the castle. Merida caught a brief glimpse of what looked like a small village on the other side before being steered abruptly right through a doorway and up some stairs.

The stone halls were lit by flickering candlelight. At least this much felt familiar. Before long, Ariel stopped at a door.

"So, this is where you're going to stay for now," she said, opening it. Merida peered inside.

Two windows on the far wall let in sunlight, illuminating the room. A few tapestries lined the otherwise bare stone walls. There were four beds, one for each of the DunBroch children. They'd been ready for them.

Mounted on the far wall, to the right of the windows, was a strange sort of thin rectangular box fronted with black glass. Merida walked over to it and tapped it with a finger. Strange.

"The Park's opening soon, so we need to hurry if we want to get through everything else important in the castle," Ariel called to her. Giving the room one last look, Merida walked back to join her in the doorway. Shutting it again, the other girl added, "Anyway, welcome home."