"Okay, so after we get the wand, you four," Mal points at Carlos, Evie, Jay, and I. "Will go and get a limo as fast as you can. Evie, you still got the spray?"

Evie gives a small nod. 

"Okay, so I'll be up front, and once I have it we'll all go for the door. Shouldn't be too hard, once we have the wand there's not going to be much they can do." Mal chokes for a minute then goes on. "So we'll go to the Isle and bring the barrier down. Then, y'know." 

"Auradon will be the villain's." I finish softly. Every time I have doubts about this plan, I remember the look on my mother's----my mother's----face. No matter what I've tried, I can't get myself to go back to who I was. I even tried dyeing my hair, but it just slipped off. 

"Okay." Mal repeats. "Let's go. If we stay in here much longer, they'll think we're hiding. We can't hide. Because we're rotten." She sighs. "To the core."

"To the core." We chorus halfheartedly back. I quickly learned this was something they say. A lot.

Mal grabs her bag and shoves her book in. We're all still wearing our garden party outfits, but Evie gave me a dark blue leather jacket that she had made after I had asked her. She apologized for taking so long, but I told her it didn't matter. 

Mal leaves first and we all follow her. We find an empty picnic table and sit down. Mal takes out her book and rifles through it with glazed eyes. Not a moment after we sit down, Ben appears. 

"Hey, guys." he says cheerily. "How is everyone? Yeah?" 

None of us look up. I don't want to see how he looks at me if I do glance up.

"Hey, listen. Forget about it.All right? It was nothing. Forget about it. Let it go. Tomorrow, after the coronation, I promise everything will be okay."

None of us are listening. Evie glances up once but doesn't say anything. Mal just stares ahead. Ben leans down next to her. "I have to go." He whispers. He sighs with his hands on her shoulders. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." He lets go of Mal and walks off.

Doug comes up right after. "Listen, Evie, I wanna talk about earlier today. I just---"

"Doug!" Chad yells from the table next to ours. Doug jerks around to look at him. 

"It's my fault, Doug, I'm sorry." Evie whispers.

"No, it's mine---"

"Doug!" Chad yells again, more insistent. 

Doug turns around again. "What?"

Chad glares at him. I get it before Evie does. But she does soon after. 

"Doug..." She whispers, barely breathing. 

Doug starts to back away. "I'm sorry, I can't." He walks to Chad, slumping down on the table without actually looking at them. "Okay."

Evie looks ready to cry as she slams her notebook shut. I put my hand on her shoulder before snatching it back, remembering I don't have gloves anymore. But she smiles at me anyways. 

And then, just when none of us could feel any worse, Jane and Audrey come over. 

"How long does she think that's going to last?" Audrey whispers loudly. "Mal is just the bad girl infatuation. And Ellie? I mean, seriously? We never took the Ice Queen seriously, but she's really filled her shoes in."

Jane laughs. "Yeah. Mal," She leans down next to Mal's ear. "He's never going to make a villain a Queen." She glances sidelong at me. "Not that you need it, Ice Queen." She smiles sweetly as I finally look up with everybody else at the table. To my surprise, none of the VK's look angry. Just... hurt. And scared.

Audrey and Jane burst into witch laughter and stalk off. I push myself off the table and stalk over. "Hey! Hurt me all you want, but leave my friends alone! I swear you'll regret it if you hurt any of them again. Today was your fault!"

Audrey just laughs again. "Oh, look. She's threatening us! How cute! Right, Chad?"

Chad smirks. Doug doesn't look up, his face turning a bright pink. Chad stands up and stalks over to me. "Well, Ice Queen, look around you. What do you see?"

"Sunny weather." Jane puts in.

"Like that'll stop me." I tell her, putting my hand up and letting ice flow off it in mist. She whimpers a bit and backs up. 

"No." Chad corrects, wagging his finger. "I see a bunch of kids. You can't possibly hit all of us. Any move against us, and somebody will go get Fairy Godmother to send you all to the Isle. Or back to the Isle, in some cases."

Carlos gets up. "She has better aim than you do, Chad. She made the tourney team long before you got in!"

"How would you know that?" Chad asks. 

"Ummmm...." Carlos goes red and sits back down. Even though this probably isn't the time, I have to suppress a tiny grin. Chad notices. 

"You think this is funny? You brought this," He grabs a chunk of my snowy hair and yanks on it hard enough for me to yelp. "Upon yourself. FG's deadline was your choice. And you made the wrong one." He shoves me backward with my scalp still stinging and I fall against the table. I groan and rub my back. Now my head isn't the only thing bruising.

Mal opens her spellbook. "Beware, forswear, undo Jane's hair." She says quickly. 

Jane's hair shrinks back into her head, bringing the bob cut back. She shrieks in surprise as she suddenly becomes the laughingstock. Carlos helps me off the table.

"Ew!" Chad says. Lonnie quickly checks her own hair to make sure she still has it. The four VK's stand up and walk over. 

"There's a lot more where that came from." Mal says. Her voice is steady, surprisingly. 

"Excuse me, who do you think you are?" Audrey demands. She has a big grin on her face.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Mal snaps. Audrey's grin vanishes. Mal opens her spellbook up and starts turning pages swiftly. Kids back up and scatter from us. 

Mal takes a deep breath in and turns back to us. Carlos quickly lets go of me.

"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow." Mal says. She slams her spellbook shut. "Let's grab that wand and blow this popsicle stand." She walks past us all and we get up to follow her.

________________________________________

"We've gone over the plan a million times, Mal." Carlos finally says after we've gone over it again. I've been counting, it's actually only been three hundred forty-nine, but whatever. 

She growls and slams her book shut. "Fine! We can take a break."

"It's midnight." I point out. "I'm going back to my dorm before somebody calls the police or something."

Mal sighs, rubbing her forehead. "Fine. See you tomorrow, Ellie. Don't forget to drop by so Evie can give you your dress."

I whirl on Evie. "You made me a dress? I was just going to wear my one of my mom's old gowns!"

Evie gives s small smile. "And that is exactly why I made it. I'll give it to you tomorrow, but I need to finish it first. Shoo!" She swipes her hands towards the door. I laugh and walk out. Carlos and Jay say goodbye as well and walk to their own dorm. I sigh and lean against the wall. I close my eyes and try to imagine what Auradon will look like in less than a day. Auradon will never be the same. And what if we lose? What if FG is somehow able to get all the villains back on the Isle, and this time I'm with them?

I groan and press the heels of my palms to my eyes. I'm sleep-deprived. That's where these thoughts are coming from, I tell myself. 

I sigh and push off the wall, going to my dorm. Normally Jane would have the lights on, doing and redoing her makeup to practice for the next day, but it's pitch-black in there. Not even Jane's normal mouse-shaped nightlight is on. I should be curious at this point, but sleep is making me lazy. I just feel my way to my bed and try to sit down.

Then someone puts their hand on my mouth.

Sleep flees in an instant, and my hands jump up to try and get them off, but someone else shoves gloves on my hands that clamp on, sticking to my skin like a glue that burns. I squeak in pain and try to pry the hand off my mouth so I can scream. Where is Jane? Bad or not, she wouldn't sit by and let this happen!

Audrey! She must be in Audrey's dorm!

The light flicks on to show three figures dressed in black. I wrench the hand off my mouth and fling the person away from me. I send a blast of ice their way, but they all duck and grab me again. I kick and flail as the people drag me off my bed and wrestle me to the ground. 

"You got the wand, right?" Chad's voice asks. 

"Yep!" Quentin's voice squeaks. Quasimodo's son, the only way to describe him is a sweet idiot. He basically follows anybody who's nice to him and doesn't scare him. 

I bite down hard on Chad's hand and he lets go long enough for me to push a scream out of my throat, then a different hand clamps down. Darn it, this one's wearing gloves!

"You idiot, you should've worn gloves!" Ned's voice scolds. Son of Tiana and Prince Naveen, he got Naveen's original arrogance. His mom and dad tried to teach him right from wrong, but he's always had a grudge against me since I got on the tourney team instead of him. (Until I got kicked off, that is.)

I try biting down again, but it doesn't work. Chad and Ned hold me down while Quentin holds FG's wand above my head. 

"What do I say again?" He asks. 

"Bibbidi Bobbidi boo, you idiot!" Chad snarls, trying to hold me down. My whole body is sore now from trying to get away, but nothing's working! My heart races fast in my chest, beating so loud I'm surprised they can't hear it. Hot tears stream down my face so I screw my eyes shut to stop it. 

Why now? Why now? They're my stupid powers, you creeps! 

I silently bid my powers farewell. Will anyone even want me in Auradon anyway, powers or not?

"Oh, right!" Quentin grins. "Sorry, Ellie. Chad promised cookies! I love cookies. Did you know that chocolate chip melts when you warm in up?"

"QUENTIN!" Chad and Ned both yell. 

"Sorry! Bibbodo, no... Bibbidi! Bobbo? Oh, right! Bibbidi Bobbidi---"

"BOO!" Carlos yells, punching Chad in the jaw. Chad sprawls backwards as Ned jumps up and snatches FG's wand out of Quentin's hands. Quentin cowers in the corner of the room, trying to be invisible. Carlos wrestles with Ned for a minute before I realize they both let me go. I scramble up and try to get the gloves off. When that doesn't work, I close my eyes and concentrate on my mother's terrified face. When I open them again, the gloves are on the ground in shatters. Carlos doesn't have the wand, and Chad, Quentin, and Ned are gone. 

"Are you okay?" Carlos asks. 

"They tried to..." I stop. "They were..."

"Were they trying to take your powers?"

I nod. 

"Seriously? Isn't there any security or anything?"

"No." I take a deep breath. "Where'd they go?"

"They ran off. I don't know where. But seriously, are you okay?" He asks. "I heard you scream once and Jay and I ran off to try and find you. We didn't know where your dorm was, though, so it took a bit. Sorry."

I give a snort and run over to hug him. He stiffens a bit then returns it. "Don't apologize." I scold. "You helped plenty. Although I might have some nasty bruises tomorrow."

Carlos laughs then. My door bursts open again and Carlos wrenches away from me. Jay looks at us both then a huge smirk curves onto his face. 

"Well, I see I'm interrupting something." He says. 

I laugh nervously. "Um."

He explodes into laughter. "And this whole time we thought something was happening! Wait, what happened?" he looks confused now. "Was it you that yelled for help?"

"Yeah. Chad, Ned, and Quentin had FG's wand. No idea how they got it, though... But they were trying to take my powers." I explain. 

"They can do that?" Jay asks. 

"Not Mal's." I assure him. "There's a really, really, really long explanation, but the gist of it is, FG made a deal with my mother that, when I was older, she was allowed to take my powers. It was only later that they decided it should be my choice. Maleficent never made a deal, did she?"

"Definitely not." Jay says. 

"Then Mal's powers are safe. As far as I know, I'm the only whose powers the wand can take." I tell them. 

"Then we better keep that secret. Maleficent would love to have powers as awesome as yours." Carlos says. Then he goes red a second later. Jay snickers. 

Then my door bursts open again. Mal and Evie come in. "Ellie! Oh my God! What happened? We saw Chad and two other kids running from your dorm's direction and we wanted to see." Evie exclaims. She turns to the boys with her hands on her hips. "What happened?"

"Chad, Ned, and Quentin." I say. "They had FG's wand."

Mal's eyebrow jumps up. "They had the wand?" She says greedily. 

"But they ran off with it." Carlos breaks in. She glares at him. 

"You didn't get it?" She snaps.

"Hey, I was more focusing on getting them off Ellie!" He says.

"Wait, what?" Evie and Mal chorus. 

So I have to explain it all again. By the end, Mal has a murderous look on her face. 

"Auradonians!" She grumbles. "We'll get them back tomorrow. In the meantime, why don't you sleep in mine and Evie's room?" She suggests. I nod and follow them out of my dorm. Carlos makes sure to close the door behind us. The hallways is completely silent. You'd never guess someone had just attacked me. In Auradon, of all places!

Now, sleeping on the ground with a poofy sleeping bag we found and staring outside at the twinkling stars, I think about tomorrow. 

How is it I still have doubts, after everything that just happened?

____________________________________________________

Okay, so I know I said I wasn't going to post during Spring Break, but I had a chance to get on my computer and couldn't wait. As always, please comment on what you think, and I'll see you next update! (Also, shoutout to @dragongirlgamer1 for her very helpful comments. Sorry if I got your username wrong!)

Oh, also, I just saw I Can Only Imagine yesterday, and I actually started crying once Bart started singing I Can Only Imagine. I've always loved that song, but now that I know the backstory, I don't think I'll ever hear it the same way. MercyMe, I Can Only Imagine, listen to it if you don't already know it! It's an AMAZING song!