Janessa's view

"This can't be happening."

"But it is." Max tells me heavily.

"But it can't." I insist.

"It is!" Brietta snaps, looking close to tears. Her fingers are fiddling with her hook necklace, her eyes darting periodically over to her parents. Neither of them are in bubbles, but they're on the other side of the room, and though she tried to talk with them, we could barely hear each other. The longer we're here, the more tired and lost I feel. I know part of it is Serene's powers, leeching our will away, but what happened isn't helping. My little sister... the cut on my cheek stings, keeping this reality feeling real and not like a nightmare.

"Deal with it, Janessa." Brietta continues.

"NO!" I shout, standing up. "I won't accept that this is my sister! This isn't like her. You all saw her, before---"

"Before she iced us out?" Danielle interrupts. "What happened? Because one day, she was fine, and the next she could've scared a demon with the way she looked at us!"

I sigh, sitting back down. For probably one of the first real times in my life, I feel totally and completely useless. "She'd been going to the Isle."

"So?" Hayder asks. "I go there all the time."

"Yeah, but she didn't tell Mom and Dad." I whisper. "She'd been going with Blake, she said, just to hang out. She lied and said she was going to Lucy's, or Brietta's. Not to mention, she said that there was a... barrier still up. To detect when those with bad intentions toward Auradon crossed either way. According to Endora, it went off every time Serene crossed over."

"That's crazy." Hayder insists.

"Is it?" Finn asks.

"Yes, it is!" Lucy says firmly, glaring at Finn straight in the eyes. Which is kinda laughable, considering she's a good foot shorter. "Serene is my friend. Whatever reason she's doing this, she must think it's right."

"Or she thinks it'll make her feel better." Evan says.

"What do you mean?" Eleanor asks.

"Well, think about it. She said something about having a famous family. And she said that Endora put a block on her."

"She didn't." Eleanor insists here, standing as well. "My mummy would never, ever have blocked someone who didn't deserve it."

"And Serene's been using her powers ever since she was little." I add. "So the block never did anything even if it was there."

"It might not have been there to stop her powers completely." Evan muses.

"Or it may not have been there at all." Brietta argues. "Eleanor's right. Mal and Endora aren't the type of people to block someone's natural-born powers. Much less your mother and father being the type of people to allow it to happen!" Brietta says to me.

My heart clenches thinking of my parents. I refuse to allow myself to look over at them.

Who knows what's happening outside of this hall? After Serene left, everyone but us and the adults related to us disappeared, going who knows where. The only adults not in bubbles are Lonnie, Maira, Kalia, Mahina, Hans Jr., Chad, Audrey, Harry, Gil, Doug, and Brit. Everyone else is in bubbles. While none of them make noise, it's hard to watch the expressions on their faces. Not to mention the fact that Isla is still in the position on the platform, turned to her subjects.

"Wait. Janessa!" Evan suddenly says, making me jump. "You're the granddaughter of Hades, right?"

"Um, yes. Why?" I reply hesitantly. "In case you forgot, I can't transport, otherwise I would've already tried that. Mom couldn't in the cage, either, so it wouldn't matter anyw---"

Evan rolls his eyes. "No. The ember! You could use it, couldn't you?"

I straighten up, staring at him. "That's genius. You're a genius!" I leap up, hugging him and twirling him around in a circle.

"One problem." Brietta says. "We're in here. It's out there." She pokes a bar and it shocks her slightly. "And we can't get out?"

"Well, we can't be in here much longer. No food or water." Lucy says hopefully. "And no bathrooms."

Eleanor shakes her head. "The cages take care of that. Enchanted. Time passes, but our bodies will stay the same. Essentially, we're immortal in here."

"Well, that sucks." Danielle sighs.

"Does anyone even know where the ember is?" Max points out.

"I do. Isla told me a while ago." I volunteer. "It's hidden away in the palace, behind Mal's drawing desk, with the password 'Bertha Florian Regina'."

Finn snorts. "Bertha?"

"It's Mal's middle name." Max explains.

"What's Florian for?" Eleanor asks.

"That's Ben's." Lucy says. "Okay, that's great and all, but we still can't get out. And we need a plan if---owwww." She winces and reaches behind her head, pulling her tight bun out and shaking her hair down. "Sorry. My head is killing me."

"No judgement." Finn says. "I have no idea how you all are still standing in heels and those ridiculous dresses and hairdos."

"Probably because girls can tolerate things better than guys." Max says, smiling slightly at me. When the girls all laugh shakily, he just shrugs. "It's true."

"Anyway, we do need a plan." Lucy continues, rubbing her scalp. Then her face brightens. "Oh! Everyone take one of these." She reaches into her dress's pockets, and Eleanor squeals.

"Your dress has pockets? Does mine?" She rubs her hands along the sides of her green gown, and they disappear by her hips. "MY DRESS HAS POCKETS!"

Finn scratches his head. "We're stuck in a cage, with Auradon being taken over, and you get excited about pockets? Why do girls get so excited about pockets?"

"I dare you to find a pair of girl's jeans that have pockets bigger than your fingertips, or at least pockets that aren't fake." Lucy tells him, pulling out a small collection of bracelets. I recognize them as the ones she normally wears herself, made of an assortment of thread and beads.

She starts passing them out to everyone. "Put them on your wrists, or better, your ankles. Hide them as best you can. The thread is gypsy-made, a gift from my Uncle Quentin years ago. They'll protect you from evil spirits and the like."

I take one and pull my dress up, looping it around my ankle. "So, like Pitch and Maleficent?"

"Hopefully." Lucy says, finishing her knot easily. She moves to help Finn with his (boys are helpless) and keeps talking. "They won't keep you completely safe, exactly, but they should help at least soften bad spells and they'll give a mean shock to anyone who touches you without permission."

"Is that why you're always wearing these?" Finn asks, then goes red. "I mean, not that I noticed, or anything."

Lucy kind of smiles, and finishes up his knot. "Yeah, it's why I wore them a lot. I'm not sure why I brought them to the coronation. I also brought, like... a lot of other random stuff." She shows us a little pouch, and proceeds to pull an umbrella from it.

"Whoa! Like Mary Poppins!" Danielle says. "Remind me to come to you if I ever need a hair tie."

Lucy giggles and stows the umbrella back away in the pouch. Thanks to the bracelets and pockets, the atmosphere in here is at least a little less somber. I'm smiling, at least.

"Well, when all of this is over, I'm keeping this." I wiggle my ankle off the ground a bit. "We can make them, like, our friendship bracelets or something."

Hayder smiles slightly. "That sounds nice. If we get out of this."

"If is bad." Danielle scolds, crossing her arms. "We will get out of this."

"So, plan?" Lucy prompts.

"I don't suppose you have anything useful in your bag?" Eleanor asks hopefully. Lucy shakes her head, and Eleanor sighs. "I thought not."

Evan huffs through his nose. "What if we---"

"Not scheming, right?" A voice says behind us. We all jump and yell in surprise, but it's just Serene there, her arms crossed, watching only Lucy and Brietta. "I wouldn't if I were you. I don't want to hurt anyone if I don't have to, but believe me. I will."

"Where did everyone else go?" Hayder asks. Serene's eyes flick briefly to him, then back to Brietta and Lucy.

"They're all fine." She promises. Then, with a smug grin, she says, "Well, fine as they can be without their precious magic and clean sky. They're all locked on the Isle, stuck like all the villains used to be until Maleficent, Blake, Pitch and I have had our fun. Then we'll erase the Isle from all existence, and let everyone back into Auradon. Except this time people won't be restricted. Anyone can have a wand, without the permission of some stupid higher-up." She twirls her own for example.

"Did you come back to gloat, or was it for something else?" Danielle asks.

Serene's smile fades. "Brietta and Lucy. Last chance. Brietta, I can give you a wand! You'll be free to practice your magic however you want! Lucy, you'll never have to worry about someone teasing you again. I can help you both." I can see a flicker of my sister again. She's practically pleading now, looking at her two friends in earnest. "Neither of you will have to worry again."

"Not this way." Brietta tells Serene. "I don't want to have magic given to me. I want to earn it. The right way."

Serene looks upset, but she turns to Lucy. "Lu?"

Brietta shakes her head. "We're---"

"Wait." Lucy says suddenly. The change is sudden, the strong, sweet Lucy I know now returning to her shy, scared days. Her back hunches and her voice shakes as she says, "Yes. Let me out, Serene."

"What?" Brietta shouts, catching hold of Lucy's arm. "Lu!"

Lucy pulls her arm away and turns so her back is facing Serene. "I have to. I'm not like you, Bri. I have to do this." Lucy pleads, then, her eyes wide, she meets each of our eyes and mouths escape.

A stiffness seems to run through our group. Lucy turns back to Serene, who waves her arms. The cage opens, and we all rush forward as one, pouring out. The cage disappears as soon as the last one of us is out, and we all scatter away from each other so Serene can't create one big one over us again.

"RUN!" Lucy shrieks, reaching into her pocket again. She throws something on the ground, and a cloud of purple glitter erupts, covering the room. I notice it keeps a distance away from me, and I hold my ankle out as confirmation that yes, the glitter avoids the bracelets.

Someone crashes into me, and I yelp in surprise before I see it's Eleanor, holding her wrist out like a beacon. She's holding hands with Danielle.

"Janessa!" she cries. "I can get us out---a quick incantation---but I need to be in contact!"

"We need the rest of us!" I answer back. "Come on---let's---"

"NO! GET OUT NOW!" someone yells. Max, I think.

Someone grabs my hand. I look and see Brietta, a determined look on her face. "Serene has Lucy and Evan already. We need to leave now."

Eleanor goes pale at that, looking around desperately, but the glitter is suddenly blasted away by a wave of shadows, revealing a furious Serene heading straight for us.

"ELEANOR!" Danielle shrieks.

"Safe away from harm, I cast this simple charm!" Eleanor yells quickly, looking close to tears as gold and blue sparkles surround us, dropping us straight into... a clear blue sky, our bodies hovering mid-air about a hundred feet or so above what I recognize as the destroyed remains of Ben and Mal's palace.

We start to fall, and Eleanor shrieks out a quick spell again, "On the ground, safe and sound!"

"Sorry!" Eleanor cries as we all disappear again, reappearing into a purple-and-green room. I instantly recognize it as Isla's room, though now with a skylight. Probably courtesy of Maleficent and gang. "Mom gave me that first spell for emergencies. It'll take me to wherever is safest from where I am, no matter where we are."

"So the sky is safest right now?" Brietta demands, brushing her gown off.

Eleanor smiles meekly. Her skin is pale, greenish. Probably because she had to use a lot of magic while still in Serene's sick darkness presence. "I suppose the sky is the one place Maleficent technically can't touch. But we appeared above the castle, which means none of them are even close to here right now, plus, this is where the ember is, right? So that must have influenced it too, and---"

"Whoa, wait---" Danielle interrupts. "How'd you get here, Hayder?"

We all turn to look at him. I hadn't even realized he was here! He just points to Eleanor. "I grabbed Elea as you guys disappeared. You didn't feel that?"

"I was kind of concentrating on something else." Eleanor says, rubbing her arms. Her bottom lip quivers, and a single tear slides down her face. "We.. we left them behind."

"We had to." I say firmly. "We're going back. We just need the ember first."

"What are we waiting for? Let's get it, then." Danielle says. We all nod and set off. Though on the outside we all look at least partially steady, I know each of us are thinking of our friends still there, alone.