Mal took a deep breath and tried the spell again. The tingling sensation in her toes that she had achieved had neither disappeared nor improved. Since she had arrived at the Charmington palace with Chad and his mother the previous afternoon, she had been scribbling down spells, trying them, recording their effects, and rewording and rephrasing them until her mind felt like mush. She had thought that after a full night's rest, she would be able to make some progress. But, now, it was the morning, and this spell wasn't working. Neither had the other four she had tried in the hours before Cinderella had brought her a large breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and orange slices.

With a growl of frustration, she ripped the page out of the spiral notebook, balled it up, and threw it onto the floor with its fellow failures. She scrubbed a hand over her face, trying to think of a combination of words or some different synonyms she hadn't tried yet. This shouldn't have been this hard, yet the solution to the nerve repair her legs needed seemed to be doing its best to illude her.

She pushed herself up from where she had slipped down in bed over the past few hours since Cinderella had helped her sit up against the headboard. It wasn't easy to do, especially since Mal kept trying to move her legs to help. It was just muscle memory, but it was endlessly frustrating. All she could rely on was her upper body strength, which would not be enough if she fell out of bed. Or, the more likely situation, if she were attacked by more of Uma's cronies in the dead of night.

Mal pushed her hair out of her eyes as she did the same with thoughts of Harry. Dwelling on it would not make him come back, even if she wanted him to. It would not change the fact she was a killer. It would not change anything. So, she had to make herself put those thoughts and feelings behind her.

A knock came at the door, and the door swung inward a moment later.

Chad grinned as he strode in the room. "Morning. Mom thought you might want a refill on your milk. She says it makes for strong bones." He nodded to the glass of milk in his hand and then set it on the nightstand beside her empty glass.

Mal sighed and looked away, training her focus on the nearest wad of paper littering the floor. "It's not my bones I need help with."

"Can't hurt, can it?"

Mal severely wanted to ask him what he was really doing in her room. What it was that he really wanted. She wanted him to get out, because she couldn't stand the thought of him doing something simply to be nice. That wasn't how things worked in her world. When anyone did anything remotely kind on the Isle, it was because they either wanted something from you or were stalling while their partner stole the said something from you. Sure, Mal knew it was different in Auradon. It had certainly been different with Ben, but she still wasn't used to it. Unwarranted kindness was still somewhat foreign. Granted, she now knew Chad's reasons for his kindness. His attraction to her had come as a surprise, which was probably the real reason she so desperately wanted him to leave her room. The longer he stayed, the harder it was to resist the urge to bring up their conversation at the cottage.

"Going for a swim?" Mal asked after turning her attention back to him and raising an eyebrow at his attire.

Chad glanced down at himself. He was wearing swimming trunks and a white tank top. "Oh, yeah. I thought I'd go for a dip to clear my head."

"How can you go swimming at a time like this?" Mal asked. There was no venom in her voice, but pure curiosity. Not that she would know due to her lack of experience with the water, but swimming sounded like something Chad did to relax. How could he find the peace of mind to allow himself to relax? Seriously, there could be villains down the street or at the nearest drive thru.

Chad shrugged a shoulder. "I just can. Dad's been watching the security cameras all morning. Phillip and Aurora have been helping too. Dad and Phillip actually already caught up with Lady Tremaine and her daughters as they entered town this morning. They're in custody. With your mom not at large, we really don't have any magic wielders heading this way yet. They'll get here, sure, but, eh, I have time for some laps. Besides, it's not like I'm wasting travel time. You said you wanted to stay here until you could fix your legs."

Mal pressed her lips into a thin line. "Hey, it's not like I paralyzed myself on purpose. If I'm slowing you down or-"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Mal, stop. I didn't mean anything like that. Just focus on healing. I've packed a couple more things from my room, and I'm ready to go when you are. I'm not rushing you or anything."

Mal crossed her arms over her chest, glowering. She knew she was picking a fight for no reason. She had said she wanted to stay in Charmington to heal. Traveling just from Cinderellasberg to Charmington had been extremely uncomfortable in the back of the van. With the long distance to Mulan and Shang's, she didn't want to imagine how much worse it would be to make that journey while still paralyzed. After all, there were roadside ambushes and bathroom breaks to think of. No way was she getting back on the road without being able to take care of herself.

But, still, her patience was thin, and her self control was thinner. She wanted him out of her room. She wanted him out before the questions that had been rocketing around her brain could have the chance to spill out. She so desperately wanted him to leave before the vulnerable side of herself could muster up the courage to start talking about feelings.

"Fine." Mal picked up the notebook and pen to go back to trying to figure out the correct spell to heal her legs. The more she focused on the paper though, the more she was also aware that Chad had made no move to leave. She could see him standing there just out of the corner of her eye. She huffed and snapped her gaze up to meet his. "What?"

Chad laughed and shook his head. "You're doing that thing that Ben told me about."

Mal's eyes narrowed. "What thing?"

"He used to complain how any time he made progress with you, you'd immediately try to shut him out."

Mal clicked the pen slowly several times as if she was counting to ten to calm her anger and her nerves. Honestly, she wasn't sure which one was more prevalent at the moment. She exhaled heavily through her nose before speaking again. "I'm not trying to shut you out. I'm trying to concentrate." A lie. Most definitely a lie.

Chad studied her for a moment and then, as if deciding she might be telling the truth, shrugged. "Ok. Ok. My mistake. Anyways, would you maybe want to come concentrate down by the pool?"

"I can't swim. Even if I do heal myself, I can't," Mal said.

"That's why I said 'by the pool,' not in it." Chad glanced to the one window in the room. "Seriously, this room doesn't get a whole lot of natural light. It might do some good or give you some inspiration to be outside."

Mal clicked the pen again, considering it.

As she opened her mouth to reply, he cut her off quickly. "And don't say no just because you know I'll have to carry you. That's not an excuse for staying cooped up in here like a vampire."

Mal actually smiled at that. And then she changed her answer that she had been about to give. "Ok, I'll go outside."

Jane collapsed onto her bed gratefully. It wasn't even noon yet, but she felt thoroughly drained. Merlin had woken her up at dawn to start magic training, and while it had been fun, it had been one of the most exhausting things she had ever done.

He had started her off with what he claimed was the most basic and important spell to know: fire. For hours, he instructed her in how to create flames, how to grow and spread them to the desired size, and how to extinguish them safely. The first time she managed to make a periwinkle blue fireball in her hand, she lost her concentration in shock and ended up burning her hand. They had had to take a break while Merlin treated her with his miracle burn salve. By the end of the session, Jane had been dripping sweat from the combined heat of the flames and effort it took to craft them into being.

It hadn't helped that her mind had been on Carlos all morning. She had woken up to texts from him explaining what had happened with his parents and how he had been shot. He said he was alright and the wound was treated, but that didn't stop her from worrying about him constantly.

She rolled over and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Merlin didn't allow cell phones in magic lessons, so she had had to leave her phone in her room. Now, she checked her texts and responded to Carlos, Audrey, and Lonnie. It seemed like things were headed in the right direction despite her worry. Carlos had gotten out of bed with Roger's help to eat breakfast at the table. Audrey said she, Ben, Evie, and Doug had arrived safely at Mulan and Shang's. And Lonnie said she was keeping herself busy by training with Jay. As for where Jane was in Camelot, she could watch the knights and Arthur train below one of her windows, and his army was gathering from all over the country into the capital. They would be ready to leave soon. At least, Jane hoped so.

After the replies had been sent, she turned onto her back and stared up at the canopy of her bed. Instantly, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. Merlin had called a break for an hour lunch, and then it would be back to training. Maybe she would just use that time for a power nap and then nab a sandwich from the kitchen. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

Evie handed both Jay and Lonnie bottles of water as soon as they stopped sparring for a five minute break.

"That move was awesome," Jay told Lonnie, rolling his shoulder as he massaged his neck. "I'm going to be sore from that one."

Lonnie just laughed. "What about you, Evie? When are you going to get out there?"

Evie blinked. She had been focusing on Ben who was on the other side of the gymnasium. He had been sparring with a punching bag ever since he had knocked one of Jay's teeth out accidentally. Jay wasn't concerned since it was in the back and didn't "damage his good looks" as he put it, but he had still decided to call it quits with Ben for the day. There was simply too much anger in Ben for the young king to control even against his friends in a sparring match. As Evie had both predicted and hoped for, Ben's grief had transitioned into anger. He was talking battle plans with Mulan and Shang, analyzing weapon effectiveness against certain villains or magic, and more. And they had only been there one night. The drive up from Cinderellasberg had obviously helped clear Ben's mind.

"Uh, what?" Evie asked, shifting her gaze to Lonnie.

"I asked when you're starting your training."

Evie shrugged. "I might help Ben."

Lonnie raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? You could spar with me. Or I can go get my mom."

"Evie can handle him," Jay said with a wink. "I took the brunt of it, but he looks a little tired." He looked over his shoulder at Ben and then back to Evie. "He looks like he's getting a little sloppy."

"Of course he is," Lonnie said. She took a gulp from her bottle. "He's been going at that thing practically non-stop since we came in here. He's tired."

"When we were tired on the Isle, we kept training," Jay said. "We kept pushing ourselves. Sometimes, until we passed out."

"That can't be healthy. You have to rest."

"You can't rest in a fight on the Isle. There are no rules. And it goes until someone gives up, so that's how we trained. That's how we need to train now. At least, if Evie makes Ben train that way, maybe it'll get all of that anger down to a more manageable level for him."

Lonnie frowned over the top of her bottle. "I don't think any amount of sparring will make him less angry about his parents being murdered."

"I know. But getting it out when it's all built up like that will still help." Jay nodded to Evie. "She used to circle me, Mal, and Carlos while we trained. She had an eagle eye for sloppy mistakes. Better footwork. Weaknesses we're leaving open. She'd help critique us until we couldn't stand anymore. Fighting had to become second nature so that even when we were dog tired, our muscle memory could make up for where we might lack. Come on, Evie, show Ben that Isle side."

Evie rolled her eyes. "You just want to see me kick Ben's ass."

"It's fun!" Jay glanced at Lonnie. "Evie's like a cat. You'll wanna watch this."

"Hey, I didn't agree to anything," Evie objected. But her gaze automatically slid to where Ben was still fighting the punching bag. Even from this distance, she could see where his left foot needed to slide back a few inches and that his right fist was too low to defend from an attack. He was obviously tired, and thus getting sloppy. Jay was right. Sloppiness in a fight could get you killed.

Evie sighed and dug in her purse for a hair tie. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail before sitting down on the bleacher seats behind her. She laid her purse aside and pulled off her wedge heels so she was barefoot. When she glanced up, Jay was grinning and Lonnie was biting her lip.

"I'll be fine," Evie said, standing.

"It's not you I'm worried about now," Lonnie said.

Both Jay and Evie laughed. "I'll go easy on him, I guess," Evie said. As she strode across to the other side of the gym she heard Jay say "No, no, you want to watch this up close," and Evie glanced over her shoulder to see Jay tugging Lonnie to sit with him at center court.

Evie rolled her eyes at Jay's eagerness. He was treating it like a show.

"Hey, do you want some water?" Evie asked once she was a foot or so away from Ben. She was standing just inside his line of sight.

Ben glanced at her. "No, but thanks." He drove another fist into what would have been a real opponent's stomach.

Evie watched him for a moment, crossed her arms over her chest, and then decided to drop all niceties. Jay was right about Ben's anger, and she could use that to her advantage. "Jay says you're getting sloppy."

"I'm fine. I'm just better with a weapon. Swords and stuff," Ben said in between punches.

Evie shrugged. "You think villains play by the rules? I explained this to you when you came to the Isle with us. The only rule villains follow is there are no rules. They fight hard and dirty. And fighting like this-" She eyed him up and down, making her disapproval obvious. "This will get you killed."

"I can fight hard and dirty," Ben said.

"Oh," Evie said and dropped her hands to her sides. "Ok."

The next instant, Evie plowed into Ben, sending him toppling sideways to the floor. Jay was cackling from his seat nearby on the floor.

"Hey!" Ben said, scrambling to his feet and pushing his sodden bangs out of his eyes. "What was that for?"

"I thought you said you could fight hard and dirty. Weren't you prepared?"

"Not for that!"

"You mean a surprise attack? An ambush? Something that could happen at any given time?" Evie raised an eyebrow, and she ignored Jay's laughter as she watched Ben struggle to come up with answer.

Ben huffed. "Look, I just wasn't prepared. You're not my enemy, so I wasn't expecting an attack from you."

"Ok," Evie said. "Let's pretend I am your enemy. Fight me."

"What? No, you're my friend. I could hurt you."

"That didn't stop you from sparring with Jay and knocking one of his teeth out."

"That's different. That's-"

"Because he's a guy?"

"What? No! I would fight Lonnie, but you, I-"

"Do you think I'm weak?"

Ben cast a nervous glance to where Jay and Lonnie were eagerly listening and watching. He stepped close to her and lowered his voice. "You know why I don't want to fight you."

"Busting my lip open won't stop me from being able to kiss you if that's what you mean," Evie muttered, trying to move her mouth as little as possible. She knew Jay could read lips well. She and Ben hadn't had time to discuss their kiss from the cottage, but Evie knew her assumptions about why Ben wouldn't fight her were correct when his face flushed redder than it already was from the workout.

Ben took a step back and slowly nodded. "Ok. Ok, let's do this."

The resulting sparring match was short, given that Ben's energy was pretty much nonexistent at that point. Evie caught more mistakes in his form that she could count on both hands, which was extremely disheartening. If he had been in a real fight just then, he would have been dead. But maybe a real fight would have given him the adrenaline to succeed. There was no real way to tell, but either way, his sloppiness did not help Evie's fears for his safety in a real fight. She was able to trip him twice, land one blow to his stomach and another to his jaw, and it ended up with him lying on his back on the gym floor from where she had judo flipped him. Jay had whistled and cheered at that.

"Ok, you win," Ben panted.

Evie held out a hand to help him to his feet. "In your defense, you were really tired."

"Yeah, but like you said, that won't matter in a real fight against any villain. They won't care that I'm tired. It just makes it easier for them."

Evie nodded. At least she had made her point. No, maybe it hadn't been fair to spar with Ben when she knew he was so tired. But, she reminded herself, 'fair' was not a word to be found in any villain's vocabulary. Testing him like this now would only help him in a real fight later.

"Well, time for lunch," Jay chirped, jumping to his feet.

Evie laughed and shook her head. "You two go on. I need to grab my shoes and get some water."

As Jay and Lonnie exited the gym, Evie and Ben went into a small side room where a large fridge was stocked with water and energizing snacks. She grabbed two bottles of water out of the fridge before joining Ben at the small table in the center of the room. She passed him one of the bottles.

"Thanks," he murmured.

Evie drank half of her bottle quickly and then frowned at Ben. "I'm sorry for provoking you like that. I just-"

"No, don't apologize," Ben said. He tipped his bottle side to side, watching the water slosh inside; he had almost drained his completely. "A villain would provoke a lot worse than that. I know you were trying to prove that lack of energy and anger make me sloppy. Together, it just made me a mess out there." He gave a dry laugh.

Evie nodded. "I just don't want you to get hurt for some stupid mistake that we have time to work on now during training sessions here. I was only hard on you because I...well, like I said, I don't want you hurt." She dropped her gaze to her own water bottle where she was clutching it between both of her hands. Her cheeks were burning.

"That line about me busting open your lip and kissing you," Ben said after a few quiet moments. "Is that all you think I want?"

"I think your judgment is cloudy," Evie said slowly, thinking over her phrasing carefully. "I want to make sure you know what you want."

"That...what happened back at the cottage...yes, that purely physical stuff I wanted. But I don't think I would have asked that from just anyone."

"I hope not. I don't think Jay's had that much kissing experience." She chanced a glance up at him at her attempt at a joke.

Ben was smirking, making it obvious he was trying not to laugh as he wanted to remain serious. A smile did break through after a moment though, and the tension in the room eased a bit. "Regardless," he said, "I mean, I'm glad it was you. I feel like we got closer during those night time chats and tea times at the palace. I thought, I thought we were helping each other. And maybe I thought you were feeling the same. I was developing feelings for you, but I didn't want to act on them until all of my feelings for Mal had gone. I didn't want you to think you were a rebound, and honestly, I didn't want to think that I was yours from Doug either. So, what happened at the cottage...it was something I wanted to happen eventually, but given the circumstances, well, it just...happened."

Evie nodded. "I was developing feelings too, but didn't say anything for the same reasons."

"I'm sorry I didn't," Ben said.

"Why? We're telling each other now."

"Because..." Ben sighed and dragged a hand through his damp hair. "Because I would have liked to take you on a date. And now, I can't really do that. Enemies everywhere doesn't make for a very romantic evening."

Evie laughed and reached across the table. She entwined their fingers. "Hey, I think we could make the rec room here just as romantic."

"Yeah?" Ben gave her hand a squeeze.

"Yeah. I wouldn't say no to some board games, a movie, and popcorn."

Ben's cheeks flushed, and he nodded. "I'd like that."

"Then it's a date."

"Come on, come on," Gil muttered, tapping his fingers impatiently on the surface of the desk. He kept glancing at the door, anxious that Ulysses might return at any moment. Uma had left the city about an hour ago to head north to Mulan and Shang's and ambush the hero gathering. But, Gil still had to worry about her equally ruthless twin brother. Ulysses and Gil had been in talks with Uma all morning, getting instructions. Now was the first time Gil had been alone, but Ulysses had only gone to give instructions to his patrol teams. There was no telling when he might return. Five minutes or twenty, there was no way to guess.

The printer suddenly spat out what Gil had been waiting for, and he snatched it up, closed out of the internet browser window, and ran from the room. Uma's computer in the royal study was the only one with internet access, so it had been his only hope.

As Gil sprinted down the corridor and took the steps to the dungeon two at a time, he folded the paper into a square small enough to fit into the palm of his hand. Upon entering the dungeon, he took out the key he had stolen from the drawer in the desk in the office.

"Gil!"

"Shh, shh," Gil said as he inserted the key into the lock of his siblings' cell. He wrenched open the door. "Quietly. Come on." He turned to Fairy Godmother's cell and unlocked her door as well. The woman was huddled against the wall.

He hurried inside and pulled her to her feet.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Rescuing you. And you're going to pay me back by getting all my siblings safely out of this city," Gil said in a rush. "Uma just left to go after Ben and Mal up at Mulan and Shang's. Please, take my siblings somewhere safe. I don't care what you do afterwards."

Fairy Godmother stared at him for a moment as if trying to decide if this was a trick.

"Come on!" Gil growled, and Fairy Godmother burst into action.

She swept out of the cell and to the corridor where Gil's siblings had gathered. There were five of them - four girls and one boy. The eldest girl was holding the two year old boy in her arms and looked terrified but determined.

"You're coming with us," she said. "Right?"

"No, but I'll be close behind," Gil said. He pushed the square of paper into the second eldest girl's hand. "That's a map of Auradon in case you get separated from Fairy Godmother. Go with her. She'll get you somewhere safe, and I'll catch up to you later."

"But-"

"Georgia, please, you have to go. We don't have time."

Georgia, the eldest girl, nodded and hurried forward to give him a hug. She was a full two heads shorter than her older brother. "Promise you'll come?"

Gil nodded. "After Ulysses and I have Harry locked up down here, I'll come. I have to know he's detained." He turned to Fairy Godmother. "Your daughter is safe, by the way. She made a call to Doug. She's in Camelot."

Fairy Godmother exhaled in obvious relief. "Thank you."

"Thank me by taking care of them." He nodded to his sisters and little brother.

She nodded.

Gil led the way to the end of the hallway and opened a door. It opened to an alley next to the horse stable. "Be careful." He gave each of his sisters a hug on their way out and dropped a kiss to his brother's head as he whispered them each a quick goodbye. "Georgia, Gwen, Gretchen, Grace, take care of each other. And take care of Gabe. I wish I could help you more. I'll be right behind you."

He shut the door after them before returning to the study upstairs.

Mal's face was wet from tears by the time the last of the pain subsided. She took deep breaths, her lungs and voice box feeling exhausted from screaming and crying.

"It's ok," Chad said. "Just breathe. Do you think it worked? You just have to nod or something."

Mal slowly opened her eyes and nodded. "The spell worked. I can feel that it did."

"Ok, good. You don't have to try to move anything right now. Just rest if you need to," Chad said. He offered her a glass of water.

She took it and sat up a bit in the pool chair. She had been reclining in it, enjoying the sun and watching Chad swim laps out of the corner of her eye when inspiration had struck a few minutes ago. She knew the words she needed for the spell. Now, it was complete, though painful, and her legs didn't feel like dead weights anymore.

She took a drink of the water and handed the glass back to him. Slowly, she bent her knees to pull her knees up toward her chest. She exhaled shakily. Even that short time without use had made her muscles stiff, and it both hurt and helped to flex them.

"Do you need help?" Chad asked, setting the water on the table beside her where a large umbrella was spread above them to shade their faces from the sun.

Mal shook her head. "I just want to walk around or something." She swung her legs over the side of the chair and moved to stand. Her legs immediately gave out, and she tumbled forward.

Chad caught her and helped her stand upright by leaning on him. "Maybe walking is a few baby steps from now. Why don't you sit on the edge of the pool?"

"How will that help?" Mal asked, shifting against him to try to test her balance and how much weight she could put on her legs. Not much, was the answer. Every time she put a little weight on her feet, the tendons in her ankles felt like they were ripping.

"Doctors use water for physical therapy. You know, to help recover from injuries. It gives you friction to work against while supporting more of your weight than air. It takes the pressure off your joints a bit, I think. Just sit on the edge and practice moving your legs through the water."

Mal swallowed. Sitting on the edge of the pool, and she would be just one slip away from drowning. "Will you be in the pool to help if something goes wrong?"

Chad nodded and smiled. "Of course."

Chad helped her walk over to the edge of the pool, putting most of her weight on his shoulder. He carefully helped lower her to the edge to sit, and Mal slid her feet into the water. It was chilly and made goosebumps appear on her legs, but it was oddly soothing. Maybe, if nothing else, the water would help the tendons in her ankles relax.

She watched him get into the water and dunk his head under before resurfacing. She smiled, enjoying the way the water rolled off his golden hair and bare chest.

"What?" Chad asked, wading over to her to stand beside her knees.

Mal shook her head. "Nothing. I just..." And suddenly, all the questions and vulnerability she had been trying to conceal came rushing out all at once. "How can you expect me to forget the conversation we had at the cottage? You said to forget it happened, but how can I? You confessed feelings for me, and you expect me to just ignore that?"

Chad blinked. "I, well, I just figured, since you don't return those feelings, it's not worth bringing up. I don't want it to affect our friendship."

"I never said..." Mal cut herself off and looked away.

"What?" Chad asked. "You never said you don't have feelings for me? Well, I took your silence-"

"Silence?" Mal snapped. She huffed and made herself calm down before she could work herself up for no reason. She continued more calmly, "You didn't give me a chance to say anything. You ended the conversation and left."

"You could have said something then. You could have stopped me."

"I was too shocked by your confession."

"It's hard to believe I could be attracted to you?"

"Honestly? Yeah." She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You're basically the poster child for perfect Auradon prince. You're not supposed to like girls like me. I'm rough and tumble, and you're all...I dunno, you're all garden tea parties and sparkling backyard pools and sports scholarships to top colleges type."

Chad laughed. "Isn't that how you would have described Ben before you came to Auradon too?"

"Yeah, but when I got here, he had already made the rebellious decision to bring us over from the Isle. You weren't exactly over the moon about having us here."

Chad nodded. "I know. But listen, regardless of what you believe about how I should or should not feel based on me being some 'poster child for perfect Auradon prince,' I do like you. A lot. And if you're bringing this up, I'm guessing you have a reason?"

Mal swallowed and looked down at her feet in the water. "I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to make sense of it. All of it."

"All of it?"

"Like you rescuing me from the Isle. And checking up on me and being helpful. And then carrying me places when I couldn't walk. I'm trying to make sense of the feelings I have about all of that stuff." She glanced up at him. "I'm trying to make sense of how I feel about you."

"Can I help with that at all?"

Mal smiled and shook her head. "I think I just need some time to figure it out. Is that ok?"

"Yeah," Chad said. "Hey, will you be ok here if I swim a few laps?"

Mal nodded. "Yeah, but can I ask you something?" At his nod, she continued in a rush. "Since I don't know how to swim, there's some part of me that is worried that I'll die by Uma pushing me into a moat or something stupid, and that's not really how I want to go. So, will you teach me?"

Chad laughed and nodded. "Yeah, sure, ok. I can do that. But, why are you so worried about that?"

"Because Uma knows I can't swim, and she can transfigure into that octopus hybrid thing. It just seems to me that if I have a weakness that big that I can fix, now is the time to do it. If it comes down to a one-on-one face-off with Uma, I'm not going to make it easy for her by leaving that weakness in my defense. Plus, have you seen how many moats you guys have around here? You can't build a castle without one. It's not exactly farfetched that Uma could push me into one."

"Fair point. Alright, so, want to get started?"

Harry started the sleek sports cars and relaxed against the seat. He loved the way the engine purred. And it had been so easy to get the man to hand over the keys to it once Harry had disfigured his family with his poison touch. Now, of course, like several other families on the route Harry had taken from the cottage to the capital city, they were all dead.

Maybe some would say Harry had been enjoying experimenting with his newfound powers too much. But, he couldn't help it. He was fascinated by what he could do. He could torture and kill with just a few touches. And not every time was the same. Different people's skin and bodies reacted differently to his touch. One girl had sprouted boils. Another had melted like Dr. Facilier. One man had developed a rash that sent him into seizures. Not every touch was fatal, but what Harry couldn't finish with his touch, he ended with his sword.

Now, he was just outside the boundary to Auradon City. And he couldn't wait to show Uma what an asset he would be to torturing all the heroes they wanted.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. This is by far the longest chapter I have ever written, and it took a lot more outlining than usual. Please, leave a review with your thoughts! I love getting feedback from you guys!

Foarrin