A/N: Okay, next batch of shout-outs, and then more of the story! This was one of my favorite chapters to write, and I think it'll turn out to be a lot of your favorite chapters to read, so enjoy!

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

caramelcookie: What Caty did was terrible. The fact that people hope they get back together means I did a really good job of making them a likable couple, so I'm happy about that. As you said, Alyssa is his first love. Those feelings don't just go away. That doesn't necessarily mean he isn't into Ellie. They've only been going out officially for a couple of months. And anyway, you can pretty much see he's in love with the Alyssa he used to know, the pre-James Alyssa. And James is great for knowing how Chris used to feel about his girlfriend, but still trying to get them to be friends again, because a lot of other guys would just leave it alone, thinking it would be better if their girlfriend was fighting with a guy who could possibly like her. The whole 'cheerleaders for a day' idea came out of nowhere, but I had a lot of fun writing that, and the scene in the beginning with James, Jake, and Alyssa. There will be more power switch stuff in this chapter. I personally believe Jake had every right to break up with Rae. He asked her time and time again what was going on. He gave her every opportunity to come clean, and when he found out the first time, she erased his memories. But there will be a fix for that soon. Gabi and Rae won't be getting along much in this chapter. I don't think they'll ever be friends, or even really get along, but they know how to work together when they need to. They don't even have real reasons to not like each other, but some people just can't seem to get along. Anyway, thank you for reading and leaving a review even though you were busy. I hope you like these chapters!

SilvenArrow: No, it's not weird at all, it makes sense for you to PM me with all the stuff you wanted to talk about, and it doesn't make sense for you to do both. And you're not as late as you thought, as you can see. I waited a couple of days anyway. I answered everything in your PM, so I'd just like to say thank you for reading, taking the time to PM me, and I hope you enjoy.

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

The weekend went by in the blur. Nothing came of their research. They hadn't gone through all of the books, but everyone, even Rae and Alyssa, had enough of reading for a while.

Guardian training wasn't going very well either. Every two weeks, they needed to start over with a new power. On Saturday, they worked on their other powers instead. Alyssa lost the ability to shoot heatwaves, and Caty could no longer create ice, but they could both still manipulate the temperature, and Ellie could still manipulate sound.

They also found out they could still see visions through their original elements rather than their new ones. Alyssa saw a vision of the answers to the ten "extra hard" questions Mr. Kelvin planned to put on the honors biology final (and nearly cried because she counted it as cheating) in the fire Rae accidentally set off in the dumpster. Caty saw Misha getting asked out by her longtime crush Henry Hapstall in a puddle Ellie was trying to turn to ice, and Gabi saw herself kissing Josh on her bed in the ground. She turned very red and didn't tell anyone.

Rae was having more fun than everyone else. When they first switched powers, Hay Lin started training Rae on how to sense magic, which was within her abilities as Keeper. She was able to sense magical activity, abilities, and beings. With practice, she would be able to tell exactly where a portal is, what abilities a magical creature possessed, and pinpoint the exact location of any human or monster with magic, even if they were in a different world. She was getting pretty good at it, but none of the other guardian were pleased with their powers.

Sunday brought about some trouble. Daniel ordered Gabi to take Eva to Little Mistakes, the new candy store that opened next to Down the Rabbit Hole. Gabi didn't want to at first. Eva hadn't called Gabi and witch again since the night she fought off Hope and Riley, Gabi hadn't called Eva a "she-devil," and the girls weren't outright rude to each other, but they weren't friends either. But then Alyssa said she'd go with her (she wanted to hang out with Rae, Ronnie, and Brooke at Down the Rabbit Hole anyway), so Gabi grudgingly agreed.

When Rae, Alyssa, and Gabi decided to cut through an alley despite Eva's protests that she was scared, the last thing they expected was a portal to open up. However, they all heard the familiar sound and the Heart began to vibrate violently.

"Oh my God!" Eva cried shrilly as Gabi stepped in front of her protectively. "It's happening again! It's that door to a different world!"

"Gabi, get Eva out of here," Alyssa said. "Let us take care of this!"

Gabi nodded, grabbed Eva's hand, and ran ahead as she heard Rae shout, "Guardians, unite!"

"Fire!"

"Quintessence!"

"More fairies?" Eva asked, trying to stop and turn around.

"Keep moving!" Gabi cried, dragging her along. "And no, not fairies."

"Sorry," Eva sighed as they entered the candy store. "I just didn't know John's sister was a fa-uh, superhero, too."

John's sister?

"You know John Ashcroft?" Gabi asked, before realizing Luc and John were the same age, meaning that they were both in fifth grade. The fifth graders and third graders had recess and lunch together. Still, Gabi didn't know Eva knew any fifth graders.

"Uh, yeah, I know him," Eva replied, but didn't say anything else. She looked down at her shoes, but not before Gabi noticed her cheeks tinged pink.

Gabi held back a gasp. Eva had a crush on John? Alyssa had once mentioned in passing how she and Gabi would stay in touch if John and Eva got married, but no one thought they knew each other.

"You like John Ashcroft?"

"No!"

"It's okay. I bet he's cool. I mean, I like Alyssa even though she's rule obsessed and loves to read, and I know John is nothing like that, so he must be cool. I heard he plays bass like his father. Did you know his father was in Wreck 55?"

"John mentioned that. I'm not even sure what that means."

Gabi bit back a laugh. "Wreck 55 is a band. I guess they were before your time. I mean, honestly they were before my time too, but they're like The Beatles...timeless. Maybe you'll get into them when you're older."

"If I listen to them now, do you think that'll give John and I something to talk about?" Eva ventured.

"Maybe. From Alyssa, I know John likes Spiderman, all kinds of music, and soccer. You guys could talk about that."

"I don't like soccer, I don't know as much music as him, and Spiderman is lame."

"Okay...well, he also likes art, like his sister, and Full House."

Eva brightened at that. Art was her favorite subject, and whenever she wasn't watching TV or doing her homework, she was painting or drawing. Michael got Eva a Full House Box Set for Christmas because no one had any idea what she liked, and though she'd never admit it, she ended up loving the show, just like Michael, Gabi, and Luc did.

"Gabi, are you guys okay?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. What about you?"

"We're good. We're still choppy with our powers since we just got them, but there was only one monster. We killed it and closed the portal. I doubt it was after Eva. If Kasson sent his two magical kids after her the first time, he'd send someone equally, if not more, powerful if he wants to try to get her again."

Gabi frowned at that. She could barely defeat Hope without help from Rae, and that when they both still had their original element. How was she supposed to deal with someone more powerful with her new element?

"Well, what was it after? What kind of monster was it?"

"It was one of those green monsters that attacked Lyssa and James at Lange's, and attacked us all at Lyssa's house. One guess who he was after. He probably had back up, but I closed the portal before any more could get through," Rae replied.

"Good. With all this power switch stuff going on, we can't afford to get into any fire fights right now."

"Agreed," Alyssa and Rae said in unison before the African American broke the link.

That night, Sage found a way to reverse the drainage of the Heart, but only temporarily.

"It's a spell that will give you guys back your original powers for about a week. I can do this spell three times before it becomes obsolete. So, if we can find a solution in three weeks, everything should work out. Oh, and you can't use your elemental powers in human form, but at least it's something."

Sage used to the spell, and although it worked, it was not without it's own side effects. It caused the girls to have dizzy spells and balance issues for about an hour before they were able to safely use their original powers.

Other than those little incidents however, the weekend passed without a hitch, which was good after the scare at prom. Monday was another story.

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

Monday morning, Misha and Nina passed time in the Mock Trial room by trying to guess what vision Caty saw in the water because Gabi thought it would be funny to let it slip to the two girls that Caty saw something "very interesting" at training.

Caty knew telling Misha about the kiss would be one of those 'don't mess with the future' things. She also knew she was a terrible liar, so she kept hoping for a distraction before either of them got close to the truth.

When she got her distraction however, she knew she should've been more careful what she wished for. At first, it was okay. It was Nick and Will, who cracked jokes, some that made Caty laugh, and others that made her glare because they were made at her expense. But then Brian and Tony walked over to where the group was sitting...together. There was only one reason why those two would be together.

"Morning Caty," Tony started.

"Good morning Tony. Good morning Brian," Caty responded coolly.

Tony had texted her all weekend, asking if she was alright. Each of those texts were accompanied by another asking a question she couldn't answer, like why did five girls get the same headache at the same time, why was it so bad, why did Caty start hanging out with all these new people she'd never shown the slightest interest in before? Since she wasn't able to answer those questions, she couldn't respond to Tony's texts.

Travis was behind Brian and Tony. He glared at Caty. He still hated her. After prom however, she was pretty sure Brian didn't.

Brian had also texted her a couple times over the weekend. Saturday, he asked if she was doing better. She replied that she was and they actually had a real conversation for an hour after, something they hadn't had since they broke up. Sunday he texted her again, saying they needed to talk. Caty was afraid Brian was going to ask the same kind of questions Tony was, so she ignored that text. She'd also ignored Jake the same way, who'd not only texted her, but also Alyssa, James, Ellie, and Gabi to try and find out what was going on.

He even texted Rae once, but her question was dialed down a bit (it was 'I'm not crazy for thinking five girls getting headaches at the same time is not a coincidence right) and started with an 'Are you alright? I was so worried about you last night.' Rae wanted to respond to assure him she was fine, but couldn't do that without answering his other question.

Nick and Will were staring, looking from Brian to Tony to Brian again, confused. Those two didn't like each other. Tony was a jock, and the only other times he was in this classroom was to give Caty her present on her birthday, and to ask her to prom. And Brian was supposed to hate Caty. So what had changed? Neither of them had been at prom. Travis hadn't either. She supposed none of the boys had any idea what had transpired.

"Are you doing alright?" Tony asked.

"She already told me she's doing fine," Brian said rudely.

"Why didn't you answer my texts all weekend? You answered his," Tony said, jerking his thumb toward Brian.

"Not all of them. I said we should talk and you totally ignored me. I wanted to ask you what was going on."

"Something I would like to know as well," Tony said.

Brian glared at him, as if that wasn't what he was going to say at all, but Caty barely registered it.

Caty groaned and put her head down.

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked.

"You didn't hear what happened at prom?" Brian asked. "Caty and some of her new friends were on the brink of death."

"What?!" Will and Travis cried together.

When Caty looked up, all the boys' eyes were on her, and they all, even Travis, looked concerned.

"It wasn't death. It was a headache," Caty snapped.

"It was more than just a headache," Brian argued. "She was screaming and crying, like she was going to die. Or explode."

"And she's not mentioning the most important part," Tony put in. "That Alyssa Ashcroft, Gabi Shay, Rae Dylan, and Ellie Kramer all had the same exact, uh, near death, headaches she did."

"All at the same time. Like they were on drugs or something," Brian said.

"That's what it was! We were on drugs!" Caty cried.

"Nobody believes that Caty," Brian said.

Caty looked at Nina and Misha helplessly.

"Jake says you've been ignoring his texts all weekend too. He says all of you have," Tony added.

Caty cringed. "Jake needs to mind his own business," she said.

"Why are you hanging with all those new people anyway Caty?" Travis asked, his voice gentle for the first time since the breakup. "I heard all different reasons. Self-defense, something about cheerleading, a tutor circle, whatever that is."

"It is tutor circle," Nina piped up. "Misha and I have seen it."

"Yeah. They all teach each other different subjects," Misha added.

Hearing it out loud, Caty finally realized why no one ever bought the tutor circle story. It was so stupid.

"What would you need tutoring in?" Nick asked dubiously.

"Um...pre-calc?" Caty said, and felt herself blush.

"You're blushing, which means you're lying," Brian said. "Besides, you've beaten me in every pre-calc quiz or test or assignment we've had except that one in the beginning of the year, which means you'd have to be getting tutored on stuff you already know, which you wouldn't do, because that's waste of time."

"Plus, I know you were getting tutored in the beginning of the year," Tony added. "By Adam White, who isn't part of this group."

"I heard Adam ended his friendship with Ellie Kramer because she wouldn't tell him what she was doing with her new friends either," Nick said.

"I think that's the same reason Jake Saunders broke up with Rae Dylan," Will put in quietly.

He wasn't much for gossip like his best friend was, so Caty figured he only said it for Nick's benefit, but it made her situation worse.

"That's right," Tony said. "He said she'd been hiding this secret since they met, which was on the first day of school. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but he wanted to know this secret first and she refused to tell him, and he couldn't be in that kind of relationship."

"Shut up, all of you!" Caty cried, jumping out of her seat.

Some of the other kids turned to look at Caty, but she glared them into turning back around.

"I feel like I'm being attacked, but I did nothing wrong. I had a headache. And you two!" She looked specifically at Brian and Tony. "If you guys really believe that my headache was so traumatic and near death like, then why the hell are you interrogating me? God!"

She grabbed her stuff and stalked out of the room, not really seeing the problem in being early for her first class if it could get her away from all those boys.

"Caty, wait!" she heard a voice call.

Of course someone had followed her! But her annoyance waned when she saw it was Brian. Everything seemed better when Brian was involved, even if it was an interrogation.

"I'm sorry we pressured you in there. It's just...it's so apparent that you're hiding something big. I knew it when we were dating, but I figured you'd tell me when you were ready. I mean, we weren't even in love yet when I first realized you had a secret. And I know Nina and Misha didn't know either. You guys got in a fight about it, and that's why Misha told me about your plan, isn't it?"

Caty bit her lip and nodded. She looked down at the ground.

"But now they know?"

Caty nodded again, still not looking at him.

"Lili knows too. I'm wondering what kind of secret it would be that you'd tell your annoying cousin before you'd tell your best friends. Family has always been important to me, but I know between Lili becoming friends with Gabi and your parents having Rin, you leaned on your friends more. So why would you tell Lili first?"

"She found out," Caty said. "That's the only way we tell people. If they find out."

And even that wasn't completely true. Jake found out, but they erased his memory. Eva found out, and they tried to erase hers too, though it didn't take. Gavin found out and wanted to forget. Ellie's mother and uncle had to forget. They told Irma and Joel, although considering Irma was a former guardian and Joel was on the team, they almost had a right to know.

"That's going to ruin all your relationships."

"What does it matter? I have my two best friends, and this secret wasn't the one that ruined our relationship."

"It might be," Brian replied. "If you don't tell me once I take you back."

Caty's head snapped up. "What?" she asked, shocked.

Brian suddenly grew shy. "I mean, if you want me to-I guess that sounded kind of misogynistic. I...do you want…" Brian took a deep breath. "I would like to get back together with you...if you want that."

"Yes, I do!" Caty cried. "Absolutely I do. But why? I mean, I thought you hated me."

"I couldn't hate you. I love you. I just said I hated you so you'd leave me alone because I thought that's what I wanted, but I don't. I still want to be with you."

"But I thought you couldn't forgive me!"

"I thought I couldn't either. And then you started screaming in pain and I nearly had a heart attack. And when I saw you were okay...I almost started crying. That's when I realized, I'm always going to love you. And I thought about it more and more. I was awful to you. I tried to hurt you and poison you just to get ahead. I mean, who does that? I must be a very sick person."

"Or ambitious," Caty said.

"Then you're ambitious too. Neither of us is perfect, but I think now, we're done with the 'beat each other at all costs' stuff. We can just be friendly rivals when it comes to academics, and boyfriend and girlfriend with everything else. Because I do forgive you. That's what I wanted to tell you when I texted you that we should talk. I wanted to ask what was going on with us because I still love you and if you still love me, then…"

A huge smile broke out on Caty's face. She could hardly believe this was happening. She started to lean in to kiss him, but then sobered. Wait, what was she doing? She said she wanted to break up with him before Misha told her secret. And she hadn't actually wanted to, but wasn't it safer this way, for him? Maybe Misha telling was a blessing in disguise. It made Brian do what Caty wasn't strong enough to. If she took him back, that put him in danger again.

"I want to-" Caty started, but was interrupted.

"But Caty, first I need something from you," Brian said. "We're in love now. You said you love me. So you need to tell me your secret."

"What?"

"You heard me. Jake Saunders couldn't be in a relationship in which her girlfriend hid a big part of her life. I can't either. We need to be completely honest with each other from now on, and that doesn't just mean no lies. That means no secrets either. A lie of omission is still a lie."

Caty had said that herself at one point, but she never actually believed it. Still, she knew what Brian wanted was fair. But telling him would put him in even more danger, even if he wasn't dating her. Assuming he'd actually want to keep his memories. He might be scared and want to forget. Gavin did. Not everyone would take the news as well as Jake did. Nina was terrified at first. Misha was in shock when the girls demonstrated their powers. James was as well. Lili was frightened too, and thought they were going to hurt her. Eva thought Gabi was witch out to get her. Jason was quick to believe, but later admitted to Ellie he thought he was dreaming and went along with it. It took him a while to accept it as well.

"I know this has got to be a big deal for you. As you said, you only tell people when they find out. Rae Dylan didn't even tell the secret when she was being broken up with. Ellie Kramer didn't crack when her best friend of eleven years was ending their friendship. You didn't even tell Nina until recently, and she was your best friend for nearly fourteen years. She found out too, I'm guessing?"

Caty nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She wasn't even sure if she would blurt out the secret or tell Brian they couldn't be together. Neither was an option she was willing to deal with.

"So I'll let you think about it. You can get back to me," Brian said.

"Oh," was all Caty could say.

Brian smiled a little, then leaned in to kiss her. It was sweet and soft and perfect. It was the best kiss they'd ever shared. It turned Caty's brain into mush.

Brian pulled away just as the warning bell rang. "I need to go get my stuff," he said and went back to the classroom.

Caty headed for pre-calc without a single coherent thought. She had to get back together with Brian. But how could she tell him the secret and put him in danger? Was she really that selfish?

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

"What is this thing for?" Rae asked that afternoon.

"Drugs I think," Alyssa replied.

"I heard a group of girls came to prom drunk, and eventually passed out," Caty said.

"Lana Oller and Kelli Chapman were in the group," Nick confirmed as he caught up to them. "And a few of those wannabe populars."

"They're the only ones that'll give Lana and Kelli the time of day anymore," Gabi said haughtily.

"Drugs too though," Brian said. "Remember this morning when I said it seemed like you guys were on drugs when you all got that headache? That didn't come from nowhere. People thought you were on drugs and coming down from a high or something."

"That is so not how that works," Caty grumbled.

"And people are going to think this stupid assembly is our fault!" Gabi wailed.

"Doubtful," Misha said. "If it was about the drugs, they might've talked to you privately. You were in pain and it's unfair to assume drugs. The assembly is definitely about the drinking. I heard they were doing it on school property."

"Yeah, but whoever heard of school administrators being fair?" Gabi sighed.

"Caty, Alyssa, and Rae were three of the girls who had headaches," Nina pointed out. "They're all model students. They're not going to jump to conclusions about this, especially with Alyssa's mother being such an influential alum."

Gabi nodded slowly, hoping Nina was right. She could not afford to be blamed for a schoolwide PSA this late in the year.

The lunch period was over, and the entire school had to endure an assembly on "something" about prom as the principal put it that morning when he explained about the assembly.

The middle schoolers had to go through it as well. They started the day with the assembly. Freshmen and sophomores went through it after. Now it was time for the juniors and seniors to hear it. Miss. Taylor had dismissed them early from APUSH because the assembly was taking place over the span of their next two classes. Alyssa, Rae, Josh, Chris, Gabi, Caty, Nina, Misha, Brian, Travis, Nick, and Will were walking together. Tony was with them at first, but now he was a few paces ahead of them, talking with Jake as per Jake's request. Jake was officially not speaking to any of the members of Team GRACE.

After everyone was seated, Ellie, Sage, and James joining Team GRACE, they immediately started a telepathic conversation.

"Anyone know what this is about?" Ellie asked.

"Lana Oller and Kelli Chapman got drunk on school property, then showed their faces at prom," Alyssa replied. "But Brian said a bunch of kids thought we were on drugs when we collapsed of those headaches, and that could be addressed too."

"God I hope not," Ellie burst out. "I spent enough time dodging today."

"Dodging?" Rae asked.

"Adam and Jade saw Ellie collapse, and Milly saw me going over to help you guys," Sage explained. "They all demanded to know what happened, and though we managed to placate Jade and Milly with a few lies, Adam wouldn't let it go. He kept cornering me every chance he got."

"He almost made Sage cry," Ellie added.

"What?!" Josh cried, outraged. "I'll kill him!"

"No you won't," Sage said firmly.

"I will," James volunteered, also protective of Sage.

"Or me," Chris offered, mad at Adam on behalf of Sage, Ellie, and Alyssa.

"No one's killing anyone. He didn't do it on purpose. I just got nervous and flustered. You know how I sensitive I can be," Sage cautioned.

"He backed off immediately," Ellie agreed. "And when he realized he was getting nowhere with Sage, he actually started to speak to me again to question me."

"What did you tell him?" Rae asked.

"To back off," Ellie said sheepishly. "That's definitely going to fix our friendship."

"Can we talk about this later?" Gabi asked. "Bree's watching you and getting freaked out."

Lili and Bree joined Team GRACE as well, but sat near Gabi. Misha, Nina, and Lili knew what the team was doing, and Brian and the boys were engaged in their own conversation, but Bree definitely noticed her best friend, her cousin, and their friends were having a long, silent conversation.

They all heard someone clear his throat. The principal began to speak. To Gabi's great relief, the whole assembly was about the drinking. People kept shooting Lana, Kelli, and the wannabe populars who went along with them accusatory stares as the principal droned on. School was pretty much a joke at this point in the year, with all the teachers giving their students free periods or movie classes, and no one wanted to miss a chance to hang out with their friends or watch a movie for this stupid assembly, least of all the people who had gym class last, because they'd still be let out early enough to attend their last class, and the gym teachers didn't know the meaning of 'free period.' As the last day of school approached, every gym class was an opportunity to run the mile again and again.

Ellie heard it first. She had tuned out the principal and was using her enhanced hearing to eavesdrop on people's conversations. She couldn't help it. It was fun! But while she was doing it, she heard the familiar, dull buzz of a portal opening.

"Rae!" she whispered urgently.

Rae looked over at the air guardian and nudged Alyssa. She set up a link between the three of them.

"Portal opened," Ellie said in her head. "Didn't you feel it?"

"The Heart is in my bag. Hold on, I can probably figure out where it opened," she replied. She closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded and looked at Alyssa. The fire guardian re-established the link she had going with the entire team.

"Portal opened," Rae said in their heads. "In the props closet next to the stage."

The rest of the team tensed, wondering how they should proceed.

"We need a distraction to get everyone out of the school. Gabi, use your telekinesis to pull the fire alarm. Alyssa, start a small, contained fire to give off the smell of smoke. Once everyone is out of the school, you can put it out. Caty, get ready to lock the doors."

"I can't use my elemental power in human form. It's one of the drawbacks of Sage's spell," Alyssa reminded.

"Set the fire in the kitchens. The door is always unlocked and they have matches in there," Rae advised.

Gabi went first, telekinetically pulling down the glass encased fire alarm in the gym. The students and teachers got up and made their way to the fire exits. Alyssa got up with everyone else and took a detour to start a fire in the kitchens.

Caty quickly explained to Nina, Misha, and Lili what was going on so they could offer help from the outside, and make sure everyone got outside.

"Sage, teleport yourself and Chris to the roof. Grab Cara on your way. Even though the supposed fire is here, they'll evacuate the middle school building as well," Rae went on. "I want the three of you to create a glamour zone around the school. In fact, better make it a five mile radius from the school. Once you're done, come back to join the fight unless we say we're good. Don't dispel the glamour zone unless I give the order-in person. Got it?"

Sage and Chris nodded. They ran behind the stage to teleport, trying not to attract attention so people won't notice they were running the wrong way.

Rae started to smell smoke. Alyssa ran back into the gym. "I put out the fire, but the smell should stay for a while. People are still evacuating," she said as she walked up to Rae.

Rae looked around the gym. It was just Team GRACE now...and Jake...and Brian...and Adam.

"What are you guys still doing here?" Rae yelled at them as Alyssa walked over to the gym doors to see if there were people still in the halls. "There's a fire! Can't you smell the smoke! Go!"

Brian and Adam immediately went towards the fire exits. Jake did not follow.

"Caty, we're all good. Once the boys are out, you can lock all the doors. You have your Student Council keys, right?" Alyssa asked.

"Yup."

"Wait!" Jake said. "Why aren't you guys leaving?"

That made Brian stop, which instinctively made Adam stop.

"We're right behind you," Gabi promised.

"You guys should leave first," Jake said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you kidding?" Alyssa cried.

"Just get out of here," James pleaded.

"No. There's no fire at all, is there? You guys tensed up right before the fire alarm went on. This has something to do with you secret."

"You're jumping to conclusions," Caty said, but now Brian was on board as well.

"Wait, really? Caty, what exactly is this secret?" he asked.

Caty groaned softly.

"We don't have time for this," Rae moaned.

"When you had those headaches, Alyssa mentioned something about powers," Jake went on. "What did she mean?"

"Powers? El, what's going on?" Adam asked.

Alyssa cringed. How could this have happened? Weren't Misha, Nina, and Lili supposed to get everyone out?

Caty sighed and locked the side doors. Grunts were coming from the props closet.

"What's that?" Brian asked slowly.

"We have no choice now. Lock the back doors," Alyssa ordered.

Caty didn't hesitate.

"No choice in what?" Adam asked.

"Are you finally going to tell us?" Jake asked.

"It might be easier to show you," Gabi muttered as Rae, who'd forgotten that the Heart was in her bag, crept closer to the closet.

Monsters burst through, pouring out. They were the green ones that tried to kill Rae and Alyssa at Down the Rabbit Hole.

"Whoa!" Jake cried as the other boys cried out in fear.

"Weapons!" James cried because they had none, and in this form, the guardians couldn't use their powers thanks to Sage's spell.

"Keep them busy!" Rae ordered. She teletransported to her house. She grabbed the spare swords the boys kept at her house since it was their secondary base of operations and teletransported back to the school, materializing next to Jake.

He jumped, his eyes going wide. The monsters were trying to attack the guardians. Caty and Brian were trying to hold a few back with some chairs. Ellie and Adam were trying to dodge the attacks the monsters tried to launch at them with their scythes. Josh had broken off the leg of one of the chairs and was using it to defend himself and Gabi. James was also defending himself and Alyssa, using the mike stand.

"Gabi!" Rae called.

Gabi looked over and understood. She telekinetically grabbed one of the swords and gave it to Josh. Then she telekinetically flew the other one over to James.

James and Josh started slicing the heads off, which scared the boys even more. Monsters kept pouring out of the closet. Rae grabbed a chair to try and hold back the ones after her, knowing they would need to change soon.

"Jake, get away!" she cried.

The Sheffield Golden Boy's eyes showed fear, but he was right next to Rae, trying to fight off a monster with a broom.

"I want to help!" he cried.

"There are too many for us to keep going this way!" Caty said, clearly saying they needed to transform.

"Rae, the portal!" Alyssa cried.

"You want to help?" Rae asked. "There's a necklace in my bag. The chain is brown twine and the pendant is a large, pink, glowing jewel. I need it."

Jake nodded and immediately dug through Rae's backpack. When he found the Heart, he sat there awed for a moment before Rae called, "Jake!"

"Oh!" Jake threw the necklace to Rae. The throw was too wide, but the Heart, knowing where it's Keeper was, floated over to Rae.

"Spord lartsa!" Rae cried as she caught it. A doppleganger appeared. She posed no threat, but it stalled the monsters in front of her long enough for her to escape and close the portal.

"Astral drop," Rae said after the portal closed. The fake Rae disappeared, stalling the monsters again. Rae breathed a sigh of relief. At least she didn't give another one life.

Jake, who'd seen a duplicate of his ex appear and reappear, was frozen in shock.

"New Girl, it's now or death," Gabi said. "And I'd like to live!"

Rae nodded. "Get ready guys."

Josh and James walked closer to each other, back to back, so they could cover the girls.

"Brian, you might want to back up," Caty said, then decided to be the one to move back instead.

"You too Adam. But watch, this is cool," Ellie said.

Adam frowned, but took a few steps back.

Rae took a deep breath, hardly believing after everything, Jake was going to find out a second time.

"Guardians, unite!"

As usual, a pink light enveloped Rae and carried her into the air. The other girls followed. The pink light changed color to blue for Catty, orange for Alyssa, green for Gabi, and gray for Ellie. Rae's light remained pink.

"Water!"

"Fire!"

"Earth!"

"Air!"

"Quintessence!"

As the lights and glows died down, the reactions began

Jake's mouth dropped open as his eyes grew even wider. "Whoa," he breathed.

"Ahh!" Brian cried in fear, pressing against the wall.

Adam just kept shaking his head as if he wasn't seeing this, speechless.

It was the worst time for anything else surprising to happen, so of course Sage teleported herself and the Lyndons back in the gym at that point.

Jake just blinked, already seeing Rae disappear and appear again when she teletransported. The other boys cried out again.

"Why are they here?" Chris asked.

"Couldn't be helped," Rae replied.

Sage nodded and took out her dagger. "The glamour zone is good. People who know about the guardians, meaning Nina, Misha, and Lili, aren't affected, but everyone else is."

"Good. Let's finish this guys," Rae said.

The guardians took to the air. Chris and Cara both changed.

Caty started first, producing water. She smiled. It had been a long time since she'd been able to control water. She froze the water into an ice sword and ran three of the monsters through.

Gabi was having a blast fashioning the metal chairs into different weapons. Ellie was getting back into air, using tornadoes to trap the monsters and kill them. Alyssa knew fire was dangerous to use in an enclosed space with so many of her friends around, so she used her powers to make the monsters' scythes too hot to hold onto. Once they dropped them, James sliced off their heads. If Alyssa was close enough, she burned them alive.

Rae was flying straight through, using lighting to fry any of the monsters close to her. With Chris's lasers, Sage's dagger work, and Cara's ability to phase her hand into their bodies and pull out their hearts, they were making quick work of the monsters.

Jake was watching them in excited awe. Rae remembered he was pretty enthusiastic the first time he found out, but he hadn't really seen much that time. He honestly looked like a kid in a candy store.

Brian seemed pretty fearful, but every time he caught sight of Caty, he calmed down, and even began to smile as he kept his eyes on her and watched her fight fiercely. Rae remembered Caty saying her competitive spirit and determination were two things he loved most about her, two qualities that shined through when she was in battle.

Adam seemed to have a hard time adjusting. He frowned the entire time. His face was stoic when he looked at Ellie and he flinched every time there was movement beside him, even if it was just that of the hanging lights above his head.

"Ack!" she heard Alyssa cry. One of the monsters had a scythe pressed to her neck. James was too busy fighting off a few monsters of his own to go over to her, and the others didn't notice.

Jake got up to go to her. Rae flew over, beating him. She grabbed the monster and electrocuted it.

"Thanks," Alyssa said, relieved. "Not to sound ungrateful, but should you really be using that trick? You're the strongest of us all when you have your original element. That trick makes you tired."

"I couldn't shoot at it without accidentally hitting you. Besides, one time is not gonna kill me."

"Rae, let me do something to help," Jake said, walking over to the two of them.

"No way! You're not trained," Rae denied. "Anyway, we're almost done.

It was true. They started off with nearly a hundred monsters, but they were down to seven now.

Ellie trapped one in a hurricane. James and Josh each cut off the heads of two. Caty drowned one. Gabi took the last one down using one of the dropped scythes.

"Alright, everyone except Alyssa out of the way, crowd in a corner," Rae commanded.

The team did exactly what they were told. Adam, Brian, and Jake stayed where they were.

"Didn't you hear me? In the corner, now," Rae yelled, startling them.

The boys moved.

Alyssa smiled sheepishly. "She's the leader. Sometimes she forgets she only leads us," she explained to the disgruntled boys.

Rae ignored this, flew up in the air and said, "Lyssa, the bodies."

Alyssa nodded. Together they used their power to reduce to bodies to ash. Gabi telekinetically opened a trash can. Ellie used air to put the piles of ash in the trash can. Gabi closed it and returned it to it's original place in the room.

"Okay. Explanation?" Jake asked as the team separated.

"None," Rae said. "You shouldn't know this stuff. We're going to make it so you don't."

"How are you going to do that?" Jake asked.

"Rae, no!" Caty and Ellie cried at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Brian asked. "I want to know this."

"You don't understand. It's too dangerous for you guys, especially you," Rae said, looking at Jake at the last two words. "You just had to befriend all of us!"

"Huh?" Jake asked, confused.

Caty looked at Brian, knowing what she had to do. "This is my secret. You asked me what I was hiding. Now you know. I love you Brian, and I want to be with you. Do you still want to be with me? Even though now you know I can spontaneously grow wings?"

"Your wings are beautiful. You are beautiful, inside and out. This makes me love you more. I want to be with you," Brian replied earnestly, making Caty want to explode with pride.

The couple kissed. Ellie turned to Adam.

"And you. Now you know my secret. Are we best friends again?" she asked knowing what Caty was doing.

"W-what? El, that's really what you want to talk about now?" Adam asked, his voice coming out high pitched. His face was white as a sheet.

"I kind of need to. You need to decide if you want to remember what happened here today, and if you want to be best friends again."

"I have a choice?"

"You can forget."

"And if I do, would we go back to fighting?"

"We weren't fighting. You stopped being my friend," Ellie said, an edge in her voice. "And yeah, if you forgot, we wouldn't be friends."

Adam took a shaky breath. It was clear he wanted to forget, but he wanted Ellie's friendship more because he said, "I don't want to forget. And of course we're best friends again. I never stopped being yours, even though I said I did. If you needed me, I wouldn't have hesitated."

Ellie grinned and hugged him. When she pulled away, she looked at Rae sternly.

"Adam's my best friend again," she said.

"And Brian's my boyfriend again," Caty added.

Together the girls said, "Our choice."

"Fine, fine," Rae said. "Whatever." She looked at Jake.

"No," Alyssa said firmly. She was using Rae's leader tone, a tone she'd never used before.

"Alyssa," Rae started in the same tone.

"No!" Alyssa insisted. "I don't know that Brian well, so I don't care what he knows, and I don't like Adam, so I kind of wish he didn't know, but whatever. I care what Jake knows. Rae, we decided whoever is closest to the person would decide. When you guys were dating, that was you. But now...it's not. It's the rest of us. You said it yourself: he befriended all of us. This is not just your choice anymore, it's all of ours."

"And we all want him to know," James said. "He's my best friend, Caty's best friend, Gabi's best friend. He's close with Ellie and like Alyssa's brother. This needs to be a unified decision."

"And you Keeper," Gabi said mockingly, "are outvoted."

Rae was backed into a corner. She looked ready to cry. But she knew there was nothing she could do, so instead of addressing it, she moved on. "Can you all teletransport?"

The girls didn't completely understand that Rae was changing the subject, but nodded just the same.

"Okay, let's do it. Teletransport to the alley where we found the first portal. Gabi, that's the one with the graffiti about the librarian Miss. Bentley," Rae said. "Sage, teleport. This the alley you saw when you came out of the portal to move here. Take Josh and James with you. Alyssa, Gabi, you bring Chris and Cara. Ellie, you bring Adam. Caty, take Brian. Jake, you're coming with me."

"Wait, wait. What is teletransporting?" Jake asked.

"You're about to find out," Rae replied, taking his arm. "Hold on tight. The last thing you want to be put inside a wall."

"What?!" Brian and Jake cried in unison as Adam turned paler (which Rae didn't know was possible). Before they could say anything more, everyone disappeared. To their immense relief, everyone arrived at the alley safely.

"I'm gonna be sick," Jake declared as Chris and Cara changed back to their human forms.

"Are you kidding, dude? That was so trippy!" Brian cried, seemingly excited.

Adam was now green, also looking like he was going to be sick. He staggered away from Ellie and leaned against a wall, taking deep breaths.

The guardians were also breathing hard, but out of fatigue rather than queasiness. That was the first time most of them tried to teletransport such a large distance, and taking someone else was a big deal as well. They wouldn't be able to do that again for a while.

Caty suddenly cried out. "My head," she gasped.

The other girls tensed before realizing they didn't have a headache.

"What's going on?" Alyssa asked. "She can't switch powers on her own, can she? And it's only been two days!"

"It's not that kind of headache!" Caty cried.

"It's a vision," Sage explained. "When one of you is having a vision but doesn't have the resources to see it, it causes a headache."

Caty created some water and threw it at the ground. A puddle formed and the headache disappeared. Caty breathed a sigh of relief before kneeling down to find out what her vision showed.

She watched for a few minutes, then gasped as the images disappeared.

"What? What did you see?" Alyssa asked as Brian gave her a concerned look.

"I'm not sure exactly," Caty said. "But what I think I saw is Kasson."

"Really? What else happened?" Ellie asked.

"Um, well it was a really regal looking man and woman, so I figure it's Kasson and Cassandra. And in Kasson's hand was a piece of twine, like the twine of the Heart, but the jewel was sea green."

"The Heart of Meridian?" Sage asked.

Caty nodded. "And...and inside the Heart was...um...Elyon...at least, I think so. It looked like the older version of the girl we saw pictures of."

Sage nodded sadly. "We knew it was only a matter of time."

Gabi put her arm around Sage, and Josh patted her arm comfortingly. She gave them both grateful smiles.

"In the next second," Caty said, "I saw some kind of blast. Almost like the blasts you emit with your lasers Chris. They hit both Kasson and Cassandra. I guess it was a surprise attack, because you know how powerful those two are supposed to be, to beat the Meridian royal family in battle. Kasson's grip on the Heart was lost, and it went flying, but it was caught by someone. A man I think, but I could only see his hand. Then I heard laughing. Like an evil laugh. And the voice...it was chilling. Like...like it was the epitome of evil."

"The epitome of evil? Isn't that how you described the voice of the man in Ellie's dream?" Rae asked Alyssa.

The African American nodded. "It must be the same man. We thought the man in Ellie's dream was the man that was trying to take over Kandrakar. And in Caty's vision, he took the Heart of Meridian. That makes sense. Kandrakar is hard to take over, but if he has the power of the Heart of Meridian, one of the most powerful Hearts in all the worlds, he'll have an easier time."

"Not the mention he probably has the Heart of his own land," Gabi added. "Two Hearts to our one."

"Not yet," Rae said. "Caty got a vision. Most likely, it's of something that will happen, not something that's already happened. I say we try to find this enemy and fight him before he gets his hands on the Heart of Meridian. One Heart to one, and ours is more powerful."

"But we don't where he is," Cara said. "Or even who."

"We can stake out Kandrakar. The Oracle will at least be able to tell us when the enemy is going to attack," Rae said.

The others nodded. It seemed a good a plan as any.

"So what now? We just go to Kandrakar?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah. I can open a portal right now."

"Wait," Gabi said. "We don't know what's going to happen. There's a chance we could get attacked when we get to Kandrakar. Or the Oracle could point us on the direction of this guy right away and we'd have to go find him. I mean, Ellie's dream was not of what will happen, but what was happening. What if Caty's vision is also of the present? If we have to fight this enemy when we get to Kandrakar, this could be the final battle the prophecy is talking about. If there's even the slightest chance that we might not...you know, come back...then I need to say goodbye to Luc."

"You think this could be it?" Ellie asked, looking haunted.

"It?" Jake repeated. "Are you guys marching off into some death battle?"

"We don't know," Rae said. "Probably not."

"But Gabi just said-"

"I know what she said Jake," Rae snapped, then looked at everyone else. "It's slightly possible, but I don't think it's time yet," she said.

Brian and Adam looked really confused.

"You're going to be okay, right?" Brian asked, taking Caty's hand.

"Yeah, definitely," Caty said with a smile, but she blushed.

"Ellie, you can't do anything that'll get you hurt," Adam said insistently.

"I don't have a choice Adam. It's my duty," Ellie said. "Besides, I'll have help."

"She'll have my help for sure," Chris said, taking her hand.

Ellie gave him a huge smile as she felt the same shivers she got every time Chris touched her. She looked at Gabi. "But what do you think? Is this our last battle?"

"Honestly El? I don't know. But we need to entertain every possibility," Gabi replied. "Besides, I didn't get to see Luc this morning, and usually I always do. So I need to go."

With that, Gabi took off, flying high enough in the air so everyone would assume she was bird.

"Gabi, wait!" Josh called, but she couldn't hear him.

"You know what? I think she might have the right idea. Maybe we should say goodbye. At the very least, I should tell my mom what's going on," Alyssa said. "Maybe she can even offer some help."

"Good idea. I'll go with you," Rae said as she changed the girls back.

Jake and Brian were awed by the change, while Adam let out a short moan, but the others paid them no attention.

Alyssa frowned at Rae. "But what about your mom?"

"I can't tell my mom. She knows about the prophecy, but if she finds out what's going on, she'll never let me go," Rae argued.

"Rae, I understand why you didn't want to loop her in about the power switch, but she needs to know this. You have to tell her. And as much as she won't want to, she'll understand. She'll let you go," Alyssa said firmly.

"I'll go with you," Jake offered.

Rae sighed but nodded. "Okay."

She turned to the others to give some last minute orders.

"In case of battle, we'll take a small Meridian army with us. We can go to Meridian first, and go to Kandrakar from there. Right now, we need to do some damage control. Sage, teleport into the inside of the gym and fix everything that's broken. Chris, Cara, go to the school with her and drop the glamour zone once she's done. Caty, you go with them too. I need you to use your mind control to get the principal to dismiss everyone and let everyone go home. Make him realize there's no real fire, and also get him to skip the roll call that usually occurs after a fire drill."

"What about after that? What do we do?" Caty asked.

"You can go home, say your goodbyes. We'll all meet at The Silver Dragon."

Caty nodded. "Come with me?" she asked Brian.

"Of course. I have to hear more about this mind control," Brian grinned, taking Caty's hand. The couple ran off. Sage grabbed Chris and Cara's arms and teleported away.

"Okay the rest of us can go home as well."

"I'll go with you," Adam said to Ellie.

"Okay. We're headed to Marcus's. That's where Jason is staying, and Gavin's there right now too."

"Why?"

"Well, Gavin and Marcus are friends."

"No, I mean, why is Jason staying with Marcus?" Adam asked as the pair headed off.

"Oh, I have a lot to catch you up on. Jason moved in with Marcus and I moved in with Alyssa. Actually, this happened before our fight."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Adam asked.

Ellie replied, but now they were out of earshot.

"Okay, the rest of us can go together. Josh, I need you to get Gabi," Rae said.

"Josh nodded.

"Oh wait, James, do you want me to go to your house with you first?" Alyssa asked.

"Nope. Let's just head to your house."

Alyssa nodded. James didn't talk about his family much, but from what he did say, Alyssa (and Rae and Jake) knew that James didn't really get along with his family. He didn't have any siblings. His mother was very proud of James' musical and martial arts abilities, but didn't really know anything about him, and his father barely spared him a glance except to ask about school every week or so. That's part of the reason James wanted to go to Princeton. It was close enough that he could still see Alyssa and his other friends every now and then, but far enough away that he wouldn't have to see his family if he didn't want to.

The group walked to Larson Street. Josh split from them immediately since Gabi's house was on the right side and Rae and Alyssa's were on the left.

"Okay, so we'll wait for you right outside and you can come join us when you're done," Alyssa said as she opened the door to her house. "And we'll walk to The Silver Dragon together."

"Sounds good," Rae said as she and Jake went ahead. She took a calming breath. She didn't like the idea of giving her mother a last goodbye.

"You okay?" Jake asked.

"Absolutely."

"You're a terrible liar," he said. He took her hand.

Rae smiled. No, she wasn't okay, but with Jake by her side, she was on her way there.

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that as much as I hope you did. One chapter left guys, and even though it tones the story down a little, there are a couple things in there I think you guys will like too!