There it is!

Mal sighed in relief as she rounded the last bend and saw it resting against the glass class.

Right where Fairy Godmother said it would be.

"That's the Dragonfire?" Uma scoffed from her left. Behind them, Harry and Gil caught up at last. Harry, looking slightly winded from all of the stairs, Gil, full out gasping against a large marble pillar. "It looks more like something out of Evie's jewelry collection! Are you sure that this is what Fairy Godmother wanted you to find?"

"Just a wee jewel?" Harry added, incredulously. "Doesn't look all that intimidating."

Mal sighed. What was it with her friends and underestimating the amount of power a tiny, seemingly innocent, inanimate object could contain? "It's not how it looks on the outside," she sighed as she eyed the protective case surrounding it. "Just because it's small doesn't mean it's not powerful."

"Yeah," Uma scoffed. "And I'm queen of the sea!" She put her hands on her hips. "And even if that is the real Dragonfire, how do you intend on getting to it? It's in there. And there's no way you can get to it without setting off the traps."

"Traps?" Mal whipped around to face her. "What traps?"

Uma rolled her eyes and gestured skywards. Mal followed where she was pointing. Sure enough, hidden behind some loose wooden panels, she could see the holes that no doubt contained the traps just waiting to impale them if they tried to get too close. "Oh..." Mal groaned. "Well, that's not going to work." She paused for a moment, thinking. And then she smirked. "I need my spell book."

"Uh...what?" Uma blinked. "But didn't you lock that up in some dusty old museum a long time ago?"

Mal continued to smirk and lifted her arms in an exaggerated shrug. That was when Uma realized where they were. "Oh." She turned to Harry and Gil. "Gil!" she snapped at the poor boy who was still trying to catch his breath. She snapped her fingers and pointed off down an adjacent hallway. "Go find Mal's spell book!"

"But I just-" Gil began to argue.

Uma gave him a look. That look. The one that told Gaston's son that it would be a mistake to continue down this path. The blond sighed and obeyed, heading off towards the Hall of Villains. Once they'd turned over their talismans to Fairy Godmother, she'd taken them and locked them in a small room near the back of the building so that none of them could be tempted to use them ever again. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Fairy Godmother would forgive her eventually, after they successfully defeated Maleficent and saved Auradon. Again.

"Oh!" Mal shouted suddenly. "Gil!"

The boy slid to a halt. "Yes?"

"Get the Magic Mirror while you're there, would you?"

Gil nodded and started off again.

Uma and Harry looked confused as Mal went back to studying the traps. "The Magic Mirror?" Uma echoed. "What are you going to be able to do with that? Evie's the only one who can use it, you know. And, last I checked, she isn't here."

"I know. But I still think it might come in handy later. After all, it can help her find things." Mal smirked at the memory. How long ago it seemed since they'd left the Isle. Three years. We've all grown up so much. I'm engaged to Ben, Evie is in love with Doug, Carlos is dating Jane, and Jay likes Lonnie. This is our home and our world now.

What happens if we can't protect that world? What if we can't stop Maleficent? Beast warned us of the danger of taking the barrier down by I don't think any of us had taken it seriously. Was he right about all of the warnings? Where is Maleficent? Why can't I sense her anywhere?

"Um...hello? Auradon to Mal. I think we're supposed to be getting that little magic watchamacallit. Not daydreaming about...whatever it is you're doing."

Mal snapped out of her own thoughts to glance over at an impatient Uma.

The daughter of Ursala gestured to the Dragonfire pointedly. Beside her, Harry was clearly becoming restless. Gil's footsteps had vanished in the distance, leaving the three of them alone. "Okay...so...anyone have any ideas?"

"Why don't we just fight our way over there and smash the case?" Harry suggested.

Both Mal and Uma rolled their eyes. "No, genius," Uma growled. "The Fairy Godmother put this thing here. I doubt she would have made it easy to get. If you ask me, it probably has some kind of barrier or spell around it. So we should probably figure out how to get past that first."

"And that is what the spell book is for."

Uma scoffed as Mal felt her eyes being drawn to a small stand off to the side of the room that she hadn't previously noticed. What is that? "Uma..." she began, hastily moving away from the Dragonfire to a stand filled with papers and scrolls. A small symbol had been sketched onto the upper left corner of the paper. For some reason, Mal was sure she'd seen it before. "What's this?"

Uma came over to join her. "Huh. I don't know. But doesn't it look familiar?"

Mal nodded. "It does. Harry? Ever seen it before?"

"No," he responded. "But that symbol," he pointed to it with his hook. "That's the symbol of a powerful sorceress."

"Someone on the Isle?" Mal guessed.

Harry shook his head. "Not that I know of. And I've only seen markings like this once, in Badness Class, remember?"

"No, I cut class to work at my mom's restaurant, but that makes perfect sense!" Uma replied. "It has to be a sign of a villain! That's why it's locked up here!"

"But...not a villain on the Isle, or else we'd know who it was," Mal corrected with a frown. How is that possible? I thought Beast locked all the villains on the Isle of the Lost.

Uma shrugged. "Maybe they were like pink-princess-girl and were good to begin with."

"But I still think we'd have heard about it, at least. I mean, look at it. Every villain has their own calling card. What does it look like to you?"

Harry squinted. "A...dragon? A...doll...maybe?"

Uma rolled her eyes while Mal gave the pirate a forced smile. A dragon or a doll did not narrow down their search too much. A dragon could easily have stood for Maleficent...only it wasn't because Mal knew the sign...and it was different than this one. And a doll? What villain in their right mind would use a doll as their calling card? It was just...lame.

"What does the inscription say?" Harry went on, leaning closer to try and read the scratches and marks on the page.

"Do I look like I speak ancient witch to you?" Uma asked him sharply. "Why don't you ask Mal? She knows more about magic than I do!"

"Uh...I was actually asking Mal," Harry admitted. Uma hit him on the arm. "Ow!" he protested. "What was that for?"

"If you don't know the answer to that," Uma responded. "Than I don't think I should tell you."

Harry frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Okay...guys..." Mal began, trying to divert them from their squabble and focus back in on their mission.

"It means that you should pay more attention to who you direct your questions to!" Uma snapped, stepping forwards to face down the boy who did not seem at all intimidated by her presence.

"Guys-"

"Oh yeah?" Harry shot back, matching her glare. "Well then maybe I'd outta-"

"GUYS!" Mal shouted, pushing her way in between the two of them. "What are you saying? Uma, you're not this jealous! Harry, you don't snap back at Uma! It's the Dragonfire. It's effecting your brains. I think we should leave for now, at least until Gil gets back with my spell book."

"Ah-no-"

"But-"

"No 'buts'!" Mal interjected, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders and leading them towards the doors. Once they were outside, she closed the oak doors behind them and gestured for them to sit down on the steps and wait. After all, there wasn't really anything else they could do at the moment.

With a sigh, Mal pulled out her phone and checked for any messages from her friends. To her surprise, she found one waiting from Jay.

Got our Dragonfire! On our way back now (via magic carpet woah-hoo!). Should be there in a few hours.

Mal smiled slightly. Well, that means we now have three Dragonfires. Doug's, Carlos', and Jay's. That just leaves mine, Evie's, and Ben's.

Speaking of Ben, she decided to text him and see how their search was going (and if Chad and Audrey were actually being any help).

Hey, how's Charmington? Having any luck?

He answered back almost immediately.

Yeah, actually. Chad thinks he knows where it might be hidden and is taking us there right now! Fingers-crossed. We can be back in about five hours.

I'm crossing my fingers now.

Mal frowned, realizing that she hadn't heard anything further from Evie...or Doug. She hoped they were all right and had managed to find each other again. The Isle could be a scary place. She knew that from personal experience. Doug would go mad trying to blend in, and Evie could lose her mind worrying about him blending in.

Evie? She texted the girl. Are you there?

Hasty footsteps interrupted her and she glanced up just as Gil came bursting through the doors, waving the spell book triumphantly in the air.

"Oh, thank badness!" Uma exclaimed, leaping to her feet. "I don't think I could have sat there for another minute!"

Mal rolled her eyes. You were there for like, a minute and a half tops. She held out her hand eagerly and Gil handed her the book before plopping down between Harry and Uma. Mal hastily began flipping through pages until she found one for breaking glass. It seemed easy enough.

But something else also caught her eye.

On the opposite page in the upper left corner...the same symbol from inside the museum.

Curious, she read the paragraph underneath it.

The Sign of the Lost:

Once originally thought to be the calling card of a hero, the magical aura of the Sign cannot be overshadowed. In its thirty lines and arches, it tells a story...a legend about a 'chosen one', a great hero blessed with the power of both good and evil. Legends speak of a child, the offspring of both a hero and a villain, who will either heal and protect Auradon...or utterly destroy it. The Sign of the Lost is said to appear when the child begins to develop their powers. And when that happens...the final countdown has begun and the final battle-the war between good and evil-will begin.

Mal's eyes widened as she read. This was the second time in the same day that she'd seen this symbol. Did that mean it was time? Was there someone out there who had both hero and villain blood? If so, how was it possible? She and her friends had been the first villains to come from the Isle, right? It certainly couldn't have been anyone in Auradon.

That meant, whoever this 'chosen one' was, they had to be on the Isle.

Which meant that was where they needed to go next. "Uma!" she called, handing the spell book back over her shoulder. "Take this and go get the Dragonfire."

"Uh...okay? And what are you going to do?"

Mal didn't answer as she quickly bought up both Jay's and Carlos' numbers and began to text them simultaneously.

Guys! Get back here as fast as you can! I think we may have another problem on our hands! Everybody meet on the bridge to the Isle!

WHAT? Carlos answered first.

What is it? We're on our way, Jay added.

"Mal!" Uma interrupted, stepping down the steps to join her. "What is going on?"

Mal spun to face them. "I just figured something out," she explained. "Maleficent could be behind some of this, but she can't be controlling Evie's sudden burst of power, or the Dragonfires for that matter. Which can only mean one thing..."

"What?" Gil questioned, earning scowls from the others. "What?" he repeated, looking at them, confused.

Mal ignored this and went on. She had everyone's full attention now.

"I think there's another villain in Auradon."