"Long-distance just isn't the kind of relationship I want, you know?" Dizzy spun around in her chair, looking to the ceiling. A pencil was balanced between her upper lip and nose. "Do you think we could cut the production time of lace mini if we order from a bulk factory?"

"Mhmm, the lace is too delicate for factory machines," Evie said, not looking up from a shirt she was stitching, "Did Jem want to try long distance?"

"She did. I didn't,"

Evie paused, taking a moment to look at Dizzy, "Why not?"

"I don't feel like that's what I want. Pining for something miles away,"

"It wouldn't be pining,"

"It's not the same,"

"I know," Evie said gently, "I'm sorry you had to end it,"

Dizzy sighed, "I don't think Jemma was the one anyway,"

"You dated her for four months,"

"Four months, two weeks,"

Evie chuckled, "And your longest relationship was what… five months,"

"And only because Ashley was away for three months at tennis camp. I would have broken up with her way sooner once I found out how shitty she treated service staff,"

"Yeah, you sure can pick them,"

"Hey! You're dating the dragon who doesn't the know difference between chiffon and georgette,"

"She may not know her sheer fabrics, but she makes the best coffee and knows how to not be a dick to the waiter,"

"Yeah, brag about it," Dizzy muttered, "You just happened to find your person as kids,"

Evie laughed, "We didn't get together until much later," She moved the shirt she was sewing from the machine and draped it onto a mannequin.

"Yeah, but you've always known you'd be in each other lives,"

"D, you're sixteen,"

"I'm going to be seventeen soon. Take the hem in by half-inch at the sleeves and add a pleat fold to the placket,"

"Half an inch? That would bring it above the elbows. And my point is don't worry about who your person is. Have fun. Enjoy the dating. Live in the moment. Forever can come later,"

"I don't want to hear that from you. You need to commit to what you're doing with the sleeves. Long or short. The balance is off where the length is now,"

"You're right,"

"Of course I am,"

"And oh so humble,"

"I learnt that from your girlfriend,"

Evie snorted, "Dizzy, you are a breed all on your own,"

Dizzy giggled.

"Evie, your nine-thirty is here,"

"Thanks, Jace. Send them to the fitting room," Evie said as she took up a measuring tape. Dizzy followed her, taking up a measuring tape herself.

"But speaking of your girlfriend is she really okay or is she putting up a tough exterior,"

"What do you think?"

"Tough exterior then,"

"I got her to talk about what happened with Hades. I haven't had the chance to talk with her about her mom's staff being stolen. She went out for drinks with Bria and the others and she was asleep by the time I got home. I think that's a good sign. That she wasn't up stressing about it,"

"Does Ben know who stole it?"

"No,"

"What's the chances this is just a high profile theft for money? A sell to highest bidder kind of thing?'

"Maleficent's staff? Not exactly a collector's item is it,"

"I'd steal the staff if I wanted to turn into a dragon," A new voice entered the conversation as they stepped into the fitting room, "But that's just me,"

Evie grinned, "Maleficent's ancestry is what allowed her to turn into a dragon. Not the staff. Mal's never had the staff and she can do it,"

Dizzy froze on the spot.

"Oh, I didn't think about that," Celia said, "I just thought her magic was in the staff,"

"Staffs amplify and sometimes store magic. But they're duds if the person doesn't any magical talent themselves,"

"Huh, maybe I will learn somethings about magic here," Celia said.

"Fairy Godmother is the best teacher you could ask for. Where are the twins?"

"Emu and is it… Ryder? A few of the boys took them to some ball game,"

"Oh. I'll have to get their measurements another time. At least they're getting out. What about you? Not invited?"

"Oh no, I was. I just didn't want to go. I was much more interested to see your whole set up,"

"Evie, a word please," Dizzy said quickly from outside the room.

"A moment Celia," Evie smiled and stepped out with Dizzy.

"You didn't tell me you had an appointment with Celia today," She said in a whisper.

"Didn't you look at the schedule?"

"All it had on it was 'measurement appointment'."

"D, you know I always make outfits for the kids when they just get here,"

"Yeah, but you didn't say Celia's was today,"

"Did I need to say that?"

"Yes," Dizzy hesitated, "No. It would have nice to have to get a heads up,"

Evie tilted her head curiously, "Ooookay. What aren't you saying?"

"Nothing," She squeaked.

"Mhmm," Evie didn't believe it for a second, "We're going to talk about this later, but for now we have a client. Are you going to help me? Or do you want to do back to the studio and work on the designs,"

Dizzy squared her shoulders, "I'm a professional. I'll help you,"

"Okay then. Sorry about that Celia," Evie said as they stepped into the room again.

"Why are you saying sorry? It was two seconds. No biggie," She'd taken up one of the hats they had on display in the room, modelling it in the mirrors. She stopped when she caught sight of Dizzy in the reflection.

She spun on her heels to face them, "Dizzy Tremaine?"

"Hello Celia," She said, voice fading away at the end.

"I haven't seen you around since I got here,"

"Busy with stuff, you know?" She gave a half-hearted shrug.

"Stuff… uh-huh," Celia gave a half-smile, "And what are you doing here," She pointed to the room in general.

"I work here," She fiddled with her glasses.

"You work here?"

"Yes. Part-time. Mostly small commissions. Evie doesn't let me take on any big jobs,"

"I let you do plenty. And you can do plenty more once you get your degree,"

"So you work for Evie?"

"I like to think of it as her working with me,"

"Cool," Celia arched a brow, that same smile on her lips curling up the edges, "You know who Evie's dating right?"

"Of course I do. I was the first person to know,"

Evie was sure Dizzy's face went red. This whole conversation was something she needed to file away for later.

"Good for you," Celia nodded, "I guess it pays to have friends in high places. You get dating details first. You get to come to Auradon first. You get cool jobs. You get to avoid old classmates,"

"I wasn't avoiding you,"

"Sure you weren't," Celia chuckled. Her focus hadn't shifted from Dizzy since she'd stepped into the room, "I expect we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, Tremaine. Is that okay with you?"

"It's just Dizzy, and why wouldn't it be?" Dizzy said, her voice tight.

"Oh, you know why, Dizzy,"

The tips of Dizzy's ears were definitely red. Evie wasn't sure if she should excuse herself or make Dizzy leave. But she came up with a compromise when she heard her phone ringing. It wasn't any of the pre-sets she used for her friends so she told Dizzy to answer it.

"D, see who that is while I get Celia's measurements,"

"Right," Dizzy answered stiffly as she took Evie's bag from her. She searched for a few seconds before coming up with the phone. "It's Prism Ink," Dizzy said, very confused.

"What?"

Dizzy held the phone screen out for her to see. Sure enough, the name Prism Ink was on the screen. Along with a picture of the little storefront.

"That's where Meg works, answer it," She was confused too. Meghan wasn't someone she expected to get a random call from at the start of a day and definitely not from her work number.

"Hello, this is Evie's phone," Dizzy answered. Her perplexed expression went through an array of emotions in a few seconds, "Wait, what? Who?"

"D?" Evie asked.

"Who teleported? Mal used magic? What? Why?" Dizzy asked.

"Phone now," Evie said, holding her hand out. Dizzy didn't hesitate to hand it over. Mal never used magic carelessly in public.

"This is Evie, what's happening with Mal,"

"Someone who knows how to use a sleeping curse came to Sixth Circle," It was Bria's voice on the line, "Mal sent us away once she realized what it was. She thinks it's the person who stole Maleficent's staff,"

Evie's blood ran cold, "Where's Mal?"

"She stayed behind,"

"Boss, no answer!" Evie heard a voice from the background.

"Keep calling Zackery! Try the office phone too,"

"She sent you to Meghan's studio?"

"Yes. She drew a circle on the ground. It felt like someone pulled me by my stomach and we landed in the backroom of Meg's,"

That definitely sounded like a teleportation spell. But those were notoriously imprecise and Mal had never tried one before. If she used it now she must have felt like she had no other opinions.

"Are you sure it's a sleeping curse?"

"Kat passed out at Sixth Circle and Carver kneeled over a few moments after we got teleported,"

"Mal's still at Sixth Circle?"

"She refused to come with us. Said they were there for her,"

"Oh Mal, you righteous idiot," Evie muttered to herself, "Okay, I'm going there,"

"I was about to go back myself,"

"WHAT?" Someone shouted from Bria's end. The sounds muffled, but Evie could hear an argument. She tuned out their voices, already mentally planning the fastest route and suddenly her stomach dropped when she realized how close her studio was the Sixth Circle.

"Jace!" She yelled. He ran in, "Go home,"

"Right aw- wait, what?"

"Go home, you have the rest of the day off and tell everyone else the same thing,"

"Evie what's happening?" Dizzy asked.

"I'm going to go now," Evie said to Bria.

"Wait, before you do, Mal said to get Fairy Godmother, to help Kat and Carver,"

"Right. The spell. I'll call her for you. Tell them to stay at Meg's for now,"

"Okay,"

She hung up and just stood there for a second, trying to process everything.

"Evie, what's happening?" Dizzy asked.

"I don't know for sure, but Mal might be in trouble,"

"We're going to her, right?"

"I'm going to her. You're going home,"

"What!? NO! Evie you c-"

"I can. I am. You're going home. Both of you," She added to Celia, "You're going to stay safe,"

"Mal's my friend,"

"Yes and she'd want you safe. I'm not arguing with you. Go home,"

She walked out, not giving Dizzy the chance to speak again. Her mind was running at top speed, categorically lining up what she needed to do. The first person she called was Carlos. He answered as she unlocked her car.

"Hey Evie, what's up?"

"We got trouble. Mal might have been ambushed by whoever stole the staff,"

"That's not a joke you make,"

"It's not a joke,"

"Fuck. Are you with her?"

"No. It happened at Sixth Circle. I'm going there now,"

"I'm there,"

"Can you go to my place first? Pick up some things from my stash,"

"You think we'll need it?"

"I know at least a sleeping curse is in play,"

"Shit," Carlos said in a whisper.

"If this person knows magic and they're after Mal,"

"You're right, we need every advantage. Okay. I'll get Jay and we'll get the stuff. Stay safe,"

"You too,"

Evie didn't think anything of a car parked in the middle of the street at a green light as she got a few blocks from Sixth Circle. If her mind hadn't been divided between worry for Mal and pulling up Ben's contact she might have thought more of it. But at that moment she just drove around it.

"Evie, can I call you back?" Ben answered.

"I know where the staff is,"

"What?"

"I don't have all the details but there was someone at Mal's work. She felt threatened enough to teleport her co-workers out of there,"

"Is Mal okay?"

"I don't know. I only talked to her boss. But Ben, there are people under a sleeping curse,"

Ben cursed. It was strange, hearing Ben give into a fit of anger.

"I sent you two addresses. The first is where Mal is. The second is where there are two people under the curse. We need to pass that info onto Fairy Godmother,"

"Right. Where are you?"

"On my way to Mal,"

"Evie,"

"Don't tell me to be careful,"

"Think about what Mal would want,"

"She can chew me out for running into danger when she's safe,"

Ben was silent for a long moment, "I'll meet you at Mal's work and I'll arrange for a team to go to that second address,"

"Thank you, Ben,"

Her heart dropped when Sixth Circle came into view. The front entrance of the building had been blown open, the doors bowed outwards. Shattered glass littered the street. It crunched under her feet as she stepped out. The sidewalk right outside the studio was blackened. Water was trailing out into the streets from the sprinklers inside.

She kneeled down, running her fingers across the surface. Wet soot came off on her gloves. This had to be Mal. Evie knew it. Footsteps caught her ears and she tensed, standing. Her hand went to her charm bracelet. That's when Bria and Meghan came into view around the corner of the building. Bria stopped short hand covering her mouth. Evie saw Meghan's softly whispered 'Oh no.'

"Where's Mal?" Bria asked when she saw Evie.

"I only just got here,"

Bria stepped over the mangled mess that used to be the front doors. Evie was only a step behind. "Be careful, we don't know who's here," She whispered. Evie fiddled with her charm bracelet, unhooking a small glass bottle hanging from it, filled with an opaque burgundy liquid.

"What is that?"

"Paralyzing potion. Always keep enough for one person on me, just encase,"

The front room was blackened from flames, but the sprinklers had already put them out. Evie toed some of the glass on the floor. Some pieces were partly melted, but it still told her something. Someone had blasted their way in before the doors had been blasted out or glass would have only been on one side of the doors, not on both. From the way the doors were blown outwards she guessed the blast from inside had happened second. She also reasoned Mal was responsible of that blast judging from the patterns of the flame damage.

"This is intense fire damage," Meghan said.

"Mal's magic is no joke. But for her to go this far," Evie stopped at a point that looked a small crater. The scorch marks all emerged outwards from that spot.

"Mal was here… but where is she now?" There were scorch marks on all directions, but they were strongest towards the doors. If that was where the person attacking her was, would have Mal pushed forward on the attack or retreated. Evie looked out the doors again. Her eyes skimed over the glass on the street and the burned sidewalk. But then she scanned the neighbouring buildings. No damage to any nearby buildings or even the road. If Mal had pressed an attack, chances where high there'd be more sign of a fight in that direction. So that left one way, "This way," Evie said leading to way further back into the studio.

She tried to calm her heartbeat as she wondered just what happened where Mal prioritized retreat instead of attack. Mal wasn't reckless. She knew when to cut her losses in a fight. But that was only when she was sure the odds were stacked against her. If she saw the chance for her victory she'd push for it.

They searched the first floor, but only found waterlogged rooms. In the showroom, a few pieces were on the floor broken, but most remained untouched.

"Seems like the fight was contained to the reception area. Nothing else was touched,"

"This is where Mal teleported us from," Bria said as she stepped into the storeroom. She toed the circle on the floor. "Although this had more symbols on it,"

"Those are consumed in the spell," Evie said absentminded, "How long ago did she send you away?"

"We were by Meghan's about twenty minutes before I called you. I would have called you sooner, but the first thing we thought to do was get in contact with Mal. The Carver passed out. Everything was happening at once,"

"It's okay. It hasn't been that long. She has to be somewhere nearby,"

"We still haven't checked upstairs," Meghan reminded them gently, "This is Mal we're talking about. She's a tough cookie,"

The upstairs much like most of downstairs didn't have any signs of the intense fight of the storefront. But there were more signs of disturbance here. Lockers and cupboards had been thrown open.

"These were definitely forced open," Bria said, examining the damaged lock on one of the lockers, "We lock equipment in here every evening. And even the ones that weren't locked, we didn't leave them like this,"

"Someone was looking for something," Evie said, "Or someone… Mal,"

There was the faint crunch of glass from downstairs. The three of them all froze, looking towards the stairs. Bria grabbed two of the long pipes they used to blow glass, handing one to Meghan and wielding it like a bat. Evie crept towards the top of the stairs, getting her potion ready if she saw anything. She stood on one side holding her breath as she head footsteps. A shadow fell on the steps, slowly climbing up. A figure came around the corner of the stairs and she winded back but at the very last second stopped herself, getting in Bria's way as she too pulled back to strike.

Celia's eyes went wide when she saw them and held her hands up, "I'm not the bad guy!"

"Celia! I told you to go home!" Evie turned on her, "If I hadn't recognised you… what are you doing here?"

"You know this kid?" Bria asked.

"Dizzy showed me the way,"

"What?!"

Dizzy appeared a few stairs lower than Celia, "She said she was going to follow you anyway!" She defended. Evie glared at them. They at least at the decency to look mollified.

"I wasn't going to miss out on the action,"

"This isn't some game Celia," Evie said.

"If this is someone with Maleficent's scepter you could use me," Celia said, "I have magic,"

"You're a kid,"

"I'm 18,"

Evie glared at her.

"17 and three quarters," Celia amended. Dizzy coughed, "Alright and a half. Who cares about age if I can help?"

"I care that you're safe,"

"No one is even here but us,"

"That's the concerning thing. There was definitely a fog around the building when we were here," Bria said, "I think that was the sleeping spell. Where is it now?"

"If the person who cast it left so would have the fog," Celia said.

"Mal is here either," Evie said.

"You don't think…" Dizzy started but cut herself off. They were all thinking it. Did someone take Mal?

Sorry if you were waiting to learn what happened to Mal this chapter. This is as much Evie's story as it is Mal's. She's going to have just as many moments to shine. (Honestly, this might be more Evie's, but her arc kicks into gear later on). Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. Yell at me about the missing Mal.

Nardragon- until the next page.