(Mal)
A deep settling ache formed in Mal's chest the very second Evie disappeared from her sight, completely taking her mind off the sharp pain currently spreading through her side, the pain from being left in this way outperforming the pain of re-opening a wound. What even happened? Why did she act like that? She wanted to chase after the girl, to figure out what was wrong, but the second she used her good arm to drag herself across the floor the freshly opened wound seared her side, the intense heat finally managing to steal her attention from the living ache inside her chest.
"Fuck!" Mal hissed, her arm collapsing under her weight.
She landed harshly on her back, jaw clenched in pain as she lifted her head to glance down at the bandaging covering her ribcage and the blood staining it. Well, this won't be the worst pain I feel today. She wasn't only referencing the almost unbearable pain she had felt crashing into her both times Evie had made to leave, and just as she thought about it – as if summoning it – the connection tugged on her chest. Despite knowing it was coming the pain still blinded her, her vision filling with millions of tiny lines as the heat inside her chest burned everything to a crisp. She could feel the pain going through Evie as well, and she thought bitterly toward the girl; you fucking deserve this for walking away from me that way.
It was cruel, but she couldn't help what she felt in that moment. She was furious; furious with Evie for leaving her in this way; furious with herself for caring; furious with herself for becoming so vulnerable with the girl. She had let the girl get to her only for her to tear her down, and she vowed to herself as she lay helplessly on the ground – too many different painful strikes taking over her body at once – that she would never allow it again.
However, she knew that she couldn't blame it all on Evie alone. The necklace. The powerful surge that had hit her just as the girl's behavior changed so suddenly clued her in that something was wrong. It was like the magic had sunk its claws into Evie and drained everything that made her who she was from her body, leaving only an empty shell in its place. It could only be the necklace. The necklace is controlling her, keeping her away from me. She still had no idea why the necklace would react in such a way, but she knew it was the only possibility, the only thing that made even the slightest bit of sense. And so she forced herself to push passed her anger toward the girl, knowing that there were more pressing matters at stake; Evie was in danger. If her mind was clouded by the necklace's power it would surely warn her of any nearby danger, but it might also lead her straight into it by taking her away from Mal. The agents knew she was protecting Evie, and there was no doubt in her mind that they would strike the second they found them apart and weakened, which made right now the perfect time; the necklace successfully separating them while the break in the connection weakened them.
Gritting her teeth, Mal dug her fingers into the bandaging encasing her ribcage, sending magic through her fingertips to cut the material from her body. Her side wasn't the best sight to see in that moment, but she wasn't bothered by it in the slightest, and she slid her blood-coated hand directly over the wound as she shut her eyes for better focus. A scream tore through her body as she pushed magic into her wounds until her side appeared to have never been injured in the first place. Sweat trickled from her forehead into her hair as she repeated the process with her arm, completely forgetting about the wound in her left temple. After giving herself a short moment to recover from healing she pushed herself to her feet unsteadily, her energy already lacking severely as she stumbled over to the bed she had previously occupied, grabbing her clothes from the basket at the head of it and pulling them over her body. Breathing heavily due to the effort moving proved to be she forced her legs to carry her through the open door and through the hallway.
"Hey, where are you going?"
She ignored the receptionist completely, pushing through the front doors of the infirmary and into the fresh air, finding that – despite it being nearly 6PM – the sun remained completely alert, blinding her and forcing her to raise her arms to block the harsh rays from stinging her eyes. I need to discuss assignments with my teachers before they leave the school. Pushing passed the constant protests of her body Mal head in the direction of the school after locating it, praying that the girl was actually where she said she would be, too tired to use the weakened connection to locate her.
Entering the school, Mal frantically moved through the hallways, glancing into every room in search of the girl. You better be fucking kidding me, she thought to herself after searching the last classroom she knew Evie had. She's not fucking here! Throwing her clenched hand into the nearest wall she found glass shattering around her arm, letting her know that it had been a window. She barely noticed the sting of the shards slicing through her knuckles as she found her strength in anger and worry, hurrying back through the halls and into the sunlight.
"Mal?"
The voice came from her left, and she immediately turned, hope coursing through her that she would find Evie next to the boy who had spoken her name. A false hope, it would seem.
"Carlos," Mal responded, gaze flickering over the boy standing next to Carlos; and she would have asked who he was if she wasn't in a hurry. "Have you seen Evie anywhere?"
But Carlos didn't seem to hear her. "Aren't you supposed to be…? What happened to your injuries?"
"They healed," Mal answered. "Where's Evie?"
"It seems you're always looking for Evie," the taller boy next to Carlos spoke up, crossing his arms across his chest. "Why don't you tell me what you want with her?"
"It's none of your business, man-bun," Mal hissed through a clenched jaw, becoming desperate and increasingly agitated.
The boy stepped closer intimidatingly, but it failed to faze Mal. "That's where you're wrong. Evie's my friend, so when some random girl keeps asking about her creepily, it is my business."
"Jay, relax, Evie knows Mal," Carlos chimed in, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"It's been what? Two days that she's known her," Jay ignored Carlos' attempt to calm him, keeping his narrowed gaze locked on Mal. "And this girl has seemed obsessed with her for longer than that."
"You really don't want to mess with me right now," Mal threatened, matching Jay's glare with her own. "I'm going to ask one more time. Where. Is. Evie."
"You get within two feet of her again and you'll regret it," Jay threw a warning directly back at her.
Mal scoffed, laughing dryly. "Can't wait."
More irritated than she had been before leaving the infirmary Mal pushed passed both boys, ignoring Carlos' following questions about her injuries and Jay's glare as she moved away from the school. Where are you, Evie? Though she knew the connection wasn't strong enough to withstand much use she closed her eyes and searched for the girl through magic, finding her immediately. Found you, you sneaky little Princess.
(Evie)
Magic rippled around the barrier locking in the Isle of the Lost, the large amount of power used to hold the spell no longer slipping Evie's notice despite the distance between her and the barrier now that she stood on Auradon's soil. For the first time she could feel its power, the fact that she could making her wonder whether she had been idiotic to miss it before, or if it was new. She had no idea if everyone else could feel the magic radiating from it, but she figured they could given the fact that there was nothing special about her that would allow her to feel magic that others couldn't; she was just as mortal as them.
Anger coursed through her more powerful than the barrier's magic, and although she didn't know what had caused her this unexpected rage she knew that her new roommate had everything to do with it. Just a few hours ago she would have been ecstatic about the way the girl had seemed to need her as she had left, but by the time it had taken the girl to get to that point she had realized how tired she was of Mal's games. She was tired of the back and forth, and quite frankly, thinking about how often the girl's attitude changed irked her more than she could express. The back and forth seemed inevitable when it came to the purple-haired girl; the second she felt comfortable with the girl, feeling almost as though they had grown up alongside each other, weariness soon took over, making her wonder if the girl despised her. She was tired of it all, and simply the thought of the girl threw her into a flashing anger.
As her anger built at the thought of Mal, the crowned heart resting comfortably against her breastbone pulsed relentlessly, each pulse sending harsh bolts of electricity into her body, vibrating her bones and causing them to ache. Is this what it feels like to be this furious? The logical part of her brain stepped in; no, you've been unnecessarily angry with people before, and this is nowhere near how it feels. It can't get this consuming. But everything inside her that made her view things in such a way was violently wiped from her body, almost as if someone was tugging her soul from her body and replacing it with a new one.
Take it off! She screamed at herself helplessly, and she immediately reached upward to grasp the chain, ready to rip it from her neck and pitch it into the body of water stretching out in front of her. However, the second her fingers touched the cool chain the pulsing quickened and intensified, the electricity coursing through her body becoming unbearably painful. It only took ten seconds of the harsh pulse for her arm to drop back to her side without her commanding it to. All the sudden her mind was completely blackened, and when it re-emerged everything was different.
She glanced around her surroundings as if she were a completely new person, taking in the barrier and the distant Isle. A sudden, consuming feeling took over her mind and she reached up to cradle the crowned heart hanging from her neck. I can never take this necklace off.
"Take it off, Evie."
The necklace flashed brightly, lighting up the entire area in front of her as its beat intensified once again, warning her of the danger lurking close to her; too close. She turned around, her blank stare falling on the exact person she never wanted to see again.
"Go away, Mal," Evie replied, keeping the necklace tightly in her grasp as if she were afraid something would happen to it if she let it go.
"Not until you take the damn necklace off."
Her skin started tingling where she touched the necklace, and the words that came out of her mouth seemed to seep into her from the flashing heart first. "Mal. Always showing up places where nobody wants you."
A bright green flashed in Mal's eyes as she took a step forward menacingly, however, before the girl could move any closer an unseen force slammed into her, throwing her backward a few feet.
"Evie, please," Mal sounded out of breath as she pushed herself back to her feet. "Take it off. Use your own powers to control the necklace. Do something. I know you're still in there."
"I told you to go away," the words seemed to come from the necklace, dark and furious.
The light emanating from the necklace brightened as Evie finally let her hand drop back to her side, and she watched as Mal quickly brought her arms up to block the blinding light from reaching her eyes. A wicked smile appeared on Evie's face when she noticed that the light seemed to be burning the girl, searing through the shredded jacket she wore and piercing her pale skin. However, the smile faded quickly when the girl made a sudden move.
Before she registered what was happening Mal had lunged forward, forcing her way through the blinding light so that she could curl her fingers around the glass heart, clearly ready to rip the chain from around her neck. Evie's own arms lifted for her hands to clasp onto Mal's wrist, however, before she could even brush her fingers over their destination an extremely powerful surge ripped through her chest, forming a circle of green and red mist around them. The surge traveled through her body until it had coated every crevice of her, and the electrical shocks that had been continuously shooting through her body came to an abrupt end as warmth and familiarity flooded back into her. However, just as Evie snapped back into herself an incredibly powerful gust of wind blew over both her and the girl in front of her, and Mal collapsed immediately, her grip slipping from the crowned heart as her knees buckled underneath her.
"Oh my goodness!" Evie shouted in surprise, arms shooting forward desperately.
Evie fell to the ground with Mal, her arms wrapping around the girl's body just before her knees came in contact with the ground. Her legs tucked underneath her as she fell so she was sitting, and she brought Mal's body close to her, left arm wrapped around the girl's shoulders while her right lifted for her to caress the girl's cheek.
"Mal?" She whispered, utterly confused as to what had happened. "Mal? Can you hear me?"
Glancing around briefly she noticed where they were, how close they were to the water only managing to confuse her further. How did we…? What is…? She couldn't finish any of her questions. She had no idea how they had even gotten here, feeling as though she had completely missed the last thirty minutes of her life. When she felt a dissipating force she glanced down at the necklace, the internal light of the crowned heart fading quickly until it, once again, seemed like any other glass necklace. What did you do? She asked the necklace, sure that it had something to do with the messy situation she now found herself in.
But she wasn't worried about herself.
"Mal, come on," she brushed her fingers over the girl's cheekbone before sliding them down to trace her lips. She lowered her hand to press her palm into the middle of the girl's chest, a relieved sigh moving through her body when she felt steady breathing. Oh, thank goodness. Lifting her head to look around the area she shouted, "somebody help! I need…" her voice cracked as she brought her gaze back down to the unconscious girl in her arms. "I need help."
She was lost, she had no idea what to do. With just a glance, Mal appeared to be sleeping, but given the powerful surge Evie had awoken to she feared that there might be something seriously wrong with the girl, feared she might be in danger. Maybe… maybe she just got too tired from moving around with her wounds. Sliding her hand down to slip inside the girl's jacket she found that there was no bandaging, and when she unzipped the jacket to move the thick material aside she was baffled to see that there wasn't a single scratch on the girl's skin. What? Am I even awake? What is going on? Nothing made sense.
Bringing her hand back up to caress the unconscious girl's cheek she leaned down until her forehead was resting against Mal's. "Please, Mal, please wake up. I don't… I don't know what to do."
The distant sound of cries could be heard and it caused her heart to leap with hope, someone heard me! And so she shouted again.
"I need help! I'm over here!"
And the shouts started sounding closer.
"Hang in there, okay?" Evie whispered to Mal desperately, knowing the girl couldn't possibly hear her. "Help is coming. I'm going to…" she broke off, tears threatening to escape. "I'm going to find a way to help you, no matter what. I promise."
In that moment, something came back to her, something Mal had said before she had seemingly blacked out; I don't believe in promises. Evie brushed loose strands of hair from Mal's eyes. "Well, Mal," she started, reaching up to wipe away a tear. "I'm going to show you that you can believe in promises. I'm going to show you that you can believe in me. Just please, please wake up."
As she continued holding Mal close to her she shut her eyes tightly, fighting against the terror scorching her chest by praying that everything was going to be alright. The only thing that got her to open her eyes was a hand coming to rest on her shoulder, and she pulled her head away from Mal's to glance up.
"What happened?" Chad asked, his gaze trailing over Mal.
"I don't… I don't know," Evie answered honestly, bringing her own gaze back to the girl in her arms. "She just, she collapsed. I have no idea what happened before that."
As she spoke details started coming back to her, each one only making things seem messier. Not until you take the damn necklace off, it was Mal's voice, words the girl had spoken to her minutes before; use your own powers to control the necklace. Do something. I know you're still in there. Her mind couldn't take all this confusion. My own powers? What did you mean by that?
"Here, let me take her," Chad's voice fought back into the front of her mind, yanking her back into reality.
Evie didn't want to let the girl go, but she reluctantly let Chad take Mal into his arms, well aware that he could carry her back to the infirmary and she couldn't. It wasn't until she felt too light without the weight of Mal leaning against her that she noticed Lonnie was there as well, the girl pulling her to her feet and into her arms.
"Everything's going to be okay, Evie," Lonnie whispered into her hair, arms squeezing Evie tightly with reassurance. "Let's just get her to Belle."
All she could do was nod, finding herself incredibly thankful that these two had been within proximity to hear her shouting. She was tired, she was worried, she was scared; but above all else, she was confused. Pieces of what she seemed to have missed came crashing back to bombard her mind as Lonnie's tight hold led her after Chad and Mal.
Wait, E, don't leave like this. P-please, stay… with me.
Go away, Mal.
Evie, please, take it off. Use your own powers to control the necklace.
I know you're still in there.
It hurt her to know she had left Mal. It hurt her to know she had brushed her off. But most of all it hurt knowing that – even after Evie had left her in pain and told her to leave her alone – Mal had still come after her, seemingly knowing something was off. What happened to me? She thought as she finally broke down, all her weight falling into Lonnie as tears burned her eyes and escaped to sting the skin of her cheeks. Why did Mal have to be the one to get hurt? Why couldn't it have been me? Fighting passed her sudden emotional breakdown she raised her gaze to the girl carefully held in Chad's arms, feeling as though Mal now lie unconscious solely because of her.