(Mal)

Each day stole more of her strength away, the minutes and hours stripping away her armor and baring her to the entire universe, something she hadn't let happen for ten years, not even when she had been a breath's length from death. She tried repeatedly to keep herself together, fighting against any outside force that sank its claws into her skin, but nothing seemed to work. Every technique that had kept her unbreakable to this day gave with little resistance to the force slamming into it, and every break in her armor led back to one sole causation.

Green eyes held firmly to a blur of blue, her vision seemingly giving out on her the longer she remained staring at the girl sitting directly in front of her. She had lost track of the words spilling from the teacher's mouth even before the class had begun, she didn't care about education, that hadn't changed.

Four days. It had been four incredibly lengthy days since Evie had spoken to her. The girl's disinterest shouldn't affect her as much as it did, but there seemed to be no changing the path she was headed down. She had lost control of her mind, of her emotions, of herself, and the worst part of it all was that she didn't even care anymore. Wednesday had ended her flailing attempts to end this abrupt change of feelings, Evie having crushed any strength she had left within her that night.

She still remembered the look she had seen in the girl's eyes not even ten hours ago. She still remembered the clawing way red-brown eyes had searched dying green in that moment, and she would never forget the fatigue she had seen in her new favorite color, fatigue that expressed how tired Evie grew of her. It had been the look that spoke in finality as its force pinned her helplessly to the ground, siphoning any remaining fight from her body and leaving her to lay there with no hope that she'd ever get back to her feet.

Nothing registered to her as her arms began shaking under the weight they held keeping her upright on the table. Typically, Evie would glance in her direction as she entered, however, this morning had been different, the blue-haired girl not even showing the slightest sign that she was aware of her existence. What happened, huh? Mal thought, not even trying to steady her shaking; did you finally realize how much of a lost cause I am? Can you finally see the truth about me? Did you warn everyone else? She figured Evie must have said something considering she hadn't seen Carlos much this week, and it hadn't taken her long to realize it was because the boy was avoiding her.

The first words she heard that morning took a minute to sink in, and when she discovered the teacher was asking Evie if she wanted to help her in lab another time she returned from the depths of her mind, the girl in front of her finally coming into focus again. When Evie lifted her head to meet the teacher's gaze Mal closed her teeth painfully around her bottom lip, waiting anxiously for the girl to rise from her seat; but that didn't happen. Evie didn't do anything. After a moment, the blonde boy sitting next to Evie stood instead, gathering his things and heading over to Mal.

Mal's fingers curled and her fingernails dug into the skin of her palms. "What's the matter? Too much work for someone like you?"

"You need to leave her alone," Doug's voice filled her ears instead – though she hadn't been expecting to hear Evie's.

"And you need to stop stalking her," Mal shot back, finally tearing her gaze from the blue-haired girl to swing it around to meet Doug's. "She doesn't want to 'date' you, so maybe you should take a hint and pull your head out of your scrawny little ass. You're not her hero, and you never will be, so stop pretending."

"Alright, that's enough!" The teacher shouted over them, stopping Doug from saying whatever it was he had been about to let out.

The boy's glare was meant to intimidate her, but it only succeeded in making her laugh dryly. "And stop pretending anyone could ever be intimidated by you."

"Why do you think she's not helping you?" Doug began with a whisper, making sure he couldn't be heard over the others chatting happily in the room. "I think she's made it pretty clear that she wants nothing to do with you."

Normally, Mal would strike back, however, the words came in the form of a jagged sword, piercing through her chest and radiating unbearable pain to every crevice of her body. She wants nothing to do with you. No one does.

Magic swirled around her as she pushed to her feet, the green smoke slamming into the table and sending it onto its side to connect with the bottom of Evie's chair, startling the girl. That's when red-brown finally met piercing green, and Mal swore she could see worry in the girl's eyes. She couldn't take it anymore, any of it. Without a second's hesitation, Mal was in the hallway, the furious shouts of the teacher following her down the echoing walls as she hurried into the fresh air that was beckoning her.

She recognized this feeling, remembered its pain coursing through her every time she had been with her mother, piercing and striking until she was completely numb. It was the feeling that came with being undeniably unwanted, the feeling that accompanied the knowledge that not a single living being would so much as falter in step if she were to disappear forever.

The second she reached the light breeze she found her feet dragging against the ground, sending her stumbling forward into the blue railing. The fingers of her left hand gripped relentlessly while her right arm slung around the railing to hook the cool metal underneath her arm, her knees buckling as something crashed into her.

She was lost. She knew she had taken the wrong turn somewhere, but she didn't know where. She moved quickly through the broken-down streets in search of one person, the only person that could ever give her a sense of security.

"Mother?"

Her heart leapt in her chest when she spotted her mother amongst the crowd, the woman's horns unmistakable.

"Mother?"

Maleficent turned at the sound of her voice, and she knew she was safe. She allowed a smile to stretch across her face as she moved toward her mother as fast as her short legs would carry her. However, it didn't matter how fast she could move, her mother would always be faster, and she proved that by beginning to move herself. Only it was away from her. Away from her only daughter.

"Mother!" She called out more desperately now, confused as to why her mother would be leaving her.

She must not have heard me. That had to be the answer. And so she sped up, still not feeling as though it were fast enough. Her mother was always ten steps ahead of her. A freshly sharpened blade dug into her stomach, slicing through everything, making it more difficult for her to catch up with her mother. The blade belonged to the unbearable thought of her mother knowing she was only feet away from her, from the idea that her mother wanted to increase that distance between them. Why can't she hear me? Why won't she turn around and notice me? Why isn't she trying to get to me?

Pain jolted up Mal's body when she collided with the hard ground, the railing that had been keeping her up slipping from her grasp as if it had moved away from her, teasing her by standing just out of her desperate reach. She laid there, attempting to catch her breath, her mind moving far too quickly for her to retain any of the thoughts. Her head began pounding. Why can't she hear me? Why won't she turn around and notice me? Why isn't she trying to get to me? Flames scorched everything inside her chest, heating her blood until it bubbled into her throat to restrict her breathing. Because she doesn't care about you. She despises you. Tears burned her eyes and she shut them quickly in attempt to keep them from spilling, but the pain settling inside her stomach in its strongest form tore at every part of her. It was laughing at her, mocking her, and there was nothing she could do other than give in, nothing she could do because she agreed with it.

Weak. Useless. Hopeless. Forgotten. Unloved.

She finally realized why she could no longer fight the haunting words that loomed intimidatingly over her, watching her every move. They were her words. They were her thoughts. They were her beliefs. They were her own. They may have originated from those inside the agency, they may be continuously spat at her by everyone, but they belonged to no one more than they belonged to her.

I'm weak. I'm useless. I'm hopeless. I'm forgotten. I'm unloved. I'm unwanted.

Rolling onto her stomach Mal curled into herself, pressing her forehead to the cool ground as she finally allowed the tears to escape. She wanted someone. No, she wanted Carlos. She wanted to find the younger boy and hold onto him for as long as she could, but she knew it was a terrible idea, her own mind assaulting her, reminding her that he didn't care about her.

You may have been able to fool yourself for years, but the truth will always reveal itself, it never fails to take people hostage. You are weak. Your existence has little reason. Your own mother hasn't spared you a single thought since she left you to die alone. It was stupid of you to believe Carlos was a friend to you. It was foolish to believe Evie could ever care about you.

Flattening her palms against the ground she began hitting her forehead into the hard surface again and again, tears breaking open to stain the area beneath her. No. No. No. No. Don't do this to yourself. But she couldn't stop her mind from attacking her, couldn't convince herself that she wasn't a waste of oxygen.

"No!" She screamed at herself, the word tearing through her throat and seemingly echoing around the school.

Her mind had beaten her until she was numb to everything but the pain, destroying everything that might possibly create any shred of hope within her. Slamming her knuckles into the ground she pushed herself to unstable legs, her human form disappearing to leave a black and purple dragon looming over the school. Turning away from the place that had sucked her in only to tear her apart and spit her back out, she mustered the little strength that remained in her body to leave it behind.

(Evie)

As soon as the bell sounded through the room Evie shoved her supplies into her bag and slung it over her shoulder as she rose to her feet, her gaze narrowing at the blonde boy the second he came into her view. She didn't hesitate to close the remaining distance between them, her arm shooting forward for her fingers to dig into his shoulder painfully in order to turn him around to face her.

"The next time you make a decision like that for me, I promise you'll regret it," Evie hissed her warning in a low voice, the fury bubbling inside of her scorching everything in its path.

"I just thought…"

"I know what you thought, I know what all of you think," Evie interrupted him, keeping her hold on the boy's shoulder. "Stay out of my business unless you're asked to be involved."

Without waiting for the boy's response she released him and swiftly exited the classroom, her necklace pulsing to the beat of her heart, perfectly mirroring the heat of her anger. Saying she was furious was an understatement. She had had enough of the boys she holds closest to her believing they could control every aspect of her life, she was tired of them trying to make decisions for her regarding Mal. If she had wanted to cut the girl from her life she would have done so on her own, however, that happened to be the last thing she wished to do – as it always had been.

She could understand how they could easily mistake her ignoring the girl to mean she no longer wanted anything to do with her, however, she had been treating everyone the same as she treated Mal during the week. She hadn't spoken freely to anyone that week, her mind spinning too fast with her own internal debates for her to even keep up with a simple conversation.

It was true that she had kept her mouth shut that night after the dance because of her own fear that she would only embarrass herself further in front of the girl, but that wasn't why she continued her growing silence. Her mind struggled to work out a way for her and Jay to reach an understanding, a way to explain to her best friend that there was nothing he could do to stop her from wanting to befriend Mal without angering him even more than she already had. She struggled with what to do about the purple-haired girl now knowing about her attraction to her. She struggled with finding a way to convince the girl she didn't want to be with her romantically, struggled with finding a way to convince herself she didn't want that.

As she made her way toward the outdoor hallways she sighed, wishing her mind would slow down for a moment, at least long enough for her to somehow organize every thought. As if a higher power wished to answer her prayer, something she had never felt before overtook her body, effectively silencing every issue she currently battled through. She stopped abruptly, breathing in the feeling of the power entering her body.

Glancing around, she took in her surroundings, finding that her gaze was drawn specifically to a small portion of the blue railing lining the edge of the raised hallway. She reached out to carefully wrap her fingers around the cool railing, pulling her hand away immediately after a shock traveled up the length of her arm, turning her blood to ice. Something happened here. She didn't know what gave her the idea, but the surety she felt about it made it impossible for her to believe she was finally going insane. No, something really did happen here. But what? And why can I feel it? She wasn't surprised when the girl who often invaded her thoughts found her way to the front of her mind, but her stomach sank with dread when she remembered what had happened the last time Mal had left class early. Where are you? Please tell me you're okay. Her fingers clasped tightly around the railing again as she shut her eyes, her breathing deep as she prayed the odd power would give her any sign that would lead her to the answer she sought. Come on, Mal. Let me know you're okay.

When an extremely vivid picture of the sky appeared behind her eyelids she nearly screamed out as she took a step back from the railing, eyes shooting open as her hand fell to her side. As if that hadn't been enough to frighten her, a sickening feeling of anguish settled inside of her, creating a painfully hard knot in both her chest and her stomach. What is happening? She thought, looking around to make sure no one was watching her. What does any of this mean? She had no clue as to how being among the clouds in the sky related to an overpowering presence of anguish, and she definitely had no idea how she could see and feel these things.

She shook her head, If I ever had any doubt about whether or not I was going insane, it's gone now. Not knowing what to make of the things she had just experienced she pushed it all from her mind, moving quickly away from the railing and toward her second period classroom. But something still tugged sharply at her chest, scratching at the back of her head, telling her that someone needed her, that someone was calling for her.