Oli's P.O.V

I lay on my bed like a starfish the next morning. My door cracked open, and a tired Scott poked his head through. "Breakfast," he yawned.

"But Scott..." I moaned.

"What?"

"I'm tired!"

"Get up and move then."

Callum appeared. "It's okay Scott, I got this," he said.

Callum came over and grabbed my arm. I landed on the plush carpet with a thud. Soon, Callum was dragging me out into the hallway and down the stairs. Everyone else already sat at the table. When he least expected it, I pulled Callum down to the ground. "I could've died!" I exclaimed.

"Dude, chill," Callum chuckled, aware I was only joking around. "'Could've died' would've meant I crushed you under dirt and rocks."

I snickered. "Good point."

The mentors studied the book of friendship magic carefully. Joel and I sat next to each other, slapping the other every now and again. "So why are we here?" Joel asked eventually.

Lauren glanced up at us. "We need to figure out how your magic works before worrying about activating anyone else's," she said.

Suddenly, Cory and Max burst in, fighting and arguing. Max tackled Cory to the ground. "Give the man a break, Max!" Cory grumbled.

"He could be working for Shelby! You never know!" Max fired back.

Jack walked in. He looked incredibly upset as Callum comforted him. I immediately stood and went over to him. "Woah, woah, what happened?" I asked.

"They just started arguing," Jack replied. "Max started saying that I had to go and I couldn't be trusted. Then Cory started proving him wrong and Max just lost it."

"The mentors trust you. And if they do, you can't be cast out."

We heard the mentors starting to shout and get Cory and Max to stop fighting. Nothing was working. "BOYS, CUT IT OUT!" Joel screamed.

Lizzie and Ross popped their heads into the room as Max and Cory froze where they were. "Can we all just take a minute to recorgnise how Jack feels right now?" Joel asked, his chest still heaving.

"Who cares how the guy feels, he could betray us!" Max retorted. "Don't try to prove me wrong Joel, or I'll smite you."

"Jack obviously feels weak. I understand how it feels to lose everything you ever had, to have to flee from where you once called home. To have everything torn away from you in just that nick of time. He needs help."

"How can you tell he can be trusted?"

"The look in his eyes says it all."

Joel started to glow a light blue. Jack started to cry. "Jack, it'll be fine, you're family to us, we'd never kick you out," I said gently.

"You don't even know me!"

"I want to get to know you. And I will because you aren't going anywhere."

A purple glow appeared around me. The room went silent. Suddenly, Max came over to Jack. "I'm sorry, Jack," he said. "I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you."

Jack stared at him, the tears still in his eyes. "You could help us out, and I don't want you to feel like you have nowhere to go," Max continued. "No-one deserves that."

"Thank you, Max. I... accept your apology," Jack said, smiling slightly.

Max smiled back. "I think we worked out Joel and Oli's power," Yammy said. "Helping others out with their qualities."

I smiled and went over to the window. I looked out at the trees, the fauna prancing around. "We need a game plan," I said.

"What are we gonna do?" Lizzie asked. "Shelby's strong. She felt off from the start."

"And if she has everything she ever wanted," Max said, "and if she's being what her soul is, a girl who wants nothing more than to rule with an iron fist, how do you expect to bring it back."

I took a deep breath and chuckled before turning to see my scared and confused friends. "Can't you see? We're doubting ourselves!" I said. "We need to stop the 'if's and just do! We will figure out a plan. We just have to put our minds to it."

"That's not Shelby," Ross smiled. "We can get her back. We need to pull the true Shelby back to the top. We've said this several times, yes, but... we never actually believe we can do it. Remember what James and his friends said? We need trust and faith for friendship magic to work."

Jack's eyes lit up. He ran into the bookshelves. He came back out with a very big book, and he dropped it on the table. We all sat, waiting to see what he had in store. After running a finger down the contents page, he flipped to nearly the end of the book. "'Trust and faith is just one step to triggering the magic in everyone'," he read. "'Memories is another. Memories of good times, times of love, joy... friendship. You need to force those memories to play in the mind of the lost, swaying them closer to the light side. Your magic is almost fully activated. The last step is persuasion. Why should you have your friend back? The amount of light should be enough to have your friend(s) back once again. Remember, you must be touching, somehow, at all times. How you do everything and what you say is up to YOU to figure out.'"

"Hm... we can do that," Lauren smiled.

Will's P.O.V

I missed home. I didn't know where exactly home was, but I missed it. In the EAPE, I felt...used. No-one cared anymore, not even my brothers. No-one noticed when I suddenly became very reserved. I wanted to go home. Where was home? 

One day, I was strolling the hallways when I overheard a meeting. "Everyone is at home there, we need to protect our troops," Sasha said.

"As long as they don't know about the FAE, they'll be fine," the army leader replied.

The FAE... it struck a chord. I choked back tears as I went back to my room. Everyone there was so nice... they cared, they took my brothers and I in. Liam and Graser just so happened to walk in at that moment, seeing my tears. "Will, buddy, what's wrong?" Graser asked.

"The FAE... it's where we belong!" I exclaimed as Graser hugged me.

"The what?"

"The EAPE is our home," Liam scoffed.

"No. We got lost in the forest after the EAPE attacked us, and... a-and then... we found the FAE and they took care of us..." I whimpered.

Graser looked me in the eye. "Maybe... maybe you're..." he started to say, but he froze, staring of into space.

"Look, if you wanna go back to this place, do it," Liam shrugged. "But don't come running back when you find out that it's not home."

"I thought we were brothers..." I said.

Liam glared at me before walking away. "Where do you think the FAE is?" Graser asked, snapping back into reality.

"I don't know. But... follow me," I replied.

Jess looked miserable in her cell. The look in her eyes... it made me wanna cry. "Hey guys..." she greeted quietly.

"Can you tell us where the FAE is?" I asked.

"Won't Shelby tell you?"

"She'll ask why, and she won't like the reason."

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Because. We wanna go home."

Jess grinned. "Oh boys!" she said, keeping her voice down. "Of course I'll tell you. If you take the tunnel down the end of this dungeon, it'll take you to some stairs, which will get you up to the forest floor. A trail of leaves and glitter should be visible, since you have magic. It will lead you to an open area. There should be a massive treehouse. That's the FAE."

"Thank you so much..." Graser said. "Do you wanna come?"

"No... I can't. I'm connected to Shelby, who knows what she'll use me for. But I can find a way to keep in touch with you."

"Okay... we'll miss you Jess."

Jess smiled sadly. "I'll miss you too."