▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐌𝐀𝐋, 𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 Ilaria searched the entire campus, but Audrey was nowhere to be found. The three made it back to Audrey's room where Uma and Celia were. Uma was laying on the bed with a diary in her hand. "She's nowhere on campus." Evie said as they entered the room.

     "Found her diary." Uma motioned to the diary she was holding. "And dang, did you ruin Audrey's life."

     Mal walked up to her, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay. So did you find anything in there that we don't already know or. . ."

     Uma rolled her eyes. "She hangs out at Fairy Cottage. You know, where Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather hid her mom from your mom." She closed the diary, placing it on the bed.

     "Yes. The irony is not lost on me." Mal said in monotone.

     Uma sighed, leaning back on the bed. "How could anyone with this bed ever be unhappy?"

     "Okay." Celia grabbed their attention. "How do I look?" She turned in the chair she was sitting in that was right in front of Audrey's vanity. She had a tiara on her head and a bunch of necklaces and bracelets were around her neck and wrists.

     Ilaria smiled at her and Evie shook her head. "Okay, the bling stays here."

     Celia's face dropped. "But she's bad."

     "And we're not." Evie countered. Celia sighed before she began to strip herself of the jewelry.

     "I think it's safe to say we haven't found a lot of useful stuff here." Ilaria spoke up, clapping her hands together. "What do you guys say we head to the castle?" The group all nodded before walking out and making their way to Evie's castle.

      Mal let out a soft sigh. "I really hope they find Ben."

     Ilaria placed a hand on her shoulder. "They will."

     They stopped in front of Evie's castle and Uma hummed, clearly impressed. "Nice digs."

     Evie shrugged. "I got a really good deal."

     Celia made it into the castle first and the group of four followed closely after. They came to a stop in the living room where they found the twins and Dizzy asleep on the couch, under Audrey's spell. Dizzy was squirming, small whimpers falling from her lips. Celia frowned. "It's okay," she whispered. She grabbed a red blanket that was laying on the back of the couch, draping it over the three of them. Celia looked down at Dizzy. "Don't worry, Dizzy. We can fix this. And once we do, they're gonna let all the kids come from the Isle. So, happy dreams."

     Guilt creeped up again, and Ilaria clenched her jaw. She turned her head to look at Mal and Mal looked away in shame. The sound of snoring made Ilaria look up. She knew that sound anywhere. Instantly she ran away from the group, following the noise and coming to a stop in the sun room, staring helplessly at Doug who was asleep on the floor. She walked in further, a deep frown on her lips. "Doug?" She softly asked. He didn't respond, telling her he was also under the spell.

     "Uh, who's the dude?" Uma asked as she, Mal, and Evie entered the room.

     "Doug," Evie answered. "Ria's best friend, besides Ben of course. She must have gotten him to come over to watch over the kids. Let's give her a second." Mal and Uma nodded before the three of them walked out of the room.

     Ilaria took a seat on the ground. "I have so much to tell you, Doug." She shoved him slightly, silently hoping that by some miracle it would wake him up. It didn't. She glanced to the door, making sure no one was standing there before looking back at Doug. "I have a secret I have to tell you. You're asleep so you can't hear me anyways, so therefore it wouldn't count as treason because you never heard me say it." She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she began messing with her hands.

     "Mal's closing the barrier for good." She kept her voice low, not wanting anyone to overhear her. "And I'm not allowed to tell anyone, but it's slowly starting to kill me. I don't want Evie to hate me for it. But it's either I keep it a secret or I get sent back home and I'll never get to see her again. I can't do that. I can't live without her. I love her too much."

     Evie walked in the room, holding a plate with a piece of Jane's cake on it. "Hey, we're eating some cake." She walked down the steps, approaching her. "Thought you might like some."

     Ilaria stood, taking the plate from her. "Thanks." She grabbed the fork, quickly taking a bite.

     Evie watched her with a small frown. "Hey, are you alright?"

     Ilaria nodded. "Yeah. Just worried."

     "Hey," Evie placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're going to fix this."

     Ilaria forced a smile. "I know."

     Evie examined her face. "There's something else, isn't there?" Ilaria quickly ate another piece of cake. "You know you can tell me anything, right."

     Ilaria shook her head. "Not this." Hurt flashed across Evie's face. "I can't, by law, tell you. But I want to tell you so bad, Evie. I really, truly do."

     "Hey, it's okay. It's alright. I get it." Evie gave a small smile and Ilaria attempted to return it.  Suddenly, a board appeared in front of the door. The couple spun around and boards began covering up the entire sun room. They quickly ran into the kitchen where Mal, Uma, and Celia were, clinging onto each other. "Are you guys okay?"

     "What's going on?" Ilaria ushered out.

      Mal threw out her hands, her eyes glowing green. "You've caused my friends pain and fear. We've had enough now disappear!" Nothing happened. Mal dropped her hands. "You guys I'm sorry, my spells aren't working. Audrey's magic is getting stronger."

     Uma looked down at her necklace as it began to glow. She stepped forwards, looking at Mal and quickly grabbed her hand. In unison they said, "You've caused our friends pain and fear. We've had enough now disappear." For a moment, nothing happened, and then all of the boards dropped. Ilaria tightly squeezed Evie's hand.

     "You did it." Evie softly said. "Together." She smiled. "This is what I've been talking about."

     "I guess my shell likes you," Uma commented. Mal let out a laugh. Uma grabbed her necklace, plucking the ember from it and holding it out to Mal. "Why don't you hold on to that?" Mal let out another laugh as they fist bumped.

     Celia ran to the doors, looking through the glass and turning to them with a smile. "Hey, it's your bae."

      Mal let out a soft gasp before running out of the house, throwing herself into Ben's arms. They greeted everyone and Ben turned his head to look at Uma. "I always knew you'd be part of the solution." Uma managed a small smile.

     Ilaria patiently waited, holding her hands behind her back and letting Mal and Ben talk. He now had fangs and a beard, which was surprising to her but it didn't look bad. Ben looked past Mal, meeting Ilaria's eyes. He placed a hand on Mal's shoulder before walking past her. Ilaria smiled as she walked up to him, throwing her arms tightly around him. Ben hugged her back and she allowed a soft smile to pull on her lips. "I'm so glad you're okay." She pulled away, letting him turn to Mal as she started talking.

     "Okay, we all think that Audrey is at Fairy Cottage. Did she ever take you there?"

     Ben nodded. "Every Fairy Godmother's day. Where is Fairy Godmother when you need her?"

     Jane, who had survived the spell by dunking herself in the enchanted lake, sighed. She shook her head. "I wish I knew."  She turned her attention to Carlos when he sat down in front of her, a small box in his hands.

     Ilaria ran her hands through her hair. "Okay, so someone needs to go with Jane to find Fairy Godmother. I'd offer myself, and I'm sure Carlos can put his full faith in me, but I think it would be better if she had some actual muscle with her."

     Carlos and Jane looked at them. "Yeah, I agree." Carlos nodded. Quickly he said, "Not that I don't trust you, Ria." Ilaria waved him off, assuring she understood.

     "I'll go." Gil offered.

     "Great." Ben nodded.

     Gil smiled. "Jane, let's go."

     The two of them walked off whilst the rest of them went back inside, coming up with a plan.