𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟑𝟎

One of the only pros to being alone, Delphina quickly realized, was being able to throw herself into the books from the archives and beginning to craft the steps for her potion.

Audrey didn't come back that night. Delphina almost went out looking for her until she got a text from one of the girls on the squad, informing her that Audrey would be staying in her dorm.

She conveniently left out for how long.

Delphina shook her head at herself, scoffing. It was for the best. She was probably the last person Audrey wanted to see anyway. She was probably the last person anyone wanted to see. In a span of 20 minutes, she had managed to drop napalm on every bond she had built in Auradon. Every venomous word she had let slip out of her mouth circled in her head on a loop.

She had called Varian a villain.

She called Ben emotional. Exhausting. Suffocating.

She had practically disowned Chad.

She called Audrey a fraud and ended their friendship.

All over what? A little bit of irritation? A weird glitch in her body? There was no excuse. There was nothing to blame it on. Nothing but Delphina herself and her stupid, uncontrollable emotions. She wanted to fix it. God, she wanted to fix all of it. But how do you fix it? How do you heal the wounds you made when you couldn't even control the blade?

How do you make it right?

Delphina pushed down another wave of tears threatening to spill. Maybe there was no making it right. Maybe, even after she apologized and groveled and cried, they still wouldn't accept it. They had no obligation to.

The pen Delphina was holding began to tremble in her hand and she slammed it down on her notebook, squeezing her eyes shut again.

No. No more losing control. No more emotional outbursts.

The apologies could wait. She had two different tasks at hand; getting those damn archive notes done so her Mal-mind would shut up for a little bit, and brewing the tea. Tonight. Because even if she couldn't make amends with the people she cared about, the least she could do was keep them safe.

~~~~

Across campus, in the main building, on the first floor, Audrey was pacing in Fairy Godmother's office, gnawing on her thumbnail anxiously. Fairy Godmother sat at her desk, staring into space pensively, her hands folded in front of her. Ben and Chad sat on opposite ends of the chaise against the wall.

Chad's elbows rested on his knees, holding his head in both hands as his leg bounced up and down anxiously. Ben was leaning against the arm of the chaise, holding his head in one hand as he swiped through his phone's camera roll with the other. He paused every time he got to picture with Delphina in it, scanning the photo carefully and taking in every detail, as if it was the last time he'd ever see her face.

Audrey was the one to finally break the tense silence in the room.

"Obviously something's wrong." She huffed, finally pausing to face Ben and Chad. Chad scoffed quietly, moving from his hunched over position to sit back against the lounge chair.

"Obviously." He parroted.

"I mean, she wouldn't just snap like that. Someone must have said something to her." Audrey continued to theorize, throwing herself into one of the armchairs across from Fairy Godmother.

"Or done something to her..." Fairy Godmother murmured softly, still deep in thought.

"What could someone have said to warrant that kind of blowup from Delphina?" Chad sighed. Ben set his phone down, sighing deeply.