So, are you doing alright?" was the first question Drake asked when Elias walked into their dorm. The ice prince in question slipped off his gloves and sat down on his bed.

"Depends on what you mean by alright," he sighed, resting his head on his hands with a resigned expression on his face, even neglecting the book on his nightstand he'd been researching nonstop since he'd got it.

"What happened?" Drake inquired, tilting his head to the side.

"You know Fairy Godmother, right?" he said. When Drake nodded, he continued. "She took me out of class today and reminded me about the deadline I have on my sixteenth birthday next week. She told me when I first enrolled here that she could take away my magic, but only until I turn sixteen, because then they're permanent." As he said this, his tone turned bitter and he held out a hand, a snowflake forming and hovering over his palm.

As he leaned forward, Drake only had a moment to marvel at it (it was the first time he'd witnessed actual magic at work besides Mal's) before Elias closed his hand into a fist, his expression darkening. He didn't notice the frost gathering at his feet. "Today, she pulled me out of class to ask if I was positive that I wanted to keep my powers," he huffed, folding his arms across his chest. Ironic to his element, a flame burned in his eyes. "I swear magic is practically forbidden now. Almost no one in Auradon has it anymore. Wanting to be in that circle and shunning our powers in the first place caused my mother to freeze our entire kingdom. My mom and my stepfather chose to keep theirs, and I choose to keep mine! I have to!" There was a desperation in his voice that made Drake pity him.

If you'd have ever told him he would one day pity someone who had grown up in perfect Auradon, he would have called them crazy. After all, back on the Isle where they practically had to search through the garbage like rats and eat Auradon's leftover, rotten scraps of food, he thought they had nothing to mope around about compared to them. But...maybe regardless of their current state in life no matter how seemingly perfect, everybody had their inner demons to fight.

"Okay, I can understand that," Drake said, and despite the drastic chill surrounding Elias that made him fight to keep his teeth from chattering, Drake sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. It felt like touching ice, even through Elias' clothes. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it just like they did." He decided not to touch on the mention of a stepfather regarding what Elias told him about his birth father.

"Well, you'd be the first to say that," he scoffed. "Almost no one else thinks that. My family is one of the few left with powers, and our kingdom may roll with it now, but we're also one of the few people who could have ended up on the Isle. Still could according to Audrey."

Drake's eyes widened. "You...You mean there are Auradonians who were almost Isle people?"

Elias gave him a bland, unimpressed look. "Yes, there are some of us who made a few mistakes that suddenly make us bad guys. Sure, my mom is one of the sweetest people I know and it was one incident that happened years ago, by accident if I may add because she had no idea what she was doing, but of course people still hang it over my family because she came close to even killing my aunt. Once again, by accident." He stood abruptly, ice following his every step. He stepped to the window and gazed outwards. When his next words came out they were dead quiet. "Or maybe they're just afraid."

"Do people ever...pick on you?" asked Drake, noting the way Elias' fist clenched on the windowsill at the question, ice surging from his hand to cover the whole thing and even reaching up to touch a portion of the glass. Jagged shards of ice jutted out around his hand where it sat. Oddly enough, for once, he didn't back down and force his power back down. "From what I saw, people mostly leave you alone."

Aside from the glances from everyone he'd catch as they would walk down the halls together talking. Unlike usual, they would always not be directed at him but at Elias. Whispering behind hands in hushed voices to their friends until one of them caught his eyes and would go silent. Yeah, they left him alone. Other than avoiding him like the plague and tensing whenever he drew near.

They left him alone to the point where that was all he was: Alone. Besides Svanhild and her friends along with the ones he'd met at lunch with magic of their own that they embraced, Drake realized almost nobody went two feet near Elias if they could help it, not even most of the teachers.

At least with Drake and his sort-of-friends, Auradon tried to cover up their scorn and distaste for them, with false politeness and sweetness. At least some seemed uncertain whether or not they were like their parents.

However, with Elias, it wasn't so much as scorn as it was fear. Because he had power over ice and snow like his mother, they stayed away. No one even attempted to hide it; it was plain as day in the way they acted around him, creating a circle of isolation intentionally or otherwise. Everyone feared the one person who didn't deserve it, because they thought if anyone made him upset or angry, he'd freak out like his mother had years ago with so little control.

Because no matter how long had passed, the people of Auradon would never forget what the kingdom of Arendelle had dealt with and forgiven long ago. That they had accepted while Auradon had yet to. Because as long as Elias didn't have complete control, he was deemed unpredictable, and unpredictable in their eyes, from experience, meant dangerous.

"Pick on me?" Elias' laugh came out sharp and wry, unlike his usual lighthearted and good-natured ones. Perhaps the anger and bitterness he showed now had always been there boiling beneath the surface for so many years until what had happened today made it too unbearable to keep it all locked inside. Which brought the question of how much more he was going to take before he finally cracked since the beginning signs were starting to show. "No, Chad's the only one stupid enough to. But what on earth could he have to attack? That I'm a freak in a family with a history of lashing out and loosing control? That in a place full of picture-perfect families, I'm the only one with a stepfather and half-brothers and sisters because my birth father left my mother and I, whereas everyone else's parents were 'meant to be' and 'love at first sight', as if I'm not reminded of that every Family Day? That because of that, I'm technically illegitimate and shouldn't be next in line for the throne of my kingdom? That my mother is the 'Snow Queen' and my stepfather is the 'Fire King?'"

"What? You never told me that."

"For good reason, after all, would even you want to be near me after hearing that before getting to know me first?" The words cut a stake in his heart, but when Drake opened his mouth to protest, he found he honestly couldn't say for sure. "Thought so. Oh, and this one's so rich that Chad just had to bring up today, telling me if I couldn't get my powers under control before my deadline and I refused to give them up, he bet Fairy Godmother and King Adam would take them away by force or send me to the Isle? Now, isn't that funny?"

Again, he laughed, this time sounding a bit twisted.

"Okay, I think you need to calm down," Drake suggested slowly, cautious, as he stood up. "You're starting to scare me a little."

"Of course," he snapped, turning to face Drake. In that moment with a crazed rage in his eyes, he honestly looked more a villain than Mal did sometimes. For a split second, his eyes flashed gold. "Because that's all people will ever see me as, right?! I have literally done nothing but try to be the perfect goody-two-shoes and keep everything calm and controlled, I've never made any kind of trouble, but that's not good enough, is it? That's never enough!" Spikes of ice shot up around his feet as he dug his hands into his hair, looking about ready to pull it out. "No matter what I do, they will always fear me! For something I haven't even done yet!" There was something dark in his tone as his next words came out low and deadly calm, which actually frightened Drake more. "If they're gonna fear me, at least let me earn it first."

=========

The next few days passed uneasy. Sometimes Elias was his normal, cheerful and bright self, and sometimes it was like something dark and angry was lurking beneath the surface inside him looking to burst out at any moment. One time on a good day, when he seemed perfectly calm, Mal brought up what was basically Auradon's views on him and his mother in front of him when she and her friends walked over to his and Drake's table to pull him along to let him in on their recent progress in their plan. The result wasn't pretty. To lighten the mood, she'd joked Elias might make a great villain for their team. He immediately lashed out and screamed at her, freezing the entire cafeteria table and covering it in jagged spikes and icicles, before storming off.

And that was with his gloves on.

At night, sometimes Drake woke up to find Elias shouting awake from a nightmare, and then rocking himself back and forth while muttering under his breath. Sometimes it seemed like he was talking to someone who wasn't even there, covering his ears with his hands.

Despite the fact that he was plotting with the VKs to grab the wand and allow their parents to seize Auradon, Drake was worried about him. It was wrong to since it was best not to get attached to them, but he truly was. In the time he'd been there, besides Svanhild, Elias seemed to be the first real friend he'd had, who didn't expect anything of him in return. Sure, he had shared conversations with Svanhild's other friends, but not enough to call them his friends, and the sort-of-friends he'd made at lunch, Eliza, was only interested because he was a VK. If it hadn't been for that incident with the scepter back on the Isle, Mal and the gang wouldn't have given two thoughts about him until now.

However, Elias, knew what it was like to feel alone even when surrounded by others. Of wanting to rebel against the fate everyone else expected of him, yet finding it near impossible. Of knowing the pain of being abandoned by someone who was supposed to love you. Elias was considered his friend because they understood each other despite their differences in their upbringing. And there was a pang in his heart when he thought of losing that friendship to whatever internal conflict was raging in his mind.

But he had to focus on the plan. The plan to release his father from the Isle. A chill went down his spine at the thought of, after all this time of being free from his control, going back to that wretched way of living.

Turns out Mal's plan was working with Ben. He was completely in love with her, although there was a bit of a debate on whether or not she was beginning to feel the same towards him. She seemed regretful in a way, of using him like this, Drake could see it in her eyes.

Not for the first time, he was having doubts about going through with this plot to take over Auradon.

Weren't they happier here? There were flaws, but perhaps they could be overcome over time. Everyone seemed lighter, brighter, without their parents looming over them and practically forcing them to follow their footsteps. In each meeting he could see they were all having second thoughts. Yet no one said anything.

And they definitely weren't after Fairy Godmother's "gift" for them.

That Remedial Goodness class was different as Fairy Godmother began speaking about Family Day on Sunday. One more day until all the parents of the Auradon kids, and Drake would inevitably have to face Svanhild's parents.

"As you know, this Sunday is Family Day at Auradon Prep, and because your parents can't be here due to, uh, distance," she laughed, trying to make light of the situation, "we've arranged a special treat." She ran over to the monitor and turned on the screen as Maleficent's face appeared.

They all walked up to the screen, Drake tensing at the prospect of seeing his father.

"I don't see anything, nor do I hear," she stated, backing up from the computer as the teens gathered around. "Can I please see a remote? Is this thing on?" she yelled as Jafar, Cruella, and the Evil Queen showed up.

His father showed up for a second, but that was all it took. Drago Bludvist's eyes met his, and he gave him that look that said not to mess up this opportunity, then left. Drake found it hard to breathe, tears building up in his eyes. Since he stood in the back, he ran out without anyone wondering where he was.

He didn't want to see his father. He didn't want to see him ever again if he could help it. He was just so sick of the Isle of the Lost, of the memories of the things he'd gone through over there. The constant pain and fear he endured every day there. He was so done with it. He wanted to be his own person, but he wasn't sure if that was even possible.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Drake looked up from his spot against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped around his head, to see Svanhild staring down at him with concern. He must have looked pathetic. He quickly tried to pull himself together and stand up, but he stumbled and failed miserably. To her credit, she didn't laugh.

She sat down beside him. "So...I heard you guys got to see your parents for Family Day after all," she said. "Are they really that bad?"

"Usually ten times worse," he admitted. "Maleficent manipulates Mal to live her life through her. Evie's mom rips her apart for everything all the time; that's why she's so hooked on appearances, it was the only thing her mom ever praised her for. Jay and his father hardly act like family; they're more a business operation. Carlos was practically his mother's slave, and me...well I guess it's obvious."

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay," she told him in a low voice, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Some people never do. It just makes it that much more real. It took years for my dad to talk to us about the abuse and ridicule the village put him through the first fifteen years of his life. That was before they finally accepted him, but...just because things are different now doesn't mean the memory or the emotional and mental scars ever go away."

"Thanks," Drake finally said after a long while. 

"No problem," she smiled back, standing up. She held out a hand for him. "So, do you want to hang? I mean, we have already, but those were unplanned. I could tell you about the prank Raquel pulled on Ben this morning. She and Alex enchanted Ben's shower so he's now just completely orange until he figures out the code word to break the enchantment." 

He could tell she was trying to change the subject for him, so he went along with it. "And that is?" he chuckled, taking her hand.

"Raquel won rock-paper-shoes against Alex, so it's 'Raquel is queen of everything.' It really is awesome, and you might want to warn your friends about going against those masterminds," she answered. "They actually poured dye into his shower head, and it'll only come out if he says those words. He's gonna try to wash it off, but that will only make it worse."

"First of all, that's brilliant. Second of all, what exactly did he do to piss them off?"

Svanhild shrugged as they began walking down the hall together. "Neither of them exactly likes Audrey, but Raquel didn't like how he humiliated her, and she thought he needed to know how it feels so he doesn't do it again, and Alex....Well, Alex told Ben he liked Mal and even wanted to ask her out, and although he's getting over it, Ben making a move on Mal is breaking the bro code right there. That may or may not also be why I didn't try to stop them when they told me they were doing it." 

"Do they take requests?"

"Oh, yeah, they charge people to play pranks on others for them, although it's mostly just for them. They once glitter-bombed the chemistry lab for fun. It's been weeks, and you can still see some whenever you go inside."

They continued talking about nothing in particular, just about whatever. When they finally stopped, it was when the sun was starting to set, and Drake realized he needed to get back to his dorm because Mal said they needed to talk about their plans to snatch the wand again. To be honest, he was surprised how much time had passed and how easy it had become to talk with her that he'd lost track.

"Sorry, Princess but I got to head back," he said, grabbing his jacket. He had begun wearing it less, as the bruises were starting to fade. He didn't want to think of the ones that might soon replace them if his father was freed from the Isle. 

"Okay, I'll see you then," she said, as they now sat in the forest again like the last time they spoke. As she laid on her stomach, she stroked Daybreak's white scales. Then her eyes widened and she smacked herself in the side of head like she'd forgotten something. "Oh, I just remembered, Elias told me you wanted to learn about dragon training." Her eyes were bright as she said it, excited to do something that came so naturally to her. "My parents are coming from Berk tomorrow. I can ask my dad to bring a copy of the Book of Dragons, and maybe he can teach you a bit himself."

"I think I'd like that," Drake chuckled to himself.

"Great." Svanhild stood and brushed herself off. At the last moment, she paused as he was about to leave. "And Drake?"

He turned. "Yeah?"

She continued to stare at him a moment, then pulled him into a hug. Drake went rigid, the feeling foreign to him. He couldn't ever remember being hugged by someone before. She didn't let go, only tightening her embrace, her easy breathing near his ear that calmed him as his heartbeat slowed.

Awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

It was strange. So very strange...but not entirely unpleasant.

Svanhild wasn't one to be emotional, or to invade someone's space, but in that moment as she pulled him into a hug, she knew it was something Drake desperately needed. Something all of them needed.

Seeing how badly he'd broken down in the hallways when she had first seen him, she could only imagine how the others felt. To endure the pressure of being nothing but bad and be unloved. It must hurt, and tough as she may be, Svanhild didn't think she could live like that without having a mental breakdown every day.

"Don't worry about your dad," she said when she did release him. "Some people aren't really your parents just because you share blood. Remember that. Our past doesn't define us, our choices do. Besides, there's literally an ocean between you now."

Still in shock from the gesture of affection, he blinked a few times before nodding. "Yeah..."