The Space Between: Beginnings

11. VKs On Duty

"Oh, Rain, you're here. Finally," Mal sighed, as she saw Rain at the door. "Come in, quick."

Rain walked in and shut the door behind her. As she settled down on the bed, Mal said, "Okay, so tonight, it's Mission Wand in action. This plan is kind of complicated, so I need to know you guys are with me. Okay, so, Jay, you're up first. You climb through the back window and open the side door. I know that exists; I saw it with Evie in her mirror. Carlos, you're our tech genius; you are gonna disable the security alarms. Liir, you do the same thing with the cameras, they're gonna have those. We girls are gonna get in through the side once Jay has it open. And then, Evie, you need to find out exactly where that wand is. Once we know that, I'll figure out a way to put the guards to sleep. And Rain, as for you, you're the best at improvising; if the sleep spell doesn't work, or if the stuff is locked, that's where you come in. Use the Grimmerie, use any non-magical trick, do whatever, just get the path clear."

"So, basically, I'm your solution for every mess up," Rain said, smirking. "What did I tell you? The Grimmerie is way better than your mom's spellbook. No one knows how to detect its magic here."

"That's why I need you. Your magic works differently from mine, so most people won't expect it. And , for the record, I still think my mom's spellbook is better," Mal replied. Rain simply shrugged in response.
***
Later that night, the girls, Carlos and Liir were waiting outside the museum, for Jay to give the signal. Liir smiled a bit and laid his hand on Rain's shoulder as he reassured her, "Sis, Jay won't mess up. You're gonna make a hole in this porch if you keep pacing around anymore."

Rain sighed as she wheeled around and half-heartedly hugged her brother. Evie gently took Rain's hand in her own and asked, "You're not worried about Jay, are you? I can tell it's something big."

"Evie, I...I was just thinking. Something my mom mentioned in passing before we left. Is this really what we should be doing? Isn't the whole point of coming here meant to be looking inside of ourselves, trying to find the best parts of us? Isn't that why we've been given this second chance to live? Doesn't it feel wrong to throw it away doing something so-you know..."

"What did your mom say?" Carlos asked.

Rain sighed and quoted, almost in her mother's voice, "Make the most of your second chance. For me. Oz knows I'll never get one."

"If anyone I know really deserves a second chance at life, more than any of us, it's your mom," Carlos replied, putting his arm around Rain's waist. "And I can tell you're the only one of us who's actually treating this as a real second chance at life. Somehow, you're putting so many of your mother's mistakes right. In your own way."

Rain sighed, moving her hand so that it rested over Carlos's. Mal cleared her throat and said, "Well, as adorable as you two happen to be, Rain, need I remind you that you're already dating someone. And we have other things to think of right now."

"Well, I never knew that best friends of opposite genders weren't supposed to hug each other without it being seen as romantic," Liir remarked, wincing as Rain elbowed him in the side. Suddenly, they heard the lock click and the door opened. Carlos let go of Rain's waist and rushed in with Liir. Evie asked her mirror, "Show me Fairy Godmother's wand."

The glass cleared, showing a locked door at the end of a hallway filled with artifacts. Rain remarked, "That's the Hall of Artifacts. There's another room near that, with the statues of our parents."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Evie asked.

"Well, need I remind you where I spend time during free lectures?" Rain said, smiling a bit. The three of them ran in. Liir put his fingers on his lips once the rest of them were outside the hall. He whispered, "The security stuff is in here. And there's the guard. So we have to put him to sleep first."

Mal looked inside. The first thing she saw was her mother's spinning wheel. She whispered, "Yeah. Cool. I know what to do."

"That's your mother's spinning wheel?" Jay scoffed.

"Yeah, it's kinda dorky," Carlos added, fist bumping Jay.

"Powerful magical implements don't have to be majestic looking," Mal retorted. "Just watch. Magic spindle do not linger, make my victim prick her finger."

"Wait, her?" Rain asked. "That guard looks perfectly male to me. Plus, it didn't work. Try explicitly mentioning sleep?"

"Oh shut up," Mal hissed. "But yeah, I'll take that tip. Prick the finger, prick it deep, send my enemy off to sleep."

She breathed a sigh of relief as the guard walked over to the wheel in a trance, pricked his finger and dozed straight off. Mal said, "Okay, Rain, you've got this."

Rain fished out a hairpin from her pocket. Jay said, "Advice from a professional thief: this never works."

"Oh, just watch. She's picked her way through the locks on the back doors of Hell," Liir whispered back as Jay leaned on the door. All of a sudden, the lock clicked open and Jay fell over. Mal shushed them as they went in. Carlos and Liir smoothly disabled the security systems as Rain picked the second lock. Once they were inside, they realised that the wand was surrounded by a magical barrier. The girls looked at each other in panic as Jay touched the barrier and was immediately zapped backwards. Luckily for them, though, the alarms were thoroughly disabled. So,they ran out of the hallway, ending up into the room with the statues. Evie whispered, "Mommy?"

Jay's incredulous look at Jafar's statue mirrored Evie's almost exactly. Carlos whispered, "I'm never forgetting Mother's Day again.

Rain grabbed Liir's hand tightly and said, "Look. Mom's statue...it looks so real. So exactly like her. Almost human. It's as if whoever designed this knew what she really looked like. And it's seems so...alive. Like how she was. Still is. Mama, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to do this..."

She sank to the floor, sobbing and singing brokenly,
"In my life I never thought
I'd get a second chance
I thought I was done
But then there was you
And though I never dreamed I could learn how to love again
I placed my bet
And you came through
I somehow still lost
I somehow always do
This time feels new

Thank you for finding me
And thank you for the care
And fuck you for making me think that this life might be fair
You promised to love me,
a promise you kept
And I won't be sorry that you said to leap and I leaped
I won't regret
What I did then
Though it hurts more than I could imagine back when
All the same, even so
I would love you all over again

Am I always
Starting over?
In a brand new story
Am I always
Back at one
After all I've done?
'Cause I've burned all of my bridges
And learned every last lesson too
So how can I start new?"

Rain wrapped her arms around her chest and rocked herself back and forth, as if she was trying to hold herself together. Liir sensed it, and he grasped her shoulders. As he helped her up, Carlos asked her, "How are you the only one of us who's already started changing for the better?"

"I...I don't know," Rain sighed. Carlos patted her hand and whispered, "I guess we'd all better leave. Mal?"

"No, you guys go on. I'll come along later," Mal said,transfixed by her own mother's statue. It looked to majestic, she almost thought it would come alive.
***
Song: Always Starting Over from If/Then.