THE SUN WAS STILL SETTING AS THE TRIO WENT OUT IN SEARCH OF THEIR FIFTH INGREDIENT. Instead of a simple phrase, they were given instructions, similar to the first set when in search of the cauldron—Phillip had long since accepted its name, but not without grumbles and groans—and were headed off towards what Google Maps told them was an empty field. Phillip wasn't too keen on the idea of going to another field, but after one look from a determined, if not terrified Aurora, he was grabbing his keys and jumping into his car.

His car which was a bright white and, despite not having been touched in years, drove smoothly and didn't seem to have any problems. It made sense, however, since Aurora's godmothers fiddled with it before they realized Aurora hadn't arrived home, so there wasn't much reason to question it.

"He named the car," Peter said, leaning forward from where he had been shoved into the backseat.

"Shut up," Phillip grumbled, much more upset than expected, and Aurora turned to share a look with Peter, both remembering the terrible morning the boy had had.

Deciding it best to leave him alone, Aurora and Peter simply leaned back in their seats and waited, continuing to stare at the slowly setting sun as they sped towards the field in a pace that should have gotten them arrested, but, thankfully, no complications arose.

"This Maleficent lady sure wants us to get to the field," Peter commented, noticing a police car simply brush past them as they sped down at ninety miles an hour, and Aurora shuddered.

She tried not to think of what she had experienced when she fell into the pool. To think, the lights she had seen first had been her the whole time, watching her, touching her, toying with her trust and naivety. It didn't harden her heart, but it gave her a new sense of complete devotion. Normally passive, this was the first time she felt grounded in an idea and belief with a need for follow through.

She was getting out of this alive.

But she couldn't shake the sound of Maleficent's voice, the raw anger and, more importantly, the hurt. It was palpable, Aurora could feel it in her chest as she thought of it, there was so much hurt in the woman's voice, almost like a forgotten child tossed aside in favor of the new baby. It was the kind of hurt that didn't seem right on a woman trying to kill a teenage girl.

"Oh God," Phillip groaned, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Aurora leaned forward, trying to see what Phillip was looking at, and gasped at the sight. Their destination was a briar patch, the thorns towering to be over Phillip's height, guarding the tower in the center that seemed as tall as most of the buildings in Manhattan.

"This is the twenty-first century," Phillip grumbled, parking the car and grumbling, waiting for the others to get out, "Pete, you can swing up there, right?"

Peter pulled out his webshooters, looking around before nodding. "Yeah, sure, let me just pull my suit on. Are you guys not going?"

"I am," Aurora said firmly, "But I don't know how."

"I can carry you," Peter said, climbing back into the car and tugging off his clothes, "But I can only carry one of you. Phillip, you think you can find another way up?"

"Do we all have to go?" he asked, opening the scroll, rolling his eyes when another set of instructions appeared, "Great, she's listening in on us now. I'll find a way up on my own, maybe I don't have to actually get up there, just gotta try."

"Let's hope so," Spider-Man groaned, jumping out of the car and stretching, "Come on, Briar."

Aurora looked over at Phillip who gave her a pursed lip smile, tugging at the turtleneck he wore underneath the brown shirt he had been given to wear over it just before he left. She tried not to think too much of it as she walked over to Spider-Man who was just at the edge of the briar patch.

"Will you be okay?" she called out to Phillip who nodded, giving her a small smile as he began to walk to the right, looking at the briar patch, picking up a stick along the way.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," Spider-Man said, moving back to the car and climbing on top, "Here, hold onto me, I'm gonna see if this'll work."

Aurora carefully hung her arms around his neck, yelping when he tugged her close and took a running start off the car, jumping up and letting a line of webbing shoot out towards the tower, pulling them just above the briar patch, landing them towards the base of the tower, feet grazing the thorns.

"Hold on," he called, adjusting his grip on her as they began to make their way up the side, "Oh jeez!"

"What?" she cried, watching as he slipped, clinging onto the side.

"It's slippery," he groaned, "Karen, what's the best way up? Yeah, okay, I get that, but should she go on my back or front? I did front before, but—okay. Briar, piggy back me."

Aurora blinked, squeaking as she nearly fell out of his grip, "What do you mean?"

"I climbed the Empire State Building and the Washington Monument, so I can get up, but you either need to hang off my front or my back, your choice," he explained, grunting as he struggled to stay upright, the weight displaced to one side as Aurora clung onto him.

"Okay," she whispered, holding her breath as she grabbed his shoulder and swung around, hooking her legs around his hips, circling her arms around her neck, "Let's go."

Spider-Man took a deep breath, sighing. "Thanks for nearly sending us plummeting down there. Hang tight."

Aurora yelped as Spider-Man began vaulting up the side of the tower, arms and legs tightening as he clung on, Aurora hiding her face as she felt the wind blow her hair back.

"You good?" he called above the wind as they continued up, moving side to side to grab onto loose bricks as the wall became too slippery to cling onto.

Aurora could barely shake her head. As they climbed, she was hit with a wave of fatigue, nearly sending her slipping and falling down to the ground. She wasn't sure what would happen should she hurt herself gravely in her projected state, and she didn't want to know. She could barely hold on as is, too weak and tired, and she had to wonder why.

"No!" she cried, desperately trying to hold on tighter, eyes screwed shut, "Are we almost there?"

Spider-Man looked up towards the single window at the top of the tower. There were multiple wings branching out from the base, but only one held a window for them to reach. He made a sound, continuing to climb.

"We'll be fine," he reasoned, his hand slipping, causing him to shout, "This is fine!"

"I don't believe you," she shrieked, "I don't wanna do this anymore!"

"It's a little too late for that," he pointed out, shouting as his hands slipped. Looking up, they were about two yards away from the window, "Karen, diagnose this."

"It looks like the surface surrounding the window is covered with a substance you can't stick to," Karen explained, using the same calming tone she always did, "And you can jump and cling onto the empty iron flag handle just above the window, but not with Briar Rose on your back."

Spider-Man groaned, dropping his head forward against the bricks before mumbling, quiet enough so the girl didn't hear, "Could I throw her up?"

"If you follow exactly what I say, yes," Karen said, though she sounded almost apprehensive, "And she'd have to be able to catch the flag handle."

"Briar," he breathed, struggling to stay upright against the wind and the pain in his arms and legs from staying in his crouch for so long, "Listen, I'm gonna have to toss you."

"What?" she demanded, her shriek nearly sending him falling, vision going blurry and head ringing.

"Hold on," he called out, trying to focus, "Look, I gotta...I'm gonna toss you up and you're gonna grab that flag handle, then we'll get you inside, okay? Okay, okay, okay, hold on...oh God, Karen, help."

"Just give it a minute, Peter, you'll be fine," Karen soothed, and he nodded, gasping for air as he rested his head on the wall, the suit making sure he stayed on as his muscles relaxed, Aurora now clinging on desperately so as not to slip and fall.

"Okay," he coughed, after an indeterminable amount of time—he was sure Karen knew, but he didn't care to know—"Briar, you ready?"

Aurora whimpered, arms and legs tightening as her heart raced, palms sweating as she looked up towards the iron flag handle. She debated shaking her head, telling him no, they'd find another way, but then she felt a sense of pure calm, her mind entirely clear, only one resounding thought left.

'Bravery doesn't mean you're not afraid, it means doing what you need to even when you are.'

She heard the words, but she had never heard them before, not on her own. More than that, though, was the complete understanding that these words weren't meant for her, at least not when they were originally said. Who they were meant for, she tried not to think too hard on.

"Okay," she breathed, still calm and clear minded, "Go ahead."

She held her breath as Spider-Man shifted, moving so he had one hand on her wrist, the rest of her body dangling, though her arm was tense, making it so it wouldn't get pulled out of its socket. Holding her breath, she felt herself be vaulted up into the air, spinning before righting herself, throwing both arms up, desperately reaching for the flag handle.

She nearly missed.

She should have easily caught onto the handle, but her projection flickered, causing all but two fingers on each hand to pass through the metal. She was holding on, but just barely, her palms unable to wrap around the handle, fingers and arms aching and heart pounding as the rest of her body dangled precariously, blood roaring in her ears.

Spider-Man cursed as he tried to race up, only to slip and fall down the tower, just barely able to stick back on, climbing furiously to reach her, shouting for her to hold on, as well as for Karen to give him the fastest route up.

Aurora closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing, all sense of calm gone, panic rising that rendered her frozen, desperately hoping that she wouldn't feel anything if she wasn't caught; she could feel her fingers slipping.

Then a pair of arms were circling around her waist and ripping her off the flag handle and into the window, sending her tumbling onto solid flooring, her head hitting it roughly, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Are you guys okay?"

Aurora forced her eyes open, looking towards the window where Spider-Man was standing in the window, looking down at her with wide eyes. Dropping down, he tugged off his mask, looking over at the other body that was lying on the ground, breathing heavily.

"I'm good," Phillip sighed, struggling to breathe as he shifted onto his side to look over at Aurora who was rubbing her head, barely sitting upright, "I think we're supposed to get that."

He raised his hand, pointing over towards a rose that sat on a table, healthy and blood red, waiting for them patiently. Aurora tried to look over, but sighed, falling back against the hard wood painfully.

"What's wrong?" Spider-Man asked, his mask back on as he rushed over to her, and she shook her head, shrugging.

"I'm just so tired," she explained, her breathing labored, "Not like I can just sleep it off, then wake up fine later, tired, but I just can't move. It's like something happened."

"Maybe it's the curse," he offered, glancing over to Phillip who was crawling over, tired as well, "It's still about seven, but sunrise is less than twelve hours away. Speaking of, do you guys want some dinner?"

"Dinner?" Aurora repeated, but Phillip spoke up, cutting her off.

"If you're offering, I'm pretty sure I just climbed my weight off getting up here," he coughed, motioning towards the open door, showing the stone stairs that winded down to the bottom, then motioning to the cuts and scratches on his arms, "And I'm in a lot of pain, so some bandages would be great. If you're alright with that, Briar, we do only have a few hours left."

"No, it's okay, go ahead, I could use the break," she sighed, her head pounding, "So, yeah, if you want, dinner and bandages."

"Okay," Spider-Man said, looking back out towards the window, "Listen, if I get you guys some food and bandages, would it be cool if I swing back out and go on my rounds. They won't take long, but I did miss them last time."

"Yeah, that's fine," Aurora said, looking over to Phillip who nodded, holding out a fist for Spider-Man who happily reciprocated, bumping it softly, "You guys are friends now?"

"A lot happened while you were out," Phillip said, hissing when he caught sight of a rather nasty gash, "I really hate this. Go on, I need bandages."

"Okay, jeez, bossy," Spider-Man scoffed, and Aurora had a feeling that Peter Parker had been wanting to say that for some time, but only had the chance now that he was Spider-Man, "Feel better, you guys, I'll be back."

With that, he was gone, taking a running start out of the tower and flying out, web-wings spread out, gliding him safely out of harms way of the briar patch, leaving the mutant and the non-mutant alone in the tower.

After a few moments of silence, the two simply catching their breaths, Phillip stood, picking up the rose from the table and moving to sit on the small bed pressed up against the corner, but not before pausing to stare at it, unnerved.

Aurora looked over at him, frowning at the bed. Hers was a canopy bed with multiple pillows and a silk sheets, similar to what her parents wanted for her when she grew up if they had been alive to see her. This bed, however, had a simply wooden bed frame with plain white sheets.

Upon closer inspection, she found small little holes that held retractable iron poles that seemed almost like bars, similar to that of a crib. But this bed didn't seem like one made for an infant, which made her wonder why it was created. This room didn't seem lived in for years, but it seemed like it once was.

"This is funny, you know," Phillip said, breaking the silence, patting the bed next to him, motioning for her to sit.

"What is?" she asked, breathing heavily as she continued to make her way over, pulling herself up onto the bed to sit next to him, needing to lean against him for support.

"This," he said, motioning to the rose, "You know? And the briar patch?"

She shook her head; this wasn't a product of her weakness, she simply didn't understand his joke, and he pursed his lips for a moment, as if reluctant to spoil his joke by having to explain it.

"You know," he said, still using the same tired, upbeat voice he had begun with, "Because your name's Briar Rose? And we had to go through a briar patch to get to a rose?"

"Oh..." she said softly, looking down at her hands, wringing them as she bit her lip.

She'd been with Phillip and Peter for so long that she had completely forgotten that they still didn't know her name. Of course, Briar Rose was one of her names, but it wasn't hers, not entirely. This was the name she was given to hide behind, to keep her safe, but only three women ever called her by her real name, and it hurt her that, even after all they've been through, she was still lying to Phillip and Peter.

Even Maleficent used her name.

She shuddered as she thought of the voice calling her name, of how twisted it was that she couldn't be called her own name by people that cared for her, that she had to remember the voice of a woman who wanted her dead rather the voices of her parents who she could never remember alive.

"What's wrong?" Phillip asked, nudging her as he set the rose aside, "I get it was a bad joke, but it couldn't have been that bad."

She shook her head, sighing. "No, it's not that. I actually liked it, it was punny." He snorted at her own pun and she smiled slightly, still staring at her hands.

"But seriously," she began, biting her lip, "I have something to tell you."

"What?" he asked, shifting so he was turned towards her, which really only made it worse, in her eyes. When she didn't speak, he added, "We've gotten to know each other pretty well, despite the very short amount of time we've actually been in each other's presence."

She huffed out a laugh, shrugging as she ran a hand through her hair, pouting. "I just...Briar Rose isn't my real name."

Phillip frowned, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean, it isn't your real name?"

"It's not," she said, still staring down at her hands, "When my godmothers took me from the mansion to keep me safe, everyone agreed that it'd be better if we gave me a different name, to add onto all the protective spells they put around me and the city, so it wouldn't draw any attention. Briar Rose was the one they landed on. My real name is Aurora Kaili."

There was a pregnant pause, and Aurora didn't raise her head up to look at him, her stomach twisting for fear that she would look and find him upset or disgusted that she lied to him, that she didn't trust him from the very beginning to tell him her real name.

Finally, he said, "Briar Rose draws more attention than Aurora, couldn't you've just been called Mary or something?"

Aurora covered her mouth as she started to laugh, eyes closing as she struggled for breath, the sound echoing through the entire room and falling out the window and through the door as she fell back against the bed, shrieking with laughter as she curled in on herself, relief coursing through her whole body as her face ached from grinning so widely, turned away from Phillip who simply smiled as he watched her, leaning back against the headboard.

When she stopped laughing, she finally looked over at him, her wide grin softening ever so slightly when she saw the small smile he was sporting, all soft edges and kind eyes, and she realized it had been some time since she had seen him without his sunglasses.

"You're not mad?" she finally asked, and he ran a hand through his short hair and shrugged, making a face.

"Nah," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his sunglasses, glancing up at her through his lashes as he bent his head to inspect them.

"You know how it goes. A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet."

She grinned brightly; despite the moanings and groanings of all teenagers her age, Aurora loved Shakespeare, especially Romeo and Juliet. Not because of the love story others misinterpreted it to be, but of the message it actually spoke. As a girl without parents, she didn't understand what it was like to have people control you in such a way, but considering her curse, she had an idea. She was willing to do whatever it took to find a sense of control from her curse, at least now, when for years she had remained passive to it.

All she had needed was something to fight for.

"Most people don't really get Romeo and Juliet," Phillip said softly, looking down at his sunglasses as he spoke, "But you seemed to have an idea when we went over it at the beginning of the year."

She glanced down at her hands, shrugging as she hid her sad smile. "It's one of the only things I feel like I'm actually smart at. As you can tell, I don't really know much about what really matters."

"Sure, you do," Phillip said, "Yeah, you're smarter at school than you are at regular society, but you seem to know enough about living, and I think that's what really matters right now, don't you think?"

She breathed a laugh, smiling down at her hands, tilting her head to look at him. "Call me by my name?"

"What?" he asked, looking up from his sunglasses.

"Call me by my name," she repeated, now more bold, "I-I don't want the only memories of my name to be from my godmothers and a woman who wants me dead. I want someone I care about to say my name."

Phillip's lips twitched. "You care about me?"

She blushed, looking back down at her hands, shoulders up to her ears as she nodded quickly. "Yeah..."

He laughed and reached out to tug at her hair, causing her to whip her head up to pout at him, glaring as he continued to laugh, holding up his hands. He sighed, simply looking at her for a moment, before nodding. "Okay."

She nodded as well. "Okay."

Moving so he was sitting right beside her again, Phillip leaned back against one hand, his other hand coming up to twist a strand of her hair around his finger, dragging his finger down before letting it bounce up again.

Aurora smile and shifted so she could lean against him, too tired to sit up by herself, and he moved so he had his arm draped across her shoulder, still playing with her hair. She closed her eyes, letting his breathing lull her into a place between asleep and awake.

She thought back to what she had seen when she fell into the pool. She had never had those dreams before. Like what she had seen in the waterfall, those images were ones she had never thought of before, not like herself with her parents.

What she had seen were given to her, handed over by whomever controlled the water. But that begged the question: if her parents had created the place, why did Maleficent have any hold within it?

Dreams looked out to the future. Maybe she had seen both.

"I'm back."

Aurora startled awake, Phillip sitting up from where he had fallen asleep on the bed. One look told her that she had lost her projection and had been gone for some time. Looking towards the window, they found Spider-Man with two plastic bags in his hands, speaking as he walked towards them.

"So I got Thai and bandages, and I gotta head back out there soon, 'cause I'm pretty sure someone's planning something, so if you guys could just meet me in Manhattan, that'd be great, 'cause it's just smarter than me coming back, only for us to head over there again by car," he rambled, shoving the bags into Phillip's hands and turning around, preparing to jump out the window again.

"Wait," Aurora called, jumping to her feet, nearly toppling over.

"What?" Spider-Man asked, looking over to her.

She walked over to him and stuck out her hand, watching as his white eyes widened comically, turning his attention from her face, then to her hand, then back to her face.

"My name is Aurora Kaili."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 07.16.18 )

We have two chapters left, ya'll, this story ends on 15 and it seems pretty rushed, but I didn't want to drag it out too long and God forbid I end this story on a Ch. 16 (it would be symbolic since she turns 16 but I would actually rather die, I need it be this way)

Okay, first off, everyone rightfully thought that it was Aurora dreams that she saw when she fell into the pool, but they actually weren't. It was a version of the future, and it'll be explained more as to how she had seen that and whatever in the next two chapters.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!