“Final check, I want you to actually see the thing before you tell me we have it. If we forget something, it could mean the difference between success and failure,” Ella said.

Everything was laid out on a long table in our prep room. In less than an hour we'd be getting teleported to Emerald Mountain and our heist would begin. Butterflies were holding a concert in my stomach, and I was getting fifth or sixth thoughts about this whole thing. I'd already had second thoughts that morning.

“Petra's RTS potion,” Ella said, looking at me.

Taking a small vial of reddish liquid, I popped the top and drank the whole thing. It actually didn't taste too bad, a little like raspberry juice mixed with chimera milk. “Check,” I said, wiping my lips.

“Crystallization elixir?”

“Got it,” Naomi said, holding up a small bottle that looked like a popular Holy Satyr Wine.

“Bag of holding?”

Clarice held up a small school bag. Even though it looked tiny, the opening would stretch wide enough to fit over a small person, and it could hold an ogre. It even had a protection charm in it to keep anything we put in it safe as long as the bag wasn't destroyed. "Yep."

“Teleportation charm?”

Calci held up a small necklace. “Here.”

“Illusion pack?”

“Ready.” Honey Suckle patted a book. It held a spell that would create a perfect illusion in a circle of fifty feet around it, for thirty minutes. Naomi would turn herself into a statue while holding it, and then set it off before returning to normal. Any normal scrying spells would see the illusion and think everything was normal until it ended. Giving Naomi plenty of time to commit her robbery and get out of there.

“Smoke bombs?”

“Got em,” Gold said.

“Disguise?”

Antoine held up a small bag with a school girl uniform, wig, hat, and a few other things in it. Naomi would put it on before becoming a statue so it wouldn't be obvious that it was her. “Here.”

“Clothes?”

We all held up our suitcases or bags. All of us had new bathing suits and formal wear. The boys had gone shopping on their own to get nice suits so they'd fit in and look like proper dates for their girlfriends.

“Entry and Insurance forms?”

“Check,” Naomi said holding up several rolled up parchments.

“Enchanted Lock picks?”

“Yes,” Calci said.

The checklist went on for several more minutes. There was a lot of equipment for breaking into places, costumes to hide our identity, getaway gear, and some weapons and armour in case things went really bad. Once we confirmed we had everything, we packed it all up, and got ready to go.

Bob came in, looking quite pleased with himself. “So, got everything ready?”

“Yes, Bob,” I said.

“Good, good. Now remember, if you get caught, don't say anything without a lawyer. We've got one on standby if something goes wrong. You'll lose marks for getting caught, but if you say something really stupid and get sent to the mines for a few years, we'll probably leave you there. Try not to destroy anything too expensive, and if you do, don't get caught. Understand?”

“Yes, Bob,” we all said.

“Excellent. And this is a robbery, if you kill or seriously injure anyone without a very good reason, you will lose marks. Try to keep it to a light maiming if you need to fight,” he said, looking pointedly at Ivy.

The werewolf growled unhappily but nodded.

“All right, are there any last questions?”

We looked at each other, and no one seemed to have anything important to ask. “We're ready to go, sir,” Ella said.

Bob tapped a crystal in his hand, a portal opened up revealing a sun lit marble room on the other side. Stepping aside he waved for us to go through. “Good luck. We'll be watching you with great interest.”

Ella and the rest stepped through, with a mix of unflappable calm, nervous smiles, and open glee. I was last. I wasn't smiling or happy, I didn't want to be a thief. Unfortunately fate didn't seem to care what I wanted. If I wanted to be cured, and help my friends, I'd have to break the law.

The portal closed on my heels. I'd travelled four-thousand miles, and it felt like I'd just stepped through a door. The first thing I noticed was the warm, humid air. I'd gotten used to the cool rooms of Doom Valley, and sweat beaded up on my forehead.

“Princess Ella,” a woman said, “it's our pleasure to serve you and your friends.”

Turning around, I saw an elegantly dressed woman in a yellow dress with a white apron, curtsying to us. Behind her were four others, two men in black suits, and two women in simple yellow dresses with white aprons. They were bowing or curtsying as well.

“Thank you for preparing everything for us,” Ella said. “You're Ms. Stuard, I presume?”

Rising up from the floor the grey haired woman smiled at us. “Yes, Princess. And these are Mr. Beeks, Ms. Crespo, Mr. Eno, and Ms. Foxglove. If any of you need anything just clap your hands twice and say help, we'll come immediately. There is only a two hour time difference from Doom Valley, so we'll have an early supper for you in three hours. Is that satisfactory?”

“Perfect. Can you please take the brown bags to the vault, and make sure they're well cared for. The Customs Agent will be arriving soon, I presume?”

The two men grabbed our bags of tools for the heist and hurried away.

“The agents should be here in a minute or two. I told them you'd be arriving in an hour, and they like to be early,” Ms. Stuard, said.

“Excellent.”

There was a knock on the door. Ms. Foxglove walked past us and opened the large iron door. “Yes,” she said.

“I'm Customs Agent Fillap, we're here to welcome Princess Ella to the island” a short dwarf with well tanned skin said. He had a long blue beard that only covered his chin, and was braided to hang straight down to his waist. His jaw and cheeks were clean shaven. He wore an open emerald green vest and shorts that went to his knees. His muscles glistened in the sun.

Three other dwarves came in behind him, dressed in a similar fashion, but in pearl white clothes. There was a single female dwarf, who had a small white top covering her breasts, and her yellow beard was a small, well trimmed goatee.

“Agent Fillap, how fortunate you arrived when you did,” Ms. Stuart said. “Our visitors have just arrived.”

He glared at us. “I was told they'd be here in an hour.”

“There was a mix-up with the time zones. But everything is here for you to inspect.”

That earned a scornful snort. “They should have come through the regular channels.”

Ms. Stuart, looked down her rather impressive nose at the dwarf. “If you think that would be appropriate, I could send a message to the Immortal Emperor informing him that you want his family to go through the overcrowded customs centre from now on.”

The three lower level dwarves looked very nervous at the idea. Agent Fillap didn't even blink. “That won't be necessary. But next time make sure there isn't any mistakes with the time.” Turning to us, he held out his massive hand, “Papers, please.”

Ella handed over a folder. “Everything is there, and perfectly in order, sir.”

Nodding, he waved at his subordinates. “Check their bags,” he said.

The three dwarves got to work, quickly, but respectfully digging through our luggage.

“Where is your statue?” he asked.

“There was a bit of trouble with the protection enchantments. It will be here in a few days, just in time for the exhibit,” Ella said.

“Is there any other reason to be here?”

“Just the beaches and the festival. My friends and I could use a vacation, and what better place to relax than the Green Sea Archipelago?”

“Do you have any illegal goods, animals, animal or plant products, alcohol, drugs, category D potions, Class 3 enchantments, or Red class magical items?”

“We have a phoenix feather dress, and unicorn leather shoes. But that's all.”

He looked over at his subordinates, who nodded in agreement. Flipping through the folder, he studied our papers, glaring at each of us as he compared our pictures to our faces. After a few minutes, he nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Welcome to Emerald Mountain, Princess Ella. Good luck in the art competition,” he said.

With a small bow, he and his people took their leave.

Once the door was closed, and the dwarves reached the sidewalk, Ella turned to us and grinned. “The first phase of Making The Grade is successfully completed. Who wants to hit the beach before supper?”

Everyone cheered, except for me. Wearing a bikini in public, around boys? It was almost enough to make me run after Agent Fillap and throw myself on his mercy. Before I could do that, Naomi and Clarice were pushing me upstairs with our bags, telling me how fun it would be to show off our bathing suits.

Joy.