Chapter Text
Jay should have known taking an advanced class would somehow screw up his entire life.
After so many years of minimal effort in schooling, this bonehead move had completely upset the cosmic balance.
For the record, Jay wasn’t stupid. Concentrating for eight hours a day, five days a week was hard. Attendance wasn’t really a thing on the Isle. Jay had to work for a living. He could only go to class without catching any heat if he came home with enough loot to justify it.
Anyway, Jay was now taking Intermediate Sorcery. It was a small class taught by Fairy Godmother for students who showed aptitude in Introduction to Magical Concepts, a required class that was pretty easy. Ironically, even though the Isle had no magic, they seemed to know a lot more about it than the Auradon kids, who were so forward-thinking and goody-goody. When Jafar was drunk or just sad, he would give long speeches to Iago about enchantments he could do when he was young and in power. Through the old man’s ramblings, Jay had apparently soaked up enough to qualify for the advanced class.
At first, he brushed off the offer. Extra homework was not of interest to him. But then Carlos found out and told the girls, and they all ganged up on him.
“Why wouldn’t you want to learn more about magic? It’s magic,” Mal said. Mal was part fae. She sweat magic. Her upbringing was centered around its absence, as she was trained to understand exactly what to do when she came into her power. To Mal, not wanting magic was like not wanting food in your belly.
“We can all do it together,” Evie said. She was hoping this class would reveal some talent inherited from her mother. Even if it didn’t, Evie was all about the we. If she couldn’t do magic, she’d happily wave useless wands just to keep the gang together.
“You could probably be good at it. Your dad is a powerful sorcerer,” Carlos said. He had experimented with spells but couldn’t connect with the magic, which was expected. He was taking the class to learn the theory. It seemed practical considering the company he kept.
“Are you afraid you wouldn’t be good at it?” Mal challenged.
“Of course not!” Jay said. Then he realized he had walked straight into a trap, but it was too late to get out, “Fine, I’m in. I’ll be spelling better than all you guys in no time.”
Jay actually got excited about the class. He had visions of himself casting a really powerful spell with no effort. He even read the textbook beforehand just to check out all the amazing things he might do.
On the first day, Jay came early, even beating Mal and Fairy Godmother who walked in together. After the coronation, those two had gotten tight, and Jay was only pretty sure no magical manipulation was involved.
Mal raised an eyebrow at Jay’s punctuality.
“Eager,” she said.
“I live to learn,” he said.
After the bell rung, Fairy Godmother explained the loose structure of the course. Each student allowed to choose their own area to study, under the guidance of Fairy Godmother. She asked for everyone’s names and if they had any inclination to the topic that they wanted to focus their thesis around. Carlos’ was so complicated it took ten minutes to explain. When they got to Jay, he said “magical objects”, which he had just come up with.
Fairy Godmother said they would start off by testing their practical ability. Training wands were passed around. You could only do simple spells with them, if you had the touch. Everyone was supposed to learn the proper casting form. Mal had it down, back and arm straight, wrist loose. She produced a controlled green flame. Evie was a little stiff, but she made a few blue sparks that were “very promising”. Carlos’ form was right, but nothing happened.
Next, Fairy Godmother was standing in front of Jay. Coach would call this the “moment of truth”. Jafar would say “you better not disappoint me”. Jay put his shoulders back, raised his right arm, and performed a perfect swish.
Nothing happened. No sparks, no sounds, no flames. No power summoned forth that he never knew he possessed.
Fairy Godmother smiled and complimented his posture.
“Is it right?” he said, confused.
“Yes,” she said, “Nearly perfect.”
“So, if something was going to happen, would it have happened?” he said.
“I think so,” she said sympathetically, “I am a bit surprised as well. Of course, the ability is not always passed down from parent to child, but magical capability is a dominant trait.”
Jay wanted to drop the class right there. What was the point if he wouldn’t be a powerful sorcerer like his father? If he wouldn’t be the best? But he’d learned a long time ago that if he couldn’t punch his way through an obstacle, he had to hide that he was deterred by the obstacle in the first place.
“Well, I still have my good looks,” he said, laughing. Fairy Godmother smiled and moved on. He looked at his friends. Evie and Carlos sent weak smiles. Jay had no patience for that. He turned to Mal who offered no comfort or eye contact. She was staring at the wand in his hand.
Jay did not drop the class. If he had, his life might have never turned upside down. He did keep it as low priority as his other classes, but hey, he had a lot on his plate. Jay was doing actual magic on the tourney field. Coach said he could get recruited to go pro. He’d play tourney until he was too old and be rich as a prince.
Jay liked the focus just waiting for the next game gave him. It was so much easier than constantly asking where he would find loot for his dad or a place to sleep if he didn’t. Mal spoke vaguely about the future and going back to reform the isle. Of course, a part of Jay wanted to help her crusade, but another part of him only wanted have enough to eat and warm beds every night for the rest of his life. He can’t think about going back without going back.
Mal didn’t have the same fears. Unlike her friends, going back wouldn’t mean facing her parent or being subject to their tyranny, as her mother currently lived in a terrarium in Mal’s bedroom. She wished all her friends could feel the pure bliss that comes with having the person who caused you incredible pain turning into a harmless little salamander.
Like a reptile shedding its skin, Mal felt she had become a new woman in Auradon. Her goals weren’t focused on proving her evil chops to her mother but on making a better world for Villain Kids. Mal would never tell the royals this but bending them to her pro-Isle agenda wasn’t so different from talking teenagers into joining the most powerful gang on the Isle (yes, Uma, the most). It just involved fancier outfits and less street fighting.
It wasn’t easy at first. It wasn’t easy now, just manageable. Mal had to be the king’s royal consort, the Isle’s de facto ambassador, and create a new societal structure based on an alliance between age-old enemies. The pressure made handling Maleficent and Uma seem downright recreational, and she’d come close to giving up more than once. Mal had even gone blonde, things got so bad.
It all came to a breaking point, but on the other side, she’d had Ben, her friends, a regular meeting with a school counsellor, and her weird new friendship with Fairy Godmother, or FG. You’d think she’d hold more resentment for Mal emotionally manipulating her daughter and going behind her back, but FG was more concerned that Mal’s primary guardian was now a salamander. She had elected herself to be Mal’s surrogate maternal figure, Auradon insider, and instructor in all things fae.
Mal often stopped by FG’s office to chat, particularly about magic. Usually, Mal wanted to ask about her own powers, but today, someone else was on her mind so after some small talk, Mal cut to the chase.
“I was surprised to see Jay had no magic ability,” Mal said.
“Usually, I do not discuss other students’ class performance…but I was as well,” Fairy Godmother said.
“Because of how powerful his father was?”
“Yes. Before Jafar was imprisoned, he was considered a foremost expert on complex conjuring and illusions. If you look in the library, you can find his writings and works cited repeatedly.”
“It’s odd,” Mal said, “My mother and Evie’s taught us the principles of magic even though we couldn’t use it. It was how their mothers raised them and so on. Jafar told him some stuff, but I don’t think Jay got trained like we did.”
“In magical communities, that’s basic child-rearing. The knowledge Jafar could impart to a young mind over the course of sixteen years could have been astounding. I wonder why he didn’t. Perhaps he expected he and Jay to spend their entire lives on the Isle.”
“Jafar doesn’t like sharing,” Mal said, thinking of the man counting coins in his shop, “I’m not entirely sure Jay lacks the touch. I think I saw something the other day in class.”
Mal explained what she’d observed. FG was curious so after Advanced Sorcery, she asked Mal and Jay to hang back.
“What’s up?” Jay said.
“Will you try this again, please?” Fairy Godmother said, handing Jay a practice wand.
“Didn’t we already prove this is useless for me?” Jay said.
“I thought I saw something and want Fairy Godmother to take a look. Humor us?” Mal said.
Jay shrugged then straightened up into casting posture. He flicked the wand.
“There, did you spot that?” Mal said.
“I didn’t see anything,” FG said. She pulled out her reading glasses.
“Watch Jay’s casting hand,” Mal said, “Again, Jay.”
Jay did as he was told. Fairy Godmother gasped. A nearly invisible shimmer of magic had appeared when Jay tried to use the wand.
“Good eye, Mal!” Fairy Godmother said.
“What is that?” Mal said.
“Strange. The wand’s power is reacting adversely to him,” FG said, “Jay, do you mind if I run a test?”
“Will it hurt?” Jay said.
“No, but it might tickle,” FG said. Jay nodded his permission. Glittering pink magic formed at Fairy Godmother’s fingertip. She touched the wand, and the magic quickly latched onto Jay’s hand, spreading from there to cover his entire body.
“Is this normal?” Jay said.
Fairy Godmother’s pink magic had turned a deep red. Where it touched on Jay’s body, symbols appeared, covering him from head to toe wherever his skin was visible. The symbols resembled rune letters, arranged in complex spirals that slowly moved across his body. Mal could barely read runes anyway, but these were written in a weird, tightly spaced calligraphy that made it even harder. She doubted even Evie would know it. FG moved closer, squinting to read the language as it floated across Jay’s body.
“Someone has spelled you,” she said, “A glamour. Intricate, undetectable magic, written into your skin, and flexible enough to grow and move as you do. Absolutely amazing”
“Why would someone do that?” Jay said, turning over his arm to watch the runes move with him.
“I can’t tell,” FG said, “This is ancient casting method. It could be for protection or, no, wait, I think this says to block detection. To hide you from something.”
“What kind of detection can undetectable magic hide you from?” Mal said.
“One specific person who might be looking for him. Or it may only be triggered under specific circumstance. This is a powerful ward, like the ones around this school to protect students from harm,” she said.
FG pointed at tiny ribbons of script snaking between the larger spirals in the pattern, “This is a binder. A magical contract the caster makes for the purposes and limits of a spell. If I had to guess, I would say there’s a clause here that allows the glamour to be revealed if someone has intent to. The magic is so subtle that the spellcaster likely thought no one would ever think to look for it besides themselves.”
“Who cast it?” Jay said.
“It must have happened since we’ve been in Auradon. No magic on the Isle,” Mal said.
“This would have taken hours to cast. It had to be done in person too,” Fairy Godmother said, “From my limited experience with dark magic, I would guess the caster would need to take blood and cast directly on your flesh. It would be extremely painful. I hope that has not happened while you’ve been under my supervision.”
“Can’t say I remember anything like that,” Jay said, “One time a workout made my glutes hurt for a week, but I think I just needed more potassium.”
“I don’t know of anyone in Auradon who could perform this sort of spell,” Fairy Godmother said, “I may seem ancient to you kids, but this style is from well before my time.”
“What happens if we remove the spell?” Mal said, “Living with this much magic can’t be healthy.”
“It’s a glamour. It is only useful until exposure so it should expire soon. One moment,” Fairy Godmother said. She went to the supply closet and procured a glass orb, “You can use a crystal ball to suspend a spell.”
“The ball preserves the magic’s energy too, if you capture it quickly. Whoever wields the ball can then cast that spell later,” Jay added. Mal and FG both looked at him with surprise.
“Very good,” Fairy Godmother said, “Did you read that while researching for your project?”
“My dad told me,” Jay said.
“Oh, I see,” Fairy Godmother said, her voice slightly shriller at the casual mention to a villain, “So, Jay, I want you to pull at the magic, separating it from your skin like a tight shirt.”
Jay did as he was bid, the runes bunching up like fabric. Jay gathered it into a pile of living, glowing magic. Fairy Godmother held up the ball, and Jay was able to push the magic through, trapping it inside. Mal could still see the runes swimming around in there, condensed into the smaller space.
“While it’s preserved, we can study it,” Fairy Godmother said, “Oh, Jay, what a difference that made.”
Jay now had a healthy glow in his skin. Everything about him seemed more vibrant. It was weird to think it about someone she’d been looking at her entire life, but Mal felt like she was seeing Jay clearly for the first time, as if she’d been wearing fogged-up glasses until now.
“Is this magic?” Mal said, “Was the glamour what was preventing him from doing any?”
“One way to found out,” Fairy Godmother said.
Jay flicked the wand again.
Absolutely nothing.
“But why would someone cast the spell?” Carlos asked later that night at dinner after Jay and Mal filled them all in.
Jay shrugged as he shoved broccoli into his mouth. Carlos was glad that removing an intricate spell conjured into his flesh hadn’t hurt his appetite.
“Jay has never slept alone. One of us would have noticed if someone snuck in at night to cast that spell,” Evie said. Next to her, Jane looked confused. Carlos guessed that she had just realized the four of them regularly broke curfew to sleep in each other’s rooms. He was looking forward to seeing Jane’s face when she learned the king joined in too.
“Unless one of you did it,” Jay said, “Mal? Any confessions?”
“That was some complicated, ancient rune work,” Mal said, “Most of my spells are still at the cute little rhymes level.”
“There’s something I need to tell you guys,” Evie said. Everyone became silent until she started laughing. Jay threw a piece of broccoli at her.
“Too bad removing the thing didn’t suddenly unlock magic powers,” Carlos said gently. He could tell Jay was bummed, maybe even insecure, about the lack of ability. But getting Jay to talk about his emotions was no easy task.
True to form, Jay shrugged, “I don’t really care. Although you guys will be doing my homework since you got me all psyched to be a wizard or whatever.”
“I anticipated that from the beginning, buddy,” Carlos said. Jay shot him a wink.
“Sea-witch incoming,” Evie said.
The table turned to watch Uma, flanked by Gil and Harry, approach the table. All three, along with a bunch of other VKs, had started at Auradon Prep this semester. Others were scattered across the kingdoms’ schools as part of Ben and Mal’s education initiative.
“Merchant punks,” Uma greeted, “And nobility.”
Mal smiled tightly. As head of the Villain Kids Welcoming Committee, she had to pretend like Uma was not her sworn nemesis. Carlos could almost hear the words “wharf rat” trapped behind Mal’s teeth.
“You’re looking good, Jay,” Gil said, smiling brightly. Gil didn’t have a hostile bone in his body. It was downright disturbing coming from an Isle kid.
“Thanks. I got magically purged,” Jay said, smiling at Gil. They’d had something going on at some point on the Isle. Carlos could also see Harry and Evie smiling at each other. And then Harry was checking out Jay. For sworn enemies, the merchant and pirate gangs had really intermingled a lot.
“I’ve never seen you without your pirate regalia on, Uma. Preppy suits you,” Mal said. They then also maintained intense eye contact for a little bit.
“I’ll be seeing you,” Uma said. The trio moved on.
“I think we just went back in time,” Carlos said, “I’m fifteen again. We’re at the Queen of Hearts’ club. I’m wondering if it’s the kind of night where we hook up with the pirates or have a knife fight.”
“And you’re minimally helpful in both situations,” Mal said. The four of them laughed.
“I haven’t understood anything for twenty minutes,” Jane said.
“Was that Gaston’s son? I haven’t formally introduced myself yet,” Ben said, eyebrows knit together nervously, “When I do, is there anything I should say?”
“Gil’s harmless,” Jay said.
“Gaston’s an asshole, but he and his kids mostly live in the woods and keep to themselves. Gil is the only one in a gang. I think the pirates were cuddly compared to his brothers,” Carlos said. Once, Carlos had hoped that Gaston was his father. Due to their fathers’ talent for hunting, all eight of his kids ate well- an Isle miracle. There was so many of them Carlos had wondered if anyone would notice if one day Carlos just joined them for dinner.
“Gaston’s a chauvinist and a creep,” Mal said, “He also never liked that Gil followed a girl.”
“If I couldn’t find a prince to marry, my mom had her eye on Gaston Jr,” Evie said, “If he was taken, Gaston III.”
“You’d be washing animal guts out of clothes for the rest of your life,” Mal said, “I gotta go. I have a meeting with Belle about Agrabah hospitality protocol.” She got up and grabbed her tray. Even though nobody else had somewhere to be, they all followed her lead to the trash can.
“I thought that was my meeting,” Ben said, scraping off his leftovers into the compost.
“You have a video conference with the Wonderland security council,” Mal said.
“Ugh, you’re right. That’ll be all night. They have no sense of time management,” Ben said, “I’ll see you guys later.” Ben left along with Jane.
“Carlos,” Mal said. She was holding out a piece of notebook paper to him, “Fairy Godmother told me about these books. I had time to look up the decimal numbers but not check them out. Will you grab them? I’ll explain later.”
Carlos looked at the writing, “RS? Isn’t that the Restricted Section?”
“You’ll figure it out,” Mal said as she walked briskly in the direction of Belle’s castle.
“I guess I’m going to the library,” Carlos said.
“Mal’s books can wait. You also have to pick up her dry-cleaning,” Jay said.
Carlos flipped Jay off. Really, he didn’t mind doing some errands, especially literary ones. He’d sworn allegiance to Mal when he was eleven, joining her gang to get in on her negotiated share of the barge. Mal had eyed his bony frame and pushed a second helping of cereal his way. It was more than his own blood had ever done for him.
They all headed back to Carlos’ room. Evie was designing the new tourney jerseys, and Jay was her reluctant model. Carlos was too busy working on his independent study project and pointedly trying not to look at Jay’s bare, ripped torso. It was hard to narrow down his scope of study when every new piece of research he did contained so much crazy interesting knowledge. He wanted to do something about how technology and magic could be integrated, but even the supportive Fairy Godmother said that was very ambitious for a school project due in a few months.
She’d then said if anyone could figure it out, it would be him which made Carlos feel humiliatingly warm and fuzzy. Most of the adults, including FG, hadn’t trusted them when they got here, sometimes going out of their way to taunt or condescend to them if they didn’t know something. Carlos had spent long hours in the library to learn as much as he could in case he was sent back to the Isle.
A few months into their time here, teachers started giving him advanced work, which Carlos had to clarify with Ben was a good thing and not some sort of punishment. This semester, Carlos was taking half his classes at Auradon University. He could ask for a book or a piece of tech to study, and the school made it happen. Adults asked him questions and listened to his answers. It was a long way from useless, burdensome idiot, get back in the closet, if you’re lucky, I’ll let you out tomorrow.
Carlos’ first invention had been an automatic lock picker. He still carried it. You never know. It was a good reminder anyway. As long as he had his mind and his hands, he could always get to somewhere better.
“Which one do you like better?” Evie asked.
“Well, the first one showed off my arms, but this one is easier to move in, so it’s a toss-up,” Jay said.
“Can you try this one next?” Evie asked, tossing him a deeper cerulean redesign of the second jersey style. Evie loved Ben, but the shade of blue his family had covered the entire city in was too bright for her sensibility.
Jay dutifully took off the jersey he was wearing, and Evie gasped.
“Jay, when did you get that?” she said. That was a large tattoo across Jay’s chest that she’d never seen before. It was an intricate spiraling design that took up almost the entirety of his pecs. Was Jay having some sort of well-hidden emotional breakdown that had made him seek out some new, dramatic body ink? Nevermind that it was illegal for minors to get tattoos here without parental permission. Gods, she hoped he hadn’t let some unlicensed stranger do that much work.
“Uh, sick tat?” Carlos said, sounding like this was also brand-new information even though the two changed side by side every night.
“Get what?” Jay said. She pointed at his chest, and he looked down, “What the…that wasn’t there this morning.”
“What?” Evie said. Jay walked over to the mirror and stared at his reflection.
“This is so weird,” Jay said.
“It looks like it was carved into you,” Carlos said. Evie looked closer. The design wasn’t made of ink but instead raised skin, like an old scar.
“Does it hurt?” Evie said.
“No,” Jay said, running his finger over it, “The design looks like the spell from before.”
“Magic always leaves a mark,” Evie said.
“Why would someone do this?” Carlos said.
“Villain Kid prejudice?” Evie said. Plenty of people were still very much against them being in Auradon.
“But no one’s actually hurt me,” Jay said.
“Yet,” Carlos said.
“Comforting,” Jay said.
“Why go after Jay? Mal’s the face. The new kids are the easier targets,” Evie said.
“It could have to do with Jafar,” Carlos said.
“The only kid here from Agrabah is Aladdin and Jasmine’s kid, and he’s, like, eleven,” Jay said.
“Remember us when we were eleven?” Carlos said.
“A spoiled royal kid couldn’t do this,” Jay said, “Fairy Godmother said she couldn’t do this. She said it was really hard magic.”
“Right,” Carlos said, “Maybe I am headed to the library tonight.”
“It’s late, C. Really, don’t sweat it,” Jay said. He put a calming hand on Carlos’ tense shoulders. Typical. Jay gets magically branded, but he’s more concerned with Carlos’ sleep schedule, “Let’s call it a night and deal with this tomorrow.”
Evie nodded and gathered up her fabrics and sketches, “I’ll fill in Mal if she’s back.”
“Okay,” Jay said, “It’s probably fine.”
Evie nodded at him, and Jay relaxed a little, believing his own words with her reassurance. When it came to his looks or winning something, Jay loved all eyes on him, but Evil forbid he be worried over. Back on the Isle, he never appreciated anyone mentioning a new scar or bruise, especially if he was coming from a night at his dad’s. They were all like that, accepting pain as a constant, unchangeable fact, not something to be worried over or removed, only mitigated.
Mal, Evie, and Carlos had all slowly begun to embrace the Auradon practice of talking about your feelings. Jay’s emotional outlet just became hitting balls instead of faces.
Mal was in their room when Evie returned, working on some homework. She looked up when Evie walked in, and Evie could feel her energy was up which was a nice change from the exhaustion that had blanketed her friend for so many months.
“E,” Mal said, “My meeting with Belle went so late, and my brain is mush. Any chance I can have your physics notes?”
“Red notebook,” Evie said, throwing her backpack at Mal.
“You’re my hero. So, you know how I have that state dinner tomorrow at the museum with the leaders of Agrabah? Belle was going over conversation topics and it turns out the royal couple’s son was kidnapped. Like, full Rapunzel, missing since he was a baby, no one knows. So, I have to avoid bringing up kids, kidnappings, and- “
“Mal,” Evie said, holding up her phone, “I hate to interrupt, but there’s a new development on the Jay situation. Look at this.”
“That’s not one of my stick and pokes,” Mal said, scrutinizing the photo, “We have to tell FG.”
“Jay’s going to first thing tomorrow.”
“I’ll go with him,” Mal said, “I have a bad feeling this is going to turn into a whole thing.”
Evie sat down on the bed and put a hand on Mal’s shoulder. The months after the coronation had been rough for Mal. Evie still felt bad for how she hadn’t been there as much as she should for her friend. Mal had been hiding it so well, but still, Evie should have known.
Then again, Evie had been hiding something from Mal for- oh, Evil, was it a month now? It wasn’t bad or anything, but Evie still felt guilty about it, especially when she was alone with her.
“I’m worried too,” Evie said, “Maybe let’s just get some rest tonight? Tomorrow’s going to be a lot.”
“I’m all for beauty sleep. Who needs physics anyway? I can fly,” Mal said.
Before going to bed, Evie stood in front of her bathroom mirror. This one wasn’t magical, but she still found it helpful to talk to it. She and her mother used to do it every night, saying that Evie was the thinnest, prettiest, fairest of them all. She’d tried to get Mal to join in, but she preferred an old-fashioned burnt offering for a confidence boost.
Tonight, Evie looked at her reflection and said, “My friends will be okay. Jay will be okay. We will have peace.”
She was still worried, but it felt better to hear her hopes out loud. She remembered one of the core principles of magic: All words have power.
Evie would be right about those words, eventually. A lot of shit just had to hit the fan first.