A/N: Crazy long chap, guys like over 6000 words lol

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙥

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 empty, the only living thing walking around would be the odd janitor doing their job, cleaning up after the royals and other rich snobs who attended the school. Sighs would escape their lips as they walked around the school, brooms and maps in their hands, scrubbing away on the floor and picking up the trash left on the floors. The sun was still shining against the baby blue-coloured sky, considering that it was past five p.m. Y/N tilted her head up as she felt the warmth caress her face, like a warm blanket that you would wrap around yourself on a cold winter's night. It was weird, nonetheless. When she thought about it, everything in Auradon was strange; the environment, the food, and most of all the people.

It was weird being able to breathe in the fresh air, being able to see the sun, and, most of all, being able to relax while going for a walk, no matter the time of day. Once they removed the barrier, she'd be able to experience all of this. Being able to relax without a nagging father, go for walks whenever she wanted, and just being able to hang out with her friends without risking her life and their safety.

"I guess this is what Heaven on Earth feels like." A soft smile appeared on Y/N's face as she watched a pair of birds soar through the sky.

Jay looked over at Y/N, confused that she decided to talk after a few minutes of silence as they walked to her dorm.

A soft chuckle escaped her nose when she noticed Jay's quietness. "The feeling of the sun on your face, the fresh air. Just..." She grinned as the word came to mind. "Being free."

The thief scrunched his brows in confusion, his eyes looking her over as he watched her tilt her head up and a gentle smile on her face. He's never seen her this relaxed before. The muscle under her eye would always twitch, proving to him that she was stressed and didn't get any sleep the night before. Her jaw was always locked, almost as if she was waiting to get punched in the face by someone, but the thing that stuck out to him the most were her eyes. There was this small little twinkle in them whenever she looked up at the sky in Auradon, even when they first arrived.

She could deny it all she wanted, but each time Jay looked at her while she was gazing up at the sky, her eyes would twinkle with this strange emotion... hope, maybe. Jay didn't recognize it. Hades, he was pretty certain that he's never even heard of the word before. "Hope" didn't exist on the Isle and whenever hope you were born with was crushed as a young child when you would look over at the island across the sea, a slight orange tint to it.

He scrunched his brows in confusion before copying Y/N's actions, trying to see what the big fuss was about with this whole sun thing. He tilted his head up and closed his eyes, waiting to feel something, anything, but he didn't. There was no sense of freedom, fresh air filling his nose, blocking out any other smell or the warmth of the sun on his face; it all just felt normal.

Jay pressed his lips together, tight, before looking over at Y/N. He nodded his head slightly. "Nice. Kinda over-hyped, but cool."

Y/N looked over at him, rolling her eyes playfully. "You just don't get it yet." She chuckled as a smile appeared on her face.

...

"I still think blue looks bad on you. Red looks better, it brings out the bloodshot in your eyes." Y/N smiled as she placed a hand on the handle of her dorm's door.

Jay side-eyed her, a playful look gleaming in his eyes. "Well, you have your opinion and I have mine." He grinned. "And I think I look good in this."

Y/N laughed before pushing open the door, the smile still evident on her face as she walked through. Mal looked her up and down, questioning why she was even happy while they were in this prison. Evie paid no attention to her as she continued working on her design, a content smile on her face as she hummed a small tune, helping her concentrate even more the usual. It was a lot easier to complete projects when someone wasn't yelling at you regarding your back posture or when Chernabog and Y/N weren't having one of their screaming matches.

"Yo-ho-ho!" Jay cheered as he stepped into the room, a large grin plastered on his face as he started posing, once again, to show off his jersey.

A whistle echoed through the room, similar to the one you would hear men do when they saw someone pretty walking through the streets of the Isle. Y/N heard it a few times late at night whenever her balcony doors were open and she couldn't sleep at night. She knew that the meaning behind it was disgusting, but it brought an odd sense of comfort to her, knowing that others couldn't sleep either.

She plopped down on her desk, placing her bag down on the floor before zipping it open to grab the things she needed inside. A small grunt left her lips as she pulled out the books that were given to her. She had no idea why she continued to read these, but she knew that if she ever wanted to get these "bracelets" off, the answer lay within these pages. A translator would, also probably, help.

"How was the little talk with Jane?" Y/N asked, her nose still stuck in the book she was reading.

Mal stopped flipping through her spellbook. "Do you think that I would be going through every single spell in this book if I hadn't completely struck out!?"

Y/N looked up from her book slightly, looking through her lashes. "I was just asking."

Jay backed away from Mal's bed before walking towards Y/N. He placed his hand on the back of her chair before leaning over her shoulder, reading what was written on the pages. A chill ran down Y/N's spine as she felt his breath against her ear and, barely, tickling her neck. She felt heat travel up from her neck and toward her cheeks, making her feeze slightly. This was new. She gently swat Jay away from her shoulder, using her hand as a small laugh escaped his lips. He pulled up a chair beside her, making sure that he was near her.

"Oh, someone's in a bad mood," Carlos joked, still focused on the homework that was assigned to him during his tech class.

Mal slammed her book shut. "Chernabog and my mom are counting on me! I have too much on the line, right now." She flicked the back of Carlos' head, making the boy flinch slightly and wince in pain.

"Keep telling yourself that," Y/N scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

She flipped another page, her eyes scanning the information written down briefly before turning to another. She repeated the same sequence again but paused as she looked down at a picture that was printed in the center of the page. Her eyes flicked from her bracelet back to the page, scanning every imprinted letter that was written. She cringed in confusion as her eyes continued to scan the pages, flipping through them and then back to the original one with all the information she desperately needed.

"Enochian language?" She mumbled, tracing her finger below the word. Y/N flinched to the side as she felt something hit her head. Looking down at the floor, she picked up the projectile weapon before scoffing. "Really?" Y/N picked up the pencil on the floor before glaring at Mal.

"Can you focus!" Mal opened her book once more and started flipping through the pages, scanning over the words. "I thought that you out of all people would know what's on the line here."

Y/N froze, a scoff escaping her lips before it turned into a small smile. Jay watched every movement she did, following Mal's words. He watched as Y/N tilted her head back, a sadistic smile appearing on her beautiful face. Everything about it just looked so beautiful. From the wicked, evil smile blessing her features, to the way she was tilting her head back with an evil glint in her eyes, which flashed yellow—

Wait, Jay thought as he cringed.

A laugh escaped Y/N's lips, moving her gaze towards Mal. She licked her lips slightly and grinned. "Don't worry about me, Mal. I would focus more on yourself, right now." Her eyes flashed yellow. "As you said, you have so much on the line."

"Perfect. Now that we're on the same page, you can think of a better plan this time." Mal sighed.

Y/N opened her mouth to say something to the privileged girl, but Jay beat her to it.

"We can do this-" He placed a hand on Y/N's shoulder, making sure that she wouldn't get up and start a fight. Everyone turned to face Jay, waiting for him to complete his sentence. "If we stick together." He looked down at Y/N, a small smile appearing on his face.

Y/N exhaled, letting her cheeks puff up before deflating. "And there's no way any of us are going back before I kill the Guardian and you guys get the wand."

"Because we're rotten—" Mal added, looking around the room as she waited for her friends to finish the sentence.

"To the core."

For the first time in a long time, a comfortable silence made itself present in the room of villains in training. They all basked in the comfort of each other, happy that they weren't allowed and could rely on one another. Of course, this was something that they all knew, but there were some things on the Isle that would change the innocent mind of a child for the worse; Y/N was one of them. Trust wasn't like candy. You couldn't just give it around to whomever you pleased without any extra precautions. Trust was something that one would gain over time and, so far, only one person managed to gain it. The ironic bit of it all was that he's a thief.

Y/N stretched her back out, still feeling sore from the training session she had earlier that day. "We just have t think of a plan that'll, ideally, get us out here before the coronation," she yawned.

"Oh, yeah." Evie started fidgeting with the blue pen she was using to do her chemistry homework. Y/N chuckled as she looked down at her opposite hand, noticing the magic mirror. "I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at coronation and we get to go." Y/N shrugged her lips, nodding slightly at the newly given information. "I have nothing to wear, of course." Evie rolled her eyes, letting her hand fall against her homework. Mal looked at the blue-haired girl with an open mouth and her eyes were slightly parted. A knocking noise, coming from the door, echoed through the room, making Y/N stand up to answer it. "What?" Evier asked, still keeping eye contact with Mal.

Mal placed her book on the bed before swinging her legs off of it and walking towards the door. "Hold that thought."

Mal stood a few feet behind Y/N, wanting to see who would be knocking at their door, right now. Y/N looked back at Mal before facing the wooden door and opening it, revealing a brown-haired prince. Y/N pressed her lips together in a thin smile as she waited for Ben to explain himself and why he was standing at their dorm—the girls' dorm, at that.

"Y/N," he greeted her with a warm smile. He peered over the girl's shoulder, his hazel eyes landing on the purple-haired girl that stood a few feet away. "Hey, Mal." He grinned, a warm sensation travelling through him. He focused his attention back on the girl, holding the door open in front of him. "I didn't see you guys today—"

Mal walked towards Y/N, pushing her out of the way slightly so that she could stand in front of Ben. A small scoff left Y/N's lips as she walked towards Jay, subconsciously leaning into him, basking in his presence. A small sigh escaped her lips as she watched Ben from a distance. She looked him up and down once, and then a second time, trying to figure out the true reason for his unexpected visit. She knew that his showing up just to "check-in" on them was a complete cover-up for something else; she just couldn't figure out what.

"Not that I know of," Mal answered one of his questions, looking back at her friends and making sure that they were perfectly fine.

"Actually," Y/N butted in, taking a few steps forward. "Heard from a demon that we're all being invited to your coronation, is that true?"

Ben smiled. "Yeah, the whole school goes."

"Wow." Mal smiled, slightly. "That is beyond exciting."

Ben smiled at the small girl, standing in front of him. He was glad that he did come here, after all. Nakoa had reminded him countless times that he had meetings to attend and with him leaving soon, no one would be there to annoy and remind him of all the responsibilities he had. However, the prince could care less; he felt happy, standing in front of Mal and looking at her face. He felt happy just ignoring everything going on around him and just looking into her green eyes for hours.

But that would be weird.

"Is there any that you could grant a bunch of exchange students front-row seats to this, magical, event?" Y/N asked, now, leaving against the door frame and standing next to Mal.

"Right next to Fairy Godmother, just so we could soak up all that goodness?"

Ben looked at Mal, a sympathetic smile appearing on his face. He separated his arms before, gently, clapping his hands together. "I wish that you could." Y/N looked away from Ben, silently cursing Hades for their luck before diverting her attention back to him. "Up front, it's just me, my folks, my girlfriend, and, if nothing goes wrong, Genie."

"Your girlfriend?" Mal repeated, nodding her head slightly.

A small grin appeared on Y/N's face. "And the Guardian?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Ben grinned, sounding slightly disappointed.

Mal paused for a short second, letting her brain retain all the information Ben had just given her. "Okay. Thanks, bye." She grinned, shutting the door in Ben's face.

"Oh, but, no there's plenty of—" Ben tried getting in one final sentence before the door closed in his face.

Y/N marched back towards Jay, feeling exhausted from her social encounter with the Prince of Auradon. It wasn't that he talked a lot, he just talked too much for her. She sighed before looking around the room, the atmosphere and the colours that were used to decorate it still makes her uncomfortable, no matter how much shade they tried creating. She wasn't house sick, that was for sure, but this room and the style isn't exactly her first choice. She only had to last six more days and then she was back to her dust filled, always dirty and some cluster on the floor, room.

"I think it's time that Bennyboo got himself a new girlfriend." Mal turned around to face her friends, a small smile appearing on her face. Evie tilted her head to the side, her hands placed on her hips as a smirk made itself known. "And I need a love spell." She clapped her hands and made a grabby motion toward Carlos, asking him to toss over her spellbook.

Y/N eyes flashed yellow as she watched the book fly across the room. Mal caught it with ease before making a small squeak noise and a smile—with her tongue sticking through her teeth, slightly—graced her features. Y/N shook her head before turning away from the girl and making her way back to where she was sitting; love spells were never a good thing. They would either work too well or not at all. She wasn't sure if this was something that she wanted to risk. Y/N knew that they could probably come up with something that had fewer risks to factor in, but then again, Mal was as stubborn as a mule and it was near impossible to bargain with the girl once she set her mind to something.

Sighing, she nodded her head in agreement with whatever Mal and the rest of the group were talking about before leaving the dorm.

...

A yawn escaped Y/N's lips unwillingly. Mal has managed to botch this spell and cookie recipe at least a dozen times now. It was past midnight and with every second they spent in here, it was a second they'd risk getting caught. Of course, they were kids from the Isle and anything that added a little danger to their life was considering fun, so some could say that old habits die hard.

A small sigh escaped her lips as she watched Mal toss away another batch of cookie dough. At this rate, Y/N would be able to recite the whole recipe without blinking an eye. She didn't even know what half of the ingredients were, but she could list them off without breaking a sweat.

"Should've just got one of those Auradon kids to do this," Y/N mumbled, her eyelids on the verge of shutting completely.

She felt her body lean to the side before her head, gently, colliding with something. A content sigh escaped her lips as she allowed her eyes to shut completely. The training session drained her completely, along with every little social encounter she had throughout the day. Another yawn escaped her lips as she heard Mal groan, once more. Y/N deflated her cheeks before rolling her eyes. She pushed herself off of the table and made her way toward the table where the girls were working at.

She scrapped the dough that Mal tried making, which had a crumbly texture, before restarting the recipe again. She threw in all her dry ingredients in one bowl and then the wet ones in other. She continued following the instructions that Evie had kept reciting before completing the recipe. Now, all that they needed was to add in the love spell and she figured that Mal could at least complete that bit of their plan.

"You're welcome." Y/N yawned, using her hand to cover her mouth before making her way back to the table where she was sitting.

Mal watched her, her expression blank. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Just like the rest of Auradon, the kitchen was, surprisingly, just as clean. All the utilities were made of stainless steel and everything was, surprisingly, labelled. All the vegetables and fruits had their respectful basket that was placed around the kitchen, making that bit slightly unethical, but hey, what did she know? The tiles on the floor seemed to be cleaned a waxed daily, the ceiling light reflecting off of it, causing a weird sort of glare that hurt your eyes slightly if you looked at it from the wrong angle. Something that Y/N had noticed was that all the rooms in Auradon smelt like lavender; she figured it had something to do with their cleaning products. It wasn't a strong smell, it was calming one, something that she found helped relaxed her nerves.

Letting one last yawn escape her lips, Y/N allowed herself to close her eyes. Her head leaned towards the side and fell on the same clothed object as before. Jay tensed as he felt Y/N's head on his shoulder, once more. He sucked in a breath, afraid to move in case he woke the sleeping girl. He thought that the first time she did this was a mistake, but now he realized that it most likely was; she was just, extremely, tired. He heard soft snores escape her lips, making him smile, slightly. He felt his muscles relax as Y/N snuggled into him more.

Maybe this wasn't so bad, after all.

"All right. It says that we still need one tear and I never cry," Mal sighed, breaking the silence.

Carlos picked up a white onion from the wooden box beside him. "Let's just chop up some onions."

"No. It says that we need one tear of human sadness. And this love potion gets the best reviews, so we have to follow it exactly."

Jay scoffed. "A tear's a tear." He adjusted his position slightly, making Y/N groan slightly, before getting comfortable again.

"That's not true, Jay," Evie spoke, turning her attention away from the batter. Y/N groaned again as she felt Jay move, making her squint her eyes slightly as she tried to stay asleep. "They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones