Virgil stared at the blackboard with no focus. It just blurred before him, like most things ended up doing. He had an open notebook that was pastel purple. The Fairy Godmother, who'd been teaching these lessons, had given it to him and the others. So they could write 'good' tips. Like they were idiots.

Usually, in times like this, Virgil would feel alone. But he didn't anymore. The voice had helped him and had been so nice to him. And he'd do anything the voice said. The voice promised it would get him away from Auradon, back to his home. And he wanted that. The voice had told him to be patient, to just wait for more instructions. It was whispering his name, trying to get his attention, to promise him more comfort.

Virgil.

Virgil.

Virgil.

Virgil.

Virgil!

"Virgil!" Shouted the Fairy Godmother and the villain jumped, knocking a stack of books to the ground. He tried to force her to be clearer, only managing to see two different versions of her. They were half conjoined, and he didn't know who to look at as they spread out and in.

"Yes?" He asked, finally focusing on the one to the right. The pastel blue dress sucked together and she was suddenly in the middle of his vision, outline fuzzy.

She sighed. "Now, did you hear anything I was saying?"

Maleficent's' son glanced quickly at Remus, whose eyes darted and blinked in rapid succession. Anyone else would've seen a blank face. Virgil saw the answer.

"You were... talking about why our parents' actions were evil and dangerous?"

The Fairy Godmother blinked and frowned. "Cor-rect... Please look like you're paying attention in future, Virgil, not all teachers are as nice as me!"

Oh boy, were they. It was the last lesson on a Wednesday and the Fairy Godmother was the only teacher who hadn't tried to patronise them while still behaving respectfully. She was definitely a favourite. The doors swung open and Prince Roman walked in.

He turned bright red when the three villain kids fixed him with an uninterested stare but continued on his path to the Fairy Godmother. He handed her a perfectly round apple, the colour of rubies.

"Sorry for intruding, miss, but Patton said this was too good for him to eat. He had a council meeting and asked me if I could take it to you because, clearly, you are the only one worthy of such beautiful fruit." Roman simpered.

"Ssssuck up!" Hissed Janus, his forked tongue warping his speech slightly. All Virgil could think of was how good Roman looked when he bowed. Oh, shit, not now, gay thoughts, he is a prick! No gay thoughts, no gay thoughts-

The Fairy Godmother laughed, taking the apple. "Tell Patton he's very kind, Roman. Would you mind staying and helping a bit? Only I think it's your free period now, correct?"

Roman nodded brightly. "What do you need, Miss?"

"The new students aren't focusing very hard and I believe they are getting distracted. Could you make sure they keep up with the lesson?"

The prince looked slightly put out at the idea but nodded. "Of course. Who should I help first?"

"Virgil, first. He has no notes down."

"I tried!" Virgil protested. "But the paper was hard to write on!"

Remus began to snicker. "Virgil, you were writing on your arm! And you didn't even write anything, you just doodled!"

Virgil made an '0' shape with his mouth and Janus cackled along with Remus, both laughing at the scrawnier villain. "So that's why my arm hurt when I wrote..."

"Oh, wow, Virgil, how did you not even notice you were writing on your own arm?" Janus teased, leaning back in his chair.

Virgil shrugged. "It's not my fault everything is blurry all the time." His friends just burst into more laughter but Roman frowned slightly and Virgil felt his stomach fall. Was it something he said?

Roman nodded at the Fairy Godmother and walked towards Virgil. He knelt down by his desk as the Fairy Godmother started speaking again.

"So..." Roman said, trying to sound casual. "What did you draw on your arm?"

Virgil shrugged. "I have no idea. It was probably attempts at writing words. We're illiterate."

Romans' jaw dropped. "No way, really? So you've never read or wrote anything?"

"That's what illiterate means, Princey." Virgil rolled his eyes.

"Okay, sorry. Logan would freak out if he knew that. Anyway, what did you write on your arm?" Roman asked again, obviously awful at helping people focus on lessons.

Virgil rolled up the sleeve on his left arm and frowned. It wasn't an attempt at words or squiggles. It was a beautifully detailed picture of a romantic landscape. An intricate gazebo sat in the right foreground, with a waterfall running into a sparkling pond. How the hell had he managed to draw this with just a biro?

"Wow, for someone illiterate, your art is amazing! You've been there?" Roman asked, looking stunned.

"I've never left the campus," Virgil mumbled.

Roman pulled Virgil's' arm to him. "I mean, it's a little old, that tree's grown a lot, and there aren't any blossoms but wow..."

Virgil just shook his head slowly. "I don't know how I drew that..."

"Maybe it's a sorcery thing!" Chirped Roman, missing Virgil's' flinch and the way purple grasped his iris. "I heard the water can lift curses, so maybe your magic wants to go there or something!"

"N-Nah, I don't even know where it is! I'll just get lost-!"

Roman shrugged. "I'll take you there. I've been loads of times! Saturday, maybe?"

Virgil hesitated, about to say that he had studying to do. But he'd told Roman he was illiterate and he couldn't study even if he wanted to. He smirked. "Sure thing, Princey."

"So, it's a date!" Roman grinned. Virgil dropped his pen and looked at Roman with wide eyes and a face glowing red. Roman blushed quickly. "Oh my god, I am so sorry!"

Virgil gave a nervous smile. "I-It's fine." Oh my god, I am so gay.