TW: Blood

Virgil's' purple eyes drilled into Roman's'. They were the only colour left in Roman's' world and he would do whatever he had to to keep them colourful. They were beautiful and glistening, sparkling into Roman's' soul and lighting the way in a room that hadn't always been so dark. Even though Virgil had turned away, Roman could hear the comforting whispers of the voice that had accompanied the eyes.

It told him to listen to Virgil.

Only Virgil.

Just Virgil.

Listen to Virgil.

Follow Virgil.

Virgil will save me.

Help Virgil.

It was hypnotic and controlling, and his willpower melted away. He just needed the voice and the voice told him he just needed Virgil. So he listened as Virgil pulled him along and the voice told him that it wanted the wand. That it needed the wand. That it must have the wand. That Roman must give Virgil the wand so Virgil could give the wand to it.

So Roman simply took the lead as they reached the museum, pulling Virgil after him as he walked briskly up flights of stairs and down corridors. Roman wasn't aware of the other people in the museum. Usually, he would be. He wasn't even aware of walking. All he knew was the voice and the voice needed him to find the wand. 

They found the wand in the busiest room of the whole museum and somehow they managed to get to the front of the crowd. There, in a cylinder glass case, rotating slowly around as it bobbed up and down, was the Fairy Godmother's' wand.

Roman, in the middle of a crowded museum, felt the urge to reach out for it. To take it. To give it to the voice. He could. He could just do it so easily, he could-

.:*:.

The Fairy Godmother sat up in her office with a frown and a dull, throbbing ache in her dominant arm. She could sense something bad and that wasn't good. She got off her chair and moved to a mirror she kept in her room, rolling up the sleeve on her dominant arm.

The thing Virgil had told Roman was too dangerous to show hadn't been dangerous at all. In fact, every fairy had this on their dominant arm. All it did was warn you. And the warning the Fairy Godmother saw was a pair of purple horns running from her elbow up to her shoulder and her forearm was glowing red.

"Maleficent..." She breathed, staring at her arm in the mirror. "How?"

She had never been warned of anything since the Isle of the Lost was created. Auradon had been peaceful for years and she couldn't believe Maleficent was back. There was no way. The Fairy Godmother crossed the room quickly, almost throwing herself out of the window she rushed to in fear. The barrier around the Isle was still there, as strong as ever. Nothing flickered, there wasn't a giant dragon in the sky. It was peaceful and it terrified her because she knew Maleficent was doing something.

The Fairy Godmother stared hopelessly out at the horizon and then yelped in sudden pain. She looked down, wide-eyed at her dominant arm, only to see that a pair of green, miniature horns and a red crown sat in the middle of the large purple horns. That confused her. And it scared her. Maleficent wasn't working alone. 

Just outside her door, unknown to her, was one of her students.

 Ali looked down at the two books he was holding, one pocket-sized and the other thick and heavy like a dictionary.

These were the books he'd pocketed from Virgil that day in the cafeteria and he was going to get the villain back for what he'd done. He'd been working to get with Roman for ages and this insane villain just pops by, bickers with Roman, spends one night with him as a cat or something and then thinks he has the right to take what was Ali's'. Ali had let everyone know that Roman was his, he had pushed them all away from Roman, desperate to make Roman his and his alone, but Virgil had ignored that. And Ali was going to get him back for it.

His plan? Simple. Get Virgil sent to the school counsellor so that he can't stay with Roman all the time and the prince was left to Ali. Nothing could go wrong, he had sorted it all out. He was to tell the Fairy Godmother that these books had fell from Virgil's' bag and Ali had picked them up and was going to give them back until his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he couldn't help but take a look, then he saw these notes and it had simply scared him.

Ali breathed in quickly and his face morphed easily into fearful worry.

"Fairy Godmother! Oh, Fairy Godmother!" He gasped, opening the door and rushing in.

The Fairy Godmother spun around from the window, her sleeve falling back down her arm, and Ali couldn't comment on her horrified expression or her fast breathing until the story was done. "A-Ali, my boy! Wh-What's the matter?" She stammered.

"Oh, it's horrible, Fairy Godmother, simple horrible! It's Maleficent's' son, Virgil, I'm so worried about him!" Ali threw the books down on the table. "He's been- He's been acting so weird recently and now... Now I see why!" He sounded perfectly breathless and his eyes were stretched in shock. Ali had always been a brilliant actor.

The Fairy Godmother crossed over to her desk and picked up the notebook filled with crazy symbols. "Sleep sorcery..." She mumbled with a frown, pushing it to the side as she looked at the next book. "A-And a book about me-? I- Ali, what's this about, what do you mean by all this?"

Ali shook his head, bottom lip quivering. "Oh, it's the notes he's written to himself that are the worst! They're just so- so nerve-wracking, I can't even imagine what he must be going through!"

"The notes?" The Fairy Godmother asked as she flicked open the book she had stated was on sleep-sorcery. She stiffened when she saw one on the first page.

"Yes, the notes, that's one of them just there! It is so scary, Fairy Godmother,  I'm really worried-"

"This can't be Virgil's' handwriting..." She cut him off and Ali hid the annoyance of his interrupted performance.

Ali tilted his head innocently, putting a hand to his chest. "Really? Thank the lord, I was so worried for Virgil-"

"This is Maleficent's' handwriting."

Ali stiffened, jaw dropping and eyes widening in genuine fear and surprise. "Wh-What? Maleficent? How-"

The Fairy Godmother shook her head sadly. "I don't know how, but she must be back in Auradon or about to get back to Auradon through Virgil. I can feel it."

"But-But there's no way! The Isle is secure, there's no way Maleficent can be coming back!" Cried Ali, forgetting all about his petty revenge. Maleficent was a threat that got you to forget any personal issues you had with people. That was the sort of fairy she was.

The doors burst open and the two jumped in fear.

"Fairy Godmother! Have you seen Roman?" It was Patton, with Logan in close second. "He was supposed to come and help us study about half an hour, he's never this late. Do you know if he's got detention or something?"

She didn't answer for a solid minute, staring at Patton. Then she jerked into life, crossing over to her mirror, pulling up the floaty sleeve of her dominant arm.

A large pair of purple horns and a smaller pair of green ones. A red crown. But the warning had changed. The green horns were dripping black substances down her arm that solidified when they reached her fingertips and dropped to the ground as blood.

The Fairy Godmother shot her gaze up to look herself in the eyes, paling quickly.

"F-Fairy Godmother?" Asked a distant voice. "Are you okay? You're bleeding..."

She turned slowly, to see the three students huddled together by the desk. They turned their gaze unanimously to her home and all gasped. "I need to get all our students back into school..." She breathed.

.:*:.

Virgil slapped down Roman's' hand and a sudden announcement sounded over the speakers.

"All Auradon students are to return to school immediately. You will take no detours and come now," Commanded a static version of the Fairy Godmother.

For a moment, Roman was going to obey. For a long period of his life, he'd followed the Fairy Godmother's' command but then the voice was back in his head when he caught Virgil's' purple gaze. The two pushed against the current of students hurriedly leaving the museum and they struggled to a janitor's' cupboard.

Virgil tapped the handle and there was a snapping noise as the lock broke. He pushed it open, ushering Roman inside before stepping inside himself, shutting the door carefully. No one had noticed, everyone was running away desperately. If the voice wasn't there to keep Roman on track, he'd have been shy and embarrassed that he was trapped in such a small place with a villain he'd grown shockingly close to.

The two waited until footsteps were gone and then Roman and Virgil left the cupboard. Neither had spoken a word to each other since they'd been on the school grounds and they were working together easily, both following the instructions of the voice.

They reached the glass cylinder and the wand was just bobbing up and down, defenceless. Roman punched a hole through the glass and snatched it, ignoring the shock of electricity that made his body jerk. The voice told him that the pain wasn't as important as it.

Virgil stuck out his hand expectantly and Roman handed it to him, quickly rubbing his bleeding knuckles.

The silence between the two wasn't awkward. It was the sort of silence you'd find in an office when everyone's doing there job and there was no need to speak. And here came the problem. Getting back to Auradon without being seen.

Roman grabbed Virgil's' hand and he and Virgil vanished in a sudden flash of purple fire, appearing at the back of a horde of running students. Virgil slipped the wand into his jacket pocket and he and Roman ran with their peers, both wearing the perfect mask of confused worry.

Teachers were urging them to hurry inside, to get into the cafeteria for roll call. No one knew what was going on as everyone surged swiftly inside. Virgil grabbed Roman the moment they were inside, pulling him out of the crowd and around a corner.

"The astrology tower," Roman said before Virgil even had time to open his mouth.

"The voice doesn't know where it is,"  Virgil responded, shaking his head.

Roman grinned but it wasn't his usual grin. It was an empty grin that held no emotion. Just a default reaction. "I do."

.:*:.

"Remus!" Gasped Janus, freezing in the corridors.

"Janus, we can't stop-!"

"It's Virgil and Roman!"

Remus followed Janus's' gaze to see the two boys stealthily slipping up the stairs. Students pushed around them, leaving them cocooned in a bubble as they turned to stare at each other.

"Janus, we have to get to the bottom of this," Remus began.

Janus nodded, placing a finger on Remus's' lips to shut him up. "We will."

Remus frowned. "But... But how do we get to them? We've been told to go to the cafeteria-"

The half-genie smiled. "We get to them by doing what we always do. Disregarding all and any instructions given to us by a higher power."

Remus blinked and a slow, maniac grin grew on his face. "Let's go!"

.:*:.

All the students were lined up in rows, all facing inwards. The Fairy Godmother paced up and down, taking notes of students with Logan behind her to check off whatever name she told him to. She finished her pacing and spun on her heel to face him.

"Logan, who are we missing?" She ordered.

The pale prince whitened even further. "Janus, Remus, Virgil and..." He paused in sorrowful defeat. "Prince Roman is also missing."

The Fairy Godmother inhaled quietly, steadying her panicked breathing. She couldn't freak out, or she'd scare her students. So all she did was nod sharply. "They should get here soon," She promised herself aloud.

Logan glanced up, connecting eyes with Patton. His freckled friend just bowed his head and Logan knew exactly what was going through his head. Patton was blaming himself for this. It had been his idea to bring the villains to Auradon. It would be him taking the blame if there was anyone left to blame after this.

The Fairy Godmother's' arm was dripping blood heavily now, the pair of small, green horns now coated in the black sludge that turned into the blood running from her fingertips. 

They were running out of time.

.:*:.

The astrology tower was cold that evening. Virgil and Roman were following the instructions of the voice, throwing out expensive telescopes and books with funny names.

The prince handed the fairy the wand which he'd taken from Virgil when Virgil had to throw a large box from the tower. Steadying his breath, Virgil opened his purple eyes. They were glowing now as he cast a curious symbol on the ground. Standing in the centre, the final protests died away and Virgil began to chant softly, growing louder.

Roman could feel the energy and power rolling off him and so could everything else. Things they didn't move were slowly creeping across the floor, clouds were brushing away from them and Virgil kept his arm stubbornly pointed at the Isle. But then-

"Virgil!" Screamed Janus, running up from the ladder. He darted forwards, then froze outside of the symbol. "Virgil, please, stop!"

Virgil began to chant louder and louder, closing his eyes and that's when Remus appeared from the top of the ladder. In the teenagers' hand was a large rock. "Virgil, I am so sorry!" He yelled and, before Roman had the chance to stop him, he hurled it at Virgil. It hit him square in the back and the wand cluttered to the ground, the symbol fading.

Janus ran in, grabbing Virgil's' arms from behind him. "Virgil, whatever you've been doing these past few months has to stop, please!" Begged the half-genie, forcing Virgil away from the wand, kicking it harshly.

The wand teetered away but Roman dived, catching it. In the shining reflection of the wand, he saw purple eyes flash back at him instead of his usual brown ones but the voice told him not to care. The voice recited the chant and Roman repeated it, slowly at first because the words were not English.

Remus moved to steady another shot but Roman side-stepped it, having played too many sports in his time to not lose focus.

A harsh bang was heard and Roman dropped the wand right after there was a pale shoot of lightning. Janus screamed out, pulling away and Remus covered his eyes but Virgil and Roman watched, entranced. The lightning hit the Isle's' barrier.

.:*:.

A girl in the cafeteria screamed and everyone turned when there was a bright flash from a large ornate window. Pale lightning struck the barrier around the Isle and there was a loud fizz. The Fairy Godmother gasped, stumbling back in fear as the lightning crackled, dragging itself back and forth on the barrier until a smashing noise was heard.

The Isle had always looked hazy. Now, it was as clear as day and everyone began screaming at the sound of hideous laughter.

The Fairy Godmother turned to her dominant arm and resisted the urge to cry. There were only two, large horns on her bicep now. One was purple. The other was coated in black sludge, that fell to the ground as heavy, thick blood.

Maleficent was coming.