Chapter 3: Make peace with your soul

Mal sat slumped in a chair outside of Fairy Godmother's office, half-listening to the argument between the latter and Blue Fairy who was privately known Nova Dahl or Nova. Evie sat next to her, patting her hand gently while warily looking at Circe who was avoiding eye contact with King Beast.

" I have an aunt, who is Blue Fairy, the most powerful fairy in all the realms", Mal muttered in disbelief.

" Do you wanna talk about it?", Evie asked carefully.

" Not at all", Mal said as slumped in her seat.

" Come now, cheer up, Mal. It's not like it's the end of the world", Circe said reassuringly," Nova has been wanting to meet you since it was announced Maleficent's child was to come to Auradon. She means no ill".

" Then why now? Why does she only come now?", Mal asked.

Circe frowned," Nova has her limitations. And one of those limitations was that she can only come to Earth once someone with a pure spirit summons her to Earth from her star", she explained.

" The wishing star...", Mal breathed out as she realised SHE was the one who summoned Nova here.

" Exactly. You wished something and it summoned her here and she won't go back until she completes it. It's the restrictions that were given to her since Maleficent was imprisoned on the Isle", Circe explained.

" So... she was... technically imprisoned too", Mal said carefully.

" She was not-!", King Beast said before trying even his breathing," She... was not imprisoned... she isolated herself".

" Isolated in a star made specifically for me... so... yes, imprisoned was one of the heavier terms", Nova said as she walked with Fairy Godmother.

" I can't believe you! Using magic like that! That was very unprecedented, Nova", Fairy Godmother scolded.

" You were going to hurt her. Her magic was very unstable. And from Circe has told me, it's an on and off recurring thing. What if her magic drained and your magic hit her? She could've been killed!", Nova exclaimed.

" Killed?", Mal squeaked.

" Calm down", Evie said soothingly.

" I could've been killed, E", Mal said slowly.

" But you weren't M. You're still here- Mal? Mal?", Evie said as her voice started to fade away.

Mal blinked and found herself in a garden with fireflies flying around her. Confused as to why she came here, she looked around to find Nova sitting on the grass.

" You gave us all quite the scare there. Green fire, you remind me so much of your mother", Nova said quietly before patting the ground in front of her," Sit. You must be confused".

" How... did I get here? Where is everyone?", Mal asked.

" I brought you here. Welcome to my personal bubble", Nova said.

" Personal bubble?", Mal questioned.

" Yes. It's like the human personification of a comfort zone. This is my comfort zone. But everyone just calls it their personal bubble", Nova said with a shrug.

" So it's personification... brought to life", Mal asked.

" Exactly", Nova said smiling," And the best part is, no one can get inside unless you let them in".

Mal smiled," Cool. Can I get one?", she asked.

Nova smiled," You actually make one with your magic and it requires a lot of practice and energy", she explained.

" Oh", Mal said disappointed.

" Cheer up. For now, you can use mine", Nova said kindly.

" I couldn't", Mal said.

" You don't have to if you don't want to. I mainly brought you here so you wouldn't end up burning your school down", Nova said chuckling.

" Sorry. The factor that I could've been killed just scared me shitless", Mal said, forgetting to mind her language.

" I can imagine. Sorry for that though. I just wanted to check on you since I heard King Beast start yelling", Nova said sheepishly.

Mal watched the ethereal fairy before her while the latter was explaining herself. She couldn't believe this woman was related to her mother. There were too many differences that Mal noted.

Nova's skin glew like a star while her mother's lacked any shine. Her blonde hair contrasted with her mother's indigo-coloured hair. Their eyes were similarly green, but Nova's were more blue while her mother's shone like emerald. And the large differences were Nova's lack of horns and her mother's lack of wings.

" How are you related to my mother again?", Mal asked.

" We're sisters"

" But you-"

" We were adopted. Our mother couldn't bare children so she instead took children in. There were three of us: me, your mother and our brother Aaron. Aaron was a child that our father had with his previous wife but he ran away centuries ago, never to be found again", Nova said sadly.

" Sorry", Mal replied.

" It was fine. I think it was the pressure for the throne that made him leave. And when he left, the throne went to Maleficent, your mother. And the power... went to her head and the rest is history. The throne went to me before I eventually gave it back to my father", Nova explained.

" Wait, hold the wand... did you just say 'throne' as in ROYAL throne?!", Mal exclaimed, inwardly screaming.

" Yes... were you not aware that you are royalty?", Nova asked.

" No!", Mal said silently fuming.

Her mother told her nothing. Her mother never told her anything about this.

" Well you are. In fact, I believe you're next in line for the throne if I'm not mistaken...", Nova murmured.

It would've been a heavenly bliss for Mal to just die in the spot she was sitting at.

" But... I'm already Lady of the Court of Auradon. I can't rule two different kingdoms. I barely know the one and I don't even know the other one's name", Mal said," Isn't there another way?".

" Unless you have a sibling or Aaron has a child, the throne is yours Mal. Your grandfather can only rule for so long", Nova said.

Mal's heart skipped a beat at the words 'your grandfather'. A reminder that she has a family she can turn to in dark times (hopefully).

" Is he nice? My grandfather, I mean", Mal asked.

" He is... when there's no one testing his patience", Nova replied," He's very strict... almost no-nonsense... cold at good but viciously evil at worst. People fear him when they see him".

" Wow", Mal said.

" I know. Now you know where your mother got it from", Nova joked.

Mal snorted," So, what were you doing while my mom was imprisoned?", she asked.

" Royal stuff, very boring. I'm glad I was dismissed from it before the empire could explode. I was also trying to keep both my parents from finding out she was imprisoned. Nanny wasn't named Nefaria because she was a gentle woman and Father would've certainly enslave everyone in Auradon", Nova said.

" Are they evil?", Mal asked.

" They're more neutral than evil, dear. There's always a gray on a black and white scale", Nova said summoning a cup of tea from thin air," Tea?".

" No thanks", Mal said before asking," Is there... any way for me to... learn how to control my magic?".

Nova set her cup down and sat up in a regal posture," That's the other thing I've been meaning to speak to you about. Your magic", she said before leaning forward," Now Mal, tell me, what do you know about magic".

" Um... magic is... magic. It's a gift that makes us do extraordinary things", Mal said.

" You're right... but you're also wrong", Nova said before continuing," Magic works the same way the mind works. It works based on your emotions and how you look at yourself. So if you're angry or afraid, your magic lashes out to attack or protect you... almost like the mind going blank when you're on a murderous rampage. It's not you... but it is you".

" Ok. Guess that explains what happened all those times. But I'm not angry or afraid all the time. What about those other times?", Mal asked.

" Your magic is not only your mind, but it's also your soul, well... more a piece of it. Despite magic coming from within you, a large part of it remains outside of you until it's needed. It was never an ability... it was a spirit and you, my dear, are not on good terms with your spirit", Nova said.

" Well... how do I get in touch with my... spirit?", Mal asked.

" Well let's start with closing your eyes", Nova said before Mal closed her eyes," Now relax, you're in a dark room alone, only yourself and your spirit to keep you company. Now... let a small amount of energy into your hand and hold it there. There's a spell that helps you. It goes like this: In this room where I seat, plagued by darkness' greatest defeat, bring a piece of myself from where it hides, to where we can we see it in the light. Try and repeat that.

" In this room where I seat, plagued by darkness' greatest defeat, bring a piece of myself from where it hides, to where we can we see it in the light", Mal chanted before she felt something inside of her get pulled out.

Mal's eyes snapped open to meet Nova's smirk," Did it work?", she asked.

" Look to your left", Nova said smugly.

Mal did as she was told and turned left to be greeted by a golden dusty figure that looked exactly like her. The figure smirked at Mal's gobsmacked expression.

" Close your mouth, Mal. You're not a codfish", the spirit said sassily.

" You see the sassy spirit too, right", Mal said shocked.

Nova chuckled," Mal, this is your spirit. Dear one, this is your host, Mal", she said introducing the two.

" How long have you been inside of me?", Mal asked.

" Depends. When and what time were you conceived", the spirit said," The names Spirit... don't throw it around in the spirit world", she said.

Mal didn't know what to say. She looked to Nova but all she got was a reassuring smile.

" I'll leave you two to get to know each other then", Nova said.

End of Chapter 3