ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

Warnings for homophobic comments made by the main antagonist.

Onward may not be Pixar's best movie, but it is still very, very good, and Ian Lightfoot is such an adorable character! It's a little disappointing how the only LGBT+ representation seemed to be that one cyclops cop, so I've decided to remedy that. I mean, who did he think he was fooling, wearing that flannel? Also, being such a new movie, I had difficulty finding out some of the finer details, like what the science classmates names were. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 1

Ian Lightfoot grinned softly at his mother as she danced wildly around the kitchen, whirling around and around as she balanced the plate and cupcake while grasping for the candles, lighter, and fork. Humming to herself, she carefully placed sixteen full candles into the icing, then suddenly snapped another one in half and plopped it on as well. After lighting all the candles, she snapped off the light and slid the plate in front of Ian, beckoning emphatically to Barley across the table as she launched into the happy birthday song. Ian glanced down at the cupcake; the sixteen and a half candles were so tightly clustered you couldn't see any of the icing. He laughed and blew out the candles as Barley ended with a dramatic musical flair and his mom clapped. He knew it was silly to celebrate half-birthdays, but it was fun nonetheless.

o-o-o-o-o-o

He hurriedly got ready for school (trying his best to get the icing off his shirt from when he'd spilled some) and rushed out the door, shouting a goodbye to his mother and brother. As he waited for the bus, he caught sight of another elf across the street, riding an old bicycle in the direction of the high school. Ian's breath caught in his chest a bit as he stared. The elf across the street had lovely pale green hair and eyes so emerald Ian could see them even from this distance. Clothing-wise, he had on a maroon sweater with a white oxford, dark pants, and brown boots. He was simply the most fascinating elf Ian had ever seen, and he had no idea who he was. The elf across the street kept on pedalling until he had turned the corner towards the school. Ian was frozen in place, until the bus pulled up with a screech and he had to shake himself out of his stupor. What had just happened?

o-o-o-o-o-o

Ian arrived at school still a bit dazed, but he met up with his friends in the hall anyways. Eudora (the elf), Phemie (the cyclops), Cloch (the troll), and Saturnalia (the faun) were chatting beside the lockers outside of the art classroom.

"What's up, wizard boy?" shouted Cloch as a greeting before lightheartedly punching Ian in the arm.

"Ah c'mon, lay off of him!" Saturnalia -or Satie for short- reprimanded before turning to Ian, who was rubbing his arm from the force of Cloch's blow, seeing as he was a huge, purple troll. "You know we fully support your magical endeavors, right Ian?"

"100%" Eudora piped in, before also fixing Cloch with a glare.

"Geez, guys, it's alright," Ian mumbled. He was incredibly grateful he'd become so close with the science class group in just six months, but they could be a bit overprotective at times. "I don't mind."

Ian wasn't exactly sure why they were so concerned for his well-being. It was true they were a very kind bunch. And Ian did know he was small and socially awkward; he didn't mind. Maybe he'd tainted their view of him with that awful, failed birthday invite six months ago?

As the group continued chatting, Ian's thoughts drifted back toward the elf he'd seen on the bike, before he caught himself and forced his mind to focus on the conversation before him. What was happening to him?

"-but I couldn't remember if it was Sir Lancelot or Sir Gallagar who wanted the Holy Grail so I just put D: none of the above," Eudora was saying.

"No! It was A: King Arthur himself!" Phemie responded emphatically.

Just then, the bell for first block rang and the gang said their goodbyes and scurried off to their respective classes. Ian hurried to Realm History with Ms. Flamel. After taking his seat (still with the feet on his chair back), laying out his pencils, and getting out his notebook, Ian looked up, and froze. There, in the front of the room, was the elf from this morning.

"Class, this is Basil Glendower. He's just transferred here," Ms. Flamel introduced, "Basil, have you got your schedule and all of your paperwork?"

"Yes, ma'am," Basil responded. His voice was warm with the barest hint of some accent, potentially Irish. From here, Ian could see they were about the same height. Basil was a bit heavier than he was, but then again, who wasn't?

"Good, then you may take your seat," the teacher said, then launched into the day's lesson. "We're going to start off today by talking about gender and sexuality in classic myths."

Someone in the back groaned.

"And I expect everyone to be respectful and pay attention" Ms. Flamel said sharply. "Now, how important are heteronormative relationships to classic fables? We all expect the male centaur to end up with the female, or the sparrowmen to date the fairies, but how much of this is how the tales were originally intended?..."

Ms. Flamel's lesson was very interesting. She went through a few of the most classic tales and portrayed them in a different light. At one point she even explained how a possible mistranslation had changed the Little Merman to Mermaid. She did have to interrupt herself a few times to explain some of the terminology to the more ignorant students ("Uhh, what does transgender mean?" asked one particularly dull bloke). Ian was familiar with all of the words -he was a modern teen after all- but he'd never really thought about what they meant, and he'd certainly never applied them to his own life, though now he started to wonder…

Three-quarters through the lesson, a student in the back stood up and rudely said, "Why are we even talking about this crap?" Ian whipped his head around. It was Gremory. Of course it was Gremory: the huge, muscled goblin who revelled in making life miserable for anyone he deemed vulnerable. Ian had been on the end of his insults a few times, usually in reference to his magical ability, though a few times because of his beanpole stature. Gremory continued. "I mean, this is all BS. Just some freaks who wanted to mess with classics to make themselves feel better."

The class was shocked silent. Then, a voice spoke up. "And maybe some people make a scene in class because they feel insecure when their bigoted mindset gets challenged?" It was Basil, the new elf, the boy Ian had been trying not to think about all of class.

Gremory was outraged, though he had enough common sense to not verbally assault the new kid on his first day of school. Instead, he glared around the room to find another target to turn his outrage on. Unfortunately, he met Ian's eye. "What are you looking at, smallfry? I bet you like these perverted fairytales huh, you magicky weirdo?"

Ian couldn't respond to this direct confrontation, and he slid slowly down in his chair. Ms. Flamel stepped in. "That is quite enough, Gremory! Go out in the hall immediately!"

He stomped loudly out the door, and shut it none too quietly. Ian was too distressed to pay much attention to the rest of the lesson. As soon as the bell rang, he grabbed his bag and flew out the door, almost running to the secluded corner by the water fountains in the back of the school. He slid to the floor and sat for a little while, breathing deeply. He didn't really know why he was so upset; he'd heard some of Gremory's bullying before. Was it because of his inability to stand up for himself? Hadn't he changed since he and Barley's quest? There did seem to be some kind of ideological difference between defying the police in order to complete your dad's dying wish versus confronting a school bully. Or was it because it was all so public? That it had happened in front of everyone, including in front of-

Basil. Who was now standing directly before him. A hand reached down gently, offering to help Ian to his feet. Ian accepted it, and stood up slowly, until he was eye-to-eye with him. The emerald green was even more magnificent up close.

"Are you alright, mate?" Basil asked concernedly. "That goblin seemed like one nasty bugger." He shuddered slightly just thinking about him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ian smiled weakly as he hiked his bag farther up one shoulder.

"Ugh, I can't stand bullies!" Basil burst out suddenly, starting to pace a bit. "They've just got such obvious anger management issues. There are so many better ways to get anger out of your system! They really ought to try rugby. Do you have rugby over here?" Basil paused in his pacing to inquire of Ian.
Ian, a bit overwhelmed and engrossed by the dynamic figure who had suddenly appeared in front of him, managed to stammer out a no before Basil went on. "That's surprising, seeing how big this school is. I saw your sporting fields out back; they're very impressive. You lot have got tennis courts, basketball tarmacs, and even a brand-new football pitch from the looks of it. It's all very exciting." By this time Ian and Basil had begun to wander back slowly in the direction of the classrooms, but now Basil paused and turned to look at Ian face-on. "I've just remembered: what did that vulgar bloke mean by 'magic'?" Suddenly looking embarrassed, he quickly added, "If you don't mind me asking?"

Ian's heart sped up again. "Uhm," he stammered, "He meant…" Ian didn't know what exactly to say. He wanted to tell the truth, but he also, for some reason, really didn't want to alienate the elf standing before him. He didn't want to scare him away, like he did so many others. He took a deep breath. From your heart's fire, he thought. "He meant I can actually do magic. I found out six months ago that I can perform spells and whatnot, just like the wizards from the folklore we were talking about today." He glanced nervously at Basil's face, expecting to see disgust or alarm, but instead found only wonder.

"Really? Like, real, honest-to-goodness magic? Whenever you want?"

Ian relaxed a bit. "Yeah, I can show you now, if you'd like."

Basil was ecstatic. Ian could almost see the excitement radiating from him. "Please! I've always heard the whispers about magic existing at some point, but I never could have imagined it actually being real!"

Ian reached into his bag and pulled out a rough stick, about a foot in length. At some point during the six months since his sixteenth birthday, Barley had had the great idea to fashion a more portable magical instrument: a wand made of another enlarged splinter. Now, Ian held it carefully and thought for a minute before deciding what to do. "Do you have a pencil?" Basil handed him one. Ian tossed it into the air and said "Aloft alevar!"

Basil stared flabbergasted at the levitating pencil. Ian smiled, then flicked it up so it stuck in the ceiling, a good ten feet up. "Bridgerigor invisia!" he called as he jumped up and landed on seemingly thin air. He hopped up on a series of invisible platforms before retrieving the pencil and coming back down. He handed it to Basil, who was entirely, completely shocked. After a solid minute, Basil reanimated, sputtering a baffled and amazed "no way, mate" before launching into full blown speech. "That was bloody incredible! That was real magic! Real, brilliant magic! Fantastic! How do you do it? Did you suddenly learn? Can your family do it too? Have you been on the telly?..." he continued walking and talking until they had arrived at Ian's next class.

"Um, I actually have to go," Ian admitted sheepishly, gesturing to the classroom. "We could talk after school, if you want?" He braced himself for Basil's answer.

"Of course! This is amazing! You are amazing! I have so many questions!"

"I can tell," Ian said, though he blushed at the compliment.

Basil turned, still talking even as he walked away. Ian smiled, and went into class.

o-o-o-o-o-o

They met after school, outside at the sidewalk corner. What Ian was afraid had been momentary astoundment had endured, with Basil's continued full enthusiasm. They spent a while talking that day, and the next, and the next. Ian learned a lot about Basil too, due to his energetic motor mouth. He had moved here just a day before he started school, he loved pesto pasta and mint milkshakes, his favorite number was four, he loved literature, and he was deeply superstitious (Ian had learned this last bit when Basil had absolutely flipped out after Ian opened an umbrella indoors accidently).

Ian introduced him to his other friends, and they all got along wonderfully, especially Basil and Eudora, as they both had a penchant for elocution.

Ian also introduced Basil to his mother and brother, who both adored him. His mother loved his manners and slight accent, while Barley appreciated his interest in history and magic.

That's not to say Ian's life was going perfectly. Gremory's antics hadn't stopped. In fact, just the day after the embarrassing incident in class when Basil had first arrived, Gremory had stopped Ian in the hall between fourth and fifth block. "Do you think you're clever?" Gremory had sneered, backing Ian up to the lockers.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ian stuttered, knees shaking visibly. He reprimanded himself silently in his head. C'mon, you're better than this Lightfoot! Get it together!

Those thoughts went out the window when Gremory slammed a fist above Ian's head and leaned further over him. "I know you think you've got it good now that there's another freaky elf to fight your battles for you, but you're dead wrong. You think you're special? You're nothing." He leaned back and flexed one huge arm before turning and striding away. For the second day in a row, Ian fled to the drinking machines and slid to the floor. When he met up with Basil later that day, he didn't tell him what happened.

o-o-o-o-o-o

One day, about a month and a half after meeting Basil, Ian learned something new. They were up in Ian's room, chatting about Basil's life before he had moved, when Basil said "Yeah, it was a good thing I had broken up with my boyfriend a solid five months before the move or that would have been bloody rough."

"Sorry?" Ian asked. He had been looking out the windows at the unicorns rooting through the trash again and hadn't quite heard.

"I said fortunately I broke up with my boyfriend way before the move. He had a bit of a temper."

"Oh," Ian said. His mind started whirring. He looked at Basil, who was in turn watching him.

Basil's eyes with suspicion, the one and only time Ian had seen that expression on his face. "You don't have a problem with that? Do you? That I'm gay?"

"Of course not," Ian said quickly. "Just surprised." Though now that he thought about it, he really shouldn't have been. He knew stereotypes were dangerous, but the meticulous way Basil dressed, with his pressed shirts and shined leather shoes and patterned pants were certainly suggestive. But then again, Ian himself dressed rather differently than most of the boys at school, with his cuffed jeans, converse, and ever present flannel… It was really more a testament to how little Ian thought about these things than any kind of conscious decision. Though he had started thinking about it more...

He shook himself. Basil had relaxed by this time and had continued talking about this and that. Ian listened more carefully now, though he had a feeling that something had shifted.

Disclaimer: all unoriginal characters are property of Pixar Animation Studios.