Guidelines

(Thursday Morning)

"The Freedom Rights tells us our rights and liberties, which were created at the time this country was founded." She holds the pointing stick in her hands as she turns to the four of them, "If it makes it easier to understand, you can think of them like the ten commandments." She grins, "Well, except that it's a list of things we can do instead of what we can't do, and if anyone breaks these they will be sent to court instead of the underworld." She notices the four of them frown, and her smile slightly falters as well, "Right. Okay, then. As you can also see on the board, it's an acronym." She points to each of the letters, "The f stands for freedom of speech, the r stands for right to vote, and first e stands for education, the second e for emergency services, the d for documentation of law, the o for opportunity, and the m for magic misuse guidelines." She turns back to them, "Any questions?"

"Yeah," Mal leans back in her seat, her legs up on the desk. "I thought magic was illegal." She glances around the room, "I mean, that's why no one uses it. Right?" before facing the headmistress again. "Or else, why wouldn't you be teaching your daughter?" Carlos slightly nods. "I mean, you saw how Jane was with your wand. Her magic was all over the place, and that kind of energy building up like that?" She mumbles to her friends, "I wouldn't be surprised if she spontaneously combusted one day."

"Okay. First things first." Fairy Godmother watches Mal drink from the black water bottle, "There has been no reports of a magic user spontaneously combusting since the middle ages. And secondly, I don't believe my daughter should become dependent on magic. Women are hindered enough in this world."

"And magic would give her a leg up," Mal opposes.

"Well, that is not for you to decide," Fairy Godmother firmly responds. "And, just to be clear, magic is not illegal. It's retired."

"What?" Mal places a hand to her ear, "I couldn't hear you over that annoying filter Auradons use to pretend everything's all so perfect here." but her friends remain silent.

"Nowhere is perfect," she frowns, "but I would appreciate it if you would stop acting like the place you grew up is any better, because if it were you would have returned by now."

"Is that an option?" Carlos quietly asks.

Evie hisses at him, "You can't be serious."

He opens his mouth in hesitance, "What? I was just wondering."

"If you would like to visit the Isle of the Lost or return there permanently, then take it up with King Ben," the headmistress inputs. "I'm afraid those legalities are above my paygrade."

Jay looks over at Carlos, "You wouldn't seriously go back there." and then Carlos's eyes move down. "Your mother was horrible to you."

He faces him, but it still takes him a moment to say, "I miss her."

Jay shakes his head, "Whatever." and he crosses his arms. "If you go back there, I'm not going with you."

"It's fine," he whispers. "You don't have to."

"Fucking masochist," Jay disbelieves, before he points towards the board. "What's the magic misuse one about?"

"Ah, right," Fairy Godmother turns back to the board. "The magic misuse guidelines were created so that magic users could know how magic could get them into trouble and so that the nonmagic people could be rest assured that they would not be harmed by said magic." She turns back to them, "The basic rules are simple: if you use magic in a way that goes against the above freedoms, then you will be punished for it. So, if you use magic to harm someone, stifle their speech, whether literally or figuratively, or if you make it so others do not have equal opportunity as you because of your magic use, then those things would get you in trouble."

"So, basically," Mal comments, "you can't use magic for anything."

"Mal," Evie sighs.

"No. Just think about it," Mal furrows her eyebrows. "Those hairstyles I did to get your business up and running, no one else had that opportunity. If I got annoyed at, let's say Audrey, for insulting me and telling me how I'm going to go to hell, put some temporary silencing spell on her, then that would be a crime too."

Jay looks back at Fairy Godmother, "Yeah. I'm with Mal. It sounds like magic is only retired because people thought they'd be breaking the law."

The headmistress nods, "Maybe, but it's not as sinister as you may think."

"Then enlighten us," Mal frowns.

Fairy Godmother pulls a chair up from the wall and sits, "Well, when His and Her Majesty were first ruling tensions were high between the magic and nonmagic people. The nation was very hesitant to submit to their rule. And those reasons were because of mere rumor and speculation that Queen Belle had actually been an enchantress and that her proclaimed husband was just some animal that she'd turned into a human."

"What's an enchantress?" Carlos questions.

"It's a witch with fairy magic," Evie answers.

"Although, back then," Fairy Godmother informs, "humans had a much looser definition. An enchanter or enchantress was an umbrella term for anyone who had unexplained abilities, but more often than not it did refer to either a witch or fairy."

"So, what happened next?" Jay prods on.

"Well," Fairy Godmother sighs, "the queen had to think of her own safety." She nods, "So, Belle made it law that no enchanter could be killed as punishment for their use of abilities, but to appease the humans she also listed these freedoms and created the magic misuse guidelines so that it would be clear which types of magic were unlawful enough to have a punishment for them."

"A human was afraid of dying?" Mal irritably responds. "That's why magic's illegal."

"That's why it's retired," the headmistress softly corrects.

"Like there's a difference," Evie counters. "And what about witches? Their abilities aren't exactly the kind that can be controlled." She nearly laughs, "Or, at least, that's what I've read."

"I know your mother was a witch," Fairy Godmother puts forth. "It must be a sensitive topic for you."

"She," Evie hesitates before meeting her brown eyes. "My mother had telekinesis. It didn't happen a ton. It was mostly just when she was angry or scared." She looks down, "Which was pretty much all the time, but…" Evie looks at her again, "When my mother got really emotional it would just happen. Kni- ow, things would just fly across the room." She remembers how they'd fly at her. "It wasn't something she could completely control, and it doesn't make sense that there would be a law saying that it can't be used."

"Luckily for witches," the headmistress informs, "the magic misuse guidelines are more for magic users and less for those with more of spiritual abilities." She thinks, "Although, if you dabble with potion making, then that would fall under the guidelines."

"But anyone can make a potion," Evie laughs.

"I never said it made sense," Fairy Godmother comments. "It's just the way things are."

When Audrey goes to shut the door Chad frowns, "I thought this was supposed to be a party or something."

Audrey takes his hand and pulls him over to the beanbag chairs, "I know I said that, but I know this is going to be hard for you to talk about, so—"

"Talk about what?" he interrupts.

She forces a smile as she presses on his shoulder, "Come on. Let's sit." and after he moves down to the baby blue one she curls up in the pink one. "Chad. We need to talk."

"Oh, no."

She shakes her head, "What?"

"Well, it's just," Chad nods down. "You know, whenever a girl says 'we need to talk'."

Audrey rolls her eyes, "It just means it's important." before she sighs and takes his hands. "And this is important to me, because you're important to me."

"Okay," he slowly says in unsureness.

"That thing you told me the other night." She watches him look away, "Look. It's okay." and when he still fails to face her she places her hand on his cheek until he meets her eyes. "It's okay. I'm going to help you through this."

"How," he mumbles.

"I'd like to pray with you."

Chad notices the sparkling hope in her dark brown eyes, and it only makes him feel worse, "Audrey. It's not like I've never prayed about this before."

"It will be different this time," she promises. "Praying for oneself is selfish. God will be far more likely to respond if it's someone asking for you."

He takes a deep breath, "Audrey. This, it's… I'm physically dependent on the stuff, and the more I use the more it hurts to stop. The pain is worse now when I cut down." He shakes his head, "This isn't possible."

"With God all things are possible," Audrey stresses, before she slightly shakes her head, "Just don't think about the pain. Think of love, how much Jesus loves us, how much you love your family and friends and me, and with God's guidance you can be free." He doesn't speak, so she sweetly smiles, "Promise me you'll at least try."

He takes a moment before facing her and nodding, "I'll try."

She grins, "Okay. Now pray with me." and it's not a minute later that they bow their heads with shut eyes as Audrey asks God to help Chad through his pain.