A/N: In a perfect world {otherwise known as Not This One}, I would have had this chapter published a week ago. But of course, being our lovely, charming, amazing world of Earth, that couldn't be possible.

Ugh.

I won't give any excuses for this chapter's lateness, you can read that rant on my profile if I bother to post it.

Please forgive any errors as far as actual historical timeline discontinuities, failure to remember details from character profiles, and other such mistakes. I'm trying my hardest to get everything to make sense.

I'd like to note something about the story's setting: I've pointed this out to some of the submitters of characters but the idea is to take the characters from Canonverse Disney movies, without changing the timeline or mannerisms too majorly, and sticking them in a somewhat modern day "world", of sorts, where the Academy is. If you need to, try and imagine it like the Disney worlds in Kingdom Hearts {as much as this story isn't KH, it resembles it in some physics} where time flows in the worlds, but not necessarily in unison. Their individual stories take place at normal pace when in the world they take place in, but put two different worlds side-by-side and one can move twice as quickly as the other.

It makes sense in my head, I swear.

Also, the school is supposed to be completely new, having finished construction the past summer. There'll be a university under construction to be mentioned later in the story, giving me the chance to write a spin-off if I feel like it.

And as far as the characters from different movies that know each other, it would most likely be one character {let's use Leanne in this example} travelling unknowingly into another world {say for instance, Matthieu's world of Beauty and the Beast} and it may feel like they've travelled to a different part of their own world but they've passed through a portal or a veil hiding the border... I can't explain it any other way.

Note: OC submissions are now closed. For information on the Final List please check my profile to see who all has made it.

Disclaimer: I own no copyrights affiliated with any Disney film, characters, or items thereof and therefore do not have any monetary gain in writing and publishing this story. I do, however, own the rights to my own OC's to be mentioned in this story: Leanne Hawkins, Arthur Robinson, Renak, and Mitzi, as well as any others I may create as the story continues. I do not own the rights to any OC's submitted and used in the story, I only have expressed permission by their creators to exploit them.

Jin Wen Li

My sister and I were both vigorously reminded before arriving at Disney Academy that we'd most likely be the only Chinese students attending. It was a hard fact that has been solidified in my brain since receiving my invitation, and the same for Xiu. But I defend myself by saying that never in my life have I felt more like an outcast. A seagull among falcons with only my baby sister to compare to.

Calm down, Jin. I didn't study hard to learn English just to chicken out now. I reasoned with myself as Xiu and myself were herded out of the Ampitheatre. Besides, there are probably a hundred others in this crowd feeling the same way. There's that bear to consider, and the two lions I saw at the front of the audience; they'll feel more left out than me! That was true, and either way I had to do this. Not just for Mother and Father, but for Xiu as well. She's a 9th grader, the most likely to get picked on. Even if it kills me socially - or literally, as I can't forget seeing some of the bulky men almost twice my size - I have to stand up for her.

"Jin, I'm not sure I can do this..." Xiu had a firm grip on my forearm and she was whimpering like a pup. "Maybe, if it's not too late, we can go talk to that Administrator and tell them I've decided to go back to China." I want to cave in, to tell her it'll be fine to do as she asked and make good on that promise; that's how far I'd go if I hadn't already made another promise to Mother.

"Whatever she tells you, Jin Wen, do not let her back down to this challenge. I will know if she gives up, because I will be teaching there with the staff." Mother's words echo needlessly at the back of my mind. I already know that I have to encourage her to stay, because truthfully I don't want to be alone here. But I wouldn't admit that, so calmly I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Xiu, it'll be fine. Just go to your first class and don't say too much. If someone asks you about yourself just say that you're shy and want to get used to the school system before you make friends. Mǔqīn tried to get us as many classes together, so I'll see you in the 2nd class."

Xiu visibly relaxed a bit, but by the way she kept looking around I knew it hadn't helped much. Holding back a sigh, I turned her gently to face me and gave her a smile. In turn, she smiled back, although feebly. "I promise you, I'll do anything to protect you here. But you've got to learn to do some of it on your own. Zhù nǐ shùnlì."

"Wǒ ài nǐ, gēge." She pulled me into a hug, gentle enough to tell me she'd at least try. I mumbled back an "I love you, too." before letting go. Her brown eyes shone with more confidence than I'd ever seen her display, and before I could say anything more she took off into the crowd. A grin spread on my face and I followed suit, happy that I'd spent several days memorizing the layout.

Most of the hallways were outdoors unless you travelled through the hallway leading from the Main Office towards the Cafeteria, and I relished the warm late summer breeze that forced its way through the winding pathways of the school. I replayed the scene in the Ampitheater as I walked to my first class, but none of it made much sense to me. Some boy a few rows below me had exclaimed either in fright or fury when Mrs. Tremaine had stepped forward, but other than the obvious discomfort on the boy's part I couldn't tell what was so wrong with her. She looked like a normal elderly lady to me. Of course, all the staff here are somehow related to the students or know them on some level, more or less. Maybe they did know each other. But that didn't necessarily bother me, not directly anyway.

I dropped the subject once my classroom was in sight and shouldered the rucksack I held to keep from looking too lazy. First impressions counted here, I'd be stuck in this place for a long while.

Once I entered the room I felt that strange sense of ostracism frowning over my head. Several pairs of eyes were on me, I was the only one that looked like, well, me. Although I noted that a few others, mostly sitting in the rear end of the room, were receiving the cold shoulder as well. Without a word I moved to a seat near the front, a particularly chosen seat that was in the corner near the door. Easy in, easy out. About a minute went by and the rows of seats were filling up. I noticed, admittedly, that the seats both beside and behind me were empty, but that problem was fixed just as the tritone ringing of bells sounded from outside and a girl who had just managed to get in the classroom literally dropped into the seat next to me.

She had short brown hair, a natural color for Westerners, but it was cropped just below her ears and instead of some silly headband to keep her hair at bay there was, in its place, a pair of bronze goggles with a leather strap. She recovered from her dash quickly and we locked eyes immediately. Brown as well, the color of cocoa beans. "Hi there!" She whispered, holding a hand up to her mouth, I suppose, to either amplify her voice or keep it from being heard. "Guess we're stuck being friends now, huh?"

As discourteous as it was, I just stared back in silence. Was this some way of making friends for her? Rather direct, but she didn't seem at all like the troublemaking type aside from the look in her eyes. Excitement, and by the looks of her tapping feet, hyperactivity. She was actually looking forward to school...

I'd opened my mouth to make a comment back, to tell her I supposed that it'd be fine if we tried to get along, but the door closed suddenly and a man dressed in typical Western style clothing walked over to the chalkboard at the front of the room. He had messy brown hair, not dark like my new friend's but golden. It rivalled some of the hair I'd spotted on my fellow classmates, as if it were the offspring of both colors. And strange glass bifocals, I recognized those from my adventures out West to the deserts and the easternmost parts of Europe. He picked up a white stick of chalk and quickly scribbled something in large lettering.

"Good morning, class." He said aloud; the accent was strange, unlike most of the Western styles of speech I'd heard. I had truthfully only heard that accent once before arriving here, a man visiting a western port had claimed to be from the "New World" and that he was born and raised there. The man turned to smile at his class, but by the slightly disappointed look in his eyes I could only assume he'd wanted us to say something back to him. "Yes, well, anyway! My name is Milo Thatch, Mr. Thatch if you prefer. I don't mind what you call me, just so long as it's done with some respect. Welcome to Otherworldly Mythology!"

Mr. Thatch moved over to his desk, picking up a thin stack of paperwork and adjusting his glasses. "I'll take down the seating chart and attendance, so as I go down the rows just tell me your name and who your parents are. Just so we can start getting to know you." Wooden pencil in hand, he set forth down my row and I suddenly wished that I'd picked the farthest seat from here. He gave me an expecting look from behind the bifocals and I resisted the urge to look away. "Li Jin Wen, my mother is Li-Fa Mulan and my father is Li Shang."

He looked a bit surprised, turning quickly to scroll his gaze over the papers. "Ah, Mulan's son. I wish I taught your sister, as well, it'd be such an honor. Here we are: row one, seat one. Jin Wen Li. Unless you'd prefer to be called something else?" I shook my head at that and tried to look straight ahead at the board. Eventually he kept going down the aisle and I breathed a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to say anything more. I wasn't able to catch many of the names of people behind me, but I sat erect when Mr. Thatch returned to the front to address my new friend.

"Leanne Coulter Hawkins, but I answer to Leo." The girl, Leanne, spoke with more confidence than I'd figured. I wondered why she chose such a strange name to call herself, "Leo", before noticing that she wore strange clothes as well. A thin, linen shirt that only covered the uppermost region of her shoulders and trousers, something I assumed from experience in my travelling to be a taboo in the West. "Father's James Hawkins and my mom's Eleanor Gennings-Hawkins, and I come from the planet Montressor. Not as swanky as here, I'll admit, but I love it all the same."

Mr. Thatch laughed at this, however, and reached forward to ruffle her hair up as though she were an adolescent boy who'd just proclaimed he'd do something impossible. "Miss Hawkins, yes, I know all about you. Your father gave the school fair warning about your shenanigans. I'm glad you're here in this class, I don't know as much about the universe's mythology as I'd like so you'll be my teacher's pet when I run aground. Sound fair?"

"Alrighty, Milo, just don't ask me to stay after school to tutor you." To my surprise, they both laughed and Mr. Thatch just continued down the line with a bigger grin on his face. I snuck a glance over at Leanne and she smirked rather confidently back at me.

Just behind her was another girl who seemed just as excited, if not more, than Leanne. Her head was tilted at a comfortable angle, sending blonde locks falling to the side. "Viola Aldjoy, but my godparents call me Rose sometimes. My parents are Queen Aurora and King Philip."

Even for a Western girl, she was quite pretty. She was young, but she had mature beauty hiding the child within. I was glad I could mask my respect well, especially as I caught several other men around the room eyeing her and gaping. Compared to Viola, no one else seemed to be as important, but there were still a few that caught my eye. Some, even, that I regret seeing here.

The first memorable face after the princess was a boy who spoke with a distinct accent unlike the rest - I recognized it as German. He sat straight with a confident but calm smile. "Joachim A. Fiedler, son of Snow White."

Mr. Thatch, after gathering the rest of the class's names and heritage, approached the very back of the class cautiously. I give him credit, the first of the last two students was watching him carefully through somewhat narrowed eyes. She straigtened with a grin, looking rather proud of herself. "Nithranyx Lyanne Fletcher, my father was Theon Fletcher." She ended with a curt nod, as though that were all she needed to say.

But Mr. Thatch blinked at her, looking side to side before speaking again. "Um, if you don't mind my asking, who is your father? I mean, I'm sorry, but I don't really recognize-"

"I apologize for interjecting, but neither of us like to speak about our mothers, as they're not very popular."

All heads turned towards the girl sitting behind Nithranyx, a slim woman with raven-colored hair. Her dark brown eyes were bright, but she seemed nervous now that she'd snagged the attention of the class. "N-Nymeria, Nymeria Rhaegar Arryn. My father is Robert Arryn."

"Oh, well... Ahem, Disney Academy is a safe haven for all children, even if their parents or guardians aren't royalty or heroes of war." Mr. Thatch said reassuringly, looking between the two. "Some of our students may plan to follow in their parents' footsteps or forge their own path. Some may just want to live a normal life. But for whatever reason they attend, everyone is on the same level here, and we discourage harrassment of any kind."

Nymeria smiled a bit wider, though Nithranyx still seemed sour over the subject. "With all due respect, Sir, I'd rather not go by my mother's label."

By that point the teacher seemed to give up pining after their hidden information, and began to introduce himself. Many of us were thouroughly surprised to find that he was a king himself - he inheritted the throne once he married the princess of Atlantis. I myself found it interesting that he started from the humble beginnings of a, what was it, linguist? We even had a small back-and-forth chat in Mandarin before a loud knock on the door interupted my reply.

When Mr. Thatch opened the classroom door to let in the person at the door, I felt like the Huns themselves had rampaged through the entryway and ran over my chest on horseback. That girl stood there explaining that she'd had to retrieve her schedule from the Front Office, and that girl turned to stare at me. It's been years, she can't recognize me now!

"Let's see, Sahar Masih. Aladdin's daughter, it's nice to meet you Miss Masih. I'm afraid the only open seat is behind Mr. Li here, but I'm sure you'll be great friends."

I had to get out of here, now.

William Hatter

First period ended with rather dull events. I didn't particularly care for any of the other students, though they seemed a bit put off by me. The only interesting person there was dear old Matt, whom I've been friends with for as long as I can recall. It's no real surprise that we had the same class, in fact all of our classes were the same, because who in their right mind would break up such a dynamic duo? Better yet, even myself, proclaimed stark raving mad by professionals and my own parents, wouldn't think of such an idea!

"William, hurry on now. We've got Musical Studies to go to and I'm interested to see this Gean person who teaches it." Matthieu was looming over me, looking adorably annoyed that I hadn't made a move to leave my seat.

To be honest, I was intrigued by the idea as much as my pal, but why should I hurry? "Matt, silly boy, it's Genie, not Gean." I corrected him from my position, head on the ground and my feet sticking up where my upper body should be. You told me to plant my butt in my seat, and so it is. I don't see a problem here. "If you can't tell the difference between something simple as such I'm rather worried that you may be more off-your-rocker than I am."

Matthieu sighed, laying his bag down to shove my feet to the side and sending them crashing beside my head. It didn't hurt, just a small thud, but I got the message and put in the extra effort to stand. "Oh come off it, William, you know my anglais isn't as well as yours when it comes to reading. Now that you're right way's up let's just get to our next class, perhaps there will be people as crazy as you to converse with." And, sparked by the very idea, we set off towards the Ampitheatre.

Musical Studies was what they called a "joint class", like most electives. You could have a number of other children from 9th to 12th grade in the same class and be learning the same material. What made it different from regular classes, moreover, was that even if you were a senior you could be taking the class's Level I exam, and vice versa with the lower grades. It's horribly shameful to be learning things that a Freshman should be absorbing.

"Hello, and welcome to Musical Studies. Taught by the great and magnificent me, Genie!" We could hear the commotion before we reached the edge of the seats. Matt and I exchanged one look before deciding on our opinion.

"This should be fun."

We climbed onto the large stage where the school meeting had taken place not an hour ago to be greeted by a large, chesty blue man. Of course, I knew Absolem, a blue caterpillar who loved to spew toxic smoke into my face, so I couldn't see much difference. At least this Genie person seemed more optimistic. He ushered his students into a circle and directed us to take a seat, showing off, in a child-like manner, his authority. "Now then, are we all here?"

Everyone remained silent, though I saw a few heads nod as though they could just get through school by agreeing with the teacher regardless of the terms. "Is said, 'Are we all here?'!" Genie yelled louder, egging us on until the crowd called back a mixture of "Yes, sir"'s. "Good! Now, before we get started let's all get acquainted with each other. I'm Genie-" Here he broke off, motioning with a hand for us to respond with "Hi Genie" as though we were a part of some rehabilitation group. "And I can do this!" In the blink of an eye he changed into a large, blue goose. Goose-Genie honked into the air, racing around the circle repeating the sound at several different pitches and giving everyone a good laugh. When he eventually changed back he motioned towards a boy sitting a few spots over to follow suit.

"My name is Joachim."

"Hi Joachim!"

"And I sing." Taking a large breath, the boy stood to extend both arms and belt out in a lovely baritone voice. "Nachtigall, ich hör dich singen, S'Herz im Leib möcht mir zerspringen; Komme du und sag mir wohl, Wie ich mich verhalten soll, Wie ich mich verhalten soll." He did a small jig as he sang, grinning for the crowd and having a well-met, grand old time in the spotlight. He ended with a bow and pointed to the person sitting next to him, which meant the order would be proceeding in my direction.

Anyone else might begin to worry over what they'd do to impress the crowd, and I suppose for the flick of a butterfly's wing I, too, worried over the subject. But it didn't last long, I'm William Hatter after all! Being mad, a proven source of entertainment, is in my genetic code.

The last to go before me was another boy named Erik, who sang a lovely Gaelic ditty. The only fault was that he couldn't quite hit some of the high notes and it sounded like a dying cat. I clapped vigorously for him in good sport and leaped to my feet. Drawing a hand into my coat pocket, I brought forth my handsome hand-me-down top hat and placed it eloquently atop my crown.

"Call me Will."

"Hi Will!"

My grin widened as some of the females in our group watched with much more fervor than before. "And I futterwacken!" The looks of interest turned into laughter and surprised gasps as I danced, which only led me to continue. Vanity is a side effect of the spotlight, after all, and Matt was patient enough for me. I finished my festivities with a bow, as is traditional, and flashed a smile at the nearest dame available: wavy black tresses and sharp green eyes. I'd make a note to introduce myself as quickly as possible.

I took my seat once more and Matt nudged my side before replacing me on the stage, obviously catching my pointed look. "Slow down, tiger, it isn't even past the first day!" He hissed, grinning mischievously. In response, I shoved him from behind, causing the blonde to stumble and shoot a glare back at me. "I'm Matthieu."

"Hi Matthieu!"

And for a good five minutes of this routine, the entire class had finally introduced themselves. More dancing and singing and other such talents had taken place, a duet from two girls who seemed to already know each other, another boy dancing rather sheepishly (I'd like to believe he needed a partner, and that was why he was reluctant.), and the raven-haired girl whom I'd spotted had danced a rather, hm, interesting skit. Rilanna. That was her name.

We'd become great friends, I would make sure of that.

Genie had watched with a large smile throughout and stepped forward again, clapping as the last student sat back down. "Now, with all that nonsense out of the way, let's get down to what this class is all about!" A snap of the fingers and a chalkboard appeared at the end of the stage, which I had to turn in my seat to look at. Written on it was the course name and what I assumed were titles of something, songs, no doubt, considering where we were. "At the time they may not have been that great, but there have been songs written for just about every legend you can think of. Even myself, The Genie-" Our teacher flexed his "muscles", trying to show off for the class. "-have had a few songs written about myself. And these songs, these epic ballads, are just another way we celebrate history!"

The blue man flipped the board over to reveal a timeline. But instead of historical dates... "Take note here, children. Almost everything has a beginning and an end. Heck, just talk to the Dodo birds." He whipped out a long pointer stick from thin air, pointing to the leftmost half of the board. "Parts of culture changes over time. Centuries ago we were all stomping around in togas and kimonos, trying to sustain life in our own personal bubbles fo the world. Then we 'evolved' and became civilized Brits and Frenchies like William and Matthieu over here."

The Dynamic Duo waved as everyone giggled, we soaked in the attention. "Alright, alright. Only room enough for one ego here, and that's mine. Anyway, do you see what I'm geting at everybody? Even a good thing has to end, usually. But what's the one part of culture that has survived since the first caveman discovered fire?"

"Ooh! I know, I know!" A young boy, probably a freshman, piped up from the very back. He held an arm up in the air and flagged down Genie, who looked amused. Genie motioned for him to reply, and the boy grinned ear-to-ear. I thought his entire mouth might pop off. "Music!"

"That's right! Give the lad a prize!" As a flock of doves erupted from behind the boy - I finally remembered his name, David, because he'd been the sheepish dancer - I thought about all the crazy events that had taken place. A real life genie for a teacher, dancing and singing for almost an hour each day, and I still needed to properly get to know that lovely, young Rilanna.

Musical Studies was my new favorite class.

A/N: I originally planned three segments instead of just Jin and Will, but I did not wish to lose readers' interest for the sake of it. I can add the third segment into the next chapter, where we'll make it up to the end of 4th Period at the very least.