In for seven. Hold for four. Out for seven. In for seven. Hold for four. Out for seven.
Gods she didn't want to be here. During her entire walk to class, she felt eyes following her. Fucking Ascendancy students and their obsession with gossip. It shouldn't bother her. But the gossip this time wasn't vicious like the ones about her packs' sex life; this time it could make people think they're weak enough to challenge.It took all her self-control to stop herself from throwing sparks each time she caught someone staring.
She'd never been scared of her own magic before. It was a part of her. As natural to her as the air in her lungs and the blood in her veins. But when her pack was targeted…She could've hurt them.
Somehow none of her pack was hurt, but her magic lashed out and they were in range. And it hit them.
Of course Evie and Jay interrogated her about her magic: Evie wanting to know why she hadn't told them she was having trouble and Jay about how often it happened. Carlos was the only one who didn't dare talk about it.
Seven. Four. Seven.
Seven. Four. Seven.
Skin prickling, she slumped into one of the desks at the very back of the classroom where no one could stare at her without her noticing. At least professors were good for one thing; they always wanted eyes on them.
"Good morning, everyone," Professor What's-her-name said, striding to the chalkboard. "Today we will be discussing the fundamental rules of divination and exploring its practical uses."
Wonderful. More magic she couldn't use and nothing about how to control the magic she had. Pulling out her notebook, Mal continued her sketch of one of the campus fountains, a mermaid holding a spitting fish over her head. It was elegant and funny at the same time, something Mal liked about it. Utterly uninterested in wasting time and brain energy on class, she lost herself in the soothing motions of shading.
"Guys, gals, and our nonbinary pals!" a bodiless voice boomed.
Confused, Mal glanced up and watched as the rest of the class looked around for the source of the voice. Even her professor seemed confused. This wasn't a part of the class.
"Please put your hands together for the star guest!"
Guest? What the hell?
"Introducing Agraba's one and only Genie!"
The entire class jumped in alarm as a cloud of blue smoke exploded in front of the chalkboard. Appearing within the smoke, a giant blue man twirled into the air, arms spread wide, strange and bouncy music and an applause playing from somewhere.
"Genie," Professor Mirian coughed as she waved a hand to clear the smoke. "What a pleasant surprise. What brings you to my class?"
Genie? As in the actual Genie that helped defeat Jafar? That Genie? For a split second, Mal's eyes flashed green. This being was part of the reason Jay was born on the Isle. Why his dumbass father was so obsessed with fucking lamps.
Genie shrunk down until he only towered six inches above the professor, legs forming out of the blue wisp he floated on.
"I'm here to collect my new student of course," Genie beamed. Several copies of him wearing glasses and white button-down shirts appeared between desks, all of them holding some kind of paper that they held up to different students' faces before removing a pencil from behind their ears to write something on a clipboard.
"I'm sorry, new student?" Professor Mirian repeated.
Mal frowned as the copy closest to her wandered over.
"Queen Belle called yesterday asking me if I wanted to try my hand at teaching."
The copy of Genie held the paper next to Mal's face and she caught a glimpse of what was on it. Her face. Not a sketch or painting. It looked like someone had frozen a piece of reality and stuck it on paper. What the fuck kind of magic was that–and could she learn it?
Before she could process much more, the copy glanced between her and the picture before shouting, "Code purple!"
Immediately the rest of the copies began echoing the words as they all disappeared in puffs of blue smoke. The one in front of her exploded into the real Genie who grabbed her hand with a gigantic smile.
"Mal, yes? Pleasure to meet ya," the giant blue being said, nearly shaking her arm out of her socket.
"Um," Mal managed before Genie wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"Well, I'll be taking my student. Lot's to do. Lot's to learn. Never a dull moment in learning!"
Mal very much disagreed with that statement.
And suddenly they were somewhere else.
Blinking through the smoke, Mal found herself staring at a bewildered and shocked Queen Belle.
"Genie," the queen said after a moment. "What a pleasant surprise. What brings-"
"Al told me you were looking for a new teacher for this fine young woman," Genie replied, nudging Mal forward a step. "So I came right over. School waits for no one, you know."
"No it doesn't," Queen Belle agreed, trying and failing to contain a smile. "Thank you, Genie. Next time, do try to let us know before you arrive."
"Ah…well I feel sheepish," Genie said as he shrunk into a blue sheep, shook the bell around his neck, and then grew into an elephant just small enough to fit in the office. "I'll remember next time!" he promised, lifting the tiny fez on his head with his trunk.
"Thank you, Genie," the queen said.
"Now we need a place to practice," Genie said and, before Mal or Queen Belle could say anything, he stomped his feetand Mal coughed around a lungful of blue smoke. When it cleared, she blinked at the small courtyard behind the Gen Ed building. "Hmm." Holding his hands up, he made a frame out of his fingers and spun in a circle, studying the space. "Too small," Genie tsked.
Poof!
And they were in the library.
"No no no. Too many books."
Poof!
Mal swayed as the ground under her feet shifted. Looking down, she found herself standing on a giant hill of sand. What the fuck?!
"Oops. Too far," Genie muttered.
Poof!
Cautious, Mal opened her eyes to see the field at the far end of campus spread out before her.
"Ah. Here we are," Genie beamed with a chef's kiss. Then he was kneeling with a ruler. "Perfectly trimmed grass." A copy appeared at the other end of the field holding the other end of the ruler as it stretched across the entire length. "Lots of open space." A plaid vest and white shirt appeared on him as well as a weird hat with a feather, a pencil behind his ear, and a pair of glasses. "No renovations needed," he said, once again holding his fingers up in a frame. "Though really, green is so old fashioned nowadays." As his appearance returned to normal, he nodded, "We'll practice here."
"Here?" Mal asked before she could stop herself. "Don't we need a classroom?"
"A classroom will stifle your magic," Genie told her, creating a smokey cage around her. "We're throwing it all out. Books. Chalk. Chalkboard. Pencils. Desks. Professors." As he spoke he created and threw each one into a garbage can. Dusting off his hands, he continued, "We're doing this all hands on. Now." With a snap of his fingers, she was standing on a stage wearing a black hat and holding a weird black and white wand, floating lights shining a spotlight on her. "Show me what you can do."
Taking off the hat and dropping the wand, Mal hopped off the stage. "I don't know much. But I learned a few things on the Isle."
When Genie just nodded, sitting in a weird red chair with a notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other, watching her, Mal rolled her eyes. This was so weird. But if this could help her with her magic, she could deal with it.
And it was at least more interesting than Magic Basics. If nothing else, Genie would be interesting to watch.
Might as well start with her least impressive spell. Selecting a pencil, she stabbed the eraser into the grass so it was standing like a candle. A small flicker of magic and the tip of the pencil caught fire, crackling as the flame ate at the wood.
Genie made a note, nodding to himself.
When he didn't say anything, Mal hesitated before shrugging. Next spell. Magic gathered in her hands and she drew a quick circle in front of her. A green wall of magic manifested, cutting her off from Genie. Since she wasn't actually blocking anything, it was just a wall, but it was still a spell.
"Good, good," Genie said as he made another note. "Anything else?"
"Just one."
Feet set shoulder width apart, Mal once again focused her magic into her hands, took a breath, and thrust her hands forward. Green lightning streaked halfway across the field, grass sizzling in its path. Stunned, Mal looked at her hands. Her lightning was never that strong on the Isle.
As she stared at the crispy path of grass, Genie appeared at her side with a ruler in hand, arms extending as he measured how far the lightning went.
"Thirteen feet," he announced, horns blaring and confetti fluttering down around her head. "Now." A rock appeared in his hand, bright purple and covered in crystals. "Can you make this float?"
Lip curling a little, Mal glowered at the rock. "No," she huffed.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know the right formula." A few sparks danced in her peripheral vision and she forced herself to breathe.
"Throw out the formula," Genie said, casually tossing a giant math book over his shoulder and into a blue garbage can. "Just focus on the idea."
Jaw clenched, Mal focused on the rock. Stupid fucking thing. Stupid fucking magic. After several minutes of glaring, Mal threw her hands up. "I can't do this," she snapped. Pointing at the rock, she added, "I hate that thing."
And the rock went flying.
It…It went flying?
What the actual fuck?!
"They were trying to teach you human magic," Genie said as he pulled a cord, lowering a diagram out of thin air. He pointed a stick at a humanoid figure labeled human. "They have to use their heads and knowledge for magic. Magical beings like us," he pointed to a blue genie shaped figure and a green humanoid figure, "Use something else. That's why you couldn't move the rock in class. You weren't channeling your magic correctly."
"So what do we use?" Mal asked as she frowned, glancing between the diagram and her hands.
"Fae magic works off of desire and emotion," Genie said. A yank of the cord and the diagram rolled up, spun and dropped again with a new diagram of just a fae. "So, when you got angry at the rock, your magic reacted to the desire to get rid of it and since you were thinking about levitation, your magic threw it." Another tug of the cord and the diagram changed to a genie. "Genie magic is more focused on what you can imagine. If I can imagine it, it can exist. There's a little bit of desire mixed in there." He leaned down to whisper, "We do grant wishes after all," while glancing side to side before adding, "But it isn't our desires but our masters'."
"And humans use formulas," Mal said. "They have to know how things interact with magic because theirs is limited?"
"Ding ding ding!" Genie beamed, the diagram bursting into confetti as his pointer stick became flowers. "We have a winner!"
Eyebrow arched, Mal accepted the flowers.
"There's a few other magics, like mermaids and gods, but they don't like sharing their secrets. But the specifics aren't important right now. Now, we need to," spinning, he changed into a collared yellow shirt, a white hat with a brim only on the front, and a whistle around his neck, "practice!"
Mal wasn't quite sure why, but she had a feeling this "class" was going to be her favorite and second least favorite class ever.