Happy Birthday Part 2 [Or Think of Magic as an Entity]

Chapter 6 of Whose Idea was This?

Italics means Avalon is casting a spell, Bold Italics means she's writing in Thought Log

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH EVERYONE THAT FOLLOWED OR FAVORITED THIS!

Disclaimer; I only own Avalon.

...

Dear Thought Log,

I can't freaking believe it, Jane ditched me! Here we were, having a nice lunch in honor of my birth. Then she remembers Fairy Godmother asked her to do something. It sounds legit enough but… Seriously?! She abandoned me! On my birthday! In a place I'm not familiar with!

.

Who does that?!

.

Side note- remind me to write thank you notes for Jane, Ducky and Ben. Mother taught me manners after all

-Avalon

...

Closing Thought Log, she capped her pen with a sigh. She returned them to her bag and sighed. She'd finished her candy and half of one of the water bottles. So she tucked the bottle into her bag and gathered her wrappers.

The room had filled up quite a bit since she'd come with Jane. Not liking crowds she left the room, throwing her wrappers into a nearby trash can as she did.

"Need air…" She mumbled. "Way too many people. How the hell am I expected to deal with this? Thanks a lot mother."

As she wandered she muttered to herself. Avalon was disgruntled by her situation. Being stuck in a boarding school with pretentious royals seriously blows. Although to be fair, people had been nice, aside from Ducky. But that could have been because it was her birthday and being mean to someone on their birthday was probably on the same level as kicking puppies. Right?

She was pulled from her thoughts be a breeze washing over her. Blinking, she looked around. Apparently she could go far when she wasn't paying attention.

As she looked around she stopped walking to really take in her surroundings. Avalon was outdoors but she seemed to have found the back way out. Blue lockers lined the wall on both sides of the door she'd come out of.

She even spotted someone in red leather with long dark hair prying open a locker.

Blinking again, she quietly went over to them.

"I don't think anything in there belongs to you." She accused softly.

The person, who turned out to be the gorgeous boy from the Isle, jumped slightly before turning to face her. His eyes darted over her face and he tried to put on a charming smile.

She rolled her eyes at him and smiled, a weird feeling of familiarity bubbling up within her making her smile falter. "Don't look at me like that. I won't tell."

"You won't?" His face twists in confusion.

"You sound surprised."

"You could say that I am."

"I'm not a goody-goody Isle boy. You shouldn't hold me to Auradon expectations."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good. So, you are…?"

"What? You haven't heard about me from others or Ben?"

"Nope, vain much? I've only been awake for about an hour. Also, I prefer to meet people for myself."

"Cool. I'm Jay." He smirked.

"I'm Avalon." She extended her left hand. Jay looked at it, raised an eyebrow then he took hold of it, her nerves beneath her skin tingled as he did, and gave it a small shake before letting go.

He closed the locker he'd been in and leaned against it. "So, Avalon, I've heard it's your birthday."

"You aren't going to ask my age are you? That's a fairly personal question."

"Just trying to make conversation."

"I'm not really in a conversation mood Jay."

"Not even for one with me?"

"My, aren't you full of yourself. Or is it a defense mechanism?"

"Whoa there. I'm just curious about a few things?"

"Oh? Curious about what I wonder. Hm, maybe I can guess. Can't be about the school as I'm just as new here as you are. The people then? No, you could skulk in shadows and eavesdrop. Well the only thing that'd warrant the insistence of a conversation with me, that I can think of, is magic." She rambled to herself. As she did his face held an amused expression.

"Are you quite finished? Yes, I'm curious about magic. Will you talk with me about it?"

She looked at him, eyes wide in surprise. Avalon had not really expected this. Why would he want to know about magic? With a sigh she shrugged. "What would you like to know?"

Jay smiled broadly while pushing off the lockers. Her then lead her off, taking her to sit under a tree. It bothered her that he didn't answer her.

"Where should I start?" She looked at him and opened her bag. She took out her half full water bottle as well as a full one, which she handed to him.

"The beginning?" He raised an eyebrow at the water bottle she'd given him.

"Hm. Well I'm no expert but here's where my mother started with me…" She cleared her throat before continuing, "Think of magic as a separate entity. A companion or a lifelong friend if you will. Everyone has access to it and it's sort of got a mind of it's own."

"Vague much?"

"Don't blame me. My mother said it."

"Yeah, yeah. Go on."

"Okay, man it's been awhile since I reviews this… Um there's three types of magic user; Fairy, Enchantress and, I'm going to call this last one a 'magician' but it's just your basic human being. Alright?"

He nodded and she took a sip from her water bottle.

"Fairies first then. They're born with magic and control over said magic. There's more than one type of fairy, I don't remember the fairy subclasses though. The main thing about fairies though is that they are always sending out vibes. Their alignment on the cosmic scale affects those vibes and allows a fairy to influence others, you know push good or bad onto someone and bring out those intentions. They can cast spells that also let out those vibes and a spellbook containing spells with vibes gives off vibes. Simply put fairies are a cluster fuck and they are trying to push their alignment onto others."

"Okay… wait. Does that mean Mal's giving off influencing vibes?"

"Good question. But no. Mal… and Jane for that matter are adolescent fairies. Until they know where they stand the only vibes their letting off are natural fairy vibes of plain magical energy, which if you're sensitive to magic you should probably avoid standing to close as it could get you high. Believe me when I say it's not as fun at it sounds. And no I will not explain."

"Jane?"

"Fairy Godmother's daughter."

"Oh."

"Mmhm. Fairies come in many flavors and not all of them can do the same things. Actually, all magic varies from person to person.

"Kind of feels like you're trying to really beat that into me."

"Kind of am. Alright next is the Enchantress. We'll start with a question; what do you get if a fairy breeds with a human and the child's line continues breeding with humans, as if to breed out the magic? I'll give you a minute. Anything? Any guess at all? The answer is an Enchantress. Yep a fairy that tries breeding away magic for a century of generations makes an Enchantress."

"Are you don't saying 'breed' it makes me uncomfortable."

"In the wise words of my mother, said unto me when we first went over this; suck it up. Now, if we are just the descendants of fairies that tried to breed magic out of the bloodline, why are we magic users? The answer is 'because that's not how one get's rid of magic' Fairies are the closest beings to magic. The only way to take it out of their very bloodline would be a full on genetic re-write."

"Then how are they separate classifications?"

She grinned at his question. "Because the 'breed out' method affected them as some humans have trace amounts of magic naturally. Then there's variety in fairy type and environmental factors. All these things have an effect on the bloodline. Like fairies, not all Enchantresses are born the same. Make sense?"

He nodded and took a small drink from the bottle of water she'd given him.

"With magic it's slightly different than with fairies. We are born with magic but we lack the natural control over it. We also do not give off vibes. However as some strange cosmic compensation we get far more magic than our fairy relatives. But, because we are born with it, all of it, most of a baby's magic is usually sealed into an artifact and hidden away by… well by my mother at the parent's request until the child learns to control what they say, hand gestures, thoughts, even how they feel. Everything about an Enchantress is tied to our magic."

She paused to sip her water. Glancing at him as she capped the bottle and wiped her mouth. She found this very strange. Curiosity about magic was natural and he took it all in like anyone would. But wouldn't people ask more questions? Then there was the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that she'd felt when she caught him at the locker that hadn't gone away.

"So what can you do?"

"What?" She blinked at his question.

"You said that not all enchantresses are born the same, so that means there's variation with powers, right?"

"You're smarter than you let on, aren't you?"

He smirked. "Am I right?"

"You are. However, there's power variation between all magic users. And if you must know, what's unique to me is that I can see magic. Did you know it manifests around magic users in a way that reflects what their classification it?"

"I can't say that I did know that. What's it look like?"

"Magic itself manifests as iridescent sparkles. Then Fairies have wispy smoke-like magic. Enchantresses magic is a glow, a dull glow but it's still a glow. Magician's, which we haven't talked about yet, have the weirdest magic as it's a ring of guck, gooey imaginary guck around there heads. Which is just gross in my opinion. However I haven't seen many magicians so it may vary." She shrugged.

"So what's the deal with what we're calling magician's anyway?"

"Their people that don't have a lick of magic in them, no powers or anything but they take up studying magic and practicing spells and stealing items containing magics. They are almost always villians. It's hard work to become a magician."

It felt like hours had passed since the conversation had begun. Looking around she stretched, figuring at least an hour and a half had passed.

"Really? That's all you know on this category?"

"Well there's probably not much else to it! But if you think there is go ask your father or Evie's mother. From what I understand they fall, or at least fell into this category"

"How are you so sure of that? That my dad and Evie's mom are part of this category?"

"Well they were known to do magic or at least use magical items. Now if they were in the same category as me or Mal, you and Evie would have a definite sign of magic and I don't see one on either of you. That adds up to magician category."

"I'll accept that answer, I guess."

"You can accept whatever you want I'm just telling you what my mother taught me and my thoughts. Now we can talk about this more another day, I'd kind of like to do something else now."

"I suppose you can do that. But first…" He trailed off with a smirk.

"First what?" She sighed.

"Happy birthday Avalon."

Her heart raced as he spoke. "Thank you Jay."

He nodded, watching her pick up her bag and stand. She drank from her water bottle as she went back inside. At the door she capped the bottle and looked back at Jay, he was still sitting under the tree but he was no longer looking at her. Which she was fine with.

Shaking her head, she went in and walked slowly through the halls. Aruadon Prep was a big place and she was a little afraid of getting lost.

Fortunately for her she didn't. She almost got lost once, but she asked someone for help awkwardly and managed to find her way.

On the walk she finished and disposed of her water bottle. While she threw it away the she looked up at a nearby wall clock, only to see it was two p.m.

"Yup. That's about right…" She sighed and went the rest of the way to her room.

When she got there she sat in her desk chair, closed the door and took Thought Lop from her bag. Only to gingerly lay in on her desk and grab a pen from the box from Ben.

Uncapping it she wrote under her entry from earlier;

…

Dear Thought Log,

I'm finally back in Sanctuary. That's what I've named my room. Sanctuary. It fits, right? I'll probably be hiding here until Mother realies I'm not meant to be around people.

Seriously! I was surrounded at lunch, before Jane ditched me, apparently being the Birthday Girl was a good reason to get my personal space invaded. I was so uncomfortable and NO ONE NOTICED! Anyway I may or may not have a rash now. Fun…

.

Now after Jane ditched me and after the entry above, the weirdest thing happened. I officially met Jay, the last of the Kids from the Isle. And we talked. For a long time. About Magic. In my opinion it was pleasant. Although he could have been milking me for magical information for Mal or something. I don't know why I'm thinking that. Maybe I'm just negative?

.

Possible Negativity aside, when I first met him I felt… something. Something weird. It was feelings. Weird sentimental feelings. Familiarity even. As far as I know I'd never met him.

.

Let's change subjects or I'll go mad.

.

My birthday's not a total bummer. Well Ducky's present sucked and people crowding me was definitely terrible. But everything else was okay. I guess. I just wish mother was here to spend it with me.

-Avalon

...

As she signed the entry Avalon felt her eyes water and her nose tingle. She could feel snot drip down her left nostril but not actually leave her nose as tears slid down her cheeks.

She makes no effort to wipe any of it away. Instead she removed the headband from Ben and pushed her bangs off her forehead, airing her it.

"It's too early to go back to bed… hm…"

Halfheartedly she put her pen down and picked up the box from Ducky.

"I'll have to like something… won't I?" She looked into the box, "One way to find out."

She picked up the box and left her room. Going down the hall to the nearest bathroom. Once inside she looked around. It was a large, pristinely white bathroom with everything a bathroom could need. Vanity lighting on the mirrors above the sinks, numerous toilet stalls across from the sinks. The sinks were fixed onto white counters. Soaps and paper towels sat between the sinks. Under the counters was bare space with exposed piping, trash cans and a basket of washcloths and towels.

Showers lived in an area slightly separated from the main bathroom and Avalon couldn't tell for certain but she guessed that there may have been bathtubs separated by privacy screens. She couldn't be too sure about that though. She was certain that there was what appeared to be a large linen closet near the showers.

She set the box by a sink and went over to it. Opening the closet she saw bathroom necessities; towels, paper towels, washcloths, soap, toilet paper and various feminine products. She grabbed a washcloth before closing the closet and running back to her sink.

"Well I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it." She nodded and set it on the counter by the box.

Gulping nervously she looked into the box. She couldn't help feeling overwhelmed. Makeup and face products? She had no idea where to start. So she pawed through it all and pulled out a face wash for all skin types.

"I guess I can use this." She mumbled before opening it and smeared a thin layer onto her face, using her fingertips to press and massage the product into her skin.

While she did it she hoped she was doing it right. She took particular care when putting it onto her forehead.

Satisfied with the amount she turned on the hot water and rinsed the product from her hands before closing the bottle and setting it aside.

After letting the product sit a little she wet the washcloth and wiped the product from her face. When it was all off she rinsed the washcloth and turned off the water. Ringing extra water from the cloth she folded it neatly and put it in the basket she'd seen with other used washcloths or towels. Then she got a couple paper towels, dried her hands with one and dabbed at her face with the other.

After throwing away the paper towels she looked at a mirror and lightly ran her fingers over her face. It felt… soft and clean. Hydrated but not oily or drenched in any way. It was nice.

"Not bad. Maybe I'll use that again." She nodded to herself.

Looking in the box again she pawed through it seriously. After a little digging she found a nice dusty pink lipstick. She didn't like makeup, but she wanted to try it.

"Hm… Maybe later." She decided as she put the lipstick in one hand with the face wash and picked up the box with the other. Not noticing someone coming in.

"Avalon? Are you talking to yourself?"

She jumped, nearly dropping the things she was holding, and looked at the door. Standing there, looking at her strangely was a tanned girl with short dark brown hair and dark eyes. She looked familiar, but Avalon couldn't really remember her name.

"Um. Yeah… I do that sometimes. Sorry… Uh…" She trailed off blushing.

"You forgot my name, didn't you?"

"Sorry."

"I guess it was to be expected. You only come to major events. I'm Lonnie. Please try to remember this time."

"Right, Lonnie. Of course. I-I mean I'll try." She smiled weakly.

"So whatcha got in there?" Lonnie asked motioning to the box in her hand.

"Birthday present from Du-" She cut herself off as she tried saying Ducking and corrected herself, "I mean Audrey. I don't really use this stuff much though… If you'd like to pick through it you can. Or you can pass it around the other girls. I don't mind!" She offered her the box.

"Oh… Thanks. I feel kind of bad taking one of your presents. But if you insist." Lonnie smiled taking the box.

"Thank you! You just save me from throwing it all away!" She grinned thankfully and hugged her.

"Um… No problem, I guess."

"Night… I mean… Later Lonnie."

"Yeah… Later."

Avalon separated from her and ran out of the bathroom. Keeping a good grip on what she wanted to try she returned to her room, closing the door to it behind her.

Setting the two products onto her desk she turned to crawl into bed. However, before she could she saw a box just sitting there.

It was a plain white box that was taped closed.

"What the…?" She blinked and lifted the box. It was a little heavy but the box wasn't that big. Examining the box, she saw no labels of any kind and the tape stopped partway down the sides of the box, each side folded over itself for an easy open tab. Grabbing one tab she ripped the tape from the box. The first thing she saw inside was a plain white envelope. Curiously she lifted the envelope and opened it.

When she lifted the envelope a little more than a dozen round ball-like objects the size of her palm rose from the box and partially embedded themselves in her ceiling.

"Whoa… She gasped in awe.

Looking in the envelope she pulled out a piece of paper and read aloud, "Dearest, Sorry I can't ben with you on your dig day. Or any day really. Work commands that I keep my distance. If you're curious about your gift, I sent it to your mother to finish and get to you for me. If I recall correctly, from the last time we saw one another, you're not a fan of the dark. So I hope that this acts as a reminder to always find a light in the darkness." She cut herself off as she caught sight of the balls in her ceiling lighting up a lovely pale silver. "Wow! Oh… where was I? Right… but don't let it keep you from seeing the beauty of a little darkness in the light. Truly yours, your Father."

When she finished reading she looked up again to see the lights from the balls went out. Skimming through the letter again she repeated the phrase that had lit the balls up.

"Pretty… Going to have to ask mother to thank him for me."

Avalon hadn't seen her father since she was eight and her mother took her to see him on the Isle of the Lost. Typically people can't just go to the Isle. But as they were neutral beings she and her mother got certain allowances. Her mother also said that it helped to keep perspective.

So she and her mother went to the Isle for one week after she turned eight. Her personal lessons were put on hold and she found it weird to be without her magic. For that week she went by Ava, it was also the last time anyone called her Ava.

Moving the empty box and letter to her desk she crawled into bed and looked up at the lights admiringly while hugging her knees to her chest.