Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. Most of the characters are owned by Disney. The character of Adrian is owned by screaminginternally on Archive of Our Own.

Prologue

Fairy Godmother Helmine didn't sleep well the night before casting the spell.

From the start of the Auradon Conference she had been uncomfortable. The blue fairies were the least liked of the fae at the moment, which was understandable. The traitor Maleficent and her strongest supporters had come from that clan. And Helmine, as the current delegate of her clan, was the recipient of the collective ire. It was necessary, of course. Human could not be trusted to handle these things themselves. Representatives of the four fairy factions were present to advise as needed.

And so she donned her fanciest blue dress, with her wings squeezed to her back and her cobalt hair pulled straight. She sat at the northern corner of the diamond table. Her counterpart in the red fairies, Ardis she thought, was across from her. The unfamiliar green and yellow fairies sat at the east and west corners, respectively. Each of the four sides held three human delegates; the kings or queens of the countries they represented. There was one exception. General Mulan, on the southwest side of the table, was acting in place of the Emperor of China.

At the vote for High King, she had been annoyed. King Adam, the former Beast of France, was elected with a nine to three majority. None of the royals had consulted the fairies on this decision. Which was to their detriment, because Helmine had a great many things to say about the new High King. He was a passionate man, whose wife had done little to still his violent temper. His personal, though understandable, vendetta with Maleficent further hindered his average intelligence. Furthermore, King Adam possessed a barely repressed hatred for most fae.

Even so, he was now the High King, and would preside over the rest of the Auradon Conference, and later the United Kingdom of Auradon. Never mind that the idea of human alliances was silly. An alliance between kingdoms was wise, unification into one was efficient. The fae had lived that way for millennia. The notion that humans could do the same had sent Helmine rolling out of her chair laughing when she heard it.

During most of the discussion, Helmine was bored. The aristocracy could not discuss anything without endless politicking and pandering. Even if they hadn't, Helmine had little interest in the human's parliament or military structure. She listened long enough to think of better alternatives, then tuned them out.

When someone suggested forming a new school, Helmine was finally interested. She had dedicated herself to the education and protection of the young, fae and human alike. The idea came from King Henry of Charmington, further increasing her esteem for the husband of her former charge Ella. He wanted to establish a preparatory school for the future leaders of the new kingdom of Auradon. Here they could learn from each other and gain the collective wisdom of their elders to make each new generation better than the previous.

"However," he said, with a look at Helmine. "No human leader can be trusted to head this school. Our shifting alliances, our constant bickering, no, I would not trust any on my rivals to teach my children, and I know none of you would either." There was some murmur of dissent, which died down as the nobles realized they were proving his point. "Instead this school would require an impartial Headmaster, or perhaps, Headmistress. I would nominate the Fairy Godmother Helmine for this high honor."

There was an understandable uproar at his declaration. Most of the disagreement centered around her clan were its deplorable, banished members. Only High King Adam objected to the idea of fairy headmistress in and of itself, his position giving weight to his opinion. For her part, Helmine chose not to be offended, as the attacks and slurs were against her people, and not herself personally. Instead, she focused on the irony of the situation. Wars long forgotten had been waged over fairy possession of noble children; now they debated giving them to her wholesale.

The voice of King Henry finally won out over the others. "Silence! There are two separate matters entangled in this issue. Are there first any objections to a fairy headmistress?" Adam twitched as though he intended to raise his hand, but stopped when he saw he was alone. "If we are to have a fairy headmistress, then I see no reason for it not to be Helmine. She is an exemplary member of both her clan and fairykind as a whole. It was this very same Helmine who was responsible finding me my Ella."

"That certainly proves her craftiness," remarked a king Helmine didn't recognize. "Getting a servant girl married to a prince."

"That's my wife you're talking about," Henry yelled, slamming both hands on the table. "Who would have been a duchess herself if not for her wicked stepmother."

This went on for some time, with different royals using varying levels of subtly to express their opinions. Then a second hush fell over the conference as General Mulan stood. "Your Majesties, I have remained quiet thus far, for it would be improper to interrupt royalty. But I can hold my tongue no longer. In all this time, during all this discussion, we have not asked Helmine herself, nor any of the other fairies what they think of this suggestion." She sat back down, and looked at Helmine with interest.

For the first time during the conference, Helmine felt a surge of warmth towards a human, and slight twinge of fear at being put on the spot. She suppressed this, and stood before the council with all the dignity of her race. "There are several things I would like to say on this matter. First, it saddens me that many a fairy I once called sister has been the cause of so much pain. The blue fairy clan has already publicly denounced Maleficent and her followers. Allow me to express my personal condolences for those lost in our war with her, and my censure of her behavior. I hope that through my words and deeds, I can prove that the true nature of a blue fairy is not that which is found in our Betrayer.

"Second, as a fairy godmother, it is my first and foremost duty to protect and aid the next generation. In the past this has manifested in helping those in need, but that need not be the only way I serve. In fact, my primary passion is education. Teaching and guiding youth towards greater heights, and seeing the fruits of my efforts there, warms my heart more than any other thing in the mortal world. However, regardless of whether or not you pick me to headmistress of this school, I implore you to choose some fairy. It is in our very nature to teach and guide, to champion virtues and pass them on to children. It would be prudent, and wise," here she smiled at her joke, "to place such champions in charge of your children's education."

Helmine resumed her seat with a short bow, and found herself receiving an ovation from her fellow fairies and Mulan. There was further discussion, because no human king could allow a fairy the last word, but it all seemed directed towards assent. When the final vote was called, the council elected to appoint her headmistress with a nine to two vote. High King Adam abstained.

As the discussion turned to other matters, Helmine felt a swell of pride. It appeared attending the Auradon Conference had benefited her after all. She might have complained less to her queen if she had known she would achieve a teaching position. She still wasn't enthusiastic about the sitting through the discussions that followed, but at least she was in a better mood now. By now it was later in the afternoon, and it looked as thought the conference was drawing to a close for the day. The nobles were stretching, stifling yawns, and generally trying to stay awake. There was a spell she had been working on with her collegue Adrian; if the talk finished soon they would have time to test another variation. When Adam stood, the expectant looks on the assembled faces showed a hope to finish for the day. This hope was not met.

High King Adam started off by thanking the dignitaries and fairies for their time. Then he moved on to a summary of the past seven years, beginning with Belle breaking Maleficent's curse. This initiated a war with the dark fairy and her followers, that spread into a war through all of Auradon. Since most of the people present, human and fairy alike, had fought in this war, the reason for the council in the first place, the synopsis seemed unnecessary to Helmine. When Adam moved on to specific grievances, Helmine realized its purpose.

He recounted the cursing of Aurora which brought King Stephan of Dammerung into his alliance. How Maleficent sought out Jafar's lamp, and wished only that he reek his vengeance on Agrabah. How she used her dark magic to resurrect the witch Grimhilde, infamous as the Evil Queen, and set her upon Queen Snow White and the Enchanted Forest. How she hired Cruella de Vil to torture and dissect rival fairies.

Adam was an excellent orator. Helmine knew, she knew that he was stirring them up, and she couldn't help but get angry. The thought of what that fiend did to her sisters stirred a righteous anger in her that required all her rational skills to suppress. As she glanced around the table, she saw clenched fists, furrowed brows, and rigid posture. Adam's speech was working on the others.

"Friends," the High King said as he made his purpose clear, "We sit here at the close of a great war with the worst fiends history has ever known. We may never know the full cost of our struggle, not only in lives, but in our hearts and minds. My brothers in arms, fellow kings and queens, and fairies wise, kind, passionate, and courageous, we cannot allow these villains to go unpunished. Not because of past transgressions, but for future security. For our children, and theirs, and the safety of this new nation."

A pause, no doubt for dramatic effect. "I propose a prison, an island jail sealed with a barrier from the world and magic itself. Only then can we know we will be safe from their evil.

The Beast had chosen the opportune time to strike. Waiting until his audience was sleepy, but not too tired. Working them into a patriotic fervor and then inspiring them with hope for the future. Despite this, absolute silence filled the room as he finished. Helmine was pleased to see most of Auradon's leaders looked uncomfortable at his suggestion. She suspected they thought the villains had already received their due punishment for their crimes and were therefore exempt from future retribution. Even as she began to hope the council would make a wise decision, King Eric stood up.

"If there is anyone deserving such a fate it is the sea witch Ursula. My wife is still plagued by nightmares of that tentacled monster, and my people have yet to recover from the damage she reeked on our land." With that, the dam was broken. Every King and Queen wanted to make the case for why their particular enemies deserved such a punishment. It was a competition of human stupidity and cruelty she hadn't seen since, well, since the war.

Then, as the humans were starting to calm down, the yellow fairy stood. Helmine smiled to encourage her, for surely hers would be a voice of reason. Perhaps there was a chance that kindness could win the day "Your Majesties, if I may speak." Her head was bowed, her face flush with all eyes pointed towards her. "It ... it is not in my nature to hold grudges. My clan values harmony, and compassion above all things." Her voice, hesitant at first, grew stronger with each word spoken. "We believe it is better to forgive and forget, to leave the past in the past. But..."

Oh fuck me for trying. It took took all Helmine's willpower not to swear aloud. By the damned cities of the ancient lands, why? Never in the history of speeches was a more pregnant pause produced.

"...even I cannot let this go unpunished. Maleficent has wrought horrible crimes against kin, clan, and kind. She has committed unspeakable acts to both fairy and human alike. If there is to be harmony, if we are to one day have peace, then it must begin with her exile."

As the punishment was discussed and the vote was cast, Helmine thought of all the problems they were creating. They are perpetuating the cycle. By lashing out in righteous anger, they become the very things they seek to punish. Every one of those people who fought against them thought themselves just as justified as they do now. How does the phrase go? Every villain is a hero in their own story? And worse, the punishment they demand is disproportionate to any crime committed. Only a man with no knowledge of magic would suggest cutting another off from it. It is the very energy that we live on, the air that we breathe, our everything. And the others, too blinded by their grief to realize what they are doing.

The votes were made, and the decision was unanimous. An island off the coast of Charmington would be cleared and renovated to serve as the prison. And a barrier would be erected around the island to prevent those within from using magic. Adam addressed her specifically on that matter. "Fairy Godmother Helmine, I understand that you have worked on such a spell before. Something that you used during the war. Perhaps you could do the honors of casting this one and prove your position as headmistress to be well earned.

Then maybe you could go to hell, Helmine thought. But she recognized the threat, and wanted the job more than she would like to admit. "Of course, Your Majesty. It would be my honor."

"Excellent," he declared, his smile very much like the snarl of a wolf. "Then I believe that will be all for today. We will have to reconvene tomorrow to discuss…"

As Helmine trudged back to her room, she was in a fear-ridden stupor. On any other day she would have been disgusted by the decadence on display. The council had ordered the building's construction for this meeting, and yet they couldn't have a three day conference without their creature comforts. That evening she was too occupied with her own worries to notice exquisite paintings or dazzling tapestries. And though every fixture and furnishing contained bits of iron, she didn't think about her unconscious shudder as she passed them.

...and putting them together is sure to make them worse. It is one thing to have a prison, with inmates separated by bars. It is quite another to give them free reign of an island. Surely the worst will take from each other, both skills and knowledge, and crush or corrupt the merely bad. And what of children? Such free mixing is sure to produce many a bastard offspring. Are they to be condemned to their parents fate because of the location of their birth. And of course all of this is moot argument, because the very idea of an island without magic is unconscionable. These humans, inflicting their ideas on others without a thought to how it affects other species. It almost makes you wonder...

Helmine pulled up short, between the yellow fairy's room and a sculpture of some mer-king. She had come very close to siding with Maleficent, even for a moment, and just in her thoughts. Whatever Adam's faults, he was the very definition of the lesser of two evils. And she must play her part in his game, distasteful as it was, because the alternative was ... Maleficent. She shuddered at the thought.

It was better to focus on the technical aspects. Wisdom was what blue fairies were famous for, but also intellect and spell-craft. She would work out the details of the spell and let the nobility deal with the repercussions. For self-serving wisdom is still a type of wisdom.

It took the better part of a month for the newly established Auradon Magic Council to locate, spell, and collect every criminal to be imprisoned on the island. It's possible they were delayed due to over-zealousness. Once they identified a single member of Maleficent's army, they tended to spell anyone in the same prison. Better to be safe, rather than sorry, they reasoned. But transportation-safe sleeping curses take time to cast, extra time which Helmine appreciated.

Her research had not gone well. As far as she knew, she had tried every version, every conjuration style, every casting chant. There wasn't a single spell designed with this level of scale up in mind, let alone for the duration she needed. She had exhausted every spellbook in not only her personal library, but the blue fairy library as well. As much as she hated it, she was going to need outside help.

Adrian of the Enchanted Forest, Warlock 1st Class, friend, colleague, and occasionally something more, lived in a rundown apartment in London. At least, it appeared so from the outside. Helmine knew from experience this was an illusion to deter would-be thieves. She was used to ringing his bell and walking right in. Today, she had to wait five minutes listening to latches being undone. When Adrian came to the door he was even more disheveled than normal. He would usually wear stained pants and a singed, tie-dye shirt, but he had added a pink bathrobe, three days of scruff, and deep bags beneath narrowed eyes. "Come to take me away too, Fairy Godmother?"

She was taken aback, by his formal tone and dark insinuation. "How do you mean, Master Warlock?"

He sneered, an expression she had never seen on him before. "Word on the street is they're rounding people up. Anyone with a finger-full of magic and a hint of a dark past. And now I have the new, grand, Fairy Headmistress condescending to brighten my doorstep. What am I supposed to think?"

"Rounding people up?" she asked. "The only ones being rounded up are Maleficent's followers. Everyone else is safe."

He stared her down, and for the first time Helmine understood how his students must feel. Something in her face must have conveyed innocence, because they changed from narrowed to merely exhausted. "You don't know. You really don't know."

"What?" She felt her voice rising and fought to control it. "What's going on Adrian? What don't I know?"

"They're taking everyone Helmine. Everyone. Adam's gang of thugs, going door to door rounding up anyone they don't like."

She almost couldn't believe it. She knew Adam had a chip on shoulder the size and shape of a large furry curse, but she didn't realize how far he would go. "Who all...?"

"Who haven't they taken? Three wizards down my street alone. A quarter of my students, with half of who's left on the run. I've had to cancel classes just so we wouldn't be vulnerable." His eyes locked on hers for a moment. "Yen Sid. Because he advocated some of the criminals be pardoned, was declared treasonous and taken in for his trouble."

Two conflicting feelings rose up within her then. Her bleeding heart, the voice of compassion that called her to protect and care for, wept for those who were being unfairly imprisoned. But another voice, the voice of thought and reason, said something else. Didn't the villainy of Maleficent and her lieutenants outweigh what it would cost to imprison them? Wasn't it worth it, to ensure the dark fairy would never plague the land again?

Fighting the keep her tone neutral, Helmine said, "I will see what I can do. Perhaps I can petition on their behalf to release the innocent."

Adrian was quiet for a moment before asking, "Why did you come here then, if you didn't know?"

"You know they asked me to cast the spell to make the barrier?" She waited until he nodded to continue. "I seem to have trouble with the size. None of the spells I know work properly at the scale of a whole island. I was wondering if you might know of a solution."

The sorrowful expression on Adrian deepened. For a while Helmine feared he might not answer. Then, as she was preparing to ask again, he said, "It's not a question of scale, it's a question of approach. That's where we went wrong before. You're not trying to cast a spell; you're cursing the land and the people who will live on it." Then he retreated back into his house. Locks and latches clicked, leaving Helmine with the unmistakable impression that something precious was lost forever.

Adrian's advice was good. In fact, with the approach he suggested Helmine was able to modify what she already had into a working curse that same afternoon. She did her best to repay him. When she reported to the Auradon Council that the curse was ready, she asked about the people who were to be imprisoned. She received some well spun yarn about those who were taken deserving their fate. When she tried to push for more, Adam directed her to focus on her part in the matter, and to let the Council focus on theirs. He thanked her for her concern, and told her to start working on the curse tomorrow.

And so, anxious over Adrian, worried for those unfairly incarcerated, nervous about the morality of her actions, fearful of Maleficent's revenge, and tired to boot, Helmine flew to the Isle of Calignis to begin her work. She spent the entire day encircling the island in runes. This was made difficult by a number of factors. There were few places on the edge of the island ideal for carving runes. She ended up conjuring stone pillars from beneath the island to place in the ocean surrounding it. There was also the problem of shape. Obviously the island itself was not a perfect circle. Helmine found herself backtracking to adjust the stones more times than she could count. In the end, she had to include a second island which lay within the bay of Calignis to make the circle work. Of course there was also the dwarves. All day long they carted more prisoners in on boats. Each time this happened Helmine had to stop her work and attend to them. She had decided to place secondary curses on each known magical on the island, as an extra precaution. With all of these distractions, she barely made it halfway around the island before sunset.

In the end, it took her three days to finish the runed perimeter. Fortunately, the dwarves had also finished unloading the prisoners by then, so there was no risk of the runes going stale. Once she was sure all of the dwarves were safely in their barges, she began the significantly easier task of casting the curse. While some enchantments could be performed with some magic words and a wave of a wand, the strongest spells were sung into existence. Instead of memorising exact words, the way she structured the curse only required her to stay in key and on tempo. The curse took the form of a lullaby; she was essentially lulling the magic to sleep in a blanket of protection.

"...keep us safe and keep us sound, no more we fight upon the ground; let the land and people rest, for we all have fought our best. Let no more magic pass this way, lest villains darken all our days. Enclose them in your silvered walls, and so they may live in darkened halls…"

And so and so forth. The barrier began to rise as she sang. It started as low gray mist forming above Helmine's runes. But slowly it coalesced into a shimmering wall. As the barrier rose past her head, she could feel magic being pulled in to strengthen it. The suffocating feeling was like being trapped in a vacuum, except it was her magical sight that went, not her consciousness. She was still outside the barrier, and could only imagine how bad it would be for those within. As the barrier began to dome, enough magic was pulled away for the prisoners to begin to wake.

The lesser criminals were the first to wake. The common thieves and petty crooks with no magic of their own, who had no doubt joined Maleficent's army out of desperation. Then the villains like Gaston or Cruella de Vil, who possessed no explicit magical ability, but had a charisma or forcefulness which suggested native magical attunement. Next the true magicians, those aware of their powers and who practiced them openly. Jafar, Grimhilde, misguided wizard's apprentices, and those poor fey who had been lead astray by the Betrayer. Yen Sid and Maleficent were the last two to wake, their immense personal pool of magic fueling their curses till the very end. Helmine admitted to being more than a little amused when when the Betrayer stirred before the Master Wizard.

Maleficent did not appear groggy or even slightly confused as she rose to her feet. She appeared to have be spared the indignity of the worse side effects of Sleeping Sickness, more's the pity. Instead she moved slowly, almost lazily towards the docks. An untrained eye would think she was disinterested, perhaps even bored. But those who knew her better could see the truth. How her fingers twitched to spell away a mud puddle or patch of dirt, only to stop unsatisfied. The way she made casual eye contact with her most loyal servants as she passed and the slightest of nods she exchanged with them. The small movements of her lips as she whispered instructions to her goblins, sending them scurrying off to obey. Slowly, ever so slowly, she made her way to the end of the dock, and Helmine felt almost compelled to fly down and meet her.

They locked eyes, and Helmine felt like she was back in Elementary Wand-Work again. "Helmine my dear, what a pleasant surprise." Maleficent's voice dripped venom and sarcasm in equal measure. "I gather this … charming little retreat is where you will keep us till you decide a more permanent solution."

Helmine felt the ridiculous need to prove herself, as though she really were still in school. "No. This is the permanent solution." She raised her voice to address the entire population of the island. "By order of High King Adam and the Council of Auradon, you have been henceforth and forever banished to this island, to live out your days in a land without magic to serve penance for your crimes against the peoples of Auradon." The moment she finished the air was filled with a riotous uproar. It was impossible to distinguish any particular grievance, but the general tone was one of perceived unfairness coupled with vows of revenge.

Maleficent, in contrast, merely grinned with teeth bared. "You've done a wicked thing today child; I am almost impressed. Your new king commands, and you obey without hesitation, or heed of consequence. But I think you will find it is not I you have made prisoner today. You know this barrier cannot hold me forever. You must be ever vigilant, for if you turn your back even for an instant, I will slip through the cracks and strike at you where you least expect. Heed my words, Fairy Godmother," she spat the title as a curse, "One day, I will stand above you triumphant; I will take your wand, and with your own magic I will strike you dead."

Headmistress Helmine didn't sleep well the night after she cast the curse.