♝♗

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑:

𝐷 𝑂 𝑁 ' 𝑇   𝐵 𝐸   𝑆 𝑂 𝑅 𝑅 𝑌

ONE HOUR EARLIER

           Jax was awake. As far as he knew, he was the only person awake around Auradon Prep. It didn't make any sense, why he was awake and why everyone dropped to sleep. His first guess was a villain got out and pulled a Maleficent by cursing the whole kingdom to sleep because the actual mistress of darkness was still a reptile at the moment so it ruled her out. In his theory, he also planned to blame the villain kids ahead of time since it was most likely that it was their fault at letting a villain out.

           But he still couldn't figure out why he was the one awake. The most logical reason for being is because the entire school was out and about and he was inside under lock and key. It was summer, who would be indoors? Someone hiding from the royal guards apparently. Still, it came in handy once the spell was cast, he was far from it. He couldn't help but think how ironic the situation was. The entire kingdom could be asleep at the moment, it was the perfect scenario to get out without a fight, but unfortunately, his friends were also under the sleeping curse. Or at least, two of the ones he could find were.

           He found Ruby just outside the entrance, so that was pure luck, and made sure she was comfortable and safe in her room. Along the way, he tried looking for Allie, in the library or the common grounds but there was no sign of the young blonde, it worried him to no avail but he had to keep going. He then went to the boy's dorm to try and find Wyc and Binx, but they weren't there. He later found that Wyc had fallen asleep on top of his workshop desk in the garage, holding his welding helmet as a teddy bear. He seemed fine enough, though Jax didn't think to let him slumber next to various electrical circuits would be the responsible thing to do, so he moved him back to his dorm as well, the snoring boy's arms still clutching the welding helmet.

           He did try to find Binx, but the truth was he didn't know where he spent his days now. The werecat barely spoke to him, and when he did, it was to either insult him or start a fight. As he exited the boys' dorm, he found himself with a sleeping Nate on the lobby floor along with a few others that Jax assumed were friends of the Knight. He was dressed in beachwear and had a bag filled with towels and a gift which were all now spilled on the floor. He didn't think to help him or to make him comfortable, no, his first thought was that the beach getup was reminding him of something. He heard Ruby mention something a few days ago, something about a party in the Enchanted Lake for Jane's birthday. She always did like Jane.

           That was when another thought occurred to him, wasn't Jane Carlos' girlfriend? It was most likely he'd be at her party. And wherever one VK was, the others were bound to be close. And he had a feeling the villain kids would know something about this fiasco.

           He quickly set off down the hall of the building, ignoring his sleeping old friend, ignoring the growing guilt at not helping him, and ignoring the small voice in his head telling him that Nate isn't their friend anymore. That voice tried to remind him of all the horrible things Nate had been the source of. That Nate abandoned his people to save his own skin. But the guilt stayed there, Jax couldn't get rid of it.

♝♗

           When he finally got to the Enchanted Lake, everyone was dozed off. He looked all around, no villain kids and no one showed even the smallest of signs that they could wake up. He grunted loudly, making his way around the woods that surrounded the lake before hearing water splashing around. He froze, someone was there.

           Jax made his way down to the center of the lake, eyes wide as he saw the pale dark-haired girl exiting the water, panting.

           He wasn't the only one shocked to find her, when Jane saw that it was Jax Hatter, she didn't know whether to greet him or take caution of him. He'd never done anything to her, but her head reminded her of all the stories she heard over the years. Then, her heart reminded her that the people who told those stories weren't exactly the most reliable sources.

           "Hello, Jane," He greeted, a small smile trying to form on his face. It seemed the young Hatter was trying to appear friendly so as to not scare her off.

           "Jax," She acknowledged, "You really are in Auradon."

           "It's a long story," He said quickly, glancing behind him, worried someone or something would come and interrupt them. The universe was against him at the moment so he wasn't taking any chances. "How- how exactly are you awake?" He decided to ask since it was clear that Carlos and his friends were nowhere around. He knew the De Vil boy wouldn't have left her out of his sight if he were here.

           She turned to look at the edge of the lake from where she appeared, "The Enchanted Lake, it protected me." She smiled soundly at it like she was thanking it before turning to the Hatter, "How are you awake?"

           "I was inside when it was cast, but honestly I have no clue, plenty of people inside were sleeping as well, I don't know what makes me different." He shrugged, "But right now that isn't important, I'm trying to wake up my friends."

           "We have bigger problems than waking everyone up, Audrey's going berserk."

           "Audrey? What do you mean?"

           "She was the one who caused all this. She put everyone to sleep, and I'm scared that she'll do worse."

           "Unless she already has." His pessimistic tone only made her more worried. "And if she has then I can't waste any more time, I have to wake my friends up."

           Jane looked amiss, confused as to why he was explaining this to her, talking to her as though she could help him. Until it came to her, "Well, I was planning on trying to wake them up with the lake water," She nodded towards the sleeping guests. "Enchanted Lake water can be used to wash off some mild spells, reduce curses a little and if given before the magic is cast then it can prevent it." She recited those words like she had practiced them countless times before. Jane tried to look hopeful, but Jax saw the doubt in her eyes. "But I don't know whether or not it'll actually help them."

♝♗

           It didn't.

           The water could only do so much, all it did to the sleeping party guests was make them yawn or talk in their sleep, a few rearranged themselves in a more comfortable position to rest, but they didn't wake up.

           Jax groaned, chugging the water squirter to the ground. "This is useless, if it doesn't work on them, it won't work on my people."

           "Don't let your emotions get the better of you. We can figure something out."

           That's when Jax looked at her, really looked at her, "Why are you helping me? Didn't you grow up hearing horror stories about Wonderland? Why take this chance and help the enemy?"

           "You're not the enemy, Jax. None of you are." She shook her head, "The real enemy is the one that took our right to practice the gifts we were given. My mom, she- she kept me from magic, even if it was in my very bones, she had me practicing control as much as possible. Made it so it looked like I was normal, that I was born normal." She shivered, even though it was hot out, even though the sun was present around them.

           "Jane?" He asked carefully.

           "Mom doesn't teach me how to use my gifts, only how to keep them within. She was scared that it would draw too much attention. And now, I can barely fix a couple of daisies in the garden without bringing a storm." She breathed out with a dry laugh, which worried Jax, "Ruby tried to help me once," Jax's eyes widened a bit at this new information. "She tried to teach me how to control it, but it was too dangerous for her to be around me."

           That, he understood. If something bad had happened around the girls because of Jane's magic, the blame would've been placed on his queen. It wouldn't have been pretty, if they thought that Ruby had that type of magic, they would've never let her roam the campus.

           "I'm sorry," Jax said, even though it had nothing to do with him. He still felt the need for the girl to know that he acknowledged her hardships.

           Jane shook her head, "I've dealt with it," Putting her own water pistol on the table and looking around the nature area of the lake.

           "What are we going to do? The lake water can't help us and we have no way of communicating  with outside forces." He stressed.

           "We could go out. Maybe my mom's somehow awake." She offered. They had been arguing about what to do for over ten minutes, she was waiting for his rant to go down as she sat by one of the party tables.

           "And if she's not? Even if she is, who knows what we'll run into out there. We have no way of defending ourselves except for semi-magical lake water." He sighed, falling to sit on the ground, "Besides, what would we do? Magic caused this, only magic can fix it. Those are the rules."

           "Then let's fix it." Jane stood up from her seat, "We find my mom, get to her wand and she can fix all of this."

           "If your mum finds out that I'm here, I am toast. And I won't be going back to the Isle, it'll be worse. I know it will." His eyes widened with ferociousness.

           Jane was about to say something, but she closed her mouth and her face changed like she was trying to figure something out. "I could do it."

           "What?"

           "I can get to the wand and use it to protect us while you get your friends out. After that, I'll try and wake everyone up. Emphasis on try."

           "Jax looked at her questioningly. "Not to sound ungrateful, but are you sure you can properly use that thing? I saw you during Ben's coronation on the telly, it wasn't pretty."

           Jane shook her head at the bad memory, "It was just my emotions," She paused trying to find the right words to explain, "Emotions are linked to magic. So, if you're angry it could spin out of control. The trick is to channel the emotions, control them rather than letting them control you."

           "And you're in control of it?" He wanted to be sure, "The last thing we need is the inhabitants of the Isle of the Lost pillaging around with the people they hate sleeping without a way to protect themselves"

           "I know the risks, but I can do this." She tried to assure him.

           But before Jax would agree to do anything, he had to be certain of some doubts. "And what if your mother is awake? What if she already has her wand?"

           "She doesn't. Or else she would've found me with it by now." She revealed.

           "You're saying she can track you?" He asked. Jane only nodded in response. "Could you track people using it? Anybody, not just your own kind?"

           "I'd need something of their's, but theoretically, yes," She confirmed.

           "Alright, let's get going," He finished off, heading out the entrance of the Enchanted Lake. Jax's shirt was damp and Jane's hair was still drying. She left still clutching the water squirter, probably wanting something to hold on top or to just take the stress off of being defenseless.

            If Jane could track people, all he needed was something of Binx's and Allie's to find them and they could all be together and finally leave. It was hopeful, it was child-like hope, but Jax was desperate, he'd do anything at this point.

♝♗

           By the time they were in the middle of the woods, Jax started to think of some negative and questioning thoughts. It got so bad that he couldn't wait before asking, "Jane," He called out, "Why do you really want to help me?"

           The question made her stop, and look back at him, he had already halted and remained silent, "It's the right thing to do," She replied quietly, starting the trail again.

           Jax's eyes grew a bit, and started walking alongside her, "That's a load of bullcrap. What's the real reason?"

           Jane was the one who stopped this time and only stared at him, but before she could answer, they were met with a loud roar.

           "What was that?"

           "I have no idea." And without a second thought, she zoomed out to the source of the sound.

           "Wha- Jane! You do not go running toward the monstrous noise! For the bloody queen's sake," He cursed, following behind her.

           When he caught up to her he found the young fairy standing partly frozen in fear in front of a large creature.

           Jax couldn't make much of it since the second that the monster saw someone else, it attacked. Though he could have sworn it was wearing a blue outfit and was covered in fur from head to (possibly) toe.

           The monster lunged forward to Jax, which made him instinctively grab Jane away from the danger that was headed her way when the beast saw that he avoided his swing. "Jane!" They fell and rolled up behind a tree, both of them panting with their heads against the tree.

           "I heard the fey made friends with all types of creatures but did you have to pick that one?" He remarked sarcastically.

           Jane ignored the frantic Hatter. "He's scared," She informed him, "And angry," She paused for a second, "But there's also something familiar about him like I know him." Jane peeked her head out to see the beast roaming around, most likely looking for them. "Jax?"

           "Yes, Jane?"

           "His jacket, look at the symbol on his jacket!" She practically dragged him to the corner of the tree.

           "Is that-" He cut himself off when the beast turned around and they saw the big symbol of the Old King, King Beast. The two young allies knew that the actual King Beast was much bigger, this one was smaller, almost younger, which lead to one conclusion.

           "It's Ben," Jane confirmed.

           But just as she confirmed it, the young ruler ran off when it heard new sounds.

           "Audrey cursed him," She deduced and then took a long look at the water squirted that lay deserted on the ground from when Jax saved her. "I think I know what to do." She grabbed it off the ground and followed after beastly Ben.

           Jax stood there, looking at her run towards danger once more before sighing heavily, "Auradoners are literally going to be the death of me." He muttered, going in the same direction.

♝♗

So, I had to include them trying to use Enchanted Lake water to wake people up, because it's used to make Ben semi-normal again and protected Jane from the curse but they never use it to see if it works on the sleepers??? Um???

Also, it made sense that Jane would've been following Beast!Ben around to spray him instead of just appearing out of nowhere. My girl deserved more scenes.

If anyone's curious, Jane could tell what Beast!Ben was feeling because she's a fairy, and emphatic abilities are a common power in multiple types of faeries.

Jane is a fairy. Her mother is the Fairy Godmother. She's a fairy. This isn't brand new information. And since she's a human type of fairy, the way for her being born really reminds me of how Athena was born in Greek mythology.

The great thing about faeries is there are a bunch of different versions and adaptions of them that there are no specific rules as to how they should function or look like or anything really. The main thing they all have in common is having an origin with nature.

For my version of the type of fairy that Jane and her mom are is this:

- So in Greek mythology, Athena was born out of Zeus' mind. If any of you have read the Percy Jackson books you should know that all of Athena's children are also born out of her mind.

- When I think about how Jane could have been born I immediately think of Athena (and Annabeth, her daughter in the PJO books).  Basically, the Fairy Godmother wanted a child of her own so she made one. I wouldn't say specifically out of her head, just that Jane was made not born. In my version, the type of fairy that the FGM is are all made out of other faeries, like Athena with her kids in the PJO series and onwards.

- Jane isn't a golem or made out of sticks or anything, she's a person with a human body, she's a fairy and has a brain with ideas and hopes and insecurities. She was just born out of her mothers' power, her heart, her head, whatever you wanna think because those are the secrets of the Fey. A part of her mother went into her to create Jane.

Other Faeries you may know:

- Maleficent is a type of dark fairy. This isn't a species thing. All faeries are just faeries. If the faeries use their power for dark things then they get the title of dark fairy. Maleficent was a type of fairy that is born and can also birth children; like Mal. Her type have always been in a form similar to humans, unlike the Three Good Faeries.

- The Three Good Faeries are a type of fairy that is naturally small, like Tinker Bell, only they can grow to look human and maintain their wings. They are also the type to be made, not born.

- Since Neverland is canon in the Descendants Universe, then so is Tinker Bell, if you were curious, her type of fairy is obviously made when a baby laughs for the first time. I love that type of origin, it's beautiful so I'm keeping it. Unlike the Three Good Faeries, Tinker Bell's type cannot grow to appear human, they are always small.

These are just a few famous faeries you may be familiar with, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of different fey and that's what makes it fun, there's no limit, but there you have a few of my own versions.

♝♗♝♗♝♗

I really loved Jane in the third movie, I thought maybe she'd end up having the answer or fixing something. Like that trick with the Enchanted Lake and then semi-curing Ben? My girls' the MVP.

But then they did her dirty and just had her sat outside with Gil and Doug not doing anything. Like??? That pissed me off.

So, I'm fixing it and giving her the recognition she rightfully deserves.

Also, waking Doug was unnecessary and as much as I love Evie and Sofia Carson, One Kiss was also unnecessary because Doug literally didn't do anything in the movie after he woke up. Though the song is catchy, it had no reason to help the movie or any major plot point.

Anyway, I wanted some background into how Jax and Jane met up and formed a little alliance.

♝♗

In AYM? The majority of the titles were either a phrase or word spoken by someone or just something in a paragraph.

The titles of the chapters in Bonkers have all been Imagine Dragons songs that make me think about this fic, and they have a reason for being the title.

Wanna go back and check out other titles and see if you can figure them out? Also, keep a lookout for the next chapter titles!

AGAIN!
My ideas of the faeries are my own, they aren't specific towards any book or fandom, except for the Tinker Bell one in this case. These are my own adaptions so please don't go all know-it-all in the comments.
Thank you, I hope you enjoyed the read.

no mundanes allowed
- polaroized