Fate's Gift

Chapter 10: Did I Mention

The VK's were all in the school kitchen

"How were you guys allowed in there without supervision?" Jamila asked. "I thought that was against the rules."

"And why is Dude in a bowl?" Andrew asked.

Mal looked down, actually looking embarrassed as she said "Ms. Potts took one look at us and said we were allowed access whenever we wanted."

"Remind me to send Camille a thank you basket." Tiana whispered to Naveen, who nodded his head in agreement.

Andrew raised his hand and shouted, "That still doesn't answer why Dude is in a bowl!"

Carlos chuckled, "I wasn't going to let him roam the kitchen. I put the blanket in the bowl, and then washed it before we left."

"All right, it says here that we still need one tear, and I never cry." Mal said.

"Never?" Sandra questioned. "How is that even possible?"

"Crying is weakness." Mal told her. "Weakness isn't allowed on the Isle."

"It's better to grin and bear it." Carlos added. He looked lost in the past as he said, "The punishment for crying was worse than whatever made you cry."

Anita covered her mouth to hold back a sob at the blank tone the kids talked in. How old were they when they learned that they could no longer cry? Two? Four? Six? When did they start to fear it instead?

Carlos said that they could just cut up some onions, and Mal whined that it had to be a tear of human sadness. She said that this love potion got the best reviews, so they needed to follow it exactly.

"Reviews? Like... one to five stars?" Tyrone asked.

Mal laughed, "More like my mom just adding in little notes. To be honest, I don't think this was her spell. It sounds like it was someone else's that she jotted down."

"That makes a lot more sense." Tyrone said. Maleficent stealing a love spell instead of creating one of her own was much more believable.

Jay said that a tear is a tear, and Evie told him that that wasn't true. She then explained the difference between an emotional tear and a reflex tear. Mal praised her while the boys began to bicker.

"Go Evie!" Jackson Sweet yelled, causing a small smile to show on the girl's face.

Before anyone could say anything else, Lonnie slipped into the room, causing Mal to quickly cover her spellbook.. "There you are Mal!" She exclaimed in joy, before explaining that she had been looking for her, and telling her that all the other girls wanted her to do their hair.

"You know, magic does take energy." Fairy Godmother said with a frown. "I might not agree with Mal using her magic by doing hair spells, but if she is going to do them, she shouldn't be doing so many so close together. At least not until she's used to her magic!"

Lonnie flushed, and Mal wanted to assure her that everything was okay, but she couldn't. She had been tired after doing so many spells, and she knew the only reason she didn't drop was the influence from her godly heritage.

Fairy Godmother also noticed Lonnie's face, and gently told her. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad. You and the other students haven't learned about magic. I'm just letting you know that for a fairy who hasn't used much magic, using too much too fast can lead to them getting sick." She shot Mal a stern look. "Very sick."

Mal purposefully ignored the looks of concern coming from not just her friends and Ben, but even from the Fitzherbert family. She was fine, she had rested, and she had her... father's influence. Out of everything she was worried about, magical sickness was the least on the list.