Chapter Text
“(Y/N).”
When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t stop my smile, “Sora,” I moved forward to hug him, but stopped. Sora had a look on his face, it was a cross between concern and mad, “What’s wrong?”
“(Y/N),” Sora looked at me seriously, “You have a problem. It’s Jamil.”
I frowned, “Tell me something I don’t know,” I sighed, “Don’t worry, I’m going to avoid him as much as possible. I don’t want to spend any time with him.”
Sora placed a hand on my shoulder, “(Y/N), it’s worse than you think,” that made me feel uneasy, “I think Jamil’s onto you.”
My eyes widened, “What?”
“I saw Jamil going to the room he had you and Grim trapped in during the first part of Winter Break,” Sora explained, “He was looking at the door, like he was looking for clues. Then he made this creepy grin and sang, ‘Your lies are too good to last. Your personality flaws give him adequate cause to send you packing on a one way trip, so your prospects take a terminal dip. And all that remains is tied up in chains for the rest of eternity. So long prefect (Y/N).’”
That made a chill go up my spine, “You… you’re positive that’s what happened?”
Sora scowled, “It was like listening to Jafar’s stupid victory song all over again.”
The chill spread through my body as I held myself. Jamil knew something? Did he remember his overblot? If Jamil proved I was a Keyblade Wielder, I’d lose everything. The fear and anxiety swirled through my head, I thought I was about to fall when I felt Sora’s hands.
“Hey, hey look at me,” his gentle tone made me look up. He looked just as worried as me, “We’ll get through this. You can get through this,” he told me, “You beat him once, you can do it again. If he does know something he has no proof.”
“But what if he demands proof?” I asked, “What if he demands to know how I escaped the room. Sora I can’t pick locks.”
“So, what if he does?” Sora asked, “Think about it,” he reminded gently, “He kidnapped you, held you prisoner. You had every right to escape his confinement no matter what the cost, hell you’d have every right to break down the door to escape, what right does he have to know how you escaped a dangerous and toxic environment?”
Sora’s logic caused me to calm down, “I… I also broke into his room.”
“You were uncovering a plot against Kalim,” Sora reminded, “You were looking for proof and frankly, that charm was stolen from you. You had every right to take it back.”
“What if we’re alone?” I asked, “What if he hypnotizes me again.”
“You know his tricks,” Sora reminded, “You said you were going to avoid him right? Do it,” Sora gently held my hand, “(Y/N), he’s the one who hurt you. You’re the victim not him. He has no right to demand anything from you. If he tries to guilt you into spending time with him, don’t.”
“But I’m not afraid,” I lied.
Sora shook his head, “Don’t do that. Don’t put yourself in danger trying to prove a point. He’s never going to respect you.”
“I know that,” I said.
“So, stop trying to earn it,” Sora said, “I know you want the overblotters to change, like Riddle did. But sometimes they’re just a lost cause. Trying to give them a chance isn’t allowing them to make things right, you’re just condoning their behavior,” Sora huffed, “I’d be scared for Kalim if he didn’t drive Jamil insane.”
“I’m not…” I trailed off. Sora was right, I mean I hated Jamil, but… “He was hit when he was a kid,” I told him, “He just won a game against Kalim and his parents hit him for it. They forced him to not do better than Kalim and…”
I closed my eyes, trying to stop the tears. I was angry with myself for feeling remorse.
I felt Sora wipe my tears, “You’re a good person (Y/N),” he sighed, “But you heard Jamil when he woke up. Kalim gave him a chance, and he just pushed him away. Sure what happened to him was bad, but it doesn’t justify what he did. You can’t fix him; he has to fix himself. The best thing you can do is make sure he doesn’t hurt you. You don’t owe him anything.”
I let his words sink in. I remembered what my parents said. If there’s bad people in your life, cut them out. That’s it.
I took in a deep breath, “I don’t even know what I was thinking,” I nodded, “You’re right,” I took in another breath, “Everyone knows what Jamil did now. He’s normally cautious, so he won’t approach me rashly,” I thought about his signature spell, “He might try to get to me through my friends I’ll… I’ll tell Grim, Ace, Deuce, Jack and the others at Heartslabyul just to be safe,” I sighed, “Why’d he have to have a mind control spell?”
“Don’t know,” Sora thought, “What about Azul?”
“What about him?” I asked.
“Azul likes him, because he’s also a despicable human being,” Sora reminded him, “He might get help from there.”
“You think he’d ask Azul for help?”
“No, I think he’d try to hypnotize Azul again,” Sora said.
I felt myself going pale, “Azul and Jamil working together is a nightmare I don’t want to live in.”
Azul was suspicious of me as well, but due to a misunderstanding I chose not to clear up, people thought Azul tried to sexually harass me, so Azul and the twins had to keep their distances from me for the sake of their reputation.
“I can see why,” Sora sighed, “I don’t like the idea, but maybe you should give Azul a heads-up just in case.”
I groaned, “Not looking forward to that conversation.”
“Try to hang in there,” Sora encouraged, “At least until I get there,” Sora cracked his knuckles, “Jamil and I will be having a conversation when I get there.”
I smiled, “I already kicked him in the face.”
“And I’m going to punch him in the face and give him a bloody nose,” Sora smiled.
I laughed before giving him a hug. Sora was the kindest, bravest, and most honest guy I met. When I first came to Twisted Wonderland, he appeared in my dreams and helped me through so much. Like me, Sora was a Keyblade Wielder. In my opinion he was the greatest Keyblade Wielder and deserved to be a Keyblade Master. I knew, because I also saw his past in my dreams. Sora, saved all the worlds multiple times. He was a hero, he was my hero. Honestly, I was in love with him.
Sadly, he already had a girlfriend. A girl named Kairi. I had to accept that, I knew how much he loved Kairi and how happy she made him. So, I tried to focus on that, and be glad Sora was happy.
“We’ll get through this,” Sora said again, “I’ll be with you (Y/N), no matter what happens.”
If only Sora didn’t make it so hard.
%%%%%%%
Winter Break came to an end. I explained everything to my friends and told them to be careful around Jamil.
I did my best to be careful as well. If I was walking down the hall and saw Jamil, I quickly went the other way. I sat as far from him in the cafeteria as possible.
I only agreed to hang out with Kalim if Jamil wasn’t there. Which was usually during his Pop Music Club time, or when Jamil had basketball practice.
For about the first week and a half there was no trouble. Jamil didn’t approach me at all. I was starting to think Sora was mistaken. Until one day.
Ace had forgotten an assignment from Professor Trein’s class. Professor Trein was the strictest teacher in the school. He was tied with Professor Crewel in the scariest teacher’s department. Wanting to spare Ace trouble, I went to the Basketball practice to find Ace to give him his assignment.
When Grim and I entered the gym, he was no where in sight.
“We come all the way here and he’s gone?” Grim asked.
“He’s not answering his phone Grim, that usually means he’s practicing,” I reminded.
“Heya Shrimpy and Sealie,” I felt my eye twitch when I heard his voice.
“What do you want Floyd?”
He giggled as he threw an arm around my shoulder, “What, I can’t come by to say hello to my favorite Shrimpy?”
I elbowed him in the chest, “Hands off, I’m here to give Ace his assignment, have you seen him?”
“Crabby just went to the locker room to get his water bottle,” Floyd said, “He should be back soon,” then in an act of Floyd randomness, he picked up Grim and ran off, “Sealie let’s play.”
Grim yowled, “(Y/N) help me!”
“Grim!” I chased Floyd down and somehow managed to get Grim back.
“Myah,” Grim ran out of the gym, “I’m outta here.”
I groaned, “Way to go Floyd.”
“What? I wanted to see if he could fit in the basket.”
I rolled my eyes and sat in the bleachers. Ace was taking a while, so I took out my sketchbook and colored pencils and started drawing. I was drawing the lantern festival showed me. I was planning on painting it later, but I wanted to make a draft first.
After a few minutes, I noticed someone had walked up to me. It must had been Ace.
“About time Ace,” I set my sketchbook aside to get the assignment, “You know if Professor Trein saw you forget an assignment you’d…” I trailed off when I saw Jamil standing in front of me. I quickly looked down, telling myself to not make eye contact. I quickly told myself to calm down before speaking, “Is there something I can help you with Jamil?”
“I saw you sitting here,” he said in a casual tone, “I was just wondering what you’re doing.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked not looking up, “I’m drawing.”
“Why?”
“Because Ace apparently can’t find his stupid water bottle and come back, so I’m killing time,” I told him picking my sketch book up, “If that’s all Jamil, then go away.”
“No need to be hostile,” Jamil said, “I was simply going to suggesting going somewhere else to draw.”
“Well, I’m so sorry that my drawing is too loud for your practice,” I said sarcastically.
“It’s not that,” Jamil said, “Sometimes our practices can get unpredictable, you might get hit with a ball and ruin your lovely drawing.”
Like he cared, “I’m here to give Ace an assignment from Professor Trein’s class. I’ll leave when that happens.”
Jamil hummed, “How about waiting outside?” Jamil suggested, “You can check in every few minutes to see if Ace is there.”
“If I do that, will you go away?” I made it clear by my tone I didn’t like him.
“Yes.”
“Fine,” I put my things in my bag and began walking towards the exit. Sadly, Jamil had decided to walk with me.
“I know where the exit is,” I told him.
“I’m just making sure you don’t get hit by the other players,” Jamil said, I rolled my eyes.
“Uh-huh.”
We exited the gym, “Here’s a bench.”
I sat down, “Now will you leave,” I refused to look at him.
“Most people say, ‘thank you,’” he sounded annoyed. Then out of nowhere he brushed the top of my head.
“I didn’t asked to be removed like I was a nuisance,” I reminded, I swatted his hand away, “And don’t touch me.”
He scowled, “You had something in your hair, I was only getting it out,” If Jamil was trying to guilt trip me, it wasn’t going to work. Thankfully he was done, “Fine I got practice anyway.”
Jamil finally left.
“From now on, Ace can fail for all I care.”
%%%%%
A few days passed. I hadn’t spoken to Jamil, until…
“We’ll be having a joint class between freshmen and sophomores,” Professor Crewel announced, “Today, you pups will be paired with a sophomore and work on creating a sleeping potion.”
Normally, that would be fine except for one problem. Class 1-A was working with Class 2-C. That was Jamil’s class!
The freshmen stood on one side while the sophomores stood on the other. I couldn’t help but glance at Jamil.
“Now, I will assign your pairs,” Professor Crewel said.
Don’t pair me up with Jamil, don’t pair me up with Jamil! I mentally begged. I’ll take anyone else, I’ll even take Azul, just don’t pair me up with Jamil!
“(Y/N)…” I froze when my name was called, “You’ll work with Henry.”
I nearly cried in relief. I wasn’t paired with Jamil. I looked towards Henry, I didn’t know him that well, but I knew he was a beastman in Heartslabyul. His ears looked round, maybe he was a mouse or something.
Right before he walked towards me, Jamil approached him and said something to him. That made me nervous. What was he doing? But Jamil then Jamil patted his shoulder and walked away and Henry approached me.
“Are you ready?” He asked. I looked at him for a minute. He didn’t seem to be acting weird.
“What did Jamil want to talk to you about?” I asked.
“We have an elective after this,” Henry answered, “He wanted to ask about an assignment.”
I hummed, “Alright, let’s-…” All of sudden I started coughing. My throat was irritated all of a sudden.
Henry looked concerned, “A-are you okay?” He stepped closer.
I opened my mouth to say I was alright, but the irritation in my throat just got worse, and my eyes started to water. I had to lean on the table as I began to feel weaker.
“What’s going on here kitty? Your not permitted to cough up hairballs!” Professor Crewel came over immediately, calling me by his personal nickname.
“I don’t know,” Henry stepped away towards our teacher, “She just started coughing.”
Weirdly enough, I began to feel better. I stood up straight and breathed, “I’m fine now,” I took a step towards them, “I think I was-…” When I got closer to Henry, my coughing fit started up again. I had to take a couple steps back to the table, but then I was fine again.
Professor Crewel hummed before pushing Henry towards me. When he did, I started coughing and wheezing. Professor Crewel pulled him back and I stopped.
I was gasping, trying to calm down, “What’s going on?”
“It might be possible that you’re allergic to Henry,” Professor Crewel said.
“Allergic?” I asked, “I don’t have any allergies.”
“It’s not impossible,” Professor Crewel said, “Some people who are allergic to cats can be allergic to cat beastmen.”
“I’m not allergic to mice,” I said, “I’ve been Henry before,” I attended Heartslabyul tea parties and unbirthday parties. I never had this reaction to Henry before.
“It might be possible Henry did or ate something,” Professor Crewel looked at him with a scowl, “We can’t have (Y/N) coughing through the assignment. We’ll have to switch. Jamil, come!”
I flinched, “Jamil?”
“You called Professor?” Jamil asked, his expression as impassive as usual.
“You’ll switch with Henry and work with (Y/N)!”
I panicked, I couldn’t let this happen, “Wait, Professor, can’t I work with someone else?”
“Sit,” he ordered me. I sat on the stool, “Jamil is the most trained pup when it comes to medical emergencies. He follows safety protocols to the letter and when there’s an emergency he was successful in handling them. He’s the best guard dog for a sick kitten.”
More like a fox guarding the hen house!
“If she’s not comfortable,” Jamil said, “I could recommend someone else.”
I had to suppress the urge to tackle Jamil and claw out his eyes again. He knew fully well that Professor Crewel was stubborn and he also knew how to play the concerned senior when it best suited the situation.
“I told you to stay,” Professor Crewel said, “You’ll help (Y/N) with this assignment and that is final! Now both of you sit!”
“As you wish sir,” Jamil took the stool next to me.
I saw him put on a new pair of gloves. Wait, wasn’t he wearing a pair when he was talking to Henry? I looked back at Henry. I saw a small smudge on the back of his shoulder.
I remembered Jamil patting his shoulder there. Did Jamil do something? He couldn’t have, if he made a sneezing potion or something like that wouldn’t everyone in class be sneezing.
Then again I did read somewhere that some potions were made to effect certain people, but that could only happen if they had something from the person, like their hair or…
I suddenly remembered when I went to basketball practice to find Ace. Jamil brushed the top of my head saying there was something in my hair.
If I wasn’t afraid of his signature spell, I’d be looking at Jamil in disgust and horror. I bit my lip to keep myself from turning my head.
I should have known, it would have been too risky for Jamil to use his signature spell on Henry, so he did something else. We all knew were going to have a joint lesson, Professor Crewel announced it last week. Despite his twisted nature, Jamil was a model student in terms of behavior. He didn’t act out, he volunteered to help the teachers. Thus he was considered a responsible and safe student. And now that Professor Crewel thought I had allergies or was sick Jamil would be the perfect one to watch me.
Damn him…
“Are you ready (Y/N)?” Jamil asked. I could hear the smirk in his voice. It made me want to slap him.
I had to tell myself over and over again to not tackle him to the floor and try to kill him. He believed that I was hiding something, he believed I was beneath him. If I acted violently I’d just be proving him right. I just needed to not make eye contact and not create any opportunities for him to make eye contact. I gritted my teeth and tried to bear it.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I began to look over the ingredients I was also going over scenarios that Jamil could use to make me make eye contact.
He could try to splash some ingredients in my face, then acting as a concerned senior he make me face him so he could make sure said ingredients didn’t get in my eyes.
I was wearing goggles so that wouldn’t be an issue.
He could pretend to be clumsy and knock off my goggles with a flailing hand.
I pushed myself as far from him as I could, so he couldn’t reach me. Which earned me a funny look, “What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” I told him, “Let’s just get to work.”
I placed the cauldron on the stove and began heating it up.
I began to measure the amount of poppy seeds needed. They’d need to be crushed into powder.
“Jamil, please crush these poppy seeds,” I poured the seeds into a bowl before pushing them to Jamil.
“Very well,” Jamil simply said. He began crushing them without complaint, “I’m surprised we’re doing a sleeping potion.”
“It’s what Professor Crewel wants us to make,” I simply said as I grabbed some nuts.
“I didn’t think he’d ask that of the freshmen,” Jamil noted, “Sleeping magic is very advanced.”
“Oh is it?” I tried to end the conversation, “I learned something new today.”
“Well, I can’t help but wonder,” Jamil thought, “During Winter Break, Kalim passed out.”
I felt myself scowl, “What, you can’t just order someone to fall asleep?”
“No,” Jamil said, “My signature spell doesn’t have that kind of control. My spell wasn’t responsible for Kalim to fall asleep that night.”
“Huh?” I said, “Maybe he was so exhausted from all the things you made him do!”
“Kalim has unlimited energy,” Jamil said annoyed, “I know that better than anyone. Also, I still wonder how all of Scarabia fell asleep during my overblot,” I could feel Jamil’s eyes on me, “You wouldn’t happen to know would you?”
“Of course not,” I told him, “You hypnotized me along with everyone.”
“Did I?” He inquired, “Kalim said that when he arrived, I was trying to kill you. Why?”
“I don’t remember,” I lied, “All I remember is waking up and being in pain because of a certain someone!” I nearly snapped as held up a knife, “Now if you’re done with the poppy seeds, can you please mix six of those midnight feathers into them.”
“The others are mixing in much more.”
“Well, they’re wrong,” I said, “It’s a new moon tonight, the feathers potency are much stronger,” I used the flat of the small knife to squish the nuts. Doing that made the juice come out easier.
“What are you doing?” Jamil asked as he watched me.
“What does it look like I’m getting the juice,” I told him.
I could feel Jamil’s condescending look, “Professor Crewel said that we need to cut them.”
“Well, he’s either wrong or lying to test us.”
During the anemone incident, I found a box hidden in the Coral Sea. Inside was a book, filled with knowledge about the keyblade. History, spells, attacks, and recipes for creating potions and magic stones. They also had tips and hints like squishing fruit, and adding something to make the potions more effective. Like salt.
I sprinkled salt over some petals.
“What are you doing?” Jamil tried to stop me, “The recipe doesn’t call for-…” I slapped his hand away before he could stop me.
“I know what I’m doing,” with that I put the salted petals into the potion and raised my hand, “Professor we’re done.”
“We’re what?” Jamil exclaimed.
“Let me see,” Professor Crewel came over to inspect our cauldron.
“Professor,” Jamil said, “You should know that (Y/N) didn’t follow the recipe so-…”
“Good girl.”
“What?”
“You’re the first to finish and from what I can tell, it’s very potent,” Professor Crewel stirred the potion around, “Just a sip would put you in a coma like sleep for hours,” Professor Crewel looked at Jamil, “And what did you do, Mister Viper.”
“He crushed the poppy seeds and mixed in the midnight feathers,” I answered.
“How… standard,” Professor Crewel took our cauldron, “I’ll review this further.”
With that he walked away.
I could tell Jamil looked at me, “How did you do that?”
“Do what?” I asked bored as I pulled out my sketchbook.
“You know what,” Jamil sounded annoyed, “Professor Crewel barely gives out praise like that.”
“Mad I stole your thunder?” I asked, “Maybe if you spent time working instead of chatting, you’d probably done something worth noting.”
Jamil paused for a second, “Of course not. I’m glad to have been partnered with such an amazing partner.”
“I don’t need lip service,” I flipped to a blank page, “Especially from you. Now if you don’t mind, we still have a half hour, and I need to finish a draft. That requires silence.”
Jamil was getting nothing from me.
%%%%%
Jamil could only watch as (Y/N) draw in her sketchbook. He was surprised that she was so good at potionology. He thought she was a clutz.
Jamil knew the midnight feathers effects were stronger, but her crushing the nuts and sprinkling salt on the flower petals just seemed strange. Yet they made the potion stronger.
The sound of a cauldron clanging onto the ground and spilling their work.
“What is this?” Professor Crewel stormed across the lab, “Who made a mess!”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Grim complained.
“Yeah, it was!” An angry sophomore argued.
That made Jamil glance around at Ace and Deuce. Ace had a nervous look as he talked to his partner. Jamil knew Ace was a slacker and would try to get out of his work.
When he saw Deuce, he looked like he was having a hard time understanding the book.
Ah. So that was it. (Y/N) was smart but she had befriended three idiots who stupidity eclipsed her. Jamil could actually relate. He had his hands full with Kalim, (Y/N) had three morons to manage.
At the end of class Professor Crewel presented the top best potions in class. (Y/N) and his was considered the best, the second best was Azul’s and whoever he partnered up with.
“Finally we’re done,” (Y/N) immediately got up and walked away when class was done. Jamil could only watch.
He knew this wasn’t going to be easy. (Y/N) was cautious and was doing everything she could to avoid Jamil. They were only partners because Jamil spread a powder he made with (Y/N)’s hair on Henry’s shoulder. The effects would make whoever the hair belonged to feel sick. Not enough to kill them, just enough to make it seem like they had allergies.
Now, (Y/N) had proven she would be more difficult to understand.
However, Jamil wasn’t going to give up. He was going to find whatever (Y/N) was hiding, no matter what.