Riah lit up before any of them even knew what it was and he raced over to it, running his hands over the railings. When they joined him, confused, it was to see the biggest smile they'd ever seen on his face. "It's a lift. Dad made me one at home, kind of, but I always need either him or Hara to operate it because I can't manipulate metal like them, so I never use it. This one has buttons- I can use it without help!" His eyes were alight. "No more falling down the stairs!"
Fucking finally. Despite how hellish his week had been, Jay couldn't help but grin. To see Riah- who'd been so close to death only the day before- so excited about something, to see such a beautiful smile, it made the tension melt away.
At least it did until Fairy Godmother ruined it.
"What on earth is going on here?!" Riah's joy vanished as the six whipped around. The small fae had fury in her eyes as she stormed over to them. Riah shrank against the lift, free hand closing around one of the railings as if to keep it there. "You can't make modifications without permission! This lift is clearly unauthorized! It needs to be taken down and-"
"It was my idea, Fairy Godmother." All eyes went to the source of the voice. A young woman maybe a touch younger than them, with dark red locs, medium brown skin, and dark eyes, was smiling at the lift. She was in a lightweight racing wheelchair with spikes on the handles. Behind her was someone with darker skin, long, white hair, and dark blue eyes, who walked with two forearm crutches. The person gave them a welcoming smile as the girl turned her attention to Fairy Godmother. "I have friends in this wing, headmistress, but I can't visit them. I asked Mr Jabari to create this lift so that I can attend Audrey's study sessions. I'm sorry about it not being authorized, but the request I put in last year is still in review and a lift is required."
Winter Nolan stepped forward, holding up her phone like a shield. "That's right. According to the Auradonians with Disabilities Act, all buildings over two floors must have at least one ramp, lift, or elevator for every flight of stairs, even for flights as small as a single stair. This building has none of these for this first set of stairs, so it is required by Auradon law that one be put in within six months of the issue first being bought to attention. For schools, workplaces, or public buildings where a student or employee is disabled, these measures must be put in within three months. The penalty for refusing to provide a ramp or a wheelchair or lift that cannot be operated without help is a charge of up to twenty thousand dollars and this fine will repeat for three times, leading to a cumulative fee of sixty thousand dollars, for every two months after the initial complaint if measures are not put into place. After these three strikes, a location can be shut down for refusing to comply with international law."
"I want all eleven million of my people watching this live across every social media platform I'm on-" Winter continued, voice hard, "To know that complaints have been filed for at least five years, but no action was taken to enforce the laws Ariel insisted be put into place across the alliance. I would also like to remind everyone watching that the six students the headmistress decided to yell at- Mal, Claudine, Jay, Carlos, Genevive, and Zachariah- are the students transferred from the Isle. Zachariah, the boy with the cane, has fallen down these stairs-" she panned to the staircase, then back, "Once, and he broke several bones. I would like to know why these six in particular, coincidentally being of a disadvantaged group unjustly punished for actions the rest of us get away with, are the ones she decided to start screaming at, instead of at the person who commissioned the lift, Elspeth Delphis, or at the person who installed it, Jabari of Agrabah.
"I would also like to remind everyone that these are the students who, as seen in my broadcast yesterday which currently stands at nearly a billion views, were treated unfairly by faculty, the king and queen of Auradon, and by the police officers sent to intercept them on campus. These students were humiliated in front of everyone by an illegal pat-down, which is discussed in the previous video. When one of the cops- a male cop, I might add- decided that these students needed to be strip-searched, they were denied every right they have. As we all know, a strip search must be carried out by an officer of the same sex and gender identity at the police station with a parent or guardian aware, consenting, and present in the room at all times. These six were going to be strip-searched by male police at the school without their guardians present. The king and queen allowed this clear violation of these students' rights. When one of these students froze up- an entirely reasonable reaction, I think- he, Zachariah, was ripped out of his wheelchair and thrown to the ground in front of the entire schoolyard. I would also like to make everyone aware that this student, the boy with the cane, had undergone an extremely delicate procedure, a lung transplant, earlier that day. Meaning this student had a lung transplant yesterday. Why was this student in the quad instead of in a hospital, recovering? Because the headmistress insisted that a lung transplant was not enough to warrant missing class. So, for these past two days, this student has been attending class when there hasn't even been enough time to determine if his body will reject the lung transplant. That's one hell of an accomplishment, if you ask me, and it's one he never should have been forced to make. This student should be in the hospital, not getting yelled at in public for the installation of a lift required by law following a potentially-lethal fall down the stairs during which he broke several bones when the installation of the lift wasn't even his idea.
"I don't know, all fifteen million of you currently watching, does what I just described sound legal in any way? To me, heir princess of Snow White's kingdom, it sounds illegal at every turn." She turned the phone on Fairy Godmother. "Fairy Godmother, headmistress of this school, do you care to comment on any of what I just said?"
For just a second, horror and remorse flashed in her eyes. But something else flashed- something Jay couldn't name- and her gaze became cunning. "If Elspeth was the one to request the lift, she should be the only one to use it. She is, after all, the only one in a wheelchair."
"According to the ADA, access to accessibility services are never to be restricted when required," Winter shot back. "For a lift, ramp, or elevator, the following are considered disabilities that require those services- cerebral palsy-" the person with white hair smiled, "Paralysis of any limb-" Elspeth nodded, "Any disability that inhibits motor function or the ability to walk without use of a mobility aid in any way-" she nodded to Riah's cane, "Chronic conditions of the lung and/or heart-" again, to Riah, "Chronic pain disorders, epilepsy, blindness or any other sensory disability, and any other disability or condition that may cause difficulty using stairs safely and effectively. I know that Zachariah has at least two of those. Kyan Thatch, oldest descendant of Queen Kida and King Milo Thatch-" she nodded to the one with white hair, "Has at least one. One of you faculty, Crutchie Morris, who has paralysis in one leg and partial paralysis in one arm following a polio infection, has at least one. Will you deny all of these people and more their legal right to use this lift?"
Jay wouldn't pretend to know half of the legal stuff she was saying, but she seemed to be right. Fairy Godmother searched for a way out of the hole for several seconds, but there was only one. "Very well, they may use this lift."
"And there we have it." As Winter Nolan closed out her video, Elspeth and Kyan came up to them.
"I don't know which room is yours," Kyan whispered, trying not to be overheard, "But you need to show us to it. We need to talk in private now."
