Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cerise could sense Raven’s magic like a physical thing. Even when not casting, it took up the entire space of a room, stretching out luxuriously, greedily, around and through whoever might occupy the same space. It was this that often had people scurrying away from her, scared of things that they knew were stronger and more dominant than them. Cerise knew that Raven was frustrated by her power. She had confided in her that she didn’t want people to run away. She wanted people to go towards her, to think of her as someone to be loved and trusted. She didn’t want to frighten people with her gifts. She just wanted her magic to go away and never come back. Cerise knew that would never happen.

While Raven and others were frightened of her power, Cerise was not. Cerise was unafraid not because she knew that Raven’s magic wasn’t dangerous and powerful but rather because its strength was something to be revered. Wolves like her always adhered to the leader of the pack. They could sense a force stronger than them and respect it while others were apt to run away. Cerise was a predator, and unlike prey she understood the values of strength that lay within danger. Of power that could destroy but also protect.

Cerise was unafraid and could sense and understand such a power better than anyone else, perhaps even better than Raven herself. The gifts she inherited from her father had given her a way of sensing the world around her that was more hypersensitive and precise than most people knew, save for a few like Kitty or even a fellow wolf. They were creatures of the wild that held onto instincts that humans had long buried. Creatures like her could smell a storm in the air even during the sunniest of days with nary a cloud blotting the sky. They could feel it in their bones like an itch or a whisper on the wind that caused shivers to run down Cerise’s spine, nothing to do with cold and everything to do with magic and promise. The force of change that Raven had so boldly set into motion on Legacy day could not be contained and could not be stopped.

To Cerise, Raven was like a much-needed storm in the middle of a long drought, all fierce wind and heavy rain, dumping desperately needed waters onto parched and weary earth. Such a force of change could be dangerous that Cerise knew, instinctively, like all living things do when confronted with forces much stronger than them, but she also knew something else. Sometimes harsh winds of change were needed. Sometimes dead and unneeded branches had to be torn down from their trees to allow newer and fuller branches of life to grow. Forces like these had their place too. Things had continued as they were for far too long anyway.

***

Cerise stood in the usual long lunch line in the castleteria, her stomach growling at her angrily. She waited as patiently as she could with Sparrow Hood and his Merry Men messing around behind her, laughing loudly and rudely at the other students and pick-pocketing the wayward first year students who had not yet learnt to keep their money as far away from them as possible. The line inched forward, finally, after Duchess at the head of the line had finished loudly demanding a garden salad instead of accepting today’s beef and mashed potatoes.

“Unbelievable!”

Cerise heard Duchess shout none too quietly, her sensitive ears twitching at the sound underneath her hood.

“The nerve of some people” Duchess sniffed as the haggard lunch lady troll behind the counter finally managed to scrounge up some lettuce and tomatoes from the kitchen and throw it on her plate.

Cerise watched Duchess flip her hair in disdain and walk daintily away, a grace and beauty in her step apparent even while walking, a grace that Cerise would better appreciate if not for her rumbling stomach and Duchesses’ loud and unpleasant voice. She was a dancer yes, but a songstress she was not.

The line inched forward and Humphrey Dumpty collected his food, the tray rattling in his hands, his food nearly tumbling off his tray and an inch away from splattering all over the floor. He managed to right his tray at the last moment and sighed quietly to himself. Another disaster averted from the clumsy and disaster prone boy.

Cerise found herself growing more and more impatient as she drew closer to the front of the line. Sparrow had grown tired of bullying freshman and was whispering with his crew, a sneaky tone that Cerise did not appreciate and put her even more on edge. Just as she was about to become the next person to receive her meal, she could feel a feather light touch invading her space and brush against the fabric of her cloak. Cerise would not have felt his touch if not for her keen hearing and a general distrust of anyone who might try and burst her personal bubble. She whipped around just as his fingertips breached the edge of the pocket where she kept her lunch money and couldn’t control the deep growl that reverberated in her throat.

Her eyes narrowed unhappily at him as his eyes widened in shock at her sudden aggression. Her heart pounded at the thought of this stupid selfish boy getting anywhere near her chance at filling her unhappy stomach. She could smell the fear and surprise on him and see the small bead of sweat that formed at the corner of his brow. He snatched his arm closer to his body, like a viper retreating from prey that had dared bite back. She stared him down for once tense moment before coming back to herself. The usual fear and panic she felt at possibly exposing herself settled in like an old and unwanted friend. She coughed twice, as if her growl were nothing more than a persistent cold and turned around from Sparrow and stared solemnly at the ground, reverting back to the docile self she was supposed to be, the meek and fearful Little Red Riding Hood that everyone thought that she was.

Cerise was quiet when she received her food and fled to the back of the castleteria. She kept her head down, avoiding eye contact with everyone around her. She was so stupid. She had to be more careful. From now on she’d avoid Sparrow and his friends and keep a little more to herself. Just because one of her friends knew her secret didn’t mean it was safe for her to howl who she was just yet.

Making her way to the back of the castleteria, Cerise could see her friends sitting together at their usual table. As she approached the back of the room, she could see Maddie grinning wildly and flailing her arms excitedly in delight. The delicate cup of tea next to her tray of food became an inevitable victim of her boundless energy. The cup was knocked over and hot tea spilled all over the table as Cerise drew closer. Both of the girls sitting next to her moved back in their seats, not wanting to be doused with hot liquid.

“Whoops!” she heard Maddie giggle. The girl was always so loud and cheerful. Raven and Cedar joined in with Maddie in her amusement once the danger of the spilled tea had passed. All the way from the middle of the castleteria, Cerise heard the sounds of their laughter, Cedar being a quiet and nasally chuckle while Raven’s hit a low yet satisfying pitch that made the hair on the back of Cerise’s neck stand on end.

Even from her place in the middle of the castleteria and approaching closer, Cerise could sense the energy of their contentment with each other. Cerise was so happy to be apart of their little group. Maddie, Cedar, and Raven were the best friends forever after that she could ask for. The knowledge that Cerise not only had friends but close friends, especially one of them knowing her big bad secret, gave her a certain comfort she wasn’t used to. For so long Cerise was used to being by herself in the shadows, an outsider looking into other people’s friendships rather than risk creating some of her own. It was safer that way. It helped her protect one of her biggest secrets and continue to live her life in peace, even if it was a life half lived. Things were different now. Cerise had finally found the courage to form bonds outside of her Mom and Dad back home, to make her own little pack here at school. She finally had a chance to share a part of herself with people she cared about. That knowledge filled her with a warmth and contentment she hadn’t felt in a long time, and she’d do anything to protect it.

As Cerise approached their lunch table, she greeted her friends. Maddie noticed her first, her cheerful self always happy to greet another friend. Her eyes shone a sparkling blue, an enthusiastic amusement that could simply not be taken away.

“Hello Cerise! How are you doing on this tearrific day?”

“Good,” Cerise said quietly with a small smile.

The two other girls looked up at the sound of her voice. Cerise locked eyes with Cedar next, her eyes a light brown. Cedar gave her a sheepish smile from her position at the table, she and Raven were still leaning back in their seats to avoid the spill.

“Hey Cerise,” Raven said, her voice sending pleasant shivers down Cerise’s spine. Without even meaning to, Cerise turned her head away from Cedar and locked eyes with Raven. Her eyes were a deep violet, her gaze something that Cerise couldn’t seem to draw away from.

Cerise’s heartbeat quickened and she breathed in deeply trying to steady herself but it did her no good. Her enhanced smell kicked in, taking in all the colors of smell around her, the thick juicy meat on her plate, still asking to be eaten if the insistent growls of her stomach were anything to go by. Maddie like the sugar and the strong black tea that she always managed to whip seemingly out of thin air. Cedar like wood shaving and the lemony scent of wood polish that she rubbed on every morning keep her ‘skin’ fresh and healthy. But overpowering them all was Raven, her scent mixed in inseparably with her magic, a crisp smell of fog and deep forest after a storm, thick and fresh and overpowering. Cerise could feel her face grow hot and looked down at her plate and tried to cancel it all out, embarrassed by herself.

Cerise moved to take her usual seat at the table. She hovered awkwardly next to it, her hands full with the tray in her hands. The part of the table where she usually sat was still sopping wet with the tea that Maddie had spilled. She wanted to help clean it up and finally sit down, but her hands were full with her tray and she had no place to put it down at the moment.

“I’ll get it,” Cedar volunteered, sensing Cerise’s discomfort and taking her own napkin leaning over the other side of the table and cleaning up the spill. She was not only unbothered by Maddie’s antics but amused by it as well. She mopped up the spill quickly and then held the dirty napkin in her hand for a moment before looking to Maddie. “Do you mind?” She asked sheepishly, holding the dirty napkin over Maddie’s empty tray.

“Biscuits and crumpets of course not, sorry for the spill!” Maddie laughed to herself, amused by her own antics.

Cedar placed the dirty napkin on Maddie’s plate and leaned back into her seat. The space in front of her was empty of a tray with food. Real girls ate, wooden puppets like Cedar didn’t have to worry about eating very much.

Cerise quickly sat down next to next to Maddie and across from Cedar and Raven. Her stomach rumbled impatiently for her to eat.

“So Cerise, are you having a teariffic day today?” Maddie asked.

“I guess,” Cerise shrugged, her mouth watering at the scent of the thick juicy slab at meat on her plate. She begrudgingly grabbed her fork and knife, using her hands would be so much easier, and dug into her food happily. Cutting each piece of meat like a normal person was torture, the time it took to cut one slice with her knife she could have eaten half of it by now back at home. She sighed inwardly and practiced her patience, happily gobbling up each little piece as quickly as possible. She listened to her friends chat happily with each other in silence, preferring to quietly enjoy her meal rather than join in on their conversation.

“What class do you have next again?” Raven asked Cedar, pushing her fork through her mashed potatoes. “We can work on our chemystery assignment together after.”

“Ummm…woodshop” Cedar sighed unhappily with a shiver.

“Woodshop!” Raven and Maddie exclaimed in surprise.

Cerise stopped chewing her food and looked at Cedar in shock.

“I know” Cedar said miserably. “I hate it. All of the wood pieces, the sharp metal tools…and ugh, the woodcutting just gives me the creeps. I wish I could just switch but it’s too late now,” she sighed.

“What do you mean? Why can’t you switch?” Raven asked curiously.

“It’s too late into the semester,” Cedar said solemnly.

“If you hated it so much why didn’t you switch earlier then?” Raven asked with a frown, unhappy with the thought of one of her friends being so upset.

Cerise shared the same sentiment and frowned as well. Cedar was a good friend and being roommates they had gotten close to one another, albeit not as closely as Cerise would have liked. Even Maddie looked a little less cheerful than before.

“I-I guess I was just scared” Cedar admitted. “Things have been kind of hectic lately. Plus I’d heard from one of the teacher’s that Headmaster Grimm re-organized everyone’s schedules himself this semester, since well-you all now why.”

All four girls fell silent at Cedar’s words, the irrefutable truth of her words impossible to deny. Cerise didn’t know about Headmaster Grimm overseeing everyone’s classes until now, but she wouldn’t have put it past him. Ever since Raven had gone off script, things had started getting more chaotic than ever after. Just a short while ago, Headmaster Grimm had assigned everyone to meet with people who shared similar stories to them for ‘Yester Day’. It was no secret that this was done to get everyone back on track with their stories in wake of the possibilities that Raven had opened up when she refused to sign the book on Legacy day. The possibility of choice that was everything to Cerise, it was what made her very existence possible.

Cerise hated Headmaster Grimm; she hated him with a passion she didn't know was possible. Just remembering what he was, what he stood for and what he had done to her family, her friends, and her pack. Just a short while ago, he had tried to get Maddie expelled from school and banished from Ever After for accidentally releasing the Jabberwocky even though it was later revealed that it wasn’t her fault. So it was not out of the realm of possibility for him to force Cedar to take woodshop in the idea that it was “for the best”, at least the sake of her story. However, everyone knew that Cedar didn't care much for going off script, she was a girl who enthusiastically dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps and becoming a ‘real’ girl anyway, Cerise suspected he might not have cared as much for Cedar’s story so much that he wanted to bully another one of Raven’s friends.

“You really think he did that Cerise?” Maddie’s voice took her away from her thoughts.

Cerise felt her body stiffen before forcing it to relax. She had forgotten about Maddie’s impeccable sense of knowing exactly what was going on in people’s heads.

“I-I think so,” Cerise admitted quietly.

“You thought what?” Cedar asked curiously. She glanced back and forth between Maddie and Cerise, wondering what they were talking about.

Cerise was about to explain but Maddie beat her to it.

“That Headmaster Grimm is a big meanie and that he’s making you take that silly class as punishment!”

The volume of Maddie’s voice set Cerise on edge. She glanced around the room nervously to see if any of the other students had overheard their conversation. The students near them didn’t seem to notice Maddie’s loud voice. Duchess Swann a few tables down sat with Faybelle Thorn, both girls with garden salads and muttering conspiringly with each other. Holly and Poppy sat at another table further on, the both of them laughing, telling jokes and being as close as only twins could be. Even the Royal table close to where they were sitting seemed too interested in their conversation to pay them any mind.

“Umm Maddie, maybe you should try to keep it down a little next time.” Cerise muttered under her breath.

“Whoops,” Maddie chuckled not sounding too bothered at all.

“Uh-oh” Cedar said uneasily. “You shouldn’t have told me that if you wanted to keep it secret.”

“Well, I guess it’s too late now.” Raven sighed. “If Cerise thinks that Headmaster Grimm is making you take the class, then it’s probably true.”

Cerise was taken aback for a moment. “What do you mean? I mean-I could be wrong…” She mumbled. Even she was unconvinced by her own words, but still, for Raven to believe her without question. Her heart fluttered at the thought before she squashed it back down.

“No I think you're right” Raven agreed. “You notice things Cerise. You might not show it, but you pay attention to other people. I trust your judgment,” Raven said solemnly. The skin between her eyebrows scrunched up in concern and her eyes flashed with a crackle of emotion, resolve maybe. Cerise could feel Raven’s magic stirring up again, growing irritated at the thought of one of her friends suffering on her behalf.

Cerise could feel her heart speed up in anticipation.

“Cedar, have you thought of trying to switch at all?” Raven suggested, breaking eye contact with Cerise and turning her gaze onto Cedar.

“I dunno Raven…” Cedar said uneasily. “I don’t want to get into any trouble,” she muttered looking down at the table nervously.

“Cheese and crackers!” Maddie exclaimed. “If you don’t want to take the classes then don’t you silly. You shouldn’t do what that big meanie says. Where is your muchness?” Maddie tsked shaking her head.

“My uh, my what?” Cedar stammered.

“Your muchness silly goose. You know, the thing that makes you so much muchier!”

“Umm…” Cedar stammered flickering her gaze to Cerise and Raven in confusion.

“What I think Maddie means is, where is your courage?” Raven translated.

“Exactly!” Maddie cheered clapping her hands together in delight. “Oh Raven, you do speak some riddlish don’t you?”

“Uh, not really” Raven laughed shaking her head. “Anyway Cedar, it’s up to you. I don’t want to push you into anything. I just don’t want you to be unhappy, it’s my fault you're taking this class anyway.” she sighed.

“It is,” Cedar agreed. She covered her mouth with her hands for a moment in shock. “Oh! I’m sorry Raven, I didn’t mean-”

“No, no it’s fine.” Raven interrupted her, shaking her head. “It’s the truth. All of this is my fault,” she murmured slouching down in her seat looking as if a heavy weight was holding her down.

Part of Cerise squirmed at the thought of Raven being so down on herself. The presence of her magic that had once been so stirred up on Cedar’s behalf was now shrinking in on itself like a wounded animal. “You did the right thing,” Cerise found herself blurting out, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

The other three girls looked at Cerise just as surprise.

“I mean, I always thought what you did on Legacy Day was really brave, lots of us did” she found herself continuing. “I think a lot of people felt the same way as you, you were just the first one to do something about it.” Cerise finished her face flushed hot by her confession.

“I-I guess you're right about that but…” Raven trailed off looking more troubled than before.

“But what?” Cerise asked nervously, wondering if she had somehow insulted Raven and made her feel even worse.

“Well, I’m not exactly the first person to go off script” she said unhappily, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

Cerise’s heart jolted inside her chest. Of course, how could she have forgotten about Raven’s mom? Everyone thought that Raven would grow up to do horrible things like her mother just because she didn’t sign away her fate. But Raven’s mom wasn’t the only one to turn her back on her destiny. Cerise knew for a fact that there were two other people who made a similar choice, a choice that made for her very existence.

“Raven don’t feel bad, you two can’t be the only ones that went off-script in Ever After, I’m sure there are…others,” Cerise said meaningfully, hoping Raven would get her hint.

Raven did get it, if the widening of her eyes was anything to go by.

“Oh, right I guess not…” she trailed off a bit awkwardly, a small smile working its way onto her face. Cerise considered it a small victory.

“Are we talking about Raven’s mom now?” Maddie asked.

“We were.” Raven said letting the subject drop.

“So do you think you’re still gonna switch?” Raven asked bringing the conversation back to Cedar.

“I don’t know, I’m not sure…” Cedar trailed off nervously. “I don’t want to take the class but I’m still scared. I mean, what will Headmaster Grimm do if I ask?” she wondered.

“I don’t know.” Raven answered her. “He probably won’t be happy about it, but I still think it’s worth trying. Nothing will ever change if you don’t try.” Raven said.

“What do you think Cerise?” Cedar asked, turning her big brown eyes full of worry onto her.

“It’s your decision. Whatever you choose to do, we’ll support you.” Cerise said not wanting to push Cedar into anything she wasn’t comfortable with. “But I think you should do it, it’s what I would do,” she admitted.

“I agree! Don’t let that big ol’ meanie boss you around!” Maddie cheered enthusiastically waving her now empty teacup in the air, her loud voice once again shouting out to all who might hear

“Maddie!” The other three girls chastised her.

“Whoops, sorry again,” she apologized sheepishly, putting her teacup back down onto the table.

“I-I think…” Cedar stuttered. “I think I might try then, if you all think that I should,” she decided. “But, oh I just don’t want you to get into any more trouble Raven! I don’t want to make him mad at you.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Raven said waving her hand in the air as if brushing the idea aside. “I can handle myself, besides you can’t really make him hate me more than he already does,” she snorted lightly to herself.

“That’s true,” Cedar agreed before covering her mouth again. “Oh I’m sorry, I did it again.”

“So when are you going to tell him?” Cerise asked turning back to Cedar.

"Ummm maybe right after lunch, I just want to get it over with,” Cedar said nervously.

“I’ll go with you,” Cerise decided not wanting Cedar to face Headmaster Grimm all alone. “I have free period next, so I’ll go and support you.”

“Thank you so much,” Cedar said her voice full of emotion. “I don’t think I could have gotten the courage to ask without all of you. If I was a real girl I’d probably be crying by now,” she confessed.

“We’re here for you Cedar,” Raven said comfortingly.

“Yeah, you’re not alone,” Cerise said meaningfully. She cared about Cedar so much, she’d always have her back.

“Hurray, you found your muchness!” Maddie squealed tipping her hat at Cedar.

The four girls laughed at Maddie’s antics and finished the rest of their meals. Cerise was finished with her mashed potatoes and nearly finished her steak by the time the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Other students began getting up from their tables and putting their lunch trays away to get ready for their next class.

“Oh no lunch is over, I don’t want it to be over yet!” Cedar panicked.

“Take deep breaths, this won’t be easy, but you can do it. We believe in you” Raven said encouragingly.

“Okay, okay I can do this.” Cedar told herself. “I mean, I don’t actually think I can do this I’m just saying that out loud to make myself believe that I can,” she couldn’t help but blurt out.

“Cedar, if you really don’t want to do this, then you don’t have to.” Raven said cautiously.

“No-no it’s fine, well it’s not fine, but I want to do this.” Cedar affirmed, her wooden face turning into a look of nervous determination.

She and Cerise got up from the table with Maddie and Raven and walked to the front of the room to throw out their lunch trays and exit the castleteria. Cerise looked longingly at the remaining bits of steak on her plate before sighing and scraping it in the trash. Helping Cedar was much more important than finishing her lunch.

“Good luck Cedar,” Raven encouraged.

“Remember your muchness!” Maddie yelled in encouragement before skipping off to her next class.

Raven reluctantly turned to follow her, looking over her shoulder to where Cerise and Cedar stood before waving goodbye and walking away. They left Cedar and Cerise standing side by side in the castleteria, the room rapidly becoming empty.

“Okay, here goes.” Cedar sighed.

Cerise and Cedar exited the castleteria and made the nerve-wracking journey to Headmaster Grimm’s office. They walked through the halls and started to make their way up and up the winding stone staircase. Decorating the walls of the staircase were mementos of the previous generations of Ever After graduates, trophies, ribbons and other awards telling the story of those that had come before them. Cerise caught a glimpse of what was one of the most impressive awards by far, a large and glittering trophy towering over all other awards in the other display cases they passed. Cerise was able to glance at the tiny yet proud writing at the bottom of the trophy, a plaque with elegant script reading;

“The Most Generous and Memorable person of the year award; Recipient; Snow White, for her charitable and kind hearted actions that will be appreciated and remembered forever after.”

Cerise snorted to herself as they climbed further. Every award they passed there after said the same sort of thing, “Most Courageous Person of the Year”, “Most Influential Person of the Year” award and so on, and from what Cerise could see, all of the recipients were of Royal descent. There weren’t any awards given to more ‘neutral’ fairy tale characters like Little Red Riding Hood and certainly none for any villainous fairy tale characters. And at the end of every plaque, at the center of every ribbon and trophy were four innocuous words. “Awarded by Milton Grimm.” Cerise gritted her teeth in frustration at the thought. Apparently in Ever After High, some stories were more important than others.

Cedar and Cerise continued to trudge up the winding staircase, the only sound between them the echoing sound of their footsteps and the creaking hinges of Cedar’s limbs. Finally they reached the top of the staircase and made their way down the hallway towards the Headmaster’s office. Cedar and Cerise hovered in front of the door.

“Oh gosh,” Cedar said, wringing her hands in worry.

“Cedar, it’s okay if you really don’t want to do this.” Cerise assured her.

“No, I-I want to do this. I mean I don’t want to have to do it, but I really want to drop the class,” she said before taking a deep breath and stopping her thoughts in their tracks.

“Okay, just remember I’ll be right here with you,” Cerise assured her, looking into Cedar’s light brown eyes and silently promising herself that she’d support her no matter what.

“Thank you Cerise, I don’t feel such a lonely leaf with you beside me.” Cedar confided in her.

Cerise felt a warm happy glow inside of her chest at Cedar’s words.

“Here goes,” Cedar sighed and knocked on the door in front of them.

There was a brief moment of silence before a voice answered. “Come in,” they heard from beyond the door, the voice deep authoritative.

Cedar and Cerise walked into the room. Headmaster Grimm was seated behind a large light brown wooden desk in a bright velvet red chair. Behind the desk was a large grandiose window framed by deep red velvet curtains. The view from the window allowed anyone peering outside to see the entire campus and the entire village of Book End beyond it. Just beyond Book End were the borders of the enchanted forest, everything within perfect viewing distance.

Headmaster Grimm looked up from his desk at their entrance. He sat up straighter in his chair and folded his hands together onto the table. “Hello girls, might I assist you with anything?” he asked.

“Umm, sir, I’m uh, here about my class schedule,” Cedar stuttered stepping forward.

“Ah I see,” Miles said. “And what questions might you have?” He asked evenly.

“Um-well I was just wondering, if I could request a schedule change, if that’s possible I mean,” Cedar stuttered.

Headmaster Grimm raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair. “And what brought this about?” he asked with a hint surprise.

“Well you see sir, I’d like to drop my woodshop class,” Cedar explained. “I don’t feel like I um...fit in.”

“And what do you mean by that Miss Wood?” Headmaster Grimm asked her evenly.

“Well, for starters it makes me feel like a lonely splintered tree,” Cedar said. “I don’t feel right in class, especially when we’re uh-chopping wood,” she shuddered at the thought. “And since I’m not a real girl yet, it’s well it’s like I’m cutting up something that’s apart of me. I just don’t think it’s fair,” Cedar finished her voice wavering a bit in nervousness.

Headmaster Grimm said nothing for a long moment; he simply stared at the two of them with a palpable air of disapproval. Cerise could feel the skin on the back of her neck shivering with gooseflesh at his gaze.

“Well Miss Wood, I am certainly intrigued by your request,” he said. He pushed his chair back and stood up at his desk. He stood to his full height and towered over the two girls. The Headmaster was a tall man, at least 6 feet tall if not more. Cedar was about average height, about 5 foot 4 but even Cerise with her tall stature of 5 feet and 9 inches felt dwarfed by him. He was a true predator trying to intimidate his prey.

“As both of you know it is already quite late into the semester, I can’t help but be curious as to why you’ve chosen to speak now?” he wondered out loud “Could it be that you were, I don’t know, encouraged to speak up?” he asked, glancing at Cedar.

Cerise could feel her heart sinking in her chest. He knew that Cedar was magically compelled to tell the truth. It was obvious what he was trying to do. He might as well have asked her right out whether Raven had encouraged Cedar to try and change her class schedule.

“I was,” Cedar admitted. “All of my friends told me to come here during lunch last period. None of them thought that it was fair that I had to take a class I didn’t like,” she admitted, her hazel eyes wide and panicked from telling on her friends so easily.

“I see,” he said before turning his attention to Cerise. “And I assume Miss Hood had encouraged you as well?”

“That’s right,” Cerise affirmed quickly, meeting his dark green eyes with determination.

Headmaster Grimm raised his eyebrows at her response. “Why Miss Hood may I ask why you aren't in class right now? Usually you’re so quiet and attentive in your studies, skipping class isn’t like you,” he said suspiciously.

“I have study period,” Cerise answered as evenly as she could.

“Then shouldn’t you being studying?” he asked condescendingly.

Cerise could feel herself go stiff with defensiveness. She gritted her teeth together in frustration. The wolf in her rumbled uneasily, howling that this man was a threat to both Cedar and her and should be stopped at all costs. It took every ounce of her self-control not to fight back with either her words or her body to protect Cedar, to protect a precious member of her pack. “I finished all of my work already” she lied as smoothly as she could while staring straight into his dark green eyes, unwilling to be intimidated by him.

“I see,” he said, his eyes narrowed with suspicion at her cool response. He folded his hands behind his back and to Cerise’s surprise turned his back on the two girls. He paced towards the large window at the back of the room, walking up to it and gazing down out at the town below. “Do you know why tradition is so important?” He asked, catching them both off guard.

“I’m uh, not sure what you mean,” Cedar said.

Cerise kept quietly to herself, not liking where this conversation was going.

“What I mean Miss Wood, is do you understand why following tradition is so important in Ever After?” he asked again, staring out at the window.

“So that our stories can continue,” Cedar answered automatically, a well-practiced answer that everyone in Ever After High had learned.

“Correct Miss Wood. And do you understand why it’s so important for our stories to continue?” he questioned, turning from the window and facing the two of them again from across the room.

“So that our stories don’t disappear?” Cedar said more like a question, unsure of where the conversation was going.

Cerise stood beside Cedar, frozen stiff with worry.

“Precisely Miss Wood” he agreed, his voice smug and self assured.

Cerise hated his voice. She hated the position Cedar was in and most of all hated that there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.

“And since you understand the importance of continuing our stories, I would hope that you understand the importance of continuing yours as well.”

“Um...” Cedar muttered glancing towards Cerise at her side.

Headmaster Grimm paced towards Cedar and Cerise standing the front of the room. “As you know Miss Wood, in the Pinocchio story, a toy maker crafts a wooden puppet, this wooden puppet is then blessed by the Blue Fairy to come to life, in this case you are that wooden puppet.”

“Puppet is actually an offensive term…” Cedar mumbled looking down at the floor.

Headmaster Grimm continued on as if not hearing her or perhaps ignoring her all together. “Therefore after you one day become a ‘real girl’, you must then learn the skills to make another wooden puppet to become the next Pinocchio in order to continue your story for future generations,” he finished with aplomb, taking both of his hands and grasping the edges of his vest, proud of his little speech.

Cerise glanced at Cedar out of the corner of her eye. If Cedar could cry, there would be tears welling up in her eyes. Instead she looked quietly devastated, her wooden face carved into a deep look of despair.

“B-but” she protested fruitlessly.

“Miss Wood, classes in Ever After High are designed to guide students to follow their stories to their truest potential. With this in mind, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to drop woodshop.”

Cerise’s heart sank at his words. Cedar said nothing beside her, her disappointment loud enough to fill the silence between them. Cerise clenched her hands together in frustration. She couldn’t let things end like this. They couldn’t let him win. She had to do something, for Cedar’s sake.

“But she can’t take woodshop.” Cerise blurted out unthinkingly.

Headmaster Grimm narrowed his eyes at her outburst. “Miss Hood, I believe I made myself clear-"

“She can’t take it because-” Cerise thought wildly trying to think of an excuse, “Because the class won’t be helping her at all!” she decided quickly.

“Miss Hood, can you explain yourself?” Headmaster Grimm asked incredulously.

“You said that taking woodshop would help her follow her destiny, but it won’t,” Cerise said with conviction. “It’s not helping her at all, it’s actually holding her back from her destiny,” Cerise decided hastily, the words tumbling quickly out of her mouth in desperation.She glanced towards Cedar; her light brown eyes were wide with shock over Cerise’s outburst. But there was something else in the wide set of her hazel eyes and the trembling of her wooden mouth, hope.

“Miss Hood! I don’t know why you believe that our classes are inadequate for Miss Wood but I assure you-”

“You said that Cedar has to learn how to carve wood to make another Pinocchio right?” Cerise asked, “But Cedar is already great at working with wood, she does wicked awesome wood paintings and stuff all the time!”

“Miss Hood!” Headmaster Grimm protested, trying to regain control of the conversation.

Cerise ignored him and kept going. “I’ve heard other kids complain about the class, and all they ever do is chop wood and make bear carvings.” Cerise asserted. “Cedar is already great at woodshop, she’s had all of her life to practice, right?” Cerise asked Cedar, who startled at the sound of her name.

“Um-right!” Cedar agreed enthusiastically “I do lots of different art pieces, I mean last night I painted a swallow onto some alder wood…she admitted before covering her mouth again in embarrassment.

Cerise felt her mind race, feeling that everything was finally coming together. “So Cedar is already skilled at wood carving but we all know what she really has a problem with,” Cerise said licking her lips. She stared down Headmaster Grimm who was steadily turning pink with anger. “Lying, Cedar can’t lie at all.” Cerise said. “How is she supposed to complete her story if she’s been cursed to tell the truth?” she asked, her heart racing wildly in her chest.

“Well-I” he spluttered. “I’m sure she’ll eventually learn to tell a lie...” he said vaguely.

“But I thought Ever After High was to help all students reach their truest potential?” Cedar asked the spluttering Headmaster, knowing she had him backed into a corner. “Woodshop won’t help Cedar reach her potential, but learning to lie definitely will.” Cedar said confidently.

“And what do you suggest to do about it?” he asked haughtily, smoothing his hair down nervously.

“She should take Jack B. Nimble’s trickery class of course.” Cedar answered smoothly. “It’s at the same time as her woodshop class. He can teach her how to lie and deceive others so that she can become a real girl. I think it will definitely help her to achieve her destiny, right?” she asked, turning towards Cedar again.

“Right, right!” Cedar exclaimed excitedly, her wooden face elated with happiness.

Headmaster Grimm looked at Cerise with wide eyes, as if he were seeing a part of Cerise he didn’t know existed before.

“But, I-” he stuttered before taking a deep breath. “I will certainly consider it,” he admitted begrudgingly. “Now if you would excuse me, I have some uh, business to attend to,” he muttered going back to his desk and slumping down into his seat.

Cerise and Cedar wasted no time scurrying out of his office and slamming the door behind them.

“Thankthankyouthankyou!” Cedar squealed, enveloping Cerise into a big hug the moment they stepped out of the office.

"Happy to help.” Cerise mumbled quietly and squeezing her back gently.

“Oh I feel like a happy oak in the middle of spring!” Cedar laughed. “Do you really think he’ll let me switch?” she asked hopefully.

“I think so,” Cerise agreed. Cerise had never felt so triumphant before, so powerful. Her cheeks felt flushed and she smiled widely in happiness.

The two girls walked back down the winding staircase happily, the anxiousness from before forgotten in their elation. Cedar couldn’t stop smiling as they made their way to the main halls of Ever After High, the hinges on her wooden face constantly shifting and squeaking from all of her smiling.

Cerise and Cedar approached the main hall where everyone’s lockers were kept, the both of theirs side by side. Cerise entered in the combination for her locker, rotating the dial once to 20, skipping over 47 a full turn once before choosing it, and then finally settling onto 31. Her locker opened with a soft pop.

Cerise shifted her school bag on her shoulders, happy to put away the books she wouldn’t need for the night back into her locker.

“No chemythstry for me today,” she cheered happily, taking the thickest textbook from her bag and placing it into her locker.

“Oh my gosh! I still have to meet with Raven for our chemythstry assignment, I totally forgot!” Cedar exclaimed. She quickly shoved all of the books from her bag into her locker and traded them for a large textbook identical to Cerise’s.

“I have to go, thanks so much again, you really saved me!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

“Happy to help,” Cerise grinned still flushed with their victory.

“I’ll see you later Cerise!” Cedar waved goodbye, grabbing her books and closing her locker shut before dashing down the hall towards the library.

Cerise watched her go, happy to see Cedar with a spring in her step again. Just as she put the rest of her schoolbooks in her bag, the ring of the bell rang signaling the end of another school day. Students spilled out of classrooms and before she knew it, the quiet and deserted hall became full with future fairy tale students. The large mirror screens that lined the walls of the hallway flickered on.

“Hello Ever After High! Blondie here! I hope that you all had a spelltacular day today!” Blondielocks smiled prettily from up on the screens, filming her usual after school show.

Cerise leaned against her locker and watched the broadcast on the screen across the room and waited for the crowd to die down before she attempted to get back to her dorm. She’d rather have a relaxing walk back to her dorm rather than trying to fight the crowd.

“Some important announcements today. Several students have commented on having trouble with connecting to the mirror net lately. Users have reported that the connection has been spotty between 11 am to 1 pm. A reminder, if any of you have any trouble connecting to Mirror net or troubleshooting with your mirror pad or mirror phone, go see Humphrey Dumpty at the technology department, he’ll fix all of your mirror net needs!” she smiled, her blond curls bouncing with her enthusiasm. “Another note, rumors of students getting food poisoning from the castleteria have been claimed as false by an official source” she said. “A reliable source told me that our castleteria food is just right!” Blondie smiled pleasantly at the camera.

Cerise rolled her eyes at the last announcement. It wasn’t a well-kept secret that Headmaster Grimm liked to keep an eye on all media outlets broadcasting around school and edited any programming that might reflect poorly upon him or the school. Cerise reckoned that the rumor of food poisoning was probably true. The cooked foods that she stuck to smelled okay, but things like garden salads or other uncooked foods were sometimes questionable.

“However, some students still believe that the school’s food made them sick,” Blondie added.

The footage cut to a queasy looking Duchess Swann sitting on the front steps of the school. “It was the salad,” she honked miserably. “It had to be, it looked all wilted and gross,” she grumbled.

“Do you believe the school should do something about this?” Blondie asked, placing her bear shaped microphone close to Duchess.

“Of course I do!” Duchess yelled. “I missed so much class today after going to the infirmary! I still don’t feel well.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that Duchess,” Blondie said sympathetically. She faced the camera addressing the audience. “If any teachers are watching, Duchess and others like her are kindly asking for a further inspection of the castleteria food before serving it to students. Well, that’s all for today, be sure to tune in tomorrow for all of your news needs. Up next is C.A Cupid’s weekly broadcast, ‘On the air with Cupid’; bye bye for now!” Blondie waved at the camera before the screen flickered to a different broadcast.

C.A Cupid flickered on to the screen in her recording studio. The studio was illuminated in soft pink light with holographic hearts looping in the background. She sat in front of her microphone wearing large black earphones situated snugly against her long dark pink hair.

“Hello Ever After, Cupid here helping you find your true heart’s desire. The airwaves are open to receive your messages of love” she smiled warmly to the camera, ready to dispense any heartfelt advice.

“Umm…hi” a tentative caller said, obviously male despite the show’s attempts to make their callers anonymous with a pixelated image and a slightly deeper tone.

“Hello!” Cupid answered cheerfully. “What seems to be the problem?” she asked.

“Well, I uh, like this girl but she well, doesn’t know I exist” he sighed forlornly. “Every time I talk to her it always goes wrong. I really really like her, but I don’t know what to say. Do you have any advice how I can uh-woo her?” he asked Cupid, his pixelated image fidgeting nervously.

“Well, it depends on what type of person she is. What things does she like?” Cupid asked earnestly.

“Well- uh, she really likes to party.” The boy stuttered. “She also likes hextreme sports and organizing spelltacular events, she’s basically amazing,” the caller gushed.

Cerise was starting to get the feeling that the girl the caller was talking about was probably Briar Beauty if the description of her interests was anything to go by.

“Well, ok then. If you really want to ‘woo’ her then try connecting with her through the stuff that she likes. If she likes throwing parties then try going to her next one and show her how much fun your having just being around her. Or maybe you can talk about the next hextreme sports event, people like knowing that someone is interested in the same things that they are, especially if it’s someone they care about.” Cupid finished with a bright smile.

“O-ok, thanks. I think, I mean I’ll definitely, umm…” The caller stuttered and making a strange choked sound. “I uh- gotta go “ribbit” the caller croaked before hanging up.

“Okay, next caller?” Cupid spoke into her microphone.

“Um yeah hi, I was wondering if you had any advice on long-term relationships?” another caller asked, obviously male again.

“Of course, true love can come during many different times in life. What seems to be the problem?”

“Well you see, I’ve been dating this girl for about uh, six months now. And we’re going on a date um-this Friday.

“Oh how wonderful!” Cupid sighed clasping her hands close to her heart.

“Yeah well, this Friday is our six month anniversary and I was wondering if you knew how I could make it extra special?”

“What sort of dates do you two usually go on?”

“Usually we go on picnics or walks in the enchanted forest. We both enjoy being with nature, but I still don’t want it to be the same old thing we always do,” he said anxiously.

Cerise smiled to herself in amusement, the caller obviously being Hunter talking about Ashlynn. She couldn’t ever imagine herself calling into Cupid’s show asking for love advice what with the caller’s identities being obvious to anyone who cared enough to pay attention.

“Hmm I see.” Cupid hummed in thought. “I think that it's a good idea to break the mold and try new things with your special someone. Why don’t you two try doing something neither of you ever done before and discover what other stuff you might like together. But more importantly if your love is true, then she’ll appreciate whatever you two do. True love conquers all after all!” she giggled.

“Thank you so much” Hunter gushed before hanging up the phone.

Cerise waited patiently for the crowd of students to disperse from the halls as she watched Cupid’s show. As more and more people called in asking Cupid for her advice on their romantic woes, the crowd began to wane. One girl called and asked how she could get the prince she likes to ‘sweep her off her feet’ while another asked how to break up with her current boyfriend because she felt that ‘he just wasn’t the happily ever after’ she wanted. The more Cerise watched, the more unsettled she became. She adjusted her hood on top of her head and decided that she had she watched her fill. The hallways were now nearly empty of other students and she felt comfortable enough to head back to her dorm.

Cerise strode down the halls quickly, eager to be in the comfort of her own room. She didn’t know why, but the more she watched Cupid dispense heartfelt love advice to her viewers, the more agitated she became. Girls asked for love advice for the boy they were dating or had a crush on and boys asked for advice concerning girls. The more she thought about it, the lonelier she felt. Cerise wished she could talk about her crush with someone, anyone, without feeling alienated or judged. Even though her dad was a teacher at the school, she could barely talk to him without it being too suspicious. If anyone caught the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood speaking with the Big Bad Wolf, her secret might get out. Cerise sighed to herself as she entered the residential halls where the students lived. She wished she could talk to her mom too, but she was all the way in back home and it wasn’t like Cerise could visit her again since the Yester Day event a while back.

Cerise opened the door to her room and stepped inside eager to find some comfort in her own private space. She dumped her backpack on top of her desk, not really in the mood to get any work done. The feeling of confidence and triumph she felt earlier walking out of the Headmaster’s office had completely evaporated making room for anxiety and doubt. She flopped onto her bed and rolled on to her back. She lay on her bed quietly for a long while and tried to clear her mind of the stress of the day. She closed her eyes and focused on breathing in and out in order to calm herself down. The smell of her and Cedar’s room was familiar and comforting. Most of the room smelled of wood shavings and the sharp lemon wood polish Cedar liked to scrub it in every morning. At first Cerise had found the new and unfamiliar smells discomforting, the wood shavings making it difficult for her not to sneeze, but she was used to it now, calmed by it even. It smelled of Cedar with all of her honesty and kindness, even if it was so different than the comforting smells of her home. If she concentrated, she could also smell her own scent, especially clinging to the scarlet quilt that her mother had made just for her. Her own scent had a thicker more musky undertone, surprisingly mixing well with Cedar’s more brisk and pleasant one.

Cerise lay in her bed for a long time, in quietly meditating before she sat up on her bed, chasing the quiet whispers of sleep creeping in the back of her mind. She didn’t want to go to sleep yet, especially if she had another dream about Raven again. She felt her cheeks go hot at the thought and sat up straighter, leaning against her pillows. She grabbed one of the books she kept on her desk and decided to take her mind off her troubled thoughts. Currently she was working her way through a novel called The Particular Sadness of Fairy Cake by Aimee Bender. It was about a girl named Rose who could taste people’s emotions through the food that they made. Although Cerise could do nothing of the sort, tasting or smelling different things could sometimes be more challenging than useful. It also didn't hurt that the main character Rose had to keep her special abilities to herself as well.

Cerise must have been reading for a good hour before she heard the familiar sound of shuffling and creaking joints outside of her bedroom door. Sure enough moments later, Cedar opened the door to their shared room and closed it shut behind her.

“I’m back,” she greeted Cerise cheerfully in her soft and nasal voice. Cerise knew that Cedar was sometimes self-conscious of her voice but personally she thought it was kind of cute.

“Hey,” she welcomed her back, folding down the corner of her current page and closing the book.

“It feels so good to be done with thronework,” Cedar sighed, taking her books out of her backpack and neatly placing them on her desk.

“You’re telling me,” Cerise snorted.

“Raven and I managed to finish our study guide.” Cedar said. “Rumplestiltskin put so many definitions on the list, and I can’t tell a lie-he’s just the worst!” she moaned flopping down on her purple and orange comforter in exhaustion.

Cerise always thought that Cedar’s bed was wicked cool. Her father and her carved the support for her bed out of wood together the summer before Cedar came to Ever After High. Long winding branches curled up towards the ceiling, curling out and then inward into themselves in delicate swirls.

“Nervous for the big test tomorrow?” Cerise asked.

“A little,” Cedar said lying on her back and staring at the ceiling. “Raven and I studied our butts off this past week with Briar and Apple, I think we’re as ready as we’ll ever be,” she shrugged.

“I think you’ll be fine, you’re super hardworking and smart,” Cerise said reassuringly.

“I hope so” Cedar sighed. “I really just want to get my mind off of it for now.” Cedar sat up on her bed and grabbed her sketchbook from her wooden nightstand. She flipped it open.

Cerise opened up her book again, soothed by the soft scratching of Cedar drawing up ideas for her next project. She finished off another chapter where Rose discovered that her long time crush George was getting married. Rose felt like she was really all-alone in the world. George was the only friend she had that she could confide in and who knew about her powers. Cerise could relate to keeping those sorts of secrets, to hiding a part of yourself in order to blend in with the rest of the world. Cerise closed her book and couldn’t help but think back to Cupid’s show earlier that day. Just the thought of confessing her feelings for all the school ‘semi-anonymously’ made her anxious. Cerise was always a very private person, she liked to keep most of her thoughts and feelings to herself, but she felt suffocated when she felt that she couldn’t confide in anyone. Cerise closed her book again and looked up across the room.

Cedar sat cross-legged on her bed, hard at work sketching ideas for her next project, completely engrossed in her work.

Cerise watched her work quietly. She was close with the other girls, but Cedar was her best friend forever after. She hated keeping secrets from her, even if it was necessary. As much as she wanted to be closer to her friends she still found it difficult to confide in them instead of acting like a lone wolf. Just the thought telling any of them about her crush on Raven, especially Raven herself was nerve-racking. She wanted to confide in her friends more, she wanted to be less alone and show someone a part of herself that she had never shown anyone before, but it was difficult to even admit her feelings to herself out loud, never mind other people. In the end she was still alone, still having one more secret for her to keep.

Cerise grit her teeth together in frustration. She was tired of being alone. She wanted to confide in her friends more. She told Raven about her big bad secret maybe she could confide in Cedar as well, in her own way.

“Hey Cedar, did you see Cupid’s show today.” Cerise started her voice cracking a bit at the end. She coughed and cleared her throat, her heart pounding in her chest.

Cedar looked up from her sketchbook at the sound of Cerise’s voice. “Yeah I did. We could hear it in the library,” she said.

“What, um, what did you think of it?” Cerise asked weakly.

“It’s ok I guess. I don’t know much about love but Cupid seems to know what she’s talking about,” she said a bit confused. Cedar and Cerise usually avoided discussing sensitive topics like love for obvious reasons.

“I was wondering if uh-you might like anyone?” she asked cringing at the feeble tone of her voice. ‘What am I doing?’ Cerise thought wildly.

Cedar’s wooden face sculpted itself into shock. She closed her sketchbook and set it aside her on her bed. Cerise and Cedar never discussed crushes with each other, it was the number one off-limits topic they had between them.

“Uh-not really. I’m not really interested in anyone right now, I want to focus more on finding out who I am and becoming a real girl,” Cedar admitted. “Why do you want to know?” she asked curiously, now giving Cerise her undivided attention.

Cerise couldn’t help but shift uneasily under her gaze. “No reason,” she lied guiltily and unconvincingly if Cedar’s disbelieving expression was anything to go by.

“Cerise, is there anything you want to tell me, I mean do you like anyone?” she asked going straight to the point.

Cerise swallowed thickly and said nothing for a long moment, unsure of what to say. She knew that she couldn’t realistically tell Cedar anything out right, if she did the whole school would know by tomorrow and more importantly, Cedar would be upset for Cerise’s sake. She’d have to be cautious.

“I don’t really like anyone,” Cerise lied quickly. “But let’s say hypothetically that I do, what would you think about it?”

Cedar raised her eyebrows at Cerise’s semi-confession. “Are you sure you really don't-oh, wait a splinter” she interrupted herself mid sentence.

Cerise waited anxiously for her to work through the game she was playing at. She could see Cedar’s eyes light up in epiphany suddenly understanding.

“Oh, okay umm...” Cedar trailed off for a bit collecting her thoughts. “Well, I guess if you hypothetically liked someone then I’d be happy for you. As long as you're happy, then I’m happy and nothing else really matters,” she answered.

Despite her anxiety Cerise felt a small flash of warmth at Cedar’s kind words. That was Cedar for you, always thinking of her friends.

“Okay” Cerise said. “Well how about if I did like someone, hypothetically I mean, what sort of person do you think I’d be happy with?” she swallowed, incredulous that she was still sticking to her plan.

“It depends on the person I guess,” Cedar answered thoughtfully. “But in general, I guess it would have to be someone you like to be with and feel most comfortable around.”

Cerise couldn’t help but think of Raven in that moment after hearing Cedar’s words. In truth, after Cedar, she did feel closest with Raven. Raven was the only one she really trusted with her big bad secret. If Cedar wasn’t compelled to tell the truth at the drop of a hat, Cerise would have told her her family heritage ages ago. Sadly for now, Raven was the only one who knew. Raven was one of the few people she felt the most comfortable with, the most like herself. That’s why it was so frustrating for Cerise to not be able to tell Raven how she felt about her. If Cerise had liked anyone else, anyone but Raven, she would have happily had confided in her. But instead she had to jeopardize her friendship and develop a big bad crush on her. Just her luck.

“If you did like someone, hypothetically, then uh, who would it be?” Cedar couldn’t help but ask and taking Cerise out of her thoughts. “I mean you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to!” she assured Cerise quickly. “I mean, I’d totally understand if you don’t, everyone knows how much of a blabbermouth I am,” she said unhappily staring solemnly down at her bed.

Cerise couldn’t help but feel a sharp pang of guilt for keeping secrets from Cedar but unfortunately it was true. Cedar couldn’t lie, even if she wanted to. “No one,” Cerise lied guiltily at Cedar’s disappointed expression feeling as if she had let her down.

“Oh uh, I see” Cedar mumbled avoiding at Cerise.

Both girls said nothing after that, a thick awkward silence falling between them. Cerise didn’t know what to say. She wanted to tell Cedar as much as she could about her crush, to trust in her with such an important secret in a way that would work for them both, but instead of making Cedar feel loved and trusted she had just made things even worse. Some friend she was. “Cedar, can I ask you one more thing? If you’re not too mad at me I mean,” she asked quietly thinking that she might as well see her plan through now that she had made Cedar upset anyway.

Cedar looked up at Cerise quickly in surprise. “Wait a splinter, I’m not mad at you!” she exclaimed.

“Wait, you’re not?” Cerise asked her incredulously.

“Of course not!” Cedar assured her.

“But I thought that I hurt your feelings?” Cerise said confused.

“You didn’t hurt my feelings,” Cedar said truthfully. “I know I can’t keep secrets very well. I know that people can’t really tell me anything cause of well, you know,” she reasoned. “It doesn’t have anything to do with you, I’m just frustrated with myself,” she admitted with a heavy sigh.

“Oh,” was all that Cerise could say at Cedar’s confession.

Cerise thought about how it must be for Cedar, how lonely she might feel not knowing anyone’s secrets, not feeling like she could be trusted. Her stomach squirmed at the thought because she was just as guilty as anyone else of keeping secrets, especially from Cedar.

“Hey Cedar, can I ask you one more thing?” Cerise asked again.

“Of course, Cedar smiled.

Cerise took a deep breath before asking. Even if she couldn’t tell Cedar the full truth, the actual truth outright, there was still one more thing she could do. “What do I do if the person I like, isn’t supposed to be my happily ever after?” she mumbled softly.

Cedar gave Cerise a look of deep sympathy her wooden eyebrows furrowing with concern.

“Well, I guess I’d say that it doesn’t really matter whose supposed to be your happily ever after or not,” Cedar said. “As long as they make you happy, then that’s all that matters really.”

Cerise felt a smile working its way onto her face. Cedar was really the best friend she could ever ask for.

“I mean it’s not like it will be easy,” Cedar continued on, putting a little bit of a damper on Cerise’s happiness. “I think it’s a lot harder for couples who go off script. I mean just look at Ashlynn and Hunter, they’re really happy together but happiness doesn’t always mean things are easy. It’s not like anyone else has ever done anything like it before,” she reasoned.

“Yeah,” Cerise cringed to herself, thinking of her parents.

“But I guess if you really do like someone, hypothetically” she said her fingers making air quotes and all. “Then I guess it’s really worth it,” she finished.

Cedar mulled over her words quietly to herself, letting them soak into her brain. She felt a lot better after talking to Cedar, even if she mentioned truths that weren’t exactly easy for Cerise to face. Even if Cedar couldn’t lie or keep her friends secrets, Cerise thought that there was one thing she could do far better than anyone else. She could give them he honest truth, the sort of truths that people need to hear.

“Thanks Cedar,” she whispered sincerely giving Cedar a small relieved smile.

Cedar smiled back.

Chapter Text

Later that evening, Cerise had read a few more pages of her book while Cedar finished the rough drafts of her sketches before it was time for dinner. The two girls decided to eat out in town together rather than eat in the Castleteria again. It was Cedar’s turn to choose where to eat, even though she still couldn’t technically eat any food. Cedar had once explained to Cerise that although she couldn’t eat like a real girl, she could still feel the imagined sensations that real girl’s felt. Emotions like joy or sadness were ‘imagined’ as well. Cedar had been a little upset when she had confided in Cerise all of those months ago, Cerise had quickly changed the subject to something more lighthearted to help Cedar get her mind off it.

Cerise personally could buy that Cedar could get a faint sense of tastes and smells due to her imagined senses, but she was more skeptical about the emotions. As far as she was concerned, Cedar felt things just as well as anyone else, if only a bit differently. As much as Cedar went on to her not truly being a ‘real girl’ yet, Cerise thought she was great just as she was. Whether Cedar would one day have her wooden body turn to flesh didn't matter. She was ‘real’ enough for Cerise.

Cedar chose a small little Austrian restaurant a few blocks down from the Mad Hatter’s tea shop. Cerise spent most of the time wolfing down sausages and schnitzel while listening to Cedar talk about color theory and the latest projects she was working on. Cerise added a little bit of her thoughts on the book that she was currently reading, but mostly she was content to just listen to Cedar speak about her passions, her interests, her concerns about her school work or her own artwork.

“I just love the smell of schnitzel, when I become a real girl, it’s one of the first things I’ll eat!” Cedar exclaimed excitedly after they left the restaurant.

Cerise smiled at Cedar’s enthusiasm as they exited the restaurant and into the streets of Book End. “Well when that day comes, I’ll treat you in spellebration,” she promised.

“You’d really do that?” Cedar asked.

“Of course, I can’t think of a better way to spellebrate you completing your story,” Cerise smiled.

Cedar smiled widely before drawing Cerise into a tight hug. “You’re the best friend I could have ever wished for,” she whispered close to Cerise’s hood.

Cerise felt her ear twitch pleasantly at the sound as she hugged back.

Cedar and Cerise walked down the streets of Book End leisurely, satisfied with their dinner.

“You want to get some tea?” Cerise offered when they drew closer to the ‘Mad Hatter Tea Shoppe’.

“Sounds hexellent,” Cedar agreed. “There are always such wonderful smells and tastes to imagine,”

Both girls entered the shop, the glass bell atop the door making a loud and somewhat frightful bang as they opened the door. Cerise wondered if it would kill Maddie and her father to have a normal shop bell, but knowing Wonderland folk personally, she knew that wasn’t an option.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome!” A cheerful and familiar voice echoed throughout the shop.

“Hey Maddie,” Cerise greeted their friend.

The Mad Hatter Tea Shoppe was always something else, and by something else Cerise meant something a little bit strange. The sights and smells were all a bit overwhelming for her at first. They constantly shifted and changed no matter how many times she came, as if alive and as well as Cerise or Cedar. But over time, what might once have made Cerise uneasy felt familiar in its own unique way. After spending so much time with Maddie and the other girls, she learned to appreciate a little wackiness and change every now and again.

The Mad Hatter Tea Shoppe had a beautiful skylight in the center of the room that glowed down onto its patrons. Now that the end of the day was approaching, the orange rays from the setting sun made the shop glow with warmth. The inside of the shop had numerous doors of various colors, shapes, and sizes. They scattered around the room as if haphazardly plopped down without much care or thought. Some doors were large and colorful sticking to the side of the shop as a normal shop might have. But others were narrower, dare she say it, shy, squeezing into corners as much as possible and skittering away from anyone who might by chance lay eyes on them. You wouldn’t really know from the outside of the shop what sorts of secrets the store had inside. There was certainly no evidence from the outside of where some of the doors went. To anyone else they might have seemed to go nowhere, but Cerise knew better. Maddie and her father had unique gifts for making the seemingly impossible, possible. Who knew what secrets lie behind them?

“So, what’ll it be girls?” Maddie asked excitedly from behind the counter.

Cerise and Cedar walked closer towards her to make their order before a large neon pink teapot flew past. Cerise crouched low to the ground in one fluid motion instinctively to avoid getting hit.

“Oh don’t worry about that ol’ thing, it just gets real excited when friends come in!” Maddie assured Cerise.

“Right,” she and Cedar said in unison, as used to the Wonderland strangeness as they would ever be.

“Uh I think I’ll have a honey lemon tea,” Cedar said eagerly.

“Of course, and you Cerise?” Maddie asked, her light blue curly hair bouncing at her eagerness.

“Um…I don’t know, surprise me,” she decided. She was in a good mood after her dinner with Cedar; she didn’t mind a little bit of Wonderland oddness at the moment.

“Okie dokie!” Maddie cheered. “You two have a seat, your orders will be done shortly! She laughed before turning away from the counter.

Cedar and Cerise made their way to the nearest table. It was shaped like a four leaf clover and made of a very light brown wood. Birch wood, Cedar had told her ages ago, she remembered. Maddie prepared their drinks at her station with eagerness and a little bit of an alarming gusto. Light purple cabinet doors opened and closed with her rummaging but others slammed open and closed on their own as well.

Maddie grabbed box after box from inside one of them, throwing them over her shoulders and plopping them onto the floor. “No, no, not that one, not you either you silly little goose, aha! Here we go!” she cheered grabbing two tea boxes in each of her hands.

Cedar and Cerise watched her work from their table, amused by their friend’s antics. Maddie prepared Cedar’s drink first if the color of the box the tea came in was anything to go by. It was a dark yellow and had a cute buzzing bee on its side. She scooped up some of the tea leaves inside and placed it in a heart shaped strainer. She went over to a large blue triangle shaped teapot sitting on a stove nearby and grabbed Cedar’s special teacup from one of the shelves.

“The perfect cup for the perfect customer” Maddie had grinned months ago, pulling the cup out of her hat with a flourish. Cedar’s special cup was a light orange and dark purple, the colors swirling together as fluid as water, almost like the watercolor paints that Cedar often used in her artwork. The handle of the teacup was made from a lighter wood, cedar wood Cedar had told her in delight when she had first laid eyes on it.

“It’s perfect,” she had whispered with reverence, inspecting every inch of the cup, as she ran her wooden fingers over the surface and admired its elegant craftsmanship.

Cerise grinned at the memory as she watched Maddie work, already done with Cedar’s tea and letting it steep. The other container she had placed on the counter wasn’t a box like Cedar’s but a tall cylinder shaped tin. The tin was a dark midnight blue, almost black, with small glittering stars shooting to and fro on the surface. She took out Cerise’s special cup from one of the nearby shelves and placed it next to Cedar’s. Maddie’s close friends and frequent customer’s all got their own cup if they came often enough. Cerise’s cup was a dark crimson red, the same color as her beloved cloak. The handle was made of thin dark branches twisting amongst themselves. The edges had a similar decoration as well, small thin branches creeping up from the bottom of the cup to the top. If one were to look closely, (as Cerise had) one could almost make out small dark eyes peering out from behind one of the tree branches that decorated the cup. A predator silently stalking its prey in the dead of night.
Cerise loved her cup and was touched by the generous affection that Maddie and the rest of her friends gave her.

Maddie whistled to herself as she scooped various amounts of tea leaves into a small round strainer before plopping it into Cerise cup. She placed both of their cups on silver round serving platter and walked towards Cedar and Cerise’s table. “Here you go girls!” Maddie said as she placed the tray onto their table and placed their cups in front of them.

“Thanks Maddie,” Cedar said as she grabbed the chain holding her tea and bobbed it up and down in her cup.

“Yeah thanks,” Cerise said as she did the same. “What sort of tea did you give me?” she asked as she let it steep.

“I have no idea!” Maddie exclaimed taking a seat with them. There were no new customers in the store besides a few that had already been served, sitting at their own respective tables.

“Really?” Cerise asked amused by Maddie’s comment.

“Really really,” Maddie assured her. “You said you wanted it to be a surprise so I made it a surprise. Surprises are best when no one knows what’s coming after all!” she exclaimed, a large grin on her face.

“Can’t beat that logic,” Cedar said coyly, taking a deep whiff of her tea.

“Oh I imagine it tastes so wonderful, a little thick but very sweet. Almost like real honey,” Cedar sighed in delight.

Cerise waited eagerly for her tea to steep properly. She tended to like her teas dark and strong so she let it steep for a good while. The once clear water in her cup turned a dark midnight blue in a matter of moments. Given more time, it turned even darker almost black like a midnight sky. After a few minutes went by, she decided her tea was ready for a taste. “Here goes,” she said sniffing it lightly before taking a small sip.

Although the scent of the tea had been clear and crisp almost like mint, the first taste that greeted her was a sharp and bitter taste. While Cerise like bitter strong teas, this bitterness was far too much for her to handle. The sensation slid down from the tip of her tongue all the way to the back of her throat, almost angrily. Cerise couldn’t explain why she thought a tea of all things could be angry but she couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow it was. The tea suddenly dried out her mouth making her cough, as if a large bitter gust of wind had blown inside of her mouth leaving her parched. She swallowed dryly trying to get the sensation out of her mouth but there wasn’t much to be done about it. The taste persisted on, clawing its way at her throat.

“Cerise are you okay?” Cedar asked worriedly by her side.

Cerise tried to say that she was but no sound came out of her through. She coughed twice trying to get the sensation of her mouth to no avail.

Maddie had got up from the chair across from her and moved to Cerise’s side, patting her back harshly as if she were choking.

Cerise supposed she might be.

“Get her some water quick!” she could hear Cedar cry out from her side as Cerise could no longer see anything; her eyes were now squeezed shut.

It seemed like forever but by the time she could hear Maddie slam a glass on the table and pour water into it, the sensation passed. The bitter angry dryness that pervaded her mouth had settled into something calmer and more settled. The sensation wasn’t sweet but more settled almost earthly. Like perhaps what someone might imagine what earth and grass might taste like if they had never tried it before.

“I’m okay,” she managed to croak out after the feeling had passed. Cedar wordlessly passed her the glass cup filled with water. Cerise drank her fill, downing the whole glass in a few large gulps, eager to get that horrible taste out of her mouth.

“What kind of tea was that?” Cedar cried out as Cerise placed the glass cup back on the counter.

“It’s a foretelling tea,” Maddie said with confusion. “It’s supposed to give you a little taste of the future, that’s why I didn’t know what it’d taste like. I’m sorry for the unhappy surprise Cerise,” Maddie said sadly looking down at the table. Her curls seemed just a bit less bouncy than before.

“It’s fine Maddie, it wasn't your fault,” she managed to shudder out, the deep earthy taste in her mouth was slowly fading away becoming no more than a lingering memory.

“Biscuits, yes it was! I should have given you a happier tea,” Maddie mumbled her curls drooping with her mood.

While Cerise herself didn’t quite know what a ‘happier’ tea was she couldn’t help but feel her heart go out for her friend.

“It’s not your fault, really Maddie. You said the tea was going to be a surprise to you too, how could you have known?” Cedar soothed her.

Maddie brightened a bit at her words. “Oh biscuits you’re right Cedar, and I know you’re right because you always tell the truth!”

Cedar smiled a bit at that, happy that for once her ability to always tell the truth came in handy.

“But what was that anyway?” Cerise couldn’t help but wonder out loud.

“A foretelling tea,” Maddie said again.

“No I meant what does it mean?”

Cedar and Maddie looked at each other and back to Cerise.

“Well, what did it taste like?” Cedar asked.

“It tasted like, at first it tasted bitter almost um angry?” she said.

“Angry?” Cedar asked.

“Oh no I gave you an angry tea!” Maddie exclaimed.

“No it only tasted angry at first, somehow,” Cerise clarified. “But then right after that it dried out my throat like a big huff and a puff blew in my mouth.”

“So it tasted like an angry blowy tea?” Madeline asked.

“Well then it changed again.” Cerise said. “After it dried out my throat it tasted sort of I don’t know, calm earthy.”

“Earthy, like dirt?” Cedar asked.

“Sort of,” Cedar responded. “It tasted like earth but in a peaceful sort of way almost like-” Cerise cut herself off thinking hard. It tasted like the earth felt after a good long rain, it tasted like dew on the tip of her tongue as she raced through the forest, it tasted like the wind sounded against her ears, the sounds of the forest echoing for miles where everything was at peace and whole. “I don’t really know how to describe it,” Cerise admitted and she didn’t. She didn’t know how she could describe such a feeling to her friends, not in her own words.

“Cheese and crackers, that sounds like a mighty big foretelling!” Maddie exclaimed.

“You mean, Cerise got a bad fortune?” Cedar asked.

“Nope,” Maddie said. “I just said it was a big one, not a bad one.”

“It seemed pretty bad to me, I mean it nearly choked Cerise.” Cedar pointed out.

“Nope, big things aren’t always bad,” Maddie said sagely. “It just mean something big is coming, something tearrific I bet, something a little scary but if Cerise said that it tasted good at the end then everything will be alright,” she said confidently.

“I don’t know…” Cedar said uneasily.

“It’ll be okay, the tea is never wrong,” Maddie tsked shaking her head at the mere thought of tea being wrong.

“But if the tea isn’t wrong, then that really means that something big is going to happen?” Cerise wondered.

The three girls sat in silence for a few moments wondering at Cerise’s words.

“I-I don’t know,” Cerise admitted. The very thought of something happening as big and bad as the way her tea tasted made the hair on the back of her head stand up.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little heads, no matter what happens as long as we stick our heads together we can do anything!” Maddie cheered.

“I think you mean put our heads together,” Cerise corrected.

“How would we do that? Sticking them together sounds much easier to me,” Maddie said. “Jam always works best,” she continued.

“Uh right-” Cerise said. Sometimes she felt like she would never completely understand Maddie. Raven was Maddie’s best friend and she admitted to Cerise that sometimes even she didn’t know what happened beneath those bouncy curls.

“I guess you're right,” Cedar sighed. “I guess there’s nothing much more we can do,”

“Absolutely!” Maddie agreed. ‘Now don’t you two worry your pretty little heads, I’ll whip up a nice new batch of tea and treats on the house.”

“Thanks Maddie,” Cerise said with a small smile.

“Your welcome silly,” Maddie giggled, gathering Cerise’s cup and moving behind the shop counter to prepare their treats.

For the rest of the day the three girls chatted together inside the café, Cerise had gotten a bubblegum mint flavored tea for her troubles that conjured thick pink bubbles every time she blew on it to cool it down for her sensitive tongue. They ate some scones and muffins for desert and chatted happily with each other. Every now and again Maddie would have to leave the table to serve another customer but the shop wasn’t too busy. Soon enough night fell and closing time approached. Maddie waved off Cerise and Cedar’s offer to help her close up the shop with her father and told them she’d meet them again at breakfast the next day. She said that after work she had to go back to her dorm and get some last minute chemythstery studying time in. Cerise and Cedar walked back up the hill back to school without Maddie. Despite Maddie’s attempts to make Cerise feel better, Cerise couldn’t help but feel troubled about what happened earlier. The sheer memory of the raw power she felt made her shiver despite the warmth of her mother’s cloak. The tea she had didn’t just feel like just a foretelling of the future, it felt like an omen.

***

“Thank you all for attending the weekly faculty meeting,” said Headmaster Grimm.

In a large room with a long rectangular table sat the entirety of the Ever After High faculty. Early morning sunlight filtered into the room. Every Friday morning before their classes the faculty would hold a meeting to discuss classes and concerns to prepare for the coming week. Some teachers felt that the frequent meetings were a bit excessive, thinking that a monthly meeting would do just fine, but Milton Grimm was nothing but organized and disciplined. He believed in ruling Ever After High with a firm hand and making sure that everyone was on the same page.

“First I’d like to discuss the minor repairs being conducted on the Grimmnasium, Mr. Gingerbreadhouse brought it to my attention that some of the practice mats need to be replaced. He also pointed out that one of the lights for the Bookball stadium has blown out and needs to be replaced. I have already contacted a repairman to fix the damages. Thanks to a generous donation from the Charming family our budget for the school’s athletic activities is well in hand.”

The other faculty members looked on at the Headmaster with varying expressions of boredom. Teachers like Baba Yaga and Mr. Badwolf had a calm and vaguely interested demeanor in order to keep up appearances but others like Jack be Nimble paid less attention. If anyone had cared to pay attention they would have noticed that his hands were not folded on top of the table in front of him but were instead placed discreetly under the table. If someone cared to pay further attention they would notice that his hands were working furiously under the table hexting an unknown recipient away from prying eyes. However the worst of them all was Professor Rumplestilskin who was sound asleep at his place in the very back of the room muttering softly in his sleep.

“I would also like to discuss upcoming midterm exams in the following weeks. I know that they seem like they’re far off but exam time will be upon us before we know it. I want to make sure that each and every one of you is keeping your students on track,” he said emphasizing ‘on track’ with great import. “Therefore I want each and every one of you to make sure that your students are doing well in your classes. Now I’m not saying to make the classes easier, it, would go against the integrity of what we’re trying to achieve at our fair school.”

Jack be Nimble snorted under his breath softly enough to go unnoticed by the other faculty members. ‘Integrity’ as a concept wasn’t something he was overly familiar with.

“However although I do not wish for you to make your classes deliberately easier I would ask you all to make sure each of your students is committed to their coursework. Perhaps putting in a few extra office hours or study periods for students before exams would be prudent?” Headmaster Grimm suggested as if any of the other faculty had a say in the matter. Upon seeing the varying faces of interest in the room, Headmaster Grimm took that for acceptance and nodded to himself deciding the matter to be settled. “Excellent moving on. Professor Jack be Nimble I would like to bring your attention to a uh, recent student transfer.”

“Sir?” Jack be Nimble asked the glaze of his eyes disappearing into alertness. He subtly drew his hands out from under the table and quickly put his phone in his pants pocket before Headmaster Grimm could notice his inattention.

“Miss Cedar Wood will be joining your class starting today,” Headmaster Grimm informed him.

“Of course sir, but may I ask why she is transferring so late in the semester?” Professor Jack be Nimble asked politely. Unbeknownst to anyone else his phone continued to buzz a series of incoming texts in his pocket.

“It has um, been brought to my attention that Ms Wood needs further instructing in the art of trickery and other skills,” Grimm grimaced.

“Oh you mean her lying problem?” Jack be Nimble clarified.

“Um, yes,” Grimm coughed awkwardly disliking mentioning even the slightest hiccup of a student failing to meet their destiny. “As you know Ms Wood will need a great deal of instruction in the art of lying to fulfill her destiny, I have utter faith that you will help her to achieve it.”

“Of course,” Jack be Nimble agreed smoothly. “Trickery is my specialty after all, I’ll make a liar out of Ms Wood yet.”

“Excellent, excellent,” Grimm said his mood noticeably rising.

“Now that that is out of the way I would like to quickly mention a trifle weather concern-”

“I wouldn’t call it a trifle concern Milton,” Baba Yaga interrupted grimly.

An awkward silence fell the faculty table at her words. Besides Milton Grimm who had been in Ever After since it’s founding over one-hundred years ago, Baba Yaga was the only one in all of Ever After that was older and wiser than him. She was hundreds of years old, even older than Milton Grimm and well trained in the magical arts. If there was only one person who was allowed to interrupt and undermine Milton Grimm’s word it was her.

All of the faculty that had been tuning out Headmaster Grimm’s words had suddenly sprung to attention at her words. Even Rumplestilskin had woken up from his deep sleep with a loud snort.

“Now Baba Yaga I’m sure it’s not as serious as you claim-”

“And you would be utterly wrong Milton, I’ve warned you about the severity of this matter but you continue to act as if nothing is amiss.”

Headmaster Grimm closed his mouth with an audible click, stunned to have had his authority questioned.

Everyone diverted their attention to Baba Yaga fully alert.

“As I’ve already informed Milton, I’ve been sensing an alarming degree of volatile magic for the past few days. I’ve been paying close attention to my scrying glasses as well as other magical instruments. All signs point to a dangerous mirror shard storm brewing.”

“So it’s not just a normal mirror storm is it?” Jack be Nimble asked.

“No it seems not,” Baba Yaga said. “According to my research this mirror storm will be one of the worst ones we’ve seen in over a decade.”

“So it’s just a normal big ol’ storm then,” Jack be Nimble clarified.

Baba Yaga shook her head in disagreement. “I’m afraid not Jack, it’s far more serious than that.”

“Now there’s no evidence that anything caused it-“ Headmaster Grimm interjected.

“Now that’s not wholly true Milton” Baba Yaga interrupted again. “While it’s true that we don’t have any evidence to prove who could cause such a strong magical phenomenon we do have significant reason to assume who it could be.”

“So who’s the culprit?” Mr. Badwolf spoke up for the first time that day. Mr. Badwolf despite his menacing appearance usually chose to remain silent and listen to the conversation around him during faculty meetings than put in any words of his own.

“A storm of this magnitude reeks of powerful magic. Although powerful storms come and go, a storm this powerful is most likely caused by an outside force influencing the very forces of nature, only one other time has Ever After seen a storm of this magnitude. Only a sorcerer or sorceress of level thirty eight or more power could have caused this. Eight years ago one such sorceress caused such as storm upon all of Ever After I’m sure all of you remember.”

The room took over a tense atmosphere at her words. Everyone old enough remembered the fateful night when a vengeful sorceress attacked the land of Ever After before being sealed away.

“The Evil Queen,” Mr. Badwolf growled.

“Precisely,” Baba Yaga said. “Only the Evil Queen was powerful enough to deliberately cause a storm of this magnitude."

“But she’s locked away good and tight!” Rumplestilskin interjected. “She can’t do any magic in her mirror prison, you said so yourself.”

“That’s very right,” Baba Yaga agreed. “Imprisoned as she is, the Evil Queen has very little power to do much magic, let alone conjure a storm of this scale. As it stands, there are only three people in all of Ever After powerful enough to classify as a level 38 sorceress.”

“So who is it!” Rumplestilskin asked impatiently. “Come on out with it!”

Baba Yaga sent a withering glare Rumplestilskin’s way. He clicked his mouth shut and slumped down in his seat in silence.

“The only people who classify as a level 38 sorceress are the evil Queen myself and-”

“Raven Queen,” Mr. Badwolf breathed in sudden understanding.

At his words, the room suddenly erupts into chaos.

“Outrageous!” The White Queen shouted.

“Unbelievable, the nerve of that girl!” Momma Bear growled.

“I always said that girl was trouble I did,” Gingerbreadman yelled.

“That little witch! We should get rid of her, we should-” Rumple shouted, his grating voice the loudest of them all.

“ENOUGH!” Headmaster Grimm shouted among the chaos slamming his hands against the desk. At his words the room drew silent. His face was red with anger. His usually immaculate hair was in disarray and he huffed and puffed every breath. He smoothed down his hair and took a few calming breaths. “Nobody is getting expelled,” he said at last.

“Why not!” Rumplestilskin yelled.

His fellow teachers muttered and nodded their heads to each other in agreement.

“Because, because she’s too important,” Headmaster Grimm sighed in defeat as if admitting such a thing physically pained him. “Raven Queen is a vital character in the Snow White story, one of the most famous and revered stories in all of Ever After. I cannot jeopardize Apple White’s story for the sake of one girl.”

“Milton,” Baba Yaga began.

“I know what your going to say Baba Yaga,” He said. “But I must stand firm on this. Raven Queen’s destiny is vital to the safety of all of Ever After, and even if I were to expel her it wouldn’t do any good.”

“The storm would still come,” Jack be Nimble said.

“Exactly,” Headmaster Grimm sighed. “The only way now to stop it or at least lessen the storm is to get Raven to accept her destiny. Casting her out from Ever After won’t change a thing.”

“Pardon me for my ignorance,” Mr Badwolf said drawing everyone’s attention. “But how did Ms Queen start such a storm exactly? To be the root of something so wicked while also failing my How to Be a villain class, it’s a little hard to believe,” he grumbled.

“I understand your confusion,” Baba Yaga said. “But let me explain. The only one who could conjure such a storm is Raven. Her refusal to sign the storybook of legends and the destruction of the mirrors most likely set off a chain reaction, especially with her power. Despite her reluctance to follow her destiny Raven has the potential to be one of the most powerful Evil Queens Ever After has ever seen. Her magic is unparalleled aside from her mother and myself and it grows even stronger every day whether she knows it or not. There might come a day when her power surpasses even my own, ” Baba Yaga said grimly.

“So by not signing on legacy day, Raven’s magic started a brew for the worst storm in Ever After, by accident?” Jack be Nimble asked incredulously.

“Most likely yes,” Baba Yaga agreed. “Unlike her mother, if it’s one thing Raven Queen has made clear it’s that she does not wish to follow her destiny to commit evil. If her powers started a storm like this then I cannot see how she would have done so intentionally.”

“So what now then?” The White Queen asked sniffing haughtily. “If we don’t expel the girl then what?”

“We convince Raven to follow her destiny and prepare for the worst,” Headmaster Grimm said seriously. “As of now all faculty studied in magic will assist myself and Baba Yaga in strengthening the school’s wards. A curfew will be enacted effective immediately. All students are to go straight to their dorms after dinner is over. I don’t want any students being caught up in Book End when the storm hits.” Headmaster Grimm explained.

“What about Book End though?” Jack be Nimble asked. “If a storm is coming to Ever After High, won’t the town be hit too?”

“We’ll plan for an evacuation procedure if it comes down to it,” Headmaster Grimm answered smoothly. “The Grimmnasium is one of the safest and largest areas in the school, with a few stretching spells it should be large enough to hold the entire town and student body if need be. We can begin stocking emergency supplies immediately."

“And the girl?” The White Queen spoke up. “What are we going to do about her?”

“Leave Raven Queen to me,” Headmaster Grimm answered grimly. “I have a plan to give her the push she needs to accept her destiny, as for the rest of you, remain vigilant but quiet. I don’t want there to be any panic among the students.”

The rest of the faculty murmured their agreement.

“Good, as for the storm Baba Yaga and Mr. Badwolf will keep an eye on any developments.”

“Sir?” Mr. Badwolf asked.

“I understand that creatures of the forest are more in tune with nature than others,” Miles said. “If there are any premature signs of change, alert me immediately.”

“Of course Headmaster,” Mr. Badwolf agreed.

“As for Baba Yaga, the two of us will construct a magical barrier to protect the school,” Headmaster Grimm said.

“Of course,” Baba Yaga agreed. “We’ll cast it by tonight.”

“How long do we have?” Jack be Nimble asked seriously.

“According to my readings about two days,” Baba Yaga said. “Perhaps less if we’re unlucky.”

“That’s not a lot of time,” Jack be Nimble said grimly.

“No it’s not but I must ask you all to remain calm.” Headmaster Grimm said. “It won’t do for any of us to panic. We all must keep a clear head if we are to get through this, together,” he said with meaning.

The rest of the faculty gave signs of agreement, nodding their heads and murmuring in answer.

“Good, good.” Grimm said. “Now that that business is taken care of, this meeting is now adjourned.”

At his words the rest of the faculty eagerly scraped their chairs against the floor and stood up from the table. The spell of silent obedience was now broken, excited chatter and gossip began almost immediately. Out of all of the chatter no one’s voice was as clear as Rumplestilskin.

“I still say that girl is no good, as wicked as her mother, worse even starting a mess this big,” he screeched. “No good that girl, should get rid of her when we have the chance.”

Mr. Badwolf clenched his paws tightly but chose to say nothing, the only other indication that he heard Rumplestilskin’s words was the slight twitching of his ears.

A few other teachers voiced their agreement. Jack be Nimble said nothing as he breezed passed the others, being one of the first to leave the room. He subtly took out his phone from his pant’s pocket and glanced at his missed hexts and strode out of the room. Soon enough the entire faculty had left the room for all but Baba Yaga and Headmaster Grimm.

“You shouldn’t have tried to keep this from them Milton,” Baba Yaga chastised him as soon as everyone was gone.

“I didn’t want to cause any panic,” Milton answered gruffly.

“By ignoring the problem? Would you have said anything at all if I didn’t speak up?’ she asked.

Headmaster Grimm said nothing, a severe frown developing on his face.

“I thought not,” Baba Yaga said with disgust shaking her head. “It’s not right for you to make such decisions Milton, it’d do well for you to remember that,”

“Need I remind you who is head of this school?” Grimm shot out. “My word is law here.”

“Yes I know, but need I remind you that this was not always so?” Baba Yaga retorted. “I remember where you came from Milton I know what you are. I might be the only one left who does, well except for-”

“There’s no need to speak of him,” Grimm interrupted her. “What’s done is done,” he sighed heavily.

“I know, I stood by you for so many years, I stood by the decisions you made but did you ever wonder why?” Baba Yaga asked.

Headmaster Grimm looked at her meaningfully.

“It’s because I believe in what you stand for, I still do despite all of the mistakes we made along the way,” she answered. “But I cannot allow you to keep others in the dark for your own selfishness Milton, not with something as severe as this do you understand?”

“Yes, I know. Thank you Baba Yaga I know I don’t always say how much I appreciate-”

“You don’t have to I already know,” she assured him a small smile breaking out on her wrinkled face her grey eyes shining with kindness. “But if I might suggest just one more thing.”

“Anything,” Grimm assured her.

“Talk to him Milton, ask him for his help.” Seeing that he was about to protest she continued. “We don't have much a choice in the matter, out of all of us he might know what to do.”

“I know what to do, I’ll get Raven Queen to accept her destiny,” he assured her with great conviction.

“Will you? Because as far as I can see Milton no one can, not even you. It would be wise to have another plan in case that one falls through,” Baba Yaga answered giving him a sharp look. “Please, consider it. For the sake of us all,” she said placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I will consider it,” he grumbled.

“That’s all that I ask.” Baba Yaga said. “Now come, I have a class to teach soon and you have other matters to attend to,” she said leading him out the door.

Chapter Text

Cerise dug in hungrily into her eggs and sausages. Beside her Maddie and Raven were discussing the upcoming exam first period.

“I don’t know Maddie, I don’t think I studied enough, maybe if I just look at my notes one more time,” Raven said uncertainty.

“Fiddlesticks you studied so hard Raven, any more and your head will burst right open!” Maddie scolded her taking a generous bite out of her scone. “Eat your breakfast and don’t worry about that silly old test.”

“I guess you're right Maddie,” Raven laughed biting into her toast.

“Girls look what I got this morning!” Cedar cheered waving a piece of paper over her head like a flag as she made her way to their table.

“What is it?” Cerise asked looking up from her plate.

“It’s my new class schedule!” Cedar said excitedly. “I don’t have to go to woodshop, I got into Professor Jack be Nimble’s trickery class this afternoon!!”

“Wow Cedar that’s awesome!” Raven said delighted. “I’m so happy for you.”

“It’s all thanks to you girls, I’d have never gotten in without you all,” Cedar said gratefully.

“Aww your welcome silly Billy,” Maddie cheered.

“Thank you so much Cerise,” Cedar said. “If you didn’t stand up to Headmaster Grimm, well I’d be sadder than a splinter that’s for sure!” she said leaning down near Cerise and giving her a tight hug.

“Um, your welcome,” Cerise said hesitantly. She dropped her fork and returned Cedar’s hug. Cedar’s thick bouncy curls tickled her cheek. Up close Cerise could smell the sharp tangy lemon scent of Cedar’s wood polish. The smell soothed her, her ears twitched happily beneath her hood and she tightened her grip around Cedar’s waist, pleased that a member of her pack was safe and happy.

“Woah, woah what’s this about Cerise standing up to Headmaster Grimm?” Raven asked as Cerise and Cedar parted.

“Cerise stood up to Headmaster Grimm and convinced him to switch my classes!” Cedar said happily taking her usual seat next to Raven.

“Wow really?” Raven asked turning her gaze onto Cerise. “How’d you manage that?”

Cerise swallowed dryly at Raven’s happy gaze feeling pleased and uncomfortable all at once. “Well I uh-” Cerise stuttered suddenly finding it difficult for her to get her words out.

“Cerise convinced Headmaster Grimm that I would need to be in the trickery class more than wood shop,” Cedar explained. “She said it was important to fulfill my destiny that I know how to lie and trick people more than take woodshop. Oh I’m as happy as a cherry tree in spring!” Cedar cheered.

“Cerise that was wicked awesome of you,.” Raven said.

“R-really?” Cerise asked her heart thumping in her chest.

“Of course, I knew you could do it!” Raven grinned her dark purple eyes lighting up.

Cerise could barely hear anything else over the pounding of her heart. “T-thanks Raven,” she managed to choke out.

“Good for you Cedar, and good to you too Cerise for telling that big ol’ meanie what for!” Maddie cheered. “This calls for a spellabration!” she decided suddenly. Quicker than they could blink Maddie had pulled out a tray of cookies out of her hat. She soon followed with a large pot of tea made of porcelain and painted with flowers along with four matching tea cups. “Sweets on me!” she cheered grabbing the nearest colorful cookie and digging in.

“Thanks Maddie,” Raven said pouring herself a cup of black tea and snagging a cookie of her own.

Cerise took a cookie of her own but skipped the tea, her mind going back to the tea she had yesterday. Her stomach churned at the thought.

“I’m just so hexcited,” Cedar said as Cerise tuned back into the table’s conversation. “I might actually learn to tell a lie! And then maybe one day I’ll finally follow my destiny and be a real girl!” Cedar cheered.

“I’m glad to hear that you're so hexcited about following your destiny Cedar,” A sweet voice said from behind them.

Cerise turned to see Apple White and Briar beauty approaching their table with trays in hand.

“Hey Apple, hey Briar,” Raven greeted cheerfully.

“Hey girls do you mind if we sit here?” Apple asked her voice sweet and lilting.

Cerise’s ears twitched in annoyance.

“Of course not,” Cedar said.

“Nope!” Maddie smiled.

Cerise was trying to think of what to say but decided against it as Briar and Apple took their seats at the table.

“So what’s this about following your destiny?” Briar asked as she started to dig into her porridge.

“I’m going to learn how to tell a lie!” Cedar said proudly. “I got transferred into Jack be Nimble’s trickery class.”

“That’s awesome Cedar, good for you,” Briar said.

“Yes, I’m so glad that your taking steps to follow your destiny Cedar,” Apple smiled taking a small bite out of her apple. “Maybe others will begin to follow your example.”

“Um, Apple you know how I feel about that,” Raven said slowly.

“I do silly, I know you’re a little confused now-”

“I’m not confused Apple,” Raven said firmly cutting her off.

The table went silent for a long moment, the atmosphere growing tense. Cerise couldn’t help but glare at Apple and bare her teeth at her for saying something so insensitive. Luckily Apple was busy looking at Raven with a pleading expression on her face.

“Anyway, did you guys hear about the awesome party I’m planning this weekend?” Briar said quickly changing the subject.

“Nope,” Maddie said.

“No, when is it?” Cedar asked.

“It’s on Sunday,” Briar explained excitedly. “It’s a pre-midterm stress relief party, the whole class is invited.”

“Oh yeah, I think I heard Cupid mentioning this to me during study hall yesterday,” Raven said.

“It’s mostly by word of mouth,” Briar explained. “I thought about printing flyers, but well I didn’t think I needed to.”

Cerise couldn’t help but agree, everyone knew about Briar’s big bad parties and almost everyone wanted to go when she organized one.

“That’s good that you didn’t Briar, it’s important to save trees,” Cedar said.

“Thanks Cedar, I just wanted to know if you guys were planning on going or not?”

“Sounds fun,” Raven smiled weakly shooting a worried glance at Apple who was quietly eating her porridge.

“Absolutely! Oh I just love love a good party!” Maddie cheered.

Cerise could feel her ears flatten against her head beneath her head at the thought of it. Just thinking of all of the loud noises and smells sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine.

“Cedar, Cerise what about you two?” Briar asked.

“I don’t know I might go,” Cedar said uncertainly. “What about you Cerise?” Cedar asked turning toward Cerise.

All of a sudden Cerise could feel the weight of everyone’s gaze on her. Her eyes darted back and forth between all of their expectant faces feeling suddenly overwhelmed.

“I’ll um, I’ll think about it,” she lied.

“Well, I really hope you guys will come because it’s going to be wicked awesome!” Briar grinned.

Cerise gave a weak smile back and turned back to her eggs and sausages, her food now a little cold.

“Are you going Apple?” Raven asked tentatively.

“What, oh of course,” Apple said.

“Then we’ll go together,” Raven smiled at her.

Apple gave Raven a big smile back, her previous awkwardness fading away. “Sounds hexciting, oh we can do each others makeup!” she beamed.

“Uh, yeah sure Apple” Raven laughed nervously.

The rest of breakfast was spent discussing Briar’s party plans and Rumplestilskin’s test. Apple Raven and Cedar all went over their last minute notes and formulas while Maddie and Briar talked excitedly about the party. Cerise listened to it all quietly, her stomach churning unpleasantly. She finished her food but didn’t get much satisfaction out of it, her thoughts going back to the party and Apple smiling sweetly at Raven. It was to her great relief when the bell finally rang, signaling the start of the school day.

“Okay girls, I think we got this!” Apple beamed.

“Oh I hope so, I really hope so. I just really don’t want Professor Rumplestilskin to fail me,” Cedar babbled nervously.

“He won’t silly, Professor Rumplestilskin is very nice,” Apple said.

“Right,” Raven said looking as if she wanted to correct her but deciding against it.

“Good luck girls!” Maddie waved excitedly. “Remember your muchness!”

“Ok Maddie thanks,” Raven laughed.

“Muchness?” Apple asked her nose scrunching in confusion.

“I’ll tell you later,” Raven said. “See you guys,”

“Bye,” Cerise whispered but the other three had already left the table and were making their way out of the castleteria.

“What do you have next?” Briar asked Maddie.

“Cooking classics, I better skedaddle too, we’re making apple critters today!”

“Um don’t you mean apple fritters?” Briar asked.

“No of course not where would the critters go in a fritter?” Maddie laughed.

Briar and Cerise looked at each other quickly in confusion. Cerise shook her head at Briar in exasperation. Sometimes with Maddie it was better not to ask.

“Well I’m off those critters don’t bake themselves you know,” Maddie said taking her tray and skipping away.

“Okay,” Briar said. “Well, do you wanna walk to class together?”

“Uh, yeah sure,” Cerise agreed.

Cerise and Briar both had Jack be Nimble’s Geografairy class together first period every day. They walked down the hallway together in an awkward silence. Briar and Apple usually sat with other students, usually royal. Cerise wasn’t used to walking to class with anyone else who wasn’t Raven, Cedar, or Maddie.

“Hey Cerise is it okay if I ask you why you don’t want to go to the party?” Briar asked breaking the silence.

“I uh, said I’ll think about it.” Cerise stuttered inwardly cringing.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to go you know, I just wanted to know why,” Briar asked.

“I guess parties really aren’t my thing,” Cerise confessed.

“Are you sure, I mean it’s not because-” Briar started before cutting herself off.

“What do you mean?” Cerise asked, curious.

“Because of well, I know this royal rebel thing has gotten out of hand lately, but I didn’t want anyone to feel, I don’t know left out. Like they couldn’t hang with us.”

“Oh,” Cerise said shocked. “I uh never thought of it like that,” she explained. “Really,” she insisted at Briar’s disbelieving face. “I don’t hang out with a lot of people and I don’t really like crowds or um, loud noises,” she admitted softly.

Briar visibly relaxed at Cerise’s words. “Oh good, I was worried there for a minute,” she laughed. “It’s okay if you don’t come then, sometimes a big party isn’t everyone’s thing.”

“Yeah,” Cerise smiled.

“Hmm, that gives me an idea,” Briar muttered to herself, her high heels clicking against the floor. She took off her crown glasses and twirled them around expertly. Her wrist moving through the air smoothly and confidently.

“So if you don’t want to do to a big bad bash this Sunday, what about a smaller one?” Briar said after a moment of thought.

“What?” Cerise asked.

“I can organize a smaller party sometime next week,” Briar explained. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to but it might be fun, have you meet some new people you know?” Briar said.

“Oh do you have another party planned already?” Cerise asked.

“Not yet, I just thought of it,” Briar admitted. “It can be just us girls in the dormitory, that way they’ll be a lot less people and it won’t get too loud.”

“You’d do that for me?” Cerise wondered incredulously.

“Yeah of course,” Briar said. “What are friends for?”

“I-thank you,” Cerise breathed. “I don’t really know what to say.”

“Say you’ll come,” Briar laughed putting her crown glasses back on her head with a wink.

“Maybe I will,” Cerise smiled.

Suddenly the bell rang, it’s shrill sound echoing throughout the halls and causing Cerise to wince.

“Hells bells, we gotta move,” Briar exclaimed and breaking into a run.

Briar’s high hells clicked and clacked against the floor. Cerise kept an easy pace beside her wondering to herself how on earth Briar managed to run so fast in high heels. They quickly approached their classroom and slid into the room drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Cerise sucked in a breath uneasily at the weight of everyone’s stares but Briar didn’t seem to have the same problem.

“Oh wicked we made it,” she laughed seeing that Jack be Nimble was not yet in class.

“Briar, over here!” Blondie waved from her seat in the front row. Her bright blonde curls bounced in her excitement.

“Coming,” Briar laughed making her way to her usual seat.

Cerise was about to go to her usual seat in the back but Briar turned back towards her.

“Cerise come sit with us,” she gestured to seat behind her.

Tentatively, Cerise made her way towards Blondie and Briar and took a seat behind in the second row behind Briar.

“Looks like Professor Jack be Nimble is late,” Blondie said. “I wonder why he’s not here yet?”

“He’s usually late Blondie,” Briar corrected her.

The door to the classroom opened, Cerise turned her head to see who it was but it was only Hopper skidding into class, his crown askew and his face red from exertion.

“Made it just in time dude,” his friend Humphrey crowed from behind Cerise.

Hopper glanced at Cerise and furrowed his brow.

“Hey, that’s my spot,” he croaked in annoyance.

“Oh um,” Cerise said making to get up.

“Sorry Hopper, first come first serve right?” Briar said turning towards Hopper.

“But, oh whatever,” Hopper grumbled shuffling to Cerise’s usual seat in the back of class.

“Is this really okay?” Cerise whispered.

“Oh it’s fine,” Blondie said turning in her seat to face Cerise. “It’s not like his name was on it.”

“So Blondie I’ve got some hexcellent ideas for the party this Sunday,”

But before Briar could tell Blondie anything next the classroom door swung open again.

Jack be Nimble ambled into the room quickly putting his mirror phone into his pocket. “Alright guys I have an announcement to make before we start class today.” Jack be Nimble started. “As of now there will be a mandatory curfew starting from six pm onward.”

The class disrupted into chaos at his words, everyone clambered to speak but Briar’s voice rang loudest of all.

“Curfew!” Briar exclaimed. “Why?”

“Headmaster Grimm has informed us that Ever After might see some irregular weather patterns soon,” Jack be Nimble explained calmly.

“Irregular weather patterns?” Blondie said skeptically. “We’ve had some bad storms in Ever After before, why have a curfew now?” Blondie asked ever the reporter.

“It’s just a safety precaution, it shouldn’t be anything serious but-”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Blondie pressed. “Why have a curfew if it’s not going to be serious?”

The rest of the class murmured in agreement and Cerise couldn’t help but think the same as Blondie.

“It’s just a safety precaution,” Jack be Nimble explained again. “It’s a school policy that’s all, it’s nothing to worry about.”

Cerise narrowed her eyes at his words in disbelief. Jack be Nimble addressed the class calmly and cooly. Cerise studied him carefully, paying special attention to his body language. Most humans had a strange twitch or tell when they lied but Jack be Nimble was as calm and collected as ever. However Cerise just couldn’t let it go. All of a sudden Cerise could taste the phantom touch of the foretelling tea she had the day before. The strong bitter and dry taste prickled at the back of her mouth, a steady reminder.

She studied him more closely. If her human half couldn’t sense anything, maybe the wolf could. As discretely as she could, Cerise sat up a bit straighter and looked directly at him. She closed her mouth and inhaled as deeply as she could through her nose, suddenly very happy that she was usually overlooked in class. It took her a few moments to distinguish his scent from everyone else’s. Cerise could clearly smell Briar’s rose perfume and being seated directly behind her made its chemical smell nearly overpower everything else. Cerise concentrated harder and ignored Briar’s perfume, making out the lighter scent of Blondie’s daisy perfume and the faint smell of porridge that clung to her wherever she went. However beneath the bright scent of Briar’s perfume and the subtle smell of Blondie’s, Cerise could just about make out Jack be Nimble’s scent from everyone else’s. With some effort, Cerise could make out a familiar smell, the sharp tangy smell that most humans had when they lied. Cerise swallowed dryly at the realization, a sour feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

“What time will the curfew be? What about club activities?” Humphrey asked breaking Cerise out of her reverie.

“Curfew will be enacted by 6pm,” Jack be Nimble explained smoothly. “Straight after dinner all students are to go immediately to their dorms. No one is allowed to go into Book End for the next few days.”

The class erupted into chaos, numerous voices protesting loudly.

“That is totally bogus!” Sparrow griped strumming his ever present guitar for effect.

“Oh no what about my job?” Ashlynn shrieked. “I have to work!”

“What about my party!” Briar shouted.

Cerise winced at the noise assaulting her ears and placed her hands over her head. It was all too much at once.

“Okay everyone that’s enough,” Jack be Nimble raised his voice firmly putting an end to the dissent. “I understand that you’re all upset but this is just the way it is. Now I’d like to move along and actually begin the lesson now. Everyone turn to page three hundred and three in your text books, today we’ll be continuing our chapter on Wonderland starting with the Red Queen’s castle.”

Everyone dutifully began to pull out their textbooks, some students grumbling more than others but they did it nonetheless. Jack be Nimble swiftly moved onto actual class work as if the discussion never happened. Cerise flipped through her text book idly. She hadn’t done the reading on the chapter last night but she didn’t feel very compelled to pay attention to the lecture either. Her grade in the class was good, being friends with a native wonderland had its perks. Cerise probably knew as much about Wonderland geografairy as the textbook if not more. However, try as she might but she couldn’t shake the sense of dread that settled around her. All of a sudden everything much to real. The premonition that she had yesterday was suddenly becoming a reality.

Cerise glanced around the room and found that others seemed to think the same as her. Unlike everyone else Sparrow Hood a few rows down didn’t even bother opening his textbook. That in itself wasn’t too unusual but instead of idly strumming his guitar during lecture he looked far more alert than usual. He sat with his hands under his chin studying the teacher deep in thought. Turning towards the front of the row once more Cerise could see that Blondie seemed to be much the same way. She scribbled notes in her notebook frantically but it didn’t seem to be anything to do with the lecture. No doubt she was writing down ideas for her next mirror cast in order to catch the latest ‘super scoop’.

The only one who was really paying the most attention after the bombshell that Jack be Nimble dropped was Briar. Briar payed very careful attention to Jack be Nimble’s lecture, taking careful notes and nodding along to herself every now and again. Cerise herself didn’t take many notes, she usually just listened during lecture and remembered most of what she heard. Sensitive hearing had it’s benefits despite the hassle.

Despite being a self proclaimed party girl and thrill seeker, Briar was easily one of the best students in the school. She took her school work hextremely seriously. In the few classes that Cerise shared with her she was always alert and almost never doodled or drifted off during class. Well she was whenever she was awake. Ten minutes passed since Professor Jack be Nimble started lecture and sure enough in the middle of her note taking, Briar slumped in her seat her head hitting the desk with a soft ‘thunk’. Blondie paused in her mirror cast planning and looked next to her to her friend. Without missing a beat she shook her lightly first, and then more firmly shook her again but it was no use. Briar was fast asleep. With a deep sigh Blondie turned a page in her notebook and looked towards the teacher, paying close attention and jotting down notes of her own. Cerise decided to follow her lead and kept an ear out, jotting down a few things of her own every now and again.

About halfway through the lecture, Briar startled awake with a loud snort. Cerise turned her attention away from the lecture, Jack be Nimble had just gotten into discussing the White Queen’s Queendom and the surrounding areas. Cerise watched Briar shake herself awake and rub at her eyes. Then, as if nothing had ever happened, she picked up her pen and resumed taking notes.

The rest of class came and went. Cerise alternated between listening to lecture and keeping an eye on her professor. Despite her careful scrutiny he was as calm as ever, not showing any signs of worry or unease about the big bad lie he told at the beginning of class. Soon enough, Jack be Nimble just about finished his lecture and the bell rang signaling the end of class.

“Okay this weekend I want you guys to start the section review, you can find it on page three thirty. Midterms are coming up and I don’t want anyone falling behind. Remember, curfew starts today at six pm sharp. No one is allowed to leave campus at all today so don’t even think about sneaking off,” he said throwing a sharp look at Sparrow Hood.

Sparrow scoffed and threw his hands in front of his chest in a placating gesture. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said sarcastically before sauntering out the door.

Jack be Nimble watched him leave with narrowed eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

“Hey Blondie, can I see some of your notes later today?” Briar asked as she stood up and stretched. “I think I fell asleep again, how long was I out for?”

“Not long,” Blondie said. “Maybe twenty minutes tops, I’ll type up my notes on my mirror pad today and email them.”

“Awesome, thanks Blondie,” Briar said cheerfully gathering up her things.

Cerise decided to follow her lead and put her textbook away as well.

“Hey Cerise, can I see your notes too?” Briar asked turning towards her.

“Um-sure Briar,” Cerise said ripping the page out of her notebook.

“Don’t you need it?” Briar asked.

“No, I uh, usually don’t look at my notes actually. Sorry if they’re not that good,” Cerise apologized.

“How do you study then?” Blondie asked curiously.

“I just remember enough I guess,” Cerise shrugged.

“Everything?” Blondie asked incredulously. “Don’t you forget anything?”

“Some stuff,” Cerise admitted. “But I do alright, I remember most of it.”

“Wow wicked,” Briar smiled. “I wish I could do that if I didn’t you know, fall asleep all the time,” she laughed.

“That, really sucks,” Cerise said lamely. She never thought about how annoying it must be for Briar to fall asleep at the drop of a hat or how much classwork she must miss.

“It’s whatever after,” Briar shrugged.

“We should go soon, or we’ll be late for Muse-ic,” Blondie said. “What class do you have next Cerise?”

“Uh, Environmental Magic,” Cerise answered.

“Cool, that’s near us, we can walk together,” Briar said with a smile.

Cerise felt a little flustered hanging with Briar and Blondie but she went along with it anyway. Despite not knowing either of them really well, it felt kind of nice. They shuffled out of the classroom, being one of the last students to leave. Cerise cast one last careful look at Jack be Nimble but he was already hexting on his phone without a care in the world. It was only until they were clear of the classroom did Blondie choose to speak up.

“I smell a scoop!” Blondie reported eagerly. “And I’m going to get to the bottom of it!”

“What are you going to do, ask Professor Jack be Nimble again?” Briar wondered.

“That probably won’t work,” Cerise chimed in softly.

Both Briar and Blondie looked her in curiosity. Cerise felt herself shrink a little bit at their undivided attention.

“Why not?” Briar asked.

“Because he’s too good a liar,” Cerise admitted softly thinking back to her observation at the beginning of class. “He teaches students how to lie and trick others, I don’t think you’ll get him to say much more.”

“Oh, you’re probably right,” Blondie sighed. “I guess I’ll have to ask other people then.”

“What do you think could be happening?” Briar asked. “It seems pretty serious if there’s going to be a curfew.”

Cerise chose to say nothing not knowing if it was a good idea to share the premonition she had the day before or not.

“Well, I’m going to do whatever I can to figure it out, no one can keep a story from me!” Blondie smiled enthusiastically. “Oh, this is your class isn’t it Cerise?” Blondie asked.

Cerise looked up and sure enough they had reached her classroom. “Oh, thanks for um walking with me.”

“Of course, see you later Cerise!” Blondie waved.

“See ya!” Briar saluted. “I’d stick around a little longer but we’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”

“That’s okay,” Cerise said. “Have fun in Muse-ic.”

“You now it,” Briar winked.

Cerise watched Briar and Blondie walk down the hallway. Blondie’s curly hair bounced as always as she walked. Whatever was going on, Blondie was right to be asking questions. Even without the tea she drank yesterday Cerise would still be suspicious. Since Blondie was going to interrogate anyone who might know what was going on, Cerise figured she might as well try to find answers of her own. If Jack be Nimble was anything to go by, then most of the faculty must know what’s up. Resolved, Cerise entered the classroom determined to find some answers, if anyone knew what was going on with the school, her dad would at least have some answers.

Cerise took her usual seat near the back of class and began taking notes. Unlike Jack be Nimble, Baba Yaga seemed a little more distracted than usual during her lecture. Cerise kept a close eye on her, taking note of her clenched jaw and tense posture. This was a lot more serious than the teachers were letting on. Class came and went and Cerise gathered her things and made a beeline for her Grimmnastics class. She walked as fast as she could without outright running down the halls. Grimmnastics was her favorite class in school and she liked to get changed and ready before the other girls got there.

The hallways were packed with students. She wove in and out of the crowd, trying to block out as much of the sound and smells as she could. With enough ducking and dodging, Cerise was the first one to make it to the Grimmnasium. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief and happy to be away from large crowds of students. Cerise jogged to the back of the Grimmnasium and towards the girl’s changing room. She opened the door and was pleased to see that the changing room was still empty. She quickly opened her locker and took out her gym clothes. Everyone had to wear a uniform for class. Her shirt was a dark purple with the school emblem in the middle and her pants were a dark red. She took off her dark brown boots, placed them in her locker and took out her plain white gym sneakers.

Unlike other schools, the locker room had not only showers but also stalls with deep red curtains for changing. Cerise went behind the closest one and closed the curtain behind her. Being behind the curtain made her immediately relax. Sometimes keeping her secret was just so stressful. Some girls changed behind the curtains like her but others just got changed in front of the other girls unselfconsciously. Cerise wished she could afford that sort of self confidence, but keeping her secret was too important.

She took off her red hood and let it fall to the floor and couldn’t help but let out a soft hum of pleasure. She wore her hooded cloak constantly around school, besides taking showers, grimmnastics class was the only time she ever took it off. She stretched her ears out, happy that they were no longer under the weight of her hood. She had just slid off her leggings and was pulling on her gym pants when the door to the locker room opened. Cerise couldn’t help but freeze for a moment before reminding herself that she was still behind the curtain.

“I’m just so hexcited about Briar’s party aren’t you?” Cupid’s familiar voice said.

“Oh totally, I’m really looking forward to seeing the DJ she’s hiring, Melody makes some wicked cool music,” Holly’s voice agreed.

Cerise forced herself to relax and began changing more quickly. She practically threw off her plaid shirt and tugged on her gym shirt. Cupid and Holly continued to talk about Briar’s upcoming party as Cerise continued getting changed. Shortly after they arrived more and more girls began to enter the changing room, their loud chatter and laughter echoing within the room making her ears hurt slightly. She slid on her hood once more and quickly laced up her sneakers. She checked that her hood was firmly in place, just in case, and gathered up her regular school clothes from off of the floor. The girl’s locker room was packed by the time she opened the curtain and went back to her locker. She squeezed by Lizzie and Kitty who were speaking intensely in riddlish, some sort of argument she guessed. She shoved her regular clothes into her locker and slammed it shut, trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible. She just about put her hand flat on the door to push it open when it swung open towards her on it’s own. Cerise shrank back and suddenly caught a strung whiff of a deep musky scent.

“Oh, sorry,” Raven said blinking.

“It’s uh, okay,” Cerise said uneasily. As carefully as she could, she took another deep breath. Raven’s scent was usually a bit musky but not like this. Cerise could feel her ears twitch involuntarily under her hood. Raven scent smelled almost a little tangy. It was kind of like when somebody lied but a little less strong. Cerise could feel an uneasy electrical feeling in the air between them. Raven smelled nervous, upset and her magic was as electric and on edge as it’s owner.

“Can I uh come inside?” Raven asked.

“Wha-oh yeah sorry,” Cerise apologized stepping out of Raven’s way.

“No problem,” Raven said and strode past Cerise.

Cerise watched her go for a moment before shaking herself free of her thoughts. She stepped outside into the Grimmnasium and closed the door behind her. The grating sounds of the locker room were immediately muffled. Cerise sighed, her ears were grateful for the break but she was still worried about Raven. She walked through the grimmnasium and sat in the front row of the bleachers, waiting for the rest of the class to finish. A handful of the boys were already done changing and waiting on the bleachers for class to begin.

“I just wished she liked me,” Hopper said sadly to Humphry. “I don’t know how to get her to notice me.”

“Don’t worry man,” Humphry said putting a comforting hand on Hopper’s shoulder. “Remember what Cupid said, all you gotta do is go to the party and ask her to dance or something.”

“I guess,” Hopper said unsure.

Cerise watched the rest of her class trickle in slowly. Most of the people in her class came from destinies that didn’t necessarily require a lot of physical training. People like Daring or Dexter were busy with more advanced courses like Hero training around this time, Poppy too if rumors were to be believed. Cerise longed to join the more advanced Grimmnastic courses, or even join the track and field team but she couldn’t. Not for the first time she cursed the need to keep her secret.

“Come on, let’s hurry along people!” Their teacher, Coach Gingerbread himself yelled entering the Grimmnasium. “We don’t have all day, hurry up!”

The students still exiting the locker rooms jogged towards the bleachers in alarm.

“What is taking so long, if I were half as slow I would have been gobbled up,” he grumbled.

Coach Gingerbread motioned for Holly and Alistair who were just exiting each locker room. “O’hair, Wonderland, tell the others to hurry up or their getting a late grade today!”

Holly and Alistar scrambled back inside each locker room to warn their fellow students. Sure enough moments later the last of the class made their way towards the bleachers. At the back of the girls group was Raven. She held a dark scrunchie in her mouth and was quickly pulling her hair up in a high ponytail. She was still tying up her hair when she plopped down right next to Cerise. The musky nervous smell was back again as strong as ever.

“Now that’s more like it,” Coach Gingerbread said. “Everyone listen up!” he continued after each student had taken their seat on the bleachers. “Today we’re having class outside,” he announced.

A large portion of the class cheered at the announcement but none louder than Ashlynn Ella.

“Today we’ll be working on the pole vault and the javelin throw,” he explained. “The pole vault is especially tricky, I’ll go over the safety procedures first because if anyone isn’t listening they could get seriously hurt,” he explained solemnly. “Any student caught not following the proper procedure will fail the class immediately, understood?”

“Yes!” Everyone of the students agreed not wanting to get on Coach Gingerbread’s bad side.

“Good, now listen closely.”

Coach Gingerbread spent the first ten minutes of class going over proper safety procedures for both the pole vault and the javelin throw. The class would be split in half based on where everyone was sitting on the bleachers. One group would do the pole vault and the other would do the Javelin throw and then switch halfway into the period. For the Javelin throw, five students would line up with plenty of space between each of them. They would practice a throw three times before switching with the next group. Each student would throw in only in one direction and away from anyone else. Any student throwing in another direction would fail the course. For the pole vault everyone besides the person going up would stay clear of the safety mat. The barrier wasn’t high so it shouldn’t be too hard to get over with some effort. For the next class or so they would practice both exercises until Coach Gingerbread felt they could move onto disk throwing and other events. Once he was done Coach Gingerbread would have everyone stretch as a group while outside.

“Come on people, go, go!” He shouted.

Cerise hung back with Raven as most of the class jogged towards the door at the back of the Grimmnasium and went outside.

“Everything okay?” she asked being careful to keep her voice low.

“I’ll tell you when we get outside,” Raven sighed.

Cerise frowned to herself but said nothing. They followed the rest of the class onto the bookball turf. Cerise scouted a spot away from everyone else but not too far away from the group to get in trouble. She sat down and placed her legs together to get a good stretch out of them. Raven followed suit, her long ponytail moving with her as she leaned over.

“Headmaster Grimm wants to see me after school today,” Raven finally said after they finished their stretch.

“Why?” Cerise asked.

“I’m not sure,” Raven admitted switching to a butterfly stretch. “All Baba Yaga said at the end of my Sorcery class was that I had to go to his office right after school today.”

“That can’t be good,” Cerise breathed copying Raven’s stretch. “First a curfew and now this,”

“I know,” Raven said. “Something weird is going on, I haven’t done anything lately to be sent to Headmaster Grimm’s office.”

“Yeah you’re right,” Cerise agreed.

“I just don’t know what’s going on, Baba Yaga was acting weird during class today, well weirder than usual. And what’s up with this stupid curfew?” she grumbled.

“I-I think I know,” Cerise admitted softly.

“What, do you?” Raven asked, whipping her head towards Cerise. Cerise felt her heart pound at Raven’s intense gaze.

Cerise told Raven all about the fortelling tea she had yesterday as she and Raven went through a few more stretches. She confessed the unease she felt, how scary it was and the weird sense of calm she had when it was all over.

“That sounds really bad, no way it’s just weird weather patterns like Baba Yaga said,” Raven said slowly. “You really think a big storm is coming soon?”

“I can’t think of what else it would be,” Cerise decided. “If it wasn’t serious then we wouldn’t have a curfew would we?” she reasoned.

“But why keep it a secret then?” Raven asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“That’s all I know,” Cerise said. “But I don’t think anyone else is buying it, Blondie was really grilling Professor Nimble during class today,”

“I can see why,” Raven said. “So what do we do now?”

“Well Blondie said she was going to interview the other teachers to get more information,” Cerise started.

“Wait, you and Blondie are friends?” Raven asked.

“Uh, yeah I guess so.” Cerise said. “Briar and I walked to class together today and we talked a bit I guess,” she explained.

“Oh, that’s cool” Raven said. “I guess if she finds anything out she’ll put it on her mirror cast today.”

“Will Headmaster Grimm let her do that?” Cerise wondered. “He always keeps an eye on school broadcasts.”

“I know but Blondie will do anything to get a scoop,” Raven reasoned. “And this time I don’t really blame her.”

“I don’t think the teachers will say much though,” Cerise pointed out. “They’ve been really careful so far.”

“Blondie will figure something out,” Raven figured. “She always does,”

“I could try asking my dad?” Cerise said starting to stretch out her arms. “He’s gotta know something and he’ll probably tell me if I ask.”

“I’ve never heard talk about your dad before Cerise,” a familiar voice said.

Both Raven and Cerise turned to the newcomer. Apple White stood above them, the late morning sun shining behind her making her wavy blonde hair shine.

“Coach Gingerbread said we’re starting the pole vault soon,” Apple explained. “Are you and your dad close?” Apple smiled her perfect smile.

Cerise just looked at Apple stupidly, stunned. Most people assumed her Dad bailed on her mom or something due to them having to keep the truth of her heritage a secret. It was so stupid of her to talk about her dad before looking around her first.

“Um are you looking forward to trying the pole vault Apple?” Raven cut in nervously abruptly changing the subject.

Apple raised her eyebrows at the topic change but gracefully followed Raven’s lead. “I think so but I’m a little nervous, I’ve never done anything like it before,” Apple admitted.

Cerise had a hard time believing that Apple ever got nervous about anything but she could hear the sincerity in her voice. “I guess we should get going,” she said softly rising to her feet.

“Yeah, here goes nothing,” Raven snorted.

The three girls joined the other students by the pole vault. Coach Gingerbread was already talking to the other group standing further off near a row of javelins.

“That looks a lot harder up close,” Raven muttered looking up at the mats and bar for the vault.

“Alright everyone listen closely!” Coach Gingerbread shouted making his way towards their group. “Everyone goes one at a time, make sure you are clear of the area when someone else is using the vault, understood?”

“Yes,” Everyone said.

“Good, now first up is Apple White,” Coach Gingerbread said gesturing towards the vault. “You’re up.”

“Oh gosh,” Apple breathed nervously. Cerise was close enough to get a familiar tangy scent of fear.

Apple made her way to the front of the crowd and took the offered pole from Professor Gingerbread’s hand. She hesitated for a long moment, carefully examining the obstacle in front of her. Then, she nodded to herself and took off running and planted the pole firmly into the ground. The pole bent, and propelled her forward. She soared over the bar, clipping it slightly, her long blond hair fluttering in the air. She landed with a soft thud onto the waiting mat.

“Good job White, next up is Ashlynn Ella.”

Cerise watched Ashlyn make her attempt while Apple made her way over to them.

“I can’t believe I did that,” she laughed, her cheeks flushed with a rosy hue.

“Good job Apple that was amazing,” Raven complimented her.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Apple flushed, her cheeks becoming a darker shade of pink.

Ashlynn unlike Apple did more than brush against the bar. The bar tumbled to the ground and she landed with a less than graceful pile on top of the mat.

“Place your hands lower on the pole next time Ella,” Coach Gingerbread advised her.

“Wow that looks really hard, I don’t know how I’m going to do it,” Raven admitted.

“Don’t worry Raven, I’m sure you can do it,” Apple assured her with a smile.

Raven smile back at Apple with a warm smile of her own.

Cerise watched their exchange in a tense silence. Her stomach roiled at the sight of them smiling at each other.

“Raven Queen!” Coach Gingerbread called.

“Here I go,” Raven said nervously.

“You can do it Raven!” Apple encouraged her.

“Thanks, Apple,” Raven smiled before taking her turn.

Raven took the offered pole and examined the course for a quick moment before launching into a sprint. She stuck the pole firmly into the ground and propelled herself up into the air. Cerise and the rest of the class watched in amazement as Raven vaulted herself a good distance above the pole and twisted her body midair. She landed onto the mat in a graceful tumble.

“Now that’s exactly what I’m looking for!” Coach Gingerbread exclaimed. “Look at her form, good job Ms. Queen,”

“Thanks,” Raven said scooting off of the mat.

“O’hair, you’re up next,” Coach Gingerbread shouted. “Try and copy Ms. Queen’s form if you can,”

“Oh my fairy godmother did you guys see that?” Raven asked excitedly as she made her way towards them, her ponytail swishing behind her.

“You were fantastic!” Apple cheered. “I knew you could do it.”

To Cerise’s surprise, Apple pulled Raven into a quick hug. “I’m so proud of you,” she smiled.

“Thanks Apple,” Raven blushed.

“Great job,” Cerise said lamely, her stomach still fluttering at the sight of their hug.

“Thanks Cerise,” Raven said warmly.

Cerise blushed and turned her attention back to her classmates. Most of the group didn’t do as well as Apple or Raven. There was a tense moment when Humphrey tumbled off the safety mat and onto the hard ground. Professor Gingerbread inspected him for injury but found that he wasn’t harmed.

“I’ve had worse in my day,” Coach Gingerbread had grumbled glaring darkly at Humphrey as Ashlynn helped him up from the ground, as if he had done it on purpose.

“Hood, you’re next!” Coach Gingerbread had shouted after the panic from Humphrey’s fall had passed.

“You can do it Cerise,” Raven grinned.

“Thanks Raven,” Cerise muttered.

“Good luck,” Apple waved.

Cerise gave Apple a small tentative smile and took the pole from Professor Gingerbread. She inspected the course carefully, unsure of how to proceed. Grimmnastics class was always a tricky class for Cerise despite it being her favorite. She always had to debate how well to do on each exercise. She knew that if she really tried she could easily do better than most of her classmates. It was just so difficult to blend in with her classmates, to always be the tentative and meek Little Red Riding Hood that everyone expected her to be.

“Hood, we don’t have all day!” Coach Gingerbread shouted.

Cerise rolled her eyes and focused on the course once more. The memory of Raven’s warm smile at Apple’s performance made her stomach churn unpleasantly. Both Apple and Raven had done well on the course, maybe this time she’d try a little harder. In a flash Cerise broke out into a heavy sprint, her vision tunneled. Her heart pounded in her chest as she gripped the pole with all of her strength. She dug the pole as hard as she could muster into the pit at the base of the mat. She could feel the pole bend against the weight of her body, propelling her upward. She felt her body twist smoothly in the air, the blue sky above her turning on its axis. It was like she was flying, weightless without a care in the world. All too soon it was over, the rush of freedom and exhilaration came crashing down as suddenly as her body hitting the mat. She rolled with the trajectory of the fall but already her heart was sinking in her chest. Her blood pounded in her ears and she took a few gasping breaths coming down from her high.

“That’s exactly what I’m looking for!” she suddenly heard Coach Gingerbread yell with utter glee. “Look at that form, absolutely perfect!”

Cerise blinked in surprise, sound and other senses coming back to her all at once. She scooted off of the mat and placed her feet on the ground, her legs suddenly feeling weak and unstable. She shakily made her way to Raven and Apple.

“Cerise, that was amazing!” Raven breathed, her long ponytail swishing side to side as she jogged towards Cerise. “You cleared the bar so high, you practically flew over it!” Raven grinned.

Cerise stared dumbly at Raven, her dark purple eyes shining with happiness.

“Cerise, you were amazing,” Apple said as she approached them giving her patented perfect smile.

At the sound of Apple’s voice Cerise was suddenly spelled out of her trance.

“Um, thanks,” she said lowly not sure what to make of the compliment.

“Oh Cerise, your hood is a little crooked,” Apple pointed out.. “Here let me fix it,”

Apple suddenly stepped into her space and reached out towards Cerise’s hood. Cerise nearly felt her heart fall out of her chest as she reached toward it. All of a sudden Cerise could smell the strong scent of Apple’s apple scented perfume. Apple’s face was suddenly too close to Cerise’s own. Cerise quickly took an abortive stride backwards, cringing away from Apple’s outstretched hand. Apple’s hand brushed against the fabric of her hood and for one panicked moment Cerise thought that her hood was down, that her secret was exposed. Cerise’s hands flew up to her hood and adjusted it nervously, frantically making sure that her hood was safely in place and ears hidden.

“Um, sorry,” Cerise stuttered awkwardly at Apple’s wide blew eyes. “I-sorry,” she found herself saying again at the hurt expression on Apple’s face.

“It’s okay,” Apple smiled awkwardly, placing her hands to her side. “No problem,”

Raven skirted her dark eyes back and forth between Apple and Cerise not sure what to make of the situation.

“So, are you guys looking forward to the javelin throw?” Raven asked nervously.

“Oh yes, of course,” Apple smiled a little more warmly this time. “I just hope I do okay!” she laughed.

Cerise inwardly cringed at the sound, the uneasy pitch of Apple’s laugh sounded all wrong to her sensitive ears. Cerise could hear Apple’s disquiet as clear as day. Cerise watched the last few students attempt the pole vault before Coach Gingerbread announced that it was time for both groups to switch. He would watch the first few students attempt to throw before going back to supervising the pole vault as it was a lot more dangerous. Cerise, Apple, and Raven lined up with their classmates, patiently waiting their turn. Cerise silently watched Ashlynn break into a run and throw her javelin as far as she could. Everyone had to stop at a taped line before throwing. Ashlynn’s javelin cleared a good distance, her attempt far better than her go at the pole vault. Apple and Raven had already broken out into an intense discussion about a video game she had never heard of, apparently they liked to play it together on their down time. Cerise didn’t play a lot of video games herself. She shifted uncomfortably as they talked, still feeling a little guilty about earlier.

“Oh Raven, it’s your turn now,” Apple said when their conversation entered a natural lull.

“Wicked,” Raven smiled.

Raven walked up to the javelin with a lot more confidence than she did at the pole vault, her long ponytail swaying side to side as she walked. Throwing a spear was a lot less intimidating than vaulting yourself through the air. Raven turned the spear over in her hands for a moment before rolling her shoulders and breaking out into a sprint. She stopped just short of the taped off line and threw the spear as hard as she could, her body turning with the motion. The javelin sailed in the air, far past Ashlynn and other students attempts and embedded itself deep into the ground.

“Good job Raven!” Apple cheered clapping her hands together in delight. “That was a hexcellent throw!”

Raven rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly before jogging the short distance back to Cerise and Apple.“Aww thanks Apple,” she smiled.

“Good throw,” Cerise said quietly.

“Thanks Cerise. It was a little heavier than I thought it would be though,” Raven admitted.

“Really?” Apple said cocking her head to the side. “It doesn’t look so bad from here,”

Cerise couldn’t help but agree with Apple. The javelins looked long but very thin and light.

“See for yourself,” Raven gestured towards the row of javelins lined up.

As she spoke, Hopper had made an awkward sprint, stopping short of the taped off line, nearly toppling over. He threw his spear as hard as he could but even Cerise could see from a distance that his form was all wrong. She could see his arm trembling with exertion as he threw. His spear didn’t soar through the air so much as it flew upwards and then plummeted straight down.

“Awww man,” Hopped groaned.

“It’s okay dude, better luck next time,” Humphrey consoled him patting him firmly on the back.

After Hopper had cleared the area, Apple stepped up to take her turn. She picked up a spare javelin from the ground with both hands.

“Oh it is heavy,” she said in surprise.

Like Raven, she rolled her right shoulder a bit to warm up her arm before breaking into a sprint. She stopped a few inches short of the line and threw. Her form was very good, her body turning gracefully with the motion of her throw. Her spear flew as far as Raven’s did, soaring through the air before landing into the ground a few inches short of Raven’s.

“Nice throw Apple!” Raven shouted.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Apple said modestly a light pink blush dusting her pale cheeks.

“Good job,” Cerise said quietly.

Apple looked towards Cerise and gave her a small charming smile. “You want to try next?” she suggested.

“Sure,” Cerise shrugged walking towards the row of javelins and picking one up.

Unlike what Raven and Apple said, it wasn’t all that heavy to Cerise. If anything the javelin felt incredibly light in her hands. She turned it over in her hands, thinking about her plan of attack. Her pole vault had garnered a little more attention than she was comfortable with. She examined Apple’s spear in the distance. She’d throw it around that distance, just to be safe. Gripping the spear with her right hand she broke out into a sprint a little more slowly than last time. She threw the spear with her right arm hard but not too hard. the javelin whizzed past her ear and sailed through the air. Just as she predicted, her spear landed a scant few inches farther than Apple’s.

“Nice throw Cerise,” Raven smiled as Cerise jogged back to their little group.

“Thanks,” she said pleased she managed not to throw her spear too hard.

“Good job Cerise,” Apple smiled.

“Thanks Apple,” Cerise breathed happy that the awkwardness from before was behind them.

The three girls watched the last few people go before starting the process all over again. Both Raven and Apple had managed to throw their javelins a little farther on their second throw, sufficiently warmed up from their first throw. Cerise stuck with consistency and threw hers around the same distance as her first throw. Poor Hopper hadn’t managed to throw very well the second time around, his spear landing just short of his last one. They all repeated the process one more time, Cerise had decided to throw her last javelin a little father the final time, before Coach Gingerbread blew his whistle signaling the end of class.

“Alright that’s enough for today, everybody head in!” he yelled.

Everyone gathered together and began heading back into the Grimmnasium building more sweaty and rumpled than before. Apple and Raven were talking about their video game again as they walked. Apparently they planned on playing it together on the weekend. Cerise listened to them talk together silently unsure of what to say. If someone had asked her in the beginning of the year, she never would have guessed how close Apple and Raven would become.

Cerise entered the girl’s changing room with the rest of the girls of her class. Getting changed after grimmnastics class was always a little more awkward. Unlike the start of the period, the changing room was already packed with students by the time she entered the room. Cerise scrunched her nose at the assault of sweat and stale air. She held her breath as she squeezed through the crowd to her locker. As quickly as she could, she entered her code, her mother’s birthday, and grabbed her clean clothes.

“Ugh,” Ashlynn groaned in disgust beside her. “My hair is all sweaty, Hunter and I are supposed to go on a date after school today.

“Oh I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Kitty said slyly as she opened her own locker beside her. “Maybe Hunter likes girls a little sweaty from time to time.”

Cerise couldn’t help but glance over to see Ashlynn’s reaction. Ashlynn tanned skin had turned bright red. Her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth hung open in surprise.

“I-I don’t know what you’re implying-” she started indignantly.

“Oh I think you do,” Kitty smirked as she placed her grimmnastics clothes in her locker. Kitty had probably used her magic to transport herself ahead of the group as always. While waiting for her turn again at the javelin Cerise faintly made out Kitty being scolded by a furious Coach Gingerbread at the pole vault. Apparently she had used her magic to transport herself over the bar as she jumped. Kitty was always doing things like that, using her magic when she wasn’t supposed to and appearing and disappearing at random. Kitty gave Ashylnn and Cerise one of her patented wide cheshire grins that never failed to unsettle Cerise, and slammed her locker shut. In true Cheshire fashion she disappeared into thin air, the last image of her being a large smug grin before that too faded away.

“Ugh, she always gets under my skin,” Ashlynn grumbled in disgust. “I hate it when she does that,”

“Me too,” Cerise muttered in agreement.

Ashlynn and Cerise shared a quick exasperated look before turning back to their lockers. Cerise quickly grabbed her clothes and made her way to the changing rooms. She opened one of the curtains and closed it shut behind her. Changing with this many people in the locker room always put Cerise on edge. She knew that no one would really open up the curtains to her changing room on purpose but it was always best to be safe than sorry. Cerise quickly pulled off her gym shirt and threw it on the floor. She pulled on her regular black and red checkered plaid shirt and quickly pulled her hood over it. After her cloak was firmly in place Cerise breathed a sigh of relief. At a more sedate pace, Cerise switched out her exercise pants for her grey leggings and black shorts. Finally she laced up her dark brown boots, picked up her clothes from off of the floor and stepped out of the curtain. She went over to her locker and opened it again placing her clothes inside. Her clothes were damp and covered in sweat making Cerise inwardly cringe. She silently resolved coming back to pick them up at the end of school to wash them with the rest of the weeks laundry.

After she closed her locker, Cerise made her way to the locker room exit where the other girls had already began to pile out. Fourth period was lunch period and the entire school would be making their way to the castleteria. Cerise’s stomach grumbled at the thought of food, very hungry after her workout. Still despite her hunger, she moved to the side of the changing room door and waited for Apple and Raven who had not finished changing yet. She watched her classmates walk out of the changing room and across the grimmnasium, silently wishing she could sprint ahead of the crowd to get a good spot in line for food.

“Thanks for waiting Cerise,” Raven said as she and Apple exited the changing room side by side. Raven had pulled down her hair from its long ponytail and let it fall down again. The musky scent from before was stronger than ever after she exercised. Cerise restrained herself from taking a deep obvious whiff of her scent.

“Ready to go?” Apple smiled.

“Yes, I’m uh, really hungry,” Cerise agreed quietly.

Apple, Raven, and Cerise made their way down the halls to the castleteria. The halls were already packed with students who had just gotten into class. Some students were flat out running trying to get ahead of the crowd. Cerise didn’t really blame them, sharing the same lunch period with the rest of the school could get really tiresome, especially if you were unfortunate enough to be at the end of the lunch line. Finally after a lot of walking and listening to Apple and Raven discuss which characters they were playing in their video game, the three girls made it to the castleteria. The grimmnasium being so far away from the center of the school made the castleteria already packed with students. Cerise’s stomach gave an groan of displeasure.

“Wow Cerise, you must be really hungry,” Apple laughed not unkindly.

“Yeah I’m starving actually,” Cerise admitted.

“Come on, let’s get in line before too many people show up,” Raven said leading them to the food line.

The three girls queued up with the other students and grabbed a tray. Sparrow was up to his usual tricks a few people ahead of them, pickpocketing from unsuspecting victims.

“Ugh, he’s at it again” Cerise growled.

“Who?” Apple asked quizzically.

“Sparrow he’s stealing people’s pocket money again,” Cerise explained keeping a sharp eye on Sparrow and his rag tag group of friends.

“Aren’t you two related?” Apple asked.

“Distantly,” Cerise replied curtly. “I don’t like to think about it really.”

“Well, I’ll talk to him,” Apple said squaring her shoulders. “As co-student body president it’s my job to watch out for my fellow students.”

“Oh here we go,” Raven groaned.

Raven and Cerise watched silently as Apple marched towards Sparrow and his group of friends. Sparrow was just reaching for Ginger’s back pocket when Apple approached them clearing her throat.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Apple asked placing her hands on her hips.

Sparrow and his friends looked towards Apple. Sparrow was still slightly crouched down with his hand outstretched to an unsuspecting Ginger. He quickly recovered though, straightening up in one fluid motion.

“Hey Apple, what’s up?” he asked.

“Don’t try to distract me, why are you trying to steal Ginger’s lunch money?” Apple asked firmly.

At the mention of her name, Ginger turned around towards the group of boys sneaking behind her.

“Oh my fairy god mother,” she gasped realizing the situation she was in.

“Look I know this looks bad,” Sparrow quickly denied. “But this isn’t what it looks like.”

“Oh I’m sure it’s exactly what it looks like,” Apple disagreed.

By now practically half of the castleteria was paying attention to the events unfolding. Students were turned round in their seats at the tables behind the line and others lined up took notice as well. Even the cafeteria trolls serving lunch had paused their work to watch Apple confront Sparrow. Apple had a talent for commanding the attention of a room.

“I think you should apologize to Ginger,” Apple said firmly. “It’s not right to take what isn’t yours, you should know that by now.”

Glancing around at the audience they had garnered, Sparrow quickly realized the situation he landed himself in was a losing battle.

“I’m uh, sorry Ginger.” Sparrow muttered.

“And?” Apple prompted.

“And it uh, won’t happen again,” Sparrow stuttered.

“Good.” Apple said. “Carry on then.” Apple waved to a grateful Ginger before turning around and making her way back to Raven and Cerise.

“That was wicked Apple, you should have seen his face!” Raven laughed.

“Thanks Raven, just doing my job.” Apple thanked her modestly.

“I don’t think that’ll change much,” Cerise couldn’t help but quietly point out. “Sparrow’s not one to change for the better,” she muttered.

“Well if he does it again, I’ll have to report him,” Apple sighed.

“Why won’t you just report him now?” Raven asked.

“Because everyone deserves a second chance,” Apple said. “Even Sparrow.”

“He’ll be up to his usual tricks before long,” Cerise muttered darkly.

“Probably,” Apple agreed. “But we should let him make his own choices, I’ll give him one more chance before reporting him to Headmaster Grimm.”

Cerise eyed Sparrow and his friends who were muttering among themselves. One boy with dark ruffled hair and a leather studded jacket turned around to glance back at their little group. He quickly turned back from the heat of Cerise’s glare. No doubt Sparrow and his little friends had heard them. Sparrow would be careful not to pick any pockets in front of Apple. Cerise would have to keep a careful eye on him.

“Man I’m so hungry, grimmnastics class always makes me feel like I haven’t eaten anything all day,” Raven groaned. “I wish the line was moving a little faster,”

“Me too,” Cerise agreed her stomach giving another loud ominous growl.

“You’ll be getting the meatloaf right Cerise?” Apple asked.

“Uh yeah, how’d you know?” Cerise asked startled.

“Well you really like meat right? Don’t you always get it for lunch?” Apple asked innocently cocking her head to the side.

Cerise was speechless for a long moment. On one hand she was a little uncomfortable that Apple White of all people noticed her preference for meat. Cerise did a lot to hide the truth behind her heritage, but admittedly when it came to food she wasn’t nearly as careful. Still despite her discomfort it was kind of nice that Apple had noticed even though they didn’t always hang out. Cerise only really saw Apple when she was with Raven.

“Uh yeah I do,” Cerise confirmed.

“Well I’m feeling the pasta more,” Raven added. “What about you Apple?”

“I’ll probably get the same,” Apple agreed. “Oh I’m glad it’s almost our turn soon, I’m really hungry.”

The last of Sparrows friends had just gotten their share of meatloaf when it was finally their turn.

“You can go first Cerise,” Apple said stepping aside for Cerise to move in front. “I know you’re really hungry,”

“Wow, thanks Apple,” Cerise said gratefully.

“What’ll it be,” the lunch lady asked Cerise. She was large, towering over most of the students and had thick dark green skin. Despite her size Cerise had been told that she was a little short for a troll.

“Um the meatloaf and beansprouts please.” Cerise said politely.

The lunch lady served Cerise her food and gestured for the next student.

“Hello, Seshi, how are you today?” Apple asked pleasantly.

“Oh really good,” the lunch lady Seshi said. “I just finished my night class yesterday.”

“Oh that hexcellent, how was your economics final?” Apple asked.

“Difficult but I think I did okay,” Seshi said modestly.

“I’m sure you did wonderfully,” Apple smiled. “Oh may I have pasta and salad,” Apple said.

“Of course,” Seshi said placing her food on Apple’s tray. “Have a good day Apple,”

“You too!” Apple waved.

“I didn’t know you two were friends,” Cerise said as they both waited for Raven to get her food.

“Oh of course, Seshi is wonderful, we chat a bit every day.” Apple said.

“Thanks for waiting guys,” Raven said as she approached Apple and Cerise with her lunch tray.

“No problem Raven,” Apple said sweetly.

“So do you guys want to sit with Cedar and Maddie?” Raven asked more for Apple’s benefit.

“Oh, no sorry I can’t today,” Apple said with a small frown. “I promised to sit with Ashlynn and Darling today. But I can eat with you guys tomorrow, how does breakfast sound?”

“Yeah of course,” Raven agreed. “We usually eat breakfast pretty early, I’ll wake you tomorrow.”

“Hexcellent,” Apple smiled her perfect smile. “See you then, bye Cerise.” She waved with one hand, the other firmly holding her tray.

“Bye,” Cerise said quietly.

Raven and Cerise made their way to their table in the back of the cafeteria. Cedar and Maddie were already seated in their usual spots.

“Hey guys what’s up? How was your new class today Cedar?” Raven asked as she and Cerise approached.

“Hi,” Cedar greeted them happily. “Oh Raven it was wonderful, much better than woodshop. I’m just so happy I don’t have to take that class anymore,” she grinned.

“That’s great Cedar,” Cerise said with a smile. “What did you do today?”

“Well we started learning slight of hand tricks,” Cedar started excitedly. “Today we covered pick pocketing. Everyone had to try and take an object from someone in class without the other person noticing.”

“That’s wonderlandiful Cedar!” Maddie exclaimed. “You’ll be the sneakiest trickster soon enough!”

“Thanks Maddie,” Cedar laughed. “But I’m not there yet. Professor Jack be Nimble said that he’d start tutoring me on Monday to help me catch up with all of the work I missed.”

“Did you manage to steal anything?”Raven asked.

“I did!” Cedar beamed with pride. “I started a conversation with Jillian Beanstalk about my art and when she was distracted I managed to steal her pencil when she wasn’t looking!”

“That’s great Cedar, you’ll be a master thief yet.” Raven joked.

“Well whatever I choose to do, I just hope that I’ll learn how to tell a lie and become a real girl!” Cedar exclaimed.

“That’s great Cedar, we should have a spellabration!” Maddie cheered.

“Right now?” Raven asked.

“Of course now’s always the time for a spellabration,” Maddie explained.

Quicker than they could blink, Maddie took off her teapot hat and pulled out a tray of sugar cookies. She placed them on the table and then dug out a large teapot decorated with white and black stripes.

“I don’t know how you do that,” Cerise said with wonder.

“Me neither,” Maddie giggled. “Tea anyone?”

“Yes please,” Raven said.

Maddie pulled out a matching cup and saucer out of her hat and handed it to Raven. “What about you Cedar?” she asked.

“Sure,” Cedar agreed as Maddie pulled out another cup and saucer.

“I’ll pass,” Cerise said when Maddie turned to ask her.

“Oh, I guess you wouldn’t really be in the mood for tea would you?” Maddie asked sadly, her curly hair drooping just a bit.

“Did Cerise tell you about the tea she had yesterday?” Cedar asked Raven.

“Yeah I did,” Cerise confirmed. “With this new curfew thing I’m a little worried,” she admitted.

“It does sound a little scary, I mean if it wasn’t something to worry about then the teachers wouldn’t be so nervous would they?” Cedar wondered.

“Exactly,” Raven agreed. “Something’s definitely up.”

“But I guess there’s nothing we can really do about it,” Cedar pointed out. “Briar seemed pretty upset during class today. She has to cancel her party this Sunday because of it.”

“Blondie said she would do some investigating today,” Cerise added. “She might get some answers out of the teachers.”

“Maybe,” Raven said thoughtfully shooting Cerise a quick look.

Cerise figured she should keep the fact that she’d ask her dad for answers after school to herself. Raven was the only one in school who really knew her secret and she didn’t really want to mention it to Cedar and Maddie. She didn’t like always having to keep secrets but the less people that knew about her family the better.

“So how did you guys do on that test?” Cerise asked changing the subject. She didn’t want to think about her family too much around Maddie, she had an uncanny way of knowing what people were thinking.

“I think I did alright,” Raven said happily. “It was hard but I feel like I didn’t fail at least.

“It was really hard,” Cedar agreed. “I was really nervous but I knew how to answer a lot more questions than I thought I would.”

“Let’s just hope Rumplestilskin doesn’t grade too hard,” Raven said rolling her eyes. Almost everyone knew that Rumplestilskin was royally unfair when grading tests.

The three girls chatted about a few other things like Briar’s cancelled party and Blondie’s upcoming mirror cast. Raven mentioned her meeting with Headmaster Grimm after school to Cedar and Maddie’s concern.

“That’s really strange,” Cedar frowned. “Why would he want to meet you after school?”

“I don’t know,” Raven sighed. “It can’t be good though, Headmaster Grimm and I have never really gotten along,”

“Just remember your muchness!” Maddie reminded her. “As long as you do, you’ll be alright.”

“Thanks Maddie,” Raven laughed. “I’ll try.”

Too soon the lunch bell rang signalling the end of the period. Cerise had already wolfed down all of her food long before. She gathered up her empty tray and waved goodbye to her friends and set off for her next class. Unfortunately she only had free period on Tuesday and Thursday although she wished that she did everyday. The rest of the day passed by much quicker than the morning had. Cerise was very anxious to meet with her father and talk about the vision her foretelling tea had gave her. As a wolf, her father had always taught her to respect the nature around them. If a royally big storm was being cooked up then he might have some answers why. Soon enough the bell rang at the end of her last class, signalling the end of the school day. Cerise quickly gathered all of her books and made her way out of the classroom. She didn’t have a lot of homework this weekend so she would just stash most of her books in her locker. Cerise made sure to hug the walls of the corridor to avoid colliding with the other students crowding the hallway. She was just done stuffing her books into her locker haphazardly when the mirror cast screens in the hallway turned on.

“Hello Ever After, Blondie here reporting to you live on the mysterious curfew case!” she exclaimed cheerfully to her viewers.

Cerise chuckled softly to herself. Blondie sure didn’t waste any time when a scoop was to be had.

“As you all know, Headmaster Grimm and the other professors of Ever After decided to place a mysterious curfew in Ever After High due to ‘irregular weather patterns’ however, I think most of us agree that they haven’t given us much information about it.”

Cerise nodded to herself in agreement. Other students gathering their books at their lockers beside her were glued to the screen, muttering and nodding in agreement.

“Knowing this, I decided to interview some teachers to get some more information, but it wasn’t very easy.”

The live footage of Blondie cut to a pre-recorded video of Blondie interviewing Rumplestilskin in the chemythstery classroom.

“Can you tell us more about these ‘irregular weather patterns’?” Blondie asked placing her teddy bear microphone head closer to Rumplestilskin.

“Get that thing away from me!” he yelled causing Blondie to jump back in fright. “I don’t wanna answer any questions, you kids better leave now or it’s detention for all of you!” Rumplestilskin roared.

The screen cut to shaky footage of Blondie and her cameraman Humphrey running down the hallway as fast as they could, the footage shaking and blurring wildly as they ran. The footage cut again to a live feed of Blondie once more.

“As you can see, a lot of Professors weren’t very happy to share any information. However, this reporter doesn’t give up!” Blondie exclaimed a determined glint gleaming in her bright blue eyes. “I managed to successfully get some information from my interview with Baba Yaga.”

The footage cut again to past Blondie interviewing Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga was floating on her stool uneasily in her dungeon classroom.

“I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about.” Baba Yaga said with Blondie’s prompting. “This is just a simple procedure in accordance to some uh, slightly irregular weather patterns.”

“If there’s nothing to worry about then why the curfew?” Blondie asked curiously, placing her teddy bear microphone closer to Baba Yaga.

“It’s just a standard procedure-” Baba Yaga began.

“But it’s not is it?” Blondie cut her off.

Cerise could see that Blondie had that predatory gleam in her eye, like a wolf circling its prey. Blondie only ever got like that when she was close to uncovering something big.

“You and other teachers keep saying that this is standard procedure, but I’ve went through the student handbook to see where it says to enact a curfew.”

“W-well you didn’t have to go to all of that trouble-” Baba Yaga started.

“And,” Blondie cut her off again. “After seeing that there wasn’t anything like this in the student handbook, I went to the library and spent my entire free period digging through the school archives. I looked back for ages, but there hasn’t been any curfew for irregular weather patterns for the entire history of Ever After High.”

“Well, it always pays to be careful.” Baba Yaga laughed nervously.

“But-” Blondie “I did find something else that was very interesting.”

Blondie paused for effect as Baba Yaga fidgeted uneasily on her stool. “I found that although there has never been a curfew for ‘irregular weather patterns’ there had been a curfew enacted eight years ago.”

Cerise figured that Humphrey was a very good camera man as at that moment, he zoomed in close to Baba Yaga’s face. At Blondie’s words, her eyes widened and her lower lip trembled, her face a picture of absolute terror.

“The report that I found only said that there was a large mirror storm about eight years ago, causing the school to enact a curfew like we have now. Since you’ve been teaching at this school for so long do you have any comments on this storm and is it in any way connected to the curfew today?” Blondie asked, a small proud smile lighting her face.

Blondie had finally seemed to corner Baba Yaga and from the look of horror on her face she seemed to know it too.

“I uh, no more questions for now I’m afraid. I’m terribly busy, um making a new lesson plan!” Baba Yaga stuttered hastily. As fast as she could, Baba Yaga zipped away on her floating stool, dodging out of the classroom and disappearing into the dungeon hallway.

The footage cut back to a live feed of Blondie with a proud expression on her face.

“As you can see, there’s definitely a mystery here!” Blondie said with an excited grin. “As Ever After High’s top reporter I won’t rest until this mystery is solved. Are these strange weather patterns really connected to the one that happened eight years ago? Is there a mysterious storm brewing in Ever After? Be sure to tune in tomorrow to find out!” Blondie signed off with a cheeky wave and a wink and with that the program was over.

Cerise was beaming with pride for Blondie. If there was anyone who could crack this mystery, it was her. The other students in the hallways began to talk amongst themselves, hardly paying attention to Cupid’s daily show.

“Did you hear that, there really is a storm coming to Ever After!” Farrah Goodfairy said excitedly to her friends.

“It really seems like it doesn’t it?” Justine Dancer agreed. “They wouldn’t have a curfew if it wasn’t serious.”

“I wonder what happened eight years ago,” Jillian Beanstalk wondered. “I don’t live around here, what could have happened?”

“You don’t know?” Justine asked incredulously. “Eight ago the Evil Queen tried to take over Ever After, she conjured a huge mirror storm to do it too!”

“Is that why?” Jillian asked in surprise. “You don’t think…” she trailed off.

“That that no good Raven Queen has something to do with it!” Another voice screeched from down the hallway.

Justine and her friends turned down to see the approaching figure, and Cerise did as well. Duchess walked confidently down the hallway towards the three girls, her steps graceful and fluid.

“First her mom cooks up a nasty old storm and now eight years later Raven’s doing the same thing,” Duchess declared haughtily.

Cerise looked around nervously to the other students crowded in the hallway and to her discomfort, they were paying attention to her every word.

“You don’t really think Raven had anything to do with this do you?” Justine said doubtfully. “Everyone knows Raven doesn’t want to be evil. It doesn’t seem very fair to-”

“It’s not about what’s fair.” Duchess cut her off. “It’s about what’s right. No one else could have.”

“We don’t even know if a storm is really coming Duchess,” Farrah disagreed. “Maybe the teachers are just nervous after the Evil Queen made a storm eight years ago and they’re just playing it safe.”

“As if!” Duchess scoffed. “This has Evil Queen written all over it. You mark my words, a big bad storm is brewing and Raven Queen is to blame!”

Cerise watched the other students talk among themselves.

“Maybe she really is up to something,” one student muttered. “I mean evil is in her blood isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, Raven totally doesn’t want to be evil, it doesn’t make sense for her to do anything now. She didn’t sign on legacy day and everything,” another disagreed.

Just like that the hallway descended into chaos. Various students agreeing and disagreeing with each other, debating whether Raven was evil or not. Cerise could hear them all debating at once, the sudden level of noise stinging her ears.

“Shut up Duchess!.” Cerise found herself yelling.

The hallway suddenly became deadly silent, to Cerise’s relief. Duchess whipped around to face Cerise.

“What did you just say to me?” she hissed her pale eyes narrowing in anger.

“I said shut up or did you not listen?” Cerise retorted her heart thumping with anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Everyone knows Raven’s trying her best to be good, you have no right accusing her of anything!”

“Oh I don’t do I?” Duchess sniffed. “Well how do you explain this weird curfew, we wouldn’t have one if there was nothing to worry about.

“I said shut up,” Cerise growled lowly, the sound reverberating deep in her chest.

Duchess’s eyes widened in alarm. She stepped back as Cerise advanced towards her.

“You don’t know anything about Raven, none of you do!” she yelled fiercely. “Raven tries so hard to do the right thing, and no matter what all of you treat her like dirt. She’s not done anything wrong, so you should all shut your mouths before, before…” Cerise trailed off suddenly aware of the situation she was in. Without her knowing it, she had cornered Duchess against the lockers.

The hallway was completely silent. Duchess looked at Cerise with wide terrified eyes. Cerise quickly backed up, giving Duchess the space she needed to stand upright and scramble away from the lockers.

“I’m sorry Cerise,” Farrah’s gentle voice said through the silence. “We shouldn’t have been gossiping about Raven, you’re right.”

“Yeah sorry,” Justine agreed sincerely. “Raven wouldn’t do anything like that, we were wrong to accuse her. We’re sorry.”

Cerise turned to look at Jillian as well, she nodded her head fiercely in agreement.

“Uh, ok,” Cerise said lamely unsure of what to make of the situation. “Good.”

Cerise quickly ducked away from the crowd, ignoring their curious stares and turned a corner and sprinted towards the dungeons. She couldn’t believe she had done something like that. She had never raised her voice in so long, especially not in Ever After High. What would they they think about meek Little Red Riding Hood arguing with someone like Duchess and winning? Despite knowing how much she had to be careful about her wolfish aggression, Cerise couldn’t help but grin as she sprinted through the hallways towards the dungeons. She slowed down as she neared the dungeons, her heart pounding but less from the exercise and more from the adrenalin from standing up to Duchess. The air had already become cold and humid even from the entrance way into the dungeons. She took careful steps down not wanting to fall and hurt herself. Cerise absolutely hated the dungeons, she didn’t know how her dad could stand to work down here. The air always smelled rusty and reeked of rotten potion ingredients even from the hallway. There was something unnatural about a wolf being so deep underground. There was a big difference between a wolf’s cave den and the deep dark atmosphere of the dungeons.

She took great care to keep her ears strained for any sounds from anyone else. It would look very strange if someone with her story was lurking around the dungeons. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t hear anything but her own footsteps. All of the other students must have left for the day. The faint light from the torches lit on the sides of the stairwell flickered as she passed. She walked deeper and deeper down the stairwell until finally making it to the bottom. The air was cool against her skin but not unpleasantly so, Cerise tended to run a higher body temperature than humans. She rounded the corner and peeked into her dad’s classroom. Cerise was relieved to find that he was the only person in the room. He sat in his human form at his desk scribbling on some papers, probably grading this week’s Home Evilnomics tests.

“Dad,” Cerise whispered from the doorway.

Her dad looked up at the sound of her voice. “I didn’t even hear you come in,” he smiled, his voice as low and gruff as ever.

Cerise took care to shut the door behind her, making her way to her dad’s desk. He stood up as she approached. He opened his arms wide, like he did when she was just a pup. Cerise walked into his arms and allowed herself to be given a big hug.

“You’ve gotten very good at stealth Cerise,” he said with approval hugging her tight.

“All thanks to you,” Cerise admitted squeezing back.

“I can guess why you’re here,” he said releasing her from the hug. “You wouldn’t risk coming just to say hello.”

“No I wouldn’t,” she agreed. “Dad, what’s going on?”

Her dad ran a hand through his curly dark brown hair. The tufts of grey near his temples standing on end.

“You know I’m not really allowed to tell you that,” he sighed tiredly.

“Dad please,” Cerise begged. “You know I can keep a secret.”

Mr. Badwolf quirked an eyebrow, a proud smile gracing his face. “That you can,” he admitted. “We had a faculty meeting concerning a mirror shard storm,” Mr. Badwolf started growing more serious.

He moved away from Cerise and slumped back down in his seat. Cerise perched herself on top of his desk, swinging her legs idly as he talked.

“So there is something to worry about?” Cerise frowned.

“Yes,” Mr. Badwolf said seriously. “We’re afraid that this approaching storm is connected to a similar storm that devastated Ever After eight years ago.”

Cerise felt her heart nearly stop at his words. “What do you mean?” she asked nervously. “You don’t think the Evil Queen has something to do with all of this do you?”

“Not entirely,” Mr Badwolf said slowly.

Cerise swallowed dryly at the implication. “Raven would never cook up a storm like this!” Cerise said defensively. “Everyone knows she’s trying to be good!”

“Nobody thinks Raven did this on purpose Cerise,” Mr. Badwolf said comfortingly. “But according to Baba Yaga all evidence suggests that Raven did have something to do with this, at least subconsciously.”

Cerise took in a sharp breath. Her heart thudded at the thought. “How?” she asked her voice wavering.

“Baba Yaga thinks that when Raven chose not to sign on legacy day it created a shockwave, the same shockwave that broke the mirror screens for the ceremony.” Mr. Badwolf explained. “She thinks that it was powerful enough to brew up a powerful mirror storm.”

“I-how can we fix this?” Cerise asked desperately sliding off the table and back onto her feet. “There has to be something we can do to fix this!”

“Honey, it’s going to be okay,” her dad said soothingly, rising out of his seat and placing a large warm hand on her shoulder. “You leave all the worrying to us okay? I promise nothing is going to happen to you, I won’t let it.” he whispered drawing her into another comforting hug.

“But what’s going to happen to Raven?” Cerise asked, her eyes stinging with tears. “Everyone thinks Raven’s a villain just because of her magic. Are they going to expel her? Dad what if they lock her away?”

“That’s not going to happen,” he said confidently, holding her tight. “Headmaster Grimm was very passionate about letting Raven stay in school, he said her story was too important.”

Cerise released a shuddering sigh of relief. “What’s going to happen now then?”

“The faculty are going to do everything in our power to keep you safe Cerise. I promise. All you need to do is be a good friend to Raven, she’ll need you now more than ever.”

“I will,” she promised solemnly. She would do everything she could to help Raven.

“I know you will sweetheart, just please do everything that’s asked of you. Don’t break curfew, don’t do anything you shouldn’t be doing. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I won’t Dad,” Cerise promised.

“Good,” Mr. Badwolf said with a his sharp canine teeth poking out with a large relieved smile.

“I love you Cerise,” he said drawing her into another warm hug.

“I love you too dad,” Cerise whispered squeezing back as tight as she could.

“You should go soon,” Mr. Badwolf said drawing away from the hug. “You’ll be in big bad trouble if someone catches you here.”

“Okay, bye dad” Cerise said.

“I’ll see you later Cerise,” Mr. Badwolf Waved goodbye.

Cerise opened the door to the classroom and slipped outside. To her luck, the dungeon’s hallways were as deserted as ever. She raced up the steps. She made sure to stick close to the shadows on the side of the hallway. While the staircase was lit up with torches, they cast long shadows. If anyone happened to walk down the steps, Cerise could always use the special magic within her cloak to call the shadows closer to her and hide. Luckily for her, she didn’t run into anyone. Soon enough she was out of the cool air of the dungeons. Cerise breathed a sigh of relief when she made it to the surface. It was so good to see natural sunlight in the main corridor.

Cerise made her way back to her dorm, the hallways mostly deserted of people. Everyone had either gone back to their dorms or to after school activities. She opened the door of her and Cedar’s room. Cedar was already inside, shuffling around some paints on her desk in deep concentration.

“Hey Cedar,” Cerise greeted as she shut the door behind her.

“Hi Cerise,” Cedar said turning towards her, a little subdued.

“What’s wrong?” Cerise asked.

“It’s Raven,” Cedar sighed. “She just hexted me saying she isn’t coming to dinner with us, she’s never done that before.” Cedar explained worriedly.

“That’s not good,” Cerise agreed.

“I’m worried about her,” Cedar said. “I don’t think her meeting with Headmaster Grimm went well. I think she’s really upset.”

“Do you know where she is?” Cerise asked.

“No,” Cedar said shaking her head. “I think Maddie’s with her though, she hexted me saying she’s not coming to dinner either.”

“Well at least she’s not alone,” Cerise sighed plopping down on her bead. “This whole day’s been a big bad mess,” she complained.

“I know what you mean,” Cedar said glumly. “First a curfew and now Raven’s upset, did you see Blondie’s mirror cast?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Cerise admitted staring at the ceiling.

“Everyone’s been talking about it,” Cedar said organizing her art supplies on her desk. “They’re saying the Evil Queen had something to do with it. That’s probably why Headmaster Grimm called her into his office.”

“Yeah,” Cerise said as neutrally as she could.

“I think he’s going to make her sign the Storybook of Legends,” Cedar said anxiously. “What if Raven actually does it?”

“She can’t,” Cerise said suddenly sitting up on her bed. “Raven hates being evil, he can’t make her do that.”

“He can though,” Cedar disagreed quietly. “Everyone thinks Raven is to blame for all of this. She might have to.”

“She can’t do it,” Cerise declared passionately. “No matter what happens Raven can’t sign, what’ll happen to her if she does? What if she becomes evil against her will? Or what’ll happen to all of the rebels in school? If she signs does that mean, does that mean it’s over?!”

“Cerise,” Cedar hesitated unsure. “Are you okay?”

Cerise didn’t say anything and looked away from Cedar’s wide caring eyes.

“Is this about your destiny?” Cedar asked gently moving towards Cerise’s side of the room.

“Maybe,” she grumbled. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Cedar asked seating herself at the foot of Cerise’s bed.

“I-” Cerise stammered suddenly unsure. “I just, I don’t want to follow my destiny. And I don’t think Raven should either if it would makes her so unhappy. I just don’t want her to do something she might regret.”

“I think you’re right.” Cedar agreed quietly. “I just hope that Raven’s okay.”

“Me too,” Cerise muttered solemnly.

They sat quietly on Cerise’s bed for a long moment. Cedar sighed and went back to her desk, pulling out the chair and flipping open her sketchbook. Cerise picked up her book and tried reading a few pages before putting it back down. She was too upset and distracted to concentrate. Cerise and Cedar spent the next hour and a half sitting in their room in silence. Cedar scribbling in her sketchbook and Cerise absentmindedly scrolling through her mirror phone. Soon enough it was time for dinner. Cedar stretched from her seat and stood up from her desk.

“Maybe the castleteria will have something really good for dinner tonight?” she said tentatively.

Cerise gave Cedar a small smile. “I hope so,” she said.

Cedar and Cerise walked down to the castleteria. The castleteria was unusually packed for a Friday night. Most students would go out for dinner, but the new curfew made that impossible. Cedar and Cerise got in line and accepted their dinner. Despite Cedar’s optimistic words it was a disappointing dinner of leftover pasta and lumpy looking bread. Cerise grumbled to herself and asked for extra meatballs to make up for it.

“I imagine this doesn’t taste very good,” Cedar said glumly at their usual table. It was just the two of them poking at their sad dinners. Their table was a lot more quiet and subdued without Raven or Maddie.

“Trust me, it doesn’t,” Cerise grumbled as she took another disappointing bite from her pasta. The sauce was too watery and her bread roll was stale.

The rest of the castleteria was subdued as well. It seemed that the enforced curfew really took away the huff and puff from people’s lungs. Cerise glanced at Briar and Blondie seated at a few tables away. Blondie was speaking to Briar with a pinched look on her face. Most people wouldn’t have a prayer of hearing what they were saying so far away but Cerise could hear them as clearly as if they were seated right next to her.

“This is royally unfair,” Blondie groaned. “My mirror cast show put on pause. I wish I didn’t even go to Headmaster Grimm’s office now.

“Totally,” Briar agreed. “It’s such a fairy fail. People have a right to know what’s going on.”

“Something big is going on, I just know it.” Blondie said determinedly. “I can’t just let it be. It goes against everything I am as a reporter.”

“So you’re mirror cast is put on pause because the Headmaster doesn’t want people to freak, okay but maybe we can do something else instead?” Briar said thoughtfully.

“Like what?” Blondie asked.

“Well, just because you can’t report on the mirror cast, doesn’t mean you can’t do some digging right? All he said was no more mirror cast for a little while right?”

“Right,” Blondie agreed slowly.

“Well then let’s go old school then.” Briar suggested slyly. “Make flyers instead of videos, the works.”

“Oh Briar you’re a genius!” Blondie exclaimed. “I can type up reports and distribute them around, oh Briar will you help?”

“I’m down,” Briar agreed readily. “Sounds wicked fun.”

“What are you looking at?” Cedar asked from beside her.

Cerise blinked into awareness. “Oh uh, I was just-” Cerise scrambled to explain.

Cedar turned her head towards Briar and Blondie’s table. “Were you looking at Briar and Blondie?” she asked.

“I was just seeing if Briar was okay,” Cerise lied inwardly wincing. She couldn’t exactly say she was eavesdropping on their conversation without having to answer some uncomfortable questions. “She seemed pretty bummed in class earlier about her party being cancelled.”

Cedar seemed to believe her because she nodded her head in understanding. They finished the rest of their disappointing meals, well Cerise ate the rest of her food while Cedar ‘imagined’ how it would taste for a bit longer. They put away their trays and filed back to their dorm with the rest of their classmates. The overall atmosphere of the rest of their classmates was just as subdued. Everyone seemed to either be complaining about curfew or wondering about the big storm that was about to hit. Cerise and Cedar spent the rest of their evening quietly together in their room. Cedar started on a fresh new watercolor painting while Cerise read her book.

The sun slowly set over Ever After sinking into the horizon before fading away. Night came and with it came a cloudy bleak sky. The two girls fell asleep to the sound of the high pitched whistle of the wind echoing throughout the night. The unmistakable heavy presence of magic settling throughout the air. Unconsciously, Cerise shivered beneath her warm quilt, and shifted in her sleep. The steady thrum of magic settling beneath her skin and disturbing her rest.

Chapter Text

Milton Grimm sat pensively at his desk, hands folded under his chin deep in thought. The morning sun shone through the windows of his office, creating a deep orange haze to gleam through the room. He frowned deeply and sat up from his desk and over to the large windows at the back of the room. He peered outside looking over the village of Book End and the sprawling hills of Ever After. The village was only just waking up. Only a handful of people were walking the streets, their forms mere tiny specs in the distance. Milton Grimm surveyed it all from the top of his tower, a deep frown marring his face. He heaved a deep exhausted sigh before gracing a look of determination. He left his office and stalked down the empty corridors with purpose. His polished shoes made sharp clicking sounds against the linoleum floors of the corridor.

He stalked the halls, passing decades worth of school memorabilia, class photos and trophies of yesteryear proudly showcased. Milton made his way to the entrance of the dungeons. The stone staircase was dimly lit with torches, the air cool and damp. Milton Grimm stalked down the staircase, the torches flickering dark shadows across his face. Halfway down the staircase, he paused in front of one lit torch. Reaching out to the base of the torch, he gripped the old iron handle and turned the torch to the side. A loud scraping sound echoed throughout the stone walls revealing a secret passageway. He ducked inside the stone wall shutting closed behind him.

A dim emerald glow flickered throughout the hallway, the torches lighting the passageway lit with an enchanted flame. He strides deep into the very heart of the school, venturing further and further down. Finally, he reaches the very bottom of the staircase leading to a short narrow corridor. At the end of the corridor stood a rusty brown iron door. The door was covered in thick iron chains and ice blue sigils. The old archaic symbols curled around the edge of the door. The sigils magic pulsed on the surface of the door, as if they were breathing. Milton walked purposefully towards the surface of the door. He dug into the pocket of his waistcoat for a dull bronze key. He unlocked the padlock to the chains, the sound of metal clanging against the stone of the floor loudly in the still air. He put the key back into his waistcoat pocket, patting it absentmindedly for good measure.

He placed one hand onto the middle of the door. He closed his eyes solemnly and in a low quiet voice he whispered “release.” With a loud groan, the bulky iron door creaked open, it’s old cast iron hinges creaking with effort. Milton waited for the door to open before stepping inside. With a flick of the wrist, the bulky door creaked behind him. He waited patiently within the airlock until the door was firmly shut behind him before turning his attention to the dark wood door in front of him. Milton paused in front of the door, taking in a deep shaky breath. On the side of the door was a thin iron handle. He placed his hand on the handle and pushed it downwards, shuddering at the pulse of magic thrumming underneath his hand. The door creaked open ominously, casting a warm orange glow onto his face.

Behind the wooden door at a creaky rickety old desk sat Giles Grimm, scribbling frantically onto a thick piece of parchment with a bent ruffled quill. He looked up at the sound and turned around in his chair, his glassy grey eyes widened in surprise.

“Hello brother,” Milton grunted shutting the wooden door behind him with a sharp click.

“The errant crow returns to his nest,” Giles babbled running an old gnarled hand through his frizzy grey hair. “What song shall it sing today?”

“You must know why I’m here,” Milton reasoned stepping further into the dim orange glow of the room.

Giles Grimm’s room was generously spacious for an old prison. The room was cluttered with things, hardly an inch of space free. Large portions of the room were stuffed with mismatched bookcases, books and leaflets of paper stuffed to the brim within each shelf. Dozens of elaborate candelabras littered the room, each lit and casting the room into a warm orange glow. In the corner of the room was a twin sized bed with deep crimson sheets ruffled and left haphazardly in disarray.

“It’s bad enough that Raven Queen has turned her back on her destiny,” Milton scoffed. “And that half of the school is following her lead, but now her actions have started a catastrophe. Giles, I need your help to stop her magic. For the sake of the school.”

Giles peered at his brother from his desk curiously and gave him a coy smile. “Change is a fickle thing, it wavers as surely as leaves in autumn, but it does come.”

Even in the dim candle light, Milton Grimm’s face turned a furious red. “You want this don’t you!” he yelled. “The mirror storm is coming Giles, that same as the one you helped me stop eight years ago! How could you want this now?”

Giles’s mirth faded quickly at his brother’s voice. His thin bony face became more solemn, his skin an unhealthy grey. However there was a spark in his eyes his expression turning quick and furious.

“Don’t give me that look,” Milton huffed. “It’s your fault you were cursed to speak riddlish, it’s your fault that you’re here.”

“A dove cares not if a crow hears it’s song, it’s song merely stops when it cannot sing,” Giles replied cooly.

Milton heaved a heavy sigh. “I know you’re angry I put you in here Giles, it hurt me too. But I couldn’t have you rallying people not to follow their destinies. It was for the best,” he reasoned. “Just please help me stop this,” he begged.

Giles’s old tired face twisted into a look of angry defiance. “The emperor laughs in the face of his people, he cares not for their voice!” he yelled bitterly. “A rotten tree may not stand, it crumbles from within. A storm may fell it but flowers bloom best on troubled soil.”

“You do want this to happen, don’t you?” Milton asked in astonishment. “You don’t want to help me at all, Giles if this storm comes when we’ll lose everything. We’ve lived the lives of gods for so long Giles, I can’t go back to how it was;” he argued.

Giles merely looked at his brother sadly, as if he pitied him greatly.

“Don’t make that face, I didn’t do this to you, you did.” Milton snapped.

Giles gave a wild bark of laughter, shaking his head.

“I don’t know why I tried,” Milton growled turning on heel and making his way back to the wooden door.

“If the king may not think of his people, then he may think of this,” Giles said quietly.

Milton froze, one hand hovering over the handle of the door.

“Remember a time in a far off land when the king was a prince, when the crow was a sparrow. Remember the fortune teller’s promise. The dove remembers, and soon he will fly free.”

With his back turned to his brother, Milton turned a deathly ghastly pale. His breathing turned ragged and his eyes wild at the memory that assaulted him.

Eight years ago, both brother’s sought council with the oracle. A freer and healthier looking Giles entered a towering stone parthenon and into the oracle’s inner chambers. The wide open room was littered with large stone basins filled with soot and burning large sticks of incense. The room was hot humid and oppressing, the sickly sweet perfume choking them of breath. Milton coughed low in his throat to relieve himself but it did no good. Giles, a steady presence beside him stood calmly. Seated in the middle of the room amidst an array of large velvet cushions was the oracle. Her skin was a dark brown, her thick curly hair only a few tufts peeking out beneath a thin shimmery shawl.

“We need your help,” Milton pleaded as they entered. “The Evil Queen is laying siege on Ever After.

The Oracle turned to them as they approached. Her eyes wide, grey and unseeing of the physical world. “Two will come,” she said in a raspy voice.

“We know, we’ve come for your help,” Milton said irritably.

Giles beside him gestured wildly for him to be quiet, giving him a sharp glare.

“Two will come,” the Oracle rasped as if he said nothing. The sound in the parthenon a deathly silent. “Two will come on the winds of change, one of moon and one of sun. Two will come to end the cycle.” She said, turning away from the two men and breathing deeply.

“That’s it!” Milton bellowed losing his temper. “What are you talking about, we need your help to defeat the Evil Queen. Don’t you understand you mad woman she’ll destroy us all!”

“Foolish sparrow,” Giles muttered darkly at his brother’s outburst.

“Two will come,” the Oracle said again. “And they will reign, both of noble birth. One is scorned and the other lost. Moon and sun align to shine a new light on the world. What once always was shall be no more.”

“What are you saying?” Milton said in frustration. “What always was, what will change? Giles do you understand her?” He asked turning towards his brother.

Giles stared into the distance with a pensive look on his face before nodding his head in understanding.

“Will this help us defeat the Evil Queen?” Milton asked.

Giles merely turned to his brother, his eyes pitying as he shook his head. “The sparrow learns nothing yet,” he whispered.

The Oracle turned towards Milton directly, as if gazing right through him. Milton couldn’t help but take a step back at the heat of her gaze fixated on him.

“One day the emperor shall reign no more,” she rasped. “What once was evergreen shall fade to grey, the tides shall turn this very day,” she said solemnly.

The hazy smoke swirled around her, the sharp grey of her eyes haunting Milton's memory. The present came to him again in a flash. Milton breathed a deep ragged breath. “I won’t allow that to happen,” he promised shutting the door firmly shut behind him.

***

Cerise woke the next morning shivering under her heavy quilted blanket. The windows were open just a crack but already Cerise could feel an uncomfortable chill in the air. She blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before begrudgingly getting out of bed. Cedar was still asleep in the bed opposite her, her thick brown curls fanned out on her pillow. Cerise glanced at Cedar’s bedside clock, handmade by her father from birch wood into a traditional cuckoo clock. The time said five past nine in the morning. Cerise walked across the room and peeked through the curtains, careful not to let too much sun in the room and wake Cedar. She needn’t have bothered however because the sky outside was thick with grey puffy clouds. The wind rattled through the air causing trees in the distance to sway. Cerise took a deep whiff of the air and frowned. Usually Cerise loved a good storm, the air always smelled crisp and fresh but the undercurrent of magic that she smelled put her on edge. The electricity of it made her hair stand on end. Silently, she closed the window shut along with the curtains.

“Ugh, my joints feel stiff,” Cedar complained groggily from her bed. “What time is it?”

“Around nine,” Cerise answered.

Cedar sat up in bed, running a hand through her curly hair. “My hair is all frizzy too,” she complained.

“It’s really humid outside,” Cerise said. “It looks like it’ll probably rain.”

Cedar got out of bed and started to make her bed. Cerise gathered her clothes for the day and entered the bathroom, locking it shut behind her. Cedar knew that Cerise liked her privacy even if she didn’t know why. Behind the safety of the closed door, Cerise took off her hood and shook out her hair. Her ears popped out from beneath the fabric. Shaking the cloak off entirely, Cerise reached for her hairbrush and began brushing her hair. It didn’t take very long, she just had to be careful around her ears as they were very sensitive. She slipped off her pajamas and put on her day clothes before placing her cloak and hood firmly back on. Her white strip of hair was fading slightly, she’d have to touch it up soon. Maybe she’d dye it red next time.

After she was finished getting changed she quickly brushed her teeth and unlocked the door to the bathroom. She slipped outside while Cedar tiredly entered the bathroom. She reached for a bottle on her side of the bathroom and started running lemon scented cream through her curls.

“It’s so hard to manage when wet,” Cedar explained to her when Cerise asked what she used the cream for. “This helps keep my hair in place,” she had said.

Cedar took a little bit longer getting ready in the bathroom but Cerise didn’t mind. She spent the time making her bed and thinking of nothing in particular. She scrolled through her mirror phone for a bit when Cedar exited the bathroom fully dressed, beautiful curls firmly in place.

“Ready to eat?” Cerise asked hopping off of her bed.

“Yeah, let me just grab my sweater.” Cedar said pulling a soft handmade purple sweater out of her dresser.

Cedar had explained to Cerise that she didn’t necessarily feel hot or cold like people did, sometimes she imagined what the sensations might be like but they never really bothered her. Cedar would just wear warmer clothing along with everyone else in order to fit in. Part of Cerise ached that Cedar went to such lengths to fit in but didn’t say anything against it. Cedar was capable of making her own choices. Cerise’s cloak usually kept her warm and cool in any sort of weather but she chose to put on a grey sweater underneath her cloak. Both girls made their way to the castleteria and grabbed some breakfast. While waiting in line for their food, Blondie worked her way down the line passing out leaflets of paper.

“Hot off the presses, read for the latest scoop!” she said cheerfully, bundled up in a dark blue turtleneck sweater.

Cedar and Cerise each received a leaflet, reading it curiously. The leaflet was a colorful light pink with dark black text.

“Mystery Oncoming Storm! Mysterious Mirror Storm hits Ever After eight years ago. Mirror shard storm conjured by the Infamous Evil Queen Herself. Could History be repeating itself?” More text followed detailing how the Evil Queen conjured the mirror shard storm in hopes of conquering Ever After. She was only thwarted by the magic of Headmaster Grim and Baba Yaga. Cerise stared at the paper for a long while deep in thought. It was bad enough that Raven was so upset last night, but now she had to deal with everyone accusing her of starting trouble. Even though her dad had told Cerise that the storm was made by her magic, Cerise couldn’t help but be defensive of her friend. Cerise worried what Raven must feel like reading this. She wondered if it would kill Blondie to keep some information to herself. Cedar and Cerise moved up the queue, everyone gossiping about the new article. Despite Cerise’s words yesterday, most people seemed to believe that curfew was Raven’s fault.

“Just ignore them,” Cedar whispered noticing Cerise’s discomfort. “They don’t know her like we do,”

“They don’t,” Cerise agreed. No one knew Raven like her friends did but that was just the problem. Cerise knew how powerful Raven was, maybe better than anyone else did. How bad was this big bad storm going to be?

Cerise and Cedar made it to the front of the line and received their breakfast. Cedar grabbed some fruit she could imagine tasting and Cerise grabbed her usual meal of eggs, bacon, and sausages. It was only when they made their way to their usual table did they notice something amiss.

“Where’s Raven?” Cerise asked glancing over the table. Maddie was already seated with Apple and Briar. All of them looked uncharacteristically glum.

“Raven didn’t come back to the room last night,” Apple explained worriedly, her usual breakfast of porridge lay in front of her untouched. “I stayed up half of the night waiting for her, but she never showed. Her bed didn’t look slept in either.”

“Oh my gosh,” Cedar gasped. “Where could she have gone?”

“We don’t know,” Briar said as Cedar and Cerise took their seats. “I’ve asked practically everyone in the castleteria when passing out news for Blondie, but no one’s seen her since yesterday afternoon.”

“I thought she was with you,” Cerise questioned turning towards Maddie.

“She was,” Maddie said with a deep frown. “She was upset that that ol’ meanie told her to sign. We talked about it for a while but she said she wanted to be left alone.”

“When was this?” Briar asked worriedly.

“Just after dinner ended,” Maddie explained anxiously. “I thought she went back to her room.”

“This isn’t good,” Apple fretted. “If Briar’s right and nobody’s seen her since dinner, then that means she’s been missing for over twelve hours.”

“What do we do?” Cedar asked anxiously.

“We can organize a search party,” Apple said. “With the barrier up, Raven couldn’t have gone far.”

“Wait, I have an idea!” Maddie exclaimed straightening in her chair as if struck by lightning. “I can just ask the narrator where Raven went, then we’ll find her in no time!”

The other girls looked at each other in confusion.

“Narrator?” Briar asked narrowing her eyes.

“Maddie does this sometimes,” Cerise explained. “I don’t know how she does it but sometimes she knows stuff that other people don’t.”

“I know because I listen to the narrators,” Maddie explained breezily. “They always narrate what people are doing.”

“Right,” Briar said unconvinced.

“It might not matter if you believe her or not.” Cedar pointed out. “When Maddie says that the narrator said something, she’s always right.”

“Well, let’s at least hear what she has to say. It couldn’t hurt.” Apple reasoned. “Go on Maddie, what did they say.” She asked a bit indulgently, as if she didn’t fully believe Maddie’s words.

“Fiddlesticks, the narrator’s right you guys really don’t believe me, humph” Maddie grumbled. “Narrator, where did Raven go?” she asked looking at the ceiling as if the narrator was high up in the sky.

The narrator thought for a long moment whether to acknowledge Maddie or not. It wouldn’t do for them to get caught up in the story.

“Please narrator, we’re really worried about Raven,” Maddie begged.

“This isn’t going to work,” Briar mumbled.

“It will,” Cerise disagreed. “Have some faith. Maddie always manages to find things out even if it’s a little weird. Sometimes she even knows what people are thinking,” Cerise explained thinking back to how Maddie somehow could hear her thoughts during lunch yesterday.

The narrator couldn’t help but feel a bit pressured by Maddie’s words but staring down at the worried faces of the five girls swayed their opinion. ‘Okay, the narrator thought, I’ll tell you. Just this once though.’

“Oh goody,” Maddie smiled. “Where did Raven go?”

The narrator thought back on how late last night, a distraught Raven left the grounds of Ever After High. The narrator thought of how she raged against the barrier of the school and used her magic to create a small tear in the magical barrier, allowing her to enter the enchanted forest.

“Oh no!” Maddie gasped in alarm. “The narrator said that Raven used her magic to break through the barrier last night.”

“Where did she go?” Apple asked in alarm.

“The narrator said she left for the enchanted forest.”

“Why would she do that?” Briar asked skeptically. “Baba Yaga’s magic is very strong, it wouldn’t be easy for her to break through,” she pointed out.

“Raven’s magic is very powerful.” Cerise said her thoughts racing. “If anyone could break through, Raven definitely could.”

“But why would she leave?” Cedar wondered.

The narrator thought of how guilty Raven felt after her meeting with Headmaster Grimm and how it was her magic that created the oncoming storm. Guilty, and distraught about having to sign the storybook of legends, Raven left the grounds after stealing a spell book from Baba Yaga’s hut to try and reverse the effects of her spell.

“The narrator said that Raven was really upset after her meeting with Headmaster Grimm and she uh,” Maddie faltered. Raven had already confided in her earlier last night that Headmaster Grimm told her that it was her fault about the mirror storm. Maddie wasn’t sure if she should tell the other girls that though because it might hurt Raven’s feelings.

“What’d they say?” Apple asked.

Maddie shook herself out of her thoughts. “The narrator said that after she took Baba Yaga’s spell book to try and stop the storm,” Maddie explained deciding to keep that information to herself for Raven’s sake.

“That’s really dangerous,” Cedar worried. “The weather’s gotten really bad. What if it hits when Raven’s still outside?”

“We have to stop her!” Apple said determinedly. “She could really get hurt.”

Cerise’s heart pounded at the thought of Raven being in danger. She didn’t even want to touch her breakfast at the thought of her getting hurt.

“Wait a splinter, how will we get past the barrier to get to her? None of us can do magic like Raven can.”

“Maybe I can squeeze us!” Maddie suggested eagerly. “I can do a hop and a skip through easy peasy.”

Cerise shook her head at Maddie’s words. “That might not work though,” she said. “And even if your wonderland magic can get you through, you’d be the only one who could get outside.”

“Then what are we going to do?” Briar asked anxiously. “We’re stuck.”

While the other girls discussed ways they could get past the barrier, Cerise thought long and hard. The magical barrier around the school was strong but no spell was infallible, that’s what Baba Yaga always said during their Science of Sorcery class. There had to be a way through without strong arming it like Raven did with her magic. Maddie had already asked the narrator to tell them how to get through but they wouldn’t budge. They had only told them where Raven went but they refused to tell them how to find her. After a few more minutes of begging Maddie had turned her attention to brainstorming with the other girls. The only people who would really know how to get through were Baba Yaga and Headmaster Grimm but no way would they let them all sneak out. There had to be someone else though, someone who always knew what was going on in the school. Someone who was clever enough to get top secret information from Baba Yaga and Headmaster Grimm. Someone who knew how to sneak in and out of places without being caught.

“I know how to get through,” Cerise stated suddenly in the middle the other girl’s heated discussion of how to get out. “But it won’t be cheap.”

“What do you mean?” Briar asked.

“I know someone who can get us through, but they won’t do it for free,” Cerise explained.

“I’m willing to pay anything to help Raven,” Apple said firmly.

“That’s good, just don’t let Sparrow know you think that or he’ll charge extra,” Cerise advised.

“Ugh Sparrow Hood,” Briar groaned. “I hate that guy he’s such a jerk.”

“I know but he’s the only one who can get us out of the school,” Cerise reasoned.

“Are we sure we don’t want to ask the teachers for help?” Cedar said. “This might be a big job for just us.”

“I’m sure,” Cerise said firmly. “Hardly any of them actually like Raven, we can’t trust them to help.”

Apple shot a worried glance at Cerise but remained silent.

“Okay, let’s do this!” Briar said pumped, sitting up from her seat, the legs of it scraping against the linoleum floor.

The other girls follow suit, sitting up from the tables, their breakfast lying untouched.

“Where do we go?” Apple asked as they speed walked down the halls.

“Sparrow’s usual haunt,” Cerise said. “He hangs out in a treehouse on the edge of the quad, I’d bet anything he’s there.”

The girls made their way to the main entrance of the school. They were about to turn a corner when Cerise smelling something familiar, stopped short causing Briar to smack into her.

“Ow, what!” Briar started.

“Shhh,” Cerise shushed. She peeked around the corner to get a closer look at the entrance. Just as she thought it was guarded by her dad, she recognized his scent. He was in his wolf form this time, his large muscled furry form striking an imposing figure. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his ears perked up listening intently.

“How are we going to get around him?” Maddie whispered not so quietly after she too took a peak around the corner.

“We don’t,” Cerise answered glumly knowing he heard her.

“I know you’re there!” Mr. Badwolf called out. “I could hear you coming a mile off. Come on out,” he grumbled.

The girls couldn’t do anything but sheepishly reveal themselves at the commanding tone of his voice.

“Hi Mr. Badwolf!” Briar started nervously. “We were just-”

“Getting into trouble,” Mr. Badwolf finished for her causing her to wince. “What do you girls think you’re doing trying to get outside?”

“Okay we’re sorry, we were just trying to get something I left on the quad last night.” Briar lied quickly. “We’ll just get it real quick and be right back,” she explained.

“Hah!” Mr. Badwolf barked out a laugh. “You’ll have to try harder than that, I teach a villainy class remember. Lying's part of the trade,” he snorted shaking his head.

Briar wilted at his laugh and took a step back in defeat.

Cerise glanced over the glum faces of her friends, her heart swelled at the thought of them not being able to help Raven. She narrowed her eyes in determination, her heart pounding and decided to take a risk she’d never taken before.

“Raven’s missing,” Cerise said determinedly stepping away from the group towards her dad. “We’re going to get her back,” she said, her stern tone making it clear that it wasn’t a request.

Mr. Badwolf raised his eyebrows at her daring. Cerise was careful to never talk to her dad in public, especially not like this. People might talk if they saw her unafraid around him but she had to take the risk, for Raven’s sake.

“Is that so, then the faculty will find her,” he said calmly.

The other girls looked back and forth between Cerise and her dad in confusion.

“Um Cerise, I don’t think you’re helping…” Briar trailed off.

Cerise ignored her, not breaking eye contact with her dad. A wolf had to stand their ground.

“The faculty won’t help,” she said boldly. “Most of them hate her and the ones that don’t want her to be something she’s not. I don’t trust them.” Cerise claimed.

The other girls looked at astonishment at each other, Apple actually gasped out loud at her daring.

Mr. Badwolf stared at Cerise seriously, his humor from before fading away.

“That’s a big accusation to make,” Mr. Badwolf says seriously.

“It’s not an accusation if it’s true,” Cerise continued refusing to break eye contact, the yellow of her father’s eyes sharp and piercing. “We can’t trust them to help, we have to do this ourselves. No one knows Raven like we do,” she said seriously.

“That’s right!” Maddie agreed. “Everyone thinks Raven’s all scary but that’s not true, Raven’s wonderful, wonderlandiful!”

“She’s right,” Cedar agreed with a smile. “Raven cares so much about other people, even if she doesn’t always show it, it’s true. And well it has to be because I can’t tell a lie,” Cerise said bashfully.

Mr. Badwolf stared Cerise down, mulling over Cedar and Maddie’s words silently. The air grew tense between them with an undercurrent of words left unsaid. Her dad told her himself about what the faculty thought of Raven. How was Cerise supposed to trust anyone, anyone besides her dad to help Raven when they really thought that this was her fault in the first place?

Mr. Badwolf sighed deeply, closing his eyes and breaking their silent battle. A thrill of victory went down Cerise’s spine. “I could lose my job if anyone finds out I let you girls go outside,” he sighed already stepping aside from the entrance.

“No way,” Briar breathed.

“They won’t find out, we’ll be in and out before you know it,” Cerise promised.

Her dad shot her a pleading glance and Cerise understood what it meant. ‘Be careful’ his eyes said.

“It’ll be very dangerous if the storm hits if you girls are still outside,” Mr. Badwolf said carefully.

“That’s okay, I can run fast.” Cerise said cheekily.

Mr. Badwolf smile deeply at their private joke. “Okay,” he said. “I know I can’t stop you, Merlin knows I tried,” he muttered the last part under his breath. “I’ll probably regret this but Baba Yaga said that the storm probably won’t hit until the late afternoon. If you girls aren’t back by then, I’ll be coming to get you myself.”

Cerise breathed a sigh of relief at his words. “Thank you,” she whispered quietly, so quietly that the only one who could hear her was him.

“Go quickly,” Mr. Badwolf said more urgently jerking his head towards the door. “Go find your friend and get everyone back safe.”

Cerise felt her eyes sting at his words with unshed tears. All of a sudden she wished so badly she could hug her dad in front of everyone, like a normal kid would. Destiny and appearances be damned. Through the haze of her emotions she barely heard the quiet ‘oh’ Maddie let out in realization.

The girls moved past him quickly, opening the front door to the school. “Thanks Mr. B,” Briar said nodding her head in acknowledgment as she passed.

“We’ll be back soon,” Apple promised as they went, shutting the door behind them.

The weather outside was just as bad as it was when Cerise first woke up. The wind blew fiercely, the dark grey clouds moving quickly overhead.

“Okay, how did you do that? That was amazing!” Briar asked in excitement.

“Aren’t you afraid of him?” Cedar wondered. “Because of, you know, you’re story?”

“That was incredible,” Apple breathed. “Weren’t you scared at all?”

Maddie was strangely silent, almost as if lost deep in thought.

Cerise thought for a moment, looking over her shoulder at the closed doors where her father stood just behind the large oak doors. “No,” she said honestly. “What’s there to be afraid of?”

Cedar, Briar, and Apple looked at each other in astonishment.

“Woah, wicked.” Briar laughed.

The girls jogged across the quad quickly, eager to get out of sight of anyone that might be looking out. They quickly ducked through the cover the trees at the edge of the forest, just behind Baba Yaga’s barrier.

“Oh my fairy godmother, that looks serious.” Apple said staring at the barrier.

Having a better look at it, Cerise couldn’t help but agree. Baba Yaga and Headmaster Grimm really had outdone themselves. The barrier was golden and shimmering even in the shadows. Runes crisscrossed the surface, glowing and fading in sync like a living pulse.

“How are we going to get through?” Cedar asked with a frown.

“Let’s just hope Sparrow knows what he’s doing,” Cerise answered.

The girls approached Sparrow’s treehouse. It lay just inside the barrier on the very edge of the enchanted forest. The treehouse was well hidden under the cover of other trees and what Cerise believed to be some well placed bushes. The girls trudged through the shrubbery, wincing as sharp branches pricked at their skin and clothes.

“Ugh, this better be worth it.” Briar moaned keeping her hands raised carefully away from any sharp thorns.

The girls approached the treehouse, staring up at it in wonder. At the very base of a tall sturdy tree was a spiral cast iron staircase. It twisted around the trunk of the tree, it’s color dyed to match the color of the tree’s dark wood, camouflaging it from view.

“That’s a long way up,” Briar said craning her neck upwards.

The girls made their way up the staircase, the metal clanging between their feet as they soldiered on. At the very top of the staircase, the girls could see a large wooden hut with a dark green sloped roof.

“How long has this been here?” Apple wondered. “I didn’t even know this existed.”

“A long time,” Cedar answered carefully examining the dark exterior wood. “It got refurbished about five years ago, but the foundations look like it must have been here for at least a couple of decades.”

In the middle of the hut lay a thin wooden door the exact shade of as the dark wood of the trunk of the tree and rest of the exterior.

“Well, here goes everything,” Cerise muttered turning the handle.

“Um shouldn’t we knock?” Cedar asked.

“No, it’s best not to give him any warning,” Cerise muttered darkly opening the door.

Cerise turned the handle and swung open the door, the dim grey light from outside peeking into the room.

Inside the hut was what Cerise could only describe as a war zone. Various clothes were scattered throughout the room, thrown around haphazardly and forgotten. Every inch of the inside walls were covered in magazine clippings from music magazine and heavy metal band posters. Some of them were old and crinkled, their corners dropping from old tape and sticky tack. At the center of the room was a stage of all things, a drum set, mics, and speakers. Cerise wrinkled her nose. The air smelled stuffy, like a window hadn’t been cracked open in a long while, or ever. It smelled of stale boy sweat. Cerise nearly gagged at the smell.

“Oh gosh,” Apple gasped behind her in agreement.

“Whose there?” A voice called from the corner of the room.

The girls made their way towards a beat up red couch crammed into the corner of the tree house. A lanky figure in a thick leather jacket sat up from where he was draped across it. He quit strumming his guitar and peered out from behind the couch.

“We need your help,” Briar said.

“We’re here to make a deal Sparrow, are you in or not?” Cerise asked shortly, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn’t even like talking to Sparrow on a good day.

“Whoa whoa whoa, Ms. goody red riding hood want to make a deal with me?” Sparrow laughed sitting up on from his place on the couch.. “What’s the occasion?”

“We um, need to get outside of the barrier,” Apple said uncomfortably.

“Is that Apple White?” Sparrow laughed drawing closer to the girls. “I didn’t know you of all people were a rule breaker.”

“Can you get us out or not Sparrow?” Cerise asked impatiently.

“Hold on cus’,” Sparrow said. “Color me intrigued. Why would goody goodies like you guys want to leave the school for?”

Apple sighed deeply from beside her. “A friend of ours is outside, we need to get her back in time before the storm hits or she’ll get hurt.”

“Oh you’re going out to help your friend? How boring.” Sparrow frowned his look of intrigue fading into disinterest.

“Can you get us outside the barrier or not Sparrow, or maybe you’re not as slick as you say you are.” Cerise scoffed.

“Oh I can get you out all right,” Sparrow smirked. “What’s in it for me?”

“We can haggle a deal,” Apple said confidently.

“Money huh?” Sparrow hummed, strumming his guitar again. The sound grated Cerise’s ears. “Sounds good, usually I’d cut a deal but I think I have a better idea.”

“Like what?” Briar asked narrowing her eyes.

“How about…you pick up a package for me?” Sparrow asked with a wide smirk.

“That’s it?” Cedar asked. “Just pick something up for you?”

“What’s the catch?” Cerise asked gruffly.

“No catch, just uh, don’t get caught obviously. I’d pick it up myself but I’m a little tied up right now,” Sparrow said carefully.

“You can’t get in trouble again after your stunt in the castleteria can’t you?” Apple guessed.

“Right you are, not like you were responsible or anything,” Sparrow muttered.

“Where do we pick it up?” Maddie asked.

“Just pick it up in the alleyway behind the Glass Slipper, it’ll be in a paper package.” Sparrow said shifting in his seat.

“That sounds awfully sketchy,” Cedar said suspiciously. “What’s in it, it’s not anything illegal is it?”

“Wow,” Sparrow deadpanned. “You got me.”

“Sparrow,” Cerise growled low in her throat. “It better not be anything dangerous or I swear-”

"You’ll what, rat me out?” Sparrow scoffed. “You want to break curfew and sneak out, you don’t exactly have a leg to stand on here.”

“It’s not dangerous, is it?” Cedar asked nervously.

“No, for sure not.” Sparrow answered shaking his head. “You pick that up for me by the end of the day and we’ll call it even.”

“You probably don’t even know how to get out, do you?” Cerise scoffed.

Sparrow smirked a devious smile. “Don’t I?” he said cocking his head to the side.

Sparrow stood up swiftly from the couch, swinging his electric guitar on his back. He made his way to a heavy black trunk at the foot of the stage covered in various stickers. He swung the case open carelessly, digging deep into its contents.

“Oooh, secrets,” Maddie cooed leaning over Sparrow’s shoulder.

“Got that right,” Sparrow agreed.

Sparrow pulled out a small thin cloth from the very bottom of the trunk. “Here’s your ticket out,” he said unwrapping it. He held a thin gnarled piece of wood for all of them to see.

“It’s, just a stick,” Briar frowned.

“You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover,” Sparrow tutted. “This baby,” Sparrow said waving the stick around. “Is your express ticket past Baba Yaga’s spell.”

“Um, okay,” Apple said skeptically.

“Wait a splinter,” Cedar said taking a closer look. “I, I don’t recognize this wood.”

“So?” Briar said.

“No, I know my wood. I work with it all the time in my dad’s shop.” Cedar answered. “What is this?” Cedar asked turning towards Sparrow curiously.

Sparrow smiled much like a wolf that had caught it’s prey. “This baby, is a branch from the tree of life,” he answered.

Cerise felt all of the air rush out of her in one sharp gasp. Her friends beside her seemed to have similar reactions, staring at Sparrow in shock. The tree of life was the oldest fairy tale of all. It created the entire world.

“How did you get this?” Cerise gasped horrified. “You didn’t break it off did you?” No one had seen the tree of life in hundreds of years. It was heavily guarded by ancient magic. If Sparrow really broke off a piece of all things then he was ten times worse than Cerise thought.

“Don’t get your hood in a knot,” Sparrow said irritably. “Of course I didn’t. Breaking a branch off isn’t worth it, too expensive.” He explained easily. “This thing fell off the tree ages ago. If you place this thing near the barrier, it should squeeze you all through.”

“Where on earth did you get this?” Apple asked her eyes wide.

“Don’t worry about that.” Sparrow said wrapping the cloth around the branch. “So, we got a deal or not?” he asked.

The girls all looked at each other uneasily. Sparrow’s plan sounded like it would work, but it also sounded awfully risky.

“We don’t have a choice,” Apple said softly.

“And that’s what I like to hear,” Sparrow smirked. “Oh just be sure to give this back or I’m sure Headmaster Grimm would be happy to hear all about your little adventure.”

“I’m sure he’d be happy to hear how you got that,” Cerise answered darkly jerking her head towards the bundle in his hand.

“It’s good insurance,” Sparrow said easily. “Just put this baby near the barrier and it should make an opening where you can squeeze right through.”

“This better work,” Cerise growled. Cerise never liked Sparrow much, even when they were children. He was always up to some trick but this was really serious.

“Scouts honor,” Sparrow promised.

“Okay, we gotta go, we don’t have much time.” Briar said stepping forward and taking the branch from Sparrows open hand.

The girls move to leave the treehouse but just before Cerise went through the door to follow them, she was stopped in her tracks.

“Hold on Cerise, I need to talk to you for a sec.” Sparrow called out to her. “Don’t worry it won’t take long.”

“Alright, spit it out,” Briar said from outside the door.

“Nah, this is a private thing you know, between family.” He smiled as innocently as he could.

Briar gave Cerise a sharp look of concern.

“It’s alright, I can handle him.” Cerise assured her.

“Ouch,” Sparrow winced.

“If you say so,” Apple said skeptically.

The girls shut the door behind them and Cerise was already missing the rush of fresh air it brought. She didn’t want to spend one more minute in this disgusting place.

“Alright Sparrow, what do you want?” Cerise asked him flatly.

“Shouldn’t you be more careful about the ‘tude?” Sparrow wondered.

“What do you mean?” Cerise asked.

“I mean you don’t want people to, get suspicious about you know,” Sparrow said leaning close to her ear, “your little furry secret” he whispered.

It was as if her heart stopped beating in her chest. Cerise felt her mouth go dry and her ears flatten against her head.

“Wha-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she denied vehemently.

“Who are you kidding Cerise, everyone in the Hood family knows after that stunt you pulled with the Basket run trial. Great going by the way announcing to the whole village who your parents are, really trying to keep the secret in the family huh?” He smirked.

“If your trying to threaten me,” Cerise snarled feeling her hair stand on end.

“Whoa hold up, that’s not what I’m doing.” Sparrow assured her putting his hands in front of his chest in a sign of surrender. “For once I’m not up to anything, that’s low even for me.”

Cerise narrowed her eyes, circling Sparrow suspiciously. She took a deep whiff, inhaling his scent through her lungs. He smelled of stale sweat and too much battle-axe deodorant making her cringe. However, there wasn’t a familiar tangy smell of a liar. For once Sparrow was actually telling the truth.

“Wow that’s freaky. Did you know that your eyes go all wolfy when you do that?” Sparrow said.

“Why bother bringing up my big bad secret if you don’t have anything planned?” Cerise asked ignoring his previous comment. “How do I know you’re not going to pull one of your tricks?” She asked.

“Well, now that you mention it, there kind of is something I want.” Sparrow said sheepishly.

“What?” Cerise asked impatiently.

“I want you to pick up the package yourself,” Sparrow answered. “No one else. Just you.” Sparrow said.

“What, why?” Cerise asked in surprise.

“I don’t want it falling into the wrong hands,” Sparrow answered seriously.

“Is it dangerous?” Cerise asked. “Because if it’s dangerous I swear Sparrow, I’ll make you regret it. I don’t want your stupid tricks hurting my pack.” Cerise growled.

“Pack…” Sparrow repeated in surprise. “Wow okay, that’s a thing I guess. Am I in your pack too?” He asked curiously.

He took one look at Cerise’s angry stare and shrugged. “Okay we’ll work on that,” he settled.

“Sparrow, what’s in it. I need you to tell me. Now.” She said shortly.

“It’s just some paper,” Sparrow complained. “I actually wasn’t planning on using it for anything, honest!” He insisted at Cerise’s answering snarl. “You can do your wolf lie test thingie all you want. It’s the truth.” He insisted. “If all goes well, I won’t even need it.”

“What. Is. It.” Cerise threatened baring her sharp teeth.

“Okay, okay, it’s information.” Sparrow answered nervously. “It’s dirt on Headmaster Grimm happy? Will you chill out now?” He asked.

“You did what? There’s dirt on Headmaster Grimm?” Cerise asked in wonder.

“Yeah, yeah I think so,” Sparrow sighed. “I just can’t tell you exactly what it is, seriously I can’t. It’s big though. Like major league.”

“Okay,” Cerise said skeptically. “Okay I’ll do it, just don’t get into any trouble.” Cerise sighed.

“That might be a tall order Cerise, but I’ll do my best.” Sparrow promised. “Just, be more careful, seriously. If anyone finds out about your secret, I don’t even know what’s going to happen to you.”

“Um, thanks,” Cerise said. “You too I guess?”

“I’m touched.” Sparrow deadpanned. “Now get going, your friend’s not going to save themselves.”

“Okay,” Cerise answered. “Uh, bye,” she said awkwardly making her way towards the door.

“Bye Cerise,” Sparrow said giving her a small salute.

“Oh and Sparrow,” Cerise said as she opened the front door. “Just because we’re family, doesn’t mean I forgot that you tried to steal my lunch money.” She said evenly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Sparrow said.

“Good, don’t do it again,” Cerise threatened, turning over her shoulder to shoot Sparrow a dark look, her eyes turning yellow and fierce. She slammed the door behind her, meeting up with her friends on the other side.

“What did Sparrow want to talk about?” Apple asked curiously when she walked out.

“Family stuff,” Cerise answered gruffly. “He uh, told me to be careful though,” she added.

“Wow, that almost sounds decent of him,” Briar said in surprise.

“It won’t last,” Cerise assured her.

“We should go,” Apple said. “We have to go get Raven.”

“We will,” Cerise promised her. “But I think we’ll need to split up.”

“Split up?” Cedar asked. “Why?”

“Sparrow told me to pick up the package for him. While I’m in Book End, you guys should pair up and start searching. You’ll cover more ground that way, but no one should go alone, it’s too dangerous. I’ll catch up as soon as I can.” Cerise explained.

“That sounds pretty sketchy Cerise,” Briar said crossing her arms over her chest.

“I know,” Cerise sighed. “It’s Sparrow what do you expect? We wouldn’t be able to get out without him though, I have to do it.”

“Okay,” Briar said. “Just make sure to hext us when your done so we can meet up.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Apple said. “We don’t have much time."

“Yeah, let’s go save Raven!” Maddie cheered throwing her hands up in the air in excitement.

The girls raced down the staircase to the bottom of the treehouse. At the bottom of the steps, they approached Baba Yaga’s magic barrier.

Briar unwrapped the branch quickly. “Let’s hope this works,” she said as she placed it near the surface of the barrier.

As the branch drew closer, something strange began to happen. The barrier began to ripple like water after a stone had been thrown in it.

“I think it’s working!” Briar said excitedly.

She touched the branch to the surface of the barrier. The golden flow of magic began ripple wildly, creating a thin opening.

“Oh my gosh,” Briar sputtered as the branch began to buck wildly in her hands. She placed both hands around the branch, desperately trying to keep it steady.

“It’s not big enough,” Cedar said. “Try pushing it closer.”

“I’m trying,” Briar snapped. “This is harder than it looks.”

“Let me help,” Maddie offered, placing her hands over Briar’s.

Together, Briar and Maddie slowly pushed the branch deeper through the barrier, making the small rift gradually grow larger. Just enough to squeeze through.

“Go, go!” Briar ordered gritting her teeth in effort.

Cerise ducked through first, shimmying her body sideways in order to squeeze by. She breathed in deeply, squeezing in her gut, barely brushing the surface of the spell. The energy felt strange to her, almost like a powerful electric current making her hair stand up on end and causing her to sweat in panic. As quickly as she could, she squeezed through the barrier, landing on the other side, panting with effort.

Behind her Apple followed through, half collapsing onto the grass beside her. Cedar followed soon after.

“Maddie, go!” Briar ordered from the other side of the barrier, the magic of writhing and crackling ominously.

Maddie ducked through the opening, landing onto the grass on the other side with a swift roll. At the very last moment, Briar hurled herself through the barrier, barely managing to squeeze through the other side before it snapped closed behind her.

“Oh my fairy godmother, that was close,” Briar panted from where she collapsed on the ground.

“Here,” Apple offered, holding out her hand for Briar to grab and helping her rise to her feet.

“Thanks Apple,” Briar thanked her as she brushed dirt off of her dress.

“Okay, here we go.” Cerise said. “Remember, hext if you find Raven or any clues about where she went.”

“On it,” Briar said making a few frantic taps on her mirror phone. “There, I made a group chat for us,” she said smiled.

“Good luck Cerise,” Cedar said pulling her into a quick hug. “Be careful, I don’t trust Sparrow and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“You too,” Cedar said. “Don’t worry though, I run fast.” She grinned, pulling her hood down firmly over her head. “I’ll see you guys soon, promise.”

As Apple and Briar paired off and Maddie and Cedar moved through the dense foliage of the enchanted forest, Cerise sprinted into the opposite direction towards the well worn forest path towards book end. In a few moments, she was gone, racing through the forest as fast as she was able.

Chapter Text

Cerise raced through the enchanted forest like was born to do it, her brown boots thudding firmly against the ground. The path she ran through was wide and familiar. It was well worn from student’s footsteps over many years. She raced through past the foliage and over the abandoned cobbled troll bridge like a bullet, her heart pounding in her chest. The wind was blowing harder now, her lungs stung with cool air. The air rushed past her as she ran by. Cerise ran as fast as she could, uncaring about hiding her abilities or who might see her. Running had always felt like freedom to Cerise and despite the severity of the situation, part of her felt lighter for it. She was easily reminded of the races she and her father had in the forest of their home, hidden from the prying eyes of the world and free to be themselves.

Before she knew it, Cerise broke through the forest and through it’s thick foliage and onto the cobbled stone path leading towards town. She raced downhill, picking up speed, her eyes watering as the air stung her eyes. The clouds overhead were a darker grey than she remembered seeing that morning. They rumbled and circled overhead ominously. She slowed her pace as she approached Book End. She could see from her place on the road that the streets were packed with people. She tried to remain inconspicuous as she approached, shifting her pace to a light jog and keeping her head down.

Everyone paced the streets anxiously, their arms laden with various packages. To Cerise’s sharp eyes, many people looked tense and uncomfortable. They carefully watched the sky and muttered to each other. Headmaster Grimm had sent out an email to the students of Ever After High last night about not entering Book End. He detailed how he warned the people of Book End about the storm. He advised students with relatives and friends living in town to refrain from visiting. By early afternoon, everyone in town and in school was to take shelter in their homes.

Some shops were completely deserted. Rows and rows of cafes and boutiques were closed with thick metal storm shutters locked tight. A few shops were completely packed with people. One food stand had a long twisting line for canned goods and other packaged foods. Other stalls selling fruits and vegetables were completely cleaned out, their owners packing up their stalls and wheeling them home. Everybody was in complete chaos. As Cerise ducked through the crowd, she nearly collided with one anxious woman carrying bags of supplies filled to the brim with food.
Cerise walked briskly through the crowd, keeping her head ducked low. She avoided making eye contact with anyone, not wanting to get caught being outside of school. She used the magic within her cloak gather the shadows of the streets close to her, keeping her invisible from people’s view. She had never been more happy to go unnoticed.

Cerise raced by various shops and crowds of people and finally spotted the Glass Slipper boutique in the distance. The store’s famous display of shoes and large glass windows were hidden behind a thick layer of metal storm shutters. The dark green fabric awnings were rolled up and snapped shut. Cerise ducked into the alleyway beside it, keeping her eyes and ears open for anyone that might be around. The alleyway was totally deserted. Cerise stalked through it carefully, remaining alert. For all of his good intentions, Sparrow wasn’t always to be trusted and Cerise certainly didn’t trust whoever he may have contacted. She perked her ears from beneath her hood carefully listening to any noise. The alley was completely silent, the only sounds she picked up were the footsteps and nervous chatter from the other shops in the distance. Cerise scanned the alleyway but she didn’t see anyone or any suspicious packages in sight. Cerise frowned, sweeping the alleyway but finding nothing.

“Think Cerise, where would you put a package you didn’t want the wrong person to find,” she muttered under her breath.

The only thing in the alley were flat cardboard boxes stacked against a wall opposite to the glass slipper and a trash can. Cerise approached the stack of flat boxes and quickly rifled through them. She turned towards to the trashcan nearby and shuddered. Holding her breath, Cerise approached the trashcan and quickly pulled off the lid. The container was empty of any trash bags but at the very bottom of the container was a thin folder. She quickly put her arm in and snatched the envelope from the container. She placed the lid back on quickly and took a few steps back letting out a breath. She could still smell the faint smell of garbage and rotting food even at a distance. She wrinkled her nose at the smell and glanced curiously at the large envelope in her hands. The folder was held with a deep red wax seal. Cerise looked at the seal curiously. It was stamped with a symbol of a quill, angled as if ready to write. She was tempted to open it just see what the fuss was about but decided against it. Saving Raven was more important than Sparrow’s stupid papers.

She quickly folded the envelope a few times, uncaring if it got wrinkled and shoved it into the inside pocket of her cloak. She ducked out of the alleyway, keeping the shadows close to her with the magic of her cloak. She jogged through town, not wanting to catch anyone’s attention by sprinting outright. It was only when she was clear from town and out of people’s immediate sight did she break out into a sprint once more. She started sprinting uphill, her legs straining with effort. Soon she was back inside the safety of the forest, darting off the beaten path and off to find Raven. She’d find her no matter what.

***

“Raven, Raven!” Maddie shouted, her hands cupped around her mouth.

“This isn’t working,” Cedar sighed. “We’ve been doing this for ages but still no Raven.”

“Fiddlesticks,” Maddie harrumphed crossing her arms over her chest. “How are we going to find her then?” Maddie pouted.

“I don’t know,” Cedar sighed. “But we have to keep trying. Are you sure you can’t ask the narrator again?” She asked for the third time in as many minutes.

“No,” Maddie said glumly shaking her head. “The narrator said they already told us too much. I’ve already tried asking them like a million times but they won’t say anything.”

“Okay,” Cedar said with defeat.

“Raven, where are you!” Maddie yelled again pacing in front of Cedar.

Cedar let out another frustrated sigh. Maddie and her had been wandering through the forest for ages but they still had no idea where Raven could have gone. If only there was someone else in the forest who might know where she had gone. “Wait a splinter!” Cedar exclaimed. “I’ve got an idea!”

“You do?” Maddie turned around towards Cedar, grinning in excitement. “Wonderful, what is it?”

“I can just ask someone who saw where Raven went.” Cedar said.

Maddie’s good cheer left her like a balloon rapidly deflating. “Um, no silly I already told you the narrator can’t help us find Raven.”

“That’s right,” Cedar nodded.

“But, there’s no one here but us.” Maddie blinked

“Not true,” Cedar disagreed. “There are plenty of people around.” Cedar said excitedly.

“Is it opposite day?” Maddie said with confusion. “Because I checked my calendar and I could have sworn that was next month.”

“No,” Cedar said shaking her head. “There are plenty of people here, they’re all around us! I can ask one of the trees where Raven went!” Cedar finished excitedly.

“What?” Maddie gasped cupping her hands on her cheeks and squishing her mouth in excitement. “You can talk to trees Cedar?” She said her voice slightly garbled.

“Not well,” Cedar admitted. “I haven’t really done it for years now and most can’t talk to me. But it’s our best chance.”

“Oh boy, well let’s do it!” Maddie cheered.

Maddie watched curiously as Cedar approached a skinny looking nearby tree.

“Hello?” Cedar asked placing one hand gently on it’s trunk.

“What’s it saying?” Maddie asked.

“Nothing,” Cedar frowned. “Let me try another.”

Maddie watched Cedar approach many trees placing her hands on their trunks and muttering under her breath. Cedar tried talking to thin trees, thick trees, short trees and tall trees, but nothing happened. Cedar must have tried talking to about a dozen trees before sighing deeply and turning towards Maddie.

“This isn’t working,” she grumbled. “I can’t talk to any of them.”

Maddie hummed thoughtfully, tapping her chin deep in thought. “What sort of tree can you talk to then?” She asked.

“I don’t know, the last one I talked too was really old I guess,” Cedar said. “Maybe I don’t have the ability anymore,” she said sadly.

“That’s nonsense!” Maddie exclaimed. “And usually I’d say that’s a good thing but today I’m saying that it’s a bad thing. Oh my fairy godmother are we sure it isn’t opposite day today?” She wondered.

“Maybe we should just keep yelling for Raven?” Cedar suggested.

“Up bup bup!” Maddie shushed her. “Don’t say that Cedar, we’ll think of something.” Maddie tapped her chin in thought for a long moment before struck with a sudden idea. “I know!” She exclaimed pointing one pointer finger in the air. “Why don’t we try finding a really old tree then, one that knows how to talk to you.”

“You really think that’ll work?” Cedar asked hopefully.

“Positutely,” Maddie said cheerfully.

“Okay,” Cedar smiled. “Let’s try.”

Maddie and Cedar wandered through the forest, looking for a large wise tree. They ambled around, stumbling over stray roots and inspecting each tree carefully as they went. They ventured deep into the forest until Cedar came to a stop with Maddie closely at her heels.

“Whoaaa,” Maddie exclaimed. “Now that’s some tree!”

Away from other trees in the center of a small clearing was a large oak tree. It’s trunk was incredibly thick, far bigger than Cedar and Maddie even if they stood side by side. It’s branches were wide and long and it’s wood was a dark deep brown as it towered far above the other trees.

“This might actually work,” Cedar said with wonder. Cedar approached the tree and put both of her hands gently on it’s thick trunk. She let out a small gasp as a light shudder passed through her body. “I can hear them!” Cedar exclaimed excitedly.

“Woohoo, yay Cedar!” Maddie cried.

Cedar closed her eyes and bowed her head, listening intently. Her long curly dark hair fanned over her face.

“What’s it saying?” Maddie whispered looking on in rapt attention.

“It’s saying,” Cedar started. “It’s saying it hasn’t seen anyone else besides us and some animals today,” she said.

“Oh no,” Maddie frowned.

“But, it’s saying it can ask the other trees if they saw her,” Cedar continued.

“Wow it can really do that?” Maddie asked.

“Yes,” Cedar confirmed.

Maddie looked up curiously at the wise old tree. The wind had picked up since they had left school and it was blowing swiftly through the trees. Maddie’s hair swept with the breeze, ruffling and tangling together. She gazed at the old trees canopy, entranced as the grey afternoon sky swirled through the gaps in its branches. Maddie gazed up at the trees canopy hypnotized, watching it’s branches sway with the wind. Then, a strange thing happened. One lone dark green leaf floated gently away from it’s branches. Instead of floating with the wind’s commands and sweeping with the wind, it floated in the opposite direction. Maddie watched entranced as the leaf floated towards a tree positioned closest to the old oak. It floated upwards towards the other trees branches, disappearing from sight. Then all of a sudden, a strange ripple occurred. The other tree shuddered and then veered towards their neighbor. Quickly, the shuddering spread. Maddie turned all around her but it was the same in all directions. It was as if some invisible forces was moving from tree to tree in one circular direction.

“Cedar you did it!” Maddie squealed clapping her hands together.

Cedar didn’t hear her. Her eyes were closed in deep concentration and both of her hands still lay on the trunk of the tree. After some time the same rippling force which had gone out began to make its way inward once more. Maddie watched with wide eyes as the same shiver made its way back to the old tree. Cedar shuddered with it and slowly took her hands off of the trunk, blinking in surprise.

“Cedar, that was fantastic! What did the tree say?”

Cedar shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and rubbed her eyes. “There were so many things that I saw…” she trailed off.

“What did you see?” Maddie asked curiously.

“I saw Raven, she went past a small brook and past a fallen tree.” Cedar explained. “The tree said she went to the heart of the forest.”

“Oh wow Cedar, I’m so proud of you!” Maddie cheered giving her a big hug. “We’ll find Raven in no time now.” Maddie smiled.

“Let’s hope so,” Cedar said pulling out her phone. “I’m hexting the others what I saw. We can meet up in the center of the forest. Let’s just hope they can get there.”

“Well let’s go then!” Maddie said walking in one direction.

“Actually Maddie, it’s this way,” Cedar said pointing to the opposite direction.

“Of course, silly me,” Maddie giggled as they made their way to the heart of the forest.

***

“Oh we’re never going to find Raven,” Briar groaned tiredly. She walked over to a nearby fallen tree and sat down on it dejectedly.

“Don’t say that,” Apple scolded her.

“But we’ve been wandering around for over an hour,” Briar protested. “Face it, we’re totally lost.”

“Oh you’re right,” Apple admitted sitting down next to her. “We have no idea where we’re going.”

“Okay well I hate to admit it but we might not even know how to get out of this forest let alone find Raven.” Briar said glumly.

“You’re right.” Apple sighed. “This was a bad idea, maybe we should have gotten help instead?”

“You’re right, I wanted to think we could find her on her own but we can’t.” Briar agreed.

“I just don’t understand why the others didn’t want to go for help.” Apple said incredulously.

“Yeah I know but Cerise seemed pretty upset so I didn’t say anything.” Briar said.

“And I still don’t understand why Mr. Badwolf let us go,” Apple said. “It doesn’t make any sense, he even said he could get fired if we were caught outside.”

“Yeah it totally doesn’t make any sense,” Briar agreed. “I mean it was awesome how Cerise convinced him but I don’t know, it’s kind of weird how he was down with it.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Apple sighed. “What matters is that we’re lost and we’re no closer to finding Raven.”

Suddenly, both of Apple and Briar’s mirror phones chimed.

“Oh my fairy godmother,” Briar breathed looking at her phone. “It’s Cedar she said she knows where Raven went.”

“Really how?” Apple wondered pulling out her own mirror phone from her pocket.

“Um Apple, are you reading what I’m reading?” Briar asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Apple said. “She says that they asked a tree?” Apple said incredulously.

“Yeah, I didn’t know Cedar could do that. Did you?” Briar asked.

“No, but it doesn’t matter.” Apple said shaking her head and putting her mirror phone away. “Now we know how to find Raven.”

“Um, do we?” Briar wondered. “All she said was that she saw a brook and a fallen tree.”

“Oh but we’re on one right now so Raven might be close!” Apple cheered.

“Yeah, but Cedar said that Raven went to the center of the forest right?” Briar asked skeptically.

“Yes but we must be close by,” Apple said excitedly.

“Yeah but Apple but how do we know how to get there?” Briar asked.

Apple froze, her excitement fading quickly. “Oh you're right, she didn’t say how to get there from here,” Apple said.

“Hold up let me hext her,” Briar said quickly typing out a response.

The two girls didn’t have to wait long for a response.

“Uh, oh,” Briar said looking at her phone.

“Oh no, what is it?” Apple asked nervously.

“Cedar says she only knows how to get there from where she and Maddie are,” Briar explained. “She said she doesn’t know where we are or how we can get there.”

“Can’t she ask the tree again?” Apple asked.

“Hold on let me ask,” Briar said hexting again.

Cedar’s next response came a little slower than the last one.

“Ugh she said she can’t,” Briar groaned. “She said can’t explain how to get us there, she only knows how to get them there, oh my fairy godmother!” Briar huffed with frustration shoving her phone back into the pocket of her dark pink sweater.

“What are we going to do?” Apple said in frustration. “The storm is going to come in a couple of hours and it’s dangerous to stay outside. How are we going to meet them?”

“We’re kind of royally screwed,” Briar said bitterly shivering in her sweater. “Man I wish I put a coat on over this,” she muttered darkly.

Apple and Briar sat on the fallen tree shivering as the wind wailed around them. Briar closed her eyes and nodded off after a minute or two, her genetics kicking in at the worst moment.

“Briar!” Apple shouted shaking her awake.

“Huh, what?” Briar blinked awake before scowling. “Oh hells bells I fell asleep again,” she groaned.

“Wait Briar that’s perfect!” Apple said excitedly. “Quick go back to sleep!”

“Why would I do that?” Briar asked.

“Because you can see and hear things when you sleep right?” Apple asked.

“Oh my gosh Apple your right!” Briar cheered. “Maybe I can see which way to go!” she said.

“How far do you think you can see for?” Apple asked.

“Oh like super far, one time I fell asleep and could see around the entire castle!” Briar said excitedly. “This might totally work!”

“Quick, go back to sleep,” Apple said.

Briar quickly hopped off of the trunk and settled down in the grass. “Don’t say anything while I’m asleep,” Briar warned as she got comfortable, her long brown hair fanning out over the grass. “Wake me up if I’m not awake in ten minutes okay?” she said as she closed her eyes.

“Got it,” Apple said.

Briar stopped squirming on the grass and lay perfectly still. Apple watched as slowly, her breathing even out and Briar fell fast asleep. She watched over her anxiously as she slept, wondering if she would wake up. Apple glanced at her phone every so often to check the time. It felt like forever before ten minutes past and Briar was still fast asleep.

“Briar, wake up.” Apple said as she slid off of the tree and shook Briar awake.

“What-Apple?” Briar yawned sitting up. “Oh right, I remember now!” Briar grinned. “I know where to go now!”

“Perfect, good job Briar!” Apple cheered.

Briar sat up groggily as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes. “I saw Raven, she’s reading a book in the center of the forest.”

“Is she okay?” Apple asked anxiously.

“Yeah I guess so, she just looked a little intense,” Briar shrugged. “She seemed pretty into whatever she was reading."

“She must be trying to stop the storm,” Apple said worriedly. “But it’s too dangerous for Raven to stop on her own.”

“I dunno Apple, maybe she can do it.” Briar disagreed. “I mean, she was able to break through Baba Yaga’s spell on her own.”

“Yeah but this storm has Evil Queen written all over it,” Apple disagreed. “You read Blondie’s paper.”

“Yeah you’re right,” Briar deflated. “How do you think she cast a spell like this in the mirror prison?” She wondered.

“I don’t know but we have to get to Raven before she gets hurt. Come on let’s go,” Apple said offering her hand to Briar.

Briar took Apple’s hand and pulled herself up, wiping the dirt off her her dress.

“Oh Briar, you got something in your hair,” Apple said running her hand lightly over the back of her hair.

“Ugh, now I need to wash my hair,” Briar pouted pulling out a stray leaf out of her hair and shaking the dirt out. “Quick let me hext the others and tell them we know where we’re going now,” Briar said as she took out her phone again and tapped away at her screen. “There done, we’ll see them soon I guess.”

“Okay, lead the way,” Apple said.

Together the two girls marched to the center of the forest, Briar leading the charge, determined to save their friend.

***

Cerise ran through the forest, her breathing steady as the trees whipped past beside her. She had ran for a good long while before she felt her mirror phone vibrate in her cloak pocket. Slowing to a stop, Cerise enjoyed a brief few moments to catch her breath as she took out her mirror phone and looked at the hexts on her lock screen. A wide smile broke out on her face and pleasant thrill ran through her chest. Cedar and Maddie had found Raven in the center of the forest. Her smile weakened however when her phone buzzed again with new hexts. Briar and Apple were lost somewhere near a fallen tree in the forest and if Cedar’s answering hexts were anything to go by, no one knew how to get to them. Cerise looked at her phone in a daze for a long moment before shaking her head and placing it back in her cloak pocket.

According to Cedar’s vision they shouldn’t be too far away from the center of the forest. If Cerise continued making her way west she might get lucky and catch onto their scent. She resumed running, quickly striding to a fast pace. Unlike the other girls, Cerise knew the enchanted forest like the back of her hand. Ever since she was a cub her father had taught her to always be aware of her surroundings and know the way back home. A wolf always knew the lay of the land. Every now and again Cerise would sneak off on the weekends for a run through the enchanted forest if she knew no one would be expecting her for a few hours. She had only been running for about ten minutes before her phone buzzed again. Again she slowed to a stop and eagerly whipped out her mirror phone. She quickly scanned the screen and breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. She grinned widely at the news that Briar and Apple now knew how to get to the center of the forest thanks to Briar’s quick nap.

‘Omw meet u there,’ she hexted quickly before setting off running again.

As she ran the wind howled angrily around her. Even only after an hour the wind picked up and she could now smell the familiar smell of magic. The air sizzled with energy and if Cerise’s instincts and fears were correct, it was only growing. The air smelled damper than it did before and the clouds overhead had darkened after Cerise gave them a quick glance. Her heart pounded a steady rhythm in her chest and her breath flowed smoothly in her chest.

‘Stay focused,’ she thought to herself. ‘We’ll make it, we will,’ she told herself.

Time seemed to slow down while Cerise ran, although she was still aware of its passing. All that she knew was the steady presence of the forest around her, the steadiness of her breath. Her father had explained to her long ago that when a wolf runs, everything sharpens into focus. There was nothing but them and the thrill of the hunt. Nothing but them and the forest and the ground beneath their feet. He had told her to embrace this feeling, that running was the very essence of what a wolf was. Now Cerise was glad that she had heeded his lessons. They had payed off with the swiftness of her speed and clarity of her thoughts.

‘Raven, hold on we’re coming.’ Cerise thought to herself as she drew closer to the very heart of the forest.

***

“Ugh where is it?” Raven groaned as she flipped desperately through Baba Yaga’s spell book.

Part of her still couldn’t believe that she had broke into Baba Yaga’s hut early that morning and took it. Baba Yaga had explained during their hexes and spells class that she had had this book for many centuries. If there was a way to reverse her spell, this was her only hope.

“Weather magic, weather magic,” she hissed under her breath. “Where are you?”

Raven had been been frantically flipping through Baba Yaga’s dusty old tome for what felt like hours. She paused in her work for a few moments, tiredly rubbing her eyes. She was exhausted, she felt it creep into her bones and zapping her of energy. She didn’t get a wink of sleep last night. Maddie and her had spent almost all of last night talking and then scouring the library for a way to reverse the spell. As they searched, over and over she had heard Head Master Grimm’s words from earlier that day ring through her head.

“It’s most likely that this storm is your doing,” he had explained to her solemnly yesterday afternoon in his office.

“That can’t be possible,” Raven said from her seat.

She and Headmaster Grimm had both been seated on either side of his desk. Baba Yaga had floated on her stool beside him.

“I would never in a million years cast a spell like this!” She protested.

“I know that you wouldn’t,” Headmaster Grimm signed in frustration.

Raven had felt herself tense the tone of his voice

“But nevertheless, when you chose not to sign the Storybook of Legends on Legacy Day, it very well could have caused a chain reaction.” He had explained.

Baba Yaga beside him had been quick to explain the theory behind the spell. Words like ‘energy buildup’ and ‘emotional trigger’ and ‘recoil’ got thrown around, but Raven scarcely heard them over her rising panic.

“I did this,” she whispered with dawning horror when Baba Yaga had finished her explanation.

“Yes Raven, you did,” Headmaster Grimm affirmed. “But all of this can be fixed.”

Headmaster Grimm had opened the cabinet on the side of his desk and took out a large tome. Raven watched mutely as he gently placed the book with both hands onto the table between them. She stared blankly when the book was lightly pushed toward her, the golden leafed edges of the book’s pages gleaming in the setting sunlight.

Raven had felt the same peculiar presence from the book as she did during legacy day. It’s ancient magic thrummed throughout the book, the same magic that thrummed beneath her fingertips when she skimmed the pages during legacy cay. “Wait, you mean if I sign, the storm will…go away?” She asked meekly.

Headmaster Grimm and Baba Yaga had thrown a quick glance at each other.

“Yes,” Headmaster Grimm said soothingly. “Undoubtedly.”

Raven stared at the cover of the book for a long time. The golden metal plating and mirrored center of the book shone like a beacon. Raven’s heart pounded in her chest. She felt nauseous and unbalanced, like something was crawling under her skin.“I-” she stuttered lost for words.

“Raven, we know you don’t want to be like your mother, you’ve made that very clear,” Headmaster Grimm had said gently from across the table.

Raven's eyes snapped up and caught his steel grey eyes, unable to look away.

“But don’t you see,” he said eagerly. “By signing the Storybook of Legends, you won’t be.”

Raven looked at Headmaster Grimm utterly shocked. “What do you mean?” She asked nervously.

“By going off of her script, your mother has become the most feared and infamous villains of all history, you know this,” Miles explained calmly. “Although she was very wicked just like her story told, she took it too far. She didn’t have any guidelines, any limits.” He explained.

“B-but mom signed the Storybook of Legends,” Raven stuttered.

“Well yes, she did,” Headmaster Grimm admitted. “But after completing her story she turned elsewhere, and that’s where the trouble began. Raven I understand your fears but I promise you, you won’t become like your mother,” He had said gently looking straight into her eyes.

Raven couldn’t find it within herself to look away from his gaze. It had felt like her heart had stopped in her chest as she mulled over Headmaster Grimm’s words.

Baba Yaga had glanced quickly between Raven and Headmaster Grimm, her lips pursed.

“By signing you can ensure your destiny stays on track.” Headmaster Grimm explained. “Sign the book Raven, be the best Evil Queen you can be. Follow your script and poison Apple White, let your destiny unfold. And after all that is done, after the pages of your story have turned, live your life how you want,” he pleaded and gazed at her meaningfully.

Baba Yaga had quickly floated closer to Raven and handed her a golden tipped quill. It’s feather was sparkling white and soft to her touch. It’s magic hummed in her hand, her left hand shaking under the promise of it’s magic.

Headmaster Grimm flipped the book open the book to her page, the edges blotted with dark purple swirls.

“Sign the book Raven, and all of this will go away,” Headmaster Grimm whispered gently.

Raven stared blankly at the book in front of her. She had never wanted this. She had never wanted to be the reason that people got hurt. She never wanted to be like her mother. Her heart thudded in her chest painfully like a jackhammer. Her vision blurred.

“Raven, are you okay?” Baba Yaga asked, her voice sharp with concern.

“I-I have to-” Raven had stumbled over her words then. She felt herself stand out of her chair, stumbling with effort.

“Now Raven-” Hadmaster Grimm said sternly but Raven couldn’t hear him. All she could hear was the roar of blood in her ears. The rising dread.

The lights flickered in Headmaster Grimm’s office. Books were pulled violently from their shelves. A deep thick purple aura consumed the room. Raven was aware of none of it. All she knew was the desire to leave, to run. To run away as fast as she could.

“Go-” she finished quietly, her magic curling within her protectively. In a flash her magic surged within her. She felt herself move within time and space and was suddenly no longer within Headmaster Grimm’s office. She had flashed back into existence within her dorm room in a daze.

In an instant Raven found herself back in her dorm room, alone. The room was quiet. Apple hadn’t been back yet from her weekly study session with Briar. Raven numbly made her way to her bed and collapsed on top of it. She did this. Headmaster Grimm was right, this was all her fault. The Royal and Rebel debate. The school divided. And now this, a mirror storm coming to destroy Ever After. Coming to destroy everything that she loved.

‘That’s what we do,’ a nasty voice whispered inside of her head. ‘Destroy things. Destroy everything good, just like mom.’

Raven felt bitter tears stream from her eyes and wet her cheeks. She shoved her face into her pillow and let out a long desperate scream. The lights in her room flickered and Raven could hear distantly the sound of a light bulb exploding on Apple’s side of the room. She couldn’t bring herself to care. Her body convulsed with grief. She didn’t know how long she cried but it had felt like hours, years even before she calmed. When she finally found enough strength she blindly reached for her mirror phone in her school bag. She would hext Maddie. Maddie always knew what to do. She would help her fix this, somehow some way. She wouldn’t have to sign. She wouldn’t have to be like her mother.

Raven didn’t even remember what she had hexted Maddie. All that she knew then was that she was sitting numbly on top of her bed when Maddie stumbled into her room. She came through the wall no less with her wonderland magic in a panic. Raven didn’t even have the energy to point out how impossible that was. Maddie had taken one look at Raven and promptly bounded across the room. She had pulled her into the warmest hug and held her close. She soothed her, rubbing her back comfortingly while Raven burst into tears again against her shoulder.

“We’ll fix this,” Maddie had promised when Raven had cried herself out again and explained the situation. “You don’t have to sign Raven, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. It’s going to be okay, okay?” Maddie confirmed.

Raven could only nod numbly onto her shoulder not really finding it within herself to believe her. Things wouldn’t be okay. A storm was coming and it was all her fault. All that she knew that she couldn’t sign. No matter what Headmaster Grimm said, no matter how selfish she felt, she couldn’t do it. Disgust rolled in her chest even at the thought of it. What if Headmaster Grimm was wrong? What if she couldn’t control her magic after she signed. What if she became like her mother? What if she became evil. Worse still, what if she liked it?

“We’ll break the spell, Raven,” Maddie had promised her. “We’ll do it together.”

Raven didn’t say anything and only let herself be held.

The Raven of the present closed her eyes for a long moment, trying to forget the chaos of yesterday. She could do this, she had to do this. Raven continued flipping through the book, her eyes skirting from page to page before finally pausing on one. The page was small and half filled compared to the others.

“Finite Incantatum” The title said in sprawling elegant handwriting.

Raven read the page intently. “Finite Incantatum,” a spell for cancelling out magic and dispelling previously casted incantations. Useful for decasting smaller spells. Once cast a spell previously
cast will become null and void. Use for larger spell NOT recommended. Highly volatile. If cast a powerful recoil is possible. If needed cast with a large group, never cast alone.

Raven read the rest of the page with a new sense of fervor. She slowly and carefully took in the information that she needed. A channeling technique would be needed to de-cast a larger spell. Some of the chanting that Baba Yaga taught them to use to focus their magic would be needed as well. This was it, she could do this!

“This can really work,” Raven whispered excitedly to herself. She could do this. She was powerful enough to try. She couldn’t let herself think about the recoil, the risk. She had to do this. For everyone, for herself.

‘I won’t be like you,’ Raven thought darkly as she got to work.

Chapter Text

Cerise had been running a good while before she caught two familiar scents in the air. Both were vaguely chemical and sharp smelling making Cerise wrinkle her nose. One had a faint smell of genuine roses despite the chemical smell, the other smelled faintly of apples. Both expensive perfumes if the tangy sort of smell that Cerise usually smelled on royals was anything to go by.
‘Briar and Apple,’ she thought as she changed course sharply towards the left. Sure enough as Cerise drew closer and their scent grew stronger, Cerise was able to spot a flash of bright blonde hair through the brush.

“Apple, Briar!” she yelled as she approached.

Both Apple and Briar stopped in their tracks and whipped around just in time to see Cerise burst through the overgrowth.

“Woah, hey,” Briar said in surprise.

“Cerise, you made it!” Apple exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Cerise said trying to catch her breath. She wasn’t very tired but she had to pause a moment for her breath to even out. A thin layer of sweat began to form on her skin from the exertion. She wiped her brow with the sleeve of her cloak and grimaced.

“How’d you find us?” Briar asked.

“Apple’s hair,” Cerise lied smoothly. “Caught a flash of it in the corner of my eye. Must have been running right beside you guys by accident.”

“Well I’m glad you ran into us,” Apple said. “I was worried about you being all on your own,” she said with concern.

“I-thanks,” Cerise said surprised.

“Did you get Sparrow’s package?” Briar asked.

“Yeah, I got it” Cerise confirmed patting the side of her cloak.

“Did you see what’s inside?” Briar asked curiously. “It must be good if Sparrow wanted that more than money.

“I didn’t,” Cerise admitted. “I don’t think we should. Sparrow won’t be happy if the seal is broken and I don’t think I want to know anyway.”

“If you say so,” Briar shrugged.

“We know where Raven is,” Apple said getting them back on track.

“I know, I saw Briar’s hext. That was really good thinking.” Cerise praised.

“We should find her soon and meet up with Cedar and Maddie. It’s getting really bad out,” Briar said looking up at the sky nervously.

Cerise followed her gaze and found that she was right. The howl of the wind had gotten louder and it grew in strength. Branches of trees bent to it’s will helplessly. The rising magic in the air sent a shudder down Cerise’s spine. “This is getting dangerous,” Cerise said. “We have to hurry.”

Both Briar and Apple nodded solemnly in agreement. Together, the three girls continued their way to the heart of the forest. Cerise had to slow down her pace considerably to match her steps with Briar and Apple. Although both girls had switched out their usual heels for sensible sneakers, and although Briar was probably the most athletic person in school after Cerise, they still didn’t go nearly as fast as she would have liked. Even so, Cerise was still glad that they were there with her. She didn’t know Briar and Apple that well all things considered but she was glad that they cared about Raven. That was all that really mattered. Cerise felt herself make a low rumble deep in her throat, warmed by the thought.

“Do you think we’ll be able to find Cedar and Maddie?” Briar asked.

“I think so,” Apple said. “We’re all headed to the same place now. I just hope we can find Raven in time.”

“You’re right, hopefully we’ll get lucky and run into them,” Cerise agreed. Privately she thought that she’d know how to find Maddie and Cedar for sure. She’d keep her nose sharp and ears peeled for them. If she caught their scents she could probably steer Briar and Apple in the right direction without it seeming too suspicious.

The three girls jogged in a tense silence, anxious to get to their destination. Cerise could hear Apple and Briar’s breath become more strained. Cerise led the charge, careful not to trip over a stray root and lead Briar and Apple through a safer path. On a strong breeze that passed through them, violently moving the branches around them, Cerise caught the faint scent of lemon polish and earl grey trey. She sniffed deeply to pinpoint the scent. The scent came from further in the forest a little whiles west from their path. Discreetly, Cerise began veering west at small increments so Briar and Apple wouldn’t notice. Soon enough they were right on track. While Cerise could smell their scent and soon hear their unique footsteps about a half a mile off, it was Briar that said something first.

“Hey, guys we’re over here!” she yelled as she caught sight of Maddie’s colorful curls in the distance.

Maddie and Cedar stopped in their tracks at the sound of Briar’s voice. They had paused for rest near an old moldering fallen tree.

“Girls!” Maddie squealed meeting them halfway in the small cramped clearing. She ran towards them and practically tackled Cerise who was the closest. “We were so worried!” she squealed right in her ear making Cerise cringe. “Whoops, sorry,” Maddie giggled.

Maddie moved and also gave Briar and Apple a quick but firm hug.

Cedar made her way towards the rest of the group. “I’m so sorry,” she blurted out suddenly. “”I just feel so bad. I should have helped you and Apple out,” she said to Briar. “I’m sorry I let you both down,” she said miserably bowing her head.

“Don’t sweat it,” Briar said comfortingly patting her on the back. “We made it here in the end right? That’s all that matters.”

Cedar looked up at Briar and gave her a warm smile. “I’m so happy you said that, I was really worried you guys were mad at me,” she couldn’t help but admit.

“We’re just glad that everyone’s alright,” Apple said soothingly. “Now that we’re all together, all we have to do is find Raven.”

“She should be just a little further west,” Cerise said scanning the tree line. “There’s a big clearing in there. She should be in the heart of the forest like Cedar said.”

“Well what are we waiting for, let’s go” Maddie cheered with renowned confidence.

Just as the girls were about to leave they heard a terrified scream echo on the wind. Cerise froze, a shudder of terror running throughout her body. The raspy scream was Raven’s voice. Before anyone could say anything a thick wave of purple magic reverberated throughout the forest. Cerise could only stare at it in horror as it approached, every instinct she had screaming at her to duck for cover. But it was no use. The deep crackling wave of magic moved through trees like a ghost. In an instant all she could do was brace herself as it knocked her over. Cerise toppled under the force of the magic, screwing her eyes shut and landing harshly on the ground, barely able to catch her fall in time. All of the breath was knocked out of her body. It was like being slammed by a wave and being pulled under water, gasping for breath.

As quickly as it came it left, moving throughout the forest and into the distance. Cerise’s ears rang from shock as she lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath. Tentatively, she sat up pushing herself up from the ground with her arms and wincing in pain. She sprained her wrist breaking her fall. Sucking in her breath she sat up and looked for the others. Everyone else was knocked down as well. Cerise blinked and looked around at her friends. Apple’s blonde hair was splayed out on the ground. Beside her, Cedar was already pushing herself up looking ruffled but intact.

“I-is everyone okay?” Cedar asked shakily. She was met with three other groans of pain from the others.

Maddie sat up next, bouncing back quickly. “Oh man that was a doozy,” she said.

“W-what was that?” Briar voiced as she too sat up, her voice strained.

Cerise couldn’t help but smell the familiar tangy smell of fear and panic all over her friends. Her stomach roiled at their discomfort.

“Oh my gosh, Apple are you okay!” Briar exclaimed as Apple tentatively pushed herself into sitting position.

Apple grimaced in pain quickly as she sat up but it was gone as quickly as it came. “I-I’m okay,” she said shakily. “I’m alright,” she asserted again at Briar’s worried expression.

Apple looked worse for wear, her usually perfect blonde curls mussed and dirtied from the forest floor. Despite her words Cerise couldn’t shake the look she saw spread out on Apple’s face.

“Is anyone hurt,” Cerise asked keeping her own arm hidden inside of her cloak.

“Ugh, I think I bruised my arm,” Briar groaned. “But other than that I’m all right.”

“I’m okay,” Cedar said. “I’m not hurt, it’s kind of hard for me to get hurt in the first place,” she said.

“I’m good,” Maddie said. “I was a bit dizzy at first but now I’m A-okay!” she confirmed.

This time Cerise watched Apple intently. She grimaced again before smoothing out her features.

“I-I’m fine,” Apple said again.

This time, Cerise was prepared. She took in a deep and tangy familiar smell. Apple was lying.

“No you’re not,” Cerise said roughly springing to her feet and moving towards Apple.

Apple looked up at her with wide eyes as Cerise approached. “I, what?” she said nervously.

“You’re hurt, you’re lying.” Cerise clarified inspecting her for injury.

“What, n-no I’m not!” Apple denied her voice going slightly higher in pitch.

“You’re not a good liar Apple,” Cerise said firmly. “Where does it hurt?”

For a moment Apple looked like she would protest before slumping her shoulders in defeat. “My head hurts,” she admitted. “I think I hit it when I fell.”

Cerise looked intently into her eyes at her admission, checking to see if her pupils were dilated. Her dad always said that head injuries could be very dangerous if gone unchecked. Luckily, Apple’s pupils were the same as ever. “What else?” Cerise asked.

“I feel a little dizzy I guess,” Apple admitted.

“You might have a concussion then,” Cerise said grimly. “Here, let me help you up.”

Apple grasped Cerise’s hand tightly as she helped her to her feet making sure that she was steady enough that she wouldn’t fall down. Her hand was sweaty but smooth.

“Thanks,” Apple muttered quietly.

“Apple, you shouldn’t have lied,” Briar scolded checking her for injury anxiously. “What if you’re really hurt?”

“I’ll be okay, but what about Raven?” Apple asked. “I-that scream…” she trailed off.

“Apple’s right,” Cedar said anxiously. “Raven could be hurt really bad, we should find her, quickly.”

“Agreed,” Cerise said. “Let’s find her and get the hex out of here.”

The girls jogged towards the sound of Raven’s scream, mindful of Apple’s injury. Briar kept a close eye on Apple near the back of the group. Cerise charged through in the front. She couldn’t shake the cold dread that was building up inside of her. Raven made a sound like a wounded animal. She swallowed dryly, pushing through the wild brush of the forest to make it easier for the others to pass through. Cerise drew closer to Raven, her scent becoming stronger with every step. Cerise’s heart beat wildly with anxiety making her dizzy. Raven had to be okay, she had to. Cerise made out a purple flash of hair in the distance. She raced forward, scraping through the thicket. On the ground in between a tight cluster of trees was Raven. She lay on the forest floor unmoving. A thin purple sheen of energy crackled around her body. Cerise nearly felt her heart stop in her chest.

“Raven!” Apple screamed behind her, catching sight of her as well.

Cerise sprinted forward towards Raven with all of her might, her legs burning. She nearly threw herself on the ground when she reached her.

“Raven, oh hells bells Raven wake up,” she said desperately trying to shake her awake. When she touched Raven’s skin, a hot-cold surge of energy passed through her body like a lightning. The magic around her crackled with energy but Raven lay still completely out cold.

“Oh no, is-is she breathing?” Cedar asked her voice hitched in panic.

Quickly, Cerise turned Raven off of her side and onto her back. She placed her ear near her chest and listened intently. Underneath her hood she could clearly hear the steady thump of Raven’s heart and feel the small rise and fall of her chest.

“Yes, yes she’s breathing,” Cerise sighed in relief.

“Can you wake her up?” Briar asked anxiously.

“I tried shaking her but she wouldn’t wake up, I-I don’t know what to do,” Cerise admitted.

Cerise’s father had taught her some basic first aid but Cerise didn’t know what to do. She was scared to move Raven and hurt her even worse. Cerise felt hot tears sting her eyes. She breathed out a harsh sob.

“Let me try something,” Maddie said, her voice oddly calm.

Briar, Apple and Cedar moved to the side to let her draw closer to Raven. Cerise felt frozen by Raven’s side not wanting to leave her. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Raven’s face. Her skin was pale, almost grey.

“Cerise, it’s going to be okay,” Maddie said comfortingly putting a hand on her shoulder.

Even through her silk gloves Cerise could feel her warmth. Nodding dumbly, Cerise shifted aside. Taking off her small hat, Maddie put it upside down and shoved her hand inside it of all things. The others watched her silently, transfixed as Maddie screwed her face into the most serious expression Cerise had ever seen her have. Finally, Maddie seemed to find what she was looking for. She pulled out a small dark green glass vial out of her hat. In amazement Cerise watched her uncork the lid with swift hands and shove the bottle under Raven’s nose.

“What!” Briar exclaimed.

But whatever magic potion Maddie had pulled from out of her hat seemed to work. Mere seconds after, Raven coughed harshly, her eyelids fluttering.

“It’s working!” Cedar exclaimed.

Everyone crowded around Raven, watching as her eyelids fluttered and she let out a low pained groan.

“Raven, Raven can you hear me?” Apple asked.

“Ugh, Apple?” Raven asked quietly, her words slurred together.

The energy around her seemed to crackle once more in the air before dissipating. Cerise watched it entranced as it shifted in the air and slowly made its way back into Raven’s body and settle into her skin. The grayish tint from before lessened, although she still looked pale.

“W-what happened?” Raven asked blearily her eyes slowly opening.

Cerise gazed into Raven’s eyes. Unlike her usual dark purple they were a vibrant lilac that seemed to glow with energy.

“Wait, why are you guys here?” Raven asked trying to sit up. She hissed, screwing her eyes shut in pain. “Oh my head,” she moaned.

“Try not to hurt yourself,” Cedar said softly, gently helping her sit up.

“What was in that bottle?” Briar asked.

“Wonderland pick me up potion, works every time.” Maddie answered simply. “We usually use it to wake up from naps from too much tea and biscuits, but this works too.”

“What happened?” Raven asked again.

“We don’t know, we just found you here,” Apple answered staring at Raven anxiously.

Cerise looked around them and spotted an open book lying next to Raven. She stood up and walked around the other girls huddled together. She knelt down and picked it up. She skimmed the page quickly and felt a cold fury rise within her. “You tried to reverse the spell,” Cerise said angrily showing the others the book.

Raven paused for a moment trying to gather her thoughts before her eyes widened in realization. “That’s right I did,” she said.

“And you didn’t think, about how dangerous that might be to try on your own!” Cerise shouted. She knew deep down that she shouldn’t be yelling at Raven but she couldn’t help it, they were all so worried about her. “It says here that it’s dangerous to try and reverse the spell on your own, did you not even think about that!” She cried throwing the book on the ground in frustration.

“Cerise,” Apple said slowly. “Please calm down.”

“The book says that you can cause a recoil if the spell backfires. That’s why you were knocked unconscious,” Cerise continued ignoring Apple’s words. “What were you thinking, you could have been killed!”

Everyone else was dead silent at the implication of Cerise’s words. Cerise breath heaved in her chest, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. Cedar was still holding Raven up in her arms, holding her firmly, her eyes wide with fear.

“I had to try,” Raven said softly. “I knew it was dangerous but I had to fix this.”

“But you didn’t have to do it alone,” Cerise said lowering her voice. “We would have helped you,” ‘I would have helped you,’ she thought silently.

“Cerise, you don’t understand,” Raven said her voice thick with emotion. “I had to do something, this is all my fault. I couldn’t-”she shuddered. “I couldn’t let anyone get hurt,” she breathed.

“Raven, this isn’t your fault,” Apple said comfortingly. “It’s a normal storm. You didn’t cause this, Headmaster Grimm said-”

“Headmaster Grimm lied,” Raven said firmly, cutting her off. “Like always,” she muttered under her breath bitterly.

Apple looked at Raven with wide eyes, uncomprehending. “But you didn’t-” she said desperately. “You didn’t spell up a storm, right?” she said her voice wavering suddenly unsure.

“I-I didn’t mean to,” Raven cried.

Cerise watched in horror as tears streamed down Raven’s face. In Cedar’s arms, she bowed her head, her long dark hair covering her face.

“It’s because I didn’t sign,” she sobbed. “All of this, this is all my fault. I just wanted to make things right. I just want to be good.”

No one knew what to say to that. Everyone was silent for a long moment. Raven sobbed helplessly in Cedar’s arms. Cedar soothed her, rubbing he back and holding her tight.

“I-I’m sorry,” Cerise said her voice thick with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry I yelled I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you.”

“It’s okay,” Raven forgave her.

“No it’s not,” Cerise said kneeling down to Raven’s eye level, feeling a bit weird about standing above everyone else. “I was being a bad friend, I’m sorry.” She said touching Raven’s hand with her non-injured one.

Raven turned her palm upward and held Cerise’s hand, squeezing tightly. They waited a few long minutes so she could calm down. Maddie had managed to pull out a dark purple handkerchief out of her. Raven wiped her eyes with it a few times, and then her nose. Finally, her breathing evened out.

“Well, at least my spell worked,” Raven said jokingly trying to lighten the mood.

“Um, about that,” Briar said anxiously pointing upward.

Everyone looked to the sky. Where a few minutes ago the sky above was grey, they heavy thick clouds lurking above were black with rain. The wind was howling around them fiercely. The trees around them shook violently and with her sensitive hearing, Cerise could hear a weak tree branch snap in the distance.

“Cheese and crackers,” Maddie moaned.

“It’s okay, everything is going to be okay,” Cerise found herself saying.

“You don’t know that,” Raven said doubtfully gazing at the sky with wide eyes.

“It will if we stick together,” Cerise said.

“We have to get out of here,” Briar reminded them. “We can get back to the school. If Raven signs now we might be able to stop all this.”

“Briar’s right, this is all my fault.” Raven moaned. “I should have signed, Headmaster Grimm told me to sign.”

“Will that really fix this?” Apple said hopefully.

“Headmaster Grimm is a liar and he can go to hell in a handbasket,” Cerise and made a wolfish growl low in her throat. Everyone went quiet and whipped around to face her. “We don’t know if that’ll fix anything, especially now,” she said firmly.

“You can’t be serious!” Briar burst out. “If that can really fix things then she has to do it!”

“I don’t care,” Cerise said.

Briar’s mouth snapped shut.

“I don’t put it past him to lie to get Raven to do what he wants,” she said darkly. “And even if it can, are you really okay with Raven being miserable for the rest of her life? To be something she’s not?”
Everyone was quiet. A tense silence fell through the air. Briar looked at Apple and Apple looked hopelessly back.

“I’m not,” Cedar answered quietly breaking the silence. “I don’t want Raven to sign.” She said giving Raven a reassuring squeeze.

“Me neither!” Maddie agreed. “That big old meanie can’t tell Raven what to do. If Raven wants to be good then let her be good!” she cheered.

“And neither do I,” Cerise agreed turning back to Raven.

Raven looked up at Cerise, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She squeeze Cerise’s hand tightly and Cerise squeezed back.

“You don’t have to do anything Raven. You don’t have to be anything your not, we’ll fix this together. I promise,” she vowed.

“Then, how are we going to fix this?” Apple said tiredly. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to do the spell right, together this time.” Cerise answered pointing to the book.

Briar picked up the book from where Cerise had thrown it on the ground. It had landed on its front face down in the grass. Briar scanned the page quickly and then frowned.

“I get what your saying, but how are we supposed to do this? Only Raven can really cast magic like this,” she said doubtfully.

“Oh, ooh let me see!” Maddie exclaimed taking the book from Briar’s hands. “Oh I get it,” she said as she read. “If we all cast the spell together, then that’ll fix things!”

“Exactly,” Cerise smiled.

“Um guys, I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news…” Raven trailed off.

Everyone looked at her expectantly.

“How exactly are we going to cast this spell? Briar’s right I’m really the only one with this sort of magic and frankly, I’m still exhausted from my last go at it,” she said tiredly.

“Well, how did you cast the spell last time?” Cedar asked gazing down at her.

Raven shuddered at the memory, her mind going back to her last attempt.

“Well first I had to channel my magic,” she started. Raven thought about how last time she evened out her breathing. She sat in a meditative pose, familiarizing herself with the flow of her magic inside of her. “I sort of made myself a reverse conduit for my own magic,” Raven explained. It built up in me and I pushed it outward.”

“Yeah we felt that alright,” Briar said.

“That can’t be all, surely,” Apple said.

“Well I guess it sounds easy,” Raven grimaced. “But casting it is actually really hard. I had to gather all of my magic and cast it in all directions.”

“Okay, that does sound dangerous,” Briar said.

“I-I don’t even know if I can do it again,” Raven admitted. She couldn’t help but think back to her last attempt. She let what felt like all of the magic inside of her body rush inside of her. She unleashed it out like a wave as it peaked. For a while it seemed to be going okay. She could feel the presence of the storm around her clearly. It’s unnatural presence hard and almost angry, twisted like a knot and raging at the world. Her magic soothed it, tried to call it back, to have it break up and disappear but that was the trouble. Just as soon as she thought she was making things right, the volatile magic lashed back. It was like it was its own person. Raven squeezed her eyes shut at the memory of her own magic being used against her. How it whipped back at her lightning quick. The agony as it attacked her body and knocked her down. She shudders at memory of her magic building up inside of her.

“We might have to,” Cedar said quietly. “I don’t think we have a choice. We might be the only ones who can stop it.”

Everyone listened to her words solemnly, knowing that as always Cedar was speaking the truth.

“Come on girls, don’t be so sad,” Maddie said. “We can do it together, I know we can,” she said giving everyone a hopeful smile.

“But how?” Raven asked in frustration. “I couldn’t get it to work last time. What if this doesn’t work? I-I don’t want you guys getting hurt,” she confessed.

“We can do this,” Cerise said gently. She gazed into Raven’s deep purple eyes, their hands still linked together. “I know we can.”

Raven took in a deep breath and exhaled, her breath shaky and thick with emotion. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Okay.”

Around them the storm raged on. It was like being in the eye of the storm. Cerise supposed they were. She could practically taste the magic in the air. It was an oppressive force, bearing down around them. It smelled like Raven’s magic but ten times stronger and uncontrolled. It’s presence almost felt like another person. Cerise sniffed again focusing. Among the deep heady smell of magic there was something else. Something sour, like anger but also sharp like fear. Cerise almost didn’t want to think about why she would smell fear on a pure force of magic.

“Okay, how do we do this?” Apple wondered looking at Raven. “Tell us what to do.”

“Okay, well everyone get into a meditative position first. Baba Yaga said it’s important to channeling magic.” Raven explained. “Try to sit up straight but keep your arms relaxed.” Raven straightened her back, keeping her head up and placed her hands in her lap.

Around her everyone began to shuffle around in a tight circle. Cedar moved from Raven’s back and seated herself next to her, seeing that she could now hold herself upright. Cerise sat beside Raven as well and Maddie, Briar and Apple got into place and copied Raven’s posture.

“Keep your back straight and focus on your breathing. Try to focus on the energy inside of you,” she explained.

“Focus, right I’m focusing,” Maddie said cheerfully, closing her eyes with a serene expression.

“So how is this going to work?” Briar asked copying Raven’s movements, grimacing at the wind blowing in her face.

“I’ll center the spell again,” Raven explained. “I’ll try to use everyone’s energy and bring it together.”

“You can really do that?” Apple said with wonder.

“I think so, let’s hope anyway,” Raven said uneasily.

Everyone closed their eyes and focused on meditating, following Raven’s careful instructions. Raven instructed them to find their center, to try to think of nothing. Cerise couldn’t help but find it difficult. Sitting still had never been easy for her but it was ten times harder with a strong wrathful current of magic circling around them.

“Try not to get distracted,” Raven said suddenly as if reading her mind. “This won’t work if we don’t try,”

For a long time nothing happens. Everyone keeps their eyes closed and sitting as still as possible in the eye of the storm. Cerise tried her best to focus on her breathing as the wind around her whipped in her face harshly. Raven was right, she had to try.

All of a sudden, Cerise could feel something building from Raven’s direction. A new current of magic coming into play. Even with her eyes closed Cerise could sense it’s presence. Raven’s magic came out of her and enveloped their little circle, creating a protective layer between their group and the outside world. Cerise shuddered pleasantly at the feeling of Raven’s magic brushing against her skin. It felt like was something kind was enveloping her. Cerise felt safe and warm. It reminded her of the warmth of her dad’s hug, embracing her firmly and keeping her safe from the world.

“I felt that,” Apple said in surprise.

“Keep concentrating,” Raven chastised her, her voice strained again. “This is harder than I thought.”

Cerise silently focused on her breathing half aware of Raven’s magic swelling like a tide. It settled around her and grew stronger. Raven’s magic settled more firmly around her, like a thin layer of fog slowly condensing into thick honey. All of Cerise’s skin shuddered at it’s touch. She could feel goose-bumps rise on her skin at the sensation of being completely surrounded by Raven’s magic, by Raven herself.

“This might sting a little,” Raven muttered in warning.

All of a sudden, the current circling around her began to pull inward. Cerise winced at the intrusion but allowed it to happen knowing that it was for the greater good. It felt like a warm current that was flowing from the center of her body was slowly being pulled out. Cerise felt herself slowly losing warmth. She felt more tired than she did before. All of a sudden she could feel the soreness in her legs from the running she did earlier more acutely. Her sprained wrist throbbed in protest, the pain rising with every passing second.

“This feels weird,” Cedar couldn’t help but blurt out. “I-I don’t feel so good,”

“I know, I’m sorry Cedar,” Raven apologized. “Just a little bit longer,”

Cerise was constantly aware of the energy building up in their little circle. Every part of her seemed to stand at attention at the sheer power of Raven’s magic. The energy pulsed around them, each pulse stronger than the last. With each pulse Cerise found herself grow a little more weaker. She almost slumped in her place before wincing and straightening again.

“I’m almost done, I’m going to cast the spell soon. On my mark, everyone yell the spell together,” Raven huffed with exhaustion.

As Raven’s magic swelled around them, something strange happened. Cerise could feel something shift in the air. Around her the air seemed to thicken almost angrily. The air began to reek with magic not unlike the bubble that encased them but meaner and more wild. All of a sudden Cerise could hear the jarring sound of thuds of multiple objects slamming into the barrier around them. Cerise cringed at the sound of what could only be mirror shards trying to break down Raven’s barrier.

“Raven…” Apple said uneasily.

“I know Apple, I’m trying,” Raven answered her voice thick with exhaustion.

It was like a predator realizing it was no longer the only thing to fear. The wind howled fiercely, slamming itself and it’s mirror shards against Raven’s barrier again and again. The current being pulled from Cerise’s body wavered and almost tapered off.

“Don’t give up Raven!” Cerise could hear Maddie yell over the roar of the wind. “You can do it I believe in you!”

Cerise couldn’t help but open her eyes to witness the chaos around her. The air around her was tinged with glistening dark purple energy. Cerise drew her eyes to Raven and felt her heart stutter at the sight of her. Raven in her meditative position was sweating and panting with exertion. Her body was surrounded with an aura of dark purple energy glowing brightly. Cerise felt a wave of panic at the look of her face scrunched up in pain. Without really thinking about it, Cerise thickened the stream of energy inside of it and all but threw it towards Raven. She watched her shudder, the aura around her absorbing Cerise dark red energy and glowing brighter.

Cerise concentrated, sending wave after wave of her own energy at Raven gritting her teeth in pain. All around her Cerise could see the others do the same. Multi-colored threads of energy snaked from each source and flowed into Raven. Cedar glowed a deep orange hue while Briar glowed a dark pink. Maddie sent out a powder blue stream of energy while Apple’s was a deep blood red.

A soon as it happened it was over. Raven suddenly cut off the intrusive flow of her magic away from Cerise and the others. “Now!” Raven screamed.

“Finite incantatum!” Cerise yelled with all of her might, echoed by everyone else around her.

The ball of energy around them suddenly snapped outwards sending a tidal wave of energy out all around them. Cerise watched it go with wide eyes, transfixed and overwhelmed by its power. It crashed against the surge of mirror shards around them, dissolving them into nothing. The storm around them gave one more last piercing howl before falling silent.

Cerise shuddered in relief, feeling the sharp angry magic leave the air and feeling lighter for it. The angry dark clouds overhead dispersed into a cloudless bright blue sky. Cerise watched the forest canopy, fixated as bright yellow sunlight shone through revealing a beautiful spring afternoon.

“Wicked,” Briar breathed in awe as entranced as Cerise.

“Raven!” Cerise heard Apple shout.

Cerise whipped around to see Raven slump in place and fall over in exhaustion. Apple scrambled to her side trying to shake her awake.

“Raven, Raven!” She yelled her face tight with worry.

Raven cracked open her eyes dazed. “I-we did it,” she huffed her face pale and grey.

"We did it!” Maddie cheered causing Raven to let out a weak smile.

“Just, uh give me a minute,” Raven said breathing heavily. She moved to push herself back up but Apple used both of her hands to firmly keep her down.

“Raven, what are you doing you can’t even stand!” Apple said in alarm.

“Apple’s right,” Cedar frowned. “Don’t move you could fall down and hurt yourself.”

Cerise rose to her feet slowly, her legs screaming at her in pain. She felt lightheaded and every part of her body felt sore but she stood with her back straight. She swiftly marched over to Raven kneeling to her side. “Someone help me, I’m going to carry her on my back,” Cerise said with determination.

“Are you sure you can carry her, I can barely even move,” Briar says doubtfully.

“Cerise, I don’t know, maybe we should get help instead,” Apple said worriedly.

“I’m stronger than I look,” Cerise answered simply.

“I’ll help you,” Cedar volunteered. “My joints are stiff but I can lift her for a little while.”

“Me too,” Maddie agreed.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Raven asked woozily as Cedar and Maddie helped her up into sitting position.

“Shh…” Maddie shushed her. “Don’t worry about a thing you silly goose.”

Cerise crouched down, her back to Raven so Maddie and Cedar could place her against her back. “Place your arms around my neck,” she told Raven as she scrambled for purchase against her cloak.

“Your hood,” Raven whispered lowly in warning.

“Will stay on just fine,” Cerise answered back with a whisper of her own.

With Raven securely in place Cerise slowly rose to her feet, her muscles aching with the added weight. Her injured wrist hurt most of all, throbbing painfully. Cerise grit her teeth and ignored it. “Let’s get out of here,” Cerise said.

Leading the way, Cerise slowly marched her way back through the enchanted forest towards school. Maddie, Briar, Apple and Cedar watched anxiously as she carried Raven, hovering closely in case Cerise dropped her or if Raven lost her grip around Cerise’s neck. Raven breathed heavily into Cerise’s ear, her arms wound tight around her neck. Cerise made sure to re-adjust Raven every now and again to make sure she didn’t slip off of her. She tightened her grip from underneath Raven’s thighs, her wrist aching to ensure that she wouldn’t drop her.

The carnage from the storm’s siege against the enchanted forest was made obvious as they left the area from where they were huddled in Raven’s magic bubble. The ground was littered from broken branches that the winds had knocked off. Cerise made sure to steer clear of any large ones that would break her stride. Tree trunks were riddled with rips and tears from what could only be multiple impacts from sharp mirror shards flying in high winds. Cerise winced at the sight of one particular tree that was torn to shreds, half of it’s branches ripped in half and slumping sadly to the ground. Cerise stopped in place at the sight of one thick tree freshly fallen blocking their path.

“Now where do we go,” Apple said in frustration.

“We go a different path,” Cerise answered moving to the left to take the long way around it.

“How do we know where we’re going?” Apple asked anxiously. “I have no idea where we are.”

“Me either,” Cedar agreed nervously.

“We just have to go a little north east to circle around,” Cerise answered. “We should find the main path inside the forest and take the long way round. Hopefully it won’t be blocked by many fallen trees.”

“A red riding hood that doesn’t get lost in the forest?” Briar asked skeptically.

“Well I am a rebel,” Cerise admitted, inwardly laughing at the understatement.

“Right,” Briar said from behind her, Cerise completely unaware of the slight narrowing of her eyes.

The girls slowly make their way through the enchanted forest. Moving around fallen debris and making their way through the forest. A large part of it was damaged by the storm but as they moved closer towards the school some areas did manage escape unscathed. Raven said nothing as they moved along. Her eyes were closed from where she rested her head against Cerise’s shoulder but by the cadence of her breath, Cerise could tell that she was still awake. Cerise couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh at the thought, happy that Raven wasn’t unconscious again.

After what feels like ages of walking the girls finally found the graveled path leading them back towards the school. It was littered with debris but it wasn’t as bad as Cerise feared. Cerise took care of where she stepped, sometimes having to go around fallen branches and other debris completely before moving on. Her arms began to strain in exertion from Raven’s weight but she trudged onward. It was worth it. It was worth it for the weight of Raven’s cheek against Cerise’s shoulder, for the warmth of her breath in Cerise’s ear and the strength of her scent.

“I’m sorry,” Raven whispered under her breath after a long time of walking. “I really messed things up.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cerise answered immediately keeping her voice low as well. “That’s what friends are for.”

Raven fell silent once more at Cerise’s words. After a long time of walking and after Cerise began to seriously sweat from exertion, they finally broke through the forest. Cerise squinted her eyes at the harsh sunlight without the forest canopy shielding her view. Her spirits lifted at the sight of Ever After High shining in the distance, bathed in warm sunlight.

“We made it!” Maddie cheered clapping her hands together in delight.

“Wow, we really did it,” Cedar smiled. “I mean I wasn’t too sure we would but boy am I glad we did,” she babbled.

“Thank the fairy godmother,” Briar breathed in delight.

“Oh, the barrier’s gone,” Apple said in surprise as they drew closer.

Apple was right, Baba Yaga’s shimmering barrier was gone. Cerise figured she must have dropped it after the sky had cleared.

“Guess we won’t be needing this,” Briar said as she took out the branch from her coat pocket.

“What do we do with it?” Apple said as they crossed the quad.

“Keep it for now,” Cerise huffed her voice strained, her breath rattling in her lungs. “We’ll, we’ll give it back after,” she croaked keeping her words brief.

“Cerise, are you okay?” Cedar asked worriedly as they neared the front steps.

Cerise chose not to answer her as they approached, opting instead to focus intently on climbing the front steps, carrying Raven as carefully as she could. The girls watched anxiously behind her as she climbed, ready to catch Raven at a moment's notice if Cerise were to drop her.

Maddie leaped past the group to open one of the large double doors allowing Cerise and the others to step inside. Cerise breathed in relief at the feeling of cool air against her hot sweaty skin. Maddie closed the door slowly shut behind them after everyone made it inside.

Cerise smelled a sharp tangy smell of worry from a wolf before her dad bounded around the corner coming into view. He was in human form this time, his dark brown hair in disarray.

“Are you girls okay, what happened?” he barked out as he scrambled towards them. His eyes widened as he took sight of Raven’s slumped form against Cerise’s back. “Give her here,” he ordered immediately. “We need to get her to the nurse. Come, quickly now.”

“Mr. Badwolf, you don’t have to…” Raven protested weakly.

Both Cerise and her dad ignored her words. Cerise wordlessly allows her father to take Raven into his arms. She couldn’t help the sigh of relief that rumbled in her chest at the loss of weight. Her dad shot her a worried look at the sound.

‘We’ll be discussing this later,’ his eyes said as he gathered Raven into his arms, Cerise wincing at the weight of his gaze.

“I’m taking Raven to the nurse. All of you come with me.” He ordered turning around, confident that they would follow.

“But-” Apple protested lightly. Like Raven she too went ignored.

Briar moved her along shaking her head at Apple. “Don’t think I forgot about you hitting your head,” she said as they scrambled to keep up with Mr. Badwolf’s hurried strides.

Cerise struggled to keep up with her dad for the first time in a long time. Every part of her body ached with exhaustion. The others around her weren’t much better off. Everyone looked tired and drawn. Even Maddie didn’t have as much of an excited spring in her step. Mr. Badwolf strode down the halls with purpose. Cerise couldn’t help but feel relieved that the halls were still deserted of people. Everyone must have still been stuck in their dorms after being escorted from lunch.

Mr. Badwolf turned a corner and quickly made his way to the nurse’s office at the end of the hall. He turned to the side and opened the door with his elbow, his arms busy holding Raven up. He kicked the door open harshly, causing it to slam against the wall inside. Cerise winced at the sound from where she stood behind her dad.

A tall woman with large glittering silver wings and pink scrubs jumped at the sound from her desk across the room. She looked up at the doorway in alarm and took in the sight of Mr. Badwolf with Raven in his arms.

“What happened!” she gasped in alarm bounding out of her seat and making her way towards the door.

“I found her half conscious,” Mr. Badwolf said bounding across the room and gently laying Raven down on an examination table. Raven looked more alert than she did before, her face pink with embarrassment.

“How are you feeling?” the nurse asked Raven kindly as she pulled out a mini flashlight from her shirt pocket.

“Um tired and kind of dizzy,” Raven admitted as she used the flashlight to examine her eyes.

“Your pupils look good,” the fairy-nurse said.

Cerise and the others awkwardly stood by the doorway unsure of how to proceed. Mr. Badwolf looked over his shoulder from where he stood next to Raven and jerked his head, motioning for them to come inside. Cerise awkwardly shuffled in leading the group in. She moved over to the row of plush chairs lined up against the wall and slumped in the nearest one tiredly.

The nurse pulled out a strange silver metal rod that looked more like a tuning fork than a medical instrument. She waved it over Raven’s skin, frowning when it turned a deep red all over.

“This is a bad case of magical exhaustion,” the fairy said to herself after examining Raven. “I might need to monitor you overnight, just in case,” she told Raven.

The nurse left Raven’s side to quickly grab a small green vial lined up on a shelf with other miss-matched vials. She plucked it from the shelf and turned around to see Cerise and the others sitting awkwardly on the other side of the room She took in their disheveled and guilty expressions and gave them a small frown.

“Do I even want to know?” she asked more to herself than to them. “I’ll be with you girls next in a minute,” she promised as she uncapped the bottle. “Make sure to drink it all dear, it’ll help you regain your magic more quickly.” She said turning to Raven.

The nurse helped Raven sit up to drink the potion. Raven gulped it down, sputtering at the taste. “Ugh,” Raven groaned after she had drank it all.

“I know, I’m sorry it doesn’t taste very good,” the nurse frowned, her wings fluttering.

After Raven had drank the entire potion, the nurse took the empty bottles from her and set it down on a stand next to Raven. She pressed a button on the side of the table Raven lay on, causing half of it to rise upwards.

“This will help you sit up easier,” the nurse explained at Raven’s questioning gaze. Once the table had folded up into a proper chair, the nurse pulled the stethoscope from around her neck to check Raven’s breathing and heartbeat.

Cerise watched Raven receive a full examination from the nurse from her seat across the room, watching intently as the nurse instructed Raven to take deep breaths as she pressed the stethoscope against Raven’s chest. Now seeing that Raven was being tended to, Cerise’s dad turned his attention to the other five girls seated across the room. He made his way over to them, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What you girls did was very dangerous,” he said in a low voice looking all of them in the eye one by one. “But,” he paused. “It was also very brave. Next time please ask a teacher for help instead, okay? Teacher’s are meant to protect students, it’s our job to make sure that you kids are safe.”

“We promise,” Apple said immediately, lowering head in guilt. “It won’t happen again, I’m sorry Mr. Badwolf.”

“Yeah, we’re sorry.” Briar agreed.

“Me too,” Maddie chimed in.

“Sorry Mr. Badwolf.” Cedar said apologetically

Mr. Badwolf turned his gaze to Cerise, his dark brown eyes boring into her own. She looked up at him, her arms crossed and her gaze defiant, her chin tilted up. After a very long moment, Mr. Badwolf let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

“If nothing else, you girls really saved the day.” He admitted gruffly. “Good job,”

Cerise smiled a small smile of victory and leaned back in her seat, waiting to be tended to. After the nurse had finished tending to Raven with strict orders to get some rest, she turned her attention to the others. She examined Apple first at Briar’s insistence, frowning when Apple told her her symptoms.

“My head really hurts,” Apple told her. “I uh, fell down and hit my head,” she explained.

“You might have a concussion dear,” the nurse frowned. “Make sure to get plenty of rest tonight and try not to strain your eyes on reading or watching too much tv. Come back some time tomorrow so I can check you over again.”

She moved onto Briar, taking one look at her scraped hands and moving over to her desk to grab a load of anti-bacterial wipes. She passed them around to all of them, telling to them to disinfect their cuts thoroughly. After she too had checked Briar’s eyes and pulse, she moved onto Maddie who besides a few scrapes, was perfectly okay.

The nurse paused for a long time a she looked at Cedar who smiled sheepishly at her.

“I uh, don’t have a heart,” she admitted. “My wood is a little scraped and I feel tired but I’ll be okay,” she assured her.

The nurse looked at Cedar blankly at a loss for words before shaking her head and moving on finally to Cerise. Her eyes checked out the same as everyone else but she paused over Cerise’s injured wrist when she picked it up to check her pulse.

“This is very swollen,” she tutted. She moved over to a mini fridge near her desk, and taking out a cooling pack out of it. “I’m afraid this is sprained,” she said as she came back and pressed it against Cerise’s swollen skin.

Mr. Badwolf made a small huff of annoyance at the examination. Cerise shot him a quick look of displeasure and hissed at the cold bite of the ice.

“Hold that still for about twenty minutes. You might want to do this a few times a day before the pain goes down.” She explained.

Cerise frowned, holding the cold pack against her skin, shivering at the cold of it and very much wishing she didn’t have to.

To her left, Apple shot her a worried look as she pressed the cold pack against her skin.

“Well if that’s all for you girls, you’re good to leave now,” the nurse said turning her attention back to Raven.

Cerise looked over to Raven as well, seeing that she had fallen into a light doze from her place on the bed.

“I’ll escort them to their dorm,” Mr. Badwolf said gruffly.

“But,” Cerise protested drawing the attention of the two adults. “What about Raven?” she asked helplessly.

“Ms. Queen will probably have to stay the night,” the nurse said. “I’ll arrange a bed for her. You girls can visit her tomorrow morning.”

“But,” Cerise said again wanting very much to stay by Raven’s side.

“Listen to Nurse Gemman,” Mr. Badwolf told Cerise sternly. “It’s for your own good.”

Cerise lowered her head and felt her shoulders slump. Wordlessly, she and the other girls began to file out of the room. Raven was now fast asleep in her makeshift bed, passed out from exhaustion. Cerise gave her one last good long look before turning her head and exiting the room.

Mr. Badwolf led the group down the hallway back towards the girls dormitory. Large window panes illuminated the hallway with bright sunlight shining through. The halls were still completely deserted. Cerise gave a few curious sniffs but there was no clear scents besides their own.

“Headmaster Grimm still hasn’t called off curfew,” her father explained after hearing her. “Everyone is still in their dorms until Baba Yaga gives the all clear, but it shouldn’t be too long now.”

“Oh,” Briar said her face under a look of deep thought before she widened into a smile. “That means my party is still on!” She cheered pumping one fist into the air.

“Hattastic! I just love a good party,” Maddie squealed clapping her hands together in delight

“A spellabration sounds fun,” Cedar agreed.

“Oh this is going to be such a page ripper, oh wait!” Briar exclaimed. “I only have a day to prepare then,” she frowned.

“Don’t worry Briar, we’ll help you,” Cedar smiled.

“Me too,” Maddie cheered.

“I’ll help you Briar,” Apple smiled. “But only after we visit Raven tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Briar agreed.

Cerise listened to her friends chatter silently with a smile, happy to be only an observer to their conversation.

“You kids stay out of trouble,” Mr. Badwolf huffed as they finally made it to the girls dorms.

He shot Cerise one last quick look before stalking off. Cerise suppressed a sigh knowing that when she visited him again, she’d be in some big bad trouble.

“So we can meet up later after dinner for party planning right?” Briar asked brightly as she pulled open the large double doors leading to the girls common room.

“Absotutely Briar, we’ll see you then,” Maddie promised.

As Briar opened the double doors, Cerise could see that the common room was filled with most of their class. Blondie looked up at the sound from her place on the couch in front of the tv and widened her eyes. She took one look at their mussed up clothes and hair and snatched her mirror pad from the coffee table in front of her and scrambled towards them.

“Ugh Blondie, please don’t record this I’m really not in the mood,” Briar groaned as Blondie flicked her mirror pad on.

“No way Briar, this is such a scoop! Where have you guys been?” She asked angling the camera at her roommate.

Briar scrunched up her face in annoyance and placed her hand over the mirror pad camera. “Seriously, stop,” Briar asked again.

Cerise watched Blondie and Briar grapple over the camera warily. She noticed Ashlynn and other girls draw closer out of the corner of her eye. ‘’Time to go,” she whispered urgently to Cedar.

“But-” Cedar protested looking back and forth between Briar and Blondie and now Apple who had gotten involved in Blondie’s interrogation.

“We gotta go now or do you want to tell Blondie the whole truth?” Cerise asked shooting her a look.

Cedar’s eyes widened in realization of being unable to evade Blondie’s questions and nodded frantically in agreement. Cedar whispered quickly to Maddie to get her up to speed. As quickly as they could, Cedar, Maddie and Cerise backed off a bit from the rest of the group before turning and legging it away from the common room.

“Hey, wait!” They could hear Blondie yell from behind them. “Come back, come back!”

But they ignored her running towards their rooms. As they entered the hallway Maddie turned a corner and ran into the opposite direction towards her and Kitty’s room.

“Spell you girls later,” she giggled as she disappeared from sight.

Cedar and Cerise said their own goodbyes as they went the opposite direction towards their own rooms. Cerise yanked open the door, letting Cedar inside first as she peered down the corner to see an empty hallway. Blondie must have turned her attention back onto Apple and Briar instead. Cerise slipped inside her room and closed the door behind her and locking it for good measure. With Blondie it was always better to be safe than sorry.

“Don’t you think that’s overkill?” Cedar asked from the other side of the room.

“Not if Blondie sniffs a scoop it’s not,” Cerise disagreed darkly. “You should try to avoid her for a while. Eventually she’ll try to get to you for information. It’s for the best if the entire school doesn’t find out exactly how many school rules we just broke today.”

"That’s…true,” Cedar agreed reluctantly with a sigh.

“You can shower first,” Cerise said. “It’s been a long day.”

“Are you sure?” Cedar frowned. “Is your wrist going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I have to ice it for a bit longer first,” Cerise said pulling the ice packet out from her cloak pocket.

“If you say so,” Cedar shrugged grabbing her shower supplies and heading for their shared bathroom.

Cerise sighed, stalking to her side of the room and sitting gently on her bed. She placed the cold pack onto her nightstand. She’d put it in their mini fridge freezer when she was done icing her wrist. “But first…” she thought turning her attention to the other package inside of her cloak.

With her good hand, she pulled out Sparrow’s mysterious manilla folder out from her inside cloak pocket. She took out the folder and placed it on her lap. The paper folder was wrinkled and folded in half from where Cerise placed it in her pocket. She had told Briar earlier that it was best that they didn’t open it and get involved in whatever Sparrow was planning.

“And yet…” Cerise thought temptation placing it’s sharp claws inside of her.Inside of this folder was dirt on Headmaster Grimm. How Sparrow had gotten his hands on it, Cerise would never know. She didn’t really want to know anyway. But how he got it didn’t really matter.

“To open, or not to open,” Cerise debated to herself.

On one hand, opening the document now could have some serious consequences. Despite what Sparrow said Cerise wasn’t entirely convinced that whatever was inside wasn’t dangerous, supposed piece of paper or not. What if the paper inside was enchanted or even cursed? Cerise shuddered at the thought. Even if the package wasn’t enchanted, Sparrow would be royally annoyed if he say that the wax seal had been broken.

Cerise snorted to herself at the thought. Okay so maybe she really didn’t care if she annoyed Sparrow. He might have totally helped them out today but Cerise had paid his favor back in kind. If she hadn’t gone to pick up his package first, she might have been able to find Raven before her magic had backfired and Raven might not have needed to spend the night in the nurse’s office.

“We’ll that part’s out,” Cerise inwardly thought, mentally checking annoy Sparrow off the cons list. Of course, there was still the issue of Sparrow knowing her secret.

Cerise frowned deeply at the thought. As much as she hated to admit it Sparrow was right, he only knew her secret because she had announced it to her entire village during the whole Yester Year debacle. He wouldn’t have even known if not for that. That was on her. But still, did she really expect Sparrow to keep her secret?

Cerise grimaced at the thought. Sparrow was the only one in her family that knew her secret and lived in Ever After besides her dad. As divided as the Hood and the Wolf clans were, they kept to themselves. Cerise was fairly confident that they wouldn’t be blabbing any time soon, but Sparrow was an entirely different matter. Unlike her father he had no real reason to keep her secret and unlike the others in her village, he had ample opportunity to blab it while at Ever After High. Did she really want to get on his bad side and open the seal when he had such dangerous information against her?

“That’s a lot of cons,” Cerise thought half certain of her impending decision. “Now onto pros,”

Well it was obvious what the main benefit of opening the package would be, Cerise would find out what exactly the dirt on Miles Grimm was. She had always hated him. She hated him before she even went to Ever After High and her dad would return home on weekends, exhausted from teaching during the week. Her parents tried to keep the worst from her but it was clear that her dad wasn’t always happy with his job.

It hurt her dad to be away from them for so long. Her dad loved teaching students but he wasn’t always happy that he had to force students to follow their destinies no matter what. He didn’t even really follow his own destiny when the time came. In the end, he married Little Red Riding Hood, his sworn enemy. How could he push his students on the path of evil when he himself didn’t truly believe in it?
Cerise watched the stress of keeping their family a secret begin to weigh on her parents. For as long as she could remember, it was just the three of them suffocating under its weight. As each week rolled by, her father would look even more tired under the weight of a double life. It hurt that they could only spend time in secret. It hurt that Cerise couldn’t truly meet her grandparents on her father’s side or howl to the world who she truly was with pride.

Cerise stared at the manilla folder in her lap intently deep in thought. Even though the world wouldn’t have her family be together, Miles Grimm was the worst of the lot. Every time her dad had thought he might go easier on his students, Headmaster Grimm always made sure he pushed them to be as evil as they could be. Headmaster Grimm didn’t fully trust her dad. As a villain he wasn’t a trustworthy sort to the rest of the world but Headmaster Grimm had always liked to play favorites. Cerise had seen for herself how he treated royal students versus those he deemed to have ‘lesser’ fairy tale stories. She had seen for herself how he had treated her dad.

Cerise narrowed her eyes at the thought, picking up the manilla folder and fiddling with it in her hands. That was one pro and one con. Now all she had to do was think of a reason for the tie breaker. Her mind raced trying to think of a solution. There was one more thing that she hadn’t considered yet. What was Sparrow going to do with this information?

Cerise shifted in her spot, idly flicking the corner of the folder up and down. Sparrow had said that he hadn’t really planned on using the information against Headmaster Grimm, but Cerise couldn’t really trust that. Even if Sparrow didn’t do anything with it for a while, who's to say he wouldn’t use it when the situation would call for it? If Sparrow was anything, he was definitely an opportunist. Even if he got the upper hand against Headmaster Grimm what would he do with it? And what would happen to him when he did?

Cerise frowned and thought harder. Headmaster Grimm was a very powerful and respected man in Ever After. He’d been headmaster at Ever After High for years. Would it really be so wise for Sparrow to take on a man like him? Even Cerise’s dad tried his best not get on his bad side. Cerise sighed deeply, her final decision nagging at the corner of her mind. Supposedly if Sparrow did use the information against Headmaster Grimm and succeeded in getting something out of him, what then? Would Headmaster Grimm expel Sparrow or worse? And if Sparrow got expelled, would he deserve it?

If someone were to ask Cerise that a few years ago or even a few days ago she would have certainly said yes. Even if she hated Headmaster Grimm, Sparrow meddling where he shouldn’t would be definitely cause for expulsion. Cerise had never really trusted Sparrow’s intentions, but now she wasn’t so sure. Sparrow had been surprisingly helpful today. They never would have been able to save Raven without his help. Headmaster Grimm had certainly not earned himself any points for trying to force Raven to sign again and get her to put herself in danger.

Cerise gritted her teeth and stared hard at the cover of the manilla folder as if merely looking it would expose all of it’s secrets. If Sparrow really tried to take on Headmaster Grimm, even with his band friends, he could land himself in some serious trouble. As much as Cerise disliked Sparrow, she didn’t like the idea of him getting into trouble with Headmaster Grimm, at least not for something like this.

Heart pounding in her chest, Cerise glanced towards the bathroom door across the room. The shower was still running, she could hear the pipes clanging clearly with her sensitive ears. Cedar was singing a Tailor Quick song, her voice garbled by the running water. Cerise didn’t think she’d be out of the bathroom any time soon.

With eager hands, Cerise broke the wax seal, cutting the quill symbol in half. She flipped open the top flap of the folder and jiggled the thin piece of paper on to her lap. They slipped out of the folder easily. The paper was made of parchment, yellowed with age. She turned the parchment over and stared at the page. The writing was hand written and difficult to make out at a glance. The words were large and sloppy, as if someone had written it in a hurry. At the very top of the page the letter wrote;

'Spoken by the oracle, two will come on the winds of change. Two will come and they will reign, both of noble birth. One is scorned , the other lost. Moon and sun align to shine a new light on the world. What once was shall be no more. Giles Grimm'

Cerise stared at the paper in disbelief. She had so many questions. The biggest one was who on earth was Giles Grimm? Cerise’s thoughts raced as she skimmed over the paper again and again. Cerise didn’t know that Headmaster Grimm had any family. Granted it’s not like he and her spoke a lot but she was fairy certain she would have heard of him before. Maybe he lived far far away from Ever After?

And there was the issue of the Oracle, the Oracle! Cerise let out a big huff and puff of air in disbelief. The Oracle was one of the most famous fairy tales in all of Ever After. She predicted everyone’s fates, whatever she said always came to pass. Cerise read the Oracle’s prophecy again and again but still came up short. She had no idea what the prophecy was supposed to mean. Who would come, and what would they change?

Cerise huffed in annoyance shoving the parchment paper back into the manilla folder. Whatever it was the prophecy sounded big, fairy big. An uneasiness began pool in Cerise’s gut. Whatever this meant Cerise was certain of one thing, this was something that Sparrow shouldn’t be messing with. Cerise would go find him, give him the parchment but tell him to let it go, for once.

Cerise’s ears twitched at the sound of the water shutting off, the distant sound of the rumbling of the pipes coming to a stop. Hastily, Cerise shoved the manilla folder under her pillow and threw her covers over it for good measure. She grabbed a book on her nightstand and opened it to a random page. For a few long moments, her heart hammered in her chest as she stared blankly at the open page. After a long time had gone by and as she heard Cedar move around some bottles on the sink and start up a hair dryer. Cerise felt a bit silly. She put her book back on the nightstand. Cedar was going to at least finish drying her hair and changing in the bathroom before coming into the room. She always did after a shower.

Cerise laughed quietly at her blind panic and reached for her mirror phone also on her nightstand. She had some time to herself. It had been a long day. She could think about whatever the prophecy could have meant after she confronted Sparrow tomorrow. Cerise was icing her wrist again and idly scrolling through pagebook with her good hand for about ten minutes when Cedar finally exited the bathroom.

“Oh, I feel so much better,” Cedar sighed with relief as she exited the bathroom fully dressed.

“I’m glad,” Cerise smiled hopping out of her bed for her turn in the shower. She grimaced as she got back on her feet surprised at how sore she still was.

Cerise took her time in the shower. Despite the pain in her legs, the hot water on her tired aching muscles felt good. She washed her hair with a generous amount of shampoo. She even made sure to give her ears a good scrub before turning off the water and toweling off. A short time later she was in some new fresh clothes. She had already thrown her old sweaty ones back in the hamper in the corner of the bathroom. She quickly changed into a clean pair of jeans and a black t-shirt before putting on her cloak once more.

She had already spritzed it with a freshening spray before putting it back on. Cerise didn’t really like the chemical smell of the spray but she had no choice. She would have to do laundry soon. Cleaning her cloak was always risky. Usually she would wear a large beanie while doing it but she didn’t like wearing it that much. Plus some might find it suspicious that she always had her head covered when she broke routine.

Wiping the steam off of the bathroom mirror with a spare towel and throwing it into the hamper, Cerise left the bathroom. Cedar was already lying down on her bed despite it being only late afternoon.

“You okay over there?” Cerise asked as she walked by.

“I’m okay, just tired.” Cedar groaned. “I think I’m going to take a nap.”

“I can turn the lights off,” Cerise offered.

“Thank you,” Cedar said as she snuggled under her covers.

Cerise flicked off the lights and moved to close the curtains, shutting sunlight out of the room. A nap sounded great right about now. Cerise sighed as she too tucked herself under the covers. Among the gentle snores from Cedar’s side of the room, Cerise was quickly lulled to sleep.

Chapter Text

Cerise woke blearily, her mouth dry with thirst. From the other side of the room, she could hear Cedar shift in her bed. She sat up slowly and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. The room was dark. Cerise flicked the light of her lamp on her nightstand and squinted her eyes at the harsh light. Across the room Cedar groaned and shifted.

“What time is it?” she mumbled sleepily.

Cerise reached half blind for her mirror phone. She tapped the screen, narrowing her eyes to read the numbers. “It’s five thirty,” she said with surprise.

“Already?” Cedar asked as she too turned on her light on her side of the room.

“Yeah, we knocked out,” Cerise said.

Cerise was just struggling to get out of her bed and fight off the last dredges of sleep when she heard a gentle knock at her door.

“Coming!’ Cedar called stumbling to her feet and moving to the door. She opened it to find Briar standing in the doorway.

“Oh good you’re awake,” Briar said with visible relief. “Can I come in?” She asked.

“Of course!” Cedar said moving aside to let her in and flick the light next to the door. Cerise closed her eyes at the suddenness of light. She opened them again slowly to adjust them to the brightness in the room.

“Wow you guys look fairy tired,” Briar said with a laugh.

Cerise blinked at Briar taking her in. She could smell from across the room that Briar was freshly showered. She smelled like her usual rose soap and perfume. She wore her usual pink dress with her pink shoulder bag.

“Are we going to dinner now?” Cedar asked.

“Yeah,’ Briar said. “But I have to give you guys something first.” Briar reached into her purse and pulled out a small object wrapped in cloth. She unwrapped it revealing the small branch from the tree of life. “This was a nightmare to keep from Blondie,” Briar said handing the branch to Cedar.

“How’d you pull that off?” Cerise asked stretching out her tired limbs, wincing at the pain in her wrist.

“Lot’s of practice, Blondie is my roommate after all,” Briar answered.

“I’m sorry about ditching you earlier,” Cedar blurted out. “I felt really bad about, I didn’t want to but-”

“But then you’d have to tell Blondie everything,” Briar answered for her. “Yeah I know, Apple and I made up some story about how we wanted to see the storm from behind Baba Yaga’s barrier. It wasn’t easy.”

Cerise let out a sigh of relief glad that Briar had thrown Blondie off their trail.

“Hey Cerise, does your wrist still hurt?’ Briar asked.

“Uh, a bit,” Cerise admitted in surprise.

“Thought so, I brought some pain potion if you need it,” Briar said digging through her purse again and pulling out a small silver bottle. It was engraved with a rose-thorn crest, the symbol of the Beauty royal family.

“Uh, thanks,” Cerise said dumbly, taking the bottle with her good hand. She uncapped it one handed and downed the entire thing in one go. The bitter fake cherry taste of the potion made her shudder and left a disgusting aftertaste in her mouth. Despite the taste, Cerise could feel a gentle numbness settle over her wrist almost immediately.

“It doesn’t taste very good but it gets the job done, I gave one to Apple too for her head,” Briar explained taking back the empty bottle and putting it back into her purse. “I can give you some more tomorrow, our family potion master can make loads of them.”

“Thank you,” Cerise said sincerely.

“Ready to go then?” Briar asked.

“Oh yes, I imagine I’m fairy hungry,” Cedar said.

Cerise could feel the emptiness in her stomach more keenly at the mention of eating food. “Yeah let’s go,” she said swiping her mirror phone from her nightstand and following the others out of the room. Cerise followed Cedar and Briar down the hallway and into the common room.

Apple was seated at the couch in front of the tv staring blankly at the screen. She turned as she heard them enter the room. “Hey girls,” she said tiredly.

Cerise blinked at Apple’s tried and drawn face. “Are you okay Apple?” she asked with concern.

“I’m okay, just tired I guess,” Apple said unconvincingly.

“Apple and I didn’t get to sleep like you two,” Briar explained. “It took ages to convince Blondie after all.”

The four girls made their way downstairs to the castleteria. It was strange to see the hallways buzzing with students where only a few hours ago, they were utterly deserted. They entered the castleteria together, lining up and grabbing some trays. Cerise got the pork chops with carrots and peas for dinner. Cedar led the group to her and Cerise’s usual table in the back of the castleteria. As Cerise approached she noticed a sole figure with curly hair already seated.

“Maddie,” she greeted her as they all sat down.

“Hey girls,” Maddie said, looking fully well rested and as cheerful as ever.

Cerise mostly sat in silence as she listened to the other girls speak with each other. She dug into her food happily, moaning softly at the softness of her meat. The others mostly talked about planning Briar’s party for tomorrow. Briar had apparently spent the break planning where to buy decorations and other supplies.

“It won’t be that big of a party,” Briar insisted despite Cerise’s growing skepticism as she listed her plans. It all seemed very grandiose to her. “We’re not even halfway through the semester, no need to go totally wild yet.”

“So whose coming?” Apple asked.

“Well it’ll be by word of mouth, whoever wants to come I guess,” Briar said with a shrug.

“Which means everyone in our grade will come,” Cerise couldn’t help but point out.

“Well, yeah probably. That’s not too many people,” Briar insisted.

Apple nodded along with her as if inviting their entire class and calling it a ‘small party’ made perfect sense. Sometimes Cerise would never understand royals. Briar was just going over the catering plans and debating which foods to include for everyone’s needs and preferences when Cerise felt a light buzzing inside of her cloak. Pausing mid chew, Cerise pulled out her mirror phone from her cloak pocket and glanced at the screen.

‘Look up,’ the hext read from an unknown number.

Cautiously, Cerise looked up from the Castleteria, scanning the many tables filled with people. Directly in her line of sight, just behind Kitty and Lizzie’s table, Cerise spotted Sparrow turned around in his seat to face her. Cerise made eye contact with him for a quick moment before he turned back around away from her.

‘What do you want,’ she quickly hexted back.

‘Mission accomplished huh?’ he hexted back.

Cerise scowled at the screen, swallowing her food and hexting back with a huff. ‘Yes, everything’s all fine now. If this is about your stuff I’ll give it back tomorrow,” she quickly sent back. There was a long moment before Cerise felt the tell-tale buzzing of her phone in her hands.

‘My treehouse at 11,’ was all that he said.

‘Fine,’ she replied back. Just as she was about to put away her phone she felt her phone buzz once more. Cerise glanced at her screen in irritation. It was a thumbs up emoji and a winky face emoji. Cerise rolled her eyes and put her phone back in her cloak pocket.

She spent the rest of dinner enjoying her meal and listening to her friends. Briar had finally settled on catering the party from the Beanstalk Bakery with The Mad Hatter Tea Shop providing refreshments. Briar was also all set to order the decorations from another business, everything would arrive by tomorrow afternoon.

“Thanks for helping me out girls, I’m just so hexcited for tomorrow I can hardly wait!”

Everyone’s spirits were lifted by Briar’s happy enthusiasm. Cerise went to bed that night feeling exhausted but also light. The next morning she and Cedar woke up early to go to breakfast just the two of them. After a quick meal of cereal for Cedar and eggs and bacon for Cerise, they made their way back to the nurse’s office. Cerise had already tucked both the manila folder and the branch into her cloak pocket. She’d make a detour to see Sparrow after checking in on Raven.

“Oh, I just hope Raven is feeling better,” Cedar said nervously. “Do you think she’s better now?” she wondered.

“I hope so,” Cerise confessed. “But Raven’s strong, she’ll be okay.”

Cedar and Cerise approached the door to the nurse’s office. Cedar opened the door to let them inside. Nurse Gemman was seated at her desk doing paperwork. She waved them over as they approached.

“I’m glad you girls are here,” she said cheerfully. “I was just getting Ms. Queen’s discharge papers in order.”

“So Raven can leave now?” Cerise asked with relief.

“Yes, she should be all set, of course she still needs to take it easy for a few more days but I don’t see any reason to keep her here.” Nurse Gemman explained.

“Thank you so much for all of your help,” Cedar thanked her.

“Just doing my job.” Nurse Gemman smiled. “Raven should be ready to leave now.”

Cedar and Cerise followed Nurse Gemman into another room with dozens of single sized beds with plain white sheets. Raven was sitting crossed legged on top of one closer to the door.

“Cedar, Cerise!” she smiled at them looking less pale and well rested.

“Are you ready to leave now Ms. Queen?” Nurse Gemman asked politely.

“Oh, yes thank you Nurse Gemman,” Raven said sitting up from the bed.

“Now remember to take your restorative potion before bed for the next few days,” Nurse Gemman said. “Just take it easy and get some rest. Also try not to use any magic until Tuesday at the earliest. “I’ve already alerted your magic instructors for you.”

“Okay Ms. Gemman,” Raven agreed.

“Good, you girls take of yourselves then, I have a bit more paperwork to do,” Nurse Gemman said before leaving the room and returning back to her office.

“Raven, are you feeling better?” Cedar asked anxiously. “I mean you look a lot better, not that you looked bad before just sick, I mean-”

“Cedar, relax I feel fine,” Raven laughed. “I mean I’m still a bit tired but I feel much better now, thanks to you guys.”

“Good, let’s get out of here,” Cerise smiled.

“Have you already eaten breakfast?” Cedar asked as they walked through the hallways.

"Yeah I had some porridge just before you guys came,” Raven answered.

“Then we can go back to the dorm then,” Cedar said.

“Oh wow it’s still pretty early isn’t it?” Raven wondered looking out into the weak blue sunlight shining into the hallway.

“It’s only eight,” Cerise laughed.

“Too early for me,” Raven said.

“Did you sleep okay?” Cedar asked.

“Yeah like a baby dragon,” Raven laughed. “Nurse Gemman just woke me up kind of early to check up on me. I could do with some more sleep though.”

“Yeah, yesterday was pretty exhausting,” Cerise said.

“That reminds me,” Raven said as they started climbing the steps to the girls dorm, Cerise lagging behind her to catch her in case she fell. “How did you guys find me anyway?” She asked.

Cedar and Cerise spent the rest of the trip quickly filling Raven in on their adventure, how they bartered with Sparrow to get through the barrier and how they split up to find her.

“You guys did all that for me,” Raven said her voice hushed and full of wonder.

“That’s what friends do, you’d do the same for us,” Cerise reminded her.

Raven gave Cerise a warm thankful smile, her eyes glittering with emotion that it made Cerise’s heart pound in her chest. “You guys are the best, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Cedar opened the door to their dorm to find Apple, Briar and Maddie about to leave for breakfast. Apple looked up from her conversation with Briar to see them approach.

“Raven!” she exclaimed running over and pulling her into a warm hug.

“Apple,” Raven said with a smile.

“I was so worried about you. Are you feeling better? Are you in pain?” Apple gushed, her face tight with concern.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better now, a bit sore and tired but I’ll be okay,” Raven assured her.

“I’m just so glad you’re okay,” Apple said.

“I’m sorry I worried you guys,” Raven apologized.

“Oh goodie, Raven’s all better now!” Maddie giggled hugging Raven as well.

“Glad to hear you’re feeling better, hey are you still up for going to my party later today?” Briar asked.

“Party? Oh is that back on?” Raven asked.

"Yep, it’s going to be a spellabration of all of our hard work,” Briar grinned.

“Count me in then,” Raven promised. “I might leave a bit early or something if I get tired though,” she said.

“No worries,” Briar shrugged. Just then her stomach growled loudly. “Oh gosh I’m starving,” Briar said. “I’ll see you guys later at the party then.”

“See you,” Raven waved.

“I’ll be back in the room soon,” Apple promised. “I’ll try not to wake you up when I get back.”

“Thanks Apple,” Raven smiled.

They waved off the others as they left the dorm to go to breakfast. Raven let out a big yawn and said she’d catch up with Cedar and Cerise later as she went to her room to take a nap. Cedar and Cerise went back to their dorm and spent the rest of the morning hanging out. All that was left for Cerise to do for the next few hours was read the rest of her book and relax.

By the time Cerise finished the rest of her book, it was already 10:45. The ending was a bit bittersweet for her good mood. The protagonist learned how to come to peace with her powers but what happened to her brother sort of soured Cerise’s happy mood. She shook it off as she closed her book and placing it on her nightstand

“I’ll be back,” she told Cedar as she grabbed the manila folder and tree branch, sticking them both in her cloak pocket. “I’ll see you at the party.”

“Bye Cerise, good luck with Sparrow,” Cedar said not pausing in her sketching at her desk.

Cerise left the dorm and made her way back to Sparrow’s treehouse. She almost couldn’t believe how often she sought him out in just two days. As she walked down the tower steps and through the halls of Ever After High, she couldn’t help but enjoy the bright sunlight that shone through the halls from the large arched glass windows. It was hard to believe that only just yesterday a powerful storm had threatened Ever After. Cerise’s chest swelled with pride at what she and her pack had accomplished.

She exited the front door of the school and made her way across the quad. Dozens of students were scattered about enjoying the good weather. Some people were playing a game of enchanted frisbee, struggling to catch the disk as it changed sizes mid air. Even Faybelle and her gang of fairies were practicing cartwheels and tumbles on the grass.As she approached Sparrow’s treehouse, Cerise climbed the winding steps two at a time. She knocked harshly on the wooden door and after a few moments let herself in. The inside of the treehouse was just as messy as the day before. Sparrow was in his usual spot on the beat up old couch, strumming his guitar.

“Where’s your ‘Merry Men’?” Cerise asked taking in the near empty room.

“Ugh, don’t call them that,” Sparrow groaned. “They’re still asleep, and they have names you know.”

“Whatever,” Cerise huffed. “I have your stuff,” she said taking out both the manila folder and the branch.

Sparrow bounded over to her from the couch, leaving his guitar behind. He practically snatched the items from her outstretched hands.

“Oh nice, you got it,” he said excitedly looking at the manila folder.

Cerise braced herself as he turned it over and glanced at the broken wax seal.

“Didn’t know you had it in you,” he said nonchalantly.

Cerise relaxed, relieved that he wasn’t mad. “I read the paper,” Cerise admitted. “Sparrow I’m not sure what this means but this is big. I don’t think you should be messing with this.” Cerise said seriously.

“Is that so?” Sparrow said with an incredulous expression. “Big talk for Ms. Rulebreaker here.”

“Yeah well I don’t make a habit out of it like you,” Cerise scoffed.

“What’s it say?” Sparrow asks, placing the branch on a nearby table and opening the folder.

“You mean you don’t even know!” Cerise exclaimed. “How did you even get this then?”

“I got it from a guy, who got it from another guy, who got it from the source,” Sparrow said cryptically. “Honestly it’s best if you don’t know,” he said as he took out the paper inside, reading it quickly.

“A prophecy! Hells bells you weren’t kidding!” He whistled. “Do you even know what this means!” He looked up at her, his bright green eyes shining with excitement.

“No I don’t, I tried to decipher it but it doesn’t make much sense,” Cerise admitted.

“Well yeah, for sure but it does prove one thing,” Sparrow said smugly.

“What?” Cerise asked.

“That Miles Grimm had a brother,” Sparrow said.

“You mean Giles Grimm?” Cerise asked. “Who is he anyway?” She asked.

“I had to ask around a bit,” Sparrow admitted. “Most people around our age don’t know him but some older um, ‘associates’ of mine do,” Sparrow explained. “He used to work for the school.”

“His brother!” Cerise exclaimed. “How come we’ve never heard of him?”

“Yeah that’s where things get pretty sketch,” Sparrow said placing the paper back into the folder. “Apparently people said he disappeared around eight years ago without a trace.”

“Disappeared?” Cerise wondered.

“Yeah, some people said that after the Evil Queen, you know did her thing, he just vanished.”

“Do you think she did something to him?” Cerise thought her stomach churning at the thought.

“Yeah that’s where things get really dicey, I don’t think she did,” Sparrow explained solemnly.

Cerise had never seen Sparrow look so serious before. For as long as she knew him he was always up to some mischief or another. Always tricking people, always up to no good with a carefree attitude, but his solemn expression gave her pause. For once Sparrow’s cheerful green eyes were sharper, more focused.

“I, you can’t mean that- I mean Headmaster Grimm is bad, but he wouldn’t-” Cerise breathed her mind racing.

“Do his brother in?” Sparrow said callously causing Cerise to wince. “From what I’ve heard and from this,” he said holding up the folder. “All evidence here says that he did.”

“What do you mean?” Cerise asked.

“I mean,” Sparrow explained. “That Giles Grimm doesn’t exist anymore, it’s not that he’s just dead or whatever,” he said. “I mean that there’s been absolutely no record of him anywhere. No proof at all that he existed except for very few people’s memory of him. Until now at least.”

“I-how do you know for sure?” Cerise stammered. “I mean it could just be a mistake.”

“Mistakes like this just don’t happen,” Sparrow said solemnly. “I know a coverup when I see it, and this one’s big, like giant.”

Cerise felt her knees go weak and her mouth go dry. She always hated Headmaster Grimm, for what he stood for, for what that’s done to her family but this, this was just too much. His own brother! And her dad worked for him. What if he got angry at her dad, what if he made her dad disappear too.

“Woah, shit, I think you need to sit down,” Sparrow said in alarm, guiding her to his old beat up couch. “Just take deep breaths or um something.”

Cerise took in a harsh breath, putting her head between her knees, breathing deeply in and out. Sparrow awkwardly patted her back lightly as she pulled herself together.

“Why?” She croaked as she sat up again. “Why would he do something like that?” She asked helplessly.

“I’ve got some ideas,” Sparrow said grimly. “But I bet you whatever the reason, this prophecy or whatever is the answer. Giles Grimm wrote this to make sure that other people would see it, that’s got to be worth something.”

“Is that all this is about to you?” Cerise asked harshly. “Profit, I can’t believe you’d be so selfish at a time like this!”

“Woah, woah, no that’s not what I meant! Is that really what you think of me?” Sparrow asked his face angry and tight. “Shit money is nice and all but information is always, always, better. This little piece of paper could be the key to taking down Miles Grimm for good.”

Cerise felt her jaw drop at Sparrow’s exclamation.

“I-what do you mean?” She stammered.

“Think about it,” Sparrow said. “There’s no record at all that a person existed, most people don’t even remember the guy’s name and the ones that do are too scared to do anything about it,” Sparrow explained. “Now this prophecy shows up, written by the guy himself and says something big. Don’t you get it? This is proof that he existed.” Sparrow said excitedly.

Cerise looked at Sparrow in amazement. She never expected that Sparrow would discover something like this. “Okay so this proves that Giles Grimm exists, existed,” she corrected herself. “But how will that prove that Headmaster Grimm…well you know,” she said.

“Think about it,” Sparrow said. “When someone dies under suspicious circumstances who do people suspect first?” He asked.

“Um family I guess,” Cerise said remembering all the crime shows she and Cedar sometimes watched together.

“Exactly, cops do that for a reason too, it’s because if there’s a murder or a disappearance, a lot of the time someone the victim knew did it.”

“So if we show people this paper…” Cerise said slowly.

“Miles Grimm will at least be a suspect of murder,” Sparrow finished for her. “And even if he gets away with it, it’ll totally ice his reputation.”

“He can’t get away with it,” Cerise growled low in her throat.

“Hey now, I totally agree with you.” Sparrow agreed placing his hands in front of his chest in a sign of peace. “Which means we have to play our cards right if we want this to work.”

“Okay, so now what?” Cerise asked.

“Now,” Sparrow said. “I do a bit more digging,” he said. “My parents make it their business to know stuff that other people don’t, that they’d never suspect. I can ask them to help out. Especially mom.”

“You mean Maid Marian?” Cerise said in surprise. “Doesn’t she help teach princessology or something? How can she help?”

Sparrow frowned at Cerise wrinkling his nose. “Ugh don’t buy that,” he said. “Mom only teaches that dumb class for the cash and the laughs, she’s all rebel through and through, haven’t you read her book?” He asked.

Cerise shook her head.

Sparrow sighed, “Well read it when you can, it’s pretty good. Anyway, my parents have been waiting a long long time to see Miles Grimm be locked away.”

“Why’s that?” Cerise asked. “Did he do something to them?” she said, anxious that Headmaster Grimm might have hurt her aunt and uncle.

“To them, nothing really, except give my mom a really shitty job,” he scoffed. “But he did make a good friend of theirs disappear,” he said darkly.

“You mean your parents knew his brother?” Cerise asked.

“Yep,” Sparrow said. “They were good friends, fought for the same cause too,” he said moving up from the couch and heading over to the large black chest across the room. Cerise watched him stash the branch and the envelope in the chest and pull something else out. He walked back to the couch, a small piece of paper in hand. “Take a look at this,” he said.

Cerise glanced at the paper. It was an old polaroid picture, faded with age. A young Robin Hood and Maid Marian stood cheerfully next to a lanky man with round glasses and shaggy grey brown hair. They couldn’t have been older than twenty at the oldest. Other people were in the photo as well, many of them Cerise didn’t recognize, but one couple gave her pause. “My parents!” she gasped looking at Sparrow with wide eyes.

“Yep,” he said smugly. “They knew him too.”

“Why didn’t they ever say anything?” Cerise wondered aloud.

“Probably the same reason my parents haven’t said anything yet,” Sparrow said.

“You mean they haven’t told you all this?” Cerise said in shock.

“Yeah, not exactly,” Sparrow said sheepishly. “I might have sort of dug around their stuff and filled in the gaps so to speak.”

“Sparrow!” Cerise chastised him slapping him on the shoulder. “You shouldn’t have been snooping through their stuff, they’re your parents!”

“Yeah well it worked out didn’t it?” Sparrow said unrepentant. “Now we know more now than we did before right?

“So you think our parents didn’t say anything-” Cerise started.

“To keep us out of this, yeah why wouldn’t they?” Sparrow finished for her.

“So this is Giles Grimm.” Cerise said thoughtfully looking back at the man in the photo. Then she got a sudden thought. “Wait, isn’t this proof too?” she asked.

“Yep,” Sparrow said. “But it wasn’t enough until now. Now there’s a name to a face,” he said. “My parents remember him but I don’t think they could really do anything about it .” He said.

“Because Headmaster Grimm had the records of him destroyed?” Cerise guessed.

“Bingo,” Sparrow said. “All that they’d be able to do was give others their word that he existed, and that wouldn’t have been enough to convince anyone important. Headmaster Grimm’s obviously got friends in high places anyway. He’s all buddy buddy with royalty isn’t he?”

“You don’t think they’re involved too?” Cerise said in shock, her heart beating a mile a minute at the thought.

“Doubt it, I mean it’s possible, but I seriously doubt it,” Sparrow said taking the photo back from Cerise.

“Why not?” Cerise wondered.

“Because it’s too messy,” Sparrow said bluntly. “Royals are a bunch of goody goodies, all about saving the day or whatever. Even if it they got something out of it, they for sure wouldn’t do something like this.”

“Then how did he get away with it?” Cerise wondered.

“Not sure,” Sparrow said thoughtfully. “I’ve got a few ideas but nothing concrete. That’s why I’m going to ask my parents, they’ll be mad I snooped through their stuff but they’ll get over it. We can build a case up, get some information together, and take down Headmaster Grimm for good.”

Cerise sat on Sparrow’s musty old couch, stunned. Thoughts were racing through her head a mile a minute, trying to process the information that Sparrow just dumped on her without a second thought. Among all of that, one thought came to mind. “I don’t get it,” Cerise said. “Why tell me, why all this?” She asked turning to Sparrow.

“Why all what?” Sparrow asked.

“I mean why tell me all this, why get involved anyway?” Cerise asked. “Your parents didn’t do anything for all of these years for a reason right? Why take the risk, what’s in it for you?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

Sparrow stared at her with a small frown. “That is an excellent question,” he said calmly. “The answer is simple, because I don’t want to follow my destiny.”

Cerise turned his words over in her head. “What does that have to do with anything?” She asked.

“What doesn’t it have to do with it?” Sparrow said. “Why do you think your parents and my parents worked with Giles Grimm?” Sparrow asked. “Why do you think they were all friends?”

“I don’t know,” Cerise asked in irritation wishing Sparrow would just spit it out already.

“Because they all wanted the same thing,” Sparrow concluded. “Your parents weren’t very crazy about following their destinies and being enemies now were they?” He reasoned. “Well my parents weren’t either, at least my mom wasn’t all about being a helpless damsel. My dad doesn’t like anyone else telling him what to do, even if the whole Robin Hood deal worked out for him.”

“They were rebels,” Cerise realized.

“Bingo,” Sparrow said. “Them and everyone else in the picture,” Sparrow said.

“And, you don’t want to follow your destiny either,” Cerise said.

“Hells bells, no,” Sparrow scoffed. “I mean I do take after my dad in some ways for sure, but I love my music more. I don’t want to steal from the rich and give to the poor, I want my music to get me rich,” Sparrow smirked.

“So noble,” Cerise deadpanned.

“Yeah well we can’t all be noble like you Ms Wolf,” Sparrow said rolling his eyes.

“Who else knows about this?” Cerise asked.

“Besides the people who got me that paper?” Sparrow asked. “For now, just you and me. Soon to be my parents too though.”

“You mean none of your friends know about this?” Cerise asked incredulously.

“Yeah no,” Sparrow said. “I didn’t want to involve the boys in this in case it went south.”

Cerise swallowed at the implication, her mind going back to Giles Grimm. He looked so happy in the photo, so carefree.

“So, you want to take down Headmaster Grimm, so you don’t have to follow your destiny, right?” Cerise asked.

Sparrow nodded. “Yeah, I mean that guy’s been running a school for years just to force people like us to follow our script, if he goes down then maybe we can change the whole system. Maybe...”

“Maybe, people like us can choose what we want,” Cerise breathed at the implication. Cerise thought of Raven then, of her desperation to be different, to be something other than just another villain, another Evil Queen. She thought of herself, of her family. Walking around with both her parents by her side, her hood down, her head held high.

“Okay,” Cerise nodded to herself. “Okay, I’m in.”

Sparrow broke out into a satisfied grin. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he smirked. “I’ll let you know after I’ve told my parents what’s up.”

“Are you going to tell them soon?” Cerise asked.

“Uh, not yet,” Sparrow said sheepishly.

Cerise narrowed her eyes at him.

“Hey, this isn’t just something I can tell them in a mirror message,” Sparrow insisted. “Has to be done in person, I’ll see my dad again during spring break. Best not to tell mom without him.”

“She’ll be pretty mad huh?” Cerise smirked.

“Yeah, she’ll be pretty mad I’ve been through her stuff,” Sparrow sighed.

“So we’re really going to do this…together?” Cerise asked more to herself in surprise.

“Don’t sound too excited,” Sparrow snarked.

“I’ll try to reel it in,” Cerise snarked back.

Sparrow and Cerise stared at each other for a long moment before bursting into laughter. Cerise never thought that she’d have such a good time with Sparrow of all people.

“Well, I think I need to get out of here,” Cerise said when their laughter died down. “I’m helping the others set up for Briar’s party after lunch.”

“Have fun,” Sparrow said picking up his guitar where he left it and strumming it idly.

“Will you uh, will you be coming to the party?” Cerise asked.

“Yeah me and the boys will lurk around for a bit,” Sparrow said easily . “Catch you later Ms Wolf.” He said with a salute.

“Later,” Cerise said leaving the tree house.

Cerise made her way back inside the school and to the castleteria to eat lunch with her friends. She tried to put the revelation about Headmaster Grimm in the back of her mind but it was hard. She couldn’t help but think of his brother. Of what Headmaster Grimm had done to him. She chewed her food slowly and without much feeling, no longer feeling very hungry. Cedar kept shooting her worried looks from across the table but the only thing that Cerise could do was shrug helplessly at her.

“I’m still a little out of it I guess,” Cerise said to her after they finished lunch.

“Okay, just don’t don’t exert yourself too much, if you’re tired then we can take a break,” Cedar assured her as they helped Briar set up streamers around the Grimmnasium after lunch.

‘If only it was that simple,’ Cerise thought to herself.

Most of the party supplies had arrived at the grimmnasium and others would come in just a few short hours. After lunch Cerise followed Cedar, Briar, and Maddie to the grimmnasium to help set up decorations. Briar really knew what she was doing. She coordinated everyone almost effortlessly. Cedar and Cerise would be setting up streamers and paper lanterns while Maddie and Briar would set up the tables for food and drinks before testing the lighting.

Cerise held the ladder steady for Cedar and passed her pieces of pastel pink and blue ribbons and tape. An hour into their work, Melody stopped by and did a sound check at the Dj booth set up across the room. Cerise actually found herself excited to listen to Melody’s set. She did a hexcellent job during True Hearts Day and Thronecoming.

After Melody had left and Briar helped them set up the rest of the decorations, about three hours had gone by. Cerise couldn’t help but feel proud of her work. It wasn’t nearly as elaborate as Thronecoming but it still looked fairy cool. The lighting slowly faded between soft blue and pink colors. Briar and Maddie had covered the rather dull plastic tables and chairs with fancy white table cloths. Cedar and Cerise’s streamers and paper lanterns really gave the room a finishing touch. All that was left to do was wait for the caterers to set the tables and get ready for the party.

“So, what are you guys gonna wear for the party?” Briar asked as they waited, drinking from water bottles that Briar had already supplied.

“Well, I was thinking of wearing the outfit I got for Maddie’s Wonderland tea party a while back,” Cerise answered after taking a swig out of her water bottle.

“I wasn’t sure what to wear but that sounds like a good idea,” Cedar said with a smile.

“Me too, oh goody! We can all drink my dad’s wonderland tea again, it’ll be like having a wonderland tea party!” Maddie giggled.

Cerise wrinkled her nose at the thought, remembering the foretelling tea she had. She silently resolved to stick with juice and water instead.

“That sound fairy cool,” Briar said. “I always thought those dresses were cute.”

“What are you going to wear?” Cedar asked.

“Apple and I bought new dresses a week ago,” Briar said. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

After that, Maddie’s dad and the caterers from the Beanstalk Bakery arrived. Briar helped them set up on the tables and soon they were all ready to go.

“I love you Daddy,” Maddie said as she drew her father into a hug goodbye.

“Goodbye pumpkin,” he said squeezing tight.

Cerise watched them say goodbye with a smile on her face thinking of her own parents. It would be nice to see her mom and properly spend time with her dad when spring break rolled around.

After the caterers left and everything had been set up, the girls went back to the dorm to change for the party. In her room, Cerise put on her red and white lace tea party dress with some of her fancier ankle length black boots with no heel. She put on a silver necklace, a gift from her mother to match. Cerise left her hair down and put on her usual cloak over it. Cedar had styled and pulled her long curly hair into high ponytail and topped it off with a gold headband. She wore the same light pink and black lace dress from Maddie’s party and silver pumps.

“Won’t your feet hurt from dancing?” Cerise wondered as she watched Cedar put them on.

“No, I can’t feel pain, that’s one thing that’s good about not being a real girl yet,” Cedar answered just about ready to go.

Cerise contemplated the implications of not being able to feel pain for a long moment before shaking it off. It did sound useful though. Cedar and Cerise left their room a little before five to meet the other girls in the common room. She spotted Maddie in the corridor on the way, all ready to go.

“You girls look tea-riffic!” Maddie exclaimed once spotting them.

“Thanks Maddie, you look hexcellent too,” Cedar said.

Maddie did look cute in her mint and purple colored lace dress with a tea cup print pattern, a Mad Hatter’s daughter through and through. The three of them entered the common room and spotted Briar waiting for them by the couch.

“You girls ready to party!” She smiled pumped up and ready to go.

Briar’s new dress was made from beautiful dark pink silk. It was cropped over one shoulder, the other arm being free from any straps. The ends of it were embroidered to look like pitch black thorns curling and tangling together. She wore dark pink matching heels and a set of rose themed silver earring and necklaces. Her beloved crown glasses were placed on top of her head as always.

“Briar, you look fantastic!” Maddie giggled clapping her hands together.

“Thanks, you girls look great too,” Briar said.

“Where’s Raven and Apple?” Cedar asked looking around to see them missing.

“They might take a bit longer getting ready, they were resting to get ready for the party,” Briar explained.

The three of them made their way back to the grimmnasium. By the time they got there, about twenty people were already lined up by the front door ready to go inside.

“Hey everyone, are you ready to party!?” Briar cheered as she approached.

“You know it!” One boy in the crowd with spiky red hair shouted in agreement.

“Alright!” Briar grinned. She opened the door to the grimmnasium and let everyone inside.

Cerise felt a hint of pride at seeing their handiwork. Briar really knew how to spruce up a plain old grimmnasium into something spelltacular. The room was tinted with light pink light that would slowly shift into other colors. A giant disco ball hung from the center of the room and sent shimmering lights throughout the dance floor.

“Come on girls, let’s dance,” Maddie grinned pulling Cedar and Cerise onto the dance floor.

Melody had just started her set as they approached. She chose some sort of electric mix for her first song, the bass pounding so loudly that Cerise could feel it thump in her chest. Other early comers like them also made their way to the dance floor. Maddie had dragged them to the very center of the floor and began moving her legs in an alarming way like they were suddenly made out of jelly.

“Um, Maddie what are you doing?” Cerise asked.

“This is the futterwacken, everyone in wonderland does this at parties!” Maddie yelled over the music.

Cerise and Cedar shared a look before shrugging and copying her movements. They danced the futterwacken for a while before moving onto to other moves. Cerise didn’t really dance so much as she swayed her body to the music. Melody’s set practically pumped through her veins. Song after song she danced, losing herself in the music. It was after the sixth or so song did Cerise begin to feel sweaty and parched.

“I’ll go get us some drinks,” she told Cedar and Maddie who were still going strong.

“Tea please!” Maddie called as she left.

“Okay!” Cerise said as she worked through the crowd to the refreshment table.

They couldn’t have been on the dance floor for more than a half an hour but the grimmnasium was already packed. To Cerise it seemed like the entire school had shown up. She had to squeeze her way through, grimacing as she brushed against strangers. Finally she was able to wiggle her way to the drink table. She got Maddie an iced earl grey tea as promised and served herself some berry punch. Despite all of the loud noises ringing in Cerise’s ears and the uncomfortable amount of smells from people, Cerise was having fun. It felt good to dance with her friends and not have to worry about anything else.

Cerise smiled to herself as she made her way back to Cedar and Maddie, paper cups in hand. As she worked through the crowd of people she spotted a tall figure draped in silver giggling with Maddie. Their long dark hair was piled up on top of their head. The long silver dress was backless with black lace edges creeping on the sides. A deep musky scent with just a touch of lilac perfume sent thrills down her spine.

“H-hey guys,” Cerise croaked as she approached, the drinks shaking in her hand.

Raven turned around at the sound of her voice, her dark eyes shining in the light of the room.

“Hey Cerise,” she greeted with a relaxed smile.

Cerise heart thudded in her chest almost painfully and she couldn’t help but look away from Raven’s enchanting gaze. Wordlessly, she passed Maddie her iced tea and took a large gulp of her own punch, suddenly parched.

“Having fun girls?” Briar asked back once more from mingling. Cerise spotted her dancing with a delighted Hopper earlier, Briar sadly unaware of his enthusiasm.

“Oh yes, this party is just tea-riffic!” Maddie cheered while doing another strange wonderlandian dance that seemed a cross between a moonwalk and imitating a chicken.

To her credit Briar didn’t let Maddie’s, well Maddie-ness faze her. “Glad to hear it,” she smiled.

“Spelltacular party, Briar,” Apple’s voice cut through the crowd as she approached, waving goodbye to the group of boys she was chatting with. “It’s so nice to just relax and have fun,” she smiled a perfect charming smile. Apple wore a short red dress with golden accents that glittered in the multicolored light.

“Thanks Apple, but I did have a lot of help,” Briar said gesturing to Cedar, Maddie and Cerise.

“You all did such a fantastic job, I’m sorry I couldn’t help…” Apple trailed off.

“It’s cool Apple, you needed your beauty sleep. I know all about that life,” Briar laughed.

Mid-conversation Melody switched the music to a fast paced bass heavy beat. “Oooh I love this song!” Apple squealed in delight. “Raven, dance with me?” she asked turning her big blue eyes onto Raven.
Cerise nearly felt her heart freeze in her chest as she watched Raven laugh in delight. “Of course,” she smiled taking Apple by the hand and leading her to a more open spot on the dance floor. Cerise watched them go with a sharp pang of jealousy in her chest. She took a few deep breaths to settle her heart and shook her head at herself. How stupid of her, Raven wasn’t hers. She had no right to act like such a well, a beast.

“Are you okay?” Cedar asked, her gaze worried but curious.

“Fine,” Cerise lied gruffly. “Let’s dance.”

Cerise finished her drink and threw away her cup, spending the next few songs trying to enjoy herself over the sharp roar of jealousy in her chest. She couldn’t help but sneak a few glances towards Raven and Apple laughing and dancing together just a short distance away. They moved together seamlessly, effortlessly to the beat. Cerise was only broken out of her jealousy fueled trance when Melody’s calming raspy voice cut through the music.

“Hello Ever After High. Glad to see you all moving to the beat. Now that everyone’s pumped I hope you don’t mind if I slow you down a bit.”

The frenzied beat shifted into a slower relaxed melody. Raven and Apple came back to the group, their faces flushed with exertion.

“Oh I’m dying of heat. I’m going to grab a drink, be back in a spell,” Apple said fanning herself with her hand, the crowd parting as she walked away.

“She’ll take longer than that,” Raven laughed at the image of Apple stopping to chat after greeting every other person or so.

Cerise watched the fondness in her gaze look after Apple and felt a strange energy welling in her chest. “Um, Raven do you want to dance with me?” She asked, stunned by her own bravery.

Raven looked away from the crowd turned her dark purple eyes onto Cerise. “Of course,” she smiled in surprise.

All of a sudden, Raven drew closer to her, placing one hand on Cerise’s shoulder and another in her hand. Cerise’s heart leapt in her throat as she and Raven guided them with the music, their steps light and small. Cerise was overwhelmed. Up close she could only smell Raven even among the sweaty crowd of her classmates. Her scent was musky in her throat, the gentle lilac smell from before almost overpowering.

Cerise felt dizzy with excitement. Her palms felt sweaty and Raven’s touch felt heavier than it really was on her shoulder. Her breath was too quick in her chest for such a relaxed pace. Eventually, Raven must have noticed her excitement.

“You don’t have to be so nervous,” she laughed, her breath ghosting over Cerise’s right ear beneath her hood.

Cerise let out a nervous laugh and cringed at herself. “Sorry, if I’m not that good of a dancer,” she said awkwardly.

“You’re doing fine,” Raven said leading them into a twirl.

“Where did you learn to dance so well?” Cerise asked curiously, following Raven’s subtle lead.

“My dad taught me,” Raven said simply. “He said it’s an important skill to know.”

“No kidding,” Cerise laughed nervously again, her cheeks flushed. “You’re really good.”

“Thanks,” Raven laughed again. Cerise would give anything to hear to hear it just one more time.

One slow song melded into another. She and Raven swayed slowly together among the gentle beat. Cerise sent a silent thank you to Melody for working her musical magic. She wished she could stay in that moment forever.Another slow song came and went and the next song began to sound a bit more upbeat. Cerise’s heart sank in her chest at the sound knowing that her time was up. Raven led them to a stop and took her hand away from Cerise’s shoulder and then unclasped their hands.

“That was really fun,” she smiled down at Cerise.

Cerise merely nodded her head, her mouth dry. She coughed lightly trying to clear her throat. Already the places where Raven’s hands had been felt colder without her.

“I’m going to get something to drink, want anything?” Raven asked.

“Uh, punch I guess,” Cerise mumbled.

“I’ll be right back,” Raven smiled before she disappeared into the crowd.

Raven came back soon after and handed Cerise her drink. They moved towards the other side of the room to get away from the crowd. They spent a good while leaning against the wall of the grimmnasium just talking and laughing together. Maddie joined them soon after, apparently even she got tired from dancing. Maddie spent the time telling them about various wonderlandian customs that Cerise found strange yet oddly fascinating. Even more fascinating was the cadence of Raven’s laugh when Maddie told them another ridiculous yet true wonderlandian custom.

After taking a breather, they spent the rest of the night dancing. Briar and Apple weaved their way in and out of their little group to mingle and dance with others. Raven and Cerise danced to some faster songs together after their slow dance, but it wasn’t the same. Cerise even waved hello to Sparrow later that night as she saw him rock out with his friends. After hours of dancing the party finally began to wind down. At the stroke of midnight exactly, the electric thrum of energy within the grimmnasium began to wane, the magic of the night fading like a fairy godmother’s spell.

People began to clear out of the grimmnasium happy but exhausted from all of the excitement. Cerise took one last cup of punch, the very dregs of the bowl, and gulped it down. The tables that once held all sorts of treats were picked clean. Cerise was about to follow behind a giggling Cedar and Maddie when she got a strong whiff of apple scented perfume. She tensed slightly as the chemical smell grew stronger and she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

“Hey Apple,” Cerise said as she turned around.

“Hey Cerise,” Apple said with a small smile.

Cerise frowned at Apple. Her posture looked tense and nervous. Cerise gave a small sniff and felt the familiar tangy scent of anxiety mixing with Apple’s perfume.

“Can I um, speak to you, before you go I mean,” Apple said nervously.

“Uh, sure,” Cerise said putting aside her empty paper cup on plastic table.

“Let’s go outside first,” Apple said.

Curious, Cerise followed Apple towards the opposite end of the grimmnasium. Apple opened the door, the cool night air a pleasant chill amongst Cerise’s skin. The moon above was bright, with a barely a cloud in the sky. It was a half moon, waxing, Cerise’s wolf half told her. In a few short weeks Cerise would have to burn off the excess energy that a full moon gave her, running and howling through the dark forest.

The door swung shut behind them. In the corner of her eye, Cerise could see Apple shiver beside her.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Apple said, her arms wrapped tightly around her.

“Okay,” Cerise said silently disquieted.

“Do you-I mean,” Apple stuttered. “Do you not like me?” Apple asked nervously turning her big blue eyes onto Cerise.

Cerise felt a shock of fear go down her spine. She cringed at Apple’s wide sad eyes, feeling guilt settle into her stomach. “What uh, made you think that?” Cerise asked awkwardly.

“A few things,” Apple said sadly. “I just feel like, every time I talk to you, I say the wrong thing,” she admitted. “Like during gym when I mentioned your dad and made you uncomfortable, or when I tried to touch your hood…” she trailed off.

Cerise felt her mouth go dry.

“It’s like,” Apple began again. “It’s like whatever I do or say I always do something…wrong,” she admitted her voice going wobbly and sad.

Cerise’s stomach lurched at the sadness in Apple’s voice. She grew even more alarmed when she could clearly smell the salty scent of tears. “But Cerise, even when you didn’t like me much, you’ve been so kind to me,” Apple said her blue eyes shining with tears.

“I-what?” Cerise said completely thrown.

“When I was hurt in the forest,” Apple said wiping her eyes and sniffling. “You noticed and made sure I was okay, even when everyone else didn’t notice.”

Cerise didn’t know what to say to that.

“You don’t have to like me, I guess I just want to know why,” Apple admitted her voice breathy and sad.

Apple kept sniffling lightly while Cerise’s thoughts were reeling. She wanted to reassure Apple that it wasn’t true, that she did like her and that she was just imagining things, but no matter how much she tried the lie stayed stuck in her throat. She didn’t want Apple to notice her feelings, she didn’t want anyone to notice really but she did. Apple noticed.

Cerise quietly gathered her thoughts and decided for better or worse, to tell Apple the truth.

“Okay,” Cerise said. “You’re right, I didn’t, dont really like you,” she admitted out loud feeling like a monster.

Cerise could hear Apple’s breath stutter to a halt.

“Why, why not?” Apple asked her voice high and broken.

Cerise sighed deeply, gathering all the jealous possessive feelings that she shoved inside and pulling them to the front of her mind. “I guess I’m just jealous,” Cerise admitted.

“Jealous?” Apple asked in shock.

“Uh yeah,” Cerise huffed awkwardly. “I-this is hard to explain I guess but, I never really had a lot of friends growing up.” Cerise admitted.

Apple gazed at Cerise, her eyes wide but completely silent, letting Cerise gather her thoughts.

“Growing up I always felt, alone,” Cerise said with difficulty. “I wasn’t really close with anyone besides my parents. I didn’t really know how to talk with anyone and, nobody wanted to talk with me,” she said sadly thinking back to all of those lonely days. Her village was small and as much as Cerise cared for both sides of her family, they were all very closed minded. It was always wolves against hoods. Being in between two worlds like was she was wasn’t always easy.

Despite being completely terrible to Apple, Apple still gazed at Cerise with sympathy.

“And then, I came here,” Cerise said gesturing her arms wide as if she were able to encompass all of Ever After High. “And I got to know some people, people I grew close with, Raven, Maddie, Cedar…” she trailed off. Thinking of her friends, her pack. “And all of a sudden, I wasn’t alone anymore,” she whispered.

“What changed?” Apple asked quietly.

“A-a lot of things,” Cerise sighed keeping the fact of her growing crush on Raven silent. “But mostly I guess my friends made other friends, and I didn’t really know how to uh, deal with it,” she said lamely.
The two girls were silent for a moment before Apple let out a quiet “Oh.”

“I’m sorry,” Cerise rushed to say feeling guilt well up inside of her. “I’m sorry for being such a bad friend,” she huffed frustrated with herself. “I’m sorry if I hurt you Apple. This is totally my fault, you didn’t-you didn’t do anything wrong,” she sighed.

“W-well, I’m glad that you told me the truth,” Apple laughed shakily wiping the last of the tears from her eyes.

She looked at Cerise with a watery smile before holding out her hand. Cerise stares at it dumbfounded.

“Want to, start over?” Apple asked tentatively, her hand trembling ever so slightly.

Cerise looked at it for a long moment before clasping it in her hand. “Yeah, I’d like that,” she whispered grasping Apple’s soft hand in her own, her voice gruff with emotion.

They shake on it, a promise made between them before reluctantly letting go.

“It’s getting late,” Apple laughs. “We should get some sleep.”

Cedar and Apple went back inside and made their way back to the girls dorm. They walked in silence for most of it until halfway up the staircase Cerise cleared her throat.

“If you, um wouldn’t mind, could you help me study in chemystery?” Cerise asked.

“Oh, of course!” Apple exclaimed. “Anything, what do you need help on?” she asked eagerly.

“Um, everything I think,” Cerise laughed.

“I’m free this Monday afternoon,” Apple offered. “We can go over the new unit together.”

“I’d, uh like that a lot,” Cerise coughed, a small smile on her face.

“Goodnight,” Apple said when they finally reached the girls common room.

“Night Apple,” Cerise said waving goodbye.

Apple went to her room and Cerise to hers. Cerise’s heart feels lighter in her chest. She waved off Cedar’s curious gaze as she entered the room, got ready for bed, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, fell asleep.

The rest of the week passed by as normal as a life in Ever After High could get. Cerise attended classes and spent time with her friends. She hung out with Briar and Blondie more than she ever would have considered doing before, listening to them discuss sports and the latest spellebrity gossip. That Monday Apple and Cerise spent two hours in the library going over chymystery notes before dinner. Cerise hated the studying but enjoyed chatting with Apple during their short breaks. They both liked Tailor Quicks latest album. It wasn’t much but it was a start.

Cerise ran into Sparrow one afternoon after classes had let out that week. They passed each other silently through the halls, Sparrow with his friends and Cerise with hers. They locked eyes for a short moment, Sparrow’s light green eyes meeting with Cerise’s brown. Sparrow’s sharp grin softened at Cerise’s gaze, turning more serious, more thoughtful. He nodded to her in acknowledgement and just like that the spell was broken, Cerise going one way and Sparrow another.

As her friends chatted and laughed around her, Raven giggling at one of Cedar’s jokes, Cerise couldn’t help but turn over the dark thoughts at the back of her mind. She couldn’t forget what she and Sparrow had learned. Bile crept up in her throat at the thought of Headmaster Grimm killing his brother in cold blood. Killing was always terrible but killing your own blood didn’t settle right with the wolf within her. The very thought of any of her friends, her pack, spending time alone with Headmaster Grimm sent a jolt of panic through her.

Cerise had considered telling her friends about what she and Sparrow had learned but she couldn’t help but put it off. There wasn’t anything to be done until Sparrow and Cerise were able to tell their parents about it over spring break. There’d be nothing they could do about it at all. She didn’t want them to know, didn’t want to break the peaceful spell that had fallen over Ever After High just yet. But a part of her knew that whatever might be coming, she couldn’t avoid it forever. Glancing at her friends goof off, their familiar comforting smells mixing together put her mind more at ease. They had time.

Unknowingly to her, Headmaster Grimm sat solemnly in his office deep in thought, his hands clasped together under his chin. The sun sank in the sky behind him, casting Ever After into a warm hazy glow. His shadow cast a long figure against the wall, growing large in the fading light.

Many floors beneath him at the very bottom of the castle, away from the world paced Giles Grimm, restlessly, eagerly within his cell. He clucked to himself, humming to a strange offbeat, a new spring to his step despite his worn weathered body.

“The road goes on,” He mumbled to himself. “But it parts many ways, where ever does it go?” he muttered to himself stroking his long grey beard.

Unknown to him and to all at the very edges of the fairy tale world lived an old oak tree. It sat serenely in an open field, the setting sun casting a warm glow around it. It’s wood was a rich dark brown, the kind that seemed to glow with a warmth that even the most talented of artists could not recreate. The air was calm around it, it’s wood weathered but strong, towering at least five stories high and protected with an ethereal glow. But something was wrong.

One of it’s oldest thickest branches lay cracked and torn. It drooped towards the ground, an angry violent crack tore through it, leaving the branch wilted. At the very center of the crack was a dull grey color. It was if all of the life where color had once been was drained from it. The color was sickly and pale. Slowly it crept from the crack, the rich glowing brown paling in its wake.