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It was two hours after midnight, and everyone was bound to be asleep by now. Everyone but Raven. Who was next to Apple’s coffin in the Enchanted Forest. She had sat down, her arms and head lying on the coffin’s side as she looked to the poisoned princess, her roommate and best friend of a year.
She took one of Apple’s hands into her own as she sighed, Daring’s kiss hadn’t worked, they had no idea how to wake her up. She was cursed to stay like this until Raven either found some concoction that doesn’t exist, or her true love or storybook lover showed up suddenly. The likelihood of that happening was one in a million according to the lessons Giles taught.
Raven had decided she was going to leave tonight. Head to Ever After and go with her mother willingly so she wouldn’t tear the queendom apart looking for Raven, so they would leave Ever After and everyone could get back to their lives. She had a plan invoking Faybelle but she wasn’t confident in it, not yet, She sighed as she began to speak up.
“I really did mean it, I want you to get your happily ever after. I should have left, run far away when I realized I didn’t want to be the next Evil Queen, I could have prevented this and I’m sorry that I didn’t.” Raven and Apple had barely seen eye to eye on matters, like destiny and Raven’s true nature. Though they shared a special bond. Fragile yet strong it was, snapped by the news of her mother being released to Apple’s hand and mended by her apology before she fell. Perhaps her gambit will work, perhaps it won’t.
She placed a folded note in Apple’s hand, folding Apple’s deathly pale fingers over it, for the others to find in the morning when they notice Raven gone. It was impromptu yet, it would be a good forewarning for them to realize she hadn’t given up on hope.
Or maybe she had, and just feared someone else became like her roommate and decided to concede in this battle of wits, leaving a smoking gun if her friends wanted to- no, cared enough to use it.
“I hope if- when you wake up, you understand why I did what I’m doing now.” Raven continued, her head nuzzled next to Apple as she rambled on, holding the deathly pale hand that she had, though something… felt off all of a sudden.
Raven felt her blood run cold as she raised herself up, putting a hand to Apple’s neck and searching for the princesses pulse, only to be met with nothing. She frantically went for her right hand and she felt nothing.
Apple was dying, and there wasn’t a thing they could do, Daring’s kiss had failed, and now they were on limited time! No one else was awake right now- Raven was planning to leave Apple safely with everyone else but, if Raven couldn’t figure something out…
She didn’t want to waste time thinking about it.
The fairytale of Snow White, what could influence it? The people currently known to be apart are her and Apple, and her mother now she guessed. Only things like illegal in Ever After or her mothers magic can influence stories- her mothers magic! Her mother and her, if they shared anything personality wise, it would be their skills in creativity, but to the extent of changing a set group of characters? That’d be impossible. The most she could do is shuffle-
A realization dawned on the witch, as she immediately pushed her arms down on the bed and raised herself to her roommate's face, planting a kiss on her red lips.
Then, pure white light shot from the kiss, along with sparks of purple jolts, presumably from Raven. It was bright enough to alert the whole camp awake, causing Raven to panic. Apple raised upwards and began to cough the poison out. Though no one left their tents, Raven let out a sigh of relief.
Raven placed the Booking Glass in her hands as Apple regained her senses. Raven’s eyes glistened as she saw Apple back up and just… alive, but she couldn’t stay, the princess muttered softly, raising a hand to stroke Raven’s cheek.
“Raven…? Is that... really you?” Apple asked, before her eyes were fluttering back to sleep, as if the poison took all the energy out of her. Raven felt relief yet horrid that she didn’t even have the energy to wake up after being poisoned, so she tried to play it off.
“It is, go back to sleep, it’s late.” Raven whispered in a quiet tone, fiddling with the Booking Glass, Apple felt the note in her hands and merely crinkled it, though she felt that it was no longer needed as she snuck her hand into Apple’s to remove it, and give her the Booking Glass instead. She felt Apple feel up her hand while she took the mirror.
“Mm… alright…” She felt better about what she was doing after hearing Apple’s voice again, and was more confident in her plan to manipulate Faybelle’s emotions to her advantage.
Once she heard Apple snore, she felt content enough to walk away from her side, even if it felt wrong to be so far from her at a time like this. Though she needed to get to work, she headed to the dragon’s field and mounted Nevermore.
“Well, here goes nothing girl.” Raven reassured her dragon as they lifted off and back towards Ever After High.
Raven woke up from her recollection, she was in her dorm bed. She was safe, as a reward from the headmasters, she was allowed to visit her mother whenever she pleased now. She appreciated the newfound trust after the incident. She yawned as she stretched up to roll out of bed.
Apple was still in her own bed, she occasionally talked in her sleep but today was mostly quiet which Raven wasn’t going to interfere with, she had been hermitting in their dorm since the Dragon Game’s incident, understandable so if Raven was being honest. Perhaps she feared whiplash, that Raven knew wouldn’t come even if she had gone out as if nothing happened, the White’s influence in this world is strong after all.
Raven’s head ached as she headed to her vanity and pulled out a pill bottle from a hidden compartment, due to the large amount of magic she had to use along with the Booking Glass, her head had been killing her, Baba Yaga gave her magic painkillers to try and help fend the pain, and she’d been taking them as advised, keeping them a secret so Apple wouldn’t feel worse about the incident.
She put the container on the table as she headed into the bathroom and took them with a cup of water, feeling the tension in her headache resolve as she got ready for her morning. The witch was considerate with being quiet though, it seemed like even if a trumpet went off, Apple would be knocked out cold. For the best, they’d been avoiding talking about what happened that night.
She sighed as she called the birds, Apple’s birds, to tie her corset for her. She sometimes wondered why she still wore these accursed things, they looked great on her, but by Fairy Godmother they were uncomfortable. Apple bought her an entire wardrobe so she swallowed her critiques and wore the clothing, it went with her hair anyway, four doves flew in and assisted with the strings, Raven letting out a small yelp of discomfort as they pulled it.
She clipped the feathered collar on, she had no hassle with it now, it was a gift from her father when she first came to Ever After, she still remembers the hassle she and Maddie went through to fix the clip up the first time she wore it, and now it was a part of her style. It was a nice reminder of home.
Sometimes it bothered her on how after signing the book, she didn’t feel drawn to Queen’s Castle anymore, sure they got rid of it hours after she signed, but she’ll never be able to undo the signature and the things that came with it. It confused her, she got the rewards of signing (that the others clearly didn’t get from their pages alone) and she expected the cons to come with it, but seeing how she woke up Apple…
She stopped thinking about it after that.
She closed her door quietly and locked it without another word and headed for the headmaster’s office, she passed Maddie who gave her a ‘good luck!’ Before she walked in, the headmaster simply gave her a nod and pressed the button, letting her walk in without another word.
Nevermore was guarding the entrance like normal, Raven giving her pet a small nuzzle as she continued up the staircase, Nevermore trailing behind her, after their last visit she appreciates the company just in case her mother tried to rile her up again, she was used to climbing these many stairs so it was no workout, it was a perk as Headmaster Grimm just happened to get her and Apple (originally Maddie) the highest dorm room up.
Raven let out a deep breath then opened the final door between her and her mother and there sat her mother, eating her breakfast as she called Raven inside.
“Birdie! Lovely to see you again.” She hummed, Raven walking closer with Nevermore hiding behind her legs quietly as she gave the Evil Queen a wave. Starting to greet her with her normal tone, she had become much more calm talking to her mother as of late.
“Hey mom, as much as I’d love to mindlessly chat, I need… a few questions answered.” Raven presented, causing the older woman to let out a gaggle of laughter, a horrific sound to most people though something the younger witch grew used to, it was oddly soothing.
“This is the second time you’ve come to my mirror asking a favor, birdie, though it seems this time fruitspawn isn’t with you. I can imagine she wouldn’t want to see me again so soon” Her mother had the most interesting nicknames for Apple, but at least she made them obvious who she was referring towards.
“Well, it is about her…” Raven bit her lip hard enough for blood to draw, the taste of crimson causing her to lightly cringe as she quickly fixed it up with magic, her headache spiking as a reaction.
“Right right, you’ve come to talk about Snowflake, well I can’t blame you, it’s quite rare to see cases of true love these days.” The Evil Queen said casually, messing with her nails as her daughter took a double take, a puzzled look on the experienced witches face as she just spat out with more hostility than intended a simple “What?”
“You know?” Raven sputtered, her mother shrugging as she continued, this time cutting her breakfast with a knife as she began to ramble on about her suspicions.
“Well, there would be no way for you to have beaten me otherwise, Evil Queen magic is the most powerful in the land due to our witch level and our trade, and due to you being new to evil magic, I’d overpower you in a heartbeat, even counting the Booking Glass’ power it wouldn’t be enough, so I presumed it was your connection with Fruitbat, as the only thing stronger than me, well that we can see, is true love, something no one can control.” She took a bite of her food as she finished her statement, awaiting her daughter's reply.
Raven’s stance became much more thoughtful as she took her mothers word seriously and began to process everything she had been informed about, she thought her mother had shuffled the story parts, but it had been true love? Her mother spoke up before she could react, however.
“You know, I’m royally proud of you Raven.” She cooed in a genuine tone, causing Raven to let out a pathetic laugh, glancing up with a look of disbelief as she replied back to her.
“Seriously? After everything?” She chuckled, her mother continued to gush her affectionate words even with Raven seemingly not taking it seriously.
“Really. You stood up to the Evil Queen and won and your magic’s much more powerful than before, I truly am proud of you.” It made Raven think back to that moment when she was competing with Apple on the dragons, as her roommate hit the sore spot about her mother not being proud of her.
“Thanks mom, it really means a lot.” Raven blurted out, her words true yet still in shock, her mother gave her a kind smile but soon Nevermore bumped her leg, notifying her that her time was about to be up.
“Ah- shoot, seems like that’s all the time we have this week, see you later?” Raven shot towards her mom, who merely nodded as she began to walk out with Nevermore at her feet.
“See you next week! Oh! And! If that no good princess treats you poorly, let her know one of these days you’ll-” Her mother's instructions cut off as she shut the door behind her. For the first time in a very long time, she left her visit with a better feeling than when she first arrived. She pet Nevermore before entering back in the Headmaster’s Office, Grimm simply acknowledged her as she walked out.
Nevermore gave her a small bap before flying out one of the windows nearby, leaving Raven all alone as she headed to the women’s dormitory tower, sometimes she envied Rosabella and Darling for having the door closest to the entrance of the tower as she began to climb the stairs, in all fairness she was originally going to share the very top room with Maddie, so at the very least their dorm room’s location wasn’t Apple’s fault.
She reached the door and unlocked it with her key, she let out a small chuckle as she remembered when she had to add additional locks to their door after Legacy Day, though she saw Apple sitting at Raven’s vanity, twiddling the pill bottle in her hand. Raven’s heart fell to her feet.
Oh nonfiction. She didn’t put it away.
Apple turned her attention to Raven with a firm yet cold look, Raven awkwardly looked back and felt herself break a cold sweat, though then unexpectedly Apple’s face dropped to one of pure anguish. Which was much more hurtful than one of pure hate and anger.
“You know… you don’t have to hide these things from me, all I’d want to do if I knew you were unwell is help.” Apple explained, putting the bottle down on the table as Raven raised her hands in a surrender like motion.
“Of course, I just didn’t want to stress you out more right now, you must have a lot on your mind if you’ve been hiding in the room all this time” Raven defended herself, Apple tended to be eccentric when she wanted to help her friends out, especially Raven.
“You’re so considerate it almost stings sometimes.” Apple laughed, taking Raven’s hands that were still up and clasping them into her palms. Apple had always acted oddly intimate but if her mother’s deduction about their connection was correct, it was likely that the princess was drawn to her. Apple spoke up before Raven could.
“Hey- Raven, can we talk? About how I woke up from the poison.” Apple blurted, Raven took a seat on her bed and nodded to give her roommate consent to continue. She didn’t know exactly how to deliver the news.
“I don’t know if this was real or a dream or not but, I remember seeing you- or I guess it looked like you. You weren’t there when I woke up so it doesn’t make sense I saw you- speaking of, never do that again, it gave me a heart attack. What I’m trying to ask is, did you wake me up? I could have sworn I saw you and you gave me something.” Apple rambled, looking at Raven and awaiting a response, practically begging for one with the look in her baby blue eyes. Raven let out a sigh as she explained in the least awkward way she figured she could.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d remember that, I was talking to you before you woke up, you stopped breathing and I panicked. I didn’t know what to do and then it hit me. At the time I thought my mom had switched the story’s characters around but…” Raven trailed off, she didn’t know how she could break the news about their connection.
“But what, Raven?” Apple urged, a little too desperately.
“I ended up being the one who kissed you awake, Apple.” She felt a weight be lifted off her chest as she admitted, though to her delight Apple didn’t cringe or seem uncomfortable one bit. She simply sat there with her hands crossed and her chin on top as she listened patiently. When Raven froze from her being unphased, she let out the high pitched giggle Raven adored.
“Well, you were the only one who was next to me when I first woke up and I guessed it earlier, I just wanted to confirm it.” Apple explained, she was doing her logic voice, when she began to ramble about something complex, her voice went up and she talked rather quickly, being lab partners in Chem tells you a lot. Though, Raven raised a hand with an unsure look in her eyes to interrupt her.
“What now?” Raven awkwardly chuckled as she asked, she was no oracle, she wouldn’t know what Apple would want to do knowing the truth of the situation. She was nervous admittedly, keeping her gaze away from the princess.
Though the blonde took her hand, and kissed the back of it, leaving a red lipstick stain on her pale skin.
“Now? We see where destiny takes us.” Apple confirmed, a bright smile on her face. This was the first time in a very long time Raven was certain about where she wanted to be in the future.
After so long, it finally felt okay to know who she wanted to be and to say the things left unsaid.