Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was the first day at the school for good, a day famous for its terrifying bird ride which ended in a gentle flowerbed landing before the evers were whisked away to begin their new lives. A surprisingly peaceful affair for the ever students.

Most ever students that is.

Gregor Charming, son of Cinderella, had made himself known as an outlier from his very first moments in the school when he landed not in a soft pasture of flowers but in a tree. The branches of which almost immediately broke under his weight sending him crashing onto the stone path beneath. His unfortunate state, while going unnoticed by the caretaker fairies, caught the attention of a dark-haired prince in grey.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"Just trying...to catch..my breath"

"Ah of course" The boy knelt down on one knee beside him, gazing into the distance as he went into monologue "It must be overwhelming to be a part of such greatness, to be chosen as the best of the best. You're finally among your own kind, people like me who are obviously courageous...handsome" He flipped a non-existent piece of hair out of his eyes dramatically. "And people like you who have..." The boy paused, staring at Gregor quizzically "other qualities."

"I think I pulled something"

"Enough chat" The prince ignored Gregor's pained whimpers, pulling him to stand and dragging him along "We're late, how are you with a sword?"

"Sword!?"

***

It was the first day at the school for evil, a day infamous for its rain. Not a rain of water, or even fire, acid, or blood. A rain of students. Never students, clad in black and clutching their worldly possessions for dear life crashing into the moat and scrambling to get inside lest they be trampled underfoot and drowned.
One raindrop in this shower was Jennet, first puppet and now daughter of the coachman brought to life with dark magic and donkey parts, whose first moments let herself be known as a completely average Never, at least for now. Mere moments after crashing into the moat with an almighty splash; Jennet emerged from the water, hitched up her stained circus uniform, grabbed her carpet bag under one arm, and head-butted a horned-changeling boy out of her way. Unruly, short, green streaked dark hair framing her scowl like a storm cloud

Her path of destruction only ended once she reached her dorm, laying a patchwork quilt down on her bed and collapsing upon it.

"Now that was quite the show"

Jennet sat up straight and locked eyes with the familiar changeling boy leaning in her doorway.

"...You're Frey"

"The one and only nephew of Maleficent, can't you see the resemblance?" He produced a wooden cane from behind his back and twirled it "you dropped this in your quest for property damage by the way."

Frey twisted the handle of it before handing it back to her "No hidden blade? disappointing"

"It's not a hidden blade if you're expecting it to be there"

"Hm...just for the record I'd rather my new roommate didn't introduce herself by giving me a concussion" He offered a clawed hand to her "I prefer the formalities". Jennet meekly accepted it, only to be pulled close enough for him to whisper in her now flattened ear "If you humiliate me like that again, I will cut off that little hoof of yours and make glue. Clear?"

"Crystal."

***

Gregor felt like throwing up. Well, he already had in someone's helmet, the evidence of which he quickly tossed out of the nearest window, but now he felt like throwing up again.
Years of sitting by his mother's feet and playing with mice while his older brother and sister were raised in the proper ways of the court had unsurprisingly not taught him how to use a sword. It wasn't as if his family could help him now, his brother had been left behind and in the grip of the Stymph, his sister Dauphine had immediately declared that they were no longer siblings and he was not to associate with her. How they expected him to perform an elaborate peacock-esc dance routine, fight the class favorite in sword-to-hand combat and throw a rose to his true love after only being here for a few hours was beyond him.

Before he could dwell on his fate any longer he was pushed straight into it. The showcase went better than expected as he just about managed to not trip over himself, and while he somehow managed to throw the rose behind him rather than towards the ever girls, Gregor was sure that no one took notice of it. However, as Tedros took his entrance and Gregor drew his sword, he came to a horrible realization as he felt the hilt of his sword knock into something, or rather someone, behind him.

Gregor spun round to see a never girl with curly hair and floppy ears clutching her nose in pain while a boy with horns sat beside her and laughed hysterically.

"Oh god, I'm so-"

Before he could finish his apology Gregor was promptly knocked off his feet and across the room, looking up to see that same never staring at him with bared teeth.

If the fairies didn't kill him when they found that helmet, then she certainly would.

Chapter Text

True allies were a rare phenomenon in the school for good and evil, especially for those outside them norm. So Gregor felt blessed to find Agatha. Like all princesses she was beautiful, but Agatha was uniquely beautiful in her heart as well as her face. Initially he approached her as an means to vent, feeling that she may tolerate him for a moment instead of regarding him with pitiful disgust. Instead he found someone who genuinely cared about and understood what he was going through. But it was short-lived, as soon he was shooed away and his place was taken by...a witch of all things.

As Gregor awkwardly walked away from the intense conversation now blooming between Agatha and her never friend, he began to wonder if her friendship was not so strange after all. He was already far from what was expected, perhaps he could too find a friend outside of his predesignated "allies" of knights and princes. Or at least someone to sit with at lunch. Once Gregor saw that never girl again, studying by herself on the darker side on the room, he decided that an apology would probably be the best way to start a conversation.
Before he could even get close to the table to introduce himself, the green and black haired never's ears stood up straight and she stared straight into Gregor's eyes with an expression one would usually find on a startled mouse.

"What are you doing."

"Oh! Ehrm...hi? I'm Gregor"

"Jennet."

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Gregor...wait"

Jennet's serious expression crumbled in an instant and she covered her mouth, attempting to stop the bursts of giggles and brays. Still giggling uncontrollably, she kicked forward the chair in front of her and Gregor accepted it, unsure whether she was laughing at him or with him. "So." She continued, after her laughter finally subsided and she wiped the tears from her eyes "What ARE you doing, the knights sit a-thataway" She gestured with a fork towards a table of ever boys who had spontaneously begun dueling in the middle of lunch.

"Well I'm not really a knight, and I wanted to apologize"

"Apologize for what?"

Gregor blinked in surprise "For hitting you in the face?"

"Oh that!" Jennet laughed brightly, lifting her head to show off her still-bloody upper lip "I should be thanking you, this got me a good score in uglification"

"Really? but you seemed quite angry with me at the time" Gregor replied, recalling the honestly quite terrifying look she at given him at the showcase

"What do you mean? I smiled at you."

"...That was your smile?"

"Yeah of course"

"You looked like you wanted to eat me!" It was Gregors turn to laugh now, feeling more at ease knowing that he had not only managed to not make an enemy, but his clumsiness had somehow managed to help someone.

"Who says I don't?"

The table fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"...That was a joke"

"Oh...right" He smiled awkwardly, "You know, your much nicer than I was expecting for a never, no offense!"

"None taken, I'm not too fond of the label...too much"

"Yeah me either, I can't even eat anything here"

Jennet looked at him suddenly, her brows furrowed as her frown seemed to make the rest of her face darken "They don't let you eat?"

"No! no" Gregor hurried to correct himself "They let me eat its just, I'm a vegetarian which is fine if your a princess but since I'm not it's very...protein based"

His never friend on the other hand, had only half listened to the excuses and had been rummaging through her rusty pail since he uttered the word "vegetarian" . Finally she produced a lump wrapped in cloth which she practically threw at Gregor. After overcoming the surprise of being smacked in the face by a mystery gift, he slowly wrapped it and stared in confusion at the squishy, white slices inside.

"Its a puffball" Jennet explained "Mushroom, good protein...apparently eating something which thrives off decay isn't 'good' enough for the ever side so we get them"

"But...this is yours"

She shrugged "I can get more, gluttony is encouraged. But I should warn you since it is never food its not gonna be-" She was cut off as Gregor visibly winced at the taste of the fungus "...great"

"No it's fine...well it's not fine its vile but I'm probably not gonna faint as much, thank you"

"Then we'll share from now on, I'm not having you faint anymore. I'm a never not a monster"

Jennet smiled at him, still the same bared 'I want to eat you' expression but somehow Gregor wasn't afraid of it. The moment was broken as the sound of a gong echoed through the hall and Jennet covered her ears at the sudden sound. They both hurried to gather their things and Gregor stashed the gifted food in his satchel for later, barely having time to yell to one another as they were hurried away.

"You need anything and you come to be alright, not them!"

"I will, and Thank you!"

***

Gregor had remained true to his word, a fact that Jennet would come to realize the very next day after her classes had ended and a rock was thrown at her dorm window just as she was tying a rose to her bedpost to dry.

"What the hell..."

She open the window and peered down towards the moat edge, expecting to see a classmate to had decided to make her their victim, instead seeing what at first seemed to be a wolf guard but as she looked closer and noticed the crooked ears, flesh colored hands and sprig of ginger hair-

"Gregor?!"

Gregor waved at her from below and began to attempt to climb the castle wall which, with its the jagged and uneven surface, might be feasible for the average student but Gregor was no average student so he almost immediately slipped and landed back on his behind in the mud.

"Hold on! Good god Gregor how am I going to-" Jennet was cut off as she was hit in the back of the head with a braided rope, no...an extremely long braid of human hair. She looked over to see a no-longer napping Frey scowling at her from his bed.

"Where did you...why are you-"

"You do not want to know how I have that and I do not care what rules you are breaking just allow me to sleep!" And with that he violently pulled the curtain shut and presumably went back to sleep. Wasting no more time, Jennet threw one end of the braid out of the window (likely to Gregors confusion) and held onto the other, bracing her hoof against the wall for support. After a few failed attempts where Gregor fell while climbing, and another which almost pulled her out of the window after him, the pair silently decided that he should hold onto the braid for dear life while Jennet pulled him up and soon the unlikely prince was hauling himself through her window.

"Don't you have your own dorm to go to?" She whispered, wary of Frey's sleep deprived rage.

"Well technically...but" He sighed "I failed steed riding today...got a nice twisted ankle out of it as well. They healed it but I've had to miss forest training to recover"

"And so your recovering by...climbing into my dorm room?"

"Right yeah" He laughed at himself meekly "I suppose it wasn't the best plan, I guess I just wanted to hide from them for a while"

"Well..." She took the mask from his head and playfully batted him with it "If your struggling to be prince you can always be a wolf"

"Well I've failed twice already, maybe it's not a bad idea"

Jennet paused for a moment, fiddling tracing the stitches on her hands nervously "...you've failed twice? Aren't you worried?"

"What? Why would I be worried"

"Did they not tell you?"

Gregors smile dropped as he noticed her wary tone "...Tell me what".

Silently, Jennet offered a hand.

***

"Mogrification?"

The two sat hunched over a nearly ancient book laid out on Jennet's desk, the open page inked with an illustration of a woman partially transformed into a pig.

"I'm surprised you were never told about since y'know...the mice"

Gregor's eyes widened with horror at the realization. How many of his beloved childhood friends had once been students like him? Is that why they were so close to him compared to his siblings? Because they knew that one day...he would be trapped like them as well. Gregor leapt from his seat and stumbled back across the room, the room was spinning, he couldn't breathe. A firm grip on either side of his head momentarily took him out of the trance.

"Breathe. Just breathe."

He nodded, now only concentrating on breathing in and out. They stayed like that for a moment, until Jennet spoke once again.

"I'm not going to let that happen to you. You've still got one chance left and I'm going make sure you don't fail again. I'll be your princely mentor"

"...you're more like a steed"

She rolled her eyes at his comment, although relived that he had come back down to earth.

"But first things first, we're going to need to find a way to get you out of here."

"Can't I just use the- Oh." He grimaced at the now crushed wolf mask that he had stepped on at some point "That took ages..."

"Gregor."

"Right yes. Do you have a plan?"

"Do you trust me?"

"I probably shouldn't but yes."

Jennet's eyes flickered green as she grinned toothily "Have you ever heard of a talent?"

Chapter Text

The halls of the school for evil were desolate, most of the students being their last class of the day with a select few out for study time. It was the perfect opportunity for Gregor to make his escape. Jennet poked her head from dorm 32, checking if the coast was clear, gesturing for Gregor to follow her. However, she was not joined on the escape by a bumbling prince, but by a bumbling red-haired donkey who trotted closely behind her. After all, only in the school for evil would a farm animal be less suspicious than a boy in well-kept clothes.

“Is this really necessary?” The donkey whined.

“Shh!” Jennet hissed at him “donkeys can’t talk”

“…hooves feel weird” He now whispered, as a compromise

“Preaching to the choir compare”

Both rule-breakers abruptly stopped in their tracks, both pairs of ears standing up to hear the distant sound of jeering and stomping. The (relative) safety of their plan has been cut short, as the school bell screamed, declaring that class had ended. Within an instant the corridor was flooded with shades of dingy black and the stench of the never spirit. Jennet wrapped her arms around donkey-Gregor’s neck and pulled him close in an attempt to avoid the crowd, but it was for naught as a Never with sharp teeth snapped at his back legs, laughing wickedly. She had barely managed to grab him by the tail and stop him from running havoc into the school before a familiar voice cleared her throat behind them.

The full donkey-boy and part donkey-girl turned their heads to see the feared Lady Lesso, standing in all her flame-haired glory, silver nails tapped menacingly on the handle of her cane.

“Miss Del Carro, why do you have a donkey?” She asked as if she was asking why Jennet was chewing gum.

“…Henchman training”

The dean raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow, looking the fluffy, frightened, ginger donkey up and down “Some henchman.”

Jennet laughed awkwardly “Right yes so erm…I was thinking because of my…y’know…and my father it would be best to stick with my roots-“

“Get on with it”

“It’s not very good so I’m taking it outside.”

Lesso only stared her down coldly

“…to eat it”

Donkey-Gregor squeaked in fright and turned to Jennet, shaking his head rapidly. She kicked him in the leg, hissing under her breath “Knock it off.”. Somehow the break in character went unnoticed by the Dean of evil.

“How resourceful of you. On your next attempt I would try something with teeth.”

And with a flick of her coattails she turned, the clacking of her cane echoing across the halls. As soon as she was out of view the duo fled, Jennet practically clinging onto donkey-Gregors neck to hurry him along. Only once donkey-Gregor head-butted the heavy oak doors separating the school from the bridge and Jennet slammed them shut did they each have a chance to catch their breath, their pants turning to mist in the chill of the late-afternoon air. In the panic Jennet had almost forgotten about her friend who she had temporarily cursed.

“Oh…right”

With a bright green spark, a flash in her eyes and a puff of emerald smoke, Donkey-Gregor was forced back up on his hind legs only to stumble back to the ground and fall flat on his ass, human once more.

“Not a fan of hooves.”

“Wow thanks.” Jennet snorted, pulling the ginger back to his feet.

“No! I mean I like your hooves, well hoof and I don’t LIKE them that would be mean I mean their pretty cool duuuddeee, for you! Not for me, not to say you have bad taste! They just don’t-“

“Stop while your ahead.”

“Yeah…sorry” He laughed awkwardly, trying, and failing to brush away the mud and moss which now stained the side of his leg. “How is this going to work anyway? My next class is tomorrow, and I only have one chance left.”

“Oh tomorrow will be a piece of cake, it’s a shared lesson so I’ll be there to guide you…plus your pure of heart so its quite impossible for you to fail.”

“How does a never know I’m pure of heart”

She shrugged, and linked her arm with him, tugging him back over the bridge towards the ever side “It’s in the eyes. Your like a talking chipmunk in clumsy human form”

“…Thank you?”

“Your welcome. As long as you don’t get distracted trying to pick your girlfriend you’ll be fine”

Gregor paused, turning to her in confusion “my girlfriend?”

“You know, the reader with pretty cow eyes.”

“AGATHA?, no, no we’re just friends. I mean not even friends she barely knows me let alone likes me-“ He scratched the back of neck nervously and tried to ignore the burning in his ears as he felt Jennet’s eyes go right through him

“Mhm.”

“…Wait what did you mean by pick-“

Before he could finish his sentence, the Never let go of his arm and gave him a firm shove into the Ever hall, pulling the doors shut behind him and plunging the corridor into darkness.

It would have to wait till the morning.

***

However, Gregor would not have to question Jennet again. The realization hit him like a truck when Yuba lead the Ever and Never boys through the trees into a clearing in the cemetery. There lay a row of identical glass coffins each with an identical dark-haired pale princess slumbering inside.

Trying to pick your girlfriend

As pure as his heart may allegedly be, it could not outweigh his anxiety at having to kiss a girl, let alone be graded for it. He nervously looked over the coffins, Yuba had instructed the Evers to look beyond appearances and ‘find the goodness inside’ a task which seemed impossible unless you were psychic. Granted he had plenty of time, the Evers were more focused with finding their girlfriends just as Jennet predicted, and the Nevers were busy having a mudball fight. Just as he begin to loose hope, the clumsy prince stopped in front of one of the coffins, while she looked identical to all the rest, something about the princess put a warm feeling in his heart and calmed that anxious voice in his head. Maybe he was pure of heart after all. Gingerly Gregor knelt down by the coffin and leant to kiss her, heart pounding in his chest, he closed his eyes…

The she kneed him in the crotch.

Gregor leapt back, grimacing in pain, to see a pair of now open eyes glaring up at him in a strange and unnerving mixture of rage and friendliness.

I’ll be there to guide you

Princess-Jennet nudged her head to the side, every unsubtly pushing him towards the next coffin. Gregor swallowed his shock and nodded in thanks, leaning to kiss the princess to his left. With a flash of magic the disguise lifted to reveal Beatrix, whose expression immediately turned from delight at being chosen to disgust at the absence of Tedros. She leapt out of the coffin, knocking Gregor down into the cemetery mud, and gasped melodramatically at the sight before her. A scowling Agatha having just been kissed by a bewildered Tedros, and a disappointed Sophie on the verge of tears next to a very pleased with himself Hort.

Still disguised, Princess-Jennet leant on her elbow and cackled to herself, greatly amused at the antics. She was happy for long however, as her disguise was shattered when a never boy stuck a slobbery finger in her ear, shrieking and whooping madly at his own joke. He came to regret it almost immediately when the donkey-girl tackled him and shoved a handful of worms in his face.

Gregor was left laying in the mud, utterly confused and questioning reality.

Chapter Text

The mid-day sun shone high over The School for Good.

Gregor aimlessly wandered the grounds, somehow finding himself lost in the perfectly controlled gardens, trying to avoid eye contact with fairies as they flittered through beds of carnations, peonies and strawberry bushes. In the quiet, he could almost find beauty in his poor circumstances. Although the school grounds paled in comparison to the gardens of his home, where wildflowers sprung free in explosions of colour, field mice roamed the grass as they pleased and chased bluebirds across the branches of birch trees. When Gregor closed his eyes he could almost see it, him and his mother's secret place away from stuffy suits and false smiles.

“What are you doing?”

The ever shrieked and fell back onto the grass as he opened his eyes to see Jennet’s nose mere inches from his, as she hung upside down like a bat from the branches of a cherry tree. Chewing on a pear as if trespassing and imitating a sleepy opossum was the most normal thing to do with your afternoon. Gregor staggered to his feet and brushed himself off “I’m just taking a walk, what are YOU doing here” he pointed at the unaffected never accusingly.

“Hungry. Didn’t eat today.” She took another bite out of the pear which Gregor only now realised was stolen from the many fruit trees which littered the grounds.
“Yeah you weren’t at lunch today…or breakfast” Now that he thought about it none of the Nevers had shown up to the dining hall today, which explained why it was so quiet. “Henchman training.” The never-girl flipped over and dropped out of the tree, straight onto Gregor who was pushed into the grass once again “They needed us weak and hungry cos’ they smell fear”.

“Off.“ He shoved at Jennet who flopped into the grass beside him, giggling “Now why would you need to-OH!”

Gregor leapt up in fright, pulling a confused Jennet behind him to protect her as the horrifying emerged from the shadow of the cherry tree. It had amber eyes like fire which pierced into his soul. An un-naturally long, gangly neck which threatened to lunge at any moment. Scaled feet with fish fins and razor-sharp claws. Worst of all, a horrid beak filled with fangs. It was like nothing he had ever seen. It was a monster. It was a beast. It was…

“Gregor it’s a goose.”

“What? No! Mother told me about the geese on her stepmother's land, they’re just big white silly ducks who waddle around like they think their important and honk at you and that things not even white it’s a -“

“Goose.” She pushed past him and gathered the creature in her arms, who hissed at Gregor menacingly and ruffled its muddy brown feathers. Jennet took no notice of its threat and scratched the top of its head as if it were a puppy “Thank you for heroically defending me from my own henchmen though. Speaking of which, where’s your companion? You lot were supposed to get yours from the blue forest around now”

Gregor's face fell, “My what?”

“What happened.”

“No! It’s nothing, it’s probably my fault I mean I-“

“What happened.” She interrupted the prince, her scowl now matching the goose.

He sighed, even though it had only been a few days, he had learnt there was no point arguing with the donkey girl. “Dauphine, my sister, told me that we were supposed to come here instead. She’s not too happy about me being here, being related to me kind of ruined her chance with Tedros”

Jennet’s floppy ears twitched with annoyance, and she swiftly grabbed Gregor by the hand before storming further into the gardens. Goose in one hand, prince in the other.

“School for good my ass”

***

The pair emerged through the trees and bushes to meet a clearing, Jennet mostly unscathed while Gregor’s clothes were snagged on twigs and thorns, his hair full of leaves and a sizeable mud stain running up his left side from when he somehow tripped into the only puddle in the gardens. But it all became worth it when he realised where she had taken him. The clearing bled into the forest and the green of the leaves and grass shifted as a gradient into vibrant blues and teals. He hadn’t seen the blue forest before, but he would never have guessed that the name was literal.

“Since you took a detour there’s no professor to help you with this, how’s your improv?”

“I’m actually not that bad”

“Trick question, no ones good at improv” She took Gregor by the shoulders and pushed him to the edge of the forest. “Now just, be pure of heart and all that ever crap, and your companion should find you. Maybe.”

“Maybe??” He replied, outraged at Jennet and mortified at the possibility of failing again.

“Don’t worry I’ll feed you if you get mogrified.” Jennet winked, before wincing at the poor taste of her own joke. The ever-boy was about to respond when a ball of red fluff leapt into his front and made quick work of burrowing down his waistcoat. He shrieked and leapt back, frantically slapping at the mystery creature and performing what seemed to be an amateur Irish jig in his desperation to get it off him, much to the amusement of Jennet and her henchman who giggled and honked, respectively. It wasn’t until a furry face poked its way out of his collar that he stopped to take a breath.

It was a squirrel.

A tiny red squirrel with large brown eyes and ears pointed straight up.

“Hello…oh I’m definitely going to fail now aren’t I.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure” Jennet calmly took the little rodent, who squeaked curiously at her, and placed him on Gregor's shoulder. “In my opinion, it’s the meekest of creatures which are the most cunning and courageous”.

It may have been Gregor’s imagination, but he could have sworn she looked directly at him as she said that.

***

It seems Jennet was right, all the other ever students had successfully obtained their companions while he was away. Beatrix cooed over a snow-white bunny. Kiko laughed, delighted, as her calico kitten chased a ball of string. Agatha stood, trapped in a staring contest with an emu, which seemed oddly appropriate for her. Dauphine paraded around a Shetland pony while Tristan showed off his falcon to a gaggle of blushing ever-girls. And Tedros was fighting a troll.

*wait what*

Gregor took a double take to stare at Tedros, who was in fact in a tense battle with a troll as Yuba watched on with no expression. Only when the prince noticed that the troll had no shadow did he sigh in relief, as the creature was an illusion, a dangerous illusion but an illusion, nonetheless. However, this relief was short-lived as he watched Tedros’s greyhound bark and snap at the beast, realising this task was for him…and the little squirrel crouched on his shoulder.

The school for good’s golden boy soon defeated the beast and bowed to the cheering crowd of his fellow students as his hound stood by him, tail wagging proudly. Gregor gulped and approached Yuba, who raised an eyebrow at his little companion, but neither commented on it nor did anything to stop the jeers from the knights. The gnome uncorked a bottle from his side and tipped it towards the ground. Smoke poured from it and spiralled upwards, turning grey, black, green, blue then finally, red. He gulped and drew his sword.

From the smoke emerged a scarecrow standing seven feet tall, with a half-rotted pumpkin for its head and a rusty scythe at its side. It swiped at the ever-boy who dived out of the way at the last moment, heart pounding. Gregor felt his hands tremble and considered curling up on the ground to let himself fail and be mogrified. Perhaps he would turn into a mouse and could make his way back home to his rodent friends, he was sure Jennet would look out for him. She had so far, she probably wouldn’t reject him even if he were turned into a worm. A squeak drew him out of the trance, and he opened his eyes to see his new little friend staring right into his eyes.

*In my opinion, it’s the meekest of creatures which are the most cunning and courageous*

Taking a deep breath, Gregor took his sword.

“Come on then”

Standing to his feet, he faced the charging scarecrow and lunged his sword at the beast. The blade did not leave a scratch, much to the laughter of his classmates and even a smirk from Yuba, but he didn’t intend it to. Gregor may not have been strong, but he was cunning. The squirrel sprang from his shoulder and ran across the length of the weapon, leaping straight into the hollow eye of the beast. The creature flailed its arms blindly as the squirrel scuttled about the inside of its head, biting and scratching at the soft pumpkin flesh. It lunged and staggered to the side, losing grip on its weapon which was flung towards the crowd of evers, who screamed and scattered like rats as the scythe was impaled into the earth. Before losing balance and falling directly onto Gregor’s own sword, its head slicing clean from its shoulders.

The green was silent. Until Kiko leapt to her feet, applauding and cheering, kitten bouncing up and down in the crook of her elbow.

***

“You named it Hercules?”

“Mhm.”

Gregor fed the now exhausted little rodent some nuts from his hand, Jennet’s own henchman occasionally snapping at them, jealous of the food and attention. The pair sat on the windowsill of Jennet’s dorm, their own unspoken meeting place, he wasn’t fond of the smell, but Gregor began to see the charm in the place. But that adoration was starting to be tested now that Frey’s tarantula was lurking around
.
“You know, small creatures are the bravest. Have you managed to name yours yet?” He stated as the goose hissed and tugged at his sleeve, deciding that his jacket was dinner.

“I think twats a little obvious.”

The ever-boy chuckled, the school for evil’s profane sense of humour rubbing off on him “How about Duchess?”

Jennet raised an eyebrow “She’s not exactly royalty.”

“No, it's just, my father’s aunt was a Duchess. She was so used to being driven around in a carriage everywhere that when she did walk it was this funny little waddle. She had a horrible temper too, so.”

“That’s awfully wicked of you ever.”

“Well, it was very heroic of you to help me find my companion never.”

“…shut up”