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“You should transfer to Ever After High.” Alistair suggested before smoothly popping a small chocolate in his mouth, seemingly to always carry them around in the pockets of his coat. The two teenagers were standing at one of the various tables with food. The Red Knight no longer adorned his helmet which made his body look proportionally wrong in comparison with his head, and the armor was also quite heavy. Chase raised an eyebrow at Alistair’s comment, grimacing a bit before his eyes grazed across the throne room and bustle of the party, before replying.
“Why?” Chase cleared his throat, his cheeks slightly flushing pink, as he was usually used to hiding behind his helmet. “I mean – it’s not like, I’m nervous, it’s just– that.. Will going to Ever After really benefit me? Has it benefited you? Bunny?”
Alistair seemingly paused a bit, as if weighing his options. Sure, he and Bunny basically had no choice but to attend Ever After High due to Kitty’s mom’s desire to see the world fall into ruin for a joke, but the change was actually a good thing! Of course his boundless curiosity had always led him to some sticky situations in Wonderland, but Ever After was nothing like Wonderland! It was bland, boring and normal, which was relieving in a way. You didn’t have to worry about hearing the horror stories of a Jabberwock and how it destroyed everything it touched. You wouldn’t have to worry about all of your nightmares coming true, when a deranged Evil Queen came to your home and attempted to make it into some sick, twisted version of her own fairytale… despite all that, Wonderland was still like his home, and he wouldn’t trade that for the world.
Alistair smiled lightly, placing a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Look, all I’m saying is you should… think about it. I know we aren’t– particularly close, but maybe having a sense of normalcy will be good for you.”
Chase blinked, everything in Wonderland was already normal, there was no need to go to Ever After for a new sense of normalcy. The normalcy at Ever After High was different from Wonderland, so it wouldn’t be normal at all, it’d be totally different, and he’d be surrounded by other people, who he knew nothing about.
“But… this is normal, for me, at least. You weren’t born here– so it’s different for you.” Chase replied, looking at Alistair very seriously, as the other boy retracted his hand from Chase’s shoulder, wearing a hurt expression.
“Alistair! Mother wants to talk to you about your discoveries of that riddle book!” The snappy voice of Lizzie Hearts sounded from across the room, grabbing their attention, as the teenager had started to sound more and more like the future Queen she was going to become. Indeed, the Queen of Hearts was standing by her daughter, waving at the two boys. Alistair waved back, Chase didn’t, seeing as he nearly almost killed her daughter (He had a sinking feeling that if he made contact with the agitated Queen, it wouldn’t turn out very well).
“Alright, Lizzie!” Alistair walked off to the mother-daughter duo, not before sparing Chase a second glance. Chase signed in resignation, leaning against the snack table that contained a variety of food, but he ended up grabbing a cucumber sandwich, chewing it roughly.
Somehow Chase had gotten the impression that he had said something wrong to Alistair, which was ridiculous because he was being honest. His mother, the Red Queen, had always said honesty was a good thing, even if it hurt sometimes.
That explained a lot, actually. Chase was mostly used to following the Redford rules, (There was actually a handbook for it, and it was required for a family member to memorize all 127 pages of it. Or atleast get down to the basics.) They were all he had known his whole life, and he wasn’t about to let the chance of the Redford family taking him in, even if it was rather reluctantly, go to waste. So, he trained all his life to be the best Red Knight that he could be, since there was only one singular story running through Wonderland, everyone had to play their part to make sure the story was played out correctly.
Being adopted into the Redford family was.. Endearing, to say the least. ‘Redford’ was as much of a namesake as it was a surname, everyone either had frequent streaks of red, or their hair as a whole was a flamboyant red. Since Chase wasn’t blood-related to the family at all, he had taken to choppily dying parts of his naturally black hair, red. A large majority of the family liked Chase, but sometimes, whenever he arrived at family gatherings, small whispers and gossip often followed.
“He isn’t even a real Redford, why is he here?”
“I heard that his hair isn’t even partially red.”
“I heard that he was abandoned and his parents didn’t even want him!”
“I’d be ashamed if I was the Red Queen.”
Chase didn’t let the gossip bother him, he held his chin up high, but mostly kept to himself or ended up sneaking out of the family gatherings to go sit by rivers, listening to the way the waters rippled, the way the fish swam up the waterfalls, he liked the feeling of just being there in the moment.
“Chase. Redford.” Two voices mixed together, Chase, who was lost in his thoughts, nearly choked on his cucumber sandwich as he looked up to see Darling Charming and his mother, who was sporting her classic ruffled gown. Eyes watering, he regained his composure before he spoke.
“White Knight.” He bowed, a small smile formed on the girl’s lips, he turned to the Red Queen, “Mother. I’m surprised to see you here.”
A scoff escaped the Red Queen, as she set a peculiar gaze on her son. “Oh please, even though I may not be on the best of terms with our revered Queen, I was still worthy enough to be invited to her birthday party.” She held up the invitation, a certain sparkle in her dark grey eyes. “Pardon me, but you–” She turned to Darling, who, on reflex, straightened up and relaxed her face to look more demure. “Are you the White Knight? Who single handedly defeated my son in combat?”
Chase had fought back the urge to let out a groan. His mother was going to interrogate Darling, and then he would be scolded for not doing well enough.
“Yes, your majesty.” Darling smiled tightly, glancing at Chase. “Although, it was not easy. Your son is a formidable opponent.” She paused. “Not so formidable in the art of dancing, though.” The girl added on mischievously.
Chase’s face flushed as red as his namesake, as The Red Queen let out a chorus of laughter, tears threatening to spill. “Oh, you – are a card! What did you say your name was again?” The Red Queen questioned, interest written all over her pale face.
“Darling, Darling Charming. “Charming? I was aware that Charming families only taught the females to act maidenly. Who taught you how to handle a sword?”
“Well – myself. I sneaked around a lot, and I had lots of more opportunities when I was sent to Ever After.”
“Well! Aren’t you a crafty one?”
“Thank you, ma’am. Actually –” She turned away from the Red Queen to Chase, who just now noticed that Darling had a small rectangular box in her hand. “The reason I came over here with your mother was because I wanted to give you this, as a gift. You can open it later.”
“Oh, thank you, Darling.” Chase replied, taking the box and gazing at it curiously. “You’re welcome, now if you’ll excuse me, my brothers have been worried sick about me.. And royally angry at me, for not telling them I was the White Knight.” The Red Queen and Chase watched as Darling made her way back to her brothers. The blonde one practically enveloped her in a hug, while the other brother started chatting animatedly to her.
“Such a sweet girl, now, back to you, Chase.” Chase immediately straightened, waiting for the reprimanding to begin. Would he be sentenced to another round of vigorous training? Would he be forced to recatalog the whole Redford library again? Would he have to clean the pawn’s armor?
“I want you to go to Ever After High.”
“What?”
“I realized after your defeat.. In the chess match. I’ve always pushed you to where you think you weren’t doing enough, but that’s not true.” She reached up to cup his cheek, smiling softly at her son. “You are exceptional, and you always have been. Since you were.. adopted, I’ve always wanted you to be better, despite your unfair circumstances at not fitting in. Now, I realize that was my fatal error as a Queen, and as a mother. No matter what anyone says it does not matter if you are related to me through blood, or if you're adopted. You, Chase Redford, always are, and will be my wonderful son.”
Chase swallowed roughly, tears softly streaming down his face as he pulled in his mother for a tight hug. “You haven’t had any chance to be a teenager. So going to Ever After with help. No restraint, no rules– at least not ones you’re used to.” “Mother.” Chase’s voice sounded hoarse. “I’m scared.” The Red Queen pulled back from the hug, gently kissing Chase’s forehead. “Don’t be, dear. It’s just a new stage in your life.. Now, I’ll be back, I’ll go get both of us some refreshments!”
As the Red Queen left, Chase proceeded to open the small box Darling had given him, inside he found the note.
The note read…
Dear Red Knight, Enclosed in this box is an item you may not be familiar with. It is called a MirrorPhone and is used to communicate with friends and family over the MirrorNet. I understand that using this device may cause confusion, so I put (hopefully) simple instructions along with the MirrorPhone to assist you. ☺ Enclosed in this note are also the following’s phone numbers; Alistair Wonderland, Bunny Blanc, Kitty Cheshire, Lizzie Hearts, Maddie Hatter, and mine. I hope that having your fellow Wonderlandians’ assistance at a moment’s notice will help you feel more at ease! This MirrorPhone was originally intended to be gifted for the Queen of Hearts, but then Lizzie informed me that she had thousands, and I didn’t know anyone else without a MirrorPhone, except you, that is. I hope that you can use this for communication while in Wonderland. I hope that interdimensional internet is a thing, and since Raven broke the Wonderland curse, it will be easier to maintain contact.
-Darling Charming
Chase moved aside the note to find a dark red MirrorPhone, and smiled.
-
One thing that was in the Redford handbook was to always have spare armor. You never knew when it would come in handy. This added to the fact that Chase barely had any clothes, just armor. He would probably get weird looks wearing his Red Knight armor, so he eventually just settled for wearing a white long sleeved blouse, accompanied with black leather pants and black boots.
A week later, his first impression of Ever After High was that it was abnormally bright. The abundance of dark colors and white made his brain contain numerous amounts of static, and not in a good way. As Chase made his way to his dorm room and down the hallway, he noticed that he got a lot of attention. As always, there were more stares.. and whispers.
“Isn't that the new boy from Wonderland? He looks so charming.”
“Right, he’s off-the-page! Maybe he could even rival Daring!”
“What?! No waaay.”
“Way.”
A red flush crawled up Chase’s neck as he hurried to get to his dorm, wishing to avoid contact with anyone. Unfortunately, that sentiment wasn’t shared because as soon as he took one step, a rectangular digital device was shoved in his face.. It looked like a MirrorPhone but bigger? Darling had hexted him and it was called… a MirrorPad! Behind the helm was a blonde curly haired girl, with big bright blue eyes, she was sporting a grin that was practically bigger then the Cheshire Cat’s, the small blinking red light of the MirrorPad made her look terrifying then any opponent Chase had ever faced.
“Welcome back to Just Right, my fairytale listeners! Blondie Lockes here, with another dose of news! Our classmates have just returned from Wonderland, which Raven Queen has lifted the curse from! Isn’t that amazing? Now, it appears that a new student has arrived at Ever After High!” Blondie shoved a microphone near Chase’s mouth, her body practically buzzing with eagerness. “Chase Redford, the former Red Knight who was defeated by Darling Charming in combat, has seemingly caught the attention of the female population of Ever After!” She giggled, the MirrorPad now being passed to one of Darling’s brothers.
“So, Chase, how do you feel about that? Has anyone caught your eye? Looking for a spot in the romance hexpartment?” She smiled at him brightly.
“Uhh– Well, I uh–” “Uh’s assorted with catnip!” A voice yelled out, the next thing he knew, his vision was obscured by lavender hair, and the smell of lilacs was ingrained in his senses. There was a mixture of voices, including an “Oh!, “Whoopsies!” and a faded “How rude!” before everything turned grayish and dull, then snapped back to color, even though all he could see was lavender hair, and he heard the suitcase fall on the ground with a loud thump.
“Kitty, can you get off my head?” Chase snapped, light headed and disoriented from disappearing from one place to another. “Of course, my shining Knight in red armor.” Kitty drawled, gently hopping off his head, and strolling over to where Madeline Hatter was giggling madly, whilst Chase glanced around to see that Kitty had promptly transported them by Chase’s designated dorm.
“That was tea-rrific!” Madeline Hatter said as she pulled a cup of tea out of her hat, “Blondie was so caught off guard! It’s hilarious how Kitty and I were conveniently there at the same time you were feeling uncomfortable, Chase! Spelltacular thinking, Narrator!”
Chase blinked, not knowing what the mad girl was talking about. “How did you know I was feeling uncomfortable?”
“It was written all over your face!” Maddie was now pouring tea a cup, Kitty was now drinking a cup of tea that she poured as well. “Plus, the narrator told us how you were feeling, although they’re not Brooke. All I could hear was, ‘Chase’, ‘Chase that’ ‘Chase–” She was interrupted by the ringing of a clock from her hat. “Teatime for two! Sorry, Chase, Kitty and I are going out. I hope you have fun figuring out what to do.”
Madeline and Kitty waved, Kitty kissing Maddie's cheek, before they both disappeared in a gleam of purple sparkles. Chase sighed, he didn’t even have time to thank them for helping him escape Blondie. That girl seriously needed to understand the definition of ‘privacy’. Heaving the suitcase up, he read the nameplate on the door of the room. ‘Glenn North and Chase Redford” and pushed the door open.
One side of the room was completely bare, and the other side was decked out in an assortment of whites and greys, with hints of green. There was a boy with long platinum blonde hair, brown eyes, who was perched on his bed, reading a book labeled Dorothy’s Shoes: The Oz Debate. At Chase’s entrance, the boy looked up, setting his book down and marking it with a bookmark before closing it.
“You must be my new roommate, Chase Redford. The side of the room that’s a blank slate is yours. I’m Glenn North, son of the Good Witch of the North. I hope we can become friends in the future.” Glenn said in the most monotone voice, then went back to reading his book.
“You too.” Chase muttered back, setting his bag down on his bed, then finding an envelope addressed to him.
CHASE REDFORD - CLASS SCHEDULE
RIDDLING
TRACK AND SHIELD
GENERAL VILLANY
GRIMMNASTICS
MYTHOLOGY
CHEMYTHSTRY
As Chase gazed at the schedule, it didn’t seem to invoke any particular feeling at all. He felt like this was alright, and it would certainly be better then Wonderland High, given he never got to learn anything at all. As long as he had his Wonderlandian friends, it would be okay.
Hopefully.