Morning once-uponed in Ever After. The birds were singing, tweeting and irritating Apple White. Cerise Hood was eating an apple in a tree at the edge of the school grounds. Mid-chapter break was coming next week. Some students had already gone home to their fairy-tale realms for the holidays. In her dorm, Raven Queen was reading a book. She put down her book and walked to the window, resting on the windowsill. Something changed over the summer holidays. She was acting differently all term. Her friends tried to talk to her about it, but she always changed the subject. She sighed. She turned away from the window and climbed to her bunk, burying her face in the pillow. A loud shattering sound startled her. Lifting her head, she saw Madeline Hatter sitting on the floor, a shattered teacup lying next to her. "What are you doing?" asked Raven. "I wanted to ask you something," "Ask me what?" replied Raven while picking up the shattered pieces of china from the purple rug. "Holly, Apple, Cerise, Briar and I are going to the beach. Wanna come with?" Raven, now looking panicked, searched around the room, as if she might find the answer in amongst her dirty laundry. "Urh, no. I can't." "Why? What's the hatter?" Maddie asked inquizzitivly, now wondering about her friend. "Urh, I-I-I have a lot studying to catch upon. Yeah, Magicology." "Oh, alright. See you later?" Maddie asked. "Um, sure..." was all she got in reply. Maddie left Raven's dorm, wondering what that was all about. What just happened was simply... odd... even more odd than Maddie.
Maddie spent her time at the beach just staring into thin air, thinking about what could be wrong with Raven. Briar invited her to play volleyball, but Maddie said the teams would be uneven, although that was far from the real reason. She needed some time to gather her thoughts. "I'm going for a walk. See you guys later." she said before she left. She walked along the dunes and jumped the rock pools. 'Could it be about her mother?' she wondered. After fifteen minutes of walking, she found a little cove. There was a waterfall of sorts coming from water leaking out of the rock into the pool below. "Wow! This place is off the book! I wish Raven came – she would love this," Maddie said to herself. She stepped down towards the pool, looking into the aqua blue water. She kneeled down beside the pool. Just as she was about to climb in, she saw something, at the bottom of the pool. A shimmer. Something moved. Recoiling in shock, she pulled her hand back. She raced around to the other side of the pool, directly in front of the waterfall. Leaning over towards the waterfall, she tried to spot what had moved. She could see nothing. About to leave, she noticed a hole – no, a passage way in the wall, just underneath the water's surface. Maddie jumped into the water. She stuck her head under the water and swam towards the passage way. She got to the entrance – and saw a face. "Aah!" Maddie screamed. The face turned and swam away. As it swam away, Maddie saw a deep purple tail with shimmering fins. It was a mermaid. She swam, flailing her arms and legs, back to the edge of the pool. She ran.
She ran back to her friends at the beach. She decided not to tell them about what happened. They would think she was insane – even more than she already was. "Hey, Ma-" began Apple. "Woah, Maddie, are you ok? You're shaking." "Yeah, I'm fine." She wasn't. "If you're sure. If you need us, we're just over there," said Apple, before leaving. Maddie didn't feel well. She had an uneasy feeling. Her emotions were all over the place. It was not just the encounter with the mermaid that had her shaken. It was the mermaid's face. It was the face of Raven.