Fairy School of Hope, Students of Despair
A Season 1 AU inspired by Dangan Ronpa


Author's Note: This prologue is relatively skippable. You may not want to, because it reveals character info, but it is mainly an introductory chapter. Due to the confusing nature of this story, at the end of each chapter I will post a brief summary of the important events, so if you want to skip a chapter or just need a brief refresher, always check there.


Bloom Peters looked up at the large school, half in shock already. The Alfea College for Fairies... what a place to be. What a place to even believe in. Back at home, on Earth, nobody believed in fairies (well, except for Bloom and little girls). And here she was- about to become one.

Stella, standing next to her, flipped golden hair. "Alfea College, the best of the best, only accepting the best of the best. Princesses, socialites, geniuses. And only the best amenities for us, too. The campus has everything you could want, and if it doesn't- well, that means you should be going to Cloudtower or Redfountain instead. Graduating from Alfea pretty much guarantees you success, to boot."

The blonde girl frowned suddenly. "It's emptier than I remembered it being," she said.

"We haven't even been inside," Bloom reminded her. "That's probably where everyone is, right?" The Earthling's voice was calm, reasonable, but inside she was panicking. Princesses? Socialites? Geniuses? She was none of those, just an everyday, average girl from Gardenia, California.

More and more, she was regretting agreeing to tag along to Alfea.

"That's the thing," Stella hummed, interrupting Bloom's inner monologue. "Last year, when I was a freshman... err, for the first time... everyone met out in the courtyard for orientation and registration. It's not a bad day out. Why would everyone be inside?"

"Maybe we're early?" Bloom asked optimistically as her pet rabbit, Kiko, jumped from the ground beside her into her waiting arms. "After all, interdimensional travel might seriously mess up time zones."

"If anything, we're late." Stella sniffed. "People should have waited, though. Come on, Bloom. We're going in."

The two girls walked up to the main doors of Alfea. Stella opened them with a dramatic sweep, and they entered the main hall, letting the doors shut on their own. When they did so, they locked automatically, the sound of the mechanism alerting Bloom.

Bloom turned at the small "click" noise. "Stella, are they supposed to..."

"Supposed to what, Bloom?"

"Lock on their own."

Stella shrugged. "Probably. It's likely for our own protection."

Bloom tugged on one door. It wouldn't budge. She tried the other, only to get the same result. "But if it was to protect us, how come the doors can be opened from the outside, but not from the inside?"

"Relax, Bloom! Some sophomores are probably using it for a lock-opening exercise, and we just walked in at a bad time. Come on, let's head to the School Hall and find Miss Faragonda. I'll explain what went down, we'll get to our dorms, and all will be fine!"

The Hall was right across the way from the entrance, with opening doors just as large as the locked ones behind them. As the teens entered, Bloom dug a "we love you, good luck" note that her parents had written from the pocket of her jeans and stuck it between the lock and latch, just to make sure it wouldn't trap them in too.

She turned to face forward. Sitting at the center table in the hall was a small group of other teens- including some she recognized. "The Specialists. Are they supposed to be here?" she asked Stella.

"Not that I've heard."

One of the boys turned to face them. "Stella! Bloom!" he called. "Are you..."

"Did you shut the main doors?"

A tall girl with a bundle of white-blue hair pulled into a high ponytail stood up and interrupted the Specialist. Stella's eyes narrowed. Bloom didn't know anyone except for those four boys she'd met the night before and the fairy of the shining sun, but she automatically knew that the tall girl was bad news. "Icy," Stella hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"Did you shut the door?" Icy asked again, with more force this time.

"Yeah, why do you want to know?"

The platinum-haired girl threw up her head. "Great. Now we have to wait for someone else to come in."

"Maybe someone should go back to the entrance hall," suggested one girl at the table, a young woman with short pink hair. Her voice was accented crisply, with a cadence that reminded Bloom of the English accents back home on Earth, though somehow not quite. "It's the logical solution. If someone is there to hear the door open, then we can tell the next person to come in not to close the door."

A boy that Bloom didn't recognize nodded. He had a kind, calm face and was mostly bald, save for a violet ponytail on the top of his head. Tattooed on his forehead were six small dots in some sort of pattern that the Earthling didn't recognize. "That seems like a good plan. Who'll do it?"

A low mumble echoed through the hall. Nobody seemed anxious to volunteer, to separate from the group, for whatever reason- likely the same reason Bloom didn't want to, an aching discomfort and irrational feeling of paranoia. Finally, a pigtailed girl in a one-shoulder red shirt raised her hand. "I think I can use my powers to monitor sounds. That way, nobody has to leave, and everyone can hear if the doors open."

"Wow, really? That's such a cool use of your powers!" a nerdy carrot-top exclaimed. Bloom looked closer at him and realized he'd been one of the Specialists who helped her the night before. Tommy? Teo? Timon?

"Yeah, it should be a snap," said the girl with the pigtails, and she aimed her hands. Energy burst out with a lot of light and formed into giant speakers. "Hopefully, this'll work."

"What exactly is going on?" Bloom asked. "Are we really locked in?"

"Seems that way," Sky remarked, more casually than the situation would seem to invite. "I mean, none of us can get out."

"What else do we know?" Bloom wanted to press this for all it was worth. She didn't come to the top fairy school to be locked in a building. She wanted answers. She deserved answers."

"Not much, really." A beautiful girl with light brown skin and flowing brown hair stood up. "Maybe we should start by introducing ourselves. That might give us at least a little bit of information. Let's start at the door and go clockwise, okay?"

Bloom realized that meant beginning with her. "Um... hi. My name's Bloom Peters, and I'm from the planet Earth. I have a bunny named Kiko and I like to draw. Stella says I'm a fairy... but I really don't know."

The brunette girl who initiated the introductions smiled. "I'm sure you are," she reassured.

Stella cleared her throat. "I'm Princess Stella of Solaria, fairy of the shining sun. I..."

"You've said enough," said the pigtail girl. "You got expelled last year, and your dad had to buy a whole new wing for the library to get you back in."

"It's all over the tabloids," Sky noted, almost apologetically.

Stella sniffed. "It is so not that cut and dry," she said. "I was trying to create a new shade of pink. The destruction was more than worth the benefit to society.'

Next was a so-far silent woman with pale skin and long brown hair. "They call me Darcy, witch of darkness. I'm a senior at Cloudtower this year, and I don't appreciate whoever decided to trap me in a school full of pixies." Her voice was threatening, but that wasn't it. Bloom could detect nuances of flirtatiousness, danger, and a dead scary sort of calm composure.

"I'm Prince Sky. I'm from Eraklyon, and I specialize in swordsmanship. I like good food, pretty girls, and sportsmanlike duels." The brunet man winked a shockingly green eye... directly at Stella, if Bloom was seeing things correctly.

"Um... um... um... hi." The voice of the next person was quiet and sort of melodically raspy, like a strangely shy singer from a metal band. "I'm Mirta. Today was supposed to be my first day at Cloudtower. I'm... I'm the witch of illusions. Nice to meet you all."

At Mirta's introduction, several of the other girls made gagging motions and noises. One laughed quietly. Mirta lowered her head. Normally, Bloom's first instinct would be to tell the girls to knock it off, but something about the situation made her more cautious than usual, and she said nothing.

Next to her, a coltish woman ran her fingers through long, tangled green hair. "And I'm Lucy, also a freshman at CT. I'm the witch of dance."

"And my name's Amaryll, fairy of stars. I'm an Alfea freshman from Antar," said a girl with stick-straight auburn hair and a determined look on her face. A few light freckles dotted her nose. "I don't know what's going on, but I promise I'll get to the bottom of it."

"Riven," said a man with purple hair that was gelled into a position that Bloom never thought would be possible. "I go to Redfountain."

Everyone waited for more, but Riven didn't say anything else. Eventually they moved on to the girl next to him- pigtails. "Hey, I'm Musa from Melody. It's my first year at Alfea, and I'm the fairy of music! It's cool to meet you all."

"And I'm Tecna, from Zenith," the girl with the short pink hair said. "Fairy of Technology. I hope we'll all get along."

"Not likely," snorted another woman, sitting close to her, though not close enough to touch. "Whatever. I'm Stormy, and I'm from Whisperia. I'm the weather witch, and I'm not someone to piss off, okay?"

"Noted," said Sky. Stormy glared at him.

Brandon, the blonde guy from the night before, started to speak. "Yo, I'm Brandon. I'm the specialist of dragon riding, and I love dragons... and all animals. In fact, my dog Lady is around here somewhere. Anyway, I may not have a lot of magical power, but I'd still love to get to know you all better."

"Get to know you all better," he said. But he was looking directly at Bloom. The redhead blushed and ducked her head as the purple-haired man with the tattoo began to speak. "My name is Bishop, and my specialty is battle. I'm a Redfountain senior. Next?"

"I'm Icy. I'm the witch of ice, the top senior at Cloudtower, and I'm going to kill whoever locked me into pink pixie hell when I find them. Step up now, and I'll make it quick."

The hall fell silent. Nobody stepped forward. Icy grinned. "Well, then we can do it the hard way later. How about that?" Her voice was saccharine sweet, too sweet. Sweet as evil.

"Um... well... they call me Timmy," said the Specialist with orange hair and rectangular glasses. "My specialty is gadgetry, but I'm also pretty good with guns."

Everyone turned to the brunette girl with the dark skin. She smiled, a genuine grin that reassured Bloom more than the introductions had. "My name's Flora. I'm the fairy of nature, from Linphea. I hope we can all get along, okay?"

"The question is, how long do we have to get along for?" Amaryll asked. "Alfea's an all-fairies school. How come there are five Specialists and five witches here? How come there are only six of us fairies... five if you count the girl who doesn't even think she really is?"

Bloom felt herself blushing from embarrassment. Stella seemed to notice as she stepped forward. "Hey, I saw this girl throw up an energy shield with my own two eyes. She's definitely a fairy!"

"Well, she isn't sure, so I'm not sure either." Amaryll shrugged. "I'll believe it when she starts to. Anyway, it doesn't answer my question. What are the other ten doing here?"

"Icy, Darcy, and I got a letter from Griffin. She said to meet her at Alfea, and we'd play a major start of school prank on the Alfea pixies. When we got here..." Stormy rolled her eyes. "We got locked in, and Griffin wasn't there, only some loser Specialists."

"Hey, who are you calling losers?" Riven asked. "We were just here because we heard that some of the Alfea students needed help. When we came in, we got locked in too."

"Lucy and I heard that freshman orientation for all three schools was held at Alfea, and then we split off after rules and stuff were explained," Mirta said quietly. "I guess that's not true though... so what's going on?"

"What's going on? You wanna know what's going on?"

Bloom looked around for the voice... but she couldn't find a source. "Who said that?" she called out.

"Me! I said that! Look up!"

All sixteen students looked up. Sure enough, near the ceiling floated a tiny fairy-like thing with a flowing white dress, a red sash, and black hat. "It's me, Pixiedust, pixie of surprises!"

The group muttered amongst themselves. Bloom tried to pick something out, with no avail. All she could hear properly was Stella's comment. "Pixies? I thought they all lived in their village, never leaving, never showing themselves to other magical beings."

"Ding dong, that is wrong!" Pixiedust trilled. "Pixies show themselves when they've bonded to a fairy, witch, or Specialist! In fact, that's what happened with me! I'm bonded with the very person who decided to lock you all in here!"

"The person who decided to lock us in here? Who is that?" asked Flora.

Pixiedust giggled. "Hehehehee... you really think I'll tell? No, it's much more surprising if I let you all figure it out for yourselves. But I will tell you one thing. You're all stuck here forever, so you'll have all the time in the world to figure it out!"

"Stuck here?" Amaryll echoed.

"Forever?" said Stormy.

"That's the spirit! It's going to be so fun, isn't it?"

Riven was fuming. "Hell no, it isn't! I came to Redfountain to train in strategy, not to be stuck in some frilly pink fairy school with fifteen losers!"

"Well, if you really feel that way," Pixiedust sighed, "I suppose I can tell you the way to get out."

The murmuring started again, more excited this time. "Yes!" Riven said. "You better tell us the way out!"

Pixiedust flew down to the table, and her little feet started pacing in front of everyone. "It's really simple," she said. "All you have to do is kill someone else!"


Prologue Summary: Five Specialists (Sky, Brandon, Timmy, Riven, and Bishop), five witches (Icy, Darcy, Stormy, Lucy, and Mirta), and six fairies (Bloom, Stella, Amaryll, Flora, Musa, and Tecna) are trapped inside the prestigious Alfea College. With nobody else in sight, and no way to get out, the group starts to panic- especially when a manic pixie that calls herself Pixiedust reveals that the only way out is to murder another student.

Sixteen students remain alive.