ACT I: CHAPTER II - The Day After Breaking and Entering (Part One)
A/N: I'm… back. Yay.
Ah, word of warning, I'm using the Ever After High way of speaking when it comes to the Ever After native characters. Only when it comes to talking and thinking, narrative descriptions are done in normal words.
A/N [8-23-2018]: **Changed Kieran's name into Corvus because Kieran Valentine exists.**
WARNING/S: familial drama [?], mild (?) cussing
DISCLAIMER: I don't own EAH.
STATUS: UNEdited, UNBeta'd
When Raven woke up, her hand immediately went to the space beside her- where her brother should be. Her eyes flew open and looked at his space when she couldn't feel anything- not even his warmth.
Panic stabbed her gut. She looked at her bedside tables to check for a note taped or pinned but found none. In her panic, she distantly heard Apple humming some song to herself. Raven scrambled out of her bed and slipped on her slippers.
Upon the loud noise from the other side of the room, Apple turned and saw her roomie awake. "Good morning, roomie!" she chirped but sobered when she saw her distressed expression. "How's Corvus?"
"He's gone! He's not here!" Raven exclaimed, hands flying everywhere. "There's no note saying where he went! How could he just leave like some... some jerk the day after!?" At the end of her tirade, her hands pressed to her face.
At Raven's silence, Apple strode over to her friend and wrapped an arm over her shoulders. She supported her friend as she dropped on the bed. Raven's hands fell limply on her thighs.
"He left. Without telling us. Last time, at least he left us a note but now…" Raven let out a whimper. "I can't believe this. He's such a- a-."
Raven's hands curled into fists. Her heart was starting to ache and feel heavy. Thoughts of last night evaded her mind. His sobs and delirious chanting kept playing in her head like a broken record.
Anger filled her gut. "What kinda jackass does this?! To his own sister nonetheless!" Raven burst out, standing up abruptly. "How dare he burst into our room in the middle of the night and just demand-! Ugh!"
Her hands glowed dangerously purple. "Uh, roomie, you might wanna check on your magic." Apple feebly called out.
Raven threw her hands up. "Doesn't he understand the basics of being in a family?! My father did not raise him like this!"
As her rage and anger burn on, her hands glowed brighter and brighter. "Raven!" Apple stood up, grabbing Raven by the shoulder. "I understand that you're furious but-."
"But what?!"
"Uh," a familiar voice rang behind Raven, "am I interrupting something?"
Both girls turned their attentions to Corvus, who is looking at the two of them weirdly. "Good morning!" He smiled. Both girls gave him death glares, with Raven's much more lethal than Apple's. "Uh… what's with that look?"
"You!" Raven roared, charging to Corvus. The latter barely had the time to back pedal before a swift- but painful- punch was sent to his right shoulder.
"OW!" He cried, rubbing his shoulder. The crumpling sound of a folded paper bag was heard as he clenched his right hand. "Glad to see that you're still practicing your martial arts."
"Where the hex have you been, asshole?!" Raven demanded, ignoring the throbbing pain in her knuckles. "I was worried sick!"
"Forgive me." Corvus said. "I wasn't familiar with Book-End."
"What were you doing in Book-End?! Mother's minions could've seen you!"
"I don't go around screaming that I'm her bastard son." Corvus placed the paper bag on the nearest table- Raven's desk where her Chemythstry set was used last night. "FYI, I just went there to buy you two breakfast. As a thank you for, you know, making sure my ass didn't kick the bucket."
Raven felt the anger, adrenaline, and tenseness leave her. Relief soon flooded in. She rushed to him and enveloped him in a hug.
"Uh…" Corvus coughed awkwardly, patting her head. Compared to the already tall height of Raven, he easily tower over her. He glanced at her multicolored hair and sighed. He wrapped an arm around her and patted her head much more gently. "There, there."
When Raven pulled away, she sent another punch to his shoulder. This time, it's much weaker.
"I still don't forgive you." Raven hissed. Corvus nodded. "I definitely think you're an asshole for what you did."
"That's obvious. I'm not stupid."
"But." Raven ignored his interruption with a sigh. "But you're still my brother." Her eyes turned distant. "And father deserves an explanation. A good one."
Corvus grinned, albeit awkwardly. "Can we… talk about this later?" he said, glancing to the breakfast he brought. "I'm pretty sure you gals are hungry." He turned to Apple and beckoned her over with a smile. "Hey, prin- Apple! You hungry?"
Apple nodded and walked to the two siblings. "Good morning, Corvus!" she greeted him.
He grinned at her. "See that, Rae? That's how you greet someone who buys you breakfast."
"I would fairy much appreciate it if you don't do that again. You gave my roomie a fright." Apple berated him.
Corvus' grin turned into a pout. "Never mind." He said. "I don't really know what you guys like so…" he shrugged, "I just grabbed some sandwiches."
As they ate in silence, a thought occurred to Apple. "Corvus," she called, earning his attention, "you promised us a Q and A last night."
Corvus squinted his eyes at her. 'Did I?' he shoved more of his sandwich in his mouth. The memories from last night flooded in.
His eyes widened. "Oh, yeah." He swallowed his food down and grinned, arms spread. "Ask away."
"Where were you these past three years?" Raven chimed in almost immediately. "Yes, Corvus, it's been three years since you left. Not two. Three."
Corvus grinned widely despite the slightly cruel tone Raven had, a twinkle is in his eye. He leaned in, as if telling a secret. "Everywhere." He answered, arms now resting on his thighs.
The two girls exchanged looks. "Everywhere?"
He leaned back. "Everywhere." He dramatically jumped down from Raven's desk where he was sitting on. "I was exploring the universe, you two!" The two girls blinked. "Life beyond this planet exists, guys! In the first year after I left, I went to this planet called Taiva. A civilization so advanced, it has an empire spanning three galaxies and the world's in between. I joined one of the branches of their army. The... The Sentinels." Towards the end of his narrative, his tone turned somber and his gaze is on the floor.
He shook his head. "A-Anyways," he forcefully cleared his throat, "something… happened," Raven noted that he tore his gaze from the floor and onto Apple, "during the last few months of the second year. I was reassigned to Earth to keep watch. It's is a planet I think you two will be fairy, fairy interested in."
That raised more questions than answers. "What's the Sentinel?" Apple asked. "And what's so interesting about Earth?"
"The Sentinel is a military branch of the Taivan Empire." Corvus answered, gesturing in the air. "Its main purpose is to defend the three galaxies it owns from outside attack. Its secondary purpose is to defend Earth from all of its future attackers and other malicious intent. The cult of the first Evil Queen is one of those 'other malicious intent' considering the fact that it technically belongs here." He grinned awkwardly. "To be honest, I ran away from home not knowing where to go. I just made a portal and jumped in."
"THAT'S RECKLESS!" Raven's outburst made the two others jump back in alarm. "Oh. My. Fairy Godmother! You could've been lost in the middle of time and space!"
"But I didn't." Corvus stared at her. "I ended up in Taiva. Somehow. One second, I was jumping in the portal. Next thing I know, I was surrounded by the dizzying heights of a city so advanced my brain didn't cope at the image that beheld me." He rubbed the back of his head. "The first thing I did was to learn the language. Their libraries are… huge. There are also English to Taivan translations, thankfully. After learning their surprisingly easy language, I went to nearest recruitment building and joined."
He turned to Apple. "Secondly, Earth is an interesting placed because they… love your fairytales."
The two girls stopped eating their sandwiches and stared at him with wide eyes. He sighed. "They… love… the… fairytales-" Corvus slowly said, like one would to a child.
"We heard you the first time, Corv." Raven snapped. "Love our fairytales?! What do you mean?!"
Corvus searched for something in his bag. "Hold on a sec. Ah!" He pulled out a phone-like device out. "Here we go." He unlocked it and showed them a few photos. The first one showed a book titled 'Children and Household Tales by The Brothers Grimm.'
'Brothers Grimm.' Apple thought, 'Just like Headmasters Giles and Milton.'
As he swiped to the left, a selfie showed him holding the book with a perplexed face. Another swipe and a video played.
"Sir." A younger-sounding Corvus, who was behind the camera, called out to a handsome black-haired man with red eyes. "Sir, look, sir."
The man turned his head to Corvus. "What is it, Queen?"
"Sir, what is this hexact- I mean… exactly, sir?"
The man looked at him with a weirdly. "It… seems to be a book of fairytales written by Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm, soldier." He tilted his head. "Doesn't your people have fairytales?"
"N-Not… hexact- exactly, Sir." Video- Corvus placed the book back to its place.
"Well, it's a bunch of stories that's extremely famous." The man replied, looking back at the shelves. "So famous that there are movies about it. Do you have movies in your world, soldier?"
"Y-Yes, Sir."
"Hm…" The man pulled out one of the books. "Those stories were written down by the Grimm Brothers to preserve it. It's a nice thing to read. Very calming. Children, especially, love it. You should go see some of the movies they made for them." The man looked at Corvus. "I suggest watching Disney's Snow White. It's the first one and a real classic."
"S-Snow White?" Video-Corvus' breath hitched.
The man nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah. Lips red as rose, skin pale as snow, and hair black as ebony." He recited. "It's a tale that everyone knew as a kid. At least, in Taivas and it's colonies… along with another planet. I'll buy a copy for you."
"Sir?!"
"You seem highly interested. I'll lend you a copy of my collection of Disney fairytale movies as well." He waved off Corvus' protests. "It's fine, I'm just glad you're interested in our culture."
Video- Corvus remained silent. The video ended. A sign appeared that says that this video was made three years ago.
Everyone in the room remained silent. Nobody dared move an inch. Corvus was silent and attentive to their reactions, while the two girls were shell-shocked.
"What…" Apple was the one who broke the silence, "So… there's a galactic empire out there who… knows our stories and loves it?"
"Yeah." Corvus answered cautiously.
Apple grinned, pure elation written on her face. "Raven!" She turned to the other shell-shocked girl. Raven jolted out of her thoughts.
"Apple…?"
"We have people, actual people, who read-… three galaxies…" Apple's face was filled with awe and wonder. "Three galaxies… three galaxies' worth of population love our stories! Enough to make movies about it!" She turned to Corvus. "You've seen the movies, right? Are they good? Who or what's Disney?"
Corvus stepped back with both his hands at chest level. "C-Chill, Apple. Take a deep breath." He made a motion of rising his chest and hands before lowering them when he saw that Apple was taking a deep breath. "Yes, I have seen them. They're great. Disney is an entertainment company made by Walt Disney less than a hundred years ago. They specialize in making movies, especially of the folk tale and fairytale kind."
He laughed. "Personally, and a bit ironically, my favorite is one of the their more recent movies. It's… not Snow White, it's…" He faltered when he saw Apple's slightly disappointed expression, "Don't look at me like that! Snow White's great and all but the more modern movies are much more relatable!"
Apple sighed and placed on a small smile. "True. What is your favorite movie?"
"M… Maleficent." Corvus answered sheepishly. Apple racked her brain trying to look for the mentioned fairytale.
"Corvus, I don't think that's a fairytale." Apple hesitantly replied.
"Oh, it is!" Corvus gestured wildly, "It's a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty… in the villain's perspective."
Another round of silence filled the room.
"Modern… interpretations of fairytales have been focusing on the side of the villains nowadays because they have been fed the same story over and over again. So…" he trailed off, not knowing how to continue. When they remained silent, Corvus waved and gestured on the air around him wildly once more. "I suppose the people now demands the views of the villains and why they became villains."
Raven blinked. "People… like villains?"
"Oh, yeah, they do!" Corvus replied, pulling a chair over and sitting on it. "People love them, sometimes more than the hero. Villains are, after all, just people whose stories made them bitter." He muttered the last sentence under his breath.
"But…" Raven began, unsure how to voice her emotions. "Aren't they supposed to hate villains?"
Corvus nodded. "Yeah, they should… and yet…" He trailed off, his memories in Earth surfacing. "It's just a matter of why. Why did the villain do that? Was their reason petty? Was it an act of revenge? Or do they believe their cause is noble? Stuff like that. Villains aren't great if the only thing that motivate them is pettiness."
Apple glanced at Raven. 'Does the Evil Queen have a reasonable excuse to chase down Snow White?' Apple thought, 'I suppose not. Not if it's just jealousy…'
Corvus froze, unsure how to continue. "Ah… uh," he racked his brain for more things to say, "G-Girls, I need a tour guide in the village. Yeah!" He awkwardly laughed. "I asked my boss earlier if I can stay. He said yes. I just need to stay in an inn."
Apple looked away with a forced cough. "Oh, sure." She packed her sandwich and set it aside. "We'll be glad to help."
"Great!" He piped, walking backwards. "So, uh… c-charm you later!" He all but ran out of the room and jumped off the balcony.
"Corvus!" Apple jolted up.
"Relax." Raven soothed, completely unfazed. "He's done this before."
Red eyes stared at the crystal ball on the lone table. "Your pets are too boring, Oz." He sighed, bored. "Tell me, is this the generation you believe will destroy the curse?" He sent the black haired, blue eyed man a grin.
"I don't believe it, pagan." He said plainly, "I know."
"You don't know the future." The other man countered, still lazing but used a baiting tone. "You never hexpected what happened eight hundred years ago. You never hexpected me."
"True." Oz answered evenly, "But I don't need to explain myself to you, do I? I don't owe a you, a disgusting caricature of a deity, anything."
The red eyed man slowly blinked at him before turning back to the crystal ball. "Are you gonna leave?" He asked instead, "I'm already tucked in and all, see?"
Oz silently stood up and walked to a huge metal door covered and lines with spells, sigils, and runes far older than the tradition Ever After has implemented on its own.
With a touch from his palm, the door opened. At the same time, a huge glowing blue forcefield rose up between the large space of Oz and the deity in a span of milliseconds.
"Solve the puzzle, Loki," Oz looked at the deity, "and you're allowed to go."
Corvus was baffled by the sheer beauty of girls he's met. He's never been to Ever After High before, not even when his mother still reigned cruelly throughout the land. This- good- news for him.
The Village of Book-End is a place bustling with lively energy that is evident on the fairyteens and adults alike. Right now, it seems that the paragon of lively energy is right in front of him, being introduced by Apple White herself.
"Corvus meet Briar Beauty, future Sleeping Beauty, and my BFFA." She said, gesturing to a girl with brown hair and pink streaks on the front. "Briar, meet Corvus. He's, uh…"
"Raven's distant relative." Corvus gave Apple a side grin upon seeing her confusion. "Very distant." He took a step forward, pulled one of Briar's hands and placed a kiss on it. "Had I known that Raven's school is filled with gorgeous ladies like you, I would've visited her sooner."
Briar sent him an amused look while Raven and Apple sent him confused, and shocked, looks. "Raven, I never knew you had relative. Handsome ones too."
"He's actually my only cousin." Raven fibbed awkwardly. "Fifth cousin."
"Oh," Briar pulled her hand away but kept her gaze on Corvus, "will he stay?"
"A week only," Corvus dramatically sighed, "I'm just here on a short visit."
Briar actually looked slightly disappointed. "Well, if you have the time, come join us for a party downtown this week." She said, "It's going to be a page-ripper! We're gonna have DJ N-Chant performing."
Corvus paused. This is… not what he expected.
"I-I suppose I can make it." He eyed Raven. She sent him a shrug. "When this week?"
"Friday night. Party starts at seven o' clock." Briar glanced at her watch. "Oh, my Fairy Godmother!" she gasped, "I'm running late for an appointment." She hurried past them but looked back. "See you, Apple, Raven! Nice to meet you, Corvus!"
With that, she's off.
"She seems nice." Corvus sighed dreamily.
"Did you just flirt with her?" Raven abruptly asked.
"It wasn't flirting, Raven." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It's witty banter."
"No, it's flirting." Raven cocked her head, arms crossing and a hand was rubbing her chin. "Odd, you never flirted with anyone before. You used to have the speaking ability of an awkward thirteen-year-old."
"I was an awkward thirteen-year-old." Corvus agreed, ruffling his sister's hair. When she gave her protests and flailing arms, he stopped. "People change, cousin dear."
'I had friends in there. Comrades. I tried. I tried.'
Raven just sighed, shaking away the memory. "I'm just glad you grew out of it."
"Thank you."
"So that I wouldn't have to constantly hexplain what you were saying." Raven held out her hands and intentionally made them quiver. "H-H-Hello, m-my name i-is C-Corvus." She stammered in a cracking voice.
"Hey!" Corvus turned to Apple, feeling attacked. "Defend me!"
"I can't." Apple held her hands up, "I don't know you that well."
Corvus sighed and looked up at the sky. "Authors, I don't deserve this." He cried. "End my suffering."
"Relax, drama queen." Raven slapped his arm weakly. "Come on, we're going to the Mad Hatter's Haberdashery and Tea Shop."
Corvus froze. "I can't." He stiffly said.
"Why?" Raven asked.
"I need to notify my bosses." He answered a little too quickly. "I mean, my superiors that I'm staying. They only allowed me to be here because I heard from one of our local informers that the Evil Queen was freed and that there's a chance that I might get a shard and, yeah, I do- did- got- have gotten a shard but I still haven't notified my bosses- superiors- generals that I have gotten the help I need and I just need rest and-"
"Corvus." Apple's voice cut through his babbling. He stared at her with wild eyes. "Your superiors will understand. Are you alright?" Her worried, but prodding, gaze made him look away.
"I am." He replied, slightly forceful. "I'm great. Ten-four, baby!"
He sent her a grin he knows looks foolish. "Corvus-." Apple tried once more but was interrupted.
"I'm hungry!" He forced a grin and walked ahead of them. He turned around. "Any good place where we can get some grub?"
"The Mad Hatter's Haberdashery and Tea Shop seemed like a good idea…" Raven trailed off. Her gaze went to her brother's left hand. He clenched and unclenched it, thumb running over his fingers every now and then.
"Can we not go there?" he said in a small, meek voice. "I'd rather not-," he took a deep breath, "I'd rather not go somewhere that's reminiscent o-of… Wonderland."
"Oh." Was all Raven said.
It seems that Corvus wasn't able to move on from the events nearly a decade ago. This, Raven understood.
"Yeah." Corvus agreed, looking absolutely defeated and humuloahum. "Oh."
"We can just grab a couple of hocus lattes at a different café." Apple quickly suggested, moving forward to grasp his wrist. "I heard that there's this new one opening downtown."
Corvus steadied his resolve as he nodded. "Alright." He gave her a smug grin that seemed to weak in Raven's eyes. "If you just wanted a date with me, you could've just said so."
"What?" Apple released him and took a step back, befuddled. "I didn't…"
Corvus laughed. "I'm kidding!" he held out his arm for her, "Now, where's this café?"
As they walk away, with Apple's arm draped in Corvus', Raven followed. Her urge to make him sit down and interrogate him about what royally happened these past three years is nigh unbearable. She knows about Wonderland. She understands why Corvus would rather evade anything related to that topsy turvy of a world. (She just thought that he moved on.)
She royally wants to ask him a thousand questions about the past three years and not let him go until he answers. Yet, she knows that if she does, Kieran will just shut himself further. Possibly to the point of even running away once more.
For all their bickering, Raven doesn't want her brother gone.
Oz watched them from the sidelines. He eyes the trio from afar, sipping his black coffee. He lets the bitterness run over his taste buds as he gazes at them from the corner booth by the window.
The perfect location to have the wide, wide view of the entire café and the outside.
Raven was bickering with Corvus as Apple ordered for three of them. A sight enough to make his heart hurt. From pain or joy, he knows not. How long has he waited for this? For all three of them to be in the same period? He doesn't know anymore. He doesn't want to count the centuries.
All he knows is that the curse that that disgusting... creature cast upon them must be broken.
He remembers the day it all happened. He's seen Loki cast the curse on the entire planet. He's seen Loki drown the entire planet in his lies. It made him highly responsible for stopping it.
He sips his coffee once more. 'You won't win this round, Loki.' He thought, knowing that he's being watched right now. 'I'll beat your game. I'll end your curse.' He turned to the three fairyteens taking their seats new the cashier and far from him. 'They will be my champions.'
A/N: This… update is earlier than I expected! It's quite a nice thing too.
You ask: 'What's the deal between Loki and Oz?!'
All in due time, dear readers! It's gonna be a wild ride but you're not gonna get any answers any time soon because I'll introduce Corvus to the different characters of Ever After High and how the school works.
Speaking off, this story is somewhat my way of projecting my frustration to all the questions I hold for the series (the webisodes ones at least). Ever since I've rewatched the entire series, my frustration of questions such as EAH's shady history (True Heart's Day, everyone? It just says it's banned but… like… how did it start?).
Note: I'm relying more on the webisodes than on the book series because the webisodes are easily at my disposal.
For those who's read my old fic 'The Sentinel', you're either so confused right now or excited. Yes, Kiera is part of the Sentinel but he's not a General. Not to mention, I've actually done research this time and I can conclude that I fixed the gist of it: ranks, how it works, different stations. It'll be explained later.
As for the timeline. It's nearly done. I'm just fixing whatever loving fuck happened eight hundred years ago in this fic. But everything is going smoothly so far.
To all my silent readers and those who actually review, my followers and favorite-rs thank you all!
See you on the next chapter! Toodles for now!
REPLIES TO:
Guest [4-14-2018]: Holy ffffff… no words can say how much this comment made my week. And fueled my motivation. As I posted the first chapter, I had a crapton of doubts in my head if people will even bother to read it. Your comment really steeled my determination.
Actually, I don't go to an American school so the end of my school year is earlier than May (it's actually this April). Ouch, I sincerely hope you hold on, dude. Ending a school in July is a pain! I'm now very much thankful for the time span of my school year. When do you guys start your school year, anyways?
**re-edited: 9-28-2018**