AU: Hi guys! Thanks for reading. Chapter 5 is coming soon. Don't forget to review, favourite, follow etc.
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
The girl once again opened her mouth "Are you quite alright?" She asked. There was no malice in her tone. In fact she sounded quite concerned.
"We saw your fall. You were under for a while. Are you feeling faint? Do you need any help?"
"What? No! No, I mean I'm fine the bird thing dropped me in and I thought it was just a dream because there's no way I could actually be here. It's impossible that I could be here. In fact I might actually be dreaming. It doesn't feel like a dream thou-"
"That would probably be because it isn't!" the girl laughed. "Do you remember your name?"
"Y-yes."
"Well? What is it?"
"Oh, it's Seluna."
"Well, Seluna, that was quite a fall. You must be absolutely soaking too. Here wait a minute," the girl started rummaging around a large wooden trunk with a gold crest. "Here we go!" She said, pulling out a thick cloak made of a material Seluna had never seen before. "Um... Thanks," Seluna murmured.
"No problem!" The girl exclaimed. "I'm Princess Mia of Speranza by the way."
Fairies had began to swarm the girls and nymphs were beckoning them inside. "Well, must be going now. I hope we can be friends!" the girl- Mia- called as a nymph took her bag and she smiled. She seemed to smile a lot. Seluna sighed and walked, sopping wet, into the magnificent castle in front of her.
The halls of Good shone with an ethereal glow. Nymphs where hanging up portraits of girls and boys on the wall. Seluna walked over and stared at the wall. A nymph hung her portrait next to the girl who gave her the cloak. She began hammering another nail next to it. Seluna looked along the wall and saw hundreds of portraits just like hers. Next to the portraits were paintings depicting scenes from fairytale books. Each of the older portraits had a different frame. Gold, silver, bronze. Princesses and princes, maids and Wizards, unicorns and mice. Even pumpkins! And at the bottom of the wall, dusty and neglected were small wooden frames depicting students with the word FAILED under their names in red lettering. There were no after pictures to these portraits. A chill went up Seluna's spine. Seluna was broken out of her thoughts when a nymph handed her a basket. She peered inside and pulled out a pile of books, held together by a silk ribbon. Seluna read the titles on the spine: "The Privilege of Beauty", "Winning Your Prince", "The Recipe Book for Good Looks", "Princess with a Purpose", "Animal Speech 1: Barks, Neighs, & Chirps" and finally "A Student's History of the Woods". On top of the books was a slip of thick parchment with smooth, swirling calligraphy reading:
Seluna of Woods Beyond
GOOD, 1st Year
Charity Tower 41
Session Faculty
1: History of Heroism Prof. August Sader
2: Animal Communication Princess Uma
3: Beautification Prof. Emma Anemone
4: Good Deeds Prof. Clarissa Dovey
5: Lunch
6: Princess Etiquette Pollux
7: Surviving Fairy Tales (Forest Group #12) Faun the Lily Nymph
Under the books was a folded pink pinafore and a blouse. "Charity 4,1?" A familiar voice chimed. "Anyone?" Three hands shot up. "Here!" One called. All over the room girls started to call their room numbers. Charity 4,1. It seemed familiar. Seluna checked her page again. Charity 4,1. Charity 4,1! That was her room. Seluna made her way over to the group of girls who were to be her roommates. "Hi I'm Charity 4,1," she said quietly.
"Oh great!" Mia exclaimed. "Well we should all get to know each other! We'll state our names, kingdoms and our favourite colours and fairy tales. Just to get started! I'll go first. I am Princess Mia of the Kingdom of Speranza, my favourite fairytale is my parents' story- The Dove- and my favourite colour is Midnight Blue! Now you guys go."
"My name is Josephine-Anne-Helene. I am the princess of Boskiv and my favourite fairy tale is The Ugly Duckling because a mogrif that finds a happy ending is just as good as a hero that finds a happy ending and my favourite colour is lilac," pipped up a slightly small blonde girl. "It's nice to meet you all," she smiled.
"I'm Sarabetta and I'm the princess of Dameera. My favourite colour is aqua," said a cheery tall brunette.
"I'm Seluna of Woods Beyond. I don't have a royal title. My favourite colour is lavender and my favourite fairytale is Sleeping Beauty," Seluna finally said.
"See! We all know each other so much better now!" Mia said happily. She really was lovely, Seluna thought. She was beautiful and kind and she always seemed happy. Seluna had the sense, however, that Mia probably had a darker, more ruthless edge concealed beneath the exterior. Seluna had always been a good judge of character, and something in Mia made her think she was bone tough.
The girls chatted about nothing and everything for a while until dozens of men and women came down the grand staircases dressed in hues Seluna didn't even know existed. A woman in a chanteuse dress with grey hair stopped and spoke. Her voice radiated through the hall. "Hello students! It is wonderful to see the smiling faces of Good's next victors here today. You will be going into the Theatre of Tales momentarily which our school proudly houses. I hope you will set a good example to your Never peers. Thank you Evers," And with that the nymphs hustled the girls into the hall.
They took their seats and waited for something to happen. The door opposite the one through which the girls had entered was shoved open and banged against the wall. A crowd of filthy, grimacing Nevers in black saggy uniforms came in, booing the Evergirls. Seluna stared silently and picked out Ade from the crowd of hideous Nevers. He was as foul as always. He saw her staring and smiled menacingly at her. She shuddered. What that could possibly mean didn't bear thinking about. Mia had caught her looking and picked up on her darkened expression. "Are you OK Seluna? You look like you've seen a ghost!" She whispered.
"Yeah, I'm OK. I've just seen someone I would rather not see ever again in my entire life,"
"Oh. If you like I can stick with you. I think we have the same timetable. And the girls and I will stick with you at lunch. We promise."
"Thanks Mia," Seluna smiled sadly.
"Josephine-Anne-Helene what do you have on your timetable?" Might whispered
"Princess Etiquette, Beautification, History of Heroism, Animal Communication, Lunch, Good Deeds then Surviving Fairy Tales Group 12. You?"
"Seluna and I have History of Heroism, Animal Communication, Beautification, Good Deeds, Lunch, Princess Etiquette and then Surviving Fairy Tales Group 12."
"Hang on let me ask Sarabetta," said Josephine-Anne-Helene. She turned to Sarabetta and then back to Mia. "Same as you two," she said downheartedly. "I have none of you in my class!" She cried.
"We're in the same Surviving Fairytales group though!" Mia exclaimed.
"Cheer up Josephine-Anne-Helene!" Said Seluna comfortingly.
"Just call me Joanne. Josephine-Anne-Helene is a bit of a mouthful. It sounds a bit silly to say."
"Cheer up Joanne!" Seluna giggled.
Their chat was interrupted when Good's doors swung open and Everboys ran in sword fighting, all of them moving dextrously. They were all handsome and glistening with sweat. Seluna couldn't take her eyes off them. The boys in Gavaldon had all been boring, but these boys had muscular arms and chiseled features. She wasn't the only wide eyed Evergirl staring at them. They all disarmed each other until a single champion remained. He was gorgeous. He had tan skin, golden hair and by the look of his perfect body he was athletic. Seluna, and all the other girls, were swooning. The boys took roses out of their tunics and threw them into the pews of Evergirls. Seluna closed her eyes, afraid of the thorns and felt something land in her palm.
