About a week after Thronecoming, mysterious packages of heart-shaped cookies were left outside of every dorm room door in the early hours of the morning. These thoughtful gifts unfortunately led to yelling between open windows facing the girls and boys dormitories as Helga Crumb warned everybody to not eat the treats because they were made by Ginger Breadhouse.
"Oh no! Her mother used candy to try and lure your mother and my father to their doom!" Gus yelled back. "And now she's trying to lure us too!" he cried, and threw the cookie in his hand out the window he'd been talking to his sister through.
"If you don't want them, put them back in the boxes they came in," Hrafn ordered everybody, loudly so that both dorms would be able to hear. "And I will collect them. No throwing food on the floor!"
Half an hour later, every box of treats that had been given to a Royal had found its way into Hrafn's room, and half the ones that had been given to Rebels had too. Just the Rebels that didn't know Ginger personally though. The rest had quietly slipped the boxes into their rooms and hid them to be snacked on after school. Nothing like sweet treats to make thronework more bearable.
"Uh, Hrafn?" Dexter asked as he considered the pile of boxes, each one full of Ginger's baked goods. "What are you going to do with all of this?"
"Eat it," Hrafn said plainly. "Ginger's baking is delicious. Beyond hextacular. If they're dragon safe, then I might even share a few with Nevermore. She's got a bit of a sweet tooth."
Dexter shook his head at his room mate and the name he'd picked for the baby dragon he'd somehow acquired during Thronecoming. ("The headmaster gave her to me" was hardly an explanation, in Dexter's opinion.)
"Of course her baking is good," Dexter said with a worried frown. "Her mother -"
"Ah," Hrafn cut his friend and room mate off. "Ginger's a sweet-tempered, mousy, quiet thing, for all that her hair is an even louder pink than Cupid's. She's not her mother, and she's got no intention of following her story."
Dexter sighed.
"Did I miss you taking Ginger to a dance?" he asked dully. "Because, apart from the story, I'm not sure I've actually met her before, er, yet."
"You might have missed that date, yes," Hrafn chuckled. "But I actually got to know her when I was running for Student Council President. She's been the head chef and supervising baker for pretty much every food-based fund-raiser we've had."
"Wow, really?" Dexter asked, surprised. He was also, clearly, reconsidering the box of treats he'd handed over to Hrafn. "I thought you got all of the cooking classes involved."
"I do," Hrafn confirmed. "But Ginger's the one in charge of the kitchens unless there's a teacher there. Look, now that I've got all the treats saved from being thrown on the floor and wasted, I'm going to find Ginger."
"You've got time for that?" Dexter asked, surprised.
Hrafn scowled briefly.
"I've cut down on my course-load this term," he said. "I know I've got limits, and adding Nevermore to my responsibilities, while keeping up the number of classes I was taking, wasn't going to work. I'm still on the Bookball team, I'm still Student Council President. Until the end of this school year, at least."
"You can change your class load mid-term?"
"Nevermore gets categorised as an hexceptional circumstance," Hrafn admitted, and gave the young dragon a gentle scratch to the top of her head.
~oOo~
"Hey Ginger," Hrafn greeted as he slid in to sit next to her at the table she'd chosen in the Castleteria. "Thanks for the treats this morning."
"You're welcome," Ginger said with a small, appreciative smile, grateful for the acknowledgement and gratitude, rather than the denouncement and screaming that had come so loudly from Gus and Helga Crumb that morning. "I just... I wish I didn't have to hide that it was my baking for everybody to be willing to enjoy it."
"I wondered if it might be something like that," Hrafn said with a sigh. "Oh, before I forget, those treats are dragon safe, right? Nevermore has a sweet tooth."
Ginger giggled.
"They're safe for Nevermore as well," she promised.
"Great. Now, your issue," Hrafn said firmly, and pulled out his mirror-pad. "I've grabbed one of those trailers the school uses for food vendors at fairs, and I've written a letter to send to Jack Horner."
"The spellebrity chef?!" Ginger squeaked, eyes wide behind her glasses.
"I haven't sent it yet," Hrafn comforted with a gentle smile, "but I figured that people might need a push before they're willing to go off-book. Are you okay with this?"
Ginger took a deep breath, and nodded. It looked rather like someone who had just said "rip it off and get it over with" in regards to a band-aid.
"You'll be fine," Hrafn promised as he hit the send button. "Your treats are beyond hextacular."
"Thanks," Ginger said with a small smile.
"No time to thank me when there's baking to do," Hrafn countered with a smile and a friendly nudge.
~oOo~
A slick black car pulled up outside of Ever After High, and the chauffeur opened one of the rear doors. A tall, blonde man stepped out of the car, instantly causing a commotion as he was recognised.
"It's not-so-little Jack Horner!"
"The spellebrity chef?!"
Admirers offered up things for him to sign, which he obligingly did as he explained his presence to the crowd.
"I got some mirror mail that your school has a chef that makes the tastiest treats," he told them all with a smile. "I just had to try!"
"Then step on up," Hrafn invited with a gesture to the food truck he'd commandeered, and helped Ginger decorate just for this.
The lady herself stood beside it, just a little nervously. This was a big deal for her after all.
"But those treats!" Gus wailed. "She uses them to lure you to your doom!"
"Well, you only live once upon a time!" Jack declared, and stepped up to the array of baked treats to choose one. He picked up a pie and stuck in his thumb.
The watching crowd gasped as that sauce-covered thumb was tasted.
"Hm," Jack hummed thoughtfully. "That... is... out of this kingdom!" he declared, holding the pie aloft.
Ginger sighed in relief.
"Hey, can you make some more for my restaurant?" he asked eagerly.
"Sure!" Ginger agreed with a delighted, and possibly just slightly hysterical, giggle.
Hrafn wrapped an arm around Ginger's shoulders and gave her a supportive, congratulatory squeeze. They didn't stay like that for long though, Ginger had baking to do. While she got to filling Mr Horner's order, Hrafn turned to the watching crowd.
"Ginger just wants to share her treats," he told them all.
Dexter, bless him, stepped up to buy a cupcake from the food truck first. He did have assurances from his room mate that Ginger had been baking for school events for a while, after all, and nothing bad had happened yet. This was just Ginger being recognised for her work.
"Oh wow," Dexter moaned as he took a bite. "You were right Hrafn, these are beyond hextacular," he confirmed.
He'd be grilling his room mate, and possibly Ginger herself, later as to why this bit of baking tasted even better than the treats he'd bought occasionally at other bake sales. He would probably also be diving into that massive pile of boxed treats sitting in his dorm room that Hrafn had saved from being thrown away earlier.
"It's that good?" Cupid asked cautiously.
Dexter smiled, and broke off a piece of his cupcake – away from where he'd bitten into it – and offered the piece to Cupid to taste.
Blushing, she accepted the piece of cake. At first, she was hyper-focused on the feel of Dexter's fingers lightly touching her lips as she accepted the piece of cake, but then the flavours hit her tongue, and her eyes popped wide open in shock. This, of course, made those who were still just watching a bit nervous, but then -
"Half a dozen please," she ordered quickly once she'd swallowed that little sample down.
Hrafn, laughing, parcelled them up for her. Ginger was still cooking Jack Horner's order for his restaurant, after all.
People came cautiously for their first taste, then did as Cupid had, and bought an armful. Hrafn, naturally, couldn't bake more for the food truck – cooking wasn't exactly his thing – and Ginger was busy, so what went wasn't getting replaced. Jack Horner, his order filled, grabbed the last two cupcakes on his way out.
"What did I miss while I was in the kitchen?" Ginger asked, wide-eyed.
Hrafn smiled.
"You're a hit," he informed her, and handed over the profits of the day to the one who had really earned them. Less the cost of the school ingredients she'd used (roughly) and a rental fee for the truck. Neither of which were very much, and certainly not so much as to make a dent in the pile of gold that Ginger's baking had brought her.
Ginger blinked in surprise.
"Wow," she breathed.
~oOo~
The next big thing on the school's social calendar was the Spring Fairest. It was just about the last thing before summer vacation. Sure there were still classes, there would be more parties, and of course tests and stuff, but Spring Fairest was the last really big thing before summer. Which meant it was going to be the last big thing that Hrafn did as Student Council President.
He was not running for the position again next year. Even with the reduced course-load, keeping up all of his extra-curricular activities and raising a young dragon was... exhausting.
"I am going to sleep for a week," Hrafn declared the night before Spring Fairest. "Don't you dare let anybody kiss me awake," he warned his room mate.
Dexter laughed at that.
"I don't think Nevermore would let you," he pointed out.
"No, you're right, of course she wouldn't," Hrafn grumbled fondly and smiled over to where the young dragon was curled up in her basket, asleep and adorable. As though she hadn't decided it would be a good day to practice her fire breathing while playing dress-up in Hrafn's wardrobe.
"Besides, you helped organise the whole thing," Dexter continued. "Don't you want to see everybody enjoying the results of all that hard work?"
"If I go, then I'll get roped into doing more work," Hrafn asserted.
"You won't," Dexter countered. "If you don't let yourself be. Come on, Hrafn. Give yourself a day off for once. Hex, ask a girl on a date. No girl is going to let you get away with being dragged from a date to work."
"There's a few that would, actually," Hrafn corrected. "Apple, for hexample, would definitely let her date off if it meant helping people."
"You've never asked Apple on a date," Dexter said.
"No," Hrafn agreed. "She's not my type."
"Which is saying something when you've gone on a date with everybody from my sister to... to... to Duchess Swan! Are you ever going to settle on just one girl?"
"I've been thinking about it," Hrafn said. "Asking girls on dates, even casual ones, is great for getting to know them, but..."
"Oh hey, that's right, you said something about how the girl you wanted to vote for as Thronecoming Queen wasn't nominated," Dexter recalled. "That the girl you've been thinking about?"
"Yes."
Dexter blinked. That had been an uncommonly straight answer from his room mate. No evasion, no redirection, not even any elaboration. Dexter decided not to press it. Hrafn was obviously exhausted if he was being that blunt.
~oOo~
Hrafn had happily slept for as long as Nevermore would let him, which was longer than usual as Dexter, awesome room mate that he was, had taken it upon himself to get Nevermore's breakfast sorted out before he left for the Spring Fairest. Which let Hrafn sleep longer.
Nevermore entertained herself with the dragon-proof toys that Hrafn had bought for her until she got bored with them and jumped up on Hrafn's bed.
"Oof!" Hrafn grunted, jerking into wakefulness. "Oh, good morning Nevermore, hungry?"
Nevermore shook her head and looked over at her food bowl. The remains of her breakfast still lined it, just a few scraps she hadn't licked up, but she had clearly been fed.
"I guess I owe Dexter a thank you, huh?" Hrafn guessed.
Nevermore nodded in confirmation. For all that she was sometimes more trouble than a kitten in a basket of yarn, Nevermore was very intelligent. Actually, that intelligence was probably why she was so much trouble from time to time. She got bored.
"Alright, let me up. I'll get dressed, have my breakfast, and we can go down to the Spring Fairest," Hrafn suggested as he scratched Nevermore's forming forehead jewels – a result of her having been exposed to so much magic in her formative years. Magic exposure while she'd still been in the egg would have had even more dramatic effects. "How's that sound, girl?"
Nevermore chirped in agreement, and hopped off the bed.
~oOo~
Hrafn and Nevermore arrived at the Spring Fairest just in time to see the troll who was working the Fairest Wheel have a fit of sneezing, sending the wheel spinning at speeds it really wasn't meant for, and that the people riding had definitely not been prepared for.
Kitty's smile, and the rest of her, appeared next to him as he readied his magic to stop the wheel so that everybody could get off.
"Aww, don't spoil my joke, Hrafn," Kitty entreated with a smiling pout.
"Kitty, you know I love your jokes, but if anyone on that Fairest Wheel gets hurt, then it's not a joke any more," Hrafn countered, and grabbed the wheel with his magic.
Once everybody was off the wheel (some stumbling about a bit because some of them were very dizzy, and others motion sick from the up-down, backwards-forwards, really really fast, but no one unaffected), Hrafn released the magic he'd been using.
"No fun," Kitty grumbled, and vanished.
Hrafn sighed, and waved for Nevermore to stick close as they properly got into what was going on around the Spring Fairest. The next time he saw Kitty, she and the other Wonderlandian students had tackled a newcomer who was holding a white rabbit.
"Meet our good friend Alistair Wonderland!" Maddie presented to the curious crowd that had gathered at the odd sight of a guy being tackled by Kitty and Maddie, while Lizzy stood over, giggling happily. "None other than the son of the famous Alice!"
"Is that -" Lizzy started to ask, eyes fixed on the rabbit in Alistair's arms.
"Yep," he confirmed. "It's Bunny."
The rabbit hopped out of his arms and transformed mid-air, landing as a white-haired girl.
"Bunny Blanc," she introduced herself. "Daughter of the White Rabbit."
"Woah, you're a girl!" Sparrow exclaimed, clearly thrilled with this development as he strutted up to her. "Sweet fairy fire."
"She's with me," Alistair said, imposing himself between Bunny and Sparrow. "I mean," he said eyes wide and blushing.
Behind him, Bunny was blushing too.
"I think we all know what you mean," Hrafn cut in before there could be any further foot-in-mouth embarrassment. "Welcome to Ever After, Alistair and Bunny. I'm Hrafn, Student Council President."
"You're supposed to be having today off, Hrafn," Dexter called over. "Leave the official welcome for another time."
"Wait a skoodle," Maddie said, and shook her head quickly, making bulululu noises. "How did you two get here?"
"I'd like to know that myself," Headmaster Grimm said, expression fierce, as he stormed through the crowd. "All the portals to Wonderland are sealed."
"We found a way through," Alistair said. Which really, stating the obvious. They were standing right there, after all.
"Impossible!" Headmaster Grimm accused.
"Well, except for that one," Giles said as he lay a hand on his brother's shoulder. "That was left open to let a little bit of Wonder flow in from Wonderland."
"Oh, argh, right," Headmaster Grimm grumbled unhappily. "Young man," he said, and that censuring finger came out again, waving up and down as he tried to lecture someone who had no particular reason at all to respect him. "I do not know what kind of trick you are trying to pull, but you are not supposed to be in this world."
"Headmaster," Hrafn said, getting between Alistair and Headmaster Grimm. "Supposed to or not, he's here now. Can we all just enjoy today, and get to asking the whys and wherefores tomorrow? Please? I bet the Wonderlandians all want to catch up with each other."
"We're here because we found the Storybook of Legends," Alistair announced, and Bunny withdrew the book from his backpack.
~oOo~
"Now everyone can sign!" Apple exclaimed happily, and ran forward to hug Alistair. "Oh thank you Alistair! Thank you! Thank you!"
Bunny didn't look too thrilled with Apple's attention to Alistair. Not that Apple was paying any attention to that. She was too caught up in her own feelings regarding destiny and the fulfilment thereof.
"Have the girls here never seen a boy before?" she grumbled as Apple moved away, focused on the book in Headmaster Grimm's hans.
To be fair to Bunny though, Duchess had also been keen to insert herself at Alistair's side.
"Well Alistair my man," Daring said as he stepped up, and slapped Alistair on the back. "Today, you are the real hero."
"But," Blondie said, "what was the Storybook of Legends doing in Wonderland?"
"It doesn't matter what happened last chapter," Apple said blissfully. "It's back, and Alistair brought it to us."
"Yes yes yes," Headmaster Grimm interrupted in his angry voice. "This would all be wonderful, except that this -" he slammed shut the book, as he'd been flipping through it, "is not the Storybook of Legends!"
"That seems to be a theme," Hrafn remarked tiredly.
"This is simply a tired old book of riddles!" Headmaster Grimm declaimed, and pushed it on the person next to him without even looking. It happened to be Apple, and even if it wasn't what she'd wanted it to be, she still held onto it.
"Wow! That is hat-tastic!" Maddie cheered. "Aw, come on people! Who doesn't heart a good riddle?"
"It was the Storybook of Legends," Alistair asserted. "It was!"
"I saw it too," Bunny agreed.
"Not cool, my man, not cool," Daring denounced, and moved off.
So did just about everybody else, not caring to listen to the Wonderlandian's protests.
"Forget it," Alistair said. "They're not going to believe us. They don't know us like you guys do."
Then it was just Apple left holding the book, and Hrafn with Nevermore on the opposite side of the courtyard.
"I," Hrafn said firmly, "am going to find somewhere to just sit down and enjoy an ice cream cone. How does that sound to you, Nevermore? Maybe we'll even find Dexter. I haven't forgotten that I need to thank him for getting you breakfast so that I could sleep in this morning."
She squawked her agreement. She was at that size to be too big to really call what she did 'chirping' any more, but not so big that it qualified for roaring.
~oOo~
Hrafn sat in the stands between Dexter and Faybelle, with Nevermore at his feet, as they cheered for Cerise in the Chef Showdown. They'd have cheered for Ginger as well, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. That was slightly concerning, considering she'd been so excited about the competition on Blondie's mirror-cast show earlier in the day.
Hrafn hadn't seen it, but Dexter had been the one holding the mirror-pad, and had shared his concerns with his room mate. Hrafn agreed it was unlike Ginger to miss a chance to bake treats for any reason. Nevermore was much too interested in her bowl of ice cream to be concerned, no matter how much she liked Ginger's dragon treats, and Faybelle was more interested in being allowed to pat Nevermore than she was in Ginger's absence.
It was still Faybelle who saw it though.
"Apple just cheated," she said, eyes large with shock.
"What?!" both of the guys yelped in surprise.
"I know, right?" Faybelle returned. "Apple White, Little Miss Perfect-Future-Queen herself, just sprinkled something on Holly's tower tea cakes."
That something turned out to be chilli powder, judging by Jack Horner's reaction.
"So much for a day off," Hrafn sighed.
"No," Dexter countered. "Apple cheating is not something you have to worry about. I admit that it's out of character for her, but whatever is going on can wait until tomorrow."
"And that Ginger is missing?" Hrafn countered. "Missing people shouldn't be left un-looked-for, Dexter."
"So tell Madame Yaga or Professor Badwolf that she's missing. You don't have to be the one to fix things all the time," Dexter insisted. "You need a day off. Faybelle? Back me up here?"
"Hey, you know I'm against hard work and will get out of it any time I can," Faybelle said easily, shrugging her shoulders and fluttering her wings. "It is your day off, Hrafn," she reminded him more earnestly. "If someone comes and asks you for help, like emergency help, then fine. I don't hexpect you to turn them down like I probably would, but don't go looking for work to do. Let someone else do it for once upon a time."
"You're right," Hrafn agreed. "I'm normally better at delegating. It's just with Thronecoming and then Spring Fairest following so close after each other, I got used to running myself ragged. Thanks for calling me out on it."
"Yeah," Faybelle drawled. "You've been great at it, so much better than Apple ever was or could be, but maybe don't run for Student Council President next year. For your sake."
~oOo~
"Okay, so we've had new Wonderlandians show up with a book that they thought was the Storybook of Legends, only for it to turn out to be a book of riddles," Dexter said as they headed up to the school, counting off on his fingers. "Apple cheated at the Chef Showdown, Ashlynn's let herself go, badly, and my brother has misplaced his spine somewhere. Er, in the metaphorical sense."
"Daring Charming is now Coward Charming," Faybelle agreed.
"-as if anyone's going to believe you over me," Apple said to Holly with a smug, unkind smirk as she pushed away from the locker she'd been leaning on. "I've just had the most wicked idea."
"Oh! Wait for me!" Daring cried fearfully as he burst out from the locker. Whether he'd been hiding in it, or Apple had pushed him in, was presently unknown.
"She's right," Holly whispered as she held herself. "No one will believe me if I tell them that Apple, of all people, cheated to win."
"I will," Cerise said as she slipped out from between where some of the lockers met an internal tree-trunk.
"Cerise!" Holly exclaimed, relieved.
"I heard every word," Cerise asserted. "And they're not the only ones acting strange. Something is making people act totally upside-down."
"We saw it too," Hrafn said, and dragged Dexter and Faybelle over.
"Hrafn, your day off?" Faybelle pressed.
"Faybelle," Hrafn said, and grabbed her hand so that he could drop a quick, light kiss on the back of it. "Thank you, but I think this qualifies as something that I might actually need to do."
"Fine," Faybelle agreed, cheeks rosy as she ripped her hand out of his light hold. "Okay, count me in."
"Me too," Dexter agreed with a sigh.
"Whatever is causing this," Briar said as she and Hopper walked up to join them, "we'd better find out why, and fast. Hopefully before anybody does anything permanent."
"I'm pretty sure I saw Humphrey Dumpty wearing a jet pack and roller blades on our way here," Hopper volunteered, concerned for his room mate.
Cerise nodded. "Yeah, I saw that too. And Cedar is lying."
"And, I'm sorry Holly, but Poppy was going a bit crazy with the scissors at the Tower Hair Salon," Briar said. "People were leaving at a run, screaming, and mostly bald."
Holly winced.
