Chapter 10: Seeking Truth
"Alright, let's step back for a moment and look at the big picture," said Hunter, "what just happened?"
Apple and Raven's group had returned to The Base after the clash outside Sleeping Beauty's castle, with a brief stop at the hospital for Tobias's wounds to be healed and a healing spell put on Raven's arm. Once everyone had regrouped at The Base, Blondie showed Jeffrey, Maddie and everyone who had stayed her recording of the battle, leaving those who missed it first hand speechless for several seconds.
"Isn't it obvious?" Connor asked irately, "we've been betrayed!"
"I never realized that one of our own would be a turncoat," said Tobias as he and Cupid sat together on the same couch, "least of all Clare."
"Sure, she had a chip on her shoulder the size of Gibraltar," said Madison, "but I thought it was just anger management issues."
"How long do you think she was waiting?" Ashlynn asked.
"Waiting for what?" Briar asked.
"To betray us, of course," said Kitty, "personally, I believe she was a mole planted by The Obsidian Council or Dai-Shocker."
"That can't be!" said Jeffrey, "The Alabaster Council, they wouldn't have picked Clare to be a Rider if she was working for The Obsidian Council, let alone Dai-Shocker."
"Why are you so eager to defend her?" Lizzie asked as she shuffled her deck, "mayhap you are in cahoots with her!"
"I am not!" said Jeffrey, "I'm just saying that we shouldn't be so eager to label one of our friends as a complete traitor."
"She is a traitor!" said Lizzie, "and like all traitors, there can be only one punishment. OFF WITH HER HEAD!"
"No!" said Apple sternly, "we're not doing that. I don't believe that Clare is a traitor."
"Hello!?" exclaimed Hunter, "you saw the recording! Clare basically chopped down Tobias, Avery, Raven and the others and tried to kill Apple."
"But she could have killed Apple any time she wanted," said Raven, "she could have killed any of us but didn't."
"You saw the pain she was in," said Apple, "I'm willing to believe that she's being controlled by the enemy,"
"Well, either way," said Lizzie, "Clare can no longer be trusted. The next time we see her, OFF WITH HER…"
"NO!" Raven snapped, "we're not cutting her head off!"
"Why shouldn't we!?" Lizzie snapped as she stood up, "why shouldn't we destroy the traitor!?"
"Because we don't know for sure if she really is a traitor!" said Raven as she stood up, "there is such a thing as 'innocent until proven guilty.'"
"I happen to prefer 'guilty until proven innocent,'" said Lizzie.
"That may work best in Wonderland," said Apple, "but not for the rest of us!"
"We're all upset about this," said Ashlynn as she tried to get everyone to calm down, "it's a huge shock for us all."
"Well, I for one am not surprised," said Maddie as she held up two different tea packets, as if debating which to brew, "after all, the prophecy did say that one of the seven would be revealed as a traitor."
"I…what?!" exclaimed Apple, "you knew this would happen?"
"What prophecy?!" Raven demanded.
"The one at the start of the prolog, of course," said Maddie in a matter of fact tone. She then cleared her throat and quoted in an ominous tone…
'From beyond the borders of reality, a shadow shall emerge, to corrupt the realms of imagination and spread darkness throughout time and space. Seven shall be chosen by the light to combat the shadows, granted power to protect the helpless and defend the innocent. Of the seven, three shall pay the ultimate price, while one shall be revealed as a traitor, falling from grace and rising with a heart as black as night. The Child of Light shall meet her One True Love, while The Child of Dark shall learn her true destiny'
"Well, that was depressing somewhat," said Madison.
"Why didn't you tell me this before, Maddie!?" Raven demanded.
"Because it wasn't time for you to hear it," said Maddie, "besides, the narrator wouldn't have let me tell you. Right, Mr. AndrewK9000? Hello? How rude, he's still ignoring me."
"Could we put your obvious insanity aside for a moment?" Connor asked, "this prophecy, why didn't The Alabaster Council tell us about it?"
"I'm not surprised they left it out of the mission briefing," said Madison, "they've left out quite a bit that's proving a little irksome."
"They neglected to inform us of the involvement of Foundation X," said Tobias, "while also overlooking the fact that one of our own was a traitor. Now three of us are doomed to die."
"We don't know that!" said Dorothea, "we don't know for sure that some of us are going to buy the farm."
"I'm actually more curious as to who the Child of Light and Child of Dark are," said Maddie between sips of tea.
"Isn't is obvious?" Daring asked, "Apple's the Child of Light and Raven's the Child of Dark."
At that the image of Daring being hung, drawn and quartered filled Raven's mind with great pleasure, but she shrugged it off before glaring irately at him, "that's just typical, labeling me as the dark one, while Apple, precious Apple, she's the one who walks in the light."
"No one is labeling you, Raven!" said Apple in a placating manner, "No one is labeling anyone."
"Except for Clare," said Kitty, "it's clear that the majority of us believe that she's the traitor stated in the prophecy."
"Oh, minotaur crap!" said Cupid as she stood up, "do you guys have any idea how may prophecies have been made since the beginning of time? Too many to count, and not even a fraction of a fraction of them have come true."
"For all we know," said Madison, "this narrator that Maddie spoke of, he gave her the prophecy as a red herring to throw her off."
"He'd never do that!" snapped Maddie, "the narrator would never throw me a deviation like that."
Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't.
"Aha! You can still here me!" Maddie said triumphantly.
"Well, assuming that Apple and Raven are respectively the Childs of Light and Dark," said Dorothea, she then saw the irate look in Raven's eyes and hastily added, "hypothetically that is, assuming they are, who is Apple's one true love and what is Raven's true destiny?"
"Forgive me for worrying more about which of us are going to die," said Jeffrey.
"Everyone! Just stop this about prophecies and who is what!" said Apple, "I'm worried to, but will worrying do anything to solve our problems!?"
"She's right," said Raven as she calmed down, "we need to keep our heads," she then looked at Lizzie, "that goes double for you!"
"Very well," said Lizzie as she went back to shuffling her deck, "I'll content myself with planning the decapitation of Cuthbert."
"Fair enough," said Raven, "anyway, let's focus on something real and tangible."
"Like those pulsating purple stains left by the Negative Roots?" Dorothea asked as she typed at her laptop. The hologram projector then showed images of the stains at the part in Book End and at Ever After High.
"I've been keeping tabs on the efforts being made by the magic users and scientists studying the stains," said Dorothea, "as well as my own analysis. So far, the only thing anyone as been able to come up about the stains, myself included, unfortunately, is that the stains are slowly but surely spreading."
"They're getting bigger?" Dexter asked as he cleaned his glasses, then leaned closer to the hologram images for a better look.
"Very slowly, but yes," said Dorothea, "an inch here, a few millimeters there."
"But what are the stains?" Apple asked, "how are they corrupting the world?"
"The only other thing I can say for now is that they're generating an energy wave that the computers can't identify," said Dorothea, "and I sincerely doubt the brains of this world can figure it out first. If only we could have reached that enemy lab sooner and tapped into the Foundation X database, then we'd have something to go on, anything."
"Well, why don't we get a closer look at the stains in person?" Cedar asked, "I mean, if we all looked at the stains in the village and at school, it'd be something…"
"A fresh perspective," said Dorothea, "yes, that would be something. And in fact, I may have just the gadget that can shed some light on this particular mystery." She then stood up and walked over to a recently installed tool shelf and began rummaging through the various pieces of equipment on it, "now where did I put it?"
"What are you looking for?" Blondie asked.
"A new, close-range scanner that can better analyze substances and energies," said Dorothea, "but where did I put it?"
"Did you check under the bed?" Madison asked.
"Ha ha, very funny," said Dorothea, "Oh, now I remember, it's in the closet." she then walked over to a nearby door in the wall and opened it, upon which she was greeted by an avalanche of various clutter and junk, with the last piece being a Tricorder-like device which she caught in her hands.
"Gotta straighten out this closet someday," said Dorothea.
A short time later found Avery, Jeffrey, Madison, Tobias and Dorothea, along with Apple, Raven, Maddie, Dexter, Daring, Cupid, Cerise and Cedar at Ever After High, examining the stain left by the Negative Roots, while Connor and the others held down The Base.
"Well, I can tell you one thing," said Cerise after she sniffed the stains running up the school wall, "it stinks of evil."
"We figured as much," said Madison.
"No, seriously," said Cerise, "it smells horrible, like…" she paused to think, "you take a rotten egg, put it in an old, sweat-soaked shoe and burry it beneath a chicken coop, mix in a touch of evil and you're halfway there, it's that awful."
"White or brown egg?" Maddie asked.
"Doesn't matter," said Cerise, "so long as it's rotten."
"It is emitting some rather nauseating pheromones," said Dorothea as she scanned the stain with her device, "and these energy readings are fascinating, evil but fascinating."
"What's so fascinating about it?" Cedar asked.
"Well, as I mentioned back at The Base," said Dorothea, "the energy coming from the stains are unlike anything the computers can identify. That's because the computer cannot understand it."
"I don't get it," said Cerise, "energy is energy, right?"
"Right and wrong," said Dorothea, "it's too complicated to explain, or maybe not. Okay, how about this; the computers back at The Base, they simply cannot believe the data being fed into them."
"Believe?" Raven asked, "wait, is this because the stains are magical in nature?"
"Magical and scientific," said Dorothea, "a fusion of both to create something so foul, so twisted, so utterly new and bizarre that our equipment simply cannot comprehend it," she held up her tricorder, "this beauty is something I tinkered together to be more accepting of magic and science combined, while the computers back at The Base need a serious software update."
"So, The Obsidian Council is mixing magic and science together to make these Negative Seeds," said Dexter.
"But what are the stains?" Daring asked.
"They're a prelude of what will happen if we let one of those Negative Plants fully bloom and spread its spores," said Dorothea, "we had it all wrong. We initially thought the enemy plan was to put the fairytale lands under a massive curse that would infect the minds and hearts of everyone who picks up a fairytale book. But it's worse than that, much worse."
"Do we want to know how worse it is?" Jeffrey asked hesitantly.
"While clothing can be washed clean of any stain," said Maddie as she sipped her tea, "once changed, the clothing is no longer the same."
"Okay, you really need to stop that," said a slightly annoyed Madison, "your speaking in tongues, it's not helping."
At that Maddie irately put her teacup away and placed her hands on her hips, "I beg your pardon! I never speak in tongues! I occasionally speak Riddlish, which is natural for all Wonderlanders, my mock turtle looks dashing in a fedora."
"Uh…right," said Madison hesitantly.
"I think I get what Maddie was saying, for once," said Raven.
"You do?!" exclaimed everyone, with Maddie exclaiming the loudest.
"Yeah, I think so," said Raven, "I think what Maddie said was that the stain isn't a curse but something else. Any curse can be broken if you know what can break it, but this isn't like a curse, this is something else."
"Oh, Raven!" said Maddie joyfully, "you're learning Riddlish! I'm so happy for you!" squealing with delight, she enveloped Raven in a hug.
"Uh…yeah, sort of," said Raven as she gently pushed Maddie off of her.
"They're both right," said Dorothea, "this stain, while I don't know exactly how it's doing what it's doing, what it is doing is altering the very fabric of reality at the subatomic level. It's slowly changing the world."
"Into what?" Apple asked.
"Something terrible," said Dorothea in a matter of fact tone that lever everyone silent for several seconds.
"What can we do?" Raven finally asked.
Just then Raven and everyone else heard a familiar voice, "you can do the right thing, Ms. Queen." Everyone looked and saw Milton Grimm walking towards them, a look of smug determination on his face.
"Headmaster!" said a surprised Apple, "you're…well again."
"Yes, I have been rather under the weather lately," said Grimm as he walked up to Apple and Raven. "But I am well now."
"You had a mental breakdown, man," Jeffrey, "that was like, three days ago or something."
"Oh, I see you and your fellow outworlders are still here," said Grimm disapprovingly as he glared at Jeffrey, then Tobias and the others.
"If you're here to try and make us leave, forget it!" said Madison.
"The world knows that you lied about the existence of The Worms," said Avery, "that you covered up a serious threat for your own irrational purpose."
"Yes, I admit I was wrong," said Grimm, "I was irrational, but my mind is clear now. I know what must be done to end this threat once and for all."
Just then two men in gray and brown overalls pushed in a cart that carried a large polished oak box that had an intricate gold lock.
"That'll be all, gentlemen," said Grimm dismissively to the workers, whom immediately left the area.
"What's in the box, Grimmy?" Madison asked.
"I…what!?" exclaimed Grimm irately, "what did you call me?"
"Grimmy," said Madison in a matter of fact tone, "that's your nickname from now on."
"I beg your pardon!?" Grimm shouted, "how dare you disrespect me in such a manner!?"
"Hey, you've been mean to my friends, so why should I be nice to you?" Madison asked, "treat others as you'd want to be treated, right, Grimmy?"
"Is she nuts or something?" Dexter asked.
"She's something, alright," said Cerise.
"She must have been dropped on her head when she was a kid," said Jeffrey.
"Or maybe she didn't receive all her shots," said Tobias.
"I'm perfectly sane," said Madison, she then winked at Maddie, "aren't we?"
"Perfectly sane and same," said Maddie as she poured a cup of tea and handed it to Madison, whom sipped the tea and winced.
"This is too bitter for me. Don't you have anything sweeter?" Madison asked.
"Well, let's see," said Maddie as she reached into her hat and pulled out several different brands of tea, "I've got Blueberry, Raspberry, Ginseng, Sleepy Time, Green Tea, Green Tea with lemon, Green Tea with lemon and honey, Liver Disaster, Ginger with honey, Ginger without honey, Vanilla Almond, White Truffle, Blueberry Chamomile, Vanilla Walnut, Constant Comment and…Earl Gray, of course."
"Did you make some of those up?" Madison asked.
"No, she stole it from Scott Pilgrim," said Jeffrey.
"I did not!" said Maddie, "I came up with it all by myself, isn't that right, Mr. AndrewK9000?"
Hey, leave me out of this one.
"Humph!" said Maddie as she crossed her arms, "who put you on the planet?"
"Ms. Hatter," said Grimm coldly, "if you cannot say anything constructive, I suggest you keep your lunatic lips shut!"
At that Maddie tried to come up with a snappy comeback, but for some reason, she couldn't.
"Hey!" said Raven irately, "you can't talk to my friend like that! We're not in school right now and you can't talk that way to any of us!"
"The school governors closed Ever After High in light of the current situation," said Avery, "therefore you have very little authority over Apple and the others."
"But I do have authority," said Grimm, "and a duty to see that a terrible wrong is made right," he then took out a gold key and used it to unlock the oak box. He then lifted the top and sides, revealing, laid out on a velvet cushion, The Storybook of Legends.
"No way," said an astonished and slightly afraid Raven, while Apple and the other characters looked at the book with awe and confusion.
"You fixed it already?" Cedar asked.
"Once I fully grasped the seriousness of the situation," said Grimm, "I ordered those striving to restore The Storybook of Legends to work faster and I must say, with no small amount of satisfaction, they delivered maximum results."
"You must have bribed them," said Cerise.
"Or blackmailed, or a combination of both," said Madison.
"Regardless," said Grimm as he ignored Cerise and Madison, "with The Storybook of Legends fully restored, Legacy Day can continue right were it was so rudely interrupted," he then pulled out a smaller box that contained a quill and a bottle of ink, laid them beside the book and walked up to Raven, "the time has come, Raven. Speak the oath, sign your name and embrace your destiny as the next Evil Queen."
"Go to hell!" snapped Raven, "I'd rather die than sign that horrible book!"
"Raven!" said Apple irately, "for goodness sake!"
"No! Don't you go pushing goodness on me!" snapped Raven, "I won't sign! I Won't!"
"I know you won't," said Apple in a calmer tone as she held out her hands in a placating manner, "not against your will that is. But…"
"But nothing!" said Raven, "you once accused me of being selfish, of denying you of your happy ending! And now you're going to say I'm being selfish again and I'm ruining your Happily Ever After. Well, I'm sorry, but I still won't sign!"
"But you will sign, Raven Queen," said Grimm, "you must sign."
"I beg your pardon!" said Tobias, "but this is hardly the time or place for such a frivolous subject."
"Frivolous!?" exclaimed Grimm, "Frivolous!? This is exactly the time and place for such a subject! Raven must sign the Storybook of Legends and become the next Evil Queen. Both her story and Apple's depends on Raven accepting and embracing her destiny."
"I still won't sign!" said Raven, "and if you try to make me, you'll find that while I'm good on the inside, I can still be naughty."
"Raven, please!" exclaimed Apple, "listen to me! I'm not trying to force you to sign."
"You're not!?" both Raven and Grimm asked.
"Quite the opposite," said Apple, "I want you to find your own happy ending, just as I will."
"What? What?! WHAT!?" exclaimed Grimm, "what is this!? Apple White! What in the name of all things fiction is the matter with you!?"
"I should ask the same thing of you, Headmaster Grimm," said Apple as she glared at him, "why, when our entire existence is under threat of annihilation by The Worms and the vile machinations of The Obsidian Council, Foundation X and Dai-Shocker, that you are so obsessed with Raven signing The Storybook of Legends?"
"I…well…I thought it was obvious," said Grimm as sweat began to break out on his brow, "so that she can fulfill her destiny as The Evil Queen, in order for you to be poisoned and be awoken by your true love. The story of Snow White must continue."
"Oh, bull crap!" spat Madison, "that's just a lame excuse so you can keep things the way you want them!"
"Excuse me!?" Grimm asked as he wiped his brown with a handkerchief, "I have no personal stake in this. The Storybook of Legends exists to maintain the continuation of the stories, so that future generations may read and take them to heart.
"You're lying," said Jeffrey, "the stories don't need to be copied over and over, generation after generation."
"That's right!" said Madison, "the stories of Snow White, Cinderella and the others, they'll never die, so long as there are children and adults whom love the stories and keep them close to their hearts. I should know, I was raised by such a family."
"And your family owes its love of the stories to the fact that they still exist they way they should exist!" said Grimm, "if each successive generation of characters does not pledge themselves to follow in their predecessor's footsteps to the letter, then the stories will change with time, twisted beyond recognition."
"But they do change," said Avery, "time changes everything, just as people change, so do the stories they tell."
"Don't think that I am unaware of some of the versions being told on other worlds!" Grimm shouted, "all those variants, twist endings and overall blasphemies! What do these so called modern retellings know of tradition and legacies?"
"They know a lot more than you do," said Avery, "yes, the stories of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and so on, they change over time. Some versions are more entertaining than the original, others are so bad it'd be better if the changes were never made. Well, that's how people are, real people," he then raised his hand up and pointed at the sun, "for as my grandmother once told me, 'real people make mistakes, it's a fact of life, deal with it.'"
"Your grandmother clearly had no concept of literature," said Grimm, "tell me, what versions of the stories did your grandmother read to you?"
"She read to me multiple versions of the same tales," said Avery, "she taught me to open my mind to all possibilities and not be prejudiced against change."
"I…I…" said Grimm in a slightly flustered manner, "I refuse to respond to such a statement! The matter is clear! Raven must sign in order for Apple and those destined for happy endings to have their happy endings!"
"I refuse my happy ending!" snapped Apple, "at least the one you planned for me! If I'm going to live Happily Ever After, I'll get there on my own with my own strengths and skills."
"I refuse mine as well!" said Daring. "I'm going to forge my own path in life through life."
"Same with me!" said Dexter, "though I'm not sure I count this time, I never got a chance to sign the book."
"You foolish children!" snapped Grimm as he wiped his brow again, "you have no idea of what you are doing! How can you possibly refuse your happy endings!?"
"What is a happy ending?" Tobias asked, "from a philosophical point of view, a happy ending is one where good triumphs over evil and those whom are good receive that which will make them happy, in laymen's terms that is."
"Exactly," said Avery, "a happy ending is when those whom are good at heart pass through trial and strife against an adversary that seeks to destroy their happiness. Add a moral and/or a lesson the good must learn as they metaphorically walk through fire, as well as an element of unpredictability and you get a much more rewarding and meaningful happy ending."
"When you repeat the same story," said Tobias, "the same trials and strife, the same morals and lessons, when you leave out the uncertainty element, when you rely on repetition and predictability, when you know how the story ends ahead of time, you make it less meaningful to the characters and to the readers."
"Headmaster," said Apple, "we're in a time of great change, for all of us. We can either accept the changes and adapt to them the best we can, or ignore the changes at our own peril."
"It is an even greater peril that I seek to avoid," said Grimm as he wiped his brow, his face flushing with frustration, "without the known, without the planned endings, our world as we know it will cease to exist. Without the happy endings for Apple and her fellow Royals, the world will fall into chaos."
"It's already happening, dumbass!" said Madison, "the Worms are doing that."
"They wouldn't have come if Raven hadn't defied her destiny!" snapped Grimm, "this deplorable situation began the moment she defiled The Storybook of Legends."
At that Raven felt as if a spike of guilt had been driven deep into her heart, "wait…are…are you saying that this is my fault?"
"Don't listen to this pompous son of a bitch!" snapped Jeffrey, "it's not your fault!"
"He's just trying to goad you into signing the book," said Apple defiantly. She then glared at Grimm, "I don't care how obsessed you are or what lies you tell, I won't let Raven sign the book against her will!"
"Neither will I," said Avery, "and I dare you to prove that Raven caused The Obsidian Council to launch its attack on this world."
"The very fact that these Worms are here," said Grimm, "it's all the evidence I need. Had Raven signed The Storybook of Legends, as well as everyone else after her, then the world would have been safe from outside influence and corruption."
"Prove it!" said Apple, "I want to see real proof that this is Raven's fault."
"Unless you're just pitching hay into the wind," said Maddie.
"Uh…right," said Avery, "the point is that we want the truth, Grimm. The truth, the full truth and nothing but the truth!"
"You want the truth!?" Grimm exclaimed at the top of his lungs, his face flushing a few shades purple, "you can't handle the truth, you…you…you…"
But then Grimm gasped in shock and pain, clutching at his left arm, then at his chest.
"Oh, don't tell me he's having another mental breakdown," said an irate Cerise.
"No, he's having a heart attack!" exclaimed Apple as she rushed to Grimm and helped him sit down. By now Grimm was gasping for breath, his face a mask of agony. Apple had out her first aid kit and was rummaging through it for what she needed.
"I didn't mean to give him a heart attack," said Avery in a subdued tone.
"I don't think you did, man," said Jeffrey.
"Probably an existing condition," said Tobias.
"Just breath and try not to panic, Headmaster," said Apple as she got from her kit a bottle of aspirin, "and swallow a couple of these. I'll call the paramedics."
"I already did!" said Cedar as she held up her phone.
It wasn't long before the paramedics showed up, stabilized Grimm and prepared to take him to the ambulance. All the while Raven and the others watched with anxious anticipation. Raven was especially feeling stressed as Grimm statement that the crisis was her fault echoed through her mind and heart, the spike of guilt digging deeper and deeper.
"You're going to be alright, Headmaster," said Apple to Grimm as the paramedics helped him onto a gurney and brought him to the ambulance, "Dr. Anderson is the best, he'll have you right as rain in no time."
Just before he was lifted into the ambulance, Grimm held up his hand to ask the paramedics to wait a moment. He then waved Raven over to him. Cautiously, Raven approached Grimm. He then gestured for her to come closer, to bend down so he could talk without too much effort. She bent down and he reached up to whisper into her ear.
"You must sign…the book," he gasped, "you must…sign The Storybook…of Legends…before it is…too late…you must sign…only then will…our world be safe." He then fell back against the gurney with exhaustion and the paramedics loaded him into the ambulance.
"What did he say to you?" Dexter asked as he and the others walked over, while the ambulance drove away.
"Nothing," said Raven in a neutral tone, "nothing of importance." Yet her feelings of guilt continue to rage within.
"Well, that was an unexpected event," said Madison, "you think he'll make it? Or should we pick out a headstone and grave for him?"
"He's still breathing, you morbid malcontent!" said Tobias, "no, we have not seen the last of Milton Grimm."
"Oh, he'll be back, alright," said Cupid as she looked over her shoulder, "not when he left that behind."
Everyone looked at saw The Storybook of Legends was still on its velvet cushion on the cart.
"He did leave it behind," said Dorothea, "but…what are we going to do with it?"
…The End Is Just The Beginning…