Author's Note: Wow. Maybe I should just come out and ask for Reviews more often... In any case our new stretch goal is officially four reviews to one chapter. Read, Review Favorite and-wait what are you do...
Maddie's Note: Since the Writer has not been able to come up with a good way to pop the bubbly for this occasion I decided that I would step in and lend him a hand every once in a while.
Amended Author's Note: Second Chapter on my hit list crossed off. Now on to the next.
Chapter 11: What do you mean you're the Dark Lord?
Apple just stared, her mouth open and gaping, she literally had no words here. On the one hand her close friend Raven appeared to be okay, what with her standing, miles away from the school mind you, but on the other she was anything but. Ignoring the fact that there was a leg shaped tree digging into Raven's actual upper leg with those snap dragon vines wrapped around it, or how much paler than usual Raven looked while holding onto the staff with blood bags hanging onto it with tubes leading into her body, or how she needed to lean on Nevermore for support, or how her soul, her godmother be blessed soul was in a jar that she was carrying around with her or... or...
"Apple!" Raven smacked the side of Apple's cheek, the soreness that the princess felt implying that it wasn't for the first time either. "Are you okay?"
Apple started twitching, her face slowly warping in anger, then she snapped!
"WHO IN SWEET FAIRY GODMOTHER'S NAME ARE YOU TALKING TO LITTLE MISS RAVEN I-HAVE-TO-CARRY-MY-SOUL-AROUND-IN-A-JAR QUEEN!?" Apple didn't know how she summoned the will power not to leap over and strangle the witch, had she her full faculties she might have suspected the hairy arms hoisting her from behind as the chief cause. "I'M NOT THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE IN A HOSPITAL BED BECAUSE A EIGHTH OF THEIR BODY PARTS ARE GONE!"
Yeah she was mad.
"Apple, I can explain." Raven said in a calming tone of voice.
"Yes Raven, please explain." The leader of the army, Raven's father, walked up behind Apple with his arms crossed and glared at his daughter. "We are all eager to hear what was so important that it warranted you risking further loss of limb to come here and get it."
Evidently disappointment was his chief weapon of the day, and it was sharper than any blade.
"Perhaps I should be the one to explain that." Thief hand stated, half a apple in hand. "The decision was made to move young Miss Queen closer to the required organs." The doctor paused by taking a bite out of her apple, perhaps thinking on how to word the next part of the sentence properly. "It's what we would have done in the first place had the Phylactery we required not been the size of Mrs. Yaga's shack." The doctor took another bite out of her apple.
"Then when I woke up and they explained this to me I scribbled down a note for a compression spell I learned from my mo-family and Faybelle was able to enchant this into something that could hold my soul." Raven explained gesturing to the jar.
"Since I see that you've already come into contact with the local monk's would you kindly aide us in surgery by giving us the new origin?" To the Doctor's question, Mira gave a unamused look and pointed at the nearby castle. "That's where the origins are being kept isn't it?"
"Yes."
"We just walked into a war zone didn't we?"
"Correct."
"And you knew about this all along didn't you?"
"Yes." Raven shrunk a little bit under the doctor's glare, but she did have a knowing smile on her features. "But that's why we brought them along."
Then the ground started shaking.
"Hmm? Looks like Raven has a whole textbook of recklessly charging into these fun little situations while missing her bits and bobs." Maddie commented sipping her tea after observing the interaction neutrally. "Course it's nothing compared to what she did in Neverland, ask anyone."
The lord of the Castle, a weathered old man in full regal attire, had just received a report about the efforts to exterminate the Scar Back's, it would seem that yet another party had chosen to interfere with his business.
"Damn Witches." To his knowledge neither the Scarbacks or the Evil Queen's army had anyone who specialized in making creatures that normally found humans very appetizing into obedient pets. If they had they surely would have sent them after him already, and that would have completely kibosh his plans to mine the area for his army instead of the mere temporary delay that he was now experiencing. "Burn all of them, leave not a single one of them alive!"
"And the Village?" The leader of the Order of the Eternal Flame asked looking at the lord questioningly.
"Ashes! I have no use for subjects that harbors my enemies!" As the knights began scrambling to heed the lord's orders, they suddenly felt the ground shake.
Looking out of his balcony window, the king gasped as he looked into the sky as he saw a pitch black dragon dropping barrels out of the sky that exploded when they hit the ground, Sparrow Hood was on the beast's back harpooning the knights under his employ with bolts. Bricks flew off of the front gate as a giant stone was hurled from the other side, smashing clean through and making it's way all the way over to the Lord's side, some kind of large siege engine, a catapult he assumed, but if that was the case then it was flammable.
"Archers! Quit Lollygagging! Set them aflame!" The Lord ordered waving his hand about like it would make his men move faster. As soon as the archers had their target in sight the ones on the left were immediately blown off by hurricane force winds, the ones on the right snatched off the wall by vines. "Who would da..."
One final smash signaled the collapse of the main gate, followed by a giant, dressed in cotton armor and brandishing a pair of very large large spiked metal boots, and a sling that had a boulder the size of a barrel loaded in it. What could only be summarized as a Big Bad Wolf climbed on top of the left wall, snarling at the soldiers as they scrambled in panic on the ground, on the right wall a certain fairy carrying a weapon that was equal parts spell casting scepter and halberd was lifted over the wall with vines. Most fearsome of all, a man in black demon like armor stepped forth between the legs of the giant carrying a sword as tall and thick as he.
"I am Corvo The Black!" The warrior yelled slamming his weapon tip first into the ground. "Chief Knight of the family of the Dark Lord Morganna Demon-Eye! And you coward!" The Knight snapped accusingly pointing a armored finger at the lord of the Castle. "You have something that she wants! Your head!" The Knight pulled his sword out of the ground before flipping it around and pointing it accusingly towards the man of the castle who now looked thoroughly terrified and was already running back inside. "ATTAAAACK!"
The soldiers charged through the gate, Tiny making a effort not to step on any of them as he stumbled out of his way.
"So Raven's pet monster, a Gigans Wolf, a walking siege engine, and The Evil fairy storms into these people's castle and he doesn't bat a eye, but this Corvo fellow makes a little speech and sends him off running!?" Faybelle asked sounding outraged a nervous twitch in her eyes that made Tiny want to go far in the other direction. "Who the hell is this guy!?"
"I don't know but..." Puny little splinters bounced off of the magic barrier written into Tiny's armor as he looked down and saw archer's shooting at him. "Maybe you should consider putting the fear of Fairies into these people?"
"An hexcellent idea!" Saying that, Faybelle blasted at the knights using fire magic. The magic went about like a surgeons knife, welding chunks of armor together, melting weapons down to the point of uselessness, these people weren't going anywhere any time soon.
"Roasted beef!" Ramona jumped off of the wall and began walking through the knights, batting away enemy combatants as she went. "Just the way I like em!" Ramona licked her lips as she eagerly sized the men up and down. "My favorite!" Ramona delighted in the terrified screams of her would be prey, made others freeze up and made smacking them aside like a cat with a rat so much easier without them waving around their sharp little weapons.
"All yours Ramona! I have go find a Lord and teach him some proper manners before Raven's daddy kills him!" Faybelle snapped flying over the battle field and into the main castle.
Faybelle had to admit, the man worked fast. After being snatched up from the ground and dropped on the Balcony by Nevermore, Corvo appeared to have decapitated three men, cut one from his eyes to his balls, and punched a man so hard that his corpse was still hanging from where his head went into the wall, and on top of all of that he had already chased down the lord of the castle.
"You bastard! My bloodline has ruled these lands for the past three generations you feeble peasant! You can't..."
"Have you seen your brothel lately? Your bloodline is doing just fine!"
That was the last thing he said before Corvo went through the process of using a knife to chop his head off.
"Is everyone better at this then me?" Faybelle snapped a twitch in her eye that would make a lesser man run away in fear.
"Raven's fairy friend? Good. Teleport us to the courtyard I have an announcement to make." Corvo stated standing next to Faybelle, severed head of the Lord of the castle in hand.
"Exxcuuse me!" Faybelle snapped looking thoroughly outraged. "I am Princess Faybelle of the Royal Fairy Kingdom of Never Land and I will not by ordered about by some hu..." Corvo turned to face Faybelle, eyes slit like something that was most certainly not human glaring at her like she had compared him to a pile of troll dung. "Yes-sir." A flash of light from Faybelle engulfed the two and spat them out in the courtyard.
"Wrap this mess up I have an announcement to make." Corvo stated eyeing his men.
Faybelle looked around at the courtyard, and was more than a little bit surprised. Most of the enemy knights were still alive yet on their knees with their hands above their heads.
"They're still alive?" Faybelle questioned looking mighty confused.
"But of course, as a vital part of my plan." Corvo stated walking up to the head knight and dropping the severed head of the lord of the lands in front of him. "Your employer is dead, take your men and inform your superiors that they are not welcomed in the lands belonging to the Queen Family, and if they do not wish to be exterminated like the Rakash they are then they should flee as quickly as they can." Corvo stated dropping a rolled and sealed section of parchment at the face of a man lying in the dirt. "Go." The thoroughly terrified men still hadn't gotten the message yet, perhaps too stunned or scared stiff. "Oh for the love of..." Corvo let out a loud whistle and Nevermore fired a bolt of fire down to the ground spooking off the soldiers.
Following that Tiny picked up the crate with the Scarback's stuff in it and along with the others walked back to the Village.
"Oh Raven's family has a history of Butt-booters!" Maddie stated leaning on a flamingo that it should be noted was upside down with it's beak in the dirt. "I didn't actually know about Blackie, probably spends all of his time out conquering the world or something."
"AND ANOTHER THING! WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT EVERYONE CALLING YOU THE DARK LORD!?" Apple, in place of Ramona who was holding her back before, had instead been sat down in a chair and tied up so that she could scream at Raven without doing her any bodily harm, a slightly terrified group of Ever After High Heroes not too far away. "SO YOU'RE WILLING TO RUN AROUND HERE ACTING LIKE SOME TERROR BUT YOU REFUSE TO TAKE PART IN A FAIRY TALE!?"
"How long has she been like that?" Corvo asked looking at Apple mixed tones of confusion and awe in his voice.
"Hours." An exasperated Mira stated letting out a sigh.
"Impressive. Miss White." Corvo stated in a tone of voice that made Faybelle think the demonic man who cowed a small army into submission was some kind of illusion. "I understand that you probably have a few more things you'd like to say to my daughter but she really should be going into surgery right now."
As Corvo said that Thief hand wheeled Raven away, Ramona, whom it should be noted was naked having not put any clothes on since she literally grew out of them going full big bad and not having put any back on, took a crowbar to the crate and allowed Mira to pluck out a red glass bauble before handing it over to Thief hand.
"Allow me to deal with this one sir." Faybelle stated a little too eager look on her eyes. "I've got a talent for this." Faybelle took the chair Raven was occupying across from Apple. "So little princess? I take it you have some questions about our young Dark Lord?" Faybelle asked smirking at Apple.
"Why does everyone here keep calling her that!?" Apple snapped indignantly rocking the chair back and forth. "And why am I tied up?"
"The reason why Raven is being called the Dark Lord, is because it's so much better then being called the Evil Queen." Faybelle stated a gleeful smile on her features.
"How is that any better? At least the Queen family has repu..."
"No Apple." Faybelle's voice was not compromising on this. "They do not. Raven's Mother burned their family name into a pile of ashes, which was then generously sprinkled onto a pile of dragon dung by gentlemen like this!" Faybelle dropped the severed head of the man that Corvo had killed in front of Apple.
"This man...?"
"Barely waited five minuets after the exaggerated rumors of Raven's demise reached his ears before sending out a band of religious psychopaths for hire to start massacring her people." Faybelle drawled on dryly, though she did get some amusement out of the scowl that creased Apple's features. "Besides, the current Evil Queen was never known as the Evil Queen in this country, she was known as The Dark Lord. Or The Dark Lord Morganna Demon-Eye if we're going with her full title. Seven years after she wrecked the family name and these people still worship the ground that she walked on, asked anyone!" Faybelle said gesturing to the villagers who were going about their business now that Raven had gone off for her surgery.
"That... doesn't make sense." Apple commented recalling how the Evil Queen was so vilified in Ever After that Raven couldn't even walk the halls without someone screaming bloody murder. "To you the Evil Queen is the mad woman that tried to kill everyone! Around these parts though the Dark Lord's the woman who revitalized a land that was poisoned by war and generations of people who did not care about those under their care enough to keep their lands alive!" Faybelle stated gesturing to the village with her arms wide.
"Say what?" A nervous tic took Apple's eye again as she looked just about ready to snap again.
"Oh don't be so surprised at the obvious little princess, it's really not becoming." Faybelle stated in a displeased tone of voice. "You humans rarely think long term, too busy dying young either from over indulgence of things that they shouldn't or chopping one another's heads off. For people like me, or Raven though, living for hundreds of years at a time means that we have to come up with long term goals if we don't want to spend our considerable life span in the dirt. And that is just what the ones like this piece of filth have to deal with." Faybelle explained as she once more gestured to the severed head on the ground. "For people like Raven and I who actually gives a honest to goodness damn about their people we also have the responsibility of raising competent people to do our jobs when we are no longer able to do them ourselves, while dealing with all the people who are like this ganging up on us!"
"Oh my I... I didn't know..." Apple stated looking horrified.
"Nor are you suppose to. You are suppose to play the role of the victim of the monstrous Queen of Evil so that you stupid humans are cowed into leaving, us, alone and in exchange you get live blissfully ignorant to the rest of the world burning down around you!" Faybelle snapped in a tone of voice that had disgust and spite mixed in.
"But that doesn't make any sense... Raven's mother... and her grandmother..." By now Ramona had used her claws to cut Apple free, allowing the princess to lean forward, gasping in despair.
"Welcome to the twenty first century little princess. People aren't scared of cartoonish villains that poison people with sleeping potions or Big Bad monsters that can't even properly kill their victims even when they eat them alive." Faybelle commented prompting Ramona to growl in dissatisfaction. "And Raven is the worst off of all of us. Because, and this is just me assuming here, because she's the daughter of the woman who tried and failed to remind the world what real monsters look like! And look at how that turned out? You all now get to make an example out of her about not trying to ruin the status quo!" Faybelle stated gesturing to the village around them.
"What... what are you saying?" Apple asked looking horrified at Faybelle.
"We're going to war princess! Raven is leading one army and you're gonna be the trophy wife of the one leading the one standing in front of her, that's what I'm saying!" Faybelle stated something of mad look of glee on her features as she twirled on the spot.
"But... the book... it's..." Apple desperately tried to compute something that could possibly stop this from happening.
"It's a ten inch thick a chunk of leather and paper. At the most it could stop a arrow if you hold it up in front of your face. Thanks to our beloved Headmaster's thrice damned father who thought that it wasn't appropriate for good little maidens and heroes to come to the aide of our 'evil' countries that magic peace treaty isn't nearly so binding as it use to be especially when it concerns the Queen family and their lands." Faybelle stated smirking in amusement at the way that Apple's features froze up in horror.
"But... even without the contract... if anyone ever..." Apple's brain looked like it was in the process of shutting down.
"That's sickeningly naively sweet of you Apple dear, but allow me to share with you a little thing called reality." Faybelle stated in a tone one would use to address a young child, before going all business. "People don't march their armies over the border proudly announcing who they are or their intentions and waving their flags around anymore." Faybelle stated in a serious, almost wise sounding tone. "They send in small groups, to sneak into the enemy fortress, and they murder the people in charge in their sleep. With the contract a over whelming feeling of pain would attack you if one of the other kingdoms was in danger, including the 'villain' ones. Now, nadda, nothing, what with the glamour charms people are coming up with these days it's possible to go years without anyone ever realizing what happened."
"But... but... the Headmaster... he could..."
"For Raven's sake you better sincerely hope that is not true, because if it was then that means that the Headmaster could have fixed this mess years ago, and has chosen not to!" At this, Apple fainted. Not a maidenly faint either, she started hyperventilating, gasping for precious little Oxygen that her lungs felt like sucking in before emptying her stomach contents and falling over in a pool of her own bile. "My work here, is officially done!" Faybelle stated getting up, bowing theatrically, complete with applause from Ramona, before walking off to get some dinner.
"Oh intense!" Maddie commented poking Apple's unconscious form with her flamingo shaped club. "I sure hope that this doesn't become a recurring plot point. Raven's family deserves a bit of peace and quiet after all. In any case see you all at the four to one special!"
Review Section:
Chicka-flick: Well I don't know what there's to be confused about, if you specified I could explain. But thank you anyway.
Guests: Well, we have a girl who can control animals wandering into the place known as the country of monsters, what do yah think would happen. Also, who is not A? Yah the Good King is pretty much an invitation to make a OC at this point in time. No the monk is Mira. The Knight is Raven's Dad.
Zwei Els: Tell me about it. I wouldn't mind making Apple as she was a antagonist turned protoganist, but for a main character she's kind of unlikable in my opinion. And I do like a version of her that is driven by logic like she was meant to be.