Chapter Twenty-Three: Escape the Forest
The arena was filled with the shrieks of terrified students. The demigods were trying to use their powers, but their magic wasn't working. The other students also tried things, but nothing seemed to work against dragon fire.
"Book End, breaking news," Blondie said. "Blondie Locks reporting live from what's left of the new dragon center. Ever After a devastating blaze! Headmaster Grimm just handed the Evil Queen the keys to the school! She vows to catch whoever started the fire, even if it's her open daughter Raven! The question remains, will this new headmistress restore order to Ever After High, her being the Evil Queen and all? Let's go live for her statement."
"Students, don't get overhexcited," the Evil Queen said. "I am but a temporary substitute. Milton Grimm quill resume leadership as headmaster as soon as this crisis is over."
Behind her, Grimm said, "Ribbit."
"He has a frog in his throat," the Evil Queen explained.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Darling said to herself.
"I will personally see to it that the fire damage is repaired spelltactularaly quick!" the Evil Queen continued. With those words, she waved her hands and - in a flash of purple fire - the stadium was repaired.
"See? Trust Headmistress Queenie," the Evil Queen said. "Everything's under control. Citizens, students - as you were! Nothing to see here."
Behind her, the real Booking Glass (with Daring trapped inside) sparkled in the sun. Darling walked up to it.
"Hm," she said softly. "Daring forgot his stuff. That's odd. He never goes anywhere without a mirror." She picked up the mirror and tucked it into her bag, planning to give it to her brother when she saw him.
In the mirror, Daring screamed, "Let me out of here!"
Raven swept up Nevermore's stall in the barn. She'd already done all the other dragons, and now all the dragons except Nevermore - who was next to her - were playing outside.
She glanced out the window and smiled. Moonheart was roaring at Willow and the two dragons were rolling across the field. There might have been a time when she would have been concerned for Willow and ran outside, but now she recognized the roars as laughter and the motions as a game.
Nevermore whimpered and she looked at the dragon. "It's okay, Nevermore," Raven said. "I know you didn't mean to start that fire." She put down her broom. "You're just another victim of my mom's evil magic."
"They're saying you set the fire," Apple said, walking into the barn. "On purpose."
"Wha- I didn't do it on purpose!" Raven said, outraged. "My dragon got spontaneous fire hiccups! AGH! This has Evil Queen written all over it!"
"Well don't worry," Apple said. "Your mom has promised to restore order. "And she's so powerful - I know she can."
"Oh, come on! Do you really believe she would? I mean really? Really?" Raven turned away from Apple, picked up the broom, and kept sweeping.
"You should give your mom another chance!" Apple burst out. "You're all about changing your story Raven! Your mom broke out of mirror prison and literally walked across broken glass just to be with you!"
Raven froze. "Wait..." she said, turning around. "How could you know that?"
Apple looked down at the ground.
"It was you?" Raven said, shocked. "You released my mom?"
"She promised-she promised me my happily ever after. And not just for me, for you too. For all of us!" Apple said, starting to smile. "You gotta admit, she has been a great dragon coach. She's fixed the fire damage...she's changed, Raven."
"No, Apple. You've changed. We are so not on the same page anymore. In fact, I don't even think we're in the same story," Raven said, walking past Apple and to the door with Nevermore following. "I hope you find your happily Ever After, Apple - I really do. But first, you better find a new roommate."
"But...we were supposed to be friends forever after," Apple said, starting to cry.
"That's not how the story goes, Apple," Raven said, black against the sunlight coming from the door. "Not this chapter, anyway. You can't be on both sides. Good or evil - pick one."
She walked away, leaving Apple behind her. Apple took out her phone and started dialing a number.
Snow White's phone started to ring. She saw that it was her daughter calling and tried to break out of the magic prison the Evil Queen had put her in.
"Let me free! Let me speak to my daughter, Evine!" she shouted at the Evil Queen.
"You've said plenty, snowball," the Evil Queen said.
"The magical binding is a bit overkill - even for you," Snow said.
"Would you be more comfortable in mirror prison - your majesty?" The Evil Queen turned to a shelf, where a lot of jars sat. In each jar was at least one small animal. "Or perhaps you would like to join your beloved school staff in here?" the Evil Queen continued.
"Return us to our human forms at once!" Lizard Giles said.
"You have no right to hold us here and take over our school!" Frog Milton said. "I won't stand for it!"
"I can see you're hopping mad, Milton," the Evil Queen said, chuckling. "But this is my school now."
"They were right - I was a fool to give you a second chance," Snow White said.
"Oh, I know your game. Bringing back the dragon center? You were going to wait until I made the slightest misstep, then lock me up again to remind everyone you're such a perfect queen! While you'll have to think quick, Slow White. Because I have the upper hand now."
"Release me!" Snow White commanded. "My subjects won't rest until they find their true queen! And once they know what has happened, the demigods can use their powers to free me."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about those demigods. I'm going to have Faybelle deal with them. As for your subjects, they won't try to find you if they don't know you're gone."
The Evil Queen took a snake and blew some of the red dust on Snow White. Like all the others, her spirit was sucked out of her body and put in the snake, which the Evil Queen put in a box.
"You'll never get away with thisssss!" Snake Snow White hissed.
"And who's going to stop me?"
"Well if it isn't the fire starter!" A girl said as she and her friend passed Raven.
"Just like your mother!" the other girl said.
"But I didn't- Ugh!" Raven said, slamming her locker. "Hey, Darling," she said as Darling walked over. "Let's say a particular student needed to hide out for a while. Where could she go?"
"Well, if this 'particular student' wanted to find a place where, let's say, the Evil Queen couldn't reach them, I know a perfect secret place in the enchanted forest! We are talking about you, right?"
Raven nodded glumly.
"I'll take you there on one condition," Darling said. "You count me in on whatever you're up to."
Raven smiled at her friend.
"Deal. Meet me in the stables after school. Come alone."
The two girls separated. Faybelle poked her head out from behind a locker door, where she'd been listening.
"So Raven is trying to go rouge? If I catch her trying to bail, the Evil Queen will have to take me seriously as a future villain!"
The dark dragons were playing outside the stables. When Jinx saw Raven, she gave a friendly roar. Raven laughed and waved to the sweet dragons before walking into the stables, where the other dragons were.
"Are you ready, Nevermore?" Raven said to her dragon. "Darling should be here any minute."
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Darling opened it. Raven smiled at her, but her jaw dropped when Holly, Poppy, Ashlynn, Amanda, Izzy, and Maddie came in after her.
"What part of 'come alone' don't you understand?" Raven asked, amused.
"Well, it could be dangerous, so we wanted to help," Ashlynn said.
"Danger is my middle name! Well, actually it's xylophone," Maddie said.
"Thanks, you guys," Raven said.
"We better get going. Saddle up," Amanda said, climbing on Amethyst.
They were ready to leave and walked the dragons out. The dark dragons ran up to them with curious expressions.
"No, you guys can't come," Amanda said. "We need you to guard the school, okay? Protect the students."
Jinx nodded as though she understood and Amanda smiled at her. "Good dragons. Oh, wait." She got off Amethyst and hurried inside the barn. When she came out she was holding a feed sack. She only moved a few steps before Moonheart tore the bag from her and ripped it open.
Amanda grinned and got back on Amethyst. "Dragons work best on full stomachs," she explained.
The girls smiled and kicked off, taking to the skies.
A moment later, Faybelle arrived at the stables. She gasped when she saw the dark dragons eating and the others flying into the sky.
"I'm too late!" she said angrily. "Stupid girls!"
Jinx looked up from the food and glared at Faybelle before burping loudly in her face. Then, the dragon turned around with a satisfied look and kept eating.
"SHE DID WHAT?!"
"I just said, 'she ran off to the enchanted forest' right before you yelled, 'SHE DID WHAT?' " Faybelle said to the Evil Queen.
"And you call yourself a minion," the Evil Queen said coldly. "I've restrained myself because my daughter goes to this school of fools."
In the window behind her, storm clouds brewed. The Evil Queen tossed open the balcony doors and stepped out.
"If Raven is gone, I declare school is out - for evil!" she yelled. She raised her hand and purple fire spread over the school as the previously sunny sky turned black with storm clouds above the school.
The students outside gasped as the floor under their feet rumbled loudly. A moment later, they understood why. Purple fire formed a ring around the school, keeping the students from leaving.
Giant, thick, dead tree roots burst from places in the school. They broke through windows and came out of lockers.
The Big Bad Wolf and Ramona were running down the hall when one of the roots wrapped around the Big Bad Wolf.
"Dad!" Ramona shouted, stopping.
"Ramona! Save yourself!" he yelled back.
"Come on! Help me get him free!" Cerise said, racing forward. Together, she and Ramona pried the roots off.
"I love my daughters!" the Big Bad Wolf said, hugging the two of them. This usually would have attracted attention, but since everyone was so preoccupied with the school being destroyed no one noticed.
They were interrupted by a scream. Briar had tripped over one of the roots and was falling out of a hole in the wall.
"Briar!" Hopper shouted, grabbing her hand and pulling her up.
"Thanks," she said. They realized their hands were still touching and dropped them, blushing.
"Attention students!" the Evil Queen said, appearing on the screen Blondie was usually on. "I have heard that Raven has abandoned Ever After High. So, I don't see the point in continuing this charade. I've decided to make a few changes around here. Starting now!"
She raised her hand and huge cracks in the ground appeared next to the fire. The cracks got deeper and deeper, and soon the school was lifted off the ground.
As the roots and pipes under the school broke and they lifted up, the Evil Queen's laughter filled the air.
"Oh my cards! We're trapped!" Lizzie said.
The Evil Queen appeared on the screen. "Due to our recent remodel," she said, "all classes will be canceled and replaced with Evil Servitude."
"But I was going ice skating later," Duchess said.
"Really? That's what she's worried about?" Zoe said.
"Evil moms - can't live with 'em, can't live cross 'em," Kitty said.
"On the bright side, you can't beat this view," Hunter said in a half-hearted way.
The girls and their dragons flew through the sky, not knowing the danger their school was in. They landed in a clearing in the forest and got off their dragons.
Darling heard a rustle in the bush and bent down with a gasp.
"This is no time to stop and smell the flowers, Darling," Raven said. "I thought you knew a secret spot where we could hide?"
"I don't," Darling said, moving out of the way. "But she does."
A little girl with large blue eyes, pointed ears, light blue skin, and curly auburn hair poked her head out of the bush.
"A woodland pixie!" Ash exclaimed. "How hexciting!"
The pixie jumped out of the bush and ran over to Ashlynn.
"Now do you do?" the daughter of Cinderella asked. "The pixies protect the enchanted forest," she explained to the others. "They're very magical."
The pixie said something to Ashlynn in her language, and Ashlynn translated.
"She says her name is Featherly."
Another pixie with brown skin, long white hair in a braid, white freckles, and deer antlers jumped out of a tree next to Darling and said something.
"And that's Deerla," Ashlynn said, turning to Darling. "She knows you're hurt."
Deerla rested her hand on Darling's leg, and green magic swirled around it.
Darling gasped and stood up.
"Good as new!" she said, stretching her arms. Another pixie - this one with short pink hair, light pink skin, full pink lips, and whiskers - fell into them.
"Oh, hello!" Darling said.
"That's Harelow," Ashlynn said.
"We better move somewhere less out in the open," Poppy said.
"Please help us, pixies," Raven begged. "We need a place to hide from the Evil Queen."
She glanced back at Izzy and Amanda, who looked worried.
"Guys?" What's wrong?" she asked.
"What?" Amanda jumped. "Oh, uh, nothing. We'll be fine, right? Just because the Minotaur made it through doesn't mean we're in danger?"
"What are you talking about?" Holly asked.
"Well, remember how - on our first day - a monster came out of the forest and attacked us?"
Everyone nodded.
"Well," Izzy said. "We're a bit worried that it might happen again. Places like Ever After High or Olympus have magic borders to protect the people there. Once you enter those borders, you should be safe. The one on Ever After High isn't quite as powerful as the one around Olympus, and with the scent of three children of the Big Three, the Minotaur was able to get in. But we sent a message to our family to make the border stronger so none of the students got hurt. Now, though, we're so deep in the Enchanted Forest we're not sure it'll still work. It probably will, since we asked our family to expand it much more. But we might be reaching the end and borders are usually weaker there. I'm just saying we need to be careful. Did that make any sense?"
"I think so," Raven said.
The pixies all nodded and said something. Ashlynn translated, "They say there is a border around the place they're taking us, so you'll be safe."
Amanda and Izzy relaxed.
"Good," AManda said. SHe smiled at the pixies and asked, "But can you please take us there quickly?"
They nodded and walked away. The girls smiled at each other and followed.
"I hope everyone's okay at Ever After," Poppy said.
"Well with the Evil Queen in charge, who can say?" Holly told her.
"Has anyone seen my brother lately?" Darling asked, changing the conversation.
"I saw him at school lots of times," Maddie said. "And at the dragon center, and once in a dream but he was a goat."
"Why Darling?" Amanda asked. "Are you worried?"
"I don't like it," Darling said. "It's not like him to misplace his hand mirror." She took the mirror out of her bag and looked into it.
In the mirror realm, Daring looked at her.
"Yes," he said. "I wouldn't misplace it, dear sister. I'm misplaced in it!"
"Faybelle, I need you to place the dark dragons to guard every possible escape. Nobody leaves," the Evil Queen said as the two of them walked through the hall at Ever AFter High. Students lept out of their way as fast as they could.
"But they're not evil. Amanda did her work well," Faybelle said.
"Not to worry," the Evil Queen said, handing Faybelle a little bottle. "Sprinkle this on them to make them evil."
Faybelle nodded. "Yes, your horribleness!" she said, flying off.
The Evil Queen passed by Humprey without giving him a second glance. But a moment later, Jillian grabbed his arm and led him to a place where the vines had broken through the wall.
"Come on!" she said. When they reached the wall, she opened her hand and showed him some beans. She turned and threw them out of the hole. When they hit the ground, a huge beanstalk sprouted up.
"As my dad, Jack, always says," Jillian said, "the trick is don't look down!"
She was about to jump out when the two of them heard a roar. They turned and saw Jinx with Faybelle riding her. But something was wrong with the usually gentle dragon. Her eyes were glowing purple, like Nevermore's when she was under the Evil Queen's spell.
"Halt!" Faybelle shouted into a megaphone. "This is restricted airspace! Please return to the floating, evil school!"
Apple sat on her bed, crying. She looked down at the picture of her and Raven in her lap.
"Why the waterworks?" the Evil Queen said, entering her room. "Upset my Raven flew the coop? Don't worry - we'll get her back."
"Everything went wrong!" Apple said. "This is not how I thought high school would be!"
"Chin up, applecheeks," the Evil Queen said. "Any idea where your roomie went? Perhaps she's hiding in the enchanted forest?"
"If I knew I would tell her she was right about you and beg her to forgive me!" Apple said, standing up and walking over to the large hole in the wall in her room. "You've ruined everything! I was a fool to believe you'd changed, or that you cared about anybody's happily ever after but your own! Now the future of Ever After is literally up in the air and it's all my fault!"
"Oh, poor pathetic Apple White," the Evil Queen said. "I think our 'deal' is done. Tell you what, since you helped me so very much, here's an apple from the teacher."
She waved her hand and a rottan, shriveled apple appeared in her hand.
Apple turned and gasped. "Gross! I'm not touching that! It looks...poison!"
"Of course it's poison!" the Evil Queen snapped. She waved her hand again and the apple looked normal. "One bit of this, and you'll enter the next phase of your fairytale."
"But I can't choose my enchanted sleep...can I?"
"Take it or leave it. But you are leaving my school."
"I'm not going anywhere," Apple said.
"Your usefulness has ended," the Evil Queen said. "Consider yourself...hexspelled!" With a burst of purple fire, Apple was thrown out the window, screaming.
"Woah," Faybelle said, flying up to the Evil Queen. "You just hexspelled Apple right out the window!"
"Nothing happens by accident in my domain," the Evil Queen said. "Apple just needed a push to find my daughter in the enchanted forest."
Faybelle turned and saw that instead of falling to the ground, Apple hit one of the leaves on Jillian's beanstalk. Then another. She kept bouncing off leaves until she reached the bottom.
"Whew. Okay. I'm okay," Apple said to herself.
"Ohhhh. Very impressive, your rottenness," Faybelle said to the Evil Queen. "How can I help?"
"You follow her, you foolish fairy. Report back to me. She will lead us to Raven's hideout and then we will capture her."
"Ahh. What about Apple?"
"Well, I did promise her her happily ever after," the Evil Queen said, showing Faybelle the poison apple. She tossed it to Faybelle. "Here. Take this."
Apple entered the dragon stable, slowly. When Braebyrn poked her head out from behind a stall door, Apple gasped.
"You are a dragon for sore eyes," she said, hugging her dragon. "Time to turn the page! I've got to find Raven, apologize, and get her to help me reinprison the evil queen!"
Outside, Faybelle opened the door an inch, but didn't even get to look in before the doors were flung open by Apple riding Braebyrn.
Faybelle screamed as she crashed into the wall.
"Note to self," she said dizzily. "Get dragon-proof armor."
Apple flew through the sky with Faybelle flying behind her.
"I knew I should have taken a dragon," Faybelle said to herself, panting.
In front of her, Braebyrn perked up.
"What is it, girl?" Apple asked. A moment later, Braebyrn flew down to the same clearing where the others had landed a few hours ago.
"Do you smell something?" Apple asked, getting off Braebyrn and looking around.
The dragon sniffed a bush, and a moment later Harelow and Deerla poked their heads out for a second before getting out and climbing on Braebyrn, looking at her. Apple, who was turned away from Braebyrn, didn't notice.
"They could be anywhere," Apple continued. "That's the problem with enchanted stuff. What you're looking for could be right in front of you."
Deerla said something and Braebyrn squawked.
"Well, that seems like a sign," Apple said before turning around and spotting the pixies.
They motioned for her to follow them and the dragon and girl did just that.
In the tree above them, Faybelle watched the whole thing.
"Ugh, pixies," she scoffed. "Wannabe fairies."
Harelow and Deerla led them over a stream. They hurried over a tree that had fallen over the stream, creating a sort of bridge. When they reached the end, they said something before jumping to separate sides of the tree and disappearing.
"Hello?" Apple called. "This is no time for games, little pixies. I still need your help."
Faybelle was watching this from on top of a tree when her phone buzzed. She quickly picked it up and fumbled with it, nearly dropping it in the water before accepting the call from the Evil Queen.
"So, what's the bad word?" the Evil Queen asked. "Has Apple led you to my daughter? Or am I going to have to turn you into a slug?"
"Shh, you almost got me caught!" Faybelle hissed. She looked up, only to discover Apple and Braebyrn were gone. "I have to go!" she whispered, ending the call.
"Well, this is great," she muttered darkly, flying down to the ground. "Apple disappeared with those pixies to who knows where..."
She looked up and saw the shadow of a dragon disappearing through a secret passage by the tree.
In that passage, Apple walked along until she saw light. Pushing a curtain of leaves aside, she gasped. Hidden in the forest was a beautiful pixie village. The houses and buildings were carved into trees and there was a bonfire in the middle of the village. There were colorful hanging lights and pixies running around. Apple spotted a little pixie with mint green skin, short dark brown hair, and red glasses chasing another pixie with pale skin, bright violet eyes, and dark purple hair in a lot of little braids. Another pixie with bushy nut brown hair and freckles was showing some other pixies how to make baskets. It was the most perfect, peaceful place.
Apple took in the whole village, but her gaze was drawn to the bonfire in the center. Her friends and their dragons were sitting around it, laughing. Amanda and Maddie were putting on some sort of performance. As Apple got closer, she heard Amanda say, "Stop right there! Or I will hit you with my sword!" and pulled out a stick. She bonked Maddie on the head with it, and Maddie fainted dramatically.
They were so caught up with the play, that Apple hoped they wouldn't see her yet. But she stepped on a stick with a loud cracking sound.
The girls all gasped and turned around. Amanda already had her sword out and Izzy had an arrow pointed towards the sound before the girls realized who it was.
"I thought you said this place was a secret?" Raven said to Featherly, who shrugged.
"Raven!" Apple called.
"Apple," Raven said coldly.
"I'm sorry," Apple continued, walking forward. "I was selfish."
"Go on," Raven said.
"Your mom hasn't changed, I had," Apple said. Surprised, Raven turned around to face her as Apple continued. "ANd now I want to change again. For better - for good. I know I can't turn back the pages, but I believe- I believe we can all have our happily ever afters. But not until we stop your mom."
"And we will, my friend," Raven said, smiling and taking Apple's hands.
"Awwww," everyone said. Behind them, Faybelle watched from the top of a tree. She took out her phone and dialed a number.
"The Raven has landed," she hissed into the phone. "Repeat: the raven has landed. Initiate operation: roasted marshmallow."
"Faybelle, no need to speak in code," the Evil Queen said on the other line. "Plant the poison apple. I'll send in the dark dragons."
Faybelle nodded and ended the call.
Featherly brought a basket of fruit to the girls.
"Why, thank you Featherly," Ashlynn said, taking a pear for herself and a peach for Maddie. "The pixies say if we plan to face the Evil Queen, we need to nourish ourselves."
This is going to be fairy, fairy dangerous," Apple said. Near her, Faybelle looked out from behind a bush and slipped an apple - the poison apple - into the fruit basket as Apple continued. "The evil queen has turned half our friends and all the staff into creatures! The place is like a mile high off the ground, and surrounded by dark dragons!"
"Hold up," Amanda said. "My dark dragons? Like, the dark dragons who still run around licking the paintings of food on the barn walls?"
"She's cast an evil spell on them," Apple explained.
"Then we need our strength," Raven saud, taking some grapes from the fruit basket while Apple took the poison apple.
The moment she bit into it, her eyes glowed purple briefly and she shook, staring at the apple in horror. The fruit was turning black and shriveled as Apple collapsed to the ground, the apple rolling out of her hand.
"Apple!" Raven yelled, running over to her friend. "Ugh! Where did that come from?"
Izzy's eyes widened. "It's a poison apple. And I think I know who planted it - the same person who did it the first time."
"My mother," Raven said as Ashlynn hurried over. Apple whispered something in her ear.
"Can you understand what she's saying?" Holly asked.
"She says...how this fairytale ends is up to you now, Raven," Ashlynn said, crying.
"We better check if she's breathing," Darling said, resting her head on Apple's chest.
"Is she..." Amanda said softly, unable to finish the sentence. A moment later, Apple started snoring.
"Yep. She's breathing, all right," Poppy said.
The girls gathered around Apple. They were interrupted by a dragon roar from above. They looked up to see Jinx, Moonheart, and Nightshade circling above the village, roaring.
"Get Raven Queen!" Faybelle shouted, riding Jinx.
Moonheart and Nightshade dived. Raven started forward, but Amanda raced in front of her, holding out a hand. The two dragons stopped, seeming to remember this girl had raised them.
"Stop," Amanda said commandingly. The dragons did as she said.
"Sit," she commanded. WHen they sat down, she smiled at them. "Good dragons! I'm so proud of you!" Those words made the purple fade from their eyes, and the two dragons were back to normal.
Amanda cooed to them and spoke calmingly until the two dragons were happy and making cheerful sounds.
"Now," Amanda said, pointing to Faybelle. "Get her."
The dragons immediately rose up and flew towards Faybelle. Seeing her siblings talked to so kindly had made Jinx go back to normal, so now Faybelle had three large dragons against her.
"Good girls!" Amanda shouted. "Remember - protect the school!"
"Cool!" Raven said. A moment later, the girls' smiles faded as they remembered Appl was hurt.
Apple lay in a glass coffin. The girls walked up to her, each one holding a single white rose.
"Do you think she'll snore for years and years and years and years?" Maddie said tearfully.
"I can't bear to see Apple like this," Ashlynn said.
"She's not gone," Darling said. "She's just waiting for her happily ever after."
"But who knows how long it'll be before she wakes up?" Amanda said.
"Where is Daring when you need him?" Darling said as each of them laid their rose in Apple's hands.
"Hello? Is someone there?" Daring said from inside the mirror. "Can you hear me? WHat's happening?! All I can see is blond hair! Darling!"
His sister moved a bit, and her hair did too. Now, Daring could see what was happening, and it wasn't good.
"It's Apple? Apple!"
Darling moved to the side as Raven walked forward and put her rose in Apple's hands.
"You apologized to me. But I never got the chance to apologize to you," Raven said. "I brought all this evil to Ever After High. As soon as I realized I didn't want to play my part, I should have run far away. To a place where nobody has heard of the Evil Queen, or Snow White, or fairytales at all!"
"I don't think there is such a place," Maddie said. "Except wherever monsters come from or something. But who ever heard of a Monster High?" (Everyone has.)
They all glared at her. "Sorry," she said.
"Raven," Darling said, putting a hand on Raven's shoulder. "You didn't turn the school into a dark fortress of evil."
"We understand, Raven," Ashlynn said. "We all know you don't want to follow your mom's story. And we support your choice."
"I should have given in to my mother from chapter one," Raven said, not seeming to hear them. "Maybe I could have led her to a land far, far away...maybe- maybe it's not too late."
"No! Don't do it Raven! There has to be a better way! Giving into your mother won't wake Apple," Darling argued. "That's what you want, isn't it? To save our friend? Only the right kiss will set her free," she said, taking out the booking glass and looking at it. "Daring's."
"Free Daring," the mirror said. The girls gasped as Daring Charming appeared in front of them, not looking like himself.
"Daring! That's where you've been!" Darling said.
"The mirror...that's it! The way to capture my mother!" Raven said.
"Someone should have told the Evil Queen shattering a mirror brings bad luck," Darling said.