Indigo plopped down next to Stella during breakfast, bringing a stack of books with her. Stella raised her eyebrows at Indigo but didn't say anything.
"Hey," Indigo said, casting a nervous look at Bernadette and Hadleigh, who were sharing the latest gossip with one another. "Look what I found." Indigo plucked a thick leather-bound book from her stack and flipped to a bookmarked page.
Stella stabbed her eggs, watching as Indigo's eyes scanned the page. "What's all this about?" she asked after swallowing her eggs.
"Here it is!" Indigo pointed to a paragraph. "I was doing some research about the scale we saw in the library. Remember, the unbalanced scale?"
"Oh. But that was ages ago!" Stella said, dipping her strawberry in chocolate.
"Yes, but this is crucial. See, I was researching the effects on what might happen if Good or Evil overpowered the other, and then I found this while reading. It says, '...the School for Good and Evil (S.G.E.) has managed to maintain its balance between the forces of Good and Evil ever since the school was first founded by the two brothers. But what happens if the balance becomes unbalanced? Most people have wondered this. The answer, according to a famous wizard, depends on many factors. Firstly, when the horizontal lines of the scale are parallel with the floor, it is balanced. But when the angle is measured to be thirty degrees or less…' Okay, let's skip ahead," Indigo muttered. "'But no matter what the angle measures up to, destruction will surely come when the forces don't align. The school was built on balance, and without that, the school and all its occupants will cease to exist.'" Indigo bookmarked the page again and snapped the book shut.
"Wow," Stella said. "That was ominous." Then Stella popped a grape into her mouth.
"It's not just ominous," Indigo said defensively. "We're doomed. Even if nothing is happening now, something is bound to go wrong." Indigo sighed as Stella began drizzling maple syrup over her pancakes.
"You need to relax," Stella said after a bite of pancakes. "You should try out my yoga routine. I highly recommend it."
Indigo's eyes drifted to Stella's food. "Are those…cucumbers on your pancakes?" she asked.
"Of course! Cucumbers are good for improving your natural glow! I recommend you do the same, too." Stella smiled, revealing perfect white teeth, and continued eating.
Indigo watched hungrily for a moment before she turned away and began gathering her books. As she was about to head back to the library before the first class of the day started, Huntley came up beside her.
"Need help?" he asked, nodding at the books in Indigo's arms.
"Sure," Indigo said thankfully. She allowed Huntley to remove some books from her load.
"What are all these for? Studying?" Huntley asked. Then he leaned down to read one of the titles. "Advanced Magic for Dummies by Ogowa Hobinn? Really, Indie?"
Indigo rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't understand."
Huntley studied her curiously for a moment. "Well of course I wouldn't understand—how do you expect me to when you're not even talking to me anymore?"
Indigo furrowed her brow. "What?"
"You're always hanging around Stella and avoiding me—since when did you start liking Stella? On the first day, you were hating on her."
"Well I've changed my mind," Indigo answered acidly. "You've forgotten people can change, apparently."
"People change, but not in such a short span of time," Huntley insisted. He followed Indigo to the Library of Virtue. "Indie, can't you remember the last time we sat down and had a conversation? A real conversation?"
Indigo stopped abruptly. "You can leave the books here," she said indifferently, nodding towards the table.
Huntley stared at her, unmoving. "Are you serious?" he asked.
"As a bee," Indigo answered smoothly. "Huntley, darling, there's no need to be worried."
"Darling?" Huntley choked out. "Darling? When did you start saying 'darling?'"
"Bye now," Indigo said, fluttering her fingers in a little wave (something she learned in Princess Etiquette class).
When Huntley didn't leave, Indigo turned around and ventured deeper into the Library of Virtue, making sure Huntley wasn't following her.
"Right. Students. Evers and Nevers, Good and Evil, gather 'round." Yuba the Gnome clapped his hands together as the students crowded around him. Evers with Evers, Nevers with Nevers. "I have talked with the deans of both schools," Yuba continued. "Clarissa Dovey, dean of the School for Good, and Lady Lesso, dean of the School for Evil. With their permissions, they have allowed my students to use the Theater of Tales whenever desired to work on the reenactment project. But only to work on the project. There will be wolves and fairies to supervise you lot. And use your privileges to the Theater of Tales wisely, especially Nevers, because we won't be working on it during class anymore. Remember, using lunchtime to work is still an option.
"But anyway, today, we will continue practicing our enchantments. Last week, I had you practice the basic spells of defense and attack. Now, I want you to use them."
There were a series of murmurs and gasps—and a yawn from Scarlet.
"It's Evers against Nevers," Yuba said. "Even if it seems unfair, since Evers excel at magic while Nevers fail even the simplest spells." Yuba took a deep breath. "But while this is a test of some sort, it's mostly a practice duel. A question of 'How would you do in a real duel?'" Then Yuba walked around, pairing Evers up with Nevers. "I'm pairing you up based on rankings," Yuba announced. "Scarlet and Stella. Astrophel and Indigo. Aspen and…"
Yuba went on, pairing Evers up with Nevers, until he reached the twentieth rank.
"Harvey and Hadleigh," Yuba said.
Bernadette shot Hadleigh a pitying look.
Yuba refreshed the students' knowledge on dueling stances and basic spells. "There might be a few students in here who know many more spells," Yuba said, "but only the basic spells are allowed. Otherwise, it is a fail."
"Don't fail," Vesper mouthed to Harvey.
Harvey ignored him. Instead, he fixed his eyes on his opponent, who was running a pink brush through her hair.
"Ready," Yuba said. "Set…"
Most students held up their glowing fingers while a few struggled to light theirs up.
"Go!"
Scarlet released a burst of magic from her finger, which glowed scarlet (like her name). Stella blocked it off with a defensive spell, but somehow, Scarlet's magic penetrated it. Stella gasped and ducked in time as the magic whizzed over her.
Astrophel was talented, but Indigo knew she was better than Astrophel at magic. Indigo had studied ahead of time, spending a majority of her freetime in the Library of Virtue. Astrophel was the one who never tried but always succeeded due to genetics. But as Astrophel struggled to keep her finger lit, Indigo sent a steady streak of magic towards her opponent. Indigo watched gleefully as the streak zipped towards Astrophel and…
Astrophel glanced up just as the streak of magic hit her square in the jaw—and bounced right off, innocuous and ineffective. Astrophel's eyebrows shot up as Indigo gaped dumbfoundedly. How Astrophel managed to deflect her spell without even managing to light up her finger, Indigo had no idea. But she was bound to find out, and she will.
Except it wasn't just Indigo's opponent that had unexpected magical strength. Huntley's opponent was Jezebel, a Nevergirl with yellow cat eyes and ghostly pale skin. Jezebel's finger had glowed a sinister yellow, matching her eyes, while Huntley's glowed a strong cerulean. Jezebel and Huntley fired at each other at precisely the same time. Their beams of magic met in the middle and clashed—Jezebel's yellow beam suddenly glowed red and circled Huntley's steadily weakening cerulean. Huntley watched, aghast as the yellow beam tightened around the cerulean beam until it was finally annihilated. At first, Huntley simply thought Jezebel was better than him. Until he looked over and saw Jezebel's face; utter shock was emblazoned into her feline-ish features.
When Jezebel caught Huntley staring at her, she licked her lips, cat eyes staring back.
Huntley quickly looked away.
Perhaps the Evers' unusual failures were all a coincidence, but then Harvey—Harvey, the Reader from Woods Beyond who had never studied magic nor practiced it, managed to win his duel with Hadleigh. At least Hadleigh had even managed to light her finger up (a soft, delicate orange glow), because Harvey's finger stubbornly refused to glow. And as Hadleigh sent a spell flying, it slowed midair and obliterated into an orange cloud of glitter.
"Cheater!" Hadleigh shrieked.
By the time Yuba had recorded the wins and loses onto a board, everyone could see that not a single Ever had won.
"I'm quite disappointed," Yuba said, shaking his head at the Evers. "You know, the Trial by Tale is coming up. I highly recommend spending less time on appearances and more on your studies."
"But they cheated!" Hadleigh shrieked again. "My partner—the Reader—didn't even get his finger to glow!"
Everyone stared at Harvey, who flushed.
"Accusing others won't earn you top ranks," Yuba said. Then an ugly red twenty exploded over Hadleigh's head.
Hadleigh seethed with silent rage as Nevers chuckled and Evers whispered among themselves.
But Indigo knew.
There was no way.