Raven's last year at Ever After High felt rather uneventful compared to her second and third. This was of course because it had been only a month since class started, but other than travelling the beanstalk to the Giant's castle, participating in the dragon games, and escaping a stampede of angry bulls, not much had happened.

Ok so maybe it the first week had been busy but compared to the chaos of the Royals vs the Rebels, as well as all the drama her mother caused, it felt more like a series of odd shenanigans with no real weight to them. Everything always turned out ok in the end, and she never felt like her life could change or that everything she ever knew was a lie.

Obviously, Raven didn't miss those times, as educational as they were, but their absence made her uneasy. It felt like she was on some kind of cursed rollercoaster, going up and up and up, and eventually she would plummet to the ground.

The closest thing to a life-changing event that had happened so far was a discovery about her magic. Apparently, she wasn't necessarily born with her magic but was given a bit of magic during a ritual when she was a baby, and the rest of that magical power was in the Storybook of Legends that unlocked her true power when she signed. It made sense, if magic was genetic there would always be the chance that she could be born powerless, and that wouldn't bode well for her story.

But this didn't bother Raven at all though, she already wanted to distance herself from her mother's evil destiny, so it felt more or less like the magic belonged to her, not her destiny.

"So, your just like everyone else then? Did your mom really have such little faith in your abilities?"

Faybelle always said that as if it were a bad thing. Maybe one day she'd remember that calling Raven a bad villain was a compliment.

"Not all of us can marry into a magic family Faybelle" Raven replied, rolling her eyes "Besides why do you care? I thought you would be happy that the Evil Queen's magic wasn't hereditary. Not like you need it to do the job anyways."

In their third year, Faybelle had volunteered to take Raven's place as the next Evil Queen. That way, Apple could still live out her dreams, and the story got to live on. Faybelle claimed that she would be taking on both stories, and while Raven could easily see her poisoning Apple for a week, she didn't believe for one second that she would go through with cursing Briar.

"I could be better if you had let me sign my page in the Storybook of Legends! Pretty nice that you got to take the magic for yourself and destroy my chapter!"

Raven winced, every once in a while, Faybelle would make a good point. She signed the book as a last resort, and they destroyed the book to prevent anyone from stealing a destiny. Looking back though, she should have given those who wanted to sign a chance. She didn't realize just how long Dexter had been waiting to find out what his destiny was until they started dating. Even when he assured her that destroying the book saved him from a life without her (oh goodness that boy was sweet) she still felt horrible.

Noticing Raven's gloomy expression Faybelle gave an uncomfortable cough.

"Whatever, I don't even care, I don't need artificial magic like you." She flew away in a huff.

Faybelle sure had a weird way of being nice but given her heritage that's to be hexpected.

The next few weeks flew by with little conflict, and as much as she was enjoying it, she didn't really know what to do with herself. Writing her own destiny meant that Raven didn't have a plan set out for her, and the daily disasters that used to happen at school made for a good distraction.

The time of Thronecoming was approaching, which meant that the new students would be travelling to heritage hall and would receive the presents that their parents left for them. But before the second years went, a field trip had been organized for the graduating year to visit and reflect what the changes that Ever After had gone through.

Heritage hall had changed a lot since the first time she had been years ago, the areas had been set up for the new students. Many of the kids from Oz had arrived this year and beautiful stained-glass depictions of their stories decorated the room.

"Ms.Queen, a word?"

Madame Baba Yaga approached Raven with an elaborately decorated wand.

"This wand was a gift from your mother. It was your real gift that the headmaster switched out for that coin. Honestly, I can't believe it took him this long to return it."

She handed over the wand to Raven, who examined it carefully. The handle was pretty standard, but the tip was wrapped in a decorative thorn adorned with black roses. She couldn't deny that her mom had style, but she still went to hand it back.

"Thanks, but I don't really need this… my magic's just fine as it is."

"Yes, because your magic has a great track record of doing what you want" Baba Yaga replied, raising an eyebrow.

Raven sheepishly put it in her pocket and went back to join the group.

"I come from a long line of magical villains!" Faybelle boasted, "I'm a descendent of the Enchantress that cursed your precious beast."

Rosabella sighed.

"Whatever you say Faybelle."

"Hey, I can prove it!" Faybelle snapped.

"Madame Yaga, since we're in heritage hall, can we take a DNA test? I need to prove a point!"

Baba Yaga scolded Faybelle for using up class resources for winning an argument, but she did agree to the idea.

Their parent's results had been taken before and was kept in the records, so it could show some students who were distantly related. It did sound kinda cool.

"Wait, does that mean we need to take a finger prick?" Briar explained.

A normal finger prick would only make her sleep for about an hour, but the curse still stressed her out.

Suspicious that Faybelle is just trying to prick her finger with a cursed object to make her sleep for 100 years. Apple and Raven make sure to watch Briar carefully, much to Faybelle's apparent dismay. Just because Raven didn't think Faybelle would do that, didn't mean that she trusted her.

But nothing happened, so they all let it go.

The next day most of the students get the results back. Blondie is happy she has proof of her (distant) royal roots, and Faybelle is annoyed to find out that the Enchantress is only her fourth cousin twice removed.

Huh, it she didn't see Cerise anywhere, or Ramona for that matter. Did they not want to see their DNA results or-

OH CURSES!

How could she forget? Nobody could know that they were related! This could be a huge scandal! But when she finds Ramona and Cerise waiting near the detention door, they only look mildly annoyed.

"Hey Raven, worried about us"? Cerise asked with a smirk. "Don't worry it's been sorted out."

"Really? How did you guys manage that?"

Ramona chuckled

"Apparently our tests were '"accidentally broken"', can you believe that?" She gasped sarcastically.

Looks like Mr. Badwolf was just as sneaky as his wife, not like she's surprised. He would do anything to protect his daughters.

"So why are you guys here again?" Raven asked.

"They got caught fighting on school grounds" Mr. Badwolf growled as he walked over to his daughters.

"She started it!"

"She started it!"

Chucking, Raven heads back to Madam Yaga's class.

While Raven heads back to class she is immediately stopped by Headmaster Grimm, who looks pale as a ghost. He tells her that she's not in trouble, but that she and Apple are needed in his office immediately. He is uncharacteristically formal with her, and though it makes her a bit uncomfortable she brushes it off as odd behaviour, or maybe fear.

When she arrives, she is shocked to see her mother's mirror propped up next to the office desk facing forwards.She's surrounded by two bodyguards who make sure that Raven keeps her distance. Her Father-The Good King-stands beside the mirror, though he and his ex-wife don't make eye contact. On the left side of the desk Snow White, accompanied by her husband and many bodyguards' eyes Raven suspiciously, but quickly draws her gaze back to her daughter, who is sitting in a seat across from her.

She takes a seat in front of her dad, which is also the seat in front of her mom, but she's become an expert at ignoring her mom over the years.

Beside her, Apples eyes are wandering back and forth like a lost animal. Ever since she accidentally freed the Evil Queen, Apple would freeze up whenever the mirror was around. Raven tried to hold her hand in support, but the glare she got from Snow White told her that she might be better to avoid getting Apple in trouble.

The news hits like a punch to the gut. It doesn't feel real. Snow White is on the phone with her hospital, screaming at the doctors for making such a monumental mistake. Headmaster Grimm tries to calm down King Charming, who demands that the test be taken again, the Evil Queen demands access to visits with Apple, sparking an argument between her and the Good King, the first time Raven had ever seen him truly angry. Apple is loudly sobbing into her hands, makeup running along her face and arms. The only one quiet is Raven, too shocked to even speak. The arguments fade into the background and the pounding in her ears gets louder and louder.

This was it. This was what she had been terrified of. She could never have piece for more than a moment before it all came crashing down on her.

Unable to stand being in the office for another second, Raven grabs Apples hand, ignoring the sudden objection from Snow White, and uses her magic to teleport them both outside of the school.

Finally quiet, Raven turns to Apple, who's frozen as a deer caught in the headlights.

"Apple?"

The blonde blinked slowly.

"Apple please."

Apple finally spoke.

"It's fine… I'll be- "

She chocked on her words and began to break down in loud agonizing sobs. She threw herself onto Raven and hugged her tightly.

Her mascara ran down her face and rubbed off on Raven's dress, but honestly, she didn't care.

She ignored everything and hugged her friend back.