" In the Castle-Across-the-Way lived a lived a mother-and-daughter duo very different from Maleficent and Mal. Unlike the shabby Victorian confines of the Bargain Castle, this one was full soot and dust, with broken chandeliers and spiderwebs in the corners. It wasn't so much a castle as a cave—yet another prison within the prison of the island. And for ten years, this mother and daughter had only each other for company. Banishment to the far side of the island had made Evil Queen a little odd, and Evie couldn't help but notice how her mother insisted on making declarations just like some legendary "magic mirror."…"
Evie sighed softly as she tilted her head to the side and placed her cheek in her palm.
" " Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest on this island?" Evil Queen asked as Evie was getting ready that morning..."
"Is she still obsessed with the magic mirror?" Snow White asked.
"Oh yeah, she is up to this day I believe," Evie replied.
"Oh."
" "Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest on this island?" Evil Queen asked as Evie was getting ready that morning..."
"Evil Queen is hanging on to her old glory days, huh?" Phoebus noted.
"Just wait until you hear about my father..." Claudine muttered, and Hadie heard but didn't say anything. He knew very well what Claude Frollo was like. Hadie could recall one time when Frollo saw him and said that he was a child of a devil and didn't want him near his daughter.
Evie shook her head. "She would never let it go."
" " Mom, you're not holding anything in your hand. And anyway, is that really the first thing on your mind? Not breakfast?" asked Evie, who was starving. She perused the day's offerings—hard croissants and watery coffee from the basket the vultures left on their doorstep every day..."
Snow White covered her soft lips with her hand in shock upon hearing the kind of 'breakfast' that Evie ate every day.
'Poor child,' the queen of Charmington thought.
" "Your daughter has grace but should take better care of her face to be the fairest," her mother declared in somber tones that she called her "Magic Mirror" voice..."
Meg frowned. "Your daughter is hungry and all you care about is her looks?"
The other moms in the room had the same thought as Megara.
Evie turned to fix her chocolate brown eyes on Meg. "Yeah, she wants me to find a handsome prince. Food comes second."
"That's crazy!"
"I know," Evie sighed and focused her attention on Persephone's reading.
If Evie was honest, she wanted this chapter to end quickly, it was too depressing to hear.
" Fairest, prettiest, most beautiful. The thickest hair, the fullest lips, the smallest nose. It was all her mother cared about. Evil Queen blamed all her troubles on not being more beautiful than Snow White, and it seemed no matter how well Evie did her hair or put on her makeup, she would never be beautiful enough for her mother..."
"Oh Evie," Snow began, "You are a beautiful girl in your own way. No need to put on tons of makeup to please your mother," Snow cringed slightly at the word 'mother' as Evil Queen did not deserve that title.
Shelley and Florian agreed with Snow White.
Evie smiled. "Thank you!" She felt a little better after hearing Snow's encouraging words.
" "You didn't put on enough blush. How will you ever win a handsome prince, looking like that?" her mother scolded, pinching her cheeks…"
"Well, she didn't win a handsome prince," Doug spoke for the first time.
Evie blushed and smiled at her boyfriend.
" "Your hair!" Evil Queen said with despair, tucking a loose strand back into her daughter's neat V-braid, which swept her hair off her forehead. "Okay, now you're ready…" "
"…well, at least Evil Queen cares about Evie being neat. Right?" Herkie said, sounding as if he was unsure.
Evie thought for a moment before answering. "Hmm, you can say that, but only for finding a handsome prince."
Rapunzel titled her head. "Evil Queen kinda reminds me of Gothel."
Eugene also tilted his head as he placed his index finger and thumb on his chin. "In some sense."
" " Thanks, Mom," said Evie, whose only goal was to survive the day. "Are you sure it's safe to go to school?"
"No one can keep a grudge for ten years! Also, we're all out of wrinkle cream! Pick up some from the bazaar—I don't trust the vultures to send the right one…" "
"Is it bad that I agree with Evil Queen for saying not keeping a grudge for so long?" Aladdin asked.
"Well, you're not wrong," replied Shang. "I mean who has a grudge for that long?" He arched a brow.
Mal chuckled nervously.
"Why would Evie ask if it's safe to go out…oh," Hercules asked then he remembered earlier in the book that Maleficent banished Evie and her mother from sight.
" When Evie arrived at school that morning, everyone stared at her as she walked through the halls. She felt a bit self-conscious, and wondered if she'd ever fit in. She was supposed to check in with Dr. F, the headmaster, when she arrived. But where were the administrative chambers? Evie wondered, whirling around in a full circle..."
'A fish out of water huh?' Ariel mused, giggling lightly. However, she understood entirely where Evie was coming from.
" "May I help you?" a handsome if somewhat hairy and very large boy asked when he saw her.
"Oh—I'm looking for the headmaster—?" "
Persephone made a face when she read the first sentence, although she shouldn't be surprised as she had an idea as to who this boy was.
Gaston Jr. tapped his chin, trying to remember if it was he asked this question or his twin brother.
" "Follow me," he said with a broad grin. "Gaston, at your service…and this is my brother, Gaston." He pointed to his identical twin, who gave her the same beaming, arrogant smile..."
"Hey, that's me! Again!" Gaston Jr. exclaimed excitedly.
"Of course it's you, you doofus," Gaston the 3rd muttered under his breath.
Belle facepalmed. Of course, Gaston would name his twin sons after him.
'What selfish man would name his sons after him twice?' She thought. Imagine the confusion that was going on in Gaston's 'household.'
After all, Gaston was the biggest jerk and narcissist on the Isle.
Li'l Shang pursed his lips. Initially, he wanted to chuckle, but then he remembered that he too was named after his father. So, he let out a soft sigh instead.
" "Thank you, uh, Gastons." Evie replied. The boys led her down the hall to the administrative-tombs…"
"I can tell you were uncomfortable, E," Mal said and Evie nodded.
"Very."
" "Oh, Evie, welcome to Dragon Hall. It's a delight to see you again, child. It's been too long. Ten years, is it? How is your lovely mother?" "
Tiana sunk slightly in her bean bag and hummed. "So Facilier is a headmaster now huh?"
Freddie nodded. "Yup, my old man is the headmaster at Dragon Hall. He remembers Evie's mom instead of my birthday."
"And mine!" Celia added.
There were a few chuckles coming from the VKs side, and some of the Auradon Adults frowned at the Facilier girls. What parent forgets their child's birthday?!
Apparently, Dr. Facilier does.
" "She's well, thanks." Evie nodded politely but hurried to get to the point. "Dr. Facilier, I just wanted to see if I could swap my Wickedness class for Advanced Vanities that meets at the same time?" she asked..."
"Y'know, I was about to ask what kind of classes you guys have at your school but then I remember that I attend a school named Auradon Prep, where you literally have a class named 'Grammar,' " Anxelin said.
"Wait, you guys have a class named 'Grammar'?" Freddie asked incredulously, her eyebrows raised before bursting out a laugh. When Freddie's laughter died down, she continued. "Man, that's the dumbest class I've ever heard. I thought you guys were advanced and smarter than that."
Anxelin snorted in agreement. "To be honest with you, Freddie, I had the same thoughts as you every day. To make things even better, there's a class called 'Chivalry', where they teach boys to be gentlemen as if they don't have dads to teach them that."
"Don't remind us," Aziz, Li'l Shang, Tyrone, Herkie, Marlon, Akio and Emir chorused. Their parents gave them a look.
"….. there was a pretty, purple-haired girl standing in front of her cauldron, staring at her with unmistakable venom. Her mother's "mirror" would have had a few choice words about this one, that's for sure. Evie felt a cold dread as the memory of a certain infamous party came flooding back. Maybe if she played dumb and flattered her, the girl wouldn't remember what had happened ten years ago…"
Mal frowned as she turned to Evie. "Evie..?"
"Mal, I love you but at that time, you were downright scary," Evie told her best friend truthfully.
Mal nodded in understanding and pursed her lips. A light pink blush dusted her cheeks.
" "I'm Evie. What's your name?" Evie asked innocently, although she knew exactly who was standing in front of her. "And by the way, that jacket is amazing. It looks great on you—I love all the patchwork leathers on it."
"Girl, that's her cauldron. You should bounce," a student Evie would find out later was named Yzla whispered loudly.…"
Yzla gave a small wave. "Yay, I got a mention."
"Why do I feel like something bad is gonna happen?" Akio asked. A sense of dread started to bubble inside his gut while he was oddly curious.
Anna shook her head in amusement at her son. "Oh, Akio.."
Kristoff chuckled. "He's like you, Dear."
" "Oh, this is yours…?" Evie asked the purple-haired girl.
The purple-haired girl nodded.
"I had no idea this was your desk, I'm so sorry! But it has such a great view of the lectern," Evie said with her trademarked bright smile, so blinding, it should have come with sunglasses..."
A few people giggled at the last sentence, including Mal and Evie.
" "Yes, it does," the purple-haired girl replied, her voice soft and menacing. "And if you don't move your blue-haired caboose out of it, you'll get some kind of view, all right." She snarled, brusquely brushing past Evie and noisily plonking her backpack down into the middle of the cauldron..."
"Well, that's mean," Jane said.
Mal blushed in embarrassment as she sunk into her bean bag.
" Evie got the message, grabbed her things, and found an empty cauldron in the back of the classroom, behind a column where she couldn't see the blackboard..."
"See? You were scary," Evie commented, staring at her purple-haired friend.
Mal grumbled.
" "Is that who I think it is?" she asked the small boy seated next to her, whose hair was black at the roots but white at the tips. Actually, everything he wore was black and white with a splash of red: a fur-collared jacket with one black and one white side and red leather sleeves, a black button-down shirt with streaks of white, and long shorts with one white and one black-and-white leg. It was a pretty cool look. For a bloody skunk..."
Most of the Auradonians furrowed their brows.
"Hey!" Carlos exclaimed, turning to Evie. "You thought I was a skunk?"
Evie flushed. "Erm, well your attire does resemble a skunk, especially your hair."
"…you have a point."
" "If you mean Mal, you're right, and I would stay out of her way if I were you," he said.
"Mal…" Evie breathed, her voice trembling nervously…"
Mal bit her bottom lip, guilt forming in her stomach, and Evie noticed. Evie then softened and put a comforting hand on Mal's shoulder.
"It's ok, M. It's all in the past," Evie said, giving the purple-haired girl a smile—a genuine one.
Mal returned the smile as she rested her hand on Evie's.
Audrey rolled her eyes and huffed at the sight of the two girls at the front bonding.
" "Yeah. Her mom's the Big Bad around here. You know—" He made horn signs with his hands on either side of his head..."
Everyone in the room started to laugh, even Persephone, Leah, and Audrey. However, Audrey tried to stifle her laugh but failed.
" Evie gulped. Her first day, and she'd already made the worst enemy in school. It was Maleficent who had banished Evie and her mother ten years ago and caused Evie to grow up alone in a faraway castle..."
"Ok, I still don't understand why the beef with Maleficent and Evil Queen?" Aladdin asked.
"I have no idea either," Evie responded with a sigh.
" Magic Mirror on the wall, who's the stupidest of them all?" Persephone finished.
"Persephone, are you going to read the next chapter?" Blue Fairy asked.
Persephone smiled. "Of course, I'm curious about the next chapter."
"Oh," Blue Fairy raised her brows.
"Oh boy.." Carlos felt a sense of trepidation as he became lightheaded and breathed heavily. His hands started to shake slightly as he sunk into his bean bag.
Jay watched his friend worriedly and asked, "Are you alright, dude?"
"Uh, y-yeah, yeah," Carlos stammered anxiously, looking pale.
Jay placed a comforting hand on the younger boy's shoulder, letting him know that he was there for him.
Carlos looked up as he gave Jay a tiny and grateful smile, and faltered once Jay tore his eyes away from him.
There was a light chatter among the crowd as Persephone cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
"Ok everyone, is everyone ready?" The goddess of flowers asked the crowd.
"Yes," everyone, except Carlos chorused.
"Good, let's get started then," Persephone said as she began to read the next chapter.