I'm just kinda dabbling in this fandom. And this short little story idea has been bouncing around in my head for about a week or so. So, here I am.

Not gonna lie, I've only ever seen the movie. I don't know anything about the books other than what I've noticed when I looked up some facts. Which means this is in no way cannon complacent and 90% of it is just getting created in my brain.

Either way, hopefully it's not too horrible.

~Enjoy

Seeing how my father has a hook for a hand, it would be completely possible to slice off my own in an escape attempt. Plus, if I already had a hook for a hand, they wouldn't be able to keep me handcuffed (because you can't cuff a hook). This would also make it easier to escape any of their attempts to keep me captured.

In conclusion,

I don't need two hands to be evil.

Leonora let out a sigh as she lifted her pale green eyes from the paper in front of her.

Honestly, it was a wonder that her kids even made it this far in their lives. The assignment was simple. So simple that a slug could do it. All they needed to do was list and explain different ways they might avoid being seen by their nemesis while gathering information.

Not once had she mentioned anything about being captured.

Or dismemberment.

Though, if Hort wanted a hook for a hand bad enough, she certainly might help him along if he turned in something so ridiculously off topic again.

Leaning back in her chair, she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

Four months had passed since the two Readers flipped the fundamentals of their world upside-down before disappearing back to Gavaldon. The foundations of both good and evil had been dismantled in the aftermath. Leaving nothing but a crumbled mess.

A mess the Deans were expected to fix.

Honestly, it was going as smoothly as expected. At first, they were met with resistance on both sides. Neither good nor evil wanted to change their set ways. Eventually, though, they managed to find some kind of common ground. A form of unity, so to speak.

However, that left a lot of work for the pair. They not only had to implement the new idea of unity, but also how to go about it while keeping the children on their respective paths. It was a time-consuming effort. One that required both Deans' undivided attention for nearly seven weeks. Day after day they reworked the entirety of the curriculum to make it balanced. This way both Evers and Nevers, for the first time in centuries, had the same chance of success.

It was Professor Anemone's idea for them to take over The Tower. Though Lesso would never admit it out loud, it wasn't a bad idea. After all, both Clarissa and herself were the most powerful (and capable) faculty members now. It only made sense for the two of them to keep their watchful eyes over the Storian. Both good and evil working together to protect the most important thing in their world.

The door on Dovey's side of the office was thrown open, pulling Lesso out of her musings.

A perfect eyebrow raised as the Fairy Godmother herself rushed into their office. Dovey's eyes widened as her gaze fell on her counterpart. "What are you doing?!"

"Grading?"

"Prince Jerrick will be arriving any minute!"

"And?"

"We must be there to greet him!" Dovey huffed, throwing her hands into the air. "We talked about this last week. It'll be beneficial for both of us to be there. It'll help show the strides we made with the unification."

That sounded like a horrible idea.

There were many things on her agenda for the day. Two classes, a couple lesson plans that needed finished, and she wanted to torment some of the new students that arrived this semester. Nowhere in her schedule did she want to entertain some prince. Especially an Ever prince who would keep his sole focus on Dovey, just as they always did.

"Or - hear me out- he'll see it for himself during his stay."

"He's never set foot on our grounds before. It's only sensible that the Headmistresses greet him and show him around our school."

"Princess, I would rather drink nightshade and test my first years' antidotes than show some pompous prince around."

"How do you know he's pompous?"

"He's a prince. An Ever prince. They're all the same."

"Come on, Leonora! We're in this together now." Clarissa rested her hands on the opposite side of the large black desk as she leaned in, fixing her eyes on the redhead in front of her. Lesso watched as the warm brown eyes widened slightly as she gave her a pleading look.

Did Clarissa really think that all it would take for her to give into her demands was for her to bat her eyes? She was the Dean of Evil for Storian's sake. One of the most powerful witches to exist to date.

"Batting those pretty brown eyes isn't going to work on me, Princess. Make Anemone do it."

"Emma's classes are booked full today. And besides. She's not a Headmistress." Clarissa explained, trying to reason with the other woman. "Please? I can handle it alone, but I'd much rather do this with you."

"Fine."

The pair stood beside each other, patiently waiting for their guest to arrive. Dovey fidgeted with her dress nervously. This was their first time hosting since the reform. Everything needed to go well. If not, word might spread that they were no longer up to the high standards that they held themselves to.

In contrast to the Godmother's nervous behavior, Lesso held her hand out in front of her, examining the deadly sharp silver nails. Unlike the shorter woman, she couldn't care less what this prince thought.

"Be. Nice." Dovey hissed quietly as the carriage came into view. With a wave of her hand the gates creaked open.

Lesso straightened her shoulders. She stood tall, black cane imbedded into the gravel path. Her hands lay on top of each other, resting on the silver top of the cane. The redhead tilted her head slightly, not taking her attention from the approaching carriage. "Or what? You'll punish me?"

The corner of her mouth twisted up with a smug smirk as Dovey choked on air, completely unprepared for the words that left red lips. Her celebration was cut short, however, as the grand white carriage came to a stop in front of the gate. Instinctively, Lesso let her features shift back into the mask of indifference.

The pair watched as the ornate door to the carriage swung open. The man, she assumed was the prince, stepped out.

Lesso couldn't help but roll her eyes at his cliche appearance. He was young. Barely older than her upcoming graduating class. The top of his blonde hair was styled in a combover that traveled down into a well-kept beard. His dark blue eyes sparkled as he approached the pair, keeping his gaze on the blonde beside her.

"Welcome to our school, Prince Jerrick. I am Professor Dovey. Headmistress of the School of Good. It's a pleasure to have you here."

"The pleasure is all mine." He bowed, taking her gloved hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles. As he rose to his feet, he finally took note of Lesso's presence. He raised an eyebrow as he looked her up and down with barely concealed disgust. "And you are?"

Fixing him with a flat look, she introduced herself. "Lady Lesso. Headmistress of the School of Evil."

"Hm. It figures you're a Never."

"Does it, now?"

"I just assumed that they would have gotten rid of the trash with the reform. Maybe I'll have to see to it myself."

A wide predatory smile grew as she leaned forward. "You are more than welcome to try."

It was painfully obvious that Jerrick's bravado came solely from his family's status. After all, the difference in their magic was staggering. The young man in front of her held no more magic than her first years. Actually, comparing them would be an insult to her students.

"Prince Jerrick." Dovey called as she input herself between the two, not wanting the situation to escalate. "Why don't you follow the fairies to your room? Once you're settled in, we can begin the tour."

"Thank you for your hospitality." Jerrick took a step back, but Lesso refused to shift, keeping her intense gaze on their guest. "I will see you shortly. Hopefully, in better company."

Dovey sighed as Jerrick bowed before following the fluttering fairy towards the school.

"You won't be joining us." It wasn't an accusation, but more of an observation.

Clarissa liked to think that she'd known the Dean of Evil long enough to consider her a friend. Which meant that she knew at least some things about her evil counterpart. One was being able to read her moods.

And right now, the witch beside her radiated with irritation.

Certainly, if she pushed for Lesso to join them the walk around the grounds would be far from pleasant. Not to mention, the man had already worn down Lesso's very thin patience and Clarissa didn't want to test the limits today.

"I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon." The redhead scoffed as she stared at the man's retreating back. It was only after he disappeared through Good's doors that she turned back to the shorter woman. Her gaze softened slightly as she met Clarissa's eyes. "I'll see you later, Princess."

"He can't be that bad, Red." Professor Anemone chuckled as she moved her white pawn forwards, so it blocked the black one's advance.

Clarissa Dovey wasn't the only one who'd grown on the Dean of Evil (not that she'd admit it of course). Anemone wasn't just Clarissa's good friend, but she was also one of the longest employed staff. She'd been around to see things well before Rafal's influence and wanted nothing more than to help return the balance.

So, it only made sense that she joined the two newly appointed Headmistresses in their restructuring of the school.

Surprisingly Leonora found herself not hating the former beauty teacher hanging around. The older woman was quick witted and knowledgeable.

Plus, her chess abilities were far greater than Clarissa's.

"He's arrogant." Lesso snorted as she moved the black rook across the board, claiming the white bishop. "Check."

Emma's eyes narrowed as she gazed over the chess board in front of her, unsure as to how she managed to leave another opening. "As if you aren't?"

"The difference, beauty teacher, is I have the power to back it up. He doesn't. His ego tells me that he's been spoiled since the day he was born. If I had to guess, I'd say he's the last in his line for the throne. I wouldn't be surprised if-" Lesso's sentence was cut short as the doors to the tower office swung open. A rather frazzled Dovey stomped into the room muttering to herself. She ignored the two as she made her way over to her golden desk. She threw herself into her chair, taking a couple of deep breaths.

Emma raised an eyebrow at Lesso, silently asking her if she knew what could put the normally chipper Godmother in such a state. The redhead shrugged, moving another chess piece. Rolling her eyes she called out to the blonde. "Everything alright, Riss?"

"No!"

"What's wrong?"

"That man is insufferable!"

"Told you." Lesso said smugly as she moved the queen. "Checkmate."

"What the hell." Emma stared down at the board, trying to figure out how the redhead across from her managed to win again. Some nights, she wondered if the witch was cheating. But not once did she ever sense any sort of magical interference. Accepting her defeat she leaned back into her own chair, moving her attention to her friend. "I'm sure he's just like the others we've hosted."

"No! He's worse! I showed him around the grounds today. Thank you, buy the way for leaving, Lesso."

"You're welcome." Lesso said, completely unbothered by Dovey's growing ire. She leaned back against her chair, watching the frazzled mess that was the Godmother.

"Anyway. I was explaining some of the new curriculum and things that have changed, and he just kept correcting me! As if he knows anything about the work that we've put into this! Or about our school at all! His family has never attended! And he wants to stand there and tell me that 'princes should pave the way' and 'it's the princesses' job to stand there and look pretty'."

"I have a solution to this problem."

"Murder is not an option."

"Is it really murder if the body isn't found?"

"Lesso."

"Alright." Lesso shrugged as she finished the last of her whiskey. She stood from her desk and returned the glass to its spot in the cabinet behind her. "Just remember, the offer is on the table, Princess."

"Are you leaving?" It was almost as if Clarissa sounded disappointed.

"Mhm. Early morning plans." She confirmed as she swiped her gray coat from the back of her chair. "I'm taking some of the brats to gather hettle roots from the moat."

Dovey perked up in her chair. "Are you out? I can always have the fairies-"

"No." Lesso held her hand up, silencing the woman. It was a nice offer, but this was a learning experience for her students. Manley had left his class of second years alone for ten minutes. When he returned, he found that every single hettle root he owned had been torn to shreds, burned, and even eaten. As a punishment the group would now be getting up well before dawn to crawl around the moat to restock Manley's supply. Supervised by herself, of course. "They're the idiots that wasted it. They're going to restock it."

"Oh, okay. Good night!" Clarissa called out as her fellow headmistress gave a single wave on her way to the door. It was only after the door closed behind her that she shifted her attention back to the other soul in the room. Emma sat in her chair; a wide knowing smirk spread across her face. "What?"

"Nothing." The older woman shrugged as she moved to sit in front of the golden desk. Normally she'd jump all over the chance to tease the blonde about her blatant infatuation with the witch. But seeing how Dovey already had a relatively stressful day, she'd give her a break for the night. "So, tell me more about this prince."