Googie was still sulking over the loss of her dress when she was strong-armed into the Intro to Evil classroom. The desks were cold steel tilted with legs sculpted into curls while the chairs were red cushioned stools. Ignoring the side-eyed gaze of the-disgusting-students she gracefully sank onto the nearest stool. Well, she thought it was graceful but who could tell in these stupid uniforms.
Someone nailed her with a spitball
"Who did that?" she turned.
"I see that everyone has arrived! Please, if we could turn our attention to the front?"
The class fell silent, eyes turning to the front of the room where a blue-skinned goblin in a suit and bow tie stood on the teacher's desk with a snaggly toothed smile.
"Aren't you supposed to be scrubbing floors?" Googie muttered.
"No Miss Hale, despite my appearance I don't work for Madame Maleficent," the goblin spoke jovially, "I was instead, employed in Queen Castle before becoming a professor so you could say I'm over-qualified to teach Introduction to Evil"
"Queen castle?"
"Don't you know the Evil Queen, Reader?" Crow snorted, "Poisoned apple, poisoned comb, killer laces?"
"That's the reverse order but yes, thank you, Crow. Now, I am Professor Yop, who can tell me why Evil is so important?"
"Because life would be pointless otherwise?" a very muscular boy with blue hair and a large crow tattoo on her his neck drawled.
"Interesting take, Mister East but no," Yop shook his head, "Anyone else?"
The others muttered but there was no answer.
"Because of the Readers," Yop turned to the chalkboard, "Our stories are meant to inspire, spark emotion, guide choices" he wrote all of this on the board, "Take out Evil 101 and open to page one, the rules of Good And Evil, let's read them together"
"The Evil attack. The Good defend"
"Examples, anyone, no? Okay, rule two everyone?"
"The Evil punish. The Good forgive. "
"Rule three?"
"The Evil hurt. The Good help."
"Rule 4?"
"The Evil take. The Good give."
"And Rule 5?"
"The Evil hate. The Good love."
"Excellent! Now, understand these rules aren't set in stone. You'll find not everyone is one hundred percent good or evil all of the time, oh you might not think it but perhaps you have a boundary you won't cross, a person you won't hurt or a trinket tied to a happy memory?"
Googie rolled her eyes
"Now I want you all to stand up one at a time and tell me why you're here, why you want the Storybook to record your tale, what qualifies you? As I'm sure you weren't paying attention yesterday let me remind you after this year you'll be divided into separate courses, villain or henchmen, entirely dependent on how well you perform this year" Yop wrote it all on the chalkboard, "Why doesn't our Reader go first?"
Googie stood with a scowl, "I don't belong here! I should be there!" she pointed out the window at the gleaming Good castle, "Christina needs to be here"
"And why do you feel that way? What qualifies you for Good?"
"In Gavaldon I donated to the orphanage, I volunteered at school, I kept the town widow company, I was Christina's only friend and besides, look at me, I'm beautiful!"
"Looks don't determine what's on the inside, Miss Hale," Yop shook his head with a sad grin, "As I'm sure you'll recall the evil queen is also quite beautiful, as was Jadis, the white witch of Narnia among others including your headmistress"
"But she's-she's-"
"Green? It's just a skin-color"
"But Christina is, is a direct-"
"I don't believe I asked about Miss Dracula, I asked about you"
Googie faltered, falling back onto her stool with a soft thump. This was an utter nightmare!
"Next? How about you Mister East?"
"Gladly," the blue haired boy stood with a sneer, "I'm Edward and I want to rule Oz succeed where my mother failed,"
"Ah yes, getting crushed by a house is a career ender," Crow snarked.
"Shut it, Bertha!"
"No one calls me that!"
"Ahem," Yop coughed, "That will be enough, please sit down Edward I believe Crow has just volunteered"
"Fiineee" Crow drawled, "My name is Crow and my mother says I'm a despicable handful, I enjoy making children cry, skinning the bodies of my enimes and gathering my own pack" she dropped back onto the stool, "I was hand selected for this school"
"We all were," someone yelled from the back row.
"Thank you, Carlos, I assume you want to go next?"
How much worse could this day get?
...
That question was swiftly answered during the following class. This classroom had large cauldrons beside the desks which were already bubbling upon entry.
"LINE UP AND FOLLOW ME OUTSIDE!"
As it turned out, Witch Hazel further proved Yop's point about looks. She was a tall woman with almond eyes, milky white skin and striking white hair dressed in a shimmery green gown. She took the students, none of whom were in the previous class to a side lawn, between the lunch area and the moat where a golden goose waited in her nest.
While her classmates gagged, backed up and otherwise tried to get away from this good creature Googie returned its serene smile, wondering what they were doing.
"Now!" Hazel barked, "Even though this is more of a henchman training lesson we are covering golden geese who are coveted for their prized eggs, can anyone tell me why these eggs are important?"
"Because they're solid gold and can fund our exploits?"
"No that is merely a bonus," Hazel pinched her nose, "Golden eggs are excellent for potions people, there are so many applications though they were best as binding agents, however, because golden geese align themselves with the heroes they need to be tamed and there are five steps to doing so, five tactics that work for all henchmen and they are:" she began to burn them into the grass.
Command.
Taunt.
Trick.
Bribe.
Bully.
"Now, using these tactics I want you to get the goose to lay an egg, the bigger the egg the better your score"
Googie perked up. If the goose only helped heroes then she could prove she was a princess. One perfect egg and they'd put her where she belonged. Making sure that she was last in line she watched the array of students try their hardest. They ordered, they threatened, more than a few tried choking the life out of the bird but there was no success. With every failure Hazel looked more and more enraged. Until at long last it was Googie's turn. The goose was worn out, having laughed her way through the failure of the class but when Googie stepped forward she sat up straight, looking over every inch of the blonde with uncomfortable scrutiny that left Googie chilled.
Well, you're certainly different. The melodic voice echoed through her mind unheard by everyone else.
You can talk?
I can also grant wishes. I can make you a princess, head of the Good school, everything you've ever wanted.
Please, please, please, please?
Close your eyes and make the wish.
Googie clasped her hands, scrunched her eyes closed and wished harder than she had for anything in her entire life. For a castle, a crown, a handsome prince, everything she'd ever dreamed about. Opening her eyes in time to see the goose's feathers dull from gold to gray, eyes dimming, smile falling from it's face becoming a plain, everyday animal.
"What-what happened?" Googie sputtered.
"She'd rather give up her powers than help you," Hazel clapped, "Keep this up and you'll be class captain! It's the most evil thing I've ever seen!"
"NO, NO, NO, NO!" Googie's screams shook the very air.
...
Introduction To Good was held in a sunny classroom with a wonderful garden view. Christina tried her best to blend into the background as the students filed inside the classroom where instead of desks they found comfortable couches and chairs all fitted with a silvery blue fabric. Keeping her head down, Christina chose a chair in the back of the room, furthest from the others as she could get, still mortified by her fall in the theater. Never mind the fact that she'd never gone to school with others.
"Christina?"
Looking up from her lap she saw a pretty green-skinned girl with long black hair and bright blue eyes beside her. Unlike the majority of girls in the room she wore a plain white dress that ended just below her knees.
"Hi," Christina whispered.
"My name's Melinda, can I sit with you?" she indicated the empty chair.
Christina nodded.
"You don't talk much, do you?"
Silence.
"Scared? I know the feeling" Melinda talked easily, undaunted by Christina's silence, "My Mom is the Witch of The West, she's not easy to live with and the other kids in Oz always ran away when they saw me coming and Mom wasn't exactly happy that I was chosen for this school instead of the evil one like my cousin"
"The kids ran away from you?"
"You too?"
"Yeah"
"Oh yeah, you were sent to the Reader Realm," Melinda lightly smacked herself, "What was it like? Wait, no, bad question, I'm sorry,"
"What's the yellow brick road look like?"
"It's shiny and sentient, it loves to help, one time it took me all the way to the end of the rainbow"
"Why?"
"I wanted to get as far away from Mom as I could"
"Oh"
"If we could turn our attention to the front, class is starting, ladies"
Queen Ella was unsurprisingly Cinderella. She traded her ballgown for a simple blue dress and a crisp white apron paired with polished flats. The chatter silenced replaced by the opening of books.
"You can put those away for now," Ella smiled brightly, "We'll be getting to know each other today. Who would like to go first?"
Several girls raised their hands excitedly.
"Miss White, how about you? Stand up, tell the class your name and a favorite pastime"
"My name is Apple and I enjoy singing, all my animal friends simply adore it," Apple clapped excitedly, "Shall I demonstrate?"
"No, Apple that's quite alright,"
Row by row the girls introduced themselves, there was Raven who Apple was trying to be buddy buddy with ("If Destiny were still in practice you and I would share a tale" "I'm glad it was abolished") Briar, who managed to quiet Apple down before she could dramatically swoon who then promptly fell fast asleep. Nora ("That's my sister" Melinda whispered to an increasingly confused Christina.) Olivia, ("That's my other sister")
On and on and on until it reached Christina who froze with fear.
"It's okay," Melinda encouraged softly.
Christina shook her head fearfully.
"That's okay," Ella redirected, "Let's move on"
...
Second period was spent much the same way, hiding in the back of the room, trying to be invisible. They were midway through discussing the class syalbas when the screams tore through the air, most students simply clapped their hands over their ears but for Christina this did nothing to help, it felt like someone was trying to rip her ears off. The cacompny of howling werewolves and upset animals only added to the noise.
As quickly as it'd started it ended leaving everyone confused. What was that?
"Are you okay, Christina?" Raven asked quietly as not to draw attention.
"No," her ears were still ringing, "I haven't heard screams that bad since the schoolhouse caught fire"
"Should we tell your mother?"
"I think she already knows," Briar nodded to Alissa who was checking on all the students
It didn't take long for Alissa to reach them. Raven and Briar were okay but when Christina pulled her hands away there was blood on her fingertips.
"Come on, let's get you taken care of"
"Little baby"
"Who said that?" Alissa demanded, eyes flashing.
The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. With no answer, Alissa enlisted Dorothy who'd been walking by to watch the class while she ushered Christina away. Instead of going to the nurse's office which had a long line, the two went up to the third floor where the school ended and home began. Yet again, they zoomed through the halls too fast to take in the details but somehow they'd arrived in Alissa's private rooms, on the fourth floor.
"It hurts," Christina whimpered sitting in the chair Alissa pulled over.
"I know, just give me a moment to find the right one," Alissa flung open her potions cabinet, eyes scouring the glowing concoctions before selecting a navy blue one.
"Tilt your head to one side"
"Okay,"
Two drops, one in each ear before it was placed back into the cabinet right as the chimes signaled the end of the period.
"Well, time for your magic lessons"
"Magic? I can't do magic".
"Of course you can! You've done it before but you just haven't realized it,"
...
Mother and daughter met Maleficent on the lake shore.
"Am I right in suspecting that the noise came from your school, Mother?" Alissa wanted to know.
"Yes unfortunately," Maleficent pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, "Nearly the entire school is begging to go to the nurse, I had half a mind to tell them to suffer through it but this is only the first day so they're not as hardened as I'd like them to be"
"Mother!"
"All because of my Reader"
"Mother, one girl couldn't possibly-"
"Ahem," Christina coughed.
"This can be sorted later," Maleficent said after a calming breath, "Now, to begin Christina's magic lessons"
"I can't do magic," Christina insisted, "I never have"
"That is because you were in the Reader Realm a most unmagical place but you've done small things before without realizing it," Alissa turned to the three ravens perched in a nearby tree, "Isn't that what you told us, Diaval?"
The raven in the center dove from the branch, transforming into human form as he touched the ground.
"Yes," Diaval nodded with a smile, turning to Christina, "Just the other day when Googie was giving you a hard time, remember?"
"No"
"You shut the door on us, remember that?"
"Yes"
"And we came in through the window?"
"Yes, you chased her out"
"The window was closed, you made it disappear and you shut the door, there was no breeze"
"I did?"
"Yes, you did"
Christina was stunned into silence, her mind trying to make sense of what she was being told.
"Let's sit down," Maleficent conjured a picnic blanket, "And start with the basics"
...
Meanwhile, Googie thought she was going to sweat to death. Even though history was held in the upper dungeons the heat from the gigantic cauldrons below was enough to make anyone sweat. Bypassing empty cells where rats hid in corners the very last room in the left-most hall was the history classroom, a windowless space lit by green flame. There were no desks only rickety wooden benches with scorched legs. Upon her entrance the remaining Never students backed up, scooting as far away from her as they could all except for Crow who glowered at her.
"The nurse's office is overflowing because of her"
"She's so evil the Golden Goose gave up her powers"
"Grand witch"
"I AM NOT a witch!" Googie stormed over to the closest students.
"No?" the teacher said upon his entrance, "Let us open our books and you may feel differently after we read about Evil's triumphs"
"What triumphs?" Googie snorted, "The heroes always win, don't they?"
"Perhaps but that wasn't always the case, for example the wolf originally ate Red, there was no hunter to save her, the first blue fairy hung herself, shall I go on?"
Googie sat down, opening her History Of Evil book she pretended to follow along only to let her mind wander back to her plan from early morning. Proving she belonged in Good. Balancing her textbook on one knee and her paper on the other she scribbled out ideas.
Bake cookies.
Compliment everyone.
Design a better dress.
Find the It table at lunch and sit there.
All were excellent ideas worthy of a place in the Good school. A castle, a crown, a prince. That was what she wanted. That is what she deserved! Pretty as a princess. Perfect little princess. Sweet princess. The entire town couldn't be wrong. Least of all her mother and father. She was a fairy tale princess, worthy of her own tale to be envied by every little girl ever. They would aspire to be like her. To have what she would have though there would never be a tale as grand as hers!
She continued on with her list, adding one final thing:
Choose a prince.
...
Even though intermingling was allowed during lunch there was a clear divide. Good with good, evil with evil. While the good students had basket lunches, magically filled with their favorite foods, the Evil students elected to have gray lumpy gruel, slopped into their bowls by bored goblins. All except Googie who wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Can I have one of those baskets, instead?"
"Fine," the goblin serving handed her a basket, "Your funeral"
Lunch in hand she surveyed the area, eyes roving the tables. Now where were the popular princesses? As if heaven itself were shining down she located them in the center of the lawn encased by a perfect spotlight. This was her chance. Putting on her best smile she took her basket and forced herself into the middle of the table right between Apple and Briar. While the latter was merely surprised the former mad as evidenced by the fleeting scowl.
"Are you lost?" she asked sweetly, brushing her perfectly bouncy blonde curls behind her shoulder, "This is an Ever table"
"Oh, I'm not lost," Googie responded with her own false sweetness, "I belong here I've simply been placed in the wrong school, I'm sure they'll correct it soon"
"Right," Apple joked as the princes arrived to lunch, "Come girls, we can sit with Daring, I caught his rose you know"
"Apple you caught an entire handful," Ashlynn pointed out.
The princesses stood in unison, flocking over to Daring Charming's table when Googie tried to follow she was tripped by a classmate who swiped her lunch. When she peeled her face from the grass she saw Christina had arrived, done up with dress and crown. Astoundingly she looked...good dare she even say pretty? No, there was just no way that pale, gangly, shapeless...
"Tried to warn you," the goblin from the lunch line was back interrupting her train of thought, "Here" he set a met bowl full of gruel in front of her, waddling away before she could react so she went back to glowering at Christina.
...
Christina felt like she could drop at any moment. Magic was a confusing, scary, thing that she wasn't sure of. Numbly she went through the lunch line, accepting her basket before scurrying to the first secluded, shaded place she could find, content to sink into the grass.
"Christina?"
"Hi, Shaggy," she weakly smiled.
"Cam I uh, uh-"
"Yes, you can join me if that's what you're asking"
"Thanks, they're like, still giving me a hard time about yesterday and today like, didn't help"
That's when she noticed the bandages on Shaggy's arm.
"What happened?"
"that shrieking noise happened, we were like, riding at the time and I fell off my horse, I um, also howled until the nurse could see me, the other werewolves calmed down after a few minutes but Mom always said my ears are really sensitive"
"You're a werewolf?"
"Half, my dad's a werewolf, my Mom's human"
"Ah, I know what you mean about your ears, mine bled"
"I like, thought I saw you pass by the nurse's office, are you okay now?"
"Yes, you?"
"Getting there," Shaggy opened his basket, "Ice cream!" he cheered.
"For lunch?"
"And a sandwich, what's in yours?"
"A tomato sandwich with the crusts cut off and an apple," Christina began to eat, realizing how hungry she was made her forget about everyone else on the lawn.
The two ate in silence, Christina finishing before Shaggy. Disposing of her crumbs in the basket she watched in surprise as it disappeared.
"Magic," Shaggy explained, licking the last of his ice cream from his spoon before dropping it in the basket on his lap which also disappeared, "Like, you had magic lessons before lunch, didn't you?"
"How'd you know that?"
"Oh, my sister's magic, she's exhausted after her lessons too"
"You don't have magic?"
"Not really, not like my sister, mine only seems to work if I'm like, upset," Shaggy shrugged, "Sugie, that's my sister, says it gets easier with practice"
"It's confusing"
"I know, I've sat in on some of her lessons"
Christina started to say something only to fall silent as a large dog galloped across the lawn, skidding to a halt in front of them, panting happily.
"Christina this is Scooby, my bestest buddy, Scooby this is my friend, Christina"
"Rello," Scooby greeted, wagging his tail.
"Hello," Christina smiled, scratching his ears.
"Scoob stays in the dorm"
"Reople are rcary," Scooby nodded, plopping down next to Shaggy.
"Christina?" Melinda walked over, "She's been glaring at you nonstop," she pointed over her shoulder to Googie, now on the other side of the lawn, angrily clutching her half full bowl, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine just don't engage her and she'll hopefully go away"
"Still something's bugging me, mind if I join?"
Christina looked at Shaggy.
"Please," he nodded, "The more the merrier,"
Melinda dropped onto the grass on the other side of Christina, "Did either of you choose your electives yet?"
"No," Christina shook her head.
"Nope," Shaggy echoed, "You?"
"No, but I have my handbook," Melinda pulled it out of her bag, "I was planning to look through electives"
"That's a lot of electives"
"The black pages are Never electives, these blue one are ours"
"Still a lot of electives"
Art.
Music.
-choir.
-band.
-orchestra.
Archery.
Riding...
On and on and on this list went making Christina's head spin.
"Like I think I'll have Art as one of mine," Shaggy decided, "If they could slide it between swordplay and Leadership that would be great, those are like, my two hardest classes"
"I'm thinking one of the more specialized magic classes, Magical Creaturessounds fun," Melinda skimmed the list with growing excitement, "What about you, Christina?"
"I have no idea"
"We don't have to choose until the end of the week I'm sure you'll find something you like"
"Like, what class do you have after break?"
"Princessolgy, Christina replied.
"So do I," Melinda added, "It's the new word for etiquette, Nora had it before lunch, she showed me the syllabus, it's huge! What about you, Shaggy?
"Chivalry and Grooming,"
"Wonder which one of us has the shorter end of the stick?" Melinda giggled.
"Who knows?" Christina shrugged.
...
Googie couldn't believe what she was seeing. A prince! Christina had managed to dupe a freaking prince. True, he didn't look very princely, but he wore the uniform. How? How had she managed to trick a prince so fast and what was the green-skinned girl? Where did the stupid looking dog come from? Deciding she wasn't going to get answers just sitting there she stalked over to where the group sat.
"Hello, Christina, enjoying yourself?"
"Googie, please go away"
"We're friends, aren't we?"
"No, Googie, we've never been friends, you barged your way into my life and won't take no for an answer"
"She's joking," Googie laughed, "I was her best friend in Gavaldon"
Christina sucked in a breath, "That's not what I remember, now please, please, go away"
"Christina-"
"I believe," Shaggy stood, "You were like, asked to leave"
"Yeah, she was," Melinda nodded, so kindly get lost"
"Christina, Christina tell them-"
Melinda sent Googie flying backward.
"Are you okay?" Shaggy sat back down, noticing how tense Christina suddenly was, hands shaking.
"No"
"Should we get an adult?" Melinda questioned nodding to where the facility for both schools were having their lunch.
"No"
"Like, what group are you in for surviving fairy tales?" Shaggy returned to their earlier school discussion.
"Three," the girls said in unison.
"Me too"
"How many are in a group?" Christina wanted to know.
"Ten, five Evers, five Nevers"
"Don't panic," Melinda said when Christina paled, "We'll be there, nothing to worry about"
"If you say so"
...
Princessolgy went by in a pastel blur for both girls. It was way, way more than a simple manners course.
"Nora lied!" Melinda was still grumping as they filed out of the school gates and into the Blue Forest for Surviving Fairy Tales.
Christina was silent. It seemed to her that Melinda simply wanted to let off steam so the hybrid focused on her surroundings finding the forest was aptly named because everything in it was some shade of blue. Even the animals.
Referring to their schedules, students scrambled to gather under the flags with their group number. They were first to arrive. Christina took to smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in her dress while Melinda took several calming breaths. Shaggy arrived next followed quickly by Apple who was reapplying lipstick paying them no mind. The last of the good students was a boy with an easy going smile while he wore the same uniform as Shaggy he carried a rope instead of a sword.
"Hey, Shaggy,, feeling better?" he greeted.
"Yeah, how about you, Dalton?"
"Yeah"
Before Shaggy could make the introductions the evil students arrived. First came Crow who flashed Shaggy a sharp-toothed predatory smile then Googie who was dabbing the sweat from her forehead. Next was Edward who shot a glare at Melinda who blew a raspberry in return. The last two to arrive were two boys, one with blonde hair and blue eyes, the sleeves of his uniform rolled up to show off his tan muscled arms. He eyed the girls with a cocky smirk, sidling up to Apple.
"Hello there"
"Ugh," she rolled her eyes, moving away.
The other boy was considerably paler, lightly muscled, with fire-red hair and green eyes.
"I see you've all arrived" Maleficent appeared in a burst of flame.
"You-you-you-" Googie sputtered helplessly.
"Yes, I teach a few classes every year, including this one as does Alissa,"
Alissa was already leading group one away, reciting the rules of good and evil.
"Now, follow me"
Past a few bunnies sleeping in the sun down a well worn cobalt path next to a shimmering stream finally stopping in a wildflower patch. After a quick review of the rules for good and evil Maleficent explained their assignment.
"Just like these rules aren't set in stone they can be circumvented, Snow White ate a poisoned apple, Red didn't see past the wolf's disguise and Ursula tricked Ariel into giving up her voice so it has become apparent that one must learn to distinguish between the two, even in disguise so today you'll be split into pairs, transformed and identified using the rules, Cadfael, Shaggy you're first please stand here"
The two boys shared a glance before shuffling over.
"Now, Apple would you please put this on?" Maleficent held out the blindfold.
Apple grimaced before tying it on. Once it was certain she couldn't see a thing Maleficent turned the boys into a pair of bluebirds. Removing the blindfold Apple stared dumbly at the two birds.
"I can't tell them apart," Apple cried with frustration after a few minutes.
"Use the rules!" Maleficent replied.
But the two birds flew in circles, tweeting at the same time making Apple so mad she let out an unladylike screech.
"Fine," Maleficent dismissed them, the birds reverting to boys, "Cadfael swap places with Apple, Melinda, Edward your turn"
But the scene repeated itself. Cadfael couldn't tell the difference between the frogs rather than admit that he mistakenly chose Edward. And the pattern kept repeating itself much to Maleficent's growing frustration this was usually such an easy assignment. Running out of options she called Christina and Googie to go next. The blonde was so close, Christina could feel her breath
"Nice dress,"
"Thanks," Christina stiffly replied making sure to gather her skirt so Googie wouldn't step on it.
"Is this going to hurt?" Googie wanted to know.
"No," Maleficent promised, "Now, stand still"
In a bright flash they were transformed into identical kittens. While Googie ran in circles, freaked out Christina sat in a daze. What was she supposed to do now?
"You can remove your blindfold, Shaggy," Maleficent instructed.
Shaggy had a struggle getting the blindfold off but once he did he found two kittens now both calmly sitting beside each other blinking their blue eyes up at him. The one on the left dashed forward to nuzzle his leg but the one on the right stayed where it was blinking confusedly
"What are you waiting for?" Crow snarked, "Get on with it"
Shaggy looked between the two. Even though one was super loving, purring against his leg there was something telling him that wasn't Christina.
"That's Christina," he pointed to the quiet one, "This is Googie"
"Finally!" Maleficent could've cheered, "Well done!"
"That was so weird," Christina mumbled when Shaggy helped her to her feet.
"I know"
"As we only have a few minutes, Googie stay where you are, Shaggy please take Christina's place and-"
"I've got it," Christina tied the blindfold on.
"Wait-" Googie started to shriek only to find herself a dragon.
"Okay, this is going to be hard," Christina declared looking between the two dragons who shared shocked faces, prancing side to side.
"Use the rules"
Everyone will see I'm good if she picks me! Googie realized. So, she put on her best performance, Or see she doesn't belong mimicking Shaggy exactly as Christina neared them. Either way I can't lose. A castle, a crown, a prince, all for me. All mine, exactly as it should be! However, Googie was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't pay much attention to Christina who was now kneeling before them, "That's Shaggy," she pointed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I have a feeling"
"Oh, thank Darkness!" Maleficent did cheer, reverting the spell right as the end of day chimes rang through the air.
"You went easy on her!" Googie shrieked falling on her backside, "You told her the answers!"
"And how do you suppose I did that?"
"Magically"
"Don't you EVER excuse me of favoritism!" lightning cracked across the otherwise peaceful sky.
"Or what?"
"Mother! We can't incinerate students!" Alissa swooped in, "Deep breath please"
"I hadn't even considered it, Alissa, I was thinking kitchen duty, DISMISSED!"
"Remember, the top levels of the castles are our private living quarters, you will find them magically barricaded," Alissa called after them.
...
Christina could not shut the door to her room fast enough, kicking off her shoes she placed the tiara on her vanity and plopped tiredly onto the floor beside her trunk.
What a day!
Opening her trunk she found her dresses packed to one side while her lock box was on the other. But it was what was under the lock box that caught her attention. A note written in Rosella's chicken scratch.
Christina.
If you've found this letter it means that you've either arrived at the school or I forgot to burn it before you woke up. Know that I miss you already but I'll be okay. You should focus on this grand adventure you've been presented with and don't worry about me. You'll succeed in whatever you put your mind to you only have to take that first step.
I'll keep a lookout for your story.
Love you forever,
Mama.
Letting the note flutter to the floor Christina rubbed furiously at her eyes desperate to keep the tears at bay with no luck.
"Christina?"
She jumped.
"I'm sorry," Alissa apologized, "I only wanted to bring you your late birthday gift,"
"I don't know when my birthday is"
"May seventeenth so this is a little overdo," Alissa sat beside her, handing her the box, "Would you like to open it?"
Peeling back the paper Christina found a purple leather bound book with a dragon on the cover.
"It's a diary, I kept one at your age so did your grandmother it has a magic lock so no one can open it but you"
"Thank you"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Mama left me a note"
"May I?" Alissa picked up the fallen paper, reading it when Christina nodded, "It's clear she loved you very much,"
"She was the only one to stick up for me when I was found they wanted to drown me or something I overheard her in the bakery once, I cried when I heard that I knew they didn't like me but..."
"Oh, I'm so. So sorry," Alissa wrapped her arms around the shaking teen, "Everyday I dreamt about bringing you home, I'm so sorry you had to go through that"
"It wasn't your fault"
"I know and yet I can't help feeling that it is, if I hadn't been duped, hadn't been so desperate to have some sort o a relationship with my sister nothing would have happened to you"
"But I here now, we'll figure this out together, Okay, Mom?"
"Christina, you don't have to-"
"I want to"
"Are you sure?"
"yes, I'm sure," Christina smiled weakly, wiping away the last of her tears.
The two stood, Christina picking up her lock box from the floor before they moved to the bed.
"What's that?"
"My treasures, see?"
"you got your gifts"
"Huh?"
"I sent these, letters disintegrated upon contact with the barrier, something about forbidden contact but I got creative"
"So these are-"
"Birthday gifts, the ring was last year, the bracelet your tenth, the teacup comes from a tea set for your thirteenth, I believe the rest of it is in the bottom of the wardrobe"
"There was a rag doll but Googie took it from me when we were little so I started hiding these"
"You mean this rag doll?" Alissa pulled it from her pocket, "The goblins found it during weapons sweep at breakfast she's been cleaned and mended"
"Annie!" Christina hugged the redheaded doll tightly, "I thought she threw it away"
"She was cruel to you?"
"Very"
...
Years ago.
Eight-year-old Christina shuffled along aware of the glares people were sending her but she wanted to go to the bakery. In her basket were three cupcakes, the best of the batch she'd finished the hour before as a surprise. The rest of the village children were currently packed into the faded schoolhouse enduring lessons so she'd told the ravens to watch the house but the littlest still followed at a distance. A shadow fell into her path.
"Hello, Christina," Googie greeted 'sweetly', "What's in the basket?"
"It's for Mama" Christina tried to step around the girl but had no luck, "Excuse me,"
"Let me see," Googie seized the basket.
"Give it back!"
"Mn, cupcakes, hm?"
"There for Mama, please give them back"
"No not before I sample one." Googie snatched one from the basket, taking an exaggerated bite before pretending to choke, "EW no one wants these rocks," she dumped the treats on the ground jumping on them until they were little more than crumbs, "You should thank me, I'm saving Rosella from choking, if she died who would take care of you?"
Christina ripped the basket away from Googie, running all the way back to the cottage with tears streaming down her face while Googie laughed.
When Rosella came home that day she found Christina shaking under her covers.
"Sweetheart, what's happened?" she asked while eyeing the box of cupcakes on the counter.
"I-I wanted to surprise you..."
"Did you make those?"
"Yeah, but Googie ruined the best ones, she said you'd choke and then no one would take care of meeeeee"
Rosella pulled the girl into her lap, "She's just being mean"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Rosella promised, pulling the blanket off of Christina, "Do you want to try them together?"
"Yeah"
Sitting at their little table Rosella handed Christina one cupcake while setting another on her plate. "One, two, three" they each took a bite.
"I did good?"
"My goodness, yes!"
...
Present:
"Mama wrote down every recipe she could recall after that, we didn't have much money for special ingredients so I made do but I made sure I was never alone after that"
"So, how come she claims to be your friend?"
"When we turned twelve she showed up on the doorstep acting as if we were buddy-buddy, the only girl in the village that wanted to come here"
"She can't hurt you anymore, I promise" Alissa smiled, making a note to look further into Googie's life, "Now, I have one more gift for you"
"That's a big book," Christina startled at the book that appeared on her lap.
"I had a bit of free time before my first class, it contains nearly every fairy tale including all of your favorites"
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome, would you like to see the rest of the castle? I can show you all the hidden passages"
"I'm kind of tired, I just want to take a nap"
"Okay, don't be afraid to explore"
...
Googie meanwhile was still fuming as she was forced to swap her school uniform for a ratty work dress. She was shown to the kitchens where she was shown to a large pot of gruel and told to stir. That is what she'd been doing for near an hour and her arms were beginning to ache. How long did it take these people to admit a mistake? She was a princess! She was a princess and they messed up!
But, how to make them see?
...
"How vas your day?" Radu smiled up at his wife.
"Long," Alissa muttered, dropping next to him, "You would be surprised by the number of the increasingly vapid self-centered future leaders"
"No, I vouldn't," Radu laughed dryly, "Too many princes brought up on tales of daring do, they all expect the princesses to simply swoon into their arms"
"You'll have them shaped up by the winter ball,"
"I hope"
"I know"
"Vhat's on your mind?"
"Christina, all that time we missed"
"But she's here now it'll just take a little time for her to varm up to us," Radu reminded her, "Maleficent mentioned she did vell today"
"That's what I heard"
"And her magic lesson?"
"She's scared of her powers,"
"So were you if I recall"
"I just didn't want to burn you, you made me so nervous"
"I made you nervous? I couldn't speak in complete sentences vhen ve met"
"I remember you were rather clumsy too"
"Ve both vere but remember your birthday ball?"
"You fell down the staircase"
"I missed a step"
"And landed right on top of me"
"Don't remind me"
"We spent the entire night together, so it wasn't horrible"
"I never vanted to leave you"
"It wasn't easy, Grimm kept me under close watch"
"But because of you my dear he and his vays are long dead"
"Thankfully," Alissa sighed conjuring the tea tray, pouring them each a cup, "To the first day of a new year?"
"To having our daughter back"
"And to the adventures yet to come"