Page 13 – Don't Forget the Other
Mendyr's armor was alight with a dozen colors at once, fading into new shades and hues and different colors altogether with every second. Pieces of his armor shifted to heavy, more protective ones, then back to lighter ones that gave him freedom of movement.
Spikes, crests, feathers, spirals emerged from his armor. Even the eyes of his mask warped and deformed, changing color from bright and inspiring, to dark and menacing.
Bolt of energy ran from one cluster to another.
Then it was too much. There was a huge explosion erupting from his chest, and he went completely limp.
And down the street, the Seeker paused in his attack, letting out an awful laugh. "Even your own friends are determined to stop you Rebels!"
Scarlet peeled herself off the ground and jumped in front of Mendyr, throwing her arms wide as if that might actually help defend him from the enemy that'd just been knocking them both all over the street.
"You want him, you'll—"
"—have to go through you?" Seeker finished for her, punctuating it with a mocking laugh. "This may surprise you, miss, but I want all the students of Ever After High intact. You've all got your stories to live out, after all!"
He reached to his belt, swapped the Ride Book there with another, making his owl-themed armor return. "I suppose if you consider yourselves heroes, today won't be the end of this. That's fine, that's what I want from the heroes of great stories, after all. Grit. Determination. But you need to learn some things even heroes can't defeat."
Dramatically, his wings flared out from his back. "Like Destiny. And I am Destiny!"
Then he flew off into the clouds, leaving a scene of confusion in the street where he'd just battled the town's defenders.
There wasn't much Scarlet could do but awkwardly drape Mendyr over his unicorn's back, and hope he wouldn't fall off on the ride to somewhere without people around. She gave Maddie a last accusing glare she hoped was transmitted in spite of her mask, but the look on Maddie's face was more confusion than shame, and as they raced away, Scarlet asked herself if the emotion even existed in Wonderland.
As soon as they were at the edge of town, Scarlet sent a hext to Raven to meet her in the forest behind the school and figure out what they were going to do about Mendyr's injuries. The unrecognizable mess his armor had been left in thanks to Maddie's attempt to "help", covered in scorch marks from all the bolts of power traveling over his body trying to find a place to empower him, sent a shiver up Scarlet's spine.
Soon enough, though, they'd disappeared into the treeline, and started making their way closer to school. Eventually the little brook where she'd agreed to meet Raven came into view, and as she approached the brook, Scarlet had a weird feeling of someone reacting to the word.
Startled, she glanced around, flashing her claws, expecting to see the Seeker breaking his word, and coming to finish them off along with the rest of their friends. Even her animalistic side, heightened by the power of her Tale Driver, couldn't detect anything besides the birds and squirrels of any forest around them.
Still, it was with caution that Scarlet approached the meeting spot, and felt a bit of relief when the trees parted and she spotted Raven and Pyotr both there, waiting for them.
Along with Maddie Hatter.
"What's she doing here?" Scarlet demanded. "It was her stupid…thing that hurt Taylor in the first place!...How did you even get back here before us?!"
"How did I get back here before you?" Maddie asked, and blinked in what looked like genuine confusion. "I don't think I understand the question."
Scarlet sighed, and pulled the Ride Book from her amulet's Tale Driver, turning her back to normal. "Help me get Taylor down and we'll see if he's okay," she instructed the others, who got him off the saddle as awkwardly as she'd gotten him on. His body was as slack as a ragdoll, and Cerise's stomach clenched when she started to worry if they'd managed to end the fight in time or not.
With Mendyr's back against the grass, Cerise reached down to the Tale Driver in his belt to try to get out the chaotic rectangle of color Maddie has put there. The awful thing that had left him so injured. She shrieked and jumped back when Mendyr reached up and removed the thing from his belt by himself.
Mendyr's armor flickered away, and a Taylor Valiant whose clothing was battered and whose skin was covered in bruises sat up, groaning. "Hey guys," he breathed. "We didn't win, did we?"
Cerise threw her arms around his torso, and didn't let go even when he gagged in pain and exclaimed, "Watch the ribs!" She snatched the book from his hand, and once she was done reassuring herself Taylor was alright, stood up and turned to face Maddie.
"What is this?" Cerise demanded.
"It's the Anthology Book!" Maddie beamed.
Calmly, Raven took the colorful object out of Cerise's hand, and asked, "What is it, Maddie? Where did it come from?"
With the chance to explain her handiwork, the Mad Hatter's daughter started to gush. "It's the newest, wildest, maddest thing the kingdom's ever seen!"
"Where'd it come from, Maddie?" Raven prodded her.
"Okay, well you asked Giles about Destiny, and about Heroic Won't—"
"Heroic Will," Taylor reminded her.
"That too!" Maddie acknowledged him. "Well, after school, I kept talking to Giles about Heroic Will, and all the things heroes can do with it! And how to make it even better!"
Pyotr stepped in front of Maddie and waved gently to get her attention. "So what did Giles tell you?"
"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm…not super sure," Maddie admitted. "Riddlish's not an exact language, especially if it's a second language."
Cerise scowled, glancing back over her shoulder at Taylor's battered form, and Raven put a hand on her shoulder to gently hold her back.
"Never mind," Pyotr said, trying to keep things from slipping out of control, a very real fear around someone like Maddie Hatter. "What's it supposed to do? Tell us slow, if you have to. We don't speak Riddlish at all."
Maddie took off her hat, and held it over her heart at that solemn news. The others exchanged glances, and Cerise sat down next to Taylor and held his hand. His cheeks turned pink, and he smiled over at her, making her cheeks turn pink too. Pyotr and Raven snickered to each other.
"Anyway!" Maddie happily declared, and everyone else yelped in surprise. "I noticed how Taylor has a bunch of books, but he can only use one at a time! What if…he had a new book that makes him big enough to use more than one?"
"It almost blew him up!" Cerise protested, then caught herself, shut her eyes, sighed, and took a deep breath. "Maddie, thanks for trying to help, but maybe you shouldn't try to invent magical artifacts until you learn how?"
"They said that class was full already when I sent in my schedule," Maddie replied.
"Mmm," was all Cerise could manage to reply, sure that Headmaster Grimm just didn't trust someone like Maddie with that kind of knowledge. She wasn't entirely happy agreeing with Grimm about something.
Taylor managed to get to his feet then, groaning a few times and walking with a limp because of his injuries. He took Maddie's wrist, then pressed the book she'd tried to give him back into her hand. "Thanks, Maddie," he said an air of forced diplomacy that Maddie didn't seem to notice, judging from the oblivious smile on her face. "How about you keep working on it?"
"Okay!" she giggled, and the others headed back toward school, shaking their heads.
There weren't a lot of people hanging around on the way to Taylor and Pyotr's room, but he still got more than a few strange looks because of the state he was in. As soon as they were back home, Taylor slammed the door and sighed, "That's another shirt ruined."
"Are you gonna run out soon, or something?" asked Pyotr.
Taylor took off his shirt, curled it around his arm, then dropped it in their trash can. "No, I guess not, but I'm probably gonna have to ask my dad for another laundry allowance sooner than we were expecting."
"Yeah," Pyotr said, and sat down to absently start on some thronework. "Hey man, I'm sorry about the number Maddie's thing did on you. Can't believe she thought she was helping. Freaking Wonderlanders, sometimes…"
"Got something against Wonderlanders?" Taylor asked quietly.
Pyotr pushed his chair away from his desk and draped his shoulders over the back. "Look, just being around them's one thing, okay? But we're dealing with lives, right, T? Your life! You saw what she was like back there: all giggly excited like she was telling a story at a party! About something that from what Cerise said, almost blew you up!"
"Don't know how much of that was her Anthology, or whatever, and how much was the Seeker after he turned into a bear and started pounding on me," Taylor groaned quietly. "He doesn't just make Dark Mirrors; looks like he can use them to make himself stronger too. Maybe I can't beat him, the way I am right now."
"Sooooo, what do we do, then?" Pyotr asked. No anxiety. No fear. No judgment. Just waiting for his friend to say his piece.
Taylor sat up, touched an aching spot on the back of his neck, and rubbed it tenderly. "We meet with the other Rebels, and we make all this official," he announced. "Together, we'll be stronger."
The next few days were tense ones for Raven Queen and her friends, as they went around quietly reaching out to other students who'd expressed sympathy for their cause. At lunch period, between classes, after classes. Giving details of where and when to meet to one friendly student, who passed it on to another, who passed it on to another.
Something that surprised Raven, Taylor and their friends was no-one they'd been planning to meet before had been scared off. Even after Jillian Beanstalk's fall. Even after hearing the stories of how Mendyr was beaten by the Seeker in town.
All had finally seen a glimmer of hope to seize their own future, and weren't about to let it escape them. The great stories had been played out again and again, generation after generation. Now the chance had come to make their own.
If only they were willing to fight for their chance.
Taylor felt a strange pride, when he got a message on Fablebook from Melody Piper. Of the names of all the other students who wanted to meet up, and form an actual group so they could make their desires known to the school.
If he hadn't become Mendyr, Taylor was sure somebody else at Ever After High would've.
One night after school, it began.
Slowly, students trickled out of the dorms and headed toward the rear of the school. Not many talked; even though they were gathering to stand up for their own futures, they knew this wouldn't be a quick thing to achieve.
Bit by bit a crowd formed on the back platform of the school, where the Legacy Day practice and eventual festivities had been held. A fitting place, considering the reason they were gathering. All the neat rows of chairs were gone, only the stone stage was left, so everyone was left standing.
It seemed more appropriate to most to meet like that, though.
Their cause wasn't for the faint of heart.
As usual, Rosabella Beauty was trying to fire everyone up about the importance of her cause, and some of the kids who could hear her did cheer. Some just smiled and waved politely in acknowledgement; even among Rebels, not everyone was quite the outspoken activist the Beast's daughter was.
Most of the kids were surprised to see C.A. Cupid there, the heir of the god of love himself. Didn't Destiny benefit her, some asked, since it made sure all the famous couples got together? Yes, she answered, but was that any reason to spend the rest of your life with someone? Shouldn't love be free to take its course, so you ended up with your true Best Match? Like gorillas and diamonds? Or pirates and trains?
As one, they agreed with her general message. As one, nobody knew what she meant by her examples. Who can fathom the mind of a goddess, one kid asked.
However, there was one person a few people noticed wasn't there. Raven, Taylor, Cerise and Pyotr scanned the crowd, trying to spot Maddie Hatter. Normally it'd be harder not to notice her, the walking fountain of playful chaos that she was, but there was no sign of the mass of turquoise and violet indicating her presence.
"You think Maddie didn't show up because we offended her?" Taylor whispered to Pyotr.
"Would we even be able to tell if we had?" Pyotr whispered back. "She inherited all of her dad's madness, remember? I can hardly understand her even when she's happy."
They ceased their conversation, and most of their other kids did too, when they saw Melody Piper walking up the steps to the stage, Raven Queen right behind her. "Thank you for coming tonight, Rebels!" Melody yelled so everyone could hear her, since no sound system could be set up for their little informal gathering. Some kids yelled, cheered, whooped. "Why are we here?" she asked the assembly.
It was silent for a minute. Perhaps the instinct students developed from never being the first to speak up in school: to avoid looking too brainy by giving the answer to a teacher's question right away, or to look foolish in front of everyone they knew for giving the wrong answer.
It was broken by one bold girl near the middle of the pack. "To make our own destinies!"
"Yeah!" called out another girl.
"That's right!" Melody answered, pointing a congratulatory fingergun at each of them. "Each of us is here, because we all believe in the right to have the future we choose! Maybe some of you are unhappy with the story you were assigned, maybe some of you are happy with it and just support your friends' ability to not be satisfied with their own.
"Every one of us is gathered here now because we want to stand up and tell this kingdom that we believe every character has the right to be more than just a placeholder in a story that's already been told! All of us were told that if we didn't sign the Storybook of Legends on the big day, the whole world would go poof…well, did it?!"
This time, nobody waited to answer her question. "Well, hex, I'm still here! Don't know about the rest of you guys!" one boy laughed.
Some groaned, but a lot of others actually laughed some at the joke, if it could be called that. Someone spoke up, "No, everything stayed right here! You deejayed a killer party at the Red Shoes to celebrate it! I was there!"
"Always rewarding to meet a true fan!" Melody pointed in their general direction, and winked. Whoever had spoken up before, screamed. Melody went on, "You're right, nothing went poof! And standing next to me is the girl who was brave enough to say 'I'm fed up with this system!' " She swept her arm, indicating Raven next to her, who waved politely back at the crowd.
That crowd, however, exploded in cheers and whoops. For a second, Raven's mouth opened in surprise at the volume of the response. Beside her smirked Melody Piper, who'd been playing to crowds for a while, and expected it the whole time. It died down after a minute, and Melody stepped aside. "Raven, I think it'd be great to say a few words to your adoring public."
"Cut it out already, Mel," Raven told her at normal volume, but they both laughed. She turned to the crowd again, and addressed everyone, "I'm really grateful that everyone's so impressed by my example. Was really only expecting that from the villain curriculum, but my heart's never been in committing evil."
Another group cheer. It sounded like someone yelled "Date me, Raven!" but it was impossible to tell who over the rest of the noise.
"Oh yeah? Stepping all over beloved tradition sounds pretty despicable to me!" someone yelled back.
Immediately, all the noise died down. The crowd turned around to see who'd spoken. It ended up being a sight all of them had probably seen coming, but most still hadn't been looking forward to.
Another assemblage of students was flowing out of the doors from the school itself. Princes, princesses, wearing their crowns and formalwear, and some of their supporters. None looking pleased, but Raven locked eyes with a sullen Apple White, who looked away as soon as she noticed.
"And who are you guys supposed to be?" someone challenged them.
"We're the Assemblage of Royals," gallantly replied Sol West, "although I like just 'Royals' better, personally. We heard you were having a get-together to spread your agenda, and thought we'd voice our opinions too. Like how you doing this makes our entire school less safe."
"Nothing disappeared when the book wasn't signed," a Rebel toward the back of the group defended.
Daring Charming pointed an accusing finger in their direction. Maybe at the whole group. None of the Rebels had ever noticed him…really noticing specific people before. "Someone did appear, though, didn't he? And made that girl fall? Jillian?" he demanded.
"Jillian Beanstalk," replied Nina Thumbell, looking very annoyed, and recovered from her earlier scare. "I know all about it. That owl man attacked me too."
"So you know exactly the danger you're putting yourselves, and everyone else in, by doing this!"
"He doesn't care about you," someone said sharply, and peopled turned to focus on Cerise Hood, glowering at the entire crowd of Royals. "I was there, I heard him say it. He wants everyone to live out their stories, and since you're doing that, he doesn't care about you!"
"And you trust the word of a villain?" Daring challenged her.
Cerise gave him and all the Royals an icy look. "Watch it. You just called yourself and all your friends there, villains."
"What are you talking about?" the prince of princes asked with undisguised disdain.
"You guys want to force people to do something with their lives they don't want to do? How is that not a villain?" Cerise replied, her voice so cold her breath seeming to condense for just a second.
The Rebels stopped talking, and all walked back inside the building, around the Royals.
Looks like the Rebels have had their first encounter with their rivals.
Rivals? That's kind of a reach, dad.
Maybe your old dad isn't so hip with what the kids are saying these days, but that was pretty poetic narration, if I say so myself.
I mean, yeah, it kinda was.
Thank you, maybe you'll end up learning a thing or two from me yet.
Maybe…it feels really different. Just reading a tense story, and then narrating one yourself.
Was that a tense story? Seemed like one about some very brave young people to me.
Brave? The Rebels were standing up to kids their own age, right?
Standing up to regular people can be a lot harder than standing up to a monster, Brooke. Monsters are easy to dismiss. People, though, they can make you wonder if you're really that different from them.
Next day, an air of tension seemed to have lifted from Ever After High.
Students who'd never talked to each other were now hanging out before and in-between classes. A lot of the same new groups congregated at lunch, being introduced to students were already friends of their new friends.
All of these people, were self-identified Rebels.
Some of them waved over to the table where Raven Queen and her closest friends sat, smiling gratefully. She waved back with polite smiles of her own, trying her best to look like the smiling princesses she'd seen sometimes on Fablebook. Some of the other students turned to face the people at their own tables and snickered.
"Did it look that bad?" Raven asked the people at her own table.
"Did what?" Pyotr replied with his own question.
"My smile. I think some of the kids are laughing at me."
Cerise chuckled too, and Raven sighed, but Cerise added, "You did look kind of funny, Ray, yeah…but you should be proud of that! You're not a typical princess! That's why you were the first Rebel!"
Raven tapped the end of a beanchip on the table in front of her, making a show of processing what Cerise had said. Eventually she shrugged, and said with a smile, "Guess I might as well own it, at this point."
"You think the Royals are more, or less mad at you, now that you're refusing to be evil?" Taylor thought aloud.
"So, you're saying this was going to happen to me no matter what?" Raven laughed, and threw the beanchip at him. "I thought we were the side against Destiny!"
"Come on, Ray. What do you think the answer is?" he asked, plucking the beanchip off his shirt and eating it.
She just shrugged and took another one out of the bag. "I don't know. I really didn't ever want to think about being the worst villainess, you guys know that."
"Yeah, we know," Pyotr replied, "but that's why we're trying to help loosen up about it, since you're definitely not gonna do it now."
"Okay, okay," Raven pretended to groan. "They're probably more mad, I guess, because they all thought they knew what to expect. Now I ruined the party for everybody by saying I'm not gonna do it."
Pyotr made a dismissive *pfffft* sound. "Parties! You guys ever notice how royal parties look so boring?"
Taylor mumbled, "Can't argue with that." Hanging out with a Royal hadn't been his idea of fun. Cerise smirked and gave his shoulder a little shove.
Oblivious, his roommate went on, "Who cares if it gets ruined? Now we can have a new party that's actually cool!"
Raven laughed, and Cerise took the opportunity to lean over and ask, "Hey, T? Can we talk soon? About, you know…the thing?"
"The thing…? Oh! Yeah, sure we should totally figure out the 'thing' soon," he agreed.
Right then was when the bell rang, prompting everyone to get up and empty their trays. Raven and Pyotr hurried away, rather deliberately it seemed, but Taylor and Cerise hung back for a little bit.
"See you after school?" she asked after they joined the others leaving, and students coming in for second period lunch were going the other way. "To talk about the thing?"
"Gotta talk about the thing," Taylor affirmed while they walked out, leaving a few curious students wondering what thing they meant.
"The thing" occupied more of Taylor Valiant's attention for the rest of the day than he expected. A reasonable part of his mind told him to be worried about the Seeker coming to make his presence felt after the Rebels had officially grouped up the night before.
Somehow, the Seeker didn't seem like as much of a threat, after hearing there were so many other Rebels in school eager to make their voices heard.
Even if he had all but danced on Taylor's body the last time they'd fought.
Finally, school had to let out. Cerise was already standing by the path out to the gazebo at the back of the school grounds, waiting for Taylor when he jogged up.
"You're gonna have to work on your time if you want to keep up with me!" she teased him.
"Nope! You already promised, no running dates!" he retorted, but he was smiling too.
She laughed and nudged his shoulder. "You better stay cute, then! Or I might bet lured away by a faster hero!"
"Yeah, right! Most of the princes around here are even lamer than me!" Taylor laughed it off.
Cerise shoved his shoulder. Harder this time. "You're not lame!"
He sighed. "Oh yeah? Then how come I lost last time?"
"Because we didn't know he could do that before," Cerise replied. "Next time, we'll be ready for it, and we'll beat him then."
We. She'd said it that way both times. It really was a "we" thing, wasn't it? At the beginning, Taylor had tried to shield his friends from danger, but his biggest successes had always come because someone had been willing to help him.
Maybe not all heroes rode white horses and had gleaming swords, he thought again.
Cerise interrupted his thoughts. "So if we're not gonna run, what do you want to do?" she asked.
"I...I'm not sure," Taylor admitted.
She tilted her head at him. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Well, I don't want you think I'm boring because I suggested something as cliched as going to the multihex."
She laughed into her hand. "You don't have to be amazing all the time, T."
"That sounds like an admission," he said.
"What?"
"That I'm amazing."
Cerise growled and tackled him, and the two rolled down the small incline next to the path. Laughs escaped her, though, and when they got to the bottom Taylor was laughing too. They stopped in a patch of tall grass, lying beside each other, panting and smiling.
For a few minutes they just stayed there, looking into each others' eyes, then rolled onto their backs and looked up at he sky. It looked the same as it always had, bright blue and full of clouds as the sun started descending into the treetops of the Enchanted Forest.
After a while, Taylor told her, "I'm sorry, though. I can't really think of anything else to do on our first…thing."
"Guess we're going on a run, then," Cerise chuckled.
Taylor reached over and touched her hand. "I'm serious. Is that good enough for a girl as cool as you?"
She put her hand on top of his, and squeezed it. "I am pretty cool, but stop worrying about it, T. You don't have to be this awesome hero all the time, you know? Just be a regular kid when you don't have to be the awesome hero. That's basically what the Rebels stand for, isn't it? Being you?"
"Yeah," he breathed. "Guess I'm still thinking about getting beat on last time."
"Well, stop thinking about it for a while," she said, and gave his hand another squeeze. "You can't be a Rebel and not be yourself at least sometimes."
Taylor snorted. "Oh. Is that a rule?"
Cerise laughed. "Uh-huh. I just made it a rule."
"Yes, ma'am," chuckled Taylor, who shut his eyes and obeyed, just basking in nature for a little while. Birds sang gently to each other, as if taking it easy to give the two of them some space. Even the sun seemed to cool down a little to make their experience a bit more pleasant.
Of course, it couldn't last.
"Hey!" chirped a familiar voice. "Are you guys asleep, or dead?"
"Maddie, could we answer you either way?" Taylor said, not opening his eyes.
She giggled. "Oh, yeah! That's right! I had something really important I needed to make sure you knew about! I think I figured out why the Anthology Book didn't work last time!"
Cerise let go of Taylor's hand and sat up quickly. "Shh!" she admonished the walking mass of chaos that was Madeline Hatter.
Who just tilted her head, and placed a fingertip against her chin in confusion. "Huh?"
Before Taylor was required to intervene, a strange warmth formed itself in his heart, then rushed down his right arm and concentrated itself in the palm of his hand. A golden arrow appeared over it, and he had very bad feeling about what it was telling him.
"Griselda's Cauldron", the sign said hanging over the door said.
The store inside bore it out. All the light came from flickering candles, strategically mounted on top of skulls or iron candlesticks with pentegrams carved into them. Bottles of herbs and powders lined the shells. Terrariums of toads, lizards, and snakes of every color and pattern Kensei could think of. Cages of crows, or, perhaps more appropriately, ravens.
Because who was there, bagging up her purchases, but Raven Queen herself.
"It's so good to see you studying up on your witchcraft, dearie," said the rotund woman in the black dress, with a long nose like a dried tree branch, behind the counter. "Your mama never was one to bother with the good old fundamentals of witchcraft!"
Raven arched an eyebrow, asking, "Don't you mean, the bad old fundamentals?"
Griselda cackled a true witch's cackle at the remark. "That's cute, dearie! Nice to see you'll be one of those villains with a sense of humor. Your ma sure wasn't one…"
"No, she wasn't," Raven agreed with s slight shudder. "See you next time, ma'am!"
The witch waved a green, warty hand at her. "Don't be a stranger, dearie!"
Raven didn't think that was a promise she could keep, though. She hadn't told Griselda the reason she was after a bunch of things from a witch's store was a thought she'd had. What if—just maybe—it turned out her magic powers weren't all bad?
In the past, she'd never had much luck trying to use them for good things, and had stopped trying the tenth time she'd ended up covered in goo trying to un-sour milk. Maybe with a little actual study and some outside help, though…
All at once, the thought seemed to explode, and she realized someone had grabbed her around the waist and was flying her into the sky! She almost didn't even need to, but looked over her shoulder and saw the huge glowing eyes of the Seeker looking back at her.
"Well, if it isn't Raven Queen!" he exclaimed as if it was casual greeting, and they weren't ascending higher with every second. "Do my eyes deceive me, or are you actually thinking about taking up witchcraft! Ooooh, what would your friends think if they knew what you were up to today!"
"I don't have to prove anything to you!" she snapped.
"Au contraire!" he jeered at her. "If you don't convince me you're in town today to buy reagents because you're planning to learn black magic and be a proper villain after all, well…it's a long way down, isn't it?"
Indeed, it was. From their altitude, the town was looking a lot like the model villages Raven's mom had made when trying to teach her strategy for invading villages. And she wasn't sure the people on the street who were stopping to stare would catch her if they recognized her on the way down.
"It is," Raven agreed, but still looked at him with nothing but disdain. "You don't scare me. You can't get have Snow White without the Evil Queen."
Seeker laughed, and her confidence was just the littlest bit shaken. "I'm getting pretty good at figuring this out, actually! You'd survive if you fell from up here…and you'd never forget it happened. That's what I'm going for: making sure everyone knows how serious it is to try to blow off Destiny."
Raven still just stared him in the eyes, and said, "Then drop me."
So he did.
The dark princess didn't react like he was probably expecting. She didn't scream, or flail at the air as if that might've somehow saved her from the fall. Instead she clutched her purchases from the witch's supply shop and tucked her knees against her body.
It was when an armored figure on a metal unicorn leaped off a roof and caught Raven, that the Seeker realized the reason for her confidence.
"You okay, Ray?" Mendyr whispered to his friend while they were still in the air.
"I'm not scared of people like him," Raven whispered back. "My mom taught me some things worth knowing."
More words would have to wait. Dash Unicorn landed on the street and dramatically whipped around as it skidded to a stop. Mendyr quickly lowered Raven to the ground, and uncurled the mace from his belt. While Raven scurried off to find somewhere safe, his armor beginning to glow with the red light of strength.
Seeker was lowering himself toward the street, and hovered just out of reach above it. He folded his arms and shook his head. "Well, here we go again," he sighed. "Didn't learn a lot from last time, I see."
"Oh, not at all," Mendyr retorted, sounding strangely calm. "I learned a lot. Like never to bow down to people like you."
Seeker laughed. A hard, cruel laugh. "Looks like I'll need to teach you the lesson I came to give Miss Queen."
"Bring it on."
He did. Seeker pulled a pair of dark Ride Books from under his wings, and tossed them to the ground on either side of Mendyr and his mount. As always, two Dark Mirrors formed from them: Hare, and Grasshopper.
And, somehow, looking eager to settle the score with him.
Grasshopper jumped at him, looking to knock him out of the saddle, but didn't get the chance. Out of nowhere, Scarlet's dark-armored shape lunged and tackled the insect monster to the ground, chips of black glass flying from his body from the powerful impact. She swiped at Grasshopper repeatedly with her claws, pushing him away from the other combatants to take him on alone.
Seeker laughed, but it was a more relaxed one this time, almost casual once again. "You must think you're very clever, having your friend come to your rescue. Have you got another friend for him?" he asked, and indicated Hare with one finger.
Already the Dark Mirror was running forward with blinding speed, his long ears brushed back by the wind. Charge Unicorn reared up on its hind legs, and sprayed the street in front of it with beams from its horn. Hare dodged around them again and again, but one finally caught the Dark Mirror in the chest and knocked him down. Mendyr wasted no time, whirled his mace once, and smashed the spike ball down on top of Hare.
Chips of black glass were sent flying. Mendyr raised his mace to attack again, but Hare rolled to the side and darted up to him, launching a jump kick at Charge Unicorn with his long foot. The metal horse was knocked off its feet, and Mendyr was sent flying from the saddle.
He managed to twist and get his feet underneath him, landing in a crouch. Hare landed and dashed at him again, but Mendyr swung his mace, landing too far in front of Hare and lodging in the ground. The Dark Mirror let out a snide laugh, until Mendyr suddenly pulled the chain taut and tripped Hare.
"Think he'd be learning by now, speed's not everything," Mendyr observed.
With a tug he wrenched the head of his mace free from the ground, but before Mendyr had a chance to swing it, he was grabbed around the throat from behind. A huge hair paw encircled his neck, while claws on the end scraped the side of his mask. It was the Keeper, transformed again into the form of a bear.
And Mendyr still wasn't looking forward to another round with this form.
"You make fun of him, but I'd think you'd have learned how much fairytale heroes depend on their companions in a lot of stories," Seeker said, sounding more disappointed than anything. He suddenly lifted Mendyr over his head, then body-slammed him back onto the ground, knocking the wind out of the warrior. "Hare, maybe a trip to the hospital will finally knock some sense into our friend Mendyr. What do you think?"
Hare responded by kicking Mendyr further down the street, and he and Seeker advanced together, seeming to grow and block out the sun as they got closer.
Before they could attack, they looked up at the sound of a voice. "I think you're going to need to try harder, to beat people going to school to learn to be heroes! Turn the page!"
Another figure had entered the fray, landing from a jump between Mendyr his attackers. It took him a second to recognize Reisender, Sol West's empowered form. He was swiping his sceptre back and forth in front of him to keep them at bay, the crystal ball at the top rippling with fiery energy.
Suddenly, Hare jumped at Reisender, but the warrior grabbed him and they both went rolling down an alley together, leaving just Mendyr and the Seeker. He'd gotten to his feet in the meantime, but couldn't see where his mace had ended up. In his half-dazed state, Mendyr managed to remember hearing "the best defense is a good offense," and charged the Seeker, slamming his shoulder into his opponent's stomach.
Seeker joined his fists and brought them down between Mendyr's shoulders, driving him to his knees. Mendyr groaned in pain, his vision getting blurry, then was knocked completely to the ground again by another one of Seeker's swipes.
"He's just too strong," Mendyr could barely manage to breathe. The Seeker closed to finished the job again, coming in faster this time, but again Mendyr heard a voice that distracted him from his thoughts of doom.
"Wasps."
Immediately, the air was full of the sound of buzzing, and Seeker grunted in surprise before he tried to swat the swarm of insects attacking him. Mendyr was surprised when he was pulled into a sitting position, and Pyotr Lupus was beside him. "Was that you?" he asked his friend.
"Yeah. I don't expect the illusion to distract him long," Pyotr said. "But you left too fast. Maddie thinks she knows why this didn't work last time." So saying, he held up the Anthology Book, its colors and shapes seeming to swim and change even more before Mendyr's eyes.
"Why didn't it work?" Mendyr asked, eager for any shot at turning this fight around.
Pyotr explained, "She talked to Giles Grimm since the other day. It didn't work before because these things are powered by Heroic Will, and you didn't have enough last time. You've got to find a way to come up with more!"
Mendyr's fingers closed around it, while he tried to think of how he'd awakened Heroic Will in the first place. It had been seeing his friends being endangered by the Dark Mirror versions of the Seven Dwarves, hadn't it?
Other students had awoken theirs by standing in the face of danger, too: "Apple of Passion" had formed when Apple White had refused to compromise herself for the sake of Destiny, and the "North Wind Boon" book had been formed when Mendyr and Pyotr had faced the Seeker's forces together.
And then he figured out he'd been carrying the answer since the day before.
Melody Piper refusing to be intimidated even when her friend had been hurt. All the Rebels meeting as a group for the first time, and just walking out calmly around the Royals when they were confronted.
And now, he looked up and saw his friend, risking his life to come tell Mendyr something that might not even help turn the tide.
Again, Mendyr felt a strange surge of warmth form in his heart, travel down his hand and concentrate there, flowing into the Anthology Book. It glowed for a moment, then it cleared, and the morass of colors was gone.
In his hand now, was a Ride Book with a glimmering silver frame. Its title was "Heroic Anthology", and showed a book with pages spread, a castle rising from them.
He hoped the contents were more inspiring than the cover, but wasn't not going by the cover lesson number one?
"Turn the page!"
Grasshopper bounded into the air, out of range of Scarlet's powerful but limited striking distance. His feet touched the side of a shop, his long legs bending down, then extending out to their full span and propelling him back at Scarlet at terrifying speed.
At the last second she twisted to the side, with a speed that would've left Hare envious, if Dark Mirrors could truly feel emotion. He tucked himself into a ball and rolled away, not giving her time to hit him as he went past.
His escape hadn't been as flawless as he thought, though. Suddenly the howl of a wolf cut through the air, then a mouth full of knife-like teeth bit down on his spindly leg. A ghostly wolf had caught him, and another was right behind it, biting down on his other leg.
Right behind both of them was Scarlet, charging on all fours with her red cape flowing menacingly out behind her.
"Savage Pack Surrounding!" called out her amulet. Even more ghostly wolves surged out of nowhere, circling Grasshopper and tearing chips of black glass out of his body with their spectral teeth. Scarlet jumped and came down on his back, slicing through him with her claws.
Grasshopper's body shattered, spraying pieces everywhere. They'd hardly hit the ground before they decayed away to dust.
As always, power erupted from Mendyr's Tale Driver and spread throughout his body, transforming him into something greater.
This time, he could already feel he was turning into something greater still. And in a moment, that change was complete.
His armor had turned the bright silver of his new Ride Book's frame. The usual stripes on his arms and legs had turned white, and alongside the usual spike sticking up from the forehead of his mask were another one on either side, little arcs of power dancing between the spaces.
Over his armor was a metal vest of dark grey, with heavy pauldrons covering his shoulders. An inner diamond design on them was a light gold, the same color as the emblem on the front of the vest: a book with its pages flipping.
And in his hand was a longsword with a golden hilt, its blade divided into numbered sections; one just above the hilt, and 10 at the very tip of the blade. A name was engraved into its crossbar: Literatus.
"What in Grimm's name is that supposed to be?" the Seeker demanded, no longer distracted by the illusionary bees.
Mendyr told him. "This is the power of Rebellion. Young heroes finding their purpose."
Seeker laughed. Loud, derisive, taunting. "You think very highly of yourself!"
"Not just of me, of all the Rebels," Mendyr calmly replied. "You tried to scare them back into line, but all of them stood together. Not willing to be terrorized into doing something untrue to themselves. That sounds heroic to me."
"How touching," the Seeker sneered, coming in for another swing. With blinding speed, however, Mendyr raised his sword, and incredibly, the numbered blade easily parried the strike. Seeker swung again, but Mendyr blocked him again, so fast it almost looked as if Literatus hadn't moved at all.
A gasp of surprise came from the Seeker, which surprised Mendyr and Pyotr quite a bit themselves. Before he recovered, though, Mendyr produced the book for Needle Sharp Hero, and locked it into a new frame on the side of his belt.
"New edition unlocked!" announced Mendyr's Tale Driver. A surge of power rushed up to the tip of Literatus, turning the blade white. The book emblem on his armor changed to one of a needle on a slanted angle.
Mendyr pulled back his transformed weapon and stabbed into Seeker's chest, piercing through his armor like a needle through fabric.
"Oh no, you don't!" Seeker snarled, his earlier confidence replaced by raged. He raised his fists over his head for a great overhead blow, but Mendyr only pointed his sword, and a thread flew from the tip of the blade and bound Seeker's arms together.
Like the illusion of the wasps, Mendyr didn't expect it to last long against an opponent of such strength, so he drew the book for North Wind Boon, and locked it into the frame on the other side of his belt.
A blue surge traveled up the blade of Literatus, and the emblem of the needle slid to the side, and the image of a face puffing wind formed next to it. A small whirlwind surrounded it, spraying binding strands and forming ice all over the Seeker's armor.
That wasn't the only battlefield where ice had suddenly formed at the beginning of autumn.
Reisender twisted the small crystal on the bottom of his sceptre, turning the crystal ball atop it blue. As Hare came charging at him again, the sceptre flared with power and a sheet of ice formed on the ground. The Dark Mirror's long foot hit the ice, and immediately he lost his balance and fell over, skidding across the ground to Reisender's feet.
He kicked the Dark Mirror back across the ice where Hare smashed into the side of a building. Hare got to his feet and took a running start, then jumped over the ice on the ground. Reisender was ready for that too, and raised his sceptre. A cone of ice issued from it, engulfing Hare and forming a cocoon of frozen water around him.
"We've had our fun, but I'd really better go make sure that Mendyr fellow isn't in over his head again," Reisender said, and hit his amulet.
"Thorns of the Compass Rose!" it called in acknowledgement. A giant circle of light formed in the ground, and the letter formed at the sides. Reisender lifted his scepter, then brought it down hard, bisecting Hare's body with a blade of light that looked remarkably like a compass needle.
Hare's body shattered to bits, and Reisender ran off to see if it was too late to help.
Meanwhile, the Seeker's armor was covered in a layer of frost, his limbs pinned by a strand of white thread. He was starting to move, and pull at his bonds. One thread, though harder than steel cable, was already snapping as he pulled his arms apart. "Nice trick," the Seeker growled. "Let me show you a better one!"
"No, let me show you one," Mendyr said, and hit his Tale Driver.
"Anthological! Book Burning!" Mendyr passed his hand over the blade of Literatus, making it glow with the energy building up within him. He raised the sword high, and brought it down in a great vertical strike, leaving a massive trail of loose pages that swirled around, slicing at Seeker's armor.
He didn't let up, swinging Literatus again from left to right, trailing even more pages that flew around, cutting with even greater ferocity.
Finally, he stabbed the sword into the ground, all the pent-up energy in its blade racing through the ground in cracks before lancing up into the maelstrom of pages he'd created, and setting them ablaze. As he and Pyotr watched, it exploded with a mighty BOOM that shook windows all throughout town.
While the puffs of flame were clearing, a dark shape flew upward from where the Seeker had stood, leaving a trail of burnt feathers.
Mendyr had to lean heavily on his sword impaled in the ground, was panting heavily from the battle he'd just completed. "You okay, man?" Pyotr asked.
"This new one takes a lot out of me," Mendyr said around a short breath.
Both felt another pair of eyes on them, and turned around to find Reisender looking at them. He pulled free his Ride Book, though, and reverted to Sol West. He had on a slight smile, but neither of them could quite tell the meaning.
"You're much stronger than I thought, Mendyr," he said. "Although I wonder about the company you keep."
"Looking for a fight because I work with Rebels?" Mendyr asked, trying not to sound confrontational if he could. He was sure he didn't have another attack like that in him.
But Sol shook his head. "I'm not a barbarian. I won't fight someone who defends the people." His eyes seemed to shine, before he added, "Unless he raises a hand to me first."
"Likewise," replied Mendyr.
"Then for now, it sounds like our goals align. I wonder if they will next time our paths cross."
With that, Sol West turned and walked away.
Cerise put a chair under her doorknob to make sure nobody would get in without them knowing it, then promptly sat Taylor down on the faux wolfskin blanket on her bed and started scrubbing the wound on his forehead.
Meanwhile, Pyotr was telling Maddie and Raven the story of his new form, and the battle with the Seeker. "And then he said, 'This is the power of rebellion!' It sounded kinda cool then, but now…"
"I was in the moment," Taylor said, then hissed in pain when Cerise rubbed an iodine swap into the scrape on his forehead.
"Don't listen to him, T," Cerise said softly. "I think it sounds really heroic."
Raven nodded, smiling gently, glad that the battle had gone well after all. Glad especially that Maddie's book had turned out to be useful after all. "Hey, Maddie? You made a really strong book for Taylor. Do you think you could make one for Cerise, too?"
Maddie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm. HmmmMMMM. HMMMMmmmm. HmmmMMMMmmmMMMM."
"Maddie," Raven interrupted.
"Yes?" the Mad Hatter's daughter replied, all smiles.
Raven asked her, "What's the matter?"
"No, not matter, hatter!" Maddie giggled.
"Can you make another book like the one you made for Taylor?" asked Pyotr, cutting straight to the point, as he often did.
"I…I don't remember what I did," Maddie shrugged, actually managing to look sheepish.
Pyotr sighed and sat down. "Of course."
While they debated, Cerise fastened a band-aid on Taylor's forehead, then led him over to the mirror on the wall. "Look alright?" she asked.
Taylor nodded. "Yeah, looks fine. Ready?"
She kissed his cheek. "Yeah, let's go," Cerise replied, and offered her arm, which he twined his own around.
Pyotr leaned over and peered at them. "Wait, where are you guys going?"
"We've got a thing…tonight," Taylor replied, and Cerise giggled.
"You guys are going on a date?" he said in bewilderment, and leaned back on the bed, putting his weight on his hands. "Is that why you put on clean clothes before we came over?"
Taylor shook his head. "That word sounds so formal, you know? We're calling them 'things' for right now."
"Have a nice thing!" Maddie said with even more than her usual excitement, waving so fast her hand blurred.
Taylor and Cerise looked at each other, smiled, and turned toward the door. "That's the plan," she said.
And after putting the chair back, they were out the door. "Wow, I wonder what kind of thing they're going to! A big one, a blue one, a spotted one?" Maddie rambled behind them. Raven and Pyotr just watched their friends leave, smiling in support.
Daring Charming emerged from the fencing club's locker room, fresh as a daisy, as always. He was still checking himself in his mirror, and didn't see someone coming the other way, lost in thought. They bumped shoulders, and the mirror tumbled out of Daring's milky-white hands before it smashed to bits on the floor.
"Nooooooo! That one was my favorite!" Daring wailed. "You! Prepare to…oh, hello, Sol," the prince said, fading from despondence to righteous fury to moderate annoyance in an impressive few seconds.
"Oh, hi, Daring," Sol West muttered, looking right past him, as if deep in thought.
"Something on your mind, friend?"
Sol looked back at him, scratching the back of his head in thought. "Was it that obvious? Had another run-in with that Mendyr today in town, saw him fight one of those weird villains. Mendyr's gotten a lot stronger since I met him before."
Daring raised an eyebrow. "You thinking you can't beat him, now?"
"I don't care if you are King Charming's favorite kid, don't you talk to me as if I'm a common thug," Sol warned his friend. "I'm not looking to fight him, unless he gives me a good reason. No, it's just that he obviously supports the Rebels."
"Oh? He said it to you, then?"
"Yes. That means Mendyr himself is one of the Rebels…but which one?"
Now this is turning into a tense story! No wonder Taylor doesn't want anyone to find out he's Mendyr…wonder what the Royals would do if they found out.
Really makes you want to keep reading, doesn't it? We wouldn't have a development like this if everyone just stuck to the old stories.
I get it, dad.
Good, sweetie.
Do you think maybe I can narrate a chapter on my own, soon?
Ask your mother.
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.
Just kidding, Brooke. After things settle down just a little, promise.
Thanks, dad. That'd be awesome.
Awesome. Never heard it put that way before.
*giggle*
She came to the place where she'd been directed. It was the middle of the night, and she knew she had to be almost at the edge of the school's protective spell by getting that close to the edge of the forest.
Still, the message had promised her a return to stability, and could she pass that up?
"Welcome," said a voice with a slight trill to it. She stopped where she stood and looked up into the trees, where a pair of bright yellow eyes were looking back down at her. Their owner dropped from the branch where he was perched, and approached her. "It warms my heart to see someone as dedicated to Destiny as myself."
"What did you want to offer me?" she asked guardedly.
He held out a Ride Book, with a dusty brown frame. Its title read "Stalking Feline," and showed a cat with a tawny coat showing its teeth.
"I offer you power," he replied. "Power to secure your future."
She closed her fingers around it.