"Wait, I'm suspended?!"
Raven stands in Headmaster Grimm's office the next morning. Grimm sits behind his desk with his hands folded and his face stern. Giles stands at his left looking sullen, Baba Yaga at his right with her arms crossed sternly over her chest. Headmaster Grimm points at her.
"Yes, you're suspended! Using forbidden magic, cheating on your final hexams, and releasing an ancient evil from its confines?!" he leans back in his chair. "Normally, I would be proud, but risking the state of Ever After before graduation is reason for punishment, Miss Queen!"
Baba Yaga raises a rope in her hands. "So we're suspending you by your ankles until you've learned your lesson!"
Raven backs up, hands in front of her. "AAH! I don't think that's how suspension works!"
The doors suddenly burst open behind her. Everyone turns; Apple leans against the door, shaking and out of breath. Grimm rises from his chair. "Excuse me, Miss White. But we're in the middle of discussing your roommate's punishment."
"I'm sorry, but," she gasps, her eyes wide with fear. "You need to see this!"
Apple leads them out into the courtyard, and Raven gasps. The once lush, green area has dried and greyed. The plants wilt and droop. Fairies lie on the ground in exhaustion and pain. Some students are doubled over and lying on the ground. Even the sky has gone flat and gray, as if all the magic had been sucked out. Everyone from student to faculty gathers outside in a state of shock and panic, some tending to each other, others tending to the animals. Blondie takes a picture of the ensuing madness.
Apple yelps as a bird crash-lands at her feet. Maddie pushes her way out of the agitated crowd, her hat slipping over her eyes. "Raven!"
"Maddie, w-what the hex happened?" Raven asks.
"It started when Lizzie, Kitty, Bunny and I were having tea in the Wonderland Grove when everything started to wither and wilt. We tried maddening as much as we could, but it only spread." She turns back to the crowd. "Nearly all of the Enchanted Forest has been drained of magic."
"It's a Wonderless Plague!" Apple exclaims.
"This queen's crown is upside-down!" Maddie laments.
Raven's brow furrows, looking over the pandemonium. Maybe if she can get everyone's attention and explain, things will calm down a bit. She inhales, engulfing her hand in her aura. Her hand shakes violently and she begins to strain. Instead of the flare of fireworks she was hoping for, the flame bursts in her hand, blasting her into the wall with a resounding thud.
"Raven!" Apple and Maddie cry. Raven's head spins.
"Raven Queen!" Everyone turns in her direction. They start talking all at once, demanding answers and asking questions.
At least I got their attention, she thinks, Apple and Maddie helping her to her feet. She rubs her head and looks over the crowd.
"What's going on here?!" someone yells over the mob.
"The magic is... disappearing," Raven explains dumbly.
"No duh, it's disappearing!" Duchess screeches. "The entire school is without magic! The entire world of Ever After could be next!" She shakes with rage. "We're all gonna lose our stories!"
The crowd jeers in agreement.
"How are we supposed to grant wishes?!" Farrah Goodfairy asks, holding up her wand.
"Or cast curses?!" Faybelle adds.
"What about the plants and animals?!" Ashlynn cradles some birds and chipmunks in her arms.
Duchess marches right up to Raven, getting right in her face. "You had better explain this and what you did before I pluck out every last one of your - "
Raven suddenly steps to the side, Headmaster Grimm replacing her spot in front of Duchess. The Swan Princess shrinks and squawks meekly as he gazes down at her sternly.
"It was Sapsorrow Kinsov-Furr."
"Sapsorrow?" Raven repeats.
"She's the tale you released from the book," Baba Yaga explains, projecting a vision of Sapsorrow in front of her. The students gasp at the display, but Raven is fixed on the vision's face. Blank, and empty, her eyes soulless. That was not what she had seen in the forest.
"Why was she in that book in the first place?" Raven asks warily.
Baba Yaga opens her mouth, but Grimm clears his throat, shaking his head. She sighs. "I'm not sure you'd understand, Raven... Ugh!"
The vision collapses, and so does Baba Yaga. Grimm rushes to her side and helps her up. He turns to the crowd.
"Students and staff of Ever After High, I assure you, this will be taken care of. As long as no one..." he shoots Raven a look. "makes any move to provoke this ancient evil, we should be able to resolve this conflict. Return to your dormitories."
He steps aside to allow the students back inside the building. Raven glares at him, but Apple pulls at her arm. "Raven, let's go."
"What's he planning to do? Put her back in a book?!"
Apple shakes her head. "I don't know, but I don't think we should be standing out here while your magic is weakening."
Raven huffs. "Look, I've talked to her! Maybe if I can talk to her again - "
"No one is going anywhere!" Grimm barks, coming up behind them. "Until this crisis is averted, no one is permitted outside the school grounds." He glances at Raven out of the corner of his eye. "Inside, girls. Now."
Raven looks over her shoulder for the umpteenth time, turning back to her bookbag to make sure she has packed everything. Perhaps she should have known. A book with that much sentience, there was obvious a person in there! She raises her hand and flicks her wrist. Her closet door swings open, her articles of clothing floating out before the magic sputters. The clothes fall into a heap on the floor. It seems whenever she tries to enhance her magic for one reason or another, something bad happens. And everyone is mad at her. She scoops up the clothes, twists them up, and ties them together to form a makeshift rope. Hauling it over to her bed, she ties it to one leg, opens the window and looks down. She feels like someone out of a different fairytale, escaping a tower to save the day. She sucks in a breath, tosses the rope outside, slings her bag over her shoulder, and swings one leg out of the window.
"Raven?"
Raven yelps, falls back into the room. Apple stands over her.
"What are you doing?"
"I-I..." Raven begins to stammer something, but she sighs and hauls herself to her feet. "Apple, it's my fault this is happening. I released Sapsorrow from the book, now all the magic is disappearing for whatever reason."
Apple stares at her in pity. Raven averts her eyes, landing on Apple's bandaged hand. She cringes.
"I'm going to make this right," she promises. "I'm going to find Sapsorrow and get the magic back, or end my story trying. So, don't try to stop me!"
She heads back for the window, but Apple's hand rests on her shoulder. "I'm not trying to stop you."
Raven stops. "What?"
Apple smirks at her. "We're coming with you."
"We?" Raven looks over Apple's shoulder. Darling sheathes her sword on her belt, and Daring winks at her. Dexter peeks from behind them. She turns back to Apple. "Apple, you...?"
The princess nods, leans out of the window, and whistles. A long rush and rustling flows down in front of them. Raven sticks her head out of the window and gazes up. Holly and Poppy wave at them from the dorm tower above, Holly's hair unfurled and trailing near the ground.
"You guys! This is spelltacular of you!" Raven exclaims.
Apple giggles. "What? Just because we're Royals, you think we do exactly what Headmaster Grimm wants?"
"Uh..." Raven starts, but Darling cuts her off.
"Both of my brothers are dating who Daddy hates~." She jumps out of the window, sliding down Holly's hair.
Daring blushes, following her out. "Wh-what is that supposed to mean?!"
Dexter shrugs. "She's not wrong." He cautiously dangles out of the window, slipping out. Raven gasps.
"I'm okay!" Dexter calls out.
Raven looks down as the Charming siblings slide down to the ground. "Well, this is all well and good, Apple. But how are we supposed to get to Sapsorrow? Nevermore and all the dragons are weak."
Apple bites her lip and smiles sheepishly. "We found transportation..."
"Apple?" Raven probes.
Apple sighs. "We don't like it either, but he was our only option."
"I KNEW YOU'D NEED ME SOONER! OR! LATEEEEEEER!"
Sparrow shreds at his guitar wildly, kneeling in front of his dark, heavily-grafittied caravan. Apple grins uncomfortably. Raven groans and slaps her hand over her face.
"Let's just get this over with."
The five begin to squeeze into the backseat, leading to a frenzy of cries and complaining. The inside is just as filthy as the outside, cluttered with various items and leftover takeout boxes. Apple's shoe gets stuck in some old pizza boxes while Daring lands face first on the floor, buckling himself in upside down. Dexter's entire body smooshes against the window as everyone wiggles to find room. Darling finally lands outside the caravan.
"There has got to be a better way," Raven asserts.
Sparrow slides into the driver's seat. "You know, the front seat is open."
Everyone glances nervously at each other, wondering the same thing: Which seat would be worse? Darling groans and reluctantly plops herself down in the front passenger seat. Sparrow turns the key and the van sputters to life.
"ROAD TRIP!" he screeches as the van lurches forward.
Raven watches - her face pressed to the glass - as the school disappears. The forest blocks the view of the large building, but its shadow is still looming over them. She doesn't want to have to think about it right now. She grunts, trying to move around at least slightly. Daring's elbow enters her ribs, and she pushes it away. His body squishes further into Apple's, making the both of them turn pale and avert their eyes from each other.
Sparrow turns back to the backseat, holding up a disc. "How about some tunes? This is one of my mom's favorites."
He slides the disc into the music player, heavy, angry rock music blaring out of the speakers. Daring and Dexter chuckle nervously, Apple giving an awkward smile. Raven's hands are too buried for her to cover her ears. Sparrow glances at Darling, and winks at her.
"What do you think, Darling?"
Darling sneers at him. "Nope."
She promptly unbuckles her seatbelt, opens the door, and jumps out of the moving van.
Darling sits atop the moving van, her hair flowing back behind her. The three boys sit in the back, fast asleep as the sun begins to set. Raven stares out the window as Apple drives, thinking about all that's transpired. It doesn't make sense to her. Why was she in that book? What had she done to make Grimm so mad?
Apple glances over at her. "Everything okay?"
"I'm just confused." Raven pulls her hair back. "Everything about this seems so secretive and suspicious. Grimm is hiding something - again - and he acts like Sapsorrow is someone horrible and evil like my mom. But, she seems more like someone who would go to school with us."
Apple sighs. "I don't know. Maybe there was a good reason. I mean, you saw what she could do. She's taught you magic that isn't even practiced. We don't even know which story she's from."
"From what she told me, she sounds like a Rebel," Raven states.
"That may be so," Apple admits. "But, not all Rebels are...good."
"Apple!" Raven snaps.
"Think about it, Raven! Courtly Jester, Jackie Frost and Northwind, your mother! They were all Rebels, wanting something different from what was handed to them, and yet we fought them to keep our world in balance!" Apple grips the steering wheel. "You fought against them."
"Yeah, but...that's different!"
"Is it?" Apple challenges. Raven tightens her hands into fists, trying to resist the angry, broken magic from spewing out. "I'm not saying all Rebels are bad, or all Rebels want to be bad. But, if your destiny isn't written carefully..."
Raven looks up and gasps, interrupting Apple's thought. Sparrow leans forward and peers between the two girls, Dexter and Daring each peek out of their respective windows, and Darling freezes where she sits on the roof. In front of them, towering about a mile high and stretching miles ahead of them over the Sea, a colossal black tendril reaches into the sky.