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Chapter Text

Raven Queen runs away from Ever After High deep into the dark forest. She had once more endured an entire day being pressured and bullied by the Royals, Headmaster Grimm and the rest of the staff to sign the Storybook of Legends. Raven was tired of this, and she wanted out. She didn’t want to live in EAH. She wants to write her own story, her future. Sadly, reality seems to be oh-so cruel.

She finally stopped running after she reached a hidden spot in the forest. It is a clearing with a waterfall and a lake with the surface being so clear it’s a mirror. This clearing was found by her predecessors, and whenever they needed time to be alone and not be found by anyone they hid there. The clearing is warded, runed and protected to the high heavens.

They, the Queen line, wanted a place for their descendants to have a safe place to escape to whenever reality became too much after all just because the Queen’s needed to be mean in front of everyone doesn’t mean they all are. All Queen’s have a soft spot for their children and Raven’s mother was no exception, she just couldn’t show it as she was being watched nearly 24/7.

Raven shook her head not wanting to think about the complicated relationship the Queen line had. She was here to relax and she will relax, she sat down by the edge of the lake and took meditation breathing exercises to calm her nerves. Once she was done, she heard the rustling of leaves not far from her, she knew there could only be one being that could cross the barrier surrounding this place. The familiars have bonded with the Queen line, so the rustling must be, “Nevermore, please stop hiding I know it’s you.”

From the bushes peeked out a small dragon with various shades of purple as scales and gems littered all over her body. The dragon let out a happy chirp before rushing towards Raven barrelling into her lap and asking for scritches, which Raven happily gave to her. Raven sighed wishing she could talk to her mother more openly, seeing as she isn’t as insane as most believe her to be.

Nearly everyone forgets one another’s name once they do their destiny and instead use the name of the role ones playing, like Evil Queen or the Wicked Witch of the West, and so on. Only a few people remember the real names, and Raven’s mother the previous Evil Queen’s name is Evelyn Queen. Raven remembered what her mother was like, before the mirror prison, before the insanity spell. She was kind to Raven and cold to everyone else.

Raven remembered that her mother told her stories and the history of the Queen line. How her mother wasn’t the first of the Queen line to try and free themselves from their destiny, and how every single Queen who continues to rebel is put under the insanity spell by Milton Grimm. So, that he and his entourage can punish/banish them all without any consequences, then she remembered the history of the first Evil Queen aka Grimhilde Queen.

How she and 6 others she considers allies made a land far away from Ever After, a land free of destiny, where all its inhabitants can choose their destiny. How only one of the 7 were able to escape into these lands. Her mother then told her about the hidden history of the so-called dark faeries that make up the previous and next Maleficent, how they are nothing but a sub-species of 2 different species. The Fae and the Fairies, she told her how the Fae were nearly extinct all because of one Milton Grimm’s fear of their powers.

He had wanted all fairy tales under his control and the Fae’s were special in regards that, certain types of magic couldn’t harm them unless the castor had enough power to back him. Meaning he had wanted them gone for his plan to work, that was why only one of the 7 had escaped, because the other 6 distracted the Grimm Fanily long enough for the entirety of the Fae species to disappear without a trace.

Raven sighed she wished she could go to this mystical land that her ancestor had made, but she didn’t even know where to start. So, what can she do other than continue to rebel? Until they finally put her under an insanity spell like the rest of the Queen line who had rebelled in the past. A tear slid down her cheek as she silently cried over the loss of her freedom.

Nevermore sensing Raven’s sadness stood on her hind paws with her front paws on Raven’s chest before she started licking Raven’s cheek trying to cheer her up. It worked, Raven laughed and smiled at Nevermore in response. She continued to give Nevermore scritches before she started to practice her magic once more, she’s better than what people think. She just didn’t want anyone of the faculty to find out about it just so that they could use it as an excuse that she was ‘evil’ because she had complete control over her magic.

She continued practising her magic not focusing on anything else before she accidentally caused one of the spells that she was practising to explode in her face. She didn’t think much of it seeing as this happens a lot especially when you are new to the spell. She looked down onto her lap checking whether Nevermore had awakened or not because of the explosion only to see that she didn’t. Raven smiled and was about to stand up to return to EAH, but before she could she heard a voice calling out to her.

“Ah, my dear beloved.
A lovely and noble flower of evil.”
‘Why does everyone keep on saying that I am evil?! I am not evil!’ Raven thought as she hugged Nevermore closer wary of whoever was speaking.
“No, not evil of course not, but
Truly you are the most beautiful Queen of all.”
‘I- thank you?’
“Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who is the…”
‘Rhyming? But that hasn’t been used in a long time, especially for a mirror spell…’ That was Raven’s last thought before she fainted.

During the trip, Raven saw the carriage she was in being pulled by a rather scary-looking horse that seemed similar to a Thestral, but without the wings. She also saw that the carriage was going through what seemed to be the dark forest and on the other side of the road, she saw a large palace similar to the palaces in which the ‘villains’ of the fairy tales live. She could still feel Nevermore close before she blacked out once more.

“Those who are guided by the dark mirror.
As long as your heart desires,
Take the hand that appears in the mirror
And do not let go.”

In a dark ceremonial-looking room, we could see a beautiful mirror floating in the middle of this chamber. This mirror seems to be alive, and a face appears on said mirror looking quite ecstatic, “Oh young Queen, it seems that Milton has finally let his guard down. My dear Queen rest assured that you will be safe here, where the chains of destiny can only be decided by the choices you make. For now, sleep my dear when you awaken everything will be alright.”

Chapter Text

Raven woke with a start in a dark and tightly cramped space, she nearly panicked before she felt Nevermore in her arms asleep still. She sighed in relief, ‘Ok, so Nevermore is with me, but I don’t know where I am and where this thing that I was put into at… I just hope this has nothing to do with the others at EAH and I hope they don’t worry too much.’ Raven thought. She then proceeded to concentrate debating whether she should use her powers or not.

As she was thinking Nevermore awoke and let out a startled squawk as she could only see darkness. She was about to panic before realising that Raven was inside whatever this was with her. Raven realising that Nevermore was awake and fine calmed down and started to think about what she should do next use her powers without harming Nevermore, possibly causing whoever took them to realise that she is ‘evil’ because she has full control of her powers or do nothing and wait, a tough decision.

She was about to make her decision when she heard some sort of rumbling and tumbling noise. She was confused about what that was before she heard, “I better hurry and find that uniform before someone spots me…” ‘Uniform? But, EAH doesn’t use uniforms…’ “Urgh… This lid weighs a ton!” ‘Lid? Am I in a coffin of some sort…’ “Try this on for size! Mya-ha!” as soon as whoever was speaking finished their sentence blue fire sprang out from nowhere and surrounded her and Nevermore.

Raven confused and shocked, panicked. Her magic responding to her emotions blasted the door off its hinges so badly that it hit the other side with a resounding thud that echoed within the chamber. Raven realised that whatever she did also hit the creature that was responsible for the fire seeing as she couldn’t see the culprit anywhere. She soon realised that she didn’t recognise where she was, so she hugged/squeezed Nevermore tighter.

From what she can discern, she seems to be in a chamber of sorts that is filled with floating coffins and as she looks behind her sure enough, she sees a coffin that must’ve where she was put in. But, where in the name of the ever after is she? Nevermore chirped gaining her attention, she looked down at Nevermore in her arms and saw that she was wearing some sort of robe on top of her normal outfit.

‘Where am I? And what am I wearing?’ Raven thought. She heard another thud from the same place where the door of the coffin was and saw that blue flames were used to blast it to show some sort of small chimaera cat thing that also has characteristics of an Underworld spirit/guardian, “A Hades-made chimaera?” Raven questioned, “Oi! I am the Great Grim! Not whatever you said! And how are you awake?! You're supposed to still be asleep!?” ‘Hm? It can talk quite rare for a chimaera, Hades-made or not…’ “Well, whatever! Gimme your uni- GEH!? IS THAT A DRAGON?!” Raven tilted her head at that, ‘Are dragons considered rare around here?’

“W-well, w-whatever! I will still defeat you!” the odd chimaera proclaimed. Nevermore narrowed her eyes, she didn’t like this creature it first tried to harm her mistress and rider, Raven. And now it’s saying that it, a weak chimaera with zero battle and magical duel experience, defeats her. A dragon that is bonded to one of the strongest from the Queen line in history, that has fought by her side during certain incidents back in Ever After. She didn’t like it one bit, she growled at the opposing chimaera. Which caused the chimaera to yelp and jump away in fear while Raven tried to soothe Nevermore.

Raven pets Nevermore trying to calm her down so that she doesn’t pounce on the chimera to kill. Raven after successfully soothed her, looked around once more trying to find a hint of where she might be. The chimaera is currently shivering in fear, seeing as Nevermore is staring intently at him, her motives as clear as day, “You come near my mistress again and I will destroy you. You even think of harming her with your flames and I will make sure you cease to exist. Do you understand, chimera?” “Y-yes, yes ma’am.” Nevermore let out a satisfied huff after said conversation.

She proceeded to let out a chirp towards Raven, “What is it, girl?” Nevermore pointed at the large double doors not far from where they are and then pointed at the chimera still shivering in fear, “We ask the chimera?” Nevermore let out a happy chirp at that. ‘Hmm… that would be a good idea seeing as we don’t know where we are and I haven’t seen anyone, but us around here…’ “Umm, excuse me Grim?” “Y-yes! Uhh… yes human, you need somethin’?” “Could you please tell us where we are and how to get out of here? I don’t think we’re, me and Nevermore, are supposed to be here.” “Of course! Y-yes, I’ll show you out!”

Grim was ecstatic, completely ignoring the first question, they just wanted to get out. He didn’t want to even be in the same room as that dragon, but he couldn’t do anything. To get to the door he would’ve needed to pass by them. Grim ran to the door ignoring them and opened it, “I came in through here, but I snuck inside so I don’t know the interior of this place…”

“Oh? That’s alright I just needed to get out of the room first to find out more about where this is, and I didn’t know that the door was unlocked…”

“It’s ok human, but umm… could you please give me your robe? Seeing as you want to take it off?”

“Oh? Sure, you can have it. I don’t know what this robe is or what it’s for. And since I don’t even know where we are nor how we came here, I don’t need it and I am not concerned about it since I woke up in it with no recollection of how I have this on. Consider this a thank you and sorry for what I did.” Raven took off the robe that she was wearing and gave it to Grim.

Grim was even happier this human willingly gave him her robe. He wasn’t shocked that the human was a girl, the dragon already said so. He let out a happy shout and ran back inside the chamber. Raven and Nevermore walked out of the chamber and started exploring concerned about where she might be and curious about where this was. They walked and walked some more passing many hallways and even some sort of courtyard. They passed by a library and even saw a Colosseum in the distance. 

‘Where are we? I don’t recognise the land from anywhere… well, since there’s a library maybe we can find something there…’ Raven thought before going inside the library, worried and scared of what may come. Once she entered, she let out a sliver of magic from her fingers to scan the area, cautious and nervous at the same time. Once it was confirmed no one else other than her and Nevermore was in the building, she let out a sigh of relief. She then let Nevermore down, preparing for a spell, her hands glowed a purple colour before she spoke, “Maics ainmo te em da inv, acrid te sutni aitneicS,” finishing the spell caused a purple mist to form and completely cover all the books within the library, and in an instant, the mist was gone and Raven’s hands were no longer glowing.

Raven racked her brain and sorted out the information she just received and she was shocked it seemed that they were in much deeper trouble and potential danger than what Raven had thought. This is no longer Ever After, this was somewhere beyond it and somewhere different. Though Raven couldn’t help but feel she’d been here before, where were these thoughts coming from? Nevermore ran up to Raven and hopped into her arms once again unwilling to leave her alone. After all, if Raven’s expression said anything they could be in deep trouble.

Chapter Text

Raven, still sorting through the knowledge she received and trying to make a plan to somehow return to Ever After, didn’t notice that someone else had entered the library. He’s a tall man with a crow mask over his face and with him is Grim, tied up and separated from the robe he previously had, and it seems that whoever this man is decided to also make sure that whatever he used to tie Grim also covered his mouth.

He, the mysterious man, is relieved to see the missing new student. It would’ve been a disaster if word ever got out that a student disappeared under the watch of NRC, ‘It seems that our missing student seems to be carrying their familiar which can only mean that this cat does not belong to him. Hm? They seem more feminine than most, but that’s not a problem. They’ll most likely be a part of Pomfiore.’ The man thought to himself.

“Excuse me, young man?” Raven jumped slightly not expecting anyone around, she didn’t even hear nor sensed him when he came in, she must’ve been in too deep in analyzing the info she had gotten. This caused her magic to retaliate, violently might I add. Her magic instantly attacked the man and caused a mess in the library books being thrown off the shelf and Nevermore also getting spooked accidentally set some of the books on fire – the purple fire of course. The man got thrown back as a result and accidentally dropped Grim, still tied up.

Raven panicked realising that she had accidentally harmed someone and had made an incident in the library. She calmed herself and Nevermore before using her magic to tidy the place up even extinguishing the flames Nevermore accidently made. The man had stood up instantly after he got thrown and nearly had a heart attack seeing the library books being set on a flame. He was relieved and surprised that the missing student could fix it nearly instantaneously.

Raven sighed in relief before turning to whoever had startled her had fallen. The man was shocked that the missing student wasn’t a male but a female! He nearly screeched, ‘How could this have happened?! NRC has never had a female student before?! How is she here?! Ok, ok calm down Crowley. The mirror is never wrong, so there must be a reason that she was sent here.’

After that little convo and his inner dilemma, Crowley took a good look at the missing student and nearly died of a heart attack, ‘Is that a dragon?! That dragon is her familiar?!’ After questioning life itself for a few more moments, Crowley realised that the student was staring at him. He coughed a bit to gain his bearings and getting Grim back into his arms and fully restrained once more, he conversed with the student.

“Hello there!”

“Um… Hi?”

“Now, this is where you were. You must be careful young one, your robe was stolen by this weasel and you nearly were unable to enter NRC! But! I am such a gracious teacher that I went out to find you and help you!”

‘Teacher?’ “Um…? What do you mean teacher? And where are we? Oh, and the chimaera didn’t steal my robe I gave it to him.”

“You don’t know where we are? That’s strange… did the teleportation go wrong causing you to forget certain things? Well, no matter. You are currently in Night Raven College within Twisted Wonderland! The most prestigious school in the entire land! And I am it’s oh so wonderfully gracious Headmaster!”

‘Ah… I see… so everything the books spoke about is true… I guess me and Nevermore are no longer in Ever After…’ “Ah, thank you for that.”

“Now, let’s get going! Here wear your robes and I suggest you hide your dragon familiar as it is uncommon to even see a dragon around here.”

“Alright, thanks for that. Nevermore please try to stay hidden throughout, ok?” Raven received a chirp from Nevermore before she used her magic to make Nevermore invisible.

Raven took the robe given by the headmaster and wore it once more. Nevermore decidedly flew on top of Raven silently obeying what she had said. The headmaster looked relieved that Nevermore had disappeared and was even more relieved to see that the robe fit the female student perfectly meaning that the robe truly belonged to her and that the mirror must’ve summoned her here.

“Um excuse me? Sorry, I was slightly disoriented from the teleportation spell and had been a bit panicked seeing as I never thought that I would be called/summoned to attend NRC…”

“That’s quite alright, my dear. Though you shouldn’t have been able to open the gate. That must’ve been caused by this rascal over here.”

“Oh no I accidently blasted the gate off its hinges, but only because I was startled by the chimera.”

“I see, well you must be a powerful young one to be able to do such a thing. Now, let us go! We need to sort you into your dormitory!”

Raven followed Crowley to the mirror chamber and as she did so she couldn’t help but reorganise and relearn/rescan everything she had gotten from absorbing the knowledge from the books, ‘We are no longer in Ever After, if what I am recalling right then I am most likely to be sorted into Pomfiore seeing as it is the dorm made by my ancestor Grimhilde…’ Raven’s eyes widened.

‘No way, I thought this place was sealed off or lost or whatever after. I can’t believe it I’m in Twisted Wonderland! I’m no longer in Ever After! That means that I’m free… I’m free!’ Raven looked much better after coming to the realization, ‘Argh! Ouch, it seems that my brain still can’t handle all that information at once. I have to be careful with what kind of knowledge I try to draw out, at the very least that’ll make it easier for me to learn things around here.’

Raven happily followed the headmaster, ‘Crowley’ her mind supplied. Sure, she has a headache, but at the very least she’s now free! She soon realised that they had arrived, in front of them were large double doors that looked similar to the one she had previously opened to get away from the room filled with floating coffins. Raven used her magic to smooth out anything wrong with her robe and proceeded to wear the hood of the robe. She needed to look the part and she was excited at the prospect that she was now free.

Crowley looked back at her to see whether she was ready or not. Once he was certain, he opened the doors. Let us go back a few minutes before Crowley arrives, shall we? A few minutes before Crowley entered, from inside the chamber, “We’re done with orientation and dorm assignments?” a red-headed boy questioned, “All right, new students – let me clear. At Heartslabyul House, I am the law. Break the rules, and it’s off with your head!” Next to him is a tall male with lion ears,

“*Yawn* Well, that ceremony was as boring as ever. I’m going back to the dorm. If you’re in Savanaclaw House, follow me.” The after the lion eared boy is a boy in glasses,

“New students! Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your achievement. As the dorm leader of Octavinelle House, I am honoured to have the opportunity to support you in what I hope to be a fulfilling campus experience.”

The prettiest boy in the lineup then spoke up, “Hey, does anyone know where the head mage went? He disappeared midway through the ceremony… carrying some sort of raccoon cat in his arms.” A floating blue tablet not far from the pretty boy responded, “Some head mage he is.” And a boy with scary-looking red eyes retaliated, “Maybe he had a tummyache?” I change my mind, the naïve boy with red eyes questioned.

And at that moment we continue to the present, Crowley slammed the doors open and said, “I most certainly did not!” the red-headed boy mumbled, “Ah, speak of the devil.” “If you must know, I was searching for the new student who’d failed to show up for orientation.” It was at this moment that every set of eyes stared at Raven. Most of her features are hidden under the hood of the cloak, the only thing visible is her hair.

The lion-eared boy narrowed his eyes, ‘Why does he smell different?...’ Even with most of her features hidden the new students and dorm heads could not help but think, ‘He’s quite pretty, he’s going to be sorted into Pomfiore/our house.’ “Now then, young one. You are the only one who has yet to be sorted into any dorm. Step up to the Dark Mirror, and be quick with it. I’ll keep an eye on the weasel.” Grim tried to complain only to be muffled.

Raven gulped nervously, but she stepped up, ‘Why does the name Dark Mirror sound so familiar…’ It wasn’t until she saw the mirror that her eyes widened and she realised what kind of mirror was in front of her, ‘Isn’t this the original Dark Mirror?! Supposedly lost in history?! The only reason it’s here could only be because the original one must’ve brought it here!’ Raven’s mind was racing a mile a minute.

Chapter Text

Raven took a deep breath steadying herself before she finally arrived in front of the Dark Mirror. The Mirror didn’t light up or ask anything like it usually does during a ceremony, it stayed silent instead as if no one was there, no one in the room knew what was happening except Raven and Nevermore, still currently invisible. Whispers had already overtaken the room wondering if there was something wrong with the mirror before Raven finally opened her mouth to speak, “Mirror, mirror,” and just like that the Mirror came alive different from usual however.

“Yes, young one?” the whispers immediately died down, the staff and the dorm heads were confused is something wrong with the Mirror, “Mirror, mirror before me. Tell me which dorm suits me most?” “My dear, you already know which dorm suits you most. The dorm of the Beautiful Queen, Pomfiore is where you shall stay. After all, where else would the descendant of the Beautiful Queen be placed?” and just like that the Mirror went silent, but the face on said Mirror did not disappear.

However, on the other hand, all hell broke loose. It was silent for a few seconds before someone screamed as they finally finished processing the situation, “They're THE descendant of the Beautiful Queen?!” screams and panic ensued Crowley even joined in on it, “OH MY SEVEN! There hasn’t been a descendant of one of the seven ever since his Highness Draconia came!? What is going on?!”

Raven absolutely confused and overwhelmed with all this attention and loudness called to Nevermore, “Nevermore? A blast of fire please?” And just like that a small purple jewel dragon appeared and proceeded to spit out purple flames to gain their attention and the appearance was enough to make people shut up in awe, so they had quieted down, “Now, that you’re all quiet. I am the descendant of the Beautiful Queen as you call her, and the first thing I need to address is that this seems to be an all-boy school?” Crowley recovering from his shock replied, “Ah, yes we are a boy’s only school is something wrong with that?”

Raven chuckled nervously, “Ah, yes about that I am not a boy, I am a girl.” Raven proceeded to pull her hood off to show her face to them, Crowley nearly killed himself when he realized that she never hid her gender from him and he even saw her and confirmed that Raven was a girl, “Right, my mistake, I guess this was the reason the Dark Mirror summoned you into Night Raven College as you are one of the descendants of the Great Seven…” Crowley mumbled under his breath.

“Crowley, she will stay here in NRC. I will not return her into the hands of Grimm and the others at Ever After. So, don’t even try,” said the Mirror, “I understand.” Raven was nervous and looked like she was ready to die at this moment, but before she could say anything else Grim had escaped, “Myehehe! I, the Great Grim, am more than worthy! She is a female and not exactly right for this school! You should accept me instead!” he screamed and proceeded to throw a temper tantrum by setting the Mirror Chamber ablaze.

The new students panicked and ran around like headless chickens, the dorm heads finally went to solve the problem, while the naïve red-eyed boy started screaming with the new students as he was also set aflame. Raven rushed to his side to help him settle his flaming butt, which she easily did with her magic. The boy sighed with relief before happily thanking her for her help, “Thank you, thank you so, so much for putting out the flames on my butt!” “You’re welcome.”

Raven got distracted by the cheerful boy, that she nearly forgot about the chaos happening around her. Grimm was caught however the chamber was still on fire Raven had snapped out of it when she heard the redhead boy scream, “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!” And a collar was placed around Grimm’s neck. Raven instantly used her magic once more to make sure that the flames died out, “Flames of the dead, flames of the underworld, return to where you once came and do no more harm,” she whispered.

The flames easily went out as if they were never there, “Goodness gracious! This little cat is getting into too much trouble and is giving us a troublesome time, well we better throw him out then!” Raven’s eyes widened, she couldn’t let the chimaera be thrown out, it’d cause even more havoc especially when it finally reached maturity. “Wait!” “Yes?” “I’ll take him and make sure he doesn’t get into trouble. I worry that if we do throw him out, he’ll just sneak back in and cause an even larger commotion.” Crowley narrowed his eyes and thought to himself,

“Hmm… Alright then I shall allow that, but only if you can promise me that you will be able to control it.”

“I understand, I have spells that can make it so that he’ll be easier to keep an eye on.”

“Alright, then. I’ll agree to it.”

“Thank you, Headmaster.”

“You are most welcome!”

Raven took Grimm from where he was lay and murmured a spell, “Vinculum, votum, fac creatural hanc meam, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum. A string, a rope, leash this creature to me.” Once the spell finished Grimm was now one of Raven’s helpers/assistant/pet and he was bound to her unable to get too far, “Myeh! What’d you do to me?!” “I made sure to bind you to me so that you won’t be able to run far and cause even more trouble.” “Myeh?!”

Raven ignored Grimm who is currently being stared down by Nevermore in a challenging type of way in case he would do anything bad to Raven. Raven proceeded to concentrate on Crowley being dramatic as bitch that he is, screaming and sobbing about one of the Descendants of the Great Seven being in NRC other than Malleus Draconia, of course, this didn’t last long as the red-headed boy who had collared Grimm stepped forward and asked, 

“Headmage, while the news of another one of the Descendants of the Seven has arrived here in NRC is just swell, I would like to know how she got here after all as you had… shouted previously, Malleus Draconia was the only known descendant, so how is it possible for another one to show up and why now?”

“*Clears throat* What you said is completely correct Mr. Rosenhearts, now your majesty could you please tell us how you ended up here?”

“Well… from what I had remembered…” Raven proceeded to explain everything about what had happened before she ended up here, from her practising magic and getting some alone time while she was at it and having a bit of an accident with her and so on.

“Hmm… Interesting, you do not remember anything else other than that?”

“No, I don’t remember a thing.”

“Hmm… That is odd, however, I will not ask you to be sent back after all you belong here.”

“But, I’m a girl?”

“That is not a problem, this school is boys only by tradition, not officially.”

“I see, then I would like to think that there may be a possibility that some of the people from my side may also fall here.”

“Yes, it is possible seeing as you are here now, but we shall discuss that later. Seeing as it is getting late. Alright then, Dormheads! You may escort the newly sorted students into the dorms! All but Pomfiore stay for a bit.”

“Yes, Headmage!”

The students started following their respective Dormheads, while Pomfiore stayed behind. That was until, “Yare, yare it seems that Malleus isn’t here again,”

“Ah, we’re sorry Lilia, it’s just that he isn’t exactly easy to approach with his aura.” Raven didn’t like how that apology sounded insincere and how the students' reaction to him was. It reminded Raven too much of her treatment back in EA. But she kept quiet for now, she did however make a note to herself to invite this Malleus for a picnic or an outing. And from what the whispers of fear tell her, he’s one of the escaped Fae, meaning that there is a possibility that he is Maleficent’s son/descendant.

“It’s fine, but do try to remember to try and send him an invite at the very least.” Lilia replied, “Now then, Diasmonia, follow me!”

“Now, that everyone else had left. Mr Schoenheit, please make sure that Her Majesty Miss Queen will be well adjusted.”

Schoenheit isn’t replying he looked like he just bluescreened, which isn’t odd in Raven’s eyes, the only difference is that Raven didn’t know, but Vil Schoenheit bluescreened from shock and happiness, not fear. “Mr Schoenheit? Mr Schoenheit! Sir Vil Schoenheit!”

“Ah, yes sir?”

“Did you hear my request?”

“Yes sir, I did.”

“Alright, I’ll be leaving Her Majesty in your hands, now go on little ones! It is getting late after all.”

Chapter Text

The Pomfiore Dormhead aka Vil Schoenheit had thought that this was a bad day at first, but now he thought that this was the most wonderful of days that had ever happened to him in his life! The descendant of the Beautiful Queen had entered and enrolled into NRC and he gets to meet and help them around NRC. He is too excited for this.

While Vil was busy trying to make sure how to make everything perfect for Raven, Raven was thinking about Nevermore and Grimm. She knows that Nevermore can’t always stay with her, so she will need to talk to Headmage Crowley about this and will need to find a solution to this problem. She will also need to talk to Grimm and Nevermore about their arrangement with her.

They soon reached the mirror that would transport them to the Pomfiore dorm, “Alright. Now, I want all of you to stand in front of the mirror and think about entering Pomfiore so that the mirror will transport us to the dorms. Is everybody ready?” various ‘Yes, sirs’ could be heard, “Good, let us go then.” The mirror began to swirl and soon the next thing they knew they were in front of a giant castle-like structure.

Raven was amazed at how large it was and how it fit the Beautiful Queen theme quite well. It looked similar to Ever After, but fancier and based on one person rather than be based on a concept. It looked stunning and Raven couldn’t help but feel like this was home. Raven wasn’t feeling things, before the Great 7 passed or were unable to return to Twisted Wonderland they left a few of their souls and magic within the school. It is more concentrated within their respective dorms, but it is everywhere within NRC.

Vil gestured for everyone to follow him to the large double doors that are the main entrance to the castle that is their dorms. He opened it easily and led them all to the lounge area, where he told them all, “All of you here have been chosen by the Dark Mirror for one reason or another to be a part of Pomfiore. I will explain to you the rules of Pomfiore and what we stand for at breakfast tomorrow morning.” A pause

“Breakfast will be held at the dining hall. You may ask your senior where that may be. For now, it is time for bed. All the first-year dorms are on the second floor, this is the first floor. You can either have a room all for yourself or have a roommate. Now, chop-chop we wouldn’t want you to be late or be anything less than perfect for tomorrow!”

There were chatters and murmurs, but they all understood and went to the second floor to find their rooms and debating whether they should have a roommate or not, Vil scanned the crowd and soon found Raven about to follow the other first years, “Your Majesty Miss Queen, could you please stay?” Raven was confused about why she was called and asked to stay, but did so nonetheless. Once every other first year is gone, “Your Majesty, I, Vil Schoenheit cannot in my good heart allow you to stay in the normal dorm rooms for first years. So, if you could follow me.”

Vil gestured for Raven to follow and she did, Vil led her to the fifth floor to a door that seemed to be decorated more intricately than the other doors, “This here is a room specifically made for the Beautiful Queen’s descendants in the possibility that they may one day come to NRC. This will be your dorm room from here on out and if you have any questions, you may ask me for anything. Good night, Your Majesty.” Vil said before going back to his dorm room, not too far from Raven's own.

Raven looked hesitant, but soon opened the door and truly it seemed decorated and well-kept. The decorations were something that reminded Raven of her room back home with her father and her mother. Just less dark, and more emphasizing on the royalty status. The scheme of the room fit the rest of the dorm in an ancient Greek/medieval style with the colours being mainly purple, white and gold.

She looked around once before realising that now that no one here hates her – she thinks – she could use her magic as much as she wanted and she didn’t have to act as if she was an idiot so that people wouldn’t think her as evil! Raven placed Grim down on the large king-sized bed, oddly enough he’s been silent, followed by Nevermore who landed on the bed. Raven then used her magic to make herself an entire wardrobe made of high-quality silk and accessories, for normal people that is for Raven this is normal quality.

Raven is much more innocent than most think she has been protected from a large amount of things in her life by her parents. So, there are a lot of things that she either never pays attention to or is just straight-up banned from knowing by her parents. She placed her new wardrobe where it belongs summoned her guitar and its case along with a showcase and started to customise her new room to fit her needs.

Grim was amazed at Raven’s magic never seeing anything like it before and was shocked at how powerful she is. It didn’t take long for Raven to finally finish the decorating, she used her magic to change into her pyjamas and sat on her new bed, “So, Grim, Nevermore we need to talk about us. Nevermore you know what a familiar bond is seeing as you have one with me, but I cannot take you everywhere.” Nevermore nodded agreeing to this, while Grim looked confused, “What’s a familiar bond?”

“Oh, you must’ve never been told what that is, huh? A familiar bond is where a powerful mage, sorcerer or any kind of magic user magically bonds or magically creates a bond with a magical animal so that both creature and mage could grow.”

“Huh, how’d they help each other grow?”

“The familiar absorbs any dangerous access or waste or leaking magic from the mage causing them to grow stronger faster and the mage has a less likely chance of exploding, imploding, and/or getting magical sickness.”

“Wah, that sounds awesome! Ne can you bond with me? Cause you very very strong! And I wanna be stronger!”

“I can, back in the chamber where the Mirror is, I used a spell to make you my temporary familiar until we can make it official. Now, if you do wish to be familiar you need to know there are things that you must know. One, a familiar cannot fight, harm or go against the orders of the mage they are bonded with. Two, the mage in turn cannot harm or abuse their authority over the familiar in turn.”

“Weh?! So, that means I have to listen to what you say?!”

“Yes, you would have to…”

“Umm… Fine! I will bond with you human! So that I can become very strong!”

“Alright, Nevermore once I bond with him you’ll need to teach him about becoming a familiar.”

Nevermore nodded in understanding and while Grim was scared, he understood long ago that so long as he didn’t threaten Raven, Nevermore wouldn’t harm him, “Alright, Grim I need you to repeat after me.”

“Ok!”

“I, your name, accept Raven Queen as my mage forever after till the time either of us dies. So let magic bind my will and words to complete the familiar bond.”

“I, The Great Grim, accept Raven Queen as my mage forever after till the time either of us dies. So let magic bind my will and words to complete the familiar bond!”

With the words said and done the magic surrounding them reacted, it bound Grim to Raven making Grim her familiar and causing Grim to instantly get magically boosted and gain knowledge on certain things regarding Raven, magic and more. He went into a daze, his mind trying to sort out the information it just received and Raven just smiled seeing as it worked. She prepared to go to bed, tucking Grim and Nevermore in before getting herself under the covers for some sleep.

Meanwhile,

Crowley is sitting in his swivel chair staring straight at the portrait of Raven’s ancestor, “It seems things are about to get interesting from here on out. Milton, it seems you have gotten rusty and let a very important student of NRC slip past your barriers… I hope this is the beginning of a new era.”

Crowley looked at a picture of his father, Diaval, who had been loyal to Maleficent to the very end. He first had suggested the idea for a school for villains, the very same NRC, with his final wish so that the descendants of the Great Seven to finally have a haven where they could retreat to in case things went bad for them.

Chapter Text

When Raven woke up the sun was barely shining through the window, it was very early and Raven did not mind this she was used to waking up early. She looked to her side to see Nevermore and Grim both still asleep, she smiled and walked to the bathroom connected to her new room with her new uniform and took a shower. During the time Raven’s taking a shower, Nevermore and Grim woke up. Nevermore being the first to be awake followed not long after that by Grim.

Nevermore then proceeded to transfer memories about things that Grim needed to know – but didn’t get during the first initial transfer – to become a powerful and great familiar. Grim got a bit of a headache from the sudden influx of knowledge and memories but recovered thanks to his newly boosted magic. He looked at Nevermore and started a mental/telepathic conversation with her, “Is this true? Did Rav- no, Mistress go through all this?”

“Why would I lie, I see no reason to do so. Now, that you are also Mistress’ familiar, we need not fight each other, rather it’d be best if we fight to defend and help her.”

“True… though now I can see why you are so protective of her. After everything, she is still this innocent and pure, it is rare even by beastly standards.”

“That is correct.”

“Well, now that we share a job, I shall also protect her! You may not be able to protect her 24/7 – seeing as that no matter what you are still a dragon – I, however, can still be considered a baby and can pass off as a normal cat.”

“That is correct, good luck you will need it.”

Grim nodded as a sign of thanks to Nevermore and waited for Raven to finally come out of the shower so that they could go to the dining hall. Meanwhile, Raven entered the bathroom and looked shocked at the large amount of beauty products lying around the bathroom and how large it was. The theme/design still stays the same as the rest of the dormitory, however, the amount of white and gold got upped quite a bit.

Raven ignored all that and proceeded to get ready for the day. She chose the bath products that she likes and is familiar with, most of them being rose-scented. She took a short bath changed into her NRC uniform and used magic to dry and style her hair as she did her make-up. Once she finished, she exited the bathroom and gestured for Nevermore and Grim to follow her. Nevermore jumped off the bed and transformed herself to become as large as a large full-grown dog. She then took her place by Raven’s side, Grim rushed to her before asking to be picked up, which she did.

Once she exited her dorm room, she saw Vil the dorm leader. He seemed to be occupied by something on his phone before he turned towards her with an excited expression, “Your Majesty-”

“Raven, call me Raven.”

“Princess Raven – I will not change nor shorten it – I am Vil Schoenheit, the dorm leader to the Pomfiore dorm. A dorm based on the Beautiful Queen, it is my pleasure and honour to give you a tour of NRC. Today, it is mostly something similar to introductions and orientations for the new students with the older years guiding them through the day.”

“Alright, I have a feeling you already know my name, but let me introduce myself. My name is Raven Queen, and please do call me by my first name one way or another as I am not comfortable with you calling me ‘Your Majesty’.”

“Of course, Princess whatever you wish. Now, please follow me I’ll lead you to the dining hall.”

“Thank you.”

Raven followed Vil towards the dining hall with Nevermore by her side and Grim in her arms. She was glad that no one seemed to care about the ‘Evil Queen’ side of her family, more focused on the ‘Beautiful Queen’ legacy. They soon reached the dining hall, some were already awake, and some were still asleep. But from the time Raven saw the clock, it was still quite early, so it was understandable.

Vil led her to what seemed to be the largest chair in the hall, looking more like a throne than anything, the chair sat in the middle of the dining hall and seemed to oversee the entire room, “This seat is yours, Princess. Like the room, I showed you this chair is specifically made for the descendant of the Beautiful Queen if they were not the descendant then a curse shall be placed upon them. My chair is by your right side, Princess.”

Vil proceeded to pull the throne-like chair so that Raven could sit on it. Raven having been trained to be a princess and a queen because of her destiny, easily sat herself down. Grim on her lap Nevermore had once again shrank down to the size of a puppy and propped herself on top of the throne headrest. Vil then sat by her right side and spoke clearly, “Chicken salad, coffee and dried apples.” The food appeared in front of him exactly like he had requested, with size being according to the ones who were ordering.

Raven blinked before saying, “Fruit and vegetable salad, hash brown breakfast casserole, blackberry yoghurt, light Caesar salad, water and honey tea.” The food that Raven had ordered came, however, the fruit and vegetable salad was large and given to Nevermore and the hash brown casserole was given to Grim. There are 2 bowls filled with water for Grim and Nevermore respectively. The light Caesar salad along with the yogurt and honey tea is for Raven. Raven happily ate the food seeing as it was not as sugary or sweet as what EAH serves as they are biased towards the Royals.

After the four of them finished eating, they exited the dining hall and went to the mirror that led to the Mirror Chamber. Once they entered the Mirror Chamber Vil started to guide her along the way asking her whether or not she had any kind of questions. Once it’s confirmed she had none he excused himself and left. Raven continued to explore on her own and soon found the Headmages Office.

She knocked on the Headmage office and responded with a ‘Come in!’ from the other side, “Excuse me, sorry if I had bothered you, Headmage Crowley…” “It’s quite alright, Your Majesty! You can never offend me! You are too important for that!”

“Ah, thank you? Anyway, I am here to ask if there is any abandoned or unused land on school grounds as Nevermore is still a dragon no matter how small her size is…” Raven said as she gestured towards Nevermore.

“Ah! If that is the problem then there is one such place, it is an abandoned dorm no longer in use, you can use it if you like and you for can ask help for any renovation needed!”

“Oh! Thank you, Headmage.”

“You are quite welcome, Your Majesty! Here are the details surrounding the abandoned dorm and any problems it may have.”

“Thank you, Headmage.” She said as she bowed

“You are quite welcome and you need not bow, Your Majesty!”

“Once again thank you!”

“You are very much welcome! Your Majesty may I please have the pleasure of showing you the way there for your first visit seeing as you are still new here and are unfamiliar with the terrain.”

“Oh, that would be nice. Of course, you can Headmage!”

“Well, then let us get going! There is no time like the present!”

Crowley led Raven, Grim and Nevermore through the hallways and school grounds until they reached the old unused dorm building. While on their way to the abandoned dorm, they talked as Raven shared information on Ever After and Crowley in turn shared info on Twisted Wonderland. The sharing of information between them is a good thing seeing as Crowley doesn’t know what’s going on in EAH and Raven needs to know more about Twisted Wonderland.

Crowley told Raven what he knew about the barrier that keeps EAH in and Twisted Wonderland out, along with the basics about Twisted Wonderland and the Kingdoms within it. Raven in turn told Crowley about what she knew about the barrier, the situation in EAH and a whole lot of other things too. One of the revelations that shocked Crowley involves the descendants of the Great 7, “Are you saying that 5 out of 4 of the Great Seven descendants are in Twisted Wonderland?!”

“Yes, they are. From what my family Grimoire tells me. The blood-related descendants of the Great 7, 4 out of 7 are in Twisted Wonderland with only me, the Queen of Hearts and the Sea Witches line left in Ever After.”

Chapter Text

“But, that is impossible, other than His Highness Draconia, the Mirror never said anything about that?!”

“While that is true, the reason behind that is so that the other descendants do not get recognised in case Milton Grim were to find out. After all Maleficent never had a child until over a hundred or so years if I’m not wrong, while Hades never had a confirmed child or at least a child he claimed as his own even to this day.”

“If that is true then, how come only the descendants made it through and not the rest of the Great 7?”

“The Beautiful Queen and the Queen of Hearts are Queens that have kingdoms to run causing them to have publicity and are watched more closely than the others, while the Sea Witch is being watched by the entirety of the Kingdoms within the Sea in case, she was to start anything while the rebellion happened, even if Maleficent is a Queen and a powerful one at that along with Hades having siblings. No one would be watching Maleficent because they are either too scared or cannot do it because she will always find them. While Hades can just straight up stay in the Underworld with the excuse that he needs to watch over the souls that crossing over.” Raven explained.

“However, the Queen of Hearts and the Beautiful Queen cannot do that seeing as they are human and abide by human laws if they step too far it can lead to war and if they are not careful a rebellion can spring up. And the Sea Witch cannot hide like Hades can seeing as she doesn’t have a realm, just her lair.” Crowley spoke finishing Raven’s explanation.

“Exactly.”

“I see, then are they currently schooling in NRC?”

“From what I can sense, yes. They are at NRC, but that’s about it. I can’t sense who they are as their bloodline is sealed pretty thoroughly. Seeing as they don’t want Milton Grim to find out. I’m just glad Giles isn’t like that.” Raven replied as she mumbled the last sentence she had said.

“I understand, but is it possible for the seal on their bloodline to be broken?” Crowley agreed and understood her reasoning however seemed to have slightly stumbled when she had said Giles’ name.

“Yes, however, it will take some time to prepare.”

“That’s fine. Ah, we are here!”

And they truly are, they have arrived in front of a dilapidated dorm house that looked like there hasn’t been living in them for quite some time. There were even graveyards in front of the dorm house.

“This place is quite abandoned.”

“Yes, you did request for such a place.”

“True. Grim, Nevermore, Headmage could you please back away a bit, I need to concentrate to renovate the place.”

“Of course!”

“Myah. Sure, but be careful, Mistress!”

“Alright.”

Raven closed her eyes as she imagined what kind of dragon stables/castle she wanted to allow Nevermore and other dragons to live here in case some of them accidentally fell into Twisted Wonderland. She decided with the same design as NRC’s main building, but in a lighter colour and fit for dragons rather than humans, “From bad to good. To better from worse. With this spell may my vision be born to change and shift according to my will!” Raven magic exploded out of her and seeped into Ramshackle. The dorm was revamped so to speak, the exterior and the interior were completely renovated the architecture itself is still the same, but it was revitalized so that it looked like an actual dorm rather than looking like some kind of haunted house.

Connected to the newly revamped dorm house is an extremely large stable fit for royalty and large enough to fit dragons. The architecture and design are similar to Ramshackle itself with a few changes here and there to fit the design for a stable rather than a dorm house. The large land that is filled with graveyards got cleaned and now within its land is a large garden where the fruit and vegetables for the dragons are grown.

“Incredible, Your Majesty! But, may I ask why you revamped the entirety of the dorm house too?”

“Oh, in case the people from my dimension fall here. Seeing as not all of them are rebels, this place is in case any of the royals were to fall here and didn’t get sent to a dorm house in NRC.”

“Ah, I see that would be for the best.”

“Headmage, if it’s alright I was wondering if we could look inside seeing as just because the outside is fine doesn’t mean the interior will be…”

“Oh! That is perfectly fine by me! Let us get going then!”

“Nevermore, Grim why don’t you guys stay outside and explore, I’ll also be preparing your new place too Nevermore.”

“Myah, ok!” Nevermore only nodded in response.

Raven smiled as she followed the Headmage inside to take a look at whether or not anything within had changed while Nevermore and Grim stayed outside, “Myah, I’m gonna take a look at the fruits and veggies growing in there.” “Alright, but don’t eat them. They are specifically grown for dragons. So, even if you are a Hades-made Chimera it won’t be good for you.” “Myah, fine.” Grim grumbled, but he did listen seeing as he knew that those ‘fruits’ and ‘veggies’ were specially enchanted and cultivated gems made to grow like fruits and veggies for easier production and consumption for dragons and other gem eaters.

Grim ran towards the garden curious because all of them were sparkly and pretty. While he knew of them, he never saw them, so he is quite curious. Nevermore meanwhile let herself grow to her original size and lay by the porch, near the entrance to the newly made stables. She proceeded to relax plus sunbathe as she knew that from now on, she would be staying here with Raven visiting from time to time.

Grim, meanwhile, arrived at the gem garden, As previously mentioned the garden is filled with fruits and vegetables that are gem-like in look, taste and property. Specifically, magically bred for dragons of all kinds, the thing is using these gem fruits and veggies as anything else other than dragon fruit will not result in anything good. While they do look like and have similar properties to actual gemstones, they have their odd behaviours. For one, if one wishes to sell them for profit in ways other than food, these fruits and veggies will become even more fragile than glass. If they were to be used as food, they change their toughness depending on who or what kind of dragon is eating them.

Grim looked around liking how pretty and sparkly the gem garden was, but he heeded Nevermore’s words. These gems can only be eaten by dragons because if any other creature were to eat them only two possible things can happen, either the creature gets a stomach ache or the fruits and veggies are too hard causing them to lose a few teeth. The gem fruits and veggies themselves don’t have a smell for any other creature that is not a dragon, they’ll just smell like gems.

While Nevermore napped and Grim explored, we cut to see Malleus, Lilia, Sebek and Silver. The 4 of them were discussing the latest addition to the Great 7 lineage that has been discovered. Just this morning a letter from Malleus’ Grandmother aka Maleficent arrived, she had confirmed their suspicions about Raven and their curiosity about Nevermore. They were currently partially looking for her and partially discussing the information and surprises she may have brought into Twisted Wonderland from Ever After.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, back in Ever After things aren’t looking good. Apple is worried Raven had not reappeared after she had run off into the Enchanted Forest, while she usually wouldn’t care too much seeing as Raven would always come back this time around Raven seemed to have disappeared, she didn’t return to the dorms. The rest of the school minus the faculty isn’t worried as in their eyes they never really pay attention to Raven excluding the Rebels that is as Raven is their leader.

The faculty while worried about Raven’s disappearance are not worried seeing as in their eyes sooner or later Raven would return. Headmaster Grimm however is oddly jumpy, ever since Raven disappeared he appears to be nervous always checking over things and looking over his shoulder. This is odd, but no one commented on it. Since Raven disappeared Apple would act a bit crazy, not enough for anyone to realise it or to even recognize it to be seen as something concerning. But her behaviour had a slight bank.

The rebels are worried about Raven, well nearly all of them are until now, “Oh, Narrator! You're finally back! How wonderlandiful! Now, from the way you are talking, it is correct to assume that Raven is fine?” Of course, dear Madeline. Raven is quite truly thriving where she is. “That’s hat-tastic! I’ll be sure to tell everyone about this!” And there she goes little Madeline Hatter running off to tell her friends about Raven’s wellbeing. 

While the royals, except for Lizzie, never really believe what the ones from Wonderland say when it comes to the Narrator, the rebels do not have such feelings. They believe in Madeline’s words and are relieved to hear it, “Hey, Narrator?” Yes, Madeline. “How can we find Raven?” Hmmm, I can’t tell you about that just, yet. However, rest assured there is already a way for such a thing to happen. Maybe you’ll even find it on your own. “Well, that’s not helping… oh well.”

“Did you get a reply?” Cedar worriedly asked

“I did however the Narrator only told me there is a way no how to use it, not a single hint!”

“Hmm… maybe we should try and listen in on the Narrator?” Cerise suggested.

“I don’t think that’ll do us any good,” Bunny Blanc started, “This Narrator seems oddly omnipotent compared to the previous ones. I think they already know about this and won’t divulge us for any spoilers.” Well, at least someone can see reason. But, I guess a hint wouldn’t hurt. But, it will be in the form of a riddle or poem.

7 people, 7 destinies

5 already away, 2 still stay

2 are the keys

To find the missing Queen

“Well, it seems that Bunny was able to convince the Narrator to drop something at the very least,” Kitty said,

“What did they say?” Hunter questioned

“A riddle or poem, I don’t know how to describe it, but it goes like this,

7 people, 7 destinies

5 already away, 2 still stay

2 are the keys

To find the missing Queen.” Bunny finished. Good luck, you’ll need it.

“From what I can decipher we need to find a specific kind of destiny. And that there are only 2 of said destiny that are left here in Ever After?” Cedar contemplated

“Yeah, that’s not looking good for us, the first line indicated that there were 7 of these destinies, before 5 went away. Whatever that means. And only 2 are left in Ever After, and these 2 destinies are the key to find Raven.” Cerise putting her own opinions in.

“Maybe, we should try and ask around about the riddle-thing, well at least ask the other rebels?” Cedar suggested.

“That is a great idea, Cedar!” Alastair said.

Off they go asking around the Ever After High trying to find anything about these 7 destinies. It didn’t take long before they decided to split up some looked for information in the library while others continued asking around. They were about to give up both the ones in the library and the ones asking around until they ran into Lizzie Hearts, “*Sigh* There goes another one, we still can’t find them anything until now and even the ones in the library aren’t having much luck either.” Cerise said.

“It’s not shocking, seeing as there’s only 2 of them left in Ever After supposedly,” Alastair replied.

“And what are you talking about?” Lizzie asked as she popped out of nowhere. 

“Argh! Lizzie, sorry we didn’t hear you approach us!” Cedar hurriedly said before continuing, “It’s just that the Narrator is finally back, well at least Maddie, Kitty and Bunny said their back, and they gave us a clue on how to find Raven.”

“Ah, I do know that the Narrator is back, however, to see that you all have come together to piece together the clue to find Raven is not what I was expecting…” Lizzie replied

“Yeah, we’re just worried especially seeing as no one other than the rebels don’t care what could happen to Raven,” Alastair said.

“Wait, we haven’t asked Lizzie if she may know anything about the clue!” Cerise pointed out.

“Oh! Right! Lizzie, is it alright if we repeat the clue to you to see if you may know anything about it?” Hunter asked.

“That is fine with me,” Lizzie said.

“Ok, so it goes like this,

7 people, 7 destinies

5 already away, 2 still stay

2 are the keys

To find the missing Queen.” Cedar said, as Cedar recited the riddle, they saw Lizzie's eyes widen for a fraction before going back to normal however there was something different hidden in her eyes.

“Are you sure the Narrator recited this riddle?” Lizzie asked looking nervous.

“Uh… we’re not sure, but we can bring you to the other wonderlandians in the library, who are looking for a hint to this riddle?” Hunter said worried.

“Take me to them,” Lizzie said.

There they go through the hallways before arriving at the library. It took some time before they found the others in the library, but once they did they told each other what they’d discovered before telling them about their last encounter which was with Lizzie, “Yep, that’s what the Narrator said to us, Lizzie! Kitty and Bunny can confirm my words!” Madeline said. Which was followed by agreements from both Kitty and Bunny. Lizzie bit her lip when she realised that they were telling the truth, she seemed hesitant about something before she realised something, ‘If Raven is on the other side, then is it possible for me, Coral and even the others to go there too? Is there a possibility for us to escape Ever After?’

Lizzie took a deep breath before she began, “Well, consider yourselves lucky. I know what the Narrator is talking about, but this must be kept under extremely tight wraps.” Lizzie said seriously. The others mimed zipping their lips, nodding at her, “Good,” Lizzie then took out her deck of cards, but these looked different compared to the ones she would usually use. She used the deck to create a door that led them straight into Lizzie’s garden which was filled with wonderlandian plants, “Follow me,” they entered the garden, still silent not wanting to anger Lizzie in case she decided to change her mind.

They entered her Wonderlandian Garden and sat down at the tea table set that is in the garden. Lizzie looked constipated, to say the least, she looked hesitant about telling them before she finally steeled herself. She snapped her fingers and the gate made of cards closed with the cards returning to Lizzie, she then took some into her hands put them into fan formation and threw them around the garden. The cards swiftly surrounded the garden in an orderly manner and in an instant, a barrier was created surrounding the garden.

Lizzie scanned the barrier a little while longer before she finally turned and made eye contact with all of them and started, “Well, you better call yourselves lucky that none of the staff or even the other Royals heard you talking about this. Because if the Royals find out they would snitch to the staff and the staff would in turn snitch to Milton Grimm.” Lizzie hissed.

“Stop!” she said as she raised her hand with her palm facing them when she saw that Hunter was about to ask something, “You, none of you all will question anything I am about to explain to you all. And you better make sure that you keep quiet so that no one would ever find out especially the staff and Milton Grimm. Understood?!” there were a series of nods.

“Good, now where to begin?” Lizzie said as she thought about how to explain this.

Chapter Text

Lizzie thought and thought before she finally decided to start with the history, “History? What history, Narrator?” Madeline asked, “Madeline,” Lizzie started, “Sit down and let me explain.” “Yes ma’am, sorry ma’am.” Lizzie sighed before snapping her fingers and this time a grimoire appeared before her. It’s a beautiful grimoire decorated to fit the Queen of Hearts with the main colours being white red and black hearts along with the other symbols of the card decorating the grimoire which also has a golden trim.

“This book or Grimoire is called the Grimoire of Maddened Hearts. It was created alongside 6 other Grimoires and is all based on certain legacies, making it so there are 7 Grimoires. The one I hold is the first of the 7, but that does not make mine the strongest. Following this one is a Grimoire called the Grimoire of the Tyrannical Beast, the 3 rd is called the Grimoire of the Wretched Witch, the 4 th is the Grimoire of the Imperious Sorcerer, the 5 th is the Grimoire of the Baneful Queen, the 6 th is the Grimoire of the Fallen Flame, and finally the 7 th is the Grimoire of the Darkest Fae.

These Grimoire’s are all connected, and as you all have guessed my destiny is one of the 2 remaining destinies that the Narrator had mentioned previously when giving a clue to where Raven might be. I know where she is, but I do not know how to get there. However, before I continue you all must agree to not speak of this to anyone especially the staff and the Headmaster.” Lizzie paused and let them think this through.

“If you do agree to my terms then please sign here,” Lizzie said as she pulled out a contract that seemingly manifested from the Grimoire in the form of a card, “If you do not agree, please step through the Garden entrance and leave, but I must warn you once you leave your memories of this conversation will be erased.” Lizzie finished sternly. The others that are there with Lizzie start to think about whether they should leave or stay, well everyone except the wonderlandian of course, “We, the wonderlandians, agree to your terms Lizzie.” And like that, all the wonderlandians gave their signature on the card Lizzie gave them.

The others took a while, but they had also decided to sign the agreement, making it so that Cedar, Cerise, Hunter, Madeline, Kitty, Bunny and Alastair are bound and unable to speak a word of this with anyone, “Good, just so you know. This is magically binding.” Lizzie informed them, “Well then, let’s begin. Raven is safe where she is and she shouldn’t have a single problem or trouble there. But, before I continue, has any of you ever heard about some place called Twisted Wonderland?” Lizzie asked. The others shook their heads or gave their spoken denial of knowing or even hearing of a place, “As I had thought,” Lizzie mumbled under her breath, “Then I know where to begin,

Long, long ago, so far back in the past that it could be considered ancient before the Storybook of Legends ever even existed. Ever After was a part of a much larger world called Twisted Wonderland. Back then before the Storybook was ever created everyone made their destinies based on their choices and will, never because of the past. Of course, there are times when even reality is stranger than fiction, and that is fine. The stories that are popular today were based on real events back then, but they were different, as the stories you know today have been changed and twisted because of rumours.

Most of the more important parts are still the same, but the reasoning behind their actions and what happened behind the ‘scenes’ have been changed and altered beyond recognition. Let’s take the story of Snow White for example. In the past or the original story, it more or less went like this. Snow White’s father the King of the kingdom of Germonia is a widower, his wife, the Queen died during childbirth and while he was saddened at her death he knew he had to keep on going as he not only has a kingdom to run, but now a daughter to raise.

However, he did decide to remarry as he could not bear the thought of his daughter Snow White growing up motherless. So, he held a ball to find his new Queen and he did find a new Queen. Her name was Grimhilde, she was a beautiful woman who had all the boys vying for her attention. He chose her, not only because she was beautiful, but because she was also both intelligent and quick-witted. Snow White needs a proper role model after all.

The years pass and Snow White grows more and more beautiful with each passing year, the Queen isn’t jealous of Snow White’s beauty, she doesn’t covet it either. She was too busy managing the kingdom as the king, Snow White’s father had died years earlier because of overwork. On the other hand, Snow White did see Queen Grimhilde as her role model like the king had hoped all those years ago, but Snow White’s awe for Grimhilde was bordering on obsession.

At first, it wouldn’t be noticeable as a child following their parent everywhere is a normal thing, and Grimhilde treated Snow White as if she was her daughter, so it wasn’t a shock. However, as the years go by Snow White continues to follow Grimhilde everywhere and starts to slowly, but surely covet Grimhilde’s attention only on her. Snow White was the definition of a Green Tea bitch. Snow White tries so hard to act in a way that would make Grimhilde put her full attention on her but nothing works.

Because of this, she decides to ‘protect’ Grimhilde from the shadows and kill anyone who dares to covet her attention and love. She acted kind and naïve on the surface, but she was, in actuality, scheming on how to get rid of all the people who covet Grimhilde’s attention too much. Grimhilde at first did not think much about the disappearances of certain officials seeing as nearly half of the officials within the kingdom are corrupt and she has been trying to find a way to get rid of them, so if some were to disappear then she wouldn’t complain.

Then things start to get out of hand when Snow White realises that a large number of these people covet Grimhilde’s attention because of her beauty, so she starts to train herself to be even more beautiful than Grimhilde. Grimhilde, who from the very beginning is a very vain person, had seen Snow White’s potential to be even more beautiful than her. So, when she found out that Snow White was starting to train herself to become even more beautiful than she is now.

She was ecstatic, Grimhilde knew that sooner or later Snow White could surpass her in terms of beauty and did not mind such a thing. Snow White was happily going along with whatever Grimhilde said, all while acting like the most naïve and innocent princess of all. After all, so long as she has Grimhilde’s attention she could care less for the reason of such a thing. 

Things only started to truly downhill when Grimhilde after so long finally managed to completely reform the Kingdom of Germania for the better, so she decided to hold a ball and invited all the neighbouring kingdoms and allied kingdoms for the ball. A lot and I mean a lot of people came to the ball seeing as this is the first time that Grimhilde truly enjoyed herself in the ball rather than fake pleasantries so that she could make the kingdom better. She gained a large number of admirers.

This did not sit well with Snow White, so she began to make rumours. Rumours could ruin Grimhilde Queen if not careful, this is where the Snow White story that everyone knows began. Grimhilde found out who had started the rumours and punished Snow White accordingly as talking ill about the reigning ruler is considered treason. Snow White continued to act like a Green Tea bitch and because of the rumours, everyone, but the people of Germania believed.

You know what happened next more or less, Snow White was treated as a servant, the only reason she was mistreated even as a servant is because of her treason. The people of Germania love their Queen aka Grimhilde, so hearing Snow White, the crown princess and daughter of the late king, the people did not take it well. She then met her ‘prince charming’, and the Queen got ‘jealous’. The Queen does not get jealous, she is suspicious of what the Prince wants and does not want Snow White to escape her punishment by marrying the Prince.

Snow White then made it seem that the Queen ordered a hit on her by running away, causing the Queen to order her to be found and brought back to serve the rest of her punishment. Snow White found the dwarves, and the Queen found out where she stayed. The Queen tried to lure Snow White back without a fight, but it didn’t work and Snow White made it seem like the Queen was trying to kill her. The whole poisoned apple incident is not by the Queen but by Snow White herself.

The Queen gave a basket of apples to Snow White as one of the many peace offerings for Snow White to return home. Snow got the basket and none of the apples within said basket were poisoned. Snow White made the poison injected it into one of the apples and took a bite. Then the whole ‘true loves kiss’ happens, when the Prince is working together with Snow White and when he kisses her he also administers the antidote through said kiss.

And this is all just the beginning of the true history of Ever After.” Lizzie finished.

Chapter Text

Back in Twisted Wonderland, Raven and Crowley are still going through every room within the newly revamped Ramshackle Dorm, in case something had gone wrong with the spell, not realising what is going on outside. The 4 students of Diasmonia, Malleus, Lilia, Silver and Sebek had arrived in front of the newly revamped Ramshackle dorm and Nevermore who is currently sunbathing. They were shocked and even had to double-check in case they weren’t lost, after all the Ramshackle dorm looked nothing like what it used to.

It did not take long before they noticed Nevermore, “Is that the dragon you saw yesterday, Lilia, Sebek?”

“YES, YOUNG MASTER!”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

Nevermore opened one of her eyes when she heard the shouting wanting to see who was making such a loud noise. When she saw the Diasmonia gang she was about to go back to sunbathing before she realised one of them was a dragon fey most likely a descendant of Maleficent as from what Nevermore remembered Maleficent is the only dragon fey in existence.

So, she raised her head with a yawn and called Grim over, “Grim! Get over here!” The members of Diasmonia more specifically Sebek were arguing, on one side, with Silver about causing the dragon to awaken. “Myah! What is it?” Grim heard Nevermore’s call and immediately rushed over to her wondering why she called him, “Get the Mistress, she will want to meet him” Nevermore said as she pointedly looked at Malleus, “Myah? Why?” “Descendant of the Great 7?” “Oh, right. Alright, I’ll call her over.”

Malleus had focused himself on watching the jewelled dragon who was speaking with the odd cat while ignoring the bickering in the background, once the dragon finished talking with the odd cat, they proceeded to stare back at them curious but warry, ‘Understandable,’ he thought, ‘But, I wonder what they were talking about,’ he continued and proceeded to have a staring contest with the jewelled dragon.

Meanwhile, Grim had finally managed to find Raven and Crowley, “Myah! Mistress!!” “Grim?” she asked confused, picking Grim up as he drew near her, “What are you doing here?”

“Myah, there’s some people outside and Nevermore said that one of ‘em is a descendant of the something 7!”

“One of the descendants of the Great 7?”

“Yea! That.”

“Headmage, is it alright if we were to...”

“Of course, Your Majesty! Though I think I know which descendant it is.”

“Thank you, let’s go then Grim, Headmage.”

The trio made their way through the hallways and down the stairs to see these people one of them was a descendant of Raven. They soon reached the living room/lounge area and the entrance of the dorm.

Malleus sensed them before he saw them, being a fey had its perks one such perk is heightened senses. All 5 senses plus a 6 th one, the main ones and magical sense. He had luckily enough learned to turn off or dull these senses enough so that he doesn’t get information overload, however, there are times when even that isn’t enough. That means that whoever he senses is extremely powerful magic and even highly trained mages could pick up on their magical signature. Especially once they entered his range of sensory.

What he sensed was incredible, one of them he recognised as the Headmage and another as the odd cat he had seen talking to the dragon, but the 3 rd one was the one that caught his attention. It was as powerful as the top 5 most powerful mages in Twisted Wonderland, maybe not to the level of his grandmother or Hades, but to the younger ones of the top 5 excluding him this magic easily surpassed them and is nearly equal to his own.

From what he remembered his grandmother had told him that those that could match her and Hades or him and Hades’ descendants were the other descendants of the Great 7 and even then, 4 of them were weaker than the other 3, which 3 are these? Maleficent aka his grandmother, Hades and finally the Beautiful Queen. The other 4 aren’t known for their extensive knowledge of magic one way or another but for other reasons. While Maleficent, Hades and the Beautiful Queen who are known for different things are also highly revered because of their power.

If his grandmother is right which she always is, then the ‘Mistress’ the odd cat was talking about must be the descendant of the Beautiful Queen, because of this he concentrated intensely on this specific magical signature. Everyone would describe every magical signature differently, but in Malleus’s eyes, the descendant of the Beautiful Queen had a magical signature that looks dangerous and definitely could be dangerous and even vicious, but is truly soft, warry, tired and loyal to a fault.

The colour of the magical signature is purple-ish pink with hints of black, it looks like smoke, and fire in one and he could sense that once you earned the loyalty of whom the magic signature belongs then the magic will in response be welcoming in a way Malleus had only seen Hades and grandmother’s magic signature acted, “Remember Malleus, once someone’s magic becomes strong enough, there is a high chance for said magic to partially sentient, to be able to adapt to the user’s needs.” He distinctly remembered his grandmother’s lesson when it came to magic.

He let some of his magic interact with the other descendants, and the results were promising. At first, her magic became guarded, wary of this intruder. But, as they continued to interact with one another the other's magic became more and more friendly, slowly, but surely taking on a new form. Another lesson his grandmother had imparted to him was, “Once they become partially aware, they will soon be able to have a defined state. One’s spirit animal if you will, however only those that have earned the other's trust would be able to see such apparition.” He knows that his magic apparition is that of a dragon, so he wonders what hers shall be.

It seemed it had stopped forming, ‘Ah,’ he thought, ‘I must also gain the trust of the user to truly see one's inner magic. If that’s what must be done then let us wait until they appear from inside the building.’ By the time Malleus had finished scanning her magic, the rest of the Diasmonia group had also finished their argument and sensed her magic. Lilia especially is extremely curious about the own of the magic, when the sorting was happening, he wasn’t able to concentrate upon the presence of… Raven’s, if he wasn’t wrong, magic too many things were happening at the same time. And she seemed to be holding her magic back as if afraid of what others would do to her because of something.

It didn’t take long before the magic slowly but surely drew closer and as it did, Silver and Sebek soon sensed it too. They soon heard the door unlocking and finally opened. The first one to step out is the Headmage, he holds the door open for someone inside the building they can see that this person is carrying the odd cat from before, wearing the official NRC uniform except with a skirt.

They saw the Headmage say something to the person still in the building and slightly covered by the shadows of the building, before they could get a closer look the jewelled dragon finally stood and walked towards the entrance and covered the view with their large body. They could barely see anything, all they could see was the mysterious person finally exiting the building and seeming to be talking with the jewelled dragon. Malleus did not know how long he had been staring at the dragon before they finally moved!

Chapter Text

As the jewelled dragon moved Malleus started to see the owner of the magical signature that he had been sensing and it was as if time itself had stopped. Malleus did not know whether his heart had stopped or even if he had stopped breathing at that very moment, but he didn’t care. Something deep within him, his dragon instincts, maybe, is screaming telling him that she is the one and he can’t help but agree.

Now, he can see her and she is beautiful. She is the exact copy of the Beautiful Queen and yet something about her makes it so that she is even more beautiful than the Beautiful Queen. Her skin seemed to glow under the sun and her hair, and eyes seemed to be a reflection of her magic itself. She is talking with the jewelled dragon, before realising that she has guests and gazing towards them. She seemed to scan them over before she smiled at them and Malleus swore that his heart skipped a beat.

As Malleus is in his little world, Raven has finally finished talking with Nevermore and finally decides to approach the Diasmonia gang. She smiled as she did so, once she was face to face with them, she introduced herself, “My name is Raven Queen, may I have the pleasure of knowing yours?”

“Ah, what a polite youngster. My name is Lilia Vanrouge, young one.”

“My name is Silver.”

“MY NAME IS SEBEK ZIGVOLT, LADY RAVEN.”

“Good day, my lovely lady. My name is Malleus Draconia, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Malleus said after breaking out of his little moment for introductions and proceeded to introduce himself in a princely manner, even bowing and taking Raven’s hand to kiss it.

And Raven is flattered, as much as Ever After had the technology and moved onto new trends, one of the few trends that stood strong, no matter how old it is, is ‘Gentleman/Prince Charming’ especially for the girls. And Raven knew that she would never be able to experience such a thing because she’s the ‘Daughter of the Evil Queen’. So, for Malleus to do such a thing flattered Raven greatly.

Lilia, meanwhile, is staring, processing this scene that just happened in front of him, you can physically see the loading bar buffering a few times on top of his head, before a lightbulb pops on top of his head, ‘Oh! Oh hohohoho, well, well, well what do we have here~’ thought Lilia. Internally, Lilia has started to cackle, an evil witchy cackle in absolute glee. Externally, he just smiles happy to see that Malleus is finally able to make friends, “Well, Sir Malleus-”

“Please, just Malleus.”

“Alright then, I have a feeling you wish to meet me to confirm my status as a Descendant?”

“Yes, and I have a feeling so do you.”

“Of course, then shall we call upon the Grimoire?”

“It would be best to do so, after all, the Grimoire will not accept anything less than their associated bloodline.”

With a smirk, both Raven and Malleus summoned respectively the Grimoire of the Baneful Queen and the Grimoire of the Darkest Fae.

Malleus and Raven both know that the Grimoire can be summoned by anyone who knows about them or knows the chant to call them, but opening it is a completely different story. As they will only open to the descendants of the Baneful Queen and Darkest Fae respectively. And with another glance at each other, they both simultaneously opened their respective Grimoire. The grin on both Raven and Malleus’ face is now very much visible and wide.

“It is wonderful to meet another descendant that knows of one's origin, Lady Raven.”

“Please, just Raven is fine. And it is quite a relief to know that at least one of the descendants that is within this world knows of their origin.”

“Ah, you are talking about the lost descendants, yes?”

“Yes, the descendants on my side of things are that of the Queen of Hearts and the Sea Witch.”

“So, that means 3 descendants are within Twisted Wonderland?”

“Yes, though I think they are within this very school, after all, no matter how sealed or forgotten the bloodline may be, so much so that the Mirror may not be able to sense it. It will still unconsciously call for the bloodlines.”

“Hmm, I may have someone that may be the descendant of Hades, as for the other 2 it will be harder as their physical features aren’t as defined as flaming blue hair.”

“Quite right.”

Raven and Malleus smiled happy with the confirmation of certain information. They smiled happily and began discussing possibilities of who the other descendants may be. While Malleus told Raven about the possible descendant of Hades, Idia Shroud, Dorm Head of Ignihyde. After getting over the shock of the confirmation that Raven is the Descendant of the Beautiful Queen, the rest of the Diasmonia gang joined in on the conversation between Malleus and Raven offering their theories to the possible descendants.

“I must say, it is quite nice to finally have someone another descendant that finally knows of their family history here in Twisted Wonderland.”

“Thank you, Lilia. Correct?”

“Why, yes, Lady Raven.”

“Try to call my name without any formalities if possible.”

“Sure, Raven.”

“Though I am quite curious about the situation of things on your side of the world Raven.”

“Ah, it wouldn’t hurt to explain somethings…” And, so Raven did.

“Hmm, not shocked at how Milton barely changed, though Giles is an interesting development.”

“It seems I was right you aren’t as young as you looked.”

“Oh, you noticed it.”

“It’s hard not to especially when a descendant is here in this school Lady Maleficent wouldn’t have sent them without any sort of protection.”

“Quite right. Now, then we better get going. We still need to show Sebek around the school!”

“Ah, alright see you all soon.”

“SEE YOU SOON, LADY RAVEN.”

“See you around, Lady Raven.”

“I hope to see you soon, Milady. With hope that our next meeting will be as wonderful as our first.” With a bow and another kiss on top of Raven’s hand, Malleus left with the rest of the Diasmonia crew.

After they left, Raven’s demeanour instantly changed she went from a proper princess to a blushing schoolgirl whose crush just noticed them. Her face is so extremely red, she buried her face into her hands and nearly screamed into said hands, “Crowley, is it alright if I were to return to Pomfiore for the day?” “Of course, My Lady. See you!” And just like that Crowley vanished.

Raven herself snatched Grim into her arms, “Nevermore, are you coming?” Grim replied, “Myah, she said she’ll stay.” “Thank you, Grim.” Raven then teleported immediately from Ramshackle into her Pomfiore dorm room. Where she put Grim down and immediately fell face-first onto her bed and screamed into her pillow.

Chapter Text

“Well, well, well, Malleus~ It seems you have found someone~” Lilia teased.

“I do not understand what you mean Lilia,” Malleus replied.

“Oh, please. Do not think one can fool me, out of all beings. You have fallen for young Raven.” Lilia stated, “And I shall be informing Lady Maleficent of this development.”

“WAKA-SAMA! I AM MOVED TO TEARS THAT YOU HAVE CHOOSE SOMEONE WORTHY AS YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE!” Sebek screamed, crying anime tears.

“Oh ohohohoh, time to tell Lady Maleficent!” Lilia schemed.

“Lilia, no! Sebek, do not tell anyone about this.” Malleus hissed.

“Too late~,” Lilia said as she was holding a crystal ball used for quick communication between the older generation of Faes and sent Maleficent the new info. As this happened Silver had already dozed off surrounded by creatures of all kinds. While Malleus and Lilia played keep away with the crystal ball and Sebek is crying anime tears.

This debacle between Lilia and Malleus went back and forth for a bit before a reply came from Lady Maleficent, “Malleus, I am glad to see that you found your one, and I am also ecstatic that another descendant that knows of their line has returned to Twisted Wonderland. If I am not wrong the earliest event that shall allow me to enter Night Raven College would be the Interdorm Spelldrive Tournament if I am not mistaken. I would love to meet her then.” Malleus froze while Lilia’s smile widened, “Oh ho ho ho~ Well, it seems that we are getting a Princess to call our own soon~”

“Lilia!” Malleus hissed, before proceeding to throw a bit of a tantrum with lightning and all falling from the skies.

“Oh, don’t be such a child. You know that Lady Maleficent would have found out sooner rather than later, it’s best to inform her now rather than later.” Lilia easily replied.

“That is true,” Malleus lamented.

Back to Raven,

Raven still has her face attached to her pillow. She rolled over and lay on her back clutching the pillow. She stared at the ceiling before groaning, ‘Ugh, why did I have to react like that?! Malleus is nice, and he acted so gentlemanly with me. I can already feel the telltale signs of a crush forming, but at the same time… something else within me seems to resonate with him.’ Raven sat up from her previous position and summoned her family Grimoire.

‘I remember my mother teaching me about Maleficent’s bloodline. And I know I read it at some point, where is it?’ Raven scoured through the pages of her Grimoire before finally finding the page about Maleficent and her bloodline, ‘Let’s see, skip the biography and straight to the bloodline and family section. And… here it is.’ Raven smiled, happy to have found the page she was looking for, ‘Alright, let’s see what it says.’ On the page, it read,

‘Maleficent is one of the last of her kind, she is a special kind of fae, a Dragon Fae. One of the rarest faes to date. The Dragon Faes are powerful and talented, and most of the time the only way to defeat them is for them to allow you to defeat them. Like all faes, Dragon Faes live for a long time except one should never put Dragon Faes under the same category as other faes. Dragon Faes live much longer than any other faes in existence. If normal faes could live up to over ten thousand years, then Dragon Faes could easily live over one hundred thousand years.

However, this does not mean that dragon faes are alone in their endeavour. Every Dragon Fae in existence has its partner and opposite simultaneously. The Phoenix Faes are the partner and other half, yet also the opposite of the Dragon Faes. And just like Dragon Faes, Phoenix Faes are extremely rare. Dragon and Phoenix Faes complete and also oppose one another. If there are only two Dragon Faes in existence then there could only be two Phoenix Faes in existence to balance them out and vice versa.

A Phoenix Fae can be everything and anything to a Dragon Fae from rivals, lovers, friends, partners in crime, and even soulmates, and the list goes on. The only Dragon Faes known are currently Maleficent and any descendant she may have, while Phoenix Faes are different. While the Phoenix Fae bloodline exists it has gone extinct long before Maleficent became the last of the Dragon Faes. Now, the only way to find a Phoenix Fae is by recognition deep within the soul of the Dragon and Phoenix Fae.

They will either automatically be drawn to each other or repel one another, depending on each pair of Dragon and Phoenix Fae. Never try to deny the pull or the push, the pair can control whether they shall be friends, lovers, or enemies. But, never try to deny any connection you may have and if you suspect anything, meet the other half and chant this spell.

ɖཞąƈơŋɛʂ ɛɬ ℘ɧơɛŋıƈɛʂ ąŋɬıզųı.

ąŋıɱąɛ ɛɬ ʂ℘ıཞıɬųʂ ıŋɬɛཞ ŋơʂ ɛɬ ƈıཞƈą ŋơʂ

ąųɖı ɛɬ ąɬɬɛŋɖɛ ۷ơƈąɬıơŋɛɱ ŋơʂɬཞąɱ.

ɖıཞıɠɛ ɛɬ ơʂɬɛŋɖɛ ŋơცıʂ ۷ɛཞıɬąɬɛɱ.’

Well, that’s quite interesting. Wonder if that’ll be useful. Anyways Raven scanned over the pages a few more times before closing the Grimoire, ‘Well, that was enlightening. I don’t know if it’s just my magic finally finding someone equal to themselves and kinda being in the same generation/age or whatever the Grimoire said. I’ll have to wait and see. For now, let’s explore the dorms so that I know where to go when I need it.’ She banished her Grimoire.

Raven hung her legs on the edge of the bed before standing up, and changing into her dorm uniform with a snap of her fingers and her magic she checked up on Grim who decided to go with her. She exited her room and started to explore the dorm. Like Vil had said the second to the fifth floor, which is where her room is, are all dorm rooms for the students. While the first floor was the largest floor amongst the others. There was a dining hall and multiple lounge rooms on this floor. There is also a library that seems to extend upwards and downwards with multiple cubicles, tables and chairs for learning. Multiple potion rooms aren't exactly within the dorm building. And finally down in the basement is where they keep the more volatile and animal-produced potion ingredients.

As Raven, she finally managed to find her way to the indoor courtyard where the Pomfiore students exercise to keep in shape. The indoor courtyard is split into two halves, one is an indoor Gym with all the equipment an indoor Gym needs and has, some of them were very advanced, and the other half is a large open-ish field for track racing or spell practice with the field being set up for a specific sport that is popular all over Twisted Wonderland. Said sport is Spelldrive, the most popular sport in all of Twisted Wonderland. Currently, the indoor field is being used for normal exercises, like running, stretching and simple spell practices.

Raven seems to blink twice suddenly realising that the pens with gems they carry around weren’t just some sort of decoration. It was a wand of some kind, she watched as they used their pens? wands? to cast their spells. She then saw Vil watching over the training alongside another blonde who was wearing a wide-brimmed light brown hat with a dark brown band and a large white feather on the left side. She decided to ask them about the pen-wand thing.

Chapter Text

As Raven approached Vil and the blonde next to him, the other members of Pomfiore started to notice her and began staring at her in awe. After all, news travels fast, she is one of the descendants of The Great Seven and for Pomfiore, she will always be the greatest descendant as she is the descendant of the Beautiful Queen. It didn’t take long before Vil also noticed her and instantly began approaching her with the other blonde following him. “Princess Raven, is there anything we can help you with?” Vil asked. While the other blonde seems to vibrate in place as if he wishes to say something, but cannot.

“Uh, is he ok?” Raven asked looking concerned at the other blonde.

“He’s fine, he’s just holding himself as he can a bit much at first,” Vil replied.

“Oh, it’s ok. I’ve been getting used to this place. Don’t hold yourself back because of me.” Raven replied. And that was all it took.

“Oh Mademoiselle, Princesse Raven, you truly are as kind as Vil spoke you to be and just as beautiful. Ah, you are just magnificue! Your aura, your elegance and even your magic are all truly on another level!” The other blonde screamed to the high heavens with dramatics and sparkles surrounding him. Raven could only blink before letting a light blush decorate her cheeks in embarrassment.

“Ah, thank you… uh…” Raven spoke nervously.

“Oh! How could I forget to introduce myself? My name is Rook Hunt Princesse Raven.” Rook spoke as he bowed dramatically towards her even taking off his hat.

“Ah, thank you, Rook,” Raven spoke.

“Now, that’s over with. Well, Princess? Did you need anything?”

“Ah! I was going to ask, what’s with the pen-wand thing you guys use?”

“You… don’t use yours?” Vil asked startled

“No, I see no use for them,” Raven replied shaking her head.

“Right, you're the descendant of the Beautiful Queen your magic is different from ours,” Vil mumbled.

“This,” Vil gestured to the pen, “Is a magic pen, it is considered to be both a pen and a wand for us. It helps us control, conduct and regulate our magic. Not everyone has magic strong enough to be used without one. Before one enters their respective chosen college they usually don’t use magic and only learn how to do so during college with the help of the magic pens, once one is strong enough they can try to make their wand or staff to help them with their magic.”

“Oh, I see,”

“Have you never used one Princesse Raven?”

“No, never used one. Ever since I was a child I was trained to use magic without a wand or conductor of any kind. My family line believes that a conductor of magical energy should only be used when one uses it for larger or more complicated spells. Relying on a wand or conductor could become a bad habit. Like a wheelchair, if one relies on it too much and doesn’t use their legs then their legs would soon become useless and weak.”

Nobody knew how to answer that as Raven was right, a large- no, nearly all the mages living in Twisted Wonderland rely too much on their respective wands or conductors. Nearly none of them could use magic without a wand or conductor, only a select few could. It was a problem that the kingdoms of Twisted Wonderland wished to solve but did not know how to solve it or where to even begin. 

“Princess Raven, how were you taught then?” Vil decided to ask

“Well, first would be meditation. To find the core of your magic, and slowly draw that magic from your core to the surface, so you can use it. But, don’t push yourself too far cause that could lead to an injury on your magic. Start slow, meditate, find your core, then find out more about it try everything you can think of to make the magic in your core move, and once it moves slowly, but surely stretch it further and further, until you can call upon it nearly instinctively.”

“And how does one know when to stop?”

“Well, it’ll start to be hard to pull. Once you can move the magic in your core it’ll be like water easy to move with nearly no resistance whatsoever. But, then after some time, your magic will get heavier and harder to move, once you can no longer move your magic that’s when you stop.”

“I see… and after that?”

“You’ll have to do this until you can move your magic as easily as you are breathing before moving to the next step. Even after you reach that level, doing the meditation would not be a bad thing as while this is the first step it is also the most important as you are also stretching your magic, your magic is like muscle, the more you stretch it, the larger the pool of magic you can get. I still do the meditation once a week. But, after that would be even harder. Once you get the hang of it pulling your magic into the surface of your body isn’t hard, trying to pull or push it out of your body is another.”

“Could you describe it to us?”

“The world is filled with magic and you are filled with magic too, your magic and the world's magic interact the same way as the air in your lungs and the air outside of your lungs. However, to pull or push it out of your body to use it means you have to combine your magic with the worlds, trying to push your magic forcefully without combining it with the worlds is equivalent to trying to fight all the air in the world with the air in your lungs, you’ll lose, badly. When you use spells whether it be with a wand or wandless, you combine the magic in you and the magic in the world to create spells. Wands naturally gather the world's magic into themselves and you just need to push or pull your magic into the wand. Wands help you pull on your magic by becoming a focus. It helps that they are made of material that can conduct magic, when you use a wand you focus on that wand and unconsciously you push your magic into the wand. Because, again, you are focused on the wand being the only ‘way out’ for you to release your magic.”

“That is very interesting, so you are taught this?”

“Yes, once I was old enough to read, write, talk, walk and understand, they began teaching me this.”

“What would happen if perhaps we didn’t combine our magic with the world’s magic?”

“Your spell explodes in your face or backfires in some way or another.”

“Then how does magic with the help of a magic pen still explode or fail if we’re not careful, you said that a wand gathers the world’s magic naturally.”

“Well, the balance of magic, it’s like cooking, too much salt or too much pepper could ruin the food same with spells. Too much of the world’s magic and too little of your own would make the spell weak or not as strong as you would like. Too little of the world’s magic and too much of your own could cause the spell to backfire. Spell incantations or shouting what you wish to do with your magic helps our magic and the world’s magic find the equilibrium for the spell since we let the world know of our intent for the spell.”

“Intent?”

“Intent is another part of magic, magic can do many things things that are even considered miracles or impossible. We shape the magic and use it to our intent or wishes. It’s similar to a pen, the pen may have the ink, but you control what the pen writes, you intend the pen to write or draw or doodle or anything. But, it is all based on what you want to do with the pen, not the pen itself.”

“I see…” Vil trailed off having just been educated in the ways of magic he never knew was possible, he thought he already knew everything about magic and yet Raven came in and explained what she knew about magic and just proceeded to turn everyone’s perception of magic on its head. Destroying their previous worldview.

Chapter Text

That was quite the lesson they had just experienced during the time that Raven was explaining what she knew about magic the people around her who were training, stopped curious about her explanation and well, they did not regret it. However, they were questioning everything about their lives up to this point. Finally, Rook decided to be kinder to their poor minds and decided to change the subject, “Princesse Raven, may I ask what sports are popular where you are from?”

“Sports? Well, there are 2 very popular sports from Ever After. There’s Bookball where it's kinda like rugby, but the ball is a book.”
“That doesn’t sound so fun compared to Spelldrive.” Vil continued.

“Spelldrive?”

“Yes, Spelldrive is the most popular sport in all of Twisted Wonderland where the team is allowed to use magic and brooms, we need to score into the opposite team's hoops. The ball is a disc and no hands are allowed to touch the disc just magic and you can also use magic to try and stop the opposite team from trying to score.”

“Huh, sounds pretty cool. The other sport I’m talking about is Dragon Games.”

“Oh?” the entire courtyard listened closely curious why the sport was called Dragon Games.

“It’s similar to Spelldrive except for a few changes. One rather than on broom back we’re riding on dragon back. The ball is still a ball and finally, the one with the ball needs to fly into a gem hologram before scoring through the hoop of the opposite team. Each gem gives a different point. And if the opposite team manages to steal the ball the point resets. No spell throwing is allowed, however.”

“That is quite interesting, have you ever played it, Princess Raven?”

“I have and it is quite hexciting. The Dragon Games was shut down for some time however as dragons are rare beings it’s only recently that they have been reinstated. I do wonder if the dragons are alright, however.”

“Oh? Why are you worried Princesse Raven? Dragons are magnifique creatures and can hold their own.”

“I know they can. It’s just that I don’t trust anyone back in my old school to know how to care for dragons.”

“Oh? Would you care to elaborate Princesse?”

“If you are fine with hearing it.”

“Why wouldn’t we? Dragons are magnificent creatures and extremely rare too.”

“Alright, as you have said dragons are rare creatures, extremely powerful, but rare. No creature in this world magical or not starts that strong, they have a childhood and grow as they experience things. Dragons are most vulnerable during the time they are in their eggs or when they are hatchlings until fledgeling which is when they learn how to fly. Most of the dragons that have been discovered are usually already juvenile. Dragon eggs until fledgeling dragons are hard to find in the wild or domesticated. As dragons take a long time before they can lay an egg.”

“From what you have explained, all the dragons should be about adolescents then as they can all fly and carry people?”

“They are, but they are only at that stage of growing and only because my mother used a permanent growth potion on them.”

“That’s dangerous, potions that do any sort of magical time-lapse of any kind can have intense side effects!”

“They do. Unsurprisingly, a growth potion dosage for dragons and humans is different because of this the growth potion effects weren’t as permanent as she thought. While they attained the memories and abilities they only gained during adolescence even after the potion effect wore off, their instincts and body reflected that of a baby dragon. No one in my school knows how to care for baby dragons, no one, but me. Before the potion effect wore off, every dragon had their rider or caretaker at the very least, but after the effects wore off, the riders and caretakers could no longer care for them because they didn't know how to.”

“Meaning that you are their only caretaker? And because you're here, you are worried about them.”

“Yes, of course, I am not their only caretaker, but I am their main one. They still have their mother Legend, but she is also a busy dragon and can't be with them as often as preferred.”

“Well, I’m sure they'll be fine Princesse Raven. After all, you must have had some system in caring for them.” Rook comforted Ravena as she fretted.

“You're not wrong, I did teach some of the students and faculty how to care for them in case I got too busy,” Raven replied.

“Well then, Princesse Raven do not be too worried over it then, I am sure they are doing a wonderful job.” Rook continued.

“Thank you, Rook,” Raven replied, smiling.

“Ah right before I forget, Epele!” Vil shouted.

“Yes, Vil?” A purple-haired short feminine boy rushed over to them at Vil’s shout.

“Princess, this is Epele, he is a first-year like you and I wish for you to try your best to stick by him as I worry something may happen to you.” Vil cautioned.

“Uh sure Vil, thank you.”

“Princess, it’s great to finally meet you. My name’s Epele.” Epele finishing with a slight bow.

Raven cannot help but cringe smiling awkwardly at Epele. She knows that Epele is a first-year like her and from what she can see and hear, he isn’t used to the manners of the more proper kind. His accent is still very obvious and his bow and posture were way off. She knows that he’s still learning, but the Princess and Queen in her cannot help, but wince and wince hard.

Raven shook her head slightly trying to ignore Epele’s learning of courtly mannerisms, and did her best to be polite. It was then that Raven noticed something odd, she could not feel a single familiar bond with anyone here. At first, she had thought that everyone here was extremely powerful and just hadn’t found their familiar yet. Now, she wasn’t so sure. Some were more or less average and she couldn’t sense a familiar bonded to them, she was confused. While in Ever After familiar bonds aren’t seen as something important unless you have magic, they are still considered a requirement for anyone who goes to school at EAH, “I have another question…”

“Yes, Princess what is it?”

“Uh, why don’t you guys have familiars?”

“Familiars, Princesse?”

“Yeah, familiars.”

“Familiars are considered a luxury and a pain here, Princess. As we would have to take care of them and care for them as they are our pets.”

“Oh, that’s odd.”

“Why is it odd, Princesse?”

“On my side and by my family familiars are considered a necessity while we must take care of them. They also help us get rid of all magical waste we magicians or sorceresses may produce.” Raven explained.

“Did you say magical waste, Princesse?”

“Yes, is something wrong?”

Vil and Rook glanced at each other and seemed to be communicating through their eyes while Epele seemed nervous and very nervous as if something she just said was worrying.