From the Ashes (A School for Good and Evil Fanfic)

Part 14

It seemed like so long ago that Anadil and her friends had left Camelot, although it had only been a couple of weeks. She hadn't realized how much she missed those days as a side character in a bigger story, with more friends and allies to help with their complicated problems. Now, walking into the guided halls of the castle, a feeling of longing hit her like a slap in the face.

"Hester! Anadil! Dot!" Agatha exclaimed, rushing down the winding steps to the next floor. "I'm so glad you could make it!" She glanced at Ash. "Although you surely have a lot to explain."

"All you need to know now is that those charges on Ash's head are false," Hester huffed as Dot tackled Agatha in a hug. "And 'Ingerthorn' isn't really a kingdom."

Agatha nodded. "I'll make sure to get the rest of the story out of you later," she warned. There was a loud crash from upstairs. Agatha looked up nervously. "That would be the decorating crew."

*** 

A few hours later, Agatha led the three witches into a lavish banquet hall, complete with crystal goblets, long, mahogany tables, and a large sign with calligraphy letters that read: “Happy Birthday Sophie!” and in smaller print at the bottom: “And Agatha!” Framing the sign were murals from The Tale of Sophie and Agatha, most displaying Sophie’s most iconic moments. Students from the School for Good and Evil, as well as graduates from their own class sat at the tables, dressed in their most elegant clothing. Anadil felt as if she had stepped back in time to Sophie’s party in her school, right before they had all learned about Chaddick’s death.

Sophie herself stepped down from her own table, elevated above all of the others.

“My darlings!” she exclaimed dramatically, high heels clicking on the floor. She was dressed in the most extravagant gown of them all, which had a train that trailed four feet behind her and was wide enough to trip three people at once. It was also a nauseating shade of bubblegum pink. “I’m so glad you could come!” she continued, pulling them into a group hug. Anadil and Hester gagged, both at the affection and the overwhelming scent of Sophie’s perfume.

“I knew you would do great with the invitations!” Sophie gushed to Agatha after she had pulled away. “Look at all of the RSVPs! And you complained so much about it!” She looked back at the witches. “Although you three don’t look very dressed up for the occasion. What message are you trying to send with that outfit? It looks like Evil’s school uniform! Before I made it better, that is.”

“It is Evil’s school uniform,” Hester informed her. “Don’t worry, it’s washed.”

“Well, I can fix that!” She waves her arm, and suddenly the three of them are wearing elegant dresses, each in a different shade of pink. “Hmm…If only I could do something about the hair too, and the makeup…”

“I think I might throw up,” Hester grumbled, conjuring back her own clothes. “Seriously, don’t you know how much I hate pink?”

“Same,” Anadil agreed, conjuring away her own dress. 

“Well, I like it!” Dot chimed, spinning around. Her dress was a shade of very light pink, off the shoulders and flowing to the ground.

“Fine, suit yourselves,” Sophie huffed. “But don’t think you’ll be wearing that to my wedding.”

“Wedding?” 

“Of course!” Sophie said, leading them to her table. “It’ll be next month. He proposed last week, and we started planning the day after.”

“Of course you did.”

“And who’s this?” Sophie had noticed Ash, standing behind Hester with an absolutely terrified expression on his face. “Looks a bit familiar…” Her face lit up. “Is he your adopted son? Aw, he’s so cute!”

Ash’s expression turns mortified. “Cute?”

"And I didn't know you two were together! Congratulations!" Sophie smiled idiotically.

"Excuse me?" Hester asked.

"You and Anadil," Sophie said as she sat down, as if it were obvious. "I knew you'd confess your undying love at some point."

"What?" Hester sputtered, her face as red as her demon. "I'm not--We're not--"

"We're not together," Anadil finished. She was just as mortified as Hester was, just much, much better at hiding it. "As for Ash, it's a long, complicated story. We'll tell you when we're not around so many people." Anadil sat down, smoothing her silk napkin across her lap.

"Back to pointless denial, then," Sophie sighed. "I never did anything like this when I fell in love."

"That's not entirely true," Agatha pointed out.

Anadil glanced at Dot, who wasn't even bothering to hide that she was snickering.

"What's so funny?" She snapped.

"You two are such idiots," Dot laughed. Anadil rolled her eyes.

The party was just as horrible as Anadil had imagined, listening to Sophie gush about Hort and her new adoptive daughter and Tedros drone about Camelot politics. Dot actually fell asleep with her head smashed into her cucumber soufflé.

"Why did we decide to come here  again?" Anadil whispered to Hester as Sophie showed everyone professionally painted portraits of her and Hort.

"'Supporting our friends' or something," Hester replied. "I honestly regret it."

"Same."

There was a loud knock on the wooden doors, loud enough to be heard by everyone at the party. The room fell silent. Dot lifted her head out of the soufflé.

"Who's there?" Sophie squeaked.

The doors swung open slowly, revealing a hooded figure standing behind them. Ash gasped, tugging on Hester's sleeve.

"It's Scar Face," he whispered frantically. "The Society's top assassin. I'm sure of it. They've come for me. I've put you all in danger." Before the witches could do anything, he stood, facing the hooded figure.

"I'm here," he declared. "Don't hurt any of these people. I'll come with you willingly."

Hester stood beside him. "No, you will not be taking him," she growled. "I'm done with your games."

"Why does the Society need him so badly anyways?" Anadil added. "He's just a little boy."

Little boy?" the figure chuckles. "Is that what he told you?" 

Ash pushes past Hester and toward the figure, holding out his arms.

"Why would you give up so easily?" the figure said. "After what it cost you to leave?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Ash stammered. 

"Didn't you hear?" there is a nasty edge to the voice behind the cloak. "Your mother is dead. Just like we warned would happen if you stepped out of line."

"I hate you!" Ash yelled, running toward the figure and punching them in the face. The figure didn't resist. "I hate all of you!"

"Oh, young Ash," the figure sighed. "You have to learn--" They cried out, a blast of magic throwing them across the room. Ash stalked toward them, his hands trembling and his eyes burning with rage. Without a word, he held out an arm and blasted the figure to dust.

Sophie screamed. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" She spun to the witches. "YOU GUYS BROUGHT A MONSTER INTO MY CASTLE!"

"We'll, technically it's my castle," Tedros corrected. "But you know, same difference."

Ash backed toward the door horrified. "You're...you're right. I am a monster. I'm sorry." 

"Ash," Hester warned as backed closer to the door. He turned and ran, out of the room, through the foyer and into the dark woods.