The Last Ever After (SGE Fanfic)

Third Time's The Charm (+ Bonus Section)

Sophie walked slowly down the dungeon again. Her delicate black glass slippers were covered in grime, only this time, it wasn't as noticeable. The corset seemed to let her breathe easier, and her dress was just as fashionable as before... only, it wasn't pink. She smiled grimly. This time, it'd work.

She'd tried to come back down, but found that she couldn't. After muttering to herself for twenty minutes, she'd found enough courage to descend down the dungeon. Sophie found that her fears were silly; what was so frightening about a dungeon, anyway? Certainly not the rats that skittered by, and it wasn't the blood that dripped off the walls. Actually, Sophie found, it was a very pleasant sight. And the echoes of moans from down below, she didn't mind that at all.

The girl was sleeping when she arrived at the room. Sophie sighed loudly. What a rude little girl. She concentrated hard, her finger glowing pink, and then smiled. Then, with a scream, the girl woke up, her arms flailing to regain her balance. She was floating in the air by only two feet, and yet she was upside down, startled and terrified.

"It's not nice to ignore a princess's presence," Sophie said in a neutral voice. The girl stared at her with wide eyes. Sophie sighed again. With a wave of her hand, the girl came to earth with a crash. Blinking hard with tears, the girl brushed her hair out of her eyes to look at the girl in front of her.

"Now," Sophie said, with a sweet smile that didn't quite manage to reach her cold eyes, "Why don't you tell me where your parents hid the Storian."

"I - I - " the girl babbled, overcome with fear. "I don't know - "

Sophie giggled lightly, the sound of an innocent girl. "Well, you wouldn't be here if you didn't know, would you?"

"I - " the girl stood up angrily. "I would never tell a witch like you!"

Sophie blinked, the only sign that she was startled, before conjuring up another smile. "But, dear, I'm not a witch. I'm just a girl, like you. And there wouldn't be any harm that would happen to your family if you told me... that's a good girl... just let it out..."

Her finger glowed brighter.

The girl's eyelids lowered, and she slowly sat down on the ground. She began to say, in a muffled voice, "Before he came to our house, my parents talked for a long time. They were worried - and so after a few days, they decided to - "

But the girl paused, her eyes suddenly alert, and she stared suspiciously at Sophie, who hastily covered her finger. Not fast enough, though, as the girl's eyes lingered on her midsection before turning her face away.

"Yes, you were saying that your parents decided to..." she trailed off. Something told Sophie it was hopeless now; something had happened. Something to make even the darkest magic lose Sophie's hold on the girl.

The girl's mouth pressed together to a thin line, before she spat angrily, "Stop putting your spells on me! It's not working!"

Sophie opened her mouth to say something kind, something, anything -

She met the eyes of the girl; they were emerald green.

Sophie jerked back, voice starting in a scream -

The eyes that looked just like hers. The eyes that looked at her with so much contempt. They shifted, moved, but always at the end, they came back to her, burning into her with an intensity that, even with everything she'd ever seen - the Trial by Tale, the Wolf, Tedros and Agatha together - frightened her.

Sophie let out a deep breath, composing herself in less than a second. The girl had seen it, though.

"So I was right." The girl seemed disappointed now, more downcast than angry. "You're working for him; you were Evil all along."