Never After (School for Good and Evil x Reader)

Chapter 36

"The irony of teaching is we often teach what we can no longer do. Though I have been teaching students for 115 years how to survive in the Endless Woods, I could hardly survive a day outside these gates anymore," the gnome said, no longer straining to disguise his voice. "When the Eviction happened, I needed to remain here safely until the balance was restored. Disguising as Helga was the only way. No one would ever find me out. No one would have a clue."

He glowered at Sophie, Agatha, and I, squished next to each other.

"But given what you've done to the rules of Good and Evil, I'm not surprised you're back to ruin the rules of Boys and Girls."

Sophie leaned to Agatha. "I really don't see how turning into gnomes ruins any—"

Agatha elbowed her and Sophie shut up.

Yuba slurped from his teacup and sat back in his rocking chair. "Gnomes are different from other creatures in the Woods for two reasons," he said. "From your classwork, Hester can surely tell us the first."

"They're always neutral in war," Hester answered confidently.

"Indeed. Gnomes have never once been drawn into a conflict, in over 2,000 years. We've maintained peace between ourselves and others, without exception."

Sophie yawned and started pouring more tea.

"The second reason we're different is less known and won't be found in your books," said Yuba. "Gnomes are born with the ability to change sex."

Sophie missed her cup and poured tea into Hester's lap.

"Temporarily, of course," the gnome continued, ignoring Hester's loud curses. "Boy gnomes can turn into girl gnomes and girls into boys at will until they come of age, when they revert permanently to the sex that they were born."

Now Sophie dropped the whole pot on Hester.

"No wonder Daddy never let us near young gnomes in Sherwood Forest," Dot marveled as Hester beat Sophie with a pillow. "Probably thought they were contagious."

"The sheriff is not alone in his thinking," Yuba sighed. "And yet, these two properties of gnomes were of deep interest to Merlin, the greatest student to ever attend the School for Good and Evil. In his free time, and often in this very cave, he probed and studied gnome biology so relentlessly his ranks suffered. It is why he was ultimately tracked as a Helper to Arthur's father, instead of as a hero of his own tale."

"But why would Merlin care whether gnomes were peaceful or changed sexes?" Agatha asked.

"Because be believed the two linked," said Yuba. "He believed the brief period of playful transformation allowed gnomes to be more sensitive and aware than other creatures. If there was a way for humans to have that experience, even for a moment, you too would be as peace loving as the gnomes. All wars preempted, all notions of Good and Evil dissolved . . . mankind perfected." Yuba paused. "He was such a passionate fellow I couldn't help but believe him."

Now Sophie and Hester were both paying attention.

"So you helped him find a spell?" I asked. "A spell to turn human boys into girls and girls into boys?"

"A highly fleeting spell that would work on any species," said Yuba. "Better to do it under my supervision than attempt such a dangerous spell on his own." The gnome swallowed ruefully. "Long after he left the School for Good and Evil, he'd return to work with me on the formula. Indeed, it is why I still had the recipe, for I often spent free moments fine-tuning and testing it on myself before his next visit. It took us 20 years to perfect the spell—until Arthur used it to attack Lancelot for all the wrong reasons. Sabotage, subterfuge, revenge . . . Instead of Merlin's spell bringing peace, now word spread of a curse that could bring down kingdoms and destroy men for all time." Tears glistened in Yuba's eyes. "Merlin fled just before the armies came for him, but they incinerated the lifetime of work he'd left behind. Without his wife and his beloved adviser, Arthur succumbed to drunkenness and heartbreak. Neither I nor anyone else ever saw Merlin again."