Ever Never After | The School for Good and Evil Fanfiction

Chapter 7: Love Curse

Alma had wondered how Aric had managed to visit her despite Halfway Bridge's enchantment. She'd assumed he'd used a spell, but Hester, daughter of the witch who'd been cooked alive in Hansel and Gretel, revealed that there was no magic involved: Aric was half demon, and even half demons could bypass any magical barrier if a person on the other side desired them. With a little witchcraft, Alma could pass through the invisible barrier between schools, too—for a price.

She had to prove that she had witch potential to Hester by helping Sophie with a spell. The coven wouldn't spare any details until the time was right, though it wouldn't take long.

Witchcraft was stereotypically wicked in the Endless Woods, unlike in Crescenta, where most self-proclaimed witches practiced harmless herbalism and divination. At home, magic was the strange coincidence and the placebo effect. There were no flashy spells, no death curses, no ways of shapeshifting into animals. Alma had once dabbled in spell-casting out of curiosity and boredom. The results had been lacking, but she'd found the ritual to have been vaguely fun and psychologically replenishing. She'd believed that was all magic really was—psychological. Hester and Anadil mocked Crescenta's idea of the most blasphemous form of magic. To witches in the Woods, it was a bastardization of Evil's infamous sorcery. Alma didn't argue with the pair of Nevergirls. She'd invested too little in the practice of any kind of magic to feel passionate and defensive.

Besides, she would be learning about real witchcraft.

Every day at lunch, the coven met and discussed school, magic, fairy-tale life in general, and Sophie's new beautifying concoctions that only interested Alma and Dot. The Evergirl wasn't comfortable with the fact that the three witches were essentially training to become murderers. Hester of Ravenswood planned to capture and grill children; Anadil of Bloodbrook planned to avenge her grandmother, a witch who'd been rolled in a barrel of nails, and continue her legacy of stealing little boys' bones; and Dot of Nottingham planned to help her father, the sheriff, catch Robin Hood and behead him.

Alma knew better than to bring ethics to the table and remind everyone that she was "Good." The Woods weren't her home. She had no reason to fight for a better world that wasn't hers—unless the Storian suddenly decided to write in Evil's favor and child murder became a favorite pastime in Crescenta. Could the storybooks have such an effect? They were the reason for Fantasialand. The thought sickened her with existential dread and hopelessness. Both the Woods and Woods Beyond revolved around a cruel, wicked pen, and nobody cared to question it.

There was talk of Nevermore, too, which was the opposite of Ever After. Whereas Ever Afters were about true love and the lasting union between two Good souls, Nevermore was reserved for only the most Evil of villains. The ability to take new forms, splinter one's soul, control space and time, and conquer death were Nevermore's rewards, but at the price of absolute isolation. Everyone in Nevermore had their own kingdom that was void of other people.

Alma found both fairy tale endings too extreme to be ideal. For Sophie, Ever After didn't promise enough glory, and Nevermore didn't promise enough love.

"That's why I need Tedros's scent," Sophie said, looking at Alma. "You'll help me, won't you, darling? It is your test."

Sophie batted her eyelashes. Alma whined inside.

"Fine," Alma said. "How do I get his scent?"

Sophie snapped open her black, sequined clutch bag and withdrew a small vial of clear liquid.

"With this," she said, and handed the vial to the Evergirl. "All you have to do is get as close as possible to Tedros and open it. When the liquid changes color, that means you've captured his scent."