Ever Never After | The School for Good and Evil Fanfiction

Chapter 14: Breaking Hearts

The School Master's eyes appeared to light up with an idea, an epiphany—

"No," Alma said. "We're not making Evil great again. That prophecy is dead, just like both Good and Evil will be."

The School Master folded his arms across his chest. "And if Good and Evil aren't replaced?"

Alma glanced at the paused Storian that was floating above her storybook. She put a hand against the side of her mouth to whisper to the School Master.

"Then we get a flamethrower to melt down the Pen and create a new one," she said. "Has anyone even tried that?"

The School Master blinked slowly at her, frowning. With a sigh, Alma leaned back in her seat.

"You need a glass of wine," she said. "And so do I."

For a moment he glared at her, then the School Master gave in.

Both nursed a glass each of Winterglow, a mulled wine that warmed the soul with cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel. Alma savored the taste while reflecting on her tale's most likely ending and the Storian. Maybe she was too confident, but how could the Pen favor a black-and-white system over an infinitely more colorful one? Was it so Evil itself that it enjoyed ignorance, chauvinism, oppression, and murder? The thought soured Alma's stomach.

No, it couldn't be true, otherwise why would the Storian have chosen to write about her, someone who was hellbent on setting fire to Good and Evil? Did the Pen really think it could change her mind? Not without a fight to the death, it couldn't.

"So," she said, looking at the School Master, "when should we expect to hear back from the Architecture Society?"

"A week, at most," the School Master said. "They have to evaluate the plans and make suggestions and adjustments. We'll review them before anything is official."

Alma nodded and sipped more wine. She re-observed the room, the colorful, hardbound spines that filled the bookshelves. All of Good's tales. All of the same old boring plots and triumphs. Evil punished for one man's sin indefinitely. What kind of so-called balance was that? Alma wanted to laugh, but the joke was more frustrating than funny.

"Have you ever thought about having a big bonfire?" Alma asked. "With the storybooks?"

The School Master raised an eyebrow.

Alma rubbed her chin in thought, holding her glass of wine in the other hand. "I'm thinking s'mores. Maybe hotdogs? Definitely that Hellfire whiskey. Both schools could be invited. The faculty too, I guess—"

"What are you talking about?" the School Master said.

"Hello, I'm trying to lighten the mood," Alma said, and sat up. "But seriously, can we burn any storybooks?"

The School Master's mouth twitched with a smile. "Attempting to burn a storybook would be a death sentence, though I admit I've lost my temper on more than one occasion."

"What did you do?"

"I've thrown a book here and there."

"Let's throw more of them."

The School Master laughed. Alma laughed too, then she put down her glass and left her seat to browse a bookshelf.

"What are you doing?" the School Master asked.

Alma picked out two random storybooks. She turned to the School Master and held them up in each hand.

"Which do you think will fly faster?" Alma asked. "Thumbelina or Hansel and Gretel?"