The School for Good and Evil: One Last Tale

11 - An Impossible Story

Hester

I was wondering why the Storian would be writing a story about a Reader but she seems pretty badass. I'm not sure what her plan is exactly for getting through the barrier (I wasn't staring at the book when that was probably being written) but I'm intrigued to see if it works. This Sebastian seems to have a plan, whoever he is. I suppose he's the Prince in the story and coming from Foxwood he could actually be one. I sometimes wonder whether Professor Anemone would recognise him if he was a Prince but that would involve heading into The School for Good which is not happening.

Can a reader really cross from Gavaldon to our world? It's been done before but only with the power of The School Master and however, Dovey did it after he was killed. If Sebastian is from our world then maybe an actual Reader can get across. To be honest I don't care if they manage to or not as long as it doesn't disrupt the balance of the woods. In the past, I may have wanted a fairytale of my own but I've had my fill.

"What's wrong?" Adi asks, her arms wrapping around my waist and her chin settling on my shoulder. Any worries I had instantly melt away as she holds me. All my life I thought Nevers didn't get happily ever afters but then this witch came along and shook up that idea.

"Manley is going to be here any moment," I answer, carefully removing myself from Adi.

"Why is Manley coming here? Are you actually going to teach those Nevers?"

I laugh. "It would have to take my eyes getting gouged out to teach those brats. He's coming here so I can ask him about the Storian." Agatha may have thought that everything is okay but I'm still not comfortable. It's my belief that if an ordinary Reader could have their story written we would know. What would be the need of taking Readers to the woods if they didn't need to go to the school to be included in a fairytale? Something didn't add up and I needed answers.

"Are you worried?" Adi asks, reading me like a book.

"I wouldn't say I'm worried, more like curious."

There's a loud bang on the door which I assume is supposed to be a knock. I look at Adi who makes her way to the window, her rats trailing after her. Smiling back, she climbs over the edge, falling to the ground below. I'm not sure where she will hide until Manley is gone but I hope she stays safe. The teachers know that Adi is here with me but she doesn't want to get involved with them, worried she'd get inundated with requests to teach classes which she wouldn't have the strength to say no to.

The door bursts open before I have the chance to open it, which is a possibility I hadn't thought about before but I'll keep it in mind for the future. He glides into the room, a pursed look of disgust accompanying him. "If I had known that the Headmaster's Tower looked like this I would have made a bigger case for the job," he declares to no one in particular as he surveys the room. I can see from his face that he doesn't want to be here, although his normal face would display that as well.

"The role of Headmaster is still open, you could always try for it," I suggest, trying to get on the little good side he has. Manley huffs in response, a signal that I have indeed said something he likes. "I need to ask you something about the Storian."

A grin, if you can call it a grin and not a kind of grimace, appears on Manley's face. "I suspected you didn't ask me here to accept my invitation to teach the new students." Why is it that he's obsessed with the idea of me teaching students? I may have been one of the greatest Nevers this place has had the displeasure of teaching but that doesn't mean that I want to impart my wisdom onto others.

"Can the Storian write a fairytale about a reader?" I ask, not wanting to keep Manley here any longer than I have to.

Manley ponders, moving closer to the Storian. "I am assuming this is a hypothetical situation and this is not the subject of the Storian's next story."

Quickly I move in front of Manley, obscuring his sight of the Storian. "Yes, it is hypothetical. The current fairytale is about a past student but it made me wonder whether that was a possibility." I hope that I have managed to save myself before Manley actually realises what is going on.

Luckily, Manley huffs, moving away from the Storian. "Hypothetically it is possible," Manley states.

"If that was the case then why weren't we taught that? It's a pretty big deal if you don't have to come to the school to get a fairytale."

"As this is all a hypothetical situation, I think you understand why it isn't taught," Manley replies. Of course, as this is supposed to be a hypothetical situation it isn't thought to be fact. A reader being the subject of a fairytale has never happened before. "The Storian only writes what it feels is important. If a Reader was beginning a story that the Storian deemed important enough then hypothetically they could be in a fairytale."

From the parts of the fairytale that I've seen it doesn't seem particularly important. If the whole story is about this Reader trying to cross the barrier then it doesn't seem very important. Then why has the Storian decided to record this story? I may not have a clear answer but I feel a sense of foreboding starting to creep up on me.

"If this did ever happen, would it threaten the balance of the woods?"

"Whenever something happens that has never happened before, it isn't usually a good sign," Manley replies, a dark look on his face. I guess all I can do is hope that he isn't right. If only this terrible feeling would disappear, maybe I would feel better.

As long as the reader, who seems to be named Sophia, doesn't manage to break through the barrier I can't seem to see the woods being in danger. The barrier has been there for hundreds of years and even when it was truly close, it stayed standing. I'm sure even a Reader chosen by the Storian will not be able to change that.

A/N I haven't done a little Author Note in a while so hey! I'm so happy that a lot of you are enjoying this fanfic - the support has been crazy. As I'm typing this my fic currently has 935 reads and 45 votes which blows my mind. Thank you so much, honestly. Also, I was so happy that I've finally introduced Hester's POV into the story. I know a lot of you have been waiting for it and I'm so happy to finally deliver <3