Sabrina rested her cheek against the palm of her hand as she stared at the very nervous looking Raven from her side of their table for two, a small, confident smile on her face. Despite the unknown and usual situation, she was calm and collected. Raven however, was a human disaster.
'Oh my spells, how did I end up on a date with such a cool girl?!', he screamed in his head.
He really did have no idea how he ended up on a romantic date with a girl he had just met. One minute he was trying to get to school to settle into his dorm, trying to find Maddock as he roamed the streets of Bookend, the next he was trying to help a very distraught looking young woman, only to get dragged to a nice restaurant by said young woman for an impromptu date. Which he wasn't imagining, by the way, because she had explicitly stated it was a date.
'I'm either very lucky or very cursed.', he thought. Then his mental breakdown was interrupted when their waiter came to take their drink orders.
"Welcome to the Painted Vine. What will the young miss and young sir be having today?", the older gentleman asked. Raven didn't even get the chance to respond, because Sabrina did that for him.
"Two witch's brews and a plate of toil and trouble calamari to start us off.", she answered the man serenely, like she was a regular ordering her usual and not someone who just found out about the restaurant not even half an hour ago. The waiter nodded with a smile and took their appetizer menus. Sabrina didn't break eye contact with Raven the entire time.
"So, Raven, I have to ask... where are we?", the girl asked, a crack appearing in her seemingly infallible confidence. Raven was shocked out of his nervous stupor and blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?", he asked. Sabrina looked from side-to-side shiftily, as if worried someone would listen in on their conversation. With one hand, she flippantly gestured to the area around them.
"I mean, what do you call this world? This country? Hell, even the name of the city we're in would be useful. I need to know where 'here' is.", she explained. Raven gaped at her in shock. How did she have no idea where she was?
"I... You're in Ever After.", he answered after his brief total loss of words. Sabrina nodded, but didn't look like she understood.
"Okay... what is Ever After? Is it a country?", she asked. Raven shook his head.
"Yes and no. The world we live in is called Ever After, but the country we are currently in is also called Ever After.", he elaborated. Sabrina blinked.
"That must get confusing.", she commented. Raven nodded.
"Yeah, but you just have to use the right context and no one will get confused.", he assured. Sabrina nodded mindlessly, contemplating the information she had just been given.
'So, the world I'm in is called Ever After, and I'm in a country called Ever After... I think it's safe to say I'm not in Kansas anymore.', she sorted out mentally, staring up at the high ceiling of the restaurant that was covered in green vines. The roof was dome-shaped and rung with windows, giving it a sort of halo effect that made it look like it was floating. Raven took her silence as a sign to continue talking.
"The town we're in is called Bookend. It's nothing special; just some shops and restaurants. The only thing that makes it really noteworthy is the school.", Raven continued, twirling a long strand of purple hair around his finger. Sabrina took her attention away from the ceiling and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"School? What school?", she asked. Now he really had her attention. The book that had brought her here was titled 'Ever After High'. If that was the school he was talking about, then maybe it could lead her to her ticket back home. Subconsciously, Sabrina slid the purple book, which she had sat on the floor beside her chair, underneath her chair with her foot. Raven didn't notice, and was instead left wide-eyed in confusion for what must have been the thousandth time that day.
"Ever After High. Spells and charms Sabrina, you really aren't from here, are you?", he said in disbelief. Sabrina laughed nervously.
"You have no idea.", she answered. Then the waiter came by with their appetizers and drinks. He sat the plate of rainbow colored calamari in the middle of the table, sat each of their drinks in front of them, and handed them two entree menus with a smile and a nod. Then he left, and Sabrina's confident guise returned.
"So tell me about Ever After High. Are you a student there? What's it like?", she asked, folding her hands in front of her face. Raven rolled his eyes at the thought of his school and crossed his arms.
"Yeah, I'm a student there. It's a school for the sons and daughters of fairy tale characters; ya know, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White... the Evil Queen.", he said, listing off examples of lineages of students, before mumbling when he reluctantly said the last one. Sabrina didn't fail to notice this, but said nothing about it.
'So, I was right, I am in the fairytale world. On the one hand, this is awesome and a great chance for adventure. On the other hand... yeah no, there's no downside to this. Adrien and the others can survive without me there for a while, even if William will have a conniption if he doesn't know where I am for point five seconds. I'll find my way home eventually, I always do. In the meantime, I'm gonna have some fun. But before I do that, I need a place to stay... and some money.', Sabrina thought.
After giving Raven a charming smile, the black haired girl reached for some of the toil and trouble calamari and ate a purple one. Much to her pleasure, it tasted amazing. Raven, not really knowing how to act on his date, just did what Sabrina did and ate an orange calamari, since she was confident and actually seemed to know what she was doing. After swallowing, the girl opened her mouth to speak.
"So if you're a student, then that must mean you're the son of some fairy tale character. Mind if I ask which one?", she asked idly, taking a sip of her green witch's brew through her straw. Raven gulped down his food. This was it, the moment of truth. Taking a deep breath, he choked out his answer, closing his eyes in a wince.
"I'm the son of the Evil Queen.", he admitted.
Then he waited for the gasp, the scream, the dramatic swooning, the something almost everyone seemed to do when they found out who his mother was. But he heard nothing. After a few moments, he cautiously opened his eyes, only to find Sabrina still casually sipping her drink, and not in the middle of a spit-take like he had anticipated. After another few moments, she removed her mouth from the purple straw and gave him a small smile.
"Oh, cool.", was all she said, as if he had told her he was getting new highlights.
'Oh cool? OH COOL?'
"Oh cool?! That's it?! No-no screaming or crying or cursing?!", Raven exclaimed in disbelief. Sabrina shook her head.
"Nope.", she answered. Raven couldn't wipe the shock off his face.
"Why?", was all he could ask. Sabrina shrugged, ate another calamari, and then answered him.
"Raven, when I met you, the first thing you did after I knocked you flat on your ass and growl at you like an angry dog was ask me if I was alright. Then you agreed to go on a date with me despite knowing me for like, five minutes. You're a sweet guy, and who your mom is doesn't change that.", Sabrina told him. Raven looked down sadly and rubbed his arm.
"It will in a few weeks.", he mumbled, recalling the date that every Royal marked on their calendars with glee and every Rebel dreaded; Legacy Day. Sabrina blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?", she asked with a raised eyebrow. Raven sighed in melancholy.
"During our third year at Ever After High, all the students have to sign the Storybook of Legends. It's a magical book of fairy tales that the original Brothers Grimm recorded all the classic fairy tales, nursery rhymes and fables of the world in. When a 'character' signs their page, they vow to follow the destinies of their parents and play their role in the story, so the fairy tale will live on and be remembered. When I sign, I'm going to have to turn evil and become the next Evil Queen.", Raven explained. Sabrina looked at him in shock and horror.
"Okay, first of all, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. 'Following your destiny'? Really? That's a load of bullshit. Not to mention the reasoning behind the situation is a hunk of crap too. 'Keeping the story alive', yeah get real. History doesn't need to repeat itself to be remembered, that kind of defeats the whole point of remembering history, actually.", Sabrina monologued. Raven looked at her, purple eyes wide and full of hope at her words. Then he remembered what the headmaster constantly told the more rebellious students of the school.
"But if we don't sign, our stories will cease to exist!", the boy exclaimed worriedly. Sabrina gave him a dry look.
"Raven, what did I just say?", she asked. Raven remembered her earlier words.
"History doesn't need to repeat itself to be remembered?", he quoted. Sabrina nodded.
"Exactly. People don't just vanish out of existence, regardless if magic is involved or not-two double bubble fettuccine's, please. Thank you-that's just not how magic works, even the darker stuff like demonic magic can't do that. The whole 'you will cease to exist' thing is probably just some superstition concocted by the people in charge of the school and possibly the country, who want to keep the status quo in place.", the red eyed girl explained, briefly interrupting herself to give their order and their entree menus to their waiter when he came back to take their order. Raven thought about what she was saying, and Sabrina kept talking.
"Think about it like this; in dystopian worlds there are usually two types of people. The few powerful rich and the many weak poor. In fairy tales, there are also two kinds of people. The people who get happy endings, and the people who don't. Raven, how many people get explicit happily ever afters in your school?", Sabrina asked him. Raven counted off the people at school he knew wanted their destinies, with Apple White being the first to come to mind.
"I'd say about two dozen or so.", he answered. Sabrina nodded.
"Okay, and how many people don't get happily ever afters? How many of them are stuck with fates that are anywhere from being on the sidelines for the rest of their lives to dying at the end of their stories? Side characters, sidekicks, villains and all those types of people?", she asked. Raven counted again, and gapped as he came to a much larger number than the first one.
"The entire rest of the school.", he responded. Sabrina nodded.
"There you go. The people who told you you will cease to exist if you don't sign your page probably know this. They know you outnumber them, and are trying to keep you from realizing this. Sure, they likely hold most of the political power and have militaries backing them, but the power is always in the hands of the masses. You are a part of the masses, Raven. You and those who don't get their happily ever afters.", Sabrina went on. Raven realized she was right. Then he realized she got one thing wrong.
"Rebels, we're called Rebels here.", he corrected her. Sabrina nodded with a small smile.
"Rebels. Not a bad name for the minority in the majority. And what do you call the top one percent that get happy endings?", she asked. Raven frowned at the memory of the people she was talking about.
"Royals, which is fitting, because most of them are actual royalty. The prince charmings and the helpless princesses that get their curses broken by a kiss and all that gross happy stuff. Most of them are spoiled brats.", he elaborated. Sabrina snorted.
"Oh, I don't doubt that. Thank you.", she said as the waiter brought them their food. Sabrina twirled some green colored pasta around her fork and ate it.
"See Raven, your situation is quite the lightning-in-a-bottle scenario; here you have the opportunity to break tradition and show that you and your fellow Rebels have choices. When it's your turn to sign the Storybook of Legends, just refuse and let everyone see how perfectly alive you are afterwards. You may be putting a target on your back in the process, but you're the son of a queen. Queens usually have countries, and countries usually have armies, meaning you have a way to back yourself up. What country are you the heir to, and how big is it?", she asked. Raven ate some of his own food and then answered her.
"Zorin. It borders Ever After to the south. They're both about the same size, but we have the larger military as a result of my mother's rule.", the purple eyed boy told her. Sabrina grinned, revealing her fangs. Raven blushed and gulped when he saw them.
"Good, then you have the advantage.", she said gleefully. Raven shook his head.
"No, I don't. My mother was the worst Evil Queen to ever live, I mean that in terms of deeds rather than competence. She fulfilled her destiny and then some, and when she went too off book and tried to spread her evil too far, she was imprisoned with the united help of all the Royals of her generation. What makes you think I could do the same and go against them, and not meet the same fate?", he asked. Sabrina's grin widened.
"Because you won't be doing it alone. You're going to have some help.", she stated as if it was obvious. Raven looked at her in confusion.
"Who would want to help me? I'm the Evil Queen's son, remember? Not even some of the other Rebels like me.", he questioned. Sabrina laughed.
"I want to help you, silly. What, did you think I was just gonna help you hash out all this stuff, put all these ideas into your head, and then say 'see ya sister' when the moment of truth came? Yeah, no. I don't roll like that. And I'm gonna be the only one helping you. Some Rebels are bound to agree with what you and I believe. We just have to find them and sway them to our side of things.", she said. Raven chuckled at her thoroughness and enthusiasm.
"'Our side of things'? More like your side of things.", he joked. Sabrina frowned at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?", she asked. Raven smirked at her.
"This was more your idea than mine. I just knew I didn't want to follow my destiny. You're the one that went off about societal structures and started planning a Rebel revolution. If anyone's leading the charge here, it's you.", he explained, and that made Sabrina laugh.
"That's kind of you to say, but I'm no prince or princess. I'm the heir to a throne. I'm not meant to lead like you are.", she said. Raven gave her a reassuring smile.
"Just because you weren't born royalty doesn't mean you aren't meant to lead.", he told her wisely, and Sabrina was left taken aback for a moment, before she cursed under her breath abruptly.
"Fuck.", she growled. Raven blinked at her in confusion and tilted his head.
"What's wrong?", he asked. Sabrina scowled.
"I just remembered, I don't have a place to stay. Or any money.", she admitted. Raven smiled at her.
"Hey, no worries. You can stay with me in my dorm room.", he offered. Sabrina raised an eyebrow at him.
"You sure your roommate would be okay with that?", she inquired. Raven chuckled.
"Trust me, Maddock takes madness in stride. He'll welcome you with open arms, if nothing else.", he assured her. Sabrina nodded.
"Alright then, but that doesn't solve my money problem. Or my amenities problem. In case my lack of bags didn't clue you in, I have no other clothes. Or shoes. Or hygienic products.", she informed him. Raven grinned at her.
"Leave that to me. I'm the only heir to the throne of Zorin, remember? I have more money than I know what to do with. Just tell me what you need and we can get it before we head to the dorm.", he told her. Sabrina grinned at the thought of a shopping spree she wouldn't have to pay for (and that it was being paid for by someone who was filthy rich, so she wouldn't have to worry about feeling guilty for making him spend money on her).
"Well if that's the case, let's finish eating quick so we can get it done before sundown, yeah?"
—---------------------------------------------------
Maddock Hatter hummed a nonsensical tune as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. He was standing outside the front doors of Ever After High, waiting for Raven to finally show. The young Rebel had promised to meet him there hours ago, but was later than the White Rabbit. Which was odd, because Raven was usually on time. On his shoulder, the worried squeaking of a mouse could be heard. Maddock chuckled at the cute sound of it.
"Oh Earl Grey, don't be such a worry-flurry! I'm sure Raven's gonna show up right about... now!", the Wonderlandian exclaimed, pulling a bronze pocket watch out of his blue waist coat. The second he said 'now' the watch made a cartoonish sound and broke, with springs and gears flying everywhere. When the watch broke, Maddock started looking around excitedly for Raven, but frowned when he saw no one matching his friend's description in the crowd. Sighed, he glanced at the dashingly dressed dormouse on his shoulder.
"Okay, maybe we can both be worry-flurries.", he sulked. Earl Grey squeaked in agreement. Then he gasped and almost immediately perked up when he saw his best friend's iconic black and purple hair from a distance.
"Oh my spells, Raven's here!", he yelled, throwing his broken watch away, which then hit someone he didn't see and caused them to yell 'HEY!'. But Maddock didn't hear them, because he was already sprinting off towards Raven.
"RAVEN!", Maddock yelled as he tackled Raven into a hug. He nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck, barely registering the fact that Raven seemed a bit shorter than usual. Ah well, must have been a new pair of shorter heels.
"It's so fableous to see you again! I was really worried after you didn't show up for a while and... wait.", Maddock rambled on, before realizing a few things about the person he was hugging; one, they didn't smell like the cologne Raven always wore, and two, they had two very soft things that weren't supposed to be on Raven's chest pressing up against him.
Maddock removed himself from the apparent stranger he was hugging, and held them out in front of him by their shoulders. He blinked when he saw that they were a girl around his age, who looked very confused.
"You're not Raven.", Maddock stated bluntly. The girl he had in his grasp gave him a dry look.
"No, I am not.", she concurred. Maddock blinked again, but didn't get a chance to respond to the girls words when he heard someone call out for him.
"Maddie!", the voice of Raven cried. Maddock grinned when he heard the familiar voice, and he released the girl so he could rush over to it.
"Raven!", he yelled, embracing the young man. Maddie inhaled his scent; lavender and sage cologne. Yep, it was definitely Raven.
"Sorry I'm late, Maddie. I ran into an... unexpected development.", the young sorcerer told him as he broke away from his hold and looked towards the girl his friend had just tackled. Maddie looked over at her too, and grinned. It was a crooked sort of smile, and Sabrina found she liked it.
"Well, you know what my dad always says; unexpected developments are the best kind!", the boy chirped, before removing his blue top hat and bowing with a flourish.
"Good evening, miss! The name's Maddock Hatter, son of the Mad Hatter at your service!", he said. Sabrina nodded. He definitely looked the part of the Mad Hatter's son, with his short curly teal and purple hair, and his teal and purple Victorian gentleman's outfit. Sabrina briefly wondered if that, since the Mad Hatter existed, meant Wonderland existed, and if that was the case, did that mean that Wonderland was a separate country, or another world parallel to Ever After?
'World traveling is hard.', Sabrina thought in frustration as she resolved to ask Raven her questions later. Her attention was drawn back to reality by the sound of squeaking. Looking down, Sabrina was surprised to find a small mouse in a top hat sitting on Maddock's shoulder. Maddock giggled.
"Earl Grey says hi too.", he told her, before standing up and placing his hat back on his head. Sabrina looked the boy up and down appraisingly. He was certainly as mad as his heritage would imply (at least when it came to his outlandish but tasteful fashion), but he was easy on the eyes. Maddock turned red under the girl's intense gaze and gulped.
"But-but you can call me Maddie.", he stuttered. Sabrina nodded, and Raven took that as his cue to cut in.
"Maddie's my best friend forever after. We've been friends since we started her at Ever After High.", the black and purple haired boy informed her. Sabrina laughed.
"Well that would certainly explain why he was so eager to tackle me into a hug.", she jabbed. Maddie laughed as well.
"Yeah, sorry about that.", he apologized. Sabrina chuckled at his sudden sheepishness.
"Hey, no worries. I'd be pretty excited too if I was seeing an old friend for the first time in a long time.", she said. Raven smiled at the sight of his oldest friend and his newest friend (girlfriend? Sabrina had never specified what they were to each other after their date).
"Glad to see you two getting along, but we really need to go unpack our dorms. Maddie and I are rooming together this year, and while we're at it... and we need to get you situated.", Raven said cryptically. Sabrina nodded, and Maddie started looking nervous.
"Yeah, about that... ", the Wonderlandian trailed off. Sabrina and Raven turned to look at him.
"What is it?", Raven asked. Maddie giggled nervously.
"Well, Apple apparently talked to Headmaster Grimm when he got here a few hours ago, so now you're rooming with him instead of me.", the waist-coat clad boy explained, scratching his cheek in a nervous tick. Raven gaped at him in shock.
"WHAT?!"
And so the plot really gets started. Sorry most of this chapter was exposition, but I needed to get that out of the way. Yes, Apple is a guy here, and yes he is a love interest. There will be no bashing here... well, not of most if any of the Royals. I make no promises about Milton Grimm or their parents, though. Apple and some of the Royals will be kinda selfish at first, but will quickly see the error of their ways and join the Rebel movement. Next time, roommate catastrophes and introductions!
So long and Goodnight, Thackery Binx.