Sabrina sighed as she folded her hands in front of her face, resting her elbows on the table in front of her as she braced for the storm of questions that was likely to come. She had just gotten done explaining everything about the Storybook of Legends to Briar and the others. She had taken their discussion to the student lounge Daring had told her about during one of their classes so they wouldn't be overheard. It was lunch, so the area was empty aside from her and her friends. Briar, who was sitting on a couch across from her with Apple and Daring, took a deep breath before speaking.
"Woo, okay. So, just to make sure we covered everything; the Storybook of Legends that the school has been using for the last decade or so is a fake, the real Storybook of Legends is apparently in my dorm room, and despite what Headmaster Grimm and our parents say, none of us actually have to sign the book or follow our stories exactly. Oh, and our entire lives have been a lie.", Briar squeaked, sounding very stressed out. Sabrina nodded.
"Basically.", she concurred, suddenly very glad she had kept the Evil Queen bits a secret. Daring looked at the ground with a thousand yard stare.
"What the hex?", he breathed hopelessly. Apple looked at them both with sympathy.
"It's a lot, but you'll come to terms with it. I know I did.", the blonde told them, and the two now ex-Royals felt their hopes rise. If Apple, the ex-Royal poster child, could be okay with their new reality, then they could be too. Raven, meanwhile, who was sitting on another couch beside theirs with Maddie, looked at his friend in confusion. The Wonderlandian was being strangely quiet.
"Maddie? Are you okay?", Raven asked. Maddie seemed to snap out of the strange trance he was in, and smiled at his friend.
"Oh, yeah. I was just... thinking.", the hatter responded, sounding casual. But Raven, being the good best friend he was, picked up on the melancholy in Maddie's tone.
"About what?", Raven asked. Maddie's smile dropped, and he sighed tiredly. At this point, he had everyone's attention.
"The book. My destiny. Normally I don't make a big deal out of this kind of stuff, but... it's just weird to me. How the one thing that tied me and so many of the important people in my life together isn't as concrete as I thought.", Maddie explained, and Raven and the others (and to an extent, Sabrina) understood.
Alice in Wonderland was one of the few stories that everyone with a role in it was more than happy to participate in. The story had no official ending, it was an ambiguous tale of madness and adventure that was more an interesting series of inconsequential events than a fairytale. Everyone got a good part. Alice was an adventurer lost in a new land, and everyone else in the tale were the friends she made along the way. No one died, and no one was truly the villain. It was a never ending party for everyone involved, and the Wonderlandians were honored to be guests.
Maddie had always been very tight-knit with his Wonderland friends, just as much as he was with Raven. They had been raised together from a young age, and had probably grown up playing games themed after and daydreaming about their stories, in a much different way than fairytale princes and princesses likely did. So finding out that all of that had been baseless by some definitions... it must have been jarring, even for someone as laid back as Maddie. Raven rested a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I get it, Maddie. It's hard coming to terms with everything. Even if your destiny is... less than desirable, like mine, it's still hard.", Raven told him, and Maddie gave him a small smile.
"Thanks Raven. It's nice having a friend like you.", the blue eyed Wonderlandian said, and then, as quickly as his mood had taken a downward spiral, it shot back up again. Maddie grinned at everyone.
"But enough about me, let's talk you guys! Now that we know the stories can be changed, what do you guys wanna change about them? That is, if you wanna sign in the first place.", Maddie asked, and that made everyone think.
A lot of them didn't like their destinies all together, but they knew that Apple and Maddie wanted theirs, and that there were other people that would too. But there were people who didn't want to play their roles in the stories of the people that wanted their destinies, and that begged the question; who was going to play what role?
"I don't think I'll sign. I wanna write my own story, but Fell... ", Briar trailed off, recalling his favorite frenemy. Fell's status as the villain of his story was everything to him, and while he and Briar were close friends, he was still determined to curse him and prove himself as the worst of the worst. Sabrina frowned at Briar's distress, and Daring shook his head.
"I don't think I'll sign either. My destiny has never been written in stone, anyway. It's always been up in the air. I've always wanted to be a Prince Charming, but given the fact that I'm straight and most of the princesses were born princes, I don't think that's happening.", the blonde said. Briar snorted.
"Yeah. We were the one generation everyone was hoping and praying was gay. Imagine, traditional Royal families wanting their children to be gay. The irony.", Briar stated. Sabrina raised an eyebrow.
"I get the feeling the Royal families aren't that accepting of other sexualities unless it suits them.", she stated. Daring snorted as well.
"Your feeling is correct. I have at least three relatives I've never met because they were unusually close to their 'housemates'. I bet they're either cackling or fuming due to this generation getting off easy from the terror that is familial homophobia.", Daring critiqued scathingly, and everyone except Sabrina looked at him strangely, causing Daring to do the same.
"What? Just because I'm a Prince Charming doesn't mean I can't be socially aware.", Sabrina sighed in disappointment.
"Somehow I'm not surprised by that.", the black haired girl commented. And then, one by one, she started raising up fingers to keep track of all the choices that the group had made regarding their destinies.
"So Maddie wants to keep his destiny, Daring wants his but can't see it happening realistically, Apple wants his but not at the expense of someone else, Raven doesn't want his at all, neither does Briar, but Fell Thorn apparently wants his and-Jesus Christ, this is like remembering all the names of the Kardashians. It's exhausting and probably not worth my time. We're going to need a table or some shit to keep up with all this.", Sabrina counted off, raising a finger for each destiny, before she got frustrated and threw her hands up, slouching against the armchair she was sitting in.
"Who the hex are the Kardashians?", Raven muttered in confusion, and Briar pulled out his phone to check his social media feed.
"Or a secretary. But who would want to have that job? Or even have the free time to do it in the first place?", the brunette suggested offhandedly, and that made a lightbulb glow above Maddie's head.
"How in the... ", Sabrina trailed off in confusion at the literal lightbulb that was hovering above Maddie's head. Apple shrugged.
"It's a Wonderland thing. Don't question it.", he whispered to her, and Maddie threw the lightbulb off to the side with a 'crash!', snapping his fingers in an 'I've got it!' gesture before speaking.
"Wait a tick! I think I know who can help~!", Maddie said in a sing-song voice, putting his hands together and tilting his head towards them cutely. Everyone blinked at him in confusion, and Maddie's eyes drifted to the painted portrait of a wild haired, glasses wearing old man, which hung on the wall above Sabrina's head.
—------------------------------------------------
Sabrina looked around the quiet library in surprise. Of all the places for Maddie to bring them to, this had not been the one she had expected. Maddie hummed happily as he walked purposefully towards a certain, deserted part of the library, but everyone else seemed just as surprised as Sabrina.
"Why are we in a library?", Briar asked as they followed after Maddie at a sedated pace. Sabrina shrugged.
"I don't know. But if Maddie says this is the place... ", she trailed off. She was then interrupted by a loud 'SHH!' from the Evil Step Librarians, who were organizing books at their desk, which she responded to by glaring at them with glowing fuchsia eyes and growling loudly. The Evil Step Librarians jumped in fear and went quiet, pointedly avoiding looking at Sabrina. Sabrina then continued on her way as if nothing had happened, leaving her group very confused as to how she had done that.
"Come on, let's go.", she told everyone when she saw they were lagging behind. Apple, Raven and the others shook themselves out of their confusion and continued walking.
Eventually, they found Maddie waiting in front of an innocuous looking door that read 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' on a small, golden plaque on the front. The blue and purple haired boy giggled.
"Took you long enough!", he chirped. Briar crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"What are we supposed to be looking at here? It's just a door.", he said. Maddie giggled again.
"Not just any door~!", he sang.
Then Maddie knocked on the door rhythmically, and a swirl of gold and pink sparkles appeared against what had once been just a normal door. Everyone except Maddie and Sabrina gasped at the sight, and soon a fog of blue smoke floated out of the swirl. Maddie welcomed the smoke with open arms and a relaxed expression, and Sabrina stared in wonder as the smoke enveloped them and whisked them off to somewhere behind the door. It reminded Sabrina of when she was brought to Ever After through her book.
The smoke brought them to a cave-like hallway, lined with stacks of books, papers and other objects. Everyone oohed and awed over the place and how they had gotten there, while Maddie merely dusted off his hat and started leading them down the hallway towards a lit chamber.
"If anyone can help us with stuff involving the Storybook of Legends, it's Giles Grimm!", Maddie declared, before holding an arm out to gesture to someone. Everyone looked over at where he was gesturing in surprise.
There, by a paper filled desk, stood a wild looking old man. He wore half-moon spectacles over his light olive eyes, and had a long, shaggy gray beard. He wore a red vine patterned vest over a white shirt, a yellow polka-dotted cravat, and a patchwork maroon trench coat. His stockings were miss matched, and his shoes were worn out high top sneakers, which was odd to see on an old man. He wore beige pants that only went down to his calves, and had a magnifying glass dangling from his waist. He didn't seem surprised by their and Maddie's sudden intrusion; in fact, he looked glad. Sabrina side-eyed Maddie in confusion.
"Quick question, how'd you know he was down here and how to get past all that magic bullshit?", she asked. Maddie giggled.
"Silly Sabrina, the Narrators told me!", he answered, as if it was obvious. Before Sabrina could ask any questions about who the hell the Narrators were, Giles bowed at the waist with a flourish as he greeted them.
"Feathers and friends! Together, alone.", he said. Everyone was immensely confused by what he said, except for Maddie, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet and clapping his hands giddily.
"He's speaking Riddelish! It's a Wonderland nonsense language.", the blue eyed boy cheered, before covering the side of his mouth with his hand and leaning close to speak with his friends.
"He was cursed with a babble spell. Makes him sound, ya know; a-roo-cuckoo! He says it's nice to have us here.", Maddie explained, twirling his fingers around his head and crossing his eyes to illustrate his point. Everyone felt less confused once he said that, and Sabrina nodded in understanding.
"So this is the guy that can help us?", Sabrina asked. Maddie nodded.
"Yep! He used to be co-headmaster of the school before he got trapped down here, so he knows a lot about the book. And since he's stuck down here, he has more free time than he knows what to do with!", Maddie explained, and Sabrina's eyes widened as she remembered the old man's last name.
"Wait, Grimm... as in, Milton Grimm? You mean this guy is Mr. 'follow your story or else's brother?", Sabrina questioned. Giles answered her this time, simply nodding. Sabrina looked at the man with sympathy.
"Oh, you poor bastard... ", she said, feeling sorry for anyone who had to share a living space with Milton Grimm for any extended period of time. In response, Giles started laughing heartily, and after a while, he spoke.
"What brings joy but has no sound? What is called but never answers?", he asked kindly. Everyone looked to Maddie for a translation.
"He says that he hasn't laughed that hard in a long time, and that he wants to know your name, Sabrina.", Maddie said. Sabrina nodded and turned to look at Giles again.
"My name is Sabrina Michaelis. These are my friends Raven Queen, Apple White, Briar Beauty, and Daring Charming. And you clearly already know Maddie.", Sabrina introduced, gesturing to each of her companions. As she did this, she walked further into the light, and this gave Giles the chance to get a better look at her face with his bad eyesight. He gasped when he saw Sabrina's appearance.
"Black, intelligent, ruler of the dark. A mirror shows the bird of the murder.", Giles exclaimed. Sabrina blinked in surprise.
"What?", she asked, unsure how to react to that odd statement. Maddie looked just as confused.
"He says you greatly resemble the crow... I think.", he translated. Sabrina looked even more confused.
"You think?", she asked. Maddie shrugged.
"Riddelish isn't an exact language.", he said, and Sabrina continued to look confused, trying to appear clueless to her friends and boyfriends.
"I look like the crow? What the hell does that even mean?", she asked. Daring's eyes lit up as he recalled Sabrina's transformation into a crow during hero classes.
'Does this mean he knows I'm a half demon?', Sabrina asked herself, trying to ignore the stare she felt from Daring burning into her back. but her current line of questioning was thankfully interrupted by Briar, who had gotten impatient and pushed his way to the front of the group.
"We can talk about that later. Tell him about what's going on!", the pink-clad prince ordered. Sabrina nodded and began to speak to the now intrigued Giles.
"We've discovered something important about the Storybook of Legends."
—-----------------------------------------------
Over the next half hour, Sabrina explained to Giles what she knew about the Storybook of Legends, and her plan to help her friends and schoolmates get the lives and destinies they wanted. She also told him about Briar's secretary idea. Giles simply nodded along with Sabrina's words, knowing that interrupting her with words would be a hassle for both himself and Maddie. Once the explanation was over with, Sabrina looked at Giles hopefully.
"So, will you do it?", she asked. Giles nodded.
"The gift of tasks is a useful one to an idle man.", he responded.
"He says he'll do it, and that he needs to know what everyone wants from their destiny, so that he can catalog who's going to sign what.", Maddie translated. Sabrina nodded.
"I can get that for you. I'll have everyone come down here later tonight and tell you what they want to do.", she said. Everyone except her and Maddie had gone back to class. The only reason the two of them had stayed was because Sabrina was in charge of everything, and Maddie was the only one of them who could translate Riddelish. They also had a free period, which was useful.
"What happens when something isn't something?", Giles asked. Sabrina turned to Maddie for a translation.
"He wants to know what he should do when someone wants their destiny, but someone else in their story doesn't want theirs, regardless of any edits that can be made.", Maddie said. Sabrina nodded and gave a sardonic smile.
"Tell him that if no one else wants the destiny, to put me down as the claimant. I'll take all the unwanted story roles.", she said. Giles and Maddie gaped at her in shock.
"Truly, the crow will play the part?", Giles asked, and Maddie nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, what he said. Sabrina, are you sure you want to do that?", Maddie asked. Sabrina sighed.
"It's not like I have much of a choice. If the original owner of the destiny doesn't want it, then who else will? Some people want to follow their stories, and that can't happen if no one wants to play the... less than desirable parts. I've already agreed to do this with Apple's story. We'll just make some edits to 'Snow White' so that I don't end up dead or in jail, and everything will be fine.", Sabrina explained, and Giles and Maddie began to understand.
"Okay then. So if you're taking every unwanted destiny, does that mean you'll take on the role of Sleeping Beauty too?", Maddie asked her, hoping she would say no. Much to his horror, Sabrina nodded.
"Yep.", she confirmed. Maddie felt his heart drop into his stomach.
"Sabrina, you can't! If you do that, you'll sleep for a hundred years!", Maddie pleaded, grabbing Sabrina by the shoulders to make her do something he himself never did; see reason. Sabrina stared at him in surprise, startled by both the sudden movements and Maddie's concern, before she gave him a stern look.
"Maddock, that isn't your decision to make. Everything we're doing here is so everyone can choose what they want to do with their life, and that includes me. I want to do this. If Fell Thorn wants to be a villain so bad, then he'll get to be. I'll let myself get cursed and fall asleep, but it won't be for a hundred years. I'll make enough edits to be sure of that. I'll only be asleep for a week, tops.", she promised. Maddock was shocked by her logic and the use of his full first name, before he sighed in resignation and released Sabrina from his hold.
"I know. I was just worried for a second. You hear the same tales all your life, certain details end up being like muscle memory. They're always the first thing you default to when your not thinking clearly.", Maddie said with a weary chuckle, before he gained a serious expression.
"But seriously, promise me you'll be alright. Losing you would kill Raven... and me.", he said, muttering the last part. Sabrina gave him a reassuring smile.
"I promise.", she said. Giles sighed wistfully.
"The white dove flies. The birds, they sing. But what shall happen, when the tide rolls in?", he said wiggling his eyebrows at Maddie and Sabrina suggestively. Maddock blushed at his words, and Sabrina pointedly ignored the gesture.
"What did he say?", she asked Maddie. Maddock shook his head intensely.
"You don't want to know.", he said, not wanting to admit that Giles had just asked him when he was going to make a move. Sabrina decided that she indeed, did not want to know, and turned to look at Giles.
"Giles, tell me; how long have you been down here? And who trapped you down here in the first place?", she asked seriously. Giles began to look downtrodden, and Maddie frowned.
"He can't say. It's a part of his curse. Anytime he tries to speak of how he got down here, or who put him here, he gets lockjaw.", Maddie explained. Sabrina raised an eyebrow.
"Has he tried writing or typing it?", she asked. Giles nodded, and Maddie answered for him before he even spoke.
"The curse restricts every method of communication, even charades. Trust me, we've tried everything, but he's physically incapable of telling anyone what happened to him.", Maddie explained, and Sabrina caught on to the 'we' in that sentence.
"'We'? How long have you known he was down here?", she asked. Maddie counted off the fingers on his right hand.
"Oh, you know. One, two, three, a whole lotta months! One of the Narrators told me where to find him last year, and I've been coming down here ever since. It gets really lonely down here in the cave. Giles needed a friend.", the blue eyed boy explained with a smile. Sabrina felt herself go warm inside. Maddie really was sweet. A bit mad, but sweet.
"Well, he's got a whole lot of them now. And he'll have even more of them, once we get more people on board with our plan. Giles, if you need anything, tell me and I'll get it. Or rather, tell Maddie to tell me and I'll get it.", Sabrina told the old man. Giles grinned in excitement at her.
"The keyboard of gears and the liquid of life!", he shouted. Sabrina immediately looked to Maddie for a translation.
"He says he wants a typewriter and a coffee maker.", he said with a giggle. Sabrina laughed and nodded.
"I'll get that for you. I'll have Raven order one of each. In the meantime, hang tight down here and get the details of what everyone wants organized. I'll come back and visit in a few days.", she told Giles, before turning around to leave.
Giles waved her and Maddie off, and once they disappeared through the disguised door, his smile dropped and he became serious. He walked over to a bookshelf in the deepest depths of the cave, and once he reached it, he pulled a black book with a red pentagram off the highest shelf. He flipped through the pages until he reached a certain one. The page depicted a handsome young man in a suit. He had short black hair, pale skin and fangs. He looked just like Sabrina. But the thing that stood out most about him was his red eyes that seemed to pop off the page menacingly. Just like Sabrina's, but darker and less kind. Giles looked at the page in curiosity and fear.
"The crow has flapped his wings. The door is almost open.", Giles said as he caressed the page, and it was almost as if the picture's eyes seemed to glow menacingly in the candle light.
—-------------------------------------------------
Sabrina walked down the nearly empty halls of the school to her last class of the day. She and Maddie had parted ways a few minutes ago, since he always used his last class of the day (another free period) to go help at his father's tea shop. Sabrina was nearly at her classroom when a voice spoke up behind her.
"What did Giles mean when he said you looked like the crow?", Daring asked. Sabrina turned to look at him, forcing herself to look disinterested in the face of his crossed arms and piercing stare.
"Like I said earlier, I don't know.", she partially lied. Giles could have meant that he knew she was half crow demon, but he also could have meant something as mundane as her hair being crow black, something many people had said about it despite not knowing what she really was. Daring scoffed.
"Don't lie to me, Sabrina. I saw how worried you looked when Maddie translated what he said, and I know you can turn into a crow. Giles's words meant something to you.", he said, and Sabrina let her look of disinterest turn to worry as she sighed.
"Okay fine, you're right. His words did mean something to me, but I don't know exactly what he meant by them. It just... sounded like he knew something he shouldn't.", the girl confessed. Daring walked closer to her, looking more sympathetic now.
"Sabrina, I may not have known you long, but I can see that you're hiding something. May I ask what it is?", Daring requested, trying not to sound like he was interrogating her, because he wasn't. He was just worried. Sabrina shook her head.
"Sorry, but... I'm not ready to come out and say what it is, Daring. You have to understand, why I can turn into a crow, why Giles's words meant something to me... It's all connected to something I've never told any human before. I'll tell you and everyone else eventually, just... not right now. I need more time.", Sabrina explained. Daring nodded and gave her a small smile.
"That's okay. So long as you tell us eventually, I can wait. We're in this together, remember? You're not the only one going all in with this.", Daring reminded her, and Sabrina chuckled.
"No, I guess I'm not. You won't tell anyone else we had this talk, right?", she asked him. Daring shook his head.
"Not unless you say I can. Want to walk to Good Kingdom Management together?", he asked, holding out his arm for her to take. Sabrina looked into his deep blue eyes ('just like Dexter's', she noticed), smiled, and took his arm.
"You read my mind.", she said, and the two walked to class together, unaware of the storm that was brewing just over the horizon.