"I told you we'd get him."
Sophus raised his gaze to see a tall boy with waist-length black hair tied up in a high ponytail, sporting black lipstick, a lip ring, and a menacing tattoo of a buck-horned, red-skulled demon encircling his neck. The boy stared at Sophus with fiery red eyes.
"The fairies will retrieve it soon enough." Chimed in a voice from across the room.
Sophus turned his head to find a brunette girl with dark skin and deep, hooded brown eyes, feeding stew to three black rats from a bubbling cauldron. "It's a shame. We could have taken it and displayed it like a macabre trophy."
"That's uncalled for. Besides, it's against the rules to harm fellow students," Came the all-too-familiar voice of Hort, nudging the black-haired boy away.
"How about we just maim him a bit?" suggested the brown-haired girl.
"I find him rather intriguing," Hort remarked. "Not every prince has to smell and look depressed."
"He's not a villain!" Yhe brunette girl and the tattooed boy exclaimed simultaneously.
As Sophus struggled to loosen the ropes binding him, he craned his neck and took in the full view of the room.
Once upon a time it might have been a nice, cozy suite before someone set it on fire. The brick walls were burnt to cinders. Black and brown scorch marks ripped across the ceiling, and the floor was buried beneath an inch of ash. Even the furniture looked toasted.
"Let me guess your name." Scoffed the boy with tattoos. "It's Adam or Eric or perhaps Charming."
"Sophus." Standing amidst a cloud of soot, Sophus declared, "My name is Sophus. I am not a 'villain,' I'm not an 'it,' and clearly, I do not belong in here, so─"
The boy with tattoos and the rat girl doubled over in laughter. "Sophus!" The first one chortled. "It's even worse than we thought!"
"Anyone named Sophus clearly doesn't belong here." The brunette gasped between fits of laughter. "They belong in a cage."
"I should be in the other tower," Sophus stated, trying to maintain his composure in the face of their mockery. "That's why I need to speak to the School Master."
"I need to see the School Master~" The dark skinned girl mocked. "Why don't you jump out the window and see if he catches you?"
"You lot have no manners." Snorted Hort. "I'm Hort, in case you've forgotten. This here is Hester," he gestured to the tattooed boy. "And this bundle of joy," He gestured to the brunette. "Is Dot.
"Welcome to Room 66." Dot proclaimed, brushing the ashes off an unclaimed bed.
Sophus winced as he observed the moth-eaten sheets with suspicious stains. "Thank you for the welcome, but I really should get going." He said, edging towards the door. "Could you kindly point me in the direction of the School Master's office?"
"Princesses must be utterly baffled when they lay eyes on you." Said Dot, "Villains usually don't resemble princes."
"He's not a villain!" Hester groaned in frustration.
"Must I schedule an appointment to see him?" Pressed Sophus. "Or should I send a note instead?"
"I don't know why people think princes are handsome." Hester said. "Their eyes are so shiny. Like little buttons you want to pop off."
"Their hair always looks so soft." Added Dot, teasing the rats with a dead mouse. "Gives me the urge to yank it all out."
"And don't get me started on those 'charming' smiles." Hester added.
"Their obsession with being heroes is truly tiresome." Whined Dot.
"I can hardly wait to kill my first one~" coo'd Hester slyly.
"Are you absolutely certain we can't dispose of him?" Dot questioned, observing her rats devouring the mouse.
"So, which forest do you hail from?" Hort questioned Sophus, ignoring his friends.
"I don't come from the woods." Sophus said impatiently, and peeped through the eyehole on the door.
The three villains gasped with identically confused expressions.
"What do you mean by saying you 'don't come from the woods'?" questioned Hester.
Sophus was in no mood for what he deemed as foolish inquiries, but these peculiar characters were his sole chance at locating the School Master.
"I come from Gavaldon," he responded. "Given your knowledge of this place, I would appreciate it if you could inform me of─"
"Is that close to the Murmuring Mountains?" Hort asked enthusiastically, bouncing up and down.
"Only the Nevers reside in the Murmuring Mountains, you imbecile." Hester grumbled.
"Perhaps near Rainbow Gale." Speculated Dot. "That's where the most vexing Evers originate from."
"I'm already confused." Sophus frowned. "Evers? Nevers?"
"Evers are what we refer to as the Do-Gooders, dear." Hort explained to Sophus. "They are obsessed with the notion of achieving Happily Ever After."
"So that would make you 'Nevers'?" Sophus pointed at them.
"Short for Nevermore." Hester declared triumphantly. "A heaven for Villains. In Nevermore, we will wield boundless power."
"We can manipulate time and space." Added Dot.
"Assume new identities." Stated Hester.
"Fragment our souls."
"Conquer death."
"Only the most malicious villains gain entry." Hort confirmed.
"And the most enticing aspect," Hester added. "No other inhabitants. Each villain is granted their own isolated kingdom."
"Eternal seclusion." Said Dot.
"Sounds rather depressing." Mused Sophus.
"Other people are the real despair." Hester stated.
"Agat would thrive in this realm." Sophus mumbled quietly under his breath.
"Sooooo... is Gavaldon near Pifflepaff Hills?" Hort questioned casually.
"Oh, come on, it's not close to anything!" Sophus snapped, revealing a hint of irritation. He held up his schedule, prominently displaying {SOPHUS OF WOODS BEYOND} at the top. "Gavaldon is beyond the woods, surrounded by them on all sides."
"Woods Beyond?" Hester arched a skeptical eyebrow at the albino boy.
"Who rules over your land?" Hort asked, curious about that weird place.
"We have no king." Sophus replied, regaining his composure.
"And your mother?" Dot interjected abruptly.
"She's no longer with us," Sophus responded abruptly.
"And your father? From which fairytale family does he originate from?" Dot persisted.
"No one's family is a fairy tale. My father is from a regular family, flawed like everyone else." Sophus retorted.
"I had a feeling." Hester remarked, turning to face Dot.
"A feeling about what?" Sophus demanded, his patience wearing thin.
"Only readers could be this stupid." Dot remarked to Hester.
Sophus' skin burned. "I'm sorry, but I'm not the stupid one if I'm the only person here who can read, so why don't you look in the mirror, that is if you could actually find one─" Sophus's eyes found Hester's nightstand.
Next to a vase of dead flowers, a claw-shaped candle, and a stack of books─ Outsmarting Orphans,Why Villains Fail, Frequent Witch Mistakes─ was a knurled wooden picture frame.
○○○○
Inside was a child's clumsy painting of a grotesque witch in front of a house.
A house made of gingerbread and candy.
"Mother was naive." Hester said, lifting the frame with a pained expression. "An oven? Please. Stick them on a grill. Avoids complications." His jaw hardened. "I'll do better."
Sophus looked at his three bunk mates in disgust.
"A prince and a Reader." Hester scoffed. "The two worst things a human can be."
"Even the Evers don't want him." Snickered Anadil. "Or the fairies would have come by now."
"But they have to come!" Sophus shouted, losing character once again. "I'm Good!"
"Well, you're stuck here, dearie." Hester said, plumping Sophus's pillow with a kick. "So if you want to stay alive, best try to fit in."
Fit in with villains!? Fit in with monsters!?
"No! Listen to me!" Sophus begged. "I'm Good!"
"You keep saying that." In a flash, Hester seized him by the throat and pinned him over the open window. "And yet there's no proof."
"I go to church every Sunday!" Sophus howled above the fatal drop, scratching at Hester's hands.
"Mmm, no sign of fairy godmother." Hester said. "Last chance."
"I made friends with a villain! That's how Good I am!" Said Sophus through gritted teeth.
"And still no fairies." Dot said to Hester as they lifted him up.
"He belongs here, not me!" Sophus cursed.
"No one knows why the School Master brings you worthless freaks into our world." Hissed Hester. "But there can only be one reason. He's a fool!"
"Ask Agat! He'll tell you! He's the villain!"
"You know, guys, no one's told us the rules yet." Hester admitted with a sly smirk.
"So they can't punish us for breaking them!" Dot grinned back while Hort seemed troubled.
They lifted Sophus over the edge. "One." counted Hester.
"Stop!" Sophus shrieked.
"Two..."
"You want proof! I'll give you proof!" Sophus screamed at their faces.
"Three."
"LOOK AT ME AND LOOK AT YOU!!!" Spat sophus in their faces and landed a punch on Hester.
Hester dropped him. Stunned, they stared at each other, then at Sophus, hunched on the bed, inhaling deep breaths.
"Told you he was a villain." Hort giggled.
Characters that made an important appearance in this chapter:
Sophus of Gavaldon
Hort of Jolly Roger Bloodbrook
Hester of Ravenswood
Dot of Nottingham