Pixie Dust and Hydrogen Part 12


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Raven woke very, very late-- or, perhaps, very, very early-- to Apple gently shaking her shoulder.

"Wake up," the princess chimed. "You asked me to make sure you woke up, so you could check on Ever After."

Raven wordlessly groaned, and rolled her pillow over her head.

"Come on, Raven," Apple shook her shoulder. "We have thirty-seven new reports."

"What time is it?" Raven yawned, slurring her words sleepily. "Apple, it can't possibly be six AM already..."

"6:01, and still ticking," Apple rebuffed. She paused and waited a moment, "Raven, hurry, you'll be late for Che-myth-stry!"

"I can't spend a month in detention!" Raven bolted up immediately, and realized where she was.

Apple giggled, "Nice to see that old trick still works."

Raven sighed, before rolling her eyes and grinning. "Being roommates with me taught you way, way too much. I'm glad at least one of us is laughing, though."

"Come on," Apple yawned, fully dressed but still fairly sleepy. "Thirty-seven new reports."

"All right," Raven got out of bed, shrugged on some clothes, and quickly checked to see that she hadn't mistakenly woken Maddie.

Satisfied that her present roommate was still asleep, she tiptoed from her dorm and followed Apple down the hallway.

"I thought maybe we should start with looking outside," Apple mentioned, and pushed open the windows facing towards the village of Book End. "We're... well, it's hextremely lucky that we evacuated everyone yesterday."

"Oh my Grimm," Raven's eyes went impossibly wide as she took in the sight before her... or, rather, the lack thereof. "The whole village is gone?"

"I heard from Briar... she just got back half an hour ago," Apple whispered. "I didn't believe it until I saw it, so I thought you'd have to see it first."

"Book End isn't like a pothole or a lake, though. It's not the biggest settlement, but..." Raven hesitated, and looked down towards where half a bridge hung over empty space. "It's just so surreal."

"I know," answered Apple. "It's kind of hard to think about it... just a couple of days ago, Darling and I were getting coffee down at Hocus Latte. Yesterday, the town was in ruins, but it was at least still there. And now... it's like a bottomless canyon stepped in where the town should be. It really puts things into perspective. How many people could have gotten hurt... how many people might be getting hurt, still, in other places around the world. It just makes me want to give everything I can to make sure that my people make it out of this okay."

"Apple..." Raven warned. "You aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting..."

"I'm not suggesting anything... more like helpfully reminding," Apple insisted. "But Raven, we have to talk about it... we can't just put it off until the last minute. There's the very real possibility that I-- that I'll have to make certain sacrifices for the sake of my people."

"You can't even say it," Raven scowled. "You can't honestly tell me that you'd rather die than consider other options?"

"Other options that we don't even fully understand yet," Apple shot back. "How many other people will get hurt while we're scrambling for a solution that might not even exist? People's friends, people's family... they deserve just as much of a chance to live as I do, and I would gladly lay down my life if it would mean their safety. If we complete the ritual that Professor Grimm outlined sooner rather than later..."

Raven glanced guiltily down at her hands. "I know. I just... Apple, I couldn't even bring myself to poison you. When I think about the kind of magic I'd have to cast to kill... when I read that spell..."

Sensing that she had fallen back into an old, old argument of hers, Apple sighed and relented. "I know... your heart is simply just too good to hurt anybody on purpose. You'll never be evil, Raven, and I've accepted that... I might be willing to give my life for the greater good, but if you're not ready to take it, then the spell just won't work."

"It's not that I don't want to save everyone... I do want to save everyone, including you," Raven explained. "But you've heard the story... it started with a poison apple for my mom, and it ended with trying to poison all of the magic and wonder in the entire realm, starting with its source at Wonderland. I'm... scared of myself, sometimes. Scared of the things my powers can do. What if... what if my magic decides it likes killing, and I can't control it anymore? You saw what I almost did to Courtly Jester."

"That wasn't you, Raven," Apple insisted. "You were stronger than your magic was back then, and you're still stronger than your magic is right now! Don't you have perfect control over it now?"

"Better control than I've had since I was a little kid," Raven admitted, and with a handful of perfect sparks, summoned a swarm of glittery butterflies that briefly twinkled in the air.

"See? That's good magic if I've ever seen it," Apple smiled back, a well of emotion budding at the corners of her eyes. "Raven... I'm not giving up just yet. Even in spite of all the horrible things that have happened lately, my happily ever after is so close right now, I can almost taste it. I just... I want to remind you that, even though it's a backup plan, we have to, well, actually plan a little. Just in case?"

Raven sighed, and reluctantly agreed. "Just in case."

"Are we sure that the spell is cohesive yet?" Apple questioned.

"Honestly? I'm even really all that sure if any of the spells we've managed to cobble together have any sense or meaning..." Raven groaned. "I mean, I can chant syllables and give them power all I want, but Professor Grimm's the one who really knows what he's doing with runes. Dex and Humphrey aren't that bad, either, but there's that thing about programming runes translating pretty badly into magical ones. Not to mention, West is missing, and he was important to the translating team, too..."

"West?" Apple furrowed her brow, not recognizing the name for a moment. "You mean the transfer from Emerald City? As in, the son of the Wicked Witch of the West?"

"Yeah," Raven hesitated. "I mean, don't get me wrong-- he said he flipped the script, and even got expelled for doing it. I'm sure he had a perfectly good reason for... whatever he's doing. Even though, right now, we need runic translators more than anything... and he hasn't answered any of my hexts..."

"Raven," Apple bit her lip, and gently set a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Raven, I know you're the last person who wants to doubt someone just because of their destiny, particularly since so many of our most basic rune translations come from his knowledge... but have you ever consideredwhat kind of rebel he might be?"

"Apple, that makes no sense," Raven shook her head. "What do you even mean by that?"

"I mean that maybe he's not the kind of villain-destinied rebel who wants to be good instead. Maybe he's not like you," Apple whispered. "Maybe he's the kind of rebel who thinks that evil deserves to win."

Raven flinched, "There aren't any rebels like that! We all just want to write our own destinies, and choose the paths we want!"

"There is one rebel like that, Raven, one rebel that we both know well," Apple's expression darkened. "After all... didn't your mom try to flip the script, too?"

"I mean... he never seemed evil. Not, like, visibly," Raven felt dread fill her stomach. "And we can't afford to doubt, now, we don't have the time to start over completely!"

Apple softened, "I'm not saying that he's definitely evil, or that if he is evil, he's been sabotaging anything deliberately. I'm just saying... it's not completely impossible. We can't do anything about it now except try not to miss the extra translator."

"You're right," Raven exhaled slowly. She tried to smile, "Come on, we should probably get downstairs and pinpoint those thirty-seven reports."

"Right. The fairytale world needs us," Apple nodded once, determined, and together they rounded down the stairs.

But Raven's mind lingered on their conversation and on Apple's words, and understood that perhaps it wasn't only Apple's insistence on planning out backup plans for her backup plans that drove her motivation this morning. With all her heart, Apple would devote herself to her people and to the royal responsibility she'd inherited. A lump rose in Raven's throat as she thought that perhaps Apple had brought up her own willingness to alleviate Raven's future guilt.

She would be a perfect queen to her subjects, Raven realized. And so, squaring her shoulders, she knew what she'd have to do.

-

The stairs past the Headmaster's office were almost laughably easy to gain access to, Raven thought, and it was an uncomfortable reminder of how easily someone could set the Evil Queen free, even by sheer mistake. She ascended that staircase until she came to the room at the top, and with a flick of her wrist and a subtle unlocking spell, Raven had successfully infiltrated the tower that held her mother's mirror captive on all days of the year, save Visiting Day and school events.

She took a deep breath, and stepped in, "Mom? Are you up? I need to talk to you!"

"Raven?" Almost instantaneously, the Evil Queen's visage appeared in the mirror. "My, what an unhexpected visit! I don't suppose you've come to fulfill your evil destiny by setting your dear mother free?"

"Sorry, mom, still not happening," Raven shook her head. "Still never happening."

"Let your mother dream a little, birdie," the Even Queen chuckled darkly. "Am I being allowed mirror-parole for Bookball season, too, then?"

"I can ask Headmaster Grimm if you're interested... but actually, I'm kind of, sort of," Raven rubbed her arm. "I'm not really supposed to, um, be here right now, if you get my meaning."

"Ah, breaking rules... a spectacular baby step into the world of evil," the Evil Queen tapped her fingertips together. "When I was in school, oh, the forbidden corridors I broke into! I left a nest of rotten eggs above every teacher's room, you know. Well, regardless, what brings you to visit me today? Surely you have better places to break into than this dusty old place."

"I need some... advice," Raven shifted softly, the packet of spell notes tucked underneath her arm.

"Advice is a broad, broad topic, birdie," the Evil Queen tisked maternally. "Why, you could be asking for anything from homework help to overthrowing an empire!"

"And I guess you'd have things to say about both?" Raven raised a single eyebrow. Slyly, "Maybe what I need is a little bit of both."

"Cheating and treason? I suppose you're shaping up to be your mother's daughter after all," the Evil Queen smiled fondly.

"I have this spell," Raven lifted forth her notes. "But I can't read some of the runes, or tell how they're supposed to be spoken. I thought that maybe a more experienced sorceress would recognize them."

"Well, let your mother see," the Evil Queen pulled on a pair of sharp, sharp reading glasses that seemed rather more for fashionable effect than any actual eyesight issue. "Well, well, well... that's certainly a nasty couple spells you have there. When you said you would write your own destiny, I did not think you would be so literal as to carve out your own, new Storybook of Legends in the very ink of life. As for myself, I'm not a regular fan of blood and death... you know I prefer enslavement and imprisonment, birdie, much less messy."

"I'm not going to hurt anybody-- at least, not until I have no other choice," Raven bit her lip, and carefully cut bits and pieces of the truth away to suit her needs. "It's more of a... backup plan."

"You may not see it now, but you truly shall stop at nothing to complete your goals, my little birdie..." the Evil Queen's voice swelled with pride. More professionally, "You have the line breaks in the wrong place; the first rune is an enumeration. Shift all of your lines one rune down, and then it's clear to see that those 'mystery runes' of yours are merely pronunciation notes for the runes directly prior. Long vowels and other such things. You'll want to read those first lines as 'from story to stone, from stone to earth; from life to death and from blood, rebirth.' I am sure you can figure out the rest from there."

"That's... surprisingly simple," Raven furrowed her brow, but some quick realigning definitely made the whole spell seem more comprehensible.

"And the other one?" the Evil Queen asked expectantly. "I may be trapped in the mirror-realms, but I can still hear that you brought more than one scroll."

"The other one..." Raven pressed her lips together, knowing full well that it was more complicated and more revealing of the situation than the spell she'd presented first. At last, she said, "That spell is plan A."

And this time, when she held it before the looking-glass, the Evil Queen lowered her glasses altogether. "Well... my, my, your motives are ever more complicated, aren't they? You've certainly learned to hide them well."

"My mom made sure I learned it, as a little girl," Raven deadpanned, her expression anything but joking.

"Manipulative today, are we? My, I'm proud," the Evil Queen grinned as she quickly worked out the best way to turn the situation around. "Evil suits you, little birdie, better than you're willing to admit. And why shouldn't it? After all... you learned from the best."

"I'm not evil for doing things that have to be done for the good of all," Raven scowled. "Would you have given me the information I needed if I'd shown you this scroll first?"

"Strange you should say that, when trustworthiness is a trait of good," the Evil Queen mused. "Just as much as suspicion and paranoia belong to evil."

Raven, though, refused to budge on the matter. "I'm not paranoid... I just know you well enough to figure out what you'd want in exchange for rune translations."

"I suppose that, if it were anyone else doing the asking, I would have leveraged my freedom against them. What is one Evil Queen, after all, in comparison to doom foretold in the legends of the ages?" the Evil Queen pretended to ponder. "However, as the story stands, it is my dearest daughter asking for help, and even I am not so evil as to threaten my own little birdie with her realm's demise. Thirteen couplets down, you are missing a clause that should weave the lifetime of all tales with the lifetime of this realm. Perhaps something along the lines of 'as long as tales are evermore told, weave forth the bonds of time and hold'... that is, if you're still willing to trust your own mother, even a little?"

Raven seemed visibly abashed by that shockingly earnest final question. "No, you're right... you've got just as much of a reason to keep the world in one piece as I do."

"I don't blame you for distrusting me, Raven... let us say it is only the evil in your blood that speaks to you," the Evil Queen spoke softly, having planted all the ideas she wished to plant. "But know this: your mother loves you, my dove, and do not forget that your father lives in your realm as well. The thought of both of you is all that keeps me sane in these long, long, quiet hours alone here in Mirror Prison. I don't care to lose either of you."

"I... I know, mom," Raven gathered her spell notes to her chest. Still, disbelieving for just a second, "And... you're sure you don't want anything in return for the information?"

"Well," the Evil Queen mused. "It has been a while since I've heard any Bookball news. As lovely as Mirror Parole permissions would be, I would settle for a report of the scores... I hear Little Red's daughter is on the team this year. She and I were roommates when we were your age, you know."

"Bookball reports, I can do," Raven smiled cautiously. "I should get back to work... try not to let Mirror Prison get to you, mom."

"Good luck with saving the world out there, birdie," the Evil Queen waved her farewell, and watched as her daughter hastened down the staircase, presumably to sneak away so that none would know where she had been.

Raven was not evil yet, the Queen decided, but that had not been the goal of her little back-and-forth. All that mattered was that Raven knew she had committed actions of a less-than-good nature-- that she was beginning to believe she was becoming evil, even if she was not. Belief was a powerful force, the Queen knew, and it was a very, very slippery slope between believing oneself evil and committing the actual crime. A slippery slope indeed, she smirked, and carefully retreated back into the shadows of the Mirror Realm.

Her work here was done.


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