You found yourself sleeping better these days. Not by much, but you definitely didn't wake up screaming since you transfered here. And since you shared a room with Dex and Hunter, you didn't have to worry about a girl walking in while you slept shirtless.

Hunter himself slept in a tank top and shorts while Dex wore his boxers and whatever shirt he decides would be his pajama shirt for the week. So they never had a problem with your sleeping habits.

But they were slightly alerted when you had walked in and just fell asleep still wearing your clothes. Dex was expecting you to wake up at some point and change, or at the very least take off your jacket, but you never did.

You didn't wake up until you heard the wet slaps of frog hops coming down the hall.

Frog: All students, report to the Charmitorium. Croooak. All students to the Charmitorium at once. Crooooooooak.

Hunter croaked from under his covers, not unlike a talking frog.

Y/N: It’s the weekend. No school today. Must. Sleep. In.

Frog: No sleeping in today.

You groaned before you lifted your head. Whatever this was about, it was not worth waking up this early on a Saturday.

Or so you thought.

Apple stretched, dressed, and ran a comb through her golden curls. Raven was still trying to work a brush through her black-and-purple snarls when Apple left to meet up with Blondie and Briar. They sat in their usual high-backed, plush box seats in the Charmitorium.

Briar: Any idea?

Apple: None.

Blondie: Oh toadstools! I was hoping to get an inside scoop.

You happened to be passing by, so you decided to take a guess.

Y/N: I mean, this meeting probably has something to do with how a bunch of students broke into the Treasury last night, turned into a mob, and broke something called a Uni Cairn, which released a terrifying Wonderlandian monster from its tiny, magical prison, but besides that, I have no intel on the specifics.

You continued on your way, leaving the girls feeling dumb for not even considering the disaster that was yesterday.

You sat down next to Ruby, who was just as lost, and made eye contact with Maddie, who was sitting next to Raven, Cerise, and Cedar on the wooden benches on the main floor. You tilted your head, asking your friend a question. Did she know what was happening?

Maddie shook her head no.

Headmaster Grimm took the stage, looking, you thought thought, particularly grim. Baba Yaga, Gepetto, the White Queen, Mother Goose, Rumpelstiltskin, and other members of the senior faculty stood behind him. The White Queen looked extremely pale today, Baba Yaga looked as if she hadn’t slept in a decade, and Gepetto was trembling.

Mr. Grimm: You all know why we’re here.

You could see the heads of students around you go lower as those who’d been in the Treasury the day before cowered in their seats.

Mr. Grimm: I am not happy, students, not happy with any of you. But one of you especially crossed a line. Yes, crossed so far that there’s no going back.

You assumed the headmaster meant Sparrow Hood. But fear bathed you with an icy chill as you thought, what if he blamed Raven? Her rebellion had incited the students, after all, and she had torn the Storybook of Legends.

But was it fair to blame her for this? She initially tried to help stop it.

But instead of Sparrow or even Raven, the headmaster called out another name. One that surpised you.

Mr. Grimm: Come up here now, Madeline Hatter.

There was a general gasp of surprise and alarm.

Maddie stood and made her way down the row. Raven started to go with her, but the headmaster stopped her.

Mr. Grimm: Madeline alone, if you please.

Maddie stood on the far end of the stage, twisting the finger of one of her gloves. Her knees knocked, her feet pointed toward each other.

You had never noticed before how truly small Maddie was until you saw her there beside the faculty. You could see in Maddie’s pocket her pet dormouse shivering, his tiny hands gripping the brim of his top hat.

Ruby: What did she do?

You looked to your sister in worry. You had an idea, but you didn't like it.

Mr. Grimm: Yesterday I saw Madeline Hatter in the Treasury, her pockets full of stolen heirlooms. At her feet, clearly just fallen from her hands, the Uni Cairn, one of the Great Glass Prisons. Her carelessness has unleashed the most terrifying horror Wonderland ever knew, now loose in our own Ever After!

Everyone began to mumble among themselves while you sighed.

Ruby: Is that true? Is that why we were sent to our rooms early yesterday?

You nodded.

Y/N: The jabberwocky got loose. But, it wasn't just her fault. Everyone got crazy and things got out of hand.

Mr. Grimm: And I’m not convinced she didn’t throw down that glass prison on purpose. It’s well known that Madeline Hatter misses her home world. Perhaps she went into the Treasury with the express purpose of setting free one of her countrybeasts, the… the jabberwocky.

You suddenly sat up.

Y/N: What?

Gasps filled the room while you stood up. Ruby was about to ask you what you were doing, but you quickly leaped over the railing and hurried your way down the theater.

Maddie: But...

Mr. Grimm: Silence! Your testimony is not needed. It doesn’t matter what you meant to do, only what you did. And what you did was free a vastly dangerous, frightening, and deadly beast!

A general shiver passed around the audience. Someone began to weep. The headmaster raised his hand.

Mr. Grimm: Now, don’t be afraid, children. We know from legend that the jabberwocky will hide itself for years, slowly regaining its terrifying powers, before attacking. But when that distant day comes, Madeline Hatter, it will be your fault. You committed a crime of Big Bad Proportions, something great, terrible, dangerous, and completely off-script. Your punishment, therefore, can be nothing less than banishment from the land of Ever After. You will leave here and never return.

The students in the audience gasped again, this time with even more alarm. Someone banished! And not just anyone, but Maddie! Ruby couldn’t think of anyone else whom all the students, both Royals and Rebels, liked as much as the tea-loving, party-throwing, riddle-spouting girl.

Maddie: Thank you, that’s very kind, I appreciate it.

Her voice was quavering. She was on the verge of tears.

Baba Yaga: What are you saying, girl? You appreciate getting banished?

Maddie: Oh, no, I find the idea of banishment horrifying, frightening, and generally extremely icky. I was responding to what the Narrator said, that you all like me. It’s nice, at least, to know that.

Maddie sniffed, and a fat tear rolled down her cheek.

But, the game wasn't over yet!

Y/N: Headmaster!

Everyone quickly ceased their actions as you stood in the middle of the center aisle. Ruby leaned over the rail to see how you manged to get down there so quickly.

You weren't about to stand by and let this happen. You weren't going to allow your friend be banished.

Y/N: Sir, if you’d be so kind as to hear a question? I saw, as you did, Maddie standing near the broken Uni Cairn in the Treasury. We witnessed the moment after its break, not its breaking, therefore, any witness testimony is circumstantial at best....

Mr. Grimm: Your Royal Highness, this is not the time to debate....

Y/N: Anyway, what is one of these so-called Great Glass Prisons doing in the school Treasury? Shouldn’t you have kept it somewhere safer?

Baba Yaga: Such as behind heavily locked doors?

You pointed at her.

Y/N: But Maddie has an explanation, I bet. And if we just listened to her....

Mr. Grimm: Madeline Hatter not only meddled with one of the Great Glass Prisons, she broke it! As such, I am authorized to judge and convict her myself. The only defense for a crime of Big Bad Proportions would be Irrefutable Evidence, something Madeline cannot offer.

You clenched your fists. Of course Maddie wouldn't have that. She was mad! This was just unjustified.

Mr. Grimm: Therefore, she is banished. I will personally inform her father that she has twenty-four hours to pack and make her good-byes. We will meet by the school wishing well at this time tomorrow morning. There, Baba Yaga will perform the banishment spell, and you will all witness Madeline Hatter depart Ever After forever after.

You stared down the headmaster and began to wonder what to do. You needed to fight this somehow.

Maddie: Um… where am I being banished to?

Gepetto, Cedar's grandfather, stepped forward with some warmth in his voice.

Gepetto: Wonderland’s portal is sealed shut, Maddie, or we would send you home. So we decided on the next best thing: Neverland.

The faculty members all nodded. You didn’t think they noticed how Maddie recoiled at the name.

White Queen: Yes, Neverland! Surely it is the most like Wonderland. After all, they both share the same last name: Land.

Y/N: No!

Everyone looked at you. You didn't even mean to say anything, you just did. Mr. Grimm looked down at you.

Mr. Grimm: "No"?

You looked around before you took a deep breath. You then stood up a bit higher.

Y/N: You said that only Irrefutable Evidence can stop her banishment. Maddie can't supply that, you are correct. But, I can.

The room fell silent at your statement. You took a step forward with a look of determination.

Y/N: You're so willing to banish a student because of your own mistake. Surely you'll allow one of her peers to help prove her innocence.

Everyone began to mumble and nod along, but Mr. Grimm narrowed his eyes towards you. You didn't budge.

Mr. Grimm: Strong words, Mr. Ozymandias. But, what will you do should you fail?

Y/N: I'll share her punishment.

You could hear a pen drop. The faculty all stared at you in shock as did many of the students. Ruby wanted to yell at you for being an idiot, but Mr. Grimm simply shook his head.

Mr. Grimm: Nonsense. I will not allow it.

You shrugged.

Y/N: Fine. Then please, look at your students in the eyes and tell them that you don't care enough about them to take proper procedures to protect them.

Mumbles began to grow once again while Mr. Grimm grabbed the podium.

Mr. Grimm: That is enough, Mr. Ozymandias.

No, it wasn't.

Y/N: Tell them that you rather banish them instead of giving them a fair chance to prove their innocence. Tell them that you rather put their lives at risk than take responsibility for your own actions!

Mumbles turned into yells. Yells turned into chants. Chants urged Headmaster Grimm to allow you the chance to try and prove Maddie's innocence. The faculty members tried to calm the students, but they weren't letting up.

You stood in the middle of the chaos and stared down Mr. Grimm.

You weren't about to let this madness fly. Not if you can help it. It was injustice and you refused to stand by.

Mr. Grimm: Silence!

His yell echoed through the room. Students began to quiet down, but you didn't even flinch. Rather, you stepped forward.

Y/N: Allow me 24 hours. I will bring you your Irrefutable Evidence. And when I do...

Mr. Grimm: If you do...

Y/N: When I do, you will allow Maddie to stay. And then you will admit that this all happened because you failed as a headmaster.

Mr. Grimm took a deep breath. Then, he smiled.

Mr. Grimm: Very well. You have 24 hours to prove Madeline Hatter's innocence. And if you fail to do so, she will be banished to Neverland. And you will be banished right alongside her.

All eyes fell on you, waiting for your answer.

Y/N: You have yourself a deal, sir.
------------
Ruby: Are you insane?!

You ignored her as you ran down several flights of stairs and into the library. With you was Raven. She wanted to help her best friend. Maddie herself was having to go with Mr. Grimm to tell her father about her possible banishment.

Ruby: If you mess up, or if you can't help her, then you'll be banished to Neverland. Neverland!

You pulled the “I” volume of Auntie Aesop’s Complete Compendium of Ever After from the shelf, and together you and Raven carried the twenty-pound tome to the far back corner. You flipped it open.

Y/N: Irrefutable Evidence is a spell! Headmaster Grimm said the only defense for a crime of Big Bad Proportions is Irrefutable Evidence. Auntie Aesop starts to describe how to do the spell but suddenly changes languages.

Raven took the book from you, reading hungrily, then sighed and slammed it shut.

Raven: The spell is written in Cursed Gibberish. It’s a magical language.

Y/N: And can you read it?

Raven shook her head.

Raven: I’m a level-five sorceress. To understand Cursed Gibberish, you have to be level thirty-eight. The only sorceresses I’ve ever met who are fluent in Cursed Gibberish are Baba Yaga and.....

She suddenly stopped. You and Ruby looked at her for a moment, waiting for her to finish.

Seeing that she wouldn't, you took over.

Y/N: Well, Baba Yaga will never help us. When she glares at me, it’s like every hair on my head stands up and tries to run away.

Raven: There’s a rule in dark sorcery anyway. Upper-level knowledge can’t be downshared, and Baba Yaga is a faculty member, so she’ll definitely follow the rules. The headmaster would never let her anyway. He’s furious. I kind of wonder if he’s punishing Maddie in part to get back at me for Legacy Day.

Ruby: Wait, you said sorceresses, like, plural. Who else can read Cursed Gibberish?

Raven nervously rubbed her wrist. She then motioned towards a nearby mirror.

Y/N: Your mother.

For a moment, you were all silent.

Raven: But she does. My mother does speak Cursed Gibberish.

You swallowed.

Y/N: There must be someone else.

Raven hexted the Candy Witch. Her answer was slightly alarming.

CANDY: No, I don’t speak Cursed Gibberish, but I ate someone once who did. I’m kidding!

CANDY: Or am I? COL!

Ruby leaned over to look at Raven’s phone.

Ruby: COL?

Raven groaned.

Raven: "Cackle out loud". It’s a witch thing.

You found The Official Registry of Witches, Sorceresses, Conjuring Goblins, and Hags on a back shelf. Nobody else in all of Ever After had reached higher than level thirty-one.

You looked up at Raven, the purples of her eyes bright and serious but nervous, too. Ruby shivered.

Ruby: She’s level thirty-eight?

Raven: She’s level forty-two, actually,. And she doesn’t care about rules.

Ruby shivered again and looked around the library, half expecting to see the specter of the Evil Queen there, leaning over them, her shadow like a creeping plague.

Raven: We need her help, Y/N. We need to talk to her.

You groaned and covered your head with your arms. You slumped down in the chair in a very un-Royal-like posture. You felt as useless as a chewed-up core.

Y/N: This is something we can do. Something we can make better. But to reach your mother and get her help with the spell, we would have to, I don’t know, hack the Mirror Network or something, and I haven’t got the faintest idea how to do that.

Hack into mirror prison? Talk to the Greatest Evil Ever After Has Ever After Known? The library suddenly felt freezing. Ruby stood up and turned to a window, rubbing her arms with her hands. Outside, on the path to Book End, she could just make out Headmaster Grimm, with Maddie slowly, sadly hopping after him. So. Epically. Unfair.

Ruby: O-Okay. I think we can pull it off.

Raven nodded in agreement.

Ruby: Come on. I know just who we need to talk to.

She started to head out, but you stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.

Y/N: You realize, Ruby, that her mother is locked up in one of those Great Glass Prisons Headmaster Grimm mentioned, and the punishment for meddling....

Ruby: Is banishment, yes. But....what's the point of going to school here if you're banished?

You smiled and pulled her in for a hug.

Y/N: A leader’s most important job is to protect their subjects from harm. We need to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.

Raven smiled. You let go of your sister and turned to the daughter of the Evil Queen.

Y/N: So, where do we go? How do we talk to your mother? How do we talk to the Evil Queen?

The End Is Just The Beginning....