Apple White's POV

Apple took off running in her red heels, clicking against the floor. After spotting the smoke coming from the Lifairy, she just knew something royally bad was happening. First Raven rebelled on Legacy Day and now, a fire? This year after Ever After High was certainly going to be eventful. After bolting down the corridors, Apple was out of breath and panting when she arrived at the hallway that connected to the Lifairy. Some students were injured with minor burns or were being treated by the school nurses.

"Lynnie!" Apple cried once spotting the next Fairy Godmother. She dashed over, engulfing Lynari in a bear hug before the girl could even get a word in. Releasing Nari, Apple noticed that she was paler than usual and more... tired? Odd. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Apple, I'm fine, you fret far too much. Thanks to Willow, you should have seen the way she took charge." Nari gestured to the short, brown-haired girl next to her. Willow Waverly was in Freedom Year from Apple's memory, plus she had a quiet brother named Scout. Willow nodded awkwardly, clasping her hands.

"Hi, Apple."

"Thank Grimm, you both aren't injured. Is anyone...?" Dead?

"No, Miss White, everyone is accounted for and there were no casualties." Headmaster Grimm's voice made Apple spin around to see the stout, gray-haired man. Glancing behind him, Apple saw that the fire was put out by the headmaster's magic. Only smoke and ash remained, wafting through the air. "Things could have been very different if I hadn't come in time..." He sighed, stroking his beard.

"How did the fire even start?" Nari questioned curiously.

"Well—"

"Apple!" Raven Queen's voice made Apple look over her shoulder. Raven and Essie were running towards them, a shell-shocked expression on their faces. Raven's eyes widened at the sight of the Lifairy. "There was a fire?"

"Unfortunately so," Apple replied, turning away from Raven. They still weren't on speaking terms, Apple was upset about what happened on Legacy Day. "There were no deaths, but the Lifairy is ruined..." Strolling towards the Lifairy, Apple nudged the burnt doors open a bit. Inside, the Lifairy was reduced to blackened ashes. Shelves were crumbled and books were to be forever lost. Although Apple wasn't an avid reader, she did think books were a source of knowledge and inspiration. To lose such knowledge was losing pieces of the world, history, heritage, and so much more. The burning of the Lifairy was a huge loss, it would impact Ever After High greatly. Apple was surprised that the Lifairy's fire hadn't spread to other wings of the school, but was grateful it hadn't.

"Who would do such a crime?" she cried out.

Willow peeked inside, appearing at Apple's side. "Maybe it was an accident?"

"How would an accident this damaging occur?" Raven countered, shaking her head.

"Well, one of us here likes to smoke quite often even if cigarettes are banned on campus," an older boy muttered. His wooden-like skin was covered in soot and ash, Luka Pinocchio crossed his arms. Luka was two years older than them, about to graduate this year. Apple realized how much more harmful the fire was to Luka—he was literally a wooden puppet. Key word: wooden. She noticed that Luka's fingertips and feet were slightly burnt, black gnawing at his splintered limbs.

Essie rounded on Luka, a defiant look on her face. Here we go again... "Excuse me?" she said, cocking her head to the side. Luka backed away, just realizing Essie had overheard him. "Say that shit with your chest, dollface."

Luka rolled his eyes. "It's no secret that you've been in Grimm's offices more times than we can count for getting caught smoking in the girls' bathroom." His nose didn't grow.

"And it's no secret that you're clearly a selfish, hot-headed bastard—"

Headmaster Grimm cut Essie off before she could start a proper feud with Luka. "While I would enjoy considering the narrative that the Lifary's fire was unintentional, it's my regret to say it was targeted arson."

Apple's soul left her body. Arson? Why in the world would someone want to set the Lifairy on fire? "Headmaster Grimm, how can you be absolutely sure without properly checking?" she inquired.

"Because the Lifairy has a fail-safe," he explained, pacing around the hallway, brows narrowed. "Books are highly flammable and the school needs to predict these sorts of situations, so I cast a powerful and advanced spell to keep everything there safe. If there was ever a fire, it would be unable to spread because of my protection spell. It would just, well, vanish."

"But..." Willow glanced at the fully ruined Lifairy. "The spell didn't work."

Headmaster Grimm stopped his pacing, clearly irritated by Willow's comment. "My spells work perfectly fine! No, Miss Waverly, spells don't work like that. In order for a spell to be lifted, someone with powerful magic must have cast their own to get rid of mine. There was foul play involved with the Lifairy's fire, someone with advanced magical abilities must have lifted my fail-safe spell and set the fire. Who? I can't possibly guess..."

"Or why," Apple added as the attention shifted to her. "What motive would there be?"

Suddenly, Professor Camille Red was shouting from the other end of the hallway. She pushed her red-framed glasses up, hurrying towards Grimm. The teacher's eyes were wide with fear as she spluttered an unintelligible response. "Camille?" Headmaster Grimm asked, grabbing Professor Red by the shoulders. "What in the world are you trying to say?"

Professor Red took a shaky breath. "Sir, t-the Storybook of Legends is missing."

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Nikilaus Nikiforov's POV:

Nik's back was pressed against the wall as he exhaled shaky breaths. Flashes of flames surged through his mind as he blinked blankly. He didn't remember how he escaped too well, the flames were gaining on him and he just followed the crowd of students who were desperate to survive. You almost died, the thought had just registered in his mind. He signed, rubbing the back of his neck as he stood up. He didn't seem to have any burns or injuries, no one checked on him anyways.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Professor Red speeding down the hall. Nik found Professor Red to be quite nice actually, she made Environmental Magic seem fun. Fun. That spoke volumes. "Camille?" Headmaster Grimm asked, shaking the woman's shoulders. Professor Red seemed out of breath, her cheeks flushed with red and she was spluttering. "What in the world are you trying to say?"

"Sir, t-the Storybook of Legends is missing."

Nik's eyebrows flew up as gasps filled the hallway. Headmaster Grimm let go of Camille Red, his eyes wide as he processed the information. It didn't last long, his shockness was soon replaced with rage. "The Book is what?!" he roared incredulously. Nik couldn't believe it either, the actual Storybook of Legends was gone? From Nik's knowledge, it was kept in an enchanted glass case. Grimm's face was beetroot red as he started pacing furiously. "How?" he demanded, facing Professor Red.

"I was just about to drop off some paperwork at your office, but I saw that the glass case was shattered, glass was on the floor everywhere. The Storybook of Legends was nowhere to be found, someone must have stolen it."

"But the Book is one of the most powerful, ancient artifacts in the world!" Apple cried out.

"We're well-aware, Blondie," Luka grumbled.

"First, a fire and now, the Book is missing?" Headmaster Grimm shook his head, livid. He pinched the bridge of his nose, gritting his teeth. "What is happening today?" Suddenly, a thought occurred to Nik.

"It was a distraction." His voice echoed in the hallway, louder than he intended for. Nik stiffened as all attention shifted to him, giving him a surprised look. He awkwardly put his hands behind his back as Grimm blinked.

"What?"

He considered his opinion. It was flimsy and purely theoretical. "Never mind..."

"No, no, Niklaus, go on," Professor Camille Red encouraged.

Nik's palms became clammy. "Uh, well, we can assume that the fire took place while Professor Red was heading to Headmaster Grimm's office to hand in paperwork. The Lifairy was a distraction, it caused Grimm to abandon his office so whoever the thief is, they had time to steal the Book."

Professor Red's head was tilting from side to side slightly as she murmured under her breath. "Yes, that timeline would technically make sense. If setting the Lifairy on fire was a distraction to lure the headmaster out of his office, then the perpetrator would have also had time to escape the scene of the crime since Grimm's arrival was delayed. Everyone's attention would be on the fire, not on the Storybook of Legends." Nik let out a small sigh of relief. Thank Grimm that someone actually considered his idea instead of dismissing it.

Luka raised up his hand. "Wait, wait, so that solves the motive of why the Lifairy would be lit on fire, the perpetrator needed to distract everyone. But then what's the motive for actually stealing the Book? Who'd do this?"

Grimm's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, I'm sure I know." He turned around, facing Raven Queen. Raven gasped, a shocked and incredulous expression plastered on her face. Before she could protest, Grimm spoke up. "Our culprit, from what information we have gathered, is someone who naturally has dark, evil powers. Powerful enough to lift my spell and destroy the Lifairy."

Essie cut in, stepping between Grimm and Raven. "Hey! You can't accuse my best friend like that! You don't have any proof that Raven set the fire! There are dozens of other suspects to consider here, old man."

Old man. Nik could practically sense the heat building up. "It's true," Nik added, "many other Ever After students fit the same description as Raven." The next Evil Queen gave him an appreciative smile for sticking up for her. "Plus, what would Raven's motive be?"

"Oh, I'll tell you what Miss Queen's motive would be, Mr. Nikiforov." Grimm pointed an accusing finger at Raven, narrowing his eyes. "Is it a coincidence that the Lifairy is set on fire and the Storybook of Legends is missing the day after Legacy Day? Which, Miss Queen so happened to rebel and cause a riot."

"Please, Raven's rebellion was hardly a riot," Luka snorted. Of course, he knew what a riot actually looked like.

"Yet, here we stand with the Book missing. Miss Queen was rather vocal with her 'rewrite her destiny and make her own path' nonsense, she was very clear that she did not want to sign." Grimm stroked his graying beard, looking down on Raven. "And what better way to guarantee that you'll never sign the Book by stealing the object itself? Admit it, you stole the Book so you wouldn't have to become the next Evil Queen."

"I'm not admitting anything," Raven said boldly, "I. Didn't. Steal. It."

Apple gave Headmaster Grimm a strained smile, patting his shoulder. Nik could basically feel the anger radiating from the old man. "Headmaster Grimm," Apple said kindly, "I don't think we should jump to conclusions. I mean, didn't Raven arrive here with Essie Greenings? That's her alibi, I bet they were together the entire evening."

Nik glanced at Essie, whose cheeks were flushed. Uh-oh, he thought as Grimm glared at Essie, a mad look on his face. "Do you have something to confess, Miss Greenings?" he asked, saying each word with venom on his tongue.

Essie crossed her arms, but Raven nodded, nudging her. Essie rolled her eyes, clenching her jaw. "Raven and I didn't see each other for the entire evening. I spotted the fire from my dorm and started to run down, where I met Raven heading the same direction. We decided to check out the Lifairy's fire together..." She swallowed hard.

Grimm had won, it was plain to see. "And what direction was Miss Queen coming from?"

"West Wing." It was Raven who replied this time.

"Which is where my office is."

"Raven didn't steal the Book!" Apple protested, but Headmaster Grimm had his mind set on his chosen perspective. Grimm waved a hand in the air, dismissing her.

Nik glanced at Raven, feeling awful. "I'm sorry," he apologized to her. "I shouldn't have said anything, now you're in trouble." There was no way that Raven could have stolen the Book. Right? Now you're being foolish, Nik's mother, Odette, entered his mind. Never judge people without knowing more, my little Duckling. That embarrassing nickname still stuck, but it was more endearing now.

"It's okay, we'll get this mess sorted out eventually..." Raven gulped.

"We will speak in the morning," Grimm said, "until then, you're guilty as charged, Raven Queen." With chaos and arguing ensuing, Nik's eyes caught on something outside. What in the world? He hoped he hadn't gone mad yet. Approaching the glass window, he saw a darkening horizon. It wasn't just the night coming, but it seemed as if a black plague was snaking through the clouds.

Almost like ink seeping into the sky.

A/N: It's hurts me too to see all the books burn :( but alas, "plot must plot."