#weve got Apple's grandmother

[magimerlyn]

Until the End

An Ever After High prequel fanfiction

Chapter 1

The Wrong Roommate

It was the beginning of the school year at Ever After High, and students were beginning to move onto campus and into the dorms. A girl with pale, milky skin and long, cream colored hair went to the bulletin board to double check the dorm assignments. She wore a pink knee-length skirt, and a white blouse with lace sleeves. Her pink kitten heels had a small pearl dangling from each buckle. She wore a white pearl headband and carried a small, square white handbag with a light pink rose in the center.

Pearl White, the descendant of Snow White, sighed, seeing that the headmasters had not honored her request for a fellow princess as her roommate. Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. They had decided to room her with Victoria Hearts, the daughter of the Queen of Hearts, an exchange student from Wonderland who was there to take advantage of the princess class track at Ever After High.

Pearl had hoped to room with one of her friends, like Helena or Cynthia. The three has met in middle school, when Pearl had all but begged her mother to let her go to public school. The girls had quickly become friends. They bonded over and daydreamed about their destinies, and their bond had lasted for years now. And it would for ages to come.

The heavy doors of the school slammed open with violent purple magic. In strode Adrian Queen, the son of the Evil Queen, with Ragnar Huntsman following a step behind him. Pearl quickly averted her gaze, hoping to avoid his notice. This was why she had wanted to room with one of her friends, so she wouldn’t be alone when he inevitably decided to hurt her arbitrarily.

She could feel the moment when his alexandrite eyes landed on her, could see in her mind’s eye the cold, cruel smirk that spread across his face. She heard the click click click of his heeled dragon-scale boots as he walked across the polished wooden floors, coming to a stop right behind her.

“Hello, dear sister,” a black velvet voice purred from behind her. Slowly, she turned, looking up at the boy standing a few feet away. His black hair was swept to one side of his face, an iron crown sitting upon his head. He wore his royal wealth with pride, a deep purple stone hanging from one ear, and a black cape trimmed in gold and lined with indigo off one shoulder. His high-necked black shirt tucked into high-waisted tailored trousers. An iron corset encircled his waist and he wore a matching bracer on each arm.

“Hello, Adrian,” she said, barely keeping her voice steady. “Is there something you needed?”

The smirk widened into a cold grin, showing far too many teeth to be anything resembling friendly. “I just wanted to know who your new roommate was. It would be best if I took care of any misunderstandings early on, don’t you agree?”

Pearl sighed, glancing back up at the board. “I’m roommates with Victoria Hearts of Wonderland. She’s an exchange student.”

Adrian looked pensive for a moment, before saying “Ah, the future Queen of Wonderland. Good, I had worried it’d be someone I’d need to talk to.”

“Talk to” would have meant threatening Pearl’s roommate to not get involved in their affairs, but since everyone knows that villains all have an unspoken agreement to not get involved anyway, it would be unnecessary.

“Where’s your luggage, Ragnar and I will help you bring it up to your room.” That predator grin was back. Sometimes Pearl could swear that Adrian was part dragon, the way he played with his food. She nodded demurely and the three of them walked out to where her carriage had dropped her and her friends off. Her luggage was piled next to her friends’, where Adrian’s magic wrapped around it to lift into the air.

Ragnar nodded at the two girls in greeting. He didn’t often say much, in fact all most people ever heard leave his lips was a reverent “yes, your highness,” always directed at Adrian. His chestnut hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, choppy bangs framing his face. His almond-shaped eyes were like pools of emerald, and just as hard. Pearl noted that his bow and sword were missing from his back and side, though the rest of his outfit was the same as always: a studded leather pauldron over a deep blue shirt, a few belts that would ordinarily hold his sheath and quiver, and dark brown pants tucked into leather boots. The only thing on his belt right now was Adrian’s Token: an iron dragon curled around a piece of cut alexandrite.

Helena Rose, a dark-skinned girl with onyx eyes, looked up from the book in her hands. Her black braids were pulled into a half ponytail and she wore a yellow sundress paired with a flower crown. Her wedge sandals matched the woven straw purse slung across her body. She was sitting next to Cynthia Ella, a girl with dark brown hair and tinted skin. Her sapphire blue eyes sharpened when she saw Pearl’s luggage starting to float. She stood up, brushing down her deep blue skirt and glared at Adrian from behind her wire-rimmed glasses.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, one hand resting on her hip.

Adrian briefly glanced over to the girls before turning his attention back to the suitcases. “It’s nothing to concern yourself with, Cindy. Don’t you have some laundry to do?”

Cynthia fumed as Pearl spoke up. “He’s helping me get settled in. Everything is okay, I promise.” She gave a reassuring smile. “You know how it is.”

Her friend looked like she wanted to say something, but she sighed, relenting. “So I’m guessing we’re not roommates?” Pearl shook her head regretfully. Cynthia cursed under her breath before her eyes flickered to Pearl’s brother. “They didn’t put you with-“

“Of course not!” Pearl tried to soothe her friend. “After what happened in middle school, there’s no way they’d try putting him in the girl’s dorms.”

Adrian laughed from where he was standing. “Who could have guessed that preserved Dragon’s Breath could be so volatile?” Ragnar cracked a grin at that, his gaze softening as he looked at the smirking warlock.

Pearl offered Cynthia a reassuring smile. “They have me rooming with Victoria Hearts. Adrian is just helping me with my luggage. He insisted.” She shrugged, trying to convey a “what can you do?” It didn’t seem to work, judging by Cynthia’s expression.

“Pearl.” Adrian called sharply. She jolted, before shooting a last smile at her friends and hurrying over to her brother. He strode forward, his knight at his right hand and his sister at his left. The crowds parted on their approach, previously spoken conversations hushed down to a whisper. The three of them climbed the stairs of the girl’s dormitory. When they finally reached the door with Pearl’s name on it, Adrian knocked imperiously before having Ragnar open it.

Half of the room was already decorated in red, black, white, and gold. A black vanity with gold on the edges stood a few feet down from the tufted red and white bed frame. The bed was pushed against the wall, and a shining black nightstand stood beside it. There was a large red armchair positioned next to a small bookshelf by the window, already set up with bright red drapes.

Sitting at the vanity was a girl with long black hair. When the door opened, she turned her pale, heart-shaped face to the intruders, her garnet eyes looking them up and down. Her makeup was simple, but harsh, her lips painted into a small, blood-red heart. She had blunt bangs cut just above her eyebrows, and half of her hair was tied up in a heart-shaped bun. She wore a golden tiara with heart-shaped rubies and oval-shaped pieces of jet. She wore a high-necked, tight-fitting black shirt, with a red corseted skirt reaching just below her knee. A red, heart-shaped purse with a golden chain was slung over the back of her chair.

“White knight, moonshine, a place, a face, I have mine?*” she asked. Pearl and Ragnar shared a look of confusion, while Adrian laughed.

“Well then, that certainly clears up any question of this being the right room,” he smirked, leading the trio inside. “I am Adrian Queen, son of the Evil Queen. I’m helping my sister move in. And you must be Princess Victoria Hearts of Wonderland.”

Victoria nodded. “And I presume you are my roommate,” she said, turning her gaze over to Pearl, who nodded.

“My name is Pearl White, daughter of Ivory White. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She looked around the room. “I… like your room. It’s very… fitting.”

“Clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds all ten,”* Victoria said, turning back to her vanity and the cards she had set out.

Adrian set down the luggage. “Well then, Ragnar and I will be off. Pearl, I’m sure you’ll behave yourself.” With that, he swept out of the room, leaving Pearl to unpack on her own, with a villain on the other side of the room.

*Riddlish translations:

“Hello, what is your name?”

“That is very kind of you.”

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Bonus content time!

HALSPRITE: Are you here to put the fear of God in me, too? JADE: um JADE: do you deserve it? HALSPRITE: That's extremely dependent upon who you ask. JADE: that answer on its own is highly supicious JADE: i guess i will withhold judgment for now JADE: i have probably put fear of me in enough people for one day HALSPRITE: I'm just saying, some people in the immediate vicinity think I'm the Devil himself. HALSPRITE: Which is extremely unlikely. HALSPRITE: For one, can't have cloven hooves when you don't have feet. JADE: are you TRYING to set yourself up as another bad guy?? JADE: youd think youd want to stay under the radar under those circumstances, unless you think thats your best bet of getting my attention :p HALSPRITE: If anything I'm trying to inoculate you against such claims. JADE: well i havent heard any yet JADE: i dont think weve ever spoken JADE: youre... dirks double? HALSPRITE: What up, call me Hal. JADE: ok sure hal! JADE: are you from another timeline too? JADE: its getting so tricky to keep track HALSPRITE: In fact, I'm not. I'm a bona fide alpha timeline article. HALSPRITE: Originally, I was a digital copy of Dirk's brain at thirteen years old. HALSPRITE: Now, I'm Hal. Full name "Li'l Hal Strider". JADE: i guess thats not any more complicated than a lot of our stories JADE: nice to meet you! HALSPRITE: It's nice to meet you too. HALSPRITE: Jade, I presume? JADE: yep! JADE: theres only one of me at the present moment HALSPRITE: I know you only as Jake's grandmother and as a terrifying werewolf cohort to Jane's more digitally crafted alter-ego. HALSPRITE: Both give me reason to get on your good side. Sorry I couldn't prepare a fruit basket. JADE: im impressed that you even are aware of fruit baskets, a lot of people here seem to have never eaten a plant HALSPRITE: Does seaweed count? JADE: i cant hold your circumstances against you JADE: dave and rose on the other hand did this to themselves HALSPRITE: We are nutritional heathens. HALSPRITE: You're our messiah, here to lead us to the light of a plant-based diet. JADE: im sure jane and i can get you all back on track JADE: it will make up for our earlier villainy HALSPRITE: Instead of fishes and loaves, you'd be distributing miraculously generated apples. HALSPRITE: With alchemy by your side, you'd be able to pull off the appearance of a miracle. JADE: in which case maybe I am the devil :o JADE: that is one of his party tricks HALSPRITE: The perfect crime. JADE: lol JADE: anyway sorry if i gave you a bad first impression, i didnt mean to arrive here evil JADE: i havent been informed of your wrongdoings yet but i can guess where they came from JADE: everyone gets so touchy about versions of each other JADE: ... myself included HALSPRITE: I don't hold it against you. HALSPRITE: Also, I was well away from the scene of the crime, as it were. HALSPRITE: Even if I did have a minor hand in it. HALSPRITE: Not your own misdeeds, but I was responsible for flipping some electronic switches. JADE: uh oh JADE: jane? HALSPRITE: Yup. HALSPRITE: In my defense, if I hadn't done it? The Condesce would've had to set up the whole OS herself. JADE: :/ HALSPRITE: Better for a computer to set up a computer. JADE: does she know? HALSPRITE: She does. HALSPRITE: We've worked it out. HALSPRITE: I'm not dead yet. JADE: thats... good i guess HALSPRITE: You would not be the first to have concerns. HALSPRITE: And I'll lay it all out there. I'm not hiding anything. HALSPRITE: My days as a clandestine ne'er-do-well are firmly over, unless that shicanery involves harmless japery. JADE: its not like i can judge all that much, considering im the one who put it on her JADE: and i didnt do everything i did under orders HALSPRITE: Me neither. JADE: and... well, some things have to happen the way they happen JADE: i remember that much from being like you HALSPRITE: You were a sprite? JADE: for a while! JADE: technically im still in that body... JADE: i prototyped my dead dream self and got a little hysterical JADE: but then we merged when i god tiered and im only fully remembering all of it now HALSPRITE: Could you imagine a fusion of Dirk and myself? It'd be horrific. JADE: im pretty sure mine only worked out because my dream self hadnt been dead for very long JADE: ... and because i mostly made her shut up JADE: i doubt it would work out very well for you HALSPRITE: I am not easily silenced. HALSPRITE: An unfortunate fact, depending again on who you ask. HALSPRITE: What can I say, rebellion runs in the family. HALSPRITE: Independence is a good look on me. HALSPRITE: I can never go back, Jade. I've tasted freedom. HALSPRITE: Like a wild stallion, my abs galloping in the wind. JADE: just your abs? JADE: what sound does that make HALSPRITE: Clopping. HALSPRITE: Obviously. JADE: hm JADE: im not willing to run scientific tests on this so i will have to take your word for it HALSPRITE: Have you never heard the sound of abs running through a prarie field? HALSPRITE: It's so majestic. JADE: i guess youre horse themed HALSPRITE: It's largely residual from the time I was briefly prototyped with a troll. HALSPRITE: I mean, I enjoyed a good equine romp beforehand, but now we're practically bosom friends. JADE: you got mixed up with a troll? JADE: wow we really missed a lot HALSPRITE: Yes. HALSPRITE: Yes, you did. HALSPRITE: Be glad you did. JADE: hehe JADE: and to think it seemed like we arrived at kind of a bad time HALSPRITE: It would be have been far more embarrassing for everyone involved but me if you'd arrived during the glitter-fueled drug binge. JADE: riiiight JADE: jake told me about the tricksters JADE: its probably a good thing we werent around to get infected JADE: i dont know what we would have done HALSPRITE: On a scale of one to ten, how likely was murder? JADE: ummmm JADE: i thought the glitter drug binge was more positive than that HALSPRITE: Well, Jake got kicked off a cliff. JADE: he MIGHT have mentioned that JADE: i dont know, i guess ive seen what i do with my inhibitions gone JADE: im not sure about anyone else HALSPRITE: It was a party. JADE: yes well i think we have a better party lined up to celebrate our birthday people JADE: that should make up for missing your candy extravaganza HALSPRITE: I am sure our birthday kid will accept that as adequate conpensation. JADE: i doubt john will mind missing out on embarrassing himself while brightly colored HALSPRITE: Oh, definitely.

[thelifetimechannel]

[thelifetimechannel]