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Raven Queen did not regret many thing. Regret was an unpleasant emotion to be avoided at all costs. However, on that sunny morning Raven sat at her desk, looked over the piles books and papers covering both the desk and surrounding floor, and seriously regretted taking her latest commission. After high school, she bought an old keep on the edge of the map, cloaked the place in clever spells, and set up shop as Ever After's first freelance enchantress. As it turned out, there wasn't much demand for freelance enchantresses, forcing her to take other, esoteric jobs. For example: her current writing commission which was slowly becoming the commission she regretted very much.
The door to her study creaked open which meant either Elise, Maddie, or an unwelcome intruder--all good reasons to take a break from her cursed commission. A quick glance confirmed her suspicions. Only Elise, Raven's housemate-cum-assistant-cum-apprentice, had short brown hair, violet tinted skin, and a habit of leaning against doorways. Elise smiled and said, "How's the ‘Beginner's Guide to Wonderland Politics' going?"
"Hell's bells, stars and stones! Broken mirrors and broken bones!" Raven groaned as she worked the kinks out of her neck.
"I don't know Riddlish, but I know curse words when I hear them. That bad huh?"
"Did you know that the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts are actually two completely different people? It took me hours of translating an absolutely befuddling dialect of Riddlish just to figure that out!"
Elise laughed and Raven couldn't bring herself to be even a little annoyed. "Sounds like Wonderland as usual to me. Speaking of Wonderland, it's almost noon. I expect Maddie will jump through the looking-glass and land in our kitchen any minute now."
"Oh!" She shot out of her seat, nearly knocking over a book pile with her chair. "Right, it's Tuesday. Thanks for reminding me. I got so caught up in my work that I completely forgot."
"That's what I figured. I'll be in my room if you need me." In a woosh of light violet magic, she disappeared to places unknown, presumably her aforementioned room. The display was a bit too theatrical for Raven's tastes, but it showed that Elise had finally mastered that spell.
Raven rushed to the kitchen, only to find a kettle on the stove top and the Wonderlandian tea set on the table. From the scent of Earl Grey in the air, Elise even filled up the teapot. All Raven had to do was wait. She didn't wait very long. The large, human-sized mirror on the opposite wall glowed with soft teal light until it rippled. A gloved hand reached through and made a few experimental pokes and grasps. Once satisfied, out tumbled one Madeline Hatter.
Maddie stood up, dusting off imaginary dust motes off her white suit and adjusting her shoulder bag. With all the formality she could muster, she declared, "On behalf of the Queen of Hearts of Wonderland and the White Queen of Looking-Glass Land, I, Madeline Hatter, come bearing Very Important Messages."
Neither Raven nor Maddie did a good job of suppressing their giggles. The giggles escalated into laughter and two swept each other up into big hugs. The Hatter's destiny come with a secondary, optional role as the Queens' messenger. While Raven knew that Maddie loved the adventure that came with the position, it sometimes forced Maddie away from her friends for extended periods of time.
"It's good to see you too, Maddie. Tea's on the table, and you can tell me all about your adventures."
"Wait! Business first." Maddie rummaged through her shoulder bag and pull out several tomes that couldn't possibly fit in a normal bag that size and folders filled with what Raven hoped was sheet music. "Most of those books are from Lizzie, but the one with the goldfish is from Ashlyn. Dexter and Kitty sent the music."
Raven took the items, carefully levitating them safer parts of the kitchen, brows only furrowing slightly when she took the folder with Kitty's emblem. "Kitty never sends me stuff. Is she trying to bribe me?"
Maddie shrugged. With business finished, she and Raven sat at the table. The teapot took flight to fill their cups. "She was disappointed when you said that you couldn't replicate that spell for us."
"One, I don't even know if I can replicate that spell. Two, I did not need that much information about your love life." The memory of the conversation caused Raven to blush.
As they shared stories and tea, time flew by. Maybe, if Maddie had a better relationship with Time, the afternoon could be stretched into the evening or perhaps frozen in place. But, unlike her father, Time did not stop for her. Soon, the afternoon ended, and both Raven and Maddie had other obligations they needed to attend to. They hugged, but Maddie did not step through the looking-glass.
"I'm sorry Raven, but I have one last thing to deliver."
Raven winced. "Don't tell me it's--"
From her bag, Maddie pulled out a single envelope with a bright, apple-red wax seal. "I ran into Apple. Since she can't access you via MirrorNet or find your home address, she asked me to give this letter to you."
The letter felt heavy in Raven's hands. One blast of magic, and she could rid herself of this letter; she resisted the urge. "Thanks, Maddie."
Once upon a time, there was a princess named Apple White. She had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as bright as sunshine. Destiny told her she would be the next to play the role of Snow White. Destiny told her she would be a wonderful queen and whispered promises of order and safety into her ear. But Raven turned her back on destiny, destiny turned its back on Apple, and Raven (her dear friend Raven) turned her back on Apple.
Worst of all, Apple knew it was All Her Fault.
Lost, Apple did the only thing she could do. She sung.
A few days after Maddie's visit, Bella Venezia found Raven's house. Bella was a teenager and she was pretty but not beautiful. Her destiny was inn-keeping, but she wanted to defy her destiny and become a musical idol. She told all of this to Raven over sugary soda at Raven's kitchen table.
"Please, Raven," Bella pleaded, "there has to be something you can do, some spell you can cast!"
"I'm an enchantress, not a miracle worker. Turning you into an idol overnight isn't possible." Raven sighed. Far too many people overestimated the reach of her power in search of short cuts. "I can put a notice-me or a good luck charm on your stage costume, but the rest is up to you."
Several emotions flickered across Bella's face before she decided on sheer delight. "Spelltacular! I have my corset right here. Will that work?" Bella placed a bright apple-red, pleather monstrosity on the table.
"It'll do." As she began to weave a spell into the corset (slowly, so not to discolor it), she laid down the terms of the deal. "Since you're trying to change your destiny, I won't charge anything. However, if you abuse my kindness, I'll bring vengeance upon you, ask for back payments, refuse to offer my services in the future and you know how that tale turns. Are we clear?"
Bella nodded. "Crystal."
"Good. Now go and dazzle them."
With a brilliant smile, Bella took the corset. "Thanks Raven!"
What a good kid, Raven thought as she lead Bella to the door. She hoped Bella found some success.
Apple sang, and became the fairest idol of Ever After. While she was not happy, she was content and that was enough. But one day, the order of her life was disturbed when a man came to her dressing room before a show. The man, who was attractive but not handsome, claimed to be from her costume department. "I have your corset," he said. "Let me lace you up." Apple, suspecting nothing, let the man lace up her bright apple-red, pleather corset. But the man laced so quickly and so tightly that she lost her breath and fell down as if dead.
Not long afterward, seven members of Apple's staff found her lying on the dressing room floor. They lifted her up, and, as they saw her too tight corset, they cut the laces. Soon, her breath returned but her show was canceled.
As much as the ordeal frighten her, Apple couldn't help but wonder if her story had begun anew.
When Raven entered the kitchen for breakfast, Elise was already at the table, eating toast slathered in apple butter, drinking abyss-black coffee, and scrolling through a news feed on her Mirror Pad. Elise made a noncommittal sound that Raven decided to interpret as a good morning. Trying to get anything more out of Elise before the caffeine kicked in was a lost cause. Raven grabbed a bowl of cereal garnished with peach slices and a mug of coffee for herself. She was almost halfway through her first sip of coffee when Elise said, with the sort of casualness befitting small talk about the weather, "Apple canceled her concert last night."
Only the threat of an impossible to clean coffee stains kept Raven from making undignified and very alarmed noises. She swallowed the remaining coffee. "Uh...what?"
"It says here that someone sneaked back stage and sabotaged her costume. Staff found her passed out in her dressing room right before the show was about to start." Hot anger began to settle up against Raven's skin. Elise continued, "There are even people on My Chapter speculating about your involvement."
"How dare they." Raven snarled, hands slamming onto the table for emphasis. "How dare they--"
"If you're going to have a magical outburst, can you do it away from our looking-glass? I don't want to calibrate it again."
"Oh. Sorry." Her magic aura fizzled into nothingness.
"It's cool." Silence, except for the sound of Elise finishing her toast. "Someday, you have to tell me the whole story about her."
Raven considered it for a moment, then grinned. "Only if you tell me yours."
"Curses!" Elise said playfully. The familiar in-joke and the resulting laughter calmed Raven. At least, until a booming knock echoed throughout the keep.
Raven groaned. Who could possible need something from her at this hour in the morning? She marched up to the door, ready to recast the spell that hid the keep if certain, unwanted parties were on the other side.
From the other side of the threshold, Bella gave a small wave. "Hi Raven."
They relocated to the couch in Raven's study. "How's the idol life treating you?”
"Um..." Bella bit her lip. "It's going okay. But I heard what happened to Apple and I'm scared. What if someone finds me and does the same thing!? Or worse!"
"Bella, I'm sure you're going to be fine." There was no use jumping to such conclusions (yet). "But I can make you a small protection charm. Do you have some small accessory I could use?"
"I have this!" She pulled a bright apple-red ribbon out of her hair. "Will this work?"
"It'll do." As she began to weave a spell into the ribbon (slowly, so not to discolor it), she felt compelled to remind Bella the terms of requesting help from an enchantress. "Since you're asking for protection, I won't charge anything. However, if you abuse my kindness, I'll bring vengeance upon you, ask for back payments, refuse to offer my services in the future and you know how that tale turns. Are we clear?"
Bella nodded, though an emotion Raven could not named flickered across her face. "Crystal."
Apple White cleared her schedule for the weekend to visit her parents' castle. The White family dutifully kept records of their stories and she needed to know how all the different versions of her tale went. She needed to know; she needed to validate the tiny glimmer of hope in her heart. Long ago, Raven said Apple's story might happen anyway, even if their destinies had been unwritten. Apple didn't believe her then.
With books scattered around her, all proclaiming that bodices and corsets and clothes with tight laces were traditional traps that came before the poisoned apple, Apple believed Raven now.
Still, one disconnected event did not a story make.
One week later, when a woman who was old but not a crone came to her dressing room before a show, Apple was still thinking about her story. "I have your ribbons," the woman said. Apple thanked her and the woman left. Apple White went to her dressing room mirror and tied up her hair with the bright apple-red ribbons. But scarcely had she done so when she fell to the ground lifeless and lay there as if she were dead.
Not long afterward, seven members of Apple's staff found her lying on the dressing room floor, but soon discovered the poisoned ribbons and untied it; and almost as soon as this was done Apple White revived again.
Her show was canceled, but she could barely conceal her delight. As much as the ordeal frighten her, ribbons and hairpins and other hair decorations were also traditional traps that came before the poisoned apple.
When Raven entered the kitchen for lunch, Elise was already at the table, eating a turkey sandwich, drinking water, and scrolling through a news feed on her Mirror Pad. A feeling of déjà vu settled like a soft mist in Raven's mind. Why her usual routine would cause such a feeling, she didn't know. By the time she had reheated her leftover fried rice, the feeling passed.
Elise bit back a string of curses and almost spat out her water. "Apple canceled her concert for today. That's two cancellations in a month!"
"What?!"
"It says here that someone sneaked back stage and sabotaged her costume. Staff found her passed out in her dressing room right before the show was about to start...again." Raven and Elise shared worried glances. "Once is luck."
"Twice is coincidence," continued Raven.
"And three time is a story," they finished together. But before they could talk in earnest, a booming knock echoed throughout the keep.
Raven groaned. Who could possible need something from her now? She marched up to the door, ready to recast the spell that hid the keep if certain, unwanted parties were on the other side.
No one was there. Still, Raven felt compelled to say, "Since I am a kind enchantress, I won't punish you for this prank. However, if you abuse my kindness, I'll bring vengeance upon you, ask for back payments, refuse to offer my services in the future and you know how that tale turns. Are we clear?"
No one answered.
Later that evening, Raven looked in the kitchen for the apple she had transmuted into wood, but she could not find it.
Apple White hated waiting. The sooner she knew the state of her story, the happier she would be. But who ever was playing the role Raven left was taking their sweet, sweet time with the poisoned apple. One week later, when a girl who was pretty but not beautiful came to her dressing room before a show, Apple was ready. "Hold out your hand," said the girl. "I have a gift for you."
Apple held out her hand, and the girl who was pretty but not beautiful went and stabbed a poison needle in her little finger, and Apple White fell down as if dead.
"Raven! Raven, wake up!"
Raven buried deeper under her covers. Maddie, of all people, should know not to disturb her at this hour!
"Raven Queen!"
A small yelp escaped her lips as she catapulted out of bed. "Ok, I'm up! I'm up!" She rubbed the grit out of her eyes. "Wait, Maddie? What are you doing here?"
Maddie, out of uniform but looking very concerned, grabbed Raven's hand and dragged her out of bed. "Something happened to Apple."
Cold, hard fear curled around her heart. "I'll get dressed. Explain everything."
As Raven stripped off her pajamas and donned her enchantress regalia, Maddie explained everything. "Apple fainted in her dressing room, like before, but no one knew how to wake her up. Daring even kissed her, but she didn't wake up. Her story isn't supposed to go like that! Everyone's panicking or resigned but I thought, if anyone would know how to fix Apple it'd be--"
"Me." Raven took a deep breath, memories of the last time she saw Apple trying to rattler her nerves. "Let's go."
A jump through the looking-glass later, Raven and Maddie landed in a hospital waiting room. Familiar, if bleary eyed, faces greeted them. Daring, Dexter, Ashlynn, Cedar, Cerise--almost all the people from their year (both Royal and Rebel) were there. The group looked to Raven for guidance and she was at a loss. Back in high school, when a crisis came rolling in, Raven and Apple fixed things together. She didn't know how to lead or reassure or fix things by herself. "I-I-I'll see what I can do."
She tried to keep her head held high as she entered Apple's room, but her resolved quickly melted away. Apple's parents sat in uncomfortable chairs at Apple's bedside, looking even more bleary eyed then the group in the waiting room. Snow White scrutinized Raven. "Miss Hatter said you might be able to help."
"If there's a magic spell for me to unwind, yes. I need both of you to clear the room though."
The King exited quickly, but Snow White lingered. "If you wake her up, you need to stay instead of running back to your keep. I don't want to see her cry because of you again."
Raven nodded, any words she could possibly say getting stuck in her throat. Snow White left. Now, it was just Raven and Apple.
Raven approached Apple's bedside. They hadn't been alone in the same room since high school. They hadn't even seen each other since high school. Apple's appearance hadn't changed at all, yet she looked more beautiful than Raven remembered.
She reached for Apple's heart with her magic, trying to find a stray thread of foreign magic to unwind. Then she saw it. Her own violet magic pulsed underneath Apple's skin. The violet spells twisted and churned in unnatural ways, but it was still her magic. Someone had taken her magic and reshaped it, reused it--pieces and clues fell into place. Hot rage pushed up against Raven's skin and she snarled, "Bella Venezia."
She stormed out of the room, violet magic spilling from her skin. Raven wished to find Bella Venezia, and her magic obliged, ripping and rending space until Raven found herself right beside Bella in a hotel room.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall--"
"BELLA VENEZIA," Raven bellowed.
Bella looked away from the mirror. "O-oh. Hi R-raven."
"You abused my kindness, not once, not twice, but thrice!" With every word, Raven took a step forward and Bella took a step back, until Bella had her back to the wall. "If you don't tell me how save Apple, I will destroy you where you stand."
Bella's resolve didn't even last a moment before crumbling under the weight of Raven's glare. "I don't know! The poison I used doesn't have an antidote,"she babbled between sobs. "Only one crazy powerful sorceress managed to cure it once. But that's only rumor!"
Raven backed off. She could do crazy powerful. "If I catch you playing Evil Queen again, I won't be merciful. Are we clear?"
Bella nodded weakly. "C-c-crystal."
That wasn't how her story was supposed to go, Apple thought between swirling dreams of water. Pointy needles were part of Briar's story, not hers. And if it wasn't her story, Daring wouldn't be able to save her.
Though distorted by the sound of crashing waves, Apple heard a voice.
"--and I read all the letters you sent me, but I never know how to reply. What could I possibly say? That I wish we were still friends, but no matter how hard you plead, I will always refuse my destiny?"
Raven. Raven was speaking to her. Something warm stirred in her heart.
"I love you Apple, but I refuse to regret what I said before graduation."
Warmth spread from her heart to her waterlogged limbs.
"I love you, but there are some things about myself I can't change."
The warmth burned the fog from her sleepy mind.
"I love you. Please wake up. I need to tell you everything and not have any regrets."
Apple opened her eyes. Raven, bathed in violet magic, continued to speak. Apple only half-listened as she sat up. "Hey."
"Oh, Apple! You're up! Are you feeling ok? Everyone's been really worried about you--"
With a small giggle, Apple pulled Raven into a quick kiss. "I'm fine now, Raven. Your voice woke me up."
Raven's magic fizzled out as she began to blush furiously. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough."
"Um...we really need to talk about...whatever that just was, but your parents and pretty much all our friends from high school are in the waiting room. They're freaking out."
Before Raven could walk away, Apple grabbed her hand. "Do you promise to come back?"
"Y-yeah. I promise."
Apple let go. Raven left. Moments later, parents and friends poured into the room. As they converged upon her, Apple spotted Raven standing off to the side with Maddie, looking distinctly uncomfortable. But she was there and her awkward fidgeting held as much promise as the beginning of a new story.