Nevermore

Bianca's Advice

A few hours after arriving at the Murmuring Mountains, Sophie had returned to the School for Evil. There was not much to be done there and she just couldn't stand that snobbish prince, Farkas. Rafal had gone Camelot, to release his sisters - the Minstral sisters. She hoped he'd be back soon.

He couldn't see the beauty of Evil. How the fire was like a show, bold colours of light dancing in the sky. How the destruction was so much more than a field of flowers because it was powerful and striking. Never mind, that boy didn't understand the meaning of Evil, he was young after all. No matter to her. She soared in the skies, riding on a Stymph who had surprisingly dutifully obeyed her. Evil is the new good. 

Evil is the new good...

"Evil is the new good." Sophie murmured, opening her eyes to see the Doom Room again. Her nightmares there were becoming more frequent, she was almost used to it. Silence. Sophie didn't mind it though - it gave her time to think, to process. 

" Evil will never be the new good. In fact, it is old as ever." 

" Tedros?" Sophie stuttered. 

" Witch." Tedros replied. 

She turned to see him behind her, his hands entwined with Agatha. They were both dressed regally, as if ready for Tedros' Coronation.

" It doesn't have to be this way." Agatha said. 

" What do you mean?"

" You are obviously not committed body and soul to Evil, Sophie. You mourned our deaths."

" So you are dead then?"

" Death ... isn't the end. I like to think of it as a new beginning. Life is the Introduction. Death is Chapter One." 

Quite suddenly, Sophie recalled sitting by a lake with Agatha, before all the madness had begun.  She felt a pang of pity for those innocent girls, and even more for who they were now. How much had changed since that last fateful day? 

" See?" She met Agatha's eyes, her eyes like a deep deep well that never ended. " See..."

Sophie opened her eyes with a jolt, almost falling from the stymph with her sudden dizziness. She put a hand to her head - it was boiling hot, sharp pains seeming to stab consistently at her. " Uhh," she moaned. 

Rafal was off forming alliances and setting plans in motion so he couldn't help her. Anyway, she had a duty - prepare the students for the second great war between good and evil. 

A duty. 

The stymph dropped her at her tower and she groggily flopped onto the bed, closing her eyes for a second. She exhaled and then had a hot bath to clear her thoughts, got changed, and payed a visit to the School Library. There was not a librarian of late ; the last had been a tortoise, murdered by Evelyn Sader. 

She was searching for a book to out some light onto her recent dreams - in this world, dreams meant more than just ... dreams. Frowning, she skimmed through some books - Dreams and their meaning, The Art of Nightmares and Spell caster III. They mostly all blabbered on about Nemesis Dreams and True love but that had nothing to do with her dreams. Considering they were dreams. 

Sophie paused just as she was about to head from the library. What if they weren't dreams but a virtual reality? It would make sense. Maybe it was the Afterlife and she was arriving at the Visiting Hours. Sophie laughed to herself at that thought - it was beyond stupid. Shaking her head, she made her way to the Dead Forest. 

It was chaos when Sophie arrived. Nimue was sobbing and in turn people's shoes and feet had somewhat rotted, causing people to shriek and run around in circles, which caused people colliding and wailing on the floor. Fang was sitting against a tree smoking pipe with a smirk on her face. Rhian was beside her, brandishing a black eye and bruises on his hands, muttering incoherently to himself. 

" Whatever is the matter, Nimue?" Sophie demanded. 

Nimue looked up at her with bloodshot eyes and tear streaked cheeks. " ITS... ITS IN MY HEAD!" She screamed, spit flying from her mouth in different directions. A chill crept up Sophie's spine. 

" What do you mean?" She asked, calmly this time. 

She pointed to her temple, her eyes filled with madness. 

" The girl and the boy! But mostly the girl!" She sobbed, burying her face in her hands. 

" Fairies!" Sophie called. " Take Nimue to her room to ... well ... calm down." 

They buzzed over in a swarm, whips slashing, teeth gleaming. They grabbed Nimue by her hair and dragged her away, all the while she screamed, kicked and fought. Sophie felt a glimmer of pleasure from her pain as sadistic as it was. Her screams were like music to her ears. 

Sophie sighed, satisfied. " Shall we begin?"

Fang blew a ring of smoke from her mouth and raised her eyebrow at Sophie. 

" What?" Sophie demanded impatiently.

" You think you can train all these students in time for the Second Great War? We'll probably be meeting good on the battlefield in a matter of weeks, not months!" 

" I can try." 

" Well, my Queen, you won't succeed."

" Do you have a proposition, Bianca?" Sophie asked, challenging. 

Fang flinched from use of her unpreferred name. 

" That's what I thought." Sophie smirked.

" I do have a proposition, actually. Group 1 needs no training, we are already skilled enough." Bianca's finger glowed red in confirmation. " Let us help you train the other students. Unless, of course, you wish to do it all by yourself?"

Sophie looked around at the group, most looking confused or deflated, glancing to where Nimue had been and flinching. Rhian was still cursing to himself, rubbing at his bruises and gingerly touching his black eye. 

She sighed. Fang was right - she couldn't train all these chipmunks in time for the War, never mind on her lonesome. 

She gritted her teeth at Fang. " Okay then. Shall we get started?"