Rebellion: A School for Good and Evil Twist

Chapter 6: Agatha

 Pure agony seared through Agatha's whole body as Hort slapped the whip down on her back once again. Hort leered at her as he swung the whip back on his shoulder. "I'll be back soon, Aggie." With a smirk, he headed out of the room, humming a merry tune.

Agatha watched him go, biting back a groan as she picked herself up. Now was the time to escape, to avenge Tedros and all the ones she had lost.

Merlin. Professor Dovey and Professor Sader. Kiko. Beatrix. All of her old friends that had been in Good.

She needed to get out of here quickly, and find a way to bring Good back.

Agatha caught a sparkle of silver on the steel floor and picked it up, rolling it in her palm. It turned out to be a loose metal pin from the cage, and Agatha slumped back in disappointment.

Or maybe she could use it to escape.

She grinned, inserting the pin into the narrow lock on her cage door. The first few tries, nothing happened, but after the seventh try the lock budged slightly.

"Almost there," she mumbled, securing the metal pin into the lock on the cage door for the tenth time. She almost collapsed with relief when it let out a little pop and swung open. She peeked out and cringed when she saw the pool of lava, burbling and roiling. It wasn't large, so she could make the jump. Gritting her teeth, she pushed her weight forward and landed safely on solid ground. It was a relief to be able to stand up and stretch her legs even though she still felt dizzy with pain, hunger and exhaustion combined.

Looking around at her surroundings, she realized she had just broken out into a dank hallway. The swinging cage she had just jumped out of was suspended by a few feet over a small pool of lava, so that explained why it had been so easy to jump out. Just up ahead, she saw bright light filtering out from a doorway. Curious, Agatha peered inside.

Sophie was scolding a tiny boy angrily, her face pink. "Rowen! You have to learn how to be obedient... seriously! If you're going to be the next King of Evil once me and your father are finished with our rule, you have to be disciplined! Do you see your father jumping into the river or escaping out of a bathtub? No!" Sophie sighed and paused in her rant, rubbing the boy's face. "Rowen, darling, what am I going to do with you?"

As the boy turned around, Agatha finally got a good glimpse of his face.

He was young, about six or seven, she guessed. He was handsome even at such a small age and eerily resembled Rafal with his pale complexion and spiked hair. His eyes, however, were the exact mirror of Sophie's emerald-green ones. Agatha would bet her right arm that was their son.

His expression, though, wasn't cruel or twisted like Rafal and Sophie's usually were. It was one of little-kid guilt, one Agatha had saw a lot of times in Gavaldon. He was adorable, actually, and he looked close to tears as he followed Sophie out of the room.

Agatha wanted to hug him, until she realized Sophie was nearing the doorway. Agatha froze.

Sophie's green eyes flashed as she paused near the door, gripping Rowen's arm in hers. "Wait," she ordered her son, and crept towards the doorway. 

Her eyes locked on Agatha's and her lips curved into a sinister smile. "Agatha. I don't think you're supposed to be here."

Agatha's eyes widened. "No, please," Agatha begged. "Sophie, this isn't you. Please, just talk to me. Rafal changed you, and—"

Sophie stabbed her glowing fingertip at Agatha. "Shut up," she hissed. Rowen looked at her with confusion but snapped his mouth shut. 

"What—" he started, but Sophie cut him off with a sharp look. 

Before anybody could react, Agatha took off running. She pushed her legs as fast as she could, panicked breaths oozing out of her. She heard Sophie's angered shouts behind her and the pounding of footsteps just a few feet away. Terrified, Agatha pushed herself harder and barely managed to escape out to an lit-up hallway.

It was empty, save for a gleaming white sword.

Excalibur.