Hell Feels Like Home

Prologue-Petty Arguments

"I can't believe that you think that Sophie! We can't have the students talking with each other! That will produce some arguments! And I don't want to be breaking up fights!" The Good Dean's silky voice echoed around the School Master's tower that Sophie had turned into her own sanctuary.

"Am I taking it that you don't want to go with the routine of lunch and Surviving Fairytales being joint activities? Because that's exactly what this school has been doing for over 1000 years, isn't it?" Sophie counteracted the Dean's words, a slight grin on her face, enjoying the petty arguments she had with Clarissa Dovey, Lady Lesso's old best friend.

"No, I just think, now that the balance of Good and Evil has been settled by Rafal's death, there will be arguments between the Nevers and Evers," Dovey replied calmly.

"Oh really? 200 years ago the balance was disrupted so why did you follow through with the same routine, 800 years before?" Sophie smirked, smiling harder.

Sophie could see the struggle on her fellow Deans face, the hardship in coming up with a valid argument to the great point she had just made.

"That was before the war that you fought while alongside Rafal. It will give the new Nevers much more confidence in Evil than is needed in this school." Dovey finally spoke, her silver bun, tilting to the side out of frustration.

Sophie giggled. Dovey shuffled uncomfortably at seeing her laugh at such a serious time.

"Sorry," Sophie clasped the black chair that was propped up against her bedpost to stop her from falling over, "This argument is so stupid! The students should be allowed to talk and have fun with the opposing side. Also, the Theatre if tales should be on Evil's side as I won fair and square."

"You didn't win fair and square because it was biased! Rafal loved you and saw the Evil in you when there wasn't anything there but a teenager's break up phase!" Dovey argued back.

"My talent was best but you wouldn't know because the teachers weren't in the room when I won, were they? My talent was best but you all believed it was a lie but guess what? I nearly killed people with my talent so tell me once again that my talent wasn't the best." Sophie taunted, almost offended by this point.

Dovey sighed. She knew Sophie was right and didn't have the energy to keep on fighting for a pointless decision that wasn't a major problem, unlike deciding the new students to attend the schools.

Hort crept through the door that was left open to the School Master's tower. He tiptoed to the white desk in the corner of the room. The Deans were preoccupied in arguing between themselves almost all the time but this argument was probably the worst. Sophie seemed to enjoy pushing the older faculty around as though she owned the place. Which she had, a few days ago when Rafal was still alive and he was her Queen.

Hort started scanning the student applications until he came across one particular one. The name in the letter said 'Ari Uluma'.

Upon seeing this, he coughed loudly to alert the Deans but neither of them heard him. He coughed again with no response again. He huffed, bored by the facade that they put up.

The tap on Sophie's shoulder felt cold and clammy and she whisked around to see Hort. She stifled a shriek and followed Hort's point to the desk and peered down and too saw what Hort had seen.

She too gasped and the action was soon followed by Dovey. They glanced at each other with confused looks.

On the card, Camelot's seal was visible at the foot of it and the lion depicted on it roared in recognition.

"Agatha and Tedros chose this girl to be their definite student rather than their own daughter, Deliah! But Ari is a Never and Camelot has never used their voice to allow a certain Never in! Clearly, they see something in Ursula's daughter that we haven't seen yet. But we'll know soon enough. Won't we, Dovey?" Sophie spluttered, quite flummoxed.

"I too think that they have made this decision for a reason, but what reason is unclear. We will find out soon but you can get in touch with them and see why they chose her." The old fairy godmother stated.

She picked up the application and studied the small print next to the seal. It read:

IN NO CIRCUMSTANCES, WILL THE CHOICE OF CANDIDATE BE QUESTIONED. THE CHOSEN STUDENT WILL BE ATTENDING AND NO AUTHORITY CAN CHANGE THAT. NOT EVEN THE SCHOOL MASTER. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS.

"Well, there goes that option. Looks like we will only be finding out when she gets here." Clarissa said, scratching her head graciously.

Dovey dropped the application on the desk again.

Sophie traced Ari's sharp cheekbones and tantalizing eyes. She felt her heart pang with despair. He was gone. She was alone and she would have to deal with one of her students being a similar reflection of her true love whom she had killed to stop his truly Evil plan to send Good into eternal damnation. Rafal. He had loved her with all of his cold heart and so she had back. They were two halves of the same soul but Sophie couldn't let him destroy the balance for good. He was going to kill her best friend, Agatha, and her idiotic prince, Tedros. As much as she was friends with Tedros, he was quite irrational and never thought of the consequences for his words or actions.

A tear fell slowly down her pristine cheek but she wiped it away before Hort or Dovey saw it.

"Right, as much as I would love to stay with you lovely ladies and argue too but I have a lesson I need to get to and I think you do too," Hort said, already making his way out of the door.

Sophie and Dovey exchanged looks and walked out of their doors and strutted along the walkways Sophie had built to connect them to each of the schools.

When Sophie reached the School for Evil, she turned back around and walked back to the tower, as quiet as possible so as not to allow Dovey to hear her.

She reached the white desk and rummaged through the possible students that could attend the School for Good and Evil.

Feeling determined with her choices, she left to go to her office before Dovey found her making decisions without her.

'This year is going to bring Evil justice.' She thought, grinning slightly before sashaying into Lady Lesso's office.