Chapter Text
Children may not obey, but children will listen
Children will look to you for which way to turn
To learn what to be
Careful before you say
‘Listen to me’
Children will listen
~Into the Woods
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Apple White finally got the fairy tale she always dreamed of as a child. Raven, misguided (delusional) Raven, pushed past her doubts and signed the Storybook of Legends. She knew her roommate would come through in the end, all that nonsense about defying destiny was just nerves, silly nerves. Unlike her, Apple had no doubts about the storybook in the first place. Her signature was now forever written into the legendary storybook for all to see. Apple celebrated the night with her prince charming, Daring and her BFFAs. Though she did notice Ashlynn looking sad? That couldn’t be right, Ashlynn must have just eaten something bad. No one should be sad at Briar’s after Legacy Day party.
The first sign of the story came with her mother’s death. Apple and all of the kingdom mourned the death of Eira “Snow” White. The princess was sad of course, but she knew it was only destiny. It was destiny for Snow White’s mother to die soon after their signing. It was destiny to see her father slowly crumble into himself.
Then the Evil Queen swooped in. Raven Queen, now several years older since they graduated, looked as enchanting and radiant as she did when they were teenagers. She coerced Apple’s father to relinquish control over the kingdom due to his declining health (yes coerced, the court would never deliberately hand over control to a Queen). A hint of jealousy riled up in her over how easily Raven took to ruling, how naturally she took to managing Apple’s kingdom. People sang her praises, not like the Evil Queens of the past who were feared and despised. But that was normal, the Evil Queen was to be the fairest first, then Snow White. Apple would come out on top in the end. Raven married some random prince from a distant branch of the Charming clan who was lucky enough to be her Good King. It was a small wedding, barely anyone was there apart from the Raven’s father, her friends, and some other regal parties. Apple would make sure her wedding was much more beautiful and grander than Raven’s little ceremony. Apple knew it was destiny to see the Evil Queen marry the Good King and rule her kingdom. She knew it was destiny when her beautiful designer clothes were traded in for servant’s rags and her lavish lifestyle was taken from her. She should’ve paid more attention to Ashlynn’s cleaning tips, her delicate hands were already getting calloused.
When was the last time she spoke to Ashlynn? She had been so caught up in her story that she forgot to talk to her own friend. That was silly of her. She‘ll make sure to visit and catch up after their stories have completed. They were BFFAs, even if she was a little bland at times, always trailing behind Apple and Briar as their third.
And Briar…Has her story started yet? She didn’t want to miss the chance to say goodbye to her best friend before she-
Oh, Briar’s story already started. The kingdom of Beaumont was already covered in sharp thorns and briars. Its people were all asleep, including Princess Briar Beauty. That’s okay…that’s okay! So what if she didn’t get to say goodbye? Apple knew this would happen, Briar knew this would happen, everyone knew this was going to happen. She knew she had to carry on with her life and go on without Briar.
Apple didn’t have time to lament on her best friend’s eternal sleep. She had months and months of servitude and castle chores to get through. Only Apple wasn’t used to doing real work. Too many times she would make mistakes (Snow White doesn’t make mistakes), too many times she would do a barely average job. But what were they expecting? She was a princess, she hadn’t had to work for anything a day in her life. It became her life; wake up, get in her uniform, clean, and clean, and clean some more! Months of the same tedious, dull, tiresome chores. Then finally, after months of agonizing work and her maiden hands starting to become calloused, she overheard the magic words she had been longing to hear.
“My Queen, famed is thy beauty. But none is more fairest than Apple White.”
After that, everything felt like a blur. She ran away from (a reluctant) Hunter Huntsman, she met the dwarves, cooked and cleaned after them. Like with the castle chores, she wasn’t as proficient at cleaning after seven dwarves. They gave her encouraging looks and friendly smiles, but she knew they were lying (they were mocking Apple behind her back, she just knew it).
At last, she found her.
Apple played dumb, she knew what was coming, she knew the story by heart. She couldn’t help but become giddy at the sight of the old crone standing in front of her. The princess knew those lavender eyes beneath the wrinkled skin and dulled purple streaks that were camouflaged within dark silver hair.
She held out the apple in one hand and said, “Eat it and all of your dreams shall come true.”
Apple gleefully took the apple and bit into it. Upon the first bite, she felt its poison take hold. What surprised her was not the bile building up in her throat, but the look Raven gave her as her world grew blurry.
Why was she crying? The Evil Queen shouldn’t be sad, she should be cackling in triumph at her enemy’s (temporary) defeat. Yet she could see the look of despair, the look of pity (pity from the Evil Queen!?) upon her aged face as her eyes closed. Apple didn’t know how much time had passed before she woke up. But the next thing she saw was Daring’s face as she awakened in a pristine (cold, suffocating, dark like the well, she didn’t want to go back into the well) glass coffin. She was surrounded by beautiful white lilies and in a cathedral fit for a royal funeral.
“My hero.” She embraced Daring and kissed him once more as she had practiced when she was a child. She made sure that the kiss looked innocent enough, pure enough for the cameras.
There was a trial (was it really a trial in the eyes of the storybook?) and the Evil Queen was stripped of her title as Queen of the White kingdom and banished from Apple’s castle, Apple’s kingdom.
Apple-no- Snow White had done it. Snow had achieved her happily ever after.
—-----------------
Snow hated being pregnant. Her figure was now ruined, her stupid night cravings had made her unladylike (more piglike), and most of all how imperfect it made her. Snow White should have a dignified pregnancy, yet here she was sweating and squealing like a pig in the mud. The mood swings, the agonizing cramps, the weight gain, even the nauseous morning sickness made it all too painful. Fortunately, she had the best doctors in the realm tending to her needs, only the best for the Queen of Ever After.
“Just one more push, your majesty!” The young queen knew she never wanted to give birth again. Not that she would need to, she only needed one child to inherit the Snow White destiny. She had done everything right this time, made the wish every Snow White made before her so they wouldn’t be another blonde blemish like her.
Where was her husband, Daring, her Prince Charming now King, in all of this? He was probably out taking care of the kingdom in her absence. He was so devoted to their people and her (liar, he’s probably flirting with one of the nurses while his wife was in labor). But he would be here just in time to take photos with their child.
“It’s a beautiful baby girl!” She let out a sigh of relief at the nurse’s words, it was finally over.
“And here’s the other one!” What? No, no, no there was only supposed to be one. One heir to the Snow White destiny. She had planned everything right down to the date. She guessed that it couldn’t be helped now as the small infant came into the world. Her other daughter would make a fine Charming. There was always a story in need of a Princess Charming or two.
”Congratulations, your highness, two healthy, beautiful baby girls,” As the nurse handed Snow her children, coddled in scarlet red and baby blue blankets, flashes of cameras nearby nearly blinding her (Snow’s eyesight was bad without her contacts).
”Welcome to your kingdom, Ambrosia White,” Snow gently kissed her daughter’s forehead. Ambrosia only whimpered and cooed, already showing concern for her mother’s ears. However, her younger child wailed like a banshee, the nurses would later tell her she had a strong pair of lungs on her. Snow didn’t pay attention to the noise, the cameras flashing in her face. She was already imagining the future she would build for her eldest daughter.
With Ambrosia, she would make things right. No matter what it took to set the story straight.
—-----------------
"Raven Queen, for your crimes against the realm of Ever After, how do you plead?” Queen Snow White’s voice echoed across the room, his words being heard by all present in the throne room. Though she was unaware of one party present, watching secretly from a small crack in the door.
The 5 year old should be asleep when their nanny placed them to bed. But the little girl was just too curious, just too nervous to stay away. There had been hushed whispers and lowered voices for far too long in the castle. Then Ambrosia had excitedly spotted Briar Beauty, the Sleeping Beauty, walking into the throne room. She had been pulled away before she could even speak to her, the Sleeping Beauty. Mother said that good little girls were supposed to be asleep when she was told to. But Demure couldn’t sleep, how could she? They just had to meet such an important princess, they loved the tale of Sleeping Beauty. The nannies always read them bedtime stories; Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and of course, Snow White. It wasn’t just Briar Beauty present, all the important fairy-tale people in one place, how could she not want to see them, to meet them, talk to them? Only she had to stay quiet, her parents would be very mad if they caught Demure up past her bedtimes. Though the princess didn’t understand what was going on. It didn’t look like a ball or a celebration. They were wearing such odd looks, like they were afraid of something or someone.
Sitting on the throne was their mother, Queen Snow White standing in a glorious extravagant gown of white, gold and red. Standing to her right, was her father who wore a similarly colored suit and had his golden hair combed back.
“Guilty.” Demure’s eyes glanced at the woman speaking, standing all by herself. She wasn’t finely dressed like the rest of the room, instead she had dark purple rags, disheveled black violet streaked hair, and had metal chains along her wrists, wearing her down. Yet her appearance was still beautiful, was she a maiden? A princess? But then she remembered what her mother told her once; Only maidens were pure in beauty and in their hearts, villains were rotten to the core. The princess pursed her lips as she looked at the witch in chains, she wasn’t sure about that. She didn’t look wicked or rotten or evil, she just looked…sad.
“So you admit to tampering with the Dark Fairy’s spell, disrupting 100 year slumber of Briar Beauty?” The man who was aggressively speaking down to her was Headmaster Milton Grimm. She hadn’t ever heard Headmaster Grimm talk like that, he often visited the castle and was friendly to her and her sister, Ambrosia. He was old, so old that he had streaks of white hair and wrinkles. Yet his voice held a fury that she hadn’t heard before.
“I did.”
“So you admit to not allowing Hunter Huntsman to kill Ramona Wolf?” At a far corner of the court, a red cloaked figure was eyeing the room with disdain along with a chestnut skinned and dark haired woman who looked disapprovingly at everyone else. Demure accidentally locked eyes with the woman, under the red hood, yellow eyes stared back at her with interest. Demure wondered if she would tell on her, tell her mother. But she didn’t do any of that, instead she silently turned her gaze to the raven haired woman on trial.
“I did.”
“And you aided in the disappearance of Princess Darling Charming?” This got Demure’s attention, she nearly gasped when she heard that.
Aunt Darling was…missing? But that can’t be true! She loved Aunt Darling, she loved playing with her, loved her stories, and didn’t care when she snagged an extra tea sandwich or two during tea time in the garden. But then she stopped coming over as much. Her parents told Demure that Aunt Daring was just too busy with her royal duties and was living too far away. She just couldn’t visit as often as she did before. D-did her parents lie to her? But good people do not lie and Demure’s parents were good people, they were Snow White and Prince Charming! If Aunt Darling did really disappear, then why did no one tell her?
“I did.” The woman’s tone didn’t change as she spoke, “I saved the Hood-Badwolfs from a mob, I made sure Briar Beauty didn’t have to sleep for a hundred agonizing years, and I made Darling disappear before she was condemned to a terrible, horrible destiny.”
“And of Wonderland?” The room went silent, even Raven Queen didn’t speak for several seconds, bowing her head to the floor. Then she murmured out some words, but Demure couldn’t understand what she was saying as the girl was too far away to hear her.
All the princess could hear was, “...make things right...to hurt them.”
The whisperings grew louder at her words, even Demure was surprised by it. There were words thrown around by the people in the stands, calling her all kinds of names. Anarchic, deranged, wicked. Demure didn’t understand why they were saying such things, why they were being mean. She did good things, right? She saved people, saved the Hood-Badwolfs, saved Briar Beauty from sleeping a hundred years, and saved Demure’s aunt from some terrible fate. Heroes were supposed to save people. So why did they hate her for it? Demure didn’t understand their hate, her mind far too young to even comprehend what was going on.
Queen Snow White raised a hand, the crowds went silent at her command.
“Raven Queen.” Her mother’s voice was ice cold, “You have drowned this realm in unpredictable chaos far worse than your predecessor, you had to be selfish and disrupt other stories, other destinies. What do you have to say for yourself?”
The dark haired woman let out a bitter laugh, “Selfish? Is that what you think of me?” She turned her gaze towards the people of the room, “All of you?”
No one said anything.
“You have nothing else to say? To defend yourself? Any regrets?”
“My only regret…” She took a step forward, causing the guards stationed around her to react, their weapons at the ready. Raven ignored them, then continued, “My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.”
Demure didn’t like the look on her mother’s face, it was one that she saw whenever she did something wrong, like miss a step in her ballet classes or ate with the wrong utensil when they had important guests over. Now it was directed at the beautiful Queen Raven Queen.
“Raven Queen, for your crimes against Ever After, I sentence you to life within the mirror realm.” A large, ornate mirror was wheeled out, “No contact with the outside realm, no visitors, no one will have to hear your blasphemous words spill from your lips ever again.”
“And of my son, Talon?” Her tone turned soft on the subject of her son.
“Talon Queen will be placed under the proper Guardianship of his grandmother.” Headmaster Grimm stated firmly, “He will surely be better under her wing than yours.”
The woman’s face went pale at the thought of her son being raised by his grandmother, “No!” Raven shouted, “Anyone but her! You can’t give him to her!” For the first time in the entire trial, she struggled against her chains. The guards quickly pulled her back.
Demure watched her expression change from defiant to desperate in a matter of seconds. But her mother’s face didn’t even move a muscle, she held no mercy or sympathy for her, just nothing. It was like seeing a whole different side to mother. Not her mother who was kind to everyone around her, who smiled with poise and grace, who spent her day making sure everyone in the palace felt appreciated by handing out sweets. This woman wasn’t her mother.
“Our will is final.” The sound of the gavel made the young princess’ heart raced. Only for it to jump again as someone grabbed her arm.
“Princess Demure!” Demure whipped her head around as one of the servants hissed her name and grabbed her arm, “What are you doing here?”
“I-I just wanted-” The blonde haired girl struggled to speak, but she couldn’t find her voice.
“You should not be here and should definitely not be up so late after your bedtime. ” She was dragged away from the door and towards her own room. All the while, she could hear the woman’s pleas and cries as she begged. Raven Queen did not beg for forgiveness or for her own life, but for her own son’s life.
Later, her mother would announce the defeat of the Evil Queen and the whole kingdom celebrated it with a grand elaborate party. Demure, along with her sister, Ambrosia were dressed up in their nicest gowns for the spontaneous event. The princess charming did her best to smile while everyone cursed Raven Queen and thanked her mother for ridding them of this great evil. As the realm cheered, all the little blonde haired princess could think of was Raven Queen’s screams as she was imprisoned in the mirror. But the Evil Queen was not evil, the Evil Queen was not ugly hearted, and the Evil Queen was not selfish.
Raven Queen was the person everyone blamed for everything that went wrong in the world.