Chapter Text
20 years later…
Liesel didn’t think she was Evil. Sure, she’d always rough-house with children twice her size, and she had an affinity for collecting strange rocks and mashing herbs into a pulp, but that made her odd, not malevolent.
She wasn’t sure who had put her name by the oak tree where the School Master stole away applications in the night, but she blamed her eldest sister. Gisela was petty enough to do such a thing certainly, and Liesel didn’t understand why it wasn’t her pinched, cruel face hanging from the claws of a bird of bone.
The towers came into view in the distance, the towers that so many children of Gavaldon dreamed of. Good was on the right, its pale, stone towers almost seeming to have a pearlescent glow, and the flowers in the field beside it made Liesel want to immediately sneeze. Evil, however, on the left, was dark and ominous, made of sharp shards of black stone and sloping towers in various shades of cool grey. She knew what came next and closed her eyes, bracing herself as she was loosened from the stymph’s claws and fell down, down, down… onto a landing pad?
She took a tumble, unable to stop her momentum as she rolled across the ground, but it was a soft, rubbery surface that seemed to absorb the impact, and she opened her eyes to see flashing, fluorescent lights above her that read: “WELCOME, NEW NEVERS!”
In wonder, she slowly sat up, watching as several other students beside her did the same. She’d heard from alumni of the last few rounds of students who’d come to visit that there’d been changes to the school since the last Gavaldon pastor was around, but he’d preached until his deathbed that it was a horrific, dreadful place filled with sludge and cannibals and murderers. Young Liesel had been terrified, not wanting to believe returning students, who were typically shunned by the town as they’d spoken of its grandeur.
A gnome wearing a smart red suit stood at the entrance, a top hat on his head, and he bared his sharp teeth in a smile at each student as he handed them their books, schedule, and uniform. Liesel got into line, marveling at the exquisite architecture around her and looking at the other students.
Some of the other students were rather odd in appearance. Liesel saw a girl with green skin, one with what looked to be naturally purple hair, and two boys with slitted, snakelike pupils and forked tongues. Still, others were just like Liesel, with simple garments and a nervous air about them, but none of the students seemed to make a differentiation, all talking to whoever was closest. Liesel kept to herself, still doubtful about the whole thing, and smiled anxiously back at the gnome as she reached the front of the line and was handed her books and schedule. “Liesel of Woods Beyond,” said the schedule in curling, cursive script, and when she saw her portrait, in which she looked rather young and scared, being hung on the wall, everything seemed very official.
Feeling her breath quicken, Liesel checked her schedule for her dorm room number, needing to get away from the crowds of students talking excitedly about classes and roommates.
The map in her hands and signs all around made the way easy enough, and Liesel sighed with relief as she opened the door to Malice 66, slipping inside and closing the door with her back to it.
“You must be my roommate!” came an excited voice, interrupting Liesel’s impending mental breakdown. She looked toward the opposite side of the room, which had black painted walls and three gold-framed beds evenly spaced across it. The girl who had spoken was sitting on the furthest bed with a cheerful smile on her face that didn’t quite match the decor. She was rather small, probably one of the youngest students Liesel had seen, with round cheeks and warm brown skin. Her dark hair was pulled into two buns, and it looked as if she’d tried to do a complicated eyeliner look and failed miserably. She hopped off of the bed, already dressed in her uniform, and walked over to Liesel with a spring in her step. “I’m Daisy,” she offered, holding out a hand.
Reluctantly, Liesel took it, and she wished she could muster some of the enthusiasm she’d had back at home, but everything was just so new and scary. That being said, she supposed it wasn’t a bad thing to make a friend.
“I’m Liesel,” she replied. “You… don’t really seem Evil.”
Daisy shook her hand vigorously, then replied to her observation. “That’s not really what the school is about these days, love,” she said, bounding back over to her bed and beginning to unpack what looked to be souvenirs from her suitcase.
“Isn’t it called ‘The School for Good and Evil’ for a reason?” asked Liesel tentatively, sitting down on the bed beside Daisy. The other girl shrugged.
“Mostly tradition, I suppose,” she suggested. “Even the Dean was a hero at one point in her life, and she won’t let anyone forget it.” At this remark she let out a giggle. “But really, now it’s just whether you want to be a princess or a witch. As for ‘Good vs Evil,’ you chose your own path. There’s really no such thing as either. At least, that’s what Mama says.” She said all of this rather quickly as she pulled more items from her suitcase, including a stack of what looked to be potion recipe books, a large cookbook, a collection of takeout menus, and what looked to be a portrait of her family, all of whom looked very witchy, which she set on her nightstand.
Liesel felt a little bit of the tension in her body ease at the words. “Really?” she asked incredulously. “I don’t have to kill people? Or eat children? I can just…”
“Be yourself,” said Daisy encouragingly. “And if being a witch isn’t for you, you can ask Dean Sophie to send you to Good.” She nodded across the bay. “My aunts would say otherwise, but they’re not all pricks.”
Liesel felt her lips quirk up in a small smile as opportunities opened up in front of her. Opportunities for friendship, for education, for a path of life that she’d never be able to live in Gavaldon.
At that moment, the door slammed open, and their third roommate strode into the room. It was one of the girls Liesel had seen earlier, the one with the deep purple hair, which she now saw held tones of blue and black like a small galaxy. She looked a bit older than Liesel, maybe fifteen, and she bared her teeth, two of which were unusually sharp, at her roommates when she caught them staring.
“Iolanthe of Ravenbow,” she introduced by means of a low growl. “Now leave me alone.” She flipped her hood up over her head and strode over to the final bed, flopping down on it and staring up at the ceiling. Liesel looked at Daisy, taken aback, but the other girl just looked at her mischievously, then mouthed:
“We’ll win her over.”
Not long after, the wolves came to escort them to the theater, which was situated halfway between the two schools.
“I’m so excited!” Daisy squealed, hanging onto Liesel’s arm as Iolanthe trailed behind them. “My mom is the speaker this year! Ooh, she’ll be so glad to see I’ve already made a friend!” Liesel mustered a smile, though nerves clawed at her stomach, returning anew. What if Daisy had been wrong? What if she really was Evil?
The theater was already filled halfway with Good students, all just as excited as the Nevers in their pink pinafores and posh blue jackets. The Evil students filed in as well, murmuring excitedly, a few pulling faces at the Evers. Daisy was waving wildly at a group of three women standing on the stage. A round woman who looked a lot like Daisy saw her first and waved enthusiastically, the faint lines beside her eyes crinkling when she grinned. She nudged the other two, a thin albino with a rat perched on her shoulder and a tall woman with a fearsome demon tattooed around her neck. They looked up from a paper they were snickering at and also waved to Daisy, mouthing something Liesel couldn’t make out. Even the rat on the albino’s shoulder raised its tiny paw.
At that moment, the Dean appeared through the back doors, making a grand entrance as her long purple gown trailed on the ground. Daisy tugged Liesel down to her seat, and she watched, enraptured, as the woman made her way to the front of the room, every step elegant and poised. Her emerald eyes scanned the students, and Liesel squirmed when they landed on her. Another woman, older with wild canary-yellow hair, appeared behind her, and the two looked out over the student body.
“Welcome, welcome!” said the first woman. “I am Dean Sophie of the School for Evil, and I receive you into my humble home with open arms.” The tattooed witch behind her snorted loudly, and Daisy’s mother stepped on her foot.
“And I am Professor Anemone of the School for Good,” introduced the other woman, smirking at her colleague. “And I welcome the Evers to their new home.”
“I know all you little tots are excited to get into the rules and all of that,” Dean Sophie said. “But as has been our custom for over a decade now, we’ve brought in some alumni to tell you about their time at school. And after countless years of begging, I’ve finally managed to convince the famed Coven of Malice 66 —Hester, Anadil, and Dot— to speak to you all!”
“That’s our room!” squealed Daisy as a round of thunderous applause broke out and the three witches stepped onto the podium.
“It’s so wonderful to see so many smiling young faces,” exclaimed the round woman, a beam on her face. “Children who are ready to learn, to take part in a new life beyond the one they knew growing up.” She looked at her fellow witches, and the tattooed witch spoke up next, throwing the paper she’d been holding to the side.
“Sophie gave us a list of remarks to say,” she said. “But I say screw it. There are some valuable lessons my classmates and I learned, both during our time at school and after, and some of these lessons have changed the Woods forever. That is what Anadil, Dot and I are going to share with you today.”
“You’re all too young to remember the School for Good and Evil as we knew it,” remarked the albino, who Liesel assumed was Anadil. “At that time, most Evers and Nevers came from fairy tale legacy families, families whose exceptional heroism or villainy made their child a fit to become the next great storybook character. And those children used this notoriety to their advantage, vowed to do better than their parents and grandparents. This led to incredibly fierce competition between the schools.”
“It was more than competition,” Hester amended. “It was hatred. And it escalated pretty quickly.”
“This one attempted to murder one of her classmates,” said Anadil, pointing at Hester with a teasing smirk.
“It was me!” shrieked Dean Sophie. “I was the classmate!”
“Still considering whether to follow through,” muttered Hester, and a few students laughed.
“Throughout our time at school, war broke out over polar opposites,” explained Dot, rolling her eyes affectionately as she took over the story. “Good vs Evil, Girls vs Boys, Old vs New. Everyone always seemed to pick a side, and no one even considered the possibility that there might be something in the middle. That it was possible for us to make our own path to greatness.”
“People will try to tell you how you should live,” added Anadil, moving her rat from her shoulder into her hand. “They’ll say that Evers can’t have negative thoughts, or get angry, or want to be alone. They’ll say Nevers can’t have compassion or fall in love. They’ll say that girls can’t be strong and boys can’t be vulnerable, that the old can’t make mistakes and the young hold no wisdom.”
“But none of that defines you,” Hester said firmly, and Liesel could’ve sworn the witch looked directly at her.
“Don’t let anyone else make you change who you are or what you want,” Dot encouraged. “You may be thinking now, ‘what is the point of the School for Good and Evil if everyone falls somewhere in the grey area?’ Well, same as it’s always been, it’s to create fairy tale heroes and villains, princes and princesses, witches and warlocks. But it’s also here to teach you how to think for yourself, to give you time to figure out who you are at such a crucial point in your life.”
“So whether you are an Ever or a Never, and whether you end up a leader or a henchman or a helper, just remember who you are as an individual,” said Anadil. “Think of your talents, what makes you you.”
“And as a wise woman once said,” Hester recited, “Being a student at this school isn’t only about triumph over the other side.”
“Being a Never means accepting Good as your equal,” finished Dot, and the three witches bowed to another round of applause.
Liesel didn’t listen to the rules that followed, still thinking about the witches’ speech. As a child, she’d always thought she knew who she was. She was a student at Gavaldon’s schoolhouse, a player on the rugby team, and a sister to a petty brat. But as she walked back to her dorm, she found herself wondering if her identity ran deeper than all of that.
Who is Liesel of Woods Beyond? she thought. Who is she really, beyond the labels others have put on her?
Well, over the next four years, she supposed she would find out.