Raven Queen
Far, far away from all the crowds and swarms of people, deep within the enchanted forest, a quiet motorcycle ripped through the magic greenery leaving a trail of dust behind it. Unlike most of her peers, this girl preferred to make a less than grand entrance, even if doing so proved to be a little bit of a struggle while riding such a beast. Some might say it's impossible to not make a scene on a motorcycle, but she still liked to have some class while simultaneously dodging people at the same time.
At the edge of the lot, she pulled to a sharp stop, wincing at the whine that came from underneath her wheels as it skidded across the concrete. Taking a cursory glance around, she carefully took off her helmet, letting her long, purple locks fall freely from her head. She took in a deep breath, stepping off her ride and taking in the faces she passed by as she walked on by, her heels clicking against the ground with each movement forward.
As she approached, conversations silenced, faces soured, and animals scattered, like she held the stench of death in her very being.
She could almost feel the fear radiating off of her peers as she made her way through them, a sick kind of fifth sense she was born with as the heir to The Evil Queen, that did nothing more for her than remind her that her presence was unwanted. It showed in the way they watched her like a hawk, leaving her feeling more like prey than the predator she was born to be.
Fortunately, as she got older, it became easier. She walked through those grand golden doors wearing a facade of indifference, taking every insult in silent stride. If she was going to be ostracized, she wasn't going to let them enjoy it. Wallowing in her self hatred did nothing but fuel the fire that lay dormant in her head, and she'd do nothing to let it be more than an ember.
She bore this curse like all the women in her family before her, with her head hung low but her dignity still intact. Nothing would ever weigh as heavy on a princesses shoulders than this fate cast upon her at conception, no one hundred year sleep could compare to this affliction. Unlike all those other princesses, this was not something Raven was ever going to wake up from, nothing a prince could kiss her free from.
She was Raven Queen, in all her gothic glory, the very essence of melancholy clinging to her back wherever she went. She was the perfect contrast to her counterpart and costar, the fair and free Apple White. Sharp features, gaunt cheeks, and a tall, lanky, body just like her mother’s, to tower over others. Unlike Apple White, who was hailed for her skin as pure as ivory, Raven was scrutinized for her pale, sickly complexion, only highlighted by her dark, aggressive sense of fashion, only serving to make her appear almost barbarous.
Black lace that flowed past her fingertips, tight corsets to accentuate her thin waist, torn skirts or jeans that often dragged on the floor behind her as she walked. She was the image of intimidation, of bad omen and misfortune.
Although, far be it her appearance the only thing that kept the people away, rather it be her unfortunate heritage the core of her troubles. The Queens had never had it easy before, being the antagonist in the story of all the realm's most beloved family, but being the daughter of Raven's mother in particular meant she was decidedly public enemy number one from the moment she opened her eyes. She easily topped charts in a manner much more unpleasant than the other, nicer princesses, feared more than the ugliest trolls or the creepiest of goblins, which was an admittedly hard task that she aced with flying colors.
To those too afraid to approach her themselves, her resemblance to her mother was more than enough to convince them she was a beacon of bad, bringing about malediction wherever she so pleased. To those who did know her, her almost rebellious nature was a problem in its own.
She had enemies, she had acquaintances, and there were even a fair few who'd pledge their loyalty to her in the case that she ever decided to follow the rocky path her mother had etched out for her before she'd left, but none of them would ever be her real friends.
Logically, she knew she wasn't technically alone. Ever After was a huge space, just one realm in a world of many, and Ever After High had had its largest crop of students that year since its opening, with a diverse mix of creatures unseen before by any other school. Raven had once hoped that she'd find her people there, finally feel like more than what her story made her out to be, but with every passing year that thought became less of the future and more of a fantasy. Every clique meant to accept Raven shunned her all the same, freezing her out and pushing her to almost complete isolation. She was technically a princess, but they wouldn't let her come within five feet of her, and she was a villain, but even they were wary of her last name and kept away.
Too evil to be good, and too good to be evil. The fact that she refrained from using her magic did nothing to help her reputation with the other villains, some thinking her to be almost holier than thou, like she believed herself better, and others believing her a coward. How painfully pathetic was it that the most powerful witch in all of Ever After was afraid of her own magic?
It felt too much like a connection to her mother, running hot through her veins like the tainted blood they shared. She knew through her how easy it was to do something she couldn't take back, so she would never let it take control of her by avoiding it all together. The idea of permanence, of inevitably, terrified her, and when she looked at photos of her mother, all she saw was a future that she couldn't change.
Feeling herself grow frustrated, Raven rubbed the bridge of her nose between her fingers with a sigh, something faint beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach that she needed stamped out immediately. Her thoughts proved to spiral out of control when she was left unattended with them.
If the people didn't want her to go insane, they sure didn't know how to show it. With all this isolation the only person she had left to talk to was her own mind, and those conversations tended to be unpleasant, leaving her in a constant, low mood. Her power only thrived with abcess negative energy, tingling at the edges of her fingertips as she clenched her fists painfully tight until it went away.
What she would give to do away with it completely, she wasn't sure she could ever say.
As the hour seemed to grow ever bleaker, the ever bouncy Madeline Hatter appeared right at Raven's side to shake things up. She precariously balanced two cups of fine china in one hand and a dangerously warm kettle in the other. Without a word, she pushed one cup into Raven's unready hand, pouring into it a mystery liquid until it was full as Raven scrambled to catch it.
“Why the long face, my feathered friend? Does the sun not shine bright enough for this dark star to feel its warmth,” she asked, shaking two cubes of sugar from her sleeve that fell into the cup with a little, animated splash. “Earl Grey, or chamomile? Or, would it make more sense to inquire as to whether you'd prefer a cup of coffee? Not that I have any coffee of course, but I've heard it's polite to ask,” she smiled, pulling a series of progressively wackier items from her apron and tossing them godmother knows where when it wasn't what she wanted. “I'm absotively sure I've got some scones in here somewhere, if the raven feels, well, peckish!”
At one point in time, Raven might have been overwhelmed by her friend's penchant for the unorthodox, but it was somehow easy to become accustomed to the unaccustomable when it was Madeline Hatter, heir to the Mad Hatter. Her organized kind of chaos did what it did best, distracting Raven from her own thoughts long enough to pull a smile from her darkly painted lips.
She was curls of teal and magenta that bounced around her head, dressed for a garden tea party held only in her home of Wonderland, a bright blue apron hanging from her waist, overtop a chips white button up, with a striped bow tie tied neatly around her neck. To her knees hung a skirt shaped in a way that was reminiscent of the fine china she kept in her tall purple little top hat. To finish it off she wore a dark purple blazer with gold accents, with white gloves decorated in dots on one hand and stripes on the other. She was a kind of mess that made sense, so predictably unpredictable it was almost comforting.
“Godmother, Maddie, you scared the fairy dust out of me,” Raven chuckled, pressing a hand to her heart as she scooted back to give herself a little room from Maddie's all encompassing presence. “Earl Grey is fine,” she smiled, taking a hesitant sip from her cup, pleasantly surprised to find it was Earl Grey after all. Her lipstick smudged against the delicate porcelain, so she wiped the rim gently with her sleeve.
“I'm just… thinking about my syllabus. Lots of hard classes this year,” she replied to Maddie's earlier question, twisting her bottom lip through her teeth as she tasted the white lie on her tongue. “So not hexcited for Advanced Villainy 3.”
“I really can't fathom why they'd put you in those courses. They set you up for failure and act surprised when you fall flat,” Maddie pouted, taking the finished cup from Raven's hand and tossing it over her shoulder, followed quickly by the sound of glass shattering. “Alas my complaints to the school board fall upon ears stuffed with cotton,” she frowned, cupping her own chin in her hands. “Tea Time is not a subject, they tell me, and to that I ask how anyone in Ever After makes it through a day without a tall cup of bergamot.”
“You might be the only one in this school who gets it, Maddie,” Raven chuckled, running a hand through her fine purple tresses.
It was odd, to only be understood by someone who couldn't be understood, but Raven was happy either way. Misery loves company, she supposed, and Raven sure did love Maddie.
Sensing her slip headfirst into her own head, Maddie threaded her gloved fingers through Raven's, taking her hand and swinging it back and forth in a smooth motion between them. “Oh, Raven, if you spend so much time swimming in your own thoughts, you'll drown,” she said to the other girl, dragging her thumb against the back of her hand. “Take a step outside and smell the flowers before they grow too tall,” she beamed, pulling a bright yellow sunflower from her pocket and presenting it to her between her fingers.
“You're always right, Maddie,” Raven agreed, taking the flower and pressing it into her bag. “We should hurry and find our dorms, godmother willing we're somewhere close to each other this year,” she said, letting Maddie pull her faster through the corridors with a small, content smile.
It was always nice to have a reminder that things weren't always as bad as they seemed.