Scarlet (An SGE Fanfic)

And so it begins...

Sophie might have been winning at the moment, but there was something coming that she had forgotten about; something very important. The Trial by Tale was only a few days away, and as top Never, Sophie had made the Trial team, although she had utterly failed in tryouts so far. The Trial was the perfect place for me to make a move against the princess who was threatening to take my title, especially after she had humiliated so many of our weaker peers with her 'Lunchtime Lectures.' It was the perfect place to make the death of a student look like an accident; in fact, the teachers weren't even sure which of the past Trial deaths had been an accident. I didn't care who killed Sophie as long as it wasn't traced back to me. With nine other Nevers in the Trial, one of them was sure to take her out, especially with the promise of being my hench captain, a ruse that the Never fools had gullibly fallen for. If I was going to be the greatest witch of my generation, I couldn't have a whiny, sniveling pain like Hort or Vex messing things up for me. I had already chosen my hench captain. I just wasn't sure if she was up for the task.

I pushed my doubts away, cracking my knuckles as I stood in line to get fitted for my Trial cloak. In only a few days, my biggest problem (well, at least at school) would disappear for good, and I would be back on my path for greatness. And with my certainty that Sophie was cheating to get first ranks after hearing her and Agatha in the Evil restroom a few nights ago, I had another chance to fail her even if we didn't manage to kill her in the Trial. I glanced over at Sophie, who was shivering at the end of the line, and smirked.

The next few days flew by, and before I knew it, me and the other Trial students were standing just outside of the Blue Forest, the sun slowly setting in the distance. Behind us, the Ever laid out blankets and food outside of the tunnel to their school, settling in for the long night ahead. Meanwhile, on the other side of the clearing, the Nevers waited in their pajamas, ready to flee at our team's first sign of humiliation. Cowards. After today, it would be different. No longer would Nevers have to hide in the shadows, convinced of Good's victory (even if it was still inevitable in the context of a fairy tale).

Sophie and Kiko were sent in first, both of them trembling with fear. I hoped Sophie wouldn't drop her flag before we could get to her. With the extra security measures, Agatha wouldn't be there to help her, which might cause her to drop out early. I had to hold out on the hope that she would wait for Tedros.

My mind strayed to my back up plan. If none of the incompetent Nevers in the Trial could manage to kill Sophie, I'd have to take matters into my own hands. It would be dangerous, very dangerous, but I was Evil's future Class Captain. I was strong enough to wield that kind of power.

"Are you ready?"

I looked up at the now familiar sound of Anadil's raspy voice. She stood in front of me with her arms crossed, her face shadowed by the hood of her Trial cloak.

"Of course I'm ready," I scoffed. "Besides, I'm entering the forest last."

"Perhaps by then, Sophie will already be dead," Anadil said, her voice hushed.

"I hope so," I said, my gaze moving to the forest over my roommate's shoulder. "I know she's just one girl, but our classmates have proven to be extremely incompetent when it comes to...well... anything. Sophie's more powerful than she looks, too, even without Agatha's help."

"I'm sure I could take her out," Anadil dismissed, her tone of voice indiscernible. I glanced back in her direction, trying to read her expression in the dark.

"I know you could."

"Oh, that girl is as good as dead, don't you worry."

"I sure hope so, future Hench Captain." There was a beat of silence. I cursed internally, wondering if I'd said the wrong thing.

Ani pulled back her hood, flashing me a smile. "You sure do have your priorities straight, don't you?"

"I–I suppose I do."

The wolves howled, indicating that the next pair of students take their place at the edge of the woods. Anadil turned to leave, her scarlet irises flashing in the light of the moon.

"Evil luck," she rasped, shooting me one last grin. She flicked her hood back over her head and vanished into the dark. 

A/N: Sorry about the pointlessness and cheeziness of this chapter, it was kind of just a filler.