The Lady's Secret (School for Good and Evil)

Goodbye

Agatha was surrounded.

Aric pushed Finnley away from his knife and into Anadil, almost knocking the pale witch over. She shoved Finnley away, but- even though Anadil was strong- his sturdy build didn't move him at all.

Agatha studied her best friend's face, looking for some sign that Sophie was just pretending, that she was faking it. She had grown so used to Sophie being on her side in her alternate realities that it was a bit disconcerting to see her so easily taken with the enemies. But there was nothing. Sophie had turned on them. The Sophie she knew was gone. There was only evil behind those green eyes.

"Who's first?" Aric asked, drawing an even bigger sword that he replaced the first one with. It was silent, "No one wants to volunteer?" he pouted. "I guess I'll just have to pick someone."

Agatha took the slightest step forward, shielding Tedros's body from him, though she knew it wouldn't actually do anything.

She reached her hand into her pocket, grabbing at the Lady's glass- a habit, she realized. Ever since the Lady of the Lake gave her the shattered piece of glass, pressing it into her palm had been a calming mechanism.

Agatha's hand grasped at nothing. The glass was gone. A jolt of panic shot through her- had she left it with her past self in that bush? Had it fallen out of her pocket somewhere within the darkness? Or had she left it in her past reality? If she couldn't time travel with it, then why had the Lady given it to her in the first place? Why even bother?

"Agatha."

Agatha's mind was still foggy, but she soon came to realize it was Aric's voice. Sophie grabbed her hard by the shoulder, hauling her toward the violet-eyed boy.

Aric smiled, already shining his sword. What would happen if she died? She was in a past-reality, so would she just skip forward to her normal time like it was nothing or would she really be gone forever?

Sophie kicked Agatha to her knees in front of Aric who held out his sword. He grinned, showing a layer of pointed teeth, before he brought the sword down on her neck.

Agatha squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the moment she would die. At least I'll be with Tedros again, she thought, knowing he wouldn't last with only two teammates, especially against the Snake. But that moment never came. There was a guttural roar and Agatha pried her eyes open.

But instead of the blue forest, her eyes opened to the sight of the Lady of the Lake's white room.

"You have done-"

"I was kind of dying there!" Agatha interrupted. "You know, the whole 'sword to my neck' thing?"

The Lady of the Lake ignored her. "You have-"

Agatha was done with her, anger taking over her features. "And what was the point of the glass if I couldn't travel realities with it? Where is it? What is it-"

The Lady sent a gust of wind towards Agatha, silencing her. "You have done well in my crystal, but reality has caught up with you. Agatha, my dear, you are now back in the present time."

Her voice wavered. "As for the glass, you will... come to figure it out on your own. You're a smart girl, are you not?"

Before Agatha could say anything else, her stomach dropped and it felt as if she were falling. When she opened her eyes to blue, she knew she was back. But there was no sword to her neck, instead-

Aric lay on the ground next to her, his face bleeding from what looked like bear claws. Agatha felt almost sorry for him until she remembered he had just tried to murder her.

On the other side of Aric lay Finnley... as a man-wolf. His claws were covered in blood- probably Aric's- and the violet-eyed boy's sword was deeply cut into his leg as he howled in agony.

Anadil was already at his side, searching for his handkerchief in his discarded clothes. She pulled out a piece of blue cloth embroidered with the name Finnley and dropped it to the ground. With a puff of white smoke, Finnley was gone. Anadil looked almost... sad?

Tedros just stood there. He seemed almost too stunned to do anything except take it all in. Then, his eyes hardened to steel and he caught sight of Japeth. The king stomped towards him, drawing his own sword.

Japeth was kneeling beside Aric, who was still breathing though he was in critical condition from so much blood loss. Agatha felt a pang of sympathy for Japeth when she realized that he couldn't find Aric's handkerchief. The Snake was digging through his pockets, almost desperately trying to find it. But it was no use. Either Aric had lost it or hidden it somewhere in the forest and the comatose murderer wasn't in any condition to tell him where it was, let alone speak. Finally, Japeth fell to his knees beside Aric in defeat.

Sophie wrapped her arms around his shoulder, but he pushed her off and pulled his sword out of its sheath. That's when Agatha realized: It was a ploy. Japeth never truly loved her. It had always been fake.

Sophie's eyes widened as he narrowed in on her; maybe it wasn't fake to Sophie. She backed up, almost bumping into Agatha.

"Jap-" she started, tears welling. "What're you doing-"

"What I've wanted to do for a long time," he said, advancing on her. "Kill you."

Sophie's face went pale as she backed up another step, hand brushing Agatha's. Sophie looked back at her and- on an impulse- Agatha grasped her hand.

For a moment, it looked like Sophie might drop her hand, but then her face went blank, eyes rolling the back of her head. With a jolt, she was back as if nothing had happened, clasping Agatha's hand so tight it was like her life depended on it. Agatha felt a shiver tear down her spine; a sense of deja vu. This is what happened to Sophie before, when the Snake had first stolen Camelot's ring from Tedros. Before she had turned on them. It wasn't Sophie; she hadn't turned on them. It had been a spell the whole time. Something had possessed her to act this way.

"Aggie-" Sophie breathed, gripping her hand tighter. "I- what's going on- there was-"

"Sophie," she said, pulling the blonde girl away from Japeth.

The Snake took another step toward them. "So, you figured it out, did you?" he smiled.

"I-" Sophie stammered.

"Goodbye, Sophie."

Japeth threw his sword forward in a spiraling arc, watching as it flew at Sophie. At the same moment, she flung her arms out and released a piercing scream, all of her confusion and rage pent up in one ear splitting note. The sword shattered immediately, sending shards of silver over everyone's heads. They ducked to the ground, hands at their temples. Blood poured out of Japeth's ears as he clenched his jaw in pain.

Sophie stopped, her green eyes wide. She stared at him, curled-up on the ground. "Goodbye, Japeth."