The Tale of Two Angels (School for Good and Evil fanfic)

Chapter 7

The School for Good Enlightenment and Enchantment prided itself in its neat and organized welcoming of new students. Understandably, a stymph crashing into the dean's office in the wee hours of the morning before said welcoming was not appreciated.

The moment the Prof. Cygnelle* noticed the skeletal bird charging towards her window, she ordered a nearby nymph passing by her office to wake the resident Animal Communication teacher, Princess Kefira. She then covered her face to avoid the bits of glass from scratching her face as the stymph crashed into her office.

"Really now," she muttered, feeling very thankful for her gloves as she carefully brushed the shards off her dress.

The teacher soon burst into the room, a Briar Rose sleep mask still hanging haphazardly off an ear. Her large amber eyes stared at the stymph with surprise. She immediately clicked to it, a note of growl and squawk in her tone. The bird replied with its own clicks and frantically beat its wings, making a few more glass shards fly. A look of alarm came into the princess's face.

"Get the nymphs to the entrance this instant!" she cried. "There are injured students!"

The dean raised an eyebrow. "Injured students? At two in the morning?"

The stymph squawked again. The teacher frowned and did what the dean assumed was asking for clarification. It repeated the sound slowly, kree-kuh.

The princess started. "Oh, Reader! The students are Readers? Is that what you mean?" The stymph bobbed its skull. It then turned around and lowered its ribcage until it nearly touched the floor. Kefira turned to the dean. "It's offering a ride to the ground."

The dean gave a strained smile. "Thank you for the offer, but I will get down by my own devices. Please do check on the students though. I will alert the nymphs to prepare the infirmary. Let's hope none of the staff mistook them for intruders."

As the stymph disappeared with its passenger, the dean glided out the door. The nymph that called the princess was still nearby, and after a few orders, she was on her way to alert other nymphs of the students and to prepare accordingly. Cygnelle headed to the stairs, frowning as her thoughts raced. Being readers might explain the students' early arrival, it wouldn't be the first time such a thing occurred. But injuries to the point that their carrier would break into her office? She wondered if her predecessor had ever experienced such an event. Probably not. Then again, with The Tale of Sophie and Agatha, Clarissa Dovey had more than enough hectic events in her life. Still, two students showing up injured, could they be. . .? The dean banished those thoughts. Observation before speculation.

Cygnelle arrived in the glass foyer just in time to see the students being carried through the mirrored corridor on stretchers.

"Put them in separate rooms after they're treated!" she called out to the nymphs as the rushed by. "We are yet to know which one is Good!"

"Oh Elaine!" The dean turned and saw Kefira pressing her hands against her chest in worry. "They looked horrible! Cut up and bleeding and so pale! Did you see the girl? She was as green as a poisoned apple victim!"

The dean's lips pressed into a fine line. The nymphs had been too fast for her to see the students. "Did any of the staff attack them?"

The princess shook her head, golden curls bouncing. "I asked the stymph. It told me it flew into the school grounds with no trouble at all. Their injuries came from the Woods Beyond. I wonder what they could've done to deserve being hurt so badly. . ."