Hase - Before Ever After

Chapter 26 - What they've been up to

Author's Note

Hey, guys! How you doin'? I know it's been a while since I last updated, but as promised, I'm not letting this story be discontinued. Thank you all for being so patient and I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Without further ado, have a good read :)

At Regal Academy

The once colorful, lively and cozy school that welcomed hundreds of children from the most beloved fairy tales ever, was now a dark and cold place, ruled by Vicky and her gang of villains. After the battle for control over the school, only a few students were able to get away, but Vicky didn't pay much mind to them, for the ones that really mattered to her were the grandchildren of the great families.

She already had their grandparents, who had lamely tried to fight against her, only to save their poor grandchildren. As much as she didn't want to admit, she knew those kids could be a lot of trouble. She had to get rid of any possible obstacle to her complete dominance over the fairy tale world, but her efforts in finding them had been useless.

Lost in her thoughts, seating on the headmistress chair, Vicky snapped out of it when someone hesitantly knocked at the door.

"Come in". She coldly said.

The door opened to reveal the group she had sent to search for the six heroes and she immediately sent a death glare in their direction, making them shiver out of fear because they knew exactly how she would react once they told her they got nothing.

"So...? I hope you have better news for me than the last group. A tale has been told that bad things happened to those who failed me." She shot out with a fiery glare in her eyes.

"W-We... We're... S-sorry, Vicky. We d-didn't find them". The sea witch muttered.

"Oh, well... What else should I expect from a bunch of useless rats". Vicky yelled in rage.

She swooped her wand and the whole room started trembling, making the group of villains take a step back trying to reach the door, but it slammed behind them. A red, thick fog started to get out from her wand and circle the others in the room.

"Vicky, wait, we can still find them. Please-". They pleaded, but the fog curtain closed around them, not letting them finish.

Vicky got up from the chair and looked down at the floor where the three villains were standing just a second ago. A mischievous grin plastered on her face as she crouched down to pick up miniature porcelain statues of them.

Calmly, she walked to a bookshelf in the side wall and contemplated her collection to find a spot for the new acquisitions. She placed them right beneath to her most treasured pieces: at the top of the shelf were Cinderella, Snow White, Le Frog, Iron Fan, Beast and Belle's statues, placed as trophies. At the side, there was a place reserved for exactly six more miniatures, a place that she hoped would be filled really soon.

But a thought crossed her mind: she couldn't keep turning her allies into statues, or she would have no army in no time. After paying the problem some mind, an idea finally came to her - she couldn't keep sacrificing her allies, but right now she had many enemies at her mercy.

Deep into the school, an improvised dungeon held captive all the students that Vicky and her crew captured. Right after they lost the battle, the students saw how their teachers sacrificed themselves to save only a small group. Most of them were hopeful, because they believed in Rose and her friends to save all of them, but some got mad at the attitude, after all, everyone deserved the chance to escape, not just a small group.

As the days passed by, the hope started to fade. Only their closest friends still believed that they would come and save the school, but the others lost faith in them. It was hard to keep optimistic while being held captive by Vicky as she often comes to mock them and tell them that nobody is coming to their rescue.

As a deafening silence filled the room, some footsteps could be heard coming in their direction, and they knew exactly to whom those footsteps belonged.

"Well, well, if it's not my favorite classmates in the world". She said with a grin.

No one said a word, they were all used to her mockery and learned that the more they keep quiet, the more she gets annoyed, and so they decided to give her a silent treatment.

"Oh, come on. You got nothing? You're not gonna tell me how your pest little friends will come and kick my butt? Not even a shit face towards me?". She teased, but to no avail. "Damn, you're no fun. But I think I know exactly how to make you do what I want".

The mischievous grin that appeared on her face made some of the students flinch. She got a little bottle from her purse, there was some purple dust in it, but no one had a clue what it could possibly be.

Vicky raised her hand with the bottle in it, and without warning she threw it in the center of the room. When the bottle broke, the dust turned into a fog that started to spread through the room. The students backed away, but they were cornered, with nowhere to run. Some held their breaths, afraid of what the effects might be, but the others didn't think so fast and inhaled the substance. Their eyes got dark and they passed out. Fear overwhelmed everyone, but there was nothing to do. Once the fog covered all the room, every single one of them had inhaled it, and even the ones who tried to resist, suddenly passed out.

After some minutes, Vicky's evil laugh echoed through the corridors as the students woke up and bowed in front of her. The fog was a mind controlling spell, and now, she had an even greater army. 

Meanwhile, Rose and the other heroes prepared for battle with no clue that they would be fighting their friends.