Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everyone knew that Rin of Preservation was destined to be a Never. Evil with a capital N (for Never). It hung around in creepy forests, talked to nobody, and refused to do anything to help the village at all. And it was a clockwork abomination — part metal, part wood, a large part human. Everybody hated it.

In contrast, Princess Ayda Mensah of Preservation was the picture of an Ever. Despite her un-princess-like interest in scientific and magical exploration, she was kind, wise, and polite, though she didn’t have many close friends. Everyone liked her.

People laughed when she mentioned her only close friend was Rin, but that never stopped them from continuing their friendship. It was happy to join her in the woods — reading a book while she investigated a fascinating animal or plant, listening to her sing while it drew in the dirt, protecting her whenever something attacked. Sure, it rarely said anything, but Ayda never minded the quiet, anyways. Quiet was nice.

She couldn’t see how anyone assumed it would be a Never when they got to school. She didn’t want to be an Ever — her whole family had been Evers, but that didn’t mean she wanted to learn about being a princess — but she knew that, as witch-like as her hobbies were, she wouldn’t fit in with the Nevers. Rin was the only one who knew she was afraid of fitting in with neither, with having to go home a failure on the first day. She knew it didn’t want to be a Never, but it couldn’t make itself act like an Ever.

Except, when they got to school, both of them were sent to the School of Good.

Both of them were Evers.

Ayda should have been relieved. If not for herself, she should have been relieved for her best friend. Rin didn’t look happy, but it was happier than when it had thought it would be a Never.

She sighed and gave it a sideways look. “Opinion?”

“Don’t know.” It stared up at the school in front of them. “Why’d I have to go with the Everboys?”

Oh. “I’m sorry,” she said, not looking at it. “I don’t…”

It knew what she meant. They’d had talks about this. It wasn’t a boy, though the human parts it had been made from had been male. She had never felt entirely like a girl; or rather, she didn’t enjoy being treated like a girl and wasn’t sure she was one. Neither of them liked how strongly the School for Good and Evil separated people by gender.

And so they were separated as they came to their dormitories. Rin to Honor Tower, to room with two Everboys (Prince Ratthi of Maidenvale and Volescu of Woods Beyond, it told her later), and her to Charity Tower and the two Evergirls she would room with.

The door said their names were Bharadwaj of Nettle Forest and Arada of Foxwood. They were both inside already, and thankfully, neither of them were wearing skirts either. Ayda had worn her dark riding pants, and so far every Evergirl she’d met had sneered at her.

She waved as she took a step in. “Hello?”

The shorter girl, lying on her bed and staring into a mirror, looked up and smiled. “Hello! Ayda, right?”

Ayda nodded. “And you are?”

“Arada of Foxwood. Yes, my parents were Nevers. No, I don’t know why I’m an Ever. No, I don’t want to talk– oh, you aren’t starting that. Thank you.”

Ayda took a breath, then let it out when she decided not to ask questions. Instead, she dragged her trunk to the unclaimed bed. “It’s lovely to meet you,” she said. “I really can’t say anything against you, I promise. If you’re here, you deserve to be.”

She purposely put her worries about her place here out of her mind. Not the time, Ayda.

The other girl introduced herself as Bharadwaj. She also seemed nice, though she wasn’t as openly friendly.

They soon began a conversation, and by the time they were called to assembly, they were fast friends.

It became clear at the welcoming that Ayda and Rin were both outsiders, but so were Arada and Bharadwaj and Volescu. Rin’s other roommate, Ratthi, was the perfect golden-boy prince, but he hadn’t teased any of them yet. (And, much as it disliked him, Rin had to admit that Ratthi was at least respecting its choice of pronouns.)

At the welcoming, Ayda sat with her roommates and Rin and glanced at the Nevers. Some of them were reasonably well-behaved, but most acted as if they wanted to eat the Evers. She caught the eye of one, a short Nevergirl with black hair in a long braid, and the glare she received in return was scathing.

Arada seemed at home with the Nevers, however. She waved and smiled at several of them, getting mostly sneers back, but a few waved as well as sneered, and one Nevergirl jumped up to hug her.

Arada led the girl over to Ayda and Bharadwaj and Rin. “This is Overse of Foxwood,” she said. “My– oh, nevermind.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Ayda said. “Old friends?”

“Something of the sort,” Overse said, turning to Arada. “Are you alright? I saw the landing–”

“I’m fine. You don’t have to talk around that part. I thought I was getting dropped into good old muck and I got set down on grass instead. How’d the first bit go?”

“The only person I even slightly know in my room is Pin-Lee — you know, of Bloodbrook — and she’s snapping at anyone and everyone who crosses her path.” The Nevergirl Overse pointed to was the same one who’d glared at Ayda earlier; she was sitting next to a Neverboy with a bad haircut and half his face withered away. “Only friend she’s got is that Gurathin of Ravenbow kid, you know, the one who ate your tadpole spawn last spring.”

Arada nodded. “Oh, yes, that was an excellent evil deed. I’m still going to curse him for that if I ever get a chance.”

“You shouldn’t talk that way,” hissed Bharadwaj. “You’re an Ever now, and Evers don’t get revenge.”

“Maybe we should,” Arada smiled. “Maybe we will.”

Chapter Text

None of them, not even Ratthi, appreciated the curriculum. Ratthi was good at animal languages; he’d mentioned to Rin and Volescu that it was a shame the class was restricted to girls. Rin didn’t want to be in Chivalry, much as it liked swordfighting. Bharadwaj wanted to learn to swordfight. Ayda and Arada quickly bonded over an interest in witchcraft, which wasn’t taught to Evers at all. Arada knew things from her parents, Ayda had scientific skills to experiment with, and both were extremely curious. The classes were not going to encourage that.

Things had not improved by their first lunch. Rin curled up with its book by the edge of the Clearing. Ayda sat with it, watching Bharadwaj and Volescu join the group clustering around Ratthi and one of the Evergirls whose name she didn’t know yet.

Meanwhile, Arada dragged Overse away to a secluded bit of the Clearing and set her basket on the ground. Overse did the same with her pail, and they split the gruel and the sandwiches evenly. And oh, how Arada had missed proper gruel.

It was something the Nevers understood that the other Evers never would. Gruel had a particular quality about it that sandwiches and truffles didn’t have. It made you stronger, it kept you going, and it certainly helped you learn to cook. Arada had been trying to get away from terrible gruel like her mother made for fourteen years. It was how she’d learned that most mushrooms in the Woods were reasonably edible.

Arada didn’t really understand why she was placed with the Evers. She had two villains for parents (well, a wicked witch and her henchgoblin, which was where Arada got her (lack of) height from), just like many of the Nevers. Yeah, she was “sweet” and “friendly” and all that stuff, but she had the heart of a villain. But if she was here, she’d do her best to be a good Ever.

Unless that meant giving up her girlfriend-slash-best-friend, in which case she was going to show just how much of a wicked witch she could be.

Overse laid her head on Arada’s shoulder. This was as much as they could do; sit together, cuddle, pretend they were friends and nothing more. There was so much against them. Evers didn’t date Nevers. Girls did not date girls. Arada was supposed to find a prince to take her to the Snow Ball. Overse would never go to the Snow Ball.

“We talked about Nemeses in class today,” Overse said, out of nowhere. “And we talked about the bond between them. How it was one of the few things as strong as true love.” She added their customary sneer at the mention of true love, and Arada huffed back. It didn’t mean anything, of course, but the gesture was customary by now.

“We haven’t gotten there yet. Go on.”

“A nemesis is your other half,” Overse said. “I asked Lady Lesso after class if any villains ever married their nemeses, so that they could have an easier fight, and she said that’s uncommon now but it didn’t use to be.”

Arada nodded.

“I think maybe we got sent to different schools because we’re destined to be both. Both true loves and nemeses.”

That made sense. Arada tucked her hand into Overse’s larger one. “I would be honored to be your nemesis, if it turns out that way, or your girlfriend alone, if it doesn’t. If anyone’s trying to kill me, I want it to be you.”

Chapter Text

"Snakeskin," Arada said. "We need snakeskin." She pointed to Ayda's silver bowl, the best substitute for a cauldron they could get. "We probably need... oh, that should be at least a quarter full. Snakeskin cloaks are for invisibility, but if we want to get over to Evil to get in the library, we have to be more than invisible. It's a start, though."

Ayda grabbed the snakeskin and began to shred it, pounding the scales off. "I still believe asking Overse would be a better way to get the book. You two seem close."

"We are," Arada said, suddenly... wistful? Her tone had changed, and Ayda couldn't describe it at all now. "I can't ask her to take all the risks for me. Snakeskin will be a start."

This sort of spell didn't require a fingerglow, hence why they could cast it, but it was a witch's spell; they would certainly be in trouble for casting it, should they be discovered.

Chapter Text

Boys had to take them to the Snow Ball. In theory, Ayda didn’t mind that.

What she minded was the part where a girl who didn’t find a date failed, and a boy who didn’t find a date only got half ranks. Rin didn’t want to go, but it would, to avoid failing. She’d have to go too. In whispers at lunch, she’d talked to Rin about this, and it agreed to ask her if nobody else did, just to avoid anyone failing. If someone else asked her, however, it would ask someone else who didn’t have a date. Neither of them wanted anyone to fail.

Arada and Bharadwaj had been hushed and quiet about their ball plans, though Ayda knew Bharadwaj had been making friends with Rin’s roommate Volescu. Arada refused to say a word other than that she had plans in place.

The Trial by Tale had gone by quickly, leaving Arada, Rin, and golden-boy Ratthi in the Circus of Talents. Ayda wasn’t competing, which she was quite happy about, but here she was trying to help Rin figure out a good talent.

Try as it might, it couldn’t count swordfighting as an unique talent. It would be up against Pin-Lee of Bloodbrook, who Arada had mentioned several times as being viciously skilled in a number of things. Swordfighting wouldn’t be enough to win that.

And so she was trying to get it to just use the talent it had, please, it needed to try. Nobody would mock it for having a talent that seemed evil. It had proved itself already.

“The drones aren’t a terrible choice,” she said, for the tenth time in as many minutes. “They fly around and you make them take a shape. It’s unique, it’s not new for you, and you like having drones around.”

One of the clockwork bee-drones buzzed closer to her head. “Fine,” Rin said. “They’re not Good enough, but they’re fine.”

It glanced at her, and she smiled. “You’ll do great, Rin.”

When she got back to her own room, there were two Nevergirls sitting on Arada’s bed and staring into the magic mirror. The three of them were chanting, casting some sort of spell, and Ayda decided to wander around a bit instead of disturbing them.

Her wandering led her to the Gallery of Good. She thought she was alone; she thought it was safe to take a moment to sit with her worries. About her friends in the Circus, about failing if she didn’t do well enough, about being Good enough to survive two more years of this. She wasn’t a princess, except by birth. She had high grades, yes, but she still felt like just Ayda, the burgeoning scientist.

The first tears falling down her face were interrupted when golden-boy Prince Ratthi sat down next to her. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Fine,” she said. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“You don’t sound it. Have you been crying?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

He sighed. “Your friend kicked me out of our room so it could practice. I suppose we had the same idea.”

“It’s just nervous,” Ayda said. “It hates being perceived and it hates attention even more. I’m proud of it, but I doubt it’s proud of itself.”

“You’re ranked… eleventh? It’s fourth. It should be very proud.”

“We can talk about anything except the Circus right now.” She turned away from him. She didn’t need to be comforted. She didn’t need pity. She just wanted to worry on her own for a moment.

“Do you have a gown for the Snow Ball yet?”

“Back to the Circus for a second.”

He laughed. “Sorry. No offense intended.”

Unlike some of the other princes, he acted like he really didn’t mean malice. A lot of people had teased Ayda for being friends with the honorary Nevergirl and the clockwork “weirdo”, for her short-cropped hair and refusal to wear skirts when she wasn’t wearing the uniform, for reading books and getting Rin and Volescu to teach her and her roommates to swordfight. He was one of the few people standing up for any of them.

“It’s complicated,” she said, biting back an instinctive commentary on how girls would fail if a boy didn’t ask them and boys didn’t even have to ask anyone.

And then he surprised her. “It’s stupid that boys have to go with girls, and that Nevers don’t get to go. I’ve known– some people,” he said, “my whole life, and the ones who are most prepared are never the princesses and princes. It’s always the one who doesn’t get asked to a ball or has to protect herself in the woods. Half the Evers need someone else to save them.”

That led into a much better topic, one that both of them could discuss at length. It was only the curfew chimes that sent them back to their rooms, sad for the interruption yet glad for the intelligent conversation.

When she got back to her room, the two Nevergirls were gone, replaced with Bharadwaj practicing a sword form on the carpet. Arada was still bent over the mirror, but by now Ayda knew it was a magic mirror and her mumbled words were more likely to be conversation with her friend Overse rather than a spell.

She deftly avoided the blade to flounce onto her bed and sigh. “I don’t understand anyone. It turns out Ratthi of Maidenvale is as disillusioned as we are, and I didn’t realize it at all.”

Bharadwaj made a soft surprised noise, but Arada looked up from the mirror. “I knew that.”

“You didn’t say a thing,” Ayda said. “I wouldn’t have guessed you knew him at all.”

“Maidenvale and Foxwood aren’t too far apart. We weren’t supposed to be friends, but he ran into me in the Woods one day and we got along. Didn’t know my parents until Mom came to find me for lunch one day, that wasn’t fun, but we worked things out. He thinks Overse’s sweet even though she cursed him a few times, so we let him stick around even after we figured out a few things. We’re just friends. He’s not even taking me to the ball. He’s crushing on Sonje right now and I think he’s going to ask them.”

Ayda sighed. It all came back to the ball. “I wonder if they’d fail every girl, if we all refused dates.”

“Who knows,” Bharadwaj said, “but I hope they wouldn’t. If it weren’t a day till the Circus I’d probably try to convince a few people to refuse the proposals.”

The Circus of Talents went well.

Arada, as the tenth-ranked Ever, was in the first duel; she hadn’t told anyone her talent beforehand, and to Ayda, it seemed very clear that she was making a point, because Arada’s talent was witchcraft. This received angry boos from the Evers and polite applause from the Nevers, most of whom knew exactly who they were tangling with.

Rin didn’t win its duel either, as Pin-Lee of Bloodbrook managed to summon and negotiate with a demon so the demon got the worse end of the duel, but it sat down amid scattered cheers, one drone buzzing behind Ayda’s ear.

Ratthi did win his duel, and the Circus Crown, by virtue of calling a flock of birds through the window to his aid, then leading them in song before skillfully swordfighting with the dummy they formed. Ayda had to admit it was impressive.

Then came time for the Snow Ball proposals, as each Everboy bent down to kiss an Evergirl’s hand. First Ratthi, kneeling before Sonje, then Volescu asking Bharadwaj (her complete lack of surprise suggesting that she knew this was coming), then others. More and more followed, as Ayda and Arada, the last two, held their breaths and prayed that they wouldn’t fail.

Ayda caught Rin’s eye and nodded it towards Arada.

Arada saw this and drew her finger across her throat. Don’t, she meant.

So Rin, in a thankfully unromantic manner, elbowed Ayda and muttered, “Ball? So we don’t fail?”

“Sure,” she answered, equally unromantically.

That left Arada and the last Everboy, one Ayda didn’t even know. He pointedly did not propose, turning towards his friends and laughing. “Have fun,” he said, “failure.”

The whispers began. Evers poking, pointing, laughing; Nevers frowning, furrowing, concerned. Failure, failure, failure.

Arada trembled. Then, to Ayda’s surprise, she gulped a breath and stood straighter.

“I do not fail.” Arada reached for Overse. “I offer my hand to Overse of Foxwood, my girlfriend, Nemesis, and True Love.” She didn’t sneer at the very concept this time. “Will you be my Princess at the Snow Ball?”

Overse kissed her hand. “I will.”

As half the Evers stood up and started shouting that it was impossible, that she’d failed because she hadn’t been asked, Ayda pulled Rin over to the apparently-in-love couple.

She cleared her throat, beginning to speak. But before she could manage any words, there were others standing. Bharadwaj. Volescu. Ratthi. And some of the Nevers, Gurathin of Ravenbow and Pin-Lee of Bloodbrook.

Pin-Lee whistled. “Shut up, all of you!” When the angry Evers quieted down, she continued. “You tried to get her to fail, and you’re just pissed she planned ahead. Now, when they planned this, they asked me if I could look over the school rules, make sure they wouldn’t be in danger. There is nothing, nothing, that says the Evergirl can’t propose, nothing that says she can’t propose to a Never, and absolutely freaking nothing that says she can’t propose to another girl! Now will you freaking shut up and accept that sometimes, once in a very long while, an Evergirl can take some initiative and save herself!”

Ayda clapped her hands once. “Enough is enough. The way people have been treating Arada is unthinkable. This is not how Evers behave. We can do better than this. We must do better than this. What is Good, if we tease each other? Who is Good, if we abandon our classmates?”

“I concur with that,” Ratthi said, the theater falling silent, “and add this. I have known Arada and Overse for over five years. In that time, the number of times that either of them has truly sought to harm another person, beyond justified reasons, has been… four, I believe. I counted at least three dozen times that Arada was bullied, in a single year. Each time, it was an Ever perpetrating it, and sometimes, those of us who did protect her ended up bullied ourselves. I know that some of the Nevers have bullied each other, certainly, but it’s not usually associated with Evers! We are better than this.”

By this time the wolves and fairies standing guard had begun to separate the students from each other. “Return to your schools,” one wolf snarled, and the students rushed to obey.

A fairy picked Ayda up. Others had her friends in their nets already and three wolves held the three Nevers in their mouths.

The nine of them ended up in the offices of Professor Dovey, the School for Good’s dean, though Lady Lesso, Evil’s dean, was also present, causing the three Nevers to shift from side to side.

“This is inconceivable,” Lesso said, once the wolves and fairies had delivered their reports. “So many students, acting so out of line–”

“Actually,” Pin-Lee interrupted, eyes flashing, “nothing we said or did was against any school rules. I can cite proof.”

“Be that as it may, you went against the spirit of the laws and ought to be failed–”

“The spirit of the law was already broken when people started to bully Arada. So was the letter of the law. Page 233, paragraph 4, section 7, of the most recent official rule book. Nobody cared about it when we reported them. The rules say that any Ever found to be bullying another student will receive detention and loss of Groom Room privileges for the first offense, and adds loss of ranks for the second offense and failure for the third offense. Many of these students bullied Arada or her roommates more than twice. And yet the ones who you’re discussing failing are the ones who made correct choices both morally and legally.”

Professor Dovey attempted to interrupt, but Pin-Lee continued.

“On page 177 of the rulebook, paragraphs 2 and 3 spell out the rules surrounding the Snow Ball. The relevant rules are found in paragraph 2, section 5: attendance policies for the Snow Ball. It states that any Evergirl who attends without a date or does not attend automatically fails, while any Everboy who attends without a date or does not attend receives half ranks. Putting aside the extreme inequality and discrimination that this represents, the same section states that Everboys may not make a proposal to more than one girl, that Evergirls may not accept more than one proposal, and that Nevers may not attend without an invitation. Check the wording, Professor Dovey, Lady Lesso.”

(Ayda tilted her head to Gurathin, next to her. “Is she always like this?”

“No,” he said. “She’s usually worse.”)

Lady Lesso thumbed through a large book. “The girl is right, Clarissa. There is nothing against it.”

“Like I said,” Pin-Lee snapped, “there’s nothing that says an Evergirl can’t attend with another girl, and there’s nothing that says a Never can’t attend if she’s invited by an Ever.”

“Be that as it may,” Professor Dovey said, “you still caused disruption, and I have to assign some punishment for that. You will be allowed to attend the ball, I suppose, but you will receive two days of detention and an equivalent loss of Groom Room privileges.”

“You three,” Lesso said, glaring at the Nevers, “should get a detention in the Doom Room. However, as you’ve proven your ability to successfully get around the rules, I will be waiving that.” She pointed at Overse, who flinched. “Except for you. Going to a ball with an Ever is–”

“It’s been done,” Overse said. “Phyllis of Knave’s Peak went with Strephon of Oz. And when nobody asked her to her ball, Aline of Neverland informed Alexis of Thicket Thimble that she would appreciate his company at the ball. None of them were failed and both Nevers were allowed to attend.”

Lesso frowned. “An afternoon in the Doom Room, then, for beginning a romantic relationship with an Ever.”

“Yes, Professor,” Overse said, clearly deciding not to argue.

With things settled, the students were dismissed. However, Professor Dovey kept Arada back for a moment.

Once the office was otherwise empty, Dovey smiled. “I’m proud of you.”

“I’m sorry?” Arada must have heard her wrong. There was no way a fairy godmother who taught Good Deeds would praise the wanna-be Nevergirl.

“You’ve adapted. I must admit, I had doubts when you were selected for my school. I didn’t think you would survive, and I apologize.”

“It’s fine,” Arada said, running a hand through her hair. “I have Ratthi and Overse and my roommates. I have friends.”

“You’ve done exceptionally in your classes as well. You may have some hobbies that tend more Evil — I have seen you with your mirror — but you are extremely Good at heart. And, by the way, so is your… girlfriend? Is that the term nowadays? She is a Never, she will not be satisfied until she has some great power and influence, but she is kind. I suspect you will both surprise me in the future.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Arada said.

“I suspect there is something to her theory that you two are nemeses. Nearly every well-known story begins at home, with a villain close to you. She will be jealous, or cruel, or angry, and the two of you will begin to fight. And you will win, I’m sure. You will remind her of your shared love, and the two of you will reconcile. Not every fairy tale ends with the villain dead, you know.”

“Is that a prediction, Professor, or a vision?”

“An assumption, if that. Now, run along. You have curfew in a few minutes.”

Arada, leaving as quickly as she could, didn’t notice Clarissa Dovey smiling at her retreating figure. And she certainly didn’t notice the way Dovey’s hand drifted towards the quill pen Lesso had left on her desk. Yes, relationships between Evers and Nevers were changing. And that was a good thing.