Chapter Text
the castle of evil looked as warm and friendly as a rattlesnake, but the children who entered didn't seem to be bothered by it. if anything, they seemed awed by it, as if it was the most beautiful castle in the world. these children where all roughly the same age (fifteen) but the similarities ended there. one girl had wispy grey hair, a terrifying overbite and a single blood red eye. another boy looked like he could have been made of dough, with a bald head and swollen limbs. some of the other students had misshapen bodies, others had spikes and sharp teeth, but all of them had looks of cruelty and malice.
ravan looked around at his soon-to-be classmates, analysing them carefully and wondering with would be his allies and which would be his enemies. as his father often told him, it was best to find a threat when it is just a measly spark and snuff it out before it became a raging fire. ravan had held onto that piece of advice all his life and it had helped him many times, so why would it stop helping him now?
as he walked through the dark halls of the castle of evil, ravan looked up at the portraits upon the wall. these portraits where of alumni of the school of evil, long dead, but imortalised in fairy tale glory. the big bad wolf, the evil queen of foxwood, bluebeard, the gingerbread witch, all where drawn as if they had emerged triumphant in their fairy tales (of course he knew they hadn't though, in fact most of them had died extremely gruesome deaths for some reason)
ravan stopped for a second to look at one of the golden frames which showed off the top villains. it showed a monstrous man with ten heads carrying off a beautiful Arabic maiden. the man himself was laughing maniacally while the maiden, clearly terrified, was screaming for help. ravan felt his heart clench slightly as he looked at the golden nameplate.
ravana of pasha dunes: the story of ram and sita (villain)
ravan let himself let out a sigh, before he set his face back to his usual scowl before joining the rest of his classmates down the hall.
never once did ravan let his face betray the awe and fear he felt, making sure to keep it aloof and dark. another piece of advice his father told him is to never show weakness, because if you show even a trace of normality, the villain world would eat you for breakfast.
suddenly, a slime-green hand grabbed his tan one and when he looked up, he allowed his eyes to brighten. standing before him was a girl with ghoulish green skin and scruffy black hair was standing in front of him. a girl who was his best friend.
"hey ravan, sorry it took so long to find you, you wouldn't believe how packed it is in here!"
"I know mona, it has been a while since we endured the presence of other people, but everything we endure here will make shape us up into great villains".
"that it will! that little wimp from Kansas will regret the day she showed up in oz and messed with mama. and her little dog too!"
mona let out a cackle... or at least tried to. to be completely honest it sounded more like an excited pony with a stuffy nose that a wicked witch of the west. this earned them looks of confusion and annoyance from the other students, which mona quickly took notice of.
"dang it, still not wicked enough"
"hey, we'll work on it".
"yeah, I suppose we will. well, it looks like this is where we split up. see you at the welcoming ceremony!"
as mona followed the other girls, ravan followed the other boys into the changing rooms. as each boy entered the changing room, he had his uniform thrust roughly into his hands by the wolves and ravan was no exception. it was a putrid black, with fungus blue breeches and torture boots that would make any sappy, empty-headed princess run for the hills, screaming for her mother.
perfect.
as ravan changed however, he could here the whispers and dark mutterings of his classmates as they looked him up and down.
"he's part of our school? he looks to handsome to be a never".
"you're right brone, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he'd fit quite nicely in a blue prince's suit".
ravan looked in the changing room mirror and felt rage build up. mirrors never lie and unfortunately for him, it showed him as he was. tall and decently built with long jet black hair, slightly oily arabic skin and piercing dark eyes. in anger, he punched his reflection which of course made the mirror shatter. some glass ended up in his knuckles, but he didn't care that much and just picked them out like they didn't hurt at all.
"it doesn't matter anyway" he muttered darkly as he went to get his books and timetable. he wasn't here to prove he could look like a villain.
he was here to prove he could be one.
**********
the castle of good seemed to loom over Tristan, but he would not let that deter him.. as the fairies heaved away his periwinkle trunk, Tristan joined the other boys and wondered if kiko was okay. kiko had been his closest friend since he was little. since his family often had their summer holidays at neverland, he, kiko and his twin little siblings, William and Maribel had spent many happy summers swimming through the sapphire waters of mermaid bay and playing hide and seek in the numerous pirate shipwrecks.
as he followed the other ever boys into the changing rooms, Tristan was gently handed his uniform by a smiling, blue-haired nymph. the coat was cornflower blue, while the waistcoat was a light grey. the breeches where slender fit, eggshell coloured and made of linin, the boots where black with golden details and the gloves where white.
their was no cape which made the other princes complain, but Tristan understood that decision. capes looked cool, but seemed to have no other purpose and often got eaten by goats, so they were pretty much useless. useless and a little overdone.
as Tristan changed, he wondered if his chivalry and grooming class gave dance lessons to boys since princess etiquette only gave them to girls. as he was pulling his boots on and tying his rose red hair into a short ponytail, he heard some guy named Chadwick bring up the topic of princesses and soon, all of the other princes sans him began sharing their image of an ideal wife with each over.
"I honestly like girls with green eyes".
"I prefer girls with hair as red as a rose".
"mark my words, my future wife will have topaz eyes, pink lips and hair the colour of sunshine".
Tristan rolled his eyes and sighed. honestly, did these guys see girls as anything more than potential wives? then again, he was close friends with a girl, so maybe that was kiko talking.
ever since he was little, tristan always felt different to the other boys he was made to play with. he actually felt more comfortable with girls and playing swords with Maribel than the other boys. his father always tried to get him to make friends with boys, but he otherwise supported his friendship with kiko.
as tristan went towards the assembly hall for the welcoming ceremony, he began to think about his brother and sister. Maribel and William had both been interested in things that where different from the traditional prince and princess hobbies, with William being into tarrot and Maribel preferring fencing to ballet. Tristan smiled as he remembered Mari's excitement when she got a letter to learn fencing from lancelot himself. father himself had wept with pride when he was shown the letter, happy for his daughter's future success. Tristan's heart ached as he thought of his siblings, but he knew that William and Maribel where becomming the best versions of themselves and he would too.
he hoped.
suddenly, a nymph handed him a beautiful red rose with a smile, before moving on to his peers. Tristan looked at his rose and smiled. as part of the welcoming ceremony, he would have to throw the rose to a girl of his choosing, which would be hard as while he was comfortable around them, the thought of being romantic with a girl had never really crossed Tristan's mind. then agian, maybe during his time at the school of good would awaken that desire.
he hoped