. : Sebastian of Havfrue : .

Sebastian had been expecting the stymphs. He just hadn't expected them to arrive for him now. He definitely hadn't been expecting them to take the Igni or Kendrick.

His parents told him that he was attending in the fall, but Sebastian had thought he would've had time to succeed in the war before this happened. Without him, his soldiers would likely retreat, and return home. It would've been easier to take Neverland without the Igni, but without him, his soldiers wouldn't be able to succeed.

Sebastian grumbled to himself as he marched down the hall at the School for Good. He had been dropped off near the entrance and had stumbled his way down the blue glass hallway. He had a raging headache, which usually set in after a fight, but he had managed to snatch up his sword before the stymph had taken him, and he carried it next to his waist. He hadn't changed yet, and was still in the tight black pants, and destroyed white shirt he had been wearing. The Igni's handprints were charred through the shirt, and the top of his hands was blistered from her grip. His thigh was still oozing blood from her dagger.

A girl. The person he had been fighting ferociously for the past year, who had almost killed him multiple times, was a girl. He supposed it wasn't entirely unbelievable, but still. If he had known sooner, he wasn't sure what he would've done.

He had watched the Igni get dragged away by the stymph-- though she had put up a fight. He was fairly certain she had passed out. Her movements had been shaky until at one point she began to plummet. She was scooped up by the stymph and taken off. One of the other Twilight Children had screamed her name as she began to fall. 

Laura

A peculiar name for her. He hadn't been expecting that. He honestly wasn't sure what he had been expecting, and his mind kept replaying her bewildered face when he asked if she was a girl.

He pushed through the massive blue door at the end of the hallway and winced. He definitely should've found a way to clean up before coming in. Dozens of pairs of eyes turned to face him in shock. If he had cleaned up before, they would've likely recognized him as a Prince, and heir to one of the three major kingdoms of the fairytale world. Most of them would've realized that he was going to be their leader, and them his knights. 

Instead, they just stared at his blood-stained skin and his ripped shirt. 

Suddenly shy, he could feel his face heating at their brazen stares. 

A loud shout from across the room disrupted his inner monologue, and he looked towards the shout, as did most of the boys. 

A golden-haired, blue-eyed boy-- who Sebastian would recognize if he was blind and deaf-- broke through the crowd with his sword at his hip. He was already in the cornflower uniform, the lion crest emblazoned on his jacket and the hilt of his sword, and a massive grin sprawled across his face. 

His grin dropped when he took in Sebastian's state and was replaced by a face of heavy genuine concern.

"Sebastian, what happened to you?" Tedros spoke, picking up his pace and ending up next to Sebastian, linking an arm around Sebastian's shoulders, taking some of the weight off of his injured thigh. 

When Tedros said his name, all of the boys in the room turned back to him. Their eyes had gone wide as they realized that they weren't in the presence of just one prince, but two.

Tedros and Sebastian had grown up together. They were only a year apart in age, and they met in the third kingdom, Villeneuve. It was on one of his father's attempts to help rebuild the mountainous kingdom-- famous for Beauty and the Beast. Villeneuve had been struggling for over a decade, since the loss of both the heirs and needed aide. Since then, the boys had been fast friends. Sebastian had been there when Tedros' mother had run off with Lancelot, and Tedros had been there when Melody-- Sebastian's older sister-- had died. They kept in touch through letters, and Sebastian considered Tedros to be the closest thing he had to a lillebror-- little brother in his native tongue.

"I've been keeping you up to date with the war in Neverland," Sebastian swallowed in relief as the throbbing pain in his thigh was relieved. He lowered his voice purposefully. It wasn't as if the war in Neverland was a secret, but he didn't want to frighten the inexperienced boys with talk of war. "We were ambushed last night. Damned Igni got my hands and it was a final attack. They were aiming to push us off, for good."

"Did they succeed?" Tedros asked, his voice low to match Sebastian's. He aided Sebastian in sitting on a chair and jumped up to grab a few first aid supplies. He came back and began to rip at the edge of the cut in his pants, pulling it apart.

Sebastian shook his head. "No, actually, I have the stymphs to thank for that. Do you remember me entertaining the idea of shoving the Igni through the barrier around Neverland?"

Tedros nodded, succeeding in opening up a large enough gap to treat the wound. He poured a clear liquid onto a cloth and wiped at the wound. Sebastian hissed, gritting his teeth. 

"Well, I got the Igni past it, and she panicked. The stymphs came, and she was actually the first person that got snatched up."

"She?" Tedros murmured. His eyes were wide as he placed a bandage over the wound, and moved onto Sebastian's hands, slathering the blisters in a thick gel.

"I know," Sebastian responded, snorting. "This whole time I thought I was fighting a fire-wielding maniac man, but it's actually a girl. If it weren't for the way Neverland affected ageing, I would've thought she was my age, but she is well trained. Her name is Laura."

Tedros laughed, wrapping Sebastian's hands in a loose gauzy layer. "A girl named Laura did this kind of damage. Do you think she is in the School for Evil?"

Sebastian swallowed. He had pondered the thought on his flight here. Kendrick had been snatched too. If he had placed Laura and Kendrick in front of him, he wasn't sure which one was the good one. Sure, Laura had killed his men, but from her perspective, she was defending Neverland. He knew that Havfrue was the attacker. Kendrick, however... had done some concerning things in the fight for Neverland.

A room full of blood entered his mind and Sebastian swallowed his shame, before agreeing with Tedros. "I will point her out at the welcoming ceremony." 

Tedros' massive grin was back. "Come on then. Let's get changed so I can defeat you in front of my future princesses."

Sebastian laughed and pushed himself up with freshly bandaged hands. "Only if I don't get you first, lillebror."

~~~

They stood in a back room, waiting to enter the welcoming ceremony. Once the Everboys had realized who exactly he was, they had been wide-eyed non-stop. He almost preferred the ignoring. 

Sebastian had seen the blue uniform several times-- his father had it on display in the castle. He had never imagined it to be this scratchy. It had been over eight months since he last wore such formal wear (his last night in the palace before leaving for Neverland), and he had forgotten how stifling it was. The white button-up and tie seemed content to choke him, while the blue vest and matching jacket were overwhelmingly heavy. At least the linen pants and black boots were easy to fight in. 

His jacket had a silver swan embroidered over his heart, and just below it, was his kingdom's crest. It was stitched in silver, the detailed crest lined with shells and the center crab gleaming. 

"If you keep shuffling, you are going to loosen your bandages," Tedros snorted.

Sebastian mock glared at the boy, realizing with annoyance that he had sprouted recently and stood at the same height as him. "I can be injured and still defeat you," He teased, loosely gripping his sword.

Tedros laughed. "I've been training, I've got some new moves." He clanged his sword against Sebastian's.

Sebastian twisted the rose that had been forced into his hand by one of the teachers. He knew exactly what to do with it. His father had told him the story a dozen times, how he had thrown his rose directly into his mother's lap, how she was the most beautiful moment there, and how it had been love at first sight.

Sebastian had never confessed this, but he had thought about that moment over and over. Love at first sight, throw the rose and have it land in the lap of his one true love. The thought of it was embarrassingly romantic. 

"Alright, boys," One of the male teachers, wearing a slim green suit that reminded Sebastian of vomit, spoke. "Now is the time to win over the heart of your future princesses, and instill fear into the hearts of your enemies. I expect you to all put on a good show, and I will see you in my swordplay class tomorrow."

Sebastian twisted his right hand loosely, his pearl-white gloves wrapped around the sword handle. He could still put on a good show, it was only for demonstration, with no actual malice behind Tedros' actual movements. He knew the boy was all talk and would go easy on him because of his injuries, even though he could go harder. 

"Go ahead." The professor pushed open the wide doors, and instantly the boys in front of Sebastian started to clash their swords.

Sebastian smiled at the ease of it all. It had been a long time since he had sword fought for the purpose of entertainment. He let his sword clash once against Tedros'.

"Are you ready to be demolished?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Let's go, pretty boy."

He held his sword up, and clanged it against Tedros', falling into an easy dance with him, their swords singing with every collision. Sebastian gave him a casual smile, letting Tedros nudge him back and forth with his sword. It was child's play really. They rarely sparred with malice or intent to harm. Sebastian hadn't felt this kind of enjoyment when handling his sword in a long time. 

There were squeals as they entered the amphitheatre, and Sebastian subtly rolled his eyes at Tedros. It wasn't his first time being fawned over, and likely wouldn't be his last. It did get a little repetitive. He was one of the few real princes, and one of two living heirs to one of three of the most famous ever kingdoms. He was a hot commodity. Sebastian had to admit that he was lucky though, his parents had refused any courtship or betrothment offers he had received. He wasn't allowed to start until he was eighteen and could accept them himself. They had learned their lesson after Melody died.

Sebastian smiled at Tedros and twisted to look around the huge amphitheatre. The floor was made of dark wood and his boots echoed around the room with each step. His eyes landed on the evil side, and instantly fell on Kendrick, squashed between countless never students. His beady eyes were so sharp that Sebastian could feel them on him. His eyes widened, and Sebastian snapped his neck around to the good side. Tedros hesitated across from him.

Laura was sat at the near edge of the bleacher, hunched in on herself-- as if she was freezing. Sebastian felt his surprise pique at the relatively normal person he found. The pink pinafore washed out her tan skin, but her brown hair and brown eyes somehow managed to stand out. The thin white scar he had given her a few months ago stood out on her jaw. She looked as bad as he felt. 

Her eyes were hard too and focused on him. 

"She's cute, you should throw the rose to her." Tedros quipped in the background. 

Sebastian didn't hear him, briefly glancing back at him. The shock caused his grip on both the rose and the sword to be loose. "What?"

Tedros laughed. "I'll help you."

In one quick motion, Tedros grabbed Sebastian's wrist-- the one with the rose-- and flung it in her direction.

"Teddy no, that's her!"

The rose seemed to move in slow motion until it landed in her lap. Sebastian froze, his eyes watching the rose.

Her left eyebrow cocked upwards, and her eyes narrowed. Slowly, she picked it up, holding it between her index and thumb. Sebastian watched as a tiny fire rose up the flower until it crumbled into ash in her hand. 

Laura took the pile of ash, and dumped it onto the ground, letting the ash create a small barrier between them.

Sebastian huffed, a sense of redhot rage overwhelming him. He steeled himself, and let his rage show on his face. They may be in the same school, but they were still enemies.