Author's note: I know I haven't updated in a long time but I was writing. I haven't finished much EAH fanfic stuff though. I did however wrote another chapter for Ballad of Tin and Paper. The plot is beginning to take shape.

Act 1

Dear doctor Foster went to Gloucester, the ants were marching away with sugar cubes from the school's kitchen and Georgie Porgie jr. was kissing girls on haystacks. Just a normal Ever After day. Or really?

Something bugged me that day and I couldn't say what it was exactly. Something about the school and students.

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Once upon a time in hell…

In your typical folk tale hot, dry and underground hell. The only thing providing humidity here are the cauldrons cooking sinners. The temperature is high due to all the fires providing light in this otherwise dark place. Cries and whines echo through this place day and night. Furthermore, after coming here your nose is immediately filled with the stench of sulfur.

Most sinners and devils spend their time playing cards. There isn't much else to do. The imps, chorts, krampuses and demons can choose between either torturing the former villains, playing tricks on each other and on the angels or making sinner stew.

Male Narrator: "Once upon a time in hell…

Brooke: "They were all pretty damn bored. No wonder. There's nothing to do, the air is bad for the hair and you can't leave this place whenever you like. Not to mention the terrible smell. This is…This is really hell.

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The fairy tale students are like any other students in more things than one. For example they tend to form cliques, bands and clubs. Sorcerers, fairies, cooks, animal lovers etc. There were a lot of different groups and one person could be easily a part of more than one group. Like Miss Swan. She was a princess, a damsel that awaited future distress. The girl in question saw herself mostly as a dancer.

Duchess wasn't the only dance themed Character in the world. There were others like Justine Dancer or Cecilia Origami. The latter was regarded as a good friend, less of a nuisance than say, some princesses from miss Swan's grade. She was timid but she endured the hard ships of a ballet dancer with a stoic dignity. Something the swan princess and the paper ballerina had in common, there wasn't much else though.

Miss Origami was a commoner but she was still a main character of a well-known story so she ranked high in the storycracy that set the basics of the society structure. Both of her parents were alive and well if not meaty humans.

However she was still one of the few people who succeeded in earning Duchess's grudging approval. It didn't hurt that Cecilia was naturally prone to show respect to those who were better at the skills she possessed or were good in areas she had no talent in. Being a year older, thus polishing her ballet skills longer, Duchess firmly belonged in the first category.

Maybe it also had a lot to do with the fact that the paper ballerina's traditional ending isn't a happy one in a sense of a long life spent in the embrace of her true love. There was no wedding, no kingdom to rule. She, however, gets the guy. The swan princess was aware of this and was able to relate to someone else with a sad ending. Although she couldn't help and feel a tiny bit jealous of the fact that Cecilia has a promised true love. A short one, sure, but it's granted she will have it.

When practicing group performances or simply trading tips and tricks the two girl set aside their differences and negative emotions. Those were burdens and ballerinas have to be light on their feet. In those moments Duchess stopped thinking about the blatant injustice of the destiny and let her mentorly side out. She was a perfectionist and dancing was her passion. Her life. Cecilia was eager to learn and those lessons were never a waste of time for any of them.

Sometimes Duchess would engross herself so much in the dancing that she danced over to the pond and finished her solo there. Then the rustling clapping of two little papery arms would wake her up and bring her back to the earth.

"I'm always amazed when you dance on the water surface. I wish I could do this, too, but I would only soak up and dissolve in the water," sighed the younger dancer. It wasn't only about Duchess' lake dance, Cecilia had the same feelings about her fellow Andersonian fairytaler the mermaid Meeshell whenever she saw her swimming in the school pool. She would wonder how does water feel like since she had to beware of this substance. She had to be careful for even a rich rain or long frolicking in snow could cause damage to her sensitive skin.

Duchess bow and then said: "Enough blabbing, it's time you get some practice, too. You still have to work on those ballottés of yours. They must be done with grace and precision and You limp like a peg-legged penguin."

Cecilia smiled softly and started dancing. She may not know how it is to move in water but she knows how to move on land en pointe.

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On the edge of the Dark Forest an evil witch held a yard sale. Among useless garbage, like old shoes that she tried to sell as seven league boots, lay artifacts with real magical power.

An anthropomorphic fox has come to her hut to see if he could steal something valuable or something that would make stealing from others easier. Instead he found himself eye to eye with the landlady herself. She grinned wide and dangerously.

"Oh you poor lost soul, you look as if you need some luck in your life." The fox didn't like the attention of the sorceress but nodded with a forced smile. He planned on staying a fox. Being hungry fox is still a lot better than being turned into a frog. "Well, then I have something just for you," cooed the witch almost motherly. The fox gulped but still held his ground.

Maybe he would take up an offer of being a magical elixir tester if he got a hold of a proper meat amidst all the spell nonsense. The witch had an offer, all right, but of a different kind. She took out a wooden desk with letters and numbers on it and put a wooden heart shaped thingy with a tiny hole in the middle on it.

"This board summons spirits from seven realms. You ask a question and the spirit has to answer you. It's infinite knowledge right at your reach." The fox indeed reached out his paw to have it slapped by the woman. The hag's glare hardened. The fox began to shake a bit, he hid his hands in his pockets. The witch continued as if nothing has interrupted her: "They don't make them so sturdy and infallible anymore. It's very cheap, too. Only 30 everafterthalers."

It was the fox's turn to say or do something. He waited trying to make his brain work right again. Even the gingerbread police interrogation wasn't so nerve wrecking as the gaze of the sorceress. It took tremendous will to break the stare and find the right amount of money. He swiftly put the coins in the witch's hand and ran for it, though not so terrified as to leave his new treasure behind.

The witch cackled as she watched him flee, the desk under his arm. She scored an evil point and her yard sale promised profit. It was a good day for her.