The evening crept upon the castle and activity, which had slowed, picked up again as students went from exploring the grounds to gathering in the large auditoriums. Several Storybook University alumni had shown up ahead of time as well as members of the Magic High Commission, a great honor as they couldn't make it every year to greet the new students.

The Magic High Commission was an organization created by the kings and queens of Historia, as a way to control the deeds of magic users in the land, and keep magical items safe. The magic wand of old, a priceless tool with limitless power, was entrusted to The Fairy Godmother, of Cinderella fame. The Fairy Godmother, being one of the oldest magic users in Historia, was then placed in charge of the rehabilitation of villains. The Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin, and almost all other villains, following the completion of their stories, were imprisoned in the mirror realm, only able to speak to their children through special mirrors enchanted by The Fairy Godmother.

In the auditorium that night, many of said full length mirrors were placed around the large hall, so that when The Fairy Godmother cast her spell, the children of the villains arriving at school could speak to their parents. Some rarely got to see their family, only able to access the mirrors when sanctioned by the Commission, while others grew up in the mirror realm, and the school would be their first taste of the world outside (before they were presumably imprisoned themselves). A select few villains had avoided the mirror realms, but they wouldn't risk capture by showing up at a party held by the Fairy Godmother herself. The children of these villains often kept a low profile.

The heroes, sidekicks, kings and queens of Historia, however, were gladly milling about the auditorium, speaking to old friends and drinking punch, free to mingle and enjoy the party and free to speak with their children whenever they pleased... or in Sandra Sandman's case, whenever their schedules allowed.

Sandra sat in one of the auditorium's seats, bouncing her leg slightly. She felt so awkward, alone in a room full of strangers. She didn't get to socialize often, since she spent most of her time on clouds. She looked around at her many classmates and their parents and wondered what they'd be like. Two very royal-looking parents were introducing their children to Sandra's father and she sighed. At least the boy being introduced looked as uncomfortable as his sister looked proud.

Other students simply followed their parents with the most disinterest possible, such was the case of another princess, this one with fiery red hair alongside a blond young man in a crisp blue suit.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and the hum of chatter went quiet. The stage's spotlights illuminated an empty circle for a long moment while the sound of drumming steadily grew in intensity.

With a final beat, there was a small explosion of beautiful white sparkles, clearing to reveal the one and only Fairy Godmother herself.

Delighted, the heroes and royals gave a round of applause.

Pulling her wand out of thin air, The Fairy Godmother put on a show of waving it in dazzling ways as she made the mirrors set up around the room light up with the presence of the old villains, before she held it in front of her like a microphone.

"Esteemed alumni, friends, and new students, as you know I am Fairy Godmother, and the headmistress at this institution of learning. Today I am here to welcome a new generation of students. To all of you I say good evening, and may your dreams come true while you're at this school. This little mixer has been organized by our faculty to help everyone get to know each other, find friends and allies, so you may get the support you need as you follow the footsteps of your fairytale parents. Please feel free, parents, to introduce your child or children on the stage." With a wave of her wand, a podium and microphone appeared beside her, a floating mirror behind it so that villains would be able to move up to said podium without needing their individual mirrors moved. "Please, show us all you can do, and have fun, because classes start this week! Teachers, remember we have a meeting tomorrow morning to discuss the science class schedules. We need everyone to pitch in to fill that vacant position. I'll be moving about if you need me, and my door is always open." The Fairy Godmother said before stepping down from the stage.

Sandy watched as some of the chatter resumed. Her father finally finished whatever he was saying to the royal family and made his way over to her.

"I'll give you an introduction on the stage in just a minute, so you can show them what you can do!" The Sandman said, "But first I have to go talk to some old friends, stay right here, I'll be right back!"

In the blink of an eye he was gone again, mixed in with the crowd. Sandy sat back down in her chair, playing with a strand of her hair. The Sandman was a show off, and was very proud of his daughter following his footsteps, she knew that. She knew he loved her, but sometimes she felt like a secondary thought. She let out a sigh and waited.

-----

Gabriel clapped for The Fairy Godmother politely and looked to the mirror that now contained his father. Gaston looked around from inside his prison, then down at his two sons.

"Gavin! Gabriel! So good to see my two boys again- wait..." Their father squinted. "Gabriel take off those glasses, you look like a nerd, and you remember what I told you about nerds."

Gabriel winced. He had hoped his father wouldn't notice. Nevertheless he took his glasses off, "I-I think you said, 'Nerds get clobbered by Gastons..." he mumbled.

"Say it louder, son!"

"D-Dad I really don't think-"

"Don't think- SPEAK!"

Gavin saw his brother's distress and spoke up in his stead. "Nerds get clobbered by Gastons!" He punctuated it by scooping Gabriel under his arm and giving him a noogie.

Gaston let out a hearty laugh, "Such manly affection, your brother gets it, try to be more like him. Now let's get up on that stage, we should be the first, if these losers want to show off their kin we should start with the finest pedigree!"

With a flash of smoke their father disappeared from the mirror in front of them and reappeared at the mirror behind the podium, waving for them to follow.

Gabriel flinched at the thought of being shown off like a poodle at a dog show, but looked to his brother and sighed before walking over to the stage. Without his glasses, Gabriel missed a step and tripped, his brother thankfully catching his arm. He felt his face grow a little red in embarrassment, looking up at his father in the mirror, who shook his head in disappointment. Nothing was ever good enough for his father.

Gavin and Gabriel stood on either side of the podium as their father introduced them: "Hello!" His voice was magically boosted around the room. "As you know, I am Gaston, and I will now bless this school with the honor of hosting my two sons, Gavin and Gabriel! Haha!" He said before flexing his muscles, "Show them, boys! Chips off a perfect block!"

Gavin looked at Gabriel and nodded, signaling to listen to their father, for both of their sakes. Gavin then proceeded to pose, flexing his muscles.

Gabriel tried to show off like his dad, puffing his chest up and steeling his face, but he was fairly certain he just looked constipated from how he was squinting without his glasses.

Thankfully The Fairy Godmother interrupted them before he could embarrass himself further. "Alright that's enough now Gaston, let your kids go have fun." Gaston frowned and poofed back to his mirror from the podium while Gabriel practically ran off the stage.

Gavin leaned over to Gabriel and whispered, "Could've been more convincing but hey, we made it!" thumping him on the back.

Gabriel just ducked his head, "I'm totally embarrassed and we'll probably never live that down, but thanks for backing me up." He chuckled nervously, looking around the room.

"Someone is bound to embarrass themself worse. If I hear that someone is holding this crap over you, I will send them to the nurses office."

"Please don't, let's just... try to be a little more casual." He held out two hands to sooth his brother's overprotective antagonism.

Gavin, always the bolder one, nodded and set off into the crowd of people, while Gabriel stood behind near the stage, twiddling his thumbs and looking around. The point of the mixer is to get to know people, he told himself, just say hello and join a conversation.

He looked up to the stage as a short girl in a white gown stepped up to the stage, without her parent.

"I-.. I'm Myra of Underland. Soon to be the next White Queen. Thank you." was all she said. She gave a small curtsy, then headed off stage, towards Gabriel. He didn't realize it, but he had formed a gathering pool of sorts for those who had introduced themselves.

"That was a pleasant introduction! Umm... What is your name again?" Myra said, looking at Gabriel.

Gabriel straightened up a little, "I-I'm Gabriel, it's nice to meet you... I've never seen an Underlandian before- oops, sorry, was that rude to say?" He stammered.

Myra giggled, "It's an Honor to be the first you met, actually. I'm not the only Underlandian here. Archie, the famous Alice's kid, is here, as well as my good friend Eva, though I couldn't tell you where she is. Would you like to meet Archie at least?"

Gabriel smiled, "Yes, I'd love to!"

Myra took Gabriel's hand and pulled up the front skirts of her gown with the empty one. Together the pair walked into the crowd.

-----

Auden felt sick to his stomach. He didn't like being in a room with so many people, unlike his sister, Precious, who thrived in this environment.

"Just introduce yourself." Precious said, looking around the room through squinted eyes.

"It's not that easy for me." He replied.

"Well I can't go first, I'm looking for my friend."

"We just got here, how did you make friends already?"

"I'm just that talented. And he's an old friend, from before school, and he won't introduce himself if I don't encourage him. You've met before, you know how he is." In the back of his anxiety-riddled mind, he wondered again how Precious had time to make friends in between the last few years. They'd been rather... busy.

"I'm on his side."

"Just go up there, I'll take the spotlight soon enough." Precious said, pulling her hand mirror out from her corset and tapping at it furiously.

"Go on, dear. We'll be right here." Their mother said, gently reassuring him with a hand on his back.

"If you're going to be in the royal court some day, you'll need to be able to speak to your people." Their father added.

Auden sighed and looked up at the stage, feeling a lump form in his throat. He slowly stepped forward with wobbly legs, almost falling. He grabbed onto the railing next to the stage's stairs, feeling a panic attack coming to fruition. He clutched his chest and looked around, feeling like everyone could see him.

- - - - -

Sandra was still sitting alone, and since she had no one to talk to, saw the clearly uncomfortable boy as his royal parents gently ushered him onto the stage. She wondered if her magic might be able to help. That's what her dad taught her, to make people happy.

Waving her hand she focused her magic and a small horse made of glittering sand appeared. It whinnied at her and pranced in a circle around her hand before she held it out and watched as the small animal galloped over in the air to the boy on the stairs.

The horse came into Auden's blurry field of vision and he blinked in confusion. It reminded him of his own horse, Edmund, with a similar nose shape and long legs. Being distracted from his own anxiety, he held his hand open, allowing the tiny horse to walk onto his palm. He looked around, trying to find the source of the small creature.

He spied a girl in the seats that had an aura of the magic dust around her hair, the same dust as the horse. She looked like she was trying not to look at him, but the girl accidentally made eye contact and immediately looked away. Auden chuckled a little to himself and sent her a silent thank you from across the room before taking a deep breath, and walking up onto the podium.

"Hello, I-I'm Auden Charming, it's nice to meet all of you." He said in a rush. He couldn't think of anything else that needed to be said, plus his sister would gladly take the chance to talk more about herself and their parents when it was her turn. Still holding the small golden sand horse in his hand, he stepped down. Feeling emboldened and calmed by the gift, he went over to have a conversation with the other teens who had introduced themselves.

Gabriel had been talking to Myra and Archie about Underland life when Auden joined them, the small sand horse immediately grabbing Myra's interest.

"Wow! What is that!" She said, quickly crouching to somewhat shove her face in his hands.

Auden smiled a little, "Not exactly sure. The girl with the golden hair? I think she gave it to me to help me uh... calm down."

"Oooh how thoughtful" Myra said, petting the delighted animated animal with one finger.

"Put your hands out." He instructed as he moved his hands close to hers. The little golden horse gracefully hopped from one to the other. "I think it has a mind of its own. I didn't tell it to do anything."

Gabriel looked over Auden's shoulder, seeing a girl standing up and heading towards the stage with a man with a similar golden aura around him, "Looks like she's about to introduce herself." He said, pointing.

Auden turned and looked, smiling a little as he saw the girl again.

Sandra bit her lip, nervous as well. She walked up on the stage behind her father, who lowered the microphone to his face. "Hello everyone! I'm Mr. Sandman, you might remember me bringing you dreams! And I'd like to introduce my little girl, Sandra Sandman! She would love to help all of you have sweet dreams, so just ask! Show them sweetie!" He gestured to her with a hand on her back.

Sandra stepped forward and waved her hands, shooting sparkly magic dust all over the room where it took shape into animals and toys in people's hands. The crowd cheered in delight while the figures danced around for a second longer before vanishing. Sandra gave a small smile and waved before walking off the stage with her dad, who immediately left again to talk to another parent.

Sandra looked to the other students next to the stage and gave them a tiny wave. "Hi..."

Auden waved back, a thankful smile on his face.

Myra giggled, the sand horse being the only thing that hadn't vanished. "What a wondrous thing, something made of sand, with a mind, it's quite strange." Myra looked at Sandra as she stood next to the group "You made this, yes? Amazing!" She gently grabbed her friend Archie's hand and passed the horse to him, knowing he wanted a look as well.

Archie's eyes lit up, trying to be as gentle as possible, not knowing if the sand horse was fragile or not, "It's so cool!" He said.

Sandra blushed a little, not used to all the attention, "Thank you, I can do it any time." She said. She tried to conjure up what her dad would say, "I can give you all good dreams if you need them, just ask."

"That's very nice of you, your powers are incredible! You'll have to show us more sometime, my mother and I are scientists, and we love to study magical things!" Myra said, clearly excited by the idea.

Sandra nodded, brushing her hair behind her ear, "I-I'd be happy to help."

The conversation came to a halt when the lights in the room dimmed. a spotlight followed the princess as she ascended the stairs and approached the microphone.

"It's Precious." Gabriel said in awe.

"What's precious?" Myra said, confused.

"That's her name, and that's my sister." Auden replied.

"It is your great honor to view me on high today. I need no introduction, but I will provide it regardless. I am Princess Precious Charming, attending school with you all as equals. You won't need to bow to me after today and I cannot wait to enjoy our classes together." The attendants that had done the lights applauded and she curtsied to the crowd beneath her.

Myra clapped politely, "What a curious introduction." She said.

Precious didn't exit the stage, however, and instead squinted into the audience, eyes searching the far corners of the room. She finally caught movement in the upper rafters above the stage and her eyes glinted with mischief. "Introducing himself next is my very good friend, Drago."

The spotlight panned over to the figure in the rafters, who tried in vain to sink out of sight again. Realizing he had no escape, the figure spread his wings and dove from the rafters, catching enough air to glide the rest of the way and land quite smoothly on the stage beside Precious.

The crowd didn't quite stifle its gasp of shock when the dragon-like boy landed beside the princess.

Glaring, he gestured with his wing to the microphone for her, saying without saying that he was absolutely not going to speak into it.

"Everyone, this is Drago Scalethorn. He is also happy to be here." Precious smiled victoriously, despite her words not appearing to be true based on the glare Drago was sending to the back of her head.

There was a large moment of silence as the crowd stared at the young man. With vibrant green skin and wings as black as night, he was a visual polar opposite to the soft pastel princess.

Gabriel looked up to the stage, eyes wide like the others in the crowd. "Wow..." he whispered.

As soon as the awkward silence following Drago's entrance had passed, he grabbed the edges of his wings and folded them in, turning them back into a black cloak and pulling it closer around his body before stalking off the stage. Precious followed behind with a slight skip in her step, overly pleased.

Gabriel watched as Precious and Drago made their way to join them. Though they were so starkly different, they somehow seemed to know each other. He wondered how. He was about to ask, when he felt a crawling up his neck and a furry tail appeared from thin air. He yelped out and jumped back, falling flat onto his back.

Fading into view alongside the tail, a girl was floating above him, cackling.

Myra stepped forward, unsurprised. "Oh Eva, there you are! Gabriel, this is Eva Catra."

Gabriel looked up at the floating girl's grin, "Child of the Cheshire Cat?"

Eva smiled toothily, "However did you guess?"

Myra held out her hand to Gabriel, helping him stand up again. "Eva is quite the trouble maker."

"With her abilities, I'm sure she is." Gabriel replied.

"Oh don't look at me that way." Eva said, floating down and putting her feet on the ground, "It's my nature. My way of following my destiny."

"Our destinies... right." Gabriel replied.

The next boy to introduce himself was Myra's cousin, though he didn't need the microphone and simply shouted loud enough to be heard. The girl after that spoke so quietly and struggled to be heard even with the microphone.

One after another their classmates either introduced themselves or were presented proudly by their parents. Despite mixed feelings about being on the stage, it was a fairly pleasant affair.

Soft music filled the auditorium for some time after introductions concluded, allowing the last of the guests to mingle before the last light of the sunset began to creep behind the windows.

"Well, you all better be getting to bed," said a woman's voice coming up to the group of teens, it was The Fairy Godmother, "You all know what happens when the clock strikes twelve!" She said with a giggle, "Not to mention classes start this week!"

The group said their goodbyes to their parents and started to head up to their dorms, getting a good night's sleep for their upcoming adventures. The mixer concluded with little ceremony, but high hopes.