The School for Good Enlightenment and Enchantment prided itself in its neat and organized welcoming of new students. Understandably, a stymph crashing into the dean's office in the wee hours of the morning before said welcoming was not appreciated.

The moment the Prof. Cygnelle* noticed the skeletal bird charging towards her window, she ordered a nearby nymph passing by her office to wake the resident Animal Communication teacher, Princess Kefira. She then covered her face to avoid the bits of glass from scratching her face as the stymph crashed into her office.

"Really now," she muttered, feeling very thankful for her gloves as she carefully brushed the shards off her dress.

The teacher soon burst into the room, a Briar Rose sleep mask still hanging haphazardly off an ear. Her large amber eyes stared at the stymph with surprise. She immediately clicked to it, a note of growl and squawk in her tone. The bird replied with its own clicks and frantically beat its wings, making a few more glass shards fly. A look of alarm came into the princess's face.

"Get the nymphs to the entrance this instant!" she cried. "There are injured students!"

The dean raised an eyebrow. "Injured students? At two in the morning?"

The stymph squawked again. The teacher frowned and did what the dean assumed was asking for clarification. It repeated the sound slowly, kree-kuh.

The princess started. "Oh, Reader! The students are Readers? Is that what you mean?" The stymph bobbed its skull. It then turned around and lowered its ribcage until it nearly touched the floor. Kefira turned to the dean. "It's offering a ride to the ground."

The dean gave a strained smile. "Thank you for the offer, but I will get down by my own devices. Please do check on the students though. I will alert the nymphs to prepare the infirmary. Let's hope none of the staff mistook them for intruders."

As the stymph disappeared with its passenger, the dean glided out the door. The nymph that called the princess was still nearby, and after a few orders, she was on her way to alert other nymphs of the students and to prepare accordingly. Cygnelle headed to the stairs, frowning as her thoughts raced. Being readers might explain the students' early arrival, it wouldn't be the first time such a thing occurred. But injuries to the point that their carrier would break into her office? She wondered if her predecessor had ever experienced such an event. Probably not. Then again, with The Tale of Sophie and Agatha, Clarissa Dovey had more than enough hectic events in her life. Still, two students showing up injured, could they be. . .? The dean banished those thoughts. Observation before speculation.

Cygnelle arrived in the glass foyer just in time to see the students being carried through the mirrored corridor on stretchers.

"Put them in separate rooms after they're treated!" she called out to the nymphs as the rushed by. "We are yet to know which one is Good!"

"Oh Elaine!" The dean turned and saw Kefira pressing her hands against her chest in worry. "They looked horrible! Cut up and bleeding and so pale! Did you see the girl? She was as green as a poisoned apple victim!"

The dean's lips pressed into a fine line. The nymphs had been too fast for her to see the students. "Did any of the staff attack them?"

The princess shook her head, golden curls bouncing. "I asked the stymph. It told me it flew into the school grounds with no trouble at all. Their injuries came from the Woods Beyond. I wonder what they could've done to deserve being hurt so badly. . ."

"What matters is that they can be helped, Kefira. For now, you should rest, I'm terribly sorry for your rude awakening."

The princess waved her hand dismissively. "It's quite all right. It's been a while since I've talked to a stymph. I'll be going back to bed though, I loathe the thought of not looking my best on the first day of class." The teacher was halfway to the stairs when she glanced back. "You should sleep too, Elaine."

The dean smiled tiredly. "I'm afraid there's a few more things I must do before I can rest. Confirming the schedules and such of students."

"But you've been doing that for weeks now."

"Well, I'd rather not have Lesso scolding me again if I make a mistake. You know she's still bitter about me being the dean."

Kefira huffed. "Promise me that you'll at least get three hours of sleep then. Using rejuvenation potions as substitutes can only work so many times."

"Alright Mother Fira."

The princess rolled her eyes playfully. "I thought you said you'd stop calling me that when we graduated."

"Said, not promised," replied the dean with a laugh and wagging finger. "Goodnight, Kefira, or good morning I suppose."

"Good morning, Ellie."

When the teacher disappeared up the staircase, Cygnelle sighed and let her hand drop. With the arrival of the Readers, she'd be very fortunate to get even one hour of rest.

~~~

It was only the morning of the first day of school for Reed of Hamelin, and he already decided the school year was going to be nothing short of hell.

The Everboys came to the School for Good three hours earlier than the other students as to allow the yearly tradition of surprising Evergirls with roses. Within the first fifteen minutes of setting foot in the the School, Reed had already been pushed around, insulted, spat on, and had his rose's petals torn away. He was feeling very relieved for having brought two extra flowers from anticipating such an event when he was punched in the face while walking down the hall.

Reed silently glared at the boy before him.

Edward of Phrygia was the shining example of a wealthy brat. His family being one of the richest in the Endless Woods, he had entered the school shamelessly covered with gold. Everything from coat to boots had some degree of the metal. Even after changing into the uniform, he kept a gold chain around his neck and several rings in his palm. He freely tossed the jewelry to whoever wanted them, gaining several willing Helpers - lackeys, Reed thought - very quickly. When he saw Reed however, his lip curled in disgust.

The boy knew why. He was a descendant of Jonah of Hamelin, an Evil graduate better known as the Pied Piper. Yet he was in the School for Good. The look in Edward's eyes, and in just about every other Everboy's, clearly asked what he was doing in it. Reed would've loved to say that he didn't have a clue why, or say anything really. But he couldn't.

"Hey Never, why don't you go back to your own castle?"

Reed bit his lip. He was in alone the hallway with Edward right in front of him and a minion on either side. There was no easy escape.

"Come on, Reed, nothing to say for yourself?"

His piccolo was in its case a few feet away. If he could somehow distract them long enough, maybe he could reach it and play a tune to make them leave him alone.

"Maybe it can't speak!" jeered the chestnut-haired boy on his left.

"Does it even have a voice?" mocked the tall one on his right.

"I know," Edward said, drawing out his golden sword by its jewel-encrusted hilt. "Let's see if we can make it scream."

The next thing Reed knew, they were all knocked down on an ice-covered floor. He alone was left standing. Somewhere down the hall perpendicular to the one he was in, he could see a boy's figure with his hand outstretched. He barely noted the mess of white hair and stormy gray eyes before the stranger disappeared down his corridor. Reed gaped at the empty space for a few more seconds before realizing his attackers were down. He quickly gathered his things, making sure his piccolo was in hand and ready to play.

By the time Edward and the others came to their senses, their clothes were damp from melted ice and their victim had locked himself in his room to wait out the hour before the welcoming ceremony.

~~~

Frost had to find her.

He didn't know how long he had been searching, but he didn't plan on stopping until he'd find his sister. Through corridors and rooms, his foggy brain glanced at all souls in a gray world as he tried to find the pure red one he was seeking. He had seen shades of red already, but never her shade. A red soul nearer to the shade of his sister's soul caught his attention at one point. It wasn't her, but it was closer than the others he had seen so far. He knocked down the darker souls that had been preying on it before moving on.

Where had they taken her?

They had already tried stopping him several times, but he defeated them all easily. Though too weak to summon wings, Frost was still able to freeze them all with a wave of his hand. He would let nothing stop his path. Several fairies and the nymph who had been on duty in the place he had awoken had learned that the hard way.

He ran down gray halls and staircases that never seemed to end, eyes constantly searching for that red hue.

Had they hurt her?

No, he couldn't dwell on that thought. He ran faster, so determined and worried that he didn't notice when he started freezing the ground before him to increase his speed.

He was at the other end of the castle when he finally caught a glimpse of her red soul behind a door heavily guarded by tall nymphs and scores of fairies. The nymphs tried tackling him and the fairies tried stopping him with their sticky Nets, but he was so agile that they needed up knocking down and trapping each other. Some were soon down, others were sent flying out the window, and more than one became a living ice sculpture.

He entered the room, eyes trained on the red form before him.

~~~

Cygnelle had woken up to a fairy screaming about an escaped student.

Through frantic gestures and a tinkling that sounded like a hundred bellwethers running away from a ravenous wolf, the dean soon found out about the nymph and trail of frozen fairies that the student had left in his wake. He also seemed to be heading for the other student.

With the last note, the dean assumed that he must have had a bone to pick with the girl. She recalled what Kefira had told her - the girl had been poisoned. It wasn't a stretch for her to believe that the two had fought and he had managed to stab her before falling into unconsciousness. Which meant he was currently heading to finish her off.

Cygnelle quickly ordered more fairies and nymphs to try stopping him and to keep the Everboys in their rooms. It would be better if they were left oblivious of the danger currently lurking the halls. She rushed through all the shortcuts she knew of, even cutting through the Boys' Groom Room once with a walk-through-walls spell**. A pile of hopefully unconscious nymphs and fairies greeted her when she reached the other end of the castle.

She was too late.

She burst through the door, wand's tip glowing ready to stop the rogue student. But she froze at the sight before her. The boy wasn't attacking the girl and he wasn't even poised to kill her. He simply held her hand with a pained look on his face as he mumbled something softly.

"You'll be alright," he seemed to say.

Then he noticed the dean. His irises changed from brilliant blue to a hateful gray as a sword of ice formed in his hand. Before he could charge towards her, Cygnelle cast a sleep spell on him. His eyes widened, flickered back to blue, and closed as he slumped to the ground. His sword disappeared in a swirl of snow.

Cygnelle let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. She once again took in the sight of the two unconscious students. He didn't want to kill her. That made the dean's theory for their wounds and the girl's poisoning invalid. So how did they get so hurt? Even stumbling through the woods couldn't have caused that much damage. Had they been attacked by something or someone then? And the boy had been able to control ice. The Woods Beyond never taught their children elemental magic. The Woods Beyond never taught magic period. Yet the stymph had stated they were Readers. Unless the stymph lied. But that wasn't something the skeletons knew how to do. . . was it? She'd have to ask Kefira later.

Cygnelle turned back and saw that one of the nymphs had finally come to and was trying to brush the ice fragments of her veil.

"Please get all the ice thawed or swept away," she ordered. "Not a trace of it should remain by the time the Evergirls enter. Keep the Everboys in their rooms as well. And prepare the infirmary again. Keep the students together, but make sure the boy is securely restrained."

The nymph nodded and started rousing the ones around her. When the dean noticed that the fairies were ignored, she cast a melting spell to thaw one out. She didn't have the mood or energy to go on about the nymph-fairy rivalry*** today. She gave it the same order as the nymph before heading back to her office.

Lady Lesso would kill her when she learns about this.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Over a year ago, I had my first comment from one of my first readers, WyvernWhisperer. I want to thank you again for that. It was a wonderful feeling to know that I had done something worthy of a comment. Also long ago, Clieo_Whiteshadow was the first to put my story (then called White Roses and Black Frost then changed to The Gray Line then to the current one) in her reading list. That, too, made me really glad then, giving me such a dorky smile that I had to cover so my mouth so Mom wouldn't notice it and ask what in the world I was doing. (Only my friends and strangers on the internet know that I write on Wattpad.) I'm sorry if your names have changed by now, but I want to thank you guys regardless. I hope you two are still reading this.

Thanks to all my new readers and old ones too! I'm grateful for every view and vote and comment I get, even in the original one.

*Not all the original teachers are going to be here. It's been over a century, I'm pretty sure they couldn't all still be alive even with life-extending magic. So, I've stuck in several more OC's. Hope that doesn't bother anyone too much.

**They would still be empty anyway. No classes yet so no ranks and Groom Room privileges.

***It's mentioned in the Ever Never Handbook

Yeah, so these seven chapters are the basics of how my main OC's got into the fairytale world. And as I have stated, I have planned the main idea of each and every chapter in this book to keep a plot that actually moves on(the original was going nowhere, I tell you that now). I just need time to write it out. There will be approximately(please bear with me) fifty-eight chapters in this book in total. . .give or take a few because I might suddenly decide to add or subtract. Yeah, I'm not kidding, so please bear with me. I have to juggle this with my Gravity Falls/Vocaloid fanfic and my Book of Random Things, so it's gonna take a while. But I will finish this, just as I promised a year(or maybe two, I'm sorry I forgot) ago.

I hope you all will bear with me until I reach the end. Thank you again for reading this.