Hello, everyone! Before I begin, I want to introduce myself. My name is annablossom4703, but you can call me AB. This is the sequel to my other Winx Club fanfiction called Win Them All. I do want to note that the main character is named Anna Blossom. My pen name is derived from the character's name; I want to make it clear that I am not inserting myself into the story. Here's Chapter 1.
Disclaimer: Winx Club belongs to Iginio Straffi and RAI.
Her stomach twists itself in knots, trapping the butterflies that were already there. She's not sure she can do this, she never was sure. The sunlight pours in from the windows on the bus, heating the insides and making it even more unbearable than before. The number of people around her and the heat from the sun are making her suffer and nervous. How she longs to remove her layers and cool down, but should she touch someone . . . She doesn't want to think about that. Breathe, focus, breathe, focus. The mantra plays permanently on repeat in her head. She takes a deep breath and tries to focus on making herself as small as possible.
The bus comes to a stop and throws everyone inside off balance. She catches herself and repositions herself before she can accidentally touch someone. Then she waits for the others on board to get off. She really wishes she could just take the bus back to Magix airport and return to Domino, but she knows that is not an option. Unsurely and scaredly, she steps off the bus with her one bag. The sunlight pains her eyes through her colored contacts, so she keeps her gaze lowered. No one tries to interact with her, and she likes that, although it reminds of her how lonely she is. It has been years since someone last touched her and weeks since her last real conversation with someone. She has no friends here back on Domino, a cruel reminder of what she is. All around her, girls are laughing and make friends while she tries to keep from hurting anyone.
"Your name please," a stern voices says. She looks up to see a woman with short brown hair, glasses, and a blue-green dress
"Anna Blossom, heir to the title Nymph of Domino," she whispers quietly. She left out the part about being a princess because she no longer knew what she was princess of. No one had bothered to tell her in her sixteen years.
"You'll have to speak louder. I can't hear you."
"I'm Anna Blossom, heir to -"
"Ah, yes, here you are. You're in room 4703."
"Thank you." As Anna Blossom walked away, the woman eyes her both warily and sympathetically. She knows about this student, and she wishes she could help her. She wishes she was the late Ms. Faragonda.
Anna Blossom finds her room after some difficulty. All around her were girls whose parents or older sisters are helping move in, but she has no one to help her. Breathe, focus. Breathe, focus. She opens the door to the room and is shocked to find six other girls there. She stumbles over an apology and starts to leave. The girls tell her to wait and ask what her name was. She gives it to them, and they exchange glances.
"You're in the right place, Anna Blossom. Your room's over here," a young girl with long black hair and light colored eyes says gently. She stands up from where she was seated and walks with Anna Blossom to Anna Blossom's room. "My name's Kadence, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Kadence. Thanks for showing me my room." Kadence then walks away, leaving Anna Blossom to settle in alone. There is not much in the room, just a desk, a closet, a dresser, and a twin bed. Anna Blossom sighs and sets her bag down. Alone, she removes the scarf that covers her nose and mouth along with her jacket. What she is still wearing are a long sleeved shirt, pants, boots, and gloves. It feels nice to remove all the extra layers, but Anna Blossom still finds the fact that she is forced to wear all those layers painful. She just wants someone to love her and not be afraid of her. She wants to be normal. Most of all she wants to not be afraid of herself.
Anna Blossom finishes unpacking her few belongings just as Kadence comes to tell her that it's time to go to dinner. Anna Blossom says that she will be right there and quickly shoves her extra layers back on. Kadence walks with Anna Blossom to dinner and attempts to make conversation with her more than a few times, each time to no avail. Eventually, Kadence gives up and walks with Anna Blossom in silence.
After dinner, there is an assembly for all the new students. The woman with short brown hair and glasses is there again, and she introduces herself as Headmistress Griselda. The headmistress goes over the rules and expectations of the girls during their time at Alfea. Afterwards, she announces there is a party for all the new students in the courtyard. As everyone heads out to the courtyard, Anna Blossom turns to go back up to her room.
"Anna Blossom, I'd like a word with you," Headmistress Griselda says. Breathe, focus. Breathe, focus.
"Of course, Headmistress." The two talk for a bit. Apparently Queen Daphne of Domino had called Headmistress Griselda to ask about Anna Blossom, explaining that she might need some extra help. Anna Blossom tries to play dumb during the conversation, but Headmistress Griselda sees right through it.
"Anna Blossom, if you need help, just ask." Anna Blossom nods."Have a good evening, Anna Blossom."
"And you as well, Headmistress." Then Anna Blossom walks away and returns to her room. She showers and climbs in bed; no one else has returned from the party yet. It takes a while before Anna Blossom is able to fall asleep. Her stomach never untied itself, and the knots are growing tighter as the first day of classes approaches. By now, the butterflies are dead, but they continue fluttering around in her stomach. Her heart races as sweat coats her body. Breathe, focus. Breathe, focus. Even the mantra isn't helping, and her nerves are growing worse. Breathe, focus. Breathe, focus. You idiot, why isn't this working? BREATHE, FOCUS. Anna Blossom gasps as the feeling of burned alive fills the left side of her body while the feeling of being boiled fills the right side of her body. She wants to cry, but she knows that will only make it worse. Failure is something she is used to by now.
The next morning, Anna Blossom is the first one awake of the seven girls in the dorm. She gets dressed quickly, putting on a similar outfit to the day before. Her clothes are gray, and her brown hair is pulled back in a tight braid; her colored contacts make her brown eyes even darker. Only small portions of her skin is showing, and these are the places she was to worry about people touching. By the time she is dressed, no one else is awake and there is still an hour before breakfast. Anna Blossom decides to explore a little before anyone else wakes up.
Walking out of her room and into the common area, Anna Blossom checks to see if anyone is awake. Then she walks around and looks at the names of the other girls posted outside their respective rooms. Kadence and someone named Antheia room together with Celine and Pixel next door. Across the common area is another room; the plague with the names reads Marina and Rima. Everyone seems to have a roommate except Anna Blossom. Her heart sinks, but she understands why. If something like last night had happened with a roommate there, it could have been a lot worse.
Quietly shutting the door to the dorm, Anna Blossom sneaks out into the dark hallway. No one else is around, much to her relief. She starts following the hallway until she finds a door at the end of the hallway. There is no sign on the door that could clue Anna Blossom in as to what the room is, so she pushes the door open and enters. The lights turn on as soon as the door closes, and Anna Blossom is able to see many portraits hanging on the towering walls. She doesn't recognize any of the portraits, which leavers her even more confused.
"I see you've found the Hall of Headmistresses," someone says. Anna Blossom jumps and tries to calm herself down. Breathe, focus. Breathe focus.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were here."
"Don't be sorry. The Hall is open to students. I'm Professor Wizgiz, by the way." The short professor extends his hand to shake. Nervously, Anna Blossom shakes his head. He notices her gloves and many layers. "You must always be cold," he says jokingly.
"You could say that. My name's Anna Blossom, Professor Wizgiz." The professor gets a look of realization on his face.
"So you're the one Queen Daphne called about." Anna Blossom nods. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Anna Blossom. We're all at different places with our powers." Tears sting her eyes as she fights to suppress them. Professor Wizgiz's words have reached her in a way no one else's words have reached her before. Breathe, focus. Breathe, focus. Turning her attention, and the conversation with it, to a portrait of a elderly woman with a warm smile, Anna Blossom asks about that headmistress. "That is Ms. Faragonda. She was a fine headmistress and like a grandmother to all her students. She was a student herself once, long ago."
"What happened to her?"
"She died suddenly about sixteen years ago. There was a whole investigation, but we eventually discovered that she simply died of old age."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Professor."
"Thank you, Anna Blossom." The two stand in the hall in silence for a while. Anna Blossom looks around at as many pictures as she can and trying to piece together the history of the school. Then she finds a picture that has not yet been hung up, although she can see where it belongs. "That's Bloom. She was the headmistress after Ms. Faragonda passed away."
"What happened to her?"
"She got married and left. She made Griselda the headmistress, and we haven't seen her since."
"Oh." Then Professor Wizgiz uses his magic to left the portrait of Bloom back up to its place on the wall. Anna Blossom, meanwhile, continues exploring the Hall of Headmistresses. Eventually, Professor Wizgiz tells Anna Blossom that it's time to go to breakfast, so the two walk together.
Griselda greets them at the door as the remaining students file in. Anna Blossom looks around for her dorm mates and finds them sitting at a table in the middle of the dining hall. Anna Blossom silently makes her way to the table while doing her best not to touch anyone before sitting down at the table.
"Where have you been, Anna Blossom? We missed you this morning," a blonde girl with blue eyes asks.
"I was up early was all. Remind me of your name again, please."
"I'm Celine." The girls then go around and introduce themselves, for they realized that they hadn't done so the night before. After the remaining introductions are made, everyone goes back to meaningless conversation, although Anna Blossom stays quiet.
After breakfast, Anna Blossom goes off to class while the other girls walk together. Her first class is Metamorphosimbiosis with Professor Wizgiz. The professor seems surprised to see Anna Blossom in his first class, but he doesn't say a word.
Class is difficult for Anna around her, students are getting the spells relatively quickly, but she struggles to keep her powers under control, let alone use them to change shape. Wizgiz sees this, and he decides to speak with Headmistress Griselda later.
At the end of the school day, Anna Blossom returns to her room to be alone. She curls into a ball in her closet and tries to keep her powers under control. Breathe, focus. Breathe, focus. A tear slips down her face. Breathe, focus. Breathe, focus. An emptiness fills Anna Blossom. An anger and a hatred fill her. How could they do this to her? Sixteen years of abandonment, sixteen years of never being taught how to use her powers or how to communicate, sixteen years of being ostracized. Another tear rolls down her face. Sixteen years of being abandoned and now she's at a school without any idea who she is.
That's the end of Chapter 1, Butterflies! I hope you liked it, and I'll have Chapter 2 up soon! Thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review! I love you all so much!