A/N: Okay, I've sat on this long enough and even though I still haven't finished writing the second half to this story I figured it's high time I do something about it. So please take note that this is a WORK IN PROGRESS. There will not to regular updates. At the moment it's probably only going to be a chapter a month, but hey, you guys have been patience enough.
So first off, Winx Club belongs to Iginio Straffi and his associates so the only profit I make out of this is just the fun of writing. Just a little reminder that I'm working off the 4Kids version of the show that seemed to indicate that students attend four years of schooling in Magix, so the RF boys are looking at graduating at that end of this school year. Honestly, I have no intention of setting up for seasons four, five or six because a) I built my storylines within the 4Kids canon b) I'm not a huge fan of how the later seasons are progressing and c) too much hard work.
Having said all that, enjoy.
BONDS OF BROTHERHOOD
By tears-in-rain
Chapter One – The Princess Ball
The academy of Alfea sparkled brightly in the morning sun as Prince Sky made his way through the elegant, open gates. The School for Fairies looked as it always did; radiant, beautiful, powerful and oh so feminine. The schools cream coloured walls glowed vibrantly in the morning light and the suns rays glistened off the well-washed windows. The grounds were somewhat empty since a majority of the students had already returned home for the summer so there was a tranquil kind of strength about the school, like a mountain lion peacefully sleeping in the sun.
Climbing off his now silent levi bike, Sky removed his helmet and with a toss of his head, he flicked his blonde hair out of his eyes as climbed the front steps into the school. He had a private flight back to his home planet of Eraklyon scheduled for that afternoon, so this was going to be his last chance to see his beloved girlfriend Bloom before he left. Summer break wasn't really that long in the grand scheme of things, but he was still going to miss the fiery fairy that had left him enamoured from the first moment he had laid eyes on her. Only a few days ago Lord Darkar had taken Bloom from him and although he and the rest of his friends had managed to get her back and save the Magical Universe, Sky had vowed to himself that he was going to do all in his power to protect her from now on. He had also made the mistake of telling his best friend Brandon about that vow and ended up being mocked for several hours because of it.
Walking through the corridors, Sky smiled warmly at the fairies that crossed his path. Although he was nothing if not an utterly faithful boyfriend, Sky couldn't prevent his ego getting boosted up a couple of sizes when he saw that several of the fairies in the grades below him flush and giggle when he grinned at them. It was the end of the school year, he and his friends had just stopped the villain Lord Darkar from taking over the Magical Universe, he had one more year of high school left and he had all of summer ahead of him. Yeah, he couldn't help but be in a good mood.
Or at least, he was right up until the point where he rounded a corner and collided headlong into a fairy walking the opposite direction, her nose buried deep in a trashy magazine.
"Son of a . . !" the fairy hissed, rubbing her chest where Sky's elbow had collided with it. Her dark eyes were blazing when she looked up at the Prince, ready to rip him to pieces for daring to collide with her, but when she saw who she was addressing she quickly reigned in her temper as any child with decent breeding would do. "Prince Sky. What a pleasure it is to see you again."
"Hello Victoria," Sky forced out a small smile, trying to make it look as genuine as possible. While Victoria was the very example of polite to him, Sky knew for a fact that she was positively malicious to Brandon and the rest of his friends whenever she got the chance. Victoria was cold, conniving and vindictive but the most dangerous part about her was that the privileged fairy could be all those things whilst maintaining the appearance of being utterly lovely to those that mattered. She had been the one who had led the campaign to make Stella's first year at Alfea a living hell and yet any of her teachers would describe her as being a kind, charming girl that was always considerate to her fellow classmates (1). Sky would have liked nothing more that to brush her off but unfortunately he had been raised better. "I hope you're well."
"I am. Thank you for asking," Victoria replied politely. An awkward silence fell over the pair until Victoria thought of something to say. "I guess I owe you some belated congratulations for your victory against Lord Darkar. That was very impressive."
"Thank you."
"You and your squad did very well considering the circumstances."
Sky blinked. "What do you mean circumstances?"
"Well let's face it; the whole situation was poorly handle right from the start," Victoria commented as if it was completely obvious to everyone. "The second Ms. Faragonda and the others realised that Lord Darkar was after the Ultimate Power, all four pieces of the Codex should have been scattered and kept under stricter security, not left in a high school under the protection of Stella and her friends."
Sky's eyes narrowed before he could think to stop it. There was just something in Victoria's tone when she mentioned the Winx Club that rubbed him the wrong way. "Stella and her friends were the ones who defeated Lord Darkar."
"Yes, but Ms. Faragonda and the others should have arranged it so that Lord Darkar never had a chance to get his hands on all four pieces of the Codex to begin with. After all, even removing just one piece would have thrown a spanner in the works. And yes, it was those sophomore fairies that defeated him in the end, but it was also them who let the Trix walk away with Red Fountain's Codex. Furthermore they stood by and did absolutely nothing when it came to protecting Cloud Tower's Codex and then they literally handed Alfea's piece right over to Lord Darkar."
"Hey! That wasn't Bloom's fault!" Sky snapped. It might sound a little cliché, but no one insulted his girlfriend's honour, especially not in front of him.
Victoria arched one meticulously groomed eyebrow. "Oh, but your Highness, I wasn't singling any individual out. You did that on your own. I hope you don't mind me noting that perhaps there's something you're not acknowledging about recent events?"
"I do mind, actually," Sky informed her sharply. He had walked right into Victoria's mind games, he knew that, and he was furious because of it. Seconds before he had run into the malicious fairy he had been thinking about how much he wanted to protect Bloom and the moment she was faced with a threat, he basically sold her out. Granted, the threat was cleverly disguised in Victoria's subtle vindictive charm, but Sky still felt incredibly slack for letting Victoria manipulate him against his girlfriend so easily.
"I apologise," Victoria said in a tone that sounded sincere but Sky was almost positive that she didn't mean it. With an elegant little bow of her head, Victoria shot him what appeared on the surface to be a completely innocent smile. "I'll excuse myself. Good day, your Highness."
Sky didn't even try to reply to her as she continued on her way. He was far too angry with both himself and her to speak. The Prince was so mad that he stayed rooted to the spot where he stood long after the sound of Victoria's five-inch heels echoing down the hallway became too faint to hear.
"Son of a bitch," Sky hissed under his breath as soon as he was positive there was no way Victoria could hear him. He had known since freshmen year just how much of a bitch Victoria could be, but he always forgot how manipulative she could be without him even realising it. The fact that he was walked so blindly into her trap was probably what angered him the most and there was nowhere for him to direct that anger but inwards. And that was a bitter pill he didn't want to swallow.
Sky was still seething when the sound of someone running up behind him reached his ears and before he could even turn around, the person leapt onto his back, throwing their arms around his neck in a warm hung. "Sky!" Bloom's familiar voice giggled into his ear. "I've been waiting for you to get here."
"Hey Bloom," Sky grumbled, not even smiling when Bloom reached over and kissed him on the cheek. He was in a foul mood now and it was going to take more than a few seconds for him to get out of it. Bloom, however, was oblivious.
"Oh, I can't believe it's finally summer break! I thought this year would never end!" Bloom exclaimed, sliding off his back before slipping her hand into his. "I am so looking forward to having a break for a while!"
"Yeah," Sky muttered unenthusiastically.
"My mom wanted me to help her in her flower shop, but Stella and a few of the girls invited me to spend some time at their places this year and let's face it, hanging out with your friends beats a summer job every time. I'm sure my mom won't mind me skipping out on her this one time. After all, you're only young once! Hey, do you think you and Brandon would be able to make a road trip to Solaria when I'm visiting Stella? We could double date and have Stella show us around her realm! How cool would that be?"
"I'll have to see what my plans are for this summer first," Sky answered rather coldly. This time, Bloom noticed his tone and stared at him cautiously.
"Um, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine."
"Well I am!" Sky snapped, causing his girlfriend to flinch at his sharp tone. Her blue eyes were wide with shock and concern at his outburst, prompting Sky sighed heavily before apologising. "Look, I'm sorry Bloom. I'm just under a bit of stress at the moment. My realm's got its bicentennial coming up and I just got word that I'm going to have to be the host of the Millennium Party the court's having so I'm going to have to be involved in a lot of the planning over the next few months."
"Oh. Okay."
"I mean of course I would rather go on a holiday with you, but I've just got too much going on back at the palace at the moment. We're inviting royalty and honoured guest from all over the Magical Universe and it's my duty as Prince to make sure that the party is of a particular standard and goes off without a hitch."
"Royalty from all over the Magical Universe," Bloom repeated slowly, her eyes becoming somewhat defensive. "I guess that means from Quartz (2) as well, huh?"
Sky's temper, which was just starting to die down, suddenly flared up again. "Oh, you're still not obsessing over Diaspro, are you?"
"Obsessing?"
"Come on, Bloom. It was nothing."
"Nothing? You two were going to get married," Bloom reminded him, a noticeable level of heat in her voice. Sky didn't understand it, but the Last Princess of Sparx always got suspicious and self-conscious whenever Sky's former fiancée was brought up.
The Prince wasn't expecting Bloom to ever become best friends with Diaspro, but she didn't have to act like Sky was going to go running back to his ex at the first chance he got. After all, it wasn't like Sky had even wanted to marry Diaspro in the first place. It was an arranged marriage born out of the fact that Eraklyon and Quartz had strong trade agreements and their fathers had wanted to strength those ties by marrying their heirs. Sky had begrudgingly gone along with it until he met Bloom and decided he wasn't going to let politics govern every aspect of his life. He was in love with Bloom; he just wished she'd believe that. "Yeah and I called it off so can we please move passed it already?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, come on. You know I had no real feelings for her and you know how much I like you, so this whole insecurity thing you got going on about her is completely ridiculous. Just get over it. You've been carrying on about this for over a year now and, quite frankly, I'm getting sick of it."
"Sick of what, Sky?" Bloom snarled, her blue eyes narrowed and blazing. "Sick of us?"
"No, sick of you getting all hysterical the second someone so much as mentions Diaspro's name. Sick of having to defending myself against accusations that one day I'm going to cheat on you with her. Sick of having to remind you time and time again that I want be with you, not her. I mean, last fall you were willing to believe what a tabloid magazine said before even talking to me. A tabloid? How naïve can you get?"
"Oh, so now I'm hysterical and naïve, am I?"
"You know what I mean."
"No I don't, but I will tell you what I do know; I know that you've already lied to me once about Diaspro, so what the hell's stopping you from doing it a second time? I know that your mother still thinks that I'm not a suitable match for you all because I don't have a gem mine in my backyard. And now I know that you can be an absolute ass when you want be, Prince Sky of Eraklyon," Bloom spat, venom dripping from her words.
"That's it. I'm out of here," Sky announced, turning on heel and marching back towards the front of the school where his levi bike was parked.
"Who was inviting you to stay?!" Bloom shouted after him.
It wasn't until he reached his levi bike that Sky's temper started to die down and guilt started to gnaw at him. He should not have spoken to Bloom that way. Yes, he was frustrated with the way Diaspro still managed to cause issues between them after all these years, but that didn't justify taking it out on his girlfriend. It was only a matter of days ago that he had first confessed to Bloom that he was in love with her, to which she then had reciprocated.
Running a tired hand down his face, Sky contemplated heading back inside to seek Bloom out and apologise to her but then he saw Victoria and her friends sitting on a bench on the far side of Alfea's quad. Almost as if she sensed someone's eyes on her, Victoria looked up suddenly and when she saw Sky looking at her, she shot him a quick, friendly-looking smile. However, even from a distance Sky could see that there was hardness in her eyes that was anything but pleasant, causing flames of fury to suddenly blaze up again inside of the Prince. With a barely suppressed growl, Sky shoved his helmet back onto his head, climbed onto his levi bike and sped back towards Red Fountain.
Red Fountain had always had a strong affiliation with dragons, so the heroes had come to find it rather commonplace to be around the great, mythical creatures. However, for the first time in almost three decades, the stables of Red Fountain had a foal, which was something even dragon breeders had a difficulty becoming accustomed to. There was just something about dragons when they were foals that could only be described as magical. Amethyst had only hatched just less than two weeks ago, but she was already the size of a fully-grown large breed dog. Like all dragon foals, Amethyst had an extended wing span so that she would be able to keep up with her mother whilst in the air, but they did from time to time make her look rather clumsy and awkward while she was on the ground. Although the same couldn't be said when she was in the water.
"She's so cute!" Brandon couldn't help but gush as he, Timmy, Riven and Helia watched the young dragon splash around in the paddle pool that the stable master, Shannon, had provided for her. The pool wasn't deep enough for the foal to submerge herself completely, but if she kept her feet tucked up close to her belly she could paddle her way around in a circle, pushing balls and other floating chew toys around with her blunt, little nose. Meanwhile her mother, Rouge, doze in the sun not far away, though the young heroes knew that she would leap into action should anything dare to threatened her offspring. "Seriously, I wish she'd just stay that size forever."
"I highly doubt that's gonna happen," Riven told the squire, leaning over the side of the corral Shannon had built for the mother and foal. "She's grown like a foot and a half in four days."
"I know that. I said, 'I wish she would stay that size' not that she would."
"You are aware that there is such thing as miniature dragons," Timmy pointed out, grinning as Amethyst beat her oversized wings against the surface of the water. The little dragon was so pleased with the noise it produce that she let out a series of happy chirping sounds until one of her toys caught her attention again and she began stalking it.
"Yeah but they're not really that miniature," Helia noted calmly. "Fully-grown miniature dragons are the size of a standard small car."
"Plus they're molten dragons, not aviary dragons, and nobody likes them cause they're ugly," Brandon finalised. Molten dragons were a variety of dragons that were more adapted to being on the ground as oppose to the air. They were bulkier, heavier, less intelligent and more irritable than the air adapted aviary dragons that most stables – including Red Fountain – favoured.
"Just because molten dragons have a harder and thicker hind doesn't mean that they're not without their own beauty," Helia informed them all with an overdramatised haughty tone that made his friends grin.
"Uh-huh. And are you going to write a poem about that, poet man?"
"Maybe I will."
"You do that then. You can call it 'Ode to an Ugly Dragon'," Brandon suggested with a smirk. Suddenly, Rouge's head snapped up and she glared at the squire with unnaturally intelligent orange eyes. "No, I didn't mean you. Honest. You're a very attractive dragon, Rouge. Everyone says so. If anyone was going to write a poem about you, it would be called 'Ode to a Beautiful Dragon' and it would go something like, 'Oh, Beautiful Dragon, how thou doth shine so bright. Thy scales gleam like . . . um . . . pebbles and thy . . . claws are clipped just right'."
"Oh, Brandon, no. Just . . . no," Helia said firmly, shaking his head in disapproval.
"Why? What's wrong with my poem?"
"It sounds like a six-year-old wrote it."
"Which is pretty much how I would describe Brandon's level of maturity," Riven commented drily.
"Shut up, Riven," Brandon shot back, but it was more a knee-jerk reaction than an actual attack. After what was now three years together, the biting banter that occurred between the squad was just a reflex, not a conscious thought. Riven was half a beat away from throwing something back at the squire when everyone felt the atmosphere in the stables shift as Sky came storming in. Everyone froze as Sky leaned up against the yard railing so he could watch Amethyst play, but his expression was frightening. "You right, bro?"
"Yes," Sky answered a little too quickly, his eyes still locked on the baby dragon that was currently entertaining herself by blowing bubbles in the water. For a long moment nobody said anything as they waited for the Prince to reconsider his answer and eventually Sky broke the silence. "No. I feel awful. Before my private jet gets here, I wanted to go over to Alfea to say goodbye to Bloom properly but instead we ended up having a massive fight."
"About what?" Timmy asked, giving his friend his full attention.
"Diaspro."
"Again?" Riven groaned.
"I know," Sky agreed with a heavy sigh. "Yeah, it's annoying that Bloom's still insecure about the whole Diaspro thing and I wish she'd move passed it but that's still no excuse for the way I blew up at her like I did. I was just in such a rotten mood that I didn't even think about what was coming out of my mouth."
"You weren't in a rotten mood when you left," Timmy noted.
"Yeah, but then I kinda had a bit of a run in with Victoria before I saw Bloom."
"Oh yuck!" Brandon exclaimed, shuttering at the mere mention of that fairy. "Enough said."
"I know, but the things I said to Bloom . . ." Sky trailed off. Running his hand through his blonde hair, Sky sighed once again. "I just hate to leave it like that, you know? I mean, I'm gonna be caught up with the planning for this bicentennial party thing all summer and Bloom's apparently thinking of realm trotting so she can hang out with her friends, so it's looking like I'm not going to see her until school starts up again."
"Could you go find Bloom quickly and speak to her before you leave?" Helia asked gently.
Sky shook his head. "No. My private jet is going to get here any minute."
"So then call her from the flight," Riven suggested, with a tone that indicated that he felt Sky was wasting their time worrying over something that had an easy fix. "She's that hooked on you she won't care."
"Secret service protocol won't allow Sky make a call mid-flight," Brandon informed the group. "They believe that if a terrorist or an enemy of Eraklyon tap into the satellite call, they'll be able to get the coordinates of the ship and shoot down the heir to throne."
"Really?" Riven asked before turning to address Sky. "Man, it must suck being you sometimes."
"Yeah," Sky sighed for the third time in only a matter of minutes just as his phone went off. Pulling it out, Sky quickly glanced at the text message that had been sent to him. "That my ship. I got to go. You guys gonna try and make an effort to get to Eraklyon for a few days?"
"If it means getting away from my sisters for a little bit; definitely," Timmy assured him as the others gave the Prince a friendly slap on the back as a parting gift.
"Great. I'll see you guys in a little while."
"So tell me again why you're not going with Sky?" Riven asked, chalking up his pool cue. The four remaining heroes had decided to spend the day at Arcadium, a pool hall and video arcade in Magix where the boys had spent a lot of their free time hanging out at when they were in freshmen year. They were currently playing a game of pool, with Riven and Helia acting as one team and Timmy and Brandon on the other. "I thought you two were attached at the hip or something."
"Not always. He's going back home to work on that party thing and he really doesn't need me there," Brandon explained as Timmy lined up a shot. "In fact, if you ask me they really don't even need Sky there. I think they just want him in the loop so he doesn't freeze up when it's show time or whatever, but there's no reason why they can't do that over the phone or with a memo. Apparently I'm not important enough to be allowed to join the meeting, which is why I'm gonna catch a later flight back to Eraklyon so I can have a chance to hang out with Stell for a bit before I go. What about you? When are you and Helia heading to Vallisto so you can meet your in-laws?"
"Ha! Ya funny," Riven growled sarcastically. For years the former thief had been insinuating that Brandon and Sky's relationship went beyond platonic brotherly love, and now Brandon was able to retaliate by suggesting the same thing about Riven and Helia's newly formed friendship. Sky and Helia, for their part, just tended to ignore the banter that occurred between their 'partners' like any good spouse would, but their indifference didn't deter Brandon and Riven's enthusiasm at trying to throw as many suggestive comments as possible at one another. "We're heading out tomorrow."
"So no more summer camps, Riv?" Timmy smirked, knowing Riven had a love-hate relationship with how he usually spent his summer holidays.
Riven snorted as he moved out of the way so that Helia could move around the table. "Hn. Glorified babysitters. That all they are."
"Well, I'd trade you a summer at camp for one of my family reunions," Timmy offered and Riven laughed.
"Pass. I've heard your stories about your family."
"Yeah, I don't envy you, man," Brandon grinned, but before he could remind Timmy further of what a large and slightly dysfunctional family he belonged to, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He was in the process of digging it out when three other message tones sounded and the rest of them made a grab for their phones. After unlocking his keypad, Brandon opened the message that flashed up in front of his face in elegant, gold holographic writing.
It read;
Dear Brandon of Eraklyon,
His Royal Majesty, King Radius of Solaria, cordially invites you to attend a Princess Ball for his beloved daughter, Princess Stella, Radiant Jewel of Solaria. The Royal Palace will hold this auspicious occasion and will be hosted by King Radius, who has a special announcement to make.
His Royal Majesty and the Court of Solaria anticipate your attendance.
Brandon grinned widely as he read over the rest of the message which went on to inform him of the time and date of the party as well as the number to RSVP to regarding whether or not he would be attending. He had never been to a Princess Ball, but Sky had told him all about the one he had gone to when he was about ten. Back then it had held no interest to them but now Brandon was at an age where something like that might just appeal to him. Good food, champagne and an abundance of pretty girls in dresses. What wasn't there to like?
"What the hell's a Princess Ball?" Riven asked curtly, reading the same message Brandon had received.
"It's a party to formally celebrate the official launching of a princess into her royal duties of court," Helia explained evenly.
"Launching? Makes her sound like a ship or something."
"You refer to my girlfriend as a ship again and I'm gonna clobber you over the head," Brandon informed his friend sternly as he sent his RSVP to the number on the message. "By the way, you're going and you're not going to complain about it."
"And how do you figure that?"
"Because I'm pretty sure that if you don't do it for me, Musa's gonna look up at you with those big, blue eyes of hers, her bottom lip push out in an adorable little pout and she going to ask you in a sweet, pleading voice for you to give her a night to remember," Brandon told his friend, sidling up close to him and giving his best impression of how he thought Musa would proposition her boyfriend. Riven glared at the squire with a strong combination of annoyance and disgust that deepened when Brandon's impression shifted into a wide smirk. "And I'll bet that you're going to give her anything she wants."
"Shut up!" Riven growled, shoving Brandon away from him and causing the brunette to laugh loudly.
"What do you think this special announcement's going be?" Timmy asked, also replying to the RSVP and entering the party into his digital calendar.
"Maybe Radius is finally going to admit that he had an affair with a harpy and that's Stella true origins?" Riven speculated. Without even looking up from the invitation that he was re-reading, Brandon slammed his heel down painfully onto Riven's foot, causing the burgundy haired teen to curse loudly.
"You had that coming," Helia told his roommate calmly and Timmy nodded in agreement. "Plus, you're not fooling anyone. We all know you don't hate Stella as much as you pretend to."
"Oh, yes I do," Riven hissed, holding his foot up off the ground as it throbbed with pain.
"Yeah, well, it's her Princess Ball so you better be polite to her. Also I better remind you that there's probably going to be a lot of important people at this thing – both from Solaria and from other realms – so you better treat my girlfriend with the respect she deserves and not embarrass her in anyway. She's royalty," Brandon stressed, glaring at Riven who grunted in reply. Brandon was going to press his point further when a thought suddenly popped into his head. "Oh my god! Sky!"
Timmy, Riven and Helia all jumped at the squire's sudden exclamation. "What happened?" Timmy asked, clearly alarmed.
"He's already on his way back to Eraklyon and if he can't convince the flight crew to turn around, his mother is never going to let him go!"
"If Sky doesn't have to go, I don't have to go," Riven instantly spoke up, but everyone just went about ignoring him.
"But wouldn't Sky's parents be invited?" Timmy assumed.
"Probably not," Helia answered, since he seemed to have a pretty good idea of international affairs. "If it was something like celebrating a realms thousand year anniversary like what's happening in Eraklyon this year, then there would be a lot more international guests invited. Princess Balls, on the other hand are normally treated as a domestic event since it basically just involves their court."
"But just because Sky's parents aren't invited doesn't necessarily mean that they won't let Sky go. I mean, yeah, I know he's got that party thing to deal with but Stella's his friend. I'm sure his parents will understand and let him go," Timmy said before shooting a glance in Brandon's direction. "Right?"
"You've never actual met his parents, huh?" Brandon asked with a deadpan expression on his face. It was his shot but he was so distracted by the conversation that he only managed to clip one of his balls and didn't come close to sinking any.
"Just that little bit on the parade grounds during the Day of the Royals sophomore year."
"Yeah, well, count yourself lucky," Brandon mumbled before clarifying further. Meanwhile Riven managed to sink one of his team's balls and then took a shot at another. "In public they're very elegant and polite, but underneath it all they're both through and through snobs – Sky's mom especially – and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they place their Millennium Party above Stella's Princess Ball."
"Bloom's not going to like that very much," Helia noted quietly.
"Are you guys kidding me?" Riven asked, folding his arms across his chest and raising one of his eyebrows in disbelief. "Am I the only one who thinks Sky actually has the balls to stand up to his mama and tell her to stick it? He managed to do it about that whole Diaspro thing and I'm sure we can all agree that calling off a marriage between the royal families of two realms has a bit more consequence that ditching some pre-party meeting. Give the guy a little bit of credit, would ya."
"It's a bit ironic that you're the one sticking up for him considering you're usually the first one to cut him down," Timmy had to point out, an amused smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I believe I've been a strong enough negative influence to him over the last few years for him to rebel against his parents effectively," Riven explain confidently, sounding a lot like a seasoned general discussing battle tactics. The three other boys all considered what he said for a moment before they nodded.
"All right. I'll give you that," Brandon agreed. "But my money's still on his mother putting her foot down."
Riven's eyebrows shot up. "Bets?"
"Twenty?"
"You're on," Riven shook on it.
"You're both idiots," Timmy told them as he lined himself up for his next shot.
"I agree," Helia seconded.
"Shut up," Brandon and Riven both said in unison.
A few more games of pool and far too many rounds of childish name calling to count later, the four boys found themselves facing a new dilemma; lunch was quickly approaching and in a city like Magix, what to choose out of the massive selection that was available to them became a problem in itself. They could have just gotten something incredibly unhealthy from the arcade's food kiosk, but after living on that food for most of their freshmen year it had lost a bit of its appeal.
"There's a pub down town that has cheap lunchtime steaks," Riven suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds great. One problem; none of us turn eighteen 'til later in the year (3)," Brandon pointed out sharply. "They're gonna stop us at the door and the only one who's gonna get in is you with your fake ID. So let's rule that one out."
"You know, you could have just said no," Riven snared back. "Or gotten off your high road long enough to let me get you a fake ID so we wouldn't have this problem."
"How 'bout we get pizza?" Timmy put forward, shooting Riven a warning look. It wasn't so much that they didn't want fake ID's, but the squad had collectively decided that they would not encourage that kind of illicit behaviour in their friend anymore. It was for his own good, even through Riven had failed to see their point and simply rolled his eyes at the notion.
"We had it for dinner three days ago and then had it for breakfast two days ago," Helia reminded him, leaning up against his pool cue and putting his cheek at serious risk of getting blue pool chalk on it.
"I got it!" Brandon announced, snapping his fingers. "Let's go get a kebab!"
"Those thing only taste good at one in the morning after a big night of drinking," Riven said even though everyone knew that, if it came down to it, the redhead would eat anything.
"I'm not a fan of those things anyway," Timmy confessed. "The places that sell them seem to have very poor hygiene standards and the meat they use looks like it's been rotating on that spit for at least a fortnight. And since when does chicken come in a foot long log that you can fit on a spit? It doesn't even look like a chicken (4)."
"How 'bout we have a cook out with some burgers," Sky suggested.
"That's really good idea, Sky," Brandon nodded. A beat later it hit him who it was he was actually talking to and he spun around to stare at his Prince in disbelief. "Sky! You're here!"
"Pity the fool who tries to get anything passed you," Sky grinned as Brandon gave him an enthusiastic hug.
Riven was also excited to see the Prince, though for a completely selfish reason. "Ha! I told you he'd get out of it! Pay up, squire!"
"Aren't you meant to be in Eraklyon right now?" Timmy asked as Brandon begrudgingly pulled out his wallet and handed over a twenty-dollar note.
"Yes. Yes I am but I got Stella's invitation to her Princess Ball – by the way, secret service freaked out massively over the fact that I had left my phone on and I'm sure that they're never going to let me live it down – so I convinced the pilot to turn the ship around and take me back to Magix," Sky explained.
Riven's face fell. "You mean instead of telling your parents to 'shove off' you just turned tail and ran away like a scared, little girl?"
"I guess you could see it that way," Sky frowned, not liking the way his friend had worded it. Brandon, however, grinned widely.
"I'll just be taking that back then," Brandon smirked, plucking his twenty-dollar note out of Riven's hand.
"Nah-uh. You bet that his parents wouldn't let him go and he'd be too gutless to stand up to them, not that he'd be such a coward that he tuck his tail between his legs and slink off instead," Riven corrected, snatching the twenty back.
"Then who won the bet?"
"Timmy and I did," Helia answered with a completely straight face.
"What? How do you figure that?" Brandon demanded to know.
"Because we were the ones who both agreed that you two were idiots," Helia explained. The inevitable stand off ensured, but even though Brandon and Riven were two of the most stubborn people at Red Fountain, they had nothing when faced with Helia's cool, cobalt stare. Calmly, Helia held out his hand expectantly. "Pay up."
"Fine," Riven caved, slapping the twenty-dollar note into his roommate's hand.
"And Timmy."
"I hate you," Riven grumbled, pulling out his wallet to pay Timmy since Helia had Brandon's twenty.
"Like I care? I'm twenty dollars richer and your twenty dollars poorer."
"What the hell was that all about?" Sky asked Timmy. The second he had finished reading Stella's Princess Ball invitation, he thought he had a pretty clear idea of what he needed to do; first of all, convince the pilot to turn the ship around and then find his friends so they could go meet up with the girls for lunch. That way he could apologise to Bloom and officially ask her to be his date to the Princess Ball. Unfortunately that plan had gone off the rails when he stumbled across his friends taking bets on his parents and Brandon and Riven's level of intelligence.
"It's kinda hard to explain," Timmy brushed off as he took Riven's money and happily shoved it into his back pocket. "So what was this about a cook out?"
"Oh, I just thought we could go met the girls at the beach and have ourselves an impromptu beach party. They're over on the western shore."
"How did you find out?" Brandon asked.
"Brandon, I am going to be a senior at Red Fountain, the greatest school for heroics in the Magical Universe. After three years, reconnaissance and espionage are second nature to me," Sky informed his friends. They all then proceeded to stare blankly at him until he added, "I ran into Layla's roommate and she told me where they were."
Brandon grinned and then clapped his hands together loudly. "Well then, boys, we got ourselves a cook out to get to."
"You think we got everything?" Timmy asked, digging through the basket that held all the food they had just bought. In his hands he held a feast that would make any self-respecting teenager drool. They had enough ingredients for a burger with the works and various other forms of junk food such as marshmallows and potato chips. And just in case the girls had a go at them for not bringing anything 'good' for them they also bought some pre-made salads. It probably would have been cheaper to buy the vegetables and created the salad themselves but none of the boys were willing to spend time putting together a salad they never planned to eat.
"I'm sure the girls will be thrilled with what we've got," Helia assured him as the five specialists slowly made their way from the car park where they had left their levi bikes down to the beach where the girls were meant to be.
"Besides, we're being spontaneous. How can they complain about that?" Brandon added as they hit the beach. Their shoes sunk slightly in the sand with each step, but they quickly managed to alter their strides to match the uneven and ever shifting terrain.
Sky's recon on the girls whereabouts proved to be correct, but none of the girls seemed to notice the boys arrival since they were listening intently to Stella go on about something whilst enjoying lounging on the sand. Even though he had been so eager to meet up with the girls, Sky started to dawdle and lag behind the rest of his friends. He didn't know if Bloom was still upset with him after the fight they had had earlier and although he hoped to make things right between them again, Sky also knew that there was a possibility that Bloom wouldn't even want to speak to him, let alone reconcile.
Regardless, the Last Princess of Sparx sounded like her usual, happy self when the heroes drew near enough to overhear her say, "Stell, you're having a Princess Ball, your parents are getting back together and we're on semester break. What could be better than this?"
"Maybe if some Red Fountain guys were here," Brandon – who knew an entrance when he heard one – suggested with a dramatic bow. All his friends were standing alongside him, matching his wide smile – or smirk, in Riven's case – except for Sky who was nervously hiding behind them for some reason. However Brandon wasn't paying much attention to his best friend and Prince. All his attention was now centred on the glowing, honey-gold eyes of his girlfriend and the fantastic way they lit up when she saw him.
"Brandon!" Stella squealed, utterly thrilled with his spontaneous arrival. "Snookums!"
And she wasn't the only one who was delighted with the boys' appearance. After a year of confusion on where exactly their relationship stood, Tecna and Timmy had finally got it together and officially became a couple. There were still times where the two geniuses got embarrassed by public displays of affection, but there was no hesitation in Tecna's turquoise eyes when she gazed adoringly at Timmy. "Hello Timmy."
"Hey!" Timmy grinned back as Tecna ran over to him and threw herself into his outstretched arms. Pulling her into a tight embrace, Timmy breathed deep so he could take in her familiar scent. He had been completely enamoured with this fairy ever since he had first met her at the start of year mixer Alfea had hosted two years ago and it felt great to officially know that she was his and only his.
"Hi Helia!" Flora cried, launching herself at her boyfriend who laughed loudly when she nearly tackled him to the ground. It was hard to imagine that this was the same girl who only a matter of weeks ago was so nervous around him that she'd regularly became tongue-tied. Ever since prom, however, the normally shy and placid flower fairy had quickly gotten comfortable in their relationship and wasn't afraid to display it in public.
On the other hand, one couple that was still working out the kinks in their relationship was Musa and Riven. Even though they were now officially classed as boyfriend and girlfriend, they still felt it was necessary to continue with their silly, flirty games and the latest one left Riven completely speechless. Without any warning whatsoever, Musa had changed her hair and the end result had Riven utterly floored. Her dark, silky hair had been spelled so that even with it bunched up in her usual pigtails, it reached down to her waist and appeared slightly thicker than it was before. Now, Riven had no problem with how her hair looked before – he actually found her pigtails to be rather adorable – but there was no denying that the fairy's new style made her looked fantastic. Her hair style before made her look like the spunky teenager they all knew she was, but her new look gave her a more mature, feminine appearance, like a young fairy who was ready to enter the world of adulthood.
And Riven liked it.
"Hey Brandon, hey Helia, hey Timmy," Musa greeted all his friends, smirking at the look of Riven's face as she walked passed him. In a purposely offhanded manner, Musa let her newly lengthened hair flick him in the face as she continued to ignore him.
"Er . . ." Riven grunted stupidly before snapping out of his trance. If she was going to play it cool, then he was going to play it hot. Following after her, Riven quickly snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his front. "Love your hair," Riven growled in her ear softly, his voice deep and rocky. He smirked when he felt Musa shiver in his arms, but the musical fairy managed to keep her cool and slid out his grasp. Her eyes, however, were glowing with delight when she turned to grin wordlessly back at him.
Although he would adamantly deny that he was hiding, Sky had to admit to himself that the level of anxiety he was feeling regarding seeing Bloom increased the second Riven moved after Musa, leaving the Prince utterly exposed and in the plain sight of his girlfriend. Sky tried to project a calm appearance, but the truth of the matter was that he was nervous about how Bloom would react after the fight they had experienced that morning. However all that dissolved when Bloom's blue eyes locked on his and a huge smile spread across her face.
"Ah, Sky! I thought you went back to Eraklyon," Bloom said, running over to him and taking his hand in hers.
"I got Stella's invitation mid-flight and turned around," Sky explained to her. Part of him wanted to get down on his knees and beg her forgiveness for the horrible things he said earlier, but he figured it would be a good idea to try and gauge her mood a little bit more first. "I wouldn't miss a chance to take you to a Princess Ball for anything in the world, Bloom."
Bloom smiled at his comment, but it didn't reach her eyes. Clearly, she was feeling just as awful about the fight as he was. "I'm sorry that we fought before."
"Me too," Sky said, before reaching over to cup the side of her face in the palm of his right hand. "I love you, Bloom."
The tenderness in Bloom's eyes was the only reply Sky needed.
"We brought stuff for a cookout," Timmy announced to the girls, holding up the basket of food they had brought. "Burgers and marshmallows."
"And music," Riven added, turning on the boom box than Brandon had suggested they bring. All the girls seemed pleased with the guys' plans for lunch. Or at least, most of them did.
"Something is wrong," Layla told them all, her voice serious and her face hard.
"Yeah, I know," Riven grumbled with a slight roll of his eyes. He hadn't noticed Layla's tone and just assumed that she was being annoying just so she could find something wrong with a plan that was created without any female input. "I should change the station."
"No, I mean something is wrong with the ocean."
Everyone blinked and then turned their attention to the water in front of them. Magix was a city lucky enough to be blessed with a stunning beach line so it took the group a second before they noticed that what was happening in front of them wasn't what they were used to seeing. The water was still its usual striking azure, but instead of looking cool and inviting, it bubbled and steamed as it reached temperatures usually only found in a bathtub. The sunny weather had drawn a fairly large crowd to the waterside and that crowd was quickly becoming panicked as the water started to scold their skin. However, despite the obvious danger they were in, the people seemed frozen where they stood . . .
. . . which left them completely vulnerable in the wake of the tsunami-like tidal wave that rose up before them.
"Everybody! Quick!" Bloom suddenly screamed, snapping everyone out of their shocked state. "Get out of the water!"
"If that wave hits the shore with that momentum, it could wash through half the City," Tecna quickly noted. While Magix might not have the population like other major realms like Eraklyon, Solaria or Zenith, it was still home to several thousand people, a vast majority of which lived within the City limits.
"We've gotta stop it!" Musa shouted, looking back over her shoulder at the crowds that often flocked to the cafes on the western shore on sunny summer days like it was today. If that wave swept passed the beach then scores of people were in danger.
"Come on girls! Let's go!" Bloom rallied. In a flash of multicoloured light, the six fairies transformed into their winx forms and took to the skies. "Let's try to hold the wave back!"
A rainbow of colour shot out from the line of fairies, smashing into the wave and stopping it in its tracks. It still loomed above the people below, but each second that they held it back, its momentum slowed, meaning that the damage it would cause when they finally released it lessened. And it also gave the boys a chance to do what heroes do best; save people who are too stupid to save themselves.
"Guys! Let's get everyone out of the water!" Sky ordered, running out into the shallows. The warm water was a shocking change from the cool water he was used to feel whenever he was at this beach, but he and his friends charged on regardless.
"I got you. I got you," Brandon assured a teenage girl a few years his junior as he helped her out of the water. When the wave had reared up, the pull of the current had dragged her under and she was sinking just as Brandon grabbed her. The girls red hair covered her face and she was coughing as he led her back onto the beach, but at least she was breathing. "You're all right."
"I-I-I . . . An . . ." the girl bubbled incoherently before she coughed up a mouthful of salt water.
"Shh," Brandon cooed, rubbing the girl's back as she continued to cough. Glancing up, Brandon watched as Riven dropping a little girl down in front of her 'Mommy' while Helia and Timmy help two other people out of the water.
"Okay, everyone's out!" Sky reported to the Winx Club.
"Let it go!" Bloom told her friends, whom were all struggling to maintain the level of magic needed to hold the wave back. Fortunately they had managed to hold it back long enough so that when the wave crashed it wouldn't spread any further than the beach. However the water was still extremely dangerous.
"This just re-enforces my dislike of swimming," Riven, who wasn't a particularly strong swimmer, commented as he pulled his now drenched shirt up over his head.
"I'm just glad we got everyone out of there," Brandon said, but no sooner had those words left his lips than a shout was heard over the sound of the collapsing wave.
"Help me!" the small, feminine voice called. None of the boys were able to spot the person in trouble from their place on the ground so it was up to the girls with their wings to try and locate the girl from the air.
"Oh no! Over there!" Bloom pointed, finally spotting the girl in the churning waves. "There's a little girl!"
"I'm on it!" Layla shouted and without seeming to ever think about it, she dropped from the sky and dived into the water. Resurfacing not far from the little girl, the Princess of Tides cut through the water with a few powerful strokes to reach her. Holding her tightly in her arms, Layla flew up to hover above the crest of the wave that was curling in on its self as it started to crash. Using her magic, Layla manipulated water molecules until it resembled a neon pink surfboard. As soon as it was fully formed, she placed both feet on it and managed to balance herself perfectly despite the girl still in her arms. "Just hold on tight."
"She's not going to try and ride that thing out, is she?" Timmy asked, his eyes wide behind his glasses.
"I wouldn't put it passed her," Sky said, remembering the time when she had gone off a kicker whilst boarding down a mountain on a large piece of bark. Almost casually, Layla rode the wave down and let it carry her right up to the beach, where a cheering crowd was waiting for her.
"I think Layla's got herself an admirer," Brandon commented, seeing the way the little girl beamed up at the aquatic fairy. By now the two boys had followed Riven's lead and removed their shirts that had gotten soaked when they had run into the surf. "Hey, are your shoes full of water too?"
"Yes," Sky muttered as he rung his shirt out. "Well, I must say that was . . . refreshing."
"That waves appearance was an anomaly," Tecna noted, looking out at the water, which was now unnervingly flat.
"A big time anomaly," Timmy agreed, scratching his chin. Compared to how churned up the water had been a second ago, it was now back to its usual picturesque state. The water was no longer boiling and the waves were back to a peaceful rolling lull. Unless they had witnessed it themselves, no one would have believed that there has almost been a tsunami.
"What do you think caused it?" Bloom asked.
"I'm pretty sure it was from a dimensional shockwave and that means something terrible has happened to the heart of all oceans," Layla informed them all solemnly, and with good reason since heart of all oceans was her home realm, Tides.
"Hey look! What's that?" Flora asked, pointing out at the water. Everyone looked up quickly, almost expecting to see another giant wave building, but instead all they saw was a strange pillar of blue light forming in the water. Things became even stranger when a mermaid suddenly materialised in the centre of the light. Magix may have an abundance of mystical and magical creatures, but mermaids were not one of them which meant that the pillar of light could only be one thing; an inter-dimensional portal from Tides.
The mermaid was rather pretty, in a weird, aquatic way. Her platinum blonde hair was braided and her eyes were a startling bright shade of blue. On her back was a delicate looking set of wings, which classified her as a mermaid from Tides since out of all the tribes of merpeople in the Magical Universe only they had the ability of flight. And, of course, instead of legs she had a long, blue tail that could propel her through the water at incredible speeds.
"Princess Layla," the mermaid said in a light, airy voice.
"Cyrine!" Layla called back. "I'm right over here!"
"They said to tell you, codeword; sandbar."
"What does that mean?" Stella asked the question that everyone was thinking.
"My realm is in trouble," Layla answered simply. Her face was serious, but after knowing her for a year, the Winx Club and a few of the boys were able to see that under her collected outwards appearance, she was clearly distressed about something. "I have to go immediately."
"We'll come with you," Flora instantly volunteered.
"Yeah!" Musa agreed enthusiastically.
"Thanks," Layla smiled gratefully at her friends before continuing with, "but you can't. I have to go through the ocean and I have to go right now."
Before anyone could challenge her decision or even offer her a decent farewell, Layla ran into the water and after she got a few strides in, she dived under the surface to reach Cyrine. The mermaid dived down into the portal and after a quick wave to her friends Layla followed her. Whilst back on the beach, everyone was silent. Something was seriously in the Realm of Tides, one of the largest realms in the Magical Universe.
Also for the first time in a long time the members of the Winx Club were separated and completely helpless to aid their friend.
In the Realm of Tides, somewhere in a secluded part of the Sea of Andros, was one of the most breathtaking islands in the Magical Universe; Istari Island.
Located on one of Tides largest coral reefs, Istari Island had beaches of pristine, white sand that backed right onto a lush, tropical rainforest, which housed several rare species of tropical plants. Freshwater streams turned into waterfalls that filled the many lagoons hidden amongst the dense foliage. The Island had no large mammals to speak of, but it had a greater variety of native and purposely introduced species of birds than any aviary in the Universe. Given the large numbers of endangered flora and fauna – some of which were actually extinct in other parts of the Magical Universe – the Island was listed as a Universal Heritage site and it had been named as one of the top five most naturally beautiful locations in the Magical Universe.
Unfortunately, it was not open to the public. For generations Istari Island had belonged to the Gwaihir family, one of the most powerful and influential families in history.
As direct descendants of Rahadagast Gwaihir (5) – one of the five powerful wizards of the legendary Order of Five – members of the Gwaihir family had inherited a talent for magic and politics. Their net financial worth surpassed most royal treasuries and while there had been members of the family that had married into royalty, the Gwaihir's claimed independence from any particular realm, through whenever they did stepped into a political showdown they had a lot of sway. The family had mansions in virtually every inhabitable realm but their main place of residence was Istari Island. It wasn't just the beauty that attracted the Gwaihir's to the Island; it was its remoteness. As a powerful and well-known family, they had accumulated a fair number of enemies over the years. The only difference with the Gwaihir's was that the number of assassins that came after them surpassed most ruling royal families and with so many attempts on Gwaihir lives, the assassins had a frightening success rate in the past. In fact, they had been so successful that the once extensive family had now been reduced to only a few individuals.
It was because of their family history that the last few generations of Gwaihir's taken their security detail to the extremes. Istari Island's location had never been fully disclosed and it was off limits to anyone who hadn't gone through several, thorough security checks. The family had made an agreement with Tidenese government so that spaceships and planes – both commercial and military – were forbidden to fly over the Island at anytime and every member of the staff – even the maids and gardeners – had secret service training.
Special Agent Stokes was one staff member with a strange job title. She had of course been hired because of her secret service skills, but what set her apart from the other agents that worked for the Gwaihir's was her passion for literature and her ability to organise a large collections of texts. The Gwaihir's had a tendency to be scholars, so their mansion on Istari Island was set up much like a university, complete with a massive library that would usually require several staff members to organise. However, given the Gwaihir's concerns with security, the task of cataloguing and sorting the books, scrolls and tomes fell solely on Agent Stokes.
Gathering a pile of books in her hands, Agent Stokes slowly made her way down the rows of bookshelves, stopping occasionally to return a text to its allocated place in the library. She may have the training to take down a man more than twice her size, but the agent's true love had always been literature and the Gwaihir Library was her utopia, though it certainly wasn't without its oddities. As Agent Stokes returned one book to its place on the shelf, another one a few metres down the aisle magically pulled itself out and hovered in mid-air for a moment before it started floating away to another part of the library. The first time she had witnessed something like this in this library Agent Stokes had instantly jumped into a defensive stance, but she had now worked for the Gwaihir's long enough to know the source of the phenomenon.
"Oh you are kidding me," Agent Stokes grumbled, an irritated frown crossing her face. With a heavy sigh, Agent Stokes postponed putting the pile of books away and followed after the levitating tome.
The book led Agent Stokes down a set of stairs into the lower level of the library where it opened up to a cleared area with an elegant map of the Magical Universe etched into the surface of the polished stone floor. A dome window in the ceiling directly above allowed sunlight to stream inside and basking it up in the direct centre of the map was a young man, lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head. He was a handsome adolescent who was unfortunately far too young for Agent Stokes to consider romantically, but even though he was younger than her, she knew that he was much smarter than she was. In fact, he was currently proving it by reading from three books at once as they hovered open magically over his head and they were soon to be joined by the book Agent Stokes was following.
"You know, this is exactly how my library gets out of order," Agent Stokes informed the young man in a firm tone, coming to a stop next to his head so she could glare down at him effectively.
"Last time I checked, Stokes, this library belonged to my family, not you," the teen replied, his indigo eyes still on the texts above him.
"Well, last time I checked, Gwaihir, your family pays me a lot to manage this library and sometimes that means stopping unruly children from trashing the place," Agent Stokes pointed out. Normally she would never speak to her employer in such a way, but she and the young Gwaihir had a unique relationship, which had gotten more informal the longer Agent Stokes worked for them.
For the first time since she approached him, the young man looked away from his texts to meet Agent Stokes's steely eyes. The inevitable staring match ensued and though it was the young man who shifted his gaze first, it was hard to determine who won because a sly smile spread across his face before he said, "You probably should have reconsidered wearing a skirt today."
"Nabu!" Agent Stokes shrieked, jumping backwards while simultaneously pressing her skirt down. "I don't know where the media gets the idea that you're a respectable, amiable gentleman!"
"I have a good PR staff," Nabu said dryly.
"I don't care how good your PR staff is, if you keep messing up my library I'm not going let you back in here again," Agent Stokes snapped, glaring down at the only heir to the Gwaihir fortune. When Nabu continued to just smirk up at her, Agent Stokes let forth a frustrated little growl and snatched one of the books he was reading out of the air. Turning on heel, Agent Stokes stomped off, her heels clicking loudly on the polished stone floor. "You are absolutely impossible sometimes!"
As quick as a snake, Nabu sat upright with his right hand stretched out in front of him. Harnessing the energy that followed through Agent Stokes's body, Nabu caused her to freeze in her tracks. With her body now under his control, Nabu slowly levitated the agent into the air, smirking the whole time. "Now Stokes, you know I only tease because I care."
"Sometimes – to put it simply – I absolutely hate your stinking guts (6)," Agent Stokes growled as Nabu turned her around so that she was facing him. Dropping his smirk, Nabu slipped into an expression that always got him out of trouble with the librarian whenever he pushed her a little too far; the puppy dog pout.
"You hate me?" he asked in a slightly wavering voice. His indigo eyes were wide and shinny as he looked up into Agent Stokes's narrowed eyes. She kept up her glare as long as she could, but her resolve was helpless in the wake of his open, pouting face.
"One of these days I am going to learn how to stay angry at you," Agent Stokes vowed as he slowly lowered her feet back onto the ground and released her body from his hold.
"Yeah right. And that'll be the day you learn how to say no to me too, huh?" Nabu predicted with a boyish grin as he got to his feet. Agent Stokes may be over ten years his senior and an employee of his family, but she was probably the closest thing he would ever have to a sibling of his own and he enjoyed nothing more than winding her up because he knew she'd retaliate just as hard.
"Exactly," Agent Stokes replied, waking over to him so she could pluck the remaining books out of the air and added them to pile she still had in her hands.
"Hey! I'm still reading those!" Nabu complained, following after her when she began to walk away with them. He was making a reach for one of them when Agent Stokes lashed out with one hand and seized him by the wrist. Using his weight and momentum against him, Agent Stokes easily flipped him so that he landed heavily on his back without letting any of the books in her hands so much as slip, reinstating that she wasn't just a librarian. "Ow."
"If you ask nicely, I might let you keep one of them," Agent Stokes told him, knowing that it would start off another round of her power as librarian verse his power as her employer, but her playful smile dropped when Nabu's didn't respond to her baiting. Noticing the young wizards confused expression, Agent Stokes followed his eyes skywards just in time to see dark clouds with a sickly green tinge block out the sunlight that was streaming through the dome window in the ceiling. "What is that?"
"Something's not right," Nabu said softly, all jesting gone out of his voice. Before Agent Stokes could ask what he meant, the young Gwaihir jumped to his feet and bolted out of the library.
"Nabu!" Agent Stokes shouted, dropping the books she was holding and running after him. She may utterly despise him sometimes, but she still cared for Nabu like a brother so his safety would always be her first priority, regardless of what her job description was.
Agent Stokes found her charge the second she stepped outside because he had frozen as soon as he saw what was happening. The sky had become overcast with dark, green-tinted clouds that almost completely blocked out the sun. Strong winds had picked up, blowing through the trees that covered Istari Island so roughly that they bashed up against their neighbours, knocking braches off and snapping trunks in half. The screams of a countless number of birds filled the air as the wind ripped them from their perches but none of these things had caused Nabu to freeze on the spot; it was the ocean.
Normally the ocean that surrounded Istari Island was a beautiful, breathtaking shade of blue, but now it had changed into a sickly, contaminated looking colour somewhere between green, yellow and mud brown. Instead of hypnotic, rolling waves the ocean had changed into wild, churning waves that moved in all directions and in place of the usual sweet, salty smell, a foul odour now wafted onto the shore.
"What is that?" Agent Stokes whispered as her hand moved up to cover her lips in horror, but Nabu didn't have an answer for her.
Something was serious wrong in the Realm of Tides.
(1) I'm betting that I'm not the only person who went to school with a girl like this
(2) I know that Diaspro's meant to be from the same realm as Sky but I've always had it in my head that she's from another realm that has strong political and trade connections of Eraklyon. It just seems to remove the impression that Sky was engaged to his sister
(3) Made the legal drinking age in Magix eighteen because, well, you write what you know. And sure, the biological and social arguments for raising the drinking age in Australia to twenty-one do make sense, but I don't think it's ever gonna happen
(4) I have issues with kebabs. I know people love them, but I'm not one of them
(5) Since there's not a lot of info about Nabu and I'm making him a major character instead of just a supporting one, I had to make a bunch of stuff up and given that he's a wizard I drew information from Tolkien. Any Ringers out there probably knows that Istari is the name of the order that the five wizards; Saruman, Gandalf and Rahadagast, plus the elusive Alatar and Pallando. Also, not meaning to be racist when I made Rahadagast the Brown as Nabu's ancestor, it just didn't want to make anything too obvious like Merlin. Might be worth mentioning that I wrote this ages before I saw Sylvester MaCoy's eccentric portrayal of Rahadagast. And then finally Gwaihir is the name of the main eagle from the Hobbit. I kinda pictured Nabu belonging to a family a bit like the Kennedy's; elite and influential but also overshadowed by a rather tragic past
(6) That was a line out of the West Wing from a Josh and Donna interaction. I needed an OC for Nabu to interact with and I always loved Josh and Donna's working relationship where he's an arrogant jerk to her and even though Donna's aware of it and fights him on it from time to time, she still genuinely cares for him and his fiercely loyal
Okay, so the ball has officially started rolling but I'll say again that this is a WORK IN PROGRESS so don't be expecting updates to occur too close together. I'm going back in and re-sculpt a lot of what I've written because I feel my writing styles improved since I originally wrote these chapters.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed what I've got so far. Cheers, tears.