Chapter Two
History Lesson
The days leading up the Flora's first day as a Junior at Alfea seemed to past in a blur to her. She vaguely remembered being dragged off the Magix by Stella, who claimed not to have any fall clothes despite the six suitcases she brought with her. She also remembered that first night that the Winx were all together, all spending the night in the common room, not really sleeping but laughing and catching up. It was odd when Flora woke up on September twelfth and discovered that she had school that day. She pushed herself out of bed, looking to her nightstand to discover it was five in the morning. It was strange how easy she found it to slip back into her school routine of waking up early so she could take a shower first.
The morning continued to pass as if it was being fast forward and before Flora knew it she was stepping outside of her dorm accompanied by her friends and walking to their first class together of the year. The class was called The History of Magical Mythology. It was actually an elective, but it was the only class that the Winx could all take together. While it seemed quite boring and in Stella's own words 'a major waste of sleep time', it was the only time of the day that all six of the Winx girls were together besides lunch.
The classroom was conveniently two hallways away from Flora's room and she tucked this piece of information away, noting that they could leave a little later than they did that day. Flora took her seat in the second row of the classroom, beside Layla, in front of Tecna, and behind Musa. Flora took the small textbook from her bag and placed it neatly on her desk, also pulling out her floral spiral notebook and a pink pen.
Precisely when the clock hit eight, the teacher, a younger woman with kind features, shut the door softly and took her place in front of the class. "Hello girls." She greeted her students, a smile gracing her lips. "My name is Miss DeWit and this is the History of Magical Mythology." Flora took an immediately liking to the woman who carried herself so well in front of a class of young fairies. "I'm so glad that all of you decided to take this class." She went on to say, walking in front of the class. "Now, I don't want us all to have to jump right into school, as I know this is all of our first day back, so I thought that I would start by asking if any of you had any questions about this class, myself, or any mythology questions."
A couple of hands shot up immediately and Flora surprised by the eagerness of the class, though, she guessed she shouldn't have been. The class had been extremely difficult to get into because everyone wanted to be in it. Ms. Faragonda had to pull quite a few strings to get the girls into the class. Miss DeWit took the question of an older brunette fairy.
"Are you married?" She asked and the class erupted into giggles. Miss DeWit laughed along with them.
"No, but I am engaged." She informed the class and more hands shot up.
She chose another girl who immediately blurted out "When's the wedding?"
Miss DeWit had started to blush at this point. "I'm not quite sure to be honest." She said truthfully.
A blonde fairy didn't even bother to raise her hand. "Who's the fiancé?" She asked and Miss DeWit smiled slightly.
"He's a teacher at Red Fountain."
"How old are you? You don't look very old." A younger girl asked and Miss DeWit laughed.
"Thank you, I think. I'm twenty-four actually." She told the class and then added, "Now are there any questions not regarding to my personal life?" She asked and one hand remained up.
"Are we ever going to learn about the White Rose?" The girl asked and Flora took note of how the color seemed to drain from Miss DeWit's face.
"Um, no. We are not." She answered, swallowing hard.
"Why not?" Another student shouted from the back of the class.
"Because it's not in the curriculum." She answered quickly. "No more questions. Open up to chapter seven and start reading." She told the class and took a seat at her desk. The Winx did as they were told, but not before sharing looks with one another.
The rest of the day seemed to go by all too quickly for Flora. She barely remembered her other classes and lunch seemed to have gotten shorter. Flora had some easy teachers and some hard, not that she minded at all. It had been a fairly good first day. No crazy witches attacking them or some psychopathic dark wizard attempted to take over the world. It was a first, and a nice one at that. By the time the girls had finally reached their dorm, they were exhausted. It was a tiring day for all of them.
"School is worst then saving the world." Musa joked, but there was a small undertone of seriousness.
"I know right! And all this walking around is ruining my new heels!" Stella complained and the others laughed loudly. "Hey, this is not a laughing matter!"
"Of course it's not sweetie." Flora comforted her, stifling a laugh as she did so. Stella pouted, mumbling something about how no one understood her.
"You guys think there's any way that some evil witch will attack the school and get me out of Potions class? Mr. Hunduk is teaching it this year and we all know he hates me." Musa asked, clasping face first on the couch as she did so.
Bloom laughed and shook her head. "He hates you because you told the entire class last year that he was wearing a toupee!" She explained and the rest laughed whole-heartedly at the memory.
"I was just pointing out that it looked nice and you could barely notice it was fake!" Musa defended herself not seeing the humor in it.
"Besides Musa," Tecna put in when the laughter had finally died down, "I'm sure you're over-reacting and he doesn't hate you."
"Oh trust me, he does." Layla informed the group and they all had another round of giggles.
"So what do you guys think the whole 'White Rose' thing in History of Magical Mythology was about today?" Layla asked and Flora shrugged.
"She definitely seemed to have clamed up whenever the subject came up." Bloom put in.
"What is the White Rose?" Musa asked and the others turned to Tecna expectantly.
Tecna, being Tecna, was of course already on it and searching for 'White Rose' and 'Mythology' on her phone. "The White Rose," She began to explain, "was a title for a Princess from some land called Raingarden. Her parents died when she was young and she and her older brother ruled over Raingarden and brought them into a Golden Age. She mysteriously disappeared when she was fourteen and her brother set out to find her not long after that. Raingarden supposedly was left to some General who was a tyrant and the Golden Age was ruined." She read and then paused. "The White Rose is a legend that started when a planet called Podusay was formed. No one has ever been seen leaving the planet and anyone who travels to it never returns. It's said that the planet is still waiting for their beloved Monarchs to return."
"That's sad." Stella mused and the others agreed.
Flora felt a weird sensation as Tecna told the story. It was almost as if she had already heard it. She felt like she had almost lived it. The odd feeling sat in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't help but feel like there was more to the story. Raingarden? Why did it sound so familiar to her? And the older brother, why did she take comfort in hearing about him? A sudden wave of dizziness hit her and stumbled for a moment trying to regain her balance. A hand gripped her arm and led her to an armchair, gently lowering her.
"Whoa Flora, you okay?" Musa asked as Layla helped Flora into the armchair closest to them.
Flora rested her head in her hands. "Yes, I'm fine. I just don't feel well all of a sudden." She answered truthfully and the others looked at each other with concern.
"Maybe you should go to bed Flo, it's been a long day." Musa suggested and Flora nodded, regretting it afterwards.
"Yeah, you're right." Flora told her and stood up. "Night guys, see you in the morning." She told them and they returned the good night.
As Flora entered her dorm and began to undress, getting ready for bed, her thoughts continued to wander to the White Rose. She wondered if it was true, and if it was what had become of the two monarchs. She settled herself into bed before drifting off into a restless sleep.
AN: I am so so so sorry. I know it's been forever. Please forgive me! I hope you all will still read this story, and sorry this chapters a little boring. The action starts next chapter! I promise!
~ Stars