The First Years were required to sit with their dorm mates at the same round six-seater tables. They were each supposed to talk about themselves and get to know the other girls. After eating and listening to the "Welcome Back" speech, they were given some time to talk and get to know each other a little more before getting the exclusive "Welcome Freshmen" speech.
"Princess Aribella." A beautiful blonde girl introduced herself. Her posture was perfect and her eyes were so big and blue, Illianthe wasn't sure if they were gigantic pools stuck on her face or not. Her smile was genuine, but she definitely seemed like the drama-queen type. Her outfit consisted of a navy dress paired with cowgirl boots, not exactly the kind of fancy attire Illianthe pictured Princesses to wear. Of course it was probably designer and therefore extremely expensive, but still.
"I am the youngest daughter of the royal family of Sketaire. I have been in several famous productions and have starred in many acting roles for plays, musicals, just about anything you can imagine, I've already done it."
Simoriah yawned. "Relax, Ari. This isn't a job interview, you don't have to be so formal."
Aribella sniffed and squinted at Simoriah. "Oh hush, you. Just because you've been here since you were 14 doesn't mean the rest of us have been to the same advantage."
Simoriah blinked, which Illianthe soon realized was her only real way of showing emotion, through her eyes. Unless she was extremely angry. Otherwise, dearest Simoriah could have been mistaken for a robot.
"So, you're the Fairy of Passion?" Rhyla piped up. The girl could carry on a conversation with a rock, she was so talkative.
"A Fairy of Passion." Aribella corrected, smiling and swishing her golden tresses over her thin shoulder. "I'm sure there are plenty more around Alfea. It's like Music, there are many planets and moons inhabited in my Realm, therefore there are many of us Fairies. Most go to Beta Academy, actually." Aribella twirled one of her aqua dyed strands.
"But that's impressive." Simoriah added, tying hard to not be antisocial, unlike Taphira, their other roommate, who didn't speak unless spoken to. She looked like she'd rather eat dirt than be there. Or maybe beat someone up…
"But your power. Weaponry?" Aribella sat up straighter. "How does that even work?"
Simoriah shrugged, silky tendrils of hair falling perfectly in to place behind her.
"And you, Rhyla," she looked at her. "A Love Fairy, right?"
"Well, sorta." Rhyla giggled. "I'm a Love-Justice Fairy. It's kind of the same, only I'm the first to have both the powers of Love and Justice…"
"Definitely an interesting combination." Illianthe added, trying to fit in with these girls. They were all so beautiful and charming and had amazing powers- she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to fit in with them.
"What about you Illianthe?" Aribella locked eyes with her, making Illianthe panic slightly inside. "What are your powers?"
Illianthe smiled nervously at them. "Well, see, I'm not exactly sure... but I can travel through time, so I'm guessing it has to be Time powers or something like that."
"Time?!" the girls looked at her, with astonished looks on their faces.
"What?" Illianthe was totally panicking now. Had she said something wrong? Was time not really a Fairy power?
"Nothing." Simoriah said, even she looked astonished. "It's just that Time Fairies have been extinct for over 5,000 years."
Illianthe's mouth dropped. "You're kidding? Oh my."
"No for reals," Aribella leaned closer, as though she were relaying the latest celebrity gossip to them. "We learn about it this year some, I believe, but I had to read about it in my private tutoring: the details are super sketchy, but the basic gist of things is that once upon a time, literally, the Time Fairies existed. But then, they just vanished without a trace. No one knows for sure what happened to them."
"They just- disappeared?" Rhyla asked, frowning. Illianthe didn't feel as bad for not knowing the information now.
Aribella nodded solemnly.
"There are many theories as to what happened to them," Simoriah leaned in, too. "Some sort of natural disaster, famine, homicide, the possibilities are endless. But none of the historians know for sure what happened." She turned to Illianthe. "If you truly are a Fairy of Time, then you are the only one and whatever killed off the others will probably be coming for you to finish the job."
Illianthe gulped. Not exactly the feedback she had expected.
"Well, I'm probably not even a Time Fairy. I mean, there's got to be all sorts of powers that allow you to time travel… right?" Illianthe looked hopefully into the others' eyes.
"Actually, no." Simoriah said gravely. "In the Believix stage, you can use a power called Tracix, which is a kind of time travel, but all you can do it see in to the past, your physical presence isn't actually there when the events unfolded. But you are clearly not at the Believix level."
"Who cares if you're condemned?" Taphira spoke up finally. Illianthe felt like she just got stabbed in the heart. She barely even knew this girl and already she didn't care if she lived or died.
"If you are, if you aren't, so what?" she sat forward, removing her leg from over the side of the chair. "You are the only Fairy alive who has the ultimate ability: to go to whenever and see whoever. You can do whatever you want, see whoever you want, live whenever you want. For all we know, you were always the last of the original Time Fairies, you just time traveled to us from the past."
"That's impossible." Simoriah shot. "Time travel can only be done by a powerful Time Fairy, usually in at least the Enchantix stage. And even so, she can only travel for short periods of time, like a week or two ago, and she has no control over where she ends up or when precisely. There is no way Illianthe is a Time Fairy in any retrospect. She could not have been born in this day and age as one, nor could she have travelled from over 5,000 years to us. I am sorry, Illianthe, but I have trouble believing you're a Time Fairy at all. This makes absolutely no sense, all evidence shows that Time Fairies no longer exist. You can't be a Fairy of Time."
Illianthe opened her mouth to speak, but Headmistress Ambrosia began speaking before she could.
They never asked Taphira what her powers were, Illianthe thought as the Headmistress droned on about how the new year would be chocked full of fun activities, but they need to balance their work and fun. And they still had one girl from their room missing. It was Aribella's roommate, Princess Xantara. Illianthe wasn't sure what her excuse was for not being there, but she had a feeling things were going to get interesting this year. She wasn't sure she could handle Aribella being a Princess, but two? Illianthe knew already this first year was going to be amazing, though. Despite the rocky start.
