Chapter 6: Trouble at Cloud Tower
Stella and Bloom walked down the road, light falling from the street lamps while dark clouds glided overhead. As the cool breeze flowed past them, Bloom found herself wondering if going along with Stella was the smartest idea. On the other hand, surely Stella would know how to handle things and as her friend, wasn't it her duty to assist? As the redhead juggled with all these thoughts, she decided it might be best to occupy herself with something else and asked: "So, Stella, why is that ring so important?"
"You mean besides it being an ancient family heirloom that's, like, worth millions of nummi?" asked Stella.
"Well, I kinda figured they weren't just after it for ransom. For example, do you think they could utilize its light enhancing powers in some way?" asked the redhead.
"Actually, it's not specifically light enhancing," admitted Stella. "Truth be told, it just enhances magic in general".
"Oh," said Bloom, a bit surprised. "Okay, then they can definitely use it".
"Originally, it was actually thought to only enhance light magic. But that's just because a knack for light has been passed down through my family," explained the blonde, stretching her arms a bit. "Just a misunderstanding".
"Wait, you can inherit knacks?" asked Bloom curiously.
"Oh no, I tots sense another mechanics of magic conversation coming," sighed Stella. "I don't know that much about it, I swear. It has something to do with ambient magic and DNA, or something like that, but I never paid too much attention to that".
"Oh," said Bloom with a look of disappointment.
The Solarian princess rubbed her chin for a bit and said: "You know, I might not be able to explain a lot about the mechanics, but I can tell you about what I know of my ring and the dragonflame inside it".
"A dragon flame? As in from an actual dragon?" asked the redhead, curiosity sparked.
"The answer to that is a bit complicated," replied Stella. "Okay, here is what I do know. A long time ago, before my family's kingdom was established, there was this rock. I think it was called the Solaris Stone. They say it was a star that crashed down on our planet a long time ago, so most geeks figure it was, like, an asteroid or something. Then one of my ancestors, my great-great-great-some more greats-grandfather found this ancient magical rock, which was even sacred to many of the nomadic tribes of the area. And then promptly had it cut into accessories". Stella smiled a bit embarrassedly when she noticed Bloom's shocked expression and said: "I admit, my ancestor didn't have a lot of appreciation for local culture. Anyways, while a lot of totally nice accessories, now collectively known as the Solaria Regalia, was made, only one held any power".
"The ring slash sceptre?" asked Bloom.
"Right on the money," replied Stella with a smile. "At the time, my ancestor used this ring to declare himself divinely chosen by the sun goddess Solaris, and yes, that name does pop up a lot. She was all the rage back then". After a pause, the blonde added: "Still is, in fact. So, anyways, he used this ring to declare himself the divinely chosen ruler of the land, raised an army of believers and then immediatly killed a bunch of people and set their stuff on fire. It's a rather bloody and grim chapter of our history," admitted Stella uneasily. "Moving on, he established Solaria, had a bunch of heirs with a couple of wives and then died one day. Back then, they said Solaris called him back to her. Which is not entirely untrue, since Solaria is also our sun and some archaeology geeks took some samples from his mummy and found out he most likely died from skin cancer due to inadequate skin care".
"Wait, you guys have mummies?" asked Bloom surprised.
"Yep. Left to dry in the sun in the hottest parts of the desert. If the corpses were still there a month later when people came back, you were declared to have been chosen by Solaria, and good goddess did everything back then revolve around her, and then you were shoved into an underground tomb along with some earthly riches and maybe a slave or ten. As I said, not the best part of our history," she said with a wince. "I mean, people still get mummified nowadays, but it's done under a lot more controlled circumstances with less people being buried alive and I just realised I've gotten way off track," said Stella suddenly, cocking her head.
"I don't mind. I find it really fascinating," said Bloom, a wide smile on her lips. "I mean, the parts about your ancestors doing horrible things are kinda disturbing, but the rest is fascinating. You really know a lot about your people's history".
"Well, I am the heir to the throne. Kinda's expected of me" said Stella. "Had tons of history classes when I was younger. Anyways, that was totally not what I was telling you about. Let's see," she continued, scratching her chin with a contemplative look. "Ah yes, ancestor died. His heir took over and then follows a long history of alliances, backstabbing, murder, secrecy, civil war and lots of the fun stuff. Fortunately, we're a lot more civil nowadays. At least now, branch crisis's only result in years of deals and trading back and forth, not fratricide and wine poisoning," sighed Stella, then she noticed her red-headed companions confused look.
"I assume it has nothing to do with gardening," she said.
"A branch crisis? No, not at all," replied Stella. "Okay, see, there's a lot of branches in the royal family. Different dynasties descended from the multitude of children our esteemed ancestor had. I'm from the Guildenstern branch, thus the last name. And if I were to, like, marry someone outside the family, then that would be that, Guildenstern branch sits on the throne. But if I were to marry, say, a cousin of the, for example, Fortinbras family, then there's a branch crisis, because there can't be two branches on the throne, because traditions I guess. Then we have to figure out which branch has the throne, because that's super duper important for some reason," sighed Stella. "It can take a long time. The one for my father and mother started before I was born and ended when I was seven". Suddenly, a glimmer of pain appeared in her eyes and she looked away from Bloom.
"Something wrong?" asked the redhead concerned.
"No, nothing," answered the blonde, her voice a bit strained. "Anyway, the whole deal with the ring is that the stone had a dragonflame in it. A sort of primal piece of pure magical energy," explained Stella, turning back toward Bloom, her face again lit by a smile. "But there wasn't a lot of dragonflame in the rock, so when the stone got cut up, it stayed in the ring. There's actually nothing divine about it, but those who still worship the sun goddess insist that it was she who sent the rock to the planet in the first place".
"So, did she?" asked Bloom.
The Solarian princess shrugged and said: "I tots don't know".
…
"Techna, slow down," said Musa, her spine still protesting from the powerful hit that it took less than an hour ago, as she struggled to keep up with the infuriated girl stomping down the road. "You're not thinking clearly right now. You need to take a moment to relax".
The scarred girl snorted annoyed and asked: "What makes ya think I need a rest?"
"Well, you're looking for Cloud Tower, yes? And yet, you haven't checked online," answered the black haired girl.
Techna immediately stopped, thought about it for a moment, then replied: "Yeah, okay, so maybe you have a point". She looked around for a moment, saw a bench and promptly sat down on it, already unpacking her laptop.
"So," started Musa as she sat down besides the magenta haired girl. "I guess there's no way I'm going to convince you this is a stupid thing to do?"
"Maybe it is stupid. But if there is one thing I have learned, it is that if you let people walk all over you, they will keep doing it, because then you will be nothing but a doormat to them," replied Techna as her computer monstrosity booted up with a ominous rattling. "Here we go. Now, let's get an address on Cloud Tower".
"Before you do that, could you look up Stella's ring? I'm kinda curious what the deal is with it," said Musa. "It might also explain what those witches are trying to accomplish".
"Why not," replied Techna and started clicking around, browsing between pages. "Alright, I think this is it. The Ring of Solaris, aka the Sceptre of Solaria, most notable part of the Solaria Regalia," she read of a web page. "Currently belongs to the Guildenstern branch of the royal family of Solaria. It was carved from a meteorite 46 years pre-MWT. Contains a dragonflame and thus has the capacity to empower the magic of the wielder, plus enchanted with spells of teleportation with allows the wielder to move between worlds, plus transmogrification enchantments allows it to shift from ring form to sceptre". She looked away from the screen for a moment, starring into the night sky.
"You look like your pondering something," said Musa.
"Just thinking about the tale of the Great Dragon," said Techna nostalgic, returning her gaze to her comrade. "Heard it a lot in the soup kitchens back in Zenith".
"Really? I've only heard bits of it. Mostly in relations to classes about dragon flames and shades," replied Musa.
"Wanna hear the full tale?" asked the scarred girl with a smile. When her black haired companion nodded, Techna started the tale. "Alright, here's the version everyone agrees on. A long time ago, before even the first kingdom of magi had appeared, there were no worlds, only darkness. An endless abyss that stretched into infinity. But then, there was a light and the Great Dragon entered the void. It spewed its flames into the darkness and from its fire grew forth thousands of worlds, each one a perfect piece of divine art. And on these worlds, people appeared. But these people where like dolls, like machines, working in predetermined patterns, all according to the Great Dragon's design. After a while, the Great Dragon grew tired and decided to rest. But in its sleep, its Shadow grew curious and flew off to see the worlds on its own. Wherever the Dragon's Shadow went, small disturbances happened, and the perfect worlds changed. Life awakened and the people broke free from the patterns, grew curious and emotional. And they in turn disturbed the perfect worlds even more. The Dragon's Shadow was fascinated with this and studied all these newly enlightened creatures and how they in turn created new things. It delighted in all the unforeseen changes, all the unpredictable things that flared up about it. And then, quite suddenly, the Shadow found itself lost in the worlds, unable to return to the Great Dragon. And forth from the Great Dragon streamed its Breath, to search for the missing Shadow. It scoured the worlds, but the worlds where no longer perfect, and the Breath found itself confused by the chaos of the worlds. Looking for the lost Shadow, it itself became lost. And unable to regain its Breath, the Great Dragon slept in quietly, never to awaken. Without the Dragon, the Breath perished; falling apart and spreading its sparks across the worlds. And it became magic. The Shadow felt what had happened, and it its grief, it tore itself apart, small motes of darkness falling across the worlds, attaching themselves to the living things that so delighted the Shadow. And the Shadow became the knacks," Techna finished and looked at Musa, who starred enthralled at her.
"You know, you're really an amazing storyteller," she said after a slight pause.
"Nah, just heard it a lot," replied Techna. "Besides, there's many branches of Dragon Worshippers that would say that I left out important stuff".
"Like what?" asked Musa curiously, pondering what could possibly be missing from the tale.
"Well, Pureflames believe the Shadow was the Dragon's evil side while the Breath was its good side. Sleepers believe that the Great Dragon was an unsatisfiable tyrant that constantly reforged the universe, and that the Shadow ran away as part of a cunning plan. Dragon Utopians believe that we live in an unfinished world and should the Great Dragon awaken, it will forge our worlds into a paradise. Domino Supremacists believe the Great Dragon rested in their world and gifted the first king of Domino a great dragonflame before dying, which is why they should rule everything. Honestly, there are a lot of spins on that particular story," replied Techna, counting versions on her fingers. "And that was just a couple of the big ones".
"Which one do you believe in?" the black haired girl asked.
Techna thought about it for a moment, her brows creased in folds of deep thinking, then said: "Honestly, I don't know. Maybe the Great Dragon created the worlds, maybe it's just a tale. I just really like it". She turned her head and asked: "What about you?"
"I think the story was a way for people to explain why we are here and why dragonflames and dragonshades exist," replied Musa.
"Well, that is one way to look at it. Say, what'ya know about these dragonthingamajigs?" asked Techna, curiosity sparked.
"Just the things we learned in school. Dragonflames are primal fragments that create massive amounts of magical energy. Dragonshades on the other hand are more like free flowing knacks," replied Musa. "And if any is found, then it can be bound into artefacts, same as with any magic, and used by just about anyone".
"So maybe that's what they want. Let me just check up on this dragonflame business" said Techna, browsing with a look of intensity.
…
"So, do you know anything else about these dragonflames?" Bloom asked.
"Hmm, not much I'm afraid. I knew the Royal Dynasty of Domino had them," replied Stella.
"Like with your ring?" asked the redhead.
"Well, no, since they actually had the dragonflame in them," Stella replied. "It was a family thing. All members of the family in direct lineage of one of their multi-great-ancestors had the dragonflame and thus vastly increased magical potency compared to most normal folk".
"Wouldn't that mean that they created more dragonflames?" asked Bloom, scratching her head.
"Oh yes. Some of their ancestors claimed this meant they had been chosen by the Great Dragon to administrate all of creation," replied Stella. "Tussled with my family roughly nine hundred years ago. You can still find patches of Solaria that's been turned into glass due to that bummer of a business. But Dad says they had changed a lot, like us. Well, until..." she began and sighed.
"Until what?" asked Bloom.
"Well, until they all died about fifteen years ago," replied Stella. "Wiped out by a particularly mean bunch of witches. A very grim business. Sparx never fully recovered".
"You know, I sorta hoped that there would be less tales of tragedy and bloodshed, and more tales of brave knights and pretty unicorns out here," moaned Bloom sadly.
…
"Here's a Multiclopedia article," said Techna triumphantly.
"Those things aren't particularly reliable. Anyone can edit them," replied Musa.
"Don't underestimate the collective nerd power of all the multiverses' online users," replied Techna with a grin. "Let's see. Lots of stuff we already know, blah, blah, blah, blah, here's something. Dragonflames are believed by many modern scientists to be the very source of magic and possibly primordial fragments of the multiverses' creation. Interestingly, while dragonflames are usually found bound to an object of sorts, they can also bind themselves to people, in which case new dragonflames are created through the bearers progeny, as is the case with the Royal Dynasty of Domino".
"Urgh, that was some nasty business," said Musa. "The main family line and several supporting houses got wiped out. The Camarilla family only survived because two of them was on business in Eraklyon, while the Bijoux family only survived because a couple of them was vacationing on Harmony".
"Yikes. I barely heard anything about it. Not a lot about ten year's old news in the newspapers I read," cringed Techna. "I think I met a couple of former Domino citizens once". She looked at the computer and said: "Enough of that, I have an address. Let's go rearrange the faces of those three little brats".
"Brats who are senior to us in age and power," mumbled Musa and she got up after the now once again eager Techna.
…
Not far away, up in the student floors of Cloud Tower, Icy walked into her apartment. Compared to Alfea, student clusters where a lot smaller, with three private rooms surrounding a common room which linked up to a small kitchen and bathroom. The white haired girl turned and entered one of the rooms, where Darcy sat with arcane instruments of various kinds, investigating the ring.
"So?" asked Icy. "Any progress?"
"You're not going to like what I have to tell you," sighed the dirty blonde, removing a pair of googles. "This thing doesn't have as much dragonflame in it as we suspected".
"Go on," said Icy, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"It's more like a dragonspark actually," sighed Darcy, beginning to pace back and forth. "There is no way we could ever draw the necessary amount of energy from this thing. Even if we found some sort of receptacle to hold the energy we could draw from it, we would spend it much quicker than we would ever be able to replenish it. Which would stop our plan before it even begins".
"So that means.." said Icy slowly, voiced tinged with displeasure.
"We're back to square one. Well, not entirely. We've committed several crimes we will have to keep under wraps," she added. "On the bright side, the ring is still useful to us. Teleportation and magic empowerment will both come in handy," continued Darcy, holding up the ring. "So there's that".
Icy sighed in annoyance, rubbing her forehead. "So, what do we do now?" she asked after a short pause.
"We try finding another source. It's not like it's the only dragonflame out there," replied Darcy. "We could possibly use several artefacts in conjunction with one another to generate and sustain the required energy, but let's make that plan B for now".
"Just fantastic. I'll go tell Stormy right away," said Icy and left the room with a rather cross expression on her face.
…
Hours later, with the skies nothing but ebony darkness lit up only by small stars that barely shined through the thick layer of clouds, Bloom and Stella wandered through the forest, guided by the flashlight-esque beam from the blonde's finger.
"You sure this is a good idea?" whispered Bloom, starring into the darkness of the surrounding woodland.
"Well, if we took the main door, they would totally know we were coming," replied Stella. "Look, we have arrived. Welcome to Cloud Tower".
Bloom looked ahead and looked up, the massive twisting spires of Cloud Tower framed against the thunderclouds covering the sky. Lighting flashed, briefly illuminating its warped façades, grinning gargoyles and atrocious statues adorning its sides, seemingly leering at the girls.
"Super cool and super creepy," said Bloom in awe.
"It's pretty good. But I still prefer Alfea though," said Stella as she and her ginger companion walked up to the rocky base of the school. "Now, according to the brochure, there should be an emergency exit somewhere".
"Wait, how do you know that?" asked Bloom confused as they circled the intimidating structure.
"It was in the brochure. You know, for when visiting friends on other schools," explained Stella. "It's so no one gets left behind in case of disaster. Except we will use it to get in. Ah, there it is," she finished, pointing her light at a cave opening.
The two girls walked into the cold cavern, guided by Stella's light. The cave's floor was smooth, scoured for imperfections that could get in the way of an evacuation. The walls, on the other hand, where a mix of a natural roughness and smoother sections where the cave had been expanded. It didn't take long for the two girls to find the door that lead into the tower, a dark purplish thing that matched the rest of the structure.
"So, what now? Can you laser through it?" asked Bloom.
"No way. Without my ring, the most I could do is make the handle uncomfortably warm," replied Stella with a head shake. "Can't you, like, melt the lock with fire?"
"I'm still not good at creating fire consistently," admitted Bloom, looking a bit embarrassed. "And even if I could conjure some fire, I'm not sure we could make it hot enough to melt a door lock". She looked around the cave. "Maybe we could use a rock to bash it open. But that would probably make a lot of noise. Or maybe if we find a sturdy stick in the woods, we could pry the door open by..." The redhead was interrupted by a click and was surprised to see Stella open the door.
"Huh, well would you look at that. It's tots not locked at all," said the Solarian princess with a surprised grin. "Guess those witches aren't as smart as they think".
…
On the top floor, inside a spacious office looking much like a darker version of Faragonda's, Headmistress Griffin sat in her massive chair, enjoying a cup of tea while looking through a report. Opposite her sat Nash, happily pouring himself another cup of hot tea.
"So," began Griffin. "They chucked potions at each other".
"Yes, a rather unfortunate incident. Luckily, I could fix it. I gather the two of them has been at each other's throats for a while," sighed Bittersmoke while gently letting sugar dump into his tea. "I would advise taking them both to counselling. They do seem to have trouble managing their anger".
"I'll take that up for consideration. I will need to confer with the other teachers about their behaviour first," answered Griffin.
"Of course," agreed Bittersmoke, while sipping his tea. "But I do know that..."
A sudden rumbling beeping emitted from a glass ball that was attached to the wall, looking rather much like a giant eye, interrupted him.
"Hold that thought," said Griffin, wandering over to the glass eye. "Show me". An image of a redhead and a blonde girl sneaking though the halls manifested. "Fairies," concluded Griffin.
"Huh, well that's weird," said Bittersmoke. "Think they have been invited?"
"I guess we'll find out. Would you mind getting them?" asked Griffin as she returned to her seat.
"Not at all," replied Bittersmoke happily, before finishing his tea and heading out the door.
…
"Well, here we are. Last chance to go home," said Musa, starring up at Cloud Tower.
"I'm not turning back. No massive, thundercloud surrounded, phallic building shall scare this gal off," grumbled Techna and marched up to the front door. She knocked hard on the metal, intent on not being ignored. With an uncanny sound, an eye melted forth from the door. It was completely black, save for a purple reptilian slit in it.
"I'm here for three witches. One white haired with a thing for blue clothes. One dark blonde with tasteless make-up and one with the worst attempt at an afro dressed in red," demanded Techna, while Musa stared in shock at the eye. The dark orb stared at them for a moment, before disappearing.
"Well, that happened. I just got glared at by a door," sighed Musa. "So, think it worked? They might just ignore you like they would a door to door salesman".
"Dunno. Guess we'll find out," said Techna with a shrug.
…
While Bloom and Stella gingerly walked down the halls, they suddenly heard footsteps. Immediately, they jumped into a dark classroom, hastily trying to avoid being seen. Walking down the hall, looking rather tired and grumpy, was the witches from before.
"I just don't get it. Who the fuck wants to talk with us at this hour," said the puffy haired one with a yawn.
"Probably just one of our class mates that got locked out and don't want the teachers to know," said the white haired, as the three of them passed by the opening Bloom and Stella hid in. "So, what should we demand for this little favour?"
"Depends on who it is. If it's Jan again, we could get access to his aircycle," speculated the dirty blonde. "Or if it's Wendy, we could have her 'help' Stormy with her potion homework".
"That would be frickin' fantastic," replied the red clad girl gleefully
As they rounded a corner, Bloom and Stella popped out. "I guess this means we're going the right way," said Stella triumphantly and hurried down the hall. "Come on Bloom. Their room has..." She stopped when the walls suddenly closed in front of her, stopping her from progressing. Behind them, the various doors didn't just shut, but their openings completely closed as if they were mouths, while the hallway also clamped shut in the other end.
"Well, what now?" asked Bloom worried.
"I... I have no idea," answered Stella.
…
When Icy opened the front door, she expected a lot of things. One of the things she didn't expect was a rather pissed off looking Techna, with Musa right behind her.
"Oh. It's you," said the white haired girl disdainfully, pushing the door fully open. "What do you want?"
"Well, what I want to do is bend you over backwards and force feed you your own ass, but since I'm busy, I'll be satisfied with the ring," said Techna in a low growl.
The white haired witch and the red clad witch looked at each other for a moment, before bursting out in laughter. Only the third witch seemed like she was prepared for the possibility of taking her seriously.
"That's cute. She thinks she can beat you, Icy" gasped the puffy haired one.
"Downright adorable," said Icy.
"Really? Icy? That's the best your parents could come up with?" asked Techna with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't talk about my family like that, whelp, it isn't healthy," replied Icy, although she was still smiling. "Tell you what, since a smear of fairy guts would only stink up the front door, why don't you take you little girlfriend here and flitter all the way back to Alfea, because our magic is ten times stronger than anything a pathetic fairy like you could ever..." Techna's fist lashed out and smacked into Icy's face with a nauseating crack, sending the older witch stumbling back before falling on her ass.
"Magic isn't all it's cracked up to be," replied Techna threateningly.
Two small streams of blood poured from Icy's flattened nose, a look of dazed shock on her face. Silence fell upon the scene. "That looked like it hurt," stated the dirty blonde.
"OF COURSE IT HURT!" screamed Icy, pained tears at the corners of her eyes.
"You will pay for that, bitch," snarled Stormy, charging energy in her hands.
Techna reacted immediately, hurling her pipe, which smacked against the girl's shin with a dull thud.
"FUCK! DAMN! SHIT! PISS!" cursed the girl, jumping on one leg while cradling the wounded shin with her hands.
Techna's arm flowed with experienced motion, immediately pulling a grenade from her pocket and hurling it at the final witch. However, the dirty blonde immediately ducked and the grenade flew uselessly over her head, bounding of the tower's wall into the surrounding darkness. She too reacted quickly, with a gesture manifesting a solid cloud of darkness around Techna's head.
The girl was momentarily stopped by the loss of sight, which resulted in her getting tackled to the ground. "I'LL RIP YOUR EYES OUT!" screamed Icy, her voice sounding slightly warped from her broken nose. There was a dull thump and the white haired girl found herself hurled off her target. She crashed into a bush and stared infuriated at the offender, Musa.
"STORMY! GET HER!" demanded the fallen witch, while she untangled herself from the bush. Stormy let go of her shin with one hand and with a resounding boom, she flung a bolt of lightning at Musa, who threw herself to the side, the tree behind her exploding in charred cinders.
The black haired girl immediately jumped up, her hands thrumming with energy, when she was shocked by her opponents suddenly having duplicated themselves.
"So, guess which one is the right one," said every single copy of the dirty blonde simultaneously.
Musa tried to figure out where to aim, but immediately several Icys flung spear-like formations of ice at her. Musa dodged again, feeling the cold piercing of the one real icicle slicing past her, carving open a shallow wound in her side. Icy readied for another throw, but suddenly a blinding light exploded, annihilating the illusionary clones.
"Can't believe that worked again," commented Techna as she jumped to her feet, another grenade already in her hand.
"YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD!" raged Stormy, readying another bolt of lightning.
"THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF ALL OF YOU!" sounded another booming voice.
Musa froze, dark thoughts clouding her head. A sense of hopeless pessimism descended upon her and she could feel the magic in her wither. Techna too looked quite disturbed.
On the other side, Icy and her friends felt hope and happiness swell in them, their rage swallowed by unrestrained optimism. Icy's charged magic ebbed out, buried under an avalanche of fluttery feelings.
"I do expect there is a good reason for having a brawl outside of the front door," said Zarathustra in a low, threatening voice while stepping out of the school. With a gesture, the unnatural feelings that had fogged the girls´ minds lifted.
"She attacked me," said Icy immediately, pointing at Techna.
"And of course you have done absolutely nothing to provoke her, have you, Isabella?" asked the witch in a disbelieving voice. "You are all coming with me to the headmistress´ office, and yes, that includes you two," she continued, pointing at Techna and Musa.
…
"Maybe there's a secret button somewhere," guessed Stella, as she kept poking the walls. "Found anything yet, Bloom?"
"Nope. Not a single loose stone," replied Bloom and sighed. "We're going to be stuck here until tomorrow at this rate".
Suddenly, one end of the hall opened up, revealing the crooked form of Professor Bittersmoke.
"Hello," he greeted them warmly. "You two seem to be awfully far away from your school".
"Uhm, yeah," said Stella sheepishly.
"Here to visit some friends?" asked the elderly man conversationally.
"It's a bit more complicated than that," admitted Bloom.
"Right, well, then we'll get it sorted out with the headmistress," said Bittersmoke and turned around. "Come with me, girls. I don't bite and neither does Griffin".
"It's not being bitten that worries me," mumbled the blonde as they followed the elderly witch.
…
Griffin's hands were folded, a displeased look on her face as she scanned the group before her. "Well, the lot of you certainly had a busy night," she started. "I will be generous and assume there is some sort of explanation for this. And it had better be a good one. We teachers may sometimes look the other way when somebody's lover visits them outside the weekend, but that does not mean I will accept students trying to kill each other at our front door while others break into our school". Her voice was low but intense, rooting the girls before her to the spot. "You, the blonde. What is your name?"
"Stella Guildenstern," replied the Solarian princess with a voice much like a mouse.
"And why exactly did you and your friend sneak into our school?" asked the headmistress.
"It's a long story," answered the blonde, scratching her neck.
"And we have a lot of time. Because none of you are going anywhere until I've got an explanation," replied the headmistress.
"Well, see, those three stole my ring, the Sceptre of Solaria. So I kinda wanted it..." mumbled Stella, her voice disappearing under the withering glare Griffin gave her.
The headmistress rose up from her chair and touched the glass eye. "Ediltrude. Are you there?"
"Yes, miss Griffin. What can I do for you?" sounded a voice from the orb.
"I want the cluster where Isabella, Maria and Darcy lives investigated. Supposedly, there should be a ring there which belongs to the Solarian family," replied Griffin.
"At once," sounded the voice from the orb.
"Now the question is, why did you not just contact us when it happened?" asked Griffin, returning to her seat.
"Uhm, well, the witches could have, you know, maybe, tried to hide..." Stella trailed off again when Griffin's piercing gaze fell upon her.
"You don't have a lot of faith in the Cloud Tower's staff, do you?" she asked, to which Stella had no reply. The headmistress turned her attention from the Solarian princess to Techna. "So, Cloud Tower noticed your entire battle, including the part where Miss Isabella tried to threaten you. But why are you here in the first place?"
"Well, after having them send an ogre after us and kidnapping my galpal Stella here, not to mention disguising one of them as Stella in order to deceive us, I wanted to deal with them myself," admitted Techna honestly.
"This is becoming quite the story," Zarathustra commented.
"I agree. I can't wait for an explanation for all of this," replied the headmistress, eyeing the three witches.
At that moment, Ediltrude entered the office, ring in hand. "It was there, hidden in a closet," she said, placing the ring on the desk.
Griffin's gaze became extremely hard as she returned her attention to the three witches. Bloom wouldn't have been surprised if the three of them spontaneously turned to dust by the sheer force in the headmistress' withering glare.
"Infiltration, brawling, kidnapping, mercenaries, identity and regular theft. Actions more befitting of enemy nations at war than rivalling students. What in the name of the ancients were the three of you thinking?"
"I'll admit, in hindsight, this whole thing kinda spun out of control," said Darcy, sounding sincerely regretful.
"Go on. I can't wait to hear your reasoning behind this," said the headmistress coldly.
"Well, you see, it started at the First Year's Dance last year. We met Blondie here and she was all like 'fairies are superior to witches in every way. They can never be as good as fairies. They totally shouldn't let a school for witches even exist, because they're all, like, bad people'" explained Darcy, briefly imitating Stella's voice. "She was like that the entire night, only stopping when teachers got close enough to hear her".
"You did?" asked Bloom, turning to the blonde besides her.
"No, do I seem like a person who would do that?" asked Stella shocked. When her friends responded with silence and contemplative looks, she huffed and said: "Thanks for the backup".
"Anyway, so after an entire night of that, we decided we wanted to get back at her. You know, with a prank or something. And we came up with the idea of stealing her ring. We were of course going to give it back," said Darcy hurriedly when she saw the headmistress´ expression darken.
"And what would the point of that be?" asked Zarathustra incredulously.
"Well, it would prove she shouldn't underestimate witches," replied Darcy. "Okay, so maybe we didn't think that part all the way through".
"You don't say," replied the scarred witch dryly.
"So, we pooled our money and hired this guy to get the ring. Except he kinda went overboard. Though we only found that out later," continued Darcy.
"Oh, like when you send him at us in the alley?" asked Musa disbelieving.
"He was just supposed to grab you. It's not my fault ogres are so violent and dense," replied Darcy defensively. "Besides, why do you think we fired him and hired another to help us?"
"You're trying to say that wasn't your ogre gopher helping you during the whole kidnapped Stella debacle?" asked Musa disbelieving.
"That was clearly a bearded man, not an ogre. His name is Simon, by the way?" replied Darcy. "But yeah, then we tried to lure Stella out on a false date, she showed up and we tried to steal the ring sneakily, she attacked and we accidentally knocked her out".
Everyone turned to look at Stella. "Funny story," said the blonde with an embarrassed chuckle. "I can't actually remember what happened".
"I then disguised myself as her to get the ring, since she didn't bring it. Had to run when psycho girl here tried to brain me with a pipe," continued Darcy, gesturing at Techna with the thumb.
"You tried to hurt Bloom," hissed the scarred girl.
"Actually, I just tried to keep her quiet, because she figured out who I was. Seemed prudent with you lot," continued Darcy. "Anyway, they tracked us down, a scuffle ensued and we fled with the ring. And the rest you know".
The headmistress pinched the bridge of her nose, looking like it took all her willpower to remain calm. "That has to be the dumbest thing anyone in the history of my time as headmistress has ever done for such an inane and pointless reason," she said, her voice low and threatening. "You three are lucky that I'm not expelling you on the spot. Your desire for vengeance has brought several people in danger, you have wasted the police's time and resources not to mention you could have caused all manners of further problems. The thoughtlessness and stupidity, the petty drive for revenge, to go so far, there are no words to describe how low the three of you have sunk. But I will be somewhat merciful and let you remain as students. In fact, since you all like Alfea so much that you even impersonated a student, you will get to spend one day out of every weekend helping the staff there for the rest of the school year. Am I clear?" she asked with a cold smirk on her face.
"Yes headmistress," replied the three witches, looking at the floor.
"As for you four," continued Griffin, turning to the fairies. "You have also shown poor judgement, a similar drive for revenge and nothing short of disdain for the law. You have acted solely with you own interests in mind, scorning figures of authority for Dragon knows what reason. However, it is not up to me to judge or punish you. That will be Faragonda's job". At that moment, a cell phone on her table rung. She picked it up and said: "Headmistress Guinevere Griffin. Whom am I speaking with? Oh, hi Faragonda. Four students heading for Cloud Tower? Funny you should bring that up".
…
Bloom wasn't sure why, but the glare Faragonda sent them as they stood in her office, early morning light streaming through the great window, was a lot worse that Griffin's. Probably because she had added disappointment to it.
"What were you all thinking?" asked the elderly headmistress. "Or rather, were you thinking at all? The police was on the case and I specifically told you all not to interfere. It is not for school students to engage in reckless vigilantism, no matter what. I don't care whether the witches explanation or yours are true, you have all acted with neither thought nor care". Bloom started to wonder if it would be possible to sink into the ground out of nothing but pure shame.
"Flora and Musa," started the headmistress, looking at the two girls. "You both should have known better. Flora, you walked away and that was the right thing to do, but I cannot ignore your participation in these activities up until that point".
"Neither should you. I will accept whatever punishment you deem necessary," replied Flora, facing the headmistress with stoic dignity.
"Musa, you didn't turn back when Flora did, but you only followed you friend out of concern and only fought the witches to protect her. That is admirable, though, like with Flora, I neither can nor will ignore your participation. The two of you will be assisting Professor Palladium in his greenhouse over the next couple of weeks. I'll give you precise dates once I have talked to him". The two girls nodded, acknowledging her decision.
"Pollyanna," continued the headmistress and Bloom briefly wondered whom she was addressing, until she noticed Techna cringing at the sound of the name. "I will admit that there are moments where open hostility is necessary. This wasn't one of those moments. You should have turned back long before it came to blows. However, given your background, I am willing to give you some leeway. Same for you, Bloom," continued Faragonda, shifting her gaze. "While breaking into Cloud Tower was wrong, I am willing to consider the fact that you are unused to many of the facets of how life works here. Therefore, you both will assist Nurse Ophelia during the next month's time".
The addressed girls nodded.
"You, Stella, do not have the luxury of that excuse," continued the headmistress, focusing her full attention on Stella. "You, of all the people in this room, should have known better. Not only are you well aware of the laws of the land, you are also a second year student. I am very disappointed in you and your complete disregard for authority. You may be a princess, but that doesn't mean you have the right to do whatever fancies you".
Bloom glanced at her friend, who looked just about ready to die from shame.
"You will be cleaning the halls and toilets outside the student clusters. That is, all of them. And you will be assisting Professor DuFour in her workshop for... well, I haven't decided yet for how long. I guess you will find out," finished Faragonda. Her look of strict disappointment melted away, replaced by one of deep concern. "I do hope this will be a lesson for you all. It is an unfortunate habit of fairies, to plunge into things without consideration. I hope, for your own sake girls, that this has rid you of that".
As the five of them left the room, Musa said: "Well, at least we're still students".
"That was very merciful on our headmistresses' part," replied Flora. "Though I guess she did consider a lot of things as mitigating circumstances".
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Bloom asked Stella, who shuffled along while starring at her feet.
"Don't want to talk about it," came her barely audible reply.
Bloom decided to give her friend some space and asked Flora: "What did Faragonda mean by that remark about fairies?"
"Have you ever noticed a pleasant buzzing when using magic?" asked the brunette. When the redhead nodded, she continued: "Once you learn how to really draw upon your positive feelings to boost your magic, it becomes quite the rush. Throughout history there have been fairies who have, more or less drunk on happy thoughts, done horrible things simply because they could, at the moment, see no wrong in it".
"Oh," said Bloom. She felt quite unsure how to feel about that particular revelation. After a moment, she turned to Techna and asked: "Pollyanna?"
Techna cringed again and said: "Shit, I kinda hoped you'd all forget that".
"Your name isn't Techna?" asked the redhead surprised.
"Of course not, who would name their kid Techna?" answered the scarred girl with an eye roll. "My real name is Pollyanna Clearwater, I just go by Techna because my real name doesn't fit me at all".
"Well, I guess that's okay," said Bloom, a cheeky grin slowly forming. "I mean, I guess we could respect your desires and just call you Techna. Would you like that, Pollyanna?"
"I know where you sleep," came the reply as the girls walked down the hall.