Hey, I'm trying to get the rest of this story up as fast as possible since I'll be heading off to the snow to work in the middle of next month and I wont have much internet access, so there are bound to be mistakes that I've missed. Just think of them as little Easter eggs I've left for you to find.
This chapter starts of with Brandon, Sky and Timmy but it eventually ended up centering round Darcy and why she is the way she is. Darcy's my favorite out of the Trix since
Chapter Twelve – Miss Magix
"Dude, what is up with you?" Brandon asked Sky as they took their seats for first period which happened to be their last lesson before mid terms. Sky folded his arms on the desk in front of him and placed his chin in them, his usually cheerful face somber.
"Nothin'."
"Don't give me that," Brandon said sternly but without heat. "You were all mopey when you got home from you date with Stella and you're even worse this morning. You hardly touched your breakfast."
"I wasn't hungry."
"You're always hungry. Hell, you still at all your lunch that time we dissected kidney in science class and they served steak and kidney pie for lunch. Did something happen with Stella last night?"
Sky sighed. He may as well tell Brandon. The two had no secrets between one another and Timmy had had to rush back to their dorm after he discovered he was missing a text book needed in this class. Dropping his voice so no one would over hear them, Sky began to talk. "Well, no. Nothing bad at least. You know, we had dinner then went for a walk through Magix. She decided to enter some beauty contest and I flattered her outrageously. And then . . . "
"What?"
"We started making out."
"And that's a bad thing?"
"No, it was great, don't get me wrong about that. Hell, if I had my way we'd still be at it. I know guys normally don't wear lip gloss but I'm half temped to by a stick of that stuff Stella has just because of how nice it tastes and – "
"Sky, you're stalling," Brandon interrupted.
"Right. Well, you see . . . It's kinda like . . . When we were making out she kept . . ."
"Kept what?"
Sky sighed again, looking absolutely crestfallen. "She kept calling my Prince Sky."
"Oh," was all Brandon could come up with to reply.
"I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does," Sky complained. "I mean, what if Stella really is that superficial. What if she only really likes me for being a prince? Huh? Then what?"
"She's not that shallow?" Brandon objected.
"What if she is? It would never work between us."
"Does that mean you're going to stop seeing her?"
"Well, no. I don't want to."
"So then what are you going to do?"
"I don't know bro!" Sky finally snapped, slamming his head on the desk in front of him out of pure frustration. Timmy chose that time to rejoin his friends, his missing text book in his hands. The boy genius took one look at the prince and quirked one eyebrow, looking at Brandon for some kind of explanation.
"Stella," Brandon answered simply.
Timmy sighed sympathetically and took his seat. "Still worried about wither she really likes you for you?"
"Yes," Sky mumbled, his voice muffled by the desk.
"Have you ever thought of just taking to her about it?" Timmy asked.
"Oh yeah, that'll go down well. 'Hey Stella, babe, are you a shallow, gold digging, superficial wench who's just after the royal jewels or would you still love me if I was a penniless squatter living in a stable?'"
Timmy looked slightly shocked at Sky's response. "I wouldn't use that particular phrasing."
"It's what she'll hear, man, no matter how flowery I put it."
"You don't know that."
"Yeah, well, how bout you actually get a girlfriend, then we'll talk," Sky snarled, glaring up at Timmy, who looked like he had just been hit. Sky instantly regretted what he had said. "Oh, Timmy, I'm sorry man. I didn't mean it. I'm just confused, but that's no reason to take it out on you."
"Don't worry about it, Sky. I understand," Timmy smiled earnestly. "It could have always been worse."
"Holy shit man! You look like crap!" Lex laughed loudly as Riven entered the classroom. He did not look good. He skin was sickly pale, his hands were trembling and despite the fact he was inside he still wore a pair of dark sunglasses. Without any traces of grace, he collapsed into his seat at the back of the room where Lex, who was sniggering at his friends suffering, joined him. "Good morning, sunshine."
"I am so hung-over," Riven told him, burring his face in his arms.
"You missed breakfast."
"I had a smoke."
"You had that for dinner last night."
"Just as well other wise I'd be hurling right now," Riven groaned, making Lex and a few other guys smirk while the rest (including Sky, Brandon and Timmy) rolled their eyes.
"Well, that'll teach you for drinking the night before classes," Kane, one of the ones who was no amused by Rivens suffering, said coldly.
"Piss off, Kane."
"That's enough boys," Codatorta growled, entering the room and heading up to the head of the class. After barking at his students to get their notes out, the professor began to teach his lesson, oblivious to wither or not his class was listening to him.
Riven rested his face in his hands, looking down at his open but untouched notes with closed eyes. Codatorta had ordered him to remove his glasses, so his eyes stung in the bright morning light. He really shouldn't have gone out drinking last night, but if he was put through it again, he'd probably do the exact same thing. He had had fun, and he had seen some pretty messed up things.
If only he could stop the buzzing in his ears.
"How is Stella competing in a beauty contest when they're doing their mid terms this week?" Brandon exclaimed, throwing the text book he was reading to the floor. His head was killing him after two hours straight of studying, and he needed a break.
"That's the power of women. There's always time for a beauty pageant. The end of the universe could be going on with fire and brimstone raining down from the heavens and they'll still finds time to walk around on a stage in high heels and swimwear," Sky told his friend, not looking up from the book in his lap.
"High heels are rather unusual footwear to take to the beach, aren't they?"
"Not for Stella," Sky noted just as his phone went off. "Ah, speak of the angel."
"Nice play one words," Timmy grinned as Sky turned his phone on. A second later Stella's cheery voice filled the room.
"Hello!" she squealed.
"Hey Stella," Sky grinned, reshuffling his notes. "You're on speaker phone."
"Hi Brandon! Hi Timmy!"
"Hi Stella," both boy answered in unison.
"So how'd you go?" Sky asked her.
"Gentlemen," Stella said, her voice absolutely overflowing with pride, "you are currently speaking with this years Miss Magix!"
"Congratulations!" all the boys said or offered giving some kind of variation.
"They like, loved me! Oh my gosh! The talent this year was awful! I mean, one girl had to be carried off stage covered in bird droppings, I'm not joking! It's a beauty pageant, not a poop pageant! I nearly got beaten by this one girl but she actually ended up being a Cloud Tower witch so she was disqualified. Just goes to show that the only people who can beat me in fashion are the ones who cheat. And then – "
"Stella? What are you doing?" Bloom's voice could be heard somewhere in the background of Stella's phone. "Stella! You're supposed to be studying! That was the deal."
"Eeeps! Sorry guys, but I've got to go! Just thought I'd let you boys knows. Sky, I'll talk to you later."
"Sure thing Stella," Sky smiled. "Congratulations once again. Wish I could have been there. You're gorgeous babe."
"I know! Bye guys!"
"Bye!" all farewelled. As soon as Sky hung up his phone, his smile dropped from his face and he collapsed backwards onto his bed with a soft groan. His friends didn't even need to ask to know what he was thinking. Stella; she was a princess and heir to the throne of Solaria. She was beautiful, funny and now she was Miss Magix.
Could she be anymore out of his league?
Riven glanced over his shoulder back the way he and Darcy had just bolted, panting for breath. Apparently that shop owner didn't like the fact that Riven had just walked out of his bottle shop with over a hundred dollars worth of grog hidden in he clothes after demonstrating his skills to Darcy in order to get them a five fingered discount on the drinks. They would have gotten away with it too if that one bottle hadn't come loose and smashed to the ground just as they were leaving. Riven didn't normally get caught out when he was shop lifting, but when he did he knew it was best to leg it. Darcy had provided a bit of a distraction by causing an entire wall of wine bottles to shatter with her magic before Riven had grabbed her hand and lead her through the back streets of Magix in their escape.
"We lost him," Riven panted, releasing Darcy's hand. He also noted that in their efforts to get away they had also lost most of the alcohol he had picked up. What a waste. The very idea of all that lovely liquor smashing to the ground was sacrilege to Riven.
Darcy laughed breathlessly. She had never been exposed to such a level of crime before. The Trix usually stuck to bullying while they plotted their world domination, so Darcy had not been prepared for the thrill she got over the last hour or so as he watched Riven effortlessly rob others of their belongings. She had been in a bitter mood when Riven had met her in Magix after the Trix's plans to sabotage the Miss Magix's Beauty Contest had been foiled. Not that she cared about the result, but she never like the idea of someone as perky as Princess Stella being happy. For some reason that just made her skin crawl.
With her mood out of sorts, Riven had offered to cheer her up by lavishing her with expensive gifts paid for by unsuspecting others. While Darcy was delighted by the thought of gaining something at other peoples expense, she found she enjoyed the act of stealing it more than the ultimate result of their work. Riven sure knew how to work a crowd, dipping his hands into people pockets without them knowing and confiscating their wallets casually.
"Well, that wasn't as successful as planned," Riven commented, pulling out the only surviving bottle of grog. It was a black label bottle of bourbon and was the one Riven would have been most disappointed if they had lost. "Wonna crack this open?"
"Save it for later tonight," Darcy instructed before gesturing towards a bar that was just down the road. "I think Icy and Stormy are at the Apple now. Wonna go?"
Riven glanced in the direction of the large clock that overlooked virtually all of Magix. "Sure, why not? It's getting close to beer o'clock anyways."
Beer o'clock was virtually any hour now-a-days, but Riven didn't care about that. Stashing their loot away, Riven and Darcy headed across the street to the Poison Apple (1), a rather seedy pub in downtown Magix. After flashing the bouncer at the door a very realistic fake ID Darcy had supplied for him, the couple made their way into the dark, smoky room in search of Darcy's sisters.
"You guys smell like alcohol," Stormy commented when the couple found her and Icy sitting at a table towards the back of the pub. "What have you guys been up to?"
"We smashed a bottle-o," Darcy told her as both she and Riven lit up.
"Why would you do something like that? It's a waste."
"We were robbing it and got sprung."
"Oh very smooth," Stormy said with a roll of her eyes.
"I'd like to see you try better," Riven challenged her. Stormy locked her electric eyes on Rivens dead ones and Riven could hear the air around him start to crackle as her temper rose.
"Chill, Stormy," Icy ordered, unwrapping herself for some older gentleman she managed to latch onto for the night. "You're making my hair go staticy."
Stormy growled before getting to her feet and moving towards the bar to buy a strong drink and Riven quickly sized up the man in Icy's arms. He had to be in his mid twenties, but Icy did like the older men and he looked like sleaze.
"Hey Dean, it's your shot," another man told Icy's entertainment for the night, handing him the pool cue. Dean got up to take his shot, but when the other man saw who was sitting at the table, he lingered around. "Hello Darcy. Long time no see."
"Travis," Darcy nodded in acknowledgement with very little emotion behind the greeting like the way one might greet a distant acquaintance.
"Where ya been, babe? I haven't seen you in ages. What you been up to?" Travis asked in a familiar tone. He and Darcy clearly had some history together despite the indifferent way Darcy was treating him.
"School. Tormenting others. Striving for total domination. The usual," Darcy shrugged, causing Travis to laugh.
"You Trix Sisters never change do you? Say, what you doing to night? Cause how about you and me head back to my flat and have some fun, ay? You know, like we did back in the day."
"I can't. I'm occupied tonight," Darcy told him firmly, giving a sideways glance in Riven's direction. Travis didn't miss it, and for the first time seemed to notice Riven.
"Oh come on. You don't mind if I steal her for an hour or so, now do ya mate?"
"What?" Riven asked, removing the cigarette from his lips to stare at the man is disbelief. He did not just ask what he thought he did, now did he?
"Well you know what it's like with her, don't cha? You know, like five guys at once. Sharing is caring after all," Travis grinned as if this was a common occurrence.
"Excuse me but I never had five guys at once," Darcy snarled, her temper rising.
"I wasn't saying it like you had all five guys in your bed at one time, but you did used to whore yourself around when we were shagging," Travis reminded her in an unpleasant tone.
"Whoring myself?!"
"Relax Darcy. It's not like you don't know what people say about you. So let's go have some fun and you can pick the kid up later," Travis suggested, causing Riven to get to his feet.
"She's not interested, now back off!" Riven hissed coldly, shoving the older man.
"You better watch you're kid or you're gonna get hurt," Travis warned, his eyes burning. "When did you start babysitting, Darcy? I guess you really will root anything."
"That's it," Riven snarled, fully intent on introducing his fist to this guys teeth, but Darcy beat him to it. With a cool flick of her wrist, the witch unleashed an explosion of energy directly in front of her ex-lover, sending him hurling backwards into a table which collapsed under the sudden weight.
"You have a very strange type of foreplay," Icy commented to her sister dryly, but Darcy was too furious to respond. A purple haze started to surround her, and all the spectators of the fight moved as far away from her as possible without moving out of eyesight of the drama.
"Argh! You bitch!" Travis raged from his place amongst the shattered timber. "You're going to pay for that, slut!"
"Deadly Nightshade!!" Darcy screamed, casting a wave of black matter his way. An orb of pure black energy engulfed the man, making it impossible to see what was going on inside the sphere. But as the magic faded, Riven wasn't sure he wanted to see what had happened.
Travis's skin was pale and shivering uncontrollably as the darkness deteriorated. Ugly purple bruises covered most of his body and he couldn't respond to Icy's date Dean asking him if he was alright.
"Well of course he isn't," Icy pointed out to them calmly. "That was one of Darcy's strongest attacks, and he's going to be feeling it for a while. You shouldn't have pissed her off."
Snapping out of his shock, Riven quickly shifted his gaze to the place where Darcy had been standing when she had unleashed such a powerful attack, only to find it completely empty. Darcy was no where to be seen.
It took Riven a few hours to finally locate Darcy. She had teleported herself out of the pub and Riven had no idea when she had run off it. Dominique's crystal didn't do him any good since it was jinxed, so he was forced to do it the old fashion way; Look.
It was past midnight by the time he came across her sitting alone on a bench in the middle of Magix River Park. Her head hung low and her long hair veiled her face, making it impossible for him to see her face. Hell, he could hardly see her hidden amongst the shadows. Cautiously, he approached her.
"Darcy?"
"Go away, Riven," she told him in a dead voice, not looking up.
"What's wrong?"
"I told you to go away."
"Darcy!"
"Just go Riven."
Riven turned and started to storm off. He was sick of Darcy and the way she was always distancing herself from him. He was through with trying to chase after her. If she didn't want him there . . . fine! Forget it. He'd leave.
His retreat stopped, however, when he realized that he couldn't walk away from her. Where would he go? He had already ruined everything he had with his friends and although he knew they would probably forgive him being the saints they are, he wasn't ready to go and ask for their pardon. He just couldn't do that. Being the pessimistic he was, Riven couldn't ignore the possibility that maybe they wouldn't forgive him making him all the more hesitant. Plus, even if they did forgive him, that didn't mean he could ever be able to forgive himself for everything he had done. This wasn't about pride any more; it was about fear and guilt.
Also, he had been completely devoid of emotion except when he was with Darcy and he'd rather be in pain that feel nothing at all.
"I'm not leaving," he sighed, walking up behind Darcy and placing his hand on her shoulder. She stiffened slightly under his touch as if scared.
"Why?" she asked, a strange uncertain catch in her voice. For the first time since he had known her, Riven heard true emotion in her voice, and she sounded close to tears which shocked him more that when she had suddenly attack Travis in the bar.
"I dunno. That's what people in our position are supposed to do, aren't they?"
"I don't want you to see me like this," she sniffed, her voice wavering. "This is a weak moment for me. No one's supposed to see this."
"Fine," Riven nodded after thinking about it for a few seconds. Slowly, he made his way around the bench to sit along side her, but purposely looked away from the upset witch beside him.
"What are you doing?" Darcy asked him softly. There was no malice behind the question, just vulnerable curiosity.
"Not looking at you."
"But why are you still here?"
"You're . . . offended by what that Travis guy said back there," Riven pointed out, purposely avoiding the word upset or anything she might take as weak. "And when you're offended by something like that it's better to have someone with you. You don't have to talk about it, it's just better than being alone."
Darcy let out a mocking little laugh. "I've never been alone in my life. I always had my sisters with me. We're all the same age, we grew up together and we always had to share everything. Can you believe I'm in my final year of high school and I've never had my own room?"
"A lot of people don't have a room at all let alone one to themselves," Riven pointed out.
"That's beside the point. I never had anything. I was always over looked. Icy was the ambitious one and always managed to steal the attention of anyone even if it meant putting them in a body lock and forcing them to look at her. Stormy was the same. She was so loud growing up, not like me. Her temper tantrums were like a natural disaster so my family was always focusing on her and making sure she was happy. They never did that with me."
"It's part of the job description that all parents have to do everything in their power to mess up their kids life."
"But it wasn't just my family. Everyone did it. Everyone just over looked me like I wasn't even there," Darcy told him, her voice almost breaking as tears swelled in her eyes. "When I was little, I went out into the woods, sat down under a tree and waited for someone to miss me and come looking for me. I did that first thing in the morning and it was dark by the time I realized no one was coming. They didn't even notice I was gone. I was nothing more than a shadow to them.
"But when I got older people started to notice me. Boys started to notice me, actually, and I liked it. Whenever I was alone with one of them it was like nothing else in the world mattered to them. All their attention was on me, and I liked it. I liked it a lot, but I'm not a slut, Riven. I'm not."
Darcy suddenly went silent and the night closed in around them. Riven didn't know what to say so he didn't even try. Instead, he stared off into the darkness listening to the sounds of the city. But then a new sound reached his ears. A sound that he honestly thought he would never hear.
The sound of Darcy softly crying.
Hesitantly, Riven twisted his body and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend as if he was hugging a wolverine. He knew she would hate the fact that he was comforting her, but he couldn't just sit by while she was so upset. Darcy's body went ridged for a second, before she clung to him like a heart broken child. She didn't wail – that wasn't like her – but rather silently let her tears fall from her eyes. He could feel them seeping into his shirt and he knew her eye make-up was going to smudge. He was seriously going to need to rethink his decision to wear white wife beaters.
The pair was silent for the longest time until Darcy had cried herself out and even then they didn't move or say anything. It was mostly because neither of them knew how to react after such an open display of emotion. Their relationship wasn't based on exposing their inner thoughts. In fact, it was the exact opposite.
"What are you doing?" she finally broke the silence in an uncertain voice. No one had ever held her like that or witnessed her open up like that or stirred the emotions inside her like Riven did, and she didn't understand it.
For a second Riven didn't know how to answer that, but as he looked at her for the first time since he had sat down he found the words. "I'm looking at you."
Darcy suddenly laughed, and it was the first laugh Riven ever heard her produce that didn't have a wicked undertone to it. "Oh, puppy dog."
"Come on, let's get you home," Riven suggested, getting to his feet. Darcy followed suit, jumping onto Riven's back so he could carry her to his bike and for the first time in a long time, she felt happy. She quickly discarded the possibility that Riven was responsible for it or that her feelings for him had deepened in anyway. That jut wasn't possible.
But that night, for the first time, Darcy made Riven spend the whole night with her.
There aren't very many sweet Darcy and Riven scenes out there, so I figured I write one to change that.
TBC
