Samara took a long gulp of milk as she kept her eyes on her friends. All of them were sitting at the long table having breakfast. There was a tension that was building up by the minute. Samara didn't really know what to say and decided to focus on eating her toast. After her plate was empty, no one had said a word yet.
"So…"Samara said softly. "Are you guys ready to go to class?"
"It's not fair!" Musa yelled.
Finally! Samara thought to herself.
"I know, but there's nothing we can do about it." Tecna said grumpy.
"Why can't we go?" Stella asked. "We are working our butts off every day after school, we deserveto go to that concert tomorrow evening!"
"We deserve nothing Stella, we are having detention until next Monday." Flora said. "It's our own fault."
"It still isn't fair." Musa growled, lowering her head onto her arms on the table. "Do you know how awesome that band is?" "I've wanted to see them live since forever!"
"What do you say Bloom, should we try to talk to Faragonda?" Stella asked. "She might let us go if we ask her nicely."
Everyone looked at Bloom. The girl was stirring her cereals and looked completely off in her own world. Which wasn't so weird considering everything she found out about herself in Cloud Tower.
"You okay Bloom?" Samara asked cautiously.
Ever since the Winx left Faragonda's office it seemed Stella and Bloom's anger towards Samara had subsided, but the fairy of the Moon still was on her guard.
Bloom looked up, her eyes widening.
"I'm sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts…" She said. "What did you ask?"
"Should we ask Faragonda if we can go to the concert?" Musa repeated Stella's question.
"I don't think it will make any difference." Tecna said. "We broke the rules and now we have to bare the consequenses."
"I agree with Tecna." Bloom said. "We'll just have to accept our loss."
Musa and Stella huffed but didn't argue.
"At least we have one of us who is going and can tell us how great it was." Bloom said.
They all looked at Samara.
"That's right!" Musa said. "You have to record the whole thing for us and maybe…" She added excited, "…you can try and get some autographs!"
"Wow hold on." Samara said. "I was not planning on going to that concert."
"What?!" Musa shouted. "Why not?"
"I don't want to go all alone." Samara said. "I don't know any other fairies except you guys."
"Well a perfect opportunity to make some new friends." Bloom said. "And I think the Red Fountain boys are also going to the concert, you might bump in to a cute guy."
"You can borrow one of my outfits." Stella said. "I know the perfect look for you."
Samara stared at the faces of her friends and slowly realised she didn't really have a choice.
"Fine…" She sighed.
"Great, I'll do your hair and make up, you can borrow some nice earrings…" Stella said.
Samara sighed deeply.
The morning went by in a flash and now Samara, Flora and Tecna were sitting in the Transfiguration classroom.
"Alright girls, only two weeks left before the tournament begins." Wizgiz said with a stern look on his face. "Now some of you are doing wonderfull, while others…need some more practice."
Flora sighed. She was one of the latter.
"No worry Flora, you'll do just fine." Tecna said.
"Keep in mind that Professor Palladium is a force to be reckoned with!" Wizgiz said looking at Tecna and Flora. "He is an expert in using a fairy's individual power to the best situation."
A girl with bright orange hair raised her hand.
"Yes Clara?"
"Can we chose who we want to fight with?" The girl asked.
"No, it will be randomly assigned by Headmistress Faragonda." Wizgiz said. "The winners of the first round will move on to the next, until there are only two left standing."
"But what if all of team Shield is defeated in the first round?" Flora asked nervous.
Wizgiz face turned dark. "I won't let that happen again…" He growled.
"Again?" Samara repeated with her eyebrows high. "That doesn't sound very promising…"
"Exactly how many times did you win this project professor?" Tecna asked, mirroring Samara's worries.
Wizgiz shot her a dark glare. "Twice…"
Tecna gulped.
"Once when I had the legendary Daphne in my team and the other time when Palladium got a nasty cold and couldn't concentrate."
"Heh maybe we should make him sick again just before the tournament." A fairy with long yellow hair said. "Not that anyone would care."
Samara stared at the girl and felt an anger rise inside of her.
"Enough Edith, if I hear you say such thing again you're in detention for the coming two weeks."Wizgiz said. "Now form pair of two and start with the basics."
Samara walked towards Edith and put on a fake smile. "Wanna practice together?" She asked innocently.
"Sure, I'm getting bored of always winning against the same fairies." Edith said.
Both girls transformed into their fairy form. Edith was wearing a dark red long sleeved top with a dark red skirt and high heel shoes.
"I'll attack first." She said smug.
Samara nodded.
Her attack was a strong gust of wind. Samara easily defended herself by creaging a forcefield around herself, breaking the wind.
"Not bad, let's see what you've got." Edith said.
Samara looked at the self indulgent fairy and channeled all her anger in her attack. She brought her hands together, a bright light of energy began to form.
Shooting stars!
Hundreds of tiny balls of energy escaped her hands and shot towards Edith, who tried to defend herself with a tornado of wind around her. But it was no use, Samara's attack was too powerful.
"Aaaah!"
With a thud she fell on the floor. "What the hell?!"
Samara smiled as Edith crawled back onto her feet. The fairy of wind marched towards Samara, nearly fuming from anger and humiliation. But before she reached her goal, professor Wizgiz popped up.
"Very well done Samara!" He said. "You used the correct defense against Edith's wind attack and you managed to break her defense with your own attack." "You would have done well in team Sword also."
"Thanks professor." Samara said.
Samara walked to Tecna and Flora just in time to see Flora's defense hold well against Tecna's offense.
"Very good Flora." Samara said.
"Indeed Flora, excellent work." Tecna said. "It seems that you figured out how to make your shield of branches thick enough so nothing can get in between."
"Thanks." Flora said with a huge smile.
"Okay everyone, gather around." Wizgiz said as he jumped on top of his desk.
The ten fairies did as they were told.
"Now, we have to be prepared for all possibilities." The professor said. "Who wants to volunteer for my next demonstration?"
None of the fairies seemed to be very eager.
"Fine, I'll pick the top student of the group." Wizgiz said. "Samara step in the middle of the circle please."
Samara gulped and took a few steps forward. Now she was in the middle, surrounded by the other fairies.
"This is going to be quite intense." Wizgiz said. "Be strong."
Samara nodded, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
"Now the next exercise will be endurance." Wizgiz said. "In case your opponent comes in with a series of attacks you need to be able to hold your defense for a longer time."
He looked around and clapped his hands together. "Now I want all of you one by one cast an attack towards Samara." "Samara, you need to hold your defense long enough until everyone had a turn, do you understand?"
"Yes professor."
"Excellent, Tecna you're first."
Samara conjured a shield around her and tried to concentrate as hard as she could. The first few attacks went alright but she noticed that her feet started to shift. Samara tried to steady herself but she was failing. By the fifth attack her shield started to disappear.
"Hold it together Samara!" Wizgiz shouted.
Samara almost decided to give in when a voice came into her mind.
"You are unwavering, whatever tries to knock you down…"
Samara put her feet firmly on the ground, a bit apart from each other and once again concentrated on her shield. The shield started to glow even stronger and the last five attacks did nothing to damage it.
"Wonderfull!" Wizgiz shouted as he jumped off his desk with a bow.
Samara let her shield fall but just as she did, a large gust of wind hit her in the stomach and sent her flying through the room and finally landing hard against the wall. A pain shot through her leg as she landed badly on the floor.
The next few minutes were a blur as Samara could only concentrate at the agonizing pain in her leg. She was vaguely aware that two sets of hands hoisted her up, but halfway they decided to put her back on the floor again. Tecna's purple hair came into view.
"What…what was that?" Samara groaned.
"That horrible bitch Edith attacked you right when you let your defense fall." Tecna said.
"Language!" Flora said looking sternly at Tecna.
She focussed back on Samara. "Hang on sweety we have to get you to the infirmary, that leg looks horrible…"
Samara looked passed them and saw how Wizgiz was totally flipping out to Edith. Said fairy left the classroom with a red face. Wizgiz quickly made his way to the three girls.
"How is she?" He asked. "Oh dear…"
His face fell as he looked at the leg. With a swift movement of his arm, a stretcher appeared.
"We'll take her to the infirmary professor." Flora said.
"Good, I need to head to Headmistress Faragonda's office to speak to her about Edith…" Wizgiz said with a fuming mad look on his face. "I will visit you as soon as possible."
Samara nodded and grit her teeth together as she was lifted on top of the stretcher. Tecna and Flora drove her out of the classroom.
"I've never seen professor Wizgiz so mad…"Flora said.
"If I see that Edith walking around I will swear that she will never touch another computer after I'm done with her…" Tecna growled.
"It was a horrible act, attacking another student when they are not supposed to." Flora said with an angry look. "You know what she said to professor Wizgiz?" "That she thought Samara could use the extra practice."
Within a few minutes they reached the infirmary. Nurse Ophelia quickly examined the leg. When she heared what had happened she too was angry.
"Unbelievable!" She muttered. "The nerve of that child."
Samara hissed as the nurse tried to hoist her pantsleg up for better examination.
"Sorry dear, I will have to cut through your trousers."
That was the least of Samara's worries. The pain in her leg was horrible. Flora and Tecna were ordered to go back to the classroom, gather their school stuff and head to their dorm.
"Yep that is broken I'm afraid." Nurse Ophelia said. "We will have to put a cast on it, I shouldn't have send your friends away so fast, I could use another set of hands for this."
Suddenly there was a very familiar voice calling for the nurse on the other side of the curtain blocking Samara from view. The fairy of the Moon felt her cheeks heating up. For some reason she really didn't want Palladium to see her lying on a hospital bed.
"Oh I forgot all about professor Palladium, he is going into the forest to find some herbs for me." Nurse Ophelia said.
"One moment professor!" She called out.
Nurse Ophelia tried to cast Samara's leg wouldn't stay in the right position. Samara wanted to scream, the painkillers she had gotten weren't yet kicked in.
"Oh gosh who am I kidding?" Ophelia muttered. "Professor?" She called out. "Could you lend me a hand please?"
"Of course." Palladiums voice sounded closer as he walked towards the curtain. "Can I come in?"
"Yes, yes you may." Nurse Ophelia said.
Palladium appeared through the curtains. As soon as his eyes locked with Samara's his eyes widened.
"Samara!" He said. "What happened to you?"
Samara wanted to speak but the pain was overwhelming, she could barely stay consious. Palladium seemed to notice and turned to nurse Ophelia.
"What can I do?"
"Hold her leg in position, I will put a cast on it." The nurse said.
Palladium did as he was told. Samara could feel his warm hands wrap around her foot and shin and instantly felt the pain subside a little bit. If it really was Palladiums hands or the drugs that finally started working was debatable. Suddenly there was a lot of pressure around her leg and she couldn't help herself. She wanted to sit up.
"I know, I know, just stay still." Palladium said soothingly.
He put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Samara gazed towards her leg and saw that the cast was around it. Palladium stood next to her head and smiled softly. That smile alone made her feel much better than anything medical could ever do.
"There." Nurse Ophelia said. "This is a quick healing cast, you will stay here until next morning and by then your leg should be healed completely."
Samara nodded. "Thank you." She said weakly.
"I have to attend to other patients, but I will check on you before you go to sleep." Nurse Ophelia said.
"I'll stay a bit longer." Palladium said as he sat down on a chair next to Samara.
"You don't have to if you don't want to prof…" Samara started.
"I want to." Palladium said. The tone in his voice made it clear that that was the end of discussion.
Samara felt relief and sank into the cussion.
"So…what happened?" Palladium asked.
"We were practising for project Shield, I was standing in the middle and everyone else had to attack me once."
"The endurance practise." Palladium said.
Samara nodded. "Everyone had their turn and after the last attack I let down my shield." She continued. "Suddenly there was a large gust of wind that hit me in the stomach and send me flying across the room." "I hit the wall and fell down, on top of my leg."
"A gust of wind out of nowhere?" Palladium asked.
"It was Edith, she was mad at me because I beat her during one on one practise and she wanted to get revenge." Samara said.
The look in Palladiums eyes was unreadable but his voice trembled of anger.
"She wanted to get revenge…"
"Professor Wizgiz send her to Faragonda." "I don't know what happened after that."
"She will be eliminated from project Sword and Shield and will spend the coming two weeks every free minute of the day with Headmistress Faragonda in detention." Wizgiz voice sounded. "That is, if her parents don't take her away from the school."
The small professor was standing in front of the bed.
"How are you doing lass?" He asked
"Better, the leg is broken though." Samara said.
Wizgiz took a painful look. "Quick healing cast?" He asked.
Palladium nodded.
"Ooh it's gonna be a painfull night for you dear." Wizgiz sighed.
Samara raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Nobody told you?" Wizgiz asked.
"We didn't want to scare her." Palladium said with a frown.
Samara looked at the two professors with a worried look.
"It's going to be alright, the cast is magical, it will heal your leg overnight, but it is not completely painless." Palladium said.
"I cannot believe something like this happened during my lesson." Wizgiz sighed.
"It's not your fault professor." Samara said.
She surpressed a yawn.
"Ah that's our cue to leave I think." Wizgiz said. "I will check in with you in the morning lass."
Samara nodded as the leprachaun left the infirmary. She expected Palladium to follow him but the elf stayed in his seat.
"I'll stay a bit longer if you don't mind." He said.
Samara didn't mind, not at all. She gave him a small smile. Her eyelids felt heavier by the second.
"I thought you had to go out to find some herbs for nurse Ophelia?" She asked.
"Oh don't worry, I can find those herbs later." Palladium said. "The forest is more beautiful during the night anyway."
"Isn't it dangerous to wander in the forest by night?" Samara asked. There was a sincere worry in her voice.
Palladium smiled. "Not if you stay close to the school." "I wouldn't advise anyone to go deep into the forest in the dark though…"
"Just…be carefull please…"
Samara couldn't help herself but yawn freely now. She couldn't fight her sleep any longer and slowly closed her eyes.
Palladium watched as she fell into a deep sleep. A smile crept up his face. The way she was sleeping was adorable. A sigh escaped his lips. The second he had walked through those curtains his heart nearly stopped. He was thankful that her injuries were going to be healed quickly. But Wizgiz was right, the coming night was going to be rough for her.
Palladium stood up from his chair, bend over Samara and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before he knew it. He froze, shocked by his own action. Samara was still deep asleep, not moving an inch.
"Ah she's asleep, good."
Palladium nearly knocked the seat over as he quickly turned around to see nurse Ophelia looking at him through the curtains.
"Yes…yes she fell asleep a moment ago." He said a bit too fast.
Nurse Ophelia nodded and handed Palladium a small piece of paper. "These are the herbs that I need professor."
Palladium took the note and stepped away from the bed.
"Yes, I'll go get them right away." He said.
Without another word, he walked out of the infirmary. Within a few minutes he stepped out of the building, into the cool evening breeze. As quickly and quietly as possible the professor made his way to the dark trees.
What have you done? He thought to himself. You kissed her! How could you do that?!
Even though the wind felt quite cold, his face was burning.
After he walked a bit through the forest, he spotted the first herbs growing underneath a big tree. Crouching down he started to collect some. His hands were trembling as he fought with the clasp of his bag.
She didn't notice, nobody saw it, it's fine…
Palladium slapped himself against his forehead.
Of course it's not fine, it's terrible. I gave her a kiss on her cheek…without her even knowing it.
He knew that Samara was no oridinary student for him, but he had told himself that there was only a bigger interest between the two of them because they had the same interests. But now…now he could no longer deny it…
Palladium looked up to the moon above him and sighed deeply.