Hi guys, I hope you like this chapter. I figure that there will be some days Musa thinks about her mother a lot, and today is one of them. I almost lost my mother early this year so I can understand slightly how she might feel, albeit not as strong which I'm trying to draw on for this story. Some of you have asked if this will be Rivusa, and it will be eventually. However, much like canon, they will be a slow burn and won't get together until the sequel. But expect a lot of tension between the two ;)
Thank you again for the reads and reviews, they mean the world. The next chapter will be the dance and the first meeting of the Trix! Not to mention some flirty banter between our fav music fairy and Riven! I can't give too much away but there may be other love interests that appears first, but trust me, I am a hard-core Rivusa shipper so I wouldn't worry too much.
I rolled my eyes and sighed as I listened to the other girl's jabber on. I had no idea why they were so excited; it was just another test to check our power levels. It wasn't like the top student was going to get a recording contract or something worth getting excited about. I leaned against the bark of the trees just outside of school, trying to ignore everyone as best I could with my sensitive ears. Beside me, Ortensia was stressing out about her upcoming test, panicking to Francine who- to her credit- tried to look interested, but considering her attention kept switching to her phone she monumentally failed.
"Come on, Musa, this is important! Aren't you worried?" Ortensia said, turning her flustered expression to me when Francine was unresponsive.
"Huh?" I answered, oh so intelligently, moving one of my headphones. This song was a jam, so I knew if I didn't move my headphone I'd zone out and focus on the melodies, especially since the bridge is-
"Musa, are you listening to me?" She yelled, drawing me out of my musings.
I sent her an apologetic smile before giving her my full attention. "Sorry, what were you saying?" I said, smiling sheepishly.
"Just forget about," she grumbled, crossing her arms.
I was about to reply when we got cut off. "Attention Students. Today we will test your flight speed and your dexterity in the air. When it is your turn, you will wear this band," she called out, holding up a soft pink coloured band. "It will block your natural connection with your element so you cannot get a power up. This way we will test your natural flight ability, not your ability to draw power from your Winx. Any questions?" she asked.
Immediately hands shot up in the air, making miss Vanderlay sigh as if our existence was her greatest inconvenience. I mean, if I had to teach a bunch of know it all teenagers, I would likely be peeved too.
"Miss Soleil Aster Centurion" she said, pointing out Stella, who was jumping around like she needed to make a mad dash to the toilet.
"So since I've done this, I don't need to do it again, right?" She said, giving what she would likely think was a charming smile.
Miss Vanderlay for her part just raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Because of that, you are going first in the speed test. After all, since you have done it, you can show our new girls that it is easy, correct, miss Centurion?' she said, raising her eyebrow.
I had to admit; I loved her style.
Sighing, Stella stepped forwards. "Of course, I'd be happy to miss V!" she said, ignoring the glare she got for the nickname. "And how kind of you to get me an accessory, you shouldn't have!" she continued babbling, as Miss Vanderlay attached the band to her wrist.
"Just transform." She said, rubbing her temples.
Stella smiled and strode over to the platform, walking up the steps like she owned them. Once at the top, she flipped her hair over her forehead, winked, and shouted so loudly my ears rang. "Stella, Baseix!" She called, becoming engulfed in shafts of sunlight, making us all avert our eyes. By the time we looked back she was standing there in her fairy outfit and even I had to admit the girl looked good.
The bright orange suited her bright personality and the pale blue of her accessories seemed to tone down the brightness of the rest of her outfit. Her hair was in two low bunches, which I liked, momentarily wondering if I should consider growing my hair. Don't be ridiculous Muse, just watch the exercise, I berated myself, turning my attention back to the show.
"Alright Miss Centurion, in a moment the buzzer will go. I want you to push off and make three laps around the outside of the school as fast as you can. No using magic, only your wings. Any questions?" She asked, her tone pretty much screaming for Stella not to ask her a question.
"Oh yes, can I do one round instead? Three just sounds exhausting," Stella said, fiddling with her ring and sighing at the thought of the physical labour she would be subjected to.
Around us other girls giggled at her, some probably even finding her display charming. I just rolled my eyes and pulled my headphones back over my ears, not in the mood to listen to them anymore. I could practically feel the frustration and exhaustion seeping from Miss Vanderlay as she rolled her eyes and sighed, rubbing her temples. Despite my headphones, I heard her mutter under her breath something that suspiciously sounded like "I don't get paid enough for this," which made me smirk, despite my best efforts.
"You have to do three miss Centurion, just like every other student. Now you have 5 seconds till you have to start, so prepare yourself." Miss Vanderlay said, looking at her stopwatch.
Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited for the timer. Despite myself, I found myself getting swept up in the energy, my heart racing for no apparent reason. The energy in the area was electric, the nerves and excitement palpable. I tried to focus back on my music, ignoring the echoes of what felt like emotions dancing around me, as if trying to get my attention. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realise the buzzer went off, a first for me. Normally even the slightest sound had my attention, and it was worse at night. When there were no other sounds, it was like any sound was amplified, with nothing else to filter it out. Before I realised it, Stella was back, puffing and complaining about how exhausted she was.
I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to feign interest. I just focused on my music as other students did their test, now and then gazing up at the sky to cloud watch. Mum and I would always do this together, go for picnics and tell each other what we saw in the clouds. A good songwriter needs imagination, she'd say, gazing up at the clouds and describing wondrous shapes that I had to strain my creativity to even glimpse, when to her it was so clear.
"I miss you, mum," I whispered under my breath, when a cloud morphed into her beautiful face.
"Musa, it's your turn," Ortensia said, walking over to me and gently shaking me out of my thoughts.
"Thanks, Ortensia," I said, giving her a half-smile as I wandered over.
I could feel her looking at me as I walked over, no doubt finding my behavior odd. I just kept my face impassive as I walked up to the platform. I closed my eyes and plucked the strings in my heart, stirring my magic and letting it change me into my fairy form. As soon as the headphones appeared on my ears, music flowed, the sound of my mother's voice soothing and crushing my soul in equal measure.
I held out my wrist to Miss Vanderlay wordlessly, letting her slip the band onto my wrist. She paused, studying my face, her keen eyes looking for a chink in my carefully crafted armour. I mustered up a small smile. That must have convinced her because she walked off, leaving me on the stage. I cringed when I realised the band cut off my music, and felt the deep-rooted pain in my heart resurface, remembering the night dad found my music player.
Musa you have to focus, I thought, internally scolding myself. This wasn't the time for me to be taking a walk down memory lane, this was the time to focus and to get the best grade that I could. I could think about mum later.
"Are you ready, miss Chansen-Lark?' Miss Vanderlay called out, and I nodded, my mind firmly focused on the present.
I heard her press the button and when my 5 seconds were up, I shot off like a rocket, sending surges of magic into my wings.
I had always loved flying, there was something so freeing about it. Maybe it was the way my wings beat the air like gossamer drumsticks or the echo of life's melody on the wind. Whatever it was, I loved it, which was why the end of my flight came much too soon. I would way rather stay in the air, buoyed from life's problems. In the air nothing can hurt me, I am free and unlimited. On the land, I was subject to the laws of the world, of the pain of everyday life. I couldn't just bat my wings and fly off, I was forced to be grounded, and to marinate in my pain.
I de-transformed and quickly got off the platform. I caught the professor's eyes, and she gave me a wide smile, nodding with something akin to pride in her eyes. I just nodded back, rushing back to my tree and jamming my earphones over my ears.
Just because I was grounded didn't mean I wouldn't take advantage of other means of escape. Ortensia and Francine hovered around me, their eyes flickering to me every few moments, their lips opening now and then. Thankfully they kept silent, sensing my mood. I just turned up the volume on my music and lost myself on the beat, thanking the Muses that it was Friday, which meant I could see my cousin and best of all get some time to myself.
Tecna was tapping furiously on my keyboard when I entered our room. I hovered at the edge of her area, debating whether I should interrupt her. On one hand, it might be polite, but on the other, I'd be pissed if someone interrupted me when I was listening to my tunes and this was her equivalent. Deciding politeness was overrated, I made a beeline for our shared bathroom, deciding to speak to her once I had my shower and smelt like a Fairy again, not a miniature ogre.
I stepped into the bathroom and turned the water on as hot as I could handle. I shucked my clothes and lept in, beginning my routine. Pretty soon my shower ended, the scent of jasmine lingering in the heated air. I stepped out of the shower, steam pouring out as soon as I opened the glass door..
"That was a great shower," I said happily to myself, wrapping the bright red towel around my torso.
"Oops, guess I should've turned on the fan before jumping in," I muttered, taking note of the clouds of steam that fogged up the cramped space. I quickly muttered a spell that I knew my aunt used on her tours to clear the smoke and smiled, pleased with my work. With that settled, I exited the bathroom, ignoring the way my short hair clung to my neck, sending chills down my spine.
"Hey Tecna," I called, noticing that she was now sitting on her bed, tinkering with a device.
"Afternoon Musa, good shower?" She said, her mind clearly miles away.
"Yep, nothing like scalding water on sore muscles. Whatcha working on?" I asked, walking over to the floating stairs leading up to my mezzanine.
"It is an Enhanced Digital Temporal Device. It will ensure that my time management is impeccable by sending messages directly to my brain about any deadlines." She said, still not looking at me.
I didn't really get that techy mumbo jumbo, but I could tell she was proud of it. "That sounds great, how long have you been working on it and how did you get the idea?" I asked, making sure my towel was wrapped securely around me.
She looked up, her eyes blinking owlishly. "You are actually interested?" she asked, looking like I had just told her that Magix was flat with a straight face.
I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Well, I can't pretend I get it, but it clearly means a lot to you so,,," I trailed off, my emotional awkwardness taking over. I cleared my throat, sending her a small smile, "yea, I am interested." I finished, finding no better reply.
She smiled softly, a small flush on her cheeks. She looked away; the silence deafening. Neither of us was particularly emotional people- okay, I was, but I expressed it in my songs, not conversations- so this was an uncertain territory for us.
"I've been working on it for two weeks now and I got the idea from my mother," she said, and immediately I felt my heartbeat freeze.
She must have noticed because she stopped speaking, looking at me curiously. "Musa, are you okay?" she asked, stumbling over her words slightly.
I cleared my throat, pushing away all thoughts of my mother. What is with me, I've been thinking about her a lot today, way more than normal? "I'm good, just remembered I have to get ready to head out for a bit tonight, but I'd love to hear more about your device later on if that's okay?" I said, trying to distract her.
Thankfully, it worked, because she nodded, a pleading smile on her face. "Sounds good Musa, I hope you have a good night. I'm heading out to do some work in the library so you won't see me before you get back," she said, and I nodded, keeping the smile I had perfected when I was younger on my face.
"Have a good night, Tecna," I said, getting up and racing up the stairs. As soon as I got up into my room, I used a spell to make my curtains close and fell onto my couch, staring blankly at the ceiling. It was only then that I let the facade drop and felt a small tear leak out of my eyes.
"I miss you, mum," I whispered, memories racing through my mind like a beautiful sonata.
I was about to get up when my phone rang, breaking me out of my memories. I sighed and reached down, grabbing my phone from the floor.
"Hello?" I said, not bothering with formalities.
"Hey Muse, how's it going?" Anthem said happily down the phone, making me smile despite my mood.
"I'm good, Anth, and you?" I said, relaxing into the warm couch.
"Good goo, but hey I have some bad news. Would it be okay if we rescheduled the pizza night? We just got told we have a pop quiz on Hexes on Monday and it'll take all the time we can get to get through the material," she said, and I could hear the apology in her tone. "Plus, tonight is the only time Fianna has to help me study, she's busy all weekend."
I was a little disappointed but fully understood. Besides, I was kind of in the mood to just listen to my mother's old albums on repeat, not plaster in a cheerful grin. "That's all good cuz, Muse's knows you need all the help you can get with academics," I teased, trying to hide my sadness behind my tone.
"Not all of us are freakishly smart like you, Muse," she teased back, false indignation in her tone.
"Or in your case, smart at all," I snapped back, laughing to let her know I was kidding.
"You know Muse, you are mean. I don' know how I will ever recover. Are you sure you are a fairy?" she said, giggling at the end and probably picturing me in a witch's outfit.
"Yea, I'm sure. I better let you go cuz, have a goodnight and tell the other girls I say hi," I said, hanging up at the end of our conversation.
With that over, I pulled out my comfiest PJs, pulled them on, grabbed my headphones, and the music player filled with my mum's songs and nothing else. I vaulted into bed, pulling the covers over me. I pressed play once the headphones were on my head and snuggled down into my bed. I sighed in contentment, enjoying the closeness with the one person I love most, but would never see again. I loved that I could hear her voice still, but it was bittersweet. I would give anything to have her hold me, sing with me, or just snuggle up and watch movies with me. Musicals and Horrors, our favorite. I guess I was lucky though, many people couldn't even hear their mothers' voices when they departed, so I had to count my blessings. With that in mind, I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the music, imagining that she was beside me and enjoying the music too.
I love writing the relationship between Anthem and Musa, they are so close. I'm loving giving Musa some more family and creating the bonds she has twoth them. I wanted to give Tecna some screen time and start to build up her relationship with Musa; I felt so bad for her, that no one really takes an interest in her inventions. This will be explained later on, I know it seemed a little weird considering her realm, but it'll make sense later.
As always, have a great day\night and take care!