There are many upsides to being a Music Fairy. The ability to gain strength from the surrounding sounds, to draw them in and craft their sounds into an attack is pretty amazing. Being able to conjure any instrument and have a gut instinct on how to play is also pretty rad. Hell, even having sonar hearing could be pretty helpful and meant no one could sneak up on you. What sucked, though, was when you had such sensitive hearing and your roommates didn't understand the concept of a quiet morning.
You'd think that Stella was preparing for her wedding or coronation, not a regulation school ball with the way she was running around. I sat in the lounge, strumming my guitar quietly as I watched her race around, various fabrics and beauty products following behind her. Stella kept a vice grip on Bloom's arm, dragging her back to their room every time she escaped. If Bloom caught my eyes, I'd just avert my gaze back to my guitar. She's her friend, so her problem in my book.
"Come on Bloom, we have a schedule!" Stella growled, storming back into the room as Bloom had once again evaded her.
"Come on Stell, it's just a dance, nothing worth getting all riled up about," the redhead said, from her spot in the kitchen with Flora.
"Nothing to get riled up about? Are you kidding me," she said incredulously. "This isn't just a back to school dance, Bloom. All the sponsors of Alfea will be here, including my father!" Stella said, her volume increasing with every syllable.
"If I don't look immaculate and my girls don't either, that will reflect on me and my father, which reflects on Solaria. Now, do you see the big deal?" Stella shrieked, throwing her hands in the air for dramatic effect.
"Uhh, sorry Stella, not really…" Bloom trailed off, smiling sheepishly.
Stella growled, her body becoming surrounded in a sunshine yellow aura. "I am the Crown Princess of Solaria, meaning that my actions, including the way I dress, affects the public's perception of my realm. After last year, I have a lot of catching up to do, so any public appearance I must look perfect for. And since you are my friend, you have to look perfect too. In fact, all of you do," she said, twirling around in a yellow halo. "Musa, what are you wearing tonight?" she demanded, cocking her hip.
"Clothes," I replied, not even bothering to look at her.
"I need specifics, Musa, I need to make sure you won't embarrass me!" she snarled, making me finally look up with a scowl on my face. "Didn't your mother ever teach you that you have to look your best to impress?" she yelled, making me practically vibrate with anger.
"I'm wearing clothes. I will look fine. If you don't think so, just pretend you don't know me, sound good?" I said in a saccharine sweet voice, getting to my feet and clutching the neck of my guitar so hard my knuckles whitened. It took everything in me not to scream at her for daring to mention my mother, but that would just raise more questions, ones I am not prepared to answer. I may like these girls, well most of them, but I've only known them a week, so I wasn't exactly keen to have a deep heart of hearts just yet.
"Fine, whatever, just don't talk to me tonight," she scrambled, glaring at me with an expression that was supposed to intimidate me.
"Gladly," I snorted, walking away, knocking my shoulder against hers on my way out.
I stormed into my room, taking care not to slam the door to my room shut. Just because I was pissed didn't mean I was going to be childish; besides the noise would hurt my ears. Tecna looked up when I walked in but didn't comment, understanding I needed my space. Thank the Muses for Tecna.
I dragged my guitar up to my bed and sat on my couch. I pulled my headphones I had laying haphazardly on the couch, over my ears to drown out the sounds of Flora telling Stella off. I appreciate her efforts. She was an absolute sweetheart, however, right now I wanted to block out the world and just dive deep into my music.
"Knock knock," I heard someone say, making me look up. I saw Flora and Tecna standing at the edge of my mezzanine, a shy smile on Flora's face and a small frown on Tecna's.
"May we come in please, sweetie?" Flora asked, and I nodded, moving my guitar to my side.
"Thank you," she said, stepping in.
I moved my stuff and took a seat on the floor, leaning against my wall. I gestured for them to sit on my couch, which they did after some hesitation.
"I just wanted to check on you after the argument with Stella. She was out of line and I wanted to make sure you were doing okay," Flora said, smiling kindly.
"Yes, I may not have your hearing but Stella's voice carries, I always wanted to inquire about your mental health after that," Tecna said, shifting slightly as he tried to figure out the words she wanted to say.
I smiled at them, touched that they cared so much. I knew they were great girls, but they just kept proving it to me time and time again. "Thanks, guys, yea I'm okay, she just hit a sore spot, that's all," I said, deliberately being vague.
They looked at each other, clearly wanting to elaborate on that. Flora looked at me and opened her mouth, closing it when she saw my expression. "That makes sense, sweetie, as long as you are doing okay, that's what matters. If it makes you feel any better, I struggle with her a little as well. I can tell she means well, but she doesn't always think before she speaks." Flora said, trying to word it delicately, so she wasn't bitching about her roommate.
"Yea I get that must be a side effect of being a princess, especially a Crown princess," I said, my temper waning a little.
"Exactly, so just try to be understanding and take your space when you need it. We are all still learning about each other and what makes us all tick, so we need to be mindful of that." Flora said, the perpetual smile still on her face.
"That's true, hey Tecna, did you get any more work done on your device?" I asked, wanting to change the subject as it was getting a little too emotionally charged for my liking.
She looked at me, her mouth slightly agape. "I told you I was interested, I wasn't pretending," I said to her, smiling slightly, and I bent one knee to get into a more comfortable position.
"Ooh, what is this Device? It sounds interesting. I'm not too good with technology, we don't use a lot on my realm so I'd love to learn from you, Tecna," Flora said, smiling as she crossed her legs under her.
"Really? You are interested?' Tecna said, lost for words.
Flora and I looked at each other, matching frowns on our faces. "Of course sweetie, wasn't everyone on your realm?" Flora asked, turning her attention to our technology friend.
"Well… no, not particularly. Of course, my parents were, but I intimidated others. I have some… personal things that have enhanced my abilities in the intellectual area, and not everyone appreciates it. Especially my old classmates," she said, biting her lip.
"Don't worry, we won't try. That is your business, not ours. But just know if you ever want to talk, I am here. I can't speak for Flora, but I'm sure that she agrees," I said, looking at the girl who nodded her affirmation.
"Well… thank you. I'm not comfortable going into details, but I was harassed by my classmates and alienated from the other children, so I did not have many relationships growing up," she said, shifting again in her seat.
"Well, you have us and I am genuinely curious about your device… you said it helps with time management?" I asked, my voice rising as I tried to remember exactly what she said it did.
Her eyes lit up, and she nodded furiously, pride radiating from her in waves. "Yes indeed, it sends messages directly to my brain. If I have it in class, the machine picks up on the frequency of the teacher's speech when they say deadlines, and it implants it into my brain. It will break down the time I have to do the task and if I can make it, will even divide the tasks up in the best format to prevent burnout," she said, smiling happily.
"That is neat sweetie, a brilliant device," Flora said, genuine praise coating her words.
"Yea girl that is a dope device, how long till it's ready?" I asked, still trying to get my head around the explanation.
"I am hoping in a month it will be ready, I can create one for you girls too if you desire. It'll be difficult to get it to upload it into your minds, however," she said, frowning slightly at her admission.
"That's totally fine, if you could make one for us that did all that and printed it out that would be amazing," I said, grinning at her,
"But only if it isn't a hassle, I would hate to bother you," Flora said, nibbling her lip.
"It is no bother at all, I've always wanted friends to make devices for, so this will be brilliant," she said, grinning.
"Alright then, sign me up! Hey Flora, where are the others?" I said, finally realising I couldn't pick up their sounds from the dorm.
"Stella has taken Bloom to her hair salon to get their hair done for the dance," Flora explained, and I nodded, mentally rolling my eyes at how overkill that sounded.
"All chill. Hey, do you girls want to grab some food and watch a movie? I'm not sure how long it'll take you girls to get ready, but I should be done in like 20 minutes," I said, chuckling.
"Same for me," Tecna said, nodding.
Flora blushes, rubbing her arms. "Oh, I will take a little longer. I've never been to a dance before so I want to put some extra effort in," she said, blushing.
"Not problem girl, I can help you with your hair if you like," I said, thinking back to all the lessons Anthem gave me on hairstyling. You can never have too many styles, it shows your individuality, she would always say.
"Oh, if that isn't too much trouble," she said, and I waved her off, smiling.
"None at all, you are welcome to get ready in here with us, if you like," I said, smiling when she nodded.
"Great! Now let's order a few pizzas, everyone's favourites?" I asked, looking at them all as I grabbed my phone.
"Vegetarian" Flora said, smiling gently. "I have no preference, we don't have the pizzas on Zenith," Tecna said, and I nodded, mentally working out her order.
"Sweet as I'll order it and we can go pick it up from the front gate," I said, and the girls nodded, grinning at me.
"Perfect, now the important question," I said, looking at them with my most serious expression.
"What movie do we want to watch?"
"Damn girl, you look hot!" I cheered, smiling at Flora.
She flushed, immediately ducking her head at my praise. I just chuckled, before grabbing another extra meaty pizza and shoving it in my mouth. "Thank you, Musa, you are very good with hair, where did you learn it?" she asked, admiring the style I gave her.
"My cousin is super big on partying so she taught me how to do hair for every occasion," I said, shrugging.
"Well, she did a magnificent job," Flora said, smiling at me through the mirror.
I smiled at her in thanks, checking out my work. I had given her big voluptuous curls, her bangs seamlessly mixing with the rest of her hair. I had given her a green-coloured headband to hold her hair back, with three black-coloured roses off centre on the band. She had done her makeup, having her eyes shadow be various shades of pink, pale pink lipstick and her face beautifully bronzed. She looked more like a nature goddess than just a fairy.
"I never would have thought to do my hair like this, I was going to have two small buns on the top of my head, but this is much better. Thank you so much." she gushed, making me chuckle.
"No need to thank me, you look great," I said, standing up and stretching.
"Musa, could you do my hair for me too please, I'm afraid I have no idea how to style it," Tecna admitted, looking down.
"Of course, It's why I started on Flora earlier, I figured you might want me to do yours too," I said, smiling at her. "Come sit here and I'll see what I can do," I said, mentally trying to figure out what I could do with her hair.
She did as I said and I brushed it out, trying to figure out how I wanted to style it. In the end, I braided the long fringe she had at the front, having it like half a hair, headband. I pinned it at the base of her scalp, before adding some pomade into the rest of her hair to make it slightly spiky. I placed a black headband in her hair, using it to cover up the clips at the base but ensuring it didn't cover her plait. In the end, I pulled out a mirror and held it up for her to see, immediately seeing a bright grin on her face.
"Thank you so much, Musa. I never would have thought to do this," she said, still gazing at her reflection with a wide smile.
"No problem, I admit the options were more limited with your hair, but I think you rock it," I said, grinning at her.
She just looked up at me with an enormous smile. I grinned back and gave her back her hair stuff, and she took them before walking back down the steps, leaving me and Flora.
"What are you going to do with your hair, Musa?" she asked, from her place on my bed.
"Hmm, dunno, likely leave it out, maybe even dye it a little," I said, grinning at her.
"You'd dye your hair before the event?" she asked, eyes open wide like a Magic Owl.
"Yea, Melody has this sick spray dye that washed out completely. It kinda shimmers around music too," I said, standing up and looking through my stuff. "I can put some in yours if you'd like?" I said, looking at her.
"Oh no, thank you, but you've done plenty. I would like to watch though," she said, smiling.
I nodded and grabbed my can, checking to make sure it was black. I stripped off my shirt, leaving me in my black lace bra. I caught Flir looking before she turned away, a fierce blush on her cheeks. That was interesting, I thought, filing it away for later. I undid my hair ties and ran my fingers through my pigtails, making them lie limp around my head. I flipped my head over and sprayed the can, moving the layers so I could distribute the can unevenly. I flipped my hair back, coating some of the front, including my fringe. By the time I was done, I had done a pretty decent job of doing a balayage style dye job, the navy and black colours blending together seamlessly. With that done, I went to my curling iron and curled my hair, making sure they were loose curls with slight volume. I didn't bother with any hair accessories, just shook my hair to loosen the curls and get a more messy look.
"You look amazing, Musa!" Flora said, grinning at me.
"Thanks, girl, I better quickly do my makeup, we only have about 10 minutes until we gotta head down," I said, strolling to my steps and jogging down them.
"You look good, Musa," Tecna said, from her position on her bed.
"Thanks, girl," I said, before drawing into our bathroom.
I didn't really enjoy makeup, but I could do it. I put on a little cover-up, though my skin wasn't too bad. I added some bronzer, blush and highlighter before moving on to my eyes. I did a cat eye, with a slightly grey smokey eye giving me a mysterious look. I added on dark red lipstick before deciding I was done.
I could hear Stella and Bloom putting on their dresses, so I wandered back up to my room. Flora was just putting on her dress, and I had to admit, the girl looked beautiful. Her dress was a white colour and fell to her feet. It was an empire waist and flowed slightly outwards from there. The neckline was a modest v with small spaghetti straps. Over the dress was pale green lace, with small pale pink crystal flowers dotted over it, barely noticeable until the light hit it. She had a simple silver chain necklace with a pale pink stone; the colour matching her gloves and strappy shoes.
"Flora," I breathed, "you look amazing!" I finished, making her flush.
"Oh, thank you Musa, I bought it for tonight," she said, blushing.
"You look great!" I think the other girls are almost done too," I said, making her nod.
"Okay, I'll meet you in the main room, thank you again for your help with my hair," she said, giving me a quick hug before descending the steps.
I quickly pulled off my pants before pulling the outfit on. It was a skintight black matte satin jumpsuit, with a strapless style top and a bustier design, looking vaguely like a corset. Around my waist was an organza overskirt that seamlessly blended into the top half of my jumpsuit, the material see-through and changing from black to red to gold at the very bottom. The overskirt let the entire front of my pants on show and to tie it together I placed a thick gold metal belt around my waist. I slipped on my black peep-toe heels with thick block heels, my gold dangle chain earrings and headed out the door, only stopping to grab my bright red cropped leather jacket with gold embellishments.
When I got out there, the other girls were already waiting. I had to admit, they all looked great. Tecna was wearing a powder blue dress that was tight and went to her knees, with a long-sleeved mauve coloured suit jacket worn open and covering the straps of the dress below. She had a thick black belt made of connecting hexagons that kept the open suit top connected to her body. The suit flowed down to her ankles, with a slit up the black. It was kind of like my overskirt, with how it faded from mauve to a darker fuchsia at the bottom. Overtop of it was a black grid design that got fainter as it went up the coat. On her feet were black wedge heels, and she wore an electric green necklace made of different shapes, with triangle-shaped big matching coloured earrings.
"Tecna, you look gorgeous!" I said, grinning at her.
"So do you, Musa, you look gorgeous," Bloom said, catching my attention.
"Thanks, you look great too!" I said, and she did. Her orange hair was straightened and pulled away from her face, with a thin headband made of her braided hair. She had dark blue chandelier earrings, with orange and gold-coloured gems in them. Her makeup was simple, with beige coloured eyeshadow, eyeliner and mid pink lips. Her dress was a mid-blue coloured tube top, with a high-waisted tulle skirt that had a faint puffiness to it. The skirt was made of dark blue, white and light blue tulle and covered her shoes. She had thin bracelets on either hand, changing from gold to blue to orange.
"Thank you, Stella helped me choose," she said, blushing a little.
Speaking of Stella…
"I'm surprised, you actually look good, though the leather jacket ruins it," Stella said, frowning at my jacket.
"Yeah well I like it, so leave me be," I said, rolling my eyes. "You look great though, Princess," I said, my tone becoming slightly sarcastic when I said her title.
"I know," she said, winking. I rolled my eyes. But just this once, I had to agree with her. The top of her dress was off the shoulder, with orange-coloured beads sewn into the neckline and off the shoulder sleeves. The dress bodice was tight and golden orange colour. The top was gathered ruching and stopped at her waist where it flared out in a tulle princess style skirt, the same golden orange as the rest of her dress. When the two materials ended, she had a thick golden belt with orange beads on it, wrapping around and separating the ruching from the rest. I could see her elegant golden heels peeking out, and her hair and makeup were immaculate. She had an orange and gold smokey eye, with pink lipstick and her hair was up in an elaborate bun, with a golden beaded circlet that matched her thick golden dangly earrings and the gold chain necklace with a pendant-style that matched the ring of solaria.
"We had better get going, I need to meet my father at the front courtyard so I can enter with him," Stella said, making the other girls nod.
"Want us to wait with you?" Bloom asked, and Stella smiled before shaking her head.
"I'd love that, but I need to meet my father alone. He would love to meet you guys later on though," Stella said smiling.
I quickly excused myself to race back to my room. I couldn't go without my music, and since I know I'd be badgered if they could see it, I grabbed my wireless earpods and snuck them in my pocket with my smallest music player. When I got back, Stella had already left to meet her dad, I'd assume.
"Everyone ready?" Flora checked, and we all nodded.
"Let's have a great night!" Boom cheered, making us cheer along with her infectious enthusiasm.
As the last out, I shut the door, locking it with a burst of magic. Flora hovered to wait with me, and when I finished she linked her arm with mine. We chattered as we caught up to the other girls, both getting swept away in the night's magic. Sure, I wasn't looking forward to it initially, but who knows, it could be fun and I could even meet a guy. Maybe even the guy from the club. With that happy thought in mind, I dragged Flora over to the other girls, ready to tackle this dance with the full force of a Melodian Fairy.
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter. This is the first of the ball chapters and will finish the next chapter at this rate. I really wanted to work on strengthening the bond of Flora, Musa and Tecna, and next chapter there will be changes with Bloom, Musa and Stella. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and there will be flirty times with Riven and Musa next time! Until next time!