Dinner time came faster than expected and Nicole shuffled into the cafeteria with the rest of her roommates. She thought for a school, the food would be average, instead…
"I don't want to ever leave, this is the best pizza I've had." Nicole said as she took the first few bites of her slice.
"If you think this is good, then we should totally check out Magix later. They have the best shops."
"Undine, so good to see you. It's been too long." Nicole picked up on a familiar voice with too much sugary sweetness injected into it. It was the princessy ginger haired girl from this morning. Though this time she wasn't alone. Standing on her right was a girl with sunny blonde hair pulled into space buns, she wasn't even looking at them, rather she was glued to her phone screen. There was also a tanned skinned girl with cotton candy pink hair that glared at Rhea with disgust and revulsion. Rhea caught this but said nothing, continuing to eat her salad. Behind Bridgette, stood a young brunette who had a genuine kind smile and waved at Andromeda. Andromeda waved back, though seemed surprised to see her there.
"Bridgette." Undine looked annoyed, not even making eye contact with the girl.
"I was so sad to hear we weren't in the same suite together. We were so close."
"Yes, we were. But then you decided to lie and cheat with my ex-boyfriend." Nicole nearly choked on her slice of pizza at Undine's cold stone words. Did she step into a soap opera?
On the other hand, Bridgette didn't even flinch at Undine's words, "But that was so long ago and you deserve better than four eyes, little miss creepy, hothead, and…who are you?" She pointed to Nicole, looking at her like she was some kind of alien creature.
"Oh I'm Nicole of Eart-"
"Don't care." Bridgette cut her off, "This is what I mean, Undine. You don't need to surround yourself with nobodies like her. You're royalty, beautiful, and a daughter of a Winx. You should transfer to my suite, we've got a room open."
"Thanks but no thanks." Undine returned the fake smile, "But they don't treat me like a perfectly good handbag that gets thrown away the second I break."
Bridgette's smile faltered for a second then returned with her pride. "Fine, but don't expect me to be so lenient when you come crawling back." The fiery princess strutted off with her posse behind her, though the brunette stood around for a little longer than the others.
"Can someone explain to me what her problem was?" Nicole asked, feeling like she had just missed an important plot point of a tv show.
"That was Princess Bridgette of Eraklyon. She's a spoiled brat who has everyone wrapped around her finger, basically a mythic bi-"
"Language." Andromeda interrupted Undine's sentence. "She's also the daughter of King Sky and Queen Bloom, the leader of the Winx."
"Yeah, I have no idea what Winx is."
"All of our mothers were a part of the Winx, a group of legendary fairies who defended the magix dimension a bunch of times from bad guys. They keep expecting us to be the next generation or something." Undine rolled her eyes.
"As if I would let her be my leader." Minuet scoffed, "Also I'm not a hothead."
"Sure, what about that time you punched that guy when he got too handsy?"
"That was one time and he deserved it." Minuet said as she ate her pizza, "I don't care if he was a prince, he was still creepy."
"Anyway, we are going out to Magix City tonight for some well deserved shopping and I'll have no whining, is that clear?" Undine stated.
"What about curfew?"
"We won't be out long, just a quick dress shopping spree for the Start of School dance and we'll be back before old, meany Griselda notices, don't you all trust me?" She put on her best puppy dog eyes. Nicole nodded along with the others, though was silently wondering what in the world she had gotten herself into.
Nicole soon regretted saying yes as she felt like a dress up doll with Undine and Andromeda arguing between her.
"She looks better in blue. It makes her eyes pop out."
"But the red will make her stand out, blue will just blend her in!" Undine snapped back
"Which one of us has a fashion designer for a mother?"
"Yes, but I know all of the fashion trends and follow all the fashion platforms, including your mother, so I know best."
"Look I'm not even planning on going maybe I should just put this back an-"
"No!" Both Undine and Andromeda shouted at once, startling Nicole. Minuet sat on the sidelines watching like a spectator at a sport's event. She already had to go through the whole ordeal, her dress had been chosen for her with no complaints.
"I don't think it's going to work for me." Rhea spoke from the dressing room.
"Well come out so we can see you better."
There was a few seconds of silence then she stepped out. Undine gasped as Rhea stood awkwardly on the floor of the clothing room. She wore a stunning dark green dress with transparent sleeves that resembled vines climbing up and down her arms.
"You look amazing!"
"I feel stupid."
"Nonsense, we just need to find you the right shoes and makeup to make it work."
"Great, more shopping."
"Be glad that I have the royal credit card of Andros." Undine pulled out a flashy credit card and turned to the attendee. "We'll take that one."
"I don't get it. What is so special about a school dance? Isn't it just the first week of school celebration?"
"Yes, but boys from Red Fountain will be there and it will give us a chance to mingle and socialize."
"Right, mingle and socialize." Minuet chuckled, "Was that what you were doing with the prince of Callisto last year at your brother's coronation?"
Andromeda turned as red as the dress Nicole was wearing, "I-I don't know what you are referring to."
"Sure."
"What do you mean it's been declined!?" Undine's shocked voice startled all four of the girls.
"I'm sorry, ma'am but this credit card has been declined by the account's manager."
"Are you seri-" Undine realized she was shouting too loud and became quieter, "I have to make a call."
Nicole watched as Undine stormed off with a frustrated expression on her face.
Andromeda sighed, "I'll pay for it."
"Thank goodness for rich princesses and their gold credit cards."
"Hello Undine, how's Alfea?" A holographic form of Queen Aisha of Andros appeared from her cell phone. Her once long curly hair was now cut to her shoulders. Her eyes held a bittersweet sadness to them. Going through tragedy after tragedy had hardened her and made her into the Queen she is today. Her daughter was less than thrilled to see her.
"My credit card was declined, mother." Undine gritted her teeth, trying to keep calm.
"Yes, I did that."
"Why!? That credit card was my entire savings for the year!"
"Your father and I-"
"Stepfather." That man was not her father, no matter how much her mother pushed it.
Aisha frowned at her daughter's interruption, "He and I have been discussing your recent behavior and we think it would be best for you to be cut off from your savings."
"But I haven't done anything wrong!"
"You have been sneaking out of the castle at night, dodging your tutors, and causing trouble at balls! Not to mention the incident with Prince Brenton of Earklyon! You are very lucky you haven't caused a diplomatic incident!"
"But I-" The hologram of her mother waved a hand in a command and stared down the young princess.
"Until you have proven you can be a better princess, I will be monitoring your spendings. That means no overly expensive dresses, no zealous shopping, and no parties." She decreed, "Do you understand?"
Undine nodded, keeping her head down and mouth shut to avoid causing a scene in the street. She didn't want to attract attention. The queen seemed satisfied with that answer and vanished into nothing.
"This sucks." She huffed, making her way back to the shop. As she walks, she accidentally bumps into someone.
"Watch where you're going…" Her fury died down as she took in the person she shouted at, "Nimue?"
Nimue looked just as surprised to see Undine. She had sleek white hair that went down to her hips, silver eyes in shock, light sun touched skin, light blue markings under her eyes, and clothes that were more suited for a hot summer day than the beginning of the school year.
"Hey Undine." She smiled sheepishly.
"It's good to see a familiar face, but what are you doing here? Are you supposed to be in Andros?"
"I am…but I ran away."
"You ran away? You did?" In her mind, Undine was processing her words. Nimue was a shy soft spoken mermaid who was a ward to King Nereus and Queen Talia. She was also Undine's cousin, so it came as a shock that the timid girl would rebel and run away from home.
"I'm just as surprised as you are. But after what happened last summer…I couldn't stay in the Andros sea for much longer." Her voice turned bittersweet. Undine remembered all too well what happened when she visited the Androisan ocean kingdom the summer before coming to Alfea. It wasn't pretty or something to dwell too far deep in.
"So you're staying here in Magix? Did you get an apartment?"
"Not exactly…I'm a student at Cloud Tower."
"You're a witch!?"
"Please don't tell anyone I'm here, if our family found out I was here then…" She panicked, her hands shaking with fear, "Just don't tell anyone you saw me."
"Look, I get it, I'll keep your secret." Undine reassured, she took Nimue's hands in her own, "I'm just surprised my little cousin would take a page out of my book."
"I learned from the best."
"Nimue!" A duo of witches waved over to her, one with blood red hair and a brunette.
"Friends of yours?"
"My roommates. They've been really great. Where are yours?"
"At Glam Fashion, I may have dragged them here to go dress shopping for the Alfea dance."
Nimue's eyes sparkled, "Ohh sound exciting, I'll keep an ear out for any witches who decide to crash the party."
"Sure, but please be careful, you're still my little cousin. I don't want you to get hurt."
"They should watch out instead, I am a powerful witch."
"I have no doubt about that." Undine chuckled, recalling the elaborate and beautiful ice sculptures she created when she was younger.
She watched as Nimue ran back to her roommates and walked off into the streets of Magix. Undine was happy to see her smile, it was the few times she saw Nimue truly happy.
Nimue wasn't just Undine's cousin, she was the daughter of the infamous Icy of the Trix and the traitorous prince Tritannus. Growing up, Undine had to defend her from Androsians who bullied her for her parents' past. Her toxic parentage made her a target for others' blame and resentment towards her. The rest of the family was always wary of her, but Undine wasn't afraid to stand by her side. Their friendship caused more than one fight between mother and daughter.
Undine's phone suddenly went off, the caller was Andromeda.
"Where are you?! We have to hurry back before the last bus leaves!" the Solarian princess shouted, almost deafening her eardrums.
"Seriously?! Hold on, I'll be right there!" Undine sprinted down the street of Magix. The ocean princess was unaware of the pair of eyes staring at her as she ran.
"Interesting…very interesting." The figure smirked, disappearing into the darkness.
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