There it was, still pink, less magnificent. Samara sighed as the portal behind her closed with a soft pop.
"Welcome back, glad you could finally join us." Griselda said with a hint of annoyance.
Samara just nodded and started to make her way to the front door of Alfea. The grounds were filled with students sitting in the grass with books or gossiping with their friends. As the fairy of the Moon made her way through the groups of girls, a scream pierced her ears.
"There you are!"
Musa ran up to Samara and hugged her tight.
"Where have you been?" She asked. "School started a week ago!"
"Uh you know, princess duties and stuff…"
Samara thought back to the last two months. Since the prince and princess of Eraklion are gone to school most of the year, a lot of meetings, balls and other things were planned during their vacation. Sky and Samara almost didn't have time to catch their breath and she was certain she had spend 90% of her days in the Royal Dress. And on top of all that, their parents had even forced them to skip the first week of school to visit each and every noble person on Eraklion.
"You don't look too good." Musa said as they resumed walking. "You know a vacation is meant to give you the chance to relax right?"
Samara let out a hollow laugh. "For you maybe."
They entered the school and started to walk upstairs.
"So did I miss anything important?" Samara asked.
"Nah, not much." The fairy of Music said. "Faragonda told us last year that we had some tests to catch up on but the teachers decided to just drop it."
"Did you see professor Palladium?"
Samara tried to ask the question as casual as possible, but her heart started to beat a bit faster.
"No, none of us have seen him yet." "He's not in the infirmary anymore, we had to get Stella there after she got a lipstick stuck in her nose."
A small grin appeared on Musa's face.
"What, how did she do that?"
The rest of the way to their dorm was filled with Musa painting a vivid picture of Stella and her lipstick. When they entered the dorm, Bloom, Tecna, Stella and Flora all welcomed Samara back. After she unpacked everything they all sat down in the livingroom to catch up. After Samara told them that she had been busy on Eraklion, Stella nodded understandingly.
"I know what you mean, when I first found out I was a fairy, my parents made me tour all over Solaria so people could congratulate me and give me gifts."
"Yeah sounds like a real sacrifice on your part." Tecna said rolling her eyes.
"It was!" "I had to wear a new dress for every meeting, new shoes, new jewelry…"
Stella zoned out and got a content look on her face.
"Okay…so did you guys bought your outfit already?" Bloom asked.
Samara looked up to her. "Outfit?"
She suddenly got a huge dejavu.
"Oh of course you don't know!" Bloom said. "Faragonda told us at the beginning of the week that tomorrow night the welcoming ball will be held."
"Oh great another ball to wear that hidious dress to." Samara groaned.
"I don't think so." Stella said, finally snapping out of her daydream. "The theme is "origin of our power".
That sounded familiar.
"Didn't I hear you say that last year?"
"Yep and I suggested it to Faragonda and she loved the idea!"
"Let's head to Magix this afternoon to go shopping." Flora said.
All girls agreed and headed to the busstop. While walking downstairs, Samara kept looking around to find a glimpse of Palladium, but failed.
After half an hour they arrived in Magix. It was busy in the streets with fairies and specialists.
"Okay where should we start?" Bloom asked.
"Just follow me." Stella said marching forward as if on an important mission.
The rest of the Winx looked at each other and decided it was best to just comply.
Within one hour, three of the six Winx had chosen their dresses. Musa had a dark red dress that was covered in small elements and music notes that when she walked made a beautiful sound. Flora had a dress that was covered in pink flower petals and light green leafs and had branches as shoulder straps. Tecna also found a dress, it was black and had green lines and numbers appear on it at random. She said it made her think of the suit she wears when she plays her videogames.
"I know a designer who can make me a dress in just ten minutes." Stella said before taking a sip from her orange juice. "But you have to be over 18 to get in…or at least someone of your group has to be."
"So, I'm 19." Samara said with a shrug.
She looked up when everyone fell silent.
"You're 19 years old?" Tecna asked. "That's impossible, you are 16 when you start at Alfea."
"Not me, it took me two years to convince my parents to let me go."
"Oh yes, finally I can get in!" Stella shrieked. "My mother never wanted to go all the way to Magix to shop."
"I doubt that I can afford a dress made specially for me." Bloom said.
"Don't worry Bloom, it will be my treat, no friend of mine will be wearing some second hand dress."
"Thanks Stella." Bloom said.
"We don't have much time anymore." Musa said. "The last bus leaves in one hour."
"Okay let's split up, you three get back to Alfea and cover for us in case we'll be late." Stella said.
"I don't think it's worth to get a dress from a designer for just one night." Samara said.
"Nonesense, you spend your whole vacation wearing that awefull Eraklion dress." Stella said sharply. "You deserve a dress of your own, now let's go."
She pulled Samara from her seat and Bloom followed. When they had walked two streets further, the fairy of the Sun suddenly stopped.
"Here it is." She said.
They walked inside and immediately a security guard walked towards them.
"Good day ladies, might I see some identification?" He asked polite.
All three girls handed their cards to him. The man nodded and stepped away.
"Enjoy your visit."
The three of them nodded and walked into the boutique. Stella let out a small excited shriek as she dove into the racks filled with the most exclusive dresses. Samara walked around with a frown. All these dresses were a little too adventurous for her taste. A man in a light purple suit with golden accents walked up to them.
"Welcome ladies, welcome to my lovely boutique!"
Samara didn't like him already.
"Thank you Jean!" Stella said. "I've read so many of your articles!"
The man shot them a obviously fake smile. "And with what can I help you miss…"
He held out his hand.
"Princess Stella of Solaria." Stella said with a bit of a posh accent. "This is Princess Samara of Eraklion and this Princess Bloom of Domino."
The man immediately changed his behaviour.
"Well well well, my boutique filled with royalty this afternoon!"
"We need some dresses for the welcoming ball at Alfea." Bloom said.
It appeared Samara wasn't the only one who had a dislike for this Jean.
"Aha, not only princesses but also fairies!" "Follow me please."
Samara grabbed Stella by her arm.
"I don't think this is the shop for me." She said. "I think I'll look around some more shops."
"What but…you haven't even seen anything." Stella muttered. "Just give it a chance."
Samara sighed. "Fine…"
Bloom was already ushered into one of the dressing rooms.
"A dress to resemble the Dragon Fire!" Jean said dramaticly. "You really have my work cut out for me my dear."
Samara rolled her eyes.
"Princess Stella, you can step into the dressing room in the middle, Princess Samara, the one on the right."
Samara stepped into the small room and noticed there was some sort of energy tube.
"Just call out what you need and the right dress will appear on you." The annoying voice of Jean called out.
Samara carefully stepped in the middle of the tube.
"A dress that represents the power of the Moon." She said.
She felt the energy pulsate around her and suddenly she was wearing a dress. She looked into the mirror in front of her and her mouth fell open. She was wearing a silver shiny dress that was…revealing to say the least. There was hardly any fabric on her.
"What the fuck…" She whispered.
"Everything alright madame?"
"No, stop this now!" Samara yelled.
The tube of energy died out and Samara was wearing her normal clothes again. She stepped out of the dressing room at the exact same moment as Stella. The princess of Solaria was wearing a yellow and orange dress that was so radiant, it was as if there were rays of sunlight coming off of her.
"Oh I LOVE IT!" She yelled.
When Samara's eyes were adjusted to the light, she could see the dress had quite a high slit at the bottom and quite some cleavage, but apparantly Stella didn't mind. Bloom stepped out of her room wearing her own clothes.
"Oh you couldn't find anything?" Stella asked.
"Not really my thing, sorry…" Bloom said.
Stella changed back into her own clothes and purchased the dress. After a total of thirty minutes, the three girls walked back onto the streets of Magix. Samara sighed deeply, she wanted to get back to Alfea as soon as possible and try to find Palladium.
"What about that shop?" Bloom asked.
Samara looked up to see her point to a very small shop in the corner of the street.
"Doesn't really look like much…" Stella said.
"Well we don't have a lot of time left, I'm going in." Bloom said.
Samara followed her, leaving Stella to wait outside.
The shop was very small and filled with clothes. A small counter stood in the corner with behind it a kind looking woman.
"Hello there." She said.
"Hello." Bloom said. "We are looking for some dresses for the welcoming ball at Alfea."
The woman smiled as Bloom grabbed Samara by the shoulder.
"Ah and I believe the theme of this year is your personal power?"
"Yes it is, how do you know?" Samara asked.
"I am an old friend of the headmistress." The woman said. "Call me Agnes."
She stepped away from the counter.
"So what are we looking for?"
"I am the fairy of the Moon." Samara said.
"Wonderfull, I certainly have something for you dear."
She looked at Bloom expectantly. The girl felt her head turn red.
"I uh…am the fairy of the Dragon Flame."
"Oooh I like a challenge, don't worry dear you'll be fine."
She ordered both girls to stand in front of one of the mirrors.
"Now let's see how this looks on you."
Agnes snapped her fingers and before Samara could even move an inch, she was dressed in a gorgeous dark blue dress. The dress was covered in small silver specks that looked very similar to actual stars. The silver was even more noticable in the bottom of the dress, as if she was walking on stardust. There was more cleavage than Samara was used to but to be honest, she wasn't used to any at all. At the middle of her chest, right where her cleavage ended was a silver moon.
Samara couldn't say a word but kept staring at her reflection.
"I think that look means you like it?" Agnes asked.
Samara nodded slowly.
"How about your hair and makeup?" Agnes asked. "I took the liberty to add that as well."
Samara looked up to her face. Her hair had soft curls in them, falling just on her shoulders. Her eyes were covered with silver eyeshadow. It was absolutely stunning.
"Oh Samara you look absolutely stunning." Bloom voiced her thoughts.
"And now for you love." Agnes said walking up to Bloom. "The Dragon Flame…that has to be a special dress."
She snapped her fingers again. Bloom suddenly was wearing a dress that seemed to be on fire. Red, orange, yellow and a few hints of blue. Her eyes were subtly covered in red and yellow. Her hair was pulled up in a messy up do, leaving small curls to frame her face.
"Oh wauw!" The red haired fairy gasped.
"Twirl for me." Agnes said.
Bloom did as she was told and little flames danced around her dress and gathered together to create a miniature dragon that moved around her.
"How do you do that?" Samara asked.
Agnes shrugged. "Just add a bit of magic." "Most big shops don't invest that much time in their dresses."
Bloom and Samara got back in their normal clothes and bought the dresses and make up sets. The dresses were not even that expensive and with a content smile both girls walked out of the shop.
"And?" Stella asked.
"We found our dresses." Bloom said.
"Can I see?"
"No." Samara said with a small smile towards Bloom. "You'll see tomorrow."
Stella huffed annoyed.
The girls were just in time for the last bus to Alfea and when they finally arrived it was almost dinner time. Samara was glad for that, surely she would see Palladium at dinner. She put her dress safely on the top shelf of her closet and walked back into the livingroom, where the rest of the Winx were just ready to head downstairs. Samara took the opportunity to once again take a good look around. There was a restless feeling growing bigger and bigger inside of her. She had left him in the infirmary, unconcious. Didn't even had the chance to say goodbye.
If I could just get a glimpse…just one second to know he's alright…
"Would you hurry up?" Stella asked as the rest of the group disppeared around the corner.
Samara picked up her speed and turned the corner.
"Ooof!"
She fell backwards and landed hard on her side. She had bumped into the one person she had been looking for, Palladium.
"Oh dear I'm so sorry!"
She blinked a few times. That was not Palladium's voice. Slowly she looked up and saw that the elf was not her elf…not Palladium….but at the same time it was him. She could feel him.
"Uh…"
She slowly took his hand which he had offered. She was pulled up on her feet with quite ease.
"It's nice to see you again Samara."
Samara realized she was still staring with her mouth a bit open. She quickly closed it.
The elf in front of her was a lot taller than Palladium. His hair was a mixture between blonde and orange. Eyes were almost golden and his entire body seemed…muscular.
"It's me…professor Palladium." The elf said.
"I know." Samara heard herself say.
Wait how exactly did she know?
Her confusion was clearly written across her face because Palladium shot her an apologetic smile.
"I understand this must be confusing." He said.
"Quite…" Samara said.
"Are you coming?"
Stella appeared behind Palladium.
"Oh who is this stud?" She asked by seeing the elf from behind.
"Professor Palladium." Samara said with a stern "keep away from him" tone that she did not hear ever before and was quite surprised with herself.
"Professor…"Stella began to laugh but stopped as the elf turned around.
"Nice seeing you again miss Stella." He said.
Stella gulped and quickly disappeared to the dining hall.
"I should go get dinner." Samara said. "Shall we talk about…this another time?"
Palladium nodded. "That would be nice, we should also discuss the events of last year." "It is good to see you again."
"You too professor." Samara nodded and bit her lip as Palladium walked past her.
She felt her head turn red and her heart beat faster as she made her way to the dining hall. This certainly had been an interesting first day of her second year.