Hello my loves!

I know when I posted the last chapter of season 1 I said s2 would start *soon* and somehow it ended up taking almost a full year, sorry about that.
This year, we tell canon to go fuck itself a little bit more. We're also going with shorter chapters so that you don't have to dedicate 2 hours to reading 1 chapter. There will be MORE chapters though. Isn't that exciting?
I hope you like it.

Chapter 1: A great start to a new school year (unless you end up floating down a river)

Her fingertips were rubbed raw and bleeding. She'd never climbed this much before, and never on such rough edges. Every rock jagged out at odd angles as if hoping that some unlucky soul would fall over the edge of the cliff a few dozen feet higher. Despite the multiple rocks poking out, it was near impossible to find footing that wasn't shaky and unstable. On more than one occasion, Aisha had almost fallen to the rough waters down below.

She wasn't even sure where she was; somewhere in depths of Shadowhaunt, she thought. A place that, until recently, she had been certain was fictitious. It had taken her hours to get this far down – all she had was her wings, and they had crapped out less than a quarter of the way. It hadn't taken her long after that to realise that her powers were weakened down here. Unfortunately, that had happened when she'd run into some horrendous giant worm-like creature. She got out with just a few scratches, but it had been anything but fun.

Aisha pulled herself over the ledge with a great deal of effort and dropped onto her back, panting heavily. She was exhausted; sleep called to her, begging her to give in. Even the sandy, pebble-filled ground inches from a several hundred-foot drop into tumultuous waters seemed like an ideal place for a quick nap.

Not now. The pixies needed her. Her friends needed her.

Her body felt like it weighed thousands of pounds, but she managed to lift herself off the ground and onto her feet. She brushed the dirt off her torn pants – one of the few pairs she owned, or rather, that she was allowed to own – and turned to face what she suspected, hoped, was the building the pixies were being kept in. It didn't look like a regular building, more like somebody had clumped a bunch of dirt together and called it a building. She forced steps towards the doors that weren't doors, just large, cavernous openings leading to what she assumed were hallways.

Every now and then Aisha found herself ducking behind a large stalagmite to avoid being seen by a passing creature. The halls were quiet – horrifyingly so – and Aisha had to pay special attention not to make too much noise. Every squeak of her boots or heavy breath made her paranoid she would draw attention to herself or that some unseen monster would sneak up behind her and end her then and there.

After what felt like an eternity, but was likely mere minutes, of wandering, she spotted a dirt staircase at the end of the hallway, spiraling up to floor above her. She followed it up hesitantly, keeping her footsteps light and her breath minimal in case someone or something was waiting for her around the corner. When she reached the top, Aisha let go the breath she'd been holding very slowly. There was no one.

She crept along the wall, staying in the shadows as much as she could. Her once slow and calculated steps were now slow and lethargic. She was becoming increasingly exhausted by the second, like being in the fortress was draining her of what little energy she had left. Her mind drifted away from the task at hand to absolute nothingness; all she wanted to do was sleep for a long, long time.

"No, I refuse to believe there isn't a way out" a tiny, robotic sounding voice shouted from down the hall. Aisha's ears perked up at the sound of Digit's voice. She broke into a sprint, running even faster when a sweet, angelic voice she recognized as Amore's proclaimed sadly that they'd tried so many things.

Aisha rounded the corner much faster than she should have, not stopping to check if anyone was there with the pixies. She stooped over, trying to catch her breath. It was only then that she realized her entire body was shaking. She was so tired and sore; every inch of her ached and begged for respite that would come no time soon.

"Who's there?" A shrill voice demanded, trying – and failing – to sound tougher than her six-inch-tall stature made her.

"It's me" Aisha whispered, head darting around to make sure no one was in the vicinity other than her and the pixies. A gaggle of voices happily saying her name responded. Aisha stepped closer to their voices, only realizing as she approached them that they were being kept in a round cage – almost like a bird cage – suspended less than three feet from the ground. The bars shone neon green, and she could feel the waves of magic rolling off them even from a few feet away. Her eyes focused past the bars to the pixies in the cage. Her heart sank at the sight of tiny shriveled up bodies floating near the top of the cage. She was too late… some of them were gone.

Aisha kneeled beside the cage, her head coming flush with the pixies sitting on the cage floor. As much as she would have liked to look them over, make sure they were all unharmed, her focus had to be on breaking the cage. She looked over the glowing bars and the solid iron base, trying to find a button, a switch, a panel, a lever, a clip – anything that could possibly open the cage.

There was nothing.

Not a single clue of how to break the cage open.

"We've tried everything" Amore – the pixie of love, a true beauty of a pixie with rosy, pink cheeks and matching hair – informed her sadly. Aisha raised her eyebrow at the pixie, declaring that they hadn't tried everything - they hadn't tried brute force. Aisha was by no means a large or bulky person – in fact, while she did have a more athletic build, she was quite slim and not particularly muscular. What she lacked in physical strength, however, she more than made up for in stubbornness and sheer determination. She was going to break the cage open one way or another.

Magic was always the first resort. She managed to transform and blast the bars, but her attack was weak, and her magic levels were depleting quickly. If magic brute force wasn't going to work, physical brute force would have to do. Aisha drove her elbow into the bars with all the power she could muster in her weakened state and regretted it instantly. A pain tore through her arm like she'd never felt before. She jerked it back, gripping it with her other hand as she stumbled backwards in shock.

When she looked at her elbow, she was surprised to find that she was completely unharmed – there wasn't a single bruise, cut, or mark on her. When she looked up, she was even more surprised to find that the bars were slowly fading away. Had that worked? Was brute physical force the answer? She could practically hear her mother scoffing and insisting that a proper lady would never resort to such unrefined measures, but she'd never been of the opinion that she was all that much of a proper lady.

"How did that happen?" Digit questioned, staring at the empty space where the bars had been. "It seems entirely impossible that Aisha elbowing it worked, otherwise Chatta throwing her full weight into it should have too."

"Does it matter if it means we're free?" Lockette shrugged, her tiny wings fluttering her over to where Aisha stood. She dropped herself onto the fairy's shoulder and rested her head against Aisha's cheek.

"I don't know. I think it might be a trap."

"Well, I don't know about you Digit, but I'm not sticking around to find out" Chatta said, earning nods of agreeance from the remaining pixies. As a group, they floated over to Aisha, Digit dragging along unsurely behind them. Piff, the youngest of the bunch, fell onto Aisha's free shoulder and crawled into her hood before curling herself up into a ball for a nap. Befitting of her title, the pixie of sweet dreams, Piff was constantly sleeping. She was also a mere hundred years old – still a baby by pixie standards.

"I'm just saying- "

"We don't have time to talk about it" Aisha interrupted Digit, "Either we take this chance and get out or we stay here like sitting ducks talking it over."

Aisha led them back through the corridor and down the stairs at a more urgent speed. With more eyes to keep lookout, she didn't feel the need to constantly have her head swiveling in search of people – or creatures, she wasn't entirely sure what they were. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Aisha had no idea where to go. They couldn't go back down the cliffside, that would be too slow and too dangerous. She had seen a bridge in the distance, maybe if they could find that, they could get across to the other side into the tunnels and hopefully up to the surface. She had no idea where they would need to go from there, but that didn't matter; they'd be safer once they were out. She hoped.

Every wall looked the same, every hallway was identical to the last one. The more they spun around in what felt like circles – though may very well have not been – the more Aisha began to lose hope. They were never finding that bridge. There were more chances of them being magically teleported back to Pixie Village or Andros than finding that damn bridge. She ran through hall after hall after hall, turning left and right at any given opportunity, praying she wouldn't run into trouble, and meeting the same plain dark brown walls. Even Lockette, the pixie of portals whose powers could help her find her way anywhere, was at a complete loss; she'd tried and tried to use her key, but it always fizzled. "It's like something's blocking my powers" she cried after the fourth failed attempt.

By some miracle, after running around for what felt like weeks, they came to an opening that led onto the bridge. Aisha was so used to disappointing turns by then that she'd almost missed it entirely. Tune, who'd stayed otherwise quiet, was the one to point it out when Aisha almost ran past it.

The fairy turned on her heel and, accompanied by the small fairies, ran towards the bridge. Her heart pounded harder in her chest than she'd ever thought possible and, as the bridge neared, she felt herself start to feel hopeful. They would make it! They were so close, she could practically feel the weight lifting from her shoulders, her spirit starting to soar and the sunlight on her face.

She was steps from the bridge when the dark surroundings that her eyes had barely adjusted to became darker. The weight that had crushed her shoulders and drug her spirit down returned. She couldn't pinpoint what had caused it, just that it was all-encompassing. She wanted to scream and cry and lock herself away, never to be heard from again.

A tall... man? Bird? Aisha didn't know. He had large wings that reminded her of phoenix wings and stretched longer than he was tall. And he was tall – taller than anyone she'd ever met except maybe the family of giants she'd met in Beterus – with a thin, wiry frame. He wore armor over his chest and forearms, hands with nails sharper than claws protruding from the latter. He had a pointed chin, angular mouth with teeth so sharp he could tear her apart with one bite and beady, red eyes shining from beneath the helmet he wore. As horrifying as he was, the energy he emitted was so much worse: depression, despair and fear radiated from him more powerfully than anything Aisha had ever felt.

"Going somewhere?" he asked calmly. His voice sent shivers of fear up her spine, freezing her in place. Her heart raced faster than the rapids below, beating against the rocks with a force that, when compared to her heart against her ribcage, seemed insignificant. Beside her, the pixies cowered in fear, visibly shaking, and audibly crying. Their distress forced something in Aisha, some need and desire to protect her innocent friends.

She tried to find her voice; to tell him to back off. She couldn't. The words were there, in her mind, sort of. Fear clouded them, drew its tendrils out and wrapped itself around her vocal cords so she couldn't speak. Sounds managed to escape, but they hardly formed a squeak let alone a full coherent thought.

Claws dug into her chin, forcing her eyes up to look upon the figure. Red eyes stared down at her, daring her to challenge him. The smirk on his lips – or rather, the hole of his mouth – told her he knew she wouldn't, that she was weak and helpless. And she was weak and helpless, but she was also herself. And Aisha had sworn to never be weak and helpless again. She conjured up what little power she had and shot at him.

It did nothing.

Worse, it only served to make him mad.

He ripped the pixies from the air in one swift motion, trapping them in a sphere of magic. The scream that echoed through the caves was one that chilled Aisha's bones and it took her far too long to realise the scream had come from her.

He had them.

He had her friends.

Her only friends.

And there was nothing she could do.

She was too weak.

Too helpless.

Somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind, she knew she was crying and screaming at him. It felt like she had been pulled out of her body, swept away into a whirlpool of despair. It battered away at her until she was almost nothing. Just a speck in murky waters, insignificant and useless.

Then… she was falling.

She didn't remember being hit or throwing herself. She didn't even remember crying or screaming all that much. She just knew that she was falling. And then there was nothing.

Bloom drug her suitcase through the halls of Alfea, swerving to avoid the girls rushing through the hall. Around her, girls through themselves into each other's arms, happy to see their friends returned to school after the way last year had ended. She'd overheard a lot of her classmates talking about how there was no way their parents would allow them back after they'd had to fight a war so to see so many familiar faces was a relief. Even more of a relief was that all of her friends had managed to convince their parents to allow them back.

Musa and Tecna had been sitting on the grass in the quad when she'd arrived – accompanied by Griselda to open the portal from Earth for her. The former had been softly strumming her guitar and singing to herself while Tecna blabbered on about some game she was really excited about. Bloom had watched Musa laugh about Tecna's enthusiasm – earning a grumble from the tech fairy. Musa had been throwing her arms around Tecna when Bloom had stepped in front of them.

She'd wanted to sit down and talk to them, but Musa had shooed her away insisting that they'd have time to catch up over the next year – a nice normal year where they wouldn't be dragged into a war against nutcases bent on world domination. Bloom should go settle in.

Her room was already littered with pots and plants when she got there signaling that Flora had arrived before her. She'd always loved wandering around the varieties of flowers her mom kept in the shop and living with Flora wasn't much different – except that sometimes the plants spoke back to her.

The suitcase ended up on her bed that had already been made up prior to her arrival – she'd gotten to customise her room this year instead of settling for what Veranda had chosen. Once her clothes were neatly folded in the drawers and hung up in and orderly fashion – the first and, most likely, last time they'd be like that until she came back from winter break – Bloom wandered through the dorm, stopping to admire the new kitchenette that had been added to the room. Was it a modification for second years she wondered only to have her thoughts broken up by a shout of pure exasperation from Stella's room.

"I have nothing to wear" Stella cried, melting onto the carpeted floor of her mezzanine closet, various garments clutched in her hands.

Bloom's eyes darted over the closet stuffed to the brim with more clothes than anyone could ever possibly wear over the course of nine and a half months – or an entire lifetime. It was too early in the year to start grumbling about Stella's excessive wardrobe – a task Musa would undoubtedly happily volunteer for – so Bloom calmly walked over and picked up the cutest dress she could find without too much sifting. "What about this? It's gorgeous and compliments your skin so well." Bloom had no idea if it actually did, but Stella had herself claimed she wore red well, so it seemed a safe bet.

"Brandon's already seen me in that!"

"He has?" Bloom questioned, looking over the red mini dress. Bloom had seen Stella every day last year and wouldn't be able to pick what she'd seen the blonde in. "How do you know?"

"I just do!" Stella ripped the dress out of Bloom's hands and tossed it onto the ground beside her onto an already impressive pile of clothes – something akin to Bloom's entire wardrobe being turned upside down.

"So then pick something he hasn't seen you in?"

"But I don't remember what he hasn't seen me in!"

Bloom's face fell. How could Stella possibly remember and not remember what Brandon had seen her in? And why did it even matter? "Brandon won't care," she didn't add that there was no way he would remember, "he'd think you're beautiful in a paper bag."

"I would never wear a paper bag" Stella grumbled as she started sifting through the pile, pulling swatches of fabric to her chest, and then discarding them in a new pile.

"Right..." Bloom sighed. She loved Stella, truly, but there was just no reasoning with her sometimes. She left, mumbling something about having to find Flora. Stella paid her no mind choosing instead to start rifling through her closet once more.

If Flora wasn't outside with Musa and Tecna, and she wasn't in their dorm, the most likely place would be in the greenhouse. That was exactly where Bloom found her, dirt staining her green skirt and cheeks – just the way Flora liked things.

"Bloom!" she greeted happily, standing up so quickly she knocked the case on the table beside her to the floor. Some things never changed. "Oops…"

Flora fixed the pot before throwing herself into the redhead's outstretched arms. Flora was just as soft and warm as she remembered.

"Bloom, lovely to see you back" Palladium commented, coming into the greenhouse behind her. "Flora, I'll be at the back starting to work on the fluxroot plants. Please come join me when you can."

"Great to see you too professor!" Bloom replied, doing a double take when she noticed Palladium properly. Had he had work done? The Palladium she'd known, sweet-looking and a tad awkward, was gone, replaced by a confident, poised man with far more chiseled features. Bloom exchanged glances with Flora, who simply laughed and shrugged.

"I should…" Flora trailed off, motioning in the direction that Palladium had gone. Bloom waved her off and watched as she disappeared into the tall leaves of what Bloom thought might be a northern pine – she hadn't done all that well in botany despite living with the queen of the forest herself. Her eyes drifted over the tall trees with its blue blossoms and... what was that? She stepped closer only to have the form open its eyes at her.

It squeaked. Bloom moved back, never taking her eyes off the... seahorse? It was staring back at her, and she had no idea what to do. Then it took off out of the greenhouse door. Bloom's head turned towards the door, staring in the direction the seahorse had flown before she started running after it.

The seahorse led her through the hallways where she had to squeeze through classmates that regarded her with equal parts confused and annoyed looks. She dove around the corner at the top of the stairs that led to the library and into a hallway she didn't remember ever being there.

There was nothing.

No door or hallway and certainly no seahorse. There was just a bust of some lady and a mirror opposite it.

"Where did you go?" she asked the air and receiving no answer. Her eyes darted around, thinking she might spot the seahorse in some corner. She kept still so as not to spook it, but it never materialized. Giving up, Bloom turned to the mirror to fix her hair. Stella was right: running was not good for hair do's.

It must have been a trick of light or a stroke of luck that she spotted the outline of a door in the reflection. She turned around and started to feel along the wall, hoping to somehow push the door open to no avail. It was only when she rested her hand on the bust as she paused to think that the door slid open.

Bloom stepped into the room. It couldn't be much bigger than her bedroom back home, but it went up much higher than Alfea did. Leather bound books and books with ornate covers lined the hundreds of shelves. "Where am I?"

"Somewhere you shouldn't be" a small, stern voice said. Bloom jumped, turning towards the voice only to find herself looking at the very first pixie she'd ever seen – they'd learned about the pixie colonies last year, but she'd never been lucky enough to see one. They were so much smaller than she'd anticipated, no taller than her forearm.

"Who are you?" she asked, bending down to look the pixie in the eye and immediately straightening up when she realised that might be considered rude. The pixie must be an older one – she certainly had the air of one. Her blond hair was in twin buns – princess Leia buns – on the side of her head and she wore small glasses.

"I am Concorda, keeper of Alfea's secret archive and you, young lady, are trespassing."

"Trespassing? But I'm on school property?"

"You are not supposed to be here. No one is. Now get out before I turn you into a houseplant."

Bloom backed out of the room slowly, terrified that she'd end up as a fern. She had no idea how powerful pixies were, especially the older ones. This one, for all she knew, might be the pixie equivalent of Faragonda. The minute she stepped into the hall, the door slammed in her face and its outline vanished.

The girls crowded around the main entrance – minus Stella who was surely still in the throes of a fashion meltdown – to greet the guys. Sky had texted Bloom that they were leaving Red Fountain 15 minutes prior and – save for Timmy – would be having a friendly race, which Bloom had assumed would mean a lot of trash talk from Riven.

Flora watched as Musa adjusted and readjusted her dress across the entrance from where Bloom and Tecna were talking about some new game that was being released next month. She slid over to the singer and leaned against the entrance column. "Are you nervous?"

"No, why would I be?" Musa asked far too quickly for it to be believable.

Roaring engines coming up the road stopped Flora short of answering. One of the bikes pushed through the two that had been leading the way, stopping just short of the gate. The other two bikes followed seconds later with a fourth bike trotting behind.

"No fair, dude. You fucking cheated" Brandon accused. Riven gave him the finger and a good-natured laugh, which the brunet responded with in turn. "Where's Stella?"

"Nice to see you too" Musa grumbled earning a back-breaking hug from the squire.

"Stella's getting dressed" Bloom chuckled as she wrapped her arms around Sky's waist and leaned into him.

"Still? She was throwing her clothes around when I got here like five hours ago."

Out of the corner of her eye, Flora spotted Tecna wave at Timmy, who returned the motion with a shy smile. She almost said something – how those two were oblivious to the other's feelings was beyond her, though the same could be said about Musa and Riven who had been eyeing each other surprisingly subtly – but a squeal of delight and a flash of blond hair caught her attention. A loud thud and rising dust drew her attention to Brandon, now laying on his back on the ground, and Stella, who was on top of him. "Oh, boo bear, I missed you."

"I missed you too, sunshine" he laughed, lifting his head to plant a kiss on the crown of her head. "Can I get up now?"

"How was everyone's summer?" Bloom asked the group, taking Sky's hand and leading him towards the benches around the well. Flora turned to follow them, doing a double take as Tecna hesitated. Or maybe she stumbled, Flora thought.

"So incredibly dull. It was all work, work, work except for when Brandon visited in July." Stella slid onto the bench beside him, holding his arm with both of her hands and resting her cheek against his shoulder.

"How did you find Solaria?" Flora asked. She'd always been curious about the sun realm, ever since Stella mentioned that it very rarely, if ever, rained.

"Hot."

"A planet with three suns? hot?" Musa questioned with a laugh.

"Seems a little far-fetched" Bloom added on. "I thought Solaria was the perfect temperature."

"Bloom, you enjoy the heat." Tecna, who Flora had learned was very much a creature of the cold, rolled her eyes.

The conversation trailed off to Brandon's time in Solaria – Stella had insisted on taking him on a full tour of the realm and he'd learned more about Solaria than he knew about Eraklyon. "I'm basically an expert now." Bloom joked that she would be too if she'd seen more than the inside of the palace and the shopping district. The redhead had stayed on Solaria until early May when the school season would be over – she'd sent Stella for Kiko not long after they'd left Alfea - and then headed back to Earth where she'd worked at her mom's shop with a visit from Sky in July. It was, Sky added, a very welcomed break from his duties.

"My summer was dull too, though I did get a visit from Musa and Cecilia which was... interesting."

"Interesting how?" Sky asked.

"We made Tecna go to a rave."

"It was awful. Though I am now in possession of a video of Musa dancing on a table and berating some guy."

"A perfect match to my video of Brandon at karaoke" Timmy laughed. Flora wondered when they'd gone to karaoke – none of the guys really struck her as the type to enjoy it. She would love to go, though she'd be hesitant to go with Musa. Flora could sing – sort of – but she was by no means talented. There was also the problem of her stage fright.

"What did some guy do that made you berate him?"

"He switched identities with his best friend." Musa narrowed her eyes at Brandon, who shrunk and laughed awkwardly under her gaze. "No, he grabbed my ass while I was dancing and wouldn't leave when I told him to fuck off."

"She put the fear of every God in existence in him. I do not know what you said, but he had eyes as large as the ship when she finally let go of his collar."

"I don't really remember."

"Wow. Nothing near that interesting happened when you were here" Timmy laughed. Musa and Cecilia, as it turned out, had been in Magix for Wizardpalooza. It was, according to Timmy, the most interesting part of his summer. The rest of it consisted of working on their ship – he'd even got special permission from Saladin to access the hangar in central Magix where the ships were being stored – and gaming with Tecna.

Flora told them about the botany classes she'd taken over the summer and how, when she'd mentioned them to Palladium earlier, he suggested hiring her as an assistant for the school's green house. There wasn't much to report beyond that. She and Clementine had spent most of the summer lounging in the backyard – Flora enjoying not being at war, Clementine enjoying not listening to her parents argue. It had been a quiet summer, but she thought the quiet and calm was well-deserved. "What about you?" she asked Riven when she thought she'd been talking for too long.

"Boring" he shrugged, not giving any details beyond that.

"You should've come to Wizardpalooza with us" Timmy commented. The spectacled boy's words faded into the background as Flora looked over the surly specialist, more specifically the way he balled his fists and seemed to have shrunk in stature – metaphorically speaking, of course. She thought he might not be doing so well, and should she talk to him? He would probably brush her off, but she should at least let him know someone was there if ever he needed an ear.

Faragonda, flanked by Griselda, Palladium, Wizgiz and Dufour, stood patiently in the center of the stage in Alfea's grand ballroom as she waited for the chatter to die down. Stella looked over the room and swore it was emptier than last year. She supposed that could be because of the casualties of last year's events but the incoming classes should've made up for the loss. It should have at the very least been close to last year's count, but it wasn't: in fact, there were about 10 tables less than last year

"Welcome and welcome back" Faragonda said once the students had fully quieted. Stella tuned her out; she knew what the headmistress would say. It was always the same thing. A bit about Alfea's history, some general babble about realising their full potential and some overenthusiastic wishes for fun with the same but not too much fun. Griselda is watching.

"Once again, we would like to thank those of you that fought bravely at the end of last year. Alfea would not be standing if not for your valiant and courageous efforts. Alfea, Cloud Tower and Red Fountain, once the new campus is unveiled, will honour the lives lost. You'll find the memorial wall in the main hall at Alfea. Please honour it and treat it with the utmost respect. It's thanks to those students you're here today."

"There's a lot of people missing" Musa commented while Faragonda was talking about the new west tower of the school and the additions made to the dorms – a kitchenette that Stella had noticed instantly. Finally, somewhere to keep snacks without people making cracks about how much she ate.

"Yes, I heard that approximately a third of the first- and second-year students from last year will not be returning."

"Apparently the new incoming class is also pretty small compared to Alfea's usual intake. A lot of the new students are scholarship students too" Flora added.

"Red Fountain lost a lot of people too. Something like a sixth didn't come back and the incoming class is the smallest in decades."

"How do you know that?" Brandon questioned, shooting Riven a confused glance.

"I heard the old man and Codatorta talking about it this morning. I don't know why Red Fountain took a hit like that though. It's a military school. What the fuck were people expecting?"

"Not to have their seventeen-year-olds die at war before graduating, probably" Stella shrugged. It seemed reasonable for her for people not to want to come back. Being a soldier might be interesting, but she was sure that facing war was different in practice than in theory. She had had to fight her parents to let her come back. Ultimately bringing up that they'd basically bribed the school to let her back in only to have her drop out was not a good look, not to mention a waste of Solarian funds. She was surprised it had worked, not unpleasantly so. She had been ready to pay her own tuition with the money in her account if she needed to – she was legally an adult in Solaria now, after all – but she much preferred not having to.

"I didn't really have much choice" Sky explained. He'd been telling Bloom about the rest of his summer after the wonderful week they'd spent together – she'd even taught him how to bake cookies – and had let it slip that he'd vacationed at the beach with Diaspro and her family. She wanted to play it cool, brush it off like it was no big deal that he was still spending time with his ex-fiancée, but the jealous grumble had just sort of happened. "I told you I don't care for her much as a person, but our families have always been close and trying to keep peace with the king and queen of Isis is important, especially after breaking off an engagement that had been ten years in the making."

"Ten years?! They started planning your marriage when you were seven?"

"Yeah?" he shrugged, as if it were completely normal to be thinking about who your son should marry when he was a child. "Anyways, even if we had to spend a few days together, she mostly ignored me."

"Pretty sure she was giving you the silent treatment, bro" Brandon laughed, having joined them seconds earlier. Stella, very elegantly shoving a handful of chips in her mouth, sat on his lap, and mumbled something about how Diaspro's silence probably felt more like a break than a punishment. At least, Bloom was pretty sure that was what she had said.

"Do you know Diaspro?" Bloom questioned.

"Oh yeah. I met her years ago at some charity gala in Vallisto. It wasn't long, I think we only spoke to each other for a few minutes, but I have very clear memory of Veranda – you remember Varanda, princess of Vallisto, ri-"

"Yes, the one you had me impersonate for a day until you blew my cover."

"Exactly, yes. Anyways, she told me to avoid Diaspro, that she was a miserable creature with a nasty attitude."

"Sounds about right. Oh, I love this song. Princess?" Brandon offered Stella his hand which, once she'd cleaned the chip crumbs away, she accepted happily. Bloom watched as Brandon led the blonde onto the dance floor. He spun her around with much more grace than Bloom would have anticipated from someone that didn't have any dance training. Beside her, Sky extended his hand to her, which she gladly accepted. She might not be able to dance as gracefully as Stella, but that wasn't going to stop her.

Tecna and Flora were going on about the classes they'd chosen this year and she should have been happy to hear that they had chosen a fair number of classes that she also had, but the conversation was mostly lost on her. Across the table, Timmy was explaining the modifications he'd made to the ship to Riven, who appeared to be listening attentively. Bloom, Stella, Brandon, and Sky were on the dance floor. She'd seen them pass by a few minutes ago.

Musa tried not to let her attention be drawn to him, but she couldn't help it. He was just so gorgeous. And the tight t-shirt only accentuated every inch of perfection. It didn't help that he wasn't paying her any attention and it irked her. It shouldn't – it's not like they were anything – but she wanted his attention. She'd told the girls she was over him and she swore she had been, but then she'd seen him, and the floodgates had opened, sweeping her away in waves of love for a man who barely gave her anything.

"Excuse me?" a voice said behind her. Musa nearly jumped out of her skin, prompting a questioning glance from Tecna beside her. When she turned, a girl – a first year for certain, Musa didn't remember ever seeing her face before – was standing just a few inches behind her. She was pretty with long auburn hair and sparkling blue eyes. "Would you want to dance?"

She stared at the girl, blinking in confusion. It was only when the girl spoke again, insisting that it was okay if Musa didn't want to, that she realised that the song had changed since the girl had appeared. Her eyes shifted to her friends – Tecna and Flora were trying to be subtle, but she could see the way Flora's eyes kept darting over and Tecna's posture standing at attention. Across the table, Timmy and Riven were still enrapt in their conversation about the ship. They paid her no mind. He paid her no mind. Fuck him. "I'd like that."

"I'm Audrey" the fairy informed Musa as they approached the dance floor. She was surprised Musa had said yes, especially after she'd taken so long to answer. She'd asked, it turned out, because, while she was telling her friends about this pretty girl that she'd noticed at one of the tables and pointing to Musa, some loud blonde girl had come up to her and insisted she ask Musa to dance.

"What blonde girl?" Musa questioned with a heavy sigh. Unsurprisingly, when Audrey looked around to find the girl, her eyes landed on none other than the princess of Solaria herself. Musa groaned internally. This was going to be a problem; she could sense it.

Tecna was surprised that Musa had accepted to dance with the girl. She supposed the girl was pretty; she had big eyes and a conventionally attractive face, but if having him refuse to help her when she was being chased by witches wasn't enough to break Musa's crush on Riven, Tecna didn't see how a summer vacation would either. It certainly hadn't stopped her feelings for Timmy, though she did have the added problem that she'd spoken to the spectacled specialist many times over the summer.

A young man that reminded her a bit of Brandon approached the table, though his demeanor was nowhere near as calm as the squire's usually was. He waved at them awkwardly as he stopped at the edge. "Hi, um, would you like to dance?"

"Who are you asking?" "Go ahead, Flora. I do not want to hear about not wanting to leave me alone."

"You're not alone. Riven and I are here."

"Actually," the man said, looking down at Tecna, "I was talking to you."

"You were? Why?"

"Tecna" Flora grumbled, though Tecna couldn't quite figure out why. It seemed a perfectly valid question in her opinion. There were plenty of other girls to choose from – many that would be considered significantly more attractive than her – so why would he want to dance with her?

"Is that a... no? Yes? I – I can't tell" he stuttered.

"Oh, um, no thank you." She wasn't putting herself in that position again. He would ask her to dance, and she'd say yes, then he and his friends would laugh and laugh; she'd been there at thirteen, she would not be there at seventeen.

"Why did you say no? He was cute" Timmy questioned.

"Cute?"

"What? I can appreciate a good-looking man" Timmy defended himself to Riven, but Tecna was more focused on how he'd basically told her she should dance with another guy. She regretted not accepting to dance with Timmy last year when they'd had that party that was interrupted by the Minotaur. She didn't care for dancing, but she'd say yes if he asked. But he wasn't. Instead, he wanted her to dance with someone else. "Excuse me, I, uh, I need to use the washroom."

"Oh...okay. Do you want me to come with you?" Flora asked, half-standing to join her. Tecna dismissed her and walked away.

Flora watched as Tecna walked away from the table. Her mind was still on the fairy and how abruptly she'd gotten up when Timmy's phone rang, and he walked off to answer it. Once it was just her and Riven, she slid over to the other side of the bench next to the magenta-haired specialist. He was trying to play it cool; she was sure of it. He was also watching a certain fairy and her dance partner with what seemed like a lot of interest. "Have you spoken to her yet?"

"What?"

"Musa" Flora clarified. "Have you spoken to her since you got here?"

"No."

"Why not? I'm sure she'd be happy to talk to you." Maybe she should tell him to ask Musa to dance? He was clearly still into her if the way his gaze had flitted to her through the whole evening was anything to go by.

"Why is she dancing with that girl anyways?" Riven questioned, motioning towards the two girls. Flora froze momentarily, realising that she should certainly not be outing Musa. She shrugged. It was the only thing she could do. That, and change the subject. "How was your summer?"

Riven raised his eyebrow at her, but indulged her change of subject, nonetheless. Though not nearly as much as she would've liked. Fine wasn't much of an answer. Certainly not a more complete one than the answer he'd given the group earlier. "What did you do?"

"Kept busy."

"I see. And how are you doing with the whole… you know?"

"Fine."

Flora nodded slowly, not letting his prickly demeanor get to her. Riven might intimidate a lot of people – in fact, she knew he did; she had seen them split away from him when he walked towards them – but she wasn't one of those people. Surprising because she would usually stay away from people that her father would describe as having attitude problems but Riven struck her more as a wild animal attacking in self-defense than an actual predator. He just needed a friend; she was sure of it. So, she'd be patient and calm with him. He didn't want to talk. That was fine. She could understand that. "Okay, well, my offer stands. No judgment, secrets kept guaranteed."

"It sucked. My summer." he answered quickly and quietly before stalking off.

"I'll miss you so much, pookie" Stella sighed, snuggling into Brandon's chest. His laugh rippled through his chest and his hand brushed through her hair – now horribly tangled from a night of dancing.

"We'll see each other in two days, Stell." His lips brushed the crown of her head and she snuggled further into him. She knew she'd see him soon – his birthday was in two days, and she had a full day planned out for them – but it had been two months since she'd seen him, and she had missed him.

Sky had had to pry them apart, but she did eventually let Brandon go.

"What did you think of the girl? I don't know anything about her, but she sees- "

"Stay out of my love life, Stella" Musa grumbled from her spot on the bench. Stella rolled her eyes in response but said nothing more. For now. She'd convinced Musa to let her play matchmaker before, she could surely do it again. Her last match had been a great one and, she was sure, would have stuck if Riven hadn't come back into the picture. Not that she wasn't happy to have him back – Brandon seemed to be – but she still thought Musa could do a whole lot better.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm so excited for classes tomorrow" Bloom commented, pulling attention away from Stella's matchmaking attempt. "I thought after the whole… you know that I'd like going back to the simplicity on Earth – and I did at first – but magic is just so practical."

"It should be a great year. We're supposed to be aiming to earn our charmix this year." Flora went on to explain to Bloom the concept behind the charmix power booster. Not that Bloom needed much of a power booster; it didn't get much more powerful than being the keeper of the magic that supposedly started the universe.

"I have also heard there is a new teacher this year."

"Oh yeah, I overheard some girls talking about him earlier" Flora nodded. "He's apparently quite something."

"Ooh. Think he'll be hot?"

"Stella" Bloom grumbled.

"What?! There's not any good teacher eye candy and I've never gotten the crush on your teacher experience. All of mine were mean old ladies with a stick shoved up their a- "

"Musa, are you okay?" Tecna interrupted, turning to look back at the musical fairy. Musa has her back turned to them and was staring off into the trees just beyond campus. She turned to them briefly – just enough to shush them – and returned her eyes to the tree line.

"Think she hears something?" Flora whispered behind her.

"There's someone coming" Musa replied, her voice not much louder than Flora's. Stella was surprised to find that the singer was closer to them now. She'd been so focused on trying to figure out what Musa could be looking at that she'd ignored the goings-on around her.

"Maybe someone snuck off campus during the dance?" Tecna shrugged.

"Maybe…" Musa's voice sounded doubtful. Stella thought it was perfectly reasonable that someone had snuck off campus, after all, they'd done it too. "But I catch a bit of whimpering every now and then. I... I think whoever's walking through the woods is upset or hurt."

"I think you're right. The voice of nature is telling me someone is coming our way and they're hurt."

"Oh great, the voice of nature" Tecna grumbled in response to Flora's addition. Stella had to agree with the technological fairy. The voice of nature still struck her as a bunch of bullshit. She didn't care that it had led them to the troll's vanished footprint last year. What kind of voice was a voice that wasn't actually a voice?

A rustling sound – close enough that they all heard it – had them all turning their heads back towards the forest. Stella could see the silhouette of a girl cut through the branches, the only light reflecting off her pink top. The girl stood there, at the edge of the trees, swaying for a millisecond before collapsing onto the ground.

Bloom was the first to spring into action, running over to the girl. Tecna was second and the other three followed soon after. Bloom looked over the girl while Flora tried to get information from the trees to little luck. Stella, though, couldn't stop staring at the girl.

She would be beautiful if not for the multiple cuts that adorned her face, not to mention the nasty bruises on her shoulders. She had dark, flawless skin – Stella would need to get the girl's regiment – and curly, though currently filled with leaves and branches, dark hair. And she looked so, so, so familiar. "I think I know her…"

"Who is she?" Tecna asked as she waited patiently for one of the nurses to pick up the infirmary line.

"I don't know, but she looks so familiar."