Musa will never forget what it felt to hear her mother's song fade into nothing as she died.
As the fairy of music, Musa understood its connection with people in a way only another fairy of music could. She could feel the inner song in people's hearts in certain circumstances. As she grew more powerful, the songs became clearer from Bloom's soft tempo that quickly became passionate, reflecting her friend's fiery nature to Flora's slow and gentle melody to Tecna's organized chaos. She remembered hearing Stella's ballad that brought feelings of light and warmth and rocking out to Aisha's infectious and wild tunes. Musa even had heard snippets of the specialists. Whether it was Helia's song of peace and wonder for all that was beautiful or Brandon's devotion to all the people in his life. From how Sky felt with the mantle of king being his one day and the fear and insecurities it brought him to Timmy's desire to be accepted as the person he is. She only heard Nabu's song of freedom, love, and selfishness once when he saved them all at the ultimate cost, but she won't ever forget it.
She's always been curious as to what her own inner song was like, as that was one song she could never hear. When she was younger, she would call every mess of lyrics her inner song to her parents' amusement, whose bond was reflected in a tune of pure love and understanding. After her mother's death, her dad never recovered, and his inner music felt incomplete and empty. Musa long ago decided not to listen to her father's inner song. A long time ago, it hurt far too much to hear how much losing the love of his life had destroyed her father. Sometimes during her darkest moments, Musa wondered if her own inner song was ruined too.
It usually takes her either being very close to someone to hear their inner song and for them to be feeling an emotion very strongly but when she was with Riven was a whole different story.
From the beginning, there was nothing but chaos coming from him; she remembered sensing loneliness, pride, fear, and anger. She remembered seeing him for the first time and feeling a kindred spirit from the turmoil his song was telling her.
Someone that would understand her who looked that good in the specialist uniform. How was a girl supposed to resist?
Then came Darcy and Riven's betrayal.
Her friends, while supportive, never really understood what she had felt for him back then. Even when Riven came to his senses and proved himself to them, they did not understand, and while a part of Musa resented them, another part of her could not blame them.
After all, she was the one that said they never really belonged together.
Yet she still wondered what had happened those last few months. They were doing so well; he wrote and sang a song for her. She almost thought she was dreaming when that happened. Yet the very first words out of his mouth were him saying he could hear her song. It didn't matter that Riven wasn't someone to whom music was their life; he wasn't a singer by trade. It was still the most beautiful music she had heard since her mother's. She truly felt their bond was at its peak, and their songs were becoming one. When they sang together, it felt so right she thought nothing could become between them.
But in the end, something did; it was her moody hero himself. Riven just started pulling away from her from all of them. No matter what she said, the Riven who knew her song wasn't there. Riven just didn't see her anymore. And now he was Dragon knows where trying to find himself.
Letting the pencil drop, Musa groaned in frustration, usually putting her feelings into lyrics that came naturally to her. Still, all she did was lose a good half hour thinking of her failed relationship without anything to show.
Hearing a notification from her phone, Musa gave up on songwriting for the day as she read the message from Tecna about something that had happened with the fairy animals.
If there was anything that she had learned since she was a freshman at Alfea was that battling the forces of evil so often was a great distraction from thinking about your personal life.
—-
Watching Sky and Brandon arm wrestle each other over who gets to have the last slice in a diner during a group hangout. In contrast, the others cheered them on, an exciting reminder that despite all their accomplishments and the duties they held, her friends were still a bunch of dorks at heart.
"Come on Snookums, show this prince that royalty is nothing without their dedicated bodyguards and advisors!" Stella cried from her place beside the brown-haired squire as he struggled with the blond prince.
"Remember Sky, you are the future king here show him his place!" Bloom cheered as she pounded her fist on the table.
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" An amused Tecna asked as she made adjustments on a device she had been working on. Taking a peek, Musa saw that the screen was full of calculations over who would win the contest.
Letting out a long-suffering sigh Helia responded in the affirmative.
"Yes, sadly, it's why we can never go anywhere nice as a group."
"If this keeps up, we can't come back here either," Aisha mentioned.
"This is the first time in a while it's been going on for this long. Usually, Riven swoops in and eats while they're distracted." Timmy mentions offhand as he takes a sip from his drink. Musa wondered how the group of heroes was handling Riven's absence; they all considered each other brothers.
As she watched Timmy suddenly stiffen, Musa realized it had been a while since any of them had mentioned the magenta-haired specialist to her. Far too long for it had to have been a coincidence. Judging by the faces of those in earshot who avoided meeting her gaze, it had been a collective decision.
Stifling down a surge of annoyance, Musa reminded herself that it came from a place of love. It doesn't mean she won't be pissed if they try this shit again though. Rolling her eyes, Musa turned toward the others to make her message clear to the whole table.
"You guys don't have to pretend he doesn't exist for my sake. We ended this break-up on good terms." Unlike the others, Musa couldn't resist adding to herself.
Waving off the sheepish apologies, Musa turned to finish the last slice of pizza but noticed that someone had already claimed it and was already finishing the last few bites.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't think anyone else would have wanted it since it was sitting there so long." An embarrassed Flora mumbled as she noticed everyone's eyes on her while Sky and Brandon just froze, keeping their arms locked.
"Oh come on, Brandon was about to win." Stella cried out in mock anger.
"Why does that happen every time?" Sky muttered to himself.
"We haven't been able to do that since our second year without someone stealing the prize out from under us."
"According to the data, Brandon was going to win." Tecna announced helpfully.
"HA take that. I got science on my side!"
Later as they walked out of the diner, she noticed that Timmy was lingering next to her, looking unsure of himself as he approached her.
"Um hey Musa." The bespectacled hero started as he awkwardly scratched his head. Musa thought that if Timmy was about to say sorry for mentioning Riven, the boy would get quite the telling off.
"Yeah, Timmy?"
"We haven't really heard anything from Riven, and I was wondering if you heard from him since he left?"
Oh
"No, I haven't."
As she watched the disappointed Timmy thank her and move on, Musa wondered why she felt surprised and disappointed that Riven had ghosted his team as well. He of all people, knew how much it hurt to be left behind like that. When the moody specialist walked away from her in his mind was Riven saying goodbye to all of them for the rest of their lives? Shaking her head in annoyance, Musa wondered if he would ever grow up.
—-
"Wait, none of the guys have heard from Riven since he left. He just straight-up disappeared and abandoned them? What the fuck Riven." Stella yelled.
Musa hadn't planned on telling the others about what she had discovered. Still, once they got back to the dorms, she hadn't been able to escape the concerned questioning when the others saw how lost in thought she was and decided to let what was bugging her spill, which led to the standard Winx Club pajama meeting.
She was surprised by how angry Stella was sure she was very protective of her specialist, and anyone that dared to upset Brandon had to deal with the wrath of the future Queen of Solaria, but she felt that there was something more than that at play.
"Sky mentioned that Riven barely took anything from his room when they returned to their dorm." Bloom recalled. "He said it was like he was only planning on going out for the day, not for good."
"That's just weird. If Riven was leaving, why would he leave all his stuff behind?" Aisha questioned, puzzled.
"Perhaps he wished to travel light?" Tecna questioned trying to think of a logical reason for their moody friend's behavior.
With a dramatic gasp, Bloom shot up.
"Maybe it's because he's planning on coming back."
Musa hated that she felt a complicated surge of emotions when she heard that idea. As she tried to put a name to her feelings, she noticed that the girls had turned to her.
"I doubt he will avoid them for the rest of his life. He cares about them too much and for them to happen." Musa said, wanting to distract them from wondering about what she felt about that topic, and the Winx Club thankfully seemed to have gotten the hint.
"When he left Helia told me that Saladin knew where he went but refused to tell him. Helia was not happy about that." Flora mentioned in a concerned tone.
"Wait, why would Saladin not tell Helia where a member of his squad is?" Aisha wondered.
"Perhaps Riven asked Saladin to send him on a classified mission, and Saladin cannot tell him?" Tecna theorized.
"Girls, so not the point. What matters is that Riven not only abandoned Musa he ghosted the guys. How could he do such a thing." Stella growled.
"Hey, our break up was not him abandoning me! It was what we both needed," Musa objected, offended that anyone could think that was the case. Sure it hurt to see him go, but Riven needed to grow as a person outside the relationship.
"I was talking about everything before the break-up," Stella said in an uncharacteristic calm and even tone.
As much as she wanted to Musa couldn't disagree with that, not without lying.
Seeing the look on her friend's face Stella's face softened.
"Oh Musa, I'm sorry about that. It's just that I can't stand people who just up and leave the people who need them behind."
Just like that, Musa understood where Stella was coming from. The fairy of sunlight had her world turned upside down when her parents' marriage fell apart, and even before that she mentioned how it hurt to have her parents leave much of her childhood to the various nannies of the palace. The girl was the embodiment of ride or die, and Stella expected everyone in her life to do the same. Combining that with her protective streak towards Brandon and herself, it was only natural that she would take Riven leaving them all so personally.
"Thanks Stella, trust me I get it." Getting out of her seat she went over to hug the princess.
—-
A week later, as she woke up one morning, Musa felt like death had come for her in her sleep. She didn't feel any pain, but she had a strange feeling of emptiness. During the night Musa felt a cold that only Icy's strongest attacks could surpass. Her dreams, as fitting as a music fairy usually full of songs and sounds, suddenly an all-powerful silence descended on her dreams, making them feel empty and hollow. With a grimace, Musa got out of bed, wondering why she felt so awful as she got up for the day she made a note to see the nurse at some point that day. The dorm was quiet; it seemed that the others had already left for the day. Musa tried to catch up on her sleep with a groan, thinking she'd feel better after some rest.
It felt like she just closed her eyes when she heard the door to the dorm being opened and closed the upbeat talk of the others coming in. With a groan Musa got up, cursing her super sonic hearing for picking up even the softest of sounds.
"Hey girls, what'd I miss?" Musa called out, welcoming a distraction from herself.
"Nothing much, just a shopping trip where Stella didn't buy anything from the first five stores she dragged us to." Aisha grumbled as she collapsed into the couch.
The blonde in question didn't spare them a glance as she deposited a single shopping bag into her closet. "What, I'm the crown princess of Solaria. I expect nothing but the best!"
"Whoever tries to negotiate against her when she's queen will have one hell of a time." Bloom said with a fond smile.
"I still say online shopping is far better than going to a store with limited inventory." Tecna said as she logged on to her phone.
"I don't know about that, sweetie some things are better bought in person." Flora called over from watering her indoor garden of a room.
Laughing to herself at the group-wide debate that was about to start as Stella returned and added her opinion, Musa grabbed her songwriting journal wanting to do something productive before the day was over. Feeling her inner artist flow, she smiled.
As she struggled with getting the right emotions for the song, she was interrupted by the ringing of Stella's phone. After living in a dorm with them for so long, Musa memorized the ringtone the fairy of the sun had for people, recognizing it was the one she had set for her snookums. Musa sighed at her lost train of thought.
"Well, it's about time I heard from you. I haven't heard from you all day." Stella pouted as she got up and walked to her room to have the conversation in private.
Trying to bring herself back into the zone, Musa heard a crash coming from Stella's room, making a mental note to check in with her when the call was over. Looking over at the others, she saw that she wasn't the only one that heard the noise.
As she was battling a chorus that refused to cooperate with her, Musa heard the door to Stella's room open, and Stella came out wondering what had happened. Musa turned over to talk but was shocked by what she saw.
The usually bright and cheerful fairy was trembling in shock. Stella was holding her phone as if it was a lifeline. The sight of their friend like that brought the rest of the Winx Club to action.
"Stella what's wrong?"
"Oh dragon what happened?"
"Whatever it is, we're here for you."
"Girls something's happened." Stella seemed to have trouble putting her thoughts to words. "That was Brandon he told me that that."
"Breath Stella and let it out." Flora said as she shared a concerned look with the others.
"I swear if Brandon did this I'm going to kill him." Aisha growled.
Taking a deep breath, Stella seemed to ready herself.
"Oh Musa I'm so sorry."
"Stella, what are you talking about?" Meeting her friends' concerned stares with a confused one Musa turned back to face.
"Brandon said that they guys got called into Saladin's office earlier."
Trying to swallow down the fear that began to crawl over her, Musa forced herself not to interrupt her friend's rambling
"He would have told me sooner, but he couldn't bring himself to do it until now."
"Stel what's going on?" Musa couldn't stop the words from coming out.
Stella continued as if she didn't hear the interruption.
"He said that Saladin told them th-that."
"Dammit Stella, just say it." Musa yelled as her mind raced through all sorts of possibilities of what she could be about to say in dread.
Finally the dam holding Stella back broke.
"It's Riven, the bastard went and got himself killed!" Stella practically screamed.
Whatever was said next would forever be unknown to Musa as she felt and heard nothing. She could see the girls reacting to the news in their own ways but couldn't hear a single one of them talking, not even Aisha when she went to hug the music fairy.
Forcing herself to talk as she shook herself free, the fairy of waves Musa turned to look Stella in the eye.
"No no he can't be. There's no way Riven could get himself killed. He's too strong for that." Musa hated how she could feel her voice crack as she said that but not as much as she did the pity in all her friends' eyes.
"I'm so sorry Musa, but that's what Brandon told me." Stella said softly.
"Yeah right if that were true then they would have told us." Musa cried as she forced her tears.
"He told me that he and the guys went to get his body."
"Just shut up! Just shut up! I don't want to hear it!"
This time when Aisha went to hug her she didn't resist.
One by one the other girls joined in, and it was only then surrounded by her loved ones did she let herself cry.
