The winter holidays at cloud tower were very different to the ones Musa had known at Alphea. At the fairy school, I was rare for a girl to spend the holidays in school rather than at home. She recalled days of walking through abandoned hallways while her father was away on business. But the winter at cloud tower was the busiest time of the year
Almost all of the witches stayed over the break, with very few having homes to go back to. And while classes were cancelled, the hallways were almost always full of witches walking this way and that. Empty classrooms served as meeting places for parties and get-togethers. The only place that was almost always quiet was the library. But here there was a creepy feeling of quiet, like a spell had been cast on the place. (Which, of course, there had been)
And so, despite the cold, Musa found herself wandering the grounds outside of her school more and more. Ever since she gained the power of the nymphs, there had been a feeling in her heart that she had outgrown the shackles of even the witches' school. She knew that Darcy felt it too, felt the desire to move beyond the walls of the castle and to greater powers. Melody seemed the logical next step, to see her father and her mother's grave. But she was not yet ready to say goodbye to the place which had fostered her growth.
"God this place is so boring this time of year." Darcy complained as she walked by Musa's side. The snow that fell around them was being deflected off of her dark, shimmering hair by a spell. Musa on the other hand, liked the feeling of wet hair in the snow. It made her feel much more connected to reality.
"We should do something to liven things up, then." She said.
"Yeah but what? Almost all of the fairies have gone home for the winter, and it just feels like low hanging fruit to go for the witches."
"What about the pixies?"
"Ugh no they're so annoying."
"True. Well... how about the specialists? Aren't they staying over the holidays as well?"
Darcy's face lit up with a wicked smile and she clapped her hands together. "My little witch, you are a genius! Those poor defenseless little boys without their girlfriends to protect them."
Musa couldn't help but laugh at the prospect. "I do always have the best ideas. And I wouldn't mind paying Riven a visit either... its been a long while." She looked over and nudged Darcy, seeing the look on her face. "Not like that! You know I much prefer witches."
She picked up Musa's hand and gave a smile. "Not just any witch, mind you."
"The best." Musa replied, kissing her softly. Darcy leaned into the kiss for a long moment, making heat spread in her body. Despite the cold, she blushed hotly.
'We should get inside.' Darcy said mentally, so as not to break their kiss.
"Mmhmm" She murmured, not particularly enthusiastic about the idea.
'You want to pay back those specialists, don't you?'
She broke off the kiss. "Fine, come on then. We can plan before nightfall and then leave tonight."
"Ooo, I love it when you talk business." Darcy smiled, putting an arm around her waist and directing them back towards Cloud Tower.
Back in their dorm, they made their preparations for a midnight visit to red fountain. It wouldn't be easy to get past their defenses, but it would still be significantly better than alphea. Together, they brewed a glamour that would hide their true appearances, disguising them as specialists. It was Musa who thought of the idea to be Sky and Brandon specifically, to really mess with Riven's head.
This would certainly be a night to remember for him in particular.
As soon as night fell, the two witches snuck out of their dorm and into the tunnels beneath the school. Before them stood many different paths, leading in every direction in magix. One wrong turn and they could end up within the forest, at alphea or even within the city of magix. Darcy held up the map and puzzled over it. The way they had to travel was new to them both, never before had either of them had a reason to visit red fountain.
There was a thick layer of dust on the floor below them, untouched for generations. The walls were coated in a layer of unpleasant mold.
"This must be the right way..." Muttered Darcy as she squinted down at the map.
"God I can see why no-one has ever used this tunnel before." Musa grimaced, poking the wall where a layer of moss and mold was.
"Don't touch it!"
"Sorry." She put her hands back into her pockets and glanced at Darcy.
She was in business mode, completely and totally focused on the task at hand. It was an amazing sight to see, even now after they had been together for a few months. Her brow furrowed as she stared at the map, one hand tracing through the air, perhaps checking disturbances magically. Her yellow eyes shone a beautiful shade of topaz in the torchlight.
"Why are you staring at me?" She said suddenly, not looking up from the map.
"I- just think you're beautiful, that's all." Musa said, blushing deep enough to match her cloak.
"You are so sappy sometimes. Reminds me that you used to be a fairy."
She rolled her eyes at that. "Well tonight I'll show you a witch, how about that?"
"Sounds hot." Darcy replied, looking up with a smirk that caught her off guard.
The amount of stuttering that Musa produced at the remark was enough to make her laugh.
"It is not funny- you just surprised me that's all."
"Come on its hilarious when you go: aguwuuuuuuuh with your mouth hanging open." The witch replied, still chuckling.
Musa was just about to elbow her when her torch light fell upon a door. It was carved of mahogany, grand and tall, with the red fountain emblem on it's door knob.
"We're here." She said, her voice lowered to a whisper.
Darcy unstoppered the glamour and poured it over each of them in turn. It was strange to say the least to watch her girlfriend to turn into Sky, with his blonde hair and muscles and oddly perfect Prince chin. "How do I look?" She asked, in a voice that made Musa do a double take.
"Never looked worse." She replied, in Brandon's voice. If it was strange to see Darcy look like Sky, it was nothing compared to hearing herself sound like Brandon. "This is so weird. Let's do this quickly, shall we?"
Darcy opened the door and held it open for her "After you, my dear."
Musa found out the hard way how much more difficult it was to walk quietly with bigger feet. Even trying to tip toe along made such a racket that she had to fly just to avoid it.
"Alright, I think I remember the way to the dorms well enough, but I've never been inside. I think this is the great hall... so if we go that way..." She pointed, and her and Darcy flew towards the steps on the left. Red fountain wasn't as full of light magic as alphea, but it simply felt mundane. A lack of real power and magic in the entire place, unless perhaps saladin was around the corner.
They reached the dorms with only a few wrong turns, and then Musa turned to Darcy. "Can you sense his energy from here?" She whispered, though her voice still seemed to echo through the hall.
"Let me see..." She closed her eyes, and a fine purple light spread around her. In that moment, despite the disguise Musa could see Darcy before her instead of sky. When she opened her eyes, however, they were still blue instead of yellow. "This one." She pointed to a door a little way down the hallway.
"Are you sure?" She asked nervously.
"Positive. Come on, this way." Darcy rose off the ground again and floated over to the door, silent as a bat. She held the doorknob with one hand and looked back at Musa.
She flew over to her, and after a moment gave the signal for her to open the door.
Inside the room, all was dark. Musa could just make out the shape of a sleeping figure before them, and the outline of what could be excersise equipment on the floor. Silently, they flew over to the bed and hovered over the figure. By this point, even Musa could sense that Darcy had been right, it was Riven. And so, it was time for the fun to begin.
They both sank to the floor gave one another a final glance, and then shook Riven awake.
"Bro!" Musa said in Brandon's voice. "Wake up, you'll never believe it!"
"Ughagag-" Riven said, jumping in bed and reaching for the light switch. When he saw them, he relaxed slightly. "Guys, what are you waking me up for? I was having a great dream."
"I'm sure you were, Riven, but this is more important." Said Darcy, smiling broadly.
"What? What is it?" He insisted angrily.
"Its Musa! She's finally come to see you, after all this time." Musa said, her own smile widening.
At the sound of Musa's name, Riven swallowed. His poor little heart really had been broken when she never spoke to him again, and started dating Darcy. "What? Now? Why, what did she say?"
"That she's sorry." Darcy whispered to him.
"Really? After all this time?" A tear actually fell down the specialist's cheek.
"And here I was thinking you could never show emotion." Musa said, a laugh bubbling it's way up inside her.
"Wha- what do you mean?"
"Simple, you were never good enough for her. So she found someone better." Said Darcy, laughing along with her.
"Someone powerful."
"More powerful than you will ever be!"
Riven looked from one to the other, dumbstruck. "This can't be- Sky, Brandon, why would you say this? Unless..." He shoved the bed covers off him and jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword.
"Oooo he's finally catching on!" Musa laughed.
"Not that that will do any good." Darcy added, reaching out with her magic to snatch the sword from him. It melted to a purple goo in her hands.
Riven tried to yell, tried to sound the alarm- but Musa wrapped his body in a blanket of silence that no sound could penetrate. His mouth opened and closed as he tried and failed to scream.
"Whats wrong, Riven? Cat got your tongue?" She laughed, feeling that dark power flowing through every inch of her. Causing pain, causing suffering, granted a particular type of power that was intoxicating to say the least. But she had forgotten that her own voice could carry through the halls.
And in that moment, when they were enjoying the chaos and carnage, the door burst open. In ran Brandon and Sky themselves, and they stared at the carbon copies before them.
"Shit. Time to get out of here." Darcy said, jumping into the air and conjuring an orb of magic into her hands. "Eternal darkness!" She cried, and the room was plunged into confusion.
In the darkness, Musa felt a hand grab her wrist, and she was pulled out of the room and down the hallway. They flew as fast as they could through the corridors, until they reached the great hall. By this point, an alarm so loud it almost pierced their eardrums was sounding all throughout red fountain. In a matter of seconds, they would be caught: if it wasn't for Darcy.
She once again grabbed Musa's hand, and cast an invisibility spell over them both. Contorda ran right past them with a parade of guards behind him, but he did not see a single hint of the two witches. When they were gone from sight, they flew to the mahogany door and slipped inside, into the caves once again.
Once they were some way into the tunnels, they both stopped and took a moment to rest on the dusty floor.
"Phew, that was close." Musa said, once she had caught her breath back.
"Too close. Why is it every time we sneak into a school we get caught?" Darcy said, her voice still Sky's.
"More importantly, get these glamours of of us right now, I feel so gross."
Darcy smiled and obliged, clicking her fingers and melting the illusion away. "There you are, much better." She said, a hand going to Musa's cheek.
The witch smiled, stroking Musa's cheek with her thumb. "What do you have in mind?"
"Its a surprise. Come on." She stood and held out her hand to Darcy to help her to her feet.
They walked through the tunnels until they reached a part she recognised, and then she led them up, up towards the surface. The tunnel here opened onto a clearing in the forest, untouched by snow. Their feet crunched the snow below as they walked on and on, Musa's magic lighting the way. Finally, they made it.
She had led them to a lake which was completely frozen over. With a wave of her hand, her shoes and Darcy's turned into ice skates, and she gave a grin.
"You ready? And no flying, that ruins the fun."
Darcy grimaced as she hobbled onto the ice. "Are you sure it doesn't just make it bad?"
"Oh shut up and take my hands." She smiled, leading her in a simple movement, keeping her steady as they glided across the ice. The cold kissed their skin, and as they began to dance, snow started to fall all around them.
Musa conjured a flute to play the music, and they span and twirled on the ice, Darcy's feet slowly becoming sure as she practiced. With Musa taking the lead, they danced and danced in harmony as the snow fell around them. And when they were tired, they flew up to the top of the highest tree, and warmed each other while they watched the sun rise before them. They watched the sky turn orange behind cloud tower, and in Darcy's arms she knew this was the beginning of a new chapter.