Chapter 6: Flora makes a new friend
Avalon guided the gaggle of girls out of the bus and through the ruins of the former Red Fountain. From what Flora had gathered, teachers had been assigned groups of students to supervise because they were worried that the girls would wander off into one of the dangerous areas of the school and end up getting crushed by falling rubble. They'd been told that the rubble had all been cleared away, but even from far, Flora could see the many cracks in the remains of the once glorious fortress. The front lawn, which last year had contained training courts, soccer fields, and packs of picnic tables, was now littered with blue tents bearing the Red Fountain logo. Stella had told them all about the port-o-potties and pop-up showers. Flora wouldn't have considered it so bad for a few days – like camping – but it mustn't have been fun for the boys to live like this with hundreds of other guys.
They were led directly to the stadium – the old stadium. Flora had never seen it from inside. It must have been grand once upon a time, but now it was all cracked cement and a roughly fixed floor. The benches still stood much to Flora's surprise. She thought for sure they would have been one of the first things to be destroyed when the stadium was hit. They seemed so fragile compared to the heavy stone of the walls.
"Hey, I think the hole you made last year is still there, B" Musa teased. Flora looked up to find the hole in question, but everything looked broken and cracked.
"How can you tell? It all looks destroyed" Stella asked. Beside her, Bloom grumbled about Musa not being as funny as she thought. Musa offered her a shit-eating grin that had the redhead laughing in seconds.
"Why did you break a hole in the wall? When did you break a hole in the wall?" Aisha looked dumbfounded by the idea that Bloom would damage the property of another school. Just wait until she found out Bloom had done it while attacking the princess of Isis over a boy. Flora would consider herself a romantic – Gods knew she'd spent enough time watching romantic movies and reading love stories – but even that seemed much to her. When it happened, her main concern was supporting Bloom, but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered what exactly Bloom had been thinking when she'd attacked Diaspro. Not that she'd ever bring it up.
"That's not important..."
"I wonder why they are having the shows in the old stadium" Tecna questioned, drawing attention away from Bloom's incident to the visible relief of the redhead. "It does not seem like it would be very secure."
"It really doesn't..."
"I wonder where the new campus is. I feel like we've walked through most of the old campus and there hasn't been a sign of it."
"Mhm" Flora nodded, agreeing with Musa. "I thought for sure we'd be able to see a glimpse of it at some point given that the tallest parts of the old building are gone, and the rubble's been cleared."
"Maybe it's behind the school?" Stella suggested. Flora doubted that would be the case because why then would they have kept the old building standing? The only possible reason she could see was that they planned on turning it into a museum – protect the millennium of history that existed in what was left. But then, wouldn't they have parts of it cordoned off and behind glass?
"Alright ladies" Avalon said. The group of 15 or so girls turned their attention to him almost instantly. It was rather impressive – the only teachers she'd seen do that were Miss Faragonda and Griselda. Flora couldn't say she was all too surprised, Avalon just had a certain quality that made people want to listen to him. His voice was smooth and warm, bringing about a certain comforting element that made her feel like she was curled up by a fire with a good book instead of sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher give a lecture. It helped that he was by far the most attractive teacher at Alfea. He had had their entire class drooling over him within minutes of his introduction. Everyone except Tecna who had, to Flora, seemed overall unimpressed with the new professor. "You'll be on your own for the duration of the ceremony and shows. As soon as the event is over, I expect you all to be waiting for me by the stadium entrance. Clear?"
"Yes professor" the girls said in unison. Professor Avalon offered them a swoon-worthy smile before walking away, leaving the girls to disperse. Flora thought some of their classmates might have physically melted at the sight of the professor's smile.
"According to my calculations, the best view in the house should be somewhere over there" Tecna said, holding up her phone and pointing off towards the other end of the stands. A holographic image of the stadium shone above her screen, a blue and red dot identifying where they were and where they should be, respectively. The technological fairy walked ahead, following her map to the spot. She didn't wait for any of them or look back to see if they were following her. The girls exchanged glances and shrugs, falling into line behind Tecna.
Aisha was in the midst of telling Flora how her first day of classes had gone when Stella let out an ear-splitting call for Shmoopie. Musa nearly choked on her water, spitting it all over Tecna who glared at her.
"Shmoopie?" Musa questioned with a laugh, her judgement falling on deaf ears as the blonde launched herself at Brandon a few feet away.
"I think she's trying to find the most embarrassing nickname she can" Bloom commented, to which Tecna mentioned that she was sure Stella had succeeded with shmoopie.
Brandon and the other guys had been talking to someone that, despite looking familiar, Flora couldn't quite place. There was something about the long, loosely tied dark hair and the way it framed his serious grey eyes that tickled the back of her mind, but she couldn't figure out why. He was handsome, that was certain. She liked the way his eyes went from stern to childlike when he laughed at something Sky had said, and the way he held himself, like he was entirely comfortable in who he was.
"Who's your handsome friend?" Stella asked Brandon, pulling Flora's eyes away from the mystery man and towards the blonde. Stella nodded her head towards the man, who caught her eye and smiled warmly.
"Helia" he said, standing to greet them. He towered over the girls, much taller than herself and Aisha, who at 5'9 and 5'10, respectively, were the tallest of the girls.
"Helia is Saladin's great-grandson" Brandon informed them, going around the girls to introduce them to the man. "He was apparently one of the best Red Fountain's ever seen."
"Are you graduated?"
"No. I dropped out" Helia replied, answering Bloom's question.
"Oh...why? It is one of the best military schools in the dimension and, being part of the headmaster's family must mean that you – "
"I don't necessarily agree with Red Fountain's teachings. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a pacifist, but my fathers raised me to believe that there are many steps before resorting to violence. Unfortunately, Red Fountain seems to encourage the opposite."
"So, what do you do now?"
"I'm in art school-" He extended the book tucked under his arm, revealing the cover of a sketch book. Bloom reached out to take it from him, stepping back when Stella nearly snatched it out of his hands and started flipping through it, commenting on the pieces she liked. Flora mentally applauded him for his grace in the face of the princess's callousness. He just smiled appreciatively at her compliments, opting to ignore how rudely she'd taken the book. She wanted to scold the princess, but found herself feeling tongue-tied, like the words were there but she just couldn't force them out.
"You know, Bloom is also an artist" Tecna informed him. Helia's eyebrows raised curiously, furrowing when the redhead started to insist that she just doodled. "Cartoons and stuff, not real art."
"Why are cartoons not real art? They still require the same skill and passion."
"Oh shush you. Your cartoons are great. Helia, I must commission you for my royal portrait." Stella handed the book over to Bloom, who had been looking over Stella's shoulder. Flora, Aisha and Musa gathered around the redhead, admiring his work as Bloom flipped through it slowly. Most of the works were of nature – flowers and parks, waterfalls and rocks – with the odd person or view work. Flora didn't know much about art besides what Bloom had told her, but she knew she loved his work. The brushstrokes were so clean, with a softness that spoke to the gentility she could feel emanating from him. "I love the way the brushstrokes work with the fern in the paper" Flora commented before she could second-guess whether that sounded stupid or not.
"No one's ever noticed the fern before."
"Leave it to Flora to notice plants" Musa laughed. Flora felt her cheeks burn brightly as she smiled shyly. Her eyes raised as Brandon explained that Flora was the botanist of the group and she found herself looking at Helia's grey eyes. She averted her gaze quickly, returning it to the sketchbook just in time for Bloom to flip to the front page - a park scene with a large fountain in the center and children playing around it. It looked so familiar, like she'd seen it in a dream.
"Helia, there you are." Flora turned to find a man in a smart navy suit jacket and black slacks walking towards them. He wore his short, navy hair smoothed back and had features remarkably similar to Helia's. "Your great-grandfather wants to see you before they begin."
"I'm coming, dad." Helia took his sketch book back from Bloom. He excused himself, saying that it was lovely to meet all of them. She could feel his gaze on her as he spoke, but she couldn't seem to find the strength to make her eyes look up from the crack on the ground that they'd selected.
"Well, he seems nice" Aisha commented after Helia had gone and Flora had miraculously regained the ability to think and speak.
After Helia had left, the guys had also excused themselves to get ready. Aisha thought they would just leave, and she and the girls would be left to their own devices, but Bloom and Stella had followed them. Once those two were gone, Tecna had announced that she was going to get snacks and Flora had decided to go with her. Extra hands are always good she'd claimed, but Aisha had a sneaking suspicion that it was to avoid any questions from herself and Musa, both of whom had noticed the nature fairy's reaction to Helia. She had been bit by a love bug. And hard.
Aisha had never really spoken to Musa before. Besides Flora, she hadn't really spoken to any of them much since returning from Shadowhaunt, not one on one anyways. When speaking to her parents, she'd been optimistic about making friends, but the more time she spent with the girls, the more she realised she was an outlier. They had all these jokes and shared experiences that she couldn't be part of. It had also dawned on her late one night that they may hold some resentment towards her for the whole spell incident – a genuine accident, she'd never been taught locked vow spells. Flora was the only one of them that welcomed her warmly. It didn't help that the girls seemed intimidating. Aisha had always considered herself quite confident in her intelligence and abilities, but Musa, Tecna and Stella had personalities that made her feel small and uncertain.
Her eyes trailed over one of the long cracks in the wall. Aisha knew Red Fountain's history. For the once mighty fortress to look like nothing more than a broken building in a rough neighborhood meant that the battle had been bad. The school had stood through wars and attacks through its long history and three senior witch students had managed to make it fall. She couldn't begin to imagine how horrifying it had been, to be cut off from the world and fighting for your life.
A quick side glance at Musa told the princess that Musa was also uncertain of how to speak to her. Or that she had no interest in talking to her. Regardless, she didn't want to sit in uncomfortable silence for another fifteen minutes before the others came back and started conversations that she was in the margins for. "How come I haven't heard of you?"
Musa turned her head to face Aisha, a confused raised eyebrow gracing her slim face. What an awkward way to phrase her question, Aisha mentally slapped herself. "I just mean Flora mentioned you being royalty- "
"Barely."
"- but I've studied the living royal families of just about every realm and I don't remember you."
"Yeah, well… I am technically royalty, but I wouldn't really consider myself royalty. It's a long story."
Aisha nodded mutely, turning her eyes to watch the passerby's. Boys in tight blue uniforms walked around, teasing some and giving firm handshakes to others. Their jokes and comments filled the air around the two girls, piercing through the uncomfortable silence. Aisha found herself wishing that she'd been better at making conversation. She'd only ever had to make polite small talk with people – which usually consisted of asking about their families or their trip to wherever that they'd mentioned during a previous meeting – or in-depth political discussions, neither of which were suited to the current situation.
A girl that Aisha recognised as a third year squealed loudly, throwing herself into the arms of one of the Red Fountain boys. He picked her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist as they began making out. She was considering telling them to take it elsewhere, that nobody wanted to see that, when the girl's friend walked up and said exactly that. The couple broke apart, the girlfriend turning to her friend to stick out her tongue, and the trio went off towards the other end of the arena, leaving Aisha to find something else to watch as they waited for the others to come back.
"How are you finding Alfea?" Aisha flinched at the sound of Musa's voice. She'd been so lost in watching the world around her that she hadn't seen Musa turn to her. The musical fairy blinked in confusion and Aisha mentally scolded herself for her reaction. Musa would think she was scared of her – as if someone Musa's size could be intimidating.
"I think I like it" Aisha replied, answering Musa's question after an incredibly awkward pause during which Musa had just watched her expectantly.
"You... think?"
"Yeah... I mean, it's taking some getting used to-" Like yesterday during Palladium's class when she announced they needed to take a break so she could use the ladies' room out of habit instead of raising her hand to ask for the hall pass. "- but I like it. It's a nice change of pace." It would just take her some getting used to having so many people around and not having every minute of every day scheduled for her. Not to mention needing some clothes. At the moment, she was borrowing a flowy skirt and tank top from Bloom that just weren't her. Stella had already planned for them to remedy Aisha's wardrobe issues with a shopping trip tomorrow.
"I imagine palace life must be stressful. Alfea can be too, but at least it's not as much pressure."
"That's for sure." Aisha wondered if Musa knew much about the pressures. She was royalty, but from what Stella had told her – and what Musa herself had just said – it didn't sound like she was under any of the pressures. It must be nice to be someone royal adjacent, or lower on the royalty chain; to benefit from their riches and be able to go to the glamorous events without having to do any of the boring stuff or deal with the stress of having to actually run the realm. Not to mention that she would actually be able to do things she enjoyed without being told that they're inappropriate for a princess. "Say, what do you know about Alfea's dance team?"
"We have one" Musa shrugged.
"Hmm, okay. Cause I saw a poster for auditions in two weeks." She'd stopped yesterday afternoon and read every flyer in the main hall. The school had so many different teams and clubs that it had almost been overwhelming. Never in her life had she had so many options of what she could do with her time and no one to tell her which she could and couldn't do.
"You dance?"
"Yeah. It's like the one athletic thing my parents would let me do. Of course, they much preferred waltzes, but they did let me take a few classes."
"Oh nice. Are you gonna audition?"
"I want to, but I don't know..." She had only gotten about a year of dance lessons before her parents had decided she should focus her energies on more appropriate activities. Those lessons had been years ago and, sure, she'd kept dancing in her room at night when she was alone, but what if she just wasn't good enough to join the Alfea dance team?
"Why not?"
"I don't know I just..."
"I'll audition with you if you want."
"Really?" Aisha's eyes opened wide. It had been years since she'd had someone to dance with. Not since she was eleven – the year Teremun died – and Anne left. "You don't-"
"Yeah. I used to dance a lot. I don't actually know why I haven't joined the dance team yet..."
"That'd be amazing! Thank you." Musa offered her a large smile that Aisha happily returned. They set about planning what they would dance to. Aisha had read the entire poster and inquired about song choices – nothing explicit or inappropriate. As they scrolled through Musa's saved songs – more songs than Aisha knew existed – they selected a few possibilities. They were still discussing their song choices when Tecna and Flora returned with a tray and arms full of snacks and drinks.
"The lines are so long... There must be a more efficient way to distribute snacks" Tecna grumbled as she dropped the bags of chips and candies in her arms onto the bench.
"Tecna, there's like a thousand people here. It makes sense that there's long lines" Musa replied as she started sorting through the bags, digging out a bag of chili chips and some sour candies.
"Still."
"Oooh yes! You got snacks!" Stella shouted as she and Bloom joined them. Bloom happily accepted a plate of nachos from Flora, who had placed the tray on the bench and unloaded a plastic bag full of soda bottles. Stella peered over Musa as she dug, a giant grin plastered on her face. "Did they have those gummy cats I like?"
"Yes."
Stella's eyes widened expectantly, but Tecna didn't elaborate. "... Did you get any?"
"Maybe."
"Tecna. Yes, we got your gummy cats" Flora laughed, pulling the bag out of the pile and handing them to the blonde who happily opened the bag and started snacking.
Stella settled in beside Bloom on the front row bench. The lights in the stadium dimmed, a single spotlight shining down on the two men standing center stage. Saladin and Codatorta waited patiently for the applause to calm before speaking.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, friends of Red Fountain! We have not come here today to lament over the ruins of our illustrious school. Although the historical splendor of Red Fountain has been ruined, the skills and spirit of our specialists remain unshaken" Codatorta started, pausing again for the applause from the audience. Once the applause died down, he introduced Saladin and handed the microphone over.
"We are very excited to have you all here and for this next chapter in Red Fountain's story." Saladin began to tell the audience the school's history, how it had originally been a military fortress that was then abandoned when Magix became a demilitarized zone. A former Magix army general bought the fortress and turned it into a school. The first class had ten students, now Red Fountain had almost a thousand. Stella only half listened, focusing on trying to dig out the green gummy cats buried at the bottom of her bag. "The new campus had been in the works for a few years now, but with last year's events, our team had to work extra hard to complete this project early. We owe a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the design and construction of the new campus. Your dedication to making this project a reality is more appreciated than you will ever know. Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for our architects, designers and construction crew." Saladin paused for the near-deafening applause from the audience. "Now, without further ado, I am proud to present the new Red Fountain."
The ground began to shake around them and Stella found her arm being clutched tightly by a terrified Bloom. The trembling caused her to drop her bag of candy and hold onto her seat to avoid falling over. Behind her Flora screamed something about an earthquake and Stella's heart dropped into her stomach. She had not survived the trix's attacks only to go out from a building collapse. She dropped her head in between her knees and covered it with her arms. When it finally stopped, the remains of the school were gone and only the benches of the arena remained.
Her eyes wandered over the crowd, ending on her friends. As far as she could see, everyone was unharmed, if not shaken and confused. In the center of where the arena had been, Saladin banged his staff on the ground twice. The benches rose a few feet in the air. Stella gripped the seat tighter than she'd ever held anything before. Below, the ground split open and a long corkscrew-shaped building emerged. It rose a few dozen feet in the air, high above their seats.
From what Stella could see, it was bright red with what she thought were windows lining the thinner part. Eventually, the building stopped moving and the seats started to rise again. She could hear people around her oohing and ahhing, but she didn't open her eyes to see what they were so impressed by. Stella hated heights and she knew that if she looked down, she'd probably throw up or pass out.
"Wow! And I thought Bloom's No, this is the Dragon's Flame moment was a dramatic entrance..." Flora commented once they'd finally stopped moving. Stella opened her eyes to a brand-new arena that, in her opinion, looked a lot like the old one minus the cracks in the walls and the giant hole that Bloom had made.
"Yeah, I hate to say this B, but I think you've been upstaged by a building."
"No, no, that's... yeah. That was impressive." Stella agreed that it was an impressive display of power, but would it have killed Saladin to consider that some people in the audience had a fear of heights or might get sick from the trembling and floating feelings?
The girls watched the matches attentively, splitting the remaining snacks between the six of them and commenting on the fights – or in Stella's case, which of the fighters was more attractive. The programme said that the shows would start with one-on-one fights, after the first intermission would be shows – leva-bike stunts, traditional dances. Second intermission would be followed by team fights and then, finally, after the third intermission, they would be bringing out the dragons. It might be that her memory was clouded by the trauma of the events that had followed, but Stella seemed to remember Riven's dragon attacking the others' last time; hopefully nothing like that happened this time around.
"Oh! I think this is Sky and Riven's match!" Bloom announced excitedly as the blond prince and magenta-haired specialist entered the ring. When Stella had spoken to Brandon on the phone earlier, he'd told her that he was anticipating major blow back from Sky and Riven being paired up. Apparently, any time they got paired up in class, it ended one of two ways: with Sky winning and Riven being a bitter jerk or with Riven winning and being a smug jerk. He had also mentioned that he would be fighting after them, leaving Timmy to handle the outcome alone.
"That means Brandon's up next. He was telling me that they're having him fight a fourth year because he's so advanced."
"That makes sense. He was already training as a soldier before coming to Red Fountain, right?" Tecna commented and Stella nodded enthusiastically.
"Could you guys shush? I want to watch this." Bloom motioned for them to settle down, her eyes still firmly fixed on the match. She cheered silently when Sky got a strike in and grimaced when he got hit.
"How rude." Stella grumbled, earning a chuckle from Flora who also had her eyes firmly planted ahead on their two friends. Stella twisted her torso to talk to the girls behind her. Nothing against the boys, but she wasn't particularly interested in Sky and Riven's little rivalry – and she certainly couldn't comment on which she found more attractive (both had their strong points, but they were her best friends' boyfriend and crush and that was just strictly off limits). "Musa, did B-"
Musa waved her off, eyes as focused on the fight as Bloom and Flora were. Stella turned to Tecna, who motioned for the blonde to be silent, so she returned her eyes to the arena just in time to see Sky take Riven down. The magenta-haired specialist stood up and snapped something at Sky, who argued in defense of himself.
"Yes! Great job Sky!" Bloom jumped to her feet and cheered loudly.
"You know he cannot hear you, Bloom."
"Stella, can you yell good job for me?" Stella's attention had turned away from the girls as Sky followed Riven out and Brandon walked into the arena. His dark hair was slicked back out of his face – Stella thought he should wear it like that more often, he looked so sexy with his hair pushed back – and his face was set in a concentrated line. His opponent walked in behind him, a tall man with light brown skin and dark hair.
"Isn't that Devin?" Bloom asked before Stella could speak up.
"Yeah. I didn't know that's who Brandon was fighting."
"Me neither..." mentioned Musa. "He hadn't mentioned fighting Brandon. Now I don't know who to root for."
"Who's Devin?"
"Stella set him and Musa up last year" Flora explained briefly in response to Aisha's question before turning back to Musa. "I didn't realise you still kept in touch."
"Yeah, we're on good terms." Stella hadn't realise they'd kept in touch either. Frankly she was surprised they had. Her exes would be lucky to get so much as a nod from her except in the most formal of circumstances where she was required to be the perfect princess.
"Even after you dumped him to not date tall, dark and angry?" Stella could feel Musa glare at her, but she ignored it. Why Musa had rejected someone that was so perfect for her for Riven of all people was a mystery to Stella. She was fairly certain Musa and Riven hadn't even spoken a word to each other since the school year had started.
"I dumped him because it just wasn't..."
"I maintain that it would've been a great match if he wasn't around."
"Who's he?" Aisha asked. Poor girl was so behind. They'd have to sit down and go over everything she'd missed last year.
"No one" Musa grumbled before anyone could bring up her hopeless crush on Riven in further detail. Stella returned her attention to the ring where Brandon and Devin's swords were locked. Devin stepped back, causing Brandon, who had been applying pressure to Devin's saber, to stumble forward. Brandon quickly recovered, pivoting on the spot to face Devin again. The two clashed once again, stepping around each other.
"I wonder how Riven's doing... He must hate losing to Sky" Flora sighed. Stella grumbled about how she'd been told to shut up when Sky and Riven were on, but now that Brandon was up, everyone else didn't seem to care about her wanting to watch.
"They do have a rivalry" Tecna stated, ignoring Stella entirely. "Timmy told me that Riven and Sky argue a lot, usually about seemingly stupid things."
"Like Musa and Stella?" Flora snickered.
"I would assume so."
"We don't argue" Musa and Stella replied simultaneously. They didn't argue, really. Stella considered them more like friendly tiffs or squabbles. Arguments resulted in blowout feuds, the end of friendships or divorce. Musa and Stella's squabbles resulted in an hour or two of silence or, more often than not, them breaking into fits of laughter at how ridiculous they were being.
"Right, sorry. You have spirited discussions." Stella rolled her eyes at Tecna before insisting once again that the girls be quiet so she could watch Brandon's fight. She returned her eyes to the stadium just in time to see Brandon go down. Devin lowered his sword and extended his free hand, which Brandon accepted.
"No! How is that possible?"
"Why are you surprised?"
"I was so sure Brandon would win."
"Devin is specialising in swordsmanship too and has a whole extra year of training. You should not have been so confident."
"Whatever Tecna" Stella grumbled. She'd seen the whole fight, but her brain was divided between the match and the ongoing conversation, and she felt like she'd missed it. Brandon had been so excited for this match, to show off his skills and not have it interrupted this time. He'd put so much time into practicing, both through the summer and since the beginning of the school year.
Another three matches went through before they were excused for the first intermission. According to the schedule, there would be a total of three intermissions. Musa was thankful for that. She'd only been sitting for fifty minutes, and her legs screamed in relief when she could finally stand up.
"I'm going to find Brandon. My poor honey bear needs to be cheered up" Stella announced, her head turned away from them in search of Brandon.
"Honey bear?"
"You don't have to use the cheesy nicknames when he's not around" Bloom laughed. Stella rolled her eyes at the redhead. Her goal was to find him the cheesiest nickname she could. One that made people around go really?. Stella had tried to explain the joke that had led to the creation of her objective, but none of the girls had seemed to agree that it was as funny as Stella insisted it was.
"Are you coming Bloom?"
"No, I have to find Avalon. I completely forgot to get my essay topic approved this morning."
"Suit yourself." Stella pushed past Bloom and down the stairs, leaving the other five girls standing around as people exited the stadium. Most had b-lined for the bathrooms at the back creating a queue that was almost as long as Musa's list of favourite songs. A lot of people had headed out to the lobby to get refills on their snacks and drinks and a lot had decided to stay in their seats. Musa didn't understand how people were staying in their seats. She kind of wanted to see what the new campus looked like. There was no way she'd see the whole thing in twenty minutes, but a little snippet would be nice.
"How did you forget?" Flora asked, referring, Musa realised after a few seconds, to Bloom's essay topic. "You were so excited about it."
"Yes. You quite literally would not stop talking about it." Tecna wasn't even exaggerating. Bloom had very literally spent all of breakfast talking about it. She spoke so much that even Stella had had trouble getting a word in. It seemed mean to say, but Musa was fairly certain that by the end of breakfast, Flora was the only one still listening to her.
"I don't know... I guess I was so excited to start researching that I forgot about the whole having-Avalon-approve-it thing."
Bloom wandered away, pausing to ask one of the many Alfea girls in line if they'd seen Professor Avalon. Musa could see the way one of the witches looked at Bloom – with a mix of awe and disgust, as if she couldn't decide whether to be impressed by the sheer power such a sweet fairy possessed or be repulsed by the fact that she was a fairy. Musa couldn't believe the witches of Cloud Tower had been invited. She knew it was supposedly as a good will gesture, but as far as she was concerned, they should have been returned to the shallow grave they'd come out of and be left to rot for another thousand years. Witches were just not meant to mix with the rest of the world.
"I guess we get more snacks?" suggested Flora, looking down sadly to mourn the plate of nachos she hadn't gotten to eat.
"Yeah, I think we lost quite a bit during the, um, reveal." Tecna was, once again, not exaggerating. Musa had lost her bag of chips and drink in that reveal. She'd seen Flora's nachos go flying to the ground below, leaving just the plate in her hands, accompanied by Bloom's bag of chips. She hoped for the custodial staff's sake that the old school grounds wouldn't need to be cleaned after this because they were in for what was guaranteed to be a bad time.
"There really should've been some kind of warning. Like a hang on to your hats and snacks." Musa followed the girls towards the exit into the lobby. It was filled to the brim with snack stations from every realm with nearly every imaginable food or drink. People wandered through, stopping to wait in ridiculously long lines.
"I wonder if there's any different snack stations up here."
"Why would there be?"
Flora, Aisha, and Tecna had turned left towards the lobby, but Musa's attention was pulled right. Through the door at the end of the lobby, above everybody's heads, she could see the trees of the new quad surrounded by clear blue skies. She wondered how high off the ground they were. The new building, from what she could figure out, floated in the sky; the arena, at the very top of the building, must be a few hundred feet off the ground. If memory served, the old campus had been baren with very few trees in sight. Even if the rest of campus was garbage, this one already looked much nicer.
"Musa, are you coming?" Flora asked. Musa turned back towards her friends, who had stopped to wait for her when they'd noticed she wasn't with them.
"Uh... no. I think I want to explore the new campus a bit."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, you guys go ahead. And get me more of those spicy chips please."
Musa fought her way through throngs of people, excusing herself when she elbowed one of the visiting Alfea alumna by accident. As she'd expected, the new quad was green and vibrant. Tall trees lined the walkways, shading over wooden benches. At the opposite end, she could see the entrance to what looked like courts, Musa assumed for practicing their combat skills. When she reached the center of the quad, the paths diverged. One led to the courts, one to another door that she thought might lead to the rest of the building, and one meandering through a garden.
"Fancy running into you here." She'd assumed that the voice was calling out to someone else, realising quickly that she was wrong when Devin through his arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him, catching the amused gleam in his sapphire eyes.
"Is it?"
"No, all of Alfea is here." Devin jogged out in front of her, giving her one of his ever-so-charming smiles. Musa returned his smile. Whoever he ended up with would be lucky, that person just wasn't her. It didn't matter how much Stella wanted it to happen; she and Devin were not a romantic match. Musa was grateful it had resulted in a new friend, though. She did really like him. "That's good news for Stella and your redheaded friend."
Musa's smile fell, replaced with a confused grimace. "What?"
"Cause they don't need to sneak in this time" he explained. "It's terrible, I know. I regretted it the minute I said it. So, how's your year been so far?"
"Both duller and more exciting than I'd hoped."
"Howww can it be both?"
"Hey dumbass, stop flirting with every girl you see" Rasim shouted, walking up behind Devin and giving him a gentle smack across the back of the head. Devin shot him a dirty look, but Rasim missed it, too busy laughing at his stupid comment. At least, he enjoyed it until his eyes landed on Musa. "Oh... not flirting... Uh... Codatorta's looking for you."
Rasim scurried away, giving Devin quick instructions as to Codatorta's whereabouts that, given that Devin knew the school about as well as her, wasn't all that helpful. "I guess I should go find him, but, uh, hey, text me. We should catch up."
"Sure" Musa smiled, returning Devin's offered hug. "Oh, and, um, great job kicking Brandon's ass."
"Thanks. He put up a good fight."
"I'm not gonna tell him that. He doesn't need a bigger ego." Devin guffawed loudly as he turned to walk away. He knew Musa was right; Brandon, despite being a nice, grounded guy, knew how great he was – both personally and physically. He didn't need the ego boost. Musa shuffled her feet, wondering which path she should take or whether she should just go find her friends. Before she could make a decision, Devin slid up to her. "By the way. I saw Riven sitting down that way. He looked like he could use a friend."
Despite rolling her eyes and brushing Devin's comment off, Musa found herself wandering down towards the garden and off the path. It seemed cruel that she would inevitably find herself standing behind him. Riven sat atop the brick wall that surrounded the quad with his back to her. She considered turning away. The last time they'd spoken – when he had tried to check on her while their friends were away – they'd ended up fighting. She didn't want to fight with him again; she didn't like fighting with him.
Still, she walked towards him unfurling the earphones that she'd had in her back pocket. The wall was taller than her, so she'd had to transform in order to get up. The flash of light had captured Riven's attention, and she found him watching her curiously when she'd de-transformed. Instead of saying anything, she held out an earbud.
Riven looked down at her outstretched hand uncertainly. For a moment, she thought he might tell her to fuck off or just turn away and ignore her. Then, he reached out and took it. She ignored the beat of her heart as his fingers brushed hers, opting instead to scroll through her songs and put on anything she thought he might like.
Once she'd chosen a song, she swung her legs over the side of the wall and looked out. The new campus overlooked almost all of Magix. The trees of Gloomy Wood Forest sat several dozen feet below them, looking more like tiny green dots than fifteen-foot-tall trees. The expanse of green gave way to skyscrapers that looked smaller than a crumb from this high up. For once, Musa found herself understanding Stella's fear of heights; it was absolutely dizzying to be so far from the ground and looking right down at it.
She turned back around, opting instead to look in at the campus. Through the trees, she could see students walking around and enjoying the garden space. It seemed a tad out of place in a military school, but even soldiers enjoyed flowers.
A few feet away, off the garden path, a woman walked by. Something about her caught Musa's attention, though she couldn't quite place what. She was beautiful, that was certain, but there was something about her face that was eerily familiar. Musa watched as the woman walked away.
Darcy?
No. It couldn't be. Bloom had run into the trix in Shadowhaunt – a fact that confused Musa to this day – but they wouldn't be dumb enough to show up at Red Fountain today of all days, would they?
"What?"
"What?" Musa jumped, having completely forgotten about the specialist at her side. She looked over at Riven. He still had the scar on his cheek from the battle last year. She wondered why he hadn't had it healed, it seemed like it'd be an easy fix. The scar added a toughness to his face that she liked, though, so maybe she should be thankful he hadn't opted for healing.
"You looked... I dunno, confused."
"Nothing..." She debated saying something, but it seemed cruel to mention Darcy to him. Besides, Darcy was too smart to show her face in a populated area when she was a known criminal. It must have been a trick of the eyes. "I just... thought I forgot to have my essay topic approved, but I did." Thank you Bloom.
"Oh."
"Hey!" A shout caught Tecna's attention. She sat by the washrooms waiting for Aisha and Flora. They'd tried to get her to come in, but she didn't need to go, and it seemed like a waste of time to stand in line when she didn't need to pee. Instead, she'd opted to sit at a table near the washrooms and play a game while she waited. When she looked up from her game, she came face to face with two familiar faces. "I was wondering if we were gonna see you here."
"Fuck yeah! Looking dignified and brilliant as always, Tec" Red smiled. Tecna searched her brain for Red's name. Scar, standing beside him, was Calvin. Grizz, who was nowhere in sight, was Jael. Red was... Wilhelm.
"You… remember me?"
"Why wouldn't we? You basically saved my life last year. That, my friend is not something one forgets easily." Calvin pulled up a seat beside her, inviting them to join her. Not that she minded, surprisingly. She had found them pleasant and humorous to be around. It was such a shame they'd met under such unfavourable circumstances.
Wilhelm took the seat on her other side, placing his cup of coffee on the table in front of him. He nodded enthusiastically in agreement at Calvin's comment, scruffy red hair flying into his face as his head moved. "Yeah, you were a fucking beast."
"A beast?"
"It's a compliment" he laughed. Tecna wasn't entirely certain how being called a beast was a good thing; she couldn't think of a single positive definition for the word. Wilhelm's friendly demeanor did nothing to suggest it was anything other than a compliment, so she let it go. She would ask Musa about it later.
"Hey, so, listen-" Calvin started, resting his elbows on the table and leaning in. "-we were going out for drinks after this. Wanna come with?"
"You want me to come with you?" Tecna parroted as Jael joined them, dropping a plate full of nachos so slathered in cheese sauce she could barely see the chips.
"Definitely. Right guys?"
"Yeah!" "For sure."
"Well, that's very sweet, but I don't like bars" Tecna replied bluntly. She'd never been to one, but she assumed it was something like the rave Musa and Cecilia had dragged her to: loud, crowded and just generally unpleasant.
"Ok. What do you like?" Wilhelm asked, completely unfazed by her brisk answer. Tecna hadn't expected that – most people were at least slightly taken aback. Suddenly, she forgot everything she'd ever done and enjoyed. If he were to ask her name, she would likely draw a blank.
Calvin and Wilhelm stared at her expectantly while Jael busied himself shoving nachos into his mouth with so much enthusiasm it would put Stella's snacking to shame. The cheese sauce dripped down his fingers and Tecna watched in disgust as he licked them clean. "Tecna?" Calvin waved his hands in front of her face.
"Um… video games?"
"Okay, so we do a gaming night soon" Wilhelm announced enthusiastically. "That sounds great to me. Guys?"
"Hell yeah." "Sounds good to me."
"Gimme your number. I'll text you."
"Oh… Sure." Tecna closed the game screen and handed her phone over to Wilhelm. He handed his over and she put her number in. In all honesty, Tecna didn't see the point. This was just one of those situations where they'd say they should hang out and then never do.
Flora and Aisha emerged from the washroom as the guys were leaving. They sat across from her, purposefully avoiding the spot where cheese sauce had been dripped onto the table.
"Who were those guys?" "Was that your team?"
"Yes" Tecna, replied, answering Flora's question and explaining to Aisha that they had been partnered with her during the siege last year.
"It's nice that friendships blossomed of something so awful."
"Yes, of course." Tecna stood up, dismissing Flora's comment. There was no friendship to be blossomed. They were speaking to her solely out of social requirement. Tecna looked into the crowd, reading the signs of the stands – there were some new ones. "Should we get popcorn? I think I would quite like some."
Aisha and Flora exchanged a look but shrugged and agreed. "Sounds good to me. Can we get it with that cheesy salt stuff?" Flora asked.
"No." Tecna hated popcorn flavourings. Popcorn should taste like butter and nothing else.
"Okay...We need to get drinks too."
"... Thanks professor. I'm so excited to be taking your class. I mean, I know it's mandatory, but I'm sure it'll be fascinating" Bloom word vomited. She wanted so badly to make a good impression on Professor Avalon. During the introductory lesson, Amaryl had mentioned something about hypnosis, and it had gotten Bloom thinking. She'd heard stories of people being hypnotized and remembering all sorts of details that they'd forgotten. If Avalon, who, if Tecna's research on him were to be believed, was an expert on hypnosis, could help her, maybe she would be able to remember something about her family. She knew it was a long shot given that she was a baby when the war of Domino broke out, but any shot was a shot she was willing to take. She just had to get Avalon to agree to it first, and she was hoping that being a bit of a teacher's pet would get him to.
"Thank you, Bloom. I appreciate your enthusiasm."
"Oh, well... you know... new world and all, not much that isn't exciting." Shit. That wasn't the right thing to say, now he would think she wasn't extra excited to take his class.
"Oh yes, that's right. Faragonda had mentioned you. Last year must have been quite a lot for you."
"Yeah..."
"I'm very impressed by how well you handled it."
Bloom fiddled with her fingers, trying to stop the blush she felt spreading up her neck. To have someone of Avalon's status compliment her for how she'd handled last semester's events – finding out she had magic to finding out she was the keeper of the most powerful source in the dimension to having it stolen and regaining it – when she thought she could have handled it much better was huge. "Oh, thanks."
As she spoke, Sky walked up behind them. He waved to her, extending his wave to Avalon, who nodded politely. "I'll let you get to your friend. I've been craving a soft pretzel anyways. I look forward to reading your essay, Bloom."
"Thanks" she shouted after the professor as he walked away. He turned back and waved at her just as Sky stepped between them and obstructed him from view. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pushed up onto her toes to kiss him. "Great job out there!"
"Thank you. You sure seem to like your new professor."
"Yeah, his class is super fascinating. I'm really looking forward to it" Bloom replied enthusiastically. She got the sense that Sky was a bit jealous, but she ignored it. If she was overreacting for being jealous of him spending time with his ex-fiancée, he could deal with her being enthusiastic about a respected professor's class. She explained her idea as briefly as she could but ended up rambling what she'd read about hypnosis and Sky listened attentively to every single word, hmming and asking questions whenever he needed clarification. "I was thinking maybe I could get him to help me remember stuff about my birth family."
"Like what?"
"I don't know..." Bloom sighed. "Anything, really. All I know is facts. I've read every book I could find about Domino. I know the culture, traditions, religion, royal lineage, but none of it tells me anything about who they were."
"Attention. The events will be restarting in two minutes. Please make your way back to your seats."
"Oh... sorry. I guess I rambled away our time together before you have to get back."
"It's fine. I like listening to you ramble" Sky chuckled, getting to his feet and offering her his hand. Bloom accepted it and allowed him to pull her to his chest. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Besides, we've got other intermissions and we'll see each other after the show."
After giving Sky a quick kiss, Bloom made her way back to her friends. Stella, Aisha, Flora and Tecna were talking animatedly about the next rounds – Aisha seemed particularly excited about the leva-bike stunts. Musa, however, absentmindedly nibbled on her chips with a faraway look in her eyes. Bloom sat in front of her, nudging her gently in the leg and giving the singer a quizzical look. She received a small smile and a head shake in response.
Bloom settled in with a bag of popcorn as the first exhibition started. Two second years came out on their bikes just as a shadow clouded over the stadium.
"What a terrible time for the sun to be clouded over" Stella grumbled as a roar shook the arena.
It was hard to make out the creature that had flown above the stadium. Its wingspan must have been as big as the new school building, and it had wrinkly grey skin and a thick dark red mane. Panic coursed through the crowds as the guards came out in full force to take the beast down. Teachers and students were sent into the crowds to escort the audience out. Bloom jumped to action, transforming without a second thought. Her friends, it would seem, had the same thought as they all found themselves in the arena trying to find where they'd fit in best to help.
Flora found herself facing the creature. It's bright yellow eyes and sharp fangs stared her down, nostrils flaring as it huffed. She had tried to take it down by wrapping vines around it, but it had thrashed its way free, destroying her vines and crushing them to dust.
"Flora! Get out of the way!" She heard someone shout, but her mind was blank. Her fight or flight instincts had crapped out and all she could do was shield herself as the creature spat out a disgustingly sticky and scented mucus at her. It coated her hair, face, arms and wings. She managed to wipe her eyes clear just in time to see fangs mere inches from her face.
Before she could turn to run, Flora felt something wrap itself around her ankle. She was pulled out of the way, crash landing on her saviour with a heavy thud.
"Are you okay?" He laughed. Flora forced her head up to find herself on Helia's chest. Her legs had twisted in with his and one of his hands rested on the ground beside him, helping him lift his shoulders off the ground, and the other was on her back. The gentle smile on his lips and their position made her cheeks flush. His dark hair had come loose, brushing the ground. It looked so soft; Flora wanted to run her hands through it. "Flora?"
"Yes. Th-thank you. A-are you?"
"I'm fine." He helped her off him and sat her down against one of the guardrails. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and started to wipe the mucus from her face. His touch was careful, soft.
Most of the audience was out of the stadium. The last few people were lined up at the doors, slowly exiting through the emergency exits. Flora tried to keep her eyes on them. She worried that if she met Helia's eyes, she would burst into flames from embarrassment. When she'd arrived at Red Fountain, she'd been expecting to have a nice, fun day with her friends, not to be hit with a crush like it was a speeding train. But Helia just seemed so sweet. And she liked his hair and smile. And his calm demeanor and the easy, self-assured way he spoke.
"Oh good" he whispered, eyes focused sharply behind her. Flora followed his gaze to find that the creature had been subdued. Its wings had folded into its back thanks to the thick black straps that had been wrapped around its body. Its spiked tail had stopped flailing and its jaws were being strapped shut. Flora exhaled the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, dropping her shoulders.
"There you are!" Aisha shouted as she and Tecna ran up to her and Helia. The former specialist stood up, offering her his hand. She accepted, realising a second too late that it was still covered in slime, but he didn't seem to care. "Avalon wants us to grab our group and meet him at the stadium door."
"Now? But what about… that?" Flora asked, motioning to the beast on the arena floor. Tecna shrugged in response, turning back and walking away. Aisha grabbed her hand – the same one Helia had just been holding – and pulled her towards the exit. Flora stole one last glimpse back at the artist, who caught her eye, smiled, and waved her goodbye.