Strap yourselves in guy, we've got another mammoth sized chapter ahead of us, but this is one a lot of you have been waiting for because – yup, that's right – Brandon and Stella are getting back together.
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-One – Trouble in Paradise
"You know what's weird? We're going from an exclusive, fully furnished villa located in the most expensive ski fields in the universe to sleeping on the ground at a campsite that doesn't even have a shower block, and we're choosing to do it in that order," Brandon noted sourly as he followed Sky through the thick undergrowth towards the campsite that had been reserved for them.
"Are you going to complain about everything?" Sky asked, looking back over his shoulder at his best friend while he walked. "First you were complaining about the fact that you don't think this constitutes a mission, then it was the price of everything in the snow field region and now you're complaining that you're going to have to sleep on the ground."
"I bet I won't be the only one," Brandon grumbled as they rounded the bend and came across their campsite. The campsite had been reserved for them by the school, and first impressions of it were that it looked pretty good. It had a small beach on a freshwater river that backed right onto a forest filled with rare monsters and magical creatures that were all under the protection of the Realm. Some of those creatures were carnivores, but as Timmy had already pointed out to them, the chances of them attacking were slim to none.
"Not bad," Sky grinned, placing his hands on his hips, but Brandon continued to look sour. They could hear Riven trailing them with the girls and Timmy was already there, over looking the supplies that had been dropped off earlier. "Hey Timmy, how's it going?"
"Okay, I think," Timmy answered before looking over his check list. "We've got the tents, the sleeping bags, food, cooking and eating utensils, water purifying tablets, an axe, first aid kit – "
"I love it how those two are right next to each other," Brandon grinned sadistically.
" – maps of the area, matches, torches, spare batteries, wet weather gear just in case, a beach umbrella for the girls, sun screen, fold out chairs and a few recreational items," Timmy read allowed before sighing loudly as he looked at the large pile of supplies. "I think that's everything."
"Oh!" Bloom's high pitch squeal suddenly filled the air as she and the rest of the girls stepped out onto the beach. All the girls – even Tecna who came from a realm which didn't have any wilderness let alone any camping grounds – looked excited to be there, but Stella did look somewhat less excited than the others. "It's beautiful!"
"There are so many rare plants here," Flora informed them all confidently despite the fact that she had only been in the area a matter of minutes. "It's incredible. Are we really staying here?"
"Yup. This is home, sweet home for the next two days," Sky grinned.
"Great. Where's the bathroom?" Stella asked.
"Er, down that path," Timmy pointed after checking the map. Stella gave him a forced little smile that was meant to express her thanks and vanished down the path.
"She's gonna freak when she finds out it's a pit dunny," Brandon muttered to Sky.
Seconds later, birds took to the air due to Stella's horrified scream.
It was well known that Riven had a conniving mind and that he had used it in the past to get him and his friend's things that circumstance or the law prohibited them. He had been able to get them DVD's and games months before they were due out, he had gotten into venues that had been deemed sold out and he had never let the age limit stand in the way of him obtaining alcohol for them. But none of his scheming had ever paid off as well as it did when he 'negotiated' his way into getting four jet-skis to help them patrol the water.
"Dude, I may have called you a dirty, conniving, villainous sneak in the past, but I'm glad you're my friend," Brandon grinned widely at Riven when they had paused in their racing for just a second to make sure that none of the girls had slipped off anywhere without them knowing.
"Thanks man," Riven replied, not insulted in the slightest. After all, he had been called worse.
"But are you sure you're going to be able to justify this to Saladin?" Sky asked. He liked having the jet-skis – no denying that – but he had his doubts to whether or not their teachers would understand the reasoning behind it. Saladin might look as though his attention to detail might sometimes fail him, but the old man was surprisingly focused for his age. And even if they did manage to slide something past their headmaster, it would be impossible to get it past Codatorta and Javelin.
"Of course I can. Look, our mission is to protect these pixies from any possible dangers that might present itself, right? So we'll need a way to patrol the water for any hidden dangers and I'm not exactly thrilled about the concept of swimming," Riven confessed.
"Typical city boy," Brandon commented slyly.
"He does have a pretty good point, Sky," Timmy backed Riven up. "I mean, lifesavers on popular beaches use jet-skis to patrol the water and if anything did happen, it would be a lot faster to reach whoever's drowning than swimming."
"And if we say it was your idea instead of mine, Saladin will accept it easier since for some reason he always thinks I have ulterior motives," Riven added, making their plan air tight.
"Well when you put it like that, it's almost like we had to do this," Sky finally agreed. "In the name of security, Red Fountain can only offer the very best."
"I love our school," Brandon smiled. "Race you guys?"
"You're on," Sky and Riven both said in unison, but Timmy declined.
"I'm gonna go get a drink," Timmy told them, before turning his jet-ski around and heading into shore. All the girls were sunbaking on the beach while quizzing each other and reading aloud from Teen Fairy or just idling chatting like girls do. When Timmy beached his jet-ski, he just managed to catch a bit of Stella nagging something about sun block when he stepped onto the store. The second he had both feet solidly on the sand, Layla – who had been watching the boy's enviously – jumped to her feet and made for Timmy's jet-ski.
"My turn!" the Princess of Tides called as she sped away from shore.
"You know, it's more polite if you ask," Brandon told her jestingly when she had made it out to where the others were.
"Well, in that case, would you boys like to have a little race?" Layla challenged politely.
"Yeah, like you'd have a chance," Riven scoffed.
"Isn't that what you said when we were in the ski region?" Layla asked, and just like that, the challenged was on. But an hour and a half later when Bloom finally managed to get them to come in for some lunch, the boys were still yet to get a victory against Layla.
"Oh wow. You guys brought a volleyball kit?" Bloom asked after she had stumbled across it while rummaging through the supplies the boys had brought. "I remember playing this all the time on Earth with my family when we went away on holidays. It was like my favourite game we just to play with friends while we were waiting for the barbeque to be finished."
"I think that came as part of a deal with the tents and stuff," Timmy said as he watched Bloom drag the kit out. "We didn't even ask for it."
"Can we play? Please?" Bloom begged, and without an answer, she started to unpack the kit.
"Sure. I'm in," Musa said.
"Me too!" Flora seconded.
"I've never played before," Tecna confessed. "But I guess I'm game."
"For sure. We'll have teams and everything," Brandon suggested.
"Kiko can keep score!" Bloom volunteered as her little pet rabbit pulled out the score board.
"And I'll right a cheer!" Chatta announced, looking like she was ready to explode in team spirit.
"Are you going to paly, Stella?" Amore asked her bonded fairy. "I'll cheer for you."
"Sorry Amore. Count me out," Stella told her. "But if you want to cheer for something, you can cheer for me to get a good tan."
"Where'd Layla go?" Sky asked, looking around to try and spot the Princess of Tides. Layla had come in with them for lunch, but after that he couldn't remember seeing her. Guilt suddenly stabbed at him when he realised that he had been neglecting his duty, but Bloom had been telling him about when she had gone camping as a little girl and he had been too enthralled with her to notice any of the others. "I'm sure she'd want to play."
"She said she wanted to go for a small walk to stretch her legs," Brandon – who hadn't been distracted from his duty – informed his prince. "She said she wouldn't be long so we should start playing and she can join a team when she gets back."
The group was divided up so that Bloom, Sky, Timmy and Flora were on one team and Brandon, Tecna, Riven and Musa were on the other. Stella sunbaked, Kiko kept score and the pixies cheered for everyone. The teams were pretty evenly matched since Bloom, Sky, Brandon and Riven were all out to win while Flora, Timmy, Musa and Tecna were content with just having fun.
"I thought you guys had to be on guard duty," Musa said halfway through the game. She wasn't really complaining since it was a lot more fun when the boys dropped the whole serious routine, but they were getting graded on this and she didn't want to land the boys in any kind of trouble.
"This is what Codatorta calls 'Plain Clothes Security Detail'," Brandon explained. The boys had already thought of how this might affect their grade, and they had already come up with a way to talk themselves around it.
"Makes the enemy think our guard is down," Riven simplified.
"Well, your guard is down," Bloom grinned slyly, spiking the volley ball sharply so it hit the ground exactly halfway between Brandon and Riven, earning her team a point. "Yeah!"
"Nice one, Bloom," Sky congratulated. He nearly went to give her a quick, sideways hug, but then the no fraternisation rule popped up in his head, making him pause awkwardly. Sometimes, he really regretted enrolling in a military school.
"So when are we going to the hotel?" Stella suddenly asked from her place lounging in the sun. "I'm dying the check in and take a shower and hit some boutiques."
The four boys all exchanged a look which said that none of them wanted to be the one to inform her that there was no hotel, let alone boutiques. Fortunately, Layla chose that moment to return with firewood. "I don't think there is a hotel in this region."
"Okay if there's not a hotel where and I supposed to sleep and how am I supposed to stay warm?" Stella questioned, and again none of the boys wanted to answer. Luckily, there was Layla.
"That's what firewood's for," Layla told her in a tone at was borderline patronising. Layla seemed to sense that too, so she quickly changed to subject. "Why don't you go swim or something?"
Stella's honey golden eyes widened in horror. "Do you know how much I paid for this swimsuit?"
"Wait a minute Stella, so does that mean you can't get it wet?"
Stella shook her head. "Nah uh-uh."
"Er, okay. You're kidding, right?"
Again, Stella shook her head. "Nah uh-uh."
"So you just brought a swimsuit for how it looks?" Layla asked. She was the first daughter of Tides, and like anyone from that realm, she couldn't even consider the possibility that any outfit – even couture evening gown – couldn't get wet. "What kind of sense does that make?"
Stella got to her feet and glared at her friend. She wasn't really angry at Layla, but the Princess of Tides had pushed her buttons and she had to let of some steam. "It makes more sense than going on a stupid vacation where there's no hotel and you have to sleep in the dirt!" Stella snarled before turning on heel and stormed off, leaving behind a rather hurt looking Layla.
"I-I didn't mean . . . what I meant was . . ." Layla stammered. "It's a swimsuit for crying out loud!"
"Don't worry about it, Layla," Musa advised. "She didn't really mean anything by it. Stella just needs to cool off and then she'll be back to her usual self."
Everyone hoped that Musa was right, but Stella's bad mood continued all afternoon and well into that night when they were all sitting around toasting corncobs over the large campfire the boys had built that afternoon.
"I hope you all know that I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitoes here," Stella announced bitterly, slapping at her ankles in an effort to kill the little blood sucking insects. Wordless, Tecna passed her some insect repellent, which Stella applied sourly. "These things better not have malaria or some other sort of disease."
"I doubt it. This realm spent billions eradicating all kinds of diseases in this area in ordered to increase tourism," Timmy informed her as Stella tossed the repellent away and hugged her legs.
"Well, that explain why the lift tickets were so expensive," Musa grinned.
"So you guys, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Sky asked.
"Who really cares?" Stella spat moodily.
"I wonna go explore deeper into the forest," Flora said, acting as if Stella hadn't said anything. "I heard there's all sorts of unique plants and creatures in this realm."
"Well, I was thinking I might make a postcard to send to my dad," Musa told everyone, holding the camera that the girls had been using to take pictures with the whole trip.
"Vacationing young ladies should always send postcard to their families," Tune agreed.
Bloom seemed taken with the idea. After all, it had been ages since she had sent a letter to her family on Earth since she'd always just call them if she wanted to talk. "Hey! We can use an art and craft spell."
"Yeah except . . . er . . . there's no magic in this realm," Layla reminded her. Stella groaned miserably at the reminder of her magic-free existence.
"We're gonna had to write our 'rents the old school way; with pen and paper and stuff," Musa concluded. "It'll be fun. Layla can take pictures and we can cut up the Teen Fairy magazines to make collages."
"I haven't done that since elementary school," Bloom admitted, looking even more excited about the idea now.
One person who couldn't be less excited about the plans for tomorrow was Riven, who was seriously considering slamming his head against the rock he was sitting on in an effort to rid himself of the mind numbing pain that this conversation gave him. "Excuse me for changing the subject, but isn't anyone else annoyed that we have to provide twenty-four hour security so they can play arts and crafts and hang out on the beach?" Riven asked, causing Tune to huff.
"It's twenty-six hours," Timmy corrected. "This planets rotation takes twenty-six hours."
"Oh, that makes it much better," Riven growled sarcastically. "Two more hours of extra artsy fun in a day. That's fantastic."
"I'm with Riven. This trip blows," Stella agreed, causing several of her friends to exchanged worried glances at each other.
"Stell," Bloom started in an effort to get her best friend to lighten up a bit. "I know camping isn't your thing, but if you give it a chance I'm sure – "
"I'm not going to give it a chance because I know that I am never going to like camping. Sleeping outside in the dirt, getting eaten alive by insects and using a bathroom that is literally just a hole in the ground is not my idea of a good time. I'm a princess for crying out loud."
"You're not the only princess here, Stella," Layla reminded her, her tone slightly acidic.
"Yeah, but Bloom didn't know she was a princess till last year, Musa's disowned for the throne and you actually like this stuff which is just plain weird to me," Stella said, getting to her feet. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed in an effort to try and sleep through this hell."
No one tried to stop her as she left. Bloom and Musa both looked upset and insulted about the callous way Stella had talked about their rank and everyone else seemed uncomfortable at the moody way Stella had been acting this whole trip. Layla, however, seemed to be the most upset because she kept staring at the ground.
"Stella didn't mean it," Flora told her gently. "She just not used to this kind of trip."
"Yeah, I know," Layla said, but her eyes remained fixed on the ground. It wasn't long after that that the group decided to call it a night and all headed off to their tents.
The Resort Realm's camping region was home to a large variety of monsters and creatures. There were hunter trolls, herblasaur, maned wolves, sky scorpions and dragadons just to name a few. And even though there was a good mix of carnivores, omnivores and herbivores, the number of attacks on humans from these creatures were sim to none due to the fact that the rangers in these areas spent a lot of time conditioning the creatures from young ages so that they got used to humans and learnt that they were not prey. None the less, the boys organised a night watch so that at least one of them was awake on the unlikely chance that something did happen. Sky had pulled first watch, so when everyone went to sleep he stayed up with his sword at the ready, just in case. He didn't think that anything was going to happen, but he wasn't in any position to make a call on that.
He spent most of his watch time staring up at the stars. The palace back on Eraklyon was too close to the capital city for the stars to be very bright, and back at Red Fountain, the City of Magix was bright enough to leech the light away from the sky. Here, however, the closest residence to their campsite was a ranger station, and that was over an hours drive away so the stars were incredibly bright, and there were thousands of them.
Sky was still transfixed when a deep, roaring sound filled the air. At first, Sky tensed in alarm, but when that roar was answered with a low, mournful sounding roar, he realised that it wasn't an attack; it was two herblasaurs cooing at each other. He stood there in the dark, enjoying the stars and the herblasaur serenade when he heard someone approaching him from behind. Far from alarmed, Sky looked over his shoulder and watched as Bloom made it to his side. She had been woken up from the roaring, and as a foreigner to this part of the universe, she had been worried.
"Herblasaurs," Sky told her. He knew Flora had told her all about the creatures in this area so she would know that they were relatively harmless.
"Oh," Bloom said, looking a bit more relaxed.
"According to our recon, they only eat plants. Nothing you worry about ma'am."
"Are they . . . um . . . saying anything?" Bloom asked, realising halfway through her question how silly it might sound.
Sky grinned, not caring how silly it sounded. "I don't speak herblasaur."
Bloom seemed to appreciate his humour, but when she turned her attention back to the herblasaurs roaring, her humour dropped. "They sound so sad and lonely. I wonder why."
"Maybe they just miss the ones they love," Sky suggested. "You know I read somewhere that the male herblasaur stands guard to make sure that the female herblasaur can get a good night's sleep."
"He stays up all night?"
"He likes it because he knows that the one he cares about is happy, safe and peaceful," Sky told her, looking down at her softly. A gentle smile graced its way across Bloom's face, and it was enough to make Sky's stomach flip-flop.
"Goodnight, Sky," Bloom smiled, turning to head back to her tent to try and find some sleep.
"You sleep tight, Bloom."
It was another hour and a half before anyone else ventured out of the tents, and by then Sky's focus had dropped considerably. His blue eyes had started itching from tiredness and no matter what he tried he couldn't seem to stop his eyelids from dropping in slow, lazy blinks. Yawning became more and more frequent and finally, Sky stumbled into a mistake that only a Red Fountain freshman would make; he looked at the fire.
Lulled into a dreamy pleasant state by the elegant, dancing flames, Sky was so hypnotised that he didn't even notice someone approach him until a strong hand grasped his shoulder, almost making him jump out of his skin.
"Gods, Riven," Sky gasped, placing a hand on his chest and feeling his rapid heart beat. "You scared the crap out of me."
"Uh-huh. Go to bed," Riven ordered, not interested in making any kind of conversation at this hour of the morning.
"I wasn't asleep," Sky quickly assured him, even though Riven never asked.
"Don't care," Riven said, positioning himself so that he was sitting on the ground with his lower back leaning against one of the logs around the fire with his long legs stretched out in front of him. He had his back to the fire and his eyes on the bushland that surrounded them.
"I mean it, I wasn't sleeping," Sky said again.
"And seriously, I don't care," Riven repeated. "What do you thinks gonna happen? A herblasaur gonna creep up on us during the night and eat Flora? C'mon, Sky, you know there's nothing dangerous in this realm. Even the maned wolves don't attack people. Timmy gave you the stats; you're more likely to get killed by a coconut than attacked by an animal or monster in this region (1). There's only one reason we have a night watch is because it's what we got to do as part of our grade. There is nothing to be worried about."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sky agreed, kicking the ground lightly, not aware that the Trix had arrived in the Resort Realm not long ago.
"Of course I am. Now go to sleep. I got it from here."
The night passed without incident. However, the following morning started to go bad shortly after breakfast. As the boys finished eating and cleaning up the breakfast utensils, the Winx Club sat in the warm morning sun making postcards for their parents like Musa had suggested the night before. The only person not present was Stella, who – despite being the one to go to bed first – was the only one to sleep in.
"These pictures are going to be great," Layla told the other girls after taking one particularly cute shot of Bloom and Lockette for Bloom's parents back on Earth. Each fairy was decorating their postcards in their own unique way; Tecna had written part of her note to her parents in binary code, Flora was using leaves and flowers from the area and Bloom was covering her card in cut out pictures of all her friends.
"I can't think of what to write," Musa confessed, her brows knotted in thought.
"Do something in verse," Bloom suggested. "Your dad will get a kick that."
"It's been ages since I actually wrote a letter by hand," Tecna confessed, and she looked like she was thoroughly enjoying herself. "It's fun."
"Do you want me to snap a picture of you?" Musa asked Layla, who so far had been the only one taking photos, so there was no real evidence that she was even there. "I can."
"No, that's alright Musa," Layla declined. "I'm pretty much just getting some shots of the scenery."
"Hey, I'd love it if you'd come with me later and got some photos of me with the plants and animals," Flora said. She had been eagre to do that ever since she had arrived at the camping ground, but the day before had been spent hanging out with her friends.
"Sure thing," Layla nodded as Stella wondered out of the tent. "Good morning sunshine. You get enough sleep?"
"I didn't mean to over sleep. I'm not used to this sun's patterns," Stella said, flinching at the brightness of the morning sun. She was no longer snapping at them, but she still didn't seem too thrilled about camping. But then again, the day was still young.
"We're going on a wild life expedition later," Flora informed her cheerfully.
"Sounds like fun Flora," Stella said with very little enthusiasm. "Count me out of that one, okay?"
"Why don't you come make a postcard for your mum and dad?" Layla asked, trying to include Stella in what they were doing. The Princess of Solaria and the Princess of Tides had had a bit of tension the day before, and Layla was determined not the let that happen again. "I'll take the picture for ya."
Unfortunately, she couldn't have picked a worse sentence to say to Stella if she was trying. "It's postcards, Layla. My parents are separated."
Everyone looked incredibly uncomfortably, but none more so than Layla. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Stella."
But Stella chose to ignore her friend and sat down away from everyone to have a cup of tea.
"Boy, Layla put her foot in that one," Brandon sighed regretfully to Timmy as Bloom explained to Layla about the current situation for the Royal Family of Solaria.
"I feel sorry for Layla," Timmy admitted. He would never tell Layla that, but he felt safe saying it to Brandon. "It's like she wants to let people in and be open with the rest of the girls, but then something like this happens and she shuts down."
"Well, it's not easy when Stella's in this mood."
"Maybe you should talk to her?" Timmy suggested.
"Layla?"
"Stella."
"Why? It's not like she'd listen."
"Brandon."
"What?"
Timmy stared at his friend for a second before sighing heavily. "Nothing."
"I'm gonna go . . . walk or something," Layla suddenly announced, getting to her feet and heading for the path that led deeper into the forest.
"What about our expedition?" Flora asked. She had wanted to go with Layla since she knew that the water fairy had not had much fun the day before, and she wanted to try and cheer her up. Layla, however, just kept walking.
"Layla wait!" Tecna called. "Hang on a minute. Is everything alright?"
"Fine," Layla assured them, but the tone of her voice said otherwise.
"So, we're still undecided," Sky summarised. He and the other members of his squad were keeping guard while lounging in deck chairs in the warm mid-morning sun, and for the last thirty-five minutes, they had been debating an issue that none of them could make a solid opinion on; had they or had they not been assigned a good mission for their end of year assessment?
"Well, we all agreed that this whole trip had been a complete waste of our skills – except of course our snow sports skills," Brandon recapped helpfully.
"But it is nice to finally be able to spend some time with the girls," Sky pointed out again.
"Yeah, but we have to keep a three foot radius from them at all times," Riven reminded them for the fourth time. "Not to mention it's dull as hell out there."
"But then again, it is nice to just relax every now and then instead of running around, trying to save the universe. Plus it's a nice change to be outside," Timy said, stretching himself out and taking pleasure in the warmth of the sun. "Yup, this sure beats sitting at a computer."
"What was that?" Sky asked, sapping his head around to stare at Timmy. He was surprised the computer geeks tongue didn't fall off after such blasphemy.
"Timster's feeling the call of the wild," Riven smirked.
"Soon he'll be taming hydras and wrestling trolls bare handed," Brandon joked.
"You know, there are hunter trolls in this region," Riven pointed out, spotting a chance to make Brandon's joke into a reality. "We could find one and bait it so Timmy could fight it."
"We're not baiting a troll," Sky instantly vetoed. "Did you forget how much fun we had chasing that troll through the Black Mud Swamps last year? There's no way I'm going through that again."
"Oh, c'mon. It's just a little entertainment."
"No."
"So we're s'posed to just sit around and watch the girls as they . . . what are they actually doing?" Riven asked.
"I think they're planning on giving Tecna a make-over," Sky said, watching as Bloom talked to Stella. He couldn't be sure of what they were saying, but Stella turned and headed for the path that Layla had vanished down an hour ago. Sky could only hope that Stella was leaving in order to look for Layla so she could apologise to her and not because Bloom had said something that caused her to storm off. "Hang on, we better find out what's going on."
"Where'd Stella go?" Flora was asking Bloom when the boys had made it over to the girls.
"She went to go find Layla," Bloom informed everyone.
"Wow. Even the temptation of a make-over couldn't make her stay," Musa noted.
"Should we go with her and help her look?" Sky asked.
"No. Stella wants to apologise to Layla and I think those two need some time to talk. I think it's best to just give them some privacy for now," Bloom suggested. The girls abandoned the idea of the make-over due to the fact that Tecna had only agreed to it in an effort to cheer Stella up, and with Stella and Layla both gone, the girls did what all girls do best; gossip about their friends.
"Well I feel that Layla hides how she really feels sometimes," Bloom said about an hour later. The girls were lounging in the sun talking while the boys hung around not really contributing to the conversation.
"And you think that Stella doesn't?" Flora questioned.
"What do you mean by that?" Amore asked, feeling as if she represented Stella in this little gossip session.
Lockette's big eyes had widened in shock at Flora's words. "Stella lies to you?"
"No sweetie, it doesn't mean she lies," Bloom assured her pixie.
"She doesn't always tell you how she's feeling, that's all," Flora corrected.
"I love talking about my feelings!" Chatta informed them all loudly. "In fact, did I tell you guys that – "
"We've been discussing this for an hour," Tecna interrupted. Normally she wasn't the type of fairy to do that, but she had learnt over the last year that if you didn't interrupt Chatta, the little Pixie of Pep could talk for hours on end, and Tecna was getting a bit tried of this topic of conversation. "Can we please move on?"
"I'm with Tecna," Riven instantly agreed, resisting the urge to cry in pure relief. He had been listening to the girls go on and on about what they thought Layla was feeling and what they thought Stella was feeling and what they thought Layla thought Stella was feeling until he was certain his ears were going to bleed and that desire to his hit head against something hard had returned. He had tried to drown it out by focusing his attention on a book but they still got into his head. There was just no escaping it. And of course there was no way he could suggest a change in conversation because that would make him look like an insensitive jerk. But then Tecna brought it up on her own and he felt like he could kiss her. "You girls talk way too much about your little emotions."
Exhausted by their gossiping, Riven decided it would probably be best to put a little bit of distance between him and the girls to avoid him letting loose the deluge of what his thoughts on the whole Layla and Stella and why they're fighting episode were. Unfortunately, Musa had gotten to her feet and followed after him.
"Riven!" she called before falling into step beside him. "Our little emotions?"
"You know what I mean."
"No, I don't."
"What's so great about sitting around and talking about your feelings?"
"Well, I – " Musa tried to explain, but Riven wasn't going to let her finish. If there was one thing worse than talking about feelings, it was talking about what was so great about talking about feelings.
"You never do."
"What does that – "
"See you later," Riven brushed her off before heading into the forest. He was fed up with the girls and all the dramas they seemed to magic up out of nowhere, so he needed to get some space or else he'd lose his mind. He figured he'd do a perimeter check before having to face no doubt another gossip session. He heard Musa let out an irritated growl behind him, but he chose to ignore it.
Meanwhile, Brandon had been watching the whole thing, and when Musa stormed off into another direction of the forest, he got to his feet and moved after her.
Riven was still tense and irritated after the never ending story about Stella and Layla's emotions, so it took him several minutes before he really took notice of where he was going. He had justified him walking off like that as a perimeter check, but when he finally looked round it dawned on him that he had actually walked further out into the forest then was actually needed.
He was just about to double back when he looked down and spotted several animal tracks. There was nothing unusual about that given the fact that this was a wildlife reserve, but what struck Riven as odd was that they were all travelling the same direction.
"Hmm. That's weird," Riven said aloud to himself before tossing the book he had in his hands aside. After all, wasn't as if it was his book. Without any hesitation, Riven followed the tracks, and it wasn't long until he heard some very familiar voices.
Brandon was an undeniably good student at Red Fountain, but if there was one subject he admitted that he wasn't very good at – besides Battle History – it was stealth. The talkative squire just wasn't that good at keeping himself silent, so it was no real surprise that Musa with her sonar ears heard him when he accidentally stepped on a dry twig which snapped under his weight.
"Who's there?" Musa demanded to know, her voice sounding startled.
"It's just me Musa," Brandon said, holding his hands up to show he was unarmed. The fact that he had been able to sneak up on Musa this close before she noticed him was testament to how distracted and trouble she was since Brandon was sure that his stealth skills hadn't improved that much. "Sorry 'bout that."
Musa relaxed and let out a relieved sigh. Brandon could tell that she was not as loosened up as what Ms. Faragonda would have wanted out of this all expenses paid trip and Brandon was pretty sure he knew why. "So what's up?" Musa asked.
"I thought you could use an interpreter," Brandon offered but when he got a confused look off Musa he quickly added, "For Riven."
Musa's navy eyes widened in surprise, something Brandon really didn't understand. After all, who did Musa and Riven think they were fooling? Their feelings for each other were so obvious to everyone else and yet they still felt it was necessary to go through this whole denial phase. "What are you talking about?"
"When he starts staying 'what's so great about feelings' it's all Riven talk for 'please stop talking about feelings. They scare me'," Brandon explained. Riven was a hard person to decipher at the best of times, but over the years Brandon had gotten pretty good at working out what was going on inside that screwed up little head of Riven's, though he was certain that Riven would never put it in those exact words.
Musa nodded slightly and Brandon could tell that she understood what he was saying, but instead of looking relieved like Brandon thought she would have, her expression turned to one of irritation. "Why can't he just stay that then?"
"It's not that different for you always playing it cool," Brandon pointed out.
"Me? I don't do that. I'm up front," Musa said even though both of them knew it was a lie. Musa was constantly putting up a tough front and acting like everything was fine when in actual fact she was suffering in silence. When Riven had hooked up Darcy last year, Musa had assured everyone that she had never actually liked Riven in the first place and couldn't care less who he dated when in actual fact everyone could tell that she still liked him and was completely heartbroken at what he did.
"Have you ever just told Riven that you like him?" Brandon asked.
"Well, not directly but . . ." Musa trailed off, shifting nervously.
"So what's stopping you?" Brandon asked with an encouraging grin. "I think he went that way."
Musa looked off in the direction Brandon was pointing in, chewing her lower lip nervously, but her eyes were glowing in a way that told Brandon that she had already made up her mind about what she was going to do. "Thanks."
"Anytime," Brandon said, turning to head back to camp, but then Musa stopped him.
"If you ever want me to return the favour, I'll be glad to do it," Musa offered. Brandon paused and looked back at her, not really sure what to make of what she had just said. "You know, like an interpreter for Stella."
"Oh, yeah, thanks but no thanks," Brandon said, and after forcing a quick smile, he turned to leave again. But once again, Musa stopped him.
"You know Stella misses you, right?" she asked, and Brandon turned back around to face her.
"What are you talking about? We see each other all the time. Hell, we're on a week long vacation together. There's really no distance between the two of us."
"Physically, perhaps, but let's face it; you guys aren't acting the way you normally do, and that's what she misses."
"Then she can come fix it."
"What are you angry at, Brandon?" Musa asked the question Brandon had actually been wondering the last few months. "The Jared thing? Bran, I dealt with that and if anyone should still angry at Stella over that it's me. I don't need you to fight my battles Brandon, especially when it's a battle that I don't think even needs mentioning let alone fighting. And you're damn lucky Riven doesn't know that that's the reason you and Stella are fighting. He and Stella might not be the best of friends, but he knows you like her which is why he puts up with her like he does. And if he knew you were acting this childish, he'd kick your ass. So stop hiding behind what happened between me and Jared and tell me what is this all about?"
Brandon stared at her in a strange combination of shame and shock, before lowering his head sheepishly to stare at his feet. "She didn't listen to me when I asked her not to set you and Jared up."
"You're ruining the relationship you have with Stella over a bit of bruised pride?"
"It's not that. It's just . . . I dunno. I wonder if she acted this way with her other boyfriends. You know, the ones who were princes and not a commoner like me."
Musa let out a frustrated sigh. She felt sorry for Brandon, but at the same time she wanted to hit him over the head for being so stupid. "Gods Brandon, how many times does she have to tell you that she doesn't care that you're a squire and not a prince? You've got to get past this insecurity because it's completely ridiculous."
"It's not insecurity, okay? I'm not like that. It's just that I always feel as if I'm not good enough for her and that she'd rather be with someone more . . ." Brandon trailed off when he realised that he was not making a good case for himself. This was just like the time earlier in the year when Sky insisted he wasn't the jealous type.
"Brandon, you're being a fool."
"I know," Brandon finally admitted. Everyone had been telling him that for months now, but this was the first time that he actually listened to what they were actually saying. He had spent all that time being angry, and now all his felt was shame for the way he had been acting. Sure, it had been Stella who hadn't listened to him, but he had been the one who had let it drag out and escalate to this point. He had nearly ruined to most important thing to him, and he had been too stupid to see it. "Thanks Musa."
"Anytime," Musa smiled at him, before turning and slipping off in the direction Brandon had pointed her before, leaving the squire alone with his thoughts.
"So how many of these things do we have to make?" Stormy asked Icy sharply as they finished up a set of magical traps on the ground. Apparently their gloomix wasn't affected in this realm, allowing them to use their magic.
"Just a few more, so quit your witching," Icy snapped.
The two Trix sisters had been setting traps all over the place, and Riven had been watching them, hidden amongst the foliage of the forest around him. He knew he needed to warn the others, but he didn't want to take his eyes off Icy since she was no doubt the one calling the shots and Riven still didn't know what they were up to.
"Are these things gonna work?" Stormy asked, unable to keep her tongue still. "I mean, I can still see them."
"Of course you can see them. It's selective magic. If you know that the traps are there, you can sort of see them, and that goes double if you were there while they're made," Icy reminded her sister. "But those pixies and their boy toys aren't gonna see this coming."
Riven didn't like the idea of leaving Icy and Stormy to do whatever they wanted, but he knew he need to find Darcy. The Trix were planning something and he'd have a better idea of what they were up to if he knew all their movement. There was a piece missing in this puzzle, and he believed that once he knew what Darcy was doing, he might be able to guess at what might come next. As silently as he could, Riven slipped away from the two witches, but he could still hear them talking for some time.
"What if Darcy's plan doesn't work?" Stormy was asking. She seemed sadistically excited about whatever they were going to do, but at the same time she was sceptical. Sneaking around and manipulating events was the way Darcy liked to work, while Stormy preferred the easy way of just tearing everything apart with the fury of a tornado.
"It was my plan Stormy, let's get that straight."
"What if your plan doesn't work?"
"Don't worry. Just keep setting traps," Icy ordered, but by that stage her voice was so faint that Riven nearly missed it.
Riven found Darcy a short distance away, but when he stumbled across her, he was still confused. His ex was using her hypnotic powers to spell the monsters in the region under her control, but what she planned to do with them after that was yet to be seen.
"Dat's a good baby," Darcy gushed in a patronising baby talk as she scratched under the chin of a maned wolf that she now had control of. "Now go do mummy proud."
With a deep growl, the wolf and a few of its pack mates turned and bolted off into the forest. Riven wasn't aware of it at the time, but those wolves would eventually pick up the scent of Layla and Stella, and attack them just like Darcy ordered them too. Darcy smiled wickedly as they left, then turned her attention onto spelling other monsters.
Riven was still contemplating whether he should stay and keep an eye on the Trix or head back to camp to warn everyone, when he heard something that made his heart beat rapidly in panic; someone calling his name.
"Riven."
"Shh! Quiet!" Riven hissed as quietly and as urgently as he could. He knew the voice without looking, but it did little to lessen the shock when he glanced over his shoulder and saw Musa sneaking up alongside him. The last time they had spoken had ended with her growling in frustration, so he didn't understand why she had trekked all the way out here to find him.
"Why? What's going on?" Musa asked, crouching down next to him. She leaned forward to try and see what he was looking at and in order not to over balance she was forced to put her hand on his shoulder. Her intoxicating scent suddenly flooded Riven sense, clouding his mind and with her body so temptingly close to his it took all of Riven's will power just to stay focus. Musa didn't seem to be having any of those issues. Instead, she just seemed utterly shocked at seeing Darcy in the Resort Realm.
"I'm not sure what she's up to," Riven admitted to Musa. "The others are building traps."
"Icy and Stormy?"
Riven nodded. "We gotta warn everyone that they're here."
"Yeah," Musa agreed.
"Come on," Riven said, pushing himself off his stomach until he was on his hands and knees. "Let's go."
"No Riven, wait. You should stay here," Musa suggested, and Riven immediately saw where her line of thinking was going.
"So I can figure out where the traps are."
"Exactly. Oh and also I like you. A lot."
The simple, causal way she said, as if she was just slipping it in as an after thought, was what floored Riven the most. He wasn't stupid. He knew that there had been something going on between them from the day they had met, but he had always thought that Musa would be too shy to ever come right out and admit her feelings and he was too much of an emotionally unavailable mess to ever make anything official. And then Musa went and blindsided him by opening up a can of worm like that. Riven didn't know whether he should be happy or terrified. All he knew was that her simple statement was enough to make his heart pound rapidly, his breathing become shallow, the palms of his hands sweat and his mind go blank as an odd sense of panic set in.
How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?
"Don't panic. You don't have to tell me how much you like me. You can do it later," Musa – who must have somehow sensed what he was thinking – told him with a wink. Despite how freaked out he was, Riven couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at what she said. Since when did she put words in his mouth? With an impish little smile that Riven found to be absolutely adorable, Musa snuck off to warn the others. "Good luck."
Riven watched her go with whirlpool of emotions before turning to look back at Darcy.
When he had first met his ex, Riven could remember being immediately attracted to her sexually. When he had first laid eyes on Musa, he had felt that same attraction, but at the same time it went so much further than just physical, which was both terrifying and enticing. And despite everything that scared him, Riven couldn't stop a sly grin spread across his face as he moved off to watch Icy and Stormy lay some more traps.
"Damn pixie."
You're ruining the relationship you have with Stella over a bit of bruised pride?
Musa's voice kept repeating itself over in Brandon's head as he wondered aimlessly throughout the forest, just thinking things over to himself.
Gods Brandon, how many times does she have to tell you that she doesn't care that you're a squire and not a prince?
Stella had told him time and time again that she didn't care that he was a squire and she was a princess. Her parents had both been high society and their relationship had ended in separation, so she had decided that she was going to base her relationships on her emotions rather than on appearances.
You've got to get past this insecurity because it's completely ridiculous.
Brandon hated to admit it, but he was insecure about the social gap in between the two of them. She had met him when she thought he was a prince, so right from the get go he wasn't sure if she had liked him or the rank. And even when the truth about his identity came out and Stella assured him she didn't care that he wasn't a prince, Brandon felt he wasn't good enough for her. He didn't like this side of him, but he couldn't seem to stop it. He was normally a cocky, self-confident kind of guy, but Stella was his kryptonite. He'd drop everything for her, and his greatest nightmare was that she was just involved with him for a lark. As something to pass the time and shock her parents until she decided to settle down and find herself a prince. Brandon adored Stella, and he had let his fear of losing that almost destroy everything he ever had or could have had with her.
"I'm a bloody idiot," Brandon grumbled, running his hand through his hair. He knew he had been stupid, but he was going to fix it.
Turning on heel, Brandon headed back in the direction he was fairly certain the campsite was in, but then he saw something that caught his eye. It was a small flare that had been shot up into the air like a firework, but there was a unique fracture of the light that made it unmistakably sunlight magic.
"Stella!" Brandon shouted in alarm, breaking into a flat out run in the direction of where the flare had gone up. He was actually closer to where Stella was in the forest than he would have been if he had stayed at camp, so he was the first to come across Stella and Layla, and he was horrified to discover them surrounded by a pack of maned wolves and a big blue hunter troll. He was well aware that his stupidity over the last few months may have been enough for him to lose Stella forever, but even if she didn't want to be with him anymore there was no way he was going to let anything happen to her. He loved her enough to let her go if that was what she wanted, but he was going to protect her with all the strength he had regardless of how she felt about him.
Without any hesitation, Brandon jumped in between the girls and the monsters with his broadsword at the ready. With a well aimed kick, Brandon collected one of the wolves right in the ribs. The wolf landed in a heap, completely winded and unable to fight any more.
"Brandon!" Stella wailed, her honey gold eyes wide and fearful.
With fierce determination, Brandon slashed his sword in front of the face of the other wolf, who backed off slightly when it couldn't find a way around the blade. Finally, fuelled by desperation, the wolf leapt forward but Brandon easily threw it off of him.
"Behind you, Snookums!" Stella called, and when Brandon looked over his shoulder, he was glad she had. The huge hunter troll was running at him from behind, and clenched in its big, blue fist was a club. Swinging his sword around, Brandon managed to cut right through the centre of the club, rendering the piece the troll still had in its hand too small for it to be of any use to it. The top half which Brandon sliced off, however, was just the right size for the Red Fountain student. Grabbing the piece of club in mid-air, Brandon used it to slam the troll in the face, knocking it out cold.
"Well so much for that guy," Brandon said, a little shocked that the troll had dropped that easily. Not that he was really complaining, mind you, but still.
"Brandon! That was awesome!" Stella cheered, running towards her boyfriend with her arms out stretched. Brandon didn't refuse her advances in the slightest as she collided with him and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh! Are you okay?"
"Well, my lips kind of hurt," Brandon admitted to her as she hugged him tightly and it suddenly occurred to him how much he missed the way her small body fitted against his. Loosening her hold on him just enough so that she could stand on her toes, Stella reached her face up to press her lips chastely against his. It might have lacked the intensity that some of their kisses in the past had had, but it gave Brandon a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time. "There. That's much better."
"I'm so glad you showed up. I thought we were goners," Stella confessed to him. Whether it was because she heard something or just sensed it, Stella suddenly looked around and noticed that most of the others had arrived at the clearing. Sky and Timmy had shown up, as well as all the other girls, and Stella suddenly looked bashful. "Um, when did everyone else get here?"
"I don't know but I'm grad they're here. We've got company," Brandon said as a couple of massive herblasaurs emerged out of the trees. Everyone knew that these creatures were supposed to be rather placid, but there was something about their eyes that suggested that they were not to be trusted at this time. All the girls screamed and the monsters advanced. "Let's get out of here before we become lunch!"
Riven wasn't much of a fan of stake outs.
He knew that they were an important means of gathering information, but he hated not being able to act or prevent anything. So far all he had done was watch Icy and Stormy create traps while Darcy spell a bunch of creatures to do her bidding. Darcy had already sent a whole bunch of monsters under her control out into the forest and Riven had no idea whether they had found his friends or not. He'd admit that he was worried about his friend's safety, and that concern grew when he remembered that Musa had gone off alone so she could warn the others. A thousand horrible thoughts about what might happen to the pixie if she ran across some of those monsters entered Riven's head, and they were almost enough to make him break cover and go after her.
But Red Fountain's strict schooling on never leaving your post and forgo your duty kept Riven still, though he almost forgot about his schooling when a loud roar ripped through the forest.
"Did you hear that?" Icy asked her two sisters.
"Sounds like our little pets just found the fairies," Stormy grinned wickedly.
Darcy looked like she was enjoying this immensely. "Hopefully they can force them into our little traps."
"I love watching fairies squirm in net," Icy almost purred.
Cautiously, Riven pushed himself off the forest floor and started moving away from the witches. There was nothing more he could learn out of them and he was pretty sure he knew what they were up to; they were going to use the monsters to drive him and his friends into their traps, though what they planned to do from there remained a mystery.
One thing was for sure but; the Trix didn't seem like the catch and release kind of people.
"Run!" Sky urged as he and the others legged it through the forest. The herblasaurs were gaining on them – no surprise when you compared the distance just one of their strides covered against the stride of the humans – and several other monsters had joined the chase. A hunter troll ran alongside the herblasaurs, and behind the galloped several maned wolves as a few sky scorpions flew above them.
"This doesn't make sense!" Flora gasped between breaths. "These creatures are gentle! They eat plants!"
"Maybe they're territorial," Timmy suggested, since he couldn't think of any other reason why all the creatures would suddenly attack them. There had been reports in the past about rogue hunter trolls and maned wolves turning on people, but they were rare and there was absolutely nothing about any herblasaurs suddenly becoming vicious.
"Sky! Come on!" Brandon shouted, stopping swiftly and turning to face the monsters with his sword out in front of him. He didn't care that the herblasaur completely dwarfed him. He needed to give the girls sometime to gain some ground.
Sky turned to take on the hunter troll who was armed with a club, but it was Chatta who ended up getting to it first. With a bright burst of energy, Chatta sent a blast of magic right down onto the trolls head "How do you like that, you big blue bully?"
"Chatta no!" Flora cried. "Be careful!"
As Timmy and the girls ran further ahead, Sky and Brandon were forced backwards by the advancing monsters. The two Eraklyians may have been some of the best swordsmen in their class, but they were simply out numbered and couldn't stop this threat.
"We can't hold them off forever," Sky admitted, stepping backwards.
"Just run Sky!" Brandon told him, giving up. "Come on!"
Sky agreed that they didn't stand a chance up against this number of monsters, and when he saw a sky scorpion swoop down at his girlfriend, he felt his heart skip a beat. "Bloom! Look out!"
"Huh?" Bloom said cluelessly, but when she looked up she saw what Sky was warning her about and screamed. Sky struggled to get to his girlfriend in time, but before he could get there, he heard Musa shouting.
"Go charmix!"
A bright flash of white light suddenly filled that area, and when it cleared they all discovered Musa at the centre of it and she had somehow managed to transform into her winx form. Without offering any explanation to how she managed to do that, Musa took flight and aimed an attack at one of the wolves who had caught up with the group.
"Maximum Volume!" Musa shouted, throwing her attack down at the wolf. It hit it head on and knocked the wolf senseless. When it regained its wits, the wolf wisely chose to run off rather than stay and fight the fairy. None of the boys could explain how Musa had managed to transform since it was their understanding that only the pixies with their positive energy could access their magic, but then they noticed a new broach and handbag (2) tied around Musa's waist that had not been there before.
"Musa! You got a charmix!" Bloom squealed, noticing the same thing as the boys. "That's awesome!"
"Thanks," Musa grinned, pushing a button on the discman-like bag that was now tied around her waist. Strong sound waves erupted from that bag and they were powerful enough to knock the flying scorpions right out of the sky and cause the other monsters to back off a bit. As soon as the danger had passed for a minute, Musa's power gave out and she transformed back, but she had more important things to worry about now. "Guys listen, the creatures are being controlled by the witches!"
"They're here?" Lockette gasped.
"Well that explains things," Bloom grumbled before noticing that the monsters were daring to start advancing again now that Musa had transformed back. "Come on!"
"How do you know it's the witches?" Timmy asked Musa as they ran.
"I've seen them!" Musa panted, looking over her shoulder at the monsters that were chasing them. "Darcy's got them hypnotised! I saw her do it!"
"What do the witches want?" Flora asked. "Is the forth piece of the Codex here?"
"No! It's in Pixie Village!" Bloom answered.
"Maybe they're just messing with us?" Musa suggested.
Stella agreed. "Trying to get us while we have no magic!"
"Stop!" a harsh voice suddenly commanded, and everyone skidded to a stop as someone stepped out onto the path in front of them.
"Riven," Musa breathed in relief.
Riven had been slinking silently through the forest in search of his friends when he had discovered them running full tilt towards one of the traps Icy and Stormy had created. The traps were as plain as day to him, but for some reason none of his friends could see them. He didn't understand how none of them could have spotted the traps, until he remember that Stormy had been wondering the same thing while they made them and Icy had explain how selective magic only showed itself to those who knew it was there.
His friends didn't even know they were being herded.
"The creatures are trying to force you into a trap up ahead," Riven explained simply since he could hear the monsters getting closer.
"And how do you know that?" Sky asked. He didn't mean for him to sound so mistrusting, but Darcy had managed to bewitch half the forest. How did he know she hadn't turned Riven back into her puppet?
"I was spying on the witches. I saw them setting it."
"Okay big monsters chasing us," Stella pressed. "Talk later."
"We can avoid the trap. Just step where I step," Riven ordered, moving off into the traps. Musa followed after him without hesitation while the others weren't so quick to comply.
"What are you guys waiting for?" Bloom suddenly asked. "Let's go!"
"Are you sure there are traps here?" Layla asked Riven sceptically as they made their way through the traps.
Riven rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to swear at her. "Yes Layla, I'm sure."
"Well I don't see anything."
"I think that's what Icy intended," Riven said, glaring back over his left shoulder at her. Suddenly, he jerked his head around so he was looking over his right shoulder and pointed a warning finger at Tecna who froze. "Don't put your foot down."
"Whoa. That was freaky," Stella said, commenting on the way Riven had just whipped around like that.
"Move your foot slight to the left," Riven ordered Tecna, who was trying not to lose her balance. "Little more. Little more. Little more. Right, now you're good."
"Hey, I think I can see something," Bloom said, staring intently at the ground around Tecna's feet. "I think they're really are traps here."
Stella suddenly let out a gasp which made everyone jump, but instead of looking back behind them at the monsters might be following them, her eyes were locked on the ground.
"It's visual distortion! The witches must have altered the light waves so that the traps don't show up in our visual spectrum unless we're mentally aware of it!" Stella explained quickly. She might not be the smartest one out of her friends, but as a fairy that specialised in sunlight attacks, she understood light waves and how they related to vision (3). "Selective magic like this is advanced spell casting! No wonder the Trix were so feared while they were at Cloud Tower! They had malicious intent and the knowledge to back their plans up."
"Told you there were traps," Riven said childishly to Layla who rolled her eyes at him. Once everyone understood how the traps worked and they had the mental awareness to actually see parts of them, the group managed to get through the Trix's trap and make it to the other side easily.
"We did it!" Stella cheered, but her jubilation was premature.
"There's more monsters coming from that path!" Flora reported as several monsters became visible from the trees.
"So let's run the other way," Layla suggested.
"The other way is a cliff," Timmy informed her regretfully. He didn't know how they managed to back themselves into a corner like that, but now that they were here, it didn't look good.
"Let's see how far the drop is," Bloom said, not willing to rule anything out just yet. Carefully, she and the others peered over the side of the cliff, and the drop that awaited them did not look reassuring.
"Oh gods," Stella groaned, stepping back from the edge as her fear of heights hit her.
"It's a long way down," Brandon said, staring down as the drop. There was no way they're be able to scale that thing.
"So what do we do?" Tecna asked, her voice bordering in the edge of panic.
"Well, we've got a trap down one path, monsters coming at us from all sides," Layla counted off.
"And a cliff behind us," Flora finished, watching in dread as the monsters started to move in on them. And no matter how they looked at it, they couldn't seem to find a way out of this mess.
Musa swallowed loud. "It's been nice knowin' ya guys."
(1) This stat relates to our world. Did you know that you're more likely to get killed by coconut than get attacked by a shark? Although I have a feeling that may not be the case in Australia anymore since this summer we had three shark attacks in two days, all at different beaches. Scary
(2) I never really understood what the charmixes were supposed to be. The broaches are straight forward enough, but what are the handbags supposed to do. Are they even handbags to being with? And they've got to be impractical when it comes to fighting. Take Flora's charmix for example; it just hangs down from her shoulder down to her waist on a think piece of string. What's stopping that from snapping or just slipping off her shoulder when she's flying? It just seems silly to me
(3) I figured that would be a suitable explanation to why we can all see the traps but the others can't. There's actually some legitimate science behind it what with how light waves relate to the visual spectrum. I loved studying the eye and light waves in biology, except of course the dissecting of the bull's eye. I'm usually fine with dissecting things, but when that thing happens to be staring back at me I tend to freak out
TBC.