Date with Disaster
"Okay girls, it's pretty easy," Karen began as she and the rest of the dance team dancers began their practice for that had gone on for a few hours now. "It's step, pop, turn and stop," Karen said demonstrating a four count of steps that most of the dancers picked up pretty quickly.
Unfortunately, Musa wasn't one of them. She had been way too preoccupied with thoughts about Daniel and Riven. A war was going on in her mind and it was affecting a lot more than her relationship with Daniel.
Karen then turned on the music and had all the dancers do it along the beat. "Musa, come here," she called out and dismissed the there dancers with a flick of her wrist. "What's with you, this is way too easy of a routine for you not to get."
"It's nothing," Musa insisted as she walked across the dance studio, sat on the floor and leaned her head back against the wall.
"I seriously doubt that," Karen said walking over to the princess and standing over her, staring.
"It's nothing,"
"It's something, and it's affecting your dancing so now it's my business," Karen said sitting down next to her. Finally Musa looked up from the floor to met Karen's prying eyes. "Spill,"
"Just trouble with –"
"Daniel," Karen finished almost knowing what Musa was gonna say. "And why don't any of your new friends know about him?" (1)
That was when it dawned on Musa that she was hiding her relationship with Daniel from her friends, she knew she was keeping it from her friends, but she never really thought too much of it, until now, hearing someone else say it made her seem like a horrible person. "What's going on?" Karen repeated.
"I'm a bad person," Musa said thinking about the situation. She was in a way lying to her friends, and instead of trying to make things right with her boyfriend, she'd been fantasizing about another guy.
"If you're a bad person, then the devil should be coming to get my soul any second," Karen said.
"I dunno, I completely overreacted to something he said and now he won't even call me," Musa said as she idly opened and closed the top of her water bottle.
"So call him," Karen said pointing out the obvious. "And what did he say?"
Musa didn't want to admit to anyone that she had overreacted to what Daniel said because she was guilty of doing it exactly what she was accused of. "Well, he doesn't want to speak to me obviously, or I would have called,"
"You need to make things right," Karen advised. "Small things tend to explode into big things without any warning and it will kill your relationship,"
"Yeah,"
"I mean it," Karen warned. "You'll lose him if you don't make an effort. Things aren't going to be easy especially since you two are so far apart."
"And your friends don't know about him because," Karen said and Musa looked up at her and wondered how she knew that. "I know everything,'
"I dunno," Musa said honestly not knowing why she had decided to keep this from her friends, actually she knew why; she just couldn't bring herself to accept it. "Daniel and I have been on rocky ground since I left, I dunno," Musa finished as she gently played with the necklace Daniel had given her.
"You need to figure it out,"
"I know,"
"And more importantly, you need to call him,"
"Yeah, I'll call him tonight," Musa resolved looking up to Karen who looked as if she didn't believe her. "I will,"
"You better," Karen said. "I don't want you all weepy in a week freaking out about a break up," she joked as she and Musa stood and collected their things.
"I should go, I promised the girls I would help with a potion," Musa said realizing she was gonna be late if she didn't get going.
"Okay, I'll see you later, and you better call Missy,"
"I will, I promise!" Musa shouted happily on her way out of the gym, suddenly things didn't seem so hard to deal with.
"Okay, 500 potatoes down," Flora exclaimed optimistically.
"And only 500 to go," Techna reminded dampening Flora's great mood.
"You know what, I'll feel like a dork if this doesn't work," Bloom began as all the girls continued to peel potatoes to help Bloom out with a spell she needed to cast. Musa stood next to Bloom and gave her a questioning look. She did not just peel hundreds of potatoes for nothing.
"Well where did you find the formula," Musa questioned as she continued to peel the potato. This may have been tedious, but she was enjoying it, back home she was never allowed in the kitchen. It was, as her aunt would say, for people beneath her. But, Musa always found cooking kind of interesting and the closest she ever got was making potions and playing with her easy bake oven when she was a child. (2)
"It was in vanity fairies magazine's new self improvement guide," Bloom said putting down her peeler and explaining her formula to Musa. "So I mean it should work, 1000 potatoes, a bushel of flip weed and a back flip and your making good decisions all the next day," She finished as she jumped around the kitchen.
"I thought I heard itty bitty voices," said the chef at Alfea, Mystro, he was known to be a bit cranky whenever anyone ever said something bad about the food. He barged in and stopped Bloom's leap of joy mid air and stopped all the girls peeling when he walked in. "What are you girls doing in my kitchen?" he asked angrily.
"Umm…" Bloom said a bit nervously. "We're just working on a project for potions class," she excused.
Mystro began to walk around the kitchen and survey the damage the girls have done. "Look at this place, a mess,"
"The potions lab was signed out," Techna said hoping that would serve as a better excuse.
"Relax, Mystro," Musa said in a dismissive tone. They were using the kitchen, bid deal. "Here have a spud," she said half wanting to get a reaction out of him, he seemed like the kind of person that would flip out over nothing.
"I have spared no potatoes," he said with horror in his voice. "You're using my babies, and what is this all about," he finished as he pointed towards four pans that were on the stove cooking what smelled like eggs inside of them. Musa looked over to the rest of her friends who were hoping that Mystro would leave soon so they could get back to what they were doing.
"It's dinner, we got hungry," Bloom answered innocently.
"That is not how you cook,"
"Hey, how hard can it be to make an omelet?" Musa questioned.
"You have to show love to your food," Mystro said sounding like he got very up close and personal to everything he cooked. The girls however continued to ignore him and carry on making their dinner. "You cannot neglect it, you must put passion in your cooking," After, Musa, Techna, and Flora completed almost perfect omelet flips, Bloom gave it a try, except she wasn't as lucky and it landed on the ceiling fan.
"don't worry, I got it," Flora said as she ran over to the light switch and turned on the fan, which sent the omelet flying into the air and it eventually landed right on Mystro's face. After yelling for a few more minutes, he left the girls back to their work.
"does that guy annoy anyone else?" Musa asked loudly as the other girls laughed.
"The flipweed is almost done," Flora said as she opened the over and poked her head through the steam to look at the flip weed.
"So what's the sitch in the kitch girl," Stella said usually cheerier than normal. Musa wasn't annoyed with Stella, but she had promised to help and it really pushed her buttons when she threw a princess act and flaked out on things she was responsible for. It was annoying to say the least.
"Being fashionably late only applies to social engagements," Techna said calling her out on her lateness while she continued to peel a potato.
"Yeah, I know I totally said help, but your just gonna have to let me play a good excuse card?" Stella asked not really asking the question, but telling the girls that she would be using an excuse.
"Oh yeah, what's the excuse this time," Bloom said very uninterested in the excuse.
"I just received a last minute invitation,"
"Another shoe of the month club?" Musa asked sarcastically.
"Prince Sky!" Stella squealed excitedly. "He invited me to meet him at some place called the black lagoon café tonight,"
"Cool," Flora exclaimed while she read over the note.
"A handwritten note," Musa said remembering Annabelle's guide of conduct when dealing with guys, and she always considered that when a guy took the time out to do something himself for you, especially when they could easily have someone else do it for them. Daniel was always very romantic in that sense, he was willing to go the extra mile to surprise Musa. That was when Musa realized she and Daniel still hadn't spoken since the incident the occurred a few days ago and she really needed to talk to him and make things right. "Whoo, you go Stella," Musa said in a less enthusiastic tone.
"I've been trying to figure out what to wear, but I am in desperate need of second opinions," She said with a pleading look on her face. Stella was a good friends, but it was a bit annoying to know that she expected everyone to drop everything and do things for her.
"Say no more," Bloom said as the girls walked out of the kitchen and over to Stella's room to find something for Stella to wear.
"Doesn't this guy lose points for the short notice," Techna asked making Musa think more about Annabelle's little guide for dating.
"Yes, but he get extra ones for the formal invitation," Stella replied.
"So will Brandon be there?" Bloom asked as Musa noticed a smile grow across her face, it was so obvious that she was totally smitten.
"No, Sky is giving his servants the night off," Stella said not realizing how insulting that sounded, but Bloom picked up on it rather quickly and was also quick on reminding Stella that Brandon was not a servant. Bloom wasn't the only one that Stella seemed to anger with her comments, Techna, Musa and even Flora were no amused by her princess antics.
"Musa be a dear and bring me that green chest," Stella called as she waved her hand as if Musa were a servant of hers.
"Of course your highness," I'm a princess too, Stella, you don't see me acting like a bitch, Musa thought to herself angrily. One thing she hated more than anything was a princess that thought she was above everyone because of her title, Musa made sure she never acted like they because she never wanted people to think that she8 was that shallow. Apparently, Stella didn't have the same concern. Although Musa tried to ignore it because she knew Stella did mean well most of the time, there was a part of her that wanted to rip into her and tell her she was nothing more than a rich girl with low self-esteem, but it's like she needed to, it was pretty obvious to anyone who ever met Stella. That was what always held Musa back, no matter how much Stella pissed her off, she knew that Stella was hardest on herself and she used her royal status to make herself feel better. (3) She finally dragged the ridiculously heavy chest over to Stella and gave it to her. "Ugh, what's in this thing,"
"Oh just a few accessories," Stella said nonchalantly as she opened the chest with her foot. Musa was used to looking at fancy jewels since Isabelle probably owned half of the universe's supply of them, but something about Stella was pissing her off today. It was probably because she knew she was on rocky ground with Daniel and this was just enough to push her into a fury and taking it out on the annoying one in the group was the easiest thing in the group.
Musa began to get lost in her thoughts and worries about her relationship with Daniel when she smelled smoke. She stood up an interrupted whatever Techna was saying when she was sure she smelled smoke. "Hey, does anybody smell that?"
"That's stinky," Stella said paying no attention to the smoke entering the room as she did poses in front of a full length mirror.
"The flipweed!" Techna said as all the girls, except Stella who was too busy gazing at her reflection, looked at each other and then instantly began sprinting down the hallway, leaving the golden haired fairy standing in her room alone.
"Hello! We're not done," Stella demanded when her friends ran out of her room.
"Good Luck tonight Stella," Bloom said not looking back.
"Have a good time," Musa yelled when she was out of earshot from Stella as she pushed the doors to the kitchen open to see the entire room filled with smoke.
"Guess the flipweed is well done," Bloom said optimistically.
"Well and done are two words rarely used together when you girls are involved," Said a voice as a figure came through the smoke. It was none other than Ms. Griselda. "I can't wait to hear the explanation for this,"
"Uhh, how's it going Ms. G," Musa said nervously knowing that she was already on her bad side.
"Aerolux," She said ignoring the musical princess's question as she waved her fingers around and the smoke in the room dissipated.
"The Mystro tells me that you've taken enough potatoes to –," Griselda began when
"I'm here!" Flora said as she ran in with the fire extinguisher and tripped, triggering the nozzle of the extinguisher to open and spray the foamy bubbles all over the disgruntled disciplinarian. The four girls then stood in shock and stared at Ms. Griselda as she slowly wiped the extinguisher fluid off her face and her clothes.
"Since your having such a good time in the kitchen," Griselda began angrily as she looked back to see Musa stifling a laugh. "You can spend the rest of the night right her, cooking dinner for the entire school,"
With a quick halt, the laughing stopped when the girls realized that they would have to be cooking the and then cleaning up after that. "She didn't say while we were here…" Musa insinuated when she realized that they could kill two birds with one stone.
"Hey yeah!" Bloom exclaimed happily, she still really wanted to make the position, she really needed the good decision making spell, her decisions with magic and everything else were not so great. "She never said that we couldn't still finish the potion,"
The girls worked until late and finished both dinner for the entire school and then finally went upstairs to bed.
"I wonder why Timmy hasn't called…" Techna said to herself and gave an exasperated sigh. "Boys…"
"And what is Riven's problem?" Musa said with some attitude when she thought about the specialist that was already occupying her thoughts way to much. Techna heard Musa's complaint on her way into their room and figured she was talking about his bad attitude at the swamp. Musa, who didn't know she could hear her, kept on mumbling to herself. "Why doesn't he ask me out like Sky did Stella?" she said to herself forgetting that her friends could probably hear her. (4)
"What!" Techna exclaimed when she heard what Musa mumbled.
"Nothing," Musa said looking at Techna like she was crazy, hopefully Techna didn't hear enough of that to know anything.
"Well, I took the potion, and it should start working in the morning," Bloom said optimistically as she walked out of her room and into the room where Techna and a now very nervous Musa were talking.
"Musa wants to go out with Riven," Techna said as Musa began to get very nervous.
"No I don't!" Musa said nervously denying everything she had just said.
"What? Why?" Bloom asked totally confused as to what anyone would see in him, of coarse that was probably because she was so enchanted by Brandon. "He was so mega rude to us a couple of days ago,"
"No, that's not what I said," Musa said now getting really frustrated. "I don't like him, he's such a jackass –," Musa denied trying to figure out any way to get them to believe her.
"You know, I've read that boys tend to act that way when they are crushing," Techna informed completely ignoring Musa.
"Yeah, that could be it," Bloom thought for a few seconds and yawned with pure exhaustion.
"That's great," Musa said sarcastically. "But, I don't like Riven. At all," Musa finally confirmed.
"But you just said…" Techna said thinking back to what Musa had mumbled thinking that she had said something that questioned why Riven hadn't asked her out.
"I said he was annoying," Musa said continuing to give Techna a confused look as if she was being crazy. Techna then gave up and walked over to her dresser and began getting ready for bed, it was already pretty late.
"Well goodnight girls," Bloom said giving a wave and walking into her room. Musa also began getting ready for bed and she couldn't help but keep looking at her phone. Why hadn't he called yet? She had spoken to Leslie just this morning and she said that Daniel was fine and didn't seem upset, so why was she still getting the silent treatment. Musa knew that the obvious option was to call him, but a part of her wanted to let things stew, even though it was bad for the relationship.
Later that night, Musa couldn't sleep. Even though she was exhausted from the day she couldn't get Daniel off of her mind. She actually took solace in that fact since for the last week or so she'd been thinking about Riven, it was about time Daniel drifted back in her head. Musa turned over in her bed and looked at the alarm clock on her desk. It was 2 a.m. and she was not going to get any sleep until she talked to her boyfriend. Plus, Karen would kick her ass if she didn't fix things immediately.
Musa quietly got out of bed and grabbed her cell phone. She walked over to her balcony and shut the door quietly, sat down and leaned against the large window and looked out at the Alfea campus. After a few seconds of convincing herself to call him, Musa hit Daniel's name and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello," Daniel said in a detached voice, Musa's hope immediately fell when she heard his tone, which spoke volumes as to how he felt.
"Hey," Musa said not sure what say.
"Something you need?" Daniel asked, he and Musa got in a fight days ago and neither of them had spoken since. It was very out of the norm for them and Daniel was really beginning to believe that maybe it was over.
"I'm so sorry Daniel," Musa said genuinely praying he would forgive her. "I overreacted for no reason, I promise you nothing is going on here,"
"I never meant to accuse you Musa," Daniel said, his tone softening. "I was honestly joking, but I'd be lieing if I said I'm not worried," he admitted.
Musa had seen Daniel in every emotion possible over the years, but one he rarely played was vulnerable. He had everything and he was never the one to worry about losing something since everything he had he could easily replace. But, Musa began to realize that his feelings for her must have been very deep if he was so scared of losing her that he would admit it. "I know you didn't mean to, and I know you were joking," Musa said avoiding lying to her boyfriends and telling him that he had nothing to worry about. "And Daniel, I would never do anything to betray your trust,"
"I know you wouldn't," Daniel began. "Look I know this is gonna sound paranoid, but just tell me I have nothing to worry about,"
Musa sat there frozen. Technically he didn't since Riven clearly made no type of pass at her, and Musa would never make a pass at a guy, so he didn't have anything to worry about. "Daniel, you have nothing to worry about," Musa confirmed. "You are the only one I want," she was thankful that this conversation took place over the phone or else he would have been able to read her face and read that she was lying to him.
"Thanks baby," Daniel said with an obvious sound of relief in his voice. "I would say the same but you would probably find out before I did," Daniel said referring to if he ever tried to betray Musa's trust. It was true, gossip spread so fast Musa would probably find out about anything a second after it happened.
"I miss you," Musa threw out there. She did miss him, so much. There was so much going on and it would have been nice to have him there as a support system.
"I miss you too," Daniel confirmed. "But hey, I'll come and visit you, okay?"
Musa agreed and sounded happy, but she was very nervous about seeing him, especially here. When she wasn't around Riven and around Daniel, she was fine. But, if Riven and Daniel were there, she would be very conflicted and it would probably show in her face.
The two talked for a couple more hours, Musa was really happy to have heard his voice after such a long time. She needed him and it was clear to her that she was not herself when they were arguing, she was glad to get things back to normal. Finally, around 4 a.m. Musa managed to get back to bed and fell asleep almost instantly, hoping she would dream about Daniel that night.
"Stupid , dumb, UGH!!" Musa was suddenly awake from her dream about Riven after she heard yelling and screaming coming from Stella's room. The Solarian princess also seemed to be throwing things since every couple of seconds Musa could hear something being knocked over or broken.
Musa rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up and bed and looked to Techna who had the same confused look on her face. "So, I'm guessing Stella didn't have the enchanted evening she expected," Musa said pointing out the obvious.
"That's for sure," Techna said from her bed. Then there was another crash and the two immediately got out of their beds and walked to their door, unsure if they should enter what sounded like a war zone.
"That sounded expensive," Musa said to Techna as they peaked out their door and saw Flora and Bloom already in the hallway. The four looked at each other for a second and then Bloom decided to move ahead of the pack.
"Stella, everything alright?" Bloom asked nervously as she ventured up to her door and the rest of the girls stayed a close distance back behind her.
"I don't think that's a good decision," Flora warned referring to the spell that should have been taking effect that morning.
"Stella?" Bloom asked and after a few seconds the door opened and Stella peaked her head out with a look that seemed angry and nervous.
"Uhh, hiya," She said nervously. "What's up,"
"We were going to ask you that, what are you doing in there?" Techna asked as Musa peaked her head around to too the damage in Stella's room. Her entire room was in shambles, there were clothes all over the place, there were broken picture frames and what looked a vase, or what used to be a vase. "What's with all the noise?" She asked even though looking into her room made the situation self-explanatory.
"Uhh nothing, just a little cleaning and a little redecorating," Stella excused nervously like she was trying to wrap the conversation up as soon as possible.
"So what time did you get in last night, we didn't hear you," Bloom asked delaying her departure.
"Yeah, and how'd the date go," Flora asked with a wink. "We expect all the details,"
"I got in late and the date went fine," Stella said quickly with annoyance in her voice.
"You're not getting off that easy, come on tell, tell," Bloom insisted as Stella began to shut the door.
"It was very romantic,"
"Go on, did he walk you home, did he kiss you goodnight?" Bloom continued to drill the princess not noticing that she was getting angrier by the second.
"Oh come on, don't you have your own lives, how totally pathetic," Stella snapped and slammed her door shut. The girls took a few steps back and wondered what was going on, but Musa was less than happy. She was up late the night before and she was woken up by Stella's little temper tantrum.
"Oh, I'll show her pathetic –," Musa said angrily ready to go in there and pull out some blonde hair from atop the princess's empty head.
"Calm down Musa," Bloom said holding her friends shoulder in an attempt to keep her from loosing her temper. "Let's leave her alone,"
The girls then proceeded to get ready for class since they were all pretty wide awake now and since that particular day they all had the same class, they would all go down together.
Transformation class went along as it normally did; they changed their heads into pumpkins, which was actually pretty cool. It felt like her head was in cave, of coarse the cave was orange and mushy, but it was still pretty cool.
"Guess little Miss all that decided not to go to class," Musa said sarcastically as she and the rest of the girls walked out of class. Musa looked at the time and thought that Stella would have at least calmed down from her mood swing by now, but no such luck. She was probably still having her tantrum.
"Something must be really troubling her," Flora pointed out worriedly.
"Who cares she was beyond rude this morning," Techna dismissed, she too was pretty tired of Stella's annoying behavior.
"I know Techna, but still," Flora insisted.
"She's our friend," Bloom said. "I'm gonna go check on her,"
"You're the one with the good judgment," Musa said as she, Techna and Flora walked over to the quad to hang out for the next ten minutes until Palladium's class began.
It was to hang out in the quad, especially since this part of the realm had sunny days 95 percent of the time. Musa and Flora sat against a tree while Techna sat on the grass under the shade and began on the homework that they were just assigned.
"Wow Tech, I could never be as productive as you," Musa said, it was true. She was one of the biggest procrastinators in the universe. Musa found singing and dancing a lot more entertaining then mundane tasks like transformations homework.
"You know, if you didn't procrastinate as much, you probably wouldn't be up so late every night finishing homework," Techna scolded.
"I prefer staying up late," Musa explained. "I think best late at night, plus it's more fun this way,"
"Mmmhmm," Techna said in a disapproving tone that made Musa giggle. The three sat there for a few more seconds when Ali Larson, a junior and member of the Alfea dance team walked up to them.
"Hey Musa what are you doing tonight?" Ali asked as she approached the tree where the three fairies were seated. "Hey Techna, hey Flora," she said politely when she noticed the other two sitting by Musa.
"Hi," Said Flora and Techna in a coincidental unison.
Musa saw Ali and stood, wiping the grass off her legs. "Hey Ali, umm I think I'm free tonight, why?" Msua said fearing she had a impromptu dance practice, she loved the team and the girls were super nice, but she was worn out and one full night of sleep was taunting her.
"The dance team girls are going to Magix this afternoon and we're staying there till later tonight to party," Ali began. "And it's at the Luxe and it should be fun, you in?"
Musa thought it over, she did want to go out and see the night life of Magix, but she didn't want to leave her friends behind. And there was the issue of sleep, but still she did want to go out for awhile. "Umm, I'm not sure, I'm so lacking in sleep," Musa began. "But if I can get a nap in later then I'll meet you girls there, the Luxe right?"
"Yup, you should come it will be fun," Ali said. "Plus really hot guys, they're older, but hey that's always more fun," Ali finished with a wicked smile and walked away. "Call me if your coming!" she shouted when she was across the quad.
Musa nodded and turned back to sit down on the grass. "Why don't you go?" Flora questioned. It seemed like a fun night and Musa had told the girls once that she loved to go to clubs.
"Honestly, I am beyond tired," Musa said honestly leaning her head against the bark of the tree. "I haven't been getting much sleep,"
"That is why you should do your homework in a timely matter," Techna reminded.
"Okay well –," Musa began when she heard a loud thud come from what looked like their balcony. A few other girls in the quad also heard the noise but casually brushed it off. Musa however remembered that Stella was in a foul mood and that Bloom went to talk to her.
"Musa what's wrong?" Techna questioned when Musa stopped talking abruptly.
"Guys, did you hear that?" She questioned, but judging by the looks on their faces, they didn't. "I think we should check on Stella,"
The fairies stood and walked over to their dorm when they heard what sounded like a full on fight going on. "Alright, something is definitely wrong with Stella," Techna pointed out when they walked in to see the common room was torn apart.
"She's through here!" Musa said when she heard the fighting coming from Stella's room.
"We're coming Bloom!" Techna said. The three fairies burst into the room just in time to see the damage in it, but Stella had apparently jumped through the window before the girls could get their, leaving Bloom in shock.
Bloom sat on Stella's bed and explained everything that happened to the girls. "She threw a chair at you!" Techna exclaimed in shock, she was still pretty shocked that Stella went so far as to actually fighting Bloom. The girls had all went to their rooms to see if Stella went there and she had. All of their rooms now resembled Stella's and it was safe to say that they were all a little ticked at the golden haired fairy for not only attacking Bloom, but also attacking their rooms.
"Well, she threw the chair at the wall," Bloom explained as Musa looked at the window, which was Stella's means for escape. She was perplexed as to how Stella would have flown through the window, Bloom had said that she wasn't in her winx form, meaning she didn't have her wings. Did she throw herself through the window then transform?
"She threw a raging witch ball at you," Flora exclaimed.
"Oh well that's better," Musa said sarcastically and tried to figure out where Stella could have possibly learned an attack that dark, or even conjure that type of dark magic.
"Why is she being so fuddy?" Flora questioned frustrated. (5)
"There is a technical term for how she is acting," Techna said. "Crazy," She said in a mocking sing song tone.
"I have another word for it," Musa said with her arms folded as she continued to survey the damage.
"I think there's more to it than that," Bloom said as she thought for awhile. "I think she's in danger, I don't know what kind of danger, but my new powers and my good judgment are telling me we have to do something,"
"I don't understand why we have to do anything," Musa said angrily having just about enough of Stella's princess act. "If she wants to act like a stuck up witch than that's her deal,"
"What if she's being forced to act against her will," Flora said giving Stella the benefit of the doubt. "What if there is some sort of spell on her?"
"That's what I'm saying, look we gotta work together you know to solve this mystery," Bloom said positive that something else was at play here and she was not the only one. Musa, who was walking around the room looking for clue spotted something that might help them out.
"Why don't we find out what happened last night from suspect number 1," Musa said picking up the invitation that Stella got the night before from the floor. "Prince Sky of Eraklyon, here's the invitation,"
"Looks like we're off to Red Fountain," Bloom said excitedly, probably so she could maybe talk to Brandon.
Musa had never seen the Red Fountain campus before, but it looked almost like a castle, it was one that was less fairy tale like and more fort like. But it was still pretty cool. Musa had felt that Daniel's insecurity with all these guys being around was foolish, but since she met Riven, she understood why he was so worried. And looking around, she would have been the same way in his place, these guys were hot.
The girls asked around a bit, and got hit on as well, but they managed to finally find Prince Sky in class, luckily the teacher wasn't around and the girls were able to pull him away for a second.
"Not that I wouldn't ask her out, but ever since that little incident with the troll in the swamp, we haven't been allowed to leave campus so uh, that makes dating a little difficult," Sky explained seeing the confused looks on fairies faces. "Wait what's that in you're hand,"
"Your invitation," Flora said. Just then Musa caught sight of Riven, he said something rather rude, but he laughed and for the first time, Musa saw him smile. It was dreamy. She wasn't sure if Riven even saw her there, but she became a lot more aware of how she looked, not that she should care what he thought of her. She quickly stood up straight and tried to tune back into her conversation with the girls and Prince Sky but she kept drifting her gaze back to him. And what seemed to become a tradition when they were in each other's proximity, Musa's eyes locked to Riven's and the two stood in awe of her for a second. Then a second later it seemed like they both snapped out of it and Riven gave some snarky comment to whatever Bloom had just said to Sky.
Musa, who hadn't heard what Riven said, but just as he had snapped out of their little staring contest, she did as well. Knowing full well that she had to make sure the girls had no doubt about the fact that she didn't have feelings for him, she also let out a frustrated sigh after Bloom, seeming as if Riven had pissed her off as well. She really did need to end anymore questions that arouse from the girls about Riven and she knew deep down that liking him was wrong especially since Daniel was such a great guy.
Musa finally pulled her attention away from Riven and back to the situation at hand. She turned around to see Techna freaking out a little as a dog licked her and then Brandon walked up to the girls and called the dog.
"Lady," Brandon called. "Lady, come sit girl," Musa, who was sure that Bloom was totally gah-gah over Brandon, looked right over to Bloom when he walked out and just as she had predicted her entire face seemed to light up.
"So you're sure you haven't seen her?" Musa asked as she turned back to Sky and questioned him with a hard look. Sure Stella wasn't exactly her favorite person right now, but she was still her friend and they did need to find her.
"You don't believe me?" Sky asked in a jesting tone trying to cover up his worry, not that it got by Musa.
"No, I do," Musa assured. "Just making sure," Sky nodded and was ready to ask if they needed any help to look for her when they all heard a command from a very scary looking old guy.
Apparently that was Cordatorta the terrible or horrible or something like that, but he wasn't too keen on Alfea girls visiting the boys during class hours. In essence he was the male version of Griselda, who was known to drag boys off of Alfea grounds if she found them doing something inappropriate, which was pretty much everything past holding hand.
The girls decided to leave and not get the boys in too much trouble. Besides, they still had the task of finding the princess of Solaria. "What now?" Flora said after they said bye to the guys.
"This is weird," Bloom said looking around Red Fountain aimlessly. Musa was sure that Sky would know where Stella was, but he didn't so that gave her and the rest of the girls some reason to worry. "Let's go to Magix,"
The girls nodded and headed off to Magix to maybe find Stella, but first the Black Lagoon Café. Musa looked around as Bloom tried to put some pieces together. "The invitation said to meet at the Black Lagoon Café,"
"My search engine couldn't find it," Techna said.
"We still haven't tried my search engine," Bloom said looking around at all the people in Magix.
"You have a search engine," Flora questioned with a skeptical look on her face when Musa remembered that her friend from back home was the daughter of a big restaurant and media mogul, she always knew the hottest places in the hottest cities. And since Magix was the central hub for a lot of chic parties, she figured Sky would want to take Stella somewhere she could give her a try. She pulled out her cell phone and sent a quick text over to Penelope Yuki. - Black Lagoon Café. Every heard of it? -
"Yeah and it's real easy to operate," Bloom said as she walked up to a random person and asked them if they ever heard to the mysterious café. After a second the girls realized what she was doing and decided that it was the last resort that they had to deal with. The girls walked everywhere, even around what was apparently Cloud Tower territory, as Musa found out by a witch with some serious attitude. Normally, Musa would have mouthed off, but they had a mission they needed to complete, but she did pull a bit of a bitch act and imply that the witch was fat and no matter how mean that witch was, she was till a teenage girl and she was self conscious like all teenage girls were. And Musa walked away a little happy that she put that witch in her place. Walking through the streets of Magix asking random people where some place that they were still unsure existed, was wasn't exactly Musa's idea of a good time and she would have much rather been out with the dance team girls, but for some reason Stella and all of her antics became somewhat endearing and Musa felt the need to find her friend.
Unfortunately, Stella and the Black Lagoon Café were yet to be seen.
"My feet are killing me," Flora complained as she rubbed her ankle. Maybe wearing platforms wasn't the best idea.
"Well my search engine hasn't heard of the place either," Musa said exasperatedly as she put her elbows on her knees as she and the rest of the girls gave up and sat down on the curb of a street in Magix. She closed her cell phone when she received a text back from Penelope Yuki. – Sorry M, it either doesn't exist or doesn't matter –
The girls looked to Musa and she explained. "Penelope Yuki is like the princess of all things hot in the club and restaurant scene, she hasn't heard of it," the girls nodded with upset looks. It looked like they had exhausted all of their resources.
"I don't understand, how nobody in Magix could have heard of this place," Bloom complained.
"Maybe somebody played a joke on Stella and it put her in a bad mood," Musa explained when she saw no other options.
"You know I think Musa's right, let's go back to Alfea
"No, just give me a minute to think," Bloom insisted.
"Bloom just because you took that potion doesn't mean you're in charge,
"I'm sorry if I care about our friend," Bloom insisted. Musa could feel an argument coming and it was the last thing they needed after hours of searching for Stella after she completely trashed their entire dorm. As if trying to hide from the impending argument, Musa folded her arms on her knees and put her head in her arms. She couldn't deal with this right now.
"Okay people let's relax," Flora said in a strict tone getting angry herself.
"Techna," Bloom said angrily.
"Bloom," Techna shot back. The two sounded like two year olds fighting and pulling hair.
"Did I hear you cats say you were looking for the Black Lagoon Café," The girls looked around to see a short fat guy walking around the corner. Musa looked over to him skeptically and felt a little uneasy about this. And who said 'cats' anymore? "Wow man that joint is like the hippest hip, you know what I'm saying,"
Seriously, who was this guy? It was like he had just stepped out of a bad 70's movie, but he knew where this café was so Musa kept her skepticism to herself and listened, the worst that could happen was that they would get the wrong place, but it was worth a try. "It's like totally underground, you cats have gotta check it out," he continued. "Though maybe you're not cool enough…"
"No, no we're cool we're super cool," Bloom insisted.
"Yeah, we rock, we were hip when hip wasn't hip," Musa said attempting to sound as loony as that guy did, and she kinda did. "Come on you've gotta tell us where this place is,"
"Hey I just had to make sure, you know how it is," he said and the girls pretended they understood what he meant. "You guys are alright," He finally gave them direction and the girls excitedly followed them happily as they were ecstatically to get some a lead on their mystery. When they turned to thank him he was gone, only arising more of the suspicion in Musa's mind.
The girls followed the directions "Awesome his directions were right,"
"Potion or no potion, I have a bad feeling about this," Techna said as they approached the oak tree that the mysterious man had mentioned.
The girls continued on and saw what appeared to be a cute little cottage. It was, as far as they could guess, the Black Lagoon café. Musa was both happy and uneasy about this. How would Prince Sky now about this place when someone like Penelope didn't? Sky never crossed her as the type of guy to go out and party all the time and he definitely didn't look like an expert on places to hang out, and even if he was, why would he take Stella here? It was so far removed from any nightlife, it made no sense, but it was a lead and they had to follow it. "When we get back to Alfea, you should update your search program," Musa joked to her roommate and it didn't look like it went over too well.
"My search program works fine," Techna defended. "It's this place that isn't right,"
"I agree with Techna," Flora said as she looked around the pervading area. "This place is very very wrong,"
"What do you mean?" Bloom asked looking at the big tree in front of her.
"This tree isn't giving off a life force," Flora said as she laid her hand upon the bark of the tree. "It's dead and it's been that way for a very long time," Musa was glad that she wasn't the only one who felt so weird about this place.
"You're sure about that?" Bloom questioned still trying not to lose hope about finding Stella.
Before she could answer, the door to the café opened and a strong gust of wind began to spread across the area, which was odd since it was a very calm day. "There is a change in the reality pressure, that means there's an illusion spell wearing off," Techna informed as the area changed back to it's original condition. The 'café' was actually an old dilapidated house that was in worse condition than their room back at Alfea. Musa looked around and hated to admit to herself or anyone else, but she was scared.
"I liked the illusion better," Musa said nervously. She had always hated places that looked like this, she was never able to go to haunted house and things like that because they looked like this. She rarely ever talked about it, but when she was four she was kidnapped from the palace's garden and her captors had her locked in a place like that for a few days. She remembered those three days vividly, although she wasn't abused while kidnapped, since the captors knew full well the punishment for harming the crown princess of nebula, but it was enough to keep her apprehensive about these types of environments. That was also one of the reasons her father kept her so close, she was kidnapped a few months after her mother passed and ever since then he father was very scared to see Musa go anywhere. Musa looked once more at the dreary house and followed reluctantly as her friends continued on. She needed to be brave.
"Well, there's no sense in turning back at this point," Bloom encouraged as they continued on towards the building. "Right?" The door was already opened a crack, but the girls proceeded inward being very aware of the fact that something could fall on them or that they could fall through something.
"Did you guys see that?" Bloom said as she stopped when they all noticed a quick movement in the house. This was beginning to fee like a horror movie. Musa could feel her heart rate quicken with fear as she tried as hard as she could to not show the fear in her face, if everyone else was able to deal with this, then so was she.
"For the record whose idea was it to go in there,"
"Do you think we should get outta here?" Flora proposed in an absolutely terrified voice. Again it gave Musa some comfort to know that her friends were just as scared as she was.
"If Bloom said it was the right move, then it has to be the right move," Musa said still looking up at the ceiling, still very perplexed by the place and really scared that the whole house would come crumbling down on her.
"Wait did you guys hear that just now," Techna asked sounding a bit paranoid, but there was something going on here.
"Yeah, it sounded like it came from up there," Musa said looking back up at the ceiling and looking towards the steps.
"It's about time you showed up," Said a familiar voice, Musa knew from the first word it was Stella. The girls turned around and saw the Solarian princess standing there completely unharmed and Musa was a little angry that she was in no danger. She had trashed their entire dorm, they had scoured Magix and thye went into the haunted house that she was now sure she would die in and Stella was just fine! It was annoying to say the least.
"Stella!" Bloom said with relief in her voice.
"Welcome," Stella said with the same malignant tone she had earlier. Even when Stella was at her bitchiest, she never sounded like that, which confirmed the thought in Musa's mind that there was some type of spell on Stella. Just then the door shut slammed behind them and Musa was reminded of a horror movie she was forced to watch with her friends. And it involved going into a scary house and never leaving. Suffice to say she was not comfy in the situation. "Now if you girls don't mind," Stella began with the same maniacal voice. "I'm taking my ring back and while I'm at it, I'm going to teach you little pixies a lesson,"
"What did she call us!" Musa yelled angrily, ignoring the fact that she was probably under some sort of spell. That was the thanks they got for wasting an entire day looking for her! She could have been out having fun right now, or she could be talking to Daniel since it was clear that they missed each other, but no she was here dealing with someone she really wanted to hit upside the head.
Stella then flew back and seemed to levitate in the air, a power Musa knew Stella didn't have. "Stella your aura is very negative right now," Flora said slowly and calmly trying not to further upset Stella. But, it didn't look like it was working since Stella conjured what looked like another raging witch ball.
"Look out," Bloom called when she realized that they were the targets of her attacks. Stella threw the attack and the girls immediately threw themselves in different directions to avoid the attack that exploded once it made contact with the floor. Musa quickly went behind a rickety old overturned table in an attempt to protect herself from her insane dorm mate. She looked at her leg and noticed that she had been hit a little by some of the aftershock of the attack, there was some bleeding on the back of her leg, but luckily that was about it. She and Techna sought safety there while Bloom and Flora huddled behind a broken beam.
"Power up Bloom," Techna advised from her spot behind the table knowing it was there only chance at a good defense.
"She can't they're pinned down," Musa said with concern in her voice when another attack knocked away the beam leaving a tiny barrier between Bloom and Flora and the militant fairy.
"All right then, I'm going in," Techna said with conviction and quickly powered up to her winx form. "Firewall shield," Techna said erecting a glowing green shield in front of her as she began to run across over to Bloom and Flora.
"You go Techna!" Musa cheered. She wanted to change to help, but she couldn't get a shield up and it would be no help if she was powered up with nothing to do, so she sat in her spot watching Techna, ready if she needed to help. Stella's attacks kept coming with them building power with each blow. Finally, Techna reached the other side of the room and took Flora and Bloom back to where she and Musa were. Just in time too, because Stella's attack came right after they left with Techna and it completely obliterated the beam they were hiding behind.
Stella began another witch like cackle summoning more attacks in both hands. "It's over pixies!"
"Friend or not she's gonna get Mused! (6) Musa said as her eyes narrowed, then realizing how dumb she just sounded. And of coarse everyone huddled behind the table right as she said that ridiculous comment.
"Mused? What's that?" Flora asked.
"Honestly, sounded better in my head," Musa said a bit embarrassed.
"Guys that's not Stella," Bloom warned. "You know who calls us pixies," Bloom then stood up from behind the protection of the table and looked 'Stella' straight in the eye. "Are you Icy or Darcy?"
"And the slowest horse crosses the finish line," Stella congratulated sarcastically. "Congratulations," she said as she turned her attacks to the floor, forming smoke around her. Then she transformed into Darcy. "Here's your prize," Just then, Icy and Stormy appeared next to their sister ready to fight.
"Let's go girls," Bloom ordered and the girls and they all changed into their winx forms. "What have you witches done with Stella!"
"She's right here," Icy said with an evil smile as she raised her arm to show Stella being held above them by what looked like very painful restraints. The witches laughed when they saw the looks of worry that were all over the fairy's faces.
"Stella," Bloom said in reaction to the sight in front of her. Musa now felt incredibly guilty for suggesting going back to Alfea when they couldn't find her, sure there was no way she could have known that this happened, but still.
"Sorry girls, the witches tricked me," Stella said with worry in her voice. It was clear that she felt bad about what the girls had clearly gone through that day.
"Don't worry about it Stella, just hang in there," Bloom encouraged as she and the rest of the faires had the daunting task of fighting the witches. "You better let her go now!" Bloom demanded acting as if she wasn't the least bit afraid of what might happen.
"We will Bloom, just as soon as you give us the ring of Solaria," Icy demanded back. This was reminding Musa a lot of when she was kidnapped, except her captors were killed on the spot when they were found and she was safely recovered tied up and crying in a locked closet. (7) "And you better hurry up because that mortal coil will keep squeezing her tighter and tighter until she goes 'pop',"
"So what's it gonna be Bloom?" Icy asked rather impatiently. "Stella or the ring?"
"Bloom don't give it to her," Stella begged with obvious pain in her voice. She looked like she would pass out any second.
"I say we fight them," Flora said sounding uncharacteristically belligerent of her.
"That's right, its four against three," Techna reasoned. "Let's take them down,"
Bloom glanced back at Stella and saw the pain she was in. Musa, who had yet to decide on what to do, thought it would probably be best if they just surrendered for now. As much as she didn't want to loose to the witches, she figured it would be best to cut their losses and just get outta there with Stella safe. But, then there was Musa's runaway mouth that usually got ahead of her and the angry that had built up inside of her against the witches managed to boil over and come out as a threat. "We're gonna make you witches sorry you ever heard of Alfea,"
"You tell them Musa," Flora said egging Musa on. The witches didn't look scared at all and Bloom was the only one to notice that the restraints kept getting tighter and tighter around Stella that she would be dead soon.
"Everybody stop!" Bloom begged as she changed back to her normal stated, much to everyone's surprise. "Okay the wings are coming off, we can't put Stella in anymore danger, you guys win this time," Bloom said handing off the ring to Bloom.
"Bloom no!" Stella begged.
"Good decision, I knew we could count on the soft heart of a fairy," Icy said manically and with a snap of her fingers, Stella was free from her restraints. "We did it girls, the scepter is ours." Then Icy activated the ring and with a flash the witches were gone.
"That was a good decision Bloom," Musa said once the girls were outside. Everyone was pretty exhausted, and going back to Alfea was the only thing they had on their minds.
"Thanks," Bloom said. The girls talked on their way back to Alfea, but were immediately silenced when they finally reached their dorm and saw the state that it was in.
"What happened here!" Stella screamed when she looked around the common room and ran to her's to see the damage was worse there.
"I almost forgot about this," Musa said dejectedly as she surveyed the damaged once again. Stella, who had not known anything about this freaked out to see her room and them vehemently apologized for all the trouble she caused after the girls explained what happened that day.
"Oh forget about it," Musa insisted. "We got you back safe, that's all that matters, I'm taking a nap," She said as she walked around the wreckage and over to her room.
"I'll get working on a spell to fix this!" Stella said very determined. Musa simply nodded and walked to her room for a nap.
It had been a long day.
1.Ever notice she hasn't talked about him?
2. I loved my easy bake oven when I was little!! That was and still is the extent of my cooking ability
3. .As you will probably be able to see when you read further, Stella pissed me off in this episode
4.Musa actually admits to liking Riven in this part, but I cant have that happen, not yet anyway (hint hint) so I had to tweek the scene.
5. Fuddy? She sounds like my 1st grade teacher.
6. I was actually embarrassed when I read this so I had to make it so Musa was embarrassed too. I mean come on!
7. Musa being kidnapped as a child adds some more history to her, I felt like throwing that in.
Oh and I forgot this last chapter –
3 . Where did they get that ship? It was broken and shot down and all of a sudden it was fixed.
Anyway, secret guardian is next –
xoxo,
princessm