Chapter Sixteen: Planning Done Wrong

Corinthia Collins was not having a ball at the ball.

She prided herself on being two things, strong and feminine. After all, who could pull those off at the same time? For nineteen years, she had kept up both, managing to stay cool, collected, and looking good in a very alone childhood- two workaholic parents, one of whom Thia was convinced was a secret agent, made for loneliness. She was kind of like Matilda, only she knew very well that her Momma and her Father loved her very much.

Then she started seeing the future. Not anything earth shattering, just stuff like the lunch special at the Frutti Music Bar for the next week, and her SAT scores a few days before they came in. She knew enough about weird things to know that telling people was generally A Very Bad Idea (after all, she HAD read Harry Potter and a few other fantasy novels in her day), but somehow Momma found out. She always did, despite only seeing Thia once or twice a year. And then, sorry Yale, Thia had to be packed off to some college on another planet. And not even the pink one that was hosting the ball, Alfea, where they trained future magic users. Thia got rejected from Alfea. She had to go to the one for boys, across that lake with the unpronounceable name.

Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery. It sounded like a boarding school for juvenile delinquents, not a college where honor roll popular girls with a hint of street smarts continued their education.

Thia liked her psychic classes well enough, and she had liked choosing a weapon. She ended up picking a magical bow and quiver of arrows that fed off the little bit of magic she did have, and she had gotten pretty good with them in the last couple weeks of school. What she didn't like was always having to put her hair up instead of letting it hang down on her back. She didn't like the khaki and blue jumpsuit and cape uniform (although the pink brooch that fastened the cape was okay). She didn't like the pixie, Cassidy, who had attached herself to Thia and was even now buzzing around.

Thia was not having a ball at the ball. She should have been wearing some spectacular dress and flirting, but instead she was in uniform and sulking on the wall next to a strawberry-headed witch in a flowing white dress. Even that witch had gotten more social activity than Thia had, after being harassed by three fairies. The only time anyone even talked to Thia was when a witch asked her if she was a lesbian (the answer: no).

Glamour spell. Bad one.

Thia knew it immediately. She could smell it, one of the few things magical that she could do. Though she couldn't cast spells, the psychic stuff inside of her allowed her to sense when magic was around... and what the intent of the magic was.

She cast her senses and found that the source of the power was a girl, average height, with hair a strange mix of brown and red and purple. Her features were slightly blurry, as if Thia's contact lenses had suddenly switched with the ones from three prescriptions ago, but when Thia squinted she could make out the scowl. As the girl pushed on the nearby door that led to Alfea's back terrace, Thia placed a hand on her phantobow and got ready to pursue.

As she took a step, a hand fell on her shoulder. "Hey, finally going someplace?" said a familiar voice.

"Hi, Raiden," Thia said. "Um, I've got to... touch up my makeup. And the lighting is better outside. I know I'm supposed to be one of the people passing out the gifts, but can you cover for me until I get back?"

It was so fucking obvious that she was being followed. What wasn't obvious was who was following her.

Rainier wanted to say it was Morgan, Gracie's cute little girlfriend who was only ΒΌ magica. But to Morgan, Rainier looked just like Grace. There would be no need for her to hide herself as this person did. Who else had magic that weak, though? Nobody that Rainier knew or knew of.

As she approached the dorm of the Winx Daughters, or whatever they called themselves, she stopped and turned around. "I know you're following me," she said, ignoring all guise and making her voice as threatening as possible. "Come out now."

She was surprised to see a Specialist reveal herself. Herself. A girl specialist, with mocha skin and wild black hair. Her brooch was pink, and a phantobow was held at the ready. "Hi," said the Specialist. "What's with the glamour spell?"

For a moment, Rainier faltered. Was her spellwork that obvious? She recovered quickly. "None of your business."

The Specialist tilted her head. "Well, I don't know. Red Fountain students are supposed to be protectors, and that means sometimes we gotta be investigators too. So, what's up? Or we could start smaller. You're... a witch, right? I can sense it. So why are you wearing pink?"

"Company business."

The Specialist looked confused. Like she had never heard of the Company before. "Um... so, Sneaking Into Dorm Rooms, Inc.?"

"The Company of Light. Defenders of magic. Protectors. Like you."

"And what does a company of protectors want with the dorm room of a group of fairies? Are they menaces to the magical dimension?"

"As a matter of fact, they are."

"So shouldn't you be reporting it to Faragonda, Griffin, or Saladin? Or even some upperclassmen Specialists?"

Rainier glared at the girl so hard that she thought her eyes might catch fire. "News flash, this isn't some backwards new magic planet like Earth or something. Magix is the college realm of dreams. When we have problems, we fucking deal with them ourselves. Did you not learn that at RF? Or do the boys do all your work there?"

The Specialist's jaw dropped for a split second, then her mouth formed into a narrow line and she raised her phantobow. "Take it back."

In a flash, Rainier realized how perfect her situation was. It couldn't have been better, actually. Even if everything had gone as planned. Quickly, she prepped a spell, reciting all but one word of it under her breath. Then, she looked up at the Specialist, who was still fuming.

"I can't take it back," Rainier said, "if it's true."

The female Specialist shot an arrow flying into Rainier's arm, and as the phantarrow disappeared, the witch cried out with pain.

"Sure nobody'll look here?"

Morgan smiled. "Promise. Nobody knows about this place except a few upperclasswomen... or in my case, the daughter of an alumna. I can't believe your mom never mentioned this garden."

"We didn't see each other much," Grace noted wryly.

"I'm going to get some punch. Stay here for a sec?"

"Um, I need to use the restroom. I'll meet you back here though. Good?"

"Definitely. See you in a few."

Story jumped as the alarm started sounding, an annoying buzzing noise that felt like it would break her ears.

Around her, she could see other people jumping, Specialists saying "what the heck?" and fairies and witches covering their ears. Story then chanced a glance at her grandmother, who had pulled up a magistream that flitted through multiple views of the hallways before it settled on... Grace? Grace in front of their dorm room, wincing in pain, as a willowy framed specialist aimed a phantobow at her. Story broke free from Heketoro and started pushing through the crowd.

She ran from the ballroom and up to the dorm. And just as she had seen over the stream, Grace was rubbing her arm and whimpering in pain. A Red Fountain student... wait, was that a female student?... looked shocked, like she didn't mean to hurt anyone. But that barely registered... and besides, did it matter? Grace was hurt, and Story was pissed. "Why did you hurt my friend?" she said, calmly as possible. Still, an edge of danger crept into her voice.

"She was trying to break into this dorm room!" The Specialist bit her lip. "She said something about company."

"She lives here, idiot."

Story looked behind her. Lara and Heketoro were standing there, and Lara seemed to be taking charge. "She lives here, and goes to school here, and she's totally cool. And you're not. Maybe you should check your facts before you shoot someone's eye out."

"She lives here? But she's a witch!" The girl looked so confused that Story might have felt sorry for her if she didn't want to punch her in the face more than anything. "She's evil."

Lara and Story looked at each other- the looks on their faces seemed to say "can you believe this nut?" Lara laughed shortly. "I wanted to be a witch. So did that girl's girl- I mean, best friend."

"And I'm the first fairy in a line of ancient and powerful witches," Story added.

"And we're both witches ourselves," said Grandma Faragonda as she and Griffin arrived on the scene. "Do remind me to tell dear Saladin that he needs to buff up on diversity training."

"Where is Headmaster Saladin?" asked the girl. "I need to speak with him right away!"

"He has to watch eight hundred teenagers and make sure none of THEM put an arrow into another student. I can guarantee you'll be speaking with him later, though. For now, I'm going to have to ask you to remove yourself from the Alfea campus. A special transport is waiting for you. Follow me, Miss Collins."

Griffin, Faragonda, and the girl headed downstairs, and Story turned to Lara and Heketoro. "You guys go back down, find Morgan. I'll stay here with Grace." The two nodded and followed the headmistresses down the stairs.

Story smiled at Grace. "Don't look so worried. Grandma's tougher than she looks; that girl won't know what hit her."

"Grandma?"

Story blinked slowly. "Damn it. I was trying not to say. Um... yeah. The headmistress is my grandmother. Don't tell, okay? Not even Morgan. Please?"

Grace smiled. "Don't worry. I won't tell a soul."