Author's notes: okay sorry for the late update, last week has been hectic and also, this cHAPTER IS OVER 5000 WORDS LONG. so yeah even if i hadnt updated last week i hope it this chapters length will make up for it.

-before-

The king consort of Solaria scanned through numerous papers in his- no, it doesn't really belong to him- desk, signing a now sloppy signature at every end of every paper containing a proposal of some sort. There are so many proposals and requests, most of them quite useless and silly, like there was this noble demanding that there should be 'dog barking curfews', whatever that meant, he shook his head, that guy has been demanding that for years now.

He sighed as he reclined in his seat. There were still mountains of papers to go through and it was about three in the morning, he had a council meeting at seven. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, he never thought being a ruling monarch was this...tiring and stressing. But maybe it's because he was not very prepared, he was just supposed to be the King Consort, after all, it's nothing but a title and he doesn't have any responsibilities other than being there in ceremonies, maintaining a good reputation throughout the kingdom, and helping out and advising his wife every once in a while.

But with his wife just...gone, his children, the heirs, nowhere near the age of majority, and the former monarchs currently enjoying their retirement, it's been decided in the council that the husband of the Queen will be in charge of the kingdom until the intended heir, the currently eight-year-old princess, comes of age...or, if the queen comes back and continues her duties. The latter of which becoming a distant dream as time goes on.

His face contorted into sadness. He missed her. He missed her so much. Yet at the same time, he was angry at her. Angry at her for leaving everyone behind. Her parents, her children, her kingdom...him.

Eventually, his eyelids started dropping. To say he was exhausted, was an understatement. He let sleep overtake him as his head dropped to the desk full of papers, his eyes opened for a few moments as he heard a quiet, subtle noise somewhere. Probably some of the papers, he assumed, but his eyes told otherwise as he saw in his peripheral vision, was a bright light of yellow. It was brief, but he noticed it. Unfortunately, the need for sleep was stronger than curiosity, and so he fell asleep, forgetting about the strange light.

The next morning, he woke up with a blanket covering him and the papers organized.

No one was said to have come in his office last night.

...

-after-

"...This is boring."

The whining came from the boyish Prince of Andros as he leaned on one of the buffet tables with a few more people. His cheeky friend and roommate, Rhys, leaned on the same table next to him, currently snacking on some finger foods. Kai sighed as he took a sip on his punch, looking around. Many Specialists of varying ages, year levels, and status were already filling up the courtyard of the 'girly' (at least to him) college, few more about to arrive as they landed their ships.

Though a surge of Specialists was arriving, ready to party, it doesn't seem like Alfea was ready at all, with many fairies and staff scrambling around to make final preparations, like making sure the snacks were plentiful, fixing the party lights and other decors, and assembling the DJ booth. Thus, there were barely any snacks, the decorations looked like a disaster, and there wasn't even music. Kai frowned.

What a disaster of a party, and it hasn't even started yet, as even the fairies of Alfea wasn't ready themselves. The fairies were still apparently fixing makeup or making final touches to their outfits in their dorms, at least, that's what he heard.

"How pathetic," Kai heard someone muttered behind him, and though he still wasn't that much familiar with his school mates, he knew that pessimistic and snobbish voice anywhere. The great and majestic Prince Hansel. He rolled his eyes as he turned to look at the prince, Hans was apparently with his circle of friends that he carefully chose, making sure they were of 'high status', meaning other Princes, sons of Dukes, and other nobles or boys of royal blood. "This never happened last year or the year before that. Just goes to show how Alfea is degrading over the years...I'm really starting to feel bad for Elizabeth at this point."

Another person scoffed at what he assumed to be Hans' statement. Kai turned to the voice and saw the son of the Headmaster-Leonard, he believed- and another boy with hair the color of oranges. Kai almost smacked himself for not recalling the two, they were the ones he rode the ship with, and he didn't even bother knowing their names, well, the latter one, anyway.

Apparently, the one who scoffed was the orange boy (he'll call the guy that for now). "It's not even Alfea's fault, we just came in early! If anything, we're to blame." The guy muttered. "Cel told me earlier that the party starts at 7:30, but did anyone listen? No..."

Leon sighed, "It's okay, buddy, it's okay. We're only fifteen minutes early anyway, it won't be long until the party actually starts."

"It's actually going to start now!" A blonde boy- Stiles, Kai believed- piped towards the two boys, pointing at his wrist watch.

And, as if it was on cue, horns started sounding and all the Specialists turned to the source, quieting down as they knew what was going to happen. And as expected, the ever so strict Headmistress of Alfea College for Fairies cleared her throat, before declaring the start of the party as Alfea's doors opened and out came the beautiful and magical girls of Alfea, beaming with excitement. The Specialists also apparently shared their excitement, their faces lighting up as they looked at the girls.

It seemed that the prince of Solaria wasted no time approaching the girls. "Gotta go!" He said as he left. Both Leon and his friend looked at one another with a look, before groaning and rolling their eyes.

"Ugh, what a playboy."

...

Once the great doors of the pink building were opened, the fairies, donned in their latest or favorite outfits with their bright smiles, immediately walked towards the party, whether it be towards the snacks, maybe the dance floor, or towards some familiar Specialists like their friend, lover, crush, or brother. Others, however, like the majority of the freshmen fairies, were more hesitant, not sure what to do or where to go.

One certain senior noticed the timid new fairies and stopped where she was going. "Hey, what're you guys waiting for? The third sun of Solaria to appear?" Brittany asked her underclassmen, tilting her head and her hand on her hip. "The party's already started! Let's go!" She said, but it seemed that the newbies weren't at all convinced as they never seemed to budge one bit.

Brittany pursed her lips. As much as she wanted to mingle with her friends and party, she couldn't just ignore the freshmen who were too shy to even step foot into the party. She was not that person. Brittany looked around the courtyard, and her disappointed and hopeless frown soon turned into a sly smile as she spotted a head full of blond hair splashed with some brown approaching them. She turned back to the underclassmen. "You know, staying in this area won't do you any justice." She started, her peripheral vision indicating that the blonde was now nearby, ready to make his move. "Isn't that right, brother dear?"

"That's right, sister dear!" Everyone's eyes turned to the bright voice, and nearly every girl's eyes widened and their jaw dropped.

Standing in front of them was the boy that almost every teenage girl has a poster of somewhere in their room, the boy whose face is plastered on every fashion or teen girl magazine, the boy whose mere smile or gaze could make an average girl swoon, the boy who they thought was just a stuff of dreams and who they had no chance with in real life. The boy who has no idea.

It was none other than Prince Stiles of Solaria, looking as charming as ever with his adorable smile and designer outfit.

"Oh my god it's him." One freshman squeaked, putting her hand over her mouth as her best friend held her for support.

"Somebody pinch me!" Another freshman yelled somewhere in the crowd.

"Akjdnaskjdaskjdnsandsad-"

Stiles smiled an adorable looking smile at the freshmen as he approached them closer, and obviously, several screams and squeals ensued that moment, but the blond doesn't seem to notice. "Hi! Why aren't lovely fairies such as yourselves not enjoying the party?" He asked curiously, now awfully close to one of the fairies, who stood completely stunned. "I myself can't bear to party myself, knowing that lovely ladies like you aren't partying yourselves. So, try and enjoy yourselves in this back to school party, for me, please?" He pleaded with a puppy-like look, clapping his hands together to make a pleading gesture.

The freshmen fairies looked at each other, stunned that such a prominent prince of a prominent realm would care about whether they enjoyed the party or not. Filled with determination to keep the boy fairly content, the girls looked at each other and smiled. "Yeah!" They cheered as they ran to the party, passing by Stiles with smiles and waves, to which the prince reciprocated. Stiles' smile was wide as he watched the girls try to enjoy themselves, happy that he encouraged many people again.

Ever since he was very young, Prince Stiles realized that many people around him were very miserable. From his grandparents- former monarchs Radius and Luna- flinching every time he became a bit too cheerful, Courtiers and other nobles giving a sad glance whenever they pass by some portraits in the great palace halls, many of the people of Solaria remarking sadly how he reminded them of someone, to even his own father- the strongest and bravest man he knew- crying, sobbing on certain days. Even now, how Hansel repressed some problems so hard it turned into anger issues, how Callum found it hard to relate to other people, how there was this empty look in Leonard's eyes...how Headmaster Helia and other staff seemed to grimace every time he saw his own son and his friends' sons.

But as Stiles grew older, he realized he had this certain charm about him that seemed to make people happier, even a little bit in a little while. He would often play harmless pranks on nobles and courtiers when he was a child, feeling accomplished at seeing their faces smile or even laugh, he would act polite and proper around his grandparents so that they wouldn't look like they were about to cry whenever they caught sight of their own grandson, he doesn't bring up why Brandon cries during certain days because he already knew why, and would rather pretend nothing happened.

A lot of people think that Prince Stiles of Solaria is just some pretty boy with a dash of stupidity. But if observing and understanding how people feel, and how to fix that problem (albeit temporarily) isn't smart, then what is?

As he looked at the now partying fairies, he didn't realize someone was still standing in front of him, still stunned.

"Um..."

"Oh!" Stiles looked down and saw a pretty fairy, from what he can tell, she was probably a freshman as well. He cocked a brow, was it just him, or does the girl look...familiar? As if he's seen her before, during his innocent childhood days- an old playmate, perhaps?- He shook his head, disregarding the thought as he replaced his baffled expression to his charming one. "What are you still doing here? Just so you know, I want everyone to try and enjoy the party, so that includes you!" He smiled as he winked, a habit of his that he often used as a friendly gesture- no one really had the heart to tell him it was primarily used for flirting. "Or do you want me to accompany you, miss-?" He asked pleasantly, holding her hand.

"Emma," The girl squeaked. Emma looked up at the tall blond, Stiles was even more handsome in real life than in magazines! And to think that he's in front of her, talking to her...holding her hand.

"So," Stiles said, "do you want me to accompany you?"

"S-sure..."

...

After making sure Stiles took care of the timid freshmen, Brittany was now walking around the party, looking for her group of friends consisting of princesses and many girls of reputable statuses. Finally, she found them, obviously standing out in the crowd with their elaborate outfits and haughty laughter. They may sound unpleasant and stuck up at first, but trust Brittany, they act like this in public but when it comes to just them, hanging around in their room, they're actually quite different, laughing and snorting at fart jokes and wearing worn out and big shirts.

Just goes to show how one shouldn't judge based on appearances.

Brittany smiled upon seeing her friends and was about to walk towards her friends, only to stopped by someone. "Princess Brittany!" Someone exclaimed in delight. Brittany whipped her head around and saw a rather lanky looking boy, with short, light brown hair and freckles dusting his face.

She lacked a reaction at first before her face lit up at the realization of who it was. "Oh, Phillip!" She exclaimed in delight, running to embrace the boy. "How have you been?"

"Quite fine, dear princess," Philip smiled at her, returning her embrace, and Brittany gladly returned the smile. Philip was one of Brittany's childhood friends who lived in the same palace as she, he was the son of an Earl and was the same age as her, so they got along quite great in their childhood. However, they soon drifted apart after Philip started acting very shy and timid around her, blushing and stuttering his words. Brittany wasn't sure why at the time but she thought he was angry at her for something, and so they distanced themselves from one another. "How about you?"

"Good as well," Brittany nodded.

Their conversation continued with laughter and witty remarks as they both caught up with one another's lives, she learned that Philip and other sons of nobility in Solaria was recently transferred to Red Fountain due to the King's orders, which confused Brittany at first, why would King Brandon order the sons to go to a military school, unless...

Philip didn't seem to notice something wrong with the king's orders, assuming that's probably because nobles should know how to fight. And so, the conversation continues nonetheless, going from Solaria to their favorite flavors of cake.

"Hey, Bitchney!" Their blissful conversation was interrupted, however, by a certain blond prince. Philip was confused by it while Brittany's mood turned sour as they turned to see the source of the voice.

Standing in front of them, was Princess Brittany of Solaria's one and only rival, Prince Hansel of Eraklyon.

"Oh, please, Hanshole, I don't have any time for this so please spread your douchebaggery somewhere else." Brittany snapped, narrowing her eyes at the blond. Philip and many others were taken aback by this, Princess Brittany never acted this harsh to anyone before. And so, many people surrounded the two rivals, curious as to what will happen.

Hans didn't seem to be phased at all as he walked closer to her. Brittany stood her ground while Philip took a few steps back. "Really now," Hansel smirked, "If so, then you should take off somewhere else too. No one needs to be in close proximity with such hypocrite."

"Coming from the king of hypocrisy himself, I'll gladly take that as a compliment." She retorted.

Hans' face contorted into anger at the statement, "Why you-" He was about to approach her but stopped himself, adjusting his tie. "-I wouldn't. I have class, after all, unlike some people..." He said, his light blue eyes landing on the brunette.

Brittany's eye twitched in annoyance, "Wow, not only are you the king of hypocrisy, you're also a pathological liar. Nice. What're your other talents, your highness?"

Hans clenched his fist, realizing he had no other comebacks for the statement. He looked around and saw Philip, who was standing behind Brittany as a mere bystander. He internally smirked as he quickly made a plan in his head. "Well, whatever, you win in this round of our farce, I guess," He muttered, looking up. "But oh, who is this?" Hansel sarcastically wondered as he pointed at the boy behind his rival. "Is that loser your boyfriend, by any chance, Brittany?" Hans asked fakely in a curious manner.

She was caught off guard at this. "What-"

"Hah! Don't tell me you have so low a standard that that freak has a chance!" Hans said, laughing as he pointed at the timid boy behind his rival. Many people laughed as well.

Brittany turned back to her friend, who was obviously embarrassed, covering his face and on a verge of curling up into a ball. She pursed her lips as she attempted to comfort him, knowing how it must be for him. "Don't-!"

"Princess Brittany of Solaria, dating a weakling who barely knows how to use a sword!" Hansel continued, and more laughter ensued. He approached the boy, pushing Brittany aside and grabbing Philip by the collar. "Complete, and utterly pathetic." He said, spilling the boy's clothes with the punch he snatched from one of the bystanders. Hans dropped Philip carelessly and smirked as he basked in the laughter he was causing in the crowd, barely noticing Philip crawling away.

The brunette princess was beyond enraged. "That is enough!" She shouted so loud that the laughter quickly died down. With her eyes blazing with hatred, she glared at Hans. "You're such an insensitive jerk," She said, it was more a whisper, yet it rang in Hans' head more than any sound could. It was supposed to be just a witty and many a bit inapropriate farce they always did, not a game to ruin reputations. Her word was mild compared to her over the top insults, and yet it affected Hans more than usual since, for once, this was true.

Brittany ran to catch up to her friend as the crowd dispersed. Hansel stood there, quiet. He looked around and saw a certain person in the crowd, her eyes wide and her lips pursed. It was his sister, Elizabeth, who looked very disappointed at her own brother. He was about to reach out to his sister, explain what happened, but then again, what was there to explain? Unfortunately, before he could reach his sister, Liz walked away, probably disgusted to be related to scum.

The moment where even Liz iwas disgusted at his actions, made Hansel feel truly terrible.

...

"-So, anyway, there's this really pretty girl I wanna introduce to you, she seems like your type so-"

"Ugh, there he goes again." Cel interrupted the previous conversation with a groan and an eye roll. Max and Cel were standing around with two Specialists, their other friends were off to the buffet tables to get a snack, so it's just them and their little group of "people born of high expectations because of what their parents did" club. At this point, the party now looked quite decent, with decorations now intact and the DJ was now handling the music, playing calm tunes as many people exchanged pleasantries, others danced mildly, and some were snacking. Cel was looking at a certain blond prince, dragging a 'poor' little freshman with him around the party. She looked at them with disgust.

"Where's the surprise, Cel?" Max rolled her eyes, "I still don't get why you're so focused on the guy. Leave him alone."

Cel gripped her cup a bit tighter. "I'm not focused on him. He's just- very annoying."

"In what way, exactly?" Leon asked, cocking a brow at the pinkette.

"She's being ridiculous." Callum shook his head. Celine hissed at him.

The four of them, along with maybe Stiles every once in a while, were quite good friends. It actually started when they were young children, going on play dates together with the other Winx children. Liz, Emma, Rhys, and Kai, who were all six years old at the time, were considered too young for them to play with, while they deemed Brittany, Lana, and Hansel, who were all eight at the time, as too old to play with. So the then five seven-year-olds stuck together like some sort of pack, and it stuck. 10 years later and their little squad was still going strong, which is quite an impressive feat.

"Watch," was the only thing Cel told her friends as Stiles and Emma passed by them. Cel whistled to get their attention, and obviously, it did get their attention as Stiles turned to them. Before Stiles could pleasantly ask how she was doing, Cel beat him to it. "Nice bald spot, Stiles!" She yelled over the music. It wasn't a very pleasant thing to say.

Instead of reacting as if he was offended or even angry at the blunt insult, Stiles smiled bashfully as he rubbed his head. "It's actually the darker roots of my hair, but thanks, Celly!" He then walked off with a baffled Emma.

"See?!" Cel yelled, gesturing to the prince at the distance. She stomped her foot childishly. "Nothing ever gets to him! He disgusts me."

"Or maybe you like him."

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Max shrugged, sipping on her punch. Cel frowned but she didn't push it any further.

Leon looked at his friend next to him, who seemed to be down for some reason. "Hey, buddy, is anything wrong?"

Callum looked up and looked at the blond prince and a freshman fairy with empty eyes. "...Aren't you upset at all that Stiles managed to snag your sister?"

The boy looked to where Callum was looking. Stiles was talking to Emma about something, probably a joke, as both of them were laughing, Emma especially. He looked back at Callum. "Not really," He said, "I know Stiles, and he isn't that kind of guy to do that. He's just getting her in the mood for the party, cheering her up, you know?" Callum responded with an empty 'oh'. Leon quirked a brow at his friend. "Wait...Callum, you aren't jealous by any chance, are you?"

"What, of course not," The response was quick and brief. Leon narrowed his eyes, before shaking his head. It's probably just one of his friend's many, yet fleeting crushes. Even if Cal did have a crush on Emma, it would probably disappear in, say, a month, and he'll be crushing on someone else. Cal's one romantically confused guy, Leon realized.

Max looked around the area with narrowed eyes, sipping her punch. "The music sucks," She finally said, "Who's handling the music? A damn 50 year old? What kind of music is this? Sounds like I'm in a funeral."

"I think Jeremy," Callum shrugged.

"Who?"

"You know," Cel shrugged as well. "That Jeremy, green hair, lanky, kind of awkward. I think he had a thing for you last year too-"

"Ah, that freak." Max muttered as she finished her punch, roughly shoving the cup into Callum's hands. "Hey, Calculus, we're best friends, right?" She asked the boy with an out of character smile. "I remember chilling with you in fifth grade-"

Callum pursed his lips as he looked down at her. He knew what she was planning, and he doesn't like it at all. "For the last time, please stop calling me that. Also, you shoved me into a jock's locker in sixth grade-"

"-Not my fault for thinking you and Kell were meant to be," Max shrugged as she approached Cal and slung her arm around his shoulders. "Anyway, since we're the bestest buddies ever, can you do me, your best best friend, a favor, best friend dear?" She asked sweetly. Leon watched the scene in interest while Cel was rolling her eyes.

Callum furrowed his brows. "I'm not your little tech- ugh, fine, what is it?"

"Oh, you know," She told him with a wink. Callum sighed and turned.

"Fineee. I'll get the equipment." Callum muttered.

Max smiled. "Yesss! Thanks, Calculus!"

"That's not my name-!" Cal was about to shout but Max had already walked away, probably to sabotage the current DJ and steal the booth for herself. The ginger-haired boy muttered something under his breath, before turning to Leon, handing him the cup Max had shoved in his arms. "Hey, can you throw this for me? I need to get the equipment out before Max freaks."

"Sure," Leon accepted the cup, shrugging. He looked at his friend, the guy does not seem to be pleased about his situation at all. "So...err, you and Max, huh?" He whistled.

Callum looked up and furrowed his brows at his friend. "Huh, what? Max? Me? Together?" He scoffed. "Nah. She's not my type and she sort of plays for the other team." He shrugged, before walking off.

Now it was just Celine and Leon hanging out, had they're not good friends, then it would have been awkward, but it isn't, thankfully. "Your brother's a doormat," Leon said bluntly, turning to Celine. The girl shrugged.

"Where's the lie?"

...

Philip ran outside the campus and to the forest located between all three schools, the now blaring music in the school and the party lights disappearing as he went deeper and deeper into the forest. He made sure Brittany had lost him before he sat down in some log and gripped his soaked shirt, clenching his fist. He felt angry, he felt truly angry. What was Hans' problem? What the fuck was his problem- He stood up and threw the log he was sitting on against a tree. He felt nothing but overwhelming anger at the moment, his vision clouded in red as he kicked another tree, becoming even more infuriated when he saw that his kick that hurt his leg had barely left a dent on the wooden surface.

He was about to punch a tree when he heard some humming in the background. He stood still and looked around, trying to find where the humming was coming from. He soon found the direction and slowly and cautiously approached it, watching out for some crunchy leaves and twigs. Finally, he arrived at the humming, pushing aside a bush to see a clearing of some sort, and in that clearing, stood two young children facing away from him, a boy and a girl.

The two children stopped their humming, and Philip was about to panic when he realized they probably heard him, but it seemed they didn't notice him at all, looking up at the sky instead.

"Dear sister, is that the song of the birds I hear?"

"No, dear brother, that is the cry of the forest."

"Is that the moon's bright glow I see, dear sister?"

"No, that is just the flames burning, dear brother."

Philip furrowed his brows in confusion. Cry of the forest? Flames burning? None of these things are happening. What were these two talking about? Thinking this was probably just some weird cult, Philip slowly backed away.

"Please cleanse this filth made by our pretentious mother, please make the world keep turning and turning," The two chanted. Philip, starting to get rather unnerved, continued to back away until he stepped on a twig, resulting in a very loud crack.

The two children's heads whipped around to see him, and they gave him unsettling grins as if they already knew he was there. He can see the children clearly now, they were obviously twins, with thick, light green hair that reached the nape (for the girl), and the ears (for the boy), and they both shared bright purple eyes comparable to amethysts. If it weren't for their unsettling grin, he would have considered them adorable.

He backed away from the children after they started approaching him slowly in a creepy manner. "What's going on-" His words were cut short as he heard a dull clank, and before he knew it, he was on the ground with his head in tremendous pain. He didn't see who or what did it, but what he did see was a lock of blonde hair for a second, before disappearing like a phantom.

Soon enough, the children stood over him, still with their unsettling grins. "Please make the world keep turning and turning, mister," The boy sweetly told him.

"What are you-"

The last thing he saw was a yellow orb coming at him.

Author's notes: So, how was it? Good? Bad? Could've been better? Also, sorry if some scenes were lacking, I was kind of brain dead when I was writing half the chapter. There will be a next part to the party which will be shorter I'd assume, and then after that, the plot finally starts, yay!

Oh, and you might have noticed some hinted pairings in there. I'm really not sure who's gonna end up with who at the moment but I'm experimenting. So, which sounds good? Emma and Stiles? Emma and Callum? Celine and Stiles? Brittany and Philip? Celine and Leon? Callum and Max (probs not)? Brittany and Hansel? Or maybe bromances, like Kai and Rhys? Leon and Callum? That's not even half of the potential pairings. So if you have any suggestions on who has nice chemistry, then let me know! I really need it.

Anyways, this is really long already and I really want to go to bed so for now, ciao!