Brittany's face was etched in worry rather than fear as she pushed through many branches and bushes and twisted and turned to where her friend might possibly be, the bright glow of the moon the only thing illuminating her path. She knew she was being very foolish by running through a dark forest at night alone and unarmed, but she wanted to know Philip was alright, she just had to. Her brows furrowed in anger, how dare Hansel drag a bystander to their petty fight like that? She swore the next time she sees that pathetic face of his, she's going to give him a piece of her mind.

"Gihihihi," a creepy giggle sounded throughout the clearing she was in, presumably belonging to one or more children, which made it even more creepy. She pursed her lips as she saw in her peripheral vision two small figures of what appeared to be children, and she sharply turned to them, only to find nothing.

The Solarian princess took a step back and gulped, feeling really unnerved at this point. She took another step back, and another, and then another, before realizing she had now bumped into something, or rather...someone. And so, she did the most sensible thing a person could do in the situation.

She shrieked and ran.

"Wait...!" The person called out. Brittany looked back briefly and saw blond hair and royal blue clothing, and she instantly knew who it was, yet she still kept running, despite the person's outstretched arm reaching out in a vain attempt to apologize.

She ran and ran, wanting to be as far, far away from that scum. She wasn't even looking to where she was going at this point, nearly crashing into trees and tripping over vines, but what really stopped her in her tracks, was bumping into another certain person, this time, the person she actually wants to see. "Philip!" She gasped, embracing the boy. She noticed that he was unusually cold, and stiffened upon contact, but she didn't pay much attention to it. "Are you okay? I'm so, so, so, so, so, sorry for what happened earlier! Hansel is such an asshole, I swear-"

"I'm fine," His voice was unusually cold and monotone, and his eyes lacked the vibrancy and was devoid of any kind of emotion, as if it was empty. Brittany pursed her lips, Philip never acted like this before.

"A-are you sure-"

"Yes," Philip said. His stern tone suggested that this was the end of the discussion, and he wasn't really in the mood to talk. So, before the princess could speak up, Philip walked past Brittany and back to where the party was held, without batting an eye or looking back. "See you."

Brittany pursed her lips as she looked at his figure disappearing between the trees.

Something was wrong.

...

Emma smiled and laughed softly as one of her friends told her some joke, many of her friends also laughed but everyone knew that the joke was lame, they just didn't want to make the joker feel bad. It was about an hour after Stiles had charmed Emma into enjoying the party, and she did, enjoying the snacks and chattering with her friends, though once Stiles deemed her to be now comfortable in the party, he respectfully left her, walking to a group of his friends for a change, not that she minded or anything but it was indeed quite a bummer.

"What does a cell say when his sister steps on his toe-?"

She tried listening to the joke, she swore, but another sound had distracted her. Sobs. It sounded like someone was crying. But who? Where? Why?

"Emma?" One of her friends, Allie, asked after the fake laughter died down resulting from the joke. "Are you okay?"

"Did you guys hear that?" Emma asked them as she frantically looked around. "Someone's crying."

Her friends looked at one another with baffled and confused looks, before shrugging. "What do you mean, Em? I don't hear anything even remotely close to someone crying," Another one of her friends, Irina, said, and everyone agreed.

"It's probably just your imagination," Another one of her friends, Elle (the one telling the lame jokes), said slowly.

"I'm not imagining things, I swear!" Emma said defiantly, but her friends did not seem convinced at all. She frowned at their skepticism, "Fine, I'll prove it to you! Someone really is crying!" She said as she walked away, trying to track where the crying is coming from despite her friends' protests. She looked around, through the crowds with fierce determination. She was a naturally nice person, eager to help people, so when someone is crying, she would always want to help.

Finally, she caught a glimpse of green hair in the direction of the cries, and she knew immediately who it was.

"Nemesis!"

Indeed, it was her. She was in a corner, all curled up into a ball in the floor as she sobbed, streaks of what used to be makeup was streaming down her cheeks. She was a mess. Emma immediately ran to her side and held her comfortingly, "Nemesis, what happened?" She asked worriedly to the sobbing girl. She had never really seen Nemesis since the first day, but still she was Nemesis' friend, and friends help one another.

"I...I..." Nemesis could barely speak, all choked up due to her tears. Emma frowned, someone must have humiliated her or something, no one would cry like this in public unless it was caused by someone else. What also bothered her was how everyone around them ignored them, acting like there wasn't a girl crying her eyes out in the middle of the party.

"Shh, it's okay," Emma said as she helped the girl stand up, handing her a handkerchief. Nemesis stared at the piece of fabric as if she was shocked, as if she never expected it. Hesitantly, she accepted the handkerchief and wiped her face with it, muttering a quiet, but genuine 'thank you'. Emma gave her a soft smile, before frowning as she turned to the people around them. "Okay, who did this to her?!" Emma demanded to every loudly, to the point where everyone in close proximity had heard her.

"Who did what to who?" A boy blurted in a questioning and confused tone. Everyone seemed to feel the same as well as Emma felt genuinely confused faces around her.

"Who made Nemesis cry?" Emma questioned, feeling a bit uneasy. Why was everyone so confused?

"Nemesis?" A fairy questioned, blinking. "I never heard of a Nemesis," She said, shaking her head. Everyone around had shaken their heads as well, not really knowing of a Nemesis in the school campus.

"And no one was crying either," A Specialist told her.

Emma's eyes widened, "What do you mean no one was crying?! Nemesis was crying just right here-!?" She quickly turned to where Nemesis was standing...only to find absolutely no one. It was as if Nemesis...was never there. "What? No, no! Nemesis was here-"

Everyone stared at her oddly, their stares were painfully judgmental and full of doubt. "Don't tell me the Headmaster's daughter is turning into a lunatic," One Specialist snickered to the other. Everyone, now deeming the situation as a waste of their time, turned away and continued on with their pleasantries and conversations.

"I swear she was here..."

...

Liz sighed as she looked around the party, the fight her brother was in was still fresh in her mind. No doubt that it will find its way to news articles as soon as tomorrow morning, and no doubt their father, King Sky, would summon them back to Eraklyon just to rant about maintaining a good image and being role models for Eraklyon's youth. She frowned, she still couldn't believe that Hansel could do such a thing, sure he was a bit insensitive and arrogant, but to think he would publicly humiliate someone like that...

Not only does she have to deal with the overwhelming expectations her late mother had unknowingly placed on her, being a princess of one of the biggest kingdoms in the Magic Dimension, but she also now has to deal with people asking her why her brother is acting like such a jackass.

"What your brother did was not cool," Someone next to her had said. Great, not even an hour after the controversy and someone is already bugging her about her brother. She looked up, it was a Specialist, probably a freshman as she was, his dark magenta hair was slicked back and his slanted eyes reminded her of the dark blue sky. The boy had this somewhat intimidating aura radiating from his form, yet his soft smile told otherwise. She squinted her eyes slightly to the boy, has she seen him before? "Err, hello? Earth to Liz, Earth to Liz, helloooo..." He said after a while, slouching slightly to fully face Liz, poking her forehead.

Liz blinked for a few moments, before suddenly stepping back as hues of pink dusted her cheeks. The boy's face was way too close to hers, even if it is a handsome one. However, what the boy said made her confused. Did he just call her 'Liz'? Most people referred to her as (Princess) Elizabeth, only those who do personally know her call her by 'Liz'. "You know me?" She blurted, ignoring his previous statement about her brother.

"'Course," The boy said in a 'duh' tone, as if she was going to understand. Still seeing her confused expression, he furrowed his brows. "Erm, I'm Rhys. We played together when we were kids, don't you remember?"

"Not really..." Okay, first it was Emma who insists that they played together when they were younger, and then there's Rhys?

"We used to play together too!" Another voice joined in, and another boy's head appeared from behind Rhys. His dark brown hair was gelled into a messy quiff-like hair style, few stray hairs fell carelessly on his bright cerulean eyes. He also gave the same familiar vibe as Rhys, as if she has seen him before as well. "But I was always a damn third wheel whenever you two hung out," He muttered bitterly. "I'm Kai, by the way, just in case you don't remember, princess Liz," He said with a sly grin, his mood shifting from bitter to calm in a matter of seconds.

Rhys looked at Kai oddly, "Third wheel? Since when?"

Before Kai could answer, the lights were suddenly turned off and the music abruptly stopped. Many freshmen fairies and Specialists gasped and others even shrieked, but needless to say, almost all freshmen and newbies were confused as to what was going on. Sophomores and Seniors on the other hand, simply sighed, or became slightly giddy with excitement as they knew what was going to happen.

Finally, a stage light of some sort was lit and was aimed towards the DJ booth, revealing a grinning Max. Liz looked around for the source of the stage light and saw a boy with a striking resemblance to one of her suite mates, holding the thing with slight uncertainty and slight excitement.

"Callum of Zenith, the son of the strategic member of the famous Winx Club, Celine's brother, and Maxine's right hand man," Another boy nearby observed. Liz turned to him and cocked a brow. The boy looked older than she, maybe a year or two, with neat, dirty blonde hair and wore small rectangular glasses. He was rather odd looking, wearing clothing reminiscent of Victorian times with a tinge of goth and an aura of darkness. She wondered if he was a wizard of some sort.

A girl ran up to him, "Victor," She addressed urgently. Hmph, his name was Victor apparently, how ironic. "I think they're on to us," The girl was quite odd looking as well, looking a bit younger than the boy, about Liz's age. With pale skin as white as snow, and long hair white hair tinged with a light blue, the ends sticking out like mere icicles. Like the boy, she also gave out this odd, dark aura. Liz blinked, was she a witch? Why were witches here? She looked around, she noticed that the party had gotten more crowded, many noticeable witches were there, standing next to fairies and Specialists like they were buddies.

"Calm down, Blanche," The boy, Victor, said smoothly, "It's only the party starting. Witches and wizards of Cloudtower have been sneaking into this party for nearly five years and everyone doesn't seem to mind. So don't fret, dear cousin."

The girl, Blanche, pursed her lips, "Fine," She said, turning her heel, "But if we're going to get exposed-"

"We won't," Victor insisted.

Blanche was about to speak more, but she caught sight of a certain redhead. Her eyes widened as she took a step back, as if Liz would burn her had she took another step towards the princess. "Fine, whatever," She said, trying to act all calm around her apparent cousin. "I'll go check on Spark, see you." With that, she left. Victor didn't seem to think much of her odd behavior as he continued looking up to the DJ booth where Max finally decided to speak.

"Okay, you heathens," Max started after tapping her mike. "I'm the one in charge of the party now, and-"

Liz thought about the odd looking girl and the boy standing near her, too distracted to hear whatever Max was spouting about as she had only one question in mind.

Who were they?

...

"-and so, let's get the party started!" The mirror showed the crowd in the party cheering as Max started to play some party-appropriate music, something that people can dance wildly to. The hooded woman can only watch the scene in mere amusement, a small, mocking smile plastered on her face.

"Hoh~? Is that so. Let's get our own party started as well, then!" She exclaimed in interest, brushing a stray lock of green hair from her covered features as she raised a hand, snapping her fingers. As if on cue, someone appeared behind her. It was another woman, or at least, her form suggested she was a woman, yet she was unidentifiable with a golden cloak covering her face and her entire body. The woman with the golden cloak bent on her knees, as if she was some sort of servant, ready to serve. "I need you to do something," The hooded woman told her.

The woman with the golden cloak kept her head down. "That will be...?"

"Watch over Arte and Pollo for me while they do their work," She told her, "Guide them, help them, just do whatever you can to make sure they are safe and are able to accomplish what they sought out to do."

"Understood," The golden cloaked woman said, "Where will they be?"

What the hooded woman said next sent chills down the golden cloak woman's spine as her shoulders tensed.

"The Kingdom of Solaria."

Author's notes: Lots of relevant things happened in this chapter more than I liked...oh whatever. Anyway, why was Philip acting strange? Is Emma really turning insane? Who were the two teenagers Liz saw (Victor and Blanche)? It's kind of obvious in a way, I mean, one of their names is a dead giveaway. But anyway, I hope they're not too out of place, they're going to be very, very relevant characters later on, but not in the way most of you will think, hehe.

The plot starts next chapter, I can't wait.

Trivia: this might be kind of out of place but I'm going to give it anyway since I don't know where to put it in the story. The reason why Daphne is still a professor at Alfea is because Oritel and Marion still refuse to retire (they missed out nearly two decades (I think?) of their reign, after all), and Daphne fully respects that so she'll just be a professor from now on.

See you guys.