Author's notes: A late update...sorry, I guess, but this chapter was kind of hard to write so yeah. A sort of info dump at the third scene and I was kind of half asleep when I wrote it so I hope it's not too clunky or something.
Red.
All he could see was red.
He looked around, the dreaded color was splattered on the walls and the lavish furnishings in the room, accompanied with handprints that showed nothing but agony and fear. A puddle of the color kept spreading on the already red carpet on the floor, making the carpet seem darker and more sinister. His parents would have killed him had they seen that he stained the carpet, but they can't. They can't. Not anymore.
He looked down. His clothes were stained with the color, and his hands were dripping with it too. He knew it would be a pain to clean this up, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter. Not anymore.
His panicked eyes darted to a small blade one of his hands had been clutching the whole time. With a gasp, he let go of the bloodied weapon and he watched as it hit the floor with a dull clang, merely landing next to a hand so stiff and pale, so devoid of life. A dead body. His eyes darted, there was another dead body and another. There were three dead bodies in the room, belonging to his mother, father, and older brother. There were more in the kitchen, dining room, and even the hallways, but he lost count. There was too many. Too many blood in his hands.
The usually lively mansion was deadly quiet and dark, with the full moon the only thing illuminating the room he was in. Despite the darkness, he can still see the color red all around him. The silence didn't help either as his mind ran wild with several words and phrases. Murder. Murderer. Killer. Vengeance. Kill. Murder. A murderer. You killed them. Murderer.
Lively and high-pitched giggling broke the silence, and he whipped his head to see who it was. It was them. The children who made him do this. The children with their uneasy grins and movements that mirrored one another completely. The cursed twins. "Hmm...not bad, mister~!" One of the twins, the boy, hummed pleasantly with a sweet smile.
"A bit rough at the start, but you're ready!" The other, the girl, mirrored her brother's sweet smile. However, he wasn't as enthusiastic as the twins, grabbing the small knife from the ground as he slowly rose. Within a split-second, he swiftly turned and charged towards the two children with a battle cry, the blade glinted as he aimed directly in one of their- the boy or the girl, he didn't care- hearts. However, someone else was quicker as a bright light suddenly blinded him for a second, and before he knew it, he was face-to-face with an unknown person in a golden cloak, who had jumped between them to protect the two children. For a very brief moment, he saw the hood of the person fly out for just a second and he was greeted by bright golden eyes that he could have sworn he saw somewhere else-
Before he knew it, he was blasted to a wall. He gasped as pain spread throughout his body, barely noticing that the two children were now standing over him. "Very, very bad idea, mister!" The boy, Pollo, shook his head. He felt the pain suddenly go away and he could move again, so he sat up and frowned at the children, not moving a muscle to even indicate an intention of harming them as he knew the consequences.
"Don't you want to get back at people who wronged you?" The girl, Arte, questioned. He stiffened. "You know what the yellow orb thingy does, this is your chance! Just do us a tiny little favor and you'll be good to go while we make sure everything goes smoothly, 'kay?!" She said as she extended a hand towards him. He stared at the small hand, obvious reluctance written on his face. If he grabbed her hand, then there will be no going back. It's like a deal with the devil. He pursed his lips, weighing his options, and suddenly, he accepted.
Dealing with the devil, he shall.
...
Prince Hansel woke up after hearing someone shifting around the room continuously. He slowly opened one eye open and saw a blurb of yellow move around the room, from the dresser his roommate owned to the other bed where there was a duffle bag accompanied with neatly folded clothing and other personal belongings. The room was barely lit, with very thin lights seeping from the curtains as it showed the orange, pinkish sky where the sun had barely risen. Hans groaned, he knew Stiles had always been an early bird, often waking up early just to watch the sunrise, but the guy knew better than to wake his usually grumpy roommate with his early shenanigans.
Hans groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes that begged to rest more. Stiles froze as he was just about to place his underwear in his pack, he turned to the prince and smiled bashfully. "G'morning, Hans!" He told him sheepishly, "Um, sorry for all the noise. I was just, ermm, packing."
"For what?" That question was accompanied by a yawn. "Last time I checked, the Day of the Rose won't be for two weeks."
"That's not...quite the reason," Stiles said slowly, rubbing his neck. Hansel furrowed his brows. "Remember Philip? That guy in our class whom you have a certain... distaste to," Several memories flashed in Hansel's mind. The time he pushed Philip after a frustrating battle, the time he spread nasty rumors about the boy...that one time in the party.
Hans looked down and rubbed his head. "Err, I guess." He told. Now that he thought about it, Philip hasn't been around this past week, which was bad as Hans really needed to apologize to the guy, but never had the chance to. He truly regretted humiliating the guy in public, but no one knew that, and he intended it that way. He hoped he would encounter Philip today and just apologize to him in private, also threatening him to not tell anyone that the arrogant Prince Hansel of Eraklyon was apologizing to a lowly son of an Earl. But that's not what fate had in mind.
"Well...his family had been murdered in their own home these past few days, and um, today's their funeral," Stiles informed, and it felt like a punch to the gut to Hans. "I know I'm not exactly required to attend, but I feel like I need to. Philip has been a great friend for me and big sis when we were younger, and not attending the event where he needs us the most doesn't sit well with me. And besides, people would be asking why the prince isn't in the ceremony." Hansel didn't reply, and Stiles didn't push as he continued packing his belongings. In his peripheral vision, he can see Hansel, instead of going back to bed, as usual, still looking down and holding his head, as if he was in deep thought.
"I'll come with you," Was what he suddenly said.
It took a while for the Solarian prince to register. "Pardon?" He blurted, blinking.
"I'll come with you," Hansel repeated nonchalantly as he stood up, grabbing a blue suitcase under his bed. Stiles continued blinking.
"Why?"
"Nothing much," Hansel said, placing his clothing on the expensive suitcase.
"But you didn't ask for permission from the headmaster, you'll get in trouble," Stiles told him. He had asked permission from Headmaster Helia last night and after a moment of reluctance, it was accepted. At least Stiles had a reason to go, an Earl of his kingdom had died. Hansel didn't have a reason, sure Eraklyon and Solaria had been allied realms for a while now but there was no reason for a crowned prince of one realm to go to the funeral of the other realm's insignificant Earl, especially on a school day.
Hansel didn't seem to care a bit, still determined to go to Solaria and do...whatever. "So?" He asked. "Doesn't matter."
Stiles pursed his lips, "But why, though?" The prince didn't respond, merely continuing on packing his belongings. Stiles frowned and observed the prince, before heaving a sigh as he continued with his own packing. "Okay, then, you can come with me!" He decided. "We'll leave at six o'clock sharp and I'll stay there for about two or three days, it's your choice if you wanna leave early, though. Okay?" He smiled at the prince.
"Okay, I guess," He heard Hansel mutter. Content, Stiles turned back, failing to hear a quieter, sincere 'thank you' from the arrogant prince.
...
Lana sighed as she walked through the halls of Alfea, her destination being her first class for today. She had already split ways from the rest of her suite mates as they were lower years, and Brittany had left earlier this morning to attend a noble family's funeral, something like that, Lana guessed, as the note Brittany had left on her nightstand was vague and scribbled messily, as if it was written at the last minute, which stung Lana a bit with the thought that her roommate didn't deem her important enough to be woken up and told personally. She didn't consider herself a morning person but it's not like she turns violent when woken up either, the last time she was woken up by Brittany was just a few days ago...when she lashed out and threw a lava lamp at Brittany who only wanted to borrow a straightener- you know what? Maybe it was better off that Brittany didn't try to wake her up this time.
Finally, she arrived in the classroom. Professor Daphne wasn't in yet so many students have huddled around in small groups around the classroom, chattering about anything under the sun, like some cute boys they saw, makeup and clothes, maybe complain about classes, and of course, recent events.
"Lana!" Someone called out, and Lana whipped her head to see a young aristocrat from Melody. "Where's Brittany?"
"She left to attend a ceremony back home, I guess," Lana murmured as she sat down on her desk, trying to be brief. She felt like she has no place to talk about it, if Brittany was vague in her note, then that must have meant it was confidential or something.
"Is it true that there was a massacre in Solaria a few days ago?" Another aristocrat questioned a bit too eagerly as she planted her hands a bit too loudly on the princess' desk. But then Lana remembered that she was from a family of witches so it's no surprise, really. "And there's a sort-of private funeral held today?"
Lana shrugged, showing genuine ignorance of what's happening in her roommate's realm. "I really don't know guys, just ask Brit when she comes back."
The girls who had gathered around the princess of Andros pursed their lips as they exchanged looks, not satisfied with the answer. But before they could push for more answers from the girl who obviously has as much knowledge as they have about the situation, hushes filled the room as the fairies scurried back to their seats. Lana blinked but knew immediately as Professor Daphne gently set a book on her desk and looked at everyone. Her eyes examined all the desks and its occupants, as she usually did, and everyone was surprised when she looked over the empty desk beside Lana and merely ignored it. "Okay, I believe everyone is already here so we'll begin our lesson-"
"Um, miss?" A fairy- Ada, the princess of Zenith, Lana recalled- raised her hand awkwardly. "Brittany isn't here."
"I've been informed," Daphne nodded, "There was a family emergency back at Solaria and she has been excused from classes for a few days."
"What kind of family emergency, miss?" Another student, Tamara, questioned.
"I'm afraid that it's confidential, and has no bearing on our current lesson so kindly get your textbooks and turn to page forty-four," said professor Daphne in a slightly stern manner, and fortunately that shut the students up as they did what she said. "Has anyone heard of the term 'Malice'? More specifically, an orb or energy containing 'malice'?"
A student raised their hand, and without the professor's permission, answered anyway. "That was the thing that the Winx Club died trying to get, at least, that's what my parents said," It was the same eager, somewhat morbid fairy from earlier, her name was Raven. She was rather infamous for having a wide array of close friends, ranging from Maxine of Melody, the daughter of a Winx fairy and a well-known hero, and a witch named Blanche, a known daughter of a well-known and feared criminal and a mafia head. That's like being friends with an angel and a demon, except Max was a very mischievous angel.
Everyone's eyes went straight to Lana, being the descendant of one of the members of the new company of light. Meanwhile, Daphne shifted uncomfortably. "The fate of the new company of light is entirely debatable, but I digress. Yes, the Winx Club did try to retrieve the seven dark energies, but..."
"They died trying," Raven stated.
"We do not know that for sure," Daphne said slowly, choosing her words carefully as to not be so harsh on her students. Though she strongly believed that her little sister and her friends are still out there somewhere, she can understand why people believe otherwise. It's been fifteen years already, she's sure even the Winx's children believe they're half-orphan by now. "Also, let's not stray off topic, shall we? Now, where was I...oh, right," She cleared her throat, "The orb of Malice is a powerful source of dark energy, even the purest of creatures can be corrupted by the energy if they do so much as touch the orb."
"Yikes," one student said, and everyone agreed with that.
Daphne continued, "No one is sure as to where it originated and why, but most people believe that it came from hundreds of years ago, from powerful, yet mischievous wizards who created it just for the sake of it. It was supposed to be just one, medium sized, dark orb but the elders decided to split it up and put it into vessels as if to disguise it. However, as the elders prepared to split the orb, it went missing, and so did the vessels."
"Where did it go, and who took it?" Another student asked.
She shook her head, "No one knows, however, people seemed to be glad it was gone. Until a few decades ago, the orb resurfaced again with the vessels still missing. People didn't seem to worry much until an elder from Whisperia foretold a prophecy concerning the Orb, its vessels especially."
A student furrowed her brows, "What prophecy was that, ma'am?"
"If the orb will be split and be put into their respective vessels like it should be, it would be the end of the world. Again, no one worried as the orb was in safe hands of a family living in solitude, but with the couple massacred by their own children while they were being manipulated by a woman in the mirror, like a part of the prophecy said it would happen, everyone decided it's time to take action, and that's where the Winx Club came into the scene."
Lana could feel everyone's eyes on her again. She tried ignoring them and listened some more.
"While the Winx couldn't find much information about the culprits, however, they did try to find the vessels to try to stop, or at least, slow the villain down. They managed to find six pieces."
A student raised her hand, "Isn't there supposed to be seven of them?"
"Yes, that's correct, but again, only six was found. Queen Stella found a small hand mirror, Queen Bloom found a locket, Musa found the guitar pick, Tecna found a pair of spectacles, Queen Layla found a seashell, and Flora found a ring. They all kept it as far away from one another, in their respective realms. The seventh vessel, however, still couldn't be identified. It seemed unlikely that either the Winx or the culprit have found it, as it's the most important vessel."
"What then?" Another student question.
Daphne gave a smile of uncertainty. "No one knows. The culprit still hasn't made a move and the Winx are still nowhere to be found. Scholars are still trying to accurately decipher the rest of the very vague and cryptic prophecy, there are some guesses made, and the headmasters of the three schools are sure of a certain interpretation, but not everyone is happy about it."
"What's the interpretation, then?"
"There have been...requests to not tell it, I'm sorry," Daphne apologized, her gaze lingered on Lana and the empty seat beside her, as if she was telling them that specifically.
Author's notes: will try to update as soon as possible, that's all I have to say. I hope this isn't too bad or confusing.
Obligatory trivia: the villains, aka the hooded mirror woman and the two twin servants, are based on Banica Conchita and her loyal twin servants on the Vocaloid song 'Evil Food Eater Conchita', which in turn, belongs to a series called the Evillious Chronicles. I kind of based a lot of this story's plot from the series, I don't know why, but it's something I guess.
'Till next time!