A/N: Finally updated! The reason why this took so long was that I had a crisis about the timeline of this story, also some things from real life but whatever. Here's the update :)
"Your Highness...? Your Highness?!"
The maids were panicking at this point. The young princess placed a small hand on her lips to try and stifle her giggles, her back firmly pressed against the wall right beside the door of the royal majesty's bedchamber. She was playing hide-and-seek with her maids and servants again—except maybe she's the only one who knew they were playing hide-and-seek and that the maids are on hysteria for fear that the royal eight-year-old heiress of a powerful kingdom had been kidnapped— hiding in her daddy's bedroom after she had realized last week that she was getting too big for her toy chest and her closet was getting too predictable.
The princess peeked her head through the ajar door, flinching when it moved a bit but thankfully it didn't creak as the palace doors get oiled regularly. Many maids and servants were running around the halls, one young servant— his name was Lemy, she recalled, as he was often the 'lucky' boy to join her tea parties— even nearly tripped on a statue of one of her grandfathers, with so many greats that she didn't bother remembering. She snickered again before firmly planting her back on the walls again, priding herself for thinking of such a great hiding place. Who knew no one would think to look in her father's bedroom!
Amidst her snickering, she spotted a small glint of light in her peripheral vision. Turning sharply, her brows furrowed in confusion and curiosity as she looked around for the odd light-emitting object. Her bright chocolate brown eyes found its way to a dresser in the corner of the room. It was an elaborate dresser, its color a pure white with golden designs, not a fleck of dirt or scratch was visible, though it seemed to be cleaned regularly by the chambermaids, it also looked...untouched. Frozen in time, as if no one had used it and what's on it for years.
"Must be mom's..." The princess muttered, approaching the dresser, her game of hide-and-seek forgotten. She barely knew anything about her mother, some snippets of their moments together here and there, but she hasn't seen the woman in years. Everyone doesn't want to talk about it, her daddy gets upset about it, and her little brother was none the wiser about their mother. "When you're older," they all said.
The top of the dresser was full of jewelry and makeup, and her eyes gleamed at the sight, though what really caught her eyes was the thing that glinted yet again. She looked at the source and saw a small hand mirror. Suddenly finding herself full of curiosity and drawn to the hand mirror, she grabbed it and examined it.
It was the size of her hand so she had to hold it using two hands, making sure to be careful and not drop and break it. It was a pretty looking mirror, it reflected her cute face perfectly and clearly, its design was as elaborate as the rest of the dresser, complicated yet elegant carvings of gold danced around the mirror, accompanied with previous gems. She didn't know why she was so interested in this hand mirror, though she did find it odd how it started emitting a yellow aura of some sort...
"Princess!"
She gasped, nearly dropping the mirror though fortunately it merely bounced on her palms. She swiftly turned behind her, instinctively hiding the mirror behind her back. She just had to have this mirror. She needed this mirror. Her mirror.
The head maid's lips were awfully thin and her brows furrowed, making her look older than she already was. "M-miss Julia!" A sheepish grin appeared on the princess' face. She was nervous, Julia was mean, to her at least. Most maids and servants wouldn't even dare to touch the heiress of Solaria, but Julia was different, she had gained the respect of the former royals and even the current king as well from all the years she worked in the palace, so they wouldn't mind if the maid would instill a bit of discipline in the young princess.
Julia's stern expression softened a bit after seeing where the princess had been standing in front of, feeling a sudden pang of déjà vu as she envisioned a young princess Stella sneaking into her parents' bedroom to wear her mother's jewelry many, many years ago. She sighed, the girl must have just missed her mother. "Your father's looking for you," She instead told the princess, turning back to the door and preparing to exit. Seeing as the little girl wasn't following her, she turned back, "Now, what are you waiting for, little one?"
Brittany blinked for a moment, "Okay!" She smiled and skipped along the head maid, still holding the hand mirror. Her mirror.
...
Philip stared at the portrait right in front of him. It was a grand portrait, bigger than most portraits in the palace and it stood out the most, with a golden frame decorated with bright gems, representing the person in the portrait perfectly. His brows furrowed at the portrait, intently focused on examining the person's each and every feature, ready, almost desperate, to connect some dots. To tie loose ends. After all, everyone desperately needed it.
His gaze shifted higher, before being greeted by those bright, golden eyes that gleamed with the brightness that can give the sun itself a run for its money. His own eyes squinted, he has seen these eyes before. Not only in countless of portraits of it in the palace and everywhere else, but in real life too...
"Philip!"
A familiar, feminine voice squealed. Philip turned back to see a glimpse of brown before being suddenly tackled into a nearly suffocating hug. He was about to push whoever was trying to kill him away, but at that moment he knew who it was. Princess Brittany.
"I heard about your family," The brunette let go of the boy and looked solemn all of a sudden. One thing Philip noticed about the princess was how she could easily shift her mood and reactions to be more appropriate to the situation. "I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I know it's not much but-"
"It's...okay," was all he said, giving a strained smile. He wanted to cry right now, curse whoever killed his family, hunt whoever did it. But he can't hunt himself, especially if he was a mere puppet to a bigger, malicious, sick theater. If only she knew.
Brittany returned the strained smile. "What were you looking at, anyway?" She asked curiously as she looked behind the boy, wanting to change the subject. She hated sad and quiet atmospheres, it frustrated her. However, she regretted trying to change the subject as she looked at the large portrait in front of her. Bright, blonde hair, golden eyes, sun kissed skin, a smile far too similar to her own, a beautiful gown that was obvious as to who designed it, and a crown sat atop the person's head. There was a golden plaque underneath the portrait.
Queen Stella of Solaria.
1986—2018
Member of the Company of Light, or 'Winx Club'
It looked like something that can be written on a tombstone, might as well attach an epitaph while they're at it. She didn't notice the plaque before, or maybe she did and just didn't bother reading it, but it made her sad.
"She's not dead," was all Philip said. Brittany looked up at him and raised a brow, waiting for him to elaborate. But he didn't, or at least, he didn't have a chance as a bright, cheery voice sounded throughout the grand halls. They both turned back and saw a flash of yellow and they instantly knew who it was.
"Hey!" Stiles' signature bright grin was present by the time he finally ran up to them. There was someone behind him that was trying to catch up to the prince but Brittany just assumed it was a servant so she didn't pay much mind to it.
"I've been doing fine, Stiles, really, it's fine," Philip muttered before the blond could even open his mouth. Maybe there was sibling telepathy between the princess and prince or they just lack originality, but for some reason, they always say the same thing most situations. If Brittany gave a heartfelt message in a birthday party, chances are that Stiles would give a similar message. He found it weird but got used to it.
"Okay..." Stiles raised a brow. One of the few moments the bright prince of Solaria showed genuine confusion. Suddenly, they heard footsteps behind them and they turned to see who it was. Stiles smiled at seeing the person finally catching up to him, while Brittany's eyes were wide as she frowned, looking at the boy next to her to see his reaction. Philip, for the first time in all the years she's known him, was unreadable. His normally glinting eyes were dull and devoid of anything, his facial expression stayed relax and neutral as he watched the blond boy approach them with gasping breaths as if he expected the great prince of Eraklyon to arrive. "Finally!"
Once Hansel caught up to them, he first held his knees as he tried catching his breath. "Don't you ever slow down?" He said to the Solarian prince, giving him a look. Brittany looked at her rival and was surprised, instead of some fancy royal blue suit with golden trimmings or anything elaborate that showed Hansel's title as a prince, he wore a light blue and white striped polo shirt, accompanied with jeans and some tennis shoes, his hair was a bit of a mess as well, several locks of blonde hair stuck out like a yellow flame. He looked like he just threw in random clothing and didn't bother with combing his hair. So far, this was the simplest outfit Brittany ever saw from the prince.
"My bad," Stiles smiled as he rubbed the back of his head as if to act sheepish. Hansel crossed his arms and frowned, not believing him one bit. Stiles wasn't at all that worried of pissing him off as he saw Hansel's muscles relax as his eyes darted to the boy next to the princess.
Before either Hansel or Philip could speak, Brittany beat them both to it. "What are you doing here?!" Her sharp demand made the great and marvelous Prince Hansel visibly flinch, which caught her quite off guard.
Hansel looked down like a child in trouble. "Look, I'm just here to say sorry..."
Brittany already assumed what he was going to say so she already conjured up a response without thinking. "Of course you do- wait, what?"
"You heard what I said," Hansel rolled his eyes, turning to the son of the late Earl. "I'm, err, sorry for everythin- are you okay?" Philip was holding his head as he groaned, obviously in pain of some sort.
"Philip!" Brittany gasped as Philip tried to hold on to the wall for balance.
"I'm okay, I'm okay..." He insisted. Philip didn't know what happened, he was just listening to the prince's halfhearted apology, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain somewhere in his head, harsh whispers were predominantly heard amongst a loud, urgent ringing in his ears. Come now. Come now. Come now.
Brittany was panicking. "A-are you sure-"
"Yes, yes," Philip still insisted even though he felt like he was about to pass out. "I, um, have to go," He told them as he walked away, well, more like staggering as he held the wall for support. He needed to get there, quickly. "Please don't follow me!"
The three royals blinked at the aristocrat as they watch him stagger away to wherever he was going. "This is all your fault!" Brittany immediately snapped at Hansell as soon as Philip was out of sight.
Hansel was caught off guard as he held his arms up in surrender. "MY fault?! How is it my fault-?!"
The two rivals continued bickering with one another. Stiles learned to block out the annoying sound of bickering long ago so instead his eyes were intent on where Philip left. His brows were uncharacteristically furrowed and his lips formed a thin line.
Something was going on.
...
"Okay, girls, break time! We'll continue the lesson in ten minutes." Professor Palladium announced as yawns and sleepy cheers sounded throughout the classroom. An amused smile graced the elf professor's lips as he straightened his books and left the classroom, leaving the students alone to either take (or continue) a nap or catch up with the lesson while they were napping earlier, at least, that's what Palladium thought they'd do. But most students merely got off their seats and gathered into separate groups to gossip.
"This lesson is taking forever," Celine muttered irritably, her dozing head held by her palm as her mechanical pencil danced around her other hand. The fairy next to her, Maxine, slowly rose out of her desk with a tired, deadpanned look as she wiped some drool off of her mouth, one of her earbuds had already fallen out halfway through the lecture.
Max looked around the classroom with tired eyes. "Anything new?" She asked the person next to her. Cel responded with a similar tired expression, obviously saying 'no'. Max groaned outwardly as her head dropped to her desk with a loud thud.
Celine frowned as she looked out the window. Nothing interesting happened this week, she thought wryly, what a shame. But, as if fate was trying to prove her wrong, she suddenly saw a Red Fountain Ship—an Owl, she believed— suddenly land in front Alfea, hiding in the trees in the forest in front of the school. She raised a brow, why was an Owl hiding right in front of Alfea? Unless...
She jolted when her phone suddenly buzzed a familiar tune from some 8-bit game from the 80's, but she got over it quickly as she grabbed the device and answered it, knowing instantly who it was. "You're the one in the Owl outside, aren't you?"
The other line was silent for a moment. "Yes," She knew it. Callum. But what was he doing in an Owl outside Alfea? "You see, my squad and I-" There was a quick shifting noise before another person was on the line.
"Wanna go to Solaria?" Leon's voice quipped smoothly. "Apparently, Prince Hansole of Eraklyon snuck out of Red Fountain without permission and da- I mean Headmaster Helia is pissed. So he sent me and my squadron to Solaria to fetch him. Sure, he didn't say we couldn't bring people, but he never said anything against it either so if you and Max would want to join this adventure with us, then that'd be great."
"Who's callin' ya?" Max asked curiously, her head still laid on her desk but she was facing the ginger.
"Wait a sec," Cel spoke on the phone before turning to Max. "Wanna ditch class to go to Solaria with the guys?" The answer was instant.
"Hell yeah!"
...
"A hand mirror...?" Philip murmured questioningly as the hooded woman said as she paced around in that mirror of hers. The room was dark save for the green ominous glow of the mirror the woman was in as creepy, high pitched giggling sounded throughout. It looked reminiscent of a scene from Snow White, except instead of the mirror telling the person who was the fairest person in all the lands, it told the person to do horrible things just to get one thing and one thing only.
"Yes, a hand mirror." The hooded woman confirmed, nodding as an image of it appeared. The mirror was about the size of his palm, its frames had elaborately carved gold accompanied by bright gems, and it reflected his reflection perfectly and clearly. He furrowed his brows. Hasn't he seen this mirror before? "You need to retrieve it before midnight. It's somewhere in the palace, no one knows of its power and what it's capable of, so it should be easier for you. Whoever gets in your way or has the possession of the mirror...kill them if you please. Also, Arte and Pollo will be with you to wreck havoc as they please and help you if needed. Now, any questions?"
Philip pondered if the question in his mind was worth it, it was. "What do you need the mirror for, anyway?"
What remained visible of the woman's face contorted into a smirk.
"You'll see."
A/N: Is this okay? I felt like I nailed the first and third scene but kind of fell flat with the second. So yeah it's the beginning of the first-ish arc of the story that I will refer to as the 'Stella Arc' because Stella's children and kingdom are the main focus on this arc, maybe she herself too, who knows...
Obligatory trivia: I finally mustered up the effort to actually put up a timeline for this story, and I decided to count it as trivia. The current year for this story is 2028 and the Specialists (the Winx too) are all roughly in their early 40's. The Winx next gen were born in the years 2010, 2011, and 2012 while the Winx went missing on 2013. Does that make sense? I hope so, though I do feel I made some sort of miscalculation somewhere...
Anyways, till next time!