Stella stirred. Her head hurt. "Oooh." she groaned, cradling her head in her hands.
All she could remember was here Princess Ball, and being hit by a burst of magic. Then she realised something. "Where am I?" she asked no-one in particular. All she could see was darkness, and she could hear a faint dripping, like a leak.
"Ugh, this place needs a major makeover!" she said, wrinkling up her nose.
It was so dark, she could barely see her hand in front of her face, and Stella didn't do well underground.
"Solarian Light!" she cried, holding her palms out in front of her. Her delicate fingers began to glow, and she squinted, trying to make out where she was. She could see bars in front of her. Touching them, and feeling the cold, rusty metal under beneath her fingers, her heart sank as she realised where she was. The Land of Shadows. Home to the darkest wizard in all the Realms. Baltor.
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As the jet landed just outside Alfea, Miss Faragonda came hurrying out. They shouldn't have been back for a few days, something must be wrong. She saw the look of utter misery and failure on Brandon's face, and the tears that were still falling from Bloom's red eyes. "What's happened?" she asked, with an extremely worried look on her face. Tecna stepped forwards. "I'm afraid we have some rather bad news." she said, her voice shaking. "Stella, she, well, she, she was taken. By a dark wizard by the name of Baltor."
"What?" Miss Faragonda was shocked.
"Yeah, he took her to the UnderRealm as a punishment to King Radius. He said that he was taking revenge for exile or something." Musa said.
"This is very grave." Miss Faragonda said. "Very grave indeed."
She turned to Brandon. "I know you must be upset Brandon, but you have to listen to me. Don't do anything that I don't tell you to do, OK?"
Brandon looked shocked. "Yeah, whatever." he shrugged.
Miss Faragonda nodded quickly, and turned to Bloom. "Bloom, I know that you too must be hurt by this, but you mustn't make any rash decisions, do you understand me?"
Bloom bowed her head. "Yes Miss Faragonda."
"Good." she said. "Now I must go and contact Miss Griffin."
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Stella had been sitting on the cold floor for what seemed like hours before she heard the footsteps. She stood up, bracing herself for an attack. She heard a laugh. "Calm down, little fairy. It's only me."
Stella was terrified. "Baltor." she whispered.
Baltor stood outside the bars. "Yes, my sweet, it is I. Come, we have things to attend to. Mainly, us."
"Us?" Stella asked, bewildered.
"Indeed." Baltor agreed.
He waved his hand and the bars lifted. Stella stepped cautiously out into the cave, and watched as Baltor started to walked away. "Come along." he called over his shoulder. "And don't try to escape, I have the witches very well trained."
Stella shuddered, and hurried along behind him.
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Brandon, Bloom, Sky, Layla, Musa, Riven, Timmy, Tecna, Helia and Flora waited in Miss Faragonda's office for the headmistress to return.
"Do you think she's OK?" Brandon asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
"I'm sure she is, honey." Flora replied.
"You don't know that." Riven sneered.
"Hey, she was only trying to be positive, Riven!" Bloom snapped .
"Yeah, cut it out, Riven." Helia added.
"Oh, come on, I'm only trying to be realistic." Riven rolled his eyes.
"Riven, stop being such a jerk, would you?" Sky said angrily.
"You gonna make me?" Riven smirked.
"Stop it you guys, chillax!" Musa cut in.
"Yes, this fight is clearly illogical!" Tecna agreed.
"Oh shut up, you nerd!" Riven laughed.
Tecna blushed, and looked away.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Musa and Timmy said in unison, glaring at Riven.
"Hey, Musa, you're supposed to be on my side!" Riven glowered.
Layla rose from her seat. "Just because she's dating you, doesn't mean that she can't stand up to you, Riven." she said quietly.
"Standing up to me? She's just following her pixie friends!" Riven cried.
"I am not!" Musa said furiously.
Soon they were all arguing, shouting and yelling, until Brandon stood up.
"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP?" he roared. "We are trying to help Stella, and this is NOT helping!"
"Brandon's right." Bloom said sadly.
"Indeed he is." a voice said.
Everyone turned to see Miss Faragonda standing in the doorway. She looked weary and a little defeated. They all sat, waiting eagerly for her news.
"So? What did Griffin say? Do we go, or what?" Musa asked nervously.
Miss Faragonda sighed. "It seems we have a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Brandon asked at once.
"Well, to fight Baltor, we need the help of the Cosmic Guardians." she replied.
"The what?" Bloom asked, confused.
"Not what, who." said Miss Faragonda. "They are the eight keepers of the Cosmic Power. They are descendants of the greatest fairies ever known. There are eight keepers, and one Cosmic Princess, who is their leader. They alone hold the key to freeing Stella."
"So what's the problem?" Bloom asked.
"Yeah, if we know how to save her, why is there a problem?" Brandon asked, concern clear in his voice.
Miss Faragonda sighed again. "Well, that's where it gets a little complicated."
"Complicated? How?" Flora asked.
"Well, you see, the seven of the Cosmic Guardians are going to be hard to find." Miss Faragonda answered her.
"Seven? I thought you said there were eight?" Riven frowned.
"Yes. But we have discovered that the leader, the Cosmic Princess, is the keeper of the Cosmic Power of the Sun. Meaning Soleria in fairy terms…meaning-"
"Stella is the leader of the Cosmic Guardians?" Layla asked, amazed.
"Yes." Miss Faragonda nodded. "And Baltor is probably referring to the same kind of spell that Lord Darkar used on Bloom, which will turn her heart to darkness. We must track down the Guardians, and fast."
"But how?" Bloom asked.
Miss Faragonda smiled. "Well, what are all the planets? Minus Earth and Uranus, and the Sun, seeing as we know that that's Stella's Cosmic Realm, we have eight left in your Solar System."
"Right! That leaves Venus, Mercury, Neptune, the Moon, Jupiter, Pluto, Mars and Saturn. But I don't think any of us know which planet is which Realm, and who has ancestors from any of them."
"I know!" Tecna suddenly gasped excitedly. "I can cross reference the Earth names with the fairy terms on my computer, and we can find the heir to each planet's throne, and that way we'll get every one of the Cosmic Guardians, won't we?" she asked Miss Faragonda, who smiled.
"I do believe you've cracked it!" she smiled at Tecna, who was already hunting for her handheld computer.
"Wait, so, every planet that's in my Solar System was actually a Realm?" Bloom asked.
"Miss Faragonda nodded.
"So, each Realm has an heir, who possesses a Cosmic Power?" Bloom was trying to make sense of it all.
"Yes." Flora answered her this time. "And we have seven to find!"
Miss Faragonda gave a wan smile. "We will also need as many boys from Red Fountain that you can spare." she said, talking to Sky, who nodded.
"We'll all go." Brandon said.
"Yeah, and my brother's transferring here this week, so he can help us." Riven added.
"Good. But remember, not every solitary pupil from Red Fountain can be sacrificed. It shall be only you, Brandon, Timmy, Sky and Helia. And of course, your brother, if he wishes to help." Miss Faragonda warned.
"OK." Riven nodded.
Layla waited until the boys left, and everyone except her and Tecna were asleep. She was standing on the balcony, and Tecna was still furiously trying to locate the first of the guardians. Layla looked up at the stars, unaware that the first guardian was closer than they thought…
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Stella followed Baltor through the tunnels, nervously looking at the bats hanging from the cracks in the rocks. "Um, Baltor, I don't mean to sound oblivious, but why am I here?" she asked.
"Because my dear, I have decided to punish your father for sending me into exile. Ideally, I was going to destroy you, but-" he spun around suddenly, cupping Stella's face with one hand. "…I could not let such a beautiful face go to waste."
Stella was shocked. Baltor was handsome, in a pale, vampire, majorly evil kind of way, but she was already in love, and a fairy could never get involved with a wizard who had been sentenced to an eternal rest in the Omega Dimension. Ever.
"Listen, Baltor, I'm with someone." Stella said.
Baltor didn't bat an eyelid. "So? Where is he now? No-one who comes here will survive, I promise you. He is history."
"Well, I hate to break this to you, but I will be too if I stay here." Stella argued."I'm from Soleria, meaning that I kind of need sunlight to live, and the UnderRealm doesn't really have much of that, wouldn't you agree?"
Baltor smiled, showing white fangs that made Stella feel uncomfortable. "Yes," he said. "That is a problem. I suppose we shall have to make a few….alterations."
"Alterations? Listen pal, I'm not a dress! You can't just alter me!" Stella cried.
"Silence!" Baltor ordered. He raised his hand slightly, tilting Stella's head up.
Stella trembled as he looked into her eyes. "Don't worry, my darling, it won't be long now."
"Until what?" Stella was afraid to ask, but even more afraid of not knowing.
Baltor turned his head and called for his pet, a short but slender snake with bat-like wings and fangs. The snake slithered across the floor instantly, and flew to his ear on leathery wings, before hissing something Stella didn't understand.
The moon is full, Master. It is time.
Baltor nodded. It was time. He turned to Stella, and smiled. "It is time, my dear."
Stella let out a scream as Baltor sank his fangs into her neck, and the snake slithered away across the dark rocks of the tunnels.
Will Stella survive? Will the others find the Cosmic Guardians? R&R!