This was actually kinda fun to write because I think Stella is really funny so I felt that I wanted to add humour to this chapter even if something bad is about to happen. I especially loved when Stella yells "occupied!" In the change room.
Chapeter Eight: A Trap for Stella
During Timmy and Helia's joint agreement to proceed on their quest for a cure, Brandon and Stella were in the city of Magix. Like always, Brandon felt the obligation to accompany his boo on one of her many shopping excursions. The Solarian princess strolled through the streets, roughly tugging her man by the arm, eyeing every possibles sale she could find. Suddenly she found it, the ultimate mega sale, 50 to 75 percent off every single article of clothing and accessory in the entire store, it was her fantasy come true. Shrieking and running through the doors, she pulled the poor Eraklyon squire forcefully around every isle and rack.
"Okay babe, I want to get this dress, this skirt.., and look at that coat! It's fabulous and it's 75% off! Can you believe it?" Stella screamed joyously, grabbing everything she needed and throwing it in his arms.
"No, absolutely wonderful." Brandon muttered sarcastically under his breath, and sighed, he loved his Sunshine dearly, but days like today were absolutely exhausting. She had heard the news about Tecna being sent to the hospital the night before, and it was a matter of time before she and the others would hear about Flora as well, Brandon knew that shopping was the only way for her to keep her mind off the distress of the current situation, as it always had. While Stella took her clothes to the change room to try on, Brandon snuck off to a nearby jewelry kiosk to look at the many necklaces displayed there.
"This one is perfect for the Princess of Solaria, made from the rarest gold in the Magical Dimension and encrusted with the most precious and valuable stones known to all magic kind." The lady told him, picking up one of the necklaces from a display case.
"How did you know I was shopping with Princess Stella?" Brandon inquired, there was something quizzical about this saleswoman that he just couldn't put his finger on. With Tecna infected with a magic virus that was potentially slowly killing her, the rest of the boys felt the need to be extremely diligent to protect their loved ones. Brandon was no exception, he was definitely on his guard even when Stella wasn't.
"Everyone knows who you are, Brandon, when you started dating her it was the biggest story in the Magical Dimension." The lady explained, "Stella is a very highly sought after member of royal society after all." That seemed like a legitimate explanation to how she knew him and what he would be looking for.
"All right, but it would probably cost me an arm and a leg to buy, I could never afford it on my income." Brandon sighed, but the lady just shook her head.
"The store manager saw Stella come in, he said that if I give her this necklace, I would get a huge promotion." She pressed, "it's all good, it's free."
"Just wait one minute!" It finally dawned on him what exactly was going on, the extreme sale, the woman trying to give away this extravagant piece of jewelry. It was a trap! "Stormy!"
"Drat!" The witch of storms shouted, chasing Brandon down as he headed back towards the change rooms, he knocked desperately on the door.
"Hey, occupied!" Stella yelled from behind the other side.
"Stella, we have no time for this, this sale was all a setup!" He cried out, trying to get her out of the change room before Stormy could find them, "Get dressed, we have to go, now!"
"How do you know that, Brandon?" The Solarian Princess inquired, peaking her head from the other side of the change room door while slipping on her aqua and pink striped dress.
"I saw Stormy disguised as a saleswoman trying to give me a suspiciously expensive piece of jewelry, she was saying that because the store manager saw you coming in, her wanted to give it to me for free to give to you as a present." Brandon continued, "Now please, Stella, we have to get out of here!" There was not a second later that she tossed every single piece of clothing on the floor and scrambled out of the dressing room, grabbing her beloved's hand and racing towards the exit.
"Not so fast, you're not going anywhere!" Stormy declared, stepping in the path of the couple on their way out. Suddenly the lights in the store went out, and not a thing could be seen.
"Now you messed with the wrong person!" Stella shouted furiously, " You used a perfectly good shopping opportunity as a trap to get me infected with the same magic virus that you used to almost kill one of my friends! Stella, Princess of Solaria and Fairy of the Sun and Moon does not tolerate that!" With her small rant, she transformed into her Enchantix, beginning to shoot endlessly at Stormy, providing light for herself in the process. Unexpectedly for the princess, a dark energy blast came from behind her, hitting her and sending her plummeting to the floor, de-transforming back into her casual clothes. The attack came from Darcy who was hovering right behind her.
"Stella!" Brandon cried out, running towards his Sunshine and trying to help her on her feet, however he was taken aback when he saw that the necklace he was so desperately trying not to give to her, had magically appeared around her neck, "No!"
"We got what we came for, and now it's time for us to go." Stormy laughed, vanishing into thin air with Darcy as the lights in the clothing store turned back on, and all the regular customers and salespeople came out of hiding.
"What in Magix happened in here?" The store manager exclaimed, running towards Stella and Brandon to see what was going on.
"One of the Trix sisters used your store as a trap to get Stella infected with a very serious magic virus, you weren't aware of that?" Brandon asked as he tried fiercely to pry the necklace off his girlfriend.
"There was one lady working at the jewelry kiosk that I didn't recognize, and I think she hypnotized me temporarily. It wasn't until just now that I came to my senses." The manager told him worriedly. Brandon continued to pull the necklace off Stella while she began to assist him in his efforts.
"If only this necklace wasn't so beautiful!" The Solarian princess cried out, then froze in fear, "Wait, what if I'm already infected?" This made Brandon's eyes widen, and they both stopped pulling in a complete panic. Seconds later the necklace vanished, and suddenly Stella's vision became hazy, and she passed out right in her loving boyfriend's arms.
The effects of the magic virus came much quicker for Stella than they had for Flora and Tecna, for when the Solarian princess woke up, she was already in a hospital bed in the next room from her nature loving friend. Her vision slowly returned as she saw Brandon's face looking down at her, and suddenly she felt the same stabbing pain within her heart that indicated the beginning of the symptoms.
"Brandon!" She began to scream, "What's going on!"
"Stella.., just try to keep calm, you're in the Magix Hospital right now." He informed her softly, "unfortunately Flora was just admitted not to long ago, Helia said she got infected by the magic virus too."
"Now I know just how painful this must've been for Tecna!" Stella continued to scream at the top of her lungs, possibly bursting Brandon's eardrums, "This is a thousand times worse than menstrual cramps, but it's in my heart!"
"Please Sunshine, just stop screaming, everything is going to be fine, I promise." The Eraklyon squire told his princess, "the doctors have a strong potion that can numb the pain long enough for you to at least get some rest. Flora is already asleep in the next room."
"What about Tecna?" Stella tried desperately to hold in another scream, it was just so painful and she was not as emotionally strong as the others.
"No news yet, all we know is that she's in stable condition, but they put her in a continuous sleep until they can find a way to cure all of you." Brandon told her sadly.
"Poor Timmy must be devastated," Stella began with an uncomfortably loud groan, "Do you think Flora and I will end up in the same state?"
"I sure hope not, Sunshine, I sure hope not." Brandon whispered softly, beginning to run his fingers through her long blonde hair that was as brilliant as sunrise. He could feel her tense up every time she experienced the sharp pain caused by the magic virus eating away at her powers from within. He just needed to keep her calm until the doctor returned with the magic potion they used to slow down the infection for Flora, then she could peacefully sleep just like the others. Though Brandon was afraid, what if he lost his golden Sunshine, the way Timmy was petrified to lose Tecna, and just like Helia was frightened by the thought of losing his beloved Flora. Three out of the six guys had been affected by having their most treasured girlfriends infected by this life threatening illness, and it was absolutely heartbreaking for them to watch their loved ones suffer and not be able to do anything about it.