Chapter Three: Tecna

Dear Miss Tecna,

We are delighted to inform you that you have been accepted into The Alfea College for Fairies. Orientation day is enclosed below, as is your schedule and required materials. We hope to see you in Magix as you begin your journey into the wonderful life of a fairy!

Sincerely,

Linda Faragonda

Alfea Headmistress

(next page)

Student Schedule

Fall Term:

1. Basic Manners and Diplomacy with Professor Dufour

2. Incantations/Theory of Magic with Professor Palladium

3. Basic Transmogrification with Professor Wizgiz

4. Gateway to Technopathy with Professor Phlebotinum

5. Potions with Professor Zosimus

6. Dimensional History with Professor Demesne

Spring Term classes will be selected after the end of fall term by the student, while adhering to their requirements for graduation and skill level. Any changes in schedule must be approved by the deputy headmistress upon arrival, and cannot be made after the first two weeks of term. Thank you for your compliance.

It was nine o'clock on the planet of Magix, and Tecna was well-rested, refreshed, and prepared. So why did she feel fatigued, like she could fall asleep at any moment? It was almost as though the gravity was stronger on this planet – pulling her chin toward the table and her eyes into the slumbering position.

Was this an emotion? Tecna ran through the list of emotions in her head, trying to remember the symptoms of each one. At the moment, boredom was the closest match for what she was feeling. But why was that?

As far as she knew, all emotions were triggered by outside stimuli. So what could have caused such a strange sensation?

"And now, ladies," said Professor Dufour in her piercing voice, "we shall practice the common curtsy together. Please rise." The students did as they were told, lifting themselves out of their chairs, and following the professor.

So that's what it is.

Tecna sighed. She needed to do something to stave off boredom before she set her phone's laser function to atomic deconstruct and caused an interplanetary incident. Besides, that would be breaking class rules: Madame Dufour had insisted that use of electronics during her class was 'a true sign of rudeness and improper ways.'

How the entire thing was classified as something worth teaching, Tecna had no conception. Usually, people on Zenith spoke however they wanted as long as they were able to properly restrain their emotions. Unfortunately, it had been made clear to Tecna that she was most certainly not on Zenith any longer.

"Now bend," cooed the professor, and Tecna forced herself to fold at the waist. "Good, good! Yes, Miss Gentileschi! Hands folded, feet pointed out, and back up – you may sit."

Tecna unfolded with a sigh of relief and sat heavily. She heard someone giggle behind her and resisted the urge to turn her head.

"By the end of this week," continued the Professor, "we will have learned the seven most popular curtsies, the elements of posture, and the proper method of introduction when one does not know the planet from which someone hails. Now, does anyone know the Universal Greeting?"

About six girls (there were possibly thirty in the lecture hall) raised their hands.

"I don't mean the abridged version, ladies. Can anyone actually show me the full greeting?" All of the girls lowered their hands, except one tan girl in a green shirt – Flora.

"Excellent, excellent," cried Dufour, nodding so excitedly that she looked like she was about to lose her glasses. "Come down, please. Girls, take note," she called. Tecna's vision began to blur as Flora, flushed with happiness, made her way down to the center of the hall.

"See how she bends her knees forward, to preserve her modesty! She places one hand on her chest as she introduces herself!" Tecna tried to stay awake. But Dufour's voice (and maybe the atmosphere, or just the general subject), dragged her eyelids shut, until she fell into a troubled sleep.

"Hey, you've got to get up at some point!" a loud voice called, interrupting Tecna's dream. Suddenly, a large blunt object came down on Tecna's hand, causing her body to become instantly alert.

The lecture hall was clearing out. The one who'd spoken was Musa, Tecna's new roommate. She was holding a book: A Basic Guide to Diplomacy, which was probably what she had used to bludgeon Tecna awake.

"I didn't know you had this class," said Tecna, stalling for time while she remembered where she was.

"No choice," she replied. "If you don't pass it, you fail for the year." Musa caught her staring at the professor, then leaned in to whisper, "Don't worry, she didn't catch you."

"That's fortunate." Tecna looked up. She was fairly confident that embarrassment that caused the heating of her cheeks, but she'd have to check her pocket guide to be sure. "Well, I'd better find my second class. I'm glad you woke me."

Her roommate gave her a strange look, but Tecna didn't have time to decode it. She quickly jotted down the homework, and made her way out of the lecture hall. She was going to have trouble staying off her phone if the other classes continued in this vein.

By lunchtime, she had already given up. The urge to use her phone had turned into an outright itch, and by the end of the extra-long third period (which was spent discussing the syllabus), she had caved and dug into her bag to check her notifications.

Nothing.

If anyone had been on the quad of Alfea in the five minutes before lunch, she or he would have seen a pale, pink-haired fairy streaking toward the Grand Ballroom at a rather dangerous pace, tapping repeatedly at her phone while shielding her eyes.

By the time Tecna reached the ballroom where she had eaten breakfast, she was tired and hot, as well as filled with an inexplicable emotion that made her want to throw the phone, and herself, onto the floor. She settled for sitting down rather hard at one of the long tables.

She tapped the screen of her phone one more time, as if that would change the outcome. It didn't.

"No connection," it said.

"No," Tecna muttered.

She had not spent thirty hours in transit to a primitive planet to discover that there was no local realmweb connection and no way to get one. Unless she used the extract password sequence to brute-force the netkey by entering all possible combinations of characters... that was probably illegal. She scrolled down the list of networks. It was a short one. There was one labeled "dark_mistress," but it disappeared as soon as she saw it. The second one was labeled "RF_Public" and had two bars of service. The third one, though, "RF_secret_missions," looked promising and had five out of five bars. She lifted her finger, preparing to force her way into the network–

"Pray, what is the matter?" A timid-looking girl with blue hair and a deep tan was leaning over Tecna, uncomfortably close. Tecna jumped. The girl glanced at Tecna's phone. "Is your...device troubling you?"

They stared at each other for a strangely excruciating second. Tecna became fully conscious of the way she was sitting, slouched over her phone with her elbows on the table, and slowly slid her arms down and straightened her back.

Quick, think of your speaking lessons! she thought. "Nothing is the matter," she said, copying the girl's tone. "I'm only having difficulties connecting to the realmweb here. Please don't trouble yourself on my account."

"No trouble at all! I was only trying to help you." She frowned. "It's my pleasure to help others. And I thought, since we were here, that we should try to be our best selves... " She sounded rather hurt, as though Tecna had struck her.

Another psychotic classmate. I don't have time for this, thought Tecna.

"That's wonderful," she said, plastering a smile on her face, and stared down at her screen until the girl walked away. It took only a few seconds to realize that she was attracting stares. It took a surprising amount of willpower to look up.

She glanced around. Many of the other girls were already looking at her curiously. Her tutors had warned her before she left that she would be the odd one out. The signs were very simple

to see.

Make allies, she had been told. Bring back information.

Well, she had her first important piece of information: Alfea girls had their own system for making allies, just like the Zenithians. It just happened to be incomprehensible.

She looked around her. None of the girls seemed to be the "important allies" she had been told to make – quite the opposite. She was quickly running out of options. That fairy with the short brown hair and trench coat looked to be a bit of a social pariah, and the girl with bobbed honey-blonde hair didn't look like she wanted to be bothered. That left only a brunette girl in a peasant top whose status probably matched her clothing, and...wait–

"Flora!" she said, slightly louder than she'd meant to. The brunette fairy looked up, seeming relieved, and came over.

"Thanks for calling me, I didn't want to eat alone on my first day," she said gratefully. "I missed the first few minutes because Vara- Bloom's come down with a case of teleportation sickness. She's been," Flora leaned forward and whispered, "throwing up since Potions. At first, I thought it was the smell of ingredients. We were using Narcissus and Bitterblue in our Swelling Solution, and I thought that they were the cause, or maybe something else. Medusal Ivy can cause nausea and blindness from fifteen paces if it's not properly locked away, you know."

Tecna sat back in her chair, mind already working to assimilate this new development. "You're quite knowledgeable about magical herbs." Well, at least one of her supposedly rich, brilliant or influential roommates was meeting expectations. She'd begun to think that bribing the Alfea dean of housing had been all in vain. Speaking of which–

"Isn't Musa a princess?" she asked Flora. She'd heard that Musa's father, Hoboe, was royalty of some sort, but news from the far reaches of the universe took some time reaching Zenith.

Flora raised an eyebrow at the question, "Yes, I suppose. She's a pop princess, since her dad was crowned Prince of Pop at the Melody Music Awards… But she's not politically involved, she's only a public figure."

What.

"But, but–" Tecna found herself saying, as if the circuit of her brain had shorted out entirely.

She needed to think. Clearly, the information she'd been given by her tutors at the learning center in Zenith was completely false. She had to work quickly to fix the damage before she was called back in disgrace. She had not taken this chance in vain.

"Why does it matter?" Flora asked her, slightly sharper than before.

"I, um, just wanted to know," said Tecna to the commoner. She looked around her. Would it be a faux pas to just switch tables now?

Just then, the "princess" in question, Musa, strode up to the table and both girls went silent. Tecna felt rooted to the spot. Has she overheard? The thought was enough to make her freeze in place. She looked up at the taller girl with no idea what to say. She'd made some kind of declaration the night before, and that had made them 'friends', but what happened now?

And, why was one of her pigtails dripping pink slime?

Musa looked between Flora and Tecna for a moment, as if she thought that they were sharing some kind of secret. Then she smiled. "Well. I'd like to interrupt this lively discussion with a public service announcement: apparently, Princess Stella throws more than tantrums when she's interrupted in the bathroom." Musa sat down. "As in, she throws actual stuff."

Tecna looked at Musa. "But that's irrational. What would cause a civilized being above the age of four to react in such a way?"

"I know, that's what I said," Musa replied without a pause, reaching for the food that had suddenly appeared on their table at sixteen o'clock sharp. "Stella didn't like that. She didn't answer my question with words, just, you know, a glass bottle of Merlin's Hair Potion. It nearly hit my ear– like this." She pantomimed ducking a projectile by moving her toast past her face.

"It could have done some serious damage," said Tecna, watching hair potion drip from Musa's hair onto the table. It didn't hit your ear, that's true, she thought, and actually had to smother a laugh in a spoonful of Magix vegetables. What's gotten into me?

"Well, her looks do seem to be very important to her. I don't think it's nice to go after someone when they're feeling sensitive." Flora edged her way in, eyes downcast.

"Nor is it nice to hog the bathroom we all share when one person is spilling her guts out." Musa countered. "Bloom couldn't use the toilet, so she had to puke in your flower pots instead."

Flora's eyes widened for a moment. "Empty pots?"

Musa shrugged. "I couldn't tell." She continued to eat as normal, though Flora seemed to have lost her appetite.

Tecna resisted the urge to let out an annoyed huff at yet another thing that made no sense. "Isn't there an infirmary at this school?"

"Yeah, but all the charity cases–"

"–scholarship students," said Flora.

"Okay, fairies who couldn't afford anti-puke potions, are in there already. The line is backed up into the hall."

"Alright, that's enough about puke," Flora whispered, putting her hand over her face. "I don't even want to imagine what the others might be thinking." Tecna looked up to find that people were indeed staring, and that even she had a very good idea of their reasons for doing so.

"Change in topic, it is." Tecna thought for a moment. "What class do you have next? I have Basic Technopathy, combined freshmen and sophomores. Apparently, we all have one class that relates to our power source."

"Wait a second, I've got to get mine out of my bag," Musa said, spraying crumbs everywhere, and dove for her bookbag under the table.

Flora looked away from Musa's display and said, "I had Manners and Diplomacy first, with Dufour, as you know; then, I had Transmogrification and Potions. Now, I'm going to go to Naturopathy with Professor Mariposa. Then I have Incantations and Theory of Magic, and Dimensional History."

"Ah! Here it is!" Musa surfaced with a folded piece of paper that no longer resembled a schedule. "Let's see: I had M&D with you all first thing, then Incantations. I just came out of Transmogrification. After lunch, I go to my Music class. It's usually an elective, but it involves my power source so it comes up required. Then I have Potions and Dimensional History."

Flora looked over at Tecna. "So, how do you two like Alfea so far?"

"It's very different," Tecna stated simply, strangely unwilling to offer details. She was feeling the emotion from that morning – embarrassment– but didn't know why.

"It's pretty awesome," Musa smiled. "They have a great music program, and..." she stopped suddenly, smile disappearing.

"Hey, girls!" the girl named Bloom (at least, Tecna hoped that was her name) had found a way to sneak up on their table unnoticed. She and Princess Stella fell into the seats next to Flora. Tecna was thankful that she'd already chosen a seat by the edge– small comforts.

"Who does that fairy think she is?" Stella was complaining to Bloom. "Just because I'm a freshman again doesn't mean I can't blast her into the next dimension!"

"Bloom!" Flora called out with an eager expression. "How are you feeling?"

The girl shrugged, trying to smile. "A little better. Stella told me it's best if I eat right away."

"Well, don't try it if you don't feel up to it, okay?"

"Yeah, we kinda need to eat here. Not gonna happen if you start puking again." Musa added.

"Oh come on, the girl said she's fine," Stella said, and flipped her hair. It appeared that she had least got some conditioning done before smashing the bottle.

As the others began to chatter, Tecna listened closely for anything important. Unfortunately, they didn't seem in the mood to discuss anything except peplums, which, whatever they were, probably wouldn't grow in Zenith's climate anyway.

The Earthling Bloom was silent throughout, which was actually a shame. Earth had not been considered relevant for centuries due to its loss of fairy magic, but now that it had rejoined civilization, the input of an Earthling would be interesting to hear. Perhaps I should try conversing with her again, unless my outburst the previous night created some sort of faux pas.

She looked down at her plate, suppressing a snort. She hadn't expected Magix's social conventions to be so strange.

She glanced up at the front of the room, noticing a flash of movement. Faragonda stood, sweeping her arms wide.

"Young ladies, your attention please. I have an important announcement to make."

Beside Faragonda sat the deputy Headmistress Ms. Griselda, who didn't look like she was feeling a pleasant emotion. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"As is the tradition among the magic schools, the annual gala held in honor of our new students will be tonight. Students attending the Alfea College for Fairies and the Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery will gather here in our castle to perform the traditional welcome gift exchange ceremony." Faragonda began. As she spoke, the students began to chatter excitedly amongst themselves, making it difficult for Tecna to listen.

Bloom leaned in, whispering, "The Specialists are coming here?"

Stella grinned widely, "Yeah. Remember the ones who rescued us a few days ago?" Stella winked.

"Silence, please." Griselda clapped her hands for attention. Slowly, the talk died down, and the woman began to speak again. "Our headmistress is speaking. Show a little respect!"

"Thank you, Griselda," the headmistress of Alfea began again. "There is one more thing I would like to say: Your afternoon classes will be cancelled so our staff may prepare the ballroom, and if any student would like to help set up, they must only volunteer to do so. All students are expected to arrive at twenty-four o'clock wearing appropriate formal attire, and the dance will end at twenty eight o'clock when all Red Fountain guests are asked to return to their campus."

"That's right, no overnight guests. Deputy Headmaster Codatorta has informed me that any specialist found on Alfea premises after the scheduled departure will face due punishment." Ms. Griselda took over from there, adjusting her glasses in the process."Chaperones will be present. Love spells and crush potions of any kind are forbidden."

"But dancing is encouraged," Mrs. Faragonda continued. "The boys are bringing surprise gifts, and I'm sure everyone will have a wonderful time. It will be an evening full of enchantment, and I wish you all the merriest of nights."

Right as the head of Alfea finished speaking, the bell rang, and the freshman fairies cleared out as all the sophomores began to pour in, and Tecna left along with the rest of her year.

By the time she reached the door to their flat, most of her roommates were already gathered in one of the bedrooms. She followed the voices to Princess Stella's single. The Princess was clutching a piece of filmy orange fabric that looked more like a dish towel than a dress, if she were to judge it by its size.

"I maxed out the credit card Daddy gave me – that's a new invention, you know, you just swipe it anywhere and you pay later – but I couldn't help myself. It was just calling out to me: 'buy me, buy me, please!'"

"How noble of you to answer its call," Musa commented.

"Hardly so," said Tecna. "Money is the opiate of the masses, after all."

The girls spun around to stare at her. "Oh, wow, I didn't see you there," said Bloom with her hand on her chest.

"Doing so would have been rather difficult, as you were facing in the opposite direction." Tecna pointed out helpfully.

Musa snorted for some inexplicable reason. "Well, I'm going to go get my outfit, see if it still fits after all this cafeteria food. Tecna, want to come?" Tecna followed her back to their apartment with a feeling she would later identify as relief.

"That was some decent sarcasm back there," Musa commented, once they were standing in the bedroom and she was changing her clothes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it wasn't stellar, for sure, but it was decent. Someone needs to keep a lid on all the 'happy-to-be-here' cheery bullshit that Bloom's always spewing."

"No, what is this device known as sarcasm?" Tecna clarified, even though she also had questions about the lid idiom that Musa had used.

"What, they don't have sarcasm where you come from?" Musa looked at her with wide eyes. Tecna wondered if she'd said something offensive.

"It's, well, it's like the difference between spicy food and bland food, I guess. You use it to make your conversations more interesting. It's like a joke between the speaker and the listener: you can state the obvious, or pretend to be oblivious, or exaggerate something, or say the complete opposite of what you mean, but the whole time the listener knows you don't mean what you say." She grinned. "It's the greatest when you use it on people who don't know you're using it, and they take you seriously. One time I convinced this tourist that a shuttle-bus was actually a starfighter, and–"

She shut her mouth rather suddenly, cheeks turning pink. "Well, it can be fun."

"But why? Isn't it more efficient to simply state exactly what you mean and communicate your intentions clearly?"

Musa gave her that look again, the one that Tecna had begun to recognize as the one that meant she was being confusing.

"Sure, but then all the fun is taken out of conversation. You wouldn't speak to your friend like you would to a boss, would you? Sarcasm is one of those ways to have fun."

And then Tecna asked:

"What is fun?"

"Oh, Great Dragon. Well, um… I can't really explain it, except by using the word again, so..."

"Hmmm... is fun a way to pass time, perhaps?" Tecna suggested, trying to help them figure this out. "Because from the way you're making it sound, it is more of a hobby rather than a mental illness, which is what I thought of first."

Musa laughed. "You're kidding, right? Everyone has fun in their lives."

"What is 'kidding'?"

Musa stared at her. "This is getting out of hand. Let's stick to 'fun.'" She turned, facing herself in the mirror: during their conversation, she had succeeded in putting on an off-the-shoulder red dress with a high collar that only covered the back of her head.

" 'Fun' is doing things that give you enjoyment. Some people like dressing up, for instance." She adjusted her collar, showing a neatness that Tecna had never seen her display before.

"Entertainment? It's the result of entertainment!" Tecna guessed.

Musa glanced at her through the mirror. "You know what entertainment is?"

"I had to learn the term before I came here," she explained informally. "Part of our guide to Magix lists popular forms of entertainment, so I had to learn that definition to understand why the things listed were there." Tecna admitted.

Her roommate couldn't seem to find a response to that. "Hey, don't you need to get ready for the dance?"

Tecna nodded. She had an outfit which had been provided to her for formal occasions in this realm, which apparently differed greatly from presentations and assemblies held on Zenith.

She went over to retrieve it from her wardrobe. It was a high-collared thing as well, so at least she wouldn't be too out of place. This conversation had given her a new eye for the differences between her and the other girls.

"Do you mind if I ask you one thing?" said Musa as Tecna pulled the dress over her head.

"You may ask me an additional question," said Tecna politely, removing her knee length trousers and replacing them with shorts.

Musa grinned at that, for some reason. "Why are you talking to me? I mean, I know I said we would get along, but I'm apparently a pretty difficult person to get along with."

Tecna considered her words carefully as she straightened the front of her gown. "You aren't any more challenging to 'get along' with than the other girls are. And since I must share close proximity to you for a long duration of time, it's best if we aren't at emotional odds." Tecna explained. "Besides, despite being slightly confusing with all your lids and sarcasm and fun, you speak your intentions clearly, despite stating them differently." That was the truth, though it felt funny giving it to this unkempt common girl.

Musa smiled at her. There was some indefinable emotion in her eyes as she pulled on the purple pants that went with the dress. Tecna smiled back, feeling a bit embarrassed. Yes. That was the emotion she'd been feeling! She was getting better at this!

"Besides, you don't spend lengths of time staring at me for saying nothing wrong," Tecna added, clearing the confusing feelings out of her head. And, a bit tentatively, though she didn't know why:

"And… what about you? Why is it that you talk to me?"

Musa grinned as she tied a purple ribbon around one of her pigtails. "Because you're honest, that's why. And even if you don't understand half the things I say, at least you aren't like the other girls here."

"I can comprehend more than fifty percent of your words!" she objected, somehow knowing that this wasn't what Musa meant.

Musa offered Tecna a small smile, but her expression turned dark as she gazed into the mirror. "You'll learn very quickly that a certain type of girl attends Alfea. Most of them are privileged enough to pretend that certain types of hardship don't exist, or to act like they live in another reality where no one suffers, or has to work, or is mean to anyone else – unless you're a witch, of course." Musa glanced at Tecna. "As different as you are, you aren't like that."

She picked up another ribbon from the dressing table and began securing it around her other pigtail. "And that's fine. Their parents probably raised them that way, and they can probably go on living that way with no problems. I can make fun of them, but I can't change them."

She grimaced. "But then, when a commoner, someone who knows the way of the world, starts acting that way– that goes beyond simple upbringing. That's willful ignorance." She looked directly at Tecna. "And that's why I can't stand people like Bloom. She's living in a world that doesn't exist." She sighed, and the moment passed as quickly as it had come. "Sorry about that."

Tecna paused a moment to think. "Well, if what you say is true, it'd be better if you were a politically involved princess, not just a holder of a title that confuses my home realm. You'd be able to change your realm, and hold greater influence over the realms of others."

Musa gave her a sharp look. "What did you say?"

Tecna realized her slip with a burst of... possibly regret? "I said...it would be better if you were a real monarch." On instinct she added, "The other realms might be better off, too."

Musa smiled, that same indefinable look in her eyes. "Sometimes you say incredibly cool things, Tecna. Like what you said to Bloom last night. How, uh, there were some things that even you couldn't stand to do. Did you mean that?"

Tecna responded, after much thought, that she didn't know. She always said what she meant, didn't she?

The two fairies flinched at the sound of a door opening. They turned simultaneously to see Flora in the doorway.

"Bloom's vanished," she said without preamble. "Do you have any idea where she's gone?"

"How would I know?"Musa beat Tecna to responding. She sounded... angry, maybe?

The Zenithian checked her watch, newly set to use Magix time: 22:47. "Is it possible that she walked down to the ballroom early?"

Flora shook her head. "No, I don't think so. After she mentioned she had nothing to wear for the dance, she left. I thought she was going to our room, but when I left Stella's, she wasn't there, and she hadn't taken her makeup out or anything. She wouldn't have gone down without a dress, either."

"What does Stella have to say about all this?" Musa asked.

"She could've suddenly found something, then walked down before you went back," Tecna commented. "It's still a possible explanation."

Flora frowned. "Stella's in the shower. She says she's sweaty."

"Again?"

Tecna cut past Musa, straight to the point. "Do you think this could be a symptom of teleportation syndrome?"

Flora narrowed her eyes. Tecna's physics tutor on Zenith had often worn that same expression herself, when considering an especially hard problem.

"But Stella wouldn't have that problem, would she? She's a princess, she's probably traveled all around the universe for state functions." Flora looked thoughtful. "The only thing I can think of is...magic overdose..." She got a worried look on her face and turned toward the door. "I need to go to the library," she said, running off. "If any of you see Bloom, make sure she's okay! And check on Stella when you can!"

The heard the door to their dormitory slam off in the distance.

"Hmm…" Musa began sifting through her drawers, then cursed. "Crap! I left my makeup in the bathroom. Think Stella will notice if I sneak in?"

Tecna looked up at her. "It depends: how much sound does the shower barrier obscure? How loud is the running water? I can do a risk-reward analysis for you if you just wait a moment–"

"I'm chancing it." Musa got up and went to the door, with the attitude of someone going to war.

"What about Bloom?" Tecna pressed. "Flora seemed to think it was urgent."

"Bloom probably just stepped out for a second and got lost. Alfea's a big place. I'd finish getting ready first, if I were you." And with that, Musa left the room, leaving the door open in her wake.

Another two hours found Tecna standing in the corner of the Grand Ballroom, talking quietly into her phone. Her classmates were engaging in some sort of elaborate courtship ritual with the recently-arrived Red Fountain honor class. It was fascinating enough to be worth reporting. Stella had run off after greeting her effusively at the start of the dance. Tecna could see her now: she was talking brightly to four of the honor students, swishing her long blond hair every second or two. The brightly-colored dishrag had made a reappearance. It was amazing that something that tiny could fit on a person so tall. In fact...

"Note. Subject: Stella possible possessor of advanced matter-compressing spells. Press for information at nearest opportunity." Somehow the thought made her smile, as if she had done something wildly amusing. She shook her head, still smiling. Everything about this realm was confusing her.

Flora had found her way to them, and she stood behind the group, although she had not been acknowledged. Musa had appeared as well. She was standing right beside Stella, talking with the guests almost as passionately. They seemed to be behaving for the time being, thankfully.

As it turned out, the brunette boy was actually a prince: Prince Sky of Eraklyon. The Zenithian had actually read about Prince Sky, and had made it an objective to cross paths with him at one point. Perhaps Stella was a worthwhile ally after all, if only so Tecna could make more allies. The others were Brandon, the prince's first royal squire, Riven, who had a very uncivilized demeanor, and Timmy, who spoke in the most erratic way.

Tecna stood quietly, listening to the ongoing conversation. From what she could gather, Stella had last seen the boys two days prior on Earth. There, she had assisted them in fighting both an ogre and a troll, destroyed an Earth family's home and repaired it, and introduced them all to Bloom, who they were now asking about.

"Um... hey there," Tecna heard Timmy say, but it took her a moment to realize she was being addressed.

"Oh, hello. My name is Tecna," she put her arm out for a shaking of the hands, as required by social conduct. So why was this boy confused by it?

"Okay, Tecna. I'm... well, Timmy," Timmy shook her hand hesitantly.

"Oh? You don't seem very certain," Tecna's thoughts turned to Bloom, who came to the school under another name. Perhaps it was custom to change one's name in the unexplored realms.

Timmy laughed, though it sounded different than when others did. "No, I'm pretty sure I know my own name."

"I'd trust you do as well. It's not difficult to remember, I'm sure."

"I guess not," the boy sighed, looking away. Now what did that mean? "So, uh, do you come to dances a lot?"

Tecna shook her head. "No. Schools on Zenith don't hold dances."

"Zenith?"

"Yes. I was born there. Yesterday was the first time I left."

"Wow. What's it like over there? Does the government really decide everyone's job?" Timmy suddenly looked raptly interested in what she had to say.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?"

The assembled students looked to the front, seeing Mrs. Faragonda and an older man standing side by side. Tecna recognized him from her briefing packet as Professor Saladin, the headmaster of Red Fountain.

"Welcome to another year in Magix. We hope you all are enjoying the dance, and we look forward to starting a new year with all of you. Please take this opportunity to bond with each other, for I imagine you'll see everyone quite often this year. Alfea and Red Fountain have always shared a strong alliance with one another and we hope that will alliance will continue to last for the years to come.

And now, as a token of our friendship, my boys will now bring out our gifts to the fairies of Alfea. Please clear the way as-"

"I don't think so." The voice was deep and harsh, with no identifiable source. It filled the room, coming from all directions.

Screams rang out all over the ballroom as the lights went out. Strange sounds erupted from the direction of the food table – a low buzzing that was loud enough to rattle the serving spoons. Tecna couldn't figure out what was going on, especially with so many people in the way.

Maybe she could do it from outside. She moved toward the exit, hardly listening as the teachers shouted for calm and silence. The only light she could see was various flashes of magic, illuminating small shapes that moved rapidly through the air.

Tecna ripped her gaze away and finally found a door handle. She was surprised no one had yet attempted to evacuate, considering the ballroom appeared to be compromised. Trying not to be crushed by the moving stampedes, she pulled the door open with all her might. For whatever reason, it hadn't been locked. She thought the teachers had locked all the non-entry doors after the dance started.

She raced out into the corridor, many small buzzing animals following her out. They seemed to be in hunting mode, and it wasn't long before they set their sights on her.

It was in that moment Tecna realized what they were: insects. She'd never actually seen one on Zenith, but there were several databases constructed around such things. Longing to investigate them further, she memorized their features, even as she ran to escape their pursuit.

Turning a corner, Tecna saw a door open in front of her, and nothing but a dark wall ahead. It slammed open so quickly, she couldn't stop in time – she squeezed her eyes shut and pelted through, covering her head to protect her most vital organ.

The impact she expected never came.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a silent corridor of Alfea. It was unadorned, empty and cool – a startling contrast to the disaster area she'd just left.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to start walking - after all, she would have to reach a window or door somewhere, and maybe she could find out where she was. She was obviously far away from the ballroom. Further inspection revealed just how far.

Stopping to inspect them, she realized that the walls weren't just unadorned. They were ancient and bare of any paint or varnish. As she walked on, an odd buzzing filled her ears. Not of insects. Something else that seemed to vibrate the floor beneath her feet.

How large was this school? The thought occurred to Tecna that she could be lost here. This place did not seem to follow rules of space or geometry. There was no way that a corridor, especially one that seemed to have no end, could fit behind that door in the ballroom and not connect with the other halls.

An emotion came to Tecna, unbidden. She wanted to have someone with her. Anyone.

She stopped.

She had reached the end of the corridor.

A single door stood at the end of it; an ancient, mouldering slab of wood in the shape of a perfect circle. Nailed to its surface was – an interface screen.

LABYRINTH, it read.

As Tecna watched, more words appeared, one by one as if they were being typed into the screen. The sight made her think of Zenith.

ENTER PLEASE, it said. And ;-).

What other choice did she have?

As she reached for the door, it was Musa's voice that sounded in her head. "Rule number ten, man, rule number ten!"

She never touched the doorknob.

Instead, the door opened by itself, with an enormous creak, and Bloom of all people came rushing out, with cuts on her face and sweat running down her forehead.

"Witches," she gasped, grabbing the door and leaning on it until it closed, "the Ring!", and, finally, "Carnivorous wasps!"

"What?" Tecna exclaimed. "What's going on here?"

"Come on! We have to stop them!"

Authors' Notes:

PTV:

First things first: We are SO SORRY to have made you all wait so long. Honestly. I feel terrible.

TDUAK:

We are awful people. But, we feel that we've done good work here. We did the best we could to maintain continuity with the last chapters and give Tecna her own personal voice. She's just a little ball of contradictions, isn't she? I hope she still seems realistic. But really, I couldn't resist putting in the "what is fun?" scene. I wrote an entire outtake for it where she ends up believing that it's a sort of disease.

PTV:

Yeah, I guess. I think Tecna is my favorite character at the moment. She was fun to dive into, and I think she really stands out against the other fairies. I'll have fun with her a lot this story.

TDUAK:

We've received some interesting feedback on the story, and we'll address it separately on and Ao3. But I want to thank all of you for reading, and for sticking around for so long. If you're reading this right now, I want to send a tray of cookies your way. Extra cookies if you get the many references here. Though you may not want to accept cookies from the Goblin King. BTW, the Labyrinth was actually something from the comics, not just a massive movie reference.

PTV:

Oh gosh, references. Anyway, I'm sure you can guess who the next chapter features (Hint: we haven't used her POV in this story yet. She's a Winx member), when we pick up on the aftermath of the dance, which we split because the chapter would be so much longer than all the others. Some people might be willing to write those 10K plus chapters, but we would personally prefer to keep it a bit shorter, simply so it can be read in one (normal length) sitting.

Anyhow, thanks for being patient with us, hope you leave your thoughts below, and we'll see you on the far side!