Chapter Four: Musa
"Prince of Pop" Breaks Contract: Goes to Court!
Special Inquiry by: Q. Tattler
Nine years after "Witchin' for My Fairy" won the hearts of the Melodian people, pop prince and legend Ho-Boe is refusing to make another song ever again, much to M. M. Music©'s outrage. As of today, the record company has filed a suit against the musician for breaking contract, threatening to drive the young widower and father broke as the price of breaking his twelve-year record deal.
This news came only days after Ho-Boe's singer/wife (Matlin of Melody) succumbed to the exceedingly rare and incurable Elven Fever, dying at the age of twenty-nine. Insisting no song will be complete without his wife, Ho-Boe vowed to give up music altogether for the rest of his life, leaving fans and execs alike in shock. Those who sympathize with the grief-stricken man lament M. M. Music©'s seemingly heartless declaration, while those outraged by the artist's statement demand he concede to the company's wishes. As of now, no one knows when or how the legal battle will end, even as the country holds their breath as one.
Your voice matters to us. If you think our prince should return, vote in our realmwide web poll, and check in for the latest Melody news!
It was thirty o'clock on the planet of Magix, and most of the planet's diurnal inhabitants were asleep. Alfea, on the other hand, was wide awake. That night, the school had suffered its worst disgrace since the goat debacle twenty years before. This incident? Even worse.
At precisely twenty-seven o'clock, just as the Red Fountain sophomores were presenting their gifts, three hundred thousand thumb-sized wasps had emerged from under the buffet table and begun attacking the dinner guests. No one could fight off so many, even the honors class or the senior Enchantix fairies, and five minutes of pandemonium reigned until Ms. Faragonda summoned a wasp-eating monster.
The culprits had been caught and detained: three freshman Cloud Tower witches. They confessed on the spot, but refused to explain their motive. The Headmistress had shrunken them and sent them back to Cloud Tower in a jar, but thought it best to cancel the last hour of the ball.
She had also opened the infirmary for as long as needed to heal the students' various stings and lacerations. Therefore, most of Alfea's students were either sitting on folding chairs in the infirmary corridor, waiting in line, or lying awake in bed, thinking of the same question: who let them in?
In a lounge in one of the second floor dormitories, Musa of Melody was sitting on the floor with two of her suitemates, discussing the same thing. Well, two of them were.
Stella of Solaria was currently shouting and pacing about the floor. Her face and body were dotted with healing wasp stings, giving her the appearance of a very angry leopard. Out of everyone in the dorm, she'd gotten the most stings by far.
"I can't believe those witches had the nerve to ruin our dance!" Stella fumed for the third time. "There's a reason we didn't invite them. I bet they're just jealous because we fairies get all the Red Fountain Boys and they couldn't land one if they cast a spell and made them go on a date."
"Shut up, Stella," Musa snapped. "The real issue is, those witches got into Alfea and didn't set off the wards. Someone must have told them how to avoid them."
"Really though, how did they do that? I heard there were wards over the entire campus," Flora added. "They can't be fooled."
Stella stopped pacing and frowned at the both of them. "Well, witches are encouraged to attack us. They get extra credit for it. Maybe Professor Griffin gave them a little extra help. You ever think of that?"
Flora's eyes went wide. "But she's the headmistress there! They'll be sent back to Cloud Tower, and Ms. Griffin will punish them...right?"
"Not right," Stella whined."I just said they get extra credit for it. Why do you think those witches were freshmen? I mean, why else would they start so early?" She snorted and kicked a pillow. "If they do get in trouble- which I doubt- it'll only be because they were caught."
"Someone put them up to it." Musa theorized. "Maybe it was initiation into some witch club or whatever. Point is, how did they get in?"
"Hmmm…" Flora rested her chin on her hand, thinking. "The upperclassmen always seem to tell stories about secret passages. What if there's one connecting the schools?"
Stella snorted. "Why in the Magic Dimension would those exist? Here's a secret passage right into enemy territory, now don't use it?"
Flora hunched over. "I only said it was possible…"
"Well, however the witches got in," said Musa airily, "It's possible, very possible, that tomorrow's classes aren't going to be canceled. So I'm going to bed" She stifled a yawn as she walked to the bathroom. Casually, she leaned against the wall. "Dibs."
And with that, she pushed the bathroom door open and had it locked behind her before anyone could say a word to the contrary.
"I called first shower!" Musa heard Stella say through the door.
Musa turned the tap in the sink on full blast. "Sorry! Can't hear you!" she called out cheerfully.
Once safely locked in the bathroom, Musa got in the shower and let the perfectly heated water soothe away her annoyance. And drown out Stella's knocking.
Only when she came out of the shower did she take down her pigtails and brush out her hair before putting them back up again.
Then she calmly walked out, smiling a little as Stella rushed in. When Musa walked into her dorm room, she saw Tecna sitting at her computer, wearing what vaguely resembled an underwater diving suit. It was grey, made of shiny fabric, and included a band that wrapped around her head.
She blinked. Okay, I won't ask. Yet. "When did you get back?"
"Almost exactly a minute ago, now. Were you in the bathroom?"
"Uh, yeah." Musa stood there awkwardly. "So, where were you at the dance? I didn't see very much of you."
"I took a step outside and ran into Bloom. She was exhausted, injured, and saying some very strange things. When I realized she was unwell, I quickly helped her get to the infirmary. By the time I had returned to the ballroom, the wasp issue had been resolved."
"Bloom? What was she doing out there?"
"Not sure. She said some things about witches. Perhaps she ran into the ones who were behind the incident?"
Musa stared at Tecna. "And where have you been for the past few hours?"
"Investigating a fascinating tidbit of information I received. I just had to have answers. Now I'm reporting on it." She gestured to her computer.
"...Okay. I won't ask," Musa shook her head. Tecna's idea of 'fascinating' didn't sound like it would match Musa's. She was a great roommate, better than Musa thought she was going to get, but it would be a while before the weirdness wore off. "Hey, what are you wearing?"
Tecna looked at her and smiled. "You like my sleepwear?"
"Sure, Tec," Musa replied, shaking her head as she moved over to her dresser. Of course those were her pajamas.
"Tecna, actually. My name is Tecna."
Musa glanced over her shoulder. "I know. Just think of it as a...special name, if that's okay. It can be our thing." She said this all casually as she pulled out a pair of boy shorts and a T-shirt from Band: The Band.
"Hm," Tecna stopped for a moment, "Is it normal, for people to have a 'thing' shared between them?"
Musa hid her smile. She didn't want Tecna to think she was laughing at her. "It is for friends. What, do people not have friends where you're from?" Musa shut her mouth quickly. Oh crap, I didn't mean it like that!
Lucky for Musa, Tecna didn't seem to notice. "No, actually. Zenith does not use any sort of social system. There are only people you work with, people who work above you, and people who work beneath you. Or, if you are still attending school, people who teach you and people who learn with you. No one is 'friends' with one another, as far as I've seen."
"That's so weird," Musa said without thinking, then paused. Did anything offend this girl? If not, she was in luck.
Suddenly, a harsh scream pierced the quiet, followed by a very loud "MY RING!"
What is it now? Musa seriously considered just ignoring it, but then Stella burst into the room, wild-eyed and panting.
"Have you seen my ring?! I can't find it anywhere!" The blonde began to turn the place upside down, tearing through her and Tecna's clothes like they were her own.
"Hey, out of my stuff," Musa snapped, slapping Stella's hands away from her armband collection in a way that might have been a bit more forceful than necessary. "Check your own jewelry box before you go rifling through mine."
"I already did! It's been stolen!" Stella continued to freak out, racing off into Flora and Bloom's room, shouting all the while. If Musa didn't already have a headache, she definitely did now.
"Ugh," Musa collapsed onto her bed, putting the pillow over her head. She did not need this shit at – she checked her watch– thirty-one o'clock. Almost midnight.
"Are – are you alright?" she heard Tecna ask, muffled only slightly by the pillow. Musa waited too long to answer and Tecna came forward to tap her shoulder.
"No, I heard," said Musa wearily, lifting the pillow to look at Tecna. "Melodian super-hearing, it sucks." Vaguely, from the other end of the dorm, she could hear Stella's screeches fade off into tears. All this over a ring?
"What?"
"Never mind," Musa murmured.
Let's hope for no dreams tonight, she thought, and pulled the covers up to her chin. A minute passed, and she was gone to the world until six.
The morning dawned both bright blue and way too early. By the time Musa was able to stop squinting and get dressed for breakfast, no one was left in the dorm. She met absolutely no one until she reached the ground floor, and then it was swollen, stung faces, everywhere she went.
The lousy atmosphere remained all through Manners and Diplomacy, where even Madame Dufour looked subdued, not that Musa was complaining. She tried to take notes and stay awake until the end of the lesson. When it was over, she took off for Incantations after Tecna left without her.
Musa turned the corner in the corridor and stopped short. Palladium's door was open, and standing at the professor's desk, looking for all the world to be completely terrified, was Princess Stella. Musa stepped back, suppressing a groan, when a hand gripped her above the elbow. It was Tecna. How did I not see…?
"Shh," she whispered, holding her finger up to her lips. "You can hear. I can't."
Musa bit her lip and let Tecna pull her around the corner. It wasn't like she was eavesdropping. If Stella really had a problem, she would have gone to Faragonda.
"What do you mean, you won't be able to participate?" Palladium asked quietly. Musa heard, faintly, Stella's panicked intake of breath.
"I mean, Professor, that…" there was a rustle as Stella leaned in to whisper something that even Musa couldn't hear. "Okay?"
The professor's voice was grave, "Have you informed Headmistress Faragonda about this?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did she say?"
"She… hasn't reached her decision, sir," Another swish of fabric as Stella shifted uncomfortably. "Please?"
Palladium nodded. "Very well. Just be prepared to do a lot of catching up. Hopefully this doesn't become a pattern."
"It won't, sir," Stella piped, her footsteps moving toward the back of the room.
Musa turned to stare at Tecna. "She says...she says she can't participate. And it might be a while before she can again. Palladium asked her if she went to Faragonda."
Tecna's eyes widened. "Tecna…" Musa began, knowing that she knew something about this whole mess. She took one step forward, which of course was the cue for the regal and utterly proper Countess Lolina of Tenessa to come around the corner. Musa's voice stuck in her throat. Something about the way Lolina looked at her made Musa feel like she was doing something wrong.
"Countess," said Tecna, curtsying slightly, and Lolina glanced at the pair of them before continuing slowly into the room.
Musa sighed. "I know you know something," she muttered as she followed Lolina and Tecna through the door. Tecna didn't respond to her (too busy typing into her phone), but Musa could see it in her face.
Something was going on here.
Two minutes later, Professor Palladium stood before the class, smiling as if nothing had happened.
"Welcome back, fairies. I hope you all enjoyed some of the dance."
A few freshman groaned, and that was all that was said on the matter. Palladium quickly started the lesson, mostly a lecture on how magic reacts with an individual person, and brought up a debate on whether personality influenced one's magic source, or the other way around. Musa was prepared to fall asleep by the time the lesson became hands-on.
"Thank you for the input, ladies. Now, time to try one on your own. The personality and magic debate ties in with this one nicely. This spell is meant to reveal the nature of your source of magic to you. It conjures a shape of energy that matches the source of your power in its truest form." The professor smiled. "However, interpreting the results might be a bit hit-and-miss." He extended his hand in front of him. "Now the basic movement is just a hand extension, palm upturned, and this incantation: eliquor!"
A ball of greenish light appeared in his hand, and quickly formed into the shape of a shield. It glowed brightly, seeming to pulse, before reforming into a sword. The girls oohed.
Palladium closed his hand, letting the spell dissipate, and smiled modestly.
"Your turn!"
Musa extended her hand and hummed a few notes in her head. "Eliquor!"
Suddenly she was holding a glowing purple sphere. It was small but bright and pulsed like a strobe light. She reached out to touch it with her free hand and immediately heard a smattering of musical notes. Smiling, she pulled her hand away and glanced around her.
She had been the first person to get it right. As far as she could see, most people were saying the words, but not reaching for their magic, so nothing happened. A few people, like Tecna, had summoned sparks, but couldn't get them to form anything. Eventually she just started grumbling under her breath while staring down at her empty hand.
"Feel your magic, girls!" called Palladium as he came forward to walk between the desks. "Draw it from the source!" He leaned over to correct Countess Lolina's arm placement - "Careful, Lolina, you'll blind yourself with your casting hand so near your face!" and paused to help a princess with blue skin and a strong accent with her pronunciation.
Finally, a girl with a dark blonde bob was able to conjure a ball of blinding yellow light that immediately shaped itself into a star. She had to be from Solaria. That reminded Musa of someone - she furtively glanced at the back of the room. Stella was sitting at a desk in the corner with her arms crossed. She's not even trying. What happened to her?
"Good, good!" Palladium cried. "Musa and Amaryl have achieved the spell by reaching for their magic. Your task for tomorrow is to do the same. In addition, I expect one page describing the process and interpreting in official terms what the results mean. No asking an upperclassman." The entire class groaned.
"Chin up, ladies! Every freshman learns this spell in the first week! All the answers you need are in Alfea's library! And you might learn something about your catalog of personality traits as well!" He smiled, winked and tapped his nose in an exaggerated fashion. "Now! Class dismissed!" The other students stood up and with a massive wave of complaints, began to leave.
Musa was almost to the door when Palladium stopped her at the doorway.
"Musa, do you have a moment? You can go ahead, Miss Tecna," Tecna left the room, and soon she and the Professor were the only ones left in the classroom.
"What is it, Professor?" Musa asked, trying to sound polite.
"I wanted to congratulate you personally. You were the first person to perform the incantation correctly."
"Oh… thank you," Musa shrugged. "I don't think it was a big deal, though."
Palladium laughed, "Tell your classmates that. I see how you all interact with each other. But even so, I can sense you're going to do well in this class."
"I hope so, Professor. Thank you." She couldn't help but feel pleased. "Oh, Professor Palladium...you did mean for us to get our information for this report from the library, right?"
Palladium looked comically confused. "Why, of course! The students are to request personality as a keyword at the library catalog! I have prepared a selection of books and articles with Miss Barbatea!"
Musa couldn't help but smile. "I'm not sure that everyone got that, Professor."
Palladium looked stricken. "Oh, dear...I must send a memo with directions for library use! Otherwise, how will they complete the assignment?" Musa could think of at least two good answers but, in the spirit of not being a snitch, kept quiet. "Well, if that's all, Professor?" She turned to go.
"Oh, one more thing! You share a dorm with Miss Stella, correct?"
"...Yes. Why?" Musa asked. She thought she knew where this was headed.
Palladium paused, searching for a way to answer. "Just keep an eye on her, will you? I don't think your friend is doing well."
"Um, Professor, we're not really friends. I don't talk to Stella that much, and-"
"Oh dear!" Palladium exclaimed, looking at the clock. "I have juniors coming in at any moment! Please, don't let me cause you to miss your third class. I need to get ready."
Just like that, the professor all but shoved her out of the classroom. Confused, Musa began the journey to Transmogrification
Whatever it was, it smelled like drama. Musa didn't come to Alfea just to get wrapped up in someone else's problems. Besides, Stella wasn't even her friend, right? Musa didn't make friends with shallow, spoiled little...well, anyway, it wasn't her business.
Still, one couldn't help but be curious...
It wasn't until after lunch that Musa managed to shake Incantations off. Transmogrification had gone without a hitch: Musa had successfully changed her hair color to brown. Now she was settling into the first Music course she had taken in years. Finally, the reason she was here.
"Welcome ladies," the Professor said as she stepped forward to the front of the classroom. Professor Lyra was tall, blue-haired, tan, and given to wearing multicolored robes that made her look like a Solarian bird of paradise. The room was as brightly colored and interesting as she was, yet somehow avoided clashing. Along the tall, curving walls hung thousands instruments, each shrunken enough to fit in a palm. Off on the other side of the room, there was a small recording studio. The smell of polish hung faintly in the air, and every sound seemed clearer thanks to the local acoustics spells.
"I heard about your dance. Very unfortunate. Tell me: was the music alive in you that night?"
"Alive?" A sophomore with navy hair and glasses asked. The teacher shook her head sadly.
"Many of you will not understand what I mean when I say music is connected to magic. Music requires no charm or hex, yet casts powerful spells over many at once. It can't see inside you, yet penetrates to your deepest feelings. Your subconscious. The power of music is strong, and is a power even non magical beings can access. It is a power all can share, but none truly possess..."
Musa closed her eyes, listening to Professor Lyra's voice wash over them, her slight accent giving the sounds a melodic, faraway feeling.
"But for those of you who do, I can teach you wonderful things. I will show you the music of the soul, let you see creatures' deepest depths. I will lengthen your reach and grip until you can captivate everyone in the sound of yourself."
"What does that even mean?" a girl off to Musa's left whispered in her friend's ear. Her friend giggled softly, catching the professor's attention.
"Do you have anything to add, ladies?" Wow, she heard that? Does she have super hearing like me? Musa wondered that about all teachers at times. Growing up in Melody didn't help.
"N-Nothing, Miss Lyra," the girl who spoke replied quickly, cheeks flushing with shame.
The teacher appraised them, expression unreadable. "Very well. I'll believe you for now."
And with that, Professor Lyra gave them a full synopsis of their syllabus. It would involve basic knowledge of every instrument known to the Magic Dimension, sheet music and how to read it, and even a brief history of musical movements and famous pieces. All the while, they would be trained in both vocal skills and the instruments they wished to play, and if they wanted to put in the after-class hours, they could be assisted in learning extra songs or writing their own. The recording studio was open any time outside of class and before curfew with the teacher's permission, and the classes would all perform in a concert at the end of the year. And the best part: other performance opportunities would be presented throughout the school year, achieved by audition.
Musa's head was spinning, heart filling with giddiness. How long had it been since she had this much freedom to practice music? Not since she was a little girl when…
When… that happened.
Musa shook her head, forcing her memories into the past where they belonged. Instead, her thoughts turned to the music she'd written in secret, all the limitless volumes she had waiting to finally be performed.
She could do it. She could do it all.
The end of class came entirely too soon, with Professor Lyra passing a written copy of the syllabus out to everyone as they walked out the door. Musa strode to her next class with a lightness in her step, something that hadn't been there before.
For the first time so far, Musa was completely happy to be at Alfea.
Of course, reality had to hit her like a slap to the face a few hours later. After struggling through a criminally boring Dimensional History intro lesson, she found herself eating her dinner alone at a table with Elinor of Delona. Tecna, Stella and Flora were nowhere to be seen, and Bloom was still lying in the infirmary. Stella was probably still freaking out about her ring– she'd seemed pretty upset earlier.
Musa pushed the food around on her plate, and thought. Maybe I was a little harsh– that ring could be a family heirloom or something. She still didn't mind having one Stella-free meal, though.
That reminded her: Tecna knew something about what was going on. Musa had meant to ask her, but hadn't been given the chance. Gosh, when that girl got on her phone, it was like the rest of the world didn't exist.
But Musa had a sneaking suspicion that if she showed an interest in what Tecna was doing, the girl would open right up to her. Her book might not be the easiest to read, but it was definitely an open one.
If only Musa knew where she was…
Let's see. If she were a fairy who understood machines better than people, where would she go? A computer lab of some sort? Alfea was pretty old-fashioned when it came to technology at times, but Musa was almost sure there'd be something in the library. It was worth a shot, and Musa still had to do that assignment for Incantations.
So she finished up her meal without saying much and made a beeline for the library. Upon asking Miss Barbatea, she was directed to the section of reading materials Palladium had prepared in advance. Tecna had those books and articles in front of her, but also a political column about a civil war from last generation. One of those things was not like the others.
"Hey, Tec. What'cha up to?"
Tecna jumped, eyes going wide before they locked on Musa. She'd been reading the column. "Musa. I came across some rather informative articles. I'd been previously attempting the exercise from Incantations, but became very defeated and-"
"Defeated?"
"Yes. That emotion where you face a problem that will not be solved, and you experience anger at both the task at hand and yourself, particularly your own limited abilities."
"That's... not the word I would use for that." Musa tried to decipher what her roommate was describing. "Defeated usually means you're facing a more tangible enemy, and sounds pretty permanent. Your issue sounds more frustrating."
Tecna pulled out some kind of pamphlet, flipping through it faster than Musa could read. "The descriptions sound very similar."
"It's more the connotations." Musa knew the struggle. Song lyrics took a lot of tries to be perfected or else the emotion wouldn't come through. "Anyway, that's not what I came here for."
"It's what you asked me about when you approached me. Why ask a question if your purpose was not to receive an answer?"
"Social norm." Musa got the feeling she would be explaining a lot of this over the years.
Tecna blinked at her, still not fully comprehending. "...I see. What was your true purpose in finding me?"
"Back in Incantations, you seemed to know something about what was going on with Stella. Care to explain?"
And with that, her eyes lit up. "Of course! It's all quite fascinating, you know. You see, twenty years ago, the kingdom of Solaria and the Lunarian revolutionaries signed a peace treaty that ended their eight-year long civil war. The two rulers of the factions were married and committed to ruling as equals. Of course, their subordinates weren't always the easiest to keep in line, and there was rampant speculation that Queen Luna was merely getting close to King Radius to assassinate him, but the rumors turned out be illogical and unfactual. However, it was no secret that the two were merely performing their duty in marrying one another, and took almost three years to bear an heir. While the child- Stella, as you may know- originally brought them closer-"
"I meant what's going on with Stella now!" Musa interrupted before Tecna could delve into an hour long lecture about modern Solarian history. "Can you skip to the relevant part?"
"It was merely context," Tecna sniffed. "But very well, if you're intolerant. The issue is that King Radius and Queen Luna are unwilling to continue their political marriage, and their split- compounded with the fact that King Radius has since sought a more limited government and granting citizens more individual freedoms than they've had since the war- has left some very seemingly knowledgeable sources claiming that factions once active in the civil war may be seeking more power for themselves. With such conditions, Princess Stella's future has been toppled into uncertainty."
"Still not seeing was this has to do with her not participating in class." Musa was getting tired of this. "So she's got it rough at home. If she wants to hold onto succession, shouldn't she be trying to get more powerful as a fairy?"
"I'm getting to that part!" Tecna was blushing, looking very 'defeated'. "I believe Stella's symptoms of magical overdose may have an indirect relation to the political instability of her home nation and that her newfound inability to conjure her Winx is an unintended consequence of the scheme of someone close to her to-"
Before Tecna could finish her thought, a worried-looking Flora appeared before them. Musa watched her as she sat down next to the two fairies. When she came up to their study table, she bent over it instead of sitting down.
"Flora, what's up?"
The nature fairy let out a ragged-sounding breath. "I went up to see Bloom in the infirmary during our lunch break, and she's really not doing well. It's like she's been psychically attacked. She keeps talking about witches... and a ring."
Musa dropped a book she'd been holding. "Wait, are you saying that the thing last night is connected to Stella's ring going missing?"
"I'm sure of it." Flora made a fist, showing unusual levels of emotion. "They did something to her to keep her from talking. And I'm pretty sure that she's fighting it, but can't break through."
Musa stared up at Flora. "That's all pretty awful and, and I don't mean to be rude by saying this, but: why are you telling me this? Why aren't you telling Stella? Isn't Bloom her best friend?"
"Because I can't find Stella," said Flora. "And I've got a counterspell for psychic attacks. I found it in the library section over there." She waved vaguely. "I've got the theory, but I just can't get in the right frame of mind to cast the spell. You were the first one in Incantations who was able to cast the energy spell. I need your help."
Well, if Flora put it like that...Musa supposed that she couldn't refuse and still think of herself as a good person. She got up slowly, pulling her bag over her shoulder. "This couldn't at least wait until after I finish my homework?"
Flora glanced at her over her shoulder. "Visiting hours end in an hour. This spell is pretty complicated. Um… did you want to come with us, Tecna?"
"I don't see what my presence would contribute to healing Bloom, but I have never seen a psychic attack performed on a person before." The pink-haired fairy whipped out her phone, turning it to some sort of scanner mode. "I would enjoy analyzing the effects of such a condition. It was an attempt I made earlier, but Nurse Ofelia sent me away."
Without giving a yes or no, Tecna stood up and followed the two of them out of the library.
"So, what kind of spell did you find, Flora?"
"It's a multi-parter. Each section is related, but different."
Of course... Musa sighed and followed Flora to the first-floor office where Nurse Ofelia received her patients. When they reached the doorway, however, they saw that someone had got there ahead of them.
Stella of Solaria stood by a cot that was shrouded in privacy curtains, arguing with Nurse Ofelia. "Why can't you release her to her own dorm? I'm sure she's fine. Look, she'll be better in a familiar environment. I'm sure all the off-white and olive green in here can't be good for her."
"Miss Stella," the nurse replied, sounding very much annoyed, "Miss Bloom will return to her room when she is cured, and not before! And that's final!" The nurse turned away, making it clear that she would speak no more on the subject.
Stella let out an unhappy sigh and flounced out of the doorway, not appearing to notice her dorm mates standing by as she headed off in the other direction.
"Flora," Musa hissed, "now's the time to tell Stella!" But Flora pulled her through the doorway, swiftly, if still gently.
"I don't think Stella should know about this yet," whispered Flora. "And neither should the teachers."
Then Flora walked up to the nurse's table, and said, in a believably worried voice, "Madam Ofelia, I think I'm ill! I'm so cold and shaky...and the ends of my hair are drying up and falling off!" The head nurse jumped to her feet and immediately conjured a symptoms chart – Flora had just mentioned some of the symptoms of magical exhaustion.
"Here, dear, why don't you lie down?" She took the other fairy's arm gently and led her to the cot next to Bloom's and made her hop on. "I'm just going to check your eyes, okay?" Flora nodded and the nurse conjured a light with the spell lumens. Then she made Flora look up, down, straight ahead and turn her head to the side while shining the light at her pupils. Ofelia's expression got tenser and tenser with every check. Finally she finished and extinguished the light.
Flora looked up at the nurse as pitifully as humanly possible. "Am I okay?"
Ofelia pressed her lips together tightly for a moment before she lied, "I'm sure you are, sweetie. Just sit tight for a moment while I fetch something…wait with your friends." And she ran off into a room in the back.
Flora immediately sat straight up and started rummaging in her bag. While she was doing that, Tecna turned her scanner (that looked oddly similar to a ladybug) on Bloom, waving the device around the girl's head area.
"Anything interesting over there?"
"Fascinating! I can still see the traces of witch magic where the spell hit."
Before Musa could reply, Flora pulled out a monster of a book called "Magical Maladies and Remedies" and flipped to a bookmarked page.
"I don't know how long Ofelia'll be gone. I'm faking magical exhaustion, but it's probably so common for freshmen that she has a potion ready-made." Flora pointed at a heading on the page, which looked like gibberish until the translation spell took effect. Oh wait, still gibberish.
"Flora, this is really complicated! There are like five different motions and incantations involved!"
The flower fairy gave Musa a look.
"You sing in different languages, right?"
"Yes, but-"
"And you dance and play instruments? At the same time?"
"Yes!" Musa threw up her hands. " But I don't see why we can't just let Nurse Ofelia deal with this!"
Flora pressed her lips tightly together for a moment. "I wanted to tell a teacher at first too. But then I realized that this is bigger than me, because what Bloom knows...might be enough to get Stella expelled. Or worse: all of us."
Musa's eyebrows felt like they were climbing to the top of her face. "Flora-"
"Do you trust me?" Flora met Musa's gaze steadily.
Musa sighed. "Yes."
"Well then." The other fairy turned her gaze briskly on the book. "There are actually only four parts. They can be done with time lapses in between. The first move is an opening incantation and gesture. You make contact with the victim by saying their name and calling out with your magic. Then, with their cooperation, you find the block and remove it with the purifying incantation. Finally, you close the link again."
"Any...fatal dangers or pitfalls you need to warn me about? Will I explode if I stutter one of the words?"
"If you don't close the link properly, then the victim can lose even more memories. Or they'll be susceptible to more psionic attacks." Flora winced and held up two fingers close together.
"One more thing. There's also...a slight, slight chance of melding minds and becoming one entity."
"What?!"
Flora made a rapid hushing gesture.
"That only happens to one in every twenty thousand cases, and it's almost always reversible! You're so independent and sure of yourself, there's no way you'll get lost in Bloom's mind."
Musa sighed and put her hand over her eyes.
"Great. Sharing a brain with the princess of priss. Okay. Fine."
Flora nodded. "Thank goodness. You're the only one of us who could do a sophomore level spell. Maybe Stella could with her ring, but…" she shook her head. "The first move is like this." Flora placed her fingers on her temples briefly, then extended her arms outward, palms up. "Apera."
Musa practiced it a few times without calling her Winx. Just to make sure she had it.
"That's good. Now you can establish contact before Madam Ofelia comes back!" Flora urged Musa toward the covered cot that held Bloom. "And Tecna! Get your device away from Bloom! I don't want the signal from that to interfere with the spell!"
Tecna obeyed right away, murmuring that she'd collected sufficient data already. Musa sighed and pushed aside the thick curtains, gasping at what she saw.
The Earth girl looked awful. Deathly pale, sweating, eyes rolling all over the place, yet not seeming to see anything. She was definitely fighting the spell, and not winning by the looks of it.
"Okay…" Musa put her fingers to her temples and called her magic, then extended her arms.
"Apera."
Musa's hearing doubled.
She was still conscious of the room: Bloom's feverish movements and Flora's more quiet breathing, and even Madam Ofelia's footsteps and rummaging in the supply closet. But there was another layer playing in her mind like a soundtrack. She heard...a pop tune, but not one that she'd heard before. Its cheery notes were contradicted in point by a dramatic, rolling orchestral piece. And the third point was a stuttering techno beat that matched none of it.
"Are you connected?" said Flora from outside the curtain.
"Yes. Dragon, it's awful. Pure chaotic noise. She should just pick a genre."
"...Okay, Musa. You need to find the source of the block. Put your hand on her forehead first, call your magic and say Naniscor. And stay calm, no matter what you might see or hear."
"Thanks, Flora, that's really reassuring." But after glancing over the instructions in the book one more time, Musa approached the head of the bed. She touched Bloom's forehead with one finger, which glowed purple when she called her magic.
"Naniscor."
It was as if the music got three times louder, and more chaotic, almost drowning out the real world around Musa. Her vision blurred and suddenly she was seeing double: she was still in the infirmary, but simultaneously she crouched at the bottom of a dark, deep well, where the music was free to bounce and echo off the walls.
"Musa! Keep searching! Say the incantation!"
Musa didn't know how she was going to find a single note in this cacophony, but she called her Winx again and repeated the incantation. She searched through the mess until she heard it, a single tone. It was like...brown noise. Like the screeching of a thousand violins. She gulped. I am going to have the worst headache when this is over.
"Expungo, Musa!"
Musa repeated the spell and lifted her finger like she was flicking away the impurity. The dysphonia came to a crescendo before finally returning to normal, and when it did the sour note was gone. The multiple genres were still there, but hey. Better was better.
Footsteps came from the other end of the room. Musa panicked for a second before holding her breath. She prayed to the Dragon that Nurse Ofelia couldn't see her silhouette.
"I've got your potion, Miss Flora!" Madam Ofelia was saying. "Where did your other friend go?"
"Oh, thank you so much, Madam Ofelia! I think she went to the bathroom!"
Musa twitched nervously and her right sneaker squeaked loudly on the tile.
"Oh, dear! Excuse me, I am having a bit of indigestion today."
Tecna piped up. "But I thought you-"
"Not you too! Let me run and get a regularity potion. Drink up before it gets cold, dear," said Madam Ofelia, and her quickly retreating footsteps almost covered up the sound of Flora magically vanishing her potion.
"Quick, Musa! Close the link and be done!"
Crap. Musa glanced at the book once more.
"Occlaudo," she whispered, and the noise in her head shut off abruptly. She lifted her hand and closed it, finishing the spell.
It was done. And she had the pounding in her head to prove it.
When Ofelia returned with her digestive potion, she found a happy patient wiping her lips as she drained the last of her potion, as well as a smiling Musa, sitting calmly with her hands behind her back. Tecna was still shooting them confused looks because of their lies, but was smart enough to not say anything.
"I'm really fine, Madame," Flora insisted. "I'll just drink some hot digestive tea. I can't thank you enough." The three girls left after bombarding her with their gratitude.
Flora wasn't the only patient to have a miraculous recovery. Thirty minutes after the first two left, Bloom woke, all smiles. She insisted that she'd had a minor stress-related breakdown, and after a checkup Ofelia couldn't find anything the matter with her. Mental health wasn't really her specialty, anyway.
"I'll go see the counselor as soon as possible, Madame," said Bloom as she left. "But thank you so much for taking care of me in the meantime. Your potions really work wonders."
Madame Ofelia couldn't help but smile as she watched her patient leave. It was days like this that really reminded her why she had become a nurse in the first place. She went back to brewing anti-exhaustion potions, whistling "Dragon Stretch My Hands" as she did so.
Crouching inside an empty classroom waiting for a psychically spelled fairy to wake up was not the craziest thing that Musa had ever done with friends. But it was definitely up there.
She and Flora had to wait for twenty minutes with their ears pressed up against the door (Tecna was too busy analyzing her data to bother listening) before Musa heard Bloom's telltale warble, and another few minutes before her footsteps could be - going right. Musa nodded at Flora and they ducked out, following Bloom around a corner before Flora called out to her gently.
The fairy turned, putting a hand up to her heart in shock.
"Musa," Bloom greeted her for the first time since her cringeworthy club invitation. "You were…in my mind."
Musa resisted the urge to deny this awkward fact and run away.
"That's true. I was countering your psychic block." She gestured weakly at Flora. "Flora found an incantation in a book. It didn't look too hard, so I-"
Bloom cut off Musa's access to her air stream with a constricting squeeze of a hug. Musa tried to wiggle out, to no avail.
"Musa! You did that for me?"
Musa tried to push her away. "Look, it's really not a-"
"You have no idea what it was like in there! I was so scared!"
"Woah woah woah. Why were you so scared?"
"I was looking for some scissors in the storeroom, but then I ended up in this passage deep under the school. And then I saw…"
Bloom's expression suddenly blanked. One moment she was telling her story, eyes almost comically widened, and then there was nothing, as if someone had flicked a switch.
"Bloom?" Flora shook her shoulder gently.
"...and the next minute, I was running into Tecna," Bloom finished, smiling. Then she frowned. "Wait, that's not right. There was something in between, but I don't remember!" She looked almost upset enough to cry.
Uh oh. Either this was a part of the psychic attack, or Musa had bungled the incantation horribly. Flora saw her alarmed face and took to prodding Bloom.
"It's okay, sweetie. I'm sure things will come to you. You're just exhausted."
"Do you remember anything about the witch who attacked you?" Tecna piped up, not looking up from her phone. Musa looked over her shoulder, only to see Tecna scanning through the psychic data she had collected from Bloom. The results came up negative before Bloom could reply.
"No. I know there were witches, though. They were at the school dance!"
Flora nodded encouragingly. "Yes, Bloom. Three witches were caught sabotaging the dance last night. Were they the ones who attacked you?"
Tecna cut in. "I wonder, do you think all three of those freshman combined their magic to create such destruction?"
Flora answered first. "Well, I would think so. Their spell has a really wide range, and they are just freshman."
"Why? What do you mean, Tec?"
"Well, according to the results of my magical signature reader, the magic residue left on Bloom and the residue left in the main hall from the dance have completely different power sources. Their only common point is that both originate from a witch. Now, if two of the witches set the monsters on Alfea and the third attacked Bloom- or any such scenario- this contradiction is neatly resolved. If that isn't the case-"
"We have two culprits on our hands." Flora finished. "One caught, and one who got away."
"Ones who ruined the dance, and one who attacked Bloom."
"And whoever it was, they stole Stella's ring."
Author's Notes:
PTV: First thing's first, I feel like an apology is in order. We kinda left you all hanging for… what is it now? Two years? I don't think either of us meant to abandon this story. At least, not without an explanation. We are very sorry to have done that.
I may not write for Winx anymore, but I fully intend to continue this story for as long as T-Duck wants to work with me. Musa may not be quite as fun to write as Tecna, but she was always my favorite Winx girl, and I think this is a story that deserves to be told. I hope we still have readers, and that our readers will enjoy this new chapter as much as they enjoyed the ones before it. Perhaps one day I will go through and fix the minor grammar issues.
Well, that's all I wanted to say. T-Duck?
TDUAK: It has been a long, long long time. In the two years that this story has been on hiatus, I've done so many things, changed so much, that I think this story will have a completely different feel to it. I officially became an adult in the past two years, and the struggles that came with that have definitely helped me empathize more with the characters, and consequently, to be a better writer. To our fans, I hope you haven't completely given up on this. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
PS: This will be known as the night that A New Reality buried canon. It is turning into a completely different beast. Not just the tone, but the genre (I think we're now a mystery story after this chapter?) and the plot itself. From here on out we're going to diverge even more. We'll continue to write as long as it's fun and we have inspiration.
And believe me, it's a lot of fun to play around in such a big universe with so many planets and players.
PTV: Oh yeah, it's gonna be different for sure. Major events will likely stay the same, but for everything in between… we make no promises. There's some stuff we don't even know at this point in time.
But thanks for tuning back in, and I hope you aren't TOO mad at us.