Even before she knew she was a fairy, Bloom Peters had always known she didn't want an office job. That was what made her new position as Modernity Advisor to the Queen of Tir Nan Og so infuriating.
Or at least, that was what the fairy told herself. She would lie all day if it meant she'd stop craving the spotlight, the adventure.
On the bright side, her office was not bad. Nebula had given her free reign to renovate an old tower to her liking. The tower had six stories, each its own room. The first floor was a beautiful observatory, not good for much of anything on the mission, but still a good place to watch the stars shine from the other side of the dome.
Since the queen insisted Bloom stay as close as possible, the next floor down became a bedroom and a makeshift bathroom hidden by curtains. Underneath was her kitchen and living space; though she had a permanent invitation to attend meals in the Great Hall with the rest of the court, she didn't particularly like to.
The apartment was okay. The two floors under it, however… they were her favorite, though she'd never admit that to anyone. The labs that she was given were beautiful, and the fact that she had labs and even magical scientists working directly under her… that was a thrill. When she was little, she had alternated between wanting to be a scientist and a fairy princess. What a dream come true to be both!
The first lab was a computer lab. Some of the computers were designated free use. Many were for specific coding projects… altering software to be magic-compatible, which was slow going since not many of the Terrestrial Fairies had been on Earth when programming was invented. One single computer was always connected to various chat clients, monitored 24/7 by the very least tech savvy of Bloom's workers, just in case Roxy or Lysis needed to contact someone quick.
Under that was a more traditional lab. For now, it was vacant. Bloom hoped that in time, some sort of traceable magic would be analyzed there, something that could lead to a breakthrough.
The very last room, on the ground floor, was Bloom's office. With her own computer, oodles of office supplies, and a couple personal assistants (aka, people who proved to be more harm than help to the delicate machinery upstairs), the thing you were least likely to find in there was Bloom herself.
On the day that her idea of magic changed forever, Bloom was in the computer lab, on video call with Tecna.
"I feel like the methods of communication we have with Roxy are flawed," said the redhead as she bit her lip nervously. "Even if she has the means to send messages in real time, she may not always have the ability."
"You mean, she might be in some sort of immediate danger that you could help with, but you wouldn't know about the danger until it was safe for her to contact you," Tecna replied.
"Exactly," Bloom said. "Isn't there something we could do about that?"
"Body cams that stream what she sees onto one of your computers? You already have someone monitoring certain things at all times; would one more hurt?"
Bloom shook her head. "I doubt it. Nebula's given me so many people that I've had to regulate some of them to guarding the fridge so that nobody steals anyone else's lunch."
"Has that happened?"
"No, but I'm not sure if it's because it isn't going to happen, or because I have legitimate fridge guards."
Tecna laughed, and Bloom couldn't help but smile at the sound. It'd been two weeks since she had been around someone who seemed to be able to have fun working. "So in other words, that idea's a go?" Tecna asked between giggles.
"Yeah! Thanks for the help!" Bloom felt a little twinge in her heart, and added, "I really should have thought of that myself."
She should have. It was an obvious solution. One didn't need a fairy of technology to think of something like that. It only proved what she had suspected. Bloom smiled a sad smile. "You know," she said, "I really am useless without you guys."
Tecna wasn't looking at the camera; Bloom could hear Stella yelling something in the background. "Oh, Bloom, we miss you too," said the other woman. "Uh, I think I should go check on…"
"Yeah," Bloom agreed. "Talk to you soon. Give my love to the Winx."
"Yeah, later," said Tecna, and she ended the call.
I really am useless without them. I can't believe I never realized that before.
Roxy didn't know Lysis could curse so much.
After a flood of words that Morgana would not have wanted said around her daughter, Lysis finally seemed to snap into gear. "Roxy! Transform!" she ordered, and the princess was too caught off guard to even argue that she was the leader.
Two flashes of light glowed beside each other, one green and one teal. After only moments, they emerged, full-fledged fairies.
Roxy glanced at Lysis's fairy form. The outfit was a long-sleeved blue shirt under a teal single piece dress, slouching off the shoulder with an asymmetrical hem. Heeled sandals adorned her feet, and her thick, wavy blonde hair was in two long ponytails. The wings on her back were not unique, as Roxy's were, but the same generic wings that were found on most of the Earth fairies. It was a pretty look for her, the princess decided, but devoid of much personality.
Lysis raised her hands up, and magic gathered. "Amorphous Blast!" she yelled, and the energy she held became solid, irregular shards that flew at the other fairy. The girl cried out, crossing her arms over her face as if to shield it.
"Lysis! Stop! We weren't supposed to fight, remember?" Roxy cried.
The older fairy didn't cease. "Not supposed to fight humans… and this girl isn't a human!"
"Stop!" Roxy tried again. "I, uh, I order it!"
"As your advisor and adult voice of reason, I feel like I need to argue. This girl is dangerous!"
"She's not the one attacking right now!"
Lysis did not respond.
Roxy bit her lip and flew in front of the girl, dodging shards of magic as she went. "Enchanted Cloak!" she yelled, surrounding herself and the girl in a green barrier.
Lysis stopped.
Roxy took a breath of relief and turned to the other girl. "Are you okay?" The girl shook her head. "Are you, uh, going to hurt me?" Again, a shake of the head. "Are you going to hurt Lysis?"
Finally, the lovely girl spoke. "If she dares threaten my father or attack me? Then yes. Yes I will. Once I uh. Figure out how to do it."
She looked at her hands, and Roxy saw a faint, nonthreatening, glow of power around them. The princess suppressed a laugh. She'd known kind of what to do when she first transformed, but mainly only because she had been around the Winx. It made sense that someone who hadn't would be lost. "What's your name again?" Roxy asked.
"Safeyah. Saf. Saf Hafeij."
"Saf," Roxy repeated. "Hey, Lysis! Saf's not gonna hurt us if you don't hurt her or her family, and as your princess and leader of this expedition, I order you to cease."
Lysis pursed her lips. "Yes, princess," she said.
"And also you should probably apologize."
Lysis narrowed her eyes, but complied. "All apologies, Ms. Hafeij."
"Is it cool if I let us out of this barrier now?"
"There is one thing you should consider," Lysis said. "We can't leave a fairy here, not when we have no idea who she is or how she got here. What realm is she from and how come she hasn't tried to return home? She's not any Earth fairy I've ever seen, and so she should have no problem leaving." Lysis turned to Saf. "Where exactly are you from, anyway?"
"Originally? Or recently?"
"Originally."
"Egypt."
Lysis blinked slowly, and Roxy could see anger making its way back onto her face. Quickly, the princess cut in. "What if she's a new Earth fairy, like me? One no one knew about?"
"Weren't you supposed to be the last fairy on Earth? As in, there are no more after you? I don't expect a change in that designation until someone has a child, and with the quality of these human men, I don't think that will happen anytime soon."
"So then she's like Bloom and was sent here from somewhere else," Roxy said reasonably. "We aren't going to just kick her off the planet to some new world she's never seen, right?"
Saf shuddered visibly at the thought.
"No, of course not. In fact, I think the queen would insist she'd stay… we should get her to Tir Nan Og."
Roxy nodded, but Saf blinked. "Excuse me? I don't have any intention to go anywhere with you!"
Lysis glared at the girl. "I'm sure you don't. However, all fairies on Earth, whether Earthborn or not, are under the authority of Queen Nebula, Princess Roxy, and their warriors. As you are a fairy and I am charged with the protection of my princess, who your foolish antics have endangered, you are subject to be detained. Am I correct, princess?"
"While I don't like the way she worded it, we do need you to come with us," Roxy agreed. "See, we're looking for someone, and you kind of fit the bill."
"What?" Lysis snapped.
Roxy raised an eyebrow and finally let the shield evaporate. As she did, she transformed back into her normal clothes. "Lysis, we came here to see a girl we thought was perfectly normal transform! That's not normal. That's special. And we're looking for a Very Special Fairy."
Lysis's eyes widened. "We are."
Roxy turned back to Saf. "Listen, we'll explain everything once we get to Gardenia, but we need you to come with us. We promise nobody in your family will get hurt."
"And if I say no?" Saf asked stubbornly.
"Unfortunately, then I have to call my aunt. She doesn't like to make promises where nobody gets hurt." Roxy almost winced; the statement had come out much more harshly than she had intended.
"What will my dad say? I can't just leave."
"We'll explain."
"How?"
"So, Mr. Hafeij," Lysis said in her most adult voice, "Your daughter is under arrest for possession of dangerous artifacts, threat to an officer, and resisting arrest."
Mr. Hafeij looked heartbroken. "B-b-but Safeyah… she is such a good girl… you must be mistaken…"
"I'm sure she is," said the blonde fairy gravely, "but it isn't in my power to release her from custody. May I suggest you contact Officer Bloom Peters? She has more power to help than I do."
Mr. Hafeij muttered something in Arabic, but took the piece of paper with Bloom's number that was being held out to him.
"Have a good day, sir. I hope this all gets worked out quickly."
With a small curtsey, Lysis backed out the door and walked to the car, where Saf, Epunine, and Roxy were waiting. She slipped in and sighed loudly. "I did not think that was going to work."
"I have no clue how you managed to do it even after scaring the heck out of him earlier," Roxy said.
"I told him it was an undercover operation and I still wasn't cleared to talk much about it."
"I can't believe he bought it." Roxy shook her head in disbelief.
"I can," Saf piped up. "He's a little gullible."
Lysis sneered. "Obviously. Did you see that fake magic he had? How could anyone believe in its authenticity? I can't believe he even managed to pick something out that was real. And then to give it to his teenage daughter?"
"He didn't," Saf said. "It was my mother's. She left it for me."
"That explains how he could tell a magical artifact from his left shoe, but still not how a human had a magical artifact." Lysis shrugged and started the car. "I guess we may never know, though."
Bloom was about to call for Lysis and Roxy to come back to Gardenia when they called her to tell her that they were, conveniently, already on their way. The surprise came when they said they had another fairy in tow.
"We're not sure where she came from or what her power is. We're hoping you can help us find out."
"Me?"
"Well," said Roxy over the phone, "you're the one with the big fancy lab, and between being a major player in both your experience and my experience, I'd say you're the leading authority on fairies that shouldn't exist."
"I guess," Bloom said nervously. "I don't think that subject really has any authorities, but yeah, I probably am the closest there is."
"We'll be there in like fifteen minutes. Think you can have the lab ready?"
"No, but I'll try."
"Good enough. See you then."
"Yeah," Bloom said.
The car parked in front of the Tir Nan Og palace and the three fairies (and one pixie) got out. "Home sweet home," Lysis said with relish. "I've missed this place, and it's only been a week."
"This is where you live?" Saf asked, sounding breathless. Her eyes were shining with awe.
Lysis grinned. It was the first time Roxy had seen her so happy. "Of course. I'm a fairy born of the court of Tir Nan Og. I was born to stick close to the royal family and to serve them. Even when my service takes me far away…" Lysis glanced at Roxy. "…I always love to come back home."
"It's beautiful."
"That we can all agree on," Epunine said with a nod.
The sound of a revving engine interrupted the moment, and the four looked towards it. Coming towards them quickly was a red antique car. "What?" Lysis said. "Who in the world…"
"Oh no, oh no," groaned Saf.
The car skidded next to them, barely avoiding driving over their toes. Lysis and Roxy couldn't help a nervous jump backwards. Safeyah bit her lip. I should have expected this would happen.
As the car stopped, a tall girl in a racing outfit stepped out. She took off her helmet to reveal the one person that Saf wasn't sure if she most wanted to see, or least wanted to see.
"Surprise, bitches… and Saf," said Avi. "I'm here to rescue my best friend and mess stuff up."
AN: Honestly not much to say on this chapter except I'm slightly concerned there's too much humor? But not much. I laughed a lot writing this, so I hope you laugh a lot reading it!