Hello, lovely readers.

I'm back with a new chapter! This is the first part of the Swamp Episode, though I've changed it drastically. You've been warned.

Enjoy this new chapter and let me know what you think (and if I made any mistakes).

Usual disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club or the cover of this story.

PS. Doctor Doofenshmirtz (LOVE the name!): I'm sorry to hear that you think I'm skipping the world building. That was not my intention. As to the difference between a Wizard and a Palladin... I thought I clarified it in chapter three, but I'm afraid I wasn't as clear to it as I had hoped :S A wizard is like a male version of a witch, they indulge in negative energy, grow more powerful the more spells they learn, and they use their magic spells mostly for attack. A paladin is like a male version of a fairy, they indulge in positive energy and are therefore limited to their progress by the source of their power, and use their magic mostly for defense. I hope that clarifies it a little.

Book I - Chapter X: Death By Swamp (Thanks a lot, professor Selim)

Updated: 13/11/22

The first thing that hit me when I stepped through the portal was the smell. It was like the troll's, only less intense. Still, I gagged and had to blink rapidly when my eyes started to water in reaction to the smell.

My feet made a squelchy sound and I gazed down, finding my shoes deep in mud and other unidentifiable nastiness. Beside me Stella made a noise in the back of her throat, pulling up a leg and glaring in disgust at the mud dripping off her own shoes.

"Okay… This is not what I expected." I gazed down at my uniform. Dark blue plaided skirt, white blouse, black stockings and shiny black shoes. "Not what I would wear to a trip to the swamp either." But then again, this was the last thing I had mentally prepared myself for when I had decided to attend my final class of the day.

"Welcome to Black Mud Swamp." Professor Selim Mustakar – Alfea's history and research professor – was practically floating above the mud to spare his peculiar shoes from the mud, his hands locked behind his back like usual. "This will be your home for the upcoming weekend."

"What?!" Stella wasn't the only one who screeched that in utter horror.

"Today marks your first test of the year," continued Selim, not even addressing the fury of some of his students. "You have been divided into groups of five or six girls, all according to your dorm lay-out. In a moment I will drop each group off at a cabin here in Black Mud Swamp. There you will find a list of accomplishments you will have to finish before midnight this Sunday, without using any type of magic."

"You can NOT be serious!" Stella's dramatic screech cut through the hush that had fallen over our group like a knife. "This has to be some kind of joke! You can NOT expect us to spend an entire weekend in this- this- This is torture!"

Selim turned his gaze to her when a handful of other girls muttered in agreement. His aura was growing deep red at the edges while his core was turning black. I was getting better at reading the auras, and this one I recognized as anger. Griselda usually had a hint of it whenever she was dealing with the troublemakers under Alfea's students.

"I assure you that I did not chose this test out of spite." Stella huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. I rolled my eyes at how dramatic she was being. I couldn't exactly blame it, but after the week we had, I could go without it. "As I explained, I will drop you off at a cabin where you will find a list of accomplishments. You have the entire weekend to finish them and I will be watching to make sure you finish them without cheating. Your grade will depend on how well you have finished your tasks. If you do not manage to finish all accomplishments before the deadline, you will have to do this test again next year."

Amaryl – one of our classmates – raised her hand. "Professor, will next year's test be held here as well?"

I bit my lip to suppress the chuckle threatening to escape me when Selim's deep red got a blueish glow to it. That one I knew even better. Musa's aura was tainted by it whenever Stella forced us to listen to one of her lectures on fashion. Annoyance.

"I get this question every year," he grumbled. "My field tests are never the same. It could be that next year you will have to survive in the wild for a week." There were some excited mutters, more than one girl liking that idea over a weekend in the mud. "I could just as well send you to Domino every weekend for a month."

"What is wrong with the swamp?" whispered Flora from beside me, a deep frown nestled between her brows. "I rather like it here."

"Of course, you do." Musa rolled her eyes. "Getting elbow deep in mud is your definition of heaven." Flora scowled unpleasantly at her, the closest thing the kind girl would ever come to glaring.

"I don't mind this place too much either," I came to her defence. "Sure, it doesn't smell all that great, but I rather like the feeling this swamp gives off."

"Girls. Girls." Selim was trying to get our attention again, as more chatter broke out. "GIRLS!" Finally, everyone quieted down. "Let me give you a fair piece of warning for all those considering to try their luck next year. If you refuse to participate in this test because you think camping out in a swamp is beneath you…" He fixated a pointed glare on Stella and Amaryl. "Then you will prove instantly that doing a fairy's more difficult and often less glamours work is beneath you. You will be expelled and not allowed to return until you have proven you have changed." Multiple gasps arose.

I whistled impressed. "Damn. That is harsh."

"You might think so, yes," responded Selim, gritting his teeth. "But all of you girls applied to Alfea because you want to become protector fairies. Well, helping people is not always glamours, nor does it always require magic. There are several places in the Magic Dimension where your powers won't even work. My job along with all that of the other teachers at Alfea is to prepare you to be a good fairy, even when you cannot rely on magic."

I shrugged. "I think that sounds fair."

"Of course you do," snapped Stella. "You lived most of your life without magic."

"Why are you so against this?" I shot back, arching a sceptic eyebrow. I wasn't sure what had crawled up her ass and died, but I did not like this new attitude of hers. It wasn't anything like the Stella I had gotten to know. "I thought mud baths were supposed to be good for your skin. If anything you should be happy you are getting one for free." Stella bristled, shooting me a death glare, while Musa and Tecna laughed. I rolled my eyes at her. "YSIS."

"My snob is NOT showing," she hissed back, and I only shot her a deadpan look back. She had insisted I point out when her spoiled side was showing and I was only honouring her wish, even if she didn't like it from time to time. YSIS was what the others girls and I had started to call it, one of my inventions though I couldn't take credit. I had read it somewhere but couldn't remember where.

"I think the punishment is not all out of proportion," added Tecna helpfully. "By all definitions of a fairy and a witch I can find, considering this assignment too hard or beneath you makes you better suited for Cloudtower than Alfea."

Selim's aura abruptly jumped alive with little sparks. I frowned. "Hmm, I haven't seen that one before. I wonder what it means…"

No one responded to Tecna's well-formulated calculation or my snide remark at Stella, though Amaryl shot us a nasty glare. I had quickly come to realise that Amaryl didn't like me or the other girls all that much. Whenever she looked at us, her aura started bubbling with little green dots. Envy, I had come to realise. Amaryl was envious of us, probably because of how close we were already, maybe because we had obtained some kind of privilege over the other girls already. Having a princess, a girl with a powerful aura, the epitome of kindness, the girl who could solve any technical problem and frequently did just that for the teachers, and a human nightingale all in one group tended to see to that.

Selim cleared his throat before addressing the group. "Is anyone refusing to participate?" No one answered or raised their hands. "I thought as much. Back to the assignment. I won't just let you fend for yourselves. Not completely. Each group will get four red magical flares. In case of emergency, you can activate one and I will come to assist you. But I urge you to only use them in emergencies when you see no other option. If you use all four flares, you will have failed the test and will have to redo it next year."

"Hmm." Tecna muttered from behind me. "Sounds all very logical." I hummed in agreement. So far this test didn't seem that outrageous to me, especially not since Selim had informed us the week prior that swamps weren't too dangerous. Magical creatures avoided them as much as they could. There were a handful of exceptions, of course, but most stayed clear of it.

"When you have finished all the assignments, your list will automatically transform into a green flare. Once you activate it, I will come to pick you up and bring you back to Alfea." He grinned a little. "The sooner you have finished the tasks, the sooner you can get out of here. But don't be too hasty." I choked back a laugh. My professor suddenly sounded an awful lot like Treebeard. "Deliver half work and it will reflect on your grade."

Some murmurs arose. Amaryl was speaking quietly to her own dormmates, shooting distasteful glares to the swamp and our professor.

"Now are there any questions?" Silence was all that answered his question. "Very well. Any volunteers to be the first to be dropped off?"

I exchanged a glance with Flora and Musa, who both nodded in agreement, before raising my hand. "We will go."

Selim smiled at me. The little sparks in his aura were back. "Very good." He clapped in his hands and a portal appeared. "Off you go, girls." Flora and Tecna stepped through first. Musa lingered to see whether I needed a hand with Stella, but while she was dragging her feet, she was allowing me to tug her through the portal.

Our cabin was perched on a spot of dry land while everything around us was wet. There was a little boat tied to the porch which also served as dock. It was half built around a giant tree that was covered in spiderwebs, though they were old and brown. They mixed with the tree's own leaves, and created these long beard-like shapes. And the wood that made the cabin was damaged and affected by the weather, but it was built sturdy and reliable. In other words, I rather liked what I saw.

Stella did not agree. She choked beside me and when I glanced at her, she seemed about ready to cry. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort.

"You will find the list inside," informed Selim as he stepped out of the portal behind us. "You will find boots and suitable clothing there as well, along with a kitchen and a bathroom. There is a water tank at the back of the house, but you will have to find water and food yourselves." His eyes sparkled. "Surviving in these conditions is the most important task of this weekend. Good luck, girls." And with that he stepped back through the portal and it closed.

Stella abruptly burst out into tears. "This is awful!"

"There, there." I rubbed her back. "Cheer up, Stella. Sure, this isn't a spa, but at least we are paired together and not with Amaryl."

"Yeah." Tecna smiled cheerfully. "Based on our combined powers and the partaking we have shown during classes, I estimate we should have finished the assignment long before the deadline on Sunday. If my calculations are correct, Sunday morning to be precise."

"See? And that is without having taken a look at our list first." I gestured to Tecna. "And you know, Tecna is rarely wrong with her calculations. What are two lousy nights in a swamp?"

"We will miss movie night, though." Musa let out a regretful sigh. "Damn. I've been looking forward to it all week. I want to know what happens now that Voldemort is back."

I sniggered. "I could just tell you."

"Don't you dare!" she glared. "No – what did you call them again? Spillings?"

"Spoilers."

"No spoilers." Musa shot me a fake glare before letting out a deep sigh and staring regretfully into the swamp. "We should probably contact Riven and let him know we won't make it tonight…"

She and Riven had truly hit off after the ball. They shared a love for music, and for movies. After they had endured a little bit too much of my Earth references and Musa had been forced to listen to me singing unfamiliar songs, the two had both grown rather curious and sat me down to ask their questions. That was the start of movie night. We were currently doing a Harry Potter marathon, having just finished the fourth movie.

"Yeah…" I chewed my lip absently. "But I left my mobile at Alfea. You?"

She nodded. "Same."

"I can pass him a message," offered Tecna.

Musa's face pulled into a scowl while I sniggered. Musa really liked Riven, but I had come to learn she was prone to jealousy. She had displayed the same reaction to me in the beginning, until both Riven and I had set her straight. We would probably bite each other's heads off before our first date had come to an end. Besides, he only flirted with me when Brandon was around, just to piss the guy off. "You have Riven's number?"

"Why would I have Riven's number?" Tecna just stared confused at her roommate. "I have Timmy's. But I am sure he will pass the message on. They share a dorm after all."

"Since when do you have Timmy's number?" I wondered with a teasing grin, rubbing Stella's back when I noticed her shoulders were shaking. "I didn't know you two were already at the exchange number stage…"

"I don't have the faintest idea what you are insinuating with that." But she was fidgeting and I swore I could see a faint blush. "Timmy has proven to be an excellent person to have a meaningful conversation with. That's all."

"Huh-uh." Musa and I exchanged a knowing grin, not buying it at all. "Whatever you say, Tecna."

"Riven probably won't mind us cancelling all that much," continued Musa in a lighter tone. "Didn't he say that they were taking that troll to Solaria? For King Radius to question and punish it?"

"Yes." The answer came from Stella who blew her nose in a handkerchief. "Daddy got the council to agree to hand him over, since he participated in the attack on me. He wants to know who was behind it and the troll can give those answers."

I tilted an eyebrow at Stella. "Does your father know that you're dating one of the guys who is bringing him the troll?" The flush to her cheeks said it all. "I thought as much."

"I was supposed to head home for the weekend," murmured Stella regretfully. "And see my parents. They would both be present for the interrogation."

"Oh, shit." My stomach turned unpleasantly. "I'm a heartless bitch…"

The awkward silence that followed was thick enough to hear a pin drop.

"Oh, Stella," uttered Flora, making her way to the girl and hugging her. Flora was that type of girl, who always went for the hug and whose hugs just magically made you feel better. "Why didn't you tell us? We would have understood better why you were so against this trip."

"Yeah…" I awkwardly kicked a bit of dirt. "I feel like an utter bitch now, with that remark about the mud bath."

"You were a little bit bitchy." Stella blew her nose again. "Can we please go inside? This stench is overwhelming."

The smell inside the cabin wasn't much better, unfortunately. Flora offered to light some candles with special scents and was well on her way to call them forth when Tecna reminded her that we weren't supposed to do any magic.

Instead we glanced around our home for the next three days. It wasn't big. Quite the opposite. Three rooms were squeezed into it: the kitchen-living area which was basically a kitchen with a table, the bedrooms which had three bunk beds, and a tiny bathroom with a toilet and shower.

Flora wrapped her arms tightly around Stella when she saw our sleeping arrangements and practically burst into tears again. "This is awful!" she sniffed. "I can't believe they would do this to us!"

"It is really not that bad," I tried to assure her, slumping down on the bottom part of a bunkbed. "The beds are pretty comfortable." I put my nose into a pillow and sniffed, sitting up in surprise. "They even smell divine."

"Really?" Stella eyed me cautiously, still sniffing. "You are not pulling another prank on me, are you?"

"Nope. Scout's honour." I handed her my pillow. "Have a sniff."

She did and finally her shoulders relaxed a little. "That isn't too bad…"

I mentioned towards the bunkbed across the door. "You take that one. You will be squeezed in between us and won't have anyone above or beneath you. You are the only one who isn't used to a roommate, after all."

Stella eyed the other three girls hopeful, Flora smiled and nodded. "We understand this isn't easy for you, Stella. Don't worry. We will try to make it as easy as possible."

"Starting with getting food and water." Musa fell down on the bottom part opposite of my bunkbed. "Anyone any idea how we are going to get that?"

"There are plenty of eatable mushrooms and plants in swamps." Flora sat down beside me. "I can go and take a look?"

"Having a nature fairy on the team is awesome. What would we do without you, Flora?" I smiled warmly at her and she blushed in response. Compliments tended to do that to her, which was why I made it my job to give her at least one each day. "I can't say I will be much help. I know how to make a fire, but I can't cook and I have no great knowledge about hunting or anything."

"I know how to make a snare." We all turned to stare in shock at Stella, who blushed. "What? Hunting is basically a requirement when you are a princess. Royals just love that sort of stuff."

"Well, if you can get your hands on some meat, then I can prepare it." Musa shrugged. "I have skinned plenty of animals in my day."

"And I know which materials to use to clean water naturally." My shoulders slumped as Tecna spoke. "So it is most logical to let me handle that."

"Well, it is official." I sighed in resignation. "I am utterly useless."

"Bloom!" protested my four friends.

"What? It's true!" I mentioned towards the other four. "You have all these amazing survival skills. Without you, I probably wouldn't even make it through the weekend, or spend it beside the toilet puking my guts out."

"Bloom." Flora placed a hand on my shoulder. "We all have our roles. Maybe you won't find yours in the basic survival tasks, but that doesn't mean you won't have one further up the road."

"Yeah." Musa grinned at me, and I instantly rolled my eyes. "Besides, someone had to help us carry all the stuff."

"Great." I puffed a strand of hair out of my face. "I am reduced to a pack mule again. And NO!" I glared at my friends when they opened their mouths, all wearing cheeky grins on their faces. "I am still NOT explaining what that is!"

Stella was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for. She proved to be right: the ball had been good for me. Ever since attending it, I was struggling a lot less with the halos and auras. Yes, at the end of the day I was still dead on my feet and still skipped dinner, but at least I didn't go straight to bed after my final class, and I could focus during the lessons itself.

Now that I knew that chamomile, lavender, honey, and valerian root induced sleep, I drank it every night before going to bed. True, my dreams were still weird but at least I slept more, providing me with enough rest to function properly during the day.

The downside of being dropped unannounced in the middle of a swamp meant I was utterly unprepared and swamps weren't famous for their endless supply of chamomile, lavender, honey and valerian root. Quite the opposite, finding them in a swamp would be astonishing.

Which was why I was sitting out onto the deck rather than lying in bed in the middle of the night.

I had grown rather used to the weird dreams, but these had been particularly unpleasant. For the first time in a month the troll had been central in it. I blamed it on the smell and the fact that Musa had reminded me that Riven and the boys were transporting the damned thing.

"Didn't it escape in the cartoon?" I absently stared at something of an alligator that swam around, chewing on my lip. "And the Trix made him disappear, to prevent him from spilling the beans. But why would the boys crash-land here if they are on their way to Solaria? That doesn't make any sense. And the ugly creature has already been interrogated by the magic council. Surely the Trix would have attacked and freed him earlier if they were afraid he would sell them out…"

I drummed my fingers on the old wood. I had yet to meet the Trix officially. According to Riven and Musa, Darcy – or rather said Malia – had been present at the ball and tried sweettalking Riven, much to Musa's annoyance. Riven had turned her down and sent her off with more than one impolite word. While Riven had shared again his suspicions that Malia – who had changed her name to Darcy last year, just like her two friends had done – was responsible for the attack on Stella, Musa claimed that the woman in question had no dark halo and she was rather beautiful, not like the ugly ones we had met. Which begged the question: who were the three ugly ducklings if they were not Icy, Darcy and Stormy?

"Why is reality so much more complicated than fiction?" I sighed, dropping my chin on my hand and watching the alligator as it drifted around in the waters. "Of course, reality is more complicated. One word from Stella that the three witches were in fact responsible for her attack and the authorities would arrest the three wannabes. King Radius would probably demand their deaths just for them trying to hurt his daughter. If the Trix are really behind it, then they will not show their true identities until their hand is forced."

A creak snapped me out of my thoughts. I glanced up, finding the front door slowly opening and Stella peeking her head outside. She smiled sadly when she noticed me, slipping through the gap and closing the door as quietly as possible. We both grimaced at the long squeak that followed.

"Hey, Stella."

"Hey." She sat down beside me on the wooden bench. She had wrapped one of the blankets we had found around her body since we didn't have much warm clothing. Another downside of being dropped into a swamp for the weekend unannounced. "Why are you up?"

"Weird dreams." I shrugged. "For some reason the troll is haunting my thoughts."

"Yeah, I've been dreaming about it as well…" She shuddered. "Nasty creature. I hope daddy gets his answers and then gets rid of it for once and for all." Stella pulled her legs beside her on the bench, her eyes taking in our surroundings. "Hmm, never thought I would say this but it is rather peaceful here."

I hummed in agreement, smiling as something that looked like a heron landed on top of the swimming alligator. The creature didn't even react, just floated on. Its beady eyes slinked close once in a while, which were two of the few things visible in the dark night.

"It is. And the smell doesn't bother me quite as much anymore." Stella remained silent beside me. I shot a hesitant glance at her.

Ever since the revelation that she was supposed to head home for the weekend, she had been remarkably quiet. We all had. While it was no secret that Stella's parents were divorced and weren't seen together often, the fact that she had explicitly mentioned they would both be present said more than enough about just how little she saw them together.

"And that is wrong." I let out a deep sigh. "Parents tend to forget that just because they aren't together anymore, it doesn't change the fact that they have a child together. And the children are the ones who suffer when the parents can't get along."

Stella had probably been utterly shocked by finding herself in a swamp, and reacted badly when she heard that the one chance she had to see her parents was just snatched away from her. No wonder she had been so snappy. "And I certainly didn't help with my crude comments."

I bit my lip harshly. I was on the brink of crying, this time out of embarrassment. I had always prided myself in being level-headed. What I said earlier, was anything but level-headed. Let alone something a friend would say. I had treated her like Mitzi. Just that thought made me want to beg for forgiveness, or hide under a stone for an eternity.

"I am really sorry for what I said earlier, Stella."

"Don't be." Stella shrugged, but she didn't look at me. Instead, her eyes were focussed on the heron-like bird. "I was acting like a snob."

"Still, calling you out like that in front of our entire class…" I shook my head. "It was tactless and heartless, but most importantly it hurt you. I hurt you. You didn't deserve that, especially not while you were upset about not being able to see your parents."

Stella sniffed and my eyes fluttered towards her aura before they turned to her face. Her aura was a deep grey with dark blue flecks which were new to me as well, yet somehow matched the tears in her eyes perfectly. "Sadness, I guess? Grieve perhaps? Why is there no Emotional Aura 101?"

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards me and resting my head against hers. She sniffed again, rubbing at her eyes.

"Flora was right," she whispered. "I should have told you."

"You don't need to share everything with us, Stella," I reminded her softly, keeping a tight arm around her. "We've barely known each other for a month. I think we all have things we keep to ourselves." She sniffed again. "And we know what a sensitive subject your parents are."

"I am overreacting." She wiped her nose with the back of her hand before sitting up. "As always."

"Stella." My brows nestled together at her words, at the tone in her voice. This wasn't her speaking. This was her repeating something she had been told again and again. "You are NOT overreacting. Don't ever think that."

"I am crying over the fact that I won't get the chance to see my parents together on a subject that doesn't involve my grades for a change," complained Stella, her eyes still shimmering. "Of course I am overreacting."

Something about that sentence made me pause, froze me in my tracks. "Stella –" My heart was beating painfully against my ribcage. "– what do you mean with "a subject that doesn't involve my grades"?" She ducked her head and my throat tightened when I guessed the meaning. "Are you deliberately failing your classes just to see your parents together?" She tried to shrug it off, but I was having none of that. I grasped her hand, forcing her to meet my eyes. "Stella?"

Her bottom lip trembled, her eyes clouding. "They can't even be in the same room without arguing, Bloom," she whispered brokenly. For a moment I found myself somewhere else, in a younger body, cowering in a corner of the room while watching and listening as my parents shouted insults at one another. In another blink I was back in the swamp and flinched. I knew exactly what she must have felt like. "At least when I'm failing classes, they are agreeing on something and I will have them in the same room without them fighting."

"Oh, Stella." I pulled her towards me again, wrapping both arms around her shoulders and resting my head on top of hers again, my throat tight. "That isn't fair."

Her breath hitched. "Is it so bad that I just want to spend some time with both my parents without them throwing insults at one another?"

"No, sweetie. Of course, it isn't. It is only logical. That wasn't what I meant." My own eyes were stinging with tears. This was wrong in so many ways. "It isn't fair that you as their daughter should resolve to deliberately failing her classes just to see them both and have them act civil. Divorced or not, they are still your parents. They created you together, put you on the world together, and they should still be there for you, together. Just because they have their differences and don't see eye to eye, doesn't mean you should suffer under it. Royalty or not, children and family should always come first."

"I envy you, you know?" blurted Stella out, completely out of nowhere. I froze again, staring wide-eyed into the distance. "You have two amazing parents who love you so much that they even refused to run from danger if it meant leaving you behind. And they didn't even give birth to you. Just watching you with them on Earth…" Her voice broke.

"Oh, Stella." I sniffed as well, my throat suddenly tight and uncomfortable. "You shouldn't be. My life isn't all that cracked up as you might think. And yes: Mike and Vanessa are amazing but…"

The words caught in my throat. Oh, I wanted to tell her about my mother and father, the two people who I had considered my birthparents for as long as I could remember. Explain that I understood what she was telling me, that I knew what it was like to always have to listen to your parents arguing while they were in the same room together, getting snapped at and belittled when you tried to interfere and keep the peace, wishing with all your might there was something you could do that would make them stop hating each other. And always that suffocating guilt, that you were the reason they were fighting and that if you could just be a better daughter than they would have no more reason to…

I had the urge to tell the truth more and more with each passing day. I hated lying to my friends. I was comfortable around them. I was myself around them, sometimes even to the extent that I forgot I was supposed to be Bloom and not Sybil.

Last week while watching Harry Potter with Riven and Musa, I had confided in them how terrifying I had found Remus Lupin as a werewolf. After seeing the movie, I had had nightmares for weeks. But I couldn't tell anyone that, because I had watched the movie on my own while I wasn't old enough to watch it. If I had admitted to having nightmares about a movie, my parents would have been furious and their punishment would be worse than the nightmares. Riven hadn't noticed how off that memory was for Bloom, even laughed and shared a similar story, but on our way back to Alfea, Musa had wondered why I hadn't just told Mike and Vanessa, because from everything I had told her about them, they wouldn't have been that mad.

And the Sunday following the ball, Flora and I had finally furnished my side of our room. She had chosen a few more plants, wondering cautiously whether I wasn't growing tired of them yet. I had laughed and explained that I loved plants, that I was making up for lost time since they hadn't been allowed in the house. And Flora wondered why Mike and Vanessa – who Stella often called the perfect parents – didn't allow plants in the house.

But whenever I made up my mind and decided to throw caution out of the window and tell the girls the truth, Barbatea's words and stories came back to haunt me. We had met up regularly these last few weeks and she had answered some of my questions, though she had mostly indulged in telling me terrifying stories to warn me against revealing my true identity.

I let out a deep sigh. No matter how desperately I wanted to tell her, I couldn't. What if Barbatea was right and Stella reacted badly? I would basically sign my own death warrant.

"I understand why you would want something similar. I am lucky to have them." The words were like poison, burning on my tongue and lips, and saying them stung like only betrayal could. And in a way, they were a betrayal. To myself, the life I had lived, and to Stella. She deserved to know the truth, that I had suffered just as she had. "But if you find yourself wishing to have parents more like them, than you ought to tell your own parents that. It means they are doing something wrong and need to seriously evaluate their own behaviour."

Stella gasped, abruptly sitting up. "I can't tell them that!" she protested.

"Why not?" I wondered, knowing all too well that if the roles had been reserved, I would have protested just as loudly. "Stella, they most likely don't even know that you are failing classes just because you want to see them. And that isn't fair to you, nor to them. You should tell them, explain it to them and what their behaviour does, how it hurts you." I grasped her hand pleadingly. "You are their daughter and they love you. They would never intentionally hurt you. If they do so unintentionally you should make them aware of it." I smiled sadly. That was the difference between us. I knew King Radius and Queen Luna loved their daughter, the cartoon had depicted at least Radius as a loving father. I on the other hand had been an accessory, a burden. "And you shouldn't have to purposely fail classes just to see them acting civil to one another." I was almost tempted to use glamour on her, to make her do just that. "To have what I could never have with my parents. She deserves that much." But I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't force this onto her. This had to be her own choice.

Her bottom lip trembled as she stared back. "I don't think I can…"

"I will come with you if you want," I offered instantly. "For support."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up a little, though I noticed she was still hesitating. "You would do that?"

"Stella, you are my friend. My best friend." That was after all what she had called me when she had introduced me to that cocky wizard from Solaria and out of all the girls, I knew Stella the best. "Best friends tell each other when they have a stick up their arse. They argue and disagree, but what makes them true friends is that no matter what the obstacles are, they are there for one another. If you don't want to tell your parents the truth, then I will accept that. If you do want to tell them but you need support, I will be there every step of the way. If you prefer to never speak of it again, I will honour it as well."

Stella blinked against the tears, her bottom lip trembling again. Her aura was giving me a whiplash with how fast it changed. Eventually it settled on something that was a mix of pink and blue. That I recognized. We practically fell into each other's arms and hugged tightly.

"Thank you." Her voice was shaking. "Will you come with me to Solaria once we have finished this test?"

"She is like the sister I've never had." I closed my eyes, a handful of tears escaping down my cheeks. "Of course, I will. You don't need to ask."

Stella and I didn't return to bed afterwards. We were too awake to try and get a little more sleep. Besides, the swamp was rather beautiful during the night. It was peaceful, yet alive. We remained on the porch, leaning against one another and watching as the world around us grew lighter and lighter without ever saying another word.

Around the time the sun started to rise, the door opened again. This time Flora peeked her head around it. She smiled when she saw us sitting there. "There you are." She tiptoed towards us and scooted with us on the bench, leaning against Stella. "I was starting to worry. Whenever I woke up, your beds were empty."

Stella grasped her hand. "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"I am not sure what it is, but it is almost like this swamp is holding its breath." Flora glanced worriedly around. "As if something bad is about to happen."

My stomach turned, the escaped troll from the cartoon flashing before my eyes. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I really hope you're wrong, Flora."

"Yeah," agreed Stella. "It would be nice to get out of Alfea for once without something happening."

"We do seem to be prone to danger," I snorted. "Maybe we should come with a warning. T-shirts with something like: "if found unsupervised, contact Ms. Faragonda: Alfea's headmistress"." Flora and Stella laughed. "I think if we return to Alfea with another incident under our belt, Faragonda will ground us for the next four years."

"I think my father will forcefully remove me from Alfea if that happens." Stella let out a deep sigh. "You should have heard him when he learned about the Magix incident."

"Maybe I shouldn't come with you to Solaria." I hummed doubtfully. "He'll probably have me imprisoned for endangering his daughter constantly."

Flora frowned. "But you had nothing to do with that. Quite the opposite, you were opposed to us following that ogre. Why would he pin that on you?"

"So far I've been the constant factor whenever Stella's life is in danger." I shrugged. "I am an easy scape goat."

"I won't let him pin that on you," swore Stella. "I will threaten to refuse to take the throne if he does something like that."

Flora gaped. "You can do that?"

Stella nodded. "It is not used often. It is the opposite of disowning someone and especially powerful when the ruling king has only one heir."

"What happens when the kings and queens do not listen to their demands?" I wondered curiously. "Civil war?"

"It has never come to that," chuckled Stella. "As far as I know, it is mostly used to get a blessing on a marriage. The fear of being left with no heir is enough to make kings and queens reconsider."

I turned to Flora. "Doesn't Linphea have a royal family?"

"No, we have a council." Flora smiled. "Linphae believes everyone is equal. That is why we chose the members of the council every few years. When we are not happy with their work, we can even send them home and demand to choose new representatives."

I smiled widely. "Oh! They have democracies in the Magic Dimension as well?"

Flora frowned. "What is a demo- democr- What does that mean?"

"Democracy," I repeated with a laugh. "That's what we call it on Earth. It is the system that the ones ruling a land are chosen by the people."

"Land?" questioned Stella. "You don't have one government?"

"Nope. Earth is divided into lands, 195 if I remember correctly. Each land has its own government and rules, though most are pretty universal. Murder is forbidden in all lands for obvious reasons. There are some democracies, then there are dictatorships. Finally there are kingdoms. But not all kingdoms have ruling kings and queens. Some have no power whatsoever and the land is ruled by the chosen leaders. Others are much like Solaria." Flora and Stella were gaping at me and I laughed. "If you wonder how that happened… It is a long story and involves a lot of people losing their heads."

Surprisingly Stella was all for a story like that and by the time Tecna and Musa joined us, I was just finishing with the French Revolution and the sun was peeking over the horizon.

"How long have you three been up?" wondered Musa, arching an eyebrow as she saw the three of us huddled together on the bench. "You do realise you are supposed to sleep at night, right?"

"We couldn't sleep," we answered at the same time, laughing afterwards.

Tecna shook her head disapprovingly. "If we want to get a head start on our tasks, we need plenty of rest. You three look like you barely got even four hours of sleep."

I shrugged. "I think four hours is optimistic in my case."

"Me too," nodded Flora. "I wouldn't exactly call what I had sleep. Catnap is a better description."

Stella groaned as she stretched her limbs. "I can't wait until we are back at Alfea. I want my own bed."

I couldn't help but agree. The sooner we were out of this swamp, the sooner I could get some decent sleep again.

Musa sighed. "Well, I can't argue with that. But since you three have been up for already quite some time, did you at least get some new water and food?" The sheepish smiles she got in return made her let out an even deeper sigh. "Of course, you didn't."

"We have some leftovers from yesterday," reminded Flora. "And Bloom and I can easily grab the boat to pick some more flowers and mushrooms. We now know where the good spots are."

"What are we supposed to do today, anyway?" wondered Stella, rising to her feet. She wobbled and abruptly sat back down. "Oh, I shouldn't have sat like that. Not for that long. My legs are asleep."

I chuckled but found my legs in the same state upon standing. Tecna lectured us on the importance of a good circulation of blood to the limbs as we carefully made our way back inside.

But as we did, a shudder ran down my spine. A little voice told me this pleasantness was not going to last. Today was not going to end as we hoped.

I prayed that for once it was wrong.

For those wondering about the whole name changing thing of the Trix: I will explain this in the distant future of the story itself but Darcy = Malia, Icy = Isla (not mentioned), and Stormy = Lauren (not mentioned either). That were their original names, and they later changed them to Icy, Darcy and Stormy.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

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