"So this is the realm of Magix." Vanessa said as her husband's jaw dropped.
"Wow. This is like nothing I've ever seen." Mike remarked.
"That must be your school over there." Vanessa said to Bloom as she pointed to a large building over the hill, "You excited?"
"You bet I am!" Bloom said happily.
Mike slung his coat off his shoulder and walked forward. "Let's go then. We don't want to be—" He stopped and grunted as he collided with something that couldn't be seen. He put his hands up, seemingly holding them in the air. "Hey, it's like there's an invisible wall. I can't get through!" He exclaimed as he strained.
"Really?" Bloom asked as Vanessa put her hand where her husband's had been. "Where is it?" The teen asked as she easily walked past the area in question. "I can't feel anything. Are you guys pulling my leg?" She asked as Kiko hopped over to her.
"No honey, honest." Mike replied.
"Hm. Stella, did you do that by any chance?" Bloom asked.
"No Bloom, it's a protective barrier." Stella said as she used a bit of magic to make the barrier visible. "It keeps non-magical creatures out of Alfea."
Rosella sweat-dropped. "What is the point of that?" She asked, "By all accounts, magical creatures are a much bigger threat than non-magical ones."
Stella shrugged before turning back to Bloom's parents. "Sorry. I'm afraid you can't go any further." She told them.
"Mom! Dad!" Bloom exclaimed as she passed back through the barrier.
"Guess it's time to say goodbye, Bloom." Vanessa lamented, "Oh, my precious little girl." She added as Bloom hugged her tearfully.
"Always do your best, okay?" Mike said, "And remember, we'll always be there for you, no matter what." He turned and looked at Bloom's pet rabbit, "Kiko, you keep an eye on her." The little bunny responded by giving him a salute, causing Rosella to raise a brow. "Hey, wait! I almost forgot!" Mike said as he pulled a wrapped package seemingly from nowhere. "This just might come in handy for you, Bloom!"
"Wow, Dad! A present for me?" Bloom gasped, "What is it?" She unwrapped the package and her face lit up. "Awesome! My own cell phone! Thanks Dad!"
"It was supposed to be your Christmas present, but you'll need it to keep us updated." Mike said with a smile.
"I think we need to let her go now, dear." Vanessa said gently.
"Don't worry, she's in good hands." Stella assured them.
"I'll be back home for a visit as soon as I can." Bloom told her parents.
"I'll send you home now." Stella told the two adults, "Ready? Stay there, don't move. Solaria!" She removed her ring and tossed it into the air, causing it to transform into her sceptre. "And have a nice trip." The blonde fairy said as she waved her sceptre and sent Mike and Vanessa back home.
"I hope they have a better landing when they get home..." Rosella murmured.
"Ready to take the plunge?" Stella asked Bloom. "Once you cross the barrier, there's no turning back."
"My mind's made up, Stella, I'm going with you." Bloom said firmly.
"What about you, Ro?" Stella asked.
"I do not really have a choice." Rosella replied, "Grand-maman said that I have to learn to control my powers so that I do not just shoot off my energy by mistake like yesterday."
At that point, Bloom suddenly realised something. "Wait, Rosella… have you grown?! You look a little older than before."
"Huh?" Rosella said as she looked herself over. "Ah, oui. Grand-maman said that this would happen. It is January here. Since my birthday is in February, my age has magically accelerated to just before my eleventh birthday. She used a spell on my clothes so that they would adjust. On the other hand, you are actually a little bit younger now, Bloom. It is because time on Earth is out of sync with the rest of the Magic Dimension. This is so that we will not have to guess about when our next birthdays will be and how old we will be on them."
"Whoa." Bloom said in surprise. "I know this place is magical, but still, that's crazy."
Rosella shrugged in response, "Perhaps so, but at least we do not have to guess how old we are. Anyway, there is no point in continuing to loiter about here."
Hearing that, Stella returned her sceptre to its ring form. "All right, let's get moving." She said, "It's time to show our faces."
Bloom picked up her suitcase, and she, Stella, and Rosella passed through the barrier before heading to Alfea with Kiko.
ウィンクズクラブ
Meanwhile, Mike and Vanessa reappeared in their living room, only to hear somebody ringing the doorbell. They looked at each other in confusion before Vanessa walked over to the door and opened it to find Eldora standing on the porch. "Oh! Eldora!"
"Hello Vanessa. Pardon my sudden arrival, but I realised that I forgot about something important regarding Alfea." Eldora explained as she walked in.
"You mean the barrier that we couldn't pass through?" Mike asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, that." Eldora said with a nod. "I imagine you two would like to meet the Headmistress of Alfea for yourselves. Unfortunately, only she has the authority to make exceptions about the barrier, so I'll go to Alfea directly and ask her to let you through so that you can meet her. When you see a portal appear in your living room, just step on through."
ウィンクズクラブ
"This place is gorgeous!" Bloom exclaimed as she looked around.
"Heh, don't let that distract you." Stella warned her as Bloom caught sight of a stern-looking woman who was checking in the new students.
"Who's that lady over there?" The redhead asked.
"Griselda, head of discipline. It's okay to let her distract you." Stella remarked.
"What is your name, young lady?" Griselda asked of the young girl standing in front of her.
"U-Um, Eleanor of Delona." The girl replied nervously, "Uh, I sent my registration form a few—"
"All right, let's see if your name appears on the list." Griselda interrupted. "Eleanor... Eleanor... Are you nervous, young lady?" She asked, noticing how tense the teenager was.
"U-uh, a little. I—"
"There you are!" Griselda cut in again, "Eleanor of Delona. You can go in.
"Thank you." Eleanor replied before walking past her.
"Next!" Griselda called shrilly.
"What now?" Bloom asked nervously. "I'm not on the list."
"Actually, you are." Rosella replied.
"Huh?" Bloom looked at the younger girl in confusion, so Rosella looked up at her.
"Grand-maman spoke to the headmistress yesterday." She explained, "You were accepted to Alfea as a special exception." At this, Bloom sighed in relief before the three of them approached the head of discipline.
"Good morning, Miss Griselda." Stella said cheerfully.
"Well, if it isn't Princess Stella of Solaria. I never thought I'd see you here. After what happened last year, I'm surprised you've chosen to grace us with your presence once again."
"I don't give up that easily, you know." Stella said confidently.
"Right..." Griselda said with resignation, "And who's your friend?"
"I'm Bloom Peters from Earth." Bloom said nervously. "To be honest, my—"
"Ah, yes." Griselda said with recognition, "We received word of your arrival from Eldora. To be honest, it's highly unusual for a student to be accepted right before school starts like this, but the headmistress informed me that you were a very special case." She turned her attention to the younger redhead, "And you must be Eldora's granddaughter, Rosella. We've prepared a room for you in the student wing."
"Thank you, madam." Rosella said politely.
"You three may go in." Griselda told them.
"Oh, before I forget, I brought a letter with me from Princess Varanda of Callisto." Stella said as she held the letter out to Griselda, "She decided not to come after all and asked me to deliver this to Headmistress Faragonda."
"Thank you, Stella." Griselda replied as she took the envelope from the girl, "I'll see to it that the headmistress receives it. I've been debating about where to place Bloom since we hadn't expected her arrival, but I suppose this solves that problem." She turned her gaze to Bloom, "Princess Varanda was supposed to be in the same apartment as Stella, but since she won't be coming, you can take her place there."
"Thank you Miss Griselda." Bloom said happily, relieved that she'd be rooming with the only person she currently knew.
"Yes, yes. Now move along." Griselda told her, "You're holding up the line, girls. Next!"
"By the way, Stella, what happened last year?" Bloom asked as the three of them walked past Griselda.
"Oh, it was nothing." Stella insisted. "Miss Griselda loves to dramatize."
"Somehow, I do not think that is really the case." Rosella said suspiciously.
Meanwhile, in the window of one of the classrooms, a group of instructors were watching the arrival of the new students.
"The new students are here. They all look so nice." Said an elf with golden hair.
"Budding young fairies—ah, it's been so many centuries since I was one of them, yet it only feels like yesterday." A woman wearing a vibrant red outfit replied.
"Ahem, professors, I can't see a thing." A leprechaun with an Irish accent complained to his much taller peers.
"Hold on, who's that little girl down there? She's too young to be a student." The woman remarked.
"I don't know. We'll have to ask Faragonda." The elf replied as he stepped aside to make room for the leprechaun.
"And that young lady with the red hair... I can sense that she possesses very powerful magic." The fairy added.
"Oh...!" The leprechaun said with interest as he finally looked out the window, "Which one?" He asked, "I see two redheads, and they both seem to possess quite powerful magic."
"Now that you mention it, Professor Wizgiz, the little girl Professor DuFour noticed does have an incredibly strong magic signature for such a small child." The elf replied.
"Yes, but I was talking about the taller redhead beside her. The one with hair that looks like a burning flame." DuFour clarified, just as a woman with white hair entered the room.
"That, my esteemed colleagues, is Bloom, a fairy who has grown up on Earth." The woman explained as she approached the instructors, "The little girl is Rosella, the goddaughter of our former colleague, Eldora. Bloom recently awakened her powers and cannot yet control them. As for Rosella, she will be staying as a guest here at Alfea and sitting in on our classes. Eldora fears that she is no longer safe on Earth. Professor DuFour, I expect that you know exactly who Rosella is, but you must not say anything. Rosella recalls nothing about her past, and Eldora is concerned that it may be dangerous for her to learn the truth. Still, from what I know, I'm sure you must be happy to see her again."
Back in the courtyard, Griselda had finished checking the new students in and was busy giving them a lecture. "This school will be your home for the next five years. But! This 'home' can cease to be yours at any moment. The rules of this institution are based on discipline. Disregard these rules and I'll personally escort you to the front gate!" At this, she pointed to the front gate to emphasise her point. "This is not a magician's school. You're not here to learn 'hocus-pocus'. Consequently, you may not use your powers in the hallways or other common areas. In fact, the only place where you may display your powers is in your classroom under teacher supervision. Is that clear, Princess Stella?! Thanks to you and your antics, the potion laboratory will not be accessible until next month at the earliest. Now I think you know what not to do if you wish to stay, huh? Hmph!"
"You did that?" Bloom asked in shock as she looked at the destroyed laboratory, the damage to which was still visible through the busted window.
"So? My father paid for all of the damages." Stella replied.
"That is really not the point, Stella." Rosella remarked. "Also, what did you do that they could not just use magic to fix it?! What kind of potion were you trying to create?!"
"Sorry I'm late. I hope you'll excuse me." The white-haired woman said as she approached with the instructors.
"Ladies, here comes your headmistress. Attention!" Griselda said, as if they were at a military academy.
"Oh really now. There's no need to be so stodgy." Faragonda told her second-in-command. "I hope Miss Griselda hasn't frightened you too much." She told her students with a smile before gesturing to the school. "Welcome to Alfea, the best fairy school in the whole of Magix. Mind you, it's also the only one." She admitted, "Come on in, ladies." After walking up the front steps, Miss Faragonda threw open the doors to the entry hall of the school. "Here we are. And so, we begin our orientation session, by the end of which, we should all know each other better. Becoming a fairy is hard work, but I know that everyone here can do it. Keep in mind that the teachers and I are always here to help you." She smiled at the group of freshmen, "Okay, enough with the boring stuff. Feel free to explore your surroundings, but be very careful—there are dangers lurking about."
"'Stay away from the witches of Cloud Tower'." Stella said before giggling, "Listen, that's what's coming up." She told Bloom.
"Stay away from the witches of Cloud Tower." Faragonda told the students, having not heard Stella. Rosella couldn't help but feel a bit bothered by that rule, or perhaps the sentiment behind it to be more precise, but she didn't want to voice her dissent in front of Faragonda's students. She was certain that it would be quite rude and disrespectful to contradict the headmistress in front of her wards like that.
"All right, speeches are over. Everyone's dismissed." Griselda announced, "You're free til dinner time."
"Good luck everybody, I'll see you all tomorrow." Faragonda told the girls, "Oh, and classes start at 8 o'clock sharp. Do be punctual." She watched as her students began to disperse and turned her attention to the young child among them, "Ah, Rosella, could you come here for a moment, dear?"
"You go on with Stella, Bloom, I'll find you guys later." Rosella told the older girls. "That is, if you do not mind my hanging out with you." She was well aware that a group of older girls might not be too keen on an ten-year-old tagging along with them.
"Sure, no problem." Stella told her with a smile, "Come on Bloom."
Rosella sighed slightly before walking over to the headmistress, "You wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes. I wanted to introduce you to my fellow faculty members." Faragonda told her with a smile, "This is Professor Palladium, our potions and nature instructor, Professor Wizgiz, our transformation instructor, and Professor DuFour, our etiquette and literature teacher."
As Faragonda finished her introductions, Rosella placed her right hand on her heart and held her left hand out to the side delicately as she bent into an elegant curtsy, "It is a great pleasure to meet you." She told the instructors, "I am Rosella, the goddaughter of Eldora, the former magical botany instructor here at Alfea."
"Oh my. Such a polite young lady. I can tell that you've been raised with great care." DuFour remarked.
"Thank you for your kind words." Rosella said with a bright smile. In truth, just as Faragonda had said, the etiquette instructor did know Rosella, but even though she knew that Rosella could likely sense that, they both knew it was better not to mention the matter. In fact, it was for this reason that Rosella did not ask DuFour about her misty-eyed expression, but instead turned her attention back to Faragonda. "Madame Faragonda, I have something I wish to speak with you about, but could we go somewhere more private? I think it would be best if the students do not hear what I wish to say."
"Of course."
ウィンクズクラブ
"Now then, Rosella." Faragonda began as she sat down at the desk in her office, "What did you want to talk about?"
"Why did you tell the students to stay away from the witches of Cloud Tower?" Rosella asked directly, without beating around the bush. "Witches are different from fairies, but they are not necessarily bad. You and Headwitchtress Griffin were both members of the Company of Light. I cannot help but feel as though encouraging division between us only breeds further conflict. How can there be harmony between us if we make no efforts to understand and get along with one another?"
Faragonda gave Rosella a sad smile. It was a good thing that she had decided not to let Griselda join this conversation. The head of discipline would no doubt be shocked at Rosella's audacity in questioning the rules at Alfea. However, Faragonda herself knew that Rosella had been taught that it was, in fact, quite rude not to say something if you disagreed with someone on matters such as these, and that she had also grown up with the belief that understanding the reason for the rules was just as important as knowing the rules themselves. However, while she understood Rosella's feelings, which came from having the purest of hearts, she wasn't able to accommodate her request. "Unfortunately, there was a tragic incident many years ago where a student of Alfea was murdered by a student of Cloud Tower." Faragonda watched as Rosella's eyes turned into saucers while she continued, "The Cloud Tower Student in question was sentenced to the Omega Dimension, but after that, Griffin and I decided that it would be for the best to keep our students apart."
"I see..." Rosella said quietly. It was written on her face that she did not agree with the two headmistresses' decision, but was unwilling to argue the matter. It was important to let her feelings be known, but also to recognise that she had no real say in the matter and thus, had to accept it.
"Do you need anything else?" Faragonda asked her.
"No. I just did not want to ask you about the reason for the policy in front of the students." Rosella explained, "I felt that it would be disrespectful to you."
Faragonda smiled softly. Rosellla truly had a well-developed understanding about what was and was not acceptable behavior. Perhaps she failed to realise it, due to her age, but everything about the child—her posture, gait, and manner of speech and conduct—spoke to the fact that she was very well-bred.
"You know Rosella, I think that you would make an excellent assistant for our etiquette teacher, Professor DuFour." The headmistress suggested.
"I would?" Rosella asked in confusion.
"Yes. It would help her immensely if she had somebody to demonstrate what to do for the other students."
Rosella blushed at the praise, but nodded, "I shall try my best, Madame Faragonda."
"All right then, off you go." Faragonda said with a wave of her hand.
ウィンクズクラブ
"You'll like Headmistress Faragonda." Stella told Bloom as they walked through the halls, "She always says the same thing, but she's really nice."
"Who are the witches of Cloud Tower?" Bloom asked.
"Magix has three schools." Stella told her as she held up her hand, "Ours is one, there's the Red Fountain School of Specialists—that's where the squad guys go—" She explained, referring to the four boys that they had met last night while holding up a second finger, "Finally, there's the witches' school of Cloud Tower." She finished while lifting a third finger.
"Witches, wow…" Bloom gasped, having not considered the possibility.
"Yeah well, better steer clear of them." Stella told her.
"You should not judge people by their magic type, Stella." Rosella said as she suddenly caught up to the two girls.
"Oh, Rose!" Bloom said in surprise, "Did you finish talking with Miss Faragonda?"
"Oui." Rosella said, "Strictly speaking, Stella is correct. You should stay away from the witches, but only because it is a rule for the students of Alfea. And do not get confused. Witches and Fairies are not separate races or anything like that, it is just a matter of how we focus our powers. A fairy's power can be controlled by such things as happiness, whereas a witch uses things such as anger to channel her powers. It is like judging people over whether they are a cheerleader or a goth back on Earth; very stupid. However, apparently, stupid or not, there are some problems between the two schools, so it is better to do as Miss Faragonda says. Besides, whether or not you agree with the rules, you should respect the people who made them."
"Oh, good grief, Ro." Stella said with a roll of her eyes before stopping at the door, "Here's our apartment, Bloom. You can ignore the fact that it has Varanda's name instead of yours. Miss Griselda will fix it later."
Rosella looked around and noticed her name on the next room over. "Oh, there's my room… but I will stay here for a bit.
Stella nodded in understanding before she turned the knob and opened the door to her dorm. She strolled inside with Bloom and Rosella following. "That's my room over there." Stella told them while pointing to the door of a room to the right of the entryway. "The same one I had last year."
"You've got a room all to yourself?" Bloom asked as she looked around the large space before walking across the entryway to the room that would be hers. "Wow! Lucky you! I've got a roommate."
"Something tells me that Stella's father had something to do with that." Rosella said. She could already tell by the matter of the potion lab that Stella's father did not seem to know the meaning of "restraint" nor "discipline." That said, she couldn't help feeling that Bloom and Stella were two peas in a pod. 'There is no doubt…' She thought to herself, 'Stella would be quite comfortable amongst the girls of Southern California.'
Bloom opened the door to her room and walked in, only for a pain-filled howl to fill the air a moment later. The redhead gasped as she stepped back, realising that she had stepped on the long leaf of a plant. The plant pulled its injured leaf up and began blowing on it as Bloom stared in confusion whilst Rosella poked her head in.
"Oh, sorry." The flame-haired fairy apologised awkwardly.
"No, excuse me." Said a girl with light brown hair as she walked up to Bloom, a friendly smile on her face, "I just got here, and well, I left my things all over the floor." She knelt down to be "eye-level" with the distressed plant, "This is a talking plant, one of my creations."
"Um, that plant is on a pedestal though…" Rosella said in confusion, "So would it not be her fault for leaving her… leaves on the floor?"
"Hee, hee, good point." The girl admitted as she stood up, "My name is Flora." She told Bloom and Rosella. Flora had medium dark skin and sparkling green eyes, giving her the overall appearance of a Latina teenager from an Earth perspective. Her light brown hair was thick, straight, and slightly textured, with a blonde streak at the front of her bangs on either side. As she shifted her weight while introducing herself, she accidentally knocked over the pedestal, causing the plant to fall to the floor with a scream, its pot shattering in the process. "Oh my!" She moaned with worry as she looked at the unhappy plant.
"I will fix it." Rosella said with a wave of her hand, restoring the pot to its proper state with the plant inside before she knelt down in front of the plant to play with it.
"How did you do that, Rosella?" Bloom asked.
"Oh, that?" Rosella asked as she stood up with the pot in her arms, "Grand-maman does things like that all of the time, so I have gotten used to it. Grand-maman does not usually have this many plants inside ofthe house though." She noted before turning to Flora while effortlessly fixing the table with her foot. "You are from Linphea, oui?"
"Yeah, how did you know?" The girl asked.
"The plants are a hint." Rosella told her. "Not many people are so fond of nature that they bring it inside with them." She looked around the room as she carefully set the plant down on the desk to the side. "That being said, your belongings are totally out of balance, Flora. Your plants are not positioned in the optimal spots for their species, and you are just going to keep having accidents if you leave things this way."
"You should let Rosella fix it." Stella told the other girl, "She's a total expert at balancing things out."
"Go right ahead." Flora said with a smile.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door of the apartment. Bloom went and answered it to find a girl wearing a deep blue dress with purple flowers on it.
"Good afternoon. I'm Maria. I'm looking for my roommate. I get the feeling she's hanging out in here." Maria had silky, wavy midnight-blue hair that reached to her upper back, and her skin seemed almost paler than the moon, which made her bright golden eyes stand out all the more. Her dress—and everything that went with it—had a very prim and proper look. Nearly everything about the girl's appearance suggested that she was the polar opposite of Stella.
"Do you know your roommate's name?" Bloom asked, forgetting that it should have been written on the door to the girl's apartment.
"Rosella." Maria said with a smile.
"Oh, right this way." Bloom said, leading Maria over to her room, where Rosella was busy rearranging Flora's side.
"There you are, Rosebud." Maria said with a grin when she spotted the younger girl.
"Huh?" Rosella turned and looked at the older girl. "Oh, uh, h-hello, Princess Maria.
"Oh, right…" Maria recalled, "Miss Faragonda told me that you don't remember anything."
"Oh?" Rosella tilted her head slightly, "Did we know each other before?"
"Yes, we're…" Maria trailed off, her face scrunching up in contemplation. "Hm… I guess the best way to put it for now is that we're distant relatives. It's a little… complicated."
"Oh." Rosella looked confused.
"Uh, anyway, I'm Bloom." Bloom stated.
"Hello Bloom." Maria said with a nod before lightly placing a hand on her chest, "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Maria of Lunaria."
"You're the princess of Lunaria?" Flora asked in surprise.
"That's right." Maria told her with a nod.
At that point, Bloom turned to Flora, "Oh, I don't know if you were told, but Princess Varanda couldn't come and I'm taking her place. I'm from Earth."
"From Earth? But I heard that there was no magic in that realm. Wow, you must feel like you're really far from home." Said another girl's voice, and they turned to see a girl with magenta hair standing behind them. "Hi, my name's Tecna." Tecna's hair was styled in an asymmetrical pixie cut, so but appeared to be thick and straight. Her skin tone was slightly lighter than Bloom's, while her intelligent eyes were a stunning shade of turquoise.
"Hi Tecna." Stella greeted as she walked forward, "I'm Stella."
Tecna frowned as she looked at Stella, "Hey, I've heard about you."
"Me too." Said a seventh voice. They all looked to see a girl who looked like somebody from Eastern Asia, at least to Bloom. Her short black hair was pulled up into a pair of twin tails. The one thing that separated her from an Earthling was her deep blue eyes, something that Oriental girls from Earth were unlikely to be born with. "By the way, before you blow up your room, give us time to duck and cover, okay?" The girl joked, causing Bloom, Tecna, Flora, Maria, and Rosella to laugh.
"Oh, it was just an accident, if you really wanna know." Stella said as she turned away with a huff.
"An accident that got you expelled?" Tecna asked, "How did you manage to get re-admitted?"
"Well, the truth is, they couldn't do without someone as gorgeous as me." Stella stated.
"Humility is a virtue, Stella." Rosella said as she abruptly used her powers to bring Kiko over to her and held him out to Bloom, "Here Bloom. He is hungry and was about to try and eat one of Flora's plants."
"Kiko!" Bloom scolded, but Flora just smiled.
"You hungry, little bunny?" The Linphean fairy asked as she grabbed a pot of soil from the desk, along with a packet of seeds, "Here." She dumped the seeds onto the soil and they instantly turned into bright orange carrots for Kiko.
"At any rate, Tecna, I suspect that the truth is that as crown princess of Solaria and Fairy of the Shining Sun, Stella's education was deemed too important to the stability of the Magical Universe for Alfea not to let her try again." Rosella said. "Even if she is a delinquent."
"Uh, should that really be coming from somebody who's been playing hooky on Earth for the past four years?" Bloom asked.
"I have not been 'playing hooky', I am homeschooled. There is a difference, Bloom." Rosella said with annoyance, "Think about what happened with my powers yesterday. Do you really think that Grand-maman could have sent me to a normal school on a planet where most people think magic does not exist?"
"Point taken." Bloom admitted.
"Who are you, anyway?" Tecna asked. "Aren't you a little young to be at Alfea?"
"I am Rosella. I am not actually a student, I am just staying at Alfea for a little while because I accidentally lost control of my powers on Earth." The child explained. "Fortunately, there were not any witnesses, but Grand-maman said something about somebody being able to use that energy discharge to locate me. Anyway, I am not actually from Earth either, but before you ask, I do not know where I am from. However, you are incorrect about Earth. It does still have magic, albeit, not much, but there is still an Ocean Gate there. However, most of Earth's magical energy was stolen away and what is left is what is held by the plants and animals."
"Plants and animals have magic in them?" Bloom asked.
"Of course." Rosella said, "How do you think Kiko was able to pass through the barrier?" At this, she pointed at her friend's pet, who was happily munching on the carrots Flora had produced for him.
"Hey, that reminds me, what do you say we eat out tonight?" Stella suggested. "It'll be our way of celebrating the start of the new school year."
"Great idea." Flora agreed, "That'll give us a chance to get to know one another."
At that, Rosella tugged on Bloom's hand, "Do you mind if I come? I do not know anybody here except Miss Faragonda."
Bloom smiled at her and then looked up at her roommates, "You guys don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not!" Stella insisted, "Ro is always welcome to hang out with us as far as I'm concerned."
"I agree with Stella on that point." Maria added.
"In that case, anyone for pizza?" Bloom asked.
"What's pizza?" The girl with the pigtails asked.
"Yeah, what is it?" Flora said.
"It's a dish from Earth." Bloom explained.
"That is not nearly enough information, Bloom." Rosella said, "Back when it still had fairies, Earth was known as the Realm of Diversity. That is because, unlike most other realms, Earth does not have a unified culture, language, or even climate. Every part of it is different, which is what I love about it." She looked thoughtful, "That being said, I am guessing that you guys do not know much about the various countries on Earth, so describing it by its nationality or history will not mean much to you. Let us see... I guess to keep it simple, I shall just say that it is a big, flat piece of bread covered with tomato sauce, cheese, and well, aside from that, you can pick any toppings you wish. It is Bloom's favorite food and very popular in the area she comes from."
"But considering how disconnected Earth is, will they even have pizza in Magix?" Tecna asked.
"Oh, oui. Pizza is actually a very historical dish, from the time before Earth's magic was stolen, so I imagine you can find it somewhere." Rosella said before turning to the girl with the pigtails, "By the way, I don't think that we caught your name. I am Rosella, and this is Bloom. That is Flora, and to your right is Tecna. And this is Maria."
"I'm Musa." The girl answered with a smile.
"Well, now that that's taken care of, let's go!" Stella declared.
ウィンクズクラブ
"Are you sure it's wise to let Rosella leave the campus with them, Headmistress?" Griselda asked as she and Faragonda watched Rosella leaving with Bloom and the others from Faragonda's office window.
"I'm sure it will be fine for one night." Faragonda answered, "Give her a little chance to explore, Griselda."
ウィンクズクラブ
"Magix Station, last stop—please transfer here." The driver of the bus from Alfea announced, and the six girls casually disembarked from the vehicle.
"Are we there yet?" Bloom asked as Tecna guided her with her hands on Bloom's shoulders while Bloom covered her eyes with her hands, "Can I open my eyes?"
"Yes, go ahead, take a look." Tecna told her.
Bloom removed her hands from her eyes and looked around, her expression quickly turning to one of disappointment as she saw what looked like an ordinary city—except for the different architecture and flying cars.
"You look disappointed." Musa said.
"Of course I'm disappointed!" Bloom replied, "This is it? Magix? Capital of the realm of Magix, the most enchanted city in the universe?"
"Well, what did you expect?" Maria asked.
"I don't know—dragons, gnomes, wizards, shops full of magic wands…" Bloom replied.
"But that's fairytale stuff, this is the real world." Stella replied. "Here, everything lives off of its own magical energy. Magic is everywhere."
"Whoa!" Bloom screamed as she narrowly avoided being hit by a car. She watched as the driver snapped his fingers and a new parking space was instantly created between some other cars so that he could park. "Goodness!"
"If you want to see it, you've just got to look." Stella told her.
"That is not entirely correct, Stella." Rosella said, causing the others to look at her. "I don't know about gnomes per se, but wizards and dragons most certainly exist here in Magix, although the dragons cannot be found here in the city. I believe that Red Fountain has some though. And gnomes most certainly do exist. I am certain that you, yourself, are familiar with the Muppies of Solaria. But I do not know if any reside in this realm or not. As far as wizards go, any guy you see walking down the street could be a wizard, Bloom. They do not often dress in long cloaks when they are young, just like fairies do not walk around with their wings out all of the time. As for the magic wand shop… to my knowledge, there is no such thing. With the exception of Stella and Maria, it's mostly just wizards who use that kind of thing, and they actually use staffs more than wands. That being said, most wizards use a staff that was either specially made for them, or was passed down in their family, just as Stella's sceptre was passed down. It is too… well… dangerous to sell such things to people who do not know what they are doing, and crafting such objects can only be done by somebody who is truly a master or possesses powerful creation magic."
"She's got me there." Stella said with a grin and a shrug.
"Anyway, let's eat." Flora said.
"Yeah, let's go." Tecna agreed, and they all giggled as they walked down the street. None of them noticed the large yellow creature that was inside of an optical shoppe they passed by. Well, none except Rosella, though she gave no outward sign of this as she followed Bloom and the others.
'I had better keep tabs on him…' She thought to herself.
"And over here, we have frames with a little more… attitude, shall we say." The shopkeeper told Knut, who was busy looking at his reflection while wearing a pair of eccentric pink glasses.
"Hm, I don't know—" Knut began before turning to the window slightly and catching sight of Bloom and the others. "Serpents and salamanders, its them!" He exclaimed. "Hm…" He said while walking toward the window and lifting the glasses before turning to the man at the counter, "Uh, excuse me, sir, did you see what I think I saw?"
"What's that?" The man asked, and Knut turned back toward the window.
"It was a group of girls that just walked by." Knut described.
"Oh yeah!" The man exclaimed.
"I'm not crazy?" Knut asked to be sure.
"No, not at all." The man told him, "They were students from Alfea. Today is the beginning of their new school year—my glasses!" The shopkeeper cried as Knut ran out of the store without thinking to take the glasses off first, "Come back here!"
"I must warn my highnesses immediately!" Knut said to himself, not even considering that he was still wearing the vibrant pink frames, "They're in Magix too. They can deal with things themselves this time." He ran down a nearby alley, pulling out a cell phone and dialing a number.
"Hello?" Came a beautiful voice on the other end—one that quickly turned frustrated. "Ugh, Knut! What is it this time, you useless, smelly ogre?!"
"The fairy and her friends are in town, my highness." Knut explained as he stopped running, "I just saw them walk by. They were headed downtown."
"Are you sure?" The girl asked, "That sounds almost too good to be true. Stella's scepter must be ours! Now listen to me!" She screamed again, "You won't fail us this time! And if you do, I'll make triple sure that you'll never, ever again take your glasses off! Got it?" She finished abruptly with a sweet voice.
"No!" Knut exclaimed, "No glasses, please! I promise, I won't fail!"
ウィンクズクラブ
Meanwhile, at a restaurant in Magix, Bloom—having just finished eating—was fiddling with her new cell phone and growing increasingly frustrated.
"I don't understand why my cell's not working." She said to Tecna, who was sitting beside her, "See, I press down the number and nothing happens."
"Let me have a look." Tecna said as she held her hand out, and Bloom handed her the phone. "I'm very good with electronic stuff—" She suddenly burst out laughing as she took the cell phone apart.
"Tecna, what's so funny?" Musa asked.
"This is prehistoric technology." Tecna said. "Where did you get that thing?" She asked Bloom.
"But… it's the most recent model." Bloom said in confusion.
"Tecna, Earth's lack of magic has created a time-lapse between it and the rest of the Magic Dimension." Rosella said, "It is centuries behind all of the other realms by now. And anyway, it is really not fair to compare the technology of any realm to what you are used to on Zenith."
Tecna considered this and then looked at Bloom apologetically, "Sorry… I shouldn't have laughed. That was rude."
Rosella smiled and placed a hand on the older girl's shoulder, "Why don't you make it up to her by fixing up her phone?" She suggested, "Bloom's papa just gave it to her, and red is her favorite colour, so I'm sure she would prefer the outside to remain the same, but you are a technology fairy, oui? I am sure that you could upgrade the inside of the phone while leaving the outside intact. En outre, that way, her phone will not stick out when she visits home."
"Great idea." Tecna agreed. "Is that all right with you, Bloom?"
"Yeah, I'd really appreciate it, Tecna." Bloom said with a smile. "Dad gave me that phone so that I could call him and Mom while I'm here at Alfea, but it won't mean anything if I can't use it for that."
"Then I'll have it fixed for you by morning." Tecna promised.
Rosella smiled, happy to have resolved the situation, when a familiar signature caught her attention. 'Icy? I guess she is attending Cloud Tower right now… Miss Faragonda said not to go near the students of Cloud Tower, but that rule is for the students of Alfea, and anyway, Icy is my friend, so I'm sure it will be fine.' She thought to herself before looking at Bloom.
Bloom noticed this and turned to the younger child, "What is it, Rosella?"
"Oh, I have sensed the energy of an old friend of mine." Rosella told her as she slid out of her chair, "I am going to go say hello."
"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Flora asked with concern.
"I will be fine." The child assured them.
"I don't know about that. I think you should let me come with you, just in case." Maria said as she stood up.
"Very well." With that, Rosella left with Maria. She hurried through the streets with a smile before turning down an alley, her face lighting up as she found who she was looking for. "Icy!"
"Wah...? Rosella?" A young woman with long, fine, and very straight silver hair exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?!" She asked as Rosella ran up to her.
"I sensed your energy and so I came to find you!" Rosella explained happily.
Icy looked confused, "Just me? What about Darcy and Stormy?"
"Huh?" Rosella blinked in confusion and tilted her head while looking at Icy's two friends. One had dark blonde hair that was fine, straight, and even longer than Icy's. The other also had fine hair, but hers was short, curly, and purple. It wasn't hard to figure out who was who since they were wearing their initials on their outfits, but she didn't understand why Icy thought she'd have come looking for them too.
"She doesn't remember, Icy." Maria said as she came forward. "Amelia blocked Rosebud's memories with a spell to protect her."
"You know them, too, Maria?" Rosella asked with a tilt of her head.
"Of course I do. These three are my relatives." Maria replied before tilting her head, "Is everything all right, Icy?"
"Yeah, sure." Icy replied with an awkward smile
At that moment, Knut came around the corner. He gasped in shock when he saw Rosella and pointed at her. "Highnesses! She's the little girl who was with the blonde girl on Earth!"
"Huh?" Rosella said in surprise. She turned back toward Icy with a mixture of hurt and confusion in her brown eyes. "Icy… you three were the ones who sent this ogre to steal Stella's sceptre? Why?!"
"Wait, you did what?!" Maria gasped in shock. Icy sweat-dropped, but Darcy and Stormy stepped in.
"Oh, don't act so surprised, Maria." Darcy said with a smirk.
"Yeah, we're not goody two-shoe fairies like you." Stormy added.
Icy regained her composure and looked at her younger cousin. "As a matter of fact… we need your scepter too, Maria!"
Maria's eyes hardened as she readied herself for a fight. "And why would I give it to you when it is clear that something is not right here?!"
Darcy crossed her arms, still smirking, "Because for one thing, you're outnumbered."
"And we're not going to go easy on you, even if you're family." Stormy added.
Suddenly Rosella shrieked as Icy pulled her away from Maria and shoved her over to Knut. "Knut! Keep Rosella out of the way!" Icy told him.
"Yes, Highness!" Knut said with a hurried salute before wrapping his large hands around Rosella's much smaller body to hold her in place.
The little girl squirmed desperately in the ogre's grasp. "No! Stop!"
Maria didn't hesitate. She quickly transformed, and much like her usual appearance, her fairy form was the opposite of Stella's. Her silky hair arranged itself into a high ponytail. Her dress had a sweetheart neckline with transparent, off-shoulder straps and a fluffy skirt, like that of a ballerina's. Her boots were so long that they reached to just below the hem of her skirt. Matching gloves adorned her wrists. She had blue wings that looked vaguely like a ribbon and silver tiara sat atop her head.
Without missing a beat, Maria removed the ring on her finger. "Lunaria!" She exclaimed, causing the ring to transform into a scepter that was similar to Stella's, save for the jeweled crescent moon in place of a sun. She caught the scepter in her hand and quickly assumed a defensive stance. "What's gotten into you three?!" She demanded.
"Like we'd tell you!" Stormy retorted before hurling a tornado towards Maria. The teenaged fairy screamed as she was thrown backwards by the whirlwind. However, she managed to catch herself by using her wings and hovered in midair above the Trix.
"Agh…" Maria growled in frustration, "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'm not going to just take it! Moon Beam!" She fired a beam of her own magic at the three witches. However, Icy created a shield of ice and reflected Maria's attack back at her. "Aah…!" Maria cried, falling to the ground.
"Last chance, Maria." Icy said as the other girl picked herself up. "Give us your scepter!"
"Hey!" Came the voice of Stella, "Three against one is kind of unfair, don't you think? How about you take on all of us?"
Icy wasn't amused, or even concerned. "Pathetic. Knut! They're all yours! Have fun."
Knut growled and then roared as he charged at Stella and the others. Meanwhile, Icy trapped Rosella within a cage made of ice to keep her out of the way. Stella and the others shrieked as they jumped and scattered to avoid Knut's fists before activating their powers to transform. The lone exception was Bloom, who still wasn't able to do so.
"Now it's our turn, you animal!" Stella told Knut.
"She's the girl with the other scepter!" Stormy exclaimed.
"Static Sphere!" Tecna exclaimed, catching Knut in a cage made of green lasers.
"Sonic Blast!" Musa added, creating magical subwoofers that struck Knut with their sound waves. The Ogre screamed in alarm.
"Golden Pollen." Flora stated before blowing a floral dust below Knut's feet. The pollen created a vine that wrapped Knut up and tossed him skyward.
"Ugh, what a blockhead." Icy muttered as Darcy face-palmed in frustration. "All right, you weaklings, you asked for it!" Icy exclaimed, spreading out her cape and firing shards of ice at the fairies from it.
"Everybody, come behind me!" Tecna exclaimed. "Firewall!" She produced a green, disk-shaped shield, which she and the others crouched behind to avoid the ice.
"Sisters, leave it to me!" Stormy said as she pointed her finger skyward. She then directed the lightning she had summoned at Tecna's shield, shattering it and causing all the girls to fall to the ground.
Meanwhile, Bloom, who nobody had been paying attention to, snuck over to Rosella and tried to use her magic to melt the ice, though it wasn't exactly going well. Icy noticed this and turned toward her. "And just what do you think you're doing?"
"Uh…" Bloom whimpered nervously.
Darcy scoffed in amusement. "This one can't even transform! I'll show you magic, little girl!" She launched an attack at Bloom, but Maria swooped down and scooped the other fairy out of the way.
"What were you thinking?!" The Lunarian princess exclaimed, "Do you even know if you have magic that can melt ice?!"
"Uh…" Bloom floundered at that question.
"Good grief…" Maria sighed as she set Bloom down, "It seems that 'Reckless' is your middle name."
"All right, enough is enough! Let Rosella go!" Stella told the three witches.
"Ha! Not a chance!" Icy scoffed. "Not unless you and Maria hand over your scepters to us that is."
"Do you think we would actually do that?!" Stella exclaimed.
"Oh? So I guess you don't care if we take Rosella with us instead." Darcy remarked.
"What is all this ruckus?" A man's voice interrupted. The entire group turned to see a man with golden eyes and midnight blue hair standing there.
"Daddy!" Maria exclaimed, running over to the man with a look of relief.
"Uh-oh…" Darcy muttered.
Suddenly the cage holding Rosella shattered. A second man who appeared to be somewhere in his twenties was standing there. He tucked his arm around Rosella protectively while glaring at the Witches. "What did you three think you were doing?" It was obvious he was furious.
Stormy laughed nervously, "H-Hi Uncle Desmond…"
"We are so screwed…" Darcy said under her breath.
"Retreat!" Icy exclaimed, and with that, the three witches disappeared.
The man named Desmond sighed as he released Rosella from his embrace. "What's gotten into those three…?"
"Something is wrong." Rosella said simply, "I sensed a darkness in them that was not their own. It wasn't there when I met Icy a few years ago." Her eyes were swimming with confusion and she looked like she was about to cry.
Bloom sighed and walked over to the child to comfort her. "Let's get you back to Alfea first."
Rosella nodded in agreement and Maria's father teleported all of them.
"Um, what was that all about?" Tecna asked after they had reappeared in the quad. She and the others powered down as Maria sighed.
"Those witches are relatives of ours. I never expected that they would attack us like that." The Lunarian princess explained before looking thoughtful, "Then again, they've been act strangely since they enrolled at Cloud Tower two years ago."
"I feel somewhat responsible." Desmond said with a sigh, "I should have stopped Duchess Griffin from training them as witches in the first place. Or more accurately, I should've tried harder to stop her."
"Griffin was going to do what she was going to do." Midnaruan said with a shake of his head.
"Um, why are they after Stella and Maria's scepters?" Bloom asked.
"The Scepter of Light and the Scepter of Night are counterparts to one another, but only a fairy queen of their respective realms can make full use of them." Desmond explained.
"But they aren't after the people who can activate them." Bloom mused.
"Yes…" Desmond acknowledged with a sigh, "Based on what Rosella said, I suspect that they are being influenced by someone else. If that's the case, then it's likely that they have misunderstood the history of the scepters… most likely, their origins.
"Hm…" Tecna murmured. She opened her hand and inexplicably projected a holographic display from her bare palm. "I can't even find anything about the origin of the scepters in my database, so how do you know about it?"
Desmond shook his head with an amused smile. "Your database cannot tell you everything, young fairy. Some information can only be found in books, where it was recorded long ago. Besides, the origin of the scepters was not something Zenith needed to know, so they would not have been given that information. As for your question, I am something of a historian who specializes in the history of magical objects. This is because I come from a family that specializes in their creation." He glanced over at Midnaruan, who wore a contemplative expression. "I know what you're probably thinking. It's likely that they think the scepters contain a power which they do not have." Desmond confirmed.
"Why would they think that?" Bloom asked.
"Because those two powers were used to create the scepters." Desmond told her, "However, they don't actually contain pieces of those powers. It's inevitable that Icy, Darcy, and Stormy will find this out."
"What should we do then?" Maria asked, "They won't believe us, even if we tell them. Should we hand over the scepters so they can see for themselves?"
"No, they'll only be suspicious if you do that." Desmond replied, "Moreover, we don't want them to find the true location of what they seek, so it's better if you girls can keep them going on a wild goose chase for as long as possible."
"Good idea." Midnaruan replied.
"Agreed." Faragonda said as she joined the group. "What they are looking for is closer than they think, and I shudder to think what would happen if they found that out. I will get into contact with Griffin and warn her."
"I will accompany you." Desmond said, "I need to inform her of my suspicions."
"Yeah." Midnaruan nodded in agreement.
Mm… Daddy," Maria began, "Our relationship to the Trix and to Desmond is a little complex… should I explain it to the others?"
"Yes, go ahead."
ウィンクズクラブ
"All right guys, here we go…" Maria began once she and the other girls had regrouped in Bloom and Flora's room. She created a small square of light with her powers to use in illustrating her family tree. "To explain my relationship to the Trix and Desmond, we have to start with my great-grandmother, the last Fairy Queen of Lunaria before I was born. Queen Lumina had two sons. One of those sons was my grandfather, who became the King of Lunaria. The other was the father of Griffin, the headmistress—or rather, headwitchtress—of Cloud Tower. When my grandfather became king, his brother became an archduke. Obviously, their successors were my father, King Midnaruan, and Archduchess Griffin." On the family tree, Maria had listed her great-grandparents, her grandfather and great-uncle (and their respective spouses), Griffin, her own parents, and then herself and her two brothers.
"Wait, wouldn't that mean that Griffin was the heir to the throne until your brothers were born?" Stella asked.
"Yes, technically." Maria confirmed.
"There's a scary thought." Stella remarked.
"You're not wrong, but there was a reason why my brothers and I were only born relatively recently." Maria replied before turning back to her rejection, "And that reason was… the Archduchess' children, Assana, Brenna, and Cassian." She added the three names to the tree. "They have the same father as Desmond, which makes him their half-brother. However… we don't talk about their father." She added a blank square to represent the man in question next to Griffin's name. On the other side of the man, she added a box that simply said, "Tante" before adding Desmond's name as the child of these two. "Anyway, the Archduchess was kind of a rebel back then, so nobody, and I mean nobody, trusted her to raise three kids on her own. Especially not since those kids were potential heirs to the throne. However, that's not to say they were taken from her. She and her children lived in the royal palace until the three of them were grown, and my father acted as a father-figure to them to provide them with stability. Desmond is on good terms with his siblings, although their relationship is a bit atypical since they grew up in different households." She admitted, "Anyway, eventually, the triplets got married. Cassian, the only boy, married Olivine, the queen of Dyamond, and their children were Icy and her younger sister Sapphire." She added these names to the list. From this, it became clear that she and the Trix were actually a generation apart. In a human family, Maria would have been older. "Lady Assana married the son of Saladin, the headmaster of Cloud Tower, and their children are Stormy and her younger brother, Helia." She also added these names before continuing. "However, because Stormy and Helia's powers are tied to their home planet of Lynphea, they are not in line for the throne of Lunaria, and Icy and Sapphire are in line for the throne of Dyamond. Finally, Brenna married a man named Channe, and Darcy is their daughter." She added this last set of names. "Now, the weird thing about Icy, Darcy, and Stormy is that they were born at the same time, despite having completely different sets of parents. Literally. They were all three delivered at around the same time in the Castle of Dyamond." She shook her head before continuing, "But that's beside the point. My brothers were born a year after the Trix, and I was born a year after that, along with Helia. Sapphire was born two years after I was. So, to summarize, Icy, Darcy, and Stormy are my second cousins, once removed, and Desmond is their uncle. Any questions?"
Bloom had lots of questions. For starters, how was it that Midnaruan was capable of having kids who were the same age Griffin's grandchildren? Was there a huge age gap between him and his wife? And what was all this intermarriage between different royals?
Rosella must've sensed what Bloom was thinking about, because she said, "It is a tiny bit complicated, Bloom, but it is nothing compared to the royal family trees on Earth, among which, intermarriage was common."
"I guess that's true." Bloom admitted as she thought about the royal family trees she knew of back on Earth. "Anyway, let's get to bed, Winx."
"Who?" Stella, Flora, Tecna, Maria, and Musa asked in confusion.
"The Winx, us." Bloom said enthusiastically, "I mean, if we're going to be a group, we should have a name... don't you think?"
"Actually, it's not a bad idea." Tecna agreed, "A name is good for a quick reference." It would be kind of a pain if everyone had to constantly list all six of them by name.
"It's true." Stella said, "Those three witches are the Trix." She knew this since she had attended Alfea for at least part of the previous school year. "We could be called something like... The Super Five... Uh, The Stella Five... Ooh! I've got it! The Airy Fairies!"
"The... The what?" Musa asked, sounding slightly alarmed.
Stella giggled as she turned to her musical friend, "The Airy Fairies. It's short and sweet and it rhymes... What's wrong? You don't like it Musa?"
"No, it sounds terrible." Musa said dismissively.
"I vote for Winx!" Flora exclaimed.
"Me too!" Tecna agreed, and Musa raised her own hand in agreement as well. Stella saw that she was completely outvoted on this matter and slumped in defeat.
"Perfect!" Bloom said happily as she reached into a drawer and pulled out a small cloth that she had painted the name on, "Because, you see, I've already come up with a logo." She held the cloth up for the others to see. "Simple, yet catchy."
Stella gasped and walked forward to look at Bloom's miniature banner more closely. "This looks fantastic!"
"Yes," Tecna agreed, "But, uh... What does 'Winx' mean?"
"Nothing, just Winx!" Bloom exclaimed as she created a small magic "x" while crisscrossing her arms. When Tecna raised an unsatisfied brow, Bloom came clean. "Okay, so it's inspired by our fairy wings." She turned and pointed at the logo that she had made, "You see, the design for the X was inspired by a butterfly I saw in Gardenia on the day I met Stella."
"I get it." Maria broke in, "So you replaced the 'g-s' in 'wings' with the 'x' to create something original!"
"Exactly." Bloom said with a nod.
"That's pretty cool, actually." Musa remarked.
"All right, then it's official. We're the Winx!" Stella exclaimed.
ウィンクズクラブ
That same night, shortly after falling asleep, Rosella found herself in a mysterious moonlit field of flowers. The light of the moon was reflecting off of the white flower petals in a dream-like manner and the sky above was glistening with stars. Unable to recall ever seeing such a place, the young child looked around in confusion.
"Welcome, little one." Said a melodic voice, and Rosella turned to see two fantastic creatures waiting nearby. One was a large, flaming dragon, similar to the ones that appeared in Chinese myths. The other was a beautiful blue bird with glistening feathers of ice. Rosella got the distinct feeling that she knew them from somewhere.
"Who are you?" She asked, unable to place where she had seen these two entities.
"I am the Grand Phoenix, and this is my mate, the Great Dragon." Came the melodic voice that Rosella had heard previously, and the child's eyes widened. Though her knowledge on the subject was surprisingly limited, she knew that these two were said to have worked together to create every realm within the Magical Dimension.
"Why are you here?" She asked in awe.
"We want to give you something." The dragon answered. Contrary to Rosella's expectations, his voice was not intimidating, but rather, filled with tenderness. Rosella's confusion only grew as a necklace formed between the two, which the Phoenix took into her beak and offered to the girl.
"What is this?" Rosella asked as she took the necklace into her hands.
"You have great power, Rosella, but your body is still too small to contain all of it. This necklace will help." The Dragon explained. Rosella recalled the day before on Earth, when she had accidentally unleashed a massive burst of energy in response to her confusion as to why Stella seemed familiar. There was no doubting that her power was indeed unstable, so she placed the necklace around her neck without a second thought. "Now you won't have to struggle so hard to contain your emotions." The Dragon told her.
Rosella smiled. She had indeed found it exhausting to constantly keep her feelings under wraps when she was away from Eldora's cottage. "Thank you." She told the pair, "But... why concern yourselves with a little fairy like me?" She didn't feel important enough to be worth the time of two of the greatest entities in her dimension.
"You are a special fairy." The Dragon assured her, "Therefore, you must be protected at all costs."
"I am?" Rosella tilted her head in confusion. She had known that she was a prodigy, but... was she really that powerful?
"You are." The Phoenix assured her warmly.
Rosella smiled a little and closed her eyes. The feeling she had while in the presence of these two was the same as when she was around Bloom or Icy. No, it was stronger than that. Bloom only carried a small fragment of the Great Dragon's power. That power of that fragment couldn't compare to the presence of the Great Dragon himself. Now she understood why she had always been drawn to Bloom, as well as Icy. The feeling of being with the Great Dragon and Grand Phoenix was a feeling of being home. She frowned as that thought crossed her mind and furrowed her brow in concern. "There was something wrong with Icy..." She told the two of them.
The Phoenix nodded gravely, "She is being influenced by Belladonna's power. I've been aware of it for some time now, but I'm not able to bring her to her senses."
"But... how?" Rosella asked, "And why... why Icy?" Something within her couldn't stand the thought of being separated from her friends by the Ancestral Witches.
"The three of them encountered the Ancestral Witches in the crypt beneath Cloud Tower, but as for why the Ancestresses targeted them, I don't know for certain yet." The Phoenix admitted, causing Rosella to sigh with discontent.
"Rosella, listen carefully," The Dragon said intently, "If Icy and Bloom fight each other in earnest, they might end up killing each other. You are the only one who can prevent that."
"Huh?" Rosella said in confusion.
"If they clash with each other seriously, it will be disastrous." The Phoenix clarified.
"But what can I do?" Rosella asked in confusion. She was just a child. A talented child, but a child nonetheless.
"You are the one with the power to keep them in check." The Dragon told her.
"I am?"
"You are." The Phoenix confirmed as she gently nuzzled the little girl.
"So what should I do?" The child asked.
"Act as a mediator." The Dragon told her.
"How?" Rosella asked apprehensively, "If Icy is being influenced by Belladonna, it will be hard to reason with her..."
"You might be able to break the Ancestresses' hold over those three." The Dragon explained.
"Really?" Rosella asked with wide eyes.
"Yes." He replied.
"But… how?" She asked, "I am just a little girl. I do not even know how my powers work..."
"You'll know when you know." The Phoenix promised as she nuzzled Rosella again. In response to the affectionate gesture, Rosella yawned and lied down amidst the flowers.
"Sleep well." The Phoenix said gently as she settled beside Rosella.
"Our little hatchling." The Dragon added as he carefully lay near the child as well.
Author's Notes
Finally got this chapter done and dusted seriously this took what 2 months and its a little better than wasting time searching job websites for a job when you get turned down seriously I've tried for 16 separate jobs and got rejected 9 times and the 7 I have outstanding are probably dead ends but let's be honest this whole logic of applying for every job you see is stupid and fudging pointless but enough about my IRL problems
Update: its all been dead ends but enough about that
now if you noticed a lack of Chillion, Shiverian and Glacieno well they have been scrapped as they were adding 1 too many OCs but to be honest he's not a good OC and I'll be phasing him out from my other Winx fic in the future now onto a word from my co-writer.
Co-Author Pinkrose064's Notes: Whew! For some reason, this one took forever to finish. I kept hitting roadblocks.
So while completely redoing this chapter, I took some stuff out and added some other stuff in. The thing about Bloom's cell phone being a gift for her to use at school was something I pulled from the comics. I just felt it made sense. And I really wanted to add in the scene of them officially becoming the Winx sooner rather than later. Leaving it out altogether just seemed... weird. Had to totally overhaul the encounter with the Trix, which honestly ended up being a tad anticlimactic. But at the same time, I feel like having Rosella receive something to help contain her overwhelming powers instead of somehow basically saving Bloom from the brink of death was honestly a better call. It just seemed like a bit much for a child who can barely control her powers.
Oh yes, and I like poking fun at Stella's "accident", because, really, what did she do that the potions lab was still a complete wreck a year later in a school that repairs everything with magic?! No wonder she got expelled!