Chapter 01

Faragonda is escorted to a temporary holding cell within Red Fountain. It is unusual for her to be in this part of the school, for this is the place where the Specialists contain dangerous creatures. She has no business being here. But when a fellow headmaster requests her presence, what is an old fairy to do.

They approach an old man standing near the holding cell, with his staff in hand. The cell has a barrier preventing what is contained within from view. "Glad you could make it, Faragonda," he greets the woman.

"Anything for an old friend," she smiles at him. "If I may ask, what is so urgent that you require my assistance?"

Saladin nods. "We were contacted about a magical beast attacking a small town on Earth. Luckily, there was minimum damage thanks to the Specialists we sent."

"Sounds like any other day for you."

"Except, my students did not stop the beast," the old man places a hand on the barrier, making it translucent. "Turns out, this one is an unusual case."

The Headmistress of Alfea glances at her old friend before taking a look within the holding cell. The woman adjusts her glasses before widening her eyes. "Oh my!"

.oOo.

Mirta finds herself face first in the dirt as she landed with an "Oof!" The girl with dark pink hair with a single streak of blue manages to raise her head to find her luggage scattered. When she tries to stand back up, the fairy discovers that something has caught her foot. Turning, the former witch sees that a vine is wrapped around her foot.

As the vine removes itself and retreats into the ground, laughter can be heard not far from Mirta. "Look everyone! The pumpkin is trying to find her roots," came the voice of a fairy followed by more laughter from her entourage. None of them bothered to stop and help Mirta as they passed by.

The Fairy of Illusions takes a deep breath to avoid crying and begins to gather her belongings. As soon as she is settled, the girl continues the trek to the school.

The reason Mirta left Cloud Tower was due to being ridiculed for being too soft to be a witch. She hoped that the bullying would have stopped when Ms. Faragonda had welcomed her to Alfea. But here she is back to square one because she was born a witch.

She stops once she spots a familiar yellow ogre sweeping the steps of the school. There is someone she feels like she can confide in. The Winx are wonderful girls, but they don't understand what she goes through. With Knut though, he used to work for the Trix and here he is being a model citizen.

The young fairy goes to greet her friend, only to stop when someone else walks out of the school's front doors carrying a broom. It was a guy who could be no older than herself, wearing a hat that partially hides his face, a jumpsuit, and black sneakers. He hands Knut a pair of glasses. The two had a laugh before Knut goes back to doing his job with the guy helping.

As if sensing he was being watched, the guy looks up and bright yellow eyes meets her pale grey ones. That is when Mirta notices a single scare over his right eye.

He then calls out "Hey, Pumpkin Girl!"

And there it is. That is all Mirta needs to know that he is exactly like her classmates. She takes off with the intention of using another entrance. The fairy made it five steps before feeling a hand wrapped around her wrist. Turning around, she sees the guy right behind her. Looking past him, Mirta can see Knut had just left the steps to make his way towards them. He is still quite far from them.

"How did you—"

The guy shrugs, "I'm kinda fast," then he holds up his other hand showing her a cellphone. "I believe this is yours?" It is indeed her phone. Mirta must have dropped it at some point.

The fairy takes it. "Thank you. I thought you were just going to tease me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Y-you called me Pumpkin Girl."

The guy chuckles, "If you don't want to be called that, then maybe you should wear a different shirt," and points at Mirta's usual ripped tee with the image of a pumpkin.

Looking back up, the girl asks, "You don't know?"

The guy squints his eyes questionably at her. "Know what?"

Before an answer could leave her lips, Knut finally catches up to them. "Hey!" he manages to huff out, being short of breath. "Everything alright?"

Mirta smiles at him, "Fine, Knut. He, um…," the fairy gestures to the guy.

"Drake," he introduces himself. "Drake Samson."

"Drake was just returning my phone."

Knut lets out a sigh, as if he was expecting trouble. "That's good," turning to Drake, the ogre pats him on the shoulder. "Hey, Little Buddy. Why don't you go ahead and finish the front steps for me?"

"Sure thing, Big Guy," and with that, Drake leaves the fairy and ogre.

"Look, Mirta. I need a favor."

The Fairy of Illusions smiles up at him, "Sure thing."

"That thing you saw. Him being like really quick. I need you to pretend you didn't see that."

"Why?"

"It's…" Knut avoids Mirta's eyes as he tries to find the right word, "…complicated. Look, Drake isn't supposed to do that stuff. Especially in front of students. If Ms. Griselda found out and well, my buddy will be forced to leave."

None of what she is being told makes since to Mirta. Why would being fast get him sent away? But, aside from the Winx, Knut is one the girl's only friend in Alfea. "Alright, Knut. I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks," Knut smiles before glancing back at Drake. "Uh-Oh! I gotta go!" he tells her and runs back towards the steps.

Looking back at the steps herself, Mirta is met with the strange sight of Drake seemingly patting himself down as he freaks out. Knut soon reaches his buddy and hands over a small bottle. Drake did not hesitate to snatch it from the ogre to consume its contents. The ogre then pats the guy on the back.

Mirta decided that whatever she witness, it is one of those things that she is not supposed to know. She decides to go on a head to one of the other entrances.

.oOo.

Knut continues comforting his friend. "You're suppose to carry your medicine at all times, Little Buddy. Luckily, I always have a spare."

Drake takes a deep breath. "Sorry, Big Guy. I guess I forgot it."

"It's alright. Mistakes happen," Knut tells him before going over to pick up the two broom sticks they dropped. He hands one to Drake and they continue their job. "That wasn't very smart, you know?" the ogre breaks the silence. "If it was any other fairy, chances are they would have turned you in, Little Buddy."

With a sigh, Drake tells him, "I know, Big Guy. I just saw that she dropped her phone, and I didn't think. I just did it."

Knut smiles at his friend. "You really ain't a sit and do-nothing guy. I just don't want to say goodbye to a friend."

Drake just returns the smile the ogre before telling him. "Knut, you're the best ogre friend I could ask for."

"I'm your only ogre friend. In fact, I'm your only friend."

With that said, the two joined in laughter.