"Good afternoon, ladies," Palladium said, observing as his students filed into the classroom, their last lesson of the day, and found their seats. "I'm very excited to tell you that our lesson today will be dedicated to power convergence. Now, can anyone tell me exactly what power convergence entails?"
Musa waved a lazy hand in the air, and when Palladium called on her, explained, "It's like when two or more magical beings combine their powers, right?"
"Correct."
Flora raised her own hand and asked, "But don't we already do that all the time?"
"Well, there's a difference between just combining and achieving true convergence," Palladium corrected kindly. "Professor Griselda introduced the idea of convergence to you in her workshop and we're going to build on that concept in our next few classes."
Sitting in the third row, Bloom smothered a yawn into her hand and tried to concentrate, her brain already struggling to distinguish between the two concepts.
"Convergence," Palladium continued. "Is most effective when there's a true connection between the individuals involved. The closer you are to someone, the stronger the convergence will be."
"Convergence is based on friendship?" Flora mused out loud as she took down notes.
"Friendship is one type of connection," Palladium agreed, nodding. "But there's also romantic connection, or professional connection, any of these can produce strong convergence. But for the purposes of class, the connection between friends is going to be the easiest to capitalise on."
"So, if we power converged with our best friends," Stella began with a glance around at her dorm-mates. "We'd be unstoppable?"
Palladium smiled indulgently. "Not quite unstoppable, but you'd be a great deal stronger. But with every person added, comes a greater margin for error, which is why we'll be starting with two power convergences. Pair up, girls," Palladium declared, clapping his hands to get them moving.
"It's not just about having a connection with someone," Palladium warned over the sound of scraping chairs and chattering voices as the students quickly found someone to work with. "But about being open and trusting with one another, that is when you achieve true convergence."
The cadet knocking on the door to the dorm knew it was bad form to be this nervous for something so trivial, certainly his teachers would have expected more fortitude from someone attending a school for heroics and bravery, but in Jared's defence, the occupants of this dorm unnerved even the best specialists at the school. He couldn't quite contain the breath of relief that escaped when there was no answer from within, but rather than leave he nudged the door open and stepped into the central common area beyond.
The space had a certain lived-in look of a teenage dorm with school books stacked on the coffee table, jackets draped haphazardly over the furniture, and the distant sound of music left playing in one of the bedrooms. But besides that noise the dorm was quiet and still, its occupants clearly elsewhere.
"Hello?" Jared called out, just to be safe, making his way over to one of the bedrooms. "Riven? Are you here?"
But still there was no answer, and indeed when he entered the bedroom, it was as empty as the rest of the dorm. Jared wasn't sure if he was relieved by that or not and was considering whether to leave or wait until someone came back when something on the opposite wall caught his attention.
Making his way over to one of the desks, Jared's eyes traced over the photos pinned above it, taking in the faces that appeared over and over again. Most of the photos featured a group that Jared knew to be Riven's friends, but a few were solo shots of a pretty-faced fairy with dark pigtails and an infectious smile. The very fairy that Jared had come to the dorm to talk to Riven about.
"I'm sure he won't mind if I borrow one of these," Jared assured himself as he eased one of the photos from the wall and hurriedly left.
The air was crisp and cool but the sun was still shining down a watery kind of light that drew the girls outside after their lesson with Palladium ended. Finding a patch of sunlight to sit in, they dropped down onto the grass, with Stella stretching out on her back with her hands tucked under her head.
"I'm ready for a power convergence nap after that," she said with a sleepy smile as her eyes fluttered close.
Bloom thought that that sounded like a good idea but resisted the urge to flop down beside her as she said, "As long as you don't nap for too long, we have to work on convergence for Palladium's class later, remember?"
"Uh huh," Stella said, a touch of dismissiveness in her voice that had irritation flashing through Bloom.
Before she could bite back, Tecna broke in. "I'm assuming you two are working together then?" When Bloom and Stella nodded, she turned to Flora. "Do you want to team up then, Flora?"
"Sure! It'll be fun to see how technology and plants work together."
Musa turned to Layla as the others delved into a conversation about how their convergences might work. "I guess that leaves you and me working together," she said with a wide smile.
But to her surprise, Layla seemed almost uncomfortable by the thought. "We don't have to," she began and Musa might have felt offended if she hadn't continued. "I mean, I don't think I'll be very good at true convergence, so I wouldn't mind if you wanted to work with someone else…" Unbeknownst to the other girl, Palladium's words about openness and trust were echoing over and over in her head.
"Why would I want to work with someone else?"
Layla wouldn't meet her eyes. "I'm just not very good at connecting and all that stuff."
Musa opened her mouth to pry a little further, but a sudden, unfamiliar, voice interrupted. "Hey Musa!"
Musa glanced around in surprise, and Layla took the opportunity to mumble something about homework and hurried off. Musa wanted to curse, looking after her for a heartbeat before she was forced to confront the newcomer, who the rest of her friends were looking at in surprise.
"Hi?" she said warily, eyeing him up and down. He was clearly a student from Red Fountain, even if he wasn't wearing his uniform, but he wasn't one she'd ever met before. "Do I know you?"
She thought she heard a disapproving tut from Stella but didn't really care.
"No, but-" the guy scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably as his eyes drifted to Stella before snapping back to her. "I'm Jared. Didn't Stella tell you about me? And the interview?"
"Interview?" Musa repeated through gritted teeth, as she slowly looked around to glare daggers at the blonde who was maintaining a convincing look of innocence.
"Yeah, I write for the Red Fountain paper and they wanted me to do a piece on the life of an Alfea fairy. I reached out to Stella and she suggested I talk to you, even set us up to do it over dinner tonight."
Jared seemed oblivious but Musa instantly saw what her friend had done. "Dinner, really?" she snapped even as the blonde looked nonplussed. "You're unbelievable."
She pushed to her feet and stormed off ignoring the others calling after her. She stomped to the treeline and pushed her way through the brush, seething at the situation Stella had manipulated them both into. Not only did she not even ask Musa before setting up the interview but it was clear she had ulterior motives in doing so.
She continued tromping through the trees until the anger had worn off a little and the coldness from the air started to seep in. She hadn't expected to be outside for so long and the shadows from the forest weren't helping either, and soon enough she was starting to shiver. She was just thinking about turning around and heading back to the school when the low thrum of a leva-bike announced someone's arrival.
Musa sighed a little when it pulled to a stop beside her and Jared climbed off, pulling his helmet off as well.
He offered her a look somewhere between sheepish and apologetic and said, "I just wanted to say sorry about all that back there."
Musa sighed again but felt herself thaw as she said, "Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault."
She tried to stifle a shiver as a cool breeze swept past them but Jared caught it, instantly shucking off his jacket and offering it to her.
"You don't have to," Musa said, trying to refuse it, but he was insistent and as the breeze picked up she found herself giving in and slipping it on, grateful for the thick material. "Thanks."
"It's the least I can do, I'm partly to blame for you being out here."
Musa started to head back in the direction of campus, Jared walking his bike alongside her, but he didn't say anything and Musa got the feeling he was waiting for her to explain why Stella had done what she did.
"Stella's the one to blame," she said firmly. "I'm sort of interested in someone else but she doesn't approve so I guess she was hoping something might happen between us."
"Oh," Jared said, scratching at his neck again, clearly a nervous tick. "Well, we can forget about dinner if you want? I would still love to interview you though, no strings attached of course."
"Really?" Musa said dubiously, before shrugging. "Sure, I guess it's the least I can do. We'll go to the library," she said, making an effort to brighten a bit. It wasn't Jared's fault he'd been duped by Stella as well. "I'll show you my secret spot as long as you promise not to print it in your paper."
Jared chuckled and swore he wouldn't. They left his bike outside and Musa led him up to the library, dutifully answering the questions he peppered her with on the way. When they arrived she led him through the winding stacks to one of the carefully tended fires that was tucked around a corner.
"I swear no one else ever sits here," she said, easing herself into one of the armchairs by the fireplace. "I don't know why because it's so warm and quiet." It was her favourite place to study when the dorm was too loud but she was willing to share it just this once.
"It is pretty great," Jared acknowledged, sitting opposite her and warming his hands by the flames. "So," he said, picking up again with his questions. "What's your favourite thing about studying at Alfea?"
Sitting so close to the fire as they talked, Musa quickly warmed up and yet she didn't pull off Jared's jacket right away and offer it back to him. The material was thick but surprisingly soft and she even found herself snuggling into it even further, even as she quietly wished it was the scent of Riven's bodywash she could smell wafting up from the collar.
"I can't believe you're writing all this down," she laughed a while later after she finished recounting a story from the Magical Reality Chamber.
"It's going to be a great article," Jared assured her with a wink.
The evening wore on and the sun went down and as dinner time crept closer Jared finally, reluctantly, announced that he probably had enough for his article. Musa offered to walk him outside, and when they reached his bike, she finally had to pull off his jacket and hand it back to him.
"It was great talking to you, Musa," he said earnestly, as he pulled it back on. "I'd really like to hang out with you again sometime…"
The words were friendly enough but the interest in his eyes told Musa he probably meant something more. She bit her lip.
"I don't want to lead you on, Jared…"
"Right. Can I just- I- it's Riven, right? The person you're interested in?"
Musa felt as though he'd just dumped a bucket of water all over her. Icy shock flooded through her and she almost took a few steps back as her eyes went wide. No one besides her closest friends had ever remarked on her feelings for Riven, was she really that obvious?
Jared didn't seem to notice her panic but took her silence as confirmation as he nodded a bit sadly. "I figured. Well, if it makes you feel any better I'd be willing to bet he likes you too."
He took a photo out of his pocket and offered it to her.
"Where did you get this?"
"I went to Riven's dorm to ask him or one of the other guys for a photo of you for the article and this was on his wall."
"You- I- he-" For once Musa truly had no idea what to say as she gazed down at the photograph.
"I'll see you around sometime, Musa," Jared said a little sadly, and swung a leg over his leva-bike before riding off.
Musa managed to force herself to lift a hand in goodbye before wandering back to her dorm in a daze, inordinately aware of the photo now tucked safely into her pocket. She came back to herself fairly quickly, however, when she made it back to the dorm, and found the others hanging out in the common area, Stella watching her with a particularly smug smile on her face.
"Stella," she growled, good mood melting away as her hands balled into fists. "We need to talk. That was so not okay."
"How did it go?" Stella asked airily. "It must have gone well," she continued without waiting for an answer. "You were gone for such a long time."
"What does that matter?" Musa shot back, planting her fists on her hips. "You should have asked me first before you did all that."
"If I'd asked, you would have said no without even considering it."
"And did you wonder why?"
Stella ignored the question. "You never said how it went," she cooed. "I'm going to guess that you liked Jared. Maybe even really liked him."
"That's so not the point," Musa groused, which was the wrong thing to say by Stella's triumphant cry.
"I knew it! I knew you'd like him."
"As a friend," Musa corrected. "And regardless, you know I already like-" she broke off, shaking her head and turning on her heel for her room.
"Oh come on," Stella pleaded, watching her go. "You can't even say it, Riven sure hasn't made a move, why are you waiting around for something that might never happen when Jared is clearly interested."
Musa shot her a look of disgust as she snapped, "You know, you can be a real bitch sometimes, Stella." She stepped into her room and slammed the door shut behind her, leaving the others to sit in total silence for a moment.
"That was really unkind," Flora told Stlla disapprovingly, and the others were surprised when Bloom nodded her vehement agreement.
"I was trying to do her a favour."
"Did it ever occur to you that she might not want you to interfere?" Bloom snapped, and everyone jumped a little at the venom in her voice.
"I'm always right about this stuff-"
"You think you're always right, but maybe not all of us agree."
Stella reared back a little in shock at the words. Bloom, more than any of her friends, was usually the most tolerant of her antics so to see her so forcefully opposed this time had thrown her off. Bloom sighed and softened a bit.
"I'm sorry, that was harsh, but I do think you crossed a line this time."
"Yeah," Flora said, easing back into the conversation after a worried glance between the two. "I think you should apologise."
Stella glanced at Musa's closed door before shrugging a tad petulantly. "Maybe I will when she apologises for calling me a bitch." She threw her hands up at the unimpressed looks the others threw her. "Fine, I will. But later when she's cooled off. Now are we going to get dinner or not?"
They all trooped out of the room to head down to the dining hall, Bloom pausing to knock on Musa's dorm to see if she wanted to come. But the other girl insisted through the closed door that she wasn't hungry, so they went on without her.
"I just don't get this constant dancing around with Musa and Riven," Stella continued only once the door was firmly shut between them and Musa. "If they can't even admit they like each other, how are they ever going to end up in a relationship together?"
"Everyone moves at their own pace," Flora explained patiently. "They need to figure it out for themselves. You pushing them isn't going to achieve anything."
"Alright, alright," Stella sighed, throwing her hands into the air. "I'll lay off for now. But one of them is going to have to make a move eventually or they'll be in a stalemate forever."
"Master, I assure you the plan has been put into motion, we just have to be patient."
Darkar regarded his most loyal subject from his throne, the only grand piece of furniture left in the dilapidated room, and slowly nodded. "Very well," he said finally, and his subject let out an audible breath of relief. "Keep me updated," he added by way of farewell, and the subject sunk into a low bow before the shimmering, magical aura he'd appeared as, melted away.
"Patience," he murmured to himself, the taste of the human emotion now unfamiliar on his tongue. He'd felt it once, he supposed as he reached out to scratch a talon along Kerbog's slippery back. But with his transformation into the phoenix all those millennia ago, so much of what had made him human had been stripped away, leaving only a burning want for power and control. He couldn't even remember the name he'd once used, but for the sake of the Ultimate Power, he could try and remember how to be patient.
Speaking of impatience however…
"You wanted us?"
Both the witch's voice and glare was sullen but Darkar allowed the insolence to go unpunished. All three of the witches, children compared to the endless years he'd haunted this universe, came with ducked heads and drooping shoulders that told him they remembered his display with the fair headed one, when he'd thrown her against the wall and toyed with her just to remind them all that their freedom was a gift and one he had no qualms about rescinding.
But still, impatience was starting to bleed from them, tainting the air whenever they were in his presence, so he was willing to throw them a bone, small as it might be.
"I'm starting to think you're dissatisfied," he drawled and alarmed looks flitted across all three of their faces.
"No," one said too quickly, too brusquely, as was her nature.
The other two were cleverer, more cunning, and they'd showed it as the one on the other side said smoothly, "We're just eager to serve you, My Lord."
Darkar considered her words. "Sometimes serving me means waiting until the right time to strike."
She dipped her head at his words, concealing how much he knew she loathed to defer to him. Their resentment would not do, he would need them when the time came and his most loyal subject couldn't help him, and besides they had done an acceptable job retrieving the first part of the codex.
"But something has come up that cannot be ignored. These fairies that have become a nuisance," he said carelessly, as though his entire plan didn't hinge on one of those very fairies. It also wouldn't do to allow the witches to know too much. "I have learned that they are learning convergence, you must disrupt their lessons as much as possible, for we do not need them presenting as even more of a threat." He eyed the most cunning witch. "You, you will go and do what is necessary to prevent them from mastering convergence."
She didn't bristle at his order, but rather her eyes glittered at the challenge. In truth, Darkar was hardly concerned with the idea of the fairies learning how to converge their powers, even then he doubted they would pose much of a threat. But if it would keep the witches rebellion in check, he was happy to let them think they were serving him, he would allow it.
"Thank you, My Lord," she said quietly, and bowed again. Darkar dismissed her thanks with a flick of his talons and with a triumphant twist of her lips, the witch left, her two coven-sisters trailing behind her. With that taken care of, Darkar leaned back in his throne and settled in to wait.
The next day found the girls back in Palladium's classroom to show him their progress on their convergence projects. At the end of their last lesson he'd presented each pair with a simple carved box that they had to open using both of their magic sources. The task had seemed relatively easy when he'd explained it, but as they'd quickly found out while working on it the evening before, it wasn't quite so simple. Palladium wandered amongst the pairs, offering words of encouragement here and suggestions there.
"How did you ladies go?" he asked Tecna and Flora as he stopped beside their desks.
"Well, we decided that I would make a hand out of branches," Flora said, gesturing to the wooden hand that was lying beside the box on her desk.
"And then we hooked it up to the digital brain that I made." A cable had been attached to the base of the hand, leading to Tecna's hand-held where she'd used her magic to write a code that was supposed to be telling the hand to move its fingers and open the box.
Supposed to, being the key words.
"Technology and nature generally have a difficult time connecting," Palladium observed, watching the motionless hand with keen eyes.
Tecna bit her lip and fiddled with the code, erasing and rewriting parts of it. She hit the enter button firmly and they watched hopefully as the hand started to move its fingers. But then they heard a slight sizzling noise and the hand flopped back onto the desk, blackened, while the overwhelming smell of burnt wood filled the classroom.
"You might be right," Tecna sighed.
"I told you technology could never control nature."
"Well, if we'd done what I'd suggested-"
Palladium left them to their bickering and moved on, stopping by Layla and Musa's desks. "And you two?" he prompted, looking interestedly at their project. "Water molecules and sound waves, right?"
Layla and Musa had set up their box in a tray of water, through which Musa was sending sound waves in an attempt to open the box. But they weren't having much luck either.
"I just have to get the frequency right," Musa muttered through gritted teeth, but Layla just sighed and shook her head like she'd known this was going to happen.
Palladium left her to it and moved on to Bloom and Stella who didn't seem to have a project at all. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, waiting for them to explain.
"We didn't know where to start, Professor," Stella told him.
"Well," Bloom hedged, with a glance at her friend. "Really, we had different ideas about where to start, had an argument about which one to go with, and couldn't come to a compromise so we ended up with nothing."
"I see. Well, like I said, convergence requires connection."
"But we're best friends," Stella protested.
"But perhaps you're not fully in harmony at the moment."
The two girls found themselves glancing at one another and Palladium left them with that to think about as he made his way back to the front of the classroom. "Some of you are on the right track, but most of you still haven't tapped into the full understanding of convergence. It's not about one magic source being more dominant over another more passive one, nor will a surface level connection work. Convergence magic requires all the powers to work not only equally but in complete harmony with another. It's hard," he consoled them when he saw their downtrodden expressions. "But that's why convergence is so powerful when it does work."
"I know we can do this," Stella whispered to Bloom, who had clenched a hand around the edge of her desk. "We just have to find some harmony again."
"Yeah," Bloom said, despite an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach that they were fighting a losing battle. Since meeting them a year and a half ago, she'd never felt more disconnected from her friends than she did lately.
She was distracted by Palladium who was announcing that they would be having a test on convergence the very next day. "I know it might seem sudden," Palladium said over the worried murmurings of the class. "But sometimes convergence can only be achieved under extreme circumstances. So tomorrow you'll enter the Magical Reality Chamber with your dorm-mates."
"Together?" Stella asked, looking around at her friends. All their experiences in the chamber so far had been solo ones.
"Yes. Spend the rest of the day working on your connection. Bond as much as you can."
"We really need to get back on the same page before this test tomorrow," Flora said with a worried glance around at her friends as they gathered their things and departed the classroom.
Bloom opened her mouth to agree, but Stella, who had spotted something down the hallway, interrupted with a nudge at Musa's ribs and a devilish grin. "Hey, look who's here." She nodded at Palladium who was now talking to Jared. "Did you make plans with him and not tell me?"
"No," Musa scowled, moving away from Stella. "I don't know what he's doing here. Probably research for his article."
"Please don't start fighting again," Tecna sighed, leading them in the opposite direction.
"Yeah, there's been way too much bickering lately," Flora said in a rare show of firmness. "And if we don't sort it out we aren't going to stand a chance in the test tomorrow."
Stella, who had looked a bit put out to leave the Jared topic behind, perked up again. "Well, how about the five of us drag some blankets into the common area and have an old-fashioned sleepover?"
She and the others realised her mistake a second too late as they all enthusiastically agreed but a hurt look crossed Layla's face.
"No, I didn't mean-" Stella said quickly, stumbling over her words in a rare lack of composure.
But Layla was already off, darting for the nearest set of stairs and racing down them, leaving her friends to watch her go sadly. Stella rubbed her forehead, even as Musa turned to glare at her.
"What is wrong with you? How do you always manage to hurt someone's feelings?!"
"It was an accident," Stella snapped back. "I misspoke."
Musa ignored her and jogged off after Layla.
"It was an accident," Stella said again, her voice distinctly upset. "I have feelings too, you know?" And she was off also, leaving the remaining three friends to look at each other and wonder how they were going to piece their friendship back together again.
Musa made it down to the quad and instantly spotted Layla at the treeline, curled up at the base of a large oak with her arms wrapped around her knees. She jogged over and was glad to see her friend's face was dry even as she sniffled a bit and fiddled with the hems of her sleeves. Layla glanced up at her as she approached and conjured a small smile as Musa lowered herself to the ground beside her.
"Are you okay?" she asked cautiously.
Layla rolled her eyes self-deprecatingly and said, "Yeah. Honestly," she added when Musa looked dubious. "I'm more embarrassed than anything else. I completely overreacted."
"You don't have to do that," Musa said quietly. "We're friends, you don't have to pretend everything's okay if it's not. What Stella said-"
"-was an accident," Layla said firmly. "I know she's been on your case and bugging you lately, but I could tell she didn't mean to exclude me like that."
"Then why…?"
"Why did I run off? I don't know, I guess it reminded me…" Layla trailed off, unable to force herself to voice those memories of a lonely childhood, of still feeling like she didn't belong in a big group of friends.
Musa didn't push. "You know," she said instead. "It might not seem like it but this whole friend thing is new for most of us."
Layla glanced at her curiously. Aside from the occasional petty bickering they all seemed to get on so well, used to being up in each other's space, sharing feelings and spilling secrets all the time.
"Yep," Musa said, nodding her head so her pigtails bounced. "I know she seems like a social butterfly now but Stella had a pretty lonely childhood, and I don't think Tecna even wanted friends before she met us. Flora's only friends were through her girlfriend and she lost all of them when they broke up, and Bloom had her roller derby team, but they didn't know the real her, not really, and they still don't."
Layla smiled at the mention of Bloom's roller derby team; the redhead had been showing her clips of matches and had promised to teach her how to skate, an offer that Layla was eager to take her up on.
"And me." Musa chuckled self-consciously. "Well, I was kind of a loner. My parents toured for a lot of my childhood and by the time we settled somewhere all the kids my age already had their friends. Even my cousins didn't want much to do with me."
Layla was struck by her vulnerability and was just opening her mouth, to say what she wasn't quite sure, maybe thank her, maybe return the favour and divulge some of her own past, when Bloom's voice called out to them from across the quad.
"I just wanted to make sure you guys were alright," she said anxiously, flopping onto the ground beside them.
Layla's smile this time was a little brighter. "We're okay, Bloom."
"Stella feels really bad about what she said, but she wanted to give you some space. I hope you know she didn't mean it."
"I know."
"And you both want to do the sleepover in the common room?"
Musa looked at Layla. "I'm in if you are."
"I'm in."
"Awesome. You have got to tell that funny story about Musa's sleepwalking."
"You got it," Layla said, while Musa groaned good naturedly in the background.
Bloom stood, and offered a hand to Layla and Musa each to haul them to their feet. "Come on, let's get inside, I'm freezing."
"Speaking of sleeping," Musa said to Bloom as they made their way towards the front door. "How have you been lately? I thought I heard you talking in your sleep the other night."
If she noticed that Bloom's smile had become a bit fixed and distant, she didn't show it, taking her friend at her word as she said, "I'm fine."
Thoughts of Musa and seeing her again at Alfea drifted through Jared's head as he rode his leva-bike towards Red Fountain. His heart had contracted in his chest at the sight of her, but she'd barely seemed to notice him, and even if she had, well he could take a hint and knew she wasn't interested. It was disappointing, especially knowing that Riven was yet to make a move, but there wasn't much Jared could do about that. He was reminding himself of that as he closed in on the transportation platform that would levitate him to the campus in the sky when a woman on the side of the road waved him down.
"Did you need help?" he asked, pulling to a stop beside her and taking off his helmet.
There was something oddly familiar about the woman but the way her face was draped with scarves, jewellery, and makeup made it hard to get a good look at her.
"No," a sultry voice purred from behind the layers of gauzy fabric. "I'm just selling bits and bobs and was wondering if you wanted to have a look."
"Oh," Jared said, trying to peer closer but it was no use. "Sure."
"Excellent."
The woman conjured a tray of necklaces from seemingly nowhere and held it out for Jared to look at. He'd intended to politely have a look before excusing himself but almost immediately a piece caught his eye. The pendant was a small purple stone strung on a simple black cord with a few gold beads spaced around it. Unlike the others around it, the necklace wasn't overly ornate or dainty, and he could almost imagine Musa wearing it. The thought brought a red blush to Jared's cheeks but before he could look away, the woman noticed his gaze.
"Ah, you like this one?"
"Uh, yeah I- I guess. It- it's very nice."
"This piece indicates admiration for the person you gift it to."
Jared could have sworn there was something knowing in the woman's voice, but he was too busy mulling over the woman's words. He did admire Musa, he found himself thinking, and it did look like something she'd like; it wouldn't have to be anything romantic, it could just be a thank you gift for doing the interview.
Mind made up, Jared said, "I'll take it."
He handed over a few gold coins for the necklace before picking it off the velvet tray. As soon as his fingers made contact with it a strange fog seemed to billow through his head and for a moment Jared had to concentrate on just staying on his feet. He shoved the necklace into his pocket but the fog remained and he stumbled back over to his leva-bike.
"Thanks," he heard himself mumble.
The last thing he heard before he shoved his helmet back on was the woman's throaty chuckle before she replied, "No, thank you."
Stella knew she'd made a mistake when the bottle landed on her and she chose truth, prompting Layla to instantly declare, "Tell us your most embarrassing story!"
Layla, Musa, and Bloom had come back to the dorm to find an apologetic Stella and a sleepover ready to get underway. First up on the agenda had been truth or dare, which Layla had never played before but had taken to it like a fish to water, already having dared Musa to do a knock and run on Griselda's office door and managed to wheedle Flora's deepest fear out of her.
"Is this payback for earlier?" Stella wanted to know, but both she and Layla were smiling, the incident from before almost completely forgotten. "Okay, okay fine. So this was when I was like fourteen and back then I had the worst acne that all the other princesses used to tease me about. Anyway, I had the biggest crush on Prince Robbie of Enthelion; all I wanted in the entire dimension was for Robbie to ask me to dance at Solaria's Rising Sun ball. But like everyone else at the time Robbie only had eyes for Princess Kimberley of Romulea who turned up in the most gorgeous gown."
"Oh, I hate her," Layla suddenly chimed in from where she was leaning forward, listening eagerly to Stella's story. "She always thinks she's so cool and she's still such a bully."
"Right?!" Stella exclaimed. "Anyway, when she had the nerve to upstage me at my own family's ball I got it in my head that I'd get her back for all the times she'd teased me for my acne. So I tried to use a breakout spell on her. But I wasn't the spell caster I am today… hey," Stella said warningly when her friends snickered. "Like I was saying, I wasn't as good as I am now, and I messed it up so that instead of breaking out, she broke her leg."
"Stella," Flora gasped, looking torn between being scandalised and laughing. The others had no such qualms and Musa was openly cackling.
"Not my finest moment," Stella admitted with a chuckle. "I felt bad, of course, but at least I figured that Robbie would have to ask me to dance now."
"Did he?" Bloom asked.
"Not even close," Stella sighed dramatically. "Instead he spent the rest of the night sitting by her side while the healers fixed her leg, holding her hand, and taking care of her."
"Awww," the other groaned sympathetically, even as they laughed at Stella's unfortunate tale of first love.
"Poor Stella," Layla cooed, grinning and shaking her head.
Stella vented her feelings about having to reveal that embarrassing story by daring Tecna to sing the school song, which she did, red-faced and very embarrassed.
"Bravo," Musa said, clapping, even as Tecna glared half-heartedly at Stella.
"I hate you."
"You kind of reminded me of Griselda," Bloom said thoughtfully before ginning and rolling out of the way of the elbow Tecna aimed at her. "Remember when she taught us the song in our first week? I thought Musa was going to claw her ears off, she sounded so bad."
Musa shuddered as the others, except for Layla, laughed at the memory; the Androsian princess of course hadn't been there last year. Seeing her friend's face fall a little, Musa nodded at Tecna. "Alright, spin for the next person, Tec."
She complied with the request and Musa regretted it a little as the bottle landed on her. Keeping in mind her earlier escape from Griselda's wrath, she carefully chose truth, thinking she'd be pretty safe with Tecna asking the question. But the technology fairy surprised them all when she blinked and asked in her typical blunt way whether Musa liked Jared or not.
"Tec!" she cried, feeling the blush already creeping into her cheeks. "Seriously, you too?"
Tecna shrugged. "It's a fair question. I'm not getting involved," she continued with a pointed glance at Stella who wisely remained quiet. "But you're our friend, I want to know how you're feeling."
"Well, maybe I don't know how I'm feeling."
"You don't know how you feel?" Flora probed gently. "You're one of the most self-assured people I know, Musa."
"Okay," Musa conceded with a sigh. "I might not be as self-assured as I like people to think. But, the truth is I don't like Jared, not like that. But in the spirit of honesty, I thought Riven would have made a move by now and I don't know what to do with the fact that he hasn't."
"Who said you have to wait around for him to make the first move?" Stella wanted to know. "No, come on, Musa," she said when her friend started to shake her head. "You're a strong, independent woman, you can be the one to make a move."
Musa's thoughts, which had drifted inexplicably to her parents relationship, snapped back to the present as she shook her head so vigorously that her pigtails bobbed. "I couldn't do that." Stella sighed and looked like she might argue further so Musa continued, "I'm surprised you're the one encouraging me to make a move on Riven."
Stella, who had been stretched out on her stomach, swung herself around to sit up abruptly and took one of Musa's hands in her own. Musa sighed at her dramatics but let her. "Musa, the reason I'm so against you and Riven is because as your friend I'm hardwired to think that there isn't anyone out there good enough for you, or any of my friends," she added, looking around at them all. "But," she continued, with a theatrical sigh. "If Riven is the person that's going to make you the happiest, then I'm behind it one thousand percent."
"Thank you, Stella," Musa said quietly, squeezing Stella's hand. "That means a lot."
The group was quiet for a moment, before Bloom broke it. "By the Dragon guys, way to make this night sappy. We need someone to streak through the halls to lift the mood again."
The very image made everyone burst into laughter, achieving just what Bloom had been hoping for in lifting the mood. And that's how the rest of the evening was spent, full of light and laughter. They were having so much fun that they couldn't have known that at that very moment Jared was unknowingly sneaking into Alfea's Magical Reality Chamber and leaving an unexpected surprise for them for the very next day.
Musa was a little surprised but pleasantly so to find Jared with Palladium in the Magical Reality Chamber control room when they arrived for their test the next day. She didn't get a chance to go up to him before the entire class had assembled and Palladium was standing to address them all.
"I hope you're all prepared for your test, ladies," he said, eyes sweeping over the groups. "If you're wondering about our guest, this is Jared from Red Fountain. He's just doing a little research for an article he's writing. He's promised to be unobtrusive as he observes so just concentrate on working together and doing well. I just have a few final adjustments and then we can get underway." His eyes settled on Musa and her friends. "I drew names earlier and you girls are up first."
"Great," Musa muttered and the other tittered. It was never fun going first but after the night before they were all feeling quietly confident that they would do alright.
While they waited, Musa went up to Jared to say hello. "It's good to see you again," she said with a smile when she reached his side. "How's the article coming?"
Jared opened his mouth as though he were going to answer before a peculiar, confused expression crossed his face and he slowly closed his mouth again. He made an aborted movement as though he were going to reach for something in his pocket before he once again stopped and dropped his hand. He managed a tight shake of his head before moving away.
"Are you okay?" Musa called after him, but he didn't even look at her. "Okay, that was weird." Musa bit her lip but went back to her friends. She had hoped that Jared wouldn't take it personally that she didn't like him like that, but maybe he hadn't been as understanding as she'd hoped.
Before she could say anything to them about it however, Palladium was addressing them once again. "You'll be sent to an extreme, uninhabitable environment where you'll have to power converge in order to get out. The test won't end until you achieve some kind of convergence, and then you'll be graded on how well you do. Are you ready?"
"Ready," the girls chorused, and Palladium gestured for them to enter.
They quickly took their place on the catwalk and waited for the chamber to hum to life. Palladium didn't waste any time turning it on, and the familiar bright lights clicked on, burning brighter and brighter until all the girls could see was white light, and all they could hear was the thrumming of the chamber, and all they could feel was themselves hanging in midair as the catwalk retracted.
And then as quickly as it all began, it ended, the thrumming stopped, the lights disappeared, and they were standing on solid ground once again.
The girls shivered and tried to look around through the dense fog now surrounding them.
"Well, this weather is certainly uninhabitable," Stella complained, rubbing at her arms.
"Yeah," Layla said slowly, as the fog started to dissipate. "That's not the only thing uninhabitable about this place though."
"What do you mean?"
But what she meant became clear very quickly as they got a better glimpse at the world they'd landed in. Because when they looked up it was to see a forest of trees growing out of the sky and right down towards them.
"Why does the sky look like there's a forest on it?" Musa demanded. "Is there a realm like this?"
"Not that I can think of…" Tecna said, examining the world around her closely. "But I think the reason the sky has a forest on it, is because of what we're actually standing on."
They all glanced downwards, and with identical jolts to their stomach realised that the ground they were standing on was really murky air and discoloured clouds. As if triggered by their realisation the world righted itself in one stomach-churning motion and the girls fell through air to land on the hard, packed dirt of the forest floor.
"By the freaking Dragon," Musa groaned, slowly sitting up. Fortunately for the girls they hadn't fallen far enough to do real damage, but they were surely going to be sore and bruised for a while. "What's going on here?"
"I don't know, but it's not good," Tecna said, stiffly pulling herself to her feet. "It's like there's a bug in the chamber's operating system. Nothing is as it should be."
Palladium's voice, sounding distant and crackly as though he were speaking through an old P.A system, suddenly could be heard, "Girls, can you hear me?"
"Yes!" Layla yelled back, not sure which direction she should even be speaking towards. "What's happening?"
"There's been some kind of technical problem. As you know I can't just shut the chamber down with you all still in it, so I've sent for Headmistress Faragonda. In the meantime I'm going to engage the emergency removal protocol. What will happen is I'll insert an exit code into the software, I'm not exactly sure what form it'll take but all you'll have to do is get a hold of it and you'll be able to escape. Okay?"
"Okay," the girls replied, shivering and looking around at each other. Palladium's voice was high and frantic, but the girls weren't quite worrying yet. Their surroundings were weird but certainly nowhere near as dangerous as ones they'd seen in the past.
That is until Flora gave a yelp of surprise and they all turned to see what had attracted her attention. Stalking towards them was a large wolf with a coat of purple-grey. But there was something incredibly wrong with the wolf, as its head was facing them right side up, but the rest of its body was upside down, clawed feet walking along thin air as if it were solid.
"I'm assuming that's not our exit code?" Stella said, keeping her eyes on it.
"No," was the only response from Palladium, and somehow he managed to sound even more worried.
"Then you might want to hurry up," Musa barked, and they all began to back up from the snarling wolf.
The wolf lunged suddenly, angling its dripping maw at Stella who was the closest. She shrieked but was shoved out of the way by Layla before the wolf could bite down, and the pair went rolling out of range.
"Thanks," Stella said, and hauled both of them back to her feet. "Where did it go?" She looked around but couldn't see the wolf anywhere.
"It just kept running," Bloom said, frowning in the direction it had gone. "Something is seriously wrong with this place."
"Well, let's just get out of here before it has a chance to come back," Stella said firmly.
A pink ball of light appeared from between the trees and zoomed around them, moving fast.
"Is that it?" Tecna asked, tracking it with her eyes.
"Yes!" Palladium cried. "That's the exit code!"
"Come on," Bloom cried. "We need to get a hold of it!"
"And then hit it with a burst of magic to activate it."
The pink light zipped through the trees with startling accuracy, forcing the girls to give chase until they arrived in a clearing. There they spread out quickly, so it couldn't escape, and started to close in.
"Almost got it," Bloom murmured to herself as the light continued to shift from side to side, looking for an exit. "Almost…"
There was a sudden giggle of laughter that didn't come from any of the girls. They looked around. It almost sounded like…
"Darcy?"
But there was no sign of her, and the distraction did its job for none of them noticed the wolf sneaking back up on them until it leapt into the middle of their huddle and swallowed the exit code.
"It ate the exit code!" Flora cried.
But it hadn't just eaten it; something in the magic was causing the wolf to grow and transform into something horrible looking that stood on two legs, had clawed hands, and a still terrifyingly upside down head.
"By the Dragon," Bloom breathed. But then she shook her head. No matter what this place threw at them, it couldn't come close to the things they'd faced in the past. She looked to her friends, "I think it's time we showed this monster what we've got."
In unison there were six flashes of light and the girls reappeared in their fairy forms. Bloom shot into the air, closely followed by the others.
"Now, let's get our exit code back!"
Musa attacked first, hitting the monster with a sonic blast so intense that it almost threw the girls out of the air alongside it. But the monster itself barely conceded more than a handful of steps and seemed more perturbed by the attack than hurt. In retaliation the monster lunged at the girls with its clawed hands, forcing them to scatter, lest they get skewered. Layla in particular was forced to put her athleticism to the test as she flipped and twisted out of range of the monster.
"What can we even do against a monster this strong," Flora puffed, as she tried to wrap the monster in thick vines, but it just ripped them to shreds with its claws.
"Remember what you've learnt about convergence, girls!" Palladium called to them urgently.
The girls glanced at each other. "I don't think there's anything else for it," Tecna agreed.
They were in the chamber to get tested on their convergence after all it seemed, only this time the consequences of failing were much more dire than a bad grade.
"It's not reacting to our individual magic," Tecna said, thinking hard. "So I think we don't just need a convergence spell, but we need to converge our powers to make something that will fight against it, physical strength to physical strength."
"Layla, can you start us off?" Bloom called to her. "We'll distract it."
True to their word, the girls started firing spells and magic at the monster despite the minimal effect it was having. Being covered, Layla took a moment to think hard before nodding her head firmly, plan starting to form. She held her hands out and called a large wave of water out of the sky and into the packed dirt ground. There the water started to loosen the dirt, allowing her to mix and manipulate it until she had enough mud to construct a tall, towering figure. From there she drew some of the water out of it allowing it to harden back up while still allowing some range of motion.
"That's great!" Bloom said, catching a glimpse of it.
Layla grinned, but was distracted enough that the monster got through their defences and knocked her into a tree where she slid to the ground.
"Layla!" Musa yelled.
Without Layla to help it stay up, the figure was already starting to droop, something that Flora noticed and had a solution for.
"I'm going to give that thing some strength," she said. Vines burst out of the ground and started to wrap their way around the figure's limbs and torso, working with Layla's water to hold the dirt together. Just in time because the monster took a swipe at the figure and sent it sprawling to the ground where it thankfully held together.
"Alright, it's got strength but now it needs some brain power," Tecna said, seeing the way it was crumpled lifeless on the ground. She closed her eyes, and the others flew closer to protect as she used some of her most complex magic to create a computer brain for the figure which she flew over and deposited inside its mud head.
They could tell instantly that it had worked because the figure pushed itself to its feet and stood at the ready. But it didn't move towards the monster.
"It can't see," Bloom realised. "Stella?!"
"Yeah," the blonde called back, screwing up her face in concentration. "Hang on, let me just… there!"
Two orbs of glowing gold light appeared in the figure's face and it immediately zeroed in on the monster.
"And my turn now," Bloom murmured to herself. Taking a moment to steady herself and concentrate, Bloom focused on drawing out a tiny flame of life from within herself and impressing it on the figure, giving it the motivation to fight for them.
It worked like a treat and the figure ran at the monster, intercepting a swipe of its claws and using its considerable strength to shove it to the ground. Once it had the monster pinned the figure landed blow after blow on it, keeping it curled up on the ground.
"We need it to cough up the exit code!" Bloom yelled to the convergence figure.
The figure paused in its barrage and cocked its head at Bloom before nodding and jerking the monster upright.
"And give it the power to speak," Palladium coached from the control room. "Once it gets a hold of the code it will need to say the spell with you."
"My time to shine," Musa declared, and after a burst of red light the figure opened its newly formed mouth to let out a roar of triumph.
"Now!" Bloom told it, and it turned and sunk its fist into the monster's stomach, prompting it to cough up the code which the figure was quick to snatch out of the air. "Everybody ready to get out of here?"
The six of them joined hands while the figure came over to stand with them. Then altogether they began to speak, "Princeps potentia omnium nostrum in unum iunguntur!" The monster spoke in a guttural voice along with them, and they poured their magic into the exit code still clenched in its fist. They knew instantly it had worked because the world shifted around them and the monster gave an enraged roar, before it all disappeared and they returned to the familiar sight of the Magical Reality Chamber.
The second the chamber turned off completely the door burst open and Palladium and Faragonda ran through it, followed by Jared and half of the class.
"Are you girls alright?" Faragonda asked, sweeping her eyes over them to check for injuries.
"I think so," Flora said, checking herself out.
"Amazing work, girls," Palladium exclaimed. "I know it wasn't anywhere near ideal circumstances, but that was truly excellent convergence!"
"Now, if only we knew exactly what went wrong with the chamber," Faragonda said, frowning.
"Yes, I'd like some answers about how the chamber has come to be broken yet again."
As Faragonda and Palladium discussed the matter, Musa noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Jared was standing with the rest of the class but his jaw was working furiously and he was clenching something in his hand so tightly that veins were standing out in his arm.
"Jared, are you okay?"
Her voice caught everyone's attention and they all looked at the cadet as he struggled to answer her question. Eventually, he shook his head and held out his hand instead.
"What have you got there?" Faragonda approached carefully, but didn't dare take whatever Jared held even as he shook his hand even more aggressively. "It's okay, dear, you can let go of it."
With clear effort, Jared uncurled his fingers, revealing the necklace coiled inside his fist. Faragonda let out a quiet noise of surprise as her magic probed the jewellery and she used it to levitate it out of Jared's hand. As soon as the necklace left contact with his skin, Jared sucked in a loud gasp of air, raising trembling hands to rub at his temples.
"Thank you," he gasped. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"What happened?" Musa demanded.
"There's very powerful magic contained in this necklace," Faragonda said darkly, still examining it. "It must be destroyed. Where did you get it?"
"I don't know, this woman sold it to me." Jared looked uncertainly at Musa. "It was meant to be a gift. But as soon as I touched it I knew I'd made a mistake, it was like a fog was in my head, there were times when I didn't know what was happening, and then even when I did I had no control over what my body was doing. It made me, I swear it made me come here and tamper with the chamber. Please, believe me."
"We believe you," Faragonda said calmly, although her eyes grew troubled when they returned to the necklace.
"It has to be the Trix," Musa said in disgust, shaking her head.
"Maybe so," Faragonda agreed. "But for now you girls need to be checked out by a healer. Jared, you too."
Faragonda led them out of the chamber, leaving Palladium to corral the excited class, and took them to the infirmary.
"I'm so sorry," Jared said to Musa quietly as they walked, his head ducked in embarrassment.
Musa glanced at him. "The necklace was going to be a present for me," she guessed.
"Just as a thank you for doing the interview," he said quickly. "The woman, or Darcy, or whoever she was, told me it was for someone you admire."
"It wasn't your fault," Musa told him, choosing to ignore the bit about him admiring her.
"Yeah, well, I'm still sorry."
Musa touched his shoulder briefly. "It's alright, Jared. Take care of yourself, okay?"
She waited for him to nod before making her way over to her friends who were sitting on a couple of the infirmary beds, patiently enduring the ministrations of Healer Ofelia. After a while she declared them all perfectly fine but advised they take it easy for a couple days. She moved away to check on Jared and update Faragonda on their status and conversation turned to the test they'd just aced.
"Hey, we did pretty well together," Stella said, looking around at her friends.
"Yeah," Layla said, returning her smile. "We kinda did."
"Guess that's what happens when we're all best friends," Stella returned, nudging her goodnaturedly.
"Yeah, I guess so," she said quietly. And it was true, she realised, looking around at them all. She might never have had a best friend before, but now, all of a sudden, she had five of them, and she wouldn't trade that for anything else in the dimension.
So much for updating monthly lmao. Nah April was freaking mad crazy yo, work has been phew just freaking insane, both my manager and assistant manager got covid so I was very suddenly the captain of the ship. Not fun.
It didn't help that this is maybe my least favourite episode of the season (like the whole season is really good so this episode isn't even bad it's just not as good lol - literally in the discord server we've been referring to it as "the boring jared chapter" if that gives you any indication to how i feel about it) so I was a little stuck for a while on what to do with it? I think I'm happy with it now? Or it's passable at least. Look it's a filler episode so plot wise it doesn't do much but I did try to advance some of the dynamics between the girls (obviously particularly Stella, Musa, and Layla) that I'll be coming back to later in the fic.
Despite this, I really hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry it took so long again! The next one is another filler-ish one but with a bit of change of scenery so that's always fun. This time I'm really planning on having it out next month. I'm gonna get back on a monthly posting schedule if it kills me. As usual if you want to stay more up to date on what I'm doing, I'm most active on tumblr at gins-potter so hmu there. Thanks as always for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting, I appreciate each and every one of you lovelies xxx