Brief warning before this chapter: this chapter contains a relatively strong expletive, and another one which I've partially blanked.

This was the worst idea anyone had ever had. Ever. In the history of time. Naomi stared in the mirror in the spare room she'd hurriedly been given last night and rolled her eyes.

Alfea? Really? Did she look like some glittery fairy student? Who was she kidding, nobody gave a damn about how she was going to do at Alfea, they just wanted her out of their hair so they could go back to their perfect happy ending, where the Wizards of the Black Circle were defeated and everyone flew off into the sunset in a shower of sparkles and rainbows.

And being babysat by some naïve, glittery little princess! The indignity! What was she, a four-year-old? She might honestly have preferred the dungeons.

Naomi rifled through the hastily-packed duffel bag that had been dropped off in her room earlier that morning. Some fairy had been sent to her house to pack some things for her (Um, hello, ever hear of privacy?), and the bag had been delivered for her to take to Alfea. She was glad to see that most of her clothes were in the bag, because there was no way in hell that she was wearing the outfit in the closet. She had nothing against pink (it was her hair colour, after all), and she wasn't actually averse to a little sparkle, but the outfit in the closet took pink and sparkly to a whole new level, and there was no way she was showing up to Alfea in it. Besides, Nebula presumably wanted her to make a good impression, and she wasn't sure that blinding every fairy at Alfea with her outfit was going to accomplish that.

Naomi grinned as she found her makeup bag under a pair of ripped jeans. If she had to go to Alfea, she was going to make sure everyone knew exactly who they were dealing with. She turned back to the mirror and applied her favourite black lipstick and eyeshadow. She considered brushing her hair out of its rumpled post-sleep waves, but decided to leave it. After all, she seldom brushed her hair at home; why would she start now?

She stepped back and surveyed her reflection. Not bad. She was wearing a cropped leather jacket with silver studs over a dark-purple t-shirt with a picture of a wolf on it. She had a black miniskirt, ripped grey net tights, and scuffed silver sneakers. Not exactly your typical first-day-of-school outfit, but it worked for her.

'Excuse me? Miss Hunter?' There was a sharp knock on the door and Nebula's weird control-freak attendant walked in.

'Y'know, most people wait for a response before they come barging into a room,' Naomi said.

'Yes, quite.' The fairy - what was her name? Juniper, that was it - was quite clearly not listening, her attention focused completely on the clipboard in her hands. 'Miss Hunter, the portal to Magix is ready; if you wouldn't mind getting your bag and following me.'

Naomi considered sarcastically asking if she had a choice, but Juniper was blatantly not listening to her, so what would be the point?

'Coming.' She grabbed her duffel bag and followed the fairy. So, here she went. Alfea College for Fairies. Here goes nothing.

'And you're sure you've got everything.'

Roxy rolled her eyes. 'Yes, Mom. I've checked my bags six times; I've got everything.'

Morgana didn't stop worrying. 'What about your toothbrush? Do you have your toothbrush?'

'Yes. I even have a spare.'

'Your textbooks. You don't want to start class without the proper books.'

'I have all my books, Mom.' Roxy patted her suitcase. 'Everything from potions to elementology.'

'What about your clothes?'

'Yeah, Mom. I spent three hours packing and I somehow forgot all my clothes.'

'What? Quick, hurry, I'm sure you can pack them before - '

'Kidding.' Roxy opened her duffel bag to reveal plenty of clothes. 'Mom, chill. I'll be fine. Really.'

Morgana chewed her bottom lip. 'I know, I know, it's just that I'm worried. I only just got you back, and now you're heading off across dimensions to college.'

'I'll still come home for visits. And you can call me any time.' Roxy hugged her mom tight. 'I love you, Mom.'

Morgana hugged her back. 'I love you too, Roxy.'

'Hey, can I get in on some of that?' Roxy looked up to see Klaus walking over.

'Dad!' She flung herself into his arms. 'What are you doing here?'

'What, you think I'd miss my baby girl leaving for college? No chance.' Klaus ruffled his daughter's hair.

'Da-ad.' Roxy blushed. 'I'm going to college; my hair can't look like a bird's nest.'

Klaus looked down at his daughter. 'Look at you. It seems like only yesterday you were playing with stuffed animals, and now you're all grown up and going off to college.' His eyes were wet.

'Dad? Are you crying?'

'What?' Klaus wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. 'No, don't be ridiculous. I'm allergic to magical fairy islands, that's all.'

Roxy laughed. 'If you say so.'

'Roxy?' Roxy turned to see Nebula walking over. 'The portal's ready to take you to Magix.'

'Oh!' Roxy gathered all her bags. 'Coming!' She kissed her dad on the cheek. 'I love you guys! I'll call you tonight, okay?'

'Okay.' Klaus was very obviously trying not to cry. 'I'll miss you.'

'Miss you too.' Roxy waved and followed Nebula along a corridor.

They walked along a short hallway, then Nebula pushed open the large pair of double doors to the throne room where they'd battled a week ago.

'So the dais connects Tir Na N'og to the Magic Dimension?' Roxy asked as she and Nebula climbed the stairs.

'Yes. That's how we all got to Omega when we were after the wizards,' Nebula replied.

The doors opened again and Juniper walked in, followed by Naomi. Roxy tried very hard not to stare at her new classmate. She was dressed in blacks, purples and greys, with dark makeup, and she was glaring at the floor as she stomped up the stairs. She was very intimidating, and Roxy felt a little nervous knowing she was going to be her roommate.

'Hi, I'm Roxy Wilde.' She held out a hand to Naomi, and the other fairy looked at it for a second before rolling her eyes and walking past her. Roxy tried not to feel snubbed; what had she been expecting? That Naomi was going to smile and become her new best friend? Obviously not, but she'd sort of been hoping the girl might at least be polite. Guess that's what happens when you're raised by the Wizards of the Black Circle...

'Are you both ready?' Nebula asked, stepping back from the dais.

'Ready!' Roxy gave her a thumbs up. Naomi glared at Nebula and said something in a language Roxy didn't know, but she got the feeling it didn't mean 'ready'.

'Okay, good. The portal won't send you straight to Alfea, but it'll get you to Magix, and from there you'll just take a shuttle to Alfea with other students. It'll be obvious where to go, don't worry.' Nebula raised her arms and the floor beneath Roxy glowed blue. 'Good luck at Alfea!'

Roxy barely had time to wave goodbye before everything around her vanished in a blur of magic. She'd used Zoomix to teleport before, but this was way more intense. She could feel herself shooting across dimensions, and it was kinda disorientating.

'Whoaaa!' Suddenly, her feet landed on the ground and the magic around her vanished, revealing a large building filled with people. She was standing on a circular raised platform in a little alcove to the side, elevated about a metre above the throngs of people rushing about in a hectic crowd. She looked to her left to see Naomi already walking down some stairs in front of the platform, completely unfazed by everything around her.

'Please vacate the terminal as quickly as possible.' Roxy whipped around as she heard a robotic voice. 'Please vacate the terminal as quickly as possible.' There was a screen behind her displaying the same sentence she'd just heard. 'Please vacate the terminal as quickly as possible.'

'Oh! Um, sorry.' Roxy checked she had all her bags and sprinted down the stairs after Naomi, fighting her way through the crowd after the rapidly-vanishing head of pink hair. 'Naomi! Naomi, wait up!' Naomi didn't stop, but she did slow down a little, and Roxy managed to catch up with her.

'Hey.' Roxy adjusted her bag on her shoulder and stared around in awe. Now that she wasn't being reprimanded by a disembodied voice or chasing Naomi, Roxy had a chance to take in the building she was in. The room was so big that she could barely see the far wall. Bright sunlight streamed through the high glass ceiling, bathing everything in a warm glow. Most of the people in the crowd looked like they were about her age or a few years older; they were probably all arriving for college. Roxy gasped as she saw transformed fairies flying overhead carrying bags, along with girls in dark outfits with no wings who must have been witches.

'No flying!' yelled someone in an official-looking outfit, but everyone seemed to be ignoring him.

There were more alcoves like the one Roxy and Naomi had arrived in along the wall, and intermittently one of them would flash and someone would appear and quickly descend the steps. Across from that wall were large floating platforms, and Roxy jumped back in surprise when a spaceship shot in through a hole in the wall and landed on one of them.

'Check it out,' Roxy heard someone hiss. 'It's like she's never seen a travel hub before.' There were a few muffled snickers and Roxy turned to see three girls her own age looking at her. One of them smirked at her and wiggled her fingers in a wave that reminded Roxy all too well of Mitzi. Roxy raised her hand in a reticent response and the girls snickered again.

Roxy turned and continued to jostle her way after Naomi, craning her neck to try and take everything in.

'Move!' Naomi grabbed Roxy's arm and yanked her forwards, narrowly missing a floating cart of luggage.

'Coming through!' yelled a girl from behind the cart.

'...Thanks.' Roxy looked at Naomi awkwardly.

Naomi grunted and rolled her eyes, letting go of Roxy's arm and continuing to stalk through the crowd.

Another robotic voice sounded over a loudspeaker system. 'Attention all college students! Please follow the student and faculty aids from your respective schools to your shuttles! Cloud Tower aids will be in purple, Red Fountain aids in red, Alfea aids in pink!'

'Cloud Tower!' someone yelled. 'Cloud Tower! Anyone for Cloud Tower follow me!' Several girls near Roxy turned and followed a woman dressed in a purple sweater.

'Has anyone seen a Red Fountain aid?' called a boy walking past her.

'I can't find my suitcase!' yelled a girl with long blonde hair in bunches.

'Do we bring our luggage on the shuttles?' called a fairy flying overhead.

'No flying!' shouted the official again, but nobody was paying attention.

Roxy spotted a girl a few years older than her wearing a bright-pink sweater with an A on it.

'Naomi!' She grabbed Naomi's arm and pulled her through the crowd towards the girl. Naomi snarled and shook her hand off, but Roxy ignored that in favour of getting the aid's attention. She really needed someone to tell her what she was supposed to be doing; this place was insane! Obvious where to go? Yeah right, Nebula.

'Hi!' Roxy called, running over to the girl.

'Hi!' The girl turned and smiled at her. 'Are you for Alfea?'

'Yes!' Roxy exclaimed with relief.

'Unfortunately,' Naomi muttered next to her.

'Hi, I'm Khadija. I'm on the advanced training course, and I'm also helping out as a student aid. You're both freshmen, right?' Roxy nodded. 'Great.' Khadija pulled out a tablet. 'Could I get your names?'

'Roxy Wilde.'

Naomi didn't say anything for a moment, just glaring at Khadija and the station as though they'd personally wronged her, but eventually she rolled her eyes and growled, 'Naomi Hunter.'

Khadija typed the names into her tablet. 'Roxy Wilde...Check.' She tapped the screen. 'Naomi Hunter...Check!' She tapped the screen again and looked back up at them. 'Great! I've checked you both off the list.'

'Hooray,' Naomi muttered.

'Excuse me?' A girl with curly orange hair walked over. 'Khadija? Are you working as a student aid?'

'Yes, hi!' Khadija smiled warmly at the girl. 'Name and year?'

'Um, Alice Brooks, second-year?' Despite being a second-year, the girl looked very nervous.

'Oh, of course, Alice!' Khadija tapped her screen again. 'Alice Brooks, check!'

'Alice, I found my suitcase!' The blonde girl from before emerged from the crowd.

Khadija smiled at her. 'Hi! Alfea?' The girl nodded. 'Name and year?'

'Clarice Bell, second-year.'

Khadija checked her off. 'Great. Welcome back to Alfea, both of you.'

'Has anyone seen an Alfea aid?' called a girl in the crowd.

'Over here!' Khadija called back. 'Alfea over here!'

'Oh thank the Dragon,' gasped a girl with long pink hair a few shades darker than Naomi's. 'I was starting to think I was just going to have to live here.'

Khadija smiled at her. 'Name and year?'

'Crystal Rose, freshman.'

'Uh-huh...Crystal Rose...Check!'

Several more girls made their way over and were checked in.

'Okay...' Khadija looked up from her tablet. 'We've reached maximum capacity for a shuttle, so if you could all please follow me, we can get going!' Roxy hurriedly followed the older fairy through the crowd to a pair of glass doors leading to what looked like a parking lot, except that none of the vehicles parked there had any wheels. There were other groups of students following aids to shuttles, and Roxy looked around to see if she could see the Winx among them, but she only saw strangers.

'Okay, all aboard!' Khadija stepped up onto a shuttle and the door opened. 'Please stow your bags on the luggage racks and take a seat! And please, proceed in a calm, orderly fashion!'

Roxy wasn't sure whether calm and orderly meant something different in the Magic Dimension, but, on Earth, the loud, jostling mass of girls would be described as anything but.

Roxy narrowly avoided getting hit over the head by a floating suitcase as she lifted her bags onto the overhead luggage rack. She held out a hand to put Naomi's bag onto the rack, but Naomi ignored her and threw herself onto a seat at the back of the shuttle, keeping her bag firmly clutched in her hands.

Roxy sighed and sat down next to Naomi.

'Have you been to the Magic Dimension before?' Her attempt to make conversation fell flat as Naomi pulled a pair of black headphones out of her bag and plugged them into her phone, the faint sound of heavy metal emanating from them as she put them over her ears.

Roxy's irritation at her seat-mate's rudeness was quickly forgotten as the shuttle started to move forwards, pulling out of the parking lot and driving along a road through a huge, beautiful forest.

'For all our freshmen, this is Gloomywood Forest, the magical wood that surrounds Alfea,' Khadija announced. 'Gloomywood is home to many creatures, magical and non-magical, including the pixies!' Pixies! The Winx had mentioned them! They each had a bonded pixie, and Roxy knew they were looking forward to heading out to Pixie Village and seeing them again.

Khadija continued her commentary on Gloomywood, Magix, and Alfea as Roxy stared out of the window at the forest outside.

'Ah, we're here!' Roxy turned at Khadija's announcement, and her mouth dropped open as the shuttle pulled up in front of a huge pink and blue castle. 'Everyone off!' All the fairies got up and started grabbing their stuff and pushing their way off the shuttle. Roxy scrambled out of her seat and reached down her bags from the luggage rack, hastily following the other students off the shuttle as Naomi put her headphones back in her bag and walked after her.

Roxy stumble-walked down the steps off the shuttle. There were dozens of other shuttles parked in front of Alfea, crowds of fairy students spilling out of them and heading for the open wing-shaped gates at the entrance to the school. Roxy let herself get swept along in the crowd, walking through the gates and into a beautiful courtyard. She stared around, awestruck by her surroundings. Alfea was beautiful. This was her school. She was a little tempted to pinch herself to check she wasn't dreaming, but, if this was a dream, why would she ever want to wake up?

'Students!' A tall, severe-looking woman stood at the top of some stairs at the entrance to the main building. The chattering crowd fell silent. 'For all our freshmen, I am Miss Grizelda, head of discipline here at Alfea.' She was going to have fun with Naomi. 'Before Headmistress Faragonda makes her welcome speech, I would just like to remind you that, while you are at Alfea, you are representatives of this school. Conduct yourself with the utmost decorum.' Roxy heard a snort from beside her and turned to see Naomi rolling her eyes. 'Also, after the tensions a few years ago, any petty rivalries between Alfea and Cloud Tower will not be tolerated. Treat your fellow students of magic with respect.' There was some muttering among the students; apparently not everyone was on board with Grizelda's suggestion, though, despite the Winx telling her about the fairy-witch rivalry, Roxy couldn't understand why the two schools didn't get along.

'Thank you, Grizelda.' Faragonda stepped forwards. 'Fairies of Alfea! Welcome back for another year, or, for some of you, your first year. For those of you returning, I am sure you will reach great new heights with your magic, and for those of you taking your first steps on this beautiful journey, I eagerly anticipate seeing you discover your potential. Of course, some of you have already discovered some of your potential. There is one fairy I would like to introduce personally.' Faragonda gestured towards Roxy and the crowd parted a little as everyone turned to look at her. 'Princess Roxy Wilde of Tir Na N'og.' Roxy blushed furiously as everyone stared at her. 'Roxy is from Earth, where, for a long time, there was no magic. But Roxy changed all that, along with some fellow students you might recognise.' Roxy breathed a sigh of relief as Faragonda pointed to the courtyard behind her and everyone stopped looking at her. 'The Winx!'

There was a burst of colourful sparkles in the air behind the students, and Bloom, Stella, Flora, Tecna, Musa and Aisha appeared in the courtyard.

'Hey, everybody!' Bloom grinned and waved. 'We're back!'

'It's the Winx!'

'Oh my gosh, they're so cool!'

'Hi, Winx!' The crowd of students surged forwards, welcoming the Winx. Roxy tried to get their attention, but they were being overrun by excited fairies. Were the Winx really this famous on Magix? Three students were taking a selfie with Stella, and they were all...Stella. They'd all been glamoured to look like Stella. Well that's a little disturbing...

Roxy waved to Musa, but she was talking with six other fairies.

Roxy felt something bump into her leg and looked down to see a very disorientated blue rabbit next to her foot.

'Kiko!' She reached down and scooped up Bloom's pet. 'I guess crowds aren't very safe for bunnies, huh?' Kiko shook his head and stuck his tongue out at the crowd of students.

'Roxy!' Bloom extricated herself from a conversation with a girl from Roxy's shuttle and walked over.

'Bloom!' Roxy gave her friend a one-armed hug. 'Hi!'

'Hey, Roxy. Hey, you found Kiko!' Bloom stroked her rabbit.

'Yep! I don't think Kiko liked the crowd very much.' Kiko shook his head and folded his arms.

'Aw, sorry, Kiko.' Bloom scratched his ears. 'So, Roxy, what do you think of Alfea?'

'It's amazing! I can't believe this is my school!'

Bloom grinned. 'I thought the same thing on my first day. It was like a fairytale come to life.'

'Exactly!' Roxy smiled. 'Hey, how come you guys didn't arrive at the same place I did? It looked like everyone for Alfea was arriving there.'

Bloom bit her lip. 'Yeah, sorry you didn't see us there. Stella used her sceptre to teleport us all back to Magix, and she insisted on that grand entrance instead of taking a shuttle like normal people.'

'I'm really going to have to change my definition of normal,' Roxy murmured, staring around at Alfea.

'It'll all seem more natural soon,' Bloom reassured her. 'Did you arrive with Naomi?'

'Yeah.' Roxy looked at Bloom nervously. '...You tell the others about her yet?'

Bloom nodded. 'Yep. Everyone pretty much freaked out, especially Aisha, but then we all got a little distracted after the concert.'

Roxy raised an eyebrow. 'Why, what happened?'

Bloom sighed. 'We found out what happened at Aisha's cousin's coronation.'

'What?' With the expression on Bloom's face, Roxy wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.

'Aisha's cousin Tritannus attacked his brother, Nereus, when he was about to be named crown prince, and King Neptune condemned him to the prison of Andros.'

Roxy gasped. 'That's terrible!'

Bloom nodded. 'It gets worse. After the concert, we all went out to the beach to clear up trash, and partway through the cleanup, the beach was attacked by horrible mutated monsters!'

'No! Is everyone okay?'

'Yeah, we protected everyone, but then the Trix showed up!'

'Seriously? Didn't you defeat them? Three times?'

Bloom rolled her eyes. 'Yes. But they're back again, and they're not working alone. When Aisha, Flora and Tecna went underwater to pursue the mutants, they encountered a horrible monster, and it turned out to be Tritannus!'

'What?!' Roxy exclaimed. 'Aisha's cousin?!'

'Yes.' Bloom sighed. 'She's really upset about what's happened, and Nabu barely managed to keep her from falling apart over it.'

'I can imagine.' Roxy was so glad they'd been able to revive Nabu; with her cousin turning into a monster and allying with the Trix, Aisha was going to need her boyfriend. She didn't even want to think about how Aisha would take all this if Nabu was still dead.

'And, to make matters worse, our Enchantix powers aren't as effective underwater,' Bloom finished, sounding frustrated. 'We only just defeated the wizards last week! Can't we catch a break?'

Roxy smiled sympathetically. 'I guess that's what happens when you're the heroes of the Magic Dimension.'

'Guess so.'

'Bloom!' Both girls turned to see Musa waving. 'The guys are here!' Roxy looked up to see a dark-orange ship flying into Alfea.

'C'mon, Roxy!' Bloom pulled her towards the ship. 'I know the guys will want to say hi!'

'Coming!' Roxy ran after Bloom as the Specialists exited the ship.

'Brandon!' Stella ran forwards and hugged her boyfriend. The other Winx greeted their boyfriends too.

'Bloom!' Sky waved to Bloom.

'Hey, Sky.' Bloom walked over and kissed him. 'Roxy's here, too.'

'Hi, Roxy. How'd everything go on Tir Na N'og?'

'Bloom told us you've got a pretty interesting new roommate,' Riven said, raising an eyebrow.

'Are you really rooming with the daughter of the Wizards of the Black Circle?' Sky asked curiously.

Roxy nodded. 'Yeah, her name's Naomi Hunter. She's...interesting.'

'Is she evil?' Riven asked, and Musa elbowed him. 'What? It's a legitimate question.'

'I...don't think she's evil. But I know she's not happy about being here.' Roxy chewed her lip, remembering how annoyed Naomi had seemed for the whole journey. 'I'm not really sure what to do, if I'm being honest.'

'Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out,' Musa said kindly.

'Thanks. But first, I gotta figure out how to find the dorms! I need to unpack, and I have absolutely no idea where I'm going!'

Bloom smiled at her. 'Don't worry, I'll show you the dorms.'

'But, Bloom, we have to go see Miss Faragonda about our powers,' Musa said.

'Don't worry, I'll be quick,' Bloom promised. 'I can't just let Roxy wander the halls!' She gave Sky another quick kiss and walked off. 'Follow me, Roxy!'

'Coming!' Roxy hurried after Bloom, waving at the other Winx and their boyfriends as they chatted. For some reason, Flora was standing with Aisha and Nabu, and Helia was nowhere to be seen.

Why was everyone at this damn school going ga-ga over six student fairies? She could kinda see why impressionable freshmen might be excited to meet the saviours of the Magic Dimension, but most of the fairies in the courtyard had actually been at school with the Winx for a year or more! Why did they give a damn? And that entrance! Like they were all rockstars or something. Actually, with their band, they probably thought they were rockstars, instead of amateur musicians that had got together to play in a band that, on a phone call, Anagan had described as 'pretty okay'.

Naomi couldn't believe she was here, leaning against a column and watching the people that were supposed to be the guardians of the universe sign autographs and take selfies. Stella had actually glamoured three other girls to look like her; how shallow could you get? Ogron had called her a narcissist, but that was way too gentle a word to describe that fairy's self-obsession. And the glamoured girls actually seemed happy with Stella's spell. Two of the girls had been on the shuttle with Naomi, and she recognised one of them from when her family had got back from Alfea and told her about what had happened when they'd gone after Bloom. The girl with the orange hair, Alice Brooks. Apparently she'd been there when her family had fought the Winx, and she'd actually used her magic against them. It had obviously been ineffective, but still. Fighting against experienced wizards as a first-year fairy took guts, and Naomi respected her for that. And yet, this girl wanted to get glamoured and take a selfie as Stella? What was wrong with taking a selfie as her? Naomi rolled her eyes. It was just sad.

She watched Bloom detach herself from the throng and talk to Roxy. After a minute, her sensitive hearing picked up her own name in the conversation. Mildly curious, she tuned in to what they were saying. Sure, it was eavesdropping, but these fairies had sealed her family in an icy hell, so she didn't particularly care.

'...Pretty much freaked out...' Sounded like the Winx had been informed of her existence. '...Got distracted after the concert.' Hm? What could have distracted the Winx from discovering that the villains they'd just defeated had a daughter? She listened with interest as Bloom told her (somewhat overdramatised) story. So the Winx were starting another adventure? Already? Didn't these fairies have lives beyond fighting evil and arguing with their boyfriends?

Speaking of their boyfriends, a Specialist ship landed in the courtyard and the Winx promptly superglued themselves to their boyfriends in case they accidentally recovered some of their independence or got through a day without some stupid drama.

Stella threw herself onto Brandon, like she might die if she wasn't attached to him. Really? Naomi knew that when you were in love with someone, you wanted to be with them all the time, but did you really have to throw yourself onto them when they were exiting a spaceship?

Tecna and Timmy, despite having been together for years according to the internet search she did on the Winx, stood awkwardly next to each other and barely exchanged three words, blushing the whole time.

Riven casually draped an arm over Musa's shoulder and kissed her like they were some perfect couple. Going off what Anagan had told her about the pair, she gave them one week max before they had a pointless fight over absolutely nothing.

Naomi tensed as a wizard with brown hair in two braids stepped off the ship and embraced Aisha. Nabu. Her hands clenched into fists as she thought about how he was responsible for Duman's death. Why did he get to be resurrected and live his perfect life as a hero while Duman had died in agony? She knew how he'd died because she'd sensed it. She shared a magical connection with all the wizards (which was how she'd known they'd been sealed in Omega), but it was strongest with Duman, probably because they were both shapeshifters, and he'd been the one to teach her how to shift. She took a deep breath, remembering him patiently explaining to her how to use her powers to change her form. Do not fall apart in the Alfea courtyard. She forced herself to calm down, reminding herself that tackling Nabu would achieve absolutely nothing other than giving Nebula a viable reason to condemn her to the dungeons of Tir Na N'og.

She turned her attention to the other Winx and Specialists. Sky was chatting with Bloom, Riven, Musa and Roxy, while Helia and Flora were off to the side. Helia was showing Flora something; Naomi focused her powerful vision and saw it was a origami bird, enchanted to fly. Huh. So Helia could do magic. Her family hadn't mentioned that, but, then again, he probably hadn't tried to use it against them. After all, flying paper wouldn't have done much good against powerful dark wizards.

Flora took the origami and blushed, smiling up at Helia. They looked every inch the perfect couple, and Naomi hadn't actually heard anything to make her doubt that image.

'Helia!' Crystal, one of the girls from her shuttle, walked over to the couple. Naomi tuned in to what Helia said next.

'Princess Crystal!' Helia took Crystal's hand and bowed. Princess? Figured. Half the fairies at Alfea were royalty of some description.

Crystal smiled. 'I thought that was you. I am so glad to see you!'

Helia turned to Flora. 'May I present my friend Flora.' His friend? Really? From what her family had described of the couple, Flora was a lot more than Helia's friend. However, Helia seemed to think his introduction was perfectly accurate. 'Flora, this is Princess Crystal of Lynphea.'

'All Lynpheans know their princess.' Flora bowed. 'Your Highness.'

Crystal vigorously shook Flora's hand. 'And I've heard all about you from Helia!' Naomi's mouth dropped open a little as Crystal wrapped her arms around Helia and stroked his arm. 'Helia and I have been friends forever.'

'Oh...' Flora looked surprised and sad, which Naomi thought was a perfectly appropriate reaction to seeing another girl caress your boyfriend, and said boyfriend doing precisely nothing about it.

'I'm so glad I found you!' Crystal stared up into Helia's eyes; evidently she'd spent enough time acknowledging Flora's existence. 'We have so much to catch up on!' Crystal pulled Helia around and started dragging him towards the school's entrance. Helia looked slightly surprised, turning to look back at Flora, but he made no move to detach Crystal from his arm. 'How was your summer?'

'Oh, well, there were these evil wizards...'

'Helia...' Despite everything the girl had done to her family, Naomi couldn't help but feel bad for Flora. Nobody deserved to be treated that way by someone who was supposed to love them. And Crystal's behaviour was totally unacceptable. At worst, she was a selfish, manipulative, sexually-overactive bitch, and at best she was just stupid. Having listened to her back at the travel hub, Naomi was willing to bet on stupid.

She turned and walked into Alfea to try and find her dorm, avoiding the little groups of inexplicably perky fairies chatting in the hall. She scowled at anyone that looked her way, making sure to discourage any freshmen that might want to make friends, or, worse, any older fairies that might try and patronisingly show her around.

Finally, she came to a hallway filled with suitcase-carrying fairies reading notices tacked up on doors. She used her enhanced vision to focus on one of the notices. Lola Davis, Mari Silvers, Crystal Rose... Fortunately her name wasn't present on the list; she did not want to be sharing an apartment with Crystal.

She adjusted her duffel bag and stalked down the corridor, scanning notices for her name. Nope, nope, nope... She walked up a flight of stairs, narrowly avoiding bumping into a girl trying to balance three suitcases at the same time.

'Whoa!' The girl tripped and stumbled, losing her grip on her suitcases and pitching forward. 'Aaaah!'

'Whoa!' Naomi whipped around and grabbed the girl's wrist with one hand, flinging her other hand out and magically catching the suitcases before they could hit the ground. 'Gotcha!' She pulled the girl back to her feet and levitated two of her suitcases back into her hands, taking the third herself.

'Th-thanks...' the girl stammered.

'Don't mention it. Just don't carry three suitcases down a flight of stairs in the future. Where are you even going?'

'Trying to find my dorm,' the girl replied. 'Thought it might be upstairs, but...'

'What's your name?'

'Yomi Kuroyanagi.'

Naomi turned and scanned the lists tacked up on the doors. Yomi...Aha!

'Found it.' Naomi turned and walked quickly down the stairs. 'C'mon.'

'Oh...Okay...' Yomi hurried after her, keeping a tight grip on her suitcases.

'Yomi Kuroyanagi.' Naomi gestured to the list on the door they were standing in front of. 'Here's your suitcase.' She handed Yomi back her suitcase.

'Oh...Thank you...' Yomi stared at Naomi. '...How'd you find my dorm?'

Naomi shrugged. 'I've got heightened senses.'

'Oh...Cool. Well, thank you.' Yomi smiled at her, and Naomi awkwardly smiled back. 'Um, what's your name?'

'Naomi.'

'Naomi Hunter?'

'Yeah...Why?' Naomi was very nervous that this random girl knew her name; had word already spread about her?

'It's just that...Well, I saw the name Naomi Hunter on a list upstairs. Last door on the left.'

'...Thanks.' Naomi walked up the stairs and Yomi waved at her.

'You're welcome!'

Last door on the left... Naomi followed Yomi's directions and came to a green and pink door. She checked the list on the door. Roxy Wilde, Naomi Hunter. At least she and Roxy were in a single room instead of an apartment. She wasn't sure she could handle living with even more random fairies.

She pushed the door open and walked into a large bedroom with two beds. One side had pale-pink walls, a large pink and green bed piled high with stuffed animals and cushions, a green desk, green bookshelves, a green closet, a huge fluffy pink rug and a pink couch with a green throw draped over it. Looked like Alfea had decorated for Roxy.

Naomi's side of the room was a different story. The walls were plain white, with a single bed with white bedding. There was a closet, a bookcase, a desk and an armchair, all white, and the floorboards were bare. Clearly Faragonda hadn't had enough notice to decorate Naomi's room for her. (Or she just didn't care. That was always a possibility.) But it didn't matter whether or not Naomi's side of the room was decorated (not that Alfea would ever manage to decorate according to her tastes anyway).

Naomi threw her bag onto the bed and pulled out her clothes, using her magic to hang them up in the closet. She was just beginning to put the books that had been packed for her on the bookcase when she heard an annoyingly familiar voice in the corridor.

'Thanks for helping me find my dorm, Bloom.' Roxy. And Bloom was with her. Perfect. Naomi beelined for the window, intending to shift into a bird and fly to just about anywhere but there. There was no way in hell she was getting trapped in a conversation with her irritating new roommate and Princess Impossibly-Perfect.

'Naomi!' Roxy came into the room just as Naomi was about to open the window.

F*k.

'Alfea is gorgeous!' Roxy enthused, staring around the castle in awe.

'It sure is, Roxy!' Bloom grinned at her friend's enthusiasm. 'Alfea is like a second home to me and the Winx, and I'm sure it'll become one for you, too. Ah, here are the dorms!'

Roxy followed Bloom into a throng of fairies carrying luggage and chatting.

'C'mon, we need to check the notices for your name.' Bloom started checking the lists on the doors, and Roxy followed suit.

'I can't find my dorm,' Roxy said in confusion.

'Oh, well, that's okay.' Bloom smiled reassuringly. 'It must be upstairs.' Roxy followed Bloom up a flight of stairs.

'Roxy, Roxy, Roxy...Roxy!' Bloom stopped in front of the last door on the left. 'Roxy Wilde and Naomi Hunter!'

'Great!' Roxy rushed over. 'Thanks for helping me find my dorm, Bloom.'

Bloom grinned. 'No problem. What's a Winx for?' Bloom put her hand on the doorknob. 'Let's get you unpacked.'

Roxy followed Bloom into the room, and gasped at how gorgeous it was. When she'd filled out her application to Alfea, she'd completed a questionnaire regarding her decorating preferences to help Alfea ensure her room was decorated according to her tastes, but this was exceptional! Her side of the room was totally perfect!

She was quickly distracted from the design of the room by the girl standing in front of the window.

'Naomi!' Naomi tensed and Roxy was pretty sure she heard her growl. Nevertheless, Roxy pushed on. 'Did you find the room okay?'

Naomi turned around very slowly and glared at Roxy, and she fidgeted uncomfortably.

She tried again. 'Do you like Alfea so far?' Naomi continued to glare at her.

'Have you unpacked yet?' Roxy wasn't sure why she was still talking. Naomi rolled her eyes, and Roxy suddenly remembered Bloom.

'Oh, Naomi, this is Bloom Taylor, the leader of the Winx! Bloom, this is Naomi Hunter, my new roommate.'

Bloom waved to Naomi. 'Hi, Naomi, it's really nice to meet you! Welcome to Alfea!'

Naomi regarded Bloom the way one might regard a piece of gum that you couldn't get off your shoe.

'So, what are your fairy powers?' Bloom asked.

'...Form.' Naomi didn't say anything else.

'Oh, cool! Roxy told me you were a shapeshifter, so I guess that's a pretty appropriate power for you.' Bloom gave Naomi a friendly smile, while Naomi continued to give Bloom a death-glare.

'Um...Are you looking forward to being at Alfea?' Bloom was clearly starting to get a little uncomfortable.

'Oh, totally.' Naomi's voice dripped with sarcasm. 'Can't wait. That's why I applied. Oh, no, no, wait, I didn't apply. I got told last night that I was coming here and then I was shuffled into a portal an hour ago.'

'Oh...' Bloom stared at the floor. 'Well, I'm sure you'll like it here anyway. I love Alfea.'

Naomi rolled her eyes and folded her arms. 'Believe it or not, dragon girl, I really don't give a damn what you do or don't love.'

Bloom flushed pink. 'That's really rude.'

'Oh, Great Dragon, is it? Good, I wasn't aiming to make friends. You see, for some reason, I don't like you.' Naomi took a step forward. 'Maybe it's the way you dress, or maybe it's your inability to have a functional relationship. Or maybe it has something to do with you sealing my family in Omega.' She shrugged. 'Hard to say.'

Bloom folded her arms. 'The wizards got what they deserved. And, by the way, I actually saved Gantlos from getting impaled by a vengeance fairy in Omega.'

Naomi rolled her eyes. 'And then you left him to fall to a very likely death in a cave-in. Don't get up on your high-horse like you actually give a damn whether the villains you fight live or die; it was just luck that Gantlos, Ogron and Anagan didn't shatter at the bottom of that chasm. And, if you actually cared like the perfect hero you kid yourself that you are, you'd have used your magic to get them out of there before the cave collapsed. You had the time to give Nebula a pep-talk, so you could've managed it.'

Bloom opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

'What, not used to getting called on stuff?' Naomi smirked. 'Unlike apparently every other fairy at this school, I don't care that you're in your weirdly-named little club.'

'It's not weirdly-named!' Bloom retorted.

'Really? What's it mean?' Naomi raised an eyebrow. 'What does Winx actually mean? Is it a misspelling of winks? Do you wink a lot? Hope not, because that would be even dumber than a name that doesn't mean anything.'

'Well, the wizards certainly did a great job raising you, didn't they?' Bloom snapped, and Naomi flushed red.

'Newsflash, Bloom. You don't know anything about my upbringing, so don't comment on it.' Naomi stalked past Bloom and Roxy and out of the room. 'I'm out of here. Enjoy your little Tritannus disaster.'

'Naomi, wait!' Roxy called after her new roommate, but Naomi didn't stop. 'Well that went well.' Roxy flung herself onto her bed and covered her face with her hands. Bloom sat down next to her and gently touched her arm.

'Sorry, Roxy. I didn't mean to get mad at her; I've probably just made your life a whole lot harder.'

Roxy sighed and sat up. 'It's fine. I think you hit a bit of a nerve with her, that's all.'

Bloom winced. 'Yeah. What I said was pretty out of line, though.'

'How do you think she knew about Tritannus?' Roxy wondered aloud.

Bloom shrugged. 'Who knows? But, speaking of Tritannus, I really need to go see Miss Faragonda. Are you gonna be okay to unpack?' Roxy nodded. 'Okay then, see you later!' Bloom waved and walked out of the room.

Roxy looked over at Naomi's half-unpacked duffel bag on the other bed and thought about her strange new roommate. She rubbed her temples and groaned. This is going to be interesting.

So Naomi and Bloom aren't jet-set to become besties anytime soon. But maybe Naomi's not always as grumpy and sarcastic as she seems...She was pretty nice to Yomi, after all, and she did pull Roxy out of the way of that luggage cart...

As for the travel hub, I just made it up. It's basically a magical nexus point that facilitates teleportation, so it's been outfitted so that most of the teleportation from other planets goes there. For convenience, the hub also has spaceship facilities.

In case anyone was wondering why, if Naomi did an internet search on the Winx, the wizards didn't look Bloom up before they headed for Alfea, it's because, at heart, they are still wizards from medieval times, and when they are trying to capture a fairy, the internet isn't really a part of the process. (I know, Naomi was disappointed in them too.)