"What the hell just happened?" Musa nearly shouted, voice wavering. In my arms, the limp ice fairy was as cold as, well, ice.

"No one panic," ordered Andelle, "quickly, Violet, we need a reju—"

Suddenly, Alice's eyes popped open, startling the shit out of me. She sat upright like a robot, mumbling something under her breath. I started to ask if she was alright, but it was obvious she wasn't. Her eyes were glazed over and her face was frozen in an unnaturally blank expression. "...she who appears to be so but is not will lure them into the raven's trap..." she muttered flatly, staring off into space.

"What's going on? What's wrong with her?" cried out Flora.

I grabbed Alice's shoulder and gently shook her in attempt to snap the seer out of whatever daze she was in. "Alice? Alice?" My roommate didn't even flinch and continued staring off into another world, murmuring on and on without even pausing for a breath.

Karel crouched down to our level, inspecting Alice. "She's in a trance." No, duh.

Alice kept on as if she didn't see or hear any of us. "...the Great Flame was unleashed, swallowing the darkness and forging the footholds of Destiny..." The Great Flame as in Bloom's power? What did that have to do with anything? Unless—

Violet's eyes widened with realization. "Not just any kind of trance; she's having visions."

"Visions?" repeated Stella.

"Alice's a precog," I explained, "she can see the future." I turned to Violet. "But how? I thought she was suppressing her powers."

Andelle made a sound of disapproval. "We warned her doing so was unhealthy. It's only natural for one with the foresight ability to have visions, and Alice here has been subduing hers for far too long. When she joined her magic with mine and my sister's, the force of our combined powers must've triggered her gift."

"...and the very foundations of the Magic Dimension were shaken with the power of the Chosen One..."

"What are we supposed to do to help her?" Bloom asked over Alice as vatic utterances continued to fly out of her mouth. "Is she going to keep going or...?"

"I don't know," was Violet's grim reply. "I've never seen anything like this before. Usually, seers only have one vision at a time and depending on its severity, the seer could be left unconscious for many days. But Alice is having multiple visions, and only seconds apart. Not even the most renowned precogs have that many that frequently. They're overwhelming her to the point she's lost touch of reality, and can't control them."

"From what I know, normal foretellers can only glimpse into the future so many times before they experience a burnout," said Tecna, "it drinks up a lot of their energy—too much of their energy. At the rate Alice's going, she might not even have any mana left."

"...an alliance will be born of the Children of Destiny..."

She didn't even have to explain what that meant—not even to me and Bloom, novice magicians. Everyone, even non-sorcerers, knew what total mana depletion meant. As stated earlier, mana was like a life force. Every living thing had mana; magicians were just able to transmute theirs into magic. Everyone had a natural "container" of mana and it determined the limit or limits of his or her magic, whatever it may be. If one used mana faster than it was restored they were draining their "container" and weakening both their magic and physical bodies. If a magician ignored the symptoms and continuously depleted their mana until they had no more, the consequences could be fatal. That being said, if Alice didn't get a grip and continued using her precognition, her health could suffer tremendously.

"Then we have to stop her before she reaches her breaking point," I said, still keeping a supportive arm around my roomie. "We have to knock her out."

"...a shadow will fall over the land and fire and ice will collide..."

"No, that is even more dangerous," said Andelle firmly, "when a seer has a vision they have a special connection to Fate itself. If this link is severed forcibly by an outside source and causes the seer to lose consciousness, their mind could be negatively affected."

"So what the hell are we supposed to do?" I snapped.

"Cadey, language! Have some respect." Flora's reprimand was soft, yet stern.

Neither of the sisters seemed fazed or insulted by my outburst. "Alice is the only one who can save herself now," said Violet, "it's up to her to either reign in her powers or fall victim to them."

"...Great Flame burns in two, one light one dark. The rifts between the dimensions will be..."

"C'mon, Alice. Snap out of it," I said through bared teeth, shaking my friend again. "You gotta wake up." She didn't even bat an eye. Her shoulders started to sag the more and more she prognosticated the more and more energy she consumed. No. I refused to watch her deteriorate before my very eyes.

"...keys fashioned from stars and sparks, their keeper the one who—"

I slapped her.

The crack of skin contacting skin echoed off the walls, and silence befell the room. Alice, who I had shocked into silence, sat still as a statue for a moment before turning to me, blinking away the cloudy film in her eyes. "W-what happened?"

OoO

"Do you remember anything?" inquired Violet, handing Alice a cup of rejuvenation potion.

From atop her pillow, the ice fairy accepted it gratefully and took a sip, wincing at the bitter taste. "Just a few bits and pieces, and even those are still foggy. I had a lot of visions—the most I've had in years—but I forgot them the moment they passed. I tried to hold on to a few, but it was like they were washed away in a flood of other visions. It's hard to explain." She took another sip of the potion. It worked fast; color was returning to her face already. "I didn't ruin the spell, did I?"

Beside me, Flora tensed and Musa drew in a sharp breath. Here it comes. The moment we'd all been waiting for. The big reveal.

Andelle and Violet exchanged a look I couldn't decipher, making my heart beat a little faster in silent alarm. Was that a bad sign? Violet eased herself back down onto her pillow, cursing her old bones under her breath. And then, instead of answering Alice's question, she posed another. "Tell me, Alice. What was revealed to you during the spell?"

All heads turned to Alice. Even Karel, who was sort of blending in with the shadows toward the back of the store, turned an attentive ear to her. Alice set down her cup and straightened, face going grim. "Before I was overcome with visions I saw...nothing. Nothing but darkness. I established a connection with Ahisa's mana via her locket, but I couldn't find or sense her when I searched for her energy. It was like—" Alice shivered. "It was like she didn't even exist anymore. There was nothing but a cold, empty void where her presence should've been. Like she was erased." She glanced at us apologetically. "Sorry if I'm not making sense."

"What about the other girl?" Tecna asked on behalf of Flora, whose throat and chest were probably too clenched to speak.

The grim look Andelle and Violet shared was answer enough.

The locator spell had failed.


To be honest, I wasn't as surprised as I thought I'd be.

I mean, yeah, it was scary to know Candi was even out of the Volreichs' reach but I wasn't completely dumbfounded like the other girls, mainly because deep down, some part of me had anticipated this. Ever since Bloom first suggested coming to Trillium Moon for help, there had been this dark, distant part of me that suspected even the witch sisters wouldn't be much help—that the locator spell would still fail. Not because I was dubious about the sisters' abilities, but because I knew things never went that smoothly for us. Fate never made things easy for us; it just so happened whenever we got involved in a situation or set out to accomplish something, everything just took a turn for the worse. Nothing—NOTHING never went as planned for the Winx Club. We either got caught up in a bigger drama, or got thrown off course by some sort of obstacle. Things just never happened like we wanted, expected. That was why I had a bad feeling about the locator spell; there was no way we'd be able to find Candi that easily. Fate, Destiny, the Force, or whatever the hell you wanted to call it rarely made things that simple when it came to us. However, I chose to ignore the inkling since the other girls had practically been radiating hope and I didn't want to ruin that. That and I'd managed to convince myself there was a chance whatever force was at work would be on our side this one time, would spare us for sweet, innocent Flora's sake. Well, I was wrong. The spell failed (the Volreichs hadn't been able to sense her in the Force or whatever) and we were back to square one, expect now we had even less to work with.

The next hour felt like five. Now that we had what we wanted, I wanted nothing more than to leave Trillium Moon. I know Flora felt the same but so we wouldn't appear rude, we stayed the whole time while Alice filed a missing person report over the phone and Karel discussed the Red Fountain situation with the Volreichs. When it was finally time to go, Karel offered to escort us back to Alfea. None of us protested; though we all knew good and well we didn't need a chaperone, we wanted to keep him in our company for Flora's sake. If that wasn't overkill, Andelle and Violet sent Azriel with us too. "Just in case," they said. The cat would've protested to the last breath if it hadn't been for Violet's subtle reminder about the hellhounds. At the sheer mention of them, Azriel leaped into Stella's purse and demanded we get a move on. So we did. And here we were now, advancing up Upolm Avenue in silence.

Nighttime was approaching; the sun was dipping behind Magix City's multifarious skyline, bathing the pale blue sky and wispy clouds in faint pink and purple that melted into the majestic gold and orange at the horizon. A magnificent sight, but none of us were in the mood to stop and enjoy it. All the Winx walked in a protective pack while Alice and Karel kept a few paces behind, heads ducked down as they whispered to each other. I wondered what kind of relationship my roommate had with the mysterious Specialist. Antisocial Karel didn't seem like the type to have friends much less a lover, but you never knew. Could Alice be a potential rival of Flora's? Eh, I really didn't care and at the moment, I didn't think the nature fairy did, either. She had more important things to worry about. Like what we were going to do next. What were we going to do next? It wasn't like we had that many options; after all, the locator spell had failed meaning we had nothing to act on, nothing to build a plan upon. We were at a dead end.

What did that mean for Flora? I could care less about Candi's wellbeing—all I worried about was clearing my friend's name. With little to no evidence for the authorities to go on, they wouldn't be taking their eyes off Flora anytime soon. The only way to further progress the investigation was to look into the persons of interest, and the last thing we needed was the police showing up on Alfea's doorstep again to intimidate the nature fairy even more. Hell, they may even come for me considering my name was also on the suspect list.

My throat almost locked up when I thought about something: what if the police decided to research my background info to find I didn't have any? I'd just spawned in this dimension a few months ago—there were no records of me that dated prior to that time. They couldn't trace my family tree, my academic or medical histories, or even my birth certificate. They didn't really have shit in their database about me. I was suspicious, a mystery; a near-grown woman who didn't actually exist until less than a year ago. What if they took me in for questioning? What if the story I came up with wasn't convincing enough (because I doubted they'd buy that whole "I just magically teleported here from another reality" BS)? What if I got kicked out of Alfea—

I silenced my thoughts. Now wasn't the time to give myself a panic attack. The situation wouldn't escalate to that point. I wouldn't get exposed. Hopefully.

Flora had a faraway look in her eyes the whole way to the bus stop, like she was lost in her thoughts. So was so out of it, in fact, I didn't think she noticed when we waited at the curb for the bus for nearly ten minutes (it was late as usual) or when we boarded it. The ride was only fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes Flora stared out of the window distantly and quietly. When it was time to disembark Musa almost had to yank her out of her seat. When we got off at Wrisk Way, Musa, who was desperate to lighten the mood, offered to treat Flora to a cupcake from the cute bakery further down the street, but Flora declined in a near whisper, making Musa's shoulders drop with defeat. I hoped the music fairy knew Flora wasn't holding a grudge or anything. Though she hadn't said so out loud, I knew all the nature fairy wanted to do was go home and bury herself under her covers. Hell, I felt the same way. It'd been a long day and I was willing to turn in early to put it all behind me (hopefully, I'd actually be able to go to sleep this time).

Unfortunately, I knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon the second we rounded and the corner the same time Brandon and Sky emerged from the pet parlor a few storefronts ahead with Lady, whose coat looked creamer and glossier even from a distance. I willed them to keep walking and they would've if Lady hadn't turned and spotted Bloom. She started yipping playfully and sprinted in our direction, pulling on her leash and catching Brandon's (Sky's) attention. His whole face brightened when he saw us, specifically Bloom, approaching. "Hey guys!" he called. While Bloom gave a small wave and Stella a tight-lipped smile, I fought the scowl my lips were starting to play into. I had a terrible headache right now, so the last thing I wanted to do was stop and converse with my least favorite Winx Club character. If it were up to me I would've pretended like I hadn't seen his ass and kept going but since none of the other girls were that cruel and I didn't want to walk back to school alone, I had no choice but to slow to a halt with everyone else. Though to emphasize my non-chatty mood, I stood beside Alice and Karel, who kept a respectable distance behind the Winx since they weren't acquainted with Brandon and Sky.

Brandon (Sky), however, seemed to recognize one of them because he raised a questioning eyebrow in our direction. "Karel?"

Bloom shifted her gaze between them curiously. "You all know each other?"

"Not exactly," replied Brandon (Sky) slowly, "Karel's the grandson of the headmaster of Red Fountain, so everyone knows who he is." His voice was a little strained; he probably didn't know what to think about us (specifically Bloom) hanging around another guy, a guy he didn't know. Eh, whatever. He could kick rocks for all I cared. What I did care about, however, was the information he'd just revealed.

Karel was Saladin's grandson? I thought Helia was. So did that mean Karel was Helia's brother or cousin? I mean, that would make sense considering they resembled each other in appearance, but it didn't make sense at the same time. In the cartoon Helia never once mentioned a brother or cousin, or even anyone related to him beside Saladin. But then again, the writers of Winx Club only deemed Sky relevant (since he was the main character's lover) and never bothered to go into detail about any of the other Specialists' pasts (since their sole purpose in the whole show was to function as Sky's squad/the other Winx's just-barely-relevant boyfriends), so I guess it was possible the two of them were related in this version.

Wait, what if Karel was Helia? What if my being thrown into the storyline altered his character or some shit? No, that couldn't be right. Everyone else looked and acted the way they had in the cartoon, so Helia couldn't be an exception. Right?

"So that's why you've dedicated yourself to finding those missing students," said Flora quietly, glancing up at Karel. "You feel like it's your duty as the headmaster's son." Some of the defeat in her jade eyes had faded and was replaced with a unique twinkle of admiration/respect/fondness. Karel looked away pointedly.

"Missing students?" repeated Brandon and Sky simultaneously, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, you mean those guys from our class?" asked Sky (Brandon) as Lady growled at Stella's purse. Brandon (Sky) tried to shush her, but Lady wouldn't let up.

Azriel, the cause of her unrest, stuck his head out of the bag and hissed at the dog. "Oh, shut your useless yapping you ignorant pile of fleas." He looked up at Brandon and Sky, who were gaping at the talking cat hitching a ride in the princess's handbag. "Who are these buffoons?" he asked disinterestedly.

Brandon (Sky) started. "Did that cat just—"

"Talk? Yeah." Bloom gave a small laugh. "A lot's happened, and I'm sure you'd like to hear the story. Walk with us?"

OoO

"And you think all these cases are related?" asked Brandon (Sky) grimly as we all ambled up the road to school, the castle's structure looming over the surrounding trees and glowing in the evening light. For the most part, Bloom had taken it upon herself to explain everything (excluding the personal parts about Flora), which kind of bothered the shit out of me. We didn't need to drag more people into this situation; it was useless, especially since nothing could be done about it.

Tecna shook her head. "That's the only logical explanation. There's no way these abductions, which have all taken place around the same time, are independent."

"Sounds like the work of a cult," said Sky (Brandon), stuffing his hands in his pockets. I expected Azriel to throw out a comment about the victims being used as sacrificial offerings or some shit, but he was too busy snoring his little kitty ass off in Stella's purse (he'd gotten bored of us real quick).

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Tecna as Flora shivered at the dark theory, "I'm going to start researching a few tonight to see if I can match any of their past activities to what's occurring now." That was a start, I guess.

"Yes. I plan on doing a little investigation of my own," said Alice, who had stuck by my side the whole trip. "I know the club she was supposed to gig at Friday night in Steass, and I'm thinking of going over there tomorrow to ask some questions." Oh yeah, Ahisa. Why did I keep forgetting about her? I wanted to punch myself in the gut.

"I'll come with," I offered out of guilt. Ahisa was my roommate, meaning it was also my responsibility to find her. She wasn't any less important than Candi. In fact, I should've been more concerned about her considering she was actually innocent.

Sky's (Brandon's) eyes widened. "Speaking of Steass, that reminds of a rumor I heard yesterday about one of the guys that went missing. Bishop Bornebolt, I think. They say he was last seen headed to Element." Karel scoffed—the only sound he'd made in the past fifteen minutes—at that, piquing us girls' interest.

"What's Element?" asked Musa.

"A Specialist hangout in the Steass district," explained Brandon (Sky). "Sky and I don't go there often. Let's just say it has...a reputation."

I didn't want to know. I too hung up on the fact Element was in Steass. Apparently, Musa was too, because she came to an abrupt stop. "Okay, this is getting freaky," she announced.

I nodded furiously. "First the senator's daughter doesn't come back from a party in Steass, then my roommate goes missing on her way to or from work in Steass, and then a Specialist is nowhere to be found after going to take load off in Steass..."

Sky's (Brandon's) eyebrows rose. "There's some super shady shit going down over there."

"I concur," said Tecna, "I looked up the address that mysterious recipient sent Candi in her secret email that day she was abducted. It belongs to a restaurant in Steass called the Silver Witch. This is far too suspicious to overlook."

"That's why I think we should investigate," announced Bloom.

Stella's snapped in her direction. "What is there to investigate? If those witches couldn't find Ahisa and Candi, what makes you think we can?"

Bloom shrugged. "We don't have to give up just because a spell failed. Magic isn't the answer to everything. Maybe if we ask around, we can find some clues that'll help us figure out what's happening." I guess that wasn't a bad idea. Since the Harry Potter way failed, it looked like we'd have to take the Nancy Drew route.

"I don't see why not," said Flora, "it wouldn't hurt." I knew a sliver of hope had sparked to life inside her.

"Yeah. Let's go tomorrow," nodded Musa, sounding a tad bit hopeful herself. She was glad we weren't completely backed into a corner—at least not yet. "We can divide and conquer."

"Sky and I will come with," offered Brandon (Sky), "if people really are going missing, you girls will need protect—back up."

"You should come too, Karel," I said on Flora's behalf. I wouldn't hurt to recruit another ally, even if they weren't in the canon. "You might learn something you can report back to your grandfather."

"Fine," was Karel's clipped reply. Flora brightened, making me relax.

Alright, so it looked like not all hope was lost. Although we might not discover the current status of the missing people, we still had a shot at figuring out what happened to them, at unearthing the truth. Sure, we'd have to take a more hands-on approach, but it was better than nothing. And who knows? Maybe our efforts wouldn't be in vain this time...


I couldn't sleep.

I'd been in bed for a good three hours now—it was just past midnight—but my eyelids weren't even heavy. And no matter how much I tried to will myself into slumber, my body refused to listen to my silent pleas—I wasn't drowsy in the slightest. This frustrated me; how could I not fall asleep after all the shit that had gone down today? Between training, enduring the emotional turmoil after Flora got interrogated again, witnessing my friends hack the police, snooping through Candi's room, making those rounds to Trillium Moon, and everything else that happened, today had felt more like a week. That being said, it should've been easier to doze off and put this tiring day behind me, but I…couldn't. I really shouldn't have been surprised; I'd been losing sleep little by little over the weeks (ever since this situation with Flora and Candi) for some strange reason, but I never suspected I'd stop sleeping all together. But I needed to rest—it was the only way to replenish the energy I'd used today so I would be ready for tomorrow and whatever surprises it had in store—but I just couldn't tame this beast of insomnia and it was driving me insane. I'd tried everything I could think of: turning off my brain even though I wanted to contemplate the day's occurrences, counting sheep, changing my sleeping position, taking a warm shower, and even putting on different pajamas. But nothing worked. I was fucked up. The only way I was going to get some shuteye was if I had some sort of med—

I sat upright. A sleeping aid—that was just what I needed. But how was I supposed to get one? Sleep-inducing potions weren't cheap and it wasn't like an underage girl like me could just waltz into any drugstore and purchase an over-the-counter bottle of sleeping pills at this time of night, either. Maybe one of my roommates had something I could take...

I slid out of bed and padded over to Amaryl's half of the room. The girl was passed out drunk, the foul smell of beer clinging to her clothes and breath. Of course. I should've expected this; the girl went out drinking every Saturday night. At least I wouldn't be here to put up with her hungover, cranky-ass tomorrow. Not wanting to wake her (that would suicide), I quietly slipped into the common area of our apartment. I started to proceed toward Ahisa's room, but a pang of guilt stung my heart when I remembered she wasn't here. We'd find her, I reassured myself. That's why I needed to get some shuteye; so I could be at the top of my game tomorrow.

I went to Alice's and Mi-Sun's room next. I eased the door open and was greeted by darkness, light snoring, and the lingering scent of vanilla from the candles Alice had put out some time ago. Both of my roommates looked comfortable and at peace tucked in their beds and though I didn't want to disturb them, I was desperate. Alice needed her strength just as much as me, so I tip-toed over to Mi-Sun. I pulled back her cover and gently shook her shoulder. "Mi-Sun," I whispered. "Mi-Sun." She shook me off and muttered something incomprehensible in her sleep, turning on her side. I shook a little harder. "Mi-Sun," I repeated, louder this time.

"H-huh?" The girl startled, head snapping up to look at me fearfully. Once she gained enough consciousness to recognize me, she only relaxed a little. "A-Acadia? Wh-what are you doing here? Why aren't you in bed?" she stammered, sitting up and blinking against the sleep clouding her eyes. I almost felt a little envious of her.

"I can't sleep. I was wondering if you have anything that can...help me."

Mi-Sun blinked. "You mean like...?"

"Yeah. I'm about to go out of my mind."

Mi-Sun sat silent for a moment as if she was debating about something. "I have something you could," she said, peeling back her cover. She reached over and switched on the bedside lantern. I glanced over at Alice just to make sure the light didn't disturb her. The ice fairy hadn't even stirred. Mi-Sun pulled over the top drawer of her nightstand and picked through the clutter to pull out a bottle that said Ventaridol. "I suffer from insomnia too sometimes," admitted Mi-Sun, "so my doctor prescribed these. I don't use them very often." She gave the small bottle a light shake to emphasize her point. Dozens of pills rattled inside—almost a full bottle. "I call them my tiny miracles." She blushed. "I know it sounds stupid but they work like a charm and always save me from restless nights. I can give you a few if you want." I gave myself a moment to think it over. Was I really going to resort to this? I heard it was easy to get addicted to sleeping pills. But I was smarter and had more willpower than that. After all, I'd taken one or two in my late middle-school, early high-school days and never craved another. This would be no different. Besides, this was an emergency, a one-time thing. I didn't want to be all cranky and groggy tomorrow.

"Yes, please," I heard myself saying.

Mi-Sun unscrewed the cap and poured three in my open palm. "One will do the trick. Save the others for another time you can't sleep."

"Thanks a lot, Mi-Sun. I owe you one."

Mi-Sun gave a shy smile and then I crept back into my room. I had a half-empty water bottle on my dresser and I drunk the rest of it with one of the small white pills after stashing the other two. Afterwards, I climbed in bed and waited. At first, I thought it wasn't going to work, but then I felt my whole body relax to the point I almost felt weightless.

And then I was gone.

OoO

I slept like a baby for the rest of the night.

I couldn't recall the last time I slept so heavily, so blissfully. I didn't wake up until 9:15 the next morning, and when I sat up I was surprised at how relaxed and rejuvenated I felt. My body felt energized and light as a feather like I could dance on air and regardless of having just woke up, my mind felt like a glass of crystal clear water, so pure and contained nothing but perfect clarity. I'd never in my life waken up feeling this soothed, this empowered. I could see why Mi-Sun called them her "tiny miracles." The one I'd taken had done the job and then some. I felt like a brand new person, like I could accomplish anything. Like I could conquer the world.

I practically leapt out of my bed and went over to the window, drawing the curtain and allowing tendrils of morning light to pour into the room. From her side of the room, hungover Amaryl released a heavy, dramatic groan and buried herself under her covers. I pretended like I didn't hear and floated over to my closest, grabbing a pair of clothes and my hygiene products before heading off to the showers.

I was ready to get this day started, to begin what would do doubt be an adventure and face whatever challenges it might present.


It was nearly late afternoon when the Winx, Alice, and I arrived at Magix City Central Railway Station, an enormous glass futuristic building with a unique curved design and several elevated tracks protruding out of it in all directions. And boy, was it crowded; the train halls were all teeming with people. The station itself was so packed, in fact, we had to wait in line thirty minutes just to buy tickets (which, thankfully, were always discounted on the first day of the week). Once that was done, what was best described as a disaster ensued.

It all started when Stella got a random caffeine craving (like, REALLY? At almost three in the afternoon?). She whined until we gave in and let her stop at a coffee shop, which was another thirty-minute wait. Once the bratty blond got her overpriced latte and it was time to meet up with the boys (since they had another dragon-training exercise this morning, we all agreed it'd be easier to just convene at the station instead of one party meeting the other at the designated school and traveling from there), we realized something: we didn't know where we were supposed to meet them. Somehow, literally no one had heard what terminal we were supposed to wait in when we bought tickets for the 4:15 Steass train, which led to a whole new problem.

Alice, who was a quick thinker, suggested we text one of the guys to see which one they were in. Balancing her latte in the other hand, Stella, who jumped at any chance to talk to her beloved "prince", whipped out her phone and forwarded "Sky" (whose name was decorated with flirty emoticons in her contacts list) a quick message. A nanosecond later, the brunette responded with: Terminal E. At least we could rely on someone.

You'd think it'd get easier from there, but it didn't. We knew which terminal was ours—now we just needed to find out how to get there. That was a whole new issue in itself. After wandering the maze of escalators and kiosks for who knows how long, Tecna had enough common sense to ask one of the AI assistants for directions. Another problem solved. After we got the information we needed, we pinpointed Terminal E, and with time to spare.

Now, when we got there, why was it Karel, Brandon, and Sky were nowhere to be seen? Just as Stella was about to text Sky (Brandon) again, he sent a message saying: Sorry. I meant Terminal B. This earned him a collective groan and a curse from Musa. Okay, I take back what I said earlier. I snatched the phone away and texted, YOU DUMB FUCK. He responded with, Hi Musa. Followed by, Or Acadia. Stella quickly snatched her phone back before I could see any of her past texts with Sky (Brandon), giving me the evil eye.

So this time, instead of asking where Terminal B was, we simply asked where the 4:15 Steass train was going to arrive. We were told Terminal B, what Sky (Brandon) should've said the FIRST TIME. It didn't take long for us to get over there; just a quick ride down an escalator and a short dash (yes, we had to dash. Thanks a lot Brandon) across the south hall. Thankfully, we made it there at approximately 4:11.

"B—Sky you dumbass," I bellowed the second I caught a glimpse of his brown hair as we emerged from the tunnel-like hall and stepped out onto the glossy tiled platform of Terminal B. A few of the passengers gave us looks but my eyes skipped over them and zeroed in on the Specialists, who stood outside of the masses and closer toward the track.

Sky (Brandon) gave me a goofy grin when we made it over. "Hello to you too." As casual greetings were exchanged (and a few flirts on Stella's and Brandon's parts), I watched as Flora went straight over to Karel, who leaned against one of the pillars with his arms folded across his chest.

"Karel, you came," she said, trying not to sound too excited.

Karel didn't return her smile. "Why wouldn't I? I gave my word," he said thinly, more interested in the giant map of Magix City's railroad system on the far wall. "Did you think I was a liar?" I cringed at his bluntness. I almost felt embarrassed for Flora as she stuttered and tried to explain herself. Mercifully, the roaring of the fast-approaching train's whistle drowned out her words, sparing her from the awkwardness.

The needle-nosed train eased into the terminal right on schedule, its doors sliding open the second it halted. A multitude of people poured out of it, leaving the terminal as fast they came. Once they'd all cleared out, we and the rest of the passengers filed into the train, settling into the seats that were still warm from someone else's butt. Bloom snagged a window seat and Sky was already stealing the seat next to her before I could even start in her direction. Ugh, as expected. Karel walked past a line of empty seats and chose to sit in the back. I could almost fell Flora's desire to join him but for the sake of not looking stalkerish, she sat beside Stella instead. The blond looked pissed at that; it was no surprise she'd been saving that seat for Brandon, hoping the "prince" would keep her company the whole trip. Too bad for her; the brunette didn't even look in her direction as he breezed down the aisle and joined a undeniably attractive girl (with all that mascara she had on, it looked like she was on her way to audition for manga porn) who only had to bat her eyelashes at him.

Stella scowled and turned to the window furiously as she screwed in her earbuds, no doubt planning to block out the upcoming flirt session with music. Alice had already chosen to sit beside an older college student and was engaged in a conversation with him, meanwhile Tecna, whose eyes were glued to her handheld, had flanked Karel, both of them pretending like the other one wasn't there. That left me with Musa, who'd quickly gotten comfortable at a window directly behind Bloom and Brandon (Sky) and across from Stella and Flora. The music fairy was already staring off into space and didn't notice when I sat next to her.

After about five minutes, the train screeched and jerked as it took off down the track, slow at first before progressing into a faster speed. It wasn't long until the station was behind us and we were riding down elevated railways that snaked over roads and between skyscrapers of Magix City. Musa and I didn't speak for a good ten-minute stretch of time. While she got lost in her thoughts (which were probably about Riven), I focused on the surrounding sounds: the married couple arguing in hushed voices a few rows up, Bloom grimly recounting her dream to her future boyfriend (bleh), the sounds of the swaying train car, Sky's (Brandon's) new buddy giggling her ass off at whatever he'd just whispered in her ear (okay, I was actually trying my hardest to tune out the last one). I even exchanged a few words with Flora so she wouldn't feel disregarded; Stella, clearly triggered by her crush entertaining another girl, was too busy growling at the window (I was waiting for her to punch a hole in it any minute now) to even glance at her roommate.

When I couldn't bare the empty silence between us, I finally spoke up. "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" Musa shook out of whatever daze she was in. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. I was just...thinking about some things."

"Riven?" I said quietly. I wasn't going to let her beat around the bush this time.

For a second, Musa just stared at the back of Brandon (Sky's) blond-ass head as if debating whether or not to mention her secret crush around his rival. I didn't see why she was being skeptical; good ol' Brandon—Sky was obviously a Mary Sue. He wasn't going to repeat shit to Riven. In fact, Brandon (Sky) hadn't even heard a word we said; no, he was too enthralled by the nonstop chatter of his counterpart. When Musa realized this, she sighed. "Yeah. I think...do you think he's into Candi?"

I responded the flattest, blankest "No" I'd ever said.

"I keep trying to tell myself that...but I can't get that picture out of my mind."

"Candi's not what you should be worrying about," I said. Or Riven, I wanted to add. I'd be more focused on handling the task at hand; after all, it was partially—partially Musa's fault this was even happening to Flora. Her fate was far more important than Darcy's Whore.

"I know, I know. It's just...when you're in love with someone, it's hard to stop thinking about them. I've been thinking about Riven constantly." Musa turned to the window again. "I even tried calling him once. About a week and a half ago."

That was news to me. "Did he pick up? Wait, how did you even get his number?"

"Social media. But anyway, I called him. Talk about a big mistake."

"Let me guess: he went batshit crazy."

"He didn't even answer. Darcy did," she said acidly, "for a second I thought about hanging up, but some part of me just...snapped. I completely lost it and went off on her."

That was what I didn't understand. "But why? What was the point of giving Darcy the reaction, the satisfaction she craved? Fucking with you gets her high. I don't get how you always fall into her traps, why you always set yourself up like that. Riven's a lost cause. He's her bitch; nothing you say or do will change that."

Musa's hand balled into a fist. "Don't call him that," she growled softly.

I blinked at her in disbelief. "Seriously? You're still not convinced?" He went wherever she went, said whatever she told him to say, did whatever she told him to. Wasn't that proof enough? Musa didn't say anything, refusing to look at me.

I gave a tired sigh. "I know you love him but for the sake of your sanity, your happiness, let him go, Musa. I don't know how many times I've said this—you've said this—but he's not worth it." Why couldn't she just come to terms with that irrefutable fact? Riven was a no-good piece of poison-laced shit. There was no saving him. I'd said it a thousand times and I knew I was going to have to say it a thousand more. Musa was still clinging to her naive dream of bringing Riven into the light, her arms. Even though he degraded her, wounded her pride, and made her feel like absolute shit, she wouldn't learn her lesson and was going to pay for it eventually. It was sad.

As expected, Musa didn't respond. Alright then. Conversation over. I wasn't surprised. Discussions about the Lone Wolf never ended on a positive note.

The rest of the ride was tense for the both of us. I nearly jumped out of my seat when the train eased into South Steass Station; I was ready to go. I wasn't the only one; Flora and I were two of the first ones out of the door when the indicator light dinged.

The air in the terminal was hot, stuffy, and stale. It wasn't as nice as the ones in MCCRS, either. While MCCRS was all spacious, fancy, sleek, and modern, SSS had a concrete platform under low ceilings, which were supported by dirty brick pillars. So yeah, definitely not the nicest. My nostrils flared when I got a whiff of the odorous air—was that mold? Eh, no bother. We wouldn't be here long anyway.

Sky (Brandon) was the last of our group to disembark the train; after exchanging numbers and a few last flirts with his new supermodel friend, he finally swaggered over, completely ignorant to anger and jealousy radiating off a seething Stella like hot air. "So what's the plan?" he asked, although we'd already gone over it twice before.

If Tecna was bothered by his forgetfulness she didn't show it. "We're going to split into three teams," she began, "some of us will investigate The Candleroom—" The club Ahisa worked at "—others will look into the Silver Witch, and the remainder will go to the Specialist hangout."

"Alice and I will go to The Candleroom," I said after sharing a nod with my roommate. It was our responsibility to find our roommate.

"I'll go to the Silver Witch," volunteered Musa, who deemed it her responsibility to clear Flora's name even if it meant rescuing Candi herself. Tecna decided to accompany her.

Sky and Brandon would obviously go to Element; we needed a Specialist if we wanted access to a Specialist club. Brandon (Sky) asked Bloom if she wanted to join them, and you already know the answer she gave. Stella waited to see if Sky (Brandon) was going to request her companionship and when he didn't, she angrily declared she was going with Musa and Tecna. Flora and Karel ended up siding with me and Alice, and that was that. We were good to go.

"We'll use our phones to stay connected," said Tecna, "just in case anything goes wrong." Please, no. Not today. That was the last thing we needed. But with how wonderfully things had been working out for us, I suspected Fate had a surprise or two in store for us—

OoO

The walk to The Candleroom from SSS wasn't far—just about ten minutes on foot. It wasn't until the four of us were halfway there something occurred to me.

"Hey, Alice," I said, never taking my eyes off Flora's backside as she and Karel walked ahead of us. The other two groups had gone in the opposite direction upon leaving the train station. "I have a question."

"Hm?"

"Why would Ahisa come all the way out here just for a side gig?" I asked. "I mean, Steass is over half an hour away from school by train. Why commute so long when she could just gig at a club way closer to Alfea? Her magic's rare; no one would turn her down."

Alice opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Flora's scream, startling the shit out of me. Every part of me became alert but before I could ask Flora what was wrong, she was suddenly charging forward. I opened my mouth to call her name, but the word got stuck in my throat when I saw what she was sprinting toward.

Candi was standing across the street.