Chapter 06
Darcy looks out the window, seeing all the students and her friends leaving the school. "I miss Icy and Stormy already."
Stella has just walked in as the witchling spoke. "Don't worry, Darcy. It'll only be for a few days. At least you still have me."
The witchling looks up at the princess. "How come you're not gonna go see your mom?"
The blonde lets out a sigh as she sits next to the girl. "Day of the Rose hasn't been easy for me since my parents split. It's not that I don't love my mother, 'cause I do. But being with just her reminds me that we may never be a family again."
Darcy hugs the teen. "Sorry for making you sad, Ms. Stella."
"You could never make me sad, Darcy," the Sun Fairy hugs he back. "And enough of this 'Miss' stuff. It makes me sound old. And not princess either. We're too close for that. Stella is just fine."
"It must be nice being a princess."
"Oh, it is!" Stella boasts and the notices Darcy's face looking more gloomy than usual. Thinking for a moment, the sun fairy gets an idea. She runs to her closet to dig through everything as she searches for something. The princess takes out a small box. Opening it to reveal a small tiara she had worn when she was little. Frowning, she comments, "Yellow's not really her color," referring to the large yellow gem on the front of the head piece and with a tap of her finger, the gem turned purple.
"Perfect!" the fairy cheers as she strode back to the witchling and clears her throat. "To show you how nice being a princess is I, Stella of Solaria, on this day, crown thee, Princess Darcy of Alfea!" she lowers the tiara onto the witchling's head. "At least until school starts back up," she winks at Darcy.
The witchling reaches up to the tiara in amazement. "Thank you!" she shouts as she jumps into Stella's arms that only seems to make the fairy's smile widen.
.oOo.
Musa sits in the living room area of the apartment. She has a device that plays an old recording of her mother with the Music Fairy when she was just a little girl.
She is soon startled by a quiet voice from behind her. "Who's that?"
Turning the device off, Musa turns to see Darcy there wearing a tiara.
"She's pretty," the witchling tells her.
"It was my mother," the fairy turns away from her, wiping the tears away. She knows that this child is not the same Darcy as before. But those eyes still remind her of the woman who manipulated her boyfriend and hurt her friends so many times. Not wanting to dwell too long on any of those memories, she glances at what is on the witchling's head. "What's with the tiara?" the teen asks while setting the device down next to her.
Darcy reaches up to it with a small smile. "M-Stella crowned me Princess of Alfea for a couple days."
"She did, did she?" Musa looks around. "Where is Stella anyway?"
"She said something about dressing as a proper princess and went out to surprise me. And that you would be watching me for a while."
The song fairy sighs. "Of course she did," and turns away from the witchling.
The witchling remains quiet for awhile before asking again, "Why didn't you leave to be with your mom?"
"Just leave it alone, Darcy."
"I can't," the witchling insists. "As a princess, I can't sit by as one of my subjects are sad. I hereby decree that everyone on this day should be happy," she jumps on the couch, causing the device to fly through the air.
Musa jumps to try and catch it but misses. The device lands on the floor with a crunch sound.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Musa," the child apologetically looks down at her.
"I've had it with you!" the fairy snaps at her. "You have always done things to ruin our lives. You think yourself a princess? I've met some spoiled brats before, but you'd be the worst. No kingdom in this or any other dimension would ever want you. You manipulative, arrogant, witch!" It was not until Musa finished her ranting that she realized what she has done. She has gone from seeing the older Darcy with that terrible mischievous grin, to the tearing child in front of her.
"Musa!?" Stella yells, letting them know that she is present. The princess is currently holding a couple shopping bags. Darcy just cries and runs to the room she shares with Stella and Aisha.
The music fairy just reaches out for the child. "Darcy?" then a stinging sensation is felt across her face.
"How dare you!?" the Princess of Solaria shouts before following the little girl into the room.
Musa could not say anything as she is well aware that she deserved that.
.oOo.
Musa cannot believe she did that to a child. A child who in reality had never done anything to her. Figuring that both Stella and Darcy needed time away from her, the music fairy went for a walk on the school grounds.
"Why the long face, Musa?" comes a familiar voice.
The teen turns to find Knut sweeping the sidewalk.
"What are you doing here, Knut? Shouldn't you be with your mom?"
The ogre scratches his head. "Well, I would if I knew where she was. Most ogre children are kicked out of their parent's home when they're seven and it's rare for them to remain in the same hut after doing so."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Don't be," he waves it off. "So, why are you upset?" the ogre asks again.
Musa looks away. "I, I said some horrible things to Darcy."
"Why would you do that?"
"I didn't mean to. She ended up breaking a recording I had of my mom. It was an accident, I know that. But at that moment, I saw the old Darcy and I let out everything I had been holding in about her," Musa looks up at the ogre. "How do you do it, Knut? After all the stuff they put you through, how can you be good to them?"
"I told them the truth. They reminded me of my old mistresses but knew that they're not them as they are much kinder than what they were. The Little Mistresses seemed confused at first but accepted me as their friend. You should probably do the same, Musa."
.oOo.
Stella sits on the bed doing her best to comfort the crying Darcy. As much fun as the princess has spending time with the adorable witchling, she always hated this part. Mostly because if Darcy is unhappy, for some reason it also makes her unhappy as well.
"Don't let what Musa said get to you, Darcy."
"W-why would she say those terrible things?" the little girl sobs. "It was like I did something bad to her."
The blonde bites her bottom lip. Unsure how to explain this. "That's a bit complicated."
"There was another Darcy," Musa says, entering the room. "She was very cruel to me and my friends. She also wasn't very nice to Riven," she rubs her arm. "I know that you're not her, but you look a lot like her. Every time I see your eyes, I cannot help but remember when she nearly got one over us. When I got angry, that Darcy was the only Darcy I saw. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken it out on you," the Music Fairy closes her eyes, knowing that she does not deserve any form of forgiveness. Suddenly, she feels tiny arms wrapping themselves around her legs. Looking down, Musa finds the witchling.
"I told you that none of my subjects should be sad," she looks up at the teen with teary eyes and a sad smile.
"Thank you, Darcy," Musa hugs back. "But today is rough for me. You see, my mom died," she admits to the child. "I don't have anyone to spend today with."
"I don't have anyone other than M-Stella," Darcy looks at the said teen who looks shocked at first before giving her a sad smile in return. "At least you have memories with your mom," the witchling lets go of the dark blue haired fairy to go over to Stella. "I don't have those," she closes her eyes and hugs the Sun Fairy. "I remember nothing beyond being pulled out of the river. What I would give to remember my mother," she closes her eyes. "Of when I played with her, danced, sang."
As Darcy listed off the things she wished she could remember about her mother, an image appears in the middle of the room. Stella looks on in awe, while Musa holds a hand up to her mouth at what she sees. "Mom?" the figure turns to her with a smile. Musa walks up to her and reaches out her hand. The figure suddenly hugs her. The fairy was shocked at first as it almost feels real. "I missed you, mom."
Stella taps Darcy on the shoulder and the child opens her eyes to reveal that they are glowing purple. The princess then points over to the scene of Musa hugging an image of the lady the witchling had seen in the recording earlier.
The image then fades in Musa's arms. The music fairy turns to Darcy while in tears. "Thank you, Darcy. For making this Day of the Rose a good one."
Darcy's eyes widen in disbelief as she points at the now empty spot. "I did that?"
Stella hugs her. "You sure did! You're growing into your powers. I'm so happy for you."
The witchling looks at her hands. "I wonder what else I can do?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Musa wipes away some of her tears. "We can give you some lessons."
"In fact," Stella buts in. "We know and illusion fairy who could give you some pointers. Of course, we might have a hard time persuading her to do so. Until then, we should celebrate. What do you want to do, Darcy?"
The child thought for a moment. "As princess, I say we have a tea party!"
"Oooh! And I know exactly what you should wear," the sun fairy pulls out from a shopping bag a new purple gown. "What do you think of this one? We could always return it."
"I love it, Stella!" Darcy hugs her caretaker.
"Go get changed," the blond smiles at her. "In fact, we all should. It be a nice Day of the Rose tradition for the three of us."
Musa's head perks up at this. "Actually. How about four of us?"
.oOo.
With a clink of their glasses, everyone toasts to a good day.
"Thanks for inviting me," Knut tells them as he wears a nice little bowtie along with his usual overalls.
"Don't thank us," Stella insisted. "It was Musa's idea."
"But it is Darcy's tea part?" Musa points out. "So, it's her you should thank."
"Well then?" the ogre turns to the witchling. "Thank you for inviting to your tea party, Princess Darcy."
Darcy lets out a giggle. "You are most welcome, Sir Knut."
"Sir? I like the sound of that," Knut chuckles. "Feels nice to actually celebrate this day with someone."
Stella smiles. "Yeah. It really is," she looks down at Darcy who is downing the cupcakes. "Here," the princess grabs a napkin to wipe the crumbs off the child's face. The witchling is just so adorable, she wishes her mother can see this. Then, she hums. "I'll be right back, Darcy," she excuses herself. The Princess of Solaria is now in the next room and with a deep sigh, she picks up her phone and dials a number the fairy usually avoids on the Day of the Rose. It barely rang as there is a quick answer.
"Stella?" blond woman looks with her mouth agape. "You're calling me? On this day?"
Stella lets out a small laugh. "I know. I surprised even myself. I just really felt like calling you," she moves a strand of hair out of her face.
"Well, I'm glad you did, Stella," Luna smiles at her daughter. "What have you been up to lately?"
"Well, mom, I've recently started to care for a little girl. She is just the sweetest, most adorable thing," the teen had to refrain from squealing.
"You're babysitting?" the former queen of Solaria tilts her head. "I find that hard to believe."
"I wouldn't call it babysitting. That would imply that she has parents to look after her. Right now, she just has me, my friends, and her friends."
"An orphan?"
"Afraid so," Stella sighs. "But there's more to it than that. You should really see her. Here!" with a push of a button, the princess instantly sends all of the picks she has of Darcy.
"Oh, my?" Luna goes through a few of the images. "That is quite a lot of pictures of one you're just caring for."
"Really? Cause I don't think it's enough," Stella insists. "My favorite has to be the one my friend Tecna took while we were asleep.
The former queen only glances at the image of her daughter asleep with the witchling. She has to admit that it is an adorable scene. Her attention though, is on her daughter who has a familiar glow to her. One that Luna herself has worn.
"May I see her?"
"I don't know," Stella thought for a moment. "She tends to be afraid of new people."
"Please, Stella."
"Oh, alright!" the princess leaves the room and makes her way to the table where the others had remained. "Darcy?" she holds her phone to the witchling. "This is my mother."
"Hello, Darcy," Luna waves at the little girl. "Or should I say Princess Darcy?" she curtsies.
She waves back shyly. "H-hello."
"It's so nice to meet you. Stella has told me quite a bit about you. I can see that she has not done you justice, because you are much more adorable!" the former queen lets out a little squeal. "It was so kind of you to spend the day with my daughter. I always felt bad that she is usually alone. Perhaps next year, you and Stella can visit me?" she glances back at her daughter who is visibly sweating.
"What about my friends?" Darcy points at Musa and Knut. "We just promised to do this every year."
Luna thought for a moment. "Did you promise to do this at Alfea every year?"
The witchling tilts her head. "Well, no."
"Great!" she claps her hands together. "Then, they can come along as well, and we all can have a nice tea party together. I only regret that I was not there this year."
Darcy jumps. "That sounds great! Can we do that, Stella?"
"Well," Stella rubs the back of her head. "I don't see why we can't."
"That's wonderful!" Luna shouts. "I can't wait for next year. Bye, Stella. Bye, Princess Darcy. I can't wait to meet you in person."
"Bye, Stella's mom!"
"Please, just call me Luna," was the last thing she said before hanging up.
Stella then looks back over to Musa and Knut. "Sorry about that. You guys don't really have to come next year."
"Nonsense!" Musa waves it off. "It'll be a nice change of scenery."
"It's not like I have plans," Knut says as he takes a sip of tea.
Darcy hugs Stella, "As long as I'm with you, Stella, I don't care where we are. I love you."
Stella could only smile at the witchling. "I love you too, Darcy."
End