Stella woke up first, it took herself a moment to take in her surroundings. She found herself sandwiched between Duman and Gantlos, all tangled in a big cuddle pile. She shot up, startling the two wizards awake.

"Oh my God," she muttered, her mind racing. "I have a boyfriend."

Duman, still groggy, smirked. "What, dreaming about your knight in shining armor?"

Stella's face turned crimson. "Hush! This is so incredibly inappropriate— it doesn't happen again."

Duman chuckled, "Relax, princess. You're making it sound like we did something scandalous. And besides, things with your boyfriend aren't exactly sunshine and rainbows right now, are they?" it was true. They had been fighting a lot more recently. Mitzi being a big contributor to that. But that didn't matter, it was the principle!

Stella sighed, standing up. "That doesn't mean I should—"

Before she could finish, Anagan called out from the main room. "Everyone up! I made breakfast!"

The three made their way to the main room, where Anagan and Ogron were already seated. Anagan grinned, "Sleep well, everyone? You all looked pretty cozy."

Ignoring the teasing, Stella sat down in the circle on the floor. They began eating breakfast together, the atmosphere surprisingly domestic.

"Do you guys do this a lot?" Stella asked, looking around.

"Sometimes," Gantlos replied. "It's something Anagan and I like to do. I never really got to do this kind of thing, and it reminds him of a fond time in his life,"

As they ate, Stella's thoughts drifted to the two history books she had found. She hesitated, then decided to voice her confusion. "I have a question," she began, catching everyone's attention. "I …. I found two versions of a history book. One looked like it was from Alfea, that says you trapped the terrestrial fairies because you were in pursuit of power…. But the other, the older one,—It says the earth fairies were oppressors, dictators even, who crushed humanity and took away free will…. Why were they different?"

The room fell into a heavy silence. Their eyes darted from one another—Finally, Ogron spoke, his voice measured. "Do you want the truth, or just something that will make you feel better?"

"I want the truth!" Stella insisted.

Ogron took a deep breath. "Long ago, there was harmony, yes. But only if you were a fairy. There were strict curfews, oppressive rules. Non-fairies were deemed lesser, treated like dirt. The fairies weren't just—they assumed humans and other creatures couldn't make thoughtful decisions on their own and often bent justice to their will. Sybilla was the only truly just fairy."

Stella felt her world shift. "Why didn't you say anything from the beginning?!"

Duman interjected, "Would you have believed us?"

She thought about it, realizing she probably wouldn't have. "No, I wouldn't have. If I hadn't found that book…"

Ogron nodded. "I understand if you still don't believe us. We can provide more evidence if you need it."

Stella shook her head. "I believe you. But we have to tell the others—the Winx."

Ogron sighed. "And how do you think that would go?"

She recalled trying to tell Musa and Sky and felt a pang of frustration. "Why are you so okay to be the bad guys? Why did history make you the villains?"

Ogron's eyes darkened. "To do good in this world, sometimes you have to look like the "bad guy". And as for history, we may have defeated the earth fairies, but there were corrupt fairies everywhere. We couldn't change the narrative in Magix's history books."

Stella stopped eating, feeling nauseous and guilty. Anagan spoke up, "We never killed the fairies. We just put them away in Tir Na Nog. We've been the ones keeping things in order. What did you notice about Earth before Roxy came along?"

Stella whispered, "There were problems, but humans seemed to be making their own decisions."

"Exercising free will?" Ogron chimed

Stella felt so stupid, an apology left her lips.

Gantlos ruffled her hair gently. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault what you were taught. You didn't write those history books."

"No, but I supported them…"

He handed her some more food. "Eat up. We have a lot of training to do today. Our deal still stands—you need to reach your equilibrium between sun and moon."

Stella nodded, a mix of determination and sadness in her eyes. She would learn to balance her powers and show the others the truth, no matter how difficult it was.

————————

Ogron and Anagan left on patrols, leaving Stella with Duman and Gantlos. The memory of how they had woken up lingered in her mind, making her feel a bit awkward, but she brushed it off. She had more pressing matters to focus on.

In the ghost town streets, Gantlos prepared to train her in using her moon powers. "You get three questions," he said, crossing his arms. "Anything you want to know. But that's it."

Stella thought for a moment, then asked, "Are you really after Roxy?"

Gantlos shook his head. "No, it's complicated. Roxy is a fairy, but we didn't believe she could be a threat until the Winx came and informed her of their false narrative about us. Our initial plan was just to take her wings and let her live as a human. Obviously,— that was interrupted."

Stella nodded, considering his words. so they actually had no ill intent towards Roxy. That was good. "What about your vampire form? How did it happen?"

"I was born like this," Gantlos replied, his tone matter-of-fact.

Unsatisfied with the brief answer, Stella pressed on. "Can you please give me more details?"

Gantlos sighed, a hint of irritation in his eyes, but he continued. "My dad was the kind of guy who just couldn't keep his zipper shut. Had a one-night stand with my mom, who was a vampire. He didn't know until after I was born. My dad tried to make her stay, but she was nobility, I guess. She said she had no intent to raise a bastard half-breed and left. My dad felt like his life was ruined because of this 'thing.' Yeah, he fed and clothed me, but that was about it. He was deeply ashamed, often calling me a monster…"Gantlos's gaze darkened as he recounted his past. "One night, I snapped. I'd repressed my vampiric side too long and was so hungry. I don't even remember what exactly happened. I just remember coming to, covered in my father's blood. I tried to run, but I ran right into Ogron. Afraid, I bit him. Ogron wasn't afraid, though. He said the Black Circle had found its first member. And that's how I ended up here."

They spent the rest of the day honing Stella's moon powers, her questions lingering in the air but slowly fading as she concentrated on the tasks at hand.

By four PM, Duman interrupted the training session. "You've been at this forever. It's time for a break. I'm bored," he complained, stretching lazily. "I want to go look around the other buildings and see what I can find."

Gantlos sighed. "You shouldn't go looking for trouble, you might find it."

Duman playfully winked at Stella. "You mean trouble like her? If that's the case, I want a lot of it."

Stella couldn't help but smile. "I'm a little curious myself," she admitted.

Realizing he couldn't win, Gantlos relented. "Fine, but if I say we gotta go, we gotta go."

Duman eyed Stella's dress. "That won't do for adventuring. You should wear something more appropriate."

"I don't exactly have a change of clothes," Stella replied.

"I've got something," Duman said, rummaging through his bag and handing her one of his shirts and a pair of shorts. "Here, wear these."

"where did you find these shorts, they're kinda cute,"

"I uh," he didn't want to admit to having been looking for them specifically for her, "hurry up! We have exploring to do,"

Stella changed quickly, and they set off, exploring the abandoned buildings around them. They ended up in what used to be an antique shop. Stella was delighted by the remnants of a bygone era, picking up a little bunny figurine with a smile.

As she admired the figurine, Gantlos heard a creaking noise. "Look out!" Duman shouted as the ceiling above them began to give way. In an instant, Gantlos pulled Stella into his arms, shielding her from the falling debris. Once the shock wore off, Stella blushed, realizing how tightly he was holding her. She didn't want to let go, but he broke the hold first.

"This is stupidly dangerous," Gantlos insisted, but his words fell on deaf ears.

As Stella looked at something else, Duman leaned in towards Gantlos. "She looks pretty cute in my shirt, don't you think? But I can't help but feel a bit jealous about that hug."

Gantlos raised an eyebrow. "Do you want a hug?"

"I'm not jealous of Stella. I'm jealous of you," Duman teased. "You can't deny how hot she is."

Gantlos blushed, "I've got no idea what you're talking about," he huffed out.

The two went back and forth with their banter until Stella noticed a little figurine of three lambs hugging. Giddy, she walked up to them. "Look, it's you guys! See Gantlos is the one in the little hat, and Duman is the one in the wolf costume!"

"You're that one in middle then, with the big yellow bow," Duman snickered.

Noticing the setting sun, Gantlos said, "It's time to go home."The other two tried to protest, but he stood firm. "You know the rules."

They walked out, but Gantlos picked up the lamb figurine that Stella had put down, intending to keep it close to him.

Back at the fire station, they met up with Ogron and Anagan. Anagan asked, "How did the training go?"

Gantlos simply replied, "It went well."

Feeling more confident, Gantlos decided to go out. "I'm going hunting," he announced.

Duman looked surprised but pleased. "You don't usually hunt yourself unless you have to."

Stella was happy too, seeing Gantlos take a proactive step. She headed to the shower but couldn't shake a bad feeling. Something felt off, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.